#Harry is bad at communicating essential warnings

[gimlilithegreat]

If it doesn't go away hit it with a hammer by Gimlili

Chapter 1 of my follow up to Don't think about it and it will go away on its own is finally up! Only a year late so I figure I'm doing okay!

[dramionediscussion]

Can we talk about fic pet peeves?

I want to make it clear that this is not about a specific fic or author, but just some things I've seen in this fandom over the years. I've been reading Dramione for almost 15 years now and there are so many things that authors include that have become a pet peeve of mine.

This is not just exclusive to Dramione though, I have dabbled in other HP pairs before (e.g., Hansy, Theomione) and other fandoms (Gossip Girl, Elementary), and I have seen the same things there. I also have definitely come across some of these in published romance novels.

But this is a Dramione blog, so I will talk about them in context to this pairing.

Men being the cause of the breakup. So many times it's always Draco who messes up or says something horrible or doesn't "do enough". He is the one who has to repent and beg for forgiveness. Very rarely do you see a fic where Hermione is the one who is wrong and needs to apologize. And even when she does, it's always Draco who cuts her off and spins it around and makes him the bad guy who caused Hermione to be that way, and she doesn't actually have to work hard for forgiveness. Just a simple "I'm sorry" and he then says "no no, it's me....".

Having more than one conflict in a fic. Halfway through a story, the pair will have a major fight, which causes them to part. You then have a few chapters of them reflecting and then talking and making up. Then towards the last quarter of the fic, something comes up again and the characters react in the same way as before. You would think that they would have learned from the previous argument and not jump to conclusions and actually communicate. It feels like we are taking one step forward and 5 steps back. Why was this necessary? Why show your characters acting this way and show that they did not grow as people?

Focusing on so many other characters. I get that ensemble fics are a thing, but you need to say that in the beginning. You cannot just tag Draco and Hermione as the pairing, and then 5 chapters in, half the page is Harry and Ginny dialogue with no mention of the main pair. Let people know these things.

Speaking of other pairs, you need to tell your readers if you are gonna include scenes of Draco or Hermione having sex with other people. You need to tag these side pairings and say that we will read explicit scenes with Ron or Astoria or someone. We came for Draco and Hermione smut, not Ron or Pansy or Astoria or Viktor.

Since we are on the topic of tags. TAG ALL YOUR WARNINGS! So many times authors don't tag Rape/Non-Con!! Tag pregnancy difficulties, tag character deaths, tag the non-Dramione endings, tag violence, tag blood and gore, and tag any and all kink. Just tag things, it doesn't spoil the fic for people. Letting people know about things that may trigger them is not spoiling, it's human decency to let us know what your fic will entail.

Hermione's parents not being in the fic. Now I know Hermione sent her parents away before the war, but so many times you read about her not going back for them, not being able to retrieve their memory, then not wanting to be part of her life because of what she did. I understand it if this is a part of the fic, Hermione essentially grieving the loss of her parents. But what I have noticed is that most times author just have a throwaway line that her parents are not in her life, and it seems like it's not a big deal. Like oh well Hermione's mother is non-existent, but hey she has Molly now! Hermione's parents are not important in the HP canon, and it seems like authors feel the same, which is sad.

Molly being the matriarch of the trio. In canon, she kind of is because the stories are from Harry's perspective and he encounters the Weasleys and ingrains himself with their family, but she is always portrayed this way in fanfiction as well. As I mentioned in the previous comment, Hermione's mother isn't there so authors make Molly the mother figure for her, which is fine but authors make their relationship closer than what canon implies. But Draco also has a mother and most times we see Molly in the story more than Narcissa. I would assume that Narcissa would be the matriarch of that fic rather than Molly in a Dramione.

Harry and Ron being too involved in Hermione's life. Again this is fine, but it does get annoying to see fic after fic of them butting too much into her life and getting angry when she makes her own decisions. Friends should not try to control you, but guide and offer advice and be there if you fail.

Hermione not having friends outside of Harry and the Weasleys. I would assume that as they got older and got into the real world, they would meet new people and make new friends, not only stick to the same people they knew since they were 11. The Wizarding World is small, but we do have so many other characters in canon that you can use, it's okay to have Hermione become best friends with Padma, Luna, or Dean. You can have Draco even becoming bffs with Neville. He too is always stuck with Blaise or Theo and Pansy. Sometimes he doesn't have any friends and the fic only shows Hermione's friends.

If a fic starts off with Draco and Hermione having a relationship with another person, the breakup is always a bad one. People in real life have amicable breakups with their partners, it doesn't always have screaming and yelling and hatred. Most times this is used as a catalyst for the drama in a fic, but I would like to read a fic where Ron stays friends with Hermione and listens to her when she is talking about Draco, him offering advice or teasing her about a crush. It would be nice to see Astoria and Draco doing the same. And I say this as a huge "Ron Weasley Bashing" fan.

Hermione not knowing about fashion and makeup and having to rely on Ginny for help to get read for a date. Nowhere in canon does it claim that Hermione is like this, so how is this a common trope? I think this feeds into the "Hermione is not like other girls trope".

Hermione being the Brightest Witch of Her Age. In canon this is not a real thing, it is not an honorific that was bestowed on her by some sort of higher authority. It was something Harry and Remus said, it was their opinion. So having multiple people in a fic say this as though it is a proper title given to her annoys me honestly. Because when this happens, the fic always tends to have her being the only one who can solve the problem. So many people came before her and weren't able to do this particular thing, but Hermione somehow accomplished it without much help, with just a few books and at the ripe age of 24! These types of fics tend to have their characters fresh out of Hogwarts, so they are young but are able to become Heads of Departments! Can you imagine the 30/40-something-year-old who has been working for over 10/15 years in the ministry thinking it's only a matter of time before they get promoted to senior status, then suddenly this 20-year-old who just finished school walks in and gets the highest position without any experience or further education? I'd riot!

Draco not having a job. Many times fics have Hermione working hard in her career, but Draco is "in the family business" or "does investments". What does this mean???

Hermione being a virgin while Draco is the sex god. This trope feels sexist.

Hermione not doing anything muggle. This is similar to Harry in canon. It feels like Hermione forgot where she came from, and she doesn't care to go into the muggle world, or take Draco there.

Draco being obsessed with Hermione. Sometimes fics make his whole life revolve around her.

Luna being seen as weird. After all she has done and all she has shown to people that she is a smart, brave, very important friend to the trio, we still have scenes where Hermione and her friends make fun of Luna and her creatures. That is just rude.

This is all I can think of at the moment. I know this is a lot, but I kind of stopped reading fics for a while and as I managed Dramioneasks during this time, I would see new fics and just add them to my bookmarks. So I am now catching up on those fics and I feel like I am reading the same stuff over and over. Same tropes, same themes, same personalities, which is not a bad thing but it does give rise to pet peeves and thinking about older fics and how things haven't really changed over the last 15 years or so of my dramione life.

Again this is not from one fic or one author, but multiple fics and authors I have read over the years. Some of the fics I think are 5 stars have these pet peeves in them.

Do you guys agree with these? Do you have more to add? Leave them in the comments or send us a message. I would love to discuss and rant with you!

-Lisa

[lyinginbedmon]

Oh lordy is there bad things going down across the VTuber space right now so I’m gonna try and unpack them for ease of comprehension.

Real quick: A VTuber is essentially just a regular livestreamer but instead of a facecam they have a custom model (usually made of layered images but also often a full 3D object) that tracks their face and such. Big tiddy anime girl representation to say the least but it’s a very creative space.

Next: Silvervale, Silver for short. Silver is one such big tiddy anime (wolf) girl, who is part of a corporate group of VTubers called VShojo. I probably don’t need to describe much more for the purposes of this post.

Hogwarts Legacy is a video game based in the bigotry-entrenched universe of the Harry Potter franchise by notorious face-of-transphobia Joanne K. Rowling. Since its announcement in 2018, trans individuals and groups have quite rightly highlighted numerous ethical and moral problems with the game ranging from the inherent bigotry of the setting, to the involvement of literal far-right YouTubers in its development, to just the basic stuff like its success greenlighting further instalments all while Rowling pockets royalties to (expressly) further fund her anti-trans projects (which includes her writing Literally being read into record to quash things like the Equality Act).

The general advice, which would be true regardless of your actual thoughts on the game or franchise, was to just not play it. That way Rowling makes less money, fewer future games are made, and nobody gets hurt as a result. You end your day $60 better off that you can spend on some other big game that isn’t basically radioactive.

To say the Video Gamers did not take that advice well would be an understatement, but things get really ugly when a streamer who otherwise professes to creating a calm and friendly atmosphere, who makes claims to being an ally, gives in and plays the Wizard Game. I’m not going to say that people haven’t been harassed for playing it, almost certainly someone has, but I just don’t have the data to be certain that it goes much further than just posting “trans rights” in chat.

Enter Silvervale. Despite half a decade of advance warning that she shouldn’t play this game, she played it anyway. Live on camera. The community she’d fostered for years didn’t take this well either, and the stream ended early amid purported harassment from the chat. Silver wasn’t the first VTuber to play the Wizard Game, but she was one of the first English-speaking ones.

Things could have just quietly ended there, but Silver then returned to streaming with more of the game and a statement that she had been “harassed” by “freaks and degenerates” on Twitter. Not her best choice of words, but the damage was done.

Because of the 5-year leadup to the Wizard Game releasing, the right-wing mob had already noticed the controversy around it and had made Huge investments into buying and promoting the game as well as spewing vitriol against anyone who even slightly suggested that doing so was in poor taste. They naturally then flocked to Silver’s defense and, following her unfortunate description of “marginalised people making their discomfort known as they had declared they would Years in advance” using language straight from 1930s Germany, started directly attacking any streamer who voiced their intent not to play the game however detailed their reasoning.

As a brief aside, there’s some confusion over how Silver’s chat moderation is set up, seemingly blocking such phrases as “trans rights are human rights”. Some say it’s an overzealous automod, others that her moderators are actually blocking the phrases, it’s unclear and not hugely worth focusing on here. But I mention it because it’s one of the common points made as people state their side on this issue.

This has essentially made Silver the face of transphobic bigotry in the VTuber community, whether or not she actually considers herself aligned with such bigots. Multiple smaller and independent trans VTubers have completely stopped streaming because of the bile being spewed at them by people with the likes of #IStandWithSilver in their bios. The overlaps between accounts on social media posting in her defense and numerous far-right hate movements is as undeniable as it is unpleasant to catalogue.

And boy that’s just the foundation of this whole sorry affair.

Another VTuber who is part of the same company as Silver, VShojo, is Apricot (more commonly called Froot). Froot not only decided to vocally not play the Wizard Game, but to post a tweet saying that she would personally donate to UK trans children’s charity Mermaids for every like the tweet received. She added that her brother is trans and she supports him immensely.

So the bigots that leapt to Silver’s defense very predictably started calling Froot a paedophile and child groomer, which is more or less what they label every pro-trans individual ever these days. Froot had to lock replies on her charity post and her post about her brother as a result, though the tweets remain up.

Most recently, a third peer in VShojo called Ironmouse came to Silver’s defense specifically in opposition to the alleged harassment she received which, again, anyone could have seen coming in the last 5 years by googling the Steam page for this game.

And honestly, at this point, whatever actually happened to Silver in that first stream is completely irrelevant because she’s become the rallying cry of people who actively want to exterminate the entire trans community from cradle to grave and literally beyond. And so much of it could be resolved or at least get the wind out of its sails if she took 5 minutes to just apologise for and disavow everything that happened in her name after she decided to keep playing the Wizard Game.

But, and I say this with no disrespect to Silver, I’m not holding my breath.

[misscarolineshelby]

Spanked

Part Three: The Proposal

Pairing: Modern Tommy Shelby x Reader

Words: 1,045

Warning: None…This is only the beginning!

Original Blog: @queenshelby (this is just my backup account as I have been having Tumblr issues)

Two weeks later…

Your heart fluttered when you saw his name pop up in the lower right side of your computer screen.

Over the past two weeks, you had learned that you weren’t the only one at the firm whose breathing quickened when they saw a notification from him and rumours had it that, if he sent you an email himself, you would either be fired or there is a serious issue he required you to fix.

In the company, Thomas Shelby was certainly known for his bluntly worded feedback, demanding expectations, and his particular style of putting employees on the spot and, whilst many of the females in his company took a liking in him, they feared him at the same time.

You quickly opened your inbox and clicked on the email. It was short and straight to the point.

‘My office at 4 o’clock. Don’t be late’ it said, giving you no indication on what this was about.

You had never been to his office and asked Lizzie where it was. She confirmed that it was on the top floor of the building and you already dreaded going in there even after you had run into him in the building almost every day for the past two weeks and he had never said anything bad to you.

***

At 3.50pm, you grabbed a pen and your notebook, flipping to a fresh page. You began mentally preparing yourself to speak to him, wishing his email had given you any inclination as to what he might want so you could prepare yourself further.

You found him rather intimidating and stood up and smoothed down your outfit which was a navy-blue dress that fitted you quite well. It clung to your small figure and it was yet another dress you had borrowed from your roommate.

You straightened the tight blazer you wore over it and fiddled with the long necklace that sat on your chest.

Clutching your notebook against your chest, you quickly made your way to the elevator which took you to Tommy’s office.

***

You approached his partially opened office door. Taking a deep breath, you hurried up to it and knocked twice on the door.

‘Come in’ Tommy called out, not bothering to lift his head up to face you.

You stepped in and stood waiting at the table that separated you while he finished typing a sentence in an email. You surveyed the office. It was extremely neat and tidy. It was also perfectly fitted out. In one corner, there was a side board with a record player and expensive bottles of whiskey while, on the other side of the room, there were some large book shelves.

‘I looked at the charitable contributions made by my Michael Grey two days ago. Was that your idea?’ he asked and you nodded nervously.

‘Mr Shelby, I know it is a lot of money but the penalties imposed by the tax department would have been higher and, at least this way, you will be seen to provide essential services to the community’ you explained, justifying your report to Michael Grey who was one of the senior business advisors of Shelby Company Limited.

‘Well, according to my cousin, you saved the business 800,000 pounds’ Tommy then said while looking up at you for the first time and instructing you to take a seat.

You nodded shyly in response to his comment and sat down in one of the large arm chairs in front of his desk. By this point, you were fidgeting your hands and it was obvious to Tommy that you were nervous.

‘Now, I need you to develop a plan to deal with some more money coming in next week. I want all of it invested across our different businesses’ he said.

‘How much are we talking about Mr Shelby?’ you asked.

’27 million pounds’ he responded, causing you to gulp.

’27 million pounds? The forecasts I’ve been given don’t show this kind of money coming into the business as a lump sum during this quarter’ you said somewhat surprised.

‘That’s correct’ Tommy said, looking at you sternly.

‘It’s off the books and you want me to launder the money?’ you asked nervously, assuming that this is what he was referring to.

‘I don’t like to use this word, Love. Let’s just say, I want you to get creative’ he explained and you were surprised that he had just admitted to you that his company was, indeed, involved in some illegal operations.

‘What makes you think that I agree to this? I could just go to the police instead’ you said somewhat surprised and, just as you did, Tommy began to laugh.

‘You have a 70,000-pound debt Love. University degrees are expensive. If you get creative with the company’s accounts, you will be debt free in no time. Your name will not appear on any of the accounts and, if there is formal investigation, your identity will be protected’ Tommy explained and, after you took a moment to think about what he was offering you, you nodded.

‘I want 5 cents on every dollar laundered’ you stammered after having gathered all your confidence.

‘Love, we work in pounds here, eh. It’s 27 million pounds’ Tommy clarified and you nodded again, but this time with a smile.

‘Yes, but I won’t be laundering the money through your UK businesses. It will be done through some brand-new enterprises in the US, which I will set up slowly. Thereby, no connection can be made to Shelby Company Limited’ you explained, causing to Tommy to nod with approval.

‘Alright, 5 cents in the dollar it is Love’ Tommy smirked before asking you to put together a proposal for his consideration and prepare all of the necessary paperwork and forecasts by the end of the week.

You nodded again before standing up and thanking Tommy for his time. Then, you walked towards the door while holding on to your notepad which is when Tommy said something else.

‘Y/N’ he said and you turned around to face him.

‘Yes Mr Shelby?’ you asked nervously.

‘The dress suits you’ he complimented you, causing you to blush.

 Tag List:

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@peaky-cillian  @queenyshelby ​

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[sapphirelass]

Deal? - Remus LupinxDaughter!Reader

Hi! :)

Deal? (Part 1) | Oh, darling... (Part 2) | I’ll be by your side (Part 3) 

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

Please note:

1: I don’t own any of the gifs used, nor any already established characters, so credit to the authors and original creators - You have done a phenomenal job :)

2: English is not my native language, as I was born and raised in Sweden. I have, however, studied English for almost a decade, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I just thought I’d let you know ;)

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

You probably already knew this, but still XD

(Y/N) - Your name

(Y/N/N) - Your nickname

(Y/H/L) - Your hair length

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

I swear, my next story won’t be about Umbridge XD

Word count: ≈ 2300

Warnings: Umbridge, angst, slight swearing

Enjoy!

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

“I do not wish to criticise the ways of the school, however you have been exposed to some rather irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed - not to mention” the toadlike professor threw a dark glance at a sandy haired student and smirked evilly, “extremely dangerous half breeds”.

The student in question raised her hand angrily, and glared at Professor Umbridge. “Yes?” the teacher smiled sweetly, “miss… Lupin, am I correct?”

“Yes, (Y/N)!” she began, “but that’s besides the point. Look, I know what you’re doing, but Professor Lupin was the best DADA teacher we’ve ever had, and I’d be more than happy to bet everything I own on that being quite a common opinion in this classroom!”

Most of her fellow classmates nodded furiously, and the young girl turned her head towards her professor, who immediately cleared her throat and declared: “Well, I’m afraid simply being a beloved teacher doesn’t really matter, dear.  Werewolves are still extremely dangerous creatures. They are beasts that are undeserving of respect and that should not be allowed to be part of our fine wizard community. They are uncontrollable, and highly likely to injure or possibly kill young witches and wizards, including their own children.”

She flashed a cruel, yet pleased, smirk as (Y/N) furiously stood up, despite Hermione desperately trying to force her down.

“You have NO IDEA what you’re talking about!?” she whispered angrily, her nails digging into her palms as her fists clenched. “You have probably never even met one of these so called ‘half breeds’, have you? No, you were most likely just told some bizarre stories containing more lies and made up facts than truths, and decided to put that worthless ‘knowledge’ - if you can even call it that - to use by spreading rumors and destroying the lives of innocent people.”

Umbridge looked frantic, and was about to speak up, but (Y/N) got there first. “I despise people who look down on others. People who claim to be better than everyone else. People like you. You certainly don’t deserve respect!”

She took a deep breath, and was about to continue when Umbridge’s shrill voice forced her to stay quiet. “That’s quite enough! Detention, miss Lupin. The rest of the week, five fifteen, don’t be late”.

***

A few hours later, (Y/N) made her way back to Umbridge’s office. She knew her friends had wanted to talk to her, but she had done her absolute best to avoid them all afternoon. She simply didn’t feel like explaining to them why she had done what she did. She’d gladly do it again though. Her father was the kindest, wisest, most incredible person she had ever met. He had done everything in his power to give her a good childhood, and no one had the right to insult him. She’d defend him to her last breath if that’s what it would come down to.

She knocked on the door carefully, and pushed it open when she heard a shrill, terrifying voice sing a sweet “come in”.

“Oh, miss Lupin, almost late I see!” she said arrogantly. (Y/N) didn’t have time to answer before her teacher continued. “Sit down.”

***

The detentions went on for another four days before Umbridge told her she didn’t have to come back the following evening, but that she better hold her tongue unless she longed for more. (Y/N) tried to keep that in mind, but still lost her cool a few more times before the end of the semester. However, the Christmas holidays were approaching, and though her red, swollen hand caused her to worry slightly, the idea of seeing her dad and godfather caused her enough joy to tip her mood over to “mainly happy”.

She stepped off the train with her friends, and immediately spotted her father on the platform.

“Dad!!” she shouted, and threw her scratched arms around his constantly scarred torso. “Merlin, I’ve missed you so much”. She buried her head in his shoulder, simply enjoying the feeling of love and safety that he somehow instantly gave off.

“Hello, darling!” he said gently, returning the bone-crushing hug. “I missed you too, believe me…”

(Y/N) wanted to stay like that forever, but eventually let go as she intended to at least try to keep her… problems… hidden. She had never really been able to keep secrets from her dad, and therefore didn’t want to do anything he would consider “out of the ordinary”. If she did, he’d figure it out, or persuade her to tell him everything within minutes, and she knew he’d feel guilty if he realized what she had done for him. She understood perfectly well that the scars on her hand were deep enough to be visible for the rest of her life, and that nothing she would say could convince Remus Lupin that it was not his fault. She was left with one option: He could not, under any circumstances, know. Ever.

They carried her trunk together, and walked a few feet behind the rest of the gang.

“So?”, her father inquired, “How are things? You all doing okay?”

“I suppose”, she answered, “Our new DADA teacher is quite a daft prick though.”

“(Y/N/N)!”, he muttered sternly, casually trying to hide a smile, “Are you sure that’s the right word? Sounds rather rough, doesn’t it?”

The witch shrugged. “No, I think it fits rather nicely. It’s almost as if she’s trying her very best to prevent us from learning anything helpful…”

“That’s… well, that doesn’t sound very promising, does it?”

“No, hence the slightly offensive description… But enough about her, how are you? Had any company while I was gone?”

The older wizard smiled, easily noticing the tone of his daughter’s voice switch into a far more joyful, energetic one - One he knew and loved!

“Oh yes, I’ve spent quite a bit of time at headquarters, and Sirius essentially isn’t allowed anywhere else, so we’ve done a lot of catching up. There is, believe it or not, a lot to talk about after 12 years without seeing each other, so it’s been very nice.” He turned to her, smiled even broader and added a quick “But I’ve still missed you.”, before quickening his pace to catch up with the others.

***

Later that night, (Y/N), Remus, Harry and Sirius were sat in the living room of number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry and Sirius were playing catch with an old snitch they had found in the house, lazily throwing it back and forth. (Y/N) lay on a sofa, a thick leather bound book tightly clutched in her hands and her head resting on her fathers lap. He was deeply invested in A Guide to Medieval Sorcery, and father and daughter were simply enjoying a nice, calm evening.

All of a sudden, Sirius grabbed the snitch, sat up straight and reached out towards his godson.

“Harry, what’s that on your hand?”

The dark haired boy pulled the sleeves of his jumper further down and mumbled a quiet “nothing”.

“Sure, let me see then”

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry abo…”

Harry didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, as Sirius had risen from his seat and forcefully grabbed his left hand. The slightly faded “I must not tell lies” was still readable, and Harry winced as the look on his godfather’s face went from composed to furious in a matter of seconds.

“Who?”

“Sirius, I…”

“WHO?!”

By this time, both Remus and (Y/N) had put their books down, and were carefully observing the “argument”.

“It’s our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Umbridge. She’s quite generous when it comes to giving detentions. But mine’s really not that bad now. It barely hurts anymore…”

“That’s totally barbaric!? Moony, we have to…”

“Harry”, Remus interrupted his old friend with a worried look on his face, “What do you mean by ‘quite generous’?”

His heart practically skipped a beat when he felt his daughter shift uncomfortably, however it was Harry who answered.

“‘m quite sure half the Gryffindors have been to her office at least once by now. Even when you’re not really doing anything wrong, she’ll make up a ‘reasonable’ excuse…”

As Harry spoke, (Y/N) had unconsciously been pulling the sleeves of her jumper closer to her fingertips. Remus obviously noticed and made eye contact with Harry, nodding discreetly towards his daughter as if to ask if she too had… well… yeah? Harry closed his eyes, knowing full well how his friend wanted to hide her scars from her dad. It had taken hours of convincing before she had even let him, Ron and Hermione see, and he understood why she didn’t want Lupin to know. He did, however, not like the idea of lying to his former professor, and nodded slightly.

Remus closed his eyes looking simultaneously sad and angered, sat up straight and muttered “(Y/N/N)?”

The young witch took a deep breath and was about to move away from her dad, but he was faster and quickly grabbed her hand. He was very gentle, but she flinched anyways, as her last detention had taken place only a week prior.

“(Y/N/N)”, he repeated, “show me”

“Dad”, she mumbled quietly, “‘tis fine, don’t worry”

“(Y/N)!” His voice sounded far sterner now, “I’m serious. C’mere”

“No, I don’t want…”

“It’s not a question of whether or not you want to, Love”, Sirius explained before his friend could think of a response. “Show your dad.”

“But…”

“(Y/N/N)”, Harry mumbled, “Just… just do it”

“No! I can handle it! Stop making it sound like I’m too weak to do so!”

She felt a tear escape her eye, and stood up to leave the room when Remus waved his wand and locked the door.

Taking yet another deep breath, his daughter turned around, made her way across the room, pulled her left sleeve up and slammed her scarred hand down on the table for the other three to see.

“There! You happy now?!”

A flood of tears were streaming down her face, as her dad, godfather and best friend leant closer and read seven deep-red, awful, heart wrenching words:

***

I must not defend filthy half breeds

***

Remus put his head in his hands and stood up, while Sirius moved closer to his goddaughter and pulled her into a tight hug. Harry joined the embrace and comfortingly rubbed her back.

“why? Why (Y/N/N)?”, her father whispered quietly, his voice barely audible.

“I… I couldn’t…She… sorry…”

The usually calm, collected girl was completely lost for words. Shaking. She had no clue what to say, all she knew was that she had to let her dad know that she was sorry. Sorry for making him feel guilty. Sorry for causing him so much pain. Sorry for not being strong enough.

She walked over to him and noticed heavy, wet tears on his face too. Carefully she wrapped her arms around him, and together they sank down onto the cold floor. They sat there for what felt like hours before Remus finally spoke up, repeating his previous question.

“Why, darling?”

She met his sad gaze and collected her thoughts before quietly whispering “She keeps saying horrible things - pure lies - and she’s enjoying it. She’s throwing insults my way every chance she gets. If I don’t stand up and fight, everyone will think she’s right, and she’s not. Nothing will ever change unless someone works for it, and as soon as that someone backs down, they’ve lost. I’m not having that.”

He looks back at her, his eyes full of pride. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“You mean besides being the most phenomenal dad imaginable?”

He chuckled softly, ruffled her (Y/H/L) hair and held his hand out. (Y/N) slowly placed her hand on her father’s and shifted her gaze towards the floor as he examined the neatly written letters. With a worried expression on his face, he grabbed his wand and moved it back and forth over the scars while quietly muttering a few carefully chosen words. The pain immediately became more endurable, and after putting his wand away the older wizard grabbed his daughter’s shoulders gently, and looked at her in a sad, yet determined way.

“(Y/N/N), as honourable as your intentions are, please don’t do this for me. I’m not going to tell you to back down, but if you’re going to keep it up, don’t let it…” He paused, trying to find the right words. “I can’t stand the thought of you getting injured because of me. I’m not wo…”

“Yes, you are! Stop saying that! I’ll be a bit more selective, if that’s what you want, but don’t you dare tell me not to fight for you. You are my dad, my only family, and there is not a single person on this planet less deserving of disrespect, insults and hate. Dad, you’re amazing, and I’m not letting her fool people into thinking you’re not.”

After a moment of silence, a quiet, “I still don’t like it…”, escaped his lips.

“I know.” She sighed, “That’s why I originally didn’t plan on telling you.”

(Y/N) was fiddling with her fingers, not quite meeting her fathers warm gaze, when she suddenly sat up and said, “Let’s make a deal? I promise to choose my fights more wisely, and in return, you won’t blame yourself for the consequences of said choices? Sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

Her father sighed, but reluctantly answered, “Fine, as long as you promise me one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“You won’t hide scars or pain from me ever again, no matter whether it’s physical or mental, okay? You’ll let me know, and let me help, always!”

She held her right hand out, her dad shook it and they shared a smile. This time, a true, pure one that actually reached their identically green eyes.

“Deal!”

~ L

Part 2 Oh, darling...

Masterlist

[paradisetemporarilymisplaced]

Book recs: Similar to but less sad than TSOA

Hello everyone! @lordeteams requested some book recommendations that are not as sad as The Song of Achilles so here we go. I read a lot of books and since 2019 I've kept a running list of what I've read so honestly I'll take any excuse to subject people to my interests🤗 List is below the cut, not in any particular order (except from the first entry which is my current favorite), and includes NA, YA, and adult fiction. If you're curious about the distinction I'll refer you to this (sadly, now-deleted) tweet from Maggie Stiefvater:

One Last Stop (Casey McQuiston, NA): This one is brand new and instantly became a favorite. F/F romance in which August Landry, newly transplanted to Brooklyn, meets Jane Su on her morning commute. Turns out, Jane is stuck on the train and has been since the 70s, but has no memory of how it happened or of her old life. Part romance, part time-travel mystery, but entirely a love letter to queer communities everywhere. Found family trope abounds with August's roommates and coworkers, which include drag queens, people of every flavor of queer, and a real life psychic, all of whom are ready and willing to help solve the mystery of why Jane is on the train and how to fix it. In the process, August learns things about her own family, as well as events in American queer history that few people remember today. I really cannot express enough how much I love this book. Please read it.

Red, White, and Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston, NA): Odds are, if you've heard of Casey McQuiston, it was because of her first book (this one). M/M romance about Alex, son of the first female US President, and Henry, prince of England. Enemies to friends to lovers, featuring queer self-discovery, coming out, PR/corporate closeting (hello, larries!) and just a delight. This is a very different queer story from OLS - OLS is a romance, but more plot-heavy and the romance isn't the entire focus. In RWRB, the romance is the plot and it reads like fanfiction which is very fun.

The Raven Cycle (series, Maggie Stiefvater, YA): This series is a character-driven, coming-of-age, found family story about a bunch of weird-ass teenagers (affectionate), magic, prophecy, and Welsh kings. This is the rare story in which every single main character plays a critical role in the plot and grows and changes with the story. You will fall in love with all of them and their relationships with one another. Plus, the worldbuilding is incredible and has such an intricate mythology that you'll want to reread just to get the details. Followed by the Dreamer Trilogy, of which two books have been published, but I've only read the first one so far.

All for the Game (series, Nora Sakavic, YA): This is the series that got me back into reading for fun five years ago and as such it holds a special place in my heart. The plot is wacky and convoluted - college athletics, a made-up sport, a kid on the run from his mob boss father - but don't let that discourage you. Hella found family. (Are you seeing a pattern?) I will warn you, this deals with some pretty heavy stuff, including torture, abuse, addiction, sexual violence, and more. Here's a comprehensive list of trigger warnings, with detailed descriptions at the bottom. It's intense, but the friendships and romances make it worth the read imo.

Grishaverse (series, Leigh Bardugo, YA): This is actually three series: the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology (which I haven't yet read). If you've seen Shadow and Bone, the S&B trilogy covers the Alina storyline, while SOC covers Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias. S&B is a chosen one/coming of age story, while SOC is found family committing heists. It's great.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz, YA): Coming of age M/M romance. Set in the 1980s in El Paso, it describes the friends to lovers journey of Ari and Dante over several years, as well as Ari's journey of self-discovery. It is the most beautiful book and one of my comfort reads. There's some themes of homophobia and violence, but with a happy ending.

Carry On (Rainbow Rowell, YA): This is basically Harry Potter fanfiction, but better because (a) it doesn't take itself too seriously and (b) the author is not a violent transphobe. Seriously, this book is so fun. It's a twist on the chosen one trope because Simon, said Chosen One, is just spectacularly bad at what he is supposedly destined to be. Plus you have an enemies to lovers storyline, which is my personal favorite trope. Followed by Wayward Son, which is literally a road trip AU, and Any Way the Wind Blows, which will be released next month.

The Queen's Thief (series, Megan Whalen Turner, YA): Fantasy series centered on Eugenides, who is very proud of being a great thief but also wants to be famous, two goals which are not really compatible. This series is interesting because every novel is told from a different character's point of view in an increasingly zoomed-out lens such that you're seeing how Eugenides' influence grows over time and space. The setting is vaguely based on the ancient Mediterranean region, but with a mythology all its own.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid, adult): This is a frame story in which aged Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo, famously tight-lipped about her personal life, hand selects a young journalist, Monique Grant, to finally tell her story. Evelyn tells Monique all about her life - how she became an actress in the mid-twentieth century, how she got involved (and uninvolved) with all seven of her former husbands, and who was the true love of her life. There are some sad moments for sure, as it's a retrospective on the very long and very full life of an actress at what she knows is the end of hers. But it's such a good story and worth the bittersweet tones.

This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, adult): Sci-fi novel told by Red and Blue's letters to one another across time and space. They are on opposing sides of the Time War and as they perform their respective missions, they leave letters for the other to find. Their letters start out as "I'm coming for you, you better run" but then eventually turn to friendship and then love. Ultimate enemies to lovers. It's a short novel but you'll read it again and again to pick up more details. It's so good.

The House in the Cerulean Sea (TJ Klune, NA): This book feels like a warm hug. Linus Baker is essentially a child protective services worker, overseeing the orphanages housing magical children. He is then assigned to the most remote orphanage in the system, in which six dangerous children reside, to determine whether any or all of these children are capable of bringing about the end of the world. Once more, with feeling: FOUND FAMILY. Also nice because it's a metaphor for queerness that also features canon queer characters.

[ill-be-your-honey-bri]

Save Me

This is what happens when I am left alone with my imagination, watching way too much crime TV. I introduce Detective Harry Styles.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, smut including cuffs and choking.

Trigger Warnings: There are mentions of homicide, abuse, drugs, sexual assault, and sex work all due to the nature of the job.

Please leave a comment, like, and spread around. It makes me so happy to see people enjoying my work after I am able to get my incessant imagination into a fic. 

ENJOY!

Detective Harry Styles had just closed a case on a domestic violence incident that led to a justifiable homicide. Harry couldn’t blame the girl. He had shown up to their house on multiple occasions after neighbors had called on numerous accounts of domestic dispute. He had seen black eyes and busted lips on the poor girl too many times to count; the guy had it coming.

Harry had walked into his favorite pub. It’s open well into the dawn of the morning so if he has a late night, he can still grab a pint at the end of his work day. It was an earlier night for him tonight, so there were a few of the regular patrons and a few new. One particularly piquing his interest.

She was sitting at the bar, laptop propped open with a wine glass set to the side, nearly empty. He was curious as to why someone would want to work in a dingy bar nearing midnight. His feet had a mind of their own, gravitating to this peculiar girl. She threw her head back to finish the liquid in her glass before returning to typing away.

“Odd place to be doing work, don’t you think?” Harry was leaning on the bar, nodding at the tender who was already getting his usual lager. She continued to type, smiling at the screen.

“Would you believe me if I told you it’s more peaceful at the bar than it is at my apartment? That, and I ran out of wine.” She looked up at him owly, “Detective Styles.” She had known who he was because she had followed a few of his cases when she was a newbie at the paper.

Harry thanked the bartender, motioning for him to get the girl another glass of what she was having. “Now, tell me how it happens to be that you know me but I don’t know a beautiful girl like you?”

She ignored the compliment but a blush crept on her cheeks. “I have written about a few of your cases. I’m an investigative reporter for the Tribune. Y/N Y/L/N.” She put her hand out for Harry to shake. He smirked now knowing who she was, having read her articles.

She was creative in her writing yet informative. She wrote as if it were a mystery, giving the information to the reader to have them on their toes. Making the reader have their assumptions and accusations on who they felt the perpetrators were only to blow the reader away with the final sentences of the jaw dropping reveal. Harry was a fan.

“It’s nice to meet you. I read all your work.” Harry took a sip of his pint as Y/L’s wine glass was being topped off. She was sure to save her current work before shutting the laptop to turn towards Harry, crossing her legs and taking a sip of her Chardonnay.

“Is that so? I am a fan of your work as well. You seem to get a good mixture of cases. Helps me keep my job.” She smiled at him before taking another swig and placing her glass on the bar. “Got anything good for me?” She pulled out a notebook and pen looking back up at him with long lashes and expectant eyes.

Harry let out a soft chuckle, letting his head fall forward as he rubs his nose with his knuckle before running his hand in his curly locks. “Nothing I can discuss with you, love. Not before I talk with my captain.”

“No closed cases we can discuss? I know we can’t discuss any open cases but closed cases are public record. What better way to get information on a case than from a reliable source like the lead detective.” She was leaning in closer at this point, resting her head on hand with her elbow now sitting on the bar. She had a devilish smirk growing across her luscious lips.

Harry leaned in closer to her, giving a boyish smile. “And how do you know that love?”

“I have a dual degree in criminal justice and journalism. Need to know the law to write about it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had provided information regarding the case he had closed a few hours prior, where Y/N had agreed that the bastard had it coming. She confirmed that she will only provide the facts in the article and not show her hand on her personal bias against the abuser.

After discussing the case, Harry felt the need to know more about her. He was truly smitten with the writer, only knowing her for a few hours. They finished a few drinks, talking about their personal lives, why they each chose their career. Harry confessed that he feels the need to protect people and bring justice to those who have been hurt and wronged. Y/N telling Harry that she had always loved to write and also felt the need for justice but could never put herself on the front lines.

It was approaching dawn when Y/N remembered she needed to get going home since she had an interview in a few hours. She was in the process of standing when she stumbled slightly, Harry catching her by her elbows.

“Sorry”, she mumbled with a giggle.

“It’s alright, love,” beaming down at her as he helped steady her on her feet, “let me walk you home.”

“Thank you, I only love a few blocks from here.”

She packed up her laptop and Harry offered to carry her messenger bag. They continued to chat along the way to her apartment and he had to confess, the area was a bit noisy and if he remembered correctly, he had been in the area multiple times for cases.

“You live in this area?”

She hummed a “Mhm” with a nod. “All I can afford on my own, really. I know it’s not the best area but it’s not far from the essentials or my office.”

“Darling, I’m around here more often than not for cases. This area is awful!”

She began to smile, “Are you worried about me, H?” Giving him a slow, sleepy blink as they stop in front of her building.

Harry couldn’t lie, he could kiss her right now. She was so soft and sweet looking but he knew that he had just met her tonight and he is a gentleman. And that nickname she gave him made his tummy flutter. “Of course I’m worried about you, living in an unsafe place.”

“I’m a big girl H, can handle myself.” She pulled out the pepper spray from the messenger bag Harry was carrying for her. She also lifted her skirt to show that she had a holster with a knife and the garter holding up her thigh high stockings against her plush skin.

Harry felt dizzy seeing her skin and the knife, slightly concerned that he was turned on by the sight but not enough to deter the shot of electricity going straight to his groin. Harry cleared his throat, giving a nod and handing the messenger bag back to Y/N.

Y/N said her thanks as she readjusted her skirt and took the bag. Walking up the stairs to the front door of the building, she turned to say good night.

“Do you think I would be able to follow you at work sometimes? I would love to see a case from start to finish to write about it.” She was giving him a pleading look with a sweet smile, hoping he would say ‘yes’.

And how could he say no? 

He walked up the few steps to her to hand her his card with the precinct address. “Come to the precinct after your interview tomorrow.”

She had nodded before turning to open the door that made an awful screeching noise, causing dogs in the building to bark and their owners to yell at them. Harry made sure that she was safe inside before turning to make his way home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/N had been following Harry on cases for a few years, winning awards for a plethora of her articles. Harry was proud to say that he was able to help her along the way. He also couldn’t help how his feelings had grown for the woman sitting on his desk, sipping out of his coffee mug and biting into a bagel from the bag that she had brought to the office for everyone.

“Do you think it was a crime of passion or a mugging gone wrong?” She had asked Harry and his partner, Cam, speaking around the bite of bagel she had just taken.

Harry had to blink a few times to focus on the question and not the beauty brushing off the crumbs from her skirt. “Definitely a crime of passion.”

“What makes you say that?” Taking another sip from Harry’s mug, happy that they both drink their coffee black.

“He was facing the perp, bludgeoned in the face. The perp was pissed.” Harry took the bagel from Y/N’s hand to take a bite of his own before handing it back to her as he stood up to refill his mug with coffee.

“Do you think it was a lover? I mean, he was caught literally with his pants around his ankles.”

Cam was going through the bag to pick his breakfast, “Wouldn't you be pissed and beat the hell out of your man if he was screwing someone else in an alley?”

“Would you? At least you have a man to beat, Cam. Can’t beat him if I don’t have him.” She brushed her hands together to rid the crumbs, raising a brow.

Cam was Harry’s partner for as long as Y/N had been doing tag-a-longs with Harry, making Cam her best friend. Cam looked like a young Lenny Kravitz, too bad he had a husband.

Cam laughed, “I would. But I have also screwed my husband in an alley, so I have been on both sides.”

Y/N had laughed at Cam’s confession, making grabby hands at Harry’s coffee, which he had gladly offered. Their captain walked in informing them of a call for a homicide in an abandoned warehouse, Harry and Cam being the lead detectives. Harry and Cam grabbed their jackets as Y/N grabbed her messenger bag and coat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cam read the case briefing on the way to the scene. “Two dead females, mid to late twenties, gunshot wounds to the head.” Y/N noticed that a lot of cases similar to this have been popping up. The city was becoming full of dead girls.

Harry made note of the communalities. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were full of drugs and sexually assaulted too. Similar to that case we had just the other day and the one last week.”

They get to the scene and walk into the warehouse. Y/N made sure to stay behind and keep her distance, not wanting to get in the way or contaminate the scene. She had pulled her camera out of her bag, walking around the warehouse to get some pictures.

After Harry and Cam cleared the scene, Harry went to go find Y/N. He had noticed that she was on her way to the crime scene, causing him to smile and shake his head before making his way over. Harry got to her before she could sneak under the tape.

“What do you think you’re doing, love?” He had his arms crossed across his chest with a furrow to his brow and a scowl to his pout. Y/N nearly jumped out of her skin and clutched her camera to her chest.

“Fuck, H! Don’t do that!” She turned to look at Harry, he looked pissed.

“You know you can’t go on the scene.”

“I’m sorry. I just thought that since they are likely all connected it would be a big piece, that maybe getting the word out with some pictures would get you a lead. I’m so sorry, H. I just think that it could be a big break is all.”

How could he say no to her?

She was thinking she could help with her writing and she wanted to assist Harry in closing the case. His face softened and he rolled his head on his neck, lifting the crime scene tape. “Alright love, you know the rules.”

“No faces, no details.” She flashed him a smile as she ducked beneath the tape, her skirt slit rising up to show off her lace panties and garters. Harry knew that her holster was strapped to her thigh as it has been as long as he has known her. He swallowed the lump in his throat when she stood up and adjusted the skirt to cover herself.

She practically skipped to the scene, adjusting her shutter speed and her lense before taking pictures. Harry was watching, heart swelling when she was smiling at the viewfinder at the perfect picture.

“Come on babe, got some place to stop before heading back.” He nodded his head toward the open door for her to follow. Cam had gone with the coroner to follow-up on the bodies.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had stopped at a burger place, ordering way too much food for just himself. Y/N decided to not ask about it, assuming it was for his coworkers. When they drove into an unknown area, Y/N finally asked, “Where are we going?”

Harry just smiled as the pulled up to an empty lot under a bridge, which was a well known area for sex workers known as “The Cherry Pit”. Y/N was confused as to why Harry would go here with her in the car.

Harry parked and grabbed the bags of food before getting out of the car. Y/N stayed in the car, watching the scene unfold.

The girls had all come to see Harry as he was passing the bags out, coming back to the car to get the case of water out of the trunk. He took it back over to the girls, handing out the bottles. Y/N watched as he stood there talking to the girls, a few giving him a hug before he walked back to the car.

Y/N was watching his every move, looking more confused as he didn’t discuss what had just happened, rather reaching for a bag of food for Y/N and himself, him digging right in.

“Care to explain why you are feeding a bunch of hookers?”

“Sex workers.” He swallowed the bite of burger in his mouth, “They prefer sex workers, love. I had noticed one of the girls at the crime scene today was part of this crew so I figured that I would stop and chat. They don’t give information for nothing.” Harry smirked at that and Y/N felt a ping of jealousy course through her on what else Harry has done with them to get information.

Harry noticed that Y/N hadn’t touched her food, looking up at her and noticed the pull to her face. “You alright, baby?”

Both were frozen. In the years that they had known each other, Harry had never called her ‘baby’. Love, darling, babe, but never ‘baby’.

Harry brushed it off by clearing his throat and telling her to “eat up”. He crinkled the burger wrapper and threw it into the bag before turning the ignition, driving her home. Harry made sure to walk her up to her door, like he does every night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was past 2am when Y/N looked at her clock, waking up to knocking at her door. She grumbled as she stumbled to the door. Clad only in an oversized college t-shirt and bare legs, she opened the door to see Harry standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame.

He was a little scruffy on the chin, button up opened, exposing his white tank top that was tucked in his trousers. He looked up at her with his hair falling into his eyes and giving a soft smile. His eyes held his signature tequila glaze.

“Hi love, you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay, H. It’s past two in the morning and I was sleeping.” She rubbed her face with her hands to wake herself up.

“Just gotta make sure you’re safe, baby.” He said it again, but she will blame the alcohol this time. Harry blinked his eyes slowly before opening them to scan her body.

She opened the door, allowing Harry to trudge his heavy limbs into her apartment. This was a regular thing as of late; Harry gets off of work, goes to the pub, shows up at her’s. Harry makes his way to the couch, plopping down before kicking off his boots and placing his gun, cuffs, and badge on the table, slipping off his button up. Y/N was in the kitchen getting Harry water and something to eat.

Y/N walked out with a plate in one hand and water in the other. She thrusted the cup at Harry telling him to drink and placed the plate with the grilled cheese on the arm of the couch. She curled up on the other end, putting a blanket over her lap.

Harry drank his water and ate his sandwich while Y/N was attempting to keep her eyes open. She wanted to make sure he had something in his stomach before she crawled back into bed.

Harry placed his plate and cup on the table, which Y/N promptly got up to put in the sink, getting Harry another glass of water and Tylenol. She handed them to Harry before pulling out a spare pillow and blanket for him to sleep on the couch. Harry stood up to pull off his trousers, attempting to not fall over, while Y/N made up the couch for him.

Y/N tucked him in once he laid down, turning off the light and kissing his forehead before walking back to her room, keeping the door open if he needed anything. Harry laid there, staring at the ceiling, listening to make sure that Y/N was safe and asleep before he dozed off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had gotten off of work early so him and Cam went to the pub, both clad in their off duty clothes. Cam was in a black t-shirt and dark wash jeans while Harry was wearing light washed jeans, a Hawaiian patterned button up with a black zip-up jacket over top. They walked straight up to the bar, leaning on it while waiting for their drinks.

Harry was scanning the pub after him and Cam had a laugh about a terrible joke he had just told. Harry’s eyes land on her, across the bar with a group of friends. Y/N was standing by the table, clad in a black dress that fit her way too perfectly and a pair of heels that made her legs go on for days. He couldn’t help but stare.

Cam looked over his shoulder seeing what had caught Harry’s attention. “Shall I grab you a rag for that chin of your’s Styles?”

“Oh, fuck off!”

Cam let out a laugh and noticed that Y/N had made her way over. “Good evening boys! Nice to see you when there isn’t a dead body present. What are we having?”

She was drunk. Harry could see it in her eyes, he knows that look all too well since he has that look more often than not as of late. It looked good on her, it gave her a glow.

“Whatever you want sweetheart.” Harry knows that voice, he hears it frequently. The three of them turn to see the intruder in their bubble.

Jeremy Williams, Action News Reporter, stood there giving an overly bleached smile. “Can I get you a drink sweetheart?”

Y/N looked like a fish out of water with her mouth gaping. Jeremy was well known by all reporters so the fact that he was offering to get her a drink was a big deal. She had nodded to give him permission to order her a spirit.

Harry didn’t like this guy in the first place and now that he is talking to Y/N, he really doesn’t like him. He is making her laugh and she is leaning into him. He hates this guy. She is touching his arm before she reaches for her drink. He loathes this guy.

“If looks could kill, Styles.” Cam muttered into his glass before taking a swig. Harry looked at Cam before downing the rest of his drink, quickly ordering another one while he watches on. He noticed that Jeremy is getting closer as Y/N is trying to move away. Jeremy’s hand was on her waist and she had pushed it away, multiple times.

Harry couldn’t help but make his way over to them. When he got there, Y/N was making an effort to push Jeremy away. Harry gripped the back of his shirt to pull him away from Y/N, twisting his arm behind his back, slamming his face to the bar.

“The lady clearly doesn’t want you touching her. If you lay another hand on her, I will break it. Got it?”

“Alright! Alright! I got it!” Getting out of Harry’s grip before walking out of the pub.

“You alright, baby?” Checking over her to make sure there was no blemish on her perfect skin.

“H, I’m fine I was handling it.” She was stumbling, clearly intoxicated. Harry had a grip on her waist and she leaned in closer to him, hands resting on his chest.

“You’re drunk, love.”

“So are you.” She looked up at him while flicking his chin with her pointer finger. “Get me a drink, H.”

How could he say no?

A few drinks later, they are utterly plastered. Harry walked her home from the pub, arm wrapped around her for both of their stability.

Harry walked her to her door where she fumbled with her key, it dropping multiple times. She had bent over to pick up the keys, unintentionally pushing her plump bum into his groin. She popped up when she heard a groan fall from Harry’s lips. She turned around showing her keys with a drunken triumphant smile.

She fell against the door and Harry quickly wrapped his hands on her hips to prevent her from falling but it was too late since she had hit her head on the door. She let out a giggle followed by an “ow” and a pout grew across her face.

Harry put his hand on the back of her head to rub where she had hit. As he looked down at her then leaned down to place a kiss on her lips.

Her lips molded with his, her hands on his chest, tugging at his jacket. Harry pressed his body to her’s and he began to kiss down her cheek, jaw, and neck. She was gasping for air.

“H… H, we need to stop.”

“No, baby. Please? Just… please?” He continued to kiss along her neck as she was tugging at his hair, making him let out a groan.

“Harry, not like this. We’re drunk. I don’t want us like this.” She pushed him away, kissing him gently before she unlocked her door. “Good night, H.” Closing the door behind her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry walked into his apartment, slamming the door before walking to his refrigerator to grab a beer. He popped it open, taking a swig before walking to his living room. He clicked on the TV as he set the beer on the coffee table. He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his jacket and Hawaiian shirt, leaving him in his jeans and white tank top.

Action News started to play, Jeremy’s face showing on his screen. Harry grumbled “prick” before taking another drink of his beer. Harry got increasingly annoyed, frustrated, and drunk as he continued to watch the news.

Harry turned off the TV with a huff, finishing his beer. He gave an agonizing, pitiful groan out of frustration. He could only think of one way that he could get the tension out of his body.

He grabbed his laptop to pull up Pornhub, looking at the thumbnails with none piquing his interests. He let the cursor hover a few of the videos to get a preview. He finally stumbled upon a video that looked like it would do the job.

Harry hit the play button, making the video full screen. While the ad began to play, he undid his belt and pushed his jeans and briefs down his thighs. He had pumped some of his hand lotion that he keeps on the side table into his right palm while his left hand pushed up his tank top.

The video began as Harry warmed up the lotion in his palm and between his fingers. The girl in the video had been bent over with the POV actor playing with her ass, giving a few spanks and gropes. When she looked over her shoulder all he could see was Y/N.

His mind began to wander as he began to stroke himself, thinking of Y/N bent over while he gave her a good spanking. The next scene was a shot of him entering the girl from behind, stretching her to the brink. Harry wanted to spread Y/N open, making her moan out like the girl in the video. He knew that the actress was being over dramatic, knowing that Y/N’s sounds would make him crumble.

Harry’s toes curled into his throw rug now that all he can see is Y/N in the video. She is now on her back with her tits bouncing while he rams into her. He thinks of her mewls as his fist begins to pump faster.

When Harry opens his eyes from his little fantasy, the girl on the screen is riding the man with his hand around her throat. Harry’s hand around Y/N’s throat would be the most beautiful sight he would ever see. Her eyes rolling to the back of her head, moaning out his name, pulsing around his cock.

It was all too much for Harry. His hand stroking furiously as he imagined the face she would make as she was cumming around his cock, the pulsing, the moans. Harry had been moaning the whole time he had been stroking himself but now he was shameless. His back was arching and his head thrown back as he let out a loud moan, cumming all over his stomach, painting his laurels, butterfly, and the trail of pubic hair.

He was panting and sweating and the video wasn’t even done yet. Harry had never felt so light headed from masturbating, muttering a “holy shit”, all because he was thinking of her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/N had already been at the precinct when Harry walked in. She was sitting on his desk, sipping from his mug, as if nothing had happened the night prior. She smiled up at him with a “Morning, H”, like any other day. Maybe she was so drunk she forgot about their kiss, now thankful that they didn’t take it further if that was the case.

“Morning, love.”

He took the mug from her hand and took his first sip looking at her while doing so, smiling when he handed it back. Maybe he forgot about last night. Either that or he was really good at covering up because she feels that she is being obvious, looking at his lips and tensing up when their hands touch when passing the mug.

They had gone over the cases that seem to have connections with these girls. There are a few leads but nothing strong enough for a conviction.

“There is Julian Michaels, a 34 year old white male. Works in the stock market, no wife, no children, likes his girls young. Word on the street is he keeps the books.” Harry had taped his picture to the board as Y/N was writing this all down.

Cam grabbed another picture and posted it on the board next to Julian’s. “This is Marcus Stevens. Young one, 23 years old, Black kid. Has been seen around The Cherry Pit and multiple clubs. We think that he is the recruiter for these girls.”

“And last but not least, Eddy O’Reilly, 32 year old Irish American. The kingpin, the leader of all this mess. Multiple statements have been made placing O’Reilly in the area of the murders on multiple occasions. History of muling drugs across the border, history of incarcerations for possession and distribution, prostitution, and sexual assault. If we get this bastard, we finish this.” Harry was staring at his mug shot that was now posted in the center of the board.

The captain walked in with their case for the day. Another dead girl was found by the river, same MO as the other girls that have been popping up on their radar. Harry knew this girl from The Cherry Pit, being one of the younger girls.

Harry was squating by her body, ran his hand over his face before resting his hand on his mouth. He stood up and walked to Y/N, who was looking up at him expectantly. She could sense something was wrong.

Harry huffed out a puff of air before resting his hands on his hips. “I knew this one.”

Her eyes went wide, reaching up to hold his jaw in her hands, “Oh my god, H. Are you okay?”

He looked down at her before wrapping his arms around her in a hug, “She was just 18. Little sister of Kerry’s at The Pit.”

Y/N was rubbing her hands on Harry’s back looking over his shoulder to look at the girl, she had remembered her.

There have been too many girls being found around the city. All with a gunshot to the head, drugs in their system, and a recent sexual assault. Y/N had lost the body count but she thinks that it is way past the teens. Something needed to be done.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/N went through the drive thru Harry frequents on his way to The Cherry Pit. As she had approached The Pit, she parked away from where the girls were. She was in jeans with a vneck t-shirt and her leather jacket, making sure that her knife was in her boot before exiting the car.

Y/N slowly made her way to the group of girls standing together, most dispersing. Kerry lingering a little before starting to walk away.

“Hey, um , Kerry? Can I chat with you? I brought you a veggie burger.” She held the bag up as a truce. Kerry made her way back to Y/N and reached for the bag.

“I first want to apologize about your sister. It must be hard on you.”

“Yeah. She got into some dumb shit so honestly I’m not surprised but I should have protected her more. She was so young, should have never brought her here but we need the money.”

“No one is blaming you Kerry, shit happens. I’m just sorry it happened to you. I want to help.”

“What is a pretty little reporter like you going to do?”

“My job. I’m going to get the information and figure out who is killing all these girls. That’s why I came here. I was hoping either you or some of the girls would have some information.”

“Harry had already stopped here and talked to us. Not sure what else we could give you.”

“You said your sister got into something that you’re not into. What was it that she was doing?”

Kerry had taken a few fries into her mouth, “She got hired for parties. Some dealers would get together to push product and hire girls to help. The girls always had to fuck these guys but Gena said that it was good money. After seeing her all bruised up and high off her ass all the time, I told her to stop and stay here with me but she said the money was too good. Now look what happened.” Kerry began to get tearful, picking at her burger.

Y/N was rubbing Kerry’s back, letting her cry and grieve the loss of her sister. Y/N got an idea while she was comforting her.

“Do you know how I could get into one of those parties?”

Kerry looked up with a hint of fear as well as the tears still in her eyes and gave Y/N a nod.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/N was in a tight number, showing more skin than she ever had. Her hair and makeup was done up and she made sure her holster was secure before putting on her agonizingly high heels. After getting ready, Y/N went to the address on the slip on paper Kerry had given to her.

She knocked on the door, giving the password to the man guarding before she was escorted to a room. The room was full of girls, no more than 25 years old. Most of them looked younger than 18. A few huddled together, Y/N gave them all a once over. Most, if not all, had marks and bruises and looked like they were crashing from a high. Y/N took a seat off to the side alone, trying to take in as much as possible.

Two men walked in to tell the girls to get up. They all stood in a row while these men blind folded them. Y/N’s hand was hovering over her thigh but she wanted to get more information before she made any rash decisions.

Two hands gripped her shoulders to guide her as she felt his breath on her neck, one of the men muttering “fresh meat”. Another man laughed before saying, “O’Reilly and Michaels will like this one.” A shiver went through her thinking that she might be put in front of the two men Harry and Cam had been hunting down.

She heard one of the girls scream before hearing a slap and a thud, causing Y/N to jump. “You do as I tell you bitch, got it? Or you’ll have it worse.” She could hear the girl fumble to get up and then they were all pushed outside, shoved into what seemed like a van.

The van had stopped and the girls were filed out. She knew when she was inside the building because of the heat and the music. The blind folds were taken off and all the girls were handed shots of a clear liquid. Y/N had hesitated until one of the men gave her a look and started walking towards her. She downed the shot which she now knew was a cheap tequila.

The girls dispersed, walking all in different directions. Some went straight to men, others to the stash of drugs on the table. Y/N decided to walk further into the house. As she was walking, she felt her hands and feet start to go numb, her vision became slightly blurry but she was able to shake off for the moment.

She was stopped with a grip to her wrist and when she had turned, there was Julian holding on to her. “Well, look at you. You must be new.”

Y/N couldn’t find her words. Her tongue felt heavy and her vision was getting more blurred. She nodded at him before leaning against the wall for support. Julian surrounded her with himself. “You alright, babe? Look like you need to lay down.” Julian’s hands were running down her sides before gripping her hips and around to her bum. She gave a weak attempt at a push considering she’s not sure how her arms work at this point.

“Bathroom. Need a bathroom.” She stumbled out of Julian’s grip, somehow finding the bathroom but not before she saw O’Reilly in a room surrounded by men. She stood for a moment, trying to clear her vision to confirm it was him. He looked up at her with a sinister smile and she knew that was the guy.

Y/N quickly stumbled into the bathroom, immediately tumbling to the floor. She made sure to lock the door before reaching for her phone in her bra.

“Hi love, you alright?”

An incoherent call of Harry’s name had him in a panic. “Baby, where are you? Are you okay?”

A mumble of “They're here, Michaels and O’Reilly. I saw them.”

“Fuck baby! What did you do?! Where are you?! I’m on my way with the squad but you need to tell me where you are okay? Baby, please!”

She was silent as Harry grabbed his jacket and told everyone at the precinct they need to go, get squad cars, and to follow him. Harry was frantic.

“Baby come on, please?! Where are you?! Drop me a pin, talk to me! Fuck! Just tell me you are okay!”

Still nothing. Then a notification popped up saying that Y/N had dropped a pin of her location. He let out a sigh of relief,  “Thank you baby. Please, stay on the line with me okay? We are on our way.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The police barged into the house, knocking down the front door, causing everyone to scatter. The police collected who they could. Cam grabbed Julian while their captain got O’Reilly, Harry was frantically looking around for Y/N.

He couldn’t find her, causing him to pull at his hair and grabbing anyone he could at the party, demanding them to tell him where she was. He noticed the bathroom door was shut so he went to open it, seeing it was locked. He knew she was in there.

Harry stepped back to get some leverage before putting all his strength into kicking down the door. He saw Y/N laying on the floor passed out with her phone in hand. Her hair was covering her face and the skirt of her dress had ridden up.

He quickly collected her into his arms to sit her on his lap in front of the toilet, quickly shoving his middle and forefinger down her throat. She automatically started retching, the contents of her stomach spilling into the toilet as Harry held her hair and rubbed her back.

“Let it all out baby. That’s it. You’ll feel better soon.”

The captain came in with a bottle of water and a cold wet cloth that Harry promptly put on the back of Y/N’s neck. Opening the bottle for her to have a few sips. Harry pushed her hair out of her face, reminding her to take it slow.

She had tears in her eyes, her makeup was smudged and running. She let out a croak before Harry shook his head. “I’m taking you home and you’re going to stay with me tonight. Need to keep an eye on you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had his jacket around Y/N’s shoulders as they were getting out of his car. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder while guiding her up the stairs. Y/N still not feeling completely clear followed Harry into his apartment. She stood in the entryway, tears threatening to fall, while she watched Harry walk in and turn on the lights.

His place was modern with nothing showing personality. Harry always showed up to her place in the middle of the night, so she had never been to Harry’s. Now she sees why he always comes to her; his place was cold and lonely.

Harry walked back to her with a glass of water and a hand out to help guide her to his bedroom. He sat her down on the bed and got out one of his police department crew neck sweatshirts and a pair of boxers. He went into the ensuite to turn on the shower and lay out some towels, all doing so without saying a word.

Y/N knew he was pissed. What she had done was reckless and she put herself and everyone else at that party at risk if she were to be found out. She knows that he is probably more pissed that she didn’t tell him or run it by him before she jumped the gun so that he could make sure to be there so that she is safe. She watched him as the tears finally fell down her cheeks. He was avoiding looking at her. That was the worst part of her night, and she was drugged and groped at.

Harry nodded his head to the shower while he leaned against his dresser, arms and legs crossed while he looked at the floor. Y/N got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door before she stripped down her clothes and her walls. She started to sob as the water ran over her body, attempting to wash away that icky feeling she was having. She took her time, trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation that she will be having the moment she walks out of the bathroom. She dried off before she put on the clothes Harry had left her, noticing that there was a toothbrush for her. Gladly brushing her teeth before tying her wet hair up into a bun at the crown of her head.

She walked out and there was a plate of food and more water waiting for her on Harry's bedside table. Harry walked back into the room with his sweatpants on and a plain white t-shirt. He looked exhausted with a furrow still in his brow.

“What were you thinking?” He was soft in his delivery and a flood of worry took over Harry’s face. “You could have been killed. Do you understand that? If they would have found out who you were…” He was pulling at his hair and letting out a huff. “Fuck baby, I would be a mess. I wouldn’t know what I would have done if… I wasn’t there to protect you.”

Y/N had been curled up at the head of Harry's bed, tears freely flowing as her actions and the events of the night had hit her, how she had made Harry feel. “H… I am so sorry! I wasn’t thinking… I just wanted to help!” She let the sobs wreck through her body as Harry was making his way to her. He grabbed her face and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She let herself curl into him, climbing on his lap and letting him hold her. He rocked her gently as they were both crying.

Harry was kissing at her temple as he whispered, “We got them, thanks to you.” She had let out a sigh of relief, glad that this would all be over.

“I didn’t see Marcus there…”

“He came to the precinct willingly and made a deal with the DA.” He continued to kiss her head and rub her sides while continuously rocking her.

“There were so many girls there. Most were under 18, H. They are just kids.” She let another sob past her lips as she grabbed at his shirt.

“They are safe now baby, home where they belong. Just like you, because of you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/N woke up when the light filtered through Harry’s blinds. She was laying on his chest, his arm wrapped protectively around her. She looked up at Harry, whose scruff is growing a little more and his curls flattening to his head from his night’s rest. She pushed back what hair had been on his forehead, Harry leaning into the touch. She smiled before she nuzzled back to his chest, feeling Harry’s lips on her forehead.

“Did you sleep alright?” She let out a hum while nodding on his chest. She felt a flood of emotions start to resurface and she gripped Harry tighter to her. Harry noticed and quickly reached his hand to caress her face, pulling her closer to him. “It’s okay baby, I’m here.”

She took a deep breath to try and ground herself, focusing on Harry's breathing, relaxing back into him. He held her tight, making her feel safe. That’s all Harry wanted, to make her feel safe.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had been checking up on Y/N every night since the night she stayed with him. It had been over two weeks and Y/N had to admit that her feelings for Harry had become stronger. She looked forward to Harry stopping by her place every night and was hoping that he would make a move on her because the tension was getting unbearable.

Harry had stopped by tonight with Chinese in hand and a bottle of wine. She had a movie queued up on the TV awaiting his arrival. He was still in his suit from work, all grey with only a white tank top under his suit jacket. His hair flopped over to the side and his stubble ever present.

She had been in her sleep shorts and tank top under Harry’s police sweatshirt that he had let her wear a few weeks prior. Harry let himself in and made his way to the kitchen to plate up their Chinese.

After eating their food, Harry had pulled Y/N to cuddle into his side while they finished the movie. They were sharing a glass of wine, similar to how they share Harry’s mug every morning. Harry pulled her legs across his lap, gently rubbing up and down her calves and thighs.

His fingers felt nice on her skin; warm, palms were soft while the tips had a grit to them. She cuddled closer, pulling his arm tighter around her. She nosed his cheek before giving it a sweet kiss. She kissed again before kissing his jaw then kissing his sweet spot just below his ear. His hand tensed on her thigh and she gave it another peck.

“Thank you, H. For checking up on me, for protecting me, for saving me.” She looked up at him, holding his jaw before leaning in to give him a kiss. He pulled her closer and she deepened the kiss, his hand trailing to her bum to pull her as close as he could in the position they were in.

Y/N quickly got uncomfortable, moving to straddle his lap to get in a more comfortable position where they could kiss and be close. She put her hands into his hair, pulling him into a deep, searing kiss.

Harry had begun to run his hands up her body, under the sweatshirt and tank top. He kept one hand on her lower back to keep her close while his other hand trailed up and down her spine before rubbing up and down her thigh. She started to kiss along his jaw again, making her way to his weakness.

She gave a lick below his ear before pulling the skin between her lips. Harry let out a moan as his hips thrusted up to meet hers. She gladly met his with a roll of her own.

“Baby…” Harry was panting as her lips began to trail down his throat. She was untucking his tank top, pulling it over his head. She let her eyes and hands trail his body while her hips continued to roll against him. She pulled off the sweatshirt, leaving her in her thin tank top and sleep shorts.

Harry let his hands caress her chest, rubbing her nipples until they peaked. He pulled a nipple into his mouth through her top, causing her to throw her head back. Her nails were digging into his shoulder as Harry sunk his teeth into the plush of her chest.

“H, fuck… I need you. God… please, just... touch me, fuck me. Do anything...please.”

Harry looked up at her with lustful eyes and his hands continued to roam her dips and valleys. He gripped behind her knees to wrap them around his waist before he stood up. He continued to kiss along her skin. Gripping her ass as he walked her to the bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed, kissing all of her exposed skin before he stood up to take off his trousers. As he was about to crawl over to her, she pushed him to sit against the headboard. She straddled his lap again, pulling her own shirt off, exposing her chest fully to Harry. She took Harry’s hands and put them on her chest, placing her hands over his to make him squeeze. Y/N let her head roll back and let her hips take control.

“Baby, you keep doing that, I’m not going to last.” He was watching her every move, his breath heavy and fast as she did a final roll of her hips before she stood up to take off her shorts. She climbed back on top of him, grabbing his shoulder for stability. She had gripped his length, causing Harry to roll his head back and let out a moan. She rolled her wet folds over his scorching length, both moaning out at how wet she was and how easily he slid against her.

Harry gripped her hips causing her to stop. “Baby, I’m serious, I’m gonna cum.” He was whimpering and gave Y/N a pleading look.

She lined up the head of his cock to her entrance before she fully sank down, taking all of him in one thrust. Harry let out a roaring moan, causing Y/N to grip the headboard with one hand and scratching his shoulder with the other.

Y/N was shameless in her movements, truly fucking Harry into oblivion, causing the bed to rattle and squeak with her rapid movements up and down his cock. He wasn’t lying when he said he wouldn’t last long, especially with the noises they were making, both loud with their moans.

“Fuck, Harry. Shit!” He could feel her pulsing around him, knowing she was close. Harry was trying his hardest to hold on for her but it was getting harder for him, especially when she leaned back, resting her hands on Harry’s knees, exposing her front fully to Harry. Harry pulled her nipple into his mouth as he lifted his knees to pull her closer.

Harry had let go first, cumming inside of her, letting her use him to get herself off. She wasn’t far behind Harry after she felt him pulsing against her inner walls. Harry had pulled her close, kissing any skin his lips could touch before resting his chin in her collar.

“I’m sorry, baby.” Y/N had let out a giggle and pushed his hair back, causing him to softly close his eyes with his head tipped back before looking back up to her.

“No need to be sorry, H. We have both waited way too long for that. I’m honestly surprised I lasted as long as I did.”

Harry continued to kiss her skin, quickly sweeping her up, causing her to squeal out as he walked them into her bathroom to join in the shower, both giggling and kissing along the way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry and Y/N had been walking into the precinct together for the last few days, also leaving together every day. Harry had been staying with Y/N every night since they had slept together.

Harry had his fingers laced between Y/N’s, giving her a peck before moving to fill his mug for them. Cam leaned forward on his desk watching Y/N smile as she watched Harry.

“Well aren’t you two just the cutest!” Y/N looked over her shoulder giving Cam a wink. Cam was beaming as Harry walked over, handing the mug to his girl before giving her a kiss. Cam felt like he could squeal with giddiness, shipping them since day one.

Harry sat in his chair at his desk, pulling Y/N closer to him by the back of the knee, taking her heel off to massage her stocking covered foot. He kissed her knee, causing her to giggle before taking a sip of coffee. Y/N saw the case files on Harry’s desk that had been placed there that morning by the captain. She grabbed the files, reading them aloud for Harry and Cam.

After reading the cases, they were on their way for a day's work. Y/N had to leave early to conduct an interview with a survivor of a mass shooting. She had kissed Harry goodbye, promising to make him dinner when he got home that night. Harry smiled into the kiss, pursing his lips again to smear a soft kiss back on to hers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She had stopped by the local store to grab the ingredients for chicken carbonara and a bottle of wine, she even grabbed a bouquet of flowers to place in the center of the table. Y/N put a Spotify playlist on her TV as background while puttering around her apartment and cooking dinner. Harry had walked in when she was finishing up plating the dinner.

Harry had quickly taken over, setting up the table and pouring their glasses of wine, pulling out the chair for Y/N. He had pulled her foot up to rest on his lap while they ate their dinner. Harry had talked about his cases that he had handled that day while Y/N discussed her interview.

They worked together to clean up after dinner, refilling their glasses of wine before cuddling on the couch to watch some reruns.

Harry began to give her soft kisses before he laid her down on her back. She began to run her hands through his hair, humming when Harry began to kiss down her neck.

“Move in with me.”

Harry froze his movements, kissing her cheek and looked her in the eyes. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course I mean it. You’re here more often than not and I need you to protect me.” She continued to play with his hair, causing him to melt into her palm and softly close his eyes. Y/N had kissed the tip of his nose before giving him a soft kiss to his lips. “What do you say, handsome?”

How could he say no?

“Of course baby, I would love to.” He began to kiss her again, making her giggle as he pressed quick, continuous kisses to her lips. Harry had quickly sat up, throwing his girl over his shoulder to carry her to her, no, their bed. He threw her on their bed, causing her to laugh out when she landed, making a smile grow across Harry's face.

Harry crawled between her legs and continued to assault her with kisses all over. He started to push up her skirt, exposing her garters and holster. Harry had undone the holster, kissing the now exposed skin where it was resting as he placed it on the nightstand. Harry then unclasped the garters that were holding up her stockings, rolling them slowly down each of her legs, continuing to leave marks from his wet lips in their wake.

Y/N began to undo her own top as she watched Harry undo his. She had shimmied to the top of the bed as she was taking off her skirt. Harry had taken his badge, gun, and cuffs off of his belt, setting them on the side table before taking his own pants off.

She laid down for him as he straddled her hips. Her hands were tracing his pecs and sides, moving to his back to trail down his spine before digging her fingers into the dimples of his lower back.

Harry watched her as she was admiring him, looking down and admiring her as well. He started to kiss her collars and chest, gripping her thighs in his palms. Y/N turned her head to allow him more access. She opened her eyes and saw the side table.

“Harry…”

“Mmm, what baby?” He continued to kiss her chest, unclasping her bra.

“I want you to use the cuffs.” Harry looked up at her, wide eyed and mouth gaping, his lips slick and plump. He looked over to the side table to see where the cuffs were glistening in the moonlight.

“You want me to cuff you baby?” She was looking down at him, biting her lip with a nod.

“Please?” She was already lifting her hands above her head for him.

How could he say no?

He sat up on his knees as he reached for the cuffs, warming them in his hands. He took her right wrist into his palm, kissing the inner flesh before placing the cuff around the delicate skin. “Tell me if it’s too tight or uncomfortable, okay baby?”

“I will H, no worries.” She smiled up at him as he leaned over to thread the cuffs through the headboard before kissing and placing her left wrist in the cuff. Y/N gave a tug for good measure.

Harry kissed down her arm before he planted a kiss on her lips. She pulled his lower lip between her teeth, causing him to hiss before she let go, placing a kiss on it. Harry continued to kiss his way down her body, watching her squirm with how gentle he is being.

He started to kiss her mound through her lacy panties, letting his tongue dampen the fabric. He continued his motions lower until he was laying on his belly with his face focused on her center. He gave gentle kisses to her thighs before he let his lips and tongue explore her core through her panties.

Harry heard the chain of the cuffs rattle as his girl began to whimper. He continued to take his time with her through her panties. She moaned when she felt his fingers graze her center, pulling her panties to the side for Harry to gain full access.

Once she was fully exposed to him, he was insatiable. He was moaning into her, gripping her hips to bury himself deeper. She could hear him lapping and sucking on her, the feeling of his admiration making her light headed and dizzy. He made sure to kiss, lick, and suck on every inch of her, leaving her dripping for him just so that he could lap up her slickness.

Y/N was pulling hard on the cuffs and her moans increased in volume. She was so close to tipping over the edge that it was almost too much to handle. Almost.

Harry pulled her clit into his mouth one final time, being sure to flick the tip of his tongue against it.

“Fuck! Harry! Oh, God!” She was crying from the overwhelming orgasm that had wrecked through her. Her thighs clamping around Harry’s head and her nails biting into her palms.

Harry had to use his strength to get his head out of the vice grip, giggling when he looked up at his girl who was completely fucked out. Y/N moaned when she saw Harry sitting up on his knees with his face completely slick with her.

“Well fuck, Harry.” She was still panting, baby hairs sticking to her face, chest and cheeks flushed.

Harry began to spread her legs open again, looking at the work of art he had helped create. Lips slick, mound bruised with love bites, her whole center swollen and flushed with arousal. He used his thumb to trace up her slit, collecting her slickness before gently rolling her clit. He knew she was sensitive, giving him a hiss when he reached her overly sensitive nub. It was obvious that she liked it because her legs spread wider for him.

He leaned forward to hover over her, bringing his now slick thumb to brush across her lips. She gladly opened her mouth and took his thumb between her lips to suck off her juices. Humming around his thumb, she looked up at him with blissful eyes.

Harry pulled his thumb out of her mouth, smearing it against her lower lip before latching his lips to hers. He rolled his hips into hers as he continued massaging her tongue with his. He reached his hands up to the cuffs and massaged her wrists with his thumbs.

“You alright baby? Want them off?”

“I’m okay, keep them on.” She thrusted her hips up into him, “I like it.”

His hands roamed down her arms from her wrists, grazing her sides and massaging her plush hips before he reached for her spine to pull her panties down by grabbing the elastic on her lower back.

Y/N lifted her hips up for him and watched as he admired her body. This certainly isn’t the first time that they have been intimate but Harry always makes it feel that way.

“I’m so lucky to finally call you my girl. I’ve wanted to for so long. You have no idea how happy I am, baby.” He was running his hands up and down the front of her thighs that he was settled between. “I love you so much.”

Y/N began to smile up at him, turning her head into her arm to hide her blush.

“Gonna tell me that you love me when I’m all tied up for you?” She pushed her knee into his side as she giggled, biting her lip.

“I’ll tell you every day, and in every position, how much I love you.” He leaned down to smear his lips against hers again, showing her how much he truly loved her.

“I love you too, H.”

Harry began to kiss her jaw and neck as he stripped his briefs off of himself. He held her face in his hand before trailing it down her body to pump himself a few times before lining his tip to her center. She angled her hips up for him, giving him a cheeky smile when their eyes connected.

He slowly entered her, causing them both to moan out. He leaned on his forearm that was resting by her arm, continuing to rub his thumb across her cuffed wrist. He was slowly rolling his hips against hers, causing her to whimper at the friction.

Y/N eyes closed softly, like she was just starting to fall asleep. Her mouth was agape letting soft pants and whimpers fall free from her lips. She tipped her head back into the pillow, stretching out her neck. He was in awe watching her.

Harry’s free hand roamed her flesh, ending on her jaw. His thumb ran across her flushed throat as he began to kiss along the tight skin.

“Harry…” her body was like a magnet to his, naturally wanting to be close. “Harry, please?”

“Mmm what, baby? What do you need?” He continued to kiss along her skin.

“Choke me.” Y/N, always surprising him. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, “Please?”

How could he ever say no to her?

He gave her a nod, gently moving his hand to cup her throat. “Tell me if it’s too much, if you want me to stop.”

“I will.” She took in a deep breath as his grip tightened slightly. She let out a moan as he adjusted his fingers and tightened a little more. A smile crawled across her face as Harry began to thrust into her harder.

“You like this baby?”

Y/N moaned out a ‘yes’ as Harry picked up the pace of his hips. Thrusting into her that the bed was moving and squeaking on its frame.

Harry felt her pulse around him, causing him to moan her name before gripping tighter on her throat and thrusting at an uneven pace.

She gasped at the grip, tightening her thighs around Harry, pulling him closer by digging her heel into the flesh of his bum. She choked out his name and he felt her walls give a tight clench around him before they continued to pulse.

He let go of her throat causing her pent up moans to spew from her lips. He couldn’t hold back any more, freezing his hips flushed to hers to spill himself into her. He held her face, moaning as he kissed her. The metal of the cuffs clank against the headboard as she tried to wrap her arms around him.

Y/N whined, tugging some more causing Harry to giggle. Harry reached up to uncuff her and rubbed her wrists as he kissed them. He looked down at her glowing flushed face, planting another kiss on her lips. “I love you, baby.” Kissing her again.

“I love you too.” They had adjusted in the bed to cuddle, making the bed groan and squeak in their movements. Causing Y/N to laugh out and Harry to let out a frustrated groan.

“We need a new bed.” Y/N couldn’t stop laughing, rolling off of Harry which caused the bed to creak again, only adding fuel to the fire of Y/N’s laughter.

Harry kissed her with a laugh himself, “We are definitely getting a new bed”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cam and his husband had helped Y/N and Harry move into their new place in a better part of town. They were all exchanging bum taps and boxes as they went up and down the stairs from the moving truck. They were on their last load when Harry and Cam’s husband started to put together the frame to their new bed.

Cam and Y/N went to go pick up beer and pizza, setting it all up in the middle of their empty living room. Harry laid his head in Y/N’s lap as they ate and laughed at stories they all shared.

Cam and his husband kissed and hugged Y/N and Harry goodbye as they thanked them for all their help. Harry had kicked the door shut, locking it and turning to Y/N with a devious smile. Her eyes went wide as Harry gripped her waist to throw her over his shoulder, letting out a yelp.

“Time to go break in that new bed, baby!”

[gucciwins]

Confessions ll

Harry messed up and Y/N doesn’t know how to move forward

A/N: The long awaited part two. Confessions was written over a year ago and I’d like to think my writing has grown since then. I honestly debated a part two for forever but here it is. I hope you love it as much as you loved part one. 

read part one of confessions here

* * * * *

“Tell me once again what you did for the past week?" 

"Sarah, I told you I watched all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls. Ate food I cooked, not reheated. Well, it was mainly soup and simple pasta. I did take showers and change clothes. Although I have not washed any." You share as you pick up your laundry basket and begin to fill it with a few lose clothes around your room. The room was always kept nice with a bed made and no scattered garments, but that couldn't be said now. You had clothes all over, pillows on the floor, and an unfolded comforter which Ginger was taking advantage of and sleeping on top of. Not mentioning how the living room looked, you started with the laundry. 

"You're telling me you spent roughly 154 hours in front of your television watching a show on Netflix." Sarah pauses. "That means you've either slept fourteen hours straight or slept two hours each night." 

"Your math skills are great still." You laugh, not answering her. “It wasn’t even a good show. But oh well now.”

"Y/N," Sarah pesters. 

"Fine. I slept roughly two hours after I finished a season." 

"What about work?" 

"I am working from home on this project. It's due in three weeks, and I'm ahead, need to edit a few things, then I'm all good." 

You put Sarah on speaker and place your phone on top of the basket as you walk to the washer. You know she's frustrated with you, but this is the best way to heal heartache. Well, your best approach. 

"Are you feeling better, hun" Sarah sighs. "I know it's hard, but I'm here for you. As is Mitch." 

You drop the basket in your basement and begin to load your clothing. "Look, Sarah, I know you both care. I just need to solve this on my own. Ha-" You cut yourself off before saying his name. "He's a great guy, but I don't need a jealous boyfriend in my life. He knows how I act, how cuddly I am, but if he saw me as someone unfaithful, then what's the point of trying. No trust. No love." 

"He's not a bad guy." Sarah starts.

"No, I know that. Trust me, the time we got to spend together, I saw how kind and generous Harry is. He's more than just another famous guy, but second chances. I'm not known for that." You know second chances are good, but it is also a way to lead to being hurt once again. "I know he's your friend, but he was mine as well."

"You're not going to give him the chance to apologize?" 

"Of course, I will. I forgive him, but what else is there to do, it's not li-like he was my boyfriend." 

"Y/N, you confessed your love to him." 

Sarah is trying her best to be neutral, but you know she was rooting for the two of you to make it. To defeat the odds thrown your way. No one expected it to end before it started.

"Yeah, well, come-what-may." 

"What does that mean?" 

"Well, if a bus is heading right at you, let it come." You say quoting Liz from the series you just watched. Not the brightest philosophy, but it's all you have right now. 

"That sounds like a disaster."

"Yeah, it does. You'd save me from the bus, right?" 

Sarah laughs. "Of course, I would. Who else cooks for me expecting nothing in return?" 

You laugh for the first time in what feels like months. Sarah is always able to break you out of your deep dark times. 

"Dinner at my place on Wednesday." You tell her, wanting to get together without having to leave your house. 

"We'll be there." 

You go to hang up, but remember an essential thing for dinner. "Mitch needs to make his brownies, always taste so heavenly." You let out a low moan just thinking about the melting chocolate. 

"I'll tell him, I will also leave out the part where you get wet for brownies." Sarah laughs, and you can't help but join her. Those brownies are just too sinful. 

She hangs up, leaving you in the quiet of your basement. It would be good to see Sarah and Mitch even if Harry blew up at you the last time you saw them. You shake your thoughts away and finish loading the wash. Picking up the previous item, it's a blue Mickey Mouse shirt. Except, it's not yours, it's his. He had come over for dinner and decided he wanted to do the cooking. He brought the spoon to his mouth to taste and ended up spilling. You were quick to strip it off him and rinse it, not wanting it to stain. But did not wash it in a load right away. He was in no hurry to put a shirt back on. To his displeasure, you handed him a Washington State sweater that belonged to your brother. He had looked good in it. That night you didn't sleep until four am not noticing the time and lost in pleasant conversations.

It's crazy how fast the night changes. 

* * * * *

"Mitch, I made chicken tinga with you in mind. I remember you saying how much you were dying to try some three weeks ago." You say as you set a plate of shredded lettuce on the table. "I have it in good authority that I make one of the best. My grandma said I mastered it, so if you don't like it take it up with her." 

Mitch laughs, remembering saying that when you all went out for drinks. "It smells amazing, I'm sure it's great." 

"Anything you touch tastes amazing." Sarah comments.

The conversation flowed calmly over dinner, not one mention of Harry. It feels off being without him, but you can't change what happened, only move on. Sarah and Mitch were your friends before you even knew Harry, but the same goes for Harry. One moment they were strangers and the next they were best friends, now you had no idea where you stood. 

Mitch got up and went for the brownies and set a plate of two in front of you and Sarah but only one for himself. You were about to bite into the delicious treat when there was a knock on your door. 

You all froze, not knowing who it could be. Not your brother, seeing as you drove him to the airport on Sunday. You briefly talked about Harry, but he knew it was your decision to make. Thomas was a good man, but all too forgiving something you never understood. You look at Sarah and shrug as if to say you don't know who's behind the door. You miss the nervous look Mitch gives Sarah as you stand up and make your way to the door. 

You live in a safe community, preceding checking the peephole. The door opens and in front of you is Harry. He looks nervous, cheeks red, and smile small. He takes a step back, and all you want to do is close the door. Not caring for a word that comes out of his mouth. 

Harry sees the look in your eyes and is quick to react. "I'm not here to stay, but I do want to talk.  

You narrow your eyes at him. "Not tonight." 

"It has to be tonight." He pleads. 

You refuse to do this on his terms, let alone without warning. "No."

"Please," Harry takes a step closer, and you catch his eyes glistening. 

"I need you to leave." It's hard telling him to go, but it's what you need.

"Will you hear me out, if I leave?" Harry's stubborn, you learned that the hard way during one of your first arguments where you needed to go home after a late night of drinking, but he wouldn't hear it practically pushing you to his guest room.

"Of course." 

Harry grins, and it almost makes you forget your anger. 

"But not tonight."

His smile falters. You've caught him off guard. 

"Then, when?" He whispers, all confidence gone. 

You think for a moment, "Friday, I'll meet you at Carol's Diner."

"Okay, 12," Harry says, knowing that was your usual time to have lunch there together. 

"Eight" You're embarrassed to correct. "If that's okay, I've got meetings all day." 

Harry nods. "No problem at all." 

He walks down the steps and to his car. You can't help but stand there as he walks away. He would always drag his feet playfully joking how he didn't like being kicked out. He didn't stay the night unless he had some alcohol. You told him one drop, and you'd have the couch ready for him. Which always ended with him in your bed because he said your living room was haunted. 

You miss him, but you don't know how to move forward. 

* * * * *

Late. You're late, and Harry knows he deserves it, hell you might not even show up. 

Harry ordered a black coffee, not knowing if they'd eat or not. The waiter had just served him his refill when you walked in the diner. You spot him right away, and he can't help but begin to sweat. 

"Harry, I'm sorry. My last meeting ran a little longer." You shrug your coat off before sliding into the booth across from him. "I hope you didn't think I was setting you up."

"'Course not. You hungry? Didn't know if you wanted to order." 

"Starving, I've been craving french toast and a milkshake." You laugh, looking at Harry. "That sounds like a lot of sugar. I'm sorry." 

"It's fine, lo-Y/n." He clears his throat. 

You both place your orders, and then the silence takes over. Harry sits there staring at you while you look out the window staring at the park entrance. You count three couples walking in and four families coming out. You also spotted two dogs, frowning when no more showed up.

You're surprised at how fast the food comes and dig right in. Harry and you eat in silence. The chatter of the diner is the only noise around you. Harry steals glances at you, but you never meet his gaze. Too nervous for that. You finish most of your food, but stop once you see Harry set his fork down. Your hands are quick to go in your lap, slowly tracing patterns up and down your palm to keep calm. 

"We've got to talk." 

You sit there patiently, allowing Harry to be the first one to speak. Harry wanted this so bad he has the floor.

Harry stares at you, and he's afraid he's going to lose you after this moment. 

"I'm sorry, let me start with that." He reaches his hand out but pulls back when he sees them in your lap. "There's no excuse for what I did. I was awful, and you deserve better. You deserve trust, and I didn't give it to you." He takes a deep breath. "Looking back, you let me in, really in, but I always kept you at arm's length, waiting for you to mess up. An excuse to hurt you instead of being the one who gets hurt, but in the end, that didn't work out."

"Harry," You try to cut in.

"No, let me finish." You give the nod, and he continues. 

"Those words I said were not true at all. You never used me for nothing. We always did things in private. I'd always force you to go to the bar with us. That dinner was the first time you initiated a public outing, and even then, the place was small and quiet."

"I don't like crowds, and you don't like paparazzi." You say because it's just that simple.

"See, Y/N. You look to put others before you, but I don't want you to do that now. I acknowledge what I did was awful. I told my mum about it because the guilt was eating at me, and she was so disappointed in me. I'm disappointed in me." 

Harry frowns, looking down at his bare hands. The rings at home, no comfort. He holds himself bare in front of you. 

"I want you to put yourself first even if that means not being in my life anymore." 

You focused your eyes on him. This is Harry, honest and nervous Harry. The guy who recites love actually as it plays. Who laughs out loud to all of Mitch's jokes. The one who always rushes to open your doors. 

"Thank you. This is still a lot." Your eyes begin to burn as you remember his confession. "You said-"Your voice cracks. "You said you were falling in love with me." 

Harry's green eyes begin to fill with tears. He nods in acknowledgment of your words.

"My brother is my best friend but Harry, so were you. Those two months felt like ten years, I felt like you've been in my life forever. That hurt Harry, all because what I was sleeping on was someone's arm like I didn't do it before you, and I won't do it after you." You pause to get your emotions under control. "My brother vouched for you. Said you apologized and cried. That you were quick to see your mistake. My brother approves of few people and to have his approval even after what happened means he sees the good in you." 

"Thomas was amazing. I'm glad you have each other." Harry inputs wanting you to know the feeling is mutual. 

"Harry," you take a drink of water. "We were never together. never went on a date, never asked to be boyfriend or girlfriend, we never kissed." 

"It felt like we were," Harry tells you.

"You're right," You set your hands on the table. "That's why it hurt so much when you said all that to me." 

He doesn't deserve you, he knows that, which is why your next words surprise him. 

"I forgive you."

"Thank you," Harry moves to hold your hand, but you don't let him. 

He doesn't hide his shock. 

"I just can't be with you, at least not now." He nods. "You have to understand, I think we'd burn together."

"You don't mean that." It comes out in a whisper. 

"I'm doing what's best for us now. I care too much about you to go into a relationship only for us to break each other's hearts." 

Harry's heart is breaking, and there's no one else to blame but himself. 

"We're bound to run into each other again, Sarah's my best friend and Mitch is her sidekick. I'm not asking you to wait for me, that'd be wrong. But if we ever find yourself in the same place and the feelings are there, and we both feel the timing is right, then I'll be open to asking you on a date or you asking me."

Harry smiles in understanding, no matter how much it hurts him.  

There's not much left to say. Harry knows this is goodbye. "You'll always be my friend, I hope you know I'll always be a phone call away."

You nod and stand up. "Thank you, Harry. I'm here for you as well." 

Harry stands and wraps his arms around you, giving you a tight squeeze. 

"I'm sorry for hurting you. I really am, but thank you for giving me the chance to grow and learn." He steps back. 

"You're a good man, Harry." 

"And you have the purest most beautiful soul." Harry's staring into your eyes, and you can't help but tear up. 

You reach forward and squeeze his hand three times. 

"Take care, H."

 Harry watches as you walk out of the diner. 

He's lost you once again, but he knows your paths will cross once more. 

* * * * *

I love you so much! Thank you for reading! 

Please let me know what you thought about Confession ll 

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT!

The story shared here is by adult(s) for adults, and not considered suitable for people under 18 years old. It will be very text heavy, and have little to no pictures, beside the story banner. This might change over time. It might not. Minor info: English is not my native language although it has become my first language. However, please be kind regarding spelling errors, grammar mistakes and any other mishaps along the way, I am doing my best, but I’m not flawless. So don’t expect that. I do not correct others spelling errors, I would like the same respect in return, please. What you read isn’t always something I personally agree with, so don’t assume. I have simply chosen to write a story with at times challenging subjects, cause I feel I benefit more from my writing that way and I like to challenge myself as a writer and as person. This story contains humans and non human/supernatural beings, such as demons, shape-shifters, witches, immortal humans and more. They may do or say unnatural things at times, specially in their animal/demon forms. If this subject isn’t for you I advice you to consider not reading this story, although most people in this story, human or not, live mostly as human, meaning this isn’t Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings, so please don’t expect that, you will be disappointed. The supernatural aspect of this story, is not the main focus, although in some chapters it might be. Important: Not all, but most people in my story is in one way or another members of the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, several of the more frequent characters are members of Polyamorous relationships. I will not ever be listing these as triggers, as I personally don’t believe they should be. If you disagree with the mentioned above, this story/and blog is in no way for you. Please respect that.

Disclaimer: This story is fiction, try to keep that in mind, nothing written should be taken too serious, and is in no way a display of real life, or how people should live/think. Furthermore, nothing is in any way meant to be disrespectful or harmful in any sort of way, so please, if you feel something is,  tell me calmly, I’m open for discussion as long as it’s constructive. I will do my best to properly tag everything with suitable warnings/triggers but if I forget or overlook a trigger, please remind me politely as I am not a robot, and will undoubtedly make mistakes. NSFW/explicit content will sometimes be present, whether it means alcohol/weed/drugs, or sex, but the rule above applies here as well. Meaning it is fictional sex. I cannot stress this enough! It is not meant to portrait how sex is supposed to be/is in real life. I also do not always agree with the sex my characters choose to engage in. However, as mentioned before, I like to challenge myself as a writer, which to me, means sometimes pushing myself into wtf territory.  I like to let my characters choose for themselves, which means I sometimes disagree. But once again, it’s fictional, it does not display how I think sex should be, try to keep that in mind and keep fact and fiction separated. If you can’t do that, I think you’ll struggle with my story, and I suggest you don’t read at all for your own good. However, if you still want to give it a try, nsfw scenes are marked in each chapter they appear, so you can painlessly scroll past them, if you aren’t comfortable reading such scenes, but still wish to read my story. Below I will add a list of possible triggers in my story, I might add more as I go. If you decide to read my story I ask you, to please, be reasonable and keep in mind I’ve put a fair warning/disclaimer on my story. Please consider if the triggers mentioned below is something you can handle or not. I will not be held responsible for you getting triggered by trigger warnings you chose to overlook. Meaning, if there’s a trigger on a chapter, and you read it anyway, it is on you, not me, please be reasonable.

Trigger list:

(All triggers/possible triggers mentioned below does not apply to all chapters, but the chapters they do apply to will be tagged, again I must stress, if I forget or overlook a trigger, please tell me respectfully, I don’t try to trigger people on purpose, also what you see as a trigger, might not be a trigger to someone else, so please be kind.) Not too graphic triggers means: Subjects that might be triggering, but the description of it, is in my opinion not too vivid/detailed/graphic. (A subject that is usually briefly mentioned but not written very detailed, such as, if drugs are mentioned as a trigger warning, you’ll never find someone with a needle in their arm, but rather mentioning of being high, or quickly taking a pill, and how they get mildly affected.) Graphic triggers means: Subjects which are not always, but might occasionally be described vividly/detailed/graphic. (Could potentially end up in too many details for some people, so if these subjects are a big trigger for you, I advice you to consider whether this story is a good read for you or not) Please keep in mind, I do not know your limits, only you do, it is your responsibility. Triggers/possible triggers in no specific order: Alcohol abuse. (Not too graphic) Smoking. (Not too graphic) Weed. (Not too graphic) Drugs. (Not too graphic) Alcohol intake/drunkenness (Not too graphic) Sex. (Not too graphic/graphic) Rough/kinky sex. (Not too graphic/graphic) Anxiety/panic attacks (Not too graphic/graphic) Depression. (Not too graphic/graphic) Violence. (Not too graphic/graphic) Blood. (Not too graphic) Incest. - Adults only! (Not too graphic/graphic) Murder. (Not too graphic/graphic) Mentioning of rape. (Not too graphic) Mentioning of suicide attempts/self harm. (Not too graphic) What you will never find in my story: Sex including minors. On purpose racism. - However, I’m just a person, I may say something out of line, if I do, feel free to calmly bring it up, I assure you, I’d never do it on purpose. I am open to add more triggers to the list, if anyone has suggestions as we go, meaning if you read something in my story you think perhaps belongs on the above list, kindly suggest it, and I will consider. I've never been a story blog before, so, bare with me while I try to find my gravity in it all. Furthermore because of at times rather abstract/taboo subjects, I never wanted my story to go public. But after countless encouraging words over the years, I decided to go against my fear/better judgment, and post it anyway. The story I will share here, is technically an adaption of my main story, the characters are the same, their lives are the same, however, the story wont be shared from the beginning, at least at this point. The start of this adaption was written over a year ago, if not more, it is so far over 30 chapters long, and I am continuously writing on it. This means, I don't really take any suggestions, if anyone inspires me to write something specific, it may take months before the scene will be published, as there is so many chapters to post before any new ones I write. My characters are essentially the writers of this story, I'm just the typing hands, it's rare I interfere. That said, this also means they live their own lives, with good and bad decisions, what you read isn't always something I personally agree with, so don't assume. And once again, this story is fiction, try to keep that in mind, nothing written should be taken too serious. Thank you.                           Last but not least, constructive criticism is welcomed, hate/trolling and nonconstructive criticisms isn’t. I’ll gladly answer any sort of question/concern you might have, my ask box is always open, and no question is considered too small/unimportant/dumb or to be made fun of, as long as it is positive or neutral. Be kind and you will receive kindness 💖 I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD, TAKE ME TO THE STORY.

[do-not-eat-the-dove]

I need to write this, I need to write this because I am so fucking angry. I am so, so fucking angry, and every problematic shipper I want you to read this. Read it, all the way through, because if you don’t then you are ignoring children you might have harmed.

Tw’s for: beastiality mention, sexual abuse mention, paedophilia mention, typical darkfic trigger warnings in essential

When I was nine, I moved into the Aphmau fandom. Earlier than that, I was an avid reader of Harry potter. Earlier than that, I was into stampy cat and iballisticsquid and skydoesminecraft. I have been in fandoms earlier than my body can remember, and I started in on wattpad when I was very, very young. Just writing, only writing. I had a vague understanding of what sex and smut was as a child, because of unmoderated youtube thumbnails. I ran into sexual themes online, because that is what a child does okay? I will admit that I knew about sex as a child if only barely.

As a kid in fandom, you don't know how to moderate things. As a literal fucking elementary schooler who doesn’t know how to differentiate “Their” “They’re” and “There”, you do not know the difference between right and wrong. You do not understand what an 18+ warning is, and you don’t know what the fuck a dead dove is and why anyone would want to eat it in the first place. You do not understand, and i think that this is something that problematic content creators expect of literal fucking children, and i also think that it is extremely irrational and condescending for you to do so.

When I was a bit older, maybe twelve/thirteen, I found ao3. I found twitter, tumblr, bnha and anime. I was excited because it was a community, so I became super involved as fast as I could. I had still not hit puberty yet. I hadn’t even learned the pythagorean theorem yet. I didn’t entirely understand variables and I had no clue that washing your face was basic hygiene. I am bringing this up to display to you that I. WAS. A. CHILD. A kid. Five years ago at this point I still had trouble jump-roping. I was a kid who had average decision-making skills for their age and who found the idea of boys gross, crushes were based on who was fastest in gym class.

I let go of tumblr because I couldn’t grasp what on earth it was supposed to be used for and how it was supposed to be used, I posted shitty depressed memes on reddit because I thought I was edgy. And then I got involved in fandom twitter.

Me, my friends, we recommended each other cute ship threads and discussed Notps and did “toxic fandom stuff” because we were children who still celebrated valentines day with sweet-tarts and holographic paper cards. I still knew jack shit about sex and relationships because as a child sex education is just “this is a penis, this is a vagina, this is how you don’t get pregnant, any questions?” 

So when one day, i decide to type “BNHA” into the search bar of twitter, intent on finding cute things to share with my online friends and instead am greeted with a picture of a character raping another character, I don’t know exactly what to do.

Let me repeat that; I looked up JUST the word “BNHA”. Just that. Nothing else. 

And I, a child, who has no decision making skills, clicks on the post. Because it makes me feel funny, and children are curious.

As a middle schooler. As a child who had the average physical and mental capacity to resist impulse, aka none, as someone who used Uwu and OwO unironically, who thought spelling “as” with a Z made me quirky and fun, discovered a main-tagged post of a character being nsfwed in a sexual assault.

From here, I explored. What you people don’t get is that is what children do. That is what children DO. And you, in all your wonderful wise ways, decide that it is on ME. On someone who had no understanding of what this was, to be the adult and say “I do not think this is right.” You, the thirty year old woman who maintags, are saying that to me, who was a twelve year old. 

I think the most traumatic thing I read during that time was an aged-down character, who went from fifteen to five, being sexually abused and pimped out by his mother and forced to have sexual contact with dogs.

Today, I suffer from intense intrusive thoughts that I do not think I need to be diagnosed for, because constantly wondering if you���re going to be sexually assaulted by every single man you come in contact with, having to shoo away evil disgusting thoughts that have made you involuntarily gag and nearly vomit, having to deal with these awful things in my brain is proof enough. Today, I have such a deep-rooted fear of sex and men and relationships that despite me being entirely Heterosexual, wanting children in the future, having these ideas of a family, I feel incapable. 

Today, I saw a fic saying that it was my own fault if I found their problematic fic, and today I raged for every child that is going to be messed up by people who choose to blameshift just because they want to use maintags. 

As fandom spaces get younger, and the fan age range grows bigger I have noticed a distinct uptick in who is reading and consuming fan content on social media. I know eleven year olds, ten year olds, I have met a nine year old child who messaged like they were twenty. All of these children read fanfiction of characters that they adore, and click on fics that include those characters because they adore them.

I’m going to share another experience that I’ve had with sex and sexual abuse that was self-inflicted, but normalized by the content that I had consumed. As a child, a thirteen year old, I messaged adult men. I went on omegle text chat, I found forums for sexual roleplay, I talked to probably a dozen adults in sexual manners without them knowing or realizing. Even a few women, and I am completely certain this experience is going to scar me until the day that I fucking pass. It makes me feel empty inside, but you know what? Your fics normalized that for me. I read a tweet from an adult, someone much older than me, who talked about having gone into adult spaces as a child. They did the same thing as me. It is a trend, but while I recognize that I was too young to know what I was seeing, reading, hearing from people who were older than me and therefore authority figures, they blamed themself. And that is the most heartbreaking fucking thing.

When you maintag. When you use a main tag, that a child who does not know how to filter out scrolls down on, and they decide that this will be an okay thing for them to consume because adults know better, will you look them in the eyes and tell them the fear of things they don’t understand and haven’t even been introduced to yet is their fault? Will you tell them that ao3 is an adult site for adults and it’s their fault for being stupid enough to read it? Will you tell them that the images that will play in their minds for years until they’re desensitized and so so scared that they’re now a bad person because of it, will you tell them that it was their fault for clicking on it when they were seven, eight, nine? 

Frankly, I do not give a shit about what you write. If it is in rpf and you still push it i will think you are a bad person, but other than that I could never care less. But I do care what you tag, because If you write the word bnha on twitter with an image of a young child's favorite character being sexually brutalised? If you maintag a fic where someone is starved till they are nearly dead, infantilised, sexually abused during all of it, and leave it out in the open on a site you know has children, in a fandom you know is targeted towards kids. If your tags leave a child open for attack, harm, mental scarring? I care, because I will not let another child be blamed for something they themselves did not fully understand the weight of.

[harry-styles-sunflower]

Meeting You In The Hallway

a/n: HII lovely people! I hope you are all doing well today! This is part 1 of Meeting you in the Hallway. Part 1 is a bit short because it’s an introductory chapter, but I do plan on making the chapters as I go. I’ll put specific warnings in the beginning of each chapter.

What it is: You move into the apartment across the hall from Harry and you begin a friendship which you both want more from but can’t communicate that want. AU. 

Word Count: 1.9k

Pls reblog if you like it 😊

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You had finally raised enough money to buy your own apartment right around the corner of Central Park. You were a registered nurse in the city, but the city was nothing new to you. You had grown just outside of the city your whole life. You worked on 5th Ave so buying an apartment near Central Park was just perfect. Today, Sunday, was move in day and you didn’t come with a lot. Few boxes and basic furniture. Your apartment was on the top floor which gave you the most beautiful view of Manhattan. There was only one other apartment across from yours because you were all the way at the end.

You got to your apartment around noon and began bringing up all your boxes after your mom and dad helped you bring up your bed, couch, and dining room table. You’d get the rest with time. With the view you had you weren’t in a rush to buy a tv. Just a good book and a chair was fine. “Have you met your neighbor yet?” Your mom asked. “No, not yet. Hopefully soon. The seller said he was nice. Not too loud” you shrugged. You figured that maybe it was just a bachelor business man who worked a lot, like you.

Once you finished bringing everything up to your apartment, you said goodbye to your parent’s downstairs. You thanked them as they gifted you a frame of you with them on your graduation day. Their smiles full of pride. “Alright bye, we love you. Stay safe okay? Call us if anything.” Your mom said trying to not get teary eyed. You stayed home for college so this was the first time she felt like she was letting her baby go. “Okay mom, I love you too.” You waved bye to them and then walked back inside saying thank you to the doorman. You’d learn his name another day. Right now, your back and feet were just killing you. You took the elevator upstairs, playing with your new keychain. Apartment 17G. You looked at it happily as you walked back to your apartment. Enchanted by your key you didn’t even notice the man right in front of you until you bumped into his hard chest.

“Ow, sorry. My bad” you looked up and saw two pools of green. Slightly intimidated you looked away and stepped back. His eyes remained on you, studying you, wondering if he’s ever seen you around.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. 'Scuse me” And just as fast as you bumped into him, he was gone. You looked behind you as he left. Noticing just how tall he was. With a sigh you continued your walk until the end of the hallway. You opened your apartment door and closed it behind you. You leaned against the door and let out a sigh. Green eyes on your mind. You heard the door across your apartment open and then close. You grunted; upset you missed your neighbor. Just a few seconds too late. You were hoping to get along with them at the very least.

That night you decided to order in pizza and drink some wine on your balcony. Basking in the last few nights of summer. You looked over to your right and noticed your neighbor’s balcony. It was simple, two chairs and small table.  A few plants near the edge. “Green thumb” you said to yourself sipping your wine.

Eventually it become dark and you grew tired. You cleaned up your kitchen and organized your cupboards just enough to get rid of one box. On your way to shower and call it a night you remembered to check your door. "Can never be too safe" you thought to yourself. As you checked your door, you felt your feet crumple some paper. Confused, you bent over and picked it up.

“Hi, um I think you moved in today. If not, you’ll just see this whenever you do, I guess. Well just wanted to say welcome to the building. Guy across the hall, 17H.”

With a small smile you brushed your fingertips over the handwriting. This was a sweet gesture and your apartment began feeling even more like home. A possible friend you thought. No, you hoped. As you laid in bed about to sleep, you thought of your neighbor in 17H. Was there a reason why the H was underlined? But as you closed your eyes you remembered those two pools of green.

 ~~~

 The next morning was a Monday. You were off that night so you woke up and decided to unpack as much as you can.

During breakfast, you saw the note your neighbor had left you. You flipped it over and wrote, "I'm moved in, thank you for the warm welcoming." You debated whether or not to ask if you should grab a drink together. Instead you settled on, "Meet you soon. Girl across the hall, 17G." After you finished your breakfast you quietly opened your door, setting a stopper so you didn’t get locked out, and slid the note under 17H's door. You hurried inside. You were still only in your pjs and a robe, hair a mess.

When Harry woke up on Monday morning, he got up and put on a tank top, shorts, and sneakers. He tried to go for an early run, before there were too many people in the vast Central Park. He liked the feeling of morning air. As he was about to leave, he thought about the girl he bumped into yesterday. He was so focused on this new song he was writing he didn’t even notice her. She was also pretty short. He had a small gig the next night at a small café. He was getting less nervous of performing in front of people but he got nervous when they were his own songs. He cleared his head and left for his jog. On his way back, he stopped by a bakery and bought some fresh bread and a few pastries. The small bakery reminded him of his old job from when he was a teenager.

When he got home, he barely noticed the paper on the floor. When he flipped it over, he half smiled at the bubble handwriting. So different than his. "Meet you soon" he repeated to himself. He debated going right over and knocking, but then he remembered he was a sweaty mess and didn’t want that to be your first impression of him.

~~~

By lunch time you decided you needed to buy groceries. No more eating out. You grabbed your bag and a light sweater. The day had gotten a little bit cloudy. You tucked a mini umbrella just in case. That’s the kind of person you were. You were cautious, always prepared, because you know... Just in case.

You walked downstairs and introduced yourself to the doorman. You found out his name was Pat and he was retiring next year. He was a sweet old man. You walked to Whole Foods to buy your essentials for now and picked up some soup. You'll have something to keep you warm if it rains. You put the soup into your cart and debated whether or not if you should buy ice cream. You thought oh fuck it, you were getting your period soon anyway. You'd need it. You bought chocolate, vanilla, and butter pecan. You decided it was time to go before you bought the whole store. You approached aisle 5 and leaped for joy inside because there was no line, the customer just leaving. The customer looked familiar though, his back looked familiar. A light bulb lit in your head, that was the guy from yesterday. The one you bumped into. For New York City to be so big, it was interesting how you saw him again.

You paid for your groceries and made small talk with the cashier about the weather. Both of you a little upset that it was one of the last few days of summer and it was cloudy. You walked back to your building a little faster as the clouds got darker. Once you made it inside and up to your apartment door you put your bags down and reached inside your purse for your keys. As you were about to put your key in the keyhole, you heard an enthusiastic "Hi!". Jumping you dropped your keys.

"Oh, shit sorry, didn’t mean to scare you" he said as you both reached for your keys causing you to both bump heads.

"Ow!" you both said and laughed a little. You both fell back onto the floor. Still laughing lightly. When you finally focused on who the man was you realized who it was. "Oh my god, it’s you. From yesterday" you said. He looked at you with eyes squinted. "Oh yeah. You." he looked you up and down. "So, you're the girl from 17G" he said as he pointed to your apartment door. "17H?" you asked. "Yep, H was underlined because my name is Harry" he said. You couldn’t help but like the way he said his name. His accent almost stretching his name out. "Oh. Makes sense. I'm y/n." He brushed his hands on his thighs and reached over his hand for you to shake. "Nice to meet you, y/n". You shook his hand. "You too, Harry."

He kept ahold of your hand. You realized how soft his hands were. He slowly stood up while still holding your hand and gently pulled you up.

"Thanks" you said wiping your hands on your jeans. You had trouble looking him in the eye. The green was so beautiful you were scared you'd get lost. His sharp facial features reminded you of one of your favorite characters, Stefan Salvatore for some reason.

"Do you need help? Err carrying that stuff inside?" He asked pulling you away from your thoughts.

"Oh um, no actually. Thank you but I'm okay." you said and turned to open your door.

"Okay. Um well, if you ever need anything."

"Yeah thanks. Appreciate that" you smiled up at him. Looking him in the eye for a second. He was so tall.

"Yeah of course. Just knock" he said and as soon as he said it, he realized how dumb he sounded. Why did he feel so nervous?

"I think that may be my only option. No doorbell" you said teasing him a little.

"Yeah" he said looking down, feeling stupid.

To cheer him up you said, "hey, if you need me, knock three times. That could be our own “homemade doorbell”."

He looked up with a bigger smile and for the first time you noticed his dimples. "Yeah okay, that sounds good. Three times." He nodded.

"Alright. Well, goodnight harry"

"Goodnight y/n"

As you both closed your doors behind you, you both replayed how you each said each other’s name. The way your name sounded with his English accent and the way his name sounded with your American accent.

 ~~~

Part 2 is now up!

[sapphirelass]

Deal? - Remus LupinxDaughter

Hi! :)

Deal? (Part 1) | Oh, darling... (Part 2) | I’ll be by your side (Part 3) 

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

Please note:

1: I don’t own any of the gifs used, nor any already established characters, so credit to the authors and original creators - You have done a phenomenal job :)

2: English is not my native language, as I was born and raised in Sweden. I have, however, studied English for almost a decade, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I just thought I’d let you know ;)

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

I swear, my next story won’t be about Umbridge XD

Word count: ≈ 2300

Warnings: Umbridge, angst, slight swearing

Enjoy!

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

“I do not wish to criticise the ways of the school, however you have been exposed to some rather irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed - not to mention” the toadlike professor threw a dark glance at a sandy haired student and smirked evilly, “extremely dangerous half breeds”. 

The student in question raised her hand angrily, and glared at Professor Umbridge. “Yes?” the teacher smiled sweetly, “miss… Lupin, am I correct?”

“Yes, Breanna!” she began, “but that’s besides the point. Look, I know what you’re doing, but Professor Lupin was the best DADA teacher we’ve ever had, and I’d be more than happy to bet everything I own on that being quite a common opinion in this classroom!”

Most of her fellow classmates nodded furiously, and the young girl turned her head towards her professor, who immediately cleared her throat and declared: “Well, I’m afraid simply being a beloved teacher doesn’t really matter, dear.  Werewolves are still extremely dangerous creatures. They are beasts that are undeserving of respect and that should not be allowed to be part of our fine wizard community. They are uncontrollable, and highly likely to injure or possibly kill young witches and wizards, including their own children.” 

She flashed a cruel, yet pleased, smirk as Breanna furiously stood up, despite Hermione desperately trying to force her down. 

“You have NO IDEA what you’re talking about!?” she whispered angrily, her nails digging into her palms as her fists clenched. “You have probably never even met one of these so called ‘half breeds’, have you? No, you were most likely just told some bizarre stories containing more lies and made up facts than truths, and decided to put that worthless ‘knowledge’ - if you can even call it that - to use by spreading rumors and destroying the lives of innocent people.”

Umbridge looked frantic, and was about to speak up, but Breanna got there first. “I despise people who look down on others. People who claim to be better than everyone else. People like you. You certainly don’t deserve respect!”

She took a deep breath, and was about to continue when Umbridge’s shrill voice forced her to stay quiet. “That’s quite enough! Detention, miss Lupin. The rest of the week, five fifteen, don’t be late”. 

***

A few hours later, Breanna made her way back to Umbridge’s office. She knew her friends had wanted to talk to her, but she had done her absolute best to avoid them all afternoon. She simply didn’t feel like explaining to them why she had done what she did. She’d gladly do it again though. Her father was the kindest, wisest, most incredible person she had ever met. He had done everything in his power to give her a good childhood, and no one had the right to insult him. She’d defend him to her last breath if that’s what it would come down to.

She knocked on the door carefully, and pushed it open when she heard a shrill, terrifying voice sing a sweet “come in”. 

“Oh, miss Lupin, almost late I see!” she said arrogantly. Breanna didn’t have time to answer before her teacher continued. “Sit down.” 

***

The detentions went on for another four days before Umbridge told her she didn’t have to come back the following evening, but that she better hold her tongue unless she longed for more. Breanna tried to keep that in mind, but still lost her cool a few more times before the end of the semester. However, the Christmas holidays were approaching, and though her red, swollen hand caused her to worry slightly, the idea of seeing her dad and godfather caused her enough joy to tip her mood over to “mainly happy”. 

She stepped off the train with her friends, and immediately spotted her father on the platform.

“Dad!!” she shouted, and threw her scratched arms around his constantly scarred torso. “Merlin, I’ve missed you so much”. She buried her head in his shoulder, simply enjoying the feeling of love and safety that he somehow instantly gave off. 

“Hello, darling!” he said gently, returning the bone-crushing hug. “I missed you too, believe me…”

Breanna wanted to stay like that forever, but eventually let go as she intended to at least try to keep her… problems… hidden. She had never really been able to keep secrets from her dad, and therefore didn’t want to do anything he would consider “out of the ordinary”. If she did, he’d figure it out, or persuade her to tell him everything within minutes, and she knew he’d feel guilty if he realized what she had done for him. She understood perfectly well that the scars on her hand were deep enough to be visible for the rest of her life, and that nothing she would say could convince Remus Lupin that it was not his fault. She was left with one option: He could not, under any circumstances, know. Ever. 

They carried her trunk together, and walked a few feet behind the rest of the gang.

“So?”, her father inquired, “How are things? You all doing okay?”

“I suppose”, she answered, “Our new DADA teacher is quite a daft prick though.”

“Bree!”, he muttered sternly, casually trying to hide a smile, “Are you sure that’s the right word? Sounds rather rough, doesn’t it?”

The witch shrugged. “No, I think it fits rather nicely. It’s almost as if she’s trying her very best to prevent us from learning anything helpful…”

“That’s… well, that doesn’t sound very promising, does it?”

“No, hence the slightly offensive description… But enough about her, how are you? Had any company while I was gone?”

The older wizard smiled, easily noticing the tone of his daughter’s voice switch into a far more joyful, energetic one - One he knew and loved! 

“Oh yes, I’ve spent quite a bit of time at headquarters, and Sirius essentially isn’t allowed anywhere else, so we’ve done a lot of catching up. There is, believe it or not, a lot to talk about after 12 years without seeing each other, so it’s been very nice.” He turned to her, smiled even broader and added a quick “But I’ve still missed you.”, before quickening his pace to catch up with the others.

***

Later that night, Breanna, Remus, Harry and Sirius were sat in the living room of number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry and Sirius were playing catch with an old snitch they had found in the house, lazily throwing it back and forth. Breanna lay on a sofa, a thick leather bound book tightly clutched in her hands and her head resting on her fathers lap. He was deeply invested in A Guide to Medieval Sorcery, and father and daughter were simply enjoying a nice, calm evening.

All of a sudden, Sirius grabbed the snitch, sat up straight and reached out towards his godson. 

“Harry, what’s that on your hand?”

The dark haired boy pulled the sleeves of his jumper further down and mumbled a quiet “nothing”.

“Sure, let me see then”

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry abo…”

Harry didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, as Sirius had risen from his seat and forcefully grabbed his left hand. The slightly faded “I must not tell lies” was still readable, and Harry winced as the look on his godfather’s face went from composed to furious in a matter of seconds.

“Who?” 

“Sirius, I…”

“WHO?!”

By this time, both Remus and Breanna had put their books down, and were carefully observing the “argument”.

“It’s our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Umbridge. She’s quite generous when it comes to giving detentions. But mine’s really not that bad now. It barely hurts anymore...”

“That’s totally barbaric!? Moony, we have to…”

“Harry”, Remus interrupted his old friend with a worried look on his face, “What do you mean by ‘quite generous’?”

His heart practically skipped a beat when he felt his daughter shift uncomfortably, however it was Harry who answered.

“‘m quite sure half the Gryffindors have been to her office at least once by now. Even when you’re not really doing anything wrong, she’ll make up a ‘reasonable’ excuse…”

As Harry spoke, Breanna had unconsciously been pulling the sleeves of her jumper closer to her fingertips. Remus obviously noticed and made eye contact with Harry, nodding discreetly towards his daughter as if to ask if she too had… well… yeah? Harry closed his eyes, knowing full well how his friend wanted to hide her scars from her dad. It had taken hours of convincing before she had even let him, Ron and Hermione see, and he understood why she didn’t want Lupin to know. He did, however, not like the idea of lying to his former professor, and nodded slightly.

Remus closed his eyes looking simultaneously sad and angered, sat up straight and muttered “Bree?”

The young witch took a deep breath and was about to move away from her dad, but he was faster and quickly grabbed her hand. He was very gentle, but she flinched anyways, as her last detention had taken place only a week prior.

“Bree”, he repeated, “show me”

“Dad”, she mumbled quietly, “‘tis fine, don’t worry”

“Brianna!” His voice sounded far sterner now, “I’m serious. C’mere”

“No, I don’t want…”

“It’s not a question of whether or not you want to, Love”, Sirius explained before his friend could think of a response. “Show your dad.”

“But…”

“Bree”, Harry mumbled, “Just… just do it”

“No! I can handle it! Stop making it sound like I’m too weak to do so!”

She felt a tear escape her eye, and stood up to leave the room when Remus waved his wand and locked the door.

Taking yet another deep breath, his daughter turned around, made her way across the room, pulled her left sleeve up and slammed her scarred hand down on the table for the other three to see.

“There! You happy now?!”

A flood of tears were streaming down her face, as her dad, godfather and best friend leant closer and read seven deep-red, awful, heart wrenching words:

***

 I must not defend filthy half breeds

***

Remus put his head in his hands and stood up, while Sirius moved closer to his goddaughter and pulled her into a tight hug. Harry joined the embrace and comfortingly rubbed her back.

“why? Why Bree?”, her father whispered quietly, his voice barely audible.

“I… I couldn’t...She… sorry…” 

The usually calm, collected girl was completely lost for words. Shaking. She had no clue what to say, all she knew was that she had to let her dad know that she was sorry. Sorry for making him feel guilty. Sorry for causing him so much pain. Sorry for not being strong enough.

She walked over to him and noticed heavy, wet tears on his face too. Carefully she wrapped her arms around him, and together they sank down onto the cold floor. They sat there for what felt like hours before Remus finally spoke up, repeating his previous question.

“Why, darling?”

She met his sad gaze and collected her thoughts before quietly whispering “She keeps saying horrible things - pure lies - and she’s enjoying it. She’s throwing insults my way every chance she gets. If I don’t stand up and fight, everyone will think she’s right, and she’s not. Nothing will ever change unless someone works for it, and as soon as that someone backs down, they’ve lost. I’m not having that.”

He looks back at her, his eyes full of pride. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“You mean besides being the most phenomenal dad imaginable?”

He chuckled softly, ruffled her long hair and held his hand out. Breanna slowly placed her hand on her father’s and shifted her gaze towards the floor as he examined the neatly written letters. With a worried expression on his face, he grabbed his wand and moved it back and forth over the scars while quietly muttering a few carefully chosen words. The pain immediately became more endurable, and after putting his wand away the older wizard grabbed his daughter’s shoulders gently, and looked at her in a sad, yet determined way.

“Bree, as honourable as your intentions are, please don’t do this for me. I’m not going to tell you to back down, but if you’re going to keep it up, don’t let it…” He paused, trying to find the right words. “I can’t stand the thought of you getting injured because of me. I’m not wo…”

“Yes, you are! Stop saying that! I’ll be a bit more selective, if that’s what you want, but don’t you dare tell me not to fight for you. You are my dad, my only family, and there is not a single person on this planet less deserving of disrespect, insults and hate. Dad, you’re amazing, and I’m not letting her fool people into thinking you’re not.”

After a moment of silence, a quiet, “I still don’t like it…”, escaped his lips. 

“I know.” She sighed,  “That’s why I originally didn’t plan on telling you.”

Bree was fiddling with her fingers, not quite meeting her fathers warm gaze, when she suddenly sat up and said, “Let’s make a deal? I promise to choose my fights more wisely, and in return, you won’t blame yourself for the consequences of said choices? Sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

Her father sighed, but reluctantly answered, “Fine, as long as you promise me one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“You won’t hide scars or pain from me ever again, no matter whether it’s physical or mental, okay? You’ll let me know, and let me help, always!”

She held her right hand out, her dad shook it and they shared a smile. This time, a true, pure one that actually reached their identically green eyes.

“Deal!”

~ L

Part 2 Oh, darling...

Masterlist

[slytherflynn]

The Return of Slytherflynn | Witch Weekly No. 1

Salutations, witches and wizards! Slytherflynn here. I haven’t posted on this account in a long time. My reason? Actually, there are a few. I’ll get to those soon. Today I’m going to give you an introduction to me, discuss why my exodus happened, and what this blog will consist of moving forward. Let’s jump right in!

Who Is Slytherflynn? Who else? My name’s Eden, but my last name is Flynn, hence the username. I am a Slytherin primary, Hufflepuff secondary. My patronus is a dolphin, so that’s pretty cool. I’m mixed, but live the life of a white girl because I look white and don’t care to argue with people about my DNA. I enjoy elevating underrepresented voices, and will go to any length to protect the unprotected. I’d consider myself to be a humanitarian. I know people despise labels, but I believe choosing labels wisely can give others a great insight into who you are as a person, so here are some labels I identify with: Bisexual, Androgynous, BLM Ally, Liberal, Socialist, University Student, Abuse Survivor, ADHD, Excoriation Disorder, OCD, Depression, PTSD, [an] Attachment Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Tacoman, Creator. There are plenty more I could throw out there, but those in particular are important to me. Make of them what you will, but know that I am not ashamed of any of those. I am going to open a nonprofit center supporting POC Youth and connected communities in art and education, but I also want to do everything. Now that you know about me...

Who Are You? Yes, you, reading this paper! What do we have in common? Different? What makes you special, and what makes you the same? What communities are you tied to? Tell me in the replies!

My Magical Journey I grew up in a dreadfully muggle world. My mother, also a muggle, delighted in Harry Potter, as did my brothers. I was resolutely a Harry Potter hater, and thought they were too fangirly, but when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out and I saw Louis Cordice portray Blaise Zabini, everything changed. I may or may not have gone off the deep end and started fangirling over him - what? He’s attractive, okay? But I did end up reeling myself in, as having unrealistic fictional crush is one thing, but thirsting for an unattainable person who probably is married with a kid by now is another, and I didn’t want to get to a point where I was fetishizing someone rather than admiring them for their skills and unique perspective on the world. He did notice my thirsting though, and thought it was funny! So no harm, no foul as far as I’m concerned. Absolute win! Anyways, after becoming a fan of him, Tumblr let me know that there was more content about Blaise Zabini in the books than the movies, so what did I do? Commit to reading all seven, because my ADHD said so and would rather do that than homework. Eventually, I started up this side blog so my main blog wouldn’t be so flooded with hp content. I have written quite a few fics, all appropriate, all probably trash because most of them were written in my junior year of high school, all available for you to read. I ought to make a masterlist for my work, now that I think about it. Anyways, you can find that content and other fun stuff under the tag #slytherflynn so check that out for some light, probably shitty reading!

Why I Left At some point, I decided not to post as much, and went from 100 to 0, real quick. I have a bunch of unfinished writing in my drafts, and I’m not really sure how to start up everything again, but I know I want to, because writing and creating is such a passion of mine, and so is Harry Potter. Part of the reason I left was because I’m a perfectionist and felt this need to make every post perfect, my feed perfectly curated, everything perfectly on time, and I ended up holding myself to a standard that I just can’t meet - no human could, not even Hermione Granger, as evidenced in Prisoner of Azkaban. It took a long time to come back to this blog because I burnt myself out, truth be told. That perfectionism carries over into every aspect of my life - I did mention I want to do everything, after all - and I ended up piling so much up that I couldn’t get all of it done. I felt guilty every time I thought about this blog, because I had so many faithful followers that I essentially abandoned without warning, and I know feeling abandoned isn’t a good feeling. That, and I still couldn’t shake the shame surrounding the fact that I wasn’t posting content every week despite my want to. I even considered deleting this blog! Sorry to anyone who was waiting for me to post hp content on my main account ( @id-rather-be-an-outsider ), I got too anxious to do that, even.

Seeing the Future I’m not skilled at Divination, but I can confirm that I will be making an official return to this blog - complete with Witch Weekly articles whenever I have updates to give! I have at least one short fic finished that I’d like to create a moodboard for and post on here sometime soon. This time around, I’m only going to be posting when I really want to so I’m not putting any pressure on myself, and I’m going to open up asks for you guys to request writing for pairings (note that I do not write smut), as well as giving you guys the opportunity to submit stories - my goal for submissions is to elevate PoC and other voices the masses don’t usually hear, and I encourage those who do submit to always self-promote in their author’s note! You can find the guidelines for post submissions on my submission section :)

Goodbyes Since we are reaching the end of this article, I’m going to be officially saying goodbye to: negativity, destructively high and unrealistic expectations, anxiety, writer’s block, artist’s block, fear of under 10 notes (notes shouldn’t matter, but yakno, there’s still gonna be that part of me that knows bad writing probably won’t be getting 10 notes so it’s still... scary), fear of unfair criticisms, defensiveness... and hello to: creativity, letting our hair down, wearing our glasses, posts on the witching hour, going to bed early instead of staying up late to force out a piece, perfectly imperfect writing, pretty moodboards, and making mistakes! Hope to see you all soon with a post, and Happy Pride! My city’s official Pride month is July so I get to celebrate Pride twice, lucky me!

be loving <3 - slytherflynn

[harrylovesteas]

Rose Bush

Hey guys, I’ve never really posted my personal fics on Tumblr before. But, I am giving it a shot. I haven't written in so long, so please let me know if you like it or any type of feedback! You can also find this fic on my wattpad, @harrylovesteas on there I will probably edit it more, but you guys will definitely get more previews. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this. it has kind of taken serval hours from me over the last week.

warnings: swearing, mentioning of homophobia, fluff? I think that’s it!

Life is always a mystery. You never know what you’ll get when it comes to life in reality. If you’re lucky, you’ll know exactly what you want to do with your life before life has the chance to royally fuck you up. However, most aren’t that lucky. Most are the indecisive people who just are going through this roller coaster with blindfolds, with no idea what’s coming next. Yet, a roller coaster isn’t the correct this type of life. In more ways, it feels as though life is just a foggy black and white haze until something adds color.

Perhaps that’s why so many people prefer books and stories of fiction, it’s a way to escape the uncertainty of life itself, a way to pretend that everything is actually indeed ‘fine’. At least that’s how Aurora felt about it at least. Her books and music were her safe haven. With a good book in hand and her music playing, the world would just pause, even if it was for only thirty minutes, it was an escape. Perhaps it was the flow of the words that caused the young adult to feel free. Or perhaps it had to do with the fact that each character had a unique story and lesson to share. No matter the reasoning, the brunette nearly always had a book on her. Of course, she couldn’t always carry a physical book on her person, but who needed to when smartphones could give you everything you could ever need.

Although books provide the girl with a blissful escape, it was also those same books that had made her content with the lack of social life since she had moved to the wet nation known as Britain. Being an American, she had very little knowledge of what to expect. After all, most of her knowledge of the country came from the television show Skins along with the Harry Potter series. But, with her very stubborn and rather particular grandmother’s passing, the young twenty-one-year-old had been gifted not only the full inheritance, but her grandmother’s cottage of sorts however to receive both items the girl would have to move to England. Sure, the older woman had adored her granddaughter, however Aurora suspected the will was just a final lesson, that Catherine could give her children on her death bed, what way could she punish money hungry children besides not giving them more than a final word of advice and a dime for the amount of times that they had tried to reach out in her old age. Compared to her bright-eyed granddaughter who tried to call every other week just to speak of schooling or of a novel she was reading. Although, being a college student was not easy by any means yet it was no one’s fault but her own for changing her major twice. Her mess, her responsibility; how could she expect anyone to clean up her mess? Therefore, she had been balancing working part-time with being a full-time student. Her grandmother’s final gift to the young woman was something that Aurora had never anticipated; a chance to start over. With the home and money all put into her name, her family was not thrilled whatsoever, yet Aurora knew that she couldn’t disappoint the one person who listened about the stories she had been reading. So, the girl moved from the small town she was raised in and essentially moved crossed the world. Fully knowing from that moment her family could potentially outcast her.

Holmes Chapel, the town in which the well known Harry Styles grew up. The town isn’t necessarily smaller or bigger than the small town Aurora grew up in back in America, yet there was something about the British people that made this place feel so much more knitted together. At least in the neighborhood, her grandmother had lived in seemed so close to give the illusion that each person in some way or another were like family to one another. It’s no secret back home that if a young university student had moved into a residential neighborhood, some residents would complain and assume their nice quiet neighborhood would be turned into a loud obnoxious party house lowering their property values; yet here not even an hour after her cab had dropped her off at the royal blue medium sized home with the white wrap around porch that the swing next to the dark wooden door, a few neighbors had greeted her an apologized for her loss. It felt bewildering to the girl, who was always taught that it was best to keep some distance between yourself and neighbors. It simply was the way to resume privacy, but in more ways than one it was a form of isolation and nothing more. It was a way that helped build rumors, cliques, and forms judgment precursors that overtime cause unnecessary tensions over a shrub or a little fence. Looking back at the do’s and don’t of the pompous life that her family had created seemed rather ridiculous now. If one were to hide away in a house with no communication with neighbors, your just another robot living the social media life, everything looks perfect on the outside, while behind closed doors everything is falling to pieces with a blood-curdling scream. Besides, if no one is allowed or good enough to be in your life, what’s the point of human contact? Perhaps, that is why so many people are always so miserable, it would be exhausting to constantly be something you weren’t. Aurora knew that all too well for her young age, but as much as she hated to admit it, she almost did not know not how to ‘fake it until she made it’. After all that was a concept that she had learned from such a young age, girls were to smile and to be what was expected of them. Yet, with a sense of the rest button being hit in her life, the brunette finally could be who she had always wanted, and no one could force her to be anything else different.

By the exterior of the home, the house appeared to be well kept and with perfect order. Some of the plants were overgrown and dead, yet with the winter chill and slight dusting coat of snow, the demise of the plants made sense truly. It still appeared to look perfectly in order. Even when you initially enter the home everything looks as if it has a particular order. The walls are coated in what looks to be fresh grey paint and select a few picture frames to decorate the home as though only a few of the innocent moments in deserved to be relived. A black fireplace captured the living room with one swallow, with no television, and all the soft white fabric sofas angling around the fire provided a feeling of close intimacy to those who had been welcomed into the humble abode. Along the entryway of the home remained to be one of the things Aurora had always wanted in a home, a window seat, or as she called it, ‘the most profit spot to read as it rained outside’. As she stood smiling at the cushioned window, the girl could almost already hear the rain pelting against the glass cooling the world around her down as she melted away into a fantasy. Pulling herself out of her daydream, the women tossed her jean jacket on to the rocking chair closest to the black marble fireplace, while her luggage remained by the front door. Although she had sworn to break her bad habits, Aurora knew all too well she probably wouldn’t unpack right away. But, how could she unpack when she still had to explore the large house?

For what felt like hours the five foot and three inches female wandered the home, first she had discovered the kitchen, arguably the most important room of the whole house. It was brighter than the living room, and somewhat expectedly the room was coated in a ray of soft sunshine yellow and the white marble had such a large contrast to the living room that she truly did not know what to expect. She could remember her grandmother telling her that one should not decorate to please people, but decorated from to please soul because if one did this then you’d always feel at home no matter who is around. As she roamed further into the home she had found the half bath, guest bathroom, and guest room which were all various shades of creams to grey. Each room regardless of the paint of the walls had a bright burst of color which shouted at life and yet had something relaxing laced together with it as well.

Her soft white shocks made no noise as she took slow and gentle steps towards the final door, which the girl presumed to be the master bedroom. Taking in a large intake of hair, the girl with the messy brown hair rested her forehead against the white door. Finding some courage, her hand grasped the doorknob before carefully pushing the door into the room. Her caramel brown eyes grew to the size of saucers at the sight before her. This was nothing that she had expected for the room to look like, after all the last time she had FaceTime with her grandmother, this room had been painted a shade of bright red and covered with lace. Now, however, the walls were white as snow. The fan that used to be over the bed was now replaced with a glass chandler. In the corner next to the walking closet was a black chair swing, the walk-in closet had been replaced by full-length mirrors, a lovely black vanity with royal blue fuzzy rug remained near the window. In the center of it all had been a king size bed, with royal blue and black silk bedding, as if her grandmother had remembered exactly what colors had been her favorites. One of the most eye-catching parts of the room at to be the secret draws within the bed frame perfect for storing her books. Along the side of the bed on both sides remained two nightstands with silver lamps to back the glass table decor. Tip-Toeing to the master bathroom, Aurora held her breath fearing that she’d wake up and this would all be a dream.

The master bathroom seemingly matched perfectly to the bedroom’s aesthetic. The walls remained white with black and silver accents along with each piece of furniture, The royal blue was not forgotten as it was the exact shade of the towels and rugs. There was something about the color scheme that gave the women a sense of elegance laced together with relaxation. The cool ceramic flooring cooled the bottom of her feet through her socks as she took in each aspect of the large bathroom. The home was a true dream, and something gave off a feeling she could not quite describe. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have said the home had been completely decorated to meet her preference. However, if this truly was the case, why had she been lead to believe that her grandmother had passed away in a freak accident? There had been so many unknowns regarding the whole situation, for example, why had her grandmother’s medical file been sealed? What type of family secrets was lingering within the family still?

Starring lazily at the empty black bath, the girl vividly recalled the funeral two weeks prior, and how strange everyone had been acting. From the moment that the family had been alerted of Catherine’s death, so many peculiar behaviors started popping up. It all had started with how her parents demanded that she come home while they had to start planning on how to get her from England back to the United States of America. During a family death, perhaps it was normal to have the whole family come home, however that implied that she had a normal family. But, she didn’t, her family were the type of people who would miss birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. Nothing was sacred and if there was an opportunity to further the depth of one’s pockets, typically that route would have been taken. There were so many times that she could vividly recall family dinners and parties being canceled, due to someone needing to go prep for another surgery or court case. So, having everyone and the same household until the funeral was beyond strange. Perhaps, thinking that they were all grieving of shorts, the brunette packed her bag and drove the five hours along the interstate to come home to the small town that had the house on the hill.

Upon her arrival home, Aurora noted the large rain clouds threatening to unleash the built up rain. The clean air had been a smell that she had missed dearly, seeing as in the city in which she now lived in smelt of car’s exhaust, but at the family manner, the scent of pine trees and the lake filled the atmosphere. With the impending rain clouds, the air slowly started to have a more of a lake scent than normal, which signaled that the storm would be one what would be one of destruction. The large unwelcoming brown door of the castle-like home remained unchanged from what she had remembered. Building up her courage, the college student chewed on her lip, before grabbing her phone and backpack.

Knots formed heavily within her stomach with each step towards the large unwelcoming door frame. Her long brown curly hair blew back in the stormy wind, sending a chill through her spine. Pulling her black cardigan over her black skinny jeans and Aerosmith faded concert t-shirt, the girl pushed the door open fully knowing that she would fully be ridiculed for her choice in clothing regardless of the lack of people in the home. Entering the threshold once again was exactly what Aurora had expected. The home still was uncannily cold and the overpowering scent of the lilacs that undoubtedly decorated every corner of the manor. The old aged rugs remained over the wooden floors as if they truly prevented the original wood floors from harsh bursts of the seasonal weather. Yet, it is nearly impossible to break the family out of its traditional ways. Perhaps that was why Catherine had disappeared off the face of the earth for a full year only to find out she was living a new life across the pond as if the life surrounded by statuses whom only cared about how many green faces lined their Gucci suits. At least, that was what Aurora suspected, and for that, she couldn’t fault her Grandmother. To spend so many years with the heartlessness and cold atmosphere, one still craving life and hope desperately would want to be freed from that prison.

Right on cue, the sounds of bickering filled the long dreary hall. Exhaling her final piece of peace, the girl dropped her bag down next to the long extravagant staircase. Tucking her hair behind her ears Aurora began her way towards the loud voices whining and complaining down the house. By the sound of the voices, she had been able to pick out her father’s and Uncle Jon’s voice, along with Alana, Jon’s gold-digging wife. Although she could not identify any other voices, Aurora knew all too well that this world war three most likely had a few unsettling viewers. Turning the corner, the small crowd came into focus. Mentally, she had patted herself on the back for correctly identifying her uncle, aunt, and father, yet it was seeing the ‘family disappointment ‘ her father’s sister and her small family did confuse her completely. She could have never expected to see her aunt Scarlett, who was nearly blacklisted from every family event due to her decision of leaving the family practice of lawyers and doctors to open up a little cafe with her secret girlfriend and her eighteen-year-old son. Jon and her father swore that Scarlett’s sexuality had nothing to do with the lack of appearances at family functions, yet Scarlett hadn’t come out until midway through the ten years of Catherine’s leave. Suddenly after, her aunt seemingly was removed from any pictures and no longer attended any type of holiday. For a group of Christians and Catholics who claim to believe in God’s love, they sure did like to criticize different people and place themselves above others… It truly made no sense to Aurora, weren’t they suppose to love everyone?

With a relieved smile, the youngest female approached her favorite aunt, “I’ve really missed you,” she whispered while engulfing her into an enduring hug full of honesty. From her aunt to Susan and Brandon, Scarlett’s now wife and adopted son, welcoming them with a warm hug knowing well that Alana was continuing to scoff and make remarks regarding the will.

“Aurora, why are you wearing such hideous clothes? You have a much suitable wardrobe to wear, especially seeing as your grandmother’s lawyer is on the way, perhaps you should change, “ the nasal sounding woman suggested only gaining an eye roll from Susan.

“Alana, I’m so glad I was able to take a microbiology final, and then drive three hours to not only deal with my grandmother’s death but to be graced with your not wanted opinion. This may surprise you, but some people don’t automatically think about a will when they get a phone call of a family member’s death. Some us need time to digest the information and remember the individual, but apparently, most of this family disagrees and thinks that if we wait a week that all the money will be gone,” Aurora commented rather hastily bitterly due to the situation of events. For a second, the girl regretted her harsh words, yet she acted it down with the rest of her emotions. After all, if you showed weakness around a pack of wolves, you wouldn’t see the light of day ever again. It was the situations like this, it always was best to wear defensive comments like armor. It was something that she had hated most about this place, she hated having to walk around on thin ice waiting for an argument. At least at school, one wouldn’t have to worry about appearances as much or being treated as an object rather than a person. Back on campus, Aurora could recall several times seeing students in pajamas, or even professors only wearing jeans and the university sweatshirt. The university campus was judgment-free and she deeply missed it. But, there was nothing she could do about that now, she was officially in the wolves den full of wolves waiting and hoping to take a large chunk of the estates and money. Little did anyone realize, by rushing this reading of the will everyone’s lives were about to be changed.

It was the faint knocking sound that had pulled Aurora out of her trance-like state. Blinking away all the thoughts and memories haunting her large caramel brown eyes, the woman eyes snapped and looked directly into the mirror above the marble sink. She had to admit, she did look fairly rough considering for the last two weeks she had been wearing full face makeup, but that didn’t necessarily mean she looked terrible considering the situation. Her hair was slightly messy from having the windows down the cab, but she had straightened the curly hair before the flight so she wouldn’t look like a complete mess if she fell asleep on the plane, her eyebrows held their natural shape without the colored filler, her eyes had been bloodshot and sad, her olive skin showed it’s imperfections yet it had a healthy glow from being moisturized daily along with being washed. Her black tank top matched with her comfortable Addis joggers, but that was just it, she didn’t stick out. Yes, she did have nice curves, but she wasn’t necessarily anything more than average. She definitely wasn’t beyond beautiful in her book. She wasn’t taller than 5’3, she didn’t have sapphires for eyes, her teeth weren’t perfectly white, and she wasn’t a blonde. She was only Aurora Elizabeth Wilde, she was average and came from old money, that was how she had been described since puberty, but that hadn’t meant that it couldn’t change now that she had moved so far away. Perhaps here she could be an actual person rather than someone who comes from money. Once again, the knocking filled the house. Realizing that she had temporarily forgotten about the door, the girl spun on her heels and quickly sprinted towards the front door knowing that the weather app had called for rain in the evening.

Being as clumsy as she was it didn’t take long for the brunette to accidentally shoulder check the corner wall closet to the front down. “For fuck sake Rori,” she muttered grumpily as a strong shot of pain radiated from her shoulder and seeing as it was her own fault she couldn’t be mad at anyone but herself. Rubbing circles around her potentially bruised flesh. Not bothering to look through the peephole, the girl swung the door open realizing that she probably shouldn’t just open the door so quickly to strangers, but she felt as though she had been shot, therefore logic was not present at the moment. With furrowed brows, she looked at the people before her. One of the ladies looked maybe in her late forties with the kindest smile and eyes she had ever seen with a nice sundress and her hair pulled up. The other woman had similar bright eyes, dark eyes and had been wearing an old concert t-shirt and jeans. By the looks of it, she had a strong feeling that they were, in fact, mother and daughter, but there was. Something about the duo that caused the woman to sense that she had known them from somewhere.

“Hello, I’m Anne and this is my daughter Gemma. We just wanted to introduce ourselves, I live right across the street,” the first woman explained sensing Aurora’s curiosity, “Gem had noticed the master bedroom’s light on and we wanted to finally see the face of whom Catherine often spoke of.”

Not wanting to be rude, Aurora kept eye contact with the older woman as Anne spoke. “It’s nice to meet you both, I’m Aurora,” she responded shaking their hands politely. “If it’s not a bother, do you mind suggesting some places that have good food around here? Earlier when I was exploring the house I was struggling to find food to cook, it was weird, I fully expected to find an unworldly amount of pasta noodles and sauce to make,” she had commented with a soft laugh while rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

“Catherine always did put things in strange places if you’d like me to show you? One of the last times I was over here we helped her cook, and just everything was in strange places,” Gemma offered.

“I would really appreciate that, if you don’t mind, of course,” the American commented as she moved over allowing the women into her new home of sorts. In which the girl around her age entered in the house.

“Silly me, I forgot the spare key and plant I was meaning on bringing over here! I’ll be right back ladies, Gemma message me if you need anything from home.” With the final comment from Anne, the older woman turned rather swiftly and made her way a crossed the street to the house Aurora assumed was hers.

Softly the brunette shut the front door and followed Gemma towards the kitchen. “Did you grow up here,” Aurora questioned attempting to create small talk between the two of them.

“Yeah, my mum, my brother and I just about all grew up here. It’s not the biggest town, but I personally love it here. But, I might be a little bias, London is nice as well. I live there now, but nowhere is like home, you know?”

“I’ve never left the states besides this, so I kind of get it. I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot different here compared to there. But, I'm definitely loving Holmes Chapel’s charm. Everyone I’ve met so far is super kind,” Aurora confessed trying not to flat out say she was glad to be away from her spiteful family for good.

Reaching the colorful kitchen, Aurora kept close to Gemma as if she feared that the ingredients were in plain sight, in which she would already appear to be a proper idiot. Crouching down next to the stove, Gemma’s soft brown eyes met Aurora’s and a small smile crept along with the British’s facial features. Opening the cabinet’s door, her eyes remained on Aurora before she giggled and spoke, “who puts bloody pasta noodles by the stove? There should be some jarred pasta sauce on the other side of the stove.”

Moving to the instructed location Aurora’s eyebrows went up quizzically, but opening it nonetheless opened the cabinet door and took a peak in. Sure enough, there was the pasta sauce and random bottles of wine. With a small shake of the head Aurora muttered in a playful tone, “she must have been madder than I remember.” Standing back up with the sauce and a bottle of wine, she sat the items on the countertop. “If you and your mom don’t have dinner plans, you’d be more than welcomed to join me. I haven’t cooked for only myself in what feels like ages, and maybe you can help me find whatever else that crazy American hid.”

“We’d love to just let me tell my mom to bring over the pie as well,” Gemma had responded while pulling out her phone sending a quick little message to her mom. “Now, where do you reckon she put the pots and wine glasses?”

***

Laughs echoed off of the walls of the living room, where the three women sat drinking their fair share of wine. Although Aurora had genuinely been nervous to really have the company so soon, she was glad she had opened the front door. Dinner had gone so smoothly, that it had seemed as though they had all knew each other for several years, or as if Aurora had been apart of the family for several years.

“I’m just saying Aurora should spend some time in London too, especially if she’s going back to school mum, I didn’t say I was going to kidnap her and never share her with you,” Gemma retorted trying to withhold a laugh.

“You better not even try it, Gemma, she is my new child who just happens to live only a road away. I am not losing all my children to London,” the mother spoke before sending a small wink to both of the girls.

Taking another sip of the white wine, Aurora simply surpassed the smile on her face. “You two are officially my favorite people in the world,” she stated truthfully before speaking again before the others could, “but on a serious note, I think maybe I’ll stay in Holmes Chapel until I’m settled in and comfortable with my surroundings. Then from there I’ll get a flat out in London for school, and come here for breaks and the weekends. I’m not too sure what the plan will be just yet.”

“That does sound like a good plan, love. London is quite big,” Anne had replied softly.

Hearing the supportiveness within Anne’s tone had Aurora feeling slightly envious. Was this the supportiveness she had been missing nearly her whole life? Was this what having a mother figure like? Were all mother’s like this? So many questioned clashed within her head as she processed how genuinely kind these people were.

Out of the corner of her eye, a black shine had caught Aurora’s attention. Slowly climbing off of the plush sofa, the girl sat her wine glass down on the side table before crawling over to what appeared to be a large box next to a record player. “Woah,” she murmured softly as she got close. Sitting in front of the record player the brunette began to pull out the records. “I had no idea my grandmother had all these,” Aurora trailed off feeling the eyes on her back.

“She didn’t,” Gemma had started gaining a small peak over the shoulder from Aurora, who then continued to go through the records in a daze, “they used to be my brother’s. Near the end, Cat knew how bad her medical condition was getting. Since she had known that she had wanted you to have the house, she started getting the house ready for you. She had my brother and I help plan the new color scheme. She wanted you to feel comfortable and happy. Anyways, one day we were talking about music because Cat kept saying that you needed to have a way to listen to music as you read or cooked. I had suggested a wireless speaker, but he went a little deeper with the question, and had asked what type of music you liked,”

“Yeah, I remember her calling me to ask what music I like, she sounded rushed, but I thought she was having a weird grandma moment that she just wanted to know how I was feeling,” Aurora elaborated slightly while looking up from the records.

“By the time I got back with the speaker, Harry had brought over his collection,” Gemma added.

“Tell your brother he has great taste in music, way better than most, but if he wants this all back, my feelings wouldn’t be hurt. I have no idea how he can part from Stevie Nicks, Aerosmith, or the Eagles,” Aurora said referencing some of the albums that she had already pulled out. With a small yawn, the girl slowly removed a vinyl from its case and carefully placed it on to a record player.

“Gem, we should go home, Aurora must be getting tired from her long day, and we are waking her up early tomorrow so we can all go to the bakery in the morning,” Anne commented softly while rising from her spot on the sofa.

Once she had gotten up from her spot, Anne encouragingly helped Gemma off the lazy boy before planting a friendly kiss on American’s forehead, “we’ll see you in the morning, yeah?”

“You’re going to regret saying you wanted to get breakfast when she wakes you up tomorrow, so try to get some rest,” Gemma instructed giving the sitting girl a hug.

By the time that both women had exited the house, Stevie’s legendary voice filled the house. Aurora had managed to force herself off of the floor to the lock the door. It wasn’t until she waved goodnight to her new neighbors that Aurora realized whom she had just spent the evening with. How had it been that she hadn’t made the connection sooner? It hadn’t changed her opinion on the women at all, and yet her younger directioner self was incredibly disappointed that she had met Harry Styles’ family and didn’t realize it. But, in more ways than one, she felt relieved that she hadn’t until their departure if she had then she may have felt the need to act more reserved than normal. At least they had met the real her as she had with them.

Yet, subconsciously she was trying hard to keep her cool, she had Harry Styles’ private vinyl collection. Was this actually real?

[salemsaberhxgen-a]

re; salem’s magical abilities

this covers powers from the original comics, the 1996 sitcom, & the chilling adventures of sabrina

disclaimer: i try to state what is canon & what is my interpretation as well as which canon is being referenced but researching this, i’ve found that the information is relatively jumbled up & there are many different story lines & origin stories so there’s a lot of contradictions as well as overlap. that being said, the information regarding his powers are very limited so please bear that in mind while reading this as these apply only to my own portrayal of salem, do not assume all other salems follow suit.

tl:dr version below:

salem can fly unaided, time travel with seemingly no limitations, shapeshift into any living thing, communicate with & understand animals, can communicate telepathically with the witch for whom he is a familiar, travel in a method similar to apparating in harry potter, & use another witch to complete spells while essentially transferring power for the sake of completing said spell.

one last note, is that i didn’t pull any of this stuff out of thin air. these are things you can find information about, however difficult or limited. the only reason i’m saying salem can do it, is because there’s information on it either from the sitcom or the comics. this isn’t me trying to make salem op, these are facts that i think make total sense for him. also keep in mind, that while he may have all these powers, he is not all powerful & has limitations to his skill or strength, some of which i mention but many of which i don’t. this is kind of just the bare bones of the list

canonically in the sitcom salem has absolutely no powers as a cat but he had some powers in the comics, as well as abilities as a goblin in the chilling adventures of sabrina & i take influence from all of them. today i wanna talk about what powers he had as a regular witch as well as abilities that he may have been able to keep despite his sentence as a cat.

to start, some of the known abilities we have involve the ability to time travel, fly as well as shape-shift. i also think that once he became a cat, he gained the ability to connect & speak with animals either telepathically or just simply understanding the noises an animal makes. this i think he would keep after returning to his regular body again since becoming human would simply mean gaining his full powers back as well as being freed from his confinements as a cat. i also think that he retained the ability to shift into a cat but can do so without the help of incantations where as normally he would require a spell of some kind to facilitate the shift. both of these abilities require concentration & effort to complete & are not snap your fingers fast.

if we’re to go by his powers via the comic books, ( which i also take influence from ), & although this was story line dependent, then salem maintained his powers, although they were very limited. the only catch was that he needed someone else’s fingers to act as a sort of extension of himself. in essence, he could perform magic by siphoning off his power for use of his spell but this is something that required a willing assistant; he couldn’t just use any old witch without permission to do so.

it’s still unclear the extent of his shape shifting abilities so i can’t go into full detail now, though i’ll be making a follow up post about this specifically at some point. anyway, i’m assuming it’s based off typical shifting rules where you need something to imprint off of so if you have something as a reference, you can transform into that. however, i would assume that this only applies to outer appearance & does nothing to affect him physiologically. theoretically he could turn into a chair if he wanted but why would he i guess is the question.

this shifting abilities are very much so present in the caos. as a goblin, salem can shift into anything. he does have a default form, link here for description & photo. be warned, it’s creepy af but most things from coas are.

moving on, this is where i really stray from canon, be it the comics, the sitcom, or even the chilling adventures of sabrina. for this i take some influence from harry potter.

already we know that salem & his coven have no use for wands, instead they use their fingers or simply just willing something to happen. the latter required a lot more practice & skill & i think salem’s time as a cat where he couldn’t use his hands to facilitate his spells that once he returned to his original form, he no longer required the use of his hands. i also believe that on top of being able to perform ❝ wandless ❞ magic, he also honed his skills to allow him to simply think of or imagine a spell in his mind rather than having to speak an incantation aloud. i do however thing that if he wanted to use some powerful magic, he had to then return to speaking aloud so really non-verbal magic was restricted to smaller spells that required no ongoing effort.

going back to his powers as a witch before his sentence, i mentioned the ability to time travel, fly, & shapeshift. it’s difficult to get any concrete information about the extent of these powers so from here on out is just my interpretation. with that in mind, let’s continue.

time travel. of course salem has to abide by the rules of time travel. not to risk sounding confusing but i was reading up on time travel & i found a couple lines that sum it up reasonably well ❝ something is whatever it is, & was whatever it was, & will be whatever it will be, once & forever.... [ once something happens ] there is nothing you can do to change it, because it happened. you can no more change events in your past in a space-time with closed timelike curves than you can change events that already happened in ordinary space-time, with no closed timelike curves. ❞

in essence, nothing he does can change the future because any event he thinks he might influence already happened & it will always happen the way it did. knowing this, the stress of time travel & worrying about fucking up a timeline disappeared, not that it was something he was especially worried about anyways. mostly he time travels to experience things, not to attempt to alter reality for one reason or another.

if he has any limits when it comes to time travel, he doesn’t know what they are & doesn’t care to find out. it works for what he wants it to & has yet to run into any issues or limitations pertaining to it.

next up, flying. so typically witches require something to ride in order to fly. originally witches rode brooms but the sitcom implies that modern day witches ride vacuums instead the reason for which is beyond me. but i’ll take a second to mention that there are vacuum riding witch traffic cops in the sky to make sure witches are using their vacuums within the law which is just a really funny visual. later in the sitcom sabrina moves away from her vacuum & we’re left to assume that she likely shifted to using molecular transference as means for travel. the equivalent would probably be something along the lines of floo powder in harry potter without needing the use of a chimney to do so.

for a quick second i’m also going to explain molecular transference as it’s something that salem also has the ability to do, given that you must take a test to prove you know how in order to gain your witches licence. in short this can be used to travel great distances & between realms in a matter of seconds & most witches can transport people with them as we see later in the series. skilled witches can change the way this ability manifests ie. travelling by smoke in place of a witch’s usual magical form. along with this, forms that create a lot of noise upon entrance can also be changed so that the user can use their usual magic to dematerialize, but then quietly flash into the desired location silently, but again, this isn’t the case for all witches & many have no need for this extra step — salem among them. after all, he likes to make an entrance.

in sitcom canon, the first witch to fly on an object other than a broom was irma spellman who rode a large brazil nut. this implies that witches are capable of charming various ( if not any ) objects for air travel. knowing this, i think salem would have played around with both this & molecular transference in order to find a way to fly without the use of a broom or anything else for that matter. the fact that this ability was specifically mentioned leads me to believe that salem may have succeeded in his attempts to fly unaided since there are other abilities ( ie. molecular transference ) which he had but were not mentioned. 

this is all i have atm. might add more or rewrite sections with more detail at some point but yeah !

*slaps* this bad boy can fit so much magic in it

[thecomicsnexus]

SWAMP THING #8-13 DECEMBER 1982 - MAY 1983 BY MARTIN PASKO, TOM YEATES, JAN DUURSEMA, TOM MANDRAKE, JOHN TOTLEBEN AND TATJANA WOOD

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Swamp Thing, Dennis and Liz are stranded on an island populated by the materialized imaginings of six marines who create classic movie scenes with their minds. They have to deal with dinosaurs, hostile tribesmen, a giant ape (reference to King Kong) and wander through a scene from Citizen Kane.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey Harry Kay and Milton await the arrival of Karen Clancy and Paul Feldner. Karen looks much older and more sure of her powers. Paul tells her he won't be a part of her plan, he slaps her and tries to run away before bursting into flames. Before dying he warns the world is in danger.

Back on the island Dennis and Liz are finally able to confront the imagineers and it is discovered that they fought in Vietnam where they came into contact with the defoliant, Agent Blue (the only explanation for their powers). They could not reintegrate into society after the war due to psychological trauma and feelings of being outcasts so they re-enlisted. The six soldiers were to be transferred on the U.S.S New Hampshire which exploded and sank, leaving them as the only survivors. It was then that the soldiers realized they could "create stuff outta thin air" just by thinking about it and decided to live out the fantasies of their imagination instead of returning to reality.

Liz then scolds Cheeto for hiding from reality, essentially calling them all cowards unworthy of sympathy. Cheeto tries to shoot Liz but is stopped by Swamp Thing and hits one of his fellow soldiers instead. At this point the room they are in begins to fall apart along with the entire island as their fantasy reality is shattered. Reef (one of the soldiers) creates a helicopter and he, Swamp Thing, Liz and Dennis escape while everybody else drowns.

Swamp Thing, Liz Tremayne and Dennis Barclay arrive in New Jersey, where their helicopter (created by Reef in the previous issue) disintegrates. Meanwhile in Washington DC, Harry Kay takes Paul Feldner to a Sunderland facility to be treated by the Receptor method (explained in issue 5). We then see a flashback of the moment when Feldner is set ablaze by Karen Clancy. Communicating through Milton Grossman, she explains that she has discovered that Feldner was not the true catalyst ("The host whose powers I may drain and take unto myself") and that one of Kay's henchmen, David Marx is. If there was any doubt of her malevolence before, it is now shown clearly. She develops into a fully grown woman over Feldner's burning body and offers to spare him in exchange for Marx. Marx goes willingly to save Feldner's life.

We then discover that Harry Kay is actually a nazi war criminal called Dr. Helmut Kripptman and he is operating his own mission, separate from the Sunderland Corporation. We also discover that Grasp somehow survived his death in issue 2 and is spying on Kay for General Sunderland. Grasp also has orders to destroy Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing seems to have understood Karen's true nature now and is overcome with melancholy because he believed that she was the only person who truly understood and needed him.

Dennis, Liz and Swamp thing are confronted by Kay at the Barclay clinic where he explains that he is trying to obtain "information of vital importance to the future of the world" and asks for their cooperation. They decline and Milton, on Kripptman's order attacks them with psychic powers.

At the Barclay Clinic, Dr. Helmut Kriptmann tries to forcibly coerce Swamp Thing and his allies to join him in his mission to destroy Karen Clancy. We learn that Karen Clancy has a mutation that gives her psychic powers, much like Milton Grossman, except that she does not have an "inhibiting factor" that deforms her body the more the power is used. Milton is visibly deforming as he holds Swamp Thing with his psychokinisis power. Swamp Thing resists and breaks free from Milton Grossman's hold but then decides that if they are willing to go to such lengths then perhaps the situation is as bad as they claim. Kriptmann makes a final effort to persuade them and Swamp Thing and Dennis decide to stop resisting and join forces with him.

Meanwhile, at the Sunderland Corporation HQ in Washington DC General Sunderland and Walter "Grasp" Ellenbeck are alerted about the activity at the Barclay Clinic. After watching the surveillance tapes they discover that Liz Tremayne is still alive and Grasp is ordered to hunt down and kill them all.

Swamp Thing, Tremayne, Barclay, Feldner and Kriptmann and his crew all travel to Munich together to follow Karen Clancy. While in their hotel, Feldner suddenly remembers Karen's plans from the time he was imprisoned by her. He recalls that, she is in search of Von Ruhnstedt's pendulum, which she needs to complete her goals. Von Ruhnstedt was one of many Nazi occultists who were eventually sent to the Dachau concentration camp because their powers became too great.

They arrive at Dachau to a hellish scene where Karen has raised an army of long-dead nazi soldiers while she flies overhead searching for Von Ruhnstedt. She finds the corpse of Von Ruhnstedt and he tells her that the pendulum is in the hands of someone who has a collection of Nazi mementos in Berchtesgaden. Karen then destroys the entire camp in "an avalanche of psionic fury" and disappears.

After climbing out of the rubble, Helmut Kriptmann begs for assistance to follow Karen to stop her. Dennis Barclay says that he wants nothing more to do with the horrors they just witnessed and calls Kriptmann a monster. Kriptmann then proves to the group that he was not a nazi by showing them a numerical tattoo on his arm, signifying that he was a prisoner at a concentration camp.

Dr. Harry Kay tells Swamp Thing and his allies that he was a kapo, a Jewish trusty of the Nazi guards at Dachau. Paul Feldner reveals that Casey Clancy is the "herald" of the Beast, the "antichrist" foretold in the Book of Revelation. To stop her, Harry Kay and his aide Alan reconstruct the Golem, but it senses Casey's presence in a locket on Swamp Thing's body and moves to destroy him.

Swamp Thing battles with the Golem on the snowy cliffs of Mount Untersberg and manages to deactivate it by erasing one of the Hebrew letters inscribed on it's forehead. Karen Clancy then telepathically sends Kripptman and his team a message challenging them to confront her at a Synagogue where Kripptman once worshipped. They then put Karen Clancy's locket on the Golem and re-activate it, so that it tracks her down.

Meanwhile in Munich, Walter "Grasp" Ellenbeck forces his way into the hotel room where Dennis Barclay and Liz Tremayne are staying and tries to get them to give up Harry Kay's (Dr. Helmut Kripptman) whereabouts. Dennis and Liz find a perfect moment to attack Grasp and leave him unconscious in their room while they go to meet Kripptman. It turns out, however that this was Grasp's plan all along and he has a colleague waiting to watch where they go, ready to follow them.

Swamp Thing and the others reach the Synagogue and with the combined strength of the Golem and the psychics they kill Karen. Karl, Alan and Milton also perish in the battle. It turns out that Karen was merely the physical vessel for the evil entity that is the harbinger of the Great Beast and it leaves her body. After briefly possessing Liz, it attempts to take control of the Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing's tremendous willpower casts the entity out. While all this is happening Grasp is trying to shoot them from a distance with a sniper rifle.

In a moment of searing light, the evil entity transports Swamp Thing, Liz, Dennis, Kripptmann, Grasp and the Golem to a huge metal fortress where they will meet Satan himself.

In the Fortress of the Beast, Swamp Thing, Liz, Dennis, and Dr. Kripptmann are each tricked into hallucinations of their most painful memories which turn out to be traps to kill them. They survive the traps and discover that Grasp has also been a herald of The Beast all along. Karen Clancy then shows them a representation of The Beast and outlines their plan for starting a holy war leading to Armageddon.

It is at this point that the Golem that was previously released to kill Karen, charges at Liz (since she is wearing Karen's locket) and the Swamp Thing destroys it in a violent explosion just by looking at it. Swamp Thing deduces that he must have absorbed some of Karen's psychokinetic abilities during the time he wore the locket. Using his new power he fights Karen and after taking Von Ruhnstedt's pendulum from her becomes powerful enough to kill her and Grasp. With both of the heralds of The Beast gone, the world is safe from armageddon (until the next incarnation of the herald arrives).

Swamp Thing throws the locket and pendulum over a bridge and then, with the help of Liz, Dennis and Kripptmann, returns to his swamp in Louisiana to restore and heal himself. General Sunderland, aware of Grasp's death plans on stepping up his efforts to kill Swamp Thing.

REVIEW

I don’t know what happened behind the scenes. Maybe Martin Pasko was told to close loose ends faster than intended, I don’t know. The problem here is that there are just too many concepts calling our attention and they do not mix well together.

The Sunderland corporation and the Antichrist are not really related, so I feel like I have been deceived for most of these issues.

In fact, the Sunderland corporation plot is still un-answered.

The characters are true to themselves and some themes from the original run can still be found here, but other than that, this feels like an Indiana Jones movie, with Swam Thing as a sidekick.

And Swamp Thing is almost not there for the most part. We spend too much time with the supporting characters.

I give these issues a score of 6