#Ron looking totally cornered :')

[pineapplefulfillseveryneed]

Sparks Official: Ron and Russell arrive at the Highline Ballroom, New York, ready to soundcheck for tonight's sold-out concert. Bring it in NY!

April 25 2013

[dramioneasks]

Christmas Fics (2024) (Part 10):

Daddy, Chill by So_scarlett_maroon - E, one-shot - When Draco is forced to spend his Christmas in Russia watching over Hermione and the rest of the International Magical Cooperation Team, he's already annoyed. When he then gets locked on the roof of the Russian Ministry in the bitter cold, he has totally lost his chill. But when Hermione Granger is the one who finds him, his Christmas just might start looking up.

Winter Nest by Dino1329 - T, one-shot - Hermione, overwhelmed by her Omega instincts, creates a Christmas-themed nest in the Room of Requirement to find some peace. She doesn’t expect Draco Malfoy, her Alpha, to stumble in. When he offers to help her decorate, things take a turn toward confessions and warmth in the middle of the holiday season.

A Very Special Christmas Present by Rosmar_Cuentacuentos - G, WIP - Hermione is back at Hogwarts for her missing year. She is focused on her NEWTs and determined to have a relaxed and normal school year. Without Harry and Ron, she makes unexpected new friends, and decides to spend Christmas with them.

lonely this christmas by riddikulus_puff - M, one-shot - “Happy Christmas, my darling,” Draco whispered, his arms wrapped around her as they swayed together in front of the Wiltshire Manor fireplace.  “Merry Christmas, Draco.” She smooshed her face closer into his chest, allowing him to control their slow swaying movements. "I love you." She uttered, a smile gracing her lips. Happiness blossomed through her chest. The large Christmas pine twinkled in the corner of her eye. It was perfect. A one-shot for the 2024 HP Festival of Stars Fic Fest [WARNINGS: CHARACTER DEATH]

Wrapped and Willing by callhermalfoy - E, one-shot - It’s Christmas morning and Draco has an extra special — and large — gift for Hermione. Theo is wrapped and willing to make one of her fantasies come true. [Draco x Hermione x Theo]

There's an Art to Pining by charingfae - E, one-shot - Hermione yearns. For love, for success, for contentment. Above all, she yearns for something—or someone—she'll never have. — Malfoy is everywhere. He’s in the way she takes her tea—black with a splash of honey, like he does. Etches and echoes of sweeping tendrils of silver-blond strands falling across his forehead, shadowing his cheekbones beneath the harsh afternoon sun. Long fingers that drum against his thighs when he’s bored. His sharp wit comes out on pub nights, and it’s a delight to see it turned on other people. To laugh with him. He looks at her sometimes, in those moments, and the secret smile he gives her is nothing short of earth-shattering. 

Carrot Top by SomnophiliaSweetheart - E, one-shot - Hermione realises that maybe her massive hulky husband looks hot dressed as The Grinch? And that desperate times call for desperate measures when she wants to get off...

Oh, I Wish I Had A River by cranberryorange - T, WIP - Draco hates Christmas. He didn't always, but this is the first time he'll be by himself. Without his parents, stuck at Hogwarts. Slowly, he finds solace in a journal left by a mystery student. --- Hermione loves Christmas. But this year, she isn't so sure. This will be the first Christmas she'll be by herself. No parents, no friends. On an impulse, she leaves a journal in the library, hoping a kindred spirit will find it and reply. Strangely enough, he does. Medium-burn, Eighth Year AU. Inspired by You've Got Mail, or Dash and Lily if you're Gen Z. Also heavily inspired by the song River by Joni Mitchell.

A very Malfoy Christmas by Dino1329 - G, one-shot - Christmas at the Malfoy Manor is always extra – glittering trees, over-the-top feasts, and more enchanted snow than anyone actually needs. But for Draco and his wife Hermione, it’s not about the traditions of old. It’s about building something new, something theirs – with their kids as the chaotic cherry on top.

Promise Me by augustr - G, one-shot - Draco Malfoy has mastered the art of denial-- until one obnoxiously festive Christmas party forces him to confront everything he has held in for months. Years, even. The party only confirmed what he already knew: Ronald Weasley is the biggest idiot he has ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on. When he escapes in search of solace, he is confronted with the very thing he meant to avoid-- Hermione Granger. The real question is, how in Merlin's name will he ever manage to be enough for her?

Bonding during a Blizzard by Dino1329 - M, one-shot - Stranded at Draco Malfoy’s cottage during a snowstorm, Hermione Granger must face the simmering tension between them. When her heat unexpectedly strikes, Christmas magic takes over, bringing them closer in ways neither expected.

The Cabin At The End of Everything by WillowingScribe - M, one-shot - The Order forces Hermione to hide out in a cabin in the Austrian Alps while the war rages on. She hates that she's not allowed to help, she's lonely, she's grieving her friends, and she is not even able to use her magic unless there's an emergency. As her second Christmas in that lonely prison approaches, Hermione is convinced her life couldn't get any more frustrating, even if the heating was properly working. That is until Neville Apparates a voiceless Draco Malfoy into her cabin and tells her that the world's fate rests on her keeping her sworn enemy alive.

Crookshanks Takes a Nap by NoWorriesIfNot - G, one-shot - All he ever wanted was a nap, but Crookshanks finds himself a reluctant host to a visitor who just wont get the hint.

Blood For The Monster by HeavenlyDew - E, one-shot - A random one-shot written as a Christmas gift for one of my first and dearest Dramione friends: TheGardenState. If you choose to read, be prepared for grief tinged with horniness, pining over vampire Draco, and spoilers for her wonderful Dramione story "The Blood of Monsters."

Wrapped in Ribbon by morriganmercy - E, one-shot - Unity is the theme for Hogwarts’ first-ever Eighth Year, including a reprise of the highly-acclaimed Yule Ball. Draco gladly makes himself a shining example of the effort, though, to be fair, he’s mostly only interested in uniting with his co-Head, Hermione Granger.

the taste (of a poison paradise) by riddikulus_puff - E, one-shot - “I warned you what would happen, my darling baby sister if I caught you flirting with my father again. And yet, you continued to be a little slut. Even after every single warning.” Draco’s hand wrapped tightly around her neck, squeezing the sides as he watched her eyes start to bulge as the loss of breath was beginning to affect her brain. She was shortcircuiting.

[cels-not-so-secret-love-affair]

sunday afternoon (the potter family)

a/n: playing about with some muggle au potter family and friends. i’ve been trying to get ahold of the way i like to write harry - i could probably do with rereading the books to aid me in that endeavour, but that’s not exactly a commitment i have time for. anyways! just a dash of happy today. key word for this one was comfortable.

‘I’m home!’, Harry calls, pulling off his windbreaker and shutting the door behind him. It’s colder now it’s autumn, and he’s glad of the wave of warmth that hits him on the way in.

‘Alright, Haz?’ comes a voice from inside the kitchen. Harry grins when he recognises it - Sirius is over. He kicks off his trainers haphazardly and heads down the hall to the open door where light is pouring out into the rest of the house.

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ smiles Lily as he enters. She’s sat at the kitchen table with her laptop and a mug of coffee, long dark red hair swept back into a tidy ponytail. Her eyes flick to the bottoms of his jeans as he passes her and she sighs wearily. ‘Really, Harry? Why have you got mud all over you this time then?’

‘Footie,’ he says simply, rifling through the cupboard in search of cereal.

‘That’s my boy,’ James laughs and pats him on the shoulder as he sidles past him. Harry glows proudly like he always does whenever he gets compared to his dad and goes to fetch a bowl.

‘Good kick-about?’ Sirius inquires from his chair by the fire.

‘Yeah, it was nice. Ron totally stacked it though, his mum’s going to murder him. Did Remus not come?’

‘Nah, Moons is resting at the minute. He sends his love though.’

‘I know.’ Harry sets his cereal down and pulls up a chair at the table. He’s halfway through practically inhaling it in that ever-so-teenage-boy manner when he frowns, drops his spoon and looks back up.

‘By the way, Mum, I forgot. Its parent’s evening on Thursday. I’m supposed to book the meetings with my teachers for you and Dad?’

‘Yes, actually, I saw the email. Jamie, could you come sit down for just a few seconds?’ James, perpetually enthused, bounds over to kiss his wife on the head and sits down to her left.

‘I absolutely can, my love. Who’ve we got to see, Harry?’

‘I mean, it’s up to you. Miss was really keen on seeing you last lesson in Art but she was sort of like that with everyone, so I reckon she’s just lonely,’ he shrugs, shovelling another heap of cereal into his mouth. Lily shoots him a look, but the corners of her mouth tip up in an amused sort of way and her eyes don’t really carry much heat.

‘Right, okay, we may as well be kind and book in for Art then,’ she decides, rather businesslike. ‘And then I’ll want to see all your core subject teachers, and probably your Media teacher too.’

‘Mum, there is literally no way I’m letting you see my Chemistry teacher after what happened last time.’

‘Oh, don’t be silly, he was just being a coward. If he doesn’t want to face the consequences of his own actions he should stop bullying children and start teaching them instead.’

‘Who was this one again, Lils?’ Sirius asks lazily, eyes still trained on his newspaper.

‘Chemistry? We’ve told you about him, he’s that awful, pathetic man who keeps giving poor Neville grief.’

‘Ah, I know the bloke. Snape, isn’t it? Greasy old git.’ Harry stifles a laugh.

‘Really though, it’ll only make him more evil if you yell at him again, he’ll get all embarrassed and tetchy. Can’t you just see History then instead?’

‘It is physically impossible to sit through a single conversation with that man without falling asleep,’ James declares, apparently having flashbacks to the last time he sat through one of Binns’ lectures and looking remarkably as if he’d like to stab his own eyes out with a fork. ‘Besides, I want to talk to this Snape man as well. Its two to one, son - you’re overruled.’ He imitates bringing down a gavel.

‘Not my bloody fault I’m an only child’, complains Harry, fiddling with a stray thread at the end of his sleeve.

‘That’s that sorted then.’ says Lily. ‘We’ll do Art, Media, English, Maths and the sciences - and yes, that’s including Chemistry.’

‘Okay, whatever. I’m going to go up now if that’s okay.’

‘Alright. I’ll call you for tea in about half an hour or so, yeah?’

‘Thanks. Are you staying to eat with us, Pads?’ Harry asks Sirius, taking his empty bowl and spoon across to the sink.

‘No, I’m having dinner with Remus, its only a quick visit today really. But another time, eh? Once Moony’s out of bed we’ll come together and stay a bit longer.’

‘That’d be cool.’

‘Oh, and Haz?’ Sirius calls as Harry heads towards the doorway.

‘Yeah?’

‘Fifteen across, six letters, “a habitually discontented person”.’

‘I dunno, grouch?’

‘You’re a genius, mate. Cheers.’

[letteredlettered]

Hi! I was wondering are there any other pairings that you would consider for Draco and Harry? What appeals to you about those pairings?

Honestly, the only other person I ship Harry with is Ginny. I'm not likely to read Harry/Ginny fic, but that's a ship I can really imagine being happily ever after in a way that lives on in my head. Meanwhile I will totally read Harry/Snape, Harry/Sirius, or the crossgen ships, but I do not ship them and mostly really just want some nice smut in those corners of the fandom.

But for Draco, I ship Draco/Hermione in a major way. But I'm really afraid of reading fic for them because I'm just kind of assuming the dynamic will be a lot of a) Hermione deciding Ron isn't her intellectual equal and therefore is a bad partner, which is something I cannot stand and makes me almost want to like Ron out of sheer spite, b) Hermione deciding Malfoy is her intellectual equal and therefore a suitable partner, when he's really not; no one is her intellectual equal and that really is okay, c) Hermione deciding Malfoy is really hot and fuckable, or d) Malfoy deciding Hermione's gotten really hot and fuckable because she's smoothing down her hair and wearing fashionable clothes, which I despise viscerally.

Meanwhile all I've ever wanted in my life is Malfoy growing up and being a bit more mature and having some regrets and then meeting Hermione again and absolutely losing his mind for her. Like she is so smart and so talented and so powerful and so honorable and so good that he just worships her. And he's like "well that's very nice; I've turned over a new leaf and can respect a Muggleborn; I am an improved member of society," except his dick keeps being inconvenient about it.

And slowly Malfoy realizes that Hermione with her bushy hair and bad clothes is perhaps the hottest woman on earth. And it really, really sucks because Hermione is infinitely kind to him and the only person in this new society who has ever really given former Death Eaters, and also him specifically, a second chance. And she's so warm to him and generous and good and laughs at his little jokes. And also she would never be romantically interested in him in like. Ever.

She's literally never thought of him that way, not even once. She mostly pities him and kind of thinks he's a funny little guy. And Harry is like WTF he called you slurs and you were tortured in his house, and she's like, "We must move beyond our past, Harry," and she really does, but it literally never occurs to her that Malfoy is a man. He's a human being who deserves a chance. And at some point maybe someone even points out that Malfoy is a man that may have some kind of romantic or sexual desires in this world, like maybe they think Malfoy's a hunk and wonder who he might be dating, and Hermione is a startled by this because she's literally never considered it and then goes right back to not considering it, she has so little interest.

This is really the fic that I want to read. Like Draco making heart eyes for hundreds of pages and meanwhile Hermione pioneers space travel and the cure for cancer. BUT I would also be fine if eventually Hermione did notice him and return his affection, but only after like, a RIDICULOUS amount of him pining while she is so completely oblivious that she makes Wei Wuxian look super aware.

Anyway, that's my other main Draco ship, though I quite like Draco/Ginny too. I'm not sold on a particular ship dynamic, though I somehow doubt fic about them is really focused on the shared trauma of Voldemort befriending them and using them and threatening them and throwing them away, which is what I would really be into for them. I also just think they're kind of hot, I guess, though honestly most Ginny pairings are hot because she's hot.

I'll read some crossgen stuff and I'd possibly read like, idk, Draco/Lupin or Draco/Neville and like it, but I think my heart is really set on Draco/Harry or Draco/Hermione, even if I'll never read the latter.

[ecargmura]

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions Episode 14 Review - House Of M's Challenge

In those days, people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee away. - Revelations 9:6

Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions/Deranged Detective is back! This is my most anticipated show for this season, so I’m super stoked my Kamondays are back! It’s crazy how the first season aired in Fall 2023 and now it’s Fall 2024—an exact year! This episode basically starts where the finale of season 1 left off. I highly suggest you watch the first season to know what the heck is going on because there are no recaps of Season 1. It just drops you onto a new case straight away.

The new case is basically a challenge from the House of M, a notorious crime family and the ones responsible for getting Ron suspended from Blue Academy and getting his detective license. Did I also mention that they’re his distant estranged relatives? Go watch Season 1 if you want to know what the heck is going on. They’re also the ones who carved the scar on his neck. Now, they’re on the move, challenging Ron’s sleuthing skills as Winter Moriarty kills people under his and Toto’s noses.

While Ron’s quirky antics and Toto’s outbursts to them are still present, they’re not presented much as the tone of the episode is a lot more serious than before. Ron still breaks into the crime scene pretending to advertise his sweets delivery business that probably does exist. This case is a lot more serious this time around as Winter is actively killing and targeting three people involved in a cryptocurrency case. They’re the main culprit and I do wonder how Ron and Toto will corner them. By the way, Winter’s gender is ambiguous, so I’ll refer to them using NB pronouns so it’ll be easier on my part.

This is a case where we, the viewers, know who the culprit already is, but the question is how Ron and Toto are going to track them down.  I think the cases have become a lot more creative in the sense that Winter’s clues for Ron are very clever. They used a symbol that looked like a zero but it’s a bird’s eye view of the Shibuya Scramble intersection and what the neck said, another murder happened at 10:00 am. This gives Ron and Toto a sense of urgency. Another murder will happen at 11:00 am in a place where a triangle is and if they don’t hurry and find Winter, it’ll be his loss. I sort of find the time limit challenge interesting as this is the first in the story. I do wonder what will happen if Ron wins, will Winter die? What will happen if Ron loses? It’s a high stakes battle.

I feel like the animation did improve compared to the first season. While the quality still looks the same as it did in the previous season, I do feel like the movement feels more fluid. I guess it’s because this case is a lot more action-packed? 

The voice acting for all the characters is still great. However, I want to give a shout out to Yumiri Hanamori as her voice for Winter gradually improved. Back in Episode 9 when Winter first debuted, Hanamori gave Winter a rather unfitting high-pitched voice, but now, it seems that she lowered her pitch for them and they sound more gender ambiguous now. I like it!

The opening is pretty catchy and it’s a lot different than the first season’s opening. I do wonder if the studio will take time to change some details for the opening like how they did for Season 1. If they don’t, I’m alright with it. The ending is nice. The song soothes the intense feeling of the episode, so it’s totally a respite of sorts.

Oh, about the quote at the very top, Revelations 9:6 has been mentioned often in this episode. The quote is written like this in the copy of the Bible that I own. It’s interesting how Akira Amano uses a bible verse as some sort of clue. It sort of makes sense given that the Moriarity family are British and the common religions practiced there is Christianity. I can’t believe I had to open the Bible to get a quote from an anime that revolves around killing. Crazy world we live in.

I honestly can’t wait to see what Season 2 has to offer in terms of cases and how they’ll be solved. I know that Ron and Toto will win this, but how? I can’t wait to find out! If you’re going to watch this show or if you have already watched it, what are your thoughts?

Oh yeah, just because it’s the more commonly used title now, I’ll be titling this season as Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions starting Episode 14!

[a-forbidden-detective]

Karaoke love

This is written for @flashfictionfridayofficial with the prompt #FFF238 Take my hand and for @fluffbruary February 2 prompt : engagement | scent | jam

—

Beware of manga spoilers for the latest chapter. This is exactly 1000 words. I was totally into it at the end. I hope the ending makes sense. Heh!

Toto takes a shot from his whiskey glass, easing himself up. It’s his turn to sing. The screen monitor shows the song that he’s chosen awhile back. The truth is his singing is only confined to the four corners of the flat and his shower cabin in Asakusa.

Ron mentioned once that his love for singing in the shower is one of the rare times when Toto lets himself go apart from his innate resoluteness. But come to think of it, Ron didn’t say much about the quality of his singing voice, Toto has only been just self-conscious ever since that incident that he never sings anymore whenever he stays at Ron’s apartment.

Who suggested going to the karaoke bar anyway? Ah, it was Kawasemi-san. Today is the last day that he’s going to be in town and coincidentally his birthday that for all intents and purposes, Dr. Mofu asked him what else he wanted to do in Tokyo before going back to Aichi.

They rent a private room at the Karaoke Kan in Shibuya. The shop became famous when it was featured in a Western film in the early 2000s about two Americans, who found each other amidst the backdrop very alien to them: from food to cultural references. The premises have become a Mecca for tourists.

The whole gang is here. Amamiya, who tags along these days, and Dr. Mofu didn’t have the time when they went to Kamakura for sightseeing two days ago. So, they made sure that they were present this time around before sending Kawasemi-kun back to Nagoya. The only one who’s missing is Spitz, who cannot leave London at the moment and is disgruntled with a dash of envy in his body when he finds out their plans.

“Ack, Tototo! I am going to miss your performance. Ron-kun says that he has a rock ‘n’ roll singer living in his house.” Toto laughed when he heard this.

Should Toto stand up?

An arm gathers around him, as if grounding him. While the hand holds his shoulder, firm and yet tender. Toto turns to his left; Ron’s blue eyes confront him. Relax.

“Y-yeah…” Toto has calmed down a bit.

The first notes of a raunchy electric guitar surge, he poses to belt out the text that flashes on the screen.

“I'm an alligator/ I'm a mama-papa comin' for you / I'm the space invader / I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you / Keep your mouth shut … Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe … Press your space face close to mine, love / Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!”

His friends are fired up, hooting at the way Toto playfully sings a David Bowie song. Chikori-kun’s admiration skyrockets to 200 per cent. Her eyes scream of glowing stars. Kawasemi kun sings along. He knows it by heart and has been a Bowie fan. He’s so glad that Toto made a little research about him. Dr. Mofu’s face breaks into a giggle as she stops conversing with Amamiya, who cannot stop smiling. Toto, gyrating before her very eyes, has transformed into another person. And Ron? He’s looking at Toto with his hungry eyes, his hands won’t stop rubbing his thighs clothed in loose jeans. He then places his right hand into his pocket and reaches for a small box inside, feeling glad that he hasn’t lost the engagement ring.

You deserve all the good things in the world, Toto!

As the Tokyo police officer hits the end notes, Toto bows to the delight of his friends clapping and whistling on his way.

“Thank you so much!”

Ron hands him a glass of water and half-hugs him when he’s already seated.

“You did well, Toto!”

Toto mouths his thanks as he downs another glass when the next song starts to play. Chikori kun can’t stop herself from gushing when he notices that Ron stands up.

Oh, he’s next. Toto is darn curious now. He knows that Ron can sing really well as expected of him.

“Wise men say / Only fools rush in / But I can't help falling in love with you / Shall I stay? / Would it be a sin / If I can't help falling in love with you?”

All of a sudden, the whole room turns quiet. No one claps, nor whistles. As if a magician does his trick enchanting the audience. Everyone is glued watching Ron does his interpretation of a popular Elvis Presley song.

Toto is fastened on his seat, mouth agape. Ron is looking at him, his intentions are clear. His heart beats faster, aware of his surroundings and the four sets of eyes that are focused on them.

“Take my hand / Take my whole life, too / For I can't help falling in love with you…”

Ron sits next to Toto and seizes his hand. He begins to speak.

“I am glad that our friends are here to give me support and witness the promise I will say here today. Too bad that Spitz isn’t around but he already knows my plans.”

Toto’s face is red now not because of the alcohol but specifically because of Ron, who is in front of him, who is now removing an object from his pocket.

“Toto, I know that it is all so sudden. But, after all the things that happened between us, I believe that there is an understanding that we can’t live without each other and instead prepare to die together if we are faced with a choice, are you willing to be my partner for life? Will you marry me?”

Toto’s mouth quiver, why hasn’t he never thought that this day will come? Ah, that’s why he can never be as good as Ron when it comes to sleuthing.

He then grabs Ron’s face and in front of everyone kisses Ron, his fiancé. Without remorse nor embarrassment while their friends say their congratulations.

“Yes!”

~ fin ~

[joka13]

FANFICTION: Weasley Twins x Reader (Slytherin Girl) - Part 25

WARNINGS: passionate kissing, British swearing

For once, you're happy to go to your classes. They'll hopefully help get your mind off of all of your problems. And, even better, today you get to continue Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. Towards the end of your second class, your excitement keeps you from focusing on the assignment. Once it is time for lunch, you gobble down your food and hurry the twins to do the same, and then the three of you head up to the Room of Requirement.

You're a little disappointed when Harry begins with the basics. Though it seems simple, Harry insists that the disarming spell, "expelliarmus", could mean the difference between life and death. He has Ron help him demonstrate the spell. They point their wands at each other, Harry speaks the magic word, and Ron's wand goes soaring across the room.

"Alright then..." Harry says, turning back to the crowd. "Let's split up into pairs. Everyone, find a partner."

Almost immediately, Fred and George latch onto each of your arms.

"Y/n is my partner!" George announces to the world, pulling you closer to himself.

Fred tugs you the other way. "No, she's mine," he chortles, as if George was joking.

"Ladies, please," you say, wrenching yourself free of the twins' hands. "Control yourselves!"

George chuckles sheepishly, running a hand through his thick, red hair. Fred merely shrugs with a shameless grin.

"Are you guys having any trouble?" It's Harry. He's been walking around, checking on his new pupils.

"Yeah," replies Fred. "Trouble picking partners."

"Oh. Well, uh..." Harry searches the room. "It looks like everyone else is paired up. I suppose I can be someone's partner... George?"

George's shoulders slump forward, and he looks at you like a sad puppy. "Yeah, alright. Lead the way, Professor Potter." You hear Harry laugh as you follow Fred over to a vacant corner of the room where you both can spar, and it makes you smile. Harry hardly ever laughs anymore.

"Alright, let's do this!" Fred exclaims, obviously happy that he got you as his partner. He points his wand at you, standing with his right foot forward, and holds his left hand out behind him.

You laugh. "We're not fencing, you know."

Fred's enthusiasm dies for a brief moment, his stance weakening. "Well, I—"

"Expelliarmus!" you shout, and Fred is left empty handed.

Fred's mouth hangs open in shock. "Y/n...!"

You shrug your shoulders and flutter your eyelashes at him innocently. "I'm only playing the game!"

The surprise on Fred's handsome face turns into a dangerously sly expression that makes your face redden. "I see," he says. He doesn't move to fetch his wand, but starts slowly toward you instead. "If that's how you want to play it..." You walk backwards, giggling giddily and wondering what he plans to do as he draws closer. When you think you've reached the wall and don't run into hard stone, you look back to find that an open doorway has magically formed behind you. You gasp in alarm while Fred grins crookedly, totally unfazed. It seems that the Room of Requirement has created a small hiding spot for just the two of you. You silently thank the Room as Fred finishes, "Then you won't mind if I cheat a little bit."

Fred corners you into the little stone cubicle with a rather fervent, perfectly intoxicating kiss. His big, warm hands cup the sides of your face gently, yet purposefully. You absolutely bask in the moment, closing your eyes and once again letting your head spin because of that delightful honey-redwood scent. You feel Fred's hands slide from your face and down your arms. It isn't until your wand slips out of your grasp that you realize what Fred is doing, and your eyes snap open.

Fred backs away and holds up your wand with a triumphant smile. "Expelliarmus," he sniggers.

You laugh out loud, but quickly stop yourself in case the Room of Requirement didn't make the walls sound-proof. "I'm not even angry," you snort, taking your wand back and tossing it aside (a soft pillow conveniently appears to catch it before it hits the floor). Fred's eyebrows rise in surprise when you grab his loosely knotted Gryffindor tie and tug on it teasingly. "But I might be soon if you don't come back here."

The tops of Fred's ears turn red and he clears his throat, grinning flusteredly. "Yes, ma'am!" he laughs and obediently proceeds to kiss you again, swiftly picking up an intense level of energy that sends your heart pounding as you do your best to match it.

But Fred's exceeding height makes it difficult for you two to reach each other. Fred has to bend down quite a bit; you want to wrap your arms around his neck, but can't entirely even when you're standing on the tips of your toes.

"You... are... too... tall!" you giggle in between kisses.

Fred lets out a low grumble that communicates something in between agreement and impatience.

Then, to your surprise, Fred clamps his large hands around your waist and lifts, carrying you like a pot of water a couple paces before sitting you down on a sort of stone bench (that wasn't there before) which protrudes from the wall about four and a half feet above the ground.

You're delighted to discover that you are now sitting at precisely Fred's height. He appears satisfied as well, smiling that handsome, crooked grin before diving for your lips once again.

Fred kisses you passionately, fiercely, hungrily, pushing you up against the wall like he can't get you close enough. Now you easily hug his neck, feeling your hands around his strong back and broad shoulders. Fred's own hands gradually come back around out of the hug and slip down your waist to rest at your hips, his forearms on your legs. His kisses slacken and begin to move.

Fred kisses the side of your mouth, then your cheek, and beneath your ear. You've closed your eyes by now and open them momentarily when you feel his fingers brush your hair aside. Fred follows with a line of lovely kisses that trail down your neck, causing goosebumps to rise on your arms, and your eyelids close again involuntarily. Fred comes to a halt when his mouth reaches the collar of your dress shirt that keeps him from going any further.

"Hmm," Fred's deep voice hums in your ear. You hold back what would be an enjoyed shiver, and feel something tug lightly at your collar. "I'd very much like to remove this..."

You feel yourself blush severely, but he can't see it so you play it off coolly with a chuckle. "Sorry, love," you say softly, petting the back of his head. "It's not the time and place for it."

"I suppose you're right," Fred sighs in mild disappointment. He plants one more kiss on your lips and pulls away. "Though I can't imagine—"

You gasp as the sudden realization hits you, and Fred's eyebrows lift in surprise. "The time!How long have we been here? Is lunchtime over yet? Has everyone left?"

"Ah," Fred replies, nodding once. He helps you down off of the stone seat before you can squirm off. "I doubt George would leave without us." You go to snatch your wand from the pillow and you rush out of the little room with Fred close behind.

"There you are!" It's George. Other than you and Fred, he's the only person left in the Room of Requirement. He comes trotting up to you, wearing a relieved smile. He hands Fred his wand. "Where in the world did the both of you bloody apparate to?"

"Over there," Fred responds, jutting his thumb back over his shoulder. You and George look to see nothing but a full, stone wall, and you wonder how no one had noticed the opening while you and Fred had occupied it. "We only stepped away for a quick peck."

A contagious, ecstatic grin spreads across George's just previously confused face, and he looks to you. You blush slightly and shrug. "It was a little more than a peck..."

Then George looks down somewhere below your gaze, and his expression morphs into one of concern. "What's that on your neck?" he asks.

Your hand immediately flies to the side of your neck where Fred had kissed you. No way. That's all it had been, right? Only kisses. There's no way Fred had given you a... a hickey without you realizing it... right? You swallow nervously and turn to face Fred with a look of partially accusatory questioning.

"No! Nope, I did no such thing!" Fred snorts, shaking his head back and forth quickly. He glares half jokingly at George who laughs.

"George!" You punch him hard in the arm. "You had me scared out of my socks!"

George rubs his bicep in pain, but continues to laugh. Fred can't help but join in and soon you have to let go of your anger and find yourself chuckling, too.

"How did you know?" you ask George as you, him, and Fred exit the Room of Requirement with your arms linked together (with you in the middle, as usual). "That I'd fall for that?"

"Fred always goes for the neck," George responds simply.

"Wha— I do not!" Fred defends, and you laugh.

[olliethescribe]

oh boy it’s @tmntaucompetition propoganda! Warren doesn’t know how he got roped into doing another one of these but hey, at least he has Ron with him this time

***

“Oh, god, there’s a lot of ya…”

Warren looked around at the vast sea of turtles that surrounded him. There were hundreds of them and only one him, with his turtles walking ahead of him and freaking out over their many alternate selves. They chatted excitedly, Donnie taking DNA samples of his duplicates when no one was looking. 

Warren’s pirate costume that Leo convinced him was a fashion must for the competition itched. The slider had joked about Warren having two peg legs, much to Warren’s chagrin. Yep, having a normal one. He sighed quietly to himself. At least there weren’t anymore horses to kick him out during round one like that first time. 

Beside the cloaked anchorman stood his husband, Ron, the magician not bothering to cloak among so many mutants. Didn’t help that plenty of the turtles they didn’t know were glaring at him. Like they knew something he didn’t. So Ron kept his gaze to his own kids and fiddled with his bandana for his own pirate costume, his talking parrot sadly unable to make it and left at home with the other birds for the weekend. 

“You think there’s any more like us here?” Ron said, looking around and scanning the crowd in short bursts. It was always lonely at these competitions. He had managed to bond with Donnie last time, even managed to make it past a round, but to be in a room without any other versions of himself felt odd. So many universes and yet there were barely anymore of him. 

And then he saw them. Off in a corner, away from everyone else, sat another version of himself with a Warren to boot. Above them hung a banner that said ‘Mutini’s AU’. Maybe things were turning around after all.

“Warren, look!” 

Ron pointed but Warren wasn’t paying attention. In fact, his husband was looking up at a massive board filled with brackets as far as the eye could see. The newscaster was grimacing as his eyes wandered to where ‘No Crime* Only Brooches’ was placed. 

“Casey’s gonna revoke our ally card.”  

The newscaster swallowed his nerves as he shook off the feeling of impending doom. They’ll be fine! They were always fine! Totally… totally fine… 

He looked around while taking a breath, the familiar reassuring squeeze of Ron’s hand over his calming his nerves. In front of him were his kids, all three of them. Wait, three? Oh god, oh god, oh god!

“Wait, where’s Donnie?!”

“He saw some version of himself with wings and a tutu and went running off. Don’t worry about it, pops, he’ll be back.” Leo fished an Tracking Tag out of his side bag and smiled. “Plus if he can track us everywhere then I can track him.”

He went to track the other tag and heard a beep right beside him. Only to look down and immediately find it. On the floor. With no Donnie attached. 

“Uh oh…” 

Ron and Warren exchanged a weary look. 

“Splinter’s gonna kill us.”

[sailtomarina]

Let me take a picture

This totally ran away from me and turned from a microfic into 1500ish words. Draco and muggle technology is just too good.

Hermione could feel someone’s eyes on her again.

Every time she swung around to look, nobody was there. If she hadn’t already known Harry was out on holiday she would’ve suspected invisibility cloak foul play, and Ron was too busy these days juggling shop duties with fatherhood. Despite her biggest suspicions falling through, she knew she wasn’t imagining things. Her instincts had almost never failed her since their ridiculous school years and she knew better than to doubt them now.

The question then was how to catch her stalker in the act.

Feigning ignorance, she nonchalantly stood from the table where her pure blood law research piled high and pretended to search for more tomes in the manor’s library. She pulled down loosely related books and tapped them to magically appear at her table, working herself deeper into the stacks towards an alcove in the back where one of her favorite reading chairs sat. It was criminal, really, how soft its cushions were. Library seating should retain a certain level of discomfort to ensure occupants stay focused. This chair welcomed her as readily as her bed, and she spent more time napping in it than any kind of reading.

Curling up under the throw blanket left over from her last visit, she yawned and snuggled down into a position facing the only entry point before closing her eyes. It was time to test the spell she had discovered just yesterday.

“Oculus secreto,” she whispered.

Instantly, the blackness unfurled like a curtain allowing her to see just as clearly as if her eyes were open. The only hint that her spell had worked as intended was the faint gold shimmer across the entire surface. Hermione willed her body to relax, slowing and evening out her breaths into a convincing semblance of slumber. It didn’t take long for her trap to spring shut.

A body turned the corner of the far shelf and silently walked in her direction. She knew that confident stride. It took every bit of her willpower to keep up the facade when the figure came into full view.

Draco Malfoy, Lord of this very manor. Husband. Voyeur.

He tilted his head, checking her body for any sign of awareness. A slow smirk spread across his face and he knelt close in front of her. What he did next defied all of Hermione’s expectations.

He pulled out his cellphone, the same iPhone she had gifted him last Christmas and that he claimed to loathe, and lined it up in what was undeniably landscape mode.

Eyes snapping open and hand darting out to grasp the startled man’s wrist, Hermione leveled him with a smile designed to send her most hated enemies screaming in the opposite direction. This was the woman who cursed Marietta Edgecombe and imprisoned Rita Skeeter. This was the woman who dared the Wizengamot to disagree with her vehement defense of Narcissa and Draco’s involvement in the war, along with others under similar duress. This was the woman currently rooting out every antiquated pure blood law under the sun to burn them into ashes.

“Draco, honey, what do you think you’re doing?”

If only his friends could see him now, quailing under his wife’s eye. “I just wanted to uh…to take a picture.”

“And have you been doing that often?”

Good Godric, he was adorable in his panic. She could see his heavy swallow as he searched for an answer. 

“Nooo?”

For a man so practiced in both occlumency and legilimency, he left all walls completely down in her presence.

“Show me.” She let go of him and held her hand palm up, brow raised in expectation.

He sank down to sit more comfortably on the floor at her feet and swipe his fingers across the screen. Hermione narrowed her eyes once more at his familiarity with the device. Last time she checked, he seemed to not even know which end was up, much less how to actually use it.

He took a deep breath before surrendering his phone for inspection. What she saw once again shocked her speechless.

Draco Malfoy had an Instagram account. Draco Malfoy used Insta.

Not only did he use his real name, but his profile included the blurb, “Snapshots worth remembering.” His feed consisted almost completely of shots of her laughing, reading, frowning, and sleeping. Overhead food pics and macro shots of flowers from their gardens sprinkled the collection of images. He even made sure to include a similar filter over everything so one picture seamlessly scrolled to the next.

“Please say something.” Her eyes darted up to meet his anxious ones, an uncertain cast to his features that very few people would ever see.

Lowering her gaze back down and continuing to scroll through what was admittedly a tasteful array of photos, she carefully considered her reply.

“You have an eye for photography.” Meeting his eyes once more, she assured him with a small smile and cupped his cheek with her hand, thumb brushing his lips. “Though I wish you had told me earlier. I thought someone was following me.”

He nodded sheepishly. “I find I enjoy candid shots the most. The challenge of capturing an emotion in real time gives me immense pleasure. I’m sorry. I should have asked your permission first, especially knowing how much you hate publicity.”

She smirked in response. After all the hell she raised about Skeeter’s “journalism,” reporters knew now to double and triple check sources before daring to write about Hermione. She tapped to return to the top of his feed and noticed the lock icon.

“Yes, you should have asked first. Though I do appreciate that your account is set to private. I guess that’s why I never noticed you as a possible mutual before.”

“Potter helped set it all up exactly as I wanted, and….I admit these phones are brilliant.” The beautiful man was now running his hand nervously through his hair, mussing it up just how she liked. “I…may have set my mum with another phone so she could take her own flower pictures.”

Hermione barked out a laugh at the idea of Narcissa handling the tool like an explosive while surrounded by blooming roses. “I take it she’s one of your 3 followers?”

“You are correct.”

“And the other two?”

“Potter…Weaslette.” He winced as she smacked him on the arm.

“Harry I can understand, but Ginny? You told Ginny before telling me?”

“They’re husband and wife! What did you expect him to do? You know he sucks at hiding anything from her.” He tilted his head as Hermione suddenly sat up and fished around in her pockets for her own phone.

“You will friend me this instant.”

His eyes crinkled up in the most adorable way when he smiled.

“Let me take a picture.”

“I thought you only do candid shots.”

“Usually, yes, but this is a special occasion. My wife wants to friend me.”

Giggling, Hermione tugged him into the chair with her, positioning herself onto his lap and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

With all the expertise of a selfie veteran, Draco positioned the phone and pressed a reverent kiss to her cheek. The click was, of course, silenced as it captured the moment of marital bliss.

***

“Oh, gag me, they are insufferably cute.”

Harry propped his head over his witch’s shoulder to see what captured her attention. A selfie of Draco and Hermione displayed itself like some kind of professional photograph with the following caption: “001: Sunday afternoon kiss in the library.”

“Did he photoshop this? The man has no pores!” Ginny zoomed in on his face, appalled at the absence of any blemishes.

“Looks like she knows now. His follower count is up to 4.”

“What did she do to him? He even set it as his profile picture!” Shaking her head in amazement, the redhead dropped her hand and leaned back to kiss her own prat on the cheek. “Tell me we aren’t that barmy.”

“I think it’s romantic.” Harry grinned as she rolled her eyes.

“You would.”

“His title even implies he’ll take hundreds more like this.”

“How does he even know how to take a selfie? I swear this is the first one he’s posted.”

Pausing to consider her question, Harry smirked when the realization hit him. “Do you seriously think he doesn’t have a million Malfoy selfies on his phone? Just because he hasn’t posted them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

A gleam in her eye revealing her relation to the infamous Weasley twins, Ginny excitedly started furiously swiping at her phone.

“…Ginny? What are you doing?”

“I’m creating a private novelty account. When we get back home, you will offer to update Draco’s phone and transfer his selfies to me.”

“Do I even want to know?” He shuddered at the look of pure glee on her face.

“Draco unmasked. A selfie a day keeps poverty at bay.”

“Babe. No.”

“Babe. YES. The snakes will love it.”

He walked away shaking his head at the cackling behind him. Why couldn’t she have reacted by taking their own selfie? As more time passed, the more he related to Malfoy. Their wives were menaces.

He pulled out his phone to text him.

New app out I think you’ll like. When we get back I’ll show you how to use it.

The things we do for love.

[black-occamy]

Cocoa By Night

A little Drarry fluff, 1630 words, #occamy-verse

I wanted to create this as a birthday gift, hoping that I could return at least a tiny bit of the joy I have every time @basiatlu posts anything on her Tumblr. I love your Sirius, totally. Also, you encouraged me to incorporate this idea in my main, so it seemed fitting to mention the whole Draco-runs-from-home-and-kind-of-gets-adopted-at-Grimmauld in something dedicated for you for the first time :D So, without further ado - the prompt for #boshhptober2023 was NIGHTMARE.

Harry stared at the ceiling above his bed, the pattern of the old wooden panels blurry without his glasses on. It was shortly after midnight, his smartphone informed him, and Harry had spent a couple minutes scrolling absent-mindedly through Fwooper, before he put it down and tried to fall asleep again.

It wasn’t that Ron was snoring softly in the other bed in the room; Harry got used to that over the last five years of sleeping in one dormitory with him. It wasn’t the soft tap-tapping sound of the summer night rain falling on London outside the opened window, either. Hazy memory of the nightmare was difficult to put in words or even concepts, but it was there. Skulking in the corner of his brain, ready to extend its imaginary tendrils towards him the moment he would close his eyes. A menace, waiting to haunt him as soon as he dozes off.

Harry sighed, massaging his temples and reached out for his glasses on the bedside table. If he wasn’t falling asleep any time soon, he could at least use the opportunity to make himself a cup of cocoa.

Read under cut or on AO3 🖤

Floorboards squeaked under his bare feet. He cast a quick glance towards Ron, not wanting to wake his friend up, but then somewhat also hoping he wouldn’t have to face the darkness of the ancient house alone. To his slight disappointment, Ron had just mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over away from the source of the sound.

There was a certain spooky air to the house on Grimmauld Place 12 that resisted all the attempts of renovation. Harry walked carefully through the corridors that always seemed way too long for the size of the building, especially in the middle of the night. Floorboards here were covered by a thick carpet, muffling his steps, as he slowly made his way downstairs, past the portrait of Walburga Black, who was whispering something to herself. It wasn’t unusual in itself - they got used to the portrait trying to have a say in everything they were doing. The uneasy truce of last summer was at least paying off in that she didn’t scream her painted lungs off at anyone that crossed the corridor. There was something different in the tone of her whispers tonight, however. Something bordering on excitement, a certain unnerving giddiness in the unrecognisable words. Harry felt his hand slowly trailing to the pocket of his night robe, fingers wrapped around the wand on instinct.

He blamed that for his reaction a couple of seconds later, when he crossed the living room towards the kitchen and something moved in the pile of blankets on one of the sofas. Startled like that, Harry immediately jumped into a battle stance, wand pointed in the direction of the movement, his breath held.

“Are you going to hex me, Potter?” The voice that came from beneath the pile of blankets was annoyingly familiar.

“What… Malfoy?” Harry blinked, squinting to see better in the darkness. “What the… Lumos!”

Light revealed Draco’s pale face and the rest of him dressed in what looked like one of Sirius’ pyjamas. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes, grimacing and shooting Harry an annoyed stare.

“Blind me, then?”

“What the hell are you doing in my house, Malfoy?” Harry hissed, trying not to be too loud. A series of possible scenarios ran through his head, each one wilder than the previous and all equally unlikely. Draco Malfoy. In the living room. At Grimmauld Place. These three phrases didn’t actually fit, regardless how he slammed them together.

“Your house?” Draco rubbed his eyes and groaned. “Can you stop that? I cannot see shit right now.”

“It’s Sirius’ house, so it’s my house,” Harry lowered the wand, dimming the spell so that it was just enough to illuminate the room a little. “Again, where the hell did you come from?”

“The street,” Malfoy snapped. “I climbed through the kitchen window like a stray cat and crashed into this room, what do you think?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Your… guardian, my cousin, let me stay the night,” Draco explained, rolling his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious someone had to let me in here? Merlin, one would have thought your grasp on magic was better after those five years, Potter. This is a bloody fort, this house, with all the charms around it.”

“That still doesn’t explain anything, Malfoy,” Harry pointed out. He was not going to let the all-too-familiar dismissive tone of Draco's voice get to him. “It’s not like you could stumble on the front porch by accident and get yourself invited.”

“No, it’s not, is it?”

They stared at each other in tense silence, Draco hunched defensively on the makeshift bed in argyle pyjamas that was a couple sizes too big for him. His sleek hair was tousled, but not only from sleeping. Harry suddenly realised that Malfoy’s face was much paler than usual, bags under his eyes making him look tired and surprisingly older. And - somehow - on the run.

He lowered his wand. If Draco didn’t want to explain why, at least he wasn’t lying about the how. There was no way he would get inside Grimmauld Place without someone of the family members letting him in - Gemma made sure the spells on the front door would recognise their own and them only.

Regardless of the reasons for the heir of the Malfoy family to end up on a sofa in Grimmauld Place this summer night, common courtesy was to treat him as a guest, after all. Especially after waking him up like this.

“I was going to make myself some cocoa. Want to join?”

Malfoy stared at him with an incredulous look on his face. “For cocoa?”

“Or butterbeer. Sirius thinks he hides it well, but I know in which cupboard he stashes it,” Harry smirked. “Nothing too heavy, of course. He keeps those in his study.”

Draco opened his mouth, hesitated, then nodded. “Cocoa sounds good.”

Harry turned around and walked towards the kitchen, further dimming the light from his wand. Rustling sounds behind let him know that the other boy left the sofa and quickly followed in his footsteps. He resisted the urge to tease Malfoy for being scared of the dark. After all, it was the Grimmauld Place they were in.

He switched on the light in the kitchen and started rummaging through the shelves in search of the cocoa box. Draco was watching him from the seat he took at the table, narrowing his eyes when the cocoa turned out to be store-bought, but he said nothing. Not until the fridge was opened, at least.

“Are all the appliances Muggle around here?” he scoffed out loud and Harry felt himself grin at that.

“Careful. We use the phrase ‘non-magical’ in this house,” he warned. “Auntie Gem can hear the other one through the walls.”

The expression on Malfoy’s face was worth it, Harry decided in his head. Even if he did feel a little bad for him.

“Uh-huh.”

“Oat milk or rice milk?” Harry lifted up both containers and Draco stared at him with visible confusion for a long while. “Remus is vegan,” he explained. “So, which one?”

“Lupin is…”

“Oat is open, so we’re taking this one,” Harry decided, closing the fridge.

“You are all crazy here.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to fit right in. If you’re going to stay, that is.”

Draco scoffed and said nothing, eyeing him suspiciously while the milk heated up on the stove. When Harry put the steaming cup in front of him, his grey eyes brightened. Long fingers wrapped around the mug carefully, as if he was trying to absorb the warmth through his skin. Harry quickly decided to focus on his own cocoa.

They sat in silence for a while, with the only sounds being them drinking short careful sips and blowing over the surface of their drinks. Draco was the first to speak.

“It’s actually quite tasty,” he declared, then winced slightly and added. “For a non-magical beverage, that is.”

“Don’t burn yourself.”

“Sod off, Potter.”

Harry grinned. “You know, Malfoy, if someone had told me yesterday we’d be drinking hot cocoa in this kitchen together, I’d laugh my ass off.”

Draco stared at his mug for a long moment in silence.

“If you’d like to tell me why…”

“Not planning to!” Malfoy snapped, not looking at him. Harry raised his hands, palms up.

“Okay, okay, whatever. If Sirius let you borrow his pyjamas and stay in the house, that’s good enough for me. All I’m saying is, we don’t need to be fighting anymore, right? Not after…”

“Whatever, Potter.”

“Yeah, okay.”

He watched Draco’s fingers move around the mug nervously, tapping a rhythm. Slowly, the lines of his face softened into a careful smile. A nice one, Harry thought, somewhat more real than the usual, disdainful smirks Malfoy was known for in Hogwarts.

“If someone had told me yesterday I’d be happy to drink Mu… non-magical cocoa today, I’d hex them,” he said finally. “And if they told me you’d be the one making it…” his voice trailed off and Draco sighed.

“You’d hex them twice?” Harry suggested.

“Yeah, for real.”

It was surprisingly freeing to share a laugh with him, the boy who had been hell-bent on making his life miserable since the first year of school. Harry decided he wouldn’t mind doing it more often.

“It’s weird, Potter. Laughing with you other than at you, I mean.”

“I’d say it’s an improvement, wouldn’t you?”

Malfoy’s pale-grey eyes stared at him thoughtfully from above the cocoa mug. Then he grinned.

“Maybe…”

“I’ll take it,” Harry returned the smile. Funny, he thought, how it was the first time ever that he was glad for having his nightmares.

[laventadorn]

rough draft of two nje ch 15 scenes

so rough you could exfoliate with them! feel them strip the dead cells right off and leave your skin glowing and healthy*

*results not guaranteed

i've had an ass-kicking cold for the past four days; as in, it's kicking my ass. while i wait to breathe normally again, have some... more draco pov? idk why it's so easy and fun to write him -- maybe because i'm not emotionally invested in him and he's kind of a wet rag.

Harriet leaned over the bar, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You did not tell me,” she said in a low voice, “that it was this many people.”

“Well, I – didn’t know they were going to be this. Numerous,” Hermione said (squeakily). 

“They must’ve told their friends,” Ron muttered. “I swear we were just talking to prefects in our year–”

Asteria patted Harriet on the back. Her hand might’ve been shaking a little (or a lot). Harriet didn’t blame her one bit – instead of a few prefects, all the Gryffindors in their year had turned up – Dean, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and her sister Padma with her; Ginny and the other girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Fred and George; that Luna girl from the train; a handful of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws from their year who Harriet only knew in the most general way from sitting classes with them for five years; and, most surprisingly, Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang. At the sight of this many people trooping in to discuss her teaching them defense spells, Harriet had considered faking poisoning to get out of it – surely in the Hog’s Head it would be believable that she could’ve accidentally picked something up, even if it was just a long-term growth on her butterbeer bottle. 

In the end, the most she’d done was woodenly excuse herself and hunker down at the corner of the bar. Hermione, Ron, and Asteria, who’d been sitting in increasingly loud silence as the number of attendees grew, had scurried after her.

“Should we make a break for it?” Ron asked in a low voice. “I see a door behind the bar there. Probably leads to the yard.”

Harriet took off her glasses to scrub her hands over her face. Then she hooked the ends back over her ears with a sigh. “No . . . we’re already here. Anyway I’ve made more of a prat of myself in front of a bigger number of people.”

“You won’t make a. Prat of yourself,” said Hermione firmly. Asteria nodded vigorously, though she looked about to faint.

The barman gave a soft snort, like he didn’t agree. He seemed sort of familiar, but Harriet couldn’t place him. He was rubbing a dirty glass with an even dirtier rag, and she got the sense the only reason he hadn’t told them to bugger off was a disinclination for speaking to customers. 

“How can you say that, after knowing me all these years?” said Harriet to Hermione; she patted Asteria on the arm. “I make a prat of myself hourly. All right, let’s get this over with.”

Fred and George were handing out dusty bottles of butterbeer to the five-times-larger-than-Harriet-would’ve-preferred group that had overtaken a couple of tables to one side of the taproom. As she approached, all eyes pinned on her, and she almost made a break for the back door after all. She realized it was one thing to make a prat of herself spontaneously and quite another to get up in front of a bunch of people prepared to make a prat of herself. 

“Er,” she said. 

#

Draco breathed the open air in Hogsmeade. The best thing about it was that it was currently Pansy-free. 

Actually, he’d been having some good Pansy-free time lately. She was so fired up with this Inquisitors business, she’d stopped resembling a human-shaped growth on his arm. Prefects had to follow certain guidelines, but Umbridge’s Inquisitors had more leeway to properly abuse power. Draco hadn’t really known Pansy would have the initiative, but she’d proven quite good at conjuring up random infractions to inflict on people; other Houses were leaking points in small but significant totals. He was sort of impressed, but if she wasn’t careful, she was going to wind up with a head full of leeks when somebody snapped and hexed her. 

He’d also seen her scheming a lot with Daphne, probably to get back at Potter. He’d heard Tracey warning Daphne off – “You don’t want Potter as an enemy, don’t you remember?” – but he hadn’t said anything to Pansy. Aside from the fact that she wouldn’t listen, it wasn’t his business to make her smart about it. Besides, if she was busy crafting Potter voodoo dolls in dark corners, she wasn’t clinging on to him. 

Yes, he had a lot of time to himself lately. It was . . . rather quiet. 

Really, he wasn’t sure he liked it. His mind tended to go places that were dark and full of shadows. 

And yet talking to people was so much work these days. They hadn’t been – where he’d been.

(Wasn’t it pathetic? He was fine now. Why should he still struggle to fall asleep in the dark because it was dark?)

He was drifting down a side street when he saw something peculiar: Asteria and Potter meeting up with – Granger and the Weasel. 

He edged behind a street lamp, but he was far enough away that they didn’t spot him. But he couldn’t be too careful: Gryffindors might be oblivious as a fence-post, but Asteria had been better taught in Slytherin. And he’d noticed her tall form and fair hair. 

Asteria was hanging back a little behind Potter, who seemed to be making introductions, if the way Granger was smiling and Weasley giving a cringingly awkward wave was any indication. Asteria sort of twitched at them. Well, she could be cringingly awkward too, even if she was enormously good-looking and of much better breeding than the Weasel.  

They didn’t linger long after these first hellos, but headed off down the street. Potter still kept herself between Asteria and the others, as if providing a shield. 

Still edged behind the street-lamp, Draco reached up and touched the brooch he always wore on his lapel since his mother had given it to him - a Black family heirloom that activated a concealment spell with the right trigger. A quick check in a dusty shop window showed a nondescript wizard, not suspiciously plain, but unremarkable, standing in his place. 

Off he went after them. They stopped one street over and, after a brief pause in which Potter traded looks with her cronies, headed into a dingy building that Draco recognized from his third year, but had never ventured near since. 

The Hog’s Head? 

He almost turned to make a very dignified exit in a very opposite direction . . . but he reminded himself that the barman wouldn’t recognize him like this; his mother did not pass on useless trinkets. And besides, if Potter and cronies were about to get tossed out on their ears, he wanted to see.

The bar was the same as he remembered: filthy, low-class, poorly lit. The same candles stuck to the dirt-encrusted tables in their own wax; the same bay windows that probably hadn’t been cleaned since the goblin rebellion of 1612; the same floor you couldn’t see for all the grime and sawdust. The same bartender. . . 

You are not Draco Malfoy; you are a gormless nobody named Deacon Pines. 

He took a seat at the bar. The barman glanced at him with a sardonic gleam in his eye.

“Firewhiskey sour,” said Draco, with an accent that made him sound like Potter. 

The barman stared at him a moment longer with a gimlet eye, but made the drink and shoved it over. Draco held a single sip in his mouth, trying not to cringe. How his father could drink these. . .

Potter was sitting in a corner, easily visible from his seat at the bar, talking in low tones with Granger and the Weasel. Asteria sat at her side, content to be ignored, but looking round the room. He had actually never had call to observe her this closely or at leisure: she almost always faded from notice, and she seldom spent time in places around loads of other people. But shielded from notice beside Potter, she didn’t seem as jittery as usual. 

Then her eyes widened. Draco couldn’t help looking over his shoulder, and almost spat out his mouthful of whiskey.

A whole troop of people were marching across the threshold. The barman even dropped his scowl of suspicion to gape at the amount of Hogwarts students now cluttering up his taproom. Draco hunkered down at his spot at the bar – he wasn’t Asteria, shaken up by somebody looking in his mere direction, but he didn’t fancy being noticed by this crowd of Slytherin-haters when he was alone and unallied.

He glanced up; Potter had come to the other end of the bar, and was leaning over it like she wanted to brain herself on the edge. Asteria was patting her on the back. Granger and Weasley seemed to be attempting some pep talk. 

Draco suddenly had a vision of himself having a minor wig-out in the corner, and Crabbe and Goyle trying to offer advice while Pansy rubbed his shoulders. He almost swallowed a burning mouthful of his rancid drink. As if Crabbe and Goyle would care enough to think of something to say – or be able to, even if they did. As if Pansy would be able to get over herself long enough to be soothing. 

He couldn’t hear the conversation, but after a moment Potter straightened up, face resigned, and turned back to the slack-brained crowd. What was she nervous about? 

“Er,” she said eloquently. 

All right, so maybe she was nervous because she had the public speaking skills of a puffskein. 

She darted a look at Granger, who moved up next to her. 

“Thank you for. Coming,” said Granger in that stop-start way she had these days. “Well, we – put together this meeting for – people with concerns and – questions about. . . some recent things.” She swallowed; Potter, arms folded, shifted her stance a bit so that her shoulder was touching Granger’s. Granger’s chin came up a little. 

“And because we need to learn Defense and certainly there’s no – proper teacher this year – ”

“Hear, hear!” said one of the heinous Weasley twins. A titter went through the group. 

“I take it you’re worried about passing your O.W.L.s too?” asked one of the Ravenclaw swots. Behind Granger and Potter, Weasley rolled his eyes. Draco would never agree with the Weasel, who was barely literate, but Merlin’s beard, did Ravenclaws ever shut up about grades?

Granger was answering that question when a blond Hufflepuff from their Quidditch team – Zanius or something – interrupted her with a nasally voice:

“I have a question.”

Potter raised her eyebrows at his tone, but said, “Yeah?”

“Why’d you bring her here?” He pointed behind her – at Asteria, who went bright red. “Everyone’s seen you palling around with a Slytherin, but to just waltz in here together – how do you know she’s not a spy for that Umbridge?”

Asteria shrunk in on herself. Weasley scowled at that wart Zanius, but everyone else held their breath, as if waiting to see how Potter would handle this. They’d surely been wondering the same thing.

“Asteria is my friend,” said Potter coldly, but the look in her eye blazed, even in the smoke-stained light. “If you don’t trust your friends, that’s not my problem – nor is who I choose to be friends with any of your business. If you don’t like it, you know where the door is.”

Asteria looked up at her, and if those weren’t stars in her eyes, Draco wasn’t a Malfoy. Zanius’ mouth hung open a little, before he turned a dull read.

“It was just a question,” he muttered. 

“Right,” said Potter, with sarcasm so good a Slytherin wouldn’t have been ashamed to use it. “Glad to answer it for you.

“So,” she continued into the weighted silence. Her nerves appeared to have been tempered in the fire of Gryffindor righteousness; she no longer looked like she wanted to leap over the tables and run out the door. “If anyone has any real questions – ones about blokes called Voldemort, or anything you actually came here for – now’s the time.”

The Weasley twins traded raised eyebrows. Several people looked impressed, a couple like it was their turn to want to scurry out the door. Draco certainly wouldn’t want Potter looking at him with that eye – it reminded him more than a little of the barkeep’s when he’d nabbed a third-year Draco asking for firewhiskey, or McGonagall’s when she found Crabbe doing unspeakable things to a mouse in class. 

“Is You-Know-Who the one who hurt Hermione Granger?” asked a sweet, soft voice – Draco thought her name was Loony Lovegood. Pansy made fun of her sometimes. Pansy said she was a nutter; Draco thought dotty. Her earrings looked like orange radishes, making her an even worse dresser than Potter.

Potter looked at Loony in silence for a moment, that militant light dimmed. Granger put her hand on Potter’s arm. 

“Yes,” she said simply. “Harriet saved my life.”

Murmurs shifted through the crowd like wind through the treetops. Draco looked down into his disgusting drink. 

What would that be like… murmured a voice in his mind. 

What, being captured by the Dark Lord? Granger’s a Mudblood, and she was only taken because she’s Potter’s best friend, so she made the best bait. Your family is loyal. . . you’ll be safe.

But Potter had gone to rescue her – somehow . . . and had gotten her out. 

What would it be like. . . to have a friend like that?

[personinthepalace]

Saw my local high school’s production of PUFFS today and it was AMAZING!! I saw the proshot a few years ago, and I remember loving it, and this production reminded me how much I loved it. Some highlights under the cut:

- First off the set!! It looks amazing - so much details! Also there’s a pride flag next to the Hufflepuff door :)

- Narrator mentions England and “Finland Finland” starts playing. It is a reused joke from the school’s production of Spamalot earlier this year, and I just love that so much haha

- I don’t remember the details of the proshot but this production’s version of Wayne’s dad reminds me of Dewey from Legally Blonde the Musical

- Harry is played by a really tall boy and omigod he looks so much like what book Harry would like. Also since he’s tall, he bends over when he has to hug Dumbledore and stuff like that which I think is cute

- Ron and Hermione are mops. It’s so funny to watch Harry walking around and talking to his mop friends. Also Harry slow dancing with Ron the mop 😂

- First Dumbledore had a huge beard wig while Second totally not different Dumbledore didn’t have the beard. (Also Dumbledore was played by a girl)

- There was a part where Oliver accidentally started talking when it was Megan’s turn so they had to try to backtrack and restart, and that gave me tptgw vibes in the best way haha

- During the Yuletide Ball, Wayne and his partner were doing some really funny moves. The audience was laughing throughout that whole scene while Oliver and Megan were having their cute awkward talk. Also Harry dancing with Mop Ron in the corner 😂

- A girl played Totally Real Mad Eye Moody and omigod she had the best costume! I loved her trenchcoat and that huge eye she had haha

- Voldemort’s nose had a bandage on it but during his first scene, it kept on falling off. The actor improvised a bit, telling one of the Death Eaters to stick it back on for him. The guy also failed to stick it back on. The audience was laughing so hard and then Voldemort turned to the audience and was like stop laughing! I’m gonna take my anger out on this Death Eater now and it’s all your fault. Ahhh so much tptgw/chris bean vibes! (also I completely forgot that Cedric and Voldemort are played by the same actor and I had to check the playbill haha)

- the Narrator threw out chocolates and tissues into the audience

- Voldemort walked out along the front issue and shouted through a glowing megaphone. Also more audience interactions. Truly a highlight haha

- Everyone cheering and clapping during the battle scenes whenever the Puffs beat the Death Eaters! And then everyone gasping and shouting when someone died (I was one of those people bc I forgot that happened haha)

- The Narrator was played by a girl so Wayne Jr was a girl!

I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can remember now. The stand out actors for me were Harry and Cedric/Voldemort. The whole cast were super talented though and it was so fun to spot who I recognized from Spamalot earlier this year! Also it was a one act play and I thought that they were going to condense it down somehow to an hour and a half but it turned out to be a 2 hrs and a half?? Didn’t believe the time at first when I checked my phone after we left the theatre haha. But anyway such a great show and I truly wish I could watch this production all over again!

[tomjamesavery]

A deep-rooted Problem Written for the Ginnyvary Challenge with the prompt: #I26 — "People find it easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right." Read on: AO3 Ginny stepped out of the backdoor of the burrow with a spring in her step, the small wooden terrace-, which Harry and her brothers had built last summer, -creaking under her weight.

The first days of June had brought a gentle warmth with them, and she relished in the feeling of the early summer sun on her skin, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

She chuckled as she heard the exasperated groaning of her husband, who was currently working in the garden, busy digging out weeds.

Simply observing him for a second, she admired his toned arms, glistening in the bright sunlight from a slight layer of sweat, and she had the sudden urge to run her hands all over his body.

“Someone is working hard, I see,” Ginny called out, earning her a glare from Harry, as he pulled another weed from the dry earth.

“You know, instead of standing there and grinning like the cat that ate the canary, you could also get your hands dirty and help me out with this greenery here!” Harry retorted, his right hand coming up to swipe the sweat off his forehead.

But Ginny made no move to help her husband, they both knew why he was over there, on his own. “You know, if you could for once admit to being wrong about something you wouldn't have to do all of this alone.” She exclaimed, a cheeky grin crossing her lips.

Harry only shook his head as he admitted defeat. “Yeah, I guess this time you were right for once.” He pulled another weed from its roots with a bit more force than was necessary, resulting in him landing on his bum with a loud swear, -as the plant didn’t put up the calculated resistance.

Ginny laughed. “I was right once? Honey I am always right.” She blew him a kiss over her shoulder as she turned to walk back into the burrow, to quickly grab something to drink.

She poured herself a cool glass of water, drinking up the refreshing liquid eagerly as, from the corner of her eyes, she noticed Harry stepping into the kitchen as well.

He spoke up before she could say something. “I am sorry that I am being such a sore loser over this, I guess I just always believed it to be true.” Harry started a genuinely apologetic look on his face.

Ginny swiftly put down the glass of water as her lips curled into a smile. “Harry, there’s nothing to apologise for, it’s just a bit of lighthearted joking.” Her grin widened as she continued. “But that you really believed that to be true… That could totally be something the twins made up to fool Ron and me when we were like five years old. And oh the irony, considering you are now pulling weeds from the earth for it.” She laughed, as Harry’s cheeks went slightly pink in embarrassment.

“That you truly believed olives grow in the ground like potatoes…” Ginny blurted out. ”And you wanted to bet for two months of doing the laundry with me for it.”

At his look she stopped her teasing, taking a step closer towards him, her arms coming out around his body. “I am sorry, I was just teasing you a bit, It is kinda funny.”

Harry only smiled as he kissed her forehead. “No worries Gin, I know that. I just like to play up my disappointment a bit.” He explained as she poked him in the stomach before pulling back a bit.

“You know, Aunt Muriel always said something along the lines of People find it easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.” Ginny reverently rehearsed, making Harry chuckle before he pulled her towards him again and their lips met for a deep kiss.

They really loved teasing each other Ginny thought, but at the end of the day they loved loving each other more.

[rotthepoet]

um yeah i’m a full supporter of whoever the ravenclaw boys are (as a ravenclaw myself, gotta represent 💪🏻) so i’m waiting for the explanation as well

Okay so like. These characters are so obscure or im like…???

Looking in the total wrong place. Maybe my Tiktok is in just a total different universe rn

There are 4 notable characters.

So there’s

-Anthony Goldstein (uhm.. he uh… i think only came to existence out of a “there are no jewish wizards” tweet that JKR retweeted with a whole ass new character… supposedly he was in the DA 5th year)

-Stephen Cornfoot(i cant find any personality? Hes might be in Hufflepuff now?? There was… some sort of switchup going on???)

-Micheal Corner(mentioned in either the books or movies, joined the DA in 5th year. Ron says he doesnt like him after Hermione describes him as “the dark one”. I think he dates ginny.)

-Terry Boot(mentioned by name i think… at some point???? Friends with Corner and Goldstein. Joins the DA 5th year… also not much going on)

THEY ALL HAVE WIKI PAGES WHICH IS FUNNY

I think theres more but these were the only reoccurring names i found

[fantisyoflove]

So You Wanna Play With Magic - Part 3

Learning about their expectations and learning to compromise

WC: 1.975

Two days, two days is all Malfoy gave you to 'collect your head'.

The first day you felt like a fever dream. Harry suggested going to check on your team to get your mind off of it and you agreed. Work would keep you distracted. You were thankful to discover that everyone else was totally fine after the explosion.

You went back to St. Mungos and signed some paperwork and then to the Ministry to finalise the reports from that raid. Harry got twitchy when he spent too much time in the Ministry. He use to work here in the Auror department but after 2 years he left. It was too much. He did what he could to help fix things for the better and to support his friends as they found their place in the world. Hermione was in the running to be the next Minister of Magic and Ron was Head Auror now.

Harry was so happy for his friends and they supported his choice to leave. Harry was still between jobs but honestly the man didn't need to work.

Back home you both cuddled up on the couch with mugs of tea and watched some trash TV. You had gotten so use to the mundane parts of life and liked the easy slow life you had with Harry.

The nest day harry made you breakfast in bed and you both didn't leave the bed for the rest of the day.

At first Harry fucked into you with greedy hungry strokes. Like you would vanish from his grasp at any moment.

The second time was similar but he was more possessive. He marked every inch of your neck he could reach. He left love bites all over your breasts and between your thighs.

For the third time it was nothing but soft simple and sweet.

"Harry, Harry, Harry" You moan as he rocked into you. "I'm so close, please just a little" you gasp as he bites down again on your shoulder. "mmm just a little more please."

"You plead so beautifully, my darling. But I'm not done with you yet." He taunts and continues at a glacial place.

You come with a shaking cry, the slow build up always left you so breathless.

Harry had fallen asleep on you stomach when the owl swooped in and dropped a rolled parchment on the bed. She landed on the desk in the corner of Harry's room with an impatient hoot.

You rolled your eyes and waved your wand. Two pieces of parchment floated out of the desk along with a quill and bottle of ink. You penned a response to Malfoy and tried to get the owl to come closer to you. She pointedly closed her eyes and turned her head away from you. With a sign you eased your way out from Harry and crossed the room to the owl. She snatched the letter out of your hand and fluttered out of the room.

Y/N,

Please meet us at the Manor tomorrow. The Solicitor will we here at 11, plan to arrive before then.

Lunch will be served.

D. Malfoy

"Rude" You called after her.

You stared at the second blank page. You had to ask him to come, you couldn't do this alone.

"Y/N? Everything alright?" Harry calls out. He is looking around the room but without his glasses he is basically blind. You smooth a hand through his unruly hair.

"Yes, Harry, go back to sleep." You coo before going back to the desk.

You pen a small note and tie it to your own owl's leg.

"Make sure he sends a response back before you come back okay?" Your owl hoots happily before taking off.

[]

[]

SS,

I need you.

Malfoy Manor, 10 o'clock

*your initials*

The following day you wake up with Harry between your thighs. You moan as a wave of pleasure comes over you.

"Do you think if you make me cum enough it will break this curse?" You tease.

He hums a laugh but doesn't stop lapping at your clit until you are coming hard on his face.

He comes up and pushes his glasses higher on his nose and wipes his mouth with his hand. "I mean we won't know unless we try."

You guide him up to your lips to kiss him deeply. "I don't want to lose you." You whisper against his lips.

"You won't" He cups your face and pulls you in to another searing kiss.

"Even if by magic Malfoy agrees, you wouldn't be okay with sharing." You insist trying to push him away.

He pulls you closer, "I will take as much of you as I can get."

[]

The mist is heavy and the fog makes it seem like the rest of the world has faded away into the deep grey. A crack sounds beside you and he apperates to your side.

"Thank you for coming."

"What are godfathers for." his tone is droll and he offers his arm for you to hold. You walk up to the Manor together.

"Head high, you are a y/l/n."

You try not to roll your eyes but do as your told. He waits in front of the door, you figured a place like this would have enough wards around it they knew you both were here already.

The door eases open, you don't see anyone, and you enter inside. A house elf closes the door behind you and takes your cloaks for you and places them in a closet to the side.

"Y/N, welcome darling!" Narcissa Malfoy greeted you both as she descended the stairs. She clasped your hand in between her two frozen ones. "I am so glad we are able to officially meet! I told my son it should have been sooner but he insisted we give you your space. I am so sorry about the passing of your parents. Such a horrible time, war." She dropped your hands and went to sweep your godfather into a stiff hug.

"Severus, how lovely, are you miss y/l/n's escort today."

"I am Cissy."

"Excellent, Draco will be so excited to see you as well." She looped her arm with Severus's and then the other one with yours and led you down the hallway into a stuffy study with Lucius and Draco both standing by the fire.

"Y/N, darling," You scrunched your nose up slightly making a mental note to ask that Harry never calls you darling again. "Fear not my dear we will have these silly rumors put to rest and the paper will publish your engagement this time next week." Lucius said cheerily as he scooped up your hand and gave it a wet kiss. You forced a smile and then wiped the back of your hand on your dress when he wasn't looking.

"Severus, old pal, whatever the blazes are you doing here?" Lucius said as he turned to his oldest friend.

"Miss y/l/n is my goddaughter,of course, as her guardian it seemed fitting that I come with."

"Snape is your godfather?" Draco snapped.

Narcissa twisted her fingers nervously, "Well yes Draco darling. Families use to name the same godfather for intended pairs to ensure they would never be separated. Since you were born first we got to name your godfather and the y/l/n's agreed."

"So wait," you turned on Severus "You knew about the arranged marriage and you didn't tell me?!" You felt like screaming.

Severus, ever the picture of calm, blinked slowly before responding in his slow speech. "No, miss y/l/n, unfortunately I was also not made aware of your situation until after the fall of Voldemort."

All three Malfoys flinched at the mention of his name but they didn't comment.

"So everyone here just assumed I knew!"

Lucius cleared his throat and made a show of pouring some amber liquid into five glasses and handing them out.

"Darling, you must understand. Your father was telling everyone that you had refused to acknowledge the bond and you were just ... just" Narcissa circled her hand in the air trying to find the word. "Rebelling. And when Draco told me you had broken your vows after rejecting him on the train, he was so hurt, we didn't want to and we were looking into ways to break the connection between you two but alas there is nothing we can do."

You took the glass from Lucius and downed it in one gulp. "What vow did I break?" you cough out as the liquor burns your throat.

Draco blushes and turns away from everyone to stare at the fire. Lucius clears his throat, "Severus old sport let's go out in the garden and see the new plants that..."

"No I think I will stay Lucius." Severus says firmly as he holds his glass in both hands, eyes flicking back and forth between the four others in the room.

Narcissa baulks at your question and sips her drink trying to avoid answering. You won't repeat yourself, you know they heard you and you will wait for an answer.

"Usually intended couples keep a vow of chastity." Draco quips. "But then in fifth year you told me to go fuck myself and then you... you did that with Potter and I didn't know what to do after that."

"I didn't sleep with Potter in fifth year!" You snap. Draco whips his head around from where he was watching the fire.

"You mean you have slept with someone else too!"

"How would you even know about that! I never told anyone I slept with someone in fifth year and he wouldn't have told you of all people!"

"Who was it?!" Draco shouted back at you.

"How did you know!?" You shout back

"We should leave" Narcissa hisses to Lucius and Severus who are both just staring in shock at the fighting couple.

"No!" Lucius hisses back quickly

"It's getting good Cissy!" Severus whispers

Draco is glaring at you and you glare right back. You are too stubborn to give in. He snarls and looks away before scrubbing his face with his hands. He paces back and forth for a moment and then seeing the glass his father had poured for him he picks it up to chug it down.

"The bond." He says finally. "Every.. every time you ... whenever you do ... that.. I can feel it."

Severus gasps aloud and quickly slaps his hand over his mouth. Your jaw drops.

"It does not! You are lying!"

"Unfortunately, he is telling the truth. It is weak but it is apart of the bonding spell to ensure intended couples are faithful to one another. After you wed your bond will get stronger and depending on your magic you could even talk to another through the bond." Lucius explains.

Horror seeps into your gut as you think back to yesterday... and this morning... and the last ten years of your life. From that first time to now.

"What do you mean you can feel it?"

There is a choked noise from one of the elders but you can't say for sure who. Draco won't meet your eye and his face looks paler and redder than you have ever seen it.

"It's... it feels" Draco grinds out trying to speak. "I can feel what I imagine you are feeling in those moments. It is faint, like in the back of my mind." He rubs the back of his head and a clump of hair, previously smooth with the rest, sticks straight up.

"But I've never felt you..." You cut yourself off as his eyes meet yours in a silent plea for you not to say it outloud. You fall silent.

"Ackhem, Malfoys, Snape a pleasure and miss y/ln/ I presume" The Solicitor had arrived.

[]

[honeydukesheroine]

New Chapter

Total Knockout (Ginny POV)

👀 ⏰ 🐍 🤕 🧩

In which Ginny reacts to Harry's bludger to the head in the Half Blood Prince.

Thanks @fizzyginfizz for beta'ing this part of the chapter:

As painful as it was to admit to herself, McLaggen was a skilled Keeper. The rest of the team knew it too, but none dared to speak it aloud out of loyalty to Ron. Well, none except McLaggen himself.

Pointedly. Loudly. Frequently.

So Ginny was grateful to put the final practice behind them after a week of enduring McLaggen’s verbal abuses. She entered the locker room through the door Dean held open to see her team huddled around, whispering intensely.

“What’s going on?” she said.

They split apart, revealing McLaggen’s broom with several splinters of branches circling around it.

“What happened?!”

The three eyed each other, daring the others to speak up.

“Can’t we just ‘Reparo’ it?” asked Dean.

“It doesn’t work on broomsticks, remember?” she said. At that moment, they heard the tap of McLaggen’s shower turn off.

“Demelza, Jimmy - you distract him,” said Ginny, rushing to assess the damage.

Demelza sounded appalled, “What, in the shower?”

“Dean, get a trimming kit,” Ginny instructed, picking up the broom hiding it behind the second set of old lockers.

She came back around the corner to find Ritchie, who had been attempting to gather splinters, had sliced his hand and was now staring wide eyed at the gathering blood.

“Ritch, don’t look at -” but she was too late. He fainted.

Ginny knelt down on the floor to put pressure on Ritchie’s bleeding hand. She swept the edge of her Quidditch robes over the remaining splinters just as Dean rushed past with the trimming kit.

McLaggen reentered the locker room with Jimmy and Demezla on his heels, to see Ritchie’s limp form sprawled across the floor.

“What’s going -”

Jimmy panicked, grabbed two Beater’s bats and yelled, “CORMAC - Look! “ and began juggling. Demelza followed suit, and began clapping along with a large showman's smile on her face.

Harry entered the locker room last, stopping short as his eyes skipped over the scene: Jimmy still juggling, McLaggen with a Weird Sisters towel wrapped around his waist, and Ritchie knocked out cold on the floor.

Ginny fought hard to bite back laughter at his reaction and the ridiculousness of it all.

“What the -”

Then from around the wall of lockers, Dean appeared brandishing the repaired broomstick and exclaimed, “Woah, Cormac, what a gorgeous piece of equipment.”

McLaggen’s face quickly changed from shock to anger. “Do you know how expensive this is? It’s a Vintage Classic AeroFlyer Elite! Only 217 of them were released! Ever!”

“Shocker. 0 to 60 in oh…five minutes,” Ginny mumbled under her breath.

Harry grinned down at her. “Who wouldn’t want one?” he said, kneeling down next to Ritchie as he took several hazy blinks back to consciousness.

From the beginning: AO3

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