#and like. yeah that was mostly Sirius and Phoenix

[fangaminghell]

Sasha: ....I don't want to be mad at you.

Taka: But are you?

Sasha: ........a little.

[gh0stsp1d3r]

I know you probably have a lot on your head, but i need to ask you this ( i absolutely LOVE your writing style and everything<33)

If i could request Hobie x Chubby!Reader, also AFAB, mostly fluff, maybe with a little bit of angst (insecurities hit hard lately) something like that.

Also, if you decide to take the request, take your time, no rush hun (i'll wait as long as i'll have to).

-Take care<33

thank you sm love!! I’m glad you like it! Also whatever hobie says in this is 100% true. Listen to my boy guys

Stars

“You ready yet?” He yelled from outside, you were getting ready in his bathroom to go on a date.

“Give me a sec!” You shouted back, putting on your earrings, and stepping outside.

He turned at the sound of the door, smiling widely.

“You look great.” He said.

“So do you..” you said, smiling back.

“Alright, let’s go.” He said, when a portal suddenly appeared in front of you both.

“Hey guys!! You both look great, but could you watch mayday for a little? It’ll only be like for 2… or 4 hours.. I’m super busy with spiderman stuff and-“

“Well, we would but we’re just about to go on a date-“ you started.

“Great! I’ll pay you when I get back.” He said, handing you mayday, a bag, and quickly leaving.

You looked at Hobie who sighed and shook his head.

“Alright.. well… up to the roof we go!” He said, grabbing mayday and you looked at him in confusion.

“While we can’t have a date at the restaurant, it’s a nice night, we can reschedule. We’ll just have a date.. with mayday I guess.” He said.

You smiled at him “Alright. Cool with me.” The three of you going upstairs and onto the roof.

He put mayday down, as she crawled around the roof. You both sat down, looking at the stars.

Mayday came over to you both and sat down next to you both.

“There’s Sirius. And that’s Cassiopeia.” You pointed to them, showing mayday the stars and constellations.

Hobie smiled at you, and a thought appeared in his head.

It wouldn’t be so bad to have children of your own in the future.

A little after, Mayday fell asleep. You both got up and put her on the couch.

You and Hobie both sat at the dinner table now.

“Sorry I made you get ready for nothin���. You still look stunning though.”

“Ehh.. I don’t know..” you mumbled, messing with the end of your dress.

He looked at you. He knew you were insecure, he knew by the longing stares in the mirror, and when you looked at other people who you thought were pretty.

“Look at me.” He said.

You looked at him.

“Beauty standards are bullshit. We don’t listen to them, yeah? It’s stupid, and you’re so beautiful. Even if you can’t see it, you’re gorgeous. And I will murder anyone else who even thinks otherwise.”

You started to tear up at his speech, and laughing at the end. He wiped away your tears with a smile.

“I love you, alright?”

“I love you.” You kissed him.

“Aww. So cute.” Peters voice made you both jump, he was staring at you both with a smile.

“Peter!”

“How long have you been there?”

“Very long. Alright, I will grab mayday and see you two lovebirds later.” He said, grabbing the bag, then mayday and leaving:

You both laughed and smiled at the end of the day. He was right, there was no reason to think about something so small and silly when you have a great life ahead of you.

Tag list:

@enviinotes @rayis-psychotic @korizzybee @animechick555 @stupid-ninja @rreasonablydumbb @xxqueen-of-horrorxx @spidypunkk @criodzasn

@techta @1eonk @chipstermation6 @whosace16 @ @l-pandamatic-l

@spider-phoenix @zebralover @my-melo-gf @wiz-te-ria @tzuyuzzs @luvsaluv @mxkn

@deputy-videogamer @666kpopfan @jared-oranges @likelilac @jjkclub

@kitty-kei @blaxk-widow @hoesindifferentshows @lavsluvsu @lampylamperson @artsykerfuffleplus s @notbluees @sp0kyzz @arlipooh @freeingrebels @ken-zah @blustalker

[ala-baguette]

Could you tell us more about Kingsleys fondness and protectiveness of Harry. Love u to bits xxxx

What’s that?  A Kingsley Shacklebolt meta, you say?  Don’t mind if I do!

A relatively common and much-loved comment I get from some of my readers is that they never gave Kingsley much of a second thought before reading Knowing Where to Look.  Let’s change that, because I need company in over-thinking about random side characters.  Plus, I find Kingsley Shacklebolt so damn cool and other people should too!  For such a small character who is mostly just in the background throughout canon, I am always so impressed by the volumes of information one can glean from his tiny one sentence lines.  So, let’s start by looking at a few of these moments.

I’ll begin with the first time we meet him in Order of the Phoenix where he is part of the Advance Guard.  I remember just falling in love with Kingsley right from the first time I read this chapter at roughly 2am the night the book was released.  A few notable lines I present for consideration:

“‘Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus […]  He looks exactly like, James.’”

“‘A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you,’ said Lupin as though he had read Harry’s mind; the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.”

“‘Remus says you’re a good flier,’ said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.  ‘He’s excellent,’ said Lupin […]”

“Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia Jones was laughing at a potato peeler […]”

“‘I’m just telling the boy the plan,’ growled Moody. ‘Our job’s to deliver him safely to headquarters, and if we die in the attempt—’   ‘No one’s going to die,’ said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep, calming voice.”

Information I infer from this first encounter:

Kingsley is highly trusted by Dumbledore and the rest of the Order despite having only been a member for a month or so.  (I’m fairly certain he was not in the Order during the first war.)

Kingsley knew James on a personal level.  He’s on a first-name basis, he remembers his appearance well, and Remus would have had no other reason to comment that Harry looked like him if he did not.

Kingsley is curious about Harry—likely in part secondary to Harry’s fame, but also, I suspect, on a more personal level (whether his apparent past relationship with James or his current one with Remus and Sirius).

Remus talks about Harry when Harry’s not around (I could probably write a whole meta on this sad and sweet observation, but I shall resist and stick to the topic at hand).  We’ll come back to this.

He’s pure-blood or at least was raised with minimal exposure to Muggle technology.

He’s calm and level-headed and not afraid to call out melodrama, though he’ll do so patiently, respectfully, and gently. 

We have several smaller encounters going forward in OotP that I also find telling:

“[Kingsley and Mr. Weasley] were talking to each other as though they hardly knew each other. […] ‘Here,’ said Kingsley brusquely to Mr. Weasley, shoving a sheaf of parchment into his hand, ‘I need as much information as possible on flying Muggle vehicles sighted in the last twelve months.  We’ve received information that Black might still be using his old motorcycle.’  Kinglsey tipped Harry an enormous wink and added, in a whisper, ‘Give him the magazine, he might find it interesting.’  Then he said in normal tones, ‘And don’t take too long, Weasley, the delay on that firelegs report held up our investigation for a month.’”

“‘Molly, I’ll be late, I’m covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner—'”

Harry caught the sound of his own name.  Kingsley Shacklebolt’s deep voice was audible even over the surrounding chatter.  ‘—why Dumbledore didn’t make Potter a prefect?” said Kingsley.  ‘He’ll have had his reasons,’ replied Lupin.  ‘But it would’ve shown confidence in him.  It’s what I’d’ve done,’ persisted Kingsley.  ‘’specially with the Daily Prophet having a go at him every few days…’

“Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius’s duel with Bellatrix.”

“‘Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin were all at headquarters [with Sirius] when [Snape] made contact.’”

My take-aways:

Kingsley has a good poker-face and can act a part that is required of him.

Kingsley is kind and considerate.  He goes out of his way to send Sirius a copy of the Quibbler with an article featuring Sirius/Stubby Boardman, for no other reason than to make Sirius smile in a time when Sirius had precious little to smile about.  Kingsley, in other words, is a big ol’ sweetie.

Kingsley drops in for dinner and any little festivities that happen at headquarters or with the Weasleys a few times throughout the series and is clearly welcomed any time, even when not truly on Order business.  Along with this, I speculate he doesn’t have much by way of family or close personal connections outside of his friends at the Order.

Even when he has only just met Harry, Kingsley is already concerned for his feelings (not just his physical safety) when Dumbledore doesn’t make Harry a prefect.  He is observant enough to notice that Harry is out of sorts and disappointed, which no other character particularly seems to notice.  He’s already attuned to Harry’s moods even then.

Also from this same moment, we see that Kingsley is one of the few characters who doesn’t seem to entirely blindly assume everything Dumbledore does is best.  He doubts Dumbledore’s judgment when he doesn’t make Harry a prefect. What else might he doubt?

Kingsley is brave and loyal.  He jumps in to duel with the most ruthless Death Eater present who just killed his friend.  Later, he does it again with Voldemort who he believes has just killed Harry.

Moody, Tonks, Remus, Sirius, and Kingsley are often described together.  From their interactions, I see these five having a particular bond, beyond that of simply colleagues.  They’re friends. What do all of Kingsley’s friends have in common?  (1) They all have affection for Harry they show in one form or another throughout the series.  (2) They all die.  I’ll let that sit for a moment—we’ll come back to it.

Now we come to The Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows:

“‘I’m not getting rid of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if that’s what you’re suggesting!’ said the Prime Minister hotly.  ‘He’s highly efficient, gets through twice the work as the rest of them—’”

“‘All right,’ [Uncle Vernon] said, stopping in front of Harry yet again. ‘All right, let’s say, for the sake of argument, we accept this protection.  I still don’t see why we can’t have that Kingsley bloke.’  Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty.  This question had also been addressed half a dozen times.  ‘As I’ve told you,’ he said through gritted teeth, ‘Kingsley is protecting the Mug—I mean, your Prime Minister.’  ‘Exactly— he’s the best!’ said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen.  The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital.  This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with his earring in.”

“‘Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral—’ Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley’s smile.

“Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them.  Over Hermione’s shoulder, Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin’s chest.  ‘The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?’  ‘Harry is the best hope we have.  Trust him,’ said Lupin calmly.  […] ‘All right, all right!’ said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak.  ‘But someone betrayed us!  They knew, they knew it was tonight!’   ‘So it seems,’ replied Lupin, ‘but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys.’  ‘Small comfort!’ snarled Kingsley.

“‘Now they’ve put a Taboo on [Voldemort’s name], anyone who says it is trackable—quick-and-easy way to find Order members!  They nearly got Kingsley—'  ‘You’re kidding?’  ‘Yeah, a bunch of Death Eaters cornered him, Bill said, but he fought his way out.  He’s on the run now, just like us.’

“‘I’d like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their example, perhaps casting a protective charm over any Muggle dwellings in your street.  Many lives could be saved if such simple measures are taken.’  ‘And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be Wizards first?’ asked Lee.  ‘I’d say that it’s one short step from Wizards first to Purebloods first, and then to Death Eaters,’ replied Kingsley.  ‘We’re all human, aren’t we?  Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.’

“[…] Kingsley had stepped forward on the raised platform to address those who had remained behind [to take part in the Battle of Hogwarts].  ‘We’ve only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast!  A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix.’

“Voldemort was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley all at once.”

“One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air.  The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him.  Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, nor tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him […]”

Observations:

Kingsley is likeable and has a skill for garnering trust.  Both the Prime Minister and Uncle Vernon trust him despite having a general dislike for wizard-kind.

Kingsley is clever and adaptable and a good actor.  We see fascination with a microwave in OotP suggesting he had minimal exposure to the Muggle world, but by DH, he is already able to play the part of a Muggle, dress like them, and conform to their society, something that the likes of Arthur Weasley, who has obsessively studied Muggles for years, never manages.  He even knows enough to take out his earing (which he otherwise always seems to wear) to better appeal to the Dursleys conservative views.

A small speculation to which we can never know an answer but… Given that he knew Harry was listening, is it possible Kingsley’s choice of security question for Remus was intentionally chosen to offer Harry a little assurance that they had faith in him?

Kingsley is constantly described as calm and cool throughout all sorts of strife in the series, be he is not entirely unflappable.  After the Battle of the Seven Potters, the man is visibly livid, and I love it!  At no other time do we see so many exclamation marks in his speech.  He has suddenly been forced to face the possibility that one of his friends betrayed them, and he is not okay!  Even after this speech, he is totally flustered: he laughs derisively at Hermione’s naivety in an uncharacteristically impatient way; he seems panicked when he hears Voldemort had gone after Harry directly; he’s pacing the yard in a way that reminds Harry of Uncle Vernon as they’re waiting for the others to come back; he nearly comes to blows when Arthur arrives and is trying to get past him to see George… Can someone just please give the man a hug?  (Obviously, this is a trait I’ve exploited in KwtL.  Betrayal by a friend is definitely a sore spot for him.) 

The Trio sees Kingsley as untouchable.  Hermione’s relieved to be paired with him when they leave the Dursley’s house (and to not have to ride a broom).  Harry’s shocked to hear of him in hiding in much the same way they are.  They’re thrilled when they hear him speaking on the radio.  They have unwavering awe and respect for Kingsley.

Again, I speculate that Kingsley doesn’t have a romantic partner or children.  When Kingsley goes on the run, there is no mention of family which would have been a big concern if he had one. 

Kingsley has a strong sense of morality and a drive to stand up for those weak and defenseless. Despite the fact that his blood status and that his family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight would likely allow him to simply sit out the war safely, he’s still in the midst of it, constantly fighting for the little guy.

Kingsley is a natural leader, but he really only takes up the mantel when he has to (ie, Dumbledore and Moody are dead and the Order is leaderless)

Just another reminder that Kingsley dueled Voldemort and he’s a badass.

Kingsley is one of the first to rush to Harry after he’s defeated Voldemort.  He’s listed among all the people who love Harry most.  (Shut up, I’m not crying, you’re crying.)

So we come to what is perhaps more your question, kind Anon. What is Harry and Kingsley’s relationship like post-war.  As you point out, I write him as having fondness and protectiveness for Harry right from the beginning of Knowing Where to Look, and I have had readers challenge me (kindly) that Harry and Kingsley really weren’t that close in canon. 

I’ll agree that Harry was not close with Kingsley, but I’m here to argue that that’s not entirely true the other way around.  I think there’s subtle hints that Kingsley was fond and protective of Harry in canon.  Whenever Kingsley knew Harry was in danger, he came running.  I don’t think that was just duty to the Order.  There’s a personal component there as well.

We know that at least Remus and likely Sirius spoke of Harry amongst other Order members.  Before he even met Harry, Kingsley would have heard about Harry in ways that most strangers would not have heard of him.  It’s almost certain he knew many of the details of Harry’s experience in the graveyard when Voldemort returned (most all Order members would have been briefed on this when the Order was reestablished). He had likely heard tales from Sirius and Remus of how Harry braved Dementors and werewolves and time travel to rescue Sirius.  Maybe even rumors of his exploits with the Chamber of Secrets and the Philosopher’s Stone which Remus may have picked up from other professors when he taught at Hogwarts.  Remus even spoke of Harry enough to have mentioned that he looked like James— something that would have had no bearing on the mission.  The point is, the people surrounding Kingsley loved Harry, and I think that affection would naturally have bled into him just from the types of stories they were likely to tell about him. 

Then, all those people who surrounded Kingsley and who loved Harry die.  I think it’s very natural that as his friends— who were all so committed to protecting Harry— all died one-by-one, Kingsley would have taken up that mantel and felt the need to protect him in their place.  Even if it wasn’t one hundred percent from his own personal affection at first, he would have felt this a duty he owed his departed friends who all died in the name of keeping Harry safe.  After Harry emerges from hiding, older and more independent than ever, I think it would have been challenging for Kingsley to accept that Harry is not that kid he needs to protect (hence his sometimes-unwelcome paternal instincts in KwtL).  Furthermore, given my theory that he is without family and especially after the loss of so many Order friends and colleagues, post-war Kingsley may have been a little starved for affection himself which may have encouraged him to reach out more to Harry as he struggled with the isolation of his position of power. 

In conclusion, Kingsley loves Harry, and no one can convince me otherwise.  He’s prepared to give up his career for him, and though Harry would be completely devastated to know it, he’s prepared to give up his life for him. 

(A few random and less-related but perhaps still interesting headcanons:  As I mentioned above, I doubt he is married or has children.  I headcanon him married to his job and decidedly single and generally fine with that (who knows, maybe even aroace?).  I know his age is never really stated or implied, but I headcanon him to be a few years older than the Mauraders.  His vibe in the books just says forty-something for some reason.  My completely unfounded headcanon is that the Shacklebolt and Potter Families were friends—Kingsley’s and James’s parents moved in the same social circles, throwing Kingsley and James together enough growing up to be friendly but not besties.  Friendly enough that he may have attended Lily and James’s wedding, for example, but not so friendly as to have followed him into the Order the first time around.  Again, these bits are purely my imagination and yes have no real importance to the story.)

Thanks for the Ask, Anon!  I clearly have thought way too much about this. I hope you enjoy the insights into how my brain builds on characterization as I’m writing some of these smaller side-characters. Love ya back!

[t1oui]

can I please get your thoughts on rosekiller raising Luna?? I've been obsessed with it lately and you've mentioned it before I want to know more about your headcannons!!!

AAAAAA OKAY im obsessed with them too but i think this has been established. just

first of all think canon luna but 10x more unhinged bc rosekiller are not doing her any favors in the "having morals" and "acting normal" departments (we love that for them)

BARTY CALLS LUNA PRINCESS. i am so... no i cant even lie and say im normal about this it's just a fact of life. he calls her princess and he treats her like one too.

they probably commit crimes or something (if you want more info on this search "criminal au" on my blog bc i have so many thoughts... there's also like 3 things under the tag "criminal au 2 electric boogaloo" lol)

this tag on one of my posts. it says a lot

back to what i said about luna being treated like a princess: does she dress weird? yes. but her clothes and necklaces and the radishes she makes earrings out of are TOP TIER QUALITY bc their girl deserves that.

the three of them wear friendship bracelets

what luna calls them depends on how she's feeling - sometimes she calls them uncle barty and uncle evan, sometimes papa and dad, sometimes just barty and evan

luna gets her offputting gaze from evan and it shows

somehow she's actually such a well-rounded child?? absolutely nobody expects this

rosekiller encourage luna's interests!!!

the three of them cuddle a lot, especially luna and barty.

luna gets all the hogwarts gossip and reports it back to barty via owl

barty 100% teaches luna to drive at age 10 (evan is sitting in the backseat hanging on for dear life)

barty teaches luna how to pickpocket and evan teaches her potions (he doesn't talk about pandora and reg that often, but he makes sure she's got their skill sets)

autistic luna getting a new pair of noise-cancelling headphones. barty and evan helping her cover them in stickers. barty asking to try them out. luna and evan getting him his own pair and covering them in stickers for him :))

(barty cries)

(he actually cries a lot bc "hey, it's okay to cry, luna. no, i'm not crying because of that card you just gave me, but the drawing was really nice and i'm going to cherish it forever")

(she sees right through him but she doesn't say so)

whoever luna ends up with gets a very serious shovel talk from barty and evan (evan does most of the talking, barty just sits there glaring at luna's partner).

ginny finds it funny as hell. anybody else is scared shitless. (this gets ginny a good rep with barty and evan.)

they're soooo soft for each other.

i'm a personal fan of luna and cho being friends and i have a feeling evan and barty would, inexplicably, love her.

barty and evan hate sirius. sirius hates them back. the order of the phoenix has an unspoken rule that the three of them are not allowed in a room together.

barty is italian and luna & ev both know italian for him, so they speak italian with each other a lot.

muggle au rosekiller raising luna!! they hold a special place in my heart. barty and evan run an italian restaurant together and luna is a waitress there. (so is harry.)

yk how snape treats harry like shit bc he hated james? yeah, barty and evan treat harry well bc regulus loved james. (also bc they don't take out their anger on children but mostly bc being mean to someone who reminds them of regulus would hurt too much.)

i swear i have more thoughts about them but i'm totally blanking right now so uhh... feel free to send more asks and i will reply when i have thoughts !! thanks for the ask :)

[sofiadragon]

I love your hp fashion post! I have a question: what do you think is popular for teenager girls/young women to wear in the 90s? How does it differ from muggles? Would they have incorporate muggle fashion trends into their outfits? And is that a thing you would usually see younger wizards doing?

Thank you!

Ok, this requires me to sit at my PC to type. Got me out of bed and off my phone to make tea and type while I'm sick.

Obligatory link to the post in question.

Fashion is Political

Fashion in the 70's, 80's, and 90's was hugely political both in the UK and USA. Goths, punks, preps... It was an entire identity. I didn't paint my nails black, dye my brown hair with translucent red or purple highligts, and wear mesh layers just for the aesthetic, it was an entire philosophy that had political, moral, and social ideas baked into the culture those clothes represented. When I wore a yellow sundress, a hat that hid the highlights, and stripped the color from my nails to visit certain relatives it was because that was a Sundown Town and the ideas represented by the counter-culture I belonged to very well could get me hurt when walking around alone. Yes, I look entirely white (got some Japanese but so far back it doesn't show, and I'm basically French and Bulgarian) but that kind of conservatism didn't (and still doesn't) take kindly to those who support the queers, freaks, and weirdos.

And it's still true, if not quite as much as it used to be. Social cliques still dress alike, but it isn't as quietly political the same way it was then. People don't seem to associate fashion with a political statement using style as much as they use modesty and cleanliness, but it could be that I've just become Officially Old now that I've got a stripe of white in my hair. It seems a bit more on the nose these days, or more accurately on the head. I have a lovely bright red knit newsboy hat I had to stop wearing around 2016-17.

Yeah, but so what?

Fashion changes over time, so let's start with some 1970's makeovers and work our way to the 90's!

The Marauders Prequel: Kinktomato, and all the similar disclaimers, but I respectfully disagree entirely with giving Sirius, James, or any of the other marauders a Punk aesthetic. Sorry JKR, but what you have James and Sirius wear in your prequel needs a tweak. Sure, they wanted to fight against 'traditionalists' which sounds like it's punk... until you realize that the Light was the status quo before Tom came to power. The Order of the Phoenix is a vigilante group working to protect the Establishment and prevent change. Yes, realizing that while reading the 7th book hurt me in my heart too.

I have to throw JKR a bone about her recent nonsense, but she's right in the manner of a broken clock that the rebellious counter-culture going on in the Wizarding World was being backed by the Traditional Family Values set. The politics in the Wizarding World do not match up well with the real world, mostly because if you think too much about it the political aims of the Death Eaters implode. For blood purity, leader is a half-blood who hates the rich and treats the high society types with deep contempt; were not in power and had to have a guerrilla movement, members included half the House of Lords. You can't square those circles, so we get the Light Preppy types like the Marauders and the Dark Preppy types like Draco Malfoy, and then we have the punks and the goths who are the outcasts and queers that get indoctrinated into one or the other set. Don't blame me, I didn't write the books.

The Marauders should look a bit like The Monkees.

James and Sirius were not in with the queers and freaks, they did not read dark poetry in black clothing with sharp lines and heavy makeup that obscured bruises, they were Preppy Jocks and bullies picking on the outsiders. Remus Lupin might be 'one of the good people' who got wizard AIDS, but he's at best masking to fit in with a powerful social group for protection. The black leather with the rocker band t-shirts look? No, no. Put that boy in a polo shirt and chinos. Give him a cable-knit sweater or a blazer over a robe. (And many people do give these things to Professor Lupin, but I mean from the jump.) They'd all be clean-cut, perfectly groomed, and wearing light colors because their political movement is literally called The Light. Black T-shirts with a phoenix on them? No ma'am. White or yellow shirt, embroidered (or screen print to look like embroidery) phoenix. Yellow blazer jacket on top with creamy muggle trousers in a high-water boot cut to show off expensive white or tan boots. (The high-water boot cut on the trousers are muggle 1960's, but wizards lag behind on muggle trends.)

Moving on to the Dark Side

Snape's our punk, or maybe a broody goth gremlin reading poetry books. All via thrift-shop [charity shop] finds, of course. The set of upper-class future Death Eaters he eventually starts to hang out with would have started out in clean-cut expensive dark-colored robes, but might have embraced a morbid aesthetic, as we see Bellatrix wear in the movies. This would be a case of convergent evolution in a sense.

Snape dressed like that due to the poverty and muggle influences in his life, and I headcanon that he liked to visit a record shop and stim his autistic brain with niche experimental music just like I used to at that age, but the morbid and shocking aspects of Goth or Punk aesthetics parallel with Voledmort's completely unrelated skull and snake symbol inspiring trends among his more loyal followers, who are rich enough to be trend setters and social influencers.

Snape very well might have made friends with those awful boys because they liked the casual clothes he started to wear on weekends once his mum started tossing some money at him and telling him to get his own shopping done so she could get back to her crossword puzzle (or maybe he got a summer job at a bakery.) Snape chose that look because if he's styled punk (violent) or goth (morbid) the rips his father puts in his clothes when he gets tossed around are there on purpose and it's just a nice coincidence that the stains in the second-hand clothes he gets on clearance at the charity shop get hidden by the cheap black dye he uses to get that grey and black look. This way, it is not just because he can't afford better and washes both himself and his clothing in the same portable tin washtub.

This convergence was accidental, but the artfully tattered cloaks and general look of the Death Eaters in the movies is something I can get behind - minus the Victorian trousers on the men, of course. The movies make the clothes way too muggle especially for the pure-blood set! Regulus Black spent nearly a hundred galleons getting a robe made of the finest linen and fur, snipped and cut so artfully to look like it was moth-eaten and torn even though every edge is properly hemmed and trimmed with a bit of lace that merely looks like a frayed edge.

Then Voldemort got Blown up

Look, the actress has red hair and a preppy lavender top - it's too perfect a reference image for Lily Potter nee Evans in a fashion post.

The morbid aesthetic that was so popular in the late 70's doesn't just go out of fashion, it is jettisoned like the toothbrush mustache. Yeeted from a seaside cliff. Dropped in a ditch full of burning petrol. Abandoned at the side of the road in a bag. Morbid? Don't know her.

Draco Malfoy, as I earlier teased, wears the fashion of the Dark upper class. Flowing perfectly tailored robes with a rope belt. Crisp and clean lines, no jagged edges or anything to even suggest aggression. 90's pure-blood fashion is soft. For the girls, more color, but we are going to backpedal so hard nobody will ever think we were associated with that guy we don't name. Draco Malfoy's non-uniform robes are like spun clouds, opulent and decadent in beautiful pristine velvet, shining satin, and resplendent metallic embroidery. While Snape and the generation of men older than him now wear waistcoats over their robes to look proper and all buttoned up, Draco's set is all about looking sleek, clean, and comfortably ready for a dramatic breeze. I don't think there is a large difference between what boys and girls wear, the gendering is all in the accessories and embellishments. Lace for girls, metallic piping for boys.

I'm talking flowy, I'm feeling swishy, I'm saying that 'looks like a dress' was a completely fair take from Harry's perspective. Yes the above characters are female and Frieren herself wears a lot of white, but you get the idea. The Dark Lord is dead, we need a rebrand yesterday. More lighter colors even for Dark-aligned [read:Tory, Conservative] families. No evil here! Nope, nope nope.

Harry is a Self-fulfilling Prophesy in More Ways than One

Harry accidentally has a hand in this trend in his earlier years, since he is wearing Dudley's castoffs and he's incredibly famous. Baggy is in! Just relax, chill, be comfortable. Dress like you just don't care what you look like. (You know, pandemic style.) He wears jeans, and probably most of his bottoms are jeans. They are one of the most durable things any boy Dudley's age would wear, and so wouldn't be as destroyed as the rest of his wardrobe by the time Harry got his hands on it no matter how hard Duds is on the trendy fast fashion clothing Petunia buys him. Petunia, a social climber, is set on making sure her family looks like the next rung up on the social ladder after all.

Later, when we can assume Harry has bought at least one wizard outfit that isn't his school uniform if he's got enough money on hand to buy Omnoculars, he's probably taken his fashion cues from himself indirectly. He likely gets his advice from Hermione and Ron, who get their fashion sense from looking at their peers, who get their fashion sense from... the trend of super casual heavily muggle-influenced baggy clothing in mismatched colors that Harry started as a first year.

Bit harder to find male examples than female ones, but that's fashion gifs on Tumblr.

Shorter robes with jeans underneath - or knee-high socks or dhoti style trousers in blue heather fabric that look like jeans provided you have never seen jeans before in your life. Open, short robes over closed-front ones, aping an overlarge muggle jacket over a robe. Floppy shapeless clothes held on with an overlarge leather belt. Squashy hand-knit jumpers. Girls in the Lighter political side also take cues from muggle women's fashion, which is more form-fitting than traditional wixan wear and shows off the legs. In the muggle world, this is the time of the babydoll dress, slim-cut trousers/jeans, and tightly tailored suit skirts for women.

Imagine way, way, way more gold embroidery on the above dresses.

And, because I can, because it's headcanon time, 90's Indian/ Bollywood fashion influence on the Light side after James Potter is martyred because #Indian Harry Potter is real and I love him. Music, clothing, art, it is in style among those who honor James and Lily's sacrifice. Harry's green eyes looks so bright next to chestnut brown skin. He can speak to snakes because his ancestry includes a bit of naga blood, not because of the Horcrux. Petunia certainly never taught him about it, and he's confused when an especially devoted fan sends him blessings addressed to Hindu gods instead of the Christian or pagan ones he hears about more often at Hogwarts. One of the Patil twins asks him what's wrong with him expecting, from his attitude and excitement about Christmas, that he's a devout Christian who hates his dark skin. Then they monopolize some of the time he's not teaching the D.A. or in detention to Educate That Boy.

[tracingpatternswrites]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much for the tag @squintclover, this was perfect for me since I’m spending most of today on a train.

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

As of this moment I have a total of 113 works. That is…a lot. Most of them have been written after February 2022.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

760 300 words. I am…blown away, honestly. That’s so many words???

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Harry Potter these days, but I’ve dabbled in others too.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Playing with Fire - Steamy Wolfstar PWP

Of Quiet Hearts and Thundering Dreams - Wolfstar muggle AU single parents falling in love

Countdown - More steamy Wolfstar PWP

Wilder than Mountain Thyme - Wolfstar Magical AU

Hungry Moon - Yet another steamy Wolfstar PWP

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I appreciate every single comment I receive and I do try to reply to all of them but sometimes it takes me a while.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably my canon compliant Order of the Phoenix rewrite from Sirius’ POV, The star and the moon. Since it’s canon compliant you can probably figure out how it ends…

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Wilder than Mountain Thyme. The boys deserved a HEA ending after all I put them through.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Very rarely. I did have someone write a “clap back fic” (their words, not mine) based on one of my fics once. That was…bizarre.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

A lot. All sorts. Mostly D/s undertones and various kink.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I never have.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, a couple.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! I wrote Family on the Mend with @heartofspells and Of Protein Powder & PTAs with @squintclover and both those experiences were amazing. I’m so lucky to have such talented and amazing friends.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Wolfstar has my heart.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I tend to finish what I start and the only current WIP I have is a very toxic Jegulus and I really hope I manage to finish that one.

16. What are your writing strengths?

People tell me I’m good at smut if that counts 😅 I think I’m quite good at world building too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything else, lol. Sometimes I feel like I’m a bit repetitive and like I stress through certain parts of the story.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I like it. My only tip is to ask someone who speaks the language rather than using Google Translate (or similar).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Lord of the Rings.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I like many of my fics but I do think Wilder than Mountain Thyme is my all time favourite.

No pressure tags (I’m sorry if some of you have already done this but I’ve been offline this weekend): @heartofspells @soloorganaas @mundrakan @fonkeloog

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

250 of 2023

Mercury: What’s your full name?

...and what else? Do you really think I’m gonna share my last name here?

Venus: What’s your first language?

Dutch.

Earth: Where’s your home?

Where my heart is. Middelkerke, Belgium.

Mars: What’s your sexuality?

Gay, but asexual.

Jupiter: Do you have any siblings?

Yes, one younger sister.

Saturn: Any pets?

Two cats, both girls.

Uranus: What’s your hobby?

Photography and travels.

Neptune: When’s your birthday?

In a week.

Pluto: What time is it right now where you are?

23:13, it’s night.

Moon: What are you currently studying/hope to study?

Nothing, my uni is on hiatus.

Sun: Have you ever had alcohol?

Lol no, I don’t even know what it is. Are you kidding me?

Sirius: Have you ever failed a class?

Yeah, almost.

Rigel: Have you ever gone on a rollercoaster?

No, and I don’t want to.

Deneb: Have you ever been out of your home country?

I’ve been to six countries in total, all in Europe.

Arcturus: Have you cried out of something other than sadness?

I’m not a crybaby.

Betelgeuse: What’s something you can never forget about?

Taking my medication.

Aldebaran: What’s something you care desperately about?

The people I love, and my cats.

Canopus: Have you ever broken a bone?

No, my bones are ridiculously strong.

Bellatrix: Have you ever been forced to lie/keep a secret?

No. I keep secrets because that’s my nature, and I’m a terrible liar.

Alphard: Have you ever lost a friend?

Yeah, that friend who used to call me “his little brother”. I’ve heard his depression went really bad.

Vega: What’s something you’ve done that you wish you hadn’t?

Had sex lol.

Centaurus: Favourite holiday?

Christmas and summer vacations.

Orion: Favourite month?

June and July.

Cassiopeia: Favourite book?

I don’t like these “favourite” questions. How can I choose just one book if I love to read??

Delphinus: Favourite study?

Physics.

Hercules: Favourite instrument?

Piano, violin, harp, cello.

Gemini: Favourite song?

Too many to mention. How on earth am I supposed to choose just one?

Pegasus: Favourite place to be?

My hometown. Or the beach nearby.

Libra: Favourite colour?

Black and green.

Phoenix: Favourite thing to wear?

All my hoodies and cargo trousers. Nothing tight.

Aries: Favourite movie?

Ew, movies. Boring.

Cygnus: Favourite weather?

Either warm and sunny or thunderstorms.

Hydra: Favourite sound?

Sea waves on thr beach, cat’s purring, the sound of rain/wind outside the window (especially at night), thunders.

Milky Way: Who’s your oldest friend? 

Marc, I suppose.

Andromeda: Do you consider yourself social?

Half and half.

Black Eye Galaxy: Do you believe in love at first sight?

No, I don’t. For me, it’s nothing more than infatuation. How can you fall for someone you know nothing about?

Cartwheel Galaxy: When was your first kiss?

At the age of 22. Never felt the need before that.

Cigar Galaxy: How’s your flirting skills?

0/10 lol. I come across as flirty (that’s what others say), but I absolutely have no clue how to do it consciously XD

Comet Galaxy: Have you ever had to leave a relationship because someone changed too much?

No, he left me. It was the time of emotional turmoil.

Pinwheel Galaxy: Would you date the last person you talked to?

He(’s already my husband.

Sombrero Galaxy: Do you have a crush right now?

I love my husband, that’s it. I have some platonic interests, too.

Bode’s Galaxy: Have you ever had a secret admirer?

No, I don’t think so.

Sunflower Galaxy: Would you date/make friends with someone out of pity?

No, I’m a terrible liar.

Tadpole Galaxy: Would you deny a relationship/friendship?

Friendship, no. Relationship, mostly yes.

Whirlpool Galaxy: Have you ever cried over a breakup?

No, but it was a painful time nonetheless.

Comet: What’s your big dream?

To be healthy.

Asteroid: What does your dream life look like?

No health problems, big house, my husband and cats beside me, and going to work because I absolutely love my job.

Meteor: What’s something you wish you could tell, but can’t?

“You’re intriguing”. There is someone whose name I don’t know, but I’ve seen him several times and he’s really intriguing.

Nebula: If you could undo one thing in your life, what would it be?

That brain incident.

Shooting Star: If you could bring back one thing, what would it be?

My grandma, but she’s not a thing.

Pulsar: What do you hope to do in the next 10 years?

The same thing as I do now. Working in my job, travelling, living with my husband and cats.

Supernova: What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

Travel around the world.

Quasar: If you could spend the rest of your life with only one person, who would it be?

My husband, easy.

Wormhole: What’s something you wish would happen, but know won’t?

Becoming friends with someone. Or rather three “someones”.

Black Hole: What’s the last thing you want to see?

Holy shit, a bunch of triggering questions out there.

[alyona11]

Ok, now let me nerd about some of ideas I had while imagining this scene.

First, I honestly wanna sing praises to whoever does sound design for the audios! Their job probably goes unnoticed a lot but it definately played a huge part of how I imagined the scene, spacing and even frame composition. I think for the beginning I wanted it all to feel safe. Like yeah, the device isn't there but everything is under control :) no need to worry, Narvin and Leela are there to figure everything out and provide another way, but that safety should have disappeared once the MT device comes to play. I really really love how the voice acting and background sounds feed the feeling of anxiety and shock. In particular, the moment when Narvin promises to help but it's completely obvious he has no idea what to do. The sound of the MT sounds both like a heartbeat and train track until it disappears completely. It reminded me a scene from HBO's The Last of Us where Joel kills a soldier after having a ptsd flashback about the biggest tragedy of his life.

I also wanted to play on how opposite are Narvin and Leela's reactions to death. Obviously, they both seen enough of it, but it seems to me that sadly Leela is more used to losing people she cares about. I don't think we have ever seen Narvin losing a friend. Like in terms of losing a friend for good without any hope of saving them. Of course he have seen people die a lot during Time War but these weren't people who were close to him. Which makes me think about how Time Lords are probably not used to seeing other Time Lords just...die suddenly. So I wanted him to be shocked, confused and not fully believing it actually happened, while Leela understands the situation instantly and tries to "wake him up" from the stun mode. She is very much the anchor of that scene. For the fight scene I was coming mostly from the sound. It didn't seem like a fist fight, plus I do think fist fight would have been really bad in that situation? It's too active and too aggressive. You probably wouldn't stop your grieving friend from making reckless things by punching them in the face xD That's just cruel, not a friend-like. So I thought about Leela restraining Narvin and not letting him go further, pushing him away from the door. Again, neither Leela or Narvin want to hurt each other. So for Narvin I didn't do any pushes or punches and stuff like that, I just can't imagine that. He's just going forward and doesn't care about any resistance. Plus Leela restraining him looked like a hug xD My big inspo for the hug as an attempt to stop Narvin was don't hate me the scene of Sirius' death in Order of the Phoenix, maybe because it was such an honestly acted scene of realisation of loss and instant switch into a full revenge mode. I just constantly remember it as the most traumatic media moment of my childhood xD The final knockdown is again just the last resort, it didn't seem like a punch but more of Narvin either being hit with something heavy or just bumping his head into a wall/console. First, I thought Leela could have hit him with fake MT device, but then I thought that logistic wise it would have been hard to pull. Plus it seems like in terms of sound they are pretty close to each other, so I thought I'd rather have Leela pin Narvin to a wall (which can be a reference to that one line in TW1) and then kinda pushing him a bit too hard so he knocks his head. And I thought him falling to her arms would play well with "I'm trying to protect you, I cannot lose you" line beautifylly delivered by Louise Jameson ;)

It's out! Beware of the spoilers for War Room 2 Transference! This project took me about a week and 120 drawings to complete. After I collected the drawings together I kinda figured out there were things that I could have done differently but I really love this draft. Super proud of finishing it. Animatics are always very exhausting to make because you need to think about so many things at once and you have to relisten to the material to see the image in your head and then decently transfer it into an image. It's also trickier when it isn't a music video but the characters just having a conversation. But surprisingly it wasn't a huge problem with this scene in particular because it was written and acted so dynamically. I think War Room 2 turned out a very solid boxset and switched my brain into "thinking about Gallifrey" mode! Big cheers to @fiotrethewey for writing this scene and supporting this project in progress. Cheers to Sean Carlsen for playing this scene so heart wrechingly! Under the cut I'll post the storyboards with some notes:

[mirrorofliterature]

Do you think Percy moved back into the Burrow, or did he while reconciling with his family, still decide to live in his flat? Like maybe to try and find his own self. As I feel like everything that happened in order of the phoenix to Deathly Hallows needed to happen for him to grow. I mean if Voldy never came back and he never had a conflict with his family he wouldn't of changed for the better.

No, I don't think Percy moved back to the Burrow (because he's already happy living with his fiancé Oliver Wood). In all seriousness, I don't think he would because his family stifled his ambition by dismissing his accomplishments. Overall, his parents did not facilitate a supportive environment for Percy. If the Grangers had treated Hermione the way the Weasleys did Percy, actively belittling her academic ambition and achievements, the fandom would have rioted, but that's neither here or there. Yeah, siblings tease each other, but not to that extent. It's much more normal to congratulate them, not tear them down. Source: does have a sibling. And other life experiences: friends with siblings.

And I agree that Percy did need to leave the Burrow and have his absolutely disastrous experience with Fudge to grow, but not in the same way that you (or others) might think. I think that the Burrow was an unhealthy environment for Percy - for the majority of the Weasley children, actually. Charlie and Bill and Fred and George all left the second they could, and if that's not telling, I don't know what is. My thoughts on the Weasley parents' less than stellar parenting techniques can be found in a more than two thousand word discussion between Ginny and Percy in my novella-length story, a study of cracked gold. But in short: Arthur was absent and treated Muggles not as real people but a spectacle with very rigid views (yes, he was prejudiced against muggles: look up implicit bias and how harmful the objectificiation of minorities is, even if it is in a positive skew). And Molly was incredibly prejudiced with severe internalised misogyny (thanks, Queen TERF) and treated her children favourably and yelled at them, frequently.

My dad is one of six, and my mum is one of four, so I know what large families are like. I know what healthy families are like. They are not like the Weasleys: it is just in contrast to the Dursleys, they shine. They meet the material needs of their children, mostly (Ron's wand aside), but their emotional needs are clearly suffering. Children are not there to fit parents' neat little picture, but as people who need nourishing and space to flourish. Molly and Arthur don't allow their children true individuality and it is harmful, incredibly so.

Anyway, getting back to the actual point of your question, I think Percy did change for the better because he was no longer under the influence of his family. Yes, I think realising the extent of corruption in the Ministry probably made him more cynical/pessimistic/activist, but I don’t think he was unaware that Fudge wasn’t a perfect specimen (see: this meta here). But I think that Percy not being constantly belittled for being himself and being different [autistic, likely, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he also had anxiety], allowed him to grow comfortable with himself and perhaps not so dependent on external validation and more able to rely on other people. In my personal headcanon, along with Oliver being a great support system, he also becomes close with Sirius and Remus, who, despite being lowkey disasters, are good examples of healthy adults/mentors and support that Percy desperately lacked. I also see Andromeda Tonks being a good mentor to the Weasley family (as Tonks is Charlie's best friend) for healthy intergenerational relationships are snazzy.

Percy leaving his family and 'siding' with the Ministry was good for him. He would have gained a lot of valuable (if mildly traumatic) experience as an assistant to the Minister of Magic and would have been in an incredibly valuable position during the war to help vulnerable people such as muggleborns. But the real reason, I think, he was allowed to flourish and make mistakes, was because he was not being constantly negatively scrutinised by his family and instead surrounded himself with a positive support network.

So yeah, you can say that by leaving home, Percy became his better self. Consequent to this growth, I don't think he would have gone back.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would a cw adaptation of Harry Potter look like?

Having not watched too many cw shows myself (I just hear about their nonsense), I phoned @therealvinelle who made the poor life choices of having watched much more of The Vampire Diaries than I have and watching any Supernatural.

The following is her beautiful response:

So for starters, we merge Snape and Tom's characters. This is because Snape isn't hot, and because Tom needs to be near the kids. Tom still looks like Tom Riddle, and he's a teacher who seduces Hermione. At no point are any thoughts about the fact that he's a teacher sleeping with a student had

Harry is a blond now, and he's also dating Hermione. A love triangle ensues, one where Tom will hover sexily but dangerously in empty classrooms and make vague threats that Hermione find very sexually arousing.

The love triangle is the focal point of this show.

Voldemort is Tom's evil alter ego, who killed Harry's parents over that prophecy. He wants to kill Harry as well, but it's not the season finale yet so he's not actually doing anything about it. Too busy seducing Hermione.

Instead he just does vaguely sinister things, like release a basilisk that Harry heroically saves Hermione from.

He every so often has charged conversations with McGonagall (Who has been aged down and is in her thirties. She's still considered ancient), implying they had an affair once.

Harry and Hermione piece together that Tom and Voldemort aRe ThE sAmE pErSoN.

(Piece together meaning that Dumbledore, who only appeared in the second half of the first season and the show never bothers to clarify what his job actually is, gets a focal episode where he tells them the story of Tom Riddle through flashbacks. Terrible flashback wigs and costumes galore.)

Tom will later, in season 3 where he goes full woobie and we learn that none of his evil deeds were ever his fault, reveal that there's more to the story. That orphanage he grew up in? It was a special school for muggle-borns where they trained a future wizarding militia. Tom was the only one who broke free of their oppressive regime. The other children... GREW UP TO BECOME THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.

But I'm skipping how season 1 ended. The answer is that Hermione disavowed Tom in the season 1 finale since he was evil, he was too sexy bad boy to care except subtle wigglings of his eyebrow told the captive Tomione-shipping audience that he did in fact care. Harmione shippers think they're all delusional. She then jumped into Harry's arms.

Which was poor decision making on her end, because in season 2 Harry joins the dark side. This lasts for half a season, mostly because the arc featured so much filler. Tom, who was imprisoned in season 1, becomes Hermione's supportive pen pal through this ordeal and she starts to wonder if maybe there's good in him after all.

Sirius Black is introduced, he's a lawyer living in the Muggle world and he was in love with Lily. We get a flashback showing us how sad Sirius was when she married James, and there is buildup for an arc where Harry's paternity will be questioned. This arc is scrapped, and Sirius is written out of the show altogether, never to be mentioned again.

Ginny gets pregnant by Neville. Neville dies tragically shortly afterwards, killed by Harry because Harry is a dark wizard now. This is actually the spinoff door episode to the new show the CW is trying to launch, "The Weasleys".

Neville's death has no real consequences, Harry returns to the light and is forgiven in time to become the child's godfather.

Oh, and can't believe I forgot: they've all been aged up to 17.

End of season 2, Tom escapes prison.

Season 3, we get the whole "DUMBLEDORE is the real villain!" arc. Tom killing Harry's parents in season 1 is forgotten, the show doesn't outright retcon it but it doesn't want the viewers to remember it either.

Hermione is once again in a love triangle, only this time Tom and Harry have both done bad things (but we'll only bring up the 2 bad things Harry did (killed Neville and said a mean thing to Hermione) and none of the 282985204592 bad things Tom did) so Hermione has a hard time.

Hermione also discovers that she's a uniquely powerful witch. She has the power to make windows shatter, candles flicker, and wind blow all about. Everyone is frightfully impressed with this.

Mid-season 3 finale, Dumbledore destroys Tom's body. It's terribly dramatic, but then turns out to only be a mild inconvenience as he is resurrected four episodes later. He's resurrected by Hermione's window shattering powering, she closed her eyes very intensely and bam, he's back.

We learn about the horcruxes, which by themselves are shockingly similar to the horcruxes of the original books. The big change, however, is that this Tom didn't know he had horcruxes, those evil bastards at the orphanage split his soul in the night through ominous rituals (another flashback here). He has no idea where this other half of his soul is.

Season finale, we learn that Hermione is in fact his horcrux. This is why they had so much in common (they don't have anything in common) and why she got through his bad boy persona (he hasn't been a bad boy since season 1!). They were soulmates this whole time!

Harry despairs in the face of this, and he and Hermione have a teary conversation where she confirms that yes, the Tomione shippers won.

He also has a pleasant conversation with Tom, as a bromance has bloomed between the two.

Alas. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, as the door flings open dramatically. Dumbledore walks in, bearing proof that Tom made an Unbreakable Vow to always serve the Order, a Vow that was obliviated from him. He drags Tom kicking and screaming away from a crying Hermione, the season ends with her resolve to find a way to save him.

(Sorry, I'm on a roll here)

Season 4, a year later. Harry and Hermione have been searching ever since Tom disappeared. They've become closer than ever, but apart from three or four moments of extreme sexual tension per episode, Hermione is Faithful™

News of Tom's terrorist actions as an Order member reach them with regular intervals. Hermione remains convinced that he's being forced to do all this and doesn't actually want to hurt anybody, Harry's not so sure.

They catch up to him in Minneapolis (did I mention this entire show takes place in the states? All the actors are American.) and he tells them to stop trying to save him. Hermione, devastated, takes this to mean he never loved her, he was only ever a psychopath playing with her feelings. She tells him as much, and Tom confirms, yeah, he's a cold-hearted son of a bitch (Harry's favorite insult for him).

They break up, and Hermione gets back with Harry. They return to their home city in North Dakota.

At the very end of that same episode, Tom is able to visit Harry for 15 seconds in the form of a specter and very dramatically tell him how he does love Hermione but he's not good for her, better to make a clean break, yada yada. DON'T LOOK FOR ME.

Harry agrees, sure no problem, he can do that. Just one noble bro to another.

Tom nods, thanks for having sex with my girl while I rot in hell, bro.

It is in this same season premier episode that the show introduces the Blacks. Remember Sirius Black? Yeah, this is sexy family.

They become instant fan favorites, and one of them is shipped with Tom (the fans now hate both Harry and Hermione).

Pandering as always, the show lets said character run into Tom. And it's not Bellatrix, oh no. It's Athena, a CW original Black. She's indistinguishable from the original Bellatrix and it's unclear why she's not just Bellatrix.

Tom is ordered to kill her, but they have a moment of truly intense eye contact so he only injures her (the killing curse doesn't exist in this show. Don't ask how Harry got his scar. No really, don't ask, the show never explained it). Shippers go wild.

Tom is eventually able to break free of the Unbreakable Vow through the power of true love (book fans are sobbing, this show gets nothing right), and he returns to Hermione, begs her to take him back. She rebuffs him, and he goes to get drunk at a bar. This is where Narcissa (aged down to 25) finds him. They have sex.

He has a brief fling with her, only to get into a more serious relationship with Athena. This leads to Hermione getting jealous.

We're now dealing with a love pentagon, of sorts. Harry and Tom love Hermione, Tom also loves Athena, Narcissa wants Harry but she has undeniable sexual chemistry with Tom.

The show descends into back-and-forth-ing, and does not get renewed.

The end.

POST SCRIPT:

The oddly popular side character that the CW never wanted to be popular at all and keeps having to make mysteriously vanish for half a season so that the plot(?) can avoid being derailed is Draco.

He's super competent but the show will never admit that.

Later, Athena plays this same role.

- @therealvinelle

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

After reading your opinion on Molly Weasley, i want to know: What are you're opinions on the Weasley family? Besides Ron & Molly that is.

Five characters? In one post? Well, alright, here we go.

The Weasleys as a Whole

I’ve mentioned this before but JKR writes the Weasleys to clearly be a believable but ideal family. They’re all fiercely loyal, progressive per wizarding world standards, love each other and Harry deeply, and have this wonderful off-kilter joyous house where there’s always some rambunctious thing going on. 

Harry comes to associate the Weasleys with family and, personally, I believe a large part of him marrying Ginny boils down to it will make him a Weasley for real. 

That said, they’ve got some major issues. They’re very righteous people who, as a whole, will ice you out the moment they even suspect you do something that disagrees with them. You don’t even have to do it, what you did or didn’t do doesn’t even have to be something terrible or something bad, but god help you if the family decides they’re done with you. 

They’re very resentful of people like the Malfoys. This isn’t just because Lucius is a smarmy, pompous, ass (he is) or that he indirectly almost murdered Ginny but seems to mostly be because Lucius has so much money. All of their interactions seem to boil down to the money. More than this though, the Weasleys seem fully supportive of laws that... well, used against themselves would be a travesty but used against the likes of the Malfoys it’s about damn time.

They’re unquestioningly loyal to Dumbledore. Granted, most people we see in canon are, Dumbledore’s very very very good at convincing people he’s a saint. However, these guys are practically his cult member to the point where they do things like refuse to have Harry over the summer, even before Voldemort returned, because Dumbledore told them not to. 

They also never really adopt Harry into the family. Oh they give him a nice sweater, he comes over every once in a while to the house, he’s very good friends with Ron but he’s mostly treated just like that, a good friend. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, except the way JKR sets it up we’re supposed to believe this is the family Harry found. It’s just that the family Harry’s found let’s him stay in a house with bars on his window where twelve-year-old Ron tells them, “Harry’s muggle family is really really awful” in a way that should have been raising red flags. Hermione practically lives at the Weasleys, Harry never does.

Now, are the Weasleys evil? No, far from it, they’re ordinary people who act in ways I’d expect ordinary people too. Technically they didn’t have to do anything more for Harry than they did, they didn’t have to hate Lucius Malfoy for better reasons, and they don’t have to be even slightly less worshipful of Dumbledore. They’re people, and they’re fine characters, but the overwhelming worship and love of the Weasleys we see across fandom does get on my nerves.

But you asked for individuals, so here we go.

 Arthur Weasley

Arthur is the epitome of “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” in the worst of ways and is, frankly, a giant awful joke to me. He’s the white kid you see going around with dread locks, a beanie the color of the Jamaican flag, smoking weed, and attempting to speak like Bob Marley 

Only, because he does it with muggle things, we’re supposed to find him funny and progressive.

Arthur is absolutely, albeit unwittingly, condescending in his love of muggle knickknacks. He has no idea how any of it actually works, not limited to how muggles could possible survive without the gold standard, but ardently believes he does because he can enchant the car to fly. Seriously, that he believes he’s an expert on muggle culture, as a pureblood wizard who heads an office in the ministry on it, is the worst part. His love of toasters comes across as, “Wow, look how cool it is that these poor little muggles made all this neat stuff. We should absolutely love the muggles because of it!” And that he heads an office in the ministry called “The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” which is all about catching down Jackass style pranksters who think it would be hilarious of they enchanted toasters to bludgeon muggles to death...

Goddammit Arthur, why do you exist?

Right, otherwise, he’s got some pride issues going on. Part of the reason Percy is excommunicated is not so much that Percy doesn’t believe Harry, but because Percy dared to do better than Arthur in his own career. Arthur is stuck in his position as head of a joke of a department, he is an underling at its finest, and frankly likely only has that position because he’s a pureblood and the idea of putting a halfblood or even muggleborn at the head of a department dealing with muggles just made the higher ups shudder. (Don’t tell Arthur that though, he likes to think he’s not benefitting from nepotism). 

Arthur goes so far to accuse Percy as Fudge’s secretary as spying on him. Arthur, the guy who heads “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts”. Yeah, Arthur, I’m sure Fudge is really wasting his time using his straight laced secretary to find out all your dirty secrets. 

He also tends to see the world as very black and white. When Skeeter in book 4 writes an article after the Quidditch World Cup disaster complaining about the ministry’s lax security in enabling domestic terrorists to enter (something completely valid and true by the way) Arthur is so personally offended that both he and Percy go straight to the ministry to complain about Rita Skeeter and her daring to assume freedom of speech! HOW DARE SHE CALL THE MINISTRY’S NON-EXISTENT SECURITY AT THE WORLD CUP LAX! (To be fair, she also cited Arthur as having been in attendance at the event, a ministry employee, and having done nothing but, well, this is also true Arthur. You’re in a guerilla, underground, resistance movement. If I didn’t already think the Order was a joke this would kind of highlight it for me).

He’s also very resentful of Lucius Malfoy, and it seems to mostly be about the money. Arthur and Molly have a severe spending problem and actively resent that Lucius is swimming in money. That Arthur is ardently pleased about a law being passed in which the ministry without warrant can ransack Lucius Malfoy’s home... 

Well, Arthur, imagine the slippery slope if the government decides that it would like to search the Weasley home without warrant? In fact, he doesn’t even have to imagine it, as the beloved government in a few short years turns against him and then it’s all about how corrupt the ministry is. 

Arthur’s delightfully narrowminded, basically, and reminds us at nearly every opportunity.

Percy Weasley

Mostly, I just feel bad for Percy. Percy’s the son/brother that nobody likes and he’s painfully aware of that fact. He doesn’t fit in with the others, he has far too much ambition for the Gryffindor family and they resent him for it, and then he dares to say things like “I don’t know guys, Voldemort resurrecting from the dead after decades doesn’t sound plausible, we know Harry’s a little off kilter, and Dumbledore’s one shady dude”. Percy happens to be wrong about Voldemort resurrecting (and admits as much when the evidence is plainly visible), but he’s pretty on the money with the rest of it.

Regardless, growing up we see Ron constantly hating on Percy along with the rest of the siblings. I’m sure Percy is obnoxious, and certainly full of himself after making prefect and head boy, but he’s very clearly even before Order of the Phoenix the Least Favorite Brother (TM).

Then the Weasley family completely ices him out for a) getting a very high ranking position very quickly as Fudge’s secretary and b) not being gung ho about Dumbledore saying crazy things in the paper. Remember that to Percy Harry is Ron’s weird friend who seems to get into highly illegal activities every other week. From Percy’s point of view, it’s probably a matter of time before Harry becomes a crack head in Knockturn Alley (or given how behind the times wizards tend to be, an opium den). 

He’s constantly getting Ron into not only trouble but life threatening situations, is erratic and apparently a parseltongue of all things, and now Harry’s flipped his lid and saying that Voldemort has been resurrected after having gone through a very traumatic experience of watching a classmate somehow die. 

While we see Percy kind of (sort of)  make up with the family it’s clear that for Percy to have any relation with these people he’s the one who will always, ALWAYS, have to come crawling back on his knees and begging for forgiveness. It’s the Weasley way or the highway and I imagine, at some point probably a little after/during that epilogue, Percy will just slowly drift away because it’s just not worth it anymore.

Percy’s very much the black sheep of the family.

Fred and George Weasley

You all are going to kill me, but I actually don’t care in the slightest about Fred and George Weasley. This is because they basically have no personality aside from “funny”. 

They just have their weird, tandem, twin act and are either playing jokes on the school or else serving as Deus ex Machina in giving Harry magical items such as the Marauder’s Map for no apparent reason. The plot told them it was time, I guess. 

Their jokes, while not as bad as Sirius and James’ “Let’s sexually harrass Severus Snape by pantsing and beating him at the edge of Hogwarts lake” or Sirius’ “Let’s get Snape eaten by a werewolf!” are still often needlessly cruel and... kind of pointless. They harass Slytherin house constantly just because they happen to be Slytherins, they’re acceptable victims (which of course makes house tension that much worse). Harry gets sent a toilet seat in the hospital because... that’s funny? Har de har? 

They’re so indistinguishable from one another I routinely see people mistake which one got his ear chopped off and which one died. Because the point is, that we can’t tell the difference! It doesn’t matter who lived and who died because all we know is that Freorge is dead! 

Similarly, you see tons of fics around where character of the day ends up in this weird twincestuous relationship with Fred and George and it’s not only for a) that delightful twincest but b) because they’re such a singular unit that any attempt to pair one with somebody else feels weird. So you just get these porn fics about Fred and George being weird rapey teenagers who seem like they’d be more interested dating each other. 

Charlie Weasley

I really have no thoughts on Charlie. He raises dragons in Romania, the family loves him. Now, dragon raising feels like one of the most dangerous jobs in the Harry Potter universe, like Charlie had just gone and signed up to be a lumberjack but he seems to like it?

We really don’t see much of Charlie, he’s just the obligatory older Weasley son so that the Weasleys can be this ridiculously large family.

Bill Weasley

We see slightly more of Bill, but again, not enough to really leave an impression. We know that his marrying Fleur sent Molly into a complete state, and that they’re going to have awkward Christmas dinners forever because of it where Fleur just sits there and pretends not to loathe every second of Molly’s presence while Molly notes how bad it is that Victoire got stuck with that ugly pink hair instead of the Weasley red. 

Bill doesn’t seem to really do anything about this. He still marries Fleur, but we don’t really see a major confrontation where he tells the family “Look, I’m marrying her, so grow up.” So, I imagine he just tries to smile pleasantly and tells Fleur to just endure it for another few hours. He loves his family, his family’s great, but they only have to see Fleur once a year at Christmas.

Ginny Weasley

Ginny is weird. She’s this weird, frankly, almost personality-less void whose sole obsession in life seems to be marrying Harry. She and Harry end up in the world’s weirdest relationship and I honestly have no idea how people ship it other than canon told them to.

Ginny’s... well, first off, she’s very much in love with an idea. She had always worshipped Harry Potter but then he personally saves her life in what was a horrifically traumatic year and so that feeling just grows even more. Despite being Ron’s sister, she barely seems to know Harry, and everything she seems to like about it are just things she made up.

I imagine her and Harry’s marriage will be littered with affairs on her end. Not divorce though, because Harry would never admit his wife is having affairs on him all the time even if someone directly confronted him. Harry also won’t admit he’s gay. 

More than though we get hints of a personality. Ginny’s a fiery red-head tomboy with a temper. But... Well, it’s only ever hints. She never felt like a real person to me. She has I think one throwaway line about the Chamber of Secrets incident and how it personally affected her. We’re told she’s great at the bat boogey hex so we know she’s a fiery independent woman.

She feels more like a character sheet than an actual person. 

Whenever she’s around I always had this nagging question in my head where I ask why Ginny’s here. She has a lot of potential but nothing’s ever done with her. And when something is, it’s to get her into this bizarre relationship with Harry where he imagines there’s a green rage monster in his chest that loves her skin.

Okay Harry, if you say so. 

TL;DR: The Weasleys aren’t evil or anything, I’m not on Team Bash Them All, but they are shortsighted, ordinary, people who don’t deserve to be worshipped as all that is good in this world.

[missbrunettebarbie]

Hi! Do you know the maurderers era students hogwarts houses? I read that Snape was a Snake/Bird and Peter Pettigrew is a Lion/Badger but what would the rest be in your opinion? I think James is a double lion, Lily a lion/bird, Remus a lion/bird with a badger model, and Sirius a Snake/Lion. Bonus!: I think regulus black was a snake/bird or a double bird with a snake model for his family.

Hello, nonnie. I have to confess, the Marauders were never my favourites characters, but I'll try to do my best. Iirc, I think @awinterrain and @the-phoenix-heart have talked about them befoere, but I am going to throw in my two cents.

Peter Pettigrew - He was sorted here by @wisteria-lodge I find the arguments very compelling, so yeah, I agree on Lion Badger for him.

Remus Lupin - Probably the hardest to sort, because I don't really care about him, like, at all. I agree Bird secondary seems likely. I could also see Bookkeeper Badger, but eh, let's say Bird. I disagree on him being an Idealist because the most memorable of scenes for me was in book 7, when he wanted to joing the trio and Harry accuses of him of running away from his family because he's scared of failling as a father. I think an Idealist would have pointed out that helping defeat Valdemort is the best thing he could do for his family, but he doesn't. We are left with the sense that Harry was right. And indeed, running away in order to protect people seems to be his MO. He was absent from Harry's life for 12 years and then disappeared again in Year 4. And as much joy as he gets from teaching, he doesn't fight for it when he's fired. IMO, he's a burned Badger primary that dehumanizes himself and doesn't allow himself a community.

Sirius Black - I think it would be impossible to sort him as anything but a Snake Lion. Clearly His Person was James and after he died, he focused on Harry and I think that's what kept his primary relatively healthy. Also what motivates Sirius in book 3 is revenge on Pettigrew. Very Snake-y of him. As for his secondary, it looked like both James and Sirius were Improvisers and I could never see this guy as anything but a Lion.

James Potter - The thing about James is that a lot of people have a very, very good impression about him and for 4.5 books the reader also sees him in a good light. But then we see Snape's flashback in book 5 and find out he was actually a bully. Which makes us wonder how literally everyone but Snape -who is biased bc of other reasons- had such a high opinion of him. IMO, it was because James was a veeeery Snake secondary. Compare him for just a moment with Sirius, who was mostly like James, but people, including people close to him, had no problem believing he was a murderer. As @laufire pointed out, it's hard to see Dumbledore, Remus, etc. believe the same of James if the situation was reversed. Lion vs Snake secondary, man. I agree he was most likely a Glory Hound Lion that probably shifted more towards Paragon after he graduated from Hogwarts and joined the war.

Severus Snape - I don't remember who sorted him and where, but I totally agree with Snake Bird. Severus was a pretry unhealthy Snake who fixated on Lily since childhood, but also valued power more than her. He thought he could have the best of both worlds and then Lily died and I am pretty sure he burned to a crisp. And yeah, what other secondary could the potion master have but Bird?

Lily Evans - We really know ridiculously little about her, but the way she stood up to James again and again since their first till their fifth year, makes me think she was a Lion secondary. (I am getting the feeling James really liked Lion secondaries) Definitely an Idealist primary and I could see Lion, but I like the idea of her housesharing with Harry too much, so I prefer imagining her as a Bird.

Regulus Black - Pretty much my favourite character on this list LOL. We also know too little about him to really have any definitive sorting, but I like your ideas that he might be a Snake Bird or a Double Bird. If it was the former, it's truly tragic, as I think only Kreacker would have been His Person by the time he died. Buuut, I am more inclined towards a Bird primary who thought pureblood ideaology was Right and Good, till he was smacked across the face with evidence that it really, really wasn't. The reason I am choosing Bird over Snake is because I cannot see a Snake sacrificing himself in the Cave when Kreacker was already safe. Snake!Regulus would have either: 1. never let Kreacker leave with Voldemort 2. sacrificed himself if it was between his life and Kreacker's or 3. as soon as Kreacker came back from the cave, would have taken him and deflacted from Voldy and the Blacks. But he didn't do any of these, instead he chose to die in the hope of his death helping bring Voldy's destruction. Kinda screams Idealist to me. And I think it's Bird and not Lion, because the cave and the horcrux and Kreacher almost dying seem to have been the straw that broke the camel's back for him and he did a 180 degrees turn and decided the Black family values can go to hell, Voldy needs to die. Considering the (super dramatic) message he left, Regulus strikes me as a planner, so I agree Bird secondary could suit him well.

So, TL;DR:

Peter Pettigrew - Lion Badger

Remus Lupin -Badger Bird, burned primary

Sirius Black - Snake Lion

James Potter - Lion Snake

Severus Snape - Snake Bird, unhealthy and burned primary

Lily Evans - Bird Lion

Regulus Black - Double Bird who changes his belief when he realizes how dangerous Voldemort is.

But, really, we know so little about most of these guys, you could write them as almost any sorting in fanfics and it probably won't look out of character. These are just my preferred interpretations.

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

The real Sirius Black

Sirius Black was a very special boy. For instance, everyone at Hogwarts knew who he was. For many, he was the most handsome lad. Many girls (even boys) wanted to date him, others wanted to be like him. Sirius Black was an icon around Hogwarts. The first Black to be sorted into Gryffindor. Prankster legend, always making the funniest jokes and comments in class. He was most teacher's favourite. He had the reputation of the bad boy, a player who broke girl's hearts daily. Sirius Black, the legend.

Nobody knew the real Sirius Black.

Sirius was the most insecure of the Marauders even more than Remus and nobody noticed. He had had a horrible experience with his family. Sirius never showed his true feelings or at least he tried. He wanted to keep his reputation. He kept a smile, he would make a joke or get drunk so he could act goofy around everyone.

Every summer he would experience the worst. His parents made him feel so small. So vulnerable. He hated that feeling.

The real Sirius was sensible, romantic, too depending on love and attention. He cared too much and too deeply. He wasn't a play boy. Sirius had never been in love. Sirius was scared of his sexuality. He was scared of his real temper. But he would do anything for his friends. Specially Remus Lupin.

It was the summer of 1975. Sirius was invited to the Potter's beach House along with Remus and Peter. Remus had a hard time convincing his father to let him go. Since he was a werewolf and he would have to transform there. The boys and Mr. and Mrs. Potter eventually convinced him.

Remus Lupin had to transform in the basement. And the next day all the boys wanted to see him. "I will get in first" Fleamont had said "Do you hear me? I would let you know when to get in"

The boys nodded impatiently. But the minute Fleamont opened the door, Sirius ran inside. He was too impatient. "SIRIUS..." Fleamont yelled. But he didn't pay attention.

Sirius got downstairs and he saw Remus lying on the floor. His body was all brused, dirty and ...naked. Sirius blushed for some reason. He kneeled beside his friend.

"Remus.." he whispered Remus hummed in response, opening his eyes slightly. "Sirius?" Sirius smiled "Yeah it's me. I'm here"

Fleamont came downstairs as well with a blanket. "I told you to wait Sirius" he said "Don't ever do that again" he sounded kind of angry but mostly worried. "Sorry Mr. Potter. I was so worried"

Fleamont smiled covering Remus' nudity.

"Remus? Does something hurt?"

Remus murmured something like 'knee" with still a sleepy voice. Fleamont nodded. "Okay, this is gonna hurt a bit okay?" he took out his wand. Sirius instantly grabbed Remus hand. This was the first time he had watched Remus like that. They only had seen him already fixed and rested at The Hospital Wing. Fleamont flicked his wand muttering something and Remus screamed in pain. Sirius squeezed his hand. "It's okay Remmy"

Remus was fixed in no time. Sirius didn't want to leave him. He stayed with him. Watching Remus sleep. He looked so peaceful. Sirius wanted to touch Remus' hair. But he didn't dare. His heart was beaiting fast. "Sirius?" Euphemia said. She was looking at him from the door frame "Why don't you let him sleep sweetheart. Come down for breakfast. You can be with him when he wakes up"

Sirius looked at Remus again. He didn't want to leave him but he nodded following Euphemia downstairs. And just like that Sirius Black had a crush on his best friend.

It was Sirius idea to become an animagus for Remus. To help him, to be with him. And he managed to do it, to be with Remmy every full moon. And do everything for the boy he loved.

The real Sirius Black secretly hated himself because sometimes he didn't think before acting. He was so afraid of being like his family. And sometimes the nightmares were too strong to ignore. Sometimes he just felt too bad to even hide it.

Normally, Sirius and James would joke around, they wouldn't talk about serious stuff. It wasn't their thing. But James noticed how Sirius' joy lowered everytime before summer breaks or winter breaks. When Sirius had to go home.

Sirius came all brused and crying to James' house the summer of 1976. He didn't speak. Euphemia and Fleamont fixed Sirius' bruses and warmed him up. James was so worried. But Sirius didn't want to speak.

James owled the boys. Remus and Peter. They came the next day. Sirius pretended he was fine of course. He was playing Potter's piano when the boys arrived.

"What happened?" Remus asked clearly worried. "He came all brused last night" whispered James looking at him with concern "I reckon his parents did something to him, but he doesn't want to speak" "Shit.." Peter said.

James approached his friend smiling "Hey mate, look who is here"

Sirius looked at his friends and he instantly smiled. "Heey boys" he said "Guess what? I'm a Potter now. Meaning I would inherite half of their gold" There he was again. Always joking to hide his feelings.

"You wish" James joked.

"Are you okay Sirius?" Remus asked worried

"Yeah. I couldn't be better" Sirius clearly lied "I was hoping to leave that stupid household. I'm free now!" The boys looked at him with concern.

"You're lucky" Peter commented awkwardly "I would like to leave my annoying mother sometimes" Sirius laughed.

"Yeah. We should celebrate" he said "James do you think we can take your father's licor?"

"Don't you dare!"

Remus Lupin sighed he wasn't convinced Sirius was fine.

Later that night, the boys felt asleep on the Potter's leaving room, after drinking and chatting a bit. James Potter woke up to go to the loo as always. And he didn't find Sirius there. James got instantly worried.

James looked all over the house whispering his name not to wake anyone up. Until he got to the second floor bathroom. James opened the door slowly, and to his horror, he saw Sirius there. His naked torso showed some of the worst bruses and scars he's ever seen. He gasped. When Sirius noticed he jumped.

"GET OUT!" Sirius said

"Sirius, what... Let me see"

"No!" Sirius was covering his body, embarrassed. "Sirius" James approached him carefully "Let me see..."

"No leave me alone!"

"Sirius let me..." James tried to touch him but Sirius pushed him away.

"No.."

"Sirius..."

"Fucking leave!!"

Sirius bursted into tears. He broke down like never before, not in front of anyone at least. Not in front of James. He was so embarrassed. James hugged him. "It's okay..." Sirius sobbed "Please don't tell anyone"

"I won't. I won't"

The real Sirius also was too insecure. Always afraid of abandonment. Issues he had aquired from his terrible childhood.

In 1981, Voldemort and his followers were too powerful. There was even a spy within the Order of Phoenix. Sirius became so paranoic. He had been dating Remus for a while now. He was so in love with that boy. But he made up all these ideas on his head about Remus being the spy. That he chose that path before staying another day with Sirius. That his relationship with Remus was too good to be true. "If you are going to leave me just do it!" he had yelled in one of their fights.

"Sirius you're being irrational! I would never do this, how can you think..."

"I don't know you anymore..."

"You are not the boy I feel in love with" said Remus with tears on his eyes "Just because I am a werewolf? You have become so prejudiced. Jumping into conclusions, just like your parents..."

Sirius jumped "SHUT UP! YOU'RE A FUCKING MONSTER" Remus went pale and began crying. Sirius realized what he had said.

"Rem... Remus I'm sorry.. I didn't..."

"Don't touch me..."

Remus started walking again.

"Remus! Please Remus don't leave me... I love you..." Sirius cried dropping to the floor. He had become like his parents and he hated it, he hated himself.

Nobody knew the real Sirius. For many years the entire Wizarding World thought Sirius Black was a murderer. He had the type didn't he? Rebellious, explosive, member of the Black Family. With his tattoos, motorbike, dark robes. Everything fitted. Who wouldn't believe Sirius to be a criminal. A death eater. A killer.

The real Sirius Black was a good boy victim of the circumstances. The real Sirius Black suffered so much. The real Sirius Black deserved love, respect, friendship and happiness. The real Sirius Black deserved better.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

I fucking love your writing!!! You're like one of my favorite fic authors ever!! Theres this cool ass quote that I really like that goes- "I'll take care of you" "It's rotten work" "Not to me, not if it's you" and I was wondering if you could work that into a fake dating AU??

This was such a bad idea, but that had never stopped Sirius before, and it wasn't going to stop him now. James had asked for his help, and Sirius was helpless to do anything but promise that he would do his best.

Granted, he would've been a lot happier to help if it hadn't been acting as James's boyfriend as they went to Lily and Remus's wedding.

Sirius was a nice guy and all, but after he agreed to help, he had to ask, "Why do you need a date at all? We were both invited. It's not like you have to sneak me in."

"The last time I saw either of them, I was being a massive prick because Lily had broken up with me."

"I remember," Sirius said. Mostly he remembered because he'd thought it was funny, at the time. Then, when it had become clear that Remus wasn't planning on talking to them anymore because of it, he'd felt a little bad. Not that they'd stayed best mates after leaving Hogwarts, but they used to meet up every few months. 

"I just want to let both of them know that I'm not going to make a scene."

"I don't think they would've invited you if they thought that was going to happen," Sirius said.

"If you don't want to pretend that we're dating-"

"I'm fine with it," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I was just pointing out that I don't think it's necessary."

"I think it's very necessary."

"Whatever you say, love." Disaster. This was going to be a complete and utter disaster.

Sirius should be smart and tell Remus ahead of time that it was fake so that he wouldn't say anything incriminating, but if James wanted him to pretend that they were dating, then that's what he would do.

*

Dumb. Idiotic. Stupendously moronic. These were all words to describe Sirius in this moment, and his only comfort was that it was James's stupid idea for this in the first place.

"I'm glad you two finally got together," Professor McGonagall said.

James's arm around Sirius tightened. "Right."

"How long have you been dating?" she asked, and it should've been a perfectly innocent question. They were at a wedding, presenting themselves as being in a serious relationship. These were the sort of questions people asked couples attending a wedding together. Sirius knew this, but given the way James's arm tightened even more, he figured that James hadn't known.

"The lines are a bit blurry," Sirius said with a smile. "You might as well ask if the phoenix came before or after the flame."

Professor McGonagall laughed, which covered the sharp inhale from James. They kept talking, exchanging idle conversation about her new students and their jobs for a couple minutes before they parted ways.

"You need to calm down," Sirius muttered to him.

"I'm perfectly calm," he said, but his jaw was tight and he looked like a pat on the back would shatter him.

Sirius only snorted. "Let's get you something to drink. That'll loosen you up."

An hour and too many drinks later, Sirius wondered if he should cut James off. It's not like he was an alcoholic, but he was pounding back drinks like it was going out of style.

Lily walked up to them as Sirius was debating whether or not he could get away with switching his glass (champagne) with James's (whiskey). They'd said hello to her when they walked in, but she was too busy making the rounds before this to really talk. Not that Sirius knew what they'd talk about. He'd never really gotten on with her, in spite of her dating James for over a year; he'd had plenty of time to get used to her, but he hadn't. "Hi, Sirius," she said with a smile. It was a cliche, but she was definitely glowing with happiness. "James."

James turned to look at her, then his eyes went wide and he swallowed thickly as he saw who he was face to face with. "Erm. Hey Lils. Lily. You look- erm, I mean-"

Sirius switched their glasses.

"It's good to see you- not that- er. Congratulations," James finished weakly.

"Thanks," Lily said, ignoring his stuttering. "I'm glad you two finally worked things out."

"Finally?" James asked.

"Yeah, I know that- actually, it's not my business," she said.

Sirius was very grateful that she wasn't going to get into it, and he was about to thank her aloud when James ruined it.

"No, what do you mean?"

Lily glanced at Sirius, who tried to give her a look to convey how much he would appreciate her not saying a word.

He wasn't sure it came across.

"I might be reading too much into it. It's not like I was ever very close with Sirius, and god knows I never knew what was going on in your head."

"Lily," James said slowly, "what are you talking about?"

"Just that you two have always been close. When we were dating, sometimes I felt like the odd one out."

"Sorry about that," Sirius said, because it had been a touch purposeful on his part.

She gave a small shrug, smiling again. "It all worked out in the end."

Sirius tried to focus on the conversation, asking how Remus had proposed and what they had planned for their honeymoon, but he couldn't help but keep an eye on James, who was staying horrifically silent. He noticed too late that James had stolen his drink back.

Eventually, Lily walked away to rescue Remus from a conversation with her sister, leaving James and Sirius alone again.

"Okay, that's enough," Sirius said, snatching James's glass from him. It was almost empty, but he wasn't going to risk it. "We're calling it a night."

"Fine," James said petulantly. He got to his feet, then wobbled.

Sirius put an arm around his waist to steady him and steered them towards the lift. "One foot in front of the other, love."

"I know how to walk," he muttered.

"How comforting. Do you also know how not to drink yourself into a stupor?"

"I'm not that drunk."

"I respectfully disagree."

"Respectfully?" James repeated with a laugh.

"Would you prefer disrespectful disagreement?"

"Sure. It'll make this feel more normal."

"As you wish, love.” Pause. “You're a sodding idiot. I can't believe I'm having to haul your arse around like we're eighteen again."

"It doesn't count as disrespectful if your voice still sounds like that."

"Like what?" Sirius asked.

"Like you love me."

"Use your imagination for that part."

James snorted, and they kept walking. It was slow going, mostly because James was trying to pretend he wasn't as drunk as he was. They made it into the lift, and James leaned heavily against him. "Maybe I did have a bit much."

"Maybe," Sirius agreed.

By the time the doors opened onto their floor, James had turned morose. It's how he always got when he got pissed instead of staying at buzzed, and Sirius was impressed that it had taken him this long to have his mood turn. Not that he'd been particularly happy before.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"What for?"

"That you have to take care of me."

"Don't be, I don't mind."

"You should."

"And why's that?" Sirius asked.

"Because it's-" he paused as he stumbled over his toes "-bloody rotten work."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"Not to me," Sirius said.

"It should be. Why would you want to take care of me?"

"Because it's you," Sirius said softly, knowing that James wouldn't remember this well enough come morning to figure out what he meant by it. "Nothing rotten about that, love."

One of these days, James was going to know that when Sirius called him 'love', he meant it exactly as it sounded. It wasn't going to be tonight though, so he kept helping James to their room. They'd done this song and dance too many times for Sirius to feel weird about it. If James needed help getting undressed, he'd help him. He knew how to keep from staring, so he wouldn't feel like he was taking advantage of the situation or summat. He'd get James to drink some water, and in the morning, James would thank him for the help and nothing would change.

It had been years, and nothing had changed between them.

Despite the countless comments they'd gotten today about people saying 'finally' or 'always knew you were together', Sirius knew that the chances of it happening were slim.

*

The rest of their stay at the hotel for the wedding passed without incident. It was the wedding day, and then the day after everyone was leaving. The day of the wedding, people were busy thinking about Lily and Remus, so people stopped commenting on the relationship between James and Sirius. It was a relief, but the sad fact was that all the people here that weren't family, they all knew from Hogwarts. They all knew Sirius and James, and the next time they saw any of them, they'd probably have to explain that they weren't dating anymore. It would be years before Sirius had to have that conversation with anyone, but he was already dreading it.

They packed their bags, checked out of the hotel, and headed home. Home was a flat they shared and had been sharing for the past five years. Sirius dreamt, sometimes, of them moving into a different flat, one that only had one bedroom because what would they need with a second one?

"Did we talk?" James asked, frowning. "When I was drunk?"

"We talked some, but nothing important. Why?"

"I thought... nevermind."

"Okay," Sirius said easily.

There was a minute or two of silence as they walked up the stairs to their flat and unlocked the door. Once the front door was closed, James asked, "Do you think that'll ever be us?"

"What will?"

"The big white wedding. Or- y'know, any wedding."

"I hope so," Sirius said.

"Really?"

"Well yeah." Sirius wasn't terrified of being alone or summat-- well, maybe a little bit-- but he'd like to have that kind of relationship some day. Something with that much trust and being intertwined in each other's lives the way Lily and Remus now were.

When Sirius turned around, James kissed him. Full on. Hands on either side of his face and leaning close like he wanted nothing more than to seep into his soul.

It took a couple days for Sirius to replay the conversation in his head and figure out that what he'd answered hadn't really been what James was asking. His answer was the same, no matter what, but he really hadn't thought that when James asked 'Do you think that'll be us?' he'd meant specifically the two of them together.

He sure as hell wasn't going to complain. 

[orderofthepygmypuff]

“Do you even know what a whisper is” for jily please :)

This is way longer than the drabble I had planned on, hah. You can read it on AO3 here.

“Potter.” 

James’s favorite person glared at him from the entrance to the head office. “Alright, Evans?”

“You have us partnered for rounds tonight.”

“Er, yeah. Remus isn’t feeling well.”

“Oh.” The annoyance fell away from her expression immediately, and James fell in love just a little bit more. “Is he in the hospital wing? Does he need anything?”

“He’s just in bed for a bit,” said James evasively. “Sorry about the last minute switch though.”

“Oh no, that’s alright. I thought you were just being — you know…” she trailed off, looking flustered.

“I wasn’t trying to annoy you on purpose,” said James, feeling miffed now. Why was it so hard to have a normal conversation with her? Every time he thought they were on friendlier terms, something like this happened and it became all awkward again. He hadn’t tried to annoy her on purpose for at least a year now; he thought she’d have noticed.

“No — of course you weren’t. I’m sorry for assuming. I’m still getting used to James Potter, Head Boy,” she said with a little smile. 

Yeah, he still loved her. “I’m very grown up now. No more immature, juvenile nonsense.”

She laughed. “I’ll see you at rounds, Potter. Meet you at the portrait hole?”

“I will be at the portrait hole at nine, being extremely mature and serious.”

“You can’t be Sirius though; you’re James.”

James honest-to-God gasped. “You — what — you made a Sirius joke.”

She grinned. “Maybe Head Girl Lily Evans is into a little immature, juvenile nonsense.”

It was all James could do to not swoon.

He was at the portrait hole at 8:45; a decision that Sirius found both deeply amusing and highly annoying. “You’re just going to stand there for fifteen minutes? Without doing anything or talking to anyone?”

“I am waiting for the love of my life,” said James firmly.

“You’re just doing rounds, oh my God —” 

“I think Remus mentioned wanting some help with that bandage on his calf earlier.” Remus had said no such thing, and Remus was more skilled with healing charms and tricks than any of them, but Sirius still turned towards the stairs to the dormitory.

“Enjoy standing around like an idiot for a quarter of an hour.”

“Thank you, I will.”

He only waited five minutes though, before Lily walked out of the stairwell. His palms felt suddenly sweaty.

“You’re early.”

“I told you, I’m very mature now,” said James, adopting a lofty voice that he associated mainly with Sirius’s mum.

“No more joke-y James Potter, I guess.”

Unfortunately, that particular veneer fell through almost immediately because Lily led them straight to the dungeons, because she liked to start her rounds at the bottom and work her way up.

“Er. What’s happened here?” she said, crossing her arms at the knot of Slytherins that had gathered in a hall. 

“Some moron charmed our Seeker into the portrait,” burst an angry fifth year. “And he’s supposed to play in the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match tomorrow! This is sabotage!”

“Okay, okay, calm down. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.” They approached the offending portrait — and sure enough, there was Regulus Black, sitting furiously on an upturned bucket in a painting of a stable full of horses. James turned his laugh into a cough. 

“Black, how did this happen?”

The Slytherin boy glared at them. “I’m not telling a couple of Gryffindors,” he spat.

Lily rolled her eyes. “We’re Head Boy and Girl. We can help you get out of there.”

“Get me out, then!”

“Very helpful, thanks,” said Lily drily. “Come on James, we better go get Flitwick. This looks like a charm.”

James followed her around the corner — and then suddenly he was being forced into a broom cupboard. 

“Oof! Evans, what —”

“Did you do it?”

“Er.”

“JAMES. POTTER.”

“Sshhhh, the Slytherins are right around the corner!”

“Did you do it?” she demanded, not bothering to lower her voice.

“Lily. Please whisper.”

“But why?! Gryffindor’s not even playing tomorrow! Why sabotage the Slytherin Seeker now?”

“Do you even know what a whisper is?!”

“We are having entirely different conversations!”

“Okay, okay. I may have had something to do with it. But he didn’t see me, so there’s no way he would know! We were extremely stealthy.”

Lily groaned, her hands over her face. “You are just the most, James Potter.”

“It’s not what you think,” said James quietly. Her fury seemed to be quickly giving way to disappointment, and that made his stomach hurt. “He — he did something really shitty to Sirius. We had to get back at him.”

“This is all just about some sibling drama then? Are you kidding?”

“It’s not just drama! Sirius was disowned by his parents two years ago. And Regulus told him that their mum wanted to meet at Hogsmeade to make amends last weekend, but it turned out to be an ambush. There were literal Death Eaters there! It was lucky Remus and Peter and I were there too, and Peter, of all people, managed to talk them down and let him off without a fight.”

Lily went pale. “That’s horrible.”

“Yeah. Regulus is a spineless little shit, so I’m sure he was forced into it. But we had to get him back. I know it seems like immature nonsense, but —”

“No, I get it. You can’t very well go attack the Death Eaters back.”

James sighed. “Yeah, well. Not yet.”

Lily looked up sharply. “What does that mean?”

“I mean, we can’t go fight them while we’re still in school and risk putting the other kids in danger. But once we’re out — well, there’s nothing stopping us, is there?”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re just angry about the ambush.”

“What? Of course it’s not! There’s a war on, Evans. Do you think I’m going to stand by and let You Know Who finish round up all the muggles and muggle-borns? I know you think I’m shite, but come on.”

He looked at her, miserable. But she was looking back at him through the dark, and in the dim light of her wand, her expression was — unexpected. Fierce. Determined. And then she leaned right up and kissed him.

James was still catching his breath when she said, “I don’t.”

“What?”

“I don’t think you’re shite. And I’ll be with you.”

“Be — what?”

“On the frontlines. In the Order. Wherever, however I can help.”

“Oh.”

“Good, that’s settled then. Come on, let’s go find Dumbledore.”

“Wait. I thought we were going to find Flitwick?”

“We can let the little beast stay in that painting a while longer,” she said, flashing a grin. “You’re about to join the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore’s asked me to keep an eye out for promising recruits, and it looks like I’ve found one.”

“Wait — you’re working for the Order? Already?”

“There’s a war on, Potter.”

“You kissed me.” 

“Yeah. I like you.”

“I like you,” said James. She grinned at him, and he felt his heart thudding in his chest. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been a prat to you. I guess boys aren’t the only ones who act out when they’ve got a crush.”

James laughed, mostly in disbelief. She thought she had a crush? “Go out with me, Evans?” 

She took his hand. “Come fight with me, Potter.”

The look on her face took his breath away — her smile, and the resolution underneath. “You’re on. Let’s go.”

[lunaslethifold]

A Summer in Ottery St. Catchpole: Part 1 (George Weasley x Potter!Reader)

Pairing: George Weasley x Female!Potter!Reader 

Series Synopsis: Y/N Potter used to have a huge crush on George Weasley. She could hardly even function around him. Now fresh out of a long relationship, she can say with confidence that those feelings she harbored for years are gone. George, on the other hand, had barely even acknowledged her existence. But now that Y/N is more comfortable around him, he starts to see the real her. George starts to see her in a new light. Boy, is that bad news for him. 

Warnings: none

Word Count: ~2.4k 

Find the other works in this series in my masterlist (pinned and linked in my bio :))

A/N: Here’s the second part of the series, shorter than the last part as promised. Reminder that this series takes place the summer after Goblet of Fire and before Order of the Phoenix, and it doesn’t follow canon completely. I made the headquarters of the OOTP the Burrow instead of Sirius’ house, mostly because I wanted to write this in the Burrow setting. The beginning of this sort of sets up everything that is to come. Also, thank you so much for all of the support on the prologue! I honestly was hoping for like, 5 notes, so tysm! Sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Harry was sat on his bed, watching his older sister pacing in front of him. Slight annoyance started to creep up on him at her incessant movement. The Dursleys had left not long ago to get help for Dudley. The house was quiet. Too quiet.

“Y/N, would you stop that?” Harry finally said, irritated.

“Expelled, Harry. Expelled! I can’t believe it. They can’t do that. It’s not right,” Y/N replied, completely ignoring what he just said. Harry almost rolled his eyes at her. “I mean, you were protecting him! Not to mention that he already knows about magic. Goodness, I should’ve been there-”

“Y/N, shh!”

“Don’t tell me to shh, Harry. I’m older than y-” This time, Harry did roll his eyes and placed a hand over her mouth, stopping her from continuing. Y/N attempted to pry his arm off.

“Did you hear that?” he said, lowering his hand.

“Hear what?” Y/N said, glaring at him. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped short when she heard it too. There were shuffling noises coming from downstairs.

“The Dursleys?” she mouthed at Harry. He gave her a confused look. “The. Dursleys.” She tried mouthing it again, this time slower.

“What?” he mouthed back, raising his eyebrows.

“The Dursleys,” she whispered to him. Harry still looked lost. “The! Dursleys!” Y/N whisper-shouted, exasperated. This time he understood.

“What about them?” he whispered back.

“Are they back? Is their car here?” she said, gesturing at the window that Harry was standing next to. It seemed to click in his mind and he searched for a sign of their presence outside. Nothing. He turned back to his sister and shook his head. They both pulled their wands out. The noise seemed to get closer and Y/N stepped in front of Harry.

The door to their room burst open and multiple figures could be spotted in the doorway. “Lumos,” a voice said, and the previously dark room was illuminated with light. The source of the light was a wand that was held by a woman with colored hair. She smiled goofily at Y/N and she almost smiled back. Almost. But she was still in protective sister mode and raised her wand a little bit.

While Y/N was looking at the woman, Harry seemed to have noticed a figure behind her.

“Professor Moody?”

-

Suddenly the Potter siblings were mounted on brooms and zooming through the sky. Y/N wasn’t nearly as good as Harry was on a broom, but she could hold her own. Although she was a little bit distracted with the whole being-rescued thing, she realized that the route they were taking was familiar to her.

“Oi!” she called to the woman who had smiled at her earlier. “Er… Tonks!” This caught her attention and she turned to her. “Are we going to the Weasley’s?” Y/N yelled. The wind whipped against her face and she squinted.

Tonks nodded. “Yeah, headquarters.” She also sent Y/N the same goofy smile as before. Y/N was a bit confused, but she smiled back this time. She could tell that she already liked her.

Soon the group approached the Burrow. Or, where the Burrow was supposed to be. It seemed to have vanished into thin air. When they landed, Y/N exchanged glances with Harry. He shrugged in response. It seemed that every year they were learning something new about the wizarding world. Moody lifted his staff and the charming house that they’d spent their summers at seemed to be growing before them. They all entered the house and a different noise than the usual hustle and bustle made its way to their ears. In fact, it seemed that there was arguing going on. And not the usual sibling back and forth, but actual heated conversation.

Y/N and Harry approached the dining room table, where all the commotion seemed to be. There, they caught sight of some of their favorite people.

“Remus!” Y/N said, reacting first. 

“Sirius!” Harry said from beside her. They were all wearing matching grins. As they tried to step forward, Mrs. Weasley blocked them.

“Now, now, we can say our hellos later. Upstairs you two, and we’ll call you for dinner in just a bit,” she smiled at them. Molly wrapped them in a quick hug and ushered them towards the stairs. Y/N glanced back before reluctantly walking up with Harry in tow.

When she reached the top, she was immediately pulled into a hug by Ginny. Harry greeted her before heading off to find Ron and Hermione. 

“Y/N! It feels like it’s been forever. I missed you,” she said, leading Y/N to her room.

“I missed you too. What’s with all the secrecy?” Y/N replied.

“They’re having a meeting. Mum says we’re not old enough to be allowed,” Ginny said, shrugging and fiddling with the books on her desk.

“A meeting for what, exactly? No one can give me a straight answer,” she replied, plopping herself onto the bed.

“The Order of the Phoenix, of course.”

“The Order of the Phoenix, of course,” Y/N mocked, making her voice much higher than usual. She picked up a pillow and chucked it at Ginny. She threw it back at her and rolled her eyes. “Hey, where’s Fred?”

“Oh, and here I thought you were excited to see me,” Ginny replied, smiling.

Y/N groaned. “You know that is not what I meant.”

“Dad sent him and George to town to get some things for dinner.”

“Ah, okay. So, tell me more about this Order of the Phoenix,” Y/N said, turning to Ginny. 

“Why tell when we can listen?” Ginny said with a mischievous glint in her eye as wide grins made their way to their faces.

-

That was how Ginny and Y/N found themselves in the situation they were currently in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to have the same idea and took the prime spot outside near the window. 

"I think I've got an idea," Y/N said. The plan was simple, really. Ginny would throw an old book she had lying around her room to the ground floor. Then, when Mrs. Weasley went to go investigate - she was the only one who had a view of the hallway from where she was standing - the two girls would duck into the coat closet that was near the door to the dining room. It was foolproof. Okay, maybe not so much. But Y/N really wanted to hear what was going on and there was no time to think of a brilliant plan.

The moment had come. Y/N sat at the top of the stairs, waiting for the sound of the book hitting the ground. When she heard it, she dashed down and before turning the corner, she peaked just to make sure that Mrs. Weasley was gone. She wasn’t. Y/N stopped herself from running forward. That was a close one, she thought. Just when she thought she was in the clear, Ginny came barreling down the stairs and smacked right into her. Y/N, clad in socks, slipped on the wood floor and fell down, taking Ginny with her. A loud thump sounded, and Mrs. Weasley’s head snapped in their direction mid sentence. She didn’t even hesitate before closing the door with her wand.

-

Fred and George were walking up the hill towards the house, bags of groceries in hand. “Do you reckon Y/N and Harry are here yet?” Fred asked George.

“Well, let’s find out, shall we?” George replied, watching the house reveal itself. They stepped into the hallway and their eyes landed on a peculiar sight. Well, peculiar for George at least.

“She didn’t hear! She didn’t get up from her spot,” Y/N said. Her and Ginny were sprawled in a pile on the floor and they were too busy conversing to notice them. 

“How is that my fault?” Ginny replied, trying to fix her disheveled appearance.

“I didn’t say it was-” Y/N began, but she was cut off when a pillow smacked her in the face. Ginny had reached behind her and grabbed it from the stack of laundry behind her. Time seemed to stop for a moment as a shocked and slightly offended expression settled onto Y/N’s face. She wasn’t genuinely offended, but George didn’t know that.

She recovered quickly and let out a shriek of, “Ginny Weasley! You’ll regret that!” Soon a storm of pillows and blankets were being thrown around the room as the sound of giggles filled the air. 

After a minute of this Fred set his bags on the floor and blocked a pillow that was headed straight for the side of Y/N’s head. “Oi! Stop trying to pummel my friend, will you?” Fred said, with a big smile on his face. Y/N turned towards him with an equally large smile on her face. 

“Fred!” she said, pulling him in for a hug. She reached up to touch the ends of his hair. “I like your haircut.”

“Your friend? She was my friend first, actually,” Ginny laughed, tugging Y/N to her side by her arm.

Fred opened his mouth to reply, but Y/N spoke first. “Actually,” she started, looking around the room for something. Her eyes landed on George. “George is my favorite Weasley,” she said, moving to stand next to them. She gently placed her hand on his arm, looked at him, and gave him a silly smile. “Hi, George.” 

George was taken aback when he felt a jolt where her hand was. Fred and Ginny seemed to be protesting her statement, but he didn’t quite register what they were saying. Her hand felt nice there and it seemed to spread warmth throughout his arm. She was still looking at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but his breath hitched in his throat. Her smile was contagious though, so he managed to return it with a grin of his own. To George, it seemed like the girl next to him was looking at him for an eternity, but in reality it was only a few seconds. Something else caught her attention and she turned away, removing her hand from its spot on his arm. He felt himself almost… missing it. He tried to shake the feeling away.

What was going on?

-

The next day George woke up a little bit later than usual. Fred had already disappeared from their shared room. After he got ready he went downstairs in search of his twin. He tried looking everywhere, but he couldn’t seem to find him. George felt like he ran into everyone but who he was looking for. Ron, his parents, Ginny, and even Hermione. He was starting to get exasperated as he headed to the last place he thought Fred would be.

George went out the backdoor and headed to the big old tree where the treehouse that he and his siblings spent countless summer days sat. As he approached he heard laughter and chatter coming from it. He ascended the latter and found Fred and Y/N lounging lazily there. They looked like they were in their own world. As usual, George thought, laughing to himself.

“Stealing my best friend, are we?” George said when he was fully in. Fred and Y/N’s heads snapped up.

“Yeah, Fred, stop stealing his best friend,” Y/N said, sending her and his twin into hysterics. George was caught by surprise, but couldn’t help but join in too. He was a little bit confused, though. Y/N has grown less shy around him over the past couple of months, but she seemed to be letting loose more. This interaction had just confirmed what he thought when he arrived at the Burrow last night.

Y/N Potter had changed in George’s eyes.

-

George found himself conversing with Y/N more often than he supposed he had in his life during the next couple of days. She was suddenly more talkative around him. Not that he minded, though. In fact, George was quite enjoying her company; he hung onto every word she said. Whether they were talking about a prank Fred was planning or the upcoming school year, he couldn’t quite seem to get enough. But still, Y/N spent most of her time with Fred and Ginny. George was used to it by now, but for some reason this year he felt a bit… disappointed. He didn’t let it bother him, though, because he’s usually around Fred anyways. 

George took notice of other things about Y/N besides who she spent time with, too. It first happened one evening when everyone was in the yard, save for Y/N and Ginny, who were meant to be doing the dishes. Keyword, meant.

George had run out of pumpkin juice after a particularly long match of quidditch with his brothers, so he ran into the house to get a refill. He made it to the doorway into the kitchen and paused to take in the scene in front of him. And pause he did. 

The sun was setting and gave the Burrow a warm glow. The sound of a muggle song that George hadn’t heard before echoed through the kitchen. He wasn’t listening to the song, though. His attention was on the girl who was dancing with his sister. They were throwing their arms about wildy and jumping around like no one was watching them. Well, no one was supposed to be watching. Their laughs filled the air as they took turns singing the lyrics. Ginny grabbed Y/N’s arm and twirled her.

George was absolutely captivated. He felt like he had never seen someone look so effortlessly… well, beautiful. It was the only word he could think to describe her in that moment. The permanent smile that adorned her face, the comfortable clothes she was wearing, it all seemed like he had caught her in a perfect little moment. A grin made its way to his face and he gently leaned against the door frame. The song ended way too soon for his liking and the girls stopped to catch their breath.

Y/N turned around and noticed him standing there. She smiled sheepishly and waved at him. “What’s up, George?” she said, giggling slightly. When she said his name butterflies erupted in his stomach and he couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face.

This is completely fine, he thought. I’m fine. Sure, George.

Again, thank you guys so much for all your likes, reblogs, and comments on the prologue! I truly appreciate it. Let me know what you guys thought of this part. Also, what do you think of the length? Do you like them longer like the prologue, or shorter like this part? Thank you so much for reading!