#and decided to watch them both to celebrate four years of being in the lupin fandom

[dagmartoons]

not sure if watching both of these back to back in one night was the best or worst decision i've ever made but both movies fuckin slap so whatever

[bwbatta]

The one where you get together (1)

Abstract: Y/N and Sirius have been friends since they first met on the Hogwarts Express, so when they do get together, they decide not to tell their friends straight away. (Friends AU)

Pairing: Sirius Black x Lupin sister!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, talking about sexual content

Word Count: 3.5K

A/N: To celebrate reaching 500 followers, I'm dropping another mini series as a thank you to everyone who has shared and supported my work! Add yourself to my taglist here 

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

You could still vividly remember the first time you met Sirius Black.

Boarding the train to Hogwarts the first time, you managed to find a compartment with your brother, Remus, before it was descended upon by two rowdy boys with large grins.

James Potter and Sirius Black had, with no hesitation, introduced themselves to you and you quickly became friends, especially when you pulled your money together and bought a various selection of chocolates from the trolley. When the sorting hat placed all of you in Gryffindor, it only reaffirmed your friendship.

It wasn't just the four of you in your little group though, the boys were placed in a dormitory with another boy, Peter, and you shared a dorm with two other girls who also became fierce friends of yours; Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon.

Of course, growing up together through Hogwarts had it's arguments and fall outs, though somehow you always seemed to remain friends.

It wasn't until your seventh, and final year of Hogwarts did the surprising pair of Lily and James get together which solidified your friendship group even further. Between Sirius and you, the bet you had made in your fourth year regarding when the pair would get together, finally came to an end where you had happily took your winnings with a smile and paid for a bottle of Firewhiskey to celebrate.

After graduating, you ended up moving in with Marlene, finding a perfect two bedroom flat for you to share, close to Diagon Alley. The boys had taken a page from your book with Sirius using some of his inheritance from his great uncle and buying a flat directly across the Leaky Cauldron.

Whilst he had invited Peter to also live with him and Remus, the boy politely refused with the intention to stay with his parents for a while.

James however, had asked Lily to move in with him almost the second they graduated and the pair had moved to a little cottage in Godric’s Hollow. It wasn’t long afterwards that James had proposed to Lily which led to the current series of events.

About an hour before, you and Marlene had walked down the aisle in the gardens of Potter Manor in your bridesmaids dresses, while Lily had donned a white dress and followed you. Standing opposite your brother and Sirius, the latter caught your eye when your friends said their wedding vows.

With a wink, Sirius had your attention and you weren't exactly sure what it was that felt different, but something definitely did.

As the reception started, you watched Lily and James take some of their wedding photos together. The smile on your face was something you couldn't help as Remus appeared at your side, a similar expression on his own face.

"Remember when Lily hexed James so hard he vomited out of his nose because he proposed to her?"

"I'm pretty sure it made him like her even more to be honest, James is weird like that." You snickered, accepting the drink from your brother. "Who would've thought we'd be here not even four years later?"

"Tell me about it. If you plan on getting married anytime soon though, please give me some warning." Remus joked, nudging his shoulder against yours.

"I think I need to actually date someone before I marry them, but thanks for being so optimistic about my dating life." You grinned at him before seeing Sirius making his way over to the two of you.

"Well well, if it isn't the Lupin twins." Sirius laid an arm over both your shoulders. "How long do you reckon it'll be before Lily's creepy uncle makes a move on Marlene?"

"At least after two more drinks." Remus chuckled. "Which reminds me, I promised I'd save her from any men tonight who wanted to dance with her that, and I quote, looked like they had to use a stamina charm in bed."

"Good luck with that." You snickered, waving your brother off as he disappeared in the direction of the blonde.

Sirius didn't say anything else as he took a seat at one of the tables and pulled you down into his lap. It wasn't uncommon for the two of you to hug or cuddle, having done so numerous times in the Gryffindor common room, much to Remus' annoyance. This only really resulted in Sirius being more affectionate.

Being twins, the two of you were naturally closer than normal siblings which resulted in Remus being protective over you since the only blood family you both had left was each other. Your parents, especially your father, had grown fearsome and disgusted at what Remus was, despite it not being his fault when Greyback bit him all those years ago. Your father began to resent you after you constantly took Remus' side and played his constant advocate.

"Hey, what're you thinking about?" Sirius nudged you, grabbing your attention. His expression was unreadable as he watched you watch Lily and James interact with each other.

"I don't know, it's nothing." Sirius nudged you again, looking for a proper answer. "I look at them and I just wonder if I'll ever have that, you know? Someone who looks at you like you're their whole world."

Sirius didn't say anything at first, but pulled you closer. He wouldn't admit it but he often had the same thought cross his mind.

"You'll find them."

"Are they fucking hiding from me?!"

"If they've already met you, then probably."

Smacking his chest, you couldn't help the contagious laughter that bubbled from you, echoing that from the wizard.

"Being serious though," Sirius grinned at the pun he just made, "who wouldn't want you?"

You smiled at him warmly, not knowing what to say. It wasn't often that Sirius was, well serious. The boy loved a joke, but he also loved his friends and knew exactly what to say to them to cheer them up, especially you.

"Thanks, Siri."

"Hey, James and Lily are about to head off for their honeymoon." Remus said, knocking on Sirius' bedroom door at Potter Manor, stepping inside to see Sirius rush back out from the ensuite bathroom only in his shirt and boxers. "What happened to you? You disappeared from the reception."

"Uh, dropped cake down myself, had to come and change." Sirius told him quickly.

"You do realise you're a wizard right? You could've just vanished the mess?"

"Ah yeah, of course, how stupid, sure could've. Anyway, I just need to put on some clean trousers and I'll be right down."

Remus frowned. Something was off but he couldn't work out what it was. Putting it down to Sirius drinking too much, he waved the man off, exiting the room.

"Alright well, hurry down, James was asking for you."

Remus exited the room and Sirius quickly closed the door behind him. Turning back to the bathroom, he watched as you opened the door with a tentative expression, trying to zip your dress back up but failing.

"Do you think he knew I was here?"

"Don't think so, here, turn around, I'll do it." Sirius turned you around, quickly zipping up your dress before resting his hands on your waist. "So, we haven't done that before."

"That is correct."

It was slightly awkward between the two of you, why was it awkward? Oh, maybe because you were both fucking like rabbits not even moments before your brother knocked on the door. It had never been awkward between you before though and you didn't like it.

"Why is it so awkward?" Sirius chuckled as you spun around before him.

"Right! It's like I don't know what to say!"

"We're just two friends who've had sex one time, there doesn't have to be anything awkward about that!"

"Exactly, it doesn't have to be a big deal, it was a one time thing, we can just go back to the party and no one will know!"

"Yes, good plan, lets go!" Turning towards the door, Sirius started towards it with a new determination, completely forgetting one issue.

"Sirius?" He paused, looking back at you, "maybe you should put on some trousers before we go down though."

"Good idea."

Waving James and Lily off, you stood alongside the rest of your friends as Marlene appeared, pulling you towards her by your waist.

"Ugh, please tell me we're going to get some good booze and continue to get fucked up at ours?"

"Is that an open invite?" Remus asked with a grin, "Think I spied an extra bottle of Firewhiskey knocking about near the top table."

"100%," Marlene grinned at him, "after all, it's the least I could do after you saved me from so many creeps tonight. I will thank you in the form of hosting a small afterparty with the inner circle. Right, Y/N?"

"I'm up for it, I'll go see if I can grab that extra bottle you mentioned."

Taking off towards the top table, your eyes scanned the tables one by one until you felt a presence behind you. Already knowing who it was, you didn't bother looking back at them.

"I've got a fresh bottle stashed under my bed upstairs if we wanna grab that one?" Sirius said lowly in your ear.

"That sounds like a plan," you said slowly, "though I thought we said it was only a one time thing?"

"Weddings don't count, right? I swear that's a rule somewhere."

"...How long do you think we can be before the others get suspicious?"

"10 minutes?"

"Sounds good, lets go."

The pair of you said nothing more the entire night on the matter and ended up just having a good time with your friends. The boys ended up sleeping on your sofas, not trusting themselves to apparate safely considering the amount they each had to drink.

It wasn't until mid morning when everyone started to rouse, that you offered to make everyone a cup of tea to help with the hangovers that had started to form.

"Hey, make mine extra strong, will you?"

You laughed, turning to face Sirius.

"You need the caffeine that much?"

"That answer is a strong yes."

Pouring the boiling water into the mugs, you passed Sirius' over to him as he smiled at you in thanks.

"So, yesterday was something." You smiled, taking a sip of your own drink.

"Yeah... something stupid, right?"

"Yeah, totally stupid." There was a brief silence between you as you weren't exactly sure what to say next. "Look as much as I enjoyed it, I don't want us to become awkward or ruin our friendship or anything because of it."

"Good, because I was going to say the same thing." Sirius nodded, leaning against the kitchen counter top. "As good as the sex was, and trust me it was good, it's not worth making our friendship awkward or anything not knowing where we stand with the other."

"Right, yes, that makes a lot of sense." You both took another sip of tea as you listened to Marlene and Remus in the living room laugh about something. "Unless... wait no, it's nothing."

"No, what it is?" Sirius asked.

"Unless... I don't know, we keep fucking in secret and just don't tell the others?"

You stared at the tea in your cup before raising your eyes to meet Sirius' grey ones which were wide, a grin on his face.

"I guess that would work too?"

"Yeah... anyway on a totally unrelated note, Marlene's visiting her family tomorrow night at like 7."

"Noted."

"Where's my bloody tea, Y/N!" The blonde in question strode into the kitchen sluggishly. "I swear you've been in here for 4 hours making it."

"If you were a little more patient, Mar, I was just about to bring it out for you." You rolled your eyes but handed the mug over to her anyway.

"Thanks, how're you two feeling this morning?"

"Rough." Sirius grunted out as the three of you headed back into the living room. "But what's new there, really?!"

"You should really try cut back on your drinking, Pads." Remus mentioned, taking the cup of tea from you with a smile.

"You should cut back on your chocolate."

"Chocolate doesn't give you hangovers." Remus countered with a smirk causing Sirius to just roll his eyes as he sunk down into an armchair.

"Either way, I hope Lils and James are having fun." Marlene stretched out on the other sofa, placing her legs over your own. "I know James will be with the things Y/N and I packed as a surprise in Lily's bags."

You snorted into your cup as you remembered the countless lacy items you'd snuck into Lily's normally conservative wardrobe.

"Well, James might be happy about what you packed, but he certainly won't be happy with what we packed." Sirius snickered as Remus held back a laugh.

"What did you do?!"

"We might've exchanged his entire bag of clothes for an entire bag of Cornish Pixies." Sirius grinned. "I'm already expecting a howler from Lily at some point in the near future."

Sirius didn’t have to wait long for Lily’s reaction as only moments later he heard an angry shout through his two way mirror he shared with James.

As planned, Marlene visited her family the next day and no later after she flooed away, Sirius appeared at the front door of your flat. The same happened after Marlene was picked by Dumbledore for an order mission and Sirius happily flooed into your flat only moments later. You were convinced he’d bugged your flat somehow.

James and Lily returned from their honeymoon a week later, effectively surprising you as they flooed into your flat with no warning, causing you to stuff a naked Sirius into your closet. It was safe to say he wasn’t impressed after Lily insisted she make a pot of tea to ‘catch up’, and ended up staying round for several hours. 

You barely managed to hide the snicker which escaped your lips when James asked if you knew where Sirius was.

With the newly married pair being back, the two of you decided to come up with a plan as how to sneak around without the others knowing.

Somehow, it didn’t really go to plan.

Sirius insisted that you should come over and take a bath with him one night, especially as Remus was due to be out. You couldn’t help but agree to the idea, mostly because you got to spend time with your very sexy male friend who looked very good in bubbles... and also the fact his bathtub was a lot better than your own.

The bathtub in question was a massive claw-foot tub which could fit the two of you and your two roommates if you so desired. Compared against the shitty little tub Marlene and you had in your flat, it was a no brainer.

Which is why as you sat in between Sirius’ legs, your back against his chest, you couldn’t help but feel more relaxed than you had done all week. 

Sirius was leant back against the tub, his arm around your waist with a glass of Firewhiskey in his other hand. The two of you had nicked this particular bottle from James’ ‘secret stash’ which everyone knew he hid under his cloak, under the stairs. It was all too easy for the two of you to sneak in and borrow it for the time being. 

“You know, Prongs must be real blind if he can’t see how many people actually know about his hiding spots.” You snickered as you took the glass from Sirius and took a sip.

“I think it might be all the brain damage after getting hit in the head so many times.” He grinned.

“How long do you think it’ll be until he notices the actual bottle being gone? A few days?”

“Give him some credit, it’ll be at least a week.”

The two of you chuckled before you heard the fireplace roar with flames. Footsteps quickly made their way towards Sirius’ room before heading towards the bathroom.

A panicked look between the two of you was exchanged as a knock was heard on the door. 

“Pads? It’s me, I’m coming in.”

Sirius quickly took the glass of Firewhiskey back from you as you dived underwater, praying the bubbles would cover up the fact you were there. 

The door opened and James stepped in about to say something, before he stopped and observed the scene before him. Sirius was sat covered in bubbles with candles lit around him. Despite the calm expression on his face, the fact you were lying between his legs in the water had his heart racing. 

“Did you need something, Prongs?”

“Uh, yeah, have you seen the bottle of Firewhiskey which I was given as a gift for my wedding?” James asked, very obviously looking at the opened bottle on the side of the bath. 

“Didn’t even know you got given one, mate. This was from Y/N.”

“And if I ask her, will she give me the same story?”

“Positively. Anything else?”

“Yeah, you want to order some Chinese?” 

“I mean I- NO!” 

His outburst was a surprise to both James and himself after you had pinched him underwater signalling you were running out of air.

“Really? Lily’s got me on this diet and-”

“James! Get out!”

“Fine! Okay! No need to shout at me, I’ve seen you in weirder scenarios.”

James left and shut the door behind him just as soon as you jolted up, gasping for breath. 

“I’m sorry, he wouldn’t leave! He wanted to ask me if I fancied some Chinese.”

“Chinese?” You asked, turning to look at him over your shoulder with a contemplative look on your face. “I could go for some chow mein.”

“Prongs!” Taking a deep breath, you disappeared underwater again just before James appeared once more. “I’ll have a large chow mein, sweet and sour chicken, some of those prawn cracker things and the spring rolls.”

“Spring rolls? I swear only Y/N likes them.”

“Thought I’d try them out since as she’s always yapping on about them.”

“Alright, back in a bit.”

James left and shut the door again. You emerged from the water, leaning back on Sirius again as he relayed off what he’d ordered. 

“You ordered me spring rolls?!”

“Yeah, I remembered you liked them.” Sirius shrugged, wrapping his arm around your waist again. “Even if they taste like arse.”

The group had gathered at Marlene and Y/N’s for an evening where despite Lily’s constant health kicks, she relented into ordering pizza for the group. 

“Hey, you guys will never guess what I found out today.” Marlene grinned.

“You’re secretly a guy?” Sirius snickered from the armchair, only to receive a cushion being thrown at his face by the blonde. 

“No,” Marlene scowled at him, “Alice and Frank got engaged!” 

“What?! How’d you find out?” Lily asked as she cuddled up to James in the other armchair. 

“I ran into Alice at Headquarters earlier and she showed me her ring.” Marlene leant back into the sofa as she brought her legs up to lay them over Remus’ lap. “We best be getting ready for another wedding soon.”

“I’m sure we’ll hear more at the meeting tomorrow.” James said grinning. “Who knew Longbottom had it in him?!”

“Alice certainly did.” You snickered, leaning onto Remus’ other shoulder. The comment got another round of chuckles from everyone present as Lily shot you a less than impressed look. 

“Alright, I say let’s call it a night if we have to be at the meeting early tomorrow morning.” The redhead rolled her eyes at you all before standing up and brushing her dress down. 

Everyone else seemed to follow her lead as Marlene and you stood to show everyone out. 

“Yeah, I need to sleep as much as I can with Moony’s snoring keeping me up all night.” Sirius grinned, stepping up beside you and Remus. 

What no one expected to happen was for Sirius to dip and find your lips in a kiss, his hand wrapping around the back of your neck to pull you closer, just as he had done for the last few weeks. 

The rest of the group stood with slack jaws as they took in the scene before them as they watched Sirius kiss you. Pulling away, you caught each other’s eyes as realisation set in and your own eyes went wide. 

“Marls,” Sirius shook off his slight hesitation before heading straight over to Marlene and pulling her in for a kiss of her own. “Lily.”

Stepping forward to give Lily a kiss goodbye, Sirius couldn’t help but notice the wide eyed look from both James at kissing his wife and Remus at kissing his sister. 

“Pleasure to spend time with you all.” Sirius grinned at everyone’s expressions before entering the fireplace to floo back to his own flat. 

“What the hell was that?!” Remus asked with wide eyes, securely on you. 

“Probably some leftover greeting from Lily and James’ wedding. Lils did have some french cousins, perhaps he picked it up from them?” You chuckled, trying to play down the laugh you so wanted to let out. 

“Yeah, it did feel french.” Marlene snickered. “I’m not sure if I feel happy about saying that I’ve kissed Sirius Black though.”

“Well, he can keep his lips to himself and not on my wife.” James scowled at the fireplace where Sirius had disappeared moments before. 

HP Taglist:

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Permanent Taglist: 

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[accio-moony]

Precedented Reputation || Remus Lupin x Reader SMUT

Request: Yes: {anon} What about a Remus smut where the reader is in a skirt and maybe has a hair pulling kink?

AN: They’re both 17 (legal age for wizards) Not Proof-read

Word Count: 3.7~k

Characters/Pairing: Remus Lupin x reader, James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans

Summary: [marauders era] You’ve been riled up all day, and take your opportunity while under the influence of firewhisky at a Gryffindor party.

WARNINGS: Underage drinking, public make out, unprotected sex, hair pulling, spanking, edging, slight cock warming, creampie

*not my gifs*

The loud chatter that fills the Gryffindor common room feels like it shakes your soul when combined with the thump of the music. It makes your head kind of fuzzy, but the Firewhisky in your hand can’t be helping with that either. Of course, like most Saturdays after a quidditch match, the Gryffindors would celebrate, whether they won, or even played, or not. Another excuse for the house to exude its rowdiness. Today is no exception, especially since they had won by more a good fifty points. Students are running around in every direction; every corner is filled with a group of friends or a couple. It is well past after hours for the castle, and this tower remains lit with excitement. If you pay enough attention, you would notice that there are a select few students who aren’t even a part of the Gryffindor house. Some students just can’t turn down the opportunity to get bashed by Firewhisky. 

On the coffee table of the center group of couches stands Sirius Black, your boyfriend’s best friend. As Sirius rambles off some nonsense no one understands and dances around on the table, you lean your head against your boyfriend’s shoulder, taking in the scene. Admittedly, if it weren’t for the extra dose of courage your drink provides you, you wouldn’t be down here. Likely you would be off reading a book or studying. You don’t even usually drink, but your friends had coaxed you into it this time. It being your last year at Hogwarts, you don’t want to be the one to say they never attended any parties.

That aforementioned extra lot of courage has you excited in more ways than one, but you aren’t the type to just hop on your boyfriend in the middle of a crowded space, unlike many of the students filling the common room. Said excitement has also been in your gut all day, for what reason you don’t know, but the alcohol on your tongue was just gasoline to the fire. You’ve stayed by Remus’ side since supper was over and the lot of you left the Great Hall. You’ve kept your arms around him, occasionally squeezing his sides in hopes that he’ll get the intended nonverbal message. Though, as most days, he was unaware of your actions, simply playing it off as your regular affection. 

You’ve been pushing your urges to the side all day, but they kept coming back. After dinner, just before the party had started, you disappeared upstairs to your dormitories with your room mates to get ready. The idea stroke you then that you should wear Remus’ favorite outfit of yours, and maybe then he’ll give you a reaction. Even with the denim skirt, the reaction he gave you when he saw you was insufficient. He merely bit his lip and wrapped his arm around you, holding you close and claiming you as his. 

By now, Sirius has tripped off the coffee table and spilled his drink all down his and some poor girl’s shirt. Jading to you and many others, he has managed to play it off to is advantage as he snogs her on a near-by couch. As Remus talks to Peter about something unimportant, his arm still protectively wrapped around you, you look for the fourth marauder. You find him, sitting in a far corner practically swallowing his girlfriend, whom he had pined for since first year. Lily had rejected him so many times, and you’re still baffled by what changed her mind. 

You think to yourself, if James can get his dream girl after six years of rejection, you can figure out how to get your boyfriend to take you to bed. It’s never been a problem for Sirius, and even though he has many characteristics you don’t, how hard could it be for just one person — the one person you’ve let have you before and that you’ve loved since you first spoke to him. 

Even as the room is stocked with sweaty teenagers, Remus manages to still wear his usual many layers. It’s no surprise, given the tokens his ill-favored condition has left him to bare for all the years to come. You’ve never shunned him for his lycanthropy, loving him and all the baggage that comes with, as he does you. 

As shrewdly as possible, you untuck Remus’ button down and sweater from his trousers. Being so preoccupied in his conversation with Peter, Remus doesn’t seem to notice, giving you the advantage. You hand you cup to some random student passing by you without a word, without even a glance, and you slide your cold hand under his button down, resting it on his flushed abs, all while turning in his arms so you’re comfortably facing him. The stark contrast in the temperature of your skin to his quickly seizes his attention as he tenses under your touch, his head whipping around as he looks down at you. The moment his eyes meet yours, he knows. He can see the need that he’s missed all day, but he decides to see how far you’ll go in such a public setting, the Firewhisky also having given him an extra ounce of courage. He lets out a breathy laugh as he relaxes under your touch, and he bends down slightly, only kissing the top of your head before turning back to talk to Peter, to your displeasure.

You huff, and before you can make a decision on how to proceed, or even if you should, you body speaks for itself as you move to stand between the two men, pushing Peter back as you face Remus. But you don’t just stand there expectingly. Your hands grab the sides of his face as you push up on your toes to get yourself closer to his height and pull his lips down onto yours in a feverish kiss. Though Remus was still playing snitch, not giving into the kiss as much as you wanted him to. You groan as your lips move across his jaw and up his neck to rest just under his ear, pulling him down by the neckline of his sweater with one hand, the other placed on his shoulder. Instinctively, his arm wraps around the small of your back, holding you close as he’s bent over to match your height. The hand one his sweater releases and slyly slides down his chest. 

“Stop being an arsehole on purpose, Remus,” you breath, your breath hot as it fans over his ear. You let your hand finally reach its desired destination, gripping him over his trousers and finding him to be just as aroused as yourself. “Or neither of us will get what we want.” Your hand slides over his length, squeezing ever-so slightly. 

Remus finally gives in to his act, his need to feel your lips overriding his intoxicated fantasy. His posture marginally straightens as he grabs your face with both of his hands, crashing his lips down onto yours in a hungry kiss, still full of passion. His left hand slide back from your cheek and his fingers lace into your hair. As his plan of action succeeds and he pulls your hair slightly, you gasp against his lips, and he’s able to force his tongue into your mouth to explore the familiar expanse. You moan when you feel his tongue press over your own, his other hand leaving your face and wrapping his right arm around your lower back, pulling you closer to him. His erection presses against your hip, and you can feel him throbbing behind the denim restraints. Remus feels your cold hands run up his sides from under his shirt, and he knows that if he doesn’t move you now, he may end up having to take you on the nearest open piece of furniture. His cock twitches slightly at the thought of everyone watching you, but he knows that no one gets to see you in your most vulnerable moments accept for him. He also doesn’t want that reputation to follow either of you through the last several months of school. 

He pulls away from you completely, not even staying by your side but instead walking away from you. You’re left standing in the middle of the common room, eyes wide and mouth ajar as you try to process the fact of how suddenly your boyfriend left you in such an intimate moment. After the moments or two it takes to regather your composer, you spin around, searching the room to find where he could have gone. Along the perimeter of the room, against the back wall, you see him. Your eyes catch his expecting look as he motions up the stairs next to him, the stairs that lead to the boy’s dormitories. Again locked in your spot to comprehend the situation, you force your feet from their spot seemingly bolted to the rough carpet and quickly maneuver your way through the crowded room to the back wall. 

You don’t stop when you reach him; you just wink at him with your lip between your teeth as you scurry up the spiral staircase. You feel him follow behind you, and once your around the first bend of the stairs, no longer able to be seen from the common room, you feel his hand fall down onto your ass roughly. You squeal and giggle as you bend over from the excitement, ascending the rest of the steps on all fours. 

Behind you, Remus throbs painfully in his trousers when he sees your panties peak out from under your short skirt, when he sees the wet mark adorning them. He growls perforce as he wraps his strong arms around you, easily picking you up as you giggle and carrying you the rest of the way to his dorm. Once in his room, he puts you down, not letting go until he’s sure you’ve got your balance, and his foot kicks the door closed behind him. 

“Colloportus,” he mumbles as he pulls his wand from his pocket and lazily points it at the door, locking it before throwing his wand down on his bedside table. 

“Muffliato,” you cast your own spell, still giggling from the excitement as you blindly walk backwards until the back of your knees hit the edge of Remus’ bed. You sit down, breathing heavily as you watch as your boyfriend quickly removes his belt, throwing it on the floor somewhere meaningless to you both in the moment.

Remus kicks his trainers off easily, then hurriedly removes his socks as he stumbles closer to you. You follow his lead and slip your flats off your feet, discarding them behind you with a heavy thunk. Once his socks are on the floor to be forgotten, Remus strides over to where you sit on his bed, graying your face in his right hand as he reconnects your mouths in a passionate kiss. His free hand quickly tugs the hem of your sweater from your skirt so he can slide it underneath, cupping your plump breasts over your bra, squeezing roughly. You moan at the feeling, releasing his mouth as your hands stealthily remove his own sweater, quickly pulling it over his head and getting to work on undoing his button down, his last layer. He stands up straight, something he usually doesn’t do, but seeing your nimble fingers working over the buttons of his shirt as you look up at him will love-blown eyes boosts his confidence. His fingers slide through your soft hair as he watches you finish with the last several buttons, his eyes full of lust. 

When you’ve released the final button on his white chemise, you don’t push it off his shoulders, instead enjoying how it hangs open, his tan chest exposed to you. Unable to resist, you begin kissing over the span of his chest, taking a moment here and there to suck your mark into his chest. As you do so, you gradually stand up, kissing up the length of his torso on the way. Once you’ve stood up straight and left one last purple bruise on his neck, just above where his collar sits, you step back, holding the intimate eye contact as you guide his hands to pull your sweater over your head, revealing your lace-clad tits to your boyfriend. You smirk as his eyes fall from yours and onto your cleavage once it’s revealed. 

He grabs them in his large hands, squeezing roughly as he drives his lips back onto yours, forcing your mouth open again to accept his tongue. He only kisses you for a moment, his member painfully rubbing against the denim of his trousers, begging to be released from the confinement. “I bet you’re ready for me aren’t you?” He smirks against your lips before attaching them again. “You’re so needy and desperate for me to fuck you, huh?”

“Yes, Remus,” you moan at his words. “Please. I’m ready.” 

“Good girl,” he groans as he spins you around, strenuously pushing you down face first onto his bed, you ass towards him. In one swift movement, Remus pushes your skirt up, bunching it at your waist and quickly rips your panties down your legs, leaving your slick heat bare to him. “Fuck,” he mutter as he takes a step back, admiring your swollen lips as he unzips his pants, pushing them down with his boxers just enough to get himself free. “You’re so wet, baby.”

You quickly grow impatient, needing to be touched, to be satisfied, and you slide your hand between your legs, rubbing your fingers through your wet folds and spreading your arousal around your core. All to Remus’ displeasure, as he grabs both of your wrists, easily restricting them behind your back in his right hand alone. His other hand grabs his thick cock at the base, rubbing his head through your folds to soak himself in your arousal, pressing it against your clit, smacking it against you several times. 

He guides himself to your begging hole, pushing just the swollen tip into you before letting go of himself. His now free hand wraps in your hair, pulling it as he thrusts into you, bottoming out in one quick movement. He moans at the feeling of your velvet walls tight around his member, and you cry out from the contentment of being filled so perfectly in an abrupt moment. Your walls clench around him, not wanting him to leave as you feel complete, but your hips have a mind of their own as you push back against him, still needy and impatient. 

Remus’ right hand releases your wrists, letting you have them back to brace yourself against the mattress. Instead his hand comes down over your ass before holding your hips still. Your yelp in surprise of the pleasurable sting quickly slides into a moan.

“You’ve gotta learn to be more patient, love,” Remus’ low voice calls from behind you just as he pulls back, almost out before ramming himself back in again, forcing against that spot inside you. You cry out his name, whining and panting with every harsh thrust he gives you, each thrust accompanied by a blow to your cheeks.

Your ass quickly glows red, leaving Remus satisfied with his visible handprint. His soft hands smooth over your plump flesh, squeezing as he relishes in the feeling of having his hands full of you. His reputation of quiet book-boy is one he’s okay with. You and him alone know this passionate side that comes out in the bedroom. And he knows how you try to bring it out of him outside of privacy, like you had tried only moments ago, successfully he might add. He doesn’t know, or really care for that matter, who saw it. You make him the most comfortable he has ever been.

He pulls your hair harder and you moan at the tension, his cock twitching inside you at the sound. “Up, baby,” he commands, and your shaky arms fight to push yourself up. His right hand leaves its hold on your ass to help you up so that your back is pressed and arching against his firm chest. His hand slides your bra strap off your shoulder, leaving him room to leave his mark on you, then slides down your stomach and between your thighs, rubbing rough circles against your clit.

You moan out, wildly pleasured by the way he knows you so well. Your hand reaches behind you, grabbing the back of his neck and holding him closer to you as the coil tightens within you. You think he’s going to let you fall apart, but he notices the way your walls are tightening and fluttering around him, and he pulls out, leaving just an inch or so in you as his finger leave your mound. 

“Remus,” you whine, feeling empty, and when he takes too long, bring it upon yourself to do the work, pushing yourself pack and forth on his rock-hard cock. Your hands leave his neck, grabbing behind you to hold onto his sides, your finger nails digging into his already scarred flesh. 

You feel that coil reform in your gut, knowing you only need a little more. But Remus seems to know your body better than you do, and he stops you, pulling away from you completely with a dark chuckle. 

“Fuck you,” you pant as he steps away from you.

“Isn’t that what you’re trying to do?” He smirks as he sits himself on his bed, his head leaned back into his pillow. 

You groan and turn to him, easily straddling his hips as he spreads his legs, giving you a wider base. “It’s what I am doing,” you try to taunt him, but you panting and breathlessness, your messy hair, it all makes you seem so desperate for him. And you are, you have been all day. Not wanting to wait any longer, you immediately sink back down on him, his length reaching a whole new level within you and your high pitched moan thrills him. His hands slide behind your back, unclipping your bra and pulling it down your arms. His hands fill with your breasts as you starts lightly sucking on your nipples, your back arching and forcing more of you into his mouth. 

Though soon, as he feels himself getting ever closer, his hands drop your breasts, one sliding back into your hair and the other lay on your lower back to guide you as you rock your hips against him. His hand in your hair pulls back, exposing the column of your throat to him on which he leaves numerous bruises from the force of his mouth on you. 

“Remmy,” you whine, barely able to form coherent words. “I-I’m so cl-close. Please.” 

He takes your warning, falling away from you and back onto his pillow as his hands hold your hips above his over. He starts pounding up into you at a relentless speed and your hand falls to your clit, pushing yourself over that edge. 

“Oh, fuck,” you moan loudly as your orgasm washes over you. Your walls create a vice on him, squeezing and gushing your hot fluid over him. Your legs shake violently as you call out his name, collapsing forward onto his chest. 

The force of your orgasm makes Remus cum, bucking his hips up into you, involuntarily jerking them as he stills, buried to the hilt within you as his balls tighten. Thick ropes of his hot sum paint your insides as he holds you against his chest with his arms wrapped around you. “Fuck, princess,” he moans into your ear, his hips moving slightly to work the last of him into you, though quickly fall to the bed as he relaxes in exhaustion. 

He stays inside you for a moment longer, still impossibly hard, then flips you both over before slowly pulling out of you. He groans as his swollen cock leaves the warmth of your cunt, and you quietly whine at the loss, your voice barely returning after having cum so loud.

He grabs his wand and mutters a spell, one you can’t hear over the white noise of the aftershock. You feel him remove your skirt the rest of the way, and then presumably his own pants, pulling his boxers back up and softly tucking his sensitive member back into them. He finds your panties from the floor, then decides that you need fresh ones. He stumbles over to his trunk in exhaustion and pulls out the extra pair of panties you’ve left in his room for such occasions and a plain black t-shirt for you to put on incase his roommate return unexpectedly. 

He helps you into the shirt as he kneels in front of you on his bed, then carefully guides you back onto the pillow. “Are you okay, baby?” He asks, concern flooding his voice. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no,” you mutter, a lazy smile playing at your lips. “That was… oh, Merlin, I can’t even put it into words. You’ve no idea how badly I needed that, Rem.”

He smiles as he lays with his hips between your thighs, pushing the t-shirt up over your breasts. “I love you, Y/n,” he says softly before his lips wrap around your nipple. You moan softly and arch your back again. 

“What’re you doing that for now, Remmy?” You whine. 

“They didn’t get the attention they deserve,” he explains as if it were the most obvious explanation and you laugh. The laugh quickly subsides into a moan as his teeth graze over your nipple, releasing it with a satisfying pop before moving to leave more hicks over your chest. 

“If you don’t stop that now,” you pant, still breathless from your excursion, but your breath being stolen from you again. “I’ll need to ride you again, Remus.”

He hums against your skin before pushing up onto his arms. “I have no complaints there,” he smiles as he places a soft kiss to your lips.

[fruitcoops]

Omg can you write about coops going live on instagram and answering TONS of fans questions? And just being domestic and cute together in general

I can, yes! This is partially the 450 celebration--to the lovely person who suggested writing a sequel to one of my favorites, please know that I love and appreciate you! Coop credit goes to @lumosinlove

Check out Part 1 here

“Is it working? I think it’s working.” An explosion of hearts covered the screen and Remus’ eyebrows rose. “Yep, definitely working. Hello, Instagram! I’m Remus Lupin, winger for the Lions.”

“And I’m Sirius Black, center and team captain.” Sirius waved at the phone. “We had a great time answering your questions last month and we figured we’d come back to do it again, since there were so many people we couldn’t get around to in those few minutes.”

“I can already see a bunch coming in. Should we start?” Remus asked, turning to him with a small smile.

“You go first.”

“Alright, first question….” He squinted at the screen. “How long have we been together? We’ve been dating for just over a year now, but we’ve known each other for three-ish.”

Sirius snorted when he read the next question. “What do we do in our free time? It’s cute that you think we have free time. Um, we read a lot. Sometimes I’ll play video games with the guys.”

“If we have a free weekend, we’ll go hiking or take a short road trip. Practice takes up four or five hours a day, so we’re very low-key, which I think surprises people.” Remus scrolled down a bit. “What are our favorite foods?”

“Don’t say it.” Sirius said immediately. “Don’t you dare.”

“Fine, fine.” Just as Sirius began to answer, he coughed, “pineapple pizza.”

“No!” Sirius smacked Remus on the arm with a pillow as he laughed. “Menace. My favorite food is pasta, because it’s versatile and I’m not a heathen. All of you who are agreeing with him, stop it right now. I’m very disappointed in your tastebuds. Next question…do either of us cook? We do, yeah.”

Remus gave him a look. “Do you, though?”

“That’s a funny thing to hear coming from the man who said he’d die for one of my grilled cheeses yesterday,” Sirius countered.

“Fair point. Yes, we both cook, but I generally do it more often because I enjoy it.”

Sirius looked back at the camera with sad eyes. “He kicked me out of the kitchen last week.”

“You kept stealing bites of soup!” Remus laughed. “It wasn’t even done, you could have gotten salmonella!”

“You can’t get salmonella from soup,” Sirius scoffed. The comment section went wild. “…apparently you can. Huh.”

“Next question, before we get too off-track. Who is the more dramatic one?” Remus folded his hands and rested his chin on top. “I’m giving you three guesses and the first two don’t count.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You’re plenty dramatic.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

“Moving on! Oooo, this one is for me specifically.” He shifted closer, wrapping an arm around Remus’ waist as he read. “Sirius: does Regulus—you spelled that wrong by the way, there’s only one ‘g’—does Regulus still live with you? If yes, how does that work?”

“I’m telling him someone spelled his name wrong,” Remus said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “He’ll get a kick out of it.”

“He’ll be so pissed,” Sirius agreed. “Nope, Reg moved out a few months ago and now lives with Pascal Dumais, but it was really neat to have him around. He’s still got a room here and it was nice spending so much time with him after we didn’t talk for a while. He’s awful about vacuuming, though.”

“Aw, people think that’s cute.” Remus smiled as he read the responses. “Ohoho, people are getting nosy. What do we argue about the most?”

“I’m not sure, actually. Maybe chores?”

“I was going to say practice time. We’ve gotten into a couple tiffs about watching tape or running drills after we get home.”

“That’s true.” Sirius frowned at the screen. “For those of you who apparently think that’s all one-sided: it’s really not.”

“He came downstairs to get me at ten or eleven at night the other day. We’re both hockey nerds, so it happens from time to time.”

“Are we going to keep doing tiktoks? Oh, for sure, they’re a ton of fun.”

“Absolutely. Where else am I going to get the inspiration to glue things shut just to irritate him?”

Sirius shook his head with a smile. “Diablotin.”

“Nothing like being called a gremlin by your fiancé,” Remus laughed, tapping the screen. “Okay…who’s the best in bed?”

“I’d say we both sleep really well,” Sirius said. “You talk sometimes, which is really funny.”

Remus glanced over. “Do I really?”

“Yep. I think you were grocery shopping the other night. You kept saying orange juice very adamantly.”

“Interesting. I agree, though, we both value sleep.”

“There are too many questions!” Sirius scooted forward and sifted through them. “To jay-mac 2001, we both love kids and might have some in a few years. No, mermaid queen, we don’t really have friends outside of hockey because we don’t have lives outside of hockey—” Remus leaned his forehead on Sirius’ shoulder as he laughed. “—but I’m sure that will change someday. Oh, here’s a fun one: what are our love languages?”

“Our what?”

“Love languages. Like the Buzzfeed quiz Pots made us take last week.” The screen lit up and Sirius looked offended. “Of course we know what Buzzfeed is! We’re 25, you fuckers!”

“I think mine was quality time.”

Sirius pulled Remus’ arm further around his shoulders and leaned into his side with a smile. “It’s physical affection,” he singsonged, making him laugh. “Your turn.”

“Have you finally found your song?” Remus read aloud. “I think so! We did an interview a while back and there was a question about our ‘couple song’, which we didn’t have at the time.”

“That didn’t answer the question, sweetheart.”

“Oh! Shit, sorry. It’s La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf.”

Sirius read the next question and snorted. “This is convenient. Who swears more?”

Remus looked away. “It’s, uh, a tie.”

“That’s such a lie.”

He sighed. “It’s probably me.”

“You taught a literal baby to swear.” Sirius turned back to the camera with a wicked grin. “Harry’s first word was ‘Loops’, but his second was ‘shit’ and there’s an eighty percent chance he learned it from Re.”

“Changing the subject!” Remus cleared his throat, then smiled. “Aw, I like this one. What’s the compliment you get most often from your partner?”

“Does it have to be verbal?”

“Sirius.”

Sirius’ eyes went wide. “Not like that! Oh, fuck, I did not mean that! You always touch my hair, so I figured that was a compliment. Merde.”

Remus shook his head. “We need a supervisor again. Anyways, you talk about my freckles all the time and it’s adorable.”

“You’re adorable.”

“Sap.”

“Yeah.” Sirius kissed his cheek. “What’s the best date I’ve ever been on? We went ice skating at the local rink a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. I had never done that before.”

Remus’ eyebrows rose. “I thought for sure you would say the aquarium.”

“The aqu—oh, right! With the jellyfish arch!”

“Yeah!”

“Now it’s a tie, I can’t decide.”

“That’s fair. From spaceman93: who tops? We actually don’t have a bunk bed, though that would be cool as hell! Do you think Ikea sells them?”

“We should check.”

The screen exploded into activity again and Remus did a double-take. “Yes, we do buy our furniture from Ikea, there’s no need to sound so shocked. This person—I can’t read your username, sorry—wants to know which of us is more cuddly.”

“Definitely me,” Sirius said.

“For sure. I like cuddling people, but only a select few. I mean, I’m assuming you guys saw the Cap cuddles slideshow at our last game.” He laughed when Sirius turned pink. “Why are you embarrassed? It was cute!”

“There’s a hashtag now!” Sirius complained. “I have a reputation.” Remus rolled his eyes fondly as Sirius looked for the next question. “Ha! Do we ever get jealous?”

“Yes, but not for the reasons people might think.”

Sirius laughed quietly. “We went out to a bar for Kasey’s birthday a month or so ago—”

“Oh, please no.”

“—and a young lady was hitting on me, not taking the hint—”

“Jesus.”

“—so Re comes out of nowhere and kisses me full on the mouth in front of everyone.” He snickered and Remus hid his face in his hands. “It was kinda hot, not gonna lie. Really funny looking back, though. Your turn, sweetheart.”

“Who is clumsier? Ooh, we’re both disasters off the ice. I tripped over the carpet about twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ve run into every doorframe in this house at least twice.” Sirius grimaced. “If I could just tape my skates to my feet and always be on ice, that would be much safer.”

Remus cocked his head to the side. “I dunno, it would be hard to sleep in them.”

“I do that all that time.”

“That’s true, you take a nap in the hall at least once a week in full gear.”

“Reverse Edward Scissorhands.” They had to take a moment to stop laughing before Sirius turned back to the phone. “Mon dieu. Alright, what do we have next…when did you know I was ‘the one’? When did you know, mon amour?”

“Breaking out the nicknames, very snazzy,” Remus teased as he rested his chin on his hand. “I think it was just an accumulation of things, and then one day I went ‘oh shit’ and just knew. Sometime around New Year’s, maybe?”

“You only made it two months?” Sirius teased, nudging him lightly.

“Shush, you.” Remus nudged him back. “I knew I wanted to propose when I came home from hanging out with Leo and you were napping with the dog. You had done the dishes and left Avatar on so we could watch it together, and I opened the door and knew that I wanted that moment forever.”

Sirius smile was unbearably soft, and he kissed Remus on the cheek as hearts filled the comments section. “I’ve never seen so many keysmashes in my life,” he laughed when he looked back to it. “Hey, someone addressed one to you specifically.”

“Really?” He leaned forward eagerly. “To Remus, do you feel like part of the team yet? I do, a hundred percent! It helped that I was close with a lot of the guys from being the PT, so those friendships carried over really well. Being a player on the roster has only made that better and it’s the best job in the world.”

“Who has the better smile? We’re going to say each other, so I think we’ll leave that one to the comments—fuck, that was a bad idea, it’s moving too fast for me to read!” Sirius tapped the screen desperately, then gave up and waited for the scrolling to slow down. “Ask each other one question you’ve always wanted to know the answer to.”

“Do you actually want to get your ears pierced?” Remus asked. “You talked about it a while ago but I wasn’t sure if you were kidding.”

Sirius thought for a minute, biting his lip. “Y’know, I might. It was one of those things where it started as a joke and then I kept thinking about it. I’m not sure, hockey’s not the best sport to have things that can catch and tear.” They both winced at the idea. “My turn. What is it about pineapple pizza that you actually enjoy?”

“It annoys you.” Remus laughed as Sirius rolled his eyes. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I honestly don’t know why I like it so much. There’s something about the sweetness that goes so well with the regular pizza taste. Okay, last question for me: how many freckles do I have? Not many right now.”

“So many in the summer,” Sirius said dreamily. “That’s the best part of summertime and the only reason I like Florida. They might have bouncy ice, but it’s worth it to see the freckles pop.”

“Whew, Florida’s getting mad in the comments!” Remus grinned. “Get some real ice, then come talk to us.”

“Final question, then we really have to go. What does your partner look best in?” Sirius drummed his fingers on his knees. “His jersey. Or my jersey. He does own a pair of skinny jeans, though, and that was the closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever had.”

“They’re comfortable.” Remus shrugged, but he looked rather self-satisfied. “That’s all we have time for, folks, but thanks for joining us!”

“Go Lions!”

[whenihaveyouromione]

When I Have You - Chapter 45

Read on Fanfiction.net or ao3.

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Chapter 45

“Happy Christmas, you two.” Molly gave Ron and Hermione each a hug as they emerged from the fireplace on Christmas morning. Every Christmas she became a little brighter and cheerful, even more so this time considering all of her children had promised to come home — even Charlie — and two grandchildren to dote on.

Bill and Fleur had had their second child — another girl — Dominique a few months back, which had thrilled Molly and Arthur.

Where Victoire was fair with her mother’s hair and complexion, Dominique was every inch a Weasley from her red hair to her freckles and what Bill described as a feisty personality. Ron had only seen her a handful of times, and of those times, Victoire had expressed jealousy at anyone showing interest in her younger sister. She was of the age where accidental magic could start showing, and Victoire had not held back on that front.

A few exploded windows and an unhinged door had prevented Ron and Hermione from visiting Shell Cottage for some months.

But now she happily ran into the living room behind Teddy Lupin, both carrying a bunch of stuffed toys in their arms, presumably Christmas presents, chatting away in their kiddie speech.

“Gamma,” Victoire said to Molly. “You play?”

“In a moment, dear,” Molly said, stepping away from Ron. “I have some things to do to get ready for Christmas before I can.”

“How about you ask Uncle Charlie again?” George, who was sitting with Harry and Ginny in the living room, said. “He loved it last time.”

That, Ron surmised, was a total lie. Ron hadn’t seen his brother in a while, but by the look on Charlie’s face, he had no desire to play with Victoire and Teddy. Especially with stuffed toys.

“It’s a shame there’s no dragons to play with, huh?” Ron said, stepping around his mother to embrace Charlie.

“Yeah, but there’s a few stuffed ones in that extensive collection,” Charlie said. “Courtesy of me.” He grinned. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Ron said. “You need to drop by more often.”

“I hear you have a nice place now,” Charlie said, looking between Ron and Hermione, who was still by the fireplace. “In Nottingham?”

“We also have a spare room.”

“I’ll consider that,” Charlie said, clapping Ron on the shoulder. Underneath his shirt Ron caught a glimpse of a tail flicking up his arm and smiled, wondering if Molly had ever discovered the large dragon tattoo Charlie had across his body. When Molly wasn’t around, it usually stretched down the length of both arms and across his chest. But with his mother present, he kept it hidden underneath his clothes.

No one had ever bothered mentioning it to her, though Ron was sure even Victoire knew about it by now.

“We’re just waiting on Percy and Audrey, and then we can start with opening some presents,” Molly said, smiling at them all.

“Yay!” Victoire said, dumping her toys on the floor in front of her. She hurried over to the Christmas tree where all the presents were laid out and kneeled on the ground to stare at them.

Her restraint was admirable, Ron thought. He couldn’t really remember being two and a half, but he was sure he would have been far more curious about what was inside the paper.

Not that there had ever been that many presents under the tree before. As the family grew, so did the number of gifts.

Molly beamed at Victoire on the floor, as if watching her granddaughter’s excitement over Christmas was the best gift she could ever receive.

And to her, it probably was.

“You do know they’re not all for you, don’t you, Vic?” George said.

Victoire ignored him, her eyes wide and watching as if she expected them to move.

“Hardly any, actually,” Bill said. “Considering she insisted on opening ours and Charlie’s before the rest of you got yourselves out of bed.”

Everyone smiled, and for a moment, they watched her, perhaps all reminiscing about their own Christmases when they were children.

It was nice to think that Teddy, Victoire, Dominique, and the other kids who’d be born in this generation would have the chance to enjoy times like this in a completely innocent way.

Percy and Audrey arrived a little while later, emerging from the fireplace, covered in soot. Audrey appeared totally bewildered by the experience, saying something about how she could do that one hundred times and still not be used to it.

Percy cleaned her up with his wand, apologising for being late, but adding how much of an effort getting the Ministry to permit Muggles to travel via wizarding transportation methods had been.

Despite the progression the wizarding world had been making over the years, Muggle relations were still a topic with a lot of room to work with. There had been a large number of magical folk marrying Muggles over the last few years, which had sparked an inquiry into how much they should know, and if husbands or wives or girlfriends and boyfriends were to be introduced into magical society, how were they supposed to go about that?

Most people were in agreement that Muggles who married into wizarding families should be granted privileges by the Ministry to Floo travel and Side-along Apparition, but there was a whole issue regarding the Statute of Secrecy and the legalities surrounding that.

Ron heard about it at work due to working in the Magical Law Department, but none of that was his expertise, nor was it Harry’s or Hermione’s. Last he had heard, the laws were still against the idea, hence why Hermione’s parents couldn’t be Apparated to the middle of nowhere for a wedding, but perhaps because Percy worked in the Transportation department he had been given additional privileges for Christmas.

“Don’t you control the Magical Transportation area?” Bill asked.

“Yes, but that is a matter for Magical Law and there’s some incredibly stubborn people over there.” Percy looked to Harry and Ron, as if it were their fault that Audrey couldn’t travel to the Burrow at will.

“We’re Aurors, Perce. Nothing to do with us.”

“Not to matter, you’re here now,” Molly said.

“Pwesents?” Victoire asked suddenly.

“Just after your mother comes down from putting your sister to sleep, dear,” Molly said.

Victoire pouted.

“You’ve already opened four this morning,” Bill said, amused. “How many more do you think there are?”

“All!” Victoire said.

“They’re not all for you,” Bill replied.

Victoire pouted again. “Pwesents for me?”

“Some, maybe,” Bill said. “But not all.”

Ron knew of at least one for Victoire. Hermione had bought it, explaining that Christmas was a magical time for children and that she thought Victoire would like what she had bought. She’d also bought a gift for Dominique, who was only three months old and would be asleep anyway, and Teddy, too, who seemed less interested in presents and more interested in climbing into Harry’s lap. Ron smiled. He was glad Andromeda had decided to come celebrate with them this year.

Though, Ron was a bit worried about the growing bunch of Weasleys when it came to Christmases.

When Hermione had insisted on buying Victoire her present, he’d even expressed some of that fear. “So, if Percy and Audrey have kids, and Harry and Ginny, George, Charlie… if we have kids, you’re planning on buying for all of them?” Ron had asked her. “I mean, I’m one of seven. What if everyone has seven kids?”

“We are not having seven children,” was all she had said on that matter.

So Ron had supposed that the answer was yes; she would buy for all of them.

Soon Fleur returned, and Victoire insisted that she and Teddy start handing out the presents, and with help from Bill, the pair spent their time distributing gifts to everyone. Bill had to point to Charlie a number of times for Victoire, since she wasn’t as familiar with him and kept forgetting, but she seemed to know who everyone else was and trotted over, handing them presents. Teddy took the charge on Harry’s and Ginny’s, as well as his grandmother’s once she’d finished up in the kitchen and joined everyone.

It was an extremely slow process, but still a fun one now that the kids were old enough to be aware of what was happening. Victoire was excited, but the moment she received presents for herself, Bill was forced to distribute the rest, which went much faster because he had a wand.

With their wedding in a few months and most of their money going towards that, Ron and Hermione had agreed to not do much for Christmas with each other this year. But still, Ron had gotten her some new books about the history of goblin and elf rights he’d seen her eyeing, and she’d given him a season pass to all Chudley Cannons games for the next season.

It wasn’t much different from last Christmas, but both of them were pleased.

“You mean, you want to travel around the country attending the games with me?” he asked, grinning at her.

“Well… no… I thought you could go with Harry. Or George. Or Charlie, if he can. But I can if you want me to.”

“Of course I’d want you to come, but I know you’d hate that, so I’ll ask Harry?”

She smiled. “I’ll come to the one Ginny is playing?”

“That’s the first game,” Ginny said, coming over to them as the mere mention of it invited her into any conversation. “Just got the schedule before Christmas. You’ll be there?”

“Yes,” Ron and Hermione said together.

“Oh, great! I’ll see if I can get you guys some good seats. I think it’s being played in Holyhead…”

“We’ll be there,” Hermione said.

Ginny beamed. “It’ll be great if you guys can come. Charlie has even promised to get to a few this year. Bill said he might take Victoire to one or two.”

“Lunch will be ready soon,” Molly said, coming from the kitchen.

“I hungwy,” Victoire said, dropping her toys and running from the living room.

Everyone else slowly climbed to their feet and came into the kitchen.

Upon seeing the set table and the number of chairs surrounding it, a sense of peace washed over Ron. He loved Christmas. Even though he got to see his family throughout the year — weekly, really — there was something really special about this time of the year. He remembered Christmas as a child and how fun it had been, but it now seemed even better. Each year, the table grew. More chairs were added as more people came into their lives. Soon there’d be no room in the kitchen to eat at all and they’d be forced into the garden in the middle of winter.

For now, it was just Victoire and Teddy, but next year would it be Dominique? Or would Percy and Audrey have a baby? Would George meet someone he’d like to bring? Or Charlie?

Next year he would have spent almost a whole year married to Hermione, Victoire would be even older and Dominique would probably be walking around, too.

He was used to large numbers in his family, and it seemed only fitting that it would just keep growing over the years. It made each Christmas more enjoyable than the last.

Ron had never realised how much he enjoyed his large family. As a child, it had irritated him. He was the second youngest, constantly overshadowed and rarely had something that belonged to just him. But now, as an adult who was making his own way in life, he'd come to appreciate it more.

He appreciated his parents who had done their best, and each and every one of his siblings for who they were. Bill for always taking him seriously when he felt no one else did, Charlie for being the laid back brother who could cheer him up, and even Percy, who’d gotten so much better over the years. He was so close to George and Ginny now, seeing them on a weekly basis, which had never been the case a few years ago.

And Fred… well Fred would always be his brother and he’d always miss him. For as long as he lived.

But this new appreciation for the family he already had had him thinking more and more about what the future held for him. And Hermione.

They’d started their own lives together, in which he was so incredibly happy, and he naturally thought about their family. It didn’t exist yet, but he wanted it, and in the recent months he’d found himself wanting it more.

He wanted to have children with her — he wanted what Bill had — and he felt that soon would be the right time.

He was young still — they both were — but he didn’t really feel that young. He felt so much older and much more mature than people who hadn’t fought in a war at eighteen. He felt as if he’d lived a lifetime already and that he was ready for the next step.

But this was also something — for the first time ever — that he was too afraid to talk to Hermione about. They were on the same page about many things, but he felt that this would be something they weren’t. She said she saw children in their future, but he knew her idea of the future was still a few years away. She was so focused on her career at the moment that he didn’t want to ruin it for her.

She’d say it wasn’t the right time, they weren’t ready, and truthfully, he knew she was right. It just didn’t stop him from feeling the way he did.

“Hungwy!” Victoire said, drawing Ron back to the table. “I hungwy.”

“You’re always ‘ungry,” Fleur said with a smile directed towards her daughter, but she passed Victoire a plate of food. Victoire began eating straight away.

“Are you okay?” Hermione asked, nudging Ron with her arm. “It’s not like you to be so quiet here.”

“I’m fine,” Ron said, nodding. “Just… thinking.”

“About?”

“Lots of things. Mostly about you.”

She smiled, and from across the table he saw Ginny roll her eyes at Harry, who just laughed to himself.

Ron didn’t care. He was happy, he was content, and he didn’t care if that pissed off the Minister for Magic himself.

It made him feel good.

…

A week later, they were at The Leaky Cauldron with a ton of students from their year. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Hannah, Luna, Dean, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, Padma and a few others Padma had invited were all celebrating the end of the year. Hannah had invited them, choosing the place she and her Healing crew had been celebrating at for the last few years.

Ron usually didn’t care too much for New Year’s celebrations, but he felt this one would be worth it.

“You know,” Hermione said as the large clock Tom had put in for the occasion read one minute to the new year, “in one minute it’ll be the year we’re getting married.”

Ron smiled at her as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He drew her towards him. “The best year yet. I can feel it.”

“And another year further away from the past, and a step closer to the future.”

He kissed her.

“Aren’t you supposed to wait for the new year to do that?” she asked.

“Last one of this year, then I’ll kiss you again in thirty seconds as the first kiss of the new year.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“And this will be the last time I tell you I love you for this year, too.”

Hermione drew him into a deep kiss. He could vaguely hear the others beginning to count down, but he really didn’t care for New Year’s celebrations.

When she pulled away, her lips tasting of a few too many Butterbeers, she smiled up at him and said, “Happy year of becoming my husband.”

“I love you,” Ron said and he kissed her again. Their first kiss of what he knew would be the best year of his life.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 6 Diagon Alley

Below is finally the real start to that wolfstar I mentioned...though I doubt this came as a surprise considering how much I've been building up to it lately.

HPHPHP

Even being prepared for the soul wrenching yank through time and space could not give one the preparation needed to slam back down in a small, dingy, poorly lit pub. The staircase on the far back wall, they all knew, led to rooms that while cheap, were not accustomed to more than one night stays and so shanty at best with only a dozen total. The tables spaced out, while clean of grime, held age old stains Tom had never quite managed to scrub out, the chairs were mismatched and several of them had been repaired though the magic no longer showed it.

The bar was by far the most noticeable feature, covering the length of the room and most highly polished with squashy cushions on the stools with many butt impressions still warm to the touch, though lacking its usual tenants and keep, leaving the drinks, both in bottles and left along the counter, to almost glow without any proper lighting.

"Well, I'll take this as a sign," James said, wincing slightly as he got himself to his feet and made his way directly there.

"What do you think you're doing Potter?" Lily demanded, askance at once as he brazenly stepped behind the counter.

"What does it look like? Spritzer anyone? Bet I can invent a new flavor before we get out of here." He asked pleasantly as he browsed through the shelves.

"Get your arse out of there," she snapped, taking an automatic step back as she said it. She hadn't lifted a finger to stop them at such a dastardly place as Number Four, but Tom nor anyone had deserved these boys messing with this place. "This is private property, we've no right to be here!"

"Clearly the universe decided differently," Sirius snorted as he stepped up with him. "Pass me a mixer will you Prongs."

James tossed one over his shoulder without looking while Sirius slid the book along the counter to catch it instead.

Regulus let it slide right past him as he sat himself on a stool and asked, "mind mixing me up whatever it is Father has on his holidays?"

"Bleh," Sirius made a face at his brother even as he let his fingers catch on the neck of choice. "Do you not value your taste buds?"

"Can't handle the strong stuff then?" Regulus challenged back with a smirk.

"I drank you under the table Christmas of 69'," Sirius said right back with a huff as he set down a brown tinted, ice clinking beverage.

"Please tell me you two didn't actually get drunk at the age of ten, or younger," Frank said with honest worry.

He was ignored.

When Pettigrew opted to second whatever Potter had thrown together in his glass and even Lupin began nursing something, the other three just turned away dismissively from them, Frank feeling obligated at this point to pick up the book and say, "honestly, I'm just hoping to get zapped out of here now before they get a chance to finish."

Alice tried both the front and back door without much hope, she even tried several of the rooms upstairs in the vain attempt of another window, but no one was much surprised when she came back downstairs shaking her head and sat next to Frank at the door closest to the back, pretending for a moment it was just the two of them studying again as he began.

Lily perched uneasily near the front door, still seeming the only one to struggle taking all of this in but smiling a bit as the chapter title promised some good to come. It was indeed adorable hearing of Harry's naivety shining through more than ever as he started spending time with Hagrid. She remembered once being that innocent and smiling around at everything magical, there were still times where she was, though they grew less and less as the years went on and it was kind of nice to hear it being played out again.

"You do have to love the first time you can enter the magical world is through a pub." Lily grumbled as an awkward silence hung over the whole bar in here as well when Frank finally gave them all such a huge example of Harry's fame in his time, and it was truly boggling to the lot of them what this kid must represent to the magical world. They'd hardly given it much time to consider, the idea was still too fantastical to really settle in their minds of a time without You-Know-Who, let alone a baby being the one to do it. It wasn't hard to imagine all of them acting the exact same way as these guests at something even more otherworldly than a celebrity.

Quirrell was passed by without much enthusiasm, the lot of them had far too much experience with the absurdity of a new teacher every year for that class, but the journey inside Gringotts garnered some all around fascination.

The speculation was wild, and ridiculous, from those apparently trying to get sloshed and guessing what that little package could be.

Lily's disdain for their drinking grew when Hagrid joined in and abandoned his charge, but to her surprise, the group in here seemed done with whatever had prompted this to begin with, at least none made back for behind the counter but instead were listening with honest interest as details kept pouring in of Harry and Hagrid's time, though likely they were just listening for more clues of what Hagrid could have been up to. She wasn't strictly paying attention to their every word, but she did notice tension building in the little group again that the alcohol had blurred for a time, Lupin certainly slammed his drink down hard enough to crack the glass when Sirius muttered something next.

Regulus seemed to try breaking the uneasy tension, but while Pettigrew gave an honest laugh Black shot him an annoyed look and instead got up and left the table, glancing around and catching her eyes for a second. She blushed upon realizing she was still watching them, far more than she'd ever done in her time where she actively avoided looking at them instead, and put all of her attention into grinding her teeth together at such an obnoxious, obviously pureblood kid acting like Potter far more than Harry had been so far there in Madam Malkin's.

James wasn't even getting the joy of noticing Evans' attention, sighing deeply when his crack about Hagrid being too good at keeping secrets backfired and only reminded his mates why they'd gone so long without speaking. At least he could admire Regulus trying to keep in their good graces with his little remark of this blond kid having the right idea about smuggling brooms into the school, seemed Sirius' kid brother could actually be smart when he wasn't being such a prick around his precious Slytherin friends back in school.

Things only got worse as Hagrid took Harry through the rest of the day without much more distraction, only the inside of Ollivander's cut off the thickening cord growing in the room.

"Bloody hell, what even is Harry?" Peter yelped in surprise.

"Parselmouth, and now having a brother wand of the Dark Lord," Regulus agreed with a raised brow. "I'm beginning to wonder if Potter adopted their kid."

James threw him such a filthy look, Regulus couldn't help but cringe away from the table, feeling extremely exposed now that Sirius was dithering behind the bar and still only seeming to have anxious eyes for his friend who wouldn't even look at him. Instead, without any kind of backup against someone honestly much older and more experienced, Regulus strode off to another table, forcing himself to shake off the idea he could actually mingle with a bunch of Gryffindor idiots. Clearly whatever they could agree on couldn't last when those Muggles weren't around to be detested.

Alice and Frank exchanged an uneasy look when they neared the end and Hagrid was about to take Harry back to the Muggles. They somehow had even more questions than when this all began, and it was hard to even talk about that when it felt like at any moment the place was going to explode considering every room they'd been in you could cut the tension with a knife.

Remus took a careful breath as he watched Sirius slip into the room behind the bar, as if looking for even a moment away from them, and finally finding a door that would open. He downed the rest of his drink, savoring the burn while it lasted and ignored James and Peter's uneasy looks as he stalked back into the room as well, honestly hoping for just one second of peace before they were forced into yet another new place. If James was going to keep pulling them together then Remus couldn't stand it anymore, it was high time he let Sirius know exactly why this wasn't going to work. If the two couldn't work things out now than they weren't going to, and he ignored the painful clench of his innards at the idea as he went in behind him.

Seems it was Tom's room, a simple bed in the corner with a few dressers along the back wall and a mirror on their right that Sirius was grumbling into. He tensed up upon Remus' entrance, twirled on the spot, and tried to say something, but Remus came here for a reason and wasn't in the mood to hear whatever it was Sirius had come back here for.

Slamming the door hard behind him so to block an audience, one look at those dark gray eyes, finally seeing the color again tore out of him, "I trusted you!" He got right in his face, jabbing him in the chest with every word. "I trusted you with the biggest secret of my life,* and at first I thought, he really doesn't care that I'm a monster. Turns out I was wrong, you just didn't care about me at all!"

"I don't care?" Sirius echoed in a faint whisper, before his eyes blazed with anger. "I don't care! How dare you! I spent the past three years illegally turning into an animagus so I'd never have to see you so close to death again! Coming back from the full moon looking the way you did, it's a miracle you've lived to your age! How dare you tell me how I care," and he shoved him as far away from him as he could.

Remus stumbled back, all the anger he'd been holding in finally released and now doubled back on him as if the words themselves had been a weapon.

Sirius had done what he always did, he'd taken whatever was given to him and gone beyond the limit with it. He'd kept pushing at Remus so that they were right up against the wall now, still breathing into each others faces. Both had said the words they'd been clinging to for the past three weeks. Every angry word pouring out and now hanging in the air around them all at once, but leaving nothing left between them but electrical energy. Their chests heaving against each other, Sirius seemed to realize just how thoroughly he was pinning Remus to the wall at the same time Remus glanced down and realized he wasn't just feeling the weight of this on the inside.

Then Sirius kissed him.

*The idea for this argument was one I think about a lot. Most everyone seems to just assume the Marauders figured out Moony's secret, and I do agree that's more than likely the truth, but honestly I do wonder if Remus didn't want to tell them at a certain point and that's what went on here. I didn't run with this originally because it doesn't fit his character all that well, he really is too insecure to think anyone would accept him, but as I said in the beginning, I'm playing around a bit more, going fast and loose by taking a few key things and moving them around, hence also how I got them together.

[loopsforlupin]

Wolfstar Through the Eyes of a Mother

Walburga : 

    Walburga Black was not happy, not one bit. Her eldest “child” was consorting with those nasty blood traitors, the Potter’s, and those two half-blood creatures, Peter and the weird wolf named one, Romulus? No Remus, that was the sandy haired one’s name. Weird kid, had nasty scars across his face, and she suspected the rest of his body as well. Whatever, she shook those thoughts from her head, and focused on glaring at the boys gathered on the train station platform. Her precious child, Regulus was gathered with his own friends, but they were of the respectable sort, except for that Snape child, but he was a dark wizard, and a powerful Potion maker, so she was willing to allow their friendship.     The other four boys were standing close to one another, the parents of the other three were gathered around the friends, but Walburga was staring at her son more than her usual gaze. Something was going on. Her eldest was standing particularly close to the tall sandy-haired one with scars, their hands practically brushing every time the boys moved. Her son, instead of doing the proper thing, and stepping away, swayed closer to the boy, tilting his head up to keep staring at the boy. Hmmmmm…… It would appear her eldest son was more of a useless creature than she had thought previously. First he was born with a white core, then he was always smiling and playing with those pathetic muggle children that had loitered around the park near their home. Then the boy went and got sorted into the stupid Lion house, a complete disgrace for their house. And if that hadn’t been bad enough, then he started flaunting his differences in her home. Putting up those disgusting muggle women posters, and changing the room’s color to that dreadful red and gold combination that made her eyes sore. Everything he did was against her very beliefs and core. Now the daft idiot had gone and fallen in love, with a male no less. If the man had been a Pure-blood, maybe she wouldn’t have minded as much, however, the useless child had to go and fall for a half blood. Not even a dark half-blood either, judging by the boy’s core, he was just as light magic as her oaf of a son. 

     Perhaps she should start making those plans for his marriage, Orion, seemed to think she should hold off another year, but judging from the closeness of the two boys, and the indulging looks of their friends, she didn’t have a year. She gave herself a pat on the back, yes, she would plan the boy a wedding, maybe she could even get a couple male’s interested. Perhaps if she offered a marriage with another male, with the understanding that Sirius would have to provide an heir through the use of a male pregnancy potion, than maybe the boy would stop fighting it. Maybe just maybe she’d get the boy under her thumb yet. 

Euphemia: 

      Euphemia Potter was feeling a contradicting set of emotions; ecstatic and  horrified. Her two sons were home with her, where she could watch over them. However, Sirius was still a battered and bruised mess. His ribs were broken, now just sore muscles around the once broken bones, his back was a mess of broken and scabbing skin after his carrier’s loving tender mercies. His lips were starting to heal again, the scabs opening less and less as she made him apply that potion to aid them in healing. His eyes were no longer black and blue, and his arm was out of the sling finally, it had been a struggle to get him to stop using the limb for the required three days, for the skele-gro to finally fix the broken bones there. Now her two sons were lounging on the couch in the living room, James playing with that practice snitch, and Sirius was tucked up in the corner of the couch, a book perched precariously on his knees. The young dark haired boy seemed so much more relaxed now, his shoulders no longer tensing when anyone new entered the room. He was starting to trust them. 

    James had asked her the other day, if Remus could come over. He said Peter had been on a small holiday with his mother, and that was why the smaller boy wasn't invited. She had agreed, the taller boy was so soft spoken compared to her sons, but she knew that his sharp mind and tongue were well within her active boy’s league. He was a nice calming influence on her two active boys, but he could also be quite the little instigator. She had watched him one time, talk James into jumping on Sirius, before the boy had lived with them, and tickling him. All because Remus had decided that Sirius was being to morose. She loved that the sandy-haired boy looked out for both her sons, and their friend. 

     Fleamont’s personal elf, Custer, announced the arrival of Master Siri’s friend. She stifled a grin, Sirius had absolutely refused to be called Master Black, or even Master Sirius, and insisted that all the elves referred to him as Siri, however the elves had added Master in front of it, and Sirius was too frustrated to argue more. Remus walked in the room and her heart fluttered at the beautiful smile that lit up her youngest son’s face. All the pain and fear was immediately wiped off, and replaced with sheer joy and dare she say it, love, for the boy, well wolf, who had walked in. Remus immediately made a beeline for Sirius, cheerfully calling out a greeting. The taller boy pulled the youngest of the group into a firm hug, leaning his head down to rest on the dark hair. He whispered something, but Euphemia was to far away to hear what he said. When Sirius pulled back, Remus smiled at him kindly and kept one arm around his body while he greeted her eldest son. That hug was brief compared to other one. 

      The boys settled back on the couch, this time with Sirius wrapped up in the arms of Remus, while James was talking to the taller boy, sitting with Sirius’s feet in his lap. She smiled at the sweet sight, her youngest being loved on by the two older boys, not even fighting the coddling, simply relaxing against Remus’s chest, letting the other adjust him until they were both comfortable. 

    Euphemia Potter couldn’t help but notice that Remus and Sirius were awfully comfortable with touching one another. Remus had let his one arm hang down over Sirius’s shoulder, so that his hand was dangling near Sirius’s stomach. Sirius was playing with that hand, even as he spoke to the other two, he was intertwining their fingers. Remus payed no attention to this, letting Sirius do as he pleased. After some comment, which had James squawking in indignation and Sirius laughing, Remus leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to Sirius’ s hair. After he had done so, Sirius had tilted his head back and smiled another gorgeous smile at the boy. He then leaned up and pressed a kiss to the grinning wolf’s chin. James said nothing about their actions, just continued to talk. His large grin however, showed how happy he was for his friends.  Euphemia smiled, her youngest son was well taken care of for now. She knew exactly how fiercely protective James was of the younger male, and that Remus could easier hold Sirius down if needed. She set off to find her darling husband, she had to share the exciting news that both their sons had wonderful people to hold their hearts.  

Hope: 

     Ever since that fateful night, Hope Lupin was constantly worried about her baby boy. She had been terrified when he had gone to Hogwarts, terrified that her special baby boy, who was so traumatized by his accident that he didn’t like to talk to people, would be so lonely. She had fretted over how he would handle the full moons as well, she knew how the wolf in him liked to bite and scratch at itself. She always hated to see how battered and bloody her son was after the full moon. The first week of her son’s classes she had been inconsolable, stressed and miserable as she waited for her son to write the first letter. And then it had arrived, and instead of being homesick and lonely, her son had written about the amazing boys he was sharing the dorm with.  

     James Potter, a quick, cheerful sort her son had written, who had busted out a stash of chocolate and pumpkin juice the very first night, and they had celebrated being at Hogwarts. Peter Pettigrew, the boy Remus had shared a compartment with on the train to school. He was quiet, Remus said, but he had a quick mind, and a dry with that was almost on par with Remus’s own. Then Remus mentioned Sirius Black. Oh her son had a lot to say about Sirius Black. The dark haired boy, who had bounded into their compartment on the train, asked if they would like to join him and another boy, James, in their compartment for a small feast of candies from the trolley. Then he had spoken about him again, as the boy apparently went against 50 years of tradition, by being sorted into Gryffindor, despite his family having all been Slytherin. Her son spoke of Sirius’s rebel streak, and the brilliant mind behind the sometimes cold exterior. How the grey eyes could light up with mischief, how his smile was like a special treat, only appearing every so often. How Sirius, James and Peter had gone above and beyond to help him with his situation.

      Over the years, Sirius Black was a common name, along with the others. But somehow, Sirius was the most popular name mentioned about the group. Almost all of it was good, and even the few bad things mentioned, would end up with Remus smiling fondly at the memories associated with his stories. More often then not, when she asked Remus about school, he spoke of some new prank Sirius had came up with, which had somehow used a new topic their teacher’s were trying to teach them. If Hope didn’t know better, she would have sworn Remus was irrevocably in love with Sirius. However, she was certain that her son would tell her such information. 

      After six years of only seeing her son’s friends at the station, and hearing about them from her son, Hope had insisted that Remus invited his friends over for a couple of days during the summer. Her and Lyall’s house at the lake was large enough to accommodate the additional three boys, if they didn’t mind pairing up. She thought the boys could do with some good old fashion running around, and they could spend lots of time in the lake. Her son had loved growing up having the lake to swim around in. The day had arrived, her son was a nervous wreck, he had cleaned his room twice over the last two days, making sure nothing embarrassing was laying around. He had even started to clean the rest of the house, but Hope had slapped his head, and forced him to sit down and drink a cuppa. 

      The first to arrive was James, who had immediately pounced on her son, hugging him tightly, talking so quickly she could barely hear the individual words coming from his mouth. Remus however, just hugged the dark haired boy just as fiercely, somehow understanding what the other was saying. When the two separated, James Potter, turned to her, and immediately blushed, realizing he had just jumped her son while she was watching him. He apologized before introducing himself, and thanking her profusely for allowing them to come. She immediately liked the eager young man. He was a ball of energy, and so loving towards her son, she couldn’t help it, she grabbed him into a tight hug, assuring him it was no problem to invite them. Peter arrived next, and greeted her son, though not quite as enthusiastic as James had. The boy introduced himself to her as well, and presented her with a small tin of cookies, his mother made apparently to thank her for taking them in. 

     The last to arrive was Sirius Black.  The boy stepped out of the fire place his eyes automatically shifting to find Remus. When he saw her son, his face lit up, and he immediately pulled the taller boy into a tight hug. She noticed that her son clutched Sirius to him, the hug lingering as if neither wanted to pull back. When they did, Sirius immediately turned to her, and smiled angelically. His eyes still bright and happy. He introduced himself, and also thanked her for having him. He reached into a satchel hanging from his shoulder and pulled out a single red and gold rose and a pack of something called chocolate cauldrons. He presented it to her, telling her it would last forever, and that the gold and red were the colours of her son’s house, and the chocolate cauldrons were something her son thought she would enjoy. She smiled, and thanked him for the kind gesture and pulled him into a tight hug. He seemed unsure when she first hugged him, but soon relaxed into her grasp. 

      The boys were then sent out to find their rooms and to change into something they could go into the lake with. Under ten minutes later, the boys were rushing outside, and she could hear the happy yells and shrieks as they rough housed in the water. A couple hours later, she called the boys in for dinner, hearing them pick on one another as they entered the house. Lyall stood at the door, drying them off with a spell, before letting them further into the house. They eagerly gathered around the dining room table, waiting until Lyall joined them before starting to eat. They talked and laughed over the food. Her son’s face was so happy, Hope actually had to remind herself to breathe and look away from his face.  After dinner Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius helped clear the table, despite her best effort to tell them they didn’t have. Once everything was cleared up, the boys settled into the living room, Remus putting on a movie for the four of them to watch. She sat in her arm chair, pulling out her hand work, she was working on knitting a baby blanket for a friend’s daughter. James and Sirius were more captivated by her and her hand work. They approached her, letting the other’s watch the movie. 

      James and Sirius said that Euphemia Potter and Fleamont Potter were teaching them to knit as well, however they weren’t quite as good as her, and wanted to watch her to see if they could learn anything new. She smiled, happily readjusting her work, and telling them about the pattern she was doing. The lesson continued until the movie ended and it was decided that the boys should head to bed, if they wanted to explore the town tomorrow like they planned. James and Sirius thanked her for her lesson, and went to bed. After another two hours, Lyall and Hope also retired, however Hope looked into the room her son was sharing with Sirius, and noticed that instead of sleeping on the floor like she expected, they were both curled up together on the small twin size mattress. 

     She stood there for a while, observing the two “friends”. Remus was laying on his back, with Sirius laying on top of him. The dark haired boy’s head laying over her son’s heart. She couldn’t see Sirius’s face, but her son was wearing a small smile even as he slept. His face half buried in the dark hair. Sirius twitched in his sleep, and Remus let out a small growl, and Sirius immediately settled down. She had a hand pressed to her lips. Oh her sweet baby boy. He was in love, and he was deeply loved in return it would seem. 

    Over the next couple of days, Hope Lupin got to see how attached her son and Sirius were. Sirius was never more than an arms length away from her son, and more often then not was tucked up under Remus’s arm. His own arm wrapped around Remus’s waist, almost possessively so. James was usually trying to pull Sirius in one direction, however Remus never let him get to far away. At one point, she had walked into the den, with none of the boys noticing her, watching as the Remus pulled Sirius down on his lap, while he was sitting in the recliner. The dark haired boy didn't resist, and instead wiggled around until he was comfortable, and pulled out a bar of chocolate, which he immediately shared with her son. Sirius held the bar in front of Remus’s face, and after her son had taken a bite, Sirius had kissed his cheek. Remus smiled down at the younger boy, and kissed Sirius’s forehead before tucking the boy under his chin. 

    Hope Lupin was so happy. Her boy was no longer a baby, he was a teenager, a very responsible one, who seemed to have found someone who loved him completely. Someone who not only knew about his accident, but loved him despite and because of it. Sirius didn’t shy away from her son’s condition, and instead, he joked about it, making her son smile about something he had once hated so much. Lyall came up behind her, his head resting on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear. “Our son did good. He’s a good boy.”  

[pufflyhallows]

Happiness

Gif not mine

Pairing: Remus Lupin x reader

Summary: Remus has been distancing himself from you as he realized something that broke his heart. 

Warnings: ANGST, language

Word count: 4,7k

********

You felt worn out. Your relationship with Remus had become a puzzle and it was nearly impossible to solve it. To say you were tired was an understatement. You had spent nights awake trying to understand what had happened to the fire you two had when you first started dating, six years ago. It felt like he didn’t love you anymore. He had been so distant and cold towards you, always avoiding conversations and touches. It was hurting you so bad, and the fact that you didn’t even know why he was acting that way made things worse. It had all started so suddenly.

One Monday night, when he got home from work, he went straight to your shared bedroom without saying a word to you, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting for him. Your heart ached, but by that time you were already used to it. He did the same thing on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Why was he doing that to you?

On Saturday, he told you he had plans with Sirius and left you alone the entire day. Sunday, you were the one who left him alone.

You knocked at the door and waited. A few seconds later, a tired James opened it.

“Y/N! Come in, come in,” he stepped aside so you could enter the house, “Lily is upstairs putting Harry to sleep. I was trying to cook something for lunch, but I’m having a surprisingly hard time.”

“Do you want some help?” you asked, taking off your coat and hanging it on the coat hook.

“If Lily was around, I would say no because you’re a guest, but… yes, please.”

You smiled and followed him to the kitchen.

After a few minutes, you managed to save his spaghetti while he made pumpkin juice.

“So,” James said as he set the table for three, “How’s Moony?”

“Good,” you lied, you didn’t want to take the risk of James telling Remus that you were worried, “Just working a lot.”

“Oh yeah, I totally get that.”

“And how’s little Harry?” you asked, leaning on the sink and crossing your arms.

“Showing me that parenting is harder than a Quidditch match in a stormy night against the Irish National Team all by yourself,” he sighed, “but also a lot more gratifying.”

You shared a grin before Lily came in the kitchen.

“I knew I had heard the voice of an angel,” she joked.

“Aw, babe!” James covered his mouth with one hand and placed the other on his chest, in a fake flattered manner.

“I was talking about Y/N,” she playfully rolled her eyes and came closer to hug you.

You hugged her back tightly. You needed that so bad and Lily could tell immediately that you weren’t okay.

“How are you?” she whispered in your ear through the hug.

“Good,” you lied again, knowing that Lily would take the hint and not bring up the subject in front of James.

“Let’s eat,” she smiled at you after you let go of each other.

That was the best lunch you had in weeks. Not because of the food, but because the people with you simply acknowledged your presence at the table, something that wasn’t happening when you were with Remus.

Your conversation with James and Lily was interrupted by a crying Harry. James went upstairs to put him back to sleep, leaving you and Lily alone in the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as soon as she heard James closing the door.

“Remus,” you replied, already feeling the tears coming, “I think he doesn’t love me anymore.”

“What?! That’s impossible, Y/N. Remus is completely in love with you. What makes you think that?”

“He’s been so distant and so cold! He doesn’t talk to me anymore. It’s like he’s always in his mind, never here with me. Do you get what I’m trying to say?”

“I do. Have you tried asking him why?”

“I have! He says nothing has changed, that he’s fine, that it’s all in my head. But I know it’s not! I know something is up. Remus is not like that at all.”

Lily didn’t know what to say. It seemed like you had already tried to fix things. And you had! She didn’t know how she could help you.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” she offered.

“I don’t know… Maybe. I don’t wanna break up with him, Lily,” you said as the tears began to fall down, “But sometimes I feel like that’s the only option.”

“No, it’s not! We’ll figure it out. Just give me a second.”

She thought about it for a couple of minutes while you played with the food on your plate before she spoke again.

“Listen, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m gonna convince James to leave Harry with a babysitter so we can have a night out on Friday. I’m gonna invite Sirius, Peter, Marlene and Dorcas. And you invite Remus, but make sure he goes with you. If he says he doesn’t want to, use the excuse of me and James being too busy and never having the chance to go out with you guys or whatever. Use your creativity! The rest is on me.”

“What are you going to do?” you frowned.

“I’m just gonna talk to him. Don’t worry.”

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

The week went by rather quickly. You decided to talk to Remus only on Thursday night, so he wouldn’t have much time to change his mind in case he said yes.

When you were silently having dinner, you cleared your throat.

“Remus?” you called, received a ‘hm’ in response and he didn’t look up at you, which was something quite discouraging, but you kept going. “I forgot to tell you, but Lily and James found a nice babysitter to stay with Harry tomorrow night. They’re going to this party and… they want us to go too as it’s been a while since they last went out with us.”

Your boyfriend stopped cutting the meat on his plate.

“I think Sirius mentioned it yesterday. I’m not sure if I want to go, though,” he said, looking down at his food.

“But they never get to go out now. They’re counting on us, Remus,” you argued.

“You can go, Y/N,” he finally looked up at you.

“I don’t want to go alone.”

“Sorry, I’m not in the mood,” he stated in his usual cold tone and started cutting his meat again, as if the conversation was over.

“Please, Rem,” you practically begged, “If not for me, for them.”

Your boyfriend sighed, apparently giving in, but you still needed to hear him say.

“Okay.”

“Thank you,” you smiled sadly and reached for his hand, but he moved it away to grab his glass, a visible excuse.

Twenty four hours later, you were having a shower. The outfit you had picked for the occasion was one Remus was really fond of. Maybe that would help, you didn’t know.

When you left the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around you, Remus was already dressed up, just putting on his shoes.

“Am I late?” you asked jokingly, hoping he would joke back.

“No,” he answered coldly again, “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

“Okay,” you replied in a hurt, quiet tone.

That made Remus hesitate before leaving the room, which gave you hope he still cared. But he did leave without saying anything, so it didn’t really matter.

You put on your dress and sighed. The first time you wore that dress, Remus said he had never seen a more beautiful woman. The memory made you feel sad.

Shrugging off the feeling, you put on your makeup quickly as it was close to the time Lily had asked you to show up. When you were satisfied with the result, you grabbed your purse and left the room.

“I’m ready,” you announced as you stepped in the living room.

While you searched for your wand, Remus watched you. He couldn’t look away, you looked so beautiful. That dress... He remembered the first time he saw you in that dress. It was your fourth anniversary and you celebrated it by going out at night by yourselves. It was just the two of you freely wandering around town. You went to a fancy restaurant and had dinner, vowing to never go back there again because you had spilled wine on the white tablecloth, and then you went to a club, not staying long because it was too hot. He remembered you joking that the two of you could act like a young couple in a hour and as an old one in the next. He remembered all that in a second. 

“Found it,” you whispered more to yourself than him and put the wand in your purse, “Let’s go?”

He nodded slowly and you held his hand. The moment you touched him, you realized it was the first time in days. You two disapparated and soon were standing in front of the big house where the party would take place. There were people everywhere: in the front yard, inside the house, on the porch, in the backyard… Every part of the house was full.

Remus let go of your hand and you both entered the house. The music was really loud inside and there were so many people that you lost sight of him. You looked around and didn’t see him anywhere, until a hand was gently placed on your waist. It was your boyfriend. That small action made you feel the butterflies from the beginning of your relationship, probably because you hadn’t been that intimate in weeks.

“I saw Sirius,” Remus said in your ear, “This way.”

You followed him to a corner of the house, where Sirius and Marlene were talking.

“Moony! Y/N! I’m glad you’re here,” Sirius hugged Remus and then you.

“Me too,” you smiled at him, “Hey, Marls.”

“Hey, babe,” she hugged you tight and greeted Remus, “Do you guys want a drink?”

“I do,” you replied, but Remus shook his head.

Marlene handed you a shot of… whatever that was and you quickly downed it.

“Where are the others?” you asked.

“Peter said he was going to the bathroom and disappeared. Dorcas is snogging a girl over there and James and Lily haven’t arrived yet,” Sirius answered.

“They haven’t?” you frowned, “Do you think they had a problem with the babysitter?”

“Last time I talked to Lily, which was an hour ago, everything was good,” Marlene said, “They’re probably just late.”

Remus was quiet, just observing the people in the house and regretting going to that party.

“Whose house is this?” he asked Sirius.

“I don’t know,” the young man shook his head, “An acquaintance of Lily, I think.”

“There they are,” Marlene pointed at behind you and you turned around quickly. James and Lily walked towards you with smiles on their faces. You felt the nervousness build up in your core as you knew the time was coming closer.

“Oh, how I missed loud music and crowded environments!” James joked as he hugged each person of the group. Lily did the same.

“I’m glad you could make it,” she said in your ear, “Now just relax and enjoy the party, preferably away from Remus.”

“What?” you frowned at her. Your boyfriend was talking to his fellow Marauders a few steps away from you and Lily.

“Trust me. He’s not gonna tell me anything with you around,” she explained, “Go have fun with Marls, she already knows.”

“You told her?” you looked shocked at Lily.

“Not everything. I just asked her to make you company. Don’t worry, I’m not a snitch,” she poked you in the rib.

“Okay,” you breathed, “I think I need more drinks.”

You spotted a bar on the other side of the house and decided it was a good call to go there with Marlene. You invited her to join you and she gladly accepted.

When you walked away, Lily approached Remus.

“Okay, why don’t you have a drink in your hand?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry, Lily. I’m not drinking tonight,” he chuckled at the facial expression she had after he said that.

“No friend of mine will stay sober at this party,” she warned him, “James, can you grab a drink for Rem here?”

“Lily, it’s really not necess-”

“Sure!” James replied and walked over to the bar.

“You have no choice, Moony,” Sirius said, “What Lily wants, Lily gets.”

“Good boy,” she teased.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t,” Remus sighed.

“Hey, guys,” Peter approached them. He had a lipstick stain on his neck.

“Way to go, Wormy!” Sirius laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder. 

“I-I got lost,” Peter tried to explain himself.

Lily and Remus smiled at each other, knowing for a fact that it was a complete shameless lie.

“Here it is,” James arrived with Remus’ drinks, “Two shots of tequila for starters.”

“Two?!” your boyfriend looked at his friend with widen eyes, “Don’t you think that’s too much?”

“Nope,” Lily answered before James had the chance, “Now down it like a big boy.”

James handed Remus the drinks and went back to the bar to get more for his friends and himself.

“Okay,” Remus took a deep breath and downed the first shot. It burned everything it touched, but the feeling actually felt nice. Before he could change his mind, he downed the second one.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Sirius grinned when James came back with more drinks.

The small group of friends started drinking, chatting and dancing. Lily was the only one who wasn’t drinking alcohol, as she was a breastfeeding mom, and she also wanted to stay in her right mind so she could execute her plan.

Dorcas joined them after a while, looking for Marlene. When Lily told her where she was, the girl left towards the bar.

“Hello, my beautiful girls,” she greeted you and Marlene.

“Hey, Dork,” Marlene replied with the nickname Dorcas hated, receiving the middle finger in return.

“I came here to demand a dance. Let’s go,” she pulled you and Marlene to the improvised dance-floor, leaving your drinks behind.

The three of you started moving to the fast beat of the song. It didn’t take long for a guy to show up and start hitting on Marlene, who began to dance with him. Seeing that, you felt sad. How you missed dancing like that with Remus. You wondered if Lily was talking to him at that point.

At the other side of the house, Sirius was already dancing with a girl he had approached. Peter had gone missing again and James and Lily talked to Remus. 

When Lily saw the opportunity, she asked James to go get more drinks for them, which he did, leaving her alone with Remus. She needed to check if it was time to make a move.

“Y/N is dancing over there,” she said and Remus looked over to the dance-floor, seeing you with Dorcas, “Why don’t you join her?”

“I don’t really dance,” he replied. She knew that was a lie, which meant she needed him to drink more for her plan to work.

James came back with more shots and handed a couple to Remus. Since he was loosening up already, he didn’t reject the drinks. He downed them quickly and shook his head to get rid of the burning feeling. Lily watched patiently, waiting for him to get tipsy. She moved closer to James and whispered in his ear, asking him to go look for Peter because ‘she was worried’. The young man did as his wife asked and left the two friends alone again. She felt bad for using James like that, but it was for a greater good.

When Lily saw Remus starting to move to the beat of the song, she knew the time was coming closer and closer.

“So, what’s up, Rem?” she approached him, dancing as well. She needed him as comfortable as possible.

“Nothing different from usual,” he answered, “There’s this really annoying guy at work, though, who is driving me crazy.”

“Tell me about him.”

From across the house, you tried to see where Remus was, but the place was too crowded for that.

“Relax, Y/N,” Marlene put an arm around your shoulder, “Here.”

She gave you another shot of tequila and you downed it. You sure needed to relax.

“Thanks,” you smiled at her.

“You’re welcome, hun.”

“Excuse me,” a guy said next to you, “I couldn’t not watch you from where I was. You’re really beautiful. Can I have a dance?”

You looked at him quite surprised. Was he talking to you or Marlene?

“Of course you can,” she replied pushing you towards him. “It’s just a dance. Relax,” she added as a whisper in your ear and walked away back to the bar, leaving you alone with the guy.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Y/N,” you answered unsure.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Tom,” he smiled and reached for your hand, placing a soft kiss on it. You felt really uncomfortable with that, you couldn’t do it.

“Nice to meet you too, Tom. I’m sorry, but I have a boyfriend and he’s here at the party,” you explained, stepping back.

“Really? Wow,” he frowned, “What kind of man leaves his gorgeous girlfriend alone at a party?”

You didn’t say anything, feeling too embarrassed for that. Tom walked away and approached another girl, probably using the same pick-up line.

You sighed.

“What was that?” Marlene showed up next to you.

“‘Of course you can’, huh?” you gave her a bitter look, “You know I couldn’t do that to Remus.”

“It was just a dance!” she protested, “It’s no harm.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” you shook your head and walked away.

At the opposite side of the house, Lily danced with Remus.

“…and then he said I needed to read more about those potions,” he snorted, “As if I didn’t know about them already. I was the one who brought them up in the first place!”

“Yeah, that guy is an idiot,” Lily nodded. She had to make Remus comfortable, which meant she had to listen to everything he had to say before she could ask the things she wanted to know.

“He is,” Remus agreed. He was really tipsy by now, letting out all the things that bothered him, even the silliest ones.

“But tell me, Rem. How’s everything at home?”

“It’s...” he looked around, searching for you. When he remembered you were far away with the girls, he looked back at Lily, “It’s terrible. I’m an asshole.”

“Don’t say that, you’re not an asshole,” Lily touched his shoulder, “What happened?”

“I can’t give Y/N what she wants and deserves,” he answered, starting to dance again.

“And what is that?”

“A future like yours with James. You know, get married, have children… all that.”

“And why don’t you want that?”

“What?! You think I don’t want that?” he laughed, “Of course I want that! I just can’t...”

“I don’t understand.”

“Come with me,” Remus clumsily took Lily’s hand and pulled her to the front yard, where the music was muffled and they could talk, “Do you really wanna know what happened?”

Lily nodded, worried and slightly scared.

“After Harry was born, Y/N started talking about her future and how she wants to get married and have her own baby one day. But I can’t give her that. I don’t want Y/N to have the eternal responsibility of watching over me during my transformations. I can’t do that to her, I can’t be a burden. And I can’t even imagine how it would be if we had a baby and they were like me! I don’t have the strength to break up with her, because she is the love of my life. So I’m here, being an asshole, hoping that she’ll realize all of this by herself and dump me, so she can find the right man for her, who will make her happy. But I’m also dreading the day that happens because, like I said, she is the love of my life. And it kills me every day that I’m hurting her, but I don’t know how to deal with this. I am an idiot, Lily, and that’s what happened.”

Lily looked at Remus completely speechless. She didn’t even know how to react. That was too much. She wanted to help! But she didn’t know how.

“Remus,” her voice barely came out as a whisper, “Y/N loves you more than anything in this world.”

The man looked away.

“Talk to her,” she gently held his chin to make him look back at her, “Just talk to her.”

“I can’t,” he shook his head and stepped back, “I’m sorry.”

With a loud crack, Remus disapparated.

Lily rushed back to the house, searching for you, but she found only Marlene and Dorcas talking to each other with their drinks in their hands by the bar.

“Where’s Y/N?” she asked Marlene and the girl sighed.

“I fucked up. She went home.”

“What do you mean you fucked up?!”

“I wanted her to have fun! But she said she couldn’t do it to Remus,” Marlene replied in a clumsy way, visibly drunk, “Then she walked away saying that the party was a mistake and disapparated. I think she was crying.”

“Shit, Marls!” Lily took a deep breath, trying not to panic.

“I’m sorry! Okay?! I didn’t mean to upset her,” Marlene downed her drink aggressively.

“It’s not your fault,” Lily shook her head, “She’s upset about something else.”

“Lily, relax. Have a drink,” Dorcas handed her a glass, “Y/N will be fine.”

“I should go to her apartment, talk to her…”

“Been there, done that. She made it very clear that she wants to be alone,” Dorcas raised an eyebrow, “She’s not drunk. She’ll be fine.”

Dorcas managed to calm Lily down a little, but she was still worried. Her plan had not only failed, but also taken a completely unexpected turn.

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

You apparated in your apartment sobbing. Dorcas came after you trying to fix what Marlene had done, but she hadn’t done anything wrong, she wasn’t the reason you had left the party. You asked Dorcas to go away, reassuring her you would be fine, you just needed to put your thoughts in order.

What kind of man leaves his girlfriend alone?

“The kind that doesn’t love you anymore,” you whispered to yourself through the tears.

You fell on the couch and cried for a while, trying desperately to get rid of the tightness in your chest. Everything was so overwhelming, you felt so exhausted. You just wanted those feelings to go away… You knew it didn’t really make sense to cry about it, but you couldn’t help it. Maybe you kept it locked for too long...

You gathered the remaining strength in your body and stood up from the couch, your steps faltering a little towards the bathroom. You didn’t take off your clothes before turning the shower on. 

You lost track of time in there. The thought of not being loved by the man you loved so much was haunting you.

Six years. Six years of building a strong, solid love…

“Happy anniversary,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around you.

“The first of many,” you smiled back and pressed your lips on his.

The stubborn memories flashed through your head as if Remus was fucking dead.

“Would you… um… Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? Like, on a date,” he asked nervously.

“Yes! I would love to.”

You got out of the shower and took off all your clothes, throwing them on the floor. 

“I’m Y/N,” you held out your hand.

“Remus,” he shook it.

You opened your wardrobe and grabbed the first thing you saw to put on. Barefoot and with your hair still humid, you went to the kitchen. You needed a hot cup of tea. Lily was probably talking to him at that moment and you felt a bit silly for breaking down so prematurely.

But then you heard it. The familiar loud crack, being followed by heavy and fast steps that went straight to the bedroom.

You put the empty cup back in the cupboard and took a deep breath. Should you go there? Lily had already talked to him, probably. Or maybe not. You couldn’t know.

You thought you would hear him do the usual: take a shower and go to bed; but you didn’t hear anything. The apartment was quiet. You began to worry. Deciding it was a waste of time to just stand there thinking, you walked towards the closed door.

When you touched the doorknob, you heard a sniff. Was he… was he crying?

You opened the door and saw Remus sitting on your shared bed, resting his elbows on his knees and with his head down, a suitcase by his side. He looked up at you with a surprised look, allowing you to see the tears falling down.

“What are you doing?” you asked, looking at the suitcase.

“I thought… I thought you were at the party,” he replied. At least, he was talking.

“What’s the bag for?” you pointed at it.

Remus looked at it and immediately started to cry more intensely, hiding his face on his hands, sobbing.

“Rem…” you sat on the bed by his side and pulled him for a hug, your tears falling down as well, “What’s going on?”

You knew the answer, but you refused to accept it. There was a tiny little part of you that still had hope he would say anything but ‘I’m leaving’.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he sobbed, hiding his face on the crook of your neck this time, “I can’t.”

You hugged him tighter, placing one hand on the back of his head and slowly caressing his hair.

“Shh… Breathe.”

“I can’t,” he repeated, “I have to go.”

“You’re drunk,” you whispered in his ear, trying to hold back the tears and be the rational one in the situation, “You’re not thinking straight.”

“Can’t you see, Y/N?” he let go of you to look in your eyes, the view you had was heartbreaking, he was a mess, “I’m no good for you.”

“That is complete nonsense, Remus. What happened? Why are you saying all of this?”

“I can’t marry you,” he sobbed, earning a shocked look from you, “I can’t give you a family. I know that’s what you want! And I want it too but… I’m a monster, I can’t do that to you.”

“Do what?” you frowned, “You’re not a monster!”

Remus shook his head and stood up.

“I would be a burden to you. In fact, I already am,” he looked at you, the tears never stopping from falling, “And how would I ever forgive myself if I knowingly risk passing on my own condition to an innocent child?”

“Rem… You are not and you never will be a burden,” you stood up as well, “You’re the man I love!”

“Y-You need someone to make you happy and I’m not-”

“You already make me happy!”

“I can’t give you what you want!”

“I want you!” you broke down, sitting on the bed again as you felt your knees weaken. You hid your face on your hands just like your boyfriend had done before, sobbing.

Remus watched you without knowing what to do. It killed him to see you like that because of him. But he had to do it! He had to set you free so you could be happy.

“You don’t love me anymore…” you said between sobs, suddenly, “Just tell me already. It’s easier than coming up with all those shitty excuses to dump me.”

“Excuses?” Remus felt offended, “They’re the truth! I love you, Y/N. More than anything I’ve ever loved in my entire life. You are by far the best thing that ever happened to me. And I can’t ruin you like that…”

“Ruin me?” you moved your hands from your face so you could look at him, “I love you! How many times do I have to say this? All those things you mentioned – marriage, children – all that only matters if it’s with you! I want that with you. But if you don’t want to, it’s… it’s okay… I want you more than any of those things.”

Those words moved Remus deeply, because he knew how much having your own family meant to you, and if you were willing to give up on that for him… Merlin.

He stared at you, not knowing what to say. He also felt dizzy, but he couldn’t tell if it was the shock of the moment or the alcohol. Probably both.

“Come here,” you said, patting on the mattress beside you, after wiping your tears.

Remus slowly sat down next to you.

“You are drunk,” you whispered, taking his hand in yours, “Let’s go to bed. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

For your relief, he nodded.

You stood up and closed the door, while Remus changed his clothes.

Soon enough, you were both on the bed, lying down and looking up, a few inches apart.

The minutes went by and you could only hear his soft breathing, a sound that always made you feel safe.

You didn’t know how long it took for you to fall asleep, but you were sure the last thing you heard before closing your eyes was a heavy ‘I’m sorry’.

********

[siriuslyblack12]

As We Grow Older

chapter 1

Summer had come and gone. Days bled into nights and sun bled into stars as September rapidly approached. It had been warm and peaceful, quiet in the way that vibrant flowers grew over green fields, given shade by the confident trees and given life from the minimalistic designs of watering cans and the green-thumbs holding them; but thrilling in the way that rollercoasters flew through the sky, friends laughing loud and hard as they made memories they would never forget.

 Remus Lupin appreciated the first much more, as he sat in his garden, book in hand, trying to enjoy the last few hours of his summer holiday.

 This is, no doubt, in stark contrast to his friends. James Potter had bought a season pass to theme parks all around the country that his family had driven between for the entire month of July, stopping at Lily Evans’s holiday cabin any chance he got. Peter Pettigrew had enjoyed concert after concert, dragging his friends to a few and his presumably unrequited crush Mary MacDonald to most. He’d even heard of all about Marlene and Dorcas’ trip to Spain, a trip that they’d been practically begging their parents to pay towards and labelled as a ‘celebration’ of their grades the school year prior.

 Then there was Sirius Black. Leather jackets and muscle t-shits, dark hair falling past his shoulders or loosely tied up in a bun that would come tumbling down minutes later. Brown eyes and perfect lips, spread over his face in a perfect grin that was usually accompanied by a hand clutching at his toned chest. He’d spent his time quite evenly between the three boys, thrill-seeking with James and his family, third-wheeling Peter and Mary and annoying every one of Remus’s neighbours with his antics. There was never a quiet moment in his summer, which was to be expected by the school’s most beloved trouble maker. All four of them were regarded as such, but Remus had always thought that Sirius was the main reason for their popularity.

 He was also hopelessly in love with him.

 Of course, this isn’t at all surprising. Most, if not all of the girls at Hogwarts High fawned over Sirius’s impossible good looks, his charm and flirty remarks, his laid-back, cool stance. Love letters flooded his locker and every one of his selfies got hundreds, if not thousands of likes and comments. He was certainly no stranger to the shallow pining, but Remus Lupin was a boy. A bisexual boy that wasn’t out to anyone. And he didn’t just like Sirius for his looks. That was definitely a bonus, something to make him swoon pathetically, but Remus saw much deeper than that. He loved his sense of humour, his laugh that could light up an entire room. He loved his personality, outgoing and confident but caring and gentle in the right company. He loved the way that his face portrayed every single emotion with such depth, and that his heart was worn on his sleeves. He loved everything about Sirius, but he couldn’t possibly tell him.

 “Remus, honey, tea’s ready.” His mum called from the back doorstep. “Come in before it gets cold.”

 Essentially, he was fucked.

 ~~

 Sirius Black woke up to the piercing sound of his parent’s shouting at him and Regulus to “get the fuck out of bed” and “stop being so fucking lazy”. He could tell they were more aimed at him than his little brother, which filled him with both relief and dread. He was grateful that swim training didn’t start again until next week, considering how awful this was at 8, he definitely couldn’t handle the same at 5:30. A muffled groan escaped from his lips as he rolled over, feet twisted in his silk sheets and a hand carding through his hair. It was finally September, after 6 excruciating weeks of blinding sun, and school was starting again. Not that he didn’t appreciate the rest, its just the only thing he truly enjoyed about it was the thing he had the least of: his friends.

 He’d spent as much time as humanly possible out of his house and away from his dear parents, but nothing could ever be quite enough. They’d been shouting a lot more recently, at him and each other, occasionally even Regulus, and his ears ached with the shrill voice of his mother and booming sound of his father. They weren’t even his mother and father, not really, that title would go to the Potters, whose house he promptly arrived at after he’d spent a good 20 minutes under the hot spray of his shower. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye as he marched out of his door with as much pride as he could muster, practically none of which was genuine.

 “Pads! I was actually starting to think you weren’t gonna show,” James announced as he greeted his friend with a tight hug, as if he hadn’t seen him just the day before.

 “Couldn’t miss the first day of school, could I? I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

 “Sure you do, mate”

 He punched James lightly in the shoulder as the two of them laughed away any inhibitions they’d had about the first day of school. The two took their seats at the breakfast bar as Mrs Potter placed  plates of toast and fruit, always reminding her boys to stay healthy. She’d cut Sirius’s toast into 4 small triangles, exactly how he liked it, and they both ate as quickly as possible, excited for the year ahead.

 “You boys better get going if you want to make it before second bell, I’d rather not have to deal with that on your record” The kind voice of Mrs Potter sang through the room. A voice that made him feel safe, like this was his home.

 “Mum’s right, bet Moony’ll go mad if we’re late again” James added and finished with a kiss to Mrs Potter’s cheek. “Him and Peter are probably there already.”

 He couldn’t wait to see Remus again. And Peter. And the girls.

 “Well don’t just stand there Prongs, we have shit to start!”

 “Language.”

 “Sorry Mrs Potter.”

 ~~

 Remus’ stomach flipped and churned as he saw Sirius approach their table, James strutting by his side. He’s your best friend. Get a grip. He watched James’s eyes go right towards the head of red hair beside him, freckles dotted all over her face and arms and jeans cuffed above her ankles. Prongs had been not-so-subtly crushing on Lily for a few years now, and it was getting quite depressing to watch. Remus had suspected for a while that she did in fact have feelings for James, but it wasn’t really his place to comment. Besides, she’d most likely be too obstinate to admit it even if she did. Across from him, Mary, Marlene and Dorcas were excitedly discussing their holidays, the latter two occasionally pulling each other close and sharing a few kisses. They’d been dating for almost a year, and needless to say everyone in the school shipped them. Someone had even made them a fan account, which Marlene had admittedly found a little creepy, but Dorcas adored.

 “Moons! Is that a haircut I see? It suits you,” Sirius said matter-of-factly, taking the seat the other side of Remus, obviously growing bored of James’s childish pining.

 He’s your best friend. Best friends compliment each other. “Wouldn’t take you as one to notice, Pads.” What? What does that even mean?

 “Well, I did” he replied, before pulling out his phone and opening Instagram, mindlessly scrolling through and liking every other post. Sirius was one of those people who documented his entire life on social media, to the point where at any given moment the entire school knew where he was and what he was doing.

 A few moments passed, everyone exchanging fun stories, laughing at Peter’s animated retellings, smiling as Marlene laid her dead on her girlfriend’s shoulder when she recounted care-free nights. He’d missed this, and he could tell Sirius had too.

 They still had ten minutes until first bell, and they would all go to their first classes of the year. Remus had decided to take chemistry this year, a decision that he now deeply regretted after the amount of summer homework Professor Slughorn had given him, a decision that was definitely not made in the first place so that he’d be in more classes with Sirius. Definitely not.

 Usually on an occasion such as important as this, the 8 of them would pull a prank. He secretly lived for those moments, and had spent all summer planning some more intricate ideas. He was elated when Lily suddenly spoke, as confidently as ever.

 “Not that I don’t love hearing about all of your lovely holidays spent far away from your bitchy sisters and their loser boyfriends,” at that everyone nodded sympathetically, “but I’m in the mood to cause some trouble.”

 “And how exactly would we do that?” James questioned.

 Sirius chirped in, raising his eyebrows, “I think I might have an idea.”

 And that’s how Remus Lupin ended up counting down loudly with his friends, gaining strange looks from the rest of the canteen as James held five Mentos above a bottle of Diet Coke, both from Peter’s bag, that they would drop as they got to one. Sirius shook with laughter from his left, joining in with the countdown and leaning far too close to the bottle to ensure him safety from the explosion that was to come. Remus followed him as he leant further forward, silently vowing to follow Sirius wherever he went. The numbers they shouted got smaller and smaller, and the two boys got closer and closer. He looked over to his left and saw that Sirius had suddenly jumped far back, and before he could question it the bottle erupted right into his scarred face.

 The entire canteen erupted in laughter, including the boy behind him which quickly made Remus forget all about the state of his shirt and jeans. He would do anything to make Sirius happy.

 “Mr Lupin, I’m sure there’s you have an explanation for this,” They were quickly brought back to reality by the stern, Scottish drawl of Professor McGonagall. “And I’m sure it involves Mr Potter and Mr Black being their usual selves, yes?”

 “You’ve got it Minnie.” Sirius chuckled, earning himself and everyone else a lunch detention.

  James jumped on the opportunity to plead with her for a lighter punishment, only to be waved away non-commitedly. Lily sank into James’s side, defeated and slightly annoyed but amused nonetheless. Sirius bumped his shoulder to Remus’s, their faces only inches apart as a beautiful smirk settled itself on the first boy’s face. If Sirius noticed the deep blush that spread over the his friend’s face and neck, he didn’t say anything.

 Maybe detention wasn’t so bad if he could have that smirk directed at him.

 Stop fooling yourself, Remus. He’s straight. He doesn’t like you.

 Maybe not, he thought. But I might as well appreciate what I can while it lasts.

 ~~

 Detention went for the most part as expected: Sirius and James throwing paper planes at each other from opposite ends of the room, Lily doodling on a spare piece of paper on her desk, Marlene and Dorcas eye-fucking for the entire hour. But Remus’s mind replayed the same thought, over and over and over again as his fingers absentmindedly drummed on his desk.

 Sirius had given him his shirt.

 To anyone else, this information would mean absolutely nothing. He always kept a spare one in his bag for after swimming and had offered it to his friend to wear now that his was soaked through. It was fairly big on him, as Sirius was more built, and a few inches taller. It hung off of his shoulders nicely, and felt so comfortable. So natural. What wasn’t comfortable, nor natural, was Remus’s reaction. His eyes had widened comically as his heart imploded right there on the spot, and so Sirius had just placed the shirt simply into his shaking hands and stalked away to share a laugh with James and Peter, leaving a lovestruck Remus in his wake.

 Professor McGonagall left the detention room to run a few errands, and it was suspiciously tame considering the company. Why she would ever trust the marauders alone in a confined space would be a mystery to most. Remus and Lily had turned around in their seats to gossip with James and Sirius, mainly pointless topics to pass the time.

 “All I’m saying is, Dumbledore and McGonagall are definitely fucking.” James stated, arms in the air smugly.

 “Absolutely no way, I won’t accept it!” Lily laughed along with him.

 “You’re girlfriends right, Prongsie,” Sirius began, getting loud protests from both parties, “If anyone is fucking, it’s Dumbledore and Hagrid.”

 Remus’s breath hitched, but he was proud in how quickly he recovered and replied with, “Fair point, but McGonagall and Pomfrey must be considered, don’t you think?”

 The room erupted in laughter, Marlene and Dorcas vocalising their agreement with him and clasping him on the back.

 “Dumbledore and McGonagall are the most perfect example of solidarity my gay ass has ever witnessed.” One of them said, causing everyone to laugh harder.

 “Fucking Preach!” Sirius hollered, folding his paper aeroplane into a ball and throwing it into the air, which was then caught by James and hurled towards the bin with a soft ‘Lebron James’. The paper, unsurprisingly, missed it’s target which served as Lily’s cue to make fun of him even more than she was already.

 “I’d like to see you try, Evans”

 “You’re on Potter.” She sneered, folding her own piece of paper and throwing it towards the same bin that James had aimed for, the only difference being that hers landed perfectly. Remus held out his hand for Lily to high five, and Sirius praised her loudly. She bit her lip happily, eyes trained on James before she spoke.

 “Better not underestimate me again, Potter.”

 “Oh, I won’t.”

 With that, Remus settled back into his chair, and took another look at the brown-eyed boy that he couldn’t get out of his head, who had calmed down a little and was now, once again, scrolling through his phone. His hair fell into his face delightfully and Remus leaned back on his chair and he admired it quietly. He hadn’t even realised how dangerously far back he had leaned, before his back hit the floor with a thud and he groaned in pain. Once again the room was laughing and Sirius wore that smile that Remus loved so much.

 This was going to be a hard year.

 ~~

 “Oi, knobhead, pass the salt would you?”

 “Manners, James.” Sirius countered cheekily.

 “Oi, knobhead, pass the salt, please.”

 The next few days had passed uneventfully, if Sirius was any judge. He’d fallen into the comfortable routine of pissing about at school, pissing about at the park and then pissing about at the Potter’s, never going to his own house until it was absolutely necessary. At first, a few years ago, he’d felt insecure that he was mooching off of people too kind to know any better, but those thoughts had quickly dissolved.

 Mrs Potter smiled and looked between the two boys, elated that she could care for both of them. She’d never wanted to have an only child, but her and her husband had decided that it was for the best, which did nothing to stop the satisfaction that came with taking Sirius in as her own.

 “Are you excited to start training again, Sirius? Do you need me to drive you anywhere?” She questioned politely, silently hoping he says yes.

 “Of course I am,” He replied, mouth full of food. “And I’m afraid I have to decline your offer, as great as it is. My father insists being my personal taxi when it comes to swimming.”

 Mrs Potter nodded her head quietly, not realising the emotion in his voice that was masked by the potatoes he continued to stuff into his mouth. Sirius would be happy to be back with his team, in the water, racing again. It was his sense of normality, his clutch when his confusion got too much to handle. He was hoping that he could get his friends to see a few galas this year, especially the tawny haired boy that he couldn’t recall had ever seen him in the water.

 After they’d eaten, James and Sirius stood over the sink after promising that they’d wash the dishes, a promise that they now realised was perhaps not the best idea. James, sponge in hand, had been scrubbing at the same spot for what felt like hours.

 “How do you actually feel about swimming, Pads?”

 “I love it, of course I do,” Sirius began. “Why would you even have to ask that, mate?

 James gently put down his plate, still somehow dirty, and turned to face his friend. He gave him a look, that look that says ‘that’s absolute bullshit, but I’m gonna let you tell me in your own time.’ That look.

 “Well, my parents are a big part of it. My dad’s the only reason I started in the first place, but I do actually enjoy it. It’s more than them now.” Sirius admitted truthfully.

 “You would tell us if you didn’t want to go back, wouldn’t you?” James was always the mother hen of the group, taking care of everybody else. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

 Sirius sighed, muttered an agreement and picked up the plate that James was just working on, desperately scrubbing just as hard as the other boy was. It was almost visible how his walls had gone up, a blockade of ice that freezed over whenever his parents were brought into conversation. James wished he could press more, but he knew it wouldn’t work. He’d open up when he was ready.

 “Pass me that plate, I’m just gonna put it away and hope mum doesn’t notice.” James said.

 “Dick.”

 “Git.”

 “You love me,”

 “Keep telling yourself that.”

 They both smiled, the first genuine smile of the night.

[downn-in-flames]

9.9 Out of 10, Highly Recommend (chapter 1)

2 bets. 10 days. Endless shenanigans.

{A Brooklyn 99 meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Jily fic}

Read it on: HPFT | AO3 | FFnet

THE BET

At 10 pm on a Tuesday night, James Potter and Lily Evans are both rather impressively drunk.

They don’t know this particular fact about one another though, because they’re at bars across town from one another, with totally different groups of coworkers.

Although if you asked Lily, she really wouldn’t be surprised to learn that James was drinking on a Tuesday - that’s not too far out of character for him, anyways. James, on the other hand, would be absolutely gobsmacked to learn that cookie-cutter rule-follower Lily Evans was getting smashed on a weekday, when they’ve got work tomorrow.

She has good reason for it though - she’s celebrating. She’s only found out earlier today that she’s getting promoted to sergeant in a new department, which is just one step closer to her dream of becoming captain of a whole precinct and then commissioner of the entire NYPD.

In other words, her entire 25-year plan is right on track.

“The precinct is going to be weird without you,” Mary says, taking a sip of her beer.

From anyone else, that would be a mild compliment at best, but from Mary, that’s practically the equivalent of an overly emotional hug, sobbing and all.

Mary may be one of Lily’s closest friends, but she’s always been an impressively impassive and private person, even with people she’s known for years.

“She’s right,” Marlene adds. “Who’s going to get onto Black every time he decides to do something ridiculous like fill the vending machines with rotting vegetables?”

“And then stop Lupin from punching him, because we all know how he feels about the office vending machine,” Mary quips.

It’s an odd thing to be passionate about, but Remus has an impressive level of dedication to the office vending machine, which is in all honestly probably older than all of them and can only be filled with candy bars because anything larger gets stuck.

Lily laughs - it’s louder than her normal laugh, a sure sign that she’s surpassed Three-Drink Lily. “You’ve got Kingsley and Dumbledore for that.”

Marlene rolls her eyes. “Please. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great at their jobs, but when have they ever been able to rein in Lupin and Black?”

“When have I ever been able to rein in Lupin and Black?” Lily replies, before frowning at her now-empty fourth drink.

“You’re able to rein in Potter, and Potter is able to rein in Lupin and Black.”

Lily scoffs at that, because, in her opinion, she doesn’t have much control over Potter either. And if she were more sober, she’d elegantly manoeuver right around that particular topic of conversation, because it’s a viewpoint she’s always differed with her co-workers on.

But she’s just crossed the threshold into Four-Drink Lily, and Four-Drink Lily has conversational grace equivalent to Peter doing ballet. That is to say, none whatsoever.

“I’ve got no more power over Potter than either of you.”

Marlene giggles at that. “You can tell yourself that all you like, but you know he has a thing for you.”

“Trust me,” Mary adds. “I have to watch him make heart eyes at you all day long. He definitely likes you.”

Mary’s desk does face James, so that claim is actually pretty plausible.

Lily still doesn’t buy it though. “Oh please, Potter doesn’t like me. He likes the idea of me.”

“Meaning?” Marlene prods.

“He’s created some idealised version of me in his head,” she says. “I’m the hot coworker who sits at the desk next to him - it’s practically a fantasy situation. And as such, he’s built me up in his head as this dream girl of his - and that’s the girl he has a crush on. Not me.”

Mary rolls her eyes. “Fuck, I’m going to need another drink if you’re going to psychoanalyze people this hard tonight.”

“Can you get all of us another round while you’re at it?” Marlene asks. “It’s your turn to buy anyways.”

“One beer, one whiskey Diet Coke, and one cosmo, coming right up.”

“You’re a doll, Mary,” Marlene replies, knowing full well that the term of endearment will annoy her coworker.

“Fuck off, McKinnon,” Mary retorts, before getting up and heading over to the bar.

Marlene almost immediately turns back to Lily. “Why are you so convinced he doesn’t actually like you? What proof do you have of that?”

“Potter’s the idealistic type, we all know that,” Lily replies reasonably. “He decided I’m his dream girl when I got assigned the desk next to him, and hasn’t paid attention to any evidence to the contrary ever since.”

The other girl eyes her skeptically. “And that evidence is?”

“We’re so different.” Lily has no idea how that’s not abundantly obvious to everyone.

Lily’s the type of person who has a 25-year life plan. James is the type of person who can’t think more than three days in advance - it’s why most of the precinct has taken to sending him calendar invites for every little thing. Lily color codes her sock drawer, and James has had the same empty Coke can sitting on his desk for the past four months and eight days.

She’s kept count of it. It’s been on her nerves for four months and seven days.

“They say opposites attract, you know,” Marlene replies, smirking. “But really, I don’t think you and Potter are actually that different. Yeah, you’ve got different habits and whatnot, but at the same time, you’re both fuelled by the same things. I know you say he’s blinded by a version of you that he’s created in his head, but you’re blinded by an imaginary version of him too, babe.”

“Am not,” Lily answers stubbornly.

“Honestly, if you just gave him a chance, I think you’d find that you two are good for each other.”

Mary returns with their drinks at that moment, which gives Lily a little bit of time to think through Marlene’s comments.

Lily would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t find James good-looking. It’s kind of hard not to find the boy attractive, what with the dark, messy hair, the sharp jawline regularly dotted with stubble, and the cute little dimple on his right cheek that pops out when he smiles. Not to mention that he’s over 6 foot and decently built - a bit on the skinnier side, but Lily’s always kind of preferred that to the gym bro archetype - all of which puts him firmly in the realm of exactly her type.

He’s also actually pretty funny, and some of his overly dramatic antics serve to lighten the mood on particularly stressful days at the precinct. And he was the first person to congratulate her today when the news broke that she was getting promoted.

So yeah, she’s definitely attracted to him, at least a little bit. But she’ll never admit to that - it’d practically be social suicide amongst her co-workers - and they’d inevitably blow it way out of proportion. Thinking a guy is cute and funny doesn’t equate wanting to spend the rest of your life with them, no matter what Marlene may believe to the contrary.

“I’m telling you, I doubt he’s actually into me like that,” Lily finally says, taking the first sip of her fifth drink. “He wants one part of me, and that’s it. The rest is something he’s created in his own mind. He’d take me for a ride, realise he doesn’t actually like the real version of me, and drop me.”

“And I say you’re wrong,” Marlene replies, taking her cosmo off of Mary’s hands.

“I’m actually with Marlene on this one,” Mary says. “He’s into you, full stop.”

Lily hates being outnumbered. And she also hates being told that she’s wrong, which is probably what fuels what she says next.

“I guarantee you that, if Potter knew what I’m like in a relationship - what he’d be signing himself up for in going out with me - he’d realise he’s not actually into me,” she tells them both. “Fuck, I’d even put money on it.”

“And I’d put money on it that he’s half in love with you, and ‘knowing what you’re like in a relationship’ wouldn’t change that one fucking bit,” Mary replies.

“You’re wrong,” Lily replies, looking Mary dead in the eye.

It’s a dangerous decision, getting into a staring contest with Mary, who could probably kill a man with a glare alone, but Five-Drink Lily isn’t afraid of anything. Even if she is pretty sure Mary keeps at least one knife in her combat boots at all times.

“What’s the wager?” Marlene says, breaking Lily’s concentration.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s the wager’?” Lily asks.

“Well, you two both just made a bet, and I’m just curious what’s actually on the table here.”

“That wasn’t an actual bet!” Lily defends immediately.

Mary scoffs. “Yeah, because you know you’ll lose.”

Lily whips around to look at Mary again. “I do not! But a real bet has to have a comprehensive set of rules associated with it, not just vague statements.”

“Let’s make that ‘comprehensive set of rules’ then,” Mary replies, and the use of air quotes has Lily feeling like her friend is most definitely mocking her. “You leave the office in ten days - that’s a built-in timeline right there. Starting tomorrow, you go after him. You take him out on a couple dates or two - no sex required, unless you just really want to, in which case, go for it I guess. You ‘show him your real self’ - but you’re not allowed to dramatically sabotage anything either. If he’s done with you by the time you leave the precinct, you win. If he’s still half in love with you at that point like I know he will be, I win.”

The speed with which Mary just came up with a fully-thought-out proposal almost shocks Lily, but then again, Mary’s only been drinking beer the entire night and has an alcohol tolerance equivalent to her and Marlene combined. So she shouldn’t be surprised, really.

“I can’t date a coworker,” Lily replies.

“Black and Lupin are fucking engaged,” Mary retorts. “You absolutely can date a coworker.”

Mary’s not wrong, per say. There isn’t anything in their HR manual about dating coworkers; it’s a rule Lily’s instituted for herself moreso than anything formalised by the NYPD. Future commissioners don’t get themselves involved in office romances.

“You can suspend your own rules for this,” Marlene adds, all but reading Lily’s mind. “You’re leaving in ten days - there’s no consequences to this like there would be if you still had to share a workspace afterwards.”

She… does have a point.

“Lily’s just making up excuses because she knows I’m right, and she knows she’s going to lose,” Mary says casually, taking another sip of her beer.

Sober Lily is already competitive as hell, and drunk Lily is that intensified tenfold.

“You’re on, McDonald,” Lily says, slamming her drink down on the table so aggressively that a little bit sloshes over the side. “Loser has to sit through one of Peter’s homemade cheese tasting demonstrations - and eat all of them.”

Betting money might’ve been the original proposal, but the comedic value of forcing Mary to sit through Peter’s impassioned explanations of all the possible cheese varieties is worth far more, from Lily’s perspective.

“And has to organise Black’s Drawer of Horrors,” Mary adds, grinning wickedly.

One of the drawers in Sirius’ desk has been filled with a whole host of terrifying objects over his tenure at the precinct - ranging from prank toys to food that’s probably sat there for years. Even Lily, who gets a thrill out of organising pretty much anything else, doesn’t want to get near that thing with a ten-foot pole.

But Lily won’t have to. Because she’s going to win. “You have yourself a deal,” she says, holding out a hand for Mary to shake.

Mary reaches out and shakes it, gripping just a tiny bit harder than necessary. Lily resists the urge to cringe at the force of it - that’s exactly the display of weakness Mary wants to see.

Marlene looks up from the message she’s been typing on her phone and claps her hands delightedly. “Oh, this is absolutely the kind of office excitement we’ve been needing!”

Lily arches an eyebrow at her. “We work at a police precinct. You really think that’s not exciting?”

Marlene shrugs. “Taking down crime rings and whatnot is cool and all, but the juicy gossip is what I’m really here for.”

Lily shouldn’t even be surprised by that, really. Honestly, Marlene could probably have a pretty decent career in reality TV if she ever decided to leave the precinct.

“There’s not going to be any juicy gossip,” Lily says. “James is going to go out with me twice, realise I’m not what he signed up for, and that’ll be the end of that. No juicy gossip involved.”

“Whatever you say, Lil,” Marlene laughs.

That’s really all there is to it, Lily tells herself. She’s going to win this bet, start her new job, and forget all about James Potter and his stupidly perfect jawline.

On the other side of town, James is on his fourth beer and absolutely thriving.

The four of them - Remus, Sirius, Peter, and him - are on a mission to taste-test every brewery in New York City. They’re nowhere close to accomplishing that goal yet, but they’ve made pretty decent headway and enjoyed acting like overblown beer snobs in the process.

“Ah yes,” Sirius comments, holding his drink out in front of him. “The hops in this brew are particularly pronounced.”

“There’s an earthy aftertaste to this one,” Remus adds, swirling his stout as if it’s a fancy glass of wine.

“And this one tastes like piss,” James replies, completely ruining the fake-classy theme Sirius and Remus had going with their commentary.

“Come on, guys!” Peter says earnestly. “Beer tastings are meant to be a serious affair!”

Sirius isn’t swayed at all. “They’re meant to get us drunk, Wormtail.”

James always wonders what other people must think of them when they hear the group of men calling each other by weird nicknames like Wormtail and Padfoot. In all honesty, James himself isn’t quite sure why the names have stuck as long as they have - they were originally inspired by the first major crimes each detective took down when they were all assigned to the newly-formed 73rd precinct, and they’ve lingered ever since.

Peter took down an organized crime ring from the inside - he was the rat, as the ringleader so eloquently called him in court. Hence, Wormtail.

“You sound like Fenwick,” James adds, before draining his glass.

“Nah,” Remus replies. “None of us are drinking pilsners. Ergo, couldn’t possible be Fenwick.”

They all laugh at that - Benjy Fenwick’s obsession with pilsners has definitely become a running joke throughout the office, despite the fact that the guy doesn’t even work there.

“You’re also nowhere near as much of a dick as Fenwick was,” James tacks on.

Sirius looks up from his phone. “Fenwick wasn’t actually that much of a dick. You just didn’t like him because he was fucking the love of your life.”

James crinkles his brows in disgust. “Fenwick is definitely not the love of my life.”

Admittedly, yeah, Fenwick isn’t ugly - he actually kind of resembles a guy James had gone on a couple dates with in college - but he has the all the personality of a loaf of white bread.

Ergo, very much not James’ type.

“You massively misinterpreted the usage of the word ‘fucking’ in that sentence,” Sirius corrects. “The love of your life is the person he was fucking.”

“Evans isn’t the love of my life either,” James replies defensively.

Well, not yet, at least. James could definitely see her becoming the love of his life though. He almost spilt his coffee all over himself the very first day she showed up at the precinct (he managed to contain the spill to one sleeve, in the end) because fuck, the detective he was supposed to be sharing a desk with shouldn’t have been that beautiful.

And then she opened her mouth and James started falling for her even more.

So yeah, at this point, he’s pretty hopelessly smitten.

And because he’s utter shit at hiding his feelings, all of his friends know it, most of the precinct knows it, and hell, Lily probably knows it too. Trying to argue to the contrary is a bit of a hopeless endeavour.

Remus looks at him skeptically. “Maybe not love of your life, but pretty damn close.”

James shrugs, picking up another one of the IPAs they’ve got on the table. “Doesn’t matter much though - she’s leaving the precinct in 10 days and I won’t have much reason to see her after that.”

When he first heard the news of her promotion, he’d secretly been kind of sad that he wouldn’t have an excuse to see Lily everyday anymore. But he also knows how important getting a promotion and moving up in the police department is to Lily, so he’d given her a bright smile and congratulated her anyways.

“Or, you could actually make a move sometime in those 10 days so that she actually wants to hang around with your dumb ass even after she leaves.”

James glares at Sirius.

“But you don’t have the guts for that, do you?” his best friend challenges.

“Pads...” Remus warns.

Padfoot, like the dog. Inspired by the major drug operation Sirius had sniffed out.

Sirius waves off his fiancé. “Prongs, you’re my brother, so I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you’re absolutely shit with people you’ve got a crush on, and Evans is no exception. You just make doe eyes at her from afar and that’s not going to get you anywhere.”

He’s obviously trying to get a rise out of James - giving him shit for all sorts of things that he knows James can’t stand being called out on - and maybe a more sober James would recognise that, and let Sirius have his fun without rising to the bait.

But that’s not the state that James is in right now.

“I am not shit with people I’ve got a crush on,” he argues. “I just happen to respect Evans’s boundaries because I don’t think it’s very professional to openly flirt with a coworker in the workplace.”

It’s not like the NYPD is known for its sexual harassment policies, so honestly, James probably wouldn’t get in any sort of trouble if he did decide to repeatedly ask her out on dates until she relented, but he’d never want to make her uncomfortable like that.

Hence, his (slightly pathetic) pining from afar.

“I’m not asking you to get a harassment complaint filed against yourself,” Sirius replies immediately. “In fact, I rather like Evans, so if you do manage to do something that warrants a harassment complaint or makes her uncomfortable, I’m formally obligated to kick your ass. But I’m just saying, this is your chance to shoot your shot before she’s no longer one desk away from you.”

Peter laughs. “Please. Prongs could never get Evans to fall for him in that period of time.”

Prongs could refer to the antlers on a stag - and James does love rocking a good pair of reindeer antlers from time to time - but the true derivation of that name was from James escaping and diffusing a hostage situation using nothing but an unloaded gun and a fork.

But damn. Hearing that insult from Peter stings - after all, the guy has had an even longer dry spell than James has. Really, he’s got no right to go around critiquing James’ wooing skills.

“Could too,” James replies childishly, only barely resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at his friend.

“Care to make an official bet on that?” Sirius asks, smirking. “I’ll take you up on that one - loser has to sit through one of Wormy’s cheese demonstrations.”

“Oh yes!” Peter claps his hands together delightedly, completely missing the point that this is a form of punishment for losing. “I’ve been needing more people to practice on!”

“I’m not making a bet on Evans,” James replies obstinately. “She’s a person, not a prize to be won.”

“Technically, you’re not betting on Evans,” Remus replies, serving as the voice of logic at the table. “You’re betting on your own abilities. If you win, you’ve managed to actually nail the partner of your dreams; if you lose, no one is any worse off than when you started. This is an entirely non-objectifying situation on all accounts.”

When Remus puts it like that, James has to admit that he’s got a pretty good point. And there’s no possible outcome to this that hurts anyone. Well, other than James himself if he fails, but honestly no more hurt than if he’d never even taken a chance with Lily to begin with.

He just has to… actually manage to charm the woman that’s shown absolutely no romantic interest in him up until this point.

Should be easy enough, he thinks to himself, and almost laughs aloud at his own internal sarcasm.

But he’ll also never turn down a bet - especially not when all his friends have been giving him so much shit all night. James Potter is a lot of things, but a coward is most definitely not one of them.

So he turns to Sirius, grinning wickedly. “You’re on. But two rules: you three can’t interfere at all, and no one tells Evans about it until it’s over.”

Sirius looks vaguely surprised. “You’re actually taking me up on this?”

“Come on, Pads, you know full well that I don’t back down from a challenge.”

James isn’t lying on that one. It’s gotten him into a fair share of sticky situations - most frequently with a particularly problematic cop in the Major Crimes Unit, who has basically made it his life’s goal to antagonise their whole precinct (but mostly James) on a regular basis.

“Plus,” James muses. “You’re right. I’ve got ten days until I’ll never see her again - if there’s ever a time to take a risk, it’s now.”

“You do realise she’s still going to be friends with all of us, and she’s only moving - ”

“Moony, hush,” Sirius waves a hand in front of Remus’ face, stopping him from finishing that sentence.

The way Remus earned that nickname - and the way he stopped a major car chase in progress - is still a story that none of the boys can get through without laughing.

“So we’ve got ourselves a bet, Prongs?” he continues, extending a hand out to James. “If Lily falls in love with you by the time she leaves the precinct, you win; if she wants nothing to do with you, I win.”

It feels like there’s a significant gap between ‘falling in love with him’ and ‘wanting nothing to do with him,’ but James doesn’t give that technicality too much thought. This is his dignity (and a cheese tasting with Peter) on the line.

So he takes Sirius’ hand, giving it a firm shake. “Let’s do this.”

Ten days from now, he’ll have made Lily fall for him, proving his romantic competence once and for all. His friends will inevitable find something else to give him shit for, but James will thoroughly enjoy his bragging rights.

Or alternatively, he’ll be sampling Peter’s homemade gouda, but James isn’t letting himself entertain that outcome right now.

[montpahrnah]

hp fic recs

sirius/remus, part iii

part i / part ii

The Survivor, by apolesen (145k)

1985. Four years after the death of his friends, Remus decides to break out of the pattern of his post-war life and try living among Muggles. In a sleepy town in southern England and the bustling city of London, he tries to build a new life for himself, piece by piece. The more he sees of the Muggle world, the more Remus wonders if that structure is as stable as he would like to think it is.

“The Survivor” is set in Thatcherite Britain, in the wake of the Falklands War and the onset of the British AIDS epidemic. It explores themes of disease, stigma, war trauma and grief, reflecting both on the historical context of the 1980s and Rowling’s characterisation of Remus Lupin.

Time, As a Symptom, by tigrrmilk (12k)

“Ah,” Remus had said, as dry as he could manage. “An aristocratic youth on his grand tour.”

Sirius knocked his arm. “Hey,” he said. “Grander than most, at least. You’ve got to give me that.”

Seven of them go to space. One stays there.

Light in August, by orestesfasting (21k)

Summer, 1977. With the full moon approaching, Sirius heads up to the Lupins’ countryside cottage to make himself useful. Or to make a complete and utter arse out of himself, because really, that’s all he can seem to do around Remus these days.

EXILE/RETURN, by zambla (5k)

Sirius makes a road trip down to the Gower peninsula. Non-magic AU. 1980s-1990s.

Orbital, by tevere, (3k)

The thing about orbiting is, see, that it’s not flying at all – it’s falling. It’s just that you’re going fast enough to match the curvature of the Earth: you’re falling round and round, and never getting any closer.

Anastasia & Spinning Jenny, by librae (8k)

Grimmauld Place is eating Sirius alive.

A Bright Particular Star, by torch (24k)

Remus and Sirius celebrate their last Christmas at Hogwarts.

A Late Frost, by kest (1k)

Remus and Sirius in the first war.

the summer you let your hair grow out, by ladymemebeth (20k)

an AU story in which sirius decides to go to remus’ house when he runs away, rather than james’. remus finds this situation to be trying in more ways than one. includes gratuitous references to twentieth-century cinema and music.

A Short Discourse on Cruelty, by imochan (1k)

So, friendship - it hurts, sometimes. Companion to A Short Discourse on Kindness.

A Short Discourse on Kindness, by imochan (1k)

Companion to A Short Discourse on Cruelty. Three verses.

The Rosary, by fluorescentgrey (31k)

On a Thursday in April 1943 Remus took the train from London to Birmingham, where a stately black car was waiting at the station to take him a short drive southwest to Hagley. In a wood on the estate of the Viscount Cobham of Hagley Hall four local boys hunting quail had found a woman’s skeleton in a wych elm tree.

These Young Lions, by enjambament (26k)

On Hallowe’en night, 1981, Sirius runs for his freedom and ends up as a dog on the doorstep of No. 11 Privet Drive. But that’s only the beginning. What comes next is a desperate hunt for the evidence to give Sirius his life back, and give Harry a home.

The Weather Inside, by earlybloomingparenthesis (43k)

Sirius rides a flying motorbike, and snogs strangers in pubs, and strikes moody poses Remus finds irritatingly attractive. But for Remus, who drinks milky tea and wears flannel pyjamas, there’s a chasm cracked right down the fault line between wanting and doing.

How he wants, though. How he wants.

Longsdune, by imochan (3k)

He supposes that this is what is expected of him, to sit here and listen to wetness sinking into the earth and remember how it felt when it was sunny, and there were four of them, and Sirius Black looked at him like he was a piece of the universe he wanted to understand so badly that he was willing to take Remus apart completely and then put him back together.

Tesserae (the Missing Pieces Remix), by glass_icarus (3k)

Post-PoA. Sirius is picking up the pieces, but putting them back together requires help.

When We Were Gone Astray, by shaggydogstail (4k)

A brief history of Christmastime with Sirius bringing up Harry.

it is our crooked aim, by misandrywitch (4k)

He’s been gone for three days, and he didn’t tell Sirius where he was going or how long he’d be gone. He has no idea where Sirius is, or when he’ll be back. That’s how it’s been for a while now. He makes himself tea and runs a bath and sits in the tub until the water is grey and chilly with sloughed-off dirt. Remus is twenty-one. He feels eighty.

This World Lies At The Bottom Of A Lake, by berhanes (7k)

Briefly he’d considered going to visit Remus, but Sirius has too many stacked up feelings about him to add any more, and he doesn’t trust himself not to ruin their carefully patched situation in the wake of the incident – it’s only been a year, after all, and there’s no better way to shatter a barely recovered friendship than by doing something stupid like throwing out a declaration of love in the middle of explaining the myriad ways in which your family is deranged and terrible. So instead Sirius had hailed the Knight Bus and requested Bowness-on-Windermere.

Postscript, by yeats (1k)

“All that anger — I don’t like how it feels anymore, having it inside me.”

What forgiveness might look like.

One That You Can Keep, by thistlerose (1k)

“Where all my journies end / If you can make a promise / if it’s one that you can keep / I vow to come for you…”

bright ambassadors, by librae (1k)

(PWP, basically)

The Years to Come, by toyhto (3k)

Remus is watching him closely and trying to weight their love, trying to decide if it’s real enough or not, and he knows he would be doing the same if he didn’t already know. It’s real. It always was. They were complete idiots.

Escape for Another Day, by veeagainst (2k)

A life and death experience brings Sirius and Remus together.

four thousand two hundred and sixty, by Kel (2k)

I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn’t a happy thought, so the dementors couldn’t suck it out of me.

– Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Atlantic Specimen, by ourmutualfriend (3k)

Opiate dream.

A Peripheral Vision, by carmine_ink (2k)

Set in Cambridge at the end of the century, Remus and Sirius struggle to exist in a society that refuses to accept them.

Hold On to Whatever You Find, by fallovermelikestars (10k)

“…he hadn’t planned to jump Sirius’ bones almost as soon as he walked through the door, had actually planned to fix him a square meal and then set about avoiding him for a few days – or forever – but he’d been marinating in whiskey for over an hour and Sirius had fucking smiled at him as he pushed the door closed behind him and that smile, it’s always been Remus’s undoing.”

Then I Would Come and Find You, by RuinsPlume (2k)

This is what saves them every time.

between towers, by tigrrmilk (8k)

Through the doorway at the end of the entrance hall, he could see a wide portion of the small quad ahead. Green and lush. It was early October, and the sun was shining, thank the lord. Or at least thank Merlin. It was Michaelmas. And Remus was taking up a place at Oxford to read English.

Argentum, by happiestwhen (1k)

Memories are only as permanent as you allow them to be.

Homeless Near a Thousand Homes, by lorax (3k)

“He went there because he wanted to remember, and he stayed because he had no other place to be.”

Our lives will run like / Sparks through the stubble, by zambla (13k)

1984. Remus J Lupin, post first wizarding war, is in Berlin. His father has just died. He goes back to his childhood homes, the places he passed through, and realizes that his memory is a map that is folded on itself.

Told in interwoven present and past times, concerning his relationship to his parents, himself, and the traitor, Sirius Black.

My homage to the film Blue (1993) by the great English filmmaker Derek Jarman.

Diamonds and Rust, by toyhto (6k)

“My heart would get broken,” he says roughly, “that’s why.“

Sirius draws his hand back. “I wonder how that feels.”

“I don’t.”

The Season of Love and Death, by mustntgetmy (2k)

A little love letter to autumn, Remus/Sirius style. From their first kisses at Hogwarts beneath the Forbidden Forest foliage, to sharing cups of cocoa in a London park near the end of the first war.

The Man Who Counts Waves, by Underlucius (1k)

If he stops counting he’ll remember who lives on the other side of that azure flood, and then he would walk into the sea and never return. So he counts the waves.

The Impossible Season, by coyotesuspect (21k)

Six months after falling through the Veil, Sirius comes back. As a seventeen-year-old.

Remus takes him in.

A Candle Put Out, by sopdetly (2k)

Now they hadn’t had sex in months, and Sirius knew he pulled away from Remus in his sleep, when they managed to sleep in bed together.

Lay Down, by taffetablue (1k)

After, they Apparate home, saturated with rain and blood, and the oily slide of dark magic skidding along Remus’s skin like unfamiliar hands.

Ghost of Winter, by earlybloomingparenthesis (3k)

Christmas is coming and the bite of winter is in the air, and way up north in the Highlands the mountains are big and bleak enough to hide even Azkaban’s most wanted from prying eyes. All Remus can imagine is being snowbound alone with Sirius. Unfortunately, there’s a ghost who has other plans.

Wandering, Gets You Down, by hiddendaze (5k)

AU premise: Remus is in Ravenclaw and doesn’t really know Peter, James and Sirius. Consequently, there is no Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

a country mile, by sea_schtick (1k)

The summer after Harry’s third year, and Sirius refuses to be alone.

To Fill A Gap, by berhanes (8k)

Sirius’ face is caught in a rectangle of late afternoon sun and Remus wants suddenly to reach across the three feet and fourteen years between them and touch him where the light hits. He lets himself imagine that he could, that in a moment he’ll just lean forward and trace the curve between Sirius’ neck and his jaw with his fingertips without it feeling like penitence. A different version of himself would’ve already done it. But then, a different version of himself wouldn’t be here in the first place.

Any Other Night, by mustntgetmy (6k)

In 1977, Remus and Sirius set about trying to kill the moon, and years later, in Azkaban, Sirius reflects on this and on his damaged relationship with Remus.

Of Monsters, by llassah (8k)

Sirius always expected to go into the Black family business. Said family business just happens to involve kneecappings, murder, and the most powerful criminals in London. When Sirius decides to leave home at nineteen with a briefcase full of money and a few other essentials, he has no idea that he will end up sharing a dosshouse with a lunatic in a tweed jacket with the reading habits of an Oxford don and staggering intermittent anger issues. Sad thing is, it’s probably the safest place for him right now. Until it isn’t.

stir the flame anew, by blanketed_in_stars (5k)

It’s a light tawny who sits patiently while he reads. Moony—send something back if it’s a bad time. Otherwise I’ll be there at noon. Cheers, Padfoot. There’s nothing more, as if it were the last note in a conversation they’d already been having, but Remus can’t recall anything of the sort. He’d remember if they’d talked about this. He’d remember, he thinks, watching the owl drink the water which he absentmindedly offers her, if they’d talked at all.

Two winters after the war, Remus receives an owl, and, shortly thereafter, an unexpected houseguest.

Souvenir, by sopdetly (3k)

Remus returns from another mission; Sirius has missed him.

Concomitant, by peccadilloes (1k)

Remus comes home and into the kitchen that evening with a soft blue book, and he sets it on the table.

“Some hipster hippie witch in Venice gave it to me,” he says. “Makes them.”

Sirius picks up the book and in his hands it changes, grows large and slim and harder bound. He rubs his thumb over its waxed thread, and its cover pools with longing.

a lie low in Los Angeles, oneiromancy

We’ll Both Forget the Breeze, by happiestwhen (1k)

In winter, time seems to trickle down with the melting snow.

[mister-tom-a-dildo-lover]

Hi hi hi hi hi! Grats on so many followers :D I don't really have a line but I was thinking a time travel moody-pinning Tom?? (Really I just wanna see where you might take this and hopefully get some inspiration. Sorry xD) Love your writing!

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Tomarry

Tags: Humor, Obsessive!Tom, Possessive!Tom, pre-Tomarryish, Time-&-Dimension-Travel, AU-CD Book 5, 

Tom Riddle stared at the four walls of the room he’d been placed in. It was much larger than his room at the orphanage was, and there was certainly more furniture within as well. Though the walls were obviously old and some of the paint chipped in places, it was still much better than the water-stained ceilings, and holed walls of the orphanage.

There was warmth as well, and he’d been told that dinner would be ready soon.

A mirror on the vanity allowed him to see his ruffled appearance, which he quickly fixed with a wave of the hand. Despite the entire situation, he didn’t want to look like a vagabond, even if his clothes weren’t of the finest quality.

And he’d been given this room to stay in, by a man named Sirius. Obviously a Black. And since Tom had seen a portrait of his schoolmate Walburga, hanging in in the foyer, and looking much older than he remembered, he’d easily put the pieces together. She and Orion had gotten married and had a son. The son was the on who gave Tom the room for the length of his stay. The son also seemed nothing like Orion or Walburga despite having the common Black features. Tom was somehow in the future.

“You’ll be staying here for now. The Ministry isn’t exactly trustworthy at the moment and giving you over to the Unspeakables would be a mess,” was all Sirius Black had told him.

Time Travel was a very unique branch of magical study and not many knew about it outside of the Ministry and what they allowed people to know. And Tom being a person to travel through time would surely garner unwanted attention. And he didn’t want that. Especially since he was still unaware of what was going on and until he learned more, he didn’t feel like acting out.

He was a bit put out though, since he was told there were several other teenagers in the house but that he wasn’t allowed to meet with them yet. And why? Because Dumbledore hadn’t come.

So this Black was acquainted with Dumbledore enough to listen to him for whatever reason. And decided that Dumbledore had the control of the situation that none of them really understood.

There was no fondness in his heart for Albus Dumbledore, no matter what time he was in.

At least the woman with the red hair had been decent, though he was certain she was from a Gryffindor family. When he’d been directed into the kitchen, the woman had bustled over, looking horrified at the state he was in, touching his cheeks and informing him that he was ‘far too thin, dearie’. He knew that well enough, but when she proceeded to tell him that he’d get extra servings at dinner, he’d stayed his tongue’s automatic defence. She was one of those mothering types he’d never really seen in person before, and she wanted him to be her definition of healthy.

As for Sirius Black and his friend Remus Lupin, both had seemed a little surprised to see Tom standing in foyer, but had questioned him quietly and thoroughly. In the end, they’d deemed him not too much of a threat, but did keep his wand for the time being to reduce the threat level Black swore he still posed. Lupin however, said that since Tom was only going into his 5th year, he was just a teen and couldn’t be held accountable for the actions of… another.

And Tom realised he must have meant Tom’s future self. Which didn’t sound good. The Molly woman had seemed to recognise his name but had still puttered on over to tsk at the state he was in.

Tom sighed, knowing not to try anything until he had more information. It was better that way.

When Harry finally stepped foot into the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, he found himself gaping openly at the first face he saw. Tom Riddle. He would know that handsome face anywhere, and was a cross between annoyed, and curious.

But Tom was seated at the table, beside Snape of all people, looking uncomfortable and trying not to show it. He looked every bit as much as he did in the Chamber, but perhaps a little less hardened and bitter. His face appeared a bit younger even.

Harry directed his attention to Dumbledore. “How?”

Twin blue eyes twinkled annoyingly. “It seems Tom has traveled through space and time to join us, Harry. And from what he has told us, I believe it safe to say he is from a different universe altogether.”

A Tom Riddle from a different universe. Meaning this one wasn’t in any way remotely connected to the man who killed Harry’s parents and seemed to obsess over him.

“But how?” he reiterated, wondering how that could happen.

“Simple, dear boy. I taught Tom and recall everything that happened during his years at Hogwarts. Never once had there been an actual shooting star sighting. They are naturally quite rare and hold magical properties, so whenever there is one, we magicals tend to gather to observe and celebrate it. Tom here last remembers watching a shooting star and making a wish for some peace from the second muggle world war and the bombings.”

Tom Riddle sneered a bit and sank further into his chair. Obviously he thought such a revelation made him appear weak. Harry though, could understand to an extent. He hadn’t really thought about it, but Tom Riddle grew up in the middle of World War II, and London was a very big target during that time. It must have been hell for him to witness all the carnage and devastation.

He was feeling pity for Tom Riddle. Merlin, damn it.

“So Tom is here for how long?”

Dumbledore seemed unbothered as he stated, “Indefinitely. He’ll be joining your year in fact.”

Harry winced in sympathy, unable to help himself. A new world, and a new life with new rules and information to become acquainted with. How… unfortunate.

And Harry strangely felt no anger toward this Tom Riddle. If he was only just starting his fifth year of schooling, he hadn’t killed anyone. And probably hadn’t found the chamber either. Which meant this truly was a different Tom Riddle than the mess Voldemort had become.

“I trust you to be mature about this situation and help him out, okay Harry?” Dumbledore asked, sending him an expectant look.

“Yes. Sir.” He nearly forgot to be respectful. Damn. Not that he was in the mood to be considering the summer he’d had and what was coming up soon.

Dumbledore stood. “I’m afraid I must depart and begin the necessary work to get Tom here, situated at Hogwarts. I’ll return very soon with the information ready.” He was gone in a sweep of mauve and sky blue robes, and Harry was left bewildered and less angry than when he’d arrived.

Well then.

Tom very quickly found himself drawn to the Gryffindor known as Harry Potter who seemed to be the topic of discussion of everyone in the house. He was Sirius Black’s godson. He too was an orphan who was forced to stay with muggles he hated. And he knew who Tom was and what he’d become. Or rather, the Tom of this universe at least. And while he seemed wary, he didn’t outright shun Tom either.

And of course that just pulled him in more. But Tom was acting like a bloody Hufflepuff and refused to be swayed by a charming yet awkward smile, and shining green eyes. He had been faced with all manner of flirtations from people even older than he, and he hadn’t given in. One boy was not going to ruin his solid control.

Of course, once he and Harry Potter were introduced, Tom was exposed to all the other teens in the house. The twin Weasleys, their brother who was like a third twin without the exact same features, and the youngest Weasley who was also the same height as her brothers despite being younger than Tom was. All four stood at Tom’s height of 183 cm. and he didn’t know how he felt about that.

On the flipside, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were several inches below them, and closer to 170 cm. instead.

Granger was a Gryffindor who should have been a Ravenclaw. Potter, Ginevra, and the twins were Gryffindors who should have been Slytherins. He wasn’t certain about Ronald Weasley yet. He might be the only true Gryffindor in the lot actually.

Black and Lupin were Gryffindor alumni. Tom was certain Lupin was a werewolf but everyone accepted him just fine, save for Severus Snape - who had been a Slytherin - who seemed to hate everyone around him equally. His presence made no sense to Tom, who still didn’t know enough. Even with Granger’s numerous books, he was with limited time to learn everything.

On top of that, he felt drawn to Harry Potter in ways that made no sense, and was annoyed when he didn’t have the other teen’s attention. Tom was used to having attention.

Tom did not brood as it was unseemly behaviour, but he was certainly very bitter over how odd everything was and how nothing was making sense to him! So little time before the new term began and he was completely unprepared!

“We’ll help you,” said Potter with a smile. “Though I would warn you against going to Slytherin. I don’t know how it was in your day, but they’ll know you aren’t a Pureblood and that’ll be hell for you. Also, ¾ of the school will hate you immediately just for going there, and the House itself will hate you for your impurity.”

He was a bit… disgusted. He knew about Slytherin as he was one for four years, but the other Houses weren’t so intense in his time. He’d been liked by everyone but Dumbledore. And it had taken all four years to get to that status mostly in his own House, but the other Houses had only be slightly wary of him. What the bloody hell had happened over the years?

“I think you can get away with Ravenclaw because they like reading and being smart and you could get away with your knowledge hoarding if you go there. No one would question it.”

Tom didn’t want to be in Ravenclaw though. They weren’t as witty as they thought they were.

He kind of wished he hadn’t foolishly given into the urge to ‘wish upon a star’ now. A simple childhood saying had made him act. A stupid act.

But then Harry Potter smiled at him, and Tom threw that thought out the window immediately. The new thought bouncing around his head was, ‘mine’.

It would take time and effort to rise about this unfortunate setback in his plans for his life, but Tom was nothing if not adaptable. And with Harry Potter, Tom was going to achieve greatness one way or another. And Harry would be his to the very end. whether he knew it or not.

“We have to help Mrs. Weasley clean up the house,” said Harry, holding out a brook.

That regret was coming back bit by bit. Tom took up the offered broom and sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

He’d plan some more later. For now, he’d school his features and allow the woman to boss him around. If only to keep up his good boy behaviuor. Inside he was screaming in a tantrum of epic proportions.

A/N: This got away from me and could be parts from an actual fanfic. Which gives me so many ideas that I am not up to writing at present.

[writingwitchly]

Missing you

Valentine’s Specials - 2 - Draco Malfoy

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader Word count: 1,2k  Warning: fluff / war mention / a big bump A/N: Hummm... nothing? Just, hope you enjoy! Check out my other Valentine’s Specials!

This year, for sure, you won’t spend Valentine’s day with the boy you love. But you miss him, so you decide to meet him anyway. Your reward? A bump -- and a few thousands of kisses.

It's Valentine's Day.

During the whole day, you’ve witnessed how happy couples haunted the streets, the bars, the shops. They were everywhere, and they made you look away.

Of course, last year, you would have felt in complicity with them: you too had a half with whom to celebrate.

But not this year. Not anymore.

You apparate with the rest of your family on the steps of the Shafiq Manor and smooth your cocktail clothes.

This party is, hopefully, going to change your mind.

One deep breath. Two. Three.

You enter.

As soon as the door closes behind you, a group of young people, approximately of your age, surrounds you.

You recognize many faces, some of which belong to your former Hogwarts classmates, but none is the one you crave to see since last year. Ten months feel like an eternity when you are separated from the man you love.

Immediately after the Battle, he and his family disappeared.

You can understand this somehow; they had to wait for the dust to settle down, their connection to the Dark Lord was too strong to be forgotten in just a few days. But you can't understand his silence.

You can't understand why, in ten months, you haven't received a single message from him.

At first, you thought that he was waiting for you to write first, to make sure that you still wanted things to be the same between you. But it got harder to believe this after four, five, ten owls kept coming back without an answer.

Your mind comes back to the present, to the party.

Still surrounded by the cheerful crowd, you are forced to appear happy and confident, to laugh at the jokes and answer the questions.

It's not until your friend Mary extracts you from their social trap that you can breathe.

“That's a wonderful party that you're holding,” you compliment her, as she drags you toward an empty corner.

“I know you don't mean it, Y/N, so save your breath,” she replies.

Mary Shaliq is not mean nor rude, she just says things as they are, and you appreciate her greatly for this.

“How have you been lately?” she asks once you're comfortably sat on armchairs.

“Well, not that good, to be honest,” you murmur.

“Still missing him?”

You nod, feeling your throat tightening.

“I have a surprise for you,” she eagerly says.

With her hand, she points toward the opposite side of the enormous room. There, in a black tuxedo, you spot a young man with silver eyes and platinum blonde hair. You cannot hold back a gasp.

“What-” But Mary cuts across you,

“You know that our fathers have been friends for long,” she explains. Which is true. Contrary to your father, Mr. Shafiq has always been in good terms with Lucius Malfoy. “So, as they needed a way to come back into the society, we decided that our annual party was the best occasion.”

Of course, after almost a year of not seeing Draco, it feels strange to be in the same closed space, even if a whole crowd separates you and he hasn't noticed you yet. You can't look away from his pale face: he looks even more handsome now.

“I thought you'd run to him,” Mary pulls you away from your thoughts. “You certainly have loads to catch up.”

“I can't,” you realize out loud.

Yes, you can't run toward the love of your life. You can't hug him, kiss him as if your life depended on it, like you wish to do.

First of all, because your families would unleash a war. They didn't approve of you being together in your Hogwarts years, and they surely won't now.

And secondly, all the doubts about the reason of his silence prevent you from moving from your spot. What if he doesn't want to be with you anymore?

Under Mary’s incredulous gaze, you raise to go in the opposite direction as where he stands, toward the gardens.

You imperately need air.

As you stride in the hallways, trying to calm your nerves, you catch a glimpse of two moving shadows. Even if they stand more than ten feet away from you, you can still distinguish their face under the moonrays. They look somehow familiar.

You’ve never seen them before, you’re perfectly sure about this, but their bodies pressed together remember you… Of the way Draco used to hold you.

An awful pain hits you in the chest.

Merlin’s boots, you miss him.

Your body screams to trace your steps back to the manor, to grab his hand and tell him how much you love him. Your limbs hurt as if you were suffering physical damage, which is close to the truth. His eyes in your mind feel like magnets, they pull every single one of your thoughts towards him.

That’s it. You can’t hold it anymore.

You swing round and start running toward the party, your heart hammering against your ribs and your mind rushing to find the appropriate words to paint him your feelings.

You don’t care about your families’ opinion, nor about your insecurities.

At the corner of the manor, you bump hard against somebody.

As you moan apologizes, ready to dart forward again, a cold voice stops you,

“Be careful next time,” a man says, massaging his jaw.

“Draco?” you breathe, your pain in the head promptly forgotten.

“Y/N?”

For a second, just a second, you look at each other in the eyes, unable to accept the reality of the coincidence.

Then, his smooth voice breaks the silence,

“I was looking for you. Mary told me you didn’t want to talk to me, and I perfectly understand it. I’ve been a total idiot,” he admits in a rush. “I didn’t write because I thought it was better for you to build your life with somebody else. My name would ruin you, Y/N. Your family would disapprove even more than before.”

Tears run down your cheeks, but even through your blurry vision, Draco looks handsome.

“I felt bad, the worst I have been in my life during these last ten month. I missed your kisses, your voice, your laugh. I missed you. I still love you like I did, maybe even more. I’m-”

Your mouth silences him.

Your face is still wet, but he cups it with both his hands and deepens the kiss. He tells you the rest of his apologize with his lips, and you understand. You understand how desperate he has been. How crazy in love he felt. How much he wanted to protect you by keeping his distances.

“Draco,” you whisper, “I’ve missed you too, you can’t imagine…”

“So, do you still want to be with me?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course I do. You’re the love of my life, I’m pretty sure about this,” you say with a shy smile.

“But what about-”

“I don’t care. You’re my everything. And this is my life. If some of the people inside there,” you point toward the manor, “Don’t agree, it’s their problem. They didn’t feel like I did in the past months, they can’t understand.”

He grins at you and presses his lips to yours, then to your jaw and neck. Once, twice, thrice, a thousand times more.

“I love you, you know,” he breathes.

“I’m not sure I do know,” you tease him. “But you have the rest of our life to demonstrate it.”

Take a peek at my other Valentine’s Specials!

1- Fred Weasley: For a good cause Fred and you are going to be late to Molly’s beloved Valentine’s Day Party! And as if it was not enough, he keeps chatting with the seller of the jewelry shop! This is not a good set-up for the day of love, but what if it was for a good cause?

3- Sirius Black: The perfect gift  A week. You have been bearing with Sirius’ insistent pestering for an entire week. What you get in return are a couple of reprimands, an awful Potions mark, and a burning sensation in your chest.

4- Regulus Black: A love letter  It’s Valentine’s Day. You didn’t expect any letter. But you got one.

5- Remus Lupin: My last minute Valentine  Dumbledore’s Valentine’s Day Party means watching the happy couples dance together while you sit on a golden chair. Could anything save the day? This unexpected dance partner isn’t what you were thinking about!

Whole masterlist 

[fangirlbase]

The Howl of the Moon - Remus Lupin

Summary:

After a terrible accident in the battle at the Ministry in 1995, Hermione Granger wins a one-way ticket to the past. Unable to go back to his time, his only chance for survival is to adapt to the late 70s and get on with his life, interfering as little as possible so that the future does not fall apart.

However, everything goes downhill when Remus John Lupine starts to notice too much the new girl who clearly wanted to go unnoticed by Hogwarts.

Chapters: Prolog | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven

Warnings: mature

                                           2.The one with the haircut

The December twenty-first had finally arrived, and as most of the castle boarded the carriages for the express, Hermione finished packing her bag with what few belongings she had. Minerva had informed the previous day that they would not spend the holiday at the castle that year.

- Finally I have someone to take to my sister-in-law's party, I won't miss this chance for anything!

It had been the excuse the teacher had given when Hermione said she didn't want to bother, but she suspected that all that teacher's insistence had more to do with her getting used to her now tutor's house and mainly to get out of the environment a little bit. of familiar was not that of her memories, her friends wouldn't be there to celebrate the holidays with her… They hadn't even been born yet.

Although the express left at 11am from Hogsmeade, they didn't go home until around 5pm. As a householder, Minerva had to extend her hours, accommodating the few Gryffindor students who had stayed that holiday, finishing correcting some jobs before summoning Hermione to her office to leave.

Though they hadn't left the castle, the older Witch had noticed the sad way the student had watched her housemates leaving through the school gates - the same sad way she'd been looking at the common room at that moment. She knew she couldn't ask questions about the future, but the intensity in the teenager's gaze told her that she had left much-loved companions in the future.

- Let's go dear? - Minerva spoke calmly, wanting to dispel the sadness that had taken over the girl.

Hermione just confirmed, taking her small suitcase as she would leave her trunk and most of her materials and belongings in the dormitory, so she followed the tutor to her office, entering the fireplace and feeling the heat take over her body while the teacher holding her a strong hand threw the flu powder and the emerald green flames surrounded them. Holding a sneeze, the teenager cleaned herself and left the dark environment, gasping when she noticed the room they were in: there were no walls, just bookcases and more bookcases! A coffee table was surrounded by two sofas and an armchair that, despite being slightly dusty, could be cleaned in a matter of seconds with the correct spell.

- I knew you'd like it. - Minerva decreed with a little smile on her face. - Your room is upstairs, third door on the left. Then I'll introduce you to the rest of the house, it's modest but comfortable. I hope you are happy here.

The young woman nodded, still a little embarrassed to be in the house of the teacher she most admired at school, and thus holding her curiosity to explore the titles that Minerva had in her personal collection, she went in the direction that the tutor indicated. The room really wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either, in the girl's opinion it was the ideal size for her to feel good. As she had brought few things, not even bothering to empty her suitcase, but she knew that the reluctance was more in the fact that she didn't want to be there, even with all the hospitality of the teacher, the idea of spending Christmas away from her family and friend was disheartening.

Hermione overcame the anguish of never knowing how the battle in the ministry ended after the first few months she woke up at that time, but at times like this she couldn't help wondering: How were Harry and Ron? If they Neville, Luna and Gina were safe celebrating Christmas at the Burrow… "Stop!" He scolded himself, after all, it's no use getting caught up in questions that she would never have answers to. She was a practical witch and knew she had no talent for guessing the future.

Minerva gave a little tour of the house showing Hermione where were all the things she would need and said she was free to read whatever she wanted in the library, so the teacher left the youngest alone to explore the new environment until the time of dinner, when he revealed that the next day the two would go shopping - that even after the teenager's several refusals, she did not listen. As her tutor, she needed to provide the best for her, meaning clothes and a proper life. And besides that, the teacher needed to finish her Christmas shopping, after all she still needed some presents for her nephews.

Even uncomfortable, Hermione couldn't have been more grateful for the witch's zeal. Even though she had to carry countless bags the next afternoon, she couldn't hold back her tears as she confessed that Minerva had always been her favorite teacher - getting a pinch and a comforting hug in return.

However, it was during Christmas dinner that Hermione revealed to her tutor her true intentions for the year. The two were sitting at a long table in the rectory in the Caithness suburb that had been the late Reverend Presbyterian Robert McGonagall and his wife Isobel, Minerva's country and his two younger brothers Malcom and Robert Junior. With the death of their father, Malcon and his wife Brenda - a Hufflepuff witch - who was pregnant with their second child and the couple's little eldest Isla came to live with Isobel who, finally being surrounded by magic, found herself completely happy.

- But your hair, dear? - Questioned Minerva.

- Women usually cut their hair after important decisions in their life, right? It wasn't just a milestone that I came back here, but if I need to camouflage myself, I need to change my look. I've always been known for the size of my teeth and voluminous hair, I can't let them recognize me until the moment of disappearance.

- But your teeth aren't big! My friend Timothy's they are, but Mom said I can't say they look like a rabbit because that will make him sad and then he won't want to play Quidditch with me anymore. - Commented the little Max, nickname of Maxwell son of Robert Junior and of the wife Aileen who tried uselessly to wipe the son's chubby cheeks that were smeared with the turkey sauce with a napkin.

- I've fixed this before. Hermione smiled. - But my hair is a problem. There are people in that dangerous school, who unfortunately knew me….

- You don't need to say anything else, I understand.

- Oh dear, it will be a shame to cut, your hair is beautiful! - Brenda stated that she had complimented the teen's curls as soon as they were introduced.

- Honey, the girl is right. - Defended Malcon while finishing cutting the vegetables for the daughter who was sitting between her parents. - These are dangerous times, dark wizards have grown a lot, going unnoticed is always better than attracting unwanted attention.

- And how do you want to do it? - Asked the teacher.

- I need to look as different as possible, but I don't want to mess with the color.

- The solution then would be a pixie cut! - Aileen suggested excited, both for having managed to clean her son with a spell and mainly because she loved fashion. - I saw in "The American Charmer" that the cut is the latest trend among American witches!

- Do you help me?

And so Christmas Eve had ended at the McGonagalls' house: with Minerva, the two sisters-in-law, and Hermione having fun with the arduous task of a haircut, while Isobel dozed in the armchair near the fireplace and the lighted Christmas tree, she I should keep an eye on the children Isla and Max who play with the gifts they had won since the men had decided it was worth it to face the winter cold to smoke a cigar on the porch.

***

It was amazing how even after a long and tiring seven-hour journey Sirius didn't stop still. After trying to flirt with six girls on the way between the carriages and the Great Hall, he still had the strength to try one more time in the Gryffindor Hall! With all five friends nicely settled on the rug in front of the fireplace - forgetting for the time being the position of monitors - they saw from a box when a girl of medium height, head high and nose upturned, walked past the Fat Lady painting. With her hair short to her ears, tight pants and a sweater that outlined her body beautifully, she carried a book to her breasts, in a body language that maybe hiding was a good idea where she tried to be brave.

As she passed them, Sirius couldn't help himself.

- Pretty girl…. Well done girl! Beautiful girl…. - He exclaimed his compliments out loud, in an attempt to get her attention.

Instead of flushed cheeks, he only received a questioning look, along with contempt. I mean, at least hers, since her pickup line had hit another girl who came through the frame right behind.

- Sirius! Marlene McKinnon threw herself into her lap, believing it was for her.

Engrossed in his friends' jokes with Marlene and Sirius who had a true love-hate relationship since one hour they were flirting and the next they were cursing, Remus was more shocked by what he saw in front of him. That was the newbie! What would have happened to that change? What had she done? What she….

- What did she do with her hair? Remus asked indignantly, still watching the girl climb the dorm stairs.

- Who she? - James found his friend's focus strange, turning his body to look in the direction his friend indicated.

- The new one!

- That was Granger?! - James turned even more, losing sight of her.

- Did you do something, Lilly? Remus asked, trying to figure out the reason for the sudden change.

- Absolutely nothing! I haven't talked to her yet.

- Excellent! Even the newcomer rejected me! Is it not possible to be with anyone else in this school?! Sirius complained indignantly.

- McKinnon doesn't seem to agree with that, Padfoot…. - Peter laughed at his friend, who had just managed to get rid of the brunette.

Did I mention that they had a strange love-hate relationship? Well they did! She had already made her feelings for him more than clear, but he didn't reciprocate in the same way - resulting in awkward moments like this.

- What did she do with her hair…? Remus asked quietly, drawing Sirius' attention.

- Dude, it's just a haircut!

- But it had to be so radical?! I didn't even recognize her!

- Why? Have you been watching the newcomer?

- Of course not!

"But that's true, Sirius had never tried anything with her."

- Her luck ran out, unfortunately…. Lilly teased the brunette, receiving an ugly finger.

"Did you have to start seeing her, Potter?" Sirius implied.

- My luck was that you didn't try anything with her either.

- Hey! I respect my friends' girls!

If Sirius had sung the fledgling once without even knowing it was her, would he do it again on purpose? Remus didn't like to think about that possibility for some time, a fact that was proven two days later, when Padfoot did just that.

- Want help loading your books? - Sirius asked in a wooden face, intercepting her on the way to the second greenhouse where the sixth year students would have a herbology class and the seventh year students would leave.

He didn't even have the pleasure of an answer, only receiving a freezing look as he passed him and turned his eyes to the notepaper in his hand.

"Hard woman…" Sirius snorted, laughing at the situation.

- Do you really want to insist on that, Padfoot? She seems to have made it very clear that she doesn't want to be disturbed. James hugged his friend by the shoulder as they walked back to the castle for their next class.

- I don't know, I think it would be an excellent pastime for the end of the school year, and maybe I can get a kiss?

- I think a kick in your balls is more likely! - Peter exclaimed with a laugh.

- And you, Remus? What do you think? Sirius asked his friend who was frowning, following the girl with his eyes.

- Why did she cut her hair….?

- What is this fixation for hair that you developed, huh?!

That would go on for the rest of the day, to the point where Sirius lost his temper right after dinner.

- Still thinking about her hair? James nudged his friend, who was looking at the girl curled up in the same chair as before, reading a book of advanced potions.

- Couldn't she have decreased just a little bit? Did I need all this change?

- ENOUGH! Sirius got annoyed. - Let's end this now! THIS IS THE TENTH TIME YOU HAVE GROUNDED ABOUT THAT IDIOT HAIR!

- THERE WASN'T IDIOT!

Sirius didn't give a damn about his friend, marching over to the fledgling.

- This is going to be a good one. James barked, settling himself better to watch the show.

Hermione so far hadn't noticed the altered voices in the hall, only taking her attention from her book when she saw a pair of legs stop right in front of her. When he realized it was Sirius, he rolled his eyes internally because he thought it was another line from the boy. She made a mental note of one day making a point of complaining to Harry about how his godfather was a pain in the ass.

- Can I help you with anything? - She tried to be polite at least once.

- He can. A friend asked me to ask you….

- Is it serious? I would like to be alone if you don't impose….

- REALLY! James asked me to ask you why Remus just STOP TALKING ABOUT it, but….

- Can't you summarize?

- Why did you cut your hair?

Hermione was silent, shock consuming her existence. Was this serious? In the midst of all that fuss (which she had already done in fourth year when Harry and Ron were fighting), was the subject of her hair? And why on earth would that be Professor Lupin's concern?

With a frown of confusion she simply stated:

- This only concerns me.

- No, no, no…. You may have no appreciation for anyone else at this school, but I care a lot about my sanity and my ears! One reason is all I need!

Hermione glanced sideways at the fireplace, raising her eyebrow as she noticed Lupin, Potter and Pettigrew staring at them expectantly.

- Well, if your friend wants to know so much, he should come and ask himself, and not send a homing pigeon.

And ignoring Sirius, Hermione turned her attention back to her book, hoping to find out if that crazy hair was true. Sirius huffed in annoyance, returning to the couch and dropping to the floor, rubbing his temples.

- And then?! Remus asked boldly, forgetting to show disinterest.

- If you want to know, you will have to go there and ask yourself!

- Hey, did you stop asking? - James was surprised.

- No, that was her answer. But she didn't seem very able to answer you, to be honest. What animal bit her?

- Probably a dog. - Peter joked, receiving a pillow in the face.

_***_

It was the next morning that Minerva McGonagall had intercepted Remus on his way out of the transfiguration class, asking for a moment to talk alone. Already preparing to hear some lecture about his friends who had been caught last night for trying to smuggle sweet pies from the kitchen to the dorm, Remus thought of the best possible excuse for what they had done, but he had no idea, they actually they weren't even supposed to be caught since they were wearing the Marauder's Map and James' Invisibility Cloak, but it was true that the cloak was already getting small for three so Remus had stayed behind.

- Sorry, Professor, but I'm sure it wasn't James and Sirius' intention!

Minerva shook her head first, then laughed at her student's lost expression.

- It's nothing related to them, Mr. Lupin, but it's good to know that something is coming, the last event with the theft of sweet pies was a bit comical. I asked you to stay a little longer because I need to talk to you about a very important subject, regarding the transfiguration classes.

- Did something happen?

- Yes and no. I've noticed that several fifth and sixth graders have had various difficulties with crucial elements of the transfiguration, and I don't know why they're afraid to come and ask me for help. I thought about it and talked to Headmaster Dumbledore and we decided to open tutoring hours for students to ask questions with other students selected by me. There will be three groups: from the first to the third, fourth and fifth, and sixth and seventh. As I know of your tribulations with NEWTs, I would like you to help me with the sixth and seventh grades.

- I… Wow. I would love! But… I'm afraid of not being efficient or being able to help during that period….

- You will not be alone, you will have another person monitoring with you. Can we schedule twice a week then? Twice in an hour or once in two hours?

- I prefer twice, if it's not bothersome for the other monitor. By the way, who will it be?

- Jean Granger.

Remus blinked a few times in confusion. Who the hell was Jean? He only knew one Granger, but that wasn't her name.

- Jean, teacher? - He took a chance.

Minerva glanced at the door, to make sure they were alone before asking him to secrecy.

- I believe you remember what you heard that day in my office, before Christmas. I cannot give too many details, that concerns her, but it was necessary to change her name.

Remus blinked his eyes hastily. Was she in that much danger?

"Just ask, idiot" - Moony showed his point, being ignored.

- I see… Have you talked to her about monitoring?

- We talked about it over Christmas and she is more than willing to help with tutoring. You will be amazed at the potential of that young woman. - Minerva hid a smile, suspecting that an approach between the two would be beneficial for both.

***

As agreed, every Tuesday and Thursday, from 5 pm to 6 pm, Remus and Jean were to appear in the transfiguration room to offer tutoring to their sixth and seventh year classmates. It would certainly take some time for a living soul to appear, so it was more than crucial that they did not remain in an awkward silence in the meantime. Not wanting to be late on the first day, Remus dropped out of arithmancy class as soon as it ended, not paying much attention to what Lilly had come to ask him. Even after trying not to be late, as soon as he opened the living room door he found Jean sitting on top of her desk, her legs bent like a lotus flower, reading a book.

He walked over and cleared his throat, but the girl was immersed in her own bubble. Risking a good afternoon, he at least managed to get her to respond to the greeting more automatically than consciously. Ashamed of his existence in a place where he clearly wasn't welcome, Remus sat at his usual table - which surprisingly was right next to the one she was at - pulling out his Arithmancy notebook and doing some calculations to pass the time. It must have been at least half an hour before he noticed a male voice in the room.

Your own voice.

- I also like Hogwarts, a story.

Hermione stopped her reading and straightened up, wondering if Lupine had really spoken to her. She risked turning to him and when she saw that he was looking at her, she deduced that she was.

- Not everyone agrees with you.

- I thought you were homeschooled...

- And I was, but knowledge is never too much.

- Is this your first time reading the book?

"Idiot, isn't it kind of obvious that she's read it before?" Moony rolled his eyes at Remus' lack of social skills.

- Actually, seventy-third.

Remus widened his eyes at that.

- You're kidding, aren't you?

- No. Reading it has always been kind of soothing to me since I was eleven. Whenever I needed to be alone or for company, he was the one I turned to. Hermione didn't see any harm in telling him that, she loved talking about books.

Besides, he seemed to be more baffled than she was.

- This gives an average reading of 10,428 times a year. What happened for you to spend more time reading it than…

- Did you manage to do that in your head?! Hermione deviated from the main topic.

- You do not?

- 10.42857142857143 would be the exact average. ” She replied with a smug smile.

"Is she a human counting machine?"

- Do you also do arithmancy?

- I tried to advance the advanced class, but the teacher did not trust my skills even with my NOMS grades, she said that it would be better for me to follow the normal flow and only do it when I was in seventh grade. Is this today's duty? - She asked craning her neck, not holding back with curiosity.

Remus just held out his notebook, being shocked at how sharp the gears in the witch's brain were at work. It was obvious he didn't complain when she pulled out a quill and fixed some numbers, verifying that she had found the errors. If she was so happy doing seventh grade exercises, he wouldn't be the one to complain and stop her from doing so.

I mean, he had already done a lot of that for his friends, someone could once do their duty for him, right?

He couldn't say exactly when, but at some point he approached her table, starting to resolve issues together for hours explaining why her resolution would not be possible with reality, but she insisted on hypothetical arguments for them to be used that he did not understand. The more he explained she replied, going so far as to create calculations and scribbles in her notebook explaining her point. She had been distracted by tracing the trajectory of an alternate spell, allowing him to just watch her.

"The long hair was more beautiful" - Moony complained, making Remus agree.

- Can I ask you something? - He asked embarrassed.

- You just asked.

Remus rolled his eyes, not believing that she really had made that old joke.

- Why did you cut your hair?

He didn't like the disbelieving laugh he got, along with a shocked look.

- I thought Black was making fun of me when he asked me that and blamed you, but…. You are really asking me this!

- I admit that I went a little overboard with my reflections on your motives, but it's only because I don't like extreme, sudden or sudden changes!

He hated being a man one second and being a wolf the next.

"HEY!"

   Hermione was silent for a while just staring at him, to the point that Remus wished he were an ostrich to stick his head into the ground in shame. Why did he have to worry so much about a damn hair?!

- Do you know the witness protection program?

- I think I've heard about it somewhere ... - Remus remembered the several times he was forced to move so that the neighbors wouldn't realize that he was always sick near the full moon because of his transformations.

- I decided since the ministry forced me to change so many things, changing my hair would be the least and well, it would help with everything to go unnoticed. Until the last half semester they were trying to solve my… case, but with no result they decided that it was best to give me a new identity and since I don't think I was noticed here, the name won't make much difference. Professor McGonagall already warned you that my name is now Jean, and well… I think you already know that I live with the professor because she is my nice Tutor and now that I've cut my hair. End.

- I preferred it long… - He blurted out, blushing then.

"Long hair is good to play with"

- Me either. Hermione agreed with him, returning to her wistful bubble.

Nervous that he had done something stupid, Remus despaired, but was saved by the bell. In the next minute the alarm that sounded at 6 pm rang out, summoning everyone to dinner.

- Since no one showed up…. Want company to the Salon? - He let go, trying to redeem himself.

   Hermione thought for a while, packing her bag and accepting the offer. They walked in silence to the Gryffindor table, nodding their heads off. Remus had barely sat down on the bench when he was bombarded by questions from his home's redheaded monitor.

- Did she just greet you, Remus?

- Yea…?

- Why? They were talking?

- Remus said he had someone else on prefect with him. Was her? - James interjected.

- Yes.

- And did you talk anything or just coexist in silence because she still refuses to interact with anyone?

- We talked a few things.

- Did you by any chance ask about her hair? James took it off with his face, while Sirius and Peter sat at the table.

- That hair thing again? Sirius whimpered.

- I asked, but I won't tell.

Everyone else opened their mouths in shock. Had he really asked something so personal to someone who didn't even know of his existence?!

- You didn't disturb us for three days to just be quiet!

Remus just shrugged, indicating that no more words would come out of his mouth as he smirked and went back to drinking his pumpkin juice.

[swellwriting]

Pumpkin Spiced Kisses

Fandom: Harry Potter, Marauders Era

Pairing: Reader x Sirius Black

Request: Sorry if you get annoyed of doing Sirius imagines, but he's great so could you do one where you're friends with all of them and everyone knows you two like each other but neither of you will say anything. Then one night while everyone is hanging out you talk to Remus and he makes you laugh and stuff and Sirius gets jealous so he pulls you to side and tells you how he feels, and it's really fluffy, thanks :)

i kinda changed the request a bit to make it halloween themed oops I'm sorry

Warnings: None

Authors Note: I made sure all the movies are historically accurate which made this extra hard and  its now canon that Remus Lupin watches Scooby Doo stoned okay okay!

Word Count: 1.8k

Halloween was fast approaching, a fun holiday celebrated by everyone at Hogwarts. You were born to two muggle parents so you absolutely lived for halloween when you were younger...and still to this day. The pumpkin carving, the movies and the trick or treating you couldn't get enough.

For those who lived in the wizarding world it wasn't as big of a holiday but they still celebrated in different ways. They had pumpkins but they were carved with the flick of the wrist instead of using your bare hands to scoop out fistfulls of tiny seeds. They had movies but the muggle movies you grew up with were nowhere near as popular with wizards and witches, some movies were even considered downright untrue and offensive when they depicted how the muggles thought witches would be.

You sat in your dorm room with Lily decorating the room with skeletons and pumpkin string lights, you two loved doing things like this together since you were both muggle born. You had a charmed movie projector playing the movie Carrie onto one of your white bed sheets pinned to the wall for you and Lily to watch while you decorated. You had seen it many times so you both only really stopped to watch the exciting parts.

Just as the scene where she starts killing people at the dance started to play you heard a few male voices approaching your dorm, you instantly knew who it would be before the door even opened.

You were very close to Lily, so when she started taking an interest in James Potter you also became very close with him and his friends as well. It was no secret that you were exceptionally closer to Sirius than anyone else, everyone knew you too liked each other, the only ones who didn't know were you two.

As the boys walked in you watched two of their faces drop at the amount of blood and murder happening on the screen. Remus was the only one who looked unfazed, his mother Hope was a muggle so he wasn't new to muggle halloween or the gore in their movies.

James walked in and sat beside Lily wrapping his arm around her from behind and putting his hands up to try to cover her eyes. “You girls should not be watching these types of films.”

Lily pushed his hands away to continue to watch the scene. “Stop it, this is my favorite part!”

Sirius sat down beside you, close but not too close and Remus walked and sat on the empty bed next to yours. Sirius continued to look at the screen with a look of horror written on his face. “How do you guys even enjoy watching this it's a bloody mess?”

You smiled and nudged his shoulder. “What do you expect us to watch Padfoot? ‘Charlie Brown and the great pumpkin’?”

Sirius’ eyes didn't leave the screen as he questioned you further. “I have no idea what that is but it sounds better than this? What’s this movie called ‘Angry demon girl kills entire school on halloween’?”

James laughed and added in. “Girl on her period wants everyone to feel her pain.”

That one earned a smack on the shoulder from Lily, the look on her face showing how unamused she was with their jokes. Before you could even argue with them Remus interrupted. “Actually it's just called ‘Carrie’.”

You and Lily both turned your heads to the timid boy sitting alone as you asked him. “Remus, you've actually seen this?”

He smiled shyly “Yeah i've seen it a few times but I much prefer ‘The Addams Family’ or the Scooby Doo movie.”

You smiled at his confession, the other two boys still looked as if you were speaking another language. “Scooby Doo is hardly considered a halloween movie.”

Remus was quick to defend himself. “They solve mysteries and some are about ghosts and monsters, that sounds pretty halloweeny to me, also it's nice to watch if you're stoned.” The three of you laughed and continued your conversation for what felt like hours until you decided to make everyone watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show which they later admitted wasn’t as bad as the title made it sound.

Sirius couldn't help but notice the way you bonded with Remus so well, you both were so alike, he had no clue what you were talking about so you basically ignored him the whole night. Not on purpose of course but Sirius felt a pang of jealousy strike his heart every time he heard you giggle, knowing it wasn't because of him.

This happened every holiday, or anytime a muggle event or thing happened, you would quickly bond with Lily and Remus over it and Sirius would feel so left out. Being raised in a household that hated muggles he knew nothing about their day to day lives.

You were sitting in the common room when Lily came rushing in, a big smile on her face as she whispered to your group of friends.

“There are a few pumpkins growing on the edge of the forbidden forest, just far enough in that no first years have dared to go near them! Let's go carve them!”

You quickly sat up from your seat rushing to your room to grab your sweater and scarf when you noticed no one else had gotten up so you stopped.

“Wait you guys seriously don't want to come too?”

James looked over to you and then to Lily who had a hopeful look on her face and blushed cheeks from running there, she raised her eyebrows as she pleaded with james.

“Please James?”

One please was all it took for James to huff and get up to grab his coat. You looked over to Sirius who was still seated staring into the fire.

“Padfoot come on. You know you want to.”

Sirius didn't even glance at you as he said with a little too much spite.

“Sounds like another dumb muggle tradition, I’d rather not.”

You frowned at how harsh he was being lately but quickly remembered Remus was in his room reading and you should invite him as well, but you were still upset with Sirius and you wanted him to know.

“Be careful Sirius, you're letting your Black Heritage show.”

You knew how sensitive he was about the topic and how much he hated his family and being anything like them, but what he had said also hurt you, so now you were even.

You came rushing down the stairs with Lily , your Gryffindor scarves and warm jackets wrapped around you, you started walking towards the boys dorms.

“I’ll meet you two there Lil I'm gonna see if Remus wants to join us.”

Sirius instantly wanted to stop you but you were walking down the stairs with Remus at your side before he could even blink.

Sirius sat in the common room watching you two leave together, arms linked and probably laughing about jokes Sirius would never understand. He sat and sulked for a bit, watching one of his best mates steal you from right under his nose, well you weren't really his but Remus knew how much he adored you.

After pouting for a good twenty minutes Sirius finally made his way outside, forgetting to grab a sweater or anything to keep him warm like you guys all did.

When he finally found the four of you Remus was helping you carve your pumpkin, as if you couldn't do it yourself and you guys were laughing like you didn't even care Sirius had just walked up. He cleared his throat

“Cute little double date you guys are having here.”

You all looked up at Sirius who was clearly cold and upset, Remus moved away from you “Sirius it’s not a double date, we are just carving pumpkins nothing romantic about it.” You all laughed at his statement except for Sirius.

“Oh yes, more muggle inside jokes how hilarious.”

The situation was now a lot more tense and awkward than it was before, James and Lily stood up as James pulled her away Lily mouthed a “sorry” at you. You knew it was a good idea for them to just remove themselves from the situation so you weren't mad at all. Remus stood up trying to follow them so you spoke up.

“And so what if it was a double date Sirius do you have a problem with that”

Sirius furrowed his brows “Yes, I do.”

So you stood up and got directly in Sirius’ face. “Well if you weren't going to ever make a move on me then I have every right to do whatever I want with whomever I want!”

You looked to Remus to find he wasn't even there anymore and you and Sirius were alone. You looked back to Sirius but you were met with his face directly in front of yours, his hands came up to caress your cheeks, you felt how cold his hands were and placed yours on his to provide a small amount of heat.

Sirius took that as a sign you didn’t want him to kiss you so he pulled away with a hurt look on his face as he almost whispered. “You just said you wanted me to do something, but now you don't want me to and i'm s-”

You cut him off pressing your warm lips against his cold ones, determined to make them warm again. Sirius instantly kissed you back, his tongue slid across your bottom lip until you parted your lips to let him explore your mouth. You didn't break the kiss while you pulled your wand from your boot, casting a quick charm on your scarf turning it into a blanket and wrapping it around the two of you. Sirius slid his still freezing hands under your shirt to caress the small of your back and you shivered at the cold sensation.

After a few minutes you pulled away but stayed close , your arms still wrapped around each other. Sirius looked at your half carved pumpkin on the ground with one circle eye and a square nose.

“Looks like you need to finish your pumpkin.”

You faked a shocked expression. “Is that you offering to help me? With a muggle activity?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “As much as i’d rather use magic-” He paused sitting down beside the pumpkin opening the top. “I wouldn't be able to do this” he grabbed a handful of the pumpkin guts and threw them at your face causing you both to laugh. You sat down beside him and crawled onto his lap.

“Will you still kiss my pumpkin face?”

Sirius pulled your face closer to his. “ It would be an honor to kiss your pumpkin face”.

[pansexual-potatoes]

Who is your hero?: I don’t have one.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?: I’d become a woods witch, of sorts. I picture it as a cabin so deep in the woods you only find it if you’re lost. Me, my dog and Frank (if we’re theoretically still married) in a very cute cabin with a little mailbox that’s never used and a short walkway to nowhere in particular. I’d have foxglove and lupine up front, hosta and ferns in the shaded areas and a wooden fence around my garden. No driveway but I’d have a shed with a snowmobile, snowblower, and shovel for the winter and a four wheeler, and a tiny car for the summer. I’d have a fire pit for campfires, a hot tub and a pool. Attached to the back of the house would be a greenhouse with a dining area for warm weather. Despite my rural living, I’d get great cell service and excellent internet.

What is your biggest fear?: Losing the people I care about.

What is your favorite family vacation?: My family growing up didn’t do vacations but my husband and I do. I also do fun stuff with my best friend.

What would you change about yourself if you could?: My looks

What really makes you angry?: Disrespect

What motivates you to work hard?: I have bills to pay, and we need to eat.

What is your favorite thing about your career?: I enjoy the plants. I work in a commercial greenhouse and for most of the year the plants are really nice.

What is your biggest complaint about your job?: the pay and lack of needed benefits are big problems.

What is your proudest accomplishment? I’m still here.

What is your child's proudest accomplishment?: Bailey learned to lay down. So far he’s learned Sit, Shake and lay down. I think next we’ll teach him to stay.

What is your favorite book to read?: cookbooks, lol. I actually love reading but my eyes can’t do it much anymore.

What makes you laugh the most?: memes

What was the last movie you went to? What did you think? I don’t like movie theaters. I think the last movie I saw in one was the newest grinch movie and I thought it was a cute movie. I liked how they humanized him and brought his situation into scale.

What did you want to be when you were small? An oceanographer, then a marine biologist

What does your child want to be when he/she grows up? Bailey, I’m assuming, wants to be a smart, happy and curious doggo.

If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be? Mentally healthy

What is your favorite game or sport to watch and play? I don’t watch sports.

Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car? Depends on what I’m doing. If I’m in hell being punished, then you’ll see me on a bike. Horses are nice for leisure. Car if I have errands to run or am busy.

What would you sing at Karaoke night?:

I’m not singing

What two radio stations do you listen to in the car the most?

I don’t listen to the radio. I have Amazon music

Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house?

Any of those except the dishes.

If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work?

Yard work. I don’t trust people that much except a very few people so cleaning is out of the question. I love cooking so wouldn’t need help there usually either. Yard work is impersonal enough where I’d feel more comfortable with someone doing that.

If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Salad. Anything can be a salad if you try hard and believe in yourself

Who is your favorite author?

Anne Rice

Have you ever had a nickname? What is it?:

Not any that weren’t degrading

Do you like or dislike surprises? Why or why not?

Generally not a fan. I have anxiety and I don’t like being the center of attention.

In the evening, would you rather play a game, visit a relative, watch a movie, or read?

Any except visiting relatives.

Would you rather vacation in Hawaii or Alaska, and why?

Hawaii. The warmth and hiking would be incredible, the beaches pretty and the cold makes my body hurt.

Would you rather win the lottery or work at the perfect job? And why?

Hm. Win the lottery. It would allow me to help not just myself but others too.

Who would you want to be stranded with on a deserted island?

No one. If I’m stranded, I’m not going to make it. I don’t want someone else to go through that. I’ll just suffer alone, thanks.

If money was no object, what would you do all day?

Help people who are struggling.

If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?

2014.

How would your friends describe you?

According to them, I’m nice but straightforward.

What are your hobbies?

I like cooking, hiking, makeup, and relaxing

What is the best gift you have been given?

Companionship in all it’s forms.

What is the worst gift you have received?

Domino’s and a pack of socks to share with my brother (we had to share both). This was from my moms second husbands mom and we had to sit and watch our then step sister open a pile of gifts. We were kids, and my mom and her second husband had been married for a few years at that point so there was zero reason for us to be treated like that.

Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?

Hope

List two pet peeves.

-Disrespect

-Laziness

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully further along with my mental health

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

3- 1 for home, 2 for work

If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?

I’d want to be able to financially help people

What would you do if you won the lottery?

First, before I tell ANYONE, my house is getting paid off. Ditto for all our bills. Once all that’s done, then I’ll let Frank know. From there on we decide what we want to do together

What form of public transportation do you prefer? (air, boat, train, bus, car, etc.)

Train isn’t bad, neither is bus.

What's your favorite zoo animal?

Hippos.🥰

If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be?

If Frank and I could go back with the knowledge we have now we wouldn’t get licensed for foster care.

If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?

My husband, my best friend, Nina, and Gerard Way

How many pillows do you sleep with?

2 when I’m awake, 1 once I fall asleep

What's the longest you've gone without sleep (and why)? Like 3 days. I was having a mental breakdown and ended up in the hospital.

What's the tallest building you've been to the top in?

No idea.

Would you rather trade intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?

Depends on the ratio between what you lose versus what you gain.

How often do you buy clothes?

As needed.

Have you ever had a secret admirer?

Of course not

What's your favorite holiday?

Definitely Christmas

What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

I fought continuously for ownership of myself in a house where I was viewed as less important than furniture because I was female. I dressed as a boy, quit bathing and became as repulsive as I could so I wouldn’t be attractive to the men or women in my moms lifestyle.

What was the last thing you recorded on TV?

I don’t

What was the last book you read?

Working on a new one.

What's your favorite type of foreign food?

Love Asian foods I’ve tried

Are you a clean or messy person?

Messy, I guess.

Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?

No one. I wouldn’t want people to see what I went through.

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

About a half hour

What kitchen appliance do you use every day?

The Keurig

What's your favorite fast food chain?

I don’t like most of them, tbh. Maybe Subway?

What's your favorite family recipe?

My moms bread recipe

Do you love or hate rollercoasters?

As long as they’re not super tall I don’t mind them

What's your favorite family tradition?

The Christmas Poinsettia

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Probably meeting my best friend.

What's your favorite movie?

The nightmare before Christmas

How old were you when you learned Santa wasn't real? How did you find out?

I don’t remember.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

I’m just glad it has something to drink

What's the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love?

I got married.

What three items would you take with you on a deserted island?

Food, water, and a boat to get me home.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Band.

What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten?

Pets

Do you collect anything?

Dishes.

Is there anything you wished would come back into fashion?

Comfortable clothes. I’m going to wear them regardless but it would be nice to have a bigger selection to choose from

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Absolutely an introvert.

Which of the five senses would you say is your strongest?

Touch

Have you ever had a surprise party? (that was an actual surprise)

No and I’m fine with that.

Are you related or distantly related to anyone famous?

Not that I’m aware of.

What do you do to keep fit?

Lol.

Does your family have a “motto” – spoken or unspoken?

Nope.

If you were ruler of your own country what would be the first law you would introduce?

Baseline living guarantees

Who was your favorite teacher in school and why?

I didn’t really have a teacher I was close to.

What three things do you think of the most each day?

My family, my job, and my obligations

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Warning: Avoid asking questions you don’t want an honest answer for. All attempts at niceness will be tried but there is no guarantee of satisfaction.

What song would you say best sums you up?

I have no idea. There are many who describe parts of me but not one I can think of that describes me as a whole.

What celebrity would you like to meet at Starbucks for a cup of coffee?

Weird Al. He seems like a pretty chill guy who wouldn’t mind chatting with an average person.

What's the most interesting thing you can see out of your office or kitchen window?

My lilacs.

On a scale of 1-10 how funny would you say you are?

Like a 2

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hopefully much further along with my mental health

What was your first job?

Picking pine cones out of this ladies yard.

If you could join any past or current music group which would you want to join?

None.

How many languages do you speak?

English and a lot of American Sign Language

Who is the most intelligent person you know?

My husband

If you had to describe yourself as an animal, which one would it be?

Probably a bear. I’m not super social, enjoy sleeping through the winter as much as possible, am selective in my social obligations,enjoy fish and berries, avoid people if possible

What is one thing you will never do again?

Drive a semi.