#we glue the head of the Harry Potter

[chronic-high-achiever]

I do worry for the people of this household

[yesimwriting]

we need more felix and lovie content i miss themmm

i miss them too,, i have so many drafts and half finished fics with them but i've had so little energy/time to actually finish any of them bc of finals

but i'm pretty caught up with school rn (by tuesday i'll be on summer break!!) so here's a bit of an i'm-sorry-for-being-absent drabble :)

The nail of your thumb drags against the edge of the page, finally getting the glue to fully adhere to the page.

You press your back against the wood surface of your desk chair to admire your handiwork. The background of your latest scrapbook page has come together just the way you wanted it to. You pick up the book carefully before turning your body.

"Lex," you beam.

Felix doesn't sit up fully, but he does lift his head. The arm holding up his copy of the latest Harry Potter relaxing. "Oh," he mumbles it in that way that reminds you of one of the things you like best about him. He has this talent for giving attention. Where other people would just be polite without a second thought, Felix takes the time to really look before commending.

He pushes himself up in a way that awkwardly squishes your pillow. "That's good." Felix straightens, legs crossing beneath him. "That's really good, Lovie." His thumb tucks itself between the pages of his book, a make shift bookmark. "The edges, the paper..."

"Thank you." Another thing you love about Felix is the fact that you can always tell he means his praise. You turn forward, setting your scrapbook back onto your desk. "You should make one."

The corner of his mouth pulls itself into a version of a smile that's so soft you almost miss it. "Yeah?" You nod. Felix's smile shifts into something more assured. "Maybe tomorrow night."

You try to picture Felix spending a Saturday night in either your room or his, cutting up scraps of paper and gluing them down instead of at a bar or some party. The thought makes your feel warm in that way that's so exclusively Felix. It also feels blurry, intangible in its unlikeliness.

As happy as it'd make you, tonight was already surprising enough. It's not like Felix goes out every night, and this isn't the first time the two of you have stayed in on a Friday, but nights like these are rare. You can't picture two of these in a row.

"Tomorrow?" You pull your legs out from under your desk, entire body angling itself to the side so that it's easier to look at him. "Tomorrow's Saturday."

He lets out a partial laugh. "And you're dying for a rager?"

"No," you mumble, dragging out the vowel sound in an attempt to sound more sarcastic. "But you like going out." You lean forward, resting your chin against the chair's back. "And it's not like I hate going out, especially with you..." You trail off, eyes shifting away from Felix and towards the bed post closest to you. "And I don't want to be the reason you don't do things you like."

For a beat, the only sound is the low, rhythmic tapping of Felix's pointer finger against the spine of his book. "I like a lot of things."

You lift your head. "I know."

"I like doing things with you."

The warmth comes back with a vengeance. You tap your thumb against the side of your seat for the sake of doing something. "Me too."

Felix shifts, extending one leg to make himself more comfortable. "Good." He's so quiet for a second, you almost think that might be the end of the conversation. You're about to go back to picking out the pictures to finish off the page you'd been working on when he starts again, "So you don't need to worry about me resenting you."

Your eyes narrow. "I didn't say anything about you resenting me." Your chin lifts slightly, an attempt at displaying your indignation. "Why are you saying it like that was an option?"

He grins, dropping himself back onto your pillow. "No reason."

You roll your eyes at his sarcasm. He's the one that came over to your room without being asked to. "Sure."

"What?" His tone implies nothing but perfect innocence. He picks up his book, opening it as if he's done nothing wrong. "Y'should come over here before the resentment sets in and I lose all interest."

You let out a loud sigh, but move to stand regardless. "Yeah, that feels like a real possibility."

When you don't move, Felix glances away from his book. "You're not gonna come over here?" He looks up at you, a hint of a pout playing at his expression. "I was kidding."

You cross your arms, fighting against a smile. "I just stood up." That's not enough to convince him to stop looking at you like that. You take a few steps forward with a sigh that's more out of habit than anything else. "You are so dramatic."

You sit on your bed, crossing your legs beneath you. Felix shifts onto his side. His freehand finds your knee. "You cried because of this book."

Eyes narrowing, you lean forward to get a better sense of how far into the book he's gotten. "Wait a few chapters."

Felix snaps his head in your direction, "Lovie. You said you wouldn't--" Your sentence runs into his, "I didn't--I didn't spoil it."

He frowns, watching you skeptically. "That was mean."

"You started it." You're aware that you sound like a little kid, but you can't help it. With a sigh, you give up, laying down. He's taking up most of your bed, but you're far from uncomfortable. "Fine. I'm sorry."

With little warning, Felix leans forward and presses a kiss against your temple. "Want me to read to you?"

You're used to Felix's random displays of affection, but every once in awhile something will take you by so much surprise you feel it more than you should. You blink. "Yeah," you mumble, hoping that your voice comes out even, "Sounds nice."

Felix shifts onto his back, one hand finding your arm and the other holding his book.

----

taglist; @vader-is-hot @spiritofbuddha @getosangie @freyafriggafrey @ilovehyperfixating @aryiannarae @willowpains @ker0senebunny @lilyrachelcassidy @khxna @imbabycowboy

[chubsonthemoon]

Binderary 2023 Wrap-Up!

Binderary 2023 is over, and I come bearing some stats, thoughts, and a compiled list of my QOTD answers! :3

Stats:

Books planned: 7

Books completed: 7/7 (woohoo!)

Fandoms: 3 (Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, and The Sandman)

Total word count: 340,654

List of books (from left to right):

Maybe sprout wings by @moorishflower

Flower King by @landwriter

The Politeness of Princes by @aboxthecolourofheartache

Uncertain Results (also by Box!)

I'm caught inside every open eye (also also by Box :3)

Not pictured (on account of them being given away as gifts!):

My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie (aka xxxbloodyrists666xxx) (community typeset by @renegadepublishing)

Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches by @kazliin (typesetting by @ziezie13 <3)

QOTD answers under the cut (and these are copied directly from our DW post, just with added tumblr @'s!)

1. What does Renegade mean to you?

Renegade has, in all honesty, probably changed the course of my life! That's not hyperbole--it's had such a huge influence on my hobbies, my friendships, my academic trajectory, even my career. I was still in undergrad when I found ASH's post on fanbinding, and I was very lost as to what the next steps would be. And like so many others experienced, the pandemic only made things even murkier and more isolating. Then I found ASH's manifesto in June 2020, worked up the courage to join the Discord in July 2020, and found a community of like-minded weirdos who were just as passionate (if not even more so!) about their favorite stories, and a craft that I fall a little bit more in love with every day (well, most days. fuckin printers man XD). I wrote my honors thesis thanks to Renegade; I've made lifelong friends thanks to Renegade; I have my current job, in a field I love, thanks to Renegade. (My first Rocky Horror Picture show at Havencon 2022? All thanks to Renegade :D) This really feels like my forever fandom home-- even when I jump around from fandom to fandom, there's always a wonderful and supportive community to fall back on. In short, I really love it here, I'm so pleased with what we've done so far, and I can't wait to see where we go! ❤️

2. Favorite Fic

As everyone else who answered this, this question is IMPOSSIBLE. However, if you put a gun to my head and told me to answer right now, I'd have to say Tell Me About the Big Bang (my binding of it here!) It's one of the fics that has touched me most deeply and which has probably had the greatest influence on my writing. It was one of the first fics I'd ever bound, and I really wanted to rebind it to see how far I've come!

3. One thing you'd like to learn more about

GOD SO MANY THINGS. Backing! Headband techniques. Chisel trimming. Edge gilding. Tiny books. More advanced Cricut techniques. More cohesive and professional-looking graphic design. This hobby is really a dozen hobbies in a trench coat, and there's so much to explore.

4. Paper!

For my textblocks, I use 20 lb. cream Hammermill paper! I order it in 11"x 17" and get it cut in half for short grain, like a lot of other folks at Renegade. Recently I've started experimenting with quarto-sized Legal (8.5"x 14")and fell in love. I also want to try a bunch of the other paper that folks have suggested (looking at @robins-egg-bindery Mohawk Via o.o). For my endpapers, I usually use scrapbook paper from those scrapbook paper packs you can get at Michaels and Joann's (and when they're on sale...WOOF)

5. Cloth!

DUO BOOKCLOTH MY BELOVED. God I wish I'd gotten in on the Renegade group order - but ah well. Big fan of making my own though! There are just so many options to choose from, so it really expands what you can do (again: a dozen hobbies and crafts in a trench coat)

6. The Glue War

LOVE me some PVA! I know that it gives you less time to do things, but I get impatient XD. Plus it's cheap and easy to find and ready to use right out of the bottle, which is great. I've tried my hand at making starch paste + PVA with very mixed (ha!) results, although I had a wonderful time with some methyl cell that @simply-sithel gifted me at Havencon last year <3 So mayhaps will have to buy more of that for a future project!

I also love my Cricut Explore 2, Charlotte! She holds up very well, although I think she's due for a blade refill soon. I've just been setting my pressure higher and higher LOL

7. Machines

Love my Epson ecotank! I recently bought it--for the first two years I was going to my local print shop because the quality was great and I had a discount card. Unfortunately the discount card eventually expired, so I decided to bite the bullet and get my own printer. I really love it! I didn't want to have to deal with laser and printing in color can get pricey--the cartridges are just so goddamn expensive, although I do think laser prints in higher quality. Mayhaps a future purchase, because I'd really like to experiment with foiling!

8. Favorite binding technique

Ooh this one is interesting! I know which part of the process I enjoy the most, which is sewing! Kettle stitch my beloved. ALTHOUGH I am a sucker for the French link too--it's just so pretty! And we just had a wonderful workshop put on last week by @queercore-curriculum on their...embroidered binding/long-stitch binding (??? I don't know if there's an official name for it yet), which I LOVE. Glueless bindings are SO cool and I would love to experiment more with them.

9. Your best tip/trick

Ooh! Hmmm...I'd say: never bind while you're super tired/hungry LOL. I've made many a preventable mistake very late at night because I wanted to get something cased in or glued before bed when I probably should've waited till morning XD That being said, on the flip side I think you should never be afraid to experiment! Go hog wild!!! Use those glitter pens!! Try out that fancy silk for your endbands!! Try that new binding style! And if you fuck up, remember that's okay too! These are handmade objects and those mistakes are proud proof of that, and of your journey as a fanbinder. Stick 'em in the channel on the Discord, laugh and (maybe cry a little XD) about it, and then keep going. tldr; ya live and learn!

10. Favorite Detail

Ooh, this one's hard! I love leaving little Easter eggs in my designs. I'd say my favorite is putting my maker's mark on things! My imprint is Moonham Press (a fun mix of my usernames, chubsthehamster and chubsonthemoon), and the logo includes a little crescent moon. I'd actually been binding for about two years when I finally made the imprint--I used to think that it was...idk, kind of weird to put myself in the book? Like I was taking away from the story inside it. But then I got to thinking--well, hey, I'm the one who made this book, right? If nothing else, putting my mark on it tells someone who may pick it up one day that I was connected to this story. Some conversations with some folks at Renegade during Havencon 2022 also helped me embrace this. So these days I put my imprint logo in the typesetting, and I also put it on the cover somewhere! My favorite spots are either on the spine, between the title and author name, or on the back cover, in the bottom left corner :D

11. Spines

Spines are the bane of my existence. Haha, jk. They're mostly just tedious, since they're one of the only parts of the process that still require precise measurement (I've cut templates for everything else by now, and I use my guillotine to cut boards, so that goes super fast). For my thicker books I use Bristol board; I actually still use the same sheets I bought in 2020 when I first started binding--I didn't know how much I would really need so I think I ordered four massive sheets which will probably last me for ten years LOL. For my thinner books, I use Davy board, which is a pain to cut but gives the book a really nice board feel. And for my paperbacks, the spine is just the cover, which I make out of kraft paper for the backing + the decorative paper (usually scrapbook paper or something I've designed and printed)

12. Mistakes/Fails

Ooh BOY are there many. My most recent was my experiment with making a hardback quarto letter. I made the hinge waaaaay too small so when I tested the case the textblock was sticking out of it LOL. But I've been pretty lucky--this is only the second case I've had to remake in my time as fanbinder *KNOCKS ON WOOD*, but my printer fuck-ups when I was trying to figure out how to print on legal sized paper (since my printer doesn't duplex) probably make up for the luck I've had in the case department XD. Casing in, though--I think I've had maaaaaybe...two or three case-ins where I was completely happy with the results. A large part of this is because my guillotine doesn't cut completely straight, so my squares are never even LOL. But hey, I'm not getting paid for this, and I'm having fun, so eh.

13. Process

Ooh, interesting! My process has remained largely unchanged--I think the only thing that has really changed is now the frequency at which I print. I used to print at a print shop, so I'd make typesets in large batches--usually two to four books, sometimes more (I think the most I've done at a time is five?), and I'd make a day out of it. Now that I have my printer at home though, I can do things in smaller batches! I can also test print things, so I've been able to get a lot more experimental with my books sizes and my covers. Everything else has remained largely the same--the first book I did I typeset in MS Word, but everything after that I've all done in Affinity Publisher. I typeset > print > bind > take pictures! I really like how different each step is (like I said, twelve different hobbies in a trench coat), so there's always something different to do if I get bored. My favorite parts are probably designing covers and sewing the signatures!

14. Storage solutions

OUGH. I have one of those rollaway drawer thingies for all my tools, a dozen scrapbook paper containers, several large baskets for my vinyl and cloth, a hanging stand for my larger sheets of decorative paper, a standing desk which holds my Cricut and printer (a few of the aforementioned vinyl baskets are under this desk too), another rollaway basket thingy that holds my printing paper and my press (also under the standing desk), another desk which holds both my two guillotines and cutting mats (and under that desk are all my scrapbook paper containers and Cricut mats), and a final third desk where I keep all my sewing stuff and where I do my typesetting and other sitting-down parts of the process. And of course my shelves for all my books! This doesn't really give a sense of where everything is, but it's actually fairly organized, and for the most part I know where everything is (except for my FUCKING bone folder god that thing is always ending up in places I do not remember putting it XD)

15. Your Workspace

Ah, see my answer to 14! I'll probably upload a photo here later XD

16. Dust jackets and covers

Oooh, I've never made a dust jacket before--I don't think my printer could handle the wonky paper size that it requires, but they look really cool and I'd maybe be up for making one someday! And covers! Both my greatest love and my greatest enemy. They're super fun to design, but this is one part of the process that always feels like an uphill battle for me! There are so many skilled and talented folks in Renegade with GORGEOUS covers, and it's always a mix of being incredibly inspired and getting some design envy--but either way it's very motivating to keep me out of my comfort zone and to always keep trying new things. I use decorative paper and scrapbook paper mostly for the base material (although I've begun experimenting with designing things digitally and printing them out on Epson matte presentation paper), and then the rest is fuck it, we ball. I usually design the cover last, so I have an entire typeset and title page already when I begin, which makes things a little easier since I have an already established aesthetic to work with. My font selection is kind of determined by how small the text for the title/author name is, since my Cricut isn't great at cutting super small sizes (Times New Roman, funnily enough, is one of the only fonts that it can do at smaller sizes LOL so a lot of the text on my covers/spines are in TNR). I'm excited to keep improving and experimenting in this area!

17. Published inspiration

Ooh!! This one's fun--when I first began making my Master pages in Affinity publisher, I literally grabbed the first few books I saw on my shelf and said 'alright, this looks good' and haven't looked back since LOL. Those books were Vintage's editions of Toni Morrison's novels, Picador's Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, Vintage's edition of Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark, Fall River's omnibus editions of Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes's works, Penguin Classic's Deluxe edition of Jane Austen's novels, and a few others that I can't remember. I looked at all these books, found what they had in common (for example, a simple title page before the decorative title page, the use of a single graphic or design at the beginning of each chapter, etc.) and went with that! I don't usually take inspiration from specific books, EXCEPT for a project I'm currently working on which I'm super excited about :3 More TK here eheh (ADDITION 3/7: I was talking about Maybe sprout wings here LOL)

18. Illustrations

FANART MY BELOVED. I LOVE including fanart in my books, because it's such a lovely demonstration of the communal nature of these stories and it's so fun getting to collect all the pieces. For free use graphics my favorite sites are Adobe Stock images and Heritage Library. Heritage in particular has a beautiful selection of free vintage graphics packs that I've used for years now. And very occasionally, wingdings fonts will have something I really like XD

19. Favorite tool

Despite my gripes earlier about always misplacing it, I ADORE my bone folder. It's a funky lil dude and it makes all my edges nice and crisp! I can't wait for the retreat bone folder fufu :3 Also a very big fan of my guillotine, which despite its flaws makes my life a hell of a lot easier in the long run, as well as my presses, which were handmade by my dad and do their jobs very well (squiiiiiiish)

20. Favorite part of the binding process

Oooh, this one's fun! I really like the actual construction of the book--sewing sigs is always relaxing and has been one of my fave parts since the very beginning. Recently I've started to really enjoy designing covers, especially if there are a lot of physical elements (like layering scrapbook paper or playing around with Mod Podge).

I had the absolute privilege to hold @clovenhoofbindery's copy of Away Childish Things at Havencon last year. Literally every book Space makes I fall in love with, and her designs are a HUGE inspiration for me. Everything from the typesetting to cover design to physical construction--I lose my marbles every time.

21. Inspo: The binder that inspired you!

Ohhh this one's so hard! Literally every time I check the #show-off channel in the Discord I'm struck by so many beautiful books. I'm going to cheat and name a few people here, but this list is by no means comprehensive and doesn't even begin to cover everyone I could name.

Everything @pleasantboatpress binds is just so beautiful. Their color choices are always inspired and their headbands make me want to cry! Their bind of Unconditional in particular had me foaming at the mouth.

The quality of everything @zhalfirin-binds makes, likewise, always blows me away. Her books are so polished and professional, and her photos make me feel like I'm in a museum when I'm trawling her blog for inspo!

@simply-sithel's tiny books are literally the coolest things ever! I'm still working my way through the Binderary vids and I can't wait to get to hers. Six plays with form in mind-bending and truly innovative ways, and her blog is wonderland of tiny and fantastical book creatures.

@teleportbooks's binds are the definition of classy and refined. They're so good at designing their books according to the contents of the fic--their binding of Thirty-Three Lashes in particular is just the best design centered around fic content and title I've seen. Their designs always make me melt a little when I see them!

@no-name-publishing's endbands are to DIE for. Like fr I am in awe every time!!! And Kam's cover + title page designs are a huge source of inspo for me--forever in love with this bind of theirs, with the beautiful painted cover + matching endpapers T_T

And of course!!! I (and everyone else) wouldn't be here without our beloved leader, @armoredsuperheavy. He's the first binder that ever inspired me, and he continues to do so today!

22. Inspo: The fic that inspired you!

My original answer was also my answer for 27 ("First bind"), but I'm gonna say something a little different here! I usually know pretty quickly whether I'm interested in binding something, but very rarely has a fic gotten me hook, line, and sinker the way @that-banhus's King of Infinite Space did. Like, from the first line I was like "oh god I need to hold this one." And eventually I did! :3

23. Author spotlight: Someone you've bound

AHHHHHH this one is so hard too! I've bound a good number of authors over the years, many of whom are my dear friends, and to spotlight only a single one would be impossible. So I'm just going to poke @dodici12, whose killugon fic See You Upside Down is one of the best killugon reunion fics ever in my very humble hamster opinion. Hiiiii Tessa ilysm <333

24. Author spotlight: Someone you'd like to bind

OOOOOH. Many, many fics are in my queue. I'll keep them to myself for now, since I prefer to ask for author permission via DM, but atm I have my eye on a few Good Omens authors whose work I adore!

25. Favorite bind by you!

THIS ONE IS SO HARD AJLSKDJF. I love all my babies so much and I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish and what I learned from each of them. However, if you put a gun to my head and asked me to choose right now, I'd have to go with my most recent bind of Maybe sprout wings by @moorishflower. I'm really pleased with both its construction and particularly the curation of its contents, which includes the work of nearly a dozen people. It was my attempt at capturing the communal nature of fanfiction's creation and dispersal, and it was also my Big Project this Binderary. I'm ridiculously fond and proud of it!

26. Favorite bind by someone else!

THIS ONE IS SO HARD TOO HELP. Okay this is only one of my many many favorites, but dragging Space back out here again to say that her bind of Away Childish Things permanently altered my brain chemistry. Like, the cutout!!! The patronuses!!!! The title page cutout???? THE KEY??? Again, I held this book in my hands IN PERSON last year and I'm still not over it. The quality of the work is absolutely bonkers crazy incredible and I think about it Often.

27. First bind

The very first fic I ever bound was On Stranger Tides by @theroyalsavage. It's still one of my favorite fics ever today--it has the perfect blend of action/adventure, romance, humor, and fantasy. It gives me the good ol' "roaming the high seas with found family and magic and pirates" ache. It holds a very special place in my heart!

FINAL THOUGHTS

28. Latest bind

See 22! But for funsises, I'm also ridiculously fond of the binding before that, of @aboxthecolourofheartache's fic The Politeness of Princes, because I got to do lots of fun arts and crafty things with the cover!

This was my first year doing Binderary, and I had such a blast! It's so crazy seeing how far Renegade has come, from a little Discord for book shop chatting (ASH mentioned in one of the talks how it was just called, like, "Bookbinding Discord" at the beginning LOL) to now. We're well on our way to a proper organizational structure, with several yearly events, in-person meetups, and thousands of members all over the world. And we have so much more planned! It feels truly special, and I'm so grateful to everyone who makes this possible.

Okay!! That's all from me for today, folks. If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! <3

[vukovich]

ginger chew candy

voyeurism

go.

thx thx thx

You spelled "Draco Malfoy's Bad at Slang" wrong. It's okay. We all struggle. **GBK** (GirlBoss Kisses)

-- Trist a Phwaze

The muffled sounds of Harry and Malfoy shouting at each other only brought a tired sigh from Ron.

The shoulder of his Auror robes clung to the brick wall like weak Velcro. He watched the red wool fibres release the masonry.

This was the third time in as many months that Harry had insisted on changing their foot patrol route to include passing by Malfoy's new apothecary. 'New' to Malfoy. The building was one solid sneeze from collapsing out onto Horizont.

Ron sighed and stepped into the shop. The whole place was inside out and upside down. Boxes were stuck to the ceiling with magic that stretched like old glue.

"You know what, Potter?!" Draco was screaming, leaning over the wooden counter. "Let's have it out when you're off duty!"

Harry went on tiptoe, hips against the counter. "You know what?!" he shouted, jabbing a finger against Malfoy's chest. "I'd fuckin' love to!"

"Yeah?" Draco tugged on his tie knot. "Let's fight, then, Potter. Mano a mano."

"Why wait 'til I clock out?"

"Sure!" Draco snapped. "You want it to go, Potter?"

Ron snorted under his breath as he leaned in the doorway.

"What?" Harry said.

Draco had a death grip on the counter edge. "I said, do... you... want.. it... to..." he shoved Harry's finger away, "go?"

"Do I want it to go? Am I ordering takeaway?"

Ron hid another snort in his robe collar and pretended to inspect a wall of tinctures.

"Yeah," Draco snarled, puffing up his chest. "I'll fucking take you away."

Harry snorted this time and whispered over his shoulder to Ron, "Calgon, take me away."

Ron winked and said, "Think he'd rather take you out, to be honest."

Draco huffed like an annoyed horse. "I'm going to take you out!"

Harry cocked his head. "Is that so? Take me out? Really, Malfoy? Is that what you meant to say?"

"Yes! I am."

Ron checked the price on a teething ring and put it back. "Better do it proper, Malfoy. Flowers and all. You'll have me to deal with if you don't."

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron.

"Yeah!" Draco shouted. "I'm going to take you out, Potter. Flowers for your grave and everything," he sneered. "What kind of flowers do you like, Potter?"

"Uh... Roses?" Harry turned at the waist and flipped Ron off.

"Good! Because you are getting... You are getting... Ohhhh," he said wagging a finger. "You are going to get it."

"You give it to him, Malfoy!"

"Oh, I will! Rest assured!"

Harry hid his face in his hands.

Ron sniffed a satchel that reeked of pot, then slipped it in his pocket. "You go and fuck him up, Malfoy."

"Oh, I will! I will fuck him all up and down."

Ron took a second satchel as a future peace offering.

Harry bounced the toe of his shoe against the counter. "Malfoy? Uhm. Do you want to take me out on a date?"

"Oh. I suppose we could schedule it for a later date. You really should be off-duty for it. How is Friday? The 16th?"

"Uhm..." Harry said suspiciously. "Just to clarify, you want to take me out? On a date?"

"Yes. Be here on Friday at say, 5 PM?"

Harry nodded vacantly. "I..."

"And I am bringing roses," Draco said, as if roses were nuclear bombs. "For you."

"Uhm," Harry said, shaking his head, "what should I wear? A suit, or...? What?"

Draco chortled like an 8-bit level boss. "Ho ho, yes, you should wear a suit fit to be buried in, Potter, because," he stabbed Harry in the chest with a knobby finger, "I am going to lay... you... down."

Harry hid his face in his hands again. He turned to peek at Ron, shielding his face from Draco. He shook his head in a silent plea for help.

"Out?" Ron mouthed. "Lay you out?"

Harry gave him a helpless shrug.

Ron jerked his head at Draco to get his attention. "I'll bet you lay 'em real good, Malfoy."

"Yeah!" Draco barked.

Harry stomped a heel and turned to glare over his shoulder at Ron. "Stop."

Draco crossed his arms. "I do lay them, Weasley! The last man I laid had to call off work in the morning!"

Ron nodded sagely. "Hardcore."

Draco preened. "Hardest core you've ever seen. And Potter's gonna see it alllllll." He huffed at Harry.

In that moment something in Harry broke. Ron couldn't have said exactly what it was. Maybe his pride, or his dignity, or something like that.

He turned and whispered to Ron, "Can I borrow a pair of dress socks? I guess?"

Ron popped a candy from a bowl in his mouth. "Nope." Peppermint. "Buy your own damn socks. Besides, I think the Malfoy Menace here is gonna knock those socks right off you. Aren't you, Champ?"

Draco nodded sharply and stared daggers at Harry. "Damn straight."

"Least straight conversation I've ever heard," Ron muttered around the peppermint.

The bell above the door jingled, and Hermione walked in with a cranky Hugo on her hip. She stopped just inside the doorway and looked back and forth between the three men.

Draco yelled first. "We are going at it, Granger! This is not a sight for women and children!"

Baffled, she looked to Harry, but all he did was cringe. "Ron?" she asked.

Ron cleared his throat and said, "Harry and Malfoy are finally gonna fuck."

Draco squawked, "WHAT?!" like an irate goose.

Harry's blush looked febrile in nature.

Hermione snorted so hard, Ron briefly worried she'd dislodged a tonsil. She hid behind a display of teething biscuits to recover her composure. The boxes wobbled when she laughed.

Draco smoothed his palms down his shirtfront and visibly tried to slow his breathing.

"Well," he finally said. "Potter."

Harry squeaked.

"I hope," Draco said with fragile calm, "that you own a decent suit."

Even the backs of Harry's ears were scarlet. "I... Uh... I do."

"Good!" Draco said curtly. He took a shuddery inhale and eyed the doorway behind the counter. "I have to..." He gulped and took a long stride toward the door. "Stockroom!"

--

[novelmonger]

Okay, Harry Potter, Dumbledore, and the pairings of Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione (vs Harry/Hermione). Positive opinions, go.

-Rain

Harry Potter! Ma boi! What a solid Gryffindor, amirite? 8D This dude is like...quintessential hero, isn't he? I mean, how many seventeen-year-olds find out they've (from a certain point of view) been bred like a lamb for the slaughter, and then go, "Yes, actually, I am willing to sacrifice my life to weaken the most evil wizard who ever lived to the point that maybe someone who comes after me can finally defeat him." How many people who then, beyond anything they dared hope or expect, end up surviving this laying down of their own life, face off against their mortal enemy and pity him? And it's not just at the end of his journey that Harry is like this, either. Say what you will about him; he certainly has his flaws and his dumb moments, but if you think all the way back to when he was eleven and facing an evil wizard head-on for the first time...he didn't back down. He tells Hermione, "you better go get Dumbledore because I won't be able to hold him off forever," knowing there's a very strong chance he's about to die, and then just marches right in anyway. What a lad.

And then Dumbledore! Dumbledore is my favorite character - I'm not sure when I realized that, but it didn't change no matter what new things we discovered about him. He's such a complex and interesting character - very wise and strong, but also so incredibly flawed. He's the number one proponent of the power of love, and yet there are many things he's done that are not loving at all. In some ways, I think he actually looks up to Harry, because there's a certain selflessness to Harry that sometimes I think Dumbledore has lost along the way. Dumbledore has so many plans, so many layers, so much subterfuge and cleverness, so much looking at the big picture, like playing a chess game where you have to sacrifice certain pieces in order to win the game, that sometimes I think he loses sight of the little things that make the whole game worth it in the first place. And that is so fascinating. When you start the series, you just think of Dumbledore as that funny, quirky guy who is all-wise and makes everything turn out right in the end. But every book is like peeling back another layer of who this man is. I also love how strongly his presence is felt, even in books where Harry hardly comes face-to-face with him at all.

Harry/Ginny? The interesting thing about them is how Harry is an only child raised in an abusive home where everything had to be perfect (and he never was), while Ginny is the youngest of a huge family full of love where everything is messy and higgledy-piggledy. That's what draws Harry to the Weasleys in general, and it's a comforting thought to know that Harry has a permanent spot in a warm, welcoming family like hers.

One thing I love about the dynamic of the Golden Trio is that there's never any love triangle nonsense (except for a bit in DH, which is entirely the fault of Voldemort's lies and is quickly shown to be baseless). It becomes clear early on that Ron and Hermione have a thing for each other, and Harry and Hermione are friends. And you know what's kind of fun? When for various reasons throughout the series Ron is temporarily outside the circle of friendship (like when he and Harry aren't talking in GoF or when Ron leaves in DH), both Harry and Hermione are like, "You're a good friend, *sigh* but Ron, though...." I would argue that Ron is actually the glue that holds them together, not Harry, even though he's the main character.

Anyway, that being said, I love watching Ron and Hermione's relationship and way of relating to each other develop through the series. They go from bickering and refusing to speak to each other and being very stupid teenagers to learning how to communicate and support each other better. And while Harry's relationship with Hermione is never quite as antagonistic as Ron's...somehow, that doesn't seem right for either of them? Hermione seems to need someone to argue with, and Ron is better at doing that than Harry is ^^'

[zipperrants]

my Harry Potter/Royal dr as incorrect quotes since I can't remember anything out of context for this dr

Zipper: George, you love me, right? George: Normally I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere I won’t like.

George: Crushes are the worst. Whenever I’m near mine, I start acting stupid. Zipper: You always act stupid. Zipper: Zipper: Wait...

George: Thank you all for coming. Fred, wearing a hospital gown: When I heard you couldn't get laid, I dropped everything and came straight here. George: Well, I couldn't imagine anyone else being part of the "Fuck George Task Force". Zipper: Yeah, I interpreted that in a different way.

George: Love is weakness and an evolutionary mistake. Fred: You are literally making a Valentine’s day card for Zipper. George, pointing their hot glue gun towards Fred: You’re on thin fucking ice

Zipper: Ah, Hello again. We really need to stop meeting like this. Ron: Maybe we would, if you would sTOP BREAKING INTO MY FUCKING HOUSE!!!

Mattheo: I’m the smartest, wisest person in this group. Zipper: Really? Then why is your hand stuck in a vending machine? Mattheo: I paid for my Mars Bar, I’m getting my Mars Bar.

Draco: Am I a good person? No. But do I try to be better every single day? Also no.

George: My head hurts. Hermione: That’s your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity.

Hermione: Do I sound smart, or am I smart? Ron: You sound unbearable, to be perfectly honest.

Fred: And here we see Zipper and Draco in their natural habitat. Texting eachother variations of the word "garlic bread" to try to make eachother laugh. Zipper: Gaelic bread. Draco: Grueling brad. Zipper: Ha ha, glamorous beans.

Hermione: COMPANY IS COMING! I WANT THIS PLACE LOOKING LIKE DISNEY ON ICE IN ONE MINUTE! Hermione: GEORGE IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE YOUR BED THROW IT AWAY IT'S TOO LATE TO MAKE IT NOW! Hermione: GET RID OF THE COUCHES, WE CAN'T LET PEOPLE KNOW WE S I T !

Zipper, at Starbucks: Can I get a venti vanilla latte with um, seven espresso shots. Mattheo, in line behind them: Jesus Christ, just do cocaine.

*Zipper is considering cancelling plans, and Fred and Mattheo are advising them on what to do* Fred: Just don't go. Mattheo: Say you’re ill! Fred: Pretend to break your leg. Mattheo: Really break your leg!

Zipper: You ever see something that changes your life and you're just like "huh.." George: I saw you. Zipper: Honestly that's so cute and sweet but it kinda makes this awkward because I was gonna show you a picture of Draco in a turkey costume.

George: What's the most illegal thing you can do with one dollar? Mattheo: Exchange it for a hundred pennies, put them all in a sock, and then beat someone to death with it.

Ron: You know, it’s fine to admit you were wrong. Hermione: *Sipping their drink after accidentally adding salt* I just like the way it tastes.

George: What is your favourite mythical story? Zipper: The Story Of My Will To Live. George: I don’t think I’ve heard of that one before.

Mattheo: No thanks. Mattheo: I'm god.

Zipper: Not to be nsfw but I want someone to hold me while I sleep.

Harry: Think you can unlock the door for us? George: Sure, I just need a couple of things. Draco, can I have your credit card? Draco: Sure, just make sure not to bend it. George: Thanks. Now Mattheo, break down the door! Draco: Huh!?!

[sunnyie-eve]

3 | Slytherin Nerd

Series: Little Things

Paring: Mattheo Riddle x OFC Potter!

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: Might be a few mistakes

| MASTERLIST |

In the great hall while we were all studying the boys wouldn't shut up, and I've noticed over the past few days Pansy is the type of girl who tries to fit in with the guys.

"You're good at potions, right?" Mattheo sits next to me.

"Yeah. And you heard from the other Slytherin's that if you need help come to me?" I giggle. 

"Yeah."

 "Mattheo, who was your dad?" Draco asks. 

Also yeah, over the days Mattheo has been way more outgoing fitting right in with the other Slytherin's mostly Draco's group. "I don't know." I notice his body language changed, so I knew he was lying to Draco.

"Draco, I'm trying to help him study." I huff. 

"Sorry, nerd." I roll my eyes. 

"Hey, she may be a nerd but she's helped us pass assignments." Theo tells him. 

"He's right." Enzo nods his head. 

I grab my stuff and tell Mattheo to come with me down to an empty part of the table. "They never shut up." Mattheo says making me giggle. 

"You do the exact same thing all the time with them when you aren't the one trying to study." I explain to him. 

"Hey, at least I don't join the conversations about how purebloods are better wizards. I was told my biological parents did and my adoptive parents don't. Also when you think about it it's nasty." He makes a point making me laugh but then stop. 

"So your real parents were on the bad side? I think they were called Death Eaters." 

He sighs, "Actually both but my adoptive ones have changed their ways. My adoptive dad works in the Muggle world and my adoptive mom works in the Ministry of Magic that deals with Muggle-borns." He explains to me. 

"That's good. Since I grew up outside of magic and know nothing about what happened, I've been-," 

He cuts me off, "Reading anything you can find about what happened. I know. You're eyes are always glue to something." I laugh.

"Can't help I'm a book worm. Can I ask you a question?" He nods his head. "Why did you lie to Draco about your dad?" I whisper to him. 

"You noticed, huh." He whispers too so I nod my head. "It's just he was a really bad person and I don't wanna be like him or associated with him. Don't tell anyone I told you."

I nod my head, "I promise." 

He gives me a smile as there was a sudden boom making us all look at the Gryffindor table. "Are you excited for flying?" Mattheo changes the topic. 

"I'm sure us as first years aren't going to actually fly yet." I explain to him. 

"True." He says before we all start to get ready to go outside. 

Madame Hooch has tells us what to do by stepping up to the left side of our brooms then stick our right hand over the broom and say up. Harry gets his up right before me then a few seconds later Draco does too. 

"Well you seem like you got it down." Theo laughs at me. 

I couldn't help but laugh when Ron's hits him in the face. "Shut up, Harry. You too Hazel." Ron glares over at me.

Once we got a hold of our brooms she told us to mount it and grip it tight. She wants us just to hover for a minute but Neville doesn't have control and takes off and ends up hurting himself. 

"Draco that's not yours." I see him pick up Neville's Remembrall. 

"Did you see his face? Maybe if that fat lump had given this a squeeze, he would have remembered to fall on his fat ass." Draco says making the Slytherin's laugh. 

Harry goes up to him saying to give it back but Draco doesn't want to. Draco fly's off then Harry goes after him. "Your brother can fly well for his first time." Sienna walks up to me. 

"Well? No, great for his first time." Willow joins us. 

"You can't stand him." Mattheo laughs. 

"How can you tell?" I look at him. 

"I just can."

When Harry comes back with the ball McGonagall takes Harry away but I don't think he will get in trouble. While I walk around school with the girls, Theo and Enzo come up to us. "Did you hear?" Enzo asks us. 

"What?" Sienna asks. 

"Harry is the new Gryffindor Seeker." Enzo tells us. 

"No way! First years never make the house teams." She freaks out. 

"I feel like it shouldn't be far." Theo rolls his eyes. 

"Well if he's really good then it's fine. He's got a natural talent." I speak up. 

"Of course you will say that he's your brother." Theo gives me a look. 

"Of course you will say what you said because you're jealous he's a natural at flying." I snap back. 

"There's a Slytherin characteristic I've been waiting to see." He smirks at me. 

"Shut up, Theodore." I smile leaving them going over to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I heard the good news." I grab Harry by his shoulders. 

"I just told Harry it's in your blood. Follow me." Hermione leads us to a part of the school and points something out to us. 

We see our dad was all a seeker. "Wow, you get to be part of something dad was apart of." I smile at Harry. 

"Hey, next year you should try out to be the seeker for Slytherin. Maybe you are just as good too. Siblings rivals." Hermione laughs. 

"Well I don't know if I'm any good. I didn't get to get my feet off the ground." I explain to them. "

But like Harry you got the broom to go up in your hand right away." Ron adds before they go to there common room and I go to mine.

"Where did you go off to?" Enzo asks as I join them. 

"Hermione showed Harry and I that our dad was also the seeker for Gryffindor." I take a seat.

"That Mudblood." Draco makes a disgusting face and a few laugh with him. 

"You can be an ass with your Pureblood supremacy but I want no part in that. So try to stay quiet when I'm around you. It's funny you think you're better when in reality it's just a bunch of marrying into the same family multiple of times. Basically every Pureblood wizard is related to each other some way. Sorry but I don't want to marry my cousin." I snap standing up going to the other side of the room. 

"Hazel..." Pansy follows me. 

"What?" I open my book. 

"I know we have different beliefs and when you are around me... I will try to control it because I think it's an advantage to have a Potter as a friend." I look up at her.

"So you just see me as an advantage?" I say and she's lost for words. "Pansy, you are nice when you aren't being a mean girl. But I don't wanna be friends with someone like that because I grew up getting picked on by my cousin. Now please tell the others I want to be alone." She just looks down and leaves. 

I sit alone and read my book for awhile till someone comes sits next to me. "I really want to know why the sorting hat put you here." Theo closes my book. 

"Because I have stronger Slytherin traits over my Gryffindor traits. You and a few others only ask that because I'm not a bully like you. Being a Slytherin it's not about being a bully... it's about the ambition, resourcefulness, determination, and cleverness we have. From what I've gather Slytherin only had a bad reputation because of rude bullies like you all." I explain to him.

Theo just starts to shake his head smiling at me, "Hazel Potter, I think you are trying to make me a better person." He laughs. "Only around you though. I got a reputation with the guys." He gets up leaving me. 

"Mattheo." I say his name as he walks pass me. 

"Thought you wanted to be alone." He walks over to me. 

"Theo, ruined it by coming over." I laugh as he sits next to me. 

"I know I'm you're favorite out of the guys." He laughs making me look at him. 

"Can you read minds or something?" I raise an eyebrow at him. 

"Nope, I can just read your eyes." I nod my head looking at him.

-

"Morning." Enzo walks by my side as we head to class. 

"Morning. Where's your two other Musketeers?" I don't see Theo and Mattheo. 

"Where's your two?" He looks for Willow and Sienna. 

"Getting ready still." I say as we walk into Professor Flitwick class. "You're here early." I see Draco sitting with his dogs. 

"I beat you here? Wow." He laughs as I take a seat with Enzo. 

Suddenly Mattheo and Theo come crashing in bickering and pushing each other. "I called it first." Theo pulls Mattheo back and rushes to the seat next to me. 

"Fine, you win." Mattheo sits on the other side of Enzo. 

"What?" I ask confused. 

"A bet/race." They both say together. 

"Okay..."

During class we go over what we've been learning and now get to levitate at feather. "Swish and Flick." We all repeat with him. "And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa." He tells us and we all try. I was first to get it and the boys call me a nerd again but Flitwick only notices that Hermione got.

As Theo goes to say something Seamus makes another explosion with his feather this time. "Professor, Hazel levitated her feather before Granger did." Theo speaks up making Flitwick apologize for not seeing me first. 

"You didn't have to do that." I turn my head to look at him. 

"I wanna make sure my friend got noticed." He smiles.

 After class we walk behind Ron, Harry, Seamus and Dean. "She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends." Ron says making her rush past them. 

"I think she heard you." Harry tells him. 

"Really guys?" I shake my head at them going after Hermione. "Don't let people get to you. You're smart and were just trying to help him say it right." I say as we both enter the bathroom. 

"I get made fun of for being smart." She wipes her tears away. 

"I think it's more because you show off how smart you are." I laugh. "Hey, I get made fun for being smart too." I try to help her out. "If you need a friend to talk to I'm here for you. I could really use friends outside of my house because they will drive me insane at some point." I say making her chuckle a little bit. 

"Thank you, Hazel." She smiles. 

"I know the feelings of wanting to cry alone so I'll leave you be." I back out to the door. 

"Thanks for being the first to let me call them a friend." She sniffles. 

"Of course." I leave the bathroom. 

"Your mu- your friend okay?" Theo asks waiting for me in the hall with Mattheo and Enzo. 

"She just needs some space to cry. I know the feeling very well." I tell them before we go on our way to finish our classes.

-

"Potter, did you take notes during potions?" Draco asks me as we all eat dinner. 

"Did you really just asked her that?" Pansy gives him a look. 

"You heard what I asked. So?" Draco asks. 

"Yes, Malfoy, I did. And no, you can't copy them." I smile at him. 

"Why not?" He he stops eating. 

"Because instead of paying attention you were messing around with Crabbe and Goyle." I tell him. 

"You can copy mine." Theo lets him know. 

"But they aren't your notes... You copied from Hazel." Mattheo laughs. 

"They're in my book so they are my notes." He shrugs his shoulders. 

"Troll! In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought of know." Professor Quirrell comes running in then passes out. We all panic so Dumbledore yells for us to be silent then lead to our dorms by our prefects.

"I wanna see it." Theo stops me and Mattheo. 

"Are you crazy?" I shout at him. 

"Where is your brother going?" We see Harry and Ron run off so the guys drag me to follow them. "We lost them because you're so slow." Theo whines as we walk around empty halls. 

"I don't want to get in trouble." I say then hear yelling. "Hermione!" I run ahead of the boys and they follow me. 

As I enter the bathroom I see Harry on the trolls shoulders. "Harry!" I shout as the boys join me. 

"Ew." Ron, Theo, and Mattheo say as Harry's wand goes in the trolls nose. 

"Do something!" Harry shouts as the troll holds him upside down. 

"What?" Ron looks around. "

Anything!" Harry tells. 

Ron pulls out his wand, "Flitwick's class!" Theo shouts at Ron. 

"Swish and Flick." I tell Ron.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Ron stops the troll from hitting Harry with his club. It falls down on its head and knocks him out. Harry crawls backwards and Mattheo helps him move out of the way. 

"You okay?" I ask him and Hermione. 

"Is it dead?" Theo asks. 

"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry tells him then pulls out his wand. 

Professor McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape come rushing in. "Explains yourselves, all five of you!" She points at us. 

"Well, what it is-," We all five start to speak. 

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione speaks up making us all look at her. She lies saying she went looking for the troll because she read about them and thought she could handle it. "But I was wrong. If they hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead." Hermione tells her.

"5 points will be taken from Gryffindor. As for you five... I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. 5 points... will be awarded to each of you... for sheer dumb luck." We all leave going to our dorms. 

"Thanks for helping us." Harry says as we get to the part we split off. 

"Theo wanted to find it just for fun but then I heard Hermione yell so I ran fast." I smile to her. 

"Thank you." She smiles back. 

"Anytime." I wave goodbye. 

"We just got 15 house points because I wanted to see the troll." Theo wants a high five. 

"We got them because Granger said we helped save her." Mattheo smacks him as we make our way to the dorm.

[eyesaremosaics]

Having helped raise a girl from six years of age to 12… it’s been an emotional ride. I’ve mostly helped raise boys—and been a great success at it. My mother wounding/female betrayal trauma is so strong that it is making it hard for me to relate to her as a growing person.

I had such a horrible time at her age, and she is becoming the kind of girl I loathed in those times. A mean girl. A popular girl. We were so close when she was little… all those nights staying up late reading Harry Potter together. She was such a lonely, misunderstood child. So imaginative, with a big heart. So tender of feeling. How she would cling to me like she never wanted me to leave. She used to tell me I was the only one who understood her.

Now she dismisses me like an unwanted thing. It’s a part of the age, but it’s so hard. It makes me think of that scene from Toy Story 2 when the little girl leaves Jesse in a box on the side of the road…

When somebody loved me

Everything was beautiful

Every hour we spent together

Lives within my heart

And when she was sad

I was there to dry her tears

And when she was happy, so was I

When she loved me

Picking flowers up by twin peaks during the pandemic. Braiding her hair at night after a long day. Doing tarot cards together, going to the little mermaid sing along. Pretending to be mermaids at the children’s quarter playground. Lost among the artificial waves. Climbing them in all their statuesque beauty.

Spending hours making props for her Harry Potter birthday. The brick wall of platform 9 3/4. All the hours of drizzling glue gun glue over paper towel rolls, painted starkly white with electric tea lights to give the illusion of floating candles. Teaching her improv games, taking her to see the theatre. Her ambitions to be an actress just as I was…

Through the summer and the fall

We had each other, that was all

Just she and I together

Like it was meant to be

How she used to tell her parents that she was glad to have me help her through her troubles in life. She would push away her own mother and say she wanted me when she was hurt. She would run into my arms. When I left for Paris for ten days, she chased my Uber down the street crying. She had such a hard time without me being there.

And when she was lonely

I was there to comfort her

And I knew that she loved me

The sleepover parties, the makeovers. The trips to the mall, pin curling her hair for decade day. Lending her my vintage clothes. Sharing all my stories, how hungry she was to listen to them. One day when picked her up from school she said: “I wish you were my mom.”

So the years went by

I stayed the same

But she began to drift away

I was left alone

Still, I waited for the day

When she'd say, "I will always love you"

Taking her to her first school dance. Having her tell me when she first got her period. She told me first that the boy she liked asked to be her boyfriend. I was there when she was bullied at her last school, and was there to see her become popular at her new school. I was glad to see her shine. Just as I knew she was always meant to. How beautiful she is becoming. Such a young lady now.

Days turned into weeks, months, and now years that she has grown distant. This is what happens with children in middle school. I hated middle school so much. It was so traumatic for me. Glad as I am that she is enjoying it, the difference seems to divide us further. We relate less and less.

Lonely and forgotten

Never thought she'd look my way

And she smiled at me and held me

Just like she used to do

Like she loved me

When she loved me

There are moments when she puts her head on my shoulder still. Or randomly asks me to do her hair, or tells me something personal. I miss how close we used to be. I wonder if she will even be sad the day that I leave.

How awful it feels, to be disposable.

My grandmother said: “she doesn’t show it, but I bet she will fall apart when that day comes.”

I just don’t know…sometimes it all feels like a dream. It went by so fast. I always care more deeply about others, than they care about me. The ultimate agony. I hate feeling like all my love and effort went unappreciated. Not that I give expecting anything in return, but a little gratitude would be nice. Taking on a “motherly” role… makes me realize how thankless of a job motherhood is.

Grieving the loss of that little girl, and realizing that this is a part of life. The cycle goes forward, and as children become autonomous, they let you go and don’t even realize. The empty nest syndrome is real. Having felt it more than once in my life… has made me wonder if having children is in the cards for me. I love kids, and they love me, but they grow into people… and it’s hard to let go of who they were when they were small. It’s so hard for me to detach.

I let her be, I give her space. The silence grows between us with each passing day. Time rots like old wood.

She doesn’t need me anymore.

“I’m always going to need you” she once told me when she was little. I hope in her heart of hearts, that’s still true.

It’s so hard to keep opening my heart to women, just to be abandoned or betrayed by them. The wound just grows deeper as I age. In spite of my active resistance. I know she is just a child. I would never put this on her, but tonight I feel sad about all of this. The purge was necessary.

[votivecandleholder]

Re-create the Magical World of Harry Potter with Floating Candles

New Post has been published on https://votivecandleholder.com/diy-candles/re-create-the-magical-world-of-harry-potter-with-floating-candles

Re-create the Magical World of Harry Potter with Floating Candles

Who doesn’t remember the unforgettable moment in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when Professor Quirrell leads the first-year students down a dark hallway filled with hundreds of floating candles?

Harry Potter fans, rejoice! You can now bring a bit of magic into your home by using floating candles, just like they do in the movies. Whether you are hosting a magical themed event, decorating for Halloween, or simply want to bring a touch of fantasy into your living space, these enchanting floating candles will certainly do the trick.

Harry Potter Floating Candles DIY

Read on for a brief overview of how to make floating candles like those in Harry Potter. Let’s get started and light up the night like wizards do!

Table of Contents

1 Gather Your Materials

2 Materials Needed

3 Instructions

4 Using Floating Candles for Events & Decorations

5 DIY Harry Potter Floating Candles

Gather Your Materials

To make your own floating candles, you will need a few objects from around the house or any online store.

Materials Needed

A pair of scissors.

Wax paper.

Glue gun and glue sticks.

Tea lights or wax candles.

Fishing line or string.

Tape measure (optional).

Ruler (optional).

Instructions

Once you have all your supplies, it’s time to get started!

Step 1: Cut out several circles from the wax paper using the scissors. These will be used as the “floating” candle bases. Make sure that these circles are about one inch in diameter—this will ensure that they are big enough for a tea light or wax candle to fit on top of them without tipping over.

Step 2: Use a glue gun to attach a tea light or wax candle to each circle. Make sure that all of the candles are securely attached before proceeding to step 3.

Step 3: Measure and cut several pieces of fishing line or string, making sure that they are long enough so that when they are hung, they will reach the desired height above your head. You can also use a ruler if you want to make sure that all of your strings are cut at exactly the same length.

Step 4: Tie each piece of string to a candle base and hang them up in your desired location. The candles should now be suspended in midair, creating an enchanting atmosphere for your next gathering!

Using Floating Candles for Events & Decorations

Floating candles look beautiful when used for events or decorations—especially when placed in multiple locations across an area or room. You can combine both real flames as well as artificial battery operated options depending on your needs and desired effect.

They also look great placed alongside other decorations such as flowers, garlands, banners, etc., but make sure that none of these items come too close to an open flame as this could result in fire hazards. If possible, place all flammable items away from areas where open flames may be present when displaying your floating candles arrangements at an event or gathering space.

DIY Harry Potter Floating Candles

Conclusion

Floating candles are unique decorations that can instantly add some atmosphere and flair to any space—even more so if you make them yourself! They are perfect for creating magical scenes reminiscent of Harry Potter movies or providing whimsical decorations for special occasions such as weddings and birthdays parties alike. So why not give them a try? After all, we could all use a little magic once in a while!

[driftveil-city]

DON'T CATCH FEELINGS - DRARRY

CHAPITRE UNE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “Oh fuck you Malfoy,” Harry finally retorted while he sat at the Gryffindor table. He’d been trying to keep his cool, but it didn’t take long for his anger to bubble over. “Shut your weasel-ass with all this stupid-“ 

 Draco stood up on the table, flashing his wand. “Say one more thing Potter, and I’ll glue your mouth shut.” 

 And with that, the fight was over. Draco stalked off with his gang, Harry was left stewing in his anger, his friends clearly fed up with the constant fighting. 

 “Why don’t you ever threaten him like that?” Ron asked, mouth full of food. “Yknow, with your wand n stuff, or your creepy snake talk,” 

 Hermione shot him a glare. “That’s certainly not the only solution to this problem, Ron. We could have a truce or something, make a deal,” 

 Ron laughed. The food sputtered out of his mouth. “As if that would work! Ha! A treaty with Malfoy!”

 Harry rolled his eyes and rested his head against the table. Things with Malloy were a lot more complicated than most thought. 

 See, if Harry didn’t make such a angry fuss over Malfoy’s jeering, it’d be quite obvious that he liked him. 

 As for Malfoy, he’d always been an unknown. Harry wasn’t sure what he could really do, except for defend himself in any way possible. 

 That was until last night. 

 Draco and Harry, in the corridor fighting again. Only this time they turned into a broom closet and, looking back, had quite an interesting encounter to say the very least about what happened. 

 Harry didn’t remember the very least though. He remembered all of it, every single second. The worst part so far was eating, he couldn’t get the taste of Malfoy off his lips. 

 He thought maybe the next day he’d be shown a little respect by Malfoy but no. No acknowledgement of the night in the broom closet. Of who started it or if it was even real or just a moment of human weakness. 

 Nothing.

 And that made Harry genuinely mad.

[messers-moony]

Secrets | R.L

Paring: Remus Lupin X Wife!Reader

Summary: Y/n withholds her past from the Order of the Phoenix but it all comes loose after one eavesdropped conversation with Sirius.

Standing in the kitchen of Grimmauld Twelve after cleaning up dinner was always a fun experience. The Aurors finally allowed themselves to relax, even if it was just for a moment. Everyone could feel the amount of ease in the room, including the children. Harry Potter always remained grateful for these moments to relax. But he was never far from the woman who raised him, Y/n Lupin.

Remus was having an animated conversation with Sirius, Nymphadora, and Mad-Eye. Meanwhile, Molly, Arthur, Y/n, and the kids all spoke together, just joking around. Y/n couldn’t believe that Harry was fifteen. It felt like yesterday when he had gotten spit up all over her shirt while she tried to feed him. It was astonishing to watch Harry grow into the man Lily and James always wanted.

“ Professor Lupin! “ The Weasley twins called in symphony making both Lupins turn their way, “ The female Professor Lupin. “ Fred specified, and Remus chuckled.

The twins pulled her away into a secluded corner, “ Did you get them? “ George queried, and Y/n scoffed, “ Of course, I did. What do you take me for? A liar? “

“ Absolutely not! “ Fred replied, “ They’re all in your room. Make good work of those fireworks. “ Y/n whispered, and both boys were jumping with joy.

They bowed, “ Only for you, Professor. “

Both boys ran off to presumably go and check their new items. Y/n chuckled at their antics when arms wrapped around her waist. A chin was rested on her right shoulder, and the scratch of scruff tickled her jaw. Caramel-brown hair fading and flecked with grey obscured part of her vision. Two hands were rested on her waist—the left hand adoring a very familiar ring.

“ What have you given those mischievous boys? “ Remus asked, “ Nothing. I’m not quite sure what you’re on about? “ Y/n answered, turning to face her husband.

His eyebrow quirked, “ Okay, I made a trip to a particular store. I got them some fireworks. “ Y/n informed, “ Fireworks? “ Remus questioned.

“ They’re magical fireworks. “ Y/n stated, “ The boys like to experiment, so I let them have their fun. “

“ And that’s why you refuse to give them detention. “ Remus rolled his eyes, “ I do give them detention! “ Y/n exclaimed, pouting slightly.

“ I lecture them about all the things they did wrong. “ Y/n added before Remus could speak, “ And then I tell them how to do it better. “ She mumbled.

Her husband laughed, “ Oh, there's the marauder in you, my dear. “

There was a prominent silence between them before Remus spoke up again, “ Have you told Harry about your former last name? “

“ No, I haven’t. “ Y/n swallowed, “ He doesn’t need to know. “

“ I think he’d like to know. “ Remus replied as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, “ I think he’d like to hear all the stories about your twin brother. “

She shook her head, “ Sirius can tell him. “

“ Sirius can’t tell him everything, love. “ Remus informed sweetly, “ Only you knew James Potter since he was born. “

“ I know, I just- it’s hard. “ Y/n bit her lower lip, “ I know, darling. “ Remus responded as he pulled her lower lip from her teeth with his thumb, gently.

They stared at each other for a moment before someone interrupted, “ Y/n, I think you should talk to Sirius. “ Molly informed, and she furrowed her eyebrows, “ He showed Harry the Black Family tree. “

Molly left, and Y/n kissed her husband on the cheek, “ Talk about this later. “ Y/n whispered, leaving him.

She walked around the house. Sirius was standing in the doorway, about to close the black wooden door. Y/n only stood a couple of feet away, but he was hesitant. He didn’t want to shut the door just yet. So much history laid on the wallpaper of the room. So many awful memories. Y/n laid a hand on his shoulder gently.

“ Come on. “ Y/n beckoned as she pulled him into the room, and he shut the door behind them, “ Colloportus. “ She muttered, locking the door.

Sirius stood in front of Regulus’s name, “ Go on, speak. “ Y/n said, and Sirius sighed.

“ It was hard. Losing him, I mean. Even though we didn’t have the greatest relationship, it still felt like I should’ve been there. I should’ve protected him. He was my little brother, for Merlin’s sake. “ Sirius ranted, “ Maybe if I stayed. Maybe if I took him with me that night, this would’ve never happened.

“ Losing a brother is hard. “ Y/n began, “ It’s a pain I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, but people die. People come and go. Truth be told, there isn’t much you can do about it. “

“ My brother wouldn’t have wanted me to live my life suffering. That’s why I married Remus even if he wasn’t by my side. Even if he wasn’t the one walking me down the aisle like he promised. “ Y/n continued, and tears streamed down Sirius’ face, “ Harry still doesn’t know. “

Sirius turned faster than a threatened spider, “ What? Haven’t you told him? “

“ No. He doesn’t know. I’m Y/n Lupin to him and everyone else aside from the adults. “ She shook her head, “ To be fair, it feels nice. “

“ Call me daft, but it feels nice not to be Pity Potter anymore. It feels nice to be Professor Lupin. “ Y/n shrugged, “ You raised him, and you lied to him. “ Sirius retorted.

“ I’m not lying to him; I’m just not telling him the entire truth. “ Y/n corrected, and Sirius turned back to the family tree, “ You were never Pity Potter. “ Sirius muttered.

Y/n chuckled, “ Everyone pitied me after they died. Poor Y/n Potter. She lost her parents at seventeen, lost her brother at twenty-one, became an unexpected parent at twenty-one with her brother's son. People didn’t have to say ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ for me to see the pity in their eyes. “

“ When Regulus died, nobody even said I’m sorry. “ Sirius whispered, “ Nobody knew Regulus like you did. “ Y/n replied.

“ Regulus wasn’t meant to die. He shouldn’t have died. But he did, Sirius. “ Y/n stated, and Sirius turned to her with tear-filled eyes, “ And if your brother was anything like mine, he wouldn’t want you to sulk your entire life. He wouldn’t want you to ask yourself ‘what if’; he’d want you to live your life. “

She took steps in front of the crying man, her hands placed on his shoulders, “ Regulus Black and James Potter didn’t die because they wanted us to suffer. They died because they wanted us to live. “

“ So please. Live for them. Don’t let their death be in vain. “ Y/n said, taking Sirius in for a hug which he returned gratefully, “ Harry loves you. He likes having his godfather in his life. Live for Harry. “

Sirius nodded, and they pulled apart, “ Remus got really lucky. “

Y/n laughed, “ James used to say the same thing. “

When they left the room, it felt like time stopped. Everyone stared at them. Sirius and Y/n were given glares aside from the adults. The children looked betrayed. Harry looked almost in tears. The Weasley twins looked guilty. It seemed to freeze, and Remus looked stressed. Molly and Arthur looked disappointed in their children. Mad-Eye looked unimpressed. Nymphadora looked intrigued. Remus and Y/n exchanged looks, his saying everything– he found out.

Y/n coughed, “ Why- Why is everyone staring? “

“ You lied! “ Harry’s voice sounded heartbroken, betrayed, “ I never lied to you, Harry. I just- you never asked, and there was never a suitable time. “ Y/n tried to explain.

The extendable ear in Fred’s hand told her everything, and she took a breath, “ Harry, can we talk about this in private, please? “

Remus walked forward and took Harry from the shoulders, guiding him to their shared bedroom; once Harry was out of earshot, the Weasley twins stared at their Professor, “ I’m- I’m so sorry, Professor. We didn't- “

“ I’m not mad at you. “ Y/n interrupt, “ I’m not mad at any of you. To clear the rumors, yes, James Potter was my twin brother- “

Before Y/n could continue, Sirius interjected, “ And Y/n Lupin is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. “

“ She has suffered a more remarkable feat than any other witch I know. Y/n was the one who found Marlene McKinnon’s family dead. She watched her best friend bleed out right in front of her eyes. “ Sirius continued, and Y/n swallowed, looking at the ground, “ She watched Frank, and Alice Longbottom get tortured to insanity. “

“ And finally Y/n suffered losing her other half, James Potter and her sister in law, Lily Evans or Lily Potter. “ Sirius put two hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her, “ So before you glare at her, understand what she’s been through. Understand that she’s been tortured, hurt, and killed in more ways than one. “

Sirius still wasn’t finished, “ Her husband is a werewolf. Her husband has hurt her before, and she bears the scars. Her brother was killed. Her brother by choice- “ Sirius chuckled before he continued, “ Was sent to Azkaban for twelve years, and someone she trusted betrayed us all. “

“ Y/n Euphemia Potter-Lupin has endured more pain than everyone in this room combined. But Y/n Euphemia Potter-Lupin is always the one holding us together, the glue to this horrid new world we live in. So please, before you glare. “ Sirius repeated, “ Understand that she’s been tortured, hurt, and killed in more ways than one. “

Hesitantly, Y/n raised her head to see everyone almost in tears. The children weren’t meant to know; they weren’t meant to hear all the suffering she’s endured. It wasn’t their time yet. But as she looked up, she saw Harry and Remus. They hadn’t entirely made it to the bedroom before Sirius began talking. Tears trailed down her husband's cheek, remembering that faithful night he had broken his vows and attacked her. She didn’t blame him.

Hermione was fully sobbing. The Weasley boys had light tears falling down their cheeks. Molly cried in Arthur’s arms while he tried withholding his tears. Nymphadora and Mad-Eye looked astonished. Ron was brought into a hug by Hermione but remained shocked. Y/n didn’t quite know what to do from here. They had just heard her entire life story.

“ I’m sorry you all had to hear that. “ Y/n chuckled, “ I didn’t know Sirius was going to give you a biography on how the first wizarding war went for me. “

She swallowed, “ I’m sorry for keeping this secret from you guys. And Harry, because I know you’re only a floor above me right now in the comfort of Remus’ arms. You need to know that I love you from the bottom of my heart. I just- I just didn’t want you to find out and get too excited. “

“ But I’m your biological Aunt. I fought Dumbledore tooth and nail to take care of you. I remember sobbing and wailing in Remus’ arms because you were right there, right in front of my face, yet I couldn’t have you. “ Y/n explained, “ Vernon and Petunia are awful people. You deserved love, and you wouldn’t have gotten it there. You would’ve been an outsider your entire life. “

Y/n was sobbing as Sirius rubbed her back, her words choked up, “ B- But, I love you, Harry James Potter. “

Harry left Remus’s arms and ran down the flight of stairs. His arms took around his Aunt. The fifteen-year-old held onto his aunt closer than he could ever imagine. Remus walked down the steps slowly to take his place beside Sirius. Harry pulled away slightly, and Y/n wiped her face. Harry’s eyes had that glint of mischief James always had, and it made her want to sob all over again, but Harry spoke before she could.

“ What was your marauder name? “

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 106: Eyes

"Malfoy," a voice called as his hair was pushed out of his face and his chin was tilted slightly. "Malfoy," the voice repeated.

Draco was quite certain he must be hallucinating, there was no way that it was who it sounded like.

"Draco," that voice said again, "Wake up."

His eyes fluttered open and he groaned in pain as the light seared through his retinas and straight into his brain.

"Hey," Harry bloody Potter said.

He opened his mouth and spit out a bit of blood.

"Merlin," Potter said, "Do you think you can stand?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "Yes. I'm fine. Thank you for your assistance, Potter."

The other boy huffed a laugh, "Sure. Come on. Let me help you get to Madam Pomfrey."

He shook his head, "Don't let me keep you from your important life," Draco said as he stood up and reached out to steady himself on the wall.

"Draco," he said.

Looking through his swollen eye, he tried to glare at the other boy. "Harry." he parroted.

"You don't have to be so stubborn," he said with a laugh.

He took a step toward the infirmary and his knees buckled.

Potter caught him and put an arm around his waist. "Come on."

(Read more below the cut)

"What? No one else to save?" Draco asked through clenched teeth as he started to hobble off down the hallway using Potter as little as possible.

"Not at the moment, no," Potter quipped. "You want to tell me who did this to you?"

He let out a humorless chuckle, "It doesn't matter."

Potter hummed and caught Draco when he started to slip a bit. "I've got you," he murmured.

Draco tried not to let the words go to his head.

----------

After they'd reached the infirmary Potter tried again to get Draco to tell him what had happened but there was honestly no point.

Madam Pomfrey had shooed Potter out and then Draco had a few hours of peace and quiet while his wounds were healed. Fortunately he had a good book in his school bag, which Potter had carried up for him.

"Why don't you stay over night, love," Madam Pomfrey said and Draco looked up from his book. "You're not quite ready to go back yet and it's just about bed time anyway."

"Thank you," he replied, giving her a little smile before going back to his book.

Shortly thereafter, the door to the infirmary flew open and Draco's head snapped up. Normally an entry of that magnitude meant that something horrible had happened.

But it was just Potter, looking thunderous as he stormed over to Draco's bed.

"Madam Pomfrey's just gone to bed," he said as he closed his book and set it on his lap. "If you've come here to inflict more damage, perhaps you could wait until the morning for her sake."

That stopped the other man in his tracks. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Just, whatever it is that's made you look murderous, I'm sure it's warranted but I do think that Madam Pomfrey deserves a good rest, don't you?"

"I'm not," he shook his head, "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Oh."

Potter rubbed a hand over his face. "I found Smith."

"Ah," he replied.

"He said that you didn't even raise your wand to cast a shield charm to protect yourself," Potter said as though he was personally offended by this.

Draco shrugged.

"Why?" Potter asked. "Hermione thinks it's because the Ministry has told you what spells you can and can't cast, and if that's the case, I'll write a letter to Kingsley right now-"

"It's not because of the Ministry," he interrupted.

"Then why-" he started before pulling over a chair and plopping down next to Draco's bed, "Why do you keep letting this happen to you?"

"I don't see them," Draco replied, staring at his hands that were twisting together in his lap.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't see them," Potter replied.

He shook his head, "Why does it matter?"

"Draco," he said, "You can tell me-"

"There's nothing to tell," he snapped.

"Look, I know that the war was hard on all of us-"

"You have no idea what the war was like for people like me," he interrupted, trying to keep his breathing under control and his voice low.

"No, I suppose you're right," Potter replied and Draco couldn't help but look over at him. "Would you like to tell me?"

"No!" he exclaimed. "There is nothing to tell! Just like there's no reason for me to tell you who keeps cursing me. And there is no reason for me to tell you that I don't stop them because I deserve it!"

They both sat in stunned silence; Draco breathing heavily, his heart hammering away in his chest and Potter just stared at him.

Potter broke first, "You-"

"Don't," Draco said, shaking his head. "Circe, Potter, don't say it. Don't tell me that I don't deserve it because we both know that isn't true."

"Draco," he breathed and it was like he was shoving a jagged, rusty knife straight through his chest.

"Don't," he repeated, begging this time.

"Draco, listen to me."

He shook his head and to his mounting horror a tear spilled from his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," Potter said.

"Don't," he begged, wrapping his arms around his stomach as though it could stop the way his entire body felt like it was unraveling. "People died-"

"Yes," Potter agreed. "People died on both sides. From your actions, from death eaters actions, from the Order's actions, from my actions; people died. You never actually killed anyone, though. You don't have it in you."

"Potter, I am culpable for-"

"You never killed anyone." Potter repeated. "You didn't want to hurt people, you didn't want to kill people, you just wanted to protect your mum."

"Don't." He shook his head, "You don't understand."

"I actually killed someone," the other boy replied.

"The Dark Lord doesn't coun-"

"When I was eleven," Potter started and Draco was so shocked by those words that he didn't even interrupt. "You remember all of the commotion at the end of the year or first year?"

He nodded slowly.

"I killed Professor Quirrell," he said. "Long story short, because of the blood magic protecting me, he couldn't touch me and it killed him."

"But that's not-"

"Second year, Tom Riddle was sucking Ginny's life force so that he could come back, I killed him. I stabbed the horocrux with a basilisk fang and I didn't even think about it," he continued.

"But-"

"Last year, Pettigrew died because he owed me a life debt and he tried to kill me."

"But-"

"I not only was responsible for Voldemort's death the first time and the second time, I was responsible for killing seven pieces of his soul."

"But it's not the same!" he finally managed to get in.

"Why?"

"Because you were on the right side of things and I wasn't!"

The other boy shook his head, "Yeah but it's not like you wanted to be on that side."

"When I was young-"

"Oh sure," he agreed, "you were a complete arse. But we wouldn't have won if you had turned me in, if you hadn't given me your wand, if you'd killed Dumbledore. It's not who you are any more."

"Still," Draco whispered. "I fixed that closet."

He nodded, "And I can't count the number of things that I've done to cause deaths. Godric, Draco," he shook his head, "I don't sleep well as it is, but I'd never sleep if I held myself responsible for all of the horrible things that happened because of my actions."

"Potter-"

"Look, it doesn't have to happen in a day, but you can't keep doing this, Draco. You can't keep letting people hurt you to atone for your perceived sins."

He let his head fall back against the pillows. As much as he would love to live in the delusions that Potter was offering he couldn't imagine that world actually existed.

"Be my friend."

"Excuse me?" he asked, looking over at the other boy.

"Be my friend," Potter said. "Please."

"Why?"

He sighed, "Because..." he trailed off.

"I'm not a broken thing for you to fix."

"No," he agreed easily. "I'm the broken thing."

Draco stared at him, "You make no sense to me."

Potter grinned like he'd complimented him.

"Will it shut you up if I say yes?" he grumbled.

"For now," he replied with a nod.

"Fine."

"Alright," Potter said, sitting back and making himself comfortable in the chair.

"What are you doing?"

He gave him a little grin, "Being a friend. You're stuck with me like glue now."

"That's a boyfriend not a friend, you're confused."

Potter shrugged and said through a yawn, "Boyfriend, then. That title is fine with me."

"What-?" he started.

But Potter leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead as though it was the most natural thing in the world and every word that Draco knew evaporated. "Good night, Draco Malfoy. Sleep well."

He was so stunned that he said nothing in reply and by the time he'd gotten his thoughts in any semblance of order Potter was fast asleep; his head resting on his hand as he snored.

Draco shook his head and decided that he would just have to wait until the morning to straighten all of this out.

For now, he decided that it might be alright to spend the next few hours with the tiny, fragile ball of joy unfurling in his chest.

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

Day 105: Cuddle | Day 107: Charge

[theresthesnitch]

Crooked

A/N: another entry for @harryandginuary BINGO. I had a lot of fun with this one. I hope you do too.

Did you know that Charlie Chaplin once came in third in a look alike contest?

Read it here on AO3.

Prompt: O 73. You've dared me to do this as a joke but there's no way I'm backing out now.

***

"You don't have to do it."

Harry scoffed. "Of course I do.

"Listen, mate," Ron said. "I realize I'm the one who dared you to do it, but you don't have to actually enter the Harry Potter look alike contest."

"You may have meant it as a joke, but I'm committed now. I'm going to do it."

They stood in line at the registration table, and Harry looked around the room. The costumes were really bad. Did people think he really dressed like that? Looked like that?

The person in front of him moved, and Harry stepped up to the table with a nervous smile. "One entry, please."

"You can't charm your eyes green."

Harry, confused, replied, "I didn't?"

The witch sitting at the registration table narrowed her eyes at him. "It's against the rules of the contest. You can charm the scar; you can't charm the eyes."

"Solid rule. Good catching this one," Ron said from just over his left shoulder.

She pointed her wand at Harry's face, and his hand twitched for his wand before she said, "finite incantatum." Harry stood there staring at her, eyes unchanged. "Fine, whatever, it's not the right color anyway, so it won't help you."

Harry wondered briefly if Ron was going to die of laughter. "Er, right. Okay. Can I enter now?"

The witch rolled her eyes. "Name?"

"Harry Potter."

The witch fixed him with such a glare that he was sure he was going to implode under it. Ron, meanwhile, was struggling to breath.

"Obviously, buddy. But I need your real name to register for the contest."

Harry blanked. "But, my name really… James. James Evans."

"Alright, James. You're going to be number 4. When the time comes, they'll call you on stage."

"Right, thanks."

Harry walked away with Ron wiping tears from under his eyes. "Merlin, I'm glad you did this. It's going to be so fun for me."

Harry smiled. "I've never been so anonymous in my life. No one's even looking at me!"

"Of course not, mate. You don't even look like Harry Potter."

"Yeah, apparently I got the eyes wrong."

Ron looked around the room that was slowly filling up. "I can't believe you let my sister judge this."

"First off, if you think I let Ginny do anything, you are very much mistaken about how our relationship works. And never let Ginny hear you say that I let her do something. Second," Harry shrugged a shoulder, "it's for charity."

"Alright, I guess that's-"

"Your scar is crooked."

Harry turned around to face a slightly short, wiry man wearing a number 6 with blond hair and the most elaborate lightning scar he had ever seen. Do these people even know what I look like? "Excuse me?"

"Your scar is crooked," not-Harry 6 said. "You messed up the charm, and it's not even straight. Sloppy work."

"Huh," Ron said, looking Harry straight on, "your scar is a bit crooked."

Harry chuckled before turning back to not-Harry 6. "Thanks, mate. Good looking out."

"You can't really expect to compete if you don't put in the effort. Better luck next time." Not-Harry 6 walked away and left Harry standing with his mouth hanging open and Ron, once again, dying of laughter next to him.

"Ron, I think I might lose the Harry look-alike contest."

"Harry, your fiancée is judging." Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You're absolutely going to lose the look alike contest."

"Welcome, everyone, to this year's War Orphan Carnival. We're ready to start our Harry Potter Look-Alike Contest. Can I get all the contestants on the stage?"

Harry walked on stage with a handful of other contestants, and lined up next to a witch with a number 3 around her neck. Harry did a double take looking at her. She looked remarkably like him. He looked out to where Ron was standing in the crowd with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He raised an eyebrow in question. It has to be charms, right? Ron shrugged in response.

"Now everyone, we have a very special guest judge for our contest this year," the announcer said. "If anyone can tell us who the true Harry Potter look alike is, it would be her. Let's give a big round of applause for Ginny Weasley!"

Ginny walked on stage and immediately locked eyes with Harry. He shrugged a shoulder, and her eyes glimmered with mischief. She walked to the microphone, said a few words, and then was walking down the line of contestants. She chatted briefly with not-Harry 1, who was a tall wizard wearing Gryffindor robes, and not-Harry 2, who wore red and gold Quidditch robes and carried a broomstick.

Ginny stopped in front of not-Harry 3 and looked her up and down. She looked over at Harry with wide eyes, then back to not-Harry 3. “That’s a really impressive costume. Did you use charms?”

“No,” said not-Harry 3. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“Right, of course,” said Ginny. “It’s very good. Is that your natural hair?”

“Yes.” Not-Harry 3 was not very talkative.

“Great!” Ginny seemed a little lost now. “Well, good luck!”

Ginny stopped in front of Harry and looked him up and down. “Tell me about your Harry costume.”

Harry smiled. “Apparently I got the green eyes wrong and the scar is crooked.”

“Idiot.” Not-Harry 6 was apparently listening in. “You don’t tell the judge how you messed up the costume. Amateur.”

Ginny looked up to Harry’s forehead. “Huh, it is crooked.”

“Told you,” mumbled not-Harry 6.

“Maybe I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself,” Ginny said with a coy smile.

“Oh?” Harry asked. “What do I have to do?”

“Just answer a few trivia questions.”

“Were we supposed to memorize Harry Potter trivia for this?” asked not-Harry 2 to not-Harry 1. “I don’t remember seeing that in the rules.”

“Anyone can do Harry trivia,” Ginny went on, poorly concealed glee on her face. “I’m going to ask you Ginny trivia - things only the REAL Harry would know.”

“Alright,” Harry said. “Give me your best Ginny trivia.”

“Favorite color?”

“She’ll tell you it’s blue, but it’s really green. Green like a fresh-pickled toad.”

Ginny shook her head. “Favorite food?”

“French toast, but only if it is served with powdered sugar and not syrup.”

“Favorite number?”

“Seven.”

“Favorite season?”

“Autumn.”

“Favorite flower?”

Harry froze and his jaw dropped. Did she have a favorite flower?

“I - uh - Gerbera daisies?”

“What, no. That’s Hermione’s favorite flower.”

“It is?” said Ron’s voice from the audience. An echo of laughter went around the crowd.

“It is,” Ginny said over her shoulder. “One more chance. My fiance would absolutely know my favorite flower.”

Harry racked his brain, but he couldn’t think of a single other flower. “Lily?”

Ginny snorted. “No. Daffodils. Nice try, but you are clearly not a very good Harry Potter.” She winked, and moved down the line to not-Harry 5.

Not-Harry 5 was a little child who barely came up to Harry’s waist. His hair was rumpled, and he wore black robes with a stuffed white snowy owl on his shoulder. Ginny squatted in front of him. “Hi, sweetie. What’s your name?”

“Connor.”

“Hi Connor. I like your owl.”

“Thanks. I have a wand, too.” He held up a stick that had tape and glue around the end for a handle.

“Where did you get that wand, Connor?”

“I made it,” he said. “See, I put glue and tape, and it goes swish swish.” He waved the wand around.

“It’s very good. I was afraid I was going to have to tell Harry you had his wand. It looks so much like his!”

“Thank you. Mummy drew a scar on my forehead too. See.” He pointed at his head.

“I see. Your scar is not crooked, Connor.” he nodded his head. “Connor, do you know what Harry Potter’s favorite spell is?”

“Expelli-arms!” Connor waved his wand around when he said it, and Harry’s heart melted.

“Very good! You’re a very convincing Harry.”

“Thank you. He’s my favorite.”

“He’s my favorite, too. I’ll see you later, okay Connor?”

“Bye, Ginny.”

Ginny stood up and moved down to not-Harry 6, who was now sporting a black Harry wig. Not-Harry 6 regaled Ginny with an explanation of how his clothing choice was authentic and how he had done extensive research into the kinds of clothing that was preferred by Harry when he was at Hogwarts. Harry rolled his eyes and hoped no one was taking notes on this.

At last, Ginny walked back up to the podium. “Ready to make your choices?” the announcer asked.

“I am.” Ginny conferred briefly with the announcer, then stood to the side

“In third place, Number 6!” Not-Harry 6 walked forward to accept his medal, and returned to his spot. Harry could hear him grumbling slightly.

“Second place, Number 3!” Not-Harry 3 accepted her award quietly to a smattering of applause from the crowd.

"And finally, our grand winner in our Harry Potter Look-Alike Contest is, drumroll please," The announcer paused everyone in the room drummed their hands on their legs, "Number 5!”

Connor lit up like it was the best day of his life, and walked forward to grab his trophy. He tripped over the edge of his robes a bit, causing not-Hedwig to wobble on his shoulder, and then stood next to Ginny.

“Congratulations, Connor.”

“Thank you, Ginny.”

“Connor, would you like to meet the real Harry Potter?”

Connor’s eyes were as big as saucers, and he nodded emphatically. Ginny turned back to the announcer. “Roger, I happen to know that Harry is here today, and I think I can convince him to come up and say hi.”

The announcer’s face lit up. “Oh, ho ho! A special treat indeed. Mr. Potter, are you here today?”

The crowd went absolutely silent, and Harry waited for a beat before walking forward.

“Not you, you wanker,” not-Harry 6 said. “Get back in line!”

Harry continued forward, and shot a wink over his shoulder. He walked straight up to Ginny, dipped her dramatically and pressed a kiss to her lips. The crowd went wild. He set her upright before breaking the kiss and heard, “Oh merlin. I just called Harry Potter a wanker,” from somewhere over his shoulder.

Harry knelt in front of Connor, who looked like he couldn’t believe what was happening in front of him. “Hi Connor. Congratulations on winning.”

“Thank you, Mr. Potter.” His voice came out at barely a whisper.

“Can you call me Harry, Connor?”

“Yes.” Still a whisper.

“You know, you get to go home and tell all your friends that you beat Harry Potter in a Harry Potter look-alike contest.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Harry parroted. “I like your Hedwig.”

“Thank you.” Connor’s voice was a bit louder now. “You’re my hero.”

“Want to know a secret, Connor?” He nodded emphatically. “You are my hero.” An “awww” went up from the audience. Connor’s face lit up and he threw his arms around Harry in a hug. “I bet your mom is here. Do you want to take a picture with Ginny and I?” He nodded again.

A few minutes later, they finished a round of pictures with Connor’s mom, and a few more for the Prophet with all three winners.

“Thank you, everyone,” Roger the announcer said. “Congratulations to our winners, and let’s hear a round of applause for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!” The crowd roared, and Harry and Ginny made to leave the stage when they heard a gasp.

“Oh my merlin. I told Harry Potter that his scar was crooked!”

[neraidaastrid]

Achilles come down

Sirius Black x Reader

Fandom: Harry Potter

Prompt: Achilles Come Down

Word Count: 1847

Warnings: Suicide/Near Suicide

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles come down

His eyes couldn't believe it, his deep and pain-filled eyes were sunken with soon to be grief. His wavy black locks curling over his head and falling over his eyes, but he could see clearly; Sirius could see the girl standing on the ledge so evidently clearly. And with all of his being, he so desperately wished it was not who was leaning over the side, peering over the balcony of the astronomy tower; It was her, the girl he had been smitten with since their first conversation; His best friend.

The young Black boy picked up his feet and sprinted over to the young girl, only stopping a couple metres, keeping his distance; Though his heavy footing, the young H/C stood unaware of the young friend staring in fear of her actions. She grabbed the railing, fingers clenching as his breathing almost matched hers. Her hair swept behind her head, the wind caressing it out of her beautifully sculpted face. Y/N's cheeks held such a cute shade of red spreading along them and over the tip of her pretty pointed nose.

"Please." His deep pleading voice alerted her and her head shot in the direction of him, tears rolling down her rosy cheeks as she was about to lift herself onto the railing.

Some of us love you Achilles, it's not much but there's proof

"Please don't do this, Y/N. We can work this out." His ever so desperately pleaded, he needed her in his arms, to hold her away from any harm; To hold her together and collect her pieces and be the glue that fixes her.

"No." Her head shook violently as the streams of waterworks feel the delicate shape of her face as the pass off of her chin. "I'm tired, Sirius; Ever so tired. And no one would really be upset." Her voice cracks and Sirius' heart could of shattered right there right then. It truly baffled him that Y/N couldn't see all of the people that cared about her, and just how much he loved her.

You crazy-ass cosmonaut, remember your virtue Redemption lies painfully in truth

"No one would be upset?" It wasn't registering in his brain how this girl couldn't see how perfect she was. He couldn't understand how she could even think that. "I would be upset! No, No. Not upset, Fucking heart broken!" No exaggeration was in his words, only a soothing breeze that didn't fit the situation at hand whatsoever.

Y/N looked one last time over at him before her eyes glued to the space in front, gazing down into the night below; Submitting herself to the darkness that consumed her, the stars above not able to spare a single ray of their light to light her the way.

Just humour us, Achilles, Achilles come down. Won't you get up off, get up off the roof

"Y/N, please walk away, just come to me."

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles come down Won't you get up off, get up off the roof

Sirius' begs fell upon deaf ears, not wanting to be taken in; Y/N couldn't quite listen to it, the voices sparring in her head were quieting everything around her down dramatically. She could only shake her head, blocking out the boy and attempting to shake out the bad thoughts. The thoughts that were demolishing her whole. Y/N's fingers were in a deadly tightened grip around the railing, unable to let go.

The self is not so weightless, nor whole or unbroken Remember the pact of our youth Where you go, I'm goin' So jump and I'm jumpin'

"I can't live without you, Y/N." Sirius was pouring out his heart in a pursue for her to change her mind, but it didn't look like he was having much of an influence on her brutal mind.

Since there is no me without you Soldier on, Achilles, Achilles come down

"I know you can walk away, just walk away." His new approach did make her falter for a moment, her eyes hazing over as she relived her memories. Streams ran down her eyes, over and over, as each memory of the past few years flashed by.

Loathe the way they light candles in Rome But love the sweet air of the votives

"Italy." Y/N breathed out, turning her head towards Sirius. "I don't know what it is about it, but Rome has always been my dream place to visit. It just looks so beautiful." She babbled on, unaware of his staring; While he thought the city was a place of beauty, he could only focus on how beautiful she was. No scenery, no matter how perfect it was, could ever match her; He would pick Y/N over anything any day; The sweetest scented candle, when lit it would enhance the room in its aroma; A sunset, where the most gorgeous shades would be blended together; Nothing could even compare to Y/N's beauty, and Sirius was head over heels

Hurt and grieve but don't suffer alone Engage with the pain as a motive

While she lay there on the shards of green, him staring at her face, tracing every characteristic of her face with his eyes, her mind flooded with the thoughts; In reality, she knew she wouldn't ever get to see Rome, she would die before even getting the chance. Her sweet smile dropped, the corners of her lips falling down, making Sirius frown upon her falter.

"What's wrong?" It came out quick, sinking into her ears fast, Y/N perking up at the sudden worry and concern. "Yeah, I'm good." Her smile reappearing, plastered to convince him.

Today of all days, see How the most dangerous thing is to love How you will heal and you'll rise above

Y/N wanted to, she wanted to just let this all go, but he was standing there, and she loved him too much. It was so frustrating; All she had wanted for so long was to just give up, but he just wouldn't let her. Sometimes she hated loving him.

Achilles, Achilles jump now You are absent of cause or excuse So self-indulgent and self-referential No audience could ever want you

They were getting louder, only screaming and piercing through her ears in painful rings; She was so tired of them never leaving. In her mind, there was only one way to end this suffering, to finally set herself free, but Sirius wasn't having it. He cared too much for her to let her tumble down into the abyss below their feet.

Her head was screaming

Y/N's hands clung around the roots of her H/C hair, tangling each strand of silk around her thin fingers. It was tearing at her, Her body tearing from the inside out, splitting in half. Her heart hammering in her chest, beating with all its might. Her body shook but she wouldn't let any of the dreadful sobs out, she couldn't get any weaker; Not around him. No matter how loud her head gets.

You crave the applause, yet hate the attention Then miss it, your act is a ruse It is empty, Achilles, so end it all now It is a pointless resistance for you

He was confused, how had he not seen all of the pain she had been in? Looking back at it now, he could remember all of the times where she wasn't herself, when she would just look fully out of it; He regretted not fully looking, seeing past her fake demeanour.

Achilles, Achilles just put down the bottle Don't listen to what you've consumed It's chaos, confusion and wholly unworthy Of feeding, and it's wholly untrue

Her words slurred, singing along with the chants of the fellow Gryffindors; James had caught a win for the house by catching the golden snitch, and now everyone was celebrating. The three boys had started to notice her drunken daze but didn't think much of it, she normally drank till she was drunk on these occasions; Still they sometimes tried to see if there was anything more to it than just celebrating a win, but never really put in enough effort.

You may feel no purpose, nor a point for existing It's all just conjecture and gloom

Her body sank to her mattress, collapsing onto the red sheets after 8 and a half dragged out hours of school; She was so tired of it, day in day out, the same thing every day, every week and it only brought her misery. The thoughts in her head didn't make the days easier, each word and sentence she spewed at herself only made the days feel longer; She was living a boring existence, and she didn't see much point in carrying on.

And there may not be meaning, so find on and seize it Don't waste yourself on this roof

"I'm begging you." Sirius was seriously struggling to keep himself together, this was just as hard on her as it was him. His voice only got quieter and more breathy as he held in tears. "Please don't just give up. We need you, everyone needs you"

But she didn't see it that way; Y/N couldn't quite get passed the thought that everyone would be better off, and even if they wouldn't be, she didn't want to carry on; She was too tired, too burnt out to keep going.

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment Feel your breath Course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent

She was still breathing, each breath showing up in the cold night air; She shivered and shook and all Sirius wanted to do was wrap his arms around her to keep her warm. He wanted to give her as much comfort as she needed but she felt too far away, too far to the edge and away from him.

Crowned by an overture old and beyond But it's more courageous to overcome

"Be strong. Please, we can overcome this together." His pleading wasn't working, her mind was too clouded by dangerous, dark thoughts to even register his words.

You want the acclaim, the mother of mothers

"IT'S NOT WORTH IT, Y/N!"

More poignant than fame or the taste of another

"DON'T LISTEN TO THE VOICES, Y/N!"

But be real and just jump, you dense motherfucker

"YOU'RE WORTH MORE, Y/N!"

You will not be more than a rat in the gutter

"You're so much more than what they say."

She wasn't listening.

You want my opinion, my opinion you got

"THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS, Y/N!"

You asked for my counsel, I gave you my thoughts

"THE THOUGHTS ARE WRONG!"

Be done with this now and jet off the roof Can you hear me, Achilles? I'm talkin' to you

Her body only got closer until she couldn't make any less space between her and the railing. Y/N brought her foot up, placing it on the bar unsteadily; But before she could take another step, or even make it off of the balcony, Sirius had closed the air between them, running with all his might towards her. His colossal man-hands grabbed a vicious hold of her waist, gripping Y/N in a deadly hold. He pulled her into his chest, embracing her into him as her sobs and cries finally poured out of her heart.

I'm talkin' to you I'm talkin' to you I'm talkin' to you Achilles come down Achilles come down

He fell to the floor with the tear-stricken girl in his arms, sighing for he finally had her safe; But Y/N's wails were heartbreaking to listen to and the muscle in his chest, violently pounding in his ribcage, swelled from the unbearable sounds. He wanted to take all of her pain away, but there was no physical way he could do that, so he needed to be there for her. He may not be able to take the feelings away, but he could help heal her fractured heart and mind. He loved her too much to just let her let herself go.

Throw yourself into the unknown With pace and a fury defiant

"Let me help you. Can you do that?" Sirius asked, hoping for her to accept; After a few seconds, her tears draping along her cheeks, she nodded, shaking her head up and down before sinking it into his chest. She just wanted to hide away from the world, even him sometimes.

Clothe yourself in beauty untold And see life as a means to a triumph

From then he held her hand whenever he could, squeezing it constantly to let her know he was there. He became protective of her and had an arm around her at all times. She needed the company, it was the only thing keeping the thoughts away, keeping her worthy in her own mind.

But it's more courageous to overcome

A smile overtook her face, their hands joined together and a ring on each of them. The golden band held their never-ending love, engraved swirls giving it some sort of pretty matching pattern. A simple lace dress hugged Y/N's curves, dropping down her legs and pooling on the floor beside the rose arch; Spaghetti straps rounded the top of her shoulders leading into a lace bodice cinching her petite waist. Sirius didn't think any sight other than her could compare to the beauty she held.

Y/N looked like a princess that whole day and got treated like one for everyday of her life; Sirius made her see her worth, he made her see that she was so full of life and happiness, and she made him happy to. They were perfect; Everything was perfect.

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[clubyukhei]

wayv react series: tiktok couple pranks

ten, sicheng, yukhei, dejun, kunhang, yangyang

genre: suggestive fluff

a/n: this has 1.4k words which is... way longer than planned :’) i had a bit too much fun writing this lol. enjoy

[to:🐻] [sent: 9:30PM]

you might think i'm crazy

the way i've been cravin

if i put it quite plainly

just gimme them babies

“you okay, kun-ge?” 

“i am. why would i not be?” 

“you look… tense.”

“i’m fine, sicheng.”

the exchange makes you bite the inside of your cheek. you bite down on it hard and will yourself not to smile — but it’s so hard not to. especially when you catch the look of mild annoyance on your boyfriend’s face. the way he’s trying so hard to play it cool. 

so you glue your eyes to your phone and scroll through your inbox, pretending to be occupied. pretending you have no idea what’s going on. 

“oh. okay.” sicheng replies meekly, moving to the kitchen where kunhang and ten were opening a few tubs of ice cream.

to no one’s surprise, the conversation ends there. nobody ever questions kun after they hear that tone of authority in his voice — but maybe, you’ll be the first to. 

the night started out like any other movie night at the members’ dorms. as per usual, dinner was settled over multiple deliveries from their go-to food spots. but everything changed after yangyang left the dining table as soon as he was done eating.

“yangyang.” kun called out with a rather strict tone, his voice echoing throughout the apartment. 

“yeah?” the youngest member yelled from his room.

“come here.” 

you weren’t new to the responsible and occasionally hard-headed side of your boyfriend. it was pretty normal for you to see him nag at the members for being untidy at home and occasionally, for not behaving professionally when they were outside. 

after all, he was the leader of six boys who stressed him out on a regular basis — one of whom was the same age as him, yet regularly participated in the mischief with the others.

but this time was different. you never heard him speak like that before, never even seen the look of seriousness on his face that was intimidating even to you, an innocent bystander witnessing all of this. 

you didn’t want to admit it at first, but his voice, which was stern and commanding and had the youngest member scattering back into the kitchen in seconds, turned you on like no other.

everyone else minded their own business as kun eyed the spot on the dining table that had been covered in tiny puddles of soup. not a single word was uttered but yangyang, whose eyes kept flickering between the mess he had created and the leader’s jaded gaze, quickly grabbed a wet cloth from the sink and got to cleaning. 

you were parched just watching the scene unfold. you and kun had only started dating a few months ago and you were still learning new things about him, but this was truly something else. a pleasant surprise, if you could call it that.

kun has always been a sweet and reliable man in your eyes, and still is. but you’ve never pushed his buttons or experienced the side of him you saw this evening. the side where he uses that tone. preferably when the two of you are alone, when every word that leaves his lips is heavy with authority and dominance that you find yourself listen to every instruction he gives you, like getting on your knees—

“_____?”

you look up from your phone to see ten staring back at you from the kitchen counter, waiting for an answer. shit. you definitely did not catch what he asked. out of all times to fantasise about your boyfriend… 

dejun, who’s sitting on the floor in front of you and searching for a movie on netflix, turns around. “he asked if you wanted mint chocolate or strawberry.”

“mint chocolate is absolutely disgusting.” yukhei comments, accentuating the last word with abhorrence. the tall boy plops onto the ground next to dejun with a small bowl of strawberry ice cream in one hand.

“oh.” you hum. “strawberry it is. thanks, ten.”

your phone vibrates the second you finish your sentence, frightening you just a bit. when you see the latest notification on your lock screen, a familiar rush of excitement washes over you again. 

[from:🐻] [sent: 9:50PM]

😡

you chuckle to yourself quietly at his reply before taking in the look on his face. his hair, dyed light brown just a few days ago, falls over his forehead and almost hides his eyes — but you don’t miss the way he’s staring at you with an eyebrow raised confidently, as if daring you to continue whatever you were doing.

it’s too much. you find your cheeks flushing a little and you quickly look back to your phone, rereading your conversation with him.

[to:🐻] [sent: 9:30PM]

you might think i'm crazy

the way i've been cravin

if i put it quite plainly

just gimme them babies

[from:🐻] [sent: 9:33PM]

?

[to:🐻] [sent: 9:35PM]

baby you might need a seatbelt when i ride it

i’ma leave it open like a door

come inside it 

even though I'm wifey, you can hit it like a side chick

😙

can you stay up all night? 

fuck me till the daylight 

34+35

[from:🐻] [sent: 9:45PM]

?!?!?!?!?!

[to:🐻] [sent: 9:49PM]

means i wanna 69 with you 🙄

“what are you smiling at, _____? is it those tiktok pranks again? i was telling yangyang the other day that we should handle our tiktok page ourselves. i mean manager hyungs will never allow that of course, but right now we’re not even doing the cool stuff…” 

as yukhei blabbers on, you watch your boyfriend get up from the armchair he had been curled up on and make his way to his room. that’s your cue to leave. 

“make way for the ice cream truck!” kunhang sings as he carefully sets a tray of small bowls, all filled with scoops of green and pink coloured ice cream, onto the coffee table.

“actually yukhei, you can have my ice cream.” you say, getting on your feet.

“really? thanks!” yukhei smiles as kunhang lets out a loud “huh”. 

“wait, are you guys not joining us anymore? we’re watching harry potter tonight!” dejun yells. 

“again?” ten sighs. as you walk down the hallway, you hear him whine about something along the lines of watching another movie for once. 

your hand reaches for the handle of the door to kun’s bedroom, but it swings open and an equally shocked yangyang rushes out as if he wasn’t supposed to be there — even though it was his bedroom too.

you step into the quiet room, shutting the door behind you before turning around to the sight of kun sitting on the edge of his bed relaxedly, his palms flat against the mattress and his legs spread a bit further than usual. there’s that look on his face again.

“hey.” you say softly, not sure how to read him. 

“really?” kun lets out a tiny chuckle. 

“what?”

“don’t act all innocent now.” he whines. “you were asking me to hit it like a side chick, baby. and 34 35, whatever that means.”

you burst into laughter. “it means we should 69. or do i have to explain what that means as well?” 

“god.”

“i’ll let you do anything to me. and i’ll do anything for you.” 

kun groans, running a hand through his hair. that image alone makes you want to rip the white t-shirt off him and to pounce onto him. 

there are a lot of filthy things you want him to do to you. for now, you’ll have to settle for less.

“this is a really sudden, baby. but i’m not complaining.” 

the grin on your face softens into a smirk as you saunter over to him, casually lowering your knees by his sides and planting yourself in his lap. someday he’ll find out what sparked all of this, but not today.

“i said a lot of things, you know. where should we start?” 

he stares back at you incredulously — and yet, his hands are kneading the inside of your thighs. just as he’s about to reply, a bunch of knocks on the door steals both of your attention.

“are y’all joining us or not?” 

it’s ten, who already sounds tired from being surrounded by his younger brothers. 

“we’ll join you guys a bit! go ahead and start without us.” kun shouts.

you turn back to smile at him suggestively, resting your arms on his shoulders and gently massaging the nape of his neck. when he plants wet kisses along your collarbones and up to your jaw, you sigh in satisfaction.

“let’s start by locking the door.”