#Hogwarts fanfiction

[kismaguskaboca]

forever favorite

[darkmarkmarauder]

Only Good Girls Get to Cum - T.R.

!mature content! minors dni

Pairing: Husband!Tom Riddle x Wife!Reader

Summary: Teasing your husband during dinner was a mistake. You knew it the moment you felt his sharp gaze on you, the silent warning in his eyes. Tom Riddle is not a man to be disrespected—not in public, and certainly not in private. Unfortunately for you, some lessons need to be learned twice.

ᴅɪᴠɪᴅᴇʀ ᴄʀᴇᴅ: @ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄꜱ

The moment the heavy wooden doors shut behind you, sealing the two of you away from the rest of the world, you knew you were in trouble.

Tom hadn’t spoken a word since dinner, but his silence had been deafening. You’d seen the way his fingers twitched when you ran your foot up his leg beneath the table. The way his jaw clenched when you whispered filth into his ear between courses. The flicker of something dark in his eyes when you sucked your dessert off your spoon just a little too slowly.

Now, standing in the dimly lit bedroom, you finally had his full attention.

“I do hope you enjoyed yourself tonight, my love.” His voice was smooth, dangerously calm as he shrugged off his outer robe, draping it over the chair beside the fireplace. “You put on quite the show.”

You tilted your head, feigning innocence, though your pulse quickened when he took a step closer. “I don’t know what you mean.”

His lips curled into something that was not quite a smile. “No?”

Faster than you could react, his hand was around your throat, pressing you back against the wall. He didn’t squeeze—yet—but the weight of his palm was enough to send a delicious shiver down your spine.

“You forget often, my wife” he murmured, his thumb dragging along the column of your throat. “I allow you freedom. I indulge you. But you will not embarrass me in front of my men.”

You wet your lips, your breath coming in short gasps. “I think you liked it,” you whispered, watching his pupils darken. “I think you enjoy punishing me just as much as I enjoy provoking you.”

His grip tightened for just a second—a warning—before he let go entirely.

“On the bed,” he ordered.

You hesitated, just to test him, and in an instant, he had you spun around, your cheek pressed against the wooden post of the bed. His hand came down sharply across your ass, the sound cracking through the air. You gasped, the sting blooming through your skin.

“I said,” he growled, his voice dangerously low, “on the bed.”

You obeyed, crawling onto the mattress, heart pounding. Tom was not a man who tolerated disobedience, and you had spent the entire night pushing him. You knew exactly what was coming.

He stood at the edge of the bed, rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, exposing the veins in his forearms. His wand was in his hand, twirling between his fingers, and with a lazy flick, invisible bindings wrapped around your wrists, securing them to the headboard.

The vulnerability sent a fresh wave of heat through you.

Tom climbed onto the bed, kneeling between your parted thighs. His hand smoothed over your hip before delivering another sharp slap to your ass. You gasped, your back arching involuntarily.

“Tell me, my love,” he mused, his fingers trailing up your spine. “Did you think I wouldn’t make you pay for your little performance tonight?”

You bit your lip, but the smirk playing at your mouth betrayed you. “I was hoping you would.”

He chuckled, dark and indulgent. “Oh, I know.”

Without warning, his fingers pressed between your thighs, feeling the slick evidence of your anticipation. He hummed in approval, his other hand gripping your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“That's my girl” he murmured, sliding two fingers into your mouth, pressing against your tongue. 

You sucked on his fingers, letting your tongue swirl around them, watching the way his eyes darkened, his breath coming just a fraction sharper.

Then, just as suddenly, he pulled his fingers from your mouth and entered them inside you. The stretch made you let out a whimpered moan, your body jerking against the restraints. He set a punishing pace, curling his fingers just right, his thumb pressing against your most sensitive spot.

Your head fell back against the pillows, a desperate moan slipping from your lips. “Tom—”

His hand wrapped around your throat again, pressing down just enough to make you focus. “Try again.”

“My Lord,” you gasped, the title tasting like surrender on your tongue.

He smirked, leaning down until his lips brushed against your ear. “Good girl.”

Without warning, his mouth was on you, hot and unrelenting. He licked a stripe up your core before sealing his lips against you, sucking with a wicked precision that made your entire body jolt. Your legs trembled, pulling against your restraints, but there was no escape—not from him, not from the overwhelming pleasure he forced upon you.

“You’re so responsive,” he murmured against you, dragging his tongue through your slick folds. “So needy for me.”

Before you could even catch your breath, Tom moved, lifting you effortlessly. Your legs wrapped around his waist on instinct, his strong arms locking you in place as he pressed you against the wall.

And with that, he fucked you—hard, deep, ruthlessly—the way he bounces you, shifting his grip to adjust as he starts to move, has you gasping. With every upward thrust, you can feel his cock filling you completely. 

You can feel his breath on your skin, his lips close to your ear, his voice rough with desire. "Look at you," he growls, tightening his grip on your waist as he shifts, bouncing you harder, faster. His eyes trace the way your body moves, the way your tits bounce with each thrust, and it’s driving him insane. He can barely keep his composure, the way your skin trembles beneath his hands, the way your hair falls in disarray, clinging to your flushed face, only heightening the urgency in his every motion.

His lips brush against your ear, his voice low and filled with raw desire. "You’re so fucking tight." he groans. 

His grip on you tightens, and the intensity of his thrusts deepens, his cock hitting you in just the right spot. Every movement has you gasping, your body riding him with desperation.

Your head tilts back, lips parting on a breathless moan. “i-i’m gonna cum.” 

The pressure builds, hot and overwhelming, your head tipping back against the wall as he picks up the pace, each bounce rougher, deeper. The coil inside you winds tighter, his name slipping past your lips like a desperate prayer. He feels it—the way you clench around his warm cock. And just when you think you might fall, he growls against your ear, voice dripping with command.

"Only Good Girls Get to Cum."

Pulling out, he sets you in front of him on your knees. His cock hard and wet from penetrating you. You would've been angry, furious even but it was clear to you this was your punishment. 

When you finally take him into your mouth, he exhales a low, satisfied groan, his fingers tangling into your hair as he guides your movements.

The weight of him on your tongue, the way he controls every inch of you, the soft, ragged sounds of pleasure he makes as you hollow your cheeks—it’s almost enough to make you forget your own denied release. Almost.

He thrusts deeper, fingers tightening in your hair, and when he finally comes undone, his pleasure painted across your lips and you licked them clean. 

The way he looks down at you—dark eyes flashing with ownership, jaw tight with restraint—sends a fresh wave of arousal pooling in your stomach.

"Enough games," he growls, before effortlessly lifting you further up, your legs instinctively tightening around him. He turns, the distant sound of running water reaches your ears as he carries you towards the shower. His eyes never leave yours—dark, intense, and full of hunger.

"Time for round two," he whispers, his lips curling into that smug, dangerous smile. "And this time, I’m not going to be so patient."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

a/n: father forgive me for I have sinned

LMAO but srsly tho.. anyways hope u enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. my next WIP is going to be titled that. im exciteddd gonna have sum real inappropriate SHEIT I can't wait to finish writing it and for u all to enjoy<3

next work in progress - father forgive me for I have sinned

MASTERLIST

[lqveharrington]

The Alchemy | D.M.

summary: Although Draco promised that he would keep your relationship a secret just for you, he can’t contain himself after winning the Hogwarts quidditch cup.

pairing: draco malfoy x hufflepuff!reader

includes: FLUFF, established relationship (and a last name of Evergreen for the reader)

a/n: inspired by the olympics recently ❤️

When Draco asked you out in fourth year, you thought it was a joke. Sure, you were both acquainted due to your pure wizardry bloodline, but you were in Hufflepuff. The only time the other houses thought you were useful was when they wanted to sneak into the kitchen. So when he came up and sat down beside you when you were studying potions, you were disheartened.

“Malfoy, please don’t do this.” You sigh, rubbing your forehead. You were just starting to understand what ingredients made a truth serum.

“Do what? I’m asking you if you want to go to Hogsmeade together this weekend.” He spun the Malfoy signet ring adorning his hand.

You look up at him with tired eyes, “Did someone put you up to this?”

“What? No no, I—“ He cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks warm at how you were able to fluster him with even a small glance. “I’m really asking you to go on a date with me.”

You search his face for any indication of a lie, before biting your lip softly and looking down at your parchment. “Are you really?”

“I am.” Draco dropped his hand onto yours to stop your fidgeting with the quill.

You felt your own face heat up at the notion. He thumbed your palm softly as you stayed quiet, not minding his closeness. Finally, you looked up at him, “You have yourself a date, Malfoy.” He sent you a soft smile but before he could say anything else, you interrupted. “Please don’t let me down.”

Draco never let you down. Despite your earlier doubts, you saw how kind and thoughtful the Malfoy heir was underneath his hardened shell his father had built around him. In private, he was always attentive, loving, clingy — there wasn’t a moment where he was separated from you. In public, he had to rein in those feelings just for you.

Even when you started your seventh year at Hogwarts, you were still terrified what others at school would say about a Hufflepuff dating the Slytherin Prince. Sure, his parents and your parents knew, but not the entirety of Hogwarts. You had asked Draco to keep your relationship private until you were ready to face the reality of your relationship to the rest of the world. He begrudgingly agreed, respecting your wishes; but the need to kiss you in front of the entire student body to rightly claim that you were his was wavering.

Especially when it had been three years since you first started dating. And right now, you were currently hiding below the stands together as you greeted him with good luck kisses for his final quidditch match as a student in Hogwarts.

“I.” Kiss. “Love.” Kiss. “You.” Kiss. You say softly as he holds you close by your hips — smiling into all your kisses. “Good.” Kiss. “Luck.” Kiss.

“You’re killing me here, love.” Draco murmurs against your lips. He pulls away gently to look at your ever so loving gaze. He draws small hearts on you hip, “You done?”

“Never.” You kiss him again, hands cupping his jaw. “I want you to be stuck with me forever.”

He hums into the kiss as you thumb his cheeks softly, “I will after I win this game, my love.”

You separate again, grinning like a lovesick puppy. “Good luck, Dray. I’ll see you later.” You press one last kiss to his lips before leaving his arms and running up the Hufflepuff stands to cheer. You couldn’t deny that even after all these years he still made you giddy and red.

Draco shook his head with a soft smile only you could coax out of him. He walked out from the stands and hopped on his broom, ready in the air for his final match as Slytherin’s seeker. Cheers filled the stadium as the players took their place, captains shaking hands.

The final match for Slytherin and Gryffindor was probably the most anticipated all year round. Since it was also Harry Potter’s last game as seeker, and the two seekers were known as rivals, it was hyped up to be one of the best end matches of the season.

As the game progressed, Slytherin and Gryffindor were constantly tied. It was really up to the seekers to find the golden snitch to determine the winner. There were bets taking place in the house stands, mind fixated on earning a few galleons for the last time. For the Hufflepuff stands, they were a house divided. Many cheered for scarlet and gold while the other half cheered for green and silver.

You didn’t mind the division between your house. After all, you only watched the games for Draco. Your friends were cheering for the Gryffindors whilst you carried the small Slytherin flag in your hands — eyes trained on the blonde high above the game itself. The second you blinked from the blazing sun, Draco was soaring after the golden snitch, Harry close behind and eventually flying right next to him.

The shouts from the stands only fueled the seekers’ attention to the flying gold. Draco and Harry were chasing in circles after the snitch, attention focused on nothing else even as the bludger zoomed past them.

You held your breath as they both reach out for the snitch. Your friend held your shoulder in anticipation, watching the two closely. Before you could register what happened, she gasped and shook your shoulders in frustration.

“I lost ten galleons to that!” She sighed heavily as Draco flashed the golden snitch in the air.

The rush of the win made you scream happily with the other Hufflepuffs and houses cheering for the Slytherin team. You wear clapping your hands as the team began flying around in victory. You watched as Draco flew around the stands more as the rest of the Slytherin team settled on the grounds. His eyes scanned the stadium until they lit up when they saw you at the very front of the Hufflepuff stands — waving your Slytherin flag with pride.

“Seems like Malfoy is off showing the last snitch he’ll catch for the Slytherin quidditch team! But we all want to know where the trophy is!” The third year announcer spoke, voice casted across the stadium.

You smiled at Draco softly when you finally met his eyes. And before you knew it, he flew right over to you and cupped your face, kissing you senselessly. You grinned into the kiss as you held his cheeks, the shouts and screams from your housemates blending in your ears.

“Aw, quite a beautiful way to celebrate the win. Don’t you think so, McGonagall? Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Malfoy and Evergreen— Ow, sorry.” The third year announcer spoke once more, rubbing the spot the professor lightly hit them with a newspaper.

You part from Draco with a blinding smile, “I think I agree, this is a beautiful way to celebrate.” You say quietly only for him to hear, pressing quick kisses to his lips.

“I’m proud of you, love.” Draco nudges your nose with his to gently stop your kisses for a second — even though he did want more.

“Me? You just won the quidditch cup for your house!” You laugh while wrapping your arms behind his neck, careful in trying not to pull him off his broom.

He rubbed the apples of your cheeks, “You just let me kiss you in front of the entire student body… I think that’s more important.” He pulled you in for another mind searing kiss, making you smile helplessly.

“AGAIN?” The third year announcer shouted into the microphone once more. “Is there—“

“Alright, we’re done announcing, boys and girls.” Professor McGonagall spoke and shut the speakers off; although she was quite happy for the couple.

You giggled as he pulled you into a hug. “I love you.”

Draco pressed kisses to your cheek repeatedly, “I love you more.”

©lqveharrington - all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms

[mssorceressupreme]

Let Me Help | F.W

———

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: After losing a quidditch match, Fred is frustrated and you help him by giving him a post-match massage, which leads into something more, or well something sweet.

Warnings: massaging, making out, hickeys, moaning ig, praising (ish), slightly steamy but mostly fluffy, fluffy!fred, nap-time together, cuddling, littlespoon!reader, bigspoon!fred, pls i want to have nap-time in fred's arms

———

The roar of the crowd had dwindled into murmurs as you, Hermione, and Luna sat on the bleachers, watching the Gryffindor Quidditch team gather on the pitch below. The match against Hufflepuff had ended moments ago, and to everyone’s surprise, Gryffindor had lost after a season of winning.

It wasn’t just a loss—it was a hard-fought game, filled with moments of near victory that had slipped through their fingers.

Fred and George, always the heart of the team, looked particularly worn down. Fred’s usual buoyant demeanour was dimmed, his lips were pressed in a firm line, nodding as Oliver clearly scolded him about something. He wasn’t one to take criticism lightly, especially not when he was already down.

“I think Wood's giving Fred a hard time,” Hermione murmured, squinting at the scene below.

“Fred looks sad,” Luna observed, tilting her head dreamily. “Maybe he’s just feeling the weight of the nargles today.”

You tried waving to Fred, catching his eye. "It's okay Freddie..." you mouthed, attempting to comfort him slightly from the bleachers.

He looked up and, instead of the cheeky grin and exaggerated gestures you were used to, he blew you a small, almost apologetic kiss.

It wasn’t the playful, confident one that usually made you laugh; it was soft, almost sad, and it made your heart ache.

“He’ll be okay,” Hermione reassured you as you all made your way down from the stands.

The walk back to Hogwarts was subdued. The team split off to the showers while you, Hermione, and Luna headed toward the common room. Your mind was on Fred the whole time, wondering how you could cheer him up.

When the players eventually returned, freshly showered but still visibly tired, you led the cheers in the common room to boost their spirits. George gave a half-hearted grin, Angelina and Katie exchanged appreciative smiles, but Fred hung back, his smile never quite reaching his eyes.

Determined to help him, you waited for the crowd to thin out before slipping away and making your way to the boys’ dormitory. Knocking softly, you peeked inside. Fred was sitting on his bed, his head resting in his hands, and the sight made your chest ache.

There was no sight of his dorm mates, they were likely out and about, lurking around campus somewhere.

He looked up when you entered, and his face softened immediately, though the exhaustion in his eyes noticeable.

“Hey,” you said gently, closing the door behind you.

“Hey,” he replied, his voice low. He patted the spot next to him, and you sat down, the mattress dipping slightly under your weight.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, though you already had a good idea.

Fred sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. “Oliver. He’s... he’s been on my case. Said I was distracted during the match, that I wasn’t focused enough. Maybe he’s right.”

You frowned. “That’s not fair. I watched the whole match, Fred. You were brilliant out there.”

He shook his head, a humourless laugh escaping him. “Doesn’t feel like it. We lost. And Oliver... he’s just so stressed about this season. Guess I was an easy target today.”

Reaching out, you placed a hand on his arm, stroking gently. “Ignore him. He’s just upset because he cares too much about the team. But that doesn’t mean he’s right about you. You gave it your all, Fred. I could see it. And I’m so proud of you.”

You hated seeing him like this, your Fred, who always had a joke or a cheeky grin, now looking so defeated.

Fred gave you a small, grateful smile, his gaze softening further, though the weight of the day still lingered in his expression. “You’re too good to me, you know that?”

“Someone has to be,” you teased, squeezing his hand. “You’re not half as annoying as you pretend to be Weasley.”

The corner of his lips curled up ever so slightly, and you decided you’d do anything to make it stick. An idea popped into your head, and you straightened up.

“Sit on the floor,” you said suddenly.

Fred blinked at you, confused. “What? Why? You’re not planning to hex me, are you?”

“No hexes,” you promised, laughing. “Just trust me.”

Still skeptical, Fred slid off the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor. “This better be good,” he muttered, though there was a hint of amusement in his tone.

You knelt behind him, placing your hands on his broad shoulders. The moment you started massaging him, he tensed, clearly surprised.

“What are you—”

“Shh,” you interrupted, grinning. “Just relax.”

It didn’t take long for him to give in. A low groan escaped his lips as your fingers worked over the knots in his shoulders. “Merlin Y/N, that’s... bloody amazing,” he muttered, his head dipping forward.

“You’re all tense,” you said softly, your fingers kneading the muscles in his neck. “You’ve been carrying too much stress.”

Fred let out a deep sigh, his body slowly relaxing under your touch. “You’re going to put Madam Pomfrey out of a job,” he joked, his voice muffled. “This is—blimey—I could get used to this.”

You smiled, continuing to work your fingers along his shoulders and down his back. The earlier frustration and tension seemed to melt away, his breathing slowing as he leaned into your touch.

“You know,” he said after a while, his voice lighter now, “if you ever decide to quit school, you’ve got a future in saving stressed Quidditch players.”

You laughed, continuing to massage him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

As you leaned closer, you couldn’t resist planting a soft, lingering kiss on the side of his neck. Fred’s breath hitched slightly at the unexpected gesture. Smiling against his skin, you pressed another kiss just below his ear, then one more at the curve where his neck met his shoulder.

“Wha—” Fred started, his voice thick with surprise and something softer, “what are you doing?”

“Cheering you up,” you murmured, your lips brushing against his skin as you spoke.

He let out a low, content hum, tilting his head slightly to give you more access. “Well, I’d say it’s working,” he moaned softly, his grin evident even though you couldn’t see it. “Bloody hell, you’re good at this.”

You giggled, continuing to pepper his neck with light, affectionate kisses. “Good. You deserve a little TLC after today.”

Fred turned his head slightly, his voice a little breathless now. “A little? I deserve this every day.”

“You’d get spoiled,” you teased, kissing just below his jawline.

“Already am,” he admitted with a happy sigh. “And if you don't stop I might just take you here and now." He moaned again, as you left him a hickey, sucking sweetly on the side of his neck.

"You like that Weasley?..." You cooed, continued planting sweet kisses around his neck and he threw his head back, groaning softly.

"Mhm, feels so good love..." He hummed, eyes shut as his breathing grew heavier.

You chuckled, pulling back slightly to look at him. His eyes were closed, his lips curved in the most serene smile you’d seen all day. His usual cheeky confidence was still there, but it was softer now, tempered with gratitude and affection.

When you finally stopped, Fred turned around to face you, his brown eyes warm and filled with gratitude and adoration. “My girlfriend's incredible,” he said softly, reaching for your hand.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” you replied, smiling.

He got up and made his way onto the bed, hovering over you as he pushed you down gently, making you lie down with his hands beside your head, trapping you beneath him essentially.

He then bent down into a kiss, sweet and unhurried, his lips warm against yours. You giggled, as he continued, parting your mouth slightly as his tongue slipped inside.

His lips were soft, pillowy against your own. "Fred..." you moaned into his kiss softly as he sucked on your tongue. You could feel the soft tickle of his breath beneath your nose, your fingers running through his hair as you breathed each other in.

He too, had always managed to make you melt at his touch, to feel good, to feel loved, you were weak beneath him.

When he pulled back, his forehead rested against yours, and he let out a content sigh.

“You really know how to cheer a bloke up, don’t you?” he teased, his grin finally back.

“Someone’s got to keep you from sulking,” you quipped, poking his chest playfully.

Fred chuckled, moving to lay beside you on his bed. You curled up against his side, his arm wrapped securely around you.

For the first time that day, he looked completely at ease, the weight of the match’s loss forgotten.

As you lay there together, his fingers idly traced patterns on your arm. “You know,” he said after a while, his voice soft, “I don’t deserve you.”

You tilted your head up to look at him, frowning. “Don’t say that Freddie, you're amazing. You know, despite how much of a git you can be sometimes, you deserve all the happiness in the world.” You turn to face him, brushing some messy strands away from his face to see him, your Fred.

His grin returned, this time with a mischievous glint. “Well, if you insist... I suppose I’ll let you keep spoiling me.”

You laughed, swatting his arm lightly. “Don’t push it, Weasley.”

He laughed too, pulling you closer. “Too late.”

Fred pulled you into his arms, your bodies pressed against each other, your head rested below his, melting into his chest, one of the many perks being the little spoon.

The two of you laid there, tangled together, the world outside fading into nothing. His steady breathing lulled you into a peaceful nap.

When George returned later, he peeked in, grinning at the sight of you both asleep, Fred’s arms securely around you. He quietly closed the door, leaving you both to your well-deserved rest.

[slytherinzz]

Sebastian Sallow:

“Rules? What rules? I consider them more like… guidelines with room for interpretation.”

“I’m not saying this was my best idea… but it is my most entertaining one so far.”

“Oh, come on! A little curse here and there builds character. You’ll thank me later.”

“I’d like to think I’m a perfect mix of charm, intellect, and just a dash of poor decision-making.”

“Listen, if you’re going to get in trouble, at least make it worth the detention. Trust me, I’m an expert.”

Ominis Gaunt

“You can’t see me rolling my eyes, but trust me, it’s happening.”

“Sebastian, if your brilliant plan involves me getting hexed again, I’m officially out.”

“Some families pass down heirlooms. Mine passes down generational trauma. But sure, let’s talk about my upbringing.”

“Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I can’t tell you’re about to do something stupid. Stop it.”

“I don’t ‘hate’ people, Sebastian. I simply find the vast majority of them exhausting.

[alliezarin]

🐍 Sebastian Sallow 🐍

[teacup-gathering-itself]

Closeted Harry coming out to Ron after his breakup with Ginny and Ron just being like, “cool just don’t date one of my brothers”

Fred and George freezing and looking at Harry with nothing but absolute delight at the potential mischief.

Harry making eye contact with them, immediately understanding their intentions, and winking as he puts a finger to his lips, shushing them.

Ron following Harry’s line of sight and screaming “NO. NO. FUCK NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

Harry and the twins platonically flirting in the most obnoxious ways imaginable.

Harry showing up to breakfast in the Great Hall late with a different twins sweater on, looking debauched. One or even both the twins give him a salacious once over. Ron wants to sink into the floor and die.

Ron eventually gets used to this but absolutely loses it when the rest of his brothers send him their sweaters and flirt with him at the Burrow.

The Weasley boys sending flirty howlers to Harry just to send Ron spiraling.

Ron being so relieved when Harry dates literally anyone who isn’t one of his older brothers.

[distantdarlings]

HOUSE PRIDE // t. nott

RATING: R / 3.8K WORDS

Theodore Nott x Fem Reader Insert

+ SUMMARY - *Requested - based on this* Theo is pissed that you seem to be interested in other guys. The two of you are not officially dating so you find it ridiculous that you can't talk to whomever you want. You have feelings for Theo, though, and think it might be interesting to put his jealousy to the test.

+ WARNINGS - SMUT! Heavy sexual material, degradation, name-calling, jealousy, fem reader, language, dom!Theo--honestly, this is just depraved

+ MUSIC (listened to while writing) -

Pyramids - Frank Ocean

---

You pressed your face to your hands, breathing deeply. You couldn’t believe what you were fucking hearing. The pounding in your head refused to subside as he kept demanding an answer.

“Hello? Do you wanna explain why you were practically throwing yourself on Riddle today at lunch?” the brunette demanded, his eyes widened and wild. Your hands dropped and you made eye contact with the boy. You were in disbelief.

“Throwing myself at him? You dick, I tripped and fell on him! That’s just number one! Number two: you are not my fucking boyfriend,” you shouted, “I can throw myself on whoever I want, whenever I want!”

Theo locked his jaw and pursed his lips slightly. A tell of his that meant he was very angry. He didn’t usually speak much after he pushed past this point. More like, just crossed his arms and stared at you, eye bordering on twitching. You scoffed and held your hands out, waiting for a response from him. He said nothing.

“I don’t need you to tell me who to give attention to, Theo. You are not my boyfriend, I am not your girlfriend. I tripped and fell against Mattheo this morning and we both laughed it off, so why can’t you?”

“You just tripped and fell on him and his hands landed on your ass? Oh, whoops, just an accident!” he mocked you. 

“I don’t know if his hands were on my ass or not, he may have been trying to stabilize me as quickly as he could—but besides the point, who gives a fuck if he was touching my ass? It’s not like you’ve been too eager to do anything anytime soon!” you shout, blood rushing through your ears and cheeks. Shit. You did not mean to say that. His head shot back and his eyes widened slightly. You kept the anger imprinted on your face to attempt to hide the embarrassment you were feeling so strongly. Hopefully, he would think this was a super-confident confession written in a rage. Still, he said nothing.

“Oh, forget it! To hell with you, Theo!” you screamed, grabbing your robes and running out of his dorm room. He said nothing and made no move to stop you. Your feet carried you down the hallway and into your own room. 

None of your roommates were here. You figured they were all in different dorms, preparing for the common room party in a few hours. Once every couple of months, some of the Slytherins—usually seniors—will get together and prepare a “house” party. They’re always fun, high-energy, and filled to the brim with Slytherin pride. Merlin, you loved them. 

You had originally declined to go tonight. You had some leftover work that was due on Monday and you almost thought that Theo would invite you to Hogsmeade or something, but you should have known better than that. It seems all he’s concerned about is his reputation. 

You tugged through the buttons on your uniform top and ripped it off your shoulders. You pulled your skirt and socks off, holding the end of your bed for balance. There were a couple of nice outfits shoved in the trunk beneath the bedframe—you figured something in there would do. You reached up and let your hair down from its elastic, allowing it to fall to its natural length. The ends of the waved strands tickled your skin as you yanked the trunk into the open. Inside were a couple of different combinations, all saved up for special occasions. And if anyone asked you, making Theo Nott as jealous as you possibly could was a very special occasion. 

Your eyes fell on a specific top. A long sleeve, skin-tight sweetheart neckline that plunged a little deeper than it should, and a flared, darkened skirt. You reckoned it was simple and sexy. It practically bled Theo’s name all over your body, claiming you as his, though you pretended like you hated that. He never needed to know it, but you secretly loved how jealous he became when you had the smallest interactions with other people. You blow a curled hair out of your face. The fucker could have been running down the halls with a red tapestry taped to his back and you still wouldn’t call him a red flag. He was just what you wanted; what you’d wanted for years. Whether or not he’d ever actually act on your feelings for each other, you belonged to him and he belonged to you. 

You slipped the outfit on, mussed up your hair a bit, and applied a light layer of makeup. With the two tests, three project due dates, and eighteen assignments you’d had this week, you could use a bit of a touch-up. Hopefully, you didn’t sweat it off by the end of the night—though, that was sort of the goal.

You grabbed your wand and slipped it into your back pocket, patting it twice for good luck, and pushed through the dorm door. Down the hallway, you could hear the faint pounding of music. Your heart raced, keeping in time with the deep bass pushing past the walls. Was this a good idea? For a few moments, you stood in front of your door, pondering your options. Your plan for this evening could either end really well or really badly or you could avoid the possibilities completely and stay in like you originally planned. A deep sigh left you as your eyes slid closed. Who cared? This was your life and, you’d said it earlier, Theo was not your boyfriend and you intended on finishing what you’d started with Mattheo earlier this morning.

Deep cool colors swirled throughout the common room, echoing off of every shadow and highlight in the moulding. Everywhere you looked there was another Slytherin scarf or Quidditch team hat. One boy even wore a Slytherin flag around his neck like a cape. You laughed at the absurd outfit. These parties were most definitely one of the best things about being a Slytherin. Say what you will about the house, but they could throw a fucking party. 

You slid through swaying bodies, feeling the bass echo deep in your chest, rattling your ribcage. A couple of your friends were scattered throughout the crowd and slipped in gracefully with their personal friends. As you passed by them, they waved or flashed you a bright smile, all of which you returned. You would come back and talk but, for now, you were looking for someone specific. 

There was a table set up in front of the fireplace, decked out with green and black decorations, and overflowing with tall glasses of firewhisky. Your eyes skated along the length of the furniture until it reached a familiar body. You smirked and grabbed a drink before making your way over.

Enzo stood against the edge of the table, discussing something with one of the “bartenders.” When you stopped in front of him, his lips ceased and his eyes found your chest, then your eyes. His lips remained parted. Sweet, sweet Enzo. 

“Hey, En, I was wondering if you’d seen Mattheo, anywhere?” you smiled. He said nothing for a few seconds before stuttering back to life like an old car. 

“Uh, no, I haven’t seen him anywhere…uh, why do you need—um, I mean, did you need to talk to him?” he stumbled, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets. The boy he’d been talking to—some fifth-year—snorted and rolled his eyes, turning away from the two of you to pour a couple more drinks. You stepped closer to Enzo, feeling his body heat on you. The shoes you were wearing granted you a couple more inches of height, which, consequently, put your hairline just above his. His eyes were angled slightly upward as he watched you. 

You waved him against you. He leaned in. The confidence burning through you tonight was more than you’d felt in a long time. You felt hurt and angry and frustrated. You could fix one of those quickly. You traced the skin above his ear, pushing a small tuft of copper hair back. A small shudder went through his body as you pressed your lips against his ear.

“I just wanted to dance and was looking for a boy who’d dance with me,” you said slowly. “I thought Mattheo would be the best but maybe you could…you know…”

You pulled away and smiled sweetly, placing a deep innocence into your eyes, watching as his lips parted and closed multiple times. You tilted your head to the right, allowing your eyes to switch from his eyes to his lips ever so briefly.

“I haven’t seen Mattheo, I’ll dance with you,” he said, licking his lips and swallowing thickly. You smiled brightly and grabbed one of the hands hanging limply by his side. You felt his warm skin beneath yours as you tugged him toward the center of the dancing mass. You were pretty sure you recognized the song playing and proceeded to work all of its beats throughout your body, encouraging Enzo to join you.

“Come on, En!” you laughed. “You’re supposed to dance with me.” He seemed to shock out of a momentary stupor. You felt good tonight and you hoped it was showing on your face and body. He still didn’t move and you reckoned he was going to take some physical guiding. 

As the song slowed slightly, you grabbed both of his hands and slid them around your hips. His breath shuddered through his lips as you began moving the two of you. You dropped your hands to his belt and guided his hips a bit, biting back a smile. He had all of the facilities for these particular…activities, he was just really nervous. Soon enough, though, his hips were moving on their own.

You turned around and placed your back against his chest. Without prompting, his hands dropped down to your hips, gripping them firmly. He moved you against him to every beat of the song. To be honest, he was placing a little bit of blush in your stomach. One of your arms raised to wrap loosely around his neck.

“That’s it, baby,” you cooed in his ear, cradling the base of his neck with your hand. One of his hands raised to hold your arm against him as the other stayed intact on your hip. A crooked smile found its way onto his lips as the both of you felt every rhythm the other was putting out. Fuck, maybe you’d picked the wrong boy all along. The way Enzo was grabbing your hips and ever so slowly grinding against your ass had your lips parting in a slow gasp.

“Like this?” he whispered in your ear, his voice low and gravelly. Merlin, help you.

If anything could have pulled you out of your current situation, it was the burning eyes you felt against you pouring into your skin like a brand. You gasped a bit and looked away from Enzo. Almost immediately, you found Theo’s eyes on the two of you. Enzo noticed your sudden change of attention and glanced up, finding the older’s eyes. Like he’d been branded himself, his hands faded away from you and, almost as quickly, so did he. Fucker. So much for sticking by you. 

You were used to it by now, though. Where you were involved, Theo was, too. Even though you weren’t actually together, everyone knew you were Theo’s. Anytime you were hanging out with another boy, he always found out. Even if it was just for a school assignment. 

His jaw was clenched and ticking. His eyes were lidded and ice-cold, angled right at you. You rolled your eyes and huffed, stomping off through the crowd. He couldn’t get whatever he wanted all the time. He needed to pick. He needed to officially claim you as his, take you on dates, buy you gifts, and all that nonsense or he needed to leave you the hell alone. He couldn’t have it both ways. 

You finally came upon the end of the crowd and the staircase leading to the girl’s dorms. You hurried up the steps, not even caring if he was behind you or ignoring you or with a different girl. 

The hallway was completely empty, everybody down at the party or taking an early night. You rushed across the winding floors, trying your best to get to your room before Theo changed his mind. You just wanted to get out of your clothes and makeup and go to bed. Your dorm door appeared around the corner followed by an immense sense of relief.

Your hand closed around the doorknob and—a hand closed tightly around your arm and yanked you back. A yelp escaped your lips as the perpetrator slammed you roughly into the wall just beside the door. It was Theo. He was livid, his breath coming out in hard slants, and his eyes so darkened they appeared black. You swallowed thickly, your breath rushing out of you just as his was. The two of you heard your hearts pounding in tandem.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he demanded, his face inches from yours. Your eyes glanced down from his to his lips, watching the changes in his anger. He waited impatiently for an answer for too long before you realized it wasn’t meant to be a rhetorical question. 

He grabbed your arm once more and pulled you away from the wall. A swift flick of his wand and a fury like no other, and he was pulling you into your empty dorm room. It was almost completely dark by now.

“You want some attention, huh?” he said, casting a flame into the stove set in the middle of the room, his grip on your arm never weakening. He slammed his wand down on your bedside table and pushed you onto your bed. You fell roughly against the mattress, your hands holding you up into a sitting position. He stared down at you wildly, like an angry parent.

“Answer me,” he growled. Your eyes bore the same innocence you’d given to Enzo earlier and you knew that he’d only last a few minutes like this. Already, his facade was flickering and his gaze was softening. 

“I just—I don’t know, Teddy, I—”

“You just, you—you, you…fucking spit it out,” he mocked you. Body betraying your mind, heat pooled in your lower stomach as his face got closer and closer to yours and he got angrier and angrier. If it was anyone else, you’d have gotten embarrassed or angry but with Theo…it was a different feeling.

“All out of confidence, hmm? What happened, baby, you had plenty out there when you were grinding your ass all over Lorenzo Berkshire in front of everyone!”

“What’s wrong with Enzo?” you squeaked, your thumbs rolling over the other.

“He’s not me, you stupid girl,” he roared, his words perking your chest. You pressed your thighs together discreetly, never losing eye contact with him. You hoped he hadn’t seen you.

“Are you serious? Are you fucking turned on right now?” he asked. He had seen you. You didn’t say anything. His hand reached around and roughly gripped your hair, his fingers tugging deliciously on your scalp. He held your head back.

“Answer me, baby,” he whispered, his voice a thousand times different. “Does it turn you on when I shout at you? When you get me jealous and worked up?” The way he was looking down at you had you gulping against the strain being placed on your throat. You nodded.

“God, you’re so fucking pathetic,” he laughed darkly, the sinister tone in his voice echoing in your stomach. His hand let go of your hair and grabbed your jaw tightly. He held your face up so you were looking directly into his eyes.

“Maybe I need to remind you who you fucking belong to?” An eyebrow quirked. You nodded once more, anticipation hitting you like a train. He smirked, releasing your jaw by pushing you back roughly. Your back came into contact with the bed, the material nearly knocking the breath out of you. 

He crawled over you slowly, letting his lips ghost over your exposed cleavage, neck, chin, lips. He paused and allowed his breath to pour into your mouth. He tasted like alcohol, the scent of it burning your lips. He pushed his tongue out and gently traced it over your bottom lip. Your lips parted in a gasp at the contact. Just as soon as your mouth had opened, his had covered it, suffocating all breath. You moaned into him, feeling the way his body held you tightly against the mattress. 

You raised your hand to place your fingers beneath his shirt, but one of his hands reached down and grabbed yours with a speed your intoxicated brain wasn’t capable of comprehending right now. He raised them above your head and held them with a grip like a vice, his fingers violent and unyielding. You’d definitely have bruises in the morning. 

You bucked your hips against him, trying to illicit some contact between your core and his. He grunted at the touch before pulling back and roughly turning you over, pressing your chest into the mattress. 

“Don’t fucking do that,” he growled into your ear, still holding your hands tightly above you. “Do as I fucking say. I’m going to pull this skirt up and I’m going to fuck you and you’re not going to say a word but my name. Do you understand me?” You nodded frantically, impatiently waiting for some contact. 

“Keep your hands there,” he instructed as he slowly let them go. You curled your fingers around the edge of the bed to keep them locked in place. You didn’t dare disobey him. 

Behind you, you could hear the clink of his belt buckle as he pulled it from his jeans and dropped it to the floor. The anticipation was killing you, your thighs pressing tightly together for a chance at some friction. The heat between them was beginning to become too much. 

He pressed bruising kisses along the side of your neck, trailing them down your shoulder. His teeth cut along the flesh, ripping blacks and blues into the sensitive skin. You whimpered at the feeling, knowing good and well he just wanted everyone to see whose you were.

His fingers ghosted along the outsides of your thighs, tracing the chills that appeared in their wake. You shuddered against the sheets, waiting to feel everything he was about to do. You couldn’t see any of his movements and, for whatever reason, that amplified the feeling by a million. 

There was a moment of nothing except for the sound of rustling clothing. No part of him touched you and you found yourself becoming more and more desperate by the moment. You reckoned he was removing unnecessary items of his outfit but if he didn’t do something soon, you were going to start pitching a fit. 

Then his thumb pressed against your thin undergarments, right where you needed him the very most. An awfully audible moan left your lips and your spine arched against his touch. Merlin help anyone who walked by this dorm or, worse, tried to come in.

“Please, baby,” you sighed, your fingers clenching tightly against the mattress. His hand roughly grabbed your hair once more, tugging your head back.

“My name only, you dumb slut,” he insulted before pushing your head back into the sheets. One hand held your head to the bed as the other lined his hips up with yours. 

No matter how many times the two of you did this, you’d never get used to it. He was just so much better than any of the other boys in school. And there were a lot of them too. None of them felt like Theo and he knew it, too. He knew that you would always come back to him. He was impossible to leave. His touch and rough, degrading words were addictive and you couldn’t stay away from him. Your friends had told you over and over again that you needed to drop him and completely move on but you just couldn’t. He was the closest thing to a drug you had.

He tucked a finger beneath your undergarments and slid them over to the side. He placed a hand in front of your face. “Spit,” he ordered. You complied. He spread the material over his fingers slowly, coating each one thoroughly. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his hand disappear and reintroduce itself with your core. The tips of his soaked fingers skirted between the slit of your skin, lathering you in his touch. Just as he’d instructed, his name poured from your lips like a prayer. 

He pulled his hands away and quickly replaced them with a dark, warm heat that pressed into you agonizingly slowly, stretching every part of you out.

“Fuck, it’s been a while,” he groaned breathlessly, pushing into you until he bottomed out. His lips curve just above your ear, every moan and whisper touching your mind like a soft hand. As he began to move, they became louder and made less sense to either of you. His name curled around the room. You worshipped him. The reverence you placed on every syllable touched his chest and slid down to his core. He gasped into your ear. You sounded so fucking good.

It didn’t matter if he fucked every girl in Hogwarts, none of them could ever compare to you. 

“Theo, baby, you feel so good,” you screamed, the words vibrating your skin. 

“Yeah, baby?” he breathed. You moaned aloud as he pressed an especially sharp thrust against you. “I know, I know.”

“Please, please, please,” you babbled, your words pathetic and useless. His hips never ceased their brutal pace.

“That’s it, baby,” he cooed. “Are you my girl? Or are you Enzo’s?” He growled the last part, his fingers tangling painfully in your hair. You yelped at the feeling, tilting your head back to relieve some of the pain.

“No, no! I’m yours, Teddy, I’m all yours, please,” you begged. 

“That’s right, baby.” He released your hair. Every movement of his body brought you closer and closer to your end. His hands gripping your hips and pulling himself toward his own, his lips curling against your ear, his weight holding you perfectly in place.

Neither of you would last much longer and you both knew that. Every deep push of his hips drove you further into your pleasure as you began to close around him, gradually coaxing a release out of him. One of his hands dropped down to trace tight circles against you, ignoring the way your hips quaked to get away from the overstimulation. You were done for. 

Every sound pouring from his lips began to mingle with yours a bit closer as he pushed you through both of your final breaths. His hips got slower and his grip loosened on your waist. The loss of his support sent your weakened body falling back down to the mattress. A breathless chuckle came from him as he laid down beside you, his shimmering skin luminescent in the moonlight. You presented him with a tired smile. 

“Could Enzo fuck you like that?” he asked, a proud smirk imprinted on his lips.

“I don’t know—I’ll let you know when I find out.”

[bryan-writes]

Love is in the details— Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: You’re helping Fred redecorate the flat above Weaslys’ Wizard Wheezes :)

I wrote it w fem! Reader in mind but there aren’t any pronouns mentioned (correct me if I’m wrong pls!), domestic fluff, short and super sweet!

Lettme know if y’all like this one :), I wanna write more oneshots! Pls send requests if there’s anything you’d like to see me write <3

The beautiful dividers are by @cafekitsune :)

The flat above Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes was a disaster zone. Half-assembled furniture was cluttered in corners, mismatched paint swatches smeared the walls, and an old sofa sat awkwardly in the middle of the room, like a relic of chaos. The air smelled faintly of fresh paint and Fred’s cologne— a scent you could never quite place but always made your heart race.

“Alright, love,” Fred said, hands on his hips as he surveyed the mess with a grin. “What’s next on our list of tortures?”

“Second,” you continued, grabbing the checklist from the table, “we need to decide on a color for this wall. And I swear to Merlin, if you suggest purple and gold stripes again, I’m walking out!”

Fred gasped, clutching his chest. “You wound me! Those stripes were a stroke of genius!”

“They were an eyesore,” you countered, grinning.

“Fine, fine. You pick, but don’t blame me when it turns out boring.”

You rolled your eyes, flipping through the paint swatches. “You’re impossible.”

Fred leaned closer, resting his chin on your shoulder as you browsed. “And yet, you’re still here. Must mean you secretly like me.” His breath tickled your ear, and you nearly dropped the swatches.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” you muttered, though the warmth spreading up your neck betrayed you.

Fred’s chuckle was low and soft, but he stayed close, watching as you pointed to a soft blue. “This one,” you said firmly. “It’s calming. You need calming.”

“Are you saying I’m not calm?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

You smirked. “You? Calm? Never.”

Fred straightened, grabbing the paint can with exaggerated determination. “Fine, calming blue it is. But you’re doing the edges.”

“Deal.”

Hours later, you were both covered in streaks of blue paint. A smear trenched across Fred’s cheek like a war stripe, and your arms looked like you’d been in a battle with a very enthusiastic artist. Despite the mess, the wall was finished, and it looked… surprisingly good.

Fred flopped onto the old sofa, groaning dramatically. “I’m a broken man.”

You laughed, sitting beside him. “Oh, please. You painted, like, two-thirds of one wall.”

“Exactly,” he said, turning his head to look at you. “I’ve given everything I had. My blood, sweat, and tears.”

“More like your bad jokes and terrible painting!”

Fred’s grin softened, and he reached out to brush a streak of blue off your cheek with his thumb. The playful atmosphere shifted slightly, the air growing quieter, warmer.

“You’re good at this,” he said, voice lower than before.

“At what? Painting?”

“Making a mess look like a home,” he said simply.

Your heart stuttered, and you looked away, focusing on a random spot on the wall. “Well, someone has to keep you in check.”

“You’re good at that too.”

Silence settled between you, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that said more than words could.

“You’ve got a bit of paint… right here,” Fred said, his fingers brushing your cheek again. His touch lingered this time, and when you turned to look at him, his eyes were already on you.

“Fred…” you started, but the words caught in your throat.

“Yeah?” He said softly, his gaze flicking to your lips for just a second.

You could feel the tension in the air, the unspoken something that had been building for weeks, maybe months. Your hand moved on its own, reaching up to rest on his wrist.

“I think…” you began, but he didn’t let you finish.

Fred leaned in, his lips brushing yours in the lightest of kisses, testing, waiting. When you didn’t pull away, he kissed you again, deeper this time, his free hand sliding to your waist. You melted into him, your fingers tangling in his paint-speckled shirt.

When you finally pulled back, breathless and a little dazed, Fred grinned. “So, does this mean you secretly like me?”

You laughed, leaning your forehead against his. “You’re impossible.”

“But loveable,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your nose.

“Yeah,” you admitted, your smile softening. “Loveable.”

Fred pulled you closer, and for a while, you both forgot about the mess around you. The flat above the joke shop might still have been a work in progress, but for the first time, it truly felt like home.

[kismaguskaboca]

always there mentally

[darkmarkmarauder]

Caveat - T.M.R.

!warning! minors dni

Summary: Past curfew, the Three Broomsticks buzzes with laughter and firewhiskey-fueled mischief—but you don’t care. You live to provoke, especially when it comes to Tom Riddle. Dressed to turn heads, you push his patience to the limit, daring him to react. And when he finally does, his attention locked on you and well, isn’t that exactly what you wanted?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐘/𝐍.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬—𝒕𝒊𝒏����, 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔—𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬. 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞—𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐘/𝐍 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.

𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞. “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝. “𝐀 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞. 𝐎𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐭?”

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆.”

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬. “𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. “𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧.”

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬.

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭. “𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐠—𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”

𝐘/𝐍 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. “𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭. “𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞. 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝. “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒅. “��𝐡, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐓𝐨𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. “𝐍𝐨?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧?”

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

“𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐚𝐰. 𝐎𝐟 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝑻𝒐𝒎 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒎𝒖𝒈 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝒉𝒊𝒔.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬.

𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫—𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅.

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐲. 𝐀 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤—𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩, 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤, 𝐟��𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞���𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦—𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒕.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. 𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔—𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.

“𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. “𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦—𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐧.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡. “𝐍𝐨?”

𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

“𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. “𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐭��𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭.”

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. “𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫—𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞. “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞—𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅.

“𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞.

𝐀 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.”

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬.

“𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤, 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞—𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝—𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.” 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ��𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭—𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.

“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰—” 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧.

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

“𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒏-𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐭.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝.

“𝐎𝐡…” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐩, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”

𝐘/𝐍 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐰, 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫-𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤. “𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡. “𝐈… 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐀 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

“𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐫-𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚. “𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟… 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?”

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩, 𝐛��𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐩, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞. “𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. “𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤.”

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧. “𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.”

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞. “𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

a/n: LOVE ME SOME RIDDLE FR

ii want to start writing about the Riddle family including their kids Mattheo, Marvolo and Delphini

ii love writing these too tho so I’m gonna release both

MASTERLIST

[lqveharrington]

Someday | D.M.

summary: you and draco are from opposing houses, and you were terrified how your friends were going to react when they found out.

pairing: draco malfoy x hufflepuff!reader

includes: secret relationship, kissing, arguing, lots of fluff but also angst, draco and reader are SOOO in love

a/n: kind of a before ‘the alchemy’ fic but not necessarily (i love writing hufflepuff reader and totally not because im a hufflepuff…)

You were three years into dating the Slytherin Prince. Three years of secret love and longing glances from across the classroom. Three years of your friends not knowing. You never meant for three years to pass by without letting your friends know that you were dating someone they. Hell, they thought you were going to be alone forever because you refused to go on dates with anyone they suggested. You were just terrified to see how they would react to you dating Draco Malfoy himself.

“Hi, my darling.” Draco smiled when you found him in your favorite section of the library. He tilted your head up by the chin and pressed a quick kiss to your lips, feeling you grin into his kiss. “How are you?”

You slot your hand in his hand spin his family signet, shrugging as you found a lack of words. “I guess tired. I helped Madame Pomfrey with a student who hurt himself trying a puking pastille thinking it was a normal gummy.”

“Look at you being a healer. Already starting early.” He thumbed your palm and let out a soft chuckle when you scrunched your nose. “M’gorgeous, gorgeous girl.”

“Such a flirt, Malfoy. If I knew any better, I would think you like me.” You giggle with a lopsided smile and press a kiss to his lips. You felt his hand travel to the curve of your waist, holding you gently against him. “Wow, take me on a date first.”

He shushed you and pulled you around, tucking you away from the prying eyes looking down the aisles. Draco squeezed your waist when the people left and softly lifted your head off his chest.

“There were people.” He murmured and rubbed the bottom of your chin, eyes looking across your face. “I know you don’t want anyone here to know just yet.”

You purse your lips and nod, glancing down the aisle in thought. You knew how much he wanted everyone to know about the both of you, but he respected your wishes. Sighing, you rest your forehead on his chest and shut your eyes. It was going to be a long year.

As weeks and eventually months passed, you still hadn’t told your friends about your relationship. It resulted into longing glances from across the room and quick touches whenever you passed the other in the hall. However, your friends soon caught onto you, and they wanted to get to get to the bottom of your secret relationship.

“You have to at least tell us how long you’ve been together.” Hannah Abbott took your hands in hers and squeezed them, practically bouncing in excitement in the courtyard. “I want to know everything!”

She spun around the courtyard, making you laugh. Susan Bones sighed and rested her head on your shoulder, also curious to who this mystery person was. “Hannah, I’m sure they haven’t been dating for that long, right?”

You give her a glance and avert your eyes, face flushing pink. “We’ve been dating for a good while.”

“Like how long?” Hannah spun her way back over to you and squinted. You pursed your lips and looked down at your shoes. “It’s been more than a year?”

“Three years, actually.” You murmur and cover your ears when both girls squeal in joy before realizing what this meant. You raised your brows when they looked at you like you were crazy. “What?”

“You’ve been dating someone for three whole years and haven’t told us about it? How rude!” Susan crossed her arms and stuck her chin up, making you sigh.

Hannah looked between the two of you in concern. She knew that you were an over thinker, but she never thought you would keep anything that big away from your best friends. Especially three years worth of friendship without knowing of your relationship.

“How about we talk about this later when we don’t have classes to get to?” She tried to defuse the tension between the two of you, doing her best to avoid anymore fighting. “I’m sure we have a lot to debrief after herbology.”

“Darling?” Draco stumbled back a little when you ran into his arms, holding you tight against him. He pressed a kiss to your head, albeit confused to your sudden rush but knowing you needed it. “What’s wrong?”

“Just hold me for a little bit.” You mumble into his suit and find his hand, fiddling with his fingers. Your breathing slowly evened out as you listened to his heart beat and messed with his ring, shutting your eyes for a split second. “Sorry. I needed a second to just breathe.”

He clicked his tongue and tilted his head to meet your eyes, “You don’t have to apologize for that.” Draco slowly maneuvered the both of you down to the floor of the astronomy tower and let you continue to play with his fingers, sitting side by side as the sun began to set. “Tell me what happened, my love.”

You stayed quiet for a little while and stared at his palm, letting the wind blow gently through your hair before speaking. “Susan got upset that I never told her about us and Hannah isn’t sure which side to take.” You rest your head on his shoulder and look at the colors of the sky. “Right after herbology, Hannah wanted us to talk it through but Susan refused and left straight for the common room.”

Draco listened intently to your words, his thumb tracing hearts into your palm. He was shocked to hear your friend blatantly ignore your own feelings and avoiding having to talk it through. It wasn’t like you were doing it without reason. Any person would be shocked to see a Hufflepuff and Slytherin dating.

“I knew we were meeting up here so I just came up early.” You finished and finally lace your hands together, looking up at him with so much emotion. “Sorry if I worried you.”

“Stop saying sorry.” He murmured and looked down at you, his beautiful gray and blue eyes meeting your own. “You needed a moment, darling, it’s alright.”

The fading sky soon darkened to the night sky you and Draco loved so much. Like always, the first thing you would do is point out his constellation, the dragon made of the prettiest stars. However, your moment was soon interrupted with the clambering of feet up the astronomy stairs.

“Susan, she always comes up here after dinner.” You heard Hannah say, almost out of breath from how many stairs she walked up. It wasn’t like she took astronomy classes.

Draco went to move away from you, but you refused to move. You figured it was time for them to put the pieces together. Besides, there wasn’t much places to hide up here.

As their steps got closer and eventually on the balcony, you could barely make out their bodies until Hannah used lumos to light up her wand. She found you much faster in the process, but the shock that covered her face made you want to hide in the darkness forever.

“Hi.” You murmur and look away, biting the inside of your cheek to keep your emotions in check.

As if he could feel you in the verge of tears, Draco squeezed your hand and allowed you to play with his fingers again. He didn’t look over at the girls, only keeping his eyes on you. The moment your eyes met, Draco nodded his head toward the girls and murmured words of encouragement to you.

Your name fell from Hannah’s lips, making you look over at her. “Why didn’t you just tell us?”

You purse your lips and tighten your grip on Draco, pulling his ring until you held it in your palm. The tension between the four of you was thickening, but you knew something had to happen.

“I don’t know… I figured you guys wouldn’t like it because— Well, it’s Malfoy.” You say quietly and look at Draco with little amusement, earning an eye roll back from him. “And it’s not like I meant to hide this for so long, I just got scared.”

Hannah and Susan looked at each other before looking over at you, watching Draco continue to whisper words when you rested your forehead on his shoulder. They saw how much he cared for you and how much you meant to him. When he slipped his signet to your finger and you moved to smile up at him to press a kiss to his lips, they knew this was it for you.

“You apologize right now, Susan.” Hannah whisper-shouted to her, shoving her forward. “They’re clearly in love and she was just scared about our opinion because they belong to two completely different houses!”

“We can hear you.” Draco spoke to them for the first time, his voice clear to the two girls.

They froze and looked toward the blonde, wincing when they saw him raise his brows. Hannah let out an awkward laugh and stepped closer, nudging Susan once more.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, “Listen, I didn’t mean for you to get upset. I just felt offended that you would leave me and Hannah out of such an important detail in your life. I mean, we would’ve been a little skeptic, but we can see how much you two love each other.” Susan looked over at Hannah and smiled when she nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we love you! We just felt left out but I get it. I know it can feel scary to tell others about something that could change someone’s opinion on you.” Hannah kneeled and took your hands from Draco’s, squeezing them softly. “But we will always love you.”

You smiled and hugged her tightly, burying your head in her shoulder. Hannah laughed and hugged you back with the same fervor, Susan joining after you reached a hand out to her.

Draco — knowing you needed a minute — stood up and watched you. The smallest smile creeping up on his face when you opened your eyes with the biggest smile on your face. Your fears were diminished. Your friends supported you in all you did, and Draco knew that you would always have your friends no matter what.

Even if they took a second to understand, they came around in the end because they loved you. And they knew Draco loved you just as much.

©lqveharrington - all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms

[mssorceressupreme]

You Belong With Me | F.W

———

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: it almost felt like unrequited love to you, until you agreed to go to the Yule ball with George, causing his twin brother to get jealous.

Warnings/tags: jealousy, arguing, dancing in the rain, kissing in the rain (when's it gonna be my turn), mutual pining, fred longs for you <3, ending is soo fluffy

———

The cool autumn breeze swept across the courtyard as you and Hermione lounged on a stone bench, basking in a rare moment of calm amidst the Yule Ball frenzy that had overtaken the castle. The two of you were deep in conversation, discussing something far removed from the glittering event.

Hermione was talking about her fascination with ancient runes, her voice animated.

“I just think it’s incredible,” she said, her fingers tracing an invisible symbol in the air. “Languages so old they’ve shaped magic itself. Imagine being able to read something no one else in the room understands.”

You smiled, leaning back against the bench. “I’ll stick to words I can actually pronounce, thanks. Besides, isn’t it enough that half the textbooks at this school might as well be in a foreign language?”

Hermione laughed softly. “Fair point. But honestly, there’s something thrilling about deciphering mysteries.”

You were about to respond when Cho Chang appeared, her face lit up like a thousand fairy lights. “Guess what?” she exclaimed, plopping down beside Hermione, who immediately brightened at her arrival.

“What?” Hermione asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

“Cedric asked me to the ball!” Cho squealed, clutching her hands together.

Your grin mirrored hers. “That’s amazing, Cho! He’s one of the most sought-after guys in school. Everyone’s going to be jealous.”

Cho flushed with delight, her excitement infectious. “I still can’t believe it. He just came up to me after Charms and asked. Like it was nothing!”

The three of you giggled, and soon the conversation shifted to the ball itself—who would ask whom, what dresses to wear, and how the hall might be decorated.

“Have you two thought about who you might ask?” Cho asked, leaning forward with a curious glint in her eyes.

Hermione glanced away, suddenly absorbed in adjusting the clasp of her cloak. “I—I don’t really know yet,” she mumbled.

Your stomach twisted slightly at the question, though you kept your face neutral. “No one in mind,” you said lightly, though your heart was screaming a different answer: Fred.

The thought of him filled your mind, as it often did lately. His quick wit, the sparkle in his eyes when he was planning a prank, the way his laughter could light up the darkest of days. You could barely imagine him asking you, but the hope lingered all the same.

Cho giggled, oblivious to your inner turmoil. “Well, whoever you pick, you’ll have to tell me everything! It’s all anyone’s talking about in Ravenclaw Tower.”

The conversation drifted to Potions, which happened to be our next class, but your mind remained on Fred. Would he ask someone else?

___

The next afternoon, the library was quieter than usual, save for the occasional scratch of quills on parchment. You were deeply engrossed in your Potions notes when George slid into the seat beside you.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said with a grin, tossing a book onto the table.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Shouldn’t you be off plotting your next big prank with Fred?”

He clutched his chest with a dramatic gasp. “Ouch. I’m perfectly capable of studying, thank you very much.”

You chuckled, turning back to your notes as he whipped out his textbook.

The two of you fell into an easy rhythm of studying, punctuated by George’s occasional quips and your amused replies. It was comfortable, even fun. Halfway through, he leaned closer, his tone suddenly earnest.

“So, the Yule Ball,” he started, tapping his quill against the table.

You looked up, curious. “What about it?”

He grinned, though there was something tentative about it. “Well, I was wondering if you’d go with me.”

Your heart stuttered. For a split second, you pictured Fred’s face instead of George’s, and disappointment flooded your chest.

But then you saw the hope in George’s eyes and felt a sense of guilt. He was lovely in his own right, and you couldn’t imagine saying no to someone so kind.

“Sure,” you said after a moment, offering a small smile. “I’d love to Georgie.”

He was one of your closest friends after all, how could you say no to George? Besides, at least you wouldn't be attending the ball alone. ___

Later that day, you found yourself in the Great Hall during study period. The long tables were packed with students working on essays and assignments, and the low hum of conversation filled the space. You sat with Hermione, Harry, and Ron, your quill scratching against the parchment as you tried to focus.

The doors swung open, and your heart skipped a beat as Fred entered, his presence commanding the room without even trying. His tie was slightly askew, his hair tousled in that effortlessly handsome way of his.

You quickly looked down at your parchment, forcing yourself to concentrate. But then Fred sat across from you, and ignoring him became impossible.

“Looking forward to the ball?” he asked casually, his eyes meeting yours.

You managed a nod. “Yeah, should be fun.” If you went with me.

George, seated beside you, grinned and announced loudly, “Right?We’re going together!”

The group erupted in congratulations. “So, you two, huh?” Ron teased, his eyebrows waggling.

You forced a smile as the attention turned to you and George. Across the table, Fred’s expression fell, though he quickly masked it with a laugh.

"You two? That'll be entertaining. Best put extra protection over your toes Y/N, George isn't exactly the best dancer."

The laughter around the table grew louder, students chiming in with their own quips and jokes about the Yule Ball. You tried to join in, but your focus kept slipping back to Fred.

Every time George leaned closer to you or made you laugh, Fred’s jaw tightened, his fingers drumming against the table in a steady, agitated rhythm.

George, oblivious to his twin’s mood, grinned and nudged you with his elbow. “You’ll see, Y/N. Fred might think he’s the charming one, but wait until you’re spinning across the dance floor with me. I’ll have you thinking I invented the waltz.”

Fred scoffed audibly, folding his arms. “Yeah, right. And she’ll probably need a Healer for her toes by the end of the night. Smooth moves, George.”

George chuckled, brushing off the jab. “Jealous much, Freddie?”

That struck a nerve. Fred’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward. “Jealous? Of you? You’re dreaming, mate.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t act like it’s a crime for her to have a decent time at the ball.”

“Decent time? That’s rich, coming from the guy who can’t even sit still during dinner without knocking something over.”

George’s grin faltered, his tone sharpening. “What’s your problem? You’ve been acting like this since I asked her.” He asked, loud enough for only him and Fred to hear. But George, knew exactly what was up.

“Maybe my problem is you jumping in when you knew—” Fred stopped abruptly, clenching his jaw as if he’d said too much.

The table grew quieter as Snape walked by, making sure students were doing work without chatting away, a few heads turning toward the brewing tension. Your heart raced as you glanced between them, unsure whether to step in.

“Knew what, Fred?” George pressed, his own temper starting to rise.

Fred opened his book, a little too harshly, his voice low but laced with frustration. “Forget it. Enjoy your ‘decent time,’ George.”

Not long after, you all found yourselves immersed in studying.

Moments later, Fred tossed a note to Ron, saying “Get a move on, or all the good ones will have gone.”

Ron groaned. “Who are you going with, then?”

Fred didn’t reply. Instead, he rolled another paper ball and lobbed it at Angelina, who turned to Fred, mouthing "What?"

He asked her to the ball. He asked her to the ball. When she nodded in response, your chest tightened painfully.

You felt your chest constrict as you watched the exchange. He asked Angelina. The words echoed in your mind, drowning out the noise around you.

You buried your face in your parchment, pretending to be absorbed in your work, but Hermione’s hand on your arm told you she saw right through you.

Fred glanced at you briefly, his gaze almost apologetic, but you refused to meet his eyes. Instead, you leaned closer to Hermione, trying to block him out.

Whatever, you were going with George anyway, why did Fred matter.

___

The night of the ball arrived, and you met George at the entrance. He was charming as ever, complimenting your dress with a sincere warmth that made you feel beautiful.

“You look stunning,” George said as he approached, his grin warm and genuine.

“Thanks, and you look very handsome” you replied, offering a small smile as he led you inside.

The Hall was breathtaking, transformed into a winter wonderland. But as your eyes scanned the room, they immediately found Fred, your heart faltered at the sight of him with Angelina. He looked devastatingly handsome in his dress robes, his hair neatly combed, though still with that familiar unruly edge.

Fred caught your eye for a fleeting moment, his lips curving into a faint smile, but he quickly turned away. You forced yourself to smile and focused on George, determined not to let your emotions show.

“Let’s say hi,” George suggested, steering you toward his twin.

Fred’s eyes met yours as you approached, and for a moment, everything else faded away. But then he turned to Angelina, jealousy flashing in his gaze before he quickly hid it.

The night went on, the music swelling and laughter filling the air. You danced with George, smiled for the photos, and laughed with friends, but your heart wasn’t in it. Fred was never far from your thoughts, and you couldn’t stop glancing his way.

You sat at the table with George, Lee and Oliver, having some punch to hydrate yourselves after all that dancing.

Across the room, Fred’s gaze kept finding you, a flicker of longing evident in his eyes, though you never noticed.

When he wasn't looking, your eyes found him, and when you glanced away, his gaze found you.

You watched as he laughed with Angelina, something stirred inside you, wishing that was you. Around the room, couples were dancing happily, laughter echoing throughout the room which you drowned out.

You always knew you liked Fred, but this was the first time your emotions felt stronger than ever. You'd never dare admit it, but your heart ached for him, and tonight was the tipping point.

Turning to George, you excused yourself for some air, slipping out into the courtyard as tears welled up.

The first raindrops began to fall as you sat on a bench, cold air biting against your skin as your tears slowly spilled over despite your efforts to hold them back.

You didn't care about the rain; you just sat there.

___

Back inside, Fred’s eyes followed you as you left, a slight frown played upon his lips as he watched you scurry out.

“Go,” Angelina said softly, nudging him.

“What?” Fred asked, startled.

“She likes you, Fred. And it’s obvious you like her too, I see the way you look at her. Stop being an idiot and do something about it.” She chuckled.

Realisation dawned on his face, and without another word, he ran after you.

The rain was pouring by the time he found you. Without thinking, he took off his blazer and held it over your head as he approached. You looked up seeing a tall figure tower over you, holding a blazer over you.

He got soaked, but didn't mind one bit, as long as it kept you dry.

“Mind some company?” he asked, sitting beside you, now extending the blazer over his head too, leaving the two of you huddled under his blazer together.

“Fred, just go,” you said, not looking at him.

“Not a chance,” he replied, his voice soft. “You shouldn’t be out here alone. Crying, no less.”

You turned to him, your heart breaking all over again. “Shouldn’t you be with Angelina?”

Fred shook his head. “There’s nothing between us." He continued, "You do know that she has a thing for George, right?”

“Then why didn’t you—” You stopped yourself, unable to finish the thought.

“Because I was too much of a coward to ask you,” Fred admitted, his voice raw. “George knew that, so he stepped in, he just needed to push my buttons that git. But it’s always been you. Only you.”

Your breath caught, and for a moment, the world stood still.

“Fred...”

“I mean it,” he said, his eyes searching yours. “You’re the one I’ve wanted all along.”

Tears welled up again, but this time they were different. You laughed softly, shaking your head. “How did the wrong twin ask the wrong date to the ball?”

Fred chuckled, his hand reaching to tuck a strand of wet hair behind your ear. “Guess we’re both idiots.”

You leaned closer, and Fred closed the distance, his lips meeting yours in a kiss that made everything else fade away.

The kiss was as sweet as his words were, you tasted a linger of punch he drank from earlier, "Mhm, sweet." You giggled. He smiled into the kiss, before leaning back in for another kiss, removing the blazer from above so he could hold you closer to him.

Fred pulled you closer by the waist, holding you like he was going to lost you. "Merlin, you're the most beautiful girl to ever exist." He complimented sincerely.

You blushed, looking down, "Stop it..." you scoff but bit back a smile.

His inspected your face, eyes darting from your eyes to your lips, smiling as he did so. The look of love. And you into his, those warm hazel eyes you always dreamed of, finally looking at you in this light.

The soft hum of music floated through the night air, carried from the Great Hall to the quiet courtyard. The sound of a slow, enchanting melody was muffled by the rain but still audible enough to make your heartpace increase.

“They’re playing a slow one now,” he said, his gaze fixed on you.

His hazel eyes warmer than the rain, a playful yet nervous smile tugging at his lips. “Dance with me.”

You blinked, caught completely off guard. “What?”

“Dance with me,” he repeated, standing up and holding a hand out to you. Raindrops clung to his hair, the dim light from the castle casting a faint glow around him. “It’d be a shame to let a good song go to waste.”

You stared at his hand, your heart fluttering as you hesitated. “Fred, it’s raining.”

“All the better.” He grinned, his usual confidence creeping back into his voice. “Come on, Y/N. You’re already soaked, and we’re already out here. What’ve we got to lose?”

Despite yourself, you laughed softly, shaking your head. “You’re absurd.”

“And yet, here you are, sitting next to me.” He wiggled his fingers, his hand still extended. “Now, are you going to make me stand here looking like a git, or are you going to dance with me?”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t fight the smile spreading across your face. With a sigh of surrender, you placed your hand in his, letting him pull you to your feet.

The rain was cool against your skin as Fred tugged you closer, one hand resting lightly on your waist, the other still holding your hand.

You hesitated, unsure of where to place your free hand, and he chuckled, guiding it to his shoulder.

“There,” he said softly. “Not so hard, is it?”

The music from the hall swirled around you both as he began to sway, leading you gently. You stumbled at first, unprepared for the sudden closeness, but Fred’s grip was steady, his steps smooth and sure.

“You’re not bad at this,” you teased, looking up at him.

He smirked. “Told you. Miles better than Georgie.”

That made you laugh, and the sound seemed to light up his whole face. The tension from earlier melted away, replaced by a warmth that had nothing to do with the music or the rain.

The world around you blurred, the rain and the music creating a cocoon of quiet intimacy. Fred twirled you unexpectedly, making you gasp before pulling you back against him, his grin wide and mischievous.

“Show-off,” you said breathlessly.

“Only for you,” he replied, his voice softer now, his teasing tone giving way to something more sincere.

You looked up at him, rainwater dripping from your hair, and for a moment, you forgot about the ball, about Angelina, about anything else. It was just Fred—Fred with his warm eyes, his heartfelt grin, and his hands that held you like you were the only thing that mattered.

“Fred…” you started, unsure of what you wanted to say.

But he stopped swaying, his hand gently brushing a strand of wet hair from your face. “I meant what I said earlier,” he murmured. “It’s always been you, Y/N.”

Your breath hitched, his words sinking in like the rain soaking through your clothes. “Fred, I—”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he interrupted, his thumb brushing against your cheek. “I just…I needed you to know.”

For a moment, you stood there, staring at him, the music from the hall swelling in the background. Then, without thinking, you leaned up on your toes, closing the space between you.

The kiss was soft and slow, rain falling around you as if the world had stopped for just the two of you. Fred’s hand cupped your face gently, the other still resting on your waist, pulling you closer. When you finally pulled back, he was grinning, his forehead resting against yours.

“So, how’s this for a Yule Ball memory?” he asked, his voice warm and teasing.

You laughed, your cheeks flushing despite the cold. “It’s perfect.”

“Good,” he said, spinning you one last time before pulling you back into his arms. “Because I don’t think I’m letting you go anytime soon.”

And as the rain continued to fall and the music from the Great Hall drifted through the night, you realised that, for once, you didn’t mind getting soaked.

[toothfa-1-ry]

DOYOUWANTTOGOTOTHEBALLWITHME? draco malfoy

In which,

Draco just can't seem to ask you to be his date for the Yule ball

GENRE: fluff

PAIRING: 4th yr Draco x 4th year reader

FEAT: lee do hyun as Terry Booth!!

WARNING: none :>

A/N: A continuation of my Draco Malfoy is a loser agenda!! Also did I mention that Draco is a very DRAMATIC loser??

"uhm hi y/n" Draco said nervously as he turned to look at Pansy and Blaise who gave him a reassuring nod and a thumbs up

"ooh hi Draco"

"uhm so..y/n" Draco nervously chuckled as he played his his hand cuffs "uh..y/n haha.."

"Draco-" Pansy hissed "you already said her name, there's no need to repeat it again"

"right- sorry. Uhm so y/n!"

"oh god he's a lost cause" Blaise muttered to Pansy who just shook her head.

"I can hear you, just in case you didn't know" Draco angrily muttered towards them, shooting them both a dirty look

"uhm are you talking to y/n or are you talking to us?" Blaise questioned, his eyebrows raised

"oh bloody hell" Draco sweared "uhm anyway y/n uh so like I'm pretty sure you heard the announcement today- during breakfast because like you have ears uh I have ears too! So I heard the announcement too- ha" Draco awkwardly continued.

"ofcourse she has ears dunderhead and ofcourse she heard it! Everyone heard the announcement" piped Lorenzo from a corner "just try to charm her won't you?"

Theodore shook his head in amusement as he watched his best mate Draco act like a complete fool. Actually he always acted like a fool except most of the time he didn't make it this obvious.

"right- right my bad my bad" Draco shook his head "so! Y/n!"

"yes Draco? What is the matter?"

"I thought you could do the er honour of er taking me to the Yule ball y'know" Draco smirked as he attempted to charm you like Lorenzo said

"I mean cause like I could go with anyone but I thought that I'd give you the first chance of going with me!" Draco quickly rambled and then flicked his hair "so what do you say?"

Theodore and Lorenzo tried holding in their laughter as Pansy groaned and Blaise muttered curses under his breath.

"oh bloody hell" Matteo mumbled

"mate that was horrible and I'm not even y/n! I'm just pretending to be her!" Matteo exclaimed as he took of the wig he was wearing

"if your gonna be this bad with me pretending to be y/n, how are you actually gonna face her!?" Matteo shook his head and turned to Pansy "he's totally lost!"

"it wasnt that bad was it?" Draco cringed at himself.

Oh he knew how bad it was

"it was HORRIBLE" all his friends shouted at him, especially Matteo who was honestly tired of wearing the wig and pretending to be you for the 9th time now.

"c'mon mate! This is the 9th time I'm pretending to be y/n. Just ask her out NORMALLY PLEASE" Matteo shouted

"oh shut up okay! I'm trying" Draco hissed his face turning pink

"well try harder" Theodore said from a corner "if you don't ask her out soon, someone else will"

"what?" Draco whisper shouted "you mean- there's a chance that she'll go to the Yule ball with someone else whose not me?"

Theodore rolled his eyes at his blonde friend, "incase you haven't noticed, many guys in Hogwarts likes her. And now you have double the competition with Durmstang and Beuxbaton"

Draco went pink in the face again "oh fuck"

"yup!" Lorenzo patted his cousin in the shoulder "so you better hurry up cuz!" He cheerily said as if Draco wasn't going through a mini panick attack

"ugh whatever!" Pansy groaned "you! Get your act together" she pointed at Draco "we're gonna practice this one more time! Matteo wear the wig"

Matteo grumbled as he begrudgingly wore the wig " on merlins beard why do I have to pretend to be y/n"

"okay! In 3-2-1" Pansy hollered, completely ignoring Matteo "action!"

"y/n hi! Uh I have to talk to you! Uh about uh something" Draco awkwardly grinned

"ooh yes Draco! What is it?" Matteo said in a high pitched voice that sounded nothing like you.

"uhm so-" Draco stammered

"yes Draco? Hehe" Matteo let out a giggle and twirled a strand of the wig

"uhm!..I have a collection of chocolate frog cards!" Draco squeaked, the word Yule ball being unable to form in his mouth

He heard all his friends groan and he became redder then a Weasley

"oh god not again..that's it. I'm going" Matteo threw the wig on the ground shaking his head "all the best" he patted Draco and walked away

"oh c'mon- wait one last time let me try one last time!" Draco whined as he watched all of his friends walk out of the dorm "oh wait- guys wait!"

-

"you can do this. I believe in you" Lorenzo gave his cousin a thumbs up

"well I don't" Matteo snorted which caused Draco to give him a dirty look "what? I'm being honest"

"she's right over there. Just go to her, say hi, maybe compliment her and then ask her out" the caramel haired boy ignored Matteo and gave his poor shaking cousin some tips

"what? What kind of compliments to I give her?" Draco whispered back in a sort of panick

"geez. Just tell her that she looks pretty today, and that you'd be honoured if she would go to the ball with you" Theodore cut in and shrugs "works like a charm"

"okay.. alright I got this" Draco mumbled

"yea you got it..now go" Pansy ushered the boy "c'mon now go ahead" she pointed towards the courtyard where you were.

Draco walked up towards you and a bunch of third years who were talking to you. Suddenly he felt very intimidated by those small scrawny third years and immediately turned away and walked back to his friends

"I can't do this! You lot are right, maybe I am hopeless" Draco sulked as his friends let out another sigh

"did he just call himself hopeless?" Matteo peered at the sulking boy "oh dear, y/n really did a number on him huh?"

"not helping Matteo" Pansy said sternly, hitting Matteo in the arm.

"listen, your Draco Malfoy and your going to go and ask y/n the girl who've been crushing on since forever to go to the ball with you" Blaise said giving Draco a light shake

"and if she says yes all is good and if she doesn't, well- it's kind of embarassing but it's gonna be alright" Pansy adds

"yea so go and ask her out now before she goes to the ball with Terry Booth over there huh?" Theodore nudges Draco towards your direction as the smiling ravenclaw keeper approaches you

"oh bloody hell- no way in my watch is y/n going to go out with that crow" Draco fumed under his breath as he immediately rushed towards you

"yea go get'em tiger!" Draco could hear Matteo whooping and the constant shouting from his friends, all hyping him up but that could hardly matter right now

Dracos hands were going all clamy and he could feel his heart racing. He wanted to run away from you but he wasn't going to let Terry Booth ask you out right infront of him!

"y/n" Terry approached you with a smile

"Terry" you greeted the Korean boy with a grin "anything's the matter?"

"oh yea uh I wanted to ask you if-" the keeper then abruptly stopped mid sentence as another person had joined their conversation

"y/n! Y/n!" A frantic Draco appeared, his eyes widened and his hair a mess

"Draco? Are you alright?" You ask the Slytherin boy who seemed to be in a bit of a mix

"mhm m'fine- I have to talk to you" Draco grabbed your hand which took you by surprise

You look at a awkward Terry and a frantic Draco, unsure of what to make up with this situation

"oi Booth can you bigger off for a second?" Draco coldly dismissed Terry who simply raise a eyebrow before shaking his head

"er- alright, I'll talk to you later y/n" Terry mumbled before walking away

"Draco! What was that. You can't just tell people to bugger off" you begin scolding Draco, unaware that his hands were still holding yours

"y/n I have to tell you something" the boy gulped, he could feel the way your hands felt against his and the close proximity the both of you were in. His heart racing even faster

"what is it?" You ask him, your brows creased up in slight worry. The blonde Slytherin boy who was always so put together, confident and full of himself was now nervous and quite frankly not behaving like his usual self

"Draco are you sick?" You immediately raise your free hand to his head and Draco swears that his temperature rises by a hundred degrees probably.

"uhm y/n" the boy begins, he could feel his sweat dripping and his mouth going dry

"oh dear Merlin Draco your turning redder than a tomato! Let's go to madam Pomfrey" you usher him, pulling him into the hallway "c'mon let's go-"

"wait y/n listen- I have to tell you something first"

You look at Draco in confusion. What did he have to tell you so much that he was acting quite frankly out of his personality

"er- okay..can you tell me when we're in the infirmary?"

"no! I have to tell you now" Draco pressed on. He had to ask you right now when he was full of adrenaline or else he won't be able to ask you later

"oh okay, okay" you say a little taken back "what is it?"

Draco bites his lower lip and mumbles something

"what Draco? I didn't quite catch you"

"uhm...I think uh- I think you look very nice today!" Draco suddenly exclaimed

"o-oh!" That might have taken you back by surprise even more, a slight blush forms in your face "thanks..uhm"

"actually I think you look nice everyday" Draco continues his eyes looking down, his grip on your hand tightening.

You look down and realise that the both of you were holding hands and you feel your face getting hot

"that's really sweet of you to say Dray" you said before you could stop yourself

Draco looks up at you, his eyes widened at the sudden nickname you called him

"Dray?"

You eyes widen and you the undying urge to slap yourself across the face as you see the way Draco's eyes twinkle with mischief.

"did you just give me a nickname? Dray?" Draco grins smugly, completely forgetting the real reason why he was with you

"oh shut up" you huff "I'm never gonna say that again"

"oh no please do say it again" Draco teased you, watching your face get red

"r-right, what did you have to tell me Draco? Do say it fast I don't have all day" you quickly try to change the subject causing Draco to remember the real reason why he was talking to you

"er-" Draco immediately felt all his confidence and smugness fading away

"oh dear Draco your getting red all again" you worriedly said, peering into his face "are you sure you don't need to-"

"not Draco" Draco mumbled

"what?"

"not Draco, don't call me Draco" Draco mumbled a bit louder

"well, what do you want me to call you then-"

"Dray, you should call me Dray" he says softly

Your eyes widen "Dray... I don't understand what-"

"doyouwanttogototheballwithme?" Draco squeaked

"what?"

Draco cleared his throat and looked around, he beckoned you to come closer to him and leaned towards you

"do you want to maybe perhaps go to the ball with..me?" He whispered into your ears filling your stomach with butterflies

"oh- Draco I-" you stammer, unable to form sentences "uhm I would really actually like that" you whisper back in surprise

"really?" Draco asked you back, his voice in equal surprise

You give a shy nodd

"really?!" Draco asked again looking at you eyes widened "I'm not going to stop saying really unless you give me a proper answer l/n"

Your roll your eyes "yes really...Dray I would love to go to the ball with you"

"oh my god I think I'm gonna pass out" Draco said feeling faint

"I think that's a little but of a exaggeration- oh my god Draco!" You shout out, trying to catch the boy before he fell on the ground

"oh dear- he actually passed out" you grimace slightly as you make him lie down in one of the stools in the courtyard after dragging him all the way from the hallway

You softly brush his blonde hair away from his pink face

"how quite adorable" you laugh to yourself

-

"Hey Berkshire!" Terry greeted Lorenzo who along with all his friends were trying to see what Draco and y/n were doing just as they got dragged to the hallway

"ugh we cant see them anymore!" Pansy whined as she stretched her neck, only to get a glimpse of blonde hair

"uhm s'everything alright?" Terry asked

"yea everythings fine" Lorenzo smiled at the tall boy "what's up?"

"oh uh- I did what you told me too" Terry grinned as all of Lorenzo's friends looked at him with a confused face

Lorenzo laughed "great chap you are my friend" giving him a pat in the back

"I'm guessing you told me to pretend like I'm asking y/n to the ball just so that Malfoy would make a move first?" Terry winced as he asked Lorenzo who just seemed to grin even brighter

"my god- you do catch on quick don't you?"

Terry let out a laugh and blushed at the sudden compliment. He was never really good with compliments

"you did what?" Matteo asked eyes widened

"sneaky snake" Pansy squinted her eyes at him and grinned 'your a genius!"

Lorenzo simply shrugged

"so whatdya think? He asked her out yet?" Terry peered out from where Pansy was standing

"maybe if Draco finally got the guts" Pansy snorted

"oh I think he did" Blaise said hesitantly

"what?" Pansy and Matteo asked eagerly

"it appears that our little prince has..." Theodore paused not sure whether he was supposed to laugh or be embarrassed

"he has what?" Pansy questioned

"oh hell!" Matteo shouted with laughter "the bloody wanker has fainted!" Matteo exclaimed with glee all across his face

Pansy covered her face with embarrassment as the boys roared with laughter. Only Terry wasn't the one laughing along.

"oh dear" Terry shook his head sadly "now how would the poor boy be when he dances with her?"

[alliezarin]

to ignore sebastian is their fav past time, especially with all those kitties around the castle

[moonysloveee]

I’ll Crawl Home to Her

Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Content: pure fluff , James potters best friend

Authors note: yes this is inspired by work song by hozier because everyone is raving about his Arctic monkeys cover and I need shed light on this absolute masterpiece of a song so enjoy!!

Word count: 1.2k+

You sat up anxiously all night, pacing the dormitory and biting the inside of your cheek. Tonight was a full moon. Lily, Marlene, and Mary sat on the edge one of the beds watching as you paced. Of course, they didn’t know why you were pacing though. The only people who knew Remus was a werewolf were you and the marauders and none of the marauders knew that you two were even dating.

Her and Remus have been going strong since the night in the common room when they both confessed their feelings for each other. The hard part was keeping it a secret from the others. The only reason why they were keeping it a secret was because of James. He was very overprotective of his best friends but especially you.

“Love what’s got you this worked up?” Mary questioned hesitantly watching you pace around the room.

You waved her off muttering a small ‘nothing’ under your breath. Mary sighed standing up and putting her hands on your shoulders.

“The sun is quite literally rising and we have heard you walking around all night.” Mary stated her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Something switched in your head and you quickly meet eyes with her.

“Wait the sun is rising?” You said in alarm. You were so busy worrying that you had completely lost track of time.

Mary nodded her head while moving out of the way so you could look outside of the window. Your eyes widened as you quickly grabbed your shoes and tied them on.

You had your clothes still on from yesterday so you didn’t even need to change. You grabbed the small thing of chocolate by your bed and quickly made your way out of the dormitory. Leaving the girls to look at each other with looks of bewilderment and confusion.

You felt your heart rate go a mile a minute as you tried to get to the infirmary as quickly as you could. Once you had reached outside of the doors you were out of breath, you heaved a long sigh to then attempted to fix your hair before pulling the door open.

You stepped inside looking around the beds. You looked until you saw him. You felt relief flood through your body as you let out quiet sigh of relief.

You walked slowly towards him seeing him look so peaceful while he slept made your heart warm. You pulled the curtains around him before moving one of the chairs beside his bed.

Once you sat down on the chair then you gently grabbed his hand watching his chest move up and down with each breath. You laid your head on the bed finally letting sleep wash over you now that you knew Remus was safe.

***

You woke groggily feeling your back ache. ‘It was definitely not a good idea to sleep in that position’ you thought to yourself. Until you heard a small laugh.

“Sleeping beauty is awake.” Remus muttered watching you a soft eyes and a small smile.

You looked up and you couldn’t help but let a grin rise to your lips.

“Look the beast is awake.” You countered back with a playful expression.

He laughed before wincing softly. You stood and walked closer to his bedside.

“Bad moon?” You questioned looking down at him.

He nodded with a slightly pained expression. He sighed softly looking up at you. He looked into your eyes and felt nothing but love and contempt fill within him. He lifted his covers in a way to tell you to lie down next to him. You bit your lip wondering if it was a good idea since he was hurt but he seemed absolutely sure.

You climbed under the duvet as he pulled the cover over the two of you. You looked down at his bare chest which had a couple of new bandages.

“I don’t know how you manage to do this every month.” You murmured softly looking down at all of the scars that littered his chest. The new ones and the old ones.

He sighed kissing your forehead “I’ve gotten used to it, darling.” He answered while his fingers played with your hair.

“But being in pain like this? I’m not even sure how you’re letting me lay this close to you.” You acknowledged tracing an old scar from a year ago, you remembered it because it was one of the really bad nights.

“You heal me. I feel no pain when you’re with me.” He admitted softly feeling a shiver travel down his spine at your touch.

You felt your brain go haywire at the admission but you didn’t let it show. You just continued tracing his scars with a small sappy grin.

“Look at me,” Remus said quietly causing you to look up and meet his eyes.

“I’ll always come back home to you. Even if I have to crawl.” He told you with nothing but certainty

You looked into his eyes and it felt like he could read your mind seeing all of your emotions and worries.

“I love you, Remus.” You said watching as a huge grin formed on his face.

“I love you too.” He said before giving you a small chaste kiss on your lips. The kiss was all you needed to feel nothing but reassured by him.

The sound of the curtain opening is what caused the two of you to pull away.

“What the hell!?” The three boys shouted in unison looking utterly shocked.

You felt nothing but embarrassment fill every limb of your entire body as you hid your face in the crook of Remus’s neck.

You felt the vibration of his laughter. Remus was completely unbothered. He knew James wasn’t going to do anything to him especially not after a full moon.

“Since when was this a thing?” James stated in a mix of anger and confusion.

“What’s it been, darling? Almost six months?” He said softly in your ear only causing you to turn beet red.

He laughed at your bashfulness and clarified to the boys that it had been six months.

James didn’t know what to feel, he felt betrayed, angry, and confused. Remus sighed reading his best friend’s expression. Remus knew James like the back of his hand since they had been friends for years.

“James, I’m never going to hurt her. Do you wonder why the week before full moons haven’t been as bad as usual? It’s because of her. She’s my everything now James.” Remus stated, usually he would never admit something like that but loving you and the way you treat him makes Remis want to shout how much he loves you from the rooftops.

James let out a long breath, he knew he couldn’t be mad. It was Remus after all. He watched Remus look at you and the way his eyes softened and the way small smile naturally grew on his face. You were it for him. It would take a blind fool to think otherwise.

“We’ll leave you to it.” James said softly shutting the curtain and left the two of you alone again.

Remus gave him a small nod as the curtain shut before looking down meeting your gaze.

“You mean that?” You spoke delicately.

A childish grin formed on his lips while he nodded his head

“Every damn word.”

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