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obsessedwithceleste · 7 months ago

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Daisy Chains and Kept Promises

George Weasley x reader

Based on this request🫶🏽

Summary: George Weasley was never one to break a promise. Especially not one sealed by a daisy chain ring.

word count: 3.2k

©️ obsessedwithceleste. all works posted here belong to me and should not be reposted or copied in any way or form.

It was the first sunny afternoon in what seemed like forever, but in reality had only been a few days, and the residents of the burrow were eager to escape onto the vibrant, green lawn.

“Fred, George you stay out of trouble now!” Molly shouted from the kitchen as you run out the door with the twins.

“Come on now, it’s our last summer before they ship us off to Hogwarts! We gotta make the most of it!” Fred replies, sprinting out to the shed where the Weasleys stored all their brooms.

“Hurry up Georgie, or I’m taking the good broom!” You tease as you race past the other boy, snatching the best broom from the rack before he has the chance to protest.

“Aw c’mon! Why’s she always get the good one?” Ron complains as he catches up with you all.

“Oh shut it Ronald,” George retorts, not bothering to give his youngest brother a second glance.

The four of you spend the afternoon zooming across the field, a beat up quaffle tossed between you in carefree bliss as the sun shines down on you and Ginny watches from the ground below.

Eventually you all tire and you find yourself lying in the shade of the old oak tree that loomed over the garden. Thankfully the rain had scared off the gnomes that had a habit of sneaking into the garden for a tasty treat.

“Show me how to make those daisy crowns? Like the muggles?” Ginny asks, bringing over fists full of the little white flowers.

“Not now Ginny,” Fred sighs, rolling his eyes at the young girl.

“No, no, we can do it now,” you argue, patting the ground next to you, gesturing for the younger girl to sit beside you.

“Yeah, let her stay,” George agrees, smiling fondly at you.

Fred snorts at his brother, eyes rolling once more.

“You always side with her, you’re supposed to be my twin! How are you two going to survive without each other?” Fred retorts, leaning back against the tree.

“It’ll only be a year, then y/n can join us in the fun,” George replies happily.

“Oh at this point you might as well just marry her,” Fred responds with a huff.

You feel your cheeks begin to grow red and you turn to focus all your attention on the young girl beside you, showing her how to intricately wrap the stems together to form a chain of daisies.

You’d known the twins for as long as you could remember. You’d practically grown up with them. Your father Remus did the best he could raising you on his own, he really did, but it was hard. Especially on full moons. The Weasleys always took you in on those nights, often resulting in you staying for days while Remus recovered.

George had had a soft spot for you since the beginning, always being the slightly softer twin while Fred was more severe and brash. You could remember a particularly bad night when it had been storming, the loud thunder making you shake with fear. George had stayed up with you all night, making sure the storm didn’t get you. You had been seven at the time.

It had started back then you supposed, your little crush. It had confused you at first as you had thought of all the boys as your brothers, but now, at the ripe old age of ten, you could tell that Georgie was different from the other Weasley boys.

“There!” George announces excitedly, shaking you from your thoughts as he brandishes a single daisy up into the air, its stem tied rather roughly in a small circle.

Without warning, he grasps onto your hand, sliding the makeshift ring onto your finger, looking rather pleased with himself.

“There. You’re my wife now,” he says proudly as you stare at the little flower adorning your finger.

“You didn’t do it right! You have to ask her to be your wife. Everyone knows that!” Ginny exclaims, watching the two of you with a dopey little grin on her face.

“Oh. Right. Y/n, will you be my wife?” Georgie asks, batting his eyes dramatically at you and sticking out his bottom lip.

“Yes I will,” you reply with a laugh, admiring the pretty daisy that now sat on your finger.

“You two are so gross,” Fred says, making a face.

“Oh, oh! Do the promises! The ones where you say I do!” Ginny urges excitedly, clapping her hands.

“Alright. Do you promise to always laugh at my jokes, always be there for me when I need you, and always take my side when we argue with Fred?” George asks.

Fred begins to make dramatic gagging sounds.

“I do.” You reply with a giggle as Fred just glares at you. “And do you promise to always make me smile, always protect me, and always make me hot chocolate when I can’t sleep?”

“I do.”

It was dark. The whole house was dark really. All the time. Dimly lit and constantly smelling like mold and rotting wood. And the furniture seemed to be permanently damp, the coldness settling into your bones.

You hated it here at Grimmauld Place. The constant shrieking of decrepit, old portraits, the eerie feeling of constantly being watched. The only positive attribute about living in this wretched place was the fact that Remus had never been happier.

It had taken months to do it, but after Harry had been able to help Sirius escape the dementors, Dumbledore had inconspicuously been able to move Sirius into Grimmauld place where you had been staying ever since.

It had been strange at first, no doubt. You had only just met the man, but he grew on you quickly. Like a fungus. You loved seeing how comfortable he made Remus who visibly softened whenever the other man was near. And you hadn’t seen Remus smile as wide or as often, well ever. You could tell that the two of them were just meant to be side by side, and honestly, that was enough for you. Especially in dark times like these.

“Lighten up love, we have a surprise for you before dinner,” Remus announces, entering the drawing room where you sat wrapped in a pile of blankets, a book in hand as you tried to ignore the screeching bag lady in entry way portrait.

“Is it another one of those horrendous sweaters that Sirius keeps digging up from somewhere?” You ask, nose scrunching at the thought of another one of the putrid smelling things being presented to you. You didn’t have the heart to tell him that you detested the nasty things, so you had been giving them to Kreacher to dispose of rapidly. “I know I keep telling him that they’re lovely, but how many of the things does he think I need?”

Remus just laughs, shaking his head. “I’ve told him to move onto something else, but he’s determined to fill your wardrobe I think. But no. It’s not another sweater. For now at least. No, I do believe you’ll quite enjoy this little surprise.” He tells you before leaving you to your book and your thoughts.

Dinner time couldn't come fast enough as you eagerly eyed the clock every fifteen minutes, only to be disappointed by how little time had gone by.

About thirty minutes before the three of you usually ate dinner, you began hearing a chorus of voices coming from the entry way. And not the familiar voices of the Black family portraits.

"Well where is she then?" a loud voice asks.

Hearing the voice, you immediately perk up, not quite believing you'd heard correctly. This place might be driving you mad.

"Oh bloody hell mate, don't seem too eager now," comes the sarcastic response.

You'd know those voices anywhere. Practically throwing yourself from the couch, you eagerly scramble to the door and down the staircase to be greeted by the whole Weasley family grinning up at you.

"Look Georgie, there's your wife, don't get your knickers in a twist now," Fred scoffs.

You fly into George's arms, sighing contentedly as his arms wrap securely around you.

"Well hello to you too," you hear him laugh as he gives you another squeeze before releasing you.

You hadn't seen him, or the other Weasley's for that matter, in what felt like ages. He and Fred had grown their hair out, and you didn't quite remember them being so tall last you saw them. His smile never changed though.

Bashfully, you greet the rest of the Weasley bunch, even Fred giving you a quick hug, before rubbing the top of your head affectionately and effectively tossling up your hair. You stick your tongue out at the boy in response, batting his hand away.

"I missed you all, so much! I've been going absolutely bonkers being here alone for so long," you tell them.

"Well not to worry love, we'll be here all summer. Hermione too, though she's not coming for another few weeks." George tells you.

Feeling eyes on you as you laugh with the boys, turning to see both Sirius and Remus gazing at you intently, eyes flickering between you and George.

Sirius silently points at you, then George before drawing a line across his neck with his finger before giving you a wink. You feel heat creeping into your cheeks as you turn back to the boys.

"What are you all doing here?" you ask eventually as the adults begin to file into the kitchen.

"Came to be used as house elves of course," Fred replies, earning him a nudge from George.

"Mum said that Sirius volunteered the house to be headquarters for the Order," Ron butts in.

"Yeah, then mum volunteered us to help clean the place up," Ginny adds.

You make a face at that.

"We have a lot of work to do then, this place is disgusting," you tell them, leading them up the stairs to the room you'd been staying in. On your way up the stairs, George's hand never leaves yours, fingers intertwined as you guide him up the dusty staircase.

"Long as there aren't any spiders," Ron replies, eyeing the spiraling stairs with suspicion.

You just look back at the boy with concern, pity overtaking your face as his own face turns pale.

For once Grimmauld place was silent. A rare luxury you'd found, especially since the Weasley's had moved in. Not that you minded, the red headed family made the grim, old place feel alive and vibrant. Something you thought the it needed desperately. But you liked the quiet too.

It had been a strange couple of weeks as everyone, the adults especially, seemed to be on high alert. And who could blame them? Hermione had just moved in, sharing a room with you and Ginny. You could hear their breathing now as you stared up at the dark ceiling above.

After the Weasley's arrival, you had all spent countless hours decluttering Grimmauld place. Sweeping, dusting, banishing the more mouthy portraits to the attic. It was hard work, but you had loved every second of it with George making you laugh until you keeled over, tears streaming down your face. His presence just made everything better. You thought so at least.

In the darkened room, your mind drifts to the conversation you had heard between the adults just hours ago. It definitely wasn't a conversation you had been meant to overhear, but Georgie had given you a pair of extendable ears that he and Fred had developed, and you just couldn't help yourself.

"Oh really Sirius, they've all practically grown up together, George would never do anything to hurt her," Molly had said.

At the mention of George's name, you just had to find out what they were talking about.

"We never said he was going to do anything malicious, we just don't want to see her get hurt," Remus replied with a heavy sigh.

Her?

"They're practically adults, you can't protect her forever. So what if they fancy each other? They're not children!" Molly retorts.

"Oh that's rich coming from you. Just the other day you were going on about young witches and wizards rushing into marriage during the first war. And how many times have you told the twins that they're forbidden from joining the Order hmm? They're adults, Molly, you can't protect them forever," Sirius responds.

"Oh but at least I've done all I can to protect them up to this point. What have you done for y/n? Nothing. Because you've been locked up!" Molly spits. You can hear the fury in her voice.

Your fists ball up in rage at her comments. None of it was Sirius's fault. He didn't do anything wrong. How dare she?

"That's enough!" you hear Remus cut in, a sharpness in his voice that you hadn't heard before. "We weren't coming to attack George, or the way you raised any of the children. We were simply raising our concerns, as any good parents would. Now that we've made our point, if you don't wish to interfere, fine. We won't either."

After that the only thing you had heard was the shuffling of feet as they abandoned the dining room. They had most definitely been talking about you. No doubt about it. You hadn't realized they were concerned about you. They never said anything. And it was only Georgie. The two of you had been married for six years now. In all the ways that mattered to you at least. He would never hurt you. In fact, he'd made it a promise.

Mind racing and unable to sleep, you slip out of bed, careful not to make a sound as you slowly creep to the drawing room that you so often took refuge in. To your surprise however, a dim light was already flickering inside when you approached, and a familiar head of red hair sat facing away from you on the sofa.

"Georgie?" You whisper cautiously, not wanting to spook him.

His head turns in surprise, but his face lights up when he sees you.

"What are you doing this up this late, love?" he asks.

"I could ask you the same."

"Fair enough. Just a lot on my mind I suppose."

"Me too," you reply.

A silence falls between the two of you as you stand, watching mesmerized as the light flickers on and off of the boy's handsome face.

"Want me to make you a hot chocolate?" George asks finally.

A smile grows on your face and you instantly perk up at the mention of your favorite treat. George always knew how to put you to sleep, and he always made the best hot chocolate. Nodding enthusiastically, the two of you make your way down to the kitchen where George begins gathering supplies.

One thing you'd always admired about him was that he never minded doing things the muggle way. While Fred was always quick to magic his way through things, George was content taking his time.

"Help stir the milk so it doesn't burn?" he asks, gesturing to the pot now on the stove.

You silently take the wooden spoon from his hand, fingers brushing ever so slightly, before focusing on the task at hand. George sets out two mugs on the counter before helping you melt in the chocolate.

It all felt terribly domestic. As if there wasn't a sociopathic murderer on the loose. Like it was just the two of you.

It isn't long before George is pouring the dark liquid into the mugs, sprinkling in a few little marshmallows and a cinnamon stick or two and the both of you are retreating back up to the drawing room.

The first sip sends shivers of satisfaction down your spine as you lean into George who wraps his free arm around you. You pull a blanket over you and revel for a moment in the comfort.

"Care to share what's been on your mind?" George asks, breaking the silence.

"Only if you go first," you reply, not quite sure how to explain that he was really the only thing on your mind these days.

George just sighs. "It's nothing you we haven't told you before," He tells you. "Mum is just fighting for her life to keep Freddie and I out of the Order, but Moody agrees with us. We're of age. There's nothing she can do to stop us."

"Will you be safe?"

"Safe as can be. Mum has made sure they don't give us any real missions. Just patrolling Diagon Alley since that's where we set up shop."

You simply nod your head, letting it fall against the boy's chest as you feel his even breathing and let it overtake you. You'd never admit it out loud, but you were grateful for Molly to an extent. The twins had an abysmal lack of self preservation skills, and you didn't know what you would do if you lost Georgie.

"And what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

You feel your shoulders shrug as you think carefully of what to say.

"I overheard our parents talking today," you mumble, not exactly sure where you were taking this.

"Oh?"

"Dads are worried about us," you tell him, hiding your face in his chest.

"Worried?"

"I dunno. They said something about your mum talking about how a lot of wizards and witches rushed into marriage during the first war, and there was a lot of talk about you being of age and what not. It got intense. There was a lot of yelling."

You feel George's chest rumble with soft laughter at your words.

"Well that's a silly thing to be worried about considering we've been married for years now at this point," he says.

You're not sure if he's joking or not. Maybe the exhaustion was finally getting to you.

"I'm being serious Georgie. I didn't know they were so worried about me. And Sirius sounded so upset," you reply, sitting up to take another long sip of your hot chocolate.

"So am I." he responds, looking you dead in the eye. The usual mischievous gleam is gone this time and you know he's never been more serious about something. "You know I'm not one to break a promise."

The air grows heavy as you feel yourself freeze for a moment at his words before you sink back into his warm embrace.

"I still have it you know. Your ring. Your mum charmed it for me so it wouldn't wilt. She knew all along," you tell him.

"She tends to have a sixth sense when it comes to these kinds of things."

Another silence falls between the two, but this time, the silence brings comfort as you feel your eyes growing heavy. George tries to stifle a yawn, but it escapes anyway. It was later then you had realized.

"I'm glad it's real for you too," you murmur, leaning further into the boy as your eyes flutter close. Something about being in George's arms provided a sense of security you couldn't find anywhere else.

"It was always real. I'd never break a promise to you, love."

bby's first non-slytherin boy fic🫣

don't ask me if I edited this- the answer is no and I don't want to talk abt it💀

tag list: @sol-lupin-black @breeistired

#harrypotter fanfiction #george weasley #george weasley x reader #george weasley x y/n #george weasley x you #fred weasley #harry potter universe #gryffindor #golden era #george weasley fanfic #george weasley fanfiction #george weasley imagines #gryffindor boys #sirius black #remus lupin #remus x sirius

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sunshinemarauder · 3 months ago

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Jily Week 2024 MASTERLIST

Jily Week 2024 is officially over, and @kay-elle-cee and I are SO blown away by the response from y'all!

A quick tally of the total participation over all seven days:

FANFICTION: 63

CREATORS: 27

FANART: 19

FAN VIDEOS: 2

TWITTER THREADS: 1

Thank you all for making this year's Jily Week an overwhelming success 🥹 85 works from 27 creators is WAY more than we'd anticipated, and it was amazing to watch the Jily fandom come together and support each other's lovely works!

In case you missed it, here is our AO3 collection!

And, of course, below is the master list of all the fan content made for Jily Week and links to the Tumblr/Twitter posts (from where you can also access AO3 links). 👉

Day 1 – Love is in the Hair

Mistle-Wow by @livelaughlovetoread | Tumblr

Simple Math by @yallthemwitches | Tumblr

Auburn by @sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

Braid by @ohmygodshesinsane | Tumblr

Love Is In The Hair 1 by @eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Love Is In The Hair 2 by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Something Eternal by @tedwardremus | Tumblr

Art by @tinyluminaryzombie | Tumblr

Love Is In The Hair by @drearymondays-05 | Tumblr

Hairography by @petalsthefish | Tumblr

Thread by canismajore on Twitter

after O.W.L.s by @juniperpyre/dejaentends | Tumblr (part 1) | Tumblr (part 2)

Art by @fiendishfyre | Tumblr

swimming through sick lullabies by @gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

flower & thorn by @thequibblah | Tumblr

he cares by sunflowersamples | Twitter

How Lily and James Fell In Love by @sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Risky Business by @arianatwycross | Tumblr

Art by @constancezin | Tumblr

Day 2 – Partners In Crime

The Interrogation by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

Partners In Crime by EastWindMlk | Tumblr

United Front by yallthemwitches | Tumblr

Partners in Crime by @abihastastybeans | Tumblr

Video by herefromwoods on Twitter

Partners by ohmygodshesinsane Tumblr

roots of memory by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

partners in crime by tinyluminaryzombie | Tumblr

Gentle, Patient, and Devoted by tedwardremus | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

“Just” Partners by petalsthefish | Tumblr

Chicken of the Woods by @alrightevanns | Tumblr

Shades of Mischief by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Art by constancezin | Tumblr

Day 3 – In Vino Veritas

In Vino Veritas by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Screwed by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

Drunken Confessions by drearymondays-05 | Tumblr

Force Majeaure by yallthemwitches | Tumblr

Liar, Liar by @annasghosts | Tumblr

Truth in a Bottle by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

Under the influence of loss by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

Art by tedwardremus | Tumblr

Art by constancezin | Tumblr

Day 4 – Flip the Script

Flip The Script by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Like Water by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

The Good Witch by petalsthefish | Tumblr

Those Who Wallow by yallthemwitches | Tumblr

Simmer Until Ready by kay-elle-cee | Tumblr

A Note of Affection by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

the dance of mischief and duty by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

Art by constancezin | Tumblr

Day 5 – Matchmaker, Matchmaker

The Sound of Silence by yallofthemwitches | Tumblr

Matchmaker, Matchmaker by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Four Names by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

Matchmaker, Matchmaker (2) by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

The Marauders’ Master Plan by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Art by tinyluminaryzombie | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

crafting chemistry by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

Art by constancezin | Tumblr

Day 6 – Inspired By…

Inspired By…Bioshock by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

The James Potter Affair by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

The Lady of Kini by @annabtg | Tumblr

Inspired By…Titanic by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Video by @lupinflowrs | Twitter | Tumblr

Art by lupinflowrs | Tumblr

Pride, Prejudice, and Potter by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

Art by tinyluminaryzombie | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

i’m waiting for it, that green light by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

Art by @ilikeginnyweasley | Tumblr

Art by constancezin | Tumblr

Day 7 – Continuation Station

Cervus by sophie-hatter-jenkins | Tumblr

The Boy (In The Bedroom) Next Door Extra by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

Echoes of Tuning Hearts (Bonus Track) by Eastwindmlk | Tumblr

when i first saw you, the end was soon by juniperpyre (a cut scene) | Tumblr

My Dog Said I Can’t Go Out With You (James’ Version) by tedwardremus | Tumblr

ripples in the water chapter by kay-elle-cee | Tumblr

Not A Bang, But A Whimper by yallthemwitches | Tumblr

but we dream in the light by gigglesandfreckles-hp | Tumblr

Bewitched By You by sonics-atelier | Tumblr

A Cup Affair by @maraudersinparadise (translation of their own fic) | Twitter | Tumblr

Art by fiendishfyre | Tumblr

P.S. If you are sharing any late works, please still tag us and we will reblog/comment. If we missed tagging you/reblogging/commenting on what you wrote, shoot us an ask or message 💛

And don't forget these adorable badges!

I would also like to add a HUGE shoutout to Kelsey, without whom this fest wouldn't have been nearly as amazing! She's been so organized and enthusiastic, and I'm so glad I asked her to join me in co-hosting 💛

#jily week 2024 #jily #jily fanfiction #james potter #lily evans #james x lily #kat & kelsey take on jily week!!!

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neytirisheaven · 11 months ago

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i can’t lose when i’m with you

warnings: you know the drill: no use of y/n, strong language, sirius calls reader “darling/my darling”, reader is a gryffindor, reader almost gets attacked by remus, slightly suggestive near the end, ooc peter (NO YOUNG PETER SLANDER), a few smoochies at the end, this is barely proofread so i apologize for any mistakes

sirius black x fem!reader word count: 6.5k

summary: in which sirius struggles to ask you out on a date, so the marauders assist him in his goal, aka the 4 times sirius black tries to ask you out and the 1 time he succeeds

notes: so…….. let’s not talk about the fact that i posted this so fucking late and let’s talk about the fact that it’s sirius black…..!! anyways so this is probably not cohesive and there are probably a lot of plotholes and inconsistencies in here but i was STRUGGLING to write this okay, like i would write 700 words and then dip because i literally couldn’t pull anything else out of my ass

LUCKILY, OUT OF the seven years you’ve spent at Hogwarts, you’ve never been so much as looked at by the infamous Marauders. Sure, they messed around with your friends, and you’ve attended their rambunctious parties after a Quidditch win, but you were fortunate enough to not be bothered by them.

That was, until the one and only Sirius Black laid his eyes on you.

You had vowed to never even come close to fraternizing with a Marauder—besides the occasional conversations with Remus—let alone fall into their trap of tricks with their corny pickup lines and their woo-worthy smiles.

And you were going to stand by that vow. No matter what. Or so you thought.

i. i’d touch that fire for you

It all started when you were peacefully sitting at your regular table in the Great Hall, talking to your friends about the newest gossip about a few of the prefects in the year below you. You prodded at the slice of your pumpkin pie, not too interested in the food as you were in the drama that seemed to be unfolding before your eyes.

But, to your demise, your gossip was cut short by a loud declaration of your name—wait, your name? No, this had to have been a joke. Right?

You slowly turned around in your seat to find Sirius Black standing right behind you, a bouquet of flowers magically appearing in his hands as soon as you locked eyes with him. He tossed his luscious hair over his shoulder and beamed brightly at you, gaining a few coos from the girls sitting around you.

“My darling,” he began, “it would be an absolute honor if you would allow me to take you out on a date to Hogsmeade next Saturday. Would you fancy a trip down there with me?” It was probably the fanciest he had spoken since he had dinner with his whole extended family, and he could’ve only hoped that he could woo you over and finally gain your affections.

You, on the other hand, were not willing to fall for what was obviously supposed to be a prank. Why the four pranksters had chosen you, of all people, to be the butt of this prank, you would never know, but it didn’t mean you were to act clueless about it the whole time.

“Go find someone else to prank, Black,” you muttered under your breath, sending your friends a confused look as you turned back to them. Only a few moments later, you felt the gentle tap of someone’s finger on your shoulder, causing you to turn around once more and look at the same boy that had now turned the bouquet into a three-tiered cake in a matter of seconds. You repeated yourself once more, “I’m not interested in your little jokes. It’s not something I look for in a person. But good job for trying.” You sent him a pitiful smile and returned to your conversation with your friends almost immediately, as if you were desperate to get out of the situation you found yourself in. You were desperate.

Sirius’ face fell as soon as you turned around, finally understanding that you were serious about everything you said. He just assumed you were playing hard to get. He didn’t think you saw it as some prank he was trying to play on you.

His dejected eyes met James’ soft, brown ones, only encouraging him to go even more all out compared to what he just did. It wasn’t the best idea, and both Remus and Peter could see it, but when Sirius was as enamored with someone as he was with you, it meant he was serious. Pun intended.

The raven-haired boy practically skipped over to his friends, James transfiguring the layered cake back into Remus’ water goblet and placing it in front of his friend. “We thank you for your sacrifice,” he spoke with no humor laced in his tone, causing the brunet to scrunch his nose up and return to the Muggle book he was currently reading; The Hobbit.

Sirius’s gaze flickered to the thick book in his friend’s hands, then shot up as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. “That’s perfect, Moony! My darling loves reading Muggle books! I’ve seen her with them in the library many times,” the boy exclaimed excitedly, bouncing around like a kid in a candy store.

“You go to the library? Willingly?” Peter questioned with his mouth full, earning a chastising smack to the back of his head.

Remus spoke up, “He’s trying to get her attention. We’ve got to give him some credit for that.”

“Thank you,” Sirius thanked the boy through gritted teeth, a bit peeved that one of his best friends had no faith in him. They had known of his crush on you for all of two months, and in all of his experiences with girls during his time at Hogwarts, he’d never been prepared for a feeling like the one you gave him. “Anyway, since you’re so invested in all your Muggle books, d’you think you could grab me one on your next visit to the Muggle bookstore?”

The three boys tried their hardest to look past Sirius’ flushed, pink cheeks as he requested a simple yet slightly embarrassing task. Peter and James shot each other a look before the latter leaned over the table with some brotherly advice hanging off the tip of his tongue.

“Just don’t be too annoying about it, Pads. You don’t have seven years for it to get less annoying like I had with Lily. Just, y’know, charm your way through it like you always do. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

ii. long as you dreaming ‘bout me, ain’t no problem

The atmosphere of the Quidditch stadium was always tense, especially whenever it came time for Gryffindor to play against Slytherin. The stands were full of students boasting their house colors, strictly separated into hues of greens and reds. Linus Spinnett animatedly narrated the gameplay, throwing in a few jabs at the Slytherin players here and there.

You watched as James and Sirius sped past you, side-by-side, unable to avoid their gazes. The latter called out your name, but you only ignored him and hid the bottom half of your face behind the scarf wrapped around your neck. He took a sharp turn and began spinning in small circles right in front of you in an attempt to get your attention, but you remained unbothered.

“Don’t you have better things to tend to, Sirius?” Your friend groaned from beside you, wrapping a comforting arm around your shoulders as she tried to shoo him away. “Go win the game, and maybe she’ll talk to you.”

Planting a chastising hand on your friend’s bicep, you whispered through gritted teeth, “Don’t encourage him! He’ll have the wrong idea.” Before you could even turn to Sirius to correct your friend’s statement, he already flew away with a dopey grin plastered on his face. It only motivated him more throughout the game, the quaffle landing in his arms more than anyone has seen before. Even James was surprised.

“Pads, what’s with you?” The Potter boy muttered, inching closer to his best friend. His eyes were trained on the bludgers being beaten around, but his complete focus was on his friend and his out-of-character actions. “I appreciate the need to win, but mate, don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?”

Sirius took the time to look around at the stadium, his eyes landing on the three Slytherins clutching their arms, then at the scoreboard that showed Gryffindor leading by thirty-five points. “I’m being perfectly normal, Prongs. Thought you’d want to win.”

“I do, but–” James’ rebuttal was cut off by the sound of Linus’ voice echoing through the stadium, rejoicing in the Gryffindor seeker’s successful accomplishment.

“Berthia Thomas has caught the golden snitch! Gryffindor wins the game!”

Sirius’ ears perked up at the exclamation, immediately soaring down to the young seeker and not-so-gently taking the snitch out of her hands. “Do you mind if I take this? No? Great, thanks!” The ends of his Quidditch robes chased closely behind him as he flew all the way up to the stands, meeting you with a smug grin. The golden, engraved ball sat peacefully in his hand, its wings flapping softly against his palm. “For you, my darling,” he smiled at you, offering the snitch like an olive branch in a peace offering.

You eyed the small object in his hand, then glanced up at the scoreboard with the teams’ respective points: Gryffindor, 220 and Slytherin, 70. With a heavy heart and a sharp glare at your friend beside you, you reluctantly took the golden snitch from his hand and held it between your thumb and your forefinger.

Sirius felt a shiver climb down his spine at the feeling of your soft fingertips brushing against his calloused palm. Even the slightest touch between the two of you could make him melt.

“Thank you, Black.” Your voice was almost as soft as your touch. Offering him a small smile, you ushered your friend away from the front row and pushed past the crowd that was now gawking at the supposedly sweet actions of the infamous Sirius Black.

But you didn’t want to fall for it. Everyone who attended Hogwarts, even the clueless first years, knew about them. Everyone who attended Hogwarts had either witnessed, experienced, or heard of their silly little pranks, and you were not one to be fooled so easily by them.

With a fleeting glance, you looked back over your shoulder to see the boy’s figure slumped over the end of his broomstick, sadly looking down at the area of his palm where your fingers so happened to touch.

iii. i don’t got nobody, just with you right now

“Oh, come on! He’s practically courting you at this point! Just let him confess to you, and maybe you’ll see that he’s not trying to pull some elaborate prank on you!” Your friend lectured in the safe space of your dorm room, tugging on the collar of your sweater to try and knock some sense into you.

You protested her points, “You say that as if he isn’t known for leading girls on and breaking their hearts. I don’t want to be another girl for him to add onto his list.”

“James has matured, look at him and Lily! I’m sure if you give him the chance–” “Have you seen him? Potter may have matured, but I’m not too confident in Sirius. He has to do more than just offer me a golden snitch or flowers or a three-tiered cake. Physical offerings do nothing to rid him of the reputation he’s been building for himself since first year. If he’s serious about fancying me, then he has to do something meaningful.”

Before your friend could refute you any further, you looked at her with a heavy gaze to effectively quiet her. The two of you returned to the light gossip you were talking about prior to bringing up Sirius Black, and a few hours later, you both agreed to part ways so you could find a comfy spot in the library to study.

She dropped you off at the entrance on the way to her rendezvous with a Ravenclaw boy in your year, bidding you a curt goodbye before breaking out into what could be considered a skip through the long hallways of the castle.

You pushed through the doors and felt solace in the smell of the books and the soft rustling of students passing between the aisles. The librarian promptly gazed at you and offered a nod, to which you returned with a small smile.

Gazing up at the tall shelves of books, you thought to yourself and began trying to think of which books you required for a successful study session for the evening. Your feet seemed to be leading you to the very back of the library, where you noticed the smallest flicker of yellow light behind a multitude of bookshelves. As you inched closer, your ears picked up the softest whispers being passed between what seemed to be two people.

You furrowed your eyebrows, wondering who could possibly study back here, where the bookshelves are impossibly closer to each other and leave no room for a singular person in the aisle, let alone two people to comfortably study. Grabbing a book off a random shelf to incriminate yourself less in case it was two students chatting about something not meant for curious ears, you pushed past the last row of books to find—

Sirius and Remus? In a rather spacious area, might you add.

They sat at a table placed flush against the wall, a small candle being the only source of light besides the sunlight from the windows that barely reached the back of the library. It was a comfortable spot, albeit the many efforts it took to get past all the tight bookshelves. They hadn’t even noticed you at first, too engrossed in a piece of parchment they had placed onto the table.

The two boys only noticed you when James had joined in, your eyes bulging out of their sockets when you watched him walk through a bookshelf. Well, it was supposed to be a bookshelf. You weren’t surprised that he had seemingly walked through a solid object, no. You’d done that plenty of times whenever you boarded or left Platform 9 ¾ throughout the years. You were left rather bitter that you put in all the effort to squeeze through all the stacks when you could’ve just walked through the bookshelf. Not that you would’ve known, though.

You looked up when James called your name. Sirius and Remus did, too. “When did you get in here? I would’ve noticed if you walked in,” the curly-haired boy frowned.

“I, uh, wedged myself through those bookshelves. Didn’t know there was an actual entrance.” You jutted a thumb over your shoulder and pointed to the very compressed bookshelves. Feeling quite awkward in your current position, with James frowning at you (or more specifically, how you got in), Remus smiling softly at you, and Sirius staring at you, you shuffled closer to the exit. “I’ll see myself out, now. Sorry. I won’t tell anyone about this, either, if you’re worried about that.”

As soon as you stepped foot past the fake bookshelf, you heard Sirius whisper-shouting at James to bring you back into the secret space.

“Wait!” He called out for you louder than he should have, quite possibly alarming the whole library of their whereabouts. With pursed lips, you swiveled on your heel and walked back through the bookshelf, shooting James a questioning look. “So, uh,” he repeatedly looked at you, then behind you, then at you again, “you said you went between those small gaps in the bookshelves?”

You nodded your head, unaware of how Sirius was urging the boy to keep the conversation going while Remus struggled to fish something out of his bag.

“We’ll have to seal that, then.” James spoke more to himself than to you.

Glancing over to the gaps, you spoke up once more. “And just so you know, the only reason I came back here was because I could hear Remus and Sirius whispering. You might want to look into that since you yelled rather loudly. Don’t want anyone else coming back here, do you?”

At your revelation, James immediately turned to his two friends with his eyes blown wide. You then heard a whispered chorus of “You didn’t cast it? I thought you did! Well, I didn’t cast it!” and before they could say much more, you lifted your wand and silently casted Muffliato around the whole area.

Sirius looked at you with more admiration in his eyes than ever before. He was practically looking at you with heart eyes, as if you were all the stars in the world joined together into one girl.

“Also, those gaps are wide enough to be peeked through. You might want to seal it up or put some charm on it so that no prying eyes look through.” The bell of the clock tower rang and bounced around the castle walls, almost as if cueing you to leave. “Well, that’s where I take my leave. And I stick by what I said earlier. I won’t speak a word of this.”

Finally leaving, you walked through the exit and shuffled through the aisle, only to be caught by the wrist. You looked over your shoulder to find Sirius smiling cheekily at you, holding a book in his hands. You turned around, a bit uncomfortable at how your arms harshly grazed at the wood of the bookshelves on either side of you. They were much more spacious compared to the shelves on the other side, but it still left little room for two people to be standing together.

He held the book up to you, allowing you to read the cover. “I bought this for you. I know you’ve been wanting it for a while,” he offered, gently putting it in your hands. “I also wanted to let you know that I didn’t conjure it up or anything. I bought it with my own money and all. If that means anything to you.” Bringing a hand up to his nape, he shyly rubbed at it as he watched your eyes dart from the book to his face.

Your mind was running at unfathomable speeds, trying to figure out how Sirius Black, of all people, found out how you wanted that specific book. You only told two people about it, and you and Lily had only spoken about it today in the confines of your N.E.W.T.-level Potions and Arithmancy classes, neither of which you shared with any of the Marauders. It wouldn’t have been enough time for Sirius to go out and buy it himself, if you were to trust his word on it.

That only left—Remus. You were quietly discussing it in Transfiguration while Professor McGonagall was helping a struggling student. The both of you had already completed the task as soon as she assigned it, so you turned to each other and talked about your shared love for Muggle books. Merlin, you felt so stupid. You thought he would respect your wishes of not wanting to be bothered by Sirius, but apparently not. “Remus,” you whispered lowly, quiet enough for the boy standing before you to barely hear what you said.

“What?” Sirius’ face flushed. “No, no. Moon—Remus didn’t have anything to do with it. Well, not really. But I bought this because I overheard you telling him about it in Transfiguration last week.”

You brushed away the odd nickname for Remus and visibly relaxed, hesitantly hugging the book to your chest. “I see. Well, in that case, I’ll use this book well. Thank you, Sirius.” Turning around and walking away, you spared no time exiting the library with the book in your hands, leaving the raven-haired boy to celebrate.

You had accepted his gift and called him by his first name! Two wins in a row!

iv. how can i snooze and miss the moment?

Surprisingly, Sirius had left you alone for the past three days. You hadn’t seen a day without him at least trying to court you, but for some reason, it was as if he’d turned into a ghost. It wasn’t like you minded, but it felt odd. Unnatural, even.

When it came nighttime, and you’d officially been left alone for three whole days, you decided to take a walk down to the Black Lake. You wanted to be left alone with your thoughts, the cool breeze of wintertime nearing, and the glimmering light of the full moon. The sound of a wolf howling flew past your ears, but you paid it no mind as you knew you were safe. There was no such thing as a werewolf on school grounds, it was impossible. You’ve had some suspicions in the past, but they can’t have been true.

Your hands plucked at the blades of grass beneath you, feeling the lush plant life beneath you. You had found a spot against a tree facing the lake and watched peacefully as the ripples of the water distorted the mirrored image of the moon and the trees around it.

Twigs snapped behind you, and your right hand flew to your coat pocket where your wand lie, but you were just taking precautions. It was probably just some other student wandering around after curfew, too. Everything would be just fine.

After half an hour of thinking to yourself, the sounds of the nature around you were becoming more stressful than relaxing. With a cautious step to the side and a meek glance past the thick tree trunk, you slowly made your way away from the Black Lake and towards the castle.

The faded footpath beneath you had turned into a muddy walkway long before you began attending Hogwarts, but it still felt unsettling. The canopy of the tall trees blocked the moonlight shining down on you, and their rustling leaves became ominous rather than peaceful.

Your hand remained snug in your coat pocket, feeling the wood of your wand against your palm. The howling wolf that was once far, far away now sounded impossibly close to you, and the multiple twigs snapping all around you caused you to grip your wand even tighter. “Hello? Is anybody there?”

No response. More twigs snapped. The ground beneath you began to shake.

“Hello? This isn’t funny! If this is supposed to be a prank, then cut it out!”

Still no response.

And then, out of nowhere, an earth-shattering growl echoed from right behind you. You turned slowly, pulling your wand out of your pocket in a fearful manner. Coming face-to-face with a werewolf, you realized all your reassurances of it being impossible were wrong. And you were about to die.

Pointing your wand at the creature, you looked into its eyes. They seemed familiar. Comforting, even. But this was a werewolf, and they were monstrous creatures, according to your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You took a small breath and shakily held your wand up.

Just before you could cast a spell in its face, you got pushed to the side. You fell back against a tree with a wince, watching as a stag headbutted the werewolf in the chest with its antlers. “What the—” Your words were cut short by the feeling of something harshly tugging at the hem of your coat, successfully dragging you away from the scene. A yelp left your lips, your fingertips clawing at the ground in an attempt to escape whatever wrath you were facing now.

Looking down, you found a black dog pulling you by its sharp teeth, its eyes boring into you like you’d known each other before. You stopped trying to escape. You just let everything happen as you stared back down at the dog. ‘What was so familiar about these animals,’ you asked yourself, unaware of the werewolf bounding after you.

It had gotten past the stag, which was nowhere to be seen. You assumed you were going delusional. The werewolf, still familiar as ever, picked you up and growled, your wand now in your hand as you prepared to cast as many offensive spells as you could. Incantations left your mouth as quickly as you’ve ever casted before, but they did nothing to stop your impending doom.

The most you did was a large gash along the creature’s arm, but the injury only aggravated it more. Lifting you up as high as it could, the werewolf threw you to the ground as you braced for impact, feeling your body hit the ground just before you blacked out.

When you woke up, you found yourself in one of the infirmary beds with Madame Pomfrey tending to your injuries. Your collarbone was shattered, and you received a few cuts on your cheek, but it was nothing the lady couldn’t fix. You were only in the infirmary for observations and precautions.

As soon as she stepped away, you were met with the embarrassed smiles of James, Sirius and Remus all on infirmary beds opposite of you. “Wha—why are you three here?” You questioned suspiciously, examining each of their injuries for ones similar to the wounds you saw on the creatures the night prior.

James had bandages wrapped around his ribcage and an ice pack on his head. Sirius had multiple gashes along his side and a cast on his left hand. Remus had the most wounds of them all: a large scratch along his cheek, a deep cut on the side of his head, a bandage wrapped around both his forearms, a cast on his right foot, and a gash on his bicep.

Wait, a gash on his bicep?

“It was you, wasn’t it?” You spoke quietly, finally realizing why Remus always disappeared whenever it came time for a full moon and why James and Sirius always missed classes the day after. “James, y—you were the stag. Sirius, you were the dog, weren’t you? And Remus, oh, Merlin,” you gasped softly, remembering all the painful spells he must have had to endure from your wand. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve known.”

The lanky boy shook his head, “No, there was no way of you knowing.” He tried to reassure you even though they all knew it become more obvious every month. “And if you’re concerned about the spells, I’m fine. I got more wounds from these gits than from whatever you casted.”

“Only if you’re sure,” you muttered softly, eyebrows furrowed from the concern for someone you hoped to consider a friend. In fact, you hoped to consider all of the Marauders friends. It was obvious they’d matured from the pranksters they used to be in their younger years, and you were frankly relieved to find out that they were as bad as you thought they were.

You didn’t seem to notice how Sirius looked at you like you held the earth up with your bare hands, and if you did notice, you didn’t mention it. You kept your focus on Remus, his terrible injuries, and how he seemed to be unfazed by them. You felt horrible.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Remus said lightly, as if reading your mind. “I know what you’re thinking. You don’t have to feel bad. I’m used to it at this point.” Opening your mouth to explain how that was why you felt bad, the boy shot you a look and spoke your name chastisingly. You stayed quiet for a while.

“Sirius?” You called out for the boy in the bed directly in front of you. He reacted far too quickly and far too eager to not be embarrassed, but you ignored his actions and spoke up once more. “Why did you save me? You could’ve helped James with Remus.”

The boy pushed himself up so he could sit properly with his back leaning against the headboard of the bed. He ignored the sharp pain in his hand and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Couldn’t let you die before the Hogsmeade trip. Speaking of that, since I saved your life and all, I think it’d be a great opportunity to repay me by being my date to Hogsmeade?” Sirius’ statement came out as more of a question. His shoulders were tense and his breathing became rapid, though he wouldn’t admit to anyone how easily you could break down all the confident walls he’d built up.

“I would’ve rather died, then,” you joked.

“Ah, then I’d just have to save you all over again.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

Sirius beamed brightly at you. “Is that a ‘yes’ to Hogsmeade?”

Shaking your head at him, you let out a small chuckle. “We’ll see.”

While you and Sirius playfully bantered back and forth across the infirmary, James leaned over to find Remus smirking right back at him.

“Are they flirting?” The curly-haired boy mouthed to his friend.

“It seems like it.” Remus mouthed back, a smile tugging on his lips.

“I bet five galleons we catch them snogging after Hogsmeade.”

Remus smirked between you and Sirius, still too engrossed in your conversation to notice what was going on around you. “I bet you ten galleons we’ll catch them snogging as soon we get released from here.”

“Deal.”

v. you just too important

After you got released, you returned to your classes like usual and dodged the multiple questions your friends asked daily. You only brushed them away when you couldn’t come up with a sorry excuse as to why you ‘suddenly started talking to Sirius Black,’ but you always told them the most extravagant lies you could string up when you had the chance.

The more time you spent talking to each other, the more you realized why all the girls dropped to their knees at the chance of being with him, even if it was just for one night. The more time you spent talking to each other, the more you realized that you were starting to fall for him. And it scared the hell out of you.

You even tried avoiding him when you first came to the realization that your feelings for Sirius were more than simply platonic, but your efforts only lasted a day before the boy sought you out and annoyed you until you were forced to give in.

So, as the days went by, you became closer and closer. And your feelings for each other became stronger and stronger. This time, though, you didn’t want to fight it. Not at all.

“Darling,” Sirius called out in his usual sing-songy tone as he strode into the Gryffindor common room. He ignored all the odd looks he received from the others and grinned once he found your figure next to the fireplace, entertaining a first year by feeding the flames a few old textbook pages. “Ah, there you are! Remus and I were looking for you!”

You smiled softly at the sound of the boy’s voice, but you didn’t turn around to let him see how he’s finally broken down your walls. “Did you need me, Siri?”

The new use of the nickname might have made Sirius scream his lungs out if he wasn’t in public and wasn’t still actively trying to hide that he was terribly in love with you. Instead, he only stared at you with a lovesick expression plastered onto his features, causing you to scrunch your nose up at the lack of a response.

You turned your head to look up at the boy, your doe eyes only pulling him in even more. “Sirius? Are you okay?” Chuckling awkwardly as he continued his intense, locked gaze on you and your pretty face, you redirected your attention to the equally awkward first year sitting beside you. “Well, if you’re going to stare, then you might as well sit down, yeah?”

Almost immediately, the raven-haired boy fell to the ground and sat crisscrossed, politely placing his hands in his lap as he watched you speak quietly to the young girl, her body relaxing when you placed a comforting hand on her. It was weird to have Sirius just staring at you in the beginning, but after a while, it was like he wasn’t even there. All he did was observe and listen.

He observed how you smiled gently at the girl whenever she spoke up in her small voice. He observed how your eyes lit up with fondness whenever you felt her touch. He observed how she leaned into you without hesitation when you offered to braid her beautiful, light brown hair. He observed how amazing you were with people younger than you, with kids. And he sure as hell observed how you would be a great mother and how he so desperately wanted to make y—well, that was a thought for another day.

Your gentleness was so endearing to him, it only made him fall for you more than he already had, if that was even possible.

Peter, who had been watching the interaction from afar, seemed to have had enough of the lingering tension and opportunities that weren’t acted upon. He wasn’t as aware of the whole situation as Remus and James were, but he was smart enough to piece all the little details together and figure out that both you and Sirius were too scared and were just waiting for the other to make a major move.

So, the boy took the situation into his own hands and dragged his friend away by the collar, taking him up to their dorm room despite the many, many efforts (albeit weak) made by the stronger boy.

“Wormtail,” Sirius whined as soon as he heard the door shut. He pretended like he didn’t know what was going on, but in reality, he was grateful that Peter inserted himself into the situation before the pining became too strong. “Why’d you bring me up here?”

“You know why,” the boy hummed as he scoured through his bedside drawers, looking for his stash of food he always had stocked up. “She likes you. A lot. And Pads, if you don’t make a move on her now, who knows who’ll be there to take her away from you. I know how you feel about her, she knows how you feel about her, and practically everyone else at Hogwarts knows how you feel about her, so just snog her already!”

To Sirius’ surprise, as soon as his friend found the box of chocolates, he didn’t take any for himself and instead walked straight out of the dorm room. The blond boy walked down the curved stairs of the tower and found you sitting in the same spot you were in before he dragged Sirius away.

As soon as you laid your eyes on him, you furrowed your eyebrows and beckoned him over. “Peter, did something happen with Sirius?”

“Ah, perfect! I was just coming to find you. Pads says he doesn’t want to eat, and I was thinking that if you offered him some chocolates instead of me, he might want to eat them. He hasn’t eaten the whole day.” The boy was speaking out of his ass, but he was tired of your unbearable pining, and frankly, so was everyone else.

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused by the sudden shift in character, but you shrugged your shoulders and took the box out of Peter’s hands. Patting the first year’s shoulder, you bid her goodbye and explained your task to her, pushing yourself off the ground and following the blond boy up to his dorm room.

The light box sat in your hands as you watched him rap his knuckles against the door, backing up until he stood behind you. The two of you patiently waited for Sirius to open the door, and as soon as he did, you felt Peter’s hands on your shoulders. Before you knew it, you had fallen directly into Sirius’ arms, effectively pushing the both of you back into the dorm room while the door shut behind you.

The box of chocolates fell from your hands, but it was the least of your concerns when your front was pressed against Sirius’ chest and your faces were centimeters away.

“Oh, um, I—“ you stammered, placing your hands on his chest to gently push him away.

Sirius, on the other hand, had other plans. He wrapped his arms around your waist with a smirk, his eyes flickering down to your lips every few seconds as he spoke. “You know I fancy you, right?” You only nodded at his question, but your flustered expression was enough to encourage him further. “And I fancy you a lot. Like, a lot, darling.”

Your inability to hold eye contact with him may have been embarrassing to you a month ago, but right now in his arms, you could care less. He spoke softly to you, his gaze filled with awe. He made you feel loved, despite all your past thoughts about him and his attempts to get you to go out on a date with him.

Sirius’ voice grew impossibly quieter as he looked into your eyes. “Please tell me you like me, too.”

Looking at his pleading expression and the way his lips just looked a bit too tantalizing with the way he bit it while awaiting your response, you couldn’t help but wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in until your lips collided.

It felt like fireworks, the way his lips moved perfectly with yours. It was like nothing you had ever experienced before. Granted, you were never too occupied when it came to your love life, but Sirius was the best kisser you’d ever come across. His hands were planted on the small of your back, bringing your body even closer to his, and your hands raked through his luscious hair.

Pulling away and ignoring the small complaint that left his lips, you smiled at the boy, “Yes, I like you too, Sirius.”

Despite the fact that you had just kissed him, his eyes still lit up brighter than you had ever seen before. “Really? Are you serious?”

“No,” you laughed, the teasing glint in your eyes telling him exactly what you were about to say next. “You’re Sirius.”

He threw his head back and groaned at the joke, “Merlin, you’re perfect.” And then he pulled you in once more.

The kiss, this time, was more heated, more intense than the first. It was hungrier, with your lips mashing together and your teeth clashing. But it was still filled with love. Filled with the thing Sirius had fought for when he approached you that day in the Great Hall. Filled with the thing he was desperate to gain when he offered you that golden snitch after his Quidditch game. Filled with what he hoped to receive when he bought you that Muggle book you were obsessing over. And most importantly, filled with the very thing that took over when he saw you at the Black Lake, terrified of what would happen if he lost you.

You were both so engrossed in the kiss that you didn’t even notice the door creaking open. James, Remus and Peter peeked through the small crack to find you and Sirius all over each other, your hands tangled in his hair and his hands inching lower.

Remus smirked at the curly-haired boy squatting next to him, holding his hand out with a cocky grin. Annoyed, James pulled ten galleons out of his pocket and begrudgingly placed it into his best friend’s palm, but all three of them knew that no matter who lost the bet and no matter how annoying Sirius would get later on, they were all just happy that you two were happy.

#sirius black #marauders #the marauders #marauders era #sirius black x reader #sirius black x y/n #sirius black fic #sirius black fanfic #sirius black fanfiction #hogwarts #james potter #remus lupin #peter pettigrew

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joelalorian · 1 year ago

Text

Masterlist

Series

Tides of Desire

Complete: TLOU no outbreak AU. Joel Miller is a luxury yacht captain running charters in the Caribbean. You join the crew as a deckhand and unexpectedly complicate Joel's peaceful existence. Basically the TLOU bunch on a Below Deck yacht.

Chapter One - A Prelude to the Open Sea

Chapter Two - The Adventure Begins

Chapter Three - The Cut of One's Jib

Chapter Four - Cut and Run

Chapter Five - Red Sky in Morning

Chapter Six - Edging Forward

Chapter Seven - From Stem to Stern

Chapter Eight - As the Crow Flies

Chapter Nine - Close Quarters

Chapter Ten - On Your Beam Ends

Chapter Eleven - All at Sea

Chapter Twelve - Turn the Corner

Epilogue

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

Fall Into Me

dbf!Joel x f!reader, ongoing

Summary: Joel is hanging on by a thread as a single father to a tenacious 10-year-old Sarah. Feeling like he's drowning, like the world is about to spit him out, he needs some help before he breaks in half. At your dad's insistence, you show up in his life and change everything.

Story is inspired by the song Fall Into Me by Forest Blakk. Chapter titles will be lyrics from the song.

Chapter One: The Day That I Met You

Chapter Two: It All Turned Around

Chapter Three: No Mirror for Monsters

Chapter Four: Until I had met you there was no sun in my sky

Chapter Five: My whole world came alive

Chapter Six: And I knew my heart wasn't mine

Chapter Seven: I'll Catch You Darlin'

Chapter Eight: We'll Dance in the Street like Nobody's Watching

Chapter Nine: I'd Fall for You Twice if That's What You Wanted

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

Petals of Affection

Complete. A floral mystery in three parts featuring Jackson!Joel x f!reader

Summary: A secret admirer gifts you a different flower and a riddle ten times before you put the clues together and discover that he's been right in front of your face the whole time.

Written for @morallyinept's Flora & Fauna challenge. Please check out all the wonderful works created in Jett's honor!

Part I

Part II

Part III

One-shots

Lost Cause

Summary: Joel thinks you shouldn’t waste your time on him. You disagree. Oneshot.

Warnings: Explicit MDNI; Jackson-era Joel; canon-ish but also not; drinking; mentions of cigarettes, drugs, dark thoughts, and death; unprotected p in v; oral (m and f receiving); interesting use of red wine; unspecified age gap; despair and hope.

Inspired by the song Save Me by Jelly Roll. Some of the lyrics have been woven into the story.

~~~~~~~~~

Fevered Flame (Marcus Pike x f!reader)

Summary: When Marcus Pike lost himself in work after that debacle with Theresa, he didn’t expect to take on a sizzling new case in the quirky town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Nor did he expect to meet you, an up-and-coming agent also looking for a fresh start. An unprecedented heatwave, mind-boggling art thefts, ancient Aztec legends, this case had the works. How would he ever solve the case with the temperature rising between you both?

This fic is my contribution to @iamasaddie's Little Lady Kinky May writing challenge. Prompts were Marcus Pike and Temperature.

WC: 10.4k – I’m sorry, I have no idea where all these words came from

#joel miller #joel miller x female reader #the last of us #fanfiction #tlou #pedro pascal character #pedro pascal #marcus pike #marcus pike x f!reader #smut #fluff

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lakesparkles · 8 months ago

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JULIE POWERS VS THE WORLD (swap AU)

More below (pls read if you want to know more about the plot)

Julie Powers could be more content with her own life. Shortly after graduating from art college, she realizes that getting a job in this field is harder than she anticipated: leaving her with no choice but to attend her boyfriend's boring band rehearsals, compare herself to her celebrity roommate, and feel like a complete failure. It all gets even worse when she starts dreaming about an old childhood friend she hasn't seen in many, many years, Gordon Goose—only to meet him again at a party a little while later. Neither of them seems completely surprised by the reunion, but they soon start talking. Unlike her, Gordon - now Gideon Graves, for some reason - has several interesting stories to tell, most of them involving his recently ex-girlfriend from New York who, not only is a millionaire, but also seems to have hurt Gideon a lot over the time the two were together. The closer Julie gets to Gideon, the less prepared she is for what's to come. She soon learns that if she wants a peaceful relationship with him, she'll have to fight his seven evil exes--in short, everyone he's dated while the two haven't kept in touch. This allows Julie to learn more about Gideon's past and realize that, maybe, just maybe… Gordon hadn't been completely honest about his relationship with Ramona Flowers.

Also this:

#julie powers #gideon graves #gordon goose #goosepowers #scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim vs the world #envy adams #i feel bad tagging stephen when he appears so little #ramona the cat #once again this is not april fools day related #i have big plans for this au #JPVTW AU

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chic-a-gigot · 2 months ago

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The Delineator, no. 4, Vol. XLVIII. Autumn Number. October 1896. Published by the Butterick Publishing Co. London & New York. Colored Plate 22. Figures D45 & 46. Reception Dresses. Internet Archive, uploaded by Albert R. Mann Library

Figure D 45. — LADIES’ DINNER DRESS.

Figure D 45. — This illustrates a Ladies’ Princess dress. The pattern, which is No. 8621 and costs 1s. 6d. or 35 cents, is in thirteen sizes for ladies from twenty-eight to forty-six inches, bust measure, and may be seen again on page 428 of this magazine.

This is one of the handsomest and newest styles in Princess gowns and shows a charming method of combining rich materials for ceremonious wear. In this instance Nile-green brocaded silk is united with black velvet and chiffon in a most effective manner, and spangled passementerie, plaited chiffon and ribbon contribute the decoration. The adjustment is made with great precision by side-front seams reaching to the shoulders, under-arm and side-back gores and a curving center seam and the closing may be made at the center of the back or along the left shoulder and under-arm seams, as preferred. The dress flares broadly at the foot in front and falls in deep flutes at the sides and back. The neck is square in front and in V shape at the back and a puff ornament of chiffon gathered at the ends and under a jewelled buckle at the center crosses the neck in front; a Bertha frill of plaited chiffon outlines the neck and passes under velvet revers on the front and back. The short puff sleeves flare handsomely and are completed with a band of spangled passementerie. A band of similar trimming covers each side-front seam of the dress to the top of a flounce of plaited chiffon that is arranged in festoon style with ribbon bows above bands of spangled passementerie at the foot.

Contrast, which is so powerful an element in good dressing, may be brought into play in this handsome mode. Judicious yet unpretentious colors and materials may be chosen without a too prodigal outlay. Becoming shades of silk, chiffon over silk, or the richer faille silks with delicate foliage or floral designs are liked for the most dressy occasions, while for ordinary wear broadcloth, canvas, wool crépon and the new novelty goods are commended. Colored embroideries, jet and spangled passementeries, chiffon and lace are all available for decoration.

Figure No. D 46. — MISSES’ PARTY DRESS.

Figure D 46. — This illustrates a Misses’ dress. The pattern, which is No. 8654 and costs 1s. 3d. or 30 cents, is in seven size for misses from ten to sixteen years of age, and may be seen in three views on page 454 of this number of The Delineator.

A most attractive combination of embroidered chiffon over taffeta silk and velvet overlaid with lace net is here pictured in the dress, and flowers, lace edging and ribbon provide the dainty decoration. A well-fitted lining closed at the back renders the surplice waist trim and comfortable. A Y facing of the velvet overlaid with lace net is seen on the lining between the surplice fronts, which have pretty fulness drawn in gathers at the shoulders and lower edges and cross in regular surplice fashion, a floral spray following the front edge of the overlapping front. The back is smooth across the shoulders and has gathered fulness at the bottom, and under-arm gores separate it from the fronts. A ribbon belt surrounds the waist and terminates in a bow at the left side of the front. Bretelles of velvet overlaid with lace net and bordered with a frill of lace edging droop over the short puff sleeves and a ribbon stock bowed stylishly at the back completes the neck.

The seven-gored skirt is gathered at the back and ripples gracefully below the hips and at the back, its shaping causing it to flare prettily at the bottom in front. A ruffle of the chiffon follows the lower edge of the skirt and a pretty effect is given by the floral decoration consisting of three sprays, each of which starts from under a ribbon bow and crosses the front-gore of the skirt diagonally.

There are a host of diaphanous fabrics from which to choose when making evening dresses for young girls. Plain varieties are quite as dainty as the embroidered and printed tissues. Lovely party dresses of silk, chiffon, dotted Swiss or nainsook may also be made up in this style in such colors as are known to be becoming. Flowers, ribbon, lace edging, spangled or jewelled passementerie and velvet are available for ornamentation.

#Delineator #19th century #1890s #1896 #periodical #fashion #fashion plate #color #description #internet archive #Albert R. Mann Library #dress #princess #gigot #devant et dos #october color plates #one color plates

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violetasteracademic · 5 months ago

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A ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give to thee...

My darlings, have hope. SJM had been letting us know where this is headed for many years, and she continues to speak to those who understand what to listen for.

I have already made a post sharing the meaning of The Glass Coffin ballet Bryce played for Nesta and Azriel in the bonus chapter, which is Sleeping Beauty.

Let me repeat that again: in the bonus chapter where Azriel is asked if he has a mate (or spouse, or partner), the bonus chapter where he looks down at Truth-Teller, thinking of Elain when describing how the King of Hybern was killed, the bonus chapter where he listens particularly close to Nesta describing if she now finally prefers being Fae to human.... Bryce played Sleeping Beauty for them.

Now, the Elriel being a Sleeping Beauty retelling has been theorized for YEARS.

I will link some of these below, but I want to touch some of my favorite ideas and easter eggs.

Many have pointed out the significance of Briar, the human woman Azriel and Elain carried back from Hybern after Azriel rescued Elain as a Sleeping Beauty clue. Briar Rose is the Alias that Princess Aurora lives by under the protection of the three good fairies.

The fairies are:

Flora (flowers) in possession of the Sword of Truth

Fauna (fawn) who gives the gift of song

Merriweather (the blue fairy) who attempts to give the gift of happiness, but is cut short by a spell

It's actually kind of insane when you start to look at all of these details. Flowers, fawn's, and happiness from the blue fairy being interrupted by a curse or a spell. Something only true love can break.

I agree with the take (which I originally saw on @elriell post found here) that Sarah might invert the Sleeping Beauty retelling for Elriel. Azriel has a few building blocks to indicate he is at a high risk. Koschei is specifically trying to get his hands on Azriel, stating he planned for him for months, and he is in close proximity to the priestesses, some of whom at this moment have the ability to lure and lull. Whether it's G/wyn and her theorized lightsinger and/or siren abilities, the sermon's Clotho suddenly discovered one day amongst random books shelved below Level Seven:

Or Merril, the descendant of the Lord of the Western Wind who considers G/wyn a lackey to be dismissed (while Koschei plants words in courts through whispers on the wind)

There is no doubt in my mind that as Rhys was captured by Hybern and Cassian was captured by Briallyn and the crown, Elain will step into her power to save Azriel from whatever it is Koschei needs him for.

The Sleeping Beauty theory moved beyond theory in HOFAS, in my opinion. I'm not saying Sarah dropped The Glass Coffin specifically for Elriel's, as we all know SJM doesn't have social media on her phone and she tends to keep away from too many fan theories. What I am saying is Elriel's have long picked up on the Sleeping Beauty threads Sarah has been dropping for years, and SJM has done nothing but continue to build on that narrative.

In this year of 2024, in Sarah's most recently published book, after years of speculation:

Azriel confirmed something was indeed wrong with the Cauldron.

Azriel literally listened to a Sleeping Beauty symphony.

Briar Rose, flowers and fawns and the Sword of Truth, sleeping spells which can only be broken by true love, the inside of Elain's mind being described as a sleeping garden.

It's honestly overwhelming.

Hope.

https://elriell.tumblr.com/post/644019925155037184/why-elriel-is-most-definitely-a-sleeping-beauty

https://www.reddit.com/r/acotar/comments/110lyda/sleeping_beauty_retelling_potential_spoilers/

https://www.reddit.com/r/acotar/comments/luk8b7/eighth_court_theory/

#elriel #pro elriel #elain x azriel #azriel and elain #elriel sleeping beauty

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graciesbow · 6 months ago

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close to you

As the golden sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the tranquil black lake, you found yourself nestled on a worn blanket, carefully intertwining delicate daisies to create a whimsical crown. Each slender stem was skillfully manipulated to interlace with the next, creating a beautiful adornment. With the impending return to school looming, you cherished these final moments of solitude within the walls of the castle.

As you neared the completion of the flower crown, a soft rustling of leaves signaled someone's approach. Pausing in your task, you glanced backward to behold Severus standing near, his gaze tender and understanding. Settling beside you, he graced the ground with his presence.

After a tranquil pause, you inquired, "What brings you here at this hour?" With a gentle smile, he replied, "You were alone out here; the darkness will soon descend." Your response was playful, punctuated by a light kiss on his cheek. "I suppose I'll need my knight in shining armor to guide me back," you teased, a smile gracing your lips.

His faint smirk was accompanied by a gallant gesture as he rose, extending his hand to assist you. As you rose to your feet, the fragile flower crown slipped from your head. With graceful ease, Severus retrieved it and placed it upon your crown, eliciting a charming blush. Hand in hand, he led you back to the castle, the heavy doors closing behind you with a resolute thud.

In the comfort of Severus's quarters, a warm cup of tea beckoned, and he engaged you with a thoughtful reading. Reclining upon the generous expanse of his L-shaped couch, you found solace in his embrace, his arm a reassuring presence around you. Drifting into a peaceful slumber, you were gently lifted and nestled on his plush mattress, where he remained close through the night.

Months passed, and the bustling energy of the students' return filled the corridors once more. Amidst this flurry of activity, you longed for those stolen moments with Severus during daylight hours. The yearning to be near him was palpable, yet the castle's expanse meant your closeness was often limited, he residing in the depths while you resided in the heights.

As you diligently prepared your classroom for the next day ahead, a firm knock at the door drew your attention. Welcoming Severus's entrance, you eagerly enveloped him in an embrace, finding comfort in his presence. Inquiring about his purpose for seeking you out, he expressed a desire to accompany you for dinner, prompting a smile and a gesture to join him shortly.

Linked together as you descended to the Great Hall, your conversations were a blend of intimate conversation and lighthearted banter. ..

Later, as you gathered the eager third-year students for their much-anticipated excursion to Hogsmeade, a delightful surprise awaited. Spotting Severus in the courtyard, adorned with a scarf and gloves, your face lit up with delight, you weren't expecting him to come. His reason for appearing soon became clear - it was to spend the day by your side, a heartwarming gesture that spoke volumes.

You found yourself in the lush greenhouses, standing in for Professor Sprout while she was away for the week. Your commitment to keeping her plants thriving and in good health was unwavering. After carefully repotting the second out of the ten plants on your list, you turned around and were startled by the unexpected presence of Severus at the door.

Your heart leaped in surprise, and you couldn't help but playfully chide him. "Could you not have given a gentle knock or some kind of warning before sneaking up on a defenseless woman?"

As laughter bubbled up from within you, you moved on to the next pot, feeling a sense of amusement lingering in the air.

He confidently approached you and planted a gentle kiss on the top of your head. "What's keeping you busy?" he inquired.

"Pomona requested me to look after her plants while she's away for work. I still have around seven plants to repot and four plants that need their leaves trimmed," you explained. Without hesitation, he made his way to the clippers and observed the notebook you were referencing.

He carefully pruned the lifeless leaves from the specified plants. You turned to him, smiling at his unspoken offer to assist. Not long after, both tasks were completed, and you proceeded to the other greenhouse areas.

Once more, you found yourself on the couch with him, but this time you both simply relished each other's company. You didn't need words to convey your feelings; being in close proximity was enough to express everything.

#severus snape #severus snape x reader #alan rickman x reader #pro severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #pro snape

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catkin-morgs-kookaburralover · 2 months ago

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This story, for which there are seven parts, is dedicated to everyone affected by Hurricane Helene. It was not written because of that, but a water-based natural disaster is part of the plot. It does not focus on it, but is a story of hope. The text of section one is under the cut. I hope to post all sections before the end of the Inklings Challenge. Despite this being my third year, this is the first I've actually posted anything other than snippets, so I hope I'm doing this right. I haven't yet written more than this, but I do have an outline for the other six parts, so hopefully that will work. @inklings-challenge

One: Admonish the Sinner

First of all it must be understood that every world is connected, as every village is. Some are just further away.

This is not a story of Earth; this is a story of a world nobody bothered to name, in a village nobody called anything other than the village. But that does not make it any less beloved—by people or by God. Sometime, a long time before this story is set, someone from Earth came to this nameless world and gave them the greatest gift of all, truth: but that is another tale entirely.

The night sky of this world is strikingly different from ours. Most prominently, two moons watch the world below, and every forty-seven years or so, flooding hits the island. They call it Big Tide, for it is the pull of the two moons combined that does this. It is regular enough, and has enough warning signs, that everyone should be perfectly ready for it.

As is common in humans (and these are humans like us, though the world is different), not everyone believes the evidence laid out in the world.

This is a story of Big Tide, specifically the one of the year three thousand, two hundred and twenty by their reckoning. This is a story of Paula McArthur.

%%%%%%%

The wattles were flowering, and it was Paula’s favourite time of year. There were several different wattles, but this was the deep gold ones she loved the best, the ones she gathered by the armful and adorned her home with. Now she only held a single sprig and enjoyed it to the full. It was too close to Big Tide to unnecessarily damage the wattle trees; they could be badly damaged by the rushing waters, and might need everything they had to survive. But one twig wasn’t going to hurt it.

The sky was a clear pale blue shot with fine clouds, a mass of them shining near the horizon with the sun gentle on them. Paula raised her face to the sunlight and closed her eyes, smiling. It was spring, and she never felt more alive than in springtime.

She had been working all morning to prepare for Big Tide, largely transport. Her hands were tired of the precise positions needed to be held in order to hover exactly enough to transfer items in mid-air between hoverboards rather than landing to do it, which would waste time. Tide waited on no man, but Paula was skilled enough to know when she could be sloppy about hoverboarding, and enjoyed hoverboarding in a more slapdash manner than most people she knew. She had graduated earlier than most of her classmates from a controller to haptics. Tomorrow, though, she might use the controller again to make sure she was fresh enough to hover efficiently overnight during Big Tide itself.

Presently she took out her lunch, and ate it while walking. In the distance a kookaburra laughed; Paula came to an abrupt halt as a green-blue iridescent flash clued her into the presence of a river dragon nearby. It turned and looked at her, bright blue eyes wise and calm. After a moment of silence and mutual respect, the dragon moved properly into her view and arched its sinuous back, raising its crest. Paula lifted her chin and brushed back the dark fringe to look more intimidating. The only sign the dragon gave of seeing any change was to raise its scales in a largely vain attempt to inflate its size. Abruptly it put down its scales and ran in a blaze of colour, uttering a high keening cry that faded as it retreated.

Paula turned to see who had disturbed her, smiling as she recognised the intruder. “What brings you here, Martha?”

Her friend grinned in response, lighting up her tanned sombre face. “You, actually. I came in search of you.”

Paula half gestured to herself, merrily. “Why trouble yourself?”

Martha grew serious at once. “I care about you. Aren't I allowed to?”

“Certainly, as I do.”

Martha smiled a little incredulously. “Anyway, surely it's time to go back now?”

Paula raised a single eyebrow, then tilted her head back and assessed the position of the sun. “I guess. Why did you come to find me, Mar?”

“Oh, you know, I hardly see you now.” Her manner was evasive, which baffled Paula. “You're always out walking.”

“It's spring.” Paula waved the sprig of wattle at her. “The best time of the year. What's your favourite season?”

“Winter,” said Martha definitively. “Cold and empty and bleak.”

“Why do you like it that way?” she asked in surprise. Last time they'd talked about the seasons, she thought Martha had waxed poetic about the dying fire of autumn.

“It's silent,” was Martha's quiet response. “Nobody bothers you.”

Paula paused to assess the time, decided they had to go back and led the way; Martha trailed her. “I thought you liked people.”

There was a short silence. “People don't tend to like me.”

“That's nonsense,” she responded immediately. Martha smiled, sad and sarcastic.

“I don't tend to like me.”

Her calmness bothered Paula, and she sped up slightly. “Well, I do. You're fun, conversational and well read.”

“Which is why you disappear alone for hours.” She caught up and shot Paula a sidelong look, as if to say, I know your secrets. Except there were no secrets to know.

“I like spring. It feels so alive and fresh, like all the past year's mistakes are washed away and there's new growth instead.”

“Very poetic.” Instead of amusement, Martha's tone was sour. She dodged past Paula and trotted quickstep the whole way back.

%%%%%%%

“I don't know what I did wrong,” finished Paula, twisting her hands nervously. “She got mad and I don't know why.”

Her mother glanced hurriedly across to check the next load wasn't ready, then turned to Paula again. “When people aren't happy it can be a temptation to take it out on others, especially those who are.”

“She said she was worried, and then she just changed and didn't want to talk to me.”

“Rebecca!” The shout made her mother focus on her own work; Paula moved her hoverboard closer to her father so he could load it up. This one was three bags of flour, heavy on the back and requiring stabilisation, which Paula remained still for while her father adjusted the controls. When it was done, he gave her a thumbs up and she gestured with her gloves, rising away from the site and on the journey to higher ground. It wasn't as easy to handle the unbalanced board; she would have done a lot more, and easier, with a transport hoverboard rather than the jury-rigged family board, but it was more economical and the decree had been that fuel, not time, was of the essence, since they'd planned well in advance. Indeed, today being the day before Big Tide, they had expected to have no more transport to do apart from the people, but someone had been digging too enthusiastically in their garden and cracked an underground storage container, so all of that had to be moved.

She was most of the way there, wind in her face, when a fast personal hoverboard raced up beside her, village elder crouched to stave off the wind. He matched her speed, then unwound and said, “I'll take over from here. Take my board and go back—we need you to persuade people to go.”

“What?” She was already moving, assessing how to swap boards without any risk of either of them tumbling into the trees below while stepping across. “Why?”

He grimaced. “Turns out there are people who haven't prepared and don't want elders coming to help. Your dad suggested you could try and help instead.”

She started to shuck the gloves, then changed her mind and pressed buttons, keying them to the elder's hoverboard instead. As ownership switched, both boards lurched violently, and Paula barely held her position. The elder was wearing magnetic boots and so didn't run the risk of falling. Once she had stabilised it, she said, “So where do I start?”

“Ask your dad when you get back.” His expression was calm and focused as he adjusted the settings to accommodate for his weight. “For now, just get going. Time is of the essence. Big Tide waits for no man.”

#inklings24 #please i want feedback #inklingschallenge #team tolkien #genre: secondary world #theme: admonish #story: unfinished #my writing #if you prefer to read it in google doc form I can provide that also #talk to me about it i beg. i am not good at speed writing #also i do not have a title. thought about one for a while and just didn't like it #so for now it is continuing to be untitled #i am. oddly scared about the idea of sharing this i don't know why

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lollygaggingloser · 3 months ago

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"It's become a necessity... You've become a necessity."

💫Varigo mini fic ❤️

You like a flustered Hugo? So do I.

After another long day of research for Varian's latest invention, Hugo escaped the royal library with little breakthrough achieved. He sighed, flipping through a borrowed book as he slowly walked down the marble halls of Corona's castle. It's pages gave no more information than he already had and Hugo was certain that the only place left to search for answers would be the eternal library. His walking pace slowed as he began to dread telling Varian his failure to find what they needed within the royal palace. It was bad enough to admit he failed, but worse knowing they would need the help of the eternal library again. Entering the library wouldn't be difficult to him or Varian now, but neither enjoyed going there.

It's been a little over a year since their adventures and discovery of the eternal library with Nuru and Yong. Their journey had ended in success and now, Demanitus's grand library was available to them along with the select few of scientists, engineers, and scholars that could be trusted with the library's vast collection. Still, instead of being this great source of knowledge and advancement, the group would view it as the place their dearest friend (in Hugo's case, his boyfriend) got possessed and almost trapped inside forever. The library was able to give Nuru a solution to save her kingdom, teach Yong how to hone his craft for fireworks and pyrotechnics, and help scientists across the world advance the seven kingdoms, but all the good of the library could never mask the trauma all four of them experienced there.

Hugo closed the almost useless book in his hands and stared out one of the nearby castle windows. Seeing his reflection in the window first, he retied his ponytail to clean up the stray hairs that had fallen on his face during his work. Satisfied with his appearance, his gaze focused to the view outside. Below him, he could see the royal garden, its flowers blooming in deep shades of purples, reds and blues. The sun was barely beginning to set, giving the sky a calm orange hue. Beyond the gardens were the castle walls that stood tall, separating the palace from the bustling lively kingdom of Corona. Hugo had to admit he became quite attached to this kingdom after becoming Co-Royal Engineer of it. Its people may have celebrated too many holidays for his liking and its princess always had him on edge with her hyperactive cheery disposition, but during these quiet moments, he couldn't imagine a more peaceful place. It also didn't hurt that he got to enjoy this view from a castle. He'd never imagine being inside a royal palace he didn't need to break into, much less with such a lofty title, but here he was.

Not bad for a prior thief and conartist, he figured. Discovering the eternal library must have given his resume quite the boost.

Hugo laid the library book on the windowsill before resting his elbows on it, leaning his body to stretch out his back. Even with this easier job, his back still gave him trouble. It was probably due to all the abuse it went through from his time pulling jobs for Donella. He wondered how his old boss was doing now. Truthfully, Hugo hadn't seen her since the day they uncovered the eternal library and parted ways. There would be the occasional letter between them, but once Hugo was no longer her underling, the two felt no need to see eachother. After ending his ties with Donella, he wasn't sure what his next step was, but he knew it would include Varian.

Varian.

The blonde softly smiled, thinking about the short scientist that passionately vouched for him and got him this new position. Hugo couldn't help but think fondly of Varian's smile, the freckles on his cheeks, and the gleam in his bright blue eyes. Hugo yearned to see him after having his nose in books all day.

As if the world heard his wish, Hugo's eyes squinted as a flash of bright light hit them. The light derived from the reflection of the sun bouncing off a pair of goggles. Wearing those goggles has the alchemist he was wishing to see. Hugo grinned as he watched Varian stroll into the gardens, and sit on the edge of a large stone fountain. It was likely that Varian was taking a break from work too, seeing him stretch his arms as he sat alone.

Might as well join him, Hugo thought as he made his way toward a staircase and descended to join his partner.

Out of everything that occurred from their journey, meeting Varian was what changed Hugo. The funny part was, he didn't know when it changed him. The change was slow, unraveling at a snails pace, with Varian's kindness breaking Hugo's walls and infecting him. Then suddenly, it was all at once, like a firecracker bursting with intense heat and flair, and Hugo found himself longing to be the good person Varian and the others thought he was.

Hugo was annoyed by Varian when they first met. The freckled alchemist was the model of a goody two shoes know-it-all and it nerved him to see how careless Varian was in trusting others. It irked him even more to know he was one of the people Varian shouldn't have trusted so freely. And yet, that trust...that ability to see the good in others that people can't see in themselves gave Hugo this new life. There was something about Varian's genuine nature that was contagious and powerful. It tore him down and built him up multiple times. It was easily one of the reasons Hugo found himself falling for him.

He learned later that Varian believed in second and third chances after his own criminal past was forgiven. Now the two of them stood together, as lab partners and lovers, ushering a more scientifically developed Corona. It amused Hugo to realize how many previous criminals were not only living peaceful lives in Corona, but also within the palace.

The kingdom should have come with a slogan. Come to Corona. The capital of criminal rehabilitation. Includes royal titles!

Once in the gardens, Hugo crouched low and carefully stepped around the few twigs and leaves on the cobblestone steps toward the fountain. He quietly tiptoed his way to the fountain's right side before plopping down next to Varian in such a rush that he almost knocked him off the stone edge.

"Hey Goggles!"

Varian yelped at first before seeing Hugo's shit eating grin.

"Hugo!" Varian chided, slightly shoving him back. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The blonde chuckled, letting his partner collect himself from the scare, fixing his lopsided goggles.

"And what is Corona's Royal Engineer doing in the gardens?" Hugo inquired. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were slacking off."

"I could be asking you the same thing," noted Varian, quick to retort Hugo's remark. Over the past year, Varian had picked up Hugo's sense of sarcasm and comebacks. It was only fair that since the shorty had changed him for the better, Hugo could change him as well...for the worse. His sense of humor wasn't the only thing that changed. Varian had gotten taller, but was still shorter than Hugo. At least the blonde no longer had to be looking down or bend over so much when wanting to see eye to eye with him. Varian's skin was less tan due to all their inside work lately, but in the sun, his freckles continued to pop out more intensely. And so did his scars. They were from their adventures, and it made sense since Hugo, Yong, and even Nuru had scars of their own from travel mishaps and the occasional fight or explosion. But Varian had the most from putting himself in harms way to protect them. Hugo wondered if he wasn't such a coward or selfish if he could have prevented Varian from so many injuries.

The two locked eyes for a brief moment. It was insane how such a simple look could change the atmosphere between them. The look in Varian's eyes was a mix of joy, relief, and just a hint of annoyance. He truly new how to make this scrawny engineer feel special. Compelled by the unspoken fondness in his gaze, Hugo's smirk softened and he reached his hand up to touch Varian's cheek. Understanding what was to happen next, Varian smiled meekly as Hugo leaned in to kiss him. The alchemist's lips were soft and warm against his and Hugo felt like he could kiss them all day. Slowly pulling away, Hugo relaxed next to his boyfriend and the two leaned comfortably against each other, perched on the fountain.

"Did you find anything in the royal library?" Varian softly asked.

"Yes....No. I found nothing."

Hugo felt Varian tense up, knowing what it meant.

"Hey, hey, I can go on my own, Goggles," he assured, giving his boyfriend an encouraging smile. "I'll find the info we need, and we can go to our lab to finish up-"

"It's okay, Hugh," Varian interrupted, glancing up at him. "I'll be o-...I am okay. We'll go together tomorrow."

Hugo nodded, both worried for Varian and relieved he wouldn't be stepping into the eternal library on his own. Varian's gaze turned toward the sky, taking in the vast view. The two sat in silence for a moment before Hugo broke it, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Penny for your thoughts? You got that eyebrow scrunch so it must be something serious."

Varian softly scoffed at Hugo, but rubbed his forehead as he answered.

"Well, if you have to know...I was thinking about you," he confessed.

"Me?"

Determined to lighten the mood, Hugo smirked and tilted his head to feign innocence.

"What about me were you thinking about?" he asked. "Nothing inappropriate I hope."

"Hugo-"

"No, I understand, Freckles. With my good looks, superior intelligence-"

"HUGO-"

"And! And my rougish charm, there's no possible way you couldn't think of me. So tell me, actually, let me guess...you were thinking... about how in love with me you are."

Hugo waited for Varian to quip back with a tender insult or another little shove, but was surprised when Varian turned to look at him, a soft blush radiating across his cheeks.

"Yeah...I was," Varian answered. An amused "heh" escaped Hugo's lips as his flirty facade faltered. While Varian was usually the more anxious and flustered one between them, there would be moments like these where he laid his heart bare, and it would strike Hugo to his core.

"I was thinking," he continued, looking back at the sky, "...about us. And how my life is so different with you."

"Cause I drive you crazy and make it a little harder?" Hugo joked, trying to regain composure. Varian chuckled, shaking his head.

"Of course not!" Varian scolded him. "You drive me crazy, yes, but you don't make my life harder. You make it easy. You make it-"

Varian paused, trying to find the best words to convey his feelings. All the while, Hugo struggled to keep his heart from pounding so fiercely from all the sincerity in his boyfriend's voice.

Calm down Rottwange, he thought to himself. Don't let some sappy words get the best of you.

"Loving you is like...like breathing."

"Breathing?" Hugo pried, finding the strength to tease Varian once more. To add to the dramatics, Hugo playfully rested the back of his hand on his forehead in a swooning motion. "Ah, so it's effortless? I'm such an amazing boyfriend that loving me is second nature to you, Sweetcheeks?"

At that, Varian laughed and gave Hugo a little shove.

"Well, that too I suppose," Varian giggled. He then took Hugo's hands and held them gingerly in his. "More like...I need it to survive."

Hugo swallowed, his throat feeling dry, not sure how much more of this sweet talking he could take. He didn't even realize that Varian had intertwined his fingers with his.

"Loving you is like oxygen, Hugo," Varian confessed, gazing at their hands with an intense stare . "Like food, or water, or sleep. I need it to live. I can't imagine living without loving you."

Hugo's ears burned hot red and he brought his and Varian's hands up to cover his face. He could handle these words if Varian was joking around or teasing him back, but the tender and true expression on his face and honesty made him melt.

"Geez, Var, you can't just say stuff like that without warning," he mumbled, his thoughts and composure becoming disorganized. Varian smiled, his own face blushing from the realization of his words.

"Sorry,"Varian apologized. Hugo shook his head and looked back at Varian.

"I can't imagine living without loving you either, Varian," he confessed, deciding to cave into the mushy sentimental atmosphere. "Loving you is like breathing for me too. It's become a necessity...you've become a necessity."

"Do you mean that?"

Varian focused on Hugo's face, searching for any hints that the blonde was jesting. And then, Hugo saw it. A flash of concern, doubt, and bashfulness? spread across the alchemist's features. Just when Hugo began to believe Varian held the spontaneous charisma to confess his feelings without care, he found himself corrected. Varian was just as self-conscious in disclosing these feelings as Hugo was receiving them.

Hugo held up his hand in a small fist against his chest. He began to list the things he needed to live, a finger popping up for each necessity.

"Oxygen. Food. Water. Sleep. Loving you. That's all I need, Sweetcheeks."

Now it was Varian's turn to be lost for words, only being able to let out a soft laugh. Hugo leaned in once more to kiss him, savoring the gentle silence, and keeping his boyfriend from saying any other words that could make him fall apart.

#vat7k #varian #varigo #hugo vat7k #varian and the 7 kingdoms #tts varian #varian and the seven kingdoms #tangled the series #hugo rottewange #varian vat7k #fanfic #flustered Hugo is my drug #its been so long since i wrote some stuff #dialogue based on a conversation i had with my fiance

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jaeedraszaerysz · 1 year ago

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YOU CANT EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED ☆ JOFFREY BARATHEON

Masterlist

Warnings: joffrey obviously, swearing, mentions of murder and war, mentions of incest.

Summary: being joffrey baratheons cupbearer as the last targaryen in Kings landing was bound to be eventful, just not in the way that pleases you. Until...

Notes: reader is FEMALE also to fit in with the context of this fic, joffrey is around 17-18 and the reader is 19 ish making her 6 years younger than viserys and 4 years older than daenerys in season 1

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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

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Being born a targaryen was like a game of Russian roulette. You were either blessed with great kindness and gentleness or cursed with madness and cruelty. In your case, it had been the former thankfully.

According to the maesters and other occupants of Kings landing you had been the most peaceful of the three targaryen babies to have been born of aerys II, the mad king. You had never cried or wailed or screamed, only smiled and attempted to befriend any lord, lady, knight or servant who came to cross your path.

But when the rebellion came and your father was dethroned and executed by jaime lannister your life had been flipped. Your brother rhaegar was dead along with all of his children, your other brother viserys and your mother, pregnant with another targaryen had fled, leaving you.

You didn't know why. You were still only a child of 3. No one else seemed to know either. So, Robert baratheon, the new king of the seven Kingdoms, decided to keep you. You were to be raised in Kings landing by a nurse and tywin lannister, having worked on your father's council before his death, made sure that you were educated properly.

By the time you had turned ten years of age, it was almost that your taragryen lineage had been forgotten, except for the obvious snowy hair and violet eyes. But no one that actually mattered seemed to pay attention to it any more.

You had grown close to cersei lannister in your teenage years, despite her being almost twenty years older than yourself. She was nice to you and as you grew, so did her eldest son, Prince joffrey. And then her others, princess myrcella and Prince tommen.

You were a bright girl, smart and kind. You had even been known to summon a smile from the Knight commonly referred to as the hound, sandor clegane. However, you had very little friends and were often seen wandering around or sitting by the flowers in the gardens, staring out into the sea or the city below.

By the time you had turned ten and seven you were truly a sight to behold, having inherited the targaryen beauty of your ancestors. But, as the small council came to realise that marrying off the only targaryen in westeros to a rich or powerful lord may not have been the most amazing idea, the king decided to appoint you as joffreys cupbearer.

You were good for the job, you listened attentively, you were smart and quick. And most importantly there wasn't anything distinct about you that joffrey could complain of and have you removed for.

So that's what became of you. You became his cupbearer and followed him around the red keep, accompanied him on his hunts or his short journeys and poured his wine, brought him his food, or anything else he asked for. Of course you were not immune to his cruelty, the opposite actually. He often mocked your unnatural eyes and Strangely perfect competition, he called you a witch, trying to enchant the castle and accused you of whoring about with the knights although you had never been with anyone.

He overworked you and reprimanded you but you were always there to listen, happy to be given a chance. He noticed this and it aggravated him. To see someone who was supposed to be miserable so joyous at the idea of bringing the king his meals and wine and suffering his abuse day and night for the rest of his or her life.

It confused him, how he had his ways so easily with you but not through fear, anger or blackmail, but through pure loyalty and gratitude that your life had been spared and you had been given a chance and something other than death or imprisonment.

He wasn't stupid. He heard the Lords and ladies whisper as you walled behind him. He heard the knights mock as you passed by. Eventually it grew to anger him slightly whenever your name was put down or insulted.

Only he was allowed to do that. And that in mind, joffrey became rather possessive of you in a way.

You listened to him rant. Listened to his drone on about his parents or the peasants or his siblings. About the food and the weather and the sheets. About everything.

And that is how you ended up here, stood in his chambers, listening to him speak of the lady sansa stark and his new betrothal to her. And listening to him rave about how he was still expected to marry the traitors daughter. And you knew ned stark was no such a man, and you were sure he did to, but you listened all the same.

He paced quickly around the room, hands behind his back, until he was called for a meeting of the small council. He was quite busy as of late, what with stannis baratheons army, renly baratheons army aswell now. And the north's new rebellion, robb stark, son of the late ned, proclaiming himself king in the North and marching closer by the day.

Joffrey was the king now, and he was much more cruel as of late, and you thought about it on your way back to your chambers that night. They had been decent enough to give you a separate room in the servants quarters, what with your family name and the risks of you forming alliances that had become more prominently discussed in the recent months you had noticed.

You had heard that viserys was marrying off your sister to the dothraki khal in exchange for an army but the conversation was dropped a while ago.

You had changed into your nightgown and were now stood, brushing your hair gently and staring out of your window to the crashing waves below. They calmed you, but that calm was interrupted by a harsh collection of violent knocks at your door.

You had set aside the brush and quickly gone to answer. Noticing it was joffrey which was unusual as he always sent someone for you, never venturing anywhere near the servants end of the castle.

"Whatever is the matter, your grac-"

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you, burying his head into your neck. He held you in an embrace and you were stunned for a moment, eyes wide and staring at sandor clegane who stood across the hall and shrugged and you.

You had slowly and anxiously returned the hug, moving your hand gently up and down his back as he slowly began to cry. It was almost silent hut you could feel him shaking.

"Your grace, do you-" you let out a breath. "Do you want to come in and sit for a moment?"

He nodded into your shoulder and you guided him into your room, ignoring the silent laughs from the hound as you closed the door, sitting joffrey down on your bed, he rested himself against the headboard, on the side closest to the window.

You had quickly grabbed him a cup of water and offered it to him, he took it and you stood infront of him cautiously.

"Are you alright, your grace?" You asked quietly.

He stopped his slow crying for a moment and looked up at you, his eyes meeting yours.

"I'm a terrible king. I don't know what to do about all the stupid Lords and ladies constantly wanting my attention. I don't know what to do about uncle renly or uncle stannis, about robb stark or my mother or anything."

Your face softened with sympathy for the boy king slightly as you replied.

"You are no such thing, your grace. War is a strange and chaotic thing, no one ever really, truly knows what to do. You're handling it well I'm sure of it, your grace."

He looked down into his lap and them out if the window and into the dark sky.

"Do you really think so?"

"I do, your grace."

He paused and and studied your face, your beautiful eyes and hair, your skin and lips, your figure and everything else about you.

"Why are you nice to me? I am nothing but cruel to you and yet you are happy to serve me. You listen and you don't tire of me. Why?"

"Because, your grace," you spoke softly. "I cannoted ever repay the generosity your family had shown me and I do not find it a chore to listen to you. I do not have any friends, I do not have people to speak to for no one ever wants the risk of speaking to the mad Kings Daughter. But you, your grace, you speak to me, about everything. About your problems, about your feelings. You don't see me as the targaryen girl, you see me as your cupbearer. Nothing more, nothing less, your grace."

You say nervously on the end of your bed, gazing at him. He gestured for you to sit closer and so you shuffled up the bed until you too were leaned against the headboard.

"Your grace, it is improper for someone such as yourself to be laying in such a room, are you sure I cannot escort you back to your chambers, get you some food or some wine?"

He didn't not reply, he just yet again stared out of the window.

"I think of you as much more than that you know." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry, your grace?" You asked, confounded by the statement.

"I think of you as much more than just my cupbearer. Much more."

"Your grace, i am afraid I do not understand quite what you are implyi-"

He lent forward slightly as cupped your check with his hand, his beautiful brown eyes staring into your own vivid, violet ones. He tinged his head slightly and kissed you.

His lips were soft and warm, his kiss gentle. Not at all like you had expected. He pulled away slowly, still keeping eye contact.

"Your grace, i-"

"Joffrey."

"I, I'm sorry i-" he placed a finger over your lips, shushing you softly.

"Just joffrey."

And he kissed you again, this time much more passionately, your lips moving in sync with each other and your heartbeats rising, bodies getting closer and closer.

And that is how you stayed until the morning when cersei found you both, but she never said a word, to either of you, instead choosing to leave quietly.

As she walked back down the corridor, she was joined by tyrion lannister and she looked down at him.

"Well that certainly was not expected to happen any time soon." He stated.

"Well, dear brother, you can't expect the unexpected, can you?

#joffrey baratheon #joffrey lannister #game of thrones #got imagine #joffrey baratheon x reader #joffrey #game of thrones x reader #imagine

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mybutcheredtongue · 10 months ago

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I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

harry potter timeline sirius black x fem!reader

CHAPTER SEVEN (see full series list here)

1992

You stand in front of a gravestone, the cold winter air biting at your skin and making you sniffle. You glance at the small bouquet of flowers you've left at the foot of the stone: lilies.

In front of you, the grave of Lily and James Potter.

Most weekends during the year are spent at Hogwarts, walking the grounds, working, etc. But on Hogsmeade weekends you choose to visit different people. Alice and Frank, your parents, Lily and James.

You kiss the tips of your fingers and press it against the stone, silently wishing them peace and hoping that they didn't see you trip over Dubh yesterday and bang your head against your bedframe, causing you to go pester Madam Pomfrey for some ointment.

You leave, apparating to Hogsmeade and walking back to Hogwarts. You're a little cold as you walk, but delighting in the crunching of snow under your shoes, delicate snowflakes slowly falling to the ground.

Hogwarts in the winter is your absolute favourite. It's so beautiful, with the blanket of soft snow on the ground, snowflakes fluttering in the air, and the Black Lake still and frozen. Your favourite is the joy it brings the students — running outside, laughing, throwing snowballs at each other and making snowmen...it reminds you of your school days.

♡*⁠。♡*⁠。

1974

"Anyone up for a friendly snowball fight?" James asks the group, and you grin excitedly, glancing at Lily and Alice.

"Yes, definitely. I vote boys against girls!" You announce, eyeing the four boys suspiciously.

"What? That's not fair, they've got an extra person!" Alice protests, but you wave her off.

"And we'll still mop the floor with them. Let's go!" you take off at a run Alice and Lily quickly follow after you as they move away to set base.

The boys scamper away to a safe zone, Sirius and James building their lines of defense while Peter and Remus wave their wands to create snowballs, though Remus' are uniform and spherical and Peter's are looking much more ovally and tend to vary in size.

Alice rushes to fortify a wall, while you and Lily make your snowballs. You craft a particularly big one with your own two hands, intending to levitate it with your wand and hit Sirius square in the face.

Both teams duck below your makeshift bases, eyeing the opposition.

"Are you ready to start?" James calls loudly across the gap.

"Yup!" you yell back, two snowballs ready in your hand.

Chaos then ensues. Snowballs fly from every direction, and nearly every player gets pelted in the face by one at some point or another. You're determined to win over Sirius and you both eventually end up advancing out from the safety of your forts to attack the other. You levitate the large snowball you had made and throw it towards him with as much force as you can put behind your wand.

Sirius deftly dodges it, laughing as he does. You groan in frustration before getting hit with another snowball from the boy and you yelp, running towards him. You chase him around the grounds, caught between breathing and giggling as you desperately throw snowballs at him to no avail.

Curse his stupidly agile hips.

Once you're at arm's length from his back, you claw at the air closest to him and manage to trip him over, making him face-plant into the snow. You burst into laughter, looking down at his angry, snow-covered face as he looks back at you, and then, to your horror, he grabs your hand and tugs you down so you fall into the snow too.

"You idiot!"

"Hey, you're the one who ran after me, you mad woman!" Sirius retorts with a grin, snowflakes dancing over his sharp features.

"Listen, listen...don't hate the player, hate the game," you say, holding a finger up as you breathe out.

He scoffs, chuckling, "Yeah, yeah..." you lay on your backs on the soft snow, the winter sky already beginning to darken above you.

You sense Sirius turning his head to look at you, and you turn and smile at him, raising your eyebrows. "Take a picture, Sirius, it'll last longer."

Suddenly there's a loud click above you, and you move to see Bitsy, the house elf, standing over you with a camera. You and Sirius are well acquainted with Bitsy. She's always very chatty and loves it when you sneak into the kitchen.

You immediately sit up, Sirius following suit. "Bitsy?"

Bitsy grins, her big brown eyes scrunching up. "Picture!" she squeaks, eagerly handing you a moving photo, showing your interaction with Sirius mere moments ago.

"Bitsy, what are you — "

"Bitsy has found a camera, young mistress! Bitsy enjoys taking pictures! Look, look, see what Bitsy has taken!"

She pulls a tattered bag out from the back of her pillowcase dress, shoving it into your hands. There are many, many photos in the bag. Most are of the kitchen, the other house elves, a few of what looks like Bitsy's thumb, and of course, Bitsy herself. There are some other areas of the castle photographed, including one with a poor unknowing couple snogging in the background.

As you look closer, you recognise long, messy black hair, defined cheekbones and a chiselled jawline...

"Oh my — Sirius, you're in this!" you exclaim, laughing as you show him the photo. "Getting some action, are we?"

Sirius snatches the photo from you, bringing it closer to inspect and furrowing his eyebrows. "Wait, hold on, that is me..."

You burst into a fit of laughter and Sirius just scoffs, looking away from you haughtily. "Don't act like you're not jealous, love."

You roll your eyes, pushing him away from you. "Oh, fuck off. You wish."

♡*⁠。♡*⁠。

1992

"Happy Christmas!" You greet to those sitting at the table cheerfully on Christmas morning. The Great Hall is decorated beautifully with candles in the air, a large wreath on the door, the twelve Christmas trees up with twinkling lights and colourful baubles...it's wonderful. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe are also strung alone the corridors. Not long ago, you remember Sirius pulling you under every mistletoe he could find in the castle just as an excuse to kiss you during school.

Even Dubh is in the Christmas spirit, happily following you down to the Great Hall, occasionally playing with strings of tinsel and streamers. Christmas Day is one of the few days were the Great Hall is not as full of students as it usually is, so she tends to be more keen to follow you down. Professor McGonagall quite likes her.

Of course, there aren't many at the table today. There's yourself, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Filch, along with six students, Harry, Ron, and Hermione among them.

"Crackers!" Dumbledore says enthusiastically, offering the end of a large silver one to Snape, who takes it reluctantly and tugs. With a bang, the cracker flies apart to reveal a large, pointed witch's hat topped with a stuffed vulture.

Dumbledore swaps the witch's hat for his wizard's one at once. "Tuck in!" he advises the table, beaming around.

You help yourself to some turkey, hearing Snape click his tongue beside you disapprovingly at Dubh, who's currently holding herself up against his chair and looking up expectantly. "You could not keep your incessant pet in your chambers?"

You fake pout at the greasy man, tutting. "Aw, Severus, she likes you!"

Snape scoffs, shooing Dubh away with a wave of his hand.

The doors of the Great Hall open again, and Professor Trelawney enters, gliding towards you as though on wheels.

"Sybill, this is a pleasant surprise!" says Dumbledore, standing up. You raise your eyebrows at her appearance, hardly expecting the all-wordly seer to bother herself with such a gathering. Or at least, that's what she tells you every year.

"I have been crystal-gazing, Headmaster," she says in her mystical voice, "and to my astonishment, I saw myself abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to forgive my lateness..."

"Certainly, certainly," says Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Let me draw you up a chair — "

He draws a chair from mid-air with his wand, which revolves around for a few seconds before falling with a thud across from you between Sprout and McGonagall. Trelawney however, does not sit down; her enormous eyes moving around the table and she suddenly utters a weirdly soft scream.

"I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!"

"We'll risk it, Sybill," says McGonagall impatiently. "Do sit down, the turkey's getting stone cold."

Trelawney hesitates, then lowers herself into the empty chair, eyes shut and mouth clenched tight, as though expecting someone to smack her clear across the face. You'd nearly want to for the time she told you your hair would be grey by the time you turn 35 and that you'd lose your hearing within the next year. She told you that the first year you started working here.

McGonagall pokes her spoon into the largest tureen. "Tripe, Sybill?"

Trelawney ignores her, instead looking around once more with wide eyes and saying, "But where is dear Professor Lupin?"

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again," Dumbledore responds. You felt most disappointed when you had seen the full moon scheduled, hoping to at least be able to give Remus his Christmas present today. "Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day."

"But surely you already knew that, Sybill?" McGonagall says, eyebrows raised. You bite back a laugh, catching McGonagall's eye and giving her a small smile.

Trelawney gives her a cold look. "Certainly I knew, Minerva. But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as to not make others nervous."

"That explains a great deal," McGonagall says tartly and once again you have to bite your lip to stop from laughing. There was a reason she was your favourite teacher at school, and there's a reason she's your favourite colleague now.

"If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal-gaze for him — "

"Perhaps it was because you don't foretell many positive things, Sybill. Last time you crystal-gazed for me you told me I was going to trip over my own shoes and land at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower," you chime in and Trelawney just wrinkles her nose at you.

"It has not happened yet! I see a great deal of pain in your future," she replies snippily. "You would do well to air on the side of caution."

You give her an exaggerated smile. "Thanks!"

"I doubt," Dumbledore says in a cheerful but slightly raised voice, which puts an end to the conversation, "that our dear Astronomy Professor nor Professor Lupin are in any immediate danger. Severus, you've made the potion for him again?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape replies.

"Good," Dumbledore says. "Then he should be up and about in no time...Derek, have you had any of these chipolatas? They're excellent."

The first-year boy goes furiously red on being addressed directly by Dumbledore, and takes the platter of sausages with trembling hands.

The rest of Christmas dinner passes semi-normally, as you dive into a chat with Professor Sprout about Christmas traditions you had as children. Then, when most are finishing up and full to the brim with good food, Ron and Harry get up first from the table and Trelawney shrieks loudly.

"My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?"

"Dunno," says Ron, looking uneasily at Harry.

"I doubt it will make much difference," says McGonagall coldly, "unless a mad axe-man is waiting outside the doors to slaughter the first into the Entrance Hall."

You nearly choke on your drink and can't help the laugh that escapes you. Professor Trelawney looks highly affronted.

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

Later that evening, you're sitting in your office, Dubh nestled in her bed, as you fill out the crossword at the back of the most recent edition of Astronomy's Articles.

There's a knock at your door and you toss the magazine on the desk, standing up and going to open it. Outside stands Professor McGonagall holding a long brown package.

"Minerva! Is everything alright?" You ask and she glances down at the package.

"May I come in?"

"Of course, of course..." You open the door wider for her to enter, gesturing for her to sit down as you take your seat behind your desk. She lays the package on your desk, looking at you through her horn-rimmed spectacles.

"Ms Granger approached me after dinner today, claiming Mr Potter had received this package this morning," she tells you and you nod.

"There was no card, no note, no message of any kind with it," she continues. "And I believe I may know who it was sent by."

"Who?"

She pulls back the paper, revealing a beautifully crafted broomstick, with an untouched handle and pristine bristles. Ingrained on the side is the word 'Firebolt'. It looks like it cost a fortune.

"I believe it was Sirius Black."

You look back at her incredulously. "Sirius? Why would Sirius send Harry a broomstick?"

"Perhaps it is jinxed? I'm going to bring it to Rolanda and Filius and see what they make of it," McGonagall responds.

You suck your lip, thinking intently as you look at the broomstick. "How would he even have bought this? There's no way he'd have been able to access his vault. Surely the goblins wouldn't be too keen on letting him into Gringotts?"

"You have no way of telling?"

You shake your head, shrugging. "Well, they do allow me to access it...but it has been so long since I last opened it that I wouldn't even notice if anything was gone. There is quite a lot of money in it."

McGonagall hums thoughtfully, sighing. "The goblins do not tend to abide by wizarding rules."

You nod. "I suppose you're right...but yes, get the broom checked. It's better to be safe than sorry."

McGonagall looks at you for a moment, as though reading your expression and you chuckle, waving her off. "I know what you're thinking...but we both know what happens to the minds of those who've spent time in Azkaban. Best to get it checked, just in case."

She nods wordlessly and you smile cheerily at her, moving to grab a teapot and two cups. "Tea, Minerva?"

She smiles. "Yes, that would be lovely. I do believe we have quite a lot to catch up on."

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

->-> read chapter eight here!

→ all kinds of interaction are appreciated! ♡

#sirius black #sirius black x you #sirius black x reader #the marauders #marauders #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #angst #angst with a happy ending #fanfic #fanfiction #hp

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