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ehkw1989 · 6 years

Text

Magic – A TRR drabble (Liam x MC, Drake x MC, Liam x Olivia)

Written for @choices-september-challenge

Author's note: Thank you @i-dream-so-i-write for hosting. I had lots of fun writing this one! Really struggled with putting it all together; I appreciate sci-fi writing so much more now! And yes, I know I’m late but better late than never, I suppose!

Pairings: Liam x Olivia, Liam x MC, Drake x MC

MC: Evelyn Carter (Face claim: Chloe Benet)

Ratings/Warnings: Angst, death of major character, swear words

Word Count: 1376 words

Tags: @drakewalkerwhipped, @darley1101,@angstymarshmallow, @mrswalkerwrites @walkerismychoice@pbchoicesobsessed@choicesfanficlibrary @choiceswreckedme; @parkerattano, @agent-zephyrkah, @simplyaiden-blog, @snyggflicka, @drakewalkerfantasy, @drakelover78, @theroyalweisme, @confessionsofabrokegirl@traeumerinwitzhelden, @boneandfur @jadedpixiescribbles

“Liv, what is this?” Liam looks at the sign curiously. “Ring this bell three times to see a glimpse of what could have been. Know that what you see may not be what will be seen.” He read out loud.

“It's a magical tale from King Luther's time. Legend had it during his imprisonment at Stormholt that Queen Azure came to him in a vision and offered him a glimpse of what could have been. He was so convinced what he saw will come true that he attacked Queen Kenna and died by his son's hand.” Olivia waved her hand in dismissal at the primeval-looking bell. “It's a myth, just like the stories from Kenna's time.”

“Not all of the stories were myths. The adventures that they had did happen; perhaps somewhat exaggerated, but they did happen.” Liam pointed out.

“Go ahead and ring it,” Olivia smirked, “I don't think you would see anything different. All of your dreams came true the day you married me. With the baby coming any day, your life is perfect.” She looks amused as she rubs her swollen stomach.

“Thank you for your permission, your Majesty.” He holds her hand as he rung the bell. “Here we go. It's a loud bell. I am surprised that it worked; I was expecting that it would break.”

“It's annoying .” Olivia frowns. “It's giving me a dreadful headache. I think I will head back to the castle. Liam?” She turns to him only to see him lying on the ground. “Liam, get up! Answer me!” She screamed as she knelt beside him.

The knocking came quietly at first and then there was silence; just when Liam thought it stopped only to hear a more urgent pounding. “Liam, wake up! You are due at the church in six hours. You need to get up now. If you don't get up, I will let Maxwell in here. Not to mention that Madeline will have my head if you don't show up on time.” Drake yelled from behind the door.

Liam shakes his head in an attempt to clear his mind. “What wedding? I got married two years ago.” He murmurs. “I didn’t think Liv would want to renew our vows so soon.”

“Liam!” Drake yelled. “That’s it. I’m getting Bastien to open this door!”

“I’m coming. Just hold on.” Liam replied. “Just give me a minute.” He reached for his phone to check the date only to see a message from Evelyn. He reads out loud, “Can’t wait to see you at church! I’m so excited to become Mrs. Rhys! What?” Liam races to the door and opens it. “Drake, I can’t marry your wife. I’m married to Olivia!”

“Are you alright?” Drake frowned with a hint of sorrow in his eyes. “You’re marrying Evelyn, not Liv.”

“No, I’m married to-“ Liam trailed off. “I can’t believe it worked.” He looked amused at Drake.

“What worked? Do I need to send for a doctor?”

“No, I’m alright. I’ll need to get ready to leave.” Liam closes the door. “Although I wished this pounding would stop. Just need to relax and keep going to see what happens.” He closes his eyes in an effort to make the headache go away.

“Darling?” Liam felt a gentle nudge to his side. “Liam!” He hears a familiar laugh.

“Evelyn? But you’re not supposed to see the groom before the wedding?”

“What are you talking about? It’s our 25th anniversary!” She beams at him. “Everyone’s here to celebrate with us.”

“Papa’s getting forgetful. Maybe you should retire.” He looks up to see a young woman smiling at him. “Papa? It’s worse than what we thought, Mama. You alright, Papa?”

“He nodded off just now when you were giving your speech, love.” Evelyn smiles at him. “It was wonderful by the way. Just perfect.”

“Thank you! I’m glad someone listened to it.” Astoria sticks her tongue out at Liam. She turns around to see a woman approaching them. “Aunt Olivia!”

“Good evening, Princess. Your Majesties.” Olivia greets them. “Congratulations on your 25th anniversary.”

“Olivia!” Liam clenches his fist, remembering that he was no longer married to her in this life. “It’s good to see you.” He extends his arms for a hug, relishing the scent of her.

“Liam!” She smirks at him. “Old age kicking in? I saw you a week ago at Antonius and Astoria’s wedding.”

“Antonius?” He frowns. “Who’s Antonius?”

“Antonius, my son.” Olivia glanced at him, her eyes tight and worried. “Are you alright?”

“Who’s your husband?” He asked her shakingly.

“Anton Severus. Really, Liam, what has gotten into you? Do you want to s- Get down! Get down Evelyn! Astoria! No, not Astoria! Bastien!” Olivia screams as gunfire breaks out in various areas. “One, two, there’s too many. The guards won’t be able to handle this many. Liam, you have to go now. Damn it, where’s Bastien?”

“Not without you.” He grips her hand tightly. “Olivia, you have to come with me. Anton’s not who you think he-”

“Your Majesty, we have to leave now.” Bastien grabs Liam as he shields Liam with his body.

“Liam, just go. Whatever this is, it can’t wait. Bastien, go!” Olivia flings his hand aside.

“Duchess Olivia, you have to come with us.” Bastien grabs her arm.

“No, I’m going to see where my fam-” Her sentence left uncompleted as she collapses, bullets riddling her body.

“Liv?” Liam screams as Bastien pulls him away. “Let me go! Damn it! That’s my wife!” Liam feels something hitting the back of his head and his world goes black.

“Liam! Damn it, you need to wake up!” He hears Drake yelling at him.

“Liv!” He sits up. “Where’s Liv?”

“Here we go again. Always about Olivia. It’s your family’s death anniversary and the first thing you say is Olivia” Drake grits his teeth as he spat the words out. “You know what, I can’t do this right now. Not today. Get dressed, you have one hour before the ceremony to be a decent person.”

“Drake? Of course, even in this reality you love Evie so . . .” He whispered. “I’m sorry . . .”

“Don’t say that. Not to me. Save it for later.” Drake walks away and slams the door shut.

“I don’t want to know anymore.” Liam cries out. “Liv . . .” He feels chest pains as his vision fades to black.

“Liam!” He hears her worried voice. “Liam?”

“Liv!” He smiles and opens his eyes, drinking her face in. “You’re alive!”

“Yes, of course I am. Are you alright?” She whirls around to the doctor. “Are you sure his head’s fine?”

“Yes, your Majesty. His vital signs are normal. If you will allow me to do a quick check.” The doctor reads the monitor and flashes a light into his eyes. “Vitals are normal. I would suggest some bed rest, you hit your head when you fainted.”

“I’m fine.” Liam grins at the doctor and Olivia. “Just glad I’m here in this reality.”

“This reality? Doctor, I really think he should go for a MRI or a CT scan.” Olivia peers at him worryingly.

“I’m fine.” He leans to kiss her. “Never better. Is that our friends outside?” He asked as he hears Maxwell, Hana, Drake and Evelyn’s voice.

“Yes,” She said drily. “They all rushed outside when they heard my screams. We were very worried. Shall I let them in?” She rises to get the door.

“No, just stay here a while with me.” He pulls her back. “I love you.” He kisses her hand.

“I love you too.” She smiles at his affection. “I almost forgot, you rang the bell. Did you see anything?”

“Nothing.” He smiled at her. “Everything is as it should be.”

#choices fanfiction #choices trr #trr drake #trr liam #trr olivia #liam x olivia #liam x mc #drake x mc #angst #trr angst

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sufferthesea · 7 years

Text

Breaking a Thousand Year Record

Chapter 6 of Leather and Lace

Words: 4.300 Pairings/Warnings/Rating: Remus x OC, Sirius x OC / Estranged siblings / Teen Part 1 | Previous | AO3 | FFN

The next morning Sirius arrived in the library after lunch with a pile of papers and a wide grin on his face. Regulus and Severus hadn't shown up yet for the study session, so Sirius took the time to talk to Evelyn who sat alone at a large wooden table surrounded by thick books. She glowered at the man who slid into the seat across from her and plopped the papers onto the table.

“Here you go,” he said cheerfully. “I actually took notes on what my homework is supposed to be just for you!” He looked over the parchment Evelyn had under her hands. “What's that? Notes for my brother?”

“Yes,” she said quietly, pressing her fingers into the paper and pulling it closer to herself.

“You know, you're really nice – for helping out my brother. Our family … they're not really big on asking for help.”

“The Black family,” Evelyn said with a bit of contempt. “Your brother is very kind, but I worry about what your parents are telling him.” She paused and looked at his tie, noticing the colors. “I know you're in Gryffindor. Regulus said …” She hesitated and looked up at Sirius, his grey eyes full of concern and curiosity.

“What?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper. He cleared his throat and spoke up a bit, “What did he say?”

“He said that it was your parents' greatest disappointment. He said that he … he's upset that you're not in Slytherin – with him. He wishes you were.” She paused again and looked down at the notes, tracing over some of the potion ingredients. “I think he misses you.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Evelyn staring at the notes and Sirius staring at her. Finally he pushed the papers across the table to her and gave a weak smile.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “I always wondered.” He looked over when he heard the doors open and saw the two Slytherin boys enter the library. “Don't forget to give Goldie these papers,” he pointed at a few of them, “they're the prompts for the essays.”

“What about the stuff I need for the,” she lowered her voice, “Polyjuice Potion? I can't get that all myself.”

“Remus and I will head down to Hogsmeade tomorrow after lunch,” he said. “We'll pick up the ingredients for you. Is there anything else you need from Hogsmeade? Butterbeer? Firewhisky? Amortentia?” He winked playfully at her. It seemed he did that a lot. Evelyn was unfazed and smiled back at him.

“I don't need any of those,” she said sweetly. “Certainly not some silly love potion. I'm not interested in anything like that.”

“Oh,” he said, his face falling a bit. He looked up when Severus and Regulus approached the table, the former with a scowl on his face. “Well I'll let you go. I'll see you later.” He nodded towards his brother who looked away and fidgeted with his green and black striped tie. “See you around, Sniv – Severus.” He looked at Evelyn to see if she caught his near slip up, but she wasn't paying attention to him any longer.

The Slytherin boy frowned deeply but said nothing. Sirius left and the two boys sat down at the table. Severus looked at the pile of parchment that had only a few lines scribbled across the top of each.

“What are these?” he asked, grabbing them. “Is this from him?”

“Yes,” Evelyn said calmly, taking the papers back.

“What are you doing? Tutoring him now? Or just doing his homework?”

Evelyn placed the parchment in the seat to her left, away from Severus, and pulled the Potions textbook closer to herself. “He just needed help with a few things and I said I'd do some research for him.”

“Can't he do it himself?”

“He's busy,” she said. It wasn't entirely a lie because she really didn't know if he was busy or not. He seemed to be a bit lazy, but he may have had a full social schedule – something she couldn't imagine for herself. She was happy enough with her four friends – Goldie, Cat, Regulus, and Severus. She mostly preferred to be around animals and made a point of spending all her free time with her familiar, on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest socializing the creatures for Kettleburn's class, or up in the Owlery.

Without allowing any more talk about Sirius or the papers he'd given her, she started the lesson on Potions for Regulus, while Severus chimed in with information that both improved the recipes and made it easy for Regulus to remember – ensuring that he would suffer very few ill side effects if he did mess up one or two of the steps.

After half an hour, they turned their attention to Severus and helped him study.

Evelyn met Goldie between classes to hand off three pieces of parchment that each had the prompt of the essay written across the top. It took a bit of deciphering on her part, but she managed to make out just what the scribbled, sloppy handwriting said. Irritated that she had been dragged into this blackmail scheme, she sat down after all her classes were finished and began writing out some of the essays. She had discovered, thanks to Evelyn's quick thinking and diligent searching, an easy Handwriting Spell that enchanted her quill to imitate the handwriting of whoever they were copying. Of course, the spell did not work for the handwriting of very important or powerful wizards – such as Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, or anyone from the Ministry of Magic. It was used mostly when students got others to do their homework for them, and didn't want to get caught (much like now).

The first essay was simple – a three page report on the uses of mandrakes. She only needed two textbooks to complete the essay, which seemed a bit repetitive as it was difficult to fill out three pages just on mandrake uses – but she managed. The next essay was a bit more complicated, but she was excited for it. She had to write a five page essay for Sirius's Astronomy class, and Goldie loved all things space. Of course, it was a lot more technical than she hoped, but after a few hours she got out a very fun essay that she was sure the professor would know wasn't written by Sirius.

The third and final essay was about Acromantulas, which Goldie hadn't heard of before then. The photo in the textbook sent chills up her arms – a huge tarantula-like beast that was described as “giant” with a “taste for human flesh.” She really didn't blame Sirius for not wanting to write this essay. She was sure that Evelyn would've enjoyed it, flipping through the thick book on magical beasts, but she didn't like the Acromantula's eight gleaming eyes staring back at her from the page.

She finished it up as fast as she could and closed the book, shuddering at the thought that such creatures existed. She didn't like spiders to begin with – now she had to live with the knowledge that there were giant man-eating tarantulas who could speak to humans. It was the worst news she'd ever heard in her life.

“What are you doing here?”

She looked up and her face turned pink when she saw Jake standing there, rolled parchment in hand. He looked at the stack of books and curling papers on the library table. He noticed the one she had just closed and its shiny gold title.

“I didn't know you were taking another Care of Magical Creatures class,” he said, as if he knew all of Goldie's classes.

“Oh, I'm n -” She stopped short, realizing she couldn't just admit that she was doing somebody else's homework. She squeezed the quill in her hand and then firmly placed it alongside the parchment and smiled warmly at the boy. “I'm nearly finished,” she said, “with my essays. I just wanted to get them done early. And – yeah! Yeah, I'm in another Care of Magical Creatures class. I just … love those creatures.” She mentally cursed herself for saying something so stupid.

“Ah.” Jake actually sat down at the table across from Goldie and she thought she was going to die of shock. Sure, they had a study date planned for later that week but she was surprised that he had just willingly sat down at her table and was talking to her without her starting the conversation.

Jake looked at the essays and motioned towards one. “Three? What classes are you taking?”

Goldie had to curse mentally again – this time because she had to lie about her schedule. “Herbology and Astronomy,” she said. “They're really interesting.”

“So you must really like nature.”

“Oh, yeah. A lot. It's the best.”

Jake nodded, but said nothing in response. Blushing hotly from embarrassment and wishing she was able to be much cooler than she actually was, Goldie pushed the parchments together and folded her hands on top of them, just in case Jake was looking at them and trying to read what she'd written.

“So,” he said suddenly, “this is where we'll be meeting for our study date?”

Her heart fluttered when he said date and she stammered out a, “Yes!” before grabbing the papers and standing suddenly. “I have to go now.”

He looked at the table. “Are you going to put these books away?”

“Oh! Uh – yes?”

Jake looked at the girl who was incredibly flustered, trying to balance the parchments and pick up the books. He stood and picked up three of the large novels.

“I'll put them away,” he said. “You should go. You seem to be in a hurry.”

“You don't have to -”

“I don't mind. I'm sure you're tired of looking at these books. Go ahead.”

Goldie smiled gratefully and thanked him before rushing out of the library, enchanted quill in her robe pocket, parchments under her arm. She tried to stop by the hospital wing to see Catlin, but was stopped in the doorway by Pomfrey who gave her a stern, unwavering look that said, “I am not letting you in here”, so she turned and left. She passed by a group of second-year Gryffindors who chatted excitedly about the upcoming Quidditch game that Saturday.

Retreating to the Hufflepuff common room for a few hours, sneaking away for a moment into her dorm to hide the essays under her bed and the quill back on her bookshelf, she sat in one of the large, plush couches among some of the other girls. A few of them were playing with enchanted cards – a game in which one person shuffled a deck and chose a card, and the second player had to use forms of Divination or Legilimency to accurately guess which card was chosen. The enchanted cards were hardly ever the same twice – often combining shapes, colors, numbers, and photographs of witches and wizards to make the guessing even harder. It was a way for students to practice Divination (in which they used various methods to predict the cards) or for Legilimens to use their powers (in which they simply just read the mind of the card holder).

One girl was sitting in an armchair with a pair of carved knitting needles that seemed to hardly ever stop moving. A thick dark blue blanket slowly piled up in her lap as she knitted, holding a conversation with the girl sitting at the foot of the armchair who was stitching an extra pocket into the inside of her robe.

“It's for my boyfriend,” the girl said cheerily as the blanket grew with every row of stitches, “he's in Ravenclaw.”

Goldie missed having Catlin in the house, though Goldie was far more social than any of her friends. She could have easily struck up a conversation with anyone in the room, but she still felt lonely. She wished Pomfrey would let her visit her friend – or let her back into the house and let her recover in her own dorm room. When dinner rolled around, she followed the group of Hufflepuff students into the dining hall, passing by the parade of house elves returning to the kitchen.

Goldie felt even lonelier when she entered the hall and sat at her table. Across the room, at the Slytherin table, was Evelyn. She could see that the redhead was sitting besides Regulus and Severus, so at least she wasn't alone. She glanced around and caught sight of the four Gryffindor boys who were talking loudly together and laughing, shoving one another and trying to get the attention of a girl with long, bright red hair several seats away. The girl talked with her friends, looked over at the boys and giggled.

“Are you okay?”

Goldie looked over to see Gwyn Bowen, a fair-haired girl with soft brown eyes and a small scar on her forehead where she'd received stitches after a student had used Expelliarmus on a classmate and their wand hit her hard enough to leave a nasty cut.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” she said, smiling. “Why?”

“You look so sad,” Gwyn said, her voice barely audible over all the noise. “Are you missing somebody?”

“Cat,” Goldie replied. “She's in the hospital wing.”

“Oh, yes, I heard about that. I miss her too. She always says hi to me. I guess it's because we live in the same house ...” Gwyn smiled softly at the girl, leaned across the table, and placed her hand over Goldie's. “I'm sure she'll be fine. There's lots of spells and potions to make people better. Have you been able to see her?”

“A bit, but Pomfrey doesn't like visitors.”

“You can make her a get well card,” Gwyn said, “and have an owl deliver it. It's not like she can ban owls from the hospital wing. They're too fast for her to catch.”

Goldie laughed, “That's true. Maybe I'll do that.”

After dinner Goldie and Evelyn joined each other and waited outside in the corridor until the four Gryffindor boys appeared, still jovial and very loud. Sirius saw them first and smiled at them, offering a wave and a, “Hello, girls!”

James saw them and frowned a bit, recognizing Evelyn. She gave a quick scowl back at the boy who seemed a bit surprised. The four approached the girls and stopped. Peter looked nervous, staring at Evelyn who stared back.

Sirius noticed this and quickly intervened, though not necessarily to actually make peace, but simply to talk and act as the hero.

“Now, now, children,” he said, “let's all get along and play nicely. After all, we're going to be seeing each other a lot before we all go home this summer.”

“What do you mean 'we',” Goldie started, looking at the second tallest boy. “I thought it was just Evelyn, me, Cat, you, and Remus. You got them involved?”

“I had to. I live with them. Besides, it's not like they're going to tell on us,” Sirius said, not at all concerned about getting James and Peter involved.

“Well we're not doing their homework, too,” Evelyn said quickly. “Yours has been more than enough. And I still need stuff for the potion.”

“You're in luck! James and Peter happened to go down to Hogsmeade before lunch and picked up exactly what you needed! And enough for a couple of batches as well.”

James pulled out a leather sack filled with items from under his robes and handed it over to Evelyn who hid it quickly, afraid of being caught.

“Better get started on making that tonight.”

“I'll need something of yours as well,” Evelyn said. “It's the only way the potion will work.”

“Oh, don't worry about that. I put something in there.”

Evelyn grimaced. “I hope it was hair.”

Goldie pointed a finger at Sirius and shook it, planting her other hand firmly on her hip. “You better give us that wand at the end of all this. And I don't want to hear you saying that you'll give it back after summer is over, because oh – she won't need it during summer because magic isn't allowed outside of school. On the platform, the day we leave. You give it back.”

“Cross my heart and swear to die,” he said, tracing an X over the left side of his chest.

“Good. Now what do you two want with this?” She looked at James then at Peter.

“We didn't want anything,” James said, surprisingly civil. “But these two got involved and it's not like they can keep their mouths shut -”

“I can too,” Sirius defended, “I just thought it was extremely rude not to tell you. You make it sound like I'm some sort of loudmouth.”

Goldie rolled her eyes. “I finished your essays, okay? They're in my dorm right now, but I'll get them for you tomorrow.”

“Well we're here now, so we might as well just get them.” Sirius grinned. “Go ahead, lead the way! I've been dying to see the inside of Hufflepuff House.”

Goldie looked over at Evelyn who was just as helpless in this situation. Sighing, the girls turned and led the four down the corridors of the castle, slipping past other students heading back to their common rooms for the evening. They passed by Professor Uggeri who seemed to be as tall as the ceiling as he slunk through the hall, his skin as pale white as a ghost. He spotted Goldie and headed for her, his dark eyes focusing on her as he stopped the group.

“Good evening, Miss Hope,” he said slowly. “Where are you headed to?”

“Back to our dorms,” Goldie said, and it technically wasn't a lie.

“Hm,” he looked over the group and noticed their ties. “You're not all in Hufflepuff House. You aren't trying to sneak into one another's dorms are you?”

“Of course not!” Goldie said, looking surprised and a bit offended. “Why would we do that? Professor, we were just walking together after dinner. The boys are going to escort us to our Houses and then go back to their Tower.”

“Mmhm.” He looked over the boys who were nervous under the sharp gaze of the tall man. He studied them for a while more, but seemed to believe Goldie and strode off past them. “Have a good night. I will see you later.”

“Night, Professor,” she called out after him. Giving a worried look to Evelyn, Goldie scurried down the hallway and down towards the entrance to the Hufflepuff House. She turned on her heels and looked at the four boys. “Don't look,” she said. “I don't want you knowing how to get into my House.” She waited until the boys had either covered their eyes or turned around. Before she could tap on the correct barrel, Sirius spun around and threw his hands down, pointing an accusing finger at Evelyn.

“Wait! Why doesn't she have to cover her eyes?”

“Because I trust her,” Goldie said simply, waving her wand at the boy. “Now turn around!”

Sirius did as he was told and Goldie tapped the wooden barrel to the correct tune. The lid swung open and revealed the short, round entrance to her House.

“Alright, come on then.” Goldie got down on her hands and knees and crawled through the passageway. The four boys looked after her in disbelief.

“We have to crawl?” Sirius asked. “What kind of House ...”

“Oh, stop it,” Evelyn said. “Like your House is so great.”

“At least we don't have to crawl into our House,” he said, his eyebrows knitting together.

“There's another entrance,” Evelyn replied, “the main one. She didn't want to show it to you, though, in case you figured out how to get in. It's a bit simpler, so that's why she used this one.”

“Huh. Fine. After you.”

The four boys and Evelyn followed Goldie through the round door and into the common room, which was warm and cozy. A few students were still piled on overstuffed couches and chairs, and looked over in surprise at the five unexpected students who clearly didn't belong in the House. A few eyes widened when they saw who just who it was – the four Gryffindor boys that practically ruled the school. Plus, they noted, there was a Slytherin. Not that that was exactly bad, just unheard of.

Goldie greeted Gwyn who rushed over to meet the newcomers.

“This is James, Peter, Remus, Sirius, and Evelyn.”

“It's so nice to meet you,” Gwyn said, shaking their hands firmly. “We don't ever get visitors in our House. People think it's a bit silly that we're so close to the kitchen. But I think it's okay … it's easiest for us to sneak out and get snacks in the middle of the night.”

“Brilliant,” Peter breathed, his eyes wide. “You can just sneak right into the kitchen, can't you? I wish our Tower was close to the kitchen.”

“Wait here,” Goldie said. “I'll go grab … the notes.”

“Oh, are you helping them study?” Gwyn asked.

“Yes, and they need the notes tonight. I forgot to give it to them during dinner. I'll be right back.”

“Why can't we go with you?” Peter asked.

“Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dorm,” Goldie said quickly as she rushed down one of the corridors and to the dorms. She found the parchment and returned the common room to find that a group of Hufflepuffs had gathered around the group, greeting them in excitement and conversing with them. They were asking lots of questions, mostly about how they managed to convince Goldie to let them into the House.

“There hasn't been anyone who wasn't in Hufflepuff inside this House in a thousand years,” said Martin, a very thin blonde boy with huge, blue eyes. “I can't believe it …” He turned to look at Goldie. “We probably shouldn't tell anybody about this. I kind of want to keep that record going … It makes our House unique.”

“I won't tell anybody if you don't,” Goldie agreed. “Here.” She shoved the parchment at Sirius who took it gratefully and looked it over.

“That's amazing,” he said. “You got my handwriting down exactly. How did you do that?” He looked up, saw Martin and Gwyn were staring at him, and feigned an innocent smile. “I'm only teasing. Thanks for the notes! I'll be sure to … get them back to you.”

“No need, I've finished with them.”

“Right, well ...” He looked around the room and took in the round windows filled with potted plants, the thick scent of honey and butterscotch, and a few armchairs that had been patched with brightly patterned squares of cloth. “This is a really neat House. It's very … earthy.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you like plants, then? I mean, is that what you want to do? Be an Herbologist? It seems like you Hufflepuffs are really good at all that stuff.”

“Not really, no, I don't want to be an Herbologist. And plants are okay, but they're not my passion or anything. Cat really likes plants.” She motioned to one of the windows filled with empty Butterbeer bottles spilling over with twisting vines and pale blooms. “She grew those. I think they're moonflowers? I'm not sure.”

“Oh, does she want to be an Herbologist?” Peter asked.

“She doesn't like all the science involved, so no. Anyway, it's getting late so you should probably go now. Our Head of House will be coming back soon and you can't be seen here.” She showed them back to the passageway they had entered in through and they all shuffled out, crawling through the tunnel and out of the door and into the hallway. She gave a few parting words to them, Sirius thanked her again for the essays then he offered to walk Evelyn back to her House since it was so far away and it was already getting dark, and the group of boys left, Evelyn in tow. Goldie returned to her dorm and was flocked by the group of Housemates who eagerly wanted to know if she was going to bring them back again sometime.

“Maybe Evelyn, but not the boys. They just needed notes, that's all. I'm not really friends with them.”

Groaning in disappointment, the other Hufflepuffs shuffled off towards their dorms for the night. Gwyn walked alongside Goldie, trying to encourage her.

“Don't worry about all of them,” she said gently. “They were just excited to have someone other than Hufflepuffs in here. It's pretty much unheard of! I have to admit it was kind of fun … But don't let them pressure you into bringing boys back here. We all know who they are, and quite honestly, I am surprised that they even came here … They seem too cool for us. I mean – they pretend that they're too cool for us.”

“Trust me,” Goldie laughed, “they most certainly aren't cool. They're just a bunch of fifth years who just haven't met their match – yet.”

Gwyn couldn't help but laugh too and parted ways to her own room. Goldie peeled off her robes and flopped onto the bed, crawling under the patchwork quilt. She was absolutely exhausted from working on three essays for Sirius, and that was just for this week! She couldn't imagine how much more he would have for the next month and a half while he held Catlin's wand hostage. Plus she hadn't gotten any of her own homework done at all that day, which meant she would have to work extra hard tomorrow just to catch up. Plus she had her Potions class tomorrow, which she was not looking forward to. She didn't even bother to change out of her clothes, she just kicked off her shoes, pulled a pillow over her head and fell deep asleep.

#mine 44 #akimi.writes #leather and lace #l&l chapter 4 #remus lupin #sirius black #remus x oc #sirius x oc #remus fic #remus lupin fic #sirius fic #sirius black fic #marauders #hp #marauders fic #hp fic

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josiecarioca · 2 years

Text

“Suddenly his strained conversation with Harry came to mind. Evelyn couldn't begin to wrap her mind around the dynamic of their relationship. They were not friends or family, but whatever it was, it was too visceral to be just mere acquaintance. Harry had been introduced to her as a former student, but now she knew Severus had been in love with the boy's mother once. That was the connection. Lily. And that would have been perfectly normal if it wasn't for the ambivalent way Severus treated Harry. At times he seemed eager to help him, to protect him, he acted almost fatherly; at other times he pushed him away like he despised him, like Harry’s mere presence offended him.

Maybe, deep down, Severus wished Harry was his. Maybe that was the issue. That Harry was the son of the woman he loved with somebody else (a man he hated, and not without reason, as far as she knew). If that was the case, then he had loved Lily enough to want a family with her. So much it still hurt him that he didn’t have that chance. Could Evelyn say he felt the same about her? That was probably the thing that scared her. That telling him she was pregnant would answer that question...”

Post War. Part 11: The Wolves come out to hunt. Chapter 2 (to be published)

#Snapedom #Post War #sneak peek #fanfic quotes #severus snape #evelyn black #severus x evelyn #ANGST #and that's why she didn't tell yet

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honeydewsour · 4 months

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The Quibbler but as monthly shoujo magazine cover parody with wizarding world fanfic titles

(made this while ago to play around with fonts and giggles so pardon the messiness)

might become a series hopefully getting all the titles covered as the cover art or/and adding new titles …uuuh let’s see, any idea what bonus gift for the next parody?chocolate frogs?snitch keychain?? also can anyone guess which shoujo magazine i used for reference?

warning all of the titles mentioned are 18+ read the tags!

a bit of review me gushing out/screaming about the fanfics mentioned, under the cut;

A Good Man Is Hard To Find by cloniccouer

Lace, Letters, and Lectures: Professor Sallow by mahoushoujo_m

Lost Connection by AsphodelRose87

break a sweat by @shadowtriovibes

Post War by @josiecarioca

Unraveling of Fates by @aesopsharpstuff

In The Shadow of Us by @slytherizz

To Frame the King (of Cats) by heartsof_theround

Of Paper Planes and Wildflowers by @eggymf-archived

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josiecarioca · 2 years

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So my question is basically how do you think Evelyn will take Severus's role in the wizarding war? I mean, as far as I have seen her as a character and read your main story about the two I can categorise Evelyn into someone who might have very strong ideals and a nearly unshakable morality. She doesn't seem the type that can understand the grey area between good and bad, right and wrong. She looks like someone who would very easily divide people into either black or white (at least that's how I have understood her, till now that is).

Do you think she will be able to forgive Snape's transgressions? Understand the place where he came from, the things he had to do. His nightmares, his problems, his faults, his reasoning, justifications anything?

It is after all very messy, complicated and incredibly difficult to attune a person like Evelyn whom you have described as a very real flesh and blood boisterous lively woman to a person who is basically all smoke and mirrors. The contrast between them though symbolically and aesthetically delectable does look increasingly jarring when thought about deeply.

Do you believe that Evelyn can make peace with the fact that the man she loves can very easily be stacked into the dark side on account of him actually perpetually hanging at the brink of white and black?

It took me ages to answer this ask because I didn't really know where to start, since this question has oh-so-many layers to it. Needless too say this answer contains major spoilers for all published chapters so far.

So, @pixiesandstarlight, to give your question a short answer: Yes, Evelyn will eventually come to terms with Severus true self. But it will be a rocky road.

Now, on to the needlessly long answer...

You're right when you say Evelyn is a very moral person with nearly unshakable principles, but the truth of the matter is, it's been quite easy for her to be like this. Evelyn is at her core a compassionate and accepting person, but she's also very sheltered, specially when compared to Severus. Evelyn comes from a loving, stable family who provided her with all the tools necessary for personal success and stability: care, affection, an excellent education, a comfortable home, emotional support, intellectual encouragement, sound moral and ethical guidance...Her dad was an educator and a free thinker, who went out of his way nurture and encourage his children and her mother's parenting style, while leaning towards the more strict side, put great value in compassion and love as core spiritual values (Sophia is a pious catholic who immediately took Fin in her home when he was kicked out of the house for being gay, so it's clear her idea of faith has more to do with love than dogma).

Evelyn was also blessed with personal charisma that made it very easy for her to make friends and connections. In short, Evelyn never faced true hardship like Severus did, and she was never put in a position where she had to make difficult choices from a moral standpoint. It's rather easy to hold on to a strong set of values when they never been challenged. At points, she even comes across as almost naïve or high and mighty in the way she deals with things.

Now there's one important thing to consider: the one, real tragedy in Evelyn's life, which is Paul's death.

There's an interesting aspect to appreciate here, in that everything about her brother's death is borne out of (well intentioned) deception. Paul only had his accident because he was never instructed on basic magic safety, and that happened because Evelyn's grandfather, Marius, never disclosed the fact that he was a Black, and there was a real possibility any of his descendants would be magical. That deception was rooted both in his own personal trauma and inability to discuss it as well as his need to protect his family from further trauma. It's possible that until Paul started to manifest signs of magic, the thought of revealing his secret never occurred to him (what would be the point?), and by the time he realized he'd have to say something, Paul's tragic passing merely dissuaded him, and he felt like saying something would be pouring salt on the wound (also who would believe him?). There's also the fact that (as some readers may have realized already) Dumbledore himself convinced him not to say anything (again, because it would be pointless AND it might draw attention to the muggle branch of the black family. It was 1971...the first wizarding war was on)

The problem with this is, Evelyn was an eyewitness. She saw Paul performing magic, she saw him die from a spell gone wrong, she saw magical creatures, and she saw Dumbledore talking to Marius. And she told the adults, because that was the right thing to do, as she was taught: you tell the adults when something is wrong. Her grief-striken parents simply thought she was making up stories to cope with the loss (an opinion that was echoed by the therapist that treated Evelyn, because, again, her parents were trying to do what was best for her, and taking your traumatised child to a therapist IS the responsible thing to do...not their fault this plan couldn't account for the literal existence of magic), and her grandfather thought it would be best for her if she also believed she was just imagining things. Again, because he was desperate to keep the family's stability, and also to keep them off the radar. So, Evelyn, who was raised to value truth, honesty and morality, really did convince herself she was imagining things. Because the only alternative would be that she was lying, because magic isn't real. And lying is wrong, so she couldn't be lying...therefore she was imagining, so she needed help and therapy...she was mentally unsound because her brother died. That became her truth.

So Evelyn did grow up with that * one* issue: the vague feeling that there was a lie, something that didn't quite add up at the core of all she believed to be true and where her entire moral compass comes from. Her aversion to deception and stubborn hold on the very idea of truth as an absolute has a lot to do with that. That's also at the root of her insecurity about her mental stability. Because if the truth is absolute, any deviation from it must be in her head, she's imagining things, she's “crazy”.

Now enter Severus. Who is...well, Severus, as we all know. He grew up without any of the advantages Evelyn enjoyed, had none of of the care, affection and guidance she got from her family and has made morally questionable decisions time and time again, either because he had to or because he didn't know better. And now he has to live with all of that. Yes, Severus is the kind of man Evelyn would avoid like the plague if she had known the truth about him right off the bat. But she didn't. All she knows at first is that he's a reserved, grouchy but extremely intelligent and intriguing man. She doesn't know Severus like we (the readers) do, she knows this persona he created for himself to live as a muggle. And it's not exactly a deception: Severus really is this quiet, socially awkward intellectual she falls for. But that's only a part of who he is. And he knows that if she discovers everything else, she won't react well.

So he simply doesn't tell her.

But here's the thing, Evelyn does love him. She loves him to the point she's willing to work things out even when she finds out he'd been lying to her. She's willing to forgive the lies because 1- she loves him this much (time and time again she even berates herself for letting her emotions get the best of her, and even wonders why she's so madly in love with this man that she's willing to put up with all this) and 2-, at this point she has been put in the position of contemplating her grandfather's story, and how wizarding society pushed him away, and why he felt he had to conceal things from those he loved the most. She knows her grandfather was a good man, who loved his family and would do anything to protect them. So she understands him. Consequentially he's perfectly willing to accept Severus deception (much like her grandfather's) came from a place of emotional fragility and fear of rejection. And she forgives, because she was raised to forgive. It's part of her mother's set of spiritual teachings, it's part of her identity, having been raised by a spiritual mother and a humanist father: to try and understand human fragility, to accept imperfection, to forgive when true repentance is shown (which would be living up to the catholic ideals she was raised with, tbh).

HOWEVER, even then, Severus doesn't tell her everything. At first he gives her a vague narrative of his life. He leaves out the most unsavory parts. And there's simply a lot for her to take in all at once. She holds on desperately to her love for him to make peace with the fact that there's so much to him she doesn't know. And as she keeps finding out more, that love is tested time and time again, and she's put in a position, for the first time in her life, to contemplate the gray areas of morality on which he navigates and why he does it. Interestingly, her delving into the gray areas of his life also give him a chance to move more towards the “lighter” side she inhabits, since her insistence on honesty and truthfulness also pushes him to face his own demons head on, and learn how to operate on an “open field” abd be vulnerable (at least when it comes to her). Because as Evelyn proves herself willing to accept him with all his idiosyncrasies, he finds that there's no more real need for “smoke and mirrors”.

To be frank Evelyn also has plenty of help through this process. Through her interactions with other people (mostly Minerva, Harry and Draco) she gets to see multiple sides to Severus, and understand him and his motivations, and find empathy beyond the fact that she loves him. Find empathy for him as a person, and not just accept him because she's in love with him. And she also discovers new things about herself, about the limits of her own acceptance and what she's really like when confronted with dilemmas she never had to even think about before.

After all, you never really know how you'll react to a moral dilemma until you're confronted with it, and even the most self-assured among us may end up surprising themselves with what they find after a little soul searching.

#oof that was long #THANK YOU for this ask #severus snape #evelyn black #severus x evelyn #post war #rambling #snape fanfiction

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josiecarioca · 2 years

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‘Mama, don’t preach” (New version, now with Eloise

Some of you may remember this Halloween one-shot (originally requested by @viper-official ), but since it was written, the Snape family gained a new adittion: Eloise. So here’s a little rewrite (that is obviously too late for Halloween). Enjoy!

(Ao3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43121653 )

Friday, October 30th, 2015.

Doolin, Ireland.

Soren nearly threw himself out of the window of the car the moment he saw his grandmother´s house.

“Mam, stop the car!”

“Let him out, or he´ll try and fly through the windshield” Severus smirked. Evelyn stopped the car and unlocked the back door. Soren scrambled out of the vehicle so fast it was a small wonder he didn´t just fall flat on his face by the side of the road. Then off he went, running across the dry grass, muddy puddles and dead leaves.

Severus would always bemoan the fact that Evelyn insisted that whenever they visited her mother, they did the last leg of the trip, from Dublin to Doolin, by car.

“We can go anywhere in the world with magic,” he would always say “take the children and the luggage with us, anywhere you want, in a snap of fingers. Just say where. And yet you insist on this pointless 3 hour drive from Dublin. It makes no sense. It´s just going to get them cranky and tired for no reason.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was 'pointless', and it certainly made Soren cranky. Unlike Eloise, who blissfully slept most of the journey, or just entertained herself playing with her toys, watching the landscape change and rambling about all the magical creatures hidding behind every tree and rock, Soren could barely sit still for more than half an hour. Then again, having to sit still for any length of time made him cranky. Evelyn was willing to concede that Severus did have a point in that would be easier to just travel through magical means.

Easier is not always better, though.

She didn´t want her children to get too used to the idea that magic can make everything easy, or that they didn´t have to put any work into anything as long as he had a wand in his hand. Eloise was four, and starting to understand there was a difference between what was magival and what wasn't, and Soren...well, he would be ten years old the following day. The moment he would finally receive his letter approached fast, maybe too fast for her liking. Severus made sure that Soren was taught how to control his spontaneous bursts of magic, he taugh their son himself how to keep his magic in and how to use it in a controlled way. Little charms, tiny spells, little by little, so he´d get used to it. Eloise had been getting her first lessons as well. So they'd be safe.,

Paul's demise was always in the back of her mind, and from the moment Evelyn found out she was pregnant the first time she had started to fret. Severus knew it, and he took it upon himself to make sure their children were always safe, always protected against any accident. All of that was important, but Evelyn often had to remind Severus that Soren and Eloise weren't just wizards, they were half-blood whatever that meant according to the arbitrary conventions of wizarding society. They had a muggle family, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, cousins, and muggle friends. Evelyn herself, while not a muggle, wasn´t able to produce magic. Their children had to learn not everything can be dealt with or solved with the flick of a wand, and it had to be done from the earliest age.

Sure she could have made some exceptions. One thing was having the kids do a couple everyday chores without the use of magic, quite another was to have them sit still inside a car for 3 hours when they could easily be in Doolin in a snap of Severus' fingers. But Evelyn didn´t want them to miss out on the anticipation, on the feeling of waiting for something you want so much you feel like jumping out of your skin. They were growing up fast, much too fast. Evelyn wanted them to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer.

Doolin was a land of dreams for her children. Which was funny, considering they routinely witnessed literal magic happening all around them. Doolin just had a different type of magic to it. No magic in the world could rival the view of the Cliffs of Moher as the sun set over the Atlantic, no magic could replace the stories of warriors, king, queens, ghosts and goblins great-grandmother Liz could tell, no quidditch match was as exciting as climbing trees or playing in the mud, and no charms nor spells could make Soren feel as he felt when he went out into the fields, to run through the ruins of the village´s remote medieval and Celtic past, or how Eloise felt when she build little fairy houses in grandma's garden. For them, who had a wizard for a father, magic was a mundane, everyday thing. Getting into a car and driving to the little village by sea where their mother was born, now that was just...different.

Evelyn did suspect there was another reason Soren was always so excited to travel to Doolin for the Summers, weekends and holidays. Said reason just so happened to be standing right outside her mother's front porch when they pulled over. No wonder Soren was so eager to get out of the car, Evelyn thought, looking on as her son almost tripped over himself to get to her.

Audrey Blake.

If it wasn´t for the fact that she could breathe, move and talk, Audrey could easily be mistaken for a life-sized doll. Her pink leggings had little black cats drawn on them and they matched her long sleeved black blouse, her powder pink ballerina flats were so pristine you´d think she had purposely avoided every single mud puddle left by the morning drizzle as she walked over from her house down the street, and not a strand of her short blonde hair was out of place, waves neatly held in place with multicoloured barrettes.

Evelyn had no idea what had happened to draw the two children to each other, but they were connected by that kind of profound friendship only children and a few very blessed adults can enjoy. There was, however, no denying the two were as different as the sun and the moon. Soren was bundle of barely contained manic energy, while Audrey was as calm as a lake on a clear spring day, Soren was so talkative he would make a parrot seem shy, and Audrey was so quiet and soft spoken one had to strain to hear her sometimes, where Soren was exuberant, loud and energetic, Audrey was delicate, sweet and serene.

Maybe that was the reason. Brash as he could be, Soren was also surprisingly kind and thoughtful if needed be. And Audrey was the kind of child that would bring fierce protective instincts out of the most hardened adult, let alone a boy like Soren, whose heart was so easy to win over. On the other hand, Soren´s no holds barred approach to everything in life meant he simply bulldozed through the rules and restrictions Audrey's mother kept making up to smothered the poor girl.

Catherine made it her life mission to make sure her daughter always looked and acted perfectly prim and proper, a doll rather than a living child. It was an endeavour Soren seemed hell-bent on ruining. The moment he stepped foot on Doolin there was no keeping the little girl in the neat little confines of frilly dresses and strict prohibitions. Soren didn't spare a single care to any of that. Audrey was his friend, and she would go on adventures with him regardless of what any adult had to say.

“Hello, love” Evelyn greeted her, running the tips of her fingers on her rosy, pudgy cheek.

“Come on, get yourselves inside, you two, it looks like it´s about to rain again. Careful not to track any mud in.” Severus said as he took Eloise out of her seat, gently waking her up, in that quiet tone Evelyn had come to identify as his particular way to show fatherly affection. Severus wasn´t all that prone to the cajoling and sugary displays of affection most people associate with parenthood. Is not that he wasn´t affectionate towards Soren and Eloise. He was, and deeply so. But Severus´affection was subtle; it was in the way he talked, adopting a quieter, warmer delivery to his words, in the way he messed Soren´s hair, or gave Eloise a quick kiss on the top of the head first thing in the morning, how he watched over them as they went about a task, the way he rested his hand on their shoulder and dropped to his knees to talk to them eye to eye, and how he listened to them with the same attention and respect he would dispense to an adult. Over time he started act the same with Audrey, to the point that the girl, meek and timid around nearly everyone else, seemed entirely well at ease with Severus, which was quite funny considering how most children who came into contact with him in Hogwarts felt about the notoriously scary DADA professor and war hero. To that muggle little girl however, Severus was just the gentle, if taciturn, father of her best friend, who was always nice to her.

“Mrs. Black is making scones and hot cocoa. She´s got cherry jam too, she gave me a little just now” Audrey told Severus, as they made their way inside. The mention of cherry jam seemed to wake Eloise up, and she squirmed to be put on the ground so she could run inside. “There you go, dove.”

“You´ve been here for a while, then.” Severus smiled, not surprised. Of course Audrey would be there since early in the day, waiting for Soren. What else was new?

“She has,” Evelyn´s mother, Sophia, confirmed, opening the dorr to let them in “even helped me with the scones. She´s got quite the talent for baking, this one.”

After the usual greetings, hugs and kisses, Severus brought the luggage in, and Evelyn followed her mother into the kitchen, where Soren, Eloise and Audrey were already sitting, waiting for an adult to get the pipping hot pastries out of the baking sheet.

“How´s your mam doing, sweetheart?” Evelyn asked Audrey, pretending she didn´t see her son dip a finger into the open jar of jam, then encourage his sister to do the same.

“She´s fine.” Audrey's smile disappeared when she answered, but then Soren started to talk about the latest additions to his personal library of adventure books, and she seemed to be herself again. Evelyn turned to her mother, but Sophia simply shook her head and proceeded to serve the scones.

“Mam?” Evelyn called, as the children started to eat with delight “Did something happen?”

“The poor dear is upset because her mam won't let her trick or treat.” he mother whispered, turning her back so Audrey wouldn´t hear

“Why not?”

“Last time I saw her in church, Catherine was going on about how Audrey is having trouble with her maths at school, so no costumes or trick or treating for her this year.” Sophia was visibly offended by the notion of denying Halloween to a child. “Can you believe it?”

“Well, it´s Soren´s birthday too, I'll have to talk to her.”

“You think I didn't try already, Lynnie? And I thought you weren´t having a party this year?”

“We're not, but I was planning to have a cake next Sunday, and we're taking the kids trick or treating tomorrow. Audrey always goes with them. I mean, they're best friends.”

“Well, go ahead and call her, but you know how she gets.” Sophia shrugged

“We´re all unpacked.” Severus announced triumphantly, entering the kitchen.

“Well, nothing like having a husband with a magic wand.”

“Told you my dad was a wizard, Audrey.” Soren proclaimed. The beauty of that age was that no matter how many times Soren and Eloise said their father was a mighty wizard, nobody would take it for anything other than children playing make belief. And since it never failed to get a smile out of Audrey, Evelyn and Severus played along.

No adult ever suspected a thing.

Evelyn gave her husband a quick kiss on the lips as he sat down to eat with the children.

“Where are you going? Have some tea at least.” he asked.

“I need to make a phone call, I´ll be right back.”

….

Evelyn braced herself for the conversation as the phone ran on the other side of the line. Catherine Ann Blake was famously difficult. It was just common knowledge. She had gotten worse since her husband passed away. Evelyn sometimes gave her the benefit of the doubt, that all she did, she did with Audrey´s best interest in mind, and that she maybe felt the need to be strict since she was raising a child on her own, but Evelyn´s tolerance for her antics had worn off a while ago. Catherine and Sophia were both active members of the local congregation, and Sophia had...stories. Evelyn hated the idea of a little girl as vulnerable and delicate as Audrey being raised by such an overbearing, moralistic and religious know-it-all, but she had to shut her mouth if she wanted her to continue to allow Audrey to spend time with Soren.

“Hello, Mrs. Blake? It´s Evelyn Snape.”

“Hello, Mrs. Snape. How may I help you?” Evelyn could almost hear the contempt in her voice.

Catherine didn´t like her or Severus much, and she didn't put much effort in hiding it. Evelyn didn't quite know why. Maybe Severus was too British and too eccentric for her standards, maybe Evelyn was a bit too flamboyant to be seen as a respectful wife and mother in her eyes, or maybe it was the fact that they had chosen a gay man as the godfather of their son. Last time Fin had come to Doolin for Soren's birthday, she couldn´t stop staring at him and Doug, visibly dismayed at the sight of a gay couple in a children's party. Evelyn hoped that wasn't the reason they had skipped the party this year, opting to give Soren his gift when the Snapes visited them in Dublin.

Catherine didn´t much care for their “ruffian of a son” either. She had overheard her call Soren that once. She suspected she would soon find some reason to start calling Eloise names as well. For the life of her Evelyn didn´t know what possessed that woman to even allow Audrey to play with him if she thought so poorly of their entire family, with the one exception being Sophia. Maybe there was motherly love in there to be saved, and she could at least understand that separating Audrey and Soren would hurt her daughter. Or maybe she just didn't want to be on Sophia's bad side. Which was quite more likely, to be honest.

“I´m calling because, as you know, Soren´s birthday is tomorrow and I was wondering if you would let Audrey come over to my mother's to spend the evening with us?”

“Audrey can´t go to any party for the time being, she´s grounded. I only let her come over to see your boy today because your mother asked.”

“Oh, we´re not having any party tomorrow. We just wanted to have Audrey over so she and Soren can play a little, if that´s possible. It will break his heart if he can't spend his birthday with his best friend, I´m sure you understand.”

“I don´t know. We have the Vigil for All Souls and Hallows in church tomorrow and I was thinking of taking her with me, I think she' about old enough to start having a more active role in the congregation.”

“I see. I know you work so very hard for the congregation. But maybe having Audrey there would distract you?” Evelyn could feel every muscle on her face going sore from the effort of spouting such large amounts of malarkey and having to be so courteous, when all she wanted was to tell that woman to take her bloody vigil and shove it. But she had to power through. For the kids. “My husband and I will gladly keep her for a few hours so you can focus on your work. I mean, the Vigil is very important, it will need your full attention.” Evelyn knew Catherine. Sophia wouldn't be there and she'd have the chance to run the entire thing, of course she wouldn't pass up the chance to push Audrey onto any available adult so she could rule over the vigil.

“I suppose there´s no harm in that.” she conceded after a moment´s hesitation

“And while we´re at it...I bought her a little princess costume and...”

“Audrey is grounded, Mrs. Snape. I told her she wouldn't be getting any costumes for Halloween this year, not until her maths improve.”

“Oh, I understand. In that case, maybe we can reach a compromise. Audrey comes over just to play with Soren for a little while, and I promise we´ll have her back home early. And I won´t put her in the costume I bought. I mean, it's a shame, of course, but rules are rules.”

“Well, seeing it's your boy´s birthday, and I'll be otherwise engaged, then I'll let Audrey go, but remember...”

“No princess costume, and she´ll be back home by 9. Thank you, Mrs. Blake.”

“What was that about?” her mother asked, coming out from the kitchen.

“We seem to have reached an agreement. Audrey comes over tomorrow, and I pinky promise not to put her in the lovely little princess costume I bought. Now, mam, do you know if Caitlin still has the girls´old Halloween costumes?”

“You just promised her you wouldn´t put her daughter in a costume.”

“No, I promised her I wouldn´t put her daughter in the princess costume I bought, specifically. But since I didn't buy any princess costume, I´m not breaking my promise if I put her in literally anything else.”

“Evelyn, we're never going to hear the end of it when she finds out!”

“She doesn't have to find out. The other church ladies have the Vigil for All Souls and Hallows Eve tomorrow evening, remember? We´ll have Audrey back home and changed by the time she´s back from church. She´ll never suspect.”

Sophia tried to object, but before she could open her mouth, Evelyn was back in the kitchen, ushering the children from their seats.

“Come on, kids, we're going to aunt Cat's house.”

…

“Oh, my God, she´s is going to blow a fuse when she finds out you're taking her daughter trick or treating.” Caitlin told her as they went through the box full of old costumes. “I need to get some popcorn and a front seat for that.”

“She won´t find out.”

Audrey and Soren were taking all the costumes from the boxes Caitlin had hauled down from the attic and trying them on, then helping Eloise into different ones as if she was a little living doll. Audrey didn´t seem to have noticed they were also picking a costume for her, and simply enjoying what she saw as her only chance at Halloween dress up of the year.

“You're going to ask Audrey to lie to her mother.” Cat, lowered her voice, not the the kids would have listened anyway, they were too busy doing a little impromptu fashion show.

“Do you really think Audrey and her mother are having long and nice conversations about how the girl's day went? That hag is probably going to send the poor baby straight to bed the moment she comes back home. How about this one?”

“Dorothy...cute, but what are the rest of you going to wear? It would be nice if all five of you matched.”

“Five? As if I can get Severus in a costume. Seventeen years we've been together and he has never dressed up for Halloween.”

“Well, what did you expect? His fashion baseline is somewhere between victorian gothic and 70s punk rock..The man dresses for Halloween all year long! Oh, look at this. Remember when Alice wore this one?”

“Wednesday Addams...” Evelyn mused for a moment. “Oh, yeah, that was the year I took Alice trick or treating dressed as Morticia Addams, wasn't it?”

“Of course I do, I was pregnant with Lizzie and no costume would fit me, and you were prancing about in that slinky black dress. I hated you so much.” Cat laughed. “I'm pretty sure mam still has that dress somewhere in her attic.Well, that's an idea for a group costume...Addams family? What do you kids think?”

“Can I be the grandma?!” Elois blurted alsmot imediately

“Don't you want to be Wednesday?” Audrey told her quietly. Evelyn could tell by the hind of sadness in her expression she was counting herself out of the dress up game.

“No.” Eloise answered as if she was about to explain something painfully obvious “Grandma Addams makes potions, she has the cauldron and all.”

Of course Eloise would prefer to dress as the one character who could brew potions in a huge steaming cauldron. She couldn't be more Severus' daughter if she tried. Incidentally, she just solved Evelyn's problem perfectly. It left the position of Wednesday open for somebody else...

“Even if Eloise wanted to be Wednesday, this dress too big for her.” Evelyn held up the garment, pretending to evaluate it. “But it would be perfect for you Audrey!”

Soren and Eloise both agreed immediately, Audrey didn't seem so sure.

“You'll be Wednesday and I'll be Pugsley.” Soren encouraged her

“I'm sure you have a stripped t-shirt somewhere.” Evelyn agreed

“”Can I bleach my hair?”

“No, you cannot.”

“How about dad?” Eloise suddenly remembered.

Caitlin thought for a moment before offering an idea:

“You should ask mam if she still has dad´s old black pinstripe suit. Have her air it out a little and Severus would make a great Gomez. You don´t even have to paint the dark circles under his eyes with makeup.”

“Yeah, right. He never wears a costume” Soren shrugged

“It´s just a suit...It´s not asking much, is it?”

October 31st, Saturday

The three piece pinstripe suit hanging by the back door of the kitchen nearly startled him as Severus came down for breakfast in the morning.

“What is that about?” he asked his mother-in-law, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Ask your wife.” Sophia shrugged “She asked me to air out her father's old suit, I´m just doing what she said.”

Something was off.

Sophia always refered to Evelyn as “my daughter”, “Lyn” or “Lynnie”. Unless, of course. Evelyn had done something she disapproved of. Then Evelyn stopped being “my daughter” and became “your wife.”

Caitlin had come over for dinner the night before with her husband, Paulo. It had been a pleasant evening, but he couldn´t help but notice his wife and sister-in-law seemed to be plotting something. He didn´t think much of it, assuming it had something to do with Soren´s birthday. Caitlin would be working the night shiftfor Halloween, but she would be at the party the next day, maybe they we're making arrangements for that.

Looking at that suit hanging by the door, however, he started to suspect those two were having ideas, and he didn´t really like it when they had ideas.

“Where´s 'my wife' then?”

“At her gran's. She asked me about an old costume of hers, but I didn´t have it here, so it has got ot be there.”

“A costume, uh?”

“Yes, a costume.” Evelyn came up from behind him carrying a large plastic bag “Happy Halloween, darling!”

“So you´re taking the little monsters out trick or treating?” he observed, sipping his coffee.

“WE are. That suit is for you.”

“When did Halloween become a formal event?”

“I´ll be going as Morticia, and I´m dressing Soren and Audrey and Pugsley and Wednesday, and Eloise decided to be grandma Addams, so I had to raid grandma Liz's house for scarves and white yarn for a wig. Now we only need a Gomez.”

“What?”

“The Addams Family, Sev! Your sons's favourite films?”

Sometimes Severus struggled with muggle pop culture references. Before Evelyn, he had gone years having barely any contact with muggle TV, radio or music. After Evelyn however, he could keep reasonably up to date, and once Soren was old enough to start having his own preferences in terms of films and music, then he simply had to keep up. Fortunately, Eloise was more of a fairytale and books kinds of child. But even making an effort, he still missed some references here and there. This wasn´t one of those instances, however. Surely he had watched the early 90s films quite a few times, as Soren was obsessed with them, but even before that, he had been somewhat familiar with the 1960s American TV programme. He most definitely knew who the Addamses were.

“I do remember that, love” he smiled. “But I'm not putting on a costume. We have this discussion every year.”

“This year is different.”

“Your wife has decided she´ll start some trouble with Catherine Blake” Sophia interrupted them.

“Mam!”

“Audrey's mother? I'm afraid don't quite follow.”

“That self-righteous idiot has decided her daughter doesn't 'deserve' Halloween because the poor girl is not performing to her ridiculous standards in a few school subjects.”

“Oh, so you decided you're going to dress her daughter up and take her out anyway? Against her wishes?”

“Her mother is wrong, for starters.”

“She's still Audrey's mother, we can't just undermine her authority like that. Audrey is a lovely girl, but if she's struggling at school...”

“She´s not! Her grades are nowhere near as bad as her mother is making it seem. She simply didn´t ace her last exam.”

“While I agree, it´s a bit excessive, that IS her mother.”

“Severus, all Audrey does is study, do chores and go to church. It's a miracle Catherine even allows her to come over and visit my mother, and I suspect she only does that because she's afraid of what the other will thbink of her in church if she has a problem with my mother of all people. Can the child have a moment of fun!?”

“I understand, love, but you know that wretched creature better than I do. If she finds out you did this, you know what´s going to happen? She will forbid her daughter from being around Soren. You know she just needs an excuse.”

“She doesn´t have to know. Come on, Severus, it´s Soren's birthday. All I want is to take the children out to trick and treat for a few hours, it´s enough that Audrey can´t even come to his party tomorrow. And it would be lovely if you could come too. All you have to do is put on a suit. Soren will be over the moon! And you know what costume Eloise picked? Grandma Addams, because makes potions just like dad. ”

“Don't do that.”

“Do what?”

“This little emotional blackmail. I´m not doing this. End of.”

“Mam! Dad!” they heard the sound of Soren´s and Eloise coming down the stairs in full throttle.

“Look at my wee little spooks! Happy Birthday, Scary Boy!” Evelyn pulled their son into her arms showering his face with kisses. Severus didn´t miss the accusatory look she shot him as she did that.

Severus gave him a bear hug of his own, picking him up and noticing with a small pang of sadness that very soon Soren would be too big for him to carry around. It seemed he was getting taller by the minute. Sometimes Severus feared that one day he would blink and his boy would turn into a grown man right before his eyes. At least Eloise would still be small for a little while longer

“Happy Birthday, you little terror.”

“Oh, is that your costume, papa?!” Eloise jumped into Severus arms and pointed to the suit hanging near the door, her eyes damn near sparkling at the sight of it.

“No, dove. That´s just one of your grandfather's old suits. Your gran is airing it out.”

“But, papa...You never dress up for Halloween.”

Severus looked at Evelyn, silently begging her to help him find a way to explain this without disappointing them too much. She just shrugged and walked away, leaving him to the inglorious task of telling his children once again that he was a boring fool who didn´t dress up for Halloween.

…

“Oh, I didn´t remember this neckline being so...”

“Indecent?” her sister remarked, in stitches.

Caitlin had dropped by to help them get dressed before she had to start heading to the hospital. Evelyn had decided to get dressed before dressing the children. For one it would take forever to cover her healthy rosy-olive complexion, still ever so slightly tanned from the Summer months with a thick layer of ghost-white makeup. Then there was the business of getting into that skintight dress. The zipper certainly required help after being in the closet for 20 years. She had to spend the whole morning at her grandmother´s looseing the dress up a bit so she could fit.

Evelyn was proud of her figure, but since Soren was born she would always have a couple pounds and a few inches more than she considered ideal, and nearing her mid-50s, she certainly couldn´t hope to fit into a dress she had last wore when she was in her early 30s without some help, and grandma Liz had performed nothing short of a miracle.

“Do I look ridiculous?”

“Not at all. I dare say you wear it better now. You fill it out more.”

Evelyn looked at herself in the mirror. The fact that wizards, witches and squibs all had a longer time span than muggles certainly helped. The 50s were not even middle-age for non muggles, and all too often it was their prime in terms of looks. She was fuller than she had been in her 30s, but she was happy with how her curves filled the dress, how generous and supple they looked. The white makeup and red lipstick were stark and severe, and so was the black wig, which was a little too artificial-looking for her taste, but all and all she could pass for a very adequate Morticia Addams

“I´m just glad I can breathe and walk, I was expecting to look like a sack of potatoes.”

“Nonsense. Now lets get the little monsters in their costumes because Paulo will be here any minute”

“Paulo is coming?”

“He worked the morning shift. And since you won't have a Gomez, we figures you should at least have an uncle Fester. Or something like that, we couldn´t find a bald cap in such short notice, but he did have a trenchcoat.”

….

“Severus is not even coming with us out of costume?” Paulo asked, seeing her leave the house with the children. His costume was barely a costume, he had just thrown a long coat on after coming home from his shift, and hastily applied some white to his face. His version of Uncle Fester had a full head of hair and thick rimmed glasses, but at least he was there, Evelyn thought with more than a hint of bitterness.

“Apparently not. He wants no part in our little plan.” she smiled

“You'd expect him to be a bit more adventurous. Well, shall we then, crianças? I brought a camera, it´s not as good as uncle Fin's, but we´ll get some neat shots.”

“A camera, Paulo?”

“We didn't dress up this nice for mobile photos. And I´m pretty sure a proper Addams would prefer a camera.It´s more...vintage.”

Before they went on their way, Evelyn felt Audrey pulling her hand. She looked down at the little girl, and saw she was nervously twisting one of the braids of her black wig, her pretty green eyes staring at the ground.

“Auntie Lyn?” she called, in a wispy little voice. Evelyn didn´t remember exactly when Audrey had started calling her and Severus “auntie Lyn” and “uncle Sev”. Maybe she had simply heard Alice and Lizzie do it, and felt like it was appropriate. Neither of them ever felt like correcting her or changing that. It wouldn't feel right to have Audrey call them “Mr. and Mrs. Snape”.

“Yes, love?” Evelyn got down to her knees as best as the dress permitted.

“Mam said I can´t go trick or treating.” She looked so worried Evelyn's heart broke a little.

“She did. And you´re right, you should obey your mother, and those are her rules. But I don´t have to obey her. She left you with me, and my rules are different than hers.”

“She'll be mad.”

“Maybe she will. But that's not your fault. You´re a good girl, love, you just did as I told you. I put you in a costume, so if she has a problem with that, she can talk to me, ok?”

Audrey seemed unsure at first but her hesitation all but vanished when Soren approached and took her hand. They were ready to go.

Or almost.

“Aren't you forgetting something?”

There he was.

Severus Tobias Snape. The man who never in his life had worn a Halloween costume, even after his first child was born on Halloween and just happened to celebrate his every birthday by dressing up and trick or treating.

There he was, in her late father´s old three piece black pinstripe suit, his hair parted down the middle and slicked back with pomade and a pencil thin moustache that looked so natural Evelyn suspected he had used some potion to grow it, instead of just using a fake one.

Evelyn had to admit it, he wore it well...very well.

So well in fact, she immediately thought of taking it off of him.

“Dad, you dressed up!” Eloise exclaimed, her white yarn wig bouncing all over the place as she ran to father, tripping over the longs skirts of her makeshift grandma Addams costume .

“Yes, I did, dove.” he picked her up, taking her toy cauldron on his free hand “But we shall not make a habit of it, ok?”

“Well, you certainly look dashing” Evelyn told him, barely louder than a whisper, as they made their way out into the street in the midst of all the other children and adults in costumes.

“Thank you, Lynz. You look exceedingly stunning yourself. Almost makes me wish this wasn´t a celebration for children” he smirked, offering her his arm.

“Oh, hush, you devil..”

…

Severus knew that wouldn't work out. He just knew it.

Everything was going too well.

The children were having fun, running around, getting sweets by the handful from everybody they ran into. Evelyn was in a glorious mood. She walked by his side, arm and arm, absolutely delighted. The fact that he had agreed to go along with her idea of dressing up the kids and themselves seemed to have pleased her so much Severus was sure he'd be in the receiving end of some rather delightful ministrations once the children were tucked in warmly in his bed, post-sugar rush.

So of course something would have to go wrong.

Severus didn't know what demon had whispered in Catherine Blake's ear and prompted her to leave the vigil early for some reason, all he knew was that she was out and about, walking among normal people as if he had the right to, and of course she had spotted her daughter. All he heard was a shriek, and then he looked back to see her coming towards them like she had emerged from the bowels of hell itself.

Never since Dolores Umbridge had he felt such unmentionable urge to smack a woman upside the head.

“Audrey Marie Blake!”

“Ma'am” Paulo tried to intervene but she walked right past him towards the girl. Evelyn placed herself in front of Audrey as if she feared the disgruntled shrew would hit her in front of everyone. And judging by the look on Evelyn's face Severus knew he had to do something quick or his wife would find a way to get herself arrested for attempted murder if Catherine as much as dared touching Audrey.

“Mrs. Blake” he spoke first, walking between her and Evelyn.

“Mr. Snape, I´m taking my daughter home right now. And tell your wife that...”

“Mrs. Blake, watch your tone, please. You don´t want to make a scene.”

“I should make a scene! I made it abundantly clear that...”

“Paulo” he turned to his brother-in-law for help, ignoring the woman´s fit “Take Lyn and the kids over to Mrs. O´Shea for a moment.”

“She´s not going anywhere!” Catherine roared as Paulo nearly dragged Evelyn and took the kids away. Audrey was on the verge of tears, and Soren looked about as ready to pick up a fight, and poor little Eloise was just confused, holding on to at her mother's skirts for dear life.

“Mrs. Blake. Look around. It's Halloween, you're surronded by families with their children. Do you really want to make a scene?” That seemed to get her attention “Because if you do, I can assure you I can make an ever bigger scene. In fact, I would love to do just that. Now say, Father Murphy is still at the church for the vigil, right? It would be awful if we happened to have words right in the middle of the street and news of it was to reach the good priest. What would he say, one of his most trusted helpers causing a scandal right in the middle of the street? And for what? A silly Halloween costume. Are you sure it's worth it?”

Severus could tell that harpy would claw his eyes out of their sockets if there weren't that many witnesses around. He smiled, a wide, mocking smile. Daring her to go ahead and make a scandal. He was dying for the opportunity to shame her in front of all the people whose opinion he knew she valued above her own daughter's happiness.

“Very well, Mr. Snape. This time around I´ll forgive your wife and let it go. But please have my daughter home by 7:30.”

“I'll have her home by 9...tomorrow.”

“Excuse me?”

“Since today is Hallowen and tomorrow we're having Soren's party, it's probably more convenient if Audrey just sleeps over. I can drop by later and pick up her pajamas, a change of clothes and anything else she needs."

"What? What makes you think I would..."

"And next time I see her, I'm very much looking forward to hearing all about the sweets and chocolates she got this evening, which you will most certainly not take away from her the moment she gets home. And of course, Audrey won't be telling me she got punished in any way, obviously." He smiled even wider, daring her to say something. Surely, Catherine had no way to know the source overwhelming compulsion to just go along with him, regardless of her actual desires, but he could tell she was confused and frustrated. Small blessings that muggles were so defenseless they didn't require the imperium curse to be manipulated. Just a simple non verbal charm could do it.

Defeated, Catherine huffed and puffed, shot him a murderous look and walked away, stomping so hard Severus anxiously expected the earth to open beneath her feet and swallow her whole. Alas, no luck.

"Good news, Audrey, your mother changed her mind about trick or treating and she gave you permission to come to Soren´s party tomorrow."

While the children celebrated and ran along to the next house, Paulo and Evelyn exchanged confused looks.

"How did you..." Paulo asked, confused.

"You didn´t hex her, did you?" Evelyn wondered

"Not for lack of wanting. All it took was mentioning Fr. Murphy and that altar licker changed her tune."

Paulo burst into laughter but Evelyn wasn´t entirely convinced.

"That's all it took?"

"I swear that woman cares more about what the people in church will think of her than anything else."

"Mom, dad, tio! Are you just gonna stand there!?" Soren called out.

"Here´s an idea." Severus told him children. "Uncle Paulo has a camera, and we still have daylight for a while. Why don´t we take some photos in the ruins of the old cemetery?"

With everyone enthusiastically agreeing, so Evelyn was persuaded to let the topic of Catherine Blake go for a while.

For now they had Soren´s birthday to celebrate, and an impromptu gothic-themed photoshoot to finish before the night fell. Anything else could wait.

#Snapedom #Halloween #Belated Halloween #severus x evelyn #severus snape #evelyn black #soren snape #audrey blake #eloise snape

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