#and now i’m scared that they’re going to voldemort him in the show and pass it off as ~the fold made him evil!!!~ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

malfoymanortings · 4 years

Text

my heart is buried in Venice

SUMMARY: she would rather die for love than live for fear. it appears that falling for draco malfoy puts that to the test.

PAIRING: draco x oc

WARNINGS: smut and a bit of descriptive torture (crucio)

hello again! this is angsty. that’s all i will say, so now you’ve been warned. let me know if you enjoy it. its a bit of a longer one! bold/italics symbolize the beginning/ending of a flashback. hopefully it isn’t confusing! also, sorry the summary is shit, im so bad at writing them!

She thinks back to the first time she had seen Draco Malfoy. Not the first time they had met, immature beyond their current years, but the first time she had seen Draco.

The crying was unfamiliar to her, yet it brought stabbing pains to her chest. She hurried into the bathroom, expecting to find a scared first year. They always came to the bathrooms to cry, although they did normally avoid Moaning Myrtle. Still, with the current state of the world, she supposed nothing would be surprising at this point.

“It’s alright,” she stepped in cautiously, peering to see where the crying person was. “No one deserves to cry alone in the bathroom.”

With a thick, shaky sort of breath, the crying tapered off. She turned the corner to see a silver head of hair hunched over the sink, a boy with white sleeves rolled up on his arms. He wasn’t quick enough to yank the sleeves down, and she stopped short when she saw the unmistakable mark of Voldemort on his arm.

“Get out,” Draco Malfoy snarled, turning to half his face was visible to her. “Now.”

“I would hate to leave you alone like this,” she paused, holding her hands out in a sort of I come in peace way. “I may not be your preferred company, but I’ve been told I’m a great listener.”

It was almost unnoticeable, but Draco softened. It was clear in the sag of his shoulders, the loosening of his grip on the sink. She held her breath, and walked further into the bathroom.

“Or, I could offer out a distraction,” she leaned against the frame of the stall, her arms crossed on her chest. “I’ve also been known to ramble about nonsense more often than not.”

“And who exactly is it that said that?” Draco turned towards her, and sat on the floor.

She smiled, and promptly sat down on the floor with her back against the frame. “Well, I’m quite good friends with Susan Bones…” and she launched into a tale of the time when she and Susan had successfully distracted Professor Sprout for half a lesson, by asking about the mixing of magical plants with other muggle plants of certain… properties. They had been beyond surprise when Professor Sprout was quite knowledgeable on the subject herself.

To her surprise, Draco had engaged a bit in the discussion, asking questions and humming and hawing here and there to show he had actually been listening. He had subtly wiped his face dry during the conversation, and she had pretended not to notice.

“I’m quite surprised to find you here, you know,” she said gently, after their shared laughter had come to a stop. “I’m sure you have a million other friends in your house that would talk with you, rather than a Hufflepuff.”

“I haven’t got any friends,” he scoffed harshly, his face once again that hard mask he wore in the halls. “None that really give a shit. Certainly none that would-” but he cut himself short, shaking his head and staring at his hands.

“None that would want to know the reason behind having the mark,” she guessed softly, raising her hands when he lifted his head with a snarl on his face. “If it bothered me terribly, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. I would have already gone to Dumbledore or someone.”

“So why are you here?” his face was twisted again, into the hatred and despair that seemed foreign on his beautiful features. “Waiting for the right opportunity to strike? Waiting for me to spill my secrets, so you can go running off to tell?”

“No,” she shook her head, answering honestly. “I’m here, because someone was crying and needed a friend.”

Draco’s shoulders sagged again, and he rested his head on his knees. The gentle trembling of his shoulders were the only sign that he was crying again.

In a move that was boldly out of her character, she scooted across the floor so she was beside him. The gentle tensing of his body let her know that he noticed her movements. Slowly, and then in one rushing movement, she wrapped her arms around him.

He began to shove her off at first, but then he sagged once more, and rested his head on her shoulder. Again, he cried, and she murmured reassuring words as he did.

A long time had passed before the embrace ended. Draco had stopped crying, and they had been sitting there in silence for a while.

“Would you like to talk about it?” she asked him quietly, when he pulled out of her arms.

He shook his head, his grey eyes looking at hers with a haunted gaze. “I can’t.”

It is those same grey eyes she stares at now. Not entirely grey, they have the most spectacular speckles of blue in them. A brilliant contrast to her honey brown ones.

“Is there any particular reason you enjoy the bathroom?” she asked Draco, setting her bag beside her as she sat on the floor next to him.

“I don’t enjoy the bathroom,” he muttered, his elbows resting on his knees. “It’s a filthy place.”

“So then why, when you disappear, do I always find you in the bathroom, either staring at the mirror or sitting on the floor?” she bumped his shoulder with her own, looking up at him through her lashes.

“Are you keeping tabs on me?” he turned his head to look down at her, his grey eyes dark.

Well, not entirely grey. The longer she stared at them, the most beautiful flecks of blue popped out at her. As she stared -admired, although she wouldn’t admit that to him- the bags underneath paired with his spiderweb veins of tender yellow and blue haunted her.

“Perhaps,” she paused, her lips parting for a moment. “Does that bother you?”

“It should,” he surprised her with the raw honesty in his voice. He was normally much more reserved. “But it doesn’t. I like the thought of you thinking of me.”

“Well, I think of you quite often,” she admitted, a bit breathless at the admission. “When you weren’t at dinner, I knew where to find you.”

“The bathroom,” Draco scoffed, turning away to hide the redness spreading across his cheeks. She smiled gently, as she didn’t miss it. She noticed just about everything he did. “Who would have ever thought a Malfoy would declare the bathroom as their safe space.”

“Put a few pictures up, might make it a bit more homey,” she suggested, resting her head on his shoulder. “Although I would make sure they’re all modest, don’t want Myrtle to take any for her personal use.”

“Oh, come on now,” he gave a rare smile, reminiscent of the smirk he used to wear all the time. “Myrtle isn’t that bad.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wow, Draco, first the bathroom, now Myrtle? Clearly you’ve strayed from your noble path.”

Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. The reaction from Draco was immediate, his mouth snapped shut with an audible snap, his jaw clenched, and his body went stiff. She lifted her head off his shoulder, apologies on her face, but he began speaking with an angry rush that startled her.

“I don’t think there’s anything noble left in me,” his hands were shaking now. “My life has become such a mockery of what I thought it would be, and there’s absolutely no way out. I don’t know what I’m going to do, and I need to figure it out now before he- before he kills me.”

Time seemed to freeze after he spoke. He had never even hinted before, at anything like that. They danced around the subject of his dark mark, neither wanting to bring it up. But now, for Draco to so openly admit that he was being forced to do something, more than likely pertaining to Voldemort, well. It was a breakthrough in their relationship.

“You can tell me anything, Draco,” her voice was barely above a whisper, and yet, it sounded through the empty bathroom like a siren. “Please, don’t feel like you need to bottle this up.”

Tears leaked out of Draco’s eyes, and she tentatively wrapped her arms around him. This time, he held her back even tighter, and shifted so that she was in between his legs. He cradled the back of her head gently, pressing her to his chest, and he rested his head on top of hers. Her heart began racing, and his did the same. She knew this because his heartbeat was echoing in her ear from being pressed against his chest.

“I have to fix the vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement,” he said the words quickly, in a rush. “To get the death eaters in the school. He.. he wants me to kill Dumbledore.”

“Oh, Draco,” her breath was shaky, and she closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

The bathroom seemed deathly silent after that. Time seemed to stretch infinitely, until Draco shattered it once more.

“I’ve thought of jumping off the astronomy tower,” he breathed out, so lightly she almost didn’t hear. “Ending it all. But I’m too much of a coward to go through with it.”

“No,” she said quickly, pulling back slightly so she could look at his eyes. “You can’t do that I can’t- I don’t want to lose you.”

The quick admission slipped from her lips before she could stop it, and she wanted to swallow her words as fast as she said them. Draco shut his eyes, his cheeks glistening from the tears that had fallen. His jaw was clenched, a sure sign that he was upset.

“You can’t have me,” Draco’s voice was firm. “I’m not good for you. You’ll only get hurt, if they know I care for you.”

“You care for me?” that seemed to be the only thing her mind would let her latch onto, and she marveled at the fact.

“You could be killed.” his voice was less firm now, and he opened his eyes, grey staring into brown.

“I could be killed regardless,” she pointed out, nearly breathless. “There’s a war going on, Draco. I could die tomorrow, I could leave for holiday or summer break, and be killed. I don’t want to exist in fear. I want to live what little time I may have left in love.”

The words seemed to hang between them, the air heavy. Draco’s eyes shut briefly, and his arms tightened around her before he opened them again. As his head bent towards her, she closed the gap, placing her hands on his cheeks. He flinched at the touch, but melted into her as their lips progressed together.

Her eyes flick down to his lips now, the feeling of them so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. Liquid trickles down her forehead, towards her cheek, but she doesn’t move a hand to brush it away.

“Don’t you dare fucking hurt her!” Draco shouted at Harry Potter, flashing a streak of purple towards the Gryffindor. He pushed her out of the way, and she skidded to the floor.

Harry fired another spell at Draco, exploding the toilet next to her. The porcelain rained down on her, and she raised her arms protectively as the shards cut her skin. Draco shot another spell at Harry, and the bin behind him exploded.

She rose to her feet, nearly slipping on the water, trying to get her wand from her discarded robes on the floor behind Draco. Just as she had it in her hands, she turned, only to get hit with a leg locker curse from Harry. She fell, unable to brace herself, and knocked the side of her head on the sink, hot liquid spilling down her face as her head exploded in pain.

Draco turned to see her, and his face contorted in rage as he turned back to Harry. He cried, “Cruci-”

“SECTUMSEMPRA!” bellowed Harry, cutting off Draco’s unforgivable curse, waving his wand wildly.

She watched in horror through blurry vision as blood spurted from Draco’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

“No,” she choked out, the leg locker curse wearing off. “No, no, no!”

Her head spinning wildly, she looked down horrified as Draco’s white hands scrabbled at his blood soaked chest. She was vaguely aware of Harry falling to his knees next to Draco, and without a second thought, she wound her fist back and punched him with as much strength as she could muster.

“Fix him,” she screamed at Harry, who had a hand pressed to his nose. “Whatever you did, fix him now!”

“MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!”

Moaning Myrtle had appeared out of the toilets, and she was now floating around the bathroom wildly.

The door banged open, and Professor Snape burst into the room. She realized it was the only time she was happy to see the hook nosed man. He pushed Harry roughly aside, and drew his wand over the deep wounds Harry’s curse had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow of blood eased, Snape wiped the residue from Draco’s face and repeated his spell. Now, the wounds seemed to be knitting.

She had his hand in her own, reaching up ever so often to wipe away the blood that kept coming from her head wound. When Snape had performed the counter curse for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy into a standing position.

She stood up quickly, hearing Snape mutter to Draco. She steadied herself against the headrush she got from standing, a fresh wave of pain rolled through her head.

“Miss Cherrywood, are you able to accompany Draco to the nurse?” Snape eyed her, his face unreadable.

“Of course,” she quickly took Draco in her arms, steadying herself against the added weight. “What do I tell Madam Pomfrey?”

His gaze didn’t miss the way she looked at him, or he her. “Tell her exactly what happened. I am going to deal with Potter.”

She nodded, and hurried out of the bathroom as fast as she could. Draco was pale, much paler than she had ever seen him, which was saying something. He normally looked as white as their sheets.

They made it to Madam Pomfrey, who immediately took Draco into her care. As she watched Madam Pomfrey, she told her exactly what happened. Harry had started it, for no good reason. She left out the part about Draco nearly using an unforgivable, and as she finished recounting the story, she fell over from the sudden wave that went through her head.

Nothing got passed Madam Pomfrey. She was instructed to sit on the bed next to Draco, and once Madam Pomfrey was satisfied with her work on the silver haired boy, she fixed up her would and gave her a potion for the concussion she surely endured.

“You alright, Birdie?” Draco’s eyes were shut, and his voice was weak as he spoke.

“Don’t worry about me,” she slid off the bed, ignoring the instruction Pomfrey had given her before she left. “How are you?”

When her hand held his, he opened his eyes. He was so pale. She brushed his silver strands off his forehead gently, careful of the bottom half of his face that had been hit with that nasty curse.

“I feel as though I should be dead,” Draco paused, his voice low. “For whatever reason, that thought now scares me.”

“What do you mean, love?” the pet name slipped out of her mouth, and she hoped he didn’t mind. She brushed a thumb over his hand, relishing in the soft skin.

“I mean,” he turned to look at her, his face open and earnest. It reminded her of the day he had told her everything. That seemed so long ago now. “I was scared I was going to die without ever telling you how I felt.”

Silence laid over them like a blanket. She stared at him, lips parted, not knowing what to say.

“Birdie, I love you,” Draco broke the silence, shutting his eyes once more. “I shouldn’t. But I do. What happened today with Potter is just a fraction, a mere glimpse, of what would happen to you if he knew my feelings for you.”

“I don’t care, Draco,” the words flew from her mouth, a smile gracing her lips. “I don’t care. I love you. I am in love with you. I would always choose to live in love instead of fear.”

Draco opened his eyes again, and reached a weak arm up to press his lips to hers. Their eyes shut as their lips moved in sync as they had done many times before.

“I meant what I said,” she says the words quietly, looking into those familiar grey eyes. “I will always choose to live in love rather than fear.”

Laughter is heard around them, and she swallows her fear down hard. She vows to be true to her words, no matter the cost.

“Tomorrow,” Draco says quietly, turning to look at her. “It happens tomorrow.”

She let out a shaky breath, turning away from his gaze to the night sky. She had known this was happening, since he told her he fixed the damn cabinet. There was nothing to do. She couldn’t stop it. She wouldn’t help him. She would be fighting against him, come tomorrow night.

“I love you.” the words fall from her lips in a shaky voice, tears slipping down her face.

“Darling,” Draco took her in his arms, cradling her head to his chest. She was reminded of their first hug when he did the same. “I love you more than I had ever thought possible.”

They kissed again, this time a different passion behind it. They both knew this was a goodbye, maybe forever. He would leave with the Death Eaters tomorrow, after he killed Dumbledore. He would have blood on his hands and would formally join the enemy.

Their lips clashed and moved together, tongue touching teeth and lips touching skin. They grabbed at each other, daring to find where the other began and the other stopped. Gentle hands, harsh lips. It was a fight for love that wouldn’t matter in the end.

Draco laid her down on the cushy blanket they had been sitting on before, and paused. “Are you sure you want this, Birdie?”

“I want you, Draco,” she stared up at him, trying her best to memorize his every feature. He was so angelic. How could he be put up to the task he was given? “Only you, Draco.”

He pressed kisses to her neck, deftly unbuttoning her blouse. It slid off her shoulders, and he unhooked her bra next. For a moment, he stopped, staring at her exposed breasts for the first time.

“So beautiful darling,” he murmured, pressing kisses to her skin. “All for me.”

“Always for you.” she moaned back, as he nipped and sucked at her soft breasts.

His lips felt like fire against her skin, as he took a nipple in his mouth while his hand played with the other. She arched her back, wanting to be as close as possible to him. After a moment, she helped him slide his shirt off so she could touch his bare skin. Her nails dragged down his back as he sucked on her breasts, massaging the other with his hand.

He began pressing kisses to her neck, while his hands slid her skirt and panties off her hips, leaving her bare underneath him. He did the same to his pants, leaving his boxers on. He glanced up at her once more, and when she nodded, pressed his lips to hers and cupped her heat.

He ran a finger up her slit, kissing her neck once more as she moaned at his touch. She gripped his shoulders as he began pushing one finger in and out, before adding another one. She moaned softly as Draco sucked on her neck, his fingers sliding in and out of her. He began to rub small circles on her clit with his thumb, and her eyes fluttered shut.

“Draco,” she moaned out, pleasure coursing through her body as he kissed her breasts again.

“That’s it, darling,” he replied, pressing his lips to her once more before trailing back down to her neck. “Say my name.”

He pumped in and out of her faster, and she cursed as she said his name. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, and he hissed at the pain. He rubbed her clit faster, and she felt pressure building in her stomach. She moaned his name again, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

“You’re so beautiful darling,” he praised her. “All hot and wet for me. Only for me.”

He picked up the speed of his fingers pumping in and out, and she could feel herself becoming close to coming.

“Draco, I’m gonna-” a moan from her throat cut her off.

“Yes Birdie, come on fingers,” he coaxed, his thumb again rubbing fast against her clit. “I want to taste you, love. Come all over my fingers.”

Moaning, her head tossed back, she came all over his fingers, grinding her hips onto them as she rode out her high. She caught her breath, and looked back at Draco, who placed his fingers in his mouth, sucking her juices off them.

“So sweet, darling,” he told her, his gaze heavy. “I didn’t expect anything else.”

He kissed her parted lips, and she tangled her fingers in his hair. She could feel his bulge pressing against her core, separated only by the thin fabric of his boxers, and she pulled away from him.

“Draco,” she gazed at him with lidded eyes. “I want you to make love to me.”

“Anything for you, darling.” Draco complied, slipping his boxers off and swishing his wand towards her stomach. She felt a slight tingle, and realized it was the contraceptive spell.

She glanced down at his hard cock, and swallowed hard as she realized how big it was. She watched as he lined himself up to her entrance, biting her lip.

His lips captured hers once more, before he pulled away to look at her for her consent once more. She nodded, and he pushed into her wet heat, groaning at how tight she was. She sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes watering. It was her first time, and the pressure was a lot to handle.

Draco noticed, and he pressed kisses to her neck, her cheek, her lips, as he let her adjust to his size. “Darling, you feel incredible. So fucking tight.”

“Can you..” she bit her lip once more, subconsciously grinding her hips against him.

He groaned at the feeling, and began slowly moving in and out of her. It hurt at first, but she slowly got used to the feeling, and pleasure began to take over. The feeling of him pushing in and out made her toes curl, and she moaned as he began to pick up the pace.

“You’re so wet for me,” Draco groaned, interlacing their fingers. “Feel so good, Birdie.”

“Draco,” she moaned, the sound of her name on his lips bringing pleasure to her. “Fuck, this feels so good.”

He brought one hand down to push her legs further apart, the motion making him hit deeper inside of her, effectively hitting her g-spot. His name fell from her lips in a string of moans, and he began to stroke into her faster.

“You’re such a good girl,” he groaned into her ear, pressing sloppy kisses to her neck. “Good little Hufflepuff getting fucked by a Slytherin.”

Her lips were parted, and her eyes were screwed shut as he thrusted into her, her breasts bouncing from the force he fucked her with. She again let out a string of moans, his name falling with every other word. His thrusts began to get more sloppy, and his hand reached down to rub circles onto her clit as he thrusted in and out. She began to feel the pressure building up again, and her body writhed underneath him as the pleasure took over her. He groaned, and with a few more thrusts, she felt him shudder, and a sudden wetness filled her cunt. Euphoria washed over her as he did this, and she realized she had come for the second time that night.

For a moment, Draco stayed inside of her, leaning down to press kisses to her neck once more before pulling out of her. He laid next to her on the blanket, and pulled her into his embrace.

“I love you,” he pressed his lips to her temple, his hand stroking her hair.

She looked up at him, their bare skin pressed to each other. “I love you too.”

The hopelessness of the situation hits her. There was nowhere to turn. They knew all about them now, but as she lets their memories wash over her for the final time, she smiles. She wouldn’t change a thing.

“Birdie, it isn’t safe for us to be together,” Draco murmured into her hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her. “They’ll hurt you.”

“I don’t care, Draco,” she looked up at him and smiled. “What more can they do to me? The Carrows Crucio me nearly once a week.”

“Because you can’t just let things be,” he responds angrily, moving away from her in frustration, his fingers gripping the railing for the astronomy tower. “You have to involve yourself.”

“I’m not going to let them use unforgivable curses on first years!” she yelled back, her voice echoing in the empty tower.

That paused both of them. She never yelled at him. He wasn’t even sure she could yell.

“Draco, I love you,” she began again, taking his hands in her own. “I love you so much. You have to understand that I can’t just let them tortue kids. If I have a chance to stand up to the Carrows, I will do that.”

“I know,” his shoulders sagged in defeat, and he sat down on the floor, his back against the railing. “I just wish you weren’t so stubborn. I wish I could protect you better.”

“If you did that, they would know about us,” she sat next to him, placing her head on their shoulder. “It would be so much worse for us.”

Draco nodded. They sat in silence for a while, her head on his shoulder, his fingers playing with her hair. Hogwarts was much different this year. Snape and the Carrows had taken over Hogwarts. The remaining members of the DA were still fighting against them, for what they believed in. Hoping each day Harry would come back, and everything would be okay again.

Neville and Ginny had taken over the DA. She helped out a lot more than she had expected she would. She felt that, maybe, part of her was guilty because she was deeply in love with Draco, and he played a part in the downfall of the school.

But he had no choice. He was the boy who had no choice. And she knew that.

No one knew about them. The only person who probably did, was Harry Potter. And at this point, if he ever were to think of her or Draco, he probably thought she wouldn’t still be with him. But it didn’t matter. Harry had much bigger things to worry about then who Draco Malfoy fancied.

“I want a nice little cabin in the woods,” Draco traced circles on her arm, his voice low. “Away from everyone. Away from everything. I want to grow our own garden. My mum always loved gardening. She has the most beautiful flower gardens, you would absolutely love it…” his voice trailed off, no doubt thinking of before. Before things got messy. Before life went south.

“What does the cabin look like, love?” she asked, tilting her head up to look at his angelic face. He smiles, placing a quick kiss to her forehead.

“It’s small, very modest,” he continued, looking at her face. “There’s a giant couch, soft as a cloud. Tons of blankets throughout, for when you complain it’s too cold even when it’s a beautiful summer day,” he pokes at her side, making her giggle. “A nice window with a desk in front of it. I’ll sit at the desk every day, and write. Bad, good, all of it. I’ll publish my own book, one day, about all the bullshit we’ve gone through.”

“The autobiography of Draco Malfoy.” she smiled, leaning further into him.

“Exactly,” Draco laughed, although there isn’t much humor. “My mother is the only one allowed over. She’ll want to help with the garden, but I’m not going to let her. I’ll be the one to do it. Hell, maybe I’ll even do it without magic. We’ll be hidden away in the trees, unable for anyone to find. There’ll be two bedrooms, one for us, of course, the largest one, and the other for…”

“For what, Draco?” she nudged him, wondering why he had trailed off.

Draco looked down at her, his hand grasping her chin. “For our children. Two, at least. No only child bullshit. I never want our children to be lonely.”

“You want kids with me?” she marveled at the fact, unaware that Draco would ever want kids, much less with her.

“Birdie,” he breathed, the smell of peppermint hitting her nostrils. “I want an entire lifetime with you.”

“Do it now, Draco!” Bellatrix shouts from behind her, her heels clacking as she strides forward.

She feels the woman dig her nails into her neck, and she can’t stop the whimper of fear that escapes from her lips. Her eyes plead with Draco, honey brown meets grey blue. He’s a mess, his eyes wild with despair, his arm shaking as he holds his wand up to her.

“Birdie..” her name falls from his lips, and she cries as she hears the goodbye in it.

“Please, Draco,” she pleads, and she’s unsure why. She wanted to die bravely, not groveling at someone's feet. “I want a lifetime with you.”

“Filthy scum,” Bellatrix snaps, forcing her to her knees. “Do it, Draco.”

His hand is unsteady. His wand is shaking.

“Crucio!” Bellatrix shouts, her wand digging into her neck.

Her every nerve ending is on fire. She screams and she screams, her voice harsh. The words carved into her skin hadn't hurt this bad. Her head being slammed into the ground repeatedly hadn’t hurt this bad. She feels like every bone in her body is being broken, just heal and break once more. It’s like she’s been dipped into a vat of acid, and her skin is peeling off.

She wishes for death.

The pain stops, but her skin twitches as her muscles remember the pain. She’s laying on the ground, moaning as tears slide down her cheeks. Her throat hurts so bad, and she wishes she could stop crying, but she can’t.

“Stand up, you pathetic bitch!” Bellatrix hoists her to her feet, again holding her by the back of her clothes. “Now, Draco!”

She blinks fast, clearing her vision to look at Draco. He looks so thin, so pale. The dark circles are back. Spiderweb veins of tender yellow blue are visible on his face. Yes he’s still so breathtakingly handsome as he once again holds his wand to her.

“Always for you,” the words slip out of her lips as she stares at the man she loves. “Only ever for you.”

“Shut up!” Bellatrix slaps her, and the pain barely registers from the amount she’s already been through. “I’m not asking you again, Draco.”

“Let her stand on her own,” Draco demands, his voice cracking. “I won’t kill her while you hold her.”

Bellatrix steps away then, a cackling laugh coming from her lips. Without the support of the wicked woman, she sways and nearly falls, but catches her balance just in time.

“I would rather die in love, than live in fear,” she says softly, under her breath, the words coming out funny as her jaw is still twitching from the cruciatus curse. “For you, I would die a thousand times over.”

She shuts her eyes then. She knows what’s coming. In some way, she always knew this was where they would end up. Perhaps not with him holding the wand to kill her, but with her dying because she wasn’t afraid to love him.

“Birdie,” Draco says in the voice that’s meant only for her, and she smiles, happy to hear it one more time. “I love you. I’m sorry.”

“Avada Kedavra!”

There is a flash of green.

#draco malfoy #draco imagine #draco x oc #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy smut #draco #malfoy #death eaters #death eater #death eater draco #draco fuckingmalfoy #draco fucking malfoy #Harry Potter #harry potter series #harry potter smut #voldemort #hogwarts

221 notes · View notes

alpacaparkaseok · 4 years

Text

Mine

4. Making friends 101

Genre: Yoongi x OC

Warnings: none

Word Count: 3.4k

“Have you decided what you’re going to wear to this thing?”

I nearly jump out of my skin as a wild Sebastian wanders into my room. I’m still a little on edge from the stalker a few days ago.

“What thing?” I ask, folding my clothes as I repack my suitcase. We’ll be heading out tomorrow morning bright and early for Hong Kong. It’s quite the trip from Paris, and I wish that we could have scheduled things out a bit better. We’ll be in Asia for the next three weeks before having to turn around and come back to Europe.

From there, we’ll finally head back to the states for the final stages of promotions and the premier. Nobody was too happy about the revised schedule, but neither did they dare pass up extra promotions in Asia thanks to a certain K-pop group.

“You know...this festival we’re invited to.” Sebastian makes himself comfortable on my bed, smirking at my agonizingly organized suitcase. “Don’t tell me you forgot.”

As if I could forget about that. “It’s my most reliable source of anxiety, what would I do without it?” I chuckle sarcastically as I struggle with a thick sweater that refuses to lay flat.

The film festival has been on my mind quite a lot since I first found out that we were invited to it. While now I know what really happened; that it was Kim Seokjin that invited me and not Min Yoongi, I still can’t help but feel a pang of fear every time it’s brought up.

Really, the topic of what I’m going to wear to what may be the most awkward meeting of my entire life is at the bottom of my long list of worries.

“I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to wear.”

I raise my eyebrows at my friend. This is the most he’s hung around me for the past week, and I welcome the promise of banter. Heaven knows I could let off a little steam.

“Oh? Do tell.”

Sebastian stretches like a cat on the bed and I giggle at the sight. His eyes light up when he looks at me, imagining what else he could do to make me laugh.

“Here’s what I’m thinking. People over there are...stylish. Like, they wear edgy cool clothes all the time. So I’ve got to represent, you know? I’m thinking of raiding Saint Laurent or something in preparation for this festival. It sounds like it’s a pretty big deal over there. There’s bound to be lot’s of people.”

It’s not very often Sebastian gets super into fashion, but when he does, it’s a guaranteed laugh for everyone involved.

“Saint Laurent? That’s your whole paycheck, buddy.”

“Hey! Don’t ‘buddy’ me, you little weirdo. If you’re nice to me maybe I’ll take you along.”

I roll my eyes at his offer, however tempting. “No thanks. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, you know? Everyone is already expecting me to be tripping over my feet the second he walks in-”

“He? C’mon, Car. He’s not Voldemort, you can use his name.”

I flush when I realize that I’ve been purposefully avoiding speaking about Yoongi directly.

“Whatever. What I’m saying is that it’s already awkward enough. I don’t want to show up looking like a girl getting ready to go to her first prom.”

“Nonsense,” Sebastian hands me another sweater when I reach for it. “More like your second prom.”

He’s met with a sweater to the face.

“Shut up, you’re not even helping me with anything. Why are you in here?”

Sebastian makes a show of folding my sweater. “I’m in here to make sure you’re getting ready to leave tomorrow and that you aren’t passed out on the floor from anxiety or something.”

I wince from the unspoken words. Like before.

“Yeah, I’m ready. And I’m fine.”

He doesn’t look all that convinced, but lets it slide for now. “You know, things are only going to get more intense in Hong Kong. The closer we get to Seoul, the more intense things will become.”

“Not. Helping.”

🌙

I wish Sebastian didn’t have to be right all the time.

The second we get off the plane, it’s a madhouse. Like a literal madhouse. People are shoving, cameras flashing, and the questions are being yelled right into my ears. They’re mainly in English, a few in Cantonese, but there are quite a few in Korean as well. It’s easy enough for me to drown out the latter language, but the ones in English do their job well enough.

“Cara! Cara! Have you been in contact with Suga?”

“Are the two of you attending the festival together? What are you going to wear?”

“Just give us a smile, Cara! Cara!”

We don’t have a lot of security, only about three guys. Soon enough they’re surrounding me, and I am being moved along within a sea of black clothing and mumbled orders. I’m just able to crane my neck to see Sebastian pushing through the mess of reporters, tugging Rhea along behind him. She catches my eye contact and waves me forward.

I fight against the pang of guilt that hits me as I realize that this is all because of me. Never did I think that things would get this bad. I never thought that I would have to be surrounded on all sides by bodyguards.

By the time we’re shoved into the car waiting for us outside, I’m out of breath and so is everyone else.

Sebastian and Rhea share my car with me. I’m not sure whether I should try to sleep or apologize or resign-

“Cara?” Rhea’s hand grips mine as she gives me a reassuring squeeze. “You ok?”

I give her a shaky nod. “Y-yeah. I think I’m fine. We’re just going to the hotel, right?” I give out a sigh of relief when she confirms. Good. I could use a bed right around now. Especially because we spent a good chunk of our flight going over the promo schedule for Hong Kong and it looks like it’ll be pretty much nonstop starting tomorrow morning.

I hate to ask, but I also know that if there’s another stalker waiting for me in my rooms I won’t be able to sleep at all, no matter how tired I feel.

“Could we...check my room-”

“Already on it,” Rhea says with a sympathetic smile. “I sent a couple of people ahead of us to check all the rooms out. They should be done before we even get there, no worries.”

I relax a little, thanking her for her foresight. We fall into a groggy silence after a bit, the car ride from the airport to the hotel being about thirty minutes. Hong Kong is small, but it’s packed. With it comes traffic and bright shiny buildings that I can’t help but gawk at.

For living in the big city of Seoul for two years, I can’t help but be amazed at big cities like Hong Kong. They never get old.

I’m so distracted by those shiny buildings that I almost don’t notice my phone lighting up with an incoming call. Its vibrations finally pull me from my daze, and I smile as Bong-cha’s photo smiles up at me.

I took the photo for her on her first day of school after she changed programs. She’s grinning like an idiot in front of an intimidating building, holding up a big thumbs-up. Bong-cha has always hated the photo. She says she looks like a kindergartener on her first day of class. I agree, which is why it’s my contact photo for her. Purely just to piss her off.

“Wow the love of my life is calling me again? You must really miss me.”

Bong-cha’s laugh is either a beat too late or a touch too loud, but I notice it immediately. The knots in my stomach that were just beginning to untie themselves suddenly tighten up again.

“Yah, have you landed?”

Oh, right. I was supposed to text her when I landed. “Umm...yes. A little while ago. We’re in the car now.”

“I knew you’d forget to text me. You always do.”

“Hey, that’s not true! And you can’t blame me this time. The airport was a mess. I hardly had enough time to whip my phone out and text you when people were trying to claw their way down my throat.”

Again, she’s a second late in responding. “It was really bad, then? I was worried about that. You have bodyguards, right?”

“Yeah, we do. Just three, though. I felt bad, I had to ditch the rest of the crew to walk between the bodyguards. Everyone else had to fend for themselves.”

Now it’s silent for more than a few seconds, but something that sounds like hushed voices breaks it.

“That sounds hor-”

“Bong-cha, what’s going on over there? Are you at work or something?”

It’s as though I break some sort of spell, because suddenly a laugh tears through the silence, but I know it doesn’t belong to my friend.

Last I checked she doesn’t sound like a windshield-wiper when she laughs.

There’s something about it that has me furrowing my brows in a mixture of confusion and anger. Rhea and Sebastian share a look, not entirely sure what’s going on in my conversation but understanding my expression.

Bong-cha is in the middle of trying to explain. “Well, yeah, I’m at work. We got to talking about you traveling today and the boys wanted me to call you and check in on you and-”

“Am I on speaker phone?” Again, silence. I’m getting real sick of the silence. “Kim Bong-cha, I swear if you put me on speaker without even telling me, I’m going to catch the next flight to Seoul and-”

“Aaand there’s the Cara I know and love!” Bong-cha interrupts, confirming my fears. I’m definitely on speakerphone. “Please, we both know you’re too busy with work to come over here, even if it’s for a good cause like the one I’m sure you were about to explain. Also, the boys say hi.”

The boys. She says it so casually, as if we all went to high school together and are just checking in with each other to see how life has been.

“The boys? Like, all the boys? Also, you only called me because they told you to, and not because you were genuinely concerned for me? I see how it is, Bong-cha. That’s low.”

Before my friend can defend herself I hear a voice that sounds too much like a certain Kim Seokjin.

“You’re right, she is funny!”

I snort, fighting the blush on my cheeks. Am I really on the phone with BTS? What world is this?

“Is that Seokjin?” Even just saying his name makes me feel like a giddy middle schooler.

“Yeah,” Bong-cha responds.

“Well, you’d better watch out Seokjin. Once I’m done beating Bong-cha I’m coming after you.”

“M-me?” Jin has the sensibility to sound a little scared. “Why me?”

A dry laugh sounds, but I can’t tell who it belongs to. Few others have such a distinguishable laugh as Kim Seokjin.

“Bong-cha told me that it was you who started this whole mess with the film festival! Do you know how much anxiety you’ve caused me?!” My anger from this entire mess infuses me with more boldness than I could have mustered in this situation otherwise.

There’s some scuffling noises on the other side of the line, followed by a few grunts. Jin shouts in disdain.

“Yah! I was just trying to help! You’ll be thanking me!” A door slams, blocking out any further shouts from the man. I can’t hide the grin that splits across my face as I imagine what must be going on over there.

“Ok, he’s gone. I’ve banned them all from this room for the duration of this call.” Bong-cha reassures me. “I don’t have a lot of time, but I was calling to ask you something, actually. Don’t feel any pressure, but I think it may help relieve some stress on both sides-”

“What are you getting at, Bong-cha?”

She takes a deep breath. “Is it alright if I give Yoongi your number?”

My jaw falls open. I’m about to freak out when I realize that there’s a small chance that somebody may still overhear me on the phone. Barely composing myself, I respond to my friend, ignoring the obvious shake in my voice.

“Does he actually want it? Because it sounds like all of this has been thrown on him as much as it has me.”

“Er...yeah. He wants it. He was trying to ask about you today, but in that way where he doesn’t want it to look like he’s asking about you, you know? So I finally told him that he should just get your number so he quits bothering me about it. It’s been like this all week. So I figured I’d just give it to him, if you’re alright with it?”

In most situations, I know what to say. I’m usually pretty good at coming up with something to say in order to keep the conversation flowing. Maybe when Graham Norton dropped the bomb on me about Yoongi, I wasn’t the best at it but I at least inserted little comments here or there.

Now, I’m not really sure what to say anymore. It seems that the second I begin to relax and feel like I’m finally getting a handle on this, something happens.

It’s that same fear that I’ve had since I was a child kicking back in. It seems silly, in a time like this. I’m a completely different person since then, in a completely different environment. And yet, that fear that I’ve carried with me all my life comes bubbling back up to the surface.

“Bong-cha…” I struggle to keep a neutral expression as I’m aware that I’m not alone in the car. “I’m not very good at making friends.”

Any other person would be quick to jump in and reassure me. Any other friend would race to recall experiences that would prove my claim wrong.

I guess that’s why Bong-cha is my best friend. She doesn’t do any of those things, instead quietly listening and thinking before she responds.

“You know, Cara…” she begins in a sincere tone. “Maybe that’s not the point. Maybe you’re not meant to be amazing at making friends. But you’re really good at letting people be friends with you. Which, honestly, is a talent. A weird, obscure one, but a talent nonetheless.”

What’s meant to be a laugh comes out more as a sigh of relief. Bong-cha always knows what to say.

“I’m going to do some research on that talent, because I’ve never heard of it before.”

“So...are you alright if I give it to him? I think he wants to just apologize to you more than anything. I swear he won’t be weird with it.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek, mulling it over. Honestly, at this point, what do I have to lose?

“Yeah, go ahead.”

🌙

I’ve barely lugged my suitcase inside and collapsed on the bed when the first text comes through. I immediately jump up, senses on high alert. It would be a lie if I said that I haven’t been on edge just waiting for my phone to ding ever since I got off the phone with Bong-cha. Bracing myself for the bite of disappointment when it’s the “Young Rising” group chat, my heart nearly stops when I see it’s an unknown number.

UNK: Is this Cara?

UNK: This is Bong-cha’s friend, she gave me your number.

“Ah, he’s smart,” I note as I realize he didn’t give me his name just in case he mixed up the numbers. I quickly save his number in my phone, the action making me feel a little strange.

ME: Yes, this is Cara.

I overthink the four-letter message for way too long before I press send. I sound cold, but I don’t know what else to say. It doesn’t take long for three dots to appear on the screen.

“Oh, no. He’s typing. What do I do if he’s typing?”

I’m ashamed to admit that I consider chucking my phone out the window for more than thirty seconds. Only the ping of my phone stops me in my train of thought.

MYG: Have you made it safely to your hotel?

I blink at his message. The fact that I really don’t know this man at all is hitting me like a ton of bricks. He seems kind though...from the twenty or so words he’s typed. That’s all you need to judge someone’s character, right?

ME: Just made it, actually.

Pausing, I quickly type out a message before he can respond.

ME: No need to worry

Well, if this isn’t the most dry conversation the earth has ever witnessed. I cringe when I see the three dots pop up again. He’s probably thinking the same thing and is looking for a quick way to end this entire conversation.

MYG: Good, although I think I may need to worry. It sounds like the airport was out of hand today.

ME: ...were you eavesdropping on my conversation with Bong-cha?

MYG: Speaker phone doesn’t count as eavesdropping.

ME: It does if the person doesn’t know she’s on speaker!

I have to wait nearly five minutes before he responds again, and the tell-tale ping of my phone has me rushing over to where I left my phone on my nightstand, leaving my toothbrush on the bathroom counter.

MYG: I’ve thought about it, and I think I need to apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation with Bong-cha earlier today.

ME: That was easy.

MYG: I think I’ve made things difficult enough for you, don’t you think?

Huffing out a laugh, I nod in agreement.

ME: You have.

When more than ten minutes pass without a reply, I convince myself to take a shower. Then I persuade myself to stand in the shower for more than three minutes, even though I’m itching to see if he’s replied yet.

Fifteen minutes later there’s still no reply. Cozying under the covers I stare at my phone, answering a text from Bong-cha asking if Yoongi has texted me yet.

Even though I’m a fan of the band, I can’t say that I’ve ever really gone out of my way to learn a lot about them. Beyond the music, I know very little.

At least, that’s the excuse I give myself as I watch video after video about Suga: the biggest baddest soft boy in the universe.

It’s nearly two in the morning before I force myself to put my phone down and get some rest. The thought that maybe my text came off more harsh than I intended it to has crossed my mind several times, but it’s too late now to try to take it back.

It’s nearly four in the morning when the sound of my phone vibrating drags me out of my slumber. Groggily, I reach for my phone, hissing as I hit my elbow on the nightstand.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groan, squinting at my phone. “I swear, if it’s Bong-cha at this time of night…”

MYG: I’m sorry.

MYG: I’m trying to fix this, thank you for being so kind and patient. Things will get better.

MYG: You don’t have to come to the festival, just so you know. Let me know, and we can cover for you somehow. Make up an excuse. Don’t feel like you have to come, or even speak to me. I’ll understand.

MYG: Sorry for texting so late! I just realized what time it is. Go to sleep. Sorry if I woke you up.

MYG: Sorry.

I’m caught between feeling choked up about the apology and trying to even wrap my mind around the fact that Min Yoongi is up in the middle of the night typing out an apology text to some girl he’s never met.

“Who even are you? Who does this?”

Hardly trusting myself to write back a proper reply, I squint into the screen as I hesitantly type letter by letter. Writing in Korean at four in the morning is not one of my strong points.

ME: I think I’m more exhausted by the amount of times you just said sorry than with what time it is. Go to sleep, Yoongi.

It takes all of thirty seconds for a reply to come through.

MYG: 😅 I guess good morning, Cara.

ME: Good morning, Yoongi.

I fall asleep watching the three dots on my phone appear and disappear as Min Yoongi ponders what next to say in this unlikely forming friendship.

Previous - Next

taglist is open!

taglist: @taylorroe3 @eusticenatalie @agustneeds @prdshobi

139 notes · View notes

willowbleedsonpaper · 4 years

Text

Ghost Of You (Part 3)

Draco Malfoy x Muggle!Reader

W.C. : 2600

Summary: The war with Voldemort was over. Draco Malfoy was forced to flee for his life ending up in Muggle London where he met you, the muggle whose house he broke in looking for a place to hide. You agreed to let him hide in your house if he promised to let you live your life normally. How will your relationship work as time passes and you both realize you’re no longer just partners in crime?

A/N: Hellooooo! It’s me again. Part three and more to come, so get yourself some snacks. I am loving writing this so thank you for reading and leaving comments, they make my day better. Also thank you to all the new followers, I really hope you like the content. Anyway, sorry for putting so much dialogue, I can’t help myself sometimes. Okay, that’s it. Happy reading!

Shoot me an ask or something if you wanna be tagged in Ghost Of You or my other work :)

Warnings: None

*Not mi GIF. Credits to th creator*

Draco watched as you got out of the car, your head low for more than just looking for the keys in your bag. You had been avoiding his gaze since he was question all about you in your class. He found interesting that your students were so curious about you, then again, he didn’t really know.

You opened the door and got inside instantly, putting your bag down in the table by the door and going straight upstairs, shutting your door without even looking back at him.

He closed the front door, finding himself lost and confused. He wanted to feel bad for using you in that way. When he broke into your house he never thought he’ll find himself in this situation, he just needed a place to hide and take care of his wound, you arriving home was something he didn’t count on but it proved it had both a use for his benefit as well as a dowside.

He would have never thought you would offer him your house to hide in, making him doubt if you were actually a muggle and not someone pretending, your rage towards him and the Imperius curse being a good start in him thinking you were actually who you claimed to be: a clueless muggle with a sharp tongue. He took your offer right away, if the Death Eaters found him there he could run and leave you to your fate. Did he wanted another life ending on his account? No, but he’ll do it if it meant he lived.

He walked to the room you showed him as his, the bag he enchanted to have endless space hidden under the pillow, containing the little belongings he took from his home before he ran. It had been a couple rough years after the so called Battle of Hogwarts. Harry Potter had won, he had killed Voldemort and become the hero they all knew he was.

The ministry had forgiven the Malfoy’s for their part in the war, claiming they had no other choice with the Dark Lord himself living in his house and his loyal followers at every turn. He’ll never wished that to anyone, the fear of not knowing if the day he woke up was the day he would be tortured to insanity or even death. He was glad he got out of that house.

But the ministry didn’t ensure his safety beyond that, death eaters roamed the wizarding world still and they had a burning thirst for blood, his blood. After all he was the one who threw his wand at Potter, he was the one who runned to the other side when the Chosen One came back from the dead. He was the traitor.

He knew you were afraid of him, you didn’t seem this morning but something at the school changed and he was faced with completely different person. You were being careful of every move your body made, of every word you said, of every step you took. You reminded him of first years at Hogwarts, every new generation heard of the mean Slytherin Prince and the fearful glances and avoidant looks were always there, he grew used to it in no time.

Yet, he didn’t want you to be scared of him. If he was to stay there he wanted it to be somewhat peaceful, if not pleasant. He didn’t want Hogwarts to repeat itself, he wanted to feel some kind of comfort. He wasn’t sure why but he knew he could find that there with you.

********************************************************************

Eleven o’clock. It just had turned eleven and you hadn’t left your room at all. Draco sat patiently at the table in the kitchen, a hot cup of tea in his hands as he stared deep into the collection of mugs proudly displayed in the counter. He wondered why you had so many mugs if you lived by yourself, surely you didn’t have twenty people over to use them all.

He thought countless times in going up to your room to see if you were alright, fighting with himself between that and you being a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. But then he remembered he was essentially the reason why you had locked yourself in your room. You were avoiding him.

He stood up form the chair, taking a glass of water with him so you would have something to drink. He started to feel nervous for some reason, his hand sweaty as he knocked on the door. Receiving no answer, he went to reach the knob twisting it softly revealing your dark room.

The lights were off and the curtains left little to no light shine through them. He turn to your bed, a bundle of blankets and pillows where, he assumed, you were buried.

“Y/N” he called softly, one of the pillows falling to the ground with the movement of your body.

“Go away” you muttered from underneath a giant blanket, turning your back at him.

He stepped inside your room and against your previous words going around the bed watching you roll on your side, he let out a defeated sigh, placing the glass of water in your nightstand and going to the door again. He took a last glance at you, before closing the door and going to his room for the night.

********************************************************************

The previous day had brought you down like you’ve never experienced, the mere thought of putting one of your students in danger just do defy your partner was one that made you feel like the worst person in the world. You didn’t know what he was capable of, and you couldn’t go back to the school until he was gone from your life.

But how long until he left?

You knew you were being reckless, he would use his magic word and tell you to shut up and sit. You were ready for it, you were going to annoy him until he left, you were determined to make him leave.

You made your way downstairs, finding the place empty. You walked around, checking the living room and the kitchen, you doubted he was in the washing room but still you checked. The only place left being his room and the bathroom, you were practically running around the house when you crashed against something hard in one of your turns.

You felt on your back with a loud thud, yours hands barely making it up to the back of your head. Your eyes were scrunched close and you stayed like that for longer than necessary.

“What are you doing?” you heard him ask you in annoyance, not bothering to give you a hand he just stared at you from his stance. A disapproving look in his face when he walked over you. But then he took a second glance at you, you wore sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, your hair was still up in a bun and you had no shoes on. You had just woken up “You’re going to be late for work.” he told you, never taking his eyes off of you.

You had clumsily stood, your body aching everywhere “I’m not going,” you said “I called in sick.”

“You’re not sick” he said matter of factly. His grey eyes were burning holes in you, having to physically shield yourself crossing your arms over your chest and looking everywhere but his way “Y/N…”

“I know I’m not sick,” you said talking over him “But you’re right. Is risky to go out if they’re looking for you, it could slip out of me” you lied, getting a bowl and some cereal.

He squinted his eyes at you, following your movement through the kitchen in silence. You finished preparing your breakfast and had to meet his face if you didn’t want to make the situation any more awkward, which ended up like that anyway “You’re not doing it for me” he said.

It wasn’t a question.

You sighed loudly, falling in one of the empty chairs “It doesn’t matter why I’m doing it.” you said in defeat “You’re hiding, I told you could stay here. Fine! Just don’t use that one on me again” your eyes falling to his sleeve where you knew he hid his wand.

“I won’t use it on you” he said lowly, a hurt look settling in his face.

“Or anyone” you added, quickly regretting it at the snap of his head at you. He looked offended “You took it with you to the school and, look, I don’t want to know how you do it,” you explained, not knowing if you made things worse “I’m willing to let you stay here, but there are things that I don’t want to know for my own sanity, like why you carry a wand or who is after you because I know if you tell me there is not going back from that.”

He looked to your face intently, your brow knitted like you already knew something was wrong and dangerous with him there. Still, you were helping him. He believed muggles would jump at any witch or wizard at the first sign of something magical, but you didn’t want to know. He never thought a muggle would be so interesting and considerate, that he would be so amazed by you.

“If that’s what you want” he said with a nod of his head.

“It is.” you assured him “And as long as you are here I won’t go to work, so you don’t have to go with me.” you said, head low as you played with the now soggy cereal.

“Why?” he whispered, finding your kindness towards him awfully misplaced.

You didn’t know what to say, only an hour ago you were determined to make him leave. What could you say to him, you remind me of me when I was in college? Alone and to no one to turn to for help. If I was you in your place I would want someone to the same for me?.

“I don’t know.” you mumbled, pushing your plate away. “I want to help you, but I can’t risk my students or the people at my job. They’re all I have.”

********************************************************************

The day was spent in uncomfortable silence, you tried to use your free day cleaning your house and doing all kind of chores you didn’t have the time to do on school days. You even managed to cook which was a once every full moon occurrence.

Draco had stayed with you after that, not interacting with you in anyway, just watching you.

“Do you have anything you would like me to wash?” you asked him, poking your head from the washing room with a basket full of your laundry. You didn’t even know why you offered that but it was something you didn’t mind at all, you were going to do it anyway.

He retrieved a couple shirts from his room, giving them hesitantly to you. You kept on making quick work there, feeling his eyes on you from the door. “Do you have friends?” he asked you, taking you by surprise with his question,

“Uh, the other teachers at school are nice,” you said with a small smile “We hang out sometimes after classes, but not really. My life is more dedicated to myself and my work.”

“What about your family?” He said, reaching something from the top shelf you were struggling to get.

You muttered a Thank you, placing the clothes in the washing machine and closing it. You turned him a nervous smile “They don’t talk to me” you admitted pursing your lips “I wanted to be a teacher, they didn’t agree and made me choose and here I am.”

“You turned against your family?” he asked you with a breathy voice, his posture completely straight. You chuckled a little at his reaction, like a little kid who meets and older much more cooler kid. He looked at you in awe.

“Is not that uncommon, but they were a little harsh.” you shared “Told me I couldn’t go back home if I didn’t have a law degree. I don’t, so I won’t go back”

He hummed, nodding his head softly turning his body to follow your movement to the kitchen “So you’ve been alone…”

“Since I was 18.” you said with a smile in his way. You didn’t mind the questions, you could see he was trying to make you more comfortable around him and even if you appreciated that, you couldn’t help but be scared of him. You needed more time. “Although alone is a little dramatic. I had a boyfriend, you know?” he rose an eyebrow at you and you laughed “Believe it or not, I did.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, I figured from the oversized t-shirt”” he told you, a blush rising in your cheeks, looking down to your clothes. You usually tied a knot on the front to make it more stylish but it still swimmed in your body “I just assumed you still were together.” he said.

“Thankfully we’re not, otherwise you being here would raise hell on earth.” the sound that left his lips make you turn with a surprised look in your eyes, he had chuckled. You beamed, the sound the most melodic you’ve heard in a long time.

“Hadn’t thought of that.” he admitted and you relaxed a little, maybe you could trust him with time.

“What about you?” you asked, his eyes lifting to you with an eyebrow raised “Is there a girlfriend? Boyfriend?” you wiggled your eyebrows and this time he laughed, a smile in his face. You had it in you to make him smile.

“I thought you didn’t want to know things about me?” he asked you with a grin.

“Are they the one you’re hiding from?” you asked with a laugh “Then please keep it to yourself.” you paused looking up a him with, wrinkling your nose “Thinking about it, if you don’t say anything I’ll know they are after you, maybe you shouldn’t answer.” you shook your head, squinting your eyes in thought.

He stared deeply at you, watching as you thoughtlessly chopped some fruit, lost inside your head. “My girlfriend is not after me,” he said specifically to see your reaction, not wavering for a second he scolded himself for the disappointing feeling that had set deep in his head “That would require having one in the first place”

You scoffed, turning to him and handing him a plate “Funny.” you said sarcastically “So no one waiting home for your return?”

He thought about it. Who would be waiting for him back home? No one really, his parents were the ones that had helped him escape, telling him to never return unless they specifically said so. The Death Eaters becoming a common visit at the Manor.

“No, no one” he answered bitterly.

You could pinpoint the exact moment his mood change, feeling bad that you had asked. “Well,” you started, grabbing two mugs from your counter and filling them with coffee “to no one waiting for us back home.” you said giving him a mug and raising yours in the air.

He looked at you, tilting his head with the mug close to his chest “That’s a depressing toast.” he said. You gave him an annoyed look, letting your hand fall from where he had left you hanging.

“Do you have a better idea?” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“Actually, I do.” he beamed, raising his own mug “To partners in crime.”

You smiled, the mugs clinking as you toasted “To partners in crime.”

TAGS: @fanficflaneuse @accio-rogers @gloriousrebelrunaway @slytherinprincess03 @coldlilheart @aasthapiplani @nebulablakemurphy @strawberriesonsummer @l1teralegend

#Draco Malfoy #draco x reader #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy x reader #draco lucius malfoy #draco x muggle!reader #draco malfoy x muggle!reader #muggle!reader #harry potter fanfiction #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #Harry Potter

120 notes · View notes

halothenthehorns · 3 years

Text

TLTNL- THE SLUG CLUB

James took the book from Lily, their hands lingering for an extra second on each other. It didn't seem possible, but somehow every new year of their sons school added an extra layer of worry, and this one was no better. With only more worrisome details for whatever the Death Eaters were planning, the parents terror could only grow when Harry would figure it out.

For now though, they could at least hope the rest of his stay at the Burrow and his soon train ride held no excitement, so James still continued with high spirits.

Harry spent a lot of the last week of the holidays pondering the meaning of Malfoy's behavior in Knockturn Alley. What disturbed him most was the satisfied look on Malfoy's face as he had left the shop. Nothing that made Malfoy look that happy could be good news.

"I entirely agree," Sirius couldn't help but dejectedly say, there wasn't much of a funny spin he could put on that.

To his slight annoyance, however, neither Ron nor Hermione seemed quite as curious about Malfoy's activities as he was;

"They what?" They all demanded, sure they'd heard wrong.

"Let him finish," Harry soothed, though the look on his face showed it wasn't going to end much better.

or at least, they seemed to get bored of discussing it after a few days.

"It is now a good thing Molly never let them join the Order," Remus rolled his eyes. "After the third meeting they'd probably stop attending."

"Be fair, they don't know what we know, which is there is something going on," Lily halfheartedly defended. "They just know that for the past five years Malfoy's been a rotten child, they've just witnessed one of his acts this time."

"They should have believed me when I said it was something more, how else was I supposed to figure out what Malfoy was up to if I couldn't bounce ideas off of them," Harry huffed.

Hermione impatiently agreed as much when he brought it up again. She was sitting on the windowsill in Fred and George's room with her feet up on one of the cardboard boxes and had only grudgingly looked up from her new copy of Advanced Rune Translation.

"I'm still amazed you can accomplish that at all," James smirked.

"Why would she even bring that in there and expect to get any work done?" Sirius agreed.

Reminding there could be any number of things they just didn't know about.

Ron suggested Malfoy could have broken his Hand of Glory.*

"When on Earth did Malfoy have that?" Sirius demanded, clearly thinking he'd missed something.

"I told Ron Malfoy took an interest to it the first time I was in there, maybe Ron thought I meant his dad did buy it," Harry offered, though they'd never actually seen him use it in school.

Harry repeated Malfoy's instructions of keeping â€˜that one' safe, making it seem Malfoy had a broken set of something. When neither of his friends responded to him again pointing this out, Harry insisted with his dad in Azkaban, Malfoy would want revenge.

"I can't see even Borgin and Burkes having anything to help with that though," Remus disagreed. "Revenge against who? Azkaban? The Ministry? You?"

"I would have said the first seemed the most likely, what with the 'it's never been done before' bit Narcissa offered, but just last year there were massive breakouts, so that doesn't seem the problem," Sirius sighed.

"Voldemort's gotten others into Hogwarts if he was the target, and Malfoy's also a student, so that shouldn't be it either," Lily agreed while trying not to bite at her lip.

"And I can not for the life of me imagine what a sixteen year old could do against the Ministry of Magic, even they're not that incompetent," James sighed.

"You're missing the part where this was originally Voldemort's idea," Harry insisted as he felt sure they were missing the mark on all accounts.

"Yet Malfoy's clearly pleased to go along with whatever it is, not just following orders, so it must be something he'd be for as well. Revenge is the best we've got to go on as far as motive," Lily patiently reminded.

Harry couldn't help smiling at them, they'd already offered more for his idea than his two friends, and it felt nice to not be so dismissed.

Ron was baffled what Malfoy could do about any revenge, and Harry agreed in frustration he didn't know, he was clearly up to something serious.

Sirius look muddled, like he wasn't sure what the response he was supposed to give for that was. His preferred joke was most certainly in poor taste, but it would be crass of him not to do it at this point!

Then he saw Harry look to him, almost genuinely concerned at even the hint of a pause, so Sirius finished as if there hadn't been one, "I wish I could still help out with this pup."

Lily gave the obligatory groan and Remus made to flick him in the ear, but all of them had an almost relieved look about them. At least they didn't look like they were counting down how many times he had left to do that.

His father was a Death Eater and-

Harry broke off, his eyes fixed on the window behind Hermione, his mouth open. A startling thought had just occurred to him.

"And that is?" James encouraged when Harry got a rather dissatisfied look on his face for this thought occurring to him now.

"That Malfoy's a Death Eater," he sighed.

There was a pitying little pause at the look of resignation on his face while Sirius nodded slowly.

"Guess you already put that together from what Narcissa said. I wish it was more surprising, or rare honestly, for that megalomaniac to be using anyone and everyone he wants." It was an even more depressing realization his own little brother was hardly older than this Malfoy kid when he'd suffered a similar fate, and likely as undo-able a task from what they'd heard. Sirius couldn't come up with another reason for why he'd desert his lifelong dream other than getting a job he couldn't handle.

Hermione anxiously demanded what was wrong, Ron nervously asking if it was his scar.

"Can't even blame him, after last year, that's the first thing I would have thought to," Remus sighed.

Harry slowly said aloud his idea Malfoy was a Death Eater.

"Actually, why would you have put that together considering you didn't know what we did," James couldn't help but jump at this leap.

"You guys just agreed it isn't so crazy," Harry said defensively at once.

"Because we know it's true," James agreed, "but you haven't exactly seen a lot of experience with it, or had it confirmed before that. You were just chatting about his dad and what he could be up to."

Harry just huffed and muttered, but waved his dad on, knowing he'd have to explain himself to his friends in a few moments already like he'd already been doing all summer.

There was a silence; then Ron erupted in laughter, reminding Harry he was only sixteen, You-Know-Who would have to be crazy.

"Age has never been a factor for him, it's what you can do for him," Sirius scowled.

Hermione agreed it was highly unlikely, where had he come up with that?

Harry reminded how in Madam Malkin's he hadn't let her touch his arm, he must have been branded with the Dark Mark.

"I, didn't even notice that," Lily's brows shot up in surprise, before she corrected, "though joining the Death Eaters doesn't automatically mean you got a Dark Mark. I'd think that was only for those he's marked as worthy, not of every single one."

Harry chose not to argue back since she didn't call him crazy outright for it.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, clearly unconvinced, while Harry went on Malfoy had shown Borgin something, and it seriously scared Borgin.

"I could scare the pants off of him without pants!" Sirius agreed without the hesitation this time, but as his friends winced slightly and Harry gave a softer laugh than usual, he needlessly pointed out, "You keep invoking my name, I can tell how much you'd been missing me."

Harry grinned at him again, though he'd willingly admit he'd have liked to have his godfathers opinion on this at the time as much as anything.

It was the Mark, he knew it. He was showing Borgin who he was dealing with, they saw how seriously Borgin took him!

"He'd treat him nothing like me!" Sirius insisted while Remus flicked his ear again.

"To Harry's credit, Malfoy did show him something and he seemed much more likely to back down," James agreed with that logic, never not astounded how his son so easily put such things together they'd only given passing thoughts to.

Ron and Hermione exchanged another look.

Annoyed, but absolutely convinced he was right,

"It's not usual you've got to deal with that with Hermione and Ron," Remus sighed, already exhausted by this ongoing argument he could feel brewing.

Harry snatched up a pile of filthy Quidditch robes and left the room; Mrs. Weasley had been urging them for days not to leave their washing and packing until the last moment. On the landing he bumped into Ginny, who was returning to her room carrying a pile of freshly laundered clothes.

She warned him to be careful in the kitchen, there was an excess of Phlegm around.

"What a kind warning," Sirius couldn't help but snicker.

Harry smiled and thanked her, promising he wouldn't slip in it.

Sure enough, when he entered the kitchen it was to find Fleur sitting at the kitchen table, in full flow about plans for her wedding to Bill, while Mrs. Weasley kept watch over a pile of self-peeling sprouts, looking bad-tempered.

Fleur was explaining more wedding plans. They'd narrowed it down to two bridesmaids,

"Who were the other options besides the two sisters?" James wondered at that.

"Hopefully not past girlfriends of Bill's, that wouldn't do him any favors," Sirius smirked.

"Sirius, I'm advising you I don't care how far in advance, don't ever bring that up in your own wedding, it will get you cursed," Lily promised, wanting to smack him herself for the stupid suggestion no matter how much he was joking.

"Padfoot seems to have an unfortunate ability to attract violent women," James pleasantly noted.

"I imagine they were far less violent before they met him," Remus rolled his eyes. "Lily's the only exception I've met."

and their dresses would be pale gold, Ginny would look horrible in pink of course.

"Why?" Harry asked in confusion, thinking Ginny wouldn't look horrible in any color she chose.

"I'm not going to let Lily explain that, no one else cares," Sirius loudly said.

She scowled at him even more than before, honestly wanting to smack him herself now just for thinking she would, she hadn't really a care for that sort of thing.

"You're only proving Prongs' point," Remus happily reminded him while James ignored them anyways.

Mrs. Weasley loudly interrupted at the sight of Harry to explain they'd be getting Ministry cars to the train again tomorrow and Aurors at the station. Harry asked if it was Tonks again, to which Molly explained Arthur said she was already positioned somewhere else.

Fleur inserted Tonks had let herself go, while gazing into her own reflection in the back of a spoon.

"You really can't blame those girls, thinking her so vain, when every time she's been mentioned this summer she's talking about herself and doing that," Lily sighed.

Mrs. Weasley tartly cut in Harry should have himself ready, no one needed the usual last minute scramble.

Indeed, their departure the following morning was smoother than usual. The Ministry cars glided up to the front of the Burrow to find them waiting, trunks packed; Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, safely enclosed in his traveling basket; and Hedwig; Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon; and Ginny's new purple Pygmy Puff, Arnold, in cages.

"The Weasley's really do have the most interesting names for things," Remus cocked his head to the side, thinking Arnold the most mundane thing that could be given to a purple ball of fluff.

"Remember Ginny named Pig to, so as of now it's all her fault, and she seems to have no consistency on how wild they get," Sirius chuckled.

Fleur gave him a double kiss goodbye. Ron hurried forward, looking hopeful, but Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur's feet.

"What a lovely sister," James noted.

"Growing happier by the moment I never used to have one," Sirius agreed, making Lily flush in surprise and decide not to put extra salt on his plate at lunch, for now.

Furious, red-faced, and dirt-spattered, he hurried into the car without saying good-bye.

There was no cheerful Hagrid waiting for them at King's Cross Station. Instead, two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward the moment the cars stopped and, flanking the party, marched them into the station without speaking.

"There is such a thing as taking your job-" Remus cut himself off with a nasty look at Sirius, who looked disappointed his friend hadn't slipped up.

Mrs. Weasley, seemed a little flustered by this austere efficiency.

"I can't really blame her, it just sounds odd to need security for the short walk it is onto the platform," James agreed.

An Auror even tried to guide Harry straight through the barrier by his arm before Harry snapped he could walk on his own as he jerked his arm away.

"So ungrateful for someone trying to hold your hand," Sirius nodded.

He pushed his trolley directly at the solid barrier, ignoring his silent companion, and found himself, a second later, standing on platform nine and three-quarters, where the scarlet Hogwarts Express stood belching steam over the crowd.

Harry really couldn't help a nostalgic smile as that image lingered in his mind, and he really did wonder for a moment why he'd feel like it would be so long before he saw it again. He still had another school year left of course to be missing such a thing.

Hermione and the Weasleys joined him within seconds. Without waiting to consult his grim-faced Auror, Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione to follow him up the platform, looking for an empty compartment. Hermione reminded they couldn't they had to go check in as Prefects.

Harry admitted he'd forgotten.

"Poor thing is probably going to forget that next year as well, it is odd to get used to," Sirius sighed, it had always thrown him off when Moony did it, and then Prongs as well in their last year.

Mrs. Weasley was hugging everyone goodbye, before Harry made the impulse decision to ask Mr. Weasley for a quick word.

"Well this is bringing back an unpleasant flashback," James grumbled, but tried to ignore Sirius shifting in unease as well for the reminder of when this had last happened.

Mr. Weasley, who looked slightly surprised, followed Harry out of earshot of the others nevertheless.

Harry had thought it through carefully and come to the conclusion that, if he was to tell anyone, Mr. Weasley was the right person; firstly, because he worked at the Ministry and was therefore in the best position to make further investigations, and secondly, because he thought that there was not too much risk of Mr. Weasley exploding with anger.

"Well you're certainly not wrong on either account," Sirius burst out with surprised laughter.

James couldn't get the same enthusiasm for realizing what Harry was going to tell him, it was too depressing to once again here his son turning to someone else who should have been him.

He could see Mrs. Weasley and the grim-faced Auror casting the pair of them suspicious looks as they moved away.

Mr. Weasley interrupted Harry's starting by asking if he was finally going to learn where they'd really disappeared to when they were supposed to be in the back of the shop.

"I'm not really surprised they didn't fall for that," Sirius agreed.

Harry was surprised he knew otherwise,

"I'm more shocked than anything Harry thought they did," Remus snorted.

but Arthur interrupted to remind he was the same man who had raised Fred and George.

"He's got you there," James agreed.

Harry admitted to that, and Arthur said he was ready to hear the worst.

"Oh don't say that, he'll actually be getting it," Lily sighed.

Harry again tried to explain they'd seen Malfoy and decided to follow him under the Cloak- Arthur again interrupted to ask if there had been an actual reason, or just a whim?

"Honestly the second," Sirius pointed out while Harry tried to scowl at him without admitting he was right.

Harry insisted he'd done so because he thought Malfoy was up to something, and then explained the rest. Arthur took it in silence, contemplated for a moment, before saying slowly he doubted You-Know-Who would allow a sixteen year old-

"I'm almost glad that's not as common place in their time," Lily blinked in surprise for that response from him.

"Voldemort also doesn't have the swollen ranks he does in this time," James reminded pityingly. "Now he's got massive followers every which way, from all we've seen though, he really may not have more than his circle. I can almost see where Arthur's coming from."

Harry at least felt better hearing that explained, but it didn't make him feel better everyone kept calling this such a crazy idea when he knew he was right.

Harry shot back no one really knew what Voldemort would do.

Mr. Weasley slowly explained that when Lucius had been arrested, his mansion had been searched, and the Malfoys had been stripped of everything that could be dangerous.

Harry insisted they must have missed something, and Arthur agreed in a tone that implied he was only humoring Harry now.

Harry's scowl increased, this was as maddening as last year! Hadn't he proved himself more than a paranoid child! He should be taken seriously about this!

"Relax Harry," James tried to sooth with a look Harry couldn't quite identify with. "You've come to him with a hunch, and he's at least listening to you. Come back again with a bit more proof, which I know you'll get during your year, and I know you'll get something done."

Harry did relax just a bit, hoping he was right, and missing his dad's smile increasing.

There was a whistle behind them; nearly everyone had boarded the train and the doors were closing.

Harry hurried to the train as it began chugging along, while Mrs. Weasley called after them he was coming to their house for Christmas, the train began picking up speed as she continued, moving along with it, for them all to be good, the train was rounding the bend now as she nearly jogged to keep up with her final warning to stay safe!

Sirius honestly wanted to laugh at the woman again, but the look on Lily's face promised he wouldn't be allowed without getting an earful. She was grateful someone was still looking after her boy.

Harry waved until the train had turned a corner and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were lost to view, then turned to see where the others had got to. He supposed Ron and Hermione were cloistered in the prefects' carriage, but Ginny was a little way along the corridor, chatting to some friends. He made his way toward her, dragging his trunk.

People stared shamelessly as he approached. They even pressed their faces against the windows of their compartments to get a look at him.

"Suppose you should be grateful they're not all following you around like Collin was yet," Remus sighed.

He had expected an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping he would have to endure this term after all the "Chosen One" rumors in the Daily Prophet, but he did not enjoy the sensation of standing in a very bright spotlight. He tapped Ginny on the shoulder, asking if she'd like to find a compartment.

She returned she had to find Dean, but she'd see him later.

"Ouch, getting dismissed all over the place this year," James winced.

"What a sight to behold, little Ginny dismissing the Great Chosen One," Sirius agreed.

Harry found their teasing only mildly less annoying than the staring and chose to ignore them just as well.

He felt a strange twinge of annoyance as she walked away, her long red hair dancing behind her; he had become so used to her presence over the summer that he had almost forgotten that Ginny did not hang around with him, Ron, and Hermione while at school.

"Was she really around that much? You hardly mentioned her more than normal," Lily asked in surprise.

Harry chose not to answer, still in a clear bad mood for the gawkers it seemed.

Then he blinked and looked around: He was surrounded by mesmerized girls until a voice behind him called for his attention and Harry turned in relife to find Neville,

Sirius inhaled deeply, and this time Remus swooped in and jammed his finger into Sirius' ear, causing him to yelp in protest but thankfully not again be able to shout about one of Harry's friends showing up. Sirius rubbed at his ear and called Moony a killjoy, who decided he'd rather be that than Sirius, killer of ears.

with Luna right behind him.

"Luna's back," Sirius said pointedly to Remus, though thankfully he kept it at a decent volume, his hand still protectively on his ear.

"Thank you Sirius, that's quite interesting to know," Remus gently pandered now that he wasn't shouting it.

Harry greeted them gratefully, asking how their summer had gone. She replied very well, already clutching a copy of the Quibbler which promised a free pair of Spectrespecs inside. Harry asked their magazine was still going well, having a fondness for it after giving an interview last year.

"To Rita Skeeter though, we just can't forget that part," James wrinkled his nose at the reminder.

"Worth it," Harry shrugged, it had done him much more good than harm for once.

Luna happily agreed circulation was still up.

Harry offered they should go find seats, and the three of them set off along the train through hordes of silently staring students. At last they found an empty compartment, and Harry hurried inside gratefully.

Neville told they were even being stared at, because they'd been with him.

"Congratulations, they're getting what Ron always wanted," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Hope they enjoy it," Harry sighed.

Harry reminded they were staring because they'd also been at the Ministry, the Daily Prophet had made that clear.

Neville had thought his Gran would be mad about that publicity, but she'd been really pleased, saying at long lost he was living up to his dad.

All five of them made agitated faces at that, honestly wishing Neville would stop being compared to his parents as much as Harry wished the same of late.

She'd already bought him a new wand. He pulled it out and showed it to Harry, proclaiming it as Cherry and unicorn, one of the last Ollivander had sold, as he'd vanished the next day.

"Blimey, Neville's already getting some better luck for his life," Remus winced for the reminder.

Then he shouted for Trevor to get back here.

"Glad to know at least that toad won't let a joke die," Sirius chuckled.

And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom.

Luna asked, while detaching a pair of psychedelic spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler, if the D. A. meetings would continue this year.

"That's actually a good question I hadn't thought of," Lily agreed at once.

"Won't need to will we, unless we actually manage to get another teacher like Umbridge who refuses to teach us," Harry shrugged, very much hoping his luck wasn't that awful.

"Well yes, but who says you can't still use it to help along students. The classes in general are still majorly behind on most basic curses, as was apparent by Fred and George," Remus reminded.

"Plus study groups actually make doing work more bearable," James agreed.

Harry was a bit surprised they were all so encouraging of an idea that hadn't even crossed his mind, and honestly regret just a bit not continuing with it. Though he wasn't sure how it would have even been possible, considering his Quidditch practices and upcoming lessons with Dumbledore would honestly make his schedule as hectic as last year.

Neville thumped his head under the seat, coming out with a bit of fluff in place with disappointment on his face, saying he'd liked the D. A. He'd learned loads.

Luna serenely agreed it had been like having friends.

"Well that was depressing," Sirius said with chipper what everyone was thinking.

"Surely she has friends," Lily tried at once to say positively as if to the girl herself. "She's been known to hang around with Ginny."

"She said friends plural though, making me wonder how many others besides Ginny," Remus muttered.

This was one of those uncomfortable things Luna often said and which made Harry feel a squirming mixture of pity and embarrassment.

"She's rather good at that, I should be taking notes," James agreed.

Before he could respond, however, there was a disturbance outside their compartment door; a group of fourth-year girls was whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass, all telling each other to go ask him!

One of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door. She introduced herself as Romilda Vane, and offered he

could come sit with them! She finished in a stage whisper, her eyes on Neville's bum again poking out of the seats and Luna in her psychedelic glasses.

"Romilda clearly has no sense of fun at all, not immediately asking what was going on in there," Sirius scoffed.

"Why would they think Harry would want to sit with them anyways," James scowled. "Who wants to sits with brats two years below them."

Lily honestly wanted to tell James he was being a brat by saying that, but she couldn't disagree with him either.

Harry coldly returned those were his friends, and after an awkward pause, she said okay and left.

"Hopefully that taught her right quick about opening her mouth," Remus rolled his eyes. Confidence could be as much a hindrance if not used correctly, which he'd had seven years to watch.

Luna once again displayed her knack of embarrassing honesty by stating people expected him to have cooler friends.

"Who says they're not cool, I'd hang out with them," Sirius scoffed.

"Harry did," James reminded with a chuckle, thinking this wasn't far off from how his last year had started. If Neville's plant spit up on everyone again and Cho came around it would get eerie.

"I learned my lesson," Harry said smoothly.

Harry at once said they were cool! They hadn't been at the Ministry with him.

Luna beamed at him, telling that was very nice to say, before going to her magazine.

Neville quietly reminded they hadn't faced him though, coming back out with his toad in hand. His Gran kept going on about how that Harry Potter had more backbone than all the Ministry of Magic put together.

"Well that's true," James puffed up his chest with pride.

She'd give anything to have Harry as a grandson.

Sirius made a deep snarling noise, well to aware of the feeling your parent wished to replace you, and wouldn't wish that on anyone else! His noise of disgust was echoed throughout the room, Lily couldn't keep going for a moment she was so depressed anyone could think that about themselves!

Harry laughed uncomfortably and changed the subject to OWL results as soon as he could.

James made a little noise of sympathy for Harry though, he had heard Sirius say much the same and had just as quickly himself diverted the topic, there just wasn't much you could say to that.

While Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud whether he would be allowed to take a Transfiguration NEWT, with only an "Acceptable,"

"Highly doubt it," Remus frowned, mind still lingering on other things.

"Did he at once tell you that? Surely he mentioned his better grades," Lily tried to cajole out something positive of that.

Harry distractedly said no, but he hadn't been listening in great detail to what Neville had been saying either.

Harry watched him without really listening.

Neville's childhood had been blighted by Voldemort just as much as Harry's had, but Neville had no idea how close he had come to having Harry's destiny.

None of them had forgotten this, but they'd been happily side stepping that in the hopes it wouldn't bog Harry down. Clearly it was going to now though.

The prophecy could have referred to either of them, yet, for his own inscrutable reasons, Voldemort had chosen to believe that Harry was the one meant.

Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy. ... Or would it? Would Neville's mother have died to save him, as Lily had died for Harry? Surely she would. . . . But what if she had been unable to stand between her son and Voldemort? Would there then have been no "Chosen One" at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and a scarless Harry who would have been kissed goodbye by his own mother, not Ron's?

Lily was near tears by the end of this, and James wasn't feeling much better. Their conviction to change this path Harry had been on suddenly put a cold spin on in it like they'd never have believed. What if they did stop this from happening to their family? Could they still guarantee the same for Neville, put this fate on someone else? Were they condemning another child to this life just to save theirs?

James refused to let himself linger on that, he'd find a way to save his family, Neville, the whole bloody world if he had to! He wasn't going to let this happen again, and he wouldn't hear a thing about it otherwise!

Neville noticed Harry's distraction and asked what was wrong, and Luna inserted she thought there was a Wrackspurt going around.

"Didn't she already mention those?" James demanded with more force than the question called for.

"Not that I've heard, unless you're thinking of the Nargles that were never explained," Remus said lightly.

James hardly heard him any more than he'd realized he'd asked a question.

Then she explained Wrackspurts were invisible, they floated into your ears and made your brain go fuzzy.

"Who knew there was an actual reason for the way Sirius was," Lily halfheartedly poked fun. It really was impossible to get on with just twenty minutes without something depressing dragging them all down of late, even the thought of trying to preserve their own future was doing it now.

Sirius was so distracted he didn't even have a response for her.

She flapped her hands at thin air, as though beating off large invisible moths. Harry and Neville caught each other's eyes and hastily began to talk of Quidditch.

"Which Harry is Captain of!" James burst so loud it was as if he was actively trying to see how loud he could say it.

Harry managed a half-hearted laugh for him, and James kept listening feeling just a bit better he'd managed to shout about something good again.

The weather beyond the train windows was as patchy as it had been all summer; they passed through stretches of the chilling mist, then out into weak, clear sunlight. It was during one of the clear spells, when the sun was visible almost directly overhead, that Ron and Hermione entered the compartment at last.

After greeting them, Ron delivered the news that Malfoy wasn't doing prefect duty.

"He what!" Harry wasn't the only one to shout in surprise, but did keep going, "I didn't even know you could do that."

"I've only known one to," Remus frowned uneasily, "and she had Maledictus, though I don't know what kind. Could barely keep up in the corridors she was so sickly, she certainly didn't want the extra Prefect duties."

Harry had no clue what that was, though understood enough by that to understand it was a sickness you wouldn't want, so instead keep going with determination, "this is proof then! Malfoy is up to something! There's no way he'd give up that power otherwise," he finished with his fist in his hand to prove his point.

"Calm down Harry, nobody in here disagreed with you," Lily half scolded why he was being so adamant about this.

"Right, sorry," he muttered, backing down at once but that triumphant look lingered and James kept going despite his friends still muttering curiously if there could be something else going on.

Harry sat up straight, interested. It was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year. Harry asked what Malfoy had done when he'd been seen, and Ron said the usual, before demonstrating a rude hand gesture. It wasn't like him, well that was, he did the hand gesture again,

"Was that really necessary, I'm sure we got that all on our own." Lily rolled her eyes.

"He's had his fingers threatened for months, let him enjoy his free range," Sirius chuckled while wagging his own.

but why wasn't he out there bullying first years again.

Harry agreed it was odd, his mind was racing. Didn't this look as though Malfoy had more important things on his mind than bullying younger students?

Hermione pointed out he'd probably preferred the Inquisitorial Squad, and Prefect seemed a bit tame in comparison.

"Not really that crazy," James agreed. "It's almost like he's been demoted after abusing so much power."

Harry looked offended, like he thought he was being dismissed, but forced himself not to snap at him. He was being crazy, they knew something was going on, he didn't need to go shouting at everyone like they were his friends trying to tell him otherwise.

Harry began to disagree before he could expound on his theory, the compartment door slid open again and a breathless third-year girl stepped inside.

"What were you going to say?" Sirius asked.

"Exactly that, I think he's got better things to do this year," Harry sighed, already feeling he had no care for what was fixing to happen and would much rather focus on what he'd been interrupted on. "I was still debating how much farther I was going to keep going though. I trust Neville and Luna of course, but wasn't sure if I was going to tell them what I saw on holiday yet."

"I don't see why not, they know about as much as you do on Malfoy's front, and since you're own friends are driving you nuts, I'm sure at least Luna would have indulged hearing you talk about it," James pointed out.

Harry nodded his agreement, now looking even more agitated by whatever this interruption was.

She was holding out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon for Neville and Harry. Perplexed, they both took the scroll addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the compartment.

Ron asked what it was, and Harry explained it as an invitation, not inserting, from Slughorn.

Neville nervously asked why he was invited, as if expecting detention.

"Neville's clearly a name in this future, if to a lesser degree than Harry without all the press. I'm sure Slughorn's heard of his parents anyways," Lily said without surprise.

"Why was Slughorn on the train though?" Harry demanded, he'd been right to be annoyed by this, it seemed pointless already.

"He does it every few years or so, scope out new students and invite the older ones in early, a way to reconnect over the summer before school even kicks in," Lily shrugged.

Harry said no idea, which was not entirely true, though he had no proof yet that his hunch was correct.

"Hasn't seemed to stop you yet," Sirius chucked.

He took the opportunity to ask Neville to come with him under the Cloak, so they could spy on the Slytherin Compartment on the way there.

"I completely forgot now Luna and Neville know about your cloak, as well as Ginny if she didn't before," James blinked in surprise.

"Least Neville's getting a new experience out of this," Sirius grinned.

This idea, however, came to nothing: The corridors, which were packed with people on the lookout for the lunch trolley, were impossible to negotiate while wearing the cloak. Harry stowed it regretfully back in his bag, reflecting that it would have been nice to wear it just to avoid all the staring, which seemed to have increased in intensity even since he had last walked down the train. Every now and then, students would hurtle out of their compartments to get a better look at him. The exception was Cho Chang, who darted into her compartment when she saw Harry coming.

"No love loss there eh?" James couldn't help but tease.

Harry didn't even change colors for this, just shrugged while his mind lingered on other things.

As Harry passed the window, he saw her deep in determined conversation with her friend Marietta, who was wearing a very thick layer of makeup that did not entirely obscure the odd formation of pimples still etched across her face.

Lily couldn't help but frown severely for that. "Honestly, was Hermione's curse permanent? That's well going beyond what the girl deserved, making the decision she did. Did she really ruin another girl's life with that?"

"I really don't think so, it was fading, slowly," Harry shrugged. "Certainly at the end of last year even that wouldn't have hidden it as well, so I'm positive given another month it'll be gone."

Lily still looked a bit tart, but couldn't hold it onto her forever so long as Hermione hadn't.

Smirking slightly, Harry pushed on.

When they reached compartment C, they saw at once that they were not Slughorn's only invitees, although judging by the enthusiasm of Slughorn's welcome, Harry was the most warmly anticipated.

Slughorn jumped right to his feet, his velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silvery mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his waistcoat.

His reaction to Neville was just as cordial if less bouncy.

They didn't need to ask how Harry felt about this, his unimpressed look spoke volumes. He'd no more cottoned onto all Slughorn could offer from Dumbledore's and their own explanations than decided he wanted to master potions.

Neville nodded, looking scared. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. Harry glanced around at their fellow guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes; there were also two seventh-year boys Harry did not know and, squashed in the corner beside Slughorn and looking as though she was not entirely sure how she had got there, Ginny.

"Ouch, how'd Ginny end up in there and not Ron?" Sirius asked.

"I've no idea, but she doesn't seem any more pleased with it than I was," Harry said with a bit of sympathy, wishing he could swap places with Slughorn to at least let Ginny breath a bit.

Slughorn began introducing everyone for those who needed them, starting with Blaise Zabini in their year, of Slytherin.

Zabini did not make any sign of recognition or greeting, nor did Harry or Neville: Gryffindor and Slytherin students loathed each other on principle.

Lily clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes while the boys grinned.

Then there was Cormac McLaggen, perhaps they'd crossed paths already.

Harry then imitated his mother, rolling his eyes heavily and not at all enjoying the sensation telling him he'd rather forget this one all over again.

McLaggen, a large, wiry-haired youth, raised a hand, and Harry and Neville nodded back at him.

That was Marcus Belby who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile while Slughorn finished they both knew this charming young lady.

Ginny grimaced at Harry and Neville from behind Slughorn's back.

"As welcome a greeting as Zambini's from that," Remus snickered

He had them all sit down and offered them food he'd brought along, the trolley's tendency to stock licorice wands wasn't good for a poor old mans digestive.

"Considering the man's favorite treat is Crystallized Pineapple, I wouldn't hold him to that," Lily said with the same old indulgence she'd used for seven years when speaking to Slughorn. She couldn't believe how much she was enjoying hearing about him again interacting with a new round of students, she felt like she could have been in there chatting along with the whole thing. It was all too easy to picture the man wagging his finger in reprove at her for giving that away already.

Belby accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant from Slughorn, who began asking him about his Uncle Damocles, who'd gained an Order of Merlin. Did he see much of him?

Unfortunately, Belby had just taken a large mouthful of pheasant; in his haste to answer Slughorn he swallowed too fast, turned purple, and began to choke.

Slughorn calmly vanished it with the spell Anapneo, pointing his wand at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once.

Belby gasped, his eyes streaming, not much of him.

Slughorn agreed he was a busy man, what with inventing the Wolfsbane Potion.

"Well this conversation just got a lot more interesting," James muttered while Remus shifted around, not sure how to feel about that being brought up again. Considering it had last been spoken of ruining Sirius' life because of him, not ecstatic, but if he could actually find a way to make that a routine part of his life...

Belby, seemed afraid to take another bite of pheasant until he was sure that Slughorn had finished with him and halfheartedly agreed.

"Frightening the kid into not eating, this man really knows how to push buttons," Sirius huffed.

He admitted his didn't get on with his uncle very well, so he really didn't see him at all.

His voice trailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead.

"And that's Belby gone from the group," James mimed pointing his wand at nothing and blowing it away.

"Because he doesn't keep in contact with an Uncle? He might still be really good at something even so," Harry defended.

"Doesn't have many proper connections though, to get him many places," Lily reminded. "Or he's not yet realized he should be mentioning those."

Slughorn turned towards Cormac then, saying he knew he spent time with his Uncle Tiberius because he'd seen a picture of the two hunting nogtails on his desk in Norfolk.

"Fascinating creatures, I think they should be studied much more than they're given the chance," Remus began babbling at once with a sad little frown that hunting them was such a popular sport.

"You can only run one off with a pure white hound, and they're known to curse the farm they locate to by suckling on a mother pig, but I'd love to see more studies of the extent-"

"Just remember if you bring one of those home, I can't run it off," Sirius rolled his eyes before waving James on while Remus continued muttering to himself.

McLaggen at once agreed that had been great fun, Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour had come along as well, before he'd become Minister of course.

Slughorn beamed he knew them as well.

"I think McLaggen just became his new poster child," James scrunched up his face at this kid somehow managing all that, though trying hard not to yet judge him as pompous as the rest of the Slug Club ended up being. Lily of course never went the same way, so he was trying to be mature here.

now offering around a small tray of pies; somehow, Belby was missed out.

Harry huffed and muttered he wished he'd noticed that before he'd swallowed his own.

It was as Harry had suspected. Everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential, except Ginny.

"I'd consider Arthur well-known and influential from what little we've been able to hear about his life," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Maybe Slughorn recognizes he made a mistake missing him and won't do it again with the first female Weasley in seven generations," Remus shrugged.

Zabini, who was interrogated after McLaggen, turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out, she had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold).

"Right," Sirius grumbled while making a face.

It was Neville's turn next: This was a very uncomfortable ten minutes, for Neville's parents, well-known Aurors, had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of Death Eater cronies. At the end of Neville's interview, Harry had the impression that Slughorn was reserving judgment on Neville, yet to see whether he had any of his parents' flair.

All five of them were shifting uncomfortably by the end of this, all knowing Neville didn't need anyone's validation to know how good he was without his parents constantly being brought up, and wished the world would realize that same as Harry.

Slughorn shifted towards Harry last with the air of a compere introducing his star act. He contemplated Harry for a moment as though he was a particularly large and succulent piece of pheasant,

"Lovely mental image," James' scowl increased, he could still distaste Slughorn even while cheering in the background better this than hearing Snape again.

and began with his title of him being the Chosen One.

Harry said nothing. Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini were all staring at him.

When Harry didn't respond Slughorn kept going, saying there had been rumors for years about him, that terrible night, word already was out how extraordinary he was.

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

"I don't need a Slytherin in the conversation to know when I've heard such loaded dung thank you!" Sirius snapped.

Harry tried for an awkward laugh that couldn't get through, no matter how many times this was mentioned it just wasn't easy to hear.

An angry voice burst out from behind Slughorn, telling Zabini he was so talented with his posing!

Slughorn chuckled comfortably, looking around at Ginny, who was glaring at Zabini around Slughorn's great belly.

"Ginny really is just growing better with every mention," Sirius smirked, cackles smoothing at once at least someone in there would keep them on their toes.

He warned Blaise should be careful, he'd caught this young lady performing quite the Bat-Bogey hex. She wasn't to be crossed.

"Concurred," James needlessly agreed while Harry smirked without surprise.

Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

Slughorn went right back to Harry, open endedly saying the Prophet had been saying a lot, though it was known to make a few mistakes,

"Tiny, minuscule ones, wouldn't even notice them, why bother," Remus snipped for this being so dismissed.

but there was no doubt he'd been in the thick of it all with the disturbance at the Ministry.

Harry, who could not see any way out of this without flatly lying, nodded but still said nothing. Slughorn beamed at him, calling him modest, but there was no need to downplay the sensational stories, of a fabled prophecy even-

Neville interrupted to say that had been smashed, no one had heard it.

"Thank Merlin for Neville," Lily sighed in relief, she'd hug him right now for getting Harry out of that no matter how unentinally.

Ginny agreed at once, the Prophet was just making up things as usual with that Chosen One nonsense.

Slughorn seemed undeterred, looking to both of them with just as much interest they'd been there to. Both of them sat clam-like before his encouraging smile.

"Not going to get a great story out of this one," Sirius sneered.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll forget our invitation along with Belby's," Harry said dully without any real hope.

Finally he agreed how things could get away from people, why Gweong Jones, of the Holyhead Harpies, had just been telling him-

Harry's good mood swung back at once though, for no reason he could tell, he could just imagine for some reason at least Ginny got a kick out of that conversation.

He meandered off into a long-winded reminiscence, but Harry had the distinct impression that Slughorn had not finished with him, and that he had not been convinced by Neville and Ginny.

"A crying shame, I know I'm done with having him around," Sirius mocked with a smirk at Harry.

"Thank's Sirius, it's about time," Harry smiled.

The afternoon wore on with more anecdotes about illustrious wizards Slughorn had taught, all of whom had been delighted to join what he called the "Slug Club" at Hogwarts.

"Really couldn't have picked a worse name," Remus crinkled up his nose.

"Don't know what you're talking about, it speaks volumes about it's members already, certainly the head fat slimy git," James happily tuned Lily in to many of their jokes growing up with this. She merely rolled her eyes and ignored them.

Harry could not wait to leave, but couldn't see how to do so politely.

"I'm starting to regret the fact you even have manners sometimes," Sirius sighed, he knew he'd walked out of there long before this part with Prongs right behind him.

Finally the train emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in the twilight. Amazed it was sunset, he set them all free, though gave McLaggen in particular the invite to come see him soon for a book on nogtails he'd mentioned. Everyone else except Belby were departed by name.

As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, Zabini shot him a filthy look that Harry returned with interest. He, Ginny, and Neville followed Zabini back along the train.

Neville sighed gratefully that was over, what a strange man.

Harry agreed while asking Ginny how she'd wound up in there.

Ginny shrugged he'd seen her hex Zacharias Smith.

All of them whooped with further laughter, that story just got ten times better.

They remembered that idiot Hufflepuff from the D. A.

"Hard to forget someone with a nose up his own arse," Sirius agreed.

He'd kept on and on asking about what happened at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed her so much she hexed him.

"Perfectly reasonable," James agreed.

When Slughorn came in she'd thought she was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited her to lunch! Mad, eh?

"Best reason he's ever invited anyone to those things!" Remus disagreed.

Harry loudly said it was better than being invited along because of a famous mother, his eyes still on Zabini's back.

"I'm glad you agree Harry," Sirius said with such enthusiasm he didn't even take his crack at pointing out the two had essentially said the same thing.

Then he stopped, an idea occurring to him, a reckless but potentially wonderful idea...

"You seem to get those a lot," Lily sighed.

"I blame you," James happily told his wife. "Whenever I got them, a corridor just got filled with all the suits of armor in the castle. Whenever you got them, you put yourself in the hospital wing for a potion experiment, so it's really all you he gets it from."

"I resent that," she halfheartedly defended, "I never went about spying on anyone for fun, that was far more up your alley!"

"Fine then, he gets it from both of you being insane," Sirius happily inserted. James seemed satisfied enough to go onto the actual idea while Lily made a face at him.

In a minute's time, Zabini was going to reenter the Slytherin sixth-year compartment and Malfoy would be sitting there,

"Why on Earth would you think that?" Remus blinked in surprise. "Does he hang around with Malfoy often? You well know the students don't get their own compartments by grade and house."

"I saw them all in there all the other years, they tended to band together," Harry defended. "Sorry I've never mentioned it before."*

thinking himself unheard by anybody except fellow Slytherins... If Harry could only enter, unseen, behind him, what might he not see or hear?

"Them all congratulating themselves for being part of the an elite human species. Idiots." Sirius told Harry in disbelief.

"Or something like what Malfoy's up to," Harry said pointedly.

"Narcissa made it clear this was top secret information, Bellatrix was surprised when Snape knew," Lily reminded. "So Malfoy's not likely to be blabbing it around."

"I didn't know that at the time," Harry reminded. "I just wanted proof of what he was doing."

"You might get something then, you are fairly good at picking up on details," James went on curiously.

True, there was little of the journey left, Hogsmeade Station had to be less than half an hour away, judging by the wildness of the scenery flashing by the windows, but nobody else seemed prepared to take Harry's suspicions seriously,

Sirius at once insisted, "I'm telling you, I'd totally believe you!"

"I know Sirius," Harry said quietly, trying to force a laugh again, but now all the more determined he could pull off something he was sure the Marauders would approve of, no matter how much they thought it a goofy idea at the beginning.

so it was down to him to prove it.

Quickly telling the other two he'd catch up later, he slipped on the Cloak and hurried away before either could ask why. Darting after Zabini as quietly as possible, though the rattling of the train made such caution almost pointless, the corridors were almost completely empty now. Nearly everyone had returned to their carriages to change into their school robes and pack up their possessions. Though he was as close as he could get to Zabini without touching him, Harry was not quick enough to slip into the compartment when Zabini opened the door. Zabini was already sliding it shut when Harry hastily stuck out his foot to prevent it closing.

He angrily began smashing the door repeatedly on Harry's foot.

Harry let out a hiss of breath in remembered pain, shifting his foot uncomfortably, and ignoring the almost pitying look of those around him. He didn't want to hear what better idea they would have come up with to avoid that happening, but Sirius gave it anyways. "It's too bad you didn't bring an extendable ear with you, or even just manage to leave a crack in the door they wouldn't have noticed. Then you could have stayed on the outside and avoided this problem of actually slipping in."

"You lot just come up with the best strategies sitting around comfortably in here," Harry grumbled, though admittedly he was just as sure they would have come up with that on the spot, they'd trained their minds to think up such on the spot lies and solutions, as they so constantly reminded him.

Harry seized the door and pushed it open, hard; Zabini, still clinging on to the handle, toppled over sideways into Gregory Goyle's lap, and in the ensuing ruckus, Harry darted into the compartment, leapt onto Zabini's temporarily empty seat, and hoisted himself up into the luggage rack. It was fortunate that Goyle and Zabini were snarling at each other, drawing all eyes onto them, for Harry was quite sure his feet and ankles had been revealed as the cloak had flapped around them; indeed, for one horrible moment he thought he saw Malfoy's eyes follow his trainer as it whipped upward out of sight. But then Goyle slammed the door shut and flung Zabini off him; Zabini collapsed into his own seat looking ruffled, Vincent Crabbe returned to his comic, and Malfoy, sniggering, lay back down across two seats with his head in Pansy Parkinsons lap.

"That right there was almost worth the price you going in," Sirius laughed heartily, imaging all those dumbfounded expressions for this happening.

"I'm now regretting not pulling more stunts on the train like doors randomly opening, would have been a kick," James agreed.

"Best we didn't, wouldn't want the trolley lady giving us hell if she caught us," Remus pointed out. "She might have withheld snacks from us," he finished with a horrified look.

"I wouldn't put it past her to tell McGonagall though, so I guess it's best," Sirius sighed.

Harry lay curled uncomfortably under the cloak to ensure that every inch of him remained hidden, and watched Pansy stroke the sleek blond hair off Malfoy's forehead, smirking as she did so, as though anyone would have loved to have been in her place.

Lily in particular had a crude look on her face, that sounded like a punishment, pampering such a toerag.

The lanterns swinging from the carriage ceiling cast a bright light over the scene: Harry could read every word of Crabbe's comic directly below him.

Malfoy casually asked of Zabini what Slughorn had wanted, and while still glowering at Goyle he answered their new teacher was just trying to make up with well-connected people. Not that he'd managed to find many.

Malfoy was clearly displeased with that information, demanding who all had been invited?

"Not him? Oh, the horror!" Sirius managed a simpering impression of a teenage girl.

"The horrifying part is, he might have actually got one the year before his father lost so much favor," James crinkled his face in disgust.

McLaggen from Gryffindor, Zabini began listing off,

"I didn't realize he was a Gryffindor," Lily said in surprise.

"Shows how much Harry pays attention to even his fellow students in his house," James shrugged without much concern, though there hadn't yet been anything wrong with him, it was still annoying he'd been a prime example of everything wrong with that Club.

-Malfoy agreed he had a big Uncle in the Ministry-

Belby, from Ravenclaw, Zabini continued-

Pansy referred to him as a prat.

"Been liking him more and more lately on principle," Remus rolled his eyes.

Zabini finished with the last three Gryffindors.

Malfoy sat up very suddenly, knocking Pansy's hand aside, demanding Longbottom had been invited!

"I really am glad Neville outranks me on the scale of his outrage," Harry shook his head.

Zabini indifferently agreed he assumed so, since he'd been there.

Malfoy demanded what about Longbottom had Slughorn interested?

Zabini shrugged.

Malfoy went on to sneer about Potter, that was obvious, him being the Chosen One.

Then Harry sighed without surprise that had come soon after. He'd have to be sure to mention to Neville he wasn't in fact the person Malfoy hated most though, perhaps he'd get lucky and Neville would put Malfoy in a dress and feathered hat for him next.

That Weasley girl though, what was so special about her?

Pansy pointed out a lot of boys liked her, obviously watching Malfoy for a reaction.

Harry felt his blood start boiling at once at the idea, that was ridiculous! Of course Ginny was good looking, but surely Pansy was just being her usual pugnacious self!

Even Blaise had mentioned how good-looking she was, and they all knew how hard he was to please.

"Her exact sentiments as well I'm sure," Sirius rolled his eyes while Lily giggled a bit at the expression on her sons face, he looked far more agitated by this than she would have thought. He really must have grown fond of her over the summer.

Zabini coldly replied he wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor no matter what she looked like.

"Well at least he won't turn out like his mother," Remus snarked.

Pansy looked pleased. Malfoy sank back across her lap and allowed her to resume the stroking of his hair.

"Allowed her," James couldn't help but repeat that like speaking of curdled milk, it really was odd to think of Malfoy having a girlfriend.

Malfoy decided he didn't think much of Slughorn's taste in all, a shame, as his father had spoken of him highly in his old days. Slughorn probably just hadn't heard he was on the train-

Zabini cut in to point out Slughorn didn't seem to have an interest in Death Eaters, Nott hadn't gotten an invitation either.

"The one good thing that man has going for him," Sirius sighed.

"As if they need a way to make more connections," James agreed solemnly.

Malfoy looked angry, but forced out a singularly humorless laugh. Deciding who cared then, he was just some stupid teacher.

Remus went wide eyed in mock concern. "Of course! Now next time, try backtracking before you go out of your way to show how much you care, it'll come off much better."

"Why couldn't you be on the train again Moony," Sirius muttered.

Malfoy yawned ostentatiously before declaring he might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what did it matter.

"Considering I already had my fingers crossed he wouldn't be there this year, I refuse to get my hopes up again," James grumbled.

Pansy indignantly demanded what he meant by that, ceasing grooming Malfoy at once.

He just smirked when he told he'd soon be moving on to bigger and better things.

Harry perked up with interest in the conversation again, easily distracted from picturing Ginny releasing a few more Bat-Bogey Hexes in this compartment again. This was exactly what he'd been in there to hear!

Crouched in the luggage rack under his cloak, Harry's heart began to race. What would Ron and Hermione say about this?

"Probably dismiss it again," Harry pessimistically answered himself.

"They haven't dismissed anything love," Lily patiently corrected, clearly determined to stop him griping about this. "They just need more to go on than you. It's not that they don't believe you, they know you're right, they're just not as convinced it's as terrible as you seem to think."

Harry looked simmered at least, though not at all comforted he hadn't found himself as wrong as he found her right.

Crabbe and Goyle were gawping at Malfoy; apparently they had had no inkling of any plans to move on to bigger and better things. Even Zabini had allowed a look of curiosity to mar his haughty features.

"Praise Merlin!" Sirius mock raised a glass.

"I'm not thankful we don't have to hear about him more, as if we needed to hear of more smug expressions," Remus told him with an obvious look Sirius happily ignored.

Pansy resumed the slow stroking of Malfoy's hair, looking dumbfounded.

Clearly enjoying the attention, Malfoy continued his mother wanted him to complete his education, but did the Dark Lord care about N. E. W. T. grades? Of course not, it was about service and devotion that mattered when the time came.

"I really hate it when he's not wrong," James sighed.

"At least he's right in all the wrong ways," Sirius said with mock chipper.

Zabini scathingly returned Malfoy thought himself a fully qualified wizard to be doing anything like that.

Malfoy returned maybe the job he was going for didn't require a fully qualified adult.

James hadn't meant for his voice to go so quiet at the end, but he certainly hadn't been expecting Malfoy to bring up something so casually that had reduced his mother to tears and pleading.

Narcissa hadn't been joking when she'd said Malfoy was eager to be doing this. Maybe not anytime soon, but even then Malfoy was impling whatever this job was wasn't far off in the future.

Crabbe and Goyle were both sitting with their mouths open like gargoyles. Pansy was gazing down at Malfoy as though she had never seen anything so awe inspiring.

The moment was broken by Sirius snorting viciously and snapping, "here I thought she'd get that expression any time she tried to look in a mirror without breaking one!"

"Those poor deluded kids have no idea what they're hearing," Lily gave a resounded agreement.

Malfoy then chose to change the subject by pointing out he could see the castle in the distance, and got up to get his robes.

Harry was so busy staring at Malfoy, he did not notice Goyle reaching up for his trunk; as he swung it down, it hit Harry hard on the side of the head. He let out an involuntary gasp of pain, and Malfoy looked up at the luggage rack, frowning.

"Uhoh," all five of them muttered in unease. Harry was pinned with five against one, that wouldn't be a friendly fight even with his slight advantage of getting the first surprise attack in.

Harry was not afraid of Malfoy, but he still did not much like the idea of being discovered hiding under his Invisibility Cloak by a group of unfriendly Slytherins. Eyes still watering and head still throbbing, he drew his wand, careful not to disarrange the cloak, and waited, breath held. To his relief, Malfoy seemed to decide that he had imagined the noise; he pulled on his robes like the others, locked his trunk, and as the train slowed to a jerky crawl, fastened a thick new traveling cloak round his neck.

Harry could see the corridors filling up again and hoped that Hermione and Ron would take his things out onto the platform for him;

"I have no doubt they'll grab Hedwig for you," Lily distractedly agreed, wishing he'd get out of there already, but knowing he had to wait anyways for them all to leave. It was only a slight relief Malfoy hadn't noticed anything, but they were all acutely aware now how much trouble Harry could have potentially gotten himself into, and it wasn't much fun now.

he was stuck where he was until the compartment had quite emptied. At last, with a final lurch, the train came to a complete halt. Goyle threw the door open and muscled his way out into a crowd of second years, punching them aside;

"It's good to know they really are as terrible as the one they follow around," James rolled his eyes.

Crabbe and Zabini followed, but Malfoy had to wave Pansy out, saying he wanted to check on something.

Pansy left. Now Harry and Malfoy were alone in the compartment. People were filing past, descending onto the dark platform. Malfoy moved over to the compartment door and let down the blinds, so that people in the corridor beyond could not peer in. He then bent down over his trunk and opened it again.

The others perked up with interest at once, thinking that would have been worth it if they could know something so early of what Malfoy was up to, while Harry sank back uneasily in his seat, not at all getting a good feeling about this.

Harry peered down over the edge of the luggage rack, his heart pumping a little faster. What had Malfoy wanted to hide from Pansy? Was he about to see the mysterious broken object it was so important to mend?

He was not expecting the spell Petrificus Totalus to be shot right at him.**

Sirius was so surprised a spell had come out of James' mouth he accidentally drew his wand and shot a hex right back at him, causing the book to sail away along with his glasses.

"Really Sirius? Was that necessary?" Remus asked him as James scowled and summoned them back.

"You were just as thrown by that as I was!" Sirius defended.

"Least I didn't try to throw him across the room for it," Remus rolled his eyes.

Lily had yelped in surprise and tried to jump away from James, they'd all startled hard at a spell of all things coming out of his mouth!

"Bloody hell, I take it back!" James groaned as he gazed at that and back to his son, unphased by his best mate, eyes only on his kid. "Don't you ever do this again without backup!"

Harry just nodded with a resigned expression in place, he wasn't looking forward to the shock wearing off and all of them realizing he'd just been bested by Malfoy!

Without warning, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry, who was instantly paralyzed. As though in slow motion, he toppled out of the luggage rack and fell, with an agonizing, floor-shaking crash, at Malfoy's feet, the Invisibility Cloak trapped beneath him, his whole body revealed with his legs still curled absurdly into the cramped kneeling position. He couldn't move a muscle; he could only gaze up at Malfoy, who smiled broadly.

Lily groaned and put her face in her hands, while the boys as well looked miserable for how this was going to go. Harry would be lucky to leave with tentacles on his face, for all the revenge Malfoy could give of the past few train rides.

Malfoy jubilantly declared he'd known as much, he'd heard Goyle's trunk hit him and seen his shoes when he'd come in.

"Pity he's really not as stupid as he looks," Sirius ground out, clutching his wand tight and wishing more every second he could retaliate in some way against someone who deserved it.

He continued Potter hadn't heard anything he cared about, but just for good measure, he stamped hard on Harry's face. Harry felt his nose break; blood spurted everywhere.***

Harry couldn't help but cover his nose now, his face still leary of what was to come next, while James hissed in outrage for an extra moment before noticing this part was almost done. He couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

That was for his father. Malfoy dragged the cloak out from under Harry's immobilized body and threw it over him, deciding no one would be looking for him until he was back in London. Guess he wouldn't be seeing him around.

And taking care to tread on Harry's fingers, Malfoy left the compartment.

Not, most definitely not!

"Of all the cowardly, black-hearted things to do!" Sirius snarled in outrage. "He's just going to leave you there!"

"I- what's going to happen to me!" Harry demanded in a panic. It had certainly been funny enough to do the same to Malfoy back at Nine and Three-Quarters the past two years, but not at Hogsmeade station!

"I, honestly have no clue, never tried," James groaned as he passed Sirius the book, no one looking forward to finding out.

HPHPHP

*The Hand of Glory and this are both guilty of just randomly inserting things that apparently should have been common knowledge. Zabini hangs around Malfoy though he's never been mentioned since his sorting, Malfoy just apparently has a hand of Glory though it was mentioned all of one time in book two Malfoy certainly didn't own. I feel like this was one of those moments JK just made up something on the spot and obviously by this point didn't have a chance to go back and put in, leaving me unable to help noticing both of these would very obviously be important later. One out of two was.

** I think JK meant Stupify, as that one paralyzes you the way you are, where as Petrificus Totalus has all your limbs snapping together before you do the same.

***Four people to do with that Prophecy have their noses broken. Voldemort doesn't have one, Neville got his broken last year in the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore by Aberforth all those years ago, and now Harry here. If something had happened to Trelawney's nose, I would have thought it was some curse of Prophecy type thing for this to happen.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #HBP #HP #Marauders #Jilly #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Lily Potter #The Life That Never Lived

2 notes · View notes

atlas-of-a-human-soul · 4 years

Text

Halloween Prompts 2020

1. "Who are you? Really?"

2. "You really should be more careful about who you invite inside."

3. "It's just a little blood."

4. "Heavy breathing, wide eyes. Is that fear I detect?"

5. "No one is inherently evil."

6. "Do you feel any remorse for what you did to them? To me?!"

7. "Power is power."

8. "It's just a dream."

9. "Wow...those are some sharp fangs."

10. "Don't. Move."

11. "There are worst things than death."

12. "I saw his fucking brain!"

13. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

14. "An ouija board? Is this your idea of a joke?"

15. "She's cursed."

16. "Do you smell that? Is that sulphur?"

17. "In a haunted house, salt is your best friend."

18. "You're not gonna hurt me."

19. "I hate Halloween."

20. "If you have to sleep there, avoid turning off the light."

21. "Don't mess with the cat."

22. "I can't be a vampire! I'm a fucking vegetarian!"

23. "It's the baby monitor."

24. "I’m the tall dark stranger your parents warned you about."

25. "You don’t feel it yet...but you will. Soon."

26. "It only eats virgins? Sucks for you then."

27. "This sunset is perfect but I like looking at your face more even though it's covered in zombie blood."

28. "Do you think Voldemort is still out there?"

29. "The ministry forbids any sort of interspecies relationships!"

30. "Is there any kind of brutal punishment if I don’t wear a costume?"

31. "That's not a zombie!"

32. "Can you put that phone down? I won't show up in photos anyway."

33. "I can hear them too, you know?"

34. "Don't go out there after sundown."

35. "He's a demon! You can't possibly be in love with him!"

36. "The big bad wolf? Doesn't seem as scary as I thought."

37. "I didn't kiss you! I swear it wasn't me!"

38. "He can't be dead."

39. "If he's the devil, I finally understand the appeal of hell."

40. "You're not from around here, are you?"

41. "You have no soul."

42. "Satanism for dummies? Interesting choice in books...anything you want to tell me?"

43. "They're always watching."

44. "He has more heart than any living person."

45. "Save me."

46. "I've done some horrible things."

47. "I trusted you!"

48. "Waiting in line? This is hell?"

49. "Guardian angel? I'd rather burn."

50. "You think I'm a monster? I'll show how much of a monster I can be."

51. "The afterlife can be fun. Sometimes. It's mostly scaring clueless teenagers to death."

52. "We wear black on Fridays."

53. "I love me some 0 neg."

54. "Don't run."

55. "My husband? You must be mistaken. My husband died years ago."

56. "Don't go home. He knows where you live."

57. "I know what you did and I know who you are."

58. "They say a serial killer's first victim is always someone he knows."

59. "Please stop me. Don't let me kill again."

60. "I've been practicing for this moment for so long."

61. "I love it when they scream."

62. "Don't fight it. Or do. I like them feisty."

63. "You went after the wrong girl."

64. "What's your favorite spell?"

65. "I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

66. "Haven't you heard? I'm the crazy bitch around here!"

67. "My wings are broken."

68. "I fell...that's true. It's not a fall a human would understand."

69. "I'll never let you go. Never. NEVER!"

70. "I always knew you'd die in my arms."

71. "Death has come to your little town."

72. "Do you believe now?"

73. "One thing I am sure of is that demons always come to collect."

74. "I saw you die."

75. "A life for life. It's only fair, don't you think?"

76. "He will come for you and when he does, no prayer in the world will save you."

77. "It's not really heaven's gate, just a glorified doorway."

78. "No rest for the wicked."

79. "One more word and I'll stitch those lips of yours shut."

80. "That's not me."

81. "You have to choose."

82. "King? I think you mean Queen of Hell."

83. "You don't have a wand?"

84. "Your eyes...they're....they're black!"

85. "Merlin was an asshole."

86. "You sold your soul for a better ass?!"

87. "Would you fuck a vampire?"

88. "Carve a dick in my pumpkin and you won't have a hand to fondle yourself with anymore!"

89. "Her daughter disappeared."

90. "The clock stops twenty minutes past midnight."

91. "I can turn you into a rat. Want me to prove that?"

92. "Sure, kiss her. Don't complain when she sucks your soul out!"

93. "Halloween is the one day in a year I get to have fun."

94. "That's not a tattoo, that's a fucking death mark!"

95. "A haunted house? That's your genius idea?"

96. "What's your name and Hogwarts house?"

97. "If I could, I'd paint the town red."

98. "When the blood moon appears, we'll begin the feast."

99. "I don't have a cat."

100. "Darkness is my nature."

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Fandoms I will accept requests for: Twilight, Shawn Mendes, 13 reasons why, Teen Wolf, Marvel, Dolan twins, Riverdale, Chilling adventures of Sabrina, Supernatural and Harry Potter.

Requests will be done in a chronological order whenever I have time for them and will remain open until Halloween passes.

Welcome to the spooky season 🎃

#halloween prompts #dolan twins halloween blurbs #halloween au #halloween vibes #spooktober #spooky #spooky season #spooktacular #spooks speaks #haloween #scary prompts

44 notes · View notes

cormorantgospel · 4 years

Text

We’ll never be those kids again

Canon-divergent AU of Harry’s fifth, sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts. In fifth year, some of Harry’s self-destructive behaviour is channelled into hooking up with Malfoy, and this is enough to tip the scales and make Draco accept Dumbledore’s offer and desert the Death Eaters. Part 1, Part 2

This is how the last year of the second wizarding war passes: before the summer has ended, the Ministry falls to the Death Eaters, and in the same breath, so does Hogwarts. There are puppets put in place; the school and the government keep running under the thinnest veneer of normalcy, but it takes more effort to pretend now. Pretending is a luxury reserved for those who do not feel the looming closeness of September and mandatory Hogwarts attendance as a death sentence. Those who do not have to decide between trying to flee abroad and going underground. Those who do not have to wonder which of their friends they can still trust if they reach out.

It’s the last year of the war and Ginny is the only Weasley who returns to Hogwarts. By the time she boards the train, she has not heard from Harry, Ron or Hermione since the wedding, where they disappeared. She keeps quiet when people speculate about their disappearance. People still ask her about Harry. She was popular before, but this year her popularity is different. The younger students all know her name for some reason. She notices the way people glance her way during quiet common room conversations, when the names of the muggleborn students who haven’t returned are mentioned, when people dare to complain about Snape or the Carrows. For a while she thinks it’s because they want her to be Harry. If he had been here, they would all be looking to him, not her. It’s just that some of his infamy has rubbed off on her.

It’s Luna who tells her otherwise, in the greenhouses, during Herbology.

“You don’t look scared,” she says. “Everyone can tell.”

“That’s bullshit,” she says. “Of course I’m scared.”

Luna just hums.

“But not of the Carrows. Not of Snape.”

Ginny shrugs.

“They’re just bullies.”

“Most people are scared of bullies.”

The first part of the school year they spend their free time in the seventh-year boys’ dormitories. You never know who’s listening in the common room or the library. They’re a mixed group, some sixth-years, some seventh-years. Of course, it’s bothersome because they can’t invite their friends from other houses. Really, that’s all the conversation is at first – all of them wondering aloud if there would be a better place to hang out. It’s Dean who brings up the Room of Requirement. It’s Neville who mentions Dumbledore’s Army, who brings out the galleon as if he’s embarrassed to still have it.

“Other people might have kept theirs too,” he says with a shrug.

That’s all it is at first. A small group of Gryffindors who activate the galleons, just to see if Hermione’s protean charm still works. Who wait in silence in the Room of Requirement to see if anyone will show up. That’s all it is at first, but it quickly becomes something more.

Outside the walls of the castle, a war is raging. Inside, everything is the same. There is the sorting and house points and quidditch games. In so many ways, Voldemort is still the scared, abandoned child who found a home there, just as Harry did, and he cradles the traditions of the old school, guards them out of reverence and nostalgia, having forgotten long ago that these traditions are not the things that made Hogwarts a home.

There is a war outside the walls of the castle, and one inside it too. There may be classes and homework and feasts, but there is no safety there. It is not a home. The children learn magic, but mostly they learn to hide, to become invisible, to cast silencing charms on their beds and cry only when no one is there to see. It is, once again, a place where detentions leave scars. Where Luna squeezes Ginny’s hand under the table when Amycus Carrow’s vicious eyes fall on her and she is called to the front of the class. A girl in red and gold and a girl in silver and green face each other in front of their classmates, but only one raises her wand. She hesitates, but only for a moment. Ginny waits, and she is quiet and she is brave, and she might not be afraid of bullies, but she is afraid of the pain, because it is not the first time she has done this. They have Dark Arts once a week. The Carrows have favourite targets, and she has made sure she is one of them. She can feel her heart like a panicked bird in her chest. She wants to run. She wants to raise her wand to defend herself. She doesn’t.

There are more members of Dumbledore’s army than just Luna in this class. They all sit quietly and watch as Ginny drops to the floor. Their war is a quiet one. There is nothing stoic about the way she writhes on the floor or the way she screams. The Slytherin girl lowers her wand quick. She is praised by her teacher. Ginny slowly gets to her feet and both students take their seats. Another pair is called on.

Luna puts her arm around Ginny’s waist when they leave class. The Slytherin girl locks herself in a bathroom stall and waits for her hands to stop shaking.

There is a small group of students who meet in the Room of Requirement, and as the year goes on, it grows bigger. Luna leaves stacks of the Quibbler in there. Neville talks quietly with the younger students, though Ginny can’t imagine what he tells them. He brings murtlap essence and willow bark for the ones who get hurt. Ginny sometimes teaches hexes, or shield spells, but less and less often as the year goes on. You can’t fight Death Eaters with bat bogey hexes, or at least, you can’t when they’re running your school and your government. She doesn’t want anyone to get hurt because they tried to fight when they should have complied.

“We’re not exactly a defence club this time,” she tells Neville the first time they stay in the room overnight.

It’s late, but neither of them can sleep. Neville looks at the hammocks that appeared as soon as they needed them, for the students who can’t go back to their common rooms anymore.

“No, I guess not,” he says.

“We’re barely even a resistance movement. And we’re definitely not an army.”

“Does that bother you?”

She hesitates. She’s so tired her bones ache.

“I don’t know,” she says finally. “I just hate that we can’t do anything.”

“We are doing something.”

And they are, she supposes. Refusing to participate in the brutality of Dark Arts lessons. Smuggling as many copies of the Quibbler into the school as possible. Showing the younger students the secret passages to get around the castle unseen. They’ve made a safe place in the Room of Requirement for the ones who need to hide for a while. They disrupt the daily life at Hogwarts as much as possible, sabotaging hallways and classrooms whenever and however they can. They have managed to start fires during three “muggle studies” lessons so far. It just feels so small. She sighs. “I know,” she says. “But I want to fight. I want to… I want to fucking kill them.”

Neville nods solemnly.

“Yeah”, he says. “Me too.”

There’s always at least one of them staying in the Room of Requirement overnight. When it’s just her alone, she lies awake until the early hours, listening to the breathing and the restless sleep of their refugees and their soldiers. When Luna is there, she crawls into Ginny’s bed without asking and puts her stick-thin arms around her. She seems so fragile, with her odd, airy speech, her easy smiles and her wide eyes, but she isn’t. Ginny used to put herself between Luna and her bullies, tell them to piss off when Luna couldn’t. She has never been scared of bullies, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t scared. And she probably wouldn’t be able to explain it to anyone if they asked, but she knows that somehow, this, Luna climbing into her bed and holding her until they both fall asleep, is the same thing. A way of letting someone else borrow your strength.

It’s not like people don’t know. It’s not like they don’t see the way her and Luna touch each other’s hands and hair and shoulders. She waits for one of them to bring up Harry, all her angry arguments lined up in her throat, but no one ever does. She almost wants them to, just so she would get to make her case out loud.

She does feel bad. She misses him so much. She is so scared for him. That doesn’t mean she isn’t angry with him too. For breaking up with her. For leaving her behind. For taking Ron and Hermione with him, but not her. For the way he was watching Draco Malfoy over the summer.

This is how the last year of the wizarding war passes for the kids who have to end it: They spend the year roaming around the English countryside in an old, ratty tent, following up on vague clues, chasing gut feelings. They fight too much and bicker when they aren’t fighting, and none of it feels very heroic.

Harry lies awake too many nights, trying to sleep and giving up on sleeping, staring into the dark instead, trying to make himself believe that this is going to work. And sometimes he’ll pull out the marauder’s map and look at Ginny’s dot in the girls’ dormitory, or feel his heart beat fast and hard in his chest when she walks the hallways long after dark. Sometimes, more and more often as the weeks go on, her dot disappears, even at night. He knows that means she’s in the Room of Requirement, but it still leaves him feeling sick with nerves. And it’s so fucking unfair that Ron thinks Harry doesn’t have anyone to worry about.

Sometimes his mind slips, and he realizes he’s been watching the wrong common room, following the winding corridors of the dungeons instead of the towers, looking for a name that he knows isn’t there. Old habits die hard and all that. When he catches himself at it, he tucks the map away and feels guilty.

(The rest of this story will be uploaded to AO3, with updates every Sunday.)

#my writing #start of nothing #drarry #hp #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #drarry fic #we'll never be those kids again #fic #my fic #fanfic

70 notes · View notes

bush-viper-cutie · 4 years

Text

“A Helping Hand” || YEAR 3 – Ch.13 (HP au)

Chapter List

<-- Last Chapter Next Chapter -->

Day posted: 8/21/2020

Word count: 3,058

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

-----

A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

-----

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

It was Friday morning and Heather was already up early before the rest of her house, and probably the rest of the school. All night long she had been twisting and turning with fear that her boggart would be incredibly embarrassing. She knew it would spread like wildfire if it was, much like Neville’s boggart. Already all of the Slytherins were talking about it and she didn’t doubt all of the Gryffindors were too.

The sun wasn’t out yet and the ground floor corridor of the staffroom was still dimly lit from the four or so torches at the ends. She didn’t have time to wait for the sun to rise and shine through the castle windows. She looked down the dungeon steps, keeping her ears tuned to the silence. Professor Snape was not – at least not currently – lurking in the shadows below.

She turned back. It was a clear shot to the staffroom. She un-crouched and ran to the wall the staffroom door was on and crept forward, passed the library doors, looking in for Madam Pince who also appeared not to be an early bird. The gargoyles were still asleep with brows furrowed. She opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her and turning on her wand light. The staffroom was completely empty except for a handful of armchairs, a couch, and the wardrobe at the very back.

She walked up to the wardrobe and knocked. It wobbled, scaring her back before she composed herself and reached for the knob. All she had to do was pull it open, see what her boggart was, say the charm, and leave. That was simple. The wardrobe thumped loudly and the doors rattled, making her doubt how good of an idea this was.

“Harry could do this.” She nodded and steadied her shaking hand. “Harry has faced Voldemort three times now… I can face a silly boggart.”

At her words the doors rattled more violently, as if insulted. She gripped the knob and turned it but the door wouldn’t pull out. She tried the other door but the doors wouldn’t budge. The wardrobe was unlocked but closed with a seal. She needed the spell that produced sparks and opened the doors. She dropped her hands and cursed to herself.

She didn’t think Professor Lupin just had the counter spell laying around his office. He knew it nonverbally. She groaned and kicked at the ground, slowly heading back over to the staffroom door. She poked her head out and listened for any echoed steps or tiny pitter patters. Whatever time it was now, the whole castle was asleep.

This time she didn’t creep along the wall on her way back. She stopped at the library and out of curiosity pulled on the doors, hearing them creak open. She looked around and pulled them further, stepping into the eerily dark library. There was no Madam Pince to give her a menacing welcome glare as she walked past her desk. Heather headed to the back door where she served detention in and slipped in.

“So dusty,” she coughed. She spotted the large wood door in the back and ran to it, gripping the doorknob. “Please be open!” It was not. The door thumped as she pulled, locked in place. She stepped back and rubbed her hands together. “Knox.” She held out her wand at the doorknob and started down the list of charms she knew. “Alohomora, Recludo, Decierra, Resero!” Nothing.

She sighed. She should head back before people started waking up. The last thing she wanted was to get caught and have to serve another detention in here repairing old books. She was halfway out the door when she turned and held her wand out. “Aparecium?”

There was a green glow along the edges of the large door. It seemed to morph and the hinges appeared on the other side while the door knob shriveled away and regrew on the opposite side. She ran back and pulled the door open, turning on her wand light.

There were books of all sizes on shelves inside. It was a secret book closet. She pulled out a small book off the middle shelf and flipped through it. “‘Banned Herbs and Ivies’.” She set it down on the table and pulled out several more. “‘Transfigurations for Inspection’, ‘Prohibited Potions’?” These were all books of things outlawed by the Ministry, with no seal of approval on any of the spines.

Were these the types of books Draco’s father had in his library? They weren’t dark arts stuff though. She rearranged the shelves to look like no books had been taken out and scooped up the ones she had already. She closed the door and watched it morph back to its mirrored self.

She was out the door and down the corridor towards the great hall, bounding down to the second Slytherin house entrance as far away from Professor Snape’s office as possible. She whispered the password and headed down the steps into the common room, finally able to catch her breath.

Her heart was beating out of her chest and she couldn’t believe what she’d done. This was certainly expulsion worthy. She jumped as a first year Slytherin coughed at one of the desks and quickly headed back to her room, making sure to keep the books as hidden as possible incase her dormmates were awake at all. She lifted her mattress and stuffed the books at the foot end of her bed, not wanting to risk Pansy going through her trunk again.

The rest of the day went by agonizingly slow. Every break she excused herself from her friends to check the books were still in place and every time a professor looked her way she froze, sure they had caught her. She was nearly sick when Professor McGonagall asked her to her office, only to find out she was asking if Harry was still ok after the dementor encounter.

“Heather?”

She jumped and turned back around to face Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were sitting outside in the courtyard doing essays. It was Saturday morning now and she was still terrified she was yet to be caught.

“Why are you so jumpy?” Harry was crossing his arms, knowing she acted like that when she was worried about a secret she shouldn’t know.

“Oh. It’s nothing.” She turned back as footsteps grew louder, but it was only Marcus walking passed.

“You’re as bad as Hermione,” Ron grumbled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hermione opened her book back up and continued her ancient runes essay. “If Heather says its nothing that its nothing. And I don’t care how many times you ask; I’m managing my way just fine.”

“No. You know a secret. What is it?” Harry shook Heather’s arm. “Tell us!”

What could she say? She couldn’t tell them about the books, they’d want to read them and who knows what those spells would do. And she couldn’t tell them her only other secret. They’d kill her. She opened her mouth, willing more ideas forward until she remembered what she’d found out from Professor Snape.

“Marcus is holding full team tryouts today, and he doesn’t know me or Draco know. They’re later tonight.”

“Already? Quidditch season isn’t until October. And isn’t he only missing one player?”

“Harry,” she crossed her arms at him, “Unlike you, I’m not a beloved Quidditch player. I have to actually work to stay on the team.”

Harry’s face went red. “I work at it too!”

“I didn’t see you train once this summer.”

“Neither did you!”

Heather looked away, forgetting he wouldn’t know she had trained for a full week with Draco. “Right. But I’ve been working out, which counts.”

Ron laughed, “You? Working out?”

“Ron! Don’t be rude!” Hermione tried to hold in her laugh.

Heather scoffed and stood. “Well I HAVE been!” She picked up her stuff and headed to lunch, grumbling the whole way. She tensed her arm and poked at it, feeling what she thought was some muscle, though she wouldn’t really know for sure. She had been working out for two months almost and her arms didn’t look any bigger than when she first started.

She found Draco and sat down next to him. “How’re you supposed to do tryouts with your arm still in that thing?”

He set down his fork and clutched his arm tight. “Gee, I don’t know if I can, Potter.”

“Heather! You know he’s hurt!” Pansy placed her hand over Draco’s, “Are you ok?”

Draco nodded and looked back at Heather. “I’ll be there though. Don’t worry about that.”

She figured that was code for ‘I’ll just take off the sling and play’, which was fine with her. Maybe she should invite Harry to watch so they could catch him playing just fine with his arm. Not like that would help with anything since Draco could just say they’re lying.

“So, how’re you thinking of beating Warrington and Montague?”

Heather nearly choked on her juice. She had completely forgotten she had a plan for one of them. She stood up and looked for Fred and George. They weren’t at lunch. She left the table and headed up to Gryffindor tower and knocked on the fat lady.

Neville opened the door and stepped out. “You looking for Harry?”

“I need to talk to Fred and George.”

He shook his head, “They’re not here.”

She nodded and headed back down the steps, finding it incredibly harder to breath. She had forgotten to talk to them yesterday. Now how was she going to get one of the chasers to not show up for tryouts? She couldn’t compete against them… she wasn’t strong enough yet. She got off on a random floor and sat down on a bench, covering her face with her hands. She wasn’t going to make it into the Quidditch team this year.

Someone cleared their throat next to her. Her head shot up and Professor Lupin was standing there looking down at her awkwardly.

“Curious that you’d be placed in Slytherin house while Harry was placed in Gryffindor.”

Heather nodded, “We aren’t that similar.”

“No. I suppose you’re not…” He sat down next to her on the bench. “Is everything alright? You seemed bothered.”

Heather looked down at his tattered robes and shrugged. “I may not make it onto the Quidditch team this year.”

“Oh? Why not? You were on it last year, I heard.” He smiled but his eyes were distant. He was looking a lot better than when he was on the train with them. He’d gained some wait and his cheeks no longer looked hollow.

“Last year no one really showed up for tryouts. This year Cassius Warrington and Graham Montague are trying out as Chasers and… well I was hoping one of them wouldn’t make it to tryouts…” She was hoping Fred and George had more of last year’s sleeping potion.

“Chaser? Why not Seeker? Your d-brother is Seeker. I’m sure you’d be just as great as he – ”

Heather stood up and started pacing. “No. Harry is Seeker and I hate being compared to him. Everyone always compares me to him so I want to be good at something different. I’m a lot better than him in a lot of things but no one notices because he’s ‘The Boy Who Lived’.”

He seemed to flinch at the mention of Harry’s title. He glanced away and chuckled, looking back at her. “Oh, believe me, I know what that feels like.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “It’s hard being someone’s shadow – of course I wouldn’t know what it’d be like to be my sibling’s shadow – but I do know how hard it can be at times.”

Heather sat back down, “Who were you the shadow of?”

He smiled. “A friend. He was very popular without even meaning to – well, that’s not true. He definitely meant to be popular – I guess he just didn’t really need to try. I, on the other hand, had to try very hard – much harder. And sometimes it never felt enough.”

Heather nodded and leaned back against the wall. “That’s how it feels. Everyone loves him even though we’ve been through the same stuff… kinda. And he doesn’t try.”

Professor Lupin stood up. “Who was it you were hoping wouldn’t show to tryouts? I may have a few tasks I need help with,” he winked.

Heather thought for a moment. “Warrington.”

His mustached smile pulled up into a grin. “Ah, what a coincidence. I believe I have some words for him about his essay he turned in yesterday.” He started down the hall, leaving Heather smiling on the stone bench.

Hours later, after dinner, she was standing on the Quidditch pitch next to Graham. It was getting dark and Marcus was pacing in front of them with his hands behind his back, looking out into the grassy lawns for any sign of Cassius. The minutes went by and Heather’s smile was growing as Marcus’ frown deepened.

“Alright,” he said finally. “Let’s begin.”

They went through the same drills as last year but harder. Graham threw the Quaffle with his full force at her, bruising her arms and ribs, and chin at one point. Tryouts were awful, and she knew she’d hardly be able to walk tomorrow, but the look of surprise on Marcus’ face when they showed up and better yet when Cassius didn’t was worth the pain.

She threw the Quaffle a lot farther and straighter than last year, and she didn’t drop it once. Her sweat dripped down her face and the cold wind stung her eyes but she did it. She pulled through. She ended the Chaser tryouts and touched down next to Graham.

“Nice tryouts,” Graham muttered and left the pitch.

She nodded and turned to Draco. “Good luck.”

“Won’t need it,” he smirked and handed her his sling.

Draco took off and Heather watched him pull off the Seeker drills against one other person who had the same problems Draco had last year. This time Draco wasn’t wobbly and never swerved when he looked behind him or to the side, keeping a straight line to the snitch.

She watched Marcus who didn’t seem as angry as when they started. Draco touched back down and they both stayed to watch the Beater tryouts, not too interested in who would take the spots. She handed him his sling back and they decided to leave.

“Did you have something to do with Warrington not showing up?”

Heather shook her head and hid her smile. “No. I didn’t do anything.”

They were heading up the lawn when Cassius and Professor Snape exited the castle entrance, both looking very mean. The four of them came to a halt and Professor Snape stared her down.

“Am I to assume you tried out?” Professor Snape’s voice was bordering on being venomous.

Heather and Draco nodded.

“And I suppose you think you’ve made it onto the team, since Warrington never made it.” Professor Snape stared into her eyes with a piercing intensity.

“Well,” she swallowed, “There were only two spots open… and only Graham and I – ”

He gave her a sickly smile. “Don’t think you’ve made the team just yet. Potter. See, Warrington was – mistakenly – held up. Something I will make sure Flint understands.”

Warrington smirked and the both of them continued down.

“What did you do?” Draco was laughing.

“Nothing.” She watched them enter the Quidditch pitch and turned back.

They continued into the castle and split off. She headed to the library to meet up with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. They were sitting in the back and waved to her as she entered. Harry and Hermione ran to her, excited to know how she’d done.

“Fine… Cassius didn’t show up so I should get the spot…” She sat down and drummed her fingers on the table. “But then he did after it was over…”

“Then you did it,” Ron tried to reassure her. “If tryouts were over then he couldn’t try out.”

Hermione had also noticed her mood. “It’s in the rules.”

“But Professor Snape went down with him.”

Harry groaned loudly, earning an angry shushing from Madam Pince. “What’s he got against us! He just wants Heather not on the team.”

“Oh Harry, why would he want that. She’s a Slytherin.”

“Because she’s a Potter. And he hates me.”

Heather scoffed, “Not everything is about you.” They were all silent for a while and Heather got up. “I’m going to bed early. I’m tired and it’s almost curfew.”

She left and headed down the dungeon stairs, thinking about how Marcus was probably relieved to give Cassius a chance. Anything to not have her on the team. She wouldn’t be as good, and she was smaller, and not as strong. All she had going for her was her speed. Maybe she should have tried out as Seeker and just deal with being the second-best Seeker in the school after Harry.

She entered the common room and saw that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were at a desk in the back, laughing at whatever stupid thing Draco had said. Pansy was with her friends on the opposite side of the room chatting away. She thought about what Professor Lupin had said, about trying harder to be popular.

She lived as Harry’s shadow, but in her own house she also felt she was a shadow of Draco and Pansy. They weren’t friends, but they talked often, and she also talked to most of their friends without really being friends with anyone. She was just as known as them, but she was not popular at all.

She sighed and headed into the girl’s dorms to take a long bath in one of the cramped tubs. She made sure to actually untangle her hair as she washed it for once. After toweling off and dressing she brushed through her hair again and put it in braids before heading to bed.

If she didn’t make it onto the Quidditch team she’d focus on something else. Something more than just grades. The only friends she had were all Gryffindors, so maybe she could start being friends with her own housemates… the good ones at least – or… the ones who didn’t hate muggles.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Chapter List

<-- Last chapter Next chapter -->

-----

@lokilover-39

@halcyonrogers

@krazykatkay456

@lady-of-black-roses

@writingmi

-----

#harry potter #heather potter #pro snape #severus snape x oc #severus x oc #snape x oc #severus x reader #severus snape x reader #snape x reader #snape fanfic #snape fanfiction #snape fan fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction

17 notes · View notes

deathly-shipper · 5 years

Note

Yes absolutely I want to hear about your Hogwarts au

why, my dear sirs, madams and variations thereupon, thank you for your interest!

(fair warning, this is going to be a long ass post because I have FEELINGS about this ship and this au okay??)

- Donna is muggleborn, but you'd be dead wrong if you think she's going to let anyone make fun of her because of that.

-When she was six her mother told her they weren't going on holiday that year, so off she went to the nearest bus stop and got on the Knight Bus. As if anyone involved in that mad acid trip of a bus would bat an eye to a child climbing on the bus alone, so they merely asked where she wanted to go and little Donna just went "Strathclyde!". Her family found her hours later with the help of the muggle police.

- Her first big show of accidental magic was when she was seven. The other kids at school were making fun of her hair, she got so mad that she turned all the other kids ginger too. Trust her to make others see the other side of things.

- So! Fast forwarding to when she's eleven, one ordinary morning Donna and her family are having breakfast, as you do, and someone knocks at the door. Lo and behold it's Professor McGonagall (seriously considered Snape, just because it would be so entertaining to see him explain the magic world to Donna's family, imagine Sylvia Noble talking to Snape.)

-She explains everything to the family; yes Donna is a witch, she has a place in Hogwarts, no Mrs Noble, tuition is free, etc etc.

- Sylvia is obviously the sceptic "magic isn't real!", Wilf may or may have not done a little dance of happiness, Geoffrey is a little too stunned to speak and Eileen (Donna's Nan) is the only sensible mind in this, bless her.

- The first thing that comes to Donna's mind when she is told she can go to Hogwarts is "So I won't have to go to school with Nerys anymore?" After being told that no, you won't have to, she's just a little bundle of joy, I mean, who wouldn't be when discovering you can do magic?

- Moving on, everything is explained, magic is real and a trip to Diagon Alley is scheduled for the next week!

- Now Ten! Ten is from a pureblood family, but currently the only members of said family are him and his older brother, Braxiatel. Their parents died in the first war against Voldemort.

- Ten spent the majority of his life inside the family's property, so he turned to books for his escape. He particularly likes astronomy, history and magical creatures.

- He hasn't got any friends, the only children his age he ever met are the other pureblood kids, and let's be honest, they aren't much like him, poor lad.

- He meets Donna in Diagon Alley when shopping for books, and when I say meet I mean he almost fell on top of her. She gives him hell for it of course, but they manage to get a conversation going about Hogwarts.

- They go their separate ways and both spend the rest of the summer holidays thinking about that weird kid they met on Diagon Alley.

- September the First arrives and they meet again at King's Cross. Donna's whole family has come to drop her off, of course, and Ten and Brax meet them at the platform.

- Brax explains to them how to get to platform nine and three quarters and goes first to demonstrate. Donna is scared, what if it doesn't work for her? Ten senses it and ask Mr Noble if he can take his trolley for him, so he can push Donna's with her. "Together?" "Together."

- They say goodbye to their families and get on the train, and, like Harry and Ron, manage to get a compartment all to themselves. Conversation goes on about all sorts of topics, the magic world, the muggle world, Hogwarts, the houses, what do they do for fun, you know, a bit of everything.

- They arrive at the station and have to get to school by the little boats, Ten does not like the idea. Donna holds his hand to reassure him. She likes this weird boy who talks about stars and creatures so fantastical she almost doesn't believe him.

- Sorting then. They're both nervous, it is all very intimidating after all, even if the idea of a talking hat is kind of funny to Donna.

-She goes first, sits there for about four minutes. After careful deliberations the hat places her on Hufflepuff. Yes, she could have been a Gryffindor, she is very brave, BUT, she's hard working and kind and compassionate, and I feel like her bravery stems more from her wish to help others you know? and more importantly, she's loyal. so, so much, and that's what seals the deal for me.

- Ten. Now Ten, like Donna, could've been a Gryffindor, but the hat decided on Ravenclaw. STILL, that's not where he went. No, my precious boi Ten argued with the hat. He looked at Donna and saw his only friend, the fiery girl who yelled at him when they met and later held his hand when he was afraid. "I want to go with her" he said to the hat, and so he went.

- Yes, they are both in Hufflepuff. No, I don't take criticism on this. This is my au and I make the rules, Hufflepuff is a great house and anybody who thinks otherwise can get the fuck out.

- Hogwarts is not ready for this duo.

- Regarding classes; Donna loves Charms, she's best in class, Flitwick loves her. Ten likes History of Magic, but Bins is terribly boring so he and Donna study on their own. They always pair up in Potions, not the best in class, but have yet to explode a cauldron. Transfiguration is Ten's area, his family is particularly gifted in this subject. Herbology is more Donna's scene, she used to help her nan with her garden so she likes working in the greenhouses. DADA is anyone's game really, with changing professors like that. Now, they both really like flying and they are good at it. Donna joins the house team as chaser in her third year.

- Ten is the second coming of Newt Scamander. He always drags Donna down to Hagrid's hut to see what creature he has most recently acquired. Has been given detention for wandering in the Forbidden Forest. He's also probably friends with the centaurs.

- A couple years pass, the friendship grows and life is good.

- Third year, Donna "I'm good with numbers" Noble tottaly takes Arithmancy and aces it, Ten too of course. They also take Care for Magical Creatures, to Ten's absolute delight, and Divination. But they take one class with Trelawney and decide to take Ancient Runes instead.

- On their fourth year Harry Potter comes to Hogwarts.

- Donna is one second away from screaming bloody murder at Dumbledore's blatant favouritism.

- Fifth year has all that business with the Chamber of Secrets, Ten and Donna are among the few that don't think Harry is the heir.

- But then Donna gets attacked too. Ten is inconsolable, he spends every moment he can with her in hospital wing. Fortunately she is saved by the mandragora potion with the others.

- Now, in sixth year things start getting Interesting. There's this boy who is interested in Donna and she kind of is too, but she's nervous because she hasn't had her first kiss yet. She tells Ten this. He also hasn't kissed anyone yet and he has one of his Ideas. He suggests to Donna that they can be each other's first kiss. That nearly earns him a slap, but he manages to convince her before she takes action. He says that they're best friends and what are best friends for if not helping each other? So she agrees and he goes all out to make it special for her. He takes her to the Astronomy Tower one night when the stars are out and they sit looking at the sky and hold hands. They see a falling star and he tells her to close her eyes and make a wish, he kisses her then. And that my friends, is when the Pinning starts.

- Sirius Black whom???? All they can think about is that kiss.

- Not that they let that ruin their friendship.

- Also, they love Hagrid teaching, he absolutely let them fly on Buckbeak. And Buckbeak is a strong boi, he took the both of them (cue Ten holding onto to Donna's waist and she going "Hands!" but secretly liking it)

- Seventh year, this is a good one folks. This year we continue with the Pinning, yes, but we also have the Triwizard Tournament!

- They tottaly go to the Quidditch World Cup, but manage to leave before the madness start.

- Meanwhile Harry Potter is dreaming about a slightly older version of Ten and freaking the fuck out.

- Back to Hogwarts and the Tournament. Donna speaks French so she makes friends with some of the Beauxbatons girls. Also, tottaly talks well of Hagrid to Madame Maxime.

- They both put their names on the goblet.

- "And the Hogwarts Champion is Donna Noble!"

- Yep, you read that right, my girl Donna is Hogwarts Champion instead of Cedric.

- The goblet inevitably spews out Harry's name and chaos ensues. BUT, we have something different this time, we have the brilliant Donna Noble. She asks if it really is binding if Harry didn't write his own name, and not his full name at that. And it is also against the rules for a fourth school to compete, and as someone had charm the goblet into allowing a fourth school competitor it is not really valid. The teachers are convinced and Harry doesn't participate. He is eternally grateful to Donna.

- The Weasleys are the first to know about the first task, and Ron tells Harry who in turn tells Donna. He takes her to see the dragons with the invisibility cloak.

- Donna asks Magical Creature Enthusiast Ten for help and they study the dragons they have seen.

- On the actual day Donna gets the Hungarian Horntail, but she uses a spell for it to understand her instead of tricking it. She manages to tell it one of it's eggs is false and convince the dragon to give it to her. Full points for spellwork and pacific solutions.

- Magical Creature Enthusiast Ten also immediately recognises the merpeople sound from the egg, so Donna is the first to figure out her clue.

- What she doesn't know is what it is that she has to recover, but she has a plan as to how. She uses gillyweed and practices the BubbleHead spell just in case.

- But first, Yule Ball. Our continued Pinning is going on full force, but Ten realizes that if he wants to go to the Ball with Donna he has to ask NOW.

- And so he does, with more blood on his face than anywhere else. Donna is a confused but secretly hopeful. "You want to go as friends?" "No Donna, I want you to be my date." "Oh" "If you don't want to that's fine-" "I would love to" cue more blushing.

- Donna is a vision on her Ball dress, Ten is so in love.

- So they dance and laugh and generally have fun. Then Ten takes her to the Astronomy Tower again, and they kiss under the starry sky.

- Back to the tasks then.

- Of course it is Ten waiting to be rescued at the bottom of the lake.

- Donna is the first to get there, but, like Harry, she helps the others too. Still first place though, my girl is efficient like that.

- Ten and Donna cuddle for warmth after getting out of the lake, of course.

- Third Task, the maze. Donna ends up saving Fleur and having to fight Krum. She almost doesn't make it to the cup.

- Moody had to change plans and kidnap Harry since he wouldn't be competing in the Tournament. So Harry is in the graveyard, Voldemort returns, yada yada.

- But they didn't account for Donna getting there too. She arrives during the fight and saves Harry.

- So Donna is Triwizard Champion!

- and Voldemort is back, which is a bummer.

- Ten and Donna graduate and start travelling the world with a blue suitcase that is bigger on the inside and that's all I have for now, thank you for reading!

#ten x donna #doctor x donna #tendonna #doctordonna #hogwarts au #dw #doctor who

99 notes · View notes

dramioneasks · 5 years

Text

HP FESTS: DramioneFanfictionWriters (Part 3)

Never Apologising For Our Wild 2019:

Fractured by MrsRen - M, 3 chapters - She's writhing on the floor, spitting in a Bellatrix Lestrange's face, when it happens. Hermione Granger's mind fractures amidst the torture, and when she wakes, friends and family find that she is not who she used to be. In the middle of a war, Hermione thinks she's exactly who she needs to be.

Ninety-Three Percent Stardust by otterlyardent - G, one-shot - Often, when a person falls for someone, they can’t remember the exact moment it all changed. But that wasn’t the case for Draco Malfoy. The moment had forever been emblazoned in his memory.

Dear Shakespeare by msmerlin - M, 3 chapters - When the fates bring together two opposites, will the love they have be able to overcome the years of obstacles that follow? Seventeen years of relationships ups and downs told through a series of vignettes.

Coiled, Falling by bionically - not rated, one-shot - She's locked in a tower when he finds her, bewitched and imprisoned.

Absinthe by TheMourningMadam - E, one-shot - Hermione becomes ensnared by Draco Malfoy, despite the fact that he is a taken man.

Magical To You by fandomfairytales - T, one-shot - based on the Nikita Gill poem/prompt: she would rather be magical to you, than belong to you.Follows Draco coming to understand such a concept and how it applies to one Hermione Granger."Hermione was in his kitchen, her cheeks rosy, the heat of the ovens toasting the air, humming along with the house elves as they worked; Completely out of her element and making herself at home at the breakfast bar, she was an utter paradox, all Draco could do was stare. It would have been less surprising to find a unicorn or some other rare magical creature there… Later, he would wonder if perhaps she was one, in a class all her own."

My Poetry by mcal - T, one-shot - Draco has been looking forward to this quiet moment with Hermione all week. A short stand alone written for the DFW Nikita Poem Challenge. Dramione. EWE

The Way They Leave by tofadeawayagain - T, one-shot - After leaving an emotionally abusive long-term relationship with Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger struggles to remember how to be herself once again. An experiment/sketch of the state of mind caused by emotional abuse and the healing process.

Show Me Your Soul by Disenchantedglow - T, one-shot - Show me The most damaged Parts of your soul, And I will show you How it still shines like gold -Nikita Gill

Demons by sweetmusings - T, one-shot - Hermione is far from okay. Can she be saved before she slips under? Furthermore, does she want to be? Inspired by Nikita Gill's 'Monsters'.

Fixing Damaged Souls by LissaDream - G, one-shot - Response to the Never Apologizing For Our Wild challenge held by Dramione Fanfiction Writer's FB group.

Wildfire by In_Dreams - M, one-shot - They said she was fire incarnate. And the smallest sliver of hope was kept alive by the spark of a borrowed ember she had implanted in his soul. A Dramione one-shot inspired by "Wild Embers" by Nikita Gill.

Tough Love by BiscuitsForPotter - M, 4 chapters - Three bad relationships. Two times her heart is broken. One time it grows stronger. Hermione Granger always seems to choose the wrong men to date.

The Devourer by ravenslight - M, one-shot - Darkness breeds darkness. In the aftermath of the war and amidst Voldemort’s reign, two depraved souls find solace in the dance of their demons.

Burning Skies by PartyLines - T, one-shot - Sometimes a change of heart comes just a little too late. Or: Hermione's late night letters to someone.

When You Are Ashes Remember This by perilous_circumstance - M, one-shot - The Ministry has decreed therapy for the returning 8th years & it’s going just about as well as one would expect.

Under and of the Stars by Lilian_Silver - T, one-shot - Hermione is in her 8th Year, attending a party in the Ravenclaw common room. It would be a lovely night of letting loose for once in her life, if not for the presence of a certain Slytherin for whom she has been harboring some very confused feelings.

Majestic Lionesses, Vibrant Birds, and Eight Billion Human Beings by Felgia_Starr - M, one-shot - Draco tries to prove to Hermione that soulmates are real but ends up showing her the world instead.

Broken by CourtingInsanity - M, one-shot - She is a broken thing under the psychopathic torture of his crazy aunt. As he watches, Draco reflects on the things he has fixed in his young life, and wonders at the possibility of mending Granger.

Spark Hearts by Abroma - E, one-shot - He doesn't ask her to stay; he never does. She wouldn't, anyway.

Scars by LadyKenz347 - not rated, one-shot - For DFW'S: Never Apologizing For Our Wild ChallengeInspired by Nikita Gills "Scars

Pretty in White by MrsMast - G, one-shot - Today is Hermione and Draco’s wedding day. Will love bloom?

DFW Birthday GOGO Fest 2020:

A House in the Country by BoredRavenvlaw620 - T, WIP -“That’s it, just no. I’ve done my duty to the Wizarding world. I gave up my childhood, I gave up my dreams, and for what… a tiny cubicle in which I put the Ministry stamp on endless permits. No more. I quit. Effective immediately. I think you’ll find I have ample vacation saved up. I’ll owl human resources on where they can send my check.”She spent her childhood fighting a war she didn't start. Now life is passing her by. What will she find when she makes choices not based off expectation?

Love of My Life by MykEsprit - T, one-shot - A surprising revelation at their anniversary party sends Hermione reeling.

Opposites Attract by HollyBrianne - G, one-shot - Draco and Hermione share a hotel room and take turns having issues with the other's sleepwear.

Caught Red-Handed by ruthy4vrsmoaked - E, one-shot - During a special kind of school reunion, Draco Malfoy catches Hermione Granger while she's reading an erotic romance novel.

Between the Trees by NuclearNik - M, WIP - When the tides of war change quickly, Draco makes a split-second decision and steals the freedom of the only person he still cares about, desperate to protect them.Hermione Granger becomes prisoner to a reluctant captor, locked away in the ruins of the one place she'd ever truly felt at home.Trust does not come easy for either of them.

Better Late Than Never by niffizzle - M, one-shot - As if the anxiety leading up to his mother's trial wasn't already bad enough, it deepens once the Wizengamot denies Draco's request to temporarily leave Hogwarts to attend. His life only gets more frustrating when the aftermath of a Quidditch accident forces him to interact with the one witch he's been ignoring all year — stirring the question of why she was present at the match in the first place.

Simple Words by dreamsofdramione (Bugggghead) - M, one-shot - It was easy to figure him out all over again.

oh god, i think i'm falling in love with you again by Felgia_Starr - E, one-shot - Hermione and Draco are forced to share a bed when there's miscommunication within the hotel staff and the hotel is fully-booked. This is a terrible idea because they both blame each other for their breakup and have been throwing passive aggressive remarks towards the other ever since they arrived in the hotel. Not to mention, they're still kind of madly in love with each other.

To Return by Charlie9646 - T, one-shot - Returning to Hogwarts was the hardest thing that Hermione had ever done, but the only person it was harder for is Draco. Friendship or more can bloom in the darkest of hours. Forgiveness is not one action, but many.

Future Imperfect by LightofEvolution - T, one-shot - Weird things can happen in the Department of Mysteries. And Hermione and her partner are about to find out how weird exactly. Or maybe not weird - but foreshadowing?

Ten Months by grace_lou_freebush - T, one-shot - While Dumbledore may have appeared completely busy managing the Order of the Phoenix and hunting down Horcruxes with Harry, he managed to keep a sharp, concerned eye on Draco. When Draco was on the verge of fixing the Vanishing Cabinet before Dumbledore was prepared, the headmaster assigned Hermione a task. She was to go back in time and stall Draco, any means necessary."She was seriously considering doing something categorically insane. She wanted to reveal herself to him.Christmas break was upcoming, and she'd been essentially alone for three months. Knowing the holiday was near made her yearn for companionship. She felt like she knew a side of Draco that he kept hidden away while outside the Room. He was clever and noble and steadfast and scared and handsome and – and she wanted to reveal herself to him."

Fowl Games by Pureblood_Muggle - T, one-shot - Hermione never believed in Divination - and she wasn't going to start now, just because Luna *saw* something.

Journal Entries by TriDogMom - E, one-shot - Draco is in a meeting and gets a naughty message from Hermione.

Ocean Views by MrsMast - G, one-shot - Hermione had some time off work, and Draco so happened to be at the same beach. When they run into each other, will things go how they expect?

Research, Destruction, and Love by highlyintelligentblonde - G, one-shot - How Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger finally got together after knowing each other for 10 years, being friends for five, and being coworkers for 3. Told from an insider perspective ;)

The Orphan by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot - A couple torn apart. A soldier at war. A lost child.

Revelations by LuxLouise - not rated, one-shot - Hermione makes a startling discovery.

20 Questions by savedprincess85 - T, one-shot - Hermione rescues Draco from a bad date. What happens during a game of 20 questions?

A Walk in the Park by IRisEaGLeS - G, one-shot - Hermione Granger is stressed, but then she meets a cute little cherub at her favorite park. And like every cherub in history, this little one decides to play matchmaker.

Stake Me Out Tonight, I Don't Want To Let You Go 'Til We Catch This Guy by fandomfairytales - E, WIP - Written for the DFW Birthday GOGO Fest 2020Based on the following prompt tags from HighlyIntelligentBlonde: Co-Workers to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Fluff, HEATitle courtesy of Charles Boyle (NINE-NINE!!) because I accidentally gave this a slight B99 vibeoOoPartners for more than a few years, Draco and Hermione have captured more than just their fair share of criminals on behalf of the Auror Department, they've captured each other's hearts: taking each other down is another matter entirely...However, Hermione Granger never met a problem she couldn't solve; armed with a plan and a three-day stakeout, what's the best that could happen? Strap yourself in, I'm back for more; with plenty of fluff, soft smut, silliness, Dramione being idiots in love and giving the DMLE betting pool a constant source of fresh romance gossip and entertainment... Oh and a case/perp that has literally no bearing on the plot

Starling by floorcoaster - T, one-shot - Someone's been helping Hermione with her work and she's not sure what to think.

DFW Tropes Fest: Double Trouble 2020:

Felix Mal Felicis by Lostinthenightrain - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger came back to Hogwarts as Head Girl. Unfortunately, her counterpart - Head Boy - was Draco Malfoy. To make the year even more difficult, they've been partnered together to brew a rather difficult potion. Felix Mal Felicis - Bad Luck Potion. It's difficulty lies in the brewing process - bad lucks seems to always happens while it's being brewed. Hence why it's not often made. Hermione discovers just how much bad luck she can handle.

Finishing Lessons by Seakays - T, WIP - When Hermione Granger finds out she is the illegitimate pureblood daughter of two members of the Sacred Twenty Eight, she needs a tutor to help her navigate the old customs and expectations thrust upon her.Enter Draco Malfoy.

Somebody I used to Know by Charlie9646 - T, one-shot - Hermione didn’t know why she was even here. Why did Ginny always suggested things like this? But it was worth a shot, if the worst happened she could simply forget about and move on. She had a fairly happy life, but her love life left a lot to be desired.If Pansy could find someone for Harry why couldn’t she do the same for her?

Worth It by crochetaway - M, one-shot - Hermione is sent up to Hogwarts to investigate instances of Dark Magic. But digging to the bottom of this mystery isn't the only thing she finds up there.

riddle me this by megamegaturtle - G, one-shot - Their fingers touch when Draco hands her the paper and Hermione's heart almost jumps out of her chest.The note reads: How do you spell ‘cute boy’ with only two letters? -Riddle Me ThisHermione finds herself grinning. “Cutie. Q-T. That’s the answer to the riddle. You’re a cutie, Malfoy.”[the one where someone leaves Draco Malfoy riddles to solve from the local coffee shop's community board and he enlists Hermione Granger for help.](Written for 2020 DFW Trope Fest: Double Trouble)

The Holly and The Ivy by dirtymudblood - M, 3 chapters - “Actually,” Hermione interrupted, “I’m so glad because… because I’ve been seeing someone too and I was going to ask how you’d feel about me bringing them to the Burrow.” Ron’s jaw dropped and Hermione’s fingers tingled. Take that, Ron. “Who?” He shouted, bewildered. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.

The Soulmate Test by ThebeMoon - M, one-shot - Draco Malfoy’s life after the War has lapsed into a steamy round of indulgence between the Manor and Knockturn Alley. A highly eligible bachelor despite his dark past, Draco is used to scheming witches glamouring “DLM” on their arms and claiming to be his soulmate in accordance with ancient magic. But he never expected Hermione Granger to be one of them.

The Muggle's Wise Daughter by Mariana_Monteverde - G, 2 chapters - A Dramione Fairytale AU.Draco is a young King, one of his ministers has betrayed him, and the man's only salvation is the ability of his daughter solving the King's Riddle...

Reverse by kifiyathewriter - T, one-shot - When a number of his patients begin to die from a mysterious ailment, Draco Malfoy goes on a mission to seek out the source and unwittingly uncovers a dark truth.

You, Me, and all my other Figments by Shamione - T, one-shot - Hermione sighed dejectedly, glancing over a stone facade that had once plagued her nightmares: Malfoy Manor. A home that, at one point, had been her sole source of anguish. It was now a place that bore a new level of melancholy, though. A place that reminded Hermione Granger that Draco Malfoy was gone.He'd vanished and left no clues toward his whereabouts. Nothing, that is, until the Manor's wards were dropped. A rusty amulet is the single shred of evidence that could shed light on Hermione's once boyfriend.A new scar, an awful date, and an image of the man she'd desperately missed are the only clues to help her find her missing love.

How the Omega Was Won by Amebb42 - M, one-shot - When Hermione presents as an Omega, she is appalled to discover that the Alphas usually fight amongst themselves and whoever is strongest takes the Omega. The Weasley twins help her come up with a way to "try out" the local Alphas and choose for herself. They might have left out a few details of where she will find herself within this new product of theirs.

RX by Starryar - M, one-shot - STOP! Did you know this one shot was expanded into a multi-chap? Check out 'RX - The Full Story' for additional content! ------ Written for the Double Trouble Fest. Thank you Dramione Fanfiction Writers for hosting this! Assigned Tropes: Meet Ugly & Prison AU. Please mind the tags. ------ Draco Lucius Malfoy was stuck in-between enjoy life and rebuilding it. Should he throw his life away on the drugs, or should he create an honorable legacy for the Malfoy name? Perhaps he already knew the answer, but was putting off responsibility as long as he could. Hermione Jean Granger had been hit hard after the war. She didn't qualify for the order of Merlin and she had no family due to her memory charms being too great. The war veteran decided that Healer School was her best bet at undoing her own charms, but the price for education was never cheap. Two days in one cell and the two once enemies may find unexpected help in each other - if they don't get charged with murder first.

This fest is ongoing.

#dramionefanfictionwriters #Fests/Exchanges/Challenges

115 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 5 years

Text

Thoughts of Dreamers

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x OFC (one-shot)

Summary: During a sleepless night, thoughts and plans of the future are discussed in a world where they don’t seem possible anymore, at least not the way they had originally intended.

{Takes place somewhere in Deathly Hallows}

[Romina’s Masterlist]

A young, sixteen year old girl turned and turned in her bed, her hands gripping the blankets around her. Her shut eyes seemed to screw even more shut as the seconds passed by. Eventually, she woke with a deep gasp and found herself sitting upright in the bedroom she'd been given six months ago. As her breathing evened out from her terrible nightmare, reality set in. Eyes swept the dark room and she shuddered. She hated the place and the people in it...save for one person of course. Though he probably wouldn't get to hear it.

She was quick to decide that sleeping alone and risking another nightmare was simply not an option. But, the creaks of the manor didn't help make reality nicer than her nightmare. She was scared, properly scared. Without thinking, she got out of bed and hurried to the door. She opened it as quiet as possible and poked her head into the hallway. It was dark but she could definitely hear footsteps from a distance.

They're probably having secret meetings and whatnot, she thought. Despite being forced to live with Voldemort and his Death Eaters - among them being her parents - they always managed to scare her. She swallowed hard and stepped out of her bedroom, making sure to close the door behind her. She doubted that anyone would come in to check on her. Her grandparents would have, but the two people claiming to be her parents never did.

She made her way down the hallway on high alert in case anyone passed by. She didn't feel like explaining herself to anyone at this hour. Then maybe you should go back to your own room! a mean voice told her. She should have, she knew she should have, but her feet kept moving. She didn't want to be alone.

She came to a stop in front of a door and lightly knocked on it. "Draco, are you awake?" she whispered before coming in. The part of evading adults was still a high priority for her.

Fortunately for her, Draco was indeed awake. In fact, he was still wearing his day clothes indicating he'd not even slept a bit. At her sudden appearance, he sat up. "Romina, what are you doing here?"

Romina suddenly realized what she'd done. You should have gone back to bed! she told herself. "I-I couldn't sleep so I...I just came here..." she ran a hand through her black curls. "But now I'm seeing that was a mistake, so I'll just go..."

"No, Rom, stay," Draco called after her, stopping her midway for the door.

He was genuinely surprised that she'd willingly come into his room and he wasn't going to complain about it. After their awkward breakup last year, he assumed that the last thing Romina would ever do was direct a word to him. That was before Voldemort came in and took over a good part of their world. Now Death Eaters were invading his home, along with Voldemort himself on occasions, but at least it had created a way to see Romina outside of Hogwarts as well. Romina's parents had forced her to stay with them in Malfoy Manor ever since the school year started. She was distraught to leave her grandparents behind and heavily terrified of what laid in the manor, but she'd found a safe haven with Draco.

Romina shyly approached the bed, and at Draco's motion she took the spot beside him. "You weren't sleeping either," she said quietly. It was best for them to keep their voices down lest they want to have visitors.

"Couldn't," Draco shrugged. He let himself fall flat on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

Romina knew there was so much going through his head yet he would probably never tell her about them. "Did you have a bad dream too?"

"Something like that. You?"

"Same old, same old: destruction, murders..." Romina sighed and laid down on her side to face him, "Though at this point I don't know what's worse: my nightmares or reality."

"I thought you used to dream of - what was it?" Draco thought for a moment. "Oh, that stupid muggle musical-"

"Hey," Romina frowned at him.

"Sorry," Draco went after, like an instinct. He glanced at her then, meeting her dark eyes that had lost their joyful glint. "You used to have nice dreams..." he spoke softly, though Romina detected guilt in those words like it was his fault that their world was crashing over them. Neither knew what had really happened, of course, when their previous headmaster died. So, to Draco, it still felt like he was responsible for letting their world turn into darkness.

"So did you," Romina countered. "They were probably some stupid boy dreams but nice. Everything's just changed and we can't do anything about it."

Draco didn't say anything and so silence ensued. Romina swallowed hard and pushed herself to speak again.

"Do you...remember what your plans for the future were?" she asked. "Before any of this happened."

"Of course," Draco said instantly, sneaking another glance of her. His face warmed but with the darkness in the room Romina couldn't tell. "I would have liked so many things, but..."

Romina knew how that sentence finished because it was the same reasoning she now had. "I would've liked a lot of things too. I used to want to work in the Muggle areas but at the rate we're going there's not going to be many left."

"You and I, we're going to be okay, though," Draco said, and both knew that it was technically true. Their pure-blood status protected them no matter what.

"We haven't been 'okay' in about a year and a half," Romina softly pointed out. There, Draco could not argue. Feeding on that last bit of courage, Romina went on to say, "If we hadn't broken up...would you still have wanted to keep our plans?"

Draco shifted on his side to face her as well. "Without a doubt."

Romina was quick to smile. "Even the part where you stayed with me in a muggle neighborhood?"

"You said it would only be for a bit," Draco playfully warned her, earning a small chuckle from her. He smiled, mentally calculating the last time he'd heard one of her laughs. Results: far too long.

"What if I lied?" Romina challenged.

"Did you?"

"No. Everything that we planned for I wanted," Romina had become serious again. She nervously reached for his closest hand and took it. "I wanted to finish school with you, support whatever career you wanted. I wanted to show you more of the muggle world, see you try to figure out how to use a telephone..."

"I would have figured it out quick," Draco to put some humor into their conversation, but his heart was basically drumming in his chest.

"No you wouldn't have," Romina giggled. "It took Ron months to do so and he has more contact with muggles than you!"

"Rom..." Draco didn't have words to say that would describe how he felt at the moment. There he was, laying on the same bed with his ex-girlfriend who was now bordering the 'girlfriend' term again, while they had Death Eaters (and maybe even Voldemort himself) just downstairs.

Romina acted on one more bravery whim and scooted closer to him. "I miss you, Draco. I didn't understand why you broke up with me before...but now that I do...I declare you an idiot. An idiot but my idiot."

Draco wrapped an arm around her waist, letting her settle her head on his chest. "I miss you too, Rom. I had no idea what was going to happen..."

"I know," Romina said quietly. "But...we're here together, and it might not seem much but right now it's probably the happiest and peaceful moment in such a long time."

"It does," Draco agreed, and suddenly dreaded morning where she would have to inevitably leave his room. The mere thought made his arm around her waist tighten. "You're right...I probably would have taken longer than Weasley to figure out a telephone."

Romina's eyes drifted upwards, her lips curling into a smile. "Yeah, that's why our children would make fun of you." As soon as she'd said those words, her face warmed, but she'd meant to say them.

Draco's pale face went red quick. "Children?"

Romina bit her lip but held his stunned look. "We talked about it once, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but...we were fifteen...and joking!"

"So you didn't imagine it happening...?"

"Well..." Draco would be lying of course, it just didn't mean it was easy to talk about it. "I-I would've liked...I mean...with you..."

Romina's lips stretched into a smirk. "And only me?"

"And only you."

"What would you have wanted? Boy or girl?"

But Draco wanted to get back at her for startling him with the topic and so he answered, "Twins."

Romina's eyes had widened for a moment. "Tw-twins? Oh...oh no thank you! I have seen that - we have seen how twins are! No thanks!"

Draco had himself a good laughter. "Alright, alright. But, being honest? I would still have liked a boy and a girl."

"Me too," Romina smiled thoughtfully. "Although I have to say that the idea of a mini-you discourages the boy..."

"Hey!"

Romina snickered. "C'mon, you were awful. Our little boy would have to have different ideas."

"...yeah...alright..." Draco would have liked a different sort of childhood where there wasn't as much pressure as he had often felt growing up. Besides, with Romina, he couldn't see that happening anyways. She would have instilled very different beliefs in their child. "But you as a mother would have made the entire difference."

"I would like to think so..."

"But you know what I would like the most?"

"What?"

Draco loosened his grip around Romina so that he could better see her curious face. "I would've liked to marry you."

Romina's eyebrows rose upwards, and a small smile started spreading across her face. "Really?" she reached to touch his face.

"Yeah," Draco was sure that if there was light Romina would've seen his terribly reddened face.

Romina felt a wave of emotions hit her and, without thinking, she pressed a small kiss to his lips. She didn't regret it. Albeit surprised, Draco soon started smiling like an idiot (much like Romina thought he used to). Romina chuckled and nuzzled up against him. For that night, their thoughts and plans were on the table again. They could dream about where they would live in the future, what jobs they would like to take up, how many children they wanted, and so much more. But, in the end, they both knew they were only thoughts of 'what if'.

They were thoughts of dreamers.

#ocappreciation #fd: harry potter #harry potter #draco malfoy #draco malfoy x oc #harry potter imagines #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy fics #original character #oc: Romina Oswell

51 notes · View notes

hesnotspiderpighesharryplopper · 5 years

Text

i’ve never felt pain like this before

Summary: (Y/N)’s been captured by the death eaters and there seems to be no escape for her, except for the memories and dreams she has about her loved ones.

Warnings: torture

Pairing: George Weasley x reader

Word count: 5,035

A/N: I had a dream about this the other day and so I really hope this turned out as good as my dream lol. Let me know what you guys think, feedback is always welcomed! Also, the reader can read minds because she has the power of Legilimency (like Queenie or Voldemort).

Pain. That was it. That’s all that you had felt for days. Was it days though? Or was it weeks, or months? You had lost track after the first night there. But where was ‘there’, you had no idea where you were or how exactly you had gotten there. The only thing you remember is Bill and Fleur’s wedding. “Yes, hold onto that.” You mutter to yourself. The images from that night played through your mind. You wanted to try and remember something, anything that might help you understand where you were. Fleur walked down the aisle, looking absolutely stunning. You felt a squeeze on your hand, looking down you saw that it was George’s hand. Smiling up at him, your heartfelt full of love for everyone in this room, but especially for the man standing next to you and judging by the look on his face, so did his. The ceremony went by without a hitch. Then the reception came, and that too was going well. You were dancing with George around the little tent. “You know when this whole war thing is over… it might be fun to do this all again, don’t you think?” George said, his voice sounding distance in your fading memory of the moment. You smiled up at him, “I’d like that.” humming in content. “Then what? Remember. Try harder.” You spoke out to yourself again. This was the farthest you’d ever gotten in this fading memory. Suddenly, a bright blue orb came shooting through the tent, “The ministry has fallen. The Minister of Magic is dead. They’re coming. They’re coming.” Everyone began to panic. George grabbed your hand and began leading you out of the tent. Before you could get far, a black figure ripped through the crowd, sending you to the ground. George got pushed by someone, separating you from him. There were spells flying everywhere. People dying. Suddenly, someone grabbed you and apparated. “Who was it? Focus.” You muttered. Your mind went back to the figure standing above you. Their blonde hair and gray eyes looked familiar. Like you had seen them a million times before. “Draco.” You said, shooting up from the ground where you had been lying. “Yes?” Draco’s oh-so-familiar drawling voice echoed throughout the room. He came into the light, he was holding food. “I asked if I could bring you some food. Figured you wouldn’t be much good to us if you were starved to death.” He leaned down next to you and sat the plate and cup down. You pounced on the food, not remembering the last time you had eaten. “Where am I?” You asked through the food. “Well, you’re the mind-reader here. Thought you would’ve figured that one out by now.” Draco said, leaning against the beam that was next to him. “My mind is so foggy, it’s hard to gather my own thoughts let alone someone else’s.” “Is that why you keep telling us you don’t know what someone’s thinking?” Draco asked, sounding genuinely confused. You nodded, “The cruciatus curse is a nasty one that doesn’t allow me to think of anything other than the pain I’m in. It’s not that I’m refusing to look into their minds, it’s just that my mind is so clouded by pain that I cannot.” Draco stared at you thoughtfully. “Why me? I know that we weren’t exactly best friends in school, but I wasn’t horrible to you.” You asked, trying to put all the pieces together. “I didn’t take you because of how you treated me, I took you because your ability is useful. With you helping us, we can extract information from the ones we capture a lot easier.” “And have I been… you know… helpful?” “Not recently, no. At first, you gave us a few pieces of information here and there. Not enough to expose the person, because that’s not who you are. But enough to keep you from getting tortured. However, the last couple of days you’ve been weak and unresponsive. That’s why I convinced them to let me bring you real food and not scraps. Figured it would help make you strong enough to help us.” Draco explained. “Well, I suppose I should thank you then. For showing me some kindness when it is not necessary.” You were regaining some strength, enough to sort your thoughts, enough to try and look inside his mind. “Yeah, well don’t get used to it. Have you finished?” He said, pointing at your plate. “Would it be possible for me to get some more water? I mean you don’t have to go get it, but maybe you could conjure up some more?” Draco sighed and did so, pulling out his wand and waving it over your cup. “Thank you, again.” You bowed your head a little and drank the water. ‘He keeps his wand in his left back pocket.’ You thought to yourself as you drank, continuing to look down. ‘He plans to bend down and take my dish’ You thought, peering into his mind as you set down the glass. He then bent down and grabbed the dishes from in front of you. You quickly put your hands on his shoulders, “Draco, listen to me, this is not you. All this killing and torture, it’s not you. It doesn’t have to be you.” You slowly took your hand off his shoulder and crept your hand down to his left back pocket. “Of course I do. If I don’t he’ll kill me and my family.” “He’s just telling you that so you’ll be compliant.” Your hand grabbed the wand and slowly pulled it out of his pocket, “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to. You’re too young for this, too innocent.” As soon as the wand was completely out of his pocket, you thought of a concealment charm, which made it blend in with its surroundings. You slowly put your hand to the ground, making it seem like it had been there ever since you’d taken it off his shoulder, setting the wand down so that he wouldn’t see you holding an invisible thing. Looking into his mind, you knew his thoughts were jumbled and distracted enough that he hadn’t noticed. “You don’t know me, you never knew me. I’m capable of a lot more than you’d think you know.” Draco said, pulling away from you suddenly. “Oh but Draco, I do know you. I know that you’re scared. I know that you have doubts and are unsure. And that’s okay, you’re more than entitled to those thoughts.” “Stay out of my head.” Draco said, shaking his head as if that would get you out. “Alright,” You said, putting your hands up in defense. “Just know that if you ever need someone to talk to while I’m here, I’ll listen. I’ll understand.” You give him a small smile and he leaves without returning it. You didn’t dare feel around you for the wand until his thoughts were so distant that you knew he was far away and not coming back. Once you had a hold of it, you stuffed it in the waist of your pants, keeping the concealment charm on it.

Days had passed by, you were surprised that Draco hadn’t come to question you about his wand. Perhaps he thought he had simply misplaced it. Or maybe he knew and he was just waiting for the right moment to torture it out of your grip. This had been the longest time you’d gone without being brought upstairs to help interrogate someone. They had gone back to feeding you scraps, but at least they were feeding you. You weren’t sure how many days had gone by, all you had to go on were the number of meals you had received. There were no windows where you were kept, so you counted the number of meals you’d been giving, and you got a slight indicator that about a week had gone by before you were called upon again. “Come on, time to go.” One of the death eaters came down to where you were and unchained your feet. You were pulled by your arm by him upstairs, the bright light burning your eyes. You hissed a little when he threw you in front of a group of three. You looked up and instantly knew who they were. Ron, Hermione, and Harry Potter. The Harry Potter who they’ve been looking for this whole time. Only he didn’t look himself, with a quick look inside their minds, you saw that Hermione had done a spell to make his face swell. Their faces quickly filled with concern when they saw you. “Who are they?” Bellatrix asked you, wanting confirmation that they had finally caught Harry Potter. “Their names are… Josh Winston.” You said pointing at Ron, “Tiffany Jackson” You said pointing at Hermione, “And Dudley Dursley.” You said pointing at Harry. “You’re lying.” Bellatrix said, “You know what happens when you lie, so let’s try this one more time. Who are they?” You took a deep breath, knowing what was coming. “I’m not lying. That’s what I see when I look inside their minds. Unless you think they’ve fooled me somehow.” You sassed her, knowing full well that you were making everything up. You had to protect them, even if it meant you’d be tortured. “How dare you speak to me like that!” She shrieked, “Crucio” her wand pointed at you. You instantly collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. You let out a strangled scream.

Pain. That was it. That was all you could feel. You tried thinking about the one thing that had kept you sane this whole time. George. His touch, his voice, his smile, but nothing but pain filled your thoughts. Finally, she had stopped when Draco had come into the room. “Draco, can you tell us if this is Harry Potter?” Bellatrix said, pulling her attention away from your sweating, limp body. You laid there, watching Draco look at Harry intently. “Remember what I told you Draco.” You said, hoping that Draco would spare Harry. “Don’t speak to him you filthy… Crucio” Bellatrix said to you, sending you into another fit of pain. This one, thankfully shorter than the last, as she had other matters to attend to. “Well, Draco?” She turned to him again. Draco glanced at you quickly, then back to Harry. He shook his head, “I can’t tell. Well, have to wait and see if the swelling goes down if (Y/N)’s not going to tell us anything.” “Fine,” Bellatrix said, she turned to some of the death eaters standing in the corner holding other things they found with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. “Where’d you get that!?” She shrieked, pointing at the sword of Gryffindor in their hands. “Found it with them, reckon I’d keep it.” One of them said, shrugging. Bellatrix freaked out at this, blasting the sword out of the one’s hands, and hitting the others with different spells. “Get out! Everyone! Put the boys in the cellar!” She said pushing Ron and Harry out of the room with everyone else but you and Hermione.

Once everyone was out, Bellatrix pulled you over to Hermione and said, “Tell me where she got the sword from. NOW! And don’t lie, you know what happens when we lie.” You looked at Hermione’s pleading eyes. “Give me a second, I need to search her past, it takes longer than hearing her current thoughts.” You said, trying to give yourself time to clear your head. It was still foggy from the pain. “Tick-Tock,” Bellatrix said as she paced back and forth behind you and Hermione. You looked in her mind, but you couldn’t find it anywhere. You found Ron showing up with the sword, never giving a clear explanation, and if he did, Hermione’s mind was too focused on how furious she was to remember. “She doesn’t know.” You said, being completely honest. Hermione had no idea how they obtained the sword, Ron and Harry did, but she didn’t. “How convenient. Maybe she just needs some… motivation.” Bellatrix pushed you out of the way, pointing her wand at Hermione’s throat. “What’ll it be darling? Some pain? Some agony? Will that get you remembering how you came across the sword that was IN MY VAULT!?” She began yelling at Hermione. You quickly looked into her mind, seeing that she was completely distracted, you swiftly pulled out the wand you had stolen from Draco. Pointed it at Bellatrix and yelled, “Expelliarmus!” Bellatrix’s wand went flying from her hand to yours, and before she could turn on you and grab it, you yelled “Imperio!”. She froze, her eyes fogging over. “Go get the boys from the cellar.” You told her, and she did as you said. “Where are your wands?” You quickly asked Hermione, “She handed them to Draco’s mom.” “Narcissa.” You searched the place for Narcissa’s thoughts, trying to see if she still had the wands. “She gave them to Draco. He’s in the next room. They all are, they’re waiting.” Bellatrix came back with Ron and Harry in tow. “How long does an Imperious curse last?” You asked Hermione. “You might wanna hit her again, they usually only last for one task.” You nod, pointing Draco’s wand at her and say, “Imperio”, making her eyes fog back over. “Call Draco in here and ask for their wands.” You direct her, and she does as you ask, going into the next room and coming back with Draco. You hid Bellatrix’s wand behind your back, Draco’s was still concealed. “Give me their wands Draco.” Bellatrix demands of him, he hesitates at first but does what is asked of him. “Imperio,” You say to Bellatrix again. “What are you doing?!” Draco said. “Shhh.” You say holding your finger over your mouth, “She’ll be fine. And so will you, if you let us leave.” Draco froze, and you took that as an okay. “Bellatrix, give me the wands and walk over to the corner. Stay there until we’ve left.” She did as you instructed, handing over your wands, and turning her back to you as she walked to the corner. You turned to Draco, “Would you like to come with us?” “You’ve got to be kidding me (Y/N). You’re not actually considering bringing one of them with us!” Ron said in a hushed tone. “I trust him.” You said, looking solely at Draco, “I trust you. Would you like to come with us?” Draco hesitated, “I-I-I can’t. He’ll kill me and my family” “We can protect you Draco.” You reassure him, “But not my family.” Draco said, shaking his head. You nod, “I understand. Thank you again, for your kindness when it was unnecessary.” You grabbed onto Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and apparated.

You took them to your childhood home, which you knew to be abandoned after your family left. “Where are we?” Hermione said, looking around. You took a seat at the worn-down dining table, setting Bellatrix’s and Draco’s wands down on it. “The house my family lived in for most of my childhood. We had to leave because of structural issues, and no one’s bothered with it since. We’ll have to move again, and soon. They have insiders in the Ministry and they were tracking me along with Harry and that’s how they captured me. They planned to grab you too, but you left too quickly. We can’t stay in the same place for too long. Maybe a day or two.” They all nodded, “But we can stay here for the night?” Harry asked, “You probably need some rest (Y/N), you’ve been through a lot today.” You shook your head, chuckling “That was them going easy on me. Once they brought in this fella who they believed was pretending to be a death eater so they could get insider information. I told them that he wasn’t lying, which he was but I didn’t want them to know of course. They’d have killed him. So they tortured me, knowing I was lying to them. I continued to stand my ground, they ended up using the cruciatus curse on me about five times that day. Later that night, after they had… killed the man, they hung me by my arms in the basement and whipped me. That was one of the first days I spent with them. They wanted to make sure I understood what the consequences were for keeping information from them. Today was nothing compared to the other days. I can leave if we need to, don’t let me hold us back.” Hermione had tears in her eyes, “I’m so sorry (Y/N). I’m sorry that we didn’t find you sooner.” You shook your head, “Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad I was around long enough to help get you guys out.”

Everyone agreed to sleep at your childhood home for the night, but sometime early the next day you’d relocate to Bill and Fleur’s home. “How are they?” You asked Ron, but he shrugged “I honestly don’t even know if they made it out of their own wedding. I’m hoping that when we get there, they’ll be there and safe… But anything could’ve happened to them without me knowing.” You nodded, understanding “So does that mean that you don’t know about George?” your eyes clouded with tears at the thought of George not making it out of the wedding. “I’m sorry, but no. We haven’t been able to be in contact with any of them. But if Bill is there tomorrow, he might know.” Ron said, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. You nodded, wiping the tears from your eyes. “Then let’s hope we get some good news tomorrow, yeah?” “What am I going to do without a wand?” Harry said as he watched Hermione conjuring up some sleeping bags for the lot of you. “Oh, Harry, you need a wand?” You ask, and he nods. “I’ve been… I guess… bonding? Is the word for it, with Draco’s wand for the past week so it’ll work just fine for me. I won’t be needing Bellatrix’s wand if you’d like it.” “Is that how you were doing magic?” Hermione asked, “You had Draco’s wand. But, I didn’t see anything?” “When I stole it, I placed a concealment charm on it so that if they came looking for it, I wouldn’t get caught with it if I hid it in some dark corner of the cellar. I kept it on me at all times, unless someone’s thoughts told me I needed to hide it. I think Draco thought he simply misplaced it and has been using his mother’s when needed.” You got up and grabbed both wands from the dining table. “Revelio,” You said, making Draco’s wand appear. You handed Harry Bellatrix’s wand, “Thanks,” Harry said taking it from you. “We should get some sleep, we need to try and move early tomorrow,” Hermione said as Harry turned the wand over in his hands.

In the morning, you all apparated to Bill and Fleur’s hoping that they’d be there safe and sound. “Hello,” Bill said, opening up the door as if he was expecting your arrival. “Bill,” Ron said, pushing past everyone and pulling his brother in for a hug “I’m so glad you’re okay.” “You too, mum and dad will be relieved to know you’re safe.” “You can’t tell them. It’s not safe yet for them to know where we are. We’re only here for a couple days then we need to move again. They’re tracking Harry and (Y/N) very closely.” “(Y/N)… She’s with you? Where?” Bill said looking around. Ron, Harry, and Hermione turned around and saw that you were no longer with them. “(Y/N)!” Hermione yelled. “Yeah! Sorry, I just… I haven’t been outside in a while. I was taking it in. Quite beautiful here.” You said, dreamily staring off at the horizon. You walked over to the house to join the others. “Good to see you again Bill.” You greeted, and he hugged you in response. “Where have you been? We’ve been thinking you were dead.” Bill lead you all in, grabbing a kettle to put on some tea. “How long exactly was I gone?” You asked, not sure why everyone assumed your brief disappearance was a confirmation of your death. “(Y/N), you’ve been missing for almost 9 months,” Bill said, and your heart felt like it stopped. “No…” You whispered almost to yourself, “That’s not possible… How… I wouldn’t… I shouldn’t be alive… The things they did to me, not even a powerful witch or wizard could survive that long, at least not without going mad.” “What did they do to you? Who did it to you?” Bill continued. “The death eaters that attacked the night of your wedding. They captured me and I’ve been with them ever since, helping them get inside people’s minds. If I wouldn’t do as they asked, they would torture me. I was locked up in a cellar whenever they had no use for me, surviving on nothing but scraps. I was in so much pain constantly that I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten there. Until more recently, they’d left me alone for long enough that my mind was able to clear up. I was able to remember, but I didn’t realize it had been that long.” You look out the window, tears in your eyes. You’d missed out on 9 months of your life. For 9 months your loved ones have been mourning your death. “George…” You couldn’t imagine what went through his mind when they couldn’t find you. “What?” Harry asked. “George. Bill, where’s George? Is he okay?” You asked a sudden sense of urgency about you. “Yes, he’s fine. He’s with our aunt right now. He’s been a total wreck since our wedding, not knowing what happened to you. He’s been blaming himself, saying that he had a grip on you, but then someone pushed you down and then you were gone. Kept going on about how you were going to marry him, how you’d been happy together and we're going to start a life together, and how it’d never happen because he let you go.” Bill said, sadness taking over his face at the thought of his brother being in that much pain. “I have to go to him.” You said, standing up, getting ready to leave. “You don’t even know where to go… I can’t tell you, it’s too risky with them tracking you, someone could be listening.” Bill said, about to stop you. You looked inside his head to find out where his aunt lived. “You don’t need to tell me.” You hugged Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Bill, “Stay safe, I’ll return soon enough. I don’t want to stay long enough to put them in danger, but I need to see him.” and with that, you apparated.

You arrived at the house you saw in Bill’s head. Quickly running up to the door, you knocked. A small woman answered, but it was not a welcome greeting. She swung the door open and held her wand to your neck, pushing you back outside. “Who are you and what business do you have being here.” She said, continuing to push you away from her house. You raised your hands in surrender, showing her that you were not armed. “I’m not here to hurt you. My name is (Y/N). I’m George’s girlfriend.” “That’s impossible, she’s dead. He told me that she died at Bill and Fleur’s wedding. Nice try, imposter. Who are you really?” “Please! Allow me to just talk to George, I can prove that it’s really me.” “You’re not getting anywhere near my nephews and niece.” “Look, you can hold onto my wand. You can even tie my hands behind my back. I won’t even step foot into your house until you know for sure it’s me. Just please let me talk to George, I can prove I’m who I say I am.” You pleaded with her. She pondered this for a moment and agreed. She took her wand off of your throat and bound your hands and legs, “Where’s your wand?” “In my back pocket on the right.” She quickly pulled it out and put it in her jacket. “I’ll be back.” She walked back into the house, shutting the door. You fell down onto your butt, “Cute. The first time I’ll be seeing my boyfriend in 9 months and I’ll be bound and on the ground. Just how I imagined it.” you sighed, and looked around, at least you were enjoying being outside. “(Y/N)’s dead. I told you that. Whoever it is… they’re lying.” You heard George’s voice as he and his aunt came toward you. “Who are you and why are you playing such a sick game?” George said, pulling his wand out at you. “George, it’s me, I promise. I can prove it. Ask me anything.” You pleaded with him. He looked you in the eyes, and you could see that it broke his heart to see his girlfriend again, imposter or not. “How did we meet?” “We were in the same house, Gryffindor. We played Quidditch together and I got injured. You came to visit me in the hospital wing, you brought me flowers and chocolate frogs.” “That’s too easy, anyone who went to school with you could know that.” George’s aunt said, taking out her wand again. “Where did we go on our first date?” “We went down to the black lake and you made a picnic. We ate by candlelight. When we finished, you conjured a radio and we slow danced. I laughed because I thought it was so cheesy, but really I loved every second of it.” “Come on, I feel like that’s something only she would really know.” George tried persuading his aunt. “Ask one more question. That’s something she could’ve told a friend who might’ve betrayed her and is now pretending to be her. Ask something only she would know.” “I mean I could just read your mind, but I made a pact with you in our 3rd year that I wouldn’t, since it makes you feel weird that I know your every thought.” You said, thinking that would be something that only you would know. “See! That’s something only (Y/N) would know” George said, getting excited. His aunt still didn’t seem convinced though, and you knew she wasn’t about to let you go. “I know how to tell if she’s an imposter.” She pulled out Draco’s wand from her jacket and showed it to George, “Is this her wand?” One look at it and George’s face fell. He knew that wasn’t your wand. “No… It’s not.” “Then it’s settled, she’s an imposter.” “No! Please! Let me explain!” You shouted, putting your tied hands over your face, hoping they weren’t about to attack you. “Fine. Explain, while you’re at it, tell us who you are and how you knew where to find us.” George said, getting in your face and pointing his wand at your throat.

“My name is (Y/N). I was captured by the death eaters who attacked Bill and Fleur’s wedding. They’ve been holding me, hostage, ever since. That wand isn’t mine because they took mine and I have no idea where they put it. I stole that wand from Draco Malfoy and used it to escape with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We went to Bill’s and he wouldn’t tell me where you were but I wanted to see you so I looked into his mind and I apparated where he saw you.” You were trembling, praying that you wouldn’t die at the hands of your boyfriend, not after everything you’d been through in the past 9 months. “What was the last thing I said to you before you disappeared? Only (Y/N) would know that if she died that night or was captured and didn’t get to tell it to anyone.” George said you could tell that he wanted to believe you so bad. “We were dancing at Bill and Fleur’s wedding and you said ‘You know when this whole war thing is over, it might be fun to do this again. Don’t you think?’” He eyes filled with tears at the last memory he had of you, but that was all he needed. He believed you. He did a spell to take the bindings off your legs and hands and pulled you into such a tight hug you were sure you’d have bruised ribs. “It’s you. It’s really you.” He cried into your hair. You nodded and ran your hands through his hair, trying to comfort him. “It’s really me. I’m here. I love you.” He pulled away enough to see your face, “I love you so much.” he said right before he kissed you. A kiss you’d been waiting a long time for.

Pain. That was it. That’s all that you had felt for days. Was it days though? Or was it weeks, or months? You had lost track after the first night there. You groggily sat up, rubbing your eyes which were filled with tears. You weren’t sure if it was from the pain that you seemed to constantly be in now, or from the amazing dream you’d just had. You’d made it home, you’d made it back to George. But that could never happen, Draco would never bring you real food out of the kindness of his heart. You’d never be able to steal his wand and use it to enchant Bellatrix. You’d never been able to get out of here and see your Georgie. It was all a dream. A cruel but wonderful dream. You sat up, wondering if the time that was spoken of in the dream was true. Had you really been here for 9 months? It seemed like longer like years had gone by. All that you knew was that if you did ever get out of this place, you’d rain hell down on the people who put you here.

Find more of my work here

133 notes · View notes