#Athena staying up at night talking to her owl: you think he misses me? I miss him.. I should text him

[lalluviadeanoche]

I’ve made an unfortunate realization.

I always found it funny how we joke at the fact that in My Goodbye Athena is saying goodbye so many times and Ody’s kinda just being “okay then leaVE!”

But one day I was listening and thought how the last couple times she says it in the end sound a little different each time. I was kinda thinking “huh, they have a different tone, she’s fr going thru the seven stages of- oh..” and then put off thinking about it bc it made me sad lmao

but now I’m listening again and she says “goodbye” a total of 6 times… she doesn’t say it a seventh time…

So in conclusion I’m taking this as a “Athena was going through the 7 stages of grief when she’s firing her best warrior (cough- friend- cough) but couldn’t bring herself to accept that bc then she knows she’ll truly be alone and that’s how later on she finds the courage to come back and help Ody and Telemachus” and running with it🥰

[easily-infatuated23]

The Parent and the Professor

a/n: i love the idea of reader being a professor! let me know if you want a part two :) letters are in italics

pairing: Draco Malfoy x Professor!Reader

word count: 4k

warning: mentions of war and not feeling worthy

summary: Will a broken friendship be rekindled when Scorpius’s favorite teacher writes a letter to his father?

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

I have always had a passion for teaching and inspiring young minds. So, it wasn’t surprising that I was ecstatic to start my fourth year teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at my alma mater, Hogwarts. When I first started working there, I was haunted by the memories of the war. Everywhere I looked I could remember a different face of a friend or teacher laying dead. Seeing the students happy faces made the memories easier to bear. Just the knowledge that they could safely live out their childhoods in such a magical and special place softened the lingering pain.

One of my favorite parts of teaching at Hogwarts was teaching the children of the people I had grown up with. For some, I knew so much about their parents from those early silly childhood days that simply seeing their faces made me laugh and reminisce. Of all the children of friends I had taught thus far, the most gifted was Scorpius Malfoy. It wasn’t such a shock that he was so clever, his father had been a very gifted student when he applied himself. I had been apprehensive when I first read Scoripus’s name on the attendance sheet. His father Draco and I had actually been very close friends for the first 6 years of schooling. We were both in Slytherin and he was one of the few people who didn’t tease or berate me for not being a typical Slytherin. Yes he would get annoyed when I stood up for Hermione when he called her a ‘mudblood’ or when I would challenge his pure-blood views but he always was kind to me.

That all changed in the beginning of our sixth year. He started pushing everyone away and yelling at me almost any time he saw me. I tried to continue to be kind to him but my attempts were swatted away like flies. Once the war began, I understood why he had become distant. He was given an impossible task with no choice as to whether or not to complete it. The worst moment came when he walked to the side of the Death Eaters and The Dark Lord. I was one of the few people that knew he did this for the sake of his parents and not for the Dark Lord. He redeemed this action when Harry Potter was revealed to be alive. He threw him his wand and ran back to the side of good. We locked eyes for a moment before he ran through the castle to safety. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since. He did make a sort of “apology and amends” tour going to almost every individual in the Wizarding World and showing he was a changed man and that he no longer held his past ideals. The one person he left out on that tour was me.

I never understood why. I figured he either thought our friendship was beyond fixing or maybe because he knew I would forgive him and understand. More likely, I guessed he couldn’t stand to face me. But none of that mattered now. It was all just a slight pain in my heart whenever I saw Scorpius. As the school year began, Scorpius Malfoy excelled in my class. He was always the first to raise his hand to ask or answer a question, always the most engaged and eager to learn. One day after class I noticed he was lingering by the door. “Can I help you Mr. Malfoy?” I asked. He nodded and approached my desk. “I was wondering if you could assign me as Athena’s tutor. I know she asked you for one and I want to volunteer”. He looked down at his shoes, trying to hide a blush I figured stemmed from a small crush on the student called Athena. “I was going to assign it to you any way but because you asked I will also add ten points to Slytherin for taking the initiative”. He looked up and smiled. “Thank you Professor!”. He ran out of the room so giddy, calling to his best friend Albus to tell him the news. “What a sweet kid” I thought. Later that night I took a break from grading tests and thought about my old friend Draco Malfoy. Perhaps I should write him. But just to tell him what a gifted student his son was. His wife had passed away four years ago and I figured it must be lonely being all alone in the large estate he occupied known as Malfoy Manor. Maybe this would re-open a line of communication between the two of us. It had been a long time since I had seen him and frankly, I missed him. He probably didn’t think of me though. Sighing, I picked up my quill and penned a formal letter to my former friend.

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

-I couldn’t bring myself to write Draco-

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I wanted to inform you that your son has done exceedingly well in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class and has quickly become my prized pupil. He has even volunteered to take on extra tutoring responsibilities. He is a sweet young man and it is a privilege to have him in my class.

Sincerely, Professor Y/L/N

I examined the letter for a long time, constantly frowning at it and wondering if I should just ball it up and forget about it. At last I found the nerve to seal the letter and before I could stop myself Harvey, my owl, was flying away from my cottage. “Too late now” I murmured. My letter went unanswered for nearly two weeks. I spent the entire first week feeling anxious and most of the second week resigned to the idea that Draco had truly decided I was unworthy of a response. After all, it had been many years. On the Friday of the second week, I stayed up late grading some last minute essay submissions when I heard a tapping at my window. I turned to find an unfamiliar owl outside. I opened the window and took the letter. After a sufficient amount of pats and snacks were given to the owl, I settled in to see if the letter was what I had been waiting for. It was the first thing I saw, the green snake seal on the back confirmed it. Draco had responded to my letter. I flipped it over to see my name scrawled on the front in handwriting I used to be more familiar with. I stared at the letter for a long time before finally opening it. I gently removed the seal and unfolded the letter, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would leave my chest.

Dear Professor Y/L/N,

I appreciate your kind words about my son. He has spoken fondly of you and of your class, he says it is his favorite. Congratulations on being the longest serving Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in twenty years. It is quite a feat. I hope you are well.

Sincerely, Draco Malfoy

My heart skipped a beat. He matched my formality but he still slipped in something to make me blush. I sighed. I hadn’t been expecting some long rambling dramatic letter explaining why he never came back to me, despite my efforts, but a small clue or hint would have been something. I thought writing the letter might give me more closure but I was horribly mistaken. Now, all I wanted to do was write him back and find some way to see him. I had done my best after the war but he pushed me away more. That night was a sleepless night for me. I felt like a sixteen year old again, debating if I should write him back or not. If I did decide to write him back, how long should I wait? Ultimately, I decided it was best to leave it there.

Two months later, Quidditch season was in full swing as Slytherin was playing Hufflepuff in a match leading up to the finals. I was never one thrilled by the idea of Quidditch, but Scorpius had begged me to come so I attended. He had followed in his father’s foot steps and was the Seeker for the Slytherin team. When I got to the parent and faculty section I was stunned to see none other than Draco Malfoy. I quickly looked away and tried to pretend I hadn’t seen him. I jogged up the bleacher stairs and sat next to the Divinations teacher. For most of the game I pretended to be watching the match but in reality, I kept glancing at Draco’s platinum blonde hair, half hoping he would turn and see me and half hoping he would leave without knowing I was there. Eventually, I was able to relax and enjoy the game. Scorpius lead the team to a win and the Slytherin student section went wild. I could have sworn I saw Athena blow him a kiss. I guess those tutoring sessions had helped him as much as they had helped her grades! I couldn’t help but look down and chuckle to myself, this little bit of childhood romance warmed my heart. When I looked back up my gaze was meant by the piercing blue eyes of Draco Malfoy. I couldn’t tell if the look on his face was that of shock or fear but before I could give a slight smile he looked away. Now this truly felt like we were sixteen again.

Everyone started to rise and leave the section talking and making merry. I rose from my seat and before I could begin to descend, Draco rose suddenly and turned to me, walking in my direction. I froze. “Hello Professor Y/L/N” he said, not meeting my gaze for long. “Mr. Malfoy” was all I could manage to croak. “I was so pleased to receive your letter about Scorpius, he doesn’t always tell me what’s going on when he’s here”. “Yes,” I smiled “he is a wonderful student. You must be very proud of him”. Draco gave a small but sincere smile. “I must admit, I didn’t expect to see you here” I said. “I was able to get a few weeks off from work so I decided to come down and watch the match. It has been nice to see the place so..” he paused. “Free” I finished for him. He smiled and met my gaze again. “Yes thats exactly what I was thinking.” There was a few moments of silence. It wasn’t as awkward or terrifying as I had anticipated. “I should go find my son” he said finally. “Yes of course it was good to see you again”. I meant this whole heartedly. “Perhaps I can see you again soon and we can talk while there is less noise” he said. A little surprised but happy I replied yes. Before turning to leave he squeezed my hand and gave me his signature smirk before turning and descending down the bleachers. Was my friendship with Draco Malfoy finally going to be rekindled? I hoped so. Before turning and walking out of sight he called back to me, “I’ll write you”. I nodded. I would never have expected this to happen and I had no idea what to expect next.

Another week went by before I heard from him. His owl found me in the middle of a lesson, I opened the window and thanked the owl. I tucked the letter into my robe pocket. As I shifted my attention back to the class I saw Scorpius’s face twist with confusion then look at Albus Potter. Shit. He clearly recognized the owl. I decided I would talk to him after class. Once the lesson was over I called Scorpius to my desk. “I saw you looked confused when your father’s owl delivered me a letter so I thought I owed you an explanation”. He said nothing but simply looked at the floor and shifted uncomfortably. “Your father and I actually used to be very close friends in the early years at Hogwarts,” I began. He looked up at me puzzled. It was clear his father had never mentioned that detail to him. “I wrote to your father telling him what an exceptional student you were and then we ran into each other at the last Quidditch match, congratulations by the way, and we discussed possibly meeting to catch up. I didn’t want you to simply see the owl and then have your brain spin in circles thinking of possible reasons for the letter”. He nodded and finally spoke. “Yeah I was really confused at first. I must admit I am a bit more confused now though. He has never spoken about you before. When I told him you were my favorite professor he seemed to not know who you were”. Ouch. “Well we were going through a hard time back then, I don’t blame him for forgetting” I managed, trying to keep my composure. “You may go” I finished. He jogged out of the room glancing back one more time before finally leaving. Maybe he thought I died. Rationalizing wasn’t helping. I climbed the small staircase in my classroom and entered my office, locking the door behind me. I opened the letter and read its contents.

Dear Professor Y/L/N,

It was pleasant running into you at the Quidditch match last week. If you are able, perhaps you would be kind enough to meet at Malfoy Manor for lunch on Saturday at 11:30. I fear we have much to discuss and would prefer to do so in private.

Sincerely, Draco Malfoy

Saturday, at the Manor. It would be a difficult place to be. Although I was a Slytherin, I had befriended Harry Potter and the rest of his trouble-making trio. I enjoyed their company. It provided a break from the constant berating from the rest of my house. However, due to this friendship I had been taken and held hostage along with Luna Lovegood in Malfoy Manor for a few weeks before the final battle. I had been hit with every curse short of killing me. Draco had been forced to witness but did nothing to help me. I understood why he couldn’t but just once it would have been nice to see him stand up for me. But, alas, I figured I wasn’t worthy of any help. Returning to the Manor was something I never thought I would do but his letter let on to a promise of answers to questions I had been harboring for so long now.

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

I accept.

Sincerely, Professor Y/L/N

Short and sweet. Now came the long wait for Saturday. Once the day arrived I was more nervous than I had previously anticipated. I pulled on a pair of black slacks and a fitted white long sleeve shirt. Over the top I chose to wear my brown striped blazer. I put on my favorite silver earrings and necklace with an ’S’ charm. When we had been young, Draco gave me a silver ring for my birthday that was shaped like a snake. I had worn it everyday since then without thought. When I went to reach for it today, I paused. Wearing it had become part of my daily routine but he didn’t know that. Would he think I wore it just for him? I shook the thought out of my head and wore it anyway. If I didn’t wear it I was worried I wouldn’t feel complete which would make me more nervous than I already was. I pulled my light brown hair into a half-up-half-down look and applied some light mascara. I was never one to wear makeup but I hadn’t slept much on Friday night so adding some definition to my face and leading the attention to my green eyes became a necessity to attract attention away from my dark circles.

At 11:29 I gathered all the courage I could and apparated to Malfoy Manor. I knocked timidly on the front door. Even the frigid fall wind couldn’t cool my skin as I blushed in anticipation of the meeting. When he opened the door I was overwhelmed by the scent of apples and cologne that had once held a permanent residence in my nose. “Professor, please come in” he said cordially. I nodded and entered into the place that had housed my nightmares for so long. But somehow it was different. The decor wasn’t as sterile as it once was. It actually looked more lived in and closer to a home than a prison. He noticed my slight surprise. “We’ve redone the place a bit so it probably looks much different compared to……last time” he mumbled. I put on my bravest smile and turned to him. “Yes it is quite lovely Mr. Malfoy”. “Please, you can call me Draco. ‘Mr. Malfoy’ is awfully formal don’t you think?”. I looked at him, a slight smirk waved across his face. “Alright, as long as you call me Y/N” I replied. He led me to the kitchen where a small round table was set and had sandwiches on the plates. “I figured since it was just the two of us there was no need to use the dinning room. Can I take your jacket?” he asked. I nodded and unbuttoned my blazer, handing it to him. As he took it from me, I saw him glance at my right hand and saw the serpent ring coiled around my middle finger. He quickly took the blazer from me and said nothing.

As we sat down to eat there was a few minutes of uncomfortable silence before I finally broke and turned to him. “I am sorry but I have a lot of questions and I won’t leave without answers”. He sighed. Nodding, he turned toward me and I began. “Why didn’t you find me after the war? I wrote to you and tried to reach out but you ignored me. When I told Scorpius we had been old friends he looked at me as if I was lying. Why? Did you completely erase me from your life? If thats the case its your decision but I would like to know why.” I paused, waiting for him to speak. “After the war, I was so ashamed that I never stood up for you and how badly I had hurt you when I shut you out, I didn’t feel worthy of your forgiveness. I ignored your letters because I thought you would be better off not ever having to be reminded of the pain that I caused you.” He couldn’t meet my eyes. I exhaled sharply and buried my face in my hands before I finally replied. “Then I guess you never knew me at all”. He looked up, a stunned expression on his face. “Of all the people in the world you should’ve known that I would be the one to forgive you the most. I understood why you did what you did and why you couldn’t help me. You as much as the rest of us were fighting for the lives of us and our families. Had it really been your choice, I don’t think you would have complied.” He stood up and walked away from the table. “I know” he finally said. “I realized all of that a few years ago but at that point I thought it was too late.” He leaned on the kitchen counter with his back to me. His head was dropped and his shoulders were shaking softly. “Its one of my biggest regrets.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Well, we’re here now. If you have anything else you want to say, nows the time.” He turned back to me. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I never helped you, I’m sorry I didn’t find you after the fighting was over, I’m sorry I didn’t defend you better at school, I’m sorry for all of it.” His words sounded desperate but genuine. It was like he couldn’t find the breath to properly support his list of apologies. “Stop” I said suddenly. I walked in front of him and grabbed his shoulders, lowering my head until he was forced to meet my gaze. “I forgive you. Completely and totally. I just want my friend back.” He chuckled through a cry before pulling me into a tight hug. His hands were around my waist and mine around his neck. I moved my right hand to the back of his neck and stroked his hair, like I had when we were kids whenever he was upset. He chuckled again softly and held me tighter. “Ok as nice as this is I think you are gonna squeeze all the life out of me!” I joked. “Oh I’m sorry” he breathed as he let me go and pushed me away slightly.

After this first meeting, I saw him almost every weekend. We would meet and reminisce and catch up on our lives. At our third meeting he asked me about the ring. “I see you still wear the ring I gave you. I thought you would have gotten rid of it”. He held my right hand and looked at the ring. “Draco, truthfully, I was worn this ring every single day of my life since you gave it to me. It’s a part of me”. This seemed to please him as his cheeks flushed a light pink. By our sixth meeting me we were sharing a bottle of wine after dinner when he decided to play an old record of songs played at the Yule Ball. “Oh my goodness I can’t believe you actually have this!” I laughed as he purposefully did his worst dance moves. “This was one of my favorite nights at school, how could I not!” Before I knew it, he scooped me up and we were dancing the awful and silly choreographed dance we all had to learn. He spun me around in his living room as the music played. Our shadows were dancing on the walls from the light of the fire. “I don’t think I have laughed this hard in years!” I remarked. “Me too” he replied with a chuckle. Just then all of the sudden the laughter stopped and I realized this was the closest I had been to him since we were in school. This only lasted a few moments before Scorpius appeared at the door. We quickly broke apart and Draco took a step froward. “Yes son?”. “Uh, I just wanted to let you know I was going to Albus’s house to spend the night..” he stared at me with a look of confusion on his face. “Oh yes thats fine, have fun and be safe”. He quickly left the room and hurried out the front door before either of us could offer an explanation. “Oh gosh that was so embarrassing” I said, sitting on the couch and hiding my face in my hands. “He probably thinks that we kissed or were about to” I said, the sound muffled through my hands. Draco sat down next to me. “Weren’t we?” he asked timidly. I sat up and looked at him. “I don’t know, my mind kinda went blank” I chuckled. “Mine too” he smiled. “Can I kiss you?” he asked finally. I smiled and nodded. He smiled back and reached his hand out until he touched my face. He brushed his thumb over my cheek as it made its way to brush over my lips. With his other fingers positioned under my chin, he gently pulled my face closer to his, tilting it slightly upwards and to the right. He kissed me gently moving his hand back to my cheek. I hadn’t expected him to be so gentle but I was so happy I sunk into it easily. Scorpius would get an explanation later, right now, I just wanted to live in the moment I never realized I wanted.

[acnelli]

A Moment of Truth

My second entry for Ron’s Chessboard Fest 2021.

Pairing: Ron/Harry

Rating: T

Prompt 13: A Moment of Truth

Summary: Harry ruined the best thing that ever happened to him. But the Boy-Who-Lived is determined to make it right again.

Thanks again to TheUltimateUndesirable and to the best beta @accio-broom!

This story is kind of a follow up to the fic Thinking About You by Solstice Muse. You don't have to read that story to understand mine, but I highly recommend getting on LiveJournal and befriending Solstice Muse for their amazing stories. Pure talent, believe me! I also got permission from the author to write my story based on theirs.

You can also read this story on AO3 & FFN.

Harry wondered if he had ever felt more alone in his life as he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom. If he would’ve thought about it hard enough, he might’ve remembered several instances where he felt just as lonely, but Harry simply didn’t possess the strength right now.

Ron left him.

The  thing he would miss the most left him, and the only person he could blame for it was himself. It took the better part of the last two weeks for Harry to realise it and all of yesterday to really accept that ugly truth.

The day Ron had walked out of their flat was nothing but a giant blur. He had drunk himself into a stupor, and if the broken mirrors were any indication, he pretty much had lost it. When he woke up the next morning, violently retching into the toilet, he called in sick and just went to bed again.

Although he had gone to work the following days, he floo called his PR manager, telling Liam to cancel all events for the time being, offering a half-arsed explanation and reminding him that it was  his  job to make up stories for him.

Harry had appeared at work as early as possible and left for home when the cleaning staff threw him out of his office. He didn’t want to return to the vacant flat, Ron-free and, therefore, absolutely miserable. But he was also trying to avoid Arthur, Percy and Hermione. Especially, Hermione.

Harry’s favourite pastime these last two weeks had been to curse and blame Hermione for all of this. She had obviously waited outside that day, escorting Ron to her parents’ place where she lived at the moment. Harry had watched them through their living room window as they walked hand in hand to the next apparation point.

Everything had been fine, after all, hadn’t it? Taking his manager’s advice to feed the monster to protect his actual private life and his loved ones from the press, he had found his celebrity life rather comfortable and even enjoyable. After years of Harry having been announced to be Bachelor of the Year, rumours started to form about why he had still been single. Together with his manager, he worked out a way to lure the press away from the truth, and there hardly had been an instance anymore where Harry wasn’t accompanied by one beautiful witch or another. Events and parties full of photographers did not bother him anymore as long as they only captured him socialising and having fun. Almost every day, the papers had a story to tell about him, but never about who he really had gone home to. Never about Harry being gay and him being madly in love with his best mate.

Most of the time, he concentrated on this feeling of betrayal and silently cursed Ron and Hermione for wanting him to come out officially. Didn’t they see how intrusive and destructive the press had been all his life? Didn’t they see how dangerous this could be for Ron? For himself?

But deep-down, Harry knew it wasn’t like that. Ron would never demand Harry come out. The only thing Ron wanted from him was the freedom to live his own life out in the open. It had been a perfect situation for Harry these past months; working, going to parties and then coming home to Ron.

But for Ron, it hadn’t been perfect.

Harry remembered that horrible night when he came home from some Ministry ball, only to find a note telling him Ron went out with Hermione to some Muggle gay club in London and that he doesn’t have to stay up should he come home earlier than Ron.

Shame and guilt threatened to choke Harry when he thought about his terrible actions that night. Harry had seen red the second he read the words  Muggle gay club, immediately assuming some dirty fuck will try to steal his Ron.

When he finally found them, he watched Ron and Hermione dancing like there was no tomorrow, looking absolutely ridiculous, but like they had the time of their lives. He watched Ron having fun, smiling like Harry hadn’t seen him smile in a very long time. He watched as Ron got approached by a very handsome Muggle and Hermione finding herself another dance partner, winking at Ron. He watched Ron turn the man down. And he stopped watching when that fucker ignored it and tried to kiss him. Before Ron had the chance to shove him away, Harry forced himself between them and snarled into the muggle’s face to fuck off, seconds away from beating the shite-eating grin out of him.

Harry knew now that this night must have been the turning point for Ron because after screaming at Hermione for luring Ron into that gay club, he completely lost it on his boyfriend. They had a terrible row that night, but Ron had forgiven him once more.

All feelings of betrayal got soon replaced by guilt. Over and over again, he recalled Ron’s wounded expression every time Harry asked him to not join him for one party or another, Ron’s anger and hurt when Harry exploded on him the few times Ron had gone out for the night without him or asked more than accusing questions afterwards. He imagined himself at these parties, having fun, drinking and talking about Quidditch most of the time. And then he imagined Ron, sitting alone in their flat, waiting for Harry to come home, just as alone as he was now. Ron wasn’t happy anymore, but Harry had refused to listen to his words and see Ron’s misery.

He suddenly hated himself — not just hurting his lover but also his best mate. Harry most likely ruined the most wonderful and perfect thing in his life and probably killed any chance to get Ron back. Maybe he even bollocked up their friendship for good, just like he had with all his other friendships if all the declined Birthday invitations Ron sent out before their break-up were any indication. Hermione always had been very vocal about what she thought about Harry’s treatment of Ron, and he just had been too deliberately blind and busy to notice everyone turning away from Harry.

That’s why he lay in bed. All alone. On his Birthday.

The only guest he had today had been Ginny, bringing him a little basket with some snacks Mrs Weasley prepared for him. She had been smart enough to not wish him a Happy Birthday.

While Ron hadn’t asked him to come out of the closet, Harry wanted to keep Ron inside it. He should’ve known better than anyone what it means to be hidden away for being different from the rest, for a dirty secret not allowed to get out. This comparison with the Dursleys made him hate himself even more.

If he wanted to have a real shot at getting Ron and his friends back, Harry had to clean up his own life first. Slowly, he got out of bed, determined to get a long overdue shower. Before he went into the bathroom, though, Harry summoned some parchment and a quill, writing a short note and a rather long letter (for Harry’s standards anyway).

He quickly delivered the note to his manager’s assistant through a short floo call, telling her it was urgent.

His owl Athena nibbled on some owl treat he gave her while Harry tied the letter to one of her claws. “Alright, Athena,” he said, his voice unusually wavering, “please, deliver this letter as fast as possible, okay? And make sure Hermione reads it.”

*******

Ron was well aware of Hermione’s worrying glances in his direction.

They both sat on Hermione’s bed, with their backs leaning against the headboard as Ron distracted himself with the wonder that is a television, and his best friend unsurprisingly reading a book beside him. He was glad she didn’t force him to talk about his feelings right now.

Over the last two weeks, Hermione had gone out of her way to keep Ron from thinking and worrying about Harry. An impossible task, really, but she did such a great job of trying to cheer him up and even succeeding sometimes that Ron often felt overwhelmed by the need to hug her.

Today though, Hermione knew Ron couldn’t be kept from thinking about Harry. It was the last day of July, after all, and Harry’s Birthday. And it would be the first Birthday since Harry turned 17 that Ron and Hermione wouldn’t be with him. It would be the first Birthday in the last four years that Harry and Ron weren’t a couple anymore.

In the moment, sadness and hurt seemed to choke him, and he wondered if Harry had even considered them a couple in the first place. Right at the beginning, when they started dating after some unbelievably awkward confessions of feelings, it had been like a dream come true. Finally, the times of mutual pining had been over, replaced by a sense of such content and happiness that Ron often had woken up in the morning, sure it all just had been a dream. A second later, though, with Harry’s arm around him, reminded Ron that it was genuine.

Despite Ron missing Harry terribly, he knew it was the right decision to move out. For the sake of his own sanity and happiness, he had to leave Harry. Ron knew that Harry loved him more than anyone else. It had taken him a long time to realise that sometimes, love wasn’t enough.

Hermione wrote a short letter to Harry this morning, wishing him a Happy Birthday. They both signed it, deciding it would be best if they sent one letter together. The other day he floo called Ginny, asking her to check on Harry today because Ron knew that his best mate wasn’t fine. None of all these parties, charity Quidditch matches and Ministry galas could change that. At least, not after two weeks. A very selfish part of Ron hoped it never would.

Ron was about to suggest to Hermione to grab some ice cream when Harry’s owl tapped on the window glass, wildly flapping her wings. Instead of letting Athena in, Hermione looked at Ron with her eyebrows furrowed but with a questioning look directed at him.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ron stood up and opened the window. The owl flew inside, flying straight towards Ron’s opened and still not fully unpacked trunk. Landing gracefully on top of one of Ron’s bright orange Canon t-shirts, she lifted the claw the letter was tied to and hooted loudly at…Hermione?

“Well, it’s yours, apparently,” Ron said, pointing at the cream-coloured envelope. “Maybe he just wants to say thank you for the Birthday wishes.”

“Ron, you know th–“

“Please, just open it, Hermione.”

Her brown eyes held the kind of anxiety he felt too, but she still freed Athena from the letter and gave her an owl treat. Apparently, the bird got the order to make sure Hermione read the letter, as Ron knew that she would’ve been long gone after receiving her treat.

“Are you really sure, Ron?” Hermione asked, looking up from the unusually thick letter, “Will you promise me to not floo over, right away? Regardless of what that letter might say.”

He slowly nodded at her, his gaze fixed on Harry’s letter. This certainly wasn’t a simple ‘Thank You’ note, and the fact Harry wrote such a long letter at all scared him to the point of pure panic.

“Please, open the letter, Hermione.” If it was because of his panicked voice or Hermione’s own curiosity what the letter might say, Ron couldn’t tell, but she finally opened the envelope, took out the note and held it in a way both of them could read it.

Dear Hermione,  

First of all, I’m sorry for any potential annoyance Athena might have caused, but I told her not to leave before you have read this letter.  

What I have to tell you is crucial for both you and Ron. I know you will show Ron this letter right away; maybe he is even reading it with you right now. But this letter is actually primarily for you. What I want to tell Ron, I have to tell him in person, and maybe after today, he’ll give me a chance to hear me out.

Hermione, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for all the reasons you expect me to be sorry for, but I’m also sorry for letting our friendship crumble and fall apart. I had been so angry at you for stealing Ron. Stealing him, like he is some kind of possession to lose. The last two weeks, I was consumed by this unreasonable rage that I thought was gone after Tom Riddle’s soul left me forever. Yes, it took me two weeks to finally realise that you just were a good friend to Ron.  

Because a good friend is what you are. And I know you tried to be a good friend to me for the longest time. I took you for granted. Just like I took Ron for granted and everyone else I turned away from during last year. I turned into a horrible person without noticing it, or rather, refusing to acknowledge it. And because of that, I also turned into an awful friend.  

I could blame many things for my behaviour, like fame or the press or my manager or my childhood. But after taking a hard look at myself, I concluded that I can’t blame anyone or anything for this but me.  

Before I even try to make it right with all of you, before I can look into Ron’s eyes again, I have to sort out my life first. Actually, I’ll start to do this today.  

Both of you have to up your security. Use any charm you can think of. I doubt you will be in any serious danger, but I have no idea what kind of reaction this will cause. It’s best if you stay away from Diagon Alley tomorrow. I won’t mention Ron’s name, of course, but expect journalists trying to corner the two of you for interviews.  

Do you remember the beach cottage we celebrated my 19th Birthday? I will spend the whole day there tomorrow. Would you and Ron join me? I have a lot to say.  

Love,

Harry

A heavy silence fell over Ron and Hermione when they both finished reading Harry’s letter. Hermione slowly folded the parchment and laid it down on her nightstand before looking up at Ron with wide eyes.

Ron didn’t know what to say, let alone what to think of this. Harry did not outright say it, but the indication was clear enough. Whether he’ll write an official statement or give a press conference, Harry planned to come out today.

Wasn’t this what Ron wanted? For Harry to not give a flying fuck what the rest of the world would think about him? For finally being able to live a life out in the open?

But instead of feeling relieved and happy, he felt an old terror creeping up his neck. Like in a trance, he sat down on the bed again and stared at Harry’s letter. Ron ran his hands over his face and groaned from the overwhelming sensation of guilt and anxiety washing over him. Did he force Harry to do this? Did he force Harry to expose himself to the nasty side of the public?

Soft hands tugged on Ron’s arms until he was forced to look up. Hermione knelt in front of him, a determined look in her warm, brown eyes. “What do you want to do now?” She asked, lightly caressing Ron’s cheek.

“Well, the letter was for you…” Ron joked, his attempt to lighten the mood earned him one of Hermione’s trademark eye-rolls. “Fuck, Hermione, I have no idea. What if Harry is just doing this because he’s hurt?”

“Harry always acts impulsively,” Hermione answered in a thoughtful tone, “but his words sound sincere to me. And as he said in his letter, he really needs to sort out his life.”

“He shouldn’t have to come out though for that.”

“No, he doesn’t have to do this. But for his own sake, I really think it’s the right way to go.”

“I can try to get a hold of him and check how he’s doing if you want me to,” Hermione added when Ron didn’t respond.

“You would do that?” Ron looked down at her once more, feeling grateful to have Hermione by his side.

“Of course,” Hermione stood up from her kneeling position to sit beside Ron and took his hand into hers, “But Ron, just because Harry is doing this doesn’t mean you have to go back to him. I’ll support you, no matter how you decide, but please promise me you won’t let yourself get treated like that again. I don’t want to see you getting hurt like that anymore.”

He smiled at her and softly squeezed her hand. “I promise, Hermione. But I think I can’t just continue as if nothing happened. Not so soon, anyway.”

“Good,” Hermione stood up and went over to Ron’s suitcase where Athena still sat, looking expectantly at them, “Come on, Athena. I bring you back to Harry.” The owl hooted at her as if in protest but still flew up to Hermione’s right shoulder.

“Hermione?” Ron said before she could disapparate.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

*******

The press room of his manager’s company resembled a cozy living room rather than the place he held all his important meetings. Aside from the chairs for the reporters and photographers and the speaker’s stand at the front, it was decorated like a room he would suspect to find in some Lord’s castle. It had an impressive fireplace, a golden chandelier and was decorated with several large paintings and fancy looking rugs.

As Harry took a quick look into the press room from the door that led to Liam’s office, he saw that some news outlets had sent their reporters early. They clearly expected big news from him, considering the last and only press conference he gave had been the one right after the war. Harry was sure they thought he would announce an engagement. It was the obvious conclusion, and if he wouldn’t have been in such a grave mood, he maybe could’ve found it amusing to imagine their faces after he gave his statement.

You’ll see their reactions soon enough, Harry thought.

Despite what he was going to do in less than ten minutes, he felt strangely calm. It could’ve been the years of experience handling the press, but Harry knew this wasn’t the case. Talking about the Quidditch Cup final or the latest decision of the Wizengamot was one thing. Telling the world he was gay was something else entirely.

No, Harry’s calmness didn’t come from years of navigating the press, but rather Hermione’s visit an hour ago. She didn’t say much, just that Ron wanted him to know he didn’t have to do this. And she made it very clear this outing wasn’t a safe ticket to get Ron back. He told her that all he had said to her in the letter was true and that he needed to do this for himself more than anything else.

Hermione had simply nodded and turned around to floo home, but she had stopped in her tracks.

“Be safe,” She said softly, without turning around. Not waiting for an answer, she stepped inside the fireplace, leaving behind the orange flames dancing inside it.

Hope sparked inside his heart because, obviously, Ron and Hermione still cared and tried to look out for him. Even if he ruined every chance of a relationship with Ron, not all seemed lost considering Harry’s friendship with his two best friends.

“Are you ready?” Liam’s voice came from behind him. The short, grey-haired wizard stepped up beside Harry, looking up at him with his ever-professional mask of indifference.

“Ready,” Harry answered, testing his voice, glad it sounded strong and unwavering.

Without missing a beat, Harry’s manager opened the dark, wooden door, and the two of them walked to the podium. Several cameras flashed already when Harry cast  Sonorous  at himself. The room was filled with at least one journalist and a photographer from every news outlet in Magical Britain.

The news of Harry Potter being gay was going to spread like wildfire.

“Good evening,” Harry started to speak, his amplified voice quieting down the low chatter of the audience. He planned to make this short, wishing to be back at his flat already.

“I’m here to inform you that I won’t be attending any official events for the rest of the year.” The voices grew louder again, but Liam stopped the chatter by simply raising his hand. The way this short man managed crowds never ceased to amaze Harry.

“This is simply a way for me to get my life back on track, and I know I need this time for myself in the upcoming months. I-”

“Mr Potter,” Rita Skeeter interrupted, her acid green Quick-Quotes Quill and a parchment hovering in the air beside her, “Does your-”

“Mrs Skeeter, I don’t remember my manager giving you permission to ask questions,” Harry cut her off, trying very hard to not let her admire his middle finger. “And if you wish to attend this press conference until the end, I advise you to not interrupt me again.”

Raising an eyebrow at him but otherwise remaining silent, Rita sat down again, her quill still scribbling wildly. Harry knew he would pay for this. He was just about to give her the perfect ammunition, after all.

“I could just leave it at that. It would definitely prevent my manager from being forced to read through a lot of hate-mail, and it would spare me from having to hide from the public for a while. But these past months, my relationship with the press and official events destroyed everything I really hold dear. And no, I don’t blame you for this. You intruded on my life more than once, but what I have let my life become is entirely my fault. That’s why I have to make the reason for my retreat public. Before I reconcile with the people I hurt, I have to make it right with myself, first and foremost.”

Complete silence settled over the room. Not a single whisper could be heard, and even Rita Skeeter’s quill stopped scribbling, simply hovering beside the witch.

Harry closed his eyes for a brief second as his heartbeat threatened to beat out of his chest. It was now or never, so Harry took one last deep breath, and then, he finally told the world the truth.

“I’m gay.”

*******

A gentle breeze greeted Ron and Hermione when they apparated to the beach Harry mentioned in his letter. The slight wind felt like a relief compared to the stuffy heat in the city. Hermione could only shake her head at Ron for complaining about the hot days, given how rare they were in London.

They could already see the small cottage from their apparation point, the security charms still allowing them to notice it and enter its wards. It was a short walk to the small wooden cabin, but it was enough time for Ron to break out in a sweat.

Yesterday night they had heard about Harry’s press conference on the radio. The news station recited his speech word by word before analyzing it, also word by word, and taking wild guesses on which wizards were most likely to be a past or present love interest of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry’s words kept repeating in Ron’s mind, making him feel guilty, relieved and sad, all at the same time. More than anything else, he wanted to know how Harry felt about all of this, but at the same time, he feared what Harry might expect from Ron now.

With a gentle wave of his wand, Ron alerted Harry of their presence, and a second later, he walked out of the cottage. His black hair looked even wilder than usual, fitting his red-rimmed eyes and the wrinkled shirt he was wearing.

Despite Harry's ruffled appearance, Ron immediately felt a pang of deep longing inside his chest. All he wanted to do right now was to run his hands over Harry's five o’clock shadow and kiss away the dark bags under these brilliantly green eyes.

Instead, he just stood in front of Harry, willing his heart and mind to slow down.

After what felt like an awfully long time of awkward silence, Harry cleared his throat. “Would- would you like to come in?”

“I won't come in with you,” Hermione answered, and before Harry could protest, she turned to Ron, “We'll meet at Neville’s at 7?”

“But Hermione, I want to talk to you too.”

“I know, Harry,” Hermione looked back at him, her lips tightly pressed together, “But I think you should talk to Ron first. Alone.”

Ron could see Harry didn't expect this. He probably prepared a whole speech for Hermione and was now at a loss for words after her announcement.

“We will talk, just the two of us. And I will try to rebuild our friendship, regardless of what Ron might decide for himself.” Hermione paused for a brief moment and took a step closer towards Harry. “But should Ron decide to give your relationship another chance, remember that our friendship will stand and fall on how you treat him. I won't watch one of my best friends hurt the other again.”

And as if to make a point, she took her wand out of its holster, gripping it tightly. Without waiting for Harry's response, though, Hermione quickly squeezed Ron's hand before turning around and disapparating with a quiet plop.

“I really wanted to talk to her,” Harry sighed, weaving a hand through his unruly hair.

“How are you?” Ron asked instead of saying something about Hermione's decision to keep out of this conversation.

Apparently surprised about Ron's sudden change of topic, Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression. A second later, though, his gaze softened, and Ron squirmed under the longing Harry's eyes held.

“Better than I thought I would be” Harry took a small step closer.

“You didn’t have to-”

“I know,” Harry quickly interrupted him rather loudly, and with a much quieter voice, he said, “I know. But I wanted to. I needed to do this.”

Ron nodded and stared at his feet, not knowing what else he could say right now.

“Would you like to sit in the backyard? I have some beer and coke in the fridge.”

“Sure. I'll take the coke.” Ron didn't trust himself to not throw all resolve into the wind if he drank something stronger than Butterbeer. Booze combined with Harry's toned legs on full display on this hot summer day? Ron wouldn't take any chances.

Five minutes later, the two of them found themselves sitting on the small porch, overlooking the ocean. The sea was calm today, and the sound of the waves lulled them into a companionable silence.

Ron couldn't tell how much time had passed when Harry finally started to speak. He told Ron about his past two weeks—all the feelings he went through, from fiery anger over crippling guilt to unbelievable longing. He talked about how much he had hated himself and how this feeling shrank to a tiny flame after yesterday's coming out. And when Harry looked at Ron, telling him he was sorry and he was well aware Ron most likely couldn't see a meaning anymore behind his apologies, a single tear escaped Harry’s eye.

Ron wanted nothing more than to brush it away, but he didn't. Instead, he braced himself for what he needed to tell Harry.

“Harry, I-,” Ron sat up a little straighter, making sure to look Harry in the eyes, “I need time. I need time for myself, at least, for a while. I realised that I stopped being my own person in the last months of our relationship, and like you, I have to find my way back to myself.”

“I obviously want you back, Ron,” Harry's shoulders slumped down a little from the disappointment, but at the same time, Ron thought he saw something like resolve shining behind his green eyes, “But I'll be happy as long as you let me be a part of your life. Maybe- maybe we could just hang out for a while. Just as friends. Go to the pub, watch a Quidditch match, stuff like that.”

Ron gave him a small smile. “That sounds good.”

They didn't say anything else after that. The sun wasn't ready to set yet, but its late afternoon glow gave the sea a beautiful reflection.

At some point, Harry's hand that lay between them on the wooden bench accidentally bumped against Ron's. Harry jolted and wanted to pull his hand away, but Ron stopped him. He softly grazed over Harry's wrist with his fingertips, eliciting a small sigh from him. Ron watched as his hand interlaced their fingers; Harry's olive scarred skin against his pale, freckled and equally scarred skin. It was a beautiful sight.

They kept sitting this way until it was time for Ron to go, just staring out into the sea and holding hands.

*******

Resisting Harry Potter had never been easy for him, but nowadays, everything his best mate did seemed to drive Ron crazy.

Christmas was a week away, and a month ago, Ron and Harry started dating again.

One day, after attending one of Ginny's Quidditch games, they had gone to a small, cozy Muggle Café, trying to warm themselves up from the cold November weather. The Polyjuice Potion they used to disguise themselves from the watching crowd in the Quidditch stands had long worn off, but a rather persistent strand of blonde hair on Harry’s head refused to turn back into its usual raven black state.

Ron had reached over their tiny round table to point it out to Harry but instead almost knocked his glasses off in the process. They burst into laughter, and Ron didn't know if it had been the rush of cheering for his sister today or something else entirely, but for some reason, he had chosen this moment to ask Harry out on a proper date.

And it could have been all in Ron's head, but he failed to remember if he had ever seen Harry smile as he had at that moment.

Without further discussing it, they had kept it slow. Their dates had involved a lot of kissing again, but they always had gone home alone in the end; Harry to his flat and Ron to the tiny apartment he currently shared with Hermione since early September.

Now though, they stood just outside of The Leaky Cauldron, which Hannah and Neville reopened today. After taking over the pub from Tom, they had renovated the large terrace, surprising most of Tom's old guests that it even existed.

For the reopening, they had decorated it with fairy lights and some plants that didn't mind the season’s cold weather. High, round tables stood everywhere where the guests could have some drinks and snacks.

Together with Hermione and her new boyfriend Martin, they stood around one of these tables, drinking the most delicious hot chocolate Ron ever had. While Hermione was busy introducing Martin to their friends, Harry was busy running his hand over Ron's arse.

From their place right in front of the wall of the Leaky Cauldron, they were able to observe everything, but no one was able to see how Harry’s hand seemed to have found a new home in one of Ron's back pockets.

After about an hour, Ron finally had enough. Before Harry could sneak his hand there again, Ron grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind one of Neville's monster plants which happened to be the perfect hiding place.

“You noticed all the bloody journalists out there, right?” Ron asked but clearly didn't expect an answer from Harry as he kissed him as he had wanted to all night. Harry didn't miss a beat and pulled Ron tightly against him, returning the kiss with equal enthusiasm.

Harry moaned into Ron's mouth when Ron sucked at his lower lip, making him want to apparate home with Harry right away.

As Harry set to kiss Ron's neck, it was now the redhead’s turn to bite back a groan. “Let's- let's- Oh Merlin, Harry.”

“Let's what?” Harry whispered as his hands slowly wandered down Ron's body.

“Let's go home,” Ron said in a breathy voice, lips swollen from kissing, “Let's say goodbye to Hannah and Neville and then go home.”

Harry shook his head as he stepped away from Ron, but tugging at his hand as he went into the direction of the party guests.

“Before we go home, let's show them,” Harry stepped up to Ron again, this time just kissing him softly on the lips, “Only if you're okay with it, of course.”

“But you already had your moment of truth. Everyone knows you're gay.”

“They don't know about us, though,” Harry said, softly stroking Ron's cheek, “And besides, my real moment of truth had been when I apologized to you and our friends. The public outing was nothing compared to admitting I had been a shit friend and partner.”

“You know, I don't care about the press knowing about us, but you don't have to prove anything to me, Harry.”

“I think I do. Let's show everyone the wizard that won over The-Boy-Who-Lived,” Harry said, and without another word, he led them into the crowd again.

Nobody was paying attention to them, despite the great Harry Potter standing in the middle of the expansive terrace, holding hands with his best mate. Mistletoe hung from above them, and Harry grinned at the coincidence.

“Doesn't seem like we have much of an audience,” Ron stated as he observed all the party guests who were too busy chatting and drinking, “But I think one of the fucking paparazzi has spotted us.”

“Do you think that's enough, Weasley? Simply holding hands in front of a paparazzi?”

Ron was well aware Harry was daring him, but Ron had been sorted into Gryffindor for a reason, after all. Never breaking eye contact with Harry, Ron put his thumb and middle finger inside his mouth and whistled so loudly, everyone startled out of their conversation and turning their heads towards them.

And without missing a beat, Harry put his arms around Ron's neck and kissed him. Ron heard surprised gasps and camera flashes and cheering, but all he could focus on were Harry's lips and his heart beating so fast he was sure everyone could hear it.

As they broke the kiss, Ron put his forehead against Harry's and grinned like the bloody, lovesick fool he knew he looked like right now.

“Take us home, Potter,” Ron whispered, feeling freer than ever before in his life.

They never made it back to the party.

[tallycraven]

thoughts on a raylla hercules AU?

ohhh? OH. I can see that, but with major changes to mythology to match themes, maybe? if disney did it so can i 

raelle is the daughter of hades and a mortal. not that she knows that.

her mother, hades, had to hide her and leave her in the mortal realm in fear of retaliation from the olympians. they would take her for their own, raise her as an arrogant demigod, charge her with duties of honor and glory-- send her to die on one of their battlefields. hades couldn’t have that. 

so, she snuck her baby away and hid her amongst the bushes, tucked between the safety of two cypress trees, hoping for her a better future than to be bound to the olympians or the darkness of the underworld. hades left her with nothing but a small bone charm, inscribed with her given name and imbued with the same kind of magic as the helm of darkness; something to keep her hidden from olympian view.

she was found near a ravine by a couple of farmers; a wife and husband that had been praying to the gods for a baby for so long that they hardly blinked at the chance of getting to raise the small pale being that’d been abandoned to the wolves.

raelle was raised with love and care despite the meager wealth of her parents, but she always felt like something was missing. 

she’s absurdly strong, for one thing. for another, she’s got a silver tongue and often wins any debate or bet with barely a bat of her lashes. 

this, in combination with her paleness -- fair of skin and hair with eyes close to frost on those rare snowy winter days -- led her to be shunned and feared by other children and villagers.

her adoptive parents, seeing her distress over the feeling of not belonging, shows her the bone charm, tells her of the runes inscribed along the back and the place where they found her. a gift from the gods, they call her.

it still doesn’t explain anything. 

raelle makes the decision to take the charm and climb to a temple of athena in search of answers.

when she makes it there, it’s nothing but a vast hall of stone and offerings. no goddess, no moment of clarity, no answers. 

she’s in the midst of storming off in a rage when an owl lands on a perch and stares at her inquisitively.

it speaks to her. it speaks to raelle in a voice that’s strong and assertive, if not a bit amused. 

“i do not know who you are. but if you are a godling, you must prove yourself before the eyes of gods and men.”

a godling? raelle wants to ask. but talking to an owl seems ludicrous. so she just stares and blinks like an idiot.

the owl just laughs. tells raelle of a place to find a woman in self-imposed isolation. a hermit who will guide her along, wishes her luck before lifting away on magnificent wings and disappearing into the night.

the trek to find this hermit is hard and raelle almost quits and turns around more than once. but where would she go? to a village where everyone fears her? no. the only way forwards is onwards. 

raelle finds the hermit on a secluded island off the mainland. her yard is littered with half-finished marble statues and shooting targets with perfectly placed arrows stuck into them. swords, spears, and shields are lined and stacked in orderly fashion at the bases of trees.

right as raelle is about to knock on the door to the lone homestead, the door swings open to reveal a tall woman with dark skin and a piercing stare.

“godling.”

“you know who i am?”

“so you do think you’re a godling?”

“what? no, i--”

“prove it.”

her name is anacostia. she turns out to be the most no-nonsense taskmaster that raelle’s ever heard of.

she didn’t know she could feel sore, but the first two weeks in, she’s pretty sure her arms are going to pop off of her body. she complains and anacostia only raises an eyebrow before making her take another lap around the island.

it pays off though. her lithe form fills out with lean and hard muscle; her strength adopts accuracy and grace.

months pass and raelle trades her shabby farm clothes for a clean white tunic and armor to match.

anacostia doesn’t speak it, but raelle can see the charmed pride in her eyes when they sit quietly by the fire at the end of raelle’s last day as anacostia’s student.

“where will you go next?” anacostia asks

“back to the temple, i suppose.”

“strength does not make a hero, raelle. tasks and duty do.”

“what does that mean?”

“athena told you to prove yourself before the eyes of gods and men.”

“alright, so, what?” raelle frowns, staring into the fire. “i go slay a monster, save a damsel, rescue someone’s pet dog, and then i get access to olympus?”

it’s one of the few times anacostia has openly laughed and raelle feels weirdly justified by it.

“come with me.” raelle says.

anacostia starts shaking her head, leaning back against the tree behind her. “i can’t.”

“why not? you’re my mentor, i can’t do this without you.”

silence, for a while.

“i have duties i must attend to.”

“you’re alone on an island all day, what duties do you possibly have? counting and sweeping leaves?”

“training a mouthy godling, apparently.”

silence, again. anacostia watches raelle from across the fire. five minutes pass before she gives in with a nod. 

“okay. i’ll come.”

they set out in the morning in the direction of thebes. it’s a long walk along the main road, so they slip off it at one point, going through the woods to cut half a day off travel.

that’s when raelle hears her. 

a melodic voice with lilted accent, clean and crisp and irritated. 

raelle stops in her tracks and drifts towards the noise, much to anacostia’s annoyance. 

“what are you doing, godling? get back here.”

“i think i hear a damsel.” raelle replies half-joking with a quirked eyebrow-- an expression that she definitely lifted from anacostia.

she sticks her head out from behind a tree and spots the source of the voice: a girl in a purple dress adorned in golden jewelry talking to a towering centaur.

raelle’s been through a lot the past few months, but nothing has left her quite as stunned and dazed as this stranger. it takes the conflict between the stranger and the centaur becoming physical to get raelle out of the bushes and into action.

anacostia sighs and steps out of the bushes to watch raelle’s first real fight.

it’s fairly easy to beat the centaur and send him running off into the woods. it’s not as easy to get her brain to properly communicate to the gorgeous stranger, now soaked by stream that the centaur had dropped her in.

“are you alright?” 

“i had that under control.” the stranger grumbles, wringing water out of her clothes and brushing her dark hair back.

“an extra hand never hurt though, he had two extra legs. it was an unfair fight.” raelle counters.

the stranger seems to smile at that, and after squeezing as much water out from her dress as she can, she offers raelle a smile. 

“scylla.”

“i’m sorry?”

“that’s my name.”

“oh... oh!” raelle’s eyebrows draw together into a crinkle. “like the monster?”

“my parents had a sense of humor.” scylla drawls, “what about you, hero?”

“uh, i’m.. uh,” so much for a silver tongue. “raelle.”

scylla blinks at her and hums in acknowledgement before turning to glance at anacostia, who’s still watching from the treeline.

“well, rae,” scylla smirks, “it was a pleasure. thank you for the soak. catch you around.”

she turns to go and raelle finds herself rushing two steps forward, “wait! can we escort you? we’re headed to thebes. these woods are dangerous and--”

“i’ll be alright,” scylla laughs, turning as she continues to walk away, “i’m a big girl-- can slay my own centaurs. bye now, hero.”

it’s with pitiful heart eyes that raelle raises her hand to give a weak wave. “bye...”

raelle stays rooted to the ground for at least two minutes before a pat to her back makes her jump in surprise.

anacostia only looks at her with that damned quirked eyebrow and hard gaze. 

“hope you enjoyed that, because you have actual work to do that doesn’t involve making eyes at good-looking strangers.”

“did you see her, ana? gods, she was... wow”

anacostia rolls her eyes and walks away, towards the direction of thebes.

it takes raelle more than a second to follow after, an extra bounce in her step. -------------- x   --------------

scylla sighs as she makes her way through the woods, running a hand through her slowly-drying hair.

the mission was a bust and she’s hungry as fuck. 

she’s weighing the pros and cons of hunting down her own meal when two figures step into her path.

they’re both tall, cloaked in familiar dark blue robes and donning small silver pins in the shape of a bident by their calsps. 

one of them has red hair and a patient smile, hands held in front of herself as she stands in scylla’s way.

the other is less approachable. her hood is pulled up, hiding her dark skin and dismissive frown. 

“ah. great. i was wondering when i was going to get a visit from henchmen one and two.”

“that’s not very nice.” the red-haired one pouts, hands unclutching to move to her hips in an indignant stance.

“tally and i come all the way up here to make sure you accomplish your task only to find you soaked to the core and centaur-less.”

“abigail, there’s no need to berate her yourself.”

that’s when a heavy heat rolls in out of nowhere and scylla feels herself stiffen in response.

the shadows in the trees are looming, coalescing and giving form to a tall and imposing woman with threatening posture and an expression that gives away nothing but a hint of disappointment.

“did i not ask you to bring me nessus? to join the cause?”

scylla sighs, leans up against a tree so that at least she’s protected from behind. “yes, hades, i’m sorry, hades.”

“sorry doesn’t make up for a lost ally.”

“well, i almost had him, but then he got handsy and some hero named raelle stumbled out of nowhere and scared him off!” 

hades freezes, all her composure melted into a singular expression of confusion and awe and surprise.

“raelle?”

tally tilts her head and abigail straightens out from her lax lean against her own tree.

“that’s the name she gave,” scylla frowns at the growing tension, already looking for a way out of this conversation and away from these three.

but there is no way out. not with her soul bound and in hades’s possession. not with her closest two soldiers standing right there. scylla grumbles quietly to herself and presses harder against the tree.

then hades says the one thing she hates hearing hades say.

“i have a new job for you.”

[lovelyirony]

Athena had one (1) intellectual conversation with Maria stark and then handed her baby Tony.

You see now I’m going to write this. 

Maria Carbonell, in some universes, meets a man named Howard Stark. In these universes she falls for his quick wit, his dastardly charm, and the distinct ability to have her believe that he will change back to both of those former traits after marriage. 

But in this one, she is young, running away from a boss who tried a bit too much and she whacked him over the head with a clipboard, and runs into a woman in a very nice suit. 

“What are you running from?” she asks, silvery-gray eyes piercing into her. 

“A man with different ideas,” Maria breathes. “Mind hiding me in your office for a little bit?” 

Athena sees this woman, who is obviously whip-smart, extremely beautiful, and has a good head on her. 

Maria smiles sheepishly at her. 

“I’m Maria. Thanks for saving me. Mind if I treat you to coffee?” 

This turns into a coffee shop visit that lasts four hours, not even the goddess can dismiss the incredulous gazes of the baristas, who stare as the two women wildly exchange hands, draw diagrams on shitty napkins with beautiful pens. 

Athena admires how Maria curves her letters, how easily fluent she is in Italian, Spanish, and French. 

“How did you study so much?” Athena asks. 

They don’t fall in bed together. Oh Maria kisses the absolute hell out of her when she’s at her apartment door, messes up the collar of her shirt and stains red lipstick down the white front, but there’s nothing else. 

Athena has a bit of a thing for the brain. 

Her child (or as Hermes and Apollo like to tease, “brainchild”) arrives, a newborn wrapped in a blanket. Left at Maria’s doorstep, a quick explanation from Athena. 

She watches as Maria blinks, announces “oh holy son of a--” and then really, really stares at this small baby boy. 

“Well, you cannot possibly stay anywhere else,” Maria says. “Only problem is how I’m going to explain how I got to be in possession of a baby.” 

In Maria’s mailbox is a birth certificate, other proper paperwork, and a businesscard from a place called Camp Half-Blood. 

Maria doesn’t see Athena again. She thinks she sees her in the streets and wants to chase her down to explain just why the hell she has a kid. Not that she’s complaining--Tony’s a helluva smart kid. 

His name is Tony. He starts walking and talking early, able to understand concepts that most don’t get until their graduate years of college. Maria teaches him everything she can, at least in the books department. 

It gets trickier when he’s in school. She knows there’s danger. There was a note about monsters. 

“It most likely won’t be a problem,” the note said, in the blocky letters of an architect. Maria has kept the letter, holding it like a guide at nights when she’s not sure what she’ll do. 

The problem isn’t monsters. It’s other kids. Tony isn’t afraid to tell someone exactly what he thinks, and it...doesn’t always translate well. Teachers have Maria in for a conference and pull out their hair when Maria asks as many questions as her son, and most of the meetings end in “well...just...go, tell Tony not to talk in class.” 

Maria treats her boy to ice cream and tries desperately to comfort him when he says he doesn’t have friends. 

Tony knows his mom knows something. Knows it in the way there’s an old paper at the top of the fridge that he’s not allowed to see, knows it in the way that Mom wouldn’t ever let him know who his other mother is. 

“When you’re older,” she says, wringing her hands. “Wanna go get groceries with me, Antonio?” Then he will say yes. 

It’s not until he’s eleven that anything serious happens. But there’s a new substitute teacher in town, and everyone has said she’s been the teacher all along. 

“No, you haven’t been,” Tony says. “You got here a week ago.” 

“Smart boy,” the teacher purrs, taking off her ugly, long leather jacket. Her face has too many wrinkles in it, and the eyes...there’s something about it. “Too smart.” 

Tony is chased by his fifth grade teacher, and races all the way to his mother’s work. 

“Get in the car,” Maria orders, grabbing her eyes. She yells to her boss that there’s a family emergency, so sorry, but she really has to go.” 

They narrowly miss a leathery bat wing to the windshield, and Maria runs over the monster and frantically repeats “Delphos Strawberry Fields” to herself over and over. 

“Where are we going?” Tony asks. “Mom? Mama?” 

“Don’t worry, somewhere safe,” Maria murmurs. “Watch for it, Tony.” 

The monster follows them, and the car weaves in and around lanes of traffic, and they seem to lose her for a moment as they head deeper into a forest. 

There’s a sign. Tony can read it. Which is odd, because usually it takes him way longer to see what something actually says. 

“Your mom...she was different,” Maria answers. 

“What, she was in a cult?” 

“Not...exactly. You remember how I have all of those Greek mythology books? How I’ve been publishing papers on modern effects?” 

“Yes.” 

“Tony, they exist. Your mom is one of them.” 

“Which one?” 

“Goddess of wisdom and strategy, crafts. Don’t say her name. Names have power.” 

She cannot cross the barrier, not until an older teen jogs up, learns her name, and grants her entrance. 

Maria keeps a tight grip on her son. She didn’t learn a lot about this side of the world, about any of it. Athena had made sure of that. 

It’s when they say who has to be Chiron that the adrenaline is almost wearing off and Maria sags into herself a little bit. 

“Chiron, good to meet you. This is Anthony, son of--” 

A sign bursts forth. An owl perched in an olive tree. 

“I see,” Chiron answers. 

Tony has questions. A lot of them. 

“You sure he’s not Hephaestus?” Chiron asks Maria when he’s taken to go see his cabin, learn about this place and see if he wants to stay for the summers. 

“I’m quite sure,” Maria says tightly. “I was left a note from her explaining why I was in charge of a child, where to take him for protection when he was older, and little else.” 

“Sounds like the gods,” Chiron mutters. “Are you worried?” 

“Now that I’m here? No. For the outside world? Yes. I can’t protect my own son, how are these kids...?” 

“We teach them,” Chiron insists, eyes looking far older. He should be looking far older. “I promise you, he will know how to care for himself and others.” 

Maria nods. 

Athena watches over his son and his mother from where she is. Tony’s a smart kid, certainly destined for great things. The way he makes things work, the way that he invents...he’ll be amazing one day. A household name. His mother will be the one behind it. 

And though she can’t say anything, though she tries never to meddle, she will make sure that Tony doesn’t die young. That’s a promise she has to keep for herself. 

[athenaquinn]

Way Down We Go || Orion & Athena

TIMING: Midnight-ish, October 19th into October 20th LOCATION: Quinn Household, Harris Island PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @athenaquinn SUMMARY: It’s just sibling bonding time. CONTENT: Emotional and physical abuse mentions, Physical abuse, Death (please ask either of us if you’d like a summary!)

It was late, at least for most people. Orion had always been a bit of a night owl, often getting caught up in books or video games and staying up until three or four in the morning. Rio had gotten caught up with his friends, taking advantage of the day to have the only normal birthday that he had ever had. It had been nice, amazing even. But he knew that he had to be somewhere. He didn’t owe it to her. Maybe she didn’t even deserve it. But Rio felt the obligation regardless. Twenty one was a big number, and Rio had spent the last twenty with Athena by his side at every birthday. It had been a tradition. The two always stayed up until midnight together on their birthday. Rio was running late, but his own house wasn’t far from the Quinn family’s house. He glanced at this phone, 11:45pm. He still had time. He shoved the phone in his pocket and snuck through backyards, creating his own shortcut to get to the back of his family’s house, and spotting Athena immediately. She sat perched on the roof. Her dark figure contrasting the starry sky around her. Rio tossed his bag in one of the bushes and climbed onto the banister of their back porch, using that as a makeshift ladder to help him pull himself up onto the roof. Ten minutes now. Rio crept across the rooftop, careful to keep himself balanced and steady. The last thing he needed was to sleep and fall off the roof. Injuries aside, that would definitely wake up his parents. “Hey.”

She was twenty-one. Which meant that her brother was, too. She couldn’t remember when the tradition had started, but she also couldn’t remember a time when she and Orion hadn’t climbed onto the roof. Stayed up until midnight, spending the last moments of their birthday with one another. With the only other person who had been there from the beginning, and even before. However, she had yet to hear from him today. Had yet to hear from him in weeks. That didn’t stop Athena from climbing onto the roof all on her own. Some things were tradition for a reason, and she wasn’t about to break that, even after everything that had occurred in these past few months. So up she went, and she’d been sitting for a good half-hour, the chilly evening causing her to wrap her fleece more tightly around her body. Checking her phone, she bit her lip. Wondered if maybe this was all for naught. Then she heard a noise and turned her head, making out a familiar shape creeping toward her. “You came.” She answered simply. Hoped he could see the relief in her eyes. She turned away for a moment, before turning back to him, holding something small in her hands. “Chocolate-based mini raspberry cheesecake. One of your favorites.” She paused. “Happy Birthday, Ri.”

This made Orion feel far more nostalgic than thought he was going to. He hated it. He needed to be done with this family, for good. And that wasn’t going to work when he kept running into Athena and forced into conversations with her. Out in parks, with Winston, even with Ariana. He couldn’t do this anymore. “Happy Birthday,” Rio repeated back to her, glancing down at the cheesecake. That stupid cheesecake. Of course she remembered that and would think to bake it. Because despite everything, Athena knew Rio. It made no sense, how someone could know so much about a person and yet never understand them. “Thanks.” He stabbed a piece of the cheesecake on his fork and took a small bite. It tasted incredible, but Rio felt sick to his stomach. He finished the bite before offering the fork to Athena. “Listen, we need to talk.” No yelling this time or crying. Rio wasn’t going to lose his cool like he had in the training room or that night in the park. He didn’t know how to break the news to Athena without her freaking out, but he knew screaming wasn’t going to fix anything.

“Tradition.” Athena replied. “Even if you hadn’t come, I had to. Had to bake something for you.” She hadn’t even thought that he might not come until she’d ended up on top of the roof. “You’re welcome.” She stabbed a small piece of the cheesecake with the fork and took a careful bite. Though it had been months - six, just about - since her brother had left their home, it felt like no time had passed. Perhaps it was childish, but she still had dozens of photos of the two of them in her room. Some out, framed or stuck to the walls, and others tucked away in favorite books from when they’d been little, hidden in her sock drawer. She knew that she had to protect her brother, but in recent months, she had started to wonder more if she needed him more than he needed her. Even the thought felt sour on her tongue and his voice brought her out of her thoughts again. “Okay.” She set the mini cheesecake down on the roof, careful to balance it so that it didn’t slide off. “About what?” She glanced over to him, blue-grey eyes wide and more than just a bit apprehensive.

Orion didn’t know how to ease into the conversation. But as apprehensive as he was about Athena’s response, he wasn’t afraid of the confrontation. He knew this was the only choice he had left. Or he would never be able to fully let go. So it was better to just dive right in. “I can’t do this anymore.” He shifted his body, his knees pointed towards Athena even though Rio refused to look anywhere else but the stars. “Any of this. I can’t keep running into you and getting angry. Or being afraid that I’m going to run into mom and dad at the store.” He wasn’t sure that Athena would ever understand or accept what he was saying, but he had to try to explain it as best as he could. “I’m exhausted. All the time. I’m so tired of being afraid to see you guys. I have never been happy here. I’m finally happy. And I can’t let you guys take that away from me.” Rio’s hands were resting on his knees and his grip tightened as he spoke. He hated this feeling. “I’m done being afraid of you. I’m done being afraid of mom and dad. I’m just done being a Quinn.”

She didn’t even process what he was saying for a moment. Once she did, she shook her head. No. “You don’t have to.” Athena pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Counted down from ten. She could feel the roof under her fingertips. Focused back on her brother. “Please.” Her voice was quiet. Not angry, for once. She missed him too much. Could never shake the feeling that something was wrong when he wasn’t around. Even though they hadn’t slept in the same room since they were little, just knowing he was around made her feel right. “Are you leaving town?” She blinked at him. Let her hands fall to match his position. “What will you be, then? You can’t just get rid of the name that easily.” Her head was spinning. Was this the only reason why he’d bothered to come by? Yet somehow, and she wasn’t quite sure how, she was able to fight off the desire to snap at him. “Is there - can - can we please just have this night?” Her grip tightened on her knees. “I want to - you should be happy with me, too. I’m your twin.” She wasn’t going to cry. She didn’t cry.

The pain and pleading actually came as a surprise. For once, maybe this wouldn’t end in a fight. She wasn’t going to be happy with the way things ended, but maybe it wouldn’t end with her yelling at him. He wasn’t willing to compromise with her and coexist with them anymore. He felt complicit. He wouldn’t let himself be dragged down by it. “No. I’m not leaving town. But if I see any of you… I can’t talk to you.” That was the simplest way to phrase it without having to explain the pit in his stomach that formed every time he saw them in public. “That’s why I’m here though. We have until midnight, one last time. Just like tradition. To say goodbye.” Rio definitely couldn’t look at her now. A quick glance told him that they were both in the same position, holding onto their knees and he quickly readjusted, leaning back and using his palms against the roof to support his stargazing. “We’re not happy, Athena. We never have been, have we?” Sure, they had times that they were close to the feeling, but their relationship had always been built more on co-dependence than genuine care for the other. “You love me because you feel like you have to. But I don’t think you’ve ever really liked me. Not for a long time, at least” It all seemed so obvious to him now, looking from the outside. Rio couldn’t remember the last time he felt like he genuinely liked Athena. He only knew that of his family members, she was the hardest one to let go.  “You’ve resented me my entire life. For what I couldn’t be. Just like I’ve always resented you for who you are.” The words felt acidic coming off of his tongue, but he didn’t mean them to hurt like he had back at the park. This was the reality that Rio had finally seen. “I will never be happy if I’m part of this family. I can’t pick and choose the parts I don’t like. We’ve all been complicit. And I can’t be complicit anymore.”

He wanted to get rid of her. She pushed aside the thought of her parents for a moment - for all that she did care for them, they were never her number one priority. Her number one priority was sitting right next to her, with a changed position in his body now. Athena shook her head. “Well, good. You still have the school year to finish, you know.” She didn’t know what to say to him. “Fine.” She glanced down at her phone. 11:50 pm. Ten more minutes. “I don’t know.” She answered his question, honestly. That was what she owed him, right? Besides, if he was going to write her out of his life, what did a little honesty hurt? Though she had always been the most honest with him out of anyone. Perhaps in part because he simply knew her, and so some things that she had to tell others in order to be honest, he’d known for forever. “I thought - sometimes I thought we had been.” She wasn’t going to cry. She could only think about how maybe, somehow, some small part of her understood why Orion didn’t always want to hunt. She didn’t understand it completely, but she hadn’t known about Ariana at first, and she’d felt so safe with her. Athena shook the thought out of her head. “I love you. I - I do.” She let her legs fall into butterfly position, fingers grasped around her ankles. The same position she used to resort to at times when the two of them were playing as children. “We were supposed to be the answer to everything. That’s what mom and dad always said.” Her breathing felt heavy. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do without you.”

This was probably the most sincere the two had ever been with each other. Orion didn’t know if that made things easier or harder. “Maybe we were. When we were younger. Honestly it’s too hard to tell.” Rio liked to believe that before everything fell apart, the two had genuinely cared for each other. That their relationship was built more on love and understanding than their parent’s sick and twisted sense of duty. Athena repeated the sentiment. That she loved him. Though she didn’t sound exactly confident as she said it. Their love was built. Either by a sense of duty or as a defense mechanism against the abuse they had endured. Probably a mixture of both. But it didn’t matter the cause, only that continuing to pretend like it was anything different was toxic, and it was holding Rio back. Both of them back, if they truly wanted to be honest. “That wasn’t fair of them. They never had any right to decide that for us.” Rio didn’t have the energy to get into an argument with Athena about their parents. But for once, his voice wasn’t shaking. This was the calmest he had ever been talking about them. It only made him more confident that he had made the right decision. “We are being held back by them. And by each other. I deserve better than the abusive environment I was forced into.” Rio raised a finger, trying to stop her before Athena had the chance to say anything, “And that’s exactly what it was. Whether or not you want to admit it. We’ve been abused. And tortured. And groomed by our parents and by you. My entire childhood was taken from me because of this family. I’ll never get that back. And it’s bullshit. But I refuse to let mom and dad take anything else from me.”

“I guess it is.” She gave a small shrug, though she could admit that it may have been true. Though she could only think back to her dream with that fae, how somehow she’d conjured up a time when the two of them only wanted to speak to one another. When the two of them would choose to stare, wide-eyed, at anyone else. Athena sighed again. “They are our parents.” Her voice wobbled. “We are supposed to listen to them.” It was a rote phrase, practically. One she’d been saying ever since she was little. She found that she wasn’t trying to argue, though - just stating something that she’d heard again and again. Something she’d always taken as fact, because what reason did their parents have to lie to them? “I guess.” She clasped a hand over her mouth as he held up his finger. He’d gotten so confident since they had properly spent time together, and part of that sent a ripple of pain through her chest. “They just wanted what is best for us.” She shook her head, but it didn’t sound right, for once. She could think back to shortly after her brother had run away when her parents had burned something against her skin because she’d been too distracted and missed a punch. “Can we - can you come inside one last time? I know that this is it.” I don’t want it to be. “But maybe, for old times’ sake? Mom and dad are dead asleep. I just - I have one last present for you.”

Orion had heard the phrases before. So many times. Repeated by his parents. Repeated by his sister. Repeated by himself. But they rang empty now. They had for a long time, honestly. Even his sister’s tone seemed unconvinced as she said them. But it wasn’t enough to erase what he had been through. It couldn’t be enough, or else he would open himself to the hurt all over again. “Look, I really don’t want to fight with you in this, okay?” She could scream those words at him, wake up his parents or the whole neighborhood for all he cared. It wouldn’t change anything anymore. “I think we’ve known for a long time that this was coming. I don’t have the energy to fight or argue about an inevitability.” But it truly didn’t seem like she was going to fight him on this. Maybe her invitation inside was a trap. To beg or plead with him or even wake up their parents. But she honestly just seemed desperate. “Fine. Yeah. One more time.” If Rio had time, he could do one last sweep of his room. Get a final goodbye of the place and family that had failed him. “Let’s go.” Rio didn’t want to waste anymore time. He hopped up from his spot and headed towards the window that led into Athena’s room. He remembered the feeling of sneaking into Athena’s room at night and crawling out on the roof well. It still hadn't quite clicked that this was the last time the two would be doing this together.

“I don’t want to fight with you either.” Athena paused, biting her lip. “It’s just - well, it is what it has to be.” She didn’t know what she was going to do without him in her life. Even in their lowest moments, he had always been a constant in her life. Always there, and she wasn’t sure how to process the fact that pretty soon that might not be the case. “It didn’t have to be.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Even though she knew her brother wasn’t listening. It didn’t stop her need to say those words, though. They were supposed to be together, always. But he agreed, and that was all she could ask for, sometimes. She pulled open the window (she’d managed to have it down to a science after all these years) and dipped inside, waiting for her brother to follow her. Once he was inside she offered him a careful smile. “I just wanted - well, it’s just nice to be here with you. So thank you.”

Athena’s room hadn’t changed much. It was almost like he had never lived away from them at all. Yet everything around him felt different. This place didn’t hold the same weight that it used to. It felt more like an unpleasant memory than a prison. This wasn’t Rio’s home anymore. The thought actually made Rio smile. “Yeah, well I can’t stay too much longer.” Rio answered, glancing around the room and opening the door as quietly as possible. “Let’s go downstairs.” Rio whispered. He led the way, remembering breaking in here with Blanche to take the car keys back. Just as Rio had assumed, his parents didn’t do anything about it. The only thing worse than letting their son win a battle was having their neighbors and coworkers know about their crumbling family. Rio discarded the now empty plate in the sink and glanced around the kitchen. In the corner, the door leading into the operating theater stared back at him. “God, I hate it here.” Rio hopped onto the kitchen island and reflected, “I’ve always hated this stupid house. And all these stupid decorations. We’ve all been lying our entire lives. To the town and our neighbors and each other.  Even to ourselves I guess.” Rio knew he had lied to himself for a long time. Something told him that Athena had been the same way. “I’m so tired of lying.” He knew he couldn’t stop, knowing what he knew about the real world, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Rio wasn’t sure how long Athena and him sat in the kitchen together, but he snapped back when he heard a noise. “They’re up.” Rio’s mind jumped to attention immediately, but a voice behind him made his breath catch. “A little late for that, isn’t it Orion?” He heard his mother’s voice and tensed immediately, too frozen in his spot to jump off of the counter or turn around to look at her, “Disappointing that your senses are still so lacking. I had hoped you’d at least spend your time away learning something useful to this family.”

Almost without a word, Athena followed her brother downstairs. If they truly did only have a few moments left together, she knew that she’d do anything he asked. Almost, at least. She looked up at him as he hopped onto the kitchen island - flashing back to the dozens of times that the two of them had both been up there, watching their mother bake something or their father cook some new dinner that some co-worker at the hospital had told him about. “It,” isn’t all so bad, “well, we always had our rooms. I distinctly remember us finding some fancy way to design our bedroom back when we shared one.” We’ve been lying our entire lives. Athena squeezed her eyes shut. It wasn’t true. Well, outside of what was necessary. It was dangerous to out what they were, for risk of retribution or something else. “I -” me too, sometimes. I want to be understood. But before she could finish her sentence her brother’s words indicated that he had heard something that she could not - yet. Until their parents came in and she could spot them over her brother’s shoulder. A hand instinctively (though she did not understand why, it was just their parents, after all) went to brush lightly against his knee and she flashed a smile at her mother. “Sorry, I was talking so loud, you know?” “I believe that to be untrue, Athena. Don’t defend your brother’s missteps. The two of you are hardly three years old any more.” Their father nodded, a firm hand placed on their mother’s shoulder. Silent, which had always set Athena just a bit on edge. “I just had to give him something, that’s all!” Her hand was now more firmly placed on her brother’s knee. Glanced at the clock. 11:55 pm. She had five more minutes.  “Didn’t mean to wake you! I know you’ve both got busy days tomorrow.”

There was a flurry of emotions swirling inside of Orion. Fear, anger, remorse. The combination was enough to make Rio dizzy and sick to his stomach. It felt like gravity, pushing down against him and refusing to let up, cementing him to the spot on the countertop and keeping him from fleeing like he wanted to. For what it was worth, Athena was maintaining her cool. She was good at it. Rio’s body language was a messy mixture of many things, but cool was not one of them. His facial expression was set in a deep scowl, but his body was turned away from his parents and he could feel his arms shaking. “You didn’t mean to wake us, but it’s hardly for our own benefits, now is it?” His mother held a condescending smirk on her face. A symbol of the triumph she already felt. She was celebrating something, but Rio couldn’t be sure what it was. But he had some guesses. Seeing that all too familiar grin made the hairs on his arms stand on end and the various scars and burns across his body all ache at once. “But look at that, our whole family is finally reunited after all this time.” Sure, as if that was something that Linda Quinn was actually concerned with. His father spoke up from behind her, that same unfamiliar sincerity in his voice that had been present at the hospital, “What she means is that we’re happy that you’re back. How have your wounds healed?” Ironically, that fake concern made Rio even angrier. The cold, ruthless attitude was something that Rio was used to and could deal with. But whatever this act was? It felt wrong and made Rio uncomfortable. “This isn’t my home. And I’m not staying.” Rio finally spoke, anger apparent despite the trembling in his voice. “Don’t raise your voice at us.” Linda’s tone was sharp and unforgiving and Rio flinched despite himself, “Why would you be in any rush to leave? You want to get back to that house you’ve been staying at down the street? With Ricky and Winston is it? How come you’ve never invited us for dinner?” All the anger deflated within Rio, replaced instead with a growing sense of shock and terror. She knew about them? How did she know that? Did she know about Ricky being a selkie? About Rio and Winston dating? Both put them in danger. His eyes must have widened, or face paled because suddenly his mom was laughing, “You think you could just disappear and we wouldn’t check in on you? You can’t hide from us Orion. You are our son. You belong to the Quinn family.” Rio couldn’t speak for a long time, too scared to make her even more angry.

“No, it is not. I am aware of that.” Athena could feel her voice wobble for a moment. She hated this. Hated that for some reason the way her mother was talking unsettled her. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen. “I didn’t want you both to feel frustrated.” I wanted a moment alone with my brother. She couldn’t very well tell her parents that, though, could she? Her hand hadn’t moved from where it was on her brother’s knee. He was here. He was safe. She was safe. Of course they were safe.  “I’m sorry.” She almost whispered. “We are together! That’s,” she didn’t dare look at her brother, though she willed him not to hate her, “great! I was just telling my brother about how much we’ve missed him.” Her free hand found her brother’s hand and she gave it a small squeeze, the same way he used to do to her when she woke up from a nightmare years ago.

Before she could respond to her father’s comment, her brother was jumping in. His voice wasn’t nearly as gentle as he had been with her, even though Athena wasn’t certain she could consider his tone to be especially gentle. Her mother’s next comment surprised her. “You’re…” she glanced over to her brother, tears threatening to spill over onto her face. The thought that her brother might be living with Winston had crossed her mind as a consideration half a dozen times, but never enough for it to have stuck. Somehow that hurt more than she wished for it to - especially because it meant that he had been so close. So close and she hadn’t been able to tell, hadn’t worked that out. “Busy, maybe.” She found herself saying. “Don’t speak to me right now, Athena.” She shook her head. “He’s, he didn’t mean it, okay?” She blinked rapidly, refusing to let the tears come. “What did I say?” Linda snapped, and Athena felt herself shrinking, almost, despite the good three inches she knew that she had on her mother. It certainly didn’t feel like that right now. “What’s up with you, Athena?” she took a glance over to her husband, before looking back to Athena, taking a few steps towards the twins. “You know better.”

The longer Orion sat there, the larger his rage built. Hearing his parent’s speak, those tones of voices and curt responses that he had heard his entire life used to strike so much fear in him. They still did, obviously. But things had changed since then. Rio was not meant to be a Quinn any longer. Athena grabbed onto Orion’s hand, but he was too focused on his parents to register it. All of this was wrong. Coming here had been a mistake. All he wanted was for it all to be over. To be done with this family. But his mother exposing Rio’s life like this, keeping track of him, was proof that Rio had never really escaped at all. Even now, he was still under their thumb and watchful eye. Knowing this only made Rio angrier. “Stay away from me.��� Rio pulled his hand free from Athena’s and jumped down from the counter. “From us.” Rio reiterated, trying to acknowledge that the things that had happened to Rio had happened to Athena as well. “I’m not that same, terrified kid that I used to be. I’m not just going to cower down from either of you anymore.” He wished his voice sounded as confident as the words themselves did. But he still meant them. “Orion. Sweet, naive Orion. Why must you always insist on disobeying us?” His mother again, speaking from behind his father this time, “It’s this sort of behavior that forced us to take such drastic measures before. You remember your eighteenth birthday fairly well I’m sure?” It felt like an anchor had dropped in Rio’s stomach, clearly he was familiar with it. “Linda-” his dad began, but his mother cut him off quickly, “Don’t be dense, James. Orion is a smart boy. I doubt this is news to him. We tried for so long. Taught you everything we knew, prepared you for the world. And how did you repay us? By spitting on our traditions and treating your own family like garbage. You betrayed us, Orion. We tried again and again to change your mind, but eventually we had to accept you for what you were. A failure.”

Orion had known this for a while now. The revelation coming to him months back when they had forced their former teacher to attack Athena and Rio. Even then, the words were heavy on Rio and crushed him. His only family had tried to murder him, and now they had finally admitted it. “So you tried to use me as an example, right?” Rio asked them, not bothering risking a glance back towards Athena. She had never believed him before, but he had a good idea that she was finally starting to put the pieces together, “It was two birds with one stone. You get rid of me. And you use my death to fuel my sister.” Honestly, it had been a smart plan, almost full proof if they hadn’t underestimated Athena. The look on their faces told Rio everything he needed to know. His mother smiled, nodding in agreement as Rio spoke. His father was harder to read, but his refusal to speak or deny anything saying more than enough. “You’re both monsters.” Rio actually chuckled, so disgusted by the entire situation that the laughing just bubbled out accidentally. “We kill monsters, Orion. That’s what we’ve been trying to teach you.” His dad spoke up this time, but Rio waved him away. “That’s such a bullshit excuse to hide behind!” Rio raised his voice and took a step forward, “Being hunters. Protecting people from dangerous creatures. Killing threats. You know I’ve never agreed but I understand why it exists. This has nothing to do with that. You guys tortured us. You broke us down and tried to mold us like we were clay or something. You didn’t kill out of duty, you killed because you enjoyed it.” Rio balled his fist but eventually let it relax, opting instead to use his hand to point at his parents, “You tortured people downstairs. Took them apart because their insides fascinated you.” Rio stuck his finger towards his dad before swiveling to his mom, “And you. You hunted for fun. Forced innocent people to suffer. You didn’t kill threats, you killed children and mothers. You’re both-” before Rio could even process the movement, his mother had closed this distance between them and grabbed onto Rio’s wrist, twisting it with a sudden, painful snap. “Linda!” His father called out immediately and making a movement towards Rio, but he pushed away from the both of them, letting out a sudden gasp of pain grabbing at his arm to try to support his wrist. “Don’t you dare point that accusatory finger at me. We raised you to know better than that. You want to parade around with those monstrous freaks? Fine. Then we will treat you just like we do them.”

Her stomach hurt. Athena couldn’t focus on what was going on, not entirely. Her family had never behaved like this. It was times like this when she wished that twin telepathy was a thing. When the two of them had been little, the both of them had seemed to often understand one another without even speaking, but she had started to figure that perhaps that had to do with the fact that they had possibly been close then. Her brother jumped off the countertop and she found herself searching for his hand but it was too far away. A quick glance at the clock on the stove told her that it was just after midnight. Which meant that their birthday was over and which meant that she was about to lose her brother forever. She could hear her brother half-yelling and she pressed her hands against her temples, the noise practically overwhelming. Even though it shouldn’t have been. Even though it should have been fine, because she could handle anything. That was what her parents had always told her, anyhow. That she was born to be something better, something more than anyone normal. She had been gifted with special abilities. A divine gift, her parents had cooed to her numerous times throughout the years. A gift like that comes with an obligation, she could hear them saying, one that we know you will do brilliantly in. Her mother’s hands carefully running through her hair, wrapping Athena’s tiny hands before sending her to their home gym. Somehow, hearing their mother’s words calling her brother a failure made her fists clench, this time. She knew that she’d heard it before. Heard it in the same sentence that came with praise for her. Be more like your sister, Orion. She succeeds in everything she does, and what do you do?

Her brother’s words only served to make her body tense up more. An example? Athena shook her head. There was no way. Except when she squeezed her eyes shut she could still see the day of their eighteenth birthday crystal-clear. How excited she had been, going into the family gym. It was one of her favorite activities, and so it had only made sense that they would do something like that on their birthday, especially one as significant as their eighteenth. Except then there had been a werewolf and she remembered the grins on her parents’ faces, the brief feeling of confusion, the panic when the creature had gone after her brother. The blur until she found herself standing over her brother and the wolf, silver pipe in hand, the wolf dead on the ground. She remembered wanting to cry, to hug her brother, but refraining. As she looked over now, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so quiet. There was too much happening all at once for her to jump in and say anything, despite the fact that she usually considered herself good at doing just that. Her brother’s words were almost too much. Maybe being away from all of them had somehow made him more confident, no matter how much that pained her, no matter how much she hated the very idea that anyone else could have helped him more than she could. Molded us. No. That wasn’t right. “They wanted to -” but she didn’t finish her sentence because her mother was grabbing her brother’s wrist and she felt herself wince at the snap. “Mom!” She screamed, suddenly, drawing the attention of both her parents, the previous silence now broken. Nobody hurt her brother. Whatever they had done during training was different. “What did you do?!” She moved in front of her brother, her eyes narrowing. “He’s not a monster! Never has been. He’s,” dumb and a terrible hunter, “different but he’s not a monster.” She could practically feel her mother’s rage on her, “Now, dear Athena, do not speak to us that way.” Her father’s gaze was there now too, but she didn’t back down. “Stay away from him.” Before the sentence was finished Linda’s hand was against Athena’s jaw, grabbing it tightly. “Don’t tell us you believe anything your brother says.” Athena gave a half-hearted shrug and Linda’s grip only tightened. “My dear, perhaps we should just leave them be,” she could hear her father’s voice, followed by a curt “No.” from her mother. “Naughty children are meant to be taught a lesson.” She turned back to Athena. “I suppose there is a first time for everything. We shouldn’t have let you dream of leaving town for medical school. This must’ve all gone to your head. Your brother’s ideals and ideas too, it would seem. We thought you were better, even when we’d accepted his failure.” Athena focused her gaze right on her mother. “I am meant to always protect others. That includes my brother.” With that, Linda shoved her to the ground, her hip catching the kitchen counter as she fell. “I do not wish to teach you a lesson, my darling daughter, but you understand, don’t you?”

Orion’s mind was overcome by the rush of pain in his wrist. He had tripped while stumbling backwards away from his mom, and only kept himself upright because the countertop had been there to stop him from falling. Athena had stepped between him and his mother, but Rio couldn’t hear what they were saying, the pain was too distracting. What was Athena doing there? Stopping his parents from getting any closer to him? Asking if she gets the next hit? Rio knew that wasn’t true, even if he wanted to think it was. Was his mom planning to finish the job she had started on his eighteenth birthday? He hadn’t figured out their game yet. If they had tried to kill him two years ago, why hadn’t they just tried again? Rio hadn’t been especially resilient. It wouldn’t have taken much to finish the job. Athena was good, but there was no way she could ruin their plans forever. So what had made them stop? Not that Rio was especially more resilient now, but he had definitely made a few leaps forward in terms of self defense. Rio couldn’t focus again until he heard Athena smack against the edge of the counter. The smell of blood hit his senses in an instant, and Rio finally snapped back to reality. His mom, standing over Athena’s body staring down at her with an exaggerated look of disdain on her face. His parents were used to Rio being a failure, but Athena too? This must have been their worst nightmare come to life. “What’s your big plan here?” Rio questioned, “You plan on taking out both of your legacies right here? That doesn’t make any sense.” Rio was talking, but mostly to himself. As he spoke the gears were turning in his head. “You have no right to speak on this matter. I am keeping this family under control. Like I always have.” Though his mom spoke to him, her eyes were still on Athena. She kept her voice controlled, but the truth was so obvious that Rio actually managed to laugh. “Holy crap. You’re completely losing it. You call this control? You have no play anymore. Your secret’s out. No matter what you do here, you’ve lost the trust of the only kid you were proud of. Your legacy has completely crumbled.” Rio shouldn’t be as happy as he was about this news. He knew what the unravelling meant. If Rio didn’t get out of here, his mom might actually kill him. But could he just leave Athena behind? Before, Rio never would have imagined Athena’s life would be in danger, but his parents had been backed into a metaphorical corner. Metaphorical because it was very clearly which side was backed into a corner right now.

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me.” His mother spat. She reached over, her hand easily finding the knife rack despite never averting her eyes from Athena. She slipped it free, the whistling sound of the metal was a shrill and powerful noise against Rio’s senses. Rio’s entire body tensed. Was this it? He glanced around, looking for anything that he could use to protect himself. He wasn’t willing to just accept his fate anymore. Not like with that werewolf. He was different now. If he could deflect the knife, he may buy enough time to get over to the knife rack himself. His mom was more skilled, far better with a weapon than Rio could ever be, but Rio had the element of surprise. His entire family looked down on him, belittled him and treated him like he was some defenseless, useless rat. He wasn’t going to deny that he wasn’t as strong or as skilled or as violent as the rest of them, but people underestimated him. That was powerful. Although Rio wasn’t the target apparently. Linda was leaning down, knife pointed towards Athena as she bent over her body. “Hey!” Rio’s body kicked into action, stepped forward, kicking out at Linda. She was too quick, obviously, and grabbed his leg mid swing, her free arm raising the knife to either stab down at Athena or into Rio’s leg. Without option, Rio went for the only opening he thought might take his mom for surprise. He leaned forward, pulling the closest thing he could find off of the counter, the overly priced and needlessly heavy wooden cutting board and swinging it across, smacking it against his mother’s head and knocking her off of Athena. The room froze for a long moment, everyone seemingly processing what had just happened. But when his mom made a motion to get up, Rio acted again, pulling the cutting board upward so it connected with her jaw and knocked her backwards again. The knife fell from her grasp and clattered against the floor. He could still hear his mom breathing, but she wasn’t trying to get up again. Finally, the room was quiet. But it didn’t last long. That silence was soon broken by a screaming, the angry cries of his father. Rio had only just glanced towards him when the man collided into him, the cutting board slipping from his fingers. His dad shoved him against the counter, his hand closing around Rio’s throat and squeezing tighter and tighter. “What the hell have you done, Orion? I tried. I tried to give you a second chance and this is how you repay me?” The man was furious, more emotion present in his voice than Rio had ever heard from him. But Rio could only respond through choked attempts at breaths. The more Rio struggled, the stronger his father’s grip became. Until a loud buzzing noise filled Rio’s ears and the edges of his vision blurred. He could hear his father now, but the words seemed jumbled and the volume came in and out. “I tried…. Should have killed…. Useless….”

She could feel the cut against her hip before she could feel her shirt growing wet. She ignored it. Work through the pain. Was her mother going to hurt her? Athena wasn’t sure, she couldn’t even focus on the idea of that. Her parents had always adored her. She had never heard anything but praise from them, for as long as she could remember. She was the goal, the golden child. She still was, she told herself. None of this meant anything. She was still good, she was still ideal. She had to be, didn’t she? Athena had had nightmares about a scenario comparable to this throughout her life. Nightmares she pushed aside, because they never could have meant anything. Her head hurt and she couldn’t focus on anything. She could see her mother standing over her. She could hear her brother’s words, even if some of them came in muffled. Take out your legacies, she could hear her brother saying. Part of Athena couldn’t believe everything that she was hearing, her palm pressed against her hip. She’d never heard her brother speak up so much, never heard him take quite so much of a stand as he was now. She wanted to agree with her mother, to say that everything was okay, that she was supposed to keep everything in control, but the words wouldn’t form. “Mom, it’s…” she began, but her mother was too focused on her brother. I’m supposed to help him. She thought to herself, except that although her mother was speaking to her brother, her gaze was still focused directly on Athena. She wondered if her Rio was just going to leave. He had said that he wanted no part of this family, and this would be an easy escape. Except that he was doing the exact opposite, not leaving, his voice only growing more heated. Though she didn’t have nearly the same hearing skills as her brother did, even Athena could hear the sound of the knife coming out of the knife block and she felt her throat go dry again. Unable to move from where she was lying, even though she knew a dozen ways to get a knife out of someone’s hand. More than a dozen, probably.

But she didn’t need to use any of those because all of a sudden there was a horrific sound and she saw her mother fall over. A good daughter would be rushing over to her, to attend to any injuries her mother might have had. Athena wasn’t sure that she was a good daughter right now. Wasn't sure if her parents would have considered her one ever since she befriended Ariana, ever since she had seen her as Ariana, and not a monster. She found that she couldn’t bring herself to regret that at all, that Ariana’s presence in her life was one of the best things to come out of this year so far. Her mother was on the floor and her brother was holding a wooden cutting board and the knife that had been in her mother’s hand seconds ago had skidded across the floor, about a foot away from Athena. She didn’t register at first that her father had her brother pushed against the marble countertop. Her mother was breathing still, so she was okay. When her gaze shifted and she spotted her brother, she felt herself spring up, everything suddenly registering more than ever before. Her father with his hand over her brother’s throat. Athena grabbed the knife from the floor. She didn’t have to think twice. If her brother was in trouble, she was supposed to help him. Even if he didn’t want her help, she’d gotten him out of trouble countless times over the years. “Get off of him,” she found herself saying as she approached her father and her brother. “You’re going to kill him.” She watched her father turn to face her, a cold smile present on his face. “Defiance must be punished, Athena. You know that as well as I do. Regardless of who it is from. You can separate your emotions from what is going on. It is why you would have made a good surgeon.” She didn’t even pay attention to the past tense, didn’t focus on whatever that might imply for her because her brother could hardly breathe right now. “I said get off.” She glared up at her father, her hip still throbbing. Twirled the knife between her fingertips before she stabbed him just below his neck. His hand loosened from around her brother’s throat and she stabbed him again, as his blood began to soak through his pajama shirt and he pressed both of his hands against his injuries, sinking down onto the ground. Athena held onto the knife tight, eyes wide and facing her brother. “He - I - he was going to hurt you. I couldn’t let that happen.” She felt her chest grow tight. “He’s - I -” she didn’t look over to where her father was. She could hear his breathing. She had his blood on her hands, literally. “Ri. I - he was going to kill you.”

Orion’s vision had almost completely blacked out now. He had been knocked out before. Both from a hard blow and from being choked out. Both at the hands of his family. This wasn’t like that. His father’s positioning was different. His grip was not cutting off his air, but threatening to crush it entirely. His father was choking the life out of him. Or, he was until suddenly that pressure let up and Rio could breathe again. He celebrated by wheezing, taking heavy breaths to try to force air back into his lungs. It took a moment before his vision began returning to normal. He was doubled over, his broken left wrist dangling against his stomach as he gasped for air. Once he could finally focus, he finally realized why his father had let go of him. “Holy-” Rio gasped, taking in the view of his father lying on the floor, pool of blood soaking the kitchen tiles. Just beside him, Athena was standing. She looked more terrified than Rio had ever seen her. She clutched onto the knife like it was a lifeline, the blood dripping from it onto the floor. “You… stabbed him.” Rio stated, his voice sounding distant even to himself. This was all too much to process. Rio didn’t know how this had all happened. His mother unconscious, his father bleeding out on the floor and his sister… his sister looked like she was moments away from completely losing it. “Athena…” Rio began, speaking as quietly as his voice would allow, “They’re going to kill us.” She knew it too. He knew she did. Even if she didn’t want to believe it. “He’s alive. And she will wake up. And they’re going to kill us. We have to do something.” They needed to call 911 and leave. Or leave and call the police on their way. Or… Rio knew the last option. But he couldn’t suggest it. Still, it hung in the air between them. The only real choice that they had. The only means of truly avoiding their wrath.

“What?” Her brother’s voice broke into her thoughts. “I - he was going to kill you.” Athena shook her head. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t look over at either of her parents. Her head was spinning, which couldn’t be due to her injury. She’d need to bandage it, but it wasn’t dire enough to cause her dizziness. “I had to.” Eyes still wide, she finally looked over to where their father was before she snapped her gaze back over to her brother. “They…” her voice trailed off, weak and quiet. She didn’t have a hundred excuses at the tip of her tongue. “They - I - we’re - no.” She said, settling on the simplest sentence that she could. “I - yes. I..” she squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could, as if willing this all to go away, despite knowing it wouldn’t. Her parents, always tending to her injuries before her brothers. Praising her for everything she ever did, even if half the praise came in the form of putting her brother down. “We do. We -” Her heartbeat was racing. She knew that her brother would hear it, but she couldn’t get it to stop. “I - no.” She backed away from where their father was, toward her brother. “I did that.” She looked at her father, who she could hear murmuring. Sounds of pain. She was supposed to help him. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her brother. She was supposed to help him. Athena pressed her free palm against her face, working to ease her breathing. “Ri.” She let her hand drop. Looked over at him. “They’re going to kill us.”

They both knew it. They had gone too far and now there was no going back. Their parents wouldn’t forgive this. They would recover and they would be furious and they would take that anger out on the two of them. Slowly. Painfully. Without remorse. The thought was enough to make Rio sick, his body shook from the fear. But for all that fear, there was just as much rage building inside of him. No. This wasn’t okay. They had been brainwashed since birth, forced into a lifestyle neither of them had asked for and beaten if they disobeyed. They had been played like puppets their entire lives. Rio was done. He wasn’t just going to sit around helplessly waiting for his parents to cut the strings. “It’s okay.” Rio finally said, turning towards Athena. He walked towards her slowly and carefully, careful not to make any sudden movements. He wasn’t sure that she could handle it right now. “You know what we have to do.” But she couldn’t do it, Rio knew that much. Of all the heinous things that Athena had done because of her parents, this was the one that she could not cross. The one thing that Rio had the upper hand in. Now by her side, Rio reached out, finding her fist, curled up and gripping the bloodied knife tightly. He grabbed her hand first, trying to do so as gently as possible with his broken left wrist. The pain was still there but it felt dull now, washed away by the adrenaline rushing through him. With his other hand, he grabbed onto the knife. “But it’s okay. You don’t have to do anything. I have your back this time.” Rio had no idea how he was staying so calm. Not when his blood boiled beneath him with anger. Anger that they were in this situation in the first place, that his parents had ever treated them the way they had and expected to get away with it. Worse even, they expected gratitude. Rio slowly slowly slipped the knife from Athena’s grasp and once it was free, he turned back towards his father who was still on the floor, clutching at his wounds.

This was the moment of truth. Orion had the choice to leave right now. He could go home to Winston, call the police and face whatever consequences came after that. Rio didn’t have to sacrifice his morals for these monsters. But he wanted to. Because for once, Rio could finally see the big picture. Just like Alain had said. He thought outside of the single life taken and towards those that could be saved. There was no question here. No other side. His parents were not evil because they were hunters, they were evil because they had abused and manipulated their only children for twenty years. They were evil because they killed for fun and tortured out of curiosity. They had brought nothing to this town except pain and sadness. That was the big picture. Rio knelt next to his father, the man making eye contact with him but unable to do much else. “Can you understand me?” Rio asked him, an eerie calmness settled within his voice. His father didn’t speak, could only nod. “Good.” Rio answered, “All my life, you asked me to be something I’m not. You wanted me to be cruel and ruthless. You tried to hide your intentions behind lies about divine duties and rights. Behind the guise of protecting people. But you wanted to turn me into a cold blooded killer.” Rio’s grip on the knife was so tight he felt like he may have crushed the metal handle as he raised it above his dad’s body. “I hope you’re proud, dad. You finally got him.” With that, he couldn’t wait anymore. Or else he would find a way to talk himself out of it. He brought the knife down, easily cutting down into his father’s chest with a sickening squishing side. And then Rio pulled the knife free and did it again.

She concentrated on her brother. Just as she had all those years ago when he had been the only one who could get her back to sleep. On his hair, how he somehow smelled the same as he had since they were children, his hands. His hands that were on hers now. Athena found her breath settle for a moment when his hands held hers. It was okay. Her head was still spinning but she let Rio take the knife from her. Athena nodded to his words. They made sense, somehow. Even if she didn’t want them to. Even if them making sense meant that so much of what her parents had done was not out of the goodness of their hearts. She’d seen - no, experienced firsthand their anger after her brother had left home. If they woke up now - she didn’t want to think about it. Couldn’t think about it. “You have had it before, too.” She whispered. “I owe you for all those nights when we were kids.” Her parents had been in a few of those nightmares, back then. Not all, not a majority, but they had shown up. She’d worked to forget it whenever it happened, instead bounding into their arms in the morning, giving them hugs. Doing even better at training the next day. She didn’t fight against her brother at all, instead letting him ease the knife out of her hands, and watching him was a blur.

She saw him move over to where their father was lying on the floor. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, though it wasn’t a sort of morbid fascination like some other events had been. Other times with their father, watching from a seat in the Operating Theatre. Athena kept her eyes trained on their father. She found that she had no desire to go and help him, even when her brother dug the knife into her father’s chest. Her father had wanted her to be just like him, and she’d eagerly gone along. She’d listened to everything her parents told her without question - even outside of what had been about hunting. She’d let them tell her how to do everything and she’d worshipped them. That was what good daughters did. Athena watched the knife go in again until she caught movement from the side of her eye. Shit. Their mother was moving, their mother was sitting up and rubbing her jaw, and as Athena let her gaze fall over to where Linda Quinn was sitting. Rio didn’t see her yet, and Athena heard her mother gasp, before standing up and beginning to quickly move toward her brother. You know what we have to do. They’re going to kill us. Her head was still spinning but she still had an up when it came to reflexes, and before she could think, Athena was up and had grabbed the crushed and bloodied knife out of Rio’s hands and turned to face their mother, one quick sweep as it cut into Linda’s carotid artery. Critical, and one that wouldn’t let her live much longer. “That’s for everything you’ve done to me and my brother.” She could feel her breath even out now. Their mother collapsed onto the ground and Athena knelt next to her. “You stole my life from me. You tried to kill the only person I have ever truly loved and cared for. You made me hurt him, too.” She flipped the knife between her fingers. “That’s - you didn’t love us, did you?” She could feel tears threatening to fall again. “You told me I’m supposed to help make the world a safer place. It is my divine right to do so, isn’t it? I have two divine names.” She flipped the knife one last time, digging it into her mother’s chest. From what she knew, from what she’d studied, her mother didn’t have much time now. “I’m just doing what you raised me to do.” With that, Athena twisted the knife before pulling it out. Took in a heavy breath before she turned to her brother and burst into tears.

His father was dead. Orion stared at his dad’s body for a long time. Too much time probably, but Rio was in no mental state to be keeping track of the time. He was still knelt over his dad’s dead body. With the knife that had caused it in his hands. It was all so quick. A sudden end that had built up over twenty one years of life just over in an instant. What did this leave Rio with? Was this the closure he had always longed for? The redemption that Rio was never sure he deserved? He didn’t regret his father’s death, knew that only good could come now that he was gone. But Rio had taken that life. Made the decision that he had spent his entire life arguing that he had no choice to make. This had to be different though. Rio had thought through every scenario, got the bird’s eye view. Just like Alain had said, the big picture. In this case, the end had to justify the means. Rio had been so swept up in the moment that he had momentarily allowed himself to forget that his mother was simply unconscious. Rio glanced up at his mother, rushing towards him and knowing that there was no way he could get away in time. But he didn’t have to. The knife was taken from him and suddenly there was more blood. The artery spurt blood across the kitchen, the sight usually enough to make Rio physically sick or even pass out. Tonight, Rio felt nothing. His eyes widened at the sight, but his heart didn’t ache. It couldn’t even flutter. Not for that monster. Athena’s words echoed through Rio’s brain as she cursed at her mother for what she had done to her. To him. To them. But never again. Neither one of their parents would ever get to hurt them again. Their mother collapsed onto the floor and through Athena’s tears, Rio’s hearing picked up, catching onto his mom’s last gasping breaths. The crinkling of her shirt as her breathing rose and fell against it. The blood dripping from the ends of her clothes onto the kitchen tiles. And finally the faint noise of her heart beating, gradually slowing down until finally there was nothing left. His hearing gave out after that. Between the two, there was nothing but the quiet and the sound of Athena’s sobs. Athena and Rio were alone now. Their parents were dead.

[mythologyfolklore]

Ares and Athena through the years - Ch.19

Chapter Nineteen: Homecoming party

.

Ares never would have dreamed, that his family would be so happy to see him, that they would throw such a huge party to celebrate his homecoming.

And never would he have dreamed, that he would be so happy to be here with all of his stuck-up relatives, that he would be glad to have them and their oh-so-civilised lifestyle again.

But here he was, among his loved ones after mortal centuries of being so far away.

He was in the arms of his little sisters and brother, surrounded by the sound of his half-siblings' laughter, their music and singing, the sweet and etheric scents of home, the sight of his smiling parents, the beauty of home.

And Aphrodite, his beloved Aphrodite, his life, heart and soul, tamer of his wrath, soother of his inner demons, mother of his dear divine children, and he was holding her in his arms, kissing her, smelling her tantalising scent, looking into her pink eyes, feeling her joyful tears seep through his chiton and thought that, right there and right now, he was the happiest god in the world and oh, how he loved her so!

Of course he had missed them all, but he hadn't known just how much, until now.

The happiness was so overwhelming that he almost started bawling in front of everyone. But his pride kept him from doing so, he had a reputation to uphold after all.

Instead he announced, that he had something to say.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over to listen.

“I'll make it short”, he spoke. “When I left here, I was really eager to leave and glad to get away from y'all, because in the years before you'd been even more dickish than usual.”

There were a few agitated murmurs here and there and Hera glared at him. Ah, his mother dearest hadn't changed at all).

Ares ignored it and continued: “But you're my family and at the end of the day I love you all more than I hate you sometimes. Bein' away for a few months to cool off is one thing, but after spendin' several centuries away from Olympos, it's really a whole different experience to come home again. It was fun to travel the world, but still, it's good to be back. Guess there really is no place like home. Bottom line is, I missed you all. I'll soon be back to my usual business again, but for now I just wanna be happy to be home and that you're receivin' me so well. Never thought I'd see the day when you're all happy to see me – yeah, even you, Daddy's Owl! Don't think I didn't notice!”, he added playfully and everyone laughed.

Athena huffed and looked away.

Ares laughed, but decided not to tease her further for now.

“That's it!”, he closed his speech and threw his arms up. “Time to let the party commence!”

These words were met with cheers.

.

It really was the party of millennia, just like Dionysos had promised.

Everyone had fun, there was laughter, the food and drinks were even better than Ares remembered, he was the centre of attention in a positive way and he savoured it all, because today he could pretend that he wasn't one of the most unpopular deities in the pantheon.

Just for this night, they seemed like a normal rich family.

He was laughing, smiling and dancing with Aphrodite, Artemis and his mother, joking with Dionysos and Hermes and playfully bickering with Apollon and Hephaistos.

However, after he had danced with Aphrodite for the third time, he noticed that one goddess was sitting in a corner, moping and looking down.

“'Scuse me, love”, he told the love goddess and danced his way through the crowd to where Athena was sitting.

.

Athena groaned in frustration, when Ares came over and sat next to her.

“Oi, Daddy's Owl! What's with that's face? C'mon, I know you're not into this, but this is still a party! And you're sulkin' in a corner?”

She glared at him. “Well, maybe I want to sulk! Leave me be and go dance with Aphrodite or Artemis!”

“Aphrodite is dancin' with Dionysos”, Ares replied and pointed to where the goddess of love was dancing with the god of drag queens so wildly, that the other dancers kept a save distance.

“And Artemis with Hermes.” There was the huntress merrily dancing with the messenger.

“And I'm not gonna dance with my little brother, that's gay.”

“Hephaistos is paraplegic”, Athena pointed out.

Ares grinned: “So? That's never stopped Aglaia. Oh look, Dite's dancin' with him now!”

Indeed she was, pushing his wheelchair along to the rhythm, while Hephaistos was laughing and holding on to the arm rests.

“As you see, Daddy's Owl-”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Nah. As you see, everyone's hitched, so you're not gonna get rid of me for now.”

She groaned: “Oh for the love of Khaos, Ares! What part of 'leave me be' do you not understand?!”

Ares only rolled his eyes. “Come on, don't be like that! I just saw you being all depressed and stuff and I want to know what the matter is. Just tell me and I'll leave you alone! Now spill it, because hanging out with you isn't any less dull than it was forty Olympian years ago!”

“I see, you're still a tactless prick.”

“Owl, I haven't changed for many thousand years, so why would I now?”

Athena sighed: “Well, as humans say, hope dies last.”

“Cute. Still not going away.”

“If I tell you, will you really leave me alone?”

“Cross my heart.”

The war goddess rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine. I'm angry at myself. That incident with the Roman gods … I can't believe this happened! How could I have made a diplomatic blunder like that! Our pantheon got into trouble, because of my careless assumption that the Romans are like us and think the same way we do. I didn't even bother to fact check that assumption and with that I endangered us all. This is unforgivable. And the one to resolve the issue was you! You, of all the people! How? How did you, the god of terrible war and bloodshed, ace this situation and appease those foreigners, while I, the goddess of wisdom and good counsel made this fatal mistake?! How?!”

Ares smiled lopsidedly. “Well, what can I say? I can be really diplomatic if I wanna be. Remember what I told y'all forty Olympian years ago, during the Sack of Troy? Since I'm Dad's only legitimate son, that makes me the crown prince. And as such, I bear high responsibilities. I've been doin' his correspondence, ever since I grew to age. Dad would take me to international meetings to meet gods from other places, so I'd get to know them, learn how they roll – ya know, the works. I had to grow into it too, but I've had ten thousands of years to figure it all out. I just have that much practise. How long have you been doin' my paper work?”

Athena scratched the back of her neck. “Since shortly after you left. I offered father to help him with the paper work in exchange for a favour and he was all too happy to oblige.”

Ares chuckled: “Yeah, reckon he was. Bet he has forgotten just how much of his paper stuff I actually do, when I'm not bein' the black sheep of the family an' makin' mortals killin' each other for sports. Did he think you could handle it without so much as a briefing? I mean, don't get me wrong-”

“We both thought so”, Athena admitted quietly.

The older god shook his head. “Yeah, suspected as much. Sorry, Owl, but ya overestimated yerself there. Complaints an' revenge prayers of mortals an' minor gods to Zeus are easy to get rid of. International affairs are a whole different matter. As I told the Roman gods earlier, you're so introverted, ya don't talk to foreigners enough. If ya don't get out and meet people, you'll remain completely clueless about the rest of the world. These people don't think like we do. Trust me, no one knows that better than I. Happens more than often, that I make mistakes when I interact with foreigners people for the first time. I mean, you've read my letters from abroad. Cultural misunderstandings, losses in translation and what not.”

She didn't answer.

She was too busy grappling with the humiliation of getting a lecture on diplomacy from Ares of all gods.

The war god pat her shoulder in sympathy. “Hey now. Don't beat yourself up over it. Shit happens. Besides, how could you predict that the Romans would be offended over such a stupid little thing? It's as I told them, there was no way you could've known. Just give those duties back to me, now that I'm back. And maybe spend your free time hanging out with others more. Make some new friends, especially abroad. You always liked to learn new stuff, didn't ya? Trust me, it'll do ya a world of good. An' you know what? Let's forget, that I just gave you a talk on communication with outsiders too. We'll never speak of it again. Promise.”

Athena gave him a suspicious look. But his expression was genuine and so she nodded.

“Yes, for that I would be quite thankful indeed.”

Ares laughed: “Awesome! Hey, how about a dance?”

She stared at him. “I don't dance, Ares. Also, you promised you would leave me alone, after talking to you about my problem.”

The war god shrugged. “Guess I did. Still a shame though. Dancing is one of those things you gotta try out at least once. Oh well, suit yourself.”

Within a moment's notice he was back on the dance floor and dancing with his sister Hebe.

Athena stayed in her corner, albeit with her mood significantly improved.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Wisdom, Warfare, and Useful Crafts (Son of Athena! Ironkid Headcanon)

Requested by anonymous for “ I just thought of a cool concept (idk if it’s any good actually). What about the reader being the son of Tony Stark as well as Athena? Like imagine the reader having the combined intelligence of Tony and the goddess of wisdom (as well war)”

Tony met her at a Stark Expo. He normally can’t stand the people who he meets at these things. Business execs looking to ambush him into deals. Screaming fans trying to touch his goatee.

But she was none of these things. She was staring at him during his presentation, but in a way that made him feel like she was judging his very thoughts. He found her afterwards, staring at a prototype Iron Man suit with her storm-grey eyes.

“Impressed?” he asked with a smirk, holding out his hand when she turned. “Tony Stark.”

She looks at him disdainfully. “Not particularly. I’ve been around the block a few times. I’ve seen a lot more done with a lot less.”

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Athena. Athena Pallas.”

“Palace?”

“Pallas.”

“What is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She smirks, and Tony feels electricity surging through his soul. “It’s Greek, in fact.”

Somehow he wheedles a date out of the strange woman. It’s a match made in heaven. 

She’s wicked smart, and immediately understands any concept thrown at her.

Tony normally is a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, but it’s different with Athena. There’s desire, but a desire to be around her. It’s a meeting of the minds.

And eventually she vanishes without a trace. Tony has Pepper try and track her down, but it’s as if she never existed, like Athena was only ever the goddess of wisdom from Greek myths.

But then she appears once more. And Tony knows something’s weird because she’s dressed in full armor and riding in a chariot pulled by giant owls and carrying a bundle in her arms.

And after she explains herself, she gives the bundle to Tony, and he finds himself enthralled with the little baby inside. You.

“Our son,” she says. “He will be a great man, but it will be up to you to teach him to be a good one. Teach him well, Tony.”

Tony’s still not sure how he explained it to Pepper.

He was so unprepared for you, but later he’ll come to wonder if anyone could really be prepared for a kid like you.

When he was little, they labeled him a genius and wunderkind by the time he was out of diapers. You... there was an intelligence in your gaze that had no business being in a newborn’s eyes.

By the time you can talk, it seems like you’ve had a million ideas, and get frustrated at your inability to communicate them.

Tony indulges you - he doesn’t care what the parenting sites he’s researched say about giving you a normal childhood - your mom’s a freaking goddess, after all. Normal, he doesn’t care. You happy is what he wants.

So if you want to wander into the workshop and give him mechanical pointers and draw up technical blueprints on his white boards, go ahead.

You wanna alter the architectural plans for Stark Technologies facilities so that they’re more environmentally-friendly? Have at it, kid!

You wanna ask him to develop an e-textile for you so you can personally weave a bulletproof vest that can redistribute kinetic energy and send bullets back at their source? He won’t sleep until he’s found the best possible material for his little genius.

He’s also set a small robot to exterminate any bugs that attempt to enter your home - because you’re deathly afraid of spiders and in the absence of spiders, other bugs try to enter. (Yes, it will be difficult when you meet Spider-Man)

Maybe you don’t feel like using that big brain of yours today? All you need to do is ask, and he’ll take the day off to spend it with you. Often, this will lead to you both spending all night in the lab and inventing until Pepper makes Tony make you go to bed.

You don’t go to school, because not only are you in danger of monsters because you are a powerful demigod, but because you are in danger from mortals because you are Tony Stark’s son. And also because you’re so smart, the only possible teacher for you is JARVIS, who handles your education, tailoring it to your specific needs.

Tony’s loathe to let you go to Camp Half-Blood, but allows it on the condition that during the rest of the year, he gets you. He misses you terribly when you’re gone, but knows he can’t always keep you all to himself.

You, of course, help him with the Avengers

It’s a bit disconcerting for him how you excel in battle tactics and strategy at such a young age. But you become the best tactician, even better than Steve and Natasha.

“You been teaching the kid military strategy, Stark?”

“No. I think he gets it from his mother.”

“Who’s his mother?” Steve asks.

“Greek goddess of wisdom.” Tony says, blandly.

Steve honestly isn’t surprised. He has a threshold of weirdness, and it’s permanently at 100%

Thor immediately senses that you are not completely mortal and makes it his duty to protect you from particularly vicious monsters. Occasionally you’ll see a column of rainbow light in the distance as Thor descends to destroy a monster that might head in your direction. Heimdall has been instructed to turn an eye in your direction occasionally to make sure you’re safe.

Banner gets used to the three of you being in the lab together. And teaching him how to weave has significantly improved his ability to stay calm. Tony’s terrible at it, which also gives Banner the opportunity to tease him.

And yes, Nick Fury does consider recruiting the Greek gods into the Avengers.

During the Battle of New York, you called in Camp Half-Blood to help defend Olympus, and they arrived. While Cap directed the Avengers, you directed the campers, Party Ponies, assorted Amazons, and unfortunate vacationing Roman demigods, who swarmed the Chitauri army with the mundane metal weapon edges you designed, which attached to their Celestial bronze swords, spears and arrows, allowing them to damage the alien force.

And then they all disappeared after the battle, making sure the media didn’t notice a group of kids, women warriors, and horse-people with weapons trudging around New York. And you refused to tell Fury where they came from, earning a high-five from your dad.

And finally, you design your own suit, which takes inspiration from Ancient Greek armor while incorporating the full body design your father uses.

Imagine an Iron man suit with one of those plumes Greek armor has, then imagine it even awesomer

It’s only a pet project you and your dad have plans to someday make. But one day you two walk into the lab and it’s waiting there, perfect, to your exact specifications, with one difference. This one comes equipped with a spear made from Celestial bronze-and-vibranium alloy painted red and gold to match your and your father’s suits. There’s a note taped to it, neat and precise. It’s on stationery, with an owl-symbol letterhead. Written in crisp grey script are seven little words.

I am proud of you, my son.

[lexrius]

The Wolf

AN: This is the first fic in the Dragon’s Mate series. Series needs a new name though as I re-do the fic.

------

I sat in my office as I began writing my report for our last investigation. I played with my quill as I finished the report with a sigh. I looked back to the letters that were delivered to me days prior from me getting back to the office. One from my mom telling me about her and dad’s latest adventures; Chiara with her updates about her life and Talbott finally proposing and even one from Ben who has been very quiet these last few years. I looked at the photo from our sixth year. Everyone was happy, playing in the snow, and even some stolen kisses underneath the mistletoe. The memories flooded back to me like a stab in the heart. Penny and Bea’s falling out. Mine and Barnaby’s break up. Finding R and my brother. Rowan….. I sighed and thought back to my happier memories.

Charlie and I’s first date. Rowan and I getting excited for Quidditch. Winning the Quidditch Cup. I sighed as I look at those letters and looked back five years ago when we entered our last year at Hogwarts. The smiles and tears we all had. The heartfelt goodbyes. Everyone going their own ways. I had chosen to become an auror; getting a job in America. Separated from my home, my friends, and my love. I looked at the pile of letters and smiled at the most recent one. My Barn Owl, Athena, preened her feathers as she settled on my desk. My eyes scanned the letter with a light smile.

My dearest Viper,

I know that was pretty sappy, but you know I’m not very good at writing love letters. How have you been? It’s been a couple of months since any of us had heard from you. Here at the sanctuary we received a new little one! He’s a beautiful ridge-back we named Gary. We’re thinking of pairing him with Norberta. Anyway back to the point of this letter; Dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup! Ron and Ginny invited Harry and Hermione and I was wondering if you would like to join us?

Answer soon.

Love, Charlie

A slam next to me jolted me from my thoughts. I looked over to see my partner slouch down into her chair,”Girl you and I need a vacation! Ramsey has been working our tails off since late December.” Her golden brown eyes focused towards me. She gave me a hearty smile and pointed to the doors,”Let’s clock out early and head to the bar! Drinks on me tonight.” I laughed and nodded,”Alright let me grab my jacket.” I grabbed my letters and jacket and we clocked out. We said goodbye to the receptionist and out into the streets of New York. We made our way to the Thundering Brew; Queen’s Under Pressure playing through the speakers. Drew the goblin was cleaning glasses when he saw us walk in,”Well there’s my two favorite customers!” His Boston accent was thick as he greeted us,”Quetta Woods; you are looking as beautiful as ever.” He flirted. Quetta rolled her eyes and sat at the bar. He then looked at me,”And the Wolf is here as well. Tell me love; what can I get you today?”

“Pear Dazzle.” He then looked over to Quetta,”Fire Whiskey as usual.” He nodded and started making the drinks. Quetta leaned against the bar and looked at me,”Soooo how’s dragon boy doing?” I laughed at her nickname for Charlie,”He’s doing good…..” I stayed silent thinking about his letter. Quetta knew something was up and crossed her arms,”Alright. What did he do?”

“What? Nothing….It’s just…He invited me to go to the Quidditch World Cup with him and his family. I haven’t seen him in years-what if he doesn’t like me anymore or-” Quetta slapped me upside the head. She gave me her ‘Are you serious right now?’ look. I sunk back in my chair and pouted,”You really think he would think that? Girl; he kept a long distance relationship with you! Anyone who has eyes can see that that man loves you.” I smiled and grabbed my drink that Drew had placed in front of me. Quetta raised her glass to me,”A toast to young love and the best damn team in America!” I raised my glass in cheers and slammed down the drink.

After a few drinks I went home to rest for the night.

I sighed as the heat slipped into my living room. I had been stationed in Arizona upon my request to study the Thunderbirds on my downtime. I looked at Galeo who was setting up his nest with the new gold artifacts that Jacob found. I looked outside and watched the cars drive along the road.

I pop behind my door caught my attention. I pulled my wand out and was preparing to fight. A knock came to my door. I looked through the peep hole and saw that it was my boss,”Detective Rogers? It’s midnight; what are you doing here?!” I asked him after opening up the door. He took his fedora off and placed it on my coffee table,”I just heard Intel from the Ministry of Magic’s auror office. Winchester heard rumors going around that the Death Eaters are rallying up for something big.” He placed a case folder down which I looked over real fast,”We think there might be an appearance at the Quidditch World Cup. I’m sending you to get some Intel there since you requested a vacation for it.” He smiled at me. I rolled my eyes and scoffed,”My how generous of you to send me on vacation and make me work at the same time.” I said sarcastically. He pulled one more case file out,”There’s another reason we’re sending you there. A person of interest so to speak.”

I looked at the case file and saw the red haired woman who I had been tracking for years now. Rakepick’s picture looked at me and smirked. Fire boiled in the pits of my stomach as I read the case file. Rogers  handed me the full case file,”Are you in?” I looked at him with a smile,”Is that really a question?”

——

I nearly puked as the Portkey stopped. I regained my composure and made my way to the Leaky Cauldron. I signed in to a room and collapsed on the bed. I couldn’t sleep with the worry that my friends were in danger again. I tossed and turned in my sleep dreaming about everyone who has died. Dragging me down into the pits of Hell. There I see her face. Rakepick sitting in her chair twirling her wand in anticipation. She looked over to me with a snarky look,”Well look who the cat dragged in. Viper Akela; my old apprentice.” My breathe hitched as she turned her chair. At the bottom laid Rowan. I raised my wand but couldn’t say the words. She did the same and succeeded. I woke with a start from the nightmare.

I stared at the clock in the room.

4:30

I stretched and packed my bags to go to the Area where the Quidditch World cup was taking place. I apparated with no issue and showed the ticket man my ticket and tipped the man nicely. I stopped and turned towards him,”Excuse me sure. I’m supposed to meet with the Weasley’s; where exactly will I find them?” The no-mag looked at me confused before returning to his list. He pointed in the direction and told me what area they would be in. I thanked him and made my way to the tent grounds. I settled my tent on the ground and started setting it up. I sighed and relaxed inside the tent while looking over my case files. My thoughts interrupted when a few outside voices got closer.

“Did the others beat us here dad?” I heard what sounded like Fred outside the tent. I smiled and closed the files and made my way to the entrance,”No; someone took our spot! I will have a very nasty talk to about this nonsense!” I heard Mr. Weasley sounding furious. I laughed and walked out of the tent. Mr. Weasley had his arms crossed and was glaring at me,”May I ask why you are in-” HE stopped and looked at me in surprise,”Merlins beard. If it isn’t miss Viper Akela!” I laughed and hugged him,”It’s good to see you again Mr. Weasley! Sorry for the scare. If you don’t mind I’ll be staying next to you guys on the grounds.” He nodded and with a hearty laugh he pat my shoulder,”All swell my dear.”

I looked over to the group of excited red heads who then rushed up and gave me hugs. I looked at Fred and George in shock,”How the hell did you get that tall!?” Both Fred and George laughed and leaned on me,”We got the good genes!” I pushed them off and looked to Ginny and Ron who were very grown up,”Well now has it really been that long?” Ginny smiled brightly,”You have to tell us about your adventures in America! Charlie never tells us anything.” I laughed and shook my head,”Most of my job I can’t tell and you know that.” She shrugged and went to go help her dad with their tent. I finally turned to Ron and his friends. Ron looked at his friends then back at me,”Guys let me introduce you to one of Charlie’s coolest friends! Viper Akela. Viper these are my mates Hermione and Harry!”

I held out my hand to the two teens. Hermione beemed and took my hand with a huge grin,”It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Hermione Granger.” I felt a pang in my heart as she reminded me of Rowan. I then looked to Harry,”I’m guessing your the famous Harry Potter?” The dark haired boy nodded. I shook his hand,”From one cursed child to another; it’s nice to meet you.” HE smiled and gave me a firm handshake. We made our way into the tents waiting for the boys to arrive. It was nice getting to know Harry and Hermione and hearing all of their crazy tales. I looked at Harry and smiled,”Charlie told me your the new Griffindor seeker?” Harry nodded,”Yeah since my first year. Did you play quidditch too Viper?”

I raised my eyebrow at him and laughed,”Kid your looking at one of Hufflepuff’s best chaser. I ended up beating Griffindor my last year.” Harry leaned closer discussing about our quidditch games. It wasn’t until Charlie and Bill came stumbling in laughing with Percy close behind rolling his eyes. Bill and Percy froze when they saw me. Charlie stopped laughing and turned to see me. I smiled at him lightly,”Hi love.” He looked at me dumbfounded and then rushed over and embraced me. He smiled brightly as he kissed m cheek,”I thought you weren’t going to make it?!” I laughed as we pulled apart. I shrugged and looked at the other two Weasley brothers,”I convinced my boss to let me go.” I went over to Bill and gave him a hug then to Percy with a handshake,”It’s so good to see you all again.”

We had sat down and begun talking about life and how everything has been. Soon everyone was getting ready for the game. I dressed in green for Ireland and we made our way to the Colosseum. On the way I spotted John Winchester and his three kids heading to the arena as well. I placed my hand on Charlie’s soldier,”I’ll be back. Old mentor I want to go say hi to.” Charlie nodded and followed his family up the Colosseum. I made my way to the older man with a quick stride. I walked in front of him and held out my hand,”John Winchester! Nice to meet you!” I smiled. He looked at me strangely,”My name is Viper Akela. You are a legend in America!” He then realized that I was the American Auror he was going to meet.

“Ah Akela! Rogers told me all about you. Dean why don’t you find our seats; I’ll meet you guys there.” The oldest nodded and began walking with his siblings to the games. John glared at me,”I’ve been on the lookout. You could’ve blown my cover.”

I shook my head and glanced around,”Are the rumors true?” He sighed and shook his head,”I’ve been in touch with the others and there has been no talk of an attack.” I shifted on my feet. I looked back at the Colosseum,”Okay. I’ll keep in touch; if I see anything you’ll be the first to know.” He nodded and we went our separate ways. I found the Weasley’s seats and we watched the game with excitement and joy. Soon we were back at the tents. Most of us celebrated the victory of the Irish while everyone who was cheering for the Bulgarians laughed and made fun of us. Which we rallied back which made Ron the target for our teasing. We all stopped as we heard commotions outside. Mr. Weasley went outside to investigate while we went back to our celebrating. All of a sudden another sound of commotion was heard,”Well the Irish sure know how to get their party on eh?” George laughed. Our laughter died when Mr. Weasley came rushing back in,”How bad are the Irish partying and where can we join?” Fred asked with a chuckle.

“It’s not the Irish.” He sounded out of breath. My heart sunk. Were the rumors right? “We need to leave now.” We rushed out of the tents and heard the panicked screams. I looked over and in horror I witnessed death eaters levitating people in the air and over burning tents. I spotted John helping evacuate the area with other aurors. I looked back at the Weasleys with worry. Charlie clung to my arm as I started to drift towards the chaos. I looked at him with a loving look,”I’ll be fine love.” He nodded and let me go. I made my way towards John and started helping as many people as we could while getting closer to the death eaters.

WE started to run towards them as the crowds cleared. They noticed us and started to apparate out. One in particular saw me and uncovered her face. With red hair and lips Patricia Rakepick smugly looked at me and motioned towards me for a fight. I felt the blood in my body began to boil as I rushed after her.

“Stupify!” I casted. She blocked with ease. I shot more stun spells at her. She blocked each one with ease until I got her with a difindo spell. She glared at me before apparating away,”NO!” I cried out as she got away. I got to the spot she was standing at and noticed an address on the ground. I looked at it with a glare,”Is this where you’ve been hiding?” I asked myself. John whistled over to me,”We got some noise over in that direction. We’re going to apparate there on the count of 3.” He told me and the other aurors who showed up. We counted to three and landed around three people,”Now! Stupify!” I fired a stunning spell. I looked and saw that it was Harry, Ron and Hermione. I stopped and waved everyone to stop. It wasn’t until Charlie, Bill and Mr. Weasley ran in the middle screaming for us to stop,”That’s my son!” He embraced the kids. Crouch stepped forward and questioned the kids. I stepped back and sighed. Crouch then looked in my direction,”Did any of you at least catch someone?!” We all looked away; he already knew the answer,”Tch then what was the point of bringing help?”

Harry stepped forward and told Crouch that there was a man further east of their current position. I began walking with the rest of the aurors until Crouch pulled me aside,”I think we have had enough of your help Akela. I’ll be seeing you in my-” A hand on his shoulder stopped him mid sentence. John glared at Crouch,”Let the kid go Bartey.” Crouch sighed and followed John towards the area where Harry last saw the strange man. I felt the eyes at the back of my head. I turned and looked at the Weasleys. Charlie looked away in disbelief,”Charlie-”

“You only came for work.” He whispered. My voice caught my throat,”I wanted to come for a vacation and to hang out with all of you, but-” I swallowed the other words that would’ve come out of my mouth. Charlie just shrugged and shook his head,”Had to go catch the bad guy right?”

I snapped my head up and glared at him,”I’m after Rakepick you prat!” With that I saw his and Bill’s shocked face before I apparated back to the Leaky Cauldron. I checked into my room and locked the door behind me. I grabbed the address from my pocket and glared down at it. Grabbing my wand and auror gear; I left and apparated to the location.

———

I walked down the street and found the apartment. I let out a shaky breath as I made my way inside. I used the Disillusionment charm and made my way around the apartment. There I spotted a man sleeping on the couch and a ton of alcohol bottles. In the corner I spotted a creature scurrying on the table. An old looking niffler was polishing a gold watch. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was Rakepick’s niffler Sickleworth. His eyes landed on me and instantly he started to scurry away. I grabbed the little bugger not before he knocked over a pot. The man jolted awake and pointed his wand towards me,”Revelio!” My charm wore off and I pointed my wand at him Petrificus totalus!” His body froze and fell backwards. I cradled old Sickleworth in my arms,”Hey buddy. Don’t you remember me?” He sniffed me and started to get excited. I set him down and went around the apartment. Nothing out of the ordinary. I went back to our mystery guy and tied him up. Once my spell wore off he spat at me,”Who are you?!” He screamed. Luckily I put a silent charm on the apartment. I pointed my wand to his temple and glared at him,”Where is Rakepick?”

He grew silent until I casted difindo on his leg. He screamed in pain. He glared at me,”Screw you bitch.” I casted the difindo spell again against his toes this time which caused him to wail in agony. I then placed my wand on his little friend causing him to go into panic mode,”Okay okay okay!” He gasped out,”Look I’m just her kneazle and niffler breeder. I take of Sickleworth when she is on important jobs.”

“I didn’t ask about you! I want to know where she is this second!” I pushed harder on his jewels.

“It’s a secret bar in Germany!” He cried out. I smiled and pulled a pen and paper out,”Name and address.”

He glanced over to his bag. I grabbed it and rummaged through it. I found a coin with a rose embroidered on it. I put it in my pocket. I went towards the window and pressed my wand against my neck. I gave the address of the apartment and casted my patronus out of the window,”I’m on a lead. Don’t come find me.” I casted the petrifying curse on the crook and apparated out. I transfigured my hair to look short and dark red and made my eyes a deeper blue. I even gave myself a mole and a scar.

I walked around Germany for hours trying to find the location until I stumbled upon a rose garden. I walked in and took the coin out. Two men came up behind me and pulled their wands out,”I’m a new member. Invited by a breeder of Kneezles and Nifflers.” Both looked at me then walked ahead of me before knocking on a hidden entrance. I walked in and the bar was loud and full of sketchy wizards and witches. I went up to the bar. I looked around and caught the attention of what I can assume is the leader. She sat next to me and ordered fire whiskey,”Can I get you a drink new comer?”

I smiled and handed her my money,”Surprise me.” She gave me an approved smile and ordered the dragon blood shot followed by a thing of water. I’ve done dragon blood shots before with my friends when Jae snuck it in. It was the worst drink of my entire life, but I was prepared for the taste. I grabbed the shot and took it as fast as I could. My throat burned as the slush went down. My eyes watered as I sucked in a breath of fresh air. I slammed the glass down and looked at her with a nod,”Now that was a bloody kick!” She looked at me with a surprise look.

“I like you. So it was Luke that sent you here?” It clicked in my mind that I had never learned the breeder’s name,”That’s his name? Never cared to learn it. My style is more like his partners. Oh what was her name again? Ahh Patricia Rocket? No that’s not it-”

“Rakepick.” The womans eyes grew weary. I snapped my finger and pointed to her,”That’s the one! Damn good woman she is.” I nearly threw up those words. The woman leans in and motions for the back,”Let’s talk in private. We have much to discuss.” I looked at her questionably, but followed her with my wand hidden in my jacket sleeve within my palm. Once we were behind closed doors she sat down on one of the red couches in the room. She motioned for me to sit in the couch in front of her. She placed her wand in the middle of the table,”So we can trust one another.” I hesitantly put my wand on the table.

She leaned back and crossed her legs,”Your an auror.” She spoke up. My attention flicked from her face to my wand. Before I could open my mouth she held her hand up,”My father is one and I could tell you were one by a mile away. However; I like you. You’re here for Rakepick?”

I nodded and looked up at her,”I’m only here for her. Apologies are in order however; I seemed to have gotten your breeder arrested.” She looked at me annoyed, but I held my finger up,”What do you do to those animals?” She looked up at me blatantly,”We use them for some of our schemes and that’s it. But we do take care of them highly.” She whistled and a brown and black niffler ran across her shoulders and curled into her lap. I leaned back with a sigh,”What can you tell me about Rakepick?”

She made a small noise and wagged her finger at me,”What can you give me in return for this information?”

I leaned forward,”What do you want?”

She thought for a moment then held up two of her fingers,”Two things. A new niffler breeder. A nicer one would be nice. Alec was not taking good care of the mothers. The other thing is; I want to know why you are after Rakepick.”

I looked at my hands and sighed,”If I can find you a nice breeder. You must pay what they say and dress nicely for pick up. Or they won’t give you any.” She nodded in compliance,”Of course. I will let my men know. Now about Rakepick?”

I glanced at her and asked her a simple question.”What are your rules as a bad guy?”

She snickered at the word bad guy,”No kids. I like kids too much no matter how annoying some can be. Too innocent. Animal cruelty is a no no as well. And take from the rich and give to the poor.” I laughed at that and shook my head,”Let me guess you’re Robin Hood?”

“Robin Mercier and you are?” I looked at her and shook my head. She sighed and looked up at me,”I will keep our meeting a secret. I don’t like Rakepick either and there are others that come that I will willingly give to you as well.” I sighed and looked at the door behind us,”Viper. That’s all I’m giving you.” She smiled and leaned back,”Why are you hunting Rakepick? She steal from you?”

I looked at her dead in the eye,”When I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts; she killed my best friend who was a sister to me.” She looked down and shook her head,”And the niffler breeder?”

“That would be me. I am a certified breeder for the auror office and curse breaker offices.” Robin laughed and held out her hand,”Well then, I just wanted to see how serious you were. Now that I see; I’m not interested in nifflers anymore. We got another breeder for us. Rakepick has been traveling around Europe. If she was in England then most likely she will be going to Scottland. Your best bet is that she will be near Hogsmede. I nodded and grabbed my wand,”Then I will take my leave. I like the drinks you have. I might be back for a drink or two.” I smiled at Robin who nodded and grabbed her own wand.

“Of course. I’ll be expecting you to come by when this is all over.” She spoke quietly. I nodded and apparated out.

———

I made my way to the Ministry's auror office. I looked around and spotted a flow of pink hair in the distance talking to another auror. Tonks turned and saw me. She instantly ended her conversation and ran up to me,”Watcher Viper!” She tackled me with a hug. The other auror walked up and I instantly noticed it was Talbott. I smiled wholeheartedly at my friends,”You both look so good! How have you all been?”

Tonks looked at me in shock,”Blimey Viper; five years in America and you have already lost your accent?!” I laughed and poked her shoulder,”You do realize that you made fun of this very same accent when we entered Hogwarts? This is my normal accent.” She laughed and slapped my arm,”I know that! I’ve been bloody good! Working under Madeye was the best! Cranky old man, but a good teacher.”

I then looked at Talbott,”And how are you and Chiara doing?” He blushed and then pulled a ring out. Both Tonks and I had wide smiles as we congratulated him,”I’ll be asking her tonight. Enough about us; how are you fairing?” He asked quietly. My smile grew forced as I thought of Rakepick and the events of the Quidditch games and Charlie.

“I’ve been better.” I spoke quietly. Just then the door swung open and John had walked in with Kingsly Shacklebolt next to him,”Akela, Tonks, Winger; office for briefing now.” I looked at them with confusion. We followed the aurors inside the briefing office. They closed the door and put up a silent charm on the room making sure no one could hear us.

“Akela; what have you found?” John looked to me. I shifted on my feet,”I found Rakepick. My Intel told me she is in Scottland. Most likely outside of Hogsmead village.” Both Tonks and Talbott looked at me in shock,”You finally tracked her down?” Tonks’s question rang in my ears. I nodded and looked at John and Kingsly. Kingsly sat forward,”Talbott. I want you to scout the area and find her. Follow her the best you can and figure out what she’s planning. We know she isn’t a death eater; so why was she at the Quidditch games?”

I stood up and glared at the man in front of me,”Let me. I’ve been tracking her for years and I’m going-”

“Sit down!” John ordered. I sat while biting my tongue,”Now; we need to find out what she is up to. Is R back? We don’t know. Akela I’m sending you to Hogwarts for extra protection. The Tri-Wizard Tournaments are going to be held there and you will serve under Madeye.” I sighed and nodded,”Understand sir.”

———

I walked into Hogwarts with Crouch and other law enforcement officers and others from the Department of Games and Sports. The Professors were waiting in the great hall. Crouch and Dumbledor went over the rules of the tournament and then explained how classes will go for the teachers. I sighed of boredom until Professor Flitwick accidentally stepped on my foot,”Oops my bad-” He stopped and adjusted his glasses,”Miss Akela? Is that really you?!” He held out his hand. I smiled and shook it,”It has been a while Professor. I hope the students have been treating you well.” He chuckled and patted my hand,”Always. Though those Weasley boys sure do get creative with those spells of theirs.”

I laughed and shook my head. Crouch introduced everyone who was working under him. He then made it to me,”And here we have Miss Viper Akela. She’ll be joining my law enforcement team for extra protection from the auror office from America.” I smiled at everyone and nodded,”It’s good to be back.” We were then briefed to guard the doors after the students got to the Great Hall. After the introduction of the two schools I walked out with Crouch and stood at his side as he explained the rules. After a small ruckus with the students dinner was served and we began leaving. Crouch turned to me and looked to Madeye,“I want you to remain here because of what happened at the games. Stay low and quiet.” I nodded and stayed behind. After the dinner feast I found Professor Sprout and let her know what happened.

She nodded and walked me to Dumbledor’s office. She talked about all of the quirks she missed from my friends and I. I laughed,”I still can’t believe you still made me Prefect and Head Girl.” Professor Sprout patted my back,”Even though you were troublesome; you did follow most of the rules and you were one of our best tutors.” I blushed and made our way up the stairs. We had good laughs and then we made it to Dumbledor’s office. I said my goodbye to her and made my way into the Headmaster’s office. Professor Dumbledor looked up and smiled at me,”Miss Akela. How has your work in America been?”

I smiled and sat down in the chair in front of his desk,”It has been great! Thank you for the reference Professor. I wanted to let you know that Crouch wants me to remain here low and quiet.” I explained. He nodded and gave me permission to do so. To which I walked out and used my animegus form to wander the halls at night. This went on for a couple of days. I had been pacing around the hall and noticed someone walking in the hall. I paced towards them until they turned and shot a petrifying spell at me. I collapsed and watched as he covered his already shadowed face and then proceeded to shove me in Snapes ingredients closet. With one kick to the face I blacked out.

———

I woke up to Snape shaking me. I noticed I was covered in blood and my face hurt like hell,”Wha-” I snapped my attention and stood up,”We need to stop the tournament. It was rigged!” Before I could step out Snape pulled me aside,”The names were already pulled. An extra came out. We’ve had no choice but to follow the rules. A little late on letting us know Akela.” I glared at him and pointed to my condition,”Tried to stop your rigger last night! If you haven’t noticed; I’m a bit on the beat up side.”

He sighed and then held out his wand at my face,”Episky.” My nose snapped back into place with me crying out in pain. I glared at him before regaining my posture,”What are we going to do?” He sighed and looked down the hall,”Just keep your head down and keep a lookout.” I nodded and left. I walked around the school and even spotted Fred and George taking money for what looked like bets for the tournament.

Over the next few weeks I did my rounds. I kept my guard up as I went around the hall. I spotted a small child getting bullied by some older students. I took some papers that I had and smacked the older students across the head. They ran off and I helped the younger student up and telling him to tell his head of house. I looked at the Black and Gold of his uniform and thought back to Merula and I’s constant fights. I snapped out of it when Madeye pulled me to the side. I eyed him as he looked around,”They’re escorting the dragons for the first task here tonight and we need extra hands with security.”

I looked at him with confusion,”I don’t think I’m needed Madeye.”

He grunted and shrugged,”Orders are orders.” I sighed and nodded,”Alright. Where and when?”

By night I made my way through the forbidden forest towards the destination where the dragons were being held. I noticed Hagrid in the distance and something caught my eyes. With being a wolf animegus I can see invisibility cloaks and spells. I noticed a shimmer behind Hagrid and moved forward. I noticed Hagrid was talking with Charlie and the minute he saw me he got nervous,”Viper! What are ye doing here?” I stretched as the chilled Scottish air caused my arms to stiffen,”Madeye sent me here for extra security.”

I glanced at Charlie who smiled over to me. I felt my heart race a little seeing his warm smile again. I watched as Charlie spoke about the dragons. I noticed a welsh green in the distance. Another next to it was a chinese fireball and then a swedish short snout. The one that caught my eye was the hungarian horntail,”Ain’t the horntail a beauty? Nasty dragon, but a beauty at that.”

I remembered back in my fifth year,”Yeah I remember. Still have that scar on my hip from the one we fought in our fifth year.” I heard shrubs rustle in the distance and looked back. I saw an eagle watching me in the distance.

Talbott.

I walked up to Charlie and gave him a small kiss,”I have to go.” He smiled at me and nodded. I made my way further into the forest. I watched him shift into himself and he fixed his clothes,”Been a while Viper; have you been well?”

I rolled my eyes,”I’m playing bodyguard in a school instead of going after the woman who killed my best friend and gave me hell for over three years!” I crossed my arms waiting for him to give me the news.

He sighed and slipped me a paper,”We found her. It’s time we go arrest her. Meet me here tomorrow and we’ll take a portkey to Italy. We’ll be meeting Winchester, Tonks and Kingsly there to make the arrest.” He smiled lightly. I felt the weight that had piled on to my chest lift. I walked up and hugged him as tears began to find their way down my face,”Thank you.”

We pulled away and he looked at me with a kind smile,”For Rowan.” He then shifted to his animegus form and flew off. I sighed and walked back to the castle.

On my way there I saw the shimmer of an invisibility cloak walk by me. I quickly hurried off and shifted. I slowly followed it until I blocked the entrance to the school. I growled deeply at the invisible person who staggered backwards. I rushed forward and tackled the person. I saw them raise heir wand. Before they could say a spell; I shifted and aimed my wand at them,”Expelliarmus!” I caught the wand and instantly recognized it as Harry’s wand.

I sighed and put my wand down,”Come on out Harry.” Harry took the invisibility cloak off and looked down at the ground knowing he was caught red handed,”You know you weren’t supposed to see those dragons.” I handed his wand back to him,”At least tell Cedric and the others so they also have a fighting chance.”

His eyes met mine and nodded,”Fluer already knows. And Karkaroff will probably tell Krum; I’ll tell Cedric.” I nodded and smiled at him. I had forgotten that Cedric was the one that had been chosen. I got a good look at Harry and noticed that he looked horrible,”Follow me Potter.”

He followed me to the courtyard and I motioned for him to sit down,”This challenge has been putting a strain on you hasn’t it?” He nodded and I leaned back against the fountain. I sighed and looked at Gryffindor tower,”Ron will get over it. Best Friends always do.” I placed my hand on his shoulder,”Trust me when I say that you need to let your friends help you. You can’t keep them away for long. They always find a way back into your life.” I chuckled. Harry smiled to and got up,”Thanks Viper.”

“Hey from one cursed kid to another.” I winked at him. I stood up and began making my way back to my room.

“Hey Viper.” I turned and saw Harry putting his cloak back on,”I think you should take your advise as well. Ron said Charlie was getting very worried about you.” My heart hurt as he disappeared from normal sight. I nodded and turned around,”Thanks Harry; I needed that reminder.”

———

I met Talbott in the forest. He stood by the Black Lake; observing the sunrise in the distance. I stood next to him observing the peaceful air,”Let me know when you and Kiara are free. I think it would be nice to go out for butterbeer with everyone again.” I told him. He smiled sweetly at me before nodding in agreement,”Set the date and we’ll be there.” I smiled as we held on to the portkey.

We stopped and I turned and up came my breakfast behind a bush. Talbott gave me an awkward pat on the back,”God I hate portkeys.” I said wiping my mouth.

I followed him to the safe house where I spotted John and Tonks playing poker. Tonks’ eyes lit up at the sight of me. She threw down her cards and jumped into my arms. I laughed and hugged her back. John smiled at me then took his money and set out a map,”We learned that she has a trade going on in a black market district that the Italian Ministry has been eyeing for a while. We will be working with them to take down Rakepick.” I looked over the map. Of course there was a secret entrance in the Colosseum.

“I think Tonks and I can corner her here.” I pointed to the spot,”Tonks and I can change our appearance and follow her.” Kingsly nodded and drew a circle near a cliff side,”Get her here. We’ll put barriers up so she can’t  apparate.”

We planned everything to the Tee and waited for nightfall.

Tonks and I made our hair darker and our clothes dark as well. We moved throughout the market with silence as we spotted her fire like hair. She spotted us and walked faster away from us. We caught up and got her to the cliff side. She went to apparate before realizing she was blocked. I changed my appearance back to normal and lifted my wand at her.

She chuckled and waved me off,”It’s been a long time Akela; how is my little prodigy doing?” I felt rage in my chest as I thought about what my next move would be. Tonks kept her wand raised as well,”You’re surrounded Rakepick; you are under arrest.”

Rakepick turned and saw John, Kingsly and three Italian ministry aurors. She looked around in anger and aimed a wandless spell towards the others. John used a shield spell but the others were knocked back. Everyone fired stun spells towards her which she deflected with ease. She fired a bombarda spell at the ground causing the cliff to crumble down.

We fell down with rocks and rubble tumbling with us. Tonks, John and I grabbed Rakepick before she apparated. We fell on to a grassy plain. I was dazed and noticed Rakepick aiming her wand at Tonks. I had horrible flashbacks to the green flash from my sixth year.

I charge forward as fast as I could and heard her start the spell. I shifted and plunged my fangs into her arm. She screamed in pain and looked at me in shock. Tonks shook her head and paled at the look of a three foot wolf clinging to the arm of a witch. She tried to pry my jaws open which gave John enough time to stun her in the back.

She fell to the ground. She took hold of my head and slammed me into a nearby rock. Tonks used the laceration spell and slammed the bitch away from me. I shifted back in pain as my head was bleeding bad. John helped me sit up against a wall while the other aurors were called.

Rakepick was now glaring daggers at me. To which I spat in her direction,”Get ready to rot in hell bitch.” Before she could say anything; Tonks did a hex or curse that made her mouth disappear,”That’ll shut her up.” She laughed and then sat next to me.

“Animegus huh?”

“Yep.” I answered.

She looked at me with curiosity,”Who else knows?”

“Charlie, Chiara, Talbott and Harry. Obviously now you and John as well.” I winced as she helped heal the wound.

I watched as she was escorted to Askaban.

After getting patched up; Tonks led me away and handed me some Italian Ice. I laughed and took it. The weight was finally gone and I felt very relaxed. I saw the thestrals pulling the jail cart. I sighed and closed my eyes letting the sun soak into my skin.

“So are you staying in Europe? Or are you going back to America?” I looked at Tonks with uncertainty. I shrugged,”I think I’m going to take a well deserved vacation.”

Tonks gave me an all knowing look,”I think its time you go on a long awaited date with Mr. Dragon Tamer! He has been-” I took her Italian ice and shoved it in her mouth. She laughed as she rubbed her teeth,”That was dirty!”

I laughed and looked into the distance.

She was right.

I think it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie.

———

The Romania air chilled me to the bone.

How was it colder than the UK?!

I went up to the front office to the sanctuary and was met by a friendly smile,”Buna dimineat doamna! Cum te pot ajuta azi?” I smiled as I had little to no idea what he just said. He saw my look and smiled sweetly,”American?”

“Irish American actually.” I laughed nervously. He held out his hand,”Ari David.”

“Viper Akela.” I took his hand and he instantly lit up at the sound of my name,”Charlie’s imaginary girl?! It’s about time we met you.” He laughed. I felt my face light up like a Christmas tree. He came around and called for someone in the back. A man poked his head out of the back office with his face stuffed,”I’m going to show our guest here around. Watch the desk while I’m gone?”

The man nodded and wheeled out of the office. Ari walked me through the gates and I could instantly here the dragons in the distance. Ari showed me the hatchery and even the smaller breeds of dragons. He laughed at my amazed look,”Ever been to a sanctuary before?” He asked. I nodded and looked at the fossil they had in their study center,”Thunderbird sanctuary in Arizona. I go there on my free time to spend time with the creatures.”

Ari was grinning ear to ear,”My grandfather helped Newt Schamander free one from Egypt. Said it was one of the most majestic creatures he had ever laid eyes on.” He then spoke in Hebrew which I roughly translated to ‘God bless that old man.’

Soon we made it to the village nearby the sanctuary,”Charlie’s home is the small house near the forest. Kind of rustic looking. Mailbox has his name on it.” I thanked the man and went into the village. I smiled at the children playing in the streets. Older couples who were tending to their gardens. My heart pounded when I saw the familiar red haired, freckle covered man I had come to see. His blue eyes landed on me.

The conversation he was having with the man standing in front of him suddenly stopped. The man looked over his shoulder and to me,”You lost miss?” I smiled and nodded eyeing Charlie,”Yeah. I’m looking for a stubborn red head covered in freckles and burn scars who I haven’t had a proper date with since Hogwarts.”

The man looked at Charlie with shock,”Asta este Viper?! Băiete, nu ai retinut descrierea.” I saw Charlie’s face turn into a near shade of his hair color. The man bid him farewell and walked to what I thought was his home. Charlie didn’t waist a second before pulling me into a hug.

For what seemed like centuries I hugged him back. Tears poured down my eyes as I apologized. He brought me into his house and made some tea,”What made you finally visit?” He asked me.

“Tonks convinced me. Charlie…we did it.” He looked at me confused,”We got Rakepick.” His eyes softened  and clasped his hand to mine. His eyes pleaded to me as he spoke the question on his mind since I showed up,”Does this mean I have my Viper back?”

I nodded and sobbed my heart out,”I’m so sorry.” He pulled me closer as just buried myself in his chest.

The remainder of the day was us talking and me cooking us some dinner.

By night, warmed by his body, I had the best sleep of my entire life.

———

The next few months of vacation were amazing. I helped around the sanctuary as an extra healer on hand or even security. I knew Crouch was going to order me back to Hogwarts once my vacation was over with, but at the moment I didn’t care.

Soon enough it was my last day in Romania. I woke to feel Charlie’s fingers tracing my thunderbird tattoo on my shoulder. I groaned as I stretched my stiff body. Charlie planted a kiss on my lips which lingered for a solid minute before he whispered a morning to me.

I sighed and got out of bed. I packed my items and made my way to the portkey with Charlie in tow. He pulled me into a kiss,”I’ll miss you.” He told me. His blue eyes begged me not to go,”I’ll be here for summer.” I kissed his cheek and then grabbed the portkey.

I arrived back at Hogwarts just in time for the second challenge.

———

Crouch gave me orders to be at the ready to dive after the champions who needed the help. After the champions jumped into the black lake I sat by waiting for anyone who needed to be saved. We noticed Fleur’s Vermillious charm shot up. Me and another person jumped in and swam towards the direction of the  charm cast.

I noticed her being pulled down from what looked to be grindylow dragging her down. I stunned the grindylow and me and the other person pulled her up. Fleur was panicking and gagging out water. The other person who I found out was a healer. He made sure there wasn’t any bad wounds before wrapping her up in a warm towel.

Her friends were warming her up and she was looking frantically around for someone,”Where eeze Gabrielle? Where eeze my sister!?” I looked around in panic, but Madeye motioned for me to walk over to him.

“Her sister was used as the prize. She will be safely pulled out of the lake by the end of the hour.” He whispered to me. I looked at him in shock then realised I hadn’t seen Hermione nor Ron at all today. Soon Cedric emerged from the water with a girl I didn’t recognize, then Krum with Hermione. We helped them up and I watched out for Harry and Ron. I was asked to help warm up Hermione when Harry, Ron and Gabrielle resurfaced. Fleur kissed Harry and Ron and thanked them.

Hermione tensed up when she saw that.

After helping the Champions and their rescued friends and family I made my way to Crouch who looked like he had seen a ghost. I placed my hand on his shoulder causing him to jump,”You alright Crouch?” He cleared his throat and nodded before walking away.

———

It was now near he end of the school year and the champions were getting ready for their final trial. I had been helping Snape try and find the culprit behind his missing ingredients which we later learned was to make polyjuice potion. I made my way down the hall where I ran into Cedric. I smiled and waved at him,”Diggory!” Cedric looked oer to me and a huge smile appeared on his face,”Viper!” I noticed he was had gotten taller. I laughed and hugged my old shadow,”How are you doing? I heard you made it as Hufflepuff’s new seeker.”

He laughed and continued walking with me,”Yeah I ended up getting the seeker position after you left.” I smiled and remembered when he started joining Charlie and I’s quidditch games with our friends. He was a good seeker.

“That’s great! I’m rooting for you. Hufflepuff for the win!” I bumped my fist against his. He laughed and was then waved down by a ravenclaw girl,”I gotta go. It was nice seeing you again!”

I made my way down towards the Hufflepuff entrance and placed my hand on the barrels. I remember teaching the first years the code to enter.

Sneaking my radio from home so all the hufflepuffs had something to listen. When it was time for bed we brought it to the rooms and jammed out to the rock stations.

Using my Walkman to listen to my music when I was out for walks or doing homework by myself.

Rowan scolding me for failing my History of Magic test…again.

Chiara and I sneaking out every full moon with Talbott in tow.

Sneaking Charlie in the room for some…alone time.

Winning the Quidditch cup my last year.

.

.

.

I hated myself now.

What had I become?

I became an enraged animal wanting revenge for all the wrong doings that had happened to my friends.

Helga Hufflepuff would be ashamed of me.

I felt a soft hand on my shoulder,”The hat never makes a mistake dear. You were a true hufflepuff and our founder would have loved you.” Sprout’s voice caused my heart to swell. I breathed in and let out a shaky breath.

“Didn’t mean for that to come out loud, but thank you.” She then took her wand and smacked the top of my head with it. I winced in pain and looked at her in disbelief,”Ow! What was that for?!”

“The past hurts. What will you do with it?” She then tried to hit me again but I moved to the side which caused her to miss. She laughed and I began to laugh with her,”Yeah yeah. Learn from it. Thank you Professor.” She pulled me into a hug and then got very excited,”The third challenge will begin soon! Will you be cheering Cedric and Harry on?”

I smiled and chuckled lightly,”I’ll try and make it, but I have to do the rounds tonight.” She nodded in understanding and wished me a goodnight.

I walked around the entirety of the Hogwarts school when I stumbled upon two of Harry’s friends sneaking around. I cleared my throat and both froze,”The last challenge is happening right now. I know Harry will want his friends there to support him.” I looked at both with a scolding stare. Then smiled,”I’ll let you guys off with a warning.” I winked at them and wandered away. The girl ran up to me,”Something isn’t right with Professor Moody!”

I stopped and looked at her with all seriousness,”What do you mean?” The boy and girl looked at each other then back to me,”We think he’s been stealing ingredients to make a potion. And he’s been very shifty lately.”

Suddenly it clicked into place.

Polyjuice potion.

“Get to the arena and stay with your friends. I’ll inform the teachers.” I got up and apparated the kids and I to the maze. They made it to Hermione and Ron who were watching and waiting in excitement. I found the teachers and explained the situation. Snape who was now furious apparated back to get a truth potion.

Just then a loud pop was heard and Harry was now on the ground with Cedric. Cheers were heard as Hogwarts had won the Tri-Wizard-

My heart dropped when I spotted it.

Cedric’s unblinking eyes.

Cold and gone.

I heard Fleur scream as she was the first to notice. Tears welled in my eyes as everyone stoped and stared in shock. Professor Sprout broke down and burrowed her head into my shoulder. I looked up and saw Madeye dragging Harry away,”He’s got Harry.” I whispered. The teachers heard and prepared for a fight. Snape had arrived back and we made our way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. After barging in Snape and I held down Madeye while Harry stood near McGonagall.

After revealing Barty Crouch Jr. and him telling us that he murdered his father; we helped the real Madeye out of the enchanted chest. The old auror patted my back with a pained nod. I smiled and took it as a thank you.

———

The funeral was tough.

It was another friend gone.

I felt a hand clasp my shoulder and saw a glove hand me a note.

Meet me in my office. We have much to discuss.

-Dumbledor

I looked around and spotted the two kids from before. I walked over to them. The fourth year boy looked at me with worry,”You both helped us a lot. Thank you…uhh”

“Rey Winchester.”

“Neville Longbottom.”

I smiled at them before nodding,”Thank you Rey and Neville. You both were brave in following that man. I’ll inform McGonagall and ask her to give you both points for this.” Both smiled but sadness was in those eyes. I made my way to the Headmaster’s office and was joined by both McGonagall and Sprout. Once we were up there I spotted not only all the teachers, but Talbott, Tonks, Bill, Merula and Madeye.

I looked to Dumbledor for an explanation.

“What I am about to ask all of you is to be kept secret. And I must know that you will all do any task that I give you. Do you understand.” I nodded and so did the others.

“Years ago when the first war was going on; I had created a secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix. I plan to rebirth that Order again.” He then looked at everyone in the room,”All who were apart of it before step aside. All who have never heard of it or were apart of it line up in front of me.” The Professors moved to the side along with Madeye and it was just Talbott, Tonks, Bill and Merula standing in front of him.

“Talbott Winger; you are a great auror and a hidden animegus. I’ll need you to keep your eyes and ears open all over the United Kingdoms.” Talbott nodded in understanding. Next he turned to Tonks,”Nymphadora Tonks; like Mr. Winger you are an exceptional auror. You will be positioned with Kingsly, Madeye and Winchester. Keep an eye out for spies amongst the ministry.”

Tonks beamed at Dumbledor,”Of course, but for future references. Don’t call me Nymphadora. Tonks will do just fine.” Dumbledor chuckled and nodded. He then turned to Bill,”I have already talked to your brother who will be keeping communications and recruiting for the Order in Romania. However; I need you here. Curse breakers may come in handy especially now. I have already informed Gringotts about you and they are happy to have you.”

Bill nodded but stayed silent. Dumbledor then turned to Merula,”Miss Snyde; I want you recruiting in Egypt.” She smiled and crossed her arms,”As long as I don’t get a desk job that is fine by me.”

And finally he turned to me,”I need one more person here at Hogwarts. However; the Ministry is appointing one of their own as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. If I remember correctly you were one of the top of your class in Care for Magical Creatures correct?”

“Yes Professor, but didn’t Kettleburn retire and Hagrid took his post?” I asked him.

“Hagrid will be leaving his post for another mission. I’m asking you to join our staff Miss Akela. It would mean a lot.” I looked over to the staff of Professors. Then to my friends,”Well…Professor Akela does have a nice ring to it.” Dumbledor smiled,”Then its settled. You are all dismissed; Allister; perhaps you can get Akela situated with the auror’s office in America since she won’t be working there anymore.” We nodded and left the office.

Madeye and I took a portkey to America. It was nice to be back in New York and I will miss my home in Arizona. Quetta was doing paperwork when I approached my desk. She stopped and ran up to hug me,”I heard you were leaving us?!” She asked in disbelief.

“Yes I am, but I’ll give you my address so we can still talk. Who knows; I may appear for a drink every now and then.” I laughed. She teared up with a smile and hugged me tighter,”You are the best damn partner I have ever had! I’ll miss you!” I smiled and hugged her closer,”I’ll miss you too.”

After packing up my office and all my personal files and objects I turned my badge over to Ramsey who stamped Retired to it,”Keep it. So you can be reminded of your times with us.” I smiled warmhearted by his words. Soon the entire auror office came by and wished me well.

After that we traveled to the school where I had begun to organize my office then care for the animals. Madeye left me to that work and he went back to the auror offices.

I had an unexpected visitor who taught me how to charm a briefcase to store magical creatures in. I thanked Mr. Scammander and left for my parents home in Dublin. I stayed with them until I found a home in Hogsmead village. I brought my niffler Galleo, my Irish Wolfhound Artair and my Granian Storm with me to the new house.

I found the door wide open and saw Charlie waiting inside with a smile on his face. I placed down the suitcase and closed the door before crashing into him. I looked at him with a smirk,”You are mine all summer.” He laughed and kissed the crook of my neck,”Funny. Because I’m here to kidnap you.” He whispered.

Soon summer started and also began a new adventure for me starting with the love of my life.

---------

AN: I’m so happy this fic is done. It took me so long to do this fic.

[slutsofren]

Magical Mysteries / Chapter 2: Goodbyes & Promises

Summary: You’re stepping away from your home in London to follow your father on some mysterious assignment from the Ministry. There’s trouble in the air but you and your best friend, Ben Organa can’t put your finger on it. Guess that’ll be a problem for later you.

Read on AO3 here!

“Do you have to leave,” Ben whined. You gave him a short laugh as you packed your suitcase. He had come over when you sent Anubis, your cat, to deliver him a letter, telling him that you and your parents were leaving for Paris for the summer.

Ben sprawled his large body across your bed, looking over the various records you had imported from America- you were currently obsessed with Motown music. Diana Ross’ soulful voice filled your bedroom, singing of love and warm embraces. “Yes, of course I do,” you responded, albeit a little disgruntled seeing him put his feet on your bedsheets.

“Feet. Off. Now,” emphasizing with a lighthearted wack on his nice black boots. Ben let out a loud groan, adjusting his massive body. He had grown so much over the past few years, you had too but not nearly as much as him. Ben liked to joke that you were an entire foot shorter than him but that was further from the truth.

“How long will you be in Paris then?”

You stopped folding the corduroy skirt in your arms, “I’m not sure, truthfully. Father says we should pack for the entire summer just to be safe but I suspect he doesn’t wish to stay so long.”

“Good, because I will apparate there to get you and bring you home,” he lightheartedly admitted.

“Oh, hush Ben, you know you’re not allowed to apparate.”

“Actually, little Miss Fontaine, being the appointed son of the wizarding community, you should be keen on noticing that I can do whatever I want.”

You gave the dense boy a panned look, cocking an eyebrow. “You say that yet you’ve seldom gotten in trouble since I met you!” Ben grabbed one of your plushies from your bed, a black bear that you had since childhood, and tossed it in your general direction. “Hey!”

The laughter that filled your bedroom felt like literal sunlight on a depressing day, you always felt joy being around your one truest friend. “Listen, just be safe okay?” You gave him a soft grin and nodded.

“I’ll try,” you raised your hands innocently, “there’s no guarantee that trouble won’t find me.”

“Remind me why you have to leave again,” Ben whined.

You turned around and had your back to him as you went though your salves and tinctures, thinking of which ones to pack with you. “Apparently the Ministry is sending my father to Paris for some project and he’d be gone too long so my mother and I are going with him.”

“Yeah, but,” he sighed, hugging a pillow close, “Why? My mother has said nothing about sending you guys down there. It doesn’t make sense.”

You turned to face him once again, leaning against your desk. “Then, I don’t know. My father got a parcel the other day and there was a letter and some book. That’s all I know.”

“I wonder why you’re being sent to Paris then. Sounds nice but, not for that long.”

You sat next to him on your bed, your tan wool skirt crinkled around your waist. He rose to sit, facing you. A small frown was setting on his lips, “Promise me you’ll be safe?”

You let out an airy laugh, “I said I’ll try!”

He grabbed your hand. “I’m not playing around. There’s been whispers of something bad happening,” he pauses. “It’s been driving my mother and the rest of the Ministry up the walls. You’re my best friend, if anything happened to you and I couldn’t do anything to help? I’d be devastated.”

“Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise. Besides,” you assured him, “My father is the strongest wizard I know!”

Your father was the head Auror at MACUSA when your family lived in America, but since his transfer due to some unfortunate situations, your family was uprooted and he accepted a lowly title with the Ministry of Magic.

It didn’t mean much to you but you knew how strong and powerful your father was, the only thing wrong with him was loving a no-maj, a muggle. Shame was never in your vocabulary whenever it came to who your parents were, but it was something you weren’t fond of talking about, even to Ben.

“I thought I was the strongest wizard you knew!”

You stuck your tongue at him and jumped up to finish packing. Ben stayed, as he always did. Your home was the one place where he felt safe enough to let his guard down, knowing that you would never sell him out to the Daily Prophet. This was the one place he felt content.

The rest of the day felt more of the same, jovial chatting between the two of you until the moment you had to leave. Ben was given permission to temporarily move into your home while your family was gone, “No, I couldn’t allow that Mr. Fontaine.”

“Enough with the formality, Ben, you’re family to us. You know to call us by our first name. Say it with me now, Atlas and Luna.”

Faintly, you could hear your mother laughing in the next room, preparing the area in the kitchen for your portkey travels.

Ben looked at you, only mildly defeated. “Atlas, I don’t feel entirely too comfortable just moving in.”

Your mother took this to come join you all in the living room, “Here then, take this.” She handed him an old charm of hers that your father, Eric, casted a spell on back in America when the two first began dating.

The charm was in the shape of a small simple silver ring, and would allow Ben entry to their home safely and quietly whenever he pleased. “I- Thank you, Mrs- I mean, Luna. Thank you. I’ll be sure to take care of it.

Your family left, choosing to travel by portkey. As your family arrived in Paris, the sun was kissing the sky goodnight as the moon slowly rose over the eastern horizon.

The summer home was fairly nice, it was located in the Quartier de Purpliers, just off Rue Damesme. The house was two stories and looked like it was pulled out of a French Art Nouveau gallery.

The walls were decorated in dark contrasting colors depicting women of all shapes and sizes, many of which winked at you as you would walk by. You laid a hand on the stairwell railing, giving each magical portrait a polite greeting.

In your temporary bedroom, there was a framed portrait with a small plaque reading: Divan Japonaise, a lithograph by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec raised above the bed.

“Oh, hello,” you put your trunk and enchanted satchel down.

The woman in the painting looked over her shoulder and nodded at you, acknowledging your presence. Her sly smirk kind of irked you, as if she knew what your future held and wanted to bare witness silently. Your mother explained that the house was used for Ministry personnel only and therefore magical friendly so you only hoped that this was her general look, hoping others took notice of her mystery.

There was a tapping on your window, somewhat spooking you. When you approached it, you spotted Athena, Ben’s loving owl, in all her grey glory with a wax sealed letter in her beak. “Come inside, little one.”

She flew into the room and landed on the bare desk in the corner. She dropped the letter as soon as you gave her obligatory head rubs. As soon as she let out a gentle hoot, Anubis came running up the stairs, wanting to greet his dearest friend too.

You gave a small chuckle at the two getting cozy on your bed as you sat at the desk and opened the letter from none other than Ben Organa.

“Didn’t think I’d write so soon? Of course I did. Well, I forgot to mention when I left that mother dearest has to attend another gala later this summer in London. She’s bringing me along but I wanted to know if you’d want to go- as friends, you know? I’ll let you know when the date of the gala is later and you don’t have to worry about a dress or anything. I’m sure mother will have something with her people set up. Anyways, let me know, we miss you already here. Ben.”

You laughed out loud at his letter, he writes like he talks sometimes. You turned to the two furry friends on your bed, “Athena, would you mind if I sent a letter back with you? You can rest here for tonight.”

The great horned owl gave you another hoot and tucked herself back into the snuggle pile with Anubis, graciously accepting the rest period. You would send a reply with nothing short of the same humor and lightheartedness as his, accepting the invitation and looking forward to going back to London for a few days as you were positive you would be a little homesick for the city.

The letter set you brought with you contained your favorite seal, a soft purple wax and your stamp marked with a bushel of lavender. Ben gifted you this set for your first winter celebration as friends six years ago, he even got the wax enchanted so it would never run out. He always knew how to give the best gifts, they were always well thought out and items that could be useful and practical. This warmed your heart very much.

Grabbing one of your spare pens you wrote back, “I’m glad to hear from you so soon. Athena stayed the night so I hope you won’t be too worried for her, she’s enjoying some time with Anubis on the bed. To answer your question though, yes! I think it’ll be fun, just keep me informed, I’ll let my parents know. I think I have some floo powder somewhere, if not maybe see if I can get special permission from Madam Minister to apparate back home. Hint hint. Anubis and I miss you dearly. XO, Little Miss Fontaine.”

You slowly folded the letter together into a pocket, making sure to add a small snippet of lavender under the seal. It was always fun being a little extra with your snail mail. Behind you, you could hear both yours and Ben's companions resting peacefully but as for you, there was something that gnawed on the back of your mind, filling this night with restlessness.

If there was only an answer to your worries, you felt there might have been a small reprieve.

[roseskiesandbutterflies]

Killer Queen: Chapter 8 - Scandal

Summary: Life is easy when things go your way. I know this from experience. I also know that that can disappear in an instant and that you have to be able to rely on your friends. Luckily my name is Arabella Ruth White and I’m the fifth marauder. But I want to show you the girl behind the mask. It takes a lot of work to be this fabulous, darling.

A/N: If I got any information about Diwali incorrect, please let me know so I can change it. I'm not Hindu and all of my research was done online and I dread to think how reliable that actually is. Also, happy late Diwali since it wasn't that long ago. That's a lie but let me have this, please.

Drunk Ruth is the funniest thing I've written in a while also more writers need to try writing drunk narrators for their stories because some wack shit comes out of that. Bonus points if alcohol is not featured in the scene at all. Double bonus points if you're writing in the third person. Extra double bonus points if the narrator almost reveals important events that haven't happened yet (could be used as a plot device). The drunkenness was definitely not inspired by the amount of Echo Falls I had last night.

Me?? Including my feminist shit in my stories?? More likely than you think. Please don't start arguing over abortion in the comments though, please. Thank you kindly. I just felt the need to yeet in my opinions about it after all the shit that happened in the USA. 

Sorry for not updating for about six months. It is a bit ridiculous, I know, but oh well. Half-term ended up being a lot busier than anticipated and I had a lot of writer's block and procrastination when I finally got around to writing this. And I did my research and Diwali actually fell on Sirius's birthday in 1975. You would not believe how happy I was about that. If you caught the Brooklyn Nine-Nine reference I love you. The title for this chapter came from Queen's 1989 album, The Miracle. 

Word Count: 3.2k+ (hopefully that makes up for the delay)

Inspiration: You Can’t Make Me Love You by -FromEden- on Wattpad, All The Young Dudes by MsKingBean89 on AO3, The Boy Who Killed God by @sirius-black-killed-god 

Warning(s): talk of pregnancy and abortion, underage drinking (although it’s in the UK so it’s fine lmao), swearing

Tag List: @bhmay @briarrose26 @bijoukitty

Ask to be on my tag list! Let me know if it’s for a specific fandom(s). The full list is in my bio. Also let me know if you’re on my tag list already but you only want to be on it for a specific fandom(s) I won’t be offended if you ask as long as you’re polite about it tehe.

Never before had Diwali fell on and around Sirius's birthday. James had joked about it many a time in the past but the look on his face when he discovered the date of the next new moon in Astronomy was one of surprise and amusement. This meant Sirius's usual birthday celebrations - a.k.a. a ridiculous party - would have to be slightly altered. Not that the birthday boy minded an awful lot. He was rather fond of the traditions involved and his face lit up like the diyas themselves. The day before had been spent creating Rangoli patterns on the floor of their room, Kingsley thankfully not minding as it was part of James's culture. Also, as it had been a Hogsmede weekend, we spent the majority of the day following James around so he could buy new things for the Hindu new year. And also to get Sirius's birthday presents when he was too distracted by the games in Zonko's. 

James's parents had sent a huge box fall of diyas, all varying in colour and size, that had required four owls to carry. Along with it was a lovely heartfelt letter to all of us, reminding to stay safe and revise and all that, but to also have fun with whatever we were getting up to. James definitely teared up at one point but he remained in denial. Silly billy.

Now, after knowing James for a good four years, my knowledge of Hinduism was rather extensive, if I do say so myself. So according to James, Diwali lasts for five days with different festivities on each day. This year, it had started on Halloween so as soon as we returned from our epic prank, we quickly set up with the help of a spell or two and then let James do his thing. The same pattern repeated until now, which was the fourth day of the celebrations and James's favourite day, in his not-so-humble opinion.

Last night had been spent by setting off as many fireworks as we could possibly do, using the fact that it was Diwali to our advantage. They couldn't exactly tell us off for celebrating a festival, right? 

Today was the first day of the Hindu New Year so, of course, we had stayed up last night to welcome it properly. This meant we were all a little tired, especially since we woke up a little earlier too.

The night to come appeared to be rather busy so, while Peter went to get some breakfast for us all, we set up the new diyas, cleared the ones that had burned out last night and fixed the slightly smudged rangoli patterns. Once James had declared everything good enough for tonight - which, as you can imagine, took quite some time - we headed down for our first lesson of the day.

Fucking Herbology.

Sirius did, on many occasions throughout that lesson claim that since it was his birthday, he legally didn't have to be there because he was "Sirius McFucking Black and no man can tell me what to do from this day forward".

Unfortunately for him, Professor Sprout was no man and in fact a very angry woman who "will still give you detention Mr Black if you continue with that language in my classroom".

Suddenly, a petite, barn owl flew in the classroom with a letter in its beak. This could only mean one thing: an escape route. I rapidly tapped on the arms of the boys, not once taking my eyes off of the owl, "Teacher owl, teacher owl, teacher owl, teacher owl."

They all snapped their heads up to look at said owl, who was now perched on Sprout's desk. The teacher took the note - the owl took its leave - and she read it carefully, squinting. A look of both gratitude and distaste made its way onto her face. Definitely for one of us, then. The boys seemed to think the same as I was met with excitement and intrigued looks when I turned to them.

"White!" Sprout's voice boomed throughout the greenhouse, holding up the letter. Groans of disappointment rippled throughout the class and people started going back to their work. She handed me the letter and I opened it without haste.

Dear Miss White,

Please go to my office right away. This is a matter of urgency. You are not in trouble but this does, however, concern your family.

Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore.

P.S. I have been rather fond of chocolate frogs lately.

Now, unsurprisingly, I had received enough of these notes in the past to know that the whole chocolate frog thing was just a hint for the password. Not very subtle but oh well. The matter at hand was obviously what the fuck this was about. I wasn't in trouble for starters which was, quite frankly, weird. A million possibilities ran through my mind as to what this could be about. It involved my family and was serious. Did someone die? Merlin forbid it but at the current state of the wizarding world, I couldn't help but consider it. It was certainly a possibility, as much as I wished it wasn't.

"What does it say then?" James asked in an extremely disheartened tone.

"I need to go and see ye olde Dumbledore. Doesn't say why," I started packing up my stuff to leave.

"Someone's in trouble!" Sirius said in a sing-song voice that made me want to punch him in the face.

"No, it clearly says I'm not in trouble, you dickhead!" I yelled as I smugly strolled out of the greenhouse.

"Bitch!"

"Twat!"

"Prick!"

"Wanker!" I ran out as quickly as I could after that, leaving Sirius to get into trouble with Sprout. That was my birthday present for him. I practically sprinted to Dumbledore's office, every cell in my body bursting with curiosity. Once I arrived, I pretty much fell into his office from pure exhaustion. Exercise and I were not on good terms. I picked myself up from my mostly ungraceful entrance to see two people already sitting opposite the headteacher. 

"Ah, Arabella, glad to see you received my note. Take a seat," Dumbledore greeted me and gestured to the chair closest to me. I cautiously took it and only then did I get to finally see who I had the pleasure of having this meeting with. None other than the Head Girl and Boy. Or otherwise known as my cousin and her boyfriend. Melanie and Filip. The golden students of Hogwarts. Everybody idolised them and for good reason. Seemingly perfect, they were the Athena and Apollo of our school. Smart but not bookworms. Kind but not pushovers. Beautiful but not vain. So it was no surprise to anyone when the titles they held were bestowed upon them. I, for one, did not believe in soulmates but Melanie and Filip came pretty damn close. Melanie was the daughter of my mother's twin sister. Two years older than me although I think I had corrupted her more than she had me. The type of cousin that you only saw once in a blue moon but when you did, all hell broke loose and you had the time of your lives. I knew very little of Filip but his reputation of being an all-around nice guy preceded him for miles. Their presence was some form of comfort to me because I couldn't possibly be in trouble if they were here too.

"May I ask what this is about?" I looked around the room for it had fallen silent. Melanie uncharacteristically refused to look at anything other than her lap. Filip was gazing off into the distance as if he was a model. Dumbledore was just being Dumbledore so no changes there, not that I expected any.

"Melanie, would you like to explain?" the headmaster asked to which the girl in question frantically shook her head.

"I can't," her voice, no louder than a whisper, broke halfway through. My heart instantly dropped, this couldn't possibly be good. She was usually so strong, so independent. I didn't recall ever seeing her cry so this must be a big deal. Filip grasped her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Filip?" Dumbledore tried a different strategy. 

Clearly struggling with his words, he ended up just murmuring, "Melanie's pregnant."

And so it seemed that even the finest china you had ever seen could be chipped. Misfortune would always be lurking somewhere in the shadows, ready to strike at any given moment. Nobody was ever safe from it, not even the few angels who walked among us. Out of all of my friends, Melanie would be one of the last I would suspect of being pregnant. This list of friends included my male friends so that was saying something. 

But at the same time, who was I to judge her? It wasn't as if I was a virgin either. That ship sailed a long time ago. She was allowed to do whatever (and whoever, if you know what I mean) she wanted. Providing she wanted this to happen. Not the baby but the cause of it. Some people can be absolute twats sometimes but if the father was indeed Filip, surely that wasn't the case.

Regardless of how it occurred, they now had to work out what they were going to do about it. Would they be expelled? Arrested? They were both 17 and therefore adults in the wizarding world. They would be fine, right?

"Ari?" Melanie spoke up, audibly calmer than before and much more like the Melanie I knew and loved, "Say something please."

Only then did I realise that my rather extensive thought track meant that I had not yet said anything. "Sorry, I just- what are you planning to do about it?" That was my top priority for I needed to know how to support her. I couldn't care less about her decision but I did care about her.

"Wait, you're not mad?" relief visibly flooded every cell in her body like a waterfall. I hated that she had been expecting anger and disgust when I would never be like that towards her, even if I wanted to.

"Darling, of course, I'm not mad! These things happen, OK? I just need to know what you want to do about it."

She bit her lip and exchanged a quick glance with Filip, who had been gradually relaxing since I had first spoken, "We're not sure just yet if I'm honest. I was wondering what you had to say on the matter?"

"I will support you no matter what," I answered truthfully, "You want to have the baby? You have the baby! I will be that aunt who corrupts it as much as possible and you know it. But if you're not ready then just abort it! No one will hate you if you do, it's just a fetus the size of a grain of rice for crying out loud! It's entirely up to you, my dear."

"Well said," Melanie smiled slightly. Dumbledore cleared his throat and we all turned to him.

"Just as Arabella kindly put it, you do indeed have the choice. The baby won't be due until August and, seeing as you will no longer be at Hogwarts by then and will both be 18, you hold the right to keep it."

A long, rather awkward silence ensued, which was understandable given the situation. Melanie's glazed eyes told me she was deep in thought but a small, impatient part of me just wanted to break her from her trance, shake her up and down and yell at her to make a decision. I told myself to shut the fuck up because this was a huge decision to make and could potentially affect the rest of her life. Regardless of her choice, this would become something that would certainly loom over everything for a while at least. Besides, it was easy for me to tell her to hurry up because I wasn't going to be the one to raise the damn child. Or children. Twins were common in our family. Luke and Rhea for example. And my mum and Melanie's mum too.

"I'm going to keep it," Melanie whispered. I almost missed it due to the voices inside my head. I still didn't believe it.

"Really?" I asked, sounding a lot more incredulous than I intended.

"Yeah, I, sorry, we," she squeezed Filip's hand back, "We always knew we would have kids after Hogwarts, so why not get a head start?"

I had to admit she made a valid point and, if the look on Filip's face was anything to go by, this baby would grow up having two loving parents. Though, I couldn't ignore my instincts screaming at me to stop her, to tell her that this was a bad idea, to tell her that this wasn't going to go according to plan because nothing ever does. Even while I watched Dumbledore promise to hide the pregnancy. Even while I watched their faces of glee at the realisation that they were going to be parents. Even while I said my goodbyes and left the office. Even then I stayed silent. Because who was I to try and control my cousin's body?

*********

The second lessons ended for the day, Minnie collected James so she could take him to the Mandir in Edinburgh, as worship and seeing family was an important part of Diwali. He wouldn't be back until after dinner so we spent the time 'studying' to get Remus off of our backs and then set up for the party later on. Without Sirius looking of course. Although I must say getting him to bugger off for a while was easier than expected and may or may not have involved an extreme game of fetch. Let's just say that Snivellus wasn't all that pleased to find me lobbing his beloved textbook down the stairs.

All of the stairs.

Personally, I found it hilarious but Lily had a slight difference of opinion. Even when I tried to defend myself and call it my other birthday present to Sirius.

Regardless, it got one of my crackhead friends out of my hair for a while. We managed to hang banners from the ceiling, enchant a disco ball to whizz around like a not-as-dangerous bludger and cast a spell that meant glitter would just hover in the air to give the common room a glitzy feel to it.

Perfect for Sirius's sixteenth birthday. Although that concept alone was a little hard to comprehend. The fact that he had the mental age of a six-year-old was seriously convincing me that his birth certificate was wrong. That would explain a lot except he was still a fucking tall bastard. Although seen as I was only five feet one, everyone was tall compared to me. Apart from Alice, the fucking midget. She may or may not be only half an inch shorter than me but that half an inch made all the difference ('That half an inch made all the difference': title of Marlene's sex tape). 

Moving on, the party itself started at around 9 so as to give everyone enough time to get ready. In that time, I managed to throw on a silver glittery jumpsuit with flowy legs and matching heels, do my hair and makeup and put on my accessories; all of which take longer than you first expect. An animated look was painted onto Sirius's face when we gave him permission to open his eyes and see what we had definitely put effort into creating for him. 'Permission' seems like a strong word until you learn that we had to hex his eyes shut to prevent premature peeking. We know him too well.

We had David Bowie records blasting from my poor record player all night, and while I tried to sneak in a couple of Queen ones every now and then, James just reprimanded me, saying that "it should be up to the birthday boy" and that "I would get my turn in a few weeks anyway". To which I did what I do best and sulked next to the drinks table by myself, thinking of ways to piss James off that I would almost certainly forget by the time I was sober. I was coming up with ways to fuck up the wanker's beloved broom while having a few gulps of what I believed was firewhiskey, when Remus approached me, tension oozing from every part of him. He grabbed the rest of my drink, downed it all in one go without a trace of a grimace, before turning to me and huffing deeply.

"What's up, buttercup?" Okay, so I might not have been entirely sober enough to deal with can-and-will-kill-you-if-you-do-so-much-as-breathe Remus but I'd be damned if I didn't give it a good go. Besides he wouldn't dare murder me. He loves me but he's bloody terrified at the same time, the same goes for pretty much everyone now I think about it. 

Okay back to the issue at hand. Remus just gave me one of those looks that pierces your soul so sharply that you have to look down to make sure you haven't just been stabbed. Once I got past that armour of I-know-your-entire-life-story-and-I-would-sell-it-for-half-a-pizza-and-a-milkshake, I found a look of such hopelessness that I found myself unwillingly sobering up slightly, "Darling, what's going on?" I leaned in, knowing full well that he was going to be as quiet as possible with his reply. God, I know too much about these crackheads.

Of course, I was right with this assumption as he mumbled, "I got into a fight with Idania," he looked at me with a sorrow that I wasn't used to seeing in any of my friends, let alone at a party.

But I could only see red because I don't care you the fuck you are if you hurt any of my friends then you better fucking pray for your life. Jaw visibly clenched, voice dangerously quiet, "Where is she?" My temper was inches away from bubbling over when he didn't respond, "Where the fuck is she, Remus?"

I made to move, tunnel vision without even knowing what happened, but he grabbed my arm first, an iron grip from years of stopping me from launching punches at certain people, "No, Ruth. I wouldn't let you even if I knew where she was." He stared at me in a way that was scarily reminiscent of McGonagall and I knew I couldn't just leave him like that.

"What happened then?" I was trying my hardest to calm down and decided that my best shot was to drink some more.

"She saw some of my scars and asked where I got them from and I wouldn't say and it just escalated from there. What was I supposed to say? There's nothing you can say in that situation that won't worry her," he sighed and gulped another drink down.

I furrowed my brows, concentrating on thinking of a solution, though nothing came to mind. He had a point after all, what do you say when that happens? It all comes down to violence in one way or another and you can never not stress someone out with a cause of pain. "She'll come round if she's worth keeping."

A tiny flicker of hope danced in his eyes, minuscule but still there, "I hope to Merlin you're right."

"Honey, same," I pushed a cup of something into his hand and grabbed one for myself," But for now, we can get pissed off our asses and worry about this tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Oh fuck yes."

[sixinsultsago]

and you're jumping into the middle of it

Andrew as Medusa & Neil as... Neil

* * *

Imagine:

Someone's pulling a gun, and you're jumping into the middle of it.

You didn't think you'd feel this way.

* * *

The sun sunk low, a purple darkness steadily shaving away at whatever light remained. Neil was running out of time. He'd blown through the only town for miles; after discovering statues of several gods in the middle of town square, Neil knew he couldn't linger. The devout couldn't be trusted, his mother taught him that much.

His feet felt raw. Every step felt like the absolute last he could endure, but rest wasn't an option. If he sat down to catch his breath or rest his bloody soles, the sun would wink it's farewell and Neil would…

Well.

There was a temple at the crest of a hill, bathed in the orange light of sunset like an invitation. As if it was wished there. Mary's cold presence in the back of Neil's head screamed louder — the faithful were puppets, they couldn't help. His chances of surviving were better gambled against the dark.

Neil blocked her out. She wasn't here to see what he saw. The temple was in ruins: moss and vines grew from cracks in the marble and stone, scaling up the walls. Greenery swallowed the large owl carved at the front — the mark of Athena, and the final push for Neil. No one who worshipped Athena would allow that.

This temple was empty.

Neil pushed himself up the hill using willpower alone. Closer, the temple looked even worse. It was definitely in ruins. Neil wasn't sure if it was safe to sleep in, as the roof was cobwebbed with gaps and the heavy stone door was firmly shut.

No, humans couldn't live here, or pray here, or sacrifice here, and no god would lower themselves to walk on the wet, mossy floors.

Neil set his shoulder against the door, pushing until it dragged open. In the silence, the high-pitched groaning of the stone was painfully loud. Inside was empty — no one to disturb out of sleep, this was obvious from the outside. Neil couldn't rest yet. He used flint and steel from his pockets to light every candle he could see, taking paranoid glances out windows to check on the sun, but they were so dirty it was impossible to see out of them. Neil relied on his internal clock and worked faster.

He opened a cut on his arm and wrote protective sigils on the walls to guarantee nothing could come in while he slept. He barely finished when his arm was twisted, and someone slammed Neil into the wall.

“Oh, a visitor! You people never learn."

Neil grunted, trying to throw the person off. They didn't budge an inch. He had to be a demigod, then, or worse — like Lola.

But whoever this was, Neil didn't recognize them. A new lackey? That didn't sound like his father. After all, he kept things in the family, resenting strangers who tried to interfere.

The hissing made Neil freeze. It sounded like… snakes. A lot of snakes.

A puff of breath brushed past him, a facsimile of a laugh. “They did not tell you everything, I see, for the snakes to surprise you. Or did you forget about them? Such stupidity wouldn't be new,"

Neil gritted his teeth. His arm was still bleeding. He could — could — use magic, but his connection to Hecate was diluted. His mother was the witch. Neil's powers were subtler, and useless with the candles lit up and the sunlight runes scattered on the walls. This person spoke as if Neil should know him. So did he?

No. No, he didn't.

“Get off me,” Neil snarled, attempting to jerk his shoulder away.

His nose ground against the stone as he was shoved harder. “Who sent you?”

“What? No one sent me!”

“I am not so stupid to believe you. I said, who sent you?”

“Why would anyone send me? I'm nothing, I was just looking for somewhere to— shit!”

Neil's arm was twisted further. The voice still sounded bored. “I've heard this one before. I am not so generous as to let a stranger sleep in my home only for him to try and kill me in the night. You should give up while you're ahead.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Neil snapped, blindly kicking out his leg. Sadly, he missed. “And I don't know why people keep trying to kill you, but if this is how you greet strangers I'm beginning to understand the urge, asshole!”

A small forked tongue flicked against his cheek. Neil froze, reminded of the snakes. Were they around this man's shoulders? So close? He wouldn't let venomous snakes near his face, would he?

“If you're so confident you don't know who I am,” said the man, mocking, “why not face me?”

Before Neil could comment on the impossibility, he was released. Neil whirled around instantly, eyes cutting to the exit — the heavy door. The windows were covered in vines. Usually his divine blood gave Neil an edge over others, but this person was stronger than him: who knew what else was up his sleeves?

Reminded of the primary threat, Neil looked at his attacker. He was smaller than Neil — a novelty by itself — wearing a chiton made out of dark fabric. He was pale, probably from all the skulking around in the dark he did, Neil thought uncharitably, and had a full head of writhing black-and-yellow tree snakes.

The man stood a safe distance from Neil, arms crossed over his chest. One hand stroked along the leather gauntlets he wore. They looked full. Weapons? Was he armed? Neil's chances of surviving suddenly tasted bitter.

“I told you to face me,” said the man.

“You have — snakes,” said Neil, before viciously biting down on his tongue.

“What about them?” He replied flatly. The snakes let out a discordant cry. “I notice you have not looked me in the eye. Is there a reason? A lack of manners? An awareness?”

An awareness? Neil put that aside to judge later. For now, his sheer need to be contrary won out over self-preservation, and he lifted his chin and stared his attacker in the eyes. They were hazel. Nothing special, but still more striking than Neil's purposeful brown. A gift from his mother: a sheen of magic that covered Neil's real color.

The man flinched back. The snakes grew louder. Neil's question if the man was armed was answered when he found a knife at his throat.

The man peeled his lips back from his teeth, completely feral, yet his voice was controlled when he asked, “Who the fuck are you.”

“No one,” Neil tried, only to try again when the knife cut into him, “Neil! I'm Neil Josten!”

“Which kingdom do you belong to?”

“What — a kingdom?” Neil spluttered, “I've never even seen a castle before.”

“Then you're a pawn of the gods. That makes sense. Who else could be responsible for…” Their eyes met again. Neil couldn't read the flurry of emotions passing through them, but he was wary nonetheless. “You're a demigod, which is obvious. You would have to be just to open the door. Tell me your parent.”

“I'm not a—”

“Would you lie to me with a knife on your jugular?”

Neil would. Lying was something of a bad habit of his. If this man lived in this temple only to let it fall into disrepair, he couldn't be fond of the pantheon. This was Athena's place, one of the sacred. Neil couldn't tell him the truth and hope he'd be intimidated into letting Neil go. In fact, honesty seemed like the surefire way to get his throat sliced open.

So, Neil said, “Momus! My father is — that's him, it's Momus.”

“God of mockery,” he said thoughtfully, “It makes a certain amount of sense. What better way to mock me than to send his curiously immune son to my home?”

“What exactly do you think I'm immune to?” Neil asked, smiling thinly. “Your shitty attitude?”

The man blinked. “I believe you,” He said. The knife slipped back into his gauntlets. Neil couldn't resist. He said, “Do you have sheaths in there, or are you trying to kill yourself?”

“There is no need to convince me further of your parentage.”

“I'm not. I am just pointing it out. So — you aren't going to kill me?”

“That depends. Are you going to kill me?”

Neil shot him a look. “Do I need to in order to get a moment of peace? Because I'd rather avoid it.”

That seemed to do it. The man stepped back again, his body still rigid with tension but not a worrying amount of violence. Neil wasn't in danger unless he put himself there. He jerked his chin over Neil's shoulder, asking, “And what's the story behind your crafts project?”

Neil considered his words carefully. “They are protection runes. To keep people out.”

“You have a need for it?’

“I'm not fond of being hassled, no.”

“Hm. Okay." He tilted his head. Neil didn't enjoy the silhouette. With the snakes and all. "Andrew.”

Neil blinked owlishly. “What?”

“My name, fool. I do have one.”

“Obviously. I just wasn't—” Neil sighed frustratedly. He didn't know what this guy's problem was, but if it meant he could stay the night, Neil could put up with it. He met Andrew’s eyes challengingly. “Nice to meet you, Andrew.”

Andrew's lips curled up. Even that had an edge. The snakes were knotted up, docile, or presenting themselves as such. Neil didn't trust it. Neil didn't trust any of this.

“I have a feeling that you are a pathological liar, Neil Josten.”

Neil, unwilling to risk it, stared emptily back at him. Andrew looked away first, something complicated flashing through his face. “Be out by morning light,” Andrew told him, and stormed into the secluded priest's room, slamming the wooden door behind him. The lock clicking into place echoed.

Nothing more to be done, Neil laid down beneath a bench, and settled in for a restless night's sleep.

[justadadonthenet]

Loser’s Club as camp half blood kids hc

(These are terribly organized I’m so sorry, all under the cut)

Stan: deffo an Athena kid, look at that little logic man and tell me he’s not Athena. He would be extremely talented on the battle field but would rarely want to fight (besides, why do that when he could command his battalion in capture the flag) and he somehow befriended an owl in his third year at camp and it’ll do whatever he wants (including keeping richie in check)

Ben: also in the Athena cabin, but one of the softer of them. Always wins when they’re tasked with a building competition cause he actually reads up on what types of structures work best,,he would develop and design all of the Athena cabin weaponry and would specially design stuff for stanley. Their cabin is the coolest one because Ben is always reconstructing as needed, and it’s never too full because he has somehow developed a building that expands as needed, but only on the inside. This kid is fucking gifted.

Mike: Jesus imagine my boy mike as a Persephone kid that’s the cutest shit I’ve ever seen,,,persephone kids are almost as rare (if not more) than big three kids, so he lives in the Demeter cabin. the whole camp would adore him and the wood nymphs would love talking to this ~one~ boy because he has major respect for all parts of nature,, he would grow lil flowers to give to everyone and would make flower crowns for bev,,and although he is a little flower child he takes capture the flag VERY seriously if he’s up against his Losers. (The wood nymphs love doing favors for him such as tripping richie and taking bev’s sword right out of her hand)

Richie: holy fuck he would definitely end up head of the Hermes cabin (somehow) and he would be worse than the Stoll brothers combined,,,don’t ask how he managed to acquire a dildo tree or get a Trojan horse to camp without anyone noticing, he’s also ~conveniently~ part messenger god, which makes sending pranks to people even easier (also imagine the first time he tries to use the winged converse y i k e s there was definitely a face plant in there)

Bill: listen,,,,he would definitely be a Zeus kid if he wasn’t such an angery piece of shit,,, so you better believe he is one of the softest Hades kids to ever enter that camp,,,when he got bored he’d summon cool rocks and shit. As soon as he hears of Nico being able to summon the dead he pesters him into teaching him, learning extremely quickly how to summon spirits. Every once in a while the losers cant find bill, cause he’s sitting in a hidden cave he managed to create, talking to Georgie

Bev: listen my fiery girl would obviously be an Ares kid. She may be the nicest in the cabin, but you’re dead wrong if you think for a second she wouldn’t beat your ass if provoked. Her and Stan definitely have a friendly rivalry in capture the flag (or any battle-related activity, for that matter.) she loves her bf Ben but she can’t help but coaxing the latest Athena cabin weaponry plans out of him. Ben goes to mush as soon as Bev talks to him, and every thought he had of keeping the developments to the cabin goes out the door with one look into those eyes. Coincidentally, next week’s capture the flag battle is between Ares and Athena, and Ben is completely lost as to how the Ares cabin somehow had counter measures for all of their weaponry,, he’d been planning them for months, and had picked through all of the Ares cabin’s tactics previous to this, how did they know? Let’s just say stan was HEATED

Eddie: okay with an idiot of a boyfriend like richie (who constantly forgets where he sets up traps during capture the flag) eddie needs to be able to fix his boy. He may not seem like an Apollo boy other than the fact that he’s wicked good at being camp medic, but he’s getting pretty dialed in on his foresight (even though it only consistently reaches about an hour into the future.) still, this makes fixing up his idiots easier, as he knows exactly what to pack in his magic fanny pack (think Leo’s tool belt) before every capture the flag (even though he no longer needs it, after realizing that it wasn’t his drugs healing him but his own abilities). After LOTS of practice, Eds walks up to richie, touches his forehead, and richie fucking loses his shit because h o l y s h i t why is everything so blurry??? Before taking his glasses off and crying because everything is in focus

Also:

-bill and mike always help in developing the area for the capture the flag games and make sure it’s aesthetically pleasing, interesting, and different from the last time

-SHIT AND MIKE AND THE DEMETER CABIN MAKE CORN MAZE CAPTURE THE FLAG FOR FALL (complete with spooky scares from the grain nymphs)

-most of the hades kids come and go, so billiam is alone a lot in his cabin, making the hades cabin basically the loser’s cabin for sleepovers

-(bill also sleeps in the Athena cabin a lot cause of the immense space and his bf)

-Eds discovers his poetic abilities when sitting with Ben and trying to think of what to say to ask rich out

-Eds definitely also helps richie write songs

-richie is a large lanky boy but somehow kicks ass when they have track events (its one of the only places he doesn’t trip)

-his biggest threat? Billiam, aka lanky boy #2

-“it’s not fair, he can literally influence the track and make my lane turn into sand!” “S-step up your p-prank game, tozier”

-richie replaces bill’s shoes with some winged ones and Jesus Christ he’s never laughed as hard as he did when bill hit the side of the big house as soon as the race started

-eddie never really pursues his artistic abilities but one time rich has a bad night and sends Eds a message to meet him at the hades cabin (bill is with Stan) and he finds richie panicking over a nightmare so he starts singing to richie and holy shit richie was crying but not cause of his nightmare

-mike always brings flowers to the medics tent and brings some of each patients’ favorites to put at their bedside

-mr d cannot stand richies existence sometimes but all of that is forgotten when richie somehow gets him some ancient bottle of wine that d hasn’t seen in millennia

-whenever eddie sees richie’s laugh or smile the camp gets a lil brighter for a second

-sometimes mike goes and sits with bill while he’s talking to Georgie. He helped him with hiding bill’s little spot, can also (to an extent) contact the dead, and bill trusts him immensely. Bill loves the losers but most of the time he just wants to talk to Georgie alone. When he does invite the losers to come talk, they don’t go to bill’s spot

-I can’t help but imagining mike making all of the losers little flower crowns made of assorted flowers and all of them match the person

-richie has so many laurel wreaths from mike due to his immense list of track records

-they think bill was conceived while the gods were battling with their second self, because he was claimed by hades but has the ability to conjure metals and jewels like Pluto (which is super uncommon when you’re Greek)

-(of course he gets his bf’s cabin some of the best metals for weapons)

-richie somehow gets all of the Good Shit from the outside world into the camp. Nintendo switch? Stan buys it off of him the first day rich has it (along with all the Mario games that comes with it.) cigarettes? Him and Bev share those. Books from libraries across the world? Ben is still amazed as to how richie gets a hold of some of the Ancient Greek texts he sells him but he’s not complaining.

-Eds sometimes misses his boyfriends stupid glasses, so richie finds some hipster glasses and wears them sometimes

-sometimes Eds wishes he had better luck with curses bc sometimes his boyfriend needs to shut the fuck up

-richie and Bev live at camp year round, while bill and Ben often return home, eddie has to go home every break (no matter how short), and mike and stan only goes home on the really long ones

-mike also helps Eddie with finding certain medicinal herbs (richie of course finds the medical marijuana eddie is keeping hidden in his fanny pack)

-instead of “your mom” jokes richie now makes jokes relating to Percy (with only the occasional jokes about mrs k) because come on he’s now the camp mom

-“wait eddie this is so gross that we’re dating cause we’re related” “fuck off richie” “gives me more of a reason to date your mom”

-eddie always makes sure Bill gets enough sunlight,,,that kids depressed enough he needs some vitamin d

-Stan’s owl friend always watches the cabins during the night, and when he sees richie setting trip wires and such on the playing ground, alerts stan

-eddie teaches richie guitar, which he picks up on quickly. It’s one of the only things his Hermes dexterity applies to, and his lankiness gives him a little bit of an advantage

-reddie is the musical power couple that everyone loves during campfires, although Eddie objects every time until richie literally pulls him to the middle of the circle with Eddie on one knee and his guitar on the other

-they have WiFi thanks to richie

-richie sets up sensors on all the cabin doors on April first and the first door to be opened (bill’s) sets off speakers in all the cabins, blasting Africa by Toto at full bass and full volume

-let’s just say eddie didn’t talk to him for four days because WHY WOULD TOU DO TJAT RICHARD

-“wait bill can you have blue fire hair like hades in Hercules??” “Richie I s-swear to god”

-eddie purposely makes it sunny all the time cause he loves the way the sun shines in Rich’s hair and gives him lil freckles :,,,,)

-Ben appreciates the sun too because bev’s hair looks like fire and she gets so many freckles

-Percy stays at camp during breaks cause he knows how lonely it can get and it always helps for richie to have one more friend while most of his are gone

-he adopts richie cause he sees a little bit of himself in that little shithead (and he may use him to long-distance pester Jason with letters rigged to spew water at him as soon as he opens the envelope before pulling out a soggy piece of blue paper that says “hope you’re not missing us too much in California”)

-Annabeth ADORES Ben and Stanley, she basically adopts them as her kids cause Ben is an intelligent little softie and stan is equally intelligent (although in battle strategy rather than crafting)

-Ben loves it when annabeth visits cause he has someone to show his architectural plans to and help him revise them

-Ben gets SUPER good at architecture, so good in fact that he’s literally hired at age sixteen to help in construction in Olympus

-Hermes learned from his mistakes of neglecting his kids, and is sure as hell to visit and talk to richie and the others as often as he can, especially Richie because of his family history

-after the Athena cabin’s plan backfire, stan gets richie’s assistance in payback (he gets the Hephaestus cabin to create weapons that look exactly like the Ares cabins’, but turn into a mini metal figurine of richie doing finger guns as soon as the capture the flag buzzers go off)

-Bev has a rage in her eyes that hasn’t been seen since they defeated IT, and sweet sweet Ben has to hold her back and (try) to calm her down until bill can come in and make her pass out

-she wakes up kicking and screaming with her entire cabin giving up at blocking her from the door and parting like the Red Sea as soon as they see a red glow surrounding her

-this is the one time bill allows a third loser into his cave hiding place, as nobody knows where it is (he made richie pass out as well before taking him into the cave to protect him from the Wrath of Beverly)

-Bev finally calms down (eddie may have put that medical marijuana to use in some special tea he’s formulated)

-mike sometimes just goes and sits in the forest if he can’t sleep. He loves how it looks at night, and how many odd creatures are roaming around

-he meets Grover one night, and they instantly become great friends

-Grover figures out that one of the wood nymphs has a crush on mike, and plays match maker

-the losers notice mike going to the forest more frequently, and while walking back into camp, little patches of flowers grow in his footprints

-when they start dating, mike likes to make his girlfriend’s tree bloom, and changes the color and type of flower each time

-they’re adorable and everyone loves them

-he protects her tree with all costs, as its life is tied to hers

-mr d has definitely found richie in his underwear and a camp Jupiter shirt passed out on the steps of the big house at 6 in the morning, with Richie holding a bottle of fireball

-richie was put on pegasus shit duty for a week, and Eddie refused to rid him of his immense hangover

-somehow richie gets a cat into the camp, its the camp pet and rich always brings it into the med tent to cheer up injured and sickly kids

-the cat mainly lives there, but it goes to bill’s cabin a lot for peace and quiet

-listen,,, the cat would totally have some horrible name that richie makes up like mr noodles and mr d would be so confused as to who mr noodles could be

-Ben my sweet boy and Stanley sometimes sit with mike in the forest during the day. Mike and stan watch the birds, and Ben reads more of the books rich has smuggled in

-richie tozier makes it his goal to get as many aphrodite kids after him as possible (eddie acts like he hates it but knows his idiot would never leave him)

-literally half the Aphrodite cabin is in love with him, and the other half isn’t interested in guys

-richie gets mike to give him assortments of flowers, and brings them to Eddie in the medics tent every morning

-it’s basically like an alarm cause every day, without fail, the sun will shine a little too brightly at 8 am

If you took the time to read all this you’re a Saint and I appreciate you

[silvasboys]

The Hand That Feeds (Part 6)

Days passed, and Marcos never quite surfaced again.

It was too easy to let himself settle into the track of this room with its four white walls. Learning Giovanni’s rules was terrifying, and painful, but once he learned them, things were – for the most part – simple. He was allowed to sleep more frequently, if he followed the rules; he’d been gifted four hours per night for the past three days running. A new record. Rewards for managing descriptions of some of Shade’s crew members, and for information regarding the so-called deity Perro and his shrine. Giovanni was visibly unimpressed by the latter, but had seemed to put some small value in the difficulty with which Marcos conjured the words up. He’d made quick work of another cue, as well; three days after a new tone was introduced, Marcos was quick to get to his feet at the sound of a low-arcing whistle.

The Exterminator was getting impatient, though. Marcos picked up the signals without realizing it most of the time: a tightness to the man’s shoulders, a tiny jerk of his chin, a brusqueness in his words. Subtle signals, carefully controlled and meant to be invisible, but after more than a month Marcos had learned to read them. He’d had to, as the mouse has to learn the signs of the owl.

So he wasn’t surprised when the session deviated from the norm, one numberless day. He dared not try to guess what pressure leaned on Giovanni’s mind, but it had only been a matter of time before something changed. Now he knelt in silence at the center of the room, his shadows reaching out in four directions from the lights overhead, and stared warily at the sleek black dog sitting before him.

“They’re sisters,” Giovanni said. “We will only need one of them today, but they get very anxious when they can’t see each other.”

Diana sat patiently at his side, her posture relaxed though her eyes were as fixed on the pair in the center of the room as Giovanni’s were. Athena was visibly poised; she could smell the cumulative fog of fear in the room, and it smelled like Marcos. She watched him like she watched a treat Giovanni might put on her snout. She wouldn’t move. Not without the right whistle.

Marcos was looking back at her, which Giovanni took special note of; the contact lenses performed as they were meant to, thank God. The lights in the room were dimmed enough to deactivate them and allow Marcos to see. Easily reversed with a brighter light. He would have to thank Bethany later, buy her dinner perhaps. He thought it was strange, suddenly, how far removed that world seemed from the world in here.

“Don’t be afraid of her.” Giovanni’s voice was almost gentle. “She’s very well trained.” And now it was time to see how well Marcos’s training had gone.

Giovanni released the whistle that prompted Marcos to raise his arm, and Athena’s docked tail twitched in anticipation.

Marcos followed the directive without conscious thought. His vision was still dim, to his understanding only partially recovered from whatever procedure Giovanni had had done, and the difficulty with which he picked out the doberman's minute movements only amplified his tension. Lips pressed tightly together, he held the position. He'd never feared a dog without provocation before, but Athena felt like something different. Less of an animal, more an extension of Giovanni. And he certainly feared Giovanni.

“Prendilo,” Giovanni addressed the dog, immediately followed by a sharp “Ay,” when she lurched forward too eagerly. Teeth snapping shut barely an inch from Marcos’s arm, Athena released an impatient whine. “Prendilo,” Giovanni repeated firmly and slowly. The dog’s mouth opened again and her teeth closed gently around Marcos’s wrist. She watched Marcos’s face as if she could hardly stand waiting for him to make the wrong move.

Marcos didn't meet her gaze. His eyes went wide, every muscle tensing, and two reflexive jerks were just barely contained: his left arm, pulling away from the dog, and his right, moving to shove her off. But no - he was not supposed to react. He was sure of that. It was hard, though, with the dog's breath hot on his skin, jaws quivering with repressed aggression. He barely breathed, eyes drifting out of focus.

“Athena’s a bit of a bully,” Giovanni was saying. “Quite impossible to teach her to bite down any way but hard, and once she tastes blood she can be stubborn. But we’re not worried about it, you and I, because we know that she won’t bite unless I tell her to.” He cocked his head to the side, considering the disciplined silhouette of the dog. “She’s the alpha of the two, do you know what that means?”

Marcos shook his head, then had to remind himself to stop doing so. Maybe he knew, maybe he didn’t, but if Giovanni was willing to explain, he’d rather take that than risk a wrong answer.

“It means you are the most inferior animal in the room right now. Not a member of the pack, just something that might taste good to her. She’s expecting you to fuck up, Marcos.” But this was all redundant. Marcos knew his place in this room by now. He knew how the power was distributed and he was learning how to take little pieces.

“I want to talk about Midnight Massacre again today,” Giovanni stated. Athena’s ears swiveled towards him as he spoke, searching for a familiar word. “It’s been some time since we talked about our friend. Did you know he used to be an Exterminator?”

Another negative. It seemed unlikely to Marcos, but he took Giovanni at his word. He didn’t have to believe what the man said, so long as he accepted it as true so far as it had any bearing on himself.

“Mm. He deserted years before I was hired, so I never knew him. But a person like that running off into the desert with an arsenal of company secrets must eventually be marked up on the priority list, you can imagine. And he’s gone and died before he could make himself useful, as you know. Did Midnight ever say anything to you about his time in Battery?” Athena whined quietly again, like a spring of steam. Diana’s ears twitched from where she sat spectating. “Anything at all.”

Giovanni didn’t have to say he would not be taking another ‘no’ for an answer. His tone spoke for him.

Marcos shut his eyes tight, trying hard to forget about Athena’s grip on his arm, trying to order his memories enough to pull something useful from them. Quick, though – he needed to find an answer before Giovanni became impatient. His conversations with Midnight were a jumble, but then –

“He – he stopped taking the m-meds.” It was obvious; he should have remembered immediately. “He was – they’d just started, when he was – when he was on them, they were just s-starting. That’s why he – why he could tell me. About it.”

On another day, a better day, Giovanni might have let that sort of answer slide. He hadn’t refused to answer, even seemed to have given it his best attempt. But they were pressed for time. Giovanni couldn’t afford to be merciful.

“Mordi.” Almost before the entire word had left Giovanni’s mouth, Athena’s jaws flexed open and snapped closed again around Marcos’s arm in a dark flash of movement. Teeth broke skin, a kind of mindless force almost to the point of bending the bone beneath. She growled deep in her chest. “Attento!” Giovanni snapped, making them both flinch. The pressure plateaued.

Marcos was bent nearly double, biting down himself on his right arm to keep from screaming. The dog’s movement might have stopped, but the deep, tearing pain was still spreading, pulsing deeper and deeper with each throb of blood in his ears. Even now, though, despite reflexive jerks and spasms, he kept his left arm raised. He knew what rule he’d broken – not a good enough answer - but the solution wasn’t as easy.

I don’t know, I don’t know anything else –

“H-he – he w-worked with bombs – “ Dangerous. A guess; only one step removed from a lie. But he needed to come up with an answer, any answer, and begging would have been no more effective than pleading ignorance. Both of Marcos’ arms were bleeding now, though his teeth were far less efficient than Athena’s.

“What do you mean, ‘bombs?’” Giovanni’s brow furrowed. Athena continued to snarl, her breath coming out in waves of heat. “Are you saying he was involved with terror attacks against the city? There’s no evidence of that,”

“Mmm.” Marcos shook his head once, quickly. “Ex – explosives, in the ground, he knew – he knew about them, he t-told me to st-stay away from the bridge –“

“Lasialo.”

Athena’s teeth reluctantly released Marcos’s arm, but it was still caged by her mouth. She was stock-still and quiet again, waiting for the next word of permission.

Giovanni slowly folded his arms and paced a little ways, forehead creased slightly in thought. He scrutinized Marcos’s face.

“He knew about military explosive mines? SCARECROW agents planted those, who could have informed him?”

Marcos shuddered at the sensation of the dog’s teeth sliding from his flesh, eyes flicking up to the Exterminator as he tried to read his expression. Surely Giovanni didn’t think Marcos would know something like that.

“I – I thought maybe he – found them –“

“We would have known if he set a mine off… no. No, there must have been an informant.” A glint caught in Giovanni’s eyes like a smile and they bored into Marcos as if he were really addressing him. But he wasn’t anymore; Giovanni’s mouth quirked. His eyes shifted again and he looked at him now, as if he were seeing Marcos for the first time and had only been looking through him before.

“He had an informant.”

Giovanni straightened suddenly. “Tell me everything you remember about the conversation.”

Marcos flinched, though no punishment was forthcoming. What had Midnight said…

“I was – I was biking – I was coming back fr-“ He stopped, closing his eyes and taking two quick breaths. Slow. Get it right.

Another start. “I – was biking back. From Vista. I s-stopped because the bridge was out. Broken. Over a canal, I couldn’t – there were chunks missing. So I asked, just – just over the radio, if anyone knew what happened.” The more he spoke, the easier it was to recall the rest. His eyes opened again, but he wasn’t seeing the room. He remembered the sun, and the dry air, and the chipped plastic of his handlebars. It felt like something real. “He answered. Said I shouldn’t try to cross there, because he thought he knew what was going on, and the city was laying mines. Said I should try somewhere else, and call him if I saw anything that looked like an explosive.”

Marcos had almost forgotten about Giovanni, his words coming more smoothly than they had in weeks. “Didn’t matter, ‘cause when I saw the van I panicked and tried to run. My bike rolled over a mine further up. I’m lucky I wasn’t on it.”

“He wanted you to report back if you came across more? Did you?” Giovanni leaned against the counter as he watched for Marcos’s reaction. He seemed excitable somehow, under the surface, and oblivious to the blood running over Marcos’s arm in rivets, dripping from Athena’s mouth, collecting on the floor.

Marcos blinked at the question, pulled back into the present with a wince. He didn't answer at first, though, distracted by the memories he'd pulled up, trying to reach for them again. "No, I - I set off the mine -" an explosion of sand and rocks, the whole world ringing around him, and then unfriendly hands on him, pulling him up. "They took me back. Lindsey..." the distant look left his eyes, and he bit back a whimper as Athena's jaws twitched. City thoughts just looped him right back to Giovanni.

Giovanni’s gaze snapped back suddenly to the room. He drew closer to Marcos, stopping behind the dog, and leaned down a little so he could peer into Marcos’s eyes. Giovanni’s were like hard, sharp chips of glass. Like the unfeeling lens of a camera.

“Look at me.”

Marcos’ immediate reaction was to do the opposite. His gaze shot to the side, avoiding the challenge inherent in direct contact, and only returned slowly and with concerted effort. His eyes widened, unblinking. The desert faded in his mind; the heat of the sun couldn’t compete with the chill in Giovanni’s dark pupils. He shivered. Athena growled.

There was raw, naked fear in Marcos’s eyes. But Giovanni saw no uncertainty there, no haze of doubt. They were wide and clear in his otherwise cadaverous face.

“I want to know that you’ve told me now about every single interaction you’ve had with Midnight Massacre. Tell me.”

Again Marcos looked away, but in a desperate sort of thought now, eyes tracking in miniscule darts as he searched his memory for anything he might have left out. The homework, the pills, the follow-up when he almost gave in. The mines. What else. He thought that was all, but what if it wasn’t – what if he forgot something, and Giovanni knew –

“It’s everything,” he whispered, meeting Giovanni’s gaze again, his nervous rocking halted immediately by the dog’s grip on his arm. “It’s – I think – it’s all of it-“

“You think?” Giovanni interjected softly. He repeated a command and Athena’s jaws snapped down hard once again, displaced a bit from the first bite mark. She lurched a little as if she could barely restrain herself from shaking Marcos’s arm like a toy, disjoining bone from ligament, ripping muscle–

“I want Better than that, Marcos.”

“It’s everything, it’s everything-!” Marcos nearly screamed the words, doubled over again, arm still raised high though his pinned hand was spasming. He could feel her grinding down, tearing through already-inflamed flesh, a red-hot flash of nerves cut and pinched. Worse, he could feel her need to do so much more than that.

“It’s everything, I promise, it’s – I’m sure, there’s nothing else -!”

Another word and Marcos’s arm was released again--in the same instant, Giovanni clicked a small handheld light to life, shining it into Marcos’s eyes. He commanded the dog to his heel as Marcos’s vision was snuffed out again.

Accomplishment welled in Giovanni’s chest. And relief. He could really begin to finalize this now. Marcos had nothing else to give him. And he was finally approaching that dangerous edge between the remains of himself and something unusable--Giovanni would have to be careful where he made the incision. This was the most delicate part.

“We’re done for today,” he addressed the dracs in the corners without taking his eyes off Marcos, who hunched now with his arm cradled to his chest. Another medic visit was in order, but Marcos had earned it again today. The nails of the dogs scraped against the floor as they prepared to follow Giovanni out. Giovanni patted Marcos’s head as he brought up the rear.

“Good boy.”

[ccosmeticchaos]

Good morning to all my lovely internet friends and friends to be… and Hi Mom, because I know you are my #1 fan.

I was recently nominated for the Liebster award by the lovely ladies over at BeautyHolics101 . Thank you so much to them, and congratulations on their considerably success in the blogging community, they put a considerable amount of effort into their content, and should definitely be in your daily blog repertoire.

How does this work you might ask?

The Rules

Acknowledge the person who nominated you and share their blog.

Share 11 facts about yourself.

Answer the 11 questions that you have been asked.

Nominate 11 more bloggers whose blogs you like.

Ask 11 questions that you would like those bloggers to answer.

Let the bloggers you have nominated know that they’ve been nominated.

The most difficult part of these posts are the 11 facts about me. I don’t know why but its the human condition to want to talk about yourself. It’s just not something I love to do. So here goes…

The Facts

I don’t like to talk about myself

I have two dogs that I love more than life and I miss them the when I walk out the door.

Athena in her watch tower

I wake up at 4:30 in the morning every weekday so I have time to do my makeup, and enjoy the process of getting ready for work, in the quiet.

There is no enjoyment in cooking for me, cooking is about as fun as laundry, or pulling out my leg hairs with tweezers.

I am one of those weird people who actually really likes to work, even if I don’t particularly love the work I am doing. There is some satisfaction in reporting that comes out saying how great I am.

There is a part of me that would love to be a comedian, this is something that I have really noticed in my older years, is how much I like to make people laugh 

I am the most introverted extrovert you could ever imagine could exist in this world.

Music runs my life, if I could remove the song lyrics, chord progressions, and melodies from my brain there would be enough room in there for me to be a surgeon. And I mean a good one, like a world renowned brain surgeon. 

I like to draw and colour, but am totally and completely terrible at it, as shown here in this doodle battle I had with my husband where he drew two foxes in the time, I drew one fox that looks like… an alien? In fairness, my husband draws in mechanical pencil and is WILDLY talented at sketch artistry. I hate him for that. Here are two of my favourites he’s done. You heard me right…. Mechanical.. Pencil. That’s it.

I do now keep a bullet journal which has been helping me with my “talents” and I seem to be improving week over week.

For awhile I was really into designing stickers, and I have a sticker shop on etsy. It’s more difficult for me to keep up with now, so I have been seriously considering shutting it down.

And just for good measure let’s toss in a (excuse the pun) heavy one. I have an obscenely difficult time with my weight. I am up and down 40-50 pounds every few years, and it’s increasingly frustrating for me. When I want to lose weight I can, but I know it’s my own fault, and unless I work out CONSTANTLY, it’s difficult for it to stay off. Maintenance is my biggest foe.

The Questions Asked of Me

What is your favorite season?  – Fall, but I’m going to say Autumn to sound more pompous.

What is your favorite piece of clothing that you own? As I age I learn to hate clothing more and more, nothing fits, and is always ill tailored to fit a body type like mine. So naked. Nakedness is my favourite.

What is your go-to lipstick?  – Mac Twig,  and any shade of liquid lipstick really

What is your favorite hairstyle to do on the run if you are late for something? – I don’t do the hair, so I guess a ponytail?

Night Owl or Morning person? Both. There is many a time when I don’t think I actually go to sleep at all.

Do you have any pets? – See above for the cutest little butts you ever did see!

What is your favorite throwback song?- How dare you ask me such a difficult question….

When did you start blogging? – I have had a few blogs on and off in my life, and I have always been a writer. There is a chest in my spare room that is FULL of notebooks, journals and diaries from when I was younger. However this blog is about three years old and my consistently run go to business.

What is your favorite candy/ice cream flavor? –  Cotton Candy ice cream because I’m a five year old. Not a particular fan of candy in general.

What is your favorite picture that you have on your phone? – ummmmmm most people will probably post a picture of their kids or their home, something from vacation, but this ALWAYS makes me laugh.

What is your hair type? Straight or Curly?- Wavy, It used to be curly, and then I straightened it to death my entire teen and early

My Nominations

 WhereMelWanders – If you are into travel this is the girl for you. She is PAINSTAKING with her blog, and the content she provides to her readers, plus she travels the world on the cheap, so if you are interested in how to make that happen, you want to check this out FO SHO.

The Makeup Case – I have been internet friends with this lovely lady for a VERY long time, very engaged within the community, and that’s important to me in a great blogger.

Courtney’s Beauty Corner– An up and comer in the beauty community!

Sparkle and Spice Makeup – Another blogger I have come to find recently, and I think my favourite thing while browsing around her site, is that her reviews are not done after using a product once, they are used for awhile, (sometimes months) and then there is a thoughtful review curated and posted. REVIEWS ARE NOT FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND SHE GETS IT

Just Paper Things– I happened to stumble upon this lovely site while searching out how to draw ,and I appreciate her artistic styles.

Memoirs and Musings – I really like the mix of content, and writing style.

Stash Matters – Oh man THE GRAPHS, THE REPORTING THE ANALYTICS. All of these beautiful things about makeup. They just give me life!

Beauty Bonds – Science infused articles on beauty and fitness, beauty and fitness subscription boxes, reviews, ingredient analyses and more!

Cosmetics Junkie– She writes about makeup and boobs, these are both things I can get on board with.

 Aloha BeautyXO – I am starting to enjoy more blogs than just makeup… and this is fairly well rounded

Polished and Inspired – is exactly what she is.

The Questions I Demand of You

Whats your favourite colour?

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

What is one of your most unpopular opinions?

Name two guilty pleasures.

What do you want to be if you grow up

Favourite Quote?

What made you start blogging, and why the topic you blog about?

YouTube or Netflix?

Post the 7th most recent picture in your phone. No noodies.

How did you meet your best friend?

How did you find writing out the 11 facts about yourself?

Thanks so much for reading, and I have no idea but this post took me an entire WEEK to write. Normally I can bang these babies out in 15-20 minutes! What the heck!

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Liebster Award 2018 Good morning to all my lovely internet friends and friends to be... and Hi Mom, because I know you are my #1 fan.