#[ thirteen au : hogwarts ]

[ineffablemurderhusbands]

More fanfics by me! This time only Doctor Who edition.

This life's too good to last (12th Doctor and 13th Doctor talk)

Time is tearing itself apart and the Doctor finds out it's because her past self is trying to hold on to the time he has with his wife.

You had me at "archeology" (The Mummy AU)

"I need an archeologist.”

“I know where you can find one.”

“Really?”

“Yes, just go into town and ask for the Master. If he’s so inclined he’ll hook you up with an amazing archaeologist. But hurry up or you might end up without one.”

“Why is that?” Yaz asked, placing the money on the table as they all got up from their seats. “Another crew might hire her?”

“No.” Jack says with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “She might be executed.”

Coitus Interruptus (Rated E)

The Fam accidently walks in on the Doctor having sex.

Loud and Proud

The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz ends up in the middle of the San Francisco Pride Parade.

Please keep me sane!

The Doctor is afraid of turning into the "oncoming storm".

The TARDIS brings back the only person who can keep her in check.

Honestly, River just wants to get laid!

River keeps getting cockblocked and honestly she just wants to make love to her wife, is that too much to ask?

Of Potions and Spells (Hogwarts AU series) Fuck JK Rowling btw

Everybody on Hogwarts has a crush on the Slytherin Headmistress, River Song and the equally amazing Hufflepuff Headmistress, the Doctor.

Since they know they don't have a chance, they decide to bring them together by a series of elaborate plans.

[myboipotterimagines]

Golden - Weasley Twins x Reader (Soulmate AU)

Request: Would you do one where a shy Hufflepuff is Fred and George’s soulmate? Maybe they are connected somehow like a song or marks or something and it takes them a while to find her because she’s so reserved but they end up bumping into her and finding out?

It was common knowledge within the wizarding world that the age of twelve was the most common to find your soulmate. You weren't sure why twelve was the magic number, but you were never the type to question to origins of magic. What you were sure of that twelve passed by with no soulmate to speak of, then thirteen, and then fourteen. It was in your fourteenth year of life that you had given up the notion of having a soulmate altogether. Your parents had found each other even before going to Hogwarts and you had now been lapped by your younger sibling who had matched their first year.

Your parents marks glowed golden on their pinkies - a lifelong reminder of the most important pinkie promise they ever made. Your brother's soulmark was a simple streak on his shoulder from where he brushed against his soulmate waiting on the sorting ceremony.

Before you first touched your soulmate, the mark on your skin was just a dark patch. Muggles that fell in love with wizards or witches often just mistook the patch for a birthmark. The marks on your skin, however, could never be mistaken for anything but a soulmark. You had two marks that were completely separate from the other. The first was a line around your waist and the second a handprint from mouth to ear. The line on the waist could always be a hug from behind. It was easy enough to believe. But the hand print? You tried to keep the worst out of your mind.

It had been four years since you had given up on your soulmate. Exams were just around the corner and then you were out. You were quite tempted to just move into the muggle world and never have to deal with the concept of a soulmate again. You'd marry someone who, even though they weren't your soulmate, treated you well. And wouldn't that be enough in the end?

With that thought in your mind, you turned in your final examination to Professor Umbridge, who you were quite sure never even got a soulmark as it seemed impossible that anyone could love her. A huge wave of relief washed over you as you exited the Great Hall and, just for a moment, you allowed your eyes to close and a deep breath to escape your lungs. It was over.

Your moment was short lived as a chorus of "Get down!" rang out behind you, before a set of arms wrapped around you, yanking you to the ground. Your body slammed against the rough ground, but your head was caught before it hit by another set of hands. Still, your heart raced as you tried to catch your breath.

"Shit," one of the voices said - the one with his arms around you. He transitioned from holding onto you to rubbing your back. "We are so so sorry." "We let out fireworks. Thought the coast was clear but obviously we were wrong," the other voice said, hand still supporting your face. "Here, let us help you up," he offered. You had barely made it upright when the boy in front of you began to scowl. "Fuck, Umbridge," he seethed. "I'm sorry but we have to go."

Instead of leaving you, the boy pulled you along. The other tailing closely behind. "What are you doing?" you asked. "Unfortunately, you're an accomplice now and we're about to be caught." "Accomplice? I just met you!" "Yeah? Explain that to Umbridge over a hot cup of tea and a puddle of blood. You should be thanking me!"

It wasn't until you made what felt like four laps around the castle before you quit running. You didn't even know where you were and you had been attending Hogwarts for seven years. All you know was that you were in a tiny broom closet with two boys you just met. "Lumos," one of the boys spoke, and you finally got a good look at their faces. You rolled your eyes. You should have known it was the Weasley twins. You had never really met the two but the entire school knew of the mischief they caused. It had been far too easy for you to steer clear of them up to this point. "Fred," the twin on the left, George, asked quietly. Fred was looking down at his hand, then up to you. In the dim light you could barely notice the golden glow that now shone on his hand. "It's you," he spoke gently. "What do you mean?" you asked, eyebrows furrowed. Hesitantly, Fred reached his hand up to your face, placing it where it had been only moments ago. "You're golden," he smiled.

"My whole life I was wondering how I would get those marks," I laughed. "I always feared the worst, just because of where they are. Did you feel the same way?" He shook his head. "I always just assumed it would be a handshake." You rolled your eyes. "A handshake wouldn't give you this, though." You pulled up the other sleeve of his robes - nothing. No mark whatsoever adorned him. "That doesn't make any sense." When your eyes rose up to meet Fred's, he was looking beside you, at his twin, whose forearm revealed the missing piece of the puzzle. He, too, glowed gold.

***

Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

[dramioneasks]

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[mybutcheredtongue]

I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

harry potter timeline sirius black x fem!reader

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (see full series here)

1993

The school year draws to a close, with the school still chattering away about Sirius. You spend it relatively simply, teaching the last of your classes and then finally handing out end-of-year exam results. You're glad to see Hermione gets an almost perfect score — and Ron and Harry do...well, they do okay. You make a mental note to start buckling down on their incessant chatting during class.

You also spend it full of worries. Your every waking moment seems to be consumed with thoughts about Sirius. He's out there, all alone, on the run — you can't imagine how he's feeling right now. It ties knots in your stomach. You just want to grab and hold him, caress his soft, smooth skin, run your hands through his silky curls —

You miss him.

You sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, flicking through the latest edition of The Quibbler. It's quite a unique little publication, very quirky. Luna Lovegood, one of your second years — her dad is the editor, so you decided to pick up the magazine after she recommended it to you once.

You're currently skim-reading a very in-depth article about some sort of creature called an 'epippinpor', when the door to your compartment slides open and Harry pokes his head inside.

"Harry!" you greet. "Need something?"

He holds out a folded piece of parchment, smiling. "Padfoot."

You take the parchment from him as he leaves, closing the door again. You beam excitedly, throwing down The Quibbler and pulling the parchment into your lap. Dubh gets up and starts to sniff the parchment curiously and you giggle, full of giddiness like you're a young teenager again.

My darling love,

I hope you get this before you've left Hogwarts, otherwise it may be quite some time before this letter reaches you. I decided to put your letter in with Harry's, because I'm sure your post is being monitored.

Buckbeak and I are in hiding, so you don't need to worry. I have so many questions to ask you, so many things to tell...I guess they'll just have to wait. I miss you, my love, just like you miss the stars during the daytime.

I hope I haven't lost my romantic flair.

Also, you're a professor now? Very professional, Professor Black. I suppose it does have a pretty sweet ring to it. And Astronomy, too? I'm still your favourite star, right?

You snort, rolling your eyes. Typical. You can just imagine his face when he wrote that: signature smirk, maybe a wink.

Can I get a kiss for that when we reunite again?

Typical!

I wish I could be with you this summer. At our home. Also...do you have a cat? I thought I saw you with a cat. Come on, love, we are obviously a dog home!

I miss you so much. I miss your voice, your warmth, your beautiful face, your kisses. Especially the last one. It's not easy to go twelve years without a single kiss...even if the Dementors offered me several. I love you with all of my heart. If you need me for anything, Harry's owl will find me. All my love, Sirius. P.S. I love you. I can't wait to see you again.

You smile at the letter, eyes tracing the edges of his scratchy handwriting. Your stomach is full of fluttering butterflies and it really does feel like you're a schoolgirl again. You re-read the letter several times, smiling especially wide when he says he loves you or compliments you.

No, Sirius. You didn't lose your romantic flair. Not one bit.

You reach out to pet Dubh, still holding the letter in your hand.

Maybe next year will be a little different.

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

"Here you go," you say, handing Remus his cup of tea. He accepts it, careful not to spill a drop, and gives you a grateful smile.

"Thanks."

"So, any news?" You ask, pulling your legs up onto the couch and folding them in beside you as you look at the man in front of you. You're sitting in your living room, a wonderfully cosy little room, warmed by soft rays of August sunshine. There's green plants dotted around, and the walls have photos and beautiful paintings decorating it. There's even a few of Remus' original paintings up there!

One big hobby of Remus' is painting, though he is very secretive about it. He paints beautiful landscapes and still-lifes...it calms him.

One particular painting catches your eye. You had once asked him to paint you a nice, simple picture of pottery. A jug, a bowl, a plate...just general pottery works. It's quite nice.

Remus shrugs. "Nothing really since last we spoke. How are your parents?"

You stayed with your parents last week. Dubh had been put into Remus' care, as she always is, and she always comes back a little fatter than before because Remus is a big softie.

"They're grand, yeah," you reply with a shrug. "I told them everything that happened and honestly they were pretty nonchalant about it all, you know how they are...Mam thought I was very stressed and made me one of her special herbal teas and honestly, it was amazing. Felt young again."

"You are young," Remus says with a sigh.

"Sure don't feel it," you say bitterly. "Could do with a dose of that special tea every morning."

"So this tea isn't special?" Remus asks, gesturing to the cup in his hand.

"Not at all," you reply with a short chuckle. "I asked her what she puts in it, and she said it was an 'age-old secret only passed down when the last generation has ceased and the next lives on'. She's lying, of course, she's only saying that to be mysterious. I'm beginning to think that it's just the placebo effect."

Remus nods thoughtfully. "I think I'm going to trust your mother's words and say it is an age-old secret."

"Suck up."

He raises his mug and gives you a mocking smile. You sigh.

"And," you continue, "Dad took me to the muggle cinema, and we seen this film called 'Mrs Doubtfire'. Moony, when I tell you I sobbed — Merlin, muggles sure know how to make an emotional impact. I'm beginning to think that truly, wizards aren't better than muggles because they get to have cool films and we don't. It's unfair, really, if you think about it."

"'Mrs Doubtfire'? What was it about?" Remus asks.

"A woman called Mrs Doubtfire, obviously," you say and he rolls his eyes. "But turns out it's not actually a woman, it's this guy whose wife divorced him and can barely see his kids, so he pretends to be their babysitter and puts on a wig and a mask and fake tits and everything — "

"And that made you cry?"

"It was emotional! Then he gets caught and can only see the kids with someone supervising the visits! Isn't that sad, Moony? It's much sadder in the movie."

He raises his eyebrows, humming in weak agreement. "Right."

You scoff, sighing. "Anyway...Quidditch World Cup is coming up! And guess who's going?"

"You? No way, how did you get tickets?" Remus asks in shock.

You grin. "Minerva McGonagall, the gem that she is! Sent me a letter yesterday morning. Said she happened upon two tickets and asked me to go with her."

"I didn't know the two of you were such good friends."

You shrug. "Sometimes it can be a bit odd because she used to be my teacher, y'know — but she's such fun to be around. I mean, I've told you before that we have tea together sometimes."

He nods thoughtfully. "Mhm, yes, I remember."

"Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it! I wish I could bring you with me," you say with a small apologetic smile.

Remus waves you off. "It's a full moon. I daresay I might steal the spotlight off the teams if I attend."

You laugh. "That may be so."

→ all kinds of interaction are appreciated ♡

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

→→ read chapter fourteen here!

sorry for the extra-short chapter...just wanted to draw this year to a close. Goblet of fire next!!!

as always, a big thank you to my taglist loves for all their amazing kindness and support:

@wholelottalove05 @izuoyarmin @hyperspeedo @carpe000diem

[hippolotamus]

okay im very curious about witch!eddie and familiar!buck 👀 pretty please if you don't mind :)

Zesty! I do not mind at all. In fact, for you, the world if you so desire it 💖

also asked by @wikiangela @daffi-990 @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming

official title: the darkest fairytale (named after a line from Gabrielle Aplin's song Salvation)

the premise:

AU contains a mix of magical and non magical beings who coexist peacefully. Parents don’t have to be magical to produce a magical child. No schools like Hogwarts but it is the responsibility of the parents to teach or provide a mentor. 

Witch!Eddie: born to magical parents. Learns most of what he knows from Abuela because his parents are too busy being... well, Them. Marries Shannon when she conceives Christopher. Pretty much canon except magical. 

The Wars are a period of fighting between the magical and non magical. Eddie doesn’t like using his magic after he comes home. 

Christopher: magic but his abilities don’t present when he’s younger. Eddie tries to teach him but it’s not as effective as he thinks it should be at first (he’s wrong of course. It’s more to do with Shannon being gone)

Buck: Born to non-magical parents. Maddie and Buck both have magic but Daniel didn’t. Maddie was forbidden from telling Buck about his magical abilities. He figures out he has them by accident when he gets upset and transforms into a cat one day as a teenager after Maddie announces she's leaving with Doug.

The time period is somewhat ambiguous. It's somehow modern and not, and the story itself has tried to convince me it should lean into the Fantasy genre. We'll see.

A snippet (occurs just before teenage Eddie and Evan meet for the first time):

Evan is- well, he’s a lot of things right now. Scared. Confused. Pissed off. Cornered. Not human. Maddie isn’t around, having moved to Boston six weeks ago, and their parents are worse than ever. If that wasn’t all bad enough, he’s stuck as a goddamn cat.  It’s not the first time, but the whole transitioning phenomenon is still new enough that he hasn’t figured out the trigger – or how to turn back. The first change was about four months ago, right around the time Maddie said she was moving away with… well, with him.  One moment he was himself, a thirteen year old boy, angrily pacing back and forth, repeatedly listening to Welcome to My Life on his Discman. The next, his headphones were in a heap with the CD player and his clothes. The music became overwhelmingly loud and he assumed the volume got bumped when it fell. Until he saw himself in the mirror and realized the reason was because he didn’t have ordinary hearing anymore. Because he had four legs, paws, black fur and a tail.   The dark coloring is helpful for hiding, the way he spends most of his time until he changes back. Staying tucked away is his most useful asset because otherwise all he can do is helplessly meow or hiss. No surprise that apparently not a single soul can understand him. And, at the moment, that’s a big fucking problem.

npt some beloveds who've shown interest (it's been a really long time since I've done anything with this WIP so my apologies if I incorrectly tagged you or did not) @diazsdimples @tizniz @ladydorian05 @wildlife4life @bi-buckrights

@slightlyobsessedwitheverything @loveyouanyway @elvensorceress @spotsandsocks

@monsterrae1 @thekristen999 @bidisasterevankinard

[draco-dormiens]

THE STRANGEST OF PLACES MASTERLIST

draco x fem!ravenclaw reader / postwar au series

"We start to find comfort in the strangest of places."

The war has ended, and life is getting back to normal, or least supposed to be. For returning half-blood Ravenclaw Y/N Y/L/N, her only focus is to finally have a year without fear and uncertainty, until professor Slughorn asks her the question the rest of the room is dreading: "I trust you will be Mr Malfoy's partner?"

Draco Malfoy returns to Hogwarts the same as any other past seventh year student. He wants to complete his education and ensure himself a good future, one better than his previous years, but there is one slight problem: he's Draco Malfoy. For his family's involvement in the war, Draco attends school feeling alienated and resented, spending most of his time alone and suffering his guilt in silence. When Y/N starts coming over to the manor, they begin a rocky work relationship, and often argue

After a small but grand gesture, they decided to become friends. Neither of them realise, however, it was about to get a whole lot more complicated than that.

warnings: enemies/friends/lovers, strong language, sexual themes, mentions of depression, slow burn, implied sex

status: completed

disclaimers: i do not own hp or any of the characters associated with this story

chapters

opening: the first visit

chapter one: amortentia

chapter two: felix felicis

chapter three: christmas

chapter four: draught of the living dead

chapter five: new year

chapter six: slughorn's verdict

chapter seven: just two friends

chapter eight: the astronomy tower

chapter nine: a quiet drink

chapter ten: a misunderstanding

chapter eleven: another motherly visit

chapter twelve: what he wants

chapter thirteen: slytherin vs. hufflepuff

chapter fourteen: i think i love you

chapter fifften: you said yes, right?

chapter sixteen: the night of the ball

chapter seventeen: hope is a heartache

chapter eighteen: the aftermath

chapter nineteen: it’s a purebloods world

chapter twenty: the malfoys, the greengrasses and the girl inbetween

chapter twenty one: the greengrasses come to tea

chapter twenty two: one hell of a dinner party

chapter twenty three: the element of surprise

chapter twenty four: the seventh years graduation

˚✧ *ೃ the end *ೃ ✧ ˚

[siriuslydimwitted]

A/N: It was pretty boring for me, but uh anyway, this is a part of @/rcwenaclaw’s 1.5k writing challenge, it’s Soulmate AU

Warning(s): bold Harry || Bad English || (tell me if I missed something)

Reader’s gender is unidentified (gender-neutral)

Written in 2nd Person POV

Word Count: 1.5k

`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

Eleven years old Harry doesn’t believe in soulmates, Living in a cruel world pushed him to where soulmates are rubbish

Yet, seeing the number zero composed on his wrist, he appeared to get confounded. The day he turned ten, his wrist burn like somebody was cutting deep through it, when he fluttered his eyes open he saw a number zero on his bleeding wrist

He attempted to see whether his uncle and aunt have one, he even looked at his cousin’s wrist yet he didn’t see anything

Rescued by Hagrid and finding that he is a wizard at eleven years old, he let out a soothed sigh the second he arrived at the train station

The only problem is, he had no clue about where is the platform 9 ¾ until he saw a group of red-heads with a similar cart he’s pushing

He needed to asked where is the platform yet his eyes were met with shining eyes of yours

You’re not quite the same as the redheads he got a sight of, the first time when he ventured inside the train station. You’re not like one of them, however, a ginger freckled young girl is holding your hands

After arriving at Hogwarts, Harry was so astounded by the atmosphere and he didn’t see that the zero on his wrist went to a straight line

Frankly, soulmates for him is rubbish so he doesn’t attempt to look at his skinny wrist to check on the off chance that he had met his

First-year at Hogwarts was chaotic for Harry, an eleven years old battling the dark lord appears to be abnormal however he did it. Nothing is typical with regards to the Chosen One

Second-year was somewhat unexpected when he met another friend, a house-elf. However, he doesn’t actually think if he’s actually a friend

Twelve years of age Harry at the Burrow saw Ron’s wrist and the number he got composed on his wrist is fifteen, it got him inquisitive, and took a look at his

The moment he took a gander at his wrist, you and Ginny race down to the kitchen, Harry saw his wrist’s number shifted to number two

He swears he saw you arrived first, but he is not sure if it’s you or Ginny. You sat beside Ron as Harry’s emerald eyes is still looking at Ginny’s brown ones

Since you and your parents move to Ottery St. Catchpole, you have been close to Ginny. Her parents and yours are saying that the two of you were practically twins

Sharing that both of you catch an interest to the scar-head boy, the two of you promise to each other the no hard feelings if one of them got chose by Harry

You agreed, thinking that he is the one you’re looking for. As a kid, you saw your parents loved each other so much, you really wanted to meet your soulmate as soon as possible. Seeing how love around your parents is strong.

The smile painted all over your face when you saw your one moved to two, however, you don’t have the foggiest idea when did that thing occur

Your and Ginny’s first year at Hogwarts is not what you wanted, Ginny’s attention turned to a diary. Instead of hanging out, she was busy writing and scribbling things on the diary

But the good thing is you can see your number increase when you got to Hogwarts

Excited to meet your soulmate, every minute you’re looking at your wrist every time you passed on someone

Thirteen years old Harry forgot about the soulmate thing, he just focused on his adventure every year and doesn’t have time for that ‘rubbish’

Though, he’s always taking a glance at his wrist every time he passed Ginny. You and Ginny were attached to the hip, which makes it hard for Harry to identify who is his soulmate. Not that he cares

“You think Ginny’s my soulmate?” Harry and Hermione traveled time and hiding behind the large rock when Harry blurted out

“no time for that, Harry” annoyance painted on Hermione’s face, eyebrows knitted whilst she’s focusing

You can admit it, it’s not crushing, right? You don’t have a crush on the Chosen One, you love him. You tried to stop the feelings because you believe in yourself that Harry is not the one for you, he’s not the reason why the number on your hands is shifting

“do you know who your soulmate is?” out of the blue, you spoke to Ginny

“Yeah!” Ginny said, dust pink is showing on her cheeks and her eyes were lit up, she’s also fidgeting her hands on the hem of her knitted jumper “but I don’t want to tell him” She pointed lazily at Dean Thomas who was talking at Seamus animatedly

“How did you know?” You asked Ginny, furrowing. After seconds, she spoke

“It’s an accident, actually, I was looking at my wrist in the middle of the hallway then it shifted, he’s the only one in there with me,” Ginny explained avoiding your gaze

You just nodded accordingly, If Ginny’s soulmate is Dean Thomas then who is Harry Potter’s soulmate?

Fourteen years old Harry got a little bit interested in his soulmate since he heard that there will be a Yule Ball coming. As Harry grew older, he’s become more and more interested in the number carved on his wrist

Sometimes, he’s asking himself what is love, but with every glance at his arm he’s taking, he’s answering his own question. Maybe love is a mystery, A mystery wherein you need a patient to taste the lifetime happiness

The scar-head boy is catching a bit of feeling for you, but he knows it’s forbidden. He knows he must love his soulmate

It wasn’t really hard to fall in love with you, It’s actually hard to stop his feelings for you while thinking that someday he will watch you marry your soulmate. That’s not him

You ended up taking George to the Yule Ball, but his eyes lingered on someone else, so do you

There are only a few people who believe in fifteen years old Harry, you’re one of them. You join Dumbledore’s Army because you wanted to fight back

Harry still believe that one of you and Ginny is his soulmate, but watching Ginny being close with Dean Thomas, he’s doubting that she is his soulmate

Until he saw her kissing Dean, but his wrist doesn’t move the count. Now he’s sure that you (maybe) is his soulmate

You were the only one who comforts him at the moment Sirius Black died, he wasn’t even sure that you’re his soulmate (even if it’s obvious), but he was sure that he is in love with you

five years of waiting, your soulmate is nowhere to find, looking at your wrist it’s nearing one-hundred

Sixteen years old Harry is now eager to find his soulmate, his theory is leading him to you, but his heart is stopping him from believing

Being poor in Potions, you decided to assist Professor Slughorn. You were there in all his classes, monitoring students if they’re doing well

“Ahh, Harry my boy I’m beginning to worry,” you heard the name of the person that can stop your world at the sight of him

Finally, you look at your wrist as you watch the number shifted to ninety-nine. Is it Ron? or Harry?

hidden from your knowledge, Harry was looking at his wrist too “my soulmate’s here, mate” he whispered to Ron

“where?” Ron whispered back looking around as Harry shrugged his shoulder absentmindedly

Harry got a plan to make sure that it was you, his real soulmate. Writing on a piece of paper and send it to you via someone else’s owl telling you to meet him at the Quidditch Pitch

You hesitate at first but you decided to come. Harry was looking at his wrist the whole time, sitting on one of the benches

The number slowly shifted to a hundredth “hey!” he heard you, he lifted his face to face you

His eyes were looking at the windows of your soul “h-hi” he stuttered

“you’re waiting for someone?” you asked him sitting beside him, putting your hands on the top of your lap as he nodded lazily

“you,” He said softly, his eyes were happy but his face is hiding it “you’re my-“

“-soulmate, yeah!” you cut him off but you got astonished when you felt a hand cupping your jaw, your lips are touching his soft ones. Your eyes were wide open but you slowly closed them when his lips begin to move softly begging you to reciprocate

You obliged, moving your lips. Is this the lifetime happiness Harry was yearning for? Definitely!

He felt something flipped inside his stomach while your hands are traveling around his messy black hair

You pull away from each other smiling “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time” you said panting still holding the back of his neck softly

“so… do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?” He asked holding both of your cheeks as you nodded and your forehead is still resting on his

BONUS:

You didn’t know that someone is watching you and Harry from afar

“I told you!” said Ron as Ginny handed a galleon to him

“shut up, will you!”

[kay-elle-cee]

@hprecfest Day 8: A Canon-Divergent Fic

Kindly Stopped for Me by @nodirectionhome-ao3

Ship: Gen Rating: Teen Relevant Tags: Canon Divergence, Familial Bonding, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Wizarding Politics, Order of the Phoenix Warnings: Major Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse Word Count: 228,297* *WIP

On Halloween night, 1981, James Potter sacrifices his life to save his wife and infant son. A powerful form of blood magic is evoked, and Lily Potter falls into a coma. The world moves on around her. Thirteen and a half years later, Voldemort returns to life...evoking the blood magic once more. Lily wakes up to discover that she has been betrayed in more ways than one. By a sister, an ally, a mentor, and a friend. As the Wizarding world teeters on the edge of chaos once more, Harry and his mother soon find themselves in a fight for their lives. While Harry struggles against the Ministry's smear campaign and the Dark Lord's ceaseless vendetta, Lily gets a job at Hogwarts, rejoins the Order of the Phoenix and vows to get her revenge. She will win this war. She will protect her son. And she will make the traitors pay. AU beginning at end of GoF, with the POV alternating between Lily and Harry.

[halfseoulco]

All My Love: A SEVENTEEN x Hogwarts AU

Published Wednesday, February 14th, 2024 — Happy Valentine's Day and, more importantly, happy Carat Day! Honestly, I really got attached to these versions of the SEVENTEEN members that I created for the Christmas AU, so I decided to continue their stories with what I hope is a cute series of events for our thirteen diamonds. ♡

As a refresher, here's some information before you start reading!

Word count: ~ 10,800

AU Ages:

Seventh years — Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Joshua, Junhui, Soonyoung

Sixth years — Wonwoo, Jihoon, Seokmin, Mingyu, Minghao

Fifth years — Seungkwan, Vernon, and Chan

AU Houses:

Gryffindor — Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Vernon, Chan

Ravenclaw — Wonwoo, Jihoon, Minghao

Hufflepuff — Junhui, Mingyu, Seokmin, Seungkwan

Slytherin — Jeonghan, Joshua

Description: It's Valentine's Day at Hogwarts and everyone has plans—or some things that go according to plan and some that don't. Romance is on the table for some, while others prefer to spend quality time with their friends—because all love is important. All you need to know is that you probably don't want to be Vernon.

Read “All My Love” on Ao3!

The Black Lake — February 14th (early evening)

"Hansol Vernon Chwe!"

The Gryffindor winced as his boyfriend's voice transcended octaves in his unbridled fury.

"You'd better have a good explanation for this!"

Gryffindor Fifth Year Boys' Dormitory — February 1st

"Vernon?"

The fifth year Gryffindor turned his head away from where he had been watching the rain fall outside the window to look at his oldest hyung over his shoulder.

"Oh, hey, hyung," he greeted him with a nod.

"Have you seen Seungkwan recently?" Seungcheol asked him, brow furrowed with concern.

"Um, not since last night," Vernon replied, face blank. "Why?"

The older Gryffindor sighed, sitting next to him on the bench seat in front of the window.

If not even his boyfriend had seen him recently, then maybe Seungkwan's situation was far more serious than anyone realized.

"I'm worried about him," Seungcheol admitted. "He doesn't really seem like himself. Not anywhere near a quarter as fussy as he normally is about everyone and everything." He glanced at Vernon out of the corner of his eye, noticing that he had gone back to facing the window. "You're usually attached at the hip, it's unusual that you haven't seen him at all today."

"Are you saying that I should know where my boyfriend is every minute of every day?" Vernon said tonelessly.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Seungcheol tilted his head to one side, surveying him carefully. "I'm saying that as his best friend, you might know what's been going on with him."

The younger boy turned his head away.

"So you do know," Seungcheol said gently.

Vernon's shoulders tensed. He said nothing for a few moments, Seungcheol waiting patiently while he grappled with whether he should confide in the prefect or not.

Finally, his shoulders slumped.

"Last spring," he began, "one of Seungkwan's closest friends from home... passed away."

"I remember," Seungcheol said gravely. "That's why he was gone for a while."

"Yeah, he went back home to attend the funeral." Vernon sighed. "The friend... he was a Muggle... and obviously Seungkwan couldn't tell him that he was a wizard, so his friend thought that he had gotten a scholarship to attend some fancy boarding school in the UK. Seungkwan had been jumping through all kinds of hoops to stay in touch with him without giving himself away, getting letters sent by Muggle post... talking about classes that are taught at Muggle schools... They would hang out all summer when Seungkwan would go home after every end of term... but then..." Vernon rubbed at his nose furiously with the sleeve of his sweater, sniffling. "His friend was really unhappy and I think he missed Seungkwan a lot—"

"It's okay," Seungcheol stopped him. "You don't have to keep going."

Vernon nodded gratefully, wiping at his eyes.

"His birthday was last week," he said softly, "and Seungkwan hasn't been taking it very well. I feel like I should be doing something... more? Better? But he barely even talks to me, won't even look at me sometimes..." He finally looked up at Seungcheol, his eyes sparkling with tears. "Hyung, I don't know what to do. I feel like such a bad boyfriend."

Seungcheol inhaled deeply through his nose, his mind running through the memories he had of Seungkwan and Vernon, both back when they had been just friends and after they had gotten together. To anyone who didn't know the pair very well, it would seem like Seungkwan took care of Vernon in every way—because that was how his affection manifested itself—but their friends all knew that Vernon was Seungkwan's biggest supporter and that the Hufflepuff relied on his boyfriend more than anyone. At just fifteen, they had a connection deeper than most adults Seungcheol had met; and no one who saw them together could ever accuse Vernon of not being a good boyfriend.

Seungcheol exhaled heavily.

"You're not a bad boyfriend," he reassured Vernon. "The fact that you're worried about it this much is proof that you're not. All you need to do is let him know that you're here for him." He stood up, patting the younger on the shoulder. "Besides, Valentine's Day is coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe come up with something that will really show him that he's not alone in this."

Astronomy Tower — February 14th (early afternoon)

"What took you so long?" Wonwoo asked, not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

"I'm so sorry," Mingyu huffed, stuffing something into his school bag. "I got stopped by... Alice Pembroke... on my way up here." He dropped to the floor next to his best friend, chest heaving with exhaustion. Shoving his still-open bag away from him, he raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. "I didn't mean to be late."

"I know you didn't," the Ravenclaw said softly. "You have quite a lot of sweets in your bag," he observed, finally looking away from his book to peek inside the contents of Mingyu's school bag.

The Hufflepuff beater snorted.

"I would offer you some but after that one Gryffindor girl was sent Sugar Quills dipped in love potion, I've learned not to eat anything people give me on Valentine's Day," he muttered, zipping up his bag and leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. "It's all a bunch of nonsense anyway."

Wonwoo carefully folded the corner of the page he was reading before setting the book aside. He tried to remind himself that it wasn't because he felt inadequate and needed Mingyu to tell him that he was wrong about what he was going to say—he just wanted him to be happy. The possibility that his best friend was choosing to remain single so that he would always be able to hang out with him just didn't sit right with him, and he would make sure that Mingyu's love life no longer suffered, even if it meant he had to spend more time alone.

"You know, you don't have to keep turning down girls because of me," he said quietly.

Mingyu slowly straightened up, opening his eyes to stare at Wonwoo blankly. When he didn't say anything for a few moments, Wonwoo decided to elaborate.

"Every time I try to have this conversation with you, you refuse to talk about it," he pressed. "You like girls, or at least you liked the girls back home. I know that you want to fall in love—that you believe in love—but you've rejected every single girl that's been interested in you since we started at Hogwarts. It's okay, you know? I'm not going to become a recluse if you start going out with someone. I can take care of myself."

Mingyu continued to stare blankly at him, showing no sign that he was taking in anything that the Ravenclaw was saying. Irritated, Wonwoo waved his hand in his face.

"Is any of this getting across to you?" the usually laidback boy demanded.

Still not receiving an answer or any indication that Mingyu had processed anything he had just said, Wonwoo stood up and started gathering his things, trying not to be too aggressive about it. If Mingyu wanted to keep avoiding the subject, then he could do it by himself.

"Wha—wait, wait, wait!" Mingyu said hastily, lurching forward and tugging on his arm to stop him. "Don't leave! I... I'm not trying to be annoying on purpose, I just—" He cut himself off, exhaling through his teeth. "I don't really know how to explain it."

"Explain what?" Wonwoo asked, looking down at his best friend, who was still sitting on the floor.

"A lot of things," Mingyu replied, leaning back against the wall again, "but I promise you that I'm not turning down dates because I think that you can't function without me."

Now thoroughly embarrassed that he had even voiced that particular insecurity, Wonwoo hesitated for a moment before dropping his bag back on the floor and sitting back down next to him.

"I'm sorry I got upset," he murmured. "I just don't want to be the one holding you back from something that I know is important to you."

"You're right, it is important to me," Mingyu agreed, "but not right now." He tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling of the Astronomy Tower. "It's funny... we're in our sixth year, we have one more year left after this before we have to go out into the world and decide what we want to do with our lives... and I still feel so... young."

"I mean... we are." Wonwoo looked up at the ceiling himself, eyes following the veins in the stone. "Sixteen is not old enough to really make any decisions, not even about girls."

"Right, so I don't really understand why everyone is trying to find their future spouses now. I know a lot of Pureblood families don't arrange their children's marriages anymore, but there are still a few Slytherins who are already bound to betrothal contracts! Betrothal contracts! In this day and age! Anyway..." Mingyu grabbed his bag and shook it, the contents rattling around inside. "This? It's all fake. These girls are only interested in me because they think I'm handsome."

"You are handsome, though," Wonwoo pointed out.

"Thanks, but my point is that they don't know me. They don't know anything about me," Mingyu said. "I'm nothing more than good looks to them—with bonus points for being a foreigner and adding to the intrigue."

"Well, how is anyone supposed to get to know you if you don't let anyone close enough?"

"I don't need anyone else!" the Hufflepuff insisted stubbornly. "I have a twelve-person friend group. For some people, that's more than enough. Plenty. A lot, even."

"Oh, you won't find any disagreements from me there," Wonwoo said, chuckling. "Sometimes I think our friend group is a little much at times, but they're very understanding about me time. Anyway, back to you, you're being very cynical. A lot of people our age date for fun. No one's telling you that it has to be that serious, it might just be nice to have someone to spend time with on Valentine's Day. That's all."

"Is that something you want?" Mingyu asked him.

"Someday," he answered. "Not today, though. Besides, no one's been asking me, but a lot of people have asked you. That's why I'm bringing it up. If you were less nice, the girls here might start calling you a heartbreaker. Even Cedric Diggory had a girlfriend, you know, before the Triwizard Tournament."

"They can say whatever they want about me, it doesn't matter," Mingyu said, shrugging. "We're graduating next year and I don't think I'm going to be looking for jobs here, so I don't have to play British wizarding politics by avoiding rejecting girls from good families. I value my time and I'm choosing to spend it with people whom I also value, which includes you. Like..." He scratched the back of his head, frowning. "I think you're the most important person in my life and I want to be with you forever, but like... in a... not romantic way? If that makes sense? Like, I think we could get a house together and split bills and go grocery shopping and I would find that just as fulfilling as doing all that stuff with a girlfriend. I mean, girls are nice, but they're not you."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'platonic'," the Ravenclaw supplied helpfully. "And for the record, I feel the same way. I think people whose friends stop existing for them once they get a significant other are terrible."

"Yeah, what is up with that?" Mingyu agreed. "Can you imagine Seungcheol and Jeonghan just dropping all of us? Or Seungkwan and Vernon?"

"Never." Wonwoo shook his head. "Our lives are all so wrapped up in each other's, the thirteen of us can never really be apart. We're going to be old and gray... and taking up an entire apartment complex building by ourselves."

"I think that would be fun, honestly. A huge high-rise in Seoul, paid for by Jeonghan hyung." Snickering, Mingyu dug through his bag, unearthing a couple of packages of kimbap wrapped in plastic from under the piles of candy and cards. "My mom sent these, by the way. She specifically told me that I could not eat your portion, so you are now legally obligated to eat it."

"Tell her I said thank you," Wonwoo said, gratefully accepting the kimbap and unwrapping the plastic. "Your mom always has really great timing, she just knows when to send food."

"See, now you have to be friends with me forever," Mingyu teased. "Otherwise, no kimbap for you."

Wonwoo punched the Hufflepuff's arm affectionately.

"I don't need kimbap for that," he promised. "We were always going to be friends forever."

"Is there something longer than forever?"

"Forever and a day."

"That's still forever."

"I know."

Hufflepuff Sixth Year Boys' Dormitories — February 14th (afternoon)

Seokmin shuffled through the pile of parchment in his hands as he trudged into the sixth year boys' dormitories, muttering to himself about moonstone properties and measurement conversions. Entirely preoccupied with trying to figure out where he might have made a mistake on his last quiz, he didn't notice that anything was amiss until a voice broke through his concentration.

"Whoa, what happened in here?"

Seokmin's head snapped up when his dorm mate walked into the room, the amazement in his tone catching his attention.

"Well, that's certainly something," he said, blinking at the grand display in front of him.

The curtains of his four-poster bed had been pulled back to reveal a large bouquet of red, pink, and white balloons floating in place with magic above his mattress. Also floating in the air was a single card in a plain white envelope with his name printed neatly on it, although it didn't look like anyone's handwriting that he recognized—especially since the person had written it in Korean and he knew what all of his friends' handwriting looked like when they wrote in Korean.

Seokmin crossed the room to his bed, dropping his bag on the floor and the parchment in his hands on his bedside table. He plucked the card out of the air, using a quick spell to break the wax seal on it without destroying the pretty heart shape. When he opened it, he saw that the person had tried to also write their message to him in Korean with the help of a translation spell; and while the words were a little clumsy, he immediately found himself touched by the effort.

"To the one and only Lee Seokmin,

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry that I couldn't face you in person. I'm not ready to reveal myself to you yet, but I still want to tell you that you make me smile every single day because you deserve to know. Please accept this card and the balloons well, I worked really hard on the spells to make them work. Maybe someday I will be able to tell you how I feel face to face. Until then, please be happy and healthy, and tell some new jokes in class when you learn them. I promise I will laugh like I always do.

With love,

Your secret admirer"

Reaching the end of the card, Seokmin stared silently at the words on the cardstock paper, trying to think of people in his classes who maybe laughed a little too much at his jokes or paid him any kind of special attention. Truthfully, there were very few people who didn't find him funny, so he quickly gave up on trying to figure out his admirer's identity that way.

"Does the card say who the balloons are from?" his dorm mate asked him, breaking him out of his deep thought.

"No, secret," Seokmin replied absentmindedly.

"Oh, that's a shame. Well, good on you anyway, mate!" His fellow Hufflepuff clapped him on the shoulder. "At least there's someone out there who likes you a whole lot."

As the other boy left, Seokmin inspected the balloons with a critical eye. The card had said that his secret admirer had worked really hard on the spells to "make them work" and he was curious to see exactly what the balloons were meant to do. What could you even make balloons do with magic anyway?

Intrigued, he cautiously poked one at the front of the bunch and gasped as the shiny surface rippled, revealing the words "POP ME".

"But I'm easily startled," Seokmin muttered to himself.

Wand clutched in hand, he debated just leaving the balloons alone and enjoying the sight of them—but the thought of never finding out what kind of magic had been placed on them was too tempting for him to ignore.

Waving his wand, he then quickly braced himself for the loud pop, covering his ears. However, instead of a popping sound, a high-pitched voice chirped, "I hope your Valentine's Day is magical!"

The voice had been disguised, of course, but the realization that his secret admirer had charmed the balloons not to make sounds when he popped them because they knew he was easily startled had tears welling in the corners of his eyes. Wiping at his face with his sleeve, he eyed the remaining balloons, trying to decide which one to pop next so that he could hear a different message.

"Wow, who sent you those?" Junhui asked, peeking in the doorway on his way down the hall.

"No clue," Seokmin told him happily, "but they're pretty amazing. Look!"

The older Hufflepuff entered the room, approaching Seokmin's bed to get a closer look at the magic balloons. The sixth year tapped a random balloon, showing Junhui how the words "POP ME" appeared, then waved his wand, causing the balloon to pop.

"I must need Occlumency because I can't get you out of my head!" it trilled.

"That is some amazing charm work," Junhui praised, peering more closely at the balloons. "The person who sent them to you didn't leave a name?"

Seokmin passed him the card.

"Too shy," he informed him.

Junhui read over the contents of the card quickly then handed it back.

"Hmm, would've been nice to know so that you could thank them for their effort, but the gesture is thoughtful," he said, shrugging. "They even made it so the balloons wouldn't make noise when popped. They must have enough classes with you to know you're a big ole scaredy cat."

"Yah!" Seokmin huffed, even though it was true.

Junhui chuckled, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"I'm happy for you, Seokmin-ah," he said, his tone genuine. "I'll see you later, meeting up with Minghao."

"What else is new?" Seokmin called after him as he left. "Now, back to these balloons..."

The Whomping Willow — February 14th (early evening)

"Who do you think it is?" Junhui asked his best friend, having just finished telling him about the charmed balloons Seokmin had received from his secret admirer.

Minghao didn't look up as he answered, his focus on washing the tea leaves in preparation to brew tea for the two of them.

"Your guess is as good as mine. A lot of people think Seokmin is funny, I'm sure he has no shortage of admirers."

"Honestly, I kind of want to know just so that I can ask them how they came up with the spell," Junhui said thoughtfully. "It was really very impressive. Whoever did it must like Seokmin a lot."

Minghao hummed in agreement, still concentrating on the task at hand.

The pair had chosen a nice spot not too close to the tree to set up a small, low-rise table so that they could sit and drink their tea together. Minghao often held these tea ceremonies alone, something that he did purely for his own joy and relaxation. The activity required singular focus, which took his busy mind off of other things for a while. It's not that the others were never invited, but they understood that it was something he needed to do for himself; and he had an unparalleled collection of different teas for a sixteen-year-old living away from home.

Junhui stretched his arms over his head, looking up at the Whomping Willow looming deceptively calmly above them.

"Do you ever wonder about what it would be like to settle down with someone?" he mused. "Even if they really like you, they still might not understand certain aspects of your personality or what's really important to you. What if they don't appreciate your tea ceremonies?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Minghao replied, tone even. "I know that I'd like to settle down eventually, but that seems pretty far off. There are still so many things I want to do first—like graduate from this school that we worked so hard to get into. I'm not enduring racism and xenophobia from narrow-minded Brits to worry about whether some witch from the English countryside appreciates my tea ceremonies. Besides, I do the tea ceremonies for myself, not for other people."

"You're preparing a tea ceremony for me now," Junhui pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that's you."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you're not on the same level as everyone else," Minghao elaborated. "You're my best friend, and I know you do appreciate my tea ceremonies."

Not even remotely satisfied by the reassurance his best friend was giving him, the Hufflepuff pressed further.

"Will you miss me after I graduate?" Junhui's eyes left the Whomping Willow, dropping back down to observe Minghao's hands as he started to steep the tea leaves in hot water. "Tell me honestly."

"Don't be stupid," Minghao told him flatly and without missing a beat.

"Hey! I was just asking—"

"And I'm telling you again: don't be stupid." Minghao didn't take his eyes off the tea leaves, even as he spoke. "No offense to our friends but you know I'd miss you the most. I can't believe I even have to tell you that."

"It wouldn't hurt you to tell me sometimes! I like the reassurance."

"All of our friends are already talking about how I'm going to try and sneak you into the Ravenclaw dorms every weekend next year. If they know it, then so do you. Now drink your tea."

His tone was not unkind, simply matter-of-fact, the way it often was. Junhui knew that Minghao was nice in his own way, and he definitely cared about him—he just communicated it a little differently.

Having already poured the freshly brewed tea, Minghao carefully slid a teacup across the table towards the Hufflepuff. Junhui simply stared at the cup for a moment, admiring the detail and craftsmanship of the emerald green and gold accent pattern. Tendrils of steam wafted up gently but Junhui knew it would be the perfect temperature. It always was.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, finally picking up his tea and bringing it to his lips.

Minghao hummed in response, picking up his own tea. The fragrance coming from the perfectly steeped jasmine tea leaves filled the chilly February air around them, almost as if they were in their own bubble.

Most days they really were.

Junhui knew that he was really lucky that Minghao had come to Hogwarts at the same time as him, even though they were a year apart. It had been a long and difficult process to get accepted as a second year; and if Headmistress McGonagall had been a less generous woman, he never would've met Minghao—or any of the others. They had been made fun of and harassed from the moment they had arrived, but now—almost at the end of his time at the illustrious school—he wouldn't have done things any differently.

Now, if he could only be as certain about what laid ahead.

"Do you think falling in love is as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be?" Junhui asked, setting his cup down.

"You're full of existential questions today." Minghao also set his cup down. "I think... that it's probably really nice in its own way... but that it's not the only kind of love that's important. Love comes in all forms and they're all equally necessary and fulfilling. People put all of their eggs in the romantic love basket and then wonder why they're still unhappy when they ditched all their friends for a new relationship."

"So you don't think it's lame that you're having tea with your best friend on Valentine's Day?"

"Of course not." Minghao snorted. "There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Anyway, do you think it's lame for Mingyu and Wonwoo to be hanging out in the Astronomy Tower of all places doing who knows what when Mingyu has the entire female student population after him?"

"No, not at all," Junhui replied quickly. "They are each other's most important person."

"Exactly." Minghao smiled at his best friend over the rim of his teacup. "Aren't I your most important person?"

"Yes. Always yes," Junhui assured him.

"And you're mine, so don't worry about it anymore," Minghao said, reaching across the table to pat Junhui's shoulder fondly.

"Why do I feel like you're the older one instead of me?"

"Because it's my duty to impart wisdom upon you from time to time," the Ravenclaw informed him matter-of-factly. "It comes with the house."

Junhui rolled his eyes.

"In other news, my mother wrote to me this morning letting me know that one of the girls with whom I attended primary school told her parents that I'm going to a private school in the UK, and so they contacted my parents asking if they had any prospective fiancées in mind for me," Minghao told him. "My pretend pedigreed education is apparently an attractive quality."

"Ah, they're Muggles," Junhui concluded. "Your parents don't have a problem with that, do they?"

"No, definitely not." Minghao shook his head. "I just think it's much more difficult to try and be in relationships with non-magic folk. You have to hide so much, not even just because you think they can't be trusted but because you never know how they're going to take the news. It's a lot of information for most people to handle."

"I don't know, I think my father took it pretty well," Junhui said, thinking back to the story his parents had told him about how his mother had broken the news to her then-boyfriend that she was a witch. "But he is a little odd himself, so I think he was just relieved that she wasn't as normal as he thought she was."

"Your parents are a pretty strange pair," Minghao admitted, "but I like them. They're very nice."

"And your parents are hilarious," Junhui returned, remembering when they had come to the pick-up point at Hogsmeade to take a Portkey back to China for the summer just last year. "You really take after them."

Minghao shrugged.

"Superior genetics."

Junhui snorted into his teacup, blowing bubbles across the surface of the still-hot liquid.

"Don't scoff," Minghao pretended to scold him. "You have the very best best friend you could possibly ask for. You should be grateful."

Still holding the teacup to his face to hide his smile, Junhui nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I am. I always am."

The Library — February 14th (early evening)

"I knew I'd find you here!" Soonyoung exclaimed happily, weaving through the aisles as he skipped towards the study tables.

Jihoon looked up at the Gryffindor, frowning. The table that he was sitting at was covered entirely in books and parchment, a stark contrast to the other empty tables. In fact, his was the only occupied table in the entire library. Madame Pince wasn't even lurking in the shadows as usual, considering that Soonyoung was speaking at louder than an inside voice and she hadn't come over to reprimand him.

"I'm usually here," he deadpanned, looking back down at his work, "the same of which cannot be said for you."

Soonyoung didn't look the least bit offended by Jihoon's words, long since used to his particular form of communication. Undeterred, he looked down at all of the materials spread out on the table, trying to figure out what Jihoon was working on even though it was upside down for him.

"You have to be the only person in the entire school who's studying today!" he pouted, pawing at the parchment nearest to him. "It's Valentine's Day! A day for love! What are you even working on?"

"Getting ahead," Jihoon said shortly, yanking the parchment back from him. "Love can wait."

"Jihoon-ah, you'll work yourself to death," Soonyoung chided him, pulling out the chair opposite the Ravenclaw. "I think you should take a break."

"That's how I like it," Jihoon grumbled, "and I have nothing pressing to attend to tonight, so there's no point in taking a break."

"I came all the way up here, to the library—where I never am, as you correctly pointed out—to find you and you won't pull yourself away from your books to hang out with me?"

Jihoon's quill paused mid-scratch, the only indication that he had heard the seventh year's question, before he continued writing.

"You don't usually ask me to hang out," he said, his tone bordering on indifferent.

"It's not for lack of wanting to. I always want to," Soonyoung admitted. "And I always think you're going to say no, so I never ask."

He thought he could see a faint pink blush on Jihoon's cheeks but it was hard to tell from this angle.

"That's not very Gryffindor of you," Jihoon commented, scribbling away.

"It's the one thing in which I lack courage," Soonyoung huffed. "But to be fair, you're very intimidating, even though you're the cutest person I know."

Jihoon accidentally pressed down on the parchment too hard with his quill, creating an ink blot over the words he was writing. Swearing under his breath, the tips of his ears red, he waved his wand at the offending spot.

"Stop talking nonsense," he hissed, the red flush spreading from his ears to the rest of his face.

"I'm not!" Soonyoung insisted. "I think you're the cutest person in the whole school!"

"Shut up!"

Jihoon wasn't even trying to focus on his work anymore, intent on getting Soonyoung to stop talking before he had a coronary. Not that it was possible. The seventh year was actually very shy—but you would never know it by the way his mouth ran a million miles when he was around his friends. He seemed determined to say his piece and nothing was going to get in the way of him saying it.

"You're always so strict and I think it's because you like it when people listen to you, but you're always doing nice things for people while pretending that you had nothing to do with it," the Gryffindor continued, oblivious to the fact that Jihoon was now bypassing red and heading into scarlet. "Like that time you jinxed those people who had been making fun of Junhui and Minghao when they first arrived. It was so impressive, I remember thinking that you were such a cool and dependable person even back then."

"That's enough!"

"And you're so buff for such a small and cute person." Soonyoung rested his chin on one hand. "You could probably knock me out if you really wanted to. Honestly, please do it, it would be the greatest honor of my life. Anyway, it makes no sense... and yet it makes perfect sense. Everything about you is just... so fascinating."

The Ravenclaw jumped up from his chair, hurling the quill he had been using at Soonyoung, who turned and ducked just in time to watch it sail over his head.

"Whoa! What was that for?"

"Why are you saying all this?" Jihoon demanded. "Did you come up here just to embarrass me?"

Realizing that he and the sixth year were not on the same page in spite of the way he had just gushed about him, Soonyoung shook his head.

Apparently he had not been clear enough.

"Accio quill," he murmured, holding a hand out for the quill Jihoon had thrown at him before offering it back to him. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, although I am sorry if that's how you feel. I'm just trying to tell you how I feel, which is that you scare me but I like it—I like you."

Jihoon snatched his quill back, face still impossibly red.

"You have a funny way of showing it," he snapped. "You have mere months left before you graduate, your timing is nothing if not grossly impeccable."

"I know, I haven't been very brave," Soonyoung said, shrugging, not even the least bit put off by Jihoon's criticism. "I really didn't want to ruin our dynamic or make things weird for the others, but if we hadn't agreed to the no dates rule for the Yule Ball, I would've asked you."

"You said you weren't interested in anyone when Minghao asked you," Jihoon pointed out, narrowing his eyes at him.

"So I lied." Soonyoung started gathering the parchment on the table into a pile. "I haven't exactly told anyone that I've been harboring this secret crush on you for three years. I'm no good at keeping secrets but I was very good at keeping this one. And stop being so pragmatic about this, I'm trying to be romantic."

"I really don't know what you want me to say to all of this," Jihoon said snippily. "You're the last person I expected to confess to having a years-long crush on me."

"How about you say what you want to say?" Soonyoung suggested, a hopeful expression on his face.

Jihoon, having just noticed that the seventh year had compiled all his parchment into a neat stack, slid the pile away from him and across the table, putting everything into his school bag. He then waved his wand, sending his books flying back onto the shelves in their rightful places. When he had stalled enough, he sighed and turned to face the Gryffindor.

"I know we've been friends for my entire time at Hogwarts thus far," he began finally. "I know that I can trust you, that you're telling the truth—that you wouldn't confess just to yank the rug out from under me, as I believe the expression goes. I know all of that, logically, but considering that—as you said—people find me intimidating, it's hard to imagine someone being so earnest about their feelings for me. Most people think I'm too... domineering."

His hands came up to his throat, loosening his blue and bronze tie from around his neck.

"I can't even really say if I like you as more than a friend or not," he said, sounding apologetic. "I didn't think it was a possibility, so I never considered you in that way."

Soonyoung leaned over the table between them, reaching for the Ravenclaw's school bag and hoisting the strap over one shoulder. He maintained eye contact the entire time, willing Jihoon to believe him but also wanting to fluster him just a little bit more.

"But as you said, you know that you can trust me," he pointed out. "Plus, if you think about it, you're a strict taskmaster and I'm a glutton for punishment—we're perfect for each other."

Jihoon tried to wrestle his school bag back from the taller boy, his pale face gaining back the red that had just begun to fade.

"You can't just say things like that!" he hissed.

Soonyoung simply tugged the bag out of his grasp and just out of his reach, smiling cheekily.

"I've waited three years to confess," he reminded him. "Now that the secret's out, I have all sorts of things that I kept to myself that I'm going to say—including how adorable I think you are. Walk with me?"

Jihoon stared up at him for a few moments, expression unreadable. If he thought at all about refusing him, the thought didn't last. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he nodded towards the front of the library.

"Well, after you then."

Slytherin Common Room — February 14th (dusk)

"Hong!"

Joshua didn't even so much as raise his head, instead making an indifferent "mmm" sound in acknowledgement.

He didn't need to look to see who it was—the voice alone was clue enough.

William Bennington the third was an awful homage to the Pureblood Slytherins of old. With generations of English aristocratic breeding to support his claim to everything he wanted in life, he was disliked even within his own house and by many of the portraits in the dungeons; and after seven long years sharing a dormitory with him, he still said "Hong" with a certain sneer that was clearly affected by poorly concealed racism.

At this point, Joshua had been living in the UK long enough to let things roll off his back, but William could've given Draco Malfoy a run for his money with the way he paraded about the school as if he owned it.

"Pretty prince doesn't have a date tonight?" William asked him, dropping down onto the sofa across from him, his tone mocking.

"Not that I'm aware of," Joshua replied pleasantly, still not looking up from his book.

"Hey, it just goes to show you that looks aren't everything in life," the other boy commented snidely. "The girls here won't go after some foreigner with no title. And aren't you a Half-Blood?" he added as an afterthought. "Yeah, that won't do at all."

Joshua turned the page, letting William carry on the conversation by himself. The golden-haired heir to a Potions empire (or so he claimed, Joshua had never bothered to verify this) had been harassing him from the moment he had set foot in the common room first year; and he had long since learned that it was best to let him converse with himself to get everything out of his system before he was satisfied. Not only did William take issue with his race and his blood status, he seemed oddly offended by his appearance as well, referring to him as "pretty" with his tone suggesting that he did not mean it in a positive way.

"Nothing to say?" William asked him softly, noticing that his tirade was falling on deaf ears. "Truth hurts, does it?"

"If you say so." Joshua barely shrugged his shoulders.

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"You think you're better than me?" William demanded, suddenly shooting up from his seat. "That you can sit there like you're royalty and I'm some sort of commoner? I'm far more important than you will ever be!"

Joshua sighed, recognizing that his night would be a lost cause if he didn't address this particular problem promptly, and slipped a tasseled bookmark in between the pages of his book before closing it and looking up at his aggressor for the first time during their previously one-sided confrontation.

"I get that certain things matter to you," he said carefully, "but they don't matter to me—and they don't matter to a lot of people anymore, not even the Slytherins here. I didn't realize that me being dateless on Valentine's Day was of such great significance to you, especially when it's of no significance to me and my evening. Maybe you should be more worried about the fact that you care so much about what I'm doing with my time, alone or otherwise."

William's upper lip curled into a sneer, his eyes narrowing.

"Listen, you filthy—"

"Oh, shut it, Bennington," snapped a voice from behind Joshua.

Joshua turned to look over his shoulder, noticing that Mira Nott had just come from the girls' dormitories and was standing just behind the sofa he was sitting on.

According to Jeonghan—who seemed to always know the latest gossip amongst the various wizarding families—Theodore Nott had settled down with a Pureblood witch from Bulgaria who had graduated from Durmstrang. They had met while Theo had been taking some time away from England and had returned together shortly after their wedding.

While she had been a cute girl when she had first arrived, Mira had grown into an exceptionally pretty young woman by the age of seventeen. Taller than most of the other girls in the school, the first thing that Joshua had noticed about her was that she had perfectly straight posture that adjusted minutely according to her movements. With long, dark curls framing her face, a warm complexion, and high cheekbones, she had the best features of both of her parents—except that she had one brown and one blue eye, both of which were cunning yet also surprisingly kind. Top of the class in at least every class Joshua shared with her, she was also the Slytherin Seeker; and he loved to watch her fly against Seungcheol during matches. Her intellect and athleticism made her a formidable opponent, and their matches were always close ones.

All that being said, Mira was obviously highly sought after—even by William Bennington the third.

"Don't mind him. Joshua," she said to him, a beautiful, wicked smile on her face as she made direct eye contact with William. "If betrothal contracts were still common practice, I would've already asked my father to request a meeting with your parents to discuss one."

Joshua resisted the urge to grin broadly at the way William's face had gone absolutely scarlet, a purple vein starting to make its appearance at his temple.

"You flatter me, Mira," he said to her instead, laying it on a little thick for the benefit of their audience, even as he ignored him. "I don't think I would be opposed to such a meeting. There's still time to write to your parents and mine."

Standing up, he offered her his arm.

"Walk with me?" he asked, every bit the perfect gentleman.

"Of course," she replied, walking around the sofa and linking arms with him.

Triggered by the events taking place right in front of him, their forgotten peer leapt up from his seat, positively quivering with entitled rage.

"Mira! You cannot possibly be thinking about entering a betrothal contract with that Half-Blood foreigner! My father—"

William's deranged bellows were cut off abruptly as the door swung shut behind them.

"I wonder what his father would have to say if he knew that the daughter of a Sacred Twenty-Eight family had filed a complaint with the school governors about the shady little deals William conducts in the prefects' bathroom," Mira said innocently.

Joshua smiled at her, completely enamored. Was there any other witch at this school more perfect than the one looking at him right now?

"You are so ruthless, I love it," he told her.

She tossed her hair over one shoulder, smiling back at him.

"Tell me more."

Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch — February 14th (evening)

"Yoo-hoo! Channie!"

Chan squinted down at the figure waving up at him, figuring out who it was based on the gleaming head of hair.

Camille Archambault, which she had told him meant "bold master"—the girl from the Yule Ball.

It had been almost two months since Christmas and he had met up with the stunning beauty from Beauxbatons a handful of times—a Hogsmeade outing here, a walk on the grounds there. They were what some people might call dating, if a little intensely for something that was supposed to be casual. Translation spells helped bridge the language barrier; and she was sweet, funny, and charming. She was quite good at spells, and she had told him that if she had been a student during the time of the Triwizard Tournament, she would have entered. She liked picnics by the greenhouses and broom rides with her arms wrapped around his waist, coffee with milk poured in delicate swirls and the feeling of his hand intertwined with hers, primrose perfume and the way he got red right before he kissed her.

Sometimes he found himself thinking that he should be a little more cautious with his heart—that he should be waiting for the other foot to drop—but so far he was having fun, and he supposed that was what mattered.

He was surprised that she could tell it was him considering how high up he was, but he did catch her staring at him from the Ravenclaw table quite often. She never looked embarrassed at having been caught—in fact, it only emboldened her and he ended up having to be the one to look away.

"That girl never gets tired of looking at you," Jeonghan had told him once, the disdain in his voice more like that of a disapproving parent rather than an overprotective friend. "I wonder how she manages to concentrate on her studies when she's staring at you all the time. I suppose she'd at least get an Outstanding in Lee Chan."

"Let them be, Hannie," Seungcheol had admonished him gently.

Secretly, Chan wondered what Camille saw in him, exactly. She had been the one to ask him to dance at the Yule Ball and the one to lead him out to the gardens that night. She had also initiated all of their dates so far, as well as most of their shows of affection, which he still hadn't quite gotten used to. After their time together at the ball, he hadn't expected to hear from her again, yet she kept seeking him out. She seemed to have memorized his schedule to account for all the classes she didn't share with him—she always knew where to find him, even when he didn't tell anyone where he was going.

It was flattering, he had to admit.

At the ball, she had asked him how to pronounce his name correctly, repeating it multiple times even after he had told her that she had down—and then proceeded to only refer to him as Channie, saying that it was her cute name for him. One of the other Beauxbatons girls, having only heard Camille call him Channie, tried to use the nickname one morning and the next time he saw her, she was missing her eyebrows.

"Why doesn't she just grow them back?" Mingyu had asked, perplexed.

"If she would, she could," Chan had replied, shrugging. "Camille's really good at spells, the other girl probably can't figure out how to reverse it."

"Wow, you'd better make sure she never gets mad at you."

Privately, he agreed.

That being said, he wondered if she felt like she had to teach him everything—where to put his hands, when to kiss her, what he should say. He had made his lack of experience known that night in the gardens, but she hadn't seemed to mind. She had simply directed him and he took direction well.

And yet... he couldn't help but think it was as though they were caught up in a race in which only she knew where the finish line was—and the thought made him more than a little sweaty-palmed.

Coming back to his senses, he Summoned the Quaffle he had been practicing with and tucked it under one arm. Although he wasn't on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Chan still liked to fly. It brought him peace and helped clear his mind, and on an evening when he figured he had no plans, it was the perfect way to spend his time.

I guess I have plans now, he thought to himself.

He circled the goalposts on the far right side of the pitch, making a nose dive and pulling up straight just as his toes skimmed the grass. He dismounted smoothly, giving Camille a friendly smile as he approached her, Nimbus 3000 broom in one hand and Quaffle in the other.

"Hi, Camille," he greeted her. "What can I do for you this evening?"

"Bon soir, Channie," she returned, smiling prettily at him. "I admit, I am a little disappointed that you did not come looking for me today. I was hoping that we could spend some time together."

"Ah, I wasn't aware that that was what you wanted," he told her sheepishly. "It's Valentine's Day and we're not, you know, official, so I didn't think you would want to do anything."

"Channie, Channie, Channie." Camille shook her golden blonde head. He caught sight of delicate pearl strand earrings dangling from her ears, a matching set with the string of pearls around her neck. "I am going back to France at the end of term, do you think I want to waste time going slow?"

"I wouldn't think it was a waste of time," he protested, cheeks growing pink. "I just... haven't really hung out with a lot of girls. You move kind of fast."

"Oh, I know, mon chéri, it is what makes you one of the good boys," she said, touching his cheek, her expression fond. "I always enjoy our time together, and I think it would be silly to not make the most of the time we have left, non?"

Chan dropped the Quaffle on the grass and placed his own hand over her hand on his face.

Being with Camille was like one ongoing surprise party. Sure, it was fun, but it also kind of gave him a heart attack. Even though he always did his best to try and read her mind before she actually executed any of her plans, he more often than not found himself unprepared. It was a little jarring to be caught unawares as many times as he had been since they had started seeing each other, but he knew that he had to enjoy the ride while it lasted.

She was, after all, leaving at the end of term.

"Let me shower first?" he asked her.

She tilted her head to the side to press her lips to his other cheek.

"Meet me at the entrance to the grounds in half an hour," she murmured in his ear. "I'll be waiting."

The Gilded Phoenix (Private Room) — February 14th (night)

"You know I really didn't need all of this," Jeonghan said, taking a sip from the glass of elf wine he was holding daintily in one hand. "We could have stayed at school and I would have been just as happy."

"I know, but it's our last year at Hogwarts. Maybe it sounds kind of childish... but I just wanted to do something to commemorate our last year as kids," Seungcheol told his boyfriend honestly, shrugging. "Life is going to change pretty dramatically once we graduate. I feel like we're never going to have this kind of peace again."

"So you wanted to live in this bubble of youthful innocence one last time," Jeonghan guessed.

"Exactly."

"We're still going to be kids when we graduate," Jeonghan said thoughtfully. "The Wizarding World in the UK moves so fast, it's amazing how anyone manages to find something stable so soon after graduation."

"Are you planning on going home?" Seungcheol asked him.

"Yes, for a while. My parents will want to see me—and they'll want to see you as well."

"I think I'll go home for a little while, too." Seungcheol ran a finger around the rim of his wine glass absentmindedly. "There's this famous producer based in London whom I'm trying to get an internship with, though. I'll need to find a job so that I can get a flat nearby if I get accepted."

"Darling, you know that you don't have to work if you don't want to," the Slytherin reminded him. "I don't have to work if I don't want to, and I'm more than capable of taking care of both of us. Besides, my family loves you. We'd be married as soon as we landed on Korean soil if it were up to them."

"Spoiled rich kid," Seungcheol teased.

"You love me," Jeonghan flirted back.

"Always." Seungcheol took Jeonghan's hand, his thumb skimming the tops of his knuckles affectionately. "Look, I appreciate you offering to support me financially, but I want to be able to do things on my own, whatever I choose to pursue."

"Your music has always been important to you. You're an artist. You could... simply think of me as your patron," Jeonghan suggested.

"Hannie—"

"I mean it," Jeonghan insisted. "You would be focusing on making music without worrying about your finances. It's not like I would be paying for you to stay idle. I'm sure I could also come up with work for you."

"I really can't accept," Seungcheol said firmly, "so please don't ask me to."

Jeonghan set down his wine glass with a huff.

"You never let me do anything for you!" the Slytherin exclaimed, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I always indulge this little... complex you seem to have about being perceived as the provider, but you know that that concept is extremely outdated. There is no hunter-gatherer dynamic in the twenty-first century."

"You think this is about my masculinity?" Seungcheol asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do!" Jeonghan snapped. "I let you open jars for me and move my furniture around because I know it makes you feel useful. The least you could let me do is use the resources I have to help you!"

The Gryffindor leaned back in his chair, staring at his boyfriend in disbelief.

"So that's how you really see me," he said flatly.

Jeonghan sighed, deflating at once.

"Cheollie, it's not that I see you as some sort of caveman," he said sadly. "You help me all the time. I just want to be able to help you for once."

Seungcheol's expression softened. He knew that Jeonghan just wanted to help—he was generous to a fault, and throwing his money at problems was his way of trying to make things better. There was some truth to what he was saying, though—his ego wouldn't let him allow his boyfriend to pay all the bills while he tried to make it as an artist.

"You do help me," he murmured, taking both of Jeonghan's hands in his. "You help me every day just by existing. I'm already taking advantage of the fact that you wake up every morning still wanting to be with me."

"You're stupid," Jeonghan huffed, eyes watery. "You big, stupid man. You're not taking advantage of anything. Sometimes I wish you would!"

"Alright, point taken." Seungcheol chuckled, gently smacking the palm of one of Jeonghan's hands. "I mean it, though. Do you know how coveted you are by most of the student body?"

"Of course everyone wants me," the Slytherin scoffed. "As they should. It doesn't mean that they can have me. I'm yours, and I always will be."

Seungcheol smiled at him.

"I know."

"So will you let me bankroll your endeavors in music?" Jeonghan asked hopefully.

Seungcheol stared at him for a moment, considering.

"I'll think about it," he said finally.

"I suppose that's the best offer I'm going to get." Jeonghan sighed dramatically, picking his wine glass back up. "Life doesn't have to be so hard, you know. If there's an easy way, you should take it, never mind your moral qualms regarding classism and the way the one percent uses their wealth to get ahead in life."

"Hannie, you're the one percent," Seungcheol pointed out dryly.

"And what about it?" he sassed back.

"Nothing, you're the most benevolent benefactor in all the land," the Gryffindor said primly.

Jeonghan reached across the table and tugged his boyfriend forward by his black tie, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"Only for you."

The Black Lake — February 14th (early evening)

Vernon paced back and forth anxiously on the far shore of the Black Lake. He had tasked a pair of what he hoped were reliable second-year Hufflepuffs to locate Seungkwan and bring him to the Black Lake, where he would get in a boat that he had charmed to row itself across the water. He had spent more of half of the time between the day he had talked to Seungcheol and Valentine's Day panicking over what to do, then spent the remaining time trying to get everything together, including practicing the spell to make the boat row itself for several days. That morning, he had packed a picnic basket full of all of his boyfriend's favorite things, as well as a blanket, and he hoped that his sincerity would come across.

Before they had started a relationship, Vernon and Seungkwan had been friends, and even then they had done something small and quiet for previous Valentine's Days, just because there was no one else they'd rather have spent that time with—and because Vernon had spent his first five years at Hogwarts avoiding any girls who even looked at him longer than necessary. So really, he didn't need to worry. Seungkwan just happened to be his boyfriend now—it wasn't as though he needed to be impressed further.

Vernon looked down at the picnic basket sitting on the rather cliché red and gold patterned blanket and wondered if it was enough.

Maybe I should have gotten flowers? he fretted.

It wasn't so much about the fact that it was Valentine's Day than it was about how much Vernon had been worrying about Seungkwan since his late friend's birthday.

Every time the Gryffindor had tried to approach his boyfriend to try and get him to open up, Seungkwan had always come up with excuses for why he couldn't talk and would busy himself with something else. It was frustrating, of course, but it was more anxiety-inducing than anything—and more than once Vernon wondered if he was just a really bad significant other who didn't know how to talk to his partner just right in order to get him to confide in him.

"Agh!"

Startled out of his own self-wallowing, Vernon looked up to see the boat that he had charmed to carry Seungkwan across the lake rocking back and forth wildly—with Seungkwan in it.

Privately, Vernon was relieved that the boat was already pretty close to shore, but he didn't think that his boyfriend would see it that way—and definitely not after the boat tipped to one side, dumping Seungkwan into the lake that was surely still freezing.

"Oh, no," Vernon muttered, covering his face with his hands. "He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me then bring me back so that he can kill me again."

Peeking through the gaps in his fingers, he watched as Seungkwan swam the remaining distance from where the boat had tipped over to the shore, weighed down by his school robes. A fairly decent swimmer from his years spent growing up on an island, Seungkwan was letting his fury propel him forward with surprising strength. Dripping wet and looking absolutely furious, he stomped up the bank towards Vernon, who silently sent prayers heavenward and hoped someone heard him.

"Hansol Vernon Chwe!" The Hufflepuff tore through his full name. "You'd better have a good explanation for this!"

Not my government name, Vernon grimaced.

Lowering his hands from his face, he said uncertainly, "Happy... Valentine's Day?"

Seeing that Seungkwan was opening his mouth to deliver what would probably be the human equivalent of a Howler message on a Monday morning in front of the entire Great Hall, Vernon interrupted.

"Look, I didn't mean for you to get dumped into the lake!" he blurted out. "I've been planning everything since the beginning of the month and with everything else, I didn't have that much time to practice the spell on the boat. It was just supposed to bring you across the lake without you having to do anything, I swear!"

Seungkwan held up an index finger, cutting him off. Vernon shut his mouth abruptly, anxious, as his boyfriend leaned his body to one side and peered over his shoulder at the blanket laid out behind him with the picnic basket.

"Kwannie," Vernon began.

Seungkwan made a noise, his index finger still raised. He inhaled deeply—dramatically—then lowered his finger.

"You planned all of this?" he asked.

Vernon nodded rapidly.

Seungkwan exhaled.

"Okay, walk me through your vision." The Hufflepuff gestured with his hands for his boyfriend to proceed. "Tell me what was going through your mind when you came up with all this. I want to know."

"Well, it's our first Valentine's Day together as a couple." Vernon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "And I know that you've been really sad since Binnie's birthday..." When he noticed Seungkwan had stiffened at the mention of his friend, he said defensively, "I tried to talk to you about it so many times but you wouldn't talk to me! I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong, or that you felt like you couldn't trust me to open up... so I talked to Seungcheol hyung."

"And he told you to drown your boyfriend in the Black Lake?" Seungkwan deadpanned.

"He told me that I should use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to show you that you're not alone," Vernon corrected him gently.

Seungkwan huffed, wringing the water out of his robes as he avoided looking at the Gryffindor. Vernon watched him for several minutes while he fussed over his water-logged clothes before he finally straightened up and took a few steps closer to him.

Vernon held his breath.

He's going to break up with me, he chanted in his head. He's realized how bad I am at this whole relationship thing and he is going to break up with me.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you'd better listen," Seungkwan told him sternly, holding his face securely between wet hands. "Well, not only once, because I will always tell you good things about yourself so that you're aware of your own worth, but regardless! Me not talking to you about Binnie has nothing to do with how good of a boyfriend—or even how good of a friend—you are. You are doing wonderfully, I promise. Do you understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded, face still trapped between Seungkwan's hands.

"It's very difficult for bossy people like me to let go," the Hufflepuff continued, trying to sound flippant. "We need to be taken care of just like everyone else, but we're not very good at letting other people take care of us. And it shows in our dynamic, even after we got together," he added, using one hand to gesture between Vernon and himself. "So me avoiding talking to you every time you tried to talk to me about Binnie is not because you're not good at being supportive, because you are—it's because I'm not good at being vulnerable. Understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded again.

"I appreciate the effort you put into this." Seungkwan smiled at him, the effect only slightly diminished by his bangs still dripping water onto his face. "I appreciate the effort you put into us, all the time; and I'm sorry that I made you feel as though I didn't."

"I know how hard it is for you to say sorry first," Vernon teased, his voice muffled by the squishing of his cheeks. "So I appreciate it."

"Yah!" Seungkwan pinched his cheeks gently. "But you're right, and I really am sorry. You're an amazing boyfriend and I love you." Vernon jumped, not expecting the sudden declaration when neither of them had never said those words before. Noticing this thanks to his grip on his face, Seungkwan only held on more firmly. "Do you understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Unable to do anything else, Vernon nodded.

"Good."

Seungkwan loosened his grasp and stroked the apples of Vernon's cheeks with his thumbs affectionately.

"Because I do. Love you, I mean. Since first year, when you told those boys off in class for bullying me," he clarified unnecessarily. "I knew then and there that you were someone I could count on, and you've proven time and time again how right I was—although, of course, I've never been wrong in my life. So I'll tell you that I love you all the time, because you need to hear it. I want you to hear it and know that I mean it, because I've never meant anything more in my entire existence on this wretched planet."

Vernon swallowed.

"Kwannie, I—"

Seungkwan stopped him, putting a hand over his mouth.

"Tell me when you're ready," he said. "I'll still love you then, even if you make me wait for a long time. But don't make me wait too long, okay? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded.

[elisedonut]

Someone made a podfic of one of my fics out of the blue

So Im sharing it because ??????(/pos)

It's also really good they seem to do alot of them and I think it single handedly made me actually like this fic

Something about hearing it aloud really changed my perception of it

10/10 for sure recommend checking it out it's only 13 minutes so its a quick listen

Includes

-a weird soulmate Au involving flowers growing out your body when your soulmate gets hurt

-George going to Percy for help even though he really doesn't want to

-Percy's soulmate being unnamed so you can imprint whoever you want as long as they get hurt enough for it <3

-Harry like existing, like in general

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Harry Potter/George Weasley, George Weasley & Percy Weasley Characters: George Weasley, Percy Weasley, Harry Potter Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Pre-Canon, Hogwarts First Year, Light Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective George Weasley, Flowers, George Weasley-centric, Podfic, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: M4B Series: Part 9 of DCC Birthday Exchange Summary:

When you turn thirteen you will begin the sprouting process. Sprouting Flowers anywhere your soulmate gets hurt. Fully grown where they've bled and small buds where they've bruised.

Or alternatively, George finds the amount of flowers that sprout on him suspicious.

[anomalyaly]

Stolen Vows: AO3/Wattpad

AU - a crossover one-shot of Hogwarts Legacy and A Court of Mist and Fury, in which Sebastian is basically Rhysand and F!MC is a pureblood in an arranged marriage. NSFW!!! MDNI: Sexual content | Sebastian Sallow x F!MC | Third Person POV | 18+ Characters This started as a silly drabble I had written a while ago that ended up getting away from me.

Elsie Corvin never questioned what she was told to do.

Her parents had the final say in the choice for her to drop out of Hogwarts. Magic from a young woman like her had no place in a proper home, after all, not when there were more important virtues in life, like becoming a rich Pureblood's wife and providing him with an heir or several.

Ever since she was little, she knew she would be married to the eldest son of the richest Pureblood family in London - Anthony Fairfax. They had begun informally courting since she was thirteen. Now that she was what her parents referred to as the appropriate age, preparations for their wedding had been going on for months.

The day had finally arrived.

Elsie Corvin stared at her reflection with disinterest. Her wedding gown was extravagant, with layers of tulle that could rival the pastries she had admired at Honeydukes. It was adorned with pearls along the bodice - a representation of her purity - with large sleeves that she was certain could keep her afloat should she fall into the lake she was to be wed in front of.

Her religious parents had forgone the standard church wedding in favor of the exorbitant manor wedding her fiance and his family had insisted upon.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Miss Corvin?" It was one of her family's maids. "It's almost time for me to escort you to the ceremony. Your father is waiting."

Elsie sighed and hiked up her skirts. The young maid guided her down the stairwell where her father waited with a nod of approval.

"Look at you," He beamed. "You look lovely."

She begged to differ.

Elsie could hear the string quartet playing the wedding march - though, as she trudged out to the garden path, it sounded more like a dirge to her.

Anthony awaited her at the end of the pathway, his smile charming but insincere. Her father released her arm and kissed her cheek, ceremoniously giving her away to her groom to be before taking his seat.

She stood in front of the pulpit, bouquet in hand, facing the young man that she would have to commit her life to in the next few minutes. The priest rattled on some nonsense about virtue and promises before uttering the words she would have to repeat.

"Miss Corvin, repeat after me," he said. "I, Elsie Genevieve Corvin, take Lord Anthony Charles Fairfax..."

Elsie swallowed thickly. "I, Elsie Genevieve Corvin, take....take..."

A crack resounded in the gardens. Everyone turned towards the sound and gasped to see a young man, his freckled face adorned with a mischievous expression. His brown eyes scanned the room before landing directly on Elsie.

"What a pretty little wedding," he drawled, sauntering casually to the center of the aisle.

Sebastian Sallow certainly knew how to make an entrance. Elsie had known him during her time at Hogwarts, but kept her distance when rumor had it he murdered his own uncle in cold blood. He certainly had the makings of a Dark Wizard, known for using Unforgivable Curses when it suited his fancy.

But Elsie had sworn off magic in favor of normalcy. She hadn't seen him in years.

The crowd had pushed to the sides, recognizing the danger, but her father stood.

"What in blazes are you doing here?!" He seethed. "Get the hell out of my daughter's wedding."

Sebastian crept closer to the altar. He sucked in through his teeth as he appraised Elsie before responding.

"My sincerest apologies," he said mockingly. "I thought it was over."

He waved his wand with a flourish and the crowd screeched. Sebastian chuckled at their response.

Anthony looked as pale as a ghost at the sight, cowering behind the pulpit as Sebastian stalked closer to Elsie. She sneered at him.

"What are you doing here?"

He smirked. "Don't you remember? We made an Unbreakable Vow all those years ago. And I'm calling it in."

Her eyes widened. No, no, no! Not today!

"I don't need to go with you," she snapped. "I'm getting married today. Come back another time."

Sebastian tilted his head, amused. "Oh, sweetheart. You know what will happen if you try to break an Unbreakable Vow. I would think you would be happier to see me after I gave you all these years away."

He turned and regarded the cowering crowd before turning to Elsie's father. "I'll be taking her now."

Her father stepped closer. "Don't you dare."

"Have no fear," Sebastian said, brandishing his wand once more. "I shall return her in one piece when the Vow is fulfilled."

And with another crack, Elsie was apparated away.

~

The cottage that Sebastian had brought her too was familiar. She could smell the salty breeze from the coast, and the sight of the vibrant dandelions and sunflowers that decorated the side of the house was a stark contrast to her sour mood.

Sebastian was standing several feet ahead of her, assessing her. She turned and glowered at him.

"How dare you -"

He snorted. "Well, I certainly missed that. Would it kill you to be grateful for once in your life? Or is that too much to ask, Princess?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "I have nothing to thank you for. And do not call me that."

He stepped closer to her. "Oh, yes, you certainly looked thrilled to be marrying that pompous bastard when I arrived."

"Take me back. Now."

"All in good time, sweetheart." He gave her a cheshire grin. "But first, our bargain."

She crossed her arms. "Tell me what you've found. I help you, and that's it. My end of the bargain is fulfilled, and you take me home."

"You can't negotiate an Unbreakable Vow when it's already been made," he chuckled. "And anyway, where would the fun be in revealing all of the information to you now? We can discuss this later."

He smiled slyly. "Perhaps tomorrow. Keep you around to spend a night at my cottage."

He missed her glare at him as he turned away from her. Which was how he missed it when her shoe came hurtling at his head.

He turned around in surprise and saw that she already had her other shoe in her hand.

He crossed his arms and offered a smug grin. "Go on, then. I dare you."

She complied, flinging her other shoe.

Sebastian was faster than her, raising his wand and stopping the shoe midair with a swift "Arresto Momentum!"

He tutted at her. "Temper. Where's your wand, love? We wouldn't want an unfair duel on our hands."

She nearly throttled him there. "I don't do magic anymore."

"Hm." Sebastian regarded her before turning and heading towards the cottage. "That might complicate things."

She considered pummeling him right there but thought better of it. She didn't know wandless magic - not that she would use it even if she did. It was a fight she would be on the losing side of.

She hurried after him, her gown of tulle and lace trailing behind her.

~

Elsie tried not to wonder too hard about why he had a proper collection of women's clothing, though it hadn't surprised her.

Although she was still angry with Sebastian, she was relieved to be out of the abomination that was her wedding gown. She was also relieved that the cottage only appeared to be small on the outside - the guest bedroom he was allowing her to stay in was an excessively far distance from where he was residing.

She pulled on a pair of trousers and a blouse, noting how loose it was on her body before entering the kitchen. At least the bed was comfortable enough to get a proper night's sleep.

Sebastian was already waiting for her at the breakfast table. He tossed the Daily Prophet at her.

Pureblood Family Wedding Delayed! Dark Wizard Sebastian Sallow Steals Bride.

Elsie shook the paper at him. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

Sebastian took a nonchalant bite of his toast. "Figured it would give you an amusing story to read while you enjoy breakfast before I tell you all of what I've discovered."

She huffed and took a slice of bread from the tray in the middle of the table before sitting down. Sebastian eyed her curiously.

"What?"

He hummed. "You've lost weight."

Elsie rolled her eyes. "Charming. Women do so love when you comment on their bodies like that."

A flicker of concern crossed his face. "Have you been eating?"

Anger coursed through her. "How about you mind your damn business and tell me what it is you've dragged me all the way out here for."

Sebastian sighed. "Fair enough."

He pulled out a large spellbook. "I found Salazar Slytherin's scriptorium. And his spellbook."

Elsie raised an eyebrow. "After all this time?"

"It wasn't easy," he murmured. "After Ominis refused to show me, I had to go through...other means of finding it."

She grimaced, not wanting to know the details. It probably involved Unforgivables, including murder somewhere along the line.

He opened up the spellbook. "Says here that there is a relic that can reverse Dark Curses. I can finally cure Anne."

Elsie sighed. She should never have agreed to that Unbreakable Vow all those years ago. Sebastian and she had agreed that if he found a plausible cure for his twin sister Anne, no matter where she was, Elsie would come to his aid until Anne was cured.

Her innocent young mind thought nothing of it, especially once their friend Ominis Gaunt had agreed to it under the impression that it would be done without the use of Dark Magic. Poor Ominis had thought it would keep Sebastian out of trouble.

How wrong he was. If anyone knew how to twist words, it was Sebastian. They should have known better.

"And you want me to retrieve this relic with you." She took another bite of toast. "Would Anne even want to see you after everything?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I know how to get into St. Mungo's. She'll have to see me, and she'll understand once we get it to work."

It was the same phrase she had heard over and over all those years ago. The very reason she had kept her distance.

"We'll have to get you a proper wand, of course," Sebastian muttered. "It's a good thing I have spares."

Her eyes widened with surprise, and he smirked at her.

"What? I collect them off of Ashwinders when I'm done clearing out their camps. I'm sure you're bound to find something that works for you."

Elsie snorted. She supposed an old wand from an Ashwinder was better than picking off one from an innocent person.

"When do we go?"

~

She hadn't expected him to say 'right now.'

He apparated them to a catacomb outside of Feldcroft where Sebastian used to reside.

"The report said that it should be located in here," he stated.

Elsie toyed with the wand in her holster - it felt odd carrying one around again after all these years.

"In a tomb?" She said with disgust. She wasn't particularly keen on dancing with the dead.

"Don't you worry, darling. I'll protect you every step of the way." He coyly moved to wrap an arm around her waist, ignoring the seething look she was giving him. "You have nothing to fear."

She slapped his hand away from her. "Keep your hands to yourself, Salllow."

He grinned smugly. "Now where would be the fun in that? I know you missed my touch, sweetheart."

"Hardly."

He leaned closer to her, his wand finding its place under her chin and tilting it up to look at him.

"I know you like to act all proper," he murmured tantalizingly, "but you and I both remember what we used to get up to in...unsanctioned areas."

She blushed furiously, afraid to move in case he decided she was no longer of use to him. He knew he had the upper hand, her spell casting rusty after repressing her magic for the last few years.

His smirk returned as he finally removed his wand and trekked ahead, entering the catacomb.

"Try not to lose your nerve. That foul smell is the scent of success."

Elsie rolled her eyes and followed him inside.

She hadn't been prepared for hordes of spiders to start attacking them in each and every room they entered.

She pulled out her wand, intending on taking them down, yet the incantations of the spells that were once etched within her soul were lost to her.

Weak. Suddenly, she was weak, and pathetic, and oh-so human.

She was to marry a pureblood, yet she was no better than a simple muggle.

She had let them make her weak.

Sebastian, though stunned momentarily at her lack of ability to defend herself, stepped in, his fiery spells clearing out the spiders with little effort.

"A bit rusty, are we?"

She sneered at him. "Why did you even bring me along on this bloody quest anyway? You knew I couldn't handle it."

He stepped forward to inspect the room for the relic. "You're the one that made the Vow."

"You could have just let me die."

He stalked toward her, towering over her as anger flashed in his eyes. "You think I wanted any of this? You think I want you to die?"

"You haven't spoken to me in years."

Sebastian clenched his jaw. "You were the one that left. I can tell when I'm not wanted."

Elsie watched in stunned silence, rage simmering beneath the surface, as Sebastian grabbed the relic.

"We found what we were looking for anyway. Problem solved." He brushed past her.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to St. Mungo's and cure Anne. And then," he bent down towards her, his breath ghosting along her face, "I'll be out of your pretty hair forever, and you can go back and marry that prick and be a doting little housewife in your perfect little family like you've always wanted."

She glowered at him. "You know nothing about me."

"Oh, don't I?" He pocketed the relic. "I saw you in that wedding dress, and you looked exactly like the doe-eyed damsel that those pretentious aristocrats want you to be. You think you're better than me, that you're so pure and innocent because you refuse to use Dark Magic. But I've seen that rage, that inferno that lies beneath the surface that you so badly want to bury."

"I'm not like you."

He gripped her wrist in his hand. "Oh, sweetheart. You and I are exactly the same."

She made to pull back, but he only held her tighter.

"Take me back to the cottage, Sebastian. We're done here."

A flicker of irritation crossed his face, but she persisted. "Take me back. Conversation over."

He didn't say another word before apparating them back to the cottage.

~

Sebastian stomped off to his room muttering about researching how the relic works, so Elsie retreated to her own temporary bedchamber, livid. He could rot in hell looking for a solution for all she cared.

Damned Unbreakable Vow.

She had to see it through to the end - help him cure Anne, and she was freed. Until then, she was stuck here.

She couldn't sleep - she had never really slept well since her time at Hogwarts. The nightmares that had plagued her were endless. Elsie wasn't sure how many hours had passed until she heard a brutal scream. She jolted upright.

It was coming from Sebastian's room.

She brandished her wand, knowing that if he was in danger, even with her lack of training she would do anything to save him.

She burst into his room and saw him thrashing about in his bed, his cries of despair and pain flooding the room. His bare chest glistened with sweat.

"Sebastian!" She climbed onto the bed and knelt next to him, debating whether or not to shake him out of it. She gripped him by the shoulders and held him tightly, continuing to shout his name.

He was too enveloped in the darkness, too shrouded by his grief and fear to hear her, to feel her near him. His body was cold and clammy to the touch.

"Sebastian!" She cried out again. No response. She did the only logical thing she could think of and slapped him right across the face.

Sebastian snapped his eyes open at the impact and flipped her over onto the bed, reactively pinning her down. His wand was immediately in his hand, pointed at her throat.

"Sebastian," she breathed. "It's just me."

His gaze softened slightly as he started to realize, though he made no effort to move.

"It was a dream," she said placatingly. "You were...you were having a nightmare."

He slowly lowered his wand as reality began to dawn on him. Darkness still clouded behind his eyes as he muttered, "Elsie."

Sebastian adjusted himself to give her space. She stared up at where he was kneeling on the bed, his hand reaching up to brush his messy, brown locks out of his face. They stuck to his forehead which was drenched in sweat.

She reached a tentative hand out to touch his arm, her fingers barely brushing against his wrist.

"I...get them, too. It's alright."

He clenched his jaw, not meeting her gaze. "It's easier being here alone. Don't have to bother other people over it."

Her chest ached with sympathy - she had felt similarly over the last few years. Better to be alone than to burden others with pain.

"What did you dream about?" She managed to ask. He turned away from her. Clearly he wasn't going to share.

Instead of pushing, she rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. "If...when, you ever want to talk about it, you can let me know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've always been good at keeping your secrets. I promise it'll stay between us."

She made to climb off of his bed, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Stay," he said, his voice hoarse. "Please."

She nodded and climbed into bed with him. His body pressed warm near hers, his face nuzzled in her neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

It was warm and comforting - familiar.

"I missed you," he murmured against her neck. He must have been feeling vulnerable to have admitted that, the weight of his dream still pressing heavily on his mind. She didn't respond.

She shivered as he began to plant kisses along her neck, his tongue trailing along the path he created.

"Sebastian - "

"Please," he pleaded again. "I just...need a distraction."

Just a distraction. It didn't have to mean anything. Just a form of comfort after a nightmare.

Sebastian's hand slid underneath her chemise, hiking it up over her waist. His fingers stroked along her thigh, up to her stomach, until they met the underside of her breast.

She arched into his touch, feeling him harden against her backside. She pressed further into him, coaxing a low moan from his lips.

"Elsie," he murmured. "Fuck."

He was impatient, desperate for that distraction he demanded of her. He grabbed her fiercely and turned her so that she was on her back, his body hovering over hers.

He tugged her chemise over her head and drank in the sight of her before pressing a heated kiss to her lips. She returned it with fervor and whimpered as he nipped lightly on her lower lip.

He reached up to brush his hand against her peaked nipple, his hips settling between her legs. Elsie bucked against him, seeking the friction she so desperately desired.

He responded by gripping her hips and pinning them down to the bed.

"Stop it," he growled. "This is my distraction."

His hand dipped lower, his fingers barely ghosting the apex of her thighs.

"Please," she whimpered. He chuckled lowly as he nipped at her neck.

"There's my princess's missing manners."

Elsie let out a gasp as he finally stroked along her core. He let out a satisfied groan at the wetness he found pooling there.

"Is this all for me?" he murmured. "Pretty little thing."

It was too much. It had been years since she had felt a touch like this, and Sebastian was the only one who knew exactly which buttons to press to elicit such a response from her. She felt her body heat as he stroked her clit, teasing her, but never fully giving in.

"Sebastian," she gritted out, arching her hips into his hand.

She could feel him smirk as he continued to tease her. "Impatient, are we?"

Elsie ground her hips into his hand again and gasped when he suddenly slid a finger inside her and laughed when she cried out.

She wrapped her arms around him and tugged him closer to her, capturing his mouth in a heated kiss. His fingers continued their assault on her, plunging in and out as they lured her to her release.

Just as she felt she was about to break, he removed his fingers and moved them to her waist, once again pressing his body against hers. She let out a cry at the sudden emptiness.

"Not yet, sweetheart," he said roughly. "I want to feel you come around me."

She tilted her head and watched as he yanked off his pants, tossing them haphazardly to the side before positioning himself at her entrance.

She wanted him, needed to feel him inside of her. She hadn't realized how desperately she had been missing him - his touch, his taste, his scent - all these years apart.

And she was going to marry some distinguished pureblood gentleman. The thought now seemed utterly ridiculous.

Sebastian's mouth found hers again as he slid his cock along her wet heat. She sucked in a sharp breath.

"Stop teasing," she snarled, eliciting a low chuckle from him.

He pushed into her, and they both cried out at the familiar and simultaneously foreign sensation. He began to slowly pump inside of her.

"I missed this," he gasped as he moved against her. "You have no idea how much I've missed this."

She fisted the sheets beneath her in her hands, watching his expressions through half-lidded eyes. He gazed down at her, his face full of nothing but desperate and wanton need.

Again, again, again, he pounded relentlessly into her, pushing her further and further to the precipice of her release.

"Fuck," he growled, "you feel so damn good."

Faster - his movements quickened, frenzied, as he chased his own climax, groaning as he felt her begin to tighten around him. He leaned closer to her face, murmuring against her lips.

"That's it, sweetheart," he gasped out. "Just like that."

His command was her undoing, and she cried out against his lips as he thrust into her.

Sebastian's movements became jagged, holding himself back as he drew out her pleasure before following, a guttural moan echoing around the room as he came hard inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, and they lay there panting against each other for several minutes, struggling to catch their breaths. The dim moonlight seeped in behind the curtains, illuminating the room around them.

Sebastian rolled off of her to the side and pulled her in, pressing a chaste kiss on her shoulder and letting his eyes flutter closed. Elsie accepted it, knowing she would be sleeping here, in his room, for the night.

A short respite before she had to return home. Before they went to St. Mungo's to cure Anne of her curse.

He surprised her by speaking up after a long, drawn out silence.

"Don't marry that prick."

Her eyes snapped open and she turned her head to him. Sebastian's gaze was fierce, but there was nothing ingenuine about it.

"You don't mean that," she said anyway. "You're not thinking straight. You've just had a nightmare and - "

"Elsie." Her name on his tongue sent another wave of shivers down her spine. She had forgotten how clingy he could be after sex. "I mean it. I would have told you if you had asked me all those years ago. I should have told you sooner, before you left Hogwarts. I was a coward, and I regret it every day. Don't marry that prick."

She was quiet, studying his face in the dimness of the room. If she was honest, she had known she was in love with him since the first day of their fifth year - a day that would go down in infamous history between them.

But she wouldn't admit it aloud. Not tonight, at least. That was a confession for another day.

Right now, it would be so easy to say yes. To leave her old life behind and run away with Sebastian like they had always talked about as children.

So she did.

"Alright," she murmured. "I won't marry him."

"Run away with me."

"I will."

In the solitude of the cottage, she could make that promise. Tomorrow would be different, when they would travel to St. Mungo's, and the Unbreakable Vow would be fulfilled. She would worry about that later.

For tonight, she was his, and he was hers.

[charmsandtealeaves]

I had a big reading week this week trying to clear some of my email inbox because the sheer volume was stressing me the fuck out every time I opened it 😅 Posting this a day early as I'm honestly a little worried Tumblr is gonna be funny about all the links.

Read this week:

Reset by @ncoincidences

WIP, Jily micro-oops, Temporary amnesia, Rated G

A mishap with a drunken dark wizard leaves Lily an amnesiac. The last ten months of her life has been completely wiped, which includes her breakup with James eight months before. To aid in her speedy recovery, James has to keep Lily under the pretence that her life has been the same as it was.

When It Counted by @cascader

Complete (6.9k), Order!jily, Rated T

She didn’t tell him when it counted. She’s daydreaming of a redo.

Something Foolish by @merlinsbudgiesmugglers

Complete (1.9k), Tedromeda, canon compliant, Rated E

Struggling against the expectations of her family, and her forced separation from Ted. Andromeda is pleased to discover a note left in her room.

Sunrise, Sunset by @practicecourts

Complete (2.9k) Blackevans BFF Week, Rated G

One time Sirius Black finds Lily Evans, just as she’s about to do something she might regret. One time Lily Potter finds Sirius Black after he’s received some upsetting news.

A Different Kind of Love Story by @mppmaraudergirl

Complete (5.8k), Blackevans BFF Week, Rated G

The best of friendships sometimes grow in the most unlikely of places.

The Vow by @missgryffin

Complete (9.6k), Hogwarts! Jily , Rated E

When he was thirteen-going-on-fourteen, James Potter did something truly, unbelievably stupid. Now that he’s seventeen-going-on-eighteen, he has to deal with the consequences.

Quest for Camelot by @petalsinwoodvale (Ch. 1-2)

WIP, jily Quest For Camelot AU, Rated T

All Lily has ever wanted is to be a knight, like her father, Sir Lionel. After Camelot is attacked and the magical sword Excalibur is stolen, she finds herself teaming up with James, a young blind hermit, as they embark on a quest to find the lost sword. Together, they face the threat of the evil Ruber, navigate challenges with a two-headed dragon and an ogre, and discover that they're more alike than they initially thought. Will they manage to return the sword to Arthur in time, or will they lose not only each other but also their dreams and the precious Excalibur?

Grounded by @frustratedpoetwrites

WIP, Jily Modern (Magic) AU, Winter Olympics, Not Rated

When James Potter's successful Quidditch career comes to an abrupt end he struggles to find a new direction. Coaching seems to be an answer and a pair of green eyes.

Vindicated by missgryffin

Complete (20k), Order!Jily AU, Rated E

Five years ago, Lily Evans did the hardest thing she’d ever done, and broke up with James Potter so she could stay alive by secretly going undercover in America. Now, she’s been tasked with something even harder: doing a transatlantic mission with him.

Captivated by missgryffin

Complete (6.7k), Hogwarts!Jily, Rated E

"I think we should sweep the library. Make sure it's empty." "And why's that?" "Because I need to be alone with you."

Silent Night by practicecourts (ch.1-4)

WIP, Hope Lupin, Remus Lupin, Rated T

Moments in the life of Hope Lupin.

10 Things I Hate About You by @wearingaberetinparis (Ch1.)

WIP, Jily Romcom, Rated M

Petunia Evans cannot start dating the man she considers to have true love potential – a certain Vernon Dursley – until her anti-social younger sister, Lily, finds herself a partner too, which leads Petunia to take drastic measures. For surely, Head Boy James Potter – suffering from a knee injury he does not want anyone but himself and his physiotherapist to know about – should be able to charm her younger sibling, shouldn’t he? If the only thing standing between her perfect love match is blackmail, who is she not to resort to it? Are not, after all, all means justified when the end she has in mind is so very sweet?

Would you run away with me? By @ncoincidences

Complete (1.3k), jily, Rated G

In which Lily barges in on a white veil occasion.

Happy Place by Wearingaberetinparis (Ch.1-6)

WIP, jily modern AU, Rated M

James and Lily have always been the perfect couple that everyone aspires to be: from Head Boy and Girl at Hogwarts School to university students in a loving long distance relationship to – eventually – a happily engaged duo, destined to go the distance. They go together like cream and tea, pride and prejudice, fish and chips. That is, until – for reasons they refuse to discuss for fear of making everything so much worse – they really, truly don’t. For one week, however, they have to act as if all is well for they have yet to tell their friends that what had always seemed perfect, is now very much broken.

You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that by @jamesunderwater

Complete (1k), prongsfoot in a nightclub, Rated E

prongsfoot + a locked door public bathroom on my knees trying to make you scream vibe

Truth is I’m so damn in love with you I don’t know what to do with myself by jamesunderwater

Complete (800), Prongsfoot, Rated T

prongsfoot + near death experiences + trapped with only one bed + gay pining

Over Spilt Coffee by @annabtg

Complete (1k), Tonks first person POV, Rated T

Tonks's musings on the night she picked up smoking... the night Remus Lupin broke her heart.

Breaking by annabtg

Complete (1.4k), Remus Lupin, Missing Moments, Rated T

Remus has his reasons for staying away from Tonks. Even if it breaks his heart as much as it breaks hers.

From the very first day by @kay-elle-cee

Complete (500), Muggle AU Jily, Rated T

An unexpected night leaves two coworkers trying to sort out their feelings.

Loved you three summers by Kay-Elle-Cee

Complete (600), Pregnant Jily, Rated G

A pregnant Lily has a not-so-sudden realization.

Don’t say yes by Kay-Elle-Cee

Complete (800), no Voldemort AU Jily, Rated G

Two old flames reconnect, wondering if the other is happy.

This is me swallowing my pride by Kay-Elle-Cece

Complete (466), Harry’s God parents, Rated G

The appointment of Harry's Godfather was never up for discussion, but his Godmother? That took some convincing.

Keeping secrets just to keep you by Kay-Elle-Cee

Complete (453), Secret Relationship Jily, Rated T

James and Lily's friends have a bet, and the two of them are determined to win.

Silence and patience, pining in anticipation by Kay-Elle-Cee

Complete (1.2k), Post-Hogwarts Jily, Rated T

Lily’s been hung up on James for years; a tipsy conversation might be the push she needs to do something about it.

You kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever by Kay-Elle-Cee

Complete (1k), Pregnant Order!Jily, Rated T

When Lily and James got pregnant, they made a plan for how they'd participate in the Order going forward. Plans change.

Back to the Pavilion by @abihastastybeans

Complete (1.3k), Minerva McGonagall, Rated G

A day in the life of Minerva McGonagall. Written for the Ladies of HP Fest's Monthly Minis: 1st December 2023 - Minerva McGonagall!

The Naughty List by abihastastybeans

Complete (690), jily secret Santa, Rated T

Written for the December Jily Advent Calendar 2023!Prompt: A & B are colleagues and for the secret santa one of them gives the other something inappropriate as a gag gift

Added to the ever expanding TBR:

The Next Step by merlinsbudgiesmugglers

Complete (1.5k), post-canon Andromeda Tonks, Rated G

After the war Andromeda has been wholly focused on raising her grandson. But when he goes to Hogwarts, she finds she might need something more. Kingsley and Harry have an idea for what that could be.

Speak Now by @firefeufuego Complete (1.4k), Jily love declarations, Rated T

The fuse has been lit. Lily can almost hear the crackling hiss of it, feel the building burn of it in the air as Sirius takes the reins of the conversation, as drinks are bought and poured down newly dry throats, and eventually as last orders are called and the four of them are standing outside and saying farewell with kisses on cheeks. Sam and Sirius apparate away. Lily and James do not. They stand, eyes fixed firmly on each other, ready to ignite. ‘Not forever, you said?’ James asks, his voice deep and quiet in a way that’s never been hers to hear before now. Follow-up to the lovely kay-elle-cee's 'silence and patience, pining in anticipation'.

[fog-and-rust]

Hogwarts Legacy Incorrect Quotes Part 4 (feat. my Hufflepuff!MC, Ellie)

Sebastian: Dear Diary, my teen angst bullshit now has a body count.

***

[At some point in the beginning of the game. Let's pretend that teachers are concerned with bullying]

Professor Weasley: What would you do if one of your classmates viciously teased you again and again?

Ellie: Oh, that’s easy. I’d take a quill—

Professor Weasley: To write something to your teacher?

Ellie: —make sure that it’s really sharp, and ram it into their eye at full tilt! Leander always says the quill is mightier than the sword because they can’t outlaw bringing quills to school!

Professor Weasley: *internal screaming*

***

Sebastian: I have yet to encounter a problem where an Unforgivable Curse didn't factor into the solution at least in some way.

Anne: This is why uncle doesn't fucking love you!

***

Ellie: You really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

Leander: Several school rules violations.

Ominis: Three counts of using my relations.

Garreth: Roughly thirteen vials of my latest experiment.

Imelda: Also, I used the enchanted bludgers to hurry them up.

***

[MC keeps using her friends to break into Ravenclaw common room]

Ravenclaw knocker: What is a dream?

Ominis: Dream - the first thing people abandon when they learn how the world works.

[the door opens]

Ellie: That's too dark, edgelord.

***

[After Astronomy lesson]

Garreth: Ellie has no survival skills, her need to win has replaced them.

Amit: That can't be true!

Garreth: Watch this.

Garreth: Hey Ellie, race you to the bottom of the stairs!

Ellie: *jumps from Astronomy tower*

***

[After she and Poppy freed a dragon]

Leander: What in Merlin's name is wrong with you??

Ellie: What? No good morning?

Leander: Good morning, what in Merlin's name is wrong with you??

***

[The squad gathers in the Room of Requirement]

Ellie: Alright, listen up you psychos.

Ellie: Not you, Amit. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

***

[In the goblin mines]

Ellie: We have fun, don’t we, Amit?

Amit: I have never been more stressed out in my entire life.

***

Ellie: We are not mad, Sebastian. We are just disappointed.

Ominis: No, we are mad.

Ellie: Yes. We are. We are livid. But we are going to let this one slide.

Ominis: No, we’re not!

Ellie: I am not a mind reader, Ominis!

***

Duncan: Everett, Ellie keeps bullying me, what should I do?

Everett: Ask a teacher for help.

[The next day…]

Duncan, to Professor Ronen: Will you help me beat up Ellie?

***

Professor Weasley: Godric's heart, how would you explain this kind of crude behaviour?

Sebastian: I'm gonna have to say verbally.

Ellie: Because judging by that tone of voice...

Garreth: ... You might not be in the mood for the dance performance we've prepared.

***

Ellie: That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.

Amit: For the benefit of everyone present, I will clarify this is not a challenge.

Sebastian, Poppy, Natty & Garreth: Awww...

***

Ellie *going on another quest*: If there's going to be a big dramatic scene, wait until I get back.

Poppy: Of course, I can't flip this table by myself.

***

[AU where Leander and Ellie are the ones who fight a troll in Hogsmeade]

Ellie: Just stay calm! You already have everything you need to beat it!

Leander: The power to believe in myself!?

Ellie: No, you already know Diffindo! Slash it!

***

Sebastian: Am I going to far?

Ominis: No, no, no. You went too far about 2 weeks ago. Now you’re going to Azkaban.

***

Ellie: *sneaking in Hufflepuff common room late at night*

Poppy: *sitting on a sofa and casting Lumos* You want to tell me where you've been all night?

Ellie: I was stargazing with Amit?

Amit: *sitting on another sofa and also casting Lumos* Wanna try again?

***

Ellie: I have so much energy, I want to compete with Imelda or commit a petty felony... which should I do?

Leander: Please don’t get arrested.

Ellie: No promises!

Sebastian: Why not both? Get creative!

Ellie: Wonderful suggestion, thank you.

Leander: Please don’t encourage her, Sebastian.

***

Amit: Small creatures are much more vicious because they have a smaller body to bottle up all their emotions.

Everett: Ridiculous. Give me some examples.

Duncan: Puffskeins?

Samantha: Cornish pixies?

Ellie *chilling in Ravenclaw common room*: Chomping Cabbages.

***

[the Squad at flying lesson]

Garreth, Leander, and Amit: *flying normally, enjoying the view and talking*

Imelda, Poppy, and Ellie: *flying past them, as fast as they can, chasing Duncan who is screaming*

***

Poppy: Could you at least try to see this from my perspective?

Natty: *crouches down*

Imelda: *kneels down*

Ellie: *sits on the floor*

Poppy: ...

Poppy: I hate all of you.

***

Ellie: *falls down the stairs*

Amit: Are you okay?

Leander: Stop falling down the stairs!

Duncan: How’d the ground taste?

Ellie: *getting up like nothing happened*

Ellie: *releases Chomping Cabbages*

Duncan: Mom, pick me up, I'm scared.

[broomsticks]

@krethes SMUT QUEEEEN — still laughing forever over the time your T-rated fic won best smut for, like, reputation and aura alone hahahaha. i mean, it’s certainly well deserved! the characterization, the consistent headcanons, the detail, the variation. incredible.

your older wolfstar fics are the perfect example of “create what you want to see” and i love that so much. not only was DYMM such an incredible piece of writing, it was also just an absolute masterclass in marketing and like… public relations, hahaha, and i really admire how gracefully you all handled the inevitable fanwank that comes with popularity in this fandom. ahhh truly makes me so happy for whatever happy coincidence we ship the same OTP because 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 that’s some damn good fic.

(also finally thank you so much for your incredibly kind comments when i first started writing. <3<3<3)

don’t do modern au textfics? make an exception for this one: Did You Miss Me? • wolfstar, jily, ensemble • 640k, E.

oh the atmosphere in this one. Silver for Monsters • wolfstar • 19k (WIP). i read this witcher remus/elf sirius before i had any witcher familiarity at all and i only love it more after!! also loved the similarly powerful writing and feels in krethes’s ancient rome au here to mars (4k (WIP), E).

softness and strength: to bind us to the earth • lucissa • 2k, M. the contrast! the first person narcissa POV!

hot and just. spellbinding: wherever flames may rage • wolfstar • 10k, E. gosh i really love this firefighter au.

fairest of the rare: Hell and High Water • susan/pansy • 7k, T. the worldbuilding! the dialogue! this wild west au rare pair really works -- and the PODFIC in krethes’s gorgeous voice. perfection.

best wordplay: Thirteen Seasons • wolfstar • 4k, M. one of the first fics i read by you! blown away by the structure of this piece!!!

let nothing you dismay • 3k, T & Seeing the Light in the Darkness by • 2.5k, T: i love how well you’ve fleshed out remus’s familial relationships; it adds so much to how you write him. shoutout also to Tight Spaces and The Valentine Moon, both 3k & T hogwarts-era puppyboys that’s just… perfect hurt/comfort sweetness.

most intense!!! The Violence • 2k, M. krethes writing first war wolfstar? two of my favorite things!!!

best for last: Quintuple Meter • wolfstar • 8k, E the first fic i read by you! the pacing, the plot, this whole universe😍

---

for an explanation of why i just wrote you a whole ~thing~, check out this post & the ‘mutuals march’ tag below!

[childotkw]

I love love love ybtm(ibty)! The messiness of these literal school children cannot be overstated. We’ve got the very serious drama that comes with Nathan’s past and the world building and death, but it’s magnified by how most of the characters are at one of the most emotionally delicate time of their lifes. And the dsotm au lives rent free in my head. Nathan is such a character, and I was wondering what it would be like in Nathan in dsotm (or any AU where he survives Hogwarts) was transported back to before harry took over. Whether some magical potion caused him and his future self to swap places, meaning everyone knows this is a different Nathan, or he was put back in his younger body.

Ahhh thank you!! I’m glad it’s coming across that, other than Harry, all the main characters are literally such chaotic gremlin children. They’re smart little gremlins, but they’re still fourteen (and Orion is thirteen). They’re not the titans they are when they’re older, and they’ve got a long way to go behind they reach those levels.

DSOTM was such a fun little thought experiment haha - I had even started writing a bunch of drabbles for it, but I never got around to finishing them 😅 and if DSOTM!Nathan was transported back to the beginning of the ybtm timeline, I think the school would all collectively have a goddamn heart attack based on how different he was. It would be very similar to the reactions Harry received when he first rocked up 😂

[morelikeravenbore]

What was Auras reaction to Seb calling her ignorant?

🦋 'Aurélie woke bright and early the following morning with a steely resolve to never utter the name Sebastian Sallow again unless it was to curse it to the wind.' — How to Make a Villain, chapter thirteen.

AAAHHH this question is so fun, thank you for asking it! I've been thinking about my answer all day, so in my usual fashion I'm absolutely going to over-explain it because ✨Ravenclaw.✨

So lemme preface this by saying canon Aurélie was never part of the game events. She started Hogwarts in seventh year and thus had to deal with the consequences of Sebastian's quest line as they slowly but inevitably fell in love. In saying that, I have been dabbling on and off with a fifth year AU in which Sebaura reunite post-graduation after seven years apart, so I've given the IgNoRaNt thing a lot of thought.

To set the scene, here's a snippet of their dynamic in fifth year. (If you think their bickering is bad in Villain universe, they're insufferable in fifth year lolol).

[Sebastian's POV]

'Aura! For once in your life, stop being so dramatic!'

A month. A whole bloody month of chasing after, arguing with, and generally lamenting the existence of the most annoying girl to ever walk the face of the earth; one long, agonising month since she'd shown up at Hogwarts as the new fifth year, the new mystery, and completely derailed life as he'd known it. Not that his life had exactly been on track before her arrival, but if he was the out-of-control locomotive, then she was the broken track that had sent the whole bloody lot careening off the rails and into a ravine, explosions and all.

Needless to say, fifth year MC Aura [hates going on quests.] It's not that she doesn't want to help, it's just that li'l fifteen year old fancy-pants Frenchie hates trudging through the cold muddy Highlands, hates getting her nice shoes all dirty, and especially hates using her magic to blast Beasts into the ether (even if they are big scary spiders or killer Mongrels.) So when she relents to following Sebastian through some icky cave or up a freezing cold mountain in search of some weird relic or whatever, she lets him know in no uncertain terms that she is NOT happy about it. She'd probably even ignore him for weeks afterwards and he'd have to do some serious grovelling (ie bribery with new shoes) just to get her to look at him again.

But still, she does it for him because they're both orphans, they're both lonely, and they're both really leaning on eachother for support. Yes, she hates their "adventures", yes, she complains about it the entire time, but she does it for him. Every single time.

So when Sebastian calls her ignorant — when he crosses the line from light-hearted bickering to actually insulting her? She considers it a huge rejection. She followed him into danger time and time again, overlooked his red flags, even forgave him for the whole crucio thing only for him to personally insult her? Nah bro. Aura's certainly not afraid of letting him know when he's acting out of line, but up until that point, their disagreements had never gotten personal.

This is when everything starts to go south for their friendship, culminating with the Solomon incident and leading to their eventual seven-year split after graduation. When she's really hurt, Aurélie withdraws into herself so deeply that it's very hard to coax her out again. — And that's exactly what happens when he dun fucks up and calls her a nasty name.

NOT TO MENTION calling a Ravenclaw ignorant is like a mortal sin. Like, calling an average every day person ignorant is pretty mean, but a Ravenclaw?! Boy, pls. Sit down.

🦋 Thank you again anon for the cute question, I had so much fun answering it! Here are some more piccies of my girl for you. Have a perfectly scrumptious day!

(the dress was a gift from my love @sleepywitchlory, made by @ominouscorridors)