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slygirl666 · 4 years ago

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love fool (F.W)

A/N: my first request!! Anonymous. So for this person I am doing a ravenclaw reader X Fred Weasley. btw strawberry lipstick part 2 is almost done but I was so excited to get a request

Summery: when the twins ask you to test a love potion for them you reveal a little more than they thought possible.

Warnings: none (I mean unedited can be one)

Word count:1,506

You walked between Fred and George on your way to Herbology, everyone wondered how the shy ravenclaw got along with the two loudest and most popular Gryffondors in Hogwarts. But they made you laugh, they saw a side of you no one else got to, a playful teasing side that they brought out, they had since your first year at Hogwarts.

It also helped you are a bit infatuated with Fred Weasley, something you were sure no one knew about.

You were proven wrong on that, it started off innocent enough. It wasn’t uncommon for the boys to ask for help when it came to their products so when they sought you out you thought nothing of it.

You 're in the Library of course, in comfortable clothes writing down notes as you read the astronomy book. Hair in an ever present no nonsense ponytail, and an oversized sweater slipping off your shoulder. There was hardly anyone in the library; it was set to close within the hour. But you stayed happily working on your assignment for the next week.

Until you hear heavy footsteps and contagious laughter.

“Boys,” you greeted, not even looking up. They shared a glance before moving to either side of you.

“Y/N” George started from your left. “We have a itty bitty favor to ask of you.”

“As you know we were developing a decent love potion for our shop,” Fred put an arm around your shoulder causing you to put the book down as butterflies erupted in your stomach. “And we think we finally got it right. Would you mind helping us test it?”

“What’s in it for me?” you already knew you would agree, they had to work a little bit though.

“Our undivided attention.” they grinned at you. You pretended to think for a moment before sighing and saying yes. The boys cheered before fred threw you over his shoulder running to the gryffindor common room.

George was kind enough to get your things from the library before whispering the password to the fat lady.

Fred placed you down once you entered, you were rather unfazed they liked to pick you up and move you around since they grew over six feet. “You know I can walk stairs on my own Fred.” you huffed.

“But it's more fun my way,” he winked causing you to blush slightly. Thankfully he couldn’t tell in the glow from the fireplace.

“Sure it is,” you rolled your eyes. “I think walking like a normal person is fun, Fred.”

“You would, Y/N.” he threw an arm around you. Neither of you seemed to notice George's brief disappearance. “You seem to like boring things.”

“Is that why I hang out with you?” Fred looked appalled, George chuckled from the stairs. Both of you turned to the younger twin.

“Nice to know you two can get along,” He walked to you with a vile of pink potion in his left hand. “Like I said we haven quite perfected it, Angelina took a drop of the last batch and she still couldn’t tell us apart.”

You offered George a smile knowing he was quite taken with Johnson. “Well then let's see.”

“Alright Y/N, three drops and look this way,” Fred took the bottle from George pulling a dropper out. “Open up.”

“I can take my own potion,” you pouted as Fred rolled his eyes grabbing your chin to face him.

“You are way too stubborn, you know that?” you stuck out your tongue rather childishly, Fred took advantage of that and put one drop on your tongue. “Now open wide.”

Everything felt slightly hazy as you lazily opened your mouth and he put two more drops in. everything Fred filled your senses.

“Freddie?” you smiled at the boy in front of you. He nodded hesitantly. “I love you, did you know that?”

The boy let out airy laugh. “No, I can't say I did Y/N.”

“Don’t laugh at me, I do Freddie.” you leaned into his chest, “i think I’ve always loved you.”

Fred turned to George, “I guess it worked.”

“You want to get the antidote? I’ll wat-”

“No I want to stay with Freddie” you cuddled further into freds chest. George shrugged at Fred as he walked up the stairs to their dorm. “You know Freddie, I'm sure I've always loved you.”

“Really now and why is that?” He relaxed in your grip thinking he may as well enjoy the attention from you.

“I remember the first year I came to Hogwarts, you were telling the other first years you had to battle a dragon to get into the castle, I told you that was ridiculous it was actually the giant squid. I never saw a face light up so fast.” you sighed, taking your hair down, looking up at him, “i decided that day i wanted to see you smile everyday, I think I have seen you smile everyday.”

“Y/N,why haven’t you said anything then?” you saw a bit of confusion in his eyes.

You laughed, “right, Fred Weasley like the boring little Ravenclaw that stuck around. Freddie you need someone exciting and reckless. I need you, I really do. But do you need me?”

You nuzzle your nose into his chest, you felt his arms loosely wrap around you. “I don't think you get to choose what I need, love.”

“I like you calling me love,” in a moment of boldness, no doubt due to the love potion you moved up, lips only centimeters apart.

“I got the antidote,” George interrupted. He looked between you two before muttering, “sorry.” he handed you another potion. “Drink up.”

You did as told. Before your senses seemed to come back. You shot up from Fred’s arms face hot. “I should head back to my common room.”

You didn’t wait for a reply before sprinting out of gryffindor. You were in tears by the time you got to the ravenclaw entrance luckily Cho Chang was outside.

“Y/N, what happened,” the girl guided you to the dorm sitting with you on your bed.

“Those idiotic twins,” you sobbed into her shoulder. “They had me test a product and I said some things I can’t take back.”

“Y/N what kind of product?”

“A love potion,” your voice was small. You saw her face soffen.

“Oh, sweetheart, dont tell me thats how you told fre-”

“It was and now I can never talk to him again.”

You were pretty sure you couldn’t, spending the next week avoiding the twins even moved your usual spot across the library, Cho was wonderful not letting you be alone if you weren’t feeling like it.

It was one night when you were getting out of DA training that you caught Cho looking at Cedric’s photos.

“I want to speak with Harry, i you wai-”

“I can catch up with Luna, tell me everything later.” you waved at her.

you saw the twins asking harry a question as you left. You locked eyes with Fred.

* * *

Fred spent this last week feeling empty, those few moments in his common room replaying in his head. The way your hair messily draped over your shoulders, the red tint of your cheeks, the way you felt in his arms and mostly the shine in your eyes as you spoke to him.

He tried to find you but unlike usual you were always with someone, mostly Cho, he couldn’t get you alone. He even begged Hermionie to help him sneak into the ravenclaw common room with no luck.

He wanted to hold you to tell you he felt the same, to tell you about how George teased him mercilessly about you since third year. He wanted it to be better again maybe even to finally kiss you.

He locked eyes with you as you walked away from Cho chang, this might be his last chance before the winter holidays.

“George, I’ll catch up to you.” Fred didn't wait for an answer as he walked out into the hall to catch you by the hand.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” you locked eyes once more, you galring while he showed hurt.

“Want me to embarrass myself even more, Weasley?” he looked taken aback as you struggled out of his grip. “I said things Fred, things I meant and can never take back.”

“I don’t want you to embarrass yourself or take them back Y/N.” he pulled you into his arms. “You've never been boring to me, I don't want someone wild I want you. I just never thought you would want me.”

“You’re ridiculous how could I not,” you leaned up on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, but he was quick moving to cup your cheek pressing his mouth to yours sweetly.

“Miss Y/L/N, Mr. Weasley, detention!” you groaned hearing the shrill voice of your defence against the dark arts teacher made you jump apart. She dragged Fred away, but it was kind of worth it.

#fred weasley x reader #fred weasley #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley x ravenclaw!reader #ravenclaw #ravenclaw reader #harry potter fan fiction #weasley twins #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x y/n

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zehypocriticaloath · 6 years ago

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Teeny, tiny sweaters

(Challenge idea given by @redheadrecon. Thanks!)

---

“Rrrk. Rrrk.”

“Now, now. Don’t be fussy. You don’t get to choose what I pick.”

“Rrrk! Rrr, rawk, rawk!”

“You know damn well that the color suits you. It accents your feathers, brings out the sheen in them. Don’t give me that sort of squawking tone.”

“Damn! Damn!”

“Insolent child!”

Aldous clicked his knitting needles together, creating a small little clacking noise that did bring the squabbling, spoiled raven to attention. He pinned the unruly member of his unkindness with a rather piercing, stern stare, mouth set in an austere frown.

Roderick. The little insolent asshole. Always had been, always would be. Worse than Poe! Poe had humor to his rascally ways. Roderick was an ass, outright and to be sure. And he was loud. Loud and annoying. Surely he would make the house fall down around them with his squawking and shrieking.

He watched the scolded raven duck behind his elder one, Poe, their leader in their so called corvid family. Poe looked a bit smug as Roderick took to preening his left wing, as if to sulkily make himself look better despite his bruised ego. Ah, and yes, the wing! It was popping out of an expertly knitted and fitted.... sweater.

Yes, a sweater. In fact, they were all sporting sweaters. Annabel, Lenore, Roderick and Poe-- they were all wearing nice, warm sweaters that Aldous had lovingly knit for them. Each one was fitted perfectly from the softest yarn he had on hand, with holes for their wings. And each one displayed a different color and semi-festive pattern, the designs varying depending on their personalities.

Roderick, of course, had the most garish one of them all, complete with the knitted visage of a tongue-waggling Krampus marching along the bands of color. But the strange color choice and chosen image was, more or less, punishment for his, as Aldous had put it, “insolent” ways. Still, the chosen colors did make his particular ashen-oily sheen of his feathers pop out. Aldous was a professional when it came to choosing colors to further enhance someone’s appearance. Abelärd may have been the master artist in the family but, by God, Aldous gave him a run for his money when it came to making clothing.

Not a lot of people knew that Aldous was fond of sewing and knitting. It was a hobby he didn’t speak of. Not a single soul on that base had bared witness to his hidden trove of goodies-- a trunk packed with yarns of varying softness, displaying a wide gamut of colors and hues. Tucked in along with the yarn were packs of sewing needles, swatches of fabric and knitting hooks; threads, and patches, and anything else one could imagine one hiding in an artsy-crafty trunk.

All in all, the reason for his love of sewing and his ability to create clothing was only due to the undying patience and love of his mother.

Long ago, the twins had watched their father languish in his long-term illness before he finally succumbed to his withering cancer. After a proper time of grieving, the household was thrown into a state of chaotic flux. The twins’ mother, Giselle, had taken on most of the chores, trying to keep up with everything in her life. When she came to the conclusion that she couldn’t balance the books and do everything around the house, she came up with an ingenious idea.

Giselle Haswell wanted to make sure that her boys would not go through life helpless.

She purposely taught them how to clean the house proper, sanitizing counters and scrubbing the tub to a spotless sheen. She taught them how to do their own laundry, going as far as teaching them how to make their own soap. She taught them how to make meals for the family (often making batches of food bigger than what the three could eat, just so they could donate the ‘leftovers’ to the poorer families on the street). She showed them how to can food for later, how to create a budget and a shopping list. Above all, she taught them the domestic side of life. Always a believer that one could make do and thrive if they truly applied themselves, she worked hard to help make her boys confident in their activities and tasks.

Of course... the twins varied in their strengths and weaknesses, and she doled out certain roles to each as a result. She wanted the boys to take on a set routine of chores, always allowing them to, yes, make mistakes, but to always ask questions on how to better do a task. She refused to hold their hands, but she was always there on the sidelines, ready to offer advice.

As a result, Aldous found his passion in patching up clothes and making clothes. He was an avid learner, picking up techniques on sewing and stitching faster than his younger twin. At such a young age he showed excellent technique and form with even the fancier side of stitching, enjoying the challenge of embroidery. As such, he was given the duty of patching worn out clothing and making things from time to time, in order to save the family much needed money.

All of his knowledge as a kid helped him many times in his life. From fixing up clothing that he didn’t want to throw out to quickly creating perfect, tightly secure stitching for his patient’s wounds, fresh from the smoke-strewn battlefields of the second war.

Now, of course, he put his skills to use... knitting tiny sweaters for his unkindness and, now, the rat named Amour.

Poe watched with amusement as Aldous fussed and grumbled over the rat’s measurements. Still smug from Roderick’s recent scolding, the large raven perched upon his favorite little spot, his claws hooked into the eye sockets of the skull residing, with a place of honor, on his master’s desk (it was the skull belonging to Aldous’ old friend, Rasputin). The raven was looking dashing in his particular sweater. It was a soft but respectable light gray, the yarn flecked with little specks of black. Quite nice. The softest Aldous had on hand. What really made the raven stand out was his given pattern. It was a rather comical lump of coal on the chest, with the back reading ‘I’m an asshole’ in German.

“I don’t...” Aldous ran a hand through his hair, his face screwed up in concentration. Before him sat the little white rat, its nose twitching in anticipation. Next to him was a little lump of brown yarn in the vague shape of an itty, bitty sweater. “I’m not sure this will work. Your measurements are so small. I am used to working with ravens.”

The rat, as if understanding, cocked its head at the strange man. It looked as if it were considering what the man was saying to him, trying to make sense of the complexity, if not absurdity, of a rat-sized sweater.

Gingerly picking up the small sweater, Aldous looked down at his handiwork. Yes, a brown yarn had been chosen, but it was rather nice. A milk chocolate brown, not at all dark. He even knitted a tiny little s’more on the back of the sweater. A little inside joke, he chuckled in his own amusement. A little white rat wrapped up in a tiny brown sweater, just like a little roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers.

Rubbing his thumb over the material, he felt a bit better with what he was doing. It was soft. Really soft. And he was sure it would compliment the rat along with keeping it warm. He knew the infirmary was warm right now, but he also knew power outages did happen. He loved the little rat. He cared about it. And if the heat did happen to go out, or Amour got a little chilly in the middle of the night...

No, he didn’t want to think what would happen.

“Alright, Amour. Are you ready to try this on?”

The rat on his desk squeaked inquisitively as the man held the small sweater out to him. Nose twitching once more, it daintily sniffed at the material. Was it food? Was it some new plaything for it to chew through?

With care, Aldous began to slip the sweater over the little rat’s head. At first all seemed to go well. The endearing little rodent didn’t panic, and wasn’t squirming or moving all that much. It was well behaved, just standing there, trusting Aldous enough to do what he wanted to do.

It took a fair bit of wiggling the sweater onto his model’s furry body, but he managed to get it on. After a bit of adjustment, Aldous sat back in his chair, rather proud of himself.

The s’mores-sweatered rat looked absolutely adorable.

“Ah, look at you! ” A deranged smile spread across the man’s face as he rubbed his hands together, almost devious in his delight. “You look very warm! Very cute! Ver--- wait. Hold on.”

Panic must have set in, for the rat, once a perfect little model for the Medic, was now beginning to back up in a little circle. It kept reversing unto itself, bumping into anything and everything that happened to be on Aldous’ desk. Tiny little squeaks began to sound from the struggling rodent, its cries causing the Medic alarm.

Look what you’ve done.

Aldous hissed to himself, trying to block out the nasty, vile but all too familiar voice that rose up from the depths of his mind, like a serpent prepared to strike the finishing blow.

You’re going to kill it. Give it a heart attack. And then what will people think of you?

“Amour,” the Medic gasped out, gently trying to coax the rat into ceasing by scooping it up. It only wiggled out of his hand, returning to its frenzied thrashing. “Calm down-- calm down! Stop! You’re going to--!”

Oops, there goes its head. Amour pulled his head right through the hole for the neck, and now it was this awkward little furred lump with a sweater on it, reversing in a wobbly, wonky circle, without a visible head.

Aldous tried to calm the little rat, but his efforts were in vain. His unkindness cawing out in amusement only provoked the little rat’s panic further, causing the unholy squeaking to reach a grand crescendo.

“Stop! Stop, stop, STOP! You’re going to hurt yourself! I don’t want that! I want to keep you--”

Pop!

Aldous felt his stopped heart skip back to life as relief flooded over him. With a comical little vibe to it, the tiny rat had wiggled completely out of the sweater, shedding it like a snake would shed old skin. He let out the breath he had been holding in, and his tense shoulders beginning to loosen up.

“...A--Amour? Amour, ssh, it’s alright.” He reached out to touch the rat, but it didn’t seem to respond to physical contact. “I am so very sorry. I did not mean to scare you. I--”

Confused, Aldous halted his actions of picking up the rat. Instead he watched, with mounting curiosity, as the rat sniffed the shed sweater with a renewed sense of interest.

A minute passed as the rodent checked the sweater out before, carefully, stepping onto it. With a few well placed shuffling motions, the rat fluffed it up into just the right little pile... for a nest.

“...Huh.” A small, relieved smile began to drift along his face. Aldous shook his head. “Not what I had in mind but... it’ll do to keep you warm at night. Until I knit you a bigger one, that is.”

The sweater for the rat was a complete failure. But hey, it made a rather nice, plush bed for the rodent.

#November Challenge Drabble #ic #writing featuring Aldous #writing featuring Aldo

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fallen029 · 6 years ago

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Remember Me: Retribution.1

I thought this was already up here, but I guess not. Oh, well. Perfect time to put it up here, I suppose.

"Alright, girls," Laxus sighed as he walked along, his youngest daughter's hand clasped tightly in his. She hardly went anywhere without holding hands with somebody. For her, he'd put up with it. "You each have your own jewels, don't you?"

"Yes," his youngest said, nodding her head. "Daddy."

"You didn't have to walk us," his other daughter complained as she walked along next to them, arms crossed over her chest in defiance. "Laxus."

"Yes, Haven, I did," he told her.

"And remember," she went on. "We made those jewels. So we get to spend them on anything we want."

"Except animals."

"You can't make rules like that."

"Yes, I can," he told her. "It's my house, brat."

"That's not fair!"

Marin, his other daughter, only glanced up at him. "But I can buy a toy, right?"

"Of course, baby." Looking down at her, he forced a smile. "If that's what you want. You earned the money, remember?"

Nodding, she squeezed his hand tighter. "Ice cream after?"

"If you still got jewels."

"Daddy."

"I'll buy you some ice cream," he sighed. "If you're good. That goes for you too, Haven. You've been a real brat this past week."

"You've been a real brat."

"You know, kid, you're close to getting a bolt of lightning' shot straight through you. Keep playing me."

"See? Bratty."

"Ha- Gotcha."

That made Haven glance back at her father, shocked to find him not only holding the hand of her younger sister, but rather also grasping the arm of some boy rather tightly. The boy was struggling, but she knew from experience, once the Thunder God had you, you weren't getting away.

"Let me go, you creep," the boy was growling, trying to fight Laxus off. The man only let go of his daughter, who was staring in shock, before glaring down at the boy.

"What now then? Huh?" Laxus tightened his grip until what the boy was clutching in his hand fell. Laxus' wallet. Haven should know; she'd gotten it for him for his birthday the previous year. "You a little pickpocket? Not smart, brat, stealin' from a guild master."

"I haven't done shit!" And just like that, a blue magic circle appeared around the boy's other hand before a short blade materialized. Then he was slicing around at Laxus.

"Now you've pissed me off," Laxus grumbled as he dropped the boy's arm. When he tried to run though, Laxus only reached around and grabbed the hood of his jacket instead with just as tight a grip. "I try and have a nice day with my girls and you ruined it. I was gonna let you off with a warnin', but now? Now I'm taking you down to the authorities to-"

"You sound so old," Haven complained as she rushed back over to them. Glaring at the boy, she balled up her fists. "You're a mage then? Fine! You tried to steal from my master and I'm not going to let you get away with it."

"Haven," Laxus warned, letting the boy go as he went to go grab her instead. "You don't-"

"Fine! You think I'm afraid of you?" A sword appeared in the boy's other hand as Marin only took to covering her eyes. It was the middle of the day and the street they were on was practically empty. "'cause I'm not!"

"You better be! You don't mess with Fairy Tail!" Haven held out a hand and shot a ball of lightning at the boy, who easily dodged it.

"Fairy Tail?" Suddenly, there was another boy, who apparently had been hiding in a nearby alley way, came running out. He appeared younger than the dark headed boy before them, but looked enough like the other boy that it was clear they were related. "Ravan, did you hear them? They're from Fairy Tail."

"Yeah," Laxus grumbled as he moved to shove Haven back. "And?"

"We're not helping you do nothin'," Haven yelled from behind her father. "You thieves! We don't help-"

"That's where Erza Scarlet is from." The older boy, who'd looked ready to charge at Haven with his weaponry, which Laxus was not letting happen, stood up straight once more. His face was dark as he glared up at the older man. "Do you know her?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Because," he said as the other boy came to take refuge behind him. "I'm going to kill her."

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Laxus laughed and, with a shake of his head, took to walking back over to the boy.

"You," he chuckled darkly. "You're gonna kill Erza? You're just…a kid."

"I won't let you get anywhere near her," Haven said. "None of us will. You-"

"No, Have," Laxus sighed as he went once more to take Marin's hand. "This isn't our battle. It's Erza's, yeah? So tell me, kid, how are you going to do it? Huh? With your little, itty-bitty swords right there?"

"I could kill you right now if I wanted," he said. "But I ain't a murderer."

"You couldn't do nothing to Laxus!" Haven was getting ready to forgo the magic and just beat some sense into that boy with her fists. "Even if he is an old man, he's still super strong!"

"Thanks. I think," her father said before shaking his head at the boy. "You wanna kill Titania? Huh? Then come on. I'll take you straight to her and you two can settle your little beef."

"Laxus," Haven complained as Marin rushed to grab his hand, not wanting to get left behind. "What are you doing?"

"I ain't Erza's damn bodyguard," he grumbled. "Clearly she's done something to piss these brats off. Right?"

"Right," the younger one said which got him a look from the other. "I mean…no?"

The older child just glared at Laxus. "I didn't need your permission to kill her anyhow. She'll pay for what she did."

Marin glanced back at them then, looking from the bigger boy to the smaller one. They were rather fearsome.

"Daddy," she whispered. "Are you really gonna let them hurt Erza?"

"Of course not," he told her softly. "But it's better to bring them to her front on then let them sneak up on her somewhere. She might think they're a real threat and hurt them."

"I'm gonna hurt them," Haven grumbled. "Try and take my dad's money. Those-"

"Aw, Haven," Laxus said dryly. "I'm touched."

"Don't be," she said. "I'm only thinking about myself. I get all your jewels when you die, don't I?"

With that in mind, the man took to sighing, but still kept up his pace, pulling Marin along with him as Haven trudged along. The boys seemed to be speaking softly to one another, the older hissing harshly at the other. Still though, they followed along as well. They were on a mission, after all.

"Wow," the younger one said rather audibly when they approached the grounds. To Haven and Marin, it was just the same old Fairy Tail. To him though, it was clearly an impressive structure.

"Ready to kill someone, kid? Huh?" Laxus was still rather amused with the whole thing, it seemed. The second they were inside the gate, Haven took off running for the guildhall, calling out for Erza. The older boy chased after her, his swords having dissipated, clearly not wishing to be left behind.

"Come on then," Laxus said, glancing back at the younger boy, who seemed slightly fearful. "I ain't too happy with you either, you little brat. Stealing ain't ever okay. You hear me?"

"Daddy," Marin complained, looking back at the boy too. He was just standing there, hardly through the gate, just staring at them with wide eyes. "Don't be mean."

"Mean? How am I being mean? The kids stole from me!" Growling then, he drug her along once more. Didn't matter. He wanted to be around to see that kid get his ass handed to him. If he had done it, it would have been bullying. Erza though? Defending herself? Perfect punishment.

Damn pickpockets.

Inside, Haven and the boy were already attracting attention. Laxus placed his wife easily, who was away from the bar and standing in front of the two kids, listening as the boy raved about being taken to Erza immediately, struggling to be heard over Haven bragging loudly to the other kids in the hall, Locke and Navi, about how much of a coward her father was and how she had been forced to defend his honor.

"Hardly, brat," Laxus said as he came over to them as well, letting go of Marin's hand finally. She rushed to her mother's side, hiding in the woman's dress.

"Well," Mirajane was telling the boy as she moved to run a hand down the back of her youngest daughter's head. "Erza isn't here right now. I'm sorry. She went out on a job."

"A job?" The boy was glaring heavily at Mirajane as his younger companion came to stand by him. "Well, when's she gonna get back?"

"Maybe today," Mirajane said before smiling. "You know, I'm sure whatever it is that Erza's done-"

"I'm not going to talk about it to you," he hissed making Laxus frown. He almost went to smack the kid in the back of the head for disrespecting his demon, but just as quickly, Mira was nodding.

"Since you're here though," she said, looking the child over. "You might as well wait. I have some soup that I was just going to throw out. A bad batch. Maybe you and your friend-"

"You'll feed us?" The younger boy's face lit up for the first time. The older one reached over to slug him in the arm. "I mean… We don't want your food!"

"We don't take handouts," the other agreed though, no doubt due to all the scents of the different meats and such in the air as well as Mirajane's mention of the food, his stomach growled slightly. "We're only here to get Erza Scarlet. Nothing else."

"Well, it'll be a shame," Mira sighed, turning to walk off. "For it to all go to waste. You're still welcome to wait though."

"What?" Haven stalked after her mother. "You can't just let him sit in here and try and-"

"Wow, Haven," Locke remarked as the ten year old came walking over, hands behind his head. "You can't even handle these two? Why am I not shocked?"

"You shut up," she growled, turning right back on him. "Like you could have done any better."

"Uh, yeah, I could, so-"

"Where is Erza then?" Laxus, a little annoyed that he'd gone through all of that for nothing, took off after his wife. "Mirajane-"

"I don't know, Laxus. She went on a job. Why is that so shocking? You know, not everyone inherits a guildhall."

"Ha ha."

The kids though were left to themselves then, Haven and Locke taking to quarreling as Navi, their other usual playmate, rushed over to watch. Marin however only stared at the other boys.

"You don't have to stay icky," she said after a moment of just staring at them. "You're not members, but I bet that no one would care if you took a bath. We gotta bathhouse."

She was flinching too, after she spoke, expecting the boy to snap at her like he had the others. But the older boy was already heading off, after Mirajane, yelling something about Erza.

That left Marin and the other boy.

"You gotta bathhouse?" he asked then, slowly, just staring at her. Marin wasn't well versed in the world outside of her hometown, as she rarely left it, but it was obvious to her that both boys weren't very well dressed. Their shirts were in rags and they looked rather dirty. She kinda felt…bad.

"Mmmhmm. And we gotta pool."

"Wow."

Encouraged now, she threw in, "And we have a pool table!"

That one didn't get a response, really, other than him frowning at her.

"What's that?"

"Well…I dunno, but it's downstairs and the big guys like it."

"Can I see it?"

Marin glanced around, but her sister was by that point, chasing after the older boy once more and her parents weren't oblivious to her.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Long as you don't steal from me."

"We don't steal," he told her simply as he came closer. "We just get enough to buy food. That's all."

"Well, you were stealin' from my daddy," she told him before heading off, for the downstairs. The boy was quick to follow, not only wanting to see this magical pool table, but also wanting to explain himself.

"Na-ah. Your dad has all sorts of stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"He's got nice clothes and he was talkin' about going to buy stuff. He didn't need it. He-"

"He did need it. Because it's his. And he earned it." She wasn't backing down on that point. "You're bad. That's bad. Takin' somethin' that's not yours. Even if you need it."

"No." He was just as righteous. "What else are we supposed to do? Starve?"

"How come your mommy and daddy don't feed you?"

"Because they're dead. And they're not coming back. And we have to go ave…ave…average them."

"Average them?"

"That's what Ravan says."

"Who's Ravan?"

"He's my bubba." They were headed down the stairs then, the boy keeping close to her as if he were afraid of getting lost or something. There were a lot of big guys around, after all.

"The mean one?"

"He's not mean. He's just…"

"He seems mean. Like Haven."

"Who's Haven?"

"My sister. The one that was yellin' and stuff."

"Oh, yeah, she is mean."

"Mmmhmm."

Downstairs, they found that not a lot of people were around. One person in particular took Marin's interest.

"Hi, Elf," she greeted as she came over to him, the little boy following along.

"Well, hi, Marin." He was busy practicing shooting darts, but did stop to look down at her. "Who's your friend?"

"Um…Ravan's brother."

"Well-"

"You're really good at darts, Uncle Elf," she complimented, grinning up at him. That distracted the man as he took to nodding his head.

"Well," he told her. "I am a real man, after all. And real men know how to play darts!"

He proceeded then, of course, to begin playing once more, as to show off for his niece. But it was in vain, as Marin and the boy had already set off again.

"Wow," he said. "You gots lots of cool games here."

"Mmmhmm. We've gots the best guildhall ever. It's my daddy's. And before that, it was Gramps'." Glancing at the other child, she asked, "What's your guild?"

"I don't gotta guild," he told her with a giggle. "I have a village, but…"

"But what?"

He didn't wanna answer her anymore though. And Marin, to make him feel better, went over to the unused billiards table and, reaching blindly up as it was taller than her, felt around until she found a ball.

"Here you go," she said, presenting it to him. "You can have this."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

It was a blue one and rather shiny. Shaking his head, he went to set it back up on the table.

"If we take it, then nobody can play, right?"

Marin hadn't thought about that. "They got lots of balls up there though."

"But isn't it just like with your daddy's money? You said that it didn't matter that he had a bunch. I couldn't just take some."

His perception skills were far beyond hers. With a shrug, Marin turned to head back to the stairs.

"This is the game room," she told him. "Come on. Now I'll show you the pool."

But as they bounded back up the stairs, the very evident sound of the boy's stomach growling could be heard.

"You're hungry?" Marin smiled at him. "My mommy will make us sandwiches."

"No," he said, though he still followed the girl. "Ravan said-"

"Ravan said that you couldn't eat it 'cause you didn't take ham outs. So we'll eat turkey sandwiches."

"Handouts," he corrected. "And that's not-"

"Come on." She stopped at the top of the stairs before reaching back to take his hand and drag him along, like her father had before. As it was turning out, the boy wasn't scary at all. His brother though… "It'll be like when I go play at Locke's house and eat lunch. It's not 'cause I don't got jewels. It's 'cause we're friends."

Haven and Locke's fight had dissolved by that point, each kid licking their wounds over by their parents. Locke's mother, Levy, wasn't around, but Gajeel was, and he was taking much enjoyment out of ribbing the boy over the bruises he was then sporting.

"Daddy." Marin had no problem with rushing right over to the man, who had taken a seat at the bar. "Ravan's brother wants a sandwich."

"Huh?" He frowned down at her before glancing at the boy, who was standing there as well. His brother, Ravan, was quick to come over, glaring at his younger sibling.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at him.

"I'm not getting a handout," he defended. "She's gonna give it to me because we're friends. That's okay, isn't it?"

"No," he said harshly.

"Well," Mirajane spoke up from where she was behind the bar. "I'm going to go set two bowls of soup over there and some sandwiches and if anyone wants some, they're more than welcome to them."

"Demon," Laxus warned as Navi, who was still standing around, was quick to perk right back up.

"We can have soup?" she asked.

"It's not for you," Locke called from his table close by, where his father was still laughing at him.

"But she said-"

"It's for them," Haven accused, pointing at the two boys. Her little sister took to frowning.

"If you were hungry and were in a guild you didn't know, you'd wanna be fed," the youngest Dreyar argued.

Still, Laxus shook his head as Mirajane went off to get those bowls. "This ain't an orphanage, woman. This is a business. One that we happen to be running."

"Take it out of my pay."

"Demon-"

"Laxus, I'm not going to let them just stand around, starving-"

"They tried to rob me!"

"They're hungry. And all alone. You don't know what that's like."

"Oh, bull, Mira. Just because I-"

"They're eating." And that time, her tone was absolute. Laxus moved on to focusing on his beer. Happy, Marin took the boy's hand once more before leading him off to an empty table. Ravan, seeing this, narrowed his eyes before following. And there was no way that Haven was letting her little sister sit with those two thieves. No way. Navi came with her.

"My mommy makes good soup," Marin was saying as she and the youngest boy sat on one side of the table together. The older boy just stood there, glaring off.

"You can eat," he told his brother. "But only because you haven't in awhile."

"You aren't going to eat?" The younger boy frowned. "Ravan-"

"I'm going to kill Erza. And then I'll buy us a big feast with the jewels she has on her."

"You're not doing anything," Haven said as Locke, done moping, came back over as well to stand around with them. "I won't let you."

"Try and stop me," he retorted with a glare. "I slice right through you."

"Bring it."

"Haven," Locke sighed, folding his hands behind his head with a frown. "You're being rude."

"They're trying to hurt Erza."

"No, they're not," he said. "There's no way that they ever could. They're just stupid little boys. Just like you're a stupid little girl. So stop fighting with people all the- Hey!"

And, after she hit him once more in the arm, they began to quarrel again. Navi, not interested in seeing that, just kept her attention on their guests.

"My daddy and mommy are out with Erza," she told him. "They're a team. Them and Gray. And Happy! And sometimes Wendy, but-"

"Like I care," Ravan retorted, bucking up. He was about the same height as Navi though, making it mostly a waste. "They're as useless to this world as she is. All guilds members are. You're nothing, but-"

"Okay," they heard then, making all of the children glance up. It was Mirajane, of course, coming over with two bowls of soup balanced on a tray, as well as two cups of juice and a plate of sandwiches. "Here you boys go. Just tell me if you need something else, okay?"

The second she placed the soup and silverware down in front of the youngest boy, he dug right in. Marin sat next to him, head rested on the table, watching him eat with interest.

"You're kinda like Navi's daddy," she told him. "You eat fast."

The other bowl Mira placed on the other side of the table, but Ravan was still being rather prideful and kept his head turned to it. His stomach hadn't caught the message, however, and grumbled rather loudly.

Haven and Locke were finished then with their brawl, leaving her to notice the other boy's adherence to her mother's cooking.

"That's rude," she told him with a frown. "When someone gives you something like that, you just don't ignore it. She didn't have to be nice to you. You're nothing, but a thief. You're lucky that we don't kick you out of here!"

The boy glared for a moment before, once more, giving her his back. Over his shoulder, he said, "You better stop bothering me, girl, before I beat you up. And believe me, I hit a lot harder than your stupid boyfriend."

That was enough to get her. Growling, she moved to strike him finally, which of course got her back into a fight once more. There was no magic involved, however, but rather just a pure fistfight. Locke, glad for once not to have to deal with her, went to take a seat at the table, though he kept glancing back there, knowing that if she were truly in any trouble, he'd have to jump in and save her. As much as he hated her at times, she was still his best friend.

"You like it?" Marin asked, giggling slightly as she watched her new friend chow down. He came up for no air, but did nod his head slightly. "Good. Mommy makes good food. Even Daddy thinks so and he doesn't much like anything."

Swallowing what was in his mouth, he didn't lift his head, but did tilt it over at her to say, "Your daddy don't seem too nice."

"He is to me," she was quick to say. "And Mommy. And…and… Sometimes Haven. And Aunt Lissy. Sometimes Aunt Ever too. And he's letting you eat. That's nice."

"You really like him, huh?"

"Of course. He's Daddy."

The boy nodded. "I liked my papa too."

"I love him."

"Me too."

He went back to eating about then while Marin just watched him some more.

Locke was tired of watching Haven and that boy scrap by that time and jumped up to either break them up or join in. It wouldn't take a lot to sway his opinion either way.

"So how come you wanna hurt Erza?" Marin was asking the boy then as he finished his bowl of soup in record time and had started on the sandwich. "I like her. She's one of Mommy's friends."

After inhaling half of the sandwich, the boy said, "Ravan said that she killed our entire village."

That took Marin back. With a frown, she said, "Na-ah. Erza's a good guy."

"No." He even shook his head before diving in for the other half the sandwich. Once that was down, he added, "All guilds are bad. They're evil. They take money from little towns and villages and then don't do nothin' for them. They're cheats and snakes and-"

"No!" Marin's head shot up then. "That's not true. Least not about Fairy Tail. Especially Erza. She helps everybody. She-"

"Maybe," he said then, slowly, as he reached out to pick up Ravan's sandwich as well. If he wasn't going to eat it anyhow, why let it just go to waste? "Maybe we don't know the same Erza. Maybe there's two."

To the six year old, that sounded extremely logical.

"Maybe," she agreed.

"But how will we know?" he asked. "If she's not here?"

"Well, do you know what she looks like?"

"Sorta," he said. "I don't remember her well, but I'm sure I would if I saw her."

"I know." Marin jumped up then before grinning at him. "We'll go talk to Max."

"Max?" He took the sandwich with him as he stood. "Who's Max?"

"He runs the shop."

"Shop? You gotta shop?"

"Uh-huh. Outside. C'mon."

She was heading off then and, with one sparing glance at his older brother, the boy took off after her, munching on the rest of his sandwich the entire way.

"What sorta things do you sell then?" he asked. "In the shop?"

"Suv…suv… Just stuff."

"Oh."

"But one of the big things," she said as they headed along, "are the toys."

"Toys? You got toys here?"

"Well, kinda. They're action figures," she said.

"Of who?"

"Of people like my daddy or Navi's. Erza has one too! And when you see it, you'll know that she's not the Erza that you're looking for, right?"

"Oh." He grinned then. "You're real smart. What's your name?"

"Marin," she said. Then, because Laxus always said it with pride, she added, "Dreyar."

"That's a nice name," the other child said. "And you're a mage too?"

"Well…" She paused for a moment before saying, "I'mma be a Dragon Slayer. If I take the lacrima from my daddy."

"A lacrima?"

"Uh-huh."

"And it'll make you a dragon?"

"Dragon Slayer," she said. "That's what he is. His name is the Thunder God."

"Really?"

Nodding, she said, "And then Navi's daddy, he's one too. He's real great. His name's Natsu, but everyone calls him the Salamander."

"Wow."

"Uh-huh. And Locke? My sissy's best friend? His daddy's one too. He's Black Steel Gajeel! He's real mean, but sometimes, he'll help me, Navi, Locke, and Haven bake cookies. When we all sleep over at his house."

"You sure gotta lotta slayers."

"Mmmhmm. And then there's Wendy. She's the Maiden of the Sky."

"You guys all got cool names?"

"Mmmm… Erza is the Queen of the Fairies. Titania."

"'cause your name's Fairy Tail?"

Marin blinked. "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

It was the boy's turn to giggle, but she only smiled.

"Then my mommy is the she-devil," she added. "But she's super scary when she becomes it."

"That's a lotta names."

"Mmmm…I guess so."

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You said that you're a slayer too. So what's your name?"

"They're not all slayers," she said. "They just got names 'cause they're super powerful."

"So you don't gotta name?"

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head as they walked out of the guildhall. "I don't know any magic yet."

"Yet," he repeated. "Why yet?"

"I dunno," she said. "My daddy got me a dragon lacrima. But…I don't know if I wanna be a mage."

"How come?"

"Well…I dunno what I would be," she admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"All the other slayers, they gots elements. But I don't really like any of their elements."

"Marin," he said. "Marin. Mmmm… You should be a water dragon!"

"What?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "Your name is Marin. Like marine. That'd be cool, huh?"

"I guess so," she agreed slowly. "I just… I dunno."

"Well, I think you should become a mage," he told her. "A water dragon. The Serpent of the Sea."

Giggling, she said, "Maybe."

They were there then, at Max's little shop. When he saw Marin, the man grinned.

"Hi there," he greeted to which the little girl only smiled. "What can I do you for? Does your dad need something?"

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head. "My friend wants to see one of Erza's action figures."

"Now that," he said, turning to grab one off the shelf, "is something that I can do for you."

"Wow," both kids said as he sat the little figurine on the counter of the reequip mage.

"Can we hold it?" Marin asked.

"Sure."

When she picked it up, she immediately held it out to the other boy who only nodded his head.

"That's her," he said. When he saw Marin frown though, he was quick to say, "I think. Maybe we should show it to my brother. He'd know."

Looking up at Max, Marin asked, "How much is it?"

He was still grinning as he told her and, though Marin knew her numbers very well, she couldn't count out jewels. That sorta stuff went over her head. But Laxus had given her some for her and Haven helping him take care of some yard work. They were gonna go to the toy store, but…

Well, having an Erza toy wouldn't be so bad.

She handed all her money over to Max, who was kind enough to count it out for her. Then her and the little boy had their very own Erza action figure!

It was pretty cool.

"This place is big," he told her as they started back for the guildhall. "Are all guilds like this?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "But I know that we're the best guild ever."

"Oh."

Nodding, she added, "My daddy says so."

It was then though, as they were passing the front gate, that they saw them. It was Team Natsu, Gray walking in front of all the others, actually in his clothes for once, though that would probably only last long enough for him to get into the hall while Natsu and Lucy were behind him, arguing over something with Happy riding on his buddy's head, no doubt tired after the mission. And bringing up the rear was Erza, with her usual amount of regality, the standard armor she wore shining the sun.

If only she'd know what she was walking into, she could have forgone the guild that day and found a better place to spend her time.

If only.

"-yell at me for complaining, Natsu, when you know that I'm not just whining," Lucy was saying as they passed. "Navi had a cold last week and now she's given it to me."

"I'm not yelling at you," he said simply. "Happy's yelling at you."

"Yeah," the cat agreed. "Whiner. Lucy's a whiner!"

"Look, you stupid cat-"

"We all know that they're just messing with you. The second you guys get home, they're gonna nurse you back to health," Gray grumbled. "And now that we've had to hear this argument all the way here, could you guys knock it off?"

"Hey!" Natsu held up a fist. "You're lucky that I wanna get in there and see Navi or else I'd kick your ass right now for butting in."

"Bring it, burnt breath."

"We got this whole way with out you acting like children," Erza told them simply. "We will all go in here, share a drink, and then be able to go our separate ways for the rest of the day. Why ruin what little time we have left?"

Happy snickered. "You make it sound like some of us are dying or something."

Or something.

It was when they were about to the door that they saw Marin and the little boy rush pass them, the latter screaming out the name of his brother at the top of his lungs. Inside, he found his brother doing the same, but to a lesser extent.

"I didn't do nothin' to your little brother," Haven was complaining as Ravan searched for him. "You're the one that did something to my sister! Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, but-"

"Ravan!" The little boy headed over to him, Marin not far behind. By that point, Laxus had turned in his stool to glance back at them, clearly having overheard Haven mention Marin being missing. When he saw her just standing there though, he frowned. Then he glanced over at the guildhall doors.

"Erza," he called out as she and her teammates entered. "Brought you a little visitor."

Her head turned almost immediately to glance over at him. "Who?"

"That's her, huh?" the younger boy was asking his brother about the same time. Ravan kept his chin down as he glared at the woman from across the room. She was approaching then, as her master had called out to her, but stopped in her tracks when the boy came to stand in her path.

"I'm Ravan, from the village of Shadebay," he said as he held one of his arms out, a magic circle appearing briefly, followed quickly by a sword, which he gripped tightly. "And I sentence you to death."

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#Miraxus #erza scarlet #Nalu #Fairy Tail #Fanfiction #1 of 10 #Team Natsu

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