#all i can think of is snape doing an impression of ron in that one potter puppet pals episode

[racmune]

currently on the brain: the fact that spy can do perfect impressions of all the other mercs' voices n accents..

[sitp-recs]

hello!! i love your recs so so much, and i finally have something to ask. what about fics where harry is very good at something beyond just having powerful magic (love that trope tho) like commanding a classroom, solving a complicated puzzle, or idk even whittling. and draco notices and likes it? like competence kink. thank you!!

Oh I love this ask! Such a great concept, and not something I see often (competent Auror Harry is pretty popular though!). I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch of fics and might add more later, but these are all great:

In Which Harry is Magnetic North and Draco Is An Idiot by bryoneybrynn (T, 13k)

For as long as he can remember, Draco’s been bringing fake dates to his family’s annual Yuletide celebration in order to evade his mother’s matchmaking. This year, Potter’s posing as his pretend boyfriend. But as the party gets underway, it gets unclear who’s playing who, who’s pretending what, who’s not pretending at all, and what the game really is. Confused? Yeah, so is Draco…

Unfinished Business by cupiscent (E, 20k)

Ten years after the War ends, Harry and Draco still haven't got their act together. But maybe it's not too late.

This is Never Happening Again by hpleems (M, 32k)

“Potter,” Malfoy said, shaking his head. “Do I look like I care about your holiday plans? Trust me: this is *never* happening again.”

Meet Me at Midnight by thestarryknight (T, 57k)

Harry was beginning to wonder if he’d ever make anything again when Malfoy stormed through the door of Harry’s furniture shop. Now Harry’s got an impossible Ministry commission to finish, and even less energy than ever to deal with his elusive muse. That is, until he stumbles upon the surreal and beautiful world of a mysterious fae creature…

A Room Up There (And You In It) by thestarryknight (T, 59k)

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit. Featuring a grumpy antiques lover who most certainly did not sign up for this, encounters with a vengeful apparition, and a healthy application of Christmas spirit.

Among Ancient Pines by Theartfulldodger (M, 74k)

Every day, Draco Malfoy tries. With every fiber of his being he tries. But he doesn’t much think about what he’s trying for. In his final term of Healer training, Draco is unfortunate enough to find himself on a plane, the only means of traveling to a small, magical town in rural Alaska. Years of hard work have culminated in an opportunity to work with an experimental wandmaker to study the intersection of Healing and wand theory.

Azoth by zeitgeistic (E, 88k)

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them (or Draco Malfoy's Guide to Stop Dying and Start Living Instead) by nerakrose, dustmouth (T, 96k)

Malfoy is way too interested in coroner reports for somebody who's definitely not looking for ways to die, Harry wants to be friends with him, and Ginny wants to break up with Harry.

[saintsenara]

Wait why are you not a fan of Snape and Hermione?? 2 nerds who care a socially awkward amount about the things they care about nerding out together at levels of romance people who can be chill and normal about things can’t comprehend?? It’s not one of my fav ships but I can definitely see it!

I headcanon that Snape picks on Hermione being a muggle raised know it all thirsty to prove and lacking self awareness because he was one himself when he arrived at school and James and Sirius picked on him for it! It’s like that you’re most repulsed by the things you’re self conscious of in yourself thing to me. Or maybe a him trying to live out being the “cool” one in that dynamic thing

But when she’s a grown woman and more self possessed like he became too I feel like that same energy ness has potential for love!

Hermione is famously respectful and compassionate enough towards all beings to be more understanding than say Lily Evans of his prickly tender ego if he had another m word style outburst and such a people pleaser she’d keep coming back for more snark as long as he peppered it with the odd encouraging compliment

And I feel like a Snape in reciprocated love could absolutely veer into inventing beautiful and helpful spells to impress his lover or sending “made me think of u 😘” notes with verses of elaborate obscure poetry territory that would be frankly the level of literary and academic courtship our Herms deserves 😌

Is it cause they’d both be the highly strung worrier one and they both need someone to ground them? Or maybe too pessimistic together and one of them needs to be the cheerful one?

anon, i genuinely love this for you - i'm always thrilled to get people explaining their love for ships in the ol' inbox, especially when they're ships i don't instinctively vibe with, and i have been won round to stranger premises than this by a passionate defence of why two characters should kiss.

where i still think snamione isn't clicking for me, however, is that the way you describe both snape and hermione here doesn't align in any significant way with what i personally think would be interesting to explore about either character in a relationship and have them still feel meaningfully like their canon selves.

[i will say, though - because i always think it's worth reiterating my fandom commitment towards being neither a cop nor a priest - that i literally don't give a shit about either the age gap or the student-teacher dynamic. i know that's an objection to pairings like snarry and snamione which lots of people do express. but i will never be one of them.]

the primary reason that i don't vibe with many of the more... sapiosexual hermione ships [by which i mean not only snamione but tomione] is that they hang on the idea that hermione's intellect expresses itself in a way we never actually see in canon.

or, the idea that snape and hermione are intellectually compatible [and that they would enjoy hanging out being nerdy about stuff] is just... not true.

throughout the seven-book canon, the way that hermione shows herself to be clever is that she displays an excellent memory and an enormous capacity to rote-learn. her intelligence is overwhelmingly demonstrated - both in the classroom and during the trio's year on the run - by her being able to regurgitate swathes of information, very usually verbatim from the source she got it from.

she is clearly able to use this ability to retain information to understand the theoretical component of magic in a way neither harry nor ron ever manage, and she is able to use this understanding of theory to work out how to perform spells which are ahead of her expected level on the hogwarts curriculum.

and this is intelligence - and i want to be very clear that i'm not trying to suggest that hermione shouldn't be thought of as intellectual, or that her academic achievements should be devalued. but it isn't the way snape's intelligence manifests itself.

because hermione is never shown - at any point in canon - to be a particularly creative or experimental thinker.

she places an enormous intellectual trust in disciplinary authority - teachers and textbooks - and is frequently rattled when these are revealed to be partial or incorrect, as we see in her shock at hogwarts: a history not mentioning house elves or her anger at harry getting better results by following the modified instructions in the prince's textbook [despite knowing nothing about the theory underpinning them] than she does with the "official" ones.

she also regards the gatekeeping of inquiry which disciplinary boundaries enforce to be a positive thing and she never displays any inclination to step beyond them. she dislikes the spells in the prince's textbook because they aren't ministry-approved - and i must say that i think the idea that she'd be won over by a man creating spells for her is wishful thinking...

she is immediately mistrustful of anything she can't find something she regards as an empirical source for - notice, for example, that she only comes round to the idea that prophecies might be real once she encounters them in the ministry of magic.

even when we see her using magic on her own terms - the jinx she uses on marietta edgecombe, for example; or the protean charm on the da coins - the magic she's using is sophisticated, and is being applied in a way which wouldn't be classroom-sanctioned, but it's not magic which is being used in a way which is removed from the spell's original purpose. the protean charm on the da coins is impressive because it's a flawless execution of newt-level magic by a sixteen-year-old. it's not impressive because hermione is using it in a strange, experimental, or radical way.

[in contrast, the dark mark - which harry notes the coins mimic - is clearly a spell voldemort himself invents.]

snape, on the other hand, is an experimenter. he's someone who clearly sees magic as a creative force which he has every right to shape as he sees fit by adaptation and invention. and he's someone who evidently rejects the logic of disciplinary gatekeeping - one tension in his relationship with dumbledore prior to half-blood prince is that snape evidently retains an enormous intellectual interest in the dark arts [which, as he tells us, are an area of magic which is feared precisely because they can't be neatly contained within disciplinary boxes - they are ever-changing, unfixed, mutating...]

and it's these conflicting views of what magic is and how it should be used and thought about which is the cause of the intellectual incompatibility we see between snape and hermione in canon.

he is unequivocally in the wrong for his dismissive classroom manner towards her - because he is an adult and she is a child. but he isn't wrong in principle that hermione just repeating what she's read in the textbook and refusing to synthesise her knowledge [she always goes massively over word limits! she never gives answers in class in her own words!] isn't actually a demonstration that she understands the material. [and therefore something a good teacher would guide her through conquering... snape having no interest in doing this is his own fault.]

and - from a snamione-specific perspective - it's all the evidence snape needs that, actually, they're not going to enjoy hanging out chatting about academic pursuits. hermione values knowledge like a dragon hoards treasure. snape wants to take that treasure, melt it down, and turn it into new and weird things.

once again, i don't think this a flaw in either of their characters - it's just something which is. and i don't think it's an insurmountable obstacle to writing snamione, because i believe any ship is possible if an author has enough nerve. but it's an aspect of both characters' canon personalities [and hermione's above all] which never seems to make it into snamione fics - all of which, as far as i've encountered them, are beholden to an idea of hermione's approach to academia which is considerably more flexible than we actually see in the books.

of your other points, i'm not particularly convinced by the idea that snape sees his younger self in the teenage hermione. this isn't just for the reasons outlined above - hermione isn't trying to prove herself in the same way he was, which was by creating and experimenting in a bid to be noticed and considered impressive - but also because of the massive gulf in their respective class backgrounds.

hermione is really posh - and, while she's obviously subjected to discrimination at hogwarts on account of her blood-status, she also comes from a family with both the financial resources and the cultural language to make her familiar with the vibe of the elite muggle boarding schools hogwarts is a pastiche of.

the teen snape - in contrast - stands out from his cohort in that he is visually identifiable as working-class [which does appear to be genuinely unusual at hogwarts]. his class background is something which clearly drove a lot of the marauders' bullying of him [i'm sorry to the girlies who think james and sirius targeted him out of some righteous desire to stamp out his prejudice - it was because he was poor and uncouth] and which he still has a chip on his shoulder about as an adult.

this - again - is not an insurmountable barrier to a snamione relationship [as it's not a barrier to thousands of real-world partnerships and friendships]. but it is something an author needs to grapple with if they want to make the pairing - at least, in my opinion - seem plausible. but the standard vibe seems to be that snape would be comfortable in the grangers' home fairly quickly, and that he'd be delighted to have hermione swanning around offering suggestions for how they could do up spinner's end... instead of him resenting this as the unwelcome meddling of people who've never had to worry for money.

i'm also not particularly convinced by the idea that hermione would get over being called a mudblood - especially by an adult man. while i think it's completely plausible that she'd handle this differently than lily [although lily's reaction is entirely justified - and i don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater of contextualising the teenage snape and the motivating factors behind his decisions by pretending that cutting off your friend because he called you a slur is a petty, ill-thought-out, or unreasonable move], i don't think that her reaction would be automatically forgiving.

hermione is compassionate towards kreacher when he calls her a mudblood because kreacher is a slave, whose prejudicial views are inextricably bound up in the magic used to oppress him [i.e. that if he received an order to use the term, or to refuse to serve a muggleborn food, from his masters, he would have to punish himself violently if he disobeyed it]. she is not - quite rightly! - compassionate towards someone like draco malfoy when he calls her one, since he is a free person with full agency to choose not to do this.

could she forgive him - or snape - for using the term? sure! absolutely! but i don't think it's a given - and i also think she'd expect a demonstration of how sorry snape was which wouldn't necessarily align with how he'd think he'd demonstrated his regret.

i do agree that - as you say - hermione is a people-pleaser, and she definitely has a far greater tolerance for being treated cruelly by people she wants to impress [especially authority figures - including snape himself] than either harry or ron. and i think this has the potential to introduce an extremely thorny dynamic into a snamione fic - in which the power dynamic inherent in the age gap [which, to reiterate, i think is completely fine for an author to enjoy] is compounded by hermione being unwilling to anger or contradict snape [which is a vibe - as i've said in answer to an ask about harmony - we also see in her relationship with harry... it's also obviously exactly how snape's relationship with dumbledore works.]

on a couple of the more minor characterisation notes, i'm afraid that the idea of snape as a great romantic has never hit for me. it seems really bound up in the way alan rickman portrayed him in the films, which i've always found a bit toothless. i also don't like the trope of "actually snape's really hot" which seems to always accompany it - ugly, odd men to get to bone too!

[what he would be - i think - is a magpie. get ready to be handed odd stones and bits of leaves on dates.]

i also think they're highly-strung in ways which differ enough to mean they'd just annoy each other. hermione is highly-strung in that she flusters easily and is very poor under pressure, but she's actually pretty emotionally stable [and i'd dispute that she's a pessimist - this is a girl who thinks that she's successfully eradicating slavery at hogwarts by knitting hats; she's pretty robust, funny, cheerful, and idealistic]. snape is highly-strung in that he has a hair-trigger temper and is very emotionally volatile, but he's obviously an extraordinarily good liar, very quick on his feet, and very good under pressure. he'd think she panicked too much [and over insignificant things he didn't care about], she'd think he tanked the vibe of a date by taking offence at someone breathing too loudly.

where are they similar? well, they have a shared self-serving streak [hermione is appalled by behaviour from harry and ron she considers perfectly moral when she does it]; capacity for cruelty; tendency towards secrecy; tendency towards pettiness and pleasure in the misfortune of others; loathing of flying a broom; cutting sense of humour; stubbornness; resilience; clear dislike of slumming it in nature; love of puzzles; and a weakness for red hair.

i think you could make it work on the grounds that they'd probably have the time of their lives being haters together - especially, i feel, about rita skeeter.

and - y'know - because love is weird.

[in-flvx]

I still find it interesting how so much of the perception of Sirius as a character is swayed by his haughty expression.

Most metas (this is not a dog against those btw, I love Sirius metas, just want to add my own) etc I've seen go with this, his ultra love for james, and his derision towards Peter as the most prominent shows of his character, and infer meaning into every other relationship he has from that point out.

And I think these are outliers.

He looks haughty? Some people are born with resting bitch face, what of it?

And I'll discard any mention of James and Harry right now, bc these are outliers of the greatest magnitude, and looking at every relationship Sirius as extensions of his love for james imo just cheapens his bond to him.

His derision towards Peter is very reasonable, and also the most obvious outlier, and I don't think I need to explain it further. Instead I'll add snape and mundungus fletcher into the mix here, and go on to talk about the often-talked-about usage of certain descriptors within the black family towards people they don't like. As others have pointed out before me, the preferred way to insult people within this family is to insinuate uncleanliness. Walburgas portrait, kreacher and I think also Phineas nigellus use these kinds of insults on a pretty regular basis - many of which go against Sirius as well. And Sirius has adopted these insults, and uses them when he really wants to cut deep. He has many people to be angry with, is surrounded by a whole lot of poor people (for example the entire weasley clan, Remus, and mundungus fletcher), and we even see him in battle.

But he notably uses these cleanliness based insults on two specific people: Peter, and snape. What do these two men have in common? For one, obviously, they all went to hogwarts at the same time. For another, Sirius has, or had had obvious respect for both. Peter as one of his closest friends, as a person he confided in and cared for, and who he then expected to care for him in return (and we know how that turned out). And snape as a rival. As much as Sirius likes to insult snape to his face, he also never misses an opportunity to praise his intellect. Similarly to the way he praises and goads bella in his last duel.

Meanwhile, again, he purposefully surrounds himself with people, who the malfoys regularly call dirty ( the weasleys, hagrid, Remus, hermione), and is also on notably good terms with mundungus fletcher, who everyone from the order likes to call these things too. All of which Harry has described in several shades of dirt as well, tbh. And I'm saying this not in a 'oh wow, the rich boy lowers himself to the commoners' kind of way, bc to me he never gives anything close to this impression. The weasleys come closer to this kind of mindset toward any kind of marginalized person lbr.

What we do see, though, is sirius being incredibly forthcoming and caring towards literally everyone.

He has discussions with hermione about elf rights and their projections of the coming year. He obviously cares about Ron's well-being, long after he mauled him. He jokes around with the twins, and helps them with their inventions. He forgives Remus for thinking Sirius was the spy. He makes a considerable effort to be friendly with Molly after their fight. He adheres to dumbledores bs orders. (I think he told ginny about the repellant charm on the doors but don't quote me on that.) He had the most emotionally honest relationship with lily we see in the text. He cared so much about Peter that lily notified him of his emotional state as something Sirius should see to. He organizes the best Christmas he can manage to keep everyone's mind off of their worry for Arthur. He came close enough to kingsley for inside jokes to develop - jokes urgent enough to be passed to him as quickly as possible.

In my eyes Sirius Black is singular in the way he develops relationships, and in the way he cares for everyone he surrounds himself with.

Even with those he hates.

[dracoxsworld]

Hey, could you do a fluff one shot for any of the chapters you write for, maybe the reader had been handed back a test she scored lower on than she had expected/ she’s being hard on herself and the character tells her she did great and he’s proud or something like that?

A/N: Bestie you asked the right person because i did SO SO bad in school lol, so i’d definitely relate to this situation. I haven’t written for Harry lately, so I decided to write for him if that’s okay. :) I hope this meets your expectations!

Proud - Harry P. x Reader

“Y/N, please don’t stress. I’m sure you did fine!” Ron assured you as you both walked to your potions class.

“Ron you don’t understand. I couldn’t even guess an answer on some questions. I couldn’t focus, I have so much on my plate,” You rambled.

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for,” Ron pointed out.

“Y/N! Ron!” A familiar voice called out.

You both turns around and saw Harry, your boyfriend, run up to you. “Sorry, I-“ Harry was huffing and puffing as he caught up to you.

“Breathe, Potter.” You said, patting him on the shoulder. You tried your best to hold back your laughter.

“I was running late- and” Potter sighed again.

“Well, we’re gonna be late if we just stay here, you can explain on the way” Ron stated, looking at the time on his watch.

You and Harry nodded, you took Harry’s hand in yours, and you all proceeded to walk to class.

Potions was hands down, the worst class. Snape taught it, and of course hated you, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. You struggled with the subject to begin with, and today was even more nerve-wracking; you were getting test results back.

You knew you had done poorly on this test, you didn’t have time to study with Quidditch practice, homework from other classes, and having time to actually feed and take care of yourself.

You, Ron, and Harry took your seats. Hermione was already in class, sitting in front of you three. She turned around, smiling.

“I cannot wait for these test results! The test was so easy, it was basically free points.” Hermione beamed.

You groaned loudly and put your head down. Hermione looked at you confused, shrugged and turned back forward.

“What’s wrong with her?” Harry asked Ron, concerned.

“Eh, afraid she didn’t do so swell on Snape’a test.” Ron explained.

“Y/N, love.” Harry comforted you.

“Humph.” You said, muffled from your sleeve.

Before Harry could continue, you heard the classroom doors dramatically slam, which always means class has started.

“Head up, Y/L/N.” Snape scolded, coming out of seemingly nowhere, quickly walking up the aisles.

You quickly popped your head up. Your chest felt heavy, like it was hard to breathe.

“I strongly suggest you pay attention, I am not impressed by these scores.” Snape said lowly, looking directly at you. You gulped.

Snape handed back all of the students tests, he handed yours back facing downwards, so was Ron’s. Ron sighed. “That’s never a good sign.”

You flipped your paper over.

FAILED

I strongly suggest you start to pay attention in my class, Y/F/N. - Prof. Snape

“Shit.” You said, tears immediately rushing to your eyes. You knew you didn’t do great; but you didn’t think you had flunked the test. Harry looked over at you sympathetically.

“Y/N-“

“Potter. You can continue your conversations with Miss. Y/L/N some other time. Now your time will be mine.” Snape said, snarling at you both.

-

Class had ended, you stuffed your test in your bag and rushed out of the classroom, leaving Harry and Ron in the dust without another word. You swiftly walked to your dorm room, other students noticing your upset manor and stared at you; making it worse. You opened your door, and flipped in your soft, cushioned bed.

Your face was smothered in your pillows, you were cursing yourself out, frustrated.

“I’m such a fucking idiot,” you cursed yourself.

You hear your door open.

“Go away.” You groan.

“No, please, baby. Let me talk with you.” Harry said, slightly out of breath. You sit up and face him. Once again, he was out of breath.

“It’s a lot of stairs to get here,” Harry complained, still trying to catch his breath.

You laughed softly. A small smile grew on Harry’s lips, he was grateful he could get you to at least laugh.

“Darling, plead don’t be upset about your score.” Harry said in a comforting voice. He walked up to your bed, and you automatically wrap your arms around his waist, still sitting up on the bed.

He stroked the back of your head with his fingers, curling it between two, letting you settle down. You were quietly sobbing into his stomach, definitely leaving tear stains on his shirt.

“Babydoll, it’s not that serious.” Harry said lovingly.

“It is!” You said, pulling away from him. “Everyone knows I’m an idiot from what stupid Snape said! I knew I did bad but I thought I’d do better than failing, at least a C. I’m so stupid. I guarantee I did the worst in class.”

Harry shook his head, looking down at you. He then crouched down to be in your level, brushing your hair out of your red and swollen face from crying.

“Ron got the same score as you, I didn’t do so hot either. I almost failed.”

“And what about Hermione?” You said jealously. Hermione was your friend, but she always seemed to show her test scores in your face unintentionally.

“Well…it’s Hermione. She got the best score.” Harry said, rolling his eyes. It seemed everyone was jealous of the brilliant witch. She seemed to have the ability to do everything and make it look easy.

“But that doesn’t matter, love. You set impossible expectations for yourself, potions is a hard class.” Harry said sympathetically. You grabbed his hand that was on your face, and toyed with his fingers as you listened.

“Lovely, it is one test. One. Please don’t test yourself as a failure for one bad test. You’re so intelligent, in so many ways. You’re smart in ways Hermione is not, even. You have common sense, you’re intuitive, you are so charismatic. You can start a conversation with anybody, that takes intelligence, too.”

You look up at your boyfriend, and had a small smile grow on your face.

“Really?” You sniff.

“Really, you’re doing great, love. You really are. Tell you what; we can have a study date to prepare for the next test. We can set aside time together and study.” Harry suggested.

You nodded, wiping off your tears. Harry smiled, and pulled you in for a tight hug. You were finally able to take a deep breath, and he pulled away from you.

“I love you, so much.” Harry said softly.

“I love you too, thank you.” You replied.

Harry leaned in again, only this time to kiss you softly. The kiss was innocent, and light.

“It’s my job, love. Now, let’s get something to eat.”

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Do Draco Fans Really Love Draco?

I read a Quora post last year when I was still new to HP where the user did an AO3 fic analysis and pointed to the number of fanfics to prove how much Draco's fans love him and how overrated he is.

But I think all these fanfics prove how misunderstood Draco is as a character. You see all these fics where:

his parents are abusive

he was an angel all along and it's his parents' fault why he's mean

he becomes all hot and bothered like a fanboy for Harry as soon as Harry shows him some sort of decency

Draco is basically Ron but rich and blonde

he is basically male Ginny but rich and blonde

he simps for Hermione and thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the school (as if!)

his redemption fics have all his mean moments transplanted on another character (eg. Blaise, Theo, Vincent, Gregory or some random male OC) to make him look better

he acts all girly

he's a loner and no one understands him

he's self-conscious or has low self-esteem

he takes all the blame for his bad relationship with the trio like the golden trio were saints who never hurt him too and basically kisses their butts to repent

he's a mini Voldemort in training

he's a manwhore

befriending the golden trio is the only way for him to have a better life

befriending/dating someone in the golden trio is part of his redemption arc

he and Hermione are bestie study buddies

he and Harry use the sectumsempra scars as a romantic/sexual bonding moment

he renounces his pureblood supremacy beliefs faster than a Thanos snap

Astoria is the only reason he changed like he was not traumatized by an awful war

he can't fight or he's weak/pathetic etc...

Draco is not a poor misunderstood, abused baby or a demon child, baby Hitler. He's a normal boy who grew up with bigoted views. He has a loving family. He likes making impressions and being a class clown. He calls out Harry's show-off behaviour when no one else will. He tells things as it is when he calls out Hagrid for being an atrocious teacher and Hogwarts being a dumpster fire school. He likes girls and goes on to have a nice family. He repeatedly warns the golden trio about the approaching DEs and tells them to leave the area while being a complete jerk and laughing at the possibility of Hermione being attacked at the same time. He's not a wimp and can land blows in fights. He can be overly dramatic. He can be stoic in the face of humiliation/abuse. He's creative and artistic. He's a spoiled heir of a rich family who's confident and knows his worth. He's classist. He bit off more than he could chew when he became a DE. He has been group assaulted multiple times by his peers, more than what his rude behaviour deserved. He holds grudges against people who offend him. He seems to have good chemistry with his house. The golden trio accuse him of crimes we never see evidence of while being hypocrites and doing the same behaviour themselves (eg. Hermione accusing Draco of bullying first years as a prefect then she and Ron proceed to bully first years multiple times as prefects). He never truly shined because his author hated him.

I just want Draco content where he is portrayed fairly. Interesting fics without Drarry would be great too. Lord knows Drarry and Dramione are major culprits in this warping of poor Draco's character. Fanon Draco can be fun too but so many times it just feels like an OC with Draco's face on it.

I wish Draco could have more of the same kind of great self-actualization fics that Severus Snape has where he is allowed to be his best self without gay romance involved or where the romance is a background thing or where the golden trio are not involved. Just him vibing with other Slytherins and forgetting the golden trio even exists. I have enjoyed many amazing Draco fics but now that I have come to understand book!Draco more, a lot of them make me feel kind of unsatisfied and hollow now.

[moonlightdancer26]

I love Percy Weasley (and Ronnie, but thankfully I've seen more Ron defenders and appreciation posts popping up in recent years, as they should) SO MUCH. He's legitimately one of my favourite characters and my poor little meow meow. Him and Severus have SO MANY parallels. They were both intelligent, ambitious young men who came from poverty and experienced bullying from the people who were supposed to support them. Controversial opinion, but the other Weasley kids (ESPECIALLY Fred and George) were unnecessarily brutal to poor Perce to the point of being malicious. Of course young Severus and Percy went along with the "wrong" crowd when the "right" crowd continuously mocked, belittled, and taunted them, while the "wrong" crowd told them that they were brilliant, that they would go so far, and that anyone who tried to belittle them just didn't get it, that they were just jealous of how successful they were gonna be. Long story short, Percy is adorable and precious and so cute and smart and I want to brush his hair out of his face and kiss him on the nose.

I just drank carrot juice for the first time in 15 years I’m currently going through something

Anyway, I 100000% AGREE. I’ve answered a somewhat similar ask a while ago. I have a headcanon that Percy was actually Snape’s secret fave student. I just know Percy would scold Ronald in a Hermione-like way whenever he’d say anything bad about Severus, “Who cares if he can be a git sometimes? He’s an absolute genius at Potions and passes down his knowledge to his students. If you just got your head out of your arse for a bit, you’d see just how much I’m right.”

Percy’s like my fourth fave HP character, I totally see a younger-Snape in him. Percy was belittled and ridiculed by his family and his ambition and desire for power led him to walking out on them and going after his dreams so his talents can finally be acknowledged. Snape was relentlessly bullied by the Marauders (four Gryffindors) which was dismissed by the headmaster of Hogwarts (also a Gryffindor) and was already ostracised by the rest of Hogwarts for being a Slytherin, he soon joined the Death Eaters alongside Lucius and the Slytherins after graduating because he likely believed that he would finally get recognition for his great knowledge in the Dark Arts. They also both did it at age 19 (I think Sev might’ve joined a little before he turned 19, either way it was after graduating).

Controversial opinion, but the other Weasley kids (ESPECIALLY Fred and George) were unnecessarily brutal to poor Perce to the point of being malicious.

I CAN’T EXPLAIN HOW MUCH I AGREE WITH YOU. I’ve made a few posts talking about this and defending Perce, x, x, x, x, x (my all-time fave Ron defender liked this post and I’m simply never getting over that), x (probably my fave post I’ve made on my blog), and x. Also I hate the claim that their treatment of Perce was normal because “that’s just what siblings do,” like no I literally have 5 other siblings, and while yes we all act like psychos together, we’ve never come close to doing the shit the twins did to Perce and Ron. There’s a difference between being an asshole to your siblings and endangering their life and constantly mocking them. They never took his dreams seriously, and honestly that would be such a horrible thing to go through. Tbh I’m impressed Percy didn’t leave them sooner 💀

and same, I’m such a hardcore Percy apologist that I will go absolutely insane if I see anyone criticise him 😭 He’s literally so hated and for what

[theonceandfuturequeenoftarts]

Harry spends the next two weeks dreading breakfast time, anxiously awaiting an article in the Daily Prophet about how he’s a deviant or a visit from his least-favourite reporter in beetle form to generate said article. Hermione worries at him about his loss of appetite while Ron simply adds a portion of Harry’s favourites to his plate and distracts him until he eats at least a little on autopilot.

His nervous vigil comes to an end when a handsome owl with impressive eyebrow plumage brings him a package one morning.

Harry stares at the package. It’s a long, slim, cream-coloured box with a golden crest that Harry doesn’t recognize, a chocolate brown ribbon tied in an elegant bow holding it closed. There is no note, and he has no idea who it could be from or what it is.

Warily, he raises a hand to tug at the ribbon, aware of a smattering of eyes from Gryffindor and the surrounding house tables glancing over curiously. He startles back when two hands suddenly plant themselves on the box. Looking up, he finds himself staring into the amused, significance-laden eyes of Parvati.

“Do not,” she hisses, “open this here.”

She and Lavender each grab an elbow and frogmarch him out of the Great Hall despite his protests and half-finished breakfast. He looks back over his shoulder to plead with his eyes for help from Ron and Hermione, who are staring back at him in befuddlement and narrow-eyed consideration, respectively.

Once outside the Great Hall, the two girls waste no time in dragging him into the closest unused classroom, pushing him inside and closing the door behind them.

“You have no idea what’s in that box, do you?” Parvati asks, staring intently between him and the package. He shakes his head.

“Open it, oh my god, open it!” Lavender seems like she might explode if he doesn’t do it immediately.

He unties the ribbon and lifts the lid gently, removing a layer of golden brown tissue paper – and all three gasp.

“You lucky bitch,” Lavender breathes. If he didn’t know she meant it affectionately, Harry would be offended.

“Harry, when in Hecate’s name did you get a sugar daddy?” Parvati asks, smacking his shoulder.

“I– what– sugar daddy?” he squeaks.

“This isn’t something you’d get from someone our age,” Parvati goes on. Lavender nods violently, looking down at the – Merlin, the lingerie with an avaricious gleam in her eyes.

And, looking a little more closely, he thinks he understands even with his limited appreciation for aesthetics and quality. The box’s contents are gorgeous. The things they looked at in the Witches' Wardrobe catalogue were cute or sexy in their way, but these garments – they’re sensual. Erotic. They invite – almost demand – touch. 

He can’t really discern specifics beyond the glint of tiny jewels, the sheen of silk satin, black and flowing like an oil slick, the delicate loops of lace – but it’s enough.

He almost asks if they’re messing with him, but from the bemusement on their faces it’s clear that neither girl is responsible for the package. And, Harry thinks with a sinking feeling in his gut, he certainly didn’t send it to himself.

Unless it’s a prank, there’s only one other person on earth who knows of Harry’s recently discovered undergarment preferences. He’s been very, very careful, after all, but there’s only so much defence he can muster against someone who can sneak into his mind, despite Snape’s lukewarm-at-best efforts.

This begs the question: why the hell is Voldemort sending him lingerie?

Lavender finally loses her patience and reaches out to touch the silky underthings.

Harry grabs her hands. “Don’t! What if it’s cursed?”

Both girls turn to look at him as though he has two heads.

“Do people often send you cursed gifts?” Parvati quips.

He gestures broadly at himself and sees the rueful understanding dawn.

“Your life is fucked up, Harry,” Lavender says. Parvati nods in fascinated horror.

He could not agree more.

—

His efforts in keeping Parvati and Lavender from touching or stealing the probably cursed (or poisoned – can you poison a bra?) package demonstrate that Harry is so not equipped to be the adult of a group. Later that evening, he finds Hermione and gives her a hug.

“I appreciate you,” he says fervently, face subsumed in the mass of her hair. When he pulls back, her face is flushed and smiling, but she looks suspicious as all hell. And yeah, he should’ve known that would happen.

Ron, off to the side, is giving him a sour look, so he walks over and plants himself in front of his friend, resting his hands on Ron’s shoulders and drawing the taller boy down to make direct, up-close eye contact.

“Ron,” he says seriously. “You’re very pretty.”

The other boy splutters and goes red to his ears. Harry decides to make his escape before Hermione can figure out he’s hiding some very pretty, probably evil underwear, so he jogs backwards down the hall to the sound of Hermione’s giggles, grinning and blowing kisses at Ron, who clearly has no idea what’s happening but is reluctantly pleased.

(feel so damn, um, pretty)

[slitheringghost]

I really liked your post about James + Lily's canonically volatile relationship, I've always thought that the reasons they got married (and so young) was because 1) shotgun wedding 2) James couldn't even bring himself to say "mudblood," immediately accepted werewolves, "hated the dark arts," etc, which must've meant a great deal to Lily in wartime. I have one disagreement, if you don't mind - I doubt James asked her out before SWM, because Lily looks so surprised after he does and he probably blurted it out in the heat of the moment. Doesn't make it much better in context though. I also think Lily was at least intrigued by him beforehand, I have a HC that her favorite part of being a witch is flight - it's her first piece of magic we see Snape observe in The Prince's Tale, and I'll bet she commiserated with Snape over wishing they could just fly out of Cokeworth (Harry used to dream about the same thing before Hogwarts - on Sirius's motorbike!). And I'm pretty sure Snape is the only one besides Voldemort who flies unaided so that's kinda touching to me. So James being an excellent flier must've at least drawn her attention - but I think she was immediately disgusted with herself for that. Honestly their arguments must've been even worse than Ron/Hermione, Sirius and Harry have all my sympathies for dealing with this. This is why I HC that the moment Jily started going out in 7th year, Sirius decided to finally try dating partly to get over his un(?)requited love for James (and Lily?) and partly just to avoid being around their incessant fighting lol.

(in response to this meta) Thank you for the ask, I’m glad you found the post interesting! Yeah I’ve gone back and forth on that, my original interpretation was also that it was a spur of the moment thing he just blurted out without thinking, which I still find very plausible. I’ve also seen the take that James felt “safe” for Lily during the war, it is just anything on that line of thought for Jily, Lily being in love with Sirius can explain much better lmao (after all Sirius running away from his family shows his dedication to his politics better than James’s).

Oh I looove what you said about Lily and Snape wishing they could fly out of Cokeworth and the parallel to Harry!

Funnily enough, I actually HC that Sirius and Lily were talking about Sirius charming his motorbike to fly (or having started the research for it anyway) while they were waiting in line for O.W.L.s - because if you pay attention to Harry's OWLs, we know the students were standing in line alphabetically, and per DH Sirius and Lily are next to each other alphabetically - and Lily was grudgingly super impressed. That makes “I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it” an extra sick burn towards James, lol. Agree about Lily loving flight, and I think I had Lily finding James’s flight grudgingly endearing in a WIP but that was before I became considerably more anti Jily. I like the idea that Lily’s two best friends Snape and Sirius came up with alternate methods of flight to Quidditch and both can’t stand Quidditch like her lmao (Sirius only dealing with it for James’s sake).

But regarding James being against the Dark Arts (I think the text / you meant against Dark wizards rather than the theoretical type of magic but this just reminded me of this fic), I love this part in brilliant difficulty where Lily dated both Snape and Sirius before she dated James, and Lily and her two boyfriends were all super into Dark Arts (and James being against Dark Arts as a type of magic is something him and Lily conflict over) and Madame Pomfrey is yelling at them about it, a perfect representation of their intellectual connection:

“I am tired of seeing students unnecessarily hospitalized by experimentation in the Dark Arts that I cannot actually see them assisted with with lest the Ministry haul them off to Azkaban - and do not give me those looks! Professor Snape, I remember your final years of school! Professor Black, in addition to your personal activities I have ample records of your family from previous Hogwarts Healers! And your mother," she said, rounding on Harry, "Was the worst of you all!“

Yeah, I think Sirius’s unimpressed reaction to Jily is so telling, especially given he was clearly close to Lily. “James is getting frustrated” in Lily’s letter also definitely sounds like code for “we are fighting come save us”, lol.

Personally I love to think of Lily’s love for Sirius being unrequited until like late 1981 where Sirius Just starts to return them and then Lily dies. Also I find it such a fun twist on the usual “Snape unrequited pining for Lily and Sirius unrequited pining for James”. That letter gives major pathetic pining vibes from Lily tbh. I generally HC Sirius dating a lot from early on as rebellion from his family’s arranged marriage plan for him (which makes Lily’s pining even worse and more painful) but yeah I can definitely see that too.

[charlenasaxen]

Favorite Quotes - Draco Sinister pt. 2

He seemed to be simply standing very still in the middle of the circle of dragons, who rose above him like breathing statues

"I wanted to see the dragons," said Draco, unfazed. "I wanted to see them one more time."

Draco gave him an angelic smile. ""Did they look like they were going to hurt me?"

"It's happening fast," said Draco. "Isn't it?"

a quiet and oddly forlorn huddle of dark clothing and pale, untidy hair

flashing Charlie an smile that would give him nightmares for several years

put on hand on Dumbledore's shoulder - a curiously gentle gesture

shooing Ron and Ginny before her like ducklings

"You got me socks, Harry. Girls don't want socks! House-elves want socks!

All very well for him to be calm, thought Sirius irrationally. He's not even really here.

"He's my son's father. I mean, my stepson's father.

You, on the other hand, are merely a blot on the landscape, contributing nothing."

Told Godric this morning in confidence that I was thinking of selling my soul

"Yes, if only he'd been a bit more careful while scrawling his dying message in his own blood."

She kept seeing Draco in her mind's eye, standing in the garden, that terrible look of anguish on his face

"I said I'm really enjoying it here on Earth.

What's it like where you are?"

sat Draco Malfoy.

It took a moment for Snape to recognize his favorite student out of his black Hogwarts robes

Draco smiled. "I can do a lot of things," he said, glancing up

the shamelessness of real desperation.

They don't know how to fight it because they've never had to fight it. But you know,"

his face made younger by shock and exhaustion, he remembered suddenly the baby Draco had been when his father had brought him wrapped in blankets to Death Eater meetings

his eyes translucently clear, windows of shock and loss, his face made childlike again with astonished desolation

"You're not going mad. Going mad would be a fairly simple issue to deal with.

to "Malfoys are expressly forbidden from practicing inappropriate Lust Charms, especially in the topiary garden; this means you, Uncle Hector")

he should, to save the honor of his family, leap to his feet and hit Snape in the eye

"First a ferret, now a gerbil," said Draco irritably. "Why does everyone look at me and think 'rodent?'"

He must have lost weight, too, he could see the sharp blades of his collarbones sticking up

"Your vanity is impressive, Mr. Malfoy, but I think your coiffure is the least of your problems.

He suddenly missed Sirius, who would have put a hand on his shoulder, or stroked his hair, or something.

And you haven't given in, despite injuries and exhaustion. You should be proud."

You are fighting a battle, young Mr. Malfoy.

Even if you don't quite know it yet."

"He looked a pale, underfed little thing..."

"He's grown a lot since then," said Ginny in what she hoped was a neutral tone

"What, you're a fan of the leather trousers too, Mum?"

Draco looked affronted. "I knocked!"

"Yeah, on the window!"

she could see the corner of one gray eye now, the smooth plane of his cheek, and the glitter of gold chain against his throat

with innocent eyes. "How do you know that's my belt buckle?"

Draco crawled out after her - irritatingly, he managed to make even wriggling out from under an overstuffed sofa look graceful

"Well, I wish you'd told me that before. If I'd known it was just Ron, I'd have snuck up behind him and whapped him over the head

She had had several fantasies which involved Draco being in her bedroom, but she had never stopped to consider how very out of place Draco in leather trousers actually looked

words like "engaging" and "funny" and even "charming"

"So it was somebody else? Draco, when did you find the time?"

he had a lovely smile, he smiled with his whole face - not just his mouth but his eyes.

"Your ribbon's coming undone," he said, deftly retied it

He gave her a sunny smile. His smile turned devilish. "My mother always said that would make me go blind,"

his eyes close as he lowered his mouth to hers - she felt his hair brush her cheek, and then his cold mouth on her own

Draco stared in dismay as his numb fingers released his blade. Draco's head hit the stone with enough force to blacken his vision

You want to get on with drowning yourself in peace. Well, I won't leave.

"Well, of course you're jealous of me," said Draco. "I dress well, I speak beautifully, I have a great sense of humor, plus I have a knowledge of fine wines and am a devastatingly handsome heir to millions."

"You're not even really here, Transparent Boy."

Maybe he wants to play leapfrog?

Interesting theory, but I'm thinking no.

Dragons? Draco looked slightly wistful. Power over dragons...

"You don't have to give up your soul. What would my Master want with your soul?

"You named your sword?"

"So?"

"You named it Clarence?"

Draco had skill. He moved faster than Harry would have thought it possible

"Then what? Is your arm going to rip itself off and come after me?"

Draco's eyes widen in surprise, the sword tumbling out of his hand as he fell backwards and out of view

It's gone. The spell's off me. Draco...

screaming at the top of her lungs, even though she knew if the spell was off her, it was already too late.

crumpled in on itself like an abandoned toy.

Draco's body didn't move at all. He continued to lie there, his hair streaming blood and water

"He is only a child."

"Well," he amended, edging slightly farther away from the wolf, "if he did, he'd be very sorry afterward."

Harry's father - who hardly even looked like anyone's father, he seemed so young

"And tell Sirius that I-" and then the ground jerked

the Ron-blob looking with alarm at the Ginny-blob

"Ron has now officially gotten more action with Draco than I have."

Ron, still busy exploring all the different shades of red it was possible to turn

Whereupon Ron had told him that if he, Seamus, ever suggested anything like that again, he, Ron, would throw him in the lake.

"One: the state you're in, you couldn't attack me with a piece of spaghetti because it would be too heavy for you."

"She sent you love and kisses, which I will refrain from personally delivering."

and go stomping off into the night with your demon sword and try to feed yourself to a large and angry group of dragons

Draco smiled angelically

Look, she's undressing me with her eyes.

there was still an odd sort of dignity about him

You're like ... history on legs now."

Draco looked mournful. "I'd rather be sex appeal on legs."

"Rule #613 actually states that members of the Malfoy family who have artificial limbs should not attempt sexual intercourse in the moat. Whoops."

He's the one without any clothes on, and I get laughed at. It's not fair.

its shape unmistakable, as it was unmistakable now: The Dark Mark

"She said he's a Viking in the sack."

He still hurts, and that's why he's moving so slowly, but he continued down the stairs as if nothing were wrong, as if his slowness of pace was nothing more than an expression of insolence.

"sure you can turn into a big snake and all. But really quality listening, you know, that's important too."

"nobody is ever going to let me forget them, even though I only wore them once"

Six times already on The Teenage Witches' 'Most Eligible" list?

but not many that were beautiful. Draco found that looking at the tapestry touched him oddly.

She can't go five minutes without trying to get her hands on my -

"And your plan makes about as much sense. But thank you for sharing."

"I need your help," Sirius Black said. Snape shut the door firmly in Sirius´ face.

her hair falling down around them. Listening to her quiet breathing.

She stifled a smile - the rough feeling of the dragonhide against her skin made her think of Draco

"Oh, is that your leg?"

"Oh come, you are always fun," she murmured, sliding into his lap

"Ów do you feel now?" she demanded.

"Like a giftwrapped birthday present."

kissed him lightly on the mouth before moving to plant a row of butterfly kisses along the side of his neck

"remember when you were Draco Malfoy, back before you were Don Juan?"

"Brace yourself," he said, grabbed her, and kissed her hard

prolonged hard tremors that wracked his entire body. He was shaking like that now.

Draco didn´t blame it. People probably didn´t run towards it with great enthusiasm all that often.

But the manticore appeared to have no such problem suspending disbelief.

"And sheś almost as cute as you are..."

From a distance, it was hard to tell which of the two men was Draco

if it had been him in Dracoś place he would never have dealt with the loss of her with half the grace

his gray eyes darkening into slate, mouth curling up at the corners. She couldn´t imagine killing anyone, much less a friend, much less Draco.

A little, hopeless sobbing sound broke the silence. For a horrified moment, Draco thought it had come from him.

"You are not insane. Just very, very irritating."

It shattered, and the fire hissed as the dregs of alcohol splashed the burning logs.

"Drop dead, Malfoy."

"Already have done, mate."

they were only human eyes, the eyes of a boy, and yet they had death in them.

he was totally evil. Did you see his outfit?"

"His outfit? Ron, if you haven´t got anything useful to say -"

like a vine wrapping the trunk of a tree and glittering pale gold was Dracoś Epicyclical charm on its thin gold chain

"Horses also hate lions, and heś part lion. You´d think he´d be a little more tolerant.

Draco, turning his silver hair blond, warming his pale skin to gold.

"Why? If you met your best friend in Hell, would you be pleased to see them?"

painting his face with gold and darker gold. Making him almost hurtfully beautiful to look at.

The lovely lazy half-lidded eyes looked up at her thoughtfully

She felt the muscles of his chest and shoulders pressing into her back.

He laughed, a laughed that snapped in the middle, as brittle as an icicle.

Draco caught her by the arms, pulled her forward, and kissed her hard.

His shirt was unbuttoned to the waist, a fact which didn´t seem to bother him at all

responded to Sirius´ reassuring caresses with faint clucks that could only be interpreted as affectionate.

Chirruping with anxiety, Buckbeak allowed himself to be encouraged

"Didn´t you read the sign?"

Dark Creatures Being Called: Please Use Side Entrance

so many imitators, like Grindelwald, Voldemort and Steve The Third who wasn't as successful at evil as the others

"I´d really rather have some more Mai Tais," said Draco.

"The Snake Lord says you are to have no more beverages,"

said Fleur, and patted her shoulder. "Itś Draco. 'Eś special."

"And by special you mean sexy. Don't you?"

Fleur shrugged. "That is a fact. He probably gets anonymous snog sessions in the mail."

hugged him hard. He could feel how thin the boy had gotten, the bones of his shoulders poking through. Draco returned the embrace, his hands gripping Sirius awkwardly as if no one had ever hugged him before

Draco himself, all gold and silver and black, looking as much as if he belonged there as if he were a general piece of the decoration.

"Did we leave anyone at home, or did everyone come to the letś-get-killed party?"

Draco raised his chin. The light from the torches turned his hair to a rather ironic silvery halo.

"I wish he´d just bloody show up too."

The black opening in the wall swung open, and Draco came in.

There was a short silence.

his expression was so extraordinarily bleak that it nearly stopped her heart

"or do you want to find out what fine Italian footwear tastes like?"

"What?"

"I think he means he´ll kick you in the face," said Hermione helpfully

or I´ll slice off your leg and beat you to death with the boot end," said Draco.

"Oooh, that was much better," said Hermione supportively. "Really good imagery."

because of course James couldn´t see properly at all without his glasses, he never could.

choking on poisonous dust, Sirius put his face down on Jamesśhoulder and cried

When he took them away, there was blood on his fingers.

Harry found a memory of a little boy in Madam Malkinś dress shop, pale and small and somewhat lost

a smile broke out over Dracoś face, one of his rare, infrequent real smiles that were like music or sunrise and reminded Harry why it probably was that Hermione liked him so much

"I´m not your Heir. I´m not anything belonging to you,"

Don´t mock the demons, Potter. Itś just... not very classy

Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?

Shut up, Potter, or I swear I´ll beat you like a bongo drum.

We have no use for Magids, and do not want you or your friend

Draco wondered for a fleeting moment if the demon was hitting on him

In a small voice, "I figured you´d be hacked off at me."

"It strikes me that you´ve had to make a lot of difficult choices these past few days.

"guard it with your life."

"Certainly not," said Draco, with the ghost of a mocking smile. "I plan to guard it with my really big sword."

She thought of Draco. If anyone was tragically flawed, he was. Oh boy, was he flawed. Well, not physically.

what are you two doing? Look, thereś no need to put him in a headlock -"

Draco was the sort of person who people would follow and obey out of respect for his innate brilliance and ruthless charisma.

It looked very comfortable, and had a matching paisley ottoman.

Ron looked at him in disgust. "Malfoy..."

blew her fiery hair behind her like a scarlet banner

vaguely skittish, in that way that cats sometimes look

feeling his arms around her and the muscles in his chest hard, his hands over hers on the reins.

"According to Feroluce, he had a good time with you two." It was Ben, hands in pockets, looking vaguely amused. "You let him breathe fire."

She could see the stars reflected in his eyes, a lighter silver against the dark silver

Ginny had quite impressively destroyed one by kicking it apart. Unprotesting, he let Ginny seize his hand

the clean even planes of cheek, the white-blond hair, too fine to tangle, recognizing it all as he might recognize a drawing he had done, years ago

He raised his chin and looked at Slytherin.

"Hope," he said.

Draco kneeling on the floor. Even kneeling, there was nothing submissive about him

Destroy me if you have to.

Death would be better than where I am now.

He was Draco Malfoy and he would not be controlled, he would not be owned, and he would not be trapped

that in his last moments, the sorcerer might have had a momentary flash of humanity, and cried out for Rowena.

bright as the Aurora Borealis, and through the washes of brilliant color the stars glittered

"It was quite horrible. And Harry thought you were dead and made a spectacle of himself."

Charlie Weasley had sent him a glass figurine of a dragon

"This is getting ridiculous...presents...fan mail....more pairs of leather trousers...."

The Draco action figure chortled to itself and did a malevolent dance.

the anteroom began to fill up with friends, family, and even Snape

He wore charcoal gray trousers that looked as if they'd been designed especially for him, and a soft white shirt that brought out the blue undercurrents in his eyes.

she still believed firmly that Fleur fancied Draco, from the top of his silvery head down to his famous ducky socks.

well, all right, everyone got all worked up over Draco

they were holding hands. Ginny's face was tipped up to Draco's; Draco was looking straight ahead, but smiling.

Teen Witch Weekly was running some sort of contest the other day -- first prize was a photo of Draco."

"It doesn't 'ave to be that big of a 'ouse," she said reasonably

yanked him against her, pressing their bodies tightly together. "Whereś the famous Draco Malfoy charm I´ve heard so much about?"

Know that I am watching you. And that I am, as always,

Your father,

Lucius Nero Malfoy

For James, with love from Lily, your best friend

Severus Snape (who, Draco recalled from his brief stay with the professor, had a very pleasant baritone) was belting out his favorite songs with a quartet of house-elves for backup.

the photographs of his and Madam Maxime's young son, Rubeus Jr.

"Girls seek me out all the time," Draco felt compelled to point out

another boy with silver hair and eyes like gray morning light. Lucius. Who, like his son, had been touched by destiny; the mark of something special

now only what Draco privately thought of as "the family" remained - Narcissa and Sirius, Ron and Ginny, and Harry and Hermione

"Will Draco ever wear leather trousers again?"

smiled; a genuine smile, a seventeen-year-old boyś smile, with happiness in it, and not a little mischief.

"My happy memory," he said

[justtluffythings]

HOME: Book 8 - CHAPTER FIVE

MASTERLIST

November 2, 1991

Dear Charlie,

Sorry, but I need to ignore the rest of your letter for a minute. I need to tell you what happened on Halloween…

The day started out as any other Halloween at Hogwarts. The corridors smelled of pumpkin and freshly baked treats, and I won’t lie, I did sneak go down to the kitchens (I always forget it isn’t sneaking anymore if I’m allowed down there) to get my hands on some of the desserts they were making for dinner. It was also a great day because my first-year Charms students would finally get to try their hands at using magic. The first charm I wanted to teach them was Levitation since that was what Flitwick did with us, and it felt nostalgic to me. Anyway, the kids loved it and were so excited to get to try it themselves. Now, I know you told me I didn’t need to play matchmaker, but I couldn’t help it, so I paired Hermione and Ron together again, and they got into a small little row, but the more important thing is that she managed to do it! She got her feather to float! I was actually so proud of her. Ron wasn’t very impressed though, he was in a pissy mood for the rest of the class. He just doesn’t like her for some reason.

Anyway, fast forward to the feast that night. It was magical as always; the decorations, the live bats, the food. But before we could even enjoy any of it, Quirrell comes running into the Great Hall yelling about a troll in the dungeons. Now, let me tell you why this is strange. Remember when I told you about the object that Dumbledore is hiding in the castle that a few of us professors set up defenses to protect? Right, well guess what Quirrell’s contribution was? A bloody troll! He’s brilliant with them. So tell me why he comes running in and making a scene when he could have easily just dealt with it quietly without causing panic? Snape and I both had the same idea. We both figured he was trying to cause chaos so that the teachers would be distracted going to the dungeons, and he could try to steal the object for himself. I really don’t know why he wants it, but that was our theory, so while everyone else went down to the dungeons, the two of us went to the third floor to try to cut him off.

One of the first defenses for the object though is this huge three-headed dog named Fluffy. I’ll give you one guess to figure out whose contribution that was. Yeah. So because of my aura, Fluffy didn’t mind me, but he was not happy when he saw Snape, and before I could put out an aura to calm him, he lunged at Snape and bit him. I tried to heal it as best I could, but I’m no Madam Pomfrey, so it’s still a bit sore, and the bite mark is still there, but he’ll be okay. And I’m glad to report Quirrell didn’t get his hands on the object.

And that’s not even the worst of it. When Quirrell had come running in yelling about the troll, Dumbledore asked all the Prefects to take the students to their dormitories, but Ron and Harry snuck off because they had heard that Hermione was planning on taking on the troll herself. Can you believe that? It’s so unlike her to do something like that. To break the rules? I feel like there’s something to that story they didn’t tell us that night, but I’m sure they’ll tell me when they’re ready. I’ve grown rather close to the pair of them. Anyway, long story short, they saved her from the troll. And you’ll never believe it… the three of them are friends now! I love it.

So that’s the drama unfolding at the school at the moment, I’ll let you know if anything else happens with Quirrell. I told you there was something fishy about him. And maybe you’re right… maybe not the vampires, but he did battle a zombie, so perhaps it ate his brain and there’s none left! Anyway, that leads me back to addressing the points in your letter. 

No, no, no. You don’t need to send anyone any letters, I’ve got it under control. You think I would let Draco Malfoy do anything to him? Never.

His first game of the season is next Saturday: Gryffindor vs Slytherin. So we’ll find out soon enough if he really does have it in his blood. I mean, his dad was on the team during his time at Hogwarts, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Turns out you were right about them finding their way on their own. I don’t say that you’re right often, so enjoy it!

I’m so glad you’re enjoying work, Charlie! That sounds so amazing, and Greeny sounds absolutely adorable. I would love to meet her one of these days, though from the sounds of it, she might be fully grown by Christmas!

Miss you loads,

Veronica

***

November 8, 1991

Dear Ronnie,

What the bloody hell do you mean Dumbledore has something hiding in the castle? And the professors have defenses protecting it? What’s your contribution? What is the object? You never told me this! You never mentioned any of this. When? How? Where? Why? What??? 

Also, Quirrell participated in defending the object, but now he wants to steal it? Do you think that maybe you and Snape just don’t like him so you’re seeing what you want to see?

And bloody trolls in the castle? What is happening at Hogwarts this year? This is madness. I’m glad everyone is okay. You need to set that Hermione straight, Ronnie. She cannot go around thinking she can take on trolls on her own. And after putting yourself in danger, did you actually find him trying to steal it? Or coincidentally not?

I’m sure he’ll be great, and I hope they kick Slytherin’s ass!

Miss you more,

Charlie

[sitp-recs]

Thank you so much for your recs—they are fantastic! I wondered if you had any for Draco and Harry becoming friends at (and eventual lovers) at Hogwarts (doesn’t have to start with 1st year, but can!). Thank you!!

Hi there! Happy you’re enjoying the recs 😊 I got a couple recs, the majority is 8th year since I don’t really read canon rewrite AUs. I hope you enjoy these!

Thermodynamic Equilibrium by DorthyAnn (T, 5k)

Harry's far too hot. Draco's always cold. And somehow against all odds, together they create a perfect equilibrium.

Good Company by Greenflares (T, 8k)

With Hermione and Ron always together, Harry's return to Hogwarts to complete his education isn't exactly fun. Somehow, it's his unlikely friendship with Malfoy that keeps him sane.

Stand Back: I'm About to Perform Archaeology by Blowfish_Diaries (E, 10k)

A new Muggle Studies professor takes the Eighth Year students to work on an archaeological excavation. In which Draco is lazy, Harry is sweaty, Hermione is drunk, and Ron turns red.

Nice Things by aideomai (M, 22k)

The first thing that happened was Theodore Nott came back from France.

Makes Me Stronger by Lomonaaeren (E, 29k)

Rita Skeeter’s Harry James Potter: An Unnatural History is a best-seller, mostly due to the fact that Skeeter’s collaborated with a photographer who’s infused the pictures in the book with Harry’s actual memories. As Harry struggles to survive the storm consuming his eighth year at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy becomes an unexpected ally.

On Our Way by evils (E, 30k)

Draco is trying to spend the summer keeping his head down, but a repair project and a certain snowy owl have other plans for him.

Eager for the Sky by @oknowkiss (E, 35k)

It was announced, just as the Triwizard Tournament had been, at the start of term feast. A year-long, international Quidditch varsity match — the inaugural Wizarding Academy Cup. In which Harry is Hogwarts' star Seeker, Draco is on the bench, and they both have a thing or two to learn about playing for the same team.

Like Lightning at Your Fingertips by potterwatch (T, 43k)

The problem with living with another insomniac is, eventually, they find out you’re one, too. When Harry and Draco return for their eighth year, they think they’ll see very little of each other. Then McGonagall assigns them to room together. And the castle starts breaking. And there’s that thing with Potter’s magic.

The July Tree by @oknowkiss (E, 51k)

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail… nor well-meaning friends, nor questionable communication skills, nor seven years of hating each other’s guts can keep Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy from falling in love.

The Promise of Summer by Omi_Ohmy (M, 67k)

How was Harry supposed to know that coming back for eighth year would be so confusing? Everything is the same, and yet not the same. And nowhere is this more obvious than with Draco Malfoy. Harry finds himself once more watching and following Malfoy, trying to work him out. When they are drawn together to heal the castle, Harry doesn’t just find Malfoy - he also finds himself.

Azoth by @lol-zeitgeistic (E, 88k)

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Helix by Saras_Girl (E, 93k)

Seven months after the end of the war, Harry is feeling lost. Fortunately, he is about to be offered an unexpected and sparkling chance to find himself again.

Changing Tides by carpemermaid (E, 109k)

Draco has spent half of his life spouting the things his father has taught him without much thought about how he feels about what he says. When he unexpectedly comes face to face with the Dark Lord, he grapples with the harsh realities of the world and struggles with his changing views on life.

Written on the Heart by who_la_hoop (E, 114k)

Unnerved by the attention he’s attracting from everyone – the Slytherins are the least of it, to be fair – and struggling with a raft of changes to Hogwarts itself, Harry wishes he could be happy that one constant remains: Draco Malfoy really fucking hates him.

Twist of Fate by Oakstone730 (T, 300k)

Draco asks Harry to help him beat the Imperius curse during 4th year. The lessons turn into more than either expected. A story of redemption and forgiveness.

[arielgobuss]

Hello, we have aready translated and added 5 new chapters of our Snarry ff "Desiderium Intimum" in english. We've also added almost all of 75 illustrations that has been created to our story 🥰 We plan to post 3-4 chapters a week, so the translation should be finished soon.

We wanted to share with you one of over 5000 comments we received to our story over the years, which is one of our favourite comment and amazingly sum up the whole story and the most important characteristic of our fanfic 🥰 Maybe it can let you have a brief idea about what to expect.

Comment by Wilczyca:

"This story is... substantial. I have never read something so well written, with such a narrative that the readers feel like they are standing right next to the characters, and it's all really happening, right in front of our eyes. No, it's not addictive, it sucks you in and makes you feel a need to read, read, read, forget about God's world, about the fact that you had to study, eat something, go to the toilet, and sometimes you even forget about breathing!

All the other Snarry fics are so... girly. What I mean is that Severus and Harry may have a bit of a quarrel there, but it ends very quickly and, true to a girl's sense of romance, they very quickly come to an agreement and head towards eternal happiness. Because it's so... good. Because everyone likes good endings and stories about reciprocated love. Because we were brought up in such a culture that basically everyone dreams about it. However, this romance shouldn't be easy, because there are too many differences between the characters for them to just get together and be happy. The second problem I noticed in other texts is that Snape is completely flat and does not behave at all like a thirty-something man who has had a hard time serving a psychopathic murderer. And this does not surprise me, because it is difficult to realistically portray such a character, it is difficult to empathize with him. Your Snape... is Snape-like. There is no sense of absurdity in your text, it's not read with a pinch of salt, it's not bus-reading and I think it makes an impression on the reader regardless of age, as long as they like such atmosphere. The narrative is absolutely amazing, Harry's stream of thoughts and feelings are described so smoothly and naturally that you feel as if you are thinking all these thought yourself, feeling all these feelings yourself.

Snape is so… frightening! Haha, that's the first thing that comes to my mind! He is also incredibly intelligent, mysterious, and sexy. At the beginning he is so aloof and closed off, but later, thanks to Harry's efforts, he opens up more and more, allows him to do more and more, and I really like how it was presented. Nothing changes too suddenly, it's 'transformation' occurs subtly and logically, the reader does not feel like there is a sudden jump. Snape is a very complex character and it's not easy to portray him, and I think no one has ever managed to do it like you did (not even Rowling xD)

Harry is absolutely delightful and disarming. At first I thought to myself; why is he so blinded, so naive and devoted?! But then I remembered that damn, he's only 17! And Severus is his first love. And basically his behavior reflects the idea of first, crazy, uncompromising love. Every scene of his fighting for Severus and trying to get closer to him is read with such warmth in the heart 😊

I also really like how Ron and Hermione are portrayed, but I like Luna even more. She is an extremely colorful and interesting character whose strangeness adds to her charm. Despite the fact that she seems to be constantly in the clouds, in between these strange behaviors she sometimes makes extremely accurate, hardheaded comments, and that's great!

The story is phenomenal as a romance, comedy, erotic and psychological text. Erotic scenes, even though there are so many of them, are very varied and there is no feeling of monotony. They are described in an extremely graphic way, with an emotional background and interesting poetic metaphors, which makes them very hot. When it comes to comedy scenes - I love your slightly mischievous and playful sense of humor! I'm sitting in the office and reading this, smiling like an idiot at the monitor and I just have to hold back with all my strength from bursting out laughing so as not to attract curious glances from other employees!

Love… well, love is always beautiful. But in your fic it's described in a wonderful, realistic and such sensitive way and blooms slowly like the most beautiful flower. Ultimately it overcomes all obstacles and changes an extremely mocking, mean person into… a slightly less mocking, mean man! But that's good, because if Snape suddenly became a cuddly mascot, the charm of this text would disappear forever xD

You can simply feel this text, I think you have great empathy, sensitivity, sense of humor, emotional maturity, and the ability to express it all with words. Each scene evokes great emotions.

Now that I've gone through the whole thing so pompously, at the end I wish you a long, happy life, lots of inspiration to write a thousand more Snarry pics and I suggest you start writing a novel with a world presented by yourself, because it will definitely win the Nobel Prize! Whatever you write, it will be great and I will definitely read it, even if you decided to read a book about planting beans xD I live in hope that I will soon see some new Snarry on the website or a sequel to Desiderium or a small miniature of your own creation! Good luck, girls! You guys have talent, I'll be damned if you don't!"

We want to thank all readers that's been with us for those 4.5 years of writing and helped us to finish the story and we hope that those, who haven't read it yet will love it too 🥰

Ariel & Gobuss

[sideprince]

This is great meta, but I have to agree on the point about SWM being less about Snape's emotional response to Harry seeing it, and more about the danger of exposure. After all, the whole reason Harry was doing Occlumency lessons in the first place was because he was sharing Voldemort's mind, and Voldemort had likely figured it out and it was a matter of time before he would do the same to Harry. And he eventually did, so that fear was well founded on Snape and Dumbledore's part. If Voldemort broke into Harry's mind and saw any of Snape's memories that Harry saw in the pensieve that went beyond just SWM, Snape's cover would have been blown. It's likely that the memories in there weren't just embarrassing (and SWM was far more complicated than just being embarrassing), but revealing, such as him apologizing to Lily and him begging Dumbledore for her life and promising his allegiance after her death. Apart from it costing his life if Voldemort saw these moments, the Order would have lost an incredibly valuable spy - and Dumbledore would have lost an ally he could entrust the school to after he died, though this wasn't on the table yet.

I also think Snape doesn't get enough credit for his teaching. We see in the Occlumency lessons that he's capable of praise and encouragement. We also see the whole series through Harry's perspective, who doesn't put a lot of effort into Snape's classes (or most of his other one's apart from DADA tbh). From Harry's perspective, Snape favors his own house, but we actually only see him treat Malfoy better than other students, and we also know Harry has a rivalry with him, so that may be narrative bias. True, Snape is unnecessarily mean sometimes, like when he comments about Hermione's teeth, but a lot of the negative things he says are just good teaching that isn't wrapped up in nice words and pats on the head.

Does he bully Neville, or does he struggle to get a careless, absent-minded kid to follow basic lab safety procedures? Neville melts cauldrons. He forgets ingredients or adds them in the wrong order, in a setting where that can cause dangerous reactions. When he takes points from Gryffindor because Hermione helped Neville, I think it's because he knew that if Neville had to figure it out himself, he would have learned something, and instead Hermione gave him an easy fix that would leave no lasting impression of the coursework. And also because it was cheating, plain and simple, whether or not we like the characters who did it (and Hermione has a history throughout the series of making dubious ethical choices while judging others for theirs).

We see in canon that Snape has a very high pass rate when it comes to his students taking state level exams (or I guess ministry level) like O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. His standards are high and he's stern and strict, but you can't say his teaching methods aren't effective. And when Harry gets his hands on the Prince's Potions book, and pays attention without having the bias of the information coming from Snape, he does much better in class, though he still doesn't learn, despite his newfound enthusiasm for the subject. When Ron needs an antidote to the amortentia, Harry relies on Slughorn, because he still hasn't understood why the Prince made the changes he did. He hasn't learned the principles of Potions making even from the Prince, Harry was just happy to get free advice. He's spent months reading this advanced Potions textbook obsessively, and years in Snape's classes where most students good exam grades on their O.W.L.s and Harry still can't make an antidote? I don't think that's Snape's teaching, I think Harry just isn't good at Potions. Which makes sense, because we learn in PS from Hermione that wizards aren't very logical, and Snape's challenge is based on pure logic. There are parallels drawn between Snape being a controlled, exacting, logical person and his brilliant Potions abilities that superceded that of his textbook's author even while he was a student. Harry is exactly what OP said - and emotional person. And it's his own feelings that keep him from learning from Snape, and the lack of logic (or perhaps critical thinking) that comes with that, not Snape's own approach.

this says a lot about Snape's character development for me. There are many parallels drawn throughout the series between Harry and Snape; obviously, they're very different characters but there are similarities too.

I think here Snape is talking about himself. The teenaged Snape we see in the Pensieve is very much like this- emotional, heart on his sleeve, easily provoked, a definite wallower in sad memories... weak. Adult Snape, though he retains some of these characteristics that do emerge in stressful moments (in PoA we see how angrily he reacts to Sirius's escape, for instance) on the whole is a great deal more thoughtful, reserved, calculating, measured.

I think that Snape at some point had to force himself to become this. I think he actually relates to Harry here, and is giving him advice based on personal experience. In my fic he begins to learn to control his emotions partially out of a desire to protect Lily; he's fully aware that she's his weakness (or really, his strength, viewed a different way) and that openly displaying any sort of emotion towards her at all makes her vulnerable to the likes of Avery and Mulciber, who will have the perfect weapon to get to him if they want to.

Severus doesn't have the advantages of his peers, he's not pureblood, he wasn't born into money. If he wants to join the Death Eaters and rise in their ranks, he needs to be subtle, cunning, careful. he can't afford to be careless and entitled like mulciber or bellatrix or even sirius. what he's got to offer isn't his name or his money, it's his sheer talent and cleverness. moving on:

When Voldemort decides to go after Lily this becomes even more important. Imo the reason why Voldemort believes that Snape only "desired" Lily is because that's what Snape told him. He lied to Voldemort's face and told him something probably disgusting tbh because that's the only way Voldemort would accept it and agree, if it was a selfish, callous request that Voldemort could understand. We can see evidence of this here:

Asking Voldemort to spare a mudblood because he was in love with her would likely not have gone over well- and as we know, Voldemort actually bore his request in mind, though obv didn't give enough of a fuck about Snape to follow through. Because although asking voldemort to spare her must have taken serious balls, Snape's mistake here was trusting someone inherently selfish to do something selfless for him.

Clearly he immediately realises this and goes to Dumbledore, which is when controlling his emotions becomes of paramount importance, because now he's working against perhaps the most highly accomplished legilimens of all time.

It's also interesting to me that Snape in this conversation is probably the character who is most forthright and informative with Harry in the whole of OotP until Dumbledore at the end; Harry actually learns a lot in this conversation. And Snape also kind of gives him credit which is interesting too:

like for Snape that's high praise lmao. A shame because if he wasn't so bitter (i.e. didn't wear his heart on his sleeve so much around harry) then he might have actually been pretty helpful to Harry and a decent teacher. Again, during the Occlumency lessons his unrestrained emotion brought up by memories of James is a hindrance. He defies Dumbledore's orders to teach Harry Occlumency because of his emotional response to SWM, as well as honestly doing kind of a shit job before that (by not being empathetic and teaching Harry in a way that would've been actually productive.)

At this point Dumbledore believes that Harry learning Occlumency and controlling his emotions is of vital importance; he turns out to be wrong about this. In Harry's case, it turns out to be his emotional nature that saves him- unlike Snape, who is the opposite. Snape's journey is about learning that some things are more important than his selfish need to give into his own emotions.

By DH Snape's learned this lesson fully; his old hatred for James doesn't stop him from doing what has to be done, from giving Harry the tools he needs. Even in the final moments of his life, he can look past James and see Lily in Harry- and, by giving Harry the information that leads to his self-sacrifice, he can let her go.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

It Took Me A Moment To Realize - George Weasley X Female (Potter) Reader

Title: It Took Me A Moment To Realize

George Weasley X Female (Potter) Reader

Additional Characters: Luna (Mentioned), Harry, Fred (Mentioned), Ron (Mentioned), Draco (Mentioned), Dementors (Mentioned), Snape (Mentioned), and McGonagall (Mentioned)

Requested

WC: 2,929

Warnings: Angst to fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, Ravenclaw reader, brief mention of bullying, cute stuff, nervousness, awkwardness, Dementors, and fainting.

Sitting at a lone table in the library, you studied and worked on your essay for Professor Snape. it was all going well until a certain redhead prankster sat across from you. You didn't even bother to look up, you knew who it was. George Weasley. He irritated you, to say the least. And his pranks with his twin brother, Fred, did not impress you in the slightest. It made you wonder if he was ever going to grow out of his immaturity. That's why you couldn't understand how he could be such a good player on the Gryffindor team.

"Oh, Potter~" George called to you, in a sing-songy voice, resting his hand on his chin.

You chose to ignore him... Maybe he would go away.

"Come on, love... Can't ignore me forever." He grinned, leaning back in his chair. "I just want to ask you something." He smirked.

It annoyed you that he would call you 'love'. It wasn't like he had any right to do so. Sighing, you paused what you were doing. Maybe if you answered his question, he'd leave you alone.

"Yes, Weasley?" You asked, looking up at him.

He grinned again and leaned forward so he was face to face with you.

"Why do you hate me so much?" He whispered, causing you to flinch.

"Hate you? I don't hate you... I just find you annoying and downright obnoxious." You huffed, rolling your eyes.

"That's not very nice, Potter. All I'm ever trying to do is get to know you..." He protested, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No need to try," You scoffed. "I know your true intentions. Pranks and all that. Don't think I forgot how you and your dimwitted brother hexed my hair blue in my first year."

"Well, yeah... But I thought you were cool with it by now." He argued. "You did rock that blue for a good few days."

"Not really." You admitted. "Malfoy gave me one heck of a torment."

George shook his head, his red hair swaying with each movement. "That's not my fault."

You let out a sigh through your nose, closing your eyes to calm yourself down, "It was your fault that my hair was blue in the first place."

"But I didn't mean-"

"Can you just leave, Weasley? I need to finish studying. You know... Something you never do." You rolled your eyes, turning back to your books.

He sighed heavily, standing up he looked at you one last time before leaving. Only a few minutes passed by until someone once again sat across from you. Sighing, you dropped your quill.

"Weasley, if you so help me-" You looked up.

It wasn't George.

"You talking to a Weasley?" Your brother, Harry asked, smirking a bit.

"What the hell are you doing here?" You sighed, exhausted, sitting up.

"Just thought I'd hang out with you while you study." He shrugged. "Besides, Ron and Hermione are missing, can't find them..."

You hummed and went back to your work but Harry stopped you, "So George was here?"

You looked up at your twin, "How did you know?" You asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry hummed, tracing random circles around on the table before him, "You always are so annoyed when he's around... Are you sure you don't like him?"

You scoffed, "Of course not! Why would you even ask that?!"

Mrs. Pince loudly shushed you from her desk, you dropped your shoulders, a deep frown on your face.

Harry smiled a bit and moved to the seat next to you, "I think you push him away because he likes you."

You pursed your lips, "That is ridiculous, Harry."

"Maybe," He shrugged, looking at Mrs. Pince. "I have to get ready for the match today... See you there?" He asked and you nodded, giving your twin a smile.

"Wouldn't miss it."

As Harry left, you couldn't help but think back to George and your first year. You couldn't help but cringe. He was annoying, immature, and simply irritating.

~~~

At the match, you sat next to Luna, your best friend, chanting Harry's name as he flew out on his broom. In the beginning, the game was going swimmingly, but as Harry flew up higher and higher, passing the clouds to catch the snitch, you felt uneasy. You weren't sure what was wrong but, you could tell something was off about the entire situation. Then, suddenly, you felt dizzy and everything went black.

Gaining consciousness, you felt weightless, as if you were floating or flying through the air, but you felt the arms under your knees and back, holding you to a warm chest. Opening your eyes, you looked up, seeing George carrying you off to what you hoped was the infirmary. But, as he went toward the moving stairs, you furrowed your eyebrows.

"Where are we going?" You asked, your mind pounding with a dreadful headache.

"Your common room. The infirmary is full." George replied, looking down at you. "Your head hurts doesn't it?"

You nodded, feeling a bit nauseous.

"You should rest." He said, as he got up all the stairs and went towards the Ravenclaw entrance.

You shut your eyes again, hearing as George whispered the password and walked into the common room. You wondered how he knew the password, and why. Opening your eyes, George sat you gently down on the common room couch, before sitting next to you, but leaving space.

"How did you know the password?" You asked quietly, rubbing your temples.

"Lovegood." He muttered, his voice soft.

You frowned, trying to remember what happened. "All you could remember was the game and then darkness, and faintly... A scream.

"What... What happened?" You asked, your voice shaky.

George sighed, sitting up straight. "You fainted. Harry did too." He explained. "You almost hit your head when you fell but Lovegood caught you. I came over as quickly as I could and brought you here."

You looked up at him in shock. "Harry fainted too?" You asked, confused.

Was that why you felt so worried?

George nodded his head, looking down at his hands, "Yeah, he's fine though. Don't worry. He had taken the last bed in the infirmary, so McGonagall told me to take you to your common room."

You looked at George, unsure of what to do, but he grabbed your hand and squeezed it.

"Don't worry, Potter," He murmured, "He'll be fine."

You nodded tears in your eyes. This happened too on the train to Hogwarts. The Dementors must have done this. They frightened you. As Harry did too.

"Should I stay here with you?" George offered, pulling his hand back. "I mean... Can I stay with you? I want to make sure you are alright and don't faint again..." He trailed, looking up at you.

You smiled softly, "Thank you, but I don't want to waste your time," You said, wiping the tears from your eyes. "You probably have better things to do, like bloody pranking first years." You scoffed, closing your eyes.

George sighed, "I'm sorry about that, Y/N. I really am. I was dumb then and thought pranking you, my brother, and others was funny."

You laughed lightly, bitterly, "You're still dumb."

"I know... But, what I did to you wasn't right. And, I am sorry."

You didn't answer, and waited a moment before speaking, "Why did you do it?" You asked something you had been wondering for years.

George bit his lip, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "I wanted to be popular. But it was more than that, I thought that pranking you was the only way for you to notice me." He chuckled, looking down at his lap, "If only I knew what I know now."

"I noticed you the first day I met you." You mumbled, your voice thick with tears.

"Really?" He looked up at you with wide eyes, tilting his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You didn't have to prank me. You could've talked to me. I don't know why turning my hair blue, switching my pumpkin juice to prune juice, and turning poor Mittens into a toad would be a logical way of getting me to notice you. If anything, it made me dislike you." You huffed, looking down at your hands.

George nodded, "I see..." He said quietly. "I just... I didn't know how to talk to you. You are Y/N Potter, Harry Potter's sister and I was just George Weasley, a prankster. You are just so intimidating and beautiful… I knew I wasn’t worthy of you…" His voice trailed off and he looked down at his hands again.

"You thought I was intimidating... And beautiful?" You asked, slowly, feeling your face flush and your eyes widen as you looked over at the redhead.

Your heart was beating so fast, you felt as if it would burst. Your hands began to sweat, cheeks burning.

George pursed his lips before answering, "You are... But, you are also sweet. Kind. Caring. Smart. And so much more. I just... I wanted you to notice me..." His voice trailed off and he looked down at his lap. "I know I have absolutely no chance now, but I like you... A lot. Ever since I first laid my eyes on you…" He sighed, "I tried to be friends with you for years, but it was always awkward and you kept avoiding me… And I just thought pranking was a better option."

You bit your lip, "You gave a good reason for me to avoid you, George."

George froze when you said his first name. Loving how your voice pronounced his name, he smiled weakly.

"I don't know why you thought that pranking me would be the best way to get me to notice you." You thought out loud.

"Because I am a bloody idiot," George mumbled, looking up at you. "I can admit that."

You pursed your lips again, turning to look at the older boy in front of you. He sat slightly slouched, his dark brown eyes staring right into yours. His face was almost covered in cute freckles. Wait... What? You couldn't help but go over what George had said about you. That you were sweet, kind... How he said that you were beautiful. You felt your cheeks burn and butterflies fill your stomach. Did you have a crush on George?

"Y/N?" He asked, looking at you.

"Oh, um... Yes?" You stuttered, noticing that you might've been staring a bit too long at the youngest twin.

"Are you alright?" He asked, worried, and you nodded.

Clearing your throat, you spoke, "You think I'm beautiful?" You asked, your voice sounding small.

"Yes." He answered, looking down at his hands again. "Very. It’s crazy how beautiful you are… You must be a Veela."

Your heart skipped a beat and you felt your face grow hot, "You like me?" You looked up at him, your eyes getting lost in his chocolate brown eyes.

"I do." He said, his voice husky.

"Really?" You breathed, your voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes widened, "Yes, I really do."

You smiled, feeling your whole body warm up from head to toe.

"Well, I may or may not think you are cute." You admitted, smiling again.

His eyes grow wide, "You do?"

You nodded, finally looking away from him, fiddling with your fingers. "I didn't truly know it, but I think I do like you... Minus your immaturity."

"Really?" His tone was hopeful and he sat up straighter in his seat.

You nodded, "I mean, ignoring your prankster side... I thought you were funny."

"I'm glad you agree." He said with a smile, teasingly.

You then turned to face George again, with furrowed eyebrows. "But, before anything happens between us, you have to prove to me that you won't prank me or any other kids. Professors, I don't care, especially not my brother. Got it?" You softly demanded and George nodded with a huge adorable smile.

He reached out, squeezing your hand and you felt a flutter in your stomach at the contact.

"Absolutely, I promise you, you won't regret this." He promised, squeezing your hand gently again before letting go.

You sighed, "Alright, then." You agreed, smiling, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

George froze, eyes wide, before a doopy-looking expression fell on his face, letting out a dreamy sigh. Shocked by his reaction, you giggled, loving your effect on him.

"Want to go with me to Hogsmeade?" He asked softly, and you nodded.

"Of course." You grinned, and George kissed you on the lips. It was a tiny peck, but it sent a thrill through your chest and your stomach. You pulled back, blushing, but you couldn't stop the smile on your face.

"You're making it really easy for me to forgive you, George." You teased, taking his hand and standing up from the couch.

"Where are we going?" He asked as the two of you left the common room.

"To see my brother... I want to make sure he's alright. And break the news to him that he was right."

George furrowed his eyebrows as he swung the two of your hands back and forward as you both walked. "Right about what?"

"He knew I liked you. And I bet Ron and Fred had some sort of bet about this." You shrugged, leading the way towards the infirmary.

George may have been a prankster and a rebel, but he was kind and smart, and you felt yourself falling for him, even if you were only just realizing your true feelings for him.

__________________________________________________

Thank you so much again for requesting! I had a lot of fun writing this! And I hope you liked it! :)

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Oliver Wood is NOT a Good Captain

“Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch on it first.”

But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn’t speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him ‘the Seeker’.

The Gryffindor team visited again on Sunday morning, this time accompanied by Wood, who told Harry, in a hollow, dead sort of voice, that he didn’t blame him in the slightest.

I get the impression that fandom thinks Wood is a loving, good captain but he really is not. In isolation, the third snippet could be read as a joke (they did lose the match after all and Wood is quidditch obsessed). However, when you look at Oliver in totality, he shows time after time that he cares more about winning than Harry's safety and is perfectly ok with throwing Harry under the bus.

Overall, contrary to popular opinion, the Gryffindor team sucks. I am not talking about the individual players, but the whole team. Hermione disses Draco by saying that the lions got on their team by talent (screw Hermione btw, what does this annoying girl know about talent?)...but without Harry, they seem to be a bunch of losers.

Remember Minerva broke the rules for Harry to join the team as a first-year. Do you think she would have done so if the team was truly competent? The Quidditch World Cup in book 4 proved that a team can have a crap seeker and still dominate/win. The lions literally needed favouritism/nepotism to have a chance at winning. Let that sink in. But Snape is totally the biased teacher around here (sarcasm)

In either book 1 or book 2 (I think book 2), Harry missed the match and the team had the worst defeat in over 300 years! Further proof that these people suck without "chosen-one in more ways than one" Harry. By the way, Slytherin has reserve players. Does the Gryfinfor team have reserve players? Because I never see any. In book 6, when Draco and other Slytherins are conveniently out sick (to give Ron a chance at winning because the golden trio never seems to have to earn anything), they have backup players ready (eg that Harper guy who played Seeker in Draco's place). However, in book 5 when Harry and the twins are suspended, the team needs to hold tryouts to get new players. No backups in sight.

In book 3 when Harry gets his firebolt, the team (the entire school minus Slytherin house) gets all horny for the broomstick. "We have a firebolt!" basically reduced Harry's skill and importance to the team to his broomstick. These people don't care about Harry. Yet, it's such a crime when Draco and his team got new broomsticks in book 2! Gryffindors == Hypocrites.

I don't see much of Marcus Flint but from what I have read, I like him more as a captain. When the Gryffindor team tried to group assault a 12 yr old Draco after calling Hermione a mudblood (should have just called her a "bitch" or "hag" instead and saved everyone the need to virtue signal), Flint immediately threw himself in front of Draco to protect him. Remember these are older students trying to beat up a tiny 12 yr old because of something he said. The Weasley twins are BEATERS - just the 2 of them alone could have really hurt Draco. Compare this to Oliver who doesn't give a damn about Harry being hurt as long as he wins.

Also, when Draco is an idiot and loses to Harry in book 2 (of course, the only time someone has a better broom than Harry, Harry wins because that person decided to fool around despite wanting to play on a quidditch team before Harry even knew what the sport was), the Slytherins don't ostracize Draco the way the Gryfindors ostracized Harry when he lost house points.

In a nutshell: Marcus Flint >>> Oliver Wood & Gryffindor team sucks.

PS. If you are a Draco anti or Hermione stan or any other kind of Gryffindor stan that thinks Draco deserved to be group assaulted by bigger, older, stronger students because of calling Hermione a slur in response to her insulting him first, just ignore this post and move on. Unlike you and a good chunk of the HP fandom, I don't get sadistic pleasure from seeing Draco constantly (group) assaulted for saying mean words to characters who had contempt for him first.