#(reminder that lily had a hint of a smile that she was trying to hide when james hexed severus upside down)

[enbysiriusblack]

jily being a mean it couple <33 they're the head boy who's a rich popular jock and head girl who's a competitive academic. they could tear you to shreds in a second. they have the favour of the other students, biting wit, a mean right hook, and a desire to win at everything.

[therealcocoshady]

Hi coco I wanna try putting in a request

Marshall x fem reader

Marshall and reader have a child there 4 or 5 (boy or girl idc ) and marshal and reader are indulging in late night activities (18+) and there child wakes up screaming bc they heard y/n screaming . So they come running knocking on the door to see if she’s ok .

You don’t have to do this kinda a bad idea

Hey ! Thanks for your request ! I love your idea ❤️. I had a lot of fun writing it, I hope you enjoy reading !

The Monster

Eminem x Reader Fanfiction

Summary : Lily gets scared when she hears Reader screaming during sex. Her and Em need to come up with some explanation.

Tags : Smut - Fluff - Comfort

Warning : SMUT (P in V, use of toys, anal, oral, biting, squirting…).

Author’s Note : I decided to use the same characters as in the one shot « One more baby ? » because why not ?

Your daughter was finally in bed, which only meant one thing : it was on. Baby-making time. Ever since you had decided to try for another child, your evenings with Marshall were filled with… spirited activities. Your sex life had always been active, but trying for a baby had you ten times hornier than you usually were. Same for your husband. For the past two months, as soon as Lily’s bedroom lights were out, you couldn’t jump on each other fast enough.

Trying for a baby not only made you hornier, it also made you more daring, more creative, much to Marshall’s delight. He was definitely enjoying the many new lingerie sets you had bought, as well as the toys and accessories. Since you had Lily on your own, with IVF, you decided to have as much fun as you could as you tried to give her a sibling. New positions, games, accessories, toys… as long as he was cumming inside of you, everything was fair game.

You were ovulating and had been a horny mess since this morning. It didn’t help that your dutiful husband had decided to work from home, staying in his grey sweatpants that you found him so sexy in. Days like this, he would usually stay in his home office but, for some reason, he had decided to work in the dining room. You weren’t going to complain : at least you got to admire him.

It was the holidays so were taking care of Lily but you couldn’t help but throw longing glances at each other. Every time he got a chance, he would tease you, brushing against you, gently squeezing your butt… and you got right back at him, leaning and bending forward every time you were in front of him so that he could have a good view of either your ass or your boobs. You felt your phone buzzing in your back pocket.

From Husband ❤️ : Keep on teasing me like this and you’re not walking for the next week.

You flashed him a smile and « accidentally » dropped the pencils you were holding.

- Mommy, did you drop something again ? Lily asked in an annoyed voice.

- I did, baby, you replied as you tried to hide a smile. I guess I’m really clumsy today…

- Daddy always says that we should be careful with our things, your daughter reminded you.

- And Daddy is always right, Marshall added with a smirk. I swear, Lily is the only good girl around here…

You giggled and bent to pick up the pencils as your husband stared at you - or rather at your cleavage that also showed a hint of the lingerie set that was waiting for him. You saw him licking his lips. Obviously, black lace was always a good choice. You forgot where you were and eye-fucked each other for a second before being taken out of your trance by Lily.

- Daddy, will you come and draw with us ? She asked.

- I have work to do, sweetie, he said with a small pout. I’d love to draw with you but Paul is going to be very unhappy if I don’t review these contracts for tomorrow.

- Uncle Paul always gives you work, she complained as she rolled her eyes.

- True, he chuckled. Next time you see him, you tell him he needs to leave Daddy alone, alright ?

- Yes, she said. You’re my Daddy and I miss drawing with you.

You could see Marshall’s heart melt at these words. He threw a guilty glance at the contracts on the dining room table and you could tell he was tempted to drop everything.

- I really have to work, baby, he said. But if you let me work in peace, I can go quicker and then we can do something together, ok ?

- Ok, she said. Can we make pizza just the two of us tonight ?

- Of course, he said with a smile. We can cook for Mommy. I think she’s a little too clumsy to be in the kitchen today anyway.

You giggled and took your daughter to the living room to draw for a little bit. As the evening came, Marshall kept his promise and cooked with Lily. Pizza was her favorite thing to make with her Dad. The two of them always made a mess in the kitchen, but it made them so happy that it was worth it. When it was time for bed, she insisted that Marshall be the one to tuck her in and read her a bedtime story. She was clearly in her « Dad phase » and he was her favorite parent. You’d read it was normal so you didn’t worry much. Plus, it was fair : he was working a lot lately, so she probably missed him.

You decided to make the most of it and wait for your husband in the bedroom, only wearing your lingerie and high heels. With a 5 year-old, you didn’t wear your heels too much, but you knew how much Marshall loved the sight of your legs when you wore these red bottoms. You were searching for something in a drawer when you heard him enter the bedroom and lock the door. The familiar sound was always arousing to you. It was time to play.

- I have a bone to pick with you, Mrs Mathers, he said playfully in your ear as he stood behind you.

- Do you ? You giggled.

- You drove me crazy all day, he whispered. Time for consequences.

You were about to turn and face him when you felt his hands on the back of your neck, forcing you to bend over the dresser. He got closer to you until you could feel how hard he was. You couldn’t help but moan. After all, you had spent the whole day waiting for this moment. Little did he know that you were soaking wet.

- I could take you right here, he whispered in your ear.

- Please, you moaned.

- Not yet, he chuckled. Let me enjoy the view.

He ran his hands on your sides, your back, your legs, spilling kisses all over your body as you stayed in this position, all his to enjoy. He kneeled behind you and kissed your ass cheek before making your lace panties slide off your legs. He kissed your thigh, going higher and higher until you felt him kissing your pussy, from behind. You let out a soft moan as he ran his tongue up and down your slit. He slid a finger inside you, feeling how wet you were.

- For me ? He asked playfully.

- I was actually waiting for someone else, you couldn’t help but say.

He stopped and you felt a slap on your butt. Of course you had to run your mouth. It was going to be the death of you. You silently cursed yourself for making him stop what he was doing. You wanted his mouth and fingers back to your pussy, in their rightful place. He got up and whispered in your ear.

- Am I not enough ? He asked teasingly. Do you want more ?

- Marshall, you moaned. Please.

- No, he chuckled. I’ll give you more.

He opened the drawer next to you, where you kept your toys, and got your butt plug. He put it in your mouth, telling you to suck on it. When it was wet enough, he inserted it in you, before resuming his initial position and sliding two fingers inside of your pussy. His tongue worked his magic on your clit and you tried hard not to make too much noise. The sensation of the plug, his fingers and his tongue at the same time was sending you in overdrive. It was delicious. You thought you were about to come in no time but he seemed to have other plans.

- I’m not done with you yet, baby, he said. You teased me, now it’s my turn to have fun.

He just loved driving you crazy and you knew he got off on seeing you wrestle with your pleasure. Not that you were going to complain, mind you. After years of dating selfish men when it came to sex, Marshall was a breath of fresh air. You knew you had married the right man but, in that moment, you wished he would just pound into you and make you come already. Patience was definitely not your strong suit, and especially not when you were ovulating.

He grabbed your hand and pushed you on the bed, ass up, face down. In no time, he got rid of his clothes and he did not even bother undressing you. He just pushed your panties aside before entering you. His hip thrusts were painfully slow and you knew it was on purpose. However, you were not having it, so you rocked your hips in turn, owing you another slap on the ass. However, he indulged you and started moving faster. He reached for the plug and moved it a bit, causing you to whimper in pleasure. You were on verge of orgasm when he stopped again and laid down on the bed.

- Get on top, he said.

- You’re killing me, you groaned.

- Told you I’d get my revenge, he chuckled. Now, get on top before I leave you high and dry.

You were pretty sure he wouldn’t do this to you, but you were so needy that you weren’t willing to risk it. You were craving for release and he knew it. This gave your husband way too much power over you. He was smirking I when you got on top and lowered yourself on his length, taking all of it. The presence of the plug in your butt maximised the sensations and Marshall felt even bigger than usual. You moaned as you started moving, closing your eyes and chasing your high. Your man seemed to enjoy the sensations, too. He was usually a rather quiet lover but you could hear him whimper.

- God you’re so tight, he moaned.

- I’m close, you warned.

- Come for me.

Your movements started to become sloppy, much to your frustration. You were on the edge but couldn’t quite get there. You looked at Marshall. You didn’t have to say a word for him to understand you needed a bit of help.

- I got you, he said.

He reached in your nightstand and grabbed your Satisfyer. He turned it on and put it on your clit. Your body’s response was immediate. You were shaking on top of him and your soaked sex was clenching around his. It was so strong that you let out cries of pleasure. Marshall captured your lips in an attempt to shut you up, but to no avail. Your nails were digging in his chest.

- Fuck, he said as you felt him twitch inside of you, his release being imminent.

There were too many sensations at once for you to be able to think straight and control yourself. Every inch of you was stimulated. You let out screams of pleasure as you reached orgasm. You could feel your husband try and cover your mouth but you instinctively bit his hand. He pulled you close to him and your teeth found his shoulder as you kept on having spasms. It felt like never-ending waves of pleasure. You weren’t even sure if that lasted seconds of hours. Time and space had become vague concepts. All you could hear were your own sounds.

Your head was buried in Marshall’s neck as you came to your senses, both of you panting.

- Holy shit, you managed to mumble.

You were taken out of your zone by Lily screaming. Parental instinct kicked in and you stared at each other. « On it », Marshall said before hurrying into some clothes and out of the room. You quickly got out of bed and got rid of the sextoys before getting dressed as well. You were about to check on Lily and Marshall when you heard a knock on the door.

- Mommy ? Your husband asked. Can we come in ?

- Yes, you said.

He opened the door and you could see he was carrying Lily who seemed terrified.

- Mommy ! She cried.

- What’s wrong, my love ? You asked. Did you have a nightmare ?

- I heard you scream ! I’m scared…

You threw a glance at Marshall who was trying to hide a smirk. You never realised you could be this loud.

- It’s alright, you said as you walked to them and kissed her head. Everything’s fine, baby.

- Why did you scream, mommy ? She asked nervously.

- I was… scared, you said, trying to come up with a quick excuse.

- Of what ?

- Of the monster under the bed, Marshall tentatively explained. But don’t worry, I got rid of him.

She looked anxiously at her Dad, who have her a reassuring smile. The mark your teeth had left on his shoulder caught her eye and she looked at him anxiously.

- Did the monster bite you ?! She asked.

- What ? Oh uh… yeah, he said. I had to wrestle him. Scratched my chest too. But you should see him. He looks worse.

You let out a giggle. Thank God for his brain and quick thinking. Your daughter looked at you.

- Are you alright Mommy ? Did the monster bite you too ? She asked nervously.

- He didn’t, you said reassuringly. Thank God for your Dad. He’s a hero.

- I am a hero, Marshall said proudly.

Lily hugged him tighter and gave him a peck on the cheek.

- Thank you for saving my Mommy from the monster, she said. I’m proud of you, Daddy.

- Of course, he said with a big smile. I’ll never let anything happen to Mommy, or to you, or your sisters.

- Mommy… did the Monster pee on your bed ? Lily suddenly asked.

Marshall and you glanced at the bed. There was a huge wet spot, caused by a mix of squirt and sweat. You couldn’t help but blush. You might have had your most powerful orgasm ever, tonight, but you were definitely paying for it. You were absolutely mortified, while Marshall was trying really hard not to cry from laughter.

- I guess he did, you said sheepishly. That’s how scary Dad is.

- Why don’t we go downstairs for some water ? Marshall asked Lily. So that Mommy can sort the mess the monster made in bed.

- Yes, you do that and I’ll join you, you said.

- You should also open your window, Mommy. The monster stinks, Lily pointed out.

She wasn’t wrong. The room reeked of smells typical of sex : sweat, squirt, pheromones and God knows what else. Marshall chuckled and winked at you before carrying her downstairs. You opened your bedroom window and changed the bedsheets. When you joined them in the kitchen, they were eating ice cream. You frowned, as they both knew what you thought of having sugary snacks before bed.

- We’re having a celebration, Marshall grinned. We’re celebrating the defeat of the scary monster under the bed.

- Oh, you giggled. In that case, I won’t say anything.

Lily was sitting on Marshall’s lap. She still seemed a little freaked out. He talked to her reassuringly as she asked some questions.

- I don’t want to go back to bed, she whined. What if the monster comes back ?

- I beat him real bad, you know ? He pointed out. I don’t think he will be bad anytime soon.

- What if his family comes back for revenge ? She asked nervously.

- I’ll wrestle each and everyone of them, he said. Come, I’ll tuck you in.

As he carried her up the stairs, she started hiccuping again. He stopped in his tracks and looked at you. Her cries were heartbreaking. You were a little mad at yourself for scaring her with your screams. You joined and hugged the two of them.

- Can I sleep with you tonight ? She asked.

- Of course, you said. But just for tonight, ok ?

The three of you settled in bed and you were ready to turn the lights out when she started asking about the scary monster again. Both you and your husband kept on trying to reassure her but it didn’t seem to work too well. Marshall sighed and got up. You wondered what he was up to, but you quickly understood as he came back with his huge lightsaber replica from Star Wars, which served as decor in his home office that also doubled as a man cave.

- I thought it was not supposed to be taken from the wall ? Lily pointed out.

- Yeah… except in case of monsters, duh, Marshall replied with a grin. If anyone comes in here, I promise you they won’t last long.

Your little girl nodded and settled between you and Marshall. You kissed her forehead as she held your hand tightly. Your husband smiled at you and mouthed « I love you » before turning the lights off.

In the morning, everything was back to normal, though Lily still mentioned the monster. You weren’t too sure how to deal with it and you were a bit scared you had unlocked a new trauma… you were anxiously staring at Marshall, who proved (once again) to be a quick thinker and the real genius in the house.

- How about we call Lainie and ask her if you can have a sleepover at her house tonight ? He asked Lily.

- Why ? She asked.

- Well, I think Mommy and I should check the whole house for monsters tonight, he said as he winked at you. Just in case, you know ?

Author’s Note : I hope you enjoyed this short story ❤️. I really like writing with these characters (I think Marshall and Lily are so cute) so if you have any requests for them, please keep them coming 💖.

[bastillewolf]

Shinigami Eyes (I)

Pairing: Corpse Husband / Reader

Summary: When you’re paired up with Corpse as imposters in a game of Among Us, you seem to somehow apprehend each others strategies even though it’s the first time you’ve ever played together. He appreciates a good impostor.

Notes: I know I still have many fics I need to finish, but I just wanted to throw out a quick Corpse one because sad to say I’ve been simping for him too. By the way, this is my interpretation of him and this is just for fun. Also, I haven’t written for second person in a while, so I’m sorry if this sucks.

TAG LIST CLOSED!

Shinigami Eyes - Oneshot

“Hey, I wanted to invite Corpse,” Sean said right as the Among Us theme started playing on your computer.

“Great vooooice,” Grease called out.

“Oh, I haven’t played with him before,” you said. It was true, but you’d heard of his legendary voice before and your viewers had been asking for him. You’d only allow it because No Simp September was over. Chat was already going mad.

“You’ll love him. Unless he murders you, because he’s a great imposter,” Sean replies. “He’s too good,” Felix adds.

After a moment, you heard the familiar noise of someone joining the Discord. “Hello everyone,” a deep rumble greeted. The group all said their welcomes, while you introduced yourself. “Very nice to meet you, Corpse,” you added. You didn’t want to comment on the obvious. He must hear it all the time. But you couldn’t deny it was like silk to your ears.

“Nice to meet you to. You make great vids.” A blush spread across your cheeks, “You shouldn’t say things like that, chat is already jealous.” He chuckled.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

Great, you’re instantly sweating. Thankfully, though, it seems you were lucky enough to have been teamed up with the king of lying himself. Corpse’s name is as bloodred as yours.

You decide to follow him after Toast and Sean, and think about how it was Sean who ironically invited the person who was going to murder him in just a few moments. All four of you were being decontaminated below lab, when Corpse made stepped a tad closer to him. You almost synchronically chopped their heads off, and you squealed in excitement. 2 down, 4 to go. As long as no one would find their bodies for a while, you still had time.

Next thing, you’re out of the South entrance and you’ve split up. You join Sykkuno in electric and just wait on him to do his task. Felix joins you afterwards in the next room. That’s when Toast’s body, and ultimately Sean’s, is reported.

Corpse had run back and self-reported.

“Corpse and I just ran into decontamination and found Sean and Toast,” Rae announced.

You were still muted. “Oh god, he’s playing a dangerous game.”

Sykkuno decided it would be the perfect time to call you out. “You and Felix only joined me a while later and decided to stay. Kinda sus of you.”

“No, she was with me at the beginning. I watched her do a task in office,” your fellow impostor vouched. They’d been right, he’s a damn good liar. He manages to hide any sliver of emotion in that deep baritone.

“I don’t trust Corpse anymore, he does stuff like this all the time when he’s impostor,” Lily noted.

“Stuff like what?” He huffed in amusement.

The group agreed the accusation made was a bit vague, and it had affectively directed the attention away from you and onto Felix. After another round of some serious investigating and threatening you all decided to skip.

“Corpse makes me feel less nervous about being an impostor,” you tell chat, “He seems so chill about it.” You ran down to Weapons, but decided against killing anyone when you found three people doing tasks there. You shoved yourself into the clump of bodies and waited until everyone had finished. Running back up to centre with both Lily and Rae, you felt restless that you would eventually have to kill one of them. You just hoped they wouldn’t take it personally.

Corpse ran past, alone. Your characters didn’t have eyes, but somehow they showed a mutual understanding. He killed Lily, you killed Rae. You sputtered and chortled and followed right on after him down into the venthole. He met you in the bathroom stall. “Cosy,” you joked. Until Grease walked in. “Oh, that’s awkward.” You realized you were still standing suspiciously over the venthole. “Shit.”

You didn’t know where Grease had gone, but your first instinct was to hit the red emergency meeting button in the Office. “Grease was in the bathroom stall hovering over a vent.” You may not have your fellow impostors emotionless tone, but you knew laughing through your accusation usually worked.

“Are you kidding me?! I just saw you and Corpse standing in there doing I don’t know what!” Grease yelled.

“That’s a bold statement. You know I’d never cheat on Sykkuno,” Corpse said. “Wait, what?” the man in question replied. Corpse ignored him.

“Corpse was with me when I found you there. On another note I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people vent at the same time before.” Two truths, technically.

“Alright, I’m voting Grease,” Felix said, “I’m sensing liar voice.”

Sykkuno suspected Grease and you, but promised he’d vote you out after if he was wrong. “We have to vote now,” you reminded them.

Grease was ejected.

You met Corpse again in laboratory, where only Felix was doing a task. No one moved. “Oh no, you may have the honours,” you gracefully called out to an unsuspecting impostor. He seemed to get the message through however, and swiftly killed Felix when the Kill button was set to press again.

Defeat.

 “Oh my god, that was so stressful,” you cried out. Corpse chuckled, “Don’t worry, you did great.”

“Hey, don’t you dare steal him,” Sean threatened, “He’s my impostor mate!” You laughed.

“You murdered me and Lily almost synchronically,” Rae sputtered, to which Sean added, “Oh my god, same here. It was some nasty psychic shit.” “Corpse and I just have the Shinigami eyes,” you explained. You saw Corpse’s name flash in the top left corner, but only heard him exhale in amusement. It was cute.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

“Oh… my… god.” Has this ever happened before in this game? Either way, no one will suspect both of you to be it again. You imagine he was feeling similarly, as he hadn’t moved from the spawn point yet. “How in the fuck…?” Chat was confused, but seemed to enjoy the spectacle.

You and corpse split up this time. Don’t use the same tactics twice.

You followed Felix and Sykkuno into Office and faked a task. They decided to wait for you, and you kept your eyes on the green bar until it moved. You travelled trough Admin and Decontamination until you met up with Lily in Labs. “Shit,” you murmured, “There’s too many people. I’m gonna look suspicious.”

Corpse showed up. Lily and Sykkuno left. You killed Felix. Toast walked in, and unfortunately at the hands of your teammate, he did become toast.

You ran in a circle around him and hoped it was enough of a hint for him to follow you. He picked up on it and followed you into the bathroom stall. But neither of you vented. You let a smile slip, almost forgetting you had a face cam. Awkwardly clearing your throat, you explained to your viewers in a very non-convincing way this was just a good impostor strategy. They’d do well to learn from it.

The bodies were reported instantly, and you cursed under your breath. Lily was the one who reported it. “So, I found Felix in Labs and there were only two other people in there before me and Sykkuno left.”

“I went down through Decontamination,” you explained, “I lost Corpse back at Labs.”

“I went back North, I passed you on the way there, Lily.”

Lily was sus of you. “What? Why?!” You asked. “Because I didn’t see anyone in Decontamination and there’s no way you could’ve gone through there that quickly. I wasn’t gone that long,” she said.

Well, shit. “Weren’t the lights off? You couldn’t possibly see me in Decontamination. I’m wondering why you walked back into Labs anyway, Lily.”

A series of ‘ooh’s were heard through the Discord call.

“But I was running up that hallway, I didn’t see you come out,” Grease suddenly spoke up.

“Why were you in there, Grease?” Corpse asked, but you knew it was already too late.

“I was running up to do my task in Labs. I didn’t see her come through the doors before the body was reported.”

“I wasn’t out of Decontamination yet,” you ground out. It was of no use, however. More than half of the people left voted you out, including Lily, Grease, Sean and Corpse, since he had an image to maintain as fake crewmember.

HeartEyes was ejected.

You decided, both out of your own interest and for content’s sake, to follow Corpse as a ghost. He seemed to be having the same trouble as you, suddenly being surrounded by a group of people. “That’s rough. He’s gonna have to kill five more people.”

That was when he bravely decided to take action. Sabotage the reactor, follow everyone there, jump into the lump of people trying to fix the problem and kill so no one would know who did it. He self-reported it in the blink of an eye.

The group was indeed confused, to say the least. Grease had died. “Wait, who was the last to come in?” Sean asked. “It was me,” Corpse admitted, “But I did the handprint scan because no one else was doing it. Weren’t you standing there doing that with Lily?” “Yeah, I had to wait because it wasn’t working.”

“What?!” Lily exclaimed, in only a way she could, “I was doing the scan! It was Sean, then!” The two suspects were starting a heavy discussion, whilst your eyes were trained on the red of Corpse’s name.

The group decided to vote out Lily, as she was the one to report the last murder.

“Is he just… Killing the people who voted for me?” you muttered. Shaking your head, you continued, “Nah, it has to be coincidence.”

But then a body was found, and Corpse said he suspected Sean again. Was he actually working down the list? “Is he avenging me? That’s so sweet, no one has ever done that for me before…” Just a video game, you had to remind yourself. It was just a video game you were playing with friends. And a man with a very nice voice who’d just murdered everyone who did you wrong. Just a game, yes.

Turns out, Corpse really knew how to put his voice to use, as Sean was ejected. He managed to kill Sykkuno and Dave after that, and the game was won by the imposters.

“AGAIN?!” Felix yelled, “How did you two get teamed up again?!” “That’s bullshit,” Sean laughed.

You smiled, as Corpse said, “Us Shinigami’s have to stick together.” It made you blush. “Thanks for avenging me, Corpse. That was very sweet of you.” He chuckled, “Any time. I don’t mind killing people when I have a good teammate.”

“Hey! I’m still here too, you know!” Sean yelled upset.

“It was really fun playing with you guys,” you said, stretching your arms. You’d already been streaming for three hours, it was time to go. Everyone said goodbye, but you didn’t hear Corpse. And you wished it hadn’t twisted your stomach in the way it did.

You wished your viewers a nice day, and promised to update them on Twitter when you’d be streaming next. You were done for the day.

Yet, as you’d closed all tabs and were about to close Discord, you got a call. It was private, and it was from Corpse.

“Hey, miss me already?” you jokingly said.

He chuckled quietly. He suddenly seemed a lot shyer now, being extracted from the group. “Nice game.”

“Yeah, you really know how to keep your emotions hidden. I was impressed, to say the least.”

“You were really good, too. I can appreciate a good imposter.”

You bit your lip. “Hm, I hope to see some more of that appreciation in the future. It was rather nice having someone avenge me.”

“I’d do it again any time. Hiding in the toilet was a good strategy, by the way.”

You snorted at that, “Not good enough, it seems. They voted me out.”

“Big mistake. Nobody kills my teammate.”

“Aww, did the Shinigami catch feelings for the human?”

He rumbled, “I thought you weren’t human?”

You didn’t comment on the fact that he’d failed to answer the original suggestion you’d made. “Touché.”

It was quiet for a moment, and you wondered if you’d crossed a line there and made the wrong assumptions about where the conversation was going. You quickly added, “Are you playing again this week?”

“Yeah, Sean said they’d stream again this Thursday.”

“I suppose I’ll see you there, then.”

He hummed. You sensed there was more to it, though. He hadn’t made any indication he wanted to end the call yet. But then he finally said, “I hope we get teamed up again. So you can get your own revenge.”

“I hope so too.”

***

Might do a follow up to this oneshot, if anyone asks for it. Will definitely create more for Corpse, he’s a lot of fun to write.

[a-vild-bluemyrtle]

Gaea - The blooming Spirit

Seth Clearwater x Female OC | 10 years after Breaking Dawn | OC with Earth Powers

Also on: AO3 - FF.net

________________________________

Request from @purpledragon04: Can you write a Seth Clearwater x reader where she has earth elements.

I'm sorry it took me all this time to write this down, but I fell into a rabbit hole and I just lost all my creativity. I still hope you like this :))

Requests are still open, Twilight Wolfpack only!

It took me all my mental strength to finally go out from the house, from my garden in particular and get some fresh air. Lately, all I have been doing is lying in our glasshouse and taking care of my flowers. I didn’t adapt that much to the new town, to the cold and rainy days, to the lack of sunshine and especially the lack of flowers. Green was the predominant colour, together with grey. Green was all I could see since we moved to Forks. And grey was all I could feel, no matter how hard I tried.

Leaving my beloved Alsace was harder than I thought, especially because of my powers. They grew there, they got stronger there, I could move mountains, trees, I could grow roses, lilies, tulips wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could make strawberries and cherries gems bloom in autumn If I wanted. While in Forks... it was like they just got weaker and I was getting weaker with them.

There was something in that town that just sucked the life out of me, I couldn't feel any connection with the grass, the trees, with the animals and no one could figure out why.

I was used to attracting animals, playing with them, to cuddle them in those endless French summers. There was this innate curiosity in them for me, because of my powers. Controlling the element of earth meant not only being able to let nature grow around me or on me – uncountable were the times I let flowers grow in my hair - but it also came with the ability to be connected to animals, understand them even without speaking the same language. I was used to birds flying to me and sit on my fingers or shoulders just with a tiny whistle or ladybugs quickly crawling on my bare feet.

In Forks I could whistle as much as I wanted, no one ever came. I could stay sit on the grass and no flower could grow.

“This forest considers you a treat, ma chérie. You’re a stranger here, a frightful one I would say. The trees and the animals do not know your powers, it is something never seen here.” My father used to say the first days but the more those days passed the more concerned he became. To not talk about my mother, she was almost hysterical and when she saw me dressed up to go somewhere different from the usual glasshouse, she almost cried.

“Isn’t it a little too much, Maman?” I asked furrowing my brows and questioning if mental sanity was still present in our house.

“You have not gone out since we moved, mon chou” – she started while I rolled my eyes.

“And I haven’t seen you wearing something different from sweatpants and t-shirts for 2 months. I’m just happy to see you in one of your colourful dresses”. She said, gifting me with one of her sweetest smiles.

My mother was the epithet of sweetness and kindness and it was from her that I inherited my powers. On my 16th birthday they flowed from her to me and, if I’ll have a daughter, one day it will happen to us too. My powers will be hers and she will pass to her daughter, and her daughter to her daughter and so on. All the women in our bloodline will always carry the Nature genes (another of my father’s names, who was really into X-Men).

“Anyway, I’m going exploring. Don’t wait for me. If we are lucky enough, I’ll find out why my powers do not work here”, I said while grabbing my pink purse and opening the front door.

“Don’t let the trees catch you, chérie”, my father said smirking. I was waiting for the day in which he’ll finally stop saying such horrible dad jokes. Especially the inside jokes only we could understand.

It was raining outside, like every day in that town, but bringing an umbrella with me was out of discussion. I have never felt so distant from Mother Nature since we moved here, so a little bit of rain pouring down on my bare skin would have been a blessing in disguise. The best sensation in the world: being outside while it was raining, especially during the summer. The only problem was that it was autumn in Forks, and I could have easily caught a cold… still I didn’t mind at all.

----

Hours? Months? Years? I don’t even remember how much time I spent that day in the forest strolling around without really thinking where I was going. At some point, while it was still raining, I also took off my shoes and started walking on the muddy and cold soil with bare feet – which may sound disgusting, but once you try how good it feels to just walk without shoes and feeling every inch of the forest under your feet, you’ll never stop doing it.

As I imagined, no traces of animals or plants moving or whatsoever. There was a strange and ominous silence throughout the forest. No birds were chirping, no snakes slithering, no deer jumping around.

When I got out of the house, I was full of hope, I truly believed that all that negative energy was all in my head, that I could fix whatever was happening at that time. But the more I walked the more I started losing that hope. I couldn’t feel anything.

Arrived at a river, I decided to sit down for a moment. The rain stopped a few moments back. I sat on the riverbank and let my feet fell into the cold – freezing – water as I wasn’t enough wet from head to toe. I sat there, sighing and biting my bottom lips in frustration. Why? Why my powers didn’t work? Was it my fault? Of course it was, it’s never Mother Nature’s fault, it’s always mine. Whatever I was, a collateral effect, a special genes carrier or simply a freak, that forest knew.

Another louder sigh came out of my mouth, almost in a desperate attempt to not start crying. I laid down, on the pebbles surrounding the riverbank and what my eyes saw at that moment freaked me out in ways I could have never imagined.

Two dark brown eyes were looking at me, were curiously observing me from the treeline and they did not belong to another human being. I froze in that position, lying on the pebbles with my nose up in the air and my eyes locked into his.

Only years later I understood what was happening at that moment, only after a couple of months later I found out who was hiding in the treeline, to whom those eyes belonged.

At that moment, though, my brain just shut down and there was nothing I could think of. I was scared but at the same time excited. After two months I finally felt something, and even if it were not positive emotions at least they were some kind of emotions.

I slowly got up on my feet, trying to be as subtle as possible so to not instigate the wolf t – or horse, better – to attack me. Our eyes were still onto each other's, my gaze never leaving his and there was something in him that tangled me.

The rain started pouring down again the moment I decided to take a step forward towards him. At the same moment, he seemed to be scared of me and took a step back, his head tilted to one side, his eyes digging into mine trying to figure everything out.

There was some sort of connection happening between me and that wolf, which fur reminded me of the colour of the sand, or more precisely of the colour of the light in the late afternoon in Alsace. And I would have never imagined what that moment meant for my future, not really far as I imagined it was.

We stayed like that, frozen in time and space, under the rain, looking at each other until we realized, or at least he realized – I would have realized a lot later, I had all the hints in front of my eyes and still didn’t have a clue. No words were spoken, not a single one, the only sounds were the thunders and the rain falling from the sky, and our heartbeats – his way faster than mine.

----

“Still daydreaming, darling?” His sweet voice wakes me up and I shake my head smiling when he puts his warm hand on my shoulder. I don’t think I will ever get used to his warmth, every time he touches me I sweetly shiver.

“Mh… yes”. I whisper, more to myself than to him, absolutely sure that he can still hear me clearly.

He hugs me from behind, trying to find the exact spot I’m still looking at outside our window.

“What is it? A deer? Again?” he whispers to my ear, leaving soft kisses on the side of my neck.

I intertwine his fingers with mine and tilt the head a little, so he has more space to kiss me.

“No, no deer at all, baby”, I reply, closing my eyes and enjoying the overwhelming sensation his kisses and hugs were making me feel. He holds me closer and I can’t help to smile more, thinking about everything that happened since the moment we met.

“It’s raining, exactly like that day”. I turn my head to look at him, at those same eyes that turned me upside down on that pouring day years ago.

Those same eyes that haunted me in my sleep until I found out to whom they belonged: to a sweet, gentle man, with arms and legs covered in tattoos, with hairs longer than mine who I fell in love with instantly and married one night on a beach without telling anyone else. A wonderful man I'm lucky enough to call my husband, the love of my life.

[fire-lady-ilah]

More good dad! Ozai AU? Even if you didn’t ask for it, you’re getting it and I’m picking up right where I left off. This is my reminder that, while Ozai is a good and non-abusive dad and husband in this, he is still very much an imperialist and a cruel person in general.

Parts [1] and [2] if you’d like. This is part 3. Here’s part [4]

The siblings venture into the capital, although they make it known that no one should inform their parents that they are nearby. The moment they step off the ship, Captain Jee sends a letter to the Fire Lady. He was loyal to the Prince and Princess above all, but he did not feel like being executed or exiled that day when Lady Ursa inevitably finds out.

In a large house just outside Caldera City, Lord Ukano lives with his wife, Michi, his daughter and heir, Mai, and his newborn son Tom-Tom. The Dragon Emperor and the Blue Spirit sneak into the bedroom of the heiress and steal her away.

In that I mean, Mai leaps at the opportunity to escape her home with her best friends, who she’s seen wearing the same theatre masks dozens of times, and follows willingly. It takes an hour longer than the siblings had expected, if only because Mai has far more knives than they had truly expected and they get caught up in the palace kitchens stealing Azula’s favourite mochi and some bags of fire flakes.

Then they are caught by Fire Lady Ursa, who is gathering a late night cup of cocoa after a nice night with her husband, not that her children need to know that part. Her children, who are wearing her theatre masks that had very recently gone missing from her collection, stare at her innocently. Her daughter carries two entire boxes she knows are full of mochi. Her son carries the fire flake bag they use for festivals. Her one day daughter-in-law is making a cup of cocoa and the Fire Lady calmly requests one for herself from the girl.

That night, the fire Prince and Princess sleep in their own rooms, with Lady Mai in one of the many available. In the morning, they take breakfast with the Fire Lord and Lady, discussing trivial matters of politics and domestic affairs.

Mai leaves on the request of the Fire Lord, bringing everything they took from her home and the palace (along with what Ursa and Ozai insisted they take) to the ship with the help of some soldiers.

Azula and Zuko sit with their parents. Ursa gives them each two potent bottles of poison. Ozai’s voice has a worry that only his family knows how to detect through the facade of boredom as he inquires how their firebending and blades practice has been, as to the state of their weaponry. They try to soothe their parents worries with assurances: their practice has been going well in both bending and blades, Azula has achieved perfection in lightningbending and Zuko has achieved lightning, their blades are sharp and well maintained, they weren’t harmed when the temple blew up—

It slips through Zuko’s lips. He was never the actor like his mother and sister. For their part, his parents do not react overly beyond a flickering of the flame and a long sip of tea.

“Your mission has changed.”

Ozai is smart. Everything he does is to serve his goals the best they can. In canon, the premier of those goals is to gain more power for himself. In this world, that goal is to secure the ideal outcome for his family. (Of course, his second goal is as much power as possible. But it is only considered after his first goal).

Allying themselves with the Avatar, at least in appearances, will secure the best outcome for his children. And he has no doubt that his brother (so weak after the death of his son. And yet, Ozai cannot find it within him to scorn him overly. He knows that were he to be left childless, he would break. It is merely that Ozai would break in an explosion, whereas Iroh’s flame fizzled into embers.) would eagerly help his children betray him. Even if it was just in appearances.

His children are loyal and dutiful. They protest, but only out of a desire to maintain that loyalty. He wishes the Avatar had remained hidden, at least until they were both adults. They are prodigal, yes, but they are just siblings.

“You have our permission to reveal your mother’s ancestry. Use it wisely.”

The children know their lineage for at least five generations on each side. That, of course, is in addition to their knowledge of every Fire Lord that has reigned since the unification of the Fire Nation. They are well aware that their Grandmother Rina (who feeds them chocolate and tells them stories whenever she visits) ‘s father was Avatar Roku. Just as they knew of the friendship between Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.

It is necessary for the people of their nation to hear pretty lies. It is not their responsibility to worry about the nuance and complexity of life. It is one of their responsibilities as Angi’s heirs in the mortal world. To worry of such things is a burden they should not have to bear. It is necessary for the people to believe the Avatar hated the Fire Lord.

The siblings don’t know everything, of course. They are just children after all. But they understand the nuance, the conflicting beliefs. They were told the truth (and carefully kept from necessary propaganda before then) when they were old enough to look critically at the situation. It was their duty to bring the Fire Nation’s good to the other nations, to liberate their populations, the siblings decided.

The Avatar is just a child, but he seemed able to connect with his past lives. And he had pointedly not hurt them, at least as Avatar Roku.

If nothing else, they have the Dragon Emperor and Blue Spirit on their side.

“Zhao has asked for permission to launch an invasion on the Northern Water Tribe. He is a fool, but he claims he has knowledge that will ensure his victory. Tomorrow, I will send him a letter approving his asinine idea. You will stop him— kill him, if you must— and use that act of perceived treason to ally yourselves with the Avatar.”

Ozai wants power, but he is no fool. The invasion is risky at best. He cannot find it within himself to care for the tens of thousands that would doubtlessly die in it, the Northern Water Tribe had the advantage in multiple ways. It would serve its purpose to get his children at the Avatar’s side.

The tone lightens after his orders and Ozai steps back from his role as Father Lord into just being a father. He teases his son on his interactions with his betrothed. He teases his daughter and asks if she would be visiting the circus soon, taking note of how she had learned to prevent a blush but not the squeak in her voice. They are not infallible, they are children.

As they see their children for the last time in the foreseeable future, the Fire Lord and Lady both think as to how much they will miss them. Ursa blinks back tears as she hugs them both, smiling as they react identically, burying their faces into her chest to hide them and breathing in the scent of fire lily perfume.

Ozai is not usually physically affectionate with his children. He had never received it from his father and was much more competent in other ways. That being said, no one commented on the kiss he pressed to the top of Zuko’s head (still shorter than him by quite a bit. Sometimes he acted so adult, but he was so clearly still a child) before repeating the action with Azula.

“I am so proud of you. Both of you.”

I’m just now realizing Blue Spirit is supposed to be after the whole Roku thing. Oh well.

For appearances’ sake, the siblings and Mai continue to chase the Avatar. Zhao attacks the Avatar while he trains under the Deserter. Princess Azula ensures the forest doesn’t burn while Prince Zuko uses all the bottled up anger at both Zhao himself and Azulon (really, what is with grown men trying to kill 11/12 year olds?) to yell at Zhao for acting so recklessly.

And if, perhaps, he manages to endear himself to others by knocking Zhao’s feet out from under him, all the better.

The Avatar and his friends escape and the siblings celebrate another success as Zhao nurses his bruised ass and ego.

(“Hey, did the Deserter look like that dude in Master Piandao’s painting in his main hall to you?”

“Admiral Jeong Jeong and Master Piandao were married, Zuko. Obviously that was him.”)

Zhao attempts to order their crew away from them, citing his rank as admiral as above prince and princess.

Azula’s sharp tongue reminds Admiral Zhao that Zuko is not only a prince, but the Crown Prince, and thus he is equal in rank to Zhao. As was their uncle a general, retired or not.

Behind the royalty of the ship stands Captain Jee, his eyes locked with Zhao’s. His eyes promise mutiny even if he were to somehow take them. His eyes swear loyalty to the Crown Prince, to his sister, above all else.

Zhao turns to leave.

“Of course, that is not to say we will not join your invasion.” Zuko sounds like his father sometimes, and never more than when his voice holds a hint of smug satisfaction. “Merely, do not presume to think you can order us in any way. We out rank you, and our crew is the best our Nation has to offer.”

Their ship joins, at least in appearance, Zhao’s fleet. That being said, they obey no orders from the Admiral and only allow his “inspections” of the ship and their crew once. For all intents and purposes, they are just there to observe.

And observe they do. The siblings watch the way Zhao treats his subordinates and twin righteous flames burns in their chests. The truth of being raised by a loving father means that Zuko and Azula are both rather sheltered in comparison to their canon selves. They are raised on ideals of honour and the divine responsibility of a monarch, rather than on the truths of war and practicality of rule. It only results in a hotter fire and more questions as to if Sozin’s way was truly the one to follow.

They still have absolute faith in their father. After all, he is the one that raised them, that taught them of honour and the ideals of a monarch. He is the one that sheltered them. He is the one that suggested they befriend the Avatar to keep them safe.

On the ship, only three people know the entire plan. The first two are the siblings, of course. The third is Captain Jee. He is the one that will keep their ship away from the invasion itself so there is no risk of their crew being harmed in the doomed attack. He is the one that will direct the ship to the colonies once the siblings are with the Avatar. Captain Jee has no qualms about technically commuting treason.

Mai knows some of the plan. In that, Mai knows exactly what Zuko and Azula tell her and then what she observes. She sees the way they stick together, now more than ever. Sees the way that Azula trains her non-lethal lightning (because even she, a nonbender, knows it’s far harder to bend lightning that doesn’t kill than that that does). She hears the way they drop the title of Fire Lord when speaking of their royal great grandfather. She catches whispers about Fire Lord Roku. About the Avatar.

Mai, in a way, knows more than the siblings themselves. She knows that they are genuinely sympathetic toward the Avatar in a way that they don’t yet realize. She begins to keep all her knives on her person, along with an easily grab-able bag for travelling in her room. There was no way she’d be letting her best friends turn traitor without her. This is the most exciting thing she’s done in years.

Iroh knows less than he believes. Oh, he gets the dropped title just as well as Mai, but he does not know the intricacies of Zuko and Azula the way Mai does. He sees Azula’s practice and writes it off as her ever-present search for perfection. He catches the tail end of a conversation between siblings and does not stop to consider who exactly “great grandfather” may be referring to. It would be unthinkable for his brother to tell the children of their heritage.

Despite this, Iroh also knows more than most. He knows from conversation exactly what Zhao intends to do in the Northern Water Tribe and it turns his blood to boil.

They reach the Northern Water Tribe. The siblings sneak off the ship in an emergency boat. Mai enters at the last moment and neither send her away.

Iroh has already left the ship, though he is currently in one last meeting with Zhao in an attempt to convince him not to continue with his plan. He will not check back with his niece and nephew, believing them to be safe on the ship.

In the Northern Water Tribe, the three Fire Nation teens remain tucked into the shadows. They, unfortunately, have no idea where the Avatar is and wander through the city. However, they reach the Avatar’s friends before Zhao does.

(“Is he... alive?”

“He’s just meditating.”)

It goes far better than they could have expected. The siblings’ act of releasing Sokka and Katara from Zhao’s bindings results in a part of water tribe siblings being quite willing to hear them out. Princess Yue gives them an odd look but remains quiet.

Zhao shows up. Iroh shows up. Azula and Zuko denounce him (though they cannot bring themselves to denounce their father, even though they know they should). Zhao declares them all traitors, a koi fish in a bag in his hand.

A bolt of lightning hits Zhao straight in the back. Both he and the koi fish fall into the pool of water. He does not emerge.

Azula’s face is carefully blank, even as she watches the water. She cannot stop to consider whether it is her or the water that just killed the admiral, or if he was even dead at all. She could not even see his body in its depths. She used non-lethal strength.

Despite Princess Yue’s backing, the Northern Water Tribe wants to take the siblings prisoner (hostage, everyone knows). After all, everyone knows of the devotion they show to the Fire Lord and vice versa. If nothing else, they would be excellent bargaining pieces in a more formal treaty.

They had not factored this into their plan. Admittedly, they had not factored the Northern Water Tribe into their plan at all.

The three Fire Nation teens are thrown into a prison cell. A rather comfortable prison cell, but still a prison cell. Iroh is taken somewhere else.

Within five hours, they sit on the back of a flying bison, Sokka handing them food he had smuggled out of the meal as Katara was smuggling them out of prison.

(“We tried to get your Uncle too,” the Avatar says in a remorseful tone, “but we couldn’t find him.”

“Uncle will be fine.” Azula declares, her mind set only on the future as she tries not to think about the way Zhao sunk beneath the still surface of the pond.

Zuko nods in agreement and clutches her hand in a comforting way.)

The Gaang now consists of six people:

Aang, a twelve year old Avatar with a mastery in air and a decent proficiency in water. He looks at the Fire Nation teens and sees his friend Kuzon, sees a time from before the war when an Air Nomad could wander freely through the Fire Nation. He attempts to use Fire Nation slang with them but it’s a century old and results in only laughter.

Katara, a master waterbender and healer (a concept that intrigues Azula to no end, although she tries to keep her questions polite). She tends to have a short temper when it comes to matters of the Fire Nation, but even she can be coaxed into trying a few sweets that Zuko has stored in his bag.

Sokka, a hunter and warrior who may or may not be engaged to the NWT princess (Zuko says he is, Azula says he isn’t). Azula laments that her jokes are even worse than Zuko’s, to which Mai agrees. It is that comment that leads Sokka and Zuko to start bonding, having nothing better to do on the bison’s back than exchange bad jokes.

Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who Sokka would insist is walking Fire Nation propaganda as he goes on at least one rant about Fire Nation culture and technology a day. Who surprisingly helps Katara with the cooking because it was one of the things Fire Lady Ursa carried over from before she was Fire Lady and taught to her children.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, who has a sharp tongue and a sharper pair of twin daggers that she seems to enjoy threatening her brother with for any inconvenience, even though they both just laugh at it. (Katara and Sokka have to be assured by them both that they truly love each other and that threatening each other with weapons carried over from the theatre scrolls they used to act out as children).

Lady Mai talks the least, seemingly content just to talk to Zuko and Azula. Aang makes it his mission to get her to warm up to him and spends a good portion of his time trying to talk to her. He succeeds when he brings up air ball, of all things. Mai’s parents had discouraged her from sport, believing it to be unfitting of a young lady just as they had discouraged her interest in knives until Zuko and Azula had ganged up on them. Partially for that reason, Mai enjoyed sports quite a bit, a shock to even Zuko (though Azula knew). After that, she talks mainly to Zuko, Azula, and Aang.

Captain Jee guides his ship to the Fire Nation colonies, unable to confirm that his Prince and Princess were okay. He hadn’t expected the worry he feels now, but he knows he will be awaiting a letter at Yu Dao if they are safe.

Prince Iroh is startled to discover that, while meeting with Master Pakku, the Avatar, his friends, his nephew and niece, and Mai had all disappeared.

As had his ship.

[fruitcoops]

I saw a sweet Reddit post the other day where the person was trying to log into their partner’s account for something and the security question was “Who is your best friend?” and he tried everybody he could think of and finally went to her and asked and she was like “Did you try your name?”

It might be too short to do anything with but I thought it was so cute and I just picture Sirius “I forgot to pick my own boyfriend for a desert island” Black forgetting himself like “It’s not Lily? Talker?” going through the whole team...

Oh my god I love this. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

“Re, you didn’t finish your order!” Sirius called through the closed bathroom door from his place on the bed.

There was a light splash from inside. “I’ll finish it when I’m done.”

“There’s a timer.”

A long pause followed. “How much time do I have?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, hell no,” Remus snorted. “Can you finish it for me?”

“Sure thing.”

“My password is hat trick 612.”

“Any caps or symbols?” Sirius waited for a second, but there was no answer. Probably dunked his head under, he thought with a small smile as he clicked on the tab. Remus didn’t often take baths—something about ‘taking too long’ and ‘not fun alone’—but his shoulder had been bugging him and the new Epsom salts promised to reduce any swelling around scar tissue. He had been looking forward to it ever since the salts arrived.

Sirius turned back to the computer and flexed his fingers.

Please Enter Password Below:

Attempt 1: hattrick612

Password Incorrect

Attempt 2: Hattrick612

Password Incorrect. You have one (1) attempt remaining.

“Fuck,” Sirius muttered.

Attempt 3: HatTrick613

“Wait, no—shit,” he hissed, registering the slip up a second too late as the error screen loaded and redirected him.

“Everything okay out there?” Remus asked as he splashed around in the warm water.

“Everything’s fine,” Sirius answered, keeping his tone as nonchalant as possible.

“…okay. Oh, and I think there’s a password limit or something.”

A little late, sweetheart. Sirius bit his lip. “D’accord, thanks for the heads-up.”

“No problem.”

The screen loaded.

Please Answer 3 Security Questions

Question 1: What street did you grow up on?

Sirius blew out a slow breath and wracked his brain. The Lupins hadn’t moved in thirty years, but he had only driven to their house twice…

Answer: East Bridge Dr

A green check mark appeared and he pumped both fists in the air in celebration.

Question 2: What year did your favorite movie come out?

Answer: 1993

“Easy,” Sirius scoffed as another checkmark appeared.

Question 3: What is the first and last name of your best friend?

Answer: Lily Potter

A red ‘x’ appeared to the left. Incorrect. Sirius frowned.

Answer: Lily Evans

Another ‘x’. Incorrect.

Answer: Leo Knut

Incorrect.

Answer: Thomas Walker

Incorrect.

Answer: James Potter

Incorrect.

Answer: Regulus Black

Incorrect.

Answer: Finn O’Hara

Incorrect.

Answer: Hattie Lupin

Incorrect.

Answer: Hattie Black

Incorrect.

Answer: Hattie Black-Lupin

Incorrect.

Answer: Kasey Winter

Incorrect.

“What the fuck?” Sirius sat back, watching the timer blink as it reached the two-minute mark. Who the fuck was he missing?

The bathroom door creaked open and Remus poked his head out, looking concerned. “Honey, you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

He shivered slightly, still dripping wet, and glanced between Sirius and the computer. “I heard some very aggressive typing sounds.”

“I fucked up the password thing and got stuck on the security questions,” Sirius said miserably.

“Which one? My parents’ house is on East Bridge Drive, but I think I did the—”

“The ‘Dr’, I know.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who’s your best friend?”

Remus blinked. “What?”

Sirius gestured at the screen, which was oh-so-helpfully reminding him that he had one minute left. “Your best friend! I tried Lily, Talker, Leo, even James—”

“Honey.” Remus paused to laugh for reasons Sirius couldn’t fathom.

“What?”

“Honey, did you try your own name?”

“My w—oh. Oh my god,” Sirius groaned, typing his own name into the bar. Sure enough, the little green checkmark popped into view and the ‘submit’ button lit up.

Remus was still trying to hold down his laughter. “Did it work?”

Sirius sighed. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Is it okay if I go back to my bath now?” he asked, hiding his smile behind his hand even though the crinkled corners of his eyes gave him away. “Because one of the questions might ask who I proposed to, and if you need a hint—”

“Oh, fuck off,” Sirius grumbled, throwing a stray sock at him. Remus yelped and closed the door again, then burst out laughing. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Any time, best friend!”

As soon as the order went through, Remus had a rather furry and unwanted companion in the bathtub who was not, in fact, his best friend.

[straightouttaneptune]

Luna

Pairing: Harry Potter x Slytherin!Reader (past), Dad!Harry Potter x daughter!Lily Potter

Warning: This is like... legitimate angst. Honestly, it’s so bittersweet. There’s mentions of blood, but I mean, it is Harry Potter.

Summary: Harry tells a story about a girl, Y/N Y/L/N, his first girlfriend. Ginny’s out for the night, and Harry’s daughter, Lily Potter, is more than excited to hear about her father’s teenage romance.

A/N: This came to me while I was daydreaming during class. Amazing what a weekend of binge rewatching Harry Potter will do to you, lmao. Also, I’m debating on making an alternate ending to you and Harry’s story. Oh! Also it’s super long!!

—————————————————————

“Dad, was mum your first girlfriend?” The 9 year old Lily Potter whispered to her father with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. 

It was a snowy winter night, the day before her brothers, James and Albus returned from Hogwarts for Christmas break. Her mother, Ginny Potter was out for the night, preparing for the other Weasley-Potter kids’ return. 

“Well, do you promise to keep this a secret between us?” Harry replied enthusiastically, sitting down on Lily’s bed as she sat up with her girlish excitement twinkling in her eyes.

“Definitely. So it wasn’t mum?” She giggled as she got situated to hear this very exclusive bed-time story, her sleepiness cast away, nowhere to be found.

“No, although I love your mum very much. My first girlfriend’s name was Y/N Y/L/N.” He paused for a second, for just speaking your name brought back so many memories that made him almost tear up.

“That’s such a pretty name! Was she in Gryffindor, like you and mum?” Lily reacted, and with that Harry resumed the story.

“Actually, cupcake, she wasn’t. She was in Slytherin.” Harry smiled, watching Lily’s face turn into a look of absolute shock as she gasped.

“A Slytherin? Really? Was she pretty?”  

“The prettiest girl at Hogwarts. You see, in our first year, me, Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione, we had to face this big, scary troll in the girls bathroom. She saved us, because she knew a lot of charms, even as a first year!”

“So she was smart, too!”

“Yeah. She was brilliant.”

December, 1993 Outside the shrieking shack

“He was their friend!” Harry yelled out angrily, hopelessly, powerlessly. He was so frustrated, so sad, and yet he was so powerless in that situation. He couldn’t possibly go after Sirius Black, he didn’t even know where he was. He couldn’t go back in time to save his parents. He could only feel hatred. Intense hatred.

Just when the dark, black smoke of anger started to crowd his senses, his head snapped upwards, his darkened eyes making contact with your unbelievably bright and gentle ones- as your warm hand enveloped his affectionately. The thick smoke vanished in a second, a wave of tears replacing it. He weakly wraps his hand around yours, feeling the small moon-shaped charm on your bracelet to calm himself.

You held him silently, as Ron and Hermione watched him helplessly weep into your shoulder. 

November, 1994 Outside the champions tent

“Harry, you’re brilliant.” You sighed happily, each breath filled with adrenaline as you went to greet him first thing after his first task in the Triwizard tournament.

“Thanks to you, Y/N. You taught me the accio spell.” Harry chuckled proudly, the golden egg heavy in his arms like a trophy worth billions of galleons. 

You rolled your eyes with a grin, laughing as you shove him into the crowd of Gryffindors waiting for him. “No Harry, you just are brilliant. You were amazing.”

You stand there smiling at him and his friends, one by one telling him how they believed him now, and that he was doing justice for the Gryffindor house. That was all you ever wanted for him- to be happy. 

He glances at you with a hint of guilt, his gaze flickering down to the green emblem on your robes for just a split second. If only you were in Gryffindor. He thought multiple times. Because even though he didn’t care at all, the others did. Teachers did. Fate did. 

But you only smile back at him and raise your brows, as if to say “Go, have fun with your friends.” With the overwhelmingly kind look he couldn’t find even if he searched for it in the eyes of the whole Hufflepuff house. Only in yours.

“Why were you talking to Potter? Come on, then.” Pansy pulls on your robes, pulling you away from the bright, cheery crowd of crimson red and yellow.

December, 1994 Gryffindor common room

“You really should just gather your things and come live with us.” Hermione joked, watching you nibble a candy cane while you faced your potions report in the Gryffindor common room that has now become your second home.

Looking up from the parchment at the three of your favorite Gryffindors sitting on the couches, you nodded in agreement. “Honestly, ‘Mione, I would if I could.” 

Harry and Ron burst out laughing, imaging you packing up and moving into the Gryffindor dorms. “You should!” Harry encouraged.

“And- Y/N, have you decided who you’re going with to the Yule Ball yet?” Hermione asked rather hesitantly, her eyes locked with Harry’s.

But you don’t notice, replying “No, the person I really wanted to go with hasn’t asked me yet.” You mutter bashfully, everyone in the room, except Harry knowing who you meant exactly.

“Oh, that’s a shame. I’m sure he’ll ask you soon. I know you’ve already got plenty of asks, he should hurry.” Hermione sends Harry a death glare, her head cocking towards you, demanding him to ask you right now. Harry blushed intensely, gazing at you pondering whilst your stare bore into your unfinished report.

“That’s cause Y/N’s the pretty Slytherin princess, who wouldn’t ask her?” Ginny interrupted for a brief second, giggling at your reaction to the nickname the students had given you.

“For God’s sake, Harry!” Hermione blurted out, sending Harry into a state of complete panic.

“Okay! I get it! Y/N, willyougototheyuleballwithme?”

“Huh?”

“Hermione, what’s a god?”

“Ronald, this is not the time!”

“Y/N!” Harry yelled, practically everyone in the whole common room listening now. “WILL YOU GO TO THE YULE BALL WITH ME!” He screamed, your mouth hanging open as you stared at the chosen one in shock.

After a brief second, everyone bursts out laughing, and in the midst of the uncontrollable laughs erupting from your stomach, you wipe a tear away and scream back, “YES!” 

And the cheers go wild.

June 1996 Ministry of Magic

“Harry!” You yelp, dashing towards the limp figure laying in the sand, ignoring every other adult there that tried to stop you.

Harry, trying to fight the daunting whispers of Voldemort, gets a sudden surge of power hearing your voice. He can feel you close by, kneeling down next to him. The warm, strong yet inviting aura of yours makes him feel invincible as he regains control of himself. 

“Harry.” You sigh a breath of relief as he wakes, clutching onto your arm of dear life. He dives into your arms, and you slide your arms under his, head buried in his shoulder. 

His voice is tired and deep, but you still hear it very clearly.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too.”

August 1997 The Burrow

“Love, you look... brilliant.” Harry gravitates towards you in the after-ceremony of Bill and Fleur’s wedding. He admires your amazingly attractive figure wrapped up in the gold and royal blue dress that reminds him of the night sky. 

“You’re supposed to say that to Fleur, y’know. But... you look good too, darling.” Your shy, yet bright smile ignites an eternal flame in his heart, wondering how he managed to snag such a brilliant human being. 

“Speaking of, have you seen how beautiful the sky was tonight?” Your soft hand takes his and he lets you lead him out of the crowded tent- if he was being honest, he’d let you lead him anywhere.

“Well, you know, they’re alright.” Harry joked, earning him a light punch on the shoulder from you. “One day, do you think we’d marry under the moonlight like tonight’s?” He knew it was forward, but he couldn’t help but to ask. Every day felt more and more rushed, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be alive the next day, the next week, or the next year.

You squeezed his hand gently, meeting his brilliantly emerald eyes as he desperately searched for an answer in your gaze. “We will. I’ll love you forever, Harry.” 

His heart feels like they’re about to burst through his ribcage, as he hastily closes the gap between your lips. Your lips taste like vanilla, and he savors every second, feeling your warmth, your soft skin, until the moment is broken by the chaos inside.

March 1998 Malfoy Manor

“Throw the three into the cellar! I... want to have a chat with this one!” Bellatrix Lestrange stomps over to you, recognizing your face immediately. She ignores Harry’s cries of threats and drinks you in dangerously. You stand tall, with nothing to hide, even though her presence sends chills down your spine.

“So... Y/L/N, that’s your name, isn’t it, girl? Your parents told me ALL about you, Y/N! Associating yourself with blood traitors! Mudbloods! Friends? With Gryffindors? Hufflepuffs!” She circles around you, like she was debating with herself on what she should do with you.

“Your parents... disowned you, I heard! You! Are a traitor to your blood!” With a swift flick of her wand, a deep cut appeared on your right arm. You screamed in pain, trying to supress the want to collapse on the floor.

“To your house!” Her wand swishes through the air, and another long, claw-like cut. This time almost slicing off your left leg. Your throat itches from the force as you let out another heart-wrenching scream, horrified at what she might end up doing to you. 

You didn’t want to die. 

“Y/N!! We have to help her. Please. Open, God-dammit! Bellatrix, she’ll kill her!” Harry yelled, tears splitting from his darkened eyes in the lit cellar, feeling the dark knot form in his stomach, hinting at something horrible that he felt was going to happen. He continuously banged his fist at the metal bars, but everyone knew it wasn’t going to come down.

Ron held Hermione silently as she cried.

“Bella, stop, her father-” Narcissa Malfoy’s fearful shout made Harry drain all colors in his face. 

“Harry, I love you.” You whisper under your breath.

“Avada Kedavra!” 

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the remaining prisoners in the cellar found themselves on the beaches of the shell cottage, all confused on what had just happened.

“No... Y/N, she did this.” Hermione gasped, tears blurring her vision as she looked out at the blue sky that seemed like it stretched out for miles.

Harry let out a pained shudder. Without even checking if you were here or not, he could feel that he lost you. That you were gone. From his grasp. You said forever. That you’d marry him under the moonlight. You said, you loved him. He was supposed to defeat Voldemort, and live the normal life you both craved. The realization that he wouldn’t be able to hear your voice, or your laugh, and he wouldn’t be able to feel you against him, your angelic eyes on him, dawned on Harry’s fragile heart. He let out yells of agony, knowing that no matter what he did, nothing would bring you back.

But you said forever.

“Oh, no.” Lily gulped, seeing that just talking about it pained her father, still. “But I don’t understand, what did she do before...” Lily trailed off, curious as to why your death resulted in the rest getting saved.

“It was ancient magic she used. Even Auntie Hermione didn’t know the incantations to it. She’d only read about it years ago. Before Y/N’s death, the charm would grant her to use one last spell without her wand. She used it on the disapparation and apparation for the 6 of us.” Harry looked distantly into the air, his hand reaching for the bracelet on his wrist.

“This was hers, cupcake. Recognize anything?” Harry held out your charmed bracelet in front of Lily, her eyes twinkling as she figured it out instantly. 

“My name?” Harry nodded with a hopeful smile on his face.

“Lily Luna Potter.” 

-

ps. Lily was named after you. You had always worn the moon charmed bracelet, and Luna = Moon. Many people thought it was after Luna Lovegood, but in reality, it was you.

[startanewdream]

Teenage behaviour

For @sweeethinny​ ‘s amazing prompt: ‘Instead of Harry seeing Molly's boggart, he sees Lily's, and faces him and his father dead on the floor, while his mother panics’.

Thanks again for this prompt! I always love to explore Lily and Harry’s relationship!

Read on AO3 or below the cut:

______________________________

Harry's smile doesn't reach his eyes.

Lily has been stealing glances in his direction all night, ever since she got home from her shift, and even though he is talking and eating and acting normal, she can see there is something restrained about him.

She looks around, trying to understand what is dampening his mood - not that it would need much lately, but still, he should be more thrilled about returning to Hogwarts tomorrow, especially considering their fear that he would be expelled. Everything seems normal, though. The kitchen is full of people talking and drinking, enjoying that last-minute party, and everyone's mood seems better than usual. She sees Ron listing the qualities of his new broom to Tonks, while Hermione is talking with Remus about her project of rights for house-elves. Both Ron and Hermione are still beaming because of today’s news.

She raises her eyes to the banner Molly hanged over the dinner table. That brings a warm smile to her lips; Molly had sounded more cheerful than Lily had seen her all summer when she had told proudly of Ron being made a prefect.

Then her eyes fall on Harry again. He is looking wistfully at the banner, with just a hint of guilt shining in his eyes.

Understanding hits her.

He wanted to be a prefect.

That doesn't make much sense for her, considering how Harry always inspired himself in James and how much Harry doesn’t seem to particularly care for authority figures, but there is disappointment and hurt in his eyes, no matter how much he tries to hide it.

Maybe it was some expectation that Dumbledore would choose him? Or he feels that people don’t trust him anymore? Or maybe he is feeling like he let his parents down for not being a prefect?

Whatever it is, she will have to do something about it. This would be easier if James was there that night - Harry does have a tendency to always hear whatever his dad says -, but since he is away on Order duty tonight, Lily will handle it alone. 

She looks around once more before locating Sirius and Ginny talking animatedly to each other; they are close enough to Harry so he will be able to hear them talking, so she approaches them.

‘Aubrey’s head was twice the normal size’, Sirius is saying, opening his hands to emphasize it, almost hitting Lily. ‘Oh, sorry, Lily’.

‘No harm done’, she says lightly. ‘Are you telling the infamous balloon head prank?’

‘I will let you know it’s one of the best Marauders pranks to date’, Sirius replies, seeming very proud of himself.

‘Don’t believe him, they originally wanted Aubrey’s head to shrink’, she tells Ginny conspiringly, making Ginny smirk. ‘And they didn’t even try to hide it, it led them directly into detention. No wonder you never made prefect’.

She knows Harry is looking in their direction, but she pretends to not notice.

‘Can you imagine, you and James as prefects?’

Sirius shudders, putting his hands over his heart and looking properly scandalous, just as Lily knew he would be.

‘We would never! Plus we would have to give ourselves detentions on a daily basis’.

‘Like Remus ever gave you any’, she scoffs playfully.

‘Well, he could turn a blind eye on us sometimes. Ok, most of the time’, Sirius concedes when Lily just raises her eyebrows. ‘But I remember a certain Head Girl doing the same’.

Lily laughs shamelessly.

‘If I didn’t catch you, how could I do anything? And with James as Head Boy, you certainly learned to avoid being caught’.

‘It sure helps when your best friend is Head Boy and decides the patrolling routes’, Sirius agrees, grinning.

‘Hang on’, Ginny says, frowning. ‘James was a Head Boy? Your James?’

Lily sees Harry joining their circle and she smiles to herself.

‘Yeah, we were as shocked as you when we found out’, says Sirius dramatically.

‘But he wasn’t a prefect -’

‘Head Boy and Head Girl may have been prefects, but if the headmaster thinks someone else should be, he can choose’, Lily explains. ‘It doesn’t matter whether you were a prefect or not, as long as you are responsible and trusting, really’.

‘You know, that was the only time I really considered telling Dumbledore we were animagi - we couldn’t let him think James was responsible -’

‘Come on’, Lily says fairly. ‘He had improved a lot by our seventh year, it made sense he would be a Head Boy’.

‘Oh, don’t tell my mum that’, Ginny pleads in a hushed whisper. ‘There is no way I will be a prefect next year, but then she might hope I get sense enough to be a Head Girl’. Ginny turns to Harry, shaking her head in fake panic, and Harry lets out an amused laugh.

They all laugh then, and Lily feels good when she sees Harry is more relaxed now as if remembering his father wasn’t prefect either is enough to raise his spirits.

She doesn’t say it and she doesn’t really mind, but she thinks Harry could be a Head Boy in a couple of years. Harry does have the leadership she saw in James in their last year at Hogwarts, even if he doesn’t mind breaking the rules now and then. But if he is not chosen, that will be fine for her too.

Lily hopes Harry understands this.

She shares a drink with Sirius, who is still telling adventures of the Marauders to Ginny, while keeping an eye on Harry. He drifts off to talk with Fred and George and Mundungus - a trio that speaks of trouble for her -, then he leaves them to sit on a chair, pretending to be busy drinking a butterbeer. His face is troubled once more and Lily resists the urge to sigh.

Harry’s changes of mood are more erratic than she can deal with these days. She always thought Death Eaters and bigotry would be the biggest challenges in her life, but now she thinks understanding teenage behaviour is much more difficult.

She throws a sympathetic look at Molly, who is yawning now, admiring the fact that Molly dealt with that seven times.

‘Oh, sorry, Lily’, Molly says, flushing. ‘I just woke up so early today…’

Lily smiles.

‘Go get some rest, Molly. I patch things up here later’. And when Molly opens her mouth, looking worried, Lily smiles. ‘I won’t let them stay up late, I promise’.

‘Thank you, dear. I am really tired… I’ll just sort out that boggart before I turn in -’

‘No, no, let me’, Lily offers. ‘Is that thing shaking the cabinet in the drawing room?’

‘Yes, Alastor confirmed to me tonight it’s a boggart’.

‘That’s on me then. Go rest’, Lily insists. ‘You already made too much today - helping to sort out that last-minute shopping list, this nice dinner. I’ll handle the boggart later, I will have to wait for James to come home anyway’.

Molly looks at her with a knowing expression.

‘I can never sleep before Arthur returns too’, she murmurs, and Lily is familiar with the fear shining in Molly’s brown eyes.

‘Everything is going to be okay’, she says calmly, even though they both know it is an empty promise. 

Molly bides her good night and Lily watches her go.

It really must be more difficult for her, Lily thinks. Seven children, one of them not talking with the family, and Molly already lost her two brothers in the first war. That makes the Weasley braver than her and James, she ponders; they aren’t hunted. They are choosing to be part of this war.

They really are the best family. She thanks silently the day Harry decided to sit together with Ron on the Hogwarts Express.

Speaking of her son, Mad-Eye is talking to him, showing him something, and even though Alastor looks as delighted as he can be, Harry seems to be sick.

Lily turns in his direction, determined to fix the situation again, but before she can reach them, Sirius distracts Mad-Eye and Harry escapes, crossing the kitchen in quick steps and slipping through the door before anyone can talk to him.

Great.

She walks to Mad-Eye and sees he is showing around an old photograph of the first Order of the Phoenix, that finally comes to her hand. Lily looks at herself, smiling hand-in-hand with James, and is startled to see how young they both look. Well, not just them. Everyone.

And those who are not here anymore look even younger.

She sees Marlene’s grin and Dorcas’s wistful smile and longing burns inside her for those evenings talking in the Common Room, for their girl’s night out after ending Hogwarts, for all the plans they made. They are so happy and hopeful in her memories, blissful to the fact Dorcas would face Voldemort alone, or that Marlene and all her family would perish in a fire.

She never said goodbye to any of them.

‘What were you talking about with Harry, Alastor?’, she asks in a quiet voice, returning the photo to him as if the distance can lessen the pain that photograph brings to her. She feels a little bit mad at him for bringing this photo to a party.

It’s not like she can or wants to forget all of those who died - it’s just she did not expect to see the reminder of all they lost so suddenly...

‘Just showing the boy the original group. Thought he might like it - so many stories to tell’.

Lily wonders if he told Harry the tragic end of most of those stories and she grimaces at the thought.

Harry doesn’t return so, after a while, Lily leaves the kitchen too. People are still talking animatedly and there are still a few minutes before she will have to break the party. But Lily doesn’t feel like chatting right now, so she may as well get things done. She considers going to see Harry, to check if his things are all packed for tomorrow, but he probably doesn’t want company. He is like her in that sense; prefers to be left alone to brood.

She enters the drawing room, looking around with mild interest. The children did make a good job cleaning everything up, but Grimmauld Place will never seem a happy place. Too many bad memories and dark thoughts, she thinks, as Kreacher passes behind herself, mumbling to himself and glaring at her.

Sirius forbade him of saying mudblood, but she only needs to look him in the eyes to feel the word.

There is nothing she can do about it and Lily prefers to fix on the problems she can solve anyway.

The cabinet close to the window is giving small jumps as if it’s alive. She walks to it, her mind already fixed on the remembrance of Aubrey with that big balloon head (he had really been a jerk and James and Sirius had pranked him for harassing first years muggle-borns, so she hadn’t mind laughing that time), and takes out her wand.

‘Alohomora!’

The cabinet opens and, appearing out of thin air, she sees James holding Harry as a baby, both lying in the ground, with eyes closed, pale and still. Dead.

They are dead.

Her heart beats faster and her mouth is suddenly dry, even as Lily knows this is just the boggart. It feels more like a dream, though, so she stays still for a few seconds, watching her husband and son’s corpses with a strange detachment. She really thought it would be just a dementor - and she would be ready for it this time.

But Lily supposes the memories that the dementor had arisen activated the true fear she had felt that night - that James and Harry would die while everything she could do was to watch hopelessly. Like she is doing now.

The fear creeps through her mind like smoke she can’t help but inhale, and that smoke makes her head light and dizzy, creating images in her head. She pictures how her life would be if that had happened, if Lily had taken Voldemort’s offer to stand aside while he murdered her husband and son and she was left alone. 

And lost. 

She wonders what she would have done and it’s surprisingly easy to answer. Find and kill Pettigrew, for starters, because there would be no James to hate him more than her and no son to give her other priorities. Then she would go after Voldemort; she would not rest until he was dead, no matter the cost. The boy-who-lived would be replaced by the mother-who-killed.

But then - and that is the scariest part - there would be nothing. No reason to live for. Her days would be empty and pointless, forever missing the two people she had most loved and knowing no vengeance would ever fill that hole…

‘Mum?’, she hears a voice asking, and for a moment Lily can’t really match the voice to anyone, certain she had never heard it before, that he died when he was just a baby -

She turns slowly to find Harry - her living son - at the door, looking at the dead bodies on the floor, then at her.

‘It’s a boggart’, Harry realizes. ‘Don’t - get out of here - let someone else -’

Harry looks worried for her. Somehow, this clears the smoke in her head. Lily steadies her hand and looks back at the corpses lying on the floor with nothing but determination.

‘Riddikulus!’, she says loud and clear, and the boggart turns into a man with a big blue balloon in the place of his head. Lily lets out a nervous laugh and the boggart vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Her heart is still beating faster, so Lily takes a moment to calm herself, to let all those bad feelings slip out of her; she almost jumps when she feels Harry’s hand on her shoulder. She had not heard him walking to her. 

'Mum?’, he calls very quietly. ‘Are you ok?’

'It was just a stupid boggart, Harry', she says, forcing herself to smile at him. Harry is frowning, seeing through her empty smile just as she sees through his. 'Just go to bed, tomorrow is -'

'Do you always see us?', he asks in a hushed whisper, ignoring her dismissal. 'I mean - that -'

He stops, unable to continue, and Lily feels a sudden urge to just tell him it was nothing and to let it go. She knows Harry would hate it, but he also would respect her desire to be left alone with her thoughts and fears.

But since all she’s been asking of her son lately is that he talks to her, Lily supposes she has to set the example.

'Sometimes, yes’, she admits in a low voice. ‘At other times it’s a dementor. But it’s all related to the same thing, really’.

Harry looks deep in thought and he stares at the point where the bodies were.

'It was me as a baby', he says, and Lily nods. 'But - why? I mean, I lived’.

She sighs once more and sits on the couch.

'Come here', she asks, and Harry sits opposite to her on the same couch, his legs crossed just like he used to do when he was young and was listening to one of her bedtime stories, except this time most of his leg is out of the couch. That makes her feel strangely comforted, even if she feels her eyes tearing up a little. ‘You grew up so fast’.

‘Mum -’, he starts, looking half-embarrassed as he always does when James or Lily start remembering him as a kid.

‘I am saying it like a good thing’, she promises. ‘I just feel so lucky to have witnessed it all’.

Harry seems confused.

‘Lucky?’

She looks away to where the boggart was on the floor.

‘When I think about that night - the one where you got your scar - I always remember how close we were to lose everything. How you were almost… you and James…’

‘But it didn’t happen’, he says forcefully. ‘We all survived’.

‘Yes, but back then, at the time - I didn’t think we would make it. I really thought… I really lost hope for a moment. Sometimes I still dream of that night, but my worst nightmares are… of that’. She points to the floor. ‘If somehow you and James were gone and I was left alone -’

She can’t continue. Harry breathes heavily.

‘You wouldn’t be alone, I mean, you would still have Remus and Sirius, they -’

‘Harry’, she interrupts him softly, looking back at him. He already seems distraught, but she has to make him understand. ‘I love them, of course, but how would it be if I and your father had died then? If you were raised by Remus and Sirius?’

He stays silent for a moment and Lily can see him picturing all that alternative life. Lily supposes Sirius as a figure parent is an amusing idea, but Harry doesn’t smile for a second.

‘It would never be enough’, he whispers at least. ‘They would never replace you’.

‘They would never try to, I am sure, but... This is it. A life without you and your father would be just - just empty for me. And that’s what I fear the most. That I would be too weak that night and that I had to watch you both dying’.

‘You are strong’, Harry says resolutely, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, though Lily can’t tell if he is doing that for her sake or his own, to also confirm to him that everything is alright. ‘I - I heard what happened’.

‘What do you mean?’

Harry looks abashed, and he lowers his eyes.

'That’s why dementors hit me so hard. The thing I hear when they are near… It’s that night. Bits of it, but I hear... You and Voldemort. You plead for me, and he - he laughs and tells you to stand aside, but you refuse. You always refuse’.

Lily blinks, feeling the blood leaving her face.

'You never said anything’.

'I didn't want to upset you', Harry whispers. 'I know you don't like remembering it'.

She gives him a tiny smile despite everything. She never told him about her own worries, but Harry probably noticed how even though she didn't have any problem explaining about Voldemort, only James would talk to him about that Halloween night.

Harry sees more than people give him credit for.

'You could have told me', she says softly. 'It is not your job to worry about me, Harry'.

'But I do', he admits. 'I don't want anything to happen to you'.

There is a desperation in his voice now, like if he is really afraid something could happen with her and, with a jolt, Lily realizes they never really talked about what happened earlier that month, about how Harry drew away the dementors from her.

About how he needed to do it because she had frozen.

'I am sorry to have scared you', she says tenderly.

'It's not - I wasn't really scared with that boggart'.

Lily believes him. Harry seems to think his father is invincible and he is too selfless to regard his own death as something to be afraid of.

'I meant about the dementors a few weeks ago. And if somehow you thought I couldn't handle that boggart right now'.

Harry blinks.

'I didn't think that', he says slowly, and Lily knows he is considering his own feelings on the matter. 'I mean - I know what you are capable of'.

'I just don't want you thinking that you need to take care of me. I am the parent here. That's my job'.

'I don’t want to lose you’, he whispers guiltily, as if somehow even thinking about it should be wrong. ‘I wouldn’t - I don’t know how I could cope if -’

Harry looks so fragile right now that she does the simplest thing. She stretches her legs, in an offer, and Harry lies down, placing his head on her lap, allowing her to caress his hair like she used to do when he was young, until he would fall asleep.

‘I won’t live forever, Harry’, she says softly. ‘Someday you will be without me - and really, that’s what I hope for’. When he looks startled, she adds with a smile: ‘That you get to live longer than me. That you get a full happy life’.

‘It will only be happy if you are there’, he insists. ‘You and dad. You -’, he stops, closing his eyes as if he doesn’t want her to see more of his emotions than he is already letting it show on his voice. ‘You need to be careful. I know you are good, but - sometimes people are just in the wrong place in the wrong time’.

She knows what he is talking about and she remembers seeing Harry and Cedric Diggory leaving together for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, both looking thrilled that it would be over soon and that one of them might win the Tournament.

And she remembers when they all noticed something was off, when there were whispers of a dead champion and how she had feared so much that it would be Harry… And the guilt she’d felt later when she was just relieved that it wasn’t him.

The good die young, her mother used to say somberly when she saw news of a tragedy.

Lily thinks about the photograph of the old Order, of hope and dreams that mattered none when the people were dead, and she finally understands what upset Harry enough to make him leave the dining party.

‘Moody told you what happened with people from the first Order of the Phoenix’, she says.

Harry bits his lips, looking away from her.

���I can’t promise you me and your father will make it through this war, Harry’, she says slowly, wishing she could lie to him about it. ‘But I can assure you that we will make everything we can to live… and if not, we will always be with you, you do know that, right?’

She touches his chest, right above his heart, and Harry trembles.

‘I know’, he concedes at least, but there is sorrow in his eyes. Then he looks back at her. ‘Moody told me about the Prewetts and Benjy and the Longbottoms and… I recognized Marlene from that photo in your office. You never told me her whole family had died too’.

‘It was just too painful’, Lily sighs. ‘It was just after your first birthday, when we were already hiding and I remember thinking... maybe I should have done something, I should have protected her -’

‘It was not your fault!’, Harry cries, looking appalled that she feels like that.

Lily refrains herself of pointing out the irony there.

‘I know. It’s Voldemort’s fault’, she pauses, looking at the eyes that are a mirror to hers. ‘Everything that happened. Blame him, blame the people who think like him and allow him to ascend to power, but never blame anyone else’.

Harry blinks and doesn’t answer her. 

‘We are better prepared this time’, she tells him, still playing with his hair gently. ‘It will not be like in the First War - we started too late then and we were too few. Now - now we have a better idea of what we need to do, of what he’s after -’

‘The weapon’, he says, and Lily remembers their first night in Grimmauld Place and what little they had told Harry. They never really said it was a weapon, but if Harry thought so, it was for the better.

He didn’t need to hear about that prophecy, not yet. It would give him the wrong ideas probably.

‘Among other things’, she says vaguely. 

He sits again, looking rather upset at her.

‘You really won’t tell me?’

‘That’s not your burden to care, Harry. Not now. I know you don’t like to hear that and I know you don’t think it’s fair, but… when you are older. Of age, at least. After school. If there is still a war going on then… then we can talk about you joining the Order and knowing things’.

Harry doesn’t look like he believes her. ‘You would just not care if I joined the Order? Simple as that?’

‘I will care’, she guarantees, running a hand nervously through her hair as James would have done. ‘But I won’t forbid you. No one forbade me, it wouldn’t be fair if I tried to stop you’.

He still looks suspiciously, but Lily just returns his gaze without blinking. She is telling him the truth; sure, she will do everything she can so that Voldemort can be finished before he is of age, but if he is seventeen and the war is still happening, she knows she won’t be able to stop him.

Like her, Harry never refrains from doing the right thing and she taught him to never stand for prejudice.

‘And until then? What do I do? Just sit here waiting?’, he asks, but for once he doesn’t sound like he is fighting with her.

‘Of course not. You can study’. When Harry grimaces, she smiles. ‘Everything you do in school is important. Every lesson - yeah, even Potions, don’t give me that look. You study and you use it to prepare yourself. Not just you, but Ron and Hermione too. All of you must be ready for what happens outside. Life won’t be like in school all the time, where you know when a spell will hit you or that when the bell rings you are safe’.

Harry bits his lips, looking thoughtful.

‘I know it’s not. I mean - for the Triwizard Tournament I learned a lot of spells and how to cast them, but - when it comes to the real thing, when -’, he takes a deep breath. ‘- when I was in the graveyard with Voldemort, it’s not like in school. It’s just your guts and instinct and - and trying to survive’.

This is the most Harry has said about the night of Voldemort’s resurrection to her and, for the first time, Lily wonders if she really wants to know. Just thinking about the desperation he must have felt fighting for his life…

He survived, she tells herself. You won’t be able to keep him under your wings forever, so you give him all the skills you can. You make sure he will be ready.

‘That is it, Harry. Promise you will take your studies seriously this year. Not just because of the OWLs, but because you know what’s happening out here, even if everyone else is denying it’.

He looks solemnly as he gives a tiny nod to her.

‘I will. And I will make sure others are prepared too. I - I don’t want - what happened to Cedric - to ever happen again’.

She smiles serenely to him, even as she remembers Amos Diggory’s cries and thinks darkly he won’t be the last parent to despair for his child in this war.

The good die young.

‘Are you going to stay here?’, he asks, distracting her from her grim thoughts. Lily sighs.

‘No, I promised Molly I would make sure everyone is in their bed not too late. You know how chaotic September 1st can be. And then -’

‘Then?’

‘I will just stay up a little bit longer’.

Harry looks at her as if he can see all that she is not telling him.

‘Dad will be home late?’ he asks, though it doesn’t really seem a question. Lily just sighs, confirming it. ‘I could keep you company’.

Lily smiles more warmly now.

‘You can go rest, Harry, it’s no problem. I’ll just make myself a tea and wait in the kitchen’.

‘I’m not sleepy’, he assures her. ‘I haven’t been sleeping much. I keep having the weirdest dream, really… And, well, I thought we could make some hot chocolate’.

That brings a warmth to her that has nothing to do with the beverage. She thinks of late nights with James and Harry, especially in winter, when they would make hot chocolate and share it in front of the fireplace in their house.

That kind of silly small moments that never seem important as you are living them, but somehow they turn into your favourite memories.

‘With whipped cream?’, she asks, her voice lighter now, and Harry smirks, making his resemblance to James more evident.

‘You can even put a little bit of brandy and I won’t tell anyone’.

She blushes, getting up. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’.

‘I’m fifteen, mum, I get it now what was the medicine in your chocolate’.

‘When did you get so smart?’, she asks playfully, taking his arm so they can descend the stairs together to the kitchen. ‘Anyway, no alcohol for you’.

‘Spoilsport’, he complains without any real malice. ‘When will I get to drink?’

‘If you are still asking me, Harry, then you are still too young, trust me’, Lily answers grinning.

Harry shakes his head, mumbling to himself almost indignantly but this is such a normal teenage behaviour that Lily will take it without complaining. That’s the kind of thing she wants him to be worried about.

She kisses him softly on the cheek before they enter the kitchen, knowing Harry would be too embarrassed to be seen receiving a kiss from his mother in front of everyone - another very usual teenage behaviour -, and smiles to herself.

‘Thanks for the company’, she says later, when they are alone in the kitchen after sending everyone to bed.

‘Anytime, mum’, he promises, filling his cup with whipped cream, while they accommodate themselves to wait for James to come home.

[worldcakecakecake]

Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth,  we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule,  go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to  be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I  Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 IChapter 9I Chapter 10I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42 I Chapter 43 I Chapter 44 I Chapter 45 I Chapter 46I Chapter 47 I Chapter 48 I Chapter 49 I Chapter 50 I Chapter 51 I Chapter 52 I Chapter 53 I Chapter 54 I Chapter 55 I Chapter 56 I Chapter 57 I Chapter 58 I Chapter 59 I Chapter 60I Chapter 61 I Chapter 62 I Chapter 63 I Chapter 64  I Chapter 65 I Chapter 66 I Chapter 67 I Chapter 68  I Chapter 69 I Chapter 70 I Chapter 71 I Chapter 72 I Chapter 73 I Chapter 74 I Chapter 75 I Chapter 76 I Chapter 77 I Chapter 78 I Chapter 79 I Chapter 80

Look! A chapter! HOOZA! SO DARN CLOSE OMG! Yes, like always, I apologize for taking so long, tons of things, as usual. I hope the chapter makes do for it...I guess. Enjoy!

                                                              Chapter 81

And celebration rang, with shouts and applauses, the swing of flags and surviving weapons decorating the field in wonderful splendor. Some jumped, danced, complete strangers embraced one another or even kissed in the passion of lovers. Roderich and Francis couldn’t help but to cry, Elizabeta, Lili and Vash embracing them…not long before they joined in the same tears. Alfred took as many as he could in for the largest group hug he intended to make, much to Arthur’s distaste of being squeezed between many of his people. As Yao was trying to find his escape, he bumped into Ivan, who proceeded to take him into a large embrace, the very one the Spadian Jack was trying to avoid. Yet as Ivan took his lip…he didn’t find himself minding any longer. He wrapped his arms around the Clubian King’s neck and let himself that beautiful bliss.

 The three Heartian royals stood alone in this sudden feast. Feliciano had already commanded that none were to come close, and so they yet remained in their field were Khaos’s last traces had been, still in the same silence that had welcomed them when Khaos was at last officially defeated.

 “What are we waiting for?” Kiku asked, because indeed that was what it felt like they were doing, especially with Feliciano looking on as if…expecting someone to come.

 “Is this about that one thing you asked us to protect? That Khaos had?” Feliciano nodded to Ludwig, taking steps forward, right towards this sun rise. Ludwig and Kiku stayed behind and watched, giving Feliciano some space to breathe and focus.

 “…he’s here,” he whispered after the silence he wanted was reached.

 It wasn’t a message for Ludwig, for Kiku, for anybody there.

 “…he’s here…I know he’s here…” he whispered on, a hand reaching so it could focus on one spot.

 The wind that blew now was different, the energy that came ancient, along with the magic and form that even to Ludwig and Kiku, felt as the arise of a person. And there, in a sudden flash, there was a red ball of fire, fitting along with the sun, potent and shinning to them like another burning star.

 Feliciano sighed, smiled…and even began to cry. “He’s here…He’s here…” he still repeated.

 Something suddenly changed in the air, like an earthquake…but nothing shook, nothing trembled, magic and energy just rained, at first, invisible, like a force that brought everyone to silence as their eyes came to the Heartian royals, to the center of what was occurring. Then there was flashes of light, golden and glittering, blowing and seeming to scream into the skies. Feliciano was engulfed in it, in fact, from him it turned larger, a calming fire blazing, arising into the skies, taking the whole field, in beautiful reds and golds that the Heartian Queen helped to make tall, letting his halo, his marks, his wings, shine on up. It was a storm that reminded them of when Khaos had first turned, but this…although powerful and indeed fearsome at first, it was gentle, caring, a beauty that instead of turning away all, it brought and made them aw in a combine admiration. A form became evident, gigantic and towering, with flowers, jewels and silk to cover…her…in grace. From the rains of this colorful and royal feast, she came, showing herself in all her pure form. She was as high as Khaos had been, looking down to all her people with deep fondness in large ruby eyes. Ah, she was gorgeous. Her curled hair fell down to her knees, crowned with a large golden pillar halo that matched well with the specks of gold in her long red dress, tainted like stars, like constellations.  Her skin was marked in long lines of vines and symbols, identical to the ones Feliciano held. They also shared a set of wings, although hers were with a hint of rose, much larger, surely to extend to the next mountains if she spread them open. And then the structure of her face, her smile…Feliciano, Lovino, Renata and all the rest of the Valenti knew she was family. For a moment, they were reminded of Augusto and understood then why he had the perfect namesake. Even as she stood gigantically over them, especially when she kneeled, her reach to the ground soft like wind, none were intimidated, all smiled and welcomed the presence of an Ace.

 “…Nonna Augusta,” Feliciano greeted her so meekly once the release was completed.

 She looked to him with deep fondness, kneeling and bringing her head much closer to his. Ludwig and Kiku were startled slightly back at being right before a large face like this, if even so beautiful.

 “Feliciano…” and she smiled with a ring that surely brought music to the whole valley, “l’hai fatto.” He shook at the realization once again…completed and fulfilled. “A mission that I set upon a thousand years ago, one in which the state of your world and mine was held at a delicate balance. I harbored power through my family, generation by generation, until it was with you that the next alignment found itself with. It was much to put that responsibility on only you, so young and still so new to a ruling of a kingdom. Yet, it was by your hand that it was done. With a belief and effort that I was proud to witness, see it grow and now…I watch as it shines.” Feliciano blushed, so intense that he wanted to hide it, not being able to continue his stare with his great grandmother.

 “Of course, I also owe congratulations and compliments to the King and Jack.” Ludwig and Kiku startled, more so when this great Ace bowed to them. “Your own growth, I paid attention to, and it is worthy of your position.” And they couldn’t answer, as nervous and blushing as Feliciano. “And the others…” she turned to meet their gazes in the crowd, their knees shaking and eyes widened as if taking blame. She couldn’t help the chuckle. “Brave you have been, courageous and a great loyalty shown to your kingdom. Your respective Ace I know is just as proud.” They wanted to faint from the honor. Even Alfred was left speechless and without a high comment to say.

 “And your people, who without every piece of help they could give…we would not stand victorious here now. I thank you all. You have brought to this world a peace that has never been, new and promising. Darkness has disappeared and now light will always be prominent.” Shy cheers and applauses spread, part of the crowds wanted to remain respectful, as presentable as possible for an Ace. Augusta partly rolled her eyes at it, Feliciano giggled at such a human presentation. It was just the ring that brought her giant gaze back to him again.

 “You have freed me from your vessel. No doubt you learned it in the Eternal Reserved.” Feliciano nodded sheepishly, worried that perhaps it was something she had not wished.  “Why so?” She asked and for a moment Feliciano forgot every single language he knew. He needed a moment to bring his words back, leaving a silence that left everyone else with tension.

 “I know…you would want to meet him again in person…” was all he could utter.

 Ah…of course.

 Her expression suddenly changed to something so unsure and weak, a pain that had been there for thousands of years presented. She then turned to the small ball of fire that Feliciano had brought only minutes ago. It looked so insignificant and small to all, yet for her, who reached and engulfed it in the palm of her hand with care, love deep in her eyes, making her flourish the more, it was a worth higher than any gold. She smiled, with a hint of a lake forming in her eyes, standing once again to bring this light closer to her heart. There, between folds of satin, lay the most prominent and beautiful of all the designs on her body. Feliciano could recognize it as the most ancient Heart symbol and the light fitted perfectly to its art.

 “Romulus…Romulus…” she prayed his name in relief, caressing it as if he was fully there.

 He was…he was truly there.

 Ludwig and Kiku exchanged glances with wide eyes and mouths.

 “You have to thank Ludwig and the Beilschmidts,” and he turned to his husband with such pride, like he was the one that did the magic. Ludwig startled and for a moment didn’t understand his part in it. “They carried his soul along, for just the time that you passed through my lineage. It was corrupted…and you saw how Khaos used it for his own purpose.” A dark memory that brought gruesome shivers to Ludwig. He turned his attention to Augusta’s light and suddenly it was gone. “But he learned to control it, to fight against it…and together we purified it…united it with another part Khaos still held and he is now…with you.” Feliciano was joyous, and he knew his great grandmother more so, letting the light bounce and letting herself laugh. Truly a wonder.

 “Oh, Feliciano. I could give you the whole world for doing all of this…and in fact.” There was indeed a reward that was to be given, and released or not, she would make do Feliciano received it. She extended her large arm long, closed her eyes, and called forward a strong magic, potent and surely meant to break apart the very line that divided their world from others. It was the kind of power that not even Feliciano knew or didn’t think he would ever reach enough to master. This was portal opening, Augusta with an ease creating a large window enough to give her enormous frame passage. Other than just an opening, the edges were decorated and strengthened with beautifully carved pillars, pots and statues that rained on magic and light, with flowers vines of red and gold that bloomed before their eyes and seemed to dance at the welcome of their Ace. Inside its frame was just light, reflecting and glimmering in pinks wonderfully. What was on the other side, they couldn’t see, but it awaited them patiently, yet the three royals were hesitant, as if a bar was still being held in front of them.

 Augusta smiled at them, “come.” A barefoot went easily in, just as the waters and dives Feliciano remembered from the Interludes. She let her whole body go in its taking, with her dress, hair, wings and halo. A single hand gave a final wave to all her people and she was gone, only leaving behind the light of the portal. Kiku, Ludwig and Feliciano were yet frozen…but Feliciano was the one to take a deep breath and dared to be the first to take a step. It was just like the interludes…there was nothing to fear. It was the example and leadership Ludwig and Kiku followed, matching along together to be granted passage as a single force.

 Feliciano recognized this feeling of going between, the feel as if water purifying you into a new world, while Kiku and Ludwig were startled at this wonderment, almost tripping in their welcome. With the change of the portal, Ludwig and Kiku were granted their very own form. Both with reddish and golden marks, wings, Ludwig’s a darker red while Kiku’s were almost orange. They shone with strong halos, of fire, heavy surely if it was back in their own world…but here it was as light as another strand in their hair. Their clothes turned into richness and beauty as the very ones Augusta had shown herself in, to the style of their province, making clear their origins, the three making quite a trio as they stood above a stage that put them to look below to what this world was.

 They were left breathless, almost fainting at the colors, the sound of the creatures that roamed freely and confident, palaces and palaces, piling up, shinning with the rarest of crystals and forms, with water, routes, trees and flowers cascading down to different floating islands. Clouds and mist seemed to grant them this flight, this place in between the folds of the universe, perfect like heaven.

 “What…what…” Kiku tried to word but was still too taken to really continue what he meant to ask.

 “What is this place?” Ludwig somehow managed to reach.

 “The heavens,” And Augusta appeared beside them, not gigantic, but matching with their own statures, yet still decorated as beautifully. She placed comforting and welcoming hands on their shoulders, leading them, with the way she practically flew forward, telling them to follow her. She easily went over the precipice, with each step creating a path of golden bricks, shaped with clouds and shine, a hint of pink to them that the three royals couldn’t resist their own step towards.

 They passed well-turned spirits and souls, riding happily on the backs of dragons, phoenixes or St. Marks, each animal decorated just as gorgeously as their human counterparts. They spotted trees and flowers that they had never seen before, overflowing from roofs, some even floating, in the control of those who wanted to make them fly or make them sprinkle the air.

 Feliciano had to try and remember every detail, every portrait, every scene painted on walls, the capture of statues, or nature in vases, bricks, sidewalks, glasses and crystals reflecting more whatever shine decided to present itself as they walked on.

 The deeper they went, the more came to gather, shouting, congratulating, in an array of different languages, some their own but as it was spoken two hundred years ago. From their wear, their marks, their wings or halos, they saw people from a span of many years, Feliciano recognizing many of their clothes from old paintings.

 Augusta continued to lead them through this celebration, floating them through the streets, the golds, between arches of sapphire, pillars in diamonds and green vines coming alive through every wall. Even as the songs and shouts were directed at them, the three royals, taken still by what they saw, couldn’t raise their hands, couldn’t utter a word, their eyes still occupied taking every detail, every movement, every color. Augusta kept leading them through crevices and wondrous corners, until she could expose them to surely the four largest palaces in the realm.

 Nothing in their world could compare to their tallness, their majesty, shine and as Augusta laid them back on the ground, right before the road that could lead to her red and golden one, the three royals felt unworthy to step on such a pavement. They were left no other choice as Augusta blew away with ease the road for them she had created, bringing them to the center of this feast, to the loudest of all the cheers, and also the very center of their universe. They noticed then three beings come, one in blue, the other green, and one in yellow. Even as they stood in their same stature, the Heartians could feel nothing but power and magic from them, almighty and way above whatever reaches they could reach even when they were right there. They knew they were the other Aces. Artem, Maiara and Jabbar. They came to meet their fellow sister…who they hadn’t seen like this in surely centuries. In an act that was utterly human, they all came into an embrace, together, in an union that Feliciano swore he could see their entire world shine in. Augusta let herself go to introduce forward the royals chosen for her own kingdom, the three surely shaking and with eyes of enchantment…but also panic. They bowed, as low to the ground, kneeled and hands extended as they were taught in the very rare case they were in front of all four Aces.

 “No need, stand.” Artem commanded, and quick, like they had been scolded, they stood, precise and orderly. “No such greetings are needed.”

 “It is us that should bow,” Maiara reminded as she started, the rest of the three following in her lead, their thanks large as their knees reached the ground and their hands came to them in reverence.

 They wanted to say something…wanted to tell them that it was not necessary…they didn’t deserve this, shown as if Aces themselves. Despite everything, they were still only human, not beings that created this entirety. Yet…it was an honor…one that strained their words and their actions, embarrassingly only standing there agape…it was only Feliciano who began to cry, having to put his arms to himself to try and keep his feelings under some kind of control. “Oh, please, please stop! Stand!” He in the end had to shout at them.  And all four rose up with smiles and laughter.

 “You have saved your world,” Jabbar continued.

 “And through it, our own, here in the Heavens,” Augusta spread her arms to show it, even to the souls that celebrated and cheered from their heights, in their celestial homes and days. Truly beauty, a jewel, shinning eternally in colors that now Feliciano really hoped he could remember to sketch it all to his memory.

 “As well as the Interludes, the very passage and line that balances all our worlds. If it wasn’t for your actions…all of it could have been gone,” Artem continued. “It still stands, by your efforts.”

 Maiara then chuckled, “with the use of wisdom, your power, the trust you placed not only on one another, but your people had on you.”

 “And above all, love being the driving force that stood against all. Ludwig, Feliciano, your love truly defeated Khaos,” Augusta resonated some words Augusto had said himself. Ludwig and Feliciano blushed, turning towards one another wanting more than ever to kiss and hug each other in that very love that won this war. Oh, if Augusto…that reminded Feliciano. He turned and looked towards whatever floating islands, to whatever rush of people…hoping to find those familiar curls he himself inherited.

 “Feliciano!” Came that known shout.

 Just like that, Feliciano was almost on the ground from the force his grandfather greeted him in, his embrace just the same, with celebration and pride that just had to be showcased even before the Aces. Of course, Kiku and Ludwig couldn’t be left out from it. Once Augusto made the space, he took both the King and Jack to the same embrace, laughing and practically dancing in circles.

 How they have missed these joyous little feasts between themselves, loud and happiness glowing for all to witness.

 “I’m so proud, so proud for all of you. You have done amazing!” He shouted, going as far as to even kiss Ludwig and Kiku, both left dumbfounded at such an action, but they smiled at it and took it as but another way to shout celebration. Feliciano hanged himself over him, laughing and letting himself be that child that long ago used to do just that. In heaven, before the Aces, it didn’t matter. He would let everyone know how much he loved and how dear was his grandfather to him.

 But his grandfather wasn’t alone, with him came tailing a whole group, wearing all similar wears of reds and golds, a symbol that they all shared, proof of being Heartian, Italian, and more specifically, Valenti.

 “Oh! Vieni! Vieni! You have to meet your family!” He pulled Feliciano and the rest to this large crowd, all with the famous Valenti curls, from blondes to brunettes, even an occasional red-head. From distinct and strong facial features, to the simple ones like his own. Some were very tall, others beautifully plum, some, whether men or women, had short hair above their ears, others had none, or some had it falling down their back. It was all to the styles of the times they were born into. Feliciano was shy to meet them, even if indeed they were all family, but it was unexpected, it was too much…yet he didn’t mind giving his greetings, hugging even some he had heard much about, going on with random chats as if they had known each other all their lives. The Aces didn’t mind this, they let Feliciano this reunion with his family…it would be good persuasion with what they were about to offer.

 “Feliciano,” Augusta called him forward, open arms, and Feliciano rushed to it, not at all hesitating in the hold he took of her hands. Warm, comforting and like home. Augusta shook them and suddenly she found herself nervous to say what she wanted. But a turn to the Aces, a nod, an approval, and of course, a hurry and excitement, and Augusta turned to her great grandson determined.

 “Feliciano, what you have done, is deserving of an award.”

 “Nonna, really, you don’t-”

 “Amore, please let me…I promised this and it is something you must come along and take.” A deep breath, a silence suddenly coming, no one daring to disturb the words of an Ace. It was quite eerie how the entire heavens just fell silent for this. “As I have told, as I prophesied and the other Aces and I have made ready for centuries…in the hopes that Khaos was indeed defeated…” she breathed, she prepared, “Feliciano…you must come to live with me in the heavens now and become…” she turned, pulling him them closer to the road that will lead to her palace, all of a sudden presenting itself with more shine. “The new Ace of Hearts.”

 Suddenly, angels came, marching like an army, only to decorate the road, raising flags upon flags to decorate in welcome, surely for a pathway they wanted the Heartian Queen to take.  Some played drums and trumpets, added then with the cheer of the crowds, already celebrating as if Feliciano had already passed the palace gates…making it officially his new home. Then, a creature, a St. Mark walked towards him, having journeyed from the Heartian Ace palace. This one was large, majestic, decorated with more jewels, with armors that could go against meteors and surely with a roar that could cause earthquakes in his world. It was Fabius, Augusta’s own St. Mark like Pookie was to Feliciano. The lion, now small, cowered on Feliciano’s shoulder, intimidated by this one…even if it was his father. The St. Mark bowed to Feliciano and the Queen did so back, the creature seeming to smile and shine along with the celebration, moving aside for when Feliciano came forward. Augusta cuddled herself towards him and the Lion, no matter how godly, leaned towards her in the same devotion.

 Ludwig and Kiku on the other hand, stilled, the news only downcasting them, not even the feast around them enough to bring them back into light. Ludwig…tried hard to hide how already he was breaking apart inside, defeated…like he had already lost Feliciano over a precipice he would never reach for him again.

 He knew…he knew this would happen…he knew this would come…if what they wanted occurred…this was to be the next step, the finality that settled everything and made an ending to this story. It’s one of the reasons he had tried to keep him apart after the eight year gap, why he refused to accept his feelings as well as Feliciano’s, refusing any kind of advance so Feliciano could accept it all as he deserved.

 He had wanted this not to hurt, he sometimes liked to daydream that he would applaud and only wave Feliciano some sort of goodbye that will settle well for an eternity. He would turn and march on with a smile on his face. But here now…he couldn’t move, couldn’t say a word but shake and try to hold down the tears that surely wanted to burst and reveal the moment of weakness this was. Kiku must have noticed…he must be feeling the same way, and they gazed between one another in a moment of understanding and trying to reach some comfort.

 “Should we…?” Kiku surely questioned if there was a way to stop this, to place themselves as a hold to what this future could be. Ludwig, with a deep breath, looked away, ready as if to leave that instant away from the heavens. Suddenly it didn’t hold the same charm anymore.

 “No…this is…this is…the greatest award that could be given. Glory that Hearts, our world, neither we can ever match with,” he sighed, still trying to make himself believe those words. “We will congratulate him…and leave.” And Ludwig, without even looking at Kiku, could just feel his utter refusal, but in part he did have to agree with those words, instead, hiding to himself whatever he meant to say, what he meant to act.

 “He’ll…he’ll make a great Ace…at least we’ll know were under right guidance…and the balance of the universe is in good hands.” This was goodbye and there was not more to be done.

 As Ludwig tried to take a last grasp of his husband between the still celebrating multitudes…he only wished he could properly say goodbye…hold him and kiss him one last time before anything…but by the looks of it…it didn’t seem likely. He sighed and accepted that whatever glimpses he could get would be the last he would have of him.

 Yes…to Feliciano…this was all glorious. The floating islands, the wonderful colors, the magic, the richness of these palaces and castles, of the roars of the people around him. Yes…it was an eternal celebration that would keep him mighty for eons. He thought about how he still possessed the hand of creation, looking down to his hands as if already he could see everything he could bring alive…whole new worlds, cosmos and universes extending far beyond this one. Yet in that expanse…he spotted clearly the bearing gems. Two identical ones on each side of his hands…both shinning like their own sun, lighting and bringing life to a world…he had promised someone he would help create. It was in that moment he turned to Ludwig…who refused to meet his eyes, yet he saw sorrow in them that Feliciano shared in, suddenly the colors and music greying and lifeless to him. Those around him easily saw how his smile disappeared, and the shine in his eyes was gone. They silenced at such display, giving him space, thought, and the Aces could show their question as to why he know saddened when he was at the center of such an opportunity. Feliciano was scared to utter these words, here at the mercy of the Aces…but he had to insist, had to make them understand.

 “And…if I don’t want to?” He placed the idea, one that surprised all, not thinking that it would be something that Feliciano would dare consider when what they would give they thought would be above whatever Hearts had.

 “Feliciano, these are the heavens, a position as an Ace, with riches and everything you want at your fingertips. Why would there be a reason to deny?” Augusta tried to persuade.

 “Who’s going to take care of my children?”

 Augusta widened as if she was just finding out…when in reality…she had completely forgotten about that detail, having to reconsider, organize, with a glance to the other Aces and they quickly came to another decision.

 “They shall be born here and stay with you.”

 “Away from their father? From their grandparents…their family…their home. Leave everything behind as if it was all nothing…”

 A long silence before Jabbar dared speak, “Are you truly only speaking about the children? Or is this about yourself?” With how Feliciano widened, it made sure that Jabbar hit straight to what the Queen felt.

 “Yes…it’s also what I feel.” Here he turned to his Jack and King, a large smile that showed true to a promise. “This…this place is beautiful. A dream, a wonder, this chance…rare…perhaps I would be the only one for centuries to come that will be granted something like this…yet…” he began to walk towards his friend, his husband, no one around him daring to intrude his sure and set path. “Hearts…the world…mean so much to me. Enough it is my heaven, my place. It is home.” Now he stood right in front of them, his words now for them to hear. “When I was born…you saw someone in me that could save the world…but you also gave me a position, you gave me a duty as the Queen of Hearts.” Close yet to his Jack and King, he turned to face the Aces again. “Many times…I doubted it…I had wished and prayed that it wouldn’t be my destiny…I even tried to run away from it once…but now I see that it is my place, it is my calling…it will be wrong of me to turn away from it now…” He grasped one hand of Kiku, another of Ludwig’s. “My reign is still so young…there is still so much I can do in Hearts, so much I can help the whole world with, so much I should be there for. Nonna Augusta…you’re back again…the position is for you as the universe intends.” He hoped they understood, he hoped he wasn’t creating an offence, wasn’t disrespecting. But as Kiku and Ludwig grasped their own hold on their Queen’s hand…Feliciano smiled and suddenly stood higher, understanding then…there was no need to worry for any spite of gods. He knew then that they were in no position to react such a way against them, especially after saving their worlds.

 His next words had a confidence as tough as the pillars and gold the buildings here were made of. “I want to stay in Hearts. I want to stay with my people. I want to stay with my Jack…and I want to stay with my husband.” The devotion, the utter love these two exchanged, made all the four Aces realize that they were naïve to think that Feliciano would chose a life away from this man. “I know my place…and it is with my family.”

 To his surprise, the Aces smiled between one another, a new energy spread…and it wasn’t bad or punishing. Augusto began to chuckle, the rest of the Valenti there joining him, with laughs that shared joy across all the souls present.

 “Very well then…you will stay to finish your reign in Hearts,” Artem spoke in decision.

 “When it is done, and you have lived your life as any Queen, you will be welcomed here,” Maiara continued.

 “The same shall await you then, and Ludwig, Kiku and every important member in your life shall all have a safe assurance of an afterlife here,” Jabbar said.

 “Till then, we will await you. Now, we wish you farewell, a wondrous life to give to the world and to your family,” Augusta wished, coming over to give an embrace that to Feliciano was just like those of his family. He enjoyed from this warmth, wrapping his own arms around her as echoes of new celebration began to ring. In this hold, Feliciano released magic that had been weighted on him since birth…the hand of creation. In a wonderful swirl of platinum and gold, it was transferred back to Augusta. She splendored more in its shine as it placed her back as creator and superior goddess. When it was finished, she welcomed in the rest of the Valenti, and Feliciano enjoyed the most from his grandfather, surely to be the last for a long time. He had his chance to give his own to his grandmother, Helena, who he had never had the chance to meet in his world…he saw a lot of her in Lovino…and suddenly he already missed him and his nephew.

 “Go and live,” his grandfather wished, and with those words, Feliciano had to tearfully let go of them, turning to then place them with Ludwig, who grasped Feliciano…relieved beyond however he had felt before. Without a care on who stared, where he was…he spun Feliciano to have him in front, hands adjusted on his waist, to pull him into a kiss, strong, magical, these forms giving it a touch that made sparks surely glow all around them. When they released and looked into their eyes…Feliciano truly saw that he had made the right decision. Ludwig raised his hands and let his fingers caress on the jewels…excited and hoping for a bright future with a new family just for them.

 Any threats were away…Ludwig could now celebrate the coming of his own children…and that he was to return to Berlin with Feliciano.

 Augusta smiled and opened her arms to create a portal, this one small, just the space for all three of the Hearts royals to make their passing back home. Kiku waved his goodbye before he rushed through. Ludwig and Feliciano refused to let go of their hands, determined to pass together. Ludwig had begun his engulfing, but Feliciano spared a last glance back…

 The last he saw was celebration still ringing, chorus surely sang and orchestras played, the Aces watching them leave dutifully and then beside Augusta…the light, the one Feliciano had saved from the cage of Khaos, as well as with power from Ludwig…it began to grow, large enough until it was a figure as Augusta. It began to clear, it began to come alive…and for the first time Feliciano had seen what his great grandfather Romulus actually looked like.

 Dark hair in silk waves, the same that was on his beard, but despite it, Feliciano could see a long and strong face, handsome, it slightly reminded him of Lovino. Green eyes, likes leaves and grass, a stature, a smile, a last gratitude to his own grandson before he turned to his long missed wife. They held to each other with all the strength needed for centuries. What more they would do, Feliciano didn’t see, he had passed through, everything beginning to erase in bright light.

 He left behind the heavens to return home. 

 - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Next chapter is the very last...oh boy.

[inkandpen22]

All I Want (2/4)

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader 

Warnings: swearing, mild smut 

Word Count: 1.8k

Part Summary: Sirius convinces Y/N to take a little risk which leads them to trouble

Masterlist

Sirius

"I need Y/N to go with me," I complain to my friends as we settle around the table in the Great Hall. 

"Why do you need Y/N to go with you?" James questions idiotically. "You could ask Marlene, that girl from potions, what about-" 

"Y/N is the only option," I emphasize, growing annoyed that no one else understands. 

"Since when?" Remus interjects as he flips open his textbook. 

"Since she told me no!" I repeat what I told them last night. 

"Ooh, so this is all to prove a point?" James accuses with a raised brow. 

"No! I genuinely want to go with her!" I justify. 

"She's probably just giving you a hard time, playing hard to get. Give it time," James tries to reason. "Keep up with the compliments and maybe even give her a gift or something!" 

"You could just ask her publicly so she can't say no," Remus suggests uncharacteristically. 

James and I share the same confused expression. 

"What do you mean, Moony?" I frown. 

"Do it here," he clarifies. 

"In front of everyone?" Peter sounds astonished. 

"That's sort of what 'public' means..." Remus sasses. 

I shake my head. "Y/N would hate it. She hates being the center of attention." 

"But it would grab her attention," Remus points out a matter-of-factly. 

"I don't know guys..." I'm hesitant to do something so extreme when she was fine with rejecting me in front of our friends. 

"I think it would be great!" Peter gleams, enthused by the idea. 

"You also thought bringing snacks to the Shrieking Shack last month was a great idea," James reminds him disapprovingly. 

"I forgot I had the cinnamon roll in my pocket okay!" Peter huffs. 

"Hush!" I hiss at the group quietly. "Y/N is coming!" 

Glancing over my shoulder, I watch the most beautiful girl approach us, surrounded by Marlene and Evans. Her perfect Y/H/C hair and Y/E/C eyes. I've always known that Y/N is beautiful, but lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's weird, foreign to me. 

___________________________

Y/N

"And then I wrote back to my mom and told her no," I tell Lily. "So I think I'll be able to visit you this summer for sure!" 

Lily squeals, gripping my arm with excitement. "You can go on holiday with my family to the lake!" 

When we reach our usual spot with the boys already there, I take my seat beside Sirius. Lily sits on my opposite side, already in deep conversation with Marlene to make plans this summer.  

"Spending the summer with Evans?" Sirius inquires with a cheeky grin. 

"A few weeks at the start," I explain. "Her family is taking a trip and invited me." 

Sirius leans close to me and whispers, "I would pay large sums to see you spending hours laying in the sun." 

I playfully nudge him away with a giggle. Goodness, he's such a painful flirt sometimes. 

"What if after you visit Evans, you and I go on a holiday of our own?" He suggests mischievously as he turns his body toward me. 

"You and me?" I giggle as I pour myself some juice. "I think we wouldn't even make it out of London." 

"Just think about it. You, me, on a beach... We could spend weeks alone in a cottage somewhere," he describes as he leans in close. I can feel his lips brush against my ear as he guides my hair back over my shoulder. "No distractions. Days and days of us doing whatever we want for, wherever we want, as long as we want..." he insinuates. 

Chills course down my spine as Sirius glides his fingers down my back to my waist. I turn my head to the side to meet his jet-black gaze. Mere inches from one another, we stare into each other's eyes longing. Merlin, he's a vision, isn't he? Even though I see every day, it's never enough. 

His lips part as his vision falls to my mouth. "Want to get out of here?" 

I nod frantically and he's already a step ahead of me, rising from the bench. 

"We're gonna... uh... we're gonna go for a walk," he stammers as he takes my hand. 

James chuckles knowingly, "yeah sure." 

"Use protection," Remus instructs casually without even glancing up from his textbook. 

“Remus!” Lily gasps his name in disapproval. 

“A spell, Lil!” He smirks, giving Sirius and know glance. “You never know what’s poking around on these “walks” if you know what I mean...” 

“Oh dear heavens,” Lily grumbles while the remaining Marauders chuckle. 

Sirius eagerly tugs me toward the entrance of the Great Hall. I snicker as I struggle to keep up with his speed-walking. He combs his fingers through his long jet black hair with a childish grin. 

Once we make it out of the Great Hall, Sirius glances back at me and we break out into a race. Hand-in-hand, we run down the corridor, weaving between students to get to the nearest empty room. To my surprise, Sirius skids to a stop and yanks me into the closest alcove. Tucked away is a hidden stairwell by the courtyard. Sirius presses me against the stonewall and brings his lips to mine hungrily. His hands roam my body as they've done so many times before. The way he knows exactly what to do like clockwork amazes me. I want to slip into the sensation and just forget the world, yet I can't. 

"Sirius," I mumble against his lips. 

He hums, not willing to stop. 

"We should stop," I pant. 

I'm speaking these words as they're what my mind is telling me what to say, but my body is telling me to do the opposite. 

"Don't want to," Sirius wittily remarks. 

I giggle, making him smile against my lips. "But we should before anyone sees." 

He breaks away from my lips and starts at my neck. "Let them," he determines. "I don't care." 

Okay, that's hot. His ability to be so carefree and willing motivates me to be the same. Since the moment I met him, Sirius has driven me to break through my boundaries and reach for me. It isn't fair that he's so perfect. Everything about him is irresistible. 

"Don't you want to?" He whispers and the warmth of his breath brushes against my neck. 

My eyes fall shut as my fingers comb through the hair on the nape of his neck. 

"You know I do," I sigh. 

"Then why shouldn't we?" He urges mischievously. 

A can name a hundred reasons, but here the moment I can't think of any. Will it ever stop, the pining for him? He's always in my thoughts. 

"We'd be breaking the rules. If we get caught-" 

"Detection would give more time alone. More time to-" 

"Mr. Black! Ms. Y/L/N!" McGonagall's voice echoes through the corridor. 

"Fuck!" Sirius curses under his breath and parts from me swiftly. 

"I told you!" I hiss quietly. 

The sound of her heels vastly approaching makes my heart race. We're in such trouble. 

McGonagall appears in the archway leading out to the alcove. She must've seen us through the windows of the courtyard. She wears a disappointed and bewildered expression. 

"Mr. Black and Ms. Y/L/N, this not the time nor the place for your endeavors!" She puts ever so lightly. "Shouldn't you be in the Great Hall for supper?" 

"We um...We..." I stammer anxiously, at a loss for words. 

I never get in trouble. I may act rebellious here and there, broken a few rules, but I've never been caught. I've never done anything that requires discipline. 

"It was my idea, Minnie! Entirely my idea," Sirius takes the full blame. 

"Well, I sure hope so as this is entirely unlike you, Ms. Y/L/N!" She looks at me with pure disappointment and I feel the same. 

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" I apologize instantly. 

My heart is in my throat. If my parents hear about this, I'm royally screwed! One, they'll be furious that I've received detention. Two, they don't even know that Sirius and I are... well... whatever we are. 

"Detention after school tomorrow," McGonagall determines. 

"No please!" I try to plead, but McGonagall raises her hand for me to save my breath. 

"Be in my office right after your last class," she declares as she turns back down the hall. 

Sirius follows her without a moment's hesitation. "Professor please! Allow me to take all the blame," he sighs. "It isn't Y/N's fault!" 

I follow behind the pair, praying Sirius can change her mind. They're close and I know McGonagall has a soft for him. 

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'it takes two to tango,' Mr. Black?" McGonagall wittily replies, not giving at all to Sirius's pleading. 

"I'll do both my and Y/N's detentions! Add a third even!" He requests. 

McGonagall releases a deep sigh and as she slows to a halt. I stop a few steps behind as she glances between Sirius and me. Then, she turns to address Sirius directly. 

"I respect your willingness to take the fall for Ms. Y/L/N, it's very noble of you. Yet, my mind is made up," she declares calmly. 

I hide my face in my hands with a deep sigh. This is going to be terrible. My parents are going to kill me! I've made it to seventeen without a single thing on my record and within ten minutes that achievement went down that drain. All for a hot piece of ass too, unbelievable! 

"In light of this being Ms. Y/L/N's first offense-" McGonagall announces, causing me to glance up at her, "-I will not be contacting your parents and it will not go on your record. However, you will use the detection time to think of your actions!" 

A massive height lifts from my chest and Sirius grins. I exhale deeply and approach the pair with relief. Sirius reaches for my hand and I swat it away. Now is not the time! I see a hint of amusement on McGonagall's face at my action. 

"Thank you, Professor! It'll never happen again!" I guarantee her. 

"I sure hope not!" She replies. "Keep in mind there are First Years around!" 

"Yes Ma'am," I nod. 

When Sirius doesn't respond I below him in the side, causing him to wince. 

"Right, right," he agrees absentmindedly, as he doesn't care. "Keep out of sight of children." 

McGonagall huffs, but never the less hurries along down the hall, knowing she'll never reach Sirius. 

"That's not what she meant," I hiss between my teeth quietly as we watch McGonagall walk away.  

Sirius chuckles, "I know. I just like pushing her buttons a little." 

"Well, your pushing almost got me in immense trouble!" I remind Sirius as I turn to start back to the Great Hall. 

His fingers wrap around my wrist and yank me back to him, causing me to land in his chest. I attempt to wiggle out of his hold as he slips his arm around my waist, but then he uses his free hand to grip my chin. He forces me to look him in the eyes as he chuckles. He truly doesn't care that we just got detentions. I guess it's just another notch on the stick for him, huh? 

"Don't fret Y/N, this will be fun," he voices confidently. 

"How can you be so sure?" I grumble. "It's detention." 

"What's life without a little risk?" He winks and brings leans in for a kiss. 

Sirius Black will be the death of me. 

_____________________________________

Masterlist

Tags:  @agirlwholovescoffee @hyperactiveravenclaw​ @fleurho @rangergranger11

[the-dream-team]

“Are you trying to steal that?” National Treasure prompt?

Thank you for the prompt!! Here are some fifth-year shenanigans for you, courtesy of Lily Evans and Remus Lupin :)

Are You Trying To Steal That?

Read it on AO3

A brilliant flash of midday sunlight reflected off a tiny, polished gold ball as it flittered, much like a hummingbird would, around the heads of four bored-looking teenage boys. The Golden Snitch, twitching and buzzing around the air as if it were impervious to gravity, made a few decent escape attempts, but at the last moment, the boy with glasses and permanently windswept hair always managed to reach out and catch it before it was too late. 

Hiding behind a bush near the edge of the lake, Lily Evans watched James Potter play with the Snitch from afar. She’d been doing a lot of that recently. Watching. Observing. Taking note. 

The anger simmered in the pit of her stomach as it had been ever since that afternoon following their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. two weeks prior. A day hadn’t gone by without the plague of memories of the incident, the cruel hexes, the words that were said, the way her heart stopped beating as rage took control. 

Maybe, deep down, she always knew the day would come where Severus would show his true colors. She cursed herself for being so foolish, so trusting. For ignoring the warning signs. The anger she felt towards Snape had a sickening lurch of pain. He hadn’t just stabbed her that day, he took extra care to twist the knife. 

Lily didn’t want to spend time with that pain, but she did want to act on her anger. Find someone else to unload her rage onto. Someone who deserved the weight of her anguish. Someone who had a hand in Severus’ cruelty. Someone like James Potter.

She had trailed Potter and his friends for days, searching for an Achilles heel. She wanted to take something from him, the same way Severus’ friendship had been taken from her. But James was surrounded by loyalty and admiration. A big Quidditch hero, top marks in almost every subject, and disappointedly good-looking… James Potter had it all and then some. No wonder he thought so highly of himself.

Or did he?

The more time Lily spent observing James, the more she noticed his facade falter. He was outgoing, sure, but his brows knit together anxiously whenever a joke didn’t land. His eyes shifted often, always taking note of whose attention he held and whose he didn’t. He messed with his hair compulsorily, as if he might lose respect if it ever lost its disheveled nature. There was a need to please, a need to impress, written into his every public action. 

But if he ever misstepped, ever started showing the cracks in his confidence, Lily noticed that James Potter had a backup plan. In any moment of need, he had his stolen Golden Snitch and athletic talent as a crutch. No matter what happened, he could always lean on his Snitch and remind everyone that he was a Quidditch star, worthy of their love and attention. 

Lily wanted to steal his confidence. She wanted to steal his Golden Snitch. She needed the cracks in Potter’s persona to be revealed and made deeper, so everyone else could see him the way she did, as an arrogant, bullying, toerag. 

So, when James charmed his Snitch and left it dormant on top of a pile of discarded robes to join Sirius and Peter for a swim in the lake, Lily found her perfect opportunity to strike. 

She snuck behind bushes and trees, jittery nerves mixing with the boiling anger, careful to avoid the eye lines of the boys splashing around in the water. The Snitch continued to catch light from its spot underneath the boy’s tree, encouraging her on as she stepped closer. She leaned up against the tree trunk, so near now, she could see the intricate detailing on the Snitch’s shiny exterior. As she watched Sirius dunk James’ head underwater, she knew there wouldn’t be a better opportunity. She reached out her hand, felt the cool metal on the tips of her fingers-

“Are you trying to steal that?”

Lily’s heart flew through her chest as she jumped back, nearly tripping over herself. Remus Lupin was watching her, an amused laugh playing on his lips.

“I- er- I was just,” Lily stammered, her brain going blank under the shock of being caught red-handed. Her eyes shot to the lake, but to her relief, the boys in the water seemed to have taken no notice of the events on land. “I didn’t realize you were sitting there.”

“So you were trying to steal it- the Snitch I mean,” said Remus with a smirk. 

Lily could feel the heat spreading on her cheeks, utterly humiliated from being caught by her fellow Prefect. She looked away, unable to meet Remus’ eyes. He had been the one sixth year Gryffindor boy she actually enjoyed spending time with. He probably hated her now and she cursed herself for being so petty and dead-set on revenge. 

“You realize he would just steal it back, right?” When Lily looked up, Remus was wearing a friendly smile, his brows quirked as if he were hinting at the answer to a particularly tricky Transfiguration question on the O.W.L.s.

“Steal it… back?” she said, not having thought that far ahead in her plan.

Remus shrugged. “Yeah. The kid’s a whizz at Accio, he’d have that Snitch back before dinner. If you want to take it from him and keep it, you’re going to have to earn it.”

Lily scoffed. “Earn it? I don’t need to earn anything from him.”

“Suit yourself,” said Lupin, turning back to his book, “you can grab his Snitch now, but James can't respect a sneak. If you’re trying to push his buttons, do you know what will really rile him up?”

“What.”

“If you take it from right under his nose.” 

She stared at the quiet Snitch for a moment of consideration, then back at Remus. 

“That’s not a bad idea, Lupin,” she said, the gears in her head turning.

“I know,” he said, glancing up at her from behind his book. “Hey, Evans, I’m sorry about Snape.”

She pressed her lips together in a fine line as her heart panged at the sound of his name. “Thanks,” she said with a curt nod before casting a quick Disillusionment Charm on herself and heading back to the castle. She had some training to do.

Lily gave herself three days to perfect her hand-eye coordination. Mary looked at her as if she were a lunatic when she requested her friend spend hours one evening throwing balled up pieces of parchment across their dorm for Lily to practice catching. Marlene couldn’t figure out why Lily had suddenly decided to take up juggling. And most of the Gryffindors looked on with curiosity as she trained her owl to throw tiny packages from higher and higher distances. Only Remus Lupin watched her hone her new skills with a knowing smile.

And then finally, on the last day of school, as all the students made their way to Hogsmead station, Lily was ready.

She let her anger heat to a boil as she thought of every stupid thing James Potter had said to her. Every time she had been stuck on the wrong side of his pranks. The countless times he had mocked Severus in front of her.  Each time she had caught him staring at her from across the classroom, only to hide behind his hands as he frantically ruffled his hair. 

He was ruffling his hair as Lily walked directly up to James and his friends, a blazing look of revenge in her eye. The glittering Snitch zipped around his head, never an arm's length away. 

James’ eyes widened as Lily approached, caught off guard by her determined stare. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, his face flushing slightly. A second hand joined his first in his hair, giving Lily the perfect opportunity to reach out and effortlessly grab the Snitch right out of the air, directly in front of his face.

He gasped. Every student surrounding them gasped. Even Lily gasped as she felt the cool metal vibrating in her hand, settled in her palm.

As she watched James’ shock play out over his face, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction at throwing him off his guard in front of the entire school. Mission Accomplished.

“I’m taking this,” she said, giving herself only a brief moment to shoot Remus a cheeky smirk. He beamed back in return. James continued to gape at her, his eyes turning to stars. She quickly pocketed the Snitch and gave him a shrug before turning on her heel to find her compartment on the train, a little bit of anger dissipating. For now.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

This or That Part 5

Harry Potter AU Marauders ERA

Link to Part 4

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader. Sirius Black x Reader 

Rating: T

______

2 months…

It had been two months since you had officially begun dating Regulus. As you expected, there was a lot of talking when word of your relationship officially got out. A few stupid boys from your own house decided to make teasing comments about you dating a Slytherin and ended up getting hexed by Regulus. No one was about to mess with Regulus and his reputation.

The only complaint was the lack of physical intimacy in your relationship. When Regulus said that he was taking things slow, he wasn’t kidding. You wondered if Regulus thought you were a slut because you had been hinting about the next level of your relationship for some time.

What if he thinks I’m a whore? Am I whore for wanting to be with him?

The thoughts plagued you almost non-stop! Regulus had been trying to prove to you that he could change but not everything was perfect.

“Christmas is coming up.”

Lily said casually one morning over breakfast. You looked up from the book that Regulus had put down in front of you. Lily’s comment didn’t seem to register with your boyfriend. You knew that Regulus still wasn’t 100% on Lily. He had finally stopped trying to call her a mudblood (after a lot of nasty arguments between the two of you) and was now calling her by her name.

“Yeah, it is. What are your plans?”

You asked. Lily took a sip of her juice giving you a wink. She was partially trying to help get information out of Regulus. You had been hoping that he would take up your offer of going home with you for the holiday. Your parents were over the moon happy with the fact that you finally got a boyfriend. Regulus, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about the idea of meeting parents so fast was a good idea.

“I’m going home. Maybe we can all get together and do something before we come back to school. What are your plans, Y/n?”

Your eyes flickered to Regulus’ hopefully. His grey eyes didn’t move from the book.

“I’m going home too. James had mentioned that his parents were having a party.”

James nodded as he and Sirius sat down. You noted how Sirius and Regulus still acted as though the other didn’t exist. It didn’t matter how much you begged either boy to give the other brother a chance either.

“Yep, it's going to be lit...well as it can be with one’s parents hovering.”

“We can still have a good time. Y/n, are you coming?”

Sirius asked, with a smirk. If he could just get you alone without your little shadow maybe he could win you over? He still didn’t understand what you saw in Regulus. The two of you seemed like such an awkward couple. Regulus wouldn’t kiss you in public. He acted as if you holding his hand was going to kill him. All that Regulus seemed to be comfortable with was to pull you into a broom closet whenever the mood suited him. Sirius had quit looking at the map when you were on a date with Regulus. All that Sirius saw was your names in broom closets or on top of the astronomy tower for long periods of time.

Some romance.

Sirius thought bitterly as you turned in his direction.

“Remus and I will be there.”

That got Regulus’ attention. His eyes were on you. On your last date, you had mentioned the party but you only were thinking about going. Now that you were going and Sirius was going...Regulus was concerned. He didn’t like the fact that you were still friendly with Sirius. Regulus was jealous and he didn't know why. Maybe it was the worry that he would end up losing you to Sirius in the end.

Why wouldn’t she want Sirius? He isn’t uncomfortable with kissing her in public or touching her for that matter…

Regulus thought gloomily before sliding his hand on top of yours. You scooted closer to him practically begging him for any kind of physical affection that he would give. Regulus still wasn’t for sure how to tell you that he wasn’t completely comfortable with snogging you in front of other people. Should that be saved for private?

James had picked up on the mood between Regulus and Sirius right away.

“Regulus, I know that you don’t have much to say about anything but if you can get away from your crazy parents you can come with Y/n.”

“Thanks but I have plans.”

Regulus replied. You quickly turned to him.

“What plans? I thought that we were going to do something.”

Regulus didn’t turn in your direction.

“Something came up.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

You asked, ignoring your friends who were now focused on the brewing spat between the two of you.

“Later.”

Regulus replied, finally meeting your gaze. He knew that you were put out.

“I have to get going anyway. I need to see Professor Slughorn about an essay.”

You said as you gently let go of Regulus’ hand.

“I’ll come with you.”

He said, calmly.

As soon as the two of you were out of the great hall, Regulus stopped walking and tugged you into an empty classroom.

“What was that back there?”

“Nothing.”

You said. Regulus put his books down before tilting your face to his. Even though you were a tad annoyed with him, Regulus could still win you over with one little smile.

“I’m going to miss you too.”

Regulus leaned down and snuggled his face into your hair. He had to get in control of the situation...fast! Over the past few months, Regulus was trying to be less of a control freak and more spontaneous. This was proving to be difficult for him.

“We better go. We’ll be late.”

You said with a sigh. Why you were so moody was a mixture of things. You had been hoping to have someone on one time with Regulus that you couldn’t have at school. You were tired of hiding in a dark abandoned classroom to get any kind of physical contact with your boyfriend. Sure, these make-out sessions were heated and often left you panting but you wanted more. You loved the way Regulus’ hands were beginning to get braver with each day but he wasn’t being as brave as you wanted.

Maybe he was just trying to be a gentleman and not push you into something that you weren't ready for? You were trying to give him some credit there. Regulus would probably be a perfectionist when it came to your first time. There was also the knowledge of his own disastrous “first time” with his ex Ambrosia Parkinson that was making him take things slow with you?

Ambrosia was another delicate subject that Regulus didn’t discuss often. His ex was a bratty nightmare on two legs. In your mind, she used Regulus. She used him to say that she was dating a member of the Black family then discarded him when she didn’t get way on everything. Regulus, no matter who the woman was, was not going to be easily walked over. You thanked his “control freak” nature for that one.

Ambrosia hated you too. She and Evan Rosier were on the same page that Regulus was wasting his time on you. Whenever either Ambrosia or Evan saw the two of you together they would automatically try to pull Regulus away.

Your own dislike of Evan Rosier came flooding in. You were already thinking negative things of parts of Regulus’ life before you so why not let Evan join in. Regulus knew that you didn't’ like Evan but he wasn’t about to drop his best friend since childhood (and you didn’t expect him to) but he could tell Evan to shut his gigantic trap from time to time.

Regulus kissing your forehead pulled you from your thoughts.

“You look so unhappy.”

You shook your head.

“Can we just drop it and go to potions?”

Regulus sighed and held out his arm.

“Fine.”

As usual, once in Slughorn’s room, Regulus went off to join Evan and his other friends. Snape gave you a nod when the two of you locked gazes. He and, sometimes, Barty was okay. You could deal with Snape better because of his friendship with Lily. That was probably the only reason that he found you so acceptable when it came to Regulus.

“You look all hot and bothered.”

Lily said with a smile. She had come into help with that particular day’s lesson and plopped down beside you.

“I’m just annoyed. Regulus is confusing.”

Lily lightly laughed.

“What boy isn’t? What is he doing?”

You glanced over your shoulder and met Regulus’ gaze. It was as if he knew that you were talking about him.

“Lily, how long did it take for James and yourself to get past second base?”

Lily really laughed on that one.

“That depends if you are asking James or myself. I will say a fair amount of time. James would try to convince you it was years. Have you and Regulus…”

You shook your head.

“No, it isn’t for my lack of not wanting to. I keep telling him that I am ready but he stops when it gets too far. This may be childish but I am wondering if he still cares for...her.”

Lily knew automatically who you were talking about. She glared in Ambrosia’s direction. The girl was still looking at Regulus hopefully.

“I don’t think that you have anything to worry about. If Regulus didn’t care for you I don’t think that he would have stepped outside of his comfort zone the way that he has. Besides, you aren’t named after a fruit salad. What were her parents thinking?”

Lily was relieved when you smiled at that. She understood your moody feelings. You wanted to spend time with Regulus over the holiday break; she didn’t put it past you to have something special already planned. Lily’s heart hurt knowing that those special plans had been crushed by whatever better opportunity came up for Regulus.

“Thanks, Lily.”

You said with a smile as Slughorn stepped in to begin his lesson.

After the lesson was over Slughorn gave out his reminder for his “Slug club” members that his Christmas party was the next evening. Regulus has asked you to go with him right after the two of you began dating. This was one thing that you were at least thankful for. Even if Regulus hadn’t asked you, you would have gone. Slughorn was over the moon for you as a student. When he found out that you were dating Regulus, the old man seemed thrilled.

You stood up to go to the door and wait for Regulus. The moment that you turned in his direction, you wished that you hadn’t. Ambrosia had her arms around Regulus’ shoulders and was kissing him like the world was about to end. Your mouth fell open in shock as Regulus pushed her away furiously.

“What are you thinking?”

Regulus snapped before noticing Evan’s silent giggling.

“Turn around, mate.”

Evan said with a smile. He was enjoying the devastated expression on your face. He didn’t want you with Regulus to begin with. Evan hated the fact that his best friend was dating some filthy half-blood from Gryffindor.

Regulus immediately spun around and felt immediately guilty when he saw your face. There was nothing but hurt and sadness written all over you.

“Y/n…”

You shook your head and left the room without another word.

As you ran down the hall, you ran into something hard and fell backward. After smacking your head on the stone floor, you looked up as James popped out from underneath his invisibility cloak.

“Y/n, precious!”

He squealed delighted to see you but stopped the moment he realized that you were crying.

“Hurry, jump in here.”

The moment that you were under the cloak, you were squished between James and Sirius. Sniffing back some more tears, you took in your current situation.

“What are you two doing?”

Sirius grinned.

“Playing a prank on Snivelly. Hey, are you crying?”

“Forget it.

You said, softly. About that time Regulus came running around the corner. He looked as devastated as you felt.

“Y/n? Darling, where are you?”

Regulus looked around pathetically. He didn’t realize that you were standing just a bit from him.

“Reg, can you slow down?”

Evan and Barty rounded the corner breathing heavily. Barty almost looked like he could pass out.

“Did you find her?”

Regulus shook his head.

“It's like she disappeared. I have to find her.”

Evan shook his head.

“She’ll turn up when she wants to chat. Come on, let's go back to the common room. I have some things to go talk to you about our plans for the holiday.”

Regulus waited a moment before turning and following his friends back down the corridor and out of sight.

James and Sirius waited until the coast was clear before pulling the cloak off. Right as they did, Remus turned the corner and stopped at the sight of you pressed against Sirius and James behind you. Remus mentally compared the three of you looking like three gummy bears stuck together on a summer day.

“I normally don’t ask questions but what the hell is going on? Is Regulus and Lily okay with this? I’m not sure that I am…”

James, Sirius, and yourself immediately pulled apart. Sirius and yourself were scowling at Remus while James howled with laughter. This was the funniest damn thing that had happened to him all day.

“Hush, you. It wasn’t what it looked like.”

Sirius snapped as James got a grip on himself.

“Sirius and I were under the cloak about to pull a grand prank when Y/n came running around the corner and into us. She was….”

“Wait, why were you crying?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

You replied. Sirius rolled his eyes as things were starting to click.

“Well, I do. What did my brother do?”

You resisted the urge to return the awkward hug that Sirius was giving you.

“I’m not telling you because I don’t want you to do anything stupid about it!”

You quickly turned and left your two confused best friends and older brother scratching their heads. It wasn’t until Lily walked up did they turn away.

“I can tell you what happened.”

______

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[jilyss]

drinks and fries chapter 2

part 1 | part 2

for some reason I didn’t think it would be interesting to keep writing this, and thought it would be good as just a little fic BUT then I got a bunch of requests AND i mighttt have spent the entire time last night before I fell asleep thinking about it, so here’s a second part!

--

They walked down the street and towards the diner James had mentioned, chatting about Lily’s football season. James knew his stuff, and Lily had to remind herself more than a few times to remain calm. She had literally never met someone - girl or guy that didn’t already play professionally - who understood the female football league and game so well.

“You really think Liverpool is going to make the FA cup?”

“Oh, absolutely. I’ve trained with Jessica Clarke before, and she’s a great leader, really knows her stuff. And Vicky Jepson? She’s a great manager, knows exactly what’s shes doing.”

They had reached the diner, and James held the door open for her, gesturing with one hand for her to enter. “I think their defense is too weak. Last time you played with them, you guys crushed through it, no problem.”

Lily shrugged as she held up two fingers to the waitress, singling it was just two of them. “I think Jepson fixed it. We haven’t played them this year, but it’s looking better than it did last year.” James nodded, opening his mouth to say something else, but then their waitress led them to their table, and once seated, Lily dove into her menu. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was.

It was a mom and pop diner, and this late on a Friday night, there weren’t a lot of people still eating, leaving the place mostly to empty. Lily glanced up at James, eyes quickly flicking up to his messy hair before returning to her menu. She tried not to imagine what it would feel like. “I’m just warning you, I’m absolutely starved, so don’t expect me to be all ladylike and eat just half of my food.”

James glanced up at her over the menu, eyes twinkling. “You just played a crazy intense 90-minute game, of course you better eat up.”

Lily grinned, setting her menu down and running her fingers through her hair again, hoping to straighten out any flyaways. All of her previous boyfriends had not bothered to hide their surprise when, after games and long practice sessions, Lily ate her fill. It wasn’t like she ate unhealthy either - but she needed the calories, and had to eat a lot to stay healthy. Some of her exes were worse than others - one had even gone so far as to take her plate away when he thought she had eaten too much (that relationship had not lasted long). It was refreshing to see James not give two shits about what she ate, or how much she ate.

The waitress came by, and Lily and James placed their orders. Lily turned the conversation onto James, preferring to be less in the spotlight when it came to her job. She loved football, but she hated giving off the impression that she was bragging about her skills, and preferred not to talk about it a ton with people she just met. Her friends listened to her rants, cheered her on at games, but Lily tried to think of it as a normal job, even if she was gone every other week and worked more hours than was reasonable.

They chatted until their food arrived, and then they were quiet for a few minutes as Lily dove into her food. James worked for his father’s company, which she got the distinct impression that he stayed quiet about it similar to the reasons she stayed quiet about hers.

“So you were going to go practice more tonight? Even after your fantastic game?”

Lily opened her mouth to protest, about to insist that it was not a fantastic game, but he raised his eyebrows and she shut her mouth. It hadn’t been completely terrible, and she was being a little hard on herself. “I wasn’t going to do anything crazy. Just a few drills to try and clear my head.” She shrugged. “The facility is quiet at night.”

“You do that often?”

Lily finished off the last of her fries and sat back in her seat, feeling absolutely stuffed and a little rejuvenated. She tugged at the collar of her sweatshirt again and pulled her fingers into the sleeves of the sweatshirt. “A lot more lately.” She bit her lip, wondering how much she wanted to share. “It’s hard being on the road so much and then coming home to my friends. They support me a thousand percent, but it’s hard to keep track of their lives and I always miss their events. It’s a little overwhelming to try and hang out with them sometimes, so I just end up going to the training facility.”

“Do your friends know you’re aiming for the Olympics?”

She squirmed a little in her seat. She honestly felt bad for not telling them, but it just seemed easier. What happened if she didn’t make the team? “I haven’t told anyone, just my coach.”

“And me.”

“And you.”

He smiled slightly, shaking his head as he watched her. “My best mates - they’re great. All of them are my brothers, basically. And I’m sure your mates are great too. But you gotta let them help you. That’s what friends are for.”

Lily nodded. She ducked her head, looking at the table. “I just… What happens if I don’t make the team? I don’t want to disappoint anyone and then deal with it all afterwards.”

“C’mon Evans, that’s no way to live. Your mates are your mates, and that’s what they’re there for.”

Lily blushed slightly at the use of her last name but looked up to meet his eyes. He made a really good point, and it was something Lily definitely needed to be reminded of at the moment. She thought back to the club, when she’d been tired, and probably a little rude to her friends. She made a silent resolve to do better.

His leg brushed hers under the table, but he didn’t move it away, and Lily had to force the butterflies in her stomach down. He brushed another hand through his hair, and she tried not to notice the sliver of skin that showed above his waistband. Instead, she asked him about his mates, and he dove into a story of how in uni, his friends had plastered various pictures of Chandler Bing in their uni’s president’s office.

They traded off stories from uni until the diner closed, and got kicked out by a rather annoyed waitress. James had refused to let her pay, despite her insisting that she had ordered too much food to let him. But he hadn’t budged even slightly, and Lily paid the tip.

Once they were outside the diner, they paused, looking up at the street to the club they had left earlier. Lily didn’t want to go back to the club, but she also wasn’t sure what James was thinking. Had this been a friendly dinner, or was this a date?

Lily shivered, goosebumps appearing all over her exposed legs as a sudden chill swept through the street. James didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around her, tucking her in under his arm, and Lily gratefully wrapped an arm around his back. He dropped his head closer to her, and Lily felt his warm breath tickle her ear. “What’s next?”

She looked up at him, wanting to thread her fingers through his hair that looked unreasonably soft. For a moment, she got so lost looking at him that the first thing that came out of her mouth was “I need to shower.” She wanted to kick herself for saying something like that, but in all honesty, she was too much of a mess at the moment to do anything else.

“Probably.”

Lily punched him lightly in the shoulder as he laughed. “I know I smell, but you don’t need to bring it up.” She pulled out her phone and with a few taps, sent a request for an uber. Luckily, there was one only a few minutes away, and as Lily shut her phone off, she wrapped both of her arms around James’ torso, tilting her head up to look at him.

He pulled her even closer, rubbing his arm over her back to keep her warm. He seemed to pause for a second, but Lily let her eyes slowly flick down to his mouth. He took the hint and closed the gap, pressing his lips lightly against Lily’s. Lily lifted on her toes to reach him better, sliding her hands around his neck to pull him down. At that, he deepened the kiss, letting his hands wander to play with the ends of her ponytail. Lily’s fingers gently scratched at the back of his head, feeling just how soft his hair really was.

James pulled away slightly, and Lily went on her tiptoes again, greedy for more. He laughed slightly and pointed at the street. A silver car pulled up next to them, and Lily realized it was their uber. James grabbed the door, and as she slid in, she grabbed his hand.

Once in the car, Lily leaned her head on James’ shoulder, surprised at how comfortable she was with the man she had met just a few hours ago. If her friends could see her right now, they would never back off of her.

Her apartment was only a few kilometers away, and they arrived quickly. Lily climbed out, James’ hand briefly gripping her right hip as he climbed out behind her. He waved at the Uber driver, and as the car drove off, Lily grabbed his hand again and pulled him up the stairs and into their building.

She jabbed at the elevator button, feeling James’ warm presence at her back, and willed herself to keep a hold of her self control until they were in her apartment. But it snapped the moment the elevator doors closed and James pressed a kiss just under her jawline. She turned around and pushed him against the back of the elevator, devouring his mouth in a greedy kiss. He responded in kind, moving his hands from her shoulders down to her hips.

The elevator chimed, and Lily broke away, but only enough to check for anybody in the hallway before pulling James back to her and backing him down the hallway towards her apartment. When they finally, finally reached her apartment, Lily fumbled with the keys, slightly distracted as James, standing behind her, kissed his way from her ear down to her collarbone.

They burst through the door, and Lily immediately kicked off her shoes, throwing her phone and keys down on the nearby couch. James’ fingers latched on to the bottom of her sweatshirt, but when he didn’t make any moves to pull it off, Lily slipped out of it herself, leaving her in her blue jersey. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her bedroom, but when he moved towards the bed, Lily pulled away and laughed.

She grabbed the hem of his shirt and quickly pulled it off. She let herself admire him for a second, running her hands over his stomach, before quickly stripping off her jersey top. He tried again towards the bed by grabbing her hips and turning her around, but she slipped by him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bathroom, and he smirked against her lips. “I promise I don’t care about sweat.”

Lily smiled again, because, really, where did he come from? There was just something about being so comfortable with him - the appreciation for women’s sports, the food, and complete disregard of her smell - that made Lily want his clothes off even faster.

He was more than happy to oblige, and in seconds, they were under the steady stream of her shower, Lily pressed against the cold wall.

 By the time they were done, Lily was sure that her water bill would significantly higher this month, and that she definitely would have several red spots that would need covering up in the morning. James seemed content to stay while she showered, but “yes James, I really do need to wash my hair, so if you could stop kissing me for just a second -”

Needless to say, she wasn’t going to get anything done with him there, and laughing she eventually kicked him out, pointing him towards the clean towels in her cabinet. A few minutes later, she emerged in her towel to find James, now mostly dressed, lounging on her bed. She smiled at him, walking over to her closet to grab a fresh shirt and shorts. But he appeared behind her, pressing kisses from the sweet spot he’d discovered earlier down to her shoulder. In an instant, she dropped her towel again and then pushed him onto the bed, straddling him as he laid down.

“You sure you can go again, Evans? I mean, you gotta be exhausted and -” James started to say, but Lily pressed another kiss to his lips.

“I think I’ve got excellent stamina, Potter.” James growled at his name and flipped them over so that he was now on top.

The shower had made it a little hard for certain activities, but Lily and James picked up where they’d left off, and by the time they were finished, Lily could feel her exhaustion setting in. After using the bathroom, she immediately collapsed on the bed, tucking her wet hair up over a pillow. James slide in next to her a few minutes later, wrapping a warm arm around her waist and pulling her close. She didn’t often bring home random guys, instead preferring to go to their place for an easy escape afterwards. This time, however, she had no problem with James, and fell into a deep sleep.

 Lily didn’t wake up until it was nearly ten am, much later than normal. She had a half-second where she panicked and thought she had missed a training session, but she quickly remembered she wasn’t due back until two. She had another half-second panic attack when she wondered why there were clothes strewn all over the floor, but the memories of the night came flooding back to her, and despite her best efforts, a slow smile slid over her face.

James wasn’t in bed, but she heard noises in the kitchen. She quickly threw on a baggy clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts and padded out of the bedroom. James was standing over a pan of eggs and grinned as she came out.

“Morning Evans,” he said. Lily did not miss the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and appreciated it even more in today’s morning light. “I hope it’s ok that I rummaged through your fridge.”

Lily nodded, letting out a huge yawn. “Sorry I slept so late.”

He flipped off the stove and looked around for her plate cupboard. She pointed to one on his right, and he dished the eggs out. He slid the plate over to her as she pulled out a chair. “S’no problem. I was only awake long enough to make these.”

Lily quickly dove in, starving again after a long day yesterday and a busy evening. James grabbed his plate and sat directly to her right, letting his leg brush against hers. They sat together, eating and chatting quietly. It was easy to relax, and once again, Lily was surprised by how comfortable she was with him. Lily had just pushed away her plate when her phone rang from the bedroom. She stood, grabbing both of their empty plates, placed them in the sink, and grabbed her phone.

She emerged a few minutes later looking a little grumpy. “Everything ok?” James asked, scrubbing the egg pan.

“Coach wants me in to talk over some film before practice. I need to head out soon.” Lily braced her arms on the counter opposite from James. She’d hoped that he could stay a little longer.

James set the clean pan on the counter and dried off his hands before moving to mirror her position across the counter. He leaned over it, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Mm-hm. I was hoping we would have a little more time.”

Lily let out a little sigh as she moved around the counter so that she had full access to him. He grabbed her in another deep kiss, and if Lily hadn’t promised her coach she would be there soon, she would have stripped off her shirt right there and then. It took her a few minutes, but when she finally had enough strength to pull away from his tempting kisses, she leaned her forehead into his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around her, and Lily wanted to melt again, but instead pulled away.

“I’ll let you go,” James murmured, walking backwards to the bedroom. Lily followed him, laughing as he made a show of putting his clothes back on. A few minutes later, they were standing at the door. Lily went on her tiptoes again to kiss him but pulled back before his fingers could persuade her to ditch her meeting.

James cleared his throat, running one hand through his hair. “I uh, left my number on a notepad in the kitchen. Text me, yeah?”

Lily grinned. “Yeah. I’ll text you.”

He opened the door, gave her one last kiss, and walked down the hallway, leaving Lily with just enough time to get ready. She briefly checked her phone, sending a quick message to her friends who were (understandably) losing their minds at their unanswered texts, then madly dashed around her apartment to grab her gear before heading out the door.

She was glad she didn’t have a lot of time to think or let her friends put ideas in her head. But still, as she went through practice, she had a hard time staying focused, trying to craft a perfect text message in her head.

In the end, she settled with a simple “hey, it’s evans”.

--

also on ao3

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CIII (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I know last book ended horribly but I promise this one won’t be entirely sad, just a bit frustrating– Enjoy and please leave feedback! -Danny

Words: 3,888 

Series’ Masterlist

Book IV // Next Chapter

Listen to: Then -by Anne-Marie

Chapter One: A Lousy Summer.

1974

Emily wasn't going to cry where the girls would be able to hear. 

She could've used a spell to quiet her own sobs, but she just needed to be in a place where there was no need to hide. 

So she went to the common room, drowning her cries on a blanket and wondering how was she going to crawl her way out of this one. She thought it was unfair, she'd never experienced something so embarrassing prior this moment. Wasn't love supposed to be beautiful?

"Mily?"

The girl gave a start and cleaned her face hastily.

"Padfoot," She tried to sound casual. "What's wrong? Had a nightmare about cats chasing your tail?"

"Are you okay?" He walked up to her, ignoring the teasing. "I'm sure that if you were to talk to them..."

"I think it's clear enough," Emily averted her gaze. "All of us want things we can't have."

"That's not true."

"What exactly should I do after the humiliation I went through?" She sniffed. "He kissed me in front of everyone! I can't be near him and I refuse to be around Lily, I don't want to see any of them!"

"Mily, when I tell you Matt got the worse deal..." Sirius frowned. "The look on his face–"

"You don't need to remind me," Emily lamented. "Why can't I like him back?"

"You can't force things to happen," He shrugged. "If I could make all of you forget I would, but you'd find a way to do whatever you want anyway."

"This is not the time for jokes..."

"Talk to Moony then," Sirius complained. "I'm not good at comforting people..."

"I don't want to talk! Can we just... sit in silence?"

The girl curled up and got closer, he wrapped an arm around her awkwardly.

Really –Sirius thought with exasperation– What was she expecting? This was bound to happen, one of them would eventually develop a crush on her...

Well, more than one... but Sirius was going to take that secret to the grave. It was out of place, Matthew was way better than him– Hell, anyone was a better choice! But tonight it was just the two of them... and Emily had asked him to stay.

"It'll get better, right?" She asked quietly. "I'll get over my stupid crush and so will Matthew... we'll be back to normal in no time..."

"You were never normal," He joked.

"You know what I mean..."

"Yeah," He fixed his gaze on the dying fire, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "If you ask me, James doesn't know what he's missing..."

1995

It was the driest and hottest month of the year back in Private Drive, but Mel was freezing at the front door of Grimmauld Place.

Her mother led her in as she closed the door behind them, Mel hugged Grey's basket closer, thinking a ghost would walk out of the hall. Instead, Sirius walked in with a bright smile.

"You're here!"

Mel looked around dubiously.

"This is your house?"

"Mel! Don't be rude!"

"That's okay," Sirius made a face. "This place is hot rubbish. Your room's clean though. I made sure you'd be comfortable. I know it's hard to be away from home, stuck in such a... place."

"Well, at least you're here," She smiled. "I'm sure I'll get used to it."

"Hand me those," Sirius grabbed her trunk and walked ahead of them. "Let me take you to your rooms... Try to be quiet, my mother's portrait is mental. I tried to take it down but she glued it there. It's bloody torture."

"Language, Padfoot," Emily said, though she was far more interested in the house-elves on the shelves. "Love the decor..."

"Don't mention it," The man growled. "The house-elf that kept the house clean while I was young used to be here, I have no idea where he is, but I haven't found him. I can't wait to throw all those heads out."

"You think he died?"

"I'll find him eventually."

"So this will be the headquarters for the Order?" The girl asked, choosing to ignore his vague answer.

She'd read her mother's letters in secret until Emily found her snooping around, by then it was too late, so Emily didn't see the point on hiding it anymore.

"That's right," Sirius opened the first door of the second landing. "I figured, if I can't be of use out there, the least I can do is give a safe place where to have our meetings. It's secured with a Fidelious charm, Dumbledore did it last Saturday when he heard you were coming."

"Interesting..." Mel looked around. "Who used to sleep in this room?"

"Guests, that's why it's so plain. I thought you'd like it that way, my family wasn't keen on jolly decorations."

"I noticed," Mel grinned.

"You must be hungry, coming all this way from Remus' place. Why don't we go to the kitchen and have lunch? We can unpack later..."

Mel was helping her mother set the table when she heard a strange noise coming from the corner of the kitchen.

"What's in there?"

"It's where the elf used to keep his appliances... there might be rats in there, be careful."

When she opened the door something fell swiftly on her feet and she screamed, jumping on the table.

"What happened?" Emily circled the table. "Oh–! Sirius! I believe Mel found your elf..."

"Is he alive?" The girl asked in terror.

The creature looked ancient and dirty, with a sneer that she'd never seen in an elf before; usually, they were all smiles and compliments. This one started to insult them as soon as he lifted himself from the ground.

"Rats! Thieves! Traitors of the blood had come to rob my masters' treasures!"

"Kreacher," Sirius said. "Shut up."

The elf closed his mouth tightly but sent Sirius a deathly glare.

"He listens to me because I'm the last member of my family that still lives. Be of use, Kreacher, go clean my mother's room."

The elf's eyes shone with anger but he turned away and vanished.

"He always liked to throw tantrums," Sirius added, pulling Mel down from the table. "You're okay?"

"Yeah– it took me by surprise..."

"You jumped so high!" Her mother laughed.

"Laugh at your daughter, will you?" Mel scoffed. "Not like you're the adult or anything..."

"No one here is allowed to be an adult," Sirius crossed his arms. "Not unless we're holding a meeting. In which case we're adults. Today there won't be any, though."

"Don't listen to her, she's just upset about spending summer away from Harry," Emily mentioned.

"I'm not," She replied tensely.

"It's okay, I was beyond sad the first time I had to leave Matt for–"

"I don't feel that way about Harry," Mel retorted roughly.

"What?" Her mother's smile fell. "What happened?"

She bent down to pick up the things that fell when she'd jumped on the table.

"I'd rather not talk about it..."

"Am I missing something?" Sirius raised a brow.

"Last summer Mel told us she was having feelings for Harry..." Her mum began carefully, "I thought it was still a thing..."

"I'll tell you what it was. Stupid..." The lump in her throat formed at a remarkable speed. "I should've known better..."

"Did you talk to him?"

"He doesn't like me, Mum."

Sirius and Emily shared a look, the woman moved to hug her.

"We can talk about it if you want? Once you're ready..."

"Can we have lunch?" Mel asked quietly.

"Sure thing, little Em," Sirius nodded. "I'm a brilliant cook. Your mother's skills will be put to shame."

"How're you so sure?" Emily grinned.

"Because I remember your cooking."

Mel was spending some quality time with Buckbeak when Sirius walked in. It was almost midnight and her mother had gone out on a mission.

"Is it okay if I join you?"

Mel shrugged.

"I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but maybe you'd like to talk to me now?"

The girl remained silent.

"C'mon, Mel! We'll live under the same roof for a while, let's practise our social skills!"

"My social skills are fine, thanks."

"I heard from a reliable source that you're still scared of speaking to large crowds..."

"I simply don't find it exciting," She lied.

"Well then, I'm not a thousand people, but I have a nice pair of ears that would love to listen to fifteen-year-olds' problems."

"I'm sure your godson will have plenty once he's back."

"He's been demoted to my godson?" Sirius taunted.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"All right, we won't talk about him... What about your father?"

"What about him?"

"Well, when he was about your age–"

"He kissed my mum and she turned him down?" She replied tiredly. "So what? They married anyway..."

Sirius frowned.

"They didn't know they were going to marry each other, that's what! Matt didn't look like himself for weeks! Your mother'd been rejected, that's why your dad kissed her. He thought it would help... to this day I don't know why he thought that, but alas, it worked!"

"Did you know the other?" Mel asked. "That kid mum used to like?"

"A fool," Sirius shrugged. "A nice fool, but an idiot nonetheless... your parents were lucky, Mel. They found a way to fall in love, but even if that hadn't been the case, your father would've found someone– your mother would've found someone... It's not that we're meant to find just one person and stick to it. Most times it's just finding an equal that understands you and suits your needs, and there are plenty of those."

"I don't want anyone," Mel pouted. "I hate this, and I wish there was a way I could avoid liking people. It's hideous."

Sirius laughed.

"Trust me, you'll regret it if you don't give someone a chance. Though I'll tell you this, no person in this world will ever be fully worthy of you, little Em. And even if it's true and you don't find one, your life will still be full of adventures."

Mel didn't think she was that great, but whatever had happened between Harry and she felt right, it felt natural, she'd been able to see a future with the boy. Then again, that could've been her childish and gullible self thinking that her first love was going to last forever. Maybe, if she were to try hard enough, she'd be able to see someone taking Harry's place.

"Have you ever been in love?" Then she added rather bashfully. "I mean, not that I have, but you know..."

Sirius cleared his throat.

"It was a long time ago. Long before leaving Hogwarts... It wasn't meant to be, nor my place."

They fell in comfortable silence, watching Buckbead nibble some bones.

"If you really want to help me," Mel started. "You can teach me how to avoid detention..."

"Nice try," Sirius laughed. "Emily warned me about you... My official answer is no."

"What about your off-the-record answer?" She inquired, standing up at the same time as him.

"Only the days Mily's not in the house."

Kreacher kept insisting on following her around as if she were a criminal, making sure she wasn't touching any of his old trinkets. She didn't have any interest in doing so; everything had dark magic, she'd sense it without even having to touch them.

On a normal day, she'd go to the attic to spend time with Buckbeak, sometimes Sirius would make tea and they'd sit there talking about his adventures in Hogwarts. He'd tried several times to ask her about Harry, but she would ignore him every time.

Dumbledore visited one morning to ask her to keep it all a secret, what they were doing there, meaning that if she was planning on sending letters to Harry, she wasn't allowed to talk about the Order. But Mel wasn't writing to him at all, and her letters to Hermione and Ron were always vague. Both of them were under the impression that Mel, true to her nature, was keeping an updated knowledge on Harry's whereabouts, that she didn't confirm nor denied.

Erick wrote to her a week after she'd moved to Grimmauld Place. Anne went completely unmentioned, but that was expected. He was busy looking for young supporters, things got a bit complicated when Eliot Flint got sick again and Erick had to look after him. He seemed to be having just as a dreadful summer as she was.

It wasn't that her mother, Lupin, and Sirius would leave her to rot inside this huge house, but they were adults who had their minds set on important matters, and she had nothing to do but overthink about him.

She still had feelings, but she was doing her best to bury them. Mel was hoping that once in Hogwarts she'd find a way to be okay with his existence. She didn't want to get rid of him altogether, that was impossible.

"I take that you're having a rough morning?" Sirius spoke from the doorway.

Mel gave a start, looking up from her seat at the kitchen table.

"I had a nightmare," She said drowsily.

"Same as before?" Sirius knew about her dreams, but that day she didn't want to talk about them. Today all she wanted to do was to sit in silence and drink her coffee.

"Have you had breakfast already?"

"No. I came here so Kreacher would stop nagging about me trying to steal the rubbish he keeps in the living room."

Sirius chuckled, walking up to the stove.

"Maybe if you praise my mother's portrait he'll stop..."

"Would love to, but I'm not a good liar."

"I can help you with that," He turned around for a moment. "Don't laugh when you speak, don't smile– if someone accuses you of causing mischief, act like it was the most insulting thing you've ever heard."

"What if they don't buy it?"

"Confidence is key, Mel. If you believe it, then it's done."

"Sirius, you're not giving my daughter bad advice, are you?" Emily walked in.

"Not at all," Sirius said, feigning surprise. "It shocks me that you think so, the only thing I want for Mel is her well being!"

"He's good..." Mel snickered.

"You have to pick your battles wisely, Paddie. A fifteen-year-old, or an experienced witch that's old enough to hex you," Emily warned him.

"I'll trust my luck," Sirius smirked.

"I got Molly's answer by the way," She ignored him, "The Weasleys will be here next Tuesday."

"Hang on... where will everyone sleep? I know the place is big, but..."

"Ginny can sleep with you," Emily started, "Ron can sleep in Phineas' room, the twins can sleep in the room next door to yours– Molly and Arthur can stay in Walburga's room..."

"But Sirius is in that room," Mel tilted her head.

"Yeah..." Emily glanced anxiously towards the man. "Sirius will take my room. I spend the night outside anyway, remember? Like uncle Lupin."

"But sometimes you don't."

"Little Em," Sirius told her. "Don't worry, your mother and I will make sure everyone's comfortable. As much as this bloody house can be..."

Mel knew Sirius was less than happy about spending his days locked up in the house where he'd lived the worse years of his life, but he was glad to have her, or at least he'd said as much. According to him, Mel was a lovely housemate.

She also knew there was something going on between the two adults. She could see it in the way Sirius would stare at her mother when she wasn't paying attention, and the way her mother would look more cheerful than usual after talking to him. The nights where she had to eat with the two blatantly flirting felt like personal karma from all those months she'd spent recklessly ogling at Harry in front of her friends.

"Can Hermione come too?" Mel asked.

"D'you think she'll want to come to this musty old place?"

"Please?"

Sirius sighed.

"Look at those eyes, Mily. I can't say no to those eyes!"

"Those are my eyes," The woman crossed her arms. "I can."

"I got my father's smile though," She said cheekily. "Please? It could be my first birthday surrounded by friends!"

"You heard that, Mily? Her birthday," Sirius said without missing a beat. "Are you going to deny such a simple request to your only daughter?"

"Oh, you two are unbelievable!"

"Is that a yes?"

"You have five minutes to write that letter and send it– Wipe that smirk off your face, Black. You're washing the dishes tonight."

Mel and Sirius high-fived, laughing at Emily's annoyance.

"And here's where we'll be sleeping!" Mel dragged Hermione into the room.

The house was definitely more fun now that the Weasleys and Hermione were there, from time to time some members of the order would visit as well as her uncle. The place almost felt like home.

"You're not sleeping with your mum?"

"My mum and Sirius share–" She stopped abruptly. "Mum goes out a lot, sometimes when she's here Sirius will give her his room so she can take the bed and he sleeps on the couch."

"Ginny sleeps here too?" Hermione examined the jumpers laying around on the other bed.

"Yeah!"

"How is she? She's over Harry now?" Hermione smiled. "She's okay with him liking you and all?"

Mel groaned internally. This was going to be a long month if people kept asking her about Harry.

"Harry doesn't like me."

"Please, Mel–"

"No," The girl interrupted. "I actually talked to him this time. Don't ask. It's better if we just forget it."

Hermione stared at her in shock.

"I–I could've sworn he... that he..."

"'Mione," Mel stared at her. "Forget it."

Hermione nodded, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"Careful with the twins, by the way," She continued calmly. "They're free to do magic now, and they're out of control."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Ginny and Hermione were acting oddly ever since they found out she wasn't talking to Harry. They had the right to be, it was strange to see how unfeeling she was about being so far away from her former best friend. The twins and Ron, on the other hand, weren't that worried. They thought it was her way of coping and, in a way, it was.

They kept asking a lot of questions about Erick though, whether if he was to be trusted and exactly how much could they get away with. Mel thought it was funny, so she answered as many questions as she could.

Her birthday passed without much of a fuss, suddenly she was fifteen and just as quickly, Harry was too, but he wasn't there to celebrate. For the first time in weeks, she wished he could be there with them, she didn't dislike him as much as to wish him a bad birthday.

Hermione and Ron started to write to him. She tried to write a Happy Birthday note but it sounded stupid, she knew it'd be far from happy, all alone in Privet Drive. That night he would open his window only to see hers completely shut.

Erick's present had been one of those old radios his Grandad used to make with a note that said 'So you can practice your dancing' signed with two E's. She and the twins used it a lot while working on their products, that way it would drown the noise and their mothers wouldn't suspect as much. Mrs Weasley was on edge lately, Percy and his father had gotten into a real nasty fight and now the boy was gone, it had the poor woman in a terrible state.

One night after dinner, Fred walked into her room.

"Hey," She said without looking up. "Erick told me there's a station where they do these radio novels? I'm trying to find them, bet they're hilarious..." She said while toying with the buttons of the object.

"You're all right?" He asked, sitting next to her.

"Brilliant."

It was a lie. She'd been having a terrible headache for the past twenty minutes, probably because of the lack of sleep and the white noise.

"I'm not the best talker, and you don't have to say anything, but–"

"Not you too, Fred," Mel rolled her eyes, turning off the radio. "I told you I'm fine–"

"Exactly. I'd never seen you so calm about leaving Harry before, there must be something," He raised a brow.

"It's called growing up," She scoffed. "He's capable of looking after himself. You know it, I know it..."

"A real grown-up wouldn't avoid confrontation."

"That's rich coming from you, considering you keep hiding your products away from mummy."

"That's not fair, you know it's a safety measure!"

"Okay then," Mel stood up. "This is my safety measure. I don't talk about things that don't concern others..."

Fred caught her wrist and stopped her from leaving.

"Lady..."

"Using my nickname in that aching voice won't change my mind," She raised a brow. "Let go."

"Don't be grumpy, you're starting to sound real' bossy and you haven't gotten the Prefect badge yet!"

"Fred..." She tried to move. "Please, my head is killing me..."

"Did you guys fight?" He tilted his head, finally letting go. "I don't get why you fancy him if you're always bickering..."

"I don't like Harry."

"Yeah, right," Fred laughed.

"I don't," She tried to follow Sirius' advice and kept a neutral expression. "We went to the ball as friends. He saved me during the second task because I was his friend. What Skeeter wrote was rubbish, I don't fancy him."

"If you insist," Fred shrugged, but she could see he wasn't buying it.

He stood up as well and she realized, with a strange sense of accomplishment, that she was tall enough to reach his chin. She was about to point that out when something completely different came out.

"Why did you ask me to the ball?"

"What?"

"You said it was because you thought it'd be fun. Was that it?"

"Why does it matter?"

That was a good question.

Why did it matter?

But also, why not Fred? He was handsome, funny, smart...

It wasn't that she didn't like him, it was that she hadn't picked him. Sirius said there was more than one person for her, she just had to find them. Mel wasn't ready, but she would eventually, and if she could pick...

"It doesn't," Mel sighed. "I was curious, that's all. Ron used to think you fancied me, you know? I told them it was stupid..."

"Well, not stupid," Fred was quick to correct. "Just... I don't know, unlikely."

"Am I unworthy of your affection?" She joked.

He eyed her intently, like pondering the idea she had put out there. Suddenly, her mother stormed into the room.

"Harry was attacked," The woman blurted out.

"What?" Mel snapped, walking away from Fred.

"He's all right, but he used magic. The ministry has been looking for an excuse to get him– I'm afraid he just gave them one."

"Get him?"

"If we don't do something, he'll be expelled from Hogwarts."

"How– we're not– Do what?" She stammered.

"They're bringing him here," Her mother replied. "Harry's coming."

Next Chapter —>

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[halothenthehorns]

THE HOUSE-ELF LIBERATION FRONT

I was originally going to save the opening for this chapter for the end of the book, but then I was looking at my notes and saw I already had a crap ton for that, and this really is a pressing enough question to get in now. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and support!

HPHPHP

Try as they might, even in the face of the dragon nightmare from the last few chapters, neither Sirius nor Remus had forgotten their intentions to try and have a private conversation regarding what they'd finally had confirmed for them in Moody's first lesson. Something had happened to Harry the night his parents were killed, something involving Lily and her ability to save her son, and the two desperately wanted to try and talk about it out loud in hopes sharing some ideas would make some sense, but without the others around. They loved Lily like a sister and this was going to be hard for them to focus on, neither of them wanted the other three around as it would only be worse.

Neither of them had a clear idea what could even be said, but they'd always come up with their best ideas spit-balling to each other, so Remus decided to get the worst of it over as he blurted, "have you ever heard of anything that Lily could have done to save Harry?"

  Sirius chewed on his answer for a few minutes, denying that he was holding back a yawn, as he said softly back, "nothing comes to mind, and I've been trying to figure it out since I first heard about this. Nothing can block the Killing Curse."

"You don't think it's just something undiscovered," Remus tried to wheedle, "not even a rumor that you can work with?"

Sirius shook his head and insisted, "not a peep, and I can't imagine how that would change in the next year. I wish we'd said something about it to Harry in the Shack," Sirius' face twitched with the most base hatred one can hold at the mention of that place before continuing and ignoring it, "but at this rate it doesn't look like the three of us are going to be in the same room for a while. Merlin knows if we even know then."

Sirius knew quite a few things the others didn't from his Black heritage. As a child, he'd questioned one to many things and if they regarded their ancestry he usually got an answer, though the vile nature of them really have led him on the path he was now. The fact that Dumbledore had suggested the Fidelius Charm for them to hide under meant that this must be the most powerful thing Dumbledore could find to keep them alive, so it clearly wasn't any good magic that had saved Lily. Then again, it had been Dumbledore who said that Harry had been saved by the love of his mother, and even back in the first chapter it had been implied Dumbledore might have some idea of what had happened, but hadn't shared it with Harry.

It was another of those questions where they just couldn't help but wonder what their old headmaster was doing to their lives. Did he know and was keeping it from them, to what end? Did he figure it out after the fact, and decided Harry was too young to know? Not unreasonable, but still information Dumbledore shouldn't even be the one to share, it should be Sirius' decision at least now.

They talked for as long as they could until they couldn't take it any longer. The vision of Lily dead in front of her wailing child was most certainly going to feature in their nightmares tonight as long as they had lingered on the subject, so while neither wanted any rest, sleep took them before either had even made it to the stairs.

James grinned as he came down the stairs the next morning, with the baby in his arms, to see his two friends passed out on the sofas. He'd known from the moment he'd left they were going to stay behind and talk about something, and he knew his friends well enough to guess the topic. The sight wasn't even that unfamiliar, in school they'd often gone down to the common room late at night to pick apart each others brains and fallen asleep down there.

Remus slept like an Inferi, dead until activated, but Sirius was usually a light sleeper so even as James tried to creep past them into the kitchen, Sirius began stirring. James only just got Harry into his highchair when Sirius entered from behind.

The two chatted in sleepy mumbles for a few minutes before Sirius shook himself hard to fully make sure he was awake before he dug in for something he knew he needed to talk about.

"Alright Prongs, out with it," Sirius sighed, hopping up onto the counter and swinging his legs around in an attempt to just look bored, but the tense set of his shoulders made it clear Sirius actually thought he was in trouble.

James frowned, struggling for a moment before plastering a grin on he knew full well Sirius wouldn't buy, but hoping his friend would take the hint and stop asking anyways. "Don't know what you're talking about."

Sirius eyed him for a moment, clearly considering this very thing, as he knew that there weren't many things James wouldn't tell him. If he wasn't talking without some hard prodding, then it was either something about Sirius himself, or James wanted to handle it himself. Sirius had just decided he really would drop it, if James wanted to be silently jealous then Sirius wasn't going to keep at him, when Ron's face flashed across his mind. Sirius had never even met Ron, but he could understand where Ron was coming from in his anger. He was more frustrated the boy hadn't stood by his mate, but Sirius didn't want something to linger in James if he could get it out of him. So instead he pressed, "go ahead and have a yell at me, something. I know my interacting with Harry is bothering you."

James groaned as he leaned on the counter beside him and muttered, "I'm not angry Sirius, not really. What can I even say? Fine, I'll admit it bothers me that you're the one Harry's been looking to for advice, but it's not like I'm there and he's choosing you over me, I'm just not there." The pain that tore out of James' throat even as he got that last part out made Sirius all the happier he and Remus had their conversation last night without Prongs around. He didn't need any other stress on his life right now; and since it hadn't done them much good in the end, it really would have just made things worse for him right now.

Even as the rest of the house stirred James and Sirius managed to keep up a lighter and friendly banter between them now, even having gotten it out in the open had made James feel just slightly better.

The two looked far happier than they did going in as they sat down for the next chapter. Everyone took the spots they had before, James even passing the baby to Remus again while Lily sat next to him.

It was Lily's turn to pick up the book where they'd left off, which she did with only a slight tilt of unease. Harry had just survived the first task, surely nothing too bad was going to happen in the very next chapter.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were heading up to the Owlery in search of Pig,

"Nice to hear the trio of names again," James smiled.

so that Harry could send his letter to Sirius about how he'd gotten past his dragon.

"Best letter I'll have gotten in ages," Sirius smirked, before catching sight of Harry and quickly adding, "not that I'll have any doubts you could do it even without my advice."

Harry was filling Ron in on everything Sirius had shared with him about Karkaroff, and while at first shocked at the news, Ron quickly agreed he was an obvious suspect.

"Didn't miss this though," Remus grumbled testily. He may have forgiven Ron, but his attitude was going to still bother him for a while longer.

Pointing out what they'd heard on the train about Malfoy saying his dad and Karkaroff were old friends, now they knew from where.

"Got a point there," Lily sighed, remembering back to that moment and how they'd hoped they were just being paranoid in thinking the same.

Ron did add though that if it was Karkaroff doing this, he'd be feeling stupid now, Harry had only got a scratch from the first task.

"Hopefully that's the worst you do get," Remus agreed.

They found Pigwidgeon, but Harry began having difficulties tying his letter to the minute owl.

"Got to love the little guys enthusiasm," Sirius grinned, still unrepentant he was the reason Ron had that particular owl.

Ron had to snatch him out of the air to hold him still long enough before releasing him again, Ron still babbling about his confidence now Harry was doing so well he had no doubts Harry could win this tournament,

"I'm more focused with you living through it, then fourth place would seem like a blessing," James huffed.

While Harry agreed, he couldn't quite seem to do so out loud, something of what Ron said lingering with him. He couldn't have really won though, right?

he was being serious.

"No, I am!" Sirius blurted with the proudest smile on his face like he'd just made the end of all jokes.

Lily knew ignoring him wouldn't actually make him stop, but it was still better than retaliating and letting him keep going.

Harry knew Ron was being overtly kind because of his previous attitude,

"Not that it's really helping," Remus grumbled.

but Harry didn't deny either that he smiled in appreciation.

Hermione frowned at Ron though, reminding Harry had a long ways to go before he should start thinking like that

"She's such a buzzkill," James snorted.

seriously.

"I still don't believe she could do any sort of believable impression of me," Sirius sniffed, this time James did reach around and smack him for it.

Ron told her to stop being such a sunshine.

"It's good to be agreeing with Ron again," Lily chuckled.

Harry watched Pig soaring away with a heavy roll of parchment, his letter to Sirius had been filled with every bit of detail Harry could offer about his match with the dragon.

"I can imagine that giving me a combination of heart failure and pleasure," Sirius nodded.

"I'm just glad you didn't get a chance to make an appearance," Remus scoffed, "you would have pissed yourself in the stands and drawn attention to yourself."

Sirius stuck his tongue out at him.

Ron caught his attention by saying they should head downstairs for Harry's surprise party.

"Well it's not a surprise now!" James threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Wish the surprise was they hadn't done it," Harry rolled his eyes.

Ron was right, the moment they stepped into the common room they found it decked out for a party. The twins had gathered everything they needed from food to entertainment, plus Dean had used his art skills to put up posters such as Harry's battle with the dragon, and a few of Cedric's head on fire.

The Marauders gave appreciative laughs at that, though Lily and Harry couldn't find it that funny. At least Cedric was okay for it.

Harry finally felt able to laugh along and chat with everyone, Ron and Hermione by his side all night. He hadn't felt so happy in months, and he wouldn't have to worry about anything again for months.

"All bright spots that I will cherish as long as I can," Lily agreed.

Lee had come over to talk to Harry, and had grabbed up his golden egg to investigate it, then asked Harry to open it for all of them to hear what was inside.

"Now that would have to be classified as cheating," Remus raised a surprised brow. "Getting the whole of your house to help you with that."

"I wouldn't put it past anyone else to be doing the same," James waved him off with honest curiosity of what this was going to be.

Hermione tried to say that was against the rules, but Harry quietly reminded her so was her helping him past his dragon, too which she grinned.

"I just love it when Hermione points out the rules when they don't relate to her," Sirius snorted.

After more prompting from the rest of his house, Harry did indeed open the seal on the egg, and it fell open with a wail of noise. The high pitched shrieking was horrid, the only comparable noise was the saw music at Nick's deathday party.

"That sounds like a pain in the ear," Remus winced in sympathy, rubbing at his own ear in just the thought.

"What on earth would be making that noise?" Lily asked as she tried to guess what this had to do with the tournament's second task.

"Banshee," Sirius offered with a frown.

"No, I heard that once," Harry corrected, thinking of Seamus' boggart, "and this wasn't that."

"Hard to really guess since we can't actually hear it," James pointed out with a pout.

Harry had to struggle to get his wits about him before shutting it back, everyone now watching him with a bit of fear. Seamus pointed out it sounded kind of like a banshee, maybe Harry would have to go against one of those next.

"I'd still take that over a dragon," Sirius shivered.

"I don't think that's it though," Lily frowned, "the tournament usually has three separate events, not the same thing like getting past a creature every time."

Neville stuttered that it had sounded like someone being cursed with the Cruciatus.

"You can't fight that," James shivered in disgust at the thought.

"And there's no way that would be in the tournament," Remus agreed.

George told him that was ridiculous, they wouldn't use a curse like that on the champions. Then he offered it had sounded like Percy's singing, maybe Harry would have to go after him in the shower.

"I like his suggestion the best," Harry grinned as they all burst out laughing at that suggestion. For some reason what George had said seemed to linger in Harry's mind. Why would Percy be a stand out at his next task though, he shouldn't even be there.

Fred then offered Hermione a jam tart to change the subject, which Hermione did not take.

"Why?" James asked innocently enough. "Do the twins often spike the food?"

"Rule number one of the Gryffindors," Harry shrugged, "don't take anything the twins offer you without expecting something."

"Now where have I heard that before," Lily rolled her eyes as the Marauders all smiled at that.

Fred grinned at her, promising he hadn't done anything to them, it had been the custards he may have tampered with.

"Which clearly means he's done something to those tarts," Sirius' smile widened.

"Unless he was trying to double cross them," Remus grinned as well. "The twins wouldn't tell what they'd spiked, so of course people would be fooled into thinking the creams are okay, then they'd eat those anyways."

"You boys worry me," Lily told them before James could continue the convoluted idea.

Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out.

Causing all five of them to cackle. That could have been the joke all along of course, just to make someone think they'd eaten anything.

Both twins laughed at his response, before promising it was all a joke. Hermione took the offered food, but then asked how had they gotten all of this? Fred quickly said that it had all come from the kitchens, the house-elves had been begging to give it to them. They'd go fetch him something exotic if he asked for specialties.

Sirius smacked his lips in appreciation. He'd loved testing them to the limits to see what they would bring him, and they'd never let him down.

Hermione asked where the kitchens were.

"I see Hermione's taking your advice," Lily grinned. She really hoped Hermione would meet these house-elves and see how most were treated.

Fred at first went into all the details of it, before cutting himself off as he scrutinized Hermione and asked why she wanted to know.

They'd been so stressed for so many chapters in a row, that perhaps they're continued giggling of anything the twins did was possibly being exaggerated, but no one seemed likely to stop soon either.

Hermione quickly tried to act innocent, but George wagged his finger at her, telling her not to go getting ideas of rebellion into their head.

"That could be some potential mayhem," James smirked.

"Kind of wishing we'd thought of that," Sirius agreed.

"You value your meals to much to try and put the house-elves up to anything," Remus snorted.

Fred agreed they'd all be pissed if she put them off their cooking.

"Unless Dumbledore specifically told them to stop, nothing would actually put them off their cooking," James corrected, shuddering in horror at the very idea.

Neville caused a distraction by sprouting the feathers of a canary.

Which drove any talk of house-elves back out the window and a nice new round of laughter, no one in doubt it had been the twins.

In between his own laughter, Fred managed to apologize and admit it had been those creams he'd hexed. Less than a minute later and Neville had molted, then joined in the laughter.

"Good to see he knows how to laugh it off," Remus said warmly, thinking of previous times something like this had happened and very glad Neville had never once seemed to turn bitter about this.

Several people were murmuring in curiosity at the twins idea, as both boys quickly called to all listening ears that they were selling these Canary Creams for only seven Sickles.

"I can not put into words how excited I am they're still on about this!" Sirius squealed, bouncing in his seat at this new idea of the twins.

"They clearly have a gift for it," Lily agreed.

They went up to bed much later, and as Harry was laying down in his bed he pulled out his miniature Horntail and placed it on his bedside cabinet.

"Wait, so you kept that little dragon!?" Sirius asked in disgust.

"Yes," Harry shrugged, "but he ran away that night. I don't really know where he went either, I always wondered if Crookshank's ate him."*

"I hope so," Sirius muttered, while Remus went a little wide eyed and demanded:

"Did you say a dragon got loose in your common room, and you never reported it, or even looked for it!?"

Harry looked honestly confused as he asked, "Ah, no. Why would I?"

Lily suddenly released a burst of laughter and gasped, "Oh Merlin, I'm just picturing that thing getting out and going to live in the forest or something."

"I hate you right now," Sirius scowled at her. Even if he did know the magic of it would make it vanish after a few months, he didn't even want to picture running across one of those in his Forest.

Harry watched it curl into itself and begin to snooze, thinking as he drifted off himself Hagrid wasn't all wrong, they weren't all bad those dragons.

"Yes, yes they still are," Sirius grumbled mutionisly. He didn't care Harry had got past his, he still wanted nothing to do with the beasts.

December was hitting the castle with icy winds and mounds of snow. The warm fires and thick walls managed to keep the worst of it out inside the school, but Harry pitied those from the Durmstrang ship.

"Oh I'm sure they have it charmed on the inside to be plenty warm," Lily corrected, at least hoping Karkaroff would do this for his students. Even an old Death Eater had to at least pretend to care for his students, right?

"Even if they don't," James rolled his eyes, "don't they come from somewhere even colder? This can't be anything new to them."

Beauxbatons didn't look much better in their caravan, though Hagrid was commonly seen making their stay as comfy as possible. So far he'd kept to the task of providing their horses with their prefered drink of the single-malt whiskey, the fumes of which often drifted across the grounds and made the Care of Magical Creatures class going lightheaded. This was not helpful, as they still needed their wits about them around the skrewts.

"At least their blast ends will keep you warm," Remus muttered as he tried to repress a smirk.

Hagrid began a lesson by pointing out that he wasn't sure if they hibernated,

"Hagrid's extensive knowledge of these things really keeps me warm," James frowned. He liked Hagrid as a person, but that didn't change the fact he really wanted his son to drop both of his extracurricular classes lately.

so he'd prepared some boxes for them to try out, all they had to do was lead them inside. There were only ten of them left, apparently their kill drive had not been walked out of them.

"At least their dropping numbers is encouraging," Sirius chuckled.

The class did not look encouraged to be trying to force the brutes into pillow lined boxes.

"Can never deny Hagrid's enthusiasm though," Lily murmured in an almost affectionate tone.

The task did not go as planned, as the moment the skrewts realized they were being nailed inside mayhem broke loose, and soon the ground was strewn with smoldering blankets.

"Sounds like a disaster zone," Remus raised a brow, still unable to wipe his own smile off his face.

"Sounds like a party," Sirius agreed, both boys half regretting Kettleburn never did get these for their class. At least they'd know the end result of whatever Harry was dealing with.

The majority of the class took off running, Malfoy and his group in the lead as they hid inside Hagrid's cabin, but a few stayed out to help round them back up.

Hagrid was trying to convince his students not to go frightening them as Harry and Ron were forced backwards, throwing sparks at the skrewt advancing on them, the stinger on its back quivering to strike.

"I am genuinely certain the skrewt isn't the one frightened in this situation," James's brows just kept traveling up his forehead, like he was torn between wanting to laugh along with his mates at something involving these fascinating beasts, and the ever perplexing question of Hagrid's sanity regarding them.

They were momentarily distracted by noticing Rita Skeeter leaning against Hagrid's fence.

"I really wish Hogwarts had a stricter visiting policy," Harry snapped. He'd been quiet and only mildly concerned about his well being with the skrewt around, at least he felt safe in the knowledge Hagrid would handle it in the end, but the moment she was mentioned his annoyance went right back up.

Hagrid jumped onto the last skrewt then, pinning it to the ground long enough to loop a leash around it before turning his attention to Skeeter and asking who she was.

She quickly stated her title, and Hagrid frowned at her as he stated Dumbledore had banned her from the school,

"Ha!" Sirius released a bark of righteous laughter. Finally, Dumbledore really was still good for something!

"I think Hogwarts needs security," Lily sniffed, "guards around the school or something to stop her waltzing in the front gate, especially as Dumbledore specifically said she wasn't allowed in."

"Guards on gates yes," James approved, "but inside the castle and on the grounds? Come on Lil's you'll kill all the fun."

'As if Harry needs any more fun,' Lily mentally grumbled, thinking it would solve a few of the problems they'd had, but wasn't going to argue the point for now.

as he dragged the last skrewt to its comrades.

"That should really be telling us how indestructible those things are," Remus shivered, his mind still slightly distracted from Rita by those things. "Hagrid, landing on that with his considerable weight, and it's still able to walk!"

"I really wish Hagrid would tell already where he got those things," Sirius agreed.

Rita pretended not to hear that as she asked what these creatures where, and Hagrid told her with some pride.

Rita was confused, saying she'd never heard of them and asking where they came from.

Hagrid flushed in shock and didn't immediately answer, leading Harry's heart to sink as the question first occurred to him.

"His answer's just all kinds of encouraging," Lily muttered. They'd already guessed sure, but his not answering wasn't improving their mood.

Hermione stepped in by diverting attention to Harry, asking him how interesting he found these creatures.

"Why would she draw attention to you!" James spluttered in outrage. "That's all you need is for her to launch another article soon as she catches sight of you!"

"I can't blame Hermione," Harry sighed, "I'd have done the same thing if I'd thought about it long enough, to divert attention away from Hagrid."

Harry quickly agreed after a prompt stamp to his foot from her.

"That wasn't necessary," Remus snorted, he knew Harry would have agreed without it.

Rita was very pleased at seeing him again, at once launching into questions for him, such as was this his favorite class?

Harry agreed at once, noticing Hagrid beam.

"Still true," Harry grinned unabashedly. DADA may have been one of his best classes, but Hagrid would always be his favorite teacher, no matter err, the interesting things he brought to said class.

Rita asked Hagrid how long he'd been teaching, her eyes lingering on the still fearful students inside Hagrid's place and the remaining ones outside who were all slightly injured from the ordeal.

Hagrid admitted this was only his second year.

"And he's off to a great start," Sirius couldn't help the sarcastic spew. "Nearly sacked his first year, clearly up to something at least minorly illegal this year."

"Got to love Hagrid," Harry agreed without the same tone.

Rita was definitely interested now as she asked Hagrid if they could set up an interview.

"She's insane!" Lily scowled. "Hagrid will know that's a mad idea just from what she's already done to Harry!"

"You'd really think she'd take a hint," Remus agreed.

She wanted to pick his brains for their Wednesday article on zoological creatures for the Prophet, perhaps feature these Bang-Ended Scoots?

"Think I like that better than Hagrid's name for them," James snorted.

Hagrid quickly corrected their proper name, but did indeed agree this sounded like a good idea. Harry got a very bad feeling as they set up a later time to do this, but didn't know how to warn Hagrid with Rita watching.

"Don't know what you're bothering to be subtle about," Sirius rolled his eyes, "I'd shout it in her face what a terrible idea that was."

"I knew the moment I really said anything to her she'd twist it," Harry sighed, "if I had told Hagrid not to in front of her who knew what she'd put in her next article about me."

Considering she'd most likely be doing it anyways, Harry's caution most likely wasn't going to be useful, but they couldn't blame him for trying.

The three of them headed off to the castle uneasily, wondering what Rita was going to say about Hagrid. Hermione was worried Rita would find out Hagrid had imported those skrewts illegally.

"Yeah, I absolutely believe that," James sighed as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Hagrid wouldn't admit to that though," Sirius reminded with plenty of confidence.

Ron did remind though that Hagrid had been in trouble before and Dumbledore hadn't done anything against him, worst that could happen was Hagrid would have to get rid of the skrewts.

"Worst?" Remus repeated with a light smirk. "I'd think he'd call that a good thing."

Then Ron corrected he'd meant best.

"Is there an echo in here?" Sirius snickered while Remus rolled his eyes at him.

They all laughed as they headed off to lunch.

Harry found Divination that afternoon very enjoyable again.

"There's something I never thought I'd hear," Lily laughed.

"Don't know what you're talking about," James told her with an almost straight face, "I think she's a lovely one."

"For a laugh," Sirius tacked on before they all started laughing again.

They were still tracking planets, and Trelawny was still trying to insist all the horrible ways they were going to die, but now that Ron was his friend again, they were a snickering mess as Trelawney went into the details of Pluto.

"Well that is the Roman planet of the Greek God Hades, lord of Death," Sirius rolled his eyes, "wouldn't surprise me that's her favorite."

She tried to keep up her mystic tone as she watched Harry reprovingly, stating how some would find it best to take her class without the frivolous attitude.

"And I would think," Lily shot back, "that you would take a bleeding hint, and realize Harry doesn't give a single care of you're bleeding predictions."

"Some people just can't take a hint," James told her with an earnest smile, making Lily give an indulgent grin back.

She trailed off into how just last night she'd been absorbed in her orb, gazing into its powers, and whispered to the class if they could guess what she'd seen.

Ron muttered under his breath a reflection of a glittering bat.

Lily had to actually pause for several minutes the boys were all laughing so hard. A combination of all the pent up stress leading up to the dragon, and this by far being the most lax chapters they'd had since Harry's name had come out of the Goblet was making them all a little punch drunk with giggles.

Harry fought to keep his laughing repressed even as Trelawny dramatically finished with, death! She finished with an obvious look at Harry again, who yawned.

"That was a kind response to what I was thinking," James wheezed out.

"Still didn't get through her thick skull," Sirius snorted.

As they were leaving, Harry was complaining that it may have had more of a hit if she hadn't used the same line over a hundred times now.

"My point exactly," Lily shook her head.

Pointing out if he'd died every time she said so, he'd be a walking miracle.

The good mood was still persistent enough that they all chuckled at Harry's comment, but it didn't quite erase the reminder that he'd actually had some pretty close calls that made them feel Harry wasn't exactly wrong either.

Ron agreed he could be some new kind of ghost.

"Your own original species," Sirius nodded in agreement.

"No thanks," Harry shook himself, he didn't like to think about dead things much.

Ron was at least pleased that they didn't have homework from her, hoping Hermione did as he always loved not having to do any while she did hers.

"Always something to lord over your friends," Remus agreed.

Hermione didn't meet them for dinner though, and though they went to the library to find her, she wasn't there either. They did find Krum, and Ron at first began a whispered debate of whether he should ask for their autograph, but then he caught a group of girls doing the same and lost his enthusiasm for the idea.

"Don't see why," Sirius stated, a wide grin creeping across his features. "I'd think it would actually encourage him to go get that autograph, go back to the girls and show off-"

Remus begged Lily to cut him off before they had to hear anymore.

The two boys had just made it to Gryffindor tower and had opened the portrait to go inside when she caught up to them, at once trying to drag Harry back off and babbling that he had to see something!

James spluttered a bit in shock, unable to stop the worry as he demanded, "now what!?"

"Relax," Harry soothed with his head cocked to the side, he felt nothing bad for this. "Hermione looked excited, not upset."

Lily eyed him for a moment, gauging how truthful that was, but when Harry clearly meant it she did keep going with honest curiosity.

Harry tried to ask what was going on, but she just wanted to show them!

They ran off after her, the Fat Lady calling behind them in annoyance that they shouldn't bother apologizing for leaving her open!

"Has anyone?" Sirius rolled his eyes. She was testy this year.

She'd just stay here wide open until they got back.

"Fairly certain she's not allowed to do that," Remus snorted.

Hermione dragged them all the way back through the castle, down to where the Hufflepuffs came up for their meals.

"Ooh," the Marauders said in understanding, though they remained just as confused as before. Hermione must have found the kitchen, and the house-elves, but that really didn't explain her excitement. Harry hadn't shown any enthusiasm for her S. P. E. W. gig.

Harry still remained as baffled as the others, but when understanding struck and he realized where Hermione was taking him, he also couldn't stop some happiness bubbling up in him as well. Something good was going to come of whatever was going on, he was at least sure of that.

The passage was brightly lit, with all sorts of paintings of food lining the walls.

"I don't know how the Hufflepuffs stand it," Remus said tragically, "having to walk past food so many times a day, how can they not be constantly hungry."

"Glad I don't have to know," James grinned, "though I bet they're on the best terms with the elves out of all the houses."

Harry realized where he was just as Hermione stopped in front of a large painting, asking if this was more spew stuff? Hermione tried to say it wasn't, but something else, but Ron laughed and asked if she'd finally changed the name to House-Elf Liberation Front?

"HELF?" Sirius snorted, "honestly that one's not as bad. Least it would be a little harder to make fun of."

Hermione promised this had nothing to do with that, she just wanted to show Harry something.

Harry was watching them all curiously, but clearly they had no more idea than him what was so exciting Hermione was going on about it.

She turned back to the picture of fruit, tickled a pair, and a handle appears which she quickly wrenched open and pushed Harry inside.

Harry only got a glimpse of the enormous kitchen, with all sorts of cooking supplies and a warm fireplace,

"Ah that brings back the best memories," Sirius' grin kept stretching wider.

"That place was as familiar to us as the Forest by the end of our first year," James agreed.

when something tackled him around the middle, squealing about Harry Potter!

Lily blinked down at the pages in shock as her mind tried to process what elf would be down in the kitchens squealing over Harry, none of them should have even met him.

When she looked up at Harry to see if he had any ideas, she saw him blinking in shock, his mouth flopping uselessly, and though she had a curious idea as the only elf this could be, she still read.

Harry glanced down at the elf hugging the life out of his middle as he gasped out Dobby.

"Wh-what!" Sirius spluttered, his face quickly flipping from shock to outrage the fastest. Despite his pleasure in the justice Dobby had dished out to Malfoy, Sirius still held no love for the critter that had genuinely tried to maim Harry at some point.

"I knew it!" Harry yelped in relief, clearly noticing no such feelings pouring off of his godfather. "I just knew I'd run into Dobby again! What on earth do you think he's doing there?"

"Best guess?" Remus offered indulgently at Harry's clearly laughing features. "Dumbledore might have hired him. Last we heard he was looking for a paying job, Dumbledore would be the first in mind to indulge in such things."

"I think that's brilliant," Lily agreed, ignoring the still flabbergasted James and stone faced Sirius.

Dobby agreed it was indeed him as he released Harry and stepped back so that he could properly see him. Dobby still had the same features as the last time Harry had seen him, but looked much different in the clothes.

"Yeah, like the fact that he's wearing clothes," James chuckled as he shook off his own disbelief.

He'd done an even more odd job of putting together an outfit than most wizards at the World Cup.

"And that's saying something," Lily giggled.

Wearing a tea cozy for a hat, a tie with horseshoes over a bare chest, kids soccer shorts, and one black sock Harry identified as the one he'd given the elf to earn this freedom, plus the other which was orange and pink striped.

Sirius couldn't keep it up any longer, he cracked and started snickering with the rest of all the garments, but Sirius' was still tinged with unease. Last time Harry had been in danger, Dobby hadn't exactly been helpful. This year Harry was actually in more danger than he had back in his second year, and Sirius was kind of terrified what the little elf would do when he found out this time.

Harry asked what Dobby was doing here, and Dobby squealed his excitement that he was working for Dumbledore now, he and Winky!

"And Winky?" James did a double take in surprise.

"I never thought about it," Remus cocked his head to the side, "but what does happen to house-elves when they get sacked. When Harry said he knew he'd see Dobby again I didn't think about it much, but Winky?"

"Honestly, I don't think anyone has a clue," Sirius shrugged absently. "It's so rare to even fire one, what Crouch did really was an extreme."

Harry finally noticed Sirius' disinterest in Dobby, and frowned slightly at him. He'd really been hoping that Sirius had officially gotten over his hatred of Dobby, but clearly he wasn't fond of him either. At least he wasn't spouting death threats again, yet.

They were surprised to hear about Winky as well, so Dobby led them over to see for themselves.

Winky was sitting on a stool in front of the fire, also wearing clothes, but unlike Dobby's odd put together Winky's matched well with a blue skirt and matching blouse.

"So elves do have a sense of clothing," Lily giggled, her fondness for Dobby managing to increase as she realized he just enjoyed standing out.

However, Dobby's were so well cared for they all looked new, Winky's were stained and burned in several places.

"Ooph," Remus winced for the poor thing. He couldn't even begin to imagine what would be going through an elves mind at being separated from a master they'd so clearly loved. Hopefully Winky's state would impress upon Hermione what most elves were really like, freedom did nothing good for them.

Harry greeted her kindly, but she merely burst into tears.

"I feel like that happens frequently," James cringed at the idea of a girl, even a female house-elf, crying.

Hermione tried to comfort the little thing, but Dobby took no notice and kept beaming up at Harry, asking if he'd like some tea, having to speak a little louder over Winky's cries.

"Oh that sounds lovely," Sirius managed to chuckle amidst all the still strained faces at hearing about Winky.

Harry agreed, and almost instantly six elves appeared with a platter of treats and fresh tea.

"Do they just have all that in waiting?" Harry asked in surprise.

"It's prepared in advance, and then kept magically at temperature in case Dumbledore, or any of the staff, ever have a call for it," Remus shrugged.

Ron was impressed at once as he took some, but Hermione just frowned and declined.

Harry asked Dobby how long he'd been here, and Dobby said it was his first week.

"Ah, well at least I feel slightly better," Sirius muttered under his breath. He gained stunned looks from the others as they finally guessed where his mind had been, but Sirius just shrugged and really did relax back. He hadn't been able to help it though, if there was something powerfully magical enough to con the Goblet, he'd put money on a house-elf. Dobby had done some pretty deranged things in his stride to help Harry before. Clearly though, Dobby really hadn't anything to do with this.

The others wanted to call him out on such a strange train of thought to them, but Harry was so relieved to see Sirius didn't look so uptight at the mention of Dobby anymore he pleadingly waved his mother on, who heeded him.

Dobby had come to speak to Dumbledore, because he hadn't been able to find a position anywhere else. It's very difficult for a dismissed elf to find more work.

Winky's volume continued to increase at that reminder.

"I can imagine that being a sore spot for her," Remus winced, kind of wishing Dobby would take this conversation elsewhere as it was clearly upsetting the poor thing.

Dobby kept going with his explaining, saying everyone he'd talked to just shut the door in his face when he said he wanted paying for his work now. The elves that had been helping them started to edge away from Dobby at his saying that, like they thought he was being rude.

"To them it is," James agreed.

Hermione was happy for Dobby though, praising him for being like this. Dobby gave her a happy smile as he agreed, but reminded that all the other wizards had been much ruder about it.

"Ooh that poor thing," Lily frowned.

"What was he charging?" Sirius suddenly started smirking. "I honestly might have taken him up just to piss off me own. Kreacher would go mad if he had competition, well more barking."

The boys laughed along, even Harry not because he found it funny, in fact every time Sirius mentioned Kreature lately he got a nasty twist inside his innards, but just happy to see Sirius had quickly jumped right back to his old joking ways.

Dobby liked his work, but he wanted to wear his clothes, because Dobby liked being free.

"Anyone would love being free after living with the Malfoy's their whole life," Remus shuddered in full agreement.

The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious.

"Doesn't seem to be gaining him many friends though," Lily frowned in sorrow for the poor thing.

"Like he cares," James scoffed, "most house-elves don't care about friends, Hogwarts is actually unique in having more than two on hand. Like Dobby said, they live for their work, so long as he's getting that he'll be more than happy."

Winky just kept up her crying as Dobby mentioned having gone to visit her and finding out she was free as well, to which the girl threw herself off her stool and began beating the ground in misery.

Lily was fidgeting terribly as she kept going, the worst feeling was that she didn't even know how to help Winky. She had no idea how to go comforting any elf, she'd never heard of one in this state! It was not a comfortable feeling for Lily who had always strived to help as many of those around her.

Hermione dropped to the ground beside her, still trying to comfort her, while Dobby continued with a bright smile of Winky's screeching.

Sirius really couldn't stop the uncontrollable shaking of his shoulders as he imagined this scene, Dobby just ignoring the fact that Winky was having a breakdown and just chatting casually with Harry.

It was then Dobby had the idea of where two elves could find work, Hogwarts of course. Dumbledore had been more than willing to pay Dobby for his work, a Galleon a week and one day a month off.

"Ouch," Remus winced, "didn't expect Dumbledore to cheap him so much."

"I don't think I'll blame him for that," James disagreed with a curious look, "think about this, it's the first time I've ever heard of a house-elf even being paid, maybe what would be considered normal for us would give the little guy a coronary. He'll most likely build up to it, I hope," he concluded, waving Lily on curiously.

Hermione was shocked at such low wages, but Dobby quickly disagreed and said it had been him beating Dumbledore down from his original offer of ten Galleons a week and weekends off. Dobby shivered in fear at the very idea of so much riches.

"There you have it," James's smile turned downright smug at having guessed this.

"Wipe that look off your face, it's not that hard to work out," Sirius snickered with no force.

Dobby liked being paid, but he liked his work more.

Hermione kindly asked if Winky was getting the same,

"Eesh, this isn't going to go well," Remus winced. If Winky was losing her mind over talking about this, he couldn't imagine discussing such other things like paying would help.

but then Winky switched. She stopped crying, but looked to Hermione with outrage. Winky was properly ashamed of being dismissed and would be doing no such thing as pay.

"There's the typical attitude," Sirius nodded, wiping his brow as if relieved the world still worked right.

"I still don't get it," Lily grumbled. "Crouch was horrible to her, what's she got to be so upset about?"

"Their minds don't work like that," James gently reminded. They'd gone over this a bit, so he didn't press his point, and neither did Lily.

Hermione was shocked at her, stating Crouch had been terrible and Winky should be happy, but Winky wouldn't hear it as she pressed her hands over her ears.

Lily still couldn't help but mutter a few bitter 'brainwashed,' comments in between reading that.

Dobby explained for them Winky was having troubles adjusting, she still didn't realize she could say anything she wanted about her old master.

Harry asked in surprise that house-elves couldn't do this.

"You haven't figured that out," James shook his head. "Remember how Dobby acted the last time he almost spoke ill of the Malfoys, and they're the definition of bad wizards."

"I was just confirming for all of them, not just Dobby," Harry defended.

Dobby quickly agreed they weren't allowed to do this at all very seriously.

"Never had a house-elf try to be me," Sirius smiled, ducking on instinct when James made to swing at him again.

It was part of the house-elf law that they were never to speak ill of their masters. Dumbledore hadn't forced this though, he'd told Dobby he could call him a barmy old codger if he liked.

"I think he's been called worse recently," Remus chuckled, "but he's got a point."

Dobby gave a frightened giggle at the very idea before quickly saying he had no want to do so, Dobby loved working for Dumbledore and was happy to keep his secrets.

"Most people would for him," Sirius muttered with a frown starting to edge out his good mood, he didn't want to think what all secrets Dumbledore was hiding.

Harry couldn't stop a smile himself as he reminded that Dobby could say whatever he liked about the Malfoys now.

"This could get fun," James still stayed in an optimistic mood, he didn't want this good chapter to be ruined just because of Dumbledore.

Fear crept into Dobby's eyes as he agreed he could do this, if he wished. Dobby even squared his shoulders and admitted that the Malfoy's were bad Dark wizards.

"Well it's a start," Remus indulged.

"Give it a few more years and he might even call them really bad Dark wizards," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Dobby seemed to realize what he'd said though, and rushed to the nearest wall and began beating himself over the head for it.

"Oh that poor thing!" Lily groaned. Even freed of those Malfoys, poor Dobby was still forced to act like that.

"I'll stop him," Harry said with confidence, he'd had plenty of practice.

Harry had experience with Dobby doing this though, so quickly seized him and didn't let go until Dobby stopped. Dobby thanked Harry, admitting it was still hard to do so, but Harry encouraged he'd get better with practice.

"And I'm sure Harry'll be happy to help," James grinned.

Winky was furious at the pair of them, telling Dobby off for speaking like that about his masters.

"I think not," Remus sniffed. "If we have them enslaved, the least they should be able to do is speak their minds."

"You keep that in mind if you ever meet mine," Sirius rolled his eyes in disgust.

Dobby stated back that they weren't his masters anymore!

Winky glared at him as she called him a bad elf, then bemoaned her poor Mr. Crouch. What would he be doing without her! Her family had always belonged to the Crouch's, her mother and her grandmother, oh what would they say to bad Winky!

"Wonder why they've had all females," Lily asked.

"Some just prefer a gender," Sirius shrugged when he realized he was expected to answer, "I'm sure it doesn't actually have any difference."

Hermione tried to be firm with Winky, telling her it was Crouch's own fault and he was doing just fine without her.

Winky slightly perked up at the information someone had seen Crouch, and Hermione agreed he'd been coming around because of the tournament, he and Bagman.

Winky looked very angry at the mention of Bagman, stating Crouch had told her all about that bad wizard.

"Well that was extreme," Remus cocked his head.

"I don't like him much anymore," James agreed, "but he's irking me. What has Crouch had to say about him?"

"Guess Winky took Crouch's complaints about how he runs his department literally," Lily offered with a shrug.

Harry couldn't help disagreeing with them, he really felt like there was something he was missing about Bagman, something Crouch would know about, and he really hoped Winky would elaborate on this.

Harry tried to ask what she meant, but Winky refused to speak anymore, saying she would keep her master's secrets, then started sobbing again. Dobby didn't seem to notice as he chatted with them some more about what he planned to do with his wages.

"What would house-elves even do with their money?" Sirius suddenly asked as the idea had never occurred to him.

"You ask just as I'm fixing to read," Lily rolled her eyes at him.

Dobby had plans to buy a sweater next. Ron heard this, and seemed to have decided to taking a liking to Dobby,

"He grows on you," James agreed while Sirius still tried to deny that was getting more true the more Dobby showed up.

and offered his Christmas jumper, so long as Dobby didn't mind maroon.

"Well that was sweet," Remus grinned.

"Though sort of agitating," Lily grumbled, his mum probably went through a lot to make those and Ron was always complaining about them and now he was just giving it away. At least it was for a good reason.

Dobby couldn't have been more pleased as Ron agreed they'd have to shrink it a bit, but it would go with his tea cozy.

"There's a sentence you don't get to hear much," Sirius grinned.

They made to leave then, the other elves popping back up and trying to give them more sweets. Hermione refused, but the boys stuffed their pockets.

"Never had a more memorable flashback to my school years," James beamed.

"This ought to become a regular occurrence now," Sirius agreed.

Harry called a goodbye to Dobby, who quickly asked if Dobby could come visit Harry, which Harry agreed at once.

"Aww, I honestly can't wait," Lily beamed, at least there was something good to look forward to.

Ron was laughing as they left about the twins, who'd always made it seem like a task to get stuff from the kitchens, but they all but gave it away.

Hermione wasn't really listening as she said what a good thing it was for the other elves to have Dobby around. They'd see how happy he was and realize they wanted the same.

"I, yeah no I can't picture that one bit," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"They'll treat Winky with more respect than him," James agreed, "and she's in disgrace, but at least she's embracing it."

"In fact hopefully this'll help Hermione more than anyone," Remus added hopefully, "she'll realize Dobby's the odd one of his bunch, maybe look into the ideologies and mindsets of the common house-elf and see how much damage she could do with this running group of hers."

Harry hoped they wouldn't take a long look at Winky instead.

Hermione tried to insist that she'd just cheer up once the shock wore off.

"It's already been how many months?" Sirius raised an odd brow at Hermione, "I think she's fooling herself."

Harry wondered what Winky's, and Crouch's, problem with Bagman could be. Hermione offered it may have something to do with Crouch complaining about how Bagman ran his department.

Ron scoffed he'd rather work for Bagman than Crouch, at least the first had a sense of humor.

"A good point I can't deny," Sirius nodded along. He was an annoying bugger when he came to Harry, but still leagues better than Crouch.

Hermione laughed as she told Ron not to go letting Percy hear him saying that.

Ron agreed Percy wouldn't work for anyone who could take a joke, since he wouldn't recognize one if it danced naked in front of him in Dobby's tea cozy.

Causing one last release of laughter in the room, a very good omen for how this morning was going as Lily passed James the book.

HPHPHPHP

*Was anyone else insanely disappointed when this thing was never mentioned again? I think it would have been adorable, or at least had a few funny moments if it had just popped up once or twice again.

[seriouslyblacklikemysoul]

Until  Forever - Sirius Black

After a while, I have finished this chapter - it’s small but cute; I think. Also, since I have been away for a long time, just comment below this if you want to be tagged! The next chapter will be out withing this week. As always, my English is a warning by itself!  MASTERLIST  Prologue | Mercury | Delicate | Blue | Running | Aftermath | Stardust | December | Nightfall | Revelations  | Friends

Chapter 12. Resolutions.

             Twenty-two years should be enough time to feel like she belonged and that there was a place of her own. But twenty-two years have not been enough for her, and she had resigned to think that maybe no amount of years will be enough. She could not, after all, force a home to happen.             Her definition of “home” had been blurred, lost even. Instead, “home” floated between the longing for an unnamed place and a stubborn determination to make this place a “home.” This was not to say that she had never felt at home here. She had. Not always though. Other days she was a foreigner here and everything outside her window begun to look strange and dissonant. It was a bit of a paradox. Home had never been geographical for her. It was everywhere and nowhere.            Waking up in the same room, same bed with him was beautiful and terrifying because it felt familiar and hit her close to heart. She had drifted off to sleep without realizing that Sirius was afraid to close his eyes – how could he?            His wounds were bleeding badly, just by looking at her but at the same time it felt as if roses were spilling their sweet water down his spine – a chilling sensation run through his veins. For some reason he wanted to think about her loudly. He had thought about how hungry leaves looked right before a storm – wanting to live but desperate to die within the swirling sensation of the tornado. She was a loud thought. He could try to think of anything else – cookies or how tender flowers were and then she became the only thought in his mind. She swelled up and blocked everything else out. She became the sun, the moon and the stars – and he had loathed the stars, even his name, thanks to his parents, but of course, she was poetry in motion just like the tattoo she now had. She felt as a ringing in his ears, all sweet in its siren, all fluid, all open ache. In the middle of movies, of conversations, of collecting his life, she simply slipped in between the cracks.

           And he was thinking about her again – but looking at her made his mind stop for one moment. He had nothing to be afraid of, even his house felt distant. He knew how incredibly wrong it was but the world had seized to exist.             And now it was her turn to notice him in his sweet serenity and glory – but she couldn’t for if she focused her thoughts solely on him, she would cave in and ignore all the signs telling her to stop, including her own mind. She felt him turning, waking up and pretended she was asleep again with hitched breath, something he did notice. He had never slept so peacefully in his life but he knew that the night was gone and their time was running out. He didn’t know what to do nor how to act around her this time. It felt vulnerable as a moment. The frozen sun softly illuminated the room and the tender stillness gently reminded him that she was out of his reach. He tried to pretend she was asleep; it would be so much easier for both of them. But it was fake and with her around he couldn’t fake anything anymore. She had gotten under his skin and the truth was he didn’t want her to leave.            She never was in one place and he had finally understood why; a soft lover hidden behind cold lies to keep everyone in a safe distance; a rose appearing as a thorn rather than the delicate blossom. There was something in her eyes, as she dared to look at him, that made him question the universe itself. She indolently stretched her limbs and his eyes followed her body. Her eyes met his and the tension was so thick, she could cut it with a knife. She smiled kindly. Trying not to be too blunt about the fact that they shared a bed and much more intimate thoughts the night before, she decided to say a simple good morning instead of prolonging the inevitable, hoping for the lesser evil...            She did try to say it but the words were caught on the back of her neck. She wanted to make it less awkward but once her mind started racing, she would shut down and not be able to function. Instead, Sirius was the one to break the ice. "Hello sleeping beauty. James and the guys are waiting for us. Maybe we should get going. Whenever you are ready" he reminded her. Not having to conceal her tattoos anymore mainly because Sirius and Remus already knew... allowed her to see that things could move forward. As she moved forward she did hoped that she could have the courage to do things differently, to be the kind of a person who took the risk, who led with her heart and showed up in her life with a ruthless dedication to learning and growing and enjoying the hell out of her moments here. She knew that she had to trust the part of herself that felt there was more out there for her that was easy to quiet when she was trying to live by the rules and the expectations of a world that has bred so much dissatisfaction and sadness. She never liked the rules anyway. She wanted to free herself from the boundaries that could hold her no longer.            “Sure… just give me an hour to pack a couple of things and grab a shower, okay?” she boldly asked him as she climbed down from her bed, trying to stop her eyes from catching Sirius’s staring. He had a wicked smile plastered on his lips but agreed with her nonetheless and leaving her be.                                       “I’ll be in the common room. One hour” he chimed cheerfully and walked out of her room as if nothing had happened. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a backpack, charmed it to fit all of her things and threw everything in – the dress, the shoes, a pair of pajamas, a pair of jeans, a comfy shirt, undergarments, a pair of flats and her makeup bag. She always liked to be prepared for everything. She didn't want to go but after a night with him, she found herself persuaded... And the thing was he hadn't even asked her.            After her shower, she got dressed in the simple pair of jeans and a sweater, threw her hair in a bun, grabbed her bag and went downstairs to find him. He was there just like he had promised her. Exactly an hour ago. He was sitting next to the fireplace which was burning brightly, eyes lost in an invisible horizon, absentmindedly rolling a cigarette, his mind traveling miles away in the speed of light. She could almost see his brain thinking and twisting and swirling around - what, she did not know.                Watching him completely unaware of her stare made her realized how vulnerable he was, how soft and tender... and broken. She shook her head trying to stop her mind from wandering around the same old thought and instead focused energy on the one thing she knew she was going to go... She didn’t dare think she would enjoy it.            She would be lying to herself and everyone else if she was to say that being here, in that particular moment, having met the people she met, enjoying something that everyone else could only read, having the chance to be in fictional world, was merely okay... It was terrifying. She didn't believe she would characterize and label it as scary exactly because it was so beautiful an innocent and raw. But it was terrifying, knowing how the story ended, knowing that Sirius would end up in Azkaban, knowing the James and Lily would die before they could reach twenty-two, knowing that Remus would end up believing that he was all alone - but most importantly knowing that she could not change a single detail.            Looking at him was like a war. It felt violent and without escape. A star bathed in blood, tormented by the demons of his own existence. Demons that had escaped the gates of hell, a place she knew rather well. Eyes like spilled Mercury, fists covered in Ares' bruises, mind ruled by Athena's strategy and Pluto's deception. She couldn't speak of his heart; she didn't know if it was sacrificed to Aphrodite or given willingly to Persephone. Sometimes he felt like Hades to her. Dark, soft, bruised, wickedly sinister, broken, desperate for love, incapable of forgiving himself. There was a sad smile forming on her lips... She knew him all too well.            She was looking at him the way she had been wishing for someone to look at her; like the sun wasn’t bright enough; like the moon wasn’t soft enough; like the stars weren’t there anymore. Maybe she was biased. Maybe his eyes were whispering long-forgotten tales to her soul.           “You have that strange look, I cannot decode” he told her as he turned to face her. She just smiled, not hiding behind thin lies.            “Such a plot twist, you are” she whispered as he approached her. Her answer took him by surprise. They were used to playing a game of hide and seek – but she didn’t want to hide any longer. Her eyes spoke a million truths; all those answer he was searching for.            “Who are you?” he faintly asked her, playing with a strand of her long hair.                            “I thought I knew” she admitted. She didn’t know who she was but she knew that she was no longer the same person.            “You fell from the sky and turned my life upside down” he told her with a hint of anger in his voice but she merely chuckled.            “How do you know your life wouldn't be better turned upside down?” she quoted a favorite abstract of hers. He was about to say something but suddenly he stopped. He thought about those words.            “We should go” she softly reminded him.

              James was the kindest person she had met. She remembered him being described as a bully – he had never been one. Maybe he was voicing his dislike in a bit of extravagant way but he never bullied anyone. Okay, yes. Severus had been an exception – when they were 13. Stupid kids, not knowing how to properly react. Who could hold that against him?            He had been the perfect gentleman, as he helped her with her bag and showed her to the guestroom. She hadn’t even thought about a room – but his house was a mansion, a small detail that the books didn’t mention. The room was twice as big as her old one, with an en-suite bathroom.            Seeing Remus, practically stumbling upon him once she left her room, felt like a punch to her chest. He was so tragically beautiful, she thought. Strange, how she could get attached to two different people. But then again, maybe they weren’t so different after all. She saw the questions burning in his eyes. She wanted to tell him everything but how could she justify her selfish actions?            “You came” he looked at her in an almost surprised way. She contemplated her options. Of course, he was surprised. Who would have the nerve or the audacity to face their ex on such a short amount of time? Trying to find the right words to say, she realized that she was still very much drawn to him. Shit.            “I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I really am, Remus” she found herself apologizing but what for? He saw her shift and smiled warmly. Fuck those amber eyes.        “There is nothing to apologize for, love. Just some things to clarify” he led on. She knew that he had to be aware of everything, she just wished that he wouldn’t want answers. But, who wouldn’t?            She pushed the door of her temporary room open with her hip and showed him in. It would be as easy as breathing to be honest – and as difficult as suffocating underwater. He had every right to know, she thought. This was his story, his life…

              Remus had never been stupid – he observed everything and everyone from a safe distance. With her, it had been different from the very beginning. He knew she had secrets and big ones, for that matter, but never had he expected to be told that she was from another dimension – or as she had labelled it, another possibility.              She gave him time; time to get himself together, time to understand her words, time to accept that maybe she was indeed honest, time to connect every bit of information. He was the one who pushed her for answers. He had to be ready to accept them. Yet, everything she told him seemed like a made-up story but he couldn’t shake that damn feeling that she was telling the truth. She hadn’t changed the subject, she hadn’t avoided a single question, she had told him every little detail that would be impossible for her to know otherwise. And he knew that she was special, he was aware of that. He knew that she was different – but how could he imagine that she was from a distant future – from another place, entirely, one he was a character in a book?                His mind was screaming at him for a breather but he refused – he needed to ask more questions but at the same time he already knew the answers. He was battling a losing fight inside of him; betrayal and understanding. She had chosen to hide the fact that she knew about his life and his entire future, yet how could she reveal it to him? It was obvious to him that she acted the exact same way he would have. He understood now the side glances, the soft but sad smile that was always on her lips whenever she’d see him, the inevitable of it all and how doomed everything mush have seemed to her.              Remus had never been stupid – he observed everything and everyone from a safe distance. And then she had come along, shaking his very core, only to reveal something unfathomable. He noticed her eyes again, slowly regaining focus as he tried to gulp down every bit of information. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of his and he felt that maybe, just maybe, history wasn’t written in stone – maybe this once. She had that ability – to change his mind almost instantly, to make him question the principles of nature and life itself. And then a tiny little voice, told him that he wasn’t the only one being affected by her presence.   Afterall, if everything she had told him was true, his friend did need her, and quite frankly deserved her, a lot more. How wrong of him, to objectify her and think of her as a need. She was happily unaware of those last thoughts, he knew.                    “I don’t know how to process this – or rather, how to deal with this’ he truthfully told her and her smile told him that she was expecting that very answer. Absentmindedly, she squeezed his hand and didn’t let go.              “I don’t know how difficult it must be for you, I can only guess. Listen, I could have lied, and believe me, we both would have been in a better shape, but to you – it feels impossible. Lying doesn’t work on you. You already know. And that’s why, I think, you are going to deal with this, one way or another; because you already knew. I know that it’s a lot and I am so sorry. It’s your life, your path, your decision. You can either ask me to obliviate the shit out of you or you can keep it to yourself, or even discuss it with the others” she offered him exactly what he needed. Solace.                      He thought about it for a moment and he knew that the moment would turn into many sleepless nights. How could he ever say those things out loud? How could he accuse one of his best friends that he would kill another? But then again, how could he not? He simply nodded, fully aware of the huge weigh on his chest – and painfully aware of her lips, inches away.