#Little bit of my muggle version of The Black Family

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

"You can leave now if you want"

Regulus got out of the trance of watching Cissy sleep peacefully. He had decided to stay with his cousins after the fight from last night.

Narcissa had cried her heart out because of Lucius Malfoy. Everyone had known he had been a twat, everyone had warned Cissy. But she had been blindly in love.

Regulus had been wondering lately how people become so stupid and blind for love. If it hurt that much, then why did people bother? Why did love have to be a tragedy? Andromeda had left the family because of Tonks. Sirius had hit their father because of Lupin. Was it worth all the madness? To betray your own family? To betray yourself?

Regulus had never experienced something like that.

Bellatrix was sending him a hateful glare from her spot beside her sister on the bed. Reg had taken the couch. She looked so small and pale without makeup.

It had been ages since they had slept in the same room. Regulus remembered how the five of them used to do sleepovers. Like the time Sirius decided to put glue on Cissy's hair in the middle of the night and they woke to her loud screams. Or the time Andy brought a bunny and it pooped on Sirius's sleeping bag and he smelled. Bella's creepy terrorific stories about the Boogie Man. Those made Regulus so scared he peed himself and they all made fun of him in the morning.

It had been fun anyway. They had been a normal family back then.

Now Bellatrix hated Regulus's guts, he was sure. She had become a bitter woman. And even more scary than before.

"I want to make sure she's okay" Regulus gestured to Cissy.

"She'll be fine" Bella whispered "I'll make sure of it...." she added "And I'll make sure Malfoy pays for whatever he did to her"

Lucius was going to propose last night. He had shown Regulus the ring. Although the bomb of his infidelity had exploted before that. Seven years of relationship must've meant something for him but no.

"All they want from us is our money and prestige" Bella said mostly to herself as she caressed Cissy's blond hair "That's why we have to be careful"

Regulus sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Doesn't Rabastan want your money as well?" Regulus asked carefully, remembering how he had found them last night "What are you doing with him, Bella? He's a nasty pig"

Bellatrix tried not to react to those words.

"That's different!" she snapped "It is strategic" she swallowed "It was about time our families merged and made business together" she explained "It was supoosed to happen when Rodolphus and And...."

Regulus didn't say anything. He hadn't said anything about how Sirius had dragged him to see Andromeda when they ran off Alphard's funeral. Then before Christmas as well. Reg was scared to say anything. What the family might do, might say. It had been nice seeing Andy again. He didn't want to be taken that away.

But he could see how the mere thought of Andromeda was hurting Bellatrix.

"Now it is Rab's responsability and mine as well" Bella continued "It is the only way Grandfather would consider me... If I marry him..."

Regulus felt a knot on his throat. He hadn't liked the way Rabastan was treating his cousin last night. Trying to take advantage of her.

"I'll do anything to own The Family's Company myself"

"Even marrying that arsehole, Bella?" Regulus snapped, getting up from the couch and walking to the bed and looking at Cissy "If Malfoy is bad, then Rabastan is worse. I don't understand how can you let it happen"

"It's for a greater good!" Bellatrix spat "Sometimes is about doing the right thing for your family and yourself" she rolled her eyes "At least I am doing something! Where is the precious Heir, ha? Where was he last night when we needed him? When Grandfather lost his shit and yelled at all of us?"

Regulus understood what Bella was saying. It happened when Andromeda left Rodolphus on the altar. She wasn't there to see the consequences, how Grandfather hit his Uncle Cygnus in front of everyone, how he humiliated Bella, Cissy and his Auntie Druella.

I was happening the same with Sirius. Even if the rest of the family officially didn't know how Sirius had left for real this time. Even if Grandfather didn't know all the nasty business Orion had behind his back, that Walburga was aware of course. Grandfather didn't know what Sirius had said that night. How he said he was gay and now was dating a boy.

Only the absence of Sirius in the party had made Pollux scream at Regulus's parents like a maniac, toss things, hit tables. He was ten times worse than Orion, Walburga and Uncle Cygnus combined.

All of them were scared of him.

"I told you he...he's a-at Hogwarts with his fri-iends" Regulus wished he hadn't sounded that nervous.

Bellatrix was right. At least she and Regulus had to witness those horrible moments. And the one's causing them are not around.

Bella scoffed "Please..." she said with disdain "He's never around. He doesn't care about being the Heir or anything related to the family" then her eyes travelled to her sleeping sister and stroked her hair once more "They are never around when we need them the most"

Bellatrix kissed Cissy's head to hide her tears. Regulus didn't need to ask who she was referring to.

It used to be five of them. They used to be family before, Maybe stronger to face anything. Their parents and Grandfather. Not anymore. It was just three of them. Maybe Sirius and Andromeda didn't care.

"You're right" he whispered, his cousin looked at him curiosly "They are never around anymore"

Bella twisted her mouth "So I guess it would be the two of us competeting for the crown, ha?" she smiled "Watch it, Reggie. I fight hard"

Regulus found himself smiling. It sounded ridiculous that he would be considered. Grandfather Pollux had always hated him and considered him weak. Although with Sirius out of the picture, it would be hell. Pollux would need an Heir somehow. He was the only male grandchild now.

"Okay, Bella" Reg said giving Cissy's arm a soft pat.

[junkgatorswritings]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Okay guys this is kind of ridiculous, I started reading the Harry Potter books with one goal in mind: to prove that the reason it has so many plot holes is because JKR didn't actually plan anything about what happened in the marauder's era.

Not until book three at least and even that isn't really enough information. I have the Scholastic Inc. version of this book with a cover made by headcase design.

But let's start off with a bang!

Most of the information in this book is on Lily Evans and James Potter, which makes complete sense, I'm not going to throw a hissy fit about that.

Here's what we know about Lily:

She has a sister who rejected her named Petunia (ch. 1 pg. 2).

According to Hagrid she was very good at magic (ch. 4 pg. 51, ch. 5 pg. 79).

She turned teacups into rats at home meaning that she broke the underage magic rules (according to petunia ch. 4 pg. 53).

Her parents were very proud to have a witch in the family. (Petunia ch. 4 pg. 53).

She was Head girl (ch. 4 pg. 55)

Was killed on Halloween when Harry was just a year old (ch. 4 pg. 55)

Her eyes were green (ch. 5 pg. 82)

The wand she used was Willow 10 1/4 inches, swishy, and good for charm work (ch. 5 pg. 82). Now if we look at the harrypotter.com page we can find out a little bit more. "Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, and I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow" (Harrypotter.com).

She's a very pretty woman with dark red hair and eyes that aren't only the same color but the same shape as Harry's (ch. 12 pg. 208)

She tried to protect Harry and if she hadn't, there's a possibility that Voldemort wouldn't have killed her (ch. 17 pg. 294)

She loved Harry so much that it left its own mark, though not a visible one. (ch. 17 pg. 299)

James Potter:

He was a good for nothing husband who was very unDursleyish (Petunia ch. 1 pg. 2).

He was good at magic according to Hagrid (ch. 4 pg. 51).

He was head boy (ch. 4 pg. 55).

Was killed on Halloween when Harry was just a year old (ch. 4 pg.55).

The reason Voldemort didn't try and get him on his side was because he knew how close the Potter's were to Dumbledore, technically this is also mentioned about Lily but seeing as she was Muggle born I highly doubt that the offer to join the Death Eaters would ever be extended to her so I didn't put this in her section (ch. 4 pg. 55).

His wand was Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable, slightly more powerful than Lily's, and excellent for transfiguration (ch. 5 pg.82). Kay guys I'm not kidding when I say that mahogany isn't listed on Harrypotter.com and I even went to the fandom wiki but all it had was that James potter's wand was made of mahogany as well as a table in the leaky cauldron and the Nimbus 2000.

According to McGonagall he was an excellent quidditch player, however she doesn't say what position he played (ch. 9 pg. 152)

He left his invisibility cloak in the care of someone (who we know is Dumbledore ch. 12 pg. 202).

He was tall, thin, had untidy black hair that stuck up in the back, and he wore glasses (ch. 12 pg. 208).

Severus and James loathed each other (ch. 17 pg. 290).

Voldemort killed him first and he apparently put up a courageous fight (ch. 17pg. 294).

James mainly used the invisibility cloak to sneak into the kitchens and steal food (according to Dumbledore ch. 17 pg. 298).

He saved Snape's life (ch. 17 pg. 300).

Now I'm just barely going to mention that Lily and James were very rarely brought up without the other.

Sirius Black:

I'm honestly shocked that Sirius was even mentioned in the first book, I knew that it was his motorcycle that Hagrid had but I really thought that was going to be something mentioned in later books. however on chapter 1 page 14 Hagrid says "'Young Sirius Black lent it to me.'" From this we know that Sirius was there on the night Harry's parent's died.

Harry later has a dream about a flying motorcycle which I think can either be read as a reference to the night Hagrid flew him to the Dursley's OR as a subtle mention that Sirius was around a lot before Lilly and James died (ch. 2 pg. 19).

So kudos to JKR for having one other character than Harry's parents created.

General information about the marauder's era:

20 years from the beginning of this book Voldemort started looking for followers and found them. Some wanted power others were afraid (ch. 4 pg. 54).

No one ever lived after Voldemort decided to kill them (ch. 4 pg. 55).

Voldemort killed some of the best witches and wizards of the age: McKinnons, Bones, and Prewetts (ch. 4 pg. 56).

According to Hagrid there wasn't a single witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin (ch. 5 pg. 80).

Edited on November 19, 2024, to add chapter numbers.

[sofoulandfairaday]

honestly, your analysis and headcanons on the Blacks are always very interesting. If you don't mind, can I ask you for your opinion and headcanons about Andromeda?

Hi! I don't mind at all, thank you for the question (and the compliment!) ❤️

Andromeda is one of those characters I mostly have soft headcanons about, meaning that I can comfortably and happily read many different versions of her. Let's say that I dislike the soft little girl ones, the poor, poor Andy abused by her mean parents the most.

My favourite Andromeda is a steely sort. Oh, she's kind, soft, gentle (more than her sisters), but only to her own. Heart-of-gold, would-mother-the-whole-world-if-she-could, à la Molly, is not my cup of tea.

So, I can speak about how I personally write her but unlike many other characters, this is not a very fixed idea in my head.

Beautiful, but not as beautiful as Bellatrix, who she resembles quite a bit. Definitely less charismatic, less striking. This breeds insecurity, especially in a young teenage girl. She's the Regulus to Bellatrix's Sirius.

Also not as brilliant as Bellatrix, in school. Again: this breeds insecurity.

I think Cygnus and Druella loved their daughters, but since all three of them were quite remarkable young ladies, Andromeda still suffers from Middle Child Syndrome - she's the forgotten one: Bella was exceptional (she was after all noticed by LV himself, and was one of the most powerful fighters in the second war) and Cissy was the baby, so unintentionally it was sorta-maybe-true.

Consequently: a bit of a social butterfly. Much warmer than both her sisters, more beloved in school. Had good relationships with the other Prefects (of course she was a Prefect; all the sisters were) from other houses.

That's how she became close with Hufflepuff Prefect Ted Tonks.

Also also also can I just say they don't have curly hair like Bella has in the movies? Dromeda's is a lighter shade, but still somewhere in between straight and wavy.

Out of the three of them, she had the best people skills, the best soft skills, she might have been the best at manipulation. For years after she left, and when she was tasked with making meaningful connections with other Death Eaters' wives, Narcissa would lament not having the same soft skills as Andromeda.

Unlike Sirius and Bella who have, as I've mentioned in the past, a very black-and-white morality, Andromeda sees the world in shades of grey. She's more flexible. A pragmatist, unlike her idealist sister and cousin. For this reason:

I don't think Andromeda ever let go of all of her biases. Not enough fanfictions explore what it means to unlearn all the notions that your blood-supremacist upbringing may have ingrained in you. Sirius is the one in the family who hates Dark Magic, who befriends the broken, the beaten and the damned. He is the one that would fight for social equality.

I don't think Andromeda cared much for Muggleborns at all. I think she cared for Ted. I am convinced that before she left, she and Bella had some kind of showdown and she basically said something along the lines of: look. I don't think that Muggles and Mudbloods are equal to us, and I don't think that they deserve to be equal to us in society, but I am asking you, as my sister, to make an exception for Ted and me.

Ted - smart, funny, future Healer Ted Tonks, who worshipped the ground she walked on - was her exception (like Remus was Sirius', like Lily was Snape's).

Ted who showed her unconditional love and support, who was the only thing her family wouldn't approve of- her only, only act of rebellion after years of being the perfect daughter, the forgotten child. But they gave her an ultimatum and she chose him.

Oh, it broke Bella and Cissy when Andromeda left. But as I say here, Andromeda was convinced that Bella betrayed her first, by choosing her Master instead of her.

Andy & Bella were always the closest. The three sisters were very close in general and both Bellatrix and Narcissa were closest to Andromeda, but Andy & Bella shared a bond which was so exclusive to the two of them that it could never be replicated, not even when Bella & Cissy grew closer after Andromeda left. They both loved their youngest fiercely and would have done anything to protect her from harm.

She loved Transfiguration.

Absolute prodigy with Household charms (and this is canon), but also the best, out of all the sisters, with healing magic and healing charms. (She does cure Hagrid after the Battle of the Seven Potter, after all, and he's tricky because he's half-giant).

I think she might have been a private Healer, more on that here.

She disliked cruelty (Muggle hunting and the sort) but she could be ruthless when she wanted to.

Now. The following are my personal headcanons which have no basis in reality whatsoever, but I love them. Was sorta-involved with Rabastan as a child.

Andromeda & Rabastan (& Regulus), for the way I write them, all suffer from being in the shadow of their older siblings. I think they might have played together as children, and that she had, at different points in time, a bit of a crush on both the Lestranges. Rabastan first, as kids, when he was still in his phase ewwww girls.

Joke's on him because later he became absolutely obsessed with her. To a creepy degree almost. He didn't think it fair that his older brother got to marry a Black and he didn't, he didn't understand why, all of a sudden, Andromeda seemed to hate him when she had been a comfort to him in the past... And he had grown up now, he could see that she was beautiful, hard and perfect but softer than Bella, someone he could handle.

The less she wanted him, the more he desired her.

But she had become more and more disgusted with him as the years went by. At first, he had been a sweet kid, but he had turned out much worse than his older brother, definitely a bit of a sadist, too tightly wound, with a much-too-cruel sense of humour for her liking.

She was also already smitten with Ted at this point.

Both she and Cissy had a teeeeeny tiny crush on Rodolphus at a certain point and were generally very soft and over-indulgent with him, especially in his bickering with Bellatrix (which drove her insane and made Rabastan extremely jealous). But who can blame them, my man is hot.

Rocks short hair (by ‘short’ I mean a cool bob like Shiv Roy) which is something that Ted encouraged her to get after she had Nymphadora. Apart from that, she always had long hair, like her sisters.

Speaking of which. All of you must know by now that I headcanon all the Black women (Walburga, Narcissa, Bellatrix) as having fertility problems: either they couldn't conceive or when they could they never managed to carry to term. Not Andromeda. No. Maybe it was the new blood, Ted's blood, or maybe it was sheer bad luck, but when Andromeda was sleeping with Ted as a 19-year-old, she wasn't that careful. She figured that nothing would happen - it was- oh, it was so unlikely that anything would happen. But it did.

Andromeda ran away because she had fallen pregnant with Nymphadora. She loved her darling girl from the very first minute - more than her sisters, more than anyone in the world. Her family wouldn't accept her, which hastened things.

Yeah, maybe in another universe she could have been Rabastan Lestrange's bored wife (by the way, my boy Rab is bisexual just so ya know), having an affair with Ted on the side, Lady Chatterley-style (someone write that fic!) But not in this one.

In this one, despite the love she has for her parents, her sisters, and the luxuries of her old life (her pureblood friends, the tea parties, the balls, the gowns and vacations...) she is willing to throw everything away for Ted. And most of all, for Dora.

Horrid taste in names. Rabastan is lucky he didn't end up with her, his kids would have been named something obnoxious and self-referential like Alpheratz.

[roalinda]

4 and 8 👀

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.

*cracks knuckles* 

Are you ready for this ride baby? Hop in. 

James Potter is oblivious and cute.

Yes, yes, an oblivious ( not stupid ) James is cute but sadly he was anything but. How can anyone who actively seeks attention and pays attention if he is getting enough attention can be oblivious? No sir. Impossible. *slowly hides her didn't know they were dating- work James behind her back*

2.James is Sirius' moral compass.

Are you kidding me? This guy practically jumps to entertain his royal highness King Sirius Black and stops the moment he is asked, how on earth he is Sirius' moral compass? It's vice versa even if Sirius is not the epitome of morality himself

3.Sirius was jealous of Lily and hated her. 

Go read the books, people. Enough said.

4.There was no rivalry between Snape and Lily before they broke up as friends.

Non, non. Even ignoring Gryffindor and Slytherin's rivalry, both Snape and Lily were ridiculously good at potions and both hungry to prove themselves. We see how Slughorn was fond of Lily and Snape? Well, he is the potions master in Hogwarts. *le shrug* So, as a muggle-born and a poor half-blood they were both eager to show off in the class and had a friendly rivalry which probably had taken a serious bitter turn after they stopped speaking. 

5.Sirius Black was nothing similar to his family and familiar with dark magic. 

This one needs an essay. For now, let us just say, just compare him to Walburga ( even from the little bits and pieces ) and you'll get how the Black family works. Sirius is a Slytherin with the fire and courage of a Gryffindor which has made him the most brilliant Black. Like his name. Also, choosing not to use dark magic is different from not knowing it. His character was so strong that even jkr herself couldn't handle it and had to dump him behind the veil.

 6.Regulus Black was humble about his mistake.

Ok, really? This guy didn't even consider what he had done a mistake and had the natural Black arrogance and even mentioned his name in his letter to the dark Lord. Don't take away the only sexy thing he has from him A.K.A Black arrogance.

7.Remus Lupin was the best DADA professor.

No comment minus of course not. 💀

8.Bellatrix Black is not Sirius' mirror image. 

Who are we fooling? She is a more sinister, unhinged version of Sirius. She is loyal and reckless like him, same wit and same impulsiveness, same haughty expression and even similar in features. She is not an exact mirror image, true. But she is an absolute dysfunctional one.

 9.Severus Snape has the right to hand an innocent man to the dementors because of what has happened to him while they were students and not caring about Lupin's words. The man went unhinged after Sirius ran away for God's sake despite knowing for a fact that he was innocent. 

No. JUST NO. This doesn't even needs a debate. It's plain wrong.

10.James Potter wouldn't let Lily to talk to Snape if they were alive.

No my darlings, no. James doesn't hold such power over Lily. He may have been salty about it but Lily is not a woman who can be told what to do and James is not a man to force his will in a married life no matter how many ridiculous HCs.

you can find 4 here

Thanks for the ask ❤

[ashesandhackles]

001 for remadora 👻

Oh Eve. You know my feelings about the way Tonks was handled in canon, so Remadora stans, please proceed with caution.

when I started shipping it if I did:

Reading fanwork centered on them. Specifically yours and @thecat-isblogging-blog work!

my thoughts:

Tonks was shafted in canon. A character with great introduction (she is funny, she is a bit nosy, she is impertinent with mad-Eye who everyone respects or is wary of! She has ties to the Black family and her mother has history with Sirius and Bellatrix that would make her ripe for exploration). She got reduced to a red herring in HBP ("oh whats up with Tonks? Why is she depressed?") and then love interest and mother in DH, who exists offscreen to propel Remus and Harry's relationship. I will also say that the hospital scene isn't great in what it intends to be - grand declaration of romance. (it says a lot of unhealthy and dysfunctional things that I think is great to explore for the relationship in fan work).

What makes me happy about them:

Doomed relationship! I love doomed relationships. I love relationships that may not work out in future, but still irrevocably changes a character. I love what you had to say about them here. That take really speaks to me and my life experiences.

What makes me sad about them:

I am forever amused that most in sync we see them together in DH is when they jump off the fence together when the Minister of magic comes in for Harry's birthday. Tonks, my girl, the man is a walking red flag lol. They have problems, and its delicious and sad, but wonderful to explore.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I only read works that have been recommended, so my experience of this ship in fanwork has been stellar! You, Cat, Merlin and Celeste are pretty much the only authors I have read and it has been great.

things I look for in fanfic:

Writers who really excavate the potential of Tonks from what we see in canon, and a Remus characterisation that I agree with XD

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

For Tonks? Fleur, maybe. I think there is an interesting idea there about women with powers related to their appearance - Tonks with her ability to change, and Fleur with her ability to do a version of thrall. XD Remus needs therapy - but if I want to make him worse, I would pick Sirius. If I want a healthier relationship for him, I would pick James.

My happily ever after for them:

Co-parenting Teddy after an amicable break up after a whirlwind relationship.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Depends on Tonks' mood. If she wants to be big spoon, she will be.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Watching Muggle movies together. Remus likes it because it gives him a connection to his mother. Tonks discovers it thanks to him, and she tries to find out if her father had favourite movies growing up.

[wizardrii]

The Hogwarts Legacy (A much better version of the Cursed Child. w/ my OCs!)

   Alexis Ravenwood was always this way. Unfriendly, silent, a little bit scary. She grew up in nearly total isolation, the last time she ever interacted with someone who wasn't a family member was a event she wouldn't speak of. She didn't have friends, she probably didn't need them either, the stars and the peaceful night would guide her. There was total quiet amongst the Ravenwood Household, especially in the dead of night, only the hoot of an occasional owl and the chirp of a cricket would disturb this eerie silence of which many considered 'the witching hour'. But 1 in the morning was completely normal for Alexis, she'd often stay up until the clock struck 2, or even 3. Was Brisdale Grove always this quiet? Yes, other than an occasional car from a faraway city. Absolute silence.

        Dong. 1 in the morning, Alexis's perfect stargazing time. 

        Slowly she blinked open her eyes, her head facing the dark Irish countryside. Whilst the Household of Ravenwood was fairly small, Alexis made exception for the room she had. For if she was born 2 centuries earlier, she wouldn't have a home.

        It was all thanks to Irimison Ravenwood, Alexis's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, for the house they had now. It was also a little thanks to the Dark Wizard Cydon, who wandered into Brisdale Grove to begin some chaos. Alexis was thankful for every little piece of history her ancestors went through, especially Irimison.

        Even if many trees blocked the stars in the sky, Alexis still knew they were there. She was one to observe their beauty, one to respect their purpose, even if she didn't know what it was. Even though many were only polluting up the air around them with car factories in America, she was sure people other than her cared about the stars, and that she wasn't the only one. She saw the stars as friends waiting to be found, a brighter future for herself, even in the toxic muggle world of the day. 

        She didn't have many choices in that world. But she had the opposite in a world kept hidden from society, a world hidden behind one simple brick wall behind one simple tiny pub.

        The Wizarding World.

        Unfortunately Alexis wasn't going anytime soon, It had only been the start of the new year, plus her birthday wasn't 'till February and if so she wasn't even sure if she'd get her letter, the constant thought of being a squib loomed over her, she'd shown some type of magical ability when she was 7, but she couldn't remember what. For that had been long ago, and she was fairly uncertain over if she'd show magic ability again, and when.

        Alexis sighed to herself and flopped back down in her bed. She didn't feel magic flowing through her, nor smell it, hear it or taste it. She felt as though crying, but stuffed her face into the pillow and in a few minutes would be fast asleep.

        The crisp cold air of a new snowfall awoke Alexis the next morning, she had quickly changed into a turquoise turtleneck and some black leggings. Then made her way down the stairs to her living room, the blazing fire that her family always put on crackled as she entered. Her father had tied his long raven-black hair into a small ponytail this morning and greeted her with pumpkin juice and chocolate frogs. Alexis sat on the couch and barely paid attention to anything but the fire, as winter meant nothing but to sit in your house with nothing to do but cozy up with a good book.

        Alexis took out a book from the small basket next to the couch, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She seemed to show no interest in it until she propped it open on her lap, she was completely immersed, completely interested. She wouldn't put down that book until she was finished.

        And then she was.

        Nothing else was left in the book, and then it was over, nothing else to do but pick up another. 

        Then she read the next book

        And the next book

        Then the book after that

        As well as the book after that

        And then the final book.

        It was 6 PM by then, Dinner was in an hour. There was pretty much nothing to do but go to the market and buy some food, grabbing a couple of pound sheets for some milk and bread was accustom to Alexis. Zipping up her puffy jacket, slipping on wool-lined boots and running out the door into the snowy wilderness was normal to her in these months. She pulled up her hood on her jacket and dashed off down the craggy road to the town square, Brisdale Grove may have been a small village, but to Alexis it felt like an entire country. 

        She dashed down past the frozen lake and spectacled at all the children skating and laughing. She recognized two of them, Katie and Oliver Wolf. The offsprings of the richest man in Brisdale, who owned a large manor up on a hill. Alexis had no time to stare at them anymore, so she continued her mission in the cold. 

        Alexis had finally made her way to the town square and into the whole foods market. The warm air-conditioning relieved her, even though she wasn't used to Muggle Technology. Yet as soon as she walked in, she walked out with the needed food, then began making her way home.

        She passed the skating children and imagined herself among them, laughing, falling down, bumping into other skaters. It all looked so fun, but, if she was doing that, she probably wouldn't have the destined path of what she would become. But she continued by, until she was able to grasp the rather warm doorknob to her house.

        She stepped in, the cold air quickly melted from the flames of the fireplace, unzipping her coat and taking off her boots. Then proceeding to enter the Kitchen, in which 3 plates of small warm rolls were placed upon the dining table. Setting down her store-goods she alerted her Mother and Father of her presence, before unboxing the chocolate frog from earlier. With a swift hop the animated sweet jumped atop her pantry, where she could not reach it, proceeding to loosen the card from its set location in the container. Mopsus. One she already had a few of, setting it aside she worked her way through the dinner she was given, finishing it with a fair 2 glasses of pumpkin juice. 

        There was no denying that the meals her parents made were deliciously good, especially anything crisp or fluffy in texture. Oh how Alexis loved the foods her parents cooked, and oh how she would miss them if she would ever go to her dreamland, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

        As Alexis began to get ready for bed, she came across the thought of being a squib. Worse than anything else probably, even being a Muggle-Born Werewolf. She was scared of the future, yet was experiencing it every second.

        Only the gods can decide fates, and it was rather certain the fates of Alexis and 3 other girls would intertwine, all amongst the force of magic, as well as the future.

[myst867]

LETS SEEEEE THEN!!!! Snippets from my as yet unposted Fest works! Fic #1

“Let’s see if you want to tell me my arse is good-looking while you’re sober.” “Of course, I would —“ Hermione cut off with a scoff at his skeptical look grabbing the potion first and swallowing it swiftly with a grimace. “Blegh. Why do they always have to taste so bad?” She grabbed the glass of water gratefully tipping it up to get the taste out of her mouth. Harry raised his eyebrows promptingly. “You were saying?” “Really, Harry! I was not that drunk.” Very deliberately Harry sat next to her, his weight on the cushions causing her to shift closer to him. He looked over at her as she slid next to him. “So what about my arse then?” “It’s a very nice arse,” Hermione admitted freely to him, speaking more softly than she intended. The air felt electric, like a storm was gathering but hadn’t yet broken. It was a strange feeling to have next to the man who had been her best friend since she was eleven.

Hermione shook her head slightly trying to dispel the feeling. Harry’s eyes were bright and fixed on her, searching, still questioning. “Why does this feel weird?” Harry leaned close to her. He had only turned on the light in the kitchen which barely reached where they sat on the sofa. The dimness heightened the feeling of intimacy. Despite being completely sober Hermione felt unbalanced as she kept Harry's gaze, unable to look away or move. Why did Harry suddenly seem... different? “What does it feel like?” Harry asked, his voice hushed like he felt the storm brewing too.

Fic #2

Ignotus Peverell grimaced as he watched his many times removed grandson accidentally remove the glass from the enclosure of a particularly vicious and venomous snake. “Shit.” His friend dressed head to toe in black leaned against the wall a few feet away. “Maybe he won’t—“ He began the platitude but closed his mouth when the child was bit several times in quick succession not a second later. “Well.” They both watched as the boy began to convulse while a fat man and a stringy woman screamed at him not to make a scene. After a second the boy appeared next to Ignotus looking confused as he glanced around. “What just happened? Who is Aunt Petunia yelling at?” “Do you mind?” Ignotus asked his friend impatiently gesturing to the distracting scene and screaming muggles. His friend waved a bored hand and the scene before the three of them froze, the shrill screams cutting off abruptly. The little boy’s eyes were wide darting back and forth between his frozen family and the two strange men. The man closest to him was dressed strangely in dark red robes. He had messy black hair and friendly brown eyes. The other man was completely covered in a black cloak, and would have looked menacing had it not been for his bored posture slightly leaning against the wall. Ignotus held out his hand. “My name is Ignotus Peverell! It’s good to meet you, Harry.” The little boy gulped, not moving to grasp the offered hand. “How do you know my name?” “Well, I’m actually your grandfather!” “You’re not his grandfather.” His friend interjected in a sotto voice. “What?” Harry asked confused, his eyes darting between the two strange men. The other people still had not started moving, in fact the entire world seemed to be frozen. “You are not helping.” Ignotus scolded his friend before turning back to Harry with what he hoped was a comforting smile. “Don’t listen to him, he gets grumpy sometimes.” “Who is he?” Harry asked curiously. “Oh.” Ignotus scratched his chin thoughtfully considering his friend who was pointedly looking the other way. “He’s a friend of the family.” “Oh.” Harry paused considering this and stepped a little further away from the two. Unfortunately, this view allowed him to see what Vernon’s corpulent body had blocked previously — a version of himself entirely too pale and still to be alive. Harry sucked in a deep breath not sure if he was going to scream or simply pass out. But the man who claimed to be his grandfather quickly reached out turning him away and putting a bracing hand on his shoulder. “Don’t look at that— it’s nothing to worry about.” “But—BUT— AM I DEAD?” “No.” “No?” “Well, momentarily.” “MOM-MOMEN— MOMENTARILY?!”

15 Days and Counting Until Harmony Summer Madness Fest!

So 15 days until July! (Jeez where did the time go?)

With 91 submitted prompts 45 unposted claims and 10 works submitted the Harmony Fest is already off to a great start!

If you're a writer participating in this fest and have a draft you haven't yet submitted I'd encourage you to post a snippet here! And I'd like to share one that particularly caught my interest, can't wait to see where this goes.

Writer LostRas picked one of the prompts that I honestly really loved!

Prompt: Harry Potter finds himself caught between two versions of Hermione Granger: the familiar friend he's always known and an alternative Hermione from a parallel universe. This alternate Hermione is both pragmatic and empathetic, having loved a version of Harry who perished in her reality during the Battle in the Departament of Mysteries. She managed to escape to Harry's universe using a unique, one-use artefact shortly after his demise.

Now, Harry must navigate the complexities of this situation. One Hermione is his steadfast companion, while the other harbors feelings of love for him. Despite her willingness to make morally grey decisions, this alternate Hermione's primary concern is Harry's happiness.

Both Hermiones are similar and yet different because of their experiences.

How the presence of this alternative Hermione will affect the dynamic of the trio during their sixth year at Hogwarts and their romantic interests?

And snippet from the current WIP Symphonia:

“Lumos!” Hermione called, light spreading through the room. Her eyes turned wide as they met the end of Harry’s wand.

“So. Who are you, exactly?” Harry demanded, sharp and angry. He could feel it gather behind his skull, rage and false rage and all of those other messy human emotions spinning back and forth in a feedback loop from hell.

He’d have a migraine after this, no doubt.

The Hermione-doppelgänger swallowed a bit but looked Harry straight in the eyes.

“I am Hermione Granger,” she emphasized, an earnest cast to her wide eyes. She stood unflinching, not even trying to draw her own wand.

“Are you?” Harry asked, the cold that had frozen over his heart bleeding into his words, icicles forming from his lips and shattering with each syllable. “Only, Hermione has never once considered taking me from my relatives. Dumbledore said I needed to stay, you see.”

[internetgremlin-writes]

The Day Minerva McGonagall Decided to Retire

Prompt/Summary: My version of the epilogue at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Pairing: No romantic pairing, written from Minerva McGonagall's POV

Warnings: None really, a bit melancholy for the Marauder's, LOTS of Marauder's/dead HP character reflection, Tonks/Lupin mentioned at the start BUT I DON'T SHIP IT I JUST LOVE TEDDY AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT SHE'D MADE A GREAT SURROGATE FOR A WOLFSTAR BABY I'M JUST SAYING

Word Count: 2,000

Minerva McGonagall knew she should have retired the day she found out that somehow Nymphadora Tonks had fallen pregnant with the child of Remus Lupin. Of course, she didn’t. A lover of teaching, combined with finally settling into the role of Headmistress of Hogwarts and her Scottish nature gave her the stubborn opinion that a child related to both Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, was not going to be enough to stop her.

There was a phrase she knew muggles used, about certain traits ‘skipping a generation’ in families. Minerva McGonagall was not one to believe in superstitions or old wives tales and muggle idioms, if that’s what it was to be called, also fell squarely into that category.

That was, at least, until 2015, when she received the first of four heart-stopping moments and she realised there were little bits of them everywhere.

The first was Edward Lupin, who liked to go by Teddy. He was as tall and skinny as his father, but he had the same kind eyes and the first time he didn't have his homework he stood in front of her the same way; with his head down and shoulders hunched, refusing to say a word as he stared fixedly at a point on the floor. Her chest had tightened for a moment, and she couldn't give him a detention, instead opting to shoo him away with a quick wave and a sharp "This will be the last time, Mr Lupin,"

It wasn't until Teddy's fifth year at Hogwarts that Minerva experienced her first heart-stopping moment. He sauntered to the meeting point in the courtyard for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of a muggle singer and the words DAVID BOWIE splashed across the back, blue jeans and a pair of steel-toe capped muggle boots that she knew she had confiscated to Filch's office in 1976. His hair wasn't brightly coloured as it usually was, but was sporting a natural light brown. He was the ghost of an angry young man she once knew. Minerva's breath caught for a moment and she had to steady herself as she took his permission slip, signed by someone who wasn't his parents.

Within the same year was the first of the Potter children, James Sirius Potter. She saw it in the way he insisted on running his hands through his hair, looking as if he'd just stepped off a broom despite him being a first-year who was not yet on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. It was in those ridiculous glasses he wore despite being open to much more choice, it was in the way he pushed them back up his nose with a wicked grin when he'd had an idea. It was in the way he rallied his friends, he was the natural leader and the centre of trouble, but he loved so deeply and dearly too.

In James' second year, naturally, he tried out for the Quidditch team. Minerva, never one to miss a historical moment for her team, made a point of watching from her office. She had expected him to be like his father. A talented seeker with a flair for a dramatic dive and an eye for drama. But he wasn't, from the moment he was airborne that boy was James Potter. He was a chaser, born and bred. On Harry Potter's famous old Firebolt he was up and down the pitch, flying rings around everyone else. He was natural and elegant, focused to a point and lethally precise, but when he did several celebratory loop-the-loops with such ease he could have been in a swimming pool Minerva McGonagall felt her heart stop for a moment.

The following year brought three more children of note, in the form of Albus Severus Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. It was Rose first, with her flaming red hair she didn't stand out against the sea of Weasley children and cousins that were firmly populating multiple houses, but it was in the way she was never seen without a book under her arm. She wasn't as tenacious as her mother, or argumentative as her father. She was quiet, keen and fascinated and oh so happy to help. Minerva saw it when she comforted a crying second year, not caring for a second that she was their inferior. She saw it when Rose excelled at potions and began completing work suitable for students years older than her for fun.

It was in their second year also, that Minerva had been monitoring the Great Hall during a study period when several loud bangs echoed across the room and suddenly the enchanted ceiling began to rain for real, soaking all the students, their books and parchment. It was the way Rose had stood up, hair slightly darker from the water pulling it down, with her hands on her hips and eyes narrowed into a scathing look directed at James.

"James Potter you stop it at once! I know it's you!" she had cried, but once McGonagall had restored peace and given James and his friends' detention silence had resumed. Minerva had been walking between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables when she heard Rose tut at them, and it was in the way she spoke to her cousin that made her freeze. "Honestly, James, you're a buffoon. Do you know you could be top of the class if you put half as much effort into your schoolwork as you did these ridiculous pranks,"

Minerva heard Lily Evans scalding James Potter.

Her final moment came another year later, in 2018, and it was the one she found quite surprising. Scorpius Malfoy had all the airs and graces of a Sacred 28 wizard. He was elegant, polite, polished. But he was also friends with Albus Severus Potter, he had a wicked mind and a sense of humour to rival James'. In fact, despite being a year inferior, Scorpius seemed obsessed with competing with Albus' older brother, and James did nothing to discourage him. At first, Minerva saw it very subtly. He became a Beater for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team and despite his slender build he was strong and had a knack for directing bludgers at the opposition. The day before the Christmas holidays, Scorpius had entered the Great Hall with a loud shout and arms thrown wide. He was dressed from head to toe in blue and bronze tinsel, which must have been enchanted to glitter as brightly as it was because it was catching in the candle lights making him look like a walking discoball. The miniature eagles circling his hat did not go unnoticed. There was only one other Hogwarts student Minerva could remember who had so much house pride, and she felt a pang of regret that Scorpius had not been sorted into Gryffindor.

After a particularly close loss for the Gryffindors, James Potter had thought himself funny enough to change the hair colour of each member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Minerva McGonagall's heart stopped for two full beats when a Ravenclaw third year sat down, in the place of his usual platinum white har, was a shoulder-length, curly, jet black mop. Suddenly she could see the Black breeding in him everywhere. It was in the arch of his eyebrows, the exact shade of blue of his eyes, the high cheekbones and slightly upturned nose. It was in the bored expressions he could pull as he completed his transfiguration task in the first half of the lesson and the casual way in which he was fluent in French and Latin. It was in the way she hardly ever saw that boy touch a book, yet he was always competing with Rose for the top spot in most of his classes.

The day Minerva McGonagal decided it was time to retire had been during a particularly gloomy November week in 2017. She had been heading to the library that Thursday to add some 7th-year transfiguration texts to the Restricted Section when the sound of furtive whispering caught her attention. Many years as the head of Gryffindor house had taught her never to trust the sound of students whispering like that. She paused and changed her direction to investigate.

There was one spot in the library that was popular among many students at Hogwarts, past and present. It was a large round table with plenty of chairs and space for multiple students and even more open textbooks. The table was directly below the largest window in the library, it was a majestic thing, stretching from floor to ceiling with a spectacular view of the grounds, Forbidden Forest and the mountains beyond. Minerva also knew that the Whomping Willow, which she had insisted was to be kept on the grounds as a private memorial for those who knew what it meant, was not visible from this side of the castle.

James Sirius Potter was at the head of the table, hair a mess and glasses askew as he was frantically explaining something to the small audience he held captive. Even though he was the eldest, Teddy Lupin was leaning forward listening to James intently, scribbling notes and reaching for a book in the middle of the table here and there. His younger brother was sat similarly to Teddy, his blue and bronze tie wrapped around his forehead to prevent the mop of jet black hair from falling into his eyes as he watched at his brother with rapt attention. Albus Severus Potter was the only of the Potter children to inherit Lily's green eyes. Scorpius Malfoy was sat beside Albus, a bored expression on his face as he lolled back in his seat, lazily enchanting parchment aeroplanes to fly at James in a childish attempt to distract him. Rose Weasley was sat opposite Scorpius, watching him with disdain and rolling her eyes frequently at James as he continued to speak. Rounding off the table, shuffled closer to Scorpius than she was to Rose was another girl. She was small, wore her hair in two straight, neat plaits that curved around her head and sat over her shoulders. Her hair was a pale strawberry blonde, she had a splatter of freckles and pale blue eyes that stood out against her robes. Minerva knew the child, only by her appearance. She was a Ravenclaw too, a first-year, and her name was Daisy Dursley. There was also a passing visit from a boy with mocha skin and a flame of ginger hair. Fred Weasly II was there, all-star player and Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor team, but as insistent on getting into trouble as his namesake, made a friend of Peeves the Poltergeist, and Minerva was pretty sure he was running a black-market trade of goods from his father's famous joke shop.

Minerva decided to leave them be, as they weren't causing any direct trouble. She dropped her books off, had a short conversation with the new librarian, a young woman who was a distant relative of Susan Bones and was a lot more personable than old Madame Pince. As she was leaving the library she heard something that made her heart race, and tears spring to her eyes involuntarily. It was James Potter's voice, she was certain of it.

"Right then. Let's go, Marauders!"

The day Minerva decided to stop threatening retirement and hand in her notice was a Saturday, at two o'clock in the morning. She had thought nothing more of the library incident for two days.

She awoke from the headmistress' chambers with a start. The sound of explosions that she thought had been a bad dream from the war had jolted her awake, but they carried on even so. She could hear shrieking and shouting from across the castle. Her heart hammering against her chest in a way she was convinced was not healthy for a woman of her age, she leapt up and charged to her window. The sky was dancing red and blue and yellow and green. She didn't know any spells that cast such patterns, and it was only once her window was flung open and she could hear the joyful hollers and whoops from below that she realised what was happening. A familiar collection of students, in an assortment of coloured house dressing gowns, were huddled on the lawn. The glittering in the sky was growing in intensity, and when she looked up something tugged on her chest. Written in the sky, in all four house colours, were the words

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALBU

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

Liked this? Read more of my work here: Masterlist

Haha did you think I'd stick to the same fandom for more than a week? WRONG!

Anyway, I've been reading All The Young Dudes (it's on AO3 - go check it out!) and feeling sound about some dead wizards from the 70s so have this. It's a bit different because I wanted to have a go at writing third person/non-romance just to see if I still could because some days I swear smut rots my nog

Anyway it't 2am and I'll properly add taglists n stuff tomorrow

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Surprises (one shot)

Harry Potter AU 

Request: Hey I was wondering if you could do a one shot with regulus black and the reader gets pregnant and it’s just like really fluffy

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: T

_________

Positive

You stared at the fourth muggle pregnancy with wide eyes. There was no way denying what this meant. Apparently, Regulus and yourself weren't as careful as the two of you believed. You sat stunned looking at the small pile of positive tests in front of you.

Oh boy, we’ve done it now.

You thought as there was a knock on the other side of the door. Sirius’ voice came from the other side.

“Hey, it's me...again. You’ve been in there a really long time, Y/n. You haven’t fallen in have you?”

Your eyes rolled to the door.

“No, I’m fine. Go away.”

Sirius groaned.

“But I need to go.”

“Go find a bush!”

You snapped. Sirius whined before going back to the kitchen where Remus sat reading the morning newspaper.

“She’s still in there and told me to go away. Can you believe that?”

Remus didn’t look up at his own lover before smirking.

“You have been pestering her every five minutes since she went in there. Sorry, but you get what you get.”

Sirius grumbled about no one liking him at 9 am in the morning as he walked to the refrigerator to look for a snack.

“I hope my brother gets home soon. Y/n is nice to him. He gets that sassy side under control. Maybe he can get her to come out of the bathroom.”

“Why is she in the bathroom?”

Sirius spun around as Regulus put his coat down. Regulus had been out on a job for the past week and a half.

“I don’t know but I need to go and she won’t get out of there. Go fix your girlfriend. She’s been mean to me and I have been nothing but delightful.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. He knew all about Sirius’ version of “delightful.” That means “I’m going to drive you nuts until you want to murder me.” If Sirius annoyed you, the most patient and kind person that Regulus knew, then he had done something stupid to deserve it.

“I’m sure that you have.”

Regulus replied before going upstairs. He gently knocked on the door.

“Get lost, Sirius!”

You immediately snapped. Regulus grinned. You were about to change your tune really quick when he spoke.

“Not Sirius but if you want me to leave again…”

You were silent for a moment before Regulus heard a bunch of things being moved around in the bathroom before the door opened.

“Reggie!”

You squealed his name before making a mad dash for him. Regulus wrapped his arms around you and pressed a kiss to your forehead. You looked exhausted and definitely a bit out of character. For it being almost noon, you were still in your pajamas.

“Are you okay, love? You look a bit peaky.”

Regulus commented as he took your face in his hands to try to figure out if you were getting ill. You seemed fine the previous evening when he spoke to you.

You sighed, knowing that you needed to tell him. Regulus was going to figure it out sooner or later anyway. There was only so long that you could hide this particular secret.

“I need to talk to you...alone.”

You wrapped your hand around Regulus’ wrist and tugged him into your bedroom as Sirius made a wide-open path to the bathroom.

“Thank Merlin!”

Regulus rolled his eyes at his older brother before closing the bedroom door behind him. He internally thought about how difficult it was living with Sirius again and wondered how he handled growing up with the other man.

Turning his attention back to you, Regulus titled his head as you started pacing the room.

“So are you going to tell me what is wrong or do I need to start guessing?”

You stopped pacing and thought about how to break the “happy news” to your very unsuspecting boyfriend. The two of you hadn’t discussed having a child in the slightest. Was Regulus going to be angry? What if he decided that he didn’t want anything to do with having a child?

Come on, Y/n. That isn’t the type of man that Regulus is.

You chided yourself before taking a breath and placing all four tests in Regulus’ hand. He looked a bit confused as he gazed at the sticks. You automatically shook your head realizing that he had no idea what the hell you had given him.

“Positive? What’s positive?”

Regulus questioned as his dark eyes rolled up to you for an answer. You couldn’t help but wonder if your baby-to-be would have his father’s eyes? A better question was how were you so 100% the baby was a boy?

“Y/n?”

Regulus’ soft voice pulled you from your now pleasant thoughts. You were surprised that you were so suddenly thrilled with the idea of what was happening to you.

“Those are muggle pregnancy tests.”

Regulus blinked a few times as he looked back down.

“Oh...OH! Oh?”

You couldn’t help but smile as his mouth dropped.

“Yes.”

You had hoped that you would be able to say more but you suddenly couldn’t speak as Regulus started looking at the multiple tests again.

“We’re having a baby?”

Regulus questioned softy. He knew this was getting a bit redundant but he wanted to make sure that he was hearing everything correctly.

“Yes...are you upset? I know that it isn’t a good time with this war and all...I suppose the pills that I was taking just didn’t do their job…”

Regulus tossed the tests on the dresser before pulling you back against him. He snuggled his face against yours breathing in the scent of your perfume. This was the last thing that Regulus was expecting.

In all actuality, Regulus never considered the thought of having a child. He never thought that he would be “good enough.” Clearly, his own father was no pristine example of what a father should be. Orion Black left everything to Walburga. If Sirius or Regulus made the slightest peep of noise when Orion was home, they were getting screamed at or hit over the head with a hex. There was no bonding whatsoever.

His idea of being a father was showing Regulus and Sirius off at family or business functions. He didn’t think that it was important to turn up to any of his son’s events or their births, for the record. If he even knew what his son’s names were or anything about them then it would be a shock for everyone.

Maybe, deep down, Regulus had a fear of being like his father if he had children of his own. What if he didn’t know what to do with the kid or found the child annoying? It wasn’t like he could just “send the kid back.”

My baby will be different...this baby will be half Y/n. Everything about her is wonderful so this baby must be wonderful too...I’m not my father. I’m not my father.

Regulus thought before finally being able to speak. He stood up enough to smile down at you.

“I’m happy! Beyond words, happy! It doesn’t matter if it's a bad time...it's a good time. You know that I’ll take care of both of you.”

You smiled. Normally you would have made some sassy comment that you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. You would just need his help when it came to caring for the child. Today, however, Regulus’ soft comment of promising to take care of you struck a new place that even you were surprised that you had.

“I like the sound of that.”

Regulus tucked your head under his chin and enjoyed the quiet closeness of the moment. You wrapped your arms around his back, tightening your grasp on his body. For the first time that day, you were finally starting to feel better. After being queasy the past few days, you were relieved to not want to throw your guts up for once.

It was all nerves. You were only afraid to see how Regulus would react. Now everything will be fine.

You thought as Regulus gently tugged you toward the bed. He barely laid down before nestling back against you. Regulus gently stroked a hand over your stomach.

“So is the baby like the size of a bean or something?”

You shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I suppose we will find out when I have an appointment with a healer.”

“How are you feeling? I noticed that you were pale when you stepped out of the bathroom.”

You laid your head on his shoulder wanting to preserve the closeness. Suddenly you were very sleepy for the first time in a few days.

“Just a little queasy.”

Regulus wrapped an arm around you feeling more peaceful than he had in a long time. Even if the situation at hand was going to be a rough one, he knew that it would be okay since it was with you.

“I guess my pullout game isn’t as good as I thought.”

You rolled your eyes before snuggling closer.

“I guess not.”

_____

@amelie-black @truly-insatiable @fandomsxxregulus @realgaytrash @spiderxalmighty @lucasfilms77 @whymyparentscheckmyphone @teletubiswszpilkach @hazncalsgal @quuenofblacks @acciosiriusblack @fific7 @bennyberry @jessyballet @knreidy1 @rubyroscoe1 @criminalyetminimal @exhsle @brokencasbutt67-writer @authoressskr @fandom-trash-worth-it @hankypranky @summer-novak @shaylybaby2032 @emiwrites3reads @li0nh34rt @tas898 @marichromatic @untoldshortsofthefandoms @sprnaturallover @stuckinsaudi1 @shitfaceddaniel @shitfaceddaniel @shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @knight-of-gleefulness @deanwherescas @wontlookaway

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[agerefandom]

What Family Is

Fandom: Harry Potter

Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Reader, OCs

Words: 1,700

Summary: Remus and Sirius have settled in a Muggle town with you, their adopted regressor, since age regression is more accepted in Muggle society. Remus meets a new friend while you’re busy on the playground, and eventually you go home for dinner.

Warnings: cglre terminology (Remus is ‘daddy’ and Sirius is ‘papa,’ hopefully not too confusing!), some baby talk from the reader, they/them pronouns used for Reader by someone who doesn’t know them (gender-neutral aside from that).  

(A/N: Sirius has nicknamed the Reader ‘Applebee’ because they kept repeating it for a while! It’s a very minor thing, but I thought it might be odd without an explanation.) 

The playground is always full of noise and laughter on sunny days. Remus is enjoying the sunlight, his eyes closed and his face tilted towards the warm sky, when someone sits beside him on the bench, startling him out of his reverie.

Flinching upright, he blinks at the person now beside him, who looks just as surprised as him. She’s a stranger, a young woman wearing a bright summer dress.

“Sorry to startle you,” she says with genuine apology. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s alright.” Remus runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back and letting it fall into its natural pattern. “I was drifting off a bit.” He turns his attention to the playground, checking that nothing has changed.

“Which one is yours?” the woman asks, following his gaze towards the playground.

“Ah, the one in the yellow overalls,” Remus says, unable to help the fondness in his voice as he points you out. You’re busy under the bridge, making a pile of the dusty pebbles that keep the playground safe for the clumsy children that play here.

“An age regressor?” the woman asks. Remus tenses slightly. The stranger’s voice wasn’t accusatory, but not everyone is friendly towards regressors, even if they’re largely accepted by muggle society these days.

“Yes. My child,” Remus returns.  

“They seem very sweet,” she says, and Remus relaxes slightly at her casual tone. “Did they choose their clothes by themself?”

“Yes.” Remus smiles. You’re dressed in a mish-mash of your favourite clothes: yellow overalls, an orange shirt with the Seasame Street characters printed across it, and star-patterned light up sneakers. “I’m afraid fashion doesn’t run in the family.” Remus gestures to his own clothes, muggle-style but hardly fashion forward: plain grey slacks and a dark long-sleeved shirt.

“I think they look wonderful,” the woman smiles. “Full of life. My son is on the monkey-bars, there.”

She points, and Remus follows her finger to a young boy sitting on top of the bars and stimming happily, hands waving back and forth.

“Very talented!” Remus praises. “I’ve never seen my little one get all the way up there. He must be good at climbing.”

“My little monkey,” says the mother fondly. “I’m Sasha, by the way.”

“Remus.”

The two of them shake hands.

“How long have you lived in this area?” Sasha asks.

“A few months,” Remus says honestly. “My partner and I wanted to settle down close to London, but not in the city proper. We’re still getting used to the town.

“I’ve lived here for all of Jason’s life- that’s my son- and we just love it here. If you wanted some restaurant recommendations, I’d be happy to supply them.”

Remus finds himself enjoying the chatter with the new muggle, Sasha. Both of them keep their eyes on their children as they talk, sharing stories about messy bath-times and their favourite parks in town. By the time the sun is getting low, Remus has given Sasha his number, and she’s invited him and Sirius for dinner at her house.

“I’ll have to check with my partner about his schedule, but we’d love to come,” Remus says. “We don’t have enough friends in the area.”

“I’m always glad to meet more people,” Sasha smiles.

“We should get going, Sirius will be sad if we’re not home in time for dinner,” Remus sighs. He wasn’t usually one for talking with strangers, but he’s been enjoying the discussion about parenting, and you were clearly enjoying your time on the playground while he waited. “I’ll call you about dinner.

“Looking forward to it!” Sasha waves Remus off as he approaches the playground.

--

“Sweetheart!” Daddy calls, catching your attention as you run towards the stairs to the slide. “It’s time to go home.”

“Nooo,” you complain, stopping on the bridge between the ladder and the stairs. “Don’t wanna go home.”

“Papa is making dinner for us,” Daddy says. “Don’t you want to see him?”

“Puppy?” You perk up, glancing around. You miss Papa so much, he usually comes to the park to play!

“He’s at home, sweetheart, waiting with soup.” Daddy walks up to the bridge, smiling. “One more slide, and then home?”

“One more slide,” you agree reluctantly, and finish climbing to the slide platform. Daddy stands at the bottom, arms outstretched, and you giggle as you sit at the top of the slide. He’s going to try and catch you, and you’re probably going to knock him over, but that’ll be his fault.

You push yourself forward and gravity pulls you down, whoosh, right into Daddy’s arms. He swings you around with the momentum and then sets you down on your feet. You forget how strong Daddy is sometimes! He’s so small.

Well, he’s not small. He’s taller than you, but you can wrap your arms all the way around him when you hug him and touch your own elbows, and that’s small. There are lots of ways to be small.

You’re distracted from your thoughts when Daddy takes your hand and starts leading the way home: you follow obediently, blinking back at the darkening playground and the kids who are still playing.

“Can we come back tomorrow, daddy?” you ask.

“If you’d like,” he says. “Maybe Papa will enjoy getting out of the house.”

“Papa!! Puppy?” You love going out with Papa when he’s a dog. Everyone wants to pet him and he plays with you. Daddy always sits by the playground and makes sure you’re safe, but Papa will play! “Tomorrow?”

“You’ll have to ask him if he’s busy.”

“Okay!”

The birds sing in the trees as you walk home. You blink around at the houses, and the other people on the sidewalks. Some people smile at you, and you drop your eyes to the ground as you smile back. People are so nice to you! They give you cookies when you go to the store, and they give you crayons when you go to eat pancakes. Sometimes when your Papa and Daddy are both busy, you have to go to daycare with other kids who are big sometimes, and the caretakers there are nice, but you prefer spending the day with your caregivers.

“Here we are!” Daddy points out your street, which you were about to walk past. That’s why Daddy holds your hand while you’re walking: otherwise, you get lost! You start to speed ahead, pulling Daddy behind you. You know the way from here, and you want to be home, you want to be home now!

Finally, Daddy lets go of your hand and you run up the stairs to the front door, bursting in happily.

“Papaaaa!”

“Applebee!” Papa comes running from the kitchen to give you a proper hug, lifting you off the ground as you laugh. “How was the park?”

“It was awesome! I went down the slide lots and lots!” Daddy comes in the door behind you and starts taking his shoes. You struggle to toe yours off, and Papa gets down to help you with the Velcro strips. Finally, you’re free in your socked feet, and Papa leads the way back to the kitchen as you tell him all about the pebble castle you built under the bridge.

The kitchen is full of good smells, and Papa starts stirring something on the stove.

“Smells great,” Daddy calls from the hallway.

“Thanks, babe! It’s a new experiment,” Papa replies.

“Papa, will you go to the park and play tomorrow??” You hug him from the back, rubbing your face against his sweater. He’s much softer as a dog, but dogs aren’t allowed in the kitchen.

“Hmm, I think I’d like that.” He taps the spoon, drops it on the side of the stove, and turns to hug you properly, messing up your hair. “Someone needs to keep an eye on you, little troublemaker.”

“Papa!!” you protest, pushing his hand off. He laughs and nuzzles your cheek instead, his version of a kiss when he’s a dog. It’s scratchier when he’s just Papa, his stubble making your face feel tender.

“I was thinking a family movie and early bedtime tonight,” Daddy says, finally coming in from the hall and joining the hug with an arm around Papa’s shoulders and a hand on the top of your head. He’s always very gentle when he touches you. “I could use some extra sleep.”

“Sounds good.” Papa gives Daddy a kiss, and then pushes their noses together affectionately. “Alright if I stay up?”

“Of course.”

Papa and Daddy don’t always sleep at the same time, but that means when you can’t sleep, one of them is usually awake. And they don’t mind you climbing into their bed, either. Nothing is cozier than being squished between them after you’ve woken up from a nightmare.

“I wanna stay up with Papa!”

“Are you sure? It’s been a long day,” Daddy says.

“Yeah.”

You have the best caregivers: they listen to you. They used to make you go to bed at one time, every night, but it didn’t really work, because you can’t always sleep. So now they let you decide when to go to bed, unless you get cranky. Then they make you brush your teeth even if you say you don’t want to. And sometimes they trick you into lying down on the couch and listening to a lullaby, and then you wake up the next morning in bed.

You have tricky dads. But you love them.

“An Applebee and Papa party!” Sirius laughs, tugging you into his side and planting a proper kiss on your temple. “Sounds perfect. Alright, you two, get changed for dinner. Remus, did you walk through a mud puddle?”

“Oh….” Daddy glances down at his trousers, and so do you. They are very dirty. “I didn’t notice.”

“I know,” Papa says fondly. “Go help our little one get changed, and I’ll have dinner on the table when you’re done.”

“I love you!” you tell Papa, as Daddy takes your hand to help you up the stairs.

“Love you too, cutie.” Papa blows you a kiss, and you tuck it into your pocket with a giggle. Papa is silly. You love him. You look up and see Daddy smiling fondly: he loves both of you too.

That’s what family is, after all. Just a lot of love and silliness.

[fortisfiliae]

Promised Part 7 - Tom Riddle x reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Masterpost | Masterlist

Summary: In this story, Tom didn’t grow up as an orphan, but with his grandfather and uncle. Reader’s sister got very sick and the Gaunts offer their help. But not without asking for something in return. 

Disclaimer: Please be aware that I don’t condone any of this in real life. (GIF is not mine)

Warnings: Arranged marriage

Word count: 3.1k

Part 7 - Gift Giving

“So this is the last part of the house. The bedrooms,” you said, after giving Tom a quick tour around the mansion. “The guestroom is right at the end of the hallway.”

Tom peered towards the half-open door to the guestroom, that the house-elves were preparing for him.

“This right there is Elsie’s room, next to it is the master bedroom. And this,” you said, leaning onto a door. “Is my room.”

He turned back to you.

“Want to come in?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

There was a sense of excitement in the air, letting Tom enter your room. It was something so private, it felt like you let him walk straight into your head. But you wanted to be nice. He still seemed crushed from the argument he had had with his grandfather and uncle and you thought it would make him feel better if you showed him he was welcome here. 

“Take a seat if you want. Anywhere,” you said and went over to sit on your bed.

Tom slowly walked across the room towards your desk, his eyes incidentally scanning your belongings. He sat down on the chair by the desk and looked at the framed picture of you and your family that stood there.

“Sorry about my mother,” you mentioned when you noticed what he was inspecting.

Tom looked at you. “What do you mean?”

“She can be a bit brash, you know. When she asked you to stay earlier. But she usually means well.”

“Oh,” he spoke. “I didn’t mind actually. You know my family. They’re brash. And not the good kind.”

“Fair,” you agreed. “Have they always been that way?” 

“Since I can remember at least.”

There was a moment of silence. 

“I’m sorry,” you then said. 

“For what? That’s just how it is. They have their ways and I have mine.”

“Right. Did you know they would bring up the unbreakable vow?“

“No… I had no idea. They’re idiots. Just stupid. Why ask for more each time? They always want to be a step ahead for nothing.”

“What did you say to them?” you asked, hiding that you already knew.

“That I wouldn’t do it. They took our word for it then and that should be enough. They can’t force us to do a vow.”

“Are they mad at you?”

“Yes. But they’ll come around. It wasn’t our first argument and it won’t be our last.”

You pondered if you should say what you were thinking. Maybe it was a bit too much, but Tom didn’t seem bothered talking about his family. So you went on: “Do you ever wish it could have been different? To grow up with your parents, I mean. That would have made it easier, don’t you think?”

Tom smiled weakly, his eyes wandered across the floor and he shook his head. “Wishing for something won’t make it happen. And no. It would have been quite the same, I think. Maybe even worse.”

“Worse?”

“You’ve heard how Marvolo talks about my parents. His daughter and a muggle. A stain in the bloodline he said, didn’t he?” Tom chuckled lowly.

“But if they loved each other that shouldn’t have mattered to him.”

His eyebrows rose in what looked like a strange form of amusement. “Well, that’s a whole other story.”

You frowned. What did that even mean? You had heard all kinds of rumours about the Gaunt family and how Tom’s parents had met but never would have thought that one of them might be true. 

“Have they-”

Tom shook his head as he got up, making it clear that he wasn’t going to talk about it. He walked across the room towards you, fiddling something out from the inner pocket of his jacket. 

You had gone too far apparently and wondered if he was pulling out his wand or wanted to leave, but as you opened your mouth again, he sat down beside you and looked into your eyes.

“I’m going to tell you,” he said. “Not now though. You’re going to know everything about me eventually. Someday.”

“Someday then,” you repeated. “What have you got there?”

He held the thing from his jacket in his hand now. It was a package that seemed a bit squished as if it had barely fit into the pocket.

“Hold on,” he said and waved his wand at it, to smooth out the wrinkles on the paper. It was a present, a rectangular box, covered in dark green gift wrap.

“I thought it would be impolite to come over for lunch without bringing at least a little Christmas gift.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” you said as he handed over the present. 

“Go on, open it,” he said and motioned with his hand.

So you did and quickly found out what the package contained. A small handwritten book, full of potions recipes. 

“Nicked it from my uncle when he wasn’t looking,” Tom said. “So you better don’t mention it to him.”

“Oh great,” you laughed as you flipped through it. “Wow, I haven’t heard of any of these.”

“None of them are taught in school. I thought you’d like them. Didn’t seem like the ones we do with Slughorn were much of a challenge for you.”

The book looked as if it had been used a lot. The thin black binder was frayed and faded, and the edges of the pages were crinkled. On every other page, the handwriting changed, so it seemed that many different people had written the recipes. Poisons, antidotes and bewitchments you had never heard of were all listed, neatly explained and completed with full lists of ingredients.

“Where did your uncle get this from?” you asked, still looking through it.

“I’m not sure. Knockturn Alley perhaps, or on some market. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had added a few ones himself.”

As peculiar as it was, not many people could say they got a book of dark magic and probably illegal potions for Christmas.

“What an unusual gift. I do like it. Thank you, really!” you said and opened your arms to hug him, out of pure habit, but froze when you saw his stern expression, your arms still open. 

He looked into your eyes again, seemed to think for a moment and finally nodded to let you hug him. Just like when you had held hands, he was stiff and rigid, it felt like he was uncomfortable. You retracted, but as soon as you let go, he wrapped his arms around you and held you a little tighter, extending the embrace for a few more seconds.

There was a ghost of a smile on his face when you sat back straight and he was about to say something when the door flew open.

Tummy, one of the house-elves, stood in the door frame. “Miss, the guestroom is ready. Mister Riddle, Sir, please follow me.”

“Great,” Tom whispered sarcastically under his breath, got up and followed the elf.

You quickly hid the book under your pillow and called after them: “It’d be nice if you could knock next time, Tummy!”

“Sorry Miss! Will knock!” you heard him from the hallway.

When Mother called for dinner in the evening you picked up Tom from the guest room and went downstairs. 

Sitting at the table together was a bit awkward at first and no one said anything. It seemed that your parents were still thinking of the incident from lunch, but didn’t want to talk about it in front of Tom. You didn’t know what to say either and Tom wasn’t one to talk much in general.

“Tom?” Elsie said all of a sudden, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” he answered and you looked back and forth between the two.

“Did you know I’ll go to Hogwarts too next term?” Elsie went on, a very proud tone in her voice.

He grinned while picking up some green beans with his fork. “I did know that, yes.”

“I haven’t gotten the letter yet, so technically I don’t know if I’ll get in, but my parents said it will come on my eleventh birthday.”

“I’m sure it will.”

He had barely finished his last word when Elsie asked the next thing. 

“What’s your favourite subject?”

“Um… Defence Against The Dark Arts, I think,” Tom said. “It’s interesting enough.”

“Why?”

“Well,” he took a second to think. “I like to be prepared.”

“And you’re in Slytherin, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Do you have a favourite house?” 

You caught your parents exchanging looks and smiling at each other.

“Um… Well,” Elsie began. “I think they’re all nice. But Gryffindor is the best I guess.”

Tom clicked his tongue and shook his head jokingly. “Shame,” he said.

“Do you play Quidditch?” Elsie asked.

“No, I’m not into sports.”

“But can you fly?”

“Yes, I’m a decent flyer.”

She looked at your parents for a moment and whispered to Tom: “Do you think you can show me? How to fly a broom. I got one for Christmas, you see. And I-”

“Elsie,” Father said laughing. “Let the boy eat, please.”

“No, I can show you,” Tom said. “It’s the least I can do to show my respect after you’re letting me stay here.”

“That’s very kind of you Tom,” Mother said. “And you can stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you. I won’t bother you for long though,” he answered.

Dessert was served and Elsie peppered Tom with questions about brooms until Father finally told her to leave him alone. 

You thought of the book he had gifted you and knew that your parents would be pleased to hear that at least one member of the Gaunt family had manners. They didn’t need to know exactly what it was about. 

“Tom gave me a Christmas present earlier,” you said.

He shot you a quick look as if to ask you if you were out of your mind telling your parents about this. You ignored him.

“Oh really?” Father asked. “What is it?”

“A Potions book. Handwritten. It looks very rare,” you said and looked at Tom who was still staring at you. “It’s like an extended version of our school books. I can use it to perfect my skills. Maybe I’ll even get an O on my N.E.W.T.s because of it.”

“Oh lovely,” Mother said. “Where have you got that from?”

“Diagon Alley,” Tom lied and seemed to be more relaxed now.

“Very nice,” Mother said and turned towards you. “But you didn’t have anything for him, did you?” 

“No,” you mumbled.

“Well, let’s talk about that another time. Tom, have you heard about the time when we went on a trip to Italy?”

Later that night, when you lay in bed, you pulled the book out from under your pillow and held it for a while. It probably wasn’t even meant to be so special, but the fact that Tom had thought of giving you a present for Christmas, was not what you would have expected.

And you hadn’t even wasted a single thought about getting him something. How ignorant. 

You wondered how he felt about that. If he even felt about that, one way or another.

Your fingertip ran up and down the book spine countless times while you stared up onto the ceiling. You had to get him something. Something special.

And then you wondered if he couldn’t sleep either. If he wanted to talk for just a bit as well. If he thought about lying next to you, too. You could try to sneak out of your room and over to the guest room. Your parents wouldn’t like that of course, but you were going to marry him. They had to get used to the thought. And if you were quiet enough, they wouldn’t even notice.

You sat up slowly, put the book back under your pillow and tiptoed to the door of your room. Turning the doorknob as quietly as possible and holding your breath, you looked out into the dark hallway. You wouldn’t even need light, you knew this hallway like the back of your hand. Fifteen, maybe twenty quick steps and you would be right by the door to the guest room. So you took the first step out of your room.

“Miss!” a squeaky voice whispered in the dark from below. 

It was Tummy, standing there alone. 

“Tummy?” you asked quietly. “What are you doing here?”

“Miss, master told Tummy to keep watch all night. So that Mister Riddle wouldn’t disturb you in your room.”

Great. Your parents were a few steps ahead. 

“Can Tummy get you anything, Miss?”

“No, I… I just thought I heard something,” you sighed. “Does Father really force you to stay up all night? You can go downstairs to sleep if you want to.”

“No, Miss, no,” the elf said and smiled. “Tummy sleeps right here on the floor. I have very good ears, yes. I hear every little noise, you see? I will wake up whenever I hear something and alert the masters.”

Unbelievable. They had thought of everything.

“I see,” you said. “But I’m not afraid Tom would disturb me. You really can go downstairs.”

“Miss, Tummy is thankful for your offer, but I must follow the master's order. Tummy doesn’t mind it.”

“Alright then,” you gave up. “Hang on though.”

You went back into your room, walked up to your bed and fetched one of the three pillows from there. 

“Take this at least,” you told the elf and gave him the pillow. “It’s big enough for you to sleep on.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. Please.”

“I insist,” you said with a jokingly strict tone.

Tummy smiled, took the pillow and nodded. “Thank you, Miss. Tummy is very grateful.”

“Good night, Tummy.

“Good night, Miss.”

The following day went by quicker than you had wanted it to. Father, Tom and Elsie went outside in the late morning to give Elsie her long-awaited flying lessons. They were a great team, against all expectations. You watched them from the kitchen window and noticed how Father held himself back from helping. He kept a careful eye on the two when Tom showed Elsie how to mount the broom correctly.

Elsie listened intently to everything Tom told her, tried to follow each step precisely and could properly hold herself in the air after a while. Father and Tom seemed incredibly proud, not only of themselves but of your little sister.

You could have watched them for hours, but Mother had called you to the reading room, to go to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network. You had asked her to take her with you since you wanted to get some new quills for school and a proper Christmas present for Tom.

Thankfully Diagon Alley wasn’t too busy, yet it took you a while to find an appropriate gift. You hadn’t even known where to start looking, but when you finally saw it in the shop window, you knew it was perfect.

Back home, Elsie, Father and Tom were just walking back inside, their cheeks and noses all plump from the hours they had spent out in the cold. Elsie jumped through the living room excitedly and told Mother and you how high up she was able to fly now. She had even attempted to do some advanced twists but almost had taken a fall.

Father patted Tom on the shoulder and thanked him for his time, which made Tom’s ears turn almost as pink as his cheeks and nose.

After congratulating your sister on her achievement, you turned to Tom and said: “Would you follow me? There’s something I want to show you.”

You took him to the reading room, where the parcel you got him stood under the desk.

“Long day, huh?” you asked when you closed the door behind you.

He nodded. “Long but successful. Your sister is a quick learner. She could make it on the Quidditch team one day.”

“Thank you for teaching her,” you said. “We all appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Now that you were with him, you didn’t know where to start. Should you tell him about lying in bed with the book in your hand, thinking of him? That you almost would have knocked on his door in the middle of the night, if Tummy had not been there? That could sound terribly invasive. What if he wouldn’t have wanted you to come? Now that you thought about it, you were glad that Tummy had spoiled your plan. Nighttime certainly made you too reckless.

“I hope you slept well,” you mumbled mindlessly. Merlin, why would you say that?

“I um…” Tom looked at you surprisedly. “Yes, I did.”

“Good.”

“If it wasn’t for the elf in the hallway, it would have been even better,” Tom added nonchalantly.

How would he also know about Tummy? Did he leave his room too? You scanned him questioningly and Tom smirked.

“Father is overprotective,” you answered. 

“Shame, isn’t it?”

“Certainly.”

You looked at each other, both with mischievous smiles on your faces. It would not have been awkward at all if you had gone over to his room last night. Tummy be damned.

“I thought of your present a lot,” you went on, changing the subject. “And I decided I had to get you something as well.”

“Not necessary. Your family let me stay the night, that’s more than en-”

“Stop it,” you snapped playfully and went to get the parcel from under the table. “There’s not a lot of things I thought suited Tom Riddle. But this does, I believe.”

He took the box with both hands, as it was quite big, placed it onto the desk and pulled off the top.

“Oh,” he breathed when he looked inside.

“Her name is Nagini. She’s not fully grown yet.”

Tom took a dark green, medium-sized snake out of the box and let it curl around his arm. 

“Did you know?” he asked.

“Know what?”

“That I’m a Parselmouth.”

“Yes,” you nodded. “People in Hogwarts were talking about it years ago and then I thought of your house and your relation to Salazar Slytherin. It made sense.”

“Thank you,” he said genuinely, looking into your eyes before he watched Nagini gliding from one of his arms to the other. “Stretch out your arm for me.”

You did and let your fingers touch his. Both of you now stood there with one arm pointing towards each other. The snake slithered around Tom’s arm, quickly making its way towards his outstretched fingers and over to yours. It hissed quietly while wandering up to your shoulder.

“She likes you,” Tom said softly. “A lot.”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Masterpost | Masterlist

Credit where credit is due: My boyfriend came up with the house-elf’s name. I don’t know where that came from but I won’t make him stop. He also gave him a short backstory. I might try to implement it into the story line if you’re interested.

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[carewyncromwell]

“There's somethin' in the wind, I can feel it blowin' in: It's comin' in softly on the wings of a bomb... There's somethin' in the wind, I can feel it blowin' in: It's comin' in hotly and it's comin' in strong... Lately I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to care -- Who am I to sympathize when no one gave a damn? I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to care -- Who am I to wanna try?  But change is a powerful thing...people are powerful beings...”

~“Change” by Lana Del Rey

x~x~x~x

I was totally inspired by this rockin’ coat and decided to draw some Reincarnation-AU!Batticus, specifically during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. (Grim’s look is very slightly based on this -- because Atticus @cursebreakerfarrier​​​ is the OG Academia fashion icon. 🥰💙)

At this point in Bat and Grim’s second lives as Robert Bellamy and Atticus Lestrange, the two seventh-year Ravenclaws (and, the following year, Ravenclaw alumni) have solved the mystery of their past lives and are now roommates sharing a dinky little flat in London. Atticus has miraculously landed an internship at the Ministry of Magic, specifically in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, while Robert’s an apprentice at the apothecary in Diagon Alley over winter, spring, and summer break to earn enough money to help pay the rent. 

When Cedric Diggory died in their sixth year, though, Bat was thoroughly unconvinced by the Ministry’s cover-story that it was a tragic “accident,” and -- upon colliding with Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts in their seventh year -- was pretty soundly convinced that the Ministry was covering things up. Grim, for his part, had his misgivings about the Ministry’s version of events, but being the Lawful Good person he was, he had a bit more trouble expressing those doubts, especially now that he was on the way to joining the Department of Magical Law Enforcement himself. Sensing Grim’s inner conflict on the matter and not wanting to put him in the position where he’d have to choose between his friendship with Bat or his family and future, Bat made the decision to not tell Grim when he -- despite his intense personal dislike and distrust of Albus Dumbledore -- nonetheless chose to join the Order of the Phoenix. After all, in all of his lives, Bat is a soldier, and he couldn’t in good conscience not fight back against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, just as he did against Grindelwald so many years ago. 

From the start, however, Grim got a bad feeling Bat was keeping something from him. In early January 1996, while on an assignment with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Grim ended up coming across Bat, who was likewise on an assignment for the Order in hooded black robes with white trim not unlike his old British Redcoat uniform and a high turtleneck-like collar that hid the lower half of his face. Even if he was very anxious and didn’t understand what was going on at all, Grim covertly covered Bat as he fled before the Aurors could discover him and -- upon rushing back to their apartment -- helped Bat with the injuries he’d sustained. It was only that that Bat finally came clean to Grim about his alignment...and he also, having just been made aware of the Azkaban break-out, offered to leave their apartment to Grim and move out. 

“My alignment with Potter and Dumbledore already endangers your livelihood. But if your family’s out on the streets now, then that means Voldemort has gotten strong enough that soon he’ll be bold enough to act out in the open. And once that happens...well, then it’ll be open season on Muggle-borns like me. Your ancestry protects you, Grim -- your family name would protect you from people like Him. Associating with mine would put you in the cross-hairs -- ”

But, of course, Grim stubbornly shot this down. 

“You seem to have forgotten that in our previous lives, you already tried to ward me off from helping you once by talking about how dangerous it’d be for me. And trust me, you’re no more persuasive in making me abandon you now than you were then.”

“This is different -- ”

“Perhaps it is, but the result is not. I am not going to kick you out -- nor am I leaving you.”

“Grim, if things get worse, I won’t be able to protect you from the Death Eaters -- ”

“ -- then it’s a good thing I’m more than capable of protecting myself!”

“I know you are -- but they’ll try to force you to join them or die, Grim. At least if you distance yourself from me, you might be able to slip under the radar -- not draw so much attention. If you’re with me, then they’ll target you just as fiercely.”

“Well, then, we’ll just have to fight them off together, won’t we?”

“Grim...”

“Bat...I already lost you once. I do not intend to lose you again. ...You...mean far too much to me. You must know that.”

“...I do. ...I do know...Atticus.”

The occasion was one of the few times Bat has ever been serious enough to call Grim by his full name. It was also followed by one of the two men’s very first kisses, and one of their deepest.

As the War went on, Bat would continue to go on covert, mysterious missions for the Order, often coming back to his and Grim’s apartment nursing wounds that Grim would help him patch up with healing potions and spells. One particular injury, which left an array of terrible vein scars down Bat’s arm, had been the result of a Dark curse chucked at him by Atticus’s relative Rodolphus Lestrange. Meanwhile Atticus would do his best to help Bat how he could through his work at the Ministry, both under Fudge and even more so under Rufus Scrimgeour. Although one worked within the law and the other often worked outside of it, they both had the same goal in mind -- to fight evil however they could, in the hopes of circumventing the Death Eaters’ growing thirst for control over the Wizarding World. 

[marvelettesassemble]

Bruises on our Skin (Sirius x Reader)

Summary: Soulmate AU -  Bruises and scars appear on your skin when your soulmate gets them. So why are you always covered in bruises in the summer holiday?

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: hints of abuse

You were glad that at least you didn’t share the pain of the bruises and scars that started to show on your collar bone. You didn’t know what problems your soulmate had but it seemed like it was a lot of them. When your soulmate gets a bruise or even a wound which will lead to a scar it will show on your skin also. Your Soulmate prevents yourself from showing a lot of skin, especially when it was too hot outside for the long sleeves you wore then.

In the first years it didn’t matter so much until everybody started pointing out the obvious and were asking you questions you didn’t have an answer for. Each summer the bruises became more and more. You weren’t sure if it worked this way but before you started your first year in Hogwarts you wrote on your forearm ‘are you okay?’, but you never got an answer. Maybe the ink had to be under your skin to show on your other half.

But when you were eleven you had other things to worry about: Finally starting your first year at Hogwarts! You couldn’t wait for all the cool things you could do with your wand and be able to spent so much time with other kids your age.  You didn’t mind being an only child but you imagine it would be great to share some things with other kids.

When you were asked which house you wanted to be put in, by your parents or other family members, you just shrugged and told them it wouldn’t matter. You were sure you’d have a blast. When you were about to enter the Hogwarts Express you noticed a girl standing by herself so you decided to start making friends right this moment and asked her if she wanted to share the train ride with you.

She was almost as excited as you and told you that she was the only one of her family who showed signs of magic. She told you that she was befriended with Severus Snape and it didn’t took long for him to join you in the compartment. He was sure he’s be placed in Slytherin while you and the girl in front of you, Lily, were unsure.

You were glad you were placed in the same house as Lily. Gryffindor would be your new home.

“Weren’t you supposed to be in Slytherin?” you heard someone asking another new boy at the table.

“Got a problem?” the young boy replied not showing any fear.

“No,” the other one said and put a roll on his plate, took another and placed it on the plate of the boy he asked the question. You’d learn later that the two of them would start to annoy you and your classmates. They’d befriend the other boys next to them and would never back down from a fight.

When all the excitement about entering Hogwarts had ended, you confined in Lily about the marks of your soulmate. She was astonished as it wasn’t always the case to see the soulmate marks so soon. She herself hadn’t seen anything on her body and was eager to see yours.

While her friendship with Severus fell more and more apart yours grew stronger. You invited her over in the summer holidays when her sister became meaner and ignored her. You were happy to share your room with her and have pyjama parties for two weeks. So of course she saw the bruises that started to show as every summer. But this time there appeared also scars – nasty scars.

You came up with many theories how your Soulmate had gotten them. You even started a game of who came up with the most ridiculous story. You even joked if he was a werewolf when the bruises started to show every new moon. When you didn’t want to go swimming because of the many colours your skin showed Lily pointed to your watercolours and told you to paint them over.  

“They are called watercolours for a reason. They would come up the second I’d enter the water,” you pointed out.

“So what? Are we witches or not? I think I have this powder with me. I use to throw it on my ink so it’ll stay on my paper when Potter decides to stroll into the room as if he owned it and didn’t notice that he throw that juice on my essay again.”

You giggled. “He does that sometimes,” you admitted. “But he and his friends aren’t so bad. Remus is pretty decent and he helps me studying sometimes. Maybe we should be nicer to them we could actually study together.” Lily just scoffed while you started to brush some yellow paint on your skin.

You were sitting by the black lake, your head in Lily’s lap while you were trying to study.  

“Oh can you just shut it?” you suddenly exploded and the boys who were discussing something vividly next to you stopped and stared at you.  

“What’s your problem?” Sirius asked and came nearer to sit down next to you while accidently kicking your leg. His friends followed him but didn’t sit down.

“Excuse me for being stressed because of the exams. I just want to study and you’re loud as hell. I can’t concentrate.”

“I think you need to lose up a bit,” Sirius said. “Even Remus is taking a break. How about we get together tonight and relax? We’ll get some stuff to eat and drink.” He offered.

You put your book away and rubbed your eyes. “Okay,” you said and surprised everyone including Lily. You were pretty stressed and you needed a night without studying.

“Okay, common room, 8 o’clock,” he said and jumped to his feet.  

You were in the common room before eight, playing a round of chess (the muggle version as neither Lily or you had the wizard edition). When it was almost time to meet the boys, Remus appeared by their side. “We decided to meet in our dorm if that’s okay for you. It’s a bit crowded and we didn’t really want to explain where we got the things,” he explained. You nodded and followed him. Sirius, Peter and James were sitting on the floor. Pillows were on the floor for makeshift seats and many sweets and drinks were also shattered on the floor. You even spotted half a bottle of fire whiskey.

“Oi, would you just shut it? Just wait for your soulmate,” Lily exclaimed after a rather nice evening. You really had fun – bot of you.

“So, what if I think you are my soulmate, Evans?” he said and while Lily didn’t pick up on it you noticed that he’d turned serious.

“Then I’d tell you, that you’re delusional. Here, I’ll proof you wrong and hopefully you’ll let me alone.” She got on her knees and bent forward, grabbed James arm and pinched him forcefully.  

“Are you mad, woman? Why didn’t you pinch yourself?” Potter exclaimed and rubbed the hurting spot.

“Why should I suffer, just because your wishful thinking?”

“Have you spotted marks yet?” Peter asked her curiously.

“No.” Lily admitted.  

“See, so it wouldn’t proof anything,” James exclaimed.

“What about you, have you seen some?” Remus asked you.

“Yeah, I see them since I’m ten. But I don’t want to talk about it,” you answered quietly.

Lily who’s just took a long sip of the whiskey laughed suddenly. “Oh, we’re joking that he’s a werewolf,” she laughed and both of you didn’t notice that the colour drained from the boys faces. “We’re coming up with the most ridiculous answers to explain the bruising covering her whole body.”

“Lily, stop,” you said and grabbed her arm. You didn’t really want to discuss anything of your soulmate in front of others. It wasn’t their problem and you bet he didn’t want everybody to know about it.

“You’re making fun of it?” James asked quietly, but serious. You felt like there was a spotlight shining on you.

“Well, excuse me for trying to make sense out of it or trying to make fun of it. I didn’t know that I was only supposed to think about what an awful life my soulmate seems to have and how I can’t do anything to help. Thanks for the night, it was nice so far.” You stood up, taking your best friend with you and left the dorm. You didn’t notice that nobody wished you a good night.

“I’m sorry,” Lily said, but you told her she had nothing to be sorry for.

When you woke up the next morning and greeted Lily she didn’t answer. She sat on her bed and didn’t move. You sat down next to her and before you could ask she pointed to a little bruise on her arm – the position where she had pinched James to proof that he isn’t her soulmate.

“It’s seems chilly outside, it won’t be weird for us to wear the sweaters,” you pointed out and for that day you didn’t talk about it until she climbed into the bed with you when you were supposed to sleep.

After the night in the boys dorm it became kind of awkward, especially with Remus. You didn’t study together anymore. You were surprised that Sirius were the only one still freely talking with you and so the two of you were walking on the grounds when you had a free period while your friends all had class.

“Hey, can we slow down?” you asked and put a hand on his arm.

“Of course, are you okay?” he asked.

“I don’t feel,” you stopped the sentence. And then you stopped everything because you fainted. It wasn’t long, because when you opened your eyes again you saw Sirius face in front of you.

“There you are. How are you feeling?”

“Not so good?”

“Can you walk to the infirmary?” You told him you would try and together you made you way inside the castle – your arms linked and just taking a break once.

Madam Pomfrey told you to sit on the bed. “Do you faint often?” she asked. You told her that this had been the first time, but you feel rather dizzy once a month. Just when you thought it couldn’t get more awkward, she asked if you’re sexually active. When you looked mortified at Sirius Madam Pomfrey paused.

“Mister Black, what are you still doing here?” she asked surprised. “Go outside, wait there if you must. But give the poor girl some privacy.”

He winked at you and walked outside. She examined you and gave you something to take when you were on your period so you wouldn’t feel dizzy anymore. She reminded you to drink more water in this time and you were excused. You were surprised to see Sirius still waiting in the hall, but he accompanied you to lunch without asking anything. But you noticed that there was a cup of water in front of you when you sat down.

Since you were thirteen you had a rather ugly scar just above your heart. It was a nasty scar and you didn’t want to think about how awful it had to be for your soulmate and why you both had that scar. Since the summer you often covered your skin in your paint. And today you had a feeling you needed to do this with this particular scar.  

You were alone in your room so you took place in front of your mirror and while you looked over to the colours you felt the need to use just ink. You were aiming for the head of a wolf (maybe because the werewolf theory was stuck in your head?) but the more you painted it seemed more like the head of a dog. Never the less you were pleased with the outcome. You smiled when you took a last glance in the mirror before you got dressed to start your day. Somehow you felt lighter than before.  

That day you didn’t see much of Sirus who was in the library searching for something. Remus joined him, but it was still strange. The tension had left your little group over the last month and you were sitting together for dinner. You noticed how Sirius always seemed to refill your cup with water until you told him to stop it. Lily seemed to warm up to James and he was almost walking on clouds because of it.  

The topic of soulmates wasn’t mentioned anymore by any of you.

“What are you doing tonight?” James asked.

“We’ll meet up with the Hufflepuff girls, what about you?” you answered as Lilys mouth was still full of carrots.

“I need to go to the library again,” Sirius said, but it didn’t matter to him that you all could see that he was munching potatoes.  

“What are you doing there? Planning a new prank? Should we be worried?” Lily asked when she had finally finished her vegetables.

“It’s personal,” he just answered, but that didn’t really ease your worry about getting pranked.

When you woke up the next day you didn’t feel any different other than feeling refreshed as it was Sunday and you could sleep in. You went to the bathroom and when you started to scrub the ink off your body, you haltered. Did you use Lilys powder? No, you were alone when you inked yourself. So why didn’t the paint fade away. Well the water turned black but the picture of the dog stayed on your skin. You scrubbed and scrubbed, but it still stayed there.  

You were confused but as you couldn’t do a thing you decided to end your shower. After getting dressed in a sweatshirt you made your way to the great hall where Lily was sitting with the boy gang and they were talking loudly.

“Oh come on and show it, if you’re so proud of yourself,” you heard Lilys voice.

“You know if you want to see a shirtless guy, you can always ask me. You know I won’t hesitate.” James eyebrows rose suggestively.

“What’s going on?” you asked when you sat down next to Peter and grabbed a piece of toast.

“Well Sirius here got a tattoo yesterday and although he tells us how awesome it is he won’t show it,” Lily explained.

“How did you get a tattoo?” you asked confused and looked over to see Sirius smirking. While he started to tell something about how he got it you spotted black ink under his white dress shirt. Black Ink right above his heart. Black Ink that looked familiar. You leant over the table and knocked something over. While you heard Peter complain about his pants which were soaked now, you started to undo Sirius button.

“You could at least ask,” he started but you didn’t react. You opened another button and lifted the white fabric. You were looking at a black dog.

“Neat,” you heard someone say.

“I know this painting style,” the voice of a girl was heard. Probably Lily, but it was as if you stood in a fog. You couldn’t hear or see anything other than that black dog in front of you.

“This isn’t.... This...” you started, but you didn’t know how you should finish that sentence.

You heard Sirius saying your name. His grin has left his face as he saw your shocked one. “It's just a tattoo,” his voice came through to the fog. You turned around, almost falling over the bench and walked away. You heard the voices of your friends behind you asking if you’re okay.

“Sirius, how did you choose this motive?” Lily asked while Peter was still busy to dry his pants.

“Well, you know...,” Sirius blushed a little. “It just appeared yesterday morning. And I liked it so much I searched for a way how it could stay there.”

“Did that happen often?” the red head asked further.

“One summer,” James started.

“you were covers in sunflowers?” finished Lily.

“How do you know that? Did you tell her?” Sirius was glowering at his best friend. James threw his hands up in defence.

“And was there a scar before that ink?” Lily questioned again.

“Yeah, how do you know all about this?” Sirius asked confused while Remus had put the puzzle pieces together.

“Because your soulmate has just left the room,” Lily concluded.

“What?” were heard from three different mouths.

Lily said they should all search for you, but Sirius said he had a feeling he’s know where you’d be and James gave him a blank piece of paper. Sirius took it and walked away.

“There you are,” you heard Sirius voice behind you. There weren’t many people outside as it was the end of autumn so you had decided to go for a walk.

You had almost reached the Whomping Willow when you decided it was far enough. As you hadn’t planned to walk outside you didn’t have a jacket with you and the wind was blowing. You shivered but you didn’t want to go back inside to talk about what you had just found out.

“I grabbed you a blanket,” you heard Sirius voice again.

“I’m actually quiet shocked that we’re soulmates. We all thought that Moony was yours.” The boy sat down next to you, facing the trees and the castle like you.

“Why Remus?” you asked and he just shrugged.

There wasn’t anything said for a few minutes. “I don’t know what to say. I never knew what I should say when I imagined meeting my soulmate. I can’t even imagine.. It must have been horrible... Merlin, what have you gone through,” you finally said and put your fingers above his hand.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s okay for you. At least for now,” he said.

“Of course. How about we start as friends and if you want to talk about it, I’m here?” He smiled at you and nodded.

“So, you like to paint?” he asked and so you started to learn more about each other with your fingers still touching his.  

Masterlist

[snapeaddict]

Hi, what do you say to the people who claim Regulus is the real Slytherin hero, and not Snape? To me RAB always seemed like a plot device and nothing more so I don't get why he's being worshipped... He's just another rich pureblood kid...

I say this is a very bad take, and it is disrespectful (that's a strong word for something that isn't really important but I cannot think of a softer version) of the actual people who enjoy his character. I'm going to write down some thoughts, but there's more to it than just what I would reply to them - allow me to ramble a little on the roots of this claim and on the thought process embraced by Snaters and Marauders apologists (I've seen that some people don't like this term, so I mean people who erase the Marauders' flaws and make them morally superior to Snape, justifying them being abusers and him being abused.)

The nonsense of comparing a plot device to a complex, layered character: Comparing Severus and Regulus is ludicrous. You are comparing one of the most (I would argue the most well-written and complex, but Dumbledore is quite something as well) well-written, accomplished character of the books to a plot device. It is indeed what Regulus is, no matter if his character could have been really interesting/seems to be interesting: we know very little of him, and he exists solely for the Slytherin locket plot. The very little we know of him certainly isn't enough to express any critical judgment of his character; he is mostly made out of white pages which are filled out by his fans, which is great, and by the people making this kind of argument, which is unfortunate.

The interest in the character only stems in his usefulness: I would argue that the vast majority of people making this claim do not care at all for the character himself, despite using him as a moral high ground. It is not his character which interests them, but how useful he can be to fuel their hate and biased claims. His personality? Having being sorted in Slytherin. His merits? Being a Slytherin. This is the only fact that matters, because it allows them to 'prove' that Snape wasn't a hero (being a hero does not mean being a good person, by the way) and diminishes Severus' merits. Using a character solely for the purpose of depreciating, downgrading another is not appreciating them: it's just completely hypocritical. This is often the kind of flat argument used by people opposed to social justice movements, if you will allow the broad comparison: using something you have never cared for before (often minority populations) in an attempt to depreciate something, even though the very fact you are using them for this purpose shows how little concerned you are with the actual people you are talking about. Well, it reminds me of this a bit. The true purpose is to try and impose your own views, and here they try to legitimise them by filling an almost inexistent character with their views to carry on with their agenda.

The sudden leniency toward privileged characters: Making such a claim in fact once again proves that Snaters have an extremely biased, subjective and elitist vision of what being good means, an opinion on what is moral integrity (and superiority because they keep comparing people), which they also apply to James and Sirius. I think Regulus is loved because he is a Black, respected by the fandom because he comes from a pureblood, rich family. It is very easy to prove: look at how much love Draco and Lucius get, despite being supporters of blood supremacy, active members of a terrorist group, using discriminatory insults on a daily basis, being actively supportive of the murders of muggle borns/participating in these murders [do not misinterpret this - I'm pointing out double standards, not saying they should not be loved. One's interest in a character does not depend on the character's morals]. Look at how respected Snape was in the fandom before book 6, when people thought he was a rich pureblood from an ancient family. Social hierarchy has a great impact on how people view characters, and they tend to be much more lenient toward privileged characters, because prestige is attractive, even in fiction. Similarly - but it is more concealed - there is the usual refusal to acknowledge that social inequalities do impact one's life, choices, and opportunities to be or do good. The quote "You didn't make good choices! You had good choices" (Little Fires Everywhere) works quite well in this context, especially regarding James and Severus, but also regarding the Blacks versus Severus. Severus' survival was completely, utterly dependent on his adherence to blood supremacist values. This must be taken into account - but weirdly, this is an argument that is often used to prove Sirius' moral superiority, because his family required him to share their beliefs. This is ignoring that despite his difficulties, he still beneficiated from a support system and privileges that others did not have access to. Similarly, you cannot compare Regulus' and Severus' choices. And in my opinion, both are tragic; but if we had to take part in Snaters' silly arguments, then I would remind them that Regulus effectively had no obligation to join Voldemort, his parents were not death eaters. The pressure both characters experienced certainly wasn't of the same nature - even perhaps not of the same intensity. But does comparing them makes any sense, again...

The social biases: While Snape is blamed for his decision to join the death Eaters (rightly), Regulus is praised for his decision to leave them. While Regulus is pitied because he came from a family who brought him up with this ideology (just like Draco is), which apparently takes off all responsibility from him, Severus' background is never considered as a factor which pushed him right into extremists' opened arms. Regulus' privilege is used as an excuse; Snape's social disadvantage and familial issues are, at best, ignored, at worst, interpreted as proof of his inherently bad nature. Some people associate his upbringing with him being bad, whether they want to acknowledge it or not. While Regulus is headcanonned as handsome, Snape is constantly described as 'greasy' and 'ugly' by these same people, and you can see exactly how important appearances are to them. I'm even going to argue that worshipping a rich, handsome, privileged pureblood must sound better to them than being fond of the 'greasy git', and I am also saying these are mostly internalised biases. When you read these claims carefully, it sounds like in the mind of these people, Regulus is more legitimate as Slytherin's hero because he is better - inherently. And it is easy to see why.

The double-standards and their disturbing roots: This is also plainly ignoring the fact that Regulus and Snape defected for the same reasons, if we must make comparisons. Voldemort was targeting one of their loved ones, Kreatur for the former and Lily for the later, which made them realise, because they are humans and thus not selfless, how wrong his methods were when they turned against them. However, in Snape's case, turning against Voldemort in an attempt to save Lily is often held as proof of his selfishness/absence of morality: he wanted her for himself, he only deflected because someone he liked was in danger. In Regulus' case however, his gesture is seen as heroic and compassionate. Why? Well, there are a variety of reasons apart from Snaters' double standards, but I have noticed that most of them seem to think of Lily as 'belonging' to either James or Snape, and think Snape unworthy of having ever had Lily as a friend because of some kind of deep rooted flaws he had even as a child ('He tried to hurt Petunia with accidental magic when he was 11, he was always bad'. In fact I should make a post about how horrible this claim is.) In Regulus' case however, wanting to save Kreatur is seen as an act of compassion. Why? Not only because they want to make Regulus look better than Snape. I think it is also because Kreatur is a house-elf, an inferior being: Regulus' wish to protect him becomes praiseworthy, laudable, because house-elves do not really deserve consideration. So wanting to save him becomes an act of generosity. Even when you're not thinking of the double standards, this way of thinking is disturbing. Snape also turned against Voldemort at the age of 20, 21? Like Regulus did if I recall? They weren't death Eaters for very long. They both actively fought to bring Voldemort down. It would be tremendously hypocritical, wrong and plain bad faith to think of Regulus' action as superior to Snape's 20 years of hard work to bring Voldemort down.

So why can't Snape be a hero? I think this claim is a confession. To me it shows a very simplistic vision of heroism, of good and bad, of models, and a complete refusal to consider the grey, sometimes praise the grey- it's a failure to accept the complexity of the human functioning. Thinking that the people we praise for certain actions, or consider to be examples must be flawless is vain, simply because it is unrealistic, and we could not admire them/relate to them/like or dislike them/learn from them if they were not like us, layered and flawed - but this is exactly what this claim desperately wants us to believe. Or rather, what Snaters want to believe, while imposing their very biased views of good and bad, themselves rooted in prejudices. This is why they are using a character that is mostly inexistent: an empty, one dimensional character can fulfil this aim. This is also why so many people fail to appreciate characters such as James, Sirius and Remus without completely ripping off their flaws, and thus complexness - they cannot be loved if you can find fault in them.

[malfoygrass]

I never talk about an ot3 for Draco and Astoria, so...I interrupt my regular programing to talk about my first ot3 Headcannon for Draco and Astoria and Harry. Because I figured if Draco and Astoria ever decided to go in that direction, Harry would be 100% there with them. 

Hear me out:

At first they don’t have anything in common, there’s Harry who feels so out of place in a world that practically worships him that it’s funny. Draco who’s coming to terms with the fact that he needs to change his old ways and Astoria, the morally ambiguous girl who was suffocated by her family's hypocrisy and refused to let Draco wallow in self pity.

Astoria was trying to run away from home when she accidentally found Draco hiding in her train compartment, they're not even friends, just two perfectly sad people who feel better together than apart after the battle of Hogwarts. But they run away together, because he's an ex death eater and she's a broken pureblood, both trying figure out how to build up their lives from scratch, now that Voldemort is dead.

Just two halfway rebellious teens trying to make sense of a present in which they are called adults. (Astoria refuses to call herself or Draco blood traitors, since there was nothing to betray in the first place)

And that’s how they find Harry Potter, in between house hunting in Muggle London, shopping in muggle malls, Draco's panic attacks out over his dark mark and the hallucinations of her survival guilt. they find Harry Potter, who goes to the same cafe each afternoon and also has a lost look in his eyes that Astoria is familiar with. Harry who for reasons of his own also wanted to run away from a world that doesn't really see him. Harry who feels alone after losing so much and yet finds peace in his own company.

So being the person she is, Astoria invites him over to Draco’s new muggle house for posh tea and crap takeout and when the night is over and the mutual apologies are exhausted. Draco tells Harry he's welcome to stay in his guest room whenever he wants.

Astoria's presence is a joy to find comfort in, a blank slate of opinions for Harry to talk to, she makes it easy for Harry to adapt to Draco, to understand his former arch enemy and find himself in places he never thought to look. their lifestyle isn't demanding or ambitious. To Harry, it seems like all they want is a quiet place to heal and figure out who they are, before the future Lord Malfoy and the youngest Greengrass heiress, can assert their true voices in Magical Britain again, and so he stays... because he needs to figure that out too.

Harry teaches Draco how to use a coffee maker and discovers a new appreciation for every old museum in the UK. Once Astoria learns to sew clothes with magic, Harry and Draco find themselves in too many fancy suits for their liking and being made to judge between all her dresses. They visit all the dance clubs Harry ever wanted to try. Draco proves to be an excellent dancer in every type of muggle music much to Harry's amazement, while Astoria makes them both laugh whenever she tries.

Harry exhausts himself teaching Draco and Astoria about the joy in the simple things of life. While Draco and Astoria try to convince Harry that using money to make life easier is the Muggle version of magic. And the thing is that, the three of them don’t notice when love comes into the mix.

Sure Astoria likes Draco, he’s dramatic and stoic and he’s the closest thing she knows to a mirror, he can read her entire volumes of pretentious books and never gives in to her whining when she’s sick, and she likes Harry, because he’s funny and down to earth and a fierce protector over the people he loves, which includes her, she knows Draco enjoys it, she enjoys it too, how Harry makes them feel safe. She likes them both and they are attractive and she knows they like each other so it’s okay to love them like a friend, until it’s not. (And she doesn't know what to do)

And sure Draco likes Astoria and Harry, Astoria because she’s soft and forgiving and she’s got hope enough for the two of them and he’s pretty sure she’d support him even if he turned into a monster and Harry because he’s Harry and past history aside, Harry is just as forgiving as Astoria, he doesn’t put up with Draco’s moods and he gives as good as he gets, Draco likes Harry’s raw honesty, his sarcasm, his sense of humor, if Astoria feels like home, then Harry feels like adventure without leaving home, they both make him happy, Harry and Astoria know enough about muggle culture to lose themselves in London with him, pulling him out of his shell and tag teaming his defenses until he gives in, he is happy to have them both, until he wants more (but he doesn't know how to tell them he wants them both)

And Harry, well he feels like Draco and Astoria are a perfect combination of kindness and spite. He likes Astoria, probably more than he should, given that she’s the archetypal white princess to Draco’s black prince, she’s understanding and patient, warm, mischievous and strong in her fragility, and Harry has never met someone who can speak about caring for one’s enemies like Astoria does, she’s simply the kind of girl who brings comfort wherever she goes and Draco, Harry has learned to like Draco, underneath the pretentious idiocy, there’s actually a good person. Draco is mean, and stubborn, but he’s also smart, ingenious, terribly generous and stupidly indulgent with people he cares about, which are not many, so Harry likes him. They are both more innocent than they should, too prone to overspending, he always feels like they don't know enough of the Muggle world to avoid being swindled, he finds it endearing, and it’s okay to be their friend, until it’s not (he knows he's inlove, but nobody's ever told him it's okay to love two people at once)

It starts when Astoria's nightmares return. Dreams of dead people blaming her for surviving the carnage that make her scream herself awake, Usually Draco is used to awkwardly climbing in her bed and soothing her until she falls back asleep. But this time Harry gets there first and he's much better at it than him (Astoria responds better to Harry's reassurances than she does to Draco's). So Draco lets her calm down in Harry's arms untill she's well enough turn around and seek Draco's more stable and familiar presence.

It's a dynamic that neither Harry or Draco mind, much to Astoria's embarrassment. Truth be told the three of them have nightmares, but only Astoria is held and cuddled by the two of them anytime she so much as whimpers in her sleep. So when Harry wakes up in cold sweat and pretends to be checking up on Astoria only to find that Draco had the same idea, they don't make a big deal out it.

Because Harry has PSTD episodes almost as often as Draco and turning the house into a safe place to heal is what they've been trying to do since the beginning.

Harry needs Draco to remind him how to act normal and sarcastic and he needs Astoria to soothe him into a state of calm. Draco knows they need each other a little bit more at night, and Harry thinks it's nothing to be ashamed of. So Draco isn't. Astoria is weak, Harry is a protector and Draco is a provider. Aside from falling inlove with a classmate's little sister, It's natural to be so close with the boy who used to be your school rival...right?

Astoria's room becomes neutral ground. It eventually gets filled with Harry's things and Draco's things of course. After all her room was meant to be the biggest anyway (Since Draco in all his sexist assholery thought Astoria owned a wardrobe as big as his mother's so she should have the biggest closet) besides it's saves them all time to have Draco's hair products on hand instead of going trough all the trouble of stealing them from his room

Eventually Draco's room turns into an office for Harry and the guest room becomes the potions lab Draco always wanted....

Aaand after a few months of living together, healing together and learning to fit in the muggle world. They decide it's time to go back to face the magical world and their responsibilities.

It turns into a panicked discussion about everything their families and friends are going to expect from them once they rejoin the real world, and in a true Griffindoor fashion Harry makes the first move and tells them he wants to stay together.... But romantically, because at least he is trying to be brave cue the two emotionally constipated Slytherins admitting their feelings.

So there's a lot of talking and more than some kissing involved in that whole emotional confession time. They decide that if they are going to be together then it's going to be them against the world and thats going to be an uphill battle but they're willing to, if it's with the other two.

And yeah that's how I imagine an Ot3 between Draco Harry and Astoria would go

Ps: could someone tell me what this ship is called? Drastroriary? Drarryoria? Haroriaco?