#I finally skimmed through the ending of Witch's house after Ran was talking about it

[alchemistdetective]

"... So anyways, that's exactly why I don't possess or even switch bodies with anyone unless I absolutely have to. Got it?"

"..."

"Sensei, we're at the dinner table???"

[potter-imagines]

Off Limits (Draco Malfoy)

Summary: Y/n and Draco Malfoy have been secretly crushing on one another for quite some time. Draco and his friends notoriously taunt students, especially Gryffindors. So why is Y/n, a Gryffindor, off limits? What happens when a friend attempts to harass Y/n?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Disclaimer: Anyone else on DracoTok ??? Set in fourth year (no mentions of tri-wizard tournament, sorry saving it for later) xx 

Warnings: Little bit of bullying (hp edition bullying)

Word Count: 4.5k

“Y/n… are you alright? That was your third cup of tea- you’re going to be jittering out of your seat in Charms!”

Through the bustle of her thoughts a worrisome voice tore Y/n from her daydream. The Great Hall was bouncing with energy. All houses were scarving up their lunch as the chatter filled the enormous room. Y/n sat quietly with her fellow Gryffindor classmates.

Physically she was sitting with her friends but mentally, she was across the table sitting with the bleached blonde Slytherin Prince himself. It was a recurring game between the two. Stolen admiration and stares. Words were rarely exchanged, and neither could answer why. Draco had told her once he wished she was in Slytherin, but otherwise they only spoke together when necessary. She made him nervous, and it was a feeling he didn’t like. He found himself worrying over the unfamiliar emotions he felt towards her. Both being too scared to act on their feelings, it all went unspoken.

Her attention has been drawn on him for the last 20 minutes. She casually sipped on her tea, filling her cup back up each time it grew bare. The warm of the lavender brew kissed her taste buds and slithered down her throat, emanating her body in a hug.

It wasn’t until her curly haired friend placed a hand on her shoulder that she was forced to look away.

Hermione was in the middle of an argument with Ron over who was to blame for Gryffindor losing ten points during Potions. Snape loathed the house so it was no surprise to anyone when he eagerly took points away when Ron’s cauldron exploded and split in two. Hermione paused when she noticed her best friend staring intently behind her.

Y/n sent her a quick reassuring smile and said,

“I’m fine, Hermione. Just thinking.”

Harry was busy rushing to finish his Charms paper before next period. He would add a comment every few minutes but was removed from the conversation for the most part. Ron interjected himself into the conversation as he shoveled a load of mashed potatoes into his mouth,

“More like worrying. What’s got your knickers in a twist, Y/n?”

Y/n winced as she got a full view of his meal in his open mouth. Y/n could hear Hermione gasp as she reached forward to smack Ron on the arm. He gave her a look of bewilderment, clearly not expecting her reaction.

“Ron! Dear Merlin, have some manners.” Hermione’s eyes were wide as she glared at the red head. Ron just shrugged and resumed with his meal. Steam rose from his plate and if she wasn’t so mentally withdrawn, Y/n would’ve been happily digging into the feast. There was not a day that goes by where Hogwarts meals fail to impress.

Although the uneasy feeling building in her stomach did not allow this. It was almost nauseating to be surrounded by the delicious foods. Y/n leaned forward towards the table and pursed her lips. Her e/c eyes looked past Hermione, as if she was invisible, and landed on the rambunctious table behind her. A small wisp of white flashed behind Hermione and Y/n felt her heart leap in her chest.

Her maroon sweater clung loosely to her body. It was Friday so there was no hassle over her neglecting her robes. Rubbing her thumb against the sleeve Y/n allowed herself a moment to wander. She thought of Draco. How it would feel to hold his hand. To lay in his arms and run her hands through his snow white locks. To take late night adventures with him around the castle after hours. To be his rock and hear all the little thoughts running rampant in his head. To be his.

A far off thought, yes but a girl’s allowed to imagine right?

Cautionless the young witch sitting before Y/n whipped her head around to see what was captivating her friend so much. Expecting to see a dinosaur with a shark’s head, as she had never seen her friend so mesmerized, Hermione furrowed her dark brows in confusion as she scanned the scene. All she saw was the annoying table of Slytherin’s and a gloomy, cloudy sky outside the windows. Draco and his friends were loudly talking, Hermione rolled her eyes at his. They never failed to annoy her. Most of the students sitting in the group infuriated her. Pansy was constantly harassing Hermione with her cruel words and bothersome antics. Crabbe and Goyle took more interest in pestering Ron and Harry but they still found a way to get to her as well. Draco was the worst of all cause he seemed to be in charge of all the taunting and hell. Sure, since the start of the group's fourth year in the fall he had laid off, but not completely. Snarde comments were thrown here and there but the intensity had decreased.

The oddest part of it was none of Draco’s wrath was ever placed on Y/n. Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy got their insults in on her daily but never Draco. There were times Hermione caught him scolding his friends in the courtyard for a comment they made towards Y/n and it baffled her.

She hadn’t noticed she was staring- or rather searching- for very long until Pansy’s sharp, hateful eyes caught hers.

“What’d you think you’re staring at, mudblood?” The sneering Slytherin glared dangerously at Hermione. Pansy sat between Draco and Blaise, the corner of her lip lifted as if she was growling at Hermione. Her hands were clutching the wood of the table ready to pounce. The loud conversation died down as the surrounding Slytherin’s and Gryffindor’s listened in, half out of amusement and the other out of fear.

“Are you gonna answer me or just sit there looking dumb with your iditot friends? Huh?” Her thin brows lifted towards the ceiling, intimidation emanating off her skin. Y/n winced in guilt. Hermione was only curious as to what caught her attention and now she was caught in Pansy’s.

“If anything dumb is the most lazy insult you could use against Hermione. If I remember correctly she’s the top of our class and if I can remember correctly, you’re number 36 out of 40. Did I get that right?”

“You filthy little blood traitor, you’re gonna regret-” Pansy had shot up like a predator ready to kill their prey. Y/n was almost certain she saw flames burning in Pansy’s dark orbs. Gasps emerged as students readied themselves for a fight. Ron was frozen in shock, no help at all, only stunned. Harry had only rejoined the conversation when Pansy’s wrath began, making him just as taken back as Ron. Y/n knew this wouldn’t end well but she couldn’t handle Pansy berating her friends for game. Just as the devilish Slytherin threw her leg over the bench, Draco snatched her arm stopping her actions all in one move. A noticeably screech came from her lips from the pain of his grip. Her fists were clenched by her side and her plans were obvious to the whole crowd. By this point, everyone in the Great Hall was watching the mess unfold.

The brunette girl snapped her head to the leader of their group. Her gaze screamed ‘let me go’ but Draco was not about to let that happen.

“Pansy, shut up and sit. You’re not gonna do anything.”

“Draco she just-” Suddenly Pansy was forced back into her seat causing a loud thump. Draco practically shoved her into compliance snarling in the process. If the scenario had been different, Y/n might’ve giggled at Pansy’s befuddlement. Even Blaise was astonished! The tension was too thick for a laugh to lighten any moods.

“I said, shut up and sit down.” His words were final. The girl now coward under his icy stare. If looks could kill, Pansy would be 6 feet under by the hands of Draco Malfoy. The silence was uncomfortable and no one wanted to be the first to make the next move. Shakily, Pansy grabbed her fork and resumed eating, pretending she didn’t just get humiliated in front of the entire school.

Y/n remained focused on Draco, studying his expression. His eye remained glued to Pansy but not in a loving way. The rage in his eyes could be seen from the moon. He was testing her, installing fear in her. When he decided his message stuck, he turned away and looked forward at the h/c witch sitting across from him. Y/n’s body shuttered at his movement and quickly looked to Hermione. A wave of electricity ran down her spine. He felt it too. Draco’s gaze stayed fixed on Y/n unable to tear away. He spent a lot of time staring at her, examining her features, although he took these stolen glances when she wasn’t looking. This time he knew she saw him, the only difference is he didn’t care. A part of him hoped her doe eyes would move back to his somber ones.

“What just happened?” Ron was the first to speak up among the table. Y/n could feel the endless pairs of eyes on her. It seemed everyone was seeking answers.

“I have no bloody clue.” She mumbled. Hermione reached out and tugged on Y/n’s hand, a silent thank you. A small gleam tugged on Y/n’s lips as she squeezed her hand back. Lifting her head she found the familiar pair of stormy eyes. This time, she didn’t look away.

Rain drops kissed the stone of the castle as a storm brewed outside. A continuous thump played on repeat. It was a soothing lull to Y/n as she walked back to her dorm from the library. The last few hours she was cozied into an armchair staring out the window. Her initial intentions were to study but after an hour of skimming through her Potions textbook and feeling more lost than ever, she gave up and lost herself in the weather.

Most students were busy socializing, it was a Saturday night after all. Harry, Ron and Hermione begged Y/n to join them at the Gryffindor party for 4th years and ups but she politely declined. Typically she’d tag along and set aside some time to enjoy herself but for the night, she preferred to be alone. Ever since her odd encounter with Draco and him defending her, she had a difficult time controlling her thoughts. He seemed to be the only thing occupying her thoughts.

The corridors were empty for the most part. A few giddy students tipsy off firewhisky rushed by her. She was approaching the staircase towards the common room when the calling of her name stopped her in her tracks.

Y/n clutched her books to her chest and she turned around. The hallway appeared empty, though the crashing rain made it hard to hear. Y/n wrote it off as her imagination and resumed her walk. Her cheeks were rosy from the harsh breeze sweeping the grounds. She decided on a detour wanting to delay her arrival in the common room. Fred and George would surely convince her to join in the partying and she wasn’t in the mood for that at the moment.

Y/n’s steps clicked against the ground filling the empty void. Bright flames created lighting in the halls guiding Y/n on her journey. Her feet carried her around effortlessly, the destination still undecided.

If it were a weekday, she wouldn’t be able to make it a few feet wandering around this late without a perfect stopping her. She was scolded a handful of times but never written up. Maybe that was because it was typically a Gryffinor or Huffelpuff who caught her. Undoubtedly a Slytherin perfect would waste no time turning her in.

Suddenly a noise caught Y/n’s attention. It wasn’t loud, almost nonexistent but Y/n knew her ears had not tricked her. It sounded like a clank, similar to when she would drop her wand on the stone floor. Y/n peeked over her shoulder but once again, it was empty. Nearly. If he hadn’t stumbled Y/n would have missed him but she didn’t.

The black cloak left the trail. His fast movements to hide caused it to wave back ever so slightly. A tiny look of his bright locks poked out from the stone corner. Y/n smiled to herself as she thought, was he following me?

The happy witch swiveled back around and gracefully continued down the corridor. She pretended to not notice the presence behind her as she led him to a spot, unbeknownst to him. Draco had no inkling that Y/n was on to him. He was sure his hiding skills were immaculate. He had been playing hide-n-go-seek with the house elves since he was a child. His only mistake was calling out to her earlier. He was desperate for a conversation, but his nerves got the best of him. Draco tiptoed a safe distance behind Y/n as she skipped down the wavy path.

She quickly rounded a corner causing Draco to pick up his pace. It wasn’t until he turned the corner that confusion graced his face.

“What?”

Without warning a hand clamped around his wrist and yanked him backwards. A door slammed loudly making Draco whip around to face his attacker. Much to his surprise the beautiful Gryffindor he had grown so infatuated with stood before him. Her h/c hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail but she still looked gorgeous. This was the first time the pair has been so close to one another. She could smell the hint of peppermint wafting off his breath. It reminded her of a potion she had smelled months ago.

Both speechless, the pair stood inches away from each other. Draco’s eyes flickered from her plump peach lips to her eyes, then back to her lips. He was hoping she’d speak first and luckily, that was exactly what she did,

“Why are you following me?”

Draco griminced growing bashful. His head fell down to his chest as he stared at the ground trying to come up with an answer. This was not an emotion he was accustomed with. Never in his life has a blush of red painted his cheeks from the actions of a girl. Especially a Gryffindor girl. He wondered how his father would react then pushed away the thought. Y/n leaned her head down forcing Draco to meet her gaze.

“What makes you think I was following you?”

She gave him a knowing look. He was caught and there was no denying that. Draco took a moment to take in the closet she had shoved them both into. It was a supply closet by the looks of it. There was one window with a small nook overlooking the vast forest extending beyond the castle grounds. A few dusty textbooks, some beakers, empty test tubes, and four old broomsticks. He hadn’t spent much time on this half of the castle. He found himself exploring a lot of new areas of the castle while following Y/n around. It started last year, the beginning of their third year. It was far easier for him to admire her from afar then risk rejection.

“Fine, I’ve been following you. I just wanted to know what you’re up to. There’s about seven parties going on tonight so you can’t tell me you weren’t invited to one.” “I was, but I didn’t feel like socializing tonight. I could ask you the exact same thing.” Draco smirked. He might not be the biggest fan of Gryffindor’s, but her playfulness and ease to serve it right back enticed him.

“Maybe I didn’t feel like socializing either.” Y/n shot him a look of skepticism. He wasn’t fooling you but you decided to play his game.

“But you want to spy on me?”

“I wouldn’t say spy-” This earned a scoff from the Gryffindor. Draco rolled his blue eyes and sighed, “Okay I just enjoy ‘spying’ on you at times. Don’t make me explain it please. You’re amusing. Quite odd too, but amusing nonetheless. I don’t know.”

Y/n could feel the heat kissing her cheeks at his words. If it was any other boy, she would tell them off or find it a bit creepy but she had been crushing on Draco now for years so she couldn’t help the rapid beating in her chest. Draco searched Y/n’s face for disapproval, he thought he had scared her off at this point. Instead, she looked up at him and gave him a teasing smirk,

“How many other girls do you spy on, Malfoy?”

The usual cocky boy was taken aback by her question. The last thing he needed was for Y/n to think of him as some sleaze. In all honesty, he had never taken genuine interest in a girl until he met you.

“Only you, I swear. No other girl in this school has held my interest as long as you.”

“Why did you stick up for me yesterday at lunch? With Pansy… I thought you two were y’know… and you made her stop. Why?”

It was hard to ignore her sadden expression. A pang struck his heart at her brokenness. He wanted to hug her but he hardly even knew her personally. It was funny in a way. He had spent almost two years observing her and taking notes over her actions but had never made a move. Quickly he shook his head,

“I’m not with Pansy, if that’s what you think. She’s quite annoying, can’t spend more than an hour around her without a bloody headache. Not exactly my type.” Y/n giggled causing Draco to smile. It was the first genuine smile he had in awhile. “But I’m not sure. I just didn’t like the way she was speaking to you. She was wrong anyways so why let her get away with it? Not that you needed my help, anyhow. You can hold your ground pretty well, love.”

Y/n’s breath caught in the back of her throat at the phrase. She heard it from her friends but never from Draco. It had a larger effect on her. A small precipitation built in her palms. The closet was becoming crammed with the growing tension between them. For the first time tonight Draco held the confidence and he took full advantage of it. Seeing her frail and shy made his heart melt and long to protect you. It was a feeling that scared him but he was willing to invite it.

“Cat’s got your tongue?” Draco teased the girl like a game of cat and mouse. It was new to him, seeing her wiggle uncomfortably. Lately she has been on the upper hand. Now it was his turn. Her flustered state caused his stomach to do flip flops. She was the most adorable girl he had ever laid eyes on.

Y/n placed her hand on his stern chest keeping a small space of distance between the pair. Draco tried to deny the sensation that rushed through his bones under her touch.

“Shove off, Draco. I don’t like the way your friends treat mine.” She rolled her eyes carelessly. This was an issue she wanted to end. It hurt Y/n to see the way Draco’s friends treated hers. She didn’t like seeing Hermione upset and ashamed over her blood status, which holds no importance in her mind.

“I’m sorry, darling. It’s hard to explain but I can tell them to lay off a bit. They haven’t done anything to you have they?” His hand now rests over her own, still placed on his chest. This was the first time she had felt the warmth of his hand on hers. The butterflies in her stomach were screaming but she resisted their cries. “No, actually that’s the weird thing. I think today was the first time I’ve actually had a conflict with one of your friends. Why is that?” Draco grinned at her confused expression. All this time he spent admiring her from a distance, he never realized how breathtaking she really was up close.

“They know better, I wouldn’t allow that.”

He hadn’t fully processed his words before they slipped. Y/n’s head tilted to the side watching his profile. She waited for a chuckle, for him to admit it was a ploy. Draco’s posture stayed fixed and tense. His words held more weight than one might think. It led onto more and Y/n wanted to hear him say it. Vulnerability was an uncomfortable emotion for Draco and for the first time in a long time, he was scared.

“Why do you treat me differently, Draco? I’ve never heard you say one bad thing about me. You stood up for me yesterday. You’ve been spying on me. You look out for me… why?”

Y/n’s hand slipped away from his and folded near her lap. The tension was as thick as honey. All Draco could think about was the hint of cherry in Y/n’s perfume that was tattooed in his memory. He thought about her all summer long, never able to get the sound of her childish laughter out of his head. Spent hours in his mother’s garden sitting underneath a large cherry tree thinking about her. The only thing he wanted to change about Y/n was to make her his.

Maybe it was the cunningness of the Slytherin in him, he just couldn’t resist the opportunity. Rejection was the last thing on his mind, it was worth the risk.

In a light manner Draco pushed Y/n back a step until her back was pressed into the stone wall and the back of her head against the glass of the window. A small yelp came as Y/n was caught off guard by his sudden movements. Even through the darkness Y/n could make out Draco’s features. He looked assured- not his usual arrogant, high and mighty demeanor. Draco’s hand snaked up above Y/n’s head, giving himself stability as his face neared hers.

His free hand slowly curled around Y/n’s chin, taking his time. Y/n was positive he could hear the pounding of her heart. She reached up and pinched the skin of her arm between her finger tips. Draco stroked her cheek, brushing his thumb to her chin every few swipes. Nope, not dreaming, Y/n thought to herself.

Their eyes locked and Draco sent her a look of approval, not wanting to cross a boundary. She answered his question by closing the gap between them, leaning up on her tippy toes to meet his lips. Her hands slipped around his neck pulling him in closer. She savoured the taste of peppermint and apple on his lips. His kiss was soft, but overflowing with passion. It wasn’t sloppy but smooth, like two puzzle pieces matching up. Y/n’s lips moved with his happily. Her hands found their way to his platinum blonde hair, grazing at his soft locks earning a groan of pleasure from Draco. They continued on for another minute or so until Y/n’s need for oxygen got the better of her.

Pulling away softly Y/n rested her forehead against Draco’s. The only sound filling their air was the two of them trying to catch their breath. Drunk off adrenaline Draco’s eyes lit with glee. The happiness rising in his chest was addicting. Placing his gaze on Y/n Draco felt warmth,

“I really, really like you, Y/n. Even if you are a Gryffindor.”

Little chuckles came from both as they basked in the moment. Y/n was excited to run back to her dorm and share her night with Hermione. Hermione- what would she say?

A pit of worry settled in Y/n as she started to process what was happening. Draco noticed her shift in moods and moved his hold to her shoulders pulling her back a step. Y/n shifted her attention to the window and furrowed her eyebrows,

“What will your friends say? Your parents-” Before she could finish Draco beat her to it. He gently moved her chin to focus herself back on him. She drew her bottom lip into her mouth, biting on it nervously. Draco smirked at this, her little action driving him mad. Reassuringly, Draco bent at the knees a bit and placed a tender kiss to Y/n’s lips, then her cheek, holding her face in his hands. She was beyond flustered, her cheeks had yet to stop burning since she pulled him in the room. His hair swept against her forehead as he shook his head, “I don’t give a shit about any of them right now. Just you. Please be mine, Y/n.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat. Draco scanned her face looking for any signs of an answer. He had never officially asked a girl out before so this was all new. She could easily say no and tell all her friends about it and torture him for years. Instead, Y/n nodded ‘yes’ then reconnected her lips once again with Draco’s. He moved to get a better position but just as he did, the closet door swung open causing a ray of light to burst in.

The two separated in an instant, scared shitless over the intruder.

“Well look here Georgie! We were right about all that lip smacking! It’s Y/n and Malfoy!”

“No way!” Soon rough George Weasley popped his head into the closet with a mischievous grin. Fred folded his arms over his chest smirking at the two of you. He was already planning out who George and him should spill the news to first. The endless chuckles began to emanate when he took in the sight.

Annoyed at their presence Draco shot dagger worthy glares at the twins. She shoved his shoulder trying to diffuse his frustration. The twins were her friends after all. Draco shot one last look at the twins before sneering,

“Get lost, Weasels!”

This only escalated the giggles between the twins as they rushed out singing loudly,

“Y/n and Malfoy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-, first comes love, then comes marriage-”

When they got far enough down the hall, Y/n sent a look to Draco. He was annoyed, not mad. Y/n moved towards him, leaning against his chest. The Slytherin Prince gripped her waist embracing her.

“If you don’t want to go back to your dorm yet, I know a spot. We’ll have to take a lot of stairs-” Y/n groaned in response earning a small laugh from Draco. “I know but I think you’ll like it. We can see the stars from up there.” Draco had only ventured up to the Astronomy Tower a handful of times though taking her there seemed to be a perfect idea. She’d love the stars, and it would give him more time to spend with her.

Y/n laced their fingers squeezing his hand. Draco pulled her hand to his lips pressing a chaste kiss to the skin.

“Okay, lead the way Draco.”

[lxngbottom]

More mute fic pls omg

Mute | N.L (Part 2)

in which the reader doesn’t talk, and neville is still trying to change that.

warnings: some angst, bullying, swearing (let me know if there are more!)

word count: 2,877

i wasn’t planning on making a part 2 to this but you ask i deliver!! but, maybe a part 3 as well if i feel like the story isn’t finished!

PART 1 HERE!

—

since that day in the library, neville longbottom could not seem to get y/n off of his mind. she ran through it like a marathon, but neville enjoyed every second of it. he couldn’t seem to forget the little giggle that left your lips on that day, or the way you uttered that “goodnight” to him.

he came to visit her quite a few times in the library after that. he wouldn’t go everyday unlike her, due to the fact he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. he liked spending time with you, even if the conversations were one sided. but, he couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room...

she still had yet to say anything else.

so when today came, he was prepared to get some progress. he felt some sort of guilt due to the fact he would never want to make her feel like you were some sort of experiment to him, or to anyone else. he just hated seeing her so lonely.

the great hall rung out with the sound of chattering and gossip as breakfast continued. neville found himself searching for y/n, as she hadn’t shown up yet. but, when she finally walked in with two books grasped into her hand, a bright smile formed onto the boy’s face.

“what are you so cheery about, longbottom?” seamus asked with a raised eyebrow. but it didn’t take him long to realize what his herbology loving friend was so happy about. because he looked over at where neville was staring, and he connected the dots. “merlin’s beard... you fancy mute!”

dean and him chuckled at the thought,

“what?! no i don’t! and... don’t call her that.” neville clapped back, finally ripping his eyes away from y/n.

“oh, it’s alright, longbottom. we’re just messing with you. but seriously, if you fancy her, why don’t you ask her out?” dean asked, hitting seamus on the shoulder.

neville shrugged, “she won’t talk.”

seamus rolled his eyes, “well, no shit.”

the three boys looked over at her, and her nose was dug into the same herbology book she had checked out a week ago. the look on her face would confirm that she seemed content with how the day was going so far.

but, of course, the slytherins had to change that.

as y/n was reading up on the finer details of a water plant, she felt something hit the back of her head. neville quickly looked over, and saw malfoy and his goons laughing like a pack of wild dogs. he looked over to y/n once more, and saw her staring at the piece of toast that had settled on landing on the floor.

she sighed, but decided to ignore it.

“hey, mute!” malfoy called out for her, another piece of toast in hand. y/n looked behind her, locking eyes with the white haired boy. “think fast!”

he threw another piece, this time right on her face. and sure enough, it was covered in butter and jam. it hit right on her cheek, and it stuck for a moment before sliding off onto her jumper.

for once, the expression on her face leaked pure anger. she whipped her head around once more, and her mouth fell open for one single moment to speak. it seemed as if the whole slytherin table went quiet for a moment, just waiting for her to say something. anything.

neville as well sat, staring intently at her. he just wanted to her stand up for herself, at least once.

but, as the words attempted to crawl their way out of her, they went right back down. she couldn’t muster up the strength to say anything,

“got something to say, mute?” draco teased, flashing a grin at her, “oh, wait. i forgot. you can’t talk!”

his friends all chuckled at malfoy’s stupid joke, and y/n simply collected her things, and dashed out of the great hall.

neville sighed, his fist clenched from aggravation.

“maybe... some speech therapy would work?” dean suggested suddenly, and neville shook his head.

—

care for magical creatures was never something that neville found interesting, but he enjoyed walking out into nature with his friends, hearing hagrid ramble on about dragons and how there living environments are.

“this ere’ creature is a classic, but an ol’ favorite of mine. i’m sure yer’ all familiar with it,” hagrid spoke excitedly, walking over to a random tree bush.

all of the students watched intently as he bent down, and grabbed the unknown creature from the bush. y/n seemed just as intrigued as anyone else did. and neville couldn’t help but smile at the way you got on your tippy toes to see what creature hagrid had in store for everyone today.

“he’s er’ a bit hungry today. but, that’s why you all are ere’ i pose’,” hagrid explained, and finally, he pulled out the mystery creature hiding behind the bush. the students let out a mantra of “awww’s” as hagrid carried a niffler in his hand. he walked up closer to everyone, showing the creature off a little.

“nifflers don’t really ever bite. unless, of course’, you makin’ him angry!”

y/n stared at the creature intently, and focused on writing down the physical details. what color it was, what shape it was. she would never admit it, but she absolutely loved care for magical creatures. it was one of her favorite classes, as she loved learning about the cutest creatures and how they lived their lives.

“he’s cute, isn’t he?” y/n heard from right beside her. she looked over and saw neville longbottom, smiling lightly at her. “were we supposed to take notes? oh dear...”

y/n quickly shook her head at his worry, and closed her notebook. she could do research on nifflers at some other time.

neville and y/n stood beside each other, listening to hagrid’s lesson. neville would glance over at her, just to remind himself of how she looked. her face was morphed into a focused one, and she bit the inside of her lip. he couldn’t help to notice her side profile, and how perfectly constructed the girl seemed to be.

“right’, who wants to feed him?” hagrid asked the large group of students, and all of them automatically shot their hands up in the air, wanting nothing more to pet the niffler.

y/n wanted to, she wanted to do bad, but, she couldn’t raise her hand. she didn’t have the courage to. neville noticed that it was killing her to not be one of the kids to raise their hand, and he could tell that she genuinely wanted to feed the niffler.

hagrid skimmed through the students, pondering on who he should pick. but out of all of the students, he noticed one who didn’t in fact have her hand raised. but, looked quite interested.

“miss y/l/n, is it? come on ver’ ere’!”

y/n’s eyes widened, and everyone looked at her. they all huffed and rolled their eyes as she slowly approached hagrid. neville of course, had the goofiest smile laid upon his round face. he was happy that she got picked, even if she didn’t raise her hand for it.

“ere’, hold him for just one moment,” hagrid requested, passing the niffler over to y/n. when she obtained it, she smiled softly.

the niffler seemed to take notice to the girl’s feature, and he nibbled at the ends of her hair as hagrid grabbed the food. “aye! what i’d tell ye’ about nibblin’ on young ladies hair?! it’s not nice!”

y/n giggled at hagrid’s “parenting”, and pet the niffler on the top of the head. some students seemed to be shocked that she let out a small laugh such as that one, but neville was in bliss.

“right’, jus’ take a piece...” hagird began, reaching into the bag of food, “and just put it by its beak!”

hagrid did so, and the niffler almost chomped on his fingers from how hungry he was. hagrid let out a chuckle, as well as y/n as the hungry niffler chewed on its food. “yer’ turn, miss?”

and y/n repeated the same thing. she smiled as the niffler made small noises, and reached for more food. “one more!” hagrid barked, and popped the piece of food right into it’s mouth.

hagrid began to explain the finer details of nifflers, and what they really were. y/n held the niffler patiently, playing with it a little as hagrid kept on with today’s lesson.

“see, somethin’ else they love is for a wizard er’ witch to speak to em’. they can be quite the talkative creature,”

y/n’s eyes went wide from the giant’s statement, and she started to hope & pray that hagrid’s next choice of words weren’t going to be what she thought they might be.

but, her hopes were faltered;

“go on! tell em’ yer’ name!”

neville stared, knowing what was probably coming next. he could tell from the drop in her face that she was anxious,

“don’t be scared, now! go on!”

y/n looked the niffler in the eyes, and it looked like it was waiting, just like everyone else was. she needed to say something, just anything.

“um...” she muttered, and some of the student’s jaws dropped from just hearing that.

“she can’t talk!” a voice rung out through the trees, and y/n looked over to see pansy parkinson smirking with malfoy. “yeah, she doesn’t know how to speak!” draco added, him and his friends giggling.

other students began to join in on laughing, and yelling about how quiet she was, even some calling her by her infamous nickname... mute.

y/n looked away, and quickly put the niffler back into hagrid’s arms. she stormed over to her things, and collected them quickly.

“where are you going?” neville whispered over to her, trying his best to make her stay. “these people don’t matter, y/n. just stay.”

she looked up at him, and his heart shattered from what he saw. tears filled her eyes, and her lip quivered. she threw her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her textbook, and ran away from the large group of students.

the students laughed at her as she did so, and more vile things about her left the mouths of draco and his friends.

“aye!” hagrid yelled, and the students fell silent. “ten house points takin away from all of ya’s’! we never treat our fellow students like that!”

the students groaned and attempted to protest, but hagrid simply wasn’t having any of it.

“class dismissed! and i’ll be sure’ to let all ye’s heads know bout’ the way yer’ all acted today!”

as students collected their things and left in small groups, chatter of y/n escaped their lips, and not in a very kind way, either.

“ten house points from all of us?! this has got to be some kind of sick joke!” seamus complained, “we didn’t even say anything about the girl!”

neville scoffed and rolled his eyes, “but, you laughed. that’s the issue.”

seamus furrowed his eyebrows, “don’t tell me you’re angry at me because i laughed? if something is funny, i laugh! i’m allowed to laugh, longbottom!”

neville didn’t have time to argue with seamus, he needed to go and find y/n. just to make sure she was alright.

—

tears fell quickly from her face, hitting the book pages as she tried to read. she sniffled, trying to get them to go away.

after her embarrassment, y/n had escaped to the library. where she was sure she would be safe, but was proven wrong when students from that same class found her, and began to harass her, and threaten her due to the fact everyone had lost points for their house.

y/n sat alone, like always. crying to herself, wondering what was wrong with her. why couldn’t she just speak? why couldn’t she be like everyone else and have a normal conversation with others? what was she so weird?

as her thoughts took over her, she didn’t notice neville longbottom approaching the same table they both shared. he frowned when he heard the small cries leave her lips,

“y/n?”

the soft voice made y/n look up, and she quickly wiped her tears away. he pulled out the same chair he had been sitting in for the past two weeks, and sat down slowly.

“are you alright? i’ve been looking for you for the past hour,” he stated, a flash of worry showing in his eyes. “i should’ve known that you’d be here. but, you know me... i forget almost everything.”

as neville made his way to the library, he thought about every way possible to get y/n to speak. and the constant rambling and questions obviously weren’t working, so maybe, instead of forcing to her to speak, maybe he could try to relate to her. make her feel comfortable and safe enough to talk around him.

“you know... malfoy has always given me a hard time, too. him and all of his friends. they’re really mean.” he informed her, still looking into her eyes. “but, one day, i finally stood up for myself. and, they haven’t necessarily... left me alone or anything, but they’re a bit less cruel, you know?”

y/n simply just stared at him blankly, having only a small hint at what he was talking about. “he used to throw toast at me during breakfast. it was immature, but... it still hurt me feelings.”

y/n didn’t know that malfoy treated her the same way he had always treated neville. she felt bad for him, as she knew exactly how it felt to be a victim of malfoy’s torture.

“but, when i stood up to him... merlin, i’ll never forget it. i felt like i could... spit fire or something! it was honestly one of the greatest feelings that i’ve ever had! i felt unstoppable!”

neville was waving his hands, going on this small tangent about when he stood up to malfoy. y/n admired his courage, and the way he talked to excitedly about it.

“all i’m saying is... is that maybe, one day, you should stick up for yourself. i would do it for you... but i don’t think that it would make it any better for you or for me. so... just maybe—“

he was cut off by how quickly she was shaking her head,

“you don’t have to do it today, or tomorrow, or even next week! just, at some point, you know? i promise you’ll feel better if you do it!”

but, she shook her head once more. neville sighed, already feeling defeated.

there was a few moments of silence before neville spoke up once more:

“why don’t you speak, y/n?”

y/n frowned, the question that she hated the most being asked.

“doesn’t anyone ever ask you why? or, you know... try to get to know you at least?”

she shook her head sadly, and her eyes wandered back onto the page of her book,

“well... i really like hanging out with you. and, i want to know all of your interests and stuff. you seem really cool, and... i want to get to know you better.”

y/n thought for a moment, her instincts taking over her. normally when someone said things like this, she would rush out of the room, not even giving them a chance to say further more. but, neville was different. he didn’t seem to have any bad intentions, he just seemed... intrigued.

“why?”

neville thought for a moment that his ears were deceiving him, but when he looked over at y/n once more, he figured out that she was waiting for a response.

it took him a moment to collect his thoughts before he answered, “uh, well... i know how it feels to be the quiet kid. and, most of the time... i’m alone. i just don’t like seeing—others alone, i suppose. it hurts me.”

y/n looked up at him, “but... you have friends.”

neville felt giddy on the inside. finally, he had got her to say more that one single word. even though it wasn’t under the best circumstances, neville was proud of her.

“well, yeah. but... they have friends as well. and, we don’t really share the same interests. in fact, my friends laugh when i talk about herbology. they’re great and all, but... i don’t know. i just wish i had someone to talk to about things like that.”

there was a few more beats of silence, and neville really hoped that he hadn’t said something that made her shut down again.

“um...” she started, “i—i like herbology.”

the small sadness that had taken over neville instantly faded, and he smiled at the girl’s words.

“really?”

she smiled at him, her problems seemingly leaving her body. she nodded her head, “and... care for magical creatures.”

neville could practically feel his heart about to burst from his chest.

“that’s... nice. i’ve never been much into it, but, i would love to know more about it.”

to everyone else in hogwarts, y/n was known as mute. she never spoke, and when she did, it was only a single word. but neville, he saw so much more than that. he saw a girl with a great personality, a beautiful mind.

and, he couldn’t wait to get to know her.

[sergeantsporks]

I absolutely agree with your post on why you don’t hate Kikimora, and the only thing I could think of when watching Hunter’s appearances in Eclipse Lake was Azula, so: may I request some writing of either a Swap AU between Hunter and Kikimora or Hunter going off into the deep end like Azula did? (Just pick whichever is you like the idea of more)

Anon, you. You may stay. Keep talking.

Hunter couldn't look at Kikimora anymore without feeling sick to his stomach. She'd tried to have him killed, had sent a monster after him. And he felt, deep in his guts, that she somehow knew about the palisman tucked away in his room.

It didn't make any sense-- no one had seen it, and he'd been so careful about keeping it hidden, but he still shuddered every time Kikimora threw him an irritated glance.

And then she got sent to the Knee instead of him.

Had she told Belos? Was this just punishment for failing to bring back the palisman (Kikimora's fault, not mine, not because I let the human go, it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Kikimora.)

He could get the Titan's blood first. Absolutely. He just needed to get to it before Kikimora.

The plan went wrong from the beginning-- he couldn't get into the mines, and then the Owl House criminals captured him. But when he saw the fool's blood, a plan started formulating in his mind. When the Blight untied him, he ran, leaving her to rescue her companions. Whatever. He had bigger fish to fry than the owl lady and her rat.

He didn't go far. He held a hand out for the bird, and it turned into a staff. "Here we go!"

He slammed the staff into a pillar of fools blood when Kikimora came in, zipping away with magic before he could fall into the chasm it opened up. He hit more and more of the bubbles.

And he watched Kikimora fall. He made sure she saw him when he did. The palisman fluttered down into the chasm to check and came back giving him an odd look, like it wasn't entirely certain what it had gotten itself into.

There wasn't any blood at Eclipse Lake. Okay. Fine. Emperor Belos... didn't need to know he'd been there. All he needed to know was that Kikimora had failed spectacularly and died in the process.

No one was going to replace him.

And it didn't seem like anyone would! Not for a while, anyway. And then another coven scout started coming back a little too successful, carrying out a few too many crucial missions and gaining just a little bit too much of Emperor Belos' trust.

It's fine, he told himself, They're supposed to do their job! It's what the coven is for! You should be happy that everything is running smoothly!

The Coven scout met an unfortunate accident, a freak Slitherbeast attack.

You're acting an awful lot like Kikimora, there.

No. It was fine. He wasn't like Kikimora-- she'd been paranoid for no reason, had sabotaged him just because she didn't like him. He'd killed her in self-defense-- she'd been trying to murder him. And the coven scout? He wasn't trustworthy, Hunter suspected he was a wild witch assassin sent after Belos.

One of the coven scouts remarked on how odd it was that the slitherbeast had attacked them. He made a remark that whoever had angered the slitherbeast ought to be petrified.

He knew. He knew, didn't he?!

Hunter couldn't sleep. He hadn't much before anyway, but now-- that scout knew, he knew, and he was going to make use of that knowledge at any minute.

If he went to sleep, he was a dead man.

The scout who'd said so was found dead the next morning, had tripped and fallen off of the keep's walls into the spikepit. A horrible accident.

Hunter still couldn't sleep. Belos noted that, remarked how convenient it was that he could count on Hunter to be ready at any hour.

"Golden Guard? Sir?"

Hunter snapped awake. "I wasn't sleeping!"

"...okay. The emperor requests your presence."

Hunter strode briskly down the halls towards the throne room, until he saw a small white robe whisking around the corner. He froze, then chased after it.

She's dead, she's dead, she's dead!

There was no way that Kiki--

And when he turned the corner, she was gone. Hunter rubbed his eyes. Right. That was fine. Nothing wrong with that. Probably it was just the lack of sleep, and there were plenty of white cloaks, he'd just mistaken one for a robe.

He carried out Belos' mission flawlessly.

Well, almost flawlessly.

On the way back he fell asleep and fell off of his staff.

Luckily he'd been skimming close to the ground, but he'd crashlanded...

Where was he?!

"Golden Brat?!"

Hunter whirled around to see a very startled goth. "Lilith?!" Suspicion crept into the back of his mind. "A sleeping spell! It was you!"

"You fell asleep and crashed," Lilith said flatly, "I had nothing to do with it. I can't even cast a sleeping spell, remember? Curse? No magic?"

"You-- you ran off with the human! She cast a sleeping spell using glyphs! I bet she taught you!" Hunter whipped around wildly. "Where is she?!"

"Still blaming everyone else for your failures? What a child."

Hunter blasted her backwards. "I am not! A child!"

Lilith came up guns blazing, tracing glyphs in the dirt and casting bolts of fire at him. Several glyphs together created a flaming whip that he just barely managed to avoid.

"Get out of my home!" she yelled.

Hunter zipped close to her, kicking the back of her knees. "Attacking a coven official is treason!" he howled, "I'll have your head!"

She froze for a moment. "You sound like--"

Hunter brought his staff crashing into the side of her head before she could finish that sentence. "I! Am! In! Charge!"

"Lilith?!" an old woman came hurrying towards them.

Hunter stopped hitting Lilith, breathing heavily. She groaned, her face bloody and bruised.

"LILITH!" the old woman screamed. Her eyes seemed to burn as she turned to Hunter. "Get. Out. Before you meet an unfortunate fate."

Hunter was gone before she had time to make good on that threat.

He needed to get some sleep. Recharge. Regroup.

A flash of white, caught his attention, and he dove down. She's supposed to be dead!

It was just a white rock. Hunter blasted it to pieces anyway. It was looking a little too smug.

When he made it back to the keep, he went right to his room, locking his door tight. His palisman fluttered towards him, tweeting nervously and rubbing against his hands. Hunter looked down to see that they were stained red, Lilith's blood dripping from his staff.

"Don't worry. It's not mine." He carefully cleaned off the staff and flopped backwards on his bed. "No one wakes me up," he groaned, "I will... I will kick anyone who does out of the coven."

Kikimora chased him through his dreams, followed by a ghostly Lilith, her head dripping with blood.

Something poked him and he woke up with a start, snatching up his staff and smacking whatever it was.

His palisman flew across the room, hitting the wall with a nasty crunch. Hunter scrambled off of the bed, kneeling next to it. "Oh! No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"

His palisman gave him a wounded look, then fluttered out the window. Hunter grasped for it. "Wait! Come back!"

He waited up for it, but it didn't come back.

He waited another day.

And another.

And the days turned into weeks, into a month.

It probably wasn't coming back because it was scared of Belos, right? Right. His uncle ate palisman, it wasn't his fault that his palisman wouldn't come back.

That was, until he saw it with Luz.

"YOU STOLE MY PALISMAN!"

Luz held the bird protectively. "I did not! It came to me!"

Hunter made a lunge for it, but Luz skipped backwards.

"Hunter, it told us everything! You attacked Lilith?! You killed Kikimora, killed some guard?! What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing is wrong with me, now give me back my palisman!"

Luz backed up. "No," she said quietly, "It's scared of you. It doesn't want to go back."

Hunter howled, and went on the offensive, casting spell after spell after spell.

Luz was strong and determined.

But she had his friend, the only one he had, and he wouldn't let her take it from him!

Luz fell, just like Lilith had. Just like Kikimora, like the nameless coven guard. And he had to shake his head to clear it, because for a second, he thought she was Kikimora, or Lilith. Hunter held a hand out to his palisman. "Come on. Let's go home."

The palisman hopped around Luz's head, chirping worriedly. Hunter picked it up. "I said, come on. You're safe, now. You're with me."

The palisman pecked his fingers.

Hunter let go more out of shock than pain, watching his palisman flutter back down to Luz, chirping gently and nudging her face. Luz groaned, but held out her arms for it, holding it close.

"What-- I don't--"

Luz glared at him, cuddling the palisman to her chest. "Don't you get it? It doesn't want to go back with you!"

What?! But it was his palisman! "Why not?!"

"Because it's scared of you." Luz looked away. "So am I. What happened to you, Hunter?"

"Sc-- of--" Hunter's hands clenched into fists. "I-- nothing happened! I'm finally doing well, I'm in a good place, no one is going to replace me! You should be happy for me, if you really wanted to be friends!"

Luz shook her head. "I wanted to be friends with Hunter. Not the golden guard."

A tidal wave of anger swept over Hunter, and he whirled away. "Fine-- fine! I don't need you! I don't need the palisman! Keep the dumb bird! You should be scared of me, because I am the golden guard! And that's a good thing."

"That's it, then?"

"That's it! Stay out of my way, human, or I'll kill you, just like I did Kikimora!"

Hunter got back on his staff, shooting back towards the keep. Maybe he wouldn't wait for Luz to get in his way-- he had the manpower, and they were still criminals. Maybe Lilith hadn't ever been able to get in, but he'd beaten Lilith, he was better than she was. Hunter landed again, the tip of his staff blooming with fire. He slammed it down into the ground, and the trees and bushes started to burn. Burning foliage singed through his clothes, leaving little heat sears, but he didn't care. He stalked through the trees, burning everything as he went. He'd smoke out that stupid house demon, and then kill Kikimora-- Luz. He'd kill Luz. And the Owl Lady, too. And that dumb little rat that had pulled his hair.

Fine. They wanted him to be the bad guy?

He could be the bad guy.

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: Ch 13 - End

~

Luz had a hard time looking at either of the Clawthorne sisters as they sat Sunday morning eating breakfast. 

Mostly Eda.

Anytime she caught the older witch’s eye she would grin and snicker, causing Luz to flush.

King seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

“What’s so funny?” He looked between the two. “Tell me!” he demanded, pointing a clawed hand at the witch.

“Nothing!” Luz squawked, before Eda could say anything. “Nothing is funny!” Her voice climbed an octave which made Eda snort into her cup of apple blood, but decided to take pity on her lovestruck apprentice; for now.

“Yeah, yeah, nothing,” Eda said but still couldn't wipe away her grin. King grunted in disappointment.

“Leave her be, Edalyn.” Lilith said, but there was a small smirk on her own face, that if anything, was worse then Eda’s full-blown laughter. 

It was one of the longest breakfasts of Luz’s life.

Embarrassed as she was she was still riding the high from the previous evening. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep with all the happy, excited energy coursing through her. 

She’d laid in bed drawing light glyphs for a while and simply basking in their light as she replayed the entire evening in her head over and over. 

Skimming over some of the emotional whiplash from initially being turned down and focussing on every smile or laugh she’d been able to get out of Amity, their dances especially took up a lot of her thoughts. She could still feel the other girl’s head resting on her shoulder and her fingers wrapped around her neck. Her skin tingled with the ghost touch she swore she could still feel.

One moment more than any other always came back to the front of her mind.

Standing in Amity’s bedroom, close enough they could feel each other's breaths, hands gently smoothing her mussed hair and the way the young witch's eyes glowed in the cobalt moon light before Amity’s finger threaded through her hair as she kissed her. 

Her face grew warm thinking about and she squirmed happily under the covers.

She let her face drop into her pillow and sighed dreamily. 

She thought she had been a mess before, this was something else entirely. Something overwhelming and awe-inducing; something wonderful.

'Is this what love feels like?' she wondered as her eyes drooped closed.

Eventually, she fell asleep with dreams of warm golden eyes and a smile she always wanted to be the cause of.

She’d promised Gus and Willow she would meet them right after breakfast today to tell them how it all went; she needed to get going.

When breakfast mercifully ended she stood and headed for the door.

“I’m going to meet Gus and Willow, bye guys,” she called back toward the kitchen.

“Hold up, kid,” Eda called before stepping into the living room, catching Luz as she reached for the door.

Luz stopped to look at her mentor, who wore a serious expression.

“When you get back I think we need to have a talk.” 

“A talk?” Luz blinked, brows furrowed. “About what?” 

“You know…” Eda twirled a hand as if searching for the right words. “The Talk.” she finally said.

“The…” Luz started before realization struck her and her face turned crimson. “Oh my gosh! No!” 

“It’s an important talk every young witch needs to have.” 

“Eda, No! My mom is a nurse, I’ve had the talk!” she wailed, red faced. 

And she had. The most awkward conversation she had ever had with her mother, or anyone really, after telling her she was bi, complete with charts and diagrams from her work that made her grimace just thinking about it.

“Well you have a girlfriend now, you need a refresher.” Eda crossed her arms. 

“I’m leaving!” Luz didn’t look back as she ran out of the house, the door slamming open and cutting off Hooty’s call of good morning. 

Eda snickered to herself as her apprentice vanished into the woods. 

“You’re terrible,” Lilith huffed, from the kitchen table, but couldn’t stop the small grin playing on her lips.

“If I’m going to have a kid and all the responsibilities that go with it I should at least get the fun parts too.” she shrugged. 

Lilith only rolled her eyes.

~ ~ ~ 

Gus and Willow were waiting for her at the fountain in town when she arrived.

“Luz!” They called when they saw her.

“Hey, guys.” She grinned.

“Well, tell us everything, how did it go?” Willow leaned in, practically vibrating with anticipation. 

“Did you tell her, what did she say?” Gus followed bouncing in place. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.” she chuckled, unable to wipe the grin off her face.

They sat on the edge of the fountain while she recounted the entire party to them, though she did leave out a few things here and there. They didn’t need to know about what she and Amity had talked about when they had been sitting in her backyard playing twenty questions, that was personal and she was sure Amity wouldn’t appreciate her sharing those things with anyone. 

She also carefully left out what happened in her bedroom. They would never go around telling people about it but that was something she wanted to keep all for herself. She decided to just conclude her story by saying the evening as a whole was… well, magical.

“That’s so romantic, Luz.” Willow gushed, holding her hands to her cheeks. “Like something out of a love story.” Gus made a face at that but still congratulated her. 

"So, are you two dating or?" He asked quizzically. 

"Well, we're going to meet for lunch today and it is a date...so, I guess?” She shrugged but there was a happily sheepish face on her smile.

“Whoo!” He cheered. 

“I told you you could do it, Luz.” Willow smiled knowingly and Luz squinted at her. Now that she had a better view of the whole picture there was just something suspicious about how Willow had acted about it all over the last couple weeks; it suddenly clicked.

“You knew, didn't you? You knew Amity liked me the whole time,” she asked after a moment, but it wasn’t really a question. She knew she had been oblivious but she knew Willow was much more observant.

Willow’s eyes shot open and her cheeks turned pink.

“Well… yeah,” she admitted.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” She threw up her hands.

“It wasn’t my place, would you really want to hear it from me rather than Amity herself? Didn’t you just say last night was amazing?” She held out a hand.

“It really was…” she smiled dumbly to herself, starting to drift into her thoughts of last night before catching the teasing grin on Gus’s face and snapped herself out of it. “You’re right… thanks, Willow.”

They spent the rest of the morning walking around the market and chatting before Luz realized it was almost time for her to meet Amity and waved goodbye to her friends as she took off toward the bakery, weaving through the moderate traffic of people meandering through the street and stopping to look at the various stalls and their wares. 

She rounded the corner and could see the shop at the end of the street, but her eyes zeroed in immediately on Amity, standing outside of it, waiting, and Luz grinned, chest swelling at the sight of her. She was wearing the same outfit she had been the last time they had met in the market when she had let her borrow her fifth volume of the Azura series, except instead of her necklace she had Luz’s brooch pinned to the front of her dress and it made Luz giddy to see.

Amity hadn’t spotted her yet and she self-consciously brushed any imaginary dirt from her clothes and straightened out her hoody before jogging over. 

“Hey, Amity!” she called.

The witch jumped, turning toward her and a smile immediately broke out on her face that made Luz’s stomach roll.

“Sorry, I was with Gus and Willow in the market, I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“No! no, I just got here,” she quickly assured, a lie, she’d been waiting outside the shop for over half an hour, but Luz didn’t need to know that.  

“Great!” She grinned and held the door open for Amity, who managed to keep her face only a slight pink as she walked into the shop with Luz hot on her heels. 

The same man Luz had seen before looked up as the bell chimed and he greeted them.

“I’m gonna guess I know what you want?” She looks at Amity questioningly as they move toward the counter and she digs through her pocket for some of her tip money.

“No, let me, you’ve spent enough on me lately.” Amity quickly interjects. After everything Luz had done for her over the last few weeks she feels like she really needs to reciprocate in some way.

“I don’t mind.” Luz smiles and Amity knows she means it, but she feels guilty, unlike her, Luz probably has to work for her money and she knows well enough that flowers and jewelry aren’t cheap, besides, she wants to treat her. 

“Please?” she insists and Luz can’t find any will to argue with that face. 

“Okay” she nods, she is not going to argue about something so silly, she’s just excited to be here with her. 

“Do you know what you want?” she asks and Luz taps her chin, contemplating the display case filled with food.

“I dunno, food is so different here than in the human world… I’m never sure what's not poisonous to me… or still alive…” she grimaces thinking of some of the things she’d seen Eda eat, or the weird things served in the cafeteria. Amity giggles at the look on her face. “Surprise me.” She finally shrugs and turns back to Amity, smiling. 

“Alright.” she returns the smile but it turns into a grin. “I’ll try not to poison you.” she teases and Luz grins back.

“That would be very much appreciated. I’ll go find us somewhere to sit.”  She pointed over her shoulder with a thumb. Amity nodded and she trotted off.

The place was mostly empty so she plopped herself on a stool at a small round top table near the windows. The bright sunlight streaming in warmed her face as she kicked her feet back and forth nervously. 

This was her first date, and even though she liked to think she knew Amity pretty well and knew for a fact she felt the same way she did, it didn't stop the nervous energy bubbling up inside her.

She looked out the window at the various people and creatures moving about town. It was weird how used she had gotten to the sights after only about two months.

She must have been staring for a bit because suddenly Amity was sliding onto the stool across from her with two little white saucers with matching tarts on them. Thornberry tarts, Luz was sure.

"I hope this is okay…," Amity started, sliding one of the plates across the table to her.

"Yea!" Luz grinned, pulling it close to her. "They look just like the ones back home, I was half tempted to eat the one I got you," she said, looking down at the treat in front of her, it's deep red filling was shiny in the sunlight.

"Ed kept trying too...till I bit him," she mumbled the last part, but Luz heard her and looked up.

"You bit him?" she laughed, and Amity blushed.

"Only after the third time he tried to stick his hand in the box," she grumbled. Luz just snickered and Amity couldn't help but smile.

Amity waited, watching as Luz picked it up and took a bite; she really hoped she liked them. She didn't have to wait long as Luz's face immediately lit up, brown eyes sparkling in delight.

"These are so good!" she said with utter amazement after swallowing the bite. Amity smiled behind her own tart before taking a bite; sugary sweetness coated her tongue.

They didn't say much as they ate, Amity savoring hers and Luz practically wolfing down hers. It was hands down the best thing she'd ever eaten since coming to the Isles, she said as much too as she licked any remaining jam from her fingers.

"You have jam on your face,” Amity said in response, smiling. 

Luz licked at her lip, hoping to get any remains of the sweet filling.

"Did I get it?" 

"No," Amity snorted as Luz continued to try and lick off the jam and made silly faces as she tried. Amity rolled her eyes even as she grinned and picked up her napkin without thinking and reached the short span across the table to wipe the red smear of her date's cheek.

They both turned pink as soon as the action was finished.

"Oh, heh, thanks." Luz smiled sheepishly at her.

"No problem…" Amity trained her eyes on her food, till Luz smacked a hand on the table, making her head jerk back up.

"Why didn't you tell me I had your lipstick all over my face when I left last night!?" Luz suddenly said, remembering.

"What?" Amity's face darkened at the sudden exclamation.

"When I got home there was lipstick all over my mouth." As she said it her face pinked and Amity's went from pink to red.

"I…" Amity scoured her memories of last night, as though she hadn't a hundred times already since Luz had left Blight manor, but now she was thinking specifically of the few moments on the porch before Luz had flown off and realized there had been some discolored smudges around the other girls mouth. "I didn't notice," she finally said, eyes wide and mortified at the sudden realization. "I'm so sorry!" Her face was bright red.

"It's okay!" Luz waved a hand, chuckling. "Eda thought it was funny…she laughed for fifteen minutes… maybe next time let me know," she mumbled, still pink.

"Next time?" Amity squeaked, almost dropping her tart.

"I mean… not that there's going to be a… next time per say, or that there won't be... I uh…" she trailed off, not exactly sure where she was going with this.

Amity seemed to recover first, playing with the crumbling edges on the crust of her treat, face still hot, but looking up at Luz from beneath her lashes.

"I'll tell you next time," she finally said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

Luz nodded, and couldn't keep the bashful grin off her face.

"Do you… want to go to the library?" Amity asked when she's finished eating and only crumbs remain on both their plates.

Luz perked up.

"Secret book club?" She grinned, bouncing in her seat and Amity chuckled.

"Secret book club," she agreed.

"Yes!" Luz flung herself off the seat but paused at the table side, a quick thought flashed through her mind and before she could doubt herself or rethink it, held her hand out to Amity who blinked at the outstretched appendage for a moment before smiling and slipping her hand into Luz's, fingers intertwined.

"Let's go!" Luz pulled them along as they ran out of the shop and down the street, both smiling, hand in hand.

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Most Powerful Magic - Chapter One

Summary:  Set a few months after the end of the events of Family Fights, Hilda and the librarian’s sister are tired of seeing Johanna and Maven dancing around each other and decide to take matters into their own hands

Notes: Heyo! Okay, for a better understanding of this fic, I’d recommend reading Family Fights first. However it’s kinda long so if you want to read this before season 2 comes out and you haven read FF yet, you just need to know that the librarian has a teenage sister named Myra, and that the librarian trains Hilda in witchcraft. You should probably be fine with this info. Oh, also please forgive the typos and low quality of the writing. I really rushed with this because I wanted to post it before season two came and ruined my headcanons :’)

Read it on ao3: (chpt1)

”Go on.” Her mother encouraged her gently, the hand on her shoulder nudging her forward. “She won’t mind.”

Myra took one look at her mother’s smiling face before entering the living room. She knew her sister didn’t like being disturbed while she was studying, but she was having a sleepover at a friend’s house that night and so she wouldn’t be with Maven when she went to sleep, which would mean missing her bedtime story. She really didn’t want to miss her bedtime story. So now Myra approached her sister, who was taking notes on their living room table, with a book at hands.

“Mavey?” She called when she got closer, which got Maven to look at her. “Can you read to me now?”

Looking slightly irritated, the teenager glanced at the book she was using, thinking about how far she was from finishing her notes. “Does it have to be now?”

“I won’t be home at night.” Myra nodded, trying to put on a pleading face. Maven bit her lip and then sighed, resigning to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to tell her no.

“All right.” She reached for her sister's book. “Let me take a look at that.”

As soon as she read the title, she frowned. After skimming through some of the first pages, an eyebrow was lifted at Myra.

“Are you sure you want this one?”

“Yeah! It’s one of my favourites! I love how the knight saves his prince through the magic of love.”

Saying that, the little girl twirled to make her skirt flair around her, nearly tripping on her feet when she tried to face her sister again.

“Myra, this is stupid.” Maven chuckled, running her eyes through a picture of the two protagonists hugging. “Love isn’t magic.”

“Yes it is!” She stomped her foot on the ground. “It’s the most powerful magic of all!”

That only made Maven laugh even more, both at her sister’s innocence and at the angry face she was making at her. It was always hilarious when Myra got angry, like being threatened by a baby kitten.

“You evil sorceress!” Myra exclaimed at her. “One day you’ll see I’m right. Someone will kiss you and you’ll transform into a beautiful princess”

Out of one of her discarded drafting sheets, Maven made a small paper ball.

“Not happening, sweetie. I’d just rather be a witch.”

She threw the ball at her sister, who gave a dramatized gasp of betrayal before beginning to laugh along. Even though she appreciated Myra’s bright eyed way of seeing the world, she knew for sure that love was not, in any way, magic. No matter what the legends and fairytales said. After all, she was a witch. If love was magic, surely it wouldn’t feel so impossible.

_#_#_#_

Myra did not feel comfortable at all being in that place.

Before those two years when she had been… away, this had been the place she would come to every day. While it had been so familiar, now the school was full of faces she’d never seen, and some she had but for all the wrong reasons.

She could only hope none of those children remembered her from their nightmares.

Of course, once she had begun attending school again, it was not Trolberg’s Elementary School she went to (neither was it their local high school - they couldn’t risk her studying with people from before her marra period and having them question where she’d been at and how she hadn’t aged a day.) but it was still unpleasant to be there. She felt out of place.

Luckily for her, the person she was there to talk to was just coming out of the building, so she wouldn’t need to be there for much longer. Upon noticing Myra by the school’s grades, Hilda stopped on her tracks for a second, surprised to see her there, but she recovered quickly and told her two friends to stay close to the main building while she talked to Myra. Although she’d never been anything less than kind and welcoming to her, Hilda didn’t completely trust Myra yet. She couldn’t say she blamed her.

“Good afternoon!” The girl greeted when she walked closer. “ I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, sorry for the surprise.” Myra straightened herself up, no longer leaning against the grades. “But I needed to talk to you at some time when neither your mother nor my sister could hear us.”

Hilda narrowed her eyes with suspicion even as she tried not to let her face show any distrust.

“And why would that be?”

“Hilda, I can not be the only one who is tired of this.” Myra exclaimed, gesticulating with her hands. “It’s becoming ridiculous!”

“What is?”

“The two of them! You are a smart girl, you must have realized at this point that they like each other a lot.”

Finally understanding what the conversation was about, Hilda let her guard drop and nodded.

“They definitely do. Have… have they not noticed?”

“No!” Groaning, she ran a hand through her hair. Her lilac strand was there again, but she still kept it mostly black. “Well, I can’t say about your mother, but I know my sister and she definitely thinks it’s unrequited, and the two of them are driving me mad! I caught my sister singing girl in red, for crying out loud!”

“Things are a little complicated in this aspect, I’ll admit it.” Hilda said, remembering the times she’d found her mother absent mindedly drawing her mentor. “But there’s hardly anything we can do about it, is there? shouldn’t they figure this out on their own?”

“Should they figure it out on their own? Yes. Will they figure it out on their own?” Myra looked at her nails, making a disinterested face which reminded Hilda of her older sister. “Eh, not looking likely. Is there anything we can do, though? Definetly.”

Hilda blinked. “And what is it?”

After giving the girl a mischievous grin, Myra took a step back to start on her way home.

“Meet me in the library at seven this evening.”

_#_#_#_

“I don’t really get it.” Hilda whispered as she followed Myra, who was climbing the stairs to the top floor of the library. “Wasn’t the point being somewhere where they couldn’t hear us? Maven will certainly notice us in her workplace, you know.”

There were few people in the library that evening, mostly students who had work due the next day. None of them were paying the slightest attention to the two girls making their way through the bookshelves, but Hilda felt like she should be trying to go unnoticed at the same time. Whatever Myra’s plan was, she was sure it’d be better if no one else knew.

“Already taken care of. This is the time the Trolberg Book Club comes here, and she needs to give them some attention. Besides, what I need to show you is right here.”

Myra stopped near a bookshelf that Hilda recognized, and her brow furrowed as she realized what she wanted.

“Are we supposed to be here?”

“Nope.” Myra answered as she tried to push the bookshelf. “But in for a penny, in for a pound right? I’m gonna need your help with this.”

Figuring that if she had agreed to go behind her mother and teacher’s backs already, she might as well go through with it, Hilda pressed her side body against the bookshelf and they both grunted as it began to move. As soon as there was a passage big enough for them to squeeze through, they stopped, panting.

“Honestly, you’d think that a magical room would have a better entrance.” Myra mumbled under her breath as she stepped inside and flicked the light switch up, turning the old lamps on.

Hilda came in after her. That room had become familiar to her, not only did Maven take her there for lessons often enough, but it was her first pick when she wanted to research a certain topic. She’d always been advised to be careful, however, as not only there was beautiful knowledge stored in there, but also dangerous information. She didn’t know if Maven had made that up just to scare her into being careful, but she’d even gone so far as to mention the existence of a soul stealing spell that hid itself under the guise of being a good luck charm.

Due to having been taught to act like so, Hilda treated the library’s hidden room with reverence. Meanwhile, Myra looked like she was right at home, skipping down the stairs two steps at a time and going straight to the shelf she wanted. Hilda supposed you saw things in a much more different way when witchcraft had always been a natural part of your life.

“Aha! It is still here.” Taking a book with leather binding out of its place, Myra put it on the table at the corner so that Hilda could see it too.

The first thing to call the young witch’s attention in the page she was shown was a romanticized drawing of a cupid right at the center. Though the ink in any other spot she looked was already faded, the cupid’s colours had resisted the test of time, and Hilda could only imagine there was some magic in the engraving.

When she brought her focus to the actual spell she was being shown, however, she felt like any understanding she thought she’d had of Myra’s plan went down the drain.

“A love spell?” She gasped. “What do we want to make them fall in love for? Is the whole point of us doing this not already believing that they like each other?”

The teenager waited a few moments to speak, letting Hilda take a closer look at the spell first. At the same time that the casting ritual looked simple, Hilda noticed, the potential for that spell to go wrong energy-wise was gigantic, and her brow was furrowed when she lifted her gaze from the book to Myra.

“First of all, no spell can make you fall in love. Magic can’t create love, only the illusion of it. Also, relax! We’re not actually casting it.”

“Huh?” Though Myra was talking as if this all made a lot of sense to her, Hilda still felt like she was missing something.

“Listen.” She said, nearly losing her balance when she squatted down to be closer to Hilda’s height. “We are going to pretend we cast this spell on your mother. There are a bunch of similar spells, but it has to be this one, because it’s the only one that has this completely ridiculous breaking condition.”

Hilda lifted an eyebrow, content to at last be getting an explanation. “Which would be?”

“A kiss from the person the spell made them fall for. Sure, it’s very cute when it’s in curses, but you’ve got to agree that for a spell with the objective of getting the two people together, it’s pretty dumb.” Myra said, picking up the book and showing her the note in one of the corners warning about how the effects would only last until both parties kissed. Hilda had to agree, it did not sound intelligent at all. “So yeah, we’re going to pretend we accidently cast it on your mother, with my sister on the receiving end. And then we’ll tell this to Maven, who naturally will freak out and want to break it, but she knows about this one spell and how to break it. This should give her the motivation to kiss your mother and if we’re lucky enough, they’ll actually talk for a change.”

Rubbing her chin, Hilda looked at the book, then up at Myra, then at the book again. The plan was coming together on her mind, the thoughts organizing themselves in her head like a puzzle. in a way that allowed her to see the parts that didn’t fit.

“I see what you mean.” She hummed. “But how are going to pretend to have accidentally cast a spell? That doesn’t sound very believable at all.”

As she finished her question, she glanced at the entrance at the top of the stairs anxiously. The library was better lit than this secret room, making it so light came in even though the lamps were on. Talking about doing something behind Maven’s back, even if with good intent, made her skittish, and she almost expected to see the older witch at the entrance ready to ground her for a week.

“Obviously.” Leaning her hip against the table, Myra scoffed, though there was no meanness behind it. In fact, she seemed to be amused by Hilda’s clever thinking. “So… that’s the part that might make you give up on the plan. We’re kind of going to have to throw ourselves under the bus.”

“What do you mean?”

Showing the first sign of nervousness since Hilda had met her, Myra looked away from her and around the room, suddenly very interested in the runes in the tapestries. It didn’t look like she was expecting to be caught like Hilda had, however, but like she was trying to gather strength.

“I don’t suppose you have a crush on anybody, do you?”

“What?! No!” Hilda gasped, bringing her hands in front of herself. Remembering that she was in a library, and hidden on top of it, she lowered her voice. “No, I don’t.”

Myra sighed, biting her lower lip in the same way Hilda had sometimes seen Maven do when she was anxious. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have. You’re just a kid.”

As she said nothing else, silence hung over them heavily, making the girl figure it was up to her to push Myra a bit further, even if it looked like she would rather not be pushed.

“Well?” She said softly. “Do you?”

As Myra nodded, Hilda could see the glimpse of a smile on her face even as she gazed down.

“Yeah. Their name is Nyx. And they’re… pretty amazing. My sister knows I like them, so she won’t be surprised. If we orchestrate it well enough, it should be very easy for her to fall for it.”

When the teenager looked up again, the nervousness was gone, and her smile had shifted from smitten to mischievous.

“You see it now, don’t you? We’ll pretend I asked you to cast this spell so they’d fall for me, and we’ll pretend it went wrong in a way that serves us. Maven will see that your mother under a love spell does not act at all differently from your mother normally, they’ll kiss and admit their feelings. Sure, we may make ourselves look bad, but it’s for their own good. What do you say?”

Despite the nerves and the part of her that said she shouldn’t meddle with her mother and mentor’s personal lives, Hilda felt herself suddenly buzzing with excitement. A chance at an adventure and a way to finally stop having to deal with their mutual pining? Looking bad was the least of her worries. Squaring her shoulders, she smiled.

“I’m in.”

[winchesterbrotherstan]

SPN- Playthings (2.11)

Pairing: Olive Winchester (sister OC)

Summary: After a month of searching for Ava with no results, the siblings accept a case from Ellen. Sam spirals after a secret is revealed, Olive plays caretaker, and Dean makes a promise he can’t keep.

Warnings: uh, like a ghost, the word gun is in there one time (wow), uh there’s some cursing, DOLLS ARE FUCKING CREEPY OKAY, uhh, olive says the word milf, uh like, idk?? mentions of dead ppl??

Word Count: 6079

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Ellen.” Sam hung up the phone as I unlocked the door, pushing it open with my foot.

“What’d she have to say?” Dean shut the door behind him.

“Oh, she’s got nothing.” Sam sighed. “Me, I’ve been checking every database I can think of. Federal, state, local. No one’s heard anything about Ava. She just… into thin air, you know?”

Dean sighed and handed Sam one of the coffee cups. Sam looked over at us with hopeful puppy eyes.

“What about you?”

Dean and I shared a look. I shook my head and turned back to Sam.

“Nothing yet. I’m sorry, bubs.”

Sam sighed. “Ellen did have one thing.”

“What was it?” Dean sat down at the table.

I dropped onto Sam’s bed and began to work at my shoes.

“A hotel in Cornwall, Connecticut. Two freak accidents in the past three weeks.”

Dean looked at me. I shrugged.

“I’m confused, what’s this have to do with Ava?”

Sam shook his head. “No, it’s just a job. A lady drowned in the bathtub, then a few days ago a guy falls down the stairs. His head does a complete one-eighty. Not exactly normal, you know. I dunno, guys, it might be nothing, but I told Ellen we’d think about checking it out.”

Sam looked at us. I shrugged again.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Wait, you did?” Dean furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yeah.” Sam frowned. “Why do you seem surprised?”

“Well, it’s just… you know…” Dean scratched the back of his neck. “Not the uh, patented Sam Winchester way. Is it?”

Sam raised an eyebrow.. “And what way is that?”

“Oh, you know, I just figured that after Ava, there’d be, uh… ya now, more angst and droopy music and staring out rainy windows and-”

Sam shot Dean a bitchface, and he chuckled.

“Okay. I’ll shut up now.”

“Look.” Sam huffed. “I’m the one who told her to go back home. And now her fiancé’s dead and some demon snatched her and took her God knows where. But we’ve been looking for a month now, and we’ve still got nothing. I’m not giving up on her, but I’m not gonna sit by and let other people die either. We’ve gotta save as many people as we can.”

“Wow.” Dean blinked. “That attitude is just way too healthy for me. I’m officially uncomfortable now. Thanks.”

Sam ducked his head and laughed. I shuffled from the bed to stand behind him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and leaned over him. He patted my arm with a smile.

“Alright.” Dean huffed dramatically. “Call Ellen, tell her we’ll take it.”

                                                            ***

I yawned as Dean put the Impala in park. We had stayed in the car for the night, and with Jinx and my most recent growth spurt, it proved to be more difficult than we had remembered. I kicked Dean in my sleep, and my leg had twisted up weird.

“Dude, this is sweet.” Dean grinned as we poured out of the car. “I never get to work jobs like this.”

“Like what?”

“Old school haunted houses, you know? Fog, secret passageways… sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne while we’re inside.” Dean closed his eyes with a smile and a soft sigh. “Mmm, Daphne. Love her.”

I shook my head as we started up the porch stairs.

“Hey, wait a sec.” Sam held a hand out, stopping us both short.

I turned back down the steps, staring at an urn on the side of the stairs. Dean stopped walking and looked at us over his shoulder.

“I’m not so sure haunted’s the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“See the pattern?” Sam squatted next to the urn and tapped a five point symbol engraved in a sun. “That’s a quincunx.”

“A five-spot.” I hummed.

“Five-spot.” Dean repeated.

“Yeah.”

“That’s used for hoodoo spellwork, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. You fill this thing with bloodweed and you’ve got a powerful charm to ward off enemies.”

“Yeah, except I don’t see any bloodweed.” Dean smacked his lips. “Don’t you think this place is a little too, uh… whitemeat for hoodoo?”

Sam huffed as we looked around. “Maybe.”

We filed into the inn one by one. Dean caught the front lady’s attention, and Sam and I took our sweet time closing the door, observing the old timey interior.

“May I help you?”

“Hi, yeah, I’d like a room for a couple of nights.” Dean smiled.

Sam and I shared a look before he stepped into the lobby. A little girl wearing an old school-uniform bumped into Sam’s legs as she ran across the room. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight, and Jinx barked. I knelt next to her and shushed her, smoothing her fur out.

“Hey!” The lady shouted before looking at Sam. “I’m so sorry about that.”

Sam shook his head, a dismissive frown on his face. “No problem.”

“Well, um, congratulations. You could be some of our final guests.”

“Well. Sounds vaguely ominous.” Dean huffed.

“No, I’m sorry. I mean we’re closing at the end of the month.” The lady looked over the two. “Let me guess. You guys are here antiquing?”

Dean looked back at Sam with a why not look before turning back. “How’d you know?”

“Oh, you just look the type.”

I could sense Dean’s discomfort. Sam stepped forward.

“Sorry, uh, are you guys pet friendly? She’s well trained, we just didn’t have anywhere to leave her.”

“Normally we’re not, but since we’re so close to shutting down, it’s fine.”

Sam nodded at me and I slowly brought Jinx in.

“So, uh, one king-sized bed?”

“What?” Sam blinked.

“Oh, oh, oh, uh, no. No, no, no.” I shook my head, popping in between the two. “No, two singles.” I circled my finger around the three of us. “We’re just siblings.”

“Oh.” The lady’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Dean tilted his head. “What’d you mean that we look the type?”

She stared down while looking for something to say. Sam cleared his throat.

“You know, speaking of antiques, you have a really, really interesting urn on the front porch. Where’d you get that?”

“Oh, I have no idea.” She smiled, grateful for the out. “It’s been there forever.”

She handed Dean a room key. “Here you go, Mr. Mahagov.”

Dean gave her the classic white-people smile and took the key. “Thanks.”

The lady rang the bell on the counter. “You’ll be staying in room 237. Sherwin, could you show these fine folks to their room?”

Dean and I turned to see an old, balding man dressed formally shuffling up behind us. “Let me guess. Antiquers?”

The three of us bit our tongues as Sherwin took Dean’s bag from him and began to lead us up the stairs. Sam and I opted to keep ours on our shoulders. Sam scooped Jinx off her feet and held her to his chest as we followed Sherwin. Dean’s duffel bag wouldn’t stop clunking, and I was horrified a gun would somehow go off. Dean scratched the back of his neck.

“I could give you a hand with that bag.”

“I got it.”

“Okay.” Dean licked his lips and gave me a look.

I patted his arm. Sam cleared his throat.

“So, the hotel’s closing up, huh?”

“Yep. Miss Susan tried to make a go of it, but the guests just don’t come like they used to. Still, it’s a damn shame.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sam spoke in a tell-us-more tone.

“It may not look it anymore, but this place was a palace. Two different vice-presidents laid their heads on our pillows. My parents worked here, I practically grew up here. Gonna miss it.” Sherwin sighed as he unlocked our room and pushed the door open. “Here’s your room.”

He handed Sam the key and nodded as we shuffled into the room. Dean turned to shut the door, only to see that Sherwin was standing there, hand out.

“You’re not gonna… cheap out on me. Are you, boy?”

Dean sighed as he pulled out his wallet.

                                                           ***

Sam ran a hand through his hair as he skimmed over the paper in his hand. I yawned and put down the paper I had just finished reading. Dean was pacing. He let out a dry chuckle, then a mumble of curses.

“What?” Sam and I didn’t look up.

“That’s normal.” Dean huffed.

I looked up as he stood next to me, arms crossed over his chest. There was an old wedding dress pinned up to the wall. I sucked in air through my teeth as Dean moved to sit on one of the beds.

“Why the hell would anyone stay here? I’m amazed they kept in business this long.” He dropped onto the bed, which sunk further under him.

“Alright, victim number one.” I spoke up, waving the paper. “Joan Edison, forty three years old. Realtor handling the sale of the hotel. Victim number two?” I looked over at Sam.

“Larry Williams. Moving some stuff out to Goodwill.”

“Well, there’s a connection. They’re both tied up in shutting the place down.”

“Yeah.” Sam hummed. “Maybe somebody here doesn’t wanna leave, and they’re using hoodoo to fight back.”

“Who do you think our witch doctor is? That Susan lady?”

“Nah.” Sam shook his head. “Doesn’t seem likely. I mean, she is the one selling.”

“Maybe Sherwin?” I offered.

“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged.

“Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we’re gay?”

“Well…” Sam hummed. “You are kinda butch. Probably think you’re overcompensating.”

I snorted. “It’s cause you’re a bottom and Sam’s not.” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I mumbled again.

“Ha fucking ha.” Dean narrowed his eyes at me with a huff.

                                                           ***

“This place is weird.” I stuck to Dean’s side as we poked around the hallways.

“Hey, look.” Sam pulled another urn off a table. “More hoodoo.”

Dean made a face before looking around. He stalked off toward a door marked PRIVATE and knocked. Sam put the urn down and we crowded Dean in the doorway, eyes wide as we looked around.

The door opened, revealing Susan. “Hi.”

“Hi there.” Dean gave his charming grin.

“Everything okay with your room?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Oh, yeah everything’s great.”

“Well-”

“Well, I was, I was just in the middle of packing.” She cut Dean off as the three of us talked over each other.

“Hey!” Dean’s face lit up as he looked past her. “Are those antique dolls? Cause this one,” he turned and picked his victim. “Sammy here’s got a major doll collection back home. Don’t ya?”

He gave Susan a polite smile that, hopefully, screamed murder to Dean. “Big time.”

“Big time. You think he could come, or we could come in and take a look?”

Susan shifted. “I don’t know…”

“Please?” Dean begged. “I mean, he loves them. He’s not gonna tell you this, but he’s uh, he’s always dressing em up in their tiny little outfits, and uh,” he shrugged, “honestly, you’d make his day. You- she would, huh?” He turned to Sam with a grin.

Sam looked sick. “It’s true.”

“Okay.” Susan stepped aside. “Come on in.”

“Alright! Alright.” Dean slapped Sam’s back as we trudged into the room.

Sam gave him another death glare and I pushed myself between the two as we looked around the room.

“Wow.” Dean hummed. “That’s a lot of dolls.” He feigned a smile. “I mean, they’re nice, ya know.” He looked down at me and mumbled. “Not super creepy at all.”

Susan laughed. “Yeah, I suppose they are a little creepy. But they’ve been in the family forever. A lot of sentimental value.”

“What is this?” Sam was on the other end of the room, walking around a huge dollhouse. “The hotel?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Susan smiled. “Exact replica, custom built.”

Sam frowned and picked something up off the ground. “His head got twisted around.” He held a doll up so Dean and I could see.

Dean and I shared a look before turning to Susan.

“What happened to it?”

“Oh, Tyler, probably.”

We forced understanding smiles, and the second Susan turned her back, we gave each other bug eyes.

What the fuck?

“Mommy!” Tyler ran in. “Maggie’s being mean!”

“Tyler, tell her I said to be nice, okay.”

“Hey, Tyler.” Sam came over with a soft smile on his face. “I see you broke your doll. You want me to fix it?”

“I didn’t break it.” Tyler pouted. “I found it like that.”

“Oh.” Sam smiled wider. “Well, maybe Maggie did it.”

I sighed. Sometimes it broke my heart to know he’d never have a family of his own.

“No.” Tyler shook her head. “Neither of us did it. Grandma would get mad if we broke them.”

“Oh, Tyler.” Susan hummed. “She wouldn’t get mad.”

“Grandma?” Dean took a step forward.

“Grandma Rose. These were all her toys.”

“Oh, really?” Dean looked around. “Where’s Grandma Rose now?”

“Up in her room.”

“You know, I’d, I’d, uh, I’d really love to talk to Rose about her incredible doll-”

“No.” Susan cut Sam off. “I mean, I’m afraid that’s impossible. My mother’s been very sick and she’s not taking any visitors.”

We were promptly ushered out of the room, and the door was shut behind us.

“What do you guys think?” Dean began. “Dolls, hoodoo, mysterious shut-in grandma?”

“Boys, I hate to say it, I really do. But I think we’re in a horror movie.”

Sam ran a hand over his face and Dean gave me a gentle push. “Every time you say that, something goes terribly wrong. Have you realized that?”

I frowned. “No. I just kinda say things.”

Sam sighed. “Okay, well dolls are used in all kinds of voodoo and hoodoo. Curses, binding spells…”

“Yeah, maybe we’ve found our witch doctor. Alright, I’ll see what I can go dig up on booming granny. You go get online, check old obits, freak accidents, that sort of thing. See if she’s whacked anybody before.”

                                                           ***

“Jesus Christ.” I hissed as I shut the room door behind me, leaning on it.

Sam looked up, teary eyed. “What happened?”

“Uh… lawyer. He hung himself.”

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down. His shoulders began to shake, and I felt my heart soften.

“Sammy…”

He looked up, tears falling down in streaks. “Jessica was pregnant.”

I stopped cold. “What?”

He pushed his hair out of his face. “She was pregnant. Becky called me.”

“Becky… Becky from a year ago?���

He nodded. “She knew, and she never said a thing.”

“Hold on, Sammy…” I trailed off as I sat down on the table. “When?”

He looked away. “When…” He licked his lips and let out a strangled sob. “When she died.”

He began to weep, and I scrambled to my feet, pulling him into my chest. He gripped fistfuls of my jacket, and I ran a hand through his hair as the other held his shoulders tightly.

“Sammy, I’m so sorry.” I whispered.

“I couldn’t save the lawyer. I couldn’t even save Jess.” He whimpered.

“Sams, neither were your fault.”

“I was gonna be a dad.”

“I am so sorry, Sammy.” I pressed a long kiss to the top of his head and bit back my own tears.

“I should’ve done something.”

I rubbed his back. “Sams, there is nothing you could’ve done.”

He pulled back and wiped his face. “I dreamt about it! I could’ve done something! I could’ve saved her! What if something happens to you? O-o-or to Dean? I’m useless.”

My heart shattered, and I cupped his face, bending down so that we were nose to nose.

“You are not useless. You’re my brother. Dean and I need you.”

He shook his head, pushing my hands away. “I’m gonna go for a walk.”

He stumbled to his feet, and I sighed as his breath hit my face. I grabbed his wrists and pulled him back.

“Sams, you’re drunk.”

“So? You think I won’t be able to go on a walk?” He challenged.

“No.” I whispered. “But I’m not gonna let you go out into a haunted hotel while you’re wasted.”

He huffed. “I just-”

“Do you need to be alone?”

He nodded.

“Okay.” I tugged him back toward his chair. “Stay here. I’ll go for a walk.” I glanced at my watch. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Okay?”

He nodded again as he dropped into his seat. I cupped his face again.

“I love you. Okay?”

He nodded.

“I’ll be back soon.” I kissed his head again before grabbing Jinx’s leash and calling her over.

She bolted out the door and sat in the hall. I looked over my shoulder to see Sam with his head in his hands. I sighed and shut the door.

                                                           ***

Jinx yawned as she dropped to her stomach. I had walked her around the neighborhood, which was, like the hotel, creepy. It was picturesque, but the antique feeling was everywhere, and it was one I didn’t like.

Somebody started up the stairs, and I didn’t look up as I scooted over, trying to give them more space to walk.

“Sweetheart?”

I looked up to see Dean. I sighed.

“What happened? Where’s Sam?”

“Um…” I stood and avoided eye contact.

“Ol.” Dean craned his neck to catch my eye. “Why did I see a coroner’s van-”

“A lawyer hung himself.”

“Jesus.” Dean huffed.

“Look… Jess was pregnant.”

“What?”

“Jessica. When she died. She was pregnant. Sam just found out.”

Dean’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Wh…”

“Just cut him some slack. Okay?”

Dean huffed. “Fine. Come on.”

We trudged up the stairs and into the lobby in silence.

“Uh, hey.” Susan caught our attention. “I’m sure you heard about the lawyer… look, if you’d like to check out, I can give you a full refund.”

I shook my head. “No. Thanks.”

“We don’t scare that easily.” Dean pulled me to keep walking.

He led the way up the stairs and pushed the door open.

“There’s been another one. Lawyer hung himself.” He called into the room.

“We know.” Sam grunted.

I shut the door and flicked the lights on.

“We’ve gotta figure this out, and fast.” Dean huffed. “What’d you find out about Granny?”

“You’re bossy.” Sam snorted out.

I cursed to myself as Dean spun around. “What?”

“You’re bossy. And short.” Sam let out a sloppy laugh.

A glare formed on Dean’s face as he looked my way, then back at Sam. “Are you drunk?”

“Yeah.” Sam laughed again. “So? Stupid.”

Dean looked around and spotted the empty bottles. His shoulders fell and he shook his head at me. I looked down at the ground.

“Dude. What are you thinking? We’re working a case.” Dean barked out.

Sam stared down at the ground, tearful again. “That guy who hung himself. I couldn’t save him.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t know. You couldn’t have done anything, Sam.

“That’s an excuse, Dean.” Sam huffed. “I should’ve found a way to save him. I should’ve saved Ava, too.”

Dean made a face, and I grabbed his wrist. “Hey. Slack. Remember? We’re cutting him some slack.”

Dean sighed and took a few steps toward Sam. “Well, you can’t save everyone. Even you said that.”

“No, Dean, you don’t understand!” Sam slammed the table. “The more people I save, the more I can change!”

My heart fell to my stomach.

“Change what, Sam?” Dean shook his head.

“My destiny, Dean!” Sam leaned forward, his hands on his chest

Dean sighed. “Alright. Time for bed. Come on, Sasquatch.” He pulled Sam up by the shoulders. “Come on.”

“I need you to watch out for me.” Sam huffed as Dean pushed him toward the bed.

“I always do.”

“No! No, no, no. You have to watch out for me, alright? And if I ever…” Sam huffed again. “Turn into something that I’m not…”

My skin began to crawl, and Dean tilted his head.

“You have to kill me.” Sam looked over Dean’s shoulder, at me. “Either of you.”

“No!” I spat.

“Sam.” Dean’s tone was dismissive.

“Dean! Dad told you to do it, you have to.”

“Yeah, well, Dad was an ass.” Dean snarled.

Sam frowned, confusion washing over his face.

“He never should have said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids.” 

“No. He was right to say it! Who knows what I might become?” Sam whined. “Even now, everyone around me dies!”

“Yeah, well, Olive and I aren’t dying, okay?”

“And neither are you.” I hissed as I helped Dean maneuver Sam onto the bed. “Come on, Sams.”

He sat on the bed, but he wouldn’t lay down. He grabbed Dean’s jacket and pulled him close. “No, Dean, please!” Sam whined again. “You’re the only one who can do it. Promise.”

“Don’t ask that of me.” Dean shook his head.

“Dean, please.” Sam begged. “You have to promise me.”

Dean looked away, and I caught his eye. I shook my head, eyes wide and full of tears. Dean sniffled, tears collecting in his own eyes.

“Don’t.” I hissed.

He looked back at Sam. “I promise.”

“Thanks.” Sam reached up to grab Dean’s face. “Thank you.”

Dean batted Sam’s hand away. I climbed onto the bed and pulled Sam to lay down as Dean lifted his legs onto the bed. Sam turned and planted his face onto my chest, wrapping both of his arms around me. I hugged him back and glared at Dean as he ran a hand over his face.

                                                           ***

“Oh god.” Sam’s voice was hoarse.

“Sams?” I whispered.

He slowly rolled onto his back with a huff. “Oh fuck.”

“Hey.” I sat up and pushed his hair out of his face.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

“Oh. Oh god, oh no.” I hissed as he scrambled off the bed, stumbling his way to the bathroom.

He barely made it as he threw up. I groaned. Taking care of the boys while they were black out drunk was one thing, but hungover and throwing up was another story.

“Oh, bambi.” I whispered, helping him settle on his knees. “Come on, let’s take your jacket off.” I eased the denim fabric from his shoulders.

“Shit.” He groaned.

“Come on. Shoes, too.” I rubbed his shoulders.

“You don’t have to take care of me.” He fussed as he kicked his shoes off.

“You always take care of me.” I knelt by his side and brushed a thumb over his cheek. “Let me take care of you.”

He gave me a soft smile, but it fell. His face drained of color, and he turned back to the toilet. I sighed as I rubbed his back. He spat into the toilet again. I shushed him soothingly.

“How are you feeling, Sammy?” Dean all but shouted as he entered the room, out of view.

Sam groaned before dry heaving. I stood up and crouched behind him, pulling his hair into a small ponytail. I tucked what didn’t stay behind his ears.

“I guess mixing whiskey and Jäger wasn’t such a gangbuster idea, huh?”

Sam ignored him.

“I’ll bet you don’t remember a single thing from last night, do you?” Dean asked, hope in his eyes.

I shot him a glare, and he cleared his throat. Sam only huffed before letting out another groan.

“No, I can still taste the fucking tequila.”

A relieved smile grew on Dean’s face, and I sighed as I rubbed Sam’s back again, sitting on the edge of the tub. He leaned down on his feet with a groan. I pulled the hand towel off the ring and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He dropped onto his butt and leaned into me, head hitting my chest. I cooed as I pushed stray hairs from his face.

“You know, there’s a really good hangover remedy.” Dean cracked a devilish grin.

“Dean.” I warned.

“It’s a, uh, it’s a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray.”

“Oh, I hate you.” Sam popped back to his knees to throw up.

“I know you do.” Dean laughed. “Hey, turns out when Grandma Rose was a tyke, she had a Creole nanny who wore a hoodoo necklace.” He leaned in the doorway and huffed, waving the air in front of his nose. “God, it fucking stinks in here.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.” I grumbled back.

“Whew.” Dean hummed. “Sometimes I forget you have better senses than we do.”

“Okay, you think the nanny taught Rose hoodoo?”

“Yes I do.” Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

“Alright.” Sam stumbled to his feet. “I think it’s time we’ve talked to Rose, then.”

His breath hit my face and I held back my own gag. “Oh, Sams.” I stepped back. “You’ve gotta brush your teeth first.”

                                                           ***

“I’ll see you guys later.” I pressed a kiss to Sam’s cheek, then to Dean’s.

“See you, baby.” Dean grinned.

“Love you, bug.” Sam gave me a kind smile.

“Love you guys too. Be safe.”

“Always, you too!” Dean called as I shut the car door and started across the parking lot.

I tugged on the straps of my backpack as I walked up the steps and into the school. I fished the crumpled schedule from my back pocket and sighed.

World geography.

“Hey.”

I looked up to see a blond boy my age smiling at me.

“Hi.” I feigned a smile back.

“Need help finding your classes? I moved here a few years ago, I’ve got the building pretty much down.” He chuckled.

I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

“Adam.” He held his hand out.

I shook it. “Olive.”

He chuckled. “Nice name.”

I rolled my eyes with a smile. “Thanks. My brothers love food.”

“Brothers?” He repeated as we walked. “Yikes.”

I shook my head. “Nah. They’re good. You got any siblings?”

“I’m an only child.”

I let out a low whistle. “Sucks.”

                                                           ***

“See ya around, Olive!” Adam waved.

I put a hand up. “See ya.”

“Hey, kid.” Dean grinned as he pulled up, windows down.

“Hey, De. Hi, Sams.” I slid into the backseat.

Jinx was curled up, and our bags were on the floor. I furrowed my eyebrows.

“What happened?”

“Oh, uh…”

“We got kicked out.”

“What?” My eyes widened as I looked up. “How? Why?”

“Susan caught us trying to talk to Rose.”

“Oh god.” I rolled my eyes.

“Look, she had a stroke. There’s no way she was practicing hoodoo.”

I sighed and leaned forward as Dean drove off. “Then what’s happening at the hotel?”

The boys shook their heads. I sighed again.

“Let’s go back.”

“What?”

“We can’t, sweetie.”

“Yes we can.” I scoffed.

“How?” Dean eyed me in the rearview.

I shrugged. “Easy. I’ll just tell her you guys forgot to pack some of my stuff. She seemed to like me. She’ll let me back in.”

The boys shared a brief look, and Dean sighed. “Fine. Ten minutes, in and out.”

I grinned. “Works for me.”

                                                           ***

“Is that…” Sam squinted and leaned forward.

“Shit, Dean, stop the car!” I squeaked.

He slammed the brakes, and I pushed the door open before taking off in a sprint, tackling Susan out of the way. The car crashed into the tree on the edge of the playground and Susan panted as we sat up.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I think so.”

“Come on, come on.” Dean and Sam came scrambling.

I got to my feet, and my knee slipped out from under me. I crashed onto my ass with a grumble. Dean sighed and plucked me off the ground as Sam helped Susan up.

“Inside, let’s go.”

Sam led the way, guiding Susan by the shoulders. She huffed as we walked into the dining room.

“Whiskey.” She sat down.

“Sure.” Sam scoffed. “I know the feeling.”

Susan looked up as Dean eased me into a seat at the table. I hissed as he knelt down, rubbing my knee.

“What the fuck happened out there?” Susan demanded.

Sam and I blinked, and Dean popped my knee. I let out a curse as I shot up straight, tears in my eyes.

“You want the truth?” Dean asked.

“Of course!”

“Well, at first we thought it was some sort of hoodoo curse, but that out there?” Dean let out a whistle. “That was definitely a spirit.”

Sam handed her a glass of whiskey before sitting down next to me.

Susan stared. “You’re insane.”

“Yeah, it’s been said.” Dean hummed.

I shifted in my seat, trying to straighten my leg out. “Look, I’m sorry, Susan, but we don’t exactly have time to ease you into this. We need to know when your mother had the stroke.”

“What does that have to do-”

“Just answer the question.” Sam cut her off.

“Uh, about a month ago.”

“Right before the killings began.” Sam mumbled before looking at me and Dean. “See? So what if Rose was working hoodoo, but not to hurt anyone. To protect them.”

I sighed. “She was using the five-spots to ward off the spirit.”

“Right.” Sam nodded. “Until she had a stroke and she couldn’t anymore.”

“I don’t believe this.” Susan shook her head.

“Listen, sister, that car didn’t try to run you down by itself, okay? I mean, I guess it did, technically, but, but the spirit can… forget it.”

“Look, you can believe whatever you the fuck you want to. But the fact is that you and your family are in danger. Okay? So you need to clear everyone out of here. Your employees, your mother, your kids, everyone.”

“Uh… I only have one daughter.”

Sam squinted. “One?”

“I thought Tyler had a sister named Maggie?” Dean tilted his head.

Susan scoffed. “Maggie’s imaginary.”

Sam’s jaw twitched, Dean’s eyebrows furrowed, and I buried my hands in my head.

“Mother fucker.”

“Where’s Tyler?”

Susan’s eyes went wide before she bolted. We scrambled over each other’s feet, following her up the stairs and to her private room. She struggled with the door before pushing it open.

“Tyler!”

The floor was littered with broken dolls. Sam and Dean gave each other a look.

“Oh my god. Tyler!” Susan ran through another door, calling for her daughter.

I ducked, checking under furniture as the boys tore through the closets. Susan came back, running.

“She’s not here!”

“Okay, okay. Susan. Susan.” Sam grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell us what you know about Maggie.”

“Um, not much. Tyler’s been talking about her ever since Mom got sick.”

“Okay, did you ever know anyone by that name?”

“Uh, no!”

“Think, think.” Dean pressured. “I mean, somebody that could’ve lived here?”

“Maybe someone who passed away?” I offered.

“Oh my god.” Susan’s face drained of color. “My mom. My mom had a sister named Margaret. She barely spoke about her.”

The three of us shared a look.

“Did Margaret happen to die here when she was a kid?”

“Yeah, she drowned in the pool.”

Dean made a face as he began to move. “Come on.”

                                                           ***

Dean ran ahead, and Sam and I followed, Susan only a few steps behind. The dead garden seemed more eerie now than it had before. Sam reached the door first, trying to unlock it. It didn’t budge. Tyler was on the edge of the balcony inside, only a slip away from falling into the pool.

“Tyler!” Susan called.

Dean and Sam pounded on the glass, trying to break it.

“Mommy!” Tyler squealed.

She fell in with a scream.

“Tyler!”

“Is there another entrance?” Dean asked.

“Around back.”

“Okay, come on.” Dean pulled Susan away before turning to us. “Keep working.”

Sam and I continued to elbow the door, and I let out a grunt as I slammed my shoulder against the frame. It didn’t budge. Sam groaned, looking around. He stopped before grabbing something. He pushed me aside before slamming a pot into the door. The glass began to crack, and Sam began to work harder. He finally got through, the door shattering. He jammed himself through and, without hesitation, leapt over the railing, into the pool.

“Sam!” I squeaked as I ran in, leaning over the railing.

He wasted no time pushing past the plastic cover. I watched as he swam toward Tyler before scooping her up in his arms. I bolted down the steps, reaching his side. I pulled Tyler from his arms and set her down on her side. Sam clambered out of the pool as Dean and Susan burst in. I patted Tyler’s back, and she coughed. Sam helped me push her up to sit, and Susan pulled her into a bear hug.

“Mommy.” She whined.

“Yeah, baby. I’m here. I’m right here.” Susan cried.

“Tyler, do you see Maggie anywhere?” Sam gave her sympathetic eyes.

“No, she’s gone.” She snuggled back into Susan. “Mommy.”

                                                           ***

“Don’t worry, honey, we’re leaving in two minutes. We’ve just got to get Grandma.” Susan cooed as she held Tyler against her side, moving up the stairs.

“I don’t get it.” Dean hissed. “Did Maggie just stop?”

“Seems like it.” Sam shrugged, hair dripping.

“Well, where the hell did she go?” I asked.

Susan screamed from upstairs. Sam reacted first, bolting up the steps. Dean and I followed. Sam busted through the door. Susan was holding Tyler against her side, crying. The three of us sighed when we saw Rose slumped in her wheelchair.

She was dead.

                                                           ***

“Paramedics said it was another stroke. Do you think… Margaret could’ve had something to do with it?” Susan asked.

“We don’t know.” Dean shrugged.

“But, it’s possible.” I followed up, tugging on Jinx’s leash so that she would sit.

Sam sighed. “Susan, I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “You have nothing to apologize for. You’ve given me everything.”

Tyler came down the steps, dressed in regular clothing. She had a small smile on her face as she joined her mother. Susan rubbed her back, and Tyler bent down to pet Jinx.

“Ready to go, kiddo?”

“Yeah.”

“Now, Tyler.” Dean bent down to be eye-level with her. “You’re sure Maggie’s not around anymore?”

“I’m sure.” Tyler nodded. “I’d see her.”

“I guess whatever’s going on must be over.” Dean shrugged as we followed Susan down the steps, to her taxi.

Sam held the door open for her, and Susan ushered Tyler into the cab.

“You two take care of yourselves, alright?”

Susan turned and pulled Sam into a hug, resting her head on his chest. Dean snorted, and I wheezed, pulling on a serious face and rubbing my nose when Susan pulled back.

“Thank you.” She looked at Sam, then at Dean and I. “All of you.”

We nodded as she shuffled into the taxi. Sam shut the door behind her and I laughed, covering my mouth.

“Dude, you could’ve just gotten some total MILF action.” I giggled as we began to walk.

“Ew, Ollie-”

“No, seriously, bud, I think she liked you.”

“Yeah.” Sam scoffed. “That’s all she needs.”

“Well, you saved the mom, saved the girl.” I patted Sam’s arm. “Not a bad day, bubs.”

“Course, I could’ve saved them myself, but I didn’t want you to feel useless.” Dean teased.

My heart sank as I remembered what Sam had said last night.

“Appreciate it.” Sam gave Dean a bitch face.

He sensed my shift in attitude and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side.

“Feels good getting back in the saddle. Doesn’t it?” Dean grinned and pulled out the car keys.

“Yeah.” Sam sighed. “Yeah, it does.” He took his arm back and braced his hands against the top of the car. “But it doesn’t change what we talked about last night, Dean.”

My chest clenched and tears immediately welled in my eyes. I looked down and away, taking a shaky breath. I opened the back door and let Jinx settle in.

“We talked about a lot of things last night.” Dean tried to change the subject.

“You know what I mean.” Sam shook his head.

“You were wasted.” Dean scowled.

“But you weren’t. And you promised.” Sam shot back.

They looked at each other for a beat. Sam pulled the passenger door open first, and I slid into the middle seat, wrapping my arms around myself. Sam got in, slamming the door shut as Dean closed his, gently.

He started the car and glanced Sam’s way. Sam kept his eyes straight ahead as we pulled away from the inn.

Previous Ep: Hunted (2.10)

Next Ep: Nightshifter (2.12)

taglist: @i67​

[jane-penvellyn-of-blackmoor]

Nancy Drew #33 Midnight in Salem Game Review

So I gave in and paid the damn $30 to play the dribble that HER's pawning off as their latest game. While there has been major controversy within the fandom over the latest Nancy Drew Game and HerInteractive in general, I'm going to stick to just the game here. My thoughts and opinions on how HER managed the fandom after Penny Miliken came onto the scene have been made clear on my sh!tposts on my blog lol. So we're talking just the game here, nothing pre-start menu - that includes real world HerInteractive drama, none of that. So let's begin...

The Start Menu - Tbh I hated the start menu. It was like a FNAF game's opening menu, clearly made in Unity and the grass textures were nightmarish. If this were my first Nancy Drew game and this was the first sight I saw upon booting the game up, I would never buy another one again.

Voice Acting - Now before ya'll go off on "That's just your nostalgia talking, give it a chance" I will have you know that I tried, I really really tried to like the new voice actress for Nancy but ugh I can't stand it. She sounds like someone pretending to be Olivia Benson off Law & Order: SVU. Like I get they wanted Nancy to sound more like a modern teenager and less "Barbie voice" like Lani's voice would stray towards but letting go of Lani was their biggest mistake. If they had kept Lani as Nancy's voice - especially for such a drastically different game setup - would have helped keep fans fixed within the Nancy Drew world that we've been following for years. Everyone else was great, I especially liked Mei and Lauren's voices and the emotions expressed within them. Also Tourist Girl outside of the Town Hall needs to be brought back in the next game and have her lines recorded on actual recording equipment because what you did HerInteractive was hysterically pathetic and unfair. I don't know if that was a place holder that got overlooked or what but for a $30 game released by a company with so many quality games under it's belt - I expect better.

Storyline - Was pretty good. Fire, robberies, political unrest, sabotage, fraud, hidden wills, all things we've seen before a dozen times but they never get old. I think it's safe to say that the storyline itself is actually what kept me playing, however about half way through I did know it was one of two suspects who was the villian and the very next reveal ensured me which one it was. Still though good story.

Script - Whoever was in charge of the character conversations, for the love of all that is holy please water the interactions down! I felt like 99% of the game was never ending conversations about crap that wasn't useful to the plot. Like filler and fluff is great but conversations that drag on and on and on aren't fun. Have a character say a line or two, then it's Nancy's turn - all this monologuing has me flying through conversations just so I can move onto the next thing. Also some of the way the lines are written make it hard for the actors to read and sound authentic. Like "I can not." (versus "I can't.") levels of unauthentic lines.

Characters - Loved the different characters, would have appreciated more that had models you could interact with.

Puzzles - Needed way more puzzles. Like WAY more. It felt like there was less than 10 puzzles in the game and the majority were stupid easy, the only 'difficult' ones were easy once you understood what they wanted you to do which for some reason wasn't made clear at the start of the puzzle.

Mini Games - Loved making Johnny Cakes and mixing herbs.

Graphics - Horrific. I played on the highest settings of graphics on my HD computer, I had zero issues with it rendering or playing through as intended and smoothly - the graphics were still shit. I've seen better graphics in Barbie's Horse Adventures or The Sims 3. If you're entire argument of shifting onto Unity was for better graphics, HerInteractive, then you need to deliver and you failed miserably at that.

Navigation - I actually had zero issue with the 'swoosh' way we moved around. At times it felt a little restrictive (like in Town Square getting around the stage) but it was fine. I just actually didn't care for the camera tilt feature, it made things ten times more complicated trying to figure out what nooks and crannies they wanted you to notice and which they didn't. I'd happily go back to the old navigation and old engines but I'm fine with the new one so long as they work on making it better.

Cursor - Hated the new cursor, bring back the magnifying glass plz.

Location - I felt that the location of Salem, MA. wasn't utilized to it's fullest potential and that the layout of the town square and the maps of the city were surprisingly unsimilar to IRL Salem. I liked the aesthetic of Lauren's Shop, The Cemetary, The Hathorne House, and Olivia's Store but all of those locations fell victim to the game's graphics, still though props to the designer of those locations in the game.

Austrian Castle - This was jarring. To have a game so drenched in it's location of Salem then it starts off in Austria, it was weird. I get it that they were like "It's connected to the Salem Witch Trials cuz of da Judge dude" but it was super unnecessary and felt like a strange sub-plot location to a game set in Salem, MA. 

Music - I liked the music, felt a little Harry Potter-ish at times and the 'indie rock' music they had that had zero lyrics was annoying but overall it was fine.

Witchy Stuff - I myself am a real practitioning witch, I am an ecclectic pagan wiccan and I know I am in the minority here but some of the puzzles were obnoxiously easy if you know anything about witchcraft. Like even the most basic level of witchcraft. If you ever skimmed through a wicca book in highschool with your edgy friends than you already know more than this game expects you to know. What pissed me off is that it's never actually explained to you. Like they bring up Samhain and fling the word around so it's all spooky and mystifying but they never once have a book or person discuss real Witchcraft with you. Like yeah Olivia is a 'real witch' or whatever and Lauren teaches you about mixing some herbs but it's still not like "Here is The Wheel of the Year, These are Sabbats and Esbats, This is an Athame, This is what we use brooms for we call them Besoms, etc" like the fact that we didn't get a wise old lady who was a clear rip off of Laurie Cabot teaching us about real Witchcraft in a very censor friendly and warm way pisses me off to no end. MISSED OPPORTUNITY HER!!!

Nancy's Behavior - So many times in this game Nancy behaved out of character to me. Like I get it, ya wanted to be all like "let's challenge her belief in ghooooosts!!" but it wasn't done correctly. Nancy wouldn't react to seeing ghosts like Scooby Doo and Shaggy.

Call Backs/Easter Egg - I appreciated the Easter Egg in this game being a literal colorful egg but it was a lame spot to hide it considering it was in plain view. However I appreciated the call backs to previous games with KoKo Kringles, Robotic Cats, and the Dear Sweet Charlotte jack-o-lantern.

Ghosts and Jumpscares - 10/10 best aspect of the game by far. The witch ghost over the bed actually got me really good and the ghosts in the underground tunnels were the best graphics of the game.

Pumpkins - Another charming part of the game that I actually enjoyed more than I anticipated. It was really cute and a fun stupid little thing to work on through out the game to find all the candles and put a pumpkin on each one.

Hardy Boys - PLEASE BRING THEM BACK FOR MORE GAMES AND NEVER STOP THE FRANCY SHIPPING. Also I could be tempted for Joe/Deirdre shipping js.

Overall - I'd rate the game a 4/10 and that's being nice. I liked it more than RAN but that’s really not saying much. It doesn’t come close to classic Nancy Drew Games.

Final Thoughts - I can't see any person who isn't a die hard Nancy Drew fan playing this and being like "Yeah I'll buy more of HerInteractive's future games!" like no. But I do see potential. I can see this as a beautiful beginning on a new platform making more immersive games. Or you know this could be the last game we get from HER and they close and go bankrupt and get flushed away and then the Miss Clue crew buys the rights for Nancy Drew and they make new Nancy Drew Games on the old platform with the old team....whichever works just fine for me :)

[maddiviner]

Hi, you reblogged some stuff about soulbonding and I was wondering what you think about it and why. Personally I think it can go too far, like the Sarah girl and the Final Fantasy house.

You’re asking for my opinion, right? Well, this is it, but obviously I can prove none of it. It is, by definition, only an opinion.

I’ve been aware of soulbonding since the very early-2000s when the term was popularized on LiveJournal and other sites. I first ran across it through the overlap with the otherkin community. 

At the time, I was still sorting out my own therianthropy and relationship to my therioside, so I lurked a lot of related communities. When someone’s wishkinning selkies as hard as I was… well, I encountered a lot of different perspectives.

I remember reading about how the term “soulbond” was coined by Amanda Flowers in the late 1990s to describe her relationship with her characters, and the concept expanded from there. 

I also found a (now-defunct) site called Soulbonding.net that documented the phenomenon (paradigm?) in some detail. I kind of wish that site were still around, but it seems to have vanished.

The site was pretty broad in its application of the term. It just defined soulbonding as the practice of interacting with mental constructs of (mostly self-created) fictional characters for the sake of better writing. I can’t remember if the site talked about soulbonds as spirits or just mental constructs, but a lot of people were agnostic about that, anyways.

What do I see with soulbonding? I’ve already made it clear on this blog that I see magic (and with it, spiritwork), as the birthright of humanity and all other conscious beings. 

Magic and spirit contact are veritable constants in human culture. Even in instances where the dominant culture strongly disbelieves or disapproves of those things, you still see them. 

For example, even in Puritan New England, young girls and other folk sought out occult practices, which ultimately led to the Salem witch hysteria. In other historical contexts we see a similar “return” to the occult; a skim of the works of Claude Lecouteux on Medieval peasant society proves that, and we see it with the legacy of Isobel Gowdie.

There’s just a certain percentage of folks who (for whatever mysterious reason) are always going to gravitate towards the spirit world. This happens regardless of what the dominant society indoctrinates in them.

With soulbonding, you have a lot of people who grew up in a culture where spirits were seen as either evil or nonexistent. This includes some folks who likely didn’t have the opportunity to investigate paths like Wicca or others which accept spirit contact. 

Yet, still, spirit contact happens, and it ended up being called “soulbonding.”

It is clear to me that some spirits want contact with humans, and humans reciprocate this intuitively. This is true regardless of what spirits you’re talking about. Pop culture egregores? Spirit guides? Self-constructed thoughtforms of happenstance? 

Hard to say, but at least some percentage of all of the above seeks human contact, just as some folks are naturally predisposed to magic and spiritwork in their own right. Different spirits tend to seek out different sorts of people, I think, but still, a sizeable minority of people gravitate towards the occult no matter the age they live in.

You’ll notice that I never tag posts with any “tulpa” related tags, and never write about the “tulpamancy” systems or “tulpamancers.” This is because I largely feel the word “tulpa” to be inappropriate in this context. 

That word has a distinct meaning in Tibetan Buddhism, and I don’t want to remove it from that context for the sake of describing a (barely-related) phenomenon. Therefore, I tend to use the terms “soulbond” and “soulbonding” to describe those experiences.

Soulbonding had major influences on my trajectory through various occult studies. In late 2009, my own experiences with a soulbond propelled me to seek greater context for the phenomenon. 

I realize a lot of people firmly believe soulbonds cannot be consciously forged, but I put a lot of effort into doing just that. I ended up with Katy G. for a few months, who fuelled a cyberpunk novella of mine (it was awful, but good practice writing).

Even when that was over, I still found it enticing and sought more context for the experience.This ultimately lead to my time studying chaos magic and the works of Peter Carroll, Andrei Vitimus, and Phil Hine. 

I mean, yeah, chaos mages can get mighty annoying on  Facebook these days, but the chaos movement has produced some real luminaries and sound techniques. I’m not saying all chaos mages are serious practitioners, but chaos magic in general has contributed a lot to magical gnosis as a whole.

I think the same is true of soulbonding as a paradigm for spiritwork, though it’s still pretty nascent. 

What I’m getting at is this: it’s a spiritwork context much more accessible than most such frameworks, and that’s a good thing.

I wouldn’t currently consider myself a soulbonder. While I do work with spirits, including self-constructed thoughtforms, none really reek of soulbond these days. It can be hard to quantify spirits, but that’s just my impression of my current contacts. 

My most recent experience with soulbonding was in 2014. I was (trying to finish) writing a short story about cyborgs, and ended up with vivid dreams in which I saw things from the perspective of one of the characters. It just so happened to be a particular well-meaning yet antagonistic antihero. 

It happened without effort on my part. Suffice to say, I was surprised to find myself in touch with my character (a corrupt corporate executive with many strong opinions about how he ought to be portrayed in my short story…)

Over a period of a few months, I worked quite a bit with that particular soulbond (thoughtform, etc), but the experiences faded once I finished writing the story. I can’t say whether or not I’ll forge another soulbond in the future, but I still fondly remember my earlier soulbonding endeavors, and where they ultimately led.

With regards to “soulbonding taken too far,” I think it’s a valid criticism in some cases. Any spiritwork, and actually, any magical technique can be misapplied or “taken too far.” But, with soulbonding, a lot of the risks were vastly over-emphasized online. 

You mention the “Final Fantasy VII house,” a particularly infamous online account of a summer spent with self-described soulbonders. As far as I know, the events described in that did actually happen.

Still, was it much worse/different than some of the cultish behavior that festers in other parts of the magical community? 

Hardly, and I believe it doesn’t taint soulbonding as a whole.

Of course, after that, we saw a massive surge of salacious accounts of “crazy” soulbonders posted online. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist (again), I believe a lot of these were hoaxes hoping to ride on the wave of the FFVII House story for the sake of internet fame and attention. 

On that note, the “Sarah Saga” in particular was a hoax. You can’t prove a negative without doubt, but so many things about the story are impossible or unlikely ($500 a month for a sparkly house in the Bay Area?!). 

There’s a ton of evidence that “Sarah” was based on a real person (maybe a soulbonder?) though, but it seems like whoever wrote the stories purposefully fabricated them around her. This was likely done both for the sake of verisimilitude, and for the purpose of launching an attack on her.

In other words, “Sarah” was real, but she never lived in that (nonexistent, probably) house, nor did she act in the ridiculous manner portrayed. 

Before you ask, though, I’m not going to link to any of the real-life “Sarah’s” sites, nor namedrop her. Let things rest, for heck’s sake. The girl’s been through a lot already over this. 

Suffice to say there’s zero evidence she started a “soulbonding religion” or lived off the donations of other soulbonders. It simply didn’t happen.

In the early 2010s, when Tumblr started getting popular, the soulbonding crowd had even more trolls to deal with. Most of this happened simply because Tumblr became a volatile space very quickly. 

Some of the trolls no doubt influenced actual soulbonders into some really misguided things, but that doesn’t mean all or even most soulbonding had negative effects.

So, essentially, I’m just saying that while soulbonding isn’t any safer than other forms of spiritwork, much of the hysteria surrounding it was just that - nonsensical hysteria fuelled by attention-seeking trolls and their misled followers.

In case you couldn’t tell from the rest of this response, I do see soulbonding from a spiritual/occult perspective. Some folks don’t. There are plenty of soulbonders who just see it as an interesting mental exercise. I can’t prove them wrong, but my beliefs are different. It’s not exactly something to be sure of, either way, I guess? Yeah.

So there you have it; my thoughts on soulbonding. I hope this response was interesting and maybe even informative. If anyone has any comments, let me know in an ask or reblog/reply! 

I may make a separate post just about my own experience of soulbonding, because the 2014 events were pretty interesting! It was quite an unusual treat and definitely stands out amongst my spirit interactions! If I write about it, I’ll tag it #soulbonding for easy finding.

[marauders--mischief]

Lucida

Pairing: Sirius x Reader

Word Count: 5,130

Warnings: Angst, character death, depressing thoughts

A/N: Okay, this is my first piece of writing I’ve ever published. I’m not pretending to be amazing at writing so if you read it and you can think of anything I need to improve on, please tell me, I’d appreciate the feedback. I also need to say a massive thank you to @imlikepadfoot for giving me the little boost of encouragement I needed to post this. The title, Lucida, means the brightest star in a constellation, but it was a quick translation so it might be wrong. Anyway… hope you like it! :)

****

Most of your time in Hogwarts was spent in the Astronomy Tower, looking at the stars. Despite already being surrounded by it, there was just something so much more magical about them than anything else that left you in awe. The idea that, you were a tiny detail in the never-ending wonder that was space. For you, that’s what the stars represented. Forever. Too many of them littered against the night sky, it would take a forever to count them all. Only a few people knew you came up here so often, and Sirius Black was one of them. Sirius Black, your best friend, who you had loved since your third year. Yet every week, he was kissing a new pair of lips. You had told yourself that he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, because you hadn’t told him you had loved him, but it didn’t make the pain any better. Although, on nights like these, when the full moon shone bright, white light and the stars were most visible, you laid on the floor, the cold breeze causing you to shiver. Complete silence but for your breathing surrounded you and you were reminded why you dealt with the pain; Sirius was out there now in his Animagi form, risking his life for his friend. Maybe, you’d just have to wait a little longer.

Early morning approached, and the cold winds became warmer. Unbeknown to you, Sirius had left the Shrieking Shack early, going to meet his best friend. The sun made the sky appear like it was aflame, the bright orange lighting the features of your peaceful face. Prodding you, Sirius tries to wake you up, though he has to do it a few times. Jolting, you spin around, looking for the cause of your disturbance. You shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Mornin’, Y/N/N.” Sirius chuckles. “Sleep well?”

“Oh yeah, just fab,” you glare at him but he only smiles. Your sarcasm was one of the main things he liked about you. You rub your eyes, attempting to wake yourself up more. The only thing Sirius notices is how cute you look when your face scrunches up and how your hair looks adorably wild that he has the urge to run his hands through it. So, he does. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for the both of you. You would nearly always be up here, snoring softly, though you would never remember when you actually did fall asleep, and Sirius would join you, braiding your hair for you.  

“So, how’s Moony?” You ask after a while.  

“He’s okay. No new scars to report tonight.”  

“Good.”

When Sirius finishes plaiting your hair, he scoots over to you so you can both watch the sun rise together. Today however, there’s something more on both of your minds. You were both in your final year at Hogwarts, and with the N.E.W.T’s already completed, there wasn’t that much time left until you went home forever.

“We’ll stay together won’t we?” Sirius bursts out, breaking the silence. “I mean, you’ll visit everyday?”

“Of course, Pads.”  

‘Y/N,

Me and James are having a little party to celebrate Harry’s first Christmas. It starts at 5 and only a few people will be there. I know Pete, Remus, Marlene, Frank and Alice are definitely coming. Even Sirius will be there. We’d love it if you could come, it feels like we haven’t actually seen you in ages, what with all the stuff in the Order you’re doing. Let us know, anyway.  

Lots of Love,

Lily.’

You skim over the letter again, eyes lingering over ’Even Sirius will be there.’ Though you had never told Lily about your feelings towards Sirius, she managed to figure it out for herself. Unsurprising, really. Lily Potter was the cleverest witch you knew. When she told you on your last journey home on the Hogwarts Express, you became instantly anxious because, what if he found out? But she promised you that she wouldn’t tell anyone, not even James.

Now, you were debating on whether or not to go. Overall, the fact that you had been really busy with the Order recently, influenced your decision. You could do with a little break and you also felt bad for not keeping your promise to Sirius about visiting everyday. Shuffling over to your desk, you grab a piece of parchment and a quill.  

'Lily,  

I would love to come. It’ll be nice to see you all again.

Love,

Y/N.’

Christmas Day finally arrived, and you were just finishing getting ready to apparate to the Potter’s household. You were wearing a dark red, knee length dress with natural makeup. Grabbing the presents you bought for everyone off the side, you close your eyes and picture their house. A sudden rushing feeling crashes over you and suddenly, you’re standing in front of the door to their house. You knock three times, and Lily opens the door, wrapping you in a tight hug once she sees your face smiling up at her.  

She doesn’t let go for a while, and when you try to escape her arms, she only holds on tighter. “Hiya to you too, Lils,” you giggle.

“Well aren’t you coming in?” Finally letting you go. “Unless of course, you want to stay outside in the snow?”  

Rolling your eyes at her, you step inside and close the door behind you, following Lily to the living room. Sat on the sofa, was James, laughing at a black dog, as Harry tried to grab its tail. You begin to join in the laughter, and the dog’s ears lift up. A second later, the dog transforms into Sirius, who has a mischievous smirk etched onto his face.  

“Why, hello. James, who’s this stranger?” He jokes.

“Sirius,” you laugh, “stop it! I haven’t seen you in weeks and you act as though you don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Sirius hesitates for a moment, pretending to think about who you were, before he grinned widely. “Y/N!” He shouts, lifting you up and twirling you round.  

“Woah, Sirius,” you exclaimed, playfully slapping his back. “Put me down!”

Reluctantly, Sirius lowers you down until your feet are firmly flat on the ground. However, as soon as you are, you go back for another hug, this time your arms wrapped tightly around his waist. “Missed you, Pads.”

Sirius smiles, but continues to play around with you. “I know…I missed me too.”

You instantly let go of him. “Sirius, you absolute git!”

Sirius and James break into laughter, and then there’s a knock on the door. Lily, and Marlene went upstairs to get the presents, Frank and Alice were in the kitchen preparing the food and James and Sirius were too busy having a laughing fit, so you were left to get the door.  

When you open it, Remus and Peter are stood there; Peter in a coat too big for him and Remus in his usually fluffy jumper. Smiling, you open the door wider and let them in. Peter smiles at you, but Remus goes to hug you. Remus and you were like brother and sister. At the end of the first year in Hogwarts, you had discovered his secret and had given hints to the other Marauders, knowing they wouldn’t abandon their friend. As you predicted, James, Sirius and Peter found a way to help his transformations; turning into Animagi. Remus, however, still needed someone to talk to, a job you happily accepted.

When you let go of each other, you both returned to the room where everyone was now talking and laughing, the Christmas spirit obviously high. You took a seat next to Sirius, watching as Harry opened his presents from all of you. James, you and Sirius were the only one’s drinking, and as the night went on, your proximity to Sirius only became closer.  

Everyone began to leave at around 11, Lily politely mentioning that Harry needed to sleep. You, however, stayed to help Sirius clean up.  

“No star gazing tonight then, Y/N?” Sirius asked.

Unable to stop yourself from smiling, you look up at him. “Of course. When do I not?”

His mouth opens and closes, as if he’s lingering on unspoken words, but he just shrugs and goes back to picking the wrapping paper off the floor.  

Sirius uttered his next words so quietly, that if even one person spoke, you wouldn’t have heard him. “Mind if I join you this time?”  

His eyes are already locked on yours, and butterflies erupt from your stomach. “Sure.” Perhaps it was just the drink talking, or maybe you would’ve accepted his offer anyway.

Taking Sirius by the hand, you dragged him to the back garden. Once you’ve summoned blankets to lay on, you tell Sirius to lay down. Not allowing the nerves to get the better of you, you lay next to him, head resting on his outstretched arm.

This felt so right to both you. You could hardly calm your rapidly beating heart, though he began talking to you about the stars, so you knew he mustn’t’ve noticed.

His head turns to face you, your hair tickling the side of his face. “See that one there?” He asks, pointing upwards towards a star.  

Following the direction in which he was pointing, you see a star, outshining all the others. You became quite confused as to how you’d never seen it before.

“That’s Sirius,” he noted.

Your attention turns back to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and you smile, snuggling in closer to the real Sirius.

Hours and hours, you both stayed like that, until you eventually fell asleep. When you woke up, you woke up alone. You were glad you hadn’t told him how you felt last night, as he obviously didn’t return the feelings. Still, you would fondly remember the previous night for the rest of your life.

It would be one of the only good nights you had in a long time.  

How? How could he have done such a terrible thing? Your best friend, seemingly loyal to a fault, had betrayed James and Lily. Your best friend, who cried when he ran away from home and was so full of love and kindness, had joined the Death Eaters. You didn’t want to believe it, but the evidence was there. A picture of him from his cell in Azkaban flashed across the newspaper. His appearance was scruffy, and he looked completely deranged. If you looked long enough, you could almost hear his maniacal laughter leaving his lips. Again, you found yourself grateful that you had not told him your feelings towards him. You were sure now that he only would’ve used it to his advantage, manipulating you for information. Throwing the newspaper away into the fire, you sit down in your old armchair. You refused to remember him like that. No. To you, Sirius would always be your sarcastic, smirking best friend, and you would not know him any other way.

Hatred for the man you thought you knew spurred inside you. Four of your friends had been lost in one night. Three of them were dead, their blood on his hands. And the fourth was Sirius himself. Alive still, but not the same.  

You apparate to Godrics Hollow, and enchant a sign so people could write on it. You didn’t leave a message. There would be too many words and it would take up the entire sign. Instead, you went to the front door and left a single white lily. You don’t return to the Potter’s home after that.

12 years had passed agonisingly slowly, and you had not looked at the stars since that awful Halloween night. In fact, you rarely left the house at all. Remus was the only company you got now, though it wasn’t really much, he was suffering from the loss of all of his friends just as much as you were. Silences and sorrow was the only thing you could give one another, but it was enough. Only yesterday did he tell you that Albus Dumbledore had come to find him, offering him the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Happy that Remus finally had something he could look forward too, you encouraged him to take the job, with the condition that he’d write to you about Harry, and if Hogwarts had changed at all. And like that, Remus was gone, leaving you alone in the world once more.

Innocent. All this time you thought he had good as murdered three of your best friends and it turns out it’s Peter, who you mourned over for 12 years. You were ashamed. Ashamed that you had not trusted your best friend, as he would’ve done for you. Why would he ever forgive you, when you had left him in a cell to rot, alone with grief? How would you ever be deserving of the man who had been wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The answer was never. Never would you deserve Sirius Black.  But, you had to see him to apologise, consequences be damned.

Refusing to believe Sirius had returned to his old home, you checked all the places you could think of. But, Sirius had gone into hiding, and he had left no trace of him behind. As a last resort you tracked down Remus, who you heard had returned to his apartment.

When you get there, you knock on the door and it’s not two seconds before Remus lets you in. He must have been expecting you to visit.

“I don’t know where he’s gone, Y/N.”

You sigh. You should’ve expected as much. “Well, if you do hear from him you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

With that, you leave Remus’ apartment and return to your own home, anxiously waiting for any news of Sirius Black.

He was always reckless. Being locked up in his old family home, which he detested, only made it worse. Throwing himself at every dangerous mission the Order offered, only to become more agitated when everyone denied it him. Unfortunately, with Lord Voldemort returning to power, you rarely had time to even see Sirius, and when you did it was to discuss tactics for the Order. During the meetings, when anything about Azkaban was mentioned, sometimes you swore you could see his face turn as white as a ghost, terror struck and eyes glazed over. Dazed, he often tried to play it off, but you were watching, and you knew. He was remembering his time there. 'I’m out now, Y/N, I don’t worry about it anymore.’ Obviously, you had seen right through his lie, having known him for so long. But if that’s what he needed to tell himself to help him get through whatever he was dealing with, you would gladly go along with it.  

Arthur, Molly and Lupin had joined you and Sirius at 12 Grimmauld Place after Christmas for tea. You were in the kitchen, in charge of preparing the food whilst everyone else was sat at the table, talking about Harry. Aside from getting visitors, hearing about his godson was one of the few things that genuinely made Sirius smile. He loved hearing tales of the boy, especially from Lupin. About how Lupin woke up on the train and thought he was James. Listening to how excellent he was in Defense Against the Dark Arts and how he always stuck up for his friends. Of course, Sirius had quickly found out just how much Harry was like James already, from his Quidditch ability to his apparent attraction to trouble. But Sirius was a convicted murderer, meaning he could never walk into Hogwarts and see it for himself. So, he always enjoyed learning about the stuff he could never find out for himself. Another reason you loved Sirius: his love for his family (his true family, not his prejudiced mother), was admirable.  

After everyone had finished their food, Arthur and Molly left, leaving only you, Sirius and Lupin. It reminded you of your time back in Hogwarts, when you and Lupin were in the library studying, only for Sirius to come up to you and inevitably drag you along to play some prank on Snape or Filch. Reminiscing the memories, you sat for an hour, laughing and drinking like your lives were normal again.  

Eventually, Lupin got up. “I’m er- I’m going to go clean up. I’ll come back soon.”

The two of you sat quietly for a while before you got an idea. When you rose from the sofa, Sirius gave you a questioning look. Darting your eyes to Sirius then to the door, you step outside and wait for him, knowing he got your message. Sure enough, two minutes later, you feel his presence. When you look back at him, your breath hitches. He’s stood with his legs crossed, and his elbow leaning on the door frame, almost carefree. For the first time in a long time, he looked like the Sirius you knew before. Shaking your head, you grab his hand and pull him forward.

“Lay down,” you whisper.  

Following your request, he lowers himself onto the ground, with you joining him.

“See that one there?” You say, pointing upwards towards the star, exactly as he had done before. Repeating it all made the memory seem real again, despite knowing every last detail of the already. “That’s Sirius.”  

He chuckles quietly, a look of awe etched upon his face. But he wasn’t looking at the star… he was looking at you. The one who had comforted him, and felt guilty for leaving him. The one who knew what to do when he broke down, just like you were doing now. His heart sank every time he thought about it because you deserved someone better than him, someone who wasn’t damaged on the inside and out.

Oblivious to Sirius’ piercing gaze, your attention stayed on the glittering night sky, only now aware of how much you had missed them. This was the most relaxed you had been in a long time, and you couldn’t shake the feeling that you belonged here, in Sirius’s arms. Almost as if you were returning home.

Your eyes to flick up to meet his. “You see, the thing about Sirius is, is that it never notices how it makes the rest of the sky light up and it never knows it’s the brightest star in the sky. It forever thinks he’s not worth as much as the rest of them, but he couldn’t be more wrong.”

“He?” Asks Sirius.  

First you think you’ve fucked up and you tell yourself that he’s not going to want to talk to you anymore. Seconds feel like hours as the silence drags on… and on, and on. Until finally- “I didn’t know stars had genders.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, you shoot him a playful glare. “Oh, shove off, Black.”

Everything was okay, his playful demeanor proof of that. “Seriousl- no!” He groaned, realising what he’d said.  "Don’t laugh, I mean it!“ Though Sirius had already joined in with your snickering. He buried his face in his hands. "Ugh, that joke is so old, Y/N.”

“Old but funny,” you retort.  

He glares at you. “Y/N, I was trying to be sincere.” Giving your best 'listening’ expression, you motion for him to continue. ��Anyway… I was just saying that I… I really do appreciate everything you do for me and it makes me the happiest person alive to be able to have you in my life.” Sirius had wanted to say so much more but for some reason he held back, afraid of what you might say.

Blood rises to your cheeks, thankful that it was dark out so he couldn’t see your blush. “You’ve been my best friend for years, Pads, it’s what I’m supposed to do.” Would he ever know how desperately you wanted to be more than friends? If it weren’t for the fact that he was a convicted murderer, Sirius could have any girl he wanted. And if he wasn’t, why would he choose you?

That was the problem with falling in love with your best friend: he would never see you as anything more. You ignore the sinking feeling you get in your heart and try to enjoy your time with Sirius. You’d have to return to the Ministry before long.  

All too soon, the night was over, you and Lupin left, and Sirius was alone once more.

Numb. That was the only word that could explain how you felt. Anger and sadness coursed through your veins, unsure of your own emotions. Because Sirius could not be dead. You would deny it until he came back. He would. He would come back.  

Remus had not left your company since he found you. He wasn’t even sure you had noticed his presence. He had learnt how you felt about Sirius soon after he got put in Azkaban, and though he himself was shocked and deserted by his best friend again, he knew you were in a worse state than he was. Positioned in a way so that you were half kneeling, half laying, your body shook as you cried and screamed.  

Somehow, you both felt agonising pain, and nothing all at once. You wanted it to end. You wanted him to come back and wrap his warm arms around you, soothing you and telling you that he was right there. But he wasn’t. There were arms around you though. But they felt different, not unfamiliar but not the ones you needed either. In the distance, you heard a voice call your name. It sounded far away, too far for you to care. The arms around you lifted you up, but you didn’t even feel your feet leave the floor. Suddenly, a realisation dawned on you, and you wanted to curl up into yourself, to be undisturbed by anyone ever again. It was your fault Sirius was dead. If only you had ignored Kingsley’s order. You should’ve gone down to the fight, you would’ve been able to save him. It was your fault.

Remus had picked you up now, though you were still shaking uncontrollably. You were muttering inaudibly, but he managed to catch a few words and phrases. “S-Sirius…” You sobbed. “…’m sorry. My faul- Sirius, please. Come b-back.” It almost broke Remus to see you like this, he was scared you might do something stupid, as grieving people often did. He was scared he’d end up with no one. There was nowhere to go except headquarters, a place he knew would not be even slightly comforting to either of you.  

You realised too late that your surroundings had changed and that you were no longer in the Ministry. Panic swept over you; you thought you had been taken by a Death Eater that had managed to escape. Luckily, when you look over your shoulder to glimpse the person carrying you, you see Remus. However, you were worried. What if Sirius came back and you weren’t there to help him? You begin to protest against Remus, clawing and reaching for something to hold onto that could release you from his grip. All rationality had left your brain, you were so desperate to return to Sirius, wherever he was, you forgot you had a wand.  

“Rem,” you croaked, your voice sore from the shouting. “Remus, put me down! Sirius. He might- we have to go b-back.”

He ignored you.

“REMUS! Listen to me! He’s not dead. He’s… he’s not.”  

Again, Remus acted as though you hadn’t even opened your mouth. You’d had enough.  

“REMUS JOHN LUPIN! Your best friend is in trouble, he is not dead! Don’t you care?-”

Immediately, you were dropped to the ground, Remus was looking at you with more anger in his eyes than you had ever seen. “OF COURSE I CARE, Y/N! BUT HE’S DEAD! DEAD, AND THERE’S NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT!”

His chest is heaving, out of breath from shouting and releasing all of his anger and frustration. Frustration at the unfairness of the world, because why, why did it have to be the one person everyone cared about so much. You only must register the truth: Sirius wasn’t coming back. No matter if you returned to the Ministry or not. You both break down at the same time. Tears streaming down your face, you rush back to Remus’ side, hugging him so tightly so he couldn’t leave you.  

Your face is leaning on his shoulder, buried in his shabby coat, causing your cries to sound slightly muffled. “Moony, I- I’m so sorry. I cou- should’ve helped. It’s my fault he’s dead.”  

“No. It’s not, Y/N. It’s no ones. Not yours, not Harry’s. It’s Voldemort, Y/N. He’s caused all of this pain and loss, and there’s going to be so much more.”

Neither of you cared at that moment in time that you were in an open street, lit only by a far-off streetlamp, open for anyone to attack you. You just held on tighter to each other, scared that you’d lose the only connection to Sirius the both of you had left.  

Grimmauld Place echoed a lot. At least to you it did. Echoes of Sirius’ laughter and witty retorts. Echoes of the conversations the both of you shared. At first, you thought it was too much; to remember Sirius but not actually have him be there. Soon though, you began to seek the echoes. You were afraid you forget his bark-like laugh and what his voice sounded like when he had only just woken up. So, you had stayed shut up in Grimmauld Place since Lupin brought you here. Dumbledore came to tell you that Harry said he didn’t have an issue with it. He’d also told you that Sirius would be upset to see you like you were, but you didn’t really hear him.  

Needless to say, you hadn’t spoken to anyone since Remus brought you back here. When your feet finally decided to respond to your minds wishes, you went straight up to his room and hardly ever left his bed. Molly and Remus were the only people to come to you (Molly less often than Remus). It eerily reminded you of the time when Sirius was sent to Azkaban, and it was only Remus and you, left together to keep each other sane. Sometimes, you deluded yourself into thinking that is what had happened, and that soon, Sirius was going to burst through the door, declaring he’d escaped yet again. But no such thing ever happened, and you were forced back to the truth that the man you had loved for so long, was gone. That, was your biggest regret. You had never told him how you felt and even though you told yourself that you had reasons not to at the time, they all seemed insignificant now.  

Weeks went on like this. Molly eventually had to stop coming, too busy looking after her own kids, leaving only Remus to talk to you despite you never replying and bring you food which you hardly touched.  

With your resistance to do anything, you were certain that you were slowly going insane. Remus had just left, the door slamming shut. You decided to get up. There was nothing more that could hurt you, you had practically lost everything. Looking through Sirius’ belongings could not make your suffering any worse.  

How very wrong you were.  

You went through pictures, school books, records, clothes and objects from Hogwarts: magical and non-magical alike. There was a large Gryffindor banner which he had stolen from the common room after a party and a mobile with thestrals on, which you presumed used to hang over his crib when he was a baby. You did your best to return his room to a normal looking state (his room had become trashed when he left home, and he said he never had the effort to fix it).  

You understood why. Before the room even began to look tidy, it was already evening, and now you were organising everything, the moon had appeared and the stars were starting to appear.

Whilst you were making the bed, you lifted a pillow, from which an envelope lay underneath.  There was no name or address on the envelope, though it looked different from the rest of his possessions in the room. Everything else so far looked old, dusty or worn, whereas this… this looked new.  

Curious, you opened the letter and read it.

'Y/N Y/L/N,

I’m writing this on the night that we watched the stars together here. There was so much I wanted to say that night, Y/N. And you’re not here now, so this is so much easier to say but…

I love you. I have for a long time.

I really hope I actually gain the courage to give you this letter, but knowing me, it’ll probably just stay wherever I put it.  

You are the most amazing, kind, funny, accepting person I have ever met. And I’m lucky enough to have you as my best friend. But I’m selfish, Y/N. I want more with you but I know you deserve someone much better than me. That’s why I’ve never told you. But every day I see you, I come closer and closer to telling you, because no one else knows you like I do, Y/N/N. All your little quirks. I know not to even try talking to you when you’re reading your favourite book, I know you only have your hot chocolate with the white marshmallows in and I know how much you love the stars.

To me, you are impossible to comprehend in the most beautiful way because the things I love about you are never-ending.

I will forever cherish every second I get to spend with you.  

Sirius’

Eyes starting to water, you read it again and again, until you can’t bear to read it anymore. After everything, all the worry that your love was unrequited, and he said he had loved you.

Overcome with emotions, you run outside, back to where you watched the stars with him for the second time. You had never imagined coming to look at the stars ever again, you thought it would be too painful to have the good memories flooding back to you. Now, you couldn’t care less. You laid in the exact same spot as last time. If you closed your eyes, you could almost picture him lying beside you. Scanning the sky, you try and locate the brightest star in the sky. And with a pang in your heart, you noticed that Sirius shone a little brighter.

[turnsoutnoonewasexaggerating]

My Harry Potter Next Gen Fanfic is finally finished! I hesitated to upload this till now because it has quite a few chapters and I didn’t want to spam everyone every week I uploaded a chapter. Anyway, you can read it on Ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8404435/chapters/19256971 And the first chapter is below; Summary: Eight Hogwarts students start on a hilarious journey that threatens their lives as well as spicing it up. Will James and Sam, the jokers who can't be seen as individuals, Lydjah and Jayna, the sharp-tongued Ravenclaws, Lien and Molly, the overlooked double-act and Scorpius and Albus, the most unlikely best friends, survive their first year as a team? 

Chapter One Of Trying To Find Hogwarts and Actually Finding It Now it's not every day that you get a Hogwarts acceptance letter. In fact, it only happens on one particular day, if it happens ever. Fortunately for a certain occupant of a small town named Erith, her eleventh birthday was perfect in this particular scenario. Being attacked by about fifty owls was not, however, what she had in mind as she woke up that morning. Her mother fainted, her father yelled, and she? Well she simply ducked, and then, from some instinct she was not quite sure of, possibly the one that made doors slam behind her without touching them, or plants part where she walked, grabbed a letter with the green handwriting from the swirling storm of birds and tore it open. She skimmed the letter feverishly about seventeen times before Professor Vector knocked on the door, that is, seventeen times in as many seconds.

Of course, she didn't know her name was Professor Vector then. All she knew after she finally left was that suddenly the girl was not a freak of a 'muggle' but a witch and she was supposed to be boarding the Hogwarts express at 11 o'clock on September the 1st 2017. She stood, rather hopelessly, at Platform nine just hoping that something would happen to show her the way to nine-and-three-quarters. She had seen a couple of people with owls but when she turned to look at them more closely they had disappeared. Her parents stayed at home because her father had work and she didn't think her mother's rational mind could cope with all the magic.

Just as despair began to shadow her worried mind, and with it humiliation that she had been fooled into believing in magic (magic!), two girls jostled past her hurriedly.

The first girl looked apologetic, the second… Did not. It didn't seem to be in a particularly specific way, more that she was slightly entranced with her piled-high trolley.

"Merlin! Sorry we didn't see you there." Exclaimed the first girl worriedly. At an average height with endless locks of champagne-coloured hair, bright, almost transparently-green eyes and a perfectly restrained expression that she wasn't sure whether was about to break into laughter or into tears, the girl was pretty in an unconventional way- and commenting on this looked like it would either be received with gratefulness or a snort of disbelief. Her eyes were tired, although she concealed the bags rather expertly with make-up, not too much and not too little. The apologetic Ravenclaw, as she would later learn, had to look down to keep eye-contact with the lost girl, who was just under normal height for a girl her age.

The same could not be said for the second girl who towered over the two of them at a plainly ridiculous height for an eleven year-old girl, which is why, she decided, she must be in the years above. This girl had short choppy dark-brown hair that made her want to hold her longer, lighter hair in comfort, and, in the enclosed space, could not help looking down her small, straight nose at her, the splattering of freckles on her cream-coloured skin that also coated her arms and what was visible of her legs with tiny dots did not seem to rid Lien of the air of discordance that surrounded this girl. She always seemed to be either completely lost in thought or calculating the next action with cold logical precision, there was no in-between.

The taller girl rolled her eyes, seeming to snap out of her trance and regain memory of the last words spoken. "Honestly I'm so clumsy." She said the insult to herself in a tone that quite clearly implied that if anyone tried to agree with her she would hit them, "I'm Jayna. Jayna Blackwood."

The lost girl had the hysterical urge to giggle as Jayna stuck her hand out to shake, wishing only to reply with 'And I'm James, James Bond'. She repressed it forcibly and shook the proffered hand uncertainly. Jayna raised an eyebrow quizzically as she dropped her hand. The girl blushed but it didn't show up very well on her skin. Jayna gave a little snort of annoyance; being pale to the point of snow herself she wished that her blush didn't give her away so easily.

"I'm Lien Irby." She blurted out, a moment too late. Jayna froze and her eyes flickered for a second to her hand before she fixed a half-smile back in place. There was something decidedly cold in her bluey-green eyes now though. Lien noticed that Jayna's eyes were rather pretty, but that they had the misfortune to rest in a rather squinty position, something quite possibly caused by her near-sightedness.

"Muggleborn?" She guessed. Lien nodded awkwardly, was it really that obvious? Jayna's already pathetic smile fell ever so slightly. The other girl shot her a look and she smiled brightly, fakely, again.

"Do you know how to get to Platform nine-and-three-quarters?" Asked the other girl. "I'm Lydjah Dawson by the way."

"Nice to meet you." She said politely. "And no, I have no idea. I've been standing here for half an hour now." She didn't mean to sound as whiny as she did but she was, in her defence, bloody freezing. Without another word Jayna grabbed her own trolley and drove straight toward the solid wall in front of them. It wasn't as if she was running, because Jayna refused to run anywhere, on account of hating sport, but that she only had to take three of her long strides before she would hit the wall. Lien tried to shout a warning but it was too late; there was no avoiding the imminent crash now. She blinked and suddenly Jayna was nowhere in sight. She turned to gape at Lydjah who gave her the first genuine smile she had received all day.

"Magic?"

"Magic." Then she pointed Lien towards the wall, waited for a group of muggles to go past and then gave her a gentle push. She closed her eyes and ran forwards, flying through the magical barrier that thankfully did not feel like a solid brick wall. She saw Jayna ahead of her; a hand calmly placed on her trolley. She wasn't looking at the barrier though. She was looking at the biggest group of red-heads Lien had ever seen, and she was originally Scottish. She walked slowly over to her. Lydjah charged through the barrier gave her an encouraging grin as she dashed to catch up.

"Who's that?" Lien asked when she was in polite talking distance. Lydjah gaped at her.

"You don't know them? What are the muggles teaching kids these days?" She just shook her head feeling sheepish despite knowing it was probably not her fault. "That's the Weasley/Potter clan." She just shook her head again."You haven't heard of Harry Potter?! What on earth!" Lien gave her a lopsided smile. Lydjah sighed. "Right. Well Harry Potter- that tall man with the black hair over there- you know the one with the cool-shaped scar? Yes him, he won the last Wizarding War. His children are- James Sirius, the one who looks like his dad but different eye colour, after Harry's dad and Godfather-" Lien guessed from her sad look that they had both died in this last War, "who's in the year above you with Jayna and I-" So the year above her. Lien felt her nose wrinkle in aggravation- of course the only relatively nice people she'd met were in the year above. "Albus Severus, after the last two headmasters-" Again her look indicated their deaths, "he's the one with the really green eyes and crazy hair just like his brother- he's in your year by the way, and the little girl with the bob and the brown eyes; Lily Luna. His wife's the tall ginger stood next to him- you know, with the pink pygmypuff on her shoulder? Voted Witch Weekly's most gorgeous mother last week you know- Ginny Potter, nee Weasley. The rest of her extended family is around them- including his two best friends who ended up married to each other. Almost every single year has a Weasley/Potter or someone whose parents were friends with him in school."

"What about your parents?" Lydjah shrugged.

"My dad was a seventh year when Harry joined. And he was in Ravenclaw so…"

"'Ravenclaw'?"

"My house. Oh bloody hell they haven't told you anything have they?" Lien shrugged weakly."Oi! Jay-Jay!" Lien had the feeling that Lydjah was extremely privileged to call Jayna 'Jay-Jay' and keep breathing. "Can Lien here sit with us? We need to tell her about all the ridiculously handsome boys in our school." Jayna scoffed.

"Merlin! They aren't even that cute!" Lydjah didn't, however, miss the slight blush that arose when James looked their way. Lien walked ahead of them, dragging her trunk behind. Lydjah waggled her eyebrows and Jayna hit her teasingly on the arm. "Oh shut up." She sighed. Lydjah smirked knowingly prompting Jayna to hit her once more but this time with a small smile.

They dragged their trunks into the first available compartment. Lydjah shoved her trunk onto the above racks and Lien and Jayna followed suit. Jayna sat down and stared out the window, apparently a bit trance-like again, though Lien decided to talk as if Jayna was still listening.

"Right," began Lydjah, "basically there are three types of magical folk. After the last Wizarding war they changed how you classify them. 'Purebloods', like Jayna here, are people who have two magical parents. It doesn't matter what kind of blood status the parents are; as long as they're both magical then the child is a Pureblood. Of course, there are still families, again like Jayna, who's family have been all-magical for centuries and don't willingly change that often and sometimes they think they're above everyone else because of that." She sent an apologetic look Jayna's way but the girl only nodded like she agreed with what Lydjah said. "Then there are 'Half-Bloods' like me, who have one magic parent and one muggle and 'Muggleborns'-"

"Like me. With two non-magical parents, right?"

"Yeah. And then when you get to Hogwarts, everyone is split into one of four houses. Ravenclaw, like Jayna and I, Gryffindor, where most of the Potter/Weasley clan is- not all of them though, Hufflepuff and Slytherin." The last house was pronounced with forced normalcy, as if she were more used to spitting it out. "You get chosen for these houses based on your personality."

On my personality? Thought Lien worriedly, What does that mean?

"That house becomes who you have all your classes with though you will be occasionally joined by other houses in Herbology and-"

"'Herbology'?" Lydjah looked her in disbelief.

"There's a variety of classes." Jayna interrupted quietly, almost as if she was speaking to herself before looking at them properly. "Your muggle education won't help at all. What's your wand type?"

"Erm, English oak, 11 inches? Phoenix feather, 'surprisingly swishy'." She said the last part like it was a joke she wasn't quite sure she understood but didn't want to look stupid for not getting.

"Phoenix feather?" Lydjah gasped. "Wow that's really rare especially since, you know…" She trailed off. Lien tilted her head in confusion. "Never mind."

"Hmm." Said Jayna. Lien didn't like that 'hmm'. "Mine is pine, 14 ½ inches- unicorn tail hair. Unyielding." She drew out the last word as if it was something impressive or dangerous. Knowing her, it was more likely to be the latter.

"14 ½ inches?! Bloody hell!" Jayna blinked at her.

"'Bloody hell'? What's so bloody about the concept of the sinner's afterlife?"

"It's an expression. You said 'Merlin' before right? It's the same thing." Jayna shook her head muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'muggles' under her breath.

"Mine's Alder and it's 10 ½ inches I think. Unicorn like Jayna's- slightly springy." Lydjah blurted out. Lien was about to respond when there was a shout from the corridor, only slightly muffled by the closed door.

"J?! Since when have you ridden with Mudbloods?" Jayna stiffened, her hand reaching immediately to her pocket. She caught Lydjah's eye and they seemed to be having a silent conversation. Finally Jayna turned away and stood up rather jerkily, rolling on the balls of her feet as if not entirely sure of her decision. Then she let go of the object in her hand (Must be her wand Lien thought.) and shot out into the corridor, walking swiftly away from the jeering faces lingering in the window.

They left immediately after her, three of them in black robes in some sinister formation. They waited in silence for a moment and then there was a flash of light and several yelps of pain. Lydjah was on her feet with her wand drawn before Lien could blink."I'm sorry. I've, er, got to go." Lydjah took off after the four. She assumed they were coming back at some point seeing as they'd left their robes and trunks behind. Lien thought it would be a good time to get changed into her robes, though how was an entirely different matter.

[ladyakahiko]

Choking on Nostalgia

It’s 2017, officially ten years after my high school graduation.  So of course, people are on Facebook reminiscing and planning our reunion.  I posted a few pictures and a lighthearted comment about how people used to throw sandwiches at our group of friends.  Nothing to be angry about, every high school has its misfits and we were certainly quite vocal about how much we didn’t fit in.  We would play Red Rover in the hallways and refuse to let people through our chain of people.  We jousted with crutches when our friend had surgery.  We would randomly institute pirate days wherein we all showed up to school in various garb.  We had fun, and we enjoyed being the misfits.  It wasn’t always easy, but we had each other.

I guess my “offhanded comment” about the sandwiches made some people feel uncomfortable though, because I got a Facebook message from J.M. asking me who threw it, because nobody he asked could remember this incident.  I don’t remember exactly who it was myself, but starting a witch hunt wasn’t my intention with that at all.  I told him not to sweat it, this happened a long time ago.  There are other instances I remember quite clearly compared to the sandwiches.  Am I going to mention those to anyone?  Nah.  I’m not looking for vengeance, I’m not looking to shame people for being shit lords all those years ago (because god knows I did my share of shitty things in the past too).  I just wanted to acknowledge that those things happened.

But for my own peace of mind, I want to go ahead and air some of the instances I remember most, the ones that have stuck with me.  When I remember these things, I think about how horrible I felt at the time, but also how much I grew from dealing with that adversity.  I suppose I should thank the people who did these things!

Anyway, without further adieu, here’s my list.  The names are only initials, because as I’ve said I don’t want to start any witch hunts.  If anyone from my graduating class happens upon this, I’m sure they could figure out who is who, but I ask them not to do that.  This is for my own cleansing and healing purposes, so I don’t bottle this shit up for another ten years...

* I remember in 4th grade when J.H. said my teeth looked like banana peels.

* J.H. also said that he refused to go to Michigan State University in the future if someone like me would also be there.  Imagine my surprise fifteen years later when we were in the same Nonverbal Communication class at WMU...

* I remember all the time when C.P. would snap my bra in 7th grade gym class and then run away with an evil looking grin on her face.

* I remember all the times J.D. would slam my locker shut in 7th grade, right as I would open it each morning.

* I remember our About Me collage projects in 5th grade, when I gave some Backstreet Boys pictures I found to H.A., B.K., and A.R.  I was trying to be nice, but they looked at the photos as if they were diseased.

* This same diseased look happened in 6th grade when I tried to help T.A. with her wax museum project and let her borrow my book on Cleopatra.

* I remember walking home from the bus stop every day in middle school and having to watch behind me or walk extra fast so that R.S. wouldn’t come up behind me and steal pads or tampons out of my bag, then run up and down the street screaming about how disgusting they were.

* I remember J.M. and his band of idiots making fun of Andrea about liking Harry Potter, and how I stood up to them and gained an amazing friend <3

* I remember when T.S. and his friends wrote me a fake letter claiming that C.H. wanted to date me in 7th grade.  They told all the popular kids so the next day the girls came over to my lunch table and just started laughing at me.  For weeks T.S. and C.H. would get off the bus and scream “I love you Laura!’ while smirking and laughing their way into C.H.’s house.

* I remember at Senior Prom when all the popular girls were in the bathroom drunk, and they tried to give me a hard time because I happened to have the same dress as T.W.  Too bad they were too sloshed to get out coherent sentences...

* I remember the first day of AP English 11, when I didn’t know what Ms. Pittman was talking about with “6+1″ in writing assignments.  I went to Farmington for my freshman year, and when we were taught the same concept we just called it “the writer’s method.”  The whole class laughed at me and assumed I was stupid.  I transferred out of the class because I was too embarrassed and didn’t want to fight an uphill battle with everyone, because even the teacher assumed I was stupid.

* I remember wearing shorts in 6th grade gym class and T.S. made up a jingle that went “who wears short shorts?  You wear GAY shorts!”

* I remember all the eyes on me when I couldn’t run for the full 20 minutes in 9th grade gym class--I only made it up to 7 at the longest.  I didn’t know at the time that I had asthma...

* I remember the day that my pants ripped and I didn’t know about it.  All the popular girls in my 7th grade drama class were laughing, I thought they were laughing at something the guys were doing, so I joined in too.  Finally one of the nicer girls told me that my pants were ripped, and I was mortified.

* I remember all the times on the elementary school playground when guys like J.M. and T.S. and C.H. would come in extra close every time I was at the plate to play kickball.  And I remember how good it felt when I sailed one deep into the outfield.

* I remember having bike races in my driveway with C.H. and his brothers and other neighborhood boys.  The one time I beat all of them, they kept searching for excuses to make my victory illegitimate.

* I remember in 3rd grade when N.N. stole my purple ring but lied about it in such a way that I ended up getting into trouble.  She tattled on me about other false things many other times as well.

* I remember when J.D., E.E., and other girls made fun of my good friend Josh in 3rd grade and gave me the ultimatum--shun him and be accepted into the cool kids, or continue being his friend and face being an outcast.  Of course I chose the latter, because I wasn’t an asshole...

* I remember trying to learn how to play oboe in 5th grade and N.N. would always shoot dirty looks at me when my instrument squeaked.  Needless to say, my study of that instrument didn’t last very long, and I switched to violin in 7th grade.

* I remember auditions for The Music Man in 8th grade and I was so nervous during the vocal audition that my voice sounded terrible.  It didn’t help that R.S. was there to get people to start smirking and giggling at my performance.

* I remember in 7th grade Social Studies class, when we had a daily writing prompt.  One day we talked about Maya Angelou’s poem: “hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”  I shared my thoughts on the poem, saying “I think it means that life really doesn’t have a point if you lose sight of your dreams.  There’s nothing to strive for.”  After this M.C. chimed in and twisted my words, saying “oh so you’re saying if I don’t have a dream then I should just kill myself.”  I tried to defend myself, but when the teacher took his side in the debate I just gave up.

* I remember writing a poem for 7th grade English class that my teacher loved so much, she read to ALL of her classes.  Word spread around the school that she was doing this and I got branded a teacher’s pet.  By the time I got to her class for the last period of the day, I was dreading listening to her read it.

* I was REALLY GOOD in 8th grade history class, and me and two other girls would answer almost every extra credit question that our teacher asked.  One question was particularly difficult and our teacher said we could go home and research it for 60 extra credit points.  It was to find the name of the man that the film “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson was based on.  I had seen the movie but didn’t remember, so I skimmed through our textbook, found the name that I thought was correct, raised my hand and shared it with the teacher.  I was correct of course, and everybody else was FURIOUS with me.  Oops?

* In 2nd grade I wore a shirt with a built-in vest thing on it and G.M. thought it looked like a bra, so for weeks his nickname for me was “wonder bra.”

* I don’t remember which grade it started in but for a long time in elementary school people would mispronounce my last name and sing the “Cruella DeVille” song from 101 Dalmatians but with my name in it instead.

* One day I wore a matching sweatsuit to school in 5th grade (I had absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever at the time and wore whatever the fuck was on hand) and E.E. asked in gym class why I never wore cool clothes.  She then laughed and ran away.

* In the Pokemon card craze in 4th grade all the guys would purposely try to trade cards with me because they thought I was dumber and would therefore agree to shittier trades.

* One of the most ridiculous things I was bullied for... in 7th grade Social Studies we did and art project where we made tribal African masks out of empty plastic milk jugs.  The smell of sour milk made the classroom stink as our teacher cut them for us, so I brought in an empty orange juice jug instead.  PEOPLE BULLIED ME BECAUSE I WANTED THE CLASSROOM TO SMELL NICE.

There’s more I’m probably forgetting, or I’ve just blocked out of my mind.  The moral of the story though?  People suck, but the bullshit makes us stronger <3