#Ginny: what's a horcrux. Harry: so remember that diary you had?

[iamnmbr3]

Harry in the final duel: I know lots of things you don't know Tom Riddle.

Ginny: Tom Riddle?! From my diary?!

[hp-hcs]

I just had a Crazy thought. Idk if I’ve EVER read a Ton Riddle x ftm Reader before and now I’m CURIOUS. Pls （＾ν＾）

yk, i dont think i’ve ever seen one either 🤨 which is some BULLSHIT if you ask me

ANYWAYS i have no idea what this is but yk i actually finished something so that’s pretty girlypop. also GODDAMNIT i need more tom using 40s slang

phoenix tears (chapter three of phoenix tears) — 40s! tom riddle x ftm! dumbass! granger! reader

he’s babygirl i don’t make the rules

problem solving by creating more problems, a case study by harry potter and y/n fr

glad to see all of the ftms have found my acc, i love all of y’all mwah

TWs: ‘40s era homophobia; couple of outdated homophobic slurs; i guess tom misgendering reader? but he like, doesn’t even know what being trans is so-

requests? please? i beg??

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“What’s this?” You pulled a wrinkled old book out of Harry’s trunk, sitting down on the wood floor of his dorm, crisscross applesauce.

The cover must’ve once been very fine leather, but it was now warped with water damage and age. The pages were brittle and seemed liable to disintegrate at the lightest touch. But the most prominent part of the book was that there was a charred black hole right through the center.

“Huh? Oh- Tom Riddle’s diary. His very first horcrux,” Harry glanced up at you from where he was also sat on the floor, desperately trying to organize all of the shit that was in his trunk to begin with.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Nope, not in the slightest.”

You opened the cover, the leather creaking and cracking under the slightest pressure. You were surprised to find that the diary was completely blank inside. You flipped through a few more pages; nothing. It was totally empty.

Unless Tom Riddle had only written in the center of where the odd, charred hole was. Which was, y’know, pretty unlikely.

“How’d you destroy it?”

Harry frowned to himself, trying to decide if Runes homework from two years ago should go in the keep or throw away pile. “Basilisk fang. Has Ginny seriously never told you?”

You shook your head, eyes wide. He grinned at you, handing you a stack of various important-looking documents mixed in with past homework assignments to go through, and immediately dove into his story of shallow teachers and secret chambers and blood on the walls.

You gaped at him in awe as he finished his story. “But wait- if Fawkes’ tears were all you needed to like…heal and not die, would the same work on the diary?”

Harry paused, looking up at you. “That’s…a good question.”

“Think we should try?” You asked. “Maybe Teenager Tom could talk some sense into Adult Tom?”

Harry seemed to genuinely consider it before shaking his head. “Ach, but Hermione would kill us.”

Your shoulders dropped and you frowned as you think about your sister. “But…she’s at the Burrow tonight, remember?”

“Well,” Harry said slowly, still on the fence. “If Hermione’s not around to scold us...”

~~~ “This was a terrible idea this was such a terrible fucking idea-”

The diary smoked and hissed, writhing around on the floor. The book flapped open, the pages ruffling around and fizzing.

Scrambling backwards, you clung onto Harry, praying Slughorn wouldn’t walk in. Or worse, Filch.

You’d snuck into the Potions classroom after curfew, hidden under Harry’s invisibility cloak, with the intent of finding phoenix tears. After going through Slughorn’s potion cabinet, you'd found the vial all the way in the back. Which, of course, had led to you two deciding to test your theory about the diary right then and there.

The diary suddenly made a pop noise, like someone cracking bubblegum. It then stilled all of its movement, lying open at the center of the book, when a dark liquid, ink, began seeping out from it. The ink pooled around the book, turning all of the pages black and heavy.

You mentally cursed the stain it would leave on the flagstones.

The diary then erupted with a bright light, rattling against the floor with the exertion of whatever magic it was using.

Harry pushed you back behind him, forcing you to sit down and throwing his invisibility cloak over you, then pulling out his wand. Taking an offensive stance in front of where you were hidden, he waited, every muscle in his body coiled like an animal waiting to lunge.

The light seemed to grow thicker, like honey, and started taking a corporeal form. Then just like that, the light vanished, and the form—a person, by the looks of it—crumpled on the floor in a rather undignified heap.

The person staggered to its- his feet.

Tom Riddle, you thought, holding your breath.

God, he was pretty.

He started laughing, seemingly unaware of neither you nor Harry’s existence. “O Lord and butter, now we’re cooking with gas!”

You blinked. All of that was English, but not a single word of it made sense.

How old was Tom Riddle?

Harry took a tentative step forward, hiding his wand behind his back. “Are…you alright?”

Tom whirled around, startled by the sudden voice. He looked Harry up and down appraisingly before a wild grin spread across his face. “All reet? A schnook done brought me back!” He laughed rather maniacally, eyes gleaming. “What’s your name then? I oughtta thank you.”

Harry’s lips thinned. “We’ve met before, Tom.”

Tom’s eyebrows raised. “We…have?”

Wordlessly, Harry pushed up his fringe.

Tom drew in a sharp breath. “Potter.”

“Riddle.”

“So what, you’ve brought me back to kill me again?” He sneered. “There’s no basilisk around to save you this time, Potter.”

When Tom took a step towards Harry, you gasped quietly—evidently not quietly enough though, because Tom’s head swung around towards you.

He stared straight at you. You held your breath again, praying that he’d go back to threatening Harry, or something.

Instead Tom stepped closer to you, mumbling a quiet Revelio. He smiled and leaned down, tugging the cloak off of your head.

“Well well well, what’s this? A spook?” He pulled the cloak off of you completely, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Hm. Well aren’t you a bit of a scrag, cookie?”

“I’m…sorry…?” You questioned, baffled. “I don’t speak old.”

Tom’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a bit plain and homely, doll,” he said with a mock-apologetic look on his face. “In the nicest way possible.”

“Aw, shucks,” you said dryly. “I was worried the genocidal maniac who’s killed a bunch of our friends might think I’m unattractive.”

He raised an eyebrow at your sarcasm, looking you up and down again. “Ah. Or are you a swish?” He asked, tilting his head. “Can’t quite tell.”

“A swish?”

“You know, a queer. One of those.”

You cringed. “Harry, make him go back in the fucking diary.”

“Did I hit a nerve, doll?” Tom asked with a smug smile.

“Not really, but I have a feeling that if I have to deal with your ancient ass any longer, you will.”

“Ooh, well ain’t you got moxie, little thing? Tell me, you a dame or a fella?”

“Ah yes, the two genders,” you mumbled under your breath, causing Harry to snort and cover his mouth with his hand. “I’m a uh…‘fella’.”

“You sure look like a gal to me.”

“Yeah, and you sure look like an asshole to me.”

Tom’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I see. You’re a mudblood, aren’t you?”

“Lot of sass coming from Mr. Pureblood over here.”

Tom took a striding step towards you, his teeth gritted and his fist raised.

“Wow, resorting to Muggle fighting? Wouldn’t expect that from you, Thomas Marvolo.”

His cheeks flared red with anger. “I oughtta-”

“It really sucks being made fun of for your blood status, doesn’t it?” You asked casually.

Tom paused.

He took a step back.

“All reet. I’ll admit, you got me there.”

Harry scowled. “Look, we wouldn’t have brought you back unless we had good reason. And Old You is now indiscriminately killing Muggles, which seems like a pretty fucking good reason, if you ask me.”

“Ah. Yes. That does seem to be an issue,” Tom acquiesced. “But why me?”

“We figured you could reason with Old You?” You jumped in. “Or at the very least, you’re the least corrupted; you have the most soul left.”

Tom shrewdly glanced between you and Harry, then back at you. “What do I get in return?”

You shrugged. “I dunno. What do you want?”

“Not to go back into that damned diary,” he said vehemently. “Never again.”

You glanced over at Harry. He shrugged. “We can try…?”

“Hipper dipper,” Tom replied dryly. “Where do we start?”

~~~

“Well that’s a barney old game the old coot’s been making you play, huh?”

“You’re just saying words,” Harry mumbled, resting his chin on his hand as you all sat at one of the Potions classroom tables. “Not a single part of that was comprehensible.”

“He basically just said that you’re fucked,” you shrugged. “You’ve been doomed to die since you were born. Dumbledore’s been raising you like a lamb for slaughter.”

Tom looked at you, surprised. “Well…yes.”

You rolled your eyes. “Smarter than I look, Thomas.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I’ll stop as soon as you you stop calling me a fairy.”

He furrowed his brow. “Why’s that bother you so much?”

“It’s a fucking slur, Thomas. This ain’t the forties, or whenever you’re from; people are allowed to be gay now.”

Tom froze, eyes wide. “W-what?”

“Yup.”

“Well, cut off my leg and call me shorty,” he murmured, amazed.

“Wait’ll he finds out you’re trans,” Harry mumbled, snorting.

You elbowed him in the side, rolling your eyes.

“Trans…?” Tom questioned.

“We don’t have that much time, Thomas. Focus up.”

“Natch, all reet,” he shook his head. “Are we ready then? Plan all set?”

You nodded, a sly grin spreading across your face.

“Let’s go fuck some shit up.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

chapter four

[hollowed-theory-hall]

How do you think possession magic work? We only ever see Voldemort do it. Is it because it's super dark magic and/or it's really difficult and only he's able to do it? Or does it have to do with the fact that he's not in his own body? Even after he regains his body he possesses Nagini and Harry, tho both of them are Horcruxes. Even after regaining his body could he have done that to anyone or just a horcrux or is it because he's in an artificial body that he can still do it? Maybe it's just a more extreme version of legillimency?

Okay, so, first of all, I don't think all types of possessions are equal. Like, the 3 forms of possession we see are magically different from each other. So, let's talk about them.

1. Wraith Voldemort

That's when Voldemort attached himself to various animals in the Albanian forest and later on to Quirell. This was the kind of possession he was able to do because he lacked a body or a spirit, but he still had a soul. He could attach his own soul to the body, using that body's own spirit (life essence).

This would explain why this sort of possession slowly (or quickly) killed the host. Hosts that had incompatible spirits that couldn't anchor Voldemort's soul as they were too weak died quicker than more suitable ones (snakes and wizards).

This kind of possession would probably be possible for any wizard stuck as a soul-wraith like Voldemort (ghosts are different and won't be capable of this). He probably didn't even need to put much effort, since an unattached soul should want to bond with a compatible spirit and body. But as you need Horcuxes to achieve this wraith state, most wizards don't do that.

I think Legilimancy would only really be necessary if he wanted to go into Quirrell's mind or control him. Attaching his soul, as in, the actual possession is separate I think.

2. Horcrux Possession (diary Tom)

This type of possession is the most different from the two others nd one I don't think is a possession.

See the Horcrux is a complete being, sorta (more about how to make a Horcrux here). It has a soul (the soul piece), a spirit (the life taken to create the Horcrux), and a body (the object that holds the soul, i.e. the diary). So, unlike the wraith which is a soul that could easily attach itself to another life and body as it seeks that wholeness, diary Tom needed to do some magic to be able to possess Ginny.

Well, he said himself that the more Ginny opened up to him, the more magic she gave him, as I talked about here. This means that Tom could possess Ginny only after he fed on enough of her magic to wield it against her.

So, in this case, I think there is some dark spell involved, and I think it's actually a spell we know very well, and it's not really possession as I mentioned above.

Ginny's possession functions very differently than what we see with Quirrell in book 1 or with Harry in book 5. Quirrell was aware and conscious while Voldemort was at the back of his head. The two could communicate and only Quirrell controlled the body. When Harry was possessed in OotP, he was similarly aware that he was possessed, aware of the foreign presence, and of what Voldemort was doing, what he was saying through Harry's mouth. Ginny though, Ginny tells a different story of her possession:

“Well, can you remember everything you’ve been doing?” Ginny asked. “Are there big blank periods where you don’t know what you’ve been up to?” Harry racked his brains. “No,” he said. “Then You-Know-Who hasn’t ever possessed you,” said Ginny simply. “When he did it to me, I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing for hours at a time. I’d find myself somewhere and not know how I got there.”

(OotP, 500)

Ginny didn't recall being possessed at all. She couldn't recall doing anything the diary made her do.

And when Tom describes how he controlled Ginny:

“So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring

(CoS, 289)

It doesn't really sound like possession at all. It's a complete control over her. It sounds completely different from what he did with both Quirrell and Harry and the words he used: "I made Ginny write" to me it sounds more like the Imperius Curse, or something similar if I'm being honest. It makes more sense too.

The diary Horcrux is a full being, he has no way to attach his soul to Ginny, I doubt he has access to the magic or the means to pull that off without disconnecting himself from the Horcrux and potentially killing himself (or every complex ritual). I don't think he'd risk it. I think it's more likely this was the Imperius Curse or something similar and not possession like the books repeatedly tell us. It'll explain Ginny's reactions and it also means Tom likely obliviated her afterward as well, since the blank spots in her memory wouldn't be caused by either possession or the Imperius.

3. Horcrux Possession type 2 (Nagini and Harry)

Now, I'm not actually certain Voldemort was possessing Nagini in the dream Harry saw through the snake. I mean, Harry and Nagini share a soul as much as Voldemort and Harry do, don't they? I kinda always assumed the "Voldemort was possessing Nagini at the time" was a lie Dumbledore told Harry and the Order so they won't figure out Harry is a Horcrux.

Regardless, Harry most definitely was possessed by Voldemort, and honestly, it doesn't require much magic from Voldemort, probably. Here too, (like in type 1) the possession is based on the soul.

I mentioned how with Quirrell since Voldemort didn't have a body his soul attached to Quirrell's life and body, and that the reason I don't think Ginny was possessed at all was because there was no soul attachment to speak of. Well, with Harry Voldemort didn't need to create a new bond, as his soul was already attached to Harry's life and body, so his soul was already there and he didn't need to do anything special to create the connection.

(I do think you can manufacture such a soul connection with certain dark magic, but I think most wizards would prefer the easier and less risky to the caster Imperius Curse over attaching their own mind and soul to the target)

The Legilimancy, I believe, was necessary for him to go to Harry's mind and take control of him there.

The reason I do agree on some mind magic being involved in the possession process, at least in the gaining control part has to do with Alchemy (like every other time I talk about magical theory). The soul, the sulfur, is made up of two elements — air and fire. On the psychological aspect of these elements, fire tends to represent the superconscious mind and air the selfconscious mind. Basically, the soul is what makes up your conscious mind. Hence, why Legilemancy and soul magic like possession are so intertwined. It's why Occlumancy can actually block Voldemort from Harry's mind. Because the soul and the conscious mind are one and the same.

Conclusions

So, there isn't really a "possession spell". What possession is a soul attaching itself to someone else's body and life.

Legilimancy is needed to exert control through said soul bond since the soul is made up of the conscious mind.

Ginny might not have been possessed at all but just Imperiused. There isn't really a difference in her experience. It's just odd to me that Tom's soul never really attached to her, and it seems very different from the other possessions we see in the books.

Most dark wizards would just use the Imperius Curse which is: easier, less dangerous, and more predictable. Harry, who is immune to the curse completely is one of the only targets you'd actually need to find an alternative for the Imperius for.

At least, these are my thoughts about it, hope this answers your questions, anon.

[viridousl]

me: hmm time travel Percy will time travel to when HE is eleven years old so that he has the time he needs to fix things and establish a trusting relationship with people he will need in the future.

also me, discussing with a friend about my plans for how Percy will change things: i've got nothing until his third year at least :( maybe i shouldnt have put him so far in the past.

oh well because he is eleven now

also spent an excruciating amount of time today breaking down what Percy can or cannot reasonably know about the future.

under the cut because now im breaking it down for you guys. warning for spoilers to my fic in the sense of what my goals are for Percy

First three books? He knows enough. Apparently the entire school learns about the Harry/Quirrell faceoff. Second year? as a weasley he probably knows about everything EXCEPT for how Ginny got the diary. Also he knows the diary possesses Ginny but not that its a Horcrux. third year? he knows about Peter/Scabbers and that Lupin is a werewolf and that Harry thinks Sirius is innocent. he doesnt know about the time turner or what exactly happens in the shrieking shack or that the shrieking shack is meaningful in anyway.

the fourth year? as a stand-in judge for Barty Crouch Sr. he definitely knows what the triwizard games are all about. he can reasonably know that BC Sr. has been imperioused because BC Jr. confessed to it and Dumbledore might have shared this information. Furthermore if BC Jr. had a trial in front of the Wizengamot after he was captured at the end of the 4th book (hes given the dementors kiss so hopefully he had an official trial?) then Percy could reasonably learn about this stuff if Dumbledore doesn't share this information to the public. Furthermore Percy, as a time traveller, would now know that Voldemort has returned this year. Does he know exactly tf went on involving the grave yard? no but he knows harry shouldnt participate and/or win the triwizard tournement.

fifth year. should he work at the ministry? i think so but this time he wont fall out with his family or have that argument. he could also reasonably save Sirius Black. "reasonably" i say. come here and be dazzled by my deranged thought process.

I spent a long time calculating if Percy could single-handedly take down Bellatrix Lestrange. the first, immediate answer is fucking no. the longer, two hour long conversation i had with someone about whether Percy Weasley could win in a one v one fight against Bellatrix Lestrange was also definitely no. for some reason the other person i was talking to also agreed that he couldn't win, but wanted him to fight Bellatrix anyways. and get fucking killed? girl i hope not.

Hold on I need to go back a step. Percy does show up at the end of the fifth movie as Minister Fudge's right-hand man, and he is there with the Minister to personally see Voldemort's public return. There are some Death Eaters (Dolohov cough cough remember this) who were captured here, so if they were given a trial (i mean theyre literally there with their death eater outfits on so who knows man), Percy could reasonably hear of Sirius Black's death (he didnt leave a fucking body so), or at the very least, be aware that the battle of the department of mysteries occured. it is unlikely Percy would learn of the prophecy or what brought Harry and his friends to the Ministry in the first place.

It is necessary, for learning about Horcruxes, that Percy befriends the Golden Trio. it is easy for him to befriend Ron and Hermoine, as Ron is literally his sibling and Hermoine is a studious loner with high respect for authority at the beginning of the first book. It might be harder for him to befriend Harry but I'll get there when I get there.

It stands that Percy could become more attached to members of the Order of the Phoenix this time around, both through being Harry's friend and through not leaving his family. Thus, motivation to save Sirius Black. I don't see him being able to prevent Sirius from going to the Department, because Harry is there and in danger, but Percy can be there with the rest of the Order and be on high alert for casting a Protego on Sirius or something. In the books, Bellatrix casts a jinx on Sirius, not the killing curse.

So Sirius can be saved. Arguably there are consequences for him being alive, in that Harry is not compelled to chase Bellatrix and thus face off with Voldemort in that main atrium area (so that Voldemort can be revealed as having returned to the public), but I believe that if Voldemort really wants to face off against Harry at this time (which he does) then he will find a fucking way. Percy is still 11 years old right now in my fic so im not too worried about this yet.

also worried that Percy randomly being like "take me with you to this battle!!!!" or just. already being there since he's an Ministry employee who knows what day this even happens and just lurking around the Department early. could maybe cause suspicion? Im dead just imagine Harry pulls up to the Department and Percy's there and he's been there for a full hour already and the kids are like. "Oh hey Percy. What the fuck are you doing here." And Percy is like "I work here." "...But not in this department you don't. Why are you here. We thought Voldemort was going to be here." Like what's your excuse going to be Percy. he pulls up mid-battle, casts Protego on Sirius and leaves immediately after. 😂

Dumbledore's death. This is still happening. He's already dying from the curse on the Gaunt Ring, which Percy won't know about its existence nor its status as a Horcrux, Percy cant stop Snape's Unbreakable Vow that he doesnt even know about. As it stands now, Percy only knows that Death Eaters got into Hogwarts somehow and Snape killed Dumbledore. Percy may feel like he should try and prevent Dumbledore's death, but he still does not trust or like Dumbledore, and his death is necessary is necessary for Dumbledore to pass on the Elder Wand.

Percy does not give a flying fuck about the Deathly Hallows. He is literally a character that does not believe in shit unless he's seen or heard it himself, and this is a children's tale in which i see no way for him to get the Resurrection Stone or the Cloak of Invisibility. Master of Death Percy would be funny as fuck but literally impossible and I would gladly read anyone's attempt at making this happen but it's not something I see myself even trying to write in the near or far future.

Battle of Hogwarts. Percy is literally in it to win it for this. The second he realizes he has time travelled he is cooking up plans to save Fred even though its a literal decade away. Since we've established that its not impossible for Percy to care about the fates of various OoTP members, he might be able to save Tonks and Lupin. He might? Know how they died. I don't see why not. I think he could reasonably know who killed them.

Lupin is killed by Dolohov. I briefly made a mistake here where I thought Dolohov was teaching at Hogwarts instead of the Carrow twins, and while I could change this to fit my story I find it kinda funny how in depth I'm being about this. Dolohov is at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries so we could take him out then. He was captured and then he escapes but maybe Percy could.... kill .... him...? I didn't think this through. um. Dolohov is apparently a very powerful wizard and I'm over here like "teehee. 1 v 1 bellatrix. 1v1 dolohov. 1v1 voldemort" Percy dies in all three of these theoretical battles. If you care. and this time travel is only going 'round once so this cant happen. damn fuck Lupin fr I guess.......

Tonks is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. We've already been over Percy v Bellatrix, but this time Molly Weasley is on the battle field and this time it's just a different child in danger a bit earlier into the battle. Percy uses Special Attack: Summon Mother Who Successfully Killed Bellatrix In The First Timeline! IT'S INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE! haha but probably. Technically Bellatrix riles Mrs. Weasley up by bringing up Fred (how does she know his name...) and also by almost killing Ginny but one could argue that hits harder BECAUSE one of her kids already died. I still believe the Molly would be pissed if Percy almost died and/or was injured by Bellatrix. Also Tonks would be right there. Alive. Three v 1 except Percy is like "haha gotta go save Fred from a fucking wall. bye" ??? dgshklfgadkhsfj

I'm kind of dancing around using both the books and the movies here because they really liked just. Putting Percy in the background sometimes in the movies.

Also, Severus Snape. Harry Potter definitely went on and on about how Snape was a spy and he respected him so much he's naming his son after Snape after the Battle of Hogwarts. How does Percy factor this in with Snape having obviously killed Dumbledore? Who knows.

It doesn't matter. There's literally no way for Percy to save Snape. Snape's memories are necessary for Harry to learn the he too, is a Horcrux, and also Voldemort is right fucking there. Like let's break this down. Snape was killed by Nagini and Voldemort was right there watching. I do not think that Percy can save Snape because, again, Voldemort is right there and Percy cannot reasonably fight and defeat Voldemort himself. This is something I have broken down both for my benefit and for Percy. (Percy, discovering he is in the past: Why am I 11 years old? All I need to do is save Fred. Why the fuck am I 11? What, am I supposed to single-handedly fight Voldemort? I can't do that.) <- thats right Percy you can't. So Snape still dies.

Other people. Percy would not care about Colin Creevey or Lavender Brown. Apparently like 50 other people died in this battle but no one cared about their names. L. Some person tried to break down the exact names of who died here and who killed them and it really feels like Dolohov and Bellatrix need their deaths on Fast Track. And apparently Yaxley. Percy is the Minister's assistant, and the minister at that time is under Imperious by Yaxley, so it is possible that they could meet.

Which brings me back to: Is Percy going to start killing people? I don't feel like it's in his character, and I especially doubt if he does kill anyone that he's going to be using an Unforgivable Curse. He is capable of breaking rules for things he's passionate about. I'm absolutely sure he can find it in himself to kill Rookwood. Because Fred. But I don't necessarily want him to be facing this dilemma. That's a problem for future me LOL!

There are, of course, consequences I need to consider. My man does not want his pet rat-actually-human chilling in his bedroom for longer than necessary, so I imagine this will be one of Percy's first BIG acts to change the timeline, which renders the third year stuff moot. It's not that hard to get a different dude to help with Voldemort in the fourth year instead of Wormtail, or Wormtail could break out. The point is he will never be Ron's pet and there will be an attempt to let Sirius be a free man, earlier in the timeline to boot. What are the consequences of saving Sirius Black's life? IDK. The necklace Kreacher has won't be stolen by Mundungus Fletcher, and they won't have to break into the Ministry. They won't free like. three muggleborns. If I follow the book they will still have Grimmauld Place as a safe house. If I follow the movies Ron wont get splinched even though that wasnt that much of a concern. Although to Percy, keeping Ron from being injured is in fact a concern so

Would Grimmauld Place be a safe house? Sirius would be there. Would Sirius want to go on the run with them? Yes. But we're not letting him. Man I really gotta think the consequences through on letting Sirius live. Literally I went into this thinking "Save Fred, fuck around, the end" but Percy is going to make (shudders) friends.

anyway. a lot for me to think about. a lot for you to think about if you ever want to try your hand at a percy weasley time travel fic.

just realized that i still have. no plans for PERCYS years at hogwarts before the books. just the peter plotline? alright...

[ginnyw-potter-archive]

Have you ever considered writing something about post-war/Hogwarts Harry comforting or talking with Ginny about her diary trauma. You’re one of my favourite writers and this is one of my favourite hinny (for lack of a better word) concepts but no pressure to write anything - and sorry if you aren’t taking asks right now x

Well when you ask this politely, of course!

Memories of a Diary

Ginny walked up to Harry who was sitting by the pond, his feet dangling in the fresh water. The summer breeze danced around Ginny’s bare legs. When she reached him, she put his arms around his shoulders from the back. 

“Hey,” she said.

Harry’s hand touched her arm. “Hey."

Ginny sat down beside him, dipping her toes into the water too, their legs touching. 

“What’s up?” Ginny asked him. Harry had been sitting by the pond in silence for quite some time.

Harry took a few seconds to reply. “I have a question, and I think you’re the only person who has the answer,” he said, carefully looking at her.

Ginny leaned back on her hands to enjoy the sun. “Ah, how to be the coolest person in the room?” she replied. She saw his mouth quirk into a smile for a second but she remained silent to hear his actual question. 

“I have just been wondering about some things now that I know I had a Horcrux inside of me… I have a hard time discerning my own experience from his… and-” 

“I am the only person with experience that comes close,” Ginny completed his sentence. 

“I know it is not entirely the same but … if you want to talk about it…” Harry told her.

Ginny watched as a frog jumped into the water from the side of the pond. “You know, no one has ever asked me to talk about it? People are terrified to find out how he worked I guess or perhaps they think it is too cruel…” she admitted.

Harry took her hand. “I have found that too… I am happy to listen, whenever you need,” he told her. 

“The biggest difference is that you shared thoughts with him, you could see through his eyes. For me, once he had wormed his way inside, he would make me do things. Most of the time I wouldn’t remember and wake up in strange places. Sometimes with blood or feathers or … “ she trailed off as she gathered her thoughts. “If I had memories they were rather vague but I remembered feeling how he felt and it terrified me.” She looked at him at this last sentence because she knew he had that too.

Harry squeezed her hand and nodded. “You know when your dad got attacked, I said I was looking down on the scene but I … I was the snake. I remembered feeling the urge to attack…” It was the first time in a long while that Harry had dared admit this. Yet Ginny did not look surprised at all. 

“I know, Harry. I knew it then too, I could tell. I used to retell things that way too, so people didn't think you were the evil that you caused,” she explained.

Harry’s heart was heavy in a weird kind of way. He was glad she understood what he went through, but he wished more she did not have to have experienced it at all. A silence fell between them as they both looked over the pond. 

“I poured my heart out to that diary… I talked about my life, every thought I shared… including talking about you, I gave him exactly the information he needed,” Ginny said. She was glad Harry was not interrupting her.

His thumb was softly grazing the back of her hand. He was either silently watching her or watching the fish and frogs swim around. He wasn’t judging, he was not terrified to find out what she went through, he was simply there for her and she had not realized how much she had needed that all this time. 

“When Voldemort returned I was worried… he may remember what I told the diary. I was scared he’d find me again. Or worse, use the information I told him against you… and it would have been my fault.” 

“So when you broke up with me, I understood all too well how you felt,” Ginny paused. She saw Harry swallowing hard. Now she squeezed his hand. “I know what you’re scared of. You don’t know if you can trust your own thoughts. Your own feelings. You wonder if every intrusive thought is just that or if -maybe- he still has a hold over you.”

Harry looked up and Ginny locked eyes with him. 

“I still get scared if I don’t remember what I was doing. The worst part is… my biggest fear came true. When the diary was gone, I was terrified he might return. Then he did and on top of that, you were there for it, you already faced him when you came back. It was worse than I could have imagined.

But then I was okay. He had no power over me. I’ve been okay.” 

Harry’s eyes were trained on her the whole time, full of compassion as he listened intently to her every word. 

“When I realised you had a connection with him… I wanted to help you but I did not know how to talk to you about it and you were trying very hard to not talk about it at all, you always have, even now.” 

Harry nodded, he did not like to talk about it. Hermione was always telling him off, every adult was telling him to close his mind, he had never felt safe to say anything. 

“He is gone, for good. You are free of him and you will be okay. You may always carry it with you, I know I do, but you will overcome it and learn to cope with it.” 

“You know if you ever have a doubt about something, you can talk to me? Ask me what you were doing or if there is a thought… I won’t judge,” Harry told her.

She nodded, a small reserved smile appearing. “You know you can too, right?”

He nodded. They both fell silent again. The side of Ginny’s foot softly touched Harry’s in the water. Harry looked at their entwined hands. 

“He may have gotten into our heads, but we have one thing he didn’t have,” he said.

Ginny’s eyebrows raised in question. "A nose?"

“Love.” 

They both burst out laughing at Ginny’s answer. Their laughter echoed over the pond and several frogs sought refuge in the water at the sudden noise. Ginny leaned her head on Harry’s shoulder, still hiccuping slightly with laughter. They did not care to move. It was calm in this corner of the garden. The fresh water of the pond kept them cool enough to remain in the sun just a little longer. 

[makiruz]

I’ve realized the my Harry Potter fandom survived Rowling’s unmasking because I have always tended towards the deconstructive side of fandom; that is the fandom that turns the work apart and expose the holes and only occasionally fill them again.

I cannot remember the name of the fic right now, but there was a story that asked “who thought putting a baby in a porch in a cold October night was a good idea?” and essential says it was a bad idea because baby Harry wanders on his own, almost gets run over by a car and the person who  almost runs him over takes him to a hospital and saves him from hypothermia; the rest is a little to negative for my liking but it’s devoted to call out the negative aspects of Wizarding Society (like putting someone who doesn’t know anything about muggles in charge of a muggle artifact department).

Other fics that come to mind are The Imposter Complex by Notus_Oren in which the Diary’s horcrux escape the Diary without killing Ginny and proceeds to retrace Voldemort’s steps and the representation of the world shows that the author knows more about history, geography and mythology than JK did (and it wasn’t hard); My Grandfather Was a WHAT?! by the brilliant Lucillia proposes what if Lily and Petunia’s dad was a Nazi, also they had a wizard uncle who followed Grindewald and Harry finds him, that alone tears canon apart even before a muggleborn Slytherin shows up to arrest Dumbledore because when he was in school Dumbledore never gave a fuck about the bullying he experienced from his housemates (all Lucillia’s works are like that, highly recommend, specially My Nephew Harry). Dangerous and Deadly Lord Voldemort by Kevin3 posits that Voldemort was a hoax by a wizard conman and the level of calling out the intelligence of the Wizarding World is something to be behold.

The HP fanfic I want to write about the Founders of Hogwarts, basically boils down to “know the first thing about history and realizing nothing makes sense” (most the fic is people in the present realizing the story of the Founders is at least 40% myth)

In short, my relationship with HP wasn’t about glorifying the text or it’s creator; it was about pulling the threads and calling out the author for said loose threads (Trolls vs Wizards is so mean to the Wizarding World!); so when the author turns out to be trash and people start calling out the flaws, it’s like “We already knew that. Why are you shouting?”

[lunarfly]

Ok so I decided to finally post the promised: defending Romione (🥺💗💕💖💞💘) against Dr*mione (ಠಿ_ಠ) shippers.

So I've read a few posts about Dr*mione shippers, talking about why their ship is amazing (which had nothing to do with canon btw) and bashing Ron (for no reason) and I'm literally shaking out of anger.

Here are my thoughts:

1. "Ron is too dumb for hermione"

Stop- Just-

Stop.

RON IS NOT DUMB.

Yes, he might not be very interested in school subjects, but 👏 that 👏 doesn't 👏 mean 👏 he 👏 is 👏 dumb 👏.

He is actually very smart! He beat McGonagall's chess game, he is logical and quick-thinking. There's MANY examples of this that I won't name right now, but it's a canonical fact. Ron. Is. Not. Dumb.

And consider he was dumb. So? Would that stop Romione from happening? NO! Hermione didn't mind Ron not being smart. She was just upset that Ron was lazy and wouldn't study anything until the last minute. She wanted to get both Harry and Ron to study according to a schedule.

Is it clear? Intelligence doesn't determine love.

**And this is something that confuses me. This doesn't have anything to do with the point, but why does nobody realize that Harry isn't much smarter than Ron? Yes, he was better at DADA but that requires TALENT, not intelligence. And I'm pretty sure we all know that Ron is talented as well (hopefully everyone realizes that). Nobody uses the fact that Harry wasn't intelligent against Harmione, but everyone uses the fact that Ron wasn't intelligent against Romione. The double standards tear apart the fandom.

2. "Ron bought hermione perfume and Draco could get her something better."

Soooo, you're saying that just because Ron didn't have the money that Draco had means that Hermione didn't deserve Ron?

Wow, this just says a lot about you dr*mione shippers. You only care about the money that Draco has, not his personality. You don't like Ron because he's poor (and I know how FanFics give the "kind Draco" Ron's canon personality so the only "problem" with Ron is his looks and lack of money). And you don't see Hermione nor Ron the way they are. This "point" of yours is literally stating that Hermione should be a gold-digger and get Draco because he can get her the expensive presents that she deserves. Yikes.

3. "Draco can understand the emotional side of Hermione while Ron can't."

Wait

What?

WHERE DO YOU GET THIS IDEA FROM-

Draco is only EVER concerned about his own self, he is a NARCISSIST. He would NEVER care for someone (let alone Hermione) as purely and truly as he cared about himself. He didn't even care about Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson etc. He was selfish. The only reason he could express his emotions was because he had to go through a lot since he realized that killing Dumbledore wasn't as easy as bullying Hermione. This would never ever work.

And even if Ron didn't understand her as much, he STILL comforted her. Take the beginning chapters of The Deathly Hallows as an example. You'll see.

4. "Ron is too immature."

I need help.

Of course Ron was immature when he was 11!! Yes, he acted immaturely many times, yes, he made many mistakes, but guess what? He changed! He changed for Hermione!! Draco didn't change at all, not for Hermione, nor for anyone else. He remained the same bratty bully.

If you could reread the books and read prisoner of azkaban vs deathly hallows, you will definitely see how much Ron has matured. He doesn't argue with Hermione anymore, he comforts her, he's there for her. Yes, he made a mistake but he was manipulated by the horcrux! We don't blame Ginny for what tom riddle's diary made her do, do we? So stop blaming Ron!

Anyways, I think if dr*mione shippers have read the books, they'll know what I'm talking about when I say Ron changed for Hermione. I honestly don't know how you could miss Ron's character arc.

5. "Ron would be jealous of the brilliant Hermione."

What?

If I remember correctly, the reason Draco bullied the trio was because he was jealous of them. His jealousy turned into a 7 year torture for the trio and now you're saying that Ron is the jealous one? Please.

But anyways, Ron has been jealous of Harry and has made a few mistakes. But there are reasons behind them and I can defend him for each of these with arguments other than "everyone makes mistakes" (cough cough* Draco stans* cough cough).

First of all, Ron has admitted being jealous of Harry's fame because he lives with 5 older brothers who outshine him. But that's not really a mistake because he never let it get in his way. There were only 2 situations in 7 years when he left Harry out of jealousy but I think these have different explainations.

No1 Ron left in goblet of fire. I think the real reason that Ron let his jealousy get in his way this time, was not only because Harry got to participate in the tournament which could bring him eternal glory, but more likely because he was disappointed that his own best friend didn't even tell him that he was entering and didn't even help him participate (which wasn't true, but Ron thought so back then).

No2 Ron left in deathly hallows. This one was 100% because of the horcrux and I think we should all accept this by now and stop hating on Ron for being affected by dark magic.

And just like that, Ron never let his jealousy get in his way of friendships. I can't think of a situation where Ron is jealous of the brilliant Hermione so if you remember, please let me know so I can argue against it. <3

6. "Ron and Hermione would break up and remain friends, it's easy to imagine because they didn't have a strong relationship."

This was actually said, someone actually said this-

I'm just going to say that Ron and Hermione are happily married to this day (which definitely proves that their relationship is strong) and give the dr*mione community a moment of silence.

7. "Ron didn't do anything for Hermione and was just a jerk."

Coming from a person who has read and reread the books multiple times, I can assure you that Ron did many things for Hermione.

Of course, he was immature at first, he was mean to her, but slowly he started seeing more of the good in Hermione and started changing for her.

And even when he was immature, he still cared about Hermione and would protect her no matter what.

Let's remember how many times rubbish Ron stood up for Hermione against the brilliant bully Draco. 🥰

Let's remember how cowardly Ronald faced his fears of spiders to help Hermione (and the rest of the school, just how jerkier can he get?). 🥰

Let's remember how ridiculous Ronniekins stood up for Hermione against sensational Snape and got himself into detention (oh yes, this is the book version of the movie moment where Ron agrees with Snape about Hermione being an 'insufferable know-it-all'). 🥰

Let's remember how rotten Ronny comforted Hermione when she was worried about Hagrid and Buckbeak (and he even let her hug him and cry on his shoulder, how rude). 🥰

Let's remember how revolting Ronald sacrificed himself to save Harry and Hermione in the chess game. 🥰

Let's remember how horrendous Ron attempted to hex Draco when he used a slur that was meant to offend Hermione. 🥰

Keep in mind that all of these were done when Ron was still immature and still argued a lot with Hermione.

And these aren't even all.

8. "Ron and Hermione have a loveless marriage."

What the-

I'm sorry, I'm trying to be respectful here but this is crap. And the fact that the person said they also had "proof" from the c*rsed ch*ld but didn't want to spoil it-

As much as I hate the c*rsed ch*ld, I can tell you that it did its job portraying Ron and Hermione's unconditional love. Even in alternative realities, where they didn't get married, they were still in love.

And why would you even think that Ron and Hermione would marry and have kids if they didn't love each other? I need explainations.

Next.

9. "Ron never listens to Hermione."

I'm sorry, what? I'm genuinely confused??

What do you even mean by this? Yeah, they used to argue a lot, and? Ron thinks Hermione is brilliant and wonderful and he follows her advice. I can't recall a moment where Ron won't listen to Hermione, doesn't agree with her and ruins her plans. Anyone else?

Since this one is a big mess and a confusion, I'll move on to the next one until someone explains the points and arguments.

10. "Draco could make Hermione laugh while Ron couldn't."

....

Do I really need to say anything for this one?

Ron was the funniest one from the trio, that's why Harry enjoyed his company so much! Don't you remember the line in goblet of fire where Harry thinks about how much he misses having Ron as his best friend, because without him there's less fun and less laughs? I do.

But what I don't remember is finding Draco's sense of humor funny. I'm sorry but his intellectual level is almost as low as Crabbe and Goyle's. His insults are none other than Potty and Weaselbee, he only got 3 O.W.L.s and all of his jokes were stupid and dumb and their only purpose was insulting people he was jealous of.

These fanfics have rotten people's brains...😬

Anyways, I'm going to stop here. I've delayed this post for very long and I'm so excited to finally post it!

I read a book on wattpad by a dr*mione shipper and it was nothing but a giant headache. That's where I got all of these statements from. Most of the garbage in the book revolved around Draco and Hermione being inseparable and getting over all obstacles (wth) and other stupid stuff like that which really annoyed me. The book was called "why we love dr*mione" and it was by Bittenwizard. You can read and enjoy! Trust me, you'll have lots of content to post about after that 🤠👍

*I always try to be respectful to all ships, but sometimes some of them really anger me because the ships are either toxic or the arguments are plain trash. I'm sorry if I offend anyone.

Thank you for reading this. If you're a dr*mione shipper, I hope I've convinced you to give up the ship or come up with better arguments for it.

If you're an anti-dramione I hope you enjoyed the post. I'll delight you with more anti-toxic-ships content. :)

Thank you once again! <3

[fedonciadale]

Hi! After your ask about Ron, I would like to read your thoughts on Ginny as well. The ask about misogyny and the Not Like Other Girls trope in HP basically sums up my feelings about her, and I’m curious about yours!

(I obviously would LOVE to read an analysis about Romione as well, so unless the Ron anon asks you, I will)

Hi there,

so far the Ron anon did not ask me after Romione. 😁

Now, my thoughts on Ginny. And I am talking about BookGinny here.

As I said in the answer to the ask you named (which is here) Ginny is text book "not like other girls" trope, the cool girl, the girl who is into sports and yet she is also attractive and funny etc. She's a bit like your typical male fantasy, badass, but also pretty. And what is best - and I mean this ironic - she is absolutely head over heels for the hero, even though she tries her best to hide it. The only thing is that she is not like that from the beginning.

She is obviously written to be sympathetic, even her and Hermione making fun of Fleur, the girly girl, is meant to be funny. She is also shown as being 100% supportive of Harry even when he is in the wrong. I mean Ginny has no reason whatsoever to like Draco Malfoy, the son of the man who tricked her with the Horcrux Diary, but does she have to dress down Hermione for criticizing Harry when he had used sectumsempra, an unknown and harmful spell?

Ginny also inherited the somewhat vindictive nature of her mother. In contrast to Ron she can be vicious (bat bogey hex).

She can also be very nice. At the beginning of fifth year she seems to be the only friend Luna has and that she is completely accepting of Luna's weirdness is something I like about Ginny. She also is usually nice to Neville. So, although she is popular, there is a part of her that cares more about being nice to unpopular people than to look after her popularity.

To be quite honest, I'm often not sure, if she is written that well. JKR obviously had a personality in mind and most of the time she seems like a personality, but some parts of Ginny seem to be written just so that she fits for Harry - mind you, not all, but some.

Her character does develop over the books. In Harry's second year Ginny had the worst time of her life, when Voldmort took over her mind and body. This must have been a traumatizing experience and the fact that Ginny survived that and grew up to be a lively teenage girl says something about her resilience. But I am not entirely sure if this is real character development or if it is JKR writing Ginny as the fitting girlfriend for Harry. Because apart from one snarky remark of Ginny that she knows best how it feels to be possessed by Voldemort, we don't learn anything about her coping with that trauma. Apparently coping with her trauma made her become sassy instead of shy.

I mean, it is possible that she is one of the people who overcome their shyness, that she takes Hermione's advice (which begs the question why Hermione of all people would be the best person to give Ginny advice on how to be more open, but I digress....) and tries to overcome her crush for Harry. It could also be interpreted as overcompensation to her trauma or even a sort of healing. That a girl with six elder brothers can hold her own is not really a surprise. But we only see that girl in fifth and sixth year and to me this always begs the question where this girl comes from. It's not completely illogical, but at the same time it is not really explained. I always thought that Ginny in second and fourth year (I don't even remember if we see her in third year) is this shy persona and that she changes off screen so to say. Neville on the other hand gains self-confidence on screen when he joins Harry for the DA. In the movies they decided to stick to shy Ginny - a choice I don't really approve of because it means that she seems to be nothing more than Harry's love interest.

It could be explained by Harry's PoV because it is only in sixth year that Harry really notices Ginny as a girl he is attracted to. Still, I think it could have been done better.

So, in theory Ginny is a person I could like: She's pretty straightforward. When she's pissed at you, you know that. She's not someone who is sneaky. She is also someone who sticks to her friends. On the other hand she can be pretty opinionated and her disdain for girly girls is something I don't like at all.

We only see so little of her and Hermione's friendship and this is a pity. Because depending on what they see in each other (apart from the fact that they shared a bedroom when Hermione stayed at the Burrow) we could better judge the characters of both girls. Are they just close because of sharing much time at the Burrow? If you look closely, Hermione and Ginny are not that similar. Ginny loves sports, outside, going out, being sassy. And Hermione loves books, is ambitious and hates Quidditch. Hermione can be quick-witted as well, but she is not funny and she is not popular. And her anxiety about school is a strain on any friendship, let's be real.

I would hate it if they just bonded over their dislike of Fleur. But JKR might have wanted to hint at that.

I do think that Ginny is much more cardboard, not as well rounded as Ron and her personality and her flaws do not move the plot forward like Ron's flaws do.

With Ginny there is always that nagging feeling that she might just have been written to become Harry's wife. Badass, sassy, sexy and what is the best for Harry someone with a big family that can fulfill his wish to belong.

That is the reason why I have not yet tried to write from Ginny's PoV. I just don't vibe with her.

Thanks for the ask!

[simplyswooningk]

Fanfiction Teaser: The Strategist| Coming April 2021 to FF.net and A03 | Chapter One, “The Professor & The Madman”

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Ron and Hermione

Premise: Begins Post Half-Blood Prince. “Wars are not for children,” Arthur said with a deep sigh. 

“It’s a good thing I’m not a kid anymore, isn’t it, Dad?” 

                                                     The Strategist  

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”-J.R.R Tolkien

“The Minstrel-Boy to the War has gone! In the ranks of death, you will find him. His father’s sword he hath girded on and his wild harp slung behind him. ‘Land of song,’ said the warrior-bard, ‘Though all the world betrays thee. One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard. One faithful harp shall praise thee.’”-Thomas Moore

                                                    One:

                          The Professor & The Madman

Ronald Weasley had never seen Hogwarts so silent. The place seemed frozen, stuck, dead. He shuddered at his train of thought. It had been barely an hour since Albus Dumbledore, largely regarded as the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had ever known, had been laid to rest.

His murderer, Professor Snape, was gone, had left like the ruddy coward he was along with the rest of the Death Eaters. Snape had never been anywhere near Ron’s favorite teacher, but he never could have imagined anything like this. To make matters worse, Dumbledore had trusted Snape. That mistake had cost him everything.

Ron found himself sitting on the Quidditch Pitch. It was empty, no one had a thought for Quidditch. The days of worrying about his Keeper abilities and how to pass his N.E.W.T.S seemed as far away as his life before Hogwarts.  

His parents were catching up with old friends, but they had announced that they would be leaving in two hours, his mother was especially was eager for him and Ginny to be at home. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he wouldn’t be staying long.

Dumbledore had given Harry Potter a mission. You Know Who had a secret, several of them it seemed, and they had to find them all and destroy them. Horcruxes.  

He, Harry and Hermione Granger were setting off a mission to find and destroy each of those Horcruxes. Seven of them. Two had already been dispensed. And one would only be gone when He Who Must Not Be Named popped his clogs for good.

 Apparently, they could be anything. One they knew about. It was the locket of Slytherin. But who knew where they would find that?  

And then there was this mysterious R.A.B character who had somehow stolen the locket.  No one had the foggiest idea who he was. So, they were heading headlong into disaster without a clue as to what to do.

He honestly shouldn’t have been surprised. After his first year at Hogwarts, having to deal with a giant, living chess set and then a murderous diary, a violent tree and a killer snake in his second had pretty much taught him to be prepared for anything.  

There was a part of him that wanted to just go home. A part of him that wanted spend a quiet summer at home, go to Hogwarts for his seventh year and start life in the real world.

But he knew he was kidding himself. With Dumbledore gone and You-Know-Who gaining ground every second, if they didn’t end it, there wouldn’t be a real world. So, he would fight. There was nothing to do but fight. He knew Hermione felt the same way, but if he could’ve kept her away from it all, he would. More than anything, he wanted to keep her safe.  

Harry had disappeared somewhere off with Ginny, and although he had had his reservations about their relationship, there were far worse guys for his only sister to date. Although she couldn’t have picked a more troublesome bloke.  

Then again, Ginny had always liked trouble. She'd be coming back to school next year. Ron couldn’t imagine what Hogwarts would be like without Dumbledore.  

He looked up to the window where the old Headmaster’s office had been. It was hard to imagine anyone else ever being there.  

Hs eyes fell to the window where Potions class was. Snape had taught there, pretending that he wasn’t a Death Eater, pretending that he could be trusted. The whole thing made him want to vomit and then punch something.  

And then he thought of Slughorn. He apparently had written a fucking book for Voldemort: How To Make A Horcrux: A Guide for Fucking Demented Psychopaths. His mother had often told him that not all Slytherins were evil, but the whole lot of them seemed to be nothing but trouble.  

But then again, if he’d wrote the book, he might have the answers. 

He made his way back into the castle, grabbed the Marauder's Map from Harry’s trunk and searched for Slughorn’s name. He was in a part of the castle Ron had never ventured. But there was no time for trepidation now.

He made his way to the Teacher’s Wing. He found himself outside Slughorn’s quarters. He knocked, but there was no answer. Normally, he would’ve turned away, but it was no time to waste on civilities.

He walked in. “Professor? Professor Slughorn?”  

He heard some shuffling about and he instantly reached for his wand. These days, no one could be too careful.

“Oh, Mr. Wemby!” Ron fought the urge not to roll his eyes. This man literally had taught generations of his entire fucking family and he couldn’t remember his last name. It wasn’t as if they all bore a strong family resemblance and had the same hair color.  

Oh, wait a second, it was.

What made it worse was that he’d nearly died because of Slughorn and a box of Love Potion-tainted chocolate cauldrons.  

“How are you, my boy? Avoiding more poisonings, I hope?”

“Doing my best, sir,” Ron said with a smile. “If I might have a word?”

“Certainly, my boy,” said the aged professor and Ron noted that he took a rather pointed look at his hourglass. “Although I am in quite of a hurry.”

“You’re leaving Hogwarts?”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t dare. Now, with everything that’s happened. You-Know-Who will come for this place, I guarantee you. Someone will have to help watch over the students. No, I was just heading down to the greenhouses. With Death Eaters knocking on every corner, there’s a couple of plants that I should like to have on hand.”

Ron nodded and squared his shoulders. “Well, I won’t take up too much of your time, sir. Sir, I’m aware of what you gave Harry about...You-Know-Who.”

Ron watched the professor’s face go white. “Sir, believe, I’m not here to give you a hard time about it,” he said quickly. “I just want your help with something.”

Professor Slughorn’s back straightened. "I've already given Harry everything.” His voice was stiff and dismissive, but Ron didn’t have time to get upset.

“I know. But I was just wondering, is there anything else you know that might be helpful. You see, Harry’s going to try and destroy all of the Horcruxes. That’s right, he did make Horcruxes, sir. Six of them, apparently.  I'm going with Harry. Me and Ms. Granger. Is there anything you know that may be able to help us? Anything about Horcruxes, anything about You-Know-Who. Dumbledore said you were his favorite teacher.”  

The professor scoffed. “Ah yes, my claim to fame. The favorite teacher of the Darkest Wizard our world has ever known. What a nice epithet that will be, I’m sure. Of course, Harry would go for the Horcruxes. He’s Dumbledore’s man through and through.” Slughorn turned thoughtful for a moment. “That may not always be a good thing, mind you. Sit down, Weatherby.”  

Ron did as he was told.  

“I really shouldn’t tell you much,” the professor began. “It would be quite... well, I suppose none of that will even matter.” He sighed and Ron thought he was looking at a man who was clearly at war with himself.  

“I’ve often thought about that night, the night I told him about some of the darkest magic known to Wizarding kind. I believed his curiosity natural, admirable. How wrong I was. The first thing you ought to know is that none of the items will be insignificant. They'll be things that were important to him.  But they’ll also be things considered magically significant. He likes power, he like things connected with the past. Dumbledore—,” his voice caught briefly as he mentioned the old Headmaster, “may have told you as much. And his favorite place is this school. It is the only place he ever felt at home.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “Do you think one of the objects is here, sir?”  

“Well, there could be no better hiding place, could there?”  

“Sir, do you know how to destroy one?”

Slughorn sighed. “I have never learned the spell to create one. But a good wizard is curious about such things. But only curious. What I can tell you is that making horcruxes is not an easy business, my boy. Destroying them is far, far worse. There's only a couple of things in the world that can do so and most of them will kill a wizard just as easily. Basilisk venom, for one. I don’t think I need to tell how hard that is to come by. And no, I haven’t got any. If I did, I'd give it to you. There’s also Fiendfyre. It’ll destroy the Horcrux but if you’re not careful, it’ll take you right out with it. And then there is a Potion.”

“A Potion?”

Slughorn nodded. “Horcruxes, my boy, can be anything. Including flesh and blood. Now normally, you’d just kill the living thing and the Horcrux inside it right along with it. But, if for some reason, you want to remove the Horcrux without killing the host, there is a potion for that.”  

Slughorn got up from his chair and walked back to a cupboard, shuffling about for a moment before picking out a small vial with a reddish-black liquid. He brought it back to the table and handed it to Ron.

“This is Actuscaria. It's one of the rarest potions in the world. It's incredibly tricky to make and it has about a thousand different uses, one of them is destroying Horcruxes inside of living things.”

Ron looked at the potion, fascinated, more fascinated than he’d ever been by a potion before. “How does it do that, sir?”

“Actuscaria can only be made by love.”

Ron looked at the professor, blue eyes clouded with confusion.

“As in the act of love.” Ron still looked perplexed. “As in making it, Mr. Weasley.” 

Understanding dawned in Ron’s eyes, he turned bright red and eyed the bottle curiously. He was so fascinated that he didn’t realize that Slughorn finally got his blasted name right.

“But not just any act of love Mr. Weasley, the first act of love. To put it into frankly, the potion is made from the blood of a virgin witch.” Ron turned even redder, but if Slughorn noticed, he didn’t let on.  

“The blood that is shed during the act of deflowering.” Ron blushed again, this time the color of a ripe tomato. “Also, the blood has to be combined with the seed of the wizard who has deflowered her. Given that she has been deflowered, this combination happens rather naturally. Also, you need the entire fingernail of each of their left hands. Combine that with three drops of phoenix tears, brewed in a cauldron made from dragon’s eggs and the fire lit only with elm wood for eight days and seven nights. But the most important part of this is that the witch and wizard must be in love. Not some childish, silly infatuation, but truthfully, truly in love or it will not work. Horcruxes are formed by murder, a violation against nature. But the act of love, true love at its purest is the very affirmation of nature. It’s Old Magic, you see, nothing more powerful. Guard it, Mr. Weasley, with your life. Even if you never have cause to use it, it’s worth five times its weight in gold.”

Ron reached out a slightly trembling hand to grasp the potion. It seemed so unremarkable, so ordinary. It didn’t look revolting like Polyjuice or deadly like Night of the Living Death.

“Thank you, Professor...for everything,” Ron said, standing up. “I’ll need to finish packing.”

Professor Slughorn nodded and Ron began to walk away. Right before, he reached the door, he turned around.

“Professor, is there anything, anything else at all that you can tell me?”

The aged potions master looked up from his desk. “Yes. Godspeed, my boy. Godspeed.”  

Ron nodded. That wasn’t terribly helpful but he knew he meant well. Which considering the circumstances, was probably the most anyone could do.

“Mr. Weasley,” the professor called out before Ron had reached the back of the classroom. “Before you go, if you have a moment, feel free to take whatever you’d like from the Potions Storeroom. If you’re going to try and stop...him, you never know what you may need.”

Ron nodded and with one final farewell, he left the Good Professor to ponder that one fateful conversation. Ron had learned this year how much damage one action could cause.

As he headed back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought of everything the Professor had told him. Was it possible He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had hidden a Horcrux at Hogwarts? He didn’t pretend to know how the psycho thought, he left that up to Harry.  

But if you were going to hide something you never wanted anyone to find, where else would you hide it?  

He arrived in the Gryffindor common room, which was all but deserted. Hermione was sitting on the couch her legs propped up on her trunk, clearly deep in thought.

 He was supposed to meet his parents and Ginny in the Great Hall in a hour and a half. Hermione would be coming with them and then taking the Floo Network back to her house.  

She looked sad, she looked worried. She looked beautiful. All he wanted to do was hold her.

It hadn’t been the best year for their friendship. Theirs had always been a friendship of push and pull. But the past year, there wasn’t any pushing, only pulling away.  

He honestly didn’t know where it had all gone wrong. Okay, so he did.  

Jealousy, immaturity, insecurity, Ginny’s goading, Lavender’s sudden attention, Quidditch fears and Quidditch glory; it had been a toxic cocktail.

They were back on good terms finally. Near death experiences tended to make people forget pettiness.  It was nice to know that they could never really be angry with each other. He never doubted her being there when it counted. He hoped she thought the same.

But that was part of the problem...he didn’t know what she thought...of him. He could read her moods like the back of his hand, could tell when she was angry, moody, stressed. He knew how to piss her off like nobody else. But he hadn’t quite worked out how to make her happy.  

He had just begun to realize that was what he wanted to do, possibly, probably, definitely more than he wanted anything else.  

Denial had long been his picked poison when it came to his feelings for Hermione, but now, now he didn’t want to hide them anymore. But there were a million reasons he had to.

There were a lot of things unsaid. It didn’t make sense to say them now, not when the whole world was at stake. If they lived, there would be time to say it all. But of course, that was a very big if.  

“Hey,” she said with the smallest of smiles. He returned her smile and came to sit beside her.

“Where’s Ginny?” he asked. “Mum and Dad are going to be in Hogsmeade in an hour.”

“She’s down at Hagrid’s...with Harry. I think she wants to spend as much time with as she can.”

Ron nodded and then shook his, not needing that particular image in his head. Harry had been his best friend for the better part of six years, but still there were just some things one didn’t want to imagine about their little sister.

“How are you?” he asked. “I mean, really?”

Hermione shrugged. “Fair,” she responded. “It’s a lot to do. A lot to plan. I’ll be coming to the Burrow next week.”  

“So soon?” he asked. Not that he minded. But Hermione usually didn’t come to the Burrow until the last week of summer.  

“Yes,” she said rather quickly and he got the distinct feeling that there was something she wasn’t saying. “Is that all right?” she asked, brown eyes searching his.

He turned red. “Of course. Of course, it’s all right. I just thought that maybe with everything that’s going on, you’d want to spend more time at home...with your folks.”

Hermione shrugged. “With everything that’s going on, I'd love to never leave home. But that’s not really an option, is it? No use in prolonging the inevitable.”

“Have you thought of what you’re going to tell them?”  

Hermione didn’t answer for a long moment and then just shook her head. “I don’t know how to have that conversation. But in any event, have you thought of what you’re going to tell Mrs. Weasley? That's the real dangerous one, isn’t it?”  

Ron, despite his worry and trepidation, laughed. “You’re right about that one,” he said with a grin. She grinned back and for a moment, everything was okay.  

“We’ll be okay, Hermione,” he told her with confidence he couldn’t quite justify.

She scoffed slightly. “You sound certain.”  

“Well, you’re coming, aren’t you?”  

She smiled, the first one he could remember seeing that reached her eyes in a long while. Then he remembered his conversation with Slughorn.

“I went to speak to Slughorn,” he said. “To see if he knew anything that could help us.”

Hermione frowned at that. “Ron, we’re not supposed to tell anyone! You could put him in danger.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Hermione, for Merlin’s sake, Harry already told him something. And in case you didn’t notice, all of us are already in fucking danger.”

Hermione bit her lower lip and exhaled loudly, the way she always did when he was correct and she didn’t want to admit it. “Well, what did he say?” she asked finally a long pause.

Ron proceeded to say tell her the gist of his conversation with Slughorn. Although, he left out the part of the instructions for Actuscaria. There were some things he just didn’t feel comfortable talking about. Not with her.  

Besides, Hermione being Hermione, she would, at some point, look up the recipe anyway.

“Basilisk venom,” she said once Ron had finished his story. “Where on earth are we going to find Basilisk venom?”  

Ron thought for a moment. “I know where. Come on,” he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. They had no time to waste.

He dismissed the way his heart was beating as nerves and anticipation and not having anything to do with the way her hand felt in his. No, that had nothing to do with it at all.  

They stood there for the briefest of seconds, hand-in-hand, eyes searching into another and for a second, the never-ending fast-fowarding tape that had been their experience at Hogwarts seemed to pause.

But that moment, like all moments akin to it, ended too quickly.

“We’ve got to hurry,” Ron said blinking rapidly, breaking the intensity of their eye contact.  

“You mind telling me where we’re going?” Hermione asked as they raced down the steps of Gryffindor Tower.

“Girls’ lavatory on the second floor.”

“What?” Hermione asked as she ran beside him, their hands still tightly clasped. 

“Chamber of Secrets,” he said in a hushed whisper though the halls were nearly deserted.

They got there in record time. Ron had never known it to be so easy to sneak around Hogwarts. Without Dumbledore’s presence, nothing felt safe.

He didn’t like that feeling. Hogwarts’ had been his family’s home from home for centuries. Despite everything he had been through in his six years there, he had never felt truly, truly at risk.

Of course, the Ministry would do everything they could to keep everyone safe. But if he was going to judge by the stories Bill had told him about the early days of the First War, he wasn’t exactly filled with confidence.

But now wasn’t the time for his fears to get the better of him.

He gripped her hand tighter as they entered into the bathroom and found themselves facing the row of sinks.  

He felt for the Snake-shaped clasp hidden since Tom Riddle had walked these halls. It felt weird doing this without Harry, he had to admit. But he had a feeling had things were going to get dicey, Harry would need all the help he could get.  

“How do we get in?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Parseltongue,” Ron said as he thought back to the last time he’d been there. Parseltongue always sounded creepy and disturbing to him, but Harry mumbled it a lot in his sleep. Ron had only picked up on it subconsciously, but he hoped he had enough not to botch it.

The whispery, slithery words felt unnatural and harsh on his tongue, but it worked. The tap began to move and Hermione gasped in awe.

“Oh, my god,” she whispered as the tunnel to the Chamber of Secrets opened.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to jump,” Ron told her. “You may want to hold on.”

Hermione peered down the tunnel, eyes wide. “Hold on to what?” her voice was highly confused.

“To me,” he said motioning to his shoulders.  

“Oh,” a blush crept across her face and Ron pretended he didn’t notice as he fought his own burning cheeks. Her arms wrapped around the top of his chest and he prayed that she couldn’t feel his heart beating, though he knew it was pounding.

Her little hands clasped around him, delicate and dainty but he knew what damage those hands could do. The contrast simultaneously amused and aroused him. But he shook himself of those thoughts. Focus, focus, she’s only a girl.

But of course, even as they jumped down the tunnel, he knew he was kidding himself. She was The Girl. The Girl He Wanted, The Girl He Needed, The Girl He Loved. Love?  

It seemed so foreign, yet as they whooshed down the tunnel, he could think of no reason to dispel it. He loved her. When the fuck had that happened?

It was unsettling to be with the notion of love as they were sliding down a dark, creepy dangerous tunnel in preparation of an even more dangerous mission where the best-case scenario was if they won, they most likely be dead as a result.

They slid down the tunnel and Hermione rapped his shoulders tighter as their speed increased.

Ron cast a silent Cushioning Charm because the memory of barreling into hundred thousand mouse skeletons was far from his favorite thing.

They landed with a thud and Hermione’s hands instantly left Ron’s shoulders. He was surprised by how instantly he felt the loss of her touch and how much he longed for it again.

“Oh, my God,” Hermione said as she looked around. There was rubble, dust and ash everywhere.

“We’ll have to bombard our way through,” Ron told her pulling out his wand. “Three tons of rock dropped last time, so let’s be careful.”  

Hermione nodded and pulled out her own wand. “I’m right behind you,” agreed with a grin.  

He took her hand in his. “If we need to make a quick exit, Side-Long Apparation?”  

She nodded and they pressed forward until they reached the Chamber Door.

Another round of Parseltongue from Ron later, the door opened and they found themselves in a room which they had only heard about secondhand from Harry and Ginny.

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” Hermione asked as they entered the Chamber.

Ron pulled a look. “Are you serious?” he asked. “Yes, I've spent my free learning the secret language of psychos.”

“Not all Slytherins are evil, Ronald.”  

“Name one you like.”

He had her there. She gave no answer and merely shrugged.

They both paused when their eyes fell upon the basilisk skeleton.

“Bloody hell,” whistled Hermione as she took the whole thing in.

“Hey don’t sweat it. It's dead. We’ve got living monsters to worry about. What's that Shakespeare quote you always say, ‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here’?”

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. “I said that once three years ago. You remember that?”

Ron colored slightly and shrugged in reply. “I guess. Let’s get the fangs.”  

He started to kneel down, reaching to grab a fang.

“Ron, wait! We should remove those with magic. What if you accidentally scratched yourself?”

Ron had jumped back at her words. “Oh, right. Brilliant, you are.”  

She smiled at that and pulled out her wand. They carefully magically removed twelve basilisk fangs from the remains of the vicious snake. Hermione conjured up a backpack for them to place them in.

“You know, Ron,” Hermione said as she zipped up the backpack. “This is going to be really dangerous what we’re doing.”

He nodded, as she rose to stand right in front of him. “Have you thought about it, if we don’t make it?”  

She nodded and then shrugged, though he thought he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “I have. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? What matter is—,”

“Harry,” he finished for her. “Harry has to make it through. That's what the prophecy said.”

Hermione sniffled. “Harry,” she agreed. “God, if I had known that we may not be coming back next here, that we may not be coming back at all, I would’ve done so much so differently.”

He looked at her for a long moment, wondering if she was talking about what he thought.  

He looked down at his shoes. “Me too,” he began rather meekly. He lifted his face to meet hers again and smiled. “I think about all that time I spent worrying about Quidditch. Like that matters now.”

“Ron, I’m sorry about the birds, if I never apologized for that before.”  

He grinned. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. “Thanks,” he said honestly. “I’m sorry about...everything.” Although, he couldn’t remember what he apologizing for. But he figured it was best to cover the bases.

She chuckled lightly. “You don’t know what you’re apologizing for, do you?”  

He shook his head, amused by her ability to see right through him. “Not really, no. But I figured it couldn’t hurt. I'm sorry about Lavender.”  

She shook her head. “Don’t apologize,” she said. “It wasn’t your fault she fancied you. I just overreacted...a bit.”

He raised his eyebrows. “A bit?”

“All right, a lot. I just I can’t believe you fancied her.”

“Well, I didn’t...I mean not really.”

“Ronald, that’s horrible.”  

“I know,” he said somewhat guiltily. “It’s just she fancied me, and I guess I fancied that and before I knew it, it had gotten out of hand. Then you weren’t speaking to me—,”  

Hermione scoffed. “Oh, so you were trying to stick it to me by snogging her? Real mature, that is.”

Ron found his ire rising. “Oh, and just what the fucking hell were you doing with McClaggen, then? Research into the mind of right arrogant pricks?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t!”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t....” he trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

But Hermione was having none of that. “If I hadn’t what, Ronald?” she folded her arms and waited and he knew she would wait. Because the only person more stubborn that him was her.  

He knew he wasn’t about to admit to rational behavior, which is why he did not want to admit it.

“Ginnyutoldmeukissedkrum,” he said quickly and primarily to the floor.  

“What?”

He sighed. He didn’t want to have this conversation. But maybe, just maybe, now wasn’t the time to leave things unsaid.  

“Ginny told me you kissed Krum.”

Hermione blinked very fast for a few moments, the way she always did when she was thinking. She looked confused, then she looked agitated, then she looked annoyed. Very annoyed. At him.  

“You mean two years ago?” she asked her voice dripping with derision.  

His eyes looked at the floor again. “Well...yeah.”

“Let me get this straight: you started snogging Lavender because Ginny told you about me and Viktor?”

“Well, I started snogging Lavender because she started snogging me, but I can’t say that didn’t have something to do with it.”

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. She raked a hand through her hair. “This is all so silly. You could’ve talked to me about that, you know?”

“I can’t talk to you about him,” he said honestly. “It makes me crazy.”

“Why?!” she exploded. “Why does it drive you so mad?”

“Because,” he snapped, just as heated. “Because,” he said somewhat more calmly once he saw the look in her eyes. “I just...it’s the thought of him with you...instead...instead of me.”

He hoped he didn’t look as crestfallen or as foolish as he thought he sounded. But he was sure he saw pity in her expression.

“Oh, Ron,” she said softly. She shook her head again and he knew she was thinking that he was an idiot. “You didn’t even know I was a girl back then.”  

He colored. “I did. I knew you were a girl. I just didn’t know back then that you meant something to me...as a girl, you know, not just a friend.”  

She blinked and her face lifted in kind of a smile. “It’s all right,” she said. “I understand.”

“You do?” he said, surprised.

She nodded. “I go red with rage when I think about you and Lav-Lav.”

“I noticed,” he said wryly thinking of birds pecking his flesh.  

“You know, all this could’ve been avoided if we had only spoken to one another,” she said with a resigned sigh.

He nodded. “You’re right. You're always right.”

“Not always.” She looked  

“You know if I had known if we weren’t coming back here next year, if we might not be coming back at all...I would’ve asked you to the Yule Ball. I would've gone to Slughorn’s Christmas Do. But in my defense, I didn’t know you were asking me out.”  

She raised her eyebrows, but he didn’t give her a chance to respond.

“I mean maybe I thought or maybe I hoped but it doesn’t matter. The point is if I had known how high the stakes were going to get, I would’ve done a lot of things.” He took a breath, not wanting the moment to pass. “Most of all, I would’ve done this.”  

He leaned forward, way, way, way forward, since compared to him, she was practically house-elf sized. He waited for her to stop him, waited for her to push him away or flee from the expanding closeness between them.

In the back of his mind, he didn’t know if he had the right to do this, after all, no admissions of feelings had passed between them. Then again, maybe when you knew each other as well as they did, words were a little less necessary.  

He kept leaning until their faces were inches apart. He could feel the blood rushing in his ears, his heart pounding dramatically.

His lips brushed against hers, softly, slowly asking a question. He thought he felt her gasp or shiver or something he couldn’t quite name. Her lips were soft and they tasted like honey. He pressed his against her lips harder, asking the question again.

She answered, her lips playing over his in return. God, he was kissing Hermione. And she was kissing him back. It was nothing like those lung-collapsing snog marathons with Lavender. It was soft and sweet and...intimate.  

He dared himself to be bold, there was no point in turning back now. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She felt small and frail against him and a wave of protectiveness ran through his veins, barely reined in by his desire to keep kissing her.  

Her mouth opened and suddenly her taste was everywhere, on his tongue, in his mind, in his heart. Her hands clasped around his shoulders, bringing him deeper and he heard her moan slightly.  

That one, little breathy exhalation went straight to his cock. All the things he wanted to do to her rushed through his brain in a series of flashes. Suddenly his lips were on her neck, chasing the sound that fell from her lips. Her skin was feather-soft against his lips and all he wanted to do was mark it, claim it as his own.

His lips lingered on a spot underneath her chin which caused another raspy moan, louder than the one before to fall from her lips.

Ron felt himself harden, and they were close enough where he knew she could feel it. Something in the back of his mind told him to stop, but he couldn’t. He was addicted to having her in his arms, on his skin, and the sounds and shudders she made as he touched her. His lips sought hers again for another deep, nearly bruising kiss.

His hands began to roam up her waist, she shifted closer to him, her foot kicking the backpack. One of the basilisk fangs fell out and clattered to the ground.

That one sound snapped Hermione back into reality. She pulled her lips away abruptly. Her hands left his shoulders and she moved an inch away.  

Ron’s eyes shut open, afraid that he had gone too far, pushed past the limit. He waited for to say something. Waited for the inevitable heartbreak he knew was coming.  

“We can’t do this,” she said softly.

He instantly deflated but tried to hide it. “You’re right,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound shaky. “I’m sorry, I should have never. I didn’t mean to...take advantage of you and I can’t blame you if you want to slap me or hex me or send more birds but I've still got scabs from that so if you could lay off—,”  

“Ron, what are you talking about?” She looked up at him, confused. “You didn’t take advantage of me.”

They both blushed as the weight of their action sunk in.

“Soooo,” Ron tested the waters. “You don’t want to hex me?”

She laughed softly. “No, no, quite the opposite actually.”

He couldn’t help but beam at that. She placed a hand on his face, cupping his cheek. “We can’t do this...not now,” she quickly amended. “Right now, we don’t matter. The only thing that matters is—,”

“Harry,” interjected Ron. “The only thing that matters right now is Harry. Harry has to make it through.”

She dropped her hand from his face and matching sad, resigned smiles crossed their faces.  

“We could die,” Ron said briefly. He wasn’t sad, or even upset about it. He knew it was a fact.  

Hermione nodded. “We could. But that really doesn’t matter either, does it?” She shook her, frustration clouding her features. “You know, this year was a waste. When I think that we could’ve just...”

“Spent all year snogging,” Ron suggested for her. No use in beating around the bush anymore  

She rolled her eyes. “You did spend half the year snogging.”

Ron shrugged sheepishly. “Well, yeah, but she wasn’t you.” He enjoyed the smile on her face at his words.

“Are you scared?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not of dying. I’m more scared of what’ll happen if we don’t win. But I was scared of dying before I lived.”

“You’re not anymore?” she seemed surprised.

“Nope,” he said with a rakish grin. “I’ll get to remember the last five minutes for as long as I live. So, if You-Know-Who pops my clogs tomorrow, that’d be all right.”  

She laughed. “You’re impossible.”

Ron grinned. “Yes, and you love me.” He had meant it as a joke, it was supposed to be a joke. But she didn’t laugh. She just stared into his eyes for a long pause.

When she did speak, her was clear and earnest. “I do.”  

He felt like he’d gotten hit with a Stunning jinx. But then she was staring up at him with her huge brown eyes, a hint of fear at the edges and he realized she was waiting for him to say something.  

“I do too,” he said quickly. She smiled and reached for his hand again, their fingers intertwined.

A long, sincere beat passed between the two of them. But it ended all too soon. “So, if we win and we don’t die,” she said an edge of humor. “Can I get one of your Weasley sweaters?”  

He laughed. “You can have them all.”

“And your Quidditch jersey?”  

“Let’s not get carried away,” he said, mockingly scandalized.  

They stared at each other again and All Ron wanted to do was kiss her again. He thought she was thinking the same thing too, but she looked away.

“We’ve got to go. Your parents will be ready to leave soon.”

He nodded. She was right. “Yeah, yeah, we should. Oh, I totally forgot. Slughorn said we should go to the Storeroom, pick out whatever we think we may need.”

Hermione went straight into Hermione mode. “Ronald, why didn’t you say so? We haven’t got all day, have we? Let's go!”  

She picked up the backpack, shrunk it down and stuck it in her pocket.  

“Ronald, come on!” she beckoned him forward and out of the Chamber.

Despite everything, the danger they were in, the uncertainty of the future, and the deranged, powerful psychopath who wanted to destroy everything he held dear, all he could think of was if and when he’d ever kiss her again.

[officialsporkintheroad]

Oooh Gin n Tonic for the soulmate ficlet!

(Author’s Note: OKAY so this one got away from me--it’s almost 3k words. It’s a little darker/sadder than I thought it would be--I started off with Power Couple vibes, and then it became canon compliant, so obvi that didn’t quite happen. Ginny’s still a bad bitch tho. Thanks for the prompt and I hope you like <3)

SEND ME A HARRY POTTER RARE-PAIR FOR SOULMATE AU FICLET

TW: brief & mild self-harm, depression, off-screen attempted murder, minor character death

**********

Here’s the thing.

By the time Ginevra Weasley is born, there are six other Weasley children already. It’s hard enough to distinguish yourself when you’re poor, when your family name is synonymous with Blood Traitors in some circles and Pity in others, when everything you own is second-hand and handed-down and usedbrokendirty. It’s even harder knowing half her siblings will make a name for themselves before she’s even out of nappies.

Bill is the most talented. Charlie, the most fearless. Percy is the smartest. The twins are funny and inventive to a degree that’s nearly unbeatable. Even Ron is the best at chess, the best at strategy.

What’s left for me, she wonders.

But when she’s old enough to understand soulmarks, old enough to read them, she realizes that magic herself has marked her as different. Nobody in her family two sets of words the way she does.

 ********** 

Here’s the thing.

Tom Riddle is born to nothing but the name falling from his dying mother’s lips, but even in a sea of orphans, he is extraordinary. First, because he is a pretty child. Then because is so very bright. And later—though not much later, because as noted, he is extraordinary—because of his magic.

And because, unlike the other children at Wool’s, there is a string of words winding around his wrist in narrow script that read, “I wish someone would see me instead of my family.”

Soulmarks. That’s what Professor Dumbledore calls them when he visits, when he explains magic and Hogwarts and the words his soulmate will one day say to him.

“Someone made just for me,” Tom mutters under his breath, enchanted by the idea. Someone who will understand him wholly and completely, who will be his entirely—

“Well,” Dumbledore says, and he has a strange, cold look in his steely eyes. “Not all soulmates work out.”

Tom gets the impression Dumbledore might not like him very much, and that’s before the man sets his wardrobe on fire.

Still, before Dumbledore leaves, Tom asks one more question.

“Sir. Do people only have one soulmate?”

Dumbledore pauses, assesses Tom. “Almost always.”

Tom nods quietly and lets the old man leave.

(There’s a second set of words in a more elegant script above Tom’s left hip that read, “It’s always you, isn’t it?” Another sign that he’s more than the wizards around him—two soulmarks instead of the usual one—but Tom doesn’t tell anyone about them. Not yet.)

 ********** 

When Ginny meets Harry Potter—for only a split second just outside platform 9 ¾ —she hopes it will be him. Probably lots of people hope Harry Potter will speak their words; he’s a hero and he has the prettiest green eyes and the nicest smile. He doesn’t speak to her then, and she’s too shy to say anything, and that means there’s still a chance.

Still a chance when Harry Potter comes to visit the next summer.

But of course, then he waves and says a cheery, “Hello!”

Ginny freezes, turns and all but runs back up the stairs. Neither of her marks is a simple, “Hello.”

For the next few days, weeks, she wallows a bit in her disappointment. Harry Potter is not her soulmate.

The excitement of Hogwarts dulls the hurt of her doomed crush, though, right up until she puts on the sorting hat and it says, “Another Weasley.”

And in the Gryffindor girls’ dorms late that night, having unpacked and found a strange, blank diary that she doesn’t remember buying, Ginny writes down the thought that’s been plaguing her practically from the moment she was born.

“I wish someone would see me instead of my family.”

She doesn’t expect the book to write back.

“I see you.”

She stares at the words, the pretty, delicate script, for only a moment, and then she’s running to the bathroom, wrenching her nightgown down off her shoulder because even though she’s looked every day since she learned to read, she has to be sure.

“Those are my words,” she whispers to herself, vaguely aware she’s nearly hyperventilating. She all but runs back to the book—her soulmate is a book?—and writes more.

“I’m Ginevra Weasley, though I go by Ginny. Who are you?”

 ********** 

When Tom Riddle is 16 and overconfident and proud and desperate to prove himself, he opens the Chamber of Secrets and inadvertently kills Myrtle Warren.

Waste not, want not, he thinks. The girl’s death might have been a bit of an accident—he’d planned to kill someone, if not her specifically, and perhaps not right now—but that won’t matter for the ritual he has planned.

When he makes his first horcrux, he feels as though he’s being split apart. The agony is blinding, burning. But eventually it fades and he hauls himself up, dusts himself off, and sneaks back into the Slytherin dormitories.

It’s only the next morning that he realizes the soulmark on his wrist is gone. Not burned off. Not faded to gray the way they do when your soulmate has died. It’s as if it never existed.

(The one on his hip remains unchanged.)

Ultimately, he decides, it’s of little consequence. Soulmates are a childish fancy that had appealed to him when he was an orphan nobody. Now, Lord Voldemort is on the horizon—a grander image for himself that will elevate him beyond the paltry frivolities of mortal men.

He doesn’t linger on this loss, or what it might mean for his soul.

********** 

Ginny wakes up on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, soaked to the bone in filthy water, Harry Potter bleeding profusely beside her. The diary—Tom—is on the floor, a huge hole gaping on the front cover.

He tried to kill me, Ginny realizes, a sick feeling in her stomach. Tom had possessed her for months, had made her kill chickens and set the basilisk on muggleborns, had dragged her down to the Chamber so he could suck the life out of her. And now he’s dead.

At first, there’s nothing but the relief of surviving, tinged with bitterness and a vile, betrayed feeling in her gut. The idea of telling anyone that her soulmate was Tom—was Voldemort, as it turns out—makes her throw up. And then, of course, it occurs to her that no one has to know.

It would be better if no one knew.

She keeps that tidbit to herself, even with the anger and the grief. Everyone attributes her moods to the fact that she nearly died, but eventually they stop worrying so much. Eventually they leave her alone.

The mark on her shoulder—“I see you.”—once black, now has faded to a pale gray. So light it’s nearly invisible to anyone else.

The other mark is fine.

********** 

Ginny throws herself into her life with the energy of a person who knows what it means to die. Where she was quiet and shy before—always overwhelmed and overshadowed by her siblings—she’s now loud and bright and fearless. If Tom has taught her anything, it’s that nobody else is going to come along and make her great. That’s something she’s going to have to do for herself.

So she tries. She makes friends with Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. She studies hard, makes sure she answers questions in class. She goes to the tri-wizard ball her third year with a nice boy named Michael Corner who is not her soulmate. She dances and she has fun and he doesn’t try to kill her, so it’s a win.

She thinks she might finally be getting the hang of things.

Of course, that’s when Voldemort resurrects himself.

Harry lands in the stadium, sobbing and clinging to Cedric Diggory’s body, and suddenly the sick feeling from the Chamber is back.

 **********

Cedric Diggory was Harry Potter’s soulmate.

Ginny learns this late at night at Grimmauld Place because dreams of the Chamber and Tom are keeping her awake and when she goes to make a cup of tea, she finds Harry at the table, staring blankly in the dark.

The clock reads 2 a.m.

“I barely got to know him, and he’s gone,” Harry says, voice ragged from crying. “And it’s my fault—”

“It’s Tom’s fault,” Ginny snaps. Not her Tom, really, but they’re the same enough. Both murderers and jackasses as far as she’s concerned.

Harry looks up at her, wide green eyes, and she realizes that no one else has told him he’s not to blame. Not for Voldemort coming back, or for Cedric dying. She wonders if anyone else even knows that they were soulmates.

Maybe that’s what prompts her to tell him.

“Tom was mine.” The words taste like ash, scrape up her throat and leave her feeling raw. “The diary. He was my soulmate.”

She shows him the grayed-out words on her shoulder.

“Fuck,” Harry chokes out eventually. “That’s…”

There really aren’t words for this.

“It’s all fucked,” she agrees.

Her tea is scalding and soothing and not nearly enough. But she’s been here for months; she knows where Sirius has been hiding the good stuff from her mom. She reaches into the false bottom of the china cabinet, pulls out a bottle of Ogdens, and pours a shot into her tea.

Harry raises a brow, but she just shrugs.

“I think we’ve earned it, don’t you?”

He takes the shot she pours for him, and there’s a silent promise that they won’t talk about this. Not with anyone else.

**********

She shouldn’t have come here.

That’s what she thinks, standing in the Department of Mysteries, in the Hall of Prophecies. One moment, they’re looking for Sirius, and then Lucius fucking Malfoy is there, and Bellatrix Lestrange, and a handful of other Death Eaters, and Ginny knows they’ve stumbled into a trap they’re not getting out of unscathed.

Harry was holding the prophecy, but sometime between him taunting Malfoy and when they all send out a simultaneous stupefy, she feels him slide it into her pocket. It takes less than a second for her to understand. They’ll think Harry has it, and even when it inevitably comes out that he doesn’t, Ron and Hermione will be the next obvious choices. Ginny is unexpected; Ginny can keep it safe.

They scatter, each one of them running in a different direction. Ginny’s dodging spells left and right, tossing hexes over her shoulder. She’s always had a fair amount of power, but the DA has honed her skills in a way they never were before. She lands more hits than she expects, hears the belligerent cursing of the man behind her when a well-placed diffindo makes him stumble. She can’t look back and see the damage herself—that would be stupid and she can’t afford to give up her meager lead—but she tosses a reducto and listens as the walls collapse.

She has three seconds to be proud of herself before it all goes to shit.

Somehow they all end up back in the same room—a strange one with a pale, shimmering archway standing in the middle—and then they’re surrounded: Death Eaters on all sides.

Voldemort himself strides forward from the darkness. He’s tall and pale and snake-like, but those movements, that grace, are all Tom.

The room is too cool and dark and for a moment, she’s back in the Chamber, she’s fading, she’s dying, she’s staring up at Tom’s face, twisted into a mocking, cruel smile that she’ll never forget as long as she lives.

“Harry Potter,” Voldemort says, breaking her out of her memory. “And I see you’ve brought your useless friends.”

There’s a split second of nothing, and then Harry’s clutching at his scar, screaming. Ginny is distantly aware of Ron helping to catch him, but she won’t be distracted now. She keeps her wand level, steady, and aimed at Voldemort.

That’s why she sees when his gaze shifts to her: red and piercing and horrid.

“Don’t be stupid, girl. Give it here,” he says, words half-hissed, and he holds out his hand for the prophecy.

She stares at him. Stares, and then laughs. It’s something manic and bitter and this is not the time, but she can’t help it. Fuck.

Because those are her other words, the ones etched across her ribcage.

(When she was younger—before the Chamber incident—she’d never liked these words as well as the other set. Her soulmate was calling her stupid, for one thing, and seemed demanding to boot. After Tom and the basilisk and nearly dying, she’d looked at these words with the last shred of hope she had left. She’d hoped, first impressions aside, that maybe this person would be the one to love her. Maybe this person she’d be allowed to keep.)

What a fucking joke.

“It’s always you, isn’t it?” she spits and has the joy of watching Lord Voldemort freeze on the spot.

She has managed to strike him speechless. It’s almost enough of an advantage.

But in the end—Ginny is starting to think some things are inevitable—Voldemort and his Death Eaters rally, the Order of the Phoenix shows up to save the day, the prophecy shatters, Sirius dies.

********** 

Back in the safety of Hogwarts, of the Hospital Wing, Ginny puts her fist through a mirror.

Then she takes one of the shards to the words on her ribcage, tries to scrape them off.

Madam Pomfrey has to stop her, has to restrain her to the bed while she heals the bleeding wound.

The mark stays. It’s magic, her soulmark; it goes deeper than the skin.

*********** 

Voldemort sits in his study in Malfoy Manor.

The prophecy is destroyed. Harry Potter has escaped. The Minister, idiot that he is, won’t be able to deny Voldemort’s presence now that he’s seen him firsthand.

It has been a shite evening, in short.

Then there is the matter of his soulmate. Ginevra Weasley.

“It’s always you, isn’t it?”

Even his new body, freshly formed out of the cauldron, had borne those words. The ones that, no matter how many horcruxes he’d made, had stayed firmly printed above his hip. Years ago, he’d thought they would disappear when he made the ring, then the cup, the locket. He’d wondered why he lost those first words but not the second set.

Now, of course, it all makes sense.

Well. He’s still not quite sure why magic has deemed some scrawny, red-haired chit deserving of Lord Voldemort.

Draco Malfoy is a well of information. Largely useless information, granted, but information all the same.

She’s a quidditch player, apparently, and—according to Draco—nearly as good a seeker as Potter. She’s got a mean bat-bogey hex and a short temper, but on the whole, she’s a year below Malfoy, so he doesn’t know much.

“Oh, but—” and here the boy pauses, pales, and swallows nervously “—she was…uh…the one who nearly died. In…in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Draco looks like he’s worried Voldemort will curse him for that, but really he’d gotten all—okay, most—of his frustration over that spectacular disaster over with when he’d first heard Lucius had given away his fucking diary.

But he didn’t know Ginevra was the one his horcrux had almost killed.

My horcrux that took my first soulmark, he thinks, and something in the back of his brain clicks.

“It’s always you, isn’t it?” she had said. Always. Because they’d met before.

She was both his marks.

********** 

“I had—have—a second mark,” she tells Harry, because he obviously knows something is up. They’re sitting together up at the astronomy tower. It’s one of those nights where the dreams creep in and she wishes she had the memory of Gryffindor’s sword in her hands. She wishes she’d been the one to kill Tom all those years ago. Wishes she could kill Voldemort now.

But that, apparently, is Harry’s job.

Despite the fact that she’s pretty sure he’s already guessed the truth, and despite the fact that she knows he won’t judge her for it—he didn’t judge her for Tom, he won’t judge her now—she can’t stand to say it aloud.

She shows him the words on her side instead.

Don’t be stupid, girl. Give it here.

“I…I tried to get rid of them,” she whispers into the night when the silence stretches too long. “Why is it him?”

Harry wraps her in a hug that’s just shy of smothering.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I’m sorry, Ginny. I’m so fucking sorry.”

**********

Dumbledore is dead. It’s only a matter of time before the ministry falls. Lord Voldemort is more powerful now than he’s ever been.

He can’t stop looking at his soulmark.

It is ridiculous, he tries to tell himself. Lord Voldemort has no use for a soulmate, no want for one either. And certainly not one that’s a mudblood-loving bint fighting for the enemy.

He should kill her and be done with it. It’s not as though he can just leave her be.

But.

But for all that Voldemort has remade himself into something near-godly, there is still an orphan boy somewhere inside of him that used to steal the things he coveted, that used to collect what little treasures could be found in Wool’s and keep them close.

Once, he saw his soulmarks and thought, There is someone made to be mine.

And that?

That’s a temptation he cannot quite pass up.

[disorganizedkitten]

Surprise reminder I am not in fact dead. Happy whatever. I’m brainspewing a bunch of aus, mostly DC/batfam and Harry Potter atm and wanted to share some of my favorite moments from the HP planning sessions. These are... sort of from the same story? It’s evolved enough that I could split it into multiple stories based off which update/version it’s from.

Welcome to my Regulus Black Survives and ends up Raising Harry au that eventually melted into a very fun Twin Au that I hope I finish.

Harry: I CAN DESTROY HORCRUXES BY BLEEDING ON THEM

 Reg also sends him with a communication mirror because it's been four or five years, he's not going to be so callous as to deny he loves his kid.

  So they, being 12 and dumb, end up going in after her/him.

 Upon seeing Riddle leave the diary, Harry and Theo, who were raised by a Black and a Nott respectively, freaked. Theo didn't know what it was for sure, but could tell it was Bad, and Harry saw 75.9% sure it was a horcrux because really. What else can a person materialize out of?

 Riddle proceeds to monologue about how he hadn't expected this, Slytherins and Gryffindors working together? And aren't you a Nott? I wonder how your forefathers would feel. Etc. While Harry and Theo dodge the curses and continue to try to destroy the diary.

 "How can you be so powerful if you were defeated by a baby?!"

 The Basilisk ends up trying to listen to both of them, and then Connor tries to help, and Riddle tries to kill Harry w/ Ukri and Connor tries to take Riddle down, and Theo is darting around and tripping Ukri and Riddle up, while Ron has given up on his wand and is trying to wrestle Riddle, which leaves Harry again to take the diary.

When Sirius breaks out, Harry makes a lot of comments about just… cutting off his left arm. After all, no dark mark, no loyalty to the cause. Crippled, even if he was a loyal follower before. This is also his first elective year, which means that Reg sends him an old prosthetic to unravel for Ancient Runes.  Draco screams when Harry gets an arm in the mail.

Also Theo gets kidnapped by Sirius summer of 95 after he runs away to escape becoming a baby Death Eater. It's in broad daylight and causes so much panic

("I was wondering what that unholy shriek was" "a horcrux dying,")

 This leads to all sorts of hijinks because due to it being accidental, young, and without due process or practice, Fay is essentially an inferi. Except she still has a soul. It's weird. The necromancy-gone-sideways means that they're bonded.

Neville Longbottom and the Suspicious Letters - the Godbrother letters begin!!

 “I thought my brother was supposed to be raising you.” “I can go?” “Absolutely not, someone has to keep you alive.”

Regulus is a panicked box of nerves who accidentally acquired a child who should by all rights be his brother’s, and now he has to keep him

 Harry grew up around Reg who has Very Dangerous Magic™ all over the house, and has the time of his life watching things blow up 

 “Harry you’re going to singlehandedly give me grey hairs”

 “Honestly if it wouldn’t get more attention than I need I’d just kidnap you, they’re such horrid guardians. And I’m a Black, so that’s saying something!

(The Black Family Madness isn't inherited, it's learnt)

Adrian is a mortician because I really liked the idea of a murder basement except no one has ever actually died in the basement.

 Fay Dunbar vs the natural order

Neville Longbottom and the wallflower society

Charlie and Ginny Weasley are Parselmouths bc it makes me happy

 Happy Hogwarts day, Harry! Or should it be Happy Hogwarts Hour, Harry? Since you like alliteration? (I clearly remember Mass-Machete-Murderer).  I’m sad there’s no chance of running into you in diagon today, but hey! Hogwarts is coming soon! And then we can hang out whenever, right? Well, maybe not whenever. I guess we’d have to attend classes and make more friends. But otherwise! No more sneaking around! Unless you're a Slytherin. Then there might be some sneaking. But not as much! (Have we talked about that yet? I’m pretty sure I’m a shoe-in for Gryffindor, but… yeah. If you’re not, that’s completely okay!)  (^letter between Harry and the Other Potter Twin(tm) )

Hey, Harry. Mum just learned you’re a wizard (forgot to ask how, sorry, I’m sure she’ll tell you later) and has decided you need to come live in the wizarding world with us. I didn’t tell her anything. You and your Axe-bear uncle need to figure something out and fast. I’ll see what stalling I can do. XX, your lovely brother. (On the upside, we get 2 c e/o b4 Spt1!) (^Another actual letter from version 2-3 of this au)

 "You know," Theo says to Conner at one point. "It's a bit like Harry was raised by a Black."  Conner shrugs. "He was raised by an ex-death eater with one arm. Close enough." Theo does research and pretty much just figures that whenever Harry says he was raised by a dead man, he means legally. Theo puts his money on Regulus Black early on.

Theo’s a very smart cookie

 Harry also writes letters to Regulus using a constantly changing code which is really just pop culture references.

 We have a bunch of parselmouths this generation. See: Charlie Weasley, Ginerva Weasley. Henry Potter/Peverell. Connor Potter. Fay Dunbar/Black. (Also, Theo Nott, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, and a few others learn it for the sake of keeping up with them).  Bry is… one of those groups.

 Bryony becomes a Basilisk Breeder

 There are five prophecy children bc I can

‘Tuney rushed out “He's not here."  No duh, Connor thought but didn’t say. He hoped the adults had a plan for this, because if Harry and Connor had to come up with stories on their own (lie to their parents) there was no way it would end well.  Three years of letters and visits and Connor still didn’t have a name for Harry’s adult figure. He wondered morbidly if that was going to change today.’

‘Connor decided with a new thread of despair that yep, the adults were going to be lying to each other for the foreseeable future. Ugh.‘

‘When Reg catches Barty, the only one who does, neither of them attack.  "Why, Barty?"  "What else can I do?"  "Join us?"  "That won't be safe. Won't be fair. I'm trying to send one of those boys to their death."  "You're also helping keep them alive. Let me get you out." Barty switches allegiances that night. The moment he has a choice.’

 There are a lot of people who are willing to step away from Voldemort but don’t know how. They got in over their heads decades ago and now they’re stuck.

 That doesn’t mean they’ll sit around and watch their kids make the same mistakes.

[breaniebree]

A Second Chance Chapter Titles

A lot of people have asked me why I didn’t come up with titles for the chapters in A Second Chance like I did, over fifteen years ago now, in my Beginning Series where each chapter was named.  My main reason was because I had written the first 12 chapters without titles.  Also, I find writing titles for stories or chapters very hard.  Coming up with titles is not easy and to me, two thousand times harder than writing.  Speaking with @seriouslysam8​, who loves Friends as much as I do, she made a comment about one of my chapters being “the one where such and such happens” and it got me thinking about how Friends names the episodes in that fashion.  

Procrastinating from writing, I ended up breaking down my story into titles in a similar fashion and I figured I’d share them.  Seriously Sam was very helpful in helping me out (she always has the coolest titles for her stories).  So, these are the unofficial chapter titles to A Second Chance if they were named like episodes of Friends.

For those who are interested in going back and re-reading certain aspects -- this is also helpful in finding what you’re looking for (I think).  😉❤️ And I gave you a little snippet about what I would call chapter 253.

The One Where They Were Dead

The One Where the Rat Is Out of the Bag 

The One Where James and Lily Die 

The One Where Moony and Padfoot Make Up 

The One Where Harry Meets Padfoot 

The One Where Sirius Kidnaps Harry 

The One Where Sirius Punches Vernon Dursley 

The One Where Harry Meets Remus 

The One Where Sirius and Harry Make Grilled Cheese 

The One With Thea 

The One Where Harry Asks What a Kiss Is 

The One With the Library Card 

The One Where They Remember the Past 

The One With the Tonkses’ 

The One With Harry’s First Nightmare 

The One With Professor Moony 

The One With The Puppy 

The One With the Second Best Day Ever 

The One Where Harry Meets An Excellent Secret Keeper and Her Brother 

The One Where Sirius Learns What He Missed in Azkaban 

The One With the Brownies

The One With the Date 

The One With the Weasleys 

The One With the Bad Dreams 

The One Where Sirius Learns the Key to Moony's Secret Pranking Success 

The One With Operation Prank the Piss Out of Harry Potter 

The One With the Wolfsbane Fight 

The One Where the Marauders Discover A Wolf 

The One With the Spanking 

The One With the House Rules and Where Sirius and Ted Are Manly and Build a Treehouse

The One With the Wolf 

The One Where Remus Tells Sirius To Deal with the Blacks 

The One Where Harry Asks About Boobies 

The One With the Locket 

The One With Blackbird 

The One With the Birthday Orgasms 

The One With the Three Brothers 

The One With Godric’s Hollow 

The One Where Sirius Speaks French

The One With the First Christmas 

The One With the Pensieve 

The One With the Memories Part I 

The One With the Memories Part II 

The One When Padfoot and Prongs Become Blood Brothers 

The One Where Harry Has A Sleepover 

The One With the Tickle War 

The One With the Viscount of Falmouth 

The One With Roni 

The One With the Birthday Planning

The One With the Best Birthday Ever  

The One Where Padfoot and Moony Know Nothing About Sick Kids  

The One Where Remus Slaps Sirius  

The One With the Giant Cheese Fort 

The One With Operation Get Lily Evans to Fall in Love With Prongs  

The One Where Remus Thinks He’s a Very Bad Man  

The One Where Harry Asks About Sex  

The One Where Tonks Turns 17  

The One Where Remus Feels Like He’s Robbing the Cradle  

The One Where Remus Learns He Has A Mate 

The One Where Sirius Shags the Realtor 

The One With the Letter 

The One Where Harry Gets Hedwig  

The One Where Harry Understands the Fear of Voldemort  

The One With The Sorting  

The One Where Sirius Was Almost Bitten By a Panther… And Totally Didn’t Pee His Pants  

The One With the Youngest Seeker In Over a Century 

The One With the Three-Headed Dog  

The One With Zee 

 The One With Sheer Dumb Luck  

The One Where Sirius Lets Zee Drive His Bike  

The One Where the Weasley Boys Come Over for Christmas  

The One Where Minnie Tells Sirius To Get A Job  

The One Where No One Listens So Harry Has to Do Everything and His Friends Follow Him So He Doesn't Die

The One Where the Whole School Knows  

The One Where Harry is Jealous  

The One Where Sirius Eats Crow  

The One Where Zee Meets Minnie  

The One With the Proud Enough to Cry Letter 

The One Where They Realize Their New Professor is a Moron  

The One Where Remus Gets His Shit Together  

The One Where Harry Meets His Fanboy  

The One Where Binns Doesn’t Put His Class to Sleep For Almost Ten Whole Minutes 

The One Where Sirius Finds Out  

The One When Remus Punches Lockhart  

The One With the Mad House Elf  

The One With the Great Shoebox Capture  

The One Where Sirius Tells Zee About the Marauders  

The One Where Harry is Homesick  

The One Where Sirius Says I Love You  

The One With the Sex Talk 

The One With Ted Walking in on Remus Fingering Tonks… And Remus Adds Another Finger  

The One Where Draco Comes to Christmas  

The One Where Sirius Actually Gets a Job  

The One Where Sirius Asks About Cursed Scars  

The One Where Remus Tells Tonks and She says ‘Duh!’  

The One Where Fred Hears the Name Padfoot  

The One With Peter’s Trial Part I  

The One With Peter’s Trial Part II  

The One Where Ginny Tells Harry She Has A Pen-Pal  

The One With the Eyes As Green As a Fresh Pickled Toad  

The One Where Tonks Is Under the Desk  

The One Where Harry Writes in the Diary  

The One Where It’s Not Follow the Butterflies  

The One Where Sirius Is Sent Home Without An Explanation 

The One Where Ginny is Scared Harry Will Never Speak To Her Again

The One Where Sirius and Remus Demand Answers  

The One With Prophecies and Horcruxes  

The One Where Harry Learns to Drive  

The One Where Bill Gives the Lecture on Being A Big Brother  

The One Where Sirius Realizes He Wants Zee Forever But Is Too Chicken To Say It 

The One With Operation Fuck Up Voldemort’s Plans  

The One Where Cissy Tattles on Abraxas  

The One Where Harry Sees More Than He Should Between His Roommates  

The One Where Colin Tells Ginny To Get Over It  

The One Where Theo Comes Out  

The One Where Sirius Tells Lucius If He Fucks Up He Will Kill Him  

The One With the FUVP Pow-Wow  

The One Where They Return to the Chamber of Secrets  

The One Where Harry Finds Out  

The One Where the Marauders Prank Snape 

The One Where Draco and Theo Go Exploring and Get Caught  

The One With Nyx  

The One Where Harry Throws a Tantrum  

The One Where They Skive Off Class Because Harry Talks 

The One Where Harry Asks Out Cho  

The One With Harry’s First Date  

The One Where Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore Fuck Up  

The One With Moody  

The One Where Harry Gets Slapped  

The One Where Sirius and Tonks Decide To Fuck With Snape  

The One With Lily’s Ghost  

The One With the Gaunt Property  

The One With the Defence Club  

The One With the Wizengamot  

The One Where Harry Meets the Americans  

The One Where They Forget to Tell Sirius  

The One With the Insomniacs Club 

The One Where Bellatrix Shows Up  

The One With the Time Turner  

The One With Umbitch's Creepy Song  

The One With the Wolf in the Cage  

The One Where Harry Shouts at Sirius and He Just Shouts Right Back

The One Where Both of Them Feel Like Shit

The One With the Elder Wand  

The One Where Sirius Tells Harry Not to Drink  

The One Where Sirius Acts the Adult and Tells the Grangers  

The One Where They Drink the Potion  

The One Where Harry Can’t Change His Arm Back 

The One Where Ginny Sees Harry Naked  

The One When Harry Calls Remus a Bad Dog 

The One Where Theo Goes to the Burrow  

The One Where Harry Has a Fling  

The One Where Sirius Panics Over Commitment  

The One Where Zee Takes Harry Shopping  

The One With the Quidditch World Cup  

The One With Winky  

The One With Babymort 

The One Where Sirius Asks Zee to Move In  

The One Where Snape Apologizes and Harry Thinks The World Ended

The One With the Pretty Boy, the Biggest Flirt, and the Flying House

The One Where Tonks Wants A Boob Job

The One Where Drama Queen Sirius Learns About Pens

The One Where Zee Just Wants A Damn Telephone But Sirius Can’t Stop Bitching

The One Where Girls Giggle and Ginny Looks Different

The One Where Harry Outflies a Dragon… Almost

The One Where Zee Tells The Paper to Back the Fuck Away from Her Son

The One Where Harry Thinks It’s the Formal Wear

The One Where Mr Weasley Thinks ‘Oh, Bloody Hell!'

The One Where Sirius Takes A Bath

The One Where Harry’s in Denial

The One Where Harry Thinks He Has Two Hostages

The One With the Love Potion

The One Where Zee Seduces Sirius in the Work Shed

The One With the Secret Swimming Pool

The One With the Bats From the Crotch

The One That Ends With ‘Oh Shit!’

The One Where Everyone Dies

The One With the Lullabye

The One Where Tonks Marks Remus

The One Where Remus Proposes

The One Where Lucius Gets Arrested

The One Where Remus Proposes Again and Harry Dies

The One With the Coconut Smell

The One Where Tonks Isn’t Pregnant

The One Where Dean Realizes He Fancies Seamus

The One With Baby, I Love You

The One Where Theo Meets Voldemort

The One Where Harry Calls Ginny His and Then Denies It

The One Where Everyone Breaks Out of Azkaban

The One With the War Council

The One Where Harry is Dumped

The One Where They Discuss The Size of Remus’ Package

The One Where Harry Learns About the Potters

The One Where Harry Finds the Tower Room

The One Where Zee’s in France 

The One Where Harry Gets Constantly Interrupted

The One Where the Glacier Finally Melts

The One Where Harry Finally Asks

The One Where Sirius Cuddles and Zee Buys A Motorbike

The One Where Everyone Is Worried About Theo

The One With the Frying Pan

The One With the Fluke

The One Where Minnie Walks In

The One Where Remus Finds A Present Under the Tree

The One With Bellarosa and the Snake

The One Where Everyone Gets Motorbikes

The One Where Padfoot Suggests Pranking Umbitch to Fred and George

The One With the Great Escape from Umbitch

The One With Prince Finley and the Switching of Teacups

The One Where Theo is Courted and Dean Admits He's in Love

The One Where Hinny Says I Love You and the Fluke Continues

The One Where Sirius Picks Out A Ring

The One With the Cathedral Star

The One Where Sirius Answers the Phone

The One Where George Gets the Girl

The One Where They Compare Proposals

The One Where Sirius Has the Man-Flu and Gives it to Zee

The One Where Ginny and Theo Are Kidnapped and Remus Hears Heartbeats

The One With the Thing After Learning the Thing

The One Where Everyone is in Shock

The One Where Zee Confirms

The One With the Will

The One Where Remus Finally Lets Go

The One Where Hermione is Blind But Her Mum Isn’t

The One Where the Dragon’s in Trouble and George Snogs the New Bat

The One Where Ginny Tames Ebony and Theo Goes to Tara

The One With the Sovereign Chalice and Zee’s Dream

The One With the Party

The One Where Ginny Claims Her Man

The One Where Harry Has a Really Great Birthday

The One Where Harry Asks Remus For Sex Advice

The One With the Surfing

The One Where Harry Buys a Pgymy Puff

The One With the Naughty Dream

The One Where Harry’s Afraid of Grandpa

The One With the Race

The One Where Ron and Hermione Almost Fluke

The One Where Bill Gets a Headache

The One With Compass and Bad Puns

The One Where Harry Uses Parseltongue For Something New

The One With Slughorn As An Armchair

The One Where Its All Fluff

The One Where Draco Calls Blaise A Stupid Son of a Bitch

The One With the Patronus and the Lingerie

The One With Advanced Potion Making and World War One

The One With Luna’s Question

The One With All the Smut and Where Ron and Hermione Fluke Again

The One Where Minnie Freaks Out on Walburga

The One With the Fruit Basket 

The One Where Percy Gets a Date and Remus Skives Off Work

The One With the Iron Blade

The One Where the Fairytale Ends  

The One With the Golden Dagger

[aty-altiria]

FOR THE GREATER GOOD

No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD “Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice

Oh this was a FUN titles for a Harry Potter ficlet lemme tell you guys. So of course I had to do the thing. 

Word count: 1085

Universe: Harry Potter

Pairings: Fem!Harry/Tom Riddle

Rating: T

Themes: Death, some Character bashing, implied mind-control, insanity-sort of

Summary: It’s the begging that helps Holly realize that there is an escape from her position. Because, for as long as she’d known him, Tom has never once begged, and even if he did, he wouldn’t do it to save her. So... there simply must be another way out, and his words are the clue Holly needs to find it. 

@whumptober2020

----

"Remember this Potter, I don't beg. I will never plead, and any thought of me being kind… remove it from your head. It will never happen. If you can accept that, then I will take you… if only for your potential."

"Holly!"

Holly could barely hear his voice anymore. It was only a whisper in the back of her head, a ghostly thing promising violence. In fact, Holly couldn't even put a name to that voice. She knew… she knew it was familiar. It was in a way that could never be forgotten, but… she no longer knew why.

"Lift your arms! Get up!"

She couldn't do that. There was nothing physically holding her down, but Holly still couldn't so much as shift despite the voice asking it of her. Her arms were flat on the ground, palms facing up, and she was stuck there. Holly was pinned down, forced onto her back. She was trapped.

Shifting her eyes to the side as far as they would go allowed Holly to see a circle surrounding her. The ring was made of glowing purple lettering - runes. Bleary-eyed and unfocused, Holly could still read the symbols as if they'd been written in English… he had ensured she knew to do that much. What she could make out, well, it meant nothing good for her.

Moving her attention outward, Holly discovered that she was at the center of the circular design. While outside it was fretful faces; their names came easy, and the feeling of thick betrayal soured her tongue. Any sense of familiarity died as she stared at them, as she felt the air thicken with betrayal.

"Holly! In Morgana's name! You have to move!"

Hermione, Ron, Minerva… Molly, Arthur, Kingsley, Remus… Dumbledore. They'd told her this was for the greater good, they'd told her she'd be safe, that she'd understand once it was all over. She didn't believe it. Holly had fought back with all the strength she possessed, and considering she was the most powerful witch of the age… that was a lot. And then they'd fought dirty- the diary, they'd stolen it from her, they threatened it, threatened him, and she could do nothing but surrender.

Now, this was the result.

Holly moved her eyes along the 'worried' group. Everything about the motion was sluggish, even her own mind was a bit behind. But as she scanned the area, she found a second runic circle in black where her diary lay. At its center, forced down, chained to the flooring by his wrists… was her- her-

He opened his mouth, face twisting in a snarl as finally caught Holly's gaze and mouthed the words: 'Do you want us both to die Potter?!'

Tom.

Holly's fingers dug into the floor beneath her. Tom, he was her only friend. He was the only one who listened when she told him she was abused, and he never judged just because she was a parseltongue. Tom hadn't turned on her when her name had spawned from the goblet. Nor ignored her when Umbridge came into the picture. Tom was her only real ally. Her only friend. Tom was the one she loved, the other half of her soul. They were connected, and Holly wasn't letting either of them die here.

Dumbledore stepped forward, and the stern expression on Tom's face melted away to one of more concern, a mask like all the rest Holly instantly knew. "Once the ritual is complete, Tom's connection to Holly will be severed. All thoughts to the positive, we should see immediate recovery, and she should return to her original personality."

A mouse. Dumbledore was talking about when Holly had been eleven and desperate for anyone to look at her. When she'd tanked her grades for approval, skived her studies because Ron asked her too. When Holly couldn't handle the Dursley's. When she was nothing but a follower. Dumbledore was talking about Holly's personality before the diary dropped into her lap and showed her what she could be.

Holly clenched her fists, moved them despite the runes tying her down. She… she was the strongest witch in an age, and she would not allow a few runes stop her. Forcing herself to shift, to gain any sort of motion, Holly managed to smudge the rune closest to her and felt her thoughts moving a touch faster. Holly swiftly scanned the area, environment. Tom had always enforced the need to be aware of it; she spotted Snape off to the side with a blank expression, then turned back to Tom. From the side, Holly could see he was positively snarling at Dumbledore, an uncharacteristic amount of anger was on his face. Holly knew the expression was an act, yet she still found the idea he was that moved by her imprisonment flattering. Even Dumbledore seemed slightly taken aback because Tom was usually far more eloquent and manipulative. This emotional version was a surprise to them all. But as Dumbledore assumed and Holly knew, it was an act to distract Dumbledore so Holly could escape.

"Let her go! Take me instead!"

That wasn't a surprise either, not considering what Holly housed. She was the key to Tom's revival but… but not the one she preferred. Holly was the key to Voldemort's soul, not Tom. Because Tom was nothing but a revived Horcrux. He was the diary brought into physical existence through Holly's magic, a Muggle sacrifice, and years of planning. Tom was also considered Holly's teacher and guard, just as she was supposed to be his. They'd both failed today… Voldemort would be furious.

Tom would be killed if she didn't do something, and the Horcrux within her would be ripped away. Then Holly would be reduced to a shell, and she would not expect Voldemort to help her; he wouldn't. The only one who would was… Tom.

Holly snapped her eyes to the floor again and tried to move her hands again. Every shift was hard-won, but each shift smudged another poorly drawn rune. It was intelligent work, Hermione's probably, but the attention to the big picture was missing. Tom was like that too. He was beyond smart, but he didn't miss the obvious; he'd never have drawn the runes for the critical ritual in chalk. Holly moved again, Tom was distracted the group entirely all but for Snape. This was quite the test for the spy. To speak out or not, his choice could doom her. She had to act regardless. Holly shifted her foot, scuffed a rune there. She wiggled her body while Tom completely 'lost it.' She rubbed her head on the ground, got chalk in her hair and- could move.

Tom was intelligent; he was the smartest person Holly knew. He knew obscure magic that Dumbledore couldn't even dream of. Tom knew how to revive the dead, prevent death, and craft a body using ritual sacrifice without ever needed to harm Holly. He was smart, and that was where the danger came from. Tom was a genius with a level of control over his magic that was unheard of. This was the reason Voldemort had been so terrifying before his original defeat. This was also why, while still insane, Voldemort had been a tenth of a threat. Because Voldemort was madness and wild magic, he had been uncontrolled and had none of Tom's strengths.

Holly wasn't smart like Tom was. She didn't have the extreme control he could pull off. Holly could cast wandlessly, on occasion without effort, because Holly knew spells just that intimately. But what Holly lacked for in control and genius-level intelligence, she more than made up for in power. Holly was brute strength, the kind that allowed her to knock out a dragon with a stupefy. The type that froze entire lakes with a flick of the wand. That could force a whole hoard of Dementors back with one Patronus.

She was power.

Holly shoved her hands on the ground, hurled herself into a crouch and tossed her palms outward. Dumbledore hadn't even realized she was free yet, not like Snape, who'd never taken his eyes from her. Dumbledore only noticed when Tom finally smiled. That insane expression, a manic look that made Tom resemble Voldemort. The sign that the creation of the first Horcrux hadn't entirely left his soul unaffected- and then Dumbledore was flying across the room. He and the order cracked against the walls under the sheer force of Holly's magic. One moment of distraction that Tom earned her, and they were defeated.

Tom's smile grew until it was all teeth. Nothing charming was left in its wake, but oh how Holly loved it when he smiled like that. Tom was real like this.

"Well done, Holly."

Her magic swirled around her like a whirlwind. Holly scarcely noticed Hermione begging her to let them help her. Didn't acknowledge Remus telling her she was being possessed, controlled. Or Arthur and Molly yelling that she would end up like Ginny… Tom was proud of her- Holly smiled a little bit crazed. They didn't get it. They thought the diary was controlling her; they thought she had no control over her actions. That she was blank, had large gaps of memory loss, that Tom was utterly in control, and Holly needed to be saved.

They had no idea.

No idea that Tom had never once taken over her body. He'd simply offered her the acceptance that Dumbledore had designed her to crave freely. He'd built up her loyalty over years. Had been a willing ear, a patient but firm teacher. Holly hadn't been wrong in her assumption that she and Tom were soulmates, for she was well aware that she held a part of his soul. He understood her in a supernatural way. Perhaps it was because Tom knew from the Horcrux within her. Maybe he'd cheated and had read her mind. But Holly was long past caring.

Holly looked to Snape, the only one who hadn't been thrown back and watched him kneel as she scuffed the runic work tying Tom down with her trainers. Holly stepped into the runic circle herself and plucked the diary, that sentimental empty Horcrux, from the ring's center and held it close. She then freed Tom from the chains while her former friends wailed and pleaded. Tom stepped free as Dumbledore tried to escape, to ordered Severus to do something. Tom stalked the room, debating their next step.

Eventually, Tom approached Snape and snatched hold of his arm. Snape smothered a flinch even as he kept his head low in deference. "I am uncertain what to do with you Severus, you didn't warn of this… but nor did you interference with Holly's escape." Tom grabbed Severus' face and forced it up, "It seems time to truly discover where your loyalties lie."

Holly knew Tom would plunder Snape's mind for any information he deemed necessary. Such a thing could take days, hours, or minutes. She suspected the latter though, they weren't exactly safe, and he wouldn't allow himself to remain unfocused for too long. Not with Dumbledore so close, not while the man was actively attempting to escape. To prevent any… mistakes, Holly flicked her hand to disarm the group and palmed Dumbledore's wand for future casting.

"Select one within the group, they will be the final ingredient for your Horcrux."

Holly glanced at Tom, he was still looking at Snape, but he'd spoken his order in her head. And it was an order, so Holly got to work. She turned toward the small group, still pinned to the wall debating. Remus was dismissed; the werewolf aspect could cause issues, and despite everything, Holly still held some measure for Remus through her parents; that and Sirius probably would disapprove. Molly, Minerva, and Hermione were likewise dismissed out of sheer disinterest; they didn't feel right. This left Kingsley, Arthur, Ron, and Dumbledore.

That would be poetic.

And her manic smile grew.

[accioromione]

What do you think happened when Hermione destroyed the cup?

Hmmm I don’t know- honestly they said it screamed but Harry said the same thing about the locked Didnt he? I don’t think it did what the locket did. I think what’s important to remember is the strongest horcruxes like the diary and the locket fed off people. I think a horcrux becomes more powerful the more someone uses it. Ginny uses the diary. Dumbledore wears the ring. And the trio wear the locket. If Harry had known that Dumbledore wearing the ting actually caused his death I don’t think he would have wore it. However with the cup and with the diadem no one really wears it for too long or uses it for too long. So I think they were the weakest horcruxes because they didn’t have a lot of time feeding off of people. My headCanon is that Hermione is terrified to do it but  Ron is holding her hand and then kisses her on the forehead. Telling her she can do it. And he puts the basilisk fang in her hand and she takes a deep breath and just when she’s about to do it it squirts out like hot blood and the blood is brown in colour (analogous to her being a ‘mudblood’) and Ron squeezes her hand and lets her go and then she stabs it before the blood hits them. And then he pulls her into like a really tight hug and she’s crying against his chest idk

[ginnyw-potter-archive]

OMMGG I HAD A FIC IDEA. Make it how long u want. But what if Ginny was the girl who lived??

Anon I love you but to write a fic like that would fully take over my life for two years so I will not write a whole lot about it but here are some thoughts anyway

So Mr and Mrs Weasley die and all the Weasley kids get moved to Aunt Muriel's, who as you can imagine would be horrible to them. The twins just never return after they go to Hogwarts and Bill gets his own place the moment he's finished with Hogwarts and moves all his siblings with him.

Ginny's brothers are not convinced she is the Chosen One even though they all remember the night Voldemort came to their house and killed their parents. They are very protective of her. She's eager to learn spells but they won't let her. Of course she practises in secret.

Harry grows up with two loving parents, a dogfather and a Moony. Pettigrew simply vanishes one day and they never hear from him again. He's a little spoiled but he's still the compassionate Harry we know.

His parents convince him to make friends with the orphan boy who's being teased by his older siblings. The boy gladly followed Harry to a compartment. They knew of course who the Weasleys were and the siblings all get invited to the Potter house. It's full of Marauders and Weasleys and there's a lot of laughter and magic and love.

Ginny still received the diary but she left it at the library one day. Luna ends up being taken to the Chamber. Ginny convinces Ron and Harry to go investigate. (Ron's wand still breaks trying to fly Ginny to Hogwarts, Harry is on the train). They're the only two who have been taking her seriously (Hermione is petrified).

Ginny starts the DA with Harry because her siblings kept dismissing her. This is when Harry realises he had feelings for this fire-cracker of a girl. He doesn't make a move on her bc she's the Girl Who Lived and she's pretty so she's got plenty of attention. Then one night they're scheduling a next class and Ginny talks about how Cedric died and he hugged her tenderly, more so than anyone had ever hugged her. Harry leaves because it feels wrong thinking about kissing her when she's upset. but she chases after him, kind of upset he would just go. but then he honestly tells her he had feelings for her. and she simply smiles and snogs the hell out of him. They date from then on and everything is dandy!

except from the whole Voldemort thing I mean. In the department of mysteries, Harry's parents come to fight as well with the Order. Sirius still dies and it devastates all of them, Ginny included because they had been close for some time now (I realise this isn't perfectly chronological - I apologize)

Ginny hunts horcruxes with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Neville. It's a crowd but they work together and there is less strain on the group because they can take turns to watch and carry horcruxes.

The Battle is pretty much the same but it's Lily who kills Bellatrix for coming at Harry, her baby boy (who is two heads taller than her at this point).

Ginny defeats Moldy Voldie and goes on to become a professional player while Harry becomes an auror. They find it ironic since his wife who saved the wizarding world is flying around a broom while Harry is still out there fighting the bad guys.

They live happily ever after! James and Lily adore Ginny and they adopt all the Weasleys and their eventual children.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

I really like Tequila from Lee's world. What would that weird Tom/Ginny combination be like if Lee had never returned to the HP universe? Would they become more like October Tom? Or something else entirely? How would Tequila handle the mad creature their main soul has become?

Oh man, you give Tequila far more credit than I do.

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll refer to Tequila below as “he”, mostly because it’s really Wizard Trotsky at the wheel in “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds”. He just happens to rock Ginny Weasley’s adolescent body.

Tequila’s a hot mess, a dumpster fire, and it doesn’t matter if he’s pining after Tom Riddle’s childhood friend Ellie Potter, if Tom is stuck in a diary only to be released to confront Ellie/Harry Potter, or if he’s stuck in a diary and released only to find out Ellie Potter isn’t even there. Tequila will always be a mess.

Let’s say Lee never showed back up. Tequila’s life would be one of hilarity and woe.

Wizard Trotsky likely would have continued masquerading as Ginny, i.e. being Tequila, out of a sheer lack of ability to answer the question “what the hell do I do now?” That’s why he stuck around as Ginny in the first place. 

So Tequila goes to Hogwarts, milks “I’m an invalid, woe is me, I can’t go to class cough cough I am traumatized by snakes on planes” excuse for as long as he can get away with it (which is forever) and ends up with decent marks (having gone through Hogwarts twice now) but not nearly as good as he once had or, say, Hermione has because he’s gotten profoundly lazy. Sadly, this still puts him ahead of 50% of Hogwarts’ population.

Similarly, Tequila’s effort at impersonating Ginny Weasley is half-assed at best. However, because Ginny went through an incredibly traumatic experience, no one gives him shit for it or wonders “Hey, is this really Ginny?” Due to this, Tequila’s soul is dying inside even more than usual. He doesn’t even have to try around these assholes. He could walk up to the wall, spray paint “I am Voldemort, bitch!” and they’d probably just try to console him.

Lee showing back up out of the ether is the most exciting that has ever happened to Tequila possibly ever. It’d be better if Lee wanted to do epic ninja battle, so Tequila could prove how cool and not useless he is and defeat his prophesied enemy, but even Lee just being in the castle, insulting everybody, and lighting all of Hagrid’s pets on fire is amazing.

But anyways, Lee never shows up.

Tequila gets a pretty good idea of who the original Death Eaters were thanks to gossip but there’s not much he can do about it as all the Death Eaters (aside from the ones in prison) have disavowed Voldemort out of self preservation. His showing up as an adolescent schoolgirl just doesn’t have the same effect  and it’d be a little hard to prove who he is given that he doesn’t even really know these people.

Not to mention that Voldemort was this distant thing in the future for him and he has no idea how to actually go about doing any of that. The actual Voldemort has many years experience on him in recruiting, guerilla warfare, logistics, etc. 

Tom Riddle was in dueling club one time, it was great, he learned things.

So Tequila likely wiffle waffles a lot, telling himself, “One day, I’m going to run out on all these assholes, return as Voldemort, and then Granger will cry” only to sigh and realize it’s far more realistic to start from fresh. Besides, why just try to redo what his other half did, he wants to be his own person (a better more competent version! He won’t get blown up by any toddlers!) and that means finding his own cause. And if he can make Dumbledore’s Order his Order, then great.

Not to mention there’s the disturbing possibility that Voldemort’s not quite dead. Now, Tequila can give this credence as being the horcrux, he knows that Voldemort’s not really dead. He’s amazed Voldemort managed to blow himself up with a baby, amazed, embarrassed, and offended, but Tequila isn’t willing to completely throw out the idea that Voldemort’s this evil wraith who occasionally possesses muggle studies professors. Not exactly on Tom Riddle’s bucket list, but clearly, the original screwed up everything and doesn’t even deserve Tequila’s respect.

(Tequila went through a brief, extremely brief, period of wondering if he should seek out the main soul and help him return it to power. Being the horcrux, technically, he should probably serve the original soul.

Then he remembered that asshole had one job, only one job, and he ruined it. Tequila was shoved into a diary for nothing and look what happened. Now there’s a national Harry Potter Day. Clearly, the wrong half of Tom Riddle was put out of commission and if you want it done right you’ve got to do it yourself.)

So, in 1994 without Lee’s involvement, Voldemort returns from the grave. Because I’m realistic, Neville probably dies. Sorry, Neville, you lived a good if short life and I’m sure you gave it the college try. Dumbledore falls into despair and “THE WORLD IS DOOMED!” mode now that all his even remotely prophesied children are MIA and immediately gets the Order of the Phoenix together.

Ginny, being thirteen at the time, isn’t allowed because that would be ridiculous. Despite it being ridiculous to include thirteen year olds, Tequila is pissed that he’ll have to wait another god knows how many years before Molly lets him do what he wants.

Offscreen Dumbledore probably goes through varying levels of extremely horrifying solutions to the Tom Riddle problem.

First, he probably goes horcrux hunting. Unfortunately for Dumbledore, in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” and “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds” there are only two horcruxes and only one was intentional. Tom had originally planned to make seven but the hangover from the first one was so mind breakingly awful he went “New plan, I will make one horcrux, and then I will think of something else”. He never really got around to thinking of anything else.

Dumbledore, however, doesn’t know this. So he dutifully collects memories, banks on Tom’s ridiculously romantic nature, and starts going to places of importance. Not to reveal too much, but Tom actually laid several traps around for those poking their nose around looking for his horcrux. Dumbledore steps into several of these with not so good results.

Given that one of the horcruxes is Ginny and the other is still stuck in Konoha without any access to magic, Dumbledore is 0 for 2.

More, given that only Neville Longbottom was prophesied to have the ability to defeat the dark lord either Dumbledore has to somehow resurrect Neville or else get himself a new Neville. Because I love terrible, but funny, things let’s say he does both and we get a round of Pet Semetary (sometimes, dead is better, Albus) and pulling in Harry Potters/Neville Longbottoms from other dimensions (but miraculously not Eru Lee somehow, which is great for her because she’s busy having a terrible time in the third shinobi war). 

Back to Lee for a bit and why Dumbledore’s first solution isn’t just to desperately try and find her.

First, she is completely off the map and has been for years. She isn’t even registering as “dead” or “in mortal peril” she’s just gone. Somehow finding her and hoping, miraculously, for her blowing up Voldemort a second time just isn’t on the table.

Second, Lee’s involvement in the prophecy is... a bit wonky. This has been noted a bit in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” but the prophecy in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus” and “Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds” actually explicitly does not refer to her in that it specifies a male child born at the end of July. This is because the universe is falling apart and we’re all doomed, doomed, doomed, but that’s a different story. Point being, especially in this Lee-less version, Albus has no idea what’s up with Lee but he’s putting his money on Neville. Poor, dead, Neville.

Tequila meanwhile gets to read news of how everything’s going to hell in the dumbest way he can imagine. Voldemort clearly came back wrong and missing a lot of brain cells, even with a body he keeps not taking over the ministry even though they’re practically begging him to do it, and everything he does is not only a) very embarrassing but b) it prevents Tequila from rising into power and becoming amazing.

Clearly, he must be stopped, there can only be one Lord of the Rings.

Well, destroying him completely means destroying Tequila first, and we can’t have that. So Tequila comes up with the only reasonable solution: they have to seal Voldemort’s evil spirit away in some magical artifact.

Tequila drops out of Hogwarts, goes adventuring for a few years, finds some exorcism sword or something and learns how to use it. Comes back and anticlimactically defeats Voldemort while everyone else was busy panicking and Hogwarts was being invaded or some nonsense.

Nobody, not even Tequila, knows how to handle Voldemort’s sudden and very anticlimactic defeat.

Then Tequila recovers and shouts “Weasley is our king!”

Tequila, probably eighteen around this point, is voted the youngest Minister of Magic ever. With Dumbledore dead, Tequila strongarms his way into taking over the Order of the Phoenix, and everything’s coming up Tom Riddle. 

Only then Tom Riddle has that terrible sense of deja vu as the, “What now?” question hovers in his brain. Once again, he has absolutely no answer. Tom is the dog who has caught the car.

Congratulations, Tom.

TL;DR: Without Lee, Tequila would probably end up dealing with the original Voldemort himself/herself. He’s still a mess, he’s learned nothing, and at the end just finds out that actually, he didn’t want to be in power, being in power is stupid.

All he figures out is that he has no idea what he wants.

On the plus side, at least Dumbledore’s dead.