#blaise cromwell

[carewyncromwell]

"And when you get there, is it perfect?

And when you get there, is a family waiting for you?

I close my eyes and see them laughing,

Telling jokes, playing games,

All of it true...

How would they feel

If your friend James came along too?"

~"On Your Way Home" from James and the Giant Peach (musical)

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inspired by this headcanon post by @barnabyjr! // fancasting Renan Pacheco as Orion and Diedre Hall as Lane Cromwell

x~x~x~x

Orion Amari was nervous. He would never have admitted it aloud if you'd approached him about it, but anyone who knew him well would be able to tell. Even Orion's daughter Eos, who was a mere toddler in age, had sensed it. She even climbed onto his feet and held onto his legs while he was looking himself over in the closest mirror, blinking her big black eyes up at him in concern and confusion without a word.

When Orion looked down at her, he offered her a smile.

"I must look strange to you, don't I, little Mooncalf?" he asked.

Eos pouted at him. With a chuckle, Orion brought a hand down to patiently pat her head.

"I understand," he said. "I look strange to my own eyes, as well."

Orion hadn't ever worn this shirt and suit jacket before. Even the leather oxfords he only remembered having worn once for a meeting as a Quidditch League representative to the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He had considered going out a second time to pick up a proper tie for the collar, but he decided against it. Wearing a collar alone was uncomfortable for Orion, even back at Hogwarts; buttoning it all the way up and putting a tie around it seemed akin to putting a dog collar and leash around his neck. But would wearing it open come across as disrespectful...?

Orion glanced at his reflection again, sighing through a tired smile.

"I'm completely off-balance, my little Mooncalf," he said amusedly.

Eos mirrored his smile with a brighter one of her own. After making sure she was holding onto his legs, Orion waddled across the room like a penguin, prompting Eos to start giggling.

"Ah, but meeting your romantic partner's mother," Orion mused. "The woman who raised her and who by all accounts loves her as dearly as her older brother...the second of whom you most unfortunately did not make a good impression on, when your paths collided...it's hard not to consider all outcomes. However optimistic you would like to be, based on what you've heard of the woman, as well as your Abraxan's own reassurance that she'll love you...when you really know nothing of mothers and only marginally more about parenting through first-hand experience...well, it's akin to a Niffler trying to track down a flower, isn't it? However strong his nose might be and however quickly he might move, he's still woefully unprepared to face the challenge before him."

Eos listened to her father only absently, instead entertaining herself by dangling off of his legs and giggling as he continued to carry her around. Orion finally came to a halt in front of the painted side table by the fireplace, where a potted bundle of purple flowers sat. He reached down to pick Eos up and scoop her into her arms.

"I know we are all our own worst critic, little Mooncalf," the Captain of the Montrose Magpies said with another sigh, "but I must confess, it's hard not to feel like I have a lot to prove. Especially since Carewyn and I have no intention whatsoever to marry or become a 'traditional' family, the way I'm quite sure Carewyn's mother must expect. Would Lane Cromwell be satisfied giving us her blessing, if she knew I never intend to garb her daughter in my name -- to declare Carewyn your new mother? Will she bare her fangs as her son did -- even her own brother did before her -- when I don't have any parents or siblings of my own to offer Carewyn?"

Eos didn't understand all of what Orion said, but the two-and-a-half-year-old girl could still tell he was unhappy. She shook her head, making her short black bob and ladybug barrettes flap around in the movement.

"Daaaad," she whined.

Her mouth twisted into a pout, Eos brought both of her tiny hands up onto her father's bearded face and tried to push the corners of his lips up into a smile. This made Orion bite back a soft chuckle. His face touched by a much more sincere smile, he leaned in and kissed the top of his daughter's head.

"All right, Mooncalf. No more storm clouds. Will you pick up our gift for me?"

He indicated the potted plant on the side table with a nod of his head. Eos beamed as she snatched up the plant, and Orion patted her head with a fond smile.

"Thank you. Now close your eyes and mouth, little one -- cinders and ash don't belong in either place."

With this, Orion carried Eos and the potted plant into the fireplace and took the Floo Network over to the flat of Skye Parkin. The Wigtown Wanderers' Star Chaser had agreed to babysit Eos during Orion's meeting.

~*~

Less than a half-hour later, Carewyn had Side-Along-Apparated with Orion to the remote little cottage belonging to Lane Cromwell. Orion was immediately struck by how quiet the house was -- there were only just enough natural sounds to keep it from being silent, such as a tea kettle whistling and the fire crackling in the fireplace, and no more. Even out the closest window Orion could just barely hear the twittering of a bird in a nearby tree.

A blackcap, by the sound of it, he thought absently.

"Mum?" Carewyn called into the house. "We're here!"

A very soft voice came from the next room. Orion couldn't make out what it had said, but Carewyn turned and smiled at him, clearly having understood it perfectly.

"Come on -- let's sit down and wait."

She steered Orion into the living room. As Orion approached the coach, he became aware of something walking beside him -- when he looked down, he found a ginger cat blinking up at him.

"Mrrow!" the cat chirruped.

"Hello, Tigger," cooed Carewyn. "Hello, pretty kitty..."

She reached down and scratched the cat's neck -- he immediately buckled against her hand, purring loudly.

"Named for the A.A. Milne character, I presume?" asked Orion with a smile.

"Yes," laughed Carewyn as she straightened up. "Mum's best friend Judy has always loved Winnie the Pooh. Mum's and Judy's first cat at Hogwarts was even named Pooh."

Tigger walked beside Carewyn and Orion in turn, rubbing his side up against their legs. Orion bent down and pet the cat too as he slowly settled himself onto the couch, the pot of purple flowers in his lap.

"He is a very sociable feline," he said, his fingers lightly pressed into some pressure points on Tigger's back that made the cat lean into Orion's touch. "He must know that his breed is an omen of good fortune."

"Really?" Carewyn said curiously.

"Indeed. Sailors often kept ginger cats aboard ship, thinking to avoid dangerous storms." Orion smiled at Carewyn wryly. "I must wonder if the good fortune your mother experienced through you made her more susceptible to selecting a cat with similar coloring."

He trailed two fingers through the hair closest to her cheek. Carewyn blushed slightly through her smile, but she played it off by lightly smacking Orion's shoulder and looking away.

"Orion, really. Mum got him because he reminded her of my old cat, from when I was at school. And the only reason I had a ginger cat back then was because Mimi was too shy to come out of hiding when people came to look at her at the Menagerie and I -- "

"Chose the one animal who likely most needed a safe and loving home out of all of them," surmised Orion, smiling fondly. "How very true to you, my Abraxan."

He leaned in to kiss her on the side of the temple. Carewyn was still blushing lightly, but she smiled as Lane finally entered the room, a tea service in hand. Immediately Carewyn leapt to her feet to offer assistance.

"Here, Mum -- let me help you with that -- "

"Don't worry, Winnie," said Lane. "I've got it..."

Her voice was truly as soft as a whispering wind, but it still came across quite warmly. The older woman eased the tray down onto the coffee table, her blue eyes running over Orion still sitting on the couch.

"So you're the famous Orion," she said with a smile. "Winnie's spoken very highly of you."

Orion found himself inclining his head the same way he would before a hippogriff. "That is a compliment unto itself, given how very high my Abraxan's standards are. Not that I mean to demean the trait," he added quickly with a quick glance between Lane and his other half. "I have always esteemed Carewyn's high aspirations. It's merely encouraging to know I could meet them in any capacity."

Carewyn brought a hand down onto Orion's shoulder to show some support. Before she could say anything, though, Lane spoke first, her eyebrows high.

"I see. Well, rest assured, Winnie wouldn't have brought you to see me if she didn't think highly of you. And if I didn't express a lot of curiosity about you myself," she added with a twinkle in her eye.

She turned to Carewyn.

"Winnie sweetheart, I don't suppose you could do me a favor and go get the Necronomicon from the cellar? W for Watkins?"

Carewyn blinked, but nodded all the same. "...All right."

With a quick glance and smile at Orion, she strode purposefully out of the room, toward the back of the house.

"Don't worry, I don't really own the Necronomicon," Lane told Orion with a soft laugh. "It's just an inside joke I first developed with Jacob, when he was young. Winnie knows I mean to look through the papers in my office."

Orion glanced down at Tigger weaving between his legs. "...I see."

Lane sat in the nearby armchair and poured out three cups of tea by hand rather than with her wand.

"Milk or sugar?" she asked.

"Neither. But thank you."

Orion shifted the potted plant over to the seat beside him. Lane handed him one of the cups of tea before adding some milk to hers and taking a sip.

"Jay told me about you too, after you two met," she said lightly.

Orion took a sip of tea himself to try to mask his discomfort. "...Ah. I suppose he...expressed a far less favorable view of me than Carewyn's."

Lane offered Orion a slight smile. "He did. But to be honest, I could tell most of his complaints were flimsy at best. I even told him as much."

Orion blinked in surprise.

"Jay latched onto Winnie almost immediately after she was born," Lane explained. Her voice remained remarkably level and soft, even with how warmly it echoed while talking about her children. "He didn't have any real friends when he was a wee bairn, and having someone around who needed him...someone who understood him in a way no one else could, even while still only a tiny baby...it meant the world to him." She smiled fondly. "And well...I think Jay's grown used to the idea that Carewyn isn't a particularly romantic person and she's perfectly content being on her own. He never met Andre Egwu while they were dating, the way I did. He's never seen Winnie express interest in dating or marrying anyone before. And considering she's been so close to the vest about you...well, I think it took Jay by surprise, seeing how serious you and Winnie were."

Orion bowed his head. His reflection bobbed back and forth in his swirling tea as he put the cup down on the coffee table.

"I never intended us to be any sort of surprise," he said quietly. "But Carewyn and I...both of us...we saw each other merely as friends and once-teammates for such a long time before this, and even when we realized how much our views had truly shifted...neither of us thought a relationship of any sort would be possible, even if the other was similarly interested. There are still many empty spots remaining on the map Carewyn and I have charted out for ourselves, moving forward...ones we've yet to fill in."

Orion's black eyes became a little smaller as he folded his hands in his lap.

"There is a reason...your son has never seen your daughter as being interested in marrying anyone...and that's because she is not. Nor am I. I hold your daughter in the absolute highest regard, and I know I shall never know another like her again in all my life -- truthfully I could imagine no life better than one I could live with her in it." He swallowed. "But Carewyn and I...neither of us are suited to the likes of marriage. I could not bear to ever clip her wings, and to my undying relief, she has baldly refused to clip mine. She has asked me for a committed partnership, and I could wish for nothing less...but I aspire to no wedding bells nor ceremonies discarding our names and independent lives. I do not aim to replace Eos's mother with Carewyn, absent she may be -- nor does Carewyn intend for me to play as any kind of father to her little Jarvey, Erik. I don't believe Erik would want me in such a role either..."

His hands squeezed together anxiously.

"Please, though, do not take this to mean my feelings for Carewyn are lesser," he said tensely. "She is my partner and soulmate, my match in every way, and I love and esteem her more than I can properly express. I just...don't wish to express it by locking us into the shackles of marriage. My Abraxan aims to fly higher and farther than anyone ever has, to places and goals very different from mine, and I can't imagine I would aid her in that if she were chained down with me as dead weight dragging behind her."

Orion hadn't been sure if Lane would blow up or if she'd need to think over what he'd said. To his surprise, however, Lane didn't take long to respond -- within seconds, she'd reached out and rested a hand on top of his folded in his lap.

"Orion, please," she said kindly. "You don't need to defend the magnitude of your feelings to me. Winnie has always tried to put on a brave face, ever since she was small. She didn't tell me anything about her infatuation with Andre until they were already dating, and she likewise didn't tell me they were having any trouble until they'd already broken up. The fact that Winnie didn't tell Jay and me about you until recently is all the more proof to me of just how highly she thinks of you. And after everything you've said, I'd say it's very clear you feel just as strongly for her."

Her blue eyes, identical in shade and shape to Carewyn's, softened.

"I admit, I'd sort of presumed you and Winnie might get married sometime down the road, even if you didn't feel ready now...but if you truly never do feel ready and just want to stay committed to each other without the paperwork saying so...then that's fine. Goodness knows marriage often doesn't last forever anyhow."

Orion felt as though a large weight was slowly coming off his shoulders. He visibly relaxed.

"...Few things do."

He brought his cup of tea back into his interlaced hands and took another sip.

"Thank you, Lane Cromwell," he murmured. "I'm truly grateful for your understanding, on this matter."

"Of course," said Lane. "I'm a bit confused about why you thought I wouldn't be all right with it."

Orion brought a hand up behind his neck uncomfortably. "Perhaps your brother's disdain toward being in a romantic relationship without the thought of marriage was a darker cloud over my thoughts than I wished to admit."

Lane pursed her lips so tightly, she resembled a rather peeved salmon.

"Don't you pay Blaise any mind," she said coldly. "He is an utter luddite in such matters. And far others too, believe me..."

Orion smiled a bit despite himself.

"I admit, Jacob Cromwell's negative reaction toward me may also have worried me somewhat," he confessed. "I didn't take it personally at the time, but...well, from what Carewyn has told me, the three of you were always very close."

"Yes -- but as I said, Jay has always been overly protective of Winnie. Quite frankly I don't think there's anyone in this world Winnie could've brought home that Jay wouldn't have been suspicious of."

"Are you sure you weren't a bit as well?" Orion asked coolly, his lips resting beside the rim of his cup. "I notice Carewyn still hasn't returned with the proper file from your office."

Lane's lips teased up in a very small smile despite herself.

"Perhaps I did accidentally put the file in the wrong folder by accident," she said amusedly, some mischief dancing through her eyes. "But I figured it'd be harder to speak to you candidly, if I didn't coax Winnie out of the room for a bit."

"You could've just asked."

Carewyn had returned, her red lips pursed with slight annoyance as she put the proper file down on the side table next to Lane's armchair. Lane laughed quietly.

"I'm sorry, Winnie -- that was a bit underhanded of me."

She picked up the file and brought it into her lap so she could skim through it. Carewyn sighed irritably through her nose as she came over to sit down on the couch next to Orion -- her partner was all smiles, though, as he leaned in and gave a peck to her cheek.

"Not to fret, little Firecrab," he murmured beside her skin. "It was but a minor prank with no injuries."

"Except perhaps to my pride," sighed Carewyn tiredly. She then looked at her mother. "Are you done interrogating Orion now? What was it that you'd wanted to say that you didn't want me to hear?"

"Nothing in particular, Winnie," Lane said soothingly. "I just wanted to hear Orion's answers on their own. I know you would've wanted to defend him to me, had I challenged him on anything, and I thought it'd be best to hear him for myself."

Orion took Carewyn's hand in one of his and brought them both into his lap. "You are a proper knight in such affairs, my Abraxan. Your mother was well within her rights to want me to speak on my own behalf, in this situation."

Carewyn's lips twitched with displeasure, but she nonetheless begrudgingly accepted this.

"Thank you very kindly for the flowers, by the way," Lane said to Orion, indicating the potted plant at his side. "They're quite lovely."

Orion smiled. "I'm glad you like them. My daughter Eos and I picked specially -- we thought that some heath would bring some lovely color, in the midst of this long winter."

"Ah yes," said Lane, her eyes alight with interest, "heather is a beloved flower in Scotland, is it not? I seem to recall the Druids in particular saw it as a sacred plant."

Orion nodded. "It is considered very lucky...but winter heath in particular is also symbolic of fortitude and independence, given its ability to prosper even in the coldest conditions. ...Much like your daughter," he added a bit more quietly, bowing his head shyly even as he leaned his shoulder beside hers. Carewyn beamed, her face flushed with emotion and pride, as she leaned against him in return. "I had also hoped purple would be a satisfactory color -- I believe Carewyn has said it's your favorite."

Lane's eyes sparkled fondly. "It is. You chose well."

Resting her Watkins file on her lap, she leaned down and fetched out a small package in green-and-white music-note-printed wrapping paper with a green bow on top from the drawer of her side table.

"I set a late Christmas gift aside for you and your daughter," said Lane with a smile as Orion and Carewyn both blinked at her. "Maybe it's a bit late for your tree this year, but maybe next year?"

With another slow blink, Orion took the package from her. He ripped one lone corner so as to trail his finger in a straight line down the side and open up the rest.

Inside was a pair of two painted wooden ornaments shaped like black-and-white-patterned birds.

Orion's heart gave a little flutter of joy. Carewyn's face lit up.

"Magpies!" Carewyn breathed happily. "Oh, Mum, they're so sweet!"

"I thought so too," Lane said with a warm smile at Orion. "I thought they could represent you and your daughter, since one's just a little bit larger than the other. You know what they say...'one for sorrow...'"

"'...Two for joy,'" Orion finished.

Lane nodded. "I'd originally wanted to find you a bird nest, like the one on my tree...but well, all of the nests I found either had multiple eggs, or no eggs at all. And the last thing I wanted was for you to feel like your daughter wasn't included."

Orion looked up at her in surprise. Lane's expression became more serious.

"Winnie told me about how hard you worked to protect Eos during the War," she said softly. "It warmed my heart, hearing of how much you love her...I know Winnie's so proud of how much you love her, too."

Indeed, Carewyn was smiling in unadulterated pride as she gave Orion's hand a squeeze.

"And even if she never becomes a grandchild of mine...I wanted you to know, your daughter is always welcome here -- as are you," said Lane. "And if you and Eos ever don't have anywhere to hang your magpies up...remember they'll always have a spot on my Christmas tree."

Orion's heart felt like it had warmed up beside the fire, same as his body. His face broke out into a very soft smile as he bowed fully to Lane, his black eyes sparkling like a pair of starry skies.

"You truly are a friend of winged horses, Lane Cromwell," he murmured. "Thank you."

[lili863]

Animagus Pt 1

Matteo Riddle x MC AN: Enemies to lovers, Quidditch, banter, eventual smut, conspiracies, dark arts, manipulation, death eaters, Slytherin boys, action, romance, and 18+ material which will be mentioned in caption later in story Masterlist

Wynn Cromwell, a descendant of an ancient and powerful wizarding family, finds herself head-to-head with the infamous Matteo Riddle, son of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and leader of the Slytherin Elite: Lorenzo Berkshire, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini. Thrust into a world of conspiracies, dark arts, and deadly secrets, Wynn fights to reclaim her most prized possession and uncover the truth behind Matteo’s mysterious agenda. But as their rivalry deepens, so does the treacherous dance of consuming hatred, desire, love, and lust. As alliances shift and dark forces close in, each must choose a side—save the wizarding world or destroy it.

"You want me to be a what"? You asked, confused.

"An animagus silly, its the solution to all your problems." Hermoine closed the book she was holding in her hands and proceeded to put it back on the shelves. You and Hermonie were just chatting the library after classes when you started venting about your problems on how to better sneak past into the Slytherin common room.

"Although I hardly think what your doing is the best way to go about this"

"Well what would you do if you were in my place? I tolerated all his bullshit and look where it got me". You crossed your arms "Besides whatever Riddle gets he deserves it"

Hermione let out a resigned sigh. "Matteo Riddle is nothing but an immature boy trapped in a 17-year-old's body. I hardly think he's worth my time."

"Well, he's certainly managed to claim some of mine, and not in a good way. Ever since our paths crossed, he's been slandering my house and making my life a living hell. I even ended up in detention because of him. Detention!"

Hermione shook her head. "But it's not like you just stood by and did nothing."

"That's exactly it! Why should I? Just because I'm a Hufflepuff? They can label me however they want, but I refuse to be a doormat."

Hermione chuckled softly before handing you a book titled 'The Animagus'.

"That's for sure, but in the meantime, becoming an animagus might give you an edge."

You rubbed the bridge of your nose, memories of your ongoing feud with the Slytherin flashing through your mind. "Okay."

Determined, you took the book, knowing you had to sneak into the Slytherin dormitory. After all, he had crossed the line when he had taken something precious from you, and you needed it back.

__________________________________________

Slytherins, among the four houses of Hogwarts, boasted a notorious reputation. They were known for their cunning, slyness and a penchant for mischief. Within Slytherin, there existed an even more infamous group—the clique of wealthy, well-connected individuals, all with ties to the dark arts. Blaise, Enzo, Theo, Draco, and the infamous Matteo Riddle. The bane of your existence.

You couldn't fathom how you became entangled in their world, but it all began with a decision to try out for Quidditch.

Flying came naturally to you, a skill you loved and honed whenever you could. Despite your talent, you never considered trying out until your flying teacher practically signed you up herself. The only incentive? The promise of forty potential house points dangled before you. It was an offer too good to refuse.

So, adorned in your Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform, you ventured to the tryouts, representing your underestimated house.

The house often dismissed as ditzy, wallflowers, and notoriously poor Quidditch players. But you disagreed.

While your house didn't often make it to the finals—those spots were typically dominated by Gryffindor and Slytherin—it wasn't due to lack of talent. Rather, it was the incompetence of your team captain and admittedly their strategies.

In reality, your team boasted several skilled flyers only... it was pretty hard to convince people when convince when the first thing you see walking into the pit was a Hufflepuff nosediving to the ground after getting hit with bluddger.

"Oh bloody hell..." You muttered. Scanning the field you notice several houses at the tryouts stretching as they were called into the sky by Madam Rolanda.

You set your broom down and tried your raven hair up to a ponytail. It was jsut tryouts, nothing to be scared of. If you didn't make it its fine, it wasnt the end of the world.

Besdies- you took a quick look around

It didnt look like you knew anybodyu here so no one to embarrss yourself in front of.

Taking a deep a breath, you took your gloves and put them on trying to shake your nerves when all of a sudden a voice called out.

"Hey, Hufflepuff." You looked up, following the direction of the voice, and your eyes landed on a group of Slytherins lounging on the benches nearby.

Instantly your heart dropped.

You hadn't noticed their presence before, but it was evident from their scrutinizing gazes that they had been observing you. You recognized those green Quidditch uniform anywhere.

The infamous Matteo Riddle, leaned back agains the bench, a lazy smile on his lips stared you in amusment. You didn't know him quite well but you knew of him. And you also knew how ridiculoly handsome he was.

Brown eyes, curly locks, and a smile adorned on his lips that looked anything but friendly. But you could tell that didn't deter anyone.

"Me?" You pointed to yourself, hoping they weren't singling you out. Matteo raised his eyebrows, as if it were obvious before Blaise chimed in, "Considering you're the only other Hufflepuff brave enough to try out today, yes."

The Slytherins stared at you, their eyes assessing your entire presence, judging you intensely. Of all days, today was when the most talented flyers from the Slytherin Quidditch team had decided to grace the pitch with their presence.

Matteo and his entire bloody gang had shown up for tryouts.

"Don't look so scared Newbie," Matteo chuckled. "They can smell fear, you know." He gestured toward the group of flyers sitting high up in the sky, waiting for their next victim to pounce on.

The tryouts worked in a select group of flyers testing your skills on a broom, racing you, throwing bludgers at you, and seeing how many you could fend off on your own and how far you could go. Coach Rolanda would assess your skills and see if you had what it took.

You licked you lips determined not to seem fazed by their presence "Not scared, just warming up"

"Heard Coach speak very highly of you. Even offered house points just for you to come to the tryouts" Blaise remarked.

You tried to offer a small smile trying to remain humble when he continued "The team must really be desperate for Rolanda to place all her hopes on you"

They probably saw your jaw drop a little because they all started snickering afterward. Matteo huffed out a small laugh at your face before turning his attention back to the flyers.

What a bunch of grade A assholes.

"Maybe she see potential where others dont".

The group went silent after your reply with Matteo turning his head to glance back at you.

God, the intimidation they oozed was no joke.

"I am sure she did, in fact, I see it too. Hufflepuffs are great warm-ups for the season"

The group burst into laughter, as Matteo's smirk widened, a glint of challenge dancing in his eyes.

Okay, you take it back. He wasn't that good locking.

Grabbing your broom you walked closer to the group, stopping right in front of Matteo, with a newfound confidence, mostly anger, but you still had faith in your skills for the words swirling in your mind. You were gonna make him eat dirt today.

"Yeah? Why dont we do a little warmup today Riddle. Considering your last game, it looks like you need it".

Blaise scoffed a laugh nudging Draco with a knowing look.

"Oh?" he shot back, raising an eyebrow. "I take it you're a fan?"

"Fan? Hardly. I'm more of a critic. And I'm not blind to the fact that your team relies on dirty plays and brute force. I haven't seen any real skill in the air"

You watch him sit up, now inches from your face "There's no room for fairness and kumbaya in Quidditch, Princess. Everyone plays dirty."

The word Princess hits you with something, your stomach churning at the way he said it.

"Hufflepuffs don't play dirty," you interjected, your voice tinged with defiance.

Matteo's hands grabbed the loose Velcro clasp hanging around your waist and pulled on it, tugging you closer. You squeaked in surprise as he attached it back, tightening the gear you had been struggling with when you entered the pit.

"And that's why you're just a filler," he said with a smirk. He patted the hard gear on top of your stomach, sending you a few steps back with a self-satisfied smile.

The sting of his words and the embarrassment of his actions shot through like electricity, warming your cheeks, and igniting a fire within.

"Cromwell! You're up!" Coach's voice cut through the tension, yet you didn't flinch. Instead, you closed in on him.

But it seemed Matteo's grin only widened as you approached, even going so far as to lean in closer, thoroughly entertained by your presence.

"Come up in the air with me Riddle, and I'll show you exactly what a filler can do"

Matteo paid no mind to the chaos erupting behind him in response to your words. Instead, his gaze bore into yours, intense and unwavering.

With deliberate movements, he reached for his helmet sitting nearby before rising to his feet, bringing his face dangerously close to yours. Your heart raced as you blinked rapidly, attempting to conceal any hint of emotion, and instinctively took a step back.

Without a word, Matteo kicked up his broom and effortlessly hopped on, soaring towards Madam Rolanda.

You hastily mounted your broom, ascending into the air to await her verdict. As you hovered hundreds of feet above the ground, the adrenaline from your exchange with Matteo began to ebb away. Part of you almost wished that Coach Rolanda might reject his participation.

You watched in intensly when suddenly the team of flyers above began to descend.

Now you were confused. What's happening?

Suddenly, something zipped past you with lightning speed, causing you to gasp and retreat instinctively. It was Draco?

You furrowed your brows wondering why he was in the air when you decided to look back down.

The full blown panic set in when the entire Slytherin team started flying towards you.

Madam Rolanda's thumbs-up and smile from below were barely registered as you locked eyes with Matteo, who had settled at your level in the air.

What did he even say?!

"Damn newbie," Matteo remarked, spreading his hands wide as he gestured to the guys behind him. "You got the whole team together. I'm already impressed."

Your tongue poked the side of your cheek in a silent response.

"Time to check if your bite matches your bark," Matteo remarked, his tone challenging.

Your hands clenched at the handles of your broom, acutely aware that if you lost, it wouldn't just be a blow to your pride; it would be a dent in Hufflepuff's reputation, with little chance of recovery. Or maybe none at all if Rolanda decided she didn't want you on the team.

Suddenly, those 40 points weren't seeming all that worth it.

"Alright, team!" Rolanda's voice boomed across the field. "Get ready!"

Everyone sprang into position, bludgers at the ready.

Your job was clear: avoid getting knocked off your broom by the bludgers and complete five laps across the field without falling. It was evident they weren't going to take it easy on you. But with a deep breath and a steeling of your resolve, you closed your eyes, focusing on the task at hand. You knew what was at stake. You had confidence in your skills, and with a good strategy, the odds were as good as yours. And suddenly, as your eyes opened, you were locked in.

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

You grunted, zipping past Theo, narrowly avoiding the bludger that flew right in front of your face courtesy of Draco.

One of your strengths in flying was your speed, and right now, with your stats, you were arguably one of the fastest flyers in all of the houses. That's why it caught everyone off guard.

Within moments, you had crossed the field, completing your fourth lap without getting knocked off.

"Alright, one more lap to go," you reminded yourself, the adrenaline pumping through your veins as you focused all your concentration on the game. You barely noticed the large crowd gathered below, all watching your performance. Even Rolanda was beaming proudly as she conversed with another professor amidst the commotion.

You observed the boys below, panting and staring you down, some in surprise, others in thinly veiled annoyance. But Matteo looked downright pissed.

You tried to ignore the bruises forming all over your body from the tackles you received from the other guys. It was only thanks to your quick reactions and nimbleness that you didn't get knocked off, either slipping away or coming to a sudden stop on your broom, letting them fly past you.

"Alright, players! LAST LAP!" Rolanda's voice echoed across the field, signaling the final stretch of the challenge.

As the final lap commenced, you pushed your broom to its limits, streaking across the field with lightning speed. Draco and Blaise, determined to thwart your progress, swooped in from both sides, aiming to tackle you off your broom. With reflexes honed from years of flying, you deftly veered to the side, narrowly avoiding their attempts.

But the challenge was far from over. A bludger was sent hurtling through the air by Theo. With a sharp intake of breath, you ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding the speeding projectile as it whizzed past, the rush of air stirring the strands of your hair in its wake.

Behind you, Draco and Theo gave chase, their determination palpable in the air.

Glancing back for just a moment you grinned watching them practically inhale your smoke when you turned your head back around and nearly shrieked in surprise.

Matteo stopped right before you, ready for your impact.

In that split second, you came to a sudden halt, relinquesing all magical energy from your broom which allowed to freefall with your broom, barely avoiding the collision.

Matteo shock was evident as he watched you, your stunt or rather trick as you call catching him off gaurd.

This maneuver demanded far more energy than one might expect. After investing intense focus into maintaining flight, you had to swiftly shift gears in a split second to initiate the fall. This not only avoided collision but also allowed for a sudden return to flight from the descent, requiring a rapid redirection of concentration and control.

But just as you tried to redirect your broom the momentum proved too much to bear, and you felt yourself losing control from the utter fatigue crashing onto you.

You were now flying towards the goal, desperation clinging to every fiber of your being, but you knew. You were not fast enough.

The manuver cost too much energy.

Just as the sight of finsh line was close enough for you believe your were going to cross it, a hand suddenly wrapped around, a force hitting your back sending you flying off your broom with a scream.

You could barely register Matteo plummeting to the ground with you, but one thing was clear.

You lost.

And it was all because of Matteo Fucking Riddle.

The two of you free fell , but just before you hit the ground, Levioso stops you two for moment.

And then you fall on top of him int eh ground with a grunt.

The roar of the crowd's gasps and screams seemed to reverberate in your ears, though it was more the rush of blood and adrenaline coursing through your veins that you felt. Anger quickly began to overtake you, fueled by the intensity of the moment.

As you rose, straddling him, Matteo huffed out a laugh. "That was some damn stunt," he remarked, his attention seemingly elsewhere as he gave a thumbs-up to his companions in the air, chuckling softly.

Without hesitation, you seized his collar, forcing him to meet your gaze, both of you slick with sweat and heated from the encounter. "Did you seriously just do that?! You could have easily pushed me off the broom, but you chose to bring me down with you!"

Matteo's scoffs "It's called Quidditch, Princess. Better get used to it."

"Yeah, well, next time you pull shit like that, do me a favor and keep your hands to yourself and just freefall alone."

"Says the one straddling and manhandling me."

"Fuck you, Riddle," you spat, releasing him and flinging yourself backwards onto the ground.

Matteo simply frowned as he picked himself up, seemingly unfazed by your outburst.

"Are you-?!" you began, only to be cut off by the approach of Rolanda, still acutely aware of Matteo's eyes on you.

"Madam Rolanda-"

"That was the finest display of flying I've seen in my years, kid," Rolanda interjected, her tone filled with admiration. "Never before have I witnessed a stunt executed with such finesse. Though there are certainly areas for improvement, your performance was nothing short of brilliant. And you, Matteo," she continued, turning her attention to him, "what's your take on this?"

You turned towards Matteo, huffing for breath, just waiting for him shit on you.

Matteo shifted his weight, his gaze lingering on you before he spoke. "I think Hufflepuff finally has some real talent this year."

You felt a blush creeping up your cheeks at the acknowledgment.

"Well, that settles it then! Welcome to Quidditch, kid!"

You eagerly shake Rolanda's hand, but your eyes remain locked on Riddle's back as he joins the other guys.

Something told you this, whatever it was between you and Riddle, wasn't over.

Just as you were about to leave, Matteo suddenly looked back catching your eyes, a menacing glare as if he didn't just praise your skills 2 seconds ago.

Yup, definitely not over.

[carewyncromwell]

LMAO, I’m glad I already decided to divorce Carewyn’s lore from game canon after the formation of the Circle of Khanna -- there is no way I could make this guy canon for Carewyn, considering that A, her father Evan was a Muggle who walked out on his family, and B, neither Evan Bach nor Carewyn’s grandfather Charles Cromwell (who is the head of R in my canon, for the record) would ever dress like that. 😂 Maybe I could draw a similar outfit for uncle Blaise Cromwell at some point? Though likewise with some tweaks...

you're telling me this is mc and jacob's dad-

istg if this man is 'R' i can go shit myself

[hogibebeleri]

eski model listesi

bunu temizleyip yürürüz diycektim ama çok varmış o yüzden eski ünlülere isimlere bakmak için buraya bırakıyom kalsın sdfojdsoğjısıdjğods

ay daraltçam bu ne aq

- A -

Aaron Johnson - Leo Constantine

Aaron Tveit - Ezekiel Wymond

Abbey Lee Kershaw - S

Adam Brody - Cedric P. Powell

Adelaide Kane - Alana Windsor

Aidan Turner - Blaise Lynch

Alicia Vikander - Lily Marzia Lewis

Alona Tal - Claire Jenkins

Alycia Debnam Carey - Faith Franchot

Amber Heard - Edith Mori de Oliveira & Aureola Diana

Amy Poehler - Apple Corin

Ana de Armas - Riley Polanco

AnnaSophia Robb - Olivia Maeve

Andrew Garfield - Christen Austen

Andrew Lincoln - Desmond

Andy Samberg - Milo Dexter

Anna Christine Speckhart - Maria Sparrow

Anna Kendrick - June Lynwood

Ansel Elgort - Landon Scotty

Armie Hammer - Nikolai Fedosov

Ash Stymest - Wilford Grayson

Ashley Benson - Lexie Mallaith

Astrid Berges-Frisbey - Anthea Harrison

Aubrey Plaza - Zoya Everdene

- B -

Barbara Palvin - Annie Lancaster

Bella Heathcote - Fern Weinberg

Bill Skarsgård - Hermes Wolfhart

Boyd Holbrook - Hugo Montague

Bradley Cooper - Adonis Dard

Brett Dalton - Aldous Riordan

Brian J. Smith - Ä°.

Brit Marling - Euria Madlyn

- C -

Candice Accola - Evanora Eckhart

Carey Mulligan - Ophelia Delfino

Charlie Cox - Darcy Hemingway

Charlie Weber - Wardell Jon

Chloe Bennett - Miroslawa Waljewski

Chris Pine - Azure Welkin

Chris Pratt - Dux Stanton

Chris Wood - Atlas

Christian Bale - Mars Brant

Christian Cooke - Conor Lynton

Chyler Leigh - Cassandra Evans

Claire Holt - Karyna Gwen

Clark Gregg - Christopher Hart

Courtney Eaton - Night Haven

- D -

Daisy Ridley - Monica Myles

Dakota Johnson - Barbie Riley

Dan Stevens - Damien Delacroix

Daniel Radcliffe - Michael Genim

Daniel Sharman - Clementine Quinton

Danielle Campbell - Calista Apostolou

David Tennant - Hunter Chandra

Dianna Agron - Isis Chamberlain

Domhnall Gleeson - Jules E. Lincoln

Dominic Cooper - Quentin J. Lloyd

Dominic Sherwood - Dimitri Wolf

Douglas Booth - Vasco Delacour

Dylan O''brien - Nathaniel Hawkins

Dylan Sprayberry -Ove Stanford

- E -

Eddie Redmayne - S

Ebba Zingmark - Eloine Heaven

Eiza Gonzalez - Veronika Boleslava

Eleanor Tomlinson - Calleigh Gardenar

Elizabeth Debicki - Pippa Voughan

Elizabeth Henstridge - Gwendoline Cler

Elizabeth Olsen - Corinne Constantine

Eleanor Tomlinson - Calleigh Gardenar

Ella Purnell - Dolu

Elle Fanning - Rosie Van Laren

Ellen Page - Lydia Carrington

Elodie Yung - S

Emeraude Toubia - Elena Dimitriou

Emma Stone - Alexandra Zaleski

Emilia Clarke - Maya Davenport

Emilie De Ravin - Astrid Blanche

Emily Bett Rickards - Ocean Highmore

Emily Blunt - Lilla Arverne

Emily Browning - Ava Marlowe

Emily Deschanel - Hannah Montiel

Emily Didonato - Vera Isabel

Emmy Rossum - Vivian Gardner

Emily Rudd - Antje Griet

Erin Richards - Glory Constance

Eva Green - Verena Gray

Evan Peters - Viktor Chekov

Evangeline Lilly - Blue Marchand

Ewan McGregor - Acse Lemoine

Ezra Miller - Eugene Irwin

- F -

Felicity Jones - Macey Raphaelle

Felix Kjellberg - Silvestre César

Finn Jones - Buster

Freya Mavor - Olivia Fitzgerald

- G -

Gabriel Luna - José Espina

Gaia Weiss - Freya Kjellfrid

Gal Gadot - Cerys Ryan

Garrett Hedlund - Vitto Carlevaro

Gemma Arterton - Sabetha Belrossa

Georgina Haig - Calypso

Gigi Hadid - Mitchie Finnegan

Gina Rodriguez - Ida Castillo

Grace Phipps - Mia Kayleigh

Gustaf Skarsgård - Vincent Valente

- H -

Haley Bennett - Graciela de la Fuente

Hannah Simone - S

Harry Lloyd - Valentin Veaceslav

Hayden Christensen - Kristoff E. Petrov

Hayden Panettiere - Skyla Chavira

Hayley Atwell - Carmela di Chimici

Henry Cavill -Â Chester Norton

Hunter Parrish - Francis Rousseau

Hwang Jung Eum - Hana Godfrey

Ian De Caestecker - J.C. Murphy

Isabel Lucas - Helen Ambrosia

- J -

Jack O''Connell - Roy Whesker

Jai Courtney - Téo Teixeira

Jake Johson - Tony Thompson

James Franco - N/ash Carrington

James McAvoy - Sebastian Van Laren

Jamie Chung - Irene Weitz

Jane Levy -Â Elsie Rodgers

Jasmine Sanders -Â Liesje Lijsbeth

Jason Statham - Rafael Romero

Jay Baruchel - Cal J.W. Fox

Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Zed O''Callaghan

Jenna-Louise Coleman - Cecilia D. Chandler

Jennifer Morrison - Penny Black

Jensen Ackles - Florian W. Hoffman

Jeon Jeongguk - Jeon Jeongguk

Jeremy Renner - Dorian Dixon

Jesse Soffer - Grover Alen

Jessica De Gouw - Vera Guthrie

Ji Sung - Yong Jae Sun

JoAnna Garcia Swisher - Pacifica

Joe Gilgun - Desmond Gallagher

Johanna Braddy - Reva Keegan

John Krasinski - Jesse Wescott

Jon Kortajarena - Aaron Anderson

Josefine Frida Pettersen - Dolu

Jude Law - Andrei Pavlov

Julian Morris - Wesley Franklin

Julianne Hough - Madelyn Weaver

- K -

Karen Fukuhara - Yuki Nakashima

Karen Gillan - Emma Fray (<33)

Kate Mara - Tuesday Beckett

Kate Mckinnon - Myrna Morgenstern

Katherine McNamara - Norene Harland

Kaya Scodelario - Quinn Jenae

Keira Knightley - Mystral Roux

Kevin Zegers - Damon Wallner

Kit Harington - Joel Paxton

Kristen Bell - Vivien Rouge

Krysten Ritter - Iris Thorne

- L-

Lauren Cohan - Wonder B.

Leighton Meester - Anastacia Bouvier

Leonardo diCaprio - Jerry Arlexa

Lily Collins - Frankie Chandra

Lily James - Anaïs V. Grimaldi

Lindy Booth - Camilla Weitz

Lindsey Morgan - Zenobia

Lizzy Caplan - Ramona Fade

Logan Lerman -Â Harley Langley

Luana Perez - Elizabeth Burton

Lucy Hale -Â Sheri Payne

Lyndsy Fonseca - Daisy de la Vina

- M -

Mads Mikkelsen - Ä°

Maeve Dermody - Athena Zoega

Maia Mitchell -Â Lynda Stine

Margot Robbie - Josie Lesniewski

Maria Valverde - Valerija Roque

Marie Avgeropoulos - Ljubica Solvej

Marion Cotillard - Marika Lamora

Martin Wallström - Fabio Chepe

Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Amelie Steiner

Matt Hitt - Douglas Roswell

Matt McGorry - Corbin Renwick

Matthew Daddario - Diego Mendoza

Matthew Gray Gubler - Patrick Descoteaux

Max Irons - Marc Janko

Max Riemelt - Ziggy Hildebrand

Melanie Martinez - D

Melissa Benoist - Charlotte Evans

Melissa Fumero - Catherine Winters

Michael Fassbender - Franco Locatelli

Miguel Ángel Silvestre - Rico A. Moreno

Min Yoongi - Min Yoongi

Morena Baccarin - Tulip Talitha

- N -

Natalie Dormer - Gem Julep

Nick Blood - Isaac Wyatt

Nick Offerman - Alfred Castillo

Nico Mirallegro - Jack Daniels

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Theos Volantis

Nina Dobrev - Emmaline Winslow

Norman Reedus - Harley Harford

Noomi Rapace - Yulia Utkin

- O/Ö -

Olesya Rulin - Ceku Balım

Olga Kurylenko - Zelda Croft

Olivia Holt -Â Rylee Cantrell

Oscar Isaac - Aldo C. Ferreiro

- Q -

- P -

Paul Rudd - Marco Polo

Paula Patton - Winter Willford

Penelope Mitchell -Â Caitlyn Weatherly

- R -

Rachel McAdams - NavoÅŸ Lancaster

Rashida Jones - Jean Cardellini

Rebel Wilson -Â Lauren Dwyer

Reeve Carney - Dylan Breckendridge

Richard Madden - Tristan Windsor

Rinko Kikuchi - S

Rosario Dawson - Eve Blanchett

Rosamund Pike - Daniela Carlevaro

Rose McIver - Skyler Freestone

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - Leona Lane

Ruth Negga - Lara Tailler

- S -

Sabrina Carpenter - Louise Linn

Sam Claflin - Mathias Clayton

Sarah Gadon - Nina Buchvarov

Sarah Hyland - Marceline Apostolou

Sebastian Stan - Maximillian di Chimici

Seychelle Gabriel - Leila Beaumont

Scarlett Johansson - Diamontina Dixon

Shailene Woodley - Joy Cappella

Shantel Vansanten - D

Shelley Hennig - Nora Simmons

Sophia Bush - D

Sophie Cookson - Rain Gisbourne

Summer Glau - Rhea Crisanta

- T -

Taron Egerton - Caleb Lysander

Tatiana Maslany - Margo Wiggins & Felicia Makovecz

Taylor Marie Hill - Milla Alexander

Taylor Swift - Melanie Phoenix

Teresa Palmer - Dora Desjardins

Theo James - Keiro Padmore

Tom Ellis - Hector A. Whittemore

Tom Felton - Alpha Rigorous

Tom Hardy - Dito Delfino

Tom Hiddleston - Newton F. Windsor

Tom Holland - Flynn Holdsworth

Tom Mison - Armitage Cromwell

Toni Garrn - Audrey Tyler

Torrey Devitto - D

Travis Fimmel - Forrest Dickson

Tuppence Middleton - Mia Santiago

- U/Ü -

- V -

Victoria Justice - Lotus van Boven & Selo

- X -

Xavier Samuel -Â August FridtjofÂ

- W -

Will Smith - Dante di Mercurio

Willa Holland - Ethea Middlesworth

- Y -

- Z -

Zendaya - Izzy McGowan

Zoe Kazan - D

Zoë Kravitz - Thalia Hardy

Zoe Saldana - Kiara Kingsley

Zooey Deschanel - Hailey Montiel

Zoey Deutch - Myra Blackbourne

[ao3feed-dramione]

On the Wing

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2xtFvGT

by saltpehg

Modern, Royal Navy AU. Hermione Granger, self-proclaimed started-from-the-bottom-now-I'm-here self-starter, moves from the enlisted ranks into the British Military Officer world as a promising young flight student. But as she navigates the rigorous demands of learning how to fly top military aircraft for the Royal Navy, juggling her social demands, finding a decent place to study in peace, and confronting her secret fear of heights, she must come to terms with her strange hot-cold relationship with one seriously obnoxious, infuriating, line-blurring, pretentious, pointy-ferret top-Naval aviator, Draco Malfoy.

Who just so happens to be her On-Wing instructor at RFC Cromwell.

"Fook me."

Words: 4087, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - Fandom

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini

Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2xtFvGT

[beanie-beebo-writes]

It follows

Series Summary: Reader is running from financial problems and his/her studies, will they catch up with him/her? Charlie's close friends (none other than Sam and Dean) go to check up on the reader due to Charlie becoming worried for him/her. Trouble pursues, as the reader wants to keep silent about his/her struggles.

Warnings: Brief description of vomit

Masterlist

Chapter 10

"You were talking to him on the phone while I was in the shower, weren't you?" Sam asked.

"Maybe.." You replied with a slight grimace.

Sam's well known puppy-dog look almost drew you in.

"You didn't have to lie to me (Y/n), it's alright."

You shrugged, not really wanting to get into detail about your doubts.

Thankfully, no one seemed to press on, so you all ate in silence. It wasn't awkward, yet there was still some tension felt in the air. Maybe they were too worn out from the drive to insist anything too greatly. You didn't really know, but you accepted it with open arms.

It was only a few moments later that you completely licked your entire foam plate clean. You hadn't had a decent meal like this in what seemed like forever, and you couldn't have been more grateful. You looked up to the boys' mirroring surprise.

"You gonna eat the plate too?" Dean chuckled.

You quickly pulled your tongue back in and turned a deep shade of red. "No.."

"We can get you something else if you're really that hungry, do you want anything?" Sam asked.

You were about to say no when your stomach grumbled in protest; as if you didn't feel like a burden enough.

"That just means I'm digesting, I'm good." You lied, again.

Sam looked at you in disbelief. "Are you sure, (Y/N)?"

You nodded before you had a chance to change your mind. "Yeah. Hey, are we doing more research on the case? Or are we going to check out the vics first?"

The brothers luckily took the bait. "We'll check them out first, just to give us some more concrete evidence on what we're dealing with. Gotta be thorough." Dean replied with a wink; his mouth stuffed with the last of a burger.

That was odd, Dean always seemed to jump to conclusions... At least from what you read. Maybe the books were different after all.

"I'll call the coroner to see if they'll take us earlier." Sam said, whipping out his phone.

"And if we can't get ahold of them," Dean made his way over to his duffle bag. "we'll head to the victims' loved ones, since we're headed there eventually."

Out of the large aged duffle came a suit neatly folded in plastic, which Dean seemed to be a little too cautious with (at least compared to his own clothes). He also pulled out a long navy tie for himself, along with a snazzy pair of shoes; which were still in a cardboard box. It then clicked that he and Sam rented their suits, and did not possess enough money to own one. Then it dawned you, that neither did you.

How had you not thought of attire for the case? Oh yeah, flashbacks. You shook your head to clear the memories that threatened to take control once again, and pondered deeply for a solution. There had to be something in your suitcase, right?

You instantly bolted to your luggage and dug for anything remotely businessesque. You were disappointed to remember that you left a lot of your clothes back at the dorm, figuring that traveling light would be best. But you didn't think you were going hunting with the Winchesters, so you didn't think to pack hunting essentials almost a year ago. After digging for a few minutes, you came across one of your dress shirts and a decent pair of slacks.

"Dean?" You asked a little timidly.

"Yeah?"

"Would this pass for an FBI agent?" You asked, holding up your outfit.

He paused from laying his suit out on the bed and gave your outfit a quick once-over.

"I think we could pass you as an agent-in-training at least." He remarked.

Sam walked over between you and Dean, explaining that the coroner would take you all within the next hour. Surprisingly, you weren't as far as you thought, as the three of you were situated on the outskirts of the city where the incidents all occurred; Kokomo, Indiana. With an acceptable amount of traffic on the road, it would take around forty minutes to an hour to get to the coroner's office.

"We better head out in a few then, if we want to get there in time." Dean replied.

Sam nodded. "You have something to wear (Y/N)?"

You held up the outfit Dean approved of, causing Sam to bite the inside of his cheek.

"We can always say she is an agent in training." Dean reassured.

"True.." Sam looked at the outfit once more and nodded. "Yeah, we can make it work. Alright, let's get going."

It wasn't until you got in the car that you knew it would be a long day. Your stomach began to rumble noisily again, but it was luckily unheard by everyone but yourself. You just hoped you could hold off at least until supper that evening.

You used water to tide off your hunger curb on the fifty minute drive to the Howard County Coroner Office, figuring that the sight of corpses would only decrease your appetite anyway.

"You ready?" Sam asked as you stepped out of the back seat.

You nodded with a gulp, knowing there certainly would be no turning back after seeing those haunted mangled bodies. Dean gave you a wary look, but you pushed him off mentally with an assuring nod. Although, you couldn't help but look back from the office steps at the world as you knew it.

"Agents, glad you could come earlier!" A stocky balding man beamed, in front of a small receptionist's desk.

"I'm glad you allowed us to, Mr. Seele." Sam replied.

"Is (he/she) a friend of yours?" Mr. Seele inquired.

"Oh, yeah. This is (Mr/Ms) Blaise, (he/she)'s our newest agent in training." Dean said.

Mr. Seele smiled warmly. "Well welcome to you too (Mr/Ms) Blaise!"

"Thank you." You replied as professionally as you possibly could.

He nodded in response. "Well boys, let's get right to it; I have a couple other clients to attend to this afternoon."

"No problem sir, it shouldn't take long." Sam commented.

The three of you were led down a slightly musty corridor. The room you were about to enter was a couple doors down on the right hand side, considering that this was the sole room to have extremely bright fluorescent lights. The boys looked at you one last time before they stepped into the room first. As another reassurance to yourself and to them, you curtly nodded.

The strong smell of chemicals watered your eyes as soon as you stepped foot into the room; the faint smell of multiple different bodily fluids and decomposition only made your stomach turn worse. How could someone even work in a place like this on a daily basis? You tried to focus on some more pleasant situations as the Head Coroner and the brothers discussed the bodies.

"I would definitely call this an animal attack, a weird one if that." Mr. Seele inferred, "You'll see what I mean once I show you the bodies."

Here we go. You tried to prepare yourself for the worst as he slid out seven bodies from their storage compartments; you weren't nearly as prepared. Bile burned the back of your throat as you slowly inched closer to the boys and the stiff shells of life that lay before you. They would have looked as if they were asleep if it were not for the large gaping holes in their chests.

"Do you have their reports on file, doctor?" Sam asked.

"We certainly do." He replied, pulling the coordinating files from multiple clipboards on a long table.

The names of the victims were Brayden Cole, Theodore Cromwell, Zachary Gort, James Page, Wanton Meers, Thomas Gartner, and Kelly Marx; as if that mattered anymore. They were lives of the past, that were currently who knows where. The only thing they all seemed to have in common thus far was the garish chest wound on each of their bodies. They weren't all the same gender nor same race, but of course, that wouldn't matter to a werewolf.

"I would have to agree with you doc, on the animal attack, but we'll still dig deeper anyway. We'll take it from here." Dean said.

"Alright. Just be sure close the door behind you!" The coroner responded.

"I would definitely say a wolf is what we're dealing with, the victims seem to have no relation to one another." Sam concluded as he flipped through the various reports.

You swallowed audibly. "It does look messy enough." You added.

"Now we just gotta find the culprit." Dean said, striding out the door to the morgue.

You were hasty to follow.

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

You greeted the fresh air as if you would've never been outside from that moment on, at least for the rest of the day. It made you wonder if this lifestyle was really for you.

"How are you, kiddo?" Dean asked once you all were outside of the building.

"Um... I mean, I'm hanging in there for now, if that's what you're asking." You falsified.

"Good, because we still have a couple more people to interview, if you're up to it."

You sighed in relief for the distraction. "As long as I don't see more bodies f-"

It was literal word vomit. Contents likely from this afternoon spewed from your mouth onto the concrete steps and you choked. Your head spun, causing you to cling to the railing desperately. Several hands were placed on your back, but your head swam too much to tell who they specifically belonged to.

"Easy, easy!" Dean exclaimed.

Shivers traveled through your body as you finally finished emptying your stomach. You were sure that you would have lost it in the morgue, not around ten minutes later. You suddenly felt better but worse at the same time. So much for playing it cool.

"What the hell." You mumbled.

"(Y/N), hey, you okay?" Sam asked with a frown.

You cleared your throat and spit the remaining bile out from your mouth. "I think so." You answered truthfully.

Sam and Dean sat you down away from the vomit and comforted you for a moment more.

"Do you have any reason that my body decided to wait to freak out over a dead body?" You asked.

"Shock maybe?" Dean replied.

You lightly nodded, considering that they had their fair share of dead bodies to observe and deal with over the years.

"You good to go back to the car? Or are you going to spill your guts all over my leather seats?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm good." You knew the remaining nausea had to be from the lack of food in your system.

[carewyncromwell]

This doesn’t fit all of your qualifications, but if you’re looking for Death Eater names...

Carewyn’s aunt Claire is married to Marek Yaxley, who is the twin brother of Corban Yaxley, a canon Death Eater from the books. The two of them have four children -- Dahlia, Iris, Heather, and Elmer. Although Claire desperately doesn’t want her family involved with the Death Eaters (since she doesn’t want them to fight and die in a war), I do headcanon the Death Eaters pressing the very weak-willed Elmer into service, as well as Marek, who’s a little less weak-willed but just as stupid. Although Elmer himself is really a rather pitiable thing (you can meet him in this ficlet, if you want to see him in action), Marek honestly isn’t -- his name means “war-like,” and being the twin brother of the canon Yaxley, he’s not particularly pleasant. Like the rest of his family, though, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, even compared to his own brother, to the extent that for a long time he sort of defaulted to the Cromwell Clan’s new head, Claire’s brother Blaise Cromwell, for leadership. With Voldemort entering the picture, though, I could see him enjoying having someone else to answer to who’s a bit more aggressive and willing to use force to “get results” -- because yeah, I see Marek being the sort to embrace toxic masculinity. So I could see Marek embracing any tasks Voldemort were to give his family with a certain enthusiasm, and sadly because of how weak-willed Claire and the rest of her family are, as scared as they are, they wouldn’t be assertive or bright enough to fight back against his wishes. (Honestly, if Marek died, it’d probably be for the better for all of them, even if Claire would be devastated and they’d go back to following Blaise’s lead. Blaise may be a possessive blood purist jerk who kind of hovers over his family like a dragon hoards treasure, but at least he’s not a Death Eater.) 

I also wrote some stuff in the past discussing younger siblings for Felix named Boudicca and Emmett Rosier, who become Death Eaters during the Second Wizarding War, after being encouraged by their mother Mara to avenge their father’s memory. 🖤

Random question but does anyone have like a Death Eater oc or family? Preferably actual bad ones that you wouldn’t mind be sent to prison or killed. They would have to be alive during the Second Wizarding War. Bonus if they have a large mansion that could be a DE base with muggleborn prisoners 👀

Basically I need some for my PR fic and I’m too lazy to come up with like half a dozen DE names agdjdhjdd

[sadefenzablog]

LA LEZIONE (POLITICA, RELIGIOSA E MORALE) DEL CORONAVIRUS

LA LEZIONE (POLITICA, RELIGIOSA E MORALE) DEL CORONAVIRUS

LA LEZIONE (POLITICA, RELIGIOSA E MORALE) DEL CORONAVIRUS

Antonio Socci Sa Defenza

La vicenda del coronavirus ci dà diverse lezioni. La prima dovrebbe impararla il regime comunista cinese. Ad impartirla è stato – secoli fa – il grande Blaise Pascal in un suo pensiero sull’estrema fragilità del potere umano che pur si considera onnipotente.

Scriveva Pascal: “Cromwell stava per devastare…

[bookmonsterzero]

January 2018 in Pictures

001. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014/Robert Rodriguez)

002. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom ... (2008/Steven Spielberg)

003. The BFG (2016/Steven Spielberg)

004. Always (1989/Steven Spielberg)

005. Schalcken the Painter (1979/Leslie Megahey) ⪧

006. ® Twin Peaks: The Return (2017/David Lynch)

007. Super (2010/James Gunn)

008. The Magnificent Seven (2016/Antoine Fuqua)

009. The Black Cauldron (1985/Ted Berman, Richard Rich)

010. Robin Redbreast (1970/James MacTaggart) ⪧

011. Her Man (1930/Tay Garnett) ⪧

012. ® The Sting (1973/George Roy Hill)

013. Allied (2016/Robert Zemeckis)

014. The Room (2003/Tommy Wiseau)

015. The Founder (2016/John Lee Hancock)

016. Cloud Atlas (2012/Lilly Wachowski)

017. The Panic in Needle Park (1971/Jerry Schatzberg)

018. Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014/David Lynch)

019. Torrid Zone (1940/William Keighley) 

020. Millie (1931/John Francis Dillon) 

021. The Dance of Life (1929/John Cromwell) ⪧

022. Salt for Svanetia (1930/Mikhail Kalatozov) ⪧

023. Treasure Planet (2002/Ron Clements, John Musker)

024. Brother Bear (2003/Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker)

025. Into the Abyss (2011/Werner Herzog)

026. She’s Gotta Have It (1986/Spike Lee)

027. The Killer Inside Me (2010/Michael Winterbottom)

028. Freaks and Geeks: Season 1 (1999/Paul Feig)

029.The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973/Wojciech Has)

030. Min and Bill (1930/George W. Hill)

031. The Devil Strikes at Night (1957/Robert Siodmak)

032. Orphans of the Storm (1921/D.W. Griffith)

033. The Disaster Artist (2017/James Franco)

034. ® The Jerk (1979/Carl Reiner)

035. Sherlock: Series 1 (2010)

036. Sherlock: Series 2 (2012)

037. Sherlock: Series 3 (2014)

038. Sherlock: Special (2016)

039. Sherlock: Series 4 (2017)

040. The Goddess (1958/John Cromwell)

041. Magic (1978/Richard Attenborough)

042. ® Vertigo (1958/Alfred Hitchcock)

043. Invasion U.S.A. (1985/Joseph Zito)

044. Brubaker (1980/Stuart Rosenberg)

045. Night Watch (2004/Timur Bekmambetov)

046. Day Watch (2006/Timur Bekmambetov)

074. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961/Irwin Allen)

075. Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015/Mark Burton, Richard Starzack)

076. The End of the F***ing World (2018)

077. ® First Person: Season 1 (2000/Errol Morris)

078. Black Adder II (1986)

079. Le souffle (2001/Damien Odoul)

080. A Pact with the Devil (1967/Jozef Zachar)

Best viewing experiences in bold, other recommended ones are linked. ® revisited. ⪧ YouTube.

[carewyncromwell]

Masterpost: HPHM/Haunted Mansion AU (starring Duncan Ashe and Jacob Cromwell)

Summary: In an alternative universe set in upstate New York in the year 2005, New-Orleans-born paranormal investigator Duncan Ashe travels to the sleepy town of Liberty Square to investigate the mysterious "Headless Man" haunting the local graveyards and his murky connection to the abandoned Cromwell Manor. In the process, he's roped into an almost-200-year-old mystery involving murder, possession, and 999 happy haunts, and Duncan must team up with the aforementioned "Headless Man" and a mysterious figure known by Liberty Square as "the Wanderer" to restrain the malevolent presence threatening the Cromwell Manor and its supernatural occupants.

Introducing Our Players

The Family Who Lived (and Died) in the Manor

Barbara Allen

Crossroads

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The Phantom of the Opera

Bring Me to Life

The Manor's New Master

Epilogue: A Scene Covered in Ghostly White Snow

~Additional Materials ~

Art: My Initial Concept for Ghost-Bride!Carewyn

Art: Ghost-Bride!Carewyn, Take Two

Moodboard: Original Story Concept

Moodboard: Duncan, Jacob, Carewyn, and Orion

Moodboard: Bill, Olivia, Rowan, and the Phantom

Art: Our Main Six Players

Aesthetic: The Bride and the Wanderer

Art/Fanfiction: The Ghost Host's Promise

Art: The Phantom and the Beating-Heart Bride

Art: The Bride Pushes Orion Away

Art/Fanfiction: The Wanderer Comes to Grip with His "After-Life"

Art/Fanfiction: The Bride Sings

Art: The Bride and the Headless Man are Reunited

Art (unfinished): I So Need to Try to Redraw This but MAN

Art: Kiss of Death Redux

Art: The Performer and the Bride (featuring additional art by @ag907!)

Fanfiction: A Hotel Scene with Duncan and Jacob

Fanfiction: Duncan, Jacob, and Olivia Visit Sleepy Hollow

~Other People's Content~

Art: The Performer (Gwen Dunmoore) by @ag907

Moodboard: The Arcane Maiden (Alvina Arcane-Zheng) by @oneirataxia-girl

Moodboard: Kumiho (Ywa Hana) by @oneirataxia-girl

Art: The Child Spirit (Sarahi Silvers) by @dat-silvers-girl

Moodboard: The Will O' the Wisp (Kai Williams) by @nightmaresart

Moodboard: The Witte Wieven (Brooke Atkinson) by @nightmaresart

[carewyncromwell]

Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts regarding my MC Carewyn and these developments. I’ll save your dashboards with a cut. XDD

So to start with -- the Head Boy/Girl quest. At the very start of the game, back before the big trauma of year 6 came out, I suspected something was going to happen to Rowan. I can’t act like I knew Rakepick was going to kill them...but as soon as the Prefect quest suggested Rowan wanted to be Head Boy/Girl more than anything, I suspected the game was either going to break our friendship with Rowan or that something was going to incapacitate them. Hogwarts Mystery has always played into the idea of wish fulfillment for the player by giving them the chance to do and visit just about everything they can fit in from the Potterverse, and there was no way MC could ever be Head Boy/Girl if Rowan was still around AND still their friend. That being said, getting the item you first helped Rowan pick at the very beginning of the game as a prize is a really bittersweet touch -- I gotta hand it to Jam City, that’s rather cool. I don’t see Carewyn wearing Rowan’s scarf often in public, but I could see her kind of treating it like Elsa does with her mother’s scarf in Frozen 2, wearing it when she’s sad and needs some time alone. (I also approve of the quest including both my darling Chiara and my precious bird boi Talbott!! Yes!!!)

I also have to give Jam City a hand for FINALLY putting Barnaby in a magical creature quest! About bloody time. Even Merula’s participation in the Unicorn quest would make some sense, given the link to her mother. So yeah, that makes me all the more excited to finally adopt a unicorn, once my level’s high enough!

But okay, to the biggest and most important section -- the year 6 developments.

So. Polyjuice Potion. And we get to turn into Rakepick so we can infiltrate R.

This is going to be absolutely bloody AMAZING for Carewyn, and here’s why:

Carewyn and Rakepick are already foils for each other.

This is accented largely by how similar they look, but it’s much deeper than just appearances. Both Rakepick and Carewyn are highly driven, ambitious, resourceful planners who attract others around them and both inspire and nurture them, but never fully trust them with their true thoughts, motivations, or feelings. And after Rakepick’s betrayal, Carewyn has struggled with that, realizing that everyone trusted, admired, and followed Rakepick for a lot of the same reasons they currently trust, admire, and follow Carewyn. And worse still, to try to keep her friends from getting further involved with R, Carewyn has resorted to lying to her friends about her true motivations, just like Rakepick did. Carewyn never trusted Rakepick -- and, she realizes, that may be because Carewyn could subconsciously sense how similar they are...and Carewyn truly doesn’t trust herself. She doesn’t see herself as worthy of love, admiration, or trust -- and so therefore, Carewyn didn’t see Rakepick as deserving of it either.

By the time this plot turn happens, however, Carewyn will have completed her character arc and started to open herself up to her friends more. She will have come to grips with the fact that she can’t control what might happen, no matter how hard she tries, and that, regardless of her own feelings of inferiority, her friends have deemed her worthy of their love, just as she so long ago deemed them worthy of hers. She’ll realize that she was hurting her friends by shutting them out just as much as Jacob hurt her by shutting her out, and acknowledge that it was a mistake. Carewyn will have realized that for all of her and Rakepick’s similarities, this is their greatest difference -- Carewyn has empathy, which Rakepick herself admitted isn’t one of her strengths. And so Carewyn will have grounded herself in the thought that, even if she is like Rakepick, she won’t act the way she has and she won’t treat others the way she has.

And so when Carewyn takes on Rakepick’s appearance, she’ll be able to play the part well, but be sure enough in herself that the masquerade won’t shake her the way it once might have. And when Carewyn faces Rakepick again, as she inevitably will, she’ll be all the more determined to capture her old professor alive.

“You were right, Patricia -- you and I are very alike. But we’re not so alike that I will treat your life as disposable, like you did Rowan’s. I want you to live a very long, lonely life -- locked up where you can never hurt anyone again, with only your own failure as company. At least there your life can have some worth -- as a reminder. A reminder that there is no glory for people like you.”

This Polyjuice subplot will also -- if Jam City does decide to do that stupid thing and make Jacob the villain -- foreshadow what I’ll do to save my book-smart, people-dumb spaceman from Jam City’s writing. XD

If Jacob becomes the villain in the game, then the Jacob Cromwell we’ll be seeing interacting with Carey in my gameplays will actually be TWO Jacobs -- the real one and an imposter using Polyjuice Potion.

We’ve only seen Jacob Cromwell in my gameplays post-Vault once, and that one would be the real Jacob. We will next see Jacob Cromwell when I write my gameplay post for the chapter where we find Jacob in his old secret room at Hogwarts -- if Jacob has been revealed as evil in the game by that point, that Jacob Cromwell will be the imposter. Carewyn will be confused about Jacob’s behavior, but due to that imposter’s talent in Occlumency, good acting, and the fact that she has no reason to think it’s not Jacob, she won’t suspect the truth. It’ll only be when she’s Polyjuiced herself into Rakepick that she’ll realize that who she thought was her brother Jacob was actually a Polyjuiced imposter himself. And then we can have a four-way duel that’s basically the equivalent of that one Spiderman meme times two, with two Rakepicks fighting two Jacobs. XDDD

I haven’t decided yet which R member fake!Jacob will really be just yet, but I am strongly considering either Carewyn’s grandfather and head of the Cromwell clan, Charles Cromwell, or her uncle and prospective clan heir, Blaise Cromwell. (You can read about the Cromwell clan here, or about Charles and Blaise individually.) In both cases, they would’ve known a lot about Jacob Cromwell since R sort of roped him into doing their bidding for a while not unlike a gang would, so it wouldn’t be so difficult for either of them to playact as him, at least for a short while. And both Cromwell men would be very interested in manipulating Carewyn for their own ends, though GodGrandfather Charles is easily the more malevolent of the two. Blaise would be doing it more in the twisted sense of “gotta bring her and Jacob back into the fold because they’re our kin,” -- even if Carewyn and Jacob might not want to be part of the clan or R now, they’ll realize “it’s what’s best for them” eventually, in his mind.

Okay, rambling over. Whew! XD

The Datamine Prophet #10

[lili863]

Animagus

(Pt 5)

Matteo Riddle x MC

AN: Enemies to lovers, Quidditch, banter, conspiracies, dark arts, manipulation, death eaters, Slytherin boys, suggestive themes

Word count: 5.7 K

Masterlist

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

"UGH!"

Ripple grunted in pain as his back slammed against the cold stone wall. His wide eyes darted around, taking in the group of Slytherins that had cornered him, their faces marked by the casual cruelty of those who know they hold all the power.

"Hate to break it you but if you ever thought you were my type then you’ve clearly lost your fucking mind," Matteo chuckled, though the sharp edge in his voice made it clear he wasn’t really amused.

The Hufflepuff tried to salvage what little dignity he had left "I-I didn’t mean it! I swear, I don’t know what happened!"

Matteo’s smirk widened, "Didn’t mean it? Damn, Ripple, you’re breaking my heart."

Everyone except Ripple chucked who was still holding hope that he could get through this conversation alive.

Blaise chimed in, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "So, what then? You’re just naturally an idiot? You’re telling me Wynn Cromwell tampered with your papers, charmed you, sat back, and had a good fucking laugh while you proclaimed your undying love, and you couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it? What are you, a wizard, or just a shit Muggle in disguise?"

Ripple stammered, unable to form a coherent reply. In truth, he hadn’t even realized his papers had been charmed. The fact that you had pulled this off without him noticing made him question whether he was truly terrible at magic or if your abilities far exceeded what any sixth-year should possess.

"No offense, Ripple," Matteo leaned casually against the window, the smile on his lips a stark contrast to the cold stare he aimed at the shrinking Hufflepuff. "But if I hear you say shit like that again, I’ll make sure you’re eating through a straw for the rest of the year."

A quivering sigh escaped Harrison Ripple's mouth "You know I didn’t mean it. Whatever Cromwell did it..it caught me off gaurd. I never expected her to do such a thing in the first place"

Matteo patted his shoulder in consolation though it was hardly genuine. "I know. That’s why I’m letting it slide this time, but fucking hell,…" He trailed off with a laugh, turning to glance at the others, who were all watching with predatory interest. "You’re pathetic."

The fists of the young hufflepuff's only tightened in response, jaw gritted so tight, he knew his tooth would ache later on. But each cruel remark from the unforgiving syletherin elite only kept getting worse.

“You know what I find fascinating"? Theo spoke up, his low baritone voice sharp "How someone so insignificant can manage to fuck up so royally. You’re like a bad joke that just keeps getting worse.”

Ripple’s emotions flickered to momentary fury, jaws clenched because he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, knowing better than to show defiance in front of the Slytherins.

Theo’s eyes gleamed as he read Ripple's anger like an open book and his lips curved at the sight as he continued, “I half-expected you to drop to your knees and beg for a kiss"

Ripple let out an involuntary huff of disbelief, but before he could register what was happening, Theo stepped forward, his hand gripping the back of Ripple’s neck like a vice. With a low, mocking chuckle, Theo leaned in closer, his breath hot against Ripple’s ear. “Maybe you still will. What do you think? Want to plant one on Riddle before he puts you in the hospital wing?”

With a sudden, forceful shove, Theo pushed Ripple forward, sending him stumbling into Matteo. The Hufflepuff barely caught himself, his hands flailing as he struggled not to fall. Matteo, for his part, didn’t bother to move, watching Ripple’s pathetic attempts to steady himself with cold indifference.

The group erupted into laughter.

“This isn’t funny!” Ripple’s voice cracked with desperation as he tried to regain some control. “I made a mistake, okay? I get it! But I’m the Hufflepuff Quidditch team captain, damn it! Hufflepuff's finest! How many times do I have to say I didn’t mean a single fucking thing?”

The outburst hung in the air, the silence thick and suffocating.

Every second that stretched only seemed to raise Ripple's blood pressure when Matteo finally broke it “Look at that, Ripple’s finally growing a backbone."

"It’s because you guys treat me like shit," Ripple finally blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer. To his surprise, Matteo just snorted, unfazed. "Well, can’t argue with that.Every time you open your mouth, it’s like watching a train wreck. You make it too damn easy."

Ripple watched Matteo light up a cigarette, the smoke curling lazily around his fingers, that same infuriating grin still playing on his lips. It didn’t matter if he could whip out his wand and hex every one of these arrogant bastards; he still wouldn’t be taken seriously.

Matteo exhaled a stream of smoke, his eyes narrowing as they locked onto his quivering form. “You know, my father always said there’s nothing more pathetic than a wizard who doesn’t know his place. And now, looking at you, I finally understand what he meant.”

The words hung in the air, colder and sharper than the stone walls around them.

Every scrutinizing gaze was silent but said a thousand words that Ripple's pride just couldn't swallow. It was as if their eyes were stripping him of every last shred of dignity, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.

He had been willing to endure their torment, but even a cornered animal only takes so much before it lashes out.

"I want the cup," Ripple’s voice rang out, cutting through the oppressive silence like a blade.

The group's reaction was instant—a brief flicker of surprise, quickly replaced by simmering anger.

Blaise’s expression darkened as he stepped closer to Ripple. "You know that's not going to happen."

"But- You all said-"

"You’re asking for the impossible," Theo interjected "We can’t just hand over the Cup. The rest of Slytherin would never go along with it. You’d have the entire house against you—and us."

The arrogance of their tone has sent Ripple's thoughts into a mess of fury. I don’t give a shit, was all he could think, feeling the anger tighten in his chest.

If they wanted to go to the Map Chamber so badly, then they’d have to pay the price. Besides, there's nothing he would like to see more then the ridicule they will face after Hufflepuff gets the cup, they deserve whatever they have coming from their shitty parents anyway.

"I want the Cup. You want the location of the Map Chamber. It’s that simple." Ripple persisted.

"It’s not that simple, and you’re fucking delusional if you think it is," Enzo snapped, frustration flaring in his voice. "You really believe we can just tell the team to throw the match? Do you even understand what would happen? Forget Wynn running her mouth to Hufflepuff—the whole fucking school would know.

"That’s your problem, not mine".

He was done playing their games. They were the Slytherin elite, after all—if anyone could figure out how to pull this off without getting their hands dirty, it was them.

Ripple shook his head again, straightening his back, trying to muster the last bit of defiance he had left. "No. Either you give me that fucking cup, or no location—"

Before he could finish, Matteo lunged forward, the rage a living thing that contorted his features into something almost feral. He slammed Ripple back against the wall with a force that rattled the stone, his face inches from Ripple’s, eyes blazing with fury.

"You fucking prick," Matteo hissed, his voice low and venomous. "Finally had enough, have you? Grown a pair overnight?"

Ripple gasped, his breath caught as Matteo’s hand tightened around his throat. Panic surged through him as he struggled to breathe, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

"Maybe you’ve forgotten," Matteo’s voice dropped even lower, a dangerous edge to it, "but you’re easier to read than a fucking children’s book."

It was then that Ripple’s eyes widened with the horrifying realization—Matteo had been inside his head, sifting through his thoughts like a predator playing with its prey.

Fuck.

Matteo Riddle was a Legilimens.

"Wait—w-wait!" Ripple stammered, his voice trembling as he desperately tried to backpedal. "I was just angry, alright? I didn’t mean any of it!"

Theo chuckled darkly from behind Matteo, his tone laced with cruel amusement. "Oh, this should be good. Care to share, Matteo? I’d love to hear what our dear Ripple really thinks of us."

Matteo’s grin was cold, devoid of any real humor, as he tilted his head, never breaking eye contact with Ripple. "Oh, he’s just thinking how fucking delightful it would be to see us humiliated. To watch us lose to Hufflepuff and get what we deserve from our ‘shitty parents,’ as he so eloquently put it."

Ripple’s face drained of color as Matteo recounted his thoughts, his entire body trembling under the weight of his fear.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Blaise smirked, his expression dripping with mock sympathy. "Cheers mate, that might be the single most amusing thing that has ever escaped your thoughts, I am sure you who's Riddle 'shitty parent' is right"?

The look on the Hufflepuff's face looked like one of death at the realization.

Enzo sighed " You’re even more of an idiot than I thought."

Matteo leaned in closer, "Here’s the thing, Ripple—I don’t give a shit about your threats. You’re a pawn in a game you don’t even understand, and I’m done playing nice."

Matteo took a deliberate step back, letting Ripple slump against the wall as he gasped for breath. Th hufflepuff watched with panciked eyes as Matteo took another hit of his cigarette the smoke curling around him like a serpent.

"You know," he began, his voice casual, almost conversational, "my father’s always been a shitty parent. Never did get the hang of that whole 'loving father' thing. But torturing people? Now that's a skill he's mastered".

Ripple’s eyes widened in horror, his face going pale as he struggled to find his voice.

"You’re really fucking unlucky, you know that?" Matteo continued, his voice dripping with sadistic amusement. "Because if my old man hears about what’s been running through that tiny brain of yours, he’s gonna have a field day. You think we’re bad? You haven’t seen shit yet."

Ripple’s breath hitched, his hands shaking as he tried to stammer out a reply, but Matteo cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Here’s the thing," Matteo leaned in close, his voice a menacing whisper. "You’ve been withholding information. My father doesn’t like it when people keep secrets from him. And when he finds out you’ve been playing us, he’s not gonna just let it slide. No, he’s gonna make you scream until your fucking throat bleeds."

"And let’s not forget Aunt Bella" Theo added casually

"She loves to get her hands dirty. She’ll carve you up, leave nothing but a bloody heap where you once stood. Marking her toys is her favorite game. A permanent reminder of your stupidity." Theo added with a chilling smile, watching the boy’s face pale as though he hadn’t nearly pissed his trousers at the thought

Matteo took another hit and crouched down, leveling with Ripple before blowing a stream of smoke into his face ""You ever heard of the Cruciatus Curse? That’s my dad's go to. He’ll break you. Piece by fucking piece. And he won’t stop until you’re begging for death. Problem is, he doesn’t like giving people what they want."

Matteo’s tone shifted, becoming almost conversational again, which somehow made it even more terrifying. "And the best part? He’ll keep you alive, just to see how long it takes before your mind snaps. Every. Single. Detail. That’s what he’ll want. He’ll want to know every little thought that crossed your mind while you were fucking us over."

Ripple’s entire body was trembling now, the sheer terror of what was being described overwhelming him. His mind raced with images of unimaginable pain, of being tortured until there was nothing left but a hollow shell of who he once was.

"Are you curious, Hufflepuff?" Matteo’s voice dripped with malice, "What it’s like to live with ‘shitty parents’? Say the word. Go on, because it's just one letter away." His eyes were cold, revealing the weight of a history filled with cruelty and violence, a glimpse into a world anyone let alone the Hufflepuff could hardly imagine surviving.

Ripple’s resolve crumbled, the fight draining out of him as shook his head, voice desperate and heavy fighting back sobs. "Please... please, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything, just don’t let him... don’t let him do that to me!"

The Slytherins exchanged satisfied glances, their cruel smiles widening as they watched Ripple grovel at their feet.

Matteo leaned down his voice a soft, sinister whisper. "Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Start talking. And make it quick. We’ve wasted enough time on you already."

Ripple’s hands shook violently as he struggled to speak, his voice barely a whisper. "The map... it’s in the library, hidden in the Restricted Section. I... I can show you."

The tension was suddenly broken by the distant sound of footsteps. The sharp click of heels on stone grew louder, and before they could react, Professor Snape emerged from around the corner, his cold, calculating eyes narrowing as he took in the scene before him.

"Riddle," Snape’s voice was like ice, cutting through the air. "What exactly is going on here?"

In an instant, Matteo’s expression shifted, the darkness in his eyes replaced by an easygoing facade. He loosened his grip on Ripple, stepping back as if nothing had happened. The rest of the group followed suit, straightening up and adopting similarly nonchalant postures.

"Professor Snape," Matteo greeted smoothly, his tone laced with a hint of false cheer. "We were just… cheering Harrison up. He’s been a bit down lately, and we thought we’d lift his spirits."

Draco, Theo, Enzo, and Blaise all nodded in agreement, each of them putting on a convincing show of innocent concern.

Snape’s eyes flicked over each of them, his expression unreadable. He knew exactly what was going on—the tension in the air, the way Harrison Ripple was trembling, Matteo’s calm menace—it all painted a clear picture. But Snape had his own precarious role to play, one that required him to tread carefully between two worlds.

He was a man trapped by his own double life, forced to watch as students like Ripple became pawns in a game far beyond their comprehension.

"Is that so?" Snape drawled, his voice heavy with unspoken tension. His gaze shifted to Ripple, who looked as though he might collapse under the pressure. "I suggest you all return to your common rooms before I decide to take points from Slytherin for loitering in the corridors."

Draco nodded, his expression equally composed. "We’ll make sure Ripple gets back safely," he added, his voice dripping with insincerity.

Snape’s gaze lingered on Matteo for a moment longer, as if silently warning him to tread carefully, before he finally turned away.

"See that you do," he said curtly, his robes billowing as he walked away, leaving the group alone once more.

As soon as Snape was out of earshot, Matteo’s smile faded, replaced by the menacing glare that had Ripple shrinking back against the wall again. "Library, this Friday, 10 pm"

Ripple hesitated to say his next words but said it anyway "But that's after curfew..."

Matteo smirked, "Is that a problem"?

"No… no problem," Ripple finally managed to choke out, his voice barely above a whisper.

Matteo straightened up, satisfied with Ripple’s submission. "Good," he said coldly, turning away without another word. The rest of the Slytherins followed, their eyes still gleaming with dark amusement as they left Ripple standing alone, dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

As the sound of their footsteps faded, Ripple hands rand through his hair, fisting them in frustration

What did he get himself into? Whatever it was, forget the cup, because if Matteo father is involved, there was no hope of winning.

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

You walked through the dimly lit halls, speeding your way through countless stray if students.

You were late—and not just five minutes late, but ten, and it was to Snape's class, of all things.

What possessed you to take a "quick" nap in the library when you were already sleep-deprived was beyond you.

Breathless, you took the stairs two at a time, cursing under your breath as the classroom door came into view.

You could see everyone already seated at their tables, the room eerily quiet.

Now Snape was bound to notice you.

Taking a deep breath at the top of the stairs, you fought to steady your breathing and not look like you were about to collapse from the jog.

Trying to remain as normal as possible, you held that composure with great difficulty and walked in, making a beeline for the closest table.

Your heart pounded in your chest as you quietly set your things down, biting your lip to suppress the breaths that needed to escape.

Some students turned around, watching you with curious eyes as you settled in as quietly as you could

After a few moments, you let out a sigh when suddenly Snape monotone voice echoed through the classroom "Ms. Cromwell, 5 points from Hufflepuff".

'Fuck' you mouthed, slumping in your seat as some Hufflepuffs looked your way with annoyance.

As the class began, the soft clink of glass and bubbling potions filled the room. Everyone was partnered up, diligently working on their Draught of Peace, while you sat alone at the back of the class. You didn’t mind, though. You preferred the quiet, free from distractions, and you knew how to brew this potion without help.

You didn’t have many friends besides Hermione and Ginny, neither of whom shared your schedule. And the few Hufflepuff mates you did get along with weren’t in this class either. No matter—you opened your textbook and began preparing your ingredients, content in the solitude.

But just as you were about to slice the moonstone, a familiar voice cut through your concentration.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite honey badger.”

You looked up, spotting Matteo lounging with Theo and Enzo, his usual smirk playing on his lips as he sat at the table besides you.

"Is that so? Your sure it isn't Ripple"?

Matteo shook his head "No, no. He's my second my favorite".

You let out a small laugh "Better keep that to yourself Riddle, otherwise you'll break his heart".

"Only heart your breaking is mine Cromwell sitting by yourself like that" Matteo feigned worry but you only rolled your eyes, actually a tad amused by his presence.

"Good. There's nothing that fills my day with joy then hearing that sentiment" You pulled the black hair tie from your wrist before pulling your raven hair up to tie back into a pony tail, eyes now concentrating on the ingredient in front of you.

Matteo went quiet, his gaze lingering longer than it should have.

His eyes lazily roamed you, coming up to your exposed neck as you shook your head, securing the hair into place.

Pretty.

Matteo noticed these things a long time ago, but never in detail before. The small moles that speckled your neck to the freckles sprayed across the bridge of your nose. All adorned by your jet black hair framing your soft features. It was all more noticeable today.

You shrugged off your robes, rolling up the sleeves of your crisp white shirt. The movement was casual, but Matteo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his throat tightened, his eyes tracing the lines of your neck and chest.

You had always worn loose clothing so he never paid much mind to your figure, but when you had sat back down on the bench not paying attention, the skirt rode up thighs revealing the soft fat of your skin squished against the bench.

Fucking hell...why was it always the quiet ones..

His lids lowered, focus sharpening at the edge of your skirt. An inch further and his eyes would have seen the color of the undergarment you chose to wear today.

His breath hitched slightly—just for a moment—before he caught himself, a small grin returning to his lips as he leaned back, watching you with a new, curious intensity.

Meanwhile, your hands shook as you struggled to cut the stubborn blue moonstone, its dust scattering haphazardly around the cauldron. The rough, sharp edges of the stone glinted dangerously under the dim light, threatening to slice your fingers if you weren’t careful. But the dull knife you’d grabbed from the last pile of equipment didn’t help matters. Just your luck.

The cauldron in front of you hissed angrily, bubbling higher than it should, reminding you it needed the other ingredients fast, or this potion would be beyond saving.

With a frustrated huff, you tried to maintain focus, wondering why today, of all days, was spiraling like this. Your thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps nearing your table. You looked up to see none other than Professor Snape, looming ominously over your cauldron like a dark cloud. Disapproval gleamed in his eyes, and the frown etched on his face deepened with every second he looked at your failed attempts.

"Any day now, Ms. Cromwell," Snape's cold voice cut through the silence, making you fumble with the knife.

You swallowed and quickly returned to the task, trying to scrape the moonstone with as much force as you could muster. The dust flew everywhere, scattering like powdered snow, but you were determined to make it work. The frustration burned hotter in your chest with each passing moment.

A sigh of exasperation escaped the professor, and you could feel his disapproval grow heavier. You looked up sheepishly, still struggling with the moonstone, desperately trying to convey that you were at least trying.

"I—I’m sorry, Professor. The knife is just so dull—"

"No, Ms. Cromwell. That is not the issue," Snape’s voice was biting.

Red tinged your cheeks at the insinuation of his words that your were just utterly weak and grip strength was trash.

"Riddle" Snape snapped.

"Riddle!"

Your eyes widened, flicking behind Snape to where Matteo sat, lounging lazily in his chair, his potion already finished. Of course, it was.

"Pair up with Ms. Cromwell," Snape instructed, his voice sharp and impatient. "Perhaps she’ll find some competence under your guidance."

He sighed, getting up from his chair replying, "Sure, Professor."

His eyes found yours, and the subtle smirk that tugged at the corner of his lips sent another wave of heat to your face. You quickly looked away, leaning back in your chair and setting the moonstone down with more force than necessary.

As he reached your table, he leaned over your shoulder, his gaze boring into the half-finished potion with cool indifference.

"Did you plan on finishing this today?" he asked, his voice low, teasing, as his breath ghosted over your ear.

You groaned quietly in response, leaning back just a bit too far, and your back brushed against his chest. You quickly straightened up, trying to ignore the way his eyes trailed over the side of your face, almost too close for comfort.

"The knife is dull," you stated.

Matteo snorted, amusement lacing his tone. "Really? Let me see."

Without waiting for your reply, he slid into the seat next to you, effortlessly grabbing the moonstone. With a single, swift motion of the knife, a fistful of moonstone dust fell cleanly into the cauldron. He made it look disgustingly easy.

"You were saying" Matteo teased with grin.

You sighed, irritated but keep quiet as the two of you began to work.

A few minutes pass by and you notice Matteo had moved on to the next part of the potion with infuriating ease. He worked diligently, cutting ingredients with precision, measuring them carefully before adding them to the cauldron. His movements were fluid and confident, and it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing.

Your eyes flickered to the knife he’d set down.

Stupid knife. You thought.

Silently, you picked it up, turning it over in your hand, inspecting it as if it were the culprit for all your troubles.

Matteo eyes now pinned on you, watching you turn the knife over in your hands, feeling the edges. He raised a brow wondering what your doing when you suddenly started glaring at the blade like it had personally betrayed you.

"Pft-haha"

You attention now snapped to him chuckling and shaking his head.

"What"? You asked.

"Are you seriously blaming the knife, Cromwell? That’s adorable."

You blinked, momentarily thrown off. "Wha—It is the knife! I mean, look at it!" You pointed at the dull blade. "The edges are completely blunt, the handle has no grip, and I can’t even remember the last time someone polished this ancient relic—"

Matteo's grin only widened, amusement gleaming in his eyes as he leaned casually back in his chair, watching you with a soft, almost playful look. There was something different about you when you weren’t constantly on guard—a flicker of something softer beneath that fiery exterior. He took note of the way your face scrunched up when you were upset, almost like an irritated bunny trying to be tough.

You paused mid-ramble, catching the look on his face. Your shoulders slumped, and you let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, you know what? Let's just focus on finishing the potion."

"Oh, believe me, I’m focused." Matteo smirked. "But it’s hard to concentrate when you’ve got moonstone dust all over your face."

You gasped, your hands immediately flying to your face. "Where?" you started swiping at your cheeks, but only ended up sending the dust flying everywhere.

Matteo chuckled again, this time reaching out to brush the bridge of your nose with his thumb, wiping away the last of the dust. Your nose scrunched at the sensation, and Matteo found himself momentarily distracted by how cute you looked, even if you were a mess. He ignored the quickening pulse that beat against his chest.

"Thanks," you muttered, blushing slightly before returning your focus to the potion.

He hummed in response and began working again.

As you filled the cauldron with more water, Matteo chopped up more moonstone, dropping it in with perfect timing.

You began to stir the mixture, trying desperately to focus on the task at hand, but his presence beside you was distracting—too close, too intense. The air between you felt charged, each breath you took slightly more ragged as you tried to keep your composure.

Then, without warning, Matteo leaned in even closer, his cheek grazing yours, the warmth of his skin sending a jolt through your body.

"Here," he whispered, his voice a low, smooth murmur that made your heart skip a beat. A shiver ran down your spine, uncontrollable and far too obvious. "You’re not stirring it right."

Before you could react, his hand slid over yours, firm but deliberate, taking control of the spoon and shifting the direction of your movements. His fingers wrapped around yours, guiding the spoon smoothly through the thick liquid. "Counterclockwise for this draught. Always."

You nodded stiffly, your throat dry, and you could practically feel the smirk tugging at the corners of his lips before he finally pulled back, his hand lingering for just a second too long before retreating.

"Good," he murmured, his breath hot against your skin before he leaned away, leaving you to wrestle with the lingering heat that spread through your body.

A few more minutes pass by and you notice the color of the cauldron.

What kind of color is that?

You glanced at Matteo and see him measuring out unicorn powder, with powdered porcupine quills and syrup of hellebore sitting besides him in cups.

A creeping dread filled you as you realized something was wrong.

Your eyes darted to your notes, flipping quickly through the pages of your book. Then to Matteo’s textbook. Your heart sank.

Shit

You had been following the wrong recipe.

The realization hit you all at once.

Matteo was focused on the cauldron, his brow furrowed slightly in confusion as he observed the unexpected color change in the potion. He glanced down at his notes, then back at the cauldron, clearly sensing something was off.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to salvage this before class was over.

You quickly gathered more ingredients, trying to stay calm, and brought them back to the table. Matteo’s eyes flicked to you, clearly confused. "Hold on," he said, "why are you bringing more unicorn powder? We can’t add any more."

You licked your lips, trying to think fast. "Well... are you sure you added the right amount?"

Matteo raised an eyebrow, studying your face with suspicion. Before he could reply, the cauldron in front of you hissed ominously, a small plume of steam rising from the bubbling liquid inside. Your stomach dropped.

The mixture began splashing against the rim of the cauldron, hissing louder by the second.

You cursed under your breath, panic clawing at your chest as you watched the potion teeter on the edge of disaster.

Matteo’s head snapped up at the sound, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell did you do?" His voice was sharp as he leaned over your shoulder to inspect the potion.

"I—I don’t know!" you stammered, panic flooding your voice. "Something’s wrong!"

"Shit!" Matteo cursed, his hand grabbing your shoulder as the cauldron sputtered. Hot liquid shot out, narrowly missing his face.

"This thing’s about to blow"

Quickly, he grabbed you by the wrist and yanked you to the other side of the room. You stumbled after him, trying to keep up, but in your frantic escape, your shoe lace snagged on the edge of the table. With a startled yelp, you tripped, crashing into Matteo and sending the both of you sprawling onto the floor.

Matteo’s breath left him in a sharp grunt as you collided with him, sending both of you sprawling to the ground. Your face hovered just inches from his, eyes wide with surprise as the cauldron behind you erupted with a deafening bang.

Hot liquid shot across the room, splattering against the walls and tables as students ducked, chairs scraping the floor in their haste to avoid the explosion. The thick, pungent stench of burnt ingredients filled the air, mixing with the billowing clouds of steam that obscured your vision.

For a brief, chaotic moment, the room was nothing but smoke and confusion.

When the dust finally began to settle, the scene shifted into sharp focus. Matteo lay flat on his back, his chest rising and falling beneath you. One arm was draped instinctively over your waist, fingers gripping lightly as though to keep you steady. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling, jaw clenched, a look of utter disbelief etched into his features.

You, meanwhile, were sprawled across his chest, blinking in stunned silence, trying to process the sheer absurdity of what had just happened. Your hands, still braced against his shoulders, trembled slightly, the heat of the near-explosion lingering in the air around you.

You let out the breath you were holding when Snape’s icy voice cut through the chaos like a knife. "What in Merlin’s name is going on here?!"

You quickly scrambled off Matteo, your face flushed with embarrassment. Matteo, still lying there, smirked lazily as he got up, brushing himself off. "Well, that was one way to blow up a class," he muttered under his breath.

The room was dead silent, save for the dripping of the ruined potion as it slid down the walls. The other students, who had taken cover during the explosion, peeked out from behind their desks, eyes wide in a mix of amusement and fear as they waited for Snape’s inevitable wrath.

Snape’s gaze, however, was laser-focused on the two of you. His black robes billowed ominously as he stalked over, his face a mask of fury. He took one look at the state of the classroom—the scorched walls, the overturned cauldron, the puddles of ruined potion—and his expression darkened even further.

"Ms. Cromwell, Mr. Riddle," he hissed, each word sharp and clipped. "Detention. Both of you."

Your stomach dropped as his words sank in. You could feel your fellow students’ stares burning into the back of your head. Snape’s displeasure was one thing, but the thought of detention with Matteo? That was something else entirely.

"Sir—" you started, but Snape’s cold glare silenced you instantly.

"Save your excuses, Cromwell," he snapped. "I’m not interested in hearing them."

Then, his gaze shifted to Matteo, "Mr. Riddle," Snape’s voice dropped to a dangerously low register, "I expected better from my best student. Perhaps I was mistaken in assuming you were above this... childish behavior."

Matteo’s amusment from earlier faded, his expression tightening as Snape’s words hung in the air.

Snape, having made his point, straightened up, his voice sharp and unforgiving. "Both of you will stay behind after class to clean up this disaster you've created. And I expect it to be spotless. Fail, and you’ll both be scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the term."

He turned on his heel, robes billowing as he stalked back to his desk, leaving the room in a tense, heavy silence. The rest of the class cast nervous glances in your direction, but no one dared to say a word.

You let out a shaky breath, your pulse still hammering in your ears. Matteo, however, remained disturbingly quiet, his expression unreadable.

Okay, You definitely owed him an apology.

Sucking in a breath you spoke "Matteo"

His lips twitched into the faintest hint of a smirk, his gaze flickering back to meet yours, "Try not blow up anything else before detention. See you after class, Cromwell," he mocked

You jaw hung, but your were wordless, watching him causally brush himself down and walk out of the classroom, with Enzo and Theo following suit.

For some reason the thought of being alone with the Matteo Riddle in room for hours had sent your stomach doing flips, causing a wave nausea.

Whatever awaited you, one thing was certain: you weren’t just cleaning up a mess. You were walking straight into one.

[chvazquez]

"Bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull” your doubts.

Blaise Pascal. Quoted in Will Durant and Ariel Durant, The Age of Louis XIV: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Pascal, Molière, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton, and Spinoza: 1648 – 1715 (MJF Books, 1991), p. 65.

[carewyncromwell]

"There's a bond that exists between mother and child --

Ah, but then again...how would you know?"

~"After All" from Ever After (musical)

x~x~x~x

Tristan Cromwell never knew his mother. She’d died bringing him into the world. Even so, he’d heard all about her from his father, Blaise, from the time he was very small. An objective witness of the young woman’s life, however, could’ve noted a few discrepancies.

“That’s Marianne. That’s your mother.” “That’s your mother there, on the right. She was the youngest in her family, same as you and me.”

Marianne Fudge-Cromwell was actually the second youngest. Her youngest brother Frederick is a Squib, living alone happily in Suffolk with a Saint Bernard named George.

“…I was sure to mention to your great-uncle Cornelius how much you've grown -- how much you resemble your mother…”

If one were to simply describe Tristan and Marianne, then they would think they looked very alike. They both had dark hair, slender builds, delicate features, and long-fingered hands. If Marianne’s uncle Cornelius Fudge had ever actually met Tristan, however, he wouldn’t have thought they resembled each other much at all — his youngest niece had never been as gaunt and pale as her son. However thin she may have been, Marianne had always had youthful chubbiness in her face, and however porcelain her skin may have been, her cheeks were always pink and sweet. She was also quite small at 5'6", while Tristan was tall and gangling. As an adult the boy even ended up an inch taller than his own father. On top of all this, the stiff, proud way Tristan held himself mirrored his father Blaise completely. Marianne had always been the sort to keep her shoulders and head down and generally make herself seem even smaller than she was.

“You’ll be staying inside where it’s safe. Now take your workbook and go sit in your mother’s armchair. She loved reading by that window; I daresay you will as well.”

Marianne placed her reading chair in that spot because the window neighbored her real favorite place at Cromwell Manor: the garden. Blaise had encouraged her to read indoors more while she was pregnant out of concern for her health, so this was the best way she could keep an eye on her white rose bushes while staying indoors.

“Of course your mother loved music. She had a beautiful singing voice…like a songbird in May. And she was proud of it — she would only ever share it with the most deserving. And she only ever sang duets with me.”

Marianne was so deathly shy that she only sang for people she felt comfortable with. The first time Blaise heard her sing, it was because he’d overheard her when she thought she was alone, tending to some flowers. On the flip side, Marianne was incredibly fond of Blaise’s voice, when they were first courting — she even in some letters rambled romantically about his heavenly Tenor serenades.

“You have no other ‘grandfather,’ son. Your mother’s parents passed when she was quite little — even younger than you.”

This is one of the few things Blaise told Tristan that is entirely true. Marianne and her sisters were largely passed around to various family members, including their uncle Cornelius and his wife, when they were not away at Hogwarts. Poor Frederick was shunted to the side, left mainly in the custody of their grandparents when outside of Muggle grade school and then kind of cut loose after graduating. Perhaps this is why Marianne was so desperate for some sort of stability and comfort…

“Your mother’s sisters grew…distant, after your mother’s death. They stopped coming to see you, not long after you were born. Quite frankly, I’d say you’re better off without them in your life.”

Emma and Elizabeth Fudge had never liked Blaise, even when their sister Marianne was most charmed by him. This was in part due to the age and therefore maturity difference between them and Marianne -- Elizabeth had been seven when Marianne was born, and Emma had already started at Hogwarts by the time their brother Frederick was born a year later. They stopped coming to see Tristan because it required them to make arrangements with Blaise ahead of time to come to the Cromwell Manor. And considering Blaise thought the two women would be a bad influence on his son, since they would inevitably try to “challenge his parenting,” he gave them almost no openings to come and visit. Eventually the two witches sadly gave up trying.

“There would be no point in me marrying again. Marianne was my other half and soulmate, and her final gift to me was you, my son and heir. I would not disgrace her memory by marrying a second time.”

Marianne married Blaise after just turning 18, while he was 37. Blaise had not married sooner because he’d been too picky about potential matches, so he'd only started actively searching after his father Charles finally put his foot down and demanded that Blaise marry and produce an heir. Blaise selected Marianne in large part because of her innocence, which made him want to “protect” her from the evils of the world and treat her like his own precious treasure to cherish and keep under lock and key. At first Marianne was enthralled by this, loving the idea of a wealthy man who would provide for her, care for her, and be completely loyal and devoted to her. Plus his dashing good looks was a plus. These favorable points of Blaise's soured in Marianne’s mind, though, after she became pregnant with Tristan right after her and Blaise's honeymoon.

"Your mother was in very poor health long before she gave birth to you. She stayed alive just long enough to make sure she saw your face, even if it was just the once."

Disregarding the usual childhood illnesses of Black Cat Flu and the like, Marianne's health had been fine prior to moving to the Cromwell estate. The decline really seemed to come about after her move and the suffocating isolation that ensued from it. She began to eat less, even while having to eat for two, and she often ate superficially, leaning more on salty, sugary things that could offer her some small bit of cheer, far more than anything that would give her any real strength. Over time the stress of dealing with Blaise's obsessive control and flashes of rage took its toll as well. Marianne's high blood pressure, when combined with her young age, was ultimately what helped contribute to the excessive bleeding that accompanied Tristan's birth and led to Marianne's death. However much Blaise may have seen how unhappy and unwell his wife was and however much he may have truly wanted to help, the only way he'd ever learned how to love someone else was through micromanagement and possessiveness. And so the more he tried to love Marianne, the more he only served to hurt her.

"Your mother was an angel long before she left us." "I will not hear you complain a moment longer. I never complained, when my father told me to stay at home, and your mother likewise minded me. She knew her duty to me and to this family, and so do you." “Your mother was a saint, Tristan. Don’t you dare let anyone ever insinuate otherwise.”

Oh, far from it. Marianne was a rather stupid and immature person, quite truthfully. She'd never had great marks at Hogwarts, not just because of her distinctly average magical talent, but because of her flightiness about studying and her tendency to tune out in class when her stuffy old professors didn't maintain her interest. She'd had little intellectual curiosity aside from superficial homely matters, such as maintaining a garden or embroidery. Her favorite aspect of Hogwarts weren't the spells or classes or group activities, but instead the way everything was cooked and cleaned for her, so she could focus on other (and, to her view, more important) things. She'd been rather lonely growing up, since her sisters had been so much older than her, so she never became versed in making friends or reading people overall. She was even a bit eccentric, giving all of her flowers names and talking to them the way many people would their pets. She'd named the Fanged Geranium in the Hufflepuff commonroom Audrey.

Most of all, though, Marianne was naive. She never could've predicted just how many strings would be attached to Blaise's love, nor how quickly they would tangle around her and leave her feeling helpless, isolated, and depressed in this place that should've been a home, but now felt more like a prison. She'd made excuses for Blaise to her family while they were courting with the thought that any of his rougher edges would smooth themselves out once they were married, but soon it became clear they never would. If she'd lived longer, it's not improbable that Marianne might've turned to the bottle or some other method of escaping her worries. Had she not been so trapped inside the Cromwell estate, perhaps she might've tried having an affair while her husband was out, just as something to cheer her up. Maybe that affair could've led her to another man who would've "rescued" her from this marriage she'd so hastily agreed to. Maybe she could've taken her son with her. Maybe she wouldn't have -- after all, Blaise and the rest of the Cromwells wouldn't have rested until they'd gotten him back. She didn't know how good of a mother she'd even be anyway -- maybe her son would be better off at least being provided for. Or maybe he'd be better off with some other family, living a normal, happy life somewhere else -- with one of her sisters, hell, maybe even her brother! Frederick had always been a natural with younger children. Honestly, it's doubtful Marianne had ever thought that far ahead, considering she'd given up any real hope of finding anything better.

Perhaps this is why Marianne didn't stay behind as a ghost, even after dying so young and tragically. If she hadn't gone on when she did, she would've been stuck haunting the prison that was Cromwell Manor for the remainder of her days. At least if she had to go...when she finally saw her son again, it would be in freedom.

"Fafa...did Mama love me too?" "Yes, my son. With all her heart, son."

The other rare thing Blaise told Tristan that was completely true.

[carewyncromwell]

There are definitely ways to give R (both the character and the organization) depth, if Jam City put in the effort. I’ve personally had a lot of fun developing the R in Carewyn’s universe as being led by her maternal grandfather, Charles Cromwell, who does all of this terrible stuff all in an attempt to coax his daughter Lane and her children Jacob and Carewyn to rejoin their Clan. Sadly Charles is a cruel, abusive man who truly doesn’t know how to love anyone without possessing and controlling them, but as truly evil as he is, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t very attached to his family or that he isn’t still desperate to have his youngest daughter and grandchildren in his life. There is a logic to how he behaves, and in the case of Charles’s other children, Lane’s siblings Pearl, Claire, and Blaise, they’re even grayer characters than Charles, in that they likewise want Lane and her children in the fold, but out of misguided, toxic love more than just an obsession with control.

on a serious note if the “writing team” at jc is really going to have mc’s father be the leader of R, i REALLY hope they at least try to give him any sort of empathy or depth as a character. like i REALLY hope they don’t go the route they’ve gone with every other villain in this game where he is just this cartoonishly evil mustache-twirling sadist who loves killing people and then very abruptly morphs into someone we should feel sorry for at the last minute of his role in the story

like he is mc and jacob’s DAD so hopefully they’ll at least try to give him any sort of character depth by making him actually care about his kids. i mean he has to care if he’s willing to resort to wizard terrorism to get the little shits to join his cult.

and maybe he could be like… he’s so desperate to get his kids back that he’s willing to destroy everything to do so, and he’s manipulative and plays on his role as MC’s family to get MC to like him to the point they’d question if R is all that bad and hopefully he has a believable backstory as to WHY he disappeared from the family and began R in the first place. like maybe the guy used to be a curse-breaker and mc’s mom divorced him because he was obsessed with finding the scroll or whatever, and he started R to continue his conquest, and maybe that’s why mc’s mother was such a strict parent with magic (so her kids wouldn’t turn out like him) and now he’s resentful that she kept his kids from him, and he wants them back

but what am i saying? that’s the bare minimum of character depth. hphm characters don’t have character depth.

[carewyncromwell]

"Well, well -- looks like we caught a little princess."

"'Extremely dangerous: keep out of reach of children.' ...Cool!"

x~x~x~x

Hey, I said I'd have more of my characters dressed up for Halloween! Well, here's Carewyn and Jacob's uncle, Blaise Cromwell, and his son, Tristan, dressed as Colonel Muska from Studio Ghibli's Castle in the Sky and Sid Phillips from Pixar's Toy Story, respectively! I'll be honest, I did waffle a little on who I was going to dress these two up as, but I'm overall really happy with how they turned out!

Blaise's second choice was Magnifico from the upcoming film Wish, since that character is voiced by Chris Pine, my face claim for Blaise...but honestly, we know so little about the character so far that I couldn't really guess how proper of a fit the casting would be, and honestly, most of what I've gathered so far led me to think it's not as good of a fit. However smug and arrogant Blaise can be, he really isn't a show-off, vain, or interested in positive attention from the masses, the way Magnifico seems to be...so ultimately Colonel Muska -- easily my favorite Ghibli villain of all time -- felt like a better fit to me. Just like Muska, Blaise is more than crafty enough to emotionally manipulate others to get his way, and his motivation honestly comes back to his family line. He's not the sort to want the world to love or praise him, but he is absolutely the sort to want the power he feels is owed him by his heritage, and he has been poisoned enough by Charles's toxic masculinity to bypass values like compassion and nurturing kindness in favor of violence and control. Not to mention I could totally see Blaise "coddling" Carewyn in a similar way that Muska "coddles" Sheeta, acting all understanding and decent until he's challenged and put in a position where he might not get what he wants. And honestly, Mark Hamill just knocks the SOCKS off Muska in the dub, which is the version of Muska I first encountered as a girl!!

My second choice for Tristan was Victor Van Dort from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride...but I'm sorry, as much as Tristan has the "isolated, piano-playing Goth boy" element down, especially in his fashion sense as an adult, I felt like Victor just didn't capture the slightly messed-up, darkness-loving, eccentric aspect of Carewyn's youngest cousin. Tristan loves studying both human and animal anatomy, to the extent that he has a dog skeleton in his room and dresses it up like a pet. He finds macabre amusement in telling Carewyn that Hogsmeade village got burned to the ground by the Death Eaters. He has no social skills and has a bad tendency to boss people around when he wants something rather than use even the barest amount of politeness. TELL ME that doesn't remind you of a certain crazy neighborhood bully with a love of ripping toys apart and putting them back together in freakish creations. Plus, I'll just be honest, working at the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland, Sid's meet-and-greets are just ridiculously fun. Fortunately unlike a lot of other Disney and Pixar "villains," Sid isn't a truly evil person -- just an incredibly mean-spirited kid -- and considering he does seem to have chilled out by movie 3 enough to get a cameo working as a garbageman, I'd like to think that like Tristan does, Sid eventually matured a bit and maybe became a slightly better person.

Happy Halloween, all! Much love!! xoxo 🎃