#and they'd meet late at night in the common room when everyone was asleep

[elysianymph]

big hater of the "james repeatedly asked lily out in ridiculous ways even though she kept rejecting him" headcanon BUT i think the idea of james unconventionally 'courting' lily after they both admitted to their feelings is very cute and should be used more

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 156: Rhythm

When they came back for their 8th year at Hogwarts, the 8th year students were all assigned to one house, regardless of the house they'd formerly been a part of.

It honestly wasn't as bad as Harry might have imagined, mostly because everyone was simply too tired of fighting. They had all had a hard year and it seemed, for the most part, that everyone just wanted to keep to themselves.

The common room was nice enough; lots of space, comfy couches, a big fire place, bookshelves, and even a little area to store snacks.

And there was an upright piano that sat in the corner of the room. It was very rarely, if ever, used aside from the occasional plunk as a student walked past, but Harry was strangely attracted to it.

There was something about the idea of letting your fingers drift over the keys, about the act of creating something where there had been nothing only a moment prior, that Harry found immensely appealing.

So one night, when all of the other students were in bed, apparently not suffering from nightmares the way he did, Harry sat down at the piano.

It was slow going, but whenever Harry woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep, he'd wander down to the common room and cast a spell at the door to trap the noise in the room with him, and he'd play. Gradually he got better and by a few months in, he was playing things that sounded like music at the very least.

Then, on a very chilly December evening, when Harry was playing through something he'd made up in his head, he nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice said, "You haven't got the best sense of rhythm, Potter."

He spun around to see that Draco Malfoy had just entered the common room, looking a bit haggard, his face drawn and pale. And the snarky response he'd been about to fire back died on his lips. "Do you play piano?" he asked instead.

"When I was young," Malfoy replied as he headed toward the snack supply and pulled out a cauldron cake.

(Read more below the cut)

"Show me?" he asked.

Malfoy blinked at him, "It's been ages, Potter. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Come on," he urged, scooching over on the bench to make room. "I promise not to judge you."

The other boy hesitated for just a moment before making his way over and gingerly sitting down next to Harry. His fingers traced over the keys for a moment, lighting on them without making a sound the way a butterfly touches a flower.

After a heartbeat that seemed to last an eternity to Harry, Malfoy started to play, and it was lovely. Harry watched as his fingers drifted over the keys, moving in difference directions, crossing over each other, as they made the most enchanting music.

When he finished, Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, "Wow," he breathed.

He looked over a Malfoy to see a delicate flush spreading across his cheeks and neck. "It's nothing," he said softly.

"Would you teach me?" Harry asked, the curl of desire to learn sparking in the back of his brain.

"Are you serious?" Malfoy asked, looking over at him and meeting his eyes.

"Yeah," Harry said earnestly. "I want to play like that."

Malfoy looked at him long and hard for a moment, "Alright," he agreed.

"Really?"

He nodded, "I'll ask my mother to send me some of the old books I had from when I was learning. For now, let's learn note names," he said.

And without further ado, they dug into learning.

-----------

It became a habit for them, sitting together at night and playing the piano when the nightmares were a bit too close.

At first, they didn't really talk much, Draco just instructed him and helped to develop proper technique.

But at some point, playing piano turned into playing piano together for a while, then sitting on the sofa and playing chess.

Which turned into playing the piano and then just sitting on the sofa and talking.

And by the time Harry realized what was happening, he was already in love with Draco Malfoy.

One night, in late March, when all of the feelings that he kept bound up were banging against his chest to get free, Harry asked, "If you could have one thing, what would it be?"

"Define thing," Draco said as he tucked his cold feet under Harry's thigh and Harry let him because he would accept intimacy in any form with Draco.

"Like if you could have one wish granted," he said, "What would you wish for."

Draco hummed, "For someone to love me," he said after a moment. "I just want someone who wants to walk through life with me," he added. "I'm not an easy person to love and my past has made it harder-"

"I think you're an easy person to love," he blurted.

"Right," he said, rolling his eyes. "Because you've been like programmed to love people. All of that trauma and emotional manipulation-"

"Right," Harry interrupted because the words stung and he didn't really want to hear more about all of the ways that he was broken inside.

"Harry-"

"No, it's fine," he said, shaking his head and warding off whatever words of pity might be coming next. "It's fine. You're right."

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't-"

"It's fine, Draco," he repeated. "Just," he shook his head, "Forget I said anything."

He was quiet for a moment, picking at his cuticles the way he did when his anxiety got to be too much. "What would you say?" he asked. "What's the wish you'd want granted?"

He shrugged, "The same thing."

"But-"

Harry stood up, "I'm tired," he said, "It's making me weird," he raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm just going to go to bed-"

"Harry," Draco said, reaching out for him and clasping his hand.

And something broke inside of him, "Don't," he said, snatching his hand away.

The other boy held up his hands in surrender, "What is the matter with you tonight?"

"Nothing!" he said, turning away again and heading toward the door that led to the boys dorm room.

"Why do you always do this?" Draco asked, the bitterness and hurt in his voice made Harry's heart trip painfully in his chest.

He spun around, "Do what?"

"Dangle friendship over my head and snatch it away!" he shouted. "It's like you realize that you're getting too close so you back out. And it's exhausting."

He shook his head, "Probably all of that trauma," he spat. "I'm just too messed up and broken."

"I didn't say that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah you did," he said, turning around and heading toward the stairs.

"What happened to you?" Draco asked. "You're supposed to be the brave one aren't you? You could walk straight to your death but you walk away from a simple conversation."

He turned around, "What happened to me?" he asked incredulously. "I fucking died. That's what happened to me."

Draco froze as though he wasn't expecting that answer.

"So, yeah, I feel like I'm entitled to being a little fucked up about that. I feel like I'm entitled to walk away from things that make me wish I'd just stayed dead!"

Draco cracked. He saw the moment when he broke the other boy to pieces and it broke him too.

"Not you," he said quickly, trying to clarify, trying to fix the mess he'd made. "Draco, I didn't mean you."

But it was too late, and Harry wasn't sure what he could say that would fix it. Draco swiped at the tear on his cheek and circled his arm around his waist, looking anywhere but at Harry. "You should go."

"I didn't-"

"Please," he whispered, voice raw, lower lip trembling. "Just go."

He didn't know what else to do, and the thought of staying and trying to fix everything was so overwhelming that he just turned and fled back up the stairs to the room. Harry crawled into bed, cast a muffliato, and he let himself cry until he fell asleep.

---------------

He didn't see Draco at all the next day in their classes or at meal times, and then he sat and waited at the piano bench for two hours before letting himself believe what he knew to be true, Draco wasn't coming.

So he did the only thing that he could do, he snuck into the dorm room and pulled out the Marauder's Map and searched for Draco. He shouldn't have been surprised when he found his name in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, but he really wished he was somewhere else.

Harry slipped on his cloak, even though he knew he wasn't going to get into trouble if someone caught him out past hours, and made his way to Myrtle's bathroom. Before the door had even closed, before he'd said a word or even managed to take his cloak off after entering, he heard Draco sigh.

"You shouldn't have come, Potter."

He took off the cloak and stared at Draco where he was sitting against the sink. He opened his mouth to say something, to apologize but all that came out was, "I love you." Like it was the only thing he knew. And at this point, maybe it was.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, his face that careful blank canvas that it was when he was thinking and feeling too many things at once.

And again, Harry opened his mouth to reply but, "I love you," came out again. Simple. Honest. And somehow, Harry didn't panic; he didn't feel like the world was about to end. On the contrary, he actually felt like everything that had been whipping around in his mind and in his heart just stopped.

"Explain."

He laughed, a soft huff of a chuckle as he sat down on the floor in front of Draco. "I can't," he confessed. "I just love you. I love your wit and your dark sense of humor. I love the way that strand of hair," he said, pointing at the one he was talking about, "falls into your eyes. I love your long, delicate fingers. I love watching you play the piano. I love talking to you. I love that you challenge me and push me. I love that you don't see me as the savior of the world, that I'm just a person. I love your cleverness. I love that you're always cold and that you're such a tactile person. I-"

But what he was about to say was interrupted as Draco lunged forward and kissed him, his cold fingers grasping Harry's neck.

"I hate you," Draco said, when they broke the kiss to gasp in a few deep breaths. "It shouldn't be possible for one person to make me feel such a wide range of emotions in such a short span of time."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, pressing his forehead to Draco's. "I shouldn't have said that yesterday," he murmured.

"I'm sorry, too," Draco murmured. "I shouldn't have kept pushing you. And I shouldn't have taken out my fear of being alone on you."

"Forgiven," he whispered, catching the hem of Draco's shirt in his fist and holding on. "Can you forgive me?"

The other boy nodded and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "No more running, okay?"

He nodded in agreement, "No more running. Not from you," he promised.

And it was a promise he kept until the day he died.

--------------

Day 155: Bubbles | Day 157: Sectumsempra

[lovelivingmydreams]

Green-eyed jealousy

Happy birthday Virgil! I love and appreciate you. So I decided to get this posted today! Have a good one! Oh and everyone who might read this: enjoy!

Also IMPORTANT! What do you think the fandom would name Virgil's Vine character? Like how we named Remy? I need to know!

Part 1: Something there

Part 2: The Prince's enemy

“A bit on jealousy would be good,” Virgil muttered in agreement as he looked through the fridge for a snack. It was late. Janus, Logan and Patton were asleep. And if Remus wasn’t sleeping, then he’d be in his part of the imagination. So Virgil felt safe being himself in the commons.

It’d been a month since the introduction of his character, and Princey had decided it was time for an encore.

When they made a vine starring the Prince and Valerie as a fair maiden earlier that week they discovered that amongst the lovely notes were careful pleas to bring the nemesis back.

“What kind of Jealous though?” Virgil wondered as he spotted some leftover pizza.

“What do you mean?” Roman asked as he leaned against the kitchen counter next to him.

“Well is it, ‘Are you cheating on me?’ Jealously, or ‘Hands of he’s mine!’ jealousy?” Virgil clarified as he got up and showed Roman the pizza, silently asking if he wanted some.

Roman nodded as he thought about the question.

“Well, I love the drama in the first scenario. But there is something protective about the latter that is just hard to resist,” he mused.

Virgil nodded thoughtfully as he reheated the pizza.

“Well, we could try out both. See what works?” he suggested.

Roman smiled. Anxiety had a hard time suggesting activities to do together, but he tried anyway.

“Excellent idea!” he exclaimed, not missing the small smile on Anxiety’s lips.

The pizza was set on the table and both sides took a slice. They brainstormed ideas and in the end they had a few scenario’s they wanted to try out.

“So I have a different villain at my mercy when you come in,” Roman sets the scene.

Virgil nodded and took a deep breath, getting into character. The previous scene he’d played the ‘am I not enough?’ angle. This time, Roman wanted to go more for betrayal.

“What the frick do you think you are doing?” he demanded as he charged at the prince.

Roman looked up shocked before being yanked by the sash.

Virgil looked down at the floor where the villain was supposed to be. “Stay out of this!”

Then he looked back at Roman. “Are my feelings a joke to you?” he demanded.

“I…” Roman started, almost actually afraid of Anxiety. But he’d seen him tear up during Lillo and Stitch only days ago, and remembering that helped keeping him grounded.

Roman got a lot more respect for Virgil and Virgil for Roman. They agreed to never let it get that bad again though.

“What is going on here?!”

Virgil let go of Roman and jumped back at once. It was no longer safe in the kitchen. He was caught. This was it. The end for him. Either they'd all find out now or they would ban him from the upper conscious forever cause they believed he really was going to harm Roman.

Roman, knowing that Anxiety was probably panicking and that he couldn't address that right now, turned around to face their company surprised. It was Patton and he looked rather frightened.

Roman smiled brilliantly at the fatherly side, stepping forward and to the side to shield his friend, giving him the chance to gather his bearings before having to face Patton directly.

“Padre! What brings you down here at…” He glanced at the clock. “Two in the morning?” he asked.

Patton looked him up and down confused. “I heard shouting and came to see what was going on… Are you two alright? What were you doing?” Patton asked worriedly.

Roman chuckled, a little nervously. He wasn’t sure what he could tell Patton without breaking his promise to Anxiety. The scene Patton walked in on must’ve looked quite worrisome. How to convince him that it was all in good fun?

“Princey wanted to pitch some ideas, and since I was already up, I was the lucky guy who got to listen to his rant. We were trying some stuff out,” Virgil drawled tiredly as he stepped around Roman, his guard back in place.

Roman relaxed, relieved Anxiety had taken charge. Then he turned to him with a haughty/teasing expression, crossing his arms and cocking his brow. “Oh, please! You liked it! Don’t even try to deny it,” he scoffed.

Anxiety rolled his eyes. “Whatever. This won’t work for a vine anyway. It’s too much trouble to have the Prince and the Nemesis interact like that. It’ll be too much work, he’ll get tired of it before we get past the planning stage,” he pointed out. “I’m going to bed,” he announced.

Roman was slightly disappointed. They always had to cut their bonding time short because of stuff like this.

“Okay, goodnight kiddo,” Patton smiled tentatively.

“Night,” Anxiety huffed before disappearing up the stairs.

Roman stretched. “Well, I should get some sleep as well,” he allowed before setting the dishes in the dishwasher.

“How did you get him to do that?” Patton wondered. Roman shot up confused.

“Do what?” he asked.

“Talk with you. He doesn’t… you two don’t like each other. Right?” Patton was playing with the hem of his pj’s nervously not quite meeting Roman’s eyes.

Roman just chuckled carelessly as he explained himself, though he skipped around addressing his and Anxiety's less than friendly past dynamic. “Well, you know me. Once I get something in my head…” he shrugged. “He must’ve realized resistance was futile. And the chance to threaten me without any consequences must’ve been inviting.” He patted Patton on the shoulder in passing.

“Sorry for waking you up padre. It won’t happen again.” And Roman meant it. He just had an excellent idea.

Virgil had just settled back into his bed when there was a quick, light knock on his door.

Patton probably wanted to berate him. He probably didn’t believe he’d done nothing wrong and was going to tell him off for whatever he thought he had been doing to Princey.

Well, better get it over with. Waiting would only make it worse.

Virgil got up and opened the door, only to find Roman rushing past him.

“Wha… Princey!” he whisper yelled as he closed the door. “You know you can’t be in here!”

Two weeks ago, Roman had had the splendid idea to spent as long as he could in Virgil’s room to understand him better. Of course the cautious side hadn’t been a fan of the idea but Roman was adamant and had made the excellent point that as long as Virgil was in the room with him, he could kick him out whenever necessary.

“I won't be long, forlorn  ranger,” Roman assured him grandly, smiling from ear to ear his eyes sparkling. It made Virgil hold off on kicking him out. This was unstained, genuine excitement. By now Virgil knew Roman’s tells and right now he wasn't showing any. And anything that got Roman like this was worth at least listening to.

“Spare me your excuses, sir underarm stink! I’ll show you what a real villain is!” he growled as he raised his hand as if readying a spell.

Roman made a flourish with his hand and showed Virgil an elegant silver key.

Oops the story you seek is in another post. Find part 2 here

@selenechris

[thatrandomcatoverthere]

She devil part 4

Summary: Tony and Bruce look deeper into the effects and power the she devil has. Y/n also starts going stir crazy during her recovery making a very unlikely friend. Bucky experiences jealousy and doesn’t know how to handle it. 

Blood. So much blood. My first kill that wasn’t from a sniper rifle. I froze up, it was quick of course I never wanted anyone to suffer. Seeing the damage up close was different though, she actually saw the life leave the man laying in front of her. Maybe that was the problem, she didn’t see him as a body but as a man. A father possibly, a son of some old woman. That was the day she vowed she would never kill up close without more research. Without making sure she knew the person had truly done wrong. To know for a fact it wasn’t a person but instead a monster.  

I could hear a monitor beeping beside me in sync with my heartbeat. The lights were bright as I opened my eyes slowly, attempting to regain my senses. Carefully sitting up, even as painful as it was, i took notice of my surroundings. 

The medical room. The memories came flooding back. Rushing out of the building with Steve and Bucky. Taking out guards left and right. The sound of a gun, the bullet piercing my shoulder. Then everything went black. 

Then I saw a certain brunette slouched over his chair with his head laying on the bed next to my legs. He was asleep, he looked so peaceful. His bed head covering his face slightly, he looked so calm. The sound of the metal arm whirring and him taking a deep inhale alerted me he woke up. His eyes cracked open and before I knew it he was standing next to me. 

“You're awake! Bruce she’s awake! Do you need anything? Water? Are you hungry?” He suddenly berated me with questions. 

“Buck I'm ok, water does sound nice though please.” I said as Bruce stepped into the room. “Y/n I’m so happy you're awake, How are you feeling?” DR.banner started as he checked my vitals. Bucky left to get some water before rushing back in. 

“I feel like I've been shot a few times, but other than that I'll be ok thank you. Uhm, how long was I out?” I asked and took the glass from the brunette and took a sip. 

“A week.” 

All the water in my mouth was suddenly all over me, “WHAT? A full week?” 

After some explaining from the two, Dr.Banner cleared me to roam the house. With the exception that I absolutely can not work out, go on missions, or leave the house without someone else with me. 

Everyone turned and looked at me when I walked into the common room. This must attention at once made me nervous as I gave a little side wave and said hey. Nat spoke first after her shock of seeing me and not Bucky, “Y/n/n I didn’t think you’d ever wake up. How’s the shoulder?” 

“Bruce said it should be fully healed soon, maybe another week or two.” Bucky walked in and sat down beside me on the sofa. Sam, Tony, Thor, and Clint all said their hellos and wished me luck on healing and being on house arrest. I was reading a book and listening to everyone talk when Steve walked in and said there was a mission debrief in 20 minutes. 

Before he walked out he spotted me, “Y/n I see you’re up and doing better, well at least awake. It’s good to see you, you don’t need to come to this meeting by the way. Bruce said you’re out of commission until that shoulder heals. Oh. and do not ever scare me and Bucky like that again, I thought we lost you after you went all devil and fainted.” 

“What is he talking about?” I glanced at Bucky. 

“I’ll explain later, let’s just say you were pissed when you got shot. I’ll never be getting in your way when you’re mad.” Then he got up and followed the others out of the room. 

I frowned and tried to continue reading before a certain god of mischief walked into the room. He sat on the recliner across the room, “Hello Loki.” He just hummed a response as he summoned a book. So much for conversation when the others are gone. 

The team left on a mission late that night, Bucky said they'd be gone for at least 3 days. Great, I have to be home alone and bored with the most boring person, god thing ever. How he got the title god of mischief I'll never figure out because he rarely does anything but read. 

The next morning i was laying over the sofa staring at the sofa when Loki walked in. “What’s your deal? Is staring at nothing a form of entertainment on this planet?” He said stopping in the doorframe with a look of confusion. 

“No actually. It’s something I do when I finish my book at the same time as being out on house arrest alone with the person that barely talks to me.” I stated matter of factly. He rolled his eyes at me and I got an idea, “You strike me as the type of person to play chess. Let’s play chess, I'll kick your ass in it.” 

“Oh my goddddddddddd. It’s like you just KNOW what my next move is.” The score is currently 15 to 0. 

“Maybe I do.” I rolled my eyes at him. Damn god. 

“Whatever. I’m going to go put honey in the vents to mess with Clint when he gets back.” This caught the mans attention, “You’re welcome to join me and show me why you of all people got your title.”

We may have gone overboard with the pranks. Loki did anything that was too vigorous for me with my healing shoulder, but now I know what he’s actually capable of. We were chuckling to ourselves putting a flour trap above Steves door when we heard the elevator ding. Shit the came back sooner than we thought. Loki made quick work finishing up the setup. I innocently met up with the team Loki going straight to the common room. 

“Hey Buck! You’re home early!” I gave a false sense of innocence. He gave me a hug carefully, “Yea, it wasn’t nearly as hard as we thought it would be. Hope the god of books didn’t bore you too bad.” 

“Nah I actually convinced him to play chess with me, he beat me more than I'll ever admit.” For a second it almost looked like Bucky got upset. Shrugging it off I said the rest of my hellos before everyone split off to get cleaned up. Cap decided food was more of a priority first, so he went to the kitchen. 

Bucky was the first one to come into the living room, me and Loki were playing chess again. It felt kind of nice to talk to more people on the team. I actually started to feel more accepted. Bucky looked at the board and told me to make a different move than I was going to. As I was making my move, all three of us heard a yell that sounded very close to Steve’s voice. 

Then he walked in, covered from head to toe in flour. He was pissed. “Which one of you did it. Actually I know the answer.” He looked at Loki. 

“Sorry Captain, wrong guess. It was her idea.” He smirked at me. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The mission went faster than usual, which meant I got to see Y/n sooner. 

I didn't expect her to actually befriend Loki during my absence. Not like it bothered me. At all. Totally unbothered. 

I mean I gotta admit it was really funny seeing Steve walk in covered in flour. Then seeing Nat walk in fuming, her red hair was now a dark blue. Y/n lost it in a laughing fit, this was first time I've ever seen her so open. After she hung out with Loki. 

OK maybe I am a little jealous, how could I not be? She hung out with him for two days and suddenly she’s actually laughing and talking more. Over the course of the day multiple other incidents happened. 

First was Steves flour bath. Then Natasha unknowingly dyed her hair, Y/n assured her it was temporary and would wash out easily. Then Tony was called Sugar Daddy by Jarvis and everyone lost it. I found out the salt was replaced with sugar while making food, let’s just say steak seasoned with sugar does not taste good. No one could even do anything yet because she was still healing. 

When everyone thought we found all the “pleasant surprises” around the compound and we were sitting in the common room. Then Y/n gets a phone call from Clint, “Hey Clint, we live in the same house why didn’t you just come into the living room?” 

“Why of all things did you use honey. You could’ve used anything and you chose honey. I thoughts we were friends man, it’s in my hair.” 

Taglist: @capandbuckylvr