#a very sirius problem indeed

[your-neighbourhood-antisocial]

Harry : there is a big black dog following me around

Remus : Ahh, that sounds like a 'sirius' problem

[my-castles-crumbling]

coffee shop au - @wolfstarmicrofic - word count: 429

“Fuck,” Sirius murmured, grabbing a rag to wipe at the coffee slowly seeping down the counter towards the very angry-looking customer. 

“Is it possible to be slightly competent at making a drink?” the old man seethed. “Have you seen a coffee before? Ever used a coffee machine?”

Normally Sirius would have come up with a decent comeback. Found a way to make the old man falter while still maintaining a perfect customer-service smile. But today had been hard and he was still new to this. He’d had to take the job to make ends meet after running away, after all, and his ego was still slightly bruised that he’d gone from paying twenty euro for a coffee to making half of that per hour to pour them.

“Apologies,” he mumbled, not meeting the old man’s eyes. “Give me a moment to-”

But before he could finish, the customer behind the angry man in line cleared his throat. “If I were you,” he said, addressing the old man, “I would mind my business about being competent. Unless it’s the new style to wear your shirt inside-out.”

The old man, turning a bright red, looked down to see that, indeed, the hem of his shirt was facing outward. “It’s none of your fucking b-” he started in toward the other customer, looking livid. 

“It is when you’re acting like an arse. Go fix your shirt, you look ridiculous,” the customer replied, rolling his eyes.

Furious, the old man stormed off, not even bothering to wait for his coffee.

Sirius, who had watched the whole exchange with rapt fascination, now had a clear view of the next customer. And he almost dropped the empty cup he was holding.

This customer was not old, nor was he angry-looking. He was Sirius’s age, and had brown eyes and wavy hair and tan skin that drew Sirius’s gaze in so many directions he had trouble deciding where to look. He reminded himself that staring with an open mouth was rude, but he was sorely tempted, because his savior was jarringly handsome, and suddenly his shitty day was looking a whole lot better.

“I- thank you,” Sirius muttered, trying to focus. “Erm…rough day.”

But the customer just smiled. “No problem. Nobody should be treated like that, yeah?”

Sirius could only nod. “What…what can I get for you?”

The customer smiled. “Medium iced coffee, cream and sugar.”

Trying to get back into the swing of things, Sirius turned, beginning to fill the cup.

“With your number on that cup, please.”

Crash.

Fuck. He dropped the cup again.

[moonstruckme]

hi!! first of all, i am a frequent reader(???) of your blog because your writing is immaculate and you seem so sweet and fun to talk to you, thank you so much for all the work that you do

second of all, i really hope your request are indeed open so that i am not spamming you🫶 in case they are closed, i am so very sorry and freely ignore this

I was wondering if i could request a little reader x either james or if the spark comes to do poly! i will NEVER say no to that lmao, where the reader seemingly out of nowhere starts feeling down, voicing that she doesn't think she's a good person? because she thought of all the friendships and extremely close people that left her and she just feels hurts and confused?

need some hurt/comfort rn, i know i am a little mean, and probably not the nicest person out there, but thinking of all the failed friendships/folks that i loved so dearly makes me feel like perhaps i am not a good person and that thought plagues me a bit ng

either way, thank you so much in advance, i hope you are well, getting to take care of yourself and have a lovely rest of day, evening of whenever you are reading this!

Thanks for requesting honey, love you <3

James Potter x fem!reader ♡ 1.2k words

James is talking to you about the movie he wants to go see, and if you were a better girlfriend—if you were better, period—you’d be listening, chipping in occasionally but mostly just letting him talk with the same adoring attentiveness he always gives you. But instead, you’re still stuck in the pub you’d left a few minutes ago, watching the surprise play over Sirius’ features. The flash of something you suspect might have been hurt in his cool gray eyes before he covered it up with skillful quickness. 

“And whatever I say, I can’t seem to lure the boys to another sci fi film,” James goes on, “so I’m afraid you might be conscripted for that one.” 

“Okay.” 

“Really?” The disbelief in James’ voice brings you back to attention. “I thought you’d have more qualms after that last one.”

You did swear to James that he’d never be dragging you to another of his nerd movies again. But maybe this is your opportunity to turn over a new leaf. “You want to see it, right?” 

“Well, yeah.” 

“Then we’ll go.” 

The two of you walk under a streetlight, giving you a clear view of your boyfriend’s skeptical expression. “You’re really alright with it? We can go see that new rom com instead, if you want.” 

See, this is the problem with being around James. He’s so, so good. It makes you seem even worse in contrast. And he makes it impossible to be selfless, because he always has to be the most giving person in any situation. It makes you want to cry from both love and frustration. 

“Let’s just go to the one you want to see,” you say, and despite your best intentions the words come out with a slight edge. 

“Alright,” he says slowly. Now you can feel his eyes on you, your own gaze vaguely ahead as you keep pace alongside him on the sidewalk. You live in a more shadowy part of town, but the clouds obscuring the moon make the darkness complete. James’ voice is tentative. “Hey, are you okay?” 

You chew your bottom lip. “Do you think I upset Sirius earlier?”

“You mean that joke you made?” It doesn’t help your anxiety that he knows exactly what you mean. No chance it flew completely under everyone else’s radar, then. “No, he was fine.” 

“You don’t think he looked…I don’t know, shocked? Like his feelings were hurt?” 

James’ gaze burns into the side of your head, but you won’t look at him. “No, angel. I think your sense of humor can be a little…” he fumbles for the right word, and a worm of unease writhes in your gut “...brash, sometimes, but Sirius is made for that stuff. The last person you’re going to offend with that is him. He gets it.” 

You sigh and nod, doing your best to convince yourself he’s telling the truth. 

“Hey.” He bumps your shoulder lightly with his. “What’s going on in that head of yours? I can hear you thinking.” 

“I just don’t really know if I’m a good person.” 

Your voice is quiet, but you know James hears you perfectly. His steps actually fumble for a second, like he might stop in his tracks. 

“Of course you are,” he says. “I mean—listen, of course I would lie to you even if you weren’t, though I guess we probably wouldn’t be together if I thought you were a bad person, but—anyway, you are. You are a good person.” 

You force a laugh, ignoring how your throat contracts around it. “Sorry. I know you’d lie to make me feel better, Jamie. You’re too nice.” 

“I would,” James acknowledges, following as you go up the front steps to your apartment and dig around in your bag for your key. “But I’m not right now.” He ducks his head as you twist your key in the lock, jockeying for a view of your face. “Sweetheart, why would you think that?” 

“I don’t know,” you mumble as you step inside. You set your keys down on the table by the door and knead at your chest, but it does nothing to relieve the hollow ache forming there. 

“Yeah you do,” James says softly, hot on your tail. “I know you, you don’t just say these things. Come on.” He takes your shoulders in his hands, trapping you, and you drop your gaze to avoid meeting his eyes. (You know how that goes. They make you feel all soft and melty and get you to talk and talk and talk.) “I can’t be fully honest with you if you’re not honest with me,” he says. 

“I just know—I know I can be really mean sometimes.” Your voice cracks on mean, and James tightens his grip on you, holding you together while you crumble. The pressure in your throat is hot and thick, but it feels so good to cry. Like your outsides finally match your insides. “I want to be better but I don’t know how.” 

“Sweetheart.” James’ voice sounds like heartbreak. His hands slide from your shoulders, wrapping around your upper back and squeezing painfully. “Darling, you don’t need to be better. Or, not more than anyone else. You’re already a good person.”

You make a miserable choked sound, frustrated with him for only telling you what you want to hear and frustrated with yourself for not knowing better.

“You are,” he says, half desperate. “Know how I know?”

You take your face from his shoulder, eyeing guiltily the glossy wetness of your tears and snot on his jumper. James takes your face in a big hand, finally succeeding in angling it towards him. 

He’s giving you a little smile despite his own watery eyes and the deep crinkle between his brows. He takes your look as enough prompting to go on. 

“Because bad people don’t worry about if they’re good people, angel.” The words are emphatic, beseeching. Begging you to understand. “They don’t try to do the right thing. You being worried about Sirius is just proof that you care. Do you think a bad person would get themselves so worked up” —he thumbs at the wet skin underneath your eye, smiling thinly— “over whether they’re being too mean? That just doesn’t happen, love.” 

You swallow thickly, letting James press a solid kiss to your temple. He holds your face between his hands like you’re something special. Something worth having. 

“I wouldn’t be with someone who was always being actually mean to my friends,” he tells you, voice dropping into a lower register. You know he’s being sincere. James would never let anything happen to Sirius or Remus, certainly not by someone he’d brought into their orbit. “But we all know you don’t mean anything cruel by the things you say. It can be a little…” 

“Brash?” you supply, and James smiles. 

“Yeah,” he admits, “sometimes. Anyone who knows you doesn’t take it personally, though. You’re kind in your own way, it’s just not always what people are used to.” James tilts his head, assessing your expression and giving you full view of the earnestness in his in turn. “You’re a good person, sweetheart. And please don’t worry about being that kind of mean to Sirius, alright? He can take it.”

[florenceafternoon]

━。゜✿ jily fic recommendations ✿ ゜。━

These fics are set in the wizarding world but aren’t necessarily canon complaints.

For reference, anything in italics is taken from the summaries on ao3.

Gilded by @charmingwillow

Beneath her jumper, her heart was fluttering fast. Her free hand rubbed at the spot, willing it to calm. Her eyes ached from all the nights she spent awake, unable to sleep because it hadn’t calmed in days. Weeks.

She knew why; beneath her fingertips, under the soft cotton of her sweater, her skin tingled. She knew without seeing that the spot above her heart sparkled faintly with gold, like stars spinning in the cosmos. Scattered and dancing around a name that wouldn't quite focus. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Someone, somewhere, was falling in love with her. They were close enough that Lily could feel a tug of alignment if she concentrated enough.

Or, Lily and James go on a walk in the forest.

Sunshine in My Eyes (requires an ao3 account) by monroeslittle

Mr. and Mrs. Evans are killed when Lily's only a girl, and she's supposed to go to a home with her sister. Instead, a relative they didn't know they had comes to collect them, and introduces Lily to manners, magic, and a life that's just the slightest bit different from the life she was supposed to live.

Or, an AU in which Minerva McGonagall raises Lily.

Dying Fires by @jamesunderwater

In fifth year, James attempts to comfort Lily by a dying fire - but finds this will require restraint on his part in a number of ways.

Their tentative, developing friendship is something so special to me

basic maths by @gigglesandfreckles-hp

Euphemia cuts Sirius off sharply. “I was simply verifying whether this is indeed the same Lily Evans whose name is written under my dining room table with a heart around it.”

or Lily meets the parents and James tries not to hyperventilate. over and over and over again.

Blue Jay by @neurowriter14

In a world with magic, the only thing that really took Lily by surprise, and trepidation, was the fact that she had a soulmate.

All That's Known by @women-inthe-sequel

Wizards view nearly everything as a problem for magic to fix. Other people might view him that way, but James has never felt broken. He doesn’t need to be wound like an old-fashion toy and programmed to do what everyone else does.

I am in desperate need of more deaf!James (or deaf!Lily). Please can someone recommend me fics

just like a tattoo by sleepygirl0305 (on ao3)

Shortly after he witnesses Remus and Sirius realize that they're soulmates, James gets his own soulmate tattoo. A fairly inconvenient time, given that there is a war going on. And N.E.W.Ts. But no matter, he was going to try anyway.

A Happy Thought by @thelighthousestale

The 7th year Defense Against the Dark Arts Class learns the Patronus Charm.

James is shocked to learn what Lily's Patronus is.

I know that this is a very cliché trope but I'm a sucker for patronus fics.

The Boy (in the bedroom) Next Door by @eastwindmlk

Lily Evans has to move in with her new potion's teacher to finish her apprenticeship. There is one small issue, said teacher? Fleamont Potter, father of infinitely annoying and frustratingly fit former rival James Potter. Who she has not seen after leaving Hogwarts after her third year.

Put on Bed Rest also by @/ eastwindmlk

Hogwarts is covered in snow and James Potter is sick. Who better than Lily to nurse him back to health.

May Moon by Elynn (on ao3)

May Moon- also known as the Flower Moon or Blooming Moon, due to the abundance of flowers that occur as spring arrives.

She glanced up, catching sight of Mary and Marlene in the crowd of unsorted first years, the both of them bouncing on their toes as a new student was called up. She’d already made two friends (she hoped) and Lily was always a bit of an overachiever. “Hiya,” she said, doing her best to sound upbeat. The boy—Lupin—looked up at her, face a bit shocked. “I’m Lily.”

or sixth year, a bad pick-up line, and a secret.

Not really a jily fic (it's pre-relationship) but I really wanted to include it in this rec list

Accidental Magic by @missgryffin

What else is there to do after confessing feelings in the middle of the night than spend a lazy Saturday in bed?

Hell Is Empty (And All The Devils Are Here) by @nodirectionhome-ao3

When an Order mission takes an unexpected turn, James and Lily find themselves stranded together. In the aftermath of the chaos, sheltering together through the storm, a fire catches between them.

Ignore the fact that I can't remember if I've recommended this fic or not. Regardless, the back-and-forth between James and Lily is so good in this fic.

Starlight by @suzyq31

Under the cover of stars, Lily and James go out in search of an elusive flower. The northern lights make Lily contemplate how plans change.

The next few fics are all by @apalapucian because I may or may not have been stalking her ao3 page. Everything, and I mean everything, Jayne writes is incredible.

maybe it was egos swinging (maybe it was her)

James starts rolling his shoulders, wincing. "Jesus, Evans." "back at ya," says Lily, testing her wrists. "ever heard of taking it easy?" "with you? never." "can’t believe you’d use confringo on me." "knew you'd block it," he says. "can’t believe you’d use depulso." she shrugs, grinning. "knew you'd block it."

(or: seventh-year, auror-aspirant, academic rivals, head boy and head girl James and Lily.)

I still can't get over the fact that Jayne wrote me over 11 thousand words of academic rivals jily. ELEVEN THOUSAND WORDS OF ACADEMIC RIVALS TO LOVERS JILY!! The banter, the stakes, I love everything about this fic

calliope calling

in which:

James wields a wand for the first time; Lily giggles, tracing an impossible dancing deer in the sky; Sirius slams the door; Peter sighs; and Remus screams, raw and screeching and piercingly young.

(or: the marauders and lily evans as children, and something about invisible strings glinting in the moonlight.)

green light

There are yellow roses on the kitchen table. a cup of coffee charmed to keep warm for a time. a scrawled "morning! :) –James & Harry" on a scrap of paper, the torn bottom of a receipt for... milk, she finds. and strawberries. harry was signed by Harry himself, and Lily wants to cry at the shaky strokes, the crooked lines. she can hear them in the other room where James' window seat project is almost finished. harry is laughing. he asks questions, mocks his dad's shabby handiwork, drops the things he's asked to hand.

roses and handwritten notes and coffee and giggles nearby. this is her life now. she skims the flowers, the sun itself in her heart.

or: the war is over. everybody lives AU. (well, not everybody everybody, but the potter family + sirius + remus + even peter* live.) old fic rewrite.

* = you'll see.

bad day wall

Lily calls it the bad day wall. it's like this weird communal one-liner diary thing.

every time i think i'm over her something happens and it hits me just as stupidly intense as all the other times. i'm SICK of it

why can't people just LIKE by default the people they LOVE? why do they have to be separate feelings? it would make things so much less complicated

or: in sixth year, Lily starts talking to a stranger(?) through messages on a wall. she also befriends James Potter. These two things are completely not related.

I haven't read this one but it on my marked for later

[writerdream22]

requested by: anon, I sincerely hope you like this ✨🌻💛

pairings: Sirius Black x reader (platonic), James Potter x reader (platonic), Lily Evans x reader (platonic), Remus Lupin x reader, etc.

warnings: female!reader. there might be some curse words

a/n: for the Amortentia smell I took inspiration from a post by @littlemessyjessi (it was amazingly detailed omg)

It has been some time since I’ve last written on this blog, and I'm not confident in my writing anymore. I'm sorry if this is too long or confused of a piece to read!

feedbacks are always appreciated!

If you wish to be part of a taglist don’t hesitate to ask!

You hated Remus Lupin.

He was your arch-nemesis, the one individual that kept you from becoming the best student in your year. The one that always managed to be awarded the most points for your house, except for a few occasions (which were quite scarce to be honest).

It seemed like he found some sort of enjoyment in seeing you strive for the professors’ attention. Needless to say, you did not enjoy any part of this academic rivalry.

The other Marauders were quite invested in the dynamics of the relationship between you and Remus. As a matter of fact, it looked like they came up with all sorts of plans in order to see the two of you together.

On one particular occasion, you and the other fifth-year students were attending potions class and experimenting on Amortentia and all its properties. Professor Slughorn was walking between the worktables and monitoring everyone's work.

Just as you were about to write down the correct dose of peppermint before adding it into the cauldron, Slughorn spoke.

"Can any one of you recall who was a pioneer in the creation of Love Potions?"

Your eyes widened. You knew the answer, and you didn't want Remus to take the glory and win the points for Gryffindor once more. You were determined to win.

"Yes, Mrs. Y/l/n?" professor Slughorn questioned, seeing your raised hand.

"I reckon it was Laverne de Montmorency, sir"

The older man nodded at your response before saying"It was her indeed. Very good Mrs. Y/l/n, five points to Gryffindor!".

You smiled widely and took the opportunity to turn around and see Remus' face. He was glaring at you, while Sirius and the other Marauders were teasing him.

"Got anything to say, Lupin?" you asked, to which he curtly responded with a "No".

The whole ordeal died out within a few minutes, and everyone went back to doing their assignment.

After some time Slughorn decided that it was time for his students to show the results of their work; therefore he called out a couple of names at a time so that they could be evaluated.

It didn't take very long for him to say your name which was followed by Remus', much to your dismay.

"It seems like there weren't any incidents in the preparation so there shouldn't be any problems with the potion. Mrs. Y/l/n, why don't you begin?"

You could not understand what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Tell us about the smell that comes from your cauldron."

You could feel everyone's eyes on you. Especially your best friend's, and the Marauders'.

Needless to say, as soon as your face was above the cauldron you hesitated to analyse the smell coming from it.

"What do you smell then, Mrs. Y/l/n?"

You cleared your throat and spoke up, even though you were too anxious to even utter a single word.

"Uhm, let's see — warm cashmere, cassis, parchment paper, ink, and— chocolate, I think"

As soon as you said that you noticed that the Marauders started whispering between each other. You couldn't see Remus' face since he was standing next to you, but from the way Sirius was giggling it seemed like he was shocked.

A strange thought came to your mind, but you quickly brushed it off. It couldn't be, right?

Slughorn's voice brought you back to reality.

"Very well. Now, Mr. Lupin, tell us what you smell"

It was obvious that Remus was as nervous as you were when he started describing the smell coming from his own cauldron. You did not dare turn to watch him directly since you couldn't stand embarrassing yourself more than you already did.

"It's a bit unclear but—" he stated "I smell a hint of roses, then... books, cedarwood, basil and thyme".

Your eyes widened once again. You always wore a rose perfume, and had developed the habit of lighting up a cedarwood, basil and thyme candle with your roommates in the Gryffindor common hall. Something which Remus always complained about whenever he and his friends walked into the aforementioned place.

You swore you could hear Sirius and James snorting for how much they were suppressing their laughter.

Professor Slughorn could clearly sense that the situation was somewhat getting out of hand, so he warned the boys about giving them detention and dismissed the class.

You were tempted to run away, but you had a couple of classes left so you pushed through and waited until they ended to finally get into your dormitory.

Thankfully, you hadn't seen the Marauders since the incident a few hours prior. However, the fact that you were with your best friend Lily Evans (who was James' girlfriend) implied that you were bound to meet them, eventually.

Unbeknownst to you, while the two of you were sat in your dormitory the Marauders were busy talking about the aforementioned "incident" during potions class.

"Admit it, you smelt her perfume!" Sirius exclaimed, to which Remus responded with a scoff.

"Don't you 'hmph' me, Moony! You like her and she likes you!"

"No, I must've interpreted the scents wrong... I despise her! She always tries to be better than me and steals the points that I should get for the house!" Remus remarked.

"Too bad we don't believe a word you're saying!" James stated "If you really despise Y/n, tell us why"

"Well, for starters, she always seems to know things better than I do. I feel like that annoying perfume of hers is always up my nose and she never seems out of place. And, and— she's... I just hate her guts!"

The Marauders stared at each other for a few seconds, then bursted out laughing.

Remus was so confused that Sirius had to explain to him that those were not valid reasons to hate someone, but rather he was just saying what he liked about her.

Moony kept denying his friends' accusations, but there was a part of him that couldn't help but think that maybe they were right. Just maybe.

Maybe he didn't really hate you. Maybe those very parts of you which he had insulted were the reasons why he liked you, and wanted to distance himself in fears of hurting you. He couldn't pinpoint the exact things he was feeling in that moment: it was like a flood was pervading his mind and heart.

"You really think that—" he muttered, to which the other Marauders responded saying "Yes! You must tell her, Moony. Right now!"

Even though a part of Remus kept telling him that things might have gone awfully wrong and that he wouldn't have been able to do it, he took courage and walked up the stairs and to your dormitory by himself.

Unbeknownst to him and his friends, you and Lily had been busy talking about the same thing: you and your feelings for Remus.

Your 'girls talk' was interrupted by a knock on your door.

"Who is it?"

"Y/n, it's Remus. I have come in peace"

You immediately stood up from your bed, and rushed to the door.

"Yes?" you opened the door, expecting to find all the boys behind him. It was rather surprising to see Remus by himself.

"I was wondering if we could talk. Just the two of us" he stated, to which you responded with a nod of your head.

You turned around to see Lily standing, with her thumbs up and a big smile on her face, which suggested that she was going and you were staying there.

As soon as she began walking down the stairs, you shut the door and invited Remus to sit down on your bed.

"There is not an easy way to say this. But I'm not going to beat around the bush" he said "I didn't think I would ever say these words, but... Recent events have led me to come to the conclusion that I like you"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I like you, Y/n. I am in love with you, and I hope that you reciprocate my feelings or else I've made a fool of myself"

You were looking at him like he was an alien. Did you or did you not understand the weight of his words?

"I'm sorry, what?" You asked once again.

"Oh for fuck's sake. I am in love with you, Y/n Y/l/N!"

With that, you started laughing.

"Why are you—"

"I heard you the first time. I just needed the information to sink in" you said, giggling "I like you too, Remus".

What a strange way to react to one confessing their feelings for you.

Remus smiled. He couldn't believe that it was all real. He had to protect this newfound tranquility, the beautiful yet unexpected source of his happiness, at all costs.

"I won't force my affection on you or anything. If you're comfortable doing so, I'd like to hold your hand"

"Of course you can"

And he did.

Remus slowly reduced the distance between the two of you, then timidly held out his hand which you took with the same bashfulness.

You loved Remus Lupin. You really did.

And you couldn't wait to live your future with him.

[saintsenara]

Do you think Sirius’s parents were ever physically abusive? I see a lot of different takes in the fandom, and sometimes it reads well, and sometimes it feels like tragedy-piling. In one hand, if they were not physically abusive, it makes Sirius’s break-off somewhat even more impressive - he had everything, but still couldn’t stomach his parent’s political views and life of pretences. In another hand, maybe his parents would do anything to keep their wayward son in line. Whaddya think?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

unsurprisingly, i've popped the answer to this below the cut, since it comes with a trigger warning for discussion of the emotional and physical abuse of a child.

to start with, the answer to this requires us to be specific about what we understand the term "physically abusive" to mean.

because - yes - i certainly think orion and walburga would have smacked [spanked, for american readers] sirius as a form of punishment.

indeed, i think this inarguable, since sirius was born in 1959.

in britain and ireland, as in many places worldwide, the social acceptability of physically punishing your children by smacking them is something which has shifted massively in the past twenty-or-so years.

[and with good reason! i'm definitely not about to start defending it!]

but the extent of this shift means it's easy to overlook just how normal it used to be. until really quite recently, smacking was considered a "good" way to instil discipline in children, poorly behaved children were considered to be suffering from a lack of physical discipline, and a parent smacking a child in public was unlikely to raise any eyebrows.

indeed, canon - the original editions of the books, at least - reflect the fact that this was a social norm in the nineties. the weasley children - for example - are noted to have been smacked on multiple occasions, and the text isn't treating this as evidence that molly and arthur are cruel or abusive, it's treating it as evidence that they're normal parents.

and so if - as is increasingly the modern norm - one regards any sort of physical discipline as abuse, then yes, i think orion and walburga were physically abusive towards sirius.

but the real question is do i think orion and walburga were abusive by the standards of their own time?

because - of course - smacking being socially acceptable historically doesn't mean that all uses of physical force against a child were. indeed, the reason that smacking is still legal in england and northern ireland [wales, scotland, and the republic of ireland have all got their acts together and banned it] is based in this - smacking was and is considered "reasonable chastisement". that is, it was and is considered to fall below a threshold which would transform it from punishment into abuse.

this threshold is based in intensity - smacking your children is legal if they're not left with marks, a smack which leaves bruises or which breaks the skin meets the threshold for common assault, and is a legal offence - in frequency - sustained or repeated force is more likely to leave injuries which meet the threshold for assault or other offences - in type - punching a child in the face is always assault, if not a greater charge such as actual bodily harm - and in the context of the act and the parent's broader behaviour surrounding it - a parent who smacks a child once as a knee-jerk response to a dangerous situation [the child trying to dash out into oncoming traffic, for example] and then collects themselves and speaks calmly to the child is going to be understood very differently from a parent who smacks a child for an unclear reason, who is ranting and raving, and who exclusively shouts at the child.

the problem with this threshold - which makes some physical punishments acceptable and others unacceptable - is that it's imprecise. children's experiences of being smacked are subjective - some might tolerate the occasional smacking with no adverse mental effects, but this is irrelevant, given that many others will not. outlawing it entirely is good because it removes this imprecision.

when it comes to sirius, then, we have to think about whether orion and walburga would have used physical force against him in a way that crossed whatever threshold existed in the norms of wizarding society between legitimate and unacceptable punishment.

and i think the answer to this is both yes and no.

because i think it's inarguable that sirius was subjected to physical punishments in contexts which were inappropriate.

his dynamic with his family, as he himself tells us, is a classic golden child versus scapegoat one. and so his parents undoubtedly smacked him in response to things he didn't do intentionally - for example, accidentally knocking over a glass and breaking it - or didn't do at all - for example, regulus breaking the glass and claiming it happened because sirius "distracted" him.

if we imagine that wizarding norms - like muggle ones - justify physical punishment when it's "reasonable", then it follows that this idea of reasonableness presupposes that the child is being punished for an intentional and undeniable act of forbidden behaviour. and, therefore, it follows that punishing a child who has not behaved in such a way is unreasonable, and therefore abusive.

connected to this, it's also plausible that sirius was subjected to non-physical punishments - such as being grounded or having his possessions confiscated - in similarly inappropriate contexts. and this again changes the meaning of these punishments - temporarily grounding a child in response to them intentionally doing a specific thing which they know will result in them being grounded is acceptable; grounding them indefinitely and arbitrarily is not.

it's also inarguable that sirius was subjected to non-physical punishments which were excessive within the context of wizarding norms. the way walburga's portrait speaks to him - which he tells us in order of the phoenix reflects the way she spoke to him when she was alive - is something harry finds utterly shocking. and - since we know that harry isn't shocked by shouting alone [molly shouts at her sons, for example, and harry doesn't consider this unacceptable] we can suppose that walburga's language, tone, and level of vitriol is so extreme as to have crossed the threshold between reasonable and unreasonable behaviour, and is, therefore, abusive. while we don't know how orion spoke to him, we have no reason to believe it wasn't similar.

but i don't think that sirius was subjected to physical punishments which were excessive in terms of their violence - rather than inappropriate in terms of their context.

and this is because he's clear that what he hated the most about living with his family was that they didn't deviate from social norms. he hated the mainstream political views they held, he hated that they considered themselves "practically royal" despite not being impressive or special at all, and he hated that regulus became the golden child for adhering to convention and he became the scapegoat for rejecting it.

if he understood himself as someone who had been physically abused, the thing he would hate about his family would be their deviance. he would abhor the fact that they'd transgressed the social norms which governed what was or wasn't "reasonable" in terms of physical punishment and - in doing so - had transgressed the relationship parents are supposed to have with their children.

and i think he would be able to acknowledge this - it's not just something he doesn't bring up in canon because he's not psychologically ready - not only because he has the experience of how james' parents treated both him and their own son to contrast against his parents' behaviour, but because he's able to recognise - without feeling ashamed of or like he was at fault for it, which is very impressive - that he is someone who was emotionally abused.

and this emotional abuse is bad enough.

there is - as you say - something which can get a bit torture-porny about the way sirius' early life is often written as a cycle of unrelenting physical abuse. and the reason this feels so unnecessary is because the experience he describes on the canon page is sufficiently horrible without anything else being added to it. i don't think we need to debate whether him breaking with his family is more impressive if they weren't physically abusive than it would be if they were - or vice versa. there's no hierarchy. abuse is abuse.

it wouldn't matter if orion and walburga had never laid a hand on him. given what we know of their emotional treatment of him, sirius is an abused child. and leaving an abusive situation - regardless of the exact form the abuse takes - is impressive without qualification.

[coyotelip]

☆ second chance.

Regulus and James start dating in high school. 

They're each other's first. 

And Regulus... has expectations. James is an affectionate guy, he likes him in almost everything, so it makes sense that Regulus expects him to be just as good in bed. 

However, his lack of experience plays a role, after all, this is also his first time. On the good side, he really tries, he tries to cover his inexperience with his enthusiasm. But it only makes it worse for Regulus. However, he also tries to be a good boyfriend, so he doesn't tell him about it, but goes on thinking that they just need more time. 

And time passes. Months go by, and nothing changes. And Regulus expects them to just... fall apart on their own. Don't judge him, but back then he clearly didn't know how to talk about the problems, and chose to wait for them to disappear. 

James notices that Regulus doesn't take initiatives, refuses to go out with him, doesn't seem interested. So he starts a conversation that doesn't end well. Or rather, it ends with Regulus yelling and admitting to James' face that he's a complete loser in bed. 

And Regulus walks away, not knowing that he's leaving James with a trauma for many years. 

◇◇◇

James doesn't plan on getting into a relationship, not sure he'll ever recover from his first love, his broken heart, and his crushed pride. 

But Lily is here. 

Even as their friendship develops into a tender relationship, James doesn't allow himself to harbor any hopes that he'll ever sleep with anyone again. 

But Lily is here. 

James may indeed be an inexperienced loser, but in the hands of a caring girl he learns. He is a good student and she is a good teacher. No one is surprised that they marry three years later and have a baby two years later. 

And to everyone around them, this picture looks perfect, but James is constantly facing ups and downs, learning something new every day about being a good husband and father. 

But Lily is here. 

Lily's here while she's not. They just... fall apart of their own. After Harry is born, they have less and less sex, though everything else is just as perfect. Eventually, they just go back to their original phase, back to being just best friends. 

And then one day Lily comes back from the gym and says she's fallen in love. It's not cheating, she and this trainer are just talking, but every day she feels more and more. And James is only supportive and suggests she ask her out. 

Slowly, they work through the divorce and James finds a new place to live. 

◇◇◇

Regulus spends years searching for someone to stay close to and feel loved by. Unfortunately, all of his relationships end in one way or another. His partners only care about their own pleasure, the rich see him as a nice piece of jewelry, and the really nice guys just can't stand his temper. 

Over the years, as he watches Sirius find love and plan his wedding, it occurs to Regulus that the only one who really cared about him was James. And he hates himself for the times he didn't have the patience to stick with someone who really wanted him around. 

Now he realizes that this is all in the past and there is no chance that James will ever want to see him again. Regulus has heard about his family, his child, his beautiful wife. At first he was very skeptical about the news, but the pictures on the network and Sirius's stories convinced him that James had found his place. 

Regulus hadn't. 

An idiot who pushed his own happiness away. 

Sirius's wedding day is coming up and of course Regulus has to be there, so he prepares his best suit, gets a new haircut and sets himself up to have a few nervous breakdowns during the evening. Because that's exactly what you'll feel when you're surrounded by happy couples in love and Regulus is having a romantic crisis himself. 

And he sees James again. For the first time since they broke up in a fight. The last time he remembers James was in tears after Regulus crushed his ego and broke his heart. That time he thought he was pathetic with wet cheeks and begging him not to do this to him. 

This time he sees James again with tears on his cheeks. But they are tears of happiness for his best friend, tears of love for him. James doesn't look pathetic. He looks like a dream, just as tall but now covered in muscle. He's wearing his perfect suit, with mussed hair and beard, but it doesn't make him look dirty. It adds to his charm. it makes Regulus see him from a new angle and feel something he hasn't felt in thirteen years. 

Despite Regulus's fear, James does not react to him negatively. In fact, he greets him with a smile, asking how he has been doing all this time. They sit at the same table as the groom's closest family. They give each other their opinions on the food and other guests. 

Having been on hundreds of dates, Regulus doesn't remember any of them feeling like this, even though it wasn't even a date. 

Day turns into evening and into night, and they find themselves at the edge of a wedding venue. Both are jacketless, with loose ties and cigarettes between their fingers. The amount of alcohol they have drunk relaxes him and gives him the courage to lean in closer as they laugh and occasionally touch the other's shoulder. 

But he's afraid that at some point James will stop it. He has every right to tell Regulus what an idiot he is if he thinks their story doesn't exist and that the man will be willing to get close to him again after all this. James is definitely doing this out of politeness, not to ruin his best friend's big night. 

And James doesn't push him away when they share cigarettes. When they are among the last guests on the dance floor. When they help each other to the hotel and discover that their rooms are next door. James doesn't push him away when Regulus is so tired that he can't walk to his own room and falls on the man's bed, almost falling asleep immediately. 

James doesn't push him away, but holds him close, falling asleep in his suit as well.

[padf00ts-l0ver]

red and white sheets - j.p

james potter x female!reader (cw- periods/menstruation)

navigation

Gentle rays of sunlight streamed into the dorm as James Potter's eyes threatened to flutter open. A small sniffle had awakened him, and although it wasn't a boisterous noise by any means, he was always a light sleeper.

His lips curled up at the corners as he beheld the vision of you, nestled in a cascade of tousled white sheets. In this very moment, he could swear on his life that you were an angel sent down by the heavens just for him. You were so incredibly beautiful.

His smile broadened as he felt you unknowingly snuggling yourself further into his warmth, soundly asleep beside him. His arm, the same one you were practically drooling over just hours ago, was draped around you, cocooning you against his chest. His finger began drawing gentle circles on your back, knowing it always worked to soothe you into sleep.

For a moment, James Potter simply observed. He looked at the girl he was madly and over the top in love with, sleeping with an expression of tender innocence. He couldn't believe his luck; he thanked his lucky stars every day for the fact that such a beautiful girl would even talk to someone like him. You were a wonder, and his favorite thing to do was to watch you live.

But what had initially woken him up now regained his attention as your nose crinkled up in another sniffle. He cooed, his eyes softening.

A sudden breeze brushed against his skin, and he cursed Sirius for forgetting to shut the window after his ritual midnight smoke break. He knew your hay fever would act up when pollen was allowed inside.

He gently brought his finger to trace your face, memorizing every part he had yet to see before you woke up and scolded him for his staring problem (again).

When your eyebrows scrunched together in discomfort, a hushed whine slipping out, he knew it wasn't just your hay fever bothering you. He wondered if it was a nightmare, drawing you even closer as he tried to alleviate the terrors plaguing your mind and settle you back into a peaceful slumber.

"Mmh," you moaned out uncomfortably, your hands tightly gripping the sheets to ground yourself. James's head snapped down at the sound, eager to see your face again. Yet, what he saw—your scrunched-up face, adorably cute as it may be—wasn't a sight he wanted to see, knowing you were in pain somehow.

His mind raced through all the possibilities of what could be wrong when suddenly, it was as if a literal lightbulb illuminated inside his head.

He felt no need to check the calendar on his nightstand to know that today was the day he had circled in red pen, ironically enough.

He decided to gently lift the sheet that separated the two of you, and what he found confirmed his suspicions—the floodgates had indeed opened.

Now he knew he had to wake you up, no matter how much he wanted you to enjoy your sleep-in. He wanted you to feel comfortable and clean.

"Bub," he nudged you softly, nosing at your neck and leaving sweet kisses in his wake. You shifted, just barely.

Murmuring unintelligibly and squirming under your boyfriend's hold, you buried yourself into his warmth.

He chuckled softly, his eyes filled with affection. "Bug, I know it's Sunday, but you gotta wake up."

"What?" you whined, rubbing your eyes with your knuckles.

He sighed, already knowing your reaction, and pulled you even closer to his chest, not allowing you to escape as he knew you would try. "You got your period, bug."

Well, that certainly woke you up. Your eyes snapped open, now alarmingly alert as you tried to process what your boyfriend had so kindly awakened you to inform you of.

You had your period, in James Potter's bed, on his beautiful white sheets that you always made a point of complimenting, in his shared dorm room with Sirius Black. Could this morning get any better? you asked yourself sarcastically.

As James predicted, you tried to shy away, only then realizing you couldn't get away as he held onto you. "Don't run away, sweetheart," he chuckled knowingly, leaving a kiss on your forehead.

You hid your face as far as possible into his chest, now acutely aware of what lay between your legs, making sure to keep them as still as possible.

"I'm so sorry, Jamie. I've stained your nice sheets, and-" you began to ramble, something he usually loved listening to, but he needed to put a stop to it now, knowing your mind would start spiraling. He was always there for you, knowing when you needed to be pulled out of your own thoughts, and he managed it every time.

"Honey," he cooed, his fingers brushing through your hair, "don't worry about my sheets. They just need a quick clean, that's all." He shrugged as if it were nothing.

"But-" he cut you off once more.

"Baby, don't even think about that, okay?" he said, shifting so that you were now face-to-face, cupping your reddening cheeks in his large hands.

"Listen, how about you have a nice warm shower, hm?" His eyebrow lifted in question, and you nodded softly, unable to hold eye contact, still mortified. "By the time you're all done, the sheets will be as good as new." He smiled reassuringly, his thumb rubbing up and down your soft skin.

"Okay," you agreed shyly. You knew that James would never in his wildest dreams be disgusted by you or remotely upset about his white sheets, but you couldn't help but overthink.

"Come here, bubs. I'll help you up." He pulled you out of your head once again and helped you sit up in bed, groaning in pain and from the lack of warmth as the breeze reached you.

He soothed you with sweet nothings and sticky morning kisses as he walked with you to the bathroom, taking each step quietly to avoid waking his roommates. He showed you, perhaps for the millionth time, where the towels were, knowing that you probably spent more time getting ready in this bathroom than in your own dorm's bathroom.

"You know, all your things are in—"

"The bottom left shelf of the right cabinet, I know," you giggled, cutting him off this time. His arms wrapped softly around your frame as you stood together in the morning light of the bathroom. "Thank you, Jamie."

"Anytime, baby." He nosed at your neck once more, not quite ready to let you go to the shower just yet, wanting to keep you in his hold forever.

"I love you," you said, and you meant it—more than anything you had ever said before in your life, you meant it.

"I love you, my beautiful girl."

[A/N - FIRST FIC WRITTEN SINCE JULY 2022!!) it’s past 2am…

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 6.2 K Warnings: none Prompt: You're finally settling down at Hogwarts, friendships strengthen and crushes blossom, sometimes on the most unexpected places. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.

Chapter 6: “Crazy little Thing Called Love” 

You rose, scanning your surroundings, the inky dark made it hard for you to see anything. It took a whole minute for your eyes to adjust. You saw trees all around you, as you took a single step forward, an unsettling crack echoed beneath your heel. You looked down only to realise it was the bone of a very small animal, a fox perhaps. You shivered at the thought. 

Another step and a haunting howl sliced through the air, piercing your ears. Its resonance was powerful, sharp, and it reverberated deep within you, whatever monster was making that sound, it was close. 

You tried to find a hiding spot but it was futile, whatever that monster was, it had already caught your scent, its primal instincts honed in on you, and you could hear it getting closer and closer. And then, it was there, right in front of you, its predatory gaze calculating which part of you it would feast on first.

“H-Hey, It’s ok, it’s me,” you stammered, a desperate attempt to reason with it, which, in all honesty, made no sense, still you clung to the idea that perhaps that would appease the beast. 

Bad idea, it didn’t. It just growled back and lunged at you. You crashed back on the ground, next to the rest of the bones you had unwittingly shattered moments ago. It had a choking hold on you, robbing your breath. You heard another growl, coming from a different place when your vision started to fog, you felt like you were going to die.

“Wake up!” You heard, and suddenly opened your eyes, trying to fight the creature still, but Lily was there instead of the monster. “It’s ok,” She told you, placing her hands over your forearms that sought desperately to defend you still, “it was only a dream luv.” 

You finally took a deep breath, grounding yourself. Of course, it was only a dream. Hogwarts didn’t have those kinds of monsters. You took a deep breath and looked at Lily “Did I wake you?” 

She shook her head “I woke up to go to the restroom. I noticed you were struggling in bed, that’s why I came to wake you.” 

You gently placed your hand over her forearm, using her to reassure yourself, she was indeed real. Eventually you smiled at her “Thank you,” you said in all honesty “I’m truly grateful I met someone like you here.” 

She smiled back at you “No problem, I’m here for you, for anything, all right?” You nodded in response. “Want me to stay with you for a little while?”

You shook your head “It’s all right, I’m a lot calmer now, thanks to you. You can go back to sleep, I wouldn’t want to be the reason dear Miss Evans is sleepy in the morning.” 

She laughed at that and nodded, reluctantly leaving you, as if she wasn’t sure if you were actually better or just telling her to go as if not to be a bother, which to her, you weren’t at all. 

Once you were alone again you continued to take deep breaths. Nightmares were not something you had all that often, you didn’t quite know how to deal with them, so you stared at the ceiling until you finally managed to fall back asleep. 

You woke up earlier than everyone again and went down to the common room with flying gear. James arrived sometime later, and Sirius minutes afterwards, complaining “It’s raining Prongs, can’t we just sleep in instead?” 

James gave Sirius a stern look in response “You’re coming today too!” He acknowledged with a smile once he noticed you were there. 

“Well I’m not getting any special treatment even if I know the Captain of the Quidditch team so I’ve got to be in top shape for the tryouts,” you replied with a smug smile. 

He smiled back, clearly amused by your answer “All right, let’s go then. We’re doing evasion today.” 

The three of you went out and did some laps around the castle. This time James had taken out a blodger and you were beating it back and forth. Once you were done you went back to the common room and changed into your uniform. Your hair was still wet when you arrived at your first class. 

“Good morning everyone, my name is Horace Slughorn, I’ll be your potions teacher, please grab a piece of paper from the hat,” he said as he passed a small wizard hat turned upside down for everyone to grab a paper. Once you opened yours you saw Lily’s name appeared on it.

James, who stood right behind you leaned over your shoulder and walked to face you, leaning over to whisper “Switch with me, will you?” 

You frowned and looked up at him, he had this hopeful puppy-eyed look going on, it made you gasp in surprise “You like Evans!” You teased, in a whisper too. 

He looked to the side but then nodded, looking back at you with the same golden retriever look “Pretty please?” 

You thought about it for a moment and leaned over to check on his paper “Who���d you get?” 

“Moony,” he responded. 

“He any good at potions?” 

“Brilliant!” James affirmed. 

You took a deep breath and handed the paper to James, “Go get her tiger!” You told him with a smile as he approached Lily. To be fair, you totally understood why someone would have a crush on Lily, in fact, it was more surprising that you hadn’t heard of anyone else being hung up on her. 

There was a knock on the door, Slughorn opened the door to find a slimy-haired boy, looking like a very pissed wet rat, and allowed him to walk inside the classroom “Ah, Severus, did you get stuck in the rain?” 

The boy -Severus, took a spiteful glance towards the boys and turned back to Slughorn, taking a deep breath “Something like that.” 

James gave Sirius a look and a complicitous smile. You noticed Remus rolled his eyes, while Lily looked stoic, as if she was trying to hide her feelings. They clearly had some history going on. 

Slughorn handed the hat to him and he picked a piece of paper, once he opened it he rolled his eyes. “Professor, can I switch…?” Slughorn shook his head. 

Sirius jumped from his seat once he realised what his paper said “I’m sure we can find someone willing to–” he argued. 

“–Your partners are set, and they won’t change, there was a spell on the papers,” the professor explained. James gave you a worried look but you shook your head lightly, using a changing spell to switch the names on Lily and Remus’ papers. 

The greasy-haired boy took a deep breath and went to sit down at the front, Sirius followed and sat next to him, turning his back to him and rolling his eyes; so that’s why he wanted to switch, he’d been paired with the boy, you thought.

“Excellent, please, the rest of you, take your seats.” 

Remus approached you then, asking if you wanted to sit in the front, you nodded in response. And the two of you walked towards a table.

“This month, we shall embark on the fascinating journey of brewing the illustrious Polyjuice Potion. Now, let me be clear—this concoction is no ordinary brew. It demands your unwavering attention, precision, and an ample dose of patience. I must confess, not everyone will master it effortlessly on their initial attempts. However, mark my words, the fundamentals are crucial for you to grasp, for who knows when fate may call upon you to employ this transformative elixir in the days to come. So, prepare yourselves, my aspiring potion-makers, for the intricate art of Polyjuice Potion awaits!” 

You nodded and pulled out your book, finding the list of ingredients you would need. “It’s a complicated one,” You said, reading through the steps. 

Remus nodded and winced when he started reading some of the requirements of the ingredients, “Profesor,” he said, racing his hand “Will you provide the fluxweed or…?” 

"Ah, Mr. Lupin, splendid question indeed!" Said Slughorn, whose voice carried an air of geniality and indulgence. "You have touched upon a key facet of the potion we are about to undertake—the vexing nature of ingredient collection. Specifically, the delicate task of harvesting fluxweed and capturing the elusive lacewing flies. Now, my dear students, I'm afraid I cannot simply hand you these crucial components on a silver platter. Oh no! You see, the true essence of potion-making lies in experiencing the genuine challenges it presents. Therefore, I implore each of you to venture forth and procure these ingredients yourselves, immersing yourselves in the intricacies and complications inherent in brewing a potion of such calibre. May the journey to acquire them serve as a valuable lesson in the art of potion-making!"

Remus nodded in response “Of course it wouldn’t be so easy,” he mumbled and turned towards you “Wanna split?” 

You nodded “You could get the fluxweed and I could capture the lacewing flies? We also need Knotgrass and shredded boomslang skin, perhaps we can get the latter with the Care of Magical Creatures teacher?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed, “All thought, how about you do the fluxweed and I do Lacewing flies?” He asked, “I’m really good at catching stuff.” 

You agreed “I can go with Lily next full moon,” you said with a smile “We have Care of Magical Creatures later today, right? We could ask the teacher then?” 

A small Slytherin boy raised his hand from the back of the classroom “Professor, must we also dry and powder the leeches?” He asked with an air of disgust in his voice.

“Well, of course, Mr. Stradleter.” 

“Of course, because I definitely can’t order them from an ingredients store,” You mumbled rolling your eyes, Remus chuckled lightly. 

“In fact, you have stumbled upon the very essence of our lesson today. Step one, my dear students, involves a fascinating encounter with these lively leeches." He paused, his eyes twinkling with anticipation as he pulled a jar from his desk. The Slytherin boy held his breath at that point, staring at the leeches horrified. "Worry not, my young potion-makers, for we shall handle them with care and precision.” 

“Oh, this is definitely going to go bad somehow,” Said Remus, biting his lip to avoid smiling too wide as he looked around to the rest of the tables with students looking like they wanted to run away. 

“10 sickles someone ends up with at least 10 leeches stuck to their skin.” 

Remus turned to you with raised eyebrows and a little smile. “Deal.” He said and the two of you shook hands. 

Later on in the class, Peter who was sitting next to a Slytherin girl and was right behind Sirius and Severus, realised slimy-old Snape had pulled his hair up to focus on the leeches when drying them and had taken the opportunity to carefully levitate some of his own leeches towards Severus’ neck. Unwittingly causing you to win the bet against Remus. Once the class was over, poor Severus had over 20 leeches all over his neck and back. 

“Sirius bloody BLACK! What the hell have you done?” He roared when he realised he had leeches on his neck. 

Sirius raised his hands with an innocent look on his face “I’ve been working with you all class, not that I like it, but I’ve done nothing to you.” 

“Professor!” Severus whined. 

“I’ve been closely monitoring your progress,” Slughorn said “Mr. Black has been dutifully working on the drying process alongside you.” 

Severus rolled his eyes, clearly feeling victimised. “You’re meant to be on my side!” He argued and Slughorn gave him a stern look.

Peter held back a laugh from behind. James instantly knew who it had been.

“Come here, Severus,” Slughorn waved for the boy to follow. He pulled the collar from Severus' shirt and winced when he noticed the state of his back. Snape ended up having to go to Madam Pomffrey. 

 Once the class was over James caught up with Peter and Sirius as they walked towards their next class “That was brilliant Wormy!” He said with a smile. 

“I just saw the opportunity and took it,” he said with a small proud smile. 

Sirius spoke then “That twit couldn’t even place the blame on me,” he said as he placed a satisfied arm over Peter.

“Yeah, and you lost me 10 sickles,” complained Remus as he caught up to them. 

“Yeah, thank you, Peter,” You said with a smile as you walked past them toward Marlene. 

“You made a bet? With (Y/N)?” James asked Remus, raising his eyebrows, who just shrugged in response. 

Once you reached Marlene you went straight to the point “Why do they dislike Severus so much?” You asked her. 

“He used to be Lily’s friend. But then he called her a slur,” Marlene explained. 

Mary, who was walking beside you whispered “She called her a mud-blood.” 

You gave her an incredulous look “He called her that?” Marlene nodded, you exhaled with indignation, “He deserves a lot more leechers then.” 

Your next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. A tall, elegant-looking lady in her forties, who you recognized as the head of Hufflepuff, Seraphina Nightshade, was your teacher. She moved with the regalness of a ballerina around the room. In the class, she went through the basics of some strong defensive spells, left an investigation assignment and invited the students to join the Dueling club that would start next week, after classes. 

You toyed with the idea in your head. Duelling was fun in your older School, you didn’t exactly know how good the students would be at Hogwarts but you pride yourself on having sharp reflexes. When Defense Against the Dark Arts was over, you all walked towards the Great Hall, at that point Mary asked Marlene to go get something from the room with her and the two diverted from the group. 

“So… What are we going to do for Marlene’s birthday?” Beth asked standing in front of you, Lily and the boys.

“Oh, it’s her birthday soon?” You asked. 

“September 10th, that’s… next, next Friday” Peter replied “I’m planning to get her a cake, I’ve already talked to the kitchen elves about it and everything.”

“And we’re getting some firewisky,” said Sirius pointing at James and back at himself. 

“Last time you got firewisky–“ Lily started, but was interrupted by James, who placed an arm over her shoulder. 

“–That wasn’t our fault,” he said defensively “That Ackley boy got us some weird stuff he was brewing in his room.” 

“Yeah, and everyone was burping out purple bubbles for a week!” 

Beth laughed, “Yeah, that was epic.” 

Lily shot her a glance, and she shrugged in response “Ackley’s illegal brewery almost got discovered!” 

“Don’t be such a wuss, Evans!” Said Sirius “We got a different dealer this time. They’re buying it at the Three Broomsticks.” 

“Who? Is it someone from seventh?” 

“We can’t tell you, it’s top secret,” Said Remus, who was walking beside you, “Wanna help me with the decorations? We’re gonna do over the common room.” You nodded. 

“Gryffindor parties are THE parties of the school.” Said Peter, “Totally exclusive, you can only come if a Gryffindor invites you directly.” 

“Then it’s settled!” Said Beth “I can tag along Remus and (Y/N) for decorations, if that’s all right?” 

You both nodded, then Lily spoke “I’ll see over the snacks with Mary, then.”

“Ohh, hold up!” Said Beth “Someone needs to invite Holden Crawford.” 

“The Ravenclaw seeker? Whatever for?” Asked Sirius. 

“It’s Marlene’s crush,” admitted Lily.

“Oh,” Responded Sirius with an insinuating face “Want us to slip some amorentia in his drink that day too?”

“Of course not Sirius! You especially know how bad those kinds of potions can hit.” 

“Does he now?” You teased “Sounds like a story I wanna hear.” 

“You won’t,” responded Sirius sternly.

At the same time, James leaned down towards you and whispered over your ear “I’ll tell you all about it.” 

“So… Holden Crawford?” Beth insisted, bringing everyone back to the topic at hand.  

“I don’t know him,” shrugged James. 

“Me neither,” responded Sirius. 

“I know he’s chummy with Alexander Wood,” Said Peter “They got paired up in potions first year and became really good friends, even if they’re different houses.” 

“Alex, the Hufflepuff Head Boy, Alex?” You asked. Peter nodded. “Oh, I’ll invite them.” You said matter of factly. Everyone turned towards you. They were all thinking the same, how the hell had you met Alexander Wood? “He brought me here on my first day,” you explained,  “took me to Dumbledore’s office to get sorted.” 

“Aaaah,” said Peter as he nodded.

“Fantastic,” said Beth excitedly “Godric Heavens, (Y/N) the brave got sent to us!” 

“(Y/N) the brave?” Asked Sirius incredulous. 

“Oh, Puppy… You don’t want me to talk about the zip lines, do you?” You teased. He instantly tensed up, the boys did too, but you didn’t notice.

“P-puppy?” Peter stammered. 

“I gave him that nickname back on our trip, he insisted a tiger would win over a lion.” 

The boys weren’t sure how that related to Sirius being called Puppy but they relaxed when they realised it didn’t have anything to do with their secret. “Good thing we already had nicknames when you arrived,” said James as playfully nudged you with his shoulder. You laughed. 

“Don’t know about that,” said Beth “I’d rather be Puppy than Wormtail.”

“Oi!” Complained Peter “Wormtail’s a fine nickname, thank you very much.” By then you had already arrived at the Great Hall, Marlene and Mary joining you shortly after.  

For dinner, there was Roast Beef, Shepards Pie, Bangers and Mash and these absolutely killer Buttered New Potatoes. They were so good you’d served yourself twice. Once you were done you started feeling drowsy, it often happened to you when you overate, so you gently let your head fall over Sirius’ shoulder, who was sitting beside you. 

“You okay?” He asked, turning his head towards you lightly, trying not to move you as much. 

You nodded, still on his shoulder “I ate too much,” you complained, then took in a deep breath “and we still have another class…” 

“I can carry you there,” he offered. 

You turned to him with a frown “And risk me puking on you?” 

He shrugged, “If it’ll make you feel better.” You chuckled lightly, sometimes you really didn’t understand Sirius. Some days he was at your throat trying to win you on whatever game you made up on flying practice, and then he’d come out and say things like that. 

You stared at his pretty face for a minute before shaking your head and going back to lay on his shoulder, “It’s alright Puppy, I’m sure it’ll go away on the way there.” 

He didn’t even seem to mind you calling him puppy all that much either, in that particular moment. You might have fallen asleep on Sirius’ shoulder, since next thing you knew, Lily was shaking you lightly and telling you it was time for your next class.

The teacher of Care for Magical Creatures, Silvanus Kettleburn, was quite a character, to say the least, he had white hair, styled in a very rockstar kind of way, a metal claw for a hand and a white bandage covering one of his eyes. If Remus looked like a sexy novel Pirate, Kettleburn looked like the villain pirate the main character was forced to get married to before Remus came to rescue her. The funniest thing about the man was this extremely high-pitched voice with which he introduced himself, totally contrasting with his gruff pirate vibe and attitude. He said something about trying out a new draught that had made his voice squeaky, but it still took a whole lot of energy to keep your face straight when he spoke.  

He said this month you’d be taking care of fireworms, and explained that they should be taken care of with extreme precautions since they could easily explode if not being cared for properly, if they saw the moon, or simply if they felt threatened by whoever was caring for them. He mentioned they would start small but they could grow up to 10 feet tall, and that they were the cause of many monsters and horror stories the muggles told to their children. He handed every single one of you a small box, of about 3 inches, with a worm in it, explaining how you’d have to get the worm used to you before transferring it to a bigger box, once it was large enough. “You must be very careful, and you must not forget to feed them, or they might explode too.” 

You took in a sharp breath, looking down at the little box, how could such a small creature be so dangerous?, You wondered as you carefully set him to the side, as if not to disturb him much. During the  the class you learned that your fireworm wasn’t actually a he, but a she, and after getting some encouragement from Kettlebrun, you ended up naming her Pyro Princess. Neatly writing the name on a label that the professor had handed over. In the middle of the class, you heard a small explosion, it came from a tall Slytherin boy that stood beside Severus, who quickly performed agumenti to turn off the fire. 

“Excellent problem-solving skills Mr. Snape,” Kettleburn said with his squeaky voice “10 points for Slytherin.” 

“But it was Rosier who caused the explosion,”  Tom complained, “That should definitely take some points from them, right?” 

Beth gave him a thumbs up while Kettleburn gave it a thought “You are indeed right Mr, Harrow, Evan Rosier will get a 5 points penalty for his aggravation.” Snape rolled his eyes and placed his own label on top of his worm while the professor handed a new worm to Evan. 

“Whoever has the largest worm by the end of the course, will get an automatic A,” he said before he dismissed everyone and their worms. 

At that point Lily approached you, “Today’s the first reunion of the study club, we’ll be working on some homework together if you wanna join,” said Lily. 

You nodded in response, “I’ll just take this little girl to a safe place and see you there, yeah?” 

You parted ways with Lily once you were back inside the castle. From what Kettelebrun had explained, fireworms liked peaceful environments, and while your dorm was peaceful enough, you really did not want to burn the Gryffindor tower down because of a mishap, so you decided that the safest way to keep her was somewhere in the passageways Remus had taken you to on the first day. Once you were inside you saw another light further in the passage. Turning yours off and walking behind it quietly. 

“Anyone there?” You heard a very familiar voice. 

“Remus?” You asked him, turning the light of your wand back on. 

“(Y/N)? What on earth are you doing here? it’s a whole labyrinth inside these tunnels, you could’ve gotten lost without a guide.” 

“I’m rather good with mazes,” you said with a smile “but uh… I’m here because I wanted to find a good hiding spot for Pyro Princess.” 

“You mean, your fireworm?” He asked with his eyebrows raised “You called it, Pyro Princess?!”

“Well, It’s a fireworm! What did you call yours?”

“I called him Number 1.” 

“Number one? And you’re making fun of Pyro Princess?” 

He gave you a stern look “I didn’t wanna get attached to it, in case it blew up.” 

“Now, that’s just setting yourself up for failure. But fret not, I’m sure if we team up we can keep both Pyro and Nummie alive.” 

“Nummie? Now you gave it a cutesy name too.” 

“It’s just short for Number 1,” you exclaimed “So, Mr. Guide, please take us to a safe, non often used area.” 

“Fine, follow me,” he said and the two of you walked through the tunnels until you found a decent hole in the wall to place the two worms. You performed a small protection charm on top of them and Remus added a small light orb on top of them to give them some light. “They’ll be alright, yeah?” He asked, to which you nodded. 

“I’m thinking of brewing some calming draught, to add a few drops to their water, so that way they won’t get so anxious.” 

“Oh, I’ve got some,” he said, pulling a bottle from his pocket. You frowned but decided not to question it as he placed a couple of drops on their water source. Who knows maybe Remus was a naturally anxious guy and he needed it, or maybe he was just gonna use it for a prank. 

When the two of you were down with the little home area you’d created for your worms, you walked together towards the library. Lily was already sitting on a round table, Beth was by her right, and a smaller blonde girl by her left. As soon as she saw the two of you she smiled and waved “You made it.”

“Bumped into Remus on the way too.” You told her as you sat in front of her, next to Tom. Remus sat in between you and the blonde girl, who you later learned was Nina Blythe, a Ravenclaw a year younger who always joined the study group, to learn about more advanced stuff. On a table beside you were several kids from even lower years who would often stand up to ask Lily and Remus for advice or help with their classes. 

You pulled out some parchment and decided to start working on your runes essay for Divination since it was the thing that would require the least effort. You’d kept your runes on a little felt bag and took them out to start writing about it; you knew most things from the top of your head. Once you were done you started working on your DADA assignment. Standing up to pull some books from the library about defensive spells you’d need. Once you returned to your spot you noticed Beth was desperately looking through a book. 

“All good?” You asked her, trying to be nice. 

She shook her head “I just can’t find this fucking rune anywhere.” 

“Language Beth!” Lily complained, “There are children around.”

“I’m so gonna fail…” 

“May I?” You asked as you extended your hand, she placed the rune on it and you brought it back to give it a closer look. “Ah... It’s Hagalaz!” you explained “It’s hard to find it because in this set it looks a lot more like an N than an H, but it’s this one,” you pointed at one of the runes in a book she had discarded earlier “It means Hail… So basically it comes from a natural disaster, em… it means that… an unavoidable change that is out of your hands will be presented to you. How destructive it might be, depends on how capable you are of weathering its storm. Kinda like The Tower in Tarot,” you finally gave the little stone back to Beth. 

Everyone at the table now turned to look at you, with an air of surprise in their faces “Thought you said you weren’t good with divination,” said Tom. 

“I just…” you sighed,  “I don’t want to be another divination teacher’s pet.” You responded “And I’d already seen runes a couple of years ago.” 

Remus gave you a rather apprehensive look while Tom handed over another rune for you to check. Eventually, you helped everyone with the divination homework, since the set of runes Professor Spellman had handed over to revise had weird shapes on most of the little stones. 

The little Ravenclaw girl next to Remus seemed disinterested in the divination stuff and just stared at her spellbook, drawing little stars and hearts over the edges. When you sat back down in your chair, you realised that in fact, she hadn’t done any work at all so far, she had her spell book and a parchment out, but it was pretty empty, and she just scribbled some random notes every now and then. You wondered why she was in a study group if she didn’t have any homework to do when you noticed her giving Remus a quick glance, before going straight back to her book. You leaned back in your chair, lousily grabbing your charms book and started “reading” while you continued to analyse her behaviour. 

She would read her book, the same page she’d been on since the beginning of study group, an hour ago. Then she would scribble something illegible on her parchment, and then she’d give Remus, who was completely oblivious a quick glance. She’d play with her hair, and then go back to drawing on the edge of her book, ready to repeat the process all over again. You were almost completely certain she was madly involved with Remus, but you had to confirm your theory. 

So you cut out a small piece of parchment and wrote: “follow my lead” and passed the note over to Lily from under the table. She gave you a confused glance but nodded. 

“Hey Rem,” You called quietly so as not to disturb the rest, he turned to you, raising an eyebrow at the nickname “Would you mind helping me with this assignment on potions?” You asked politely, pointing at a specific one in your book “I’m not sure I know exactly how to explain this particular step, with different words.” 

“Ugh…. Maybe you could use crushing?” 

“Yeah, I thought about it too, but I’m not sure crushing works, since it’s more like really, really fine pieces.” 

Yeah, it was a tricky question, all right? But you had to make it sound believable. 

“Do you think Lily would know?” You asked. 

He thought about it for a second and nodded, he then leaned towards the Ravenclaw girl “Hey Nina,” he said politely, and she turned to him, almost shocked he was talking to her “Would you mind switching with Lily for a minute?” He asked with a smile. She seemed taken aback but nodded. Standing up to switch with your redheaded friend. 

You leaned closer to Remus then, almost crossing past him to talk to Lily, who seemed puzzled. You were never so much in other people’s personal space, not that Remus was bothered by it, in fact, he wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest, he found the warmth your body emitted rather soothing. But Nina? Nina was absolutely pissed. She was shooting daggers at Lily and you as if you both had just kissed her fiancé. In retrospect, if a new girl showed up in a year and she was all over your crush, you might’ve been just as angry, but you wouldn’t make it so obvious. She was damn lucky everyone else was too busy looking at their books or they all would’ve known by now. 

“Oh, you can use something like make a fine dust with the dried fairyleaves,” She said after thinking about it for a bit, she then gave you an expectant look, asking if what she’d done was fine, you nodded, with a little smile.

“Oh, that’s perfect, actually,” You said as you leaned back to your place. Feeling how much colder it was without Remus’ body heat irradiating all over you “Thanks,” you told Lily and then turned to Nina “To you too love, for switching so Lily could help.” Nina nodded, still looking a bit pissed nonetheless. You continued working on your homework assignments for a while.  

At some point, you heard Tom yawn, and a couple of minutes later he was excusing himself, saying he’d finish a different day. Beth decided to walk with him. The smaller children had also started going to their dorms. As the library emptied it grew chiller, so you pulled your backpack to your knees and started looking through it, you were certain you’d packed your sweater in there, but maybe you hadn’t. 

Nina checked her watch and rushed out of the library. 

“Everything alright?” Remus asked when he noticed. 

You turned to him and nodded “I was just looking for my sweater, I guess I left it at the dorms.” 

“I’ve got mine here,” he said, pulling it out of his bag and hanging it over. 

You looked at the sweater, he’d already taken it out, and you didn’t want him to feel bad, so you glanced over at Nina, you didn’t want to make her upset by taking Remus’ sweater either, but she had already left, so you took it from his hands with a smile and thanked him. Pulling it over your head in one swift movement. It was big and warm, and it smelled so nice, you were thankful you didn’t reject it. You stayed in the library until about 9 pm, when Lily yawned and checked the clock on the wall behind you, realising how late it was. 

“Oh, we must go, it’s time for dinner,” she said as she started to place her things in her bag. Remus and you followed suit, you placed your parchment in between one of your larger books so the ink wouldn’t run before putting it away. Once you had everything in your bags the three of you started walking towards the Great Hall. Lily switched over to walk by your side and you were left walking in between your two friends “What was the whole potions thing about?” She asked you. 

“Oh… I had to test a hypothesis,” you explained, she looked at you expectantly, as if waiting for further explanation “The little Ravenclaw girl, Nina? I thought it was odd she was in our study group but spent most of her time just drawing in her notebook.” 

Lily frowned, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Nina do a lot of homework last year either “And?” She pressed. 

“Oh, she’s got a massive crush on Remus.” 

“Ahhhh” Remus said as he downed him, “so that’s why you were calling me Rem and being all chummy.” 

“I wanted to see her reaction,” you shrugged. “She was pretty pissed when she had to switch seats with Lily, I think she low-key hates us now. But…” you did a dramatic pause “She seems nice,” you teased Remus. 

“She looks 12, (Y/N)!” Remus said, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“But she’s got pretty eyes,” you argued back, and it was true, she had this very beautiful doe-eye look going on, and her eyes were a very intense blue. 

“Who’s got pretty eyes?” Asked Sirius, who’d spotted you from behind and approached right in the middle of a conversation. 

“A girl that likes Remus,” replied Lily. 

“I’d say she’s madly in love with him, but I guess likes works too,” you corrected. 

Sirius raised his eyebrows with a little smirk “Moony boy, were you planning on getting a girlfriend without asking for permission?” 

Remus shrugged and shoved Sirius “As if I needed your permission to date someone.” 

“But you do! I’m your best friend!” The shorter boy insisted “Doesn’t he Lily?” 

“Remus can make his own decisions,” she shrugged.  

Remus smiled, and Sirius approached you instead, clenching to your arm “You have to back me up in this one love,” he said playfully, “go ahead, tell Remus he definitely needs permission from his best friends before dating someone.” 

You raised your eyebrow at him, “Not sure about permission Puppy… maybe a 3-day notice?” you teased. 

“3 days? At least a week, so we get used to the idea!” 

“When have you ever given us so much as a notice?” Retorted Remus. 

Sirius threw his head back dramatically “Moony, you know me, I’ve never dated anyone…” Remus gave him an incredulous look “Not seriously at least.” 

“Ironic,” you said, Lily laughed. 

“Besides, if you dated someone, I feel like you would date them date them, not just hook up with them,” Sirius continued. 

Remus laughed at that “What makes you think I haven’t hooked up with anyone?”

Sirius seemed taken aback “Because you’ve never told me?” 

“Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell, Pads,” Remus responded, Lily nodded in agreement. 

“Hold up!” Sirius said in shock, finally letting your arm free “Are you implying you’ve been secretly hooking up with people?” Remus only laughed in return. “Remus?!” 

“Sorry Pads,” he said walking in front of him with a shit-eating grin “There are some things about me, you’ll never know.” 

Sirius exhaled, defeated and grabbed your arm again “You would tell me if you hooked up with someone, right?” 

You raised your eyebrows, giving Remus a quick glance, he shrugged in response, and you turned your head to Sirius “Sure Puppy, you’ll be the first one to know.” You said ironically. 

“Good.” You were pretty sure he hadn’t understood your sarcasm, but Remus had and he was holding back a laugh. 

By the time you arrived at the Great Hall, it was almost empty, dinner had been at 7pm, and they stopped serving at 10, so it made sense only a couple students were left. Peter and Marlene joined you for dinner later, Mary had eaten with Tom earlier and was already back at the dorms according to Mars, and James was in a quidditch team reunion with the 7th years.

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Raead more Marauders Fiction

A/N: Hope you enjoy this one, and what can I say? I def have a thing for big sweaters and Remus. / Also, guys, I wanted to take this little moment to thank you, I'm still working on my 400 followers celebration gifts and somehow, I now have 500, that's insane! You guys are incredible, also thank you for all the love you're showing The Five Senses, specially sights, I was not expecting almost 1000 notes and yet... I truly am filled with joy, atm, thank you for everything.

[impishtubist]

seed moon fest snippets

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and say that a story simply isn't going to be finished 😂 Anyway, here's my attempt at knocking Remus up for my own informal fest. It's nearly 3K words of unedited nonsense and unfinished scenes that was supposed to be a much longer fic that spanned all of OOTP.

Someone else with more brain cells than me should definitely knock Remus up during OOTP properly, as he deserves. Until then, enjoy this fragmented chaos:

---

September 1995

“We need to talk,” Remus says as he unwinds his scarf. 

“The last time you said that to me, you wanted a divorce.” Sirius helps him out of his cloak and hangs it on the rack. 

The corner of Remus’s mouth quirks. “Can’t exactly divorce you twice, can I?”

“I suppose not.” Sirius examines him. “You look a bit peaky.” 

“Yes, that’s what--”

“Lupin! Black!” Kingsley’s voice carries up the stairs. “Order meeting!” 

Sirius sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Duty calls. You can divorce me again after the meeting.”

***

Dumbledore hands out assignments at the end of the meeting--guard duty for everyone except Sirius and Remus, as usual. Sirius is ordered to stay in the house, and Remus is assigned to another werewolf pack, this time in Poland. 

“No,” Remus says, and the whole room goes silent.

“Remus,” Dumbledore says after a moment, “you are the only member of the Order who is able to infiltrate the packs, and need I remind you of the importance of--”

“Yes, I’m aware of the importance of my missions,” Remus says dryly. “Given how successful they were in the first war, I understand why you want me to repeat them. The answer is still no. I will not be infiltrating any wolf packs for the foreseeable future, and Severus, I will no longer require Wolfsbane from you.” 

“Remus,” Sirius protests, “you can’t--” 

“I can,” Remus says forcefully. 

“But this is your health we’re talking about!” 

“Lupin’s no use to us if he won’t perform his missions as instructed,” Snape says. “Of course I’ll no longer be providing Wolfsbane to someone who refuses to make a contribution to the cause.”

“I don’t understand why,” Molly begins.

“Neither do I,” Sirius says. 

“Remus, if you could enlighten us--”

“Sonorus!” Remus shouts, pointing his wand at his stomach. 

A steady thud thud thud fills the room, and it takes Sirius several seconds to realize that the heartbeat isn’t Remus’s. 

“Oh, Merlin,” he breathes as eyes widen around the table. 

A flurry of emotions flash across Dumbledore’s face--anger, disappointment, resignation. He settles on grim. “You intend to keep the baby, then, Mr. Lupin?”

Remus flinches slightly, but he holds Dumbledore’s gaze. “Yes.” 

“Very well. Your services are indeed no longer required, and Severus will no longer provide you with Wolfsbane for the moon.”

“You can’t fucking do that!” Sirius shouts at Dumbledore. “Just because he’s physically unable to be your puppet-”

“It’s poisonous to the baby,” Remus says quietly, and Sirius’s mouth snaps shut. “Wolfsbane, I mean. I can’t take it while I’m--while I’m pregnant.” 

***

Dumbledore ends the meeting after that. Thankfully sensing that Sirius and Remus have a lot to talk about, the rest of the members file out of the kitchen quickly, leaving them alone. 

“So,” Sirius says after a moment. “Is it, er--”

“Yes, Sirius,” Remus says tiredly. “It’s yours.” 

“Oh, good,” Sirius says, and then quickly adds, “Not that it would have been a problem if it wasn’t! Obviously, you were allowed to have a life these past thirteen years, and--” 

Remus kisses him. “Shut up.” 

“So, er, in June…”

“Yes. We could blame it on Dumbledore, really. He’s the one who sent you to me after the Task.” 

“Oh, Merlin.” Sirius passes a hand over his eyes, shaking with silent laughter. “That would go over well, after tonight.” 

Remus smiles briefly, but it quickly drops from his face. “I didn't mean to break the news like this, and I know I made the decision without even speaking to you, but--”

“Remus,” Sirius says, “it’s fine, really. I mean, Merlin, a baby. Of course I wasn’t expecting it, but I think it’s great.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I mean, it’s also insane. I’m still a convict who isn’t allowed to leave the most heavily-warded house in Britain, which also happens to be the headquarters for a secret organization fighting the darkest wizard of our time, and you’re a werewolf living through an era of unprecedented anti-lycanthropic legislation. This is madness, and yet, I’m thrilled.”

Remus bites his lip. “Can we do this?”

“Yes.” Sirius reaches for his hand. “We can do this. I used Crookshanks to access my vaults last year, and I can do it again. We won’t hurt for gold. This is the safest house in Britain, so you’ll move in here permanently. We’ll have nine months to make it, er, baby-proof, but yes we can do this. We will do this.”

“Six months.”

“What?”

“I’m twelve weeks along, so we have roughly six months to get everything ready, although the baby might decide to make an early appearance.” 

Sirius grins. “Six months it is. I like a challenge.”

“You’re taking this rather well.” 

Sirius shrugs. “Always wanted to have a baby with you.” 

“What?”

“If we raise the baby here, we’re taking Harry in as well,” Sirius goes on, as if he hadn’t just said something earth-shattering. “I’m not going to send him to his relatives for another summer, and then raise another child simply because they’re my blood.”

“I agree,” Remus says. “But you--want this? You’ve wanted this?” 

“Wouldn’t have gone about it like this, but yeah.” Sirius’s lips quirk. “Next time, we’ll do it after I clear my name and we’re living somewhere that isn’t a house full of dark objects.”

“What do you mean, next time?”

***

“Sirius, where’s Kreacher?”

“Hogwarts,” Sirius says, and Remus blinks at him. 

“Hogwarts?”

“I’m not having him in this house once the baby arrives.” Sirius resumes his scrubbing, though perhaps with more force than is called for. “I grew up with that elf, and I won’t have the baby do the same. I won’t put them through that.” 

“Oh, Sirius.”

“And I wasn’t going to behead him like my dear old mother would have, so sending him to work in the kitchens at Hogwarts seemed like the best solution.” 

“That was kind of you.”

***

“Well?” Remus asks, holding out his arms. “What do you think?”

Sirius circles him, examining the outfit.

“It’ll do,” he finally declares.

“It’ll do? I should hope so! This one alone costs more than I made in a year at Hogwarts.” Sirius had insisted on buying him a whole new wardrobe as soon as Remus started having difficulty fitting into his usual clothes. He’ll have to buy Remus new clothes every few weeks now as Remus increases in size, and doesn’t seem to see an issue with that.

***

December 1995

“Remus is still staying here,” Sirius says, “and, er, there’s something you should know before you see him.” 

Fred and George give him twin glares that could kill, and Sirius can’t blame them--their father might be dying, might be dead already, and Sirius wants to talk about one of their former professors? But Harry looks inquisitive, so Sirius plunges on. “He’s going to look a bit different when you see him. He’s, er, pregnant, and he's pretty far along."

“Pregnant!” Ron blurts, while everyone else stares at Sirius in shock.

“You’re the other father, then,” Ginny says, and she doesn’t sound surprised at all.

“Are you?” Harry demands.

“I am,” Sirius says. “It…wasn’t planned, to say the least.” 

Remus comes into the basement kitchen as Molly and Sirius are in the middle of making breakfast, and he does a double-take at the number of people who have appeared in the house overnight. 

“Fill Remus in, Harry, won’t you?” Sirius asks over his shoulder as he prods at the bacon. 

He listens as Harry recounts the events of the previous night. At the end, Harry adds, “And Sirius told us about the baby, so, er, congratulations, Professor.” 

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl, Professor?” Ginny asks. 

“No, we want it to be a surprise.”

Now that Arthur’s out of danger, his children are more than happy to pepper Remus with questions about the baby. He patiently answers all of them while they eat breakfast, and even lets Ginny feel the baby kick when she asks. They’re always more active after a meal.

After breakfast, the kids go off to nap, except for Harry, who lingers in the kitchen with Sirius and Remus.

“Where’s the baby going to stay after they’re born?”

“Here, with us,” Sirius says. “Remus has already moved in, and we’re turning one of the guest bedrooms into a nursery.” 

Harry nods. “I’m really happy for you.” 

“Harry,” Remus says gently. “There’s a place for you here, too.” 

“Oh, I didn’t mean--”

“I know you didn’t, but we want you to know that.” 

“I don’t have to go back to the Dursleys?”

“Dumbledore will want you to, and he’ll probably try to force you to go,” Sirius says. “If I have to kidnap you from Kings Cross myself, I will. We’re not letting you go back.” 

“As long as that’s alright with you, of course,” Remus says. “It won’t be easy, living with a newborn.” 

“Anything is better than the Dursleys,” Harry says fervently, and then he throws himself into Sirius’s arms. “Thank you.” 

***

Pregnancy seems to calm the wolf, a side effect Remus hadn’t been expecting. He still prefers moons where he can take Wolfsbane, but at least these transformations aren’t traumatic without it. He still sometimes dislocates a joint or breaks a bone during the transformation itself, but Sirius tells him that while he’s the wolf, all he does is nest and sleep. 

Moony has decided that the Black family library is the perfect place to build his nest, and he spends each moon gathering items from around the house and dragging them to the library. So far, he’s confiscated all the couch cushions, every blanket that had been moldering in a wardrobe, and three of Sirius’s cloaks.

***

Remus’s labor begins on a sunny Tuesday shortly after lunch, and he stays in early labor well into the night. He’s able to go about his day mostly as normal, despite the increasing discomfort.

That changes in the early hours of the morning, when he grips Sirius’s arm hard enough to bruise and grits out, “Get Molly.” 

Their birth plan isn’t much of one--they’ve been relying on Sirius’s years-old Healer training and whatever books they can lay their hands on. They can’t risk telling anyone about the baby who wasn’t at that initial Order meeting, not even Poppy. Molly has helped two wix friends through their own pregnancies, so she’s the closest thing to an obstetrician that they have. 

She helps keep Remus comfortable, checks to see how dilated he is, and coaches him on when to push. She makes sure Sirius is actively involved as well, and he’s the one to catch their son as Remus pushes him into the world. 

“Oh, fuck,” Remus wheezes as Sirius cradles the infant in his hands, tears coursing down his cheeks. “Oh, fuck, I am never doing that again.” 

The baby starts to wail in earnest, and Sirius laughs, giddy and relieved and so fucking terrified. Molly helps Remus with the after birth, and then Sirius lays the baby on his chest. 

“Still think he’s a Teddy?” Sirius asks softly while Remus cuddles the baby close. He presses his nose to the top of the baby’s head and breathes. 

“Yes,” Remus says finally. “He’s definitely a Teddy.” 

***

Harry knocks on McGonagall’s office door precisely at eight, and it swings open immediately.

“Mr. Potter, come in,” she says. “Have a seat.”

He sits in front of her desk, wondering what task she’ll assign him for detention tonight. Scrubbing all the toilets on the fifth floor with a toothbrush, probably. At least it won’t be lines with a blood quill, he thinks as he massages his hand absently. 

“I have a message for you,” McGonagall says.

“Right,” Harry says, blinking at her. A message? He’s here for detention. 

“Edward John Lupin-Black was born at five-thirty this morning. Professor Lupin is doing well, and your godfather is beside himself with happiness.” 

“Oh.” Harry blinks, absorbing this. “Remus had the baby?”

“He did,” McGonagall says, and there’s a ghost of a smile on her lips. “I’m sorry for the ruse, but serving you a detention seemed the best way to get this message to you. I was summoned to Headquarters for a meeting this afternoon, which is how I learned about the baby. Mr. Black also wanted me to convey to you that he’s looking forward to seeing you this summer, and that he loves you.” 

***

June 1996

The kitchen door bursts open and Sirius hurries in, his wand in one hand. He has a crying bundle in the crook of his other arm, and for a moment all the thoughts flee Harry’s brain.

“Harry? What’s going on, what’s wrong?”

“Teddy?” Harry blurts.

Sirius holsters his wand and kneels before the fire, adjusting the baby in his arms. For a moment, the sight of Harry’s floating head distracts the baby, and he stops his wailing. 

“Where are you Flooing from?”

“McGonagall’s office,” Harry says, jolted back to reality by the question. “Sirius, I thought--I saw--you were being tortured! Voldemort kidnapped you, and he was holding you somewhere, and--”

“Harry, breathe,” Sirius said. “It must have been another vision. I’m safe; we all are.” 

“My other visions have been real,” Harry says--hesitantly, because he wants to believe this is Sirius in front of him. “Mr. Weasley did get attacked, and that old man really did die.”

“I know,” Sirius says, “but we already know that Voldemort can get into your mind, and that Snape never completed your Legilimancy lessons. That means that Voldemort can plant visions in your head, ones that aren’t real and never happened.”

“Sirius?” Remus comes into the kitchen, knuckling sleep out of his eyes. He freezes when he sees Harry’s head in the fire. “What’s going on? Harry, are you alright?”

Harry explains the night’s events as quickly as he can. He doesn’t know how much longer he has before he’s discovered. 

“You should come through, Harry,” Remus says when he finishes. “If Voldemort is giving you visions at Hogwarts, you clearly aren’t safe there and there’s no point in you staying.” 

“But what if this isn’t real?” Harry demands. “What if this is the vision?”

“Voldemort doesn’t know about Teddy,” Remus says. “Unless you think Professor McGonagall is a spy, then we’re the only ones who know about the baby. This can’t be a vision that Voldemort has planted in your head, because you know details he doesn’t. This is real, Harry.”

Remus has a point, and none of his visions have ever been this vivid. Harry ducks back into McGonagall’s office for another handful of Floo powder, and then steps fully into the fireplace. 

“Hi,” Harry says, and he barely has the word out before Sirius engulfs him in a hug.

“Hi, Haz,” he says into Harry’s hair. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I’m sorry you were so worried.”

“It’s not your fault.” Harry pulls away. “Can I--”

“Of course.” Remus adjusts the bundle in his arms so Harry can see the baby. “Meet Teddy. Teddy, this is Harry. He’s going to be living here with us, too.” 

“Hi, Teddy,” Harry whispers. He reaches out a hand, and when no one stops him, touches Teddy’s cheek. “I’m--”

“You brother,” Sirius says, laying a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “This is your brother, Teddy.”

[annabtg]

Anna, you’re so right(i love you). It’s so annoying that all these woke yaoi-shipping sjws have taken over the fandom. You cannot put characters like James and Sev through modern lenses(“Snape was a child abuser” teachers were allowed to hit students with rulers at 90s british schools but being a little mean to a troublemaker makes you satan🙄) and understand them fully. You also cannot make James Potter into a bisexual adhd-having MOC and keep true to his character(everything about him relays on him being very privileged in society)

Love, an old man.

I don't know how you can read this post and conclude that my problem is "woke, yaoi-shipping sjws"? My problem is, like I said, the complete lack of reading comprehension skills, of creative and analytical thought and of the ability to empathize with the characters.

Indeed, modern social media seems to favour performative activism, but that's not what fanfic suffers from. I've engaged with fandom enough to understand that the prevalence of non-nuanced takes comes from younger fans who have grown up in a world massively different from the one I grew up in as a millennial with boomer parents.

Nevertheless, I don't think you're doing it right either, my love. Teachers might have been allowed to hit students with rulers in the 70s (they weren't allowed in 90s Greece, though, and I have been informed neither were they in the UK) - and an example of a strict but good teacher in the books is Minerva McGonagall, who would dole out harsh punishments and use her sharp tongue on students, but still gives you the feeling that she cared about them and loved them. That kind of "tough love" was how boomers took care of their kids. Not Snape, who had beef with a student because he didn't like his father. That's fucked up. But the thing is that Snape is supposed to be unlikeable and mean and come off as the villain, to make his arc all the more surprising and impactful. He's supposed to be a fucked up dick who works for the side of good, because the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters.

As for James, I don't think his portrayal as a bisexual ADHD-having MOC is inherently incompatible with his character, even if it's not the authorial intent (indeed, James is supposed to be the picture of privilege). For instance, one aspect of HP I find fascinating is how being a POC doesn't descend into racism in the books - I think there's one single instance of it, where Pansy tells Angelina she's got worms on her head, but that's obviously Pansy being a dick, and other than that there is no casual racism thrown about to people like Dean or Lee or Cho or the Patils. Whether their portrayal is nuanced or stereotypical is a different discussion, but I think it's obvious that we're supposed to take out that if you're a racist wizard, it's not colour that matters, it's blood. James Potter could reasonably be a POC and it wouldn't matter at all in the world he lived in.

That he would struggle with ADHD or sexuality is also not implausible, and in fact I think it makes for very compelling portrayals of him to be going through that in an era-adequate way. Have people around him be annoyed because he just won't sit still, show him confused by his attraction to Sirius and downplaying it with semi-homophobic remarks. I'm personally not so much a fan of a Hogwarts that reads like you're at Pride, but it was the era of hippies, after all?? I think that Hogwarts would be on the conservative side of things, but at the end of the day it *was* the time when queerness started to gain visibility and I understand how people feel at liberty to use that. Everyone seeks to connect to these characters through fic to some degree; for me, who grew up as a gifted (and probably undiagnosed autistic?) kid in a conservative society, the canon portrayal of people like James and Lily and Sirius at Hogwarts resonates enough to keep me intrigued.

I don't lament people trying to project their own struggles with queerness or mental illness or idk just the fun conversations they have with their friends on the Marauders and Hogwarts; what bugs me is when it's being done in a way that cancels canon aphoristically, and you're suddenly idk toxic for shipping Jily because "James was an abuser and Lily had Stockholm Syndrome" - that's not what happened. Showing off like a peacock was the men's standard flirting technique, and playing hard to get was the women's standard flirting technique, and even with that Jily contains a LOT of nuance - and frankly, even through a modern lens I find it very difficult to miss if you have the first idea of reading between the lines. Which is why I keep saying: lack of reading comprehension skills and critical thinking beyond understanding straightforward text messages and cheap quips is the bane of these readers' existence (or, you know, our existence, for having to put up with it).

[arcanumofthestars]

To wipe the tears in your eyes

This is my last fic for @marauderswithpalestineproject! Enjoy!

Word count: around 2.5k

Warnings: Some angst, some swearing, that's it.

“Okay, ew, you two, get a room, that’s disgusting!”

Barty grinned at Regulus and continued to kiss- no, eat his boyfriend’s face. Evan was flustered, to the point where Reg could practically feel the heat radiating from where the boy was sitting, directly to his left. He tried to say something, but Barty quickly shut him up with more kisses. It had been over a week since they’d made amends from their last argument, and Reg couldn’t really explain why they were still behaving like that, but alas.

He turned around, his apple pie still untouched, and came face to face with Pandora, who was basically inhaling her fish and chips. Flowers had started to bloom on the grounds all around Hogwarts, so a variety of them was already decorating her hair, tucked in between the braids. He could never bring himself to learn how Dorcas made them, no matter how many times she’d showed him.

He waited until his friend swallowed, and then spoke.

“Hey, Dora, are you doing anything after lunch? I’ve finished all my homework so I was hoping we could hang out?...”

He prayed he didn’t sound as desperate as he thought he did, for the truth was that Regulus Black, was indeed, that desperate. His friends had been ignoring him for the past few weeks. With Barty and Evan constantly fighting and making up (and out) with eachother, and Dorcas being too busy studying for her N.E.W.T.S., the only person who was still available was Pandora. Reg would love to admit that Dora was perfect, but she had recently developed the nasty habit of hanging out with Gryffindors. To be fair, one Gryffindor in particular.

James Fleamont Potter.

He dreaded to hear those words, yet Dora’s lips showed no mercy as she politely refused.

“I’m afraid I cannot join you today, Reggie. James has invited me to the Gryffindor tower, and there are those amazing tapestries around there, I could get lost in the patterns for hours... I wouldn’t miss a chance to see them again. Plus his friends will be there this time, and I just love meeting new people...”

“Oh.”

Of course she wouldn’t. He didn’t blame her, he just wished she’d never met Potter that wretched evening in detention. He remembered it very well. How Dora had wandered off again, picking flowers, and ended up near Hogsmeade, where professor Slughorn saw her and brought her back to the school. He didn’t know why Potter was in detention that time though. Maybe he’d beaten someone up again. That prick loved to show off his strength at all times. That was all he was. Muscles and puns and smiles. Shallow.

“...Reg? Regulus? Are you okay? If you need it I can stay here, I don’t have to go to t-” the girl sounded alarmed, real concern painting her voice.

“No, Dora, it’s fine. Go have fun okay? I’ll be fine.” He got up.

“A-Are you sure? It’s no problem, after all...”

“No, I’m perfectly fine, just zoned out for a bit.”

He glanced at Barty and Evan, who were still making out. Regulus sighed.

“Won’t you finish your food at least?”

“No, I’m not really hungry.” He looked at the Gryffindor table, where the so called Marauders were making a mess with their meals and shouting happily. If only he was still in good terms with Sirius... But life wouldn’t continue based on ‘ifs’. He turned around and walked out of the dining room, quickening his steps as he reached his dorm room.

Still. What if things had turned out differently. What if he had ran away when Sirius did. Maybe he could be at their table, laughing again. Like when he was a little kid and Sirius would make funny faces to cheer him up after Mother had left them without food for the night once more. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. It was engraved in his memory, just like it was in Sirius’s too. He was sure of it. No, he decided. He couldn’t have ran away with his brother. Walburga would always find him. That phrase was a threat, a curse falling on his head, and he was pretty sure he’d never be free of it.

Had she been any other mother, that would have been encouraging, something she’d say to him to comfort him.

He crushed on his bed.

He’d heard Sirius talk about Potter’s mother, Eudora, was it? Maybe Eugenia? Euphemia? That was it. Euphemia. Euphemia Potter. The mother who, according to his brother, everyone should have. He’d dreamt of living with a loving mother. Foolish dreams of a foolish child, they were. Yet the hope still remained. Hope was a hard thing to kill. Maybe the hardest of all things.

Two weeks later

Reg was walking around in the school grounds. It was a habit he had adopted since Pandora had started spending more and more time with the Gryffindors, leaving him completely and utterly alone. Barty and Evan had had a fight earlier, something about socks... To be frank, Regulus thought that they were slowly becoming really annoying. Or maybe the blood boiling in his veins was speaking.

He’d fallen asleep, on one of the common room’s couches, only to find out that a bunch of Gryffindors - including Potter and Sirius - had snuck in with Pandora’s help, when he woke up. He tried not to upset Dora, after all, entrance in other Houses’ common rooms was not a rare “currency” in the school. She was probably just returning a favor.

Seeing the Marauders and especially Potter again though, he couldn’t help but get mad. He knew the other Slytherins were too, but no one would risk missing one of the Gryffindor parties just because of a visit. At least that was how Narcissa had put it.

He had stormed out of the common room in a blur, but not before he heard Potter whisper to Sirius something along the lines of “What’s wrong with him?”

By now he had nearly reached the lake. The weather had worsened the past days, going from warm and sunny until at least noon to a grey sky, threatening to fall apart and drench them with its rain.

He walked closer to the water. From afar, it looked like a pool of metal, perfectly still, reflecting its surroundings down to the last detail. Now that Regulus could get a closer look, he noticed how murky its bottom was, probably because of the mud the giant squid was moving around, as it lived its life without worrying about social interactions.

He picked up a stone, round and gray, and threw it sideways into the lake. He remembered, back in fourth year, when he, Dora, Evan, Barty and Dorcas had decided to spend the day right at that spot. He’d seen Barty skipping stones, and had demanded asked him to teach him how to. He was actually quite good at it, after all, though he wasn’t able to practice very often.

The stone hopped on the water, one, two, three, four times, creating round wrinkles in the still water before disappearing under the surface. He skipped a few more stones, but had to stop once the squid surfaced. There had been cases where it had actually caught and thrown the stones back to students who had initially tossed them in the past, and he wouldn’t risk it.

Regulus heard someone approaching, but didn’t turn around. It was probably someone like him, someone that wanted to spend some alone time. If they got annoying or disturbed him, he could always just leave.

The footsteps stopped, and a person stood right beside him.

“I knew I’d find you here.” Pandora said.

“Hello, Dora. Why aren’t you in the dungeons?”

“Oh, I didn’t see you there and I went out to look for you actually...” She gave him a gentle smile.

“You didn’t have to do that, I know how much fun you have with the Gryffindors. You can still go back.” He was grateful she had thought of him, but at that moment, he needed his time.

“I don’t want to go back. We need to talk.”

It was rare for Pandora to be that serious, so Regulus waited and listened to what she had to say.

“I know you’re upset. You’ve been avoiding me for the past few weeks. Barty and Evan say the same. Now, I don’t know why this is happening, but I’m here for whatever you need and I’m willing to do anything to fix it, and I’m sure that the same applies to the others too. So if you please could tell me the reason you’ve been so distant...”

Regulus felt tears gathering in his eyes, and blinked them away. How could she be so clueless? How could they all be?

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But I just want to help and-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it okay?"

"But-"

Anger erupted through him.

"Just shut up, Pandora! Shut up for once! How can you- How can you all just ignore me all this time? Do I even mean anything? Because you can't parade around chatting and laughing with Gryffindors one day and talk to me the other! It's not fair, do you understand? It's not fair to me!"

He could see tears appearing in her eyes as well now, but he didn't care.

"You became fucking best friends with goddamned James Potter! How is this fair? You know the consequences of me being even in the danger room with all them Gryffindors and yet you still invite me over? Do you even care about me at all? Was it all an act?"

He felt like he could continue for hours, but stopped when he heard almost inaudible sobs coming out from his friend's mouth.

Pandora got up and ran away, three flowers in her hair slowly falling on the ground behind her.

Then the realisation of what he'd said washed over him, crushing him in a huge wave of guilt. He contemplated running after her, apologising, falling on his knees until she forgave him. It was his last chance to not be alone and he had just thrown it away so stupidly. He turned around, but did none of that.

Regulus stayed there for a good two hours, doing whatever, walking around or talking to himself. He may have screamed his lungs out a few times. He just prayed no one was actually close enough to hear him. Deep down he hoped Pandora would return, help him sort things out, or just sit there even, her mere presence would be enough.

That didn’t happen. And as the hours passed, more and more clouds gathered in the sky, resulting in a heavy rain. He decided to head back, but took his time while he did so. He never minded the rain, he had found out that there was something poetic in being soaked in the thing most important for life to exist, yet if you overdid it, it would result to sickness, even death.

He shivered as he entered the castle through the gates, just in time before Filch closed them completely. The man gave him a nasty look but didn’t dare to say anything. The warmth of Hogwarts was welcoming, surrounding him like an embrace.

He took a turn and headed to the dungeons, and then another, when he bumped into someone.

“Excuse me.” He didn’t have time for apologies. He looked up to the person that was still blocking his way. “I said ex-”

“Oh, no, mate you’re not going anywhere. Not after whatever you did to Pandora. We need to talk.” James Potter said, looking down on him through his glasses.

Regulus felt anger bubble through him once more that night. He was pretty sure he was red as a tomato, but didn’t care. How dare he, James Potter, demand anything from him. He even had the nerve to ask about Dora- as if he cared. He would stand his ground.

“Go on, what do you have to say to me? Let’s see how much your little brain can comprehend of human emotions and interactions.” He made sure he sounded as petty as he could.

James huffed. “I saw Pandora at the library about an hour ago. She was crying. Only thing I could get out of her mouth was your name. Care to explain?” he crossed his arms and leaned to the wall.

“And why would you care about Pandora anyway?”

“Well, shouldn’t I? She’s my friend, something I have began to doubt about you.” Damn it, he was good at this game.

“It’s my business, not yours.”

“Oh hell no, we’re not going anywhere until we have this sorted out.

“Come on now” Regulus said “don’t pretend you don’t hang out with her only to have access to the dungeons and Slytherin parties.” A smug grin had started to form on his face,

That seemed to affect the other boy more than anything he’d said before. “I- I wouldn’t do that...”

“Like hell you wouldn’t. Stop pretending, Potter. Or don’t. Maybe that’s the only thing you can do well after all. Pretend. That’s what you are! A fake.” He let it all flow out, his voice gradually raising to the point he was yelling.

James did the same, though. “This is NOT about me! It’s YOUR fault that Pandora has been crying for the past hour, maybe more!” Regulus flinched. “So stop acting like you’re innocent! Not everything is about yourself! And stop ruining people’s lives by doing that! You had better go talk to Pandora, or I don’t know what will happen!”

Tears had started forming in Regulus’s eyes, but this time he let them flow freely.

“You don’t know shit! You don’t know how it is to be ignored by everyone for days straight, for people to actually hate you! You haven’t lost ANYTHING! So before you start talking, maybe you should actually think what someone has been going through BEFORE YOU START MAKING ACCUSATIONS!”

James seemed to be taken aback by his outrage, and spoke in a calmer voice, rubbing the back of his neck. “Still, that doesn’t make any difference. You shouldn’t-”

“Shut up.”

“No, I won’t shut up, Regulus! Why won’t you shut-”

Hearing his name coming out of James’s lips, something snapped inside of Regulus. He launched forward, grabbing the other boy’s face with both his hands and kissing him roughly on the lips, before pulling away.

He turned around to leave, he would process the atrocious action he’d just done later. He felt a hand in his, and James pinning him to the castle wall in a blur.

“You won’t get away so easily after that.” James loomed over Regulus, and for one moment the shorter boy thought he was going to hit me, but then the bittersweet taste of James’s lips on his took all his thoughts away. They held on each other as they kissed for what felt like hours. Regulus couldn’t understand what was happening, whether it was right or not, the only think that mattered was the boy hugging him like no one had ever before.

“You still have to talk to Pandora, you know” James mumbled, but his smile could be seen, even in the rush they both were in.

Three months later

Regulus was laying beside his boyfriend, or rather on top of him, as when James had realised how touch starved the boy was, he had insisted on them cuddling with every chance the got. Euphemia’s voice suddenly broke the silence.

“Boys, it’s time for dinner!”

James got up from his bed, kissed him and grinned. “You know, you were right. I got something more from hanging out with Pandora... The best prize ever.” He leaned in and kissed Regulus once more.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Let's keep twlkimg aboit the House of Black cause I'm obsessed with them too! Mgl it makes me kinda sad that there are almost mone left after the 2nd war, I think born Black there's only Narcissa and Andromeda left, and because they're women they don't get to keep the name. Idr now if this is canon or Ive reas too many fics, is Harry the new owner of Grimmauld Place now? I think Sirius left it to him am I right? Does that mean he's also the head od the house now? Is he head of both the Blacks and the Potters now?

Have a nice day!

Anonymous asked: About the post on Black family (which I truly loved😍) I've few questions: 1. when Sirius died did Harry inherit every penny that was in the black vault and every manor they had? Or just what Sirius' uncle has left to him? 2. Do you think Harry when he gets older sits in the wizengamot and has a title?

Hi, thank you both so much! 💓

I'm answering the asks together as they're kinda similar.

So, I mentioned in the Wizengamot post that I think the Potters also have a Wizengamot position since at least two Potters have been mentioned to sit on the council. So, Harry should have that position from the Potters anyway. Well, he gets the seat, he doesn't have to use it as it seems you can opt-out from what little is written about the Potter family on Pottermore:

Occasionally, a Potter made it all the way to London, and a member of the family has twice sat on the Wizengamot...

(From Pottermore)

It seems the Potters opted out more often than not. I guess the Blacks, who had a house in London for the parliament season (the social season for the aristocrats in London in the past was for the season the Parliament — in our case, the Wizengamot — was in session) probably involved themselves in the Wizengamot more.

As for what Sirius inherited from his family, well, I'll say all of it. He wasn't officially disowned, it seems, since after he dies, Harry gets Grimmauld Place and Kreature, both not left to Sirius by his uncle:

“Yes,” said Dumbledore. He did not ask Harry why he had not confided in the Dursleys. “Our problem,” he continued to Harry, as if there had been no interruption, “is that Sirius also left you number twelve, Grimmauld Place.”

(HBP, 49)

The house and Kreature weren't Alphard's to give, therefore Sirius was likely never disowned and as the last remaining Black by name (very sad), received all of it. I always headcanoned it as his mother burning him off the family tapestry as she did Alphard without officially disowning him since she didn't have the authority to do so. Also, I think Walburga never really stopped loving Sirius in her own way, even after he ran away. Like, I think she burned him and Alphard off the tapestry in a moment of anger and made it permanent magically, but she tried to return Sirius a few times. Like, I truly think she didn't really mean to disown him when she did that. I think Walburga's and Sirius' relationship was a very complicated one and as much as they both claim to hate each other, they don't.

As for whether Harry is the head of both Potters and Blacks and gets two Wizengamot seats... I'll guess no. Like, he got all the money and houses and while we don't know much about Wizengamot law if it indeed has seats for certain families, I think there would be some rule in place that won't allow a single member more than one seat. There isn't really evidence for it, just my personal headcanon. So, in my head, Harry gets the Potter seat and the Black family gets replaced with a new family, which probably happened to other families in the past. I mean, if Hufflepuff had a seat, I assume in the books the Smith family got that seat through marriage at some point in the past. Same with Slytherin and the Gaunts, where the seat passed through the female line. Then when the Gaunts fell from grace they were voted out and replaced by another family (at least in my headcanon). So, in the case of the Black family seat, the Malfoys (the books mention Lucius isn't on the Wizengamot) might get it through Narcissa or a completely new family would get voted in (like what I headcanon happened with the Gaunts). Like, I have a lot of headcanons about how the Wizengamot works, but not much evidence, unfortunately.

[princesse-de-ravenclaw]

Champagne Problems (iii)

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N has everything: a wealthy family, a famous last name, and the most eligible bachelor in the wizarding community as her soon to be husband. What happens when she’s reunited with a forbidden friend from the past?

tw: nightmares

word count: 2,736

The next day, the teens collected their lunches and met up in the forbidden forest. “Alright mates, I recon we eat our lunches and take a look around here before we head to bowtruckle island,” James announced as he stopped in the forest. “Bowtruckle island?” Y/N asked. “Yeah, the library has some of Newt Scamander’s published notes and he mentioned an island on the black lake where branches of bowtruckles live,” James explained. “Wow, you really did your research,” Y/N was nearly floored at the effort he put in to do this for her when they barely knew each other. “Well of course, we want to do this right, don’t we?” he shrugged casually and Y/N dropped it, a sense of belonging beginning to fill her mind.

The group ate their lunches and looked around the forest for a little bit but came up with no bowtruckles, but finding plenty of woodlice to collect and bring to the island, so they decided to head to the lake and summon a row boat. The four boys rowed as Lily and Y/N went over the plan. “So we find one that is less shy than the others but also not agressive, and we bribe them with the woodlice. We build a bond with them by coming back over and over again and then hopefully about halfway through the school year we can bring them back to the castle and start training,” Y/N pondered aloud. “How often do you recon you want to come back?” James asked and he continued to row.  “What about every two days?” Y/N asked, worried that might be more often than the rest of them would want to meet up. “We can do every two days, maybe once the bowtruckle starts to trust us more, we can come every day just to strengthen the bond even more before we bring them inside,” Remus suggested. Y/N beamed, “That sounds perfect.”

When the teens arrived to the island they found that there were indeed, branches upon branches of bowtruckles living in the trees. “These trees must be growing wand wood,” Y/N murmured. “Bowtruckles live in wand wood trees to protect them,” she explained. “So we ought ta be careful about pissing them off?” Remus asked. “Not necessarily, they’re very calm creatures. They only attack if they feel their tree is being threatened. Most of them will cower away to watch us from afar but we need to find one that is curious enough to want to check us out and stay visible,” Y/N explained. The group split up into pairs to gently search the island for the perfect bowtruckle. James and Lily, Remus and Peter, and Sirius and Y/N each went their own direction with a pouch full of woodlice.

Each pair searched and searched, but the bowtruckles kept scurrying away to hide. Until Y/N and Sirius stopped to rest and leaned up against a tree that seemed slightly larger than the rest on the island. “You’ve been quiet, are you starting to give up?” Sirius asked quietly. “No, Y/N sighed, “I’m getting a little discouraged but I don’t want to give up. I really want to go through with this and complete Operation Bowtruckle with you guys,” She told him honestly. “Plus, just because we haven’t found anything doesn’t mean no one else has,” She shrugged with hope in her voice. “Y/N/N, I think we’ve hit a stroke of luck, look,” Sirius whispered, pointing to a tree branch slightly overhead where a single Bowtruckle was peeking its head out from the other side.

“Oh, hi there!” Y/N whispered with a grin. She opened her pouch and set five woodlice on the tree branch in front of the bowtruckle as it cowered away until her hand was a safe enough distance from the tree. The bowtruckle returned, fully revealing itself this time and happily munched down the woodlice and looked and Y/N as if expecting more. “Hi there sweet girl,” Y/N murmured. “You want some more?” she asked, reaching into the pouch to pull out more woodlice. The bowtruckle backed away, but did not completely hide itself as Y/N set down the second round of food. “How do you know she’s female?” SIrius asked quietly. “She’s only got two legs. Males have three,” Y/N answered simply, and Sirius couldn’t help but grin and the fact that she just happened to know that off the top of her head.

Sirius and Y/N continued to feed the Bowtruckle until Y/N could get her to climb into her hand to eat the woodlice. “Alright, it’s been a good hour or so, I think we should go find the rest of the group and come back in a few days?” Y/N suggested. “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Have you decided what to call her yet?” Sirius asked curiously. “Millicent, I think. Millie for short. How does that sound?” Y/N asked offering the Bowtruckle one more wood louse. Millicent climbed into Y/N hand to eat the last crustacean and seemed to smile contentedly. “I think she likes it,” Sirius’s grinned. Y/N waited for Millicent to return to her tree, said goodbye, and she and Sirius made their way back to the meeting point.

“Y/N we couldn’t find a single bowtruckle that would work,” Peter announced defeatedly as he and Remus returned to the meeting point. “We found a couple curious ones but they wouldn’t let us get close to them,” Lily announced and she and James appeared. “Fear not, Y/N charmed the pants off of one and had her climbing in her hand,” Sirius beamed. “I made note of the tree she lived in so we’ll come back in a couple days and continue our work. Thank you guys so much for coming and helping me with this,” Y/N grinned as she looked at the teens around her. “You’re one of us now, anything you need, we’ve got you,” James slung his arm around Y/N and lead her and the rest of the group back to the boat.

-

By the time the group returned to the school, it was nearly dinner time and everyone went back to their dorms to freshen up. Once in the great hall, Y/N sat at the end of her table by herself and caught Sirius’s eye from his table across the room and he shot her a wink before going back to his conversation with Remus. She pondered her new friendship with him, or rather, this new chapter in her long-standing friendship with him. Things were just as easy as when they were children, but even easier almost? She felt like she could truly be herself with Sirius, find herself with Sirius. She wondered why it was so easy to breathe around him and why all of his friends were so willing to invite her in and accept her as one of their own. Y/N was taken out of her thoughts as Cynthia, Dawn, and Ellie plopped down around her to eat dinner. “Where were you today?” Dawn asked curiously as she started grabbing food and putting it on her plate. “Oh i just went out to the Forbidden Forest to feed the animals,” Y/N fibbed. She didn’t like lying, but she wanted Operation Bowtruckle to be her secret with Sirius and his friends. “The Forbidden Forest? It’s filthy out there!” Ellie cried, pausing in her own attempt to grab food. “Oh please, it’s not so bad. Plus I like the animals,” Y/N shrugged and began getting food for herself as well. “Well I hope you plan on showering before bringing forest filth in our dorm,” Ellie scrunched up her nose and continued filling her plate. Y/N remembered that she had a role to play with these girls, so she sat up straighter and put on her best smile,” Of course.”

Y/N took her time in the showers, slowly doing her skincare routine and dawdling back to her room. She ran into Remus in the hallway outside her corridor. “I hate to have to say this but it’s almost curfew” he spoke up. “Oh, of course,” Y/N nodded and curtly as she could and sped up toward her common room. “You did a good job today with the Bowtruckle,” he called after her after checking to make sure no one else was around. “Thanks,” Y/N grinned. “We had a lot of fun out there,” Remus told her. “Yeah, I did, too. I’m looking forward to going back again,” she admitted. “This plan is going to work,” Remus assured her. Y/N offered a smile in return and then continued to her common room door and paused before giving the password. “Hey Remus?” she called softly. “Hmm?” He turned back with his eyebrows raised. “Thanks for letting me crash you group,” Y/N said sincerely. Remus grinned in response, “Thanks for crashing.” And with that, they each turned back to their respective directions and continued on with their evenings.

Weeks went by and the teenagers stuck to their plan of visiting Millicent every two days, up until the night the boys backed out and left Y/N and Lily to go alone. “Have I done something? Are they getting bored of my stupid little mission?” Y/N asked aloud, thinking she was alone. Lily, who was approaching while Y/N was pondering aloud answered, “No, love. It’s not you at all, they’re doing a project on the shrieking shack for history of magic tonight.” “We didn’t have an assignment on the shrieking shack, I have that class with Sirius,” Y/N furrowed her brows. “Oh, it’s an extra credit thing. Remus is very interested in the ghosts that live there,” Lily elaborated. “Hmm,” Y/N hummed as she hopped in the row boat, Lily following close behind. “They’ll be back in a couple of days,” Lily assured her.

“A couple of days?!” Y/N asked incredulously. “It’s a um, it’s an immersion thing Remus wanted to do. I dunno, he was just very excited about the haunted past of the place,” Lily shrugged as she rowed. Something smelled fishy to Y/N but she decided to let it go. Lily had been friends with the guys for years- she wouldn’t tell Y/N whatever is really going on if the boys wanted it to be secret. Y/N hummed again and continued to row silently with Lily for a few minutes. To herself, she wondered if the boys really had grown tired of her and if Lily was just here because she felt bad. But then she wondered what they could possibly be doing that would take them out of school for multiple days? Y/N made a note to track down all of the boys separately as soon as they got back to school and see if their answers matched up.  

After a successful couple of hours with Millicent, Y/N and Lily rowed back to the school grounds and hid the rowboat before heading their separate ways. “Hey, Y/N!” Lily called from a few feet away. Y/N turned to her. “I promise, they guys are really sorry they missed Operation Bowtruckle tonight. They wanted to be here but they had to do the project now. They’ll tell you all about it when they get back,” Lily smiled. Y/N wanted to believe her so she smiled back. “Goodnight, Lily,” she said. Lily called out a “goodnight!” back and the girls continued to their separate common rooms. Why does it have to be tonight? Y/N wondered. It’s the fifth Friday of the month… It’s a full moon… There are no clouds in the sky… Y/N thought hard about what could possibly be the reason they had to be gone these specific set of days all the way back to her dorm. When she fell asleep, she dreamt of Sirius.

He was in trouble. It was dark, his breathing was labored. Beams of light from the full moon scattered around the dark place he was in. Something howled, and it was very close. Sirius took a deep breath, and then the footsteps could be heard. Getting closer and closer, the beast was snarling. Y/N couldn’t see it but she just knew it was going to get him at any second. She heard its jaws open and felt its body lunging toward Sirius and all of a sudden- a loud “Mroooow,” from Desdemona woke her up.

Y/N sighed deeply, “Good morning pretty girl,” she whispered. Desdemona meowed again. “I suppose you want breakfast?” Y/N asked, stretching and standing up to feed the cat. Y/N observed the room to find all three of her roommates already gone. She checked her watch to find that she had slept until nearly 11 o’clock. As she fed Desdemona and slowly got ready for her day, she couldn’t stop thinking about her dream. About how real it felt, how much danger Sirius was in. She needed to see him. She was going to go into Hogsmeade and go to the shrieking shack to find Sirius and make sure he was okay.

Y/N made her way to the train with a purpose and hurried into Hogsmeade the moment the train stopped. Before she even made it halfway through town, she saw Sirius inside of Honeydukes and rushed inside to him. “Sirius!” She exclaimed, gently grabbing him by the face and inspecting him for injuries, only to find him healthy and handsome as ever. “Uh, hi there, love,” he chuckled, placing his hands over hers and bringing himself to look into Y/N’s eyes. “Something I can help you with, darling?” He asked with a smile. “I just…” Y/N searched and searched for what to say that wouldn’t make her sound crazy. She sighed. “Where have you been?” She asked shyly. “We’re working on a project for history of magic at the shrieking shack for a few days,” he told her, giving her hands a squeeze.

At this, Y/N realized she was making a scene in the window of the shop and she released Sirius’s face from her hands. “How many days?” She raised an eyebrow. “However many it takes to get enough information for our report, I reckon,” Sirius shrugged. “I thought you said it was a project?” she questioned, stepping slightly closer to him. “There’s a report to go with the project,” he replied cooly. Y/N took a step back and examined him one more time, verifying that he seemed to be fine. “Alright. How’s the project going? What’s it about? Why are you at Honeydukes?” she asked, beginning to look around the store for herself.

“It’s going alright, the ghosts can be quite unfriendly at times, and it’s about the past of the shack so we’re spending time with the spirits and learning what they have to say. And I’m at Honeydukes because Remus wanted more chocolate,” Sirius bumped his shoulder against Y/N’s as he held a can of sherbet lemons out to her. She took them, along with a chocolate frog and then let Sirius lead the way. “Well that sounds very interesting, actually. I’d love to read it when you’re done,” Y/N told him. This wasn’t to catch him in a lie- she had no reason not to believe him, and she would love to hear the stories of the ghosts. “Uh, yeah, sure. I’ll give it to you have Professor Binns grades it,” he nodded as he picked out the chocolate Remus requested. The two checked out and Y/N started to follow Sirius out of the store.

“Can I come with you to help over the weekend?” Y/N offered. “Oh! Um, no I think it’s just supposed to be me and the guys on this one but thank you!” Sirius took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Really, thank you,” he said softly. Y/N smiled and squeezed his hand back before letting it go. “I guess I’ll see you when you get back, then,” She said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “The moment we’re finished I’ll come straight to you. I’ll sneak into your dorm if i have to- just tell me the password to your common room-“ Sirius rambled. “That won’t be necessary,” Y/N laughed, “But I would like to see you again as soon as you get a chance that’s not in the middle of the night.” “Of course. I’ll see you soon. Have a good weekend,” Sirius gave her a beautiful and genuine smile. “You, too,” Y/N told him as they parted ways.

[burbuur]

GOOD OMENS POSTER STARS ANALYSIS

I have seen some posts going around that in this poster Aziraphale and Crowley are looking at Alpha Centauri which to my amateur astronomer eye seemed completely WRONG for reasons listed below but I have noticed SOMETHING EVEN BETTER!

I put down some markers that helped me locate the exact patch of sky compared to an actual star chart. So, they are actually looking at the brightest star in the sky SIRIUS and a very well know constellation ORION (and some other cool objects in this area, as well a part of the Milky Way).

If they are indeed in London, this only further confirms it because these stars are visible from this latitude! Problem with Alpha Centauri is that it is way too deep in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore impossible to see from their latitude.

WHEN to see it? It's visible in the evenings and nights in winter, and in the summer it can only be seen in the pre-dawn hours.

WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT SIRIUS?

It's a binary star consisting of Sirius A and B, meaning that those two stars orbit each other every 50 years (while Alpha Centauri is a triple star system). Also, Sirius is one of the closest stars to the earth too! Historically, it was very important for navigation and has a big significance in various cultures, commonly refered to as the Dog Star.

I also just want to show the ORION NEBULA because it is one of the most beautiful nebulas, can even be seen by the naked eye (not like in the pictures though hahah)

Also, FUN FACT the ecliptic is also visible (the yellow line, which shows the apparent path of the sun, moon and other planets), meaning that there might be planets present as the Pollux location seems a bit off. It could actuallly be Mars, Jupyter or Saturn at the location where I marked the "?" in pink. Or I mean the star charts caaan be skewed for sure, as it could be the case here, but still interesting! Anyways, the Orion itself is very culturally significant, I can't wait if anyone notices anything that could be related to Good Omens !!

[firendgold]

“Harry doesn’t trust adults”

The above is an oft-uttered statement in the fandom, generally taken as fact. I would agree with an it to an extent—however, there are adults Harry trusts almost implicitly throughout the series, and typically he does so because they fulfill certain requirements:

they treat him with respect (not quite like a peer, but like someone whose voice and thoughts matter)

they are almost-constantly present

they give him information or answers

The two who most frequently fulfill these requirements and earn Harry’s trust are Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore—but Dumbledore consistently edges out Lupin because of the amount of times he is respectful, available and informative.

First though, the obvious rebuttals:

What about the Weasley parents? 

Harry is very fond of Molly and Arthur, and he does come to see himself as an extension of the family (as they do for him)... but. It is not a complete envisioning, as evidenced by how many times Harry is surprised to have Molly hug him (year 4), or admit in an argument with Sirius that he is “as good as” another son (year 5), or even to receive a family watch when he is seventeen after knowing and being around the Weasleys for five years (year 7). Even as he adores the Weasleys, he still considers himself somewhat apart from them.

We do not see Harry entrust Molly with secrets, with information, with how he is feeling as the Problem of the Book is running rampant on his physical, mental, and emotional health. He seems to instead take a similar stance as Ron, who would not be caught dead telling his mother about goings-on at Hogwarts unless he absolutely had to. 

Indeed, Harry even keeps relatively harmless things from her such as his sponsorship of Fred and George’s joke shop, although this causes Molly to worry for some time that the twins got the gold through nefarious means. 

And as for Arthur, he is a warm but rather distant presence in Harry’s life, usually serving as a source of comic relief in the earlier books and only getting a bit of personal time with Harry after Nagini attacks him in year 5. Though he is definitely a father and a good father to his children, you don’t get the sense that Arthur sits in that chair for Harry except by extension of being the patriarch of the family Harry is already fond of.

In year 6 when Harry confides in Arthur about his suspicions concerning Draco Malfoy, Arthur kindly but definitively brushes him off, reinforcing the minimal level of trust Harry has given them throughout the series.

In short, Molly and Arthur adore Harry but are simply not available enough to qualify as reliable, and they (rightfully) treat him like a child that needs to be protected, even though Harry’s experiences do not quite line up with or justify how they treat him.

What about Professor McGonagall? 

There’s a line in book 5 chapter 32 after McGonagall has been cursed and sent to St. Mungo’s that shows how much Harry has come to see his Head of House as a pillar of fairness and stability:

“There was nobody left to tell. Dumbledore had gone, Hagrid had gone, but he had always expected Professor McGonagall to be there, irascible and inflexible, perhaps, but always dependably, solidly present.”

So then, you might say, doesn’t that mean that Harry trusts Minerva just as much as (if not more than) he trusts Remus and Albus? Nope, not completely. Here’s why: Professor McGonagall has let Harry down before.

There’s no need to go into detail about year 1 where the trio tries to tell Professor McGonagall about the Philosopher’s Stone (which to be fair to her is not in danger) and she shoots them down, but this is still a pivotal point in shaping Harry’s opinion of her. 

Shortly before this, he has been punished by McGonagall for being out after curfew, trying to help another staff member smuggle a dragon off the grounds. There’s no doubt he’s broken the rules, but the 150-point deduction she takes from him, Hermione and Neville feels disproportionate and extremely unfair.

In year 2, when suspicion lands on Harry after the Chamber opens, it is McGonagall who takes him to Dumbledore’s office for the first time after Harry ends up in too many wrong-place-wrong-time situations with Petrified students. It’s clear to the reader that she doesn’t really suspect Harry, but it’s also notable that even though she is his Head of House, it is Hagrid that bursts in later on Harry and Dumbledore’s meeting to vehemently declare Harry’s innocence. 

In year 3, with a little help from Hermione, McGonagall is also the instrument of taking away Harry’s new Firebolt (understandably so, to be fair), and doesn’t do such a great job reassuring Harry about its eventual return once it’s cleared for curses. 

And much later in year 5, she makes the glaring error of losing her temper with Harry and telling him to control his after he has already had several of Umbridge’s sadistic detentions, and twice come to her for help with handling them.

This doesn’t mean that she always lets Harry down, though. McGonagall is also the one who persuades Dumbledore to bend the “no first year broom-havers/Quidditch players” rule in year 1. 

In year 4 she is one of the first to back Harry up when he insists to Dumbledore that he did not put his name in the Goblet of Fire, even though that means going publicly against Snape, and she allows Harry and Hermione to practice spells in abandoned classrooms for the tasks. 

And in year 5, during Harry’s career advice session, she stands toe to toe with Umbridge and promises Harry all the professional advice and assistance she can give, even if that means going against the Ministry’s party line.

In short, McGonagall has the curse of being just as distant toward Harry as many of the other adults in his life, though not maliciously so. I’d argue that Harry trusts McGonagall to be professional and fair and present when it comes to school-related matters, but not so much when something unusual or Voldemort-related happens—and since “Voldemort-related” covers most of Harry’s life, he doesn’t extend McGonagall as much trust in that arena after being shown several times where her priorities lie.

What about Sirius?

Sirius is a special case. Harry admires Sirius, and he worries for him. He does trust Sirius, and he believes Sirius cares for him without needing as much reinforcement as he does for/from other characters. But for all their limited time together, Harry steps into a parental role for Sirius just as much as Sirius does for him:

Harry trusts Sirius enough to be honest with him about things going on with Voldemort, and even relies on Sirius to keep him informed when other adults wouldn’t—but he also tries to keep Sirius from being caught again by the Ministry practically from the moment Sirius first gets away. This includes writing Sirius letters about pain in his scar in year 4, then backpedaling immediately and asking Sirius not to come to him when Sirius understandably freaks the fuck out and says ‘I’m flying north, don’t try and stop me’.

Harry tries to physically shield Sirius from Snape in year 5, even though the two are adults and have every right to have stupid fights in the middle of Sirius’ house about Harry’s Occlumency lessons and shit that happened twenty years ago. (You can tell how I really feel about that.)

Also in year 5, the infamous two-way mirror: Harry doesn’t know what Sirius’ gift is until too late, but he also resolves almost immediately after getting it to never use it, because he wants to protect Sirius from any potential consequences from Snape, the Ministry or any others. He is fifteen years old, and by this point has so often embraced the role of keeping information from Sirius to keep him ‘safe’ that it never occurs to him that he is metaphorically sitting in the wrong chair.

Sirius’ one mistake is not mistaking Harry for James, but occasionally goading Harry to make decisions based on what James might have done or not done—for example, when Harry verbally tries to dissuade him from coming to the school in book 5, Sirius invokes James to make Harry feel guilty and push him to do what Sirius wants, and you can tell it stings:

“Listen, don’t go asking too many questions about Hagrid,” said Sirius hastily, “it’ll just draw even more attention to the fact that he’s not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn’t want that. Hagrid’s tough, he’ll be okay.” And when they did not appear cheered by this, Sirius added, “When’s your next Hogsmeade weekend anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn’t we? I thought I could—” 

“NO!” said Harry and Hermione together, very loudly. 

“Sirius, didn’t you see the Daily Prophet?” said Hermione anxiously. 

“Oh that,” said Sirius, grinning, “they’re always guessing where I am, they haven’t really got a clue—” 

“Yeah, but we think this time they have,” said Harry. “Something Malfoy said on the train made us think he knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, Sirius—you know, Lucius Malfoy — so don’t come up here, whatever you do, if Malfoy recognizes you again —” 

“All right, all right, I’ve got the point,” said Sirius. He looked most displeased. “Just an idea, thought you might like to get together —” 

“I would, I just don’t want you chucked back in Azkaban!” said Harry. 

There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes. “You’re less like your father than I thought,” he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. “The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James.” 

“Look—” 

“Well, I’d better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,” said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. “I’ll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?” 

There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius’s head had been was flickering flame once more.

It’s a clear sign that Sirius loves Harry, but doesn’t necessarily respect Harry’s attempts to keep him safe.

Harry trusts Sirius, but not entirely, and not consistently. In some ways, he does not always treat Sirius like an adult like he does with other adults.

Done. Now for the two adults Harry does choose to trust for extended periods.

Why does Harry trust Remus?

Remus is one of the first adults in Harry’s life to be distant, but still kind, respectful, reliable, and dependable. 

One of their first points of conflict (Remus not letting Harry face the boggart) is handled by Remus better than many other adults ‘handle’ Harry: he explains why he did what he did, listens to Harry’s counterpoint, and provides more analysis and guidance for Harry’s fears. He is one of the few teachers Harry has that does so.

How is Remus different than everyone above?

To be fair... in some ways, he isn’t. Certainly he is around much less, so Harry ends up “trusting” him for a much shorter time period than he does for the Weasleys, McGonagall, Sirius, and Dumbledore. But his experience with Harry in year 3 has a lasting positive impression on Harry:

Though he has to almost beg Remus to teach him the Patronus Charm at first, Remus does agree and sacrifices lots of his personal time to do just that. The fact that the lessons are ultimately successful strengthens the bond between them. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to imagine that every time Harry is able to successfully cast a Patronus, he thinks of Remus along with his dad and his happy-memory-of-choice.

Although Remus gives Harry an intense (and, we later learn, hypocritical) dressing-down in the same year after catching Harry out after hours with the Marauder’s Map and Snape, his willingness to lie directly to Snape’s face (long seen as a source of authority in Harry’s world) means that Harry sees him as someone who isn’t afraid to bend the rules for a good cause, or to protect someone. This means he sees Remus in a different light as a teacher than he does someone like McGonagall (who doesn’t rebel against her peer/boss Umbridge in Harry’s line of sight until a few years later).

Remus shows he is willing to protect Harry from Sirius before the Wormtail-reveal, and also from Harry’s own recklessness, which means that Harry can rely on him to be in a more senior/paternal role in the way he can’t always do with Sirius. 

This may explain why he doesn’t seem to hold any grudge against Remus for disappearing post year 3 and not showing up again until the beginning of year 5.

How is Remus the same? 

Remus does have his shortcomings, which push him slightly down on the list. 

The aforementioned disappearance between year 3 end and year 5 beginning is never properly explained, and we don’t get the sense that any letters were exchanged between Remus and Harry in that time. 

Remus is also guilty of invoking Harry’s parents to try and shame Harry into doing what he wants (in this case, not running off recklessly with Sirius on the loose in year 3). 

In year 5, when Harry confronts him and Sirius about James’ behavior toward Snape, both men give less-than-satisfactory explanations. 

In year 6, Harry is just as displeased with Remus for brushing off his Draco-concerns as he is displeased with Arthur. 

Most importantly, Remus’ offer to join the trio on the Horcrux hunt in year 7 even though it means abandoning Tonks and Teddy almost shatters Harry’s good opinion of him entirely, and forces Harry to see the man he has long admired in a new light.

All this means that Harry trusts Remus with things he wouldn’t trust Sirius, McGonagall, or the Weasley parents with, but there are still many things he keeps to himself. It’s notable that out of the Sirius/Remus/Albus trio, Remus is the one Harry discusses Voldemort with the least.

 So, that’s Remus sorted.

(at last, we have arrived.)

Why does Harry trust Albus?

I’d hardly argue that Dumbledore handles or treats Harry perfectly. But Harry’s first impression of him face to face is perhaps the most positive out of everyone above minus the Weasley parents. 

Albus does a lot to endear Harry to him without even trying, precisely because that’s just how he treats all his students. Albus is polite, respectful, and kind to Harry. 

Albus is also very seldom absent for very long. He vanishes briefly at the end of years 1 and 2, but is back almost before Harry has time to miss him. He is present throughout the entirety of years 3 and 4. In years 5 and 6 this turns into longer departures from the castle, and we see how Harry has come to rely on Albus so much that he is discomfited by his absences. And once Albus has died, a significant portion of Harry’s brainpower is taken up in grieving the loss of everything Albus was to him.

How is Albus different than everyone else?

Albus knows from the beginning that Voldemort will target Harry once he returns, and this informs the discussions he has with Harry. Where other adults seek only to shield Harry from Voldemort or related topics, Albus is aware that even their best protections will not hold against Voldemort’s hatred and determination, which is why he and Harry have the most conversations about Voldemort by far.

Albus does reference Lily and James, but doesn’t compare Harry to them or use them to shame Harry into doing the opposite of whatever he’s currently doing.

Notable example: in year 3, when Harry expresses regret for letting Pettigrew get away and not letting Remus and Sirius kill him, Albus praises his decision and says it is one he believes James would have made as well.

It’s true that Albus doesn’t give Harry all the information he has about a subject at any given time, but he is very open with information that other adults in Harry’s life wouldn’t necessarily share with him, and doesn’t lie to him. (For example, can you imagine Molly Weasley saying anything about the Mirror of Erised besides “Stay away from it”?) Examples:

Year 1: he fully explains the dangers of the Mirror of Erised, and later explains Nicolas Flamel’s decision to die and the reason why Quirrell couldn’t touch Harry. 

Year 2: he supports Harry when Harry is the school pariah, gives Harry information about Fawkes that later saves his life, and later sheds some light on Voldemort’s early history.

Year 3: He interacts least with Harry here, but still comes through in the end to infodump about Patroni, prophecies, and the concepts of compassion and mercy.

Year 4: Before this, Albus has typically defended Harry either from Voldemort or from low-level hostility from his classmates or teachers. GOF is the first time he has to publicly defend Harry’s reputation and physical person from governmental and international threats. He does so while still allowing Harry information on things others wouldn’t, such as the post-Halloween 1981 Death Eater trials, the current disappearances linked to Voldemort, and personal information about Ludo Bagman and Snape. 

It’s also notable that along with Sirius, one of the first people Harry considers writing to at the beginning of the book when he has his scar-vision is Dumbledore.

Year 5: Hoo boy. Well. Not very much respect, presence, or info-sharing here until the big prophecy reveal at the end, but even as Albus completely changes his approach to Harry in this book, he still takes pains to defend him from both the Ministry during the DA debacle and Voldemort himself at the Ministry of Magic.

How is Albus the same?

Although he doesn’t express it the same way as any other adult, Albus definitely sees Harry as a child (albeit one burdened by ridiculous challenges), and this backfires on him at the times he chooses not to provide Harry with adequate information or protection because he wants to protect him.

Naturally, Albus’ age and prestige also keep Harry from sharing certain things with him that he might have shared with Sirius or his parents, like his love interests or his more minor academic woes.

Can I just write “year 5″ here? When Albus chooses to keep pertinent information from Harry and directs the other adults (and kids!) in his life to do the same, Harry rebels and gets into ever more dangerous situations culminating in Sirius’ death. It’s bad. It’s really bad.

Like pretty much everyone else in book 6, Albus dismisses Harry’s concerns about Draco—and although we know in hindsight that Albus took them completely seriously and already had counterplans for Draco’s actions, on the surface (and in Harry’s eyes) he was let down by someone who was meant to trust him and take his word for things.

The specter of Severus Snape also constantly stands between Harry and Albus, with Snape’s allegiance and reasoning being the one bit of information Albus does not share with Harry under any circumstances.

On the surface, it seems like Remus and Albus have more than enough flaws and make more than enough mistakes with Harry to not elevate them above the other major adults in Harry’s life... AND YET.

Even though Remus and Albus do both let Harry down at significant moments, he retains enough trust in them due to their past behavior and treatment of him to rely on them the way he relies on almost no one else.