#Ginny is trying to help them get it together

[drarrily-we-row-along]

July 17: Outdoors

(I did, in fact, start writing this in July, only to heartlessly abandon it after writing 4 paragraphs because I was a mess. So... enjoy it now? [insert shrug emoji])

Draco fucking loathed the heat.

He despised the summer, with the hot fucking sun and too few clouds. He hated the way his body felt, too hot, sticky, always wet, his clothes damp where they clung to his skin. It felt like the outdoors was boiling him in his own sweat.

And yes, he was sitting on the edge of the pool, his calves and feet in the cool water. And yes, he had worn his shortest pair of shorts, and his most light-weight button up shirt that he wore unbuttoned down to his naval, and his giant sun hat that shaded his skin and protected him from the sun (in addition to his strongest sun-blocking charms), and his huge sunglasses to keep him from glaring because of the sun (it didn't change his glaring because of his annoyance at the heat). And yes, he'd consumed more than his fair share of ice water and the long islands that his host kept on the table.

But it didn't change the fact that he was sticky, sweaty, hot and currently, more to the point, also fucking aroused.

Because Harry Potter didn't seem to have the same problems that Draco had in the heat. His bronze skin glistened with sweat and tanning oil; beads of water rolling down his pecks and abdomen, collecting in the hair on his chest and stomach when he emerged from the pool. Potter, instead of turning a hideously unattractive shade of red like Draco, only continued to grow more golden in the sun, painfully fucking beautiful. His swim trunks were indecently short, clinging to his muscular thighs and perfectly round arse, and leaving far too much of his skin on display.

It wasn't fair for Draco to have to be this hot and also attracted to someone. Attraction took up way too much space in his brain and body and he simply didn't have the energy for it in this heat.

“Draco, are you even listening to me?” Pansy snapped.

“No,” he replied honestly, as he took another long drink from the straw sticking out of his glass.

He didn’t have to be looking at her to know that she was rolling her eyes at him. “I will never understand your fascination with him.”

“Shut up,” he snapped. “You’re only attracted to women,” he said, then, “and I’m not fascinated with him,” he added as almost an after thought.

Before she could reply, Ginerva was interrupting them, sliding her soaking wet, bikini-clad body in between the two of them.

“Uggh,” he said, sliding away from her, “you’re soaking me.”

She looked over at him, that particular brand of Weasley mischief that Draco did his best to avoid, shining in her eyes.

“Whatever you are thinking, don’t you fucking dare,” he warned her.

But then both of her hands were on him, unceremoniously shoving him into the pool. And it wasn’t that Draco couldn’t swim, but he didn’t swim terribly well, and he hadn’t expected to be shoved into the pool in the first place, so the panic took over.

Strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him to the surface in spite of his flailing and choking. “I’ve got you,” the body holding his assured him.

And Draco recognized that voice, frankly, he was fairly certain that he could have simply recognized the body by touch alone; no need to hear or see or smell him. He wanted to tell him to just let him drown, let him slip back under and die because it would be better than living through this embarrassment, but he was still coughing and struggling to get a good breath, so none of the words quite came out right.

Potter carried him through the water and over to the steps. “Come on,” he said softly, guiding Draco out of the pool, “let’s head inside and get you some dry clothes.”

“Oooh!” Ginerva had the nerve to call out and Draco relegated her back down to his least favorite Weasley.

“Fuck off,” Potter called, flipping her a two fingered salute on their way in. "Are you alright?" he asked, all charming concern for Draco's well being.

“I’m fine,” Draco said, in spite of the way his throat was still burning and aching. “I should just go home.”

“Absolutely not,” Potter replied, leading him through the house and back toward what Draco could only assume was his bedroom.

And Draco had imagined Potter taking him back to his bedroom a thousand times but the circumstances had been very different in his imaginings. He'd imagined (fantasized) about Potter being so taken with him that he couldn't resist his charms; Potter calling him beautiful, sexy, unable to keep his hands off him.

Instead, Potter was treating him like a patient. In a decidedly unsexy way. He picked up his wand off the nightstand next to the bed, “I’m just going to cast a spell to clear any residual water from your lungs,” he informed him. The spell rattled through Draco as he moved his wand over his chest in a complicated pattern. “Then I’m going to stick pretty close by for the next couple of hours,” he said as he moved to the closet and started digging through for something for Draco to wear. “Best to monitor you.”

“I really don’t think that’s necessary.”

Potter turned to glare at him, “which one of us is the healer and which one of us is the wand maker?” He put his hands on his hips, “I wouldn’t argue with you about how to make a wand-”

“You would,” he interrupted. “You literally have.”

“You can either choose to be monitored by me or I’ll take you to St. Mungo’s myself,” he warned.

“You wouldn’t.”

Potter raised an eyebrow and crossed his stupidly buff arms over his stupidly broad chest, “try me.”

"Potter," he groaned.

"Don't Potter me," he said, apparently taking that for acquiescence and turning back to his closet. "Now, I think these swim shorts," he said, holding out a tiny pair of swim trunks with flamingos on them, "will work because they have a drawstring waist band. And this button up," he said, holding out a pink shirt that matched the flamingos, "will be best because it's lightweight and matches the vibe you're wearing now."

Draco accepted the clothes and carefully didn't point out that he could have just cast a spell to dry the clothes he was already wearing. The temptation to put on Harry's clothes was far too great. "Are you going to stand there and watch me dress, too?" he asked as he started to peel off his wet shirt. "Do I need monitoring so intensely?"

"No," Potter said, turning so quickly that he almost ran into the doorway. "Err," he said, stepping sideways and out of the door. "I'll just wait out here."

Once he stripped out of the wet clothes, he cast a quick spell to dry his body before putting on Harry's clothes. They didn't fit as well as his own did, certainly, Harry's chest and shoulders were far broader and Draco was quite a bit scrawnier than him, but they didn't look half bad. And more to the point, they were Harry's, so they smelled like him and even looking at them sent a thrill through the pit of Draco's stomach.

"Well," he said, stepping out of the room, "I suppose they'll do."

Harry, who'd been leaning against the wall, stumbled over nothing and nearly fell, choking on a cough as he stared wordlessly at Draco.

"What?" he asked self consciously, looking down at himself.

But Potter was trying to straighten himself, shaking his head. "Nothing," he said. Then he repeated himself, "Nothing."

"Right," Draco said, feeling a strange mix of self consciousness and attractiveness. He had the urge to flirt with the other man, just to see what would happen.

Potter turned and made his way toward the door, Draco followed and tried to decide what he could say or do to attract the other man's attention.

On their way back toward the pool, he saw it, the perfect excuse, dragging his feet just a bit, he let his toes catch on a tree root and let his body tip forward. "Oh!" he cried as he fell, "ouch! My ankle."

Potter was there in an instant, hands fluttering around Draco's sides, "what happened?"

"Oh, I tripped over the tree root and twisted my ankle," he said, holding his leg in the air and showing Potter. "It's probably the heat, I'm just feeling a little faint." He draped an arm over his head to demonstrate how faint he was feeling. He should have gone into acting, he thought ruefully, as Potter tittered over him, concern evident in each action.

Warm, competent hands reached for him, one taking gentle hold of his foot the other grasping his leg just above his ankle. "You're having a terrible go of it," he said, looking up at Draco with those guileless green eyes. "You're never going to want to come to one of my parties again."

Potter's magic washed through him, warm and bright, tingling around his ankle and Draco shivered with delightful anticipation.

"It doesn't seem like anything's broken," he said, "why don't we just go in and let you rest on the sofa." Without another word, he lifted him into his arms like Draco weighed nothing at all, and carried him inside once more.

"Thank you," he said, affecting a bit of helplessness in his voice. "I don't know what's the matter with me today."

"Probably the heat," Potter agreed, setting him down on the couch, rearranging the pillows to prop up Draco's leg. "Let me fetch you a glass of water. Are you in pain?" he asked as he moved toward the kitchen, "can I get you a potion for it?"

"Oh," he said, shaking his head, "I think I'll be fine in a few moments. You've been too kind already. I've been far too much trouble as it is," he demurred.

"Nonsense," Potter said, "You're no trouble at all." He carried the glass of water back to him and sat down on the sofa by Draco's hip.

Draco reached for the glass and took a long drink before letting his fingers skim over Potter's knee on the way to setting it on the table. On the way back, he casually brushed the back of his hand over the other man's thigh.

"Draco," Potter murmured.

"Yes, Potter?" he replied innocently before looking up and meeting his gaze.

The green of his eyes was burning bright and hot, and for just a moment, Draco couldn't breathe.

"Are you actually hurt or can I kiss you?" he asked.

In lieu of answering, Draco reached up and wrapped a hand around Potter's neck, pulling him down into a heated kiss.

A kiss that only got hotter and more desperate, escalating so quickly that before he knew what was happening Potter (and really, he thought wildly, he ought to start calling him Harry at this point) was climbing over him. He pressed him down onto the couch, straddling his hips, as his hands cupped Draco's face to angle it just right to deepen the kiss further. He let his hand stray down the muscular expanse of Potter's back toward his arse, fingertips just slipping below the waistband-

"Shit."

They both turned their heads in time to see that Neville and Blaise were standing in the doorway, gaping at the two of them.

"Sorry," Harry said, and Draco turned his head to find that Harry was looking at him with utter mortification.

And that simply wouldn't do. "Blaise," Draco said, staring straight into Harry's eyes, "be a dear and tell everyone that Potter's party is currently an outdoor only event and that he will no longer be available to attend to anyone's needs."

"Except your's apparently," Blaise said, smirk evident in his voice.

Harry buried his face in Draco's neck in a fit of shyness that Draco couldn't help but find adorable.

He smirked over at the other man, "except mine," he agreed. "Oh, and close the door on your way out."

The door clicked shut and Harry held out a hand, sending a wave of magic to lock it. He pulled back to look at Draco, "so what needs do you have that need attending to?" he asked, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh, come back here and I'm sure I can come up with something," he replied as he pulled the other man's body down and flush against his own.

And it proved that once Harry started, it was all too easy to continue giving him more needs to fulfill.

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

Read more of my fics, if you'd like.

[dream-with-a-fever]

ginny weasley did not

defend harry against malfoy in flourish and blots when he was picking on him (it’s the first time she ever speaks in front of him)

carry around a horcrux for the better half of a year and realise that something was wrong and try to dispose of it at age 11

get possessed, manipulated and controlled by one of the darkest wizards of all time and live to tell the tale

get forced to write her own farewell note on the wall in blood and walk to her own death

go on as normally as possible afterwards despite the trauma of her first year, because she didn’t want to be a nuisance

make harry a get well soon card after he fell off his broom because of the dementors in third year

tell harry and ron off when making fun of neville for not being able to get a yule ball date

refuse harry as a yule ball date despite having harboured a crush on him for years because she didn’t want to hurt neville

see harry was floundering after hermione & ron left him to do prefect duties and immediately take charge and invite him to come with her

defend luna against bullies, and encourage neville to believe in himself and know his self worth

decide to quit pining for harry because it was a waste of time, instead dating other boys and becoming a solid friend to him

join dumbledore’s army without a second thought, coining the name and even encouraging more ravenclaws to join

call harry out when he was in a downward spiral about being possessed, explained her own experience and remained gracious despite him forgetting her biggest trauma

fill in for harry as seeker in the quidditch team and help them win the quidditch cup that year

reassure harry that he will play quidditch again, when he was feeling low about umbridge’s life long ban

encourage harry to talk to cho if that’s what he’s upset about (putting her own complicated feelings for him aside)

get harry to admit what was actually upsetting him and helping him find a solution

immediately agree to help harry by standing guard outside umbridge’s office despite not knowing any details

call harry out whenever he was being snarky / impatient with her and not take any of his shit

disarm malfoy & the others and escape from umbridge’s office to rush to harry and hermione’s aid

refuse to stay behind at hogwarts stating that she cared for sirius too and wanted to help

go with the others to the DoM in an attempt to save sirius, risking her life and breaking her ankle in the process

refuse to tolerate her brother’s new girlfriend who was being snobbish about her family’s home and lifestyle (but then go on to love and respect her, as they mature)

get invited to join the slug club because of her skill with hexes and not nepotism (the only one who wasn’t invited for that reason)

tell off zabini for laughing at harry about what went down at the DoM

call ron the fuck out when he was borderline slut-shaming her

crash into the commentator’s podium to shut zacharias smith up from talking smack about the gryffindor team

immediately try to intervene when she thought harry was in danger of being possessed by the hbp potions book

tell off dean and seamus for laughing when harry got seriously hurt in quidditch

come to harry’s defence after he attacked malfoy (bc he had to defend himself against an unforgivable curse) and stand up to (one of her) closest friend(s) to do so

step up to play seeker in harry’s place (again) in the quidditch final and winning the cup in his absence (!!!!)

make harry feel “the happiest he had ever been” when they finally got together

make my boy LAUGH 24/7 and bring him (and many others) so much JOY

support harry after dumbledore’s death, knowing when to give him comfort and also space

show unwavering love and loyalty to harry when he was trying to break up with her, claiming she didn’t care about the danger

also ultimately not fight his decision, understanding his need to stop voldemort once and for all, despite her being completely heartbroken

respect harry’s wishes to stay broken up, but still give him the most INSANE kiss ever as a birthday present (and something for him to fight for!!)

return to hogwarts under the rule of deatheaters, despite the target on her back as a blood traitor (also as brother of ron AND ex girlfriend of harry)

take the place of younger students and try to protect them from being tortured by the carrows

start up dumbledore’s army again with neville and rebel against the system, to reek as much havoc as possible at hogwarts

try to steal the sword of gryffindor from snape’s office because they wanted to help the cause as much as possible despite understanding why they needed it and ultimately being punished for it

refuse to stay put in the room of requirement when her family were out risking their lives during the battle and given the chance, immediately joined the fray

comfort an injured younger student at the battle, and stay strong for them, despite having just found out her brother had been killed

duel with bellatrix in the battle and almost lose her life doing it

go through so much and have her trauma be overlooked and forgotten by so many

go on to play QUIDDITCH PROFESSIONALLY in the team she DREAMED of playing for

and then going back to a career in writing (sports correspondent) despite her traumatic experience with the diary

marry the love of her life and have three beautiful children and get the happy ending that she deserves after EVERYTHING????

all for you guys to shit on her the way you do. put some goddamn RESPECT on MISS GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY’S name. she’s NOT a mary sue, she’s NOT a bully, and she’s NOT boring. she’s an ICON.

[multi-fandom-imagine]

Could I request a Fred Weasley one shot were his girlfriend is in Slytherin and he invites her to the burrow for the first time and she's a bit nervous because she knows that his family doesn't really like Slytherins?

A/n: My favorite thing Slytherin x Hufflepuff and one of the Weasley twins being paired with a Slytherin.

A Slytherin at the Burrow....that was something completely unheard of till now.

The Burrow stood tall and slightly lopsided against the golden hues of the evening sky, smoke curling lazily from its many chimneys. It was charming, warm, and undoubtedly welcoming—but at the moment, it felt incredibly intimidating.

Fred, standing beside you with his hand clasped in yours, gave it a small squeeze. “You alright there, love?” he asked, turning his head to glance at you with that signature Weasley smirk.

You swallowed, your grip on his hand tightening. “Oh, yeah. Just thrilled to meet the family who thinks all Slytherins are practically the second coming of You-Know-Who.” Your voice nearly cracking - your once confidant Slytherin person gone.

Fred chuckled, nudging you lightly. “Not all of them. Just Ron, mostly. And Mum might be a bit skeptical, but she’s an angel once she gets to know you. Trust me, they’ll love you.”

You arched a brow at him. “Are you sure about that? Because last time I checked, your brother literally called me a ‘snake in the grass.’”

Fred sighed dramatically. “Ron’s about as subtle as a blast-ended skrewt, but he’ll come around. And if he doesn’t, I’ll hex his pillow to scream every time he touches it.”

Despite your nerves, you let out a small laugh gaze softening looking up at him. Fred grinned triumphantly. “There’s my girl. Now, come on, before Mum starts wondering if I’ve been kidnapped.”

Taking a deep breath, you allowed Fred to lead you toward the front door. Before they could even knock, the door swung open, revealing a slightly flustered but beaming Molly Weasley.

“Fred! Oh, there you are, you’re late, dinner’s almost—” Her eyes landed on you, and for a brief second, her expression flickered with something unreadable. But just as quickly, she smiled warmly. “And you must be Y/n! Oh, come in, come in, dear.”

You stepped inside, and the moment you did,you were wrapped in a bone-crushing hug. You weren't sure whether to be relieved or terrified. “Uh—hello, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Oh, nonsense, call me Molly,” she said, finally releasing you. “Now, come in, sit, make yourself at home. The rest of the family is just in the sitting room.”

Fred sent you a reassuring glance before pulling you towards the living area, where the infamous Weasley family was gathered. Arthur Weasley was reading a copy of The Daily Prophet, Bill and Charlie were engaged in conversation, Ginny was helping set the table, and Ron—well, Ron was staring at you like you'd grown another head.

Fred clapped his hands together. “Right, everyone, this is Y/N , My girlfriend. She’s brilliant, loves pranks just as much as I do, and—before anyone says anything—yes, she’s a Slytherin. No, she does not eat first-years for breakfast.”

You shot him a look. Smooth, Fred. Real smooth.

Arthur stood first, offering you a friendly hand. “Welcome to the Burrow, Y/N. Fred’s told us a bit about you.”

“Oh?” You shook his hand, forcing a smile. “Hopefully only the good things.” Heart hammering in your chest.

Charlie snorted. “Depends on what you consider good. He mentioned you may have out-pranked him once.”

Y/N smirked, glancing at Fred. “Oh, he left out the best parts, then.”

Fred gasped in mock offense. “I was trying to protect my reputation.”

“Too late for that,” Bill teased.

The tension in Y/N’s chest eased a little. Arthur, Charlie, and Bill didn’t seem to mind you in the house at all. That left the youngest two Weasleys. You turned your gaze to Ginny, who regarded you with open curiosity before smiling.

“Did Fred tell you that you’d be sitting next to me?” she asked.

You blinked. “No?”

“Well, now you know. If he’s unbearable at dinner, just kick him under the table.”

Fred clutched his chest. “My own flesh and blood, betraying me?”

Ginny rolled her eyes, but you chuckled. You liked her already.

Then, there was Ron.

Ron, who still hadn’t said a word and was staring at you like she’d infiltrated enemy territory. You shifted uncomfortably. “Ron.”

“Slytherin,” he replied.

Fred groaned. “Brilliant start, mate.”

Ron’s brow furrowed. “I just—I mean, Slytherins don’t usually…” He trailed off, rubbing his neck awkwardly.He knew it was wrong, it's not like you hung around Malfoy and his lot, and you must be good if you captured his brother's attention.

“They don’t usually date Weasleys?” You guessed.

Ron hesitated before nodding.

You sighed, crossing your arms. “You know, for a house that gets accused of being full of judgmental people, Gryffindors don’t seem much better.”

Fred whooped. “That’s my girl!”

Ron turned a little red but didn’t argue. Instead, he looked at you, really looked at you, before letting out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But if you hex me in my sleep, I’ll tell Mum.”

“Hexing people in their sleep is so last year,” You said breezily with a sight teasing edge to it, and to your surprise, Ron let out a small laugh.

Molly called everyone to the table before Ron could say anything else. You settled between Fred and Ginny, your nerves nearly gone.

As the night went on, filled with laughter, chaotic Weasley banter, and way too much food, and you realized something.

You might be a Slytherin, but in this moment, surrounded by warmth and family, you felt like you belonged.

And when Fred turned to you, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he whispered, “Told you they’d love you,” you couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe the Burrow wasn’t so intimidating after all.

[kyber-crystal]

'tis the season || f.w.

summary: it’s christmas at the burrow and you can’t shake off the enchanted mistletoe that always seems to follow you wherever you go

words: ~5.1k

warnings: holiday cheesiness. my bad writing. lots of fluff. getting together/first kiss(es) cliches. fred being a rizzler (or at least trying to). mistletoe cliches. basically a lot of cliches

a/n: i had to. it may be mid-march but i couldn't resist another cute holiday fic. also i’m so sorry lol i went overboard again. will i ever write anything short 💀

“Oh, my sweet girl, it’s so good to see you!” Molly exclaimed as she came forward, bringing you in for a tight, motherly hug. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great,” you smiled kindly. “Thank you again for letting me stay, I didn’t want to feel like a burden but Fred and George said they already told you I was coming—”

“Nonsense! It’s no problem, dear,” she insisted, smoothing your hair back. “It’ll be wonderful to spend the holidays together.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” you said, “and I’m most looking forward to your roasts.”

“You’re too sweet,” she patted your cheek, “now, I’m sure you all are exhausted. Let’s head on home, shall we? George, Ron, help her and Hermione with their things, won’t you?”

“But Mum, we already have our own things to c—” Ron immediately stopped talking once he saw the warning look on his mother’s face. “Okay…”

While him and George took ahold of your things, Fred fell into step besides you, casually slinging an arm over your shoulders. “Excited to spend Christmas with me?”

“No,” you joked, trying to shrug his arm off. He only pulled you further into his side, and you chuckled lightly, “I’m only here for your mum’s cooking, of course.”

“Wow, so my irresistible charm didn’t work on you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“I’ll have to try harder then,” he shrugged, then leaned in to press an exaggerated, dramatic kiss to the side of your head. “Well, I’m happy you’re here.”

He spent the rest of the walk out of King's Cross making a show of being extra affectionate and cheesy, causing Ron to look over at Ginny and gag, and a nostalgic smile to grace Mrs. Weasley’s features. 

The Burrow was a hive of activity in the final days leading up to Christmas—everyone was busy rushing around helping with something. Fleur was gliding through each room, feather duster and other cleaning supplies floating behind her in a glowing trail, Bill and Charlie were working outside in the front and back yards, and you were helping Mr. Weasley fix up various gadgets. You hated cleaning and repairs, but talking to the kind man made the time go by much faster than you expected. 

“So, Y/N, I hear that you have some Muggle knowledge,” Mr. Weasley spoke up as you carefully took a clock apart, inspecting each of its parts, “could you tell me what is this thing called the ‘internet?’”

You took the cloth from his outstretched hand and began to wipe at the glass as you spoke, “Yes, my mother is a Muggle so I know a good amount of stuff. She’s been writing to me about the new computer her and Dad got back home, and it’s fascinating. You can do just about anything on the Internet. Search up cute animal pictures, read the news, play some games…”

“Do these pictures move?” 

“No, but we have videos,” you explained, “they’re recorded clips and they’re kind of like moving pictures.”

“Fascinating. You’ll have to show me sometime,” he smiled, “And, I still have that—what is it? Camera recorder, that you brought over the summer?”

“Camcorder, sir,” you corrected, “it’s a video camera. You can record videos on there and play them as many times as you would like.”

“You’ll have to show me one day,” said Mr. Weasley. 

Just as you were nodding in agreement, you felt someone come up behind you. A sudden warmth flooded your senses and you didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. 

“What’s going on here?” Fred murmured as he propped his chin on your shoulder and snaked his arms around your waist, squeezing tight. You couldn’t find it in yourself to tell him to let go; it was like every muscle in your body relaxed the moment you realized it was him. 

“Well, Fred,” Mr. Weasley replied, “Y/N here was telling me all about the Internet and video recordings. Quite ingenious, these Muggles are.”

“Is that so?” His nose just barely brushed your cheek and you felt your heart explode. It wasn’t like he’d never put his hands on you in the past, but something about the moment felt more intimate than the rest. “You’ve got to tell me all about it.”

“She’ll tell you once you get your hands off her and go help Mum with dinner,” a voice sounded from behind you both. You turned to see Ginny standing there with her hands on her hips, a knowing smirk on her face. She exchanged a pointed look with her father that somehow, both you and Fred missed. “Oh and Y/N, she wants you to come too, if you’d like.”

Fred grumbled to himself and carefully released you from his arms. You tried to ignore how it suddenly felt cold when he did. 

“Go on, Fred, go help your mother,” Mr. Weasley gestured with his hand, “I’ll take it from here. And Y/N, thank you for your help.”

Just as you were about to cross over to the kitchen, a hand on your arm stopped you in your tracks.

“What is it this time, Fred?” you sighed.

“We can’t walk past this, it’s bad luck.”

“For Merlin’s sake, what are you talking a—” you followed to where his finger was pointing, eyes landing on a bundle of mistletoe hanging from the top of the entryway. “—oh.”

“Mistletoe,” he flashed you a cheeky grin. “Pucker up, sweetheart.”

You felt heat creep up your cheeks. “Are you being serious?”

“I’m being dead serious—I promise I’m not bad.”

“Fine. Only because it’s ‘tradition.’” 

That was all the signal he needed before he gently tugged you close and connected your lips in a tender kiss. You instinctively reached up to cup his cheek with one hand, heart beating rapidly when you felt him smile against your lips and tighten his hold on you. 

After a few moments you pulled away, feeling as if you had just been doused in gasoline and set on fire. Your heartbeat hadn’t slowed down in the slightest. 

“That wasn’t too terrible, now was it?” Fred raised a brow at you in question. Were you just imagining things, or were his cheeks kind of pink as well? 

“Terrible,” you lied, pretending to look disappointed. 

“But you know you love me,” he sing-songed as he walked away into the kitchen. 

“As much as I love Umbridge,” you sing-songed back.

“Hey!” 

You rolled your eyes and followed him, ignoring the pointed looks that your onlookers (particularly Ginny) sent your way.

This had to have been the first morning in ages in which you felt well-rested. Well, if you could call it morning; it was nearly noon and you had just woken up, almost suspicious at the lack of heaviness pressing down your eyes as they opened. You were one of the last ones to wake if you didn’t count Ron, who often slept until lunch. 

Looking down, you realized you had somehow ended up wearing Fred’s sweater rather than your own to sleep, the giant monogrammed ‘F’ standing out against the maroon in golden thread. You were too lazy to try and question it, however, so you opted to brush the thought off and quickly got ready, brushing the tangles out of your hair. 

“Y/N, guess what w—” someone called out from below as you made your way to the winding staircase. 

Before you even had the chance to respond, your foot caught on the step below you and you slipped backwards. You braced yourself for a hard hit on the rock-solid floor, expecting to hear a crack, but didn’t, and felt a strong pair of arms catch you around the waist instead. 

“Almost took a hard fall there, didn’t you?” Fred chuckled lightly, “you’ve got to be more careful.”

Even after you had steadied yourself, he didn’t let go of you nor did he step away. Your face flushed at the realization. 

“Yeah,” you mumbled, suddenly feeling hot, “definitely. I’ll…try not to trip like that next time.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Several moments of silence passed, and his eyes were still on you, a slight look of endearment shining in them. 

“What?” you were now feeling confused, “is something wrong? Is there something in my hair? Please don’t tell me it’s a spider—”

He simply shook his head, staring upward. You followed his gaze to see a familiar cluster of sage-green leaves with white berries hanging from the top of the doorway by a ribbon. 

“Mistletoe,” he said confidently, but you could’ve sworn you saw a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. “I wonder who put that there?”

“Dunno,” you shrugged, suddenly feeling flustered, “maybe someone’s just trying to spread the holiday cheer. Did they teach Dobby to scale the walls or something?”

“Now that kind of makes sense.”

“Totally.”

“Or maybe, Georgie did this,” he guessed, “can’t really think of why else we’d get caught under it again.”

“You think?”

“Possibly.”

“Yeah. That makes sense too.”

“...Alright, we’re delaying this,” Fred declared after several moments of silence, eyes flickering down to your mouth. 

“No, we’re not,” you awkwardly coughed, turning away to try and hide your blush, “you’re delaying it, not me.”

“Then let’s get it over with, love.”

“Okay, fine.”

Rising up onto your tiptoes, you looped your arms around his neck and kissed him softly, trying your best to ignore the swooping sensation in your stomach. 

“There, now we won’t be cursed to a life of loneliness.”

“Y/N, would you be a dear and help me with chopping the vegetables?” Mrs. Weasley called you from your spot in the living room where you, Hermione, and Ginny were sprawled on the floor, hovering various random objects in the air. “It won’t take too long.”

You stood up and dusted yourself off. “Oh, sure, of course.”

Cooking wasn’t your favorite activity in the world, but you didn’t hate it either. Still, it wasn’t like you went out of your way to whip something up to eat if you could help it. But you genuinely enjoyed it when it was with Mrs. Weasley; she always had a good story or two to tell, and made for great company. Her meals always reminded you of those of your grandmother and mother’s. 

Taking one of the freshly washed knives, you slowly began to chop the onions, careful to avoid cutting the root because you knew you’d turn into a teary-eyed mess if you did. You knew you could use a bit of magic to speed up the process, but both you and Mrs. Weasley swore up and down that there was something different about homemade, handmade meals. 

Right when you were about to finish your work, your hand slipped and the blade sliced across your palm. You hissed in pain and quickly jerked your hand back, muttering a string of swears under your breath. Blood started dripping from the cut, small scarlet droplets hitting the counter. So much for being careful…

Fred was by your side in an instant, taking your hand in his and peering at it worriedly. “You’re bleeding.”

“Way to state the obv—” you were about to say something snarky, but the moment he adjusted your hand, you winced and swore again. “That fucking hurt!” 

“We need to get this bandaged up,” he stated, not caring that your blood was now getting onto his sleeves. He let go for a moment to hastily wrap your hand in a towel before holding onto it again, “Come on.” 

You reluctantly obeyed and followed him to the nearest washroom where he gently lifted you by the waist and set you down on the countertop. Resisting the urge to swing your legs back and forth, you watched him curiously as he began to rummage around the bathroom, opening and closing several cupboards until he found a small box, setting it down beside you.

“Luckily, this isn’t a bed-binding injury,” he explained, setting a small box down beside you, “so it won’t need any fancy spells to fix.”

“Fred, I’m fine, you don’t have to baby me. I’m perfectly capable of doing this myself,” you sighed. “It’s just a cut. Maybe a little deep, but still—just a cut.”

“Well, I want to help you. And for what it’s worth, I don’t like seeing you hurt. Even if it is ‘just a cut.’”

Realizing he wouldn’t let up, you stopped trying to argue. “Alright then, have at it.”

Fred flipped the lid of the box open and pulled out a roll of gauze and several cotton balls, along with a small vial of some basic disinfecting tonic. He gingerly unwrapped the makeshift bandage around your hand, tossing it into the wastebasket by the sink. 

“I’ll try and be as gentle as I can, but no promises…I’m sorry,” he warned. 

“Just hurry up and do it,” you gritted your teeth, the stinging sensation in your palm growing worse. “Let’s get it over with.”

He first ran a cloth under the water and gently pressed it to your skin, cleaning the excess blood away. The cold felt good against your skin, but this relief was short-lived once he pressed the tonic-soaked cotton ball to the cut and you yelped in pain. 

“I know, I’m really sorry,” he whispered, continuing to gently dab at the wound. “It’ll be over in a sec.” 

It was almost odd, seeing this gentler, softer side of him that you rarely ever saw make an appearance. He was dead silent as he worked, and you couldn’t help but stare at the way his brows creased in concentration and how he held your hand so gently as if it was made from fairy dust and starlight. 

“Alright, you’re all good,” Fred announced a moment later, gesturing down to your newly bandaged hand. “You’re all good to go.”

“Thanks,” you exhaled. 

With Fred’s help, you hopped down from the counter, feeling the cold floor against your bare feet. It was only when you looked back up that you realized how close you were standing—you were practically chest-to-chest—along with the mistletoe growing from the ceiling. The stupid plant was taunting you and you hated it. Were you ever going to get a moment of peace this Christmas…

“Was that there before?” you questioned. “I could’ve sworn it wasn’t…”

“Who cares?” Fred shrugged, “we’ve got to kiss now, right?”

“Obviously…” And before you knew it his lips were pressing against yours, arms sliding around your waist. The taste of gingerbread and firewhisky filled your senses as your lips collided, getting a whiff of something smoky and sweet. 

It was weird to finally be at eye level with him because you were sitting on the edge of the sink, and this sudden dynamic change had butterflies sweeping through your insides. 

“Right, well,” Fred cleared his throat as you broke away from him, suddenly bashful, “and they say a kiss will make it all better.”

“Yeah. I’m feeling loads better already.”

There was a different sort of look in his eyes this time; it was as if he wanted to say something more, but held back. 

In spite of the ‘awkwardness’ you still let him hold your hand all the way back down to the kitchen. He didn’t mind, of course.

It was finally Christmas Eve and you were beyond exhausted but couldn’t have been more excited—Christmases at the Burrow were your absolute favorite. Mealtimes in particular were always filled with endless laughter; there was never a dull moment at the dining table and you loved every minute of it. 

After a lively pre-holiday supper, Ginny declared that it was time for a giant lip-sync dance party, so you all cleared up the entire living area, pushing chairs and sofas to the edges of the room. 

Mrs. Weasley had a wide selection of music for you to choose from and you decided to pair up, each person randomly sticking their hand in a hat and pulling out a slip of paper that had the name of the track they’d be ‘singing.’ You and Hermione were put together and got stuck with Celestina Warbeck’s “A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love.” Everyone howled in laughter as you pulled out the thin sheet of paper, reading the title. Those howls only magnified as you launched into an overly dramatic, opera-like performance, dancing around the room with your best friend. The two of you ended the sequence with Hermione dipping you dramatically and almost dropping you, causing you to slip momentarily.

The whole room burst into applause and both you and your best friend bowed, grinning from ear to ear. 

After everyone had gone for a round it was a free-for-all, so once Mr. and Mrs. Weasley finished their dance, Ginny tugged you into the center of the room. “Come on!” 

“Oi, you’re staring,” George pointed out, leaning to whisper into his twin’s ear. “You’re so in love.”

“Shut up,” Fred grumbled, not taking his eyes off you. His eyes followed your frame as you and Ginny twirled each other around, heads thrown back in laughter and clutching each other because you had spun yourselves dizzy. It was hard not to; he was completely mesmerized. This was his Christmas gift, he told himself, he didn’t need anything else. “Am not. Besides, you know she only sees me as—”

“Are too. You know, you can be so thick sometimes.”

But then you nearly stumbled and fell for what felt like that millionth time this past week, and again, Fred rushed forward mid-conversation to catch you.

“Thanks.”

“Anything for you, darling.”

“Would you look at that,” Ginny snickered as she regained her balance, and jabbed her finger upwards, interrupting the brief ‘moment.’ The music continued to play softly in the background. “you two! Stop right there!” 

“Bloody hell,” you let out a long groan. You didn’t want to look up this time. Fred looked just as smug as his sister did, if not more. “Not again.”

“Oh, no!” Fred feigned a look of surprise, “it’s as if it’s following us! Bit strange, innit?”

“Yeah. Very.”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” you heard several voices—likely Ron, George, and Hermione—chant. Everyone else watched on in amusement. 

“Why don’t we give them what they want?” Fred hummed, a hint of amusement painted across his features. “They get a show, and we get to kiss. It’s a win-win.”

“Whatever you say,” you muttered. 

He then gently caressed your cheek and brushed his lips against yours, sending a strange spark of sorts shooting down your spine. It felt as if you’d been thrown into the icy depths of the Black Lake yet you were still afloat, missing the fate of drowning just by the feeling of his lips. 

You were too caught up in the newfound feeling to try and figure out why you’d been caught under the mysterious plant for what seemed like the thousandth time already. This time around, though, you had less complaints waiting to burst forward from the tip of your tongue. 

“Oi! Save the rest of it for the bedroom!” a loud voice jolted you from your trance, and the two of you finally broke apart for air, “keep it family-friendly down here!”

“Ron!” Ginny punched her brother in the shoulder, causing him to wince. “Stop ruining the moment!” 

Everything resumed as normal, though Fred found himself sitting closer to you as the evening wore on, one hand placed on your upper thigh as if it was meant to be there all along. 

By the time you had all washed up and gotten ready for bed, you were tired out of your mind, but still found it difficult to fall asleep. Hermione and Ginny watched with amused looks as you paced around the room in frustration, half-convinced that by morning there would be scuff marks in the floorboards from where your feet had been. 

“I just don’t understand,” you groaned as you flopped backwards onto your bed, pulling the sheets all the way up to your chin. “It’s everywhere! How come no one else is getting caught beneath it as frequently as us?”

The redhead girl simply laughed, “are you complaining about locking lips with him this often? Last I recall, you seemed to quite enjoy—”

“Oh shut it,” you scoffed, “I like following a holiday tradition. Even if it’s more often than I’d like.”

“Uh huh.” Ginny didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Keep telling yourself that, Y/N.”

“She’s not wrong,” Hermione chimed in as she got into bed as well, “if I didn’t know better I’d think you’d been together for ages.”

“It’s all fake,” you mumbled, voice trailing off as the realization hit you, “none of this is real. If I’m going to kiss him, I want it to be real real. No mistletoe, no bets, no nothing. I want to remember it and I want it to mean something beyond just a silly little tradition.”

The two girls fell silent for a moment as they took in your words. 

“...He was your first, wasn’t he?” asked Hermione. “And second…and third…”

Your lack of response told her all she needed to know. 

The delirious feeling remained when you woke up early the next morning. 

Changing and getting ready felt harder than normal; the moment you sat up in bed, you wanted to lie back down and go back to sleep. Hermione and Ginny clearly felt the same way, judging by their bleary eyes and tired groans. It was Christmas Day, and the only present you really wanted was a good night’s rest. And you thought you would finally be getting some, until George had starting pounding on your door and demanded you all wake up before they broke the door down. 

“How about I break your bones instead, you git!” Ginny snapped as she threw the covers off herself, storming to the door and swinging it open. “We’ll be down in a minute, geez!” 

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed…” George sang. “That’s not the holiday spirit. Come on. Mum says we can’t open presents till you lazy bums get downstairs.”

Ginny rolled her eyes and promptly closed the door with a huff, walking over to her bedside to change. You wanted to wait longer out of spite, but knew that you’d be bothered relentlessly if you didn’t head down in time. 

“Men,” Hermione chuckled lightly as she pulled her jumper on over her head. “They’re really children at heart.”

“You could say that again,” you rolled your eyes, “they don’t know when to stop.”

“Hey!” Ron interjected. “You can’t go generalizing like that, it’s not fair.”

“I second that,” Charlie spoke up, “it’s not fair.”

The entire family was already gathered around by the time you came downstairs; the large pile of presents that had been under the tree now moved to the center of the room. You made it your mission to ignore the way Fred’s hair was all messy from having just woken up moments prior, and the way he ran his hand through it, which only messed it up even further. It was infuriating that he looked good without trying, and it was even more infuriating that his cocky self just knew and had now caught you staring. 

He sent you a wink and patted the empty spot next to him on the couch. Conveniently enough everyone else had already sat down, leaving you no choice but to sit by his side (But were you really complaining, though?). 

“Happy Christmas, everyone,” Mrs. Weasley beamed brightly, clasping her hands together, “since we’re all here and awake now, let’s get started. We’ll go in a circle, and each pick something from the pile—Arthur, why don’t you go first.”

Any lingering frustration or bad moods had lifted the moment Mr. Weasley presented the first gift, which happened to be addressed to Fleur, from you. She unwrapped the package to reveal the skincare set that you knew she’d been eyeing for ages—it was from when you’d gone on a day trip to Paris together and she caught sight of it in the department store, and talked about it nonstop until you went to get dinner.

Fleur let out a small squeal and immediately came over to embrace you, “Thank you! I ‘ave been looking for zis for ages but couldn’t find it anywhere else! How did you get your hands on it?”

You and Bill exchanged a quick look, “I have my ways.”

She gratefully kissed your cheek and patted your head, “Thank you so much. I will be using it every day.”

Before long, everyone was drowning in their own pile of presents. One of your favorites had to have been the one that Bill and Charlie worked on together: they gifted you a hand-crafted obsidian dagger, which Charlie explained took months of convincing the goblins to make, but was worth it in the end. (He left out the part where they’d half-threatened Griphook with two dragons, of course.)

“Wait, Fred, you still haven’t given Y/N your gift!” Hermione pointed out. “Come on, stop staring and give it to her!”

“Huh, what—” Fred quickly snapped out of his momentary daze, blinking a few times and reaching behind himself, holding a small box in his hands. “Right, Y/N, this is for you—”

“If this is another box of mistletoe,” you began as you turned to fully face him, “I’ll punch you—”

“It’s not, I promise. But,” he cleared his throat and lowered his voice, trying to hide the slight nervousness in his tone, “can we head outside? I was planning on giving it to you to open privately, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, sure…” you were a bit confused at this but got up with him anyway. 

“You hurt her and I’ll hex you,” Ginny warned as he held the front door open for you, hand beginning to reach for her wand. “Don’t think I won’t do it.”

A gentle breeze blew through the air, carrying with it the musical sound of the wind chimes overhead. You breathed in deep as you sat down on the doorstep next to Fred, wringing your hands out—for whatever reason you were nervous, and you usually weren’t nervous around him. Maybe it was the cold December air or the fact that you had an irregular sleep schedule that gave you occasional migraines, you didn’t know…

“You okay?” he gently bumped your shoulder with his. “You’ve got something to open, remember?”

“Oh…yeah…”

Fred eyed you carefully as you undid the pale blue ribbon and unwrapped the small package, opening the box. Nestled amongst soft velvet was a pearlescent, heart-shaped locket outlined in glowing gold. For the first time since you met you were at a loss for words, which was strange given that you always knew what to say and were often quick to reply with something equally sharp-witted and sarcastic to match his energy. 

“Open it,” he urged, and you just barely heard him over your rapid heartbeat, popping the locket open with shaky hands. Inside was a tiny moving image of the two of you together by the Black Lake, ear-splitting grins on your faces as you sat on his shoulders and his hands tightly clutched yours, trying to keep you from falling off. You remembered how Harry was laughing so hard that the camera shook and Hermione had to help him steady it before he took the shot. 

He smiled softly at you. “Not mistletoe, like I promised. What do you think?”

“It’s perfect,” you exhaled, gazing up at him, “I love it.” I love you.

“About the mistletoe, though…” Fred continued, “you’re probably wondering why we got caught under it so much.”

“Funny enough, I was going to ask,” you said, looking back down and watching him trace slow patterns into your palm. “How is it that it kept catching just us? As if it was following us around…” 

“Because it was,” he admitted sheepishly. 

“So you’re saying…”

“I bewitched them to do that, of course. Just like…” he lightly snapped his fingers, causing a bundle to appear over your heads, “...this. I thought that making excuses to get you under the mistletoe would get you to realize how I felt but Merlin, you didn’t catch on at all.” 

You sucked in a breath. “I don’t get it. W-what do you mean—”

“I’m bloody in love with you, Y/N, what other girl would I willingly try and kiss five times in a row?” he shook his head, cheeks flushed a bright pink both from his blush and the icy breeze, “You really thought I’d care that much about an old holiday ‘tradition?’ I only cared about you, and I still do. That isn’t going to change.”

Then he gently brushed your hair to the side to clasp the necklace on; once he was done, he lifted his hand and placed it against the side of your face, thumb skimming over your cheekbone in a gentle motion. He brought you in close and connected your lips together, sending a searing heat through your body like an all-consuming wildfire and it was utterly intoxicating. And it wasn’t fast or terrifying in the slightest bit—it was slow, steady; just like the way you fell in love with him.

He tilted your chin up just the slightest bit to deepen the kiss, and you felt like you were going to explode. The world was spinning but you had come to a standstill, the feeling of your lips moving in sync and his warm hands keeping you tethered to the rocky earth. 

You couldn’t help the grin that crept up your face when you pulled back for air. Leaning forward and resting your chin against his shoulder, you let out a breathy laugh, holding him tight around the torso. Maybe you were quite oblivious for taking until Christmas Day to realize your best friend fancied you, but at least you got something (well, multiple things, really) out of it—which neither of you were complaining about. 

“I take it that it went well, then?” a voice sounded out from behind you both. “Did it work?”

“Merlin’s saggy beard, Georgie, the love of my life and I were having a moment,” Fred groaned quietly, and you too would’ve been equally embarrassed except all your brain seemed to focus on were the words, love of my life, and repeat it over and over inside your head.

“You were in on this too?”

“How could I not be?” George winked, “when your idiot of a twin brother won’t fess up, someone’s got to step in and help.”

The rest of Christmas zipped by in a flash—nothing really changed, asides from the fact that Fred’s hand now remained on yours at all times except for when you were eating or went to go wash up and change.  

And no more rogue mistletoe appeared above you in hallways or doorways of any kind, but Fred still waited patiently on the other side, hoping to steal another kiss or two.  

(And he did, of course.)

tags: @lizzyrose200 @4ngeltrumpettt @laniirackssss @xhanthexzoria @gemofthenight

[whyohwhydoris]

Hermione should have left Ron

So, to start, if this leaks through into a pro-Ron sphere let me know so I can try and tag it and people can properly filter it out. Secondly, I am an ardent Hermione and Harry shipper, so take this with a grain of salt. Thirdly: How the fuck did Hermione end up with Ron when he abandoned her while a genocidal mad-man was in power and specifically intent on targeting and probably killing muggle-born magic users?

That's kind of my thesis here. A lot of the time, people will look at the Harry/Ron dimension. Look at how every other instance of necklace influence we see seems to fade immediately after removal. Look at the viciousness of Ron's words. Look at the disregard of all Harry has lost, and all he is facing.

But Ron's betrayal of Hermione feels like the greater sin to me. Ron, uniquely of the three, could choose live his life under the new regime. He comes from an ancient pureblood lineage. His family is, despite their financial difficulties, quite distinguished with a number of members in tough, technical lines of work which speak to power and skill.

In contrast, Harry "has" to fight this fight. His very birth doomed him to it. Not because of his heritage, but because of prophecy. Because Voldemort fears him as a symbol. And, Hermione, uniquely among them, is not targeted and at threat for who she is but what she is. There is no polite lies she can tell herself to diffuse what Voldemort and the others would do to her and people like her.

The only threat to Ron, to the Weasleys, is their political opinions. And changing an opinion is easy. Where as, much like anyone faced with a genocidal regime, Hermione will never be able to escape the active threat of death.

And so, as she ages, I do not know how Hermione would be able to trust - truly trust in the way required to spend a life together - Ron. Because he abandoned her to death. She pleaded with him to stay. And he didn't. Let aside that he abandoned Harry, and that Hermione is serious in her commitments - that such a betrayal alone would be a black mark on Ron's book for many, many years. One which he would struggle to clear away. He abandoned her and everyone like her to death. Or, at the very least to being permanent mind-slaves under the imperious curse.

And, don't get me wrong, JKR doesn't understand social politics worth a dickybird. She's thicker than shit when it comes to the nuances of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality - basically any of the complex milieu of factors from which an individual identity is formed. And as such, I am not surprised she didn't realize the implications. But we, as the wider community, are - I would hope - rather more aware?

As such, I suggest again, Hermione should have left Ron. Because his betrayal isn't just a fight. it is a moment of existential abandonment. And his arguments for it - his motivations - are what? That it's hard? That they are hungry, cold, and struggling to find the answers they need? But Ron doesn't leave and join some other part of the fight. To the best of my knowledge, he hides out with Bill. So it isn't like his 'protests' - concern over Ginny and his family, his sense of betrayal, his sense of defeat - are even something he himself seeks to address. So he leaves, abandoning Hermione to persecution, torture, enslavement, and death; he abandons Harry to torture and death; he doesn't do anything constructive other than, seemingly, mope; and he comes back and "helps to save the day" but in a manner that completely misses that time Hermione and Harry almost died anyway when he wasn't there.

So, where does the Harmione come into this? Well, it is clear that friendship is an important foundation for Hermione. It's inherent in the canon of the Ron/Hermione dynamic. And Harry is probably her singular best friend. Both Hermione and Harry go through a similar arc here where their very existence is a threat to this new state. Both go through the trial of being able to flee and live in hiding, but choosing not to.

Because that's the important thing about Harry's choice. As much as Harry's choice is framed as his destiny, it isn't. But he chooses it anyway. His life might be forfeit, but that alone cannot explain why he chooses to fight. And so, he is acting out of clear principle. And that principle centers people like Hermione: the weak and/or systemically disadvantaged.

To me, Ron is clearly acting out of a self-interest. He doesn't want to feel guilty. He feels bad about his friends not for them. His initial betrayal is about his family and his sister and his sense of despair and his idolization/dehumanization of Harry. Where as Harry is not acting because he will feel guilty if he doesn't; he is acting because he sees and comprehends no other option which he is capable of pursuing. It is the difference between being reactive and proactive in morality. And, for Hermione, that kind of core character difference would matter.

And most importantly, Harry doesn't betray Hermione. He doesn't abandon her. Even with the Firebolt it is Ron who leads the charge, and Harry who immediately reunites as soon as socially viable for a 13 year old boy. Harry's the one who find Hermione when the troll is loose. Harry is the one who stand beside her when Ron goes on his sixth year revenge-tour (revenge for what? good question.) So, you have before Hermione two men. And two very different examples of masculinity and fidelity. Both flawed - don't mistake me. And yet I cannot fathom, with those two examples, Hermione being able to accept that Ron is what she wants or needs. Because he falls short in such essential ways at tremendous odds with her own underlying character. He might be a good man. But he wouldn't be good enough. Some wounds heal clean, but Ron's betrayal I think would leave a scar that Hermione would never be able to forget.

I know people will hide behind the horcrux - "It made him say those things!" But I'm not sure it did. They can say he turned around and tried to come back. But you can't unring a bell. In every other instance, we see removing the horcrux provides immediate relief - it's why Hermione suggests it. But even when Ron does, nothing seems to change. He still walked out, and he kept walking. He may have felt guilt. May have decided against it eventually. But that's the kind of post-facto decision making which doesn't come to grips with the fact that his fundamental morality was - uniquely among the three it seems - sufficiently lacking to understand what he was condemning the other two to. Death and torture. Pain and suffering he cannot imagine. Threats which he alone could hide from - and did.

[wisteria-lodge]

What do you think a genderswapped Harry Potter (Harriet Potter?) would've been like?

So to start... I actually don't think life at the Dursleys would be all that different for Fem!Harry. Maybe there would be less *violent* bullying from Vernon and Dudley... but they honestly don't manage all that much as it is, and Harry's "normal" abuse mostly consists of being shouted at, locked up, treated as a scullery maid, and just generally made into a scapegoat + inferior/problem child that the rest of the family can unite around. If anything, Fem!Harry would have just reminded Petunia even MORE of Lily, and stirred up even MORE complicated emotions. And we'd get even more of live-in chef/maid Cinderella!Harry. It would all feel very Matilda.

The first big change I see happening... is I don't think Ron would have bonded with Harry on the train nearly as easily, if she were a girl. Young Ron is honestly pretty uncomfortable/awkward around girls... unless he's able to put them into a category like "little sister" (which doesn't count.) Or "know-it-all" (which doesn't count.) It's kind of a plot point in Book 4 that it takes him a while to realize Hermione and Ginny are girls he and Harry could potentially ask to the dance. Ron grew up around a bunch of guys, and you can tell. I think he'd try to *impress* Fem!Harry on the train, and probably put his foot in his mouth.

Harry would be at kind of loose ends on the Hogwarts Express, and get sucked into the search for Trevor the toad as something to do. So in this version, she actually ends up bonding with Neville. Hermione would be there too but well - Hermione rubbed Harry the wrong way at first in canon, and it would be even more the case here. They're both (functionally) muggleborn girls - but Hermione is SO much better prepared, and has SUCH loving parents, and won't shut up about any of this. In a way that Canon!Harry kind of fixates on Draco for ending up with his Ideal Life, it's possible that Fem!Harry might fixate more on Hermione.

11-year-old Draco would have treated Fem!Harry exactly the same, meeting her at Madame Malkin's and later on the train. He'd still have his obsession with her, and yeah, it probably does read as more of a crush to his Slytherin buddies... but I really do not see that stopping him. If his father can't get him to be normal to Harry, then that's just how it's going to be.

Harry will still get Sorted into Gryffindor, but I don't see her being close with any of the the other Gryffindor girls. Lavender and Parvati just have very different personalities, and Harry and Hermione... are very intense people who work best when they're able to take breaks from each other. In Book 4 when Harry is exclusively hanging out with Hermione, he comments that she's not as *fun* as Ron. And we see that dynamic again in Book 7 when it's just the two of them in the tent. Like they're incredibly effective, but seem to be wearing each other down a little. I think that forcing young (less emotionally mature) Harry and Hermione to be roommates would just end up with them getting on each other's nerves.

Hermione might get pulled into the friend group when Harry and Neville need help researching Nicholas Flamel, but she could easily stay more of a supporting character or even a frenemy in this version. Fem!Harry would still be the youngest seeker in a century. (Draco would be even more motivated to steal Neville's Remembrall if Neville is Harry's best friend... so that face-off would have gone down exactly the same.) Once she's actually on the team, I could see her falling in more with the upperclassmen, and hanging out with Fred, George, Lee, and Angelina (especially if they put together that she's a bit lonely.) It could be Harry, Neville, maybe Hermione, maybe the twins solving the puzzles at the end of Book 1. They'd still suspect Snape, who... would honestly be just a slightly different flavor of antagonistic and weird towards Harry, if she were a girl.

But in second year, Ginny would be Sorted into Gryffindor and I do think that Fem!Harry and Ginny would get along great, absolutely be bros. They could bond over quidditch, and Harry would get more of a sense of Ginny's actual personality (funny, cool). I have to think 11-year-old Ginny would be much less awkward around Harry if she were a girl.

Which would be really intense actually, because Ginny would have shown up to school with the the Diary, and it's... sort of important to the plot that she's isolated and has no friends. If she shares it with Harry as a cool thing - then Harry is ABSOLUTELY going to get obsessed with it. And since Harry's a much better *get* for Tom (Tom talks about being *so* pleased when powerful, important, future nemesis Harry starts writing to him instead of Ginny...) I think you just get Possessed!Harry opening up the Chamber of Secrets.

Also, would Harry have a crush on Tom? We know that Tom Riddle tries to impress Canon!Harry, which doesn't work... but Fem!Harry he might try to charm. Tom can be very charming if he wants to be. Harry also thinks he's very handsome. Either way, Tom is going to work VERY hard to to get Harry to distrust her friends. Really, you'd just get Harry's plot about being isolated and possessed by Voldemort in Book 5 moved to Book 2. Tom would get Harry to write "her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever" on the wall, and lure her down to the Chamber of Secrets.

However. I do think that Lily's magic, which makes it impossible for Voldemort to physically touch Harry, would also make it impossible for him to properly drain her life and take over her body. I'm thinking of the moment at the end of Book 5 where Voldemort tries to possess Harry, but Harry fights him off. So... I think Harry just wakes up in the Chamber of Secrets with an intact Diary and a basilisk she can control, since of course she's still a parselmouth.

The question is... what happens to the Diary, now that Harry knows it's dangerous? I'm thinking that when Harry disappears, Ginny freaks out and tells one of her older brothers what's going on, who tells Arthur, who tells Dumbledore. Which leaves Dumbledore with a Horcrux that still works... and it seems like if you've got school-age Tom Riddle right there, that would be a much easier way to get an answer to the question 'how many horcuxes do you plan on making?' So Dumbledore gets a head start on that project.

Harry now effectively just is the Heir of Slytherin. She can go to the Chamber whenever she wants, and the basilisk is her familiar I guess (Hagrid would LOVE helping her take care of it.) I could also see a Harry who gets more *interested* in Salazar Slytherin after this. She definitely wouldn't talk to Draco - he spent Book 2 being an asshat and calling people slurs. But Harry might try to pick Theo's brain or something.

Now Hermione. At first I was thinking - does Hermione just die, in Book 2? Would she have known to look around corners with a mirror, and so survive her basilisk attack?

I do think she'd still figure it out... and it's because of Lockhart. Hermione is a Gilderoy Lockhart *fangirl,* and without Ron and Harry poo-pooing her crush (and without first hand experience of Lockhart causing issues for Harry...) I think she's able to geek about about this with her roomies. I mean, Lavender and Parvati read Witch Weekly. They know he's won the Most Charming Smile award. Hermione likes a project, and without Harry and Ron providing one, I think her new thing is impress Lockhart. And what would impress Lockhart? Well, he's a monster hunter who is trying to find the Chamber of Secrets and identify what's inside. How cool would it be, if they were the ones who helped him? He'd write about them in his next book.

So I think the Polyjuice Potion plan (Hermione's idea) is still a go. She might even talk Lavender and/or Parvati into helping out. (I mean, they joined the DA. They're up for some rulebreaking.) Hermione would still turn herself into a cat, which would actually massively humanize her in the eyes of her roommates, and I think they all end up much better friends in this AU. Eventually, one of them does manage to Polyjuice into Pansy, which is a much more effective way of interrogating Draco. And by this point, Hermione has met Myrtle, and has enough info to solve the mystery, and even bring her findings to Lockhart. Who ah. Finds an excuse to just run. There's a very fun portion of the year where Dumbledore teaches DADA.

I don't see all that much about Book 3 changing until the climax - because the crew Harry takes down to Hagrid's after dark *would* be different. Neville, Ginny (not the Twins - I think they give Harry the Map and peace out, they've got their own stuff going on and don't want to hang out with their much younger sister.) Maybe Theo? I could see him taking on a very Hermione-ish support role by this point.

But this also causes a problem, because if Ron isn't there, Scabbers isn't with him. And if Scabbers isn't with Ron - I don't think Remus notices Peter on the map, and so just stays inside and drinks his Wolfsbane, which means Snape doesn't go down. And since Sirius' target was never *actually* Harry... I think this is just a universe where Sirius first-degree-murders Peter, and doesn't have a confrontation with Harry at all.

I do think Voldemort still comes back though. Trelawney would still have made her prophecy ("His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master.") In this universe, that prophecy would refer to Barty jr, finally throwing off the Imperius curse for the first time.

Bertha Jorkins still goes on her trip to Albania, and... Voldemort probably just possesses her the same way he did Quirrell. I bet that's easier to do after someone's been sort of fried by a memory wipe. Also, being in her head, I have to assume he's eventually gets some inkling of the fact that Barty is still alive, and so goes looking for him. Harry still goes to the Quidditch World Cup since she's friends with Ginny, her scar is still hurting (she probably writes to Lupin about this, instead of Sirius, but Lupin gives her pretty similar advice. He will have still left Hogwarts, because Snape would still have outed him as a werewolf at the end of the year.)

Harry still ends up as Champion. I think Big Sister Fleur would be a little more protective of Fem!Harry than Canon!Harry. And also... Harry just straight-up has a crush on handsome, nice, good at Quidditch Cedric. Rita could write about the Harry/Cedric/Cho love triangle, instead of Harry/Hermione/Krum.

The Yule Ball would actually be kind of a big deal for Fem!Harry. Up until now, she's been kind of a tomboy who wears Dudley's hand-me-downs... and is occasionally forced into some terrible 'party dress' when Aunt Marge visits. Harry's best friends are a boy and a tomboy, her quidditch teammates are feminine role-models but very much athletes: 'girly' hyper-femininity is something she associates with Aunt Petunia.

But, fourth year roles around. Mrs. Weasley buys her a set of emerald-green dress robes that actually look really nice, and she needs to find a date for the ball. I think she thinks about asking Cedric... but chickens out at the last minute, and asks Neville to go with her as a friend. Between her much more girly roommates, and Fleur taking pity on her and giving her some tips... I think Hermione's big Yule Ball glow-up is also Harry's first experience with wanting to look pretty, and succeeding.

I think it would be fun, and make sense, if this lead into a little secret admirer subplot. Someone is leaving her little gifts and messages, and she's thinking - is it Neville? Theo? Cedric?

(it was Draco. Instead of the blast-ended skrewts, Hagrid has them all taking care of Harry's basilisk, and like... she has a basilisk... she's the Heir of Slytherin... she asked Longbottom to the ball when she could do so much better... she was wearing green and looking perfect. Draco's Harry obsession has sorted itself out into a very serious crush.)

Back to the main plot. With Peter dead, I'm not sure Barty would be able to take care of Voldemort AND prep the ritual to bring him back to life AND impersonate Moody. He's going to need a man on the inside. I think at first he tries to use his father - but as we know that is going to get very risky very fast, because Barty Sr is remarkably good at fighting the Imperius curse, and also just knows way too much. He's a huge risk, because if he goes rouge, he'll tell Dumbledore everything (which is very nearly what happens.)

So I think Barty Jr. targets Barty Sr.'s assistant Percy Weasley, after he can no longer control his father. Uses him as a way to affect things in Hogwarts. He might imperius him, but he also might just like... Polyjuice himself into his father for short periods, and manipulate Percy in a non-magical way to make sure he helps Harry, and gets her through the maze to the cup first. Once Percy realizes what he's done... I think he re-commits to his family in penance, and stops being a such a Ministry man.

Voldemort rising works as kind of a reset button, so things would start looking a lot more canon again, only with Ron and Hermione swapped out for Ginny and Neville. Main difference being, Voldemort has Barty now. I absolutely think he would have survived Book 4.

So I'm going to leave this what-if here for now. Thanks for the ask, this was a lot of fun to think about.

[gmwpluvr]

i am such a mess for post-war, domestic hinny

harry who would come home after nearly dying in a mission to ginny and the kids and they all cuddle together in front of the fire

ginny running to catch her kids and harry in a hug after winning a quidditch match

harry making sure to be there at all of her games, events, and later press conferences (no.1 ginny weasley fan)

ginny making harry's birthdays a big deal because she knows that he grew up barely celebrating, and because it was no less than what he deserved

harry helping their kids make cards and presents and banners for their mummy for her birthday, mother's day, and games

ginny teaching their toddlers to say 'dada' because she knows how much it would mean to harry

harry getting her bouquets made of chocolate or food in general because he knows she adores it so much more (but doesn't forget to still get her the occasional roses and lilies)

ginny gifting him random, silly t-shirts that say 'desirable no.1' or 'ginny's chosen one' or 'my wife's always right' but he'd wear them proudly anyway, anywhere

harry skiving off of work because he literally killed voldemort cut him some slack to surprise ginny when her work needs her to go to international countries

ginny who would nearly burn down their kitchen trying to cook for harry when he comes home even though he's the chef in the family

hinny snickering over their affair allegations in the tabloids

hinny talking to teddy and telling him that he'll always be their first baby when ginny gets pregnant with james

hinny and the kids (which obviously includes teddy) having matching outfits for christmas

hinny who everyone (by everyone i mean people who don't know them) thought wasn't going to last because it's the chosen one and a quidditch superstar but they're in the newspaper every few days for pda

hinny whos barely seen publicly without the other

hinny who lives in the country side by the beach and grows old together until they're crusty and wrinkly and have many great great grandchildren

just...fuck...married hinny

[emeritusemeritus]

Fred Weasley headcanons

Just a few personal headcanons for our man, NSFW under the cut 🌹

SFW ✨

Still considers you his best friend even though you’re together now (you and George being tied in first place).

Calls you princess and sweetheart (both of which started as sarcastic remarks that stuck around and are now used as endearments).

Always ready to kiss you. Doesn’t care who’s around, once he can be open about your relationship he’ll kiss you anywhere, and passionately - except for in front of his mother.

Actual menace at school. You’re walking to your next class and you pass him in the halls? He lifts you up and spins you, shouts out your name across crowded, echoing corridors to embarrass you. One time he lifted you up onto the stone pillars outside charms and left you there. You had to wait to be rescued by Ron who was luckily passing by.

You tease each other constantly, bantering back and forth. He’s heard more ginger jokes from you than anyone else in his life, but he knows just how much you love him and his red hair so there is never any malice behind it, the same with his teasing of you. It all comes from a place of love and familiarity.

He’s a natural prankster and takes great pride in it but he knows your limits and would never intentionally cross them. One time he did inadvertently go too far and he’s apologised profusely and had been torn up about it, trying to win back your trust in anyway he could. George still says that it’s the only time he’d seen Fred be actually remorseful in his life.

Throws notes to you in study hall, usually by scrunching up large balls of parchment and throwing them directly at you, bonus points if he manages to bounce them off of your head. Always followed by a sickly sweet smile or a wink.

As much as he teases you, he’s the only one truly allowed to (even George is warned sometimes).

LOVES seeing you wear his clothes, specifically his jumpers or his old quidditch T-shirt’s that you sleep in. It makes his little possessive brain twitch seeing you wear his clothes so openly in front of the whole school, declaring that you’re his.

Looks for you at every one of his Quidditch games- it gives him a boost of confidence to know that you’re cheering for him. Wanting to impress you, he always plays harder and better, putting on a show.

The first time you’d attended a quidditch game as his official girlfriend, you had worn his green ‘F’ jumper and he nearly fell off his broom once he’d realised.

He’s incredibly supportive as a friend and boyfriend. Even though he knows that he is seen as the ‘meaner’ twin, he has a true sweetness to him that most people overlook but he’d do anything for you and his friends, even at great personal risk. He supports you in everything you want to do and always looks after you if you get stressed or disheartened whilst chasing your dreams.

He’s especially protective of Ginny, taking his role of older brother very seriously. He still says that he fell truly in love with you the moment he saw you running up and confronting Malfoy, who had been teasing Ginny after the whole Chamber of Secrets event. Upon seeing the commotion, Fred had run to help her, followed closely by George, but you had gotten there first and had verbally berated the bully before punching him square in the nose. You then pulled Ginny away, cast your arm around her protectively and had begun escorting her back to the common room even though you were originally going the other way. Only when you had met up with Fred and George did you eventually leave her and go to your destination, making sure that she was comfortable and safe with her brothers before leaving. You’d received a letter home and detention for three weeks for punching Malfoy and another late night detention for being late to class but you still maintained that it was worth it.

Will throw hands without a second thought at anyone who disrespects you. He’s incredibly protective and won’t hesitate to throw a punch at anyone who violates your boundaries. Minimal offences still demand punishment and it’s common for anyone who crosses you to suspiciously find themselves with boils, purple hair or spontaneously vomiting the next day.

He’s surprisingly needy in private and loves to cuddle. Loves having his hair stroked and played with. Always has to be touching you in some way, even just your feet touching in bed or a hand absently placed on your hip.

Cannot cook to save his life, even with the assistance of magic.

He LOVES being a twin but he’s actually terrified of having twins once you start trying for a baby.

NSFW🌹

Will try anything once. Fact.

He’s a master with his fingers. He knew how much you loved his hands even before you were together, having caught you staring at them multiple times. They’re long, thin and incredibly skilled.

Makes it his personal mission in life to learn every single one of your pleasure points and can anticipate your every reaction just by the sounds you make, having learnt each and every one.

Had a definite breeding kink but doesn’t actually want kids yet. The idea of knocking you up and seeing you pregnant makes him harder than he ever thought possible. It’s his dirty little secret.

Dirty talk champ- he knows how much you love his voice and how much it gets you off when he whispers absolute filth to you in the middle of sex but it absolutely riles him up too. It’s less of a calculated dialogue and more of a dirty, running commentary on how well he’s fucking you.

Big fan of quickies. He’ll literally fuck you anywhere if the mood arises, which is always. As much as he loves to tease you and make you wait, savouring your body, there’s nothing like a quick, hard fuck in his book.

Definite size kink. He’s 6ft 3 and you are definitely not. Along with this comes a specific show of dominance, his height making him tower over you which makes him feel powerful and in control.

Although it depends on the overall mood, he’s mostly still playful and teasing even during sex, as are you. Occasionally you will try and throw each other off their game. One time you purposefully moaned out Snape’s name to throw him off and it caused a three minute intermission as you both had to stop and laugh. He then swiftly pulled out of you, spanked you and then proceeded to fuck you harder as ‘punishment’ for moaning another man’s name.

He’s absolutely feral for you wearing skirts.

He likes the idea of public sex but after you were both once accidentally caught by George, he decided that he hated the thought of anyone but him seeing you like that and put an end to your more risky escapades. Semi-public is still fine, of course.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

You're our son nothing can ever change that; Sirius Black x reader

*Author's note*

This literally only took me a few hours to write but I never got around to posting it cause I had me a long weekend outside of writing but finally I decided that after looking this fic over and fixing or adding in some stuff it was finally ready to post. Now this takes place during OOTP the 5th movie and both reader and Sirius are married and have a son who is in the twins year. I won't spoil anything else so I hope you all enjoy it :)

Warnings: Some angst (this hits right at Arthur Weasley's attack at the Ministry), some fluff, parental love and support (which ALL PARENTS SHOULD BE).

Taglist

@waddles03

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@plethora-of-things

@psychosupernatural

@remussl0vers

________________________________________________________

I was heading upstairs to grab the boys for suppertime.  Walking up the narrow-flights of stairs trying to avoid dear old ‘mummy-in-laws’ portrait, I swear if she lets out one more outbursts about my son or his friends, I’m burning her portrait to ash (I doubt Sirius would have anything to say about that).

That’s when I heard light sobbing from one of the rooms.  I stopped in my tracks and kept as quiet as possible before I heard my son say.

“It’s alright George, you don’t have to be strong now.” It was then George’s light sniffling turned into a broken sob.  My heart went out to the poor boy.  Just recently his father had been attacked by Voldemort’s snake, Nagini and barely escaped with his life.  Had it not been for Harry’s vision, I can’t imagine how the Weasley family would be having lost the most important man of their family.

Sirius and I had allowed the family to once again stay at Grimmauld Place while their father’s in recovery at St. Mungo’s.  But it was the least I could do for them, after all the Weasley’s have done for me in helping me with raising Leo as a single mother.  Even though no one would dare give me a second look because of who my husband was, Molly Weasley saw a struggling mother who needed help and she gave that to me.

And having raised Leo in the Muggle side of London (since I am half-blood) it had Arthur curious and he’d ask me questions in all that I knew about Muggles and how they live.  Spending time with the Weasley family also meant I got to see their children grow up or being born, like I was there the day both Ronald and Ginny were born and got to hold them before being named their Godmother.

Having grown up alongside the Weasley family, Leo became close with almost every one of them (he and Percy had an on and off thing until Percy’s falling out with the family earlier this year) but I began to notice something.

Out of all the Weasley siblings, hell out of anyone in the world, my son seemed closer to George Weasley than anyone else.  I began to notice the slight change in his demeanor around his and the twins 4th year together when I had suggested that he go and spend the rest of the summer over at the Burrow while I dealt with some things with the Ministry in regards to Sirius’ false imprisonment.

He was at first overly excited about wanting to stay there but at the mention of George’s name, he grew a bit quiet.  At first I feared they might’ve had a falling out at school, or did a prank go too far? But soon I began to realize what my son’s true feelings for the second half of the mischievous Weasley twins.

And it truly shined by the time their 5th year came around.  When word about Sirius’ escape was made public and everyone at Hogwarts was giving my son a hard time.  So I sent my brother Remus a letter in hopes that he would keep an eye on Leo in case anything bad would happen and he’d tell me constantly about all the times he’s had to get the Weasley twins out of trouble, especially George who’d sometimes get violently physical towards the bullies of Slytherin.

 The Yule Ball had also began to test my son as he felt anxious and fidgety from the letters he had sent me asking me if it was truly Mandatory for all students to attend the ball with a date.  I told him that it didn’t matter if he had a date or not, so long as he tried to have fun and make the most of it.  It was a rare chance for the other Wizarding schools to come together like the Triwizard tournament and he should at least make friends where he can.

Now I have to address the elephant in the room.  My son is not a bad-looking lad, he is his father’s son after all.  Black, bushy hair that sets in natural curls, a sharp jawline, and blue eyes.  That boy is practically a splitting image of his father when he was in school (how else do you think I fell for the infamous Sirius Black).

However unlike his dad, Leo wasn’t a Ladies man nor a skirt-chaser.  In fact he didn’t seem to have any interest in girls in that way.  Don’t get me wrong, he has female friends and is close with them but he never seems to want to go beyond that.  But when it comes to a cute guy (specifically a particular ginger-headed, brown-eyed lad), my son does a double take and his cheeks start to grow a light shade of pink.

The reason I say all of this is because I wish he could have that Gryffindor courage and come talk to me about this.  He knows that there is nothing in this world that I would change about him but I also see it from his perspective, especially now.  With Voldemort back, it’s only a matter of time before the muggles and—mudbloods (I’M SORRY IT SICKENS ME TO SAY THAT WORD) will be hunted down like before and slaughtered.  Imagine what could happen if they found out about a young male wizard being gay.

I decided to make myself known as I went up to the door and knocked on it.  There I saw my son and George quickly let go of their embrace as George quickly wiped away the tears from his face.

“Just wanted to let you boys know supper’s ready. Better go wash up before you chow down.”

“Yeah, thanks mum.” Leo said as he brushed a strand of his hair aside behind his ear.  George stood up and when he went to walk out, I took hold of his wrist and turned him toward me.  God this boy and his brother both have had quite the growth spurt.

“Your mum just came back with news about your dad. He’s doing much better and they might just let him out before Christmas Eve.” The heartbroken face of George Weasley started to morph back into the happy little boy I once knew him as.  That spark of light returning to his eyes.

“Thank you Mrs. Black.”

“Ah-ah, what have we discussed before Georgie?” his lips quirked up into that infamous grin as he said.

“Thank you (Y/n).”

“That’s my boy, now go on and wash up.” I gave him a reassuring pat on the back before he left the room and I turned to my son.  “You can use your father’s and my jointed bathroom.”

“Mum we’ve practically seen each other in our trousers.”

“No arguments. I think now it’s best we let George have some time alone to take a breath. Trust me. It’s not that he’s not appreciative of what you’ve been doing for him since receiving the news of his father’s attack, but let’s not suffocate him either.”

“But he’s been suffering in silence, mum. While Fred has been extremely vocal about what happened, George is—he’s just been so numb. I can tell he wants to cry but he can’t cause he doesn’t want to seem weak in front of Fred or the rest of his siblings, especially Fred.”

“I know. This hasn’t been easy on all of us, Arthur means so much to everyone, but you also got to let the person you love deal with their emotions their own way.”

“Wha-what? What? Love? Who-who said anything about love? I mean don’t get me wrong George and I are best mates but there’s no way I’m in—so what did you say we were having for dinner?”

“Lancashire hotpot, your favorite.”

“Merlin I love you mum.” He pecked my cheek before racing off towards the bathroom George went.

“Leo, our bedroom is upstairs.”

“Oh, right silly me. Yeah you guys get the top floor to yourselves.” He laughed nervously as he raced in the other direction.  As he disappeared up the last flights of stairs I couldn’t help but shake my head lovingly.

“Now that reminds me of someone.” I heard Sirius’ voice behind me.  I turned to look at him and pondered.

“And just who might that be?” I felt him bring me closer, our chests pressed together.

“Our boy may have gotten my looks but he inherited your personality. Only one girl has ever been that nervous when being caught in a love confession and that is you. The redirection of changing the question, reminds me of the day you finally confessed your feelings to me.”

“By confessed, you mean cornering me in the Common room and threatening me with the Tickling charm which you still used against me either way.”

“Brought us together, didn’t it?” I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Yeah it did.” I pet through his long black locks and stared up into the blue eyes that I had missed for 12 years ever since his imprisonment.  “I really missed you Sirius.”

“Not a day went by that I didn’t think of you and Leo. It was you two that kept me sane in that dark, cold prison all those years. The dementors, tried as they did, to wipe out all trace of happiness within me failed. Because you two were kept in a different part of myself, and I vowed that I wouldn’t ever, ever let them find it.” I leaned forward and softly captured his lips with mine before he deepened the kiss.

I felt my back press against the wall of Leo’s room as Sirius’ hands began to wander over my sides but before we could go any further Leo’s voice spoke up.

“I thought the rule was that I couldn’t snog in my room and yet you guys can?” we separated and cleared our throats.

“Hey Leo.”

“Dad.” Leo greeted with a soft nod.  “Now let’s go, I want first dibs at the hotpot before Ron gets all of it.” He then raced down the hall and I turned back to Sirius.

“He got his appetite from you. Next summer, you’re cooking all his meals. And I do mean all of them.”

“I learned from the best, I think I can manage an oven.” I softly scoffed but pecked my husband’s lips before taking hold of his hand and together the two of us walked downstairs to have our supper.

After supper was done and both Ginny and Sirius helped me clear off the table and everyone pretty much scattered off to wherever they wanted to all except for Leo and Geoge who were sitting in the living room together just chatting away.

I don’t mean to be a nosy mother, I never wanted to be those mother’s that just hover over their children as they talk with their friends or—potential partners but I couldn’t help it.  Now I couldn’t hear what was being said between the two of them but I did see as George was presenting a knitted shawl with Arthur’s initials on it.  My son admired the craftsmanship and I could see how George was nervously fidgeting as he and Leo continued to talk.  Could—could George maybe just maybe……

“Don’t you just wish they could grow a pair and say it to each other?” I let out a yelp which soon caught the attention of both George and Leo.

“Mum? Fred? What are you both doing?” asked Leo.

“Seems dear old mum #2 can’t handle an apparition just like our mum. Seems to be jumpier than our own mum, eh Georgie?” Fred teased as he pulled me close to him.

“It’s one thing to prank our mum but I like (Y/n). Go easy on her Freddie.” I felt my cheeks flush as Fred took me aside and the two of us headed up the stairs.  I then took over and lead him into his and George’s room and shut the door before snapping at him.

“What was the meaning of all that Fredrick Gideon Weasley?! I have the right mind to write to your mother to tell her—”

“You saw it too, didn’t you?” if there’s one thing I knew about both Fred and George was that very rarely did they ever speak in a serious tone.

There was no twinkle of mischief in Fred’s eyes as he looked at me while sitting on his bed.  No cheshire grin spread across his face, not even his tone held any trickery to it.  My anger immediately subsided and I covered up.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about?” Leo was my son and I will fiercely defend him from anyone, including those that’ll turn their backs on him if they find out.

“Oh come off it (Y/n). I see it, Ginny sees it, even Granger sees it. Harry and Ron don’t count because they’re too daft for things like this.”

“Wait you—you know?”

“The world has always seen the two of us together. Fred and George; the Weasley twins. Almost everyone sees us as one person split in two. Even our own mother gets us confused. Well one mum does.” There was the slight twinkle in his eyes as he gave me a soft smile at referring to me as his second mum.  “But George…..he’s always been the more emotionally mature one than me. More sensitive not in a bad way but that he acts more on emotion than logic. Even when he tries to pull me back from going too far, if his heart is pushed too far, he explodes. And our fifth year proved that to me. Never have I seen him get so fiercely protective over someone outside the family.”

“Has he……and you can choose to not say anything since you are his brother but—has he ever said anything to you? About his feelings for my son?”

“I’m his twin brother, he doesn’t need to tell me anything. I just know.” I fiddled with my wedding ring and nodded.

“And you…….” Fred gave me a soft smile and stood in front of me.

“Leo is my best mate. Always has been and always will be. It doesn’t matter who he loves, so long as he’s happy.” Tears immediately fell down my face as I embraced the eldest twin and wept into his chest.  I felt the rumble in his chest as he hugged me back.

“Thank you Fred. Thank you so much for accepting my son.”

“I’ll always have his back. Why else would we make him co-owner of our shop? Although could you maybe ask him something for me?” I looked up at him and he looked down at me, “I mean George is a good-looking chap but c’mon, he knows I’m the better looking one.” We both laughed as I wiped my tears away.

“Cheeky!”

“Is there any reason why I find my wife crying with one of the Weasley sons in a spare bedroom?” Sirius said from the door.

“Nothing you need to be jealous over.” I teased wiping the last remnants of my tears away.  I turned to Fred and reached up to pat his cheek as I mouthed out, ‘thank you.’ He gave me a wink before walking out the door.  “Sirius, we need to talk.” He looked at me worriedly as I lead him away from the twins room to our bedroom.

I sat us down on the bed and took his hands in mine.

“My darling you’re starting to worry me. When Leo had said that Fred had dragged you away after scaring you, I hadn’t expect to see after a potential small prank to see you crying.”

“You and James have scared me to tears in pranks before don’t be a hypocrite.”

“And that’s when I told James to not let our pranks on you go that far ever again.” I lifted his hands up and kissed the back of them.

“I need to talk to you about Leo.”

“What about him? Is he alright? Did something….”

“Sirius, Sirius he’s fine. I just…..need you to know something about him that I never told you about. And I didn’t say it earlier because I needed to be sure of it before I say it. But first I need you to answer me this, what did you promise him the day he was born?” Sirius tightened the grip of our hands.

“You’ve unfortunately had the pleasure of actually meeting my charming mother, but I’m ever thankful to Godric Gryffindor that you didn’t meet my father. He was everything a Pureblooded wizard was. Stern, abrasive, demanding, arrogant, thought he sat higher than everyone else in the room. But he was also abusive, cruel, and manipulative. Molded my little brother to be the Perfect Death Eater while shunning me for not even being sorted into the House our family has been linked with for over 10 centuries. I vowed to myself the day you got pregnant that I would never, ever turn out like him. I would love our child for whoever he or she was. No matter who they were, who they made friends with, what house they be sorted into, and who they would love.” I smiled and patted the back of his hands.

“Our son has grown up into a clever, strong young wizard. If you had seen it, you’d see just how smart and loveable he is. Everyone loves him.”

“I know. And I regret every day that I didn’t get to see that.”

“I know Sirius. But he doesn’t hold that against you. I told him of your innocence and why you did what you did that night. Hell we wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t come after us.”

“I’d do anything for you. Both of you. I couldn’t bear it if I had let Pettigrew taken you to Voldemort or worse Bellatrix.” I shuddered remembering his psychotic cousin and her torturous ways.  I had been long-time friends with Alice Longbottom back in our Hogwarts days, I helped her get together with Frank.  Now when I do see her, she doesn’t even recognize me nor does she speak a word.  Just hands me little trinkets just like she does with her son.

“I know. And you know how you said he gets his personality from me? From how I redirect the question when I feel cornered to how I’m there to lend out a willing hand to anyone who needs help.” He nodded.  “Well there’s another thing he got from me and most would say he shouldn’t have it.” I said the next phrase slowly for Sirius to understand.

He gave me his full attention as he fully turned to face me.

“It seems our son has fallen in love with his best friend.”

“But aren’t his two best friends the Weasley twins?” he asked me.

“Sirius.”

“Yeah?” I just kept my eyes on him.  His brow furrowed confused before it softened and his eyes briefly widened as he began to realize what I was insinuating.  “Oh.” He softly muttered.  “Oh my.”

“Yeah, oh my.” I repeated.  Sirius let go of my hands and turned to face the wall.

“Which one?” he asked.

“George. The slightly taller twin with the bump to his nose and mole on his neck.” Sirius was silent.  The clock in the room was the only thing making a sound as we sat there before I said after a while, “Sirius?”

“I—I’m thinking.” Oh please Godric above Sirius don’t let this change anything about your son.  “And how-how long has he…..”

“I began noticing it his fourth year. It was subtle stuff. Blushes whenever George’s name was mentioned.”

“Reminds me of you. Never have I seen your face go so red at the mention of my name before.” I shoved his arm as he laughed and brought me into his lap.  “I said it 17 years ago and I’ll say it now, I’ll always love our son. No matter who he loves. I’ll be a better father than mine ever was.” I smiled and pressed my forehead to his and he nuzzled our noses together.

We kept quiet about our son’s budding feelings towards his friend and Fred was still his boisterous, jokester self.  He, George and Leo kept working on ideas for their future joke shop; collaborating ideas, designing models and testing them out on themselves (although I wish they didn’t do the third thing. Puking pastilles disaster earlier before school started my poor baby was sick for a week.)

And when Christmas Eve finally arrived, Arthur Weasley was brought to the house and everyone was happy.  The kids were all gathered around the kitchen table observing the old Black family Christmas tree as the enchanted Santa flew around between the table and the tree.

“There we go, daddy’s back.” Molly stated as she rolled Arthur Weasley’s wheelchair to the head of the table.  We all clapped at his return, though beat up and bruised, Arthur Weasley still shone brightly with happiness and Christmas cheer.  “Sit down, everybody sit down. That’s it, now presents.” Soon the gifts were passed out to all the kids.

“A nice big box for Ron.” Arthur praised as a big box wrapped in yellow wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it was set in front of him.

“Big box for you!” she then held out the twins gifts but couldn’t remember which color was meant for which twin.  “Oh Fred and George, come on open up. I want to see your faces.” The kids unwrapped their gifts and my son saw his new additional Weasley jumper with his initials and a new beanie.

“Oh Molly, thank you.” My son thanked her.

“You’re very welcome Leo dear. Now then everyone let’s all open up (Y/n)’s presents for you all. Although you shouldn’t have gone to all the trouble (Y/n) dear.”

“What was it that you told me the first few years you started adding my son onto your homemade Weasley jumper list?” I said as I levitated my gifts over to everyone. 

“It’s no trouble at all. One mother to another.” I nodded and set down each gift to everyone.  For Hermione I got her some new advanced spell books that she could actually keep from the actual Hogwarts Library (Madam Pince owed me a favor from my days of helping her). For Ginny I got her a poster of her favorite Quidditch team the Holyhead Harpies.  I had given Ron some mittens that I had handstitched myself, the twins I gave matching beanies to match their newly gifted scarves and for my Leo I got him an art supply packet that included paints, markers, colored pencils, everything an artist needs as well as a canvas book to help keep his ideas together.

“Well, well seems there might be some competition in your needle work there Molly.” Teased Arthur.

“Oh no competition at all Arthur. She did very well for her first knitting, everyone say thank you to (Y/n).”

“Thank you Mrs. Black/(Y/n)/Mom.” The kids chorused.

“You’re very welcome kids. Now let’s clear this all up and have our Christmas toast.” The kids all cleared up the wrapping paper and bags from the table and started to pour their Christmas punch.

“Harry.” Molly exclaimed as she went up to him with his present.  I took my wine and his gift and as Molly gave him a motherly kiss on the cheek, I came up and placed my gift next to hers and hugged him close to me.

“Happy Christmas Harry.”

“Happy Christmas (Y/n).” he said to me softly.  He opened up both mine and Molly’s gift to reveal a new Christmas scarf and a new picture of his parents, Sirius and me at our joined wedding.

“Your father and Sirius refused to have their weddings separated. Drove me and your mother nuts. But it turned out to be a beautiful wedding. This happened just a year after Sirius and I had Leo.”

“You and mum look beautiful (Y/n).” I smiled and lovingly stroked Harry’s cheek before I took notice of Sirius standing at the doorway.

“She did indeed.” I smiled at him as he gave me a cheeky wink.

“A Christmas toast then! To Mister Harry Potter.” Arthur Weasley proclaimed.  All of us turned to Harry with our glasses held up in our hands. “Without whom, I would not be here. Harry.” Arthur raised his glass of wine.

“Harry.” Everyone else chorused out.

“Harry.” Both Sirius and I finished before sipping our wine.  “Leo, could your mother and I see you upstairs in your room? There’s one more additional gift we’d like to give you.”

“Yeah sure dad.” He said.  Sirius and I looked at each other before heading upstairs into Leo’s room.  I sat on Leo’s bed holding the small black velvet box in my palm.

“You sure we should be confronting him like this?” I asked.

“It’s not confronting darling, we’re just going to assure him that we love him no matter what. He knows you love him, and I’ve been working every day this past year to prove my love for him, now he needs to know that we support him. In every way he is.” I nodded then we soon heard his footsteps and he peeked inside and said.

“What’s going on here?”

“Come in and close the door behind you son. Family talk only.” Leo raised his brow anxiously but came inside and shut the door.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked slowly.

“No, no trouble at all. Least likely with me. We just wanted to give you this without any questions asked about its significance.” Sirius assured him as he came up to him wrapped an arm around his shoulder walking him towards me.

“Here you are darling.” I told him as I handed him the small black box.  He held it in his palm before opening it up to reveal a small Lego figure of a firefighter with the helmet and jacket.

“Whoa, I hadn’t seen one of these since I was really little.” Leo said as he took the firefighter out.

“That’s because it is the same one you had when you were little. Out of all the Legos we gave up for donations, I held onto that little guy after all these years.” I told him.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because it really meant something to me. Do you remember when you were five years old and you told me you got this little guy stuck up your nose?”

“Not really no.” I smiled and stood up as I held my son’s hand that held the Lego firefighter.

“Well I do. I remember it like I was yesterday. Godric never had I been so scared in my entire life. I mean you got this little guy way, way up there. I don’t even know nor understand how you got him that far up.” Leo groaned embarrassedly as I booped his nose and the three of us had a laugh.  “Had your father been there he would’ve just laughed his arse off while I took the tweezers and perform muggle surgery. No way was I gonna trust a healer with something like this.”

“You’re making that up.”

“No, no, no I swear on my life.” The two of us laughed.  I looked down at the Lego that was held between my son’s fingers and held that hand between mine.  “You—you always used to come to me for everything when you were younger. Or to just talk, you know. And I feel like now you—you don’t do that anymore. And I get it that there are some things you don’t want to share with your mother but I just—I miss that. I miss talking to you, like I really, really miss it. And I think, right now, we need to talk more than ever. Because things are getting—scary. A lot more scarier than Legos up the nose, you know?” Leo gave a light smile and shook his head as Sirius took over.

“Your mother and I never want you to forget that, okay? You can come to us for anything. And I know I haven’t been around for you, but I would’ve given anything up to have stopped myself so that I could’ve been the father you deserved. But I will tell you this, you won’t have a father like I did. You have a father that has and will always love and accept you for you who are.”

“Because there is nothing in this world, okay? Absolutely nothing that’ll stop your father and I from loving you. You’re our son Leo, nothing can nor will ever change that. You understand?” Leo’s happy mask soon dropped and his true colors shined.

His eyes began to water up and the fake, soft smile he had on plastered on his face since the second he walked in dropped and there was a quiver to his bottom lip.

“Yeah.” Leo choked out.  “An-and I’ll always love you guys too.” Tears slipped down his face as Sirius and I kept our eyes on our son.

“We know, we know you do son. Come here.” Sirius and I sandwiched him into a hug as he wept inbetween us.

I could feel his body trembling as his tears stained my right shoulder but I felt his hand grip onto the back of my shirt just like he used to whenever he was truly afraid when he was little.

None of us said another word, just stayed in each other’s arms and was there for each other as a family.

Now I wouldn’t see it happen but I would receive a letter from Freddie about their grand exit from Hogwarts and how George and Leo really stuck it to the old bitch Umbridge by hovering side by side on their broomsticks and actually kiss each other before the entire fifth years before having one of their dragon fireworks chase Umbridge out.

Never have I been more happier for my son in finding true love with his best friend, and I know his father is proud of him too. 

Even if—the two of us couldn’t live long enough to see their futures fully realized with Sirius dying at the Dept of Mysteries and I at the Battle of Hogwarts.  But we’d continue to watch our son’s life go on with George at his side and us along with Fred would continue to love and support them from beyond the grave.

[charmed-quill]

Burrow Bound//B.W x Reader Chapter 2

Authors note at end.

Original request by @littlegreenteacup

Summary: Y/N, an American half-blood witch newly arrived in Muggle London, stumbles into the warmth of the Weasley brothers after a serendipitous meeting in Diagon Alley. Drawn into their world, she finds herself at the Burrow more often than not. Meanwhile, Bill Weasley is learning to navigate life as a single father, relying on his mother’s help to care for Victoire. Though their worlds orbit each other, Y/N and Bill’s paths never seem to align—until one evening when fate finally draws them together. Will it be the start of a love story, or will they be left with nothing but heartache?

Word count: 2.7k

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The Burrow was alive with chatter, laughter, and the clinking of dishes. Y/N stepped through the doorway into a space so warm and inviting it felt like stepping into a hug. The scent of roasted potatoes and pork mingled with the rich aroma of gravy and something sweet dancing in the air. 

The kitchen was a whirl of activity, with Molly bustling between the stove and the table, her wand directing a ladle to stir a pot while she stacked plates with practiced ease.

“Oi, Y/N!” a loud voice called out, and she spotted Fred, grinning at her from the table. He waved her over with exaggerated enthusiasm. “Saved you a seat. Right next to the charming one.”

“That’s me,” George interjected from across the table, earning an exaggerated scoff from Fred.

She made her way over, carefully weaving through the chaos of chairs and family members, trying to take in everything at once. 

A clock ticked softly in the corner, the wood-paneled walls were adorned with moving photographs, their subjects waving cheerfully at her. A stack of books teetered precariously near the fireplace, and the whole house seemed to hum.

As she sat down next to Fred, Y/N couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. 

“This place is incredible,” she murmured.

Fred smirked, leaning in conspiratorially. “Wait ‘til Mum gets yelling about something. Really completes the ambiance.”

“I hope you’re hungry,” he added as he handed her a plate.

“Starved,” she replied, inhaling deeply once more. The smells were intoxicating, a reminder of home-cooked meals she hadn’t realised she missed.

“Ron!” Molly’s sharp voice rang out across the kitchen. “Get your grubby fingers out of the pudding!”

Ron, mid-swipe at a bowl of something creamy and golden, froze like a deer in headlights. “I was just checking if it was done,” he mumbled, quickly retracting his hand as Molly shot him a glare.

“By sticking your fingers in it?” Ginny said, rolling her eyes as she passed him a clean spoon. “Try this. It’s called ‘not being disgusting.’”

“Enough out of you,” Ron muttered, his ears turning pink as he busied himself with a plate of bread rolls.

Arthur, seated at the head of the table, chuckled warmly. “Careful, Ron, you'll be banned from dessert.”

“I’m not banned, am I, Mum?” Ron asked quickly, shooting her a worried glance.

“That depends on how well you behave,” Molly replied, her tone stern but her eyes twinkling.

Y/N couldn’t help but laugh, feeling the tension of being an outsider slowly melt away. She leaned closer to Fred and whispered, “Does this happen every night?”

“Every meal,” he confirmed, looking far too proud of the chaos. “You’ll love it here. We specialise in entertainment.”

“Entertainment or torment?” George quipped.

“Both,” Fred replied with a grin. “We’re multi-talented.”

Molly bustled past, setting down a steaming bowl of vegetables in the center of the table. She paused to pat Y/N on the shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind a bit of noise, dear. With this lot, it’s unavoidable.”

“It’s perfect,” Y/N said sincerely, her gaze sweeping over the cozy kitchen again. 

Ginny plopped down beside George, shaking her head at her brothers. “Ignore them. They think they’re funny.”

“We are funny,” Fred corrected.

“No, you’re annoying,” she countered, snagging a roll from Ron’s plate before he could stop her.

“Hey!” Ron protested. “Get your own!”

“And miss the fun of stealing yours?” she shot back, grinning.

Molly took a seat beside her husband, smiling kindly at Y/n. 

“You better get cracking, Y/N,” Charlie called from a few seats down, his grin wide as he gestured at the food-laden table. “There’ll be nothing left if you wait much longer.”

Y/N smiled, feeling the warmth of his teasing, and turned her attention to the feast before her. Taking his advice, she began piling her plate with roasted pork, golden potatoes, bright green peas, tender carrots, and flaky little pastries that looked too good to resist. She finished it off with a generous ladle of thick, dark gravy, the aroma alone making her stomach growl in anticipation. The scents were heavenly, a comforting blend of herbs, roasted meat, and buttery richness that filled the room.

Her plate was a masterpiece of food, and her mouth watered just looking at it. Not knowing where to start, she scooped a little bit of everything onto her fork and took a big bite. 

The flavors hit her all at once, savory pork, perfectly seasoned vegetables, and the velvety gravy tying it all together. It was so delicious she couldn’t help but close her eyes for a moment, savoring the explosion of flavors.

“So, Y/N,” Molly began, her voice cutting gently through the hum of conversation. “What do you do for work?”

Y/N froze mid-chew, her eyes widening slightly as all attention turned to her. She quickly chewed harder, trying to swallow without choking, and reached for her glass of water to help wash it down. Setting the glass back down, she gave a sheepish smile.

“Well,” she began, setting her fork aside. “I work at the museum here in London. Actually, I was finishing an orientation there earlier today before I ran into Charlie.”

“A museum?” Arthur leaned forward, his curiosity palpable. “Muggle museums are fascinating, so many exhibits! What do you do there?”

“I’m part of a small team of magical historians,” Y/N explained, her nerves easing under Arthur’s enthusiasm. “We make sure the artifacts No-Majs bring in aren’t cursed or magically significant before they go on display.”

“Like a curse breaker?” Ron asked, his brow furrowing in thought.

Y/N shook her head, smiling. “Not quite. Curse breakers work on a much larger scale. What we do is a lot more focused. We just ensure the items brought in are safe for No-Majs to display and study. If something turns out to be cursed or too dangerous, there’s a separate department that handles it.”

“Sounds like you’re the first line of defense,” Percy remarked, adjusting his glasses. “Cataloging magical artifacts sounds like no small task.”

“It’s definitely detail-oriented,” Y/N agreed. “Most of our job involves identifying enchantments, figuring out their purpose, and determining if they pose any risk. A lot of the time, it’s minor things, like a quill that writes by itself or a mirror that gives overly enthusiastic compliments.”

“Now that’s something I could use.” Fred interjected, leaning forward with a gleam in his eye. 

“For what?” Ginny asked, rolling her eyes. “Inflating your ego even more?”

“Exactly,” George chimed in, grinning. “Fred’s confidence isn’t quite unbearable enough yet.”

The table erupted into laughter, and Y/N couldn’t help but join in, the tension in her shoulders easing.

“Have you ever found something dangerous?” Ron asked, clearly intrigued.

“A few times,” Y/N said, nodding. “We’ve had a cursed necklace that tried to strangle its owner and a painting that screamed whenever someone looked at it. But those cases are rare. Most of the time, it’s harmless, like a clay pot that sings or a book that rewrites itself depending on the reader.”

Arthur’s eyes sparkled with fascination. “Muggles have no idea how extraordinary their world becomes when it overlaps with ours. What do they make of these items?”

“They usually just think they’re quirky or broken,” Y/N said with a small laugh. “It’s amazing how easily people dismiss the magical when they don’t know it exists.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ve got a fascinating job, dear,” Molly said warmly, her genuine smile lighting up the cozy dining area. “And an important one. It must feel good knowing you’re helping to preserve history.”

“It really does,” Y/N admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly as she set her fork down. “I’ve always loved history. My dad and I used to go to a different museum every month when I was a kid. He loved them almost as much as I did.” She paused, her eyes softening as she recalled the memories. “There’s this big magical museum in Magical New York kind of like the magical world’s version of the Smithsonian. He took me there when I turned ten, and I think that’s what really sparked my interest in it all.”

“Are both your parents magical?” Ginny asked curiously, her head tilted as she rested her chin on her hand.

Y/N shook her head, a fond smile playing on her lips. 

“Nah, just my dad. My mum’s a No-Maj. She’s always been supportive, though.” She chuckled, the sound soft and nostalgic. “Dad was the one who taught me all about the magical world. He always said that being a witch meant having one foot in two different worlds, and I should learn to love both.”

“That must have been an interesting way to grow up,” Arthur said, his tone tinged with admiration.

“It was,” Y/N agreed. “I grew up in a small town in Georgia, where magic wasn’t exactly common. Most of my friends were No-Majs, and my mum did her best to keep things as normal as possible. But Dad would sneak in little bits of magic here and there, a charmed broom to help clean the house, enchanted fireworks on birthdays, that kind of thing.”

Fred and George perked up at the mention of enchanted fireworks. “He sounds brilliant,” Fred said. “A man after our own hearts.”

“He really was,” Y/N replied, her smile widening. “He always wanted to visit London, though. It was on his bucket list. He loved everything about British history, both magical and No-Maj.”

“He must be thrilled you’re living here now,” Ginny said, her voice light.

Y/N hesitated, the smile faltering for just a moment. She could picture her father’s gleaming smile, the way his eyes would light up at the news.

“He would have been,” She agreed, a wave of bittersweet sadness washed over her, and she quickly took another bite of her dinner to distract herself, letting the flavors ground her.

“Would have been,” Ron said loudly, his fork clinking against his plate. “What changed?”

“Ron!” Molly chastised sharply, her voice tinged with disapproval. “Mind your manners.”

“No, it’s alright,” Y/N said gently, setting her fork down and taking a breath. “He died just after I graduated from Ilvermorny.”

The room grew quieter, the lively chatter dimming to a soft murmur. The warmth of the room seemed to hold her, a silent show of comfort.

“I’m so sorry, dear,” Molly said, her expression filled with understanding as she reached out to pat Y/N’s hand. “Losing a parent is never easy.”

“Thank you,” Y/N said, managing a small smile in return. “It was hard, but he always encouraged me to follow my dreams. Moving here felt like a way to honor him, you know? He’d have been over the moon.”

There was a quiet nod of agreement around the table, a small acknowledgment of the weight of her words. 

After a moment, Fred leaned closer, breaking the silence with his usual mischievous tone.

“Well, if your dad was as brilliant as he sounds, then he’d definitely approve of you hanging out with us.”

“Absolutely,” George chimed in. “We’re practically a historical exhibit ourselves. Living legends, really.”

Y/N chuckled, the tension in her chest easing as the table erupted into gentle laughter. Ginny rolled her eyes, and Molly shook her head with a fond smile, but the warmth radiating from the family made Y/N feel a little lighter.

As the conversation shifted and the lively energy returned to the table, Y/N took another bite of her meal, savoring the flavors. 

Slowly, the plates began to clear as Molly stood up from the table, her wand in hand. With a graceful flick, the dirty dishes floated toward the sink, clinking softly as they settled into the soapy water. The warm hum of post-dinner conversation filled the room, punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter.

“We made an American delicacy for dessert,” Molly announced proudly, waving her wand once more. A massive apple pie floated to the center of the table, its golden crust perfectly crisp and flaked with sugar. Alongside it appeared an impressive trifle layered with custard, jelly, and whipped cream. Both desserts gleamed under the warm light, looking like they belonged in a wizarding cookbook.

Y/N’s grin widened as Molly handed her a generous helping of pie, the cinnamon-scented steam wafting up to tickle her nose. “This looks amazing,” she said earnestly, her fork already hovering over the plate.

“Careful,” Fred said from across the table, watching her with mock seriousness. “Mum’s desserts are enchanted. One bite and you’ll never want to leave.”

George nodded solemnly, a spoonful of trifle halfway to his mouth. “Happened to us. We were going to move out years ago, but she keeps us trapped here with puddings and pies.”

“Honestly, I don’t see the downside,” Y/N quipped, taking her first bite. The warm, gooey filling and buttery crust melted on her tongue, and her eyes closed in bliss.

“See?” Fred gestured dramatically to George. “She’s already under the spell!”

–

After dinner, Y/N wandered about the Burrow, her curiosity drawing her to every quirky detail of the cozy, mismatched house. The air smelled faintly of wood smoke and baked goods, and the soft glow of enchanted lanterns illuminated the rooms. Family photographs in animated frames waved at her from the walls, and a few stray knitting needles clattered away in the corner, working on a scarf of their own accord.

She stopped in front of a tall, old clock that sat proudly in one corner of the living room. At first glance, she thought it was just another whimsical wizarding relic, but upon closer inspection, she realized the clock didn’t display the time at all. Instead, its hands, each labeled with a family member's name, pointed to various locations: Home, School, Work, and Bed. All the hands currently rested on Home, except for one, which pointed to Bed.

“Who’s in bed at this hour?” Y/N mused aloud, leaning in to examine the name on the errant hand.

“Bill,” came a voice directly in her left ear.

“He’s our oldest brother,” added a voice in her right.

Y/N startled slightly, spinning to find Fred and George standing on either side of her, identical smirks plastered across their freckled faces. 

“Do you two always pop up out of nowhere?” she asked, laughing despite herself.

“Part of our charm,” Fred said with a wink.

“I haven’t met him, have I?” she asked, pointing at the clock.

“Nope,” George replied, popping the p for emphasis. “Bill’s a busy bee.”

“Probably for the best, though,” Fred added, crossing his arms. “We wouldn’t stand a chance if he were here.”

“Why not?” Y/N asked, her brows furrowing.

“Because,” Fred said dramatically, placing a hand over his heart, “all the witches go crazy for him. They think he’s all cool and mysterious.”

“But really,” George interjected with a grin, “he’s just a massive nerd.”

Y/N chuckled, glancing back at the clock. “He’s the curse breaker, right?”

“Yep,” George said. “Used to work in Egypt, raiding tombs and dodging deadly curses.”

Fred leaned in conspiratorially. “But he traded all that in for nappies and bedtime stories when Victoire was born.”

“Victoire?” Y/N asked.

“Our niece,” George explained. “Mum’s first grandchild. Total scene-stealer.”

Fred nodded solemnly. “Mum cried for two days when she was born. It was very dramatic.”

“Not as dramatic as when George sat on a toy broomstick last Christmas and broke it,” Fred teased.

“That was a faulty broom, and you know it!” George shot back, narrowing his eyes.

Y/N laughed, shaking her head at the antics. “Well, now I’m curious to meet this infamous Bill,” she said.

“Careful what you wish for,” Fred warned. “If you’re not careful, you might fall under his nerdy spell too.”

“Unlikely,” Y/N shot back with a grin. “I’m more interested in the clock. Do you think it could tell me where my lost socks are?”

“Not a chance,” George said. “That’s advanced magic. Even Dad hasn’t cracked the sock mystery.”

Fred sighed wistfully. “One day, though. One day.”

a/n: okay a few things: 1) I am not American nor am I English (🐨🦘🇦🇺) so if anything is wrong don’t tell me I’ll cry. 2) I made the reader Southern cuz southern accents are so stinking cute are you joking?! 3) this is definitely going to be a slow burn since I just LOVE building character relationships, I love having relationships that feel genuine?

[hollowed-theory-hall]

"Where do you think Harry would live after the war? I personally think he would stay at the Burrow for a while, but I can also see him coming back to Grimmauld Place. I know Harry sees the Weasleys as family, but I doubt he'd want to live there long-term. Harry's an introvert, and the Burrow isn’t the best place for someone who needs time alone. But yeah, it’s my headcanon, so I’m curious about your opinion on this."

I really like the idea of Harry returning to Grimmauld Place, though, I don't think it'll be immediately.

The first night after Voldemort is dead, he sleeps in his bed in Gryffindor Tower:

he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the fourposter bead lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there

(DH)

He might stay in Hogwarts for a bit to help out McGonagall and the others. While they're going through the bodies, preparing burials, until Mrs. Weasley insists it's bad for him, and he should come stay at the Burrow with them.

I actually think Harry would decline because I'm not sure how comfortable he'd feel there right after Fred died. How he could sit there, having died and came back, but Fred just died. He didn't come back. And, I don't think most of the Weasleys would really think it's Harry's fault, but, there will be some tension there. Like, I think Harry would feel really awkward about the whole thing and like when he's upset early in DH and in OotP, he'd want to be alone.

Harry tends to go quite and isolate himself when upset, so I see him finding himself back at Grimmauld with Kreacher, secluding himself from everyone for a bit and disassociating like early in OotP:

On the fourth night after Hedwig’s departure Harry was lying in one of his apathetic phases, staring at the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blank, when his uncle entered his bedroom. Harry looked slowly around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best suit and an expression of enormous smugness.

(OotP)

Or after Ron left in DH:

She [Hermione] threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started to cry. Harry felt dazed. He stooped, picked up the Horcrux, and placed it around his own neck. He dragged blankets off Ron’s bunk and threw them over Hermione. Then he climbed onto his own bed and stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the pounding of the rain.

(DH)

Hary, when upset and depressed, tends to just, shut down. So I can see him going into this state in Grimmauld Place for a bit early after the war. (Except for a few visits to Andromeda and Teddy, since I think he'd take his godfather role very seriously).

That is until Ron and Hermione drop by to drag him to dinner at the Burrow.

During this first time at the Burrow is when Ginny probably corners him about their relationship, how that goes depends on what AU/ship you're writing. But even in canon (with the epilogue), I'm not sure how quickly they get back together. I mean, Ginny still goes back to Hogwarts and Harry would try to find his footing in his life, so, it's up to the writer.

Anyway, I think Harry is more likely to stay most of the time at Grimmauld Place but stop by the Burrow often enough in the year after the end of the war (after that first lunch/dinner Ron and Hermione drag him to).

This guy is going to use Sirius' bedroom again (like in DH) like the traumatized mess that he is.

Now, the question is, where is Teddy in this time?

We know during the battle he's with Andromeda, and I think Harry is going to take his godfather responsibility super seriously, as I mentioned. Harry doesn't trust adults in general, so I think, initially, he wouldn't really know what to think of Andromeda, so I think he'd be more inclined to visit her and Teddy before going to the Burrow — he feels responsible for Teddy and guilty over Fred. And Andromeda I think would feel familiar to him. I think she has the same arrogance as Sirius, she carrys a similar pain to Harry — she, too, lost everyone. They both only have Teddy.

(Yes, Harry has the Weasleys, and as much as he loves them and appreciates how Molly tries to make him feel included, I don't think he really feels like he belongs, yk?

The aftermath of Fred's death shows this well:

The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. He could not draw breath. He could not bear to look at any of the other bodies, to see who else had died for him. He could not bear to join the Weasleys, could not look into their eyes, when if he had given himself up in the first place, Fred might never have died. . .

(DH)

And after the war, he skips Ginny and Molly to get to Ron and Hermione:

He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother’s shoulder: There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk. [...] Everywhere he looked he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most.

(DH)

Ron and Hermione are the closest to family for Harry, not all the Weasleys. When he wants to reunite with family, it's Ron and Hermione, not Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys. (And Luna earlier, but that's because she is comforting to him in general, but he doesn't see her the way he does Ron and Hermione))

Eventually, though, he'd probably move out of Grimmauld and to a different place of his own. With who and when is more up to personal headcanon and whether you consider the epilogue canon or not.

[lunamadhatter99]

Charm

Charlie Weasley x fem!reader

I was inspired.

If you want to be tagged in future Charlie work... let me know

@once-upon-an-imagine here's your tag.

Summary: time to meet the family.

Warnings: none. Too much cuteness.

"I don't think I can do this," I mutter as I lay down on the bed, with Charlie standing next to me.

"Yes, you can," he reassures me, with a gentle tapping on my leg, "They're gonna love you!"

"No, they won't," I complain.

"Well... your family loved me, and I, too, was scared! Yet it went well!" He tries to make me reason.

I look up at him, sitting up straight, staring into his eyes.

"You got it easier. You had to charm two people, my mom and my grandfather, " I say, holding up two fingers, "I have to charm 8 people!"

Charlie simply smiles at me, so sweetly I could just melt on the spot of I wasn't so terrified. He moves his hand to cup my cheek, softly stroking it with his thumb.

"Love, my absolute, gorgeous, funny, cute, love of my life, perfect reason of my existence" he starts making hard for me to hold a giggle at his antics "You can charm a whole Great Hall at Hogwarts without even trying. No effort, everyone at your feet."

I roll my eyes but can't help but chuckle again.

"No, don't you roll those pretty eyes at me, young lady! It's true, " he laughs, too."You have nothing to worry about. I promise you!"

"But..."

"Nooooooooo!" He pouts."Nope. Shush. They already love you and.."

"You told them about me!?" I widen my eyes, and I lay back down trying to hide under the covers.

"Love?" I hear him laughing softly."Love, c'mon out."

I sit up again.

"Of course I told them about you. You are the love of my life, I had to talk about you." He laughs again, holding my hands in his."They can't wait to meet you, and they already love you, "

I sigh deeply. I look up at him, trying to find any sign of mockery, but, unfortunately for me, I don't find any.

"Fine," I whine. "Fine, we'll go see your family,"

"Yes!" He cheers, standing up, taking me with him and hugging me. "They're gonna love you, sweetheart."

"Yeah... yeah, alright." I wave him off and just get to work and prepare my bags.

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

"You're okay, love, you're fine." Charlie caresses my back as we walk closer to his childhood's home.

"Yeah... I know... I am..." I stutter out, breathing heavily.

"You're shaking," he informs me. "Okay, hey. Look at me. "

He stops me and turns me to look at him.

"Yes?"

"Breath." He breathes in and waits for me to do the same.

I take a deep breath and mimic him.

"In and out. Good girl, " he smiles.

"Let's get it over with, " I almost beg.

He grabs my hand, and together, we walk to the front door.

Charlie knocks once, and the door is already opening, revealing a short red-haired woman with the biggest smile on her face I've ever seen. She must be Charlie's mother.

"Charlie!" She exclaims quickly, hugging Charlie.

"Hi, mom," he says, hugging her back, "I can't breathe, mom." He chuckles breathlessly.

She lets him go and turns to me.

"Aw, and you must be Y/n. It's so nice to finally meet you, my dear" she coos.

"So nice meeting you, Mrs Weasley." I hold my hand out to shake her hand, but she quickly moves it and cages me in a big hug.

"Just call me Molly, dear," she says, letting me go, "C'mon, let's go inside."

"See? Nothing to worry about, " Charlie whispers to me as we get into the house.

"Just one out of eight." I take a breath as I'm led into what I think is the living room.

"Charlie!" A red-haired girl runs up to Charlie, giving him a quick hug, "finally!"

She doesn't look much older than thirteen, I think.

"C'mon, we're not that late!" Charlie defends himself."By the way, Ginny, this is Y/n, my girlfriend, "

"Hi," I timidly wave at her.

She looks at me for a second, then smiles brightly and turns to her brother.

"She's too pretty for you, Char," she teases, and I can't help but laugh a little at that.

"It's so nice to be home," Charlie sighs sarcastically. "Don't laugh!" He turns to me to shove me a little.

"I'm sorry, love," I say, holding his hand.

" 'love' ? You two are so cute, " Ginny exclaims.

"Look who finally decided to join us," a voice calls.

"You took your time," another voice speaks.

I look up and see two identical red heads coming up to us.

"Love? These two are Fred and George." He introduces us. "Don't trust them," he adds in a whisper.

"Hey!" They say together.

"That's rude!"

"Very rude, brother," one of them comes in front of me, taking my hand. "Don't listen to him. We are not that bad," he kisses my hand.

"Right. We are true gentlemen. " The other one moves his twin out of the way to kiss my hand, too.

"Yeah... ask Ron what they did to his teddy bear when he was younger, " Charlie accuses.

"What..?" I say with a small giggle.

"Are you sure you want him?"

"You can still back down, you know."

"Alright, leave her alone!" Charlie laughs and leads me further into the room with the rest of his family.

"Hello, everyone." He waves at everyone."This is Y/n, my girlfriend, "

"Hello, it's a pleasure being here." I wave too and look at all the faces.

"Oh, my dear girl, we finally meet you. Charlie told us so much about you. " A tall man stands up from the couch to get closer. "I'm Arthur. Charlie's father"

"Oh, pleasure to meet you, Mr Weas-"

"Arthur, please. You're family now, no need for formalities, " he says, sending me a smile that I return, then he's off to the kitchen, probably to help his wife.

"Alright, that one there is Bill," Charlie points at a long-haired man sitting on the couch.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi, lovely," he smiles.

"Don't flirt with my girlfriend, thanks," Charlie complains.

"I just said 'hi,' " Bill defends himself, raising his hands up in the air.

"I'm Ron," a much younger boy stands up and walks to us, I was just in time to notice he was pushed by a brunette sitting beside him.

"Nice to meet you," I shake his hand.

"I'm Hermione Granger, Ronald's friend." The girls stand up as well.

"I'm Y/n L/n," I say, shaking her hand as well. "Wait... Granger?" I ask, and she nods."Are your parents dentists? Or maybe a relative is?"

"Yeah. My parents" she smiles gently.

"My parents used to take me to them, I think, when I was younger!" I explain.

"Really?"

"Yes, I remember them being so nice. I was never scared," I laugh. " they're still working, I hope,"

"Oh yes, they are," she answers.

"It's so nice to hear this."

"Oh, Harry. Hi, " Charlie greets, so I look past Hermione to see a boy with glasses walking in.

"Hey, Charlie. How are you?" He asks.

"I'm great, hey, this is my girlfriend Y/n."

"Hey," I say, going to shake his hand, and while doing this, I notice a scar on his face.

Oh..

"I'm Harry," he simply says.

"Nice to meet you." I smile gently at him.

"Dinner is ready!" Molly screams from the kitchen.

"Finally!" Ron exclaims.

"How are you always hungry?" Hermione asks as she follows everyone into the kitchen.

Harry sends me an amused smile and walks away.

"Wait..." I say, holding Charlie's hand. "I met your parents, 2, I met your little sister, 3, the twins 5, Ron, 6, Bill, 7... Hermione and Harry are not your siblings... isn't anyone missing?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah... I don't think Percy's gonna join us. Too busy at the ministry, " he says, almost defeated, so I decide not to press the subject.

"Oh... okay... it's alright. " I smile at him." C'mon, can't wait to finally taste your mom's food. "

We arrive in the kitchen, and there are two open seats left... on opposite sides.

"C'mon, dear, come sit here." Molly jokes, pointing at the seat next to Ginny but still close to her.

"You'll be fine," Charlie whispers to me before going to sit next to his father.

I take a seat, Ginny is on my left, Molly on hers, on my right sit Hermione and in front of me there's Bill.

"Free yourself for a bit." Bill jokes, catching Charlie's attention.

"How about you sit here, brother?" Charlie offers, pointing at where Harry is sitting, in front of him.

"Charlie, behave" Arthur scolds his son, who simply sit, but I can sense he's keeping an eye on his brother, all while everyone is laughing and just goes back and their own business.

"Now, dear, tell me all about it." Molly starts as she puts a generous slice of shepherd's pie on my plate. "How did you two meet?"

"Oh," I nervously laugh. "Well.."

"Mom, don't make her nervous," Ginny says to her mother.

"No, no, it's fine, really," I reassure them. "I... well, I had just finished my seventh year at Hogwarts and"

"You too were at Hogwarts. How nice!" She comments, that huge gentle smile always on her face.

"Yes, but I've always been very quiet, so I don't think he has ever actually noticed me before we met there, actually," I say.

"Weasleys are louder by nature," Ginny assures me, smiling too.

"He sure is. Anyway, I had finished my last year and I wanted to take a year for myself, after my father's death it's been kind of hard, helping at home when I wasn't at Hogwarts and... yeah, I wanted to paint magical creatures, so I travelled all the way to Romania."

"You paint?" Bill asks, and I nod."Oh wow, you will have to show us some of your work, "

"Yeah, maybe next time I'll bring some." I smile at him.

"Go on," Ginny urges. She looks at me with dreamy eyes.

"I arrive in this camp, and I was almost expecting and hoping they could show me more accurate pictures of dragons to take inspiration from. At first, I found this, I have to say, very rude man, asking me constantly why I was there and why I was bothering them. He also almost threw away the drawing I was showing him to explain why I was there.

"What?! Please tell me Charlie arrived to tell him something, " Ginny exclaims.

"Uhm... no." I laugh softly."No, I spent, I think, a good hour and a half dealing with this man, "

"Oh poor thing," Molly sighs. "And then?"

"I managed to get onto the camp and look at some pictures and drawings, and I started to paint something. So I'm sitting there, painting quietly when suddenly something fell right beside me. Or someone fell right beside me. " I laugh at the memory.

"Really?" Bill asks very amused by his brother's first impression.

"Yes. Not only did he scare me, but he fell on my oil paint, getting it all over him. Especially on his face."

"Oh, that would've been such a great view," Bill laughs.

"It was," I confirm.

"And then?" Ginny asks.

"Then he started to apologise, profusely, saying he would've bought back all the water paint. But I assured him he didn't need to, since my grandfather owed a shop with all the materials I needed."

"Oh my dear boy," Molly tries to hold back the laughter but fails.

"We started to talk, and once I told him I wanted to paint a dragon... well.. that same night, he sneaked me back into the camp and let me meet one of the dragons there. I painted, and he sat there watching me the whole time."

"Awe." Ginny sighed, still that dreamy look on her.

"I hope he's been a gentleman since then," Molly says.

"He is, I promise. He's really great, I can promise you, you did a great job. " I smile at her, and she just waves me off, but I know my words meant a lot.

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

We spent the rest of the dinner talking about everything else. I got to talk with Hermione about her parents and about being a muggle-born and the fact that Ron, Harry and her are aboutto start their fourth year, I also got to talk with Ginny about Quidditch and with Bill about his job as curse-breaker at the Bank.

I was having a really good time with everybody that I didn't notice it was getting late.

As everybody is going to bed, Charlie walks up to me, takes my hand, and leads me outside.

"So?" He asks.

"What?" I ask back.

"It went well," he grins.

"Shut up!" I laugh, covering my eyes, feeling embarrassed.

"They love you! I knew it. " I feel him hugging me tightly.

"Yeah, fine, you win. I was scared for nothing, " I say, pushing him away, but he grabs my hand and pulls me back to him.

"Exactly." He keeps grinning.

"They wanted to know about how we've met," I tell him.

"Oh, merlin... now Bill's gonna make fun of me for the rest for my life, " he laughs defeated.

"Sorry, but your sister was so into the story and had that dreamy look on her face..." I explain.

"It's alright, love," he kisses my nose. " I'm happy you felt at home with them. I'm not sure about Bill, but I can't kick him out. "

"Don't be mean," I laugh. "You know I have my eyes on you, only you,"

"I know." He smiles proudly.

"He does have great hair," I murmur.

"What?" He widens his eyes, and I laugh, bringing him in for a kiss.

"Your hair is not so bad either, don't worry,"

He laughs with me, holding me close to him, stroking my sides lovingly.

"You know," he says after a moment. "You were wrong earlier,"

"Uh?"

"I did notice you when we were at Hogwarts," he says, and I let out a gentle laugh, earning a confused look.

"How could you?" I say .I was three years younger than you, and I was... like... very quiet, Charlie. I'm not mad, if that's what you're thinking. " I smile at him to reassure him.

"You liked to paint in the astronomy tower" he starts "you came to the Quidditch matches, yes, but you sat as far as possible so you weren't getting in people's way and they not in yours. You always ate sitting as close as possible to the doors in the Great Hall. And..."he kisses my nose again,"and you drew a new creature for Hagrid every week. "

I look at him confused. How does he know all of this?

"How?" I finally ask.

"Told you. I did notice you, " he smiles.

"But why did you say anything?" I chuckle.

"I don't know, honestly. I guess with me moving to Romania, I didn't want you to feel like I was abandoning you or feel like you had to follow me... I didn't want to break our hearts. " he lets out a nervous chuckle. "It sounds stupid now... seeing how we turned out"

"A little." I chuckle too, "better late than never, people say. Right?"

"Right," he agrees, I kiss him softly. "I love you,"

"I love you too, Charlie." I move my hand to caress his cheek, and he leans into my touch.

"Aaww!" We hear from above us.

We look up in time to see Ginny watching us from an open window and then being dragged inside by Hermione.

"Sorry," she says apologetically before disappearing into the house.

Charlie and I look at each other, laughing.

"Alright, c'mon. Let's go get some sleep, my love. " Charlie leads me back inside.

"Let's," I agree as I follow him.

It did go well after all.

[ginnyw-potter]

Ginny Weasley should die.

Thank you for the prompt anon! 😊 I hope you like it.

Death's cup

"Ginny Weasley should die."

Harry looked up from his newspaper and thought about his wife upstairs. 50 years old. Not quite in her quidditch years anymore but not old enough to die of natural causes, or so Harry would think. He did not want to let her go.

He looked at death. He seemed familiar. "Ah. Interesting that you tell me this. I thought you wielded your scythe on your own time, sir."

He stood up from the table and Death was yet still taller than him by almost more than a head.

Death moved uneasily. His face was hardly visible under his hood. "I do, but you... are the Master of Death and I will not take your wife away unannounced."

"I don't have the Elder Wand. The Stone is lost to time. The cloak belongs to James."

Death nodded. "You do not lose the title until someone else brings the items together. James is a special one. He hides from Death just as well as his father. There were some close calls under that cloak."

Though the thought of his son dying prickled as much as thinking about Ginny dying did, he only nodded. "He has no clue what it used to be like."

"He grew up safe thanks to the efforts of the generation before him," Death said. "I need to go and start on my day. I will be back in a few moments."

And just like that, Death walked out of his back door and soared straight up into the sky.

Harry had not even moved from his spot when James appeared by the same back door and knocked before entering.

"Morning dad, here's the cloak like you asked." His son put the cloak down on the table. "Mum still asleep?"

He nodded, dumbfounded but didn't reveal that he had never asked for the cloak. "Sleeping in."

"Alright. I'll see you two for dinner, yeah?"

Harry nodded again, trying not to think of the horrible possibility of Ginny not making it to dinner. "Of course," he said around the lump in his throat.

His son walked to the door again but Harry stopped him. James turned around to look at him.

"With or without that cloak, you're not invincible. Don't forget that," Harry said.

James offered him a lop-sided smile. "Is this another lesson from you where you take the cloak away from me to prove something?"

"No. Just a reminder."

"Because I am getting married soon and then I want to give you some of those grandkid-things mum dreams about." James hugged him.

Harry hugged him back. "Don't tell her that or she'll bug you about it until you bring her one."

"Merlin," his son let out with a chuckle. "I know it. I thought Al was going to beat me to it, to be fair." James released him and stepped back.

"He might still," Harry mused out loud.

James nodded in agreement. "Alright, see you tonight, dad!"

Harry waved absent-mindedly, his fingers of his other hand already wrapping around the cloak.

As soon as James had disapparated, he walked upstairs and into the master bed room. Ginny was sleeping soundly.

He tried not to think too hard about losing her but his arms shook as he draped the cloak over her. She did not stir.

"I love you, Gin," he said just in case and then he walked back downstairs.

He had just poured himself another cup of coffee when Death descended the stairs and walked back into the kitchen.

"The oddest thing just happened," Death said with an air of innocence, holding a list. "It says Ginny Weasley, bedroom, but I could not find her."

"That is odd," he agreed, the knot around his heart loosening a little. "Coffee?"

"Oh. Yes, thank you."

Harry poured Death a cup and handed it to him.

The skeletal hand wrapped around the ear of the cup. Both of them leaned against the counter as Death took a sip. A bit of steam escaped from the ear holes in his hood as he drank.

He seemed to leisurely read the list to see what was ahead for the day.

"Sir Barkington?" Harry inquired as he couldn't help but glance at the list.

"Yes," Death said. "Elderly dog. One of my favourites. It's such a joy to see them escape their old body with their achey joints and bad eyesight and see them chase around like a young puppy once more. It gets me every time."

Harry smiled. "That does sound rather nice." He looked at the name still at the top of his list. "Isn't it rather odd that my wife should be listed as 'Ginny Weasley' when she's been a Potter for thirty years?"

The cup of coffee hesitated in front of Death's mouth as his eyes slipped down. "That is odd."

"So?" Harry asked.

Death grumbled. "I wonder if the stupid fragmented souls messed with my list. Can't move on, can't go back. Trying to defy nature and now I have to pass those sorry excuses for a soul every morning on my commute!"

Harry's eyebrows rose. "If one was previously occupying a diary, it would know my wife's name rather well."

"Ah." Death's gaze fell on the list again. "That may very well be it. I'll need to investigate." He set the cup of coffee down on the counter and a quil appeared in his hand. He crossed Ginny's name off the list. "One way or another, consider her off the hook. I'll talk to her in another century or so." He rolled up the list and tucked it in the pocket of his cloak. "I'll see you soon."

Harry swallowed.

"Just kidding!" Death said, opening the door and stepping outside. "That never gets old! But you will. Live a long life, Harry. I will meet you again when it's time." He waved and then soared off once more.

Harry walked up the door and closed it. He returned to his coffee and took another sip.

"Why was the cloak on me?" She held it in her hands. She looked so very alive with tousled long hair and her night dress wrapped around her form.

"If I told you Death was looking for you, would you believe me?"

She snorted a laugh and picked up the cup of coffee from the counter. "No." She took a sip and promptly spat it out. "That tastes like death!"

"Told you he was here," Harry mumbled under his breath. "I'll get you a new one."

She playfully pushed him out of the way with her hip. "I'll make myself one. You clearly can't be trusted around the coffee machine anymore."

He laughed and took hold of her, kissing her eagerly.

"On second thought..." she said as she slipped her hand down his back. "Why don't you come back upstairs with me..."

"The counter is right there..." Harry offered.

She laughed. "I am not twenty anymore."

"No, you're not," he said happily, his hand caressing the curve of her hip. "But you get better every year."

"My joints don't," she said against his lips.

He pulled her up against him. "Oh, alright. And I'll make you a proper cup in a bit."

She dragged him upstairs, Death's cup forgotten.

[headcanonandburn]

Headcanons Timelined

Before The Events Of Harry Potter Series

* Lily once asked Remus out in front of James, just to annoy him. Remus was so shocked, he stood there and didn’t say anything, eventually excusing himself to use the restroom.

* Lily once met Sirius in his Animagus form before she knew their secret. She let him lick her face and played with him for half an hour before an unusually angry James Potter dragged the dog away.

* Harry's first word was 'Pafoo' (Padfoot). He first said this when Sirius unexpectedly entered into the Potter's kitchen. James, Lily and especially Sirius were proud of the 11 month old baby.

* James was secretly one of McGonagall's favorite students. He excelled in Transfiguration, though he didn’t care to hand his homework essays in unless she threatened to take away Quidditch. He was clever and knew the right answers. She was proud of him when they won the Quidditch Cup and when he finally got Lily to say “I do.” She was half rooting for him the whole time.

During Harry Potter Series

* While dating Dean and Michael, Ginny was constantly comparing them to Harry.

* Mrs. Weasley didn't make Harry that first Weasley sweater because she was being nice -- she made it because she was so grateful that Ron, her youngest son who always felt second best to his older brothers, had a best friend all to himself. It wasn't pity or random kindness. She just wanted to find a way to thank the boy who made Ron's letters home such a joy to read.

* During the many dinners spent at Grimmauld Place, Sirius grew to become particularly fond of the Weasley twins. They exchanged countless stories about the pranks they pulled at school, and compared detention records.

* Upon walking down the great hall to be sorted, Neville Longbottom considered asking the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor. He decided not to; and to his complete surprise, he became a lion anyway.

* On May 2nd, 1998 every witch and wizard held a moment of silence for the ones who died during the First and Second Wizarding War. When the respectful silence ended millions of different coloured sparks could be seen shooting up into the night sky.

* Severus Snape didn’t see himself and Lily happily married together in the mirror of Erised. He only saw Lily, happy and smiling, proving how strong and selfless his love for her really was.

* To conjure a Patronus, Luna thought of the D.A. meetings. They were her happiest memories, where she met her best friends.

* Severus Snape never liked having Ginny Weasley in class because when he saw her out of the corner of his eye, for a split second he always thought it was Lily.

* While working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the twins often wore name tags labelled "Gred" and "Forge”.

After Harry Potter Series Ended

* James got one more O.W.L. than his father: History of Magic. The exam was the easiest one, seeing as the majority of questions were about Harry.

* When Harry and Hermione came over to help Arthur Weasley set up the television he asked them hundreds of questions, most of them about how electricity worked. He had to be restrained from trying to electrocute himself because he wanted to see "Just exactly how it felt".

* One day Albus Severus was roaming the castle when he came across a portrait of a hook-nosed, greasy haired man who wore all black. “So you must be Potter's spawn, eh?” Snape sneered. Albus said “I’m sorry my brother James bothers you. I am Albus. Albus Severus.” Snape looked down into Albus’ eyes- the green eyes- Lily Potter once had. For the first time in a long time, Snape smiled. A true smile. “And I am Severus Snape.”

* Albus Severus Potter often visited the portrait of Severus Snape, and they would have long talks about Hogwarts and Potions in particular. Once when Albus was just about to get on the Hogwarts Express, he was talking to his father about Snape and how he thought he was a charming man. Harry asked him what Snape’s portrait was like, he told him that it was dark and bland, with potion vials scattered around and books in heaps on the floor. Harry wasn't surprised; he pictured the potions dungeons in his head from when he was at Hogwarts. However, when Albus proceeded to tell Harry that on the desk in Snape’s portrait stood a vase of lilies, which seemed to be the brightest and prettiest thing in the picture, Harry let out a little smile, hugged Albus and continued to help him get his trunk onto the carriage.

* Ron was helping Hugo with his spells one day, and Hugo mispronounced Wingardium Leviosa. Ron said, "It's Leviosa, not Leviosah." Hermione caught his eye, and they laughed for a good few minutes, much to Hugo's curiosity.

* Harry kept all of the sweaters Molly knitted for him over the years. When she saw them folded in his cupboard one day, she cried.

* George sent along with a box of Custard Creams with Roxanne as a gift to Neville on her first day of Hogwarts. She didn't speak to her father for a week when her Herbology professor turned into a canary in the middle of class.

* When a young Teddy Lupin was told his father was a werewolf, he thought he had the coolest dad ever.

* Lily, Rose and Roxanne's parents never bought them any pink cardigans.

* Neville Longbottom's son was sorted into Gryffindor before the Sorting Hat even touched his head.

* If Harry were to look in the mirror of Erised today, he wouldn't see anything different.

* James and Fred both broke their namesakes' detention records. George developed a device sold at the shop which detected any cheats or scams. It was called the Lying Ludo.

* Hagrid visited Norberta in Romania. She recognized her ‘Mummy.’

* Neville tried to return the sword of Gryffindor to Harry after the battle, but Harry didn’t accept – the one thing that the Ministry had gotten right was that the sword was never Dumbledore’s to give. It now rests in Professor Longbottom’s office, waiting to be called by another worthy Gryffindor.

* After the war, Neville went and visited his parents at St. Mungo’s to explain the end of Voldemort’s reign. He knew they wouldn’t understand, but they deserved to know – it was what they had been fighting for all along.

* There was always a vase of fresh lilies in the Potter home.

* Percy made a point to see his father at the ministry every day after they both returned to work.

* When Hermione told Ron she was pregnant, it was the single most terrifying moment of his life. It was also the happiest.

* Narcissa Malfoy never truly forgave Molly for killing her sister but understood why she did it.

* Hugo and Rose always run to their father for sweets – Hermione is still the daughter of two dentists.

* Rose once came across a selection of books penned by Gilderoy Lockhart in her mother’s library. Her father confiscated them and muttered something about “pompous prat.”

* In the Granger-Weasley household, it was always Hermione who stepped up to kill the spiders.

* Neville didn’t buy his son a pet toad.

* Draco’s nurturing upbringing of Scorpius was inspired by his own father: he did everything Lucius didn’t.

* Hermione and her parents spent hours attempting to explain to Arthur Weasley how airplanes stay up. He still didn’t quite understand the concept.

* James and Fred annoyed everyone by constantly Apparating from room to room, sometimes accidentally landing on top of people.

* Teddy Lupin was slightly distraught at not becoming a prefect, for he knew his father had been one. “I’m sure you just lack certain qualities,” Harry told him, “like the ability to behave yourself.” Teddy was puzzled until Harry explained those were the words of his mother.

* On those rare occasions that Harry would visit Dudley’s family, he still called him ‘Big D.’

* Ron’s kids found the infamous Yule Ball dress robes hanging in his cupboard once. The teasing lasted for weeks.

* Ginny was disappointed when her son James's first word was ‘buddy 'ell’ (bloody hell) after spending too much time with his Uncle Ron.

* When Ron suggested his children a homework planner, Hermione dropped the pot she was holding and beamed with happiness.

* After failing to secure her father’s attention during a particularly noisy family dinner at the burrow, Rose angrily screeched “Won-Won!” The entire room fell silent, and Ron’s face flushed a brilliant red until Hermione simply burst out laughing.

* Hugo never really understood why his father was so adamant about the fact that no good ever came from entering a girls’ bathroom.

* Neville Longbottom gives the best advice to his students and is viewed as a mentor. A frightened young first-year once approached him with concerns about a bully. Neville looked him in the eyes and told him that he was worth twelve of that coward.

* When Ron proposed to Hermione, he fumbled with the ring and almost dropped it down the sewer. When Hermione said yes, he was shocked and Hermione simply replied with ”Always the tone of surprise.”

* Fred had actually never heard Percy joke. At Fred's funeral, Percy promised him he'd lighten up. And since then, he had. Every year on the anniversary of his death, Percy visited Fred's grave in the dead of night. Instead of placing roses, he put a pile of dragon dung next to it. Every year, he whispered, "Yeah, I was the world's biggest prat." When George arrived later in the day, he always wondered who the prankster was.

* Scorpius doesn’t understand why his father always squirms at the mere mention of ferrets.

* George's proposal to Angelina wasn't planned. George and Angelina had been together for a while and had never discussed marriage. One night at a big Weasley family party, a conversation arose between George, Percy, and Ron. Percy and Audrey had recently gotten married and Ron and Hermione were engaged. Ron started joking with George about marrying Angelina when Percy asked if he had even thought about the idea.

Percy, who still didn't have the best sense of humor, continued, "George you're an adult and you should really start acting like it." "Fine," George replied, and taking inspiration from his twin brother he stood up and said:

"Oi! Angelina!" She looked up from her conversation with Ginny and Fleur. "Want to marry me?" asked George.

Though she was very surprised she smiled coyly and said, "All right, then" and continued on with her conversation. George sat back down and looked at his brother Percy who looked absolutely stunned. Remembering a very similar conversation in his fourth year of school Ron patted George on the back and said, "Piece of cake."

* When Fred and Roxanne were very young, Fred constantly played sneaky pranks on his little sister. One day, when Roxanne was reduced to tears after Fred stole her Pygmy puff, George introduced his daughter to the punching telescope. Angelina scolded her husband fiercely when Fred came downstairs one morning with a black eye.

* To tell Harry she was pregnant, Ginny took him to Godric's Hollow. She knew he wanted to name them after his parents, so what better place to tell him? It was time to make new, happier memories there anyway. Hermione broke the news to Ron that she was pregnant for the first time by using a Christmas gift. It was a Chudley Cannons baby outfit.

* When Ron and Hermione were deciding on what color to paint their room in, Ron had joked saying 'Lavender'. Hermione didn't speak to him for a week, and vowed to get revenge. When Hugo was born and they were deciding on baby names, Hermione said in all seriousness, that she was dying to name the baby Viktor II. Ron never used the name Lavender again.

* The members of the D.A. consider their charmed galleons as one of their most prized possessions. Luna Lovegood made a necklace out of hers.

* When asked about the significance of Chocolate Frog cards, Ron explained to his children that they were wizards of great significance in the Wizarding World. Rose replied by inquisitively asking him why he was on one.

* James, Rose, Albus, Hugo, and Lily all complained about never going camping. Their parents simply wouldn't budge on their firm 'NO.'

* Shortly after the war, Hermione gave Ron her book of Muggle fairy tales so that he could understand that no, Cinderella was not an illness.

* Harry Potter regrets the day he taught his sons "Levicorpus."

* None of the kids understood why there was an unidentifiable Weasley cousin called Barney in Fleur and Bill's wedding photos.

* Scorpius Malfoy excelled in Care of Magical Creatures, much to his father’s disbelief.

* James snuck his namesake’s motorbike out of the garage to take it for a spin quite often. One summer, he crashed it unknown to his parents. When they finally found out, he received a Howler at breakfast in the great hall one morning. It had been Ron’s idea.

*When Rose was a little girl, she used to wish she was a cat. Her mother would reply quite firmly that no, being a cat was not all that enjoyable.

* Seamus Finnigan didn’t allow his son to play with matches, for fear of his underage magical talent coming to fruition.

* Whilst playing for the Holyhead Harpies Ginny was hit on the back of the head by a Bludger, she fell off her broom and ended up unconscious for a few days. When she woke up the first thing she saw was Harry asleep in a chair next to her bed. This is when she decided to settle down, marry him, and have children. She was just waiting to make sure he wouldn’t leave again. The sight of him there reassured her he never would.

* Every Christmas since the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry tried to have something to represent every victim he had known on the Christmas tree. For Dobby, there was a pair of odd socks. For Mad-Eye, there were round chocolates covered with foil to look the eyeballs. For Fred, there was a little angel with a cheeky grin and a flame of ginger hair. For Colin, there was a tiny silver camera... For Tonks, there was a small star which changed colour. For Remus, there was a wolf which was near the star, watching over it. For Snape, there was a Lily that was entwined in the tree's pines. And for Hedwig, there was a toy owl on top of the tree.

* When they were at the end of their second year, Rose, Scorpius, and Al figured out a way to enchant their notebooks to work as a three-way note system. One person would write something and it would appear in the other two notebooks. The three friends used this method of communication all throughout their years at Hogwarts.

* When Hermione went back to Hogwarts, Ron gave her his favorite jumper to take with her. Hermione thought it might have been the most romantic thing he’d ever done. It was old and had a few holes in it and was much too big for her, but she rarely took it off.

* Harry was there for Umbridge's trial. She pleaded not guilty, that she was under the Imperius Curse the whole time. She kept on asking Harry to back her up. Esmerelda Marchbanks called upon Harry to confirm Umbridge’s story. "Potter, tell them the truth! Tell them I was under the Imperius Curse! I feel remorse! Please, tell them!" Harry simply looked at Dolores Jane Umbridge and said: "I’m sorry Professor, I must not tell lies

[redheadwannabesblog]

Hinny- epilogue add on

Harry and Ginny helped get luggage on the train. A small group of 7th year boys walk by and one says crudely says “damn Ginny Potter is still super fit”. 

Ginny ignores it and she and Hermione get Albus and Rose ready to board but James scowls after them. 

Teddy put is arm around him and says “ you think that’s bad, I was in school while she was still playing. You gotta ignore it.” 

They load everything onto the train and it starts to pull away from the station. Lily runs a bit down the platform. Hermione is near her reminding Rosie through the window to keep her cloak on when she arrives so she isn’t cold with Ron trying to pull her back even though he’d been the teary one all morning. 

Ginny waves sadly “I can’t believe Al is already old enough to be leaving us.” 

Harry pulls her into a hug “ I know it makes me feel old.” Ginny leans back to look at him with mock offense and says “well I’m not old, didn’t you hear? I’m still super fit” 

Harry smirks “have I not been telling you that enough?” He pulls her in tight his hand sliding down her lower back. “20 years together and you still get more beautiful every day” Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. 

Lily had trotted back to them and let out a dramatic “ewww”. Ron and Hermione joined them and Ron echoed her “yeah ewww. Can you stop groping each other so we can go get some lunch? “

Harry and Ginny each grabbed one of Lilys hands and they made their way back through 9 3/4. 

[bridenore]

HD eight year fic recs : 50k+ words

Here are a few drarry eight year fic recs that are between 30k and 50k words. Posted in alphabetical order, as always.

You can access my rec lists for eight year fics that have less than 10k words here, between 10k and 20k here, between 20k and 30k here and between 30k and 50k here.

Arms Wide Open: Hogwarts by Sita_Z [28k]

Harry did not expect his Eighth Year to involve any more investigations of abandoned bathrooms. Nor did he expect to come across Draco Malfoy there, alone, bleeding and in late-stage labor. Arms Wide Open: Grimmauld Place by Sita_Z [36k] After leaving Hogwarts, Harry and Draco face an uncertain future, raising Scorpius and dealing with the wizarding world’s reaction to their situation. Sequel to Arms Wide Open: Hogwarts.

At Your Service by @faith2wood [95k]

Hogwarts students are in danger; Harry is determined to save them all. There’s only one thing he knows for certain: Draco Malfoy is somehow involved.

Azoth by @lol-zeitgeistic [88k]

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Beholden by @faith2wood [123k]

Draco Malfoy might not be a killer, but it turns out he's an effective painkiller. If stopping pain was all Draco's touch did, things might not be so complicated, but either way Harry can't afford to be choosy.

The Changing Lights by lazywonderland [142k]

Harry returns for an eighth year following the end of the war and realises that although he's put his own animosity towards Malfoy aside, no one else seems to have done the same. When a hex leaves his oldest rival in the body of a female and ridicule doubles, Harry discovers that his hero complex is a difficult thing to fight.

Exceeds Eggspectations by Elle Gray (LGray) [61k]

Eighth year. Winter. Christmas has been and gone. Harry’s just been dumped and so has Malfoy. There’s a stupid fake baby assignment to be done, and what’s the harm in doing it together, really, when life is this shit already? This is not slow burn, this is a roman candle pointed at a pile of dry twigs that represent your heart.

Firebond by Oakstone730 / @i-didnt-wanna-do-it​ [94k]

Draco is forced to tutor Harry in potions. A slight problem occurs.

Golden Age by @lol-zeitgeistic [52k]

The Celtic druids once made a decision that kept magic in abundance in Britannia, but they couldn’t account for the technological advances Muggles would make centuries later. Now magic is dying on the isles, and this is not a dark lord that Harry can fight. OR: Harry Potter doesn’t save the world this time, but he does get a lot of hugs.

Graceless Heart by shushu_yaoi_lj / @orange-peony​ [132k]

Harry is lost and broken after the war. He has gone to countless funerals, broken up with Ginny, moved back into Grimmauld Place—which feels darker and dirtier than ever before despite how much he tries to fix it. He feels lonely and desperate, but he won’t ask for help, and he still can’t cry. When he agreed to help the Aurors at Malfoy Manor over the summer, he thought that he would be breaking dark curses. Harry never thought that he would actually spend his days sorting out dusty books with Draco Malfoy, or teaching him how to cook. Little by little, as they begin to navigate their life post-war, Harry and Draco become intimate…in more ways than Harry could have ever expected.

Helix by Saras_Girl [92k]

Seven months after the end of the war, Harry is feeling lost. Fortunately, he is about to be offered an unexpected and sparkling chance to find himself again. [2014 advent fic]

It’s No Great Mystery by @agentmoppet​ [57k]

Who on earth decided that bringing back the Yule Ball for their eighth year would be a good idea? It feels like the worst day of Harry’s life, watching everyone get glammed up like the war never happened, like the last Triwizard Tournament wasn’t such a colossal failure. And then it happens again. And again. And again.

Manticoria by @lol-zeitgeistic [70k]

In the dangerous days after Voldemort’s fall, Harry struggles to find a way to be with Draco—again. But as the magical world threatens to die all around them, it might be more difficult than he thought. Includes dying wards, dying beasts, and love struggling to live; sentient magic, wandlore, Founder lore, potion lore, and ward lore; and of course there is Zacharias Smith to ruin everything, as usual.

Mental by sara_holmes [156k]

Harry has had quite enough of sharing his mind with someone else, thankyouverymuch. A miscast Legilimecy spell says otherwise.

My Little Berserker by @aelys-althea  [105k]

Eighth year was supposed to be calm. Moderated. Peaceful, even. Draco returned to escape the chaos wrought upon his shambles of a life and Harry to flee the responsibility of a world that sees him as something greater than was truly possible. Hogwarts was a safe haven, right? At least it was until Hagrid comes up with the wonderful idea to introduce some additional members to the student body of the fluffier variety. Hagrid doesn’t do moderated - where’s the fun in that?

The Nightmare Club by Elle Gray [85k]

Hermione and Ron are going back to Hogwarts to do N.E.W.T.s, Ginny isn’t. Harry hasn’t decided, until he has, in front of the Wizengamot and now he’s responsible for Malfoy as well. A tale of enemies who learn to get along, get it wrong and get it on. Everything is purple, some things are on fire and no-one is sleeping properly. But don’t worry, there’s tea!

Not in the Hands of Boys by @fourth-rose [130k] *incomplete

Once the final battle is won, life must go on, although it can be even harder to master than death. Back at Hogwarts for his final year of school, Harry tries to cope with everything he's been through. As the world around him struggles for a way back to normality, he is forced to realise that in the long run, living takes a lot more courage than dying.

Objects of Desire by Azrael Geffen [400k+]

The dream team sign a magical contract promising to lose their virginities within the year, they soon fix on the objects of their desires, but will the bitterness left in the wake of the war prove too hurtful for love to exist?

Ocean of Storms by Bounding-Heart [113k]

The war is over and Harry has returned to help rebuild Hogwarts. He longs to move forwards, but the past refuses to let him go. The castle is full of ghosts: haunting nightmares, the deaths he couldn’t prevent, and the age-old rivalry that Draco Malfoy seems determined to maintain.

Owl Was Well by @fencer-x [66k]

Draco Malfoy is not an owl, really he isn’t. He simply assumes the shape of one on occasion when he wants to find a bit of privacy—a goal entirely thwarted because Harry Potter doesn’t understand you can’t just grab any old bird from the Owlery and force it to send your missives and deliver your packages.

The Promise of Summer by Omi_Ohmy [66k]

How was Harry supposed to know that coming back for eighth year would be so confusing? Everything is the same, and yet not the same. And nowhere is this more obvious than with Draco Malfoy. Harry finds himself once more watching and following Malfoy, trying to work him out. When they are drawn together to heal the castle, Harry doesn’t just find Malfoy - he also finds himself.

red and green are complimentary colours by  ace_0fhearts [88k]

After the war Hermione manages to convince Harry to go back to Hogwarts for his eighth year. Expecting an uneventful year of classes and rooming with the other Gryffindor boys, he’s surprised when McGonagall tells him he’ll be sharing a room with Draco Malfoy. Now Harry has to get through a year of arguments and awkward silences. Or he would, if Malfoy would stop ignoring him and moping around the castle alone. Or: Draco and Harry fall in love through sleepless nights and late night quidditch games

Reparo by amalin [84k]

Voldemort’s final defeat does not mean Harry Potter’s troubles are over; far from it. In the aftermath of war, he returns to a Hogwarts that is fractured and divided, but this is no break that can be fixed with a spell. New owls, fading scars, surprising alliances—and along the way, the hardest task of all, to live with it. 

Right Hand Red by @lqtraintracks [73k] 

Harry felt Malfoy’s breath on his lips as they came together over the bottle, hands firmly planted on the floor as though they each needed their familiar soil, refusing to cross into enemy territory. Except that Malfoy no longer felt like his enemy. Malfoy felt inevitable.

The Silent World Within You by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [95k]

Harry only wanted Malfoy for one night, one birthday. It wasn’t meant to be anything more.

spins madly on by asofthaven [56k]

As part of his probation, Draco Malfoy returns to Hogwarts to complete his N.E.W.T.s. Gobstones, the political machinations of the Hogwarts student body, and one Harry James Potter captures Draco’s attention instead.

Things Worth Knowing by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [164k]

After the Battle, Harry thinks he’s left Hogwarts for good, but Minerva insists that all students return for an Eighth Year if they wish to sit for NEWTs in the spring, and Harry needs those NEWTs to go into the Aurors. Draco’s just grateful not to be in Azkaban. Or the Manor. He’s hoping he can steer clear of Potter this year and grapple with his own problems. Unfortunately for him, Potter appears to be one of those problems. And that’s not even addressing the fact that Potter’s got serious issues of his own, which Draco realises as he’s forced to share an Eighth Year dormitory room and several classes with the Gryffindor Git. If only they can make it through the year without killing each other, it should be all right, shouldn’t it?

Written on the Heart by who_la_hoop [113k] 

Harry doesn’t mind that so many Slytherins from his year have returned to finish their NEWTs, really he doesn’t. It’s just – do they have to be so friendly? He’s not prejudiced, really he’s not. It’s just – they’ve got to be up to something, right? Unnerved by the attention he’s attracting from everyone – the Slytherins are the least of it, to be fair – and struggling with a raft of changes to Hogwarts itself, Harry wishes he could be happy that one constant remains: Draco Malfoy really fucking hates him. When he’s hit by an illegal love-spell though, Harry finds he has more to worry about than whether or not Blaise Zabini actually wants to be his friend. For if everyone affected has been blessed – or cursed, by the look on Malfoy’s face – with a magical tattoo revealing the name of their soulmate, what does it mean that Harry’s skin remains completely bare?

You’ve Got Owl Post by @slyth-princess [50k]

After discovering muggle romantic comedies during winter break, Pansy Parkinson and Luna Lovegood decide to launch an ambitious project called You’ve Got Owl Post which matches up students through an enchanted notebook so they can send letters to each other without knowing who is at the other end. It is an instant hit. Harry, without his friends knowing, is one of the first to join. And he rapidly finds a kindred soul on the other side of the pages. In real life, however, he is once again plagued by Draco Malfoy. After fighting in class, McGonagall has had enough. So, as punishment and a lesson, she assigns them the running of that years dueling club. Everyone, including Harry and Draco, assumes it will be a disaster. However, sometimes the people you think you know the best are the ones who can surprise you the most. A story of letters, bets, friendship, love, forgiveness, and discovering who you really are.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did!