#SCREECHES IM SO NORMAL ABOUT OUR KNIGHTS

[oh-snapperss]

I’ve never thought about rentho before and now thanks to y’all I AM THINKING :)c

HI??? yeah welcome to the club!!! i cannot stop thinking about them ever i'm so unwell LMAOOOO...and my cowriter is just as bad. we are collectively insane and are just dragging as many people as possible down with us >:) i hope that the coming chapters only make the thoughts continue eheheh

[comfyswitcherblanketfort]

I was sold to Wolfe, this is my story (a shitty Witcher 1D AU)

I mean we all need a little nostalgia nowadays right? and its fun making fun of ourselves?!

Summary: Jaskier gets sold to Wolfe, his favorite boy band, in typical One Direction fan fic style. 

Warnings: Yeah all of them. The fuck was I thinking? This is just awful but i giggled the whole time i wrote it😂😂

In keeping with the spirit of shitty old 1D fic, I didn’t edit this AT ALL. I cannot stress enough how much I tried to revert back to 13 year old Regan with an unidentified need to be dominated projecting onto this type of fic 😖🤣

__________

 I was a normal teen boy. Everything in my life was typical. Parents’ house, school was boring, a small group of catty girlfriends that probably only kept me around as the token gay, everything. I was even into the major boy band at the time, Wolfe. I mean was I supposed to resist? They were all so pretty, and talented, and the front man, Geralt. Wow. Just wow. I had probably fifty posters of him alone all over the walls of my room. Typical, boring, normal.

Until that morning. 

I, Jullian ��Jaskier’ Alfred Pankratz (pretentious I know), woke up like any other day. Showered, blow dried my hair to softly lay over my forehead, dressed in my favorite outfit of red skinny jeans and a blue and white horizontal striped top, and smudged the brown coal I stole from my sister around my eyes, I was ready for school. When I got downstairs though, things were… off. 

“There you are! Jullian! Come here.” My mother seemed frazzled, but I was more concerned with the intimidating man standing in our kitchen doorway, munching on an Eggo waffle. 

Mom took me aside into the living room and sat me down at the sofa, “I have something to tell you.”

“Mom, what? Who is that? He looks familiar?”

“Vessimir. Wolfe’s management. You’re going with him.”

My mind screeched to a halt. Ves? He looked different in real life. I guess it’s just because I’m not distracted by the boys in the pictures with him. Wait? What?

“I’m… where am I going?!”

My mother took my hand and squeezed it gently, “We had to cover the mortgage somehow honey, and your father is already working so hard and Josie just can’t stop school suddenly, you know how much she struggles. You’re smart, you’ll be fine. We sold you to Wolfe.”

I didn’t know how to feel. Sold? Bad. I didn’t like being given up by my parents sure. But to Wolfe? The obsession that took up literally all of my free time? The hottest boys I’d ever seen? That gave off the strongest bi vibes I’d ever picked up? Bought me? I could live with that. 

I smiled hesitantly, “Okay mom.... Okay.”

She leads me back to Ves in the kitchen who introduced himself and lead me out to a long white limo.

“But my stuff?”

Ves just laughed, “The boys want to choose your wardrobe. You won’t need it.”

The inside of the limo was everything you see in the movies, bottles of champagne, fancy leather seats, gold plated knobs and handles, everything. I was in too much of a state of shock to enjoy it though. 

By the time we arrived to a gated drive and big mansion my palms were sweaty and I was worried my eyeliner would be running. Ves opened the door and helped me out, leading me up the front steps and into a big beautiful foyer. I could get used to living in the palace they shot Princess Diaries in. 

“BOYS! IM BACK!” Ves grinned and hid me behind a curtain, “Let’s trick them, yeah?”

I heard the skidding of sneakers and could identify each voice muttering to each other in excitement.

“The fuck? Alone?” Lambert. Definitely Lambert. 

“Mom backed out,” Ves explained, not quite selling it well enough.

“Ves. Stop. You said she already signed.” Eskel sounded disappointed and it made me even more nervous if that was even possible. 

Then, suddenly, the curtain I was hiding behind was pulled away, and standing tantalizingly close, was Geralt. He grinned and called back over his shoulder to the others without breaking eye contact with me, pinning me to the floor with those golden eyes, “Found him!”

His voice, goddamn. I had a little thought about how I should try to play it cool, but he was just so pretty and I was putty in his hands without him even having to try. 

He stepped back, holding his hand out to motion where he wanted me to go, “You’re a cheeky one, aren’t you?”

I nodded, not sure how to form words anymore, just trying not to trip over my own feet as he lead me over the meet everyone. He rested his hand on the small of my back and whispered so only I could hear, “Relax, we don’t actually bite.”

I squeaked instead of saying anything but took it as a win, that much closer to being able to say anything. 

Lambert shook my hand, “What’s your name? You’re a cutie.”

I blushed furiously and whispered my answer, “Jullian, but my friends call me Jaskier.”

Eskel took my hand and kissed it, bowing like a noble knight, “Pleased to meet you Jaskier.”

I only realized I wasn’t breathing when Geralt pulled me into his side, “I think he’s in shock.” 

I nodded, “That and Ves ate my breakfast.”

All three of them shot him an exasperated look, but he only shrugged. 

“Well then,” Geralt began, leading me through the halls, the others following behind us, “... let’s get you something to eat then give you the tour?”

He still hadn’t let go of my waist and I sure as hell wasn’t going to complain, leaning into it as we walked. 

Eskel jogged up next to us and laced his fingers through mine, “No fair Geralt, don’t hog the pretty boy.”

Lambert hung back, “I don’t know, this is a pretty good view.”

I squeaked again and leaned closer into Geralt who turned around to scold his band-mate, “At least try to be decent. Let him get settled before you act like a perv.”

I grinned up at him. “Is that what you’re doing?”

Geralt looked down at me with those beautiful golden orbs and I melted, “Hmmmmm” 

[drkcnry67]

break the news... (day 14)

A/N: @obxmermaid​ this is the 14th entry in the lives of Draco and YN as we get closer to christmas they have now been stuck in the school as their classmates have gone elsewhere for the holidays. but a fire message from YN’s parents inviting them to a gathering makes this a whole less boring. 

pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Prompt: “come on down for the weekend, the family is gathering and we would be honored to have you both here.”

mentioning: @sweetness47​

25 days of hogwarts

the message, ah yes the fire message a way for wizards and witches to communicate  without the use of modern technology. also very good way to be somewhat discreet.

this is how you got a fire message that changed your weekend of a lifetime. 

“dearest daughter, you and Draco are invited to come home for the weekend to enjoy our family gathering. this is the one day a year as you know that the entire family gets together under one roof, grudges and petty judgements go out the window. minus your father who is doing well, but the doctors are getting his magic up to full strength again. please reply and say you both will be in attendance for it would mean the world to us. love mom.”

you turned to draco as you both took one look at the fire message and smiled. 

Draco: i guess we need to pack a weekend bag. we can share a bag right?

YN: yep. but a fair warning this weekend my family will be doing all sorts of magic. its like this every single damn year. its basically one big game of catch up that lasts the entire weekend. 

just as draco was about to speak your fire place went crazy. then a figure resembling your mother appeared.

YN: mom?

Laura: ah daughter thank goodness i found the right one. so did you get the fire message...

YN: yes we were just discussing it. 

Laura: oh come on down for the weekend, the family is gathering and we would be honored to have you both here. please say you will come... you know the family will want to know how you are doing and meet draco...

YN: yes thats what im afraid of, all the grilling and questions and and... oh fine.. but do us all a favor and hide the bourbon from uncle ned, you know how lushy he gets. wait which place is it at this year?

Laura: ive already done that... oh dont worry ive spoken to dumbledore by fire message he will have a port key ready. 

YN: oh so you knew i would say yes. 

laura: i hoped you would. now we will see you both on friday at 3pm or sooner. by the way your father is fine. i know you probably got my update note but to reaffirm he is fine. he woke up. the doctors were able to heal him all up. he wont be at the feast they are keeping him a few more days to make sure he is fully functional with his magic. 

YN: we will have to find time to visit him then... 

Laura: yes. now we will see you both in a few days. remember YN be nice to these people they are family but they are gonna be ruthless to anything they dont understand yet. 

YN: what do you mean?

Laura: i mean some of the family is old school like they dont think open relationship policy is a good idea. 

YN: well this will be a shock for them then. see you on friday mom. 

the fire went back to normal as you flopped back onto the couch your head spinning, you know how your family reacts to the abnormal.

You bringing home a boy, who is not from your own house is like people who don't listen to the law.

The law is hard but it is the law. This was one thing you were desperately prepared to fight for, this was your life you werent gonna let your family determine how you get to live it. 

anyway back to the story, you and draco decided to pack and you both went to dumbledore’s office on friday at noon and went through the port key landing just outside of paris at one of your family country mansions. 

Draco: love, this place is incredible so why would we not come here more often. 

YN: cause i want to be independent so i take only what i need and every month they transfer 10,000 into my bank account and another 10,000 into my gringotts. both of these accounts were of my parents doing, not mine. but its mostly their way of support before we go further we need to figure out how to approach this to my family. 

Draco cups your cheeks and kisses you when he pulled back he spoke calmly. 

Draco: we will handle this with smiles, and friendliness and happy thoughts, we are the only people who matter in this relationship, the people who support us matter as long as they support our union. at the end of it, we are the ones that matter and have final say in this relationship. that and the ministry when we tell fudge. 

YN: yes that, we need to do that soon... maybe sooner than we think if this dinner doesnt go well. 

Draco: well lets go inside, im sure your mom knows we are here... dear we are just prolonging the inevitable. 

YN: your right. lets go... but im surprised that someone isnt here to greet me... 

you let out a sharp whistle, letting your purse sit now on the ground. just as you did that, you heard a screech. 

Draco: what was that love?

YN: that is my griffin... 

Draco: im sorry what... 

just then a griffin with golden feathers with tints of black and brown through it lands in front of you. approaching you as you bow, the griffin nuzzles your face with its own. 

YN: i missed you too girl. Draco, this is Opal. Opal this is Draco my boyfriend. 

Opal turns to draco, Draco bows to Opal who approaches Draco and sniffs him and waits a few seconds and then nuzzles Draco’s head. draco then began petting Opal. 

YN: she likes you, its always polite etiquette to bow to a griffin or a hippogriff before approaching it.  this gesture will show the griffin that you are not a threat. this is a show of good faith. of good will. 

Draco: opal, I think we need a guard to get to the door.

Opal growls lightly before leading the way to the door. You both get to the door and opal nudges you before she bows letting you and Draco go inside. your mother comes round the corner from the kitchen and rushes to hug you. 

Laura: im so glad you both are here... now YN your room is fully prepared for you and Draco. not to worry i pre warned most of the family that someone has a big announcement. no one questioned or said anything. not to worry though, people will begin to arrive in a few hours. go on up and un pack. 

YN: its good to see you too mom. this way love. 

you take draco by the hand as you both walk upstairs down the hall and too the right. into your master suite or as you call it “the tower”. this room complete with your own walk in closet, a king size canopy bed, your own bathroom. decorated in a teal color to combine yours and dracos magic essence. 

YN: this is our room for the weekend. 

Draco: its perfect. i love this bed and the color and you. 

You turned to face him, to meet his eyes with your own. 

YN: careful love thats seduction in your tones. we have 2 years to wait before we can be married. or even consider that possibility. 

Draco: doesnt mean we can lay here for as long as possible and just play wizards chess or something. 

you snap your fingers and you both were laying with a wizards chess board on the bed.

YN: we are gonna play this till we are called several thousand times. by everyone who wants to see me and grill me and... ugh... this is stupid.... my family is so passed screwed that its a long long time between gatherings for the reason of they dont know what they want, against every fibre of better judgement that they have, they dont know how much the world has changed.

Draco: love don't worry too much. Let's just play and not worry about anything else right now. Nothing is gonna ruin our weekend. Nothing at all. i believe white goes first love. 

you have been planning your entire strategy for this game you were 6 moves ahead of draco and you planned to keep it that way. 

YN: pawn to g4

draco: knight to f6

YN: pawn to g5

draco: knight to d5

YN: knight to a3

draco: pawn to e5

to this point you had counted for every angle every move that draco could possibly counter. 

YN: knight to c4

Draco: queen to g5

you now had an opportunity to get rid of his queen if you did it correctly. 

YN: pawn to d3

draco: queen to f6

YN: knight to a5

draco: pawn to b5

YN: knight to f3

draco: your good love, but im slightly better... bishop to b7

YN: only as a slight... but not better enough. Knight to b7

Draco: knight to c6

YN: pawn to e3

Draco: love that wasnt very smart of you... knight to e3

YN: love that also wasnt smart of you. Pawn to e3

draco: clever love, pawn to d5

YN: bishop to d2

draco: pawn to e4

You smile as you begin to make Draco think you are preparing to checkmate his king. 

YN: bishop to B4

Draco: oh my dear you are not gonna win right now... bishop to b4, by the way love, check... 

you were so unsure of what to do, now looking at the board you knew now that you were screwed, you were about to loose. 

you had to attempt to get your king out of check. 

YN: im not gonna go down without a final attempt... king to e2

draco: sorry love, queen to f3... i believe its checkmate!

Yn: how I had this all planned out, I had this all planned out... Omg congrats love you win.

You kissed Draco, his hands pushing the chess board off the bed. That started the make out session of the next 10 min. Before someone came up the stairs and knocked on your door...

You turned toward the door and snapped your fingers...

Yn: come on in

You and Draco sat on the bed in each other's embrace watching as the door opened to reveal Hermione Harry and Ron.

You both got up and embraced them. They were here but how did they know.

Hermione: didn't think I would miss family gathering weekend did you... plus i figured we could use the backup, plus these 3 are the first outsiders at this family weekend. you my dear cousin could use a little bit of extra happiness before the rest of our family arrive. besides did you show Draco the extension of the grounds. all the griffins that you have trained. 

YN: he did meet opal who took to him right away. he did surprisingly well for his first encounter with a griffin. But tomorrow we will go to the griffin sanctuary. Tonight we meet the family. I've been avoiding going down, how many are here yet?

Hermione: too many, more than usually show up first. no one has fought yet so its good and pleasant so far. cuz we should put on the family crest!

though you didnt want to Hermione pulled out a bag from your closet and led you into the washroom. you both put on the knee length black dresses and did a hair check before exiting back to the guys. 

Draco took one look at you, came over and kissed you...

Draco: that dress is absolutely gorgeous on you!

YN: thank you love, this is the family crest, its style takes after our hogwarts crests. but it is our family crest. i however look forward to the day when we can be married where we have the freedom to disappear under new names so we can live our lives in hiding, in peace. 

no one except draco heard you say those words as your ears heard the sound of fencing swords... you and hermione took off down the stairs and watched as your uncles all have fencing swords and are fencing throughout the house/property.

YN: well the fun begins. hermione tell the guys to stay upstairs im gonna stay here and watch this wait for my chance to intervene. 

hermione: i should be by your side for this...

YN: no you should wait with the guys, make sure you give them their anti tracking bracelets. make sure that they understand the rules, make sure that they know what they are and are not allowed to do while here. make the rules abundantly clear.

Hermione gives you a swift nod, realizing that you were right, she went back upstairs to the boys. You let out a ear pi3rcing whistle forcing your family present to stop in their tracks.

Yn: family, family should we not be calm, should we be merry and sheath our swords for it is supposed to be the one weekend out of the year where we gather together as one whole magical family, but today you me, you pessimistic grown ass men are acting like children on this the weekend of peace. So every man in here and on this property shall hence forth not herald another sword as long as we all exist within this property border, for today i tell you all that im the one with the announcement.

You turn to see hermione coming down the stairs, draco following behind her, harry and ron behind him. Draco comes up at your side, proudly sporting his house crest as he places his hand to your own. 

YN: this man beside me is my announcement, this young man is my boyfriend of 2 and a half years, this is Draco Malfoy. yes his parents are followers of you-know-who but Draco is different, i saved him from his parents, i saved him from whatever they wanted for him, more importantly we saved each other. without draco i would not be standing before you all to declare that my parents have blessed this union and we are the start of the open house relationship policy in the wizarding world, which now states “any witch or wizard that so sees fit to love someone not of their own house shall be free to be with whoever their heart desires within or without their house crest. for eternity shall this be!” Draco and i will be the first of a long line of students to follow our hearts. if i earn not even one of your approvals this weekend just know this, my parents support us and these 3 behind us support us, the school and its professors and students support us. we are supported and loved in every single direction. but a week ago Draco gave me this necklace with our couples initials and our anniversary date which pairs perfectly with this ring i gave him, neither of us are leaving this relationship and no one can make us. 

for the room was silent all eyes were on you, and neither you nor draco said anything else, you both just walked over to the kitchen to help mom with some baking and rolling of spring rolls, and mixing of drinks yet still no one said anything, they just all stared at you both. 

by the end of the first day you guys had been among the people, no one said a word to either of you. the night was peaceful, you both stood out on the balcony as opal slept beside where you both stood (yes the balcony is big enough for a griffin to sleep on... odd how story telling can be warped to our standards as authors) you both went inside after an hour and a bit later and went to sleep.

the next morning when you both woke it was to the sound of drills and hammers, something was going down and from the sound of it something was happening. 

you both went to the balcony and discovered that the family was building something in the yard. opal was freaking out but she was also tied to a post in the yard. 

YN: either my family has decided to work together or we are in lots of trouble. 

thats when you received a fire message.

YN: its from my cousin she says that the family locked her ron harry and my mother in the barn with the griffins, tied up opal and insist on crucifying us all insisting we are all under the dark lords influence unless you and draco renounce your relationship and never see each other again.

Draco: what are we going to do... i cant live without you, and im never going to renounce our love. 

YN: i have an idea but im gonna need you to do a fire message as well, send one to hermione in the barn tell her that she needs to comfort my mother, help is on the way... i have 1 message to send myself, to hogwarts. 

you prepared your message as draco did his, you both sent them off, you knew hermione couldnt reply but she could receive, the one going to hogwarts however arrived in the hands of who you addressed it. 

dumbledore received the message, he summoned minerva and snape to his office... 

Dumbledore: im afraid this is not a social call, this is quite urgent in fact, a literal matter of life or death. YN and Draco had left yesterday to YN’s parents place, but i just received an urgent fire message... this reads, “Headmaster, this message is Urgent! we need help my family didnt take the news of me and Draco being together very well, they plan to crucify us, to crucify mine, hermiones, dracos, harrys, rons and my moms magical and physical forms. we need assistance, they have me and draco locked in the tower, and the others in the barn. please bring help, we need to get out of here. but they boarded the room we have a balcony but we wouldnt survive the jump. help us, get us out of here, by any means necessary and headmaster thank you for letting me and Draco live our lives together. help us asap!”

minerva: what do we have to do albus, how do we save the children and YN’s mother...

Dumbledore: quite easily, we 3 are going to YN’s family property where i will tqalk to the courtyard, one of you goes to the barn, the other goes to the tower,  we meet back in the courtyard hopefully with everyone safe and sound. hopefully in that time frame i will have calmed down the courtyard and come up with a plan. now lets go... 

the 3 professors by port key traveled and arrived outside the gate to your family estate. with 3 wands this would surely work better than expected. 

snape, minerva & dumbledore: bombarda maxima

with that the gate, and half the wall on either side of the gate blew up, shattered into a thousand pieces. the explosion was loud enough to shake the entire estate. you and draco stood up slightly knowing that help had arrived. 

your family on the other hand saw snape, minerva and dumbledore walk through the debris and they parted like the red sea, going completely silent, dropping whatever they were holding. for they all knew that this was not gonna be an easy task. 

snape went toward the barn in which he found Harry, Ron, Hermione & of course your mom in the corner tied up like animals. he used his wand to untie them all and then waited for the signal to start emerging from the barn. 

minerva went inside the house and up the stairs, where she found and broke down your tower door. 

Minerva: time to go grab what you need lets go. 

YN: thank you so much professor for coming. 

Minerva: i am just glad im not too late... now lets see what dumbledore is saying to your family. 

Dumbledore was now on a platform speaking to your family. or at least those that were in the courtyard. 

Dumbledore: these children have done no harm, these people have made nothing wrong, why do you all believe they should be crucified, they have done nothing wrong except learn to love. 

one person exclaimed: they are working for the dark lord

another person exclaimed: their relationship is toxic and needs to be purified by crucifixion

another person screamed: cause its not right, this is not how the rules dictate... 

dumbledore was fed up with all the same types of answers...

Dumbledore: i albus dumbledore have seen the love that these 2 children share, ive seen it projected through their school work and through their vocals, its as pure and good as any in house relationships that have happened. ive decreed this to the school and am waiting for my meeting with the ministry to tell them about this. it will be a few weeks for that but i state this to you all: whoever goes from here to another soul and speaks ill of what has happened here shall henceforth no more have the ability to speak anything bad, and further more i decree that as long as there are good people running hogwarts, the houses can be free to love whosoever they desire! this began with Draco and YN, this decree is sealed by the signing of this parchment by me, professor mcgonigal, professor snape, YN and Draco. these 2 and the rest of their friends and family are not to come to any harm... now commence with the signing... YN and Draco first, then minerva and severus, i will sign last. 

you and draco walked up to the parchment, you signed it first then handed the pen to draco who followed in signing the parchment. then minerva and severus signed next, then dumbledore before he spoke again. 

Dumbledore: now all of you clean this yard up, none of you will be able to speak of this day, none of you will remember the horrors that were unleashed today. now go back to cleaning this yard and repairing this wall, YN didnt come back for family weekend and you guys do not remember anything. 

the spoken words echo on the property as your mom gave you, hermione, draco, harry and ron a longing look that seemed to say ill see you soon. like that you all ended up back at hogwarts in dumbledores office. 

Dumbledore: i wonder if i could speak with YN and Draco alone a moment. 

Minerva: of course Albus, i will make sure these children make it back to the dorms. come along children. 

the 5 people left the room leaving you and Draco alone in the office. 

dumbledore: now children lets speak a bit about what happened... 

YN: its my fault headmaster, i was so looking forward to telling my family, i didnt know it would go that wrong... i thought the old laws were no longer in effect, that crucifixions were illegal in the muggle and wizarding worlds. 

Dumbledore: unfortunately the old laws are the laws that were drilled deeply into lots of witches and wizards and mostly in pureblood families such as both of yours. but unfortunatly we can not change their minds or their ways for that matter, the only thing we can do about this is move forward starting with my meeting with the ministry. now i expect you both to take the day, relax, take a load off and just relax its best not to speak of what happened to anyone its better that not very many people know yet. now be off, spend as much time as needed to push this days events from your minds. 

you and draco walk out of the room, down the hall, through the changing stair cases to the shared dorm, where your room was.

He walked through the door with you, you both fell back on the bed. Just exhausted mentally.

Draco: are you OK love?

Yn: no I'm not... My family rejected me, rejected our relationship. for that they will have to learn the hard way with the decree, hopefully they will listen to that and hopefully when and or if fudge decides to make the announcement in the daily prophet. i know every single member of my family makes the effort to read the daily prophet... So we are gonna make sure it's front page worthy...

You turned over to face him and watched his eyes search your own. He was concerned about you, about your feelings, about your well being.

Draco brushed his hand gently against your cheek and smiled.

Draco: just lean into me and close your eyes. Don't dwell on what happened, dwell on our future think about that.. I love you YN, I love you so much! Just relax my love, just relax.

You leaned into the arms of your love, and happily lulled off to a state of peace and relaxation. You were not sure what tomorrow would hold but as long as nothing else bad happened you would be fine.

~to be continued~

[divagonzo]

Knight’s Side Castle - Ch. 4 of Beloved

Ch. 1 - Bishop’s Castle Ch. 2 - Pawn Ch. 3 - Knight

Ao3 // FF.net

A/N: In light of the lovely Ace followers, this is the PG-15/15 version of the story. Ao3 has the unedited version for appreciation.

Tagging Tagging @xweasleyfraserx, @remedial-potions ,@weasleymama @kingronw @vivithefolle @austenpoppy @melimelrockswell1204 @ashleopardd @hillnerd since people asked to be tagged when this first went around. (Sorry @justsaya for the extra tag.)

Tags: There’s some serious rowing in this one. So if you’re easily upset at intense arguments, you might want to IM/ask me so I can summarize for you.

“We came as soon as I heard,” Percy and Audrey slipped into the room with the rest of the family. “How is he?” Audrey kept back, looking splendid in her pale blue mind healer robes. “If I’m late for work so be it,” Percy spoke up.

“Alive, thankfully,” Arthur stood up first and went to give his middle son a hug. It wasn’t as awkward like it was years prior but tension filled the room. He hugged Audrey too, smiling at her. They hadn’t been engaged a month yet. “But that’s all we know for now.” Percy bent over to hug his Mum firmly, whispering something in her ear before she said something back too quiet for the others to hear.

“He got hurt on the mission,” Harry added. “We were out chasing a werewolf and – “

“The Healers will try to wake him later,” Molly interrupted, dry washing her hands on her lap.

“The Healers don’t know if he will wake,” Hermione wiped her eyes, for what looked like the hundredth time this morning. “It’s bad, Percy.” Audrey came over and hugged Hermione, whispering in her ear before the younger witch nodded back.

Percy turned and took a long, hard look at his youngest brother. He took his glasses off, pulling a kerchief from his pocket and cleaned his glasses. “How? I mean, how did he get hurt?”

“Our forth was on loan from the Welsh office. He cocked up,” Harry spoke up.

“You never said that git Trowbridge was on loan from the Welsh office.” Hermione’s dark eyes turned towards Harry and he felt the first instinct to recoil. She turned back to Percy. “That git hurt my husband accidentally.”

“Well, he was and it was, Hermione. He screwed up his wand movements and misaimed. It wasn’t intentional. We knew he was not the best but he was all we had available at that time. It’s not like we can ask a loose werewolf to go curl up and sleep while we try to scare up someone more competent than a troll.”

“And you just now thought of telling us, that Ron might die because you couldn’t be arsed to speak up and say, No, that git isn’t going with us.” Some of her hair escaped the wrap around her hair, covering her face before she tried to swipe it away before falling back in her eyes.

“It’s not like we have a choice in the matter, Hermione. It was a werewolf on the loose in a mostly muggle village. We took who we had and went with it. How was I supposed to know that he was completely incompetent? We thought he was only half-way incompetent.”

“Oh, I dunno, maybe tell that witch Jones that you’re not having someone who could kill my husband going out on the mission with you. Did you ever think of the others on your team?”

“This isn’t some cushy desk job where you sit and write legislation all day to protect others,” Harry snarled.

“Enough!” Audrey’s firm voice interrupted. “Harry, take a walk. Go eat something but go take a walk.”

Piercing green eyes turned on his eventual sister-in-law. “I am not – “

“I’m not asking, Harry,” Audrey kept her voice light and jovial but the edge was underneath it. Everyone in the room was watching, much like when he first faced the Norwegian Ridgeback way back when.

“Fine,” he stood and grabbed his jacket. “Rowing with Hermione isn’t how I want to spend my hours worrying about my best friend,” he slid past Audrey and to the door. “But I’ll be arsed if I’m the one to blame for this whole fucked up situation.” He slipped out, leaving it ajar.

“I’ll see if I can sooth his ruffled scales,” Arthur got up, “Maybe get some tea and scones for us,” He slipped out of the room silently, leaving the others behind.

An audible sniff broke the tension in the room.

Percy bent over the end of the bed, holding his head between his hands, saying something under his breath. When he stood up, he pushed his glasses back on. His eyes were puffy and red. “I can’t stay but I’ll be by after work. If anything changes before then, someone let me know,” his eyes fell on Hermione and she nodded in silent agreement.  She sniffed before raking the back of her hand across her face.

Percy went to the head of the bed and leaned over, making sure to not touch his brother’s head. Cracked lips were an inch from the Quidditch helmet covering the bandaging around Ron’s head. The contusions on his face clashed with the bright ginger hair on Percy’s head. He spoke quietly, so quiet that no one could hear him before he stood up and went to give hugs for the others. “I’ll let the Minister know,” his voice was rough.  Percy found Ron’s size 12 feet and squeezed them once. Percy left the room, leaving the women behind.

“Healer Cattermole, how long have you been on duty?”

The junior healer looked up from her expansive parchment at the older woman. “Since 8 last night. Things have been touch and go since Midnight with Auror Weasley.”

Audrey glanced around at the others. Molly was looking at Ron, trying to hide the tears leaking down her face with the handkerchief from her housecoat before tucking it back in and then pulling it right back out. Hermione had her head in her hands, shaking without making a sound.

“Why don’t you take an hour and grab a bite to eat or take a kip?”

“But I am supposed – “

“I’ll cover for you for an hour.”

“But Healer Greengrass and – “

“Nonsense. I can cover for an hour. I don’t want you exhausted and make a mistake. I promise to wake you if anything changes.”

“Yes, you’re right,” She slumped in the chair. “I’ll go get a kip.” The junior healer left her parchment and quill on the desk. She slipped out of the room, leaving the Weasley wives behind.

Audrey picked up the parchment and scanned it. She stopped, looked over the top of it at Ron in the bed and then went back to it, scanning it again.

“What does it say?” Hermione asked.

“Most of it is medical jargon. It’s quite boring,” Audrey looked back at the parchment.

“Rubbish,” Hermione spoke up. “What does it say?”

“Hermione, I – “

“Audrey, my parents are dentists. I read their medical books as a child. I have some understanding, even if it’s not as detailed as you might have.”

“You would,” she muttered under her breath. “You’re not going to like it.” The two women shared a long look, not bothering to look at Mrs. Weasley.

“Please,” Hermione begged.

Audrey pierced her with a hard look before relenting. “Don’t say I didn’t try to protect you.”

“That passed years ago and you know it.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “The Healers, including the junior healer, laid out their diagnoses and what they hope they can accomplish.”

“And?”

“Everything in this says to keep him comfortable and pain-free. They,” her voice broke a moment, “they don’t expect him to wake and eventually succumb to his injuries.”

“They did not,” Molly interrupted. “They said he would wake.”

“They said he probably would,” Hermione spoke over her. “I can’t believe they fed us a line of rubbish.”

“They aren’t, Hermione. What this is discussing is what reasonable outcomes they consider. Of course they want the best outcome. We all do. They aren’t going to give up on him. And it also discusses options when he does wake. You’re getting bent over normal medical information.”

“But that’s not what the junior healer wrote there.” Hermione came over to demand the parchment.

“I can’t let you read it. If you did she would be fired immediately and I would too. I can’t share this.”

“But you said – “

“I can discuss generalities. I can’t discuss specifics.”

“Bullshit,” She snapped. “This is all bullshit. I want answers and you’re feeding us Dragon dung. We need some Neurologists brought in. I’m going to call my parents and get the name of the best one in London.”

“Hermione,” Audrey tried to calm Hermione down.

“No, I won’t. We need them. We need another opinion. Or three. I will not stand by waiting for him to perish when I could do more than sit on my arse waiting on him to wake when it’s not guaranteed, much less expected.”

“Hermione, please, he’s getting – “ Molly tried to quell her.

“No,” she screeched. “He has to get better.”

“Hermione, I’ve read everything on the page, including what happened to him. The prognosis for what they had to do to save his life, it’ll be a bloody miracle he will wake.”

“He has to wake!” She shouted. “I’m not going to sit on my arse and do nothing to help.”

“Hermione, hush. That’s enough. I know you’re -”

Hermione cut across Molly. “No, I won’t. I can’t lose him. I refuse to sit idly by when he’s in this state. He’s come so far,” she yelled. “We’ve come so far.” She turned and yelled his way. “Don’t you dare leave me, Ron Weasley! You promised!”

“Hermione, yelling at him won’t make him wake.”

She turned, snarling. “Yes, it will! It worked for me.” She went up near his head. “Ron, wake up! Ron!” She grabbed his larger than life hand, dwarfing her own. “Ron, please, wake up!”

Molly went to hug Hermione from behind. She shrugged her off, twirling on her. “Don’t you tell me to calm down.” She turned back to Ron and pulled his hand to between hers, squeezing off and on. “He got to wake! I can’t do this without you!”

“Why do you think you’re alone in this, Hermione? We’re here. It’s not like – “

Hermione huffed, trying to regain her composure and failing. She turned on Molly. “Oh, like how you had no qualms listening to liars trying to cause strife and not asking me? How you were more than happy to send Harry and Ron monstrous amounts of sweets at Easter and barely anything for me, all because of that dung beetle Skeeter writing rubbish about me.” Hermione started shaking. “How about when I sent my parents off to Australia and when I arrived at your home you barely acknowledged me for the first week and only when Harry arrived that you deigned to speak with me? And I won’t even discuss how you intentionally kept me apart from Ron then, when nothing was happening between us, thinking me a scarlet woman already?

“If anything did happen to Ron, I would not be welcome anymore. You’ve shown me that time and time again.”

“That’s not true,” Molly hissed.

“Really? I remember you screaming at me to not hurt George when he was pissed at Harry’s birthday party, or how you branded me a scarlet woman, chasing me off because you couldn’t cope with Ron choosing me over you. And let’s not forget you telling Ron to abandon me to come live at home with you and Arthur and Ginny when he’d already told you what he was going to do and it wasn’t that. Or don’t you remember those terrible things you told me the week before we left to go to Australia to find my parents? Don’t you remember those horrible things when we came back? Or how you didn’t give a damn about me, only the rules of your home?”

Audrey stepped between the two witches, feeling the animosity bouncing off of her. She chose to focus on Molly. “Molly, how about I join you for some tea and then you run home to get changed? I know you want to be here today and wearing your housecoat and slippers won’t be that comfortable.” how about I join you for some tea in a moment and we can leave Hermione here with her husband a bit?”

Molly ignored her sodden handkerchief and focused on Audrey’s suggestion. “Yes, I think I will do that, and come back in an hour or so too.” She stared past Audrey, seeing Hermione falling apart. “Maybe having some tea and toast this morning will help.”

When she turned back, Hermione was bent over the edge of the bed, slowly soaking the white blanket covering his feet. Audrey understood that the two witches with her were on edge but the two of them would break if they kept at it.

Molly wiped her face before stuffing the linen handkerchief back up her sleeve. “Tea and a shower would be nice. Yes, I think I will.” Molly picked up her purse and slung it up onto her shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, shaking her head in grief.

Audrey went behind Molly, closing the door yet leaving a crack. “Hermione, you’ll call us if anything changes? I will be back in five minutes.”

She ignored them when they left the room.

Hermione moved to the side of his bed, taking his left hand and rubbing her fingers over the hand-carved goblin silver band that he never took off. “Please, come back to me.” Hermione knelt down at the side of his bed, holding his hand. “I can’t lose you.” She kissed it gently before taking his hand and placing it on her face.

“Ron, I’m going to be late!” Hermione tried to throw Ron’s arm off of her but he held her tight, snuggling closer under the covers.

“Ten more minutes. I just got here.” His face was muffled in her hair but she learned to understand him with a mouthful of her hair in his face.

“It’s been two hours, Ron. I have to get up.”

“Call in, Hermione. I’ve not seen you in a week.”

“And I’m in the middle of a project for work.” She slid out from under his arm to the edge of the bed. “I’m due to present it Friday morning. I’ll take off after and spend the next few days at home with you. I’ll take off three days for you.”

He groaned. “Don’t bother. I’m being sent out Wednesday on a mission and don’t know when I will return.” Ron pulled the pillow over his head. “I get it. Isalright,” he mumbled before drifting off to sleep, missing her stricken expression and a tear falling down her face.

Hermione collapsed on top of him, completely satiated. It had been a week since they’d done this and her heavy breathing betrayed how much she did need him that way.

An enormous hand worked its way down her spine, resting low on her hips. “Do you have any idea how much I needed that shag?”

“Probably more than I did,” she replied back, trying to gather her wits about her from such an energetic session and failing miserably.” Hermione looked up at the blue eyes she loved and saw mirth dancing over his face.  “Then again, I did miss your hands on me.” She blushed and turned away from his face. “They are amazing hands, so talented.”

She lifted her head and saw his other hand pulling the hair away from her face and threading it behind her ear. “Oh so you liked that earlier when I  - “

She looked away. “That was different, absolutely.”

His eyes creased. “You, you didn’t like that? But I saw you reading in that book and – “

“That? And you read it too?”

“Well, yeah. I even made note of the bookmarked page so I could read that. Last Mission was bloody boring when I wasn’t on surveillance. So I thought I’d pluck up a copy and see what was so fascinating to you. Once I read that, I said why not try it and see?”

Hermione blushed hard. “It wasn’t like that, Ron.”

“It wasn’t?” His voice cracked and blanched.

“No,” she dropped her eyes to his chest and toyed with the smattering of gold hairs cresting his chest. “I was reading up on it because of something Gi – “

“Please don’t mention anyone in my family right now,” He groaned. The pillow exploded under his head, compressing down. “It’s not that I don’t know you compare notes with the others but damn, that’s barmy.”

“Anyway, someone we both know mentioned something interesting happened and it got me curious so I found that book at the local library and was reading up on it while you were away the last time. I found it academically interesting, not necessarily something I did want to try. I thought about it and discarded the idea. I didn’t realize that it might be something that would interest you.”

“So I nicked that book and read that rubbish, thinking that was something you wanted to try and it wasn’t?” He tossed his head back into the pillow, groaning from what happened. “And it was your curiosity to get you to read it? Merlin, I’m such a tosser.”

“Ron, it’s fine. It surprised me. That’s all.”

Ron lifted her arm off of his body to sit on the edge of the bed, shaking his head. “No, it’s not. I should have asked instead of trying to surprise you with something like that.” He looked at her, sitting on the edge of the bed with him. “I know you aren’t fond of surprises or anything you don’t bring up first.” He got up and went to the loo. Moments later, the shower turned on, leaving Hermione boggled at what just happened.

“Oh good, you’re still here.” Ron popped his head into her workspace known as an office. Books and parchment were stacked everywhere. “Want to pop over to the Leaky for a bite before I go on shift?”

“I’d love to but I have to finish this report tonight. We busted an elf smuggling ring and brought in a dozen elves that had been trafficked in from Belgium. My report to Cutcliffe is due in the morning.”

“Oh.” Ron’s face fell.

“But I can bring dinner by for you once I finish with this. It won’t be but an hour or so.”

“No, it’s fine.” He sighed. “Jones has us out for a training session tonight. I dunno when I’d return so don’t wait on me in the morning.” Ron disappeared before Hermione could move her chair back from the desk. By the time she got to her door, knocking over half a dozen sheets of parchment Ron was already in the lift at the end of the hallway, looking forlorn before the doors closed with a thud.

“Ron?”

“Hmmm.”

“We’ve been invited over to my parents for brunch today.”

“Hmmm.”

“Would you come with me? I don’t think I can handle Mum right now. She’s on a tear and I dunno if I can cope with her criticism today, not after the week I had. At least with you there, you know when it’s time to fake an emergency and we have to go.”

Ron put down the morning edition of the Daily Prophet, scanning the Saturday Quidditch scores. “Sorry, Hermione but I can’t.” He picked the paper back up and continued to read.

“Why? You actually love my Mum’s cooking. Dad enjoys spending time with you, too.”

“I promised George I’d be at the shop at 10 to work today so he could take the day off. He’s not had a day off in three weeks.”

“Ron,” she whigned. “An hour then?”

“I can’t, Hermione. I wish you’d have asked me Thursday. I could have told George no or made other arrangements with him.”

“I didn’t find out until Thursday evening. It slipped my mind until this morning.”

“Sorry, love, but I promised.”

Ron got up from the couch, pointed his wand at the wireless to turn off the Quidditch recap. He folded the paper back up the way she liked and put it on the coffee table. “Maybe next time, perhaps?” She was left standing in the living room, wondering where she went wrong.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Harry kept writing, trying to finish his thought for the report due in an hour.

“Harry, when is he coming back?”

Harry kept his eyes on his parchment, writing while also considering what Hermione asked. “I dunno, Hermione. He was called into Robard’s office along with Williamson and they were in there a while. When they did come out, Ron went home, was gone maybe ten minutes tops before returning with his Ruck. They left this morning and I’ve not heard a thing since.” He kept writing, hoping to finish with -

“It’s not like him to not tell me when he’s sent off on a mission.”

Harry finally looked up, tossed his quill down on the desk and pushed his chair back. “These things happen from time to time.”

“But he always tells me when he’s sent off. He knows I go mental if he leaves without saying something.”

“I dunno what I can tell you, Hermione. I don’t even know what he was sent off for. It’s not like they run every mission by me, you know? I’m only a junior Auror myself. I have no control over who is sent off on a mission, much less knowing everything happening outside of this department.”

“Yes, I know,” she huffed. “I wish he’d at least have sent me a memo.”

“Maybe there was no time? They did leave in a hurry from the portkey office.”

“Maybe,” she looked over at his desk, seeing how organized it was and tidy, too. “It looks like he won’t be back for a while, the way his desk looks.”

He saw Robards starting out from his office. He was on a short leash today it seems. “I dunno, Hermione. Sometimes we plan on being gone a month and its two days. Sometimes it’s 2 days and turns into weeks. We just don’t know until we get into the situation. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

She sighed again. “Dinner then, after work?”

Harry grimaced. “Sorry but Ginny is back from Berlin and I promised her a fancy dinner date in Soho. Who thought being a professional Quidditch player would change your tastes in food?”

“Oh, ok. Well, have a good time tonight.” She picked up her briefcase and walked out of the department while trying to hide the tears that were falling down her face.

Hermione jumped into Ron’s arms, peppering his face with a plethora of kisses. “You were gone so long,” she cried into his neck. “You never sent word while you were away.” She burrowed into his neck absorbing the sweat, stink, smoke and just how Ron naturally smelled.

Ron lowered her to the ground and buried his nose in her hair. The weight of the cocked up mission fell off of his shoulders. “I couldn’t. Robards forbid us from making any contact with anyone who wasn’t an Auror, and even then, only him or Jones. I couldn’t even tell Harry about it.”

Hermione pulled back from his jumper and looked at him with concern. “Ron, you smell of fire and of blood. What happened? Are you hurt? Is Harry hurt?”

“I… I can’t talk about it.”

“But I’m your – “

“Mission orders, from Kingsley himself.” He slumped slightly. “Merlin knows I want to tell you. God knows I do. But I can’t talk about it. I just can’t.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah, it was.” Ron threw his cloak and jacket off. “And I need a shower. It’s been too long without one.” He pulled the jumper off and grimaced.

“You’re hurt.” She looked up at him, studying his face.

“Yeah, I am. But I’ve been checked out by a healer and I have a few days off. It’s nothing a few days of rest won’t help.”

“Well, let’s tend you in the shower and see how badly you’re hurt.” She reached her hands to the vest on his body and he caught her hands, holding them like you’d hold a baby kneazle. “As much as I’d love a leg over tonight in the shower, I’m completely knackered. So if you want to scrub my back and let me sleep the next sixteen hours, I’ll make it up to you in the morning.”

Hermione bit her tongue to keep from screaming. But if that’s what Ron needed, she’d do that for him, even if it meant missing him for another week.

She couldn’t bear to tell him that she was leaving in the morning for a conference in Florence and would be gone until Friday evening.

Audrey held two cups of tea, one fresh and one tepid. The day old scones, freshened up slightly for crème tea were her second favourite for breakfast but in this case, anything is better than nothing. She bumped the door with her hip to quietly slip into the room and froze for a moment, thinking that everything went to hell. Hermione was laying her head under his hand, crying. “I can’t lose you. I need you. We need you. You have to come back to me, to us.”

[desolate-rose]

Chapter 9 the outside world part one

So the last two years of agonising and fretting over the ramifications and consequences of my future knowledge, my replacement of the original zelda, the possibility of me dooming an entire world simply by being born, and the inevitability of fate. All of that, for nothing.

I can't implement an essential part of my plan, FOR FOUR YEARS. For the next four years the fate of AN ENTIRE WORLD rests on my tiny three year old shoulders, in making sure my mom survives. But it's fine. Im fine.

It's not like I can do anything about it either. I physically can't learn sealing magic until I'm seven- full stop. There is no way around that restriction. I had asked. Repeatedly. Even researching independently, with what little I could read of my ancestors' journals. Which was a thing apparently. Apparently it was tradition for royals, and nobles to write journals of their lives to help inform their descendants after their death. Neat! But a little awkward to be reading my grandmother's diary, also a lot useless. (apparently my mom had a habit of screaming at operatic volumes when she was a baby, like mother, like daughter!)

If there was one benefit to this information, I at least now have a rough idea of when my mom will die. Yay. (unless of course zelda's lessons were pushed back for some reason, so my info is relatively dubious. yay.)

So now the only facit of my plan I can focus on is making sure my mom stays alive, not like i wasn't going to do that any way but now its just ya know potently world ending. Without any backup plans. Again yay.

So my main mission (or should i call it a quest? I am in zelda after all!) is to keep my mom alive. No sweat.

-that doesn't mean i don't have other goals though! I want to learn everything I can about the culture, history, and MAGIC (ITS ACTUAL MAGIC PEOPLE) of Hyrule. I'm in a whole new world! I want to know everything.

Also magic is REAL! Who wouldn't be fascinated?

I was practically skipping toward the library with dottie at my heels, I had recently found a relatively simple cooking primer that touched upon the subject of the special effects certain ingredients could give. (i could actually almost read it without assistance! progress!) I hadn't got the chance to finish it last night because the adults had this stupid idea that i needed a bed time and that healthy little girls go to bed before eight.

Bha! I am-

….

I was a teenager. And if school taught me anything it was that your education was more important than your mental and physical health! Lives were on the line people! Who knows when i'm going to need this information!

But it was nowhere near bedtime now! And no one! No one was going to stop me from my research!

I stared in abject horror at the empty shelf.

My book! My research! MY ENTERTAINMENT!

Someone had taken my cooking primer and I was devastated. Normally i would move on and find something else to read but this had been the first book that talked about special ingredients that i could sorta understand! I NEEDED more interimentery books to read, they were either too simple or too complex. The middling books that pushed my boundaries without confounding me were Hard to find! At least ones that didn't speak down to the reader or bore me to death.

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A PICTURE BOOK THAT ISN'T SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF "RED DOG RUN, BLUE SNAIL SLIME!?"

I stomped fuming over to the castle's resident librarian who was deeply engrossed in some thick tome or another, muttering dark curses under my breath and fervently praying it had just been shelved in the wrong section. Ignoring the increasingly worried maid servant trailing behind me.

Taking a deep breath i collected myself and tugged on the old man's long trailing sleeve "mister Tommison do you know where my book is?" I requested politely. I didn't want to alienate my book dealer.

He raised one elegant silver brow and peered down imperiously over his reading glasses. "And which book would that be my dear?" mr. Tommison was a tall, thin, well kept man whose stern intimidating visage could scare troublemakers and chatterboxes out of his library with a single long derisive stare. He was horribly overworked trying to catalog and organise our massive mess of a library and wasn't all that fond of children no matter how important they might be. (honestly the library was a MESS from centuries of collection, mislabeling, misshelving, and to be honestly hoarding every scrap of paper we could get our grubby hands on. we had far too many books for one man to keep track of properly, but he kept the few sections he had under control in meticulous order.) thankfully he had grown a soft spot for me after a few weeks of quite, polite company and careful treatment of his precious books. (at least the few that i could read.)

"Dalias cookbook for the common home, mister Tommison" i replied dutifully carefully enunciating the syllables. mister Tommison was not tolerant of ignorance.

He sniffed derisively "it was checked out by some stupid little squire, he had the gall to come here right after training and tracked mud absolutely every where." my heart sunk. The knight trainees were famous for playing rough with their things and dirtying the castle with mud and other such gunk.

Even I knew that and I really only talked to mister Tommison, granny, spots, mom and dad!

Who knew what sort of condition my poor book would be in when i got it back!

I needed to go talk to this squire about being careful with this book or at least waiting to ruin it until after i got the chance to read over it a few times!

"Thank you for telling me mister Tommison." "of course my dear" he nodded back at me before returning his hawk like gaze to his book. I turned around sharply and headed out of the library.

Now, off to the training grounds to find my book!

.

…

…..

"Dottie? Where are the training grounds" she muffled a snicker behind me. "This way my lady."

As it turns out the training grounds were on the edge of what would be considered the castle, almost as far away from the library as one could get while staying in the castle grounds.

And as i stood in the door way to the outside world i was starting to feel…

Trepidation.

The sun was hot, the field was loud, and I was standing at a distance in anxiety. It had been years since i had really been in a crowd, since i had really gone outside and interacted with anyone outside of my small circle of family and caretakers. In all honesty i was rather sheltered.

And this was scary.

It was loud, the clash of bodies, the screech of steel against steel, triumphant yells, angry shouts, and the bellow of commanders. Hylian ears are incredibly sensitive and this messy cacophony of violent noise was painful.

My instincts were screaming to hide. to cling to dottie and hide behind the one person I knew was safe. Everyone was so much bigger and stronger than i was. I was fragile, vulnerable, and uncertain. My toddler mind cried for the safety of Dotties skirts. To turn around and-

"I'm just saying it's weird!" a voice broke through my thoughts and drew my attention to two soldiers relaxing in the shade of the wall some distance from the door dottie and i were standing in.

"She's the princess mate, should you really be saying things like that?" a lackadaisical voice replied to the first unknown. "She's three! No three year old should be reading! I have a three year old sibling, she can barely string a complete sentence together! Let alone read! Its freaky mate, I'm telling you!"

I took an involuntary step back and dottie bristled.

"Shes got the blood of the goddess mate, their always doing strange things." the lazy soldier replied barely bothering to glance at his impassioned friend. "I don't hear about the queen being able to read at three. Her majesty's smart, not unnatural!"

Dottie started to move but i caught her skirt preventing her from moving any further

His friend laughed, "you're losing it mate- the future wisdom of Hyrule, too smart? Have you been adding the wrong mushrooms to your stew?" "jerk. You know i'm right! Its weird! What other three year old can read?"

"SOLDERS DOSE THIS LOOK LIKE A TEA PARTY TO YOU?!" the two men startled head swinging toward the approaching commander before freezing like deer in head lights.

"THIS ISN'T SOME SORT OF RELAXING GET AWAY SPOT! THIS IS A JOB- A DUTY! GET YOUR LILY WHITE BUTTS BACK ON THE FIELD AND GET TO WORK ON SOME PUSH UPS"

The first solder spoke up tentatively "how many sir?" "DID I ASK FOR QUESTIONS? YOUR GOING TO KEEP GOING UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN STOP. NOW DROP." "SIR YES SIR"

I turned my eyes to the fuming dottie, "Dottie lets go back inside." "But princess-" "can we just go back inside… please." dottie scooped me up into her arms. Normally i would fuss wanting the independence of being on my own two feet, but right now it just felt good to be held. "Ok. let's go back to your rooms princess. Its about time for your nap any way" she replied with forced cheer.

It wasn't anywhere near nap time but right now i just wanted to sleep.

Also on FanFiction.Net! https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13547505/9/

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Monster (Shadowhunters x Reader)

Simon is attacked by an unknown being which stirs investigation.

You were sprinting full speed through the old abandoned docks. You tripped landing on the ground. You heard a sound as you planted and turned before your eyes widened. “No wait… Please, no…stop…STOP!” You let out a blood curdling scream and that was the last time you were seen.

9 months later…

“I want to puke.” Simon moaned doubled over. Raphael frowned. “Venice? You took us to Venice, Magnus!?” Magnus rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Relax, Raphael, it’s night time and a fluke, we’ll be back home long before sunrise.” “Why Venice? Don’t you have some kind of GPS or something?” “Let’s just agree the less questions the mundane asks, the better.” Jace frowned, refusing to directly acknowledge Simon who scowled in return. Clary put her hand on Simons shoulder in comfort as Simon groaned as he straightened up.

“This is definitely abandoned.” Jace said looking over the docks. He was right, it been poorly maintained as all the surrounding wood seemed to be rotting. The wooden deck they moved on groaned and dipped under their weight. “Careful,” Raphael said warily, “This place could collapse at any time.” “I’m sure it would be fine…as long as we don’t plan to party and such.” Magnus said waving his hand whilst analysing the place too. “I don’t know how any of you are so sure. I can barely see a thing.” Clary frowned. There were small lights that just barely illuminating anything behind the grime, smothering the light. Looking closely the rotting wood structure was visible.

Simon looked out at the water from the edge, despite being calm waters, it was dark and sinister, even slightly murky.The moons reflection was seen in the distance yet somehow that made it more unnerving. Simon moved faster to catch up with the group. He didn’t see the pale hand reach out of the water attempting to grab him from where he once stood before it went back into the water. He heard a light splash and he turned. Some drops of water were where he was standing but he shrugged it off. Maybe it was a fish.

Swish. Simon looked down and jumped away as a pale hand reached out of the water to grab his foot. “Woah!” He yelled. The hand quickly retreated back into the water as Clary rushed to him. “Something is in there! A hand just tried to grab me!” Simon panicked.  “Maybe it was a mermaid.” Jace shrugged. “Well we cant be sure, its not entirely, known if mermaids actually have any interest in mundanes.” Simon looked back over the edge and inhaled sharply. Your eyes were large and looked like a fishes except they were totally black. Your irises seemed to take up most of your eyeball as the whites of your eyes were only visible from the corners of each eye. You had a greyish complexion with what looked to be black hair. Your mouth was a small slit above your chin, there was no lips from what he could see as well as little bone structure on your face only on your nose.  You lunged forward grabbing Simon’s ankle and pulling him into the water. The last thing he heard was Clary’s scream. He tried to fight off the creature but it was strong and coiled it’s limbs around him, restricting his movements. He was sinking, and quickly running out of air. He was right, you did have black hair. It was like netting that seemed to be helping you sink deeper into the water. You were wearing a hospital gown and were incredibly boney. There was a flash of light and a second later you screeched in pain, letting him go and swimming away incredibly fast. It wasn’t a mermaid, it had legs. 

Simon was pulled out of the water by Raphael, Jace and Clary. He coughed and sputtered.  “That was no mermaid.” Magnus stated his hands still glowing in case of further attack.

A few nights later Raphael returned to the scene with Meliorn and Isabelle. Isabelle wanted to go alone but the vampire and seelie knight were having none of it due to the recent discovery of the creature. “Let the Clave deal with this, Isabelle.” Raphael said as she kneeled onto the docks where Simon was grabbed and she untied the knot in her plastic bag. Meliorn and Raphael followed suit on either side of her. “The Clave want to catch it. I don’t want to catch it, I want to feed it.” Isabelle smiled brushing off Raphael’s plea. “Maybe it’s hungry. We should want to learn more about it than just capturing it. Simon did say it looked rather boney.”

Raphael scrunched his face up. “You think prawns will satisfy it if it was willing to eat a whole person?” “Maybe it was an octopus?” isabelle shrugged. “Magnus Bane said when he hit that thing with magic that it was human shaped.” Meliorn argued. Isabelle ignored them tearing open the packet before wiggling her fingers in the water and then throwing a few in as they sank. She tore open a packet of strawberry laces before popping a few into her mouth. She offered some to the boys who each shook their head. She then dropped a handful of those too.

“It’s strange,” Alec ran his hands through his hair. “There is no reports of such a being with that description nor has their been any reports of activity at those docks.” “I wouldn’t worry, the Clave said they’d handle it, it’s not your responsibility.” Magnus said over Alec’s shoulder. “Im not worried about that thing, i’m worried about Izzy. I dont like the thought of her being there with something we know nothing about.” Magnus rested his head on Alec’s shoulder. “Trust her Alec, I wouldn’t have let her go alone and i know she can handle herself.”

Isabelle placed a strawberry lace at the edge of the dock and shifted back. They could see something circling under the water. After a few moments it got closer and a pale hand shot out snatching the strawberry treat and quickly retreating. “Its hand is webbed���” Isabelle said to herself. “Its continuously moving as though to keep itself near the surface. It looks like if it stopped it would just sink.” Meliorn said. “So it has the knowledge that we’re here.” Raphael added. “We should go…” Isabelle said quietly. “The institute will be coming to get it for the Clave soon.”

It took three days to catch you and you put up an impressive fight. They noticed you didn’t see the Shadowhunters as prey, you didn’t intend to eat them. It was evident as your attack was swarming them and swiping at them. You’d attempt to kill them by locking them in your grip underwater in attempt to drown them. Clearly you weren’t the most dangerous creature, but you were still a big threat.

You were held in a large tank that in Alec’s eyes was just a transparent box filled with water. You were frantic when you had been hauled out of the murky waters at the docks. It was clear quickly that you struggled to breathe out of the water after a few minutes. It was evident you felt a pain immediately when on land. They had gathered that you felt pain in your nostrils in the same way one would when breathing in water except it worked vice versa for you. You had no fins or any kind of scaling which suggested you weren’t related to the mermaid species. However it confused many as to how you could breathe underwater without such things on your anatomy. This aided in the realisation of your breathing on land. They noted you had webbed hands, but there was no webbing in your feet. It made them sick just how much of a human you resembled. You were thin and didn’t go hungry. That was when they discovered that your stomach wasn’t connected to get rid of waste. You had no features to determine your gender and you most certainly couldn’t reproduce but they made a guess judging by your height and bone structure. It was likely that this was intended and there were only to be as many of the likes of you as desired. It became clear to Isabelle that while you ate the food she gave you. You couldn’t keep it down, eventually it’d have to come back up. It made her wonder why you ate it in the first place. 

Your mouth was the most bizarre, upon closer look you had very thin lips and when you did eat or felt threatened your small mouth stretched inhumanely wide to your cheekbones revealing sharp pointed teeth. They noted you wore a hospital gown. Your greyish skin was paler than originally described but was smooth and thick. Your hair was black, they couldn’t determine if this was your original hair colour. It reached to your rear and behaved like a fin or gill would. It spread out behind you, there was no strand isolated as you slowly sank to the bottom. When you wanted to swim up the hair cooperated with gravity and stuck together. Your boney legs were inhumanely strong. You could swim faster than a human could. However, your arm strength was normal so it was clear you relied on your legs. It was difficult to see any light response in your frighteningly large eyes. Any light shone at them had no reflection and little response making it look like pitch black holes in your eyes. You didn’t blink at the light, it was soon tested to see if you were blind which was concluded as false. You had an excellent sense of smell as well as hearing but you didn’t talk, you gave no communication at all. 

In the tank you just watched the Shadowhunters, only your eyes shifting as the rest of you remained lifeless. Meliorn trailed his finger tips down the barrier between himself and you. You didn’t seem to have much interest in Meliorn. “I am certain they are not tied to our kind, I can’t even determine it as a mermaid. You have something new in your hands.” “Can you be so certain with this feature?” Alec nodded to another Shadowhunter who dropped what looked to be fish. As soon as it began to sink you burst into life, your mouth widened much like the Seelie Queen could. “To my knowledge, yes, it is not likely to be attached to our kind.” 

“Hello Meliorn.” Isabelle welcomed as Meliorn moved beside her, seeming irritated. “Your brother is determined that thing is one of ours. What if it’s a demon?” “Don’t worry about it, I’m currently working on the DNA. I’m really close…if it helps Raphael as well as Luke Garroway is here too? The teeth could be the fangs of a vampire or a wolf.” “What if it’s just another demon?” Meliorn pressed. “My queen would not appreciate such implications given today.” Isabelle gave him a pointed look as though to say ‘Your queen is ever appreciative?’. He scowled at her in return which received a look of surrender. “This place already reeks of the Clave and they haven’t even arrived yet.“ Raphael scowled and nodded to Meliorn in greeting. “Alec is asking the questions that the Clave will ask but with needles and scalpels.” Isabelle smiled, not taking her eyes from her screen. “So what’s gonna happen if that was a human?” Isabelle looked up with a look of dread. “It can’t be.” “Of course, it could.” Raphael countered. “Then I hope by the angel it is not.” The topic was quickly disregarded as the two downworlders waited for their queue to leave. Isabelle continued to type rapidly until she halted. She looked to be in despair and had rolled back with her chair from the screen to get a closer look.  “Isabelle? What’s wrong?” Raphael asked. “It’s human…it was human. I mean the cells are heavily mutated but it’s there.” The downworlders exhaled, they had danced around the idea, everyone did but was anyone really prepared for the confirmation? 

That night the Clave came to collect you. You made no acknowledgement to them and that was the end of it. It was over as though you were never there. You were eventually identified. Too bad that wasn’t enough for the Clave to keep you around. Your story spread like wildfire among the Downworld. The mundane who was kidnapped and turned into a monster. It was a sad tale, one that they’d tell their children as a lesson of judging too quickly. Yet it didn’t seem like enough for you to just be a tragic story. Many downworlders were turned into what they were now and a small amount were left to their own devices to learn the hard way. They felt for you and hurt to think that you didn’t have the brain capacity to understand either. 

It started with Simon who was now a daylighter by this time, Raphael, Magnus, Luke, Meliorn, Clary, Isabelle and a small group of each species of the Downworld. The few who took a stand for the majority. Clary and Isabelle, with the support of Luke reminded them of how they couldn’t be recognised as involved. They had full support for you but they feared their runes being the lenient punishment they’d get if they were caught. 

Getting in the building you were held in took a lot of planning and effort. They had to split up and some had to fit into very tight spaces. All had to hope they’d find one another. This alone would be challenging, it was a maze of long corridors and doors. 

It took them half an hour to find you in what looked to be a large sphere that reminded them of a gigantic fish tank but you weren’t a goldfish and the wires and mask connected to you looked less that friendly. You seemed to be struggling against the wires as a few Shadowhunters used a machine to direct a frighteningly long needle toward you. Clary and Isabelle were the first to make themselves known. “Stop! What in the hell are you doing!?” Clary demanded as the two approached the three Shadowhunters. “Isabelle Lightwood? Clarissa Fairchild? This is a warded off section, you’re not supposed to be here!” The three scowled at the two girls as though they were caught doing something they shouldn’t have. “That’s not an answer!” Clary ignored their protests. “Clary, careful.” Isabelle warned lowly before turning her attention to the three men in front of her. “She asked a question, we have the right to know the answer. What do you intend on doing?” “A right? No…no, you do not have any right, Miss Lightwood.” Everyone’s gaze turned to see Imogen Herondale, the inquisitor walking toward them, her heels clacking against the floor. “Your friends might as well come out too, no need to hide any longer.”  As the group peeled themselves from their hiding place the three Shadowhunters made startled noises. “This concerns none of you. You have broken in and are now interfering against the Clave.” Imogen kept her cold stare on the two girls. “We discovered it first! I fed it before any of you even considered collecting it. We have done so much to understand this being, Inquisitor and we still know barely anything. We can’t let you kill it knowing you know haven’t even tried to understand it. It can’t be right, not when we used to protect it.” Isabelle said through her clenched jaw. “You say that as though there is positivity in this.” Imogen remained unphased. “You’re right, we know next to nothing about that thing so what if it’s hostile? What if its sole purpose is to kill? You sent us the records, they show no ability to reproduce but there was an intentional mutation to a human. Don’t you see? It’s a weapon Isabelle, a weapon that’s likely not in our support.” “That’s an assumption,” Magnus frowned “a belief.” “What if it’s harmless?“ Simon spoke up. “They’re dormant until disturbed.” “And I know for a fact that those reports declared obvious abuse. A mundane doesn’t just turn into that.” Clary pointed.  Imogen looked at you, you were lifeless in the tank, hair sprawled out and covering your eyes. “This is not for discussion,” Imogen deadpanned and nodded to the Shadowhunters who directed the needle once more. 

A gurgled protest erupted from the tank as you came to life struggling even further. You yanked your limbs from the wires, startling everyone in the room. The movements you made were a sign of intelligence. You went limp once more. “Inquisitor…what do we do?” One of the Shadowhunters asked. Imogen stared at you for a long moment. “Well…” She said lowly. “I suppose electrocution will have to do.” “No!” Clary protested Simon wasted no time. He ran toward the tank with everything he had and began to hit the glass with everything he had. Raphael quickly caught on as a crack began to grow on the tank. The Inquisitor’s eyes widened as she hurried to the door. Raphael quickly joined him. “We need to break the glass!” It seemed like everyone burst into life and did everything they could to break the glass as Isabelle and Clary tackled two of the Shadowhunters and Maia who tackled the third in her wolf form. Cracks zigzagged across the tank before they gave way and water began to cascade and fill the room. “Come on, (Y/N)! Come on!” Simon yelled. They couldn’t see you but they certainly couldn’t stay either. Imogen had fled long before the glass would break and the three Shadowhunters were released who also ran for their lives. The door was wide open, water leaving the room. “Look!” Isabelle yelled pointing. They saw you under the water, crawling and paddling your way across the room. “We gotta let them out!” Raphael and Simon began ripping through various pipes. “There’s more water, you guys make sure they get out. We’ll be right behind you!” Simon yelled over the sound of water. “We must be underwater!” Raphael added. 

They followed you, the water rising to their knees. They heard various screams as many Shadowhunters sought high ground, some even scrambling onto any high surface when they saw you make your way across the room. “The door! Open the door!” Magnus yelled as Clary dived to open the touch sensors security door.  Raphael turned and dented a rather large pipe. “Simon we need to move!” Raphael called. “Is that them all!?” “Simon, now!” Raphael yelled as they pipe began to made shuddering grotesque noises.  “Woah!” Simon said as the two ran off. Only a few seconds later did the pipe burst filling the room even further. No one had time to consider how this one room caused the whole first floor to be succumbed to water. 

Eventually the Shadowhunters simply watched you from the floor above with the group. “Come on kid…” Luke muttered as you moved swam around seemingly looking for a way to get past the next door. “It can’t open a door?” A Shadowhunter asked. “Wait…” Clary breathed. You ran your hands down the divide of the double doors. You noticed a gap under the door where water escaped. You slid your fingers through the gap, wrapping your fingers to the door before you violently tugged. “Now you’re getting it.” Simon nodded. “These ones have hinges…they don’t open like the others.”  Another harsh tug then another tug and it door gave in as you crawled your way in. The crowd rushed to the next room to see what you’d do next.

This was the final room, you were nearly out. The door was way too heavy to rip open. You were trapped. “It’s learning!” Someone cried out as you thin arm reached up as far as you could grabbing the latch on the door. It was an emergency door, everyone realised what you were trying to do immediately. Behind that door was a cliff, leading to the water below. The door opened and the water escaped quicker than you could crawl out and Clary saw it. “Oh no…” She breathed before running. “Clary!? Where are you going!?” Simon called out to her but she was already sprinting away, turning the corner. It dawned on Magnus what Clary was doing, she couldn’t do this alone. He too began to sprint after her. “Magnus!?” Isabelle called out. 

“Clary!” Magnus called out making her turn. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.” “What do you mean?” She said as they ran down the stairs to the corridors overrun with knee high water that was slowly draining. “It was in Venice, I’ll open a portal, we’ll take it home.” 

The two ran up to you. "Let me help you." Clary whispered over you before rolling you over many times toward the portal. With one last final shove, you put all your strength into rolling into the portal. A few seconds later you were gone. She could only hope you made it. 

The merman tilted his head. He had dark blue hair, was pale and has scales dusting over the top of his high cheek bones. He had larger eyes than a human which were a bright green. His tail was a smudged charcoal colour. Fins, portuded from his lower arms, and gills under his ribcage. He hesitantly swam up to your still body. Your hair was sprawled all over the place, your eyes shut. "Human?" He didn't talk with his mouth, yet his words could be heard within the waters as though he did. You twitched, your eyes snapping open. His eyes widened a fraction. You certainly weren't human, despite the similarities. "Can you talk? Do you know where you are?"