#you have until wizard wednesday <|:•)

[theemporium]

Frenemies with benefits, jealous remus lupin x reader please🙏🙏🙏🙏

thank you for requesting!🖤

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Your relationship with Remus Lupin was complicated, to say the least.

You were friends in the sense that you belonged to the same friendship group. You hung out together as a group. You ate meals together as a group. You went out on trips to Hogsmeade together and had drinks at the Three Broomsticks together. 

In the eyes of the Hogwarts’ student body, you and Remus Lupin friends. 

But you were anything but. 

Despite sharing a mutual friend group, Remus just so happened to be the one you never seemed to click with. You would try to be polite, he would be snarky in response. You would try asking about his life, he would shut you down. You would try and make an effort, and he wouldn’t be interested. 

You had given up trying at one point, seeing there be no use in you being anything beyond civil when it came to the wizard. 

Until you were paired up together for prefect rounds every Wednesday night after curfew—that was when things changed between you.

“Fuck, somebody is gonna see us!” 

“That’s never stopped you before.”

You rolled your eyes at his witty retort, opening your mouth to reply with your own snarky comment, but you were quickly distracted by the way his hands gripped your thighs, holding your legs open as his tongue lapped at your cunt. 

It turned out that fucking around was a much healthier way of taking your anger out on each other. Who would have thought?

“Always moaning like such a slut,” he groaned against you, his warm breath tickling as you squirmed against the wall. You had barely made it past the first three corridors before he was pressing you up against an alcove, his hands pawing at you. He had slid your panties down your legs, tucked them into his back pocket and ducked his head under your skirt to be where he wanted to be. 

“Shut up, Lupin,” you moaned, your fingers roughly tugging on the strands of his hair which only made the boy groan against your clit. 

“You’re fucking soaked,” he muttered, kissing along your thighs as he licked the mess you had made. He fucking loved how responsive you were to him, the way you whined and mewled as he marked up your inner thighs. 

“Just fuck me,” you whined, pulling at his shirt until the boy caught the hint and quickly stood up, his fingers working quick to unbutton his trousers and push them down his thighs. 

“Needy for my cock?” he teased, the smile on his face far too smug for your liking. 

You reached down, the heel of your palm pressed against his hardening bulge and you grinned when he let out a whiny noise from the back of his throat. You dipped your hand beyond the waistband of his boxers, slowly stroking the length of him until he was bucking into your hand. 

“Just as needy as you are to be inside me,” you retorted, watching the way his eyes fought to stay open. 

“Bitch,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Prick,” you muttered back before gripping the back of his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. 

Your bodies worked together like a well-played song, moving in harmony as he gripped the back of your legs and lifted you up. Your legs wound around him as he pressed you against the wall, your lips moving feverishly as he squeezed the base of his dick before slowly sliding in you. 

“Shit, baby,” he groaned, the sound was sinful and guttural and it made you clench around him. 

“Please,” you whined, your head falling back against the wall as he pulled out before thrusting his length back in.

“I got you, baby, I got you,” he murmured into the crook of your neck, open-mouthed kisses and soft licks pressed against your skin. “That’s it, squeeze around me like a good girl. Wanna feel you come around my cock.” 

“Shit, shit, shit,” you repeated like a mantra, your lips parting with a silent scream as he lifted you up and down his cock, like you were nothing but a toy. 

“Fuck,” he groaned as he felt your nails digging into his shoulders, listening to the way you whimpered his name as the walls of your cunt clenched around him as you finally came. He followed a few thrusts later, spilling inside of you as you pressed chaste kisses along his jaw and neck. 

You both took a few moments, letting yourselves catch your breath before you began to fix yourselves up. You made sure you looked presentable before you returned to your rounds, pretending that you hated each other once again as you walked through the corridors of the hallways. 

“Ever gonna give me my knickers back?” you asked him when you noticed the way his eyes lingered on your thighs, the way they clenched together as you walked. 

His lips only twitched with a smirk as he squeezed the material in his pocket. “Nah, they’re mine now, love,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Maybe I should wave them around that poor Ravenclaw fucker’s face, show him what he can’t get.”

“You’re a pervert, Lupin. A jealous pervert.” 

“I don’t see you complaining, darling.”

.

[nouvxllev]

the girl across your street || p2

Pairing: Jenna Ortega x Fem!Reader

Summary: You both greeted each other. You lifted your scarf down to reveal a huge grin on your face, complementing Jenna's own. "I was waiting for you." Jenna lowered her music, hearing your voice was more of a symphony than any other artist she listened to.

Words: 2.4k

Warnings: None

part 3 || masterlist

It was snowy. Too snowy for your liking, and definitely way too snowy for a Wednesday morning. Too damn early for a snowstorm to happen. Walking through the snow was a bit of a struggle, and you could barely keep your balance without tumbling altogether. But it was worth it, you say to yourself, if you got the chance to talk with Jenna again, enduring the freezing cold was a small price to pay for the chance to hear her voice.

Your hands were tucked so deep in your pockets that they might as well have become a part of your body. Layers of scarves covered your face, and your headphones doubled as earmuffs, topped with a beanie. You were dressed in a thousand sweaters and puffy jackets, and somehow, you're still so cold.

Music was, of course, blasting in your ears. But this time, instead of the usual songs with a mellow tune, it was gradually becoming happier, and you even threw in some Christmas tunes into the mix. Yes, it was cold, but it wasn't every day (even though it actually was) that you could inhale fresh air from your neighborhood without the scent of dog poop all around.

Turning around, you followed the route to Jenna's street, a path that could put the Wizard of Oz to shame. Dare you say, it was your happy place on earth, which, in all honesty, it was.

Stopping at that familiar sidewalk, you looked to your side and easily spotted possibly the most gorgeous being to ever walk this God-forsaken planet.

Jenna.

She was sitting on the bench, fully covered in snow from yesterday's storm. Even objects couldn't withstand the snowfall. With her knees curled up to her chest, she listened to music with closed eyes, and just like you, bundled up from head to toe with layers of puffy clothing. She almost looked like a penguin.

You attempted to run to her, almost falling because of the piled-up snow. Once you reached her spot, you had to take deep breaths and exhales.

Jenna looked up at you, having possibly already heard your footsteps coming closer to her, and her eyes seemingly lit up.

"Hi."

"Hey."

You both greeted each other. You lifted your scarf down to reveal a huge grin on your face, complementing Jenna's own.

"I was waiting for you." Jenna lowered her music, hearing your voice was more of a symphony than any other artist she listened to.

"You shouldn't have. It's freezing here!" You exclaimed, and you could even see your breath, and Jenna's, becoming a cold mist.

"Says the girl who walked in piles of snow to get here. Oh, what would your efforts be without me sitting on this bench?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." You stuttered, your lips becoming cold, and your nose turning red.

"Let's go inside before you get sent off to the North Pole to do Santa's bidding."

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Both of you were seated on Jenna's couch, surrounded by the warmth of the fireplace she had lit just for the two of you to be cozy. The scent of the applewood coming from the fireplace, combined with the overall aroma of Jenna's house—perhaps from the various candles you assumed her parents brought—created the perfect atmosphere. You swear to yourself that you were living in wonderland at this point.

In the quietness of her home, you could feel and hear your heartbeat. The crackle of the fireplace and the distant chirping of birds in the background made you forget that you were a human being. That is, until Jenna spoke.

"What's your favorite scary movie?" She turned to you, grinning, her voice husky. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, and she still wore her beanie, with headphones comfortably resting on her neck.

You looked at her, blinking. "Out of all the questions, you ask me something super cliche?"

"Hey, it gets the conversation going." Her face contorted, mocking an offended expression before letting a smile creep out of her lips.

You glanced off for a moment, then nodded your head with a slight smile. "Guess it does." You adjusted yourself on the sofa, thinking of a favorite horror movie you'd rewatch anytime if any genre suddenly disappeared.

"I'll pick… I'll pick Scream." You turned to her, giving her a series of affirmative nods. In truth, you weren't a big fan of the horror genre, but you caught yourself watching it from time to time.

"Ooh, classic." Jenna's face lit up, clicking her tongue. "You got that because of the opening question I used?"

"Actually, yeah, kind of. It's just one movie off the top of my head, and hey, it is a classic. Who couldn't?"

"Points to you on that one," she said, starting to get up. She fetched the remote and a few DVDs from a drawer near the TV, which sat atop the fireplace.

"What about you? Your favorite scary movie," you questioned, your gaze following her every move.

"I'd say... 'Possession' by Andrzej Żuławski, 1981. You've got to appreciate the production quality on that one." She turned to you, showing you the DVD for that exact movie, then shuffled it.

"Blood, guts, gore?"

"Surprisingly only minimal blood, guts, and gore. It's this psychological horror movie that's so hauntingly beautiful, it's almost scary. I love a good film that gives you some kind of adrenaline rush." A radiant glow emanated from her as she talked about her favorite movie and described it.

Your gaze was fixated on her, as if she should be the last thing you'll see before meeting your demise.

"So are we gonna watch Scream or are we gonna watch Scream?" She then showed you the two DVDs, both copies of the first Scream movie. One autographed by Wes Craven himself, and one clean fresh off the drawer.

"You've given me a lot of choices there," you snarked, raising a brow as you reached for the autographed DVD in Jenna's hands. "Wes Craven?" you exclaimed. "The Wes Craven!?"

She chuckled at your reaction, a grin forming on her lips. "The one and only," she said, tucking her hands behind her back. "I have some connections, thanks to my mother, who was friends with many directors, including someone who worked with Wes Craven on the Scream set. So, I asked if he had any DVDs signed by Wes Craven and gave it to me."

"We've got to watch this," you declared, flipping the DVD in your hands before handing it back to Jenna.

Jenna scoffed, "Is the ending going to change just because it's autographed by Wes Craven?" She walked toward the DVD player, plugging it in.

"Hey, you might never know." You hear the nostalgic sound of the disk being inserted, and you were somehow once again transported to when you first watched your first movie via DVD.

"I'm surprised you still use DVD players," you commented, watching Jenna move away from the TV and then sit back down with you.

"It's just that feeling of inserting the CD that makes the movie more worthwhile."

You shrugged it off, "Guess you're right," and the Scream logo appeared before your eyes, the sounds of someone shrieking in the background to give it all that horror effect. You had seen this movie countless of times, maybe even more whenever you were bored out of your mind and needed something to scare you once in a while. But somehow, watching it with Jenna, feels like a whole new life.

Minutes passed, and the opening scene finished. A masterpiece in itself you would say, it really never gets old.

Jenna chuckled at some parts, making you turn your head slightly. She'd probably make a good Ghostface.

"Do you think I'd make a great actor someday, y/n?" The question came abruptly, and you looked at her. She was still facing the movie, the reflection of the TV screen in her eyes. Even from afar, you could see the glint in her eyes, you can see the glint in her eyes on how much she awes horror movies, and even movies in general. Maybe that's why she popped the question.

"Yeah…? I don't know. I really haven't seen you act before."

"Hey, I can fake cry pretty good." She adjusted herself, her body now facing towards yours.

"Really? Then... I’ll give you… 5 bucks to fake cry right now!" You pulled out your sad excuse of a wallet, nothing but coins and a dollar was inside of it.

Jenna laughed, a voice you horribly feel head over heels for. "You’re paying me to fake cry? For 5 bucks? Come on, dude," she remarked, pushing your money away.

You scoffed then rolled your eyes, insisting that she should take the money regardless by handing it to her despite her hand being in the way. "You’re going to be in the acting industry, Jenna! People are gonna pay you for your acting skills! Take it as like... training.”

"Okay, okay…" She held up both hands then took a deep breath, opening her eyes, focused. Atleast, she tried to.

She let out a chuckle, a wheeze some would say. "I can’t fake cry when you look at me like that!" She debated, her hands speaking for herself as she gestured towards you.

"Like what?"

The whole room went silent for about a second, Jenna observing your features up and down. Or, atleast, that's what you think in your head of yours.

"Like… some sort of freak."

"I look like a freak?" You pointed towards yourself, a playful tone in your voice as a sly grin appear on your lips, your eyes widening in curiosity.

Jenna's mouth hung open, "That was so far from my intentions!" Her voice high-pitched, trying to convince you in some sort of way.

“Okay, we both know that was definitely your intentions, if not harsher."

"I did not!"

"Oh Jenna, Jenna, Jenna... denying it makes you look guilty."

You both continued to playfully twist eachothers words, coming up with clever comebacks with eachother and just full on playful banter as the TV played Scream. Not really the most ideal movie to play with when you're about to explode since you were playfully bickering like an old married couple to your long-time crush.

After minutes of laughter, you both finally calmed down, shifting your positions on the sofa to sit on the floor, backs against the sofa.

You looked over to Jenna, a smile gracing your lips. "You're going to become a great actor, Jenna. I just know it." Glancing down, you noticed her hand close to yours. You wanted to take hold of it, you really did, whisper sweet nothings, and tell her she'd be the rising star in everyone's hearts. If not, then your heart will be preserved for all of eternity to let her be the star of yours. If it sounded corny, but, that was just how you felt.

"How? Are you some all-seeing Goddess?" She looked towards you, her eyebrows knitting but she kept smile.

"If that what it takes for you to believe in me, then yeah, I guess I am."

"You’re a dork, y/n. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Someone by the name of Jenna."

She chuckled at that, seemingly aware of the effect she had on you, even though you'd only met a couple of days ago.

The fireplace was starting to die down, along with the setting sun. Streetlights flickered on, and snow began to form outside.

"Y/n… Where are you going to spend Christmas?" Jenna asked, her voice filled with concern. "I'm surprised your parents aren't wondering why you're always going out early and coming back so late." She looked at you, noticing your head was down, and your smile was a bit crooked.

"My parents… my parents aren't exactly here. So that's a plus, right? They won't be able to lecture me and all." You laughed, albeit slightly, a broken laugh.

Jenna's eyes widened, her body turning towards you. "Oh. Oh, God, I'm sorry, y/n. I shouldn't have—"

You furrowed your eyebrows until you understood what she misunderstood. "Oh, no— No! They aren't dead. They're just busy with work and all. They're from all the way across the globe, so…" You reached for your pocket, grabbing your phone, which had been uncharacteristically turned off for the whole day.

A picture of your family flashed on the screen, capturing a moment of shared smiles. You didn't know it would be the last picture you'd take together.

"They won't come visit?"

"They don't really text me that often, let alone when they're coming back." A smile tried to tug at your lips, Jennas concern slightly making you feel better about yourself.

"But hey, it'll be a Christmas miracle if they do." You chuckled, a light-hearted joke to lift the mood.

Silence overcame the room, wondering if you had said something wrong or overshared too much. Your hands became clammy as Jenna stayed silent, contemplating whether you should excuse yourself and never come back to her house ever again and change routes. Or maybe even change towns and your full government name.

"Why don't you spend Christmas with my family for a bit?" Jenna asked, her voice filled with hope.

Turning to her, you tilted your head with a scrunched-up face. "Really? Are… Are you sure it's okay? We just met like… a couple of days ago."

She looked down, avoiding your eyes, taking your hand with hers and rubbing her thumb against the back of your hand. "You're one of the few people I let into my heart, y/n. And my family will literally bombard you with love like you've never felt before. I'm sure they'll like you."

You smiled at that, and before you knew it, you accepted her offer. It was nighttime when you stepped outside Jenna's house, the snow becoming heavier and taller than ever.

You fell into a routine of meeting Jenna every morning. You'd wake up earlier than usual, then walk through piles of snow to get to her house. How she hadn't suspected that you had a massive crush on her was beyond you.

You even spent Christmas with her and her family, who welcomed you with open arms. Smiles all around, and you even got her little cousins to like you as if you were their big sister. You never felt at home more than anything. It was as if they were your own family, a family that was always home for you. You kind of teared up a bit at the thought, seeing how someone else's family brought out the happiest version of you rather than your own.

You were happy.

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tag/s: @moistblobfish

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 7.6 K Warnings: None Prompt: Time to wrap it all up, and perhaps receive one or two surprises. This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. Proofread by lovely: @aremuslupinsimp

Chapter 42: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Wednesday, December 23rd

The art store was small, but filled with colours all around. Small little black cabinets with golden numbers on top behind the counter, and walls lined with different paint pots and colours, a wall with wooden frames and delicately separated boxes that held paint brushes of all different sizes and shapes and, by the bits you’d read, also materials. 

At the top of the cabinets there was a small display of colourful markers and pens and other things that you knew muggles used but you weren’t too familiar with. Apparently, they used stick glue instead of sticking spells to adhere stuff. You wondered how much of this stuff Sirius actually knew about and vowed to bring him to this place with you one day. 

And while you did appreciate art, thoroughly – you’d gone to multiple museums, both muggle and wizarding through your trips – you had no idea what the difference was between gouache and acrylic, or why the “Rembrandt” that claimed to be made out of oil, where much more expensive than the “Winsor & Newton” ones that claimed the same. It had to be because of the quality, right? 

“Good evening, may I help you?” a young man, probably in his late twenties asked as he approached you. He was dressed in rather formal clothes and had a pair of thin-rimmed golden glasses. You would have probably considered him attractive if you hadn’t been accustomed to Sirius’ dashing looks or Remus’ lovely smile. You really were lucky to be surrounded by handsome and pretty humans, you thought, thinking of the rest of your friends. 

You must have looked as lost as a Bowtruckle in the middle of New York since he looked like he would try to be overly polite. 

“I’m looking for a gift, my boyfriend loves to draw, but I’m… not really good with all the supplies and stuff, I was thinking perhaps a nice set of pencils and a sketchbook. I’ve been looking through the paints as well, but I don’t think he’s the kind to do the whole canvas thing, at least not while we’re in school.” 

“Well, does he colour his drawings?” 

You thought about it for a moment, what he’d shown you were mostly sketches done in pencil, though there were some with an underlayer of red and or blue. “I think he uses some for the base of the drawings.” 

“Does he overline them?” The expression you gave him when he asked made him clarify it. “After the pencil sketch is done, does he add a pen or marker to finish up the details?” 

Sirius did not do that, but you also thought how complicated it would be to do such a thing with a quill instead of the pens and trinkets the muggles had invented so you nodded in response. “Yeah… not that often but I’m sure he’d like something to be able to do it.” 

“All right, follow me,” he said as he motioned to one of the furthest walls. “This is where we keep all of our sketchbooks, the thicker the grammage the stronger pens and markers it will hold. Also, some can even hold watercolour, not sure if he’s into that too.” 

“Do you have like – a book on the basics of watercoloring? I feel like he might actually be interested in that.” 

“We do,” he said with a nod and moved to the other side of the store bringing you a few options. You picked one of them and then looked through the sketchbooks. There were different sizes and colours and the pages felt really different on most of them. Some were especially made for watercolours and some were for drawing. You took one with about 100 pages for watercolour and one with the same amount of pages but with a bit less grammage for sketches. 

They both had a black cover with golden elegant trims that you thought would definitely go with Sirius’ look, although one opened from the side, making it more of a panoramic view while the other one stayed horizontal. You handed them in to the guy and he took them to the counter as you continued looking around. You leaned into the watercolour section and started to look at all the different options available. 

“If this is the first time he’ll do watercolour, may I recommend you buy a set?” he asked politely as he showed you a small wooden case, when he opened it there were all sorts of small blocks with different colours on them. “These are my favourite brand, but really gentle with beginners, they also come with this interesting thing,” he added as he handed you a small brush with a clear section at the top. “It comes with water, you don’t have to dip your brush that often, really useful once you get the hang of it.” 

“You have more of those?” you asked and he nodded, showing you the different sizes of brush ends. After a while, and with a lot of his help, you ended up selecting about 5 different brushes and the colours that you’d fill the small wooden box with as well, which you thought was fantastic since you could fill it up with whatever colours you chose and not a set palette. 

“You’ll also take the marker set, the watercolour book and the sketchbooks, correct? Anything else?” 

“Uhh… Am I missing anything that he might need?

“Does he draw portraits or landscapes?” 

You thought back of the Remus drawing he’d shown you, and then of the one you had chosen not to see. “He draws portraits and anatomy studies. Though I’m sure I’ve seen him doodle other stuff too.” 

“He might like this book then,” he told you as he handed over another book. It was about proportions and hand drawing and a lot of very advanced-looking stuff, you smiled. 

“This one as well, please…” he was about to finish the bill when you stopped him, looking down through the glass display and pointing towards something, “Is that a penknife?” 

“Well, yes,” he replied, “Although sharpeners are used more often nowadays, some people still prefer them.” 

“I’d like one of those as well,” you added with a smile. 

“Excellent.” The man gave you your total and then handed every single thing in a thick paper bag. “You said it was for a gift, right?” 

“Yes,” you nodded and he walked to the back of the shop, pulling a very elegant and sturdy black box, he eyed the bag as if calculating if everything would fit and then handed it over to you along with a black and gold ribbon with the name of the store repeated over and over. 

As he handed it over he pulled it back for a second and gave you a smile. “That young gentleman is very lucky to have you as a girlfriend.” 

“I think I’m just as lucky as he is,” you responded with a small smirk as you took the box. 

“Would you like me to call you a cab?” 

You thought about it for a second. Your house wasn’t that far, and with a short levitating spell you wouldn’t have to carry much stuff either, but the Knight Bus did mention they’d be very busy and you had been walking all day. “Yes, thank you.”

The man called for one and you waited inside the store until the cabbie arrived. You gave him your address and he took you straight there. You took the lift of your building, using your wand to unlock the secret –magical- floor your parents had purchased in London and waited. 

When the two, golden doors of the lift opened to your drawing room, you sighed. Leaning down to take off your shoes. “Mom? Dad?” 

No answer. “What time is it?” you whispered to yourself as you looked at the clock, quarter past ten? That art store surely has late closing times, you thought as you leaned back down to pull your bags up and drag them to your room. 

There was a note on the table along with what looked like a delightfully looking salad and steak. 

We’ll be home late, serve yourself. See you tomorrow darling.

You sighed and after placing the bags on the table, and using a warming spell on the food, you ate. Once you were done, the plate disappeared from the table and instead, a chocolate cake showed up. You smiled, at least they knew you liked sweets. You took a few bites from that and took it, along with your gifts, to your room. 

That’s when you remembered you had promised to tell your friends when you arrived here so you quickly scribbled a few notes. Sending your owl –Resse– back to the Potter’s and Barnaby –the family’s owl– to Beth. Then you took some Floo powder and leaned over the fire. 

“Tom?” You asked as you peeked through his chimney. 

“Sly sprite?” He asked as he leaned over. “I was starting to worry,” he said as he left a book on the side. “You got home, all right?” 

“Yeah!” you said with a smile. “And I got a bunch of good stuff at the store too, it was worth it.” 

“It better have been! Beth is home too, we stopped by hers first.” 

You chatted with Tom for a little while more and ended the call when you started to yawn and he followed right after. With that, you went for a quick and warm shower and then back to bed. 

Thursday, December 24th

There was a soft knock on the door, you stirred on your bed but didn’t wake and then there was another one. “Sweetheart? Breakfast’s ready, come eat.” 

“On my way,” you said as you sat on your bed and rubbed your eyes a couple of times. The day was bright, you’d forgotten to shut your windows at night and now you had the perfect view of the Thames through your window. You thought back to Hogwarts and how all the splendour of it had been made by magic, while the splendour of London had mostly been made by muggles. 

The high skyscrapers, the Ferris Wheel across the river, the towers, palaces and bridges, all muggle-made, and without magic, it was fascinating. You didn’t understand why wizards had so many prejudices against them –aside from the whole burning on steak part, muggles seemed to be quite incredible and determined people.  Perhaps you should have taken that muggle studies optative. 

“Sweetheart?” you heard your father’s voice, a bit more stern than your mother’s. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” you said as you shook your covers off and grabbed your wand from the nightstand. “As if they hadn’t been home hours after I got here,” you mumbled as you fished for a pair of slippers under your bed. 

By the time you got out of your room both your mom and dad were sitting on the living room table. Your mom was wearing a beautiful cocktail dress while your dad had a perfectly fitting black suit on with a small cape, draped elegantly behind his chair. You were still wearing a band shirt you had stolen from Sirius a while ago, and that you had been wearing under Remus’ jumper before the trip. “Lovely to see you,” you said with an awkward smile, “it’s been a while.” 

Your father looked up from his newspaper with a cup of coffee in his hand only for a second, nodded and then went back to read. Your mom gave you a sympathetic look and nodded for you to sit down. After a couple of minutes, your dad bent the newspaper and placed it on the side of the table.  

“We’ve heard plenty of your Hogwarts Adventures,” your father said looking at you. “You’ve been doing a masterful job at maintaining our house’s name relevant.”  

You frowned at that, that had never been your intention. 

“You were incredible in the broom race though you lost,” your father said. “And you’ve won two quidditch matches–” 

“That was a team effort…” you said, your voice growing smaller as his hand dismissed you. 

“You’ve kept your grades high and you’ve even entered the duelling club…”

“Not to mention her Theoretical Magic grades,” your mom added with a smile. 

“And you’re dating one of the Black kids.” 

You swallowed. You had mentioned in your letters that you and Sirius had gotten along now that you were in the same house, but you hadn’t specifically mentioned you were dating him.

“The disowned Black kid,” your father continued. 

You straightened a little, you had discussed with your dad the things that happened back in your vacations with the Blacks. It hadn’t been particularly nice talk, but you weren’t going to back down, his political means could not be worth more than his morals. And things had been rather tense between the two since then.

When two people had such intense ideological differences and desires, they were bound to clash against each other, especially when those ideologies juxtaposed against the other often, being only furthered by the fact that you were –at least on breaks– living under the same roof. 

Your priorities had been wildly different and you weren’t shy about letting him know, which caused your relationship to deteriorate quickly. Not to say you –or him– had been particularly rude to each other, but you were much colder. It was almost Christmas, and you didn’t want to start a fight with him, let alone over something that you were most definitely not going to yield on. 

“I think it’s all right. He might have been disowned by his family but he still stays in contact with some of the other Blacks like Alphard and the other disowned child… whatever her name is…” Andromeda, you thought as you tried to process the fact that he had just said it was fine. “Just try to avoid mentioning him in tomorrow’s dinner. I’m sure Walburga wouldn’t be particularly pleased.” 

“Tomorrow’s dinn– Walburga will be coming?” 

“Of course not, they have invited us to their Christmas dinner,” he said. “It’ll be hosted in Rosier Manor, I believe.” 

“Whose manor?” You asked, your breath going short along with your question. 

“Mr. Rosier,” your mom repeated. “All important wizards will be there.” 

“I’d rather skip Christmas altogether.” 

“I’m sorry, darling. This isn’t a matter of preferences. You will go and then we’ll let you do whatever you please for the rest of the break. Visit muggle London as much as you want or dally with your friends, I really don’t care as long as you maintain your composure during tomorrow’s dinner.”

Your leg was bouncing slightly under the table. “I don’t believe I will be welcomed in that house.” 

“You will be welcomed because you are my daughter and I’m me,” he said with an air of finality. “We need to present a strong family front, play your part and you’ll be rewarded.” 

“Right, my part,” you said bitterly. You wondered if your mother was playing her part too, they were in love, that wasn’t questionable, but sometimes it felt like she became nothing more than an addition to his recollection of what a perfect life should look like. Did he marry her because of the love he felt for her or because she’d look like a delightful trophy wife by his side on political dinners? Had she not been as beautiful as she was, had she not been well educated, would he have married her either way? 

You wondered, when had Silas become the man he is now? When did his greed for power become so intense he would sacrifice his morals to achieve it? When you were smaller, you thought they loved each other, even now, you saw when they looked at each other with those adoring eyes, but… there was a tale of sacrifice weaved in between their story, and with one party constantly bending to the other’s wishes, you weren’t sure you could still call it love. 

When devotion became toxic, was it still something that came from love, or had it become something else altogether? 

“Indeed darling, we ask for nothing more than one night. Then you will not be bothered, free to go wherever you want and with whomever you please. Does that sound like a fair deal?” 

You sighed and nodded, “One dinner.”

Your mother smiled at that, letting out a nervous breath and then reached for your hand. “Your clothes for tomorrow are already in your closet, I also got you some nice potions and make-up.” 

“Thanks, Mum,” you said with a short smile and looked at your food. It looked delicious, it was French toast with berries and fruit on top –probably there to appeal to your sweet tooth and convince you to go– but you didn’t feel hungry at all. Especially not at the thought of having to go to Rosier Manor. As if you didn’t see enough of Evan at school, now you had to go see him on the break as well, bIoody brilliant. “Breakfast was great,” you said as you stood up. Both of them decided to ignore your almost intact plate, “I’ll be in my room in case you need anything else, you know like me playing the role of the perfect child of the politician if your friends come around or whatever.”

Your mom gave you a reproachful look while your dad gave you an impassive one, you raised your eyebrows at the two of them, almost tauntingly before you turned around, walking back to your room and letting the door close behind you gently –it was not the inanimate objects fault that your parents were acting like pricks. 

You sat on your bed and took a deep breath before you saw a small owl by one of your windows, you let him in and took the rolled parchment from his feet before feeding him some water. 

Dear Vix, Hope this letter finds you all right, Sirius was moaning about you going along Beth and Tom and not inviting him to buy Christmas stuff it was draining! Now I was not going to write to you about it because he said he would punch me in the face but I had to write anyway since mum and dad wanted you to have our address so you could come here through floo anytime.  Hope you’re having a great time, Sirius and I went flying with Pete today (he lives a few houses from us, did we tell you?), and while it was nice not having to worry about Sirius distracting himself from snogging you, we missed you still.  Mum and Dad send greetings to your parents, hope you’re also having a blast.  Your bestest friend, James P.  PS. Mum sent this tea for you, she said she thinks you’d like it with how much sweet stuff you eat and stuff.  PS 2. Love you, but I bet you’re missing me more <– That was Sirius. 

James’ stupid letter made you chuckle, especially the last bit, as if it had been necessary to point out that Sirius had been the one to write it. You placed the letter into a small box in your bag and smiled as you walked to pick up some of the stuff you’d be giving your friends as their gifts.  

You picked up some wrapping paper and started wrapping all of their gifts, the owls would have to do a couple of trips to take them all to their place, but you’d make sure to leave them plenty of food throughout the night, so they could continue their trips and the presents would be at your friend’s beds in the morning. 

You had gone through most of the smaller gifts first, writing small, and neatly written Christmas cards on them. Then you went for the bigger ones, the books you’d gotten for Lily, some of the stuff for Mary and Marlene, James’ pack, and of course, Remus and Sirius’. 

It wasn’t until then, that you realised how overboard you had gone with your gifts. You’d gotten Remus so many books, both magical and muggle, that you almost felt guilty you hadn’t gotten Lily and James more stuff. And then you tried telling yourself it was because Remus would spend Christmas alone and he deserved at least a bit of happiness, you weren’t deliberately playing favourites. 

And then Sirius’ pile was clearly a mess, you had all the music you’d gotten, the shirts, the penknife that you wanted to engrave with his name (you were researching for the right spell to do it) and a bunch of other stuff for him. Besides, you still wanted to make the playlists, so before you finished packing the bigger boxes, you started testing the recorder. Now there wasn’t exactly a step by step guide on how to record music, but there was a small booklet that showed you how the thing worked and you spend the rest of the day figuring it out, listening to music and making a playlist for each of your friends. Using all the songs you thought they might like.

When you were done with that, you continued packing all the stuff. Deciding to send all the music back to the boys’ room at Hogwarts so they could leave it on Sirius’ stash. Well, all of them except for the David Bowie tape you had specifically gotten for Sirius and that would look great with his shirt and the rest of the gifts you’d gotten him. 

You went out to get some food at some point during the day, and there was another note from your parents telling you they were off at an event. Well, good riddance, you thought as you went back to your room with a sandwich in your hands. You picked one of the books you’d gotten for yourself and you spent almost the rest of the day reading it while jamming to one of the playlists you’d made. A copy of the one you’d made for Remus since you thought it went well with the book you’d chosen to read. 

You fell asleep before your parents got home, with the book still in your hands and the music playing softly in the background until the cassette ran out of tape and was softly ejected by the machine. The sound it made had been so soft it didn’t wake you at all. 

Thankfully, you had remembered to leave enough water and food for the owls, since they had spent all night doing trips back and forth to your house and your friends’. 

Friday, December 25th

You woke up by being pecked in the face by a very big and very angry owl. 

“Oi!” you complained. “What’s wrong with you?” The owl chirped and picked you again, this time on the ear. “Bitch,” you mumbled as you pushed him back lightly, only for him to pick you in the finger again. 

You gave him an upset look and he pulled back just a little, tilting his head towards the window, and the lack of food and refreshments. 

“Oh, so that’s why you’ve been attacking me non-stop?” you asked as you stood up from the bed, failing to see the pile of wrapped gifts at the end of it. The owl chirped in response, a scowl that you weren’t sure was his natural face shape or an actual scowl directed towards you. “I’m sorry,” you added, “Barnaby and Reese must have eaten them all. They did many trips last night, you know?” 

The owl chirped again, a little angry as he flew towards the window, as if saying «I too flew many trips last night» looking as indignant as a Towny Owl could. You added a few of the special snacks you kept for Reese just to keep him from biting you again. You looked at the name tag and realised who the owner of the owl had been. 

Eun-ji, Minho had told you about her, she was his family’s owl and apparently, the name meant something like “kind”. So much for a kind owl, you thought as you looked at her, gobbling up Reese’s treats. You leaned over when you noticed there was a small letter attached to his feet and took it in your hands before the owl flapped his wings and left. 

Merry Christmas Star Seeker,  Hope you’re having a great time. Thought of giving you a special thanks for that one time you –quite literally– pushed me towards my crush and got us to start a conversation, that, well, you know how great it ended!  Even for a Gryffindor, you’re really nice, so I thought of getting you something for you to get some more hate from your fellow Gryffindor, Eun-ji must have left the gift near your bed.

You turned to the side in the middle of reading and stood agape, there was not only a green and silver wrapped gift in what looked suspiciously like the shape of a snake, but there were also a bunch of other gifts wrapped in all sorts of colours. 

Anyway thanks for everything, hope you have fun and all. I’m looking forward to beating you all next time we play,   Love,  The one and only, and your favourite Slytherin, Minho Cha. 

You rolled your eyes at the last bit, it had been very Slytherin of him, but since you knew Minho, you also knew he was playing it off as a joke on his own house, which made a joke inside a joke and you thought it was actually kind of funny. 

You took a deep breath and walked over to your bed. There were all sorts of gifts prompted there and you decided to unwrap Minho’s first. There was a small, green snake plushie with a bow on it that had a small pendant with something written on it:  “From the snakes that love you dearly,” and then it had the names of all of your Slytherin friends: Minho, Comet, Nox, Reggie, and even some you weren’t expecting like Dorcas and Solacis. You thought it was an adorable little thing, even if –and you were certain of this– your friends would absolutely hate it. Well, not Lily, she’d also think it was adorable. 

And thinking of her, was that you picked the next gift, wrapped in pink and yellow paper, and with her a small dedicatory on the corner, you instantly knew it was from her, her neat and perfect handwriting being the dеad giveaway. You smile as you read her small dedication. She wished you a very, merry Christmas and promised to tell you everything about the train with James as soon as you saw each other in person. She wrote something along the lines of not being able to put it on paper, which made you laugh. 

When you opened the present you were thrilled, it was a small leather notebook, dark red with golden trims and your name on the cover. Not Vixen, not Starshine, or any of the other nicknames that you had come to own and love since you arrived at Hogwarts, but your name. You smiled as you traced your fingers over the letters. There was a pen on the side, golden and apparently of some interesting muggle technology that wasn’t that popular in the wizarding world. You thought it was fascinating. When you opened the notebook you realised there was something written, again in her handwriting. 

You’ve had more adventures this year than I’ve had in my lifetime. I think it’s time for you to start writing down some of them, in case you ever want to revisit them. If journaling is not your thing (which I feel like it would be because I know you), you can just use this notebook however you want. You know grocery lists, songs for mixtapes, your favourite lyrics, poems, quotes, Sirius’ doodles, your doodles,  dried flowers, stickers, whatever you want, it’s your space, and you may use it as you wish! Love, Lily

You thought the idea of having your own journal was brilliant, you always admired her for keeping hers so incredibly neat looking, and perhaps being able to let some of your feelings go on a blank page would be better than keeping them bottled up. You doubted you would be nearly as consistent as her, but you decided to add your first couple of words in there, detailing the gifts you’d gotten and the few you still had yet to open. 

You’d gotten a box of your favourite candies from Mary and some incredible quidditch trading cards from Marlene, but she had also added some makeup to her gift because if not you and James would have gotten the exact same thing and you were her favourite between the two. You got a spellbook and a muggle prank book from Tom “to further your career” according to him. There was a large, embossed book from Nina, which you discovered was an annotated version of one of your favourite books and a small set of runes from Sybil. You had gotten her a deck of cards and a book about premonitions. 

There were candies from Nox and a muggle book lantern from Neil Perry, you had both complained at some point about reading with your wand and you thought the solution he’d found was adorable. Peter had gotten you a book about canines, packed along with a small fox-themed bookmarker and a note that said “Thank you for not busting my make-out session and Merry Christmas.” He also added, “PS. maybe with this one you’ll be able to tame Pads.” Which had you wheezing with laughter for a while. 

It took at least a minute to go for the next gift, it was a small box that said to be handled carefully. You opened it according to the instructions. “Shut the fuck up!” you said the moment you realized what was inside. A small Felix Felicis vial. “Shut up, shut up, shut up,” you repeated over and over again. “How did he even get his hands on it?” 

You picked up the paper from behind it, there was a small note. 

Okay say it: aside from Sirius, I AM your favourite Marauder.  You might be wondering, “How the hell did James get his hands on this?”. Well dear, I must say, I have contacts.  AKA my parents are expert potioneers and I somehow convinced Mum to brew one and that’s how I got my hands on it.  Now, I could have given it to any of my friends but I get the feeling you might be needing some of this soon enough. You know, from things I’ve seen and such (please don’t waste it on a quidditch match, though). Anyway, I know you’ll use it well, hope you have a very Merry Christmas!  Your favourite marauder AND bestest friend,  Prongs. 

You chuckled when you finished reading and went back to look at the vial with incredulity. Brewing one of these potions was arduous work, and it took weeks, which meant James must have had convinced Effie to do it even before she’d met you. Never underestimate James Potter, you thought as you grabbed onto the vial and placed it around your neck with a chain, casting a disillusionment charm on it so it wouldn’t be so obvious you had it with you. You thought the gift was brilliant. 

After that, there were only 2 gifts left. You picked the one with a silver bow first. It was a square box, about 12” wide, and had been wrapped in the same paper as James’, which made you guess who it might be from. There were chocolates and a small letter on top, neatly closed and with your name written on the back with Sirius’ almost perfect calligraphy. There was also a paper covering something, but you picked the letter up first. 

You know, I tried writing a love letter, but James wouldn’t stop making ridiculous comments about it not being profound enough and I feared I’d end up writing something close to the painfully ridiculous letters he used to write to Lily so I had to stop myself.  Who would have thought it would be that hard to put thoughts into words? I suppose if I were like Remus it would come out much easier but, unfortunately, you’re stuck with me. Actually no, fortunately you’re stuck with me, I’m delightful.

You laughed, he’s not wrong. 

Anyway, I suppose what I wanted to express in those dreadful attempts of being a poet was that I’m incredibly thankful that you came to Hogwarts and that you came back to me. I’m grateful that you tolerate me and my moods and that you love me for who I am, flaws and all. I wasn’t sure I’d ever found that kind of love, one that I even doubted it existed, and yet you’re always there to tease and make me laugh and– I already sound like James, but you know what I mean. You always know what I mean.  As you see, I am far from a poet, but there is something I like to do and I thought that perhaps, you’d enjoy it more than this terrible love letter.  You know, you and Remus were the first to ever see a sketch from my book, and I was feeling all sorts of things after I offered, and yet, you were there, reassuring me and telling me I didn’t have to do it if I didn’t want to. You know Walburga, it wasn’t much of a choice for me, so it truly meant the world, and fed me the courage I needed to let you see that part of me. And when you two finally saw it and praised me for my skills, for what I did with my own hands… You make me so incredibly gleeful, it’s almost scary how much power you could hold over me. But frankly, I’ll let you hold it all you want.  All right, enough of the sappy stuff, Merry Christmas Starshine, you know you shine brighter than my own star. Hope you like your gift.  Love,  Sirius 

See the letter here

You read the letter a few more times, smiling at the little details and jokes Sirius had sprinkled all over. And then you pulled on the bit of tissue paper covering the very last thing in the box and when you finally saw its content you couldn’t help but swear again, “Son of a bitch!” you whispered. 

There were still some small pieces of paper over the small portrait, and you carefully brushed them out to be able to lift it from the box. The image was a hand-drawn portrait of you. You had a big smile and were looking at what would be the camera if it were an image. It looked like it might have been from one of the pictures from Marlene’s party although Sirius had changed the outfit, you were wearing an oversized sweater and his leather jacket. You could tell it was his because it had one of the enamel pins you had gotten him as a gift on the lapel. 

There were touches of colours in the strokes, not quite painting the drawing but rather giving it relatively bright edges that made it look special, unlike any other doodle. And of course, he had framed it, it was a simple yet elegant frame, dark oak and with small carved details on the sides. On the left bottom corner of the drawing, there was something written in French: 

À l'étoile la plus brillante.  Amour, 

And then, instead of his name, he signed with a small and elegant star doodle. You smiled again, it was one of the loveliest things you’d ever gotten, even if it was a portrait of yourself, the fact that Sirius had been the one to draw it, made it the most special of things. There were portraits upon portraits of you in your house, with magic that allowed you to move and smile, and even talk sometimes, but none of them held as much value as the frozen drawing Sirius had given you. 

Eventually, you placed it on your night table and picked up the last gift still sitting in your bed. His box was smaller than Sirius’, about the size of a book, which had you assumed he had gotten you something along the lines of that. 

You opened the book and found a small, pocket-sized book. It was a Sreath Bàrdachd, according to the golden script at the top. You hadn’t quite realised as you pulled it from the box, but it was handmade. You looked at it in shock as you flipped to the 50+ pages, all in carefully and methodically written cursive, his handwriting. 

Later you realised it was something between a book of poems and a compilation of quotes from different books. You admired the booklet for a few more minutes when you spotted that there was a small letter, still waiting for you inside the box. You pulled it off and broke the seal with a small sword letter opener Nox had given you as a gift. 

As you did, a small chain fell from the letter and you picked it up. It was small and dainty, just long enough to wrap around your wrist, which made you wonder how he’d guessed the size. The chain was simple, and it broke off into two different sections, one with a small crescent moon and then another one with a small star. It also had one small gemstone in between the bigger charms. You looked at it with a smile and held it in your hand as you read the letter. 

Hey there, Little Witch,  Hope you’re having an incredible Christmas. By the time you read this, you’ve probably seen the Sreath Bàrdachd, and knowing how clever you are, you probably already know what that could mean. Yes, It’s a book of poems, but also a bit more than that.  I knew Sirius was making you that incredible gift of his, and I didn’t want to fall behind. Prongs didn’t tell us what he got you but he seemed pretty confident he’d have the best gift of all. Did he?  Never mind, don’t tell me, it’s a silly competition. Either way, I thought you might like having one of these. Mum used to have one, which is why I know they exist. She told me a good friend gave it to her and she has kept it ever since then. I remembered borrowing it from her once when I was little, and she taught me how to carefully flip through the pages as she read to me. She also mentioned it was a silly girl’s thing but I thought it was amazing, and went on to make my own.  Although wonky and, with quotes from children’s books, she thought I was quite a mastermind for making it by myself. Of course, I put a lot more effort into the one you have with you now. Or perhaps the same effort but with better skills. If you’ve flipped through the pages, which I assume you have, since you’re incredibly curious, you’ve probably seen some familiar quotes.  There’s stuff from books we’ve both read and stuff that only I have read but that I thought you might like. Some of my favourite poems too, and some quotes from movies that only you’d be able to get. There are even lyrics from songs, some that we really like, some that Sirius has heard so many times that I already knew them by memory, and since the two of you like similar music, I assumed you’d know them too.  Also, there’s a small bracelet in the letter. I’ve cross-charmed it, in case you ever lose the Sreath Bàrdachd (I truly hope you never do), the gemstone will shine as you approach it. I’ve also added a few luck charms that, while they won’t keep you away from trouble –I don’t think anything could– they may give you some luck while navigating it.  Don’t hit me for saying that, you know it’s true.  Love,  Moony.  PS. Prongs told me about your little quarrel with Sirius on the platform, Sirius definitely misses you more.

See the letter here

By the time you finished Remus’ letter, you were smiling as brightly as you had when you read Sirius’. You were so lucky you had found such incredible people in Hogwarts. Your bedsheets filled with torn wrapping paper were a testament to that. You spend the rest of the afternoon listening to some more music and reading through the book Remus had made. 

He had been especially careful with his handwriting which you thought was adorable, and there were a lot of quotes from Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Grey. He had written in pencil –so you could erase it if you wanted, not that you would– that it was your fault he was obsessed with his writing now. Taking poems and quotations from both, the book aforementioned and The Ghost of Canterville. You hadn’t read the latter yet, but you were almost counting the days to go back to school and ask him to lend you his copy. 

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and you had to leave the warm comfort of reading and listening to music in favour of changing into the clothes your mom had chosen for you. You sighed as the alarm clock you’d set earlier went off, and then went straight towards your closet. The dress she had picked was simple, yet elegant. It wasn’t a long dress like the one she’d probably wear, but a more youthful one with clever intricate details on the sleeves and a midi skirt.  

“Thank god it has sleeves,” you whispered to yourself as you pulled the edge of the sleeve of Sirius’ shirt up. While your skin looked almost smooth, the lighter (almost silvery) shapes where the new skin was growing over the gush Moony had made were pretty evident. You supposed makeup and a spell could make them less visible, at least for a while, but that would have probably taken you a lot more time to achieve. 

You plopped the black dress on, smoothing the sides as walking towards your vanity where your mum had left all the potions and make-up. You sighed, remembering how much more fun it had been to dress for the Gryffindor parties than it was to dress for this one. With the black dress and the pearls on your neck, you felt a lot more like you were about to walk into a funeral rather than a party. My own funeral, you thought with a laugh when you remembered whose house you’d actually be going to. 

You grabbed a pair of red, not-too-high heels, put them on, and took another look in the large mirror by the window. You looked lovely, at least there would be no complaints from your parents on that aspect. What they might complain about was the fact that you took a bag with an undetectable extension charm and filled it with a few of the books you’d gotten as a Christmas gift. You also took the journal Lily had given you and Remus’ Sreath Bàrdachd. And you weren’t sure who’d be attending that party but you sure hoped you’d be able to sneak into a corner and read a book rather than having to interact with some of the most disagreeable friends of your parents. 

“Sweetheart, are you ready?” your mom asked from the kitchen. 

“Yeah, coming,” you said as you grabbed a few more trinkets and dumped them in your bag, just in case. 

You were about to leave the room when you saw a small glistening thing in your bed and you went straight to grab it. It was the bracelet Remus had given you, and even if it took you a while to put it on, and you continued looking between your wrist and the door as you tried to get the clasp to do its job, you thought it was worth it. I could really use that extra luck. You thought. You accommodated the necklace Sirius had given you and that you never took off and then took off James’ potion and placed it on your bag since it might be safer there than around your neck. 

One last look in the mirror to make sure everything was in order and you walked out towards the living room. 

“You look delightful, darling,” your father said as he spotted you walking out of the room. 

You gave him a half shrug in response and then managed to mutter a “thanks” that you hoped didn’t sound as bitter as it felt. After another moment of silence, your mom grabbed her bag and finished clipping on one of her earrings. 

“We’ll take the floo?” you asked. 

Your father shook his head, “They’ve sent over a Portkey,” your mom explained and motioned to the table, there was a small, fancy-looking invitation right in the middle. 

“Nice,” you said as you used your wand to levitate the object and move it right in between your parents. Perhaps if it had been floo, you could have sneakily said James’ address instead of Evan’s and escaped the party altogether. Once there, your parents wouldn’t make a fuss about it in order to not make your insubordination evident. But of course, you weren’t that lucky, and you’d have to take the portkey and you’d have to go to the party. 

“In three,” your father said as he moved his hand towards the invitation, “two… one… go.” 

The three of you placed your hands on the invitation at the same time and you felt the very familiar pull on your lower back, in less than a second, the entire world distorted around you, and then, you weren’t in your house anymore.

Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

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A/N: Aww that was so cute wasn't it? Now it's time to strap on, we're about to dive head-first into the darkest side of the story, and it's going to be fun and sad and just a rollercoaster of emotions in general. Love, Lils xx

Read more Marauders Fiction

[tellmeallaboutit]

WIP WEDNESDAY

thank you @littleplasticrat for tagging me. I am sharing three WIPs and I am tagging @dodorimo @pouralaura @theemptyislost

WIP Nr. 1 (Raphael x Tav), tale madre tale figlia

"Is this the gentleman?" Celeste inquired, her eyes narrowing as she studied Raphael from a distance. 

He was standing by the garden pavilion under the canopy of vines, enjoying a chilled glass of limoncello. Classically handsome, almost mundanely so, with the grin of a man all too pleased with himself. Erik, her husband, stood across from him, looking much less at ease. 

"Less disappointed in me now, mama?" asked Judith, scoffing slightly.

"Could have been worse," Celeste replied. "Could have been better if you'd done things the right way and had a proper wedding. How old is he?"

Judith thought for a moment, trying to come up with a passable answer.

"Forty-five, I think," Judith finally offered.

"The same age your father would have been," Celeste said, half reproachful, half imagining this man as her own husband. "Looks older. Southerner?"

Judith answered each question with a slight delay.

"South of Thar."

"Old money?" Celeste's question sounded more like a statement.

"Ancient money," Judith answered.

WIP Nr. 2 (Rugan x OC), trouble at the disco (NSFW)

“You know the type you seem to be, princess?”, Rugan asked. “A spoiled brat in need of a good spanking.”

"Oh?" she replied. "And you think you're the man to give me one?"

Her slightly elvish eyes raked over him in a thorough appraisal. She hoped he would be the man to give her one.

"With that very leather belt you're eyeing up," Rugan said. "Until that pampered arse of yours is cherry red."

Margaret's breath caught in anticipation and Rugan could feel his cock stiffen at the prospect. He could almost see her imagining the sting of each blow.

"What a brute," she murmured, not without a dash of admiration.

"Somebody should teach you some respect," he growled, his hand sliding up her thigh. "Alas, I suspect the moment I pull down your frilly knickers you'll be screaming for the guards. One thing this life taught me: some risks are just not worth taking."

He reclined in his chair and exhaled deeply.

“So, sorry, lass. Try your luck elsewhere.”

WIP Nr. 3 (Gale x Tav), the Riv'vil

The human male was evidently as dense as a dwarven door.

She had made herself abundantly clear, and yet the riv’vil stood, in his wizard robes, absent-mindedly petting his chin, and said:

“Charmed. Name is Gale of Waterdeep”.

It's no wonder human males are notorious for being slow. Gathering the shreds of her patience, she attempted once more: 

“I am Yvonne Barrison Del'Armgo, the first daughter of House Barrison Del'Armgo”, she said, hoisting her foot onto a boulder and thrusting forward her boot, which was splattered with the viscera of her venture on the nautiloid and needed immediate cleaning. 

Even the sun-dweller should know what being the first daughter of that house meant. It meant he should drop to his knees and prostrate at her feet immediately.

The male didn't blink an eye. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed:

“You are permitted to kiss my boot, sun-dweller”.

[wildlife4life]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @devirnis @exhuastedpigeon @daffi-990 @wikiangela @lover-of-mine @hippolotamus @jeeyuns and @disasterbuckdiaz. You are all so amazing and I cannot wait for all your works! Thank you!

I haven't really worked on any of the fics I dropped on tease bit tuesday, so I went into the vault of wips I have and pulled out the first buddie fic I ever started, buddie/911 in the Once Upon a Time verse. It was posted for a bit on ao3 but recently took it down because I wasn't all that happy with was posted and not having a sense of direction to take it in. But I'm looking back over it, and editing, adding. So I'm sharing a bit of it with ya'll today, test the waters really and see if its something I should keep working on. Hope you enjoy!

Once upon a time….

24 years ago, in the land of Misthaven, a cloud of dark magic thundered across the lands towards the Kingdom of Camelot. At the helm of a large round table sat Sir Robert, the kingdom’s noblest knight.  To his left was his beloved and soon to be wife, Queen Athena who cradled her two children to her chest. But no fear be felled her demure. No great evil could ever shake her resolve and it could be said for many of those that sat at the round table. Many who whose entire attention was on the enterically designed wardrobe that stood in the middle of the table. 

“Are we sure this is what needs to be done?” asked Howard the Hatter.

Sir Robert clenched his fist tight at the tables edge, “The dark curse is among us and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  All that is left is to secure the prince’s future.”

To his right, the great wizard Merlin nodded in agreement, “The magic of this wardrobe is powerful enough to send little Evan far away from his mother’s curse.  We must trust that the one with belief will return him home.”

“And what of the rest of us?” King Michael spoke what many were thinking.

Merlin looked to the man who held his very heart, “I’m sorry my love, but I do not have those answers.  I cannot see past the curse itself and the dark one won’t share his secrets.  We can only hope, and that in itself is powerful enough to see us through.”

The King of Camelot nodded and took the wizards hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

The rest of those around the table conceded with King Michael and Sir Robert took a deep breath, “Bring them in Henrietta.”

The warrior that stood at the opposite of the knight, dipped her head before turning and opening the large wooden doors.  “Princess Maddie, come along.”

A small girl no older than 10 with curling brown hair and wide brown eyes, slowly made her way into the room.  In her arms she carried a very small boy, just on the cusp of turning one.  Blonde curls sat atop his head and framed eyes as blue as the ocean.  But his most distinguishing feature was the pink mark along his left brow.  Many believed it was the mark of his prophesized power, that it told the world of the golden heart that rested within him.  The golden heart that would one day break any and all curses.

Maddie clutched her little brother tight to her chest, her lower lip trembling, “She’s coming for him again. The Evil Queen is coming for Evan.”

Sir Robert looked at the young girl he considered his own and tried to hold his tears, “We do not know why your mother has sent this curse, only that she intends to take the entire land with it and your brother is meant to save us all.”

“He’s just a baby!” the princess spits angrily, making the prince stir in her arms before Maddie quickly composed herself and soothed him with soft shushes.

Isabel, the eldest and wisest among the group rose to her feet, “No child should have the world on their shoulders and all we can hope is that you and Evan can be free of burden until the time comes.”

Tears streamed down Maddie’s face, “How do I do that when only I will know?”

Behind the little princess came a glowing blue light that grew brighter and larger before dwindling out to reveal a dark-skinned woman in a flowing blue dress and shimmery wings.  “Tell him our tales, instill the belief. But most important, love him.  Love Prince Evan as you do now.” The blue fairy answered before bending down and giving the two children a gentle hug.

Maddie returned the embrace with one arm then stepped and faced Sir Robert, “Will I ever see you again?”

The brave knight let one tear roll down his cheek as he gave the princess a sad smile, “We can only hope.”

The thunder of the curse rumbled in the silence and lower in the castle, the sound of battle rung out.  Their time was up.

Princess Maddie climbed atop the table and stepped towards the wardrobe.  Above the noise of battle and magic, the Blue Fairy’s soft lilt rang out, “The last child born to a queen of sorrow shall be given a heart of gold.  His heart alone can save those who are cursed.”

“And on the child’s 25th birthday, he shall return to those who have left, led by the one who has belief.” Merlin finished as the young girl sat within the wardrobe.

“Be safe and have hope.” Athena stated firmly then watched with the rest of those at the round table as the wardrobe was closed and the doors to the room burst open.

“It’s over.” The Evil Queen proclaimed stepping inside with the cloud of cursed magic behind her.

“What will happen to us?” Sir Roberts asked.

The Evil Queen cackled, “The worst imaginable.”

Then darkness.

Alright, I know its a lot, but this is basically the prelude to the whole story. If anyone wants an indication of who is who, just let me know I can drop a list of characters and their identities from the fairy tail world. Hope you enjoyed! (Also Captainswan stan! Its true love ya'll!)

Tagging (no pressure!): @bekkachaos @hoodie-buck @theotherbuckley @ladydorian05 @prosperdemeter2 @spotsandsocks @malewifediaz @elvensorceress @bigfootsmom @watchyourbuck @watchyourbuck @jesuisici33 @thewolvesof1998 @fortheloveofbuddie @giddyupbuck @eddiebabygirldiaz @loserdiaz @spaceprincessem @thekristen999 @lizzybizzyzzz @homerforsure @sibylsleaves @spagheddiediaz @try-set-me-on-fire @monsterrae1 @rogerzsteven @eowon @honestlydarkprincess @911onabc @911-on-abc @cowboydiazes @vampbuckley @brokenribsdiaz @buck-coded @housewifebuck @arthursdent @glorious-spoon @buddierights @athenagranted @rainbow-nerdss @gayhoediaz @gayedmundodiaz

[critter-rarepair-reccs]

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today we have eight fics in modern settings for you all! Have a look at them below the cut and if you end up checking some of them out on ao3, please don’t forget to leave kudos and comments! 🩷

Having Trouble Breathing In by Torchiclove (17,445 words, Teen) Pairing: Keyleth/Pike Trickfoot (Pikeleth) Warnings: None

‘The paramedic would take her breath away, if the asthma hadn’t done it for her.’ Keyleth falls for Pike in a modern AU.

Reccer Says: Enjoyable and well written fic of Keyleth falling for Pike in a modern AU. Explores Keyleth as a character with anxiety and it's a great, gentle depiction of falling in love with great characterisation despite the rare pair.

Live your whole life on a might-have-been by Chrome (2,681 words, Teen) Pairing: Veth Brenatto/Caleb Widogast (Widobrave) Warnings: None

Just a very short and atmospheric peice set in a modern au where Caleb and Veth met at university, and he’s driving her part of the way home for the holidays.

Reccer Says: I can’t describe the feelings this fic gives me. It’s understated and bittersweet and so full of longing that you’ll want to die. It feels like a Hemingway story almost with the way it manages to pack so much meaning in between the words the characters actually say.

And I became hypnotized by freckles and bright eyes by SunshineAndaLittleFlour (1,007 words, Teen) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: Drunk kissing

Molly didn’t realize he probably shouldn’t be kissing someone else’s partner until after he’d already started doing it.

Reccer Says: This fic, this whole series in fact, is absolutely wonderful! Its fun, flirty and emotional as well as smutty and one of the best stories/series for the purple boys and their ginger partner. Always a delight to read and this fic starts an awesome series off wonderfully!

softly, softly by maricolous (837 words, Teen) Pairing: Fjord/Mollymauk Tealeaf (Fjolly) Warnings: None

Fjord comes home from his shitty retail job to Molly, his roommate-turned-partner. They make out about it.

Reccer Says: It’s very cute and sweet, with a side of what feels Fjolly-typical horniness. It’s a fun little fic!

if we were a movie by burningdarkfire (8,800 words, Teen) Pairing: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett (Beaujes) Warnings: None

Jester decides to try and set Caleb and Essek up and ropes Beau into it. Cue many “friend” double-dates, a classic disaster lesbian Beau crush, attempts at coping with it, delightful romcom nonsense, a fun side of Shadowgast, and a very sweet ending.

Reccer Says: It’s silly, it’s fun, it’s heartfelt. Everyone’s voices are so on-point and every moment Feels like them. Beau is a mess and I love her, I want to squish Jester in my hands, and the wizards are menaces of a side pairing. Also the conversation between Beau and Essek at the maid cafe is so good.

candy hearts (so sweet on you) by thaumasilva (5,149 words, General) Pairing: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett (Beaujes) Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Implied Stalking (not between Beaujes)

Beau keeps visiting the gift wrapping station at the mall to get her Winter’s Crest presents wrapped, and the cute tiefling working there keeps giving her candy hearts with flirty messages, or: Three times Beau wanted to ask Jester out, and the one time she didn’t have to.

Reccer Says: It's just a sweet as the name implies, aaaa it's so cute

Intervention by VioletTeaTime (1,965 words, Teen) Pairing: Fjord/Caleb Widogast (Widofjord) Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fjord intimidates the guy bothering bartender!Beau’s favorite customer into taking a hint and leaving. Then he gets flirted with and Beau complains about having to watch.

Reccer Says: ace fjord my beloved <3 also the boys' background friendships with Beau are very sweet

all actions and reactions by grayintogreen (2,879 words, General) Pairing: Astrid Beck/Jester Lavorre (Jestrid) Warnings: Depression, Burn-out

One of her friends suffered a breakdown, the other found religion, and now Astrid Beck, suffering from burnout and stress and a myriad of other things a pre-law student can suffer, has found the cherry on her misery sundae. Someone keeps buying all of the cinnamon scones she loves, and now she must end them.

Reccer Says: An amazing translation of the characters into a Modern AU, and surprisingly sweet

Thank you for joining us for our second recc list! All the love to everyone who submitted a fic 🩷 All enclosed recommendations were submitted by the community via our submissions form, which you can find here. All fic information is as it was provided by the reccer, so it may not be accurate to the author’s intent or the precise contents of the fic itself. Please assume good intent from all parties 🩷

Submissions for next week’s list are already open! We’ll be featuring Whump. If you have any you’d like to highlight, you can send them in here. The week after that, the theme is Pre-Relationship, and you can also submit fics for that now!

If you want more rarepair fic, check out @cr-summer-wildflowers and their event collections on ao3! If you want some friendship after all this romance, take a look at @critter-genfic-events and their recc lists! And if you’re interested in everyone’s favorite wizards, you can’t go wrong with the lists at @aeor-is-for-reccing !

Thanks all and have a lovely day/night/timezone! 🩷

[halevren]

FHJY Spoilers || my live thoughts as I watch episode 10

Happy mid season episode! I am saddened by the fact that I work on Wednesdays because I will be late to watch fhjy until the forseeable future. If anyone cares though I plan on buying the adya statuette next week if my finances allow for it :3 also I am so tired rn but I NEED to watch fhjy

Do you guys think ayda will appear in this episode after her statuette was released last week? (Praying)

tttaking over teenage rebellion!

Lucy Frostblade... You were just a girl. You didn't deserve everything that happened to you

"We're feeling bad. But we're feeling... Hopefully positive."

stress isn't always the bed guy

Aelwyn!

big old burned down house

Cottoncandy Bitchfuck

"I'm.... Bored. That's not true. I'm not bored at all. I'm just tired."

Hindesight is 50/50

"Oh I love this. Tell me all about it."

Siobhan is loving Aelwyn rn

"I do sometimes believe in you"

"So Sentimental"

Aelwyn and Adaine are so important to me their sibling relationship is everything

AELWYN AND ADAINE NOT BEING USED TO NICENESS

"Oh, my sweet little boy is sick!"

"just don't tell fab— don't tell anyone my apartment looks like this"

The Gukgak

I'm the Gukgak guy!

"Oh, Riz, you have to sleep, Kiddo." "I can't, mom, I don't have time." Oh Riz....

Framed?

Riz is so exhausted

It's been an hour and a half and his mom has chips and a drink 😭😭

"Mom, you have to be so careful."

"Keep my name out of your mouth." FIG 😭😭

"it's all good, mom"

yulenear

"Fig has like 3 majors now" "maybe 4, i might take a level of wizard."

"Kristen Applebees, believe it or not." "... huh." HWHHWKWNEB

"You both keep my name out of your mouth."

"It's been our month!"

Lola Embers recommended Gorgug's place??

"Mom I'm going to go to Loam farm."

*shrug* "mom." *shrug*

"We're having a rough one." "GOT 'EM."

"I'll do it." Fig cleric teacher?!?!

TAMAGOTCHI. MaryAnn my beloves

The puppet master!

"Ha Ha! Darling Girl!"

Gilear is king for the day

"My mom called you?"

"I don't need a ride to school anymore"

"I believe she's wanted here."

BUSINESS CLASS FOR CLOACA

"Can I say hi??"

NOOOOOOO NOOO SHE HUNG UP BEFORE FABIAN COULD ANSWER

That's so devastating

Coffee all over the DM screen

Yeah they haven't addressed the fact that fig is cursed

Pussy out, tits away

Theres so much going on

ohhh they might be sacrificing the rats

"I'm wearing a sports bra and a G-string, and I want to be closer with all of you."

Fabian with Mazey is so painful. He's so flustered and awkward I love him

MAZEY TRUSTS FABIAN

"I'm here, for you."

"Kristen was in a mood."

NOO DON'T KILL MAZEY SAVE HER FABIAN

Fried rice

SHE LEANS IN TO MAKE OUT

THIS IS SO EMBARRASSIJG

"Wait, they don't like us??"

"When you think about me, why do you always bring up the ball?"

SHE WANTS TO MAKE SURE HE'S OKAY BECAUSE HE'S ALOne

oh Fabian...,...........

"The legend continues."

"I was going to get a tattoo, actually."

"Even if you weren't maximum legend, I would still wanna hang out with you." MAZEEYYYYY 😭😭😭😭

BOGGY

Absence of divinity???

THE GOD'S DOMAIN CHANGED OVER TIME????

RUVINA'S SIBLING??

The gift is only mentioned in old texts??

"Well I guess I'll go to work."

Basrar is dead

"Literally your circus, literally your monkeys."

Tips are bad

RODEO MODE

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR A SPEECH???

NOOO NAT ONE

Check the soil kids

Lydia mention 🔥🔥🔥

Kristen holds so much hostility for Kalina 😭😭

Oh Lydia...

AV club mention

THIRTY ROLL 🔥🔥🔥🔥

The powerhouse of the cell

Aggression and protectiveness

7 becomes a 21?!?!!

?!?!?!?!?! SOMETHING COMING OUT OF HER CHEST???

22 Arcana, 25 religion

Elemental alignment???

Fiendish things going on

Yellow gold

Kinda like the pride of armor and lemon yogurt

PISS CURSE????

Ratgrinders sticker

"I don't get angry, I think I get sad sometimes" me too buddy, me too

Sometimes a spell comes out and obliterates people

Comedy of errors

Autopilot

Bobby Dawn and Pam Dawn

Bobby Dawn coming to Aguefort sounds like a bad thing

"I'll never let you do that."

"Yours only came back once." *middle finger* Kristen Applebees you will always be famous

A+ in paladin classes!

"Sorry! Get away from me"

Reasons he won't divulge???

A+ in all classes!!!

THREE PARAGRAPH ESSAY? NOOO ABOUT SADNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT NOOOOO

FIG NAT 20 FOR THE INSIGHT 😭

Zara is gorgeous

The days of Goldenhoard is over 😭😭

"MY GOD IS KRISTEN????"

Oh my god I almost prophesied this when I said Kristen would become a cleric/warlock of Fig.... instead Fig is the warlock/paladin of Kristen 😭😭😭

I'm the closest thing to a prophet holy shit

New god, agreement, todo list

Complicated Women: Lucy Frostblade 😭😭

NAT 20 DECEPTION FOR WANDA CHILDA

Oh my god

"Frick. I'm so sorry." "I'm not." Wanda Childa

GET MY ROCKS OFF TO 😭😭

"I'm off the grid that's why I only have an iPod"

God... Wanda Childa

rubby46@sol.com

"Do you want me to get you a phone?"

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE"

"I want to do relationships with Riz."

Medal of Wit

LITTLE METAL BRIEFCASE

You absolutely sweetie

29 performance 🔥🔥

GARTY O'BRIEN MENTION 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Naked Kristen. Again.

Oh god Fabian is at 4 at his second roll

"Breaker Breaker, this is Fabian Seacaster, looking for his papa, Bill Seacaster, somewhere out there in the nine hells............"

This is so heartbreaking... Fabian...

Oh Fabian...

His papa.....

He probably feels so lonely

Rage token.....

This rage token is making me take a stress token

Everyone single one has been bad

FABIAN TAKING THE BARDIC FROM FIG

Constitution saving throw???

oh no

oh no

oh no

"I shit myself"

I CAN'T BRWATHE

"I've only been eating leftovers"

UNNAMED BARD STUDENT NO

QUINCY NO

DID QUINCY TAKE A RAGE TOKEN?

THAT'S IT????

oh my god

[allycat319]

Unlikely Affection Chapter 24: Restored

Severus Snape’s POV

It had been a week…A bloody week since I removed my Little Star’s memories and she had yet to be interrogated by Umbridge. I had hoped that she would do as she said and pull Aurora out of class the next day as she said she would but when class came and went I assumed she had changed her mind and decided to wait until another class. 

It wasn't until Friday came along that I realized Umbridge had changed her plans and no longer intended to conduct the interrogation when she advised me she would. This leads us into the 7th day of my Little Star acting as though she is simply just my student and not someone that I have been buried to the hilt in on several occasions. 

I tried my damnest to avoid thinking of her during classes, her smile, her laugh, those noises she makes when I make her body convulse in pleasure. My cock hardens and my heart aches at the thought of her and fight the urge to go into the store room and relieve the tension while the students in my final class of the day scribble in their journals, documenting the changing potion in the cauldron in front of them.

‘Get a grip man!’ I internally scold myself and to my relief the bell rings, putting an end to the torture of being trapped in my own brain while grading examinations. I noticed Finley packing his notebook in his bag and I decided to call him over and ask how Aurora was fairing. 

When Aurora fell into her potion-induced slumber I decided to allow Finley to keep the memories of my relationship with my Little Star and only remove the memories containing anything to do with Potter’s club. I knew she would become distant with me due to the loss of memory but having Finley at my side to check in on her was making this whole situation far less unbearable. 

“Finley…Stay.” I spoke swiftly before he had the opportunity to escape the classroom. 

He waited until the rest of the students left the room hastily before he walked up to my desk and sighed. “If you’re going to ask me about Rora, she is the same as she was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that…Fine.” His voice was laced with boredom and I understood, I had been keeping tabs on my Little Star through Finley this past week and I think my questioning has finally begun to annoy him, but he humors me because I am his teacher and he is frightened of me. 

“Is she behaving normally?” I tried to hide the concern in my voice but given the knowing look Finley gave me, he saw right through it. 

“She is behaving as normally as she always has.” He was short with his answer and I rolled my eyes. 

“Very well…You are dismissed.” He nodded and turned to leave, surprising me by stopping at the door to the classroom and turning to face me again. 

“You’ll have her back soon Professor.” He reminded me before walking out of the door. 

I sat at the head table focusing on the turkey and mash in front of me, my brain still reeling with Finley’s comment ‘You’ll have her back soon.’ He was right, I would have her back soon but now seeing her at the Gryffindor table beside Finley was a firm reminder that I would have to wait to have her back and I am not a patient man. 

The Next Day (Wednesday)

I usually do not partake in breakfast during the week, normally I drink black coffee in my chambers and read until it is time for my first class of the day. This past week without my Little Star, however, has me venturing out of the dungeons at breakfast time to be somewhat close to her. 

This leads me to where I am right now, sipping black coffee with the daily prophet lying on the old wooden head table and a scone with jam and cream sitting untouched to my left. I scan through the paper, reading the current news in the wizarding world and mentally doing the crossword while I look up every few minutes to catch a glimpse of my Little Star. 

She was sitting with Finley, munching on her favorite breakfast cereal, Pixie Puffs. She and Finley were prone to use breakfast time to speak of classwork and for my Aurora to help Finley with his potions homework before he had to present it to me in class. 

Deciding to return to my dungeons and prepare for class, I finished the last bit of my now lukewarm coffee and picked up my prophet. Gliding purposefully past the Gryffindor table earning a small knowing smile from Finley and a meek ‘good morning Professor’ from my Little Star. I nodded at them both quickly before proceeding on my way. 

I had made it to the corridor just outside the Great Hall when I heard a labored voice calling out to me. 

“Professor Snape!” I stopped and turned, coming face to face with Aurora who was breathing slightly heavily due to her effort to catch up with my quick footsteps through the halls. 

“Can I help you Astrill?” I did my best to continue to play terrifying teacher for the moment. 

“Yes sir, sorry to disrupt your morning but I wanted to let you know that I will be late to our evening grading today.” My heart thudded quickly in my chest at her words, I tried to internally dull the excitement. 

“Why is that? My voice was stern and she drew back nervously. 

She chewed on her lip, a nervous habit my little one had developed and my cock ached. “Professor Umbridge wants to see me after her class…I don’t know why…” She trailed off. 

“And have you done anything to warrant Professor Umbridge wanting to see you?” I cocked an eyebrow and her eyes grew wide, panicked at the thought of me thinking she was in some form of trouble. 

“No sir! I think she is speaking to all of the students…I’m not sure what about but I assure you, as soon as she is finished speaking with me I will run directly to the dungeons.” She promised and I nodded at her. 

“See that you do. I have several parchments that need grading.” I turned on a heel and continued my walk to my classroom, leaving Aurora standing in the middle of the corridor with a frightened look on her face. 

I smiled when I had made enough distance between us, tonight I will have my Little Star back in my arms. 

Later That Evening

Just as she said my Little Star made her way to my office about thirty minutes later than her usual time and looking incredibly frustrated. She huffed when she set her bag down on its usual place in the corner of my office and took her normal seat in front of my desk. She grabbed her quill, and pot of red ink and began marking essays without a word. 

“Pleasant meeting?” I asked and she glanced up at me. 

“Aside from the headache I now have from answering so many questions about things that I have no knowledge of…It was great.” Her tone was dull and I chuckled internally at her frustrated state. 

“Would you like something to ease your headache?” I asked, keeping my tone dull to hide my excitement at the thought of returning to a normal routine with her. 

“That would be lovely.” She sighed and I produced a small vial of the same potion she had taken a week ago, allowing her to fall into a short slumber so I may return her memories. She uncorked the vial and gulped down the liquid, her eyelids were becoming heavy and her head drooped, landing on the parchments she had been grading and I quickly got to work. 

When all of her memories had been restored, I carried my darling to my bed and changed her into a linen nightgown I had instructed her to leave in my chambers in the event she stayed with me and needed something to wear to sleep. 

Once she was changed, I tucked her sleeping form under the silk duvet and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, “When you awake My Love, you shall remember me again…I cannot wait.” I whispered into her hair, inhaling the scent that I had missed so much before leaving her to sleep off the sleeping draught. 

Aurora’s POV

My eyes drifted open against my will. I wanted nothing more than to sleep for a few more moments but I realized when I opened my eyes I was not in my dorm and I was not in my school robes. My heart picked up speed as my vision tried to adjust to the dark room. 

After a few solid moments of panic, I looked down and saw the green satin duvet that I had been wrapped up in. I smiled to myself, my panic automatically disappearing as I jumped from the bed and began searching for Severus…My Severus. 

I walked out of his bedroom and noticed the small glow of a fire coming from his small sitting room. I smiled wide when I finally caught a glimpse of him sitting by the fire, reading a book with a cup of tea in his hand. 

“Severus?” I called quietly and he turned and looked at me, quickly putting his cup and book down on the table beside him and standing. I ran towards him as fast as my feet could carry me and jumped into his arms. His left hand fell to my waist and his right intertwined itself into my hair at the base of my neck, holding my body to his. 

“How is it possible that I missed you so much and I saw you all the time,” I whispered, gripping his face in my hands and pulling him into a kiss. 

He chuckled into my mouth as I kissed him and pulled away gently, “I missed you as well….So. So much.” He kissed me again and I melted into him, tongues fighting for dominance as his hands gripped me tighter to him. 

“Can I stay down here tonight?” I asked, trying my best to not get my hopes up just in case he decided to say no. 

“After this week without you Little Star, I couldn't imagine letting you go tonight.” He smiled down at me and I pressed my lips to his again, relishing being back in his arms.

Authors Note: Hello Everyone! Please remember to like and comment to let me know if you like the story. Your input and love are my motivation!! I also updated my masterlist to reflect all of the chapters up until this point so everyone can find the chapter they are looking for without having to scroll through my entire blog!

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags: enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 4.5k | Next

Author’s note: This is for @Hayan for the IronStrange Winter Holidays Exchange 2023 @ironstrangehaven Massive thanks to @rattledazzlebones for doing the beta in a short amount of time <3 New chapters every 2-3 days. 7 chapters in total. Happy Holidays!

Chapter 1: "Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen."

It should have been a quiet night for the Avengers. Their presence at the fundraising gala was purely for PR reasons to get people to donate more. And for once it was for a really good cause.

It was why Tony was even more annoyed than usual when some sorcerers – who made his life already harder on a daily basis – crashed the party. After causing some disruption, they promptly attacked the host.

Tony, Steve and Natasha had their hands full keeping the magic ninja monks at bay while the visitors got evacuated.

Tony blasted one of his strongest beams right at the leader of the sorcerers, who threw up a shield at the last second.

“That's all you've got?" Strange taunted, hovering in the air with that stupid cape of his. His black hair was brushed back, except for a single lock that'd fallen down the middle of his forehead. He was gray at the temples and still managed to keep his youthfulness.

He was everything Tony hated. Magic… yeah that was it. It didn’t help that he was also an attractive and snarky asshole on top of it all.

Tony dodged the spell thrown at him, but didn't have time to catch his breath as Strange closed in on him.

This game of cat and mouse between them was nothing unusual and sometimes Tony lived under the impression that Strange was enjoying it far too much. This annoyed the engineer all the more.

Despite what the wizard may have thought; this wasn't a game. Actual people getting hurt were at stake.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to show up at a party you were clearly not invited to, Maleficent?” Tony growled.

Strange was up close now, moving his hands for another spell. Tony managed to grab his cape and yanked at it in order to hurl the man through the air. But the cape latched onto his armor and refused to let go.

Yeah, he forgot about that.

God, he hated magic so much.

__________________ A few days later__________________

Tony woke up to the voice of Jarvis announcing: “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

Tony opened his eyes wide. "What?" He was sure he had misheard or that Jarvis was joking with him. Only he knew that Jarvis would never make a joke like that. It was too absurd for his usually dry humor, similar to Tony’s own.

“He is sitting at the table and said he won’t leave until you talk to him. He said it’s urg-…”

Before the A.I. had spoken, Tony had already jumped out of bed and hurried off.

“Calibrate Mark 43.”

“Already on stand-by, waiting for your command.”

Jarvis was great.

Tony slowed his steps as he approached the kitchen. Strange had nerves to break into his home. He changed the smart watch he always wore into a gauntlet. With his suit as backup and Jarvis to watch his back he felt safe enough. This was his terrain and Strange would regret the day he intruded into his sacred home.

Tony stopped short in the open doorway.

Strange was indeed sitting at the table, his hands resting on the top of the table. He was wearing his blue robes and that weird red 'it's a cloak' cape. He looked… surprisingly tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was tangled, as if he hadn't paid attention to it after getting up and hadn't even looked in the mirror once.

It wasn't what Tony had expected. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down and his gauntlet was still pointed at him.

“Hello Stark,” the sorcerer greeted him neutrally. His face almost blank. Tony thought that the man wasn’t acting wary enough for someone who was currently sitting in his arch-nemesis’ home.

“Strange; you look like shit. What are you doing here?”

There was the hint of a smile on the sorcerer’s lips. “I need your help. I’m stuck in a time loop and we believe that part of it is a science problem. And you’re the best man to solve a science problem.”

“Funny, haha. There, I laughed. Now leave.”

Strange didn’t move an inch. “We did various scans and readings of me and the Eye of Agamotto. You used a project named ‘back to the hot tub time machine’ as reference, but only five percent of it applies to this situation.”

Now Tony was one-hundred percent suspicious. “How do you know about that project? That’s classified information!” It was stored in Jarvis' database and Jarvis was anything but hackable. And he would never give this data out just like that. Especially not the sorcerer. And, “Who is ‘we’?”

“This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation. You and I have been working together on this problem for a few weeks. Well, for me it’s been weeks. You don’t remember anything.”

“Prove it,” Tony demanded.

Strange sighed and stood up with Tony following his movements with his weapon. “I appeared in your kitchen because it’s the safest place for me, without having your A.I. or you shooting me on sight. By the way, before we start working, you will offer me a coffee.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “In eight seconds you will get a call from your lawyers regarding the launch of a Stark hearing pro aid. 3… 2… 1…”

Jarvis spoke up again. “Incoming call from Pearson and Specter.”

“Tell them I’ll call them back.” “Tell them I’ll call them back.”

Tony and Strange spoke at the same time and Tony glared at the sorcerer. Strange didn’t seem to be perturbed about it and continued his case. “But this won’t be enough proof for you. You want something more personal. We spoke of this before and you told me to tell you: camellia flowers. They were your Mom’s favorite.”

The engineer stared at him. He was good. Tony was almost inclined to believe him. It was a clever piece of information he had offered him. Something barely anyone would know but nothing that the sorcerer could use against him.It got Tony thinking.

“So if this is true – and that’s a really big ‘if’ – have you tried to check your magic? It sounds like a magic type of problem.”

“Please believe me when I tell you that I checked that thoroughly.” There was a haunted look in Strange’s eyes, adding a deeper tiredness to the already present one. “You suspect an exceptional phenomenon in the plane of time, presumably the fourth dimension, as it is often called." At least by those who had never been to the actual fourth dimension. It lay exactly between the seventh dimension and the blue shadow dimension, and some sorcerers liked to use it as a small vacation destination. "So far the scans have revealed nothing, although you made some groundbreaking observations regarding the scientific view of time. You said, ‘it’s not an arrow of time but more like a moebius strip’. Oh, and you and I also checked if other people are affected by the loop – so far we found none.”

Tony was definitely hooked now and finally lowered his arm. He didn’t think Strange was an expert on the engineering science front and those sounded all like things he would consider in such a case.Hell, people with superpowers were real, so why not time repeating itself?

“Alright, let’s say I believe you and will help you. What-…”

“We agreed that you can keep all the data you collect. Plus an I owe you from me. No limits as long as it’s safe for the fate of the universe.”

“That’s quite the-…”

“Promise. Yes, I know. I desperately want Wednesday to end.”

Tony scoffed, kinda irritated by the sorcerer’s behavior. He was known for and proud of his fast mind but this was a lot to take in and he had been woken barely ten minutes ago. “You know this-…”

“Interrupting and ending sentences is annoying? I’m trying to save some time here. Can we move on?”

“After I’ve had a coffee,” he muttered, making a beeline to the machine Jarvis had already gotten started on the kitchen counter. He needed his first cup before he continued this conversation. This was too much Strange at once. An especially annoying Strange.

“D’you want one too?” He didn't know why he was even asking. It wasn't like he had to be polite to someone he normally fought with and who had just broken into his kitchen. He had spoken the words before thinking about them and was just now realizing that another thing Strange had said earlier had come true: 'Before we start working, you're going to offer me a coffee’.

Strange seemed to realize what he was thinking, because there was a small smirk on his lips. “Actually, I prefer tea. And before you say anything: you do have some chai in the back of that cupboard. Miss Potts stored it there once. By the way, you have a meeting scheduled with her at 11, which you should cancel or she won’t be pleased and make an appearance. Same goes with the boy that drops by after school.”

Tony, who had taken a look into the pointed cupboard and had actually found tea there, whipped around, his gaze sharp. “You met Peter?”

“You made it very clear from the beginning that you don’t want to pull him into this. Hence why I tell you it.”

It sounded logical. Tony couldn’t argue with it. “J, clear the day. We have to fix a groundhog day.” He eyed the sorcerer. “If this is an elaborate plan to isolate me to dispose of me quietly, I’ll have you know that Jarvis has an advanced offense and defense mechanism.”

Strange’s face sobered up like he was having an unpleasant memory. “I am aware,” he said in earnest.

To be honest, after hearing this threat a hundred times, it lost its effect. But he had experienced first-hand what Jarvis was capable of. And that hadn’t been nice.

By now he knew what he could get away with in Tony's presence. Whether the man liked it or not, he had gotten to know Tony well in his time trapped in this repeating day. His quirks.And what ticked him off.

If anything, Stephen had to be careful not to get too personal and too familiar with him. This was still the first day for Stark.

It was always the first day.

In his eyes, Stephen was still the enemy. It was tiring in its own way. But Stephen was sure that he was the answer to his problem. He felt it. At least he thought he felt something else other than just resignation and stagnation.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him and he realized he had spaced out. "Thank you."

Ton-… Stark deliberately ignored it and put more space between them again. “Let’s start. We have… how long until the day resets?”

“Midnight,” Stephen said and added as explanation, “It starts with me waking up and ends at exactly midnight. No matter what I do. My death doesn’t end the loop.” He tried that since it was kinda his to go solution for loops. “Although I don’t know if the loop stops immediately afterwards or continues until midnight.”

“I see.” Tony did not address the fact that those deaths were probably self-inflicted and instead asked, “What else did we try? Give me a roundabout.”He can’t keep the sarcasm fully out of his voice. It still sounded unbelievable. And he was also not overly fond of letting Strange into the sacred place that was his personal lab one floor below. It felt very personal.

“We did various body scans and blood tests of me while I was performing magic and without doing it. Nothing out of the ordinary was shown in the records.

“We tried to get reading at midnight when the set-back is, but I get sent back before I can read it and you don’t remember, obviously.We scanned the Eye of Agamotto, which is time magic, but it’s not the cause of this.And we tried to recreate what I did before the loop started to see if there had been anything that had set it off. Without result.”

This allowed Tony to cross the first four points off the list he had just drawn up in his mind. “What about the physical aspects of the reset?”

“I appear as I did the first Wednesday morning. All physical alterations made during the loop are gone.”

“So you did look like shit that first morning?” A mean smirk accompanied that dig.

Stephen scoffed. “The mental state is not wiped clean. If I am tired it will show on my face.” He brushed a strand of hair from his face. At one point he just hadn’t seen the point of caring anymore to put energy into a spotless appearance. Nobody would remember what he looked like today anyway.

With a small gesture he put a glamor on himself to mask his flaws. With it he looked more like his usual cocky self, beside his still tired eyes.

Tony found he liked it better before the spell. “Cool party trick. Point taken. I take it your time-magic necklace can’t take you back in time before the loop started?” He glanced at the golden eye pointedly.

Strange shook his head. “Time travel is no option.”

Tony’s eyes became a dangerous glimmer. “I bet I could invent time travel.”

“You would need more than a day for that,” Strange chided.

“True, but if I start now, you can give me my notes tomorrow and after that… wait! Have I thought of that in the past?” He noticed Strange sighing. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” the sorcerer managed to sound annoyed and exasperated at the same time with that single word. “You overestimate my ability to understand your science mumbo-jumbo. I have a very good memory but not on rocket engineering.”

Stephen had been at the top of his field because he had an outstanding mind and a lot of dedication to something he was interested in. Medicine… magic…But there was a difference to what Tony was able to do. He was a genius and brilliant in all his fields.

And right now the engineer was gleeful as he handed him a Starkpad. “Write down what you remember. I’ll work with that.” The gauntlet had long been transformed back into a watch and Tony got a second cup of coffee by a machine in his lab. He put some sugar in it and stirred it with a spoon.

“The last thing I thought would happen today was to be in a group project with a wizard. God, just saying it is weird. Let's rephrase it: a tentative truce? A temporary work group? Nope, still weird,” Tony decided.

“Let’s just…” Stephen gestured to the Starkpad and Tony nodded.

“Yes, let’s.”

And so they started working.

As soon as Tony got Strange’s notes he was absorbed into his own world. He asked for some specifics in the writing, but otherwise seemed to grasp it immediately.

Strange insisted on a lunch break – it was way after lunch time – but refused the bagels in Tony’s kitchen. Instead he disappeared for a moment to get Quesadillas.Tony didn’t complain.

Given that he only had one day, Tony progressed far too slowly for his liking. He played with various ideas based on the notes while Strange pointed out some details he remembered Tony had said on the Wednesdays before.

All in all, they had made little progress that evening. As the sorcerer had said: he couldn't invent time travel in one day. And Strange didn't really seem convinced that it was the right approach either. The later the hour approached, the more harsh words were exchanged between the two.

“You know you’re not the most reliable source to pass my records,” Tony said at one point, circling between two screens, because sometimes moving helped him think.

Strange was very frustrated. That kind that builds over several days of stagnation. “Yeah well, I tried to write everything down but it disappears every morning. So, excuse me for coming empty handed.”

“I thought you had a photographic memory. This would be much easier and faster if I had full access to my own notes.” Tony suddenly had an idea and he stopped walking. “Did you ever try… pulling me into the time loop?”

Strange looked up at that change of tone and topic. “What?”

“Think about it. If there’s a possibility it will work… you wouldn’t have to start over again and again on your own. You wouldn’t need to convince me anew every single day. We’d have more time.”

Stephen laughed hollowly and his words were bitter. “If there’s anything I have, it’s time.”

“And how far did that get you?”

“Fuck you.”

But Stephen actually thought about it. It would solve a lot of the technical issues he was facing while trying to break out of the loop. But he still was hesitant to agree. “You don’t know what it means. I have been in a time loop once. Another. It was worse than this one.”This time at least it didn’t end with his death every single time “People around you will forget everything every single day. It will drive you mad."

“Exactly. You shouldn’t endure that alone.” Tony pointed at him.

“Why offer? We’re enemies.”

That was the question, wasn’t it? The same question why Tony had agreed to help Strange in the first place that morning. Every morning.

Tony wondered if those Wednesdays had all the same course of events or if there were alterations. Like Tony not even willing to listen to the invading sorcerer in his kitchen.He found his answer rather easily.

“And that won’t change. But this is bigger than you and me. I want to live my life and not be stuck in the same day.”

“You won’t remember it tomorrow,” Strange pointed out.

“That’s even worse! Who knows how much time we have lost due to this time loop?”

Strange's reply was so quiet that he almost missed it. “It’s been 835 days.”

Tony stared at him in shock. He had thought about a few weeks at most. 835 days was… over two years. Two years of being the only one that remembered what happened the day before. Two years of the same interactions, the same conversations, the same meals in a row.

Tony didn’t understand how the sorcerer was still functioning at all after all this time. How he hadn’t gone insane or lost his motivation at all.

“That’s it. I’m joining you.”

“We don’t even know if it’s possible,” Strange argued.

“And we won’t until we try it. What are our options? I’m sure there are some.” He saw the way his words had made the sorcerer think and waited for the man to talk.

“There might be a spell.” Tony grimaced. That wasn't what he had wanted to hear. “It would create a temporary bond between us. If there’s a chance for you to be pulled into the time loop, it’s that way.”

Suddenly, Tony was no longer convinced of his idea. But before he backed down, he at least wanted to get more information. “You won’t mess with my mind, will you? I may have some second thoughts if so.”

“The mind is not involved with the spell. It’s a link between two souls.”

Tony snorted. That sounded rather made up. But then again, so did time loops. “How does it work? Are we becoming ‘soul mates’? And will that be enough to pull me into the loop?”

“It’s more complicated than that, but basically; yes. Although I’m not a hundred percent sure if it will work.”

“We didn’t try it before?” Tony asked, surprised.

“No.” Stephen shook his head. “At this point you made it very clear that you dislike magic. And I don’t expect you to link your soul to someone you can’t be sure won’t exploit the link”

“It can definitely be undone?”

“Tony,” Strange said unexpectedly softly. “You don’t have to do this.”

It sounded so familiar. This was a man Tony had thought a villain, still thought so if he was honest. But Strange had spent who knew how many of those 835 days with the engineer that for him he no longer was just ‘Stark’. And it showed.

Tony was also curious what the two of them were capable of. He knew that the wizard was a smart and witted man. Personal differences aside.

“Oh, we’re definitely doing this,” he managed to say with more confidence than he actually felt.

“What?” Strange didn’t predict this. “You never said yes to this. In fact you always agreed that this is something you will never do.”He tried to think about what he did, what he said to Tony differently this time that he’d changed his mind.

“See. Your reaction proves my point even more. You’re stuck in the same day with the same dialogues. You need something new. Sure, I hate magic from the bottom of my heart. I really do. But since souls aren’t a thing this won’t probably work anyway and I won’t remember this tomorrow. And then you can rule it out too. It’s basically science what we’re about to do.”He had to talk himself into it, because the prospect of magic did scare him.

Still, Strange hesitated and scrutinized the engineer with his clear blue eyes before he finally nodded in defeat. “Okay. The spell has no long lasting side effects for you and needs to be reapplied daily. You'll barely feel it. So if you change your mind any other day, it's totally fine."

Tony nodded as a sign that he had understood and was ready. It was probably better to get it over with before he realized how dangerous and stupid this was.

Instead Jarvis offered – as so often – a voice of reason. “Sir, I strongly advise against this.”

“Noted.”

“Sir-…”

But Tony shook his head, cutting the A.I. off. “Strange is not going to hurt me.” He looked the wizard in question in the eyes and his gaze made it clear that if Strange did hurt him, hell would be breaking loose.

The sorcerer nodded. “You have my word.”

Tony wasn’t sure how much Strange’s word was worth, but he seemed sincere enough, and since this whole thing had been his own idea he decided to move things forward. “Let’s start.”

For the spell they had to stand in front of each other. Strange moved his fingers through the air and a yellowish glowing thread appeared, following his movements. It almost looked like it was woven in a delicate pattern.Fear twisted in his chest at the sign, even though it seemed perfectly harmless and totally different from the magic he was used to.

“Give me your hand,” the sorcerer told him and Tony offered it. Strange sought his gaze to confirm one last time. Tony raised his eyebrow, but didn't back down.

Strange wove the thread around Tony’s wrist and hand, and then around his own.

The magic faded into their skins and Tony felt a tingle up his arm. Like it fell asleep – but warmer and more pleasant. It resonated with something deep inside of him.The thread that connected them faded as well and Strange lowered his hands.

“That’s it?” Tony asked, looking at his skin. There was no trace of magic. “Did it work?”

“The spell worked. I will know tomorrow if it stays through the reset.”

It was only one word but it told so much about the situation Strange was in. ‘I will know tomorrow’ not ‘we’. Because although they had apparently worked together on this problem for so long, the sorcerer was still alone in this.If the spell didn’t do what they hoped it would, Tony won’t remember this ever happened.

Strange was alone in a vast pool of people, cursed with awareness and knowledge. Trapped in monotony.No wonder he looked so tired this morning.

“Let’s go back to inventing time travel,” Tony said, switching topics and moved his arm to pat Strange on the shoulder. But the cloak slapped his hand away before he could even touch the man.Tony glared at the piece of fabric that ruffled in return. Like a red watchdog.

“Are you two done?” Strange asked with a side-glance.

“Your… thing started it.”Yeah, Tony proved once again to be very mature.

“You’re an adult man, Stark. I’m sure you’re above these kinds of things.”

Tony kept his mouth shut. No matter what he said, he would only lose.

By the end of the day, they hadn't made any significant progress. Tony made him memorize some equations anyway. Just in case Tony wouldn't remember them tomorrow.

It was a few minutes before midnight when Stephen felt the pull. It was familiar by now, expected. It didn’t hurt. He just knew the time had come. Another day he failed to find a solution.

Turning his head to Tony he noticed the engineer was watching him. He knew what question was on his mind. He had answered it so often.

“The reset feels like I blacked out for a moment. Everything goes dark. Then I wake up in my bed.”

“No time in between?”

“I don’t think so.” Stephen shrugs.

Tony looked at his watch. They were down to a few seconds. “See you on the other side.”

Strange smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

[hurtcomfortficstilltheend]

Necromancy? No, cardiopulmonary resuscitation!

Wednesday Addams x gn! healer! Reader

Summary: When the time comes, will reader be able to save her girlfriend?

or

The final battle, but make it angstier

Warnings: Blood, Fighting, Death.

Word Count: 1281

Wednesday’s sword broke into shards. Small pieces of metal landed on the ash-darkened grass, and for the first time since the whole ordeal started, she admitted to herself she didn’t have the upper hand. She hated feeling outpowered, but she would have called a truce if it was an option. She thought dying like that was kind of underwhelming, to be honest. (All this to say, Wednesday felt scared).

Before she could think of her next move, the pilgrim had her pushed into a wooden crate. It took a second for Wednesday to notice that the air was being forcibly sucked out of her lungs by the wizard, and the difficulty to breath was not caused by the sheer impact.

By the time Bianca stabbed the sword into Crackstone’s heart, killing him for good, Wednesday’s body laid lifeless on the ground. 

You stumbled into the scene after helping Enid out with the Hyde. When you saw your girlfriend’s state, you ran even faster to get to her. 

“Wednesday!” You dropped to your knees and immediately set your ear on her chest. You didn’t hear a heartbeat. You looked behind you for a moment, seeing Bianca, and Eugene in the corner, trying to get your shit together and trace a course of action. You didn’t let the shock of the moment set in, and cleared your mind. Your lover’s life depended on it.

You put your hands down in Wednesday’s chest and started performing cpr. Every second blood wasn’t pumping to her brain, her chances of survival decreased.

“Eugene! Call an ambulance!” You saw earlier that he had his phone on him. You looked him in the eye over your shoulder. “RIGHT NOW” He seemed to react to that, and started dialing 911.

You all heard when Thornhill stepped in, a gun in her hand and a threat about to come out of her mouth.

“Drop the gun” Bianca said, a siren song. The professor obliged with an astonished look “Do not move”.

Your hands didn’t falter on your girlfriend’s chest, but had the situation been different, you’d have lurched yourself at your friend for a grateful hug.

Your arms were getting exhausted, you had sweat and rebel tears dripping from your face. Wednesday wasn’t responding to the cpr, but you knew better than to stop. 

It was eerily quiet. No one dared to move or make a sound.

Enid appeared from behind you, covered in blood and full of scratches. She came running to where you were on the ground, and covered her face when she understood what was happening.

Your hands were coated with blood from (what you later found out was) the arrow wound on her roommate’s shoulder, your entire body was trembling from the exertion. Enid started crying silently.

“SHE’S NOT DEAD, OKAY?!” You screamed, way too loud, at her. “She’s okay, she is going to be just fine, I swear” Your voice was trembling, but you refused to break, not until your girlfriend was safe and sound. You had to be strong for her.

Your breath was ragged and no one was saying anything, goddammit! Had they already given up on her? “I-I just have to keep t-the blood flowing through her b-body” Hiccups escaped your mouth, as you started rambling about what your mom taught you about first aid and paramedicine. “In the ambulance, t-the defibrillator.. WHY THE FUCK IS IT TAKING SO LONG?!” 

All your surroundings vanished when you set your attention solely on Wednesday. You were a healer, for fuck’s sake, useless powers if you only could use them on a beating heart. If you could just get her heart to start working on its own…

Arms surrounded you from behind, taking you from your love’s side. Didn’t they see that you were trying to help her? Didn’t thew know that every second was gold, and that her brain needed the blood that you were pumping with the cpr to her-

“LET ME GO! DON’T TOUCH ME!” You were struggling against the person who was taking you from your girlfriend, from your dying girlfriend that needed you right-

“Calm down please, they are helping her” You opened your eyes to find a whole group of paramedics doing quick work of getting Wednesday’s uniform out of the way and, yes, they had a defibrillator.

You hold your breath and watch helplessly as they hit her with the electric shock. “CLEAR” Once, twice, three times until one of the medics holds two fingers against her throat and announces: “We have a pulse”.

It’s like your whole body collapses into Bianca -who was the one keeping you back, apparently- and you start sobbing uncontrollably. Out of relief, fear and fatigue.

You keep crying, whimpering, screaming, and crying again until you get to the hospital and a doctor tells you that she’s going to be alright. 

You don’t notice when the police take Thornhill in handcuffs, or when Weems appears out of the blue and puts some order, or when Enid hugs you like her life depends on it and let’s out a litany of thank yous’, or when a paramedic asks you if you are injured, and lastly takes you and other kids into the ambulance and to Jericho’s hospital.

…

The sun comes up and shines through the window. The thin curtains do little in stopping the light from slipping in and warming everything it touches.

You are softly awakened by a delicate and clumsy hand stroking your hair. For a moment, you think you are in your bedroom, sleeping by your girlfriend’s side, but the smell of disinfectant, the soreness in your body, and the memories of last night flood your mind all at once, and you bolt up, suddenly very awake and alert.

When your eyes meet Wednesday’s half lidded ones, you start crying again. You stand up from the plastic chair and get closer to her face. You caress her cheek, get some hair out of the way. She reaches a hand up and does the same. You hold her hand and bend yourself down to touch your forehead with hers.

A beat of silence passes, both of you taking in the situation and each other’s presence. “I didn’t know you were into necromancy” she half joked with a hoarse voice. You smiled, but started sobbing harder. Your tears fell into her cheeks and her hospital gown. You ever so delicately rested your head into her good shoulder.

“You are not in black” You retort after you calm down a little bit. Wednesday let’s a half hearted grunt. “I’ll tell Enid to bring you more appropriate attire” 

She scoots weakly over in the too-thin stretcher and pats the empty spot for you to lay in. You stand there, going over yesterday’s events.

“Did I break any ribs?” You ask on the verge of tears again. You can’t bear to think you might have inflicted any pain on her.

“You prevented me from having an unacceptably lame death, now come here, I’m not going to ask again” 

You hesitantly and so softly lay down next to her on your side, hugging her stomach, careful of her injuries. “I love you. So much” You whisper out the words you were so scared you’d never get to say to her.

“I love you too, cara mia” She starts to run her fingers through your hair again.

And just like that, you both fall into a well deserved, although shallow sleep. You would most definitely need the rest for when police came asking for testimonies and details of the events. For now though, your hearts were content in each other's company, and that was enough.

.

.

.

A/N: Yes, Weems survived. No, I won't listen to canon.

I felt like the last episode could have been a little bit spicier, but I loved it anyway.

Expect more of healer!reader with unnecesary medicine facts *laughes mischivously*

Feedback is greatly appreciated, and as always thanks for reading! :D

[dewitty1]

Fic Recs Wrap Up - June 2023(ノﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ⌒･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*☆

A day in your life by shushu_yaoi_lj @orange-peony

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A primer, by Harry James Potter, age 34. Qualifications: lived experience. OR: Draco Malfoy, Ministry of Magic Being Resources representative, accidentally invents No Nut November. Rec Post

Where I see things right by InnerLilith

When Harry finds himself unexpectedly pregnant after a one-off with Draco Malfoy, he knows he isn’t keeping it. But when actually getting the abortion turns out to be more complicated than Harry expected, he finds himself turning to Malfoy for help through the process. And that’s actually much less complicated than Harry expected. Rec Post

When Trust and Truth Collide by silvergalaxy

Harry meets Draco for the first time in the employee break room on a boring Wednesday morning and they immediately hit it off. Chance encounters turn into dates, and dates turn into feelings. Oh, yeah. Draco’s also Harry’s boss. Harry has no idea. Rec Post

Debts and Desire by Craftybadger1234

Harry thinks they are dating. Draco thinks he’s serving a life debt. Hilarity ensues. Rec Post

Sweet is the fortune you give me by toutcequonveut  @cequonveut

Draco has worked hard to overcome his post-war struggles and is now the successful and proud owner of his own chain of Potions shops. Who cares if he’s lonely? Certainly not him! Then one day he comes across Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, do-gooder to outshine all gooders and hero of the people—on the street without a Knut to his name. What else can Draco do but take him in? Rec Post

Here are a few more fics I've read recently that y'all might like to check out as well! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Fool Me Twice by iota @sorrybutblog

The case seemed simple: follow the corruption, bring down the source. Draco just didn’t anticipate Harry Potter crashing in, taking a break from red carpets and nudey-rudey photoshoots to make a giant mess.

Or: Draco is an Unspeakable. Potter is an (unfairly attractive) thorn in his side. Featuring: spies, action, disguises, forced proximity, pining and more!

Inertia by cavendishbutterfly @cavendishbutterfly

It’s three months after the war. Harry has already mucked up all his plans. Draco is no longer the prince of Slytherin house. And they sure as hell didn’t both mean to go back to Hogwarts at the same time. Cue snarking, long conversations…and unexpected snogging.

This is the story of how Harry and Draco put their past aside. And then it's the story of how they finally learn to listen to it.

Eager for the Sky by oknowkiss @oknowkiss

It was announced, just as the Triwizard Tournament had been, at the start of term feast.

A year-long, international Quidditch varsity match — the inaugural Wizarding Academy Cup.

In which Harry is Hogwarts' star Seeker, Draco is on the bench, and they both have a thing or two to learn about playing for the same team.

Once Upon a (Wet) Dream by InnerLilith

Once a year, Harry has a very strange dream. Meanwhile, in real life, he’s falling for Draco Malfoy.

The Faeries, the Prince, and the Cupboard by makeitp1nk @makeitp1nk

In 1967, Roy Disney made a deal with a rare species of fae to build his brother Walt’s dream on their land. Forty-seven years later, that deal will change the lives of two wizarding families forever.

A story about stories, family, dreams, and love.

The Wonder of You by Ladderofyears @ladderofyears

A Family Man AU. In the year 2000, Harry left Draco behind in London, intent on America and Quidditch fame and never looked back. Thirteen years later, Harry gets the opportunity to see what his life could have been like, had his life unravelled in a different way. Nothing in Harry’s world is the same, but Harry soon comes to realise that fatherhood, marriage and the biggest, laziest Crup in Hogsmeade add to up a life he enjoys more than he could ever have imagined.

( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡ I hope you enjoy these fics as much as I have! Happy reading, y’all! xoxo Carey  (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*💜💙💚💛❤💗💕💖

[linka-from-captain-planet]

Florrickology, Part 3: Wyll's Womancrush Wednesday

If Wyllyam Ravengard is gonna do one thing, it's gush about powerful ladies his dad works with big misty heart eyes and his goblet overflowing with Respect Women Juice. While it seems BabyWyll didn't hold a candle for Florrick like he did for Duke Stellmayne, he regards her as a knightly badass to aspire to, just like dear ol' dad.

Thus, when probed about her in Act 2, he delivers the following glowing endorsement... which is also implies some weird things about his (s)hero, when you really think about it.

Player: Can we trust Florrick? Wyll: I was eleven when the counsellor spotted and slayed an assassin who stalked father from the shadows. Wyll: I was thirteen when she brought word of a goblin warband advancing on Rivington. Her keen scouting saved a hundred lives that day. Wyll: The counsellor's loyalty to my father is beyond question. She's as steady as Tyr's heartbeat, as upstanding as the Sword Mountains.

These lines are a prime example of what exactly I meant by 'unintended characterization' in Florrickology Part 1. The point of this conversation is just to confirm that, yes, the player should trust and continue to cooperate with Florrick because her loyalty is well-proven. What Wyll literally says about her isn't important; it's the impression they leave you with that matters.

The writers possibly didn't really mean to imply anything extra with these lines.

But, they did.

What's more, is they seemingly managed to imply two consistent, if odd, things about her.

Wyll, what do you mean she 'spotted and slayed an assassin'?

Wyll, what do you mean 'her keen scouting'?

Both of these are pretty weird things to say about a woman otherwise presented as a urban public servant... but are they weird things to imply about Florrick? Let's dive in.

Side note: it's also funny yet perfectly in character that Wyll looks upon these subtly bonkers accomplishments with such high esteem, since he is also completely insane but manages to maintain a veneer of "the only reasonable person in the room"

In this universe, the threshold for killing people is admittedly pretty low, but the implication that Florrick kills people sounds sort of strange, especially the add-on that she just straight up and killed someone on the streets--no judge or jury, just executioner.

Florrick, a woman presented as a paragon of virtue, whom Wyll promptly then describes as 'upstanding as the Sword Mountains', kills people? And she is a wizard, so she kills people instead of casting any number of incapacitating spells like Sleep, Command, Hold Person, etc?

Yup-- if they're coming after Ulder Fucking Ravengard!

I will have many thoughts about the debacle that is her confrontation in Act 3 in another post, when she believes Wyll sold his father up the river for his freedom, slaps on a fuckass hood, and comes directly for his head, but at least it's consistent with something. She, like Wyll, looks upon Ulder as a hero and the soul of the city she loves and serves so faithfully, and so she, like Wyll, will scuttle all over creation to find him, take on any enemy to save him, and will treat any attempt on him is an attack that must be answered with impunity.

Moving on to the second line, whereas Wyll's other above is echoed in something else that comes up later, Florrick's alleged prowess as a scout is actually mentioned earlier, in Act 1... to a much less frustrating and much more amusing effect:

In Waukeen's Rest, Florrick states "the Duke has been taken westward, if my eyes and ears are to be believed."

By "my eyes and ears", one might assume she means informants... until you remember she's trapped alone and escapes with the player, so there's no way someone debriefed with her during the 15 seconds between busting down the door and this conversation.

So clearly, she was in the burning inn staring through a burning window , mad as fuck, at the drow dragging him away like

tbf "her eyes and ears" could also be people yelling what's going on from the ground while she's trapped upstairs but shhhh this is for fun

While this is again an odd thing to imply about an urban bureaucrat, this one actually makes a lot of sense... because she's a wood elf, a race famously good at scouting the wilderness.

This is slightly debatable because the game randomly doesn't list her subrace and she lacks the Fleet of Foot trait (implying she's a high elf), but I assume her dress is simply so tight and impractical that it nerfs her movement speed. On top of having a distinctive wood skin tone, she's filed under "wood elves" in the list of character models in game files, and if she dies in Waukeen's Rest, you can report finding a dead female wood elf to the Fist and they immediately know it's her. So it seems the intention was for her to be a wood elf, even if they didn't execute it fully.

So, what's strange isn't so much that she possesses this skill, but rather that she deploys it on such a notable basis.

So, unlike Wyll's first line which reinforces something we come to learn later, this line opens opportunities to wonder what we don't know about Florrick.

In the previous installment of Florrickology, I posited she was possibly around 120-130 years old, but Wyll's examples only account for what she was doing 13 and 11 years ago. Other commentary, such as by Ulder, indicates she's been a friend of the family and a public servant for quite some time, but how long? We could have up to 100 years of life to play with. She well could have been wildin' since before Ulder was even born.

Has she always lived in Baldur's Gate? Was she always a government official? Is she even a Flaming Fist (I don't think so tbh, I think she's just understood to be Ulder's stand-in) or was she and if she was, what kind of shit did she get up to? When and how did she meet Ulder? Was she always a wizard (she is only level 6 in Act 1...)? And endless more questions!

The implication seems to be that she's been an advisor as long as Ravengard has been duke, so like... what was she doing out there at all, 11 years ago, discovering goblins far enough away from Rivington that she could intervene and save the whole town? Hiking? Keeping up with her secret ranger multiclass levels? Picking up a patrol shift to stunt on all the humans by having 4 extra hours in the day to spend in service of the city? Visiting her wood elf polycule in the woods and happened across goblin tracks?

For the discerning background character fan, this is a goldmine.

Speaking of headcanons and Wyll, I have also decided that one of his best and funniest ambient dialogues references Florrick, even though it's completely unsubstantiated:

Wyll: When I was a child, father sent me to Sharess' Caress to deliver messages. How was I to know what went on behind its closed doors? Lae'zel: Eating, sleeping, and sex acts of all manner, of course. Wyll: Hm. What's plain to you wasn't so plain to mini-Wyll. Lae'zel: Mini-Lae'zel wasn't so sheltered. On Creche K'liir, very little is hidden behind doors.

We all know Ulder only has one person he'd need to talk to so damn bad that he'd send his son to bother her at the damn brothel!!!

[bangtanloverboys]

life support // knj

summary - namjoon likes to think he’s the embodiment of the perfect example of a theurgists: positive and enthusiastic. however when his professor asks him to help tutor one of her secondary students, only then is that pushed to the limit

pairing - tutor!namjoon x neurodivergent!reader

genre - fluff; wizard 101 au

word count - 4.0k

warnings - dip’s made up lore, namjoon says one mean thing, thoughts of fraternization 

guide - theurgy = life magic, divination = storm magic; marlybonian = british dog people; pigswick = another wizarding academy; 

author’s note - last names for reasons. and this was a bit personal for me as i do have adhd and i struggled a lot with theoretical teachings. this is based off my own personal experience with school and having adhd, not everyone’s is the same

the seven schools of ravenwood

Best in class. That is how Namjoon has always been described ever since he was a novice theurgist. It came easy to him, with a glance at a textbook he could perform the spell in an instant. Life magic was simply in his blood. So when Professor Wu asked him to tutor some of her less than stellar students, he wasn’t surprised. It took a while for each of the other students to catch on, but one by one, he helped them understand the material and soon enough, they raised their grades. Namjoon’s track record was stunning, there wasn’t any student he couldn’t help.

That was until he met you.

Normally Professor Wu only offered tutoring for her novice primary school students; young theurgists that either did not grow up where magic was practiced or simply fell behind a few lessons and needed a bit of help to get back on their feet. Never before had he had to tutor a secondary school theurgist. But he was willing to step up to the challenge. 

Pushing open the heavy oak doors of the Life School, he was greeted with the familiar sight of Professor Wu standing at the top of the platform. Standing right at the bottom of the stairs before her, was you, dressed in purple and gold. A diviner, Namjoon thought to himself. Life magic sat in between Storm and Fire, so one normally would expect a student of those primary schools would easily understand and excel at theurgy. He wondered what could be the problem. 

“Ah, Namjoon!” She smiled as he approached you both. “Y/N, this will be your tutor; Namjoon Jadeshield. Namjoon, this is Y/N Raindreamer,” she introduced.

“Pleasure,” he greeted, holding out his hand for you to shake. You don’t shake his hand, only giving him a tight lipped smile. “Okay. . .” he dropped his hand. “What exactly are you struggling with so that I can help?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but Professor Wu cut you off. “Everything, really. They’re supposed to start their initiate program, but unfortunately they must repeat their apprenticeship.”

Namjoon tried to hold back his shock. Failing the apprenticeship class?  You’d have to repeat the whole two year process, probably never catch back up to your primary school level. “Okay. So how often shall we hold tutoring sessions?” He glanced between you and Professor Wu.

“Ideally every day after class,” the professor answered.

Your head snapped in the direction of her. “No!” Turning to Namjoon, you began to plead with him. “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. I need Wednesday and Friday free. I have-“

“You know very well that any or all after school activities are suspended until your grades rise, Raindreamer,” Professor Wu tisked.

But you didn’t acknowledge her, only keeping your eyes trained on Namjoon. “I’m sorry, but Professor Wu is right. Until you have sufficient grades to prove it, no after school activities.”

As the words left his mouth, Namjoon watched in slow motion as your face fell. Like the world had crashed around you. Quickly, your face steeled and a frown was etched onto your features. “Fine.”

“Alright,” Namjoon nodded, wanting this meeting to be over and done with. “We’ll start tomorrow. Meet me outside the Commons Library? Sound good with you?”

“Yeah, fine. Whatever,” you huffed as you shouldered your book bag and left the school building, leaving Namjoon and Professor Wu alone. 

“I swear, with a name like Raindreamer, it’s no wonder they have grades like this,” she sighed. “But thank you again, Namjoon. I know you’ll be a great help.”

“I’ll do my best.” 

The following day, Namjoon waited for you just outside the Commons Library. He was there a full 10 minutes before you finally arrived. He opened his mouth to berate you for being late but words failed to come out at the sight of you; fresh scrapes and bandages covering any exposed skin. 

“What?” You raised a brow at him.

“Are you- what happened?”

You looked down at the bandages before shrugging. “Fell.”

Whilst that didn’t feel like the full reason, Namjoon didn’t push any further, simply wanting to get the tutoring session along. You trailed behind him as he climbed up the final steps to the library, pushing open the doors. Namjoon waved hello to Harold, the old Marleybonian that served as the librarian, as he scribbled away in his ledger. 

“This way,” Namjoon said to you as he walked down the theurgy wing. Other life students, dressed in robes of greens and browns, were seated at the tables that were strategically placed alongside the tall bookshelves. He made his way over to his usual table, it sat right between the initiate and journeyman textbooks. Granted those might be a bit out of your range, but perhaps it could serve as a bit of motivation to help you move forward. 

Placing his book bag down, he looked at you, straggling along still. A bit further than he would’ve liked, but you were soon catching up. Your eyes were trained on the books as they flew across the shelves, rearranging and reorganizing themselves. There was a small smile etched into your face as you watched the books and scrolls float about, reminding Namjoon of a child on Christmas. Clearing his throat to gain your attention, he watched as that smile faded away, back into a look of displeasure. You picked up the pace, taking the seat beside him.

“Professor Wu didn’t give me any specifics as to what you need help with. So are there any particular parts that you need help with?” Namjoon asked as you pulled out your scrolls and text books. 

“Everything, I guess. It just. . . doesn’t make sense. I can’t figure out how to get from Point A to Point B,” you explained. 

“So conceptualizing it?”

You blinked at him. “I- uh, I guess that is one way to put it.”

“Okay, that gives us a starting point then.” He smiled at you. “So let’s go to basics. See if that can help.” 

“Alright,” you muttered, learning forward as he began writing.

“So theurgy is a bit different than the other schools, when using magic we don’t summon or coerce the creatures into appearing. We breathe life into them through the Song of Creation. Are you familiar with that?” When he turned to look at you, you were staring blankly at the paper. He waited a few moments for you to respond, but you didn’t. Namjoon snapped his fingers twice, you jerked back to attention.

“Sorry, I- uh. . . what did you say?”

It was then when Namjoon realized how you were able to fail your apprenticeship so miserably and how you earned your last name. 

You could not focus at all.

Every time Namjoon was going over spell casting and or creation, he would turn to you to check to see if you were following, only for you to have a blank look on your face or your eyes to be trained on the floating books again. Every time he would have to snap his fingers to regain your attention. On some occasions, he saw you scribbling away into a notebook. At first he thought you were actually taking notes, but anytime he tried to take a look at it, you shut the book in his face.

By the end of the second hour, when your session was coming to a close, you had finally managed to understand one spell. It was just a shield spell, so it wasn’t too complicated, but not enough for Namjoon to be satisfied with your progress. 

As the two of you left the library, you were about to make a break for the right, no doubt returning to your dorm room in Ravenwood, but he quickly grabbed onto your wrist. 

“What?”

“I want you to read over the History of Life Magic, chapters one through four. Just the basics, that should help at least a tiny bit.”

“You’re giving me homework?” 

He blinked at you, caught off guard by the question. He’s always asked the students he tutored to reread certain materials, and they did so without question. “It’s not really homework, just helps to go over the material again,” he sputtered out in response. “I want to see you succeed and catch up in your secondary school. And reading helps.”

“Yeah, sure,” you huffed with a roll of your eyes, then walked down the pathway through the Commons.

Over the next two weeks, the two of you had fallen into a routine; every few days you’d be late by no more than 10 minutes to each session (how he had no idea, considering the initiate divination class would get out around your scheduled time) with fresh bandages, he’d try his damndest to help you understand the material, and then you’d part ways, heading off towards the right. And it was agonizing for Namjoon. You read at a snail's pace, mixing up the pixie and fairy spells, scrambling words and wand motions together. It wasn’t by lack of effort either, Namjoon could see you were trying, genuinely, but no matter how much reading he assigned you, nothing seemed to stick. You got one spell for every ten he went over with you. He simply could not believe how you managed to even get enrolled into Ravenwood in the first place.

When he expressed his frustrations towards Professor Wu when it was time for a follow up, she finally told him that you were a new student, only coming in within the past 6 months, after being kicked out of Pigswick for poor performance. He was shocked at the information, but it made sense. You were a troubled student and needed a firm hand. So he went to work, putting together another lesson plan that was more strict to try and see if that would help you at all.

It didn’t.

Barely a full session in, he watched as you failed to recite the proper incantations to summon a leprechaun, something you nearly had the day previous. 

“What isn’t clicking for you?” He found himself asking you at the end of the session.

“I’m sorry?”

“I mean, why can’t you do this? This is basic theurgy, and you’re a storm student! This should come easy to you, right? So why are you struggling so much?” He felt like he was at the end of his rope. If he couldn’t teach you, then what hopes could he ever have about being a professor?

“I mean, it just. . . doesn’t. It’s hard to explain. . .”

“Well if you don’t figure it out, you’re gonna get kicked out from another school,” Namjoon muttered under his breath.

“What?”

He froze. He cringed to himself as he turned around to look at you, regretting even thinking the words. Once he laid eyes on you, he saw that same broken look he saw when Professor Wu said you couldn’t continue with your afterschool activities, only worse. Your shoulders sagged, and Namjoon swore he could’ve heard your heart break, shattered by him. Then your face hardened as you tightened your grip on your bookbag.

“Then I guess there’s no reason for us to really continue these sessions, considering I’m just gonna get kicked out anyways.” Then you turned on your heel and stormed off.

“Y/N, wait- I’m sorry!”

He wanted to follow after you, but he couldn’t find it in him to. He watched as you disappeared into the crowded Commons area, wishing he never even opened his mouth. 

The following day after class, Namjoon made his way over towards the Storm School. You deserved an apology, Namjoon knew that. What he said was mean, and something he never should’ve said as your tutor. It was just his luck that his mastery class ended at the same time the Storm initiate class ended, giving him the perfect opportunity to find you and apologize. He eyed through the students as they made their way past him, on their own way towards their next class or any after school club. But he could not find out. He knew he had the right year, you were supposed to go into the initiate class this year, you were the proper age for it. Where were you?

Perhaps you stayed inside to talk to the professor, he thought to himself as he approached the heavy oak doors. Thunder boomed overhead from the gathering storm cloud that resided inside the classroom. It had been years since he’d ever stepped foot in the school of storm, the first and only time being from when he was trying to find a secondary school, all those years before he finally landed on balance. 

Namjoon glanced around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of you but you weren’t in the room. Only Professor Balestrom resided in the classroom, standing on top of his desk as he gathered papers.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the school, clearing his throat to gain the frog professor’s attention. He turned on his flipper as the sound of Namjoon and bounced up to his full height of three feet. 

“Ah! How can I be of service to you?”

“Hi, I’m tutoring one of your students. Y/N Raindreamer? They would be in your initiate class.”

A frown etched itself onto Professor Balestrom’s face. “Raindreamer is my student yes, but they’re not in my initiate class.”

“What?” 

“Raindreamer advanced into the adept class about 3 months ago! They’re a brilliant student, one of the best diviners I’ve seen in a while,” he explained.

The information shook Namjoon to his core. You were an advanced student? But how could that be, considering your grades in theurgy? It didn’t make any sense. “I-I didn’t know that.”

“First time in my class, they struggled though. Came in on a reading day, which is everyone’s least favorite part of the curriculum. But as soon as we got to spell casting, they nearly blew the roof off this place!” The professor continued, leaping up in the air for dramatic effect. “They weren’t even here a week before I took them to the headmaster and demanded they advance to the journeyman course, only that was also too easy! They’re getting a real challenge in adept, I’ll tell you that.”

Namjoon couldn’t believe his ears. Here he was, thinking you were a walking failure, doomed to be kicked out of a second school. Only to learn that you were nearly two years advanced in your studies! “Oh. . . well, do you know where they might be? I do need to talk to them.”

Professor Balestrom looked at the clock on the wall. “Should be in the arena by now.”

“The arena?”

“Yes. The arena! They’re a duelist, did you not know that?”

Only then did it dawn on him that he never did ask what you wanted to do so badly that you wanted to schedule your tutoring sessions around it. Then he remembered what days you were late on, the fresh bandages you always had on. . . You were still dueling. Under the school’s nose too.

“Thank you, Professor Balestrom. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, of course!” The frog man called out to Namjoon as he all but ran out the door. As fast as he could, he made his way through the tunnels to the Commons and then to Unicorn Way. He pushed open the doors of the arena, the snapping of puppets and growls of different summoned monsters filled his ears as he approached Diego, the dueling master.

“A newcomer? Are you interested in learning the art of the duel?” The unicorn asked, raising a brow at him.

Namjoon shook his head no. “Sorry, I’m actually looking for someone. Y/N Raindreamer?”

“Ah, yes! They’ve been short on their dueling practice lately, but they’re in the next dueling chamber over. Come, I shall show you.” Diego led Namjoon down a hall towards an empty arena, where sure enough you were, dueling against a puppet. 

He was blown away with the sight before him. You waved your wand with practiced ease and the creatures you summoned did your bidding with little to no struggle at all. It wasn’t at all how you were when he was tutoring you. How could you manage to do so good in one class that you advance two classes, but struggle to advance in your secondary?

“Pretty good, eh? Came in from Pigswick, good school and all but they don’t actually teach magic there. It’s all theoretical. But as soon as Raindreamer was enrolled here, and with a little help from your’s truly, they advanced in no time!” Diego explained as he and Namjoon watched you battle the puppet. “They come in here as often as they can, practicing all the spells they learn in class. See the scrolls?” He pointed off to the side of the dueling sigil where sure enough, were piles of spell books and scrolls, mainly of storm magic, judging from the purple lining. But Namjoon could see some greens in there. 

You weren’t just practicing.

You were studying.

Raising your wand again, this time the life symbol appeared. Up until the last wave of your wand, it was perfect. You had twisted your wrist in the wrong direction, causing the spell to fizzle completely. You let out a curse as you stepped away from the sigil, the puppet standing still. You pulled open the life scroll, reading over it again, no doubt trying to find your mistake.

“You’re supposed to twist your wrist towards the right, not the left!” Namjoon called out to you. Your head snapped up in his direction, mouth open to probably yell at him. But you didn’t say anything, your eyes focusing on Diego behind him. 

“He’s right, you were perfect up until that last move,” Diego confirmed as he trotted down the stairs towards you, Namjoon following after. “He was looking for you, I hope you do not mind I brought him here.”

“It’s alright, thank you, Diego.” You gave the unicorn a slight smile, who nodded before stepping away, giving the two of you some privacy. Once your attention was fully towards Namjoon, your lips pressed into a thin line. “What is it, Namjoon?”

“I wanted to apologize, what I said was out of line. As your tutor, it should’ve been my priority to build you up, not to tear you down.”

You regarded him cautiously. “Doesn’t change the fact that what you said really hurt. I did try, but studying like that just. . . it doesn’t work for me. Sitting there and telling me how to cast spells, I have to see and do it to fully understand. Do you get that?”

“Yes, I can see that now.” Namjoon stepped toward the pile of scrolls and books that you had at the side of the arena. Picking up the one that was open, he flipped through it. There were a bunch of notes and scribbles in the margins, he recognized the chicken scratch as yours but what you wrote were what he would go over and teach you in your tutoring sessions. “This is why you wanted those days off, so you could practice your spellwork and could try to actually grasp what you were learning?”

Slowly, you nodded. “I will admit, I did continue dueling, but without the proper amount of dedication to practice and study, it just. . . I couldn’t do it.”

“Then we’ll hold our tutoring sessions here.”

You looked at him in shock. “What?”

“If this is what helps you learn, then this is what we’ll do to help you,” Namjoon started, “I’ll tell Professor Wu about the change and reserve an arena with Diego. We can meet here instead of the library, does that sound good to you?”

“I- yeah! That’s- that’s perfect, thank you!” You said, beaming widely at him. It was the first time you actually smiled at him, and he was going to deny the little flutter he felt in his chest. 

“Okay, so I’ll see you here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, tomorrow!”

Just as he said, Namjoon talked with Moolinda about having you study via dueling.

“I don’t know, Jadeshield. . . they’re failing, and the rules are no extracurriculars unless a student is of a passing grade.”

“I know, but this is how they learn! I didn’t understand it at first, and that’s my fault. But they’re actually really smart! Did you know they’re two classes advanced in divination?” Namjoon countered. 

Professor Wu was taken back by that knowledge, judging by the way her eyes narrowed down and focused on him. 

“Please, just give them a chance.”

She was quiet, before placing her hooves together and nodding. “Very well. You may hold your tutoring lessons in the arena.”

Namjoon was so ecstatic, he would have jumped for joy. But there was one more thing that he had to ask. . .

 Due to his meeting with the professor, Namjoon was running late to meet you at the Arena. He saw you were sitting on the grass outside the building, looking down at that book you would scribble in during your tutoring sessions, flipping through the pages. 

“Hey!” He caught your attention as he approached you. “I have great news!”

Looking up from your book, you furrowed your brows together. “What?”

“I talked to Professor Wu and she gave the green light for us to do dueling tutoring sessions and she agreed!”

You jumped to your feet. “Really?!”

“Yes, and she agreed to something even better.” 

“Spit it out then! Don’t leave me here in all this suspense!”

“If you test well enough on the next exam that’s in a few weeks, you can join the initiate program!” It took a lot of convincing on his part, and staking his whole career as a tutor on the line, but he was wrong to ever doubt you in the first place. He knew you could do it.

“You-oh my stars! Thank you!” Dropping your book, you threw yourself onto Namjoon, wrapping your arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly.

He stilled at the sudden contact, feeling heat rush to his cheeks. “You’re- you’re welcome,” he said, patting your back gently. He’d never been thanked in such a way before, usually a quick handshake or a smile. Never a hug. 

As quick as you hugged him, you released your hold on him, smiling brightly at him. “Come on! Exam may be a few weeks away, but I wanna be sure I have everything right so I can ace this test!” You said, before racing inside the arena. 

Namjoon stood back for a second, still feeling the heat on his cheeks. He took a step forward to join you, only to accidentally step on your book that you’d dropped. Kneeling down, he picked it up. Curiosity gaining the best of him, he took a peek inside. It was doodles and drawings of different creatures and spells, with little notes dotted along the sides. Still flipping through the book, he began walking towards the arena, but he stopped as he turned to a page that took him by surprise. It was a drawing of him, incompleted, but was very obviously Namjoon. He felt the heat on his face return, crawling up his ears too. Reading along the sides of the page, were your own personal anecdotes about him. Calling him all sorts of names, but also things he had said; Stuff from his lessons. You had remembered, you were trying. He just couldn’t see it.

“Ahem.” 

Namjoon’s eyes broke away from the sketchbook, meeting Diego’s gaze. The unicorn said nothing, only winking at him as he tossed his head in the direction of the arena doors. 

Breaking eye contact, Namjoon pushed open the doors, hoping you wouldn’t see the embarrassment on his cheeks. He spotted you almost immediately, talking with some other students he could only presume were your friends. Taking notice of him, you smiled at him again, and he swore he could see a twinkle in your eye-

No. No. No.

You had an exam to study for and he was your tutor. He couldn’t fraternize with you like that. However, he wouldn’t be for long if you ace that exam. . . 

“Raindreamer, let’s go!” 

[critter-rarepair-reccs]

Happy Wednesday, friends! Hope you're all well. This week, we have seven recommendations for fics that are still being published! As always, you can find them below the cut and if you check any of them out, I encourage you to leave kudoes and comments to spread the rarepair love 💕

Three Card Spread by NephriteKnight (13,298 words, Explicit) Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss (Shadowmauk), Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: Accidental Voyeurism

Caleb is in romantic relationships with both Molly and Essek, though the two of *them* aren’t together. Essek is certainly interested, but tries to keep his distance, unsure of if Molly feels the same. That is, until one night while Caleb’s away…

Reccer Says: It’s very sweet!!! Domestic Shadowidomauk is so cute and so is Essek pining over Molly!

Cut Her Out in Little Stars by EchoingArias (7,956 words, Teen) Pairing: Keyleth/Vex'ahlia (Vexleth) Warnings: Anti Half-Elf Racism

While the twins are still living in Syngorn, a summit for leaders from across Tal’Dorei is held. Among the guests is the leader of the Air Ashari and his daughter, Keyleth. Vex is immediately smitten.

Reccer Says: The balance between the sweetness of the twins interactions and Vex’s crush on Keyleth and how awful Syldor and the other elves are is so good and perfectly heartaching.

between earth and sky by floralprintshark (2,536 words, Teen) Pairing: Ashton Greymoore/Dorian Storm (Greystorm) Warnings: None

An AU in which Ashton is earth genasi royalty and is arranged to marry Dorian, the youngest son of the Wyvernwind Clan.

Reccer Says: This fic just started but I’m already very sold on it. The worldbuilding has intrigued me, the character voices for Ashton and the Krook House folks are super on point, and I’m very excited to see Dorian’s POV on the whole situation.

The Peacock’s Palace by WhoGroovesOn (59,145 words, Explicit) Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss (Shadowmauk), Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: Discussions of Caleb’s backstory

Essek owns a burlesque club in Nicodranas, which Molly performs at. They’re perfectly happy and in love, though one night they want to try something a little different. Enter one Bren Aldric Ermendrud.

Reccer Says: It’s very very hot and very fun. The angst is a delicious side dish to the rest and the plot that’s been building is intriguing!

against all my sins and the candlelight by Solanaceae (13,813 words, Teen) Pairing: Astrid Beck/Jenna Iresor Warnings: None

Jenna Iresor (the Cerberus Assembly member who is secretly a doppelganger) takes an interest in Astrid. Scheming and wizard-speak ensue.

Reccer Says: Probably the definition of a rarepair, and SO good! Astrid’s characterization is on point and the political intrigue is so well thought out and interesting.

Can I See You Again? by lespetitesmorts (5,796 words, Teen) Pairing: Keyleth/Vex'ahlia (Vexleth) Warnings: None

Scanlan drags Keyleth with him to go see a show. Before it starts, Keyleth meets Vex, who happens to be the lead singer and bassist for the band in question. And they both may just fall a little bit in love in that moment.

Reccer Says: It is so cute! Keyleth is perfectly awkward and you can really feel just how hot Vex is lol. And Vex's strategy for finding Keyleth again is fun!

Something Happened On The Way To Heaven by SweetSilentSteps (24,014 words, Explicit) Pairing: Orym/Dorian Storm/Will (Dorymwill) Warnings: Kidnapping

A Dorymwill Ladyhawke AU! Dorian is captured by the Paragon's Call, escapes, and meets a mysterious (and handsome) half-elf with an odd raven companion on the road to Jrusar.

Reccer Says: I've never personally watched Ladyhawke but I am very familiar with the concept and love an AU based on it and this does not disappoint. The drama, the intrigue, the dynamics!!! It's so good. Updates monthly and its 4th chapter just went up so now's as good a time as any to catch up to follow along!

Thank you for joining us this week’s recc list! All the love to everyone who submitted a fic 💕 All enclosed recommendations were submitted by the community via our submissions form, which you can find here. All fic information is as it was provided by the reccer, so it may not be accurate to the author’s intent or the precise contents of the fic itself. Please assume good intent from all parties 💕

Submissions for next week’s list are already open! We’ll be featuring Angst. If you have any you’d like to highlight, you can send them in here. The week after that, the theme is Spring and the weeks after that we’re taking recommendations for Jester Rarepairs and Alternate Universes! Submissions for all of these themes are currently open.

If you want more rarepair fic, check out @cr-summer-wildflowers and their event collections on ao3! If you want some friendship after all this romance, take a look at @critter-genfic-events and their recc lists! And if you’re interested in everyone’s favorite wizards, you can’t go wrong with the lists at @aeor-is-for-reccing !

Thanks all and have a lovely day/night/timezone! 💕

[mommyashtoreth]

not aboit cro&azi but: opinion on the shallowness and frankly odd pacing of nina and maggies relationship? like one day theyre having stilted conversation, the next maggie is crying over how in love she is.

Hmm. Strokes my wizard's beard. Good question. Good Omens fans have caught on to how much I love the sound of my own voice but not on to the other facet of my deeply annoying yet hilarious and charming personality, which is that I love being contrarian. So, in that fashion, I must disagree with this assessment. As we discovered last night it's been a while since I've watched goomer (I may rewatch it soon, I may not, who knows) but I still think it's abundantly clear that Maggie has a huge crush on Nina from afar, and uh. this is gonna sound crazy but when you have huge unrequited crushes on people it can make you nervous and awkward when you talk to them. Idk I come from an Az-and-Crowley school of relationships myself, where you hang out with someone for eight kajillion years as Totally Platonic Girl Best Friends until one day you just fucking snap you NEED to fuck them so badly, but lots of people experience relationships the way Maggie does, it's a suuuuper common romance trope, and that doesn't make it bad writing! I think we're just so used to seeing this kind of trope be applied to straight relationships and the "platonic gal pals for eight kajillion years until one day you just fucking snap" thing be applied to gay relationships that people aren't ready for this "awkward stuttering and blushing because he looked at me! He let me borrow his pencil!" sort of trope being applied to a wlw relationship. I don't really think their relationship is oddly paced at all, it feels "awkward" because it IS awkward. Nina is someone who, like, barely knows Maggie exists, was in a presumably-monogamous relationship up until very recently, and got a bunch of water dumped on her and then had a trade meeting turned into a Regency ball because these two freaks who are her and Maggie's narrative foils can't just talk to each other normal. And she reacts normally to that I think! I don't think their relationship is badly written (it's probably paced better than, like, Newt and Anathema's, for instance, but I understand the difference in tone between s1 and s2 making those feel like two different cases), it's just yknow, under weird circumstances. Idk I just think it's funny how many goomenheads are completely convinced that Crowley is somehow in total unrequited gay love with Aziraphale (who literally wants him back so badly it makes me sick), and yet I'm here talking about how Maggie is kind of in semi-unrequited gay love with Nina and that's Fine. It's a good character thing. They parallel Az and Crowley in a lot of ways (a romantic obsessed with something near-obsolete who Doesn't Drink and a fast-living cynic who deals with bad shit by instantly initiating Wine Drunk With No Man To Feel Up Wednesday; they're even cast to kind of Look similar which I think is funny), but the structure and context of their relationship is not the same and thus cannot be compared. It's not a Writing Flaw or a Plot Hole or anything to me, it's just the simple difference between "crush before friends" and "friends before crush"