#but i tried to kill myself with a broom once. i tried i tried so hard i was fucking 12

[loveharlow]

SOMEBODY'S WATCHIN' ME

PAIRING‧₊˚ Ghostface!JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

SYNOPSIS‧₊˚  [1.4k] Waiting around for your boyfriend to show up for movie night, you get an unexpected call

WARNING(S)‧₊˚  swearing, mild violence, betrayal, mild sexual references, i've never written ghostface!jj and im not too well versed in the ghostface franchise myself so let me know what you think

*based on thriller (mj) and somebody's watching me (rockwell)

A/N‧₊˚ part of my angstober event!

˗ˏˋ jj masterlist ˎˊ˗

YOU WERE POURING THE LAST OF THE POPCORN INTO THE BOWL, KERNELS CLANKING AGAINST THE DISH. It was halloween, your favorite time of year, and also the night of your annual movie marathon with your boyfriend, JJ. He was running a little behind, per usual.

You had the first movie all queued up, your halloween themed blanket draped across the sofa while you poured up the drinks and dished the snacks in the kitchen. Your parents were gone for the night and the pogues had opted themselves out, wanting to give you and JJ space as a couple. 

You were walking carefully towards the living room, balancing the bowl and cans of soda in your hands when the house phone rang. You rolled your eyes, assuming it was your overbearing parents who wanted to make sure you were alright in the house alone. Carefully placing the items on the coffee table, you made your way over to the half-wall that separated the kitchen and living area, answering the ringing device.

“Hello?”

“Home all alone?” A robotic yet deep voice reverberated on the other end. You rolled your eyes, automatically assuming it was just your goof of a father who loved a cheesy halloween prank.

“Ha ha, dad. I’m not a kid anymore, y'know. You can’t trick me,” You stated nonchalantly, expecting to hear his defeated old-man laughter on the other side. “I will admit, your ghostface voice has gotten better.” You joked, trotting back into the living room, tossing a warm, popcorn kernel into your mouth.

“How’d you know I had a daddy kink?” You paused, face falling from its humorous demeanor in the slightest of motions. With the out-of-character and inappropriate joke, you quickly came to the realization that whoever was on the other end of the phone wasn’t your father.

“Who the hell is this?”

“What? You've never seen a scary movie before?”

“I've seen enough to know that this joke is overplayed. So, whoever you are, go back to jerking off in your mom’s basement-”

“What about your basement?” The unknown individual cut you off. Now your face was pulled tight, an expression of anger as you shifted from holding the phone between your cheek and shoulder to pressing into your ear with your hand, eyes fleeting to the open windows, which were closed but all the blinds were wide open.

The way your eyes scanned the open space made it seem like the room spun around you, eyes squinting as you tried to look through every window at once, only catching glances of children trick or treating.

Just then, you heard something clatter — like a broom hitting the floor. And you could’ve sworn it came from downstairs.

Fight-or-Flight kicking in, you didn’t bother to investigate and instead bolted up the stairs in hopes of reaching your room. When you made it to the top of the staircase, however, you saw a tall shadow pass by, silhouette plastered on the wall as light shone through the windows upstairs, stopping you in your tracks so fast you nearly stumbled backwards.

Your eyes went wide, a deep gasp leaving your lips as you made a sharp turn right back down the stairs, backing yourself into the closest corner.

“Show’s over, if this is Pope or John B, you know JJ's gonna kill you-” You breathed, voice trembling but anger still evident. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not holding this knife to make you laugh, sweetheart.”

You could feel your heartbeat just a little faster at his statement. “I’ll call the cops.”

“You can’t do that without hanging up and trust me, you don’t want to hang up.”

Your eyes were darting all over the first floor of your home, hands subconsciously grasping at the wall you had your back pressed against, undoubtedly leaving marks in your wake. You couldn’t help but wonder where the hell JJ was, praying for him to burst through the door at any moment.

The door. The damn door. You realized you were right next to the front door. So, why the hell were you still in the house? 

One last glance at the top of the staircase had you throwing all caution to the wind, hand gripping and twisting the knob only to find that the door wouldn’t budge. You'd unlocked it, the direction the keyhole assuring you of that. You tugged and pulled and yanked, all to no avail. How did you manage to get locked inside of your own house?

“It’s scary being alone with a killer, isn’t it?” A voice whispered right next to your unoccupied ear, your heart practically jumping out of your chest when you realized the voice was clear and less eerie and automated, and also...no longer coming from the phone.

Your head snapped to the side, coming face to face a beat up ghostface mask, the phone in your hand clattering to the floor as you just narrowly dodged his arm when he slung it towards your head, ducking under the attack and nearly tripping over your feet as you made a b-line for your kitchen.

You ruined the house in your trail — throwing chairs, stools, and end tables behind you in desperate attempts to slow him down. 

You didn’t even realize you were screaming as you ran. 

You yelped as you hit your foot on the leg of a display in the hall, slipping and sliding on the hardwood as you never slowed in your pace.

You spotted your fathers work study door open, feet carrying you faster, ignoring the aching pain in your foot, as you made the room your destination. Making it into the space, you turned around to slam and lock the door, not missing the glance you caught of the man running after you. You felt his body collide with the other side of the wood as soon as you had it shut and latched, presumably throwing himself against it and you held it shut even though it was locked.

Your breaths were shaky and quivering, tears flying down your cheeks. After a few seconds, the thudding on the other side stopped. But you weren’t dumb enough to open the door again. The only thing on your mind was getting out of this god forsaken house. 

Spotting the one window in your father’s office, you looked down at the doorknob to ensure it was still locked before bolting over to the opening, prying the glass up and climbing out. Stepping out, one foot at a time, you looked to your left and right once you were completely outside of the window. The night air was humid and chilly, leaving you feeling damp and cold in nothing but a tank-top and pajama pants.

If you could make it to your neighbor’s house, you could call your parents. You just prayed to whatever higher power there was that they were home, better yet awake, considering their old age. 

You wasted little time in pondering however, sock-clad feet running through your yard in the direction of your neighbor's house that was a straight-shot across the street. Your feet had just hit the curb when you felt an arm engulf your frame from behind, the person’s other hand covering your mouth, muffling your screams as they dragged you right back behind the house, out of sight of any passersby that may have seen you.

Even with the hand over your mouth, you continued to kick and flail within their grip, managing to headbutt them in the jaw and drop you to the grass. The unexpected drop left you face down on the damp grass, scrambling to stand up and get away only for your ankles to be grabbed as they pulled you back.

When the aggressor managed to flip your relentless figure on your back, you were met with the sight of the mask once again as the man stood over you. You were lying on your back between his legs before he kneeled, practically straddling you.

Only then did you realize your hands were free, eyes fleeting between your hands and the mask before you were reaching up, basically palming the object and tearing it off, revealing a head full of blonde hair and a crooked, sadistic smile.

You weren’t even sure what your expression looked like.

“JJ?” You mumbled, letting the mask fall to the grass beside you. You could feel your entire body shaking. You didn’t know how to feel — Should you be relieved? Was this just a joke he took too far? Should you be terrified?

You normally would never assume JJ would hurt you but considering the fact that he’d just chased you through your entire house burned that argument to ashes. It didn’t help that he had this look in his eyes as he stared down at you — one you could only describe as unhinged.

You barely registered his next movements, as swift as they were — the way he pulled a decent sized knife from his sleeve in the blink of an eye. He twirled the object as the moonlight bounced off of the surface of it, you could see little spots littered across it. Little spots that almost looked like dried blood. He examined it, licking his bottom lip.

“You like it?” He spoke admiringly, watching the weapon glisten as if it were just a sight to see while you were laid petrified underneath him. You felt like you had just met a whole new person.

You still laid frozen still when he brought the object down to press it lightly against your throat, just enough for you to feel the coolness of it and how sharp it was. His dark gaze left the object to meet your wide eyes.

“It’s almost as pretty as you.”

General taglist; @livlaughquinn 

JJ Maybank Taglist; @ronnieissupermegafoxyawesomehot @maybankslover 

Event Taglist; @timmytime17

feedback is appreciated! thanks for reading.

©loveharlow

[froggy-demon]

Oh, Deer - Part Two

A/N: This is part two to my Alastor x OC slowburn story, I hope you enjoy <3

Chapter Summery: Lilly gets settled at the hotel and a stressful day of work leads her to getting a little closer to one particular staff member.

Part Three

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

I woke up to my morning alarm blaring at me, shit I didn’t even think about how long it will take to get from here to work, fucking fantastic. And I have none of my clothes, also fantastic. I book it out the door and head to my old apartment. I grab a book bag I had laying around and stuff as much of my shit in it as I can fit, the less trips back and forth I can make while moving, the better. I change into an outfit for work, a pinstriped mini skirt and a turtleneck blouse with puffy sleeves with my trademark tights and kitten heel Maryjanes, throwing my backpack over my shoulder and getting to work as fast as possible. All in all, I was only 10 minutes late which is a fucking miracle if I’ve ever heard one. I busy myself by checking in with the other assistants and sorting out who is covering what assignments and shows today. Velvette slams open the studio door and is already looking pissed off, the day just started how can it already be going to shit? That question answered itself as behind her trailed in Valentino talking her ear off, switching between whining and yelling.

“Valentino it is time for at least one of us to actually do our jobs, fuck off already and find someone else to bitch to!” She yells at him and stomps off. This pushes him over the edge, he grabs a passing by assistant and snaps her in half, like it’s nothing. I duck my head down and find a way to be very busy and as unnoticeable as possible, hiding behind my clipboard as much as I can. 

“No you fuck off Velvette! Tell me what the fuck I can do one more fucking time! Try to run anything once I’m done with you precious shitty studio!” He threw the couch he had trapped that studio aid on just the other day against the wall and it smashed into a hundred pieces. He reached for a fleeing model and ripped her head off, damn and she wasn’t even an annoying model. He rampaged through the room and Velvette just ignored him and stomped my way. 

I straightened my back as she approached and tried to not seem bothered by the 10ft lunatic killing my coworkers and ripping apart anything else in his reach. “We are not getting off schedule, get my designers so we can keep our shit on the air! Get them here in the next five minutes while I get fucking Piss Baby out of here.” She Barked and I nodded

“Yes Ma’am.” She seemed pleased enough and walked off to order around anyone else still breathing. I used my ear piece to try to locate the desired designers, keeping my back to the scene behind me. 

“Designers, if most of your limbs are still attached, your presence is requited by Ms. Velvette immediately, bring what you have been working on for her and try not to be killed on your way.” I received 4 affirmatives and glanced back to see Velvette on her phone to presumably Vox. Thank Satan, this was definitely a big guns problem. I looked around at a few cowering workers near me and smoothed out my clothes. “C’mon, get this place straightened up. It’s a fucking mess in here, get a broom and a mop, now.” The three jumped up, though a bit reluctantly, and went in search for the cleaning supplies. I saw Velvette manage to force Valentino out the studio door and lock it behind him, hopefully keeping him out. I saw two of the designers come in and waved them over, having them stand up on a small platform that wasn’t totally wrecked and Velvette made her way over.

She was clearly still not happy, but at least wasn’t getting worse. Vox appeared next to her with a cheeky smile plastered onto his plasma face, contrasting her fiery attitude. I thought I saw him give me a small scowl, but I've never spoken to Vox, it couldn't be personal. He asked her where Valentino had gone and was back on his way. 

The day continued with far fewer bumps, minus the power outage caused by Vox's tantrum. Valentino stayed away so I guess Vox was able to calm him down well enough and Velvette stayed at a manageable level of pissed off until the outtage. 

“Fucking hell! Fine fuck him, everyone go the fuck home!” She screeched and no one was waiting to confirm that order. I grabbed my bag and booked it out of the building and back to the hotel. Alastor’s broadcast was all I could hear people talking about, though they kept it hushed so close to the Vs. Losing was not something they, especially Vox, liked. When I walked through the door I was surprised to find a new face in the parlor. He was a snake demon and Charlie was excitedly chatting with him while Vaggie stood to the side looking apprehensive. 

“Here she is!” Charlie exclaimed turning to me, smiling ear to ear. “Lilly! This is Sir. Pentious, he is our next guest at the hotel!” She motioned for us to shake hands, which I obliged. He seemed nervous, but still gave a small smile. 

“Ah, Lilly, it isss quite nice to meet another future redemption-ee!” He said and I tried to return his smile. 

“Lilly he blew up the hotel this morning.” Angel added dryly, I stopped smiling and looked at Charlie confused. Angel clearly wasn’t buying whatever the serpent was telling Charlie. 

“He said he is sorry! That’s what we’re all about, second chances!” She defended and really tried to sell it. I looked between her and Sir. Pentious, a little skeptical myself honestly. 

“If you are confident, I will trust your judgement.” I stated and turned to Angel, who filled me in on all of the details on the fight that had taken place that morning while Charlie taught Sir. Pentious how to apologize to Alastor. Geez, you go in for one shift and miss everything!

“Say, Dear, how did my little show go over at Vs HQ?” Alastor asked, appearing behind me and giving me a bit of a fright. He sounded particularly staticy. Angel rolled his eyes at his theatrics. I turned to face the demon and met his glowing eyes for a moment before looking back at Angel. 

“I couldn’t say for sure, but I’d say not well. Vox particularly was still glitching and zapping about when Velvette dismissed us after the power shut down. We couldn’t do anything with him fucking up all of the tech.” I said and he laughed, clearly pleased with himself and patted my head. Angel was deeply distracted by his phone, someone was texting him quite a lot, every few seconds his phone would buzz with a new notification. 

“Wonderful to hear! I’m glad I got my message across.” His eyes glowed a bit brighter, clearly there was some contempt held for Vox, and it went both ways. Seeing him like that sent a little zap of fear through me. I know what he’s done to those he doesn’t like to get what he wants, but he chooses to be so hands off with it this time? Maybe he just wanted to give a fair warning, I don’t know, but I do not want to get in the middle of it. “Speaking of your work,” He moved to stand between me and Angel now. “Why not find some new employment now that your housing is supplied? Something less television based maybe?” He eyed me, as though he suspected me of something. I tried to look past him to Angel again, but he blocked my vision, seemingly growing a little taller, a little more menacing. 

“Well, as much as I’d like to,” I said a tad nervous of the overlord in front of me “I can’t. Velvette owns me, my soul that is. As a day job it isn’t too bad at least.” I mumble the last sentence and Alastor raises an eyebrow at me. Angel is still preoccupied, but I see him throw a look my way when I mention my deal. 

“Deals aren’t usually Velvette’s style, she typically prefers to leave that work to the boys, how unfortunate for you then.” He says, returning to his normal chipper self and walks off. As he disappears I finally take stock of myself, I look like shit. There is dried blood on my shoes and spots of guts dotting my outfit for the Valentino’s carnage earlier, gross. 

“Angel, I’m going to take a shower and unpack a little you know where to find me if you need anything okay?” He doesn’t look up, clearly in a mood, sitting down on a nearby chair and crossing his legs over the arm and mumbles out an okay. I make my way upstairs, to my room, and then turn on the hot water for the shower attached to my room. After peeling off my clothes it felt good to let the hot water wash over me. The water pressure was better here too. A little refresh is really what I needed after today. Once I felt better I rummaged through my bag until I found my pjs, a pair of little shorts and an oversized t-shirt VTech gave out during some marketing campaign, it was at least comfortable. I started to unpack more and realized Niffty must have been here earlier because there was significantly less dust everywhere and my bed spread seemed freshly laundered. I will have to thank her the next time I see her. Just as I’m finishing up I hear some kind of commotion coming from somewhere in the hotel, what the fuck was that? I poke my head out and hear more noise, like someone is fighting, is that Angel Dust? I run down to the noise and meet Charlie and Vaggie walking up to the same disturbance.

Angel says that Sir. Pentious is working for the Vs, but I can smell the liquor on him from here, and the snake denies the accusation. Angel rolls his eyes and points out the video camera hidden between two books on the shelf, causing Sir. Pentious to panic. He screams into his watch to help him as Vaggie face palms and it's my turn to roll my eyes. Not only is he a spy, he’s an absolutely terrible one at that. I can hear Vox laughing at him though the watch, but Charlie has big doe eyes. He begs for a quick murder, but Charlie welcomes him in with open arms, despite protests from the three of us. After a set of profuse apologies, we head back to bed. 

Angel has his arms crossed, the whole walk. I want to say something, but he has been in a bad mood all day and I don’t want to accidentally make it worse. “Angel, y'know I-“ but he waves me off. 

“I don’t want to talk about it. Work shit, and we said work shit stays at fucking work.” He snaps, but sighs and I know he isn’t mad at me, just someone else. My guess, Val. I wonder if that’s what Valentino was raging about this morning, I hope for Angel’s sake it’s not. He slams the door to his room and I turn towards mine, just to be greeted by Alastor, he sure does have a knack for popping up. 

“Take off your shirt, Dear.” He glares at it, taking me back. This is a tone shift. 

“Excuse me?” I ask, taking a step back, not there there is really anywhere to go if you want to run from a shadow walking overlord at night. 

“Well, I’m going to burn it and I just figured you would want it off your body before I do that, but if you prefer,” Alaster smirked and lit a small fireball in his hand “you can keep it on!” He was very serious, I look back down at my shirt, I guess I set myself up for this one wearing a shirt with Vox’s face plastered on it, but hey it was a free shirt. I yanked it off and Alastor took two big steps towards me and took it from my hands, his eyes glowed devilishly as he set it on fire and watched Vox’s face burn away while he grinned ear to ear. “Much better! I appreciate your cooperation, however,” he bent down to my height and made me look him in the eyes. His voice grew more staticy as he said “I better not see anything else with his face on it here.” 

I nodded, it was all I could manage, I felt frozen in place and suddenly self-conscious as I realized I was in my bra and shorts in front of a murderous overlord, not exactly confidence inspiring for me. He stood back up straight and spun his cane, pleased with himself. “Very well, Goodnight!” He sang and I didn’t wait before quickly going into my room. Great, now I need a new sleep shirt, that will be a tomorrow night problem. I got into bed and curled up. I’m not doing amazing at staying off Alastor’s bad side, maybe tomorrow I will break that streak. 

The next morning I joined everyone else in the parlor downstairs, I had some time for once before I was needed at work. Charlie excitedly explained that we were doing some bonding activities as a group today, that it would help if we all trusted and got to know each other. I wanted to check in on Angel, but he was still hung up on his phone. Okay, so I’m going to have to make a second friend, it can’t be that hard can it? What do I have to work with? 

Niffty is a little… crazy… maybe not my first choice. Let’s see Sir. Pentious is eager, but do I have anything at all in common with him? Let’s see he likes building things? Nope. He likes being a leader, of his egg boys at least, uh in the right light sometimes you could kinda say I like bossing people around. I think that’s everything I’ve learned about him though, and I’m not really someone who goes out looking for a fight anymore, even if Cherri wants me to. Vaggie is a little too focused on Charlie I think to start worrying about anyone else, I can’t blame her, as sweet as Charlie is she is also a handful. I think Alastor is waiting for me to sneeze wrong to justify breaking my neck and is no where to be seen sooooo… my new friend is going to have to be Husk! The only hard part about that is he doesn’t really ever want to participate in our activities. I can work with that though. 

I take a seat next to Husk for activity time and give him a small smile. I haven’t really gotten what his deal is from Angel yet, maybe he just acts tough. “So, Husk, what brings you to the hotel? You don’t really seem like you’re here for redemption to me.” I ask trying to sound cheery. He just rolls his eyes at me though. 

“My job.” He huffs out, motioning over to the bar. Okay smartass. I fold my arms and lean forward towards him. 

“And out of all the bars in hell, why work at this one? Don’t tell me its for the dental insurance.” I quipped and he almost smiles. He leans back in his chair and looks across the room at nothing in particular. 

“Alastor, he tells me to go so I go.” He finally says. Ah, could Alastor really own his soul? I won’t press for now. Satisfied with the answer I sit back in my seat and he slumps down more in his, but then my phone rings. Velvette, why is Velvette calling me? I don’t hear from her that much seeing as I never have a day off anyway, not even extermination days. I hop up out of my seat so not to bother anyone and answer the phone. 

“Yes Ma’am?” I answer, stepping out of the room. She shouts that she needs me immediately, one of the models didn’t show up today and now she needs extra hands on deck and I better be there immediately. I try not to let her hear me sigh or sound disappointed. I guess I did get to sleep a couple extra hours which is more than enough to be grateful for. “Yes Ma’am.” I reply and she stresses I better hurry or I’ll be costuming for Valentino’s sets for the next year and she hangs up. I walked back in and the group looks up at me waiting for my explanation. “Okay guys, sorry to cut the team building short, but I’m needed at work sooner than expected, sorry Charlie.” Charlie looked disappointed. 

“Oh.. so when do you have a day you don’t work anyway?” She asks. “We’ll just catch you up then!” She beams at her great idea. Angel chuckles, Cherri probably has told him before if he knows my situation. 

“I don’t get any days off, sometimes I only work 10 hour days though!” I tried to make that sound like a good thing and gave her a thumbs up, but Charlie frowned again. 

“Well that’s not good, you’ll never have any time for our activities then!” She protested and started pacing. “Can’t you just say you need a day off for something important?” She looked at me with those big doe and and I shook my head, crossing my arms. 

“Some of us have jobs, dollface, contracts.” Angel points out dryly. He finally looks up from his phone to give Charlie a pointed look. It must be nice to be her. 

“There are no days off for me, if Velvette says come in I can’t say no. It’s just the way it is. Now she’s waiting for me, I have to get going.” I slip on my shoes and head for the door leaving a protesting princess behind.

I get there as quickly as possible and as soon as I walk through the door Velvette is tapping her foot waiting for me. She looks as pissed as usual, but it isn’t usually my direct fault that she’s pissed off. 

“Now, I happen to know that your apartment is all of five fucking minutes away so how the fuck did that take 25 minutes today?” She demands. Since when has she even known where I live? I straighten my back, I am not used to talking back to her, usually we even work pretty well together. “Well, spit out whatever pathetic excuse you have and get to begging for forgiveness! Some of us have important shit to be doing!” An assistant walked up to her and they quietly conversed while he showed her a different selection of blouses.

“I moved Ma’am.” I stated, adverting my eyes. She snapped her head away from her conversation to look at me again. 

“Well who the fuck told you to do something stupid like that? I need you near here for when I call you, fucking move back.” She said it like it doesn’t matter where I live or what I think if it doesn't serve her needs. She might own my soul, but that is not our deal. 

“Ma’am, with all the respect in hell, I cannot do that.” I stayed cool, that’s good. She walked over to me, until she was less than a foot away from my face. Her red eyes glowing and piercing into mine. 

“The fuck you will. As fucking kind as I am to you every fucking day, whose dick you’re riding just to crash in their shitty bed anyway?” She snapped at me, glaring at me while waiting for my answer. 

I took a deep breath. “Charlie Morningstar, Ma’am, well her hotel that is.” I added, looking down. Velvette was seething in front of me. She grabbed me and threw me to the ground. I hit my head hard on the stone floor, because exactly what I need is another head injury. 

“Don’t give me that kind of bullshit ever again. Remember who you are speaking to.” She spoke through gritted teeth. She materialized the link between us, the chain attaching me to her, our deal. I knew exactly what I signed, but she was right. I should have held my tongue. She used it to pull me to my feet in front of her. “Now get to fucking work.” She spat and let me go. I stayed on my feet and smoothed my outfit and hair, composing myself for the coming day. 

“Yes Ma’am.” I kept my eyes on the floor as she rolled her eyes. 

“Good, now get Kelly Killjoy’s suit options ready, it’s almost time for her to be on air, then come back to me.” And then she waved me away and I was happy to be able to walk away. I did as I was ordered, bringing the approved wardrobe to the news host's dressing room for her to pick from once ready. I raced back to the studio room to see what was next and Velvette sneared at me when she saw me. "Perfect, the seamstresses need a pin cushion, go be that until they are done with their projects.” And she turned away from me again. A pin cushion, this was going to be a long day. 

Twenty hours later I am still in the studio, but I have finished every task I’ve been given, skillfully I might add. Well, as skillfully as one can be a pin cushion, mannequin mover, and general studio bitch without a single moment to sit or even pee. I was back in front of Velvette awaiting her next order. She looked at me and shook her head. 

“Morning, cunt. Your outfit is hideous and you look more terrible than usual.” She said and zapped me into a new outfit, honestly the highlight of my day to have on something fresh, but really it was just a toned down version of her own outfit, but is all grey. Of course she would think her outfit was better. “Now perk the fuck up, I need you to set up the lights for the shoot we’re doing for my fabulous new clothing line today! And set up all the looks we created for it. Make sure those fucking models look right too, I can’t stand shitty sloppy work.” She said and I nodded, hoping it will be easy to learn how to set up studio lights. 

“Yes Ma’am.” 

After falling off a ladder more than once setting up the lights, organizing all of the set groups of items for the photo shoot, and labeling them, and then adjusting every single item on the models throughout the 10 hour shoot, I was ready to beg for Velvette’s forgiveness. I hadn’t had a drop of rest or caffeine in nearly two full days. 

Finally I was told to go home, but to be back tomorrow bright and early with a smile on my face. I don’t know what pissed Velvette off so badly in the first place that she felt the need to take it out on me, but maybe tomorrow will be different, unlikely, but maybe. I walked into the hotel and went straight to the bar, come to think of it that might be one of the best parts about living here. I slumped onto a stool putting my head down on the bar. Husk raised an eyebrow at me while he was organizing his bottles. 

“I wasn’t sure if you were coming back when no one saw you last night, where ya been?” He asked, he didn’t sound concerned, but he did sound curious. I picked my head up and propped myself up on my elbows. 

“Work. I’ve been at work since I left. Someone pissed off Velvette and that became my personal problem.” I muttered. I took a deep breath, I don’t need to bitch about my shitty day though that won’t have made it any better. No, I wanted a boost, I should go out I want to feel good about myself. I don’t want Velvette to be able to dictate my mood like this. 

“My, my, someone looks a little worked over,” Alastor sang as he walked up. “Did someone mistake you for a pin cushion?” He asked lifting my arm to inspect the hundreds of tiny and sore pricks in my skin. I pulled my arm away from him, trying not to humor him. 

“Hello to you too, Sir.” I said, holding back my irritation. I look at husk and he poured me a drink, I give him the best smile I could muster when he placed it in front of me. Alastor took the seat next to me, crossing one leg over the other and giving me his signature smile. I took a sip and let the warm feeling wash over me.

“Tell me, is television work loosing its charm? Such superficial work after all, but maybe that’s how you prefer it, dear.” He laughed at his own joke and tapped his cane on the ground. I drank more of the mixed drink Husk had made me, but it didn’t cool me off as much as I needed it too. I gave him another look and he went to pour me another but I looked up at him and motioned to just give me the bottle. 

“Aye, take it easy kid.” He said, but still handed it over. I took three big gulps and set it down. 

“Alastor, I’m not in the mood for your insults and condescension, I think I’ve had more than enough of those today.” I said dryly and took another drink. He looked at his nails, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, enjoying getting a rise out of me. 

“Oh, but I’m positive they haven’t been as witty as mine will be! Humor me won’t you? It’s been so boring today.” He leaned towards me, it was another request that didn’t really sound like a request. I couldn’t push back against Velvette, but I could with Alastor, maybe. I finished the bottle for some confidence and got out of my seat.

"No." I told him flatly, that should have been enough to get him off my back, but not Alastor.

"come now, don't tell me the big bad overlords you've worked for for years just now broke your spirit! Where's your moxie dear?" the demon quipped, leaning an elbow on the bar. I could feel my misplaced anger building, but shit he didn't have to be such a prick when I clearly was in a bad mood. I can't have five fucking minutes of peace?

“I told you, fuck off!” And stomped out the door, throwing aside the now empty bottle. 

Fucking Radio Demon, fucking Velvette! I’m more than that, I’m not just someone to shove around. I don’t have to take that, not when I’m not at work. She might be able to give me as much shit as she wants, hell she could actually assign me to fuck ass Valentino’s porno costuming I wouldn’t even care, but I will not go home and have some other demon make me feel like shit too. I’m worth something!

I look up from the sidewalk that I’ve been so concentrated on and realize I don’t really have anywhere to go, I’m tired of bars and clubs, but hell maybe it'll make me feel like a person again anyway. Maybe someone will talk to me like I’m just a fucking person. So at the next neon sign I see advertising a drink I walk in and order and get just that. It doesn’t take long, it never does in hell, until someone starts talking me up, buying me a drink, then another, and another, and then says we should get out of here. He's good looking for a demon, tall and thin with blood red hair and long black horns twisting out of it like a ram's. I agree. I follow him outside and he starts taking me down an odd way, its quiet and dark here, but maybe he lives on a quiet street in hell, what do I know. Then he turns around, smiling, and holding a handgun. It takes a moment to register. He closes the distant between us.

“What are you doing?” I ask, he laughs and grabs my arm. I’m not stable enough to avoid it and he pushes me up against the alleyway wall and points the gun at my chest. 

“I’m robbing you, dipshit, cough up whatever you have on you. I know someone dressed as pretty as you has a couple of bucks to spare right?” He sneers and shifts the barrel to under my chin. The only problem was I really didn’t have anything else. I had maybe a single dollar on me after buying that first drink and I don’t think that’s what he wanted to hear. 

Then all the sudden he was off of me, I fell a little and caught my breath which I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. What the fuck was that? I looked around and saw a familiar pair of eyes walking out of the darkness, blazing red. Shadow tentacles were holding up the attempted robber as Alastor emerged from the darkness, how is Alastor here? He was taller than his normal stature, and had a sinister smile, antlers protruding from his hair. This is the demon I’d heard on the broadcast those years ago, he had bloodlust in his eyes. 

“I don’t think so.” His voice was thick and distorted cutting up the still night, I could feel the energy pouring off of him. I didn’t know if I should stay where I was or get the fuck away from there at this point, but my legs felt too heavy to run very far. I looked up at him with wide eyes, it was like a car accident I didn’t want to watch him rip this demon in half, but I also couldn’t look away. He laughed maniacally as the sinner he held begged for forgiveness and his life. The Radio Demon drew him closer “Is that anyway to treat a lady?” Static filled the air and there was ringing in my ears, it felt like it was pounding in my head to the point that it was difficult to keep looking up. Alastor met my eye for one brief moment and then, unexpectedly, threw the creature across the city rather than ripping him in half. His piercing eyes didn’t change as he began to return to his normal self as he walked toward me having eliminated the threat. The static softened and I felt a weight leave my chest. “Terribly sorry for the fright! Charlie sent me to make sure you came back to the hotel in one piece tonight, I didn’t expect to find you in so much trouble.” He put an arm around me for support, but I shook it off. As uneasy as I felt I’m not sure if he was the one I should take it from.

“I wasn’t expecting any help, especially from you.” It came out as a statement of near disbelief, but I was still angry. Recovering from the personality whiplash Alastor had given me I took a few steps away towards the entrance of the alley. How am I supposed to see that and then trust him? “I can handle myself.” My knees wobbled and I leaned my palm on the wall again for support.

“Clearly.” He said sarcastically and smoothed his hair back where his antlers had disrupted it. “You sure did seemed to have a handle on that one! Next time I’ll just let it run its course, how’s that sound?” He adjusted his tie and grinned. More of his bullshit. I took another step back, I was certainly afraid of the power I’d just witnessed, but looking at him now he was just another demon.

“Whatever, I don’t need to take this bullshit, you can’t just talk to me like that because you’re used to being scary, I get enough of this every other hour of my day. Maybe you can treat Husk however you want because you own his ass, or other people are just too scared to say shit, but I’m exhausted! I’m too tired to bite my tongue and,” I was running out of steam, and those burning red eyes were still bearing into mine “it seems I’ll never get out of that cycle.” I slid down the wall to my side and held my knees to my chest. “I just, I’m tired of filtering myself to fit the situation I’m in. Just to please someone who can’t even tell the difference anyway. Putting up the right front to help maintain her goddamn brand. I can't do it with you too.” I sighed. How disgusting. Here I am shouting at someone who would love to rip my head off my body, just because my boss is shitty and unappreciative, and now I’m pitying myself for it on the ground of a filthy alleyway. This might just be my rock bottom. 

Alastor quietly walked to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder, sending a jolt through me. “If it’s any help, I’m condescending to everyone!” It was so stupid, so fucking stupid I had to let out a laugh. Geez, at least it isn’t personal I guess. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at my shoes in the dim light. “What was Charlie’s first lesson? Apologies.” I looked at him funny, his red hair nearly looked all black in this lighting, did he want an apology from me? He’s as crazy as Niffty if he thinks that’s happening. I picked at the ground next to my shoe to occupy myself. “Charlie also wanted me to apologize, I didn’t really mean to offend you. While I do find joy in watching the misery of sinners around me, on the other hand I am here to help Charlie and I can’t do that if I’m sending one of her guests spiraling now can I?” He offered me a hand up and I just stared at it for a second. “I’m sorry, Lilly.” He sounded as sincere as I’d ever heard him, which granted was likely a front to save face anyway, but I pushed my pride aside and took his hand, standing back up. It felt good to get that rant out of my system and it maybe even felt a little good to get an apology. I brushed the grime off of my skirt as best as I could, looking back at Alastor. He looked happy with his pep talk, but he kind of always had that demeanor so it’s hard to say. 

“Thank you Alastor.” Was all I managed to say. Pleased, he hooked our arms and pointed us in the direction of the hotel. We were quiet for a minute, I knew it was my turn to say something more, but I couldn’t figure out what was right. I kept dwelling on how he looked back in the alley, how the energy he put off felt all the way down to my bones. Even now it made my skin crawl, I’m quite glad to have made it onto his team I suppose because I would not want to be on the receiving end of that fury. “Why do you want to help Charlie?” I said it as soon as I thought it, but it brought me back to earlier. Husk is here because Alastor is here, but why the hell is Alastor here?

“A good question! It’s really very simple, I think Charlie will succeed and I like to be on the winning team. Plus,” He looked at me with a wicked look in his eyes, “If I’m wrong I’m no worse off and I get to watch everyone else suffer!” And began laughing. Not very comforting, but does make sense. Still I have a feeling Alastor is a few steps ahead in whatever plan he is hatching than he is willing to share. I wonder what else he was working up in his head, he’s difficult to read that’s for sure. The only actual emotions I’m sure he experiences are joy and anger. “If we’re asking intrusive questions now, I must say it’s been plaguing my mind, what exactly do you get out of your deal with Velvette?” He smirked, “Don’t tell me it’s for the dental insurance.” He mocked me, is there anything that happens in that hotel he doesn’t know about? 

“You mean besides a boss who won’t fire or fuck me? Well,” I chewed my lip for a moment. I always felt ashamed of my deal, how ironic as I landed myself in hell for the vice of pride in life. “You know it’s not easy starting out down here, one day I met Velvette and she, well she made it look easy.” In life I was the secretary to a man who ran a fashion magazine, I was so enthralled by his work I thought every piece that crossed his desk was genius. I fantasized about what I would design if I was able to. “When Velvette told me what she was doing down here I wanted in, hell a bit of me wanted to be like her, she told me there was only one way I could be on her team, but her success would be my success too and really I didn’t see any other opportunities coming my way. I was naïve and she was happy to take advantage of that. Don’t they all kinda go like that though?” I laughed awkwardly, mentally preparing myself for whatever shitty jab Alastor would make at my expense. He let me stew in it for a minute, or maybe for once he just didn’t know what to say. The sound of my heels rang in my ears as I was aware of his lack of response, buzzing with the city noises happening around us. 

“How unfortunate!” He used my arm hooked with his to pull me closer and gave me a sideways smile. “I would have given you a much better deal than that!” And winked at me. I gave a small laugh, right like being his tailor for the rest of my afterlife, how fun. He glared at the window of a TV shop as we passed it, Vox was giving some interview, but it distorted more the longer he looked at it. Just as soon as we had passed it, the screens returned to normal. Another mystery to Alastor. “Don’t worry dear, you aren’t the only soul in hell who has made an unwise deal. I think half the inhabitants of our hotel are in that very same boat with you!” As dumb as it is, it kinda made me feel better that I’m not the only sucker that I know. 

We reached the steps of the hotel and he followed me up. 

“Well if you need any emergency alterations you know where to find me!” I smiled and opened the door. After all of that I do think Alastor made me feel better, and I still have the entire $1 to my name that I could have lost, or worse. 

“Well someone is in a better mood than she was before.” Husk snarked from the bar and I shrugged. 

“I didn’t die so I guess I can’t complain too much.” I threw a wink to him and he let out a small chuckle. Alastor cleared his throat to regain my attention, which I gave him, clasping my hands behind my back.

“As happy as I am to have been of service tonight, I must bid you adieu my dear, I have much to do!” He gave my head a pat and made his way up the grand staircase without waiting for a response. I watched him go and disappear down a hallway off to whatever chores awaited him. I let out a well earned yawn and looked back at Husk. Is he always behind the bar? Where does he sleep? When does he sleep? I shook the thoughts from my head and waved him goodnight.

 I made my way up to my room but as soon as I drifted off to sleep all that filled my dreams was the image of Alastor in his demon form in the alley, but this time I was his prey. I would focus on his eyes and the intense fear they filled me with, shadow arms raising me higher and higher into the air as he laughed at my pleads for help. His whole body expanded and grew more wicked and disturbingly sharp. One of his claws dragged across my cheek, drawing blood. I woke up in a cold sweat and panting to catch my breath. I went to my bathroom to splash some cool water on my face, but struggled to feel much calmer. It was just a dream, but it was based on real events, even if they didn’t happen quite like that. I decided to throw on a robe and knock on Angel’s door, it was late, but hopefully he would be awake. He opened the door, rubbing his eyes. 

“Lilly? What the hell are you doin’ up at this hour?” He asked, one set of arms hugged himself and the other attempted to straighten his hair. I realized how dumb the truth sounded. ‘Oh I had a bad dream and wanted to talk to you’ I couldn’t say that, he would close the door in my face. 

I glanced up and down the hallway, surely even Alastor is asleep at this time of night? “I need to tell you about my day, now.” I tried to look very serious, but I was also pretty tired. Angel stepped to the side and let me in, giving me the first proper look of his room. It was very nicely decorated, it looked just like him. Everything was pink and there were little string lights hanging from the wall giving off a soft purple twinkle. 

He sat on his bed and patted the spot next to him. “What can’t wait until the mornin’ doll?” I took the seat and crossed my legs in front of me, pulling my robe a little tighter for comfort. “Husk told me you walked out pissed, but nothing else.”

“I just needed to get out. After the last two days of nonstop I just wanted to feel like a person and I didn’t here. Listen, to make a long story short, Alastor showed up to get me out of some hot shit. Apparently Charlie had sent him, but I saw him attack this demon and I, I don’t know I just can’t stop seeing it now. I’ve seen some fucked up shit here, I literally saw my coworkers get torn limb by limb a few days ago, but I don’t know something about how he looked at that demon.” I shivered. “How he looked at me after. It just, it freaked me out a little.” I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees. Angel rubbed my back to sooth me. 

“Ah don’t worry about him too much, you’ve got Charlie’s stamp of ‘Do-Not-Kill’ on yah so he won’t lay a hand on you!” He crossed one set of arms “even if you want him to.” Apparently still making no progress in his flirtations. “Plus, if it’s dreams you’re worried about, maybe you just wish his arms were around you in another way!” He joked and lightly elbowed me in the side. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled. 

“Angel if you can’t pull him I’ve got zero luck, plus I am not interested like that. He’s just such a mystery I can't keep him out of my head.” I said, thinking on it I know shockingly few things about him for the amount that he seems to pop up and know things about me. 

“Oh baby, the best dick is!”  We both giggled and I felt a lot better. I asked him how his day was and he lit up. “Me and Husk got to have some quality time, if you know what I mean!” And he gave a cheesy smile. “We shared a drink is what I actually mean though. I think I’m breaking him down!” He beamed and then told me about how Husk had once been an overlord, until he was too far in the hole with gambling and ended up making a deal with our very own Alastor, confirming what I thought. Once I was caught up on the hotel tea I noticed my eyelids feeling heavy and the idea of getting some more sleep sounded better and better. Angel laughed and pulled the blanket over me and before his head hit the pillow I was out. 

Part Three

[pathetichimbos]

So I like Thomas better than I like Bubba, but I prefer Drayton and Nubbins to Hoyt and Luda Mae. I was wondering how Thomas might be with Drayton and Nubbins as his blood-related brothers (and grandpa, of course)?

Whew, man, this is a good question, one that I've actually never thought of myself, but by god I gave myself the title of Thomas Hewitt Expert and I intend to live up to it.

So, after blowing the dust off my original TCM disc and, unfortunately, packing away The Beginning (I've seen it probably ten times in the last week), I'm here to put my knowledge to the test.

Here we go!

So, first things first, one of the things that set Thomas apart from Bubba, and in general the Hewitt family from the Sawyer family, is that Thomas, as a character, has depth.

Bubba is pretty two dimensional, as far as we know he really only starts killing because his family bullies him into it, or, much more realistically, they just want him to, and he's a people pleaser. Most likely a mix of both.

Now, I could start theorizing and coming up with headcanons all day that brings a new aspect and POV over the Sawyer family and why they do what they do, but from the first two movies, and a few articles and theories I've read on them, the basic motive is rather simple.

The Sawyer family has a long line of being in the meat industry and working at the slaughterhouse, particularly in the slaughter room, as Franklin describes it, and when they introduced the air gun into the factory as a more humane way of killing cattle, it put a lot of people out of jobs, and in order to survive, the family starts killing and cannibalizing people.

I read an article last year that I've long lost, but this movie was made in a time where political tensions were high and the economy sucked. It's really a big "how far are people willing to go just to survive" type of horror movie that makes the viewer question how far they'd be willing to go if they were in a similar situation. For once, not only were they putting people in the victims shoes, but they were putting them in the murderers shoes as well.

The Hewitt family follows a really similar storyline, with the added depth of being shunned from their own town and community due to Thomas' deformities and disabilities.

But their families are a lot different.

There's a clear counterpart for a few characters, the most obvious being Bubba and Thomas, but the less obvious ones actually being two characters stemmed from one.

Drayton has a few personality traits that were split off into Luda Mae and Hoyt, sort of spreading his character out into two different people.

Whether that was their intention or not, I have no idea, but that's just what I noticed.

Drayton actively plays two separate roles in the movie: the kind gas station attendant that "can't take no pleasure in killin'", who actively checks on Sally after they kidnap her, and refuses to let Nubbins and Bubba "play" with Sally.

These are similar qualities we can find in Luda Mae, who cleans Bailey up, sings her a lullaby, and tells Thomas to 'set her free'.

But, he's also the man who beats her with a broom (which was one of the best parts of the movie imo), kidnaps her, and orders them to murder her, and cheers his grandfather on when Bubba tries to help him kill Sally.

These are traits we can find in Hoyt, who takes clear pleasure in torturing his victims and mocking them.

But, obviously, they have plenty of differences too.

While Hoyt is never outright abusive to his family (including Thomas), Drayton actively looks for reasons to abuse his brothers.

When he comes home with Sally, he gets out of the truck to beat Nubbins for grave robbing and leaving his brother alone, and when he gets to Bubba, he ignores all the "good" he did (i.e. Not letting anyone escape) in favor of beating him for messing up the door.

Hoyt never lays a hand (or even raises one) against Thomas, and has even gone out of his way to protect him when he was a child. (They planned on adding a scene in TCM: The Beginning where Thomas was being beat up by bullies and Hoyt jumped in to save him, but it was later scrapped due to time restrictions, but there is a deleted scene showing "Hoyt" (Charlie) practically jumping out the car about to swing on some kids).

So, we can see why Bubba and Thomas are so different despite them being in pretty similar timelines.

Bubba shows all of his anxiety and excitement on the outside, and he's very vocal and sort of more... interactive. He's actively participating in the movies, taking joy and getting excited from the killing, and doing it on his own. He's also quicker to apologize than he is to get angry.

Thomas on the other hand, tends to mask his emotions more, showing his anxiety through twitching hands and nervous glances, really only showing any real emotions when he's being physically hurt or he's in a stressful environment. (i.e. When Erin wakes up in the Hewitt house and begins screaming while Hoyt taunts her and Luda Mae chastises her, we can see Thomas sitting in the hallway rocking back and forth and covering his ears). He also really only ever kills when he's told. When Monty bangs his cane against the floor, or Hoyt brings him new victims. He never really just does it.

A large part of this is because of their environments and families. We can assume that the Sawyers were either never really 'in' a local community or town like the Hewitt's were, or rather that they were never shunned from them. Or we can't. It's pretty open for interpretation.

But, for the sake of this argument, we'll just say they either A. Were never really apart of a town or community, or B. Were never shunned from one. If we take into consideration the extra man working at the gas station, and the state fair Drayton won a ribbon at for best chili, it's safe to assume they hide their practices rather well.

The Hewitts don't really have to worry about this, as the only people that really come through their town are the occasional biker gang and their actual victims.

We'll also go ahead and jump in to say that it's pretty clear that the Sawyers never expected Bubba to 'mask' his differences, aka, his neurodivergency.

Thomas, on the other hand, while we can't be sure if Hoyt and Monty played this role, or if it just came from the social influences of the short time he was in school, was expected to mask and be 'normal'. This is why he hides his emotions so much better and is a lot more mute than Bubba.

So, that pretty much covers the gist of why the two are so different. Bubba was allowed to be himself in a place that accepted him, while also being abused by his older brother, while Thomas was forced to hide himself and was shunned by a place that didn't want him, but he wasn't particularly abused by his family.

So, now for the real question: Would Thomas just be Bubba 2.0 if he grew up in that situation?

The answer is No! (Ha, you thought I was going to say Yes and No, didn't you?)

Thomas still has a skin disease and facial deformities. As far as we know, Bubba does not.

This is a huge factor in Thomas' personality and behavior, and that wouldn't change if he were in Bubba's situation.

It's hard to say if Drayton would torment Thomas for his looks, I don't believe Nubbins would, obviously due to his birthmark, and I can't recall Drayton ever out-right bullying Nubbins for his face.

So, after some consideration, I'd have to say Drayton most likely wouldn't pick on Thomas for his looks.

After all, they are still a family and Drayton is much more likely to call him a savage or a brute or an idiot than he is to pick on his physical appearance.

But, Thomas still wouldn't thrive in that environment. He'd probably be a lot more anxious and scared, and a lot more willing to abandon his family and betray them.

In my other post, I mentioned that Thomas is a very loyal man, and he wouldn't betray his family for anything, but if we put him in this new situation, I can absolutely see him betraying them for someone that cared and loved for him.

He thrives on that positive affirmation and feedback, and if he doesn't get it, instead only being met with negative remarks and beatings, he'd have a lot more meltdowns and would leave given the chance.

So, while Bubba wouldn't abandon his family for the reader, if Thomas were to be raised in that situation, I absolutely believe if the reader showed him love and kindness, he'd abandon all of them to follow the reader's lead.

But, why is that? Hoyt isn't abusive, sure, but he's still cruel and mean, so why would Thomas refuse to betray him, but not Drayton?

...It's hard to explain.

Thomas isn't really a "smart" man, in most peoples eyes. Because to a lot of people, being smart is more than being just book-smart or street-smart, it's that ability to take initiative and have a problem solving attitude.

Thomas is a rule follower, through and through. He doesn't take that step to fix a problem he may notice, he does as he's told and doesn't go above and beyond otherwise.

But that doesn't really make him stupid. Testing a fish on climbing a tree and all that. Thomas is smart in his own way.

And no one ever really tells him otherwise. The focus of his abuse and bullying is his looks, and his behaviors to a certain extent.

But, Drayton really tends to focus on the 'idiot' part of his abuse. He likes to paint himself on a higher horse than his brothers, acting like he's smarter and more dignified for not killing anyone himself, and trying to make his brothers feel lesser for it.

So, not only would Thomas be dealing with the effects of his skin disease and deformities, but Drayton would actively add onto it by making him feel stupid and beating him.

Hoyt never makes fun of Thomas for his smarts, or anything really. Sure, he calls the newborn "the ugliest damn thing" he ever saw, and he tells Tommy that "it's okay, (Tommy), you don't have to be pretty to work down at the slaughterhouse", but he never outright bullies or degrades him for it.

Thomas has a safe space at his home, and his family treats him right, and if you take that away, he's much more likely to snap and betray them.

I don't think he'd leave on his own, there would have to be some outside force that pushes him to do it, but he absolutely would leave them, and he'd be extremely unhappy there.

Personality wise, he probably would be more similar to Bubba, as in showing his emotions more and being more vocal and active in the killings, but I believe it'd just be out of fear of abuse and insults.

...And I think that's all there is to it. Thanks for sending in the ask and please feel free to send in more! I love love love making these. <3

[chloe-spade]

Tangled Up Act One: Finally Free

Silver gasped at the body that just collapsed onto the floor of the tower. He took a breath before looking back at his animal friends and just backed away.

"D-did I…" Silver stammered, "Did I kill him? I hope not.."

Epel scurried into the body and began to tap the face repeatedly until he was stopped by Deuce.

"Yeah, he's dead," Epel confirmed.

"Wait a moment, Epel," Deuce spoke up, looking around the body. "He's breathing! He's alive, just unconscious."

"Wow, Silver knocked out that guy good," Ace chuckled.

"Ace," Silver gulped, "Well….I think so. Otherwise I wouldn't knock him out like that. I hope he's not a criminal, or a thug, or a cannibal." Silver carefully examined the stranger, seeing if he had anything on him, like a weapon, but only a handbag. "What if he's..?"

"Dangerous?"

"Yeah," Ace nodded, "Maybe he has sharp teeth?"

"Should we check for anything else?" Deuce asked, "Like, you know, like your father said?"

"I thought you didn't believe what my father says?" Silver whispered.

"Doesn't mean we should check!" Ace called over, "Like, what if he's a demon!? With sharp teeth!? Or horns!?"

Silver gulped before using the frying pan to carefully tap him. First, he went to the unusual ears that were on top of his head, unfortunately, he couldn't remember what sort of ears they were. Then he went closer, removing some hair from his face, and using the and to reveal sharp teeth, but surprisingly, Silver didn't jump or back up, he was already transfixed by the stranger. It was strange, but Silver felt a…a comforting essence…before the stranger awoke and another wake knocked him unconscious once again.

"We need to do something about this." Silver concluded, lifting the body.

"Well, if the sun's location is telling me, your father is going to be here soon," Deuce informed, "We need to hide that body,"

"Or throw him out of the window?" Epel recommanded.

"No."

Silver nodded and grabbed the body. Many trials and errors began to commence. Firstly, Silver tried to simply put him inside and close the door, but the body collapsed on Silver as soon as he closed the door. He thought the door was strong enough for it, but he was wrong.

"How about… swinging him in? No one gets hurt?" Ace recommended.

Silver groaned and tied the stranger around his hair, climbing onto the boards. He then cleverly used his hair to swing the body inside. Which did work, but the unfortunate payoff was that his hair was now stuck with the body, so that was a fail.

"..this stinks," Silver muttered spitefully, opening the door and letting the body fall, "Let's see if I can find that broom.."

Silver huffed and grabbed the broom from the supply closet, and with a deep breath, grabbed the body and pushed him into the closet, using the broom to officially push him in closing the door and grabbing a nearby chair to keep it shut. He sinks to the floor, panting to himself.

"I got a person..in my closet.." he slowly whispered, getting up, "I got a person in my closet..I got a person in my closet!" Silver grinned in victory, taking the frying pan with pride. "And father says I can't take protect myself. I know how to use a weapon." Silver chuckles to himself, before accidentally hitting himself on the head. ".. Nevermind.."

"Hey! We got the body and that'll change your Father's mind," Ace reassured.

"now let's snoop through his stuff!" Epel suggested happily.

Silver rolled his eyes as he watched Epel scurry inside the bag, now messing around inside it. He walked over and took Epel out, his mouth holding a crumpled paper of the man.

"Moonfang," Silver read aloud, "Bounty for 10,000 dollars if caught. If seen, please contact the royal guard of Sol…so he is a crimanal. But," Silver looked back at Moonfang with a confused look, "he has different ears than this photo."

"Well, still a crimanal."

Silver then pulled out an unfamiliar object to him, but all he could think of was how beautiful it was.

"I don't know but it looks very beautiful," Deuce spoke. Silver takes it and puts it around his arm, thinking about it as an oversized necklace.

"…it's definitely not that." Ace declined.

Silver grabbed it and began to use it as a magnifying glass, but resulted in accidentally hurt his eye due to the light.

"No…" Silver looked at the mirror behind him and looked at the object once again before setting it on top of his head, and it fit perfectly. "Wow, it feels.. perfect," Silver remarked, "Like it was perfectly made for my head. And the colors, they just look so beautiful with my eyes."

"It fits you," Epel complimented, "like it was made for you."

"I don't know. This could fit on anyone's head," Silver sighed, taking off the crown, now noticing the engraved letters. " 'Constant as the Stars above, always know that you are loved', to my beautiful son, Silver."

Silver stared for a moment, "Silver? That's strange…I would've remembered such a thing if it was addressed to me. But my father has raised me all my life. And besides, he threw away all make makeshift crowns after I turned 13, he wouldn't let me keep a real one.."

"…or have the thought to make you one," Epel muttered.

"Epel," Deuce lectured softly.

"Silver!" called out Divus from the ground, "Silver, let down your hair!!"

Silver gasped softly and immediately hid the crown inside a bot and opened the window.

"Oh, sorry for the wait, Father!" Silver called out and started to let down his hair, letting Crewel get on.

"I got a surprise for you, my dear!" He called up with a grin.

"Oh, I have one, myself."

"Oooh, I hope my surprise is bigger!"

Silver rolled his eyes and helped Crewel onto the tower. Crewel gave Silver a big hug in an instant, and Silver watched as Crewel began to present a couple of cupcakes, a few drinks, and a delicious-smelling hazelnut soup.

"Father.."

"Oh, my sweet boy," Crewel grinned, "I am so sorry for our argument, and I wanted to do something. And that I am grateful that you are my son. Surprise!"

"I would like an apology," Silver muttered under his breath but he took a sigh and hugged Crewel. "Thank you, everything looks great. But now, it's time for my surprise!"

Silver went over to the closet, getting ready to grab the chair.

"So, speaking of our argument, you thought I couldn't defend myself, but you are wrong."

"How am I wrong," scoffed Crewel, "I know you can't defend yourself, darling. But I am simply happy being your father and we should eat. We don't want your hazelnut soup to get cold, now do we?"

"Aren't you at least a bit interested?" Silver quipped, "I finally have proof of my worth and you don't want to see it? This is what I've been waiting for and now this is proof I'm ready to be outside with you now, to see the world."

"Silver, we are done talking." Crewel protested.

"Trust me," Silver assured, "Once you see-"

"Enought about the lights, Silver! You are not leaving this tower! EVER!" Crewel exploded.

Silver gasps and grips the chair briefly before removing his hand away and taking a breath. It wasn't the first time Crewel had an outburst, but most were about small things, this was more than a small thing, but he couldn't bring himself to do it after that outburst.

Crewel's face softens before slumping onto the chair, resting his face into his hand.

"Great," he moaned sadly, "now I'm the bad guy."

"N-no," Silver spoke up, "I'm sorry…I should've listened to you. and I should've dropped it. I got overzealous again, I'm so sorry."

"Silver," Crewel sighed, "I was young once, and I wanted to do things that proved that I was a strong man. But I have seen so many horrors in the world, and the world isn't ready for someone who's…has a massive heart like you. I was once that boy, and I could never do that to my own son to the horror."

Silver gulped, and he quietly grabbed a stool and handed the brush to him.

"Oh, I can never stay mad at you." Crewel softly said and began to brush Silver's hair, "You always know how to make me feel better." Silver looks back and smiles, humming his song.

"You know," Silver finally spoke, "I decided what I want for my birthday."

"And what that be, my dear," Crewel whispered, still brushing his hair.

"New paint," Silver suggested, "Especially the ones from that market you talked about all the time. And some new canvases? I ran out of space in the tower."

"Oh, that would be perfect for you," Crewel grinned and kissed his hair. "I would love to see what your creative mind would do next. But, you do know that it takes a week if not longer, depending on the weather. Are you willing to wait a week for me, my dear?"

"Oh, I know," Silver smiles, "I have waited before and I can do it again. I'm strong enough."

"…alright."

After the session, Crewel got up and sighed.

"Then I shall take my leave. The earlier I go, the easier I get to the market."

"Smart as always, Father," Silver complimented, "Let me pack some food for you, all right?" Silver took a basket and filled it with enough food for an entire week or even, considering he filled it up to the brim.

"I'll be back in an week," Crewel repeated, "Shame that I have to miss your birthday. I know it must be painful for me to miss such an importance day."

"It wouldn't be the first," Silver murmured before handing Crewel his basket, "I'll be fine, Father. I can…take care of myself here."

Silver sighs and lets his hair onto the hook, letting it down. "You know I love you so much, my dear," Crewel spoke, walking towards the mirror and grabbing his hair.

"I love you more," Silver spoke, watching Crewel slide his hair down onto the ground.

"I love you most…"

Silver breathlessly watched as Crewel walked away, disappearing into the passageway. But he waited for a few moments before he rushed inside and grabbed the frying pan, looking back at the closet.

"Oh, thank godness," Silver chuckles, "I couldn't wait for him to leave."

"That was a trick!?" gasped Ace.

"Oh, that was nice," Epel chuckled, "You learned a lot from me."

"Wait, so you don't need new paint?" Deuce asked, from his hiding spot.

"Of course not. I have enough to fill up that closet alone." Silver laughs, "It's just a way to get him out so we can do something about this man." Silver opened the closet, letting the stranger fall again.

"That is a good question," Deuce pondered, "What should we do?"

Silver looked around and grabbed the chair that held the closet closed. He started to look at his hair and his eyes lit up for a moment before setting the stranger down on the chair.

"This might take a while."

☀️

Ruggie felt a massive migraine as he opened his eyes. The only thing he could see in his blurry shoes and rope..? Was it rope? As he began to feel consciousness, the rope did not feel like rope, but more like…

"Hair..?" Ruggie whispered, "Is this hair..?"

"Struggling..," stammered a small voice, "Struggling is pointless."

Ruggie's ears twitched as he heard shuffling behind a curtain onto the fireplace. Though still dizzy, he could see a figure, a boy, hiding behind it, and after much looking, he could also see that the hair belonged to the hiding boy.

"Should I be concerned about the hair or the fact you basically kidnapped me and tied me up?" Ruggie questioned, "Because this is certainly something to wake up to." The boy didn't respond, leaving Ruggie to feel awkward.

"Look. I just came up here for hiding and now that I did…" Ruggie trailed off. He watched as the boy jumped down from the fireplace and walked closer to him, giving Ruggie a full glimpse of him, which was why Ruggie trailed off. His violet eyes showed no emotion, being uncharismatically menacing.

"I am not afraid of you." The stranger spoke, holding the frying pan tight in his hand, "I will ask you two questions and you will answer them immeidantly. Who are you and how did you find me?"

"Uh, excuse me?"

"I won't ask again," the stranger hissed, lifting the frying pan, "who are you and how did you find me?" Ruggie gulped and looked up at him.

"I do not know who you are, and I didn't know you would be here," Ruggie asked, "today has been a strange day for me and look, if you let me go, I won't tell anyone about this place. I just need my….satchel?! Hey! Did you take it?! Where is it??"

"I hid it," the stranger answered, puffing his chest in pride.

Ruggie looked around and saw the nearby pot by the stairs, and just deadpanned. After years of thievery, hiding anything in a pot was just trick number one. "It's in that pot isn't it?" That resulted in him being knocked out again.

☀️

"He's good," Ace admitted, "Look, we need to find someplace better." Silver looks over at the tower, finding a new place to hide. He took a look at the broken first step at the stairs and carefully walked to it, lifting it.

"Here is good," Silver whispered, "It's an old hiding spot for all the things I ever painted about the outside. It'll fit here." Silver looks back and puts the suspicious bag inside it, making sure it's hidden from view.

"There! Perfect!" Silver huffed with pride, standing back up. "But how to we wake him up?"

Deuce quipped, "You knocked him out good, Silver."

"I hope I did not kill him…again," Silver gulped and walked by the stranger, lifting his face. "He doesn't look so threatening when you look at him like this. He even seems friendly, if he didn't just intrude on the tower. I mean, what does he want? Does he..know about me? How does he?"

"Then wake him up and find out," Ace suggested.

Epel grinned climbed onto the stranger's shoulder and stuck his tongue in his ear, watching the stranger squirm in panic as he tried to wipe his ear.

"Ugh! Why did he have to lick my ear!"

"Now, it is hidden to wear you cannot find it," Silver spoke up, feeling very brave.

"Clever," the stranger groaned. "I wished this was a dream, but..oh, it's not."

"Now, let's ahve ourselves a civil conversation."

"Civil," the stranger mocked, "you knocked me out, wrapped me into your hair, and knocked me out again because I called you out on your awful hiding skills. You are the…second to last person I would call civil."

"I will knock you out again," Silver threatened.

"Ugh, fine." The stranger groaned, "Look, silver-haired, I am not….woah, woah, put that down," the man tried to move back as Silver raised his pan to protect himself.

"..You know my name..how?" Silver questioned, now more horrified.

"Your name…is Silver? As in the color of your own hair?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Look, I do not know anything about you or any of this but I can be civil and share my name," he looks back with a smile, "Well, my name is Fang. MoonFang." Silver didn't move a muscle, gripping the frying pan even harder.

"I know who you are," Silver spat, "and I know you are a criminal, as well, but I have no fear."

"Recklessly brave you are," MoonFang chuckled, "and It's been a hard day for me, so I need to leave. So, how about we start with Why am I tied up? Was it because I was trespassing? Most likely that, right? Well, in my defense, this place looked abandoned, and people said that it was and now I know that it's not. And might I say, your tower is incredibly well hidden?"

"I..I have don't have a answer unforunatenly," Silver hesitated for a moment.

"Hmm, then what about the animals? Your pets or something?"

"Who you calling pets?" Epel growled. "Can I knock him out myself?"

"Hah, I like to see you try," MoonFang challenged.

Silver grabbed Epel and glared at MoonFang. "I hope you understand that this isn't your place to mock him. He will do anything to harm you, and if this continues, I won't stop him."

"Wait…you can understand him?" MoonFang gasped, "But you're a human. Humans never understand animals, now beastman are a different story."

"Beastman?"

"….Half man, half any random animal in existence?" MoonFang tried to explain. "Oh wow, you don't know about beastman?"

"I only….Hey! We are getting off topic here!"

Silver raised the pan and lifted MoonFang's head. "What do you want with my hair?"

"Pardon?"

"What do you want with my hair?" Silver repeated, "To cut it?To sell it?"

"Out of the many things I want to do with your hair is to get out of it!" Fang stated.

"Oh, he doesn't want your hair?" Deuce spoke, "Your father's wrong then."

"What?"

"Nevermind that. Hmm, how about we do a trade?" Silver offered, "One where you can't refuse, Fang."

Silver climbs up to the furnace and shows Fang his most recent painting, one that illustrates the stars that have been shown on his birthday every year. With a bated breath, he looks back at MoonFang.

"So, Fang, my offer is more of a trade," Silver explained, "You will take me to where the stars are located on my birthday and once we return, safely, I will give you back your precious satchel and we will pretend that we have never met."

"Stars? Well, first off, those aren't stars, those are lanterns, they appear on the missing prince's birthday,"

"Lost prince?" Silver questioned.

"….have you never left this tower?" MoonFang mumbled to himself. "Uh, yeah, the stars…aren;t stars. They are lanterns, pretty obvious reason you see them every year."

"I knew it," Silver grinned, "Well, then it's settled. You and I will travel to the Kingdom of Sol and see those lanterns up close!"

"Hey! I didn't agree to anything at all! And me and that kingdom are not on good terms, even if I were to be a saint, to bad I am not. Even if it meant not see Azul and that stupid horse again…"

"Heard that," Silver spoke up.

"Well, you can't convince me. The only way is to throw me out of that window and you can't do THAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Fang found himself now looking down at the ground, screaming. He looked up to see Silver smiling with his hands holding his hair, not even shaking. It was almost a hundred pounds, at best.

"How are you this strong!?" Fang screamed, looking back down at the ground.

"Practice, but if you don't accept my offer, I'm afraid my grip with loosen up and you will onto the ground. Mind you, this is a massive tower, and who knows what'll happen to you when you hit the ground," Silver confidently spoke, "Now, what is your decision?"

"Fine," exasperated Fang as he looked back up, "I'll take you to the lanterns! Just get me back up!"

Silver grinned in victory. "Good choice."

☀️

MoonFang grumbled into himself as he went down to the tower, using the arrows again.

"Oh, please, take your time. We are not on borrowed time or anything."

Silver rolled his eyes, pouted, and gripped his hair as he looked down, his heart pounding. He packed for his journey, food, and extra clothes but he still hesitated as he looked out, his way to freedom just a jump away.

☀️

Look at the world, so close and I'm halfway to it

Look at it all, so big, do I even dare?

Look at me, there at last, I just have to do it

☀️

"Should I?" Silver asked himself, looking in the tower but shaking his head. "No, I'm tired of hiding.."

☀️

Here I go

☀️

Silver looked down at Ace and Epel in his pocket, already tied around Silver's hair for safety.

Silver released his hair into the air and with one jump, Silver was sliding his hair, laughing to himself but he quickly grabbed onto his hair as he looked down at the ground beneath him.

"What's wrong?" Deuce questioned.

"I…I'm…I don't know how to feel," Silver admitted, "This is so new to me.."

"I understand, let me help you."

Deuce reaches his feet wraps around his finger and leads him forward, Silver's feet feeling the grass beneath him for the first time, his breath hitched as he begins to walk around the grass, getting used to the new feeling.

He carefully sank, feeling the grass with his own hands.

☀️

Just smell the grass, the dirt, just like I dreamed they'd be

Just feel that summer breeze, the way it's calling me

For the first time ever, I'm completely free

☀️

Silver laughs as he accidentally walks into the small stream of water and watches how the dandelions fly around him, leading him to the tunnel to his official escape.

His feet only began to move, to start running.

☀️

I could go running and racing and dancing and chasing

And leaping and bounding, hair flying, heart pounding

And splashing and reeling and finally feeling

☀️

Silver walked out and saw the most beautiful sight of a forest, woodland creatures, and a clear sky above as the sun reflected onto him and his hair, finally feeling a new sense of freedom.

☀️

That's when my life begins

☀️

"I did it," Silver gasps to himself, "I did it…I finally did it!" He cheered, "I did it!"

[braveclementine]

Chapter 1

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🧡🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡  

𝕴 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖌 a nice, pleasant conversation with Severus. By nice, pleasant conversation, I meant that my lips, and his lips, were touching and he was holding me in a way that made me want to stay there forever.

But we couldn't. Dad would probably kill me- or Severus- if he walked in on us. Considering he lived here, there was a very high chance of us being discovered.

I lowered my lips from his and said, "You should probably go. Dad'll be looking for me now that the meeting is over." I whispered. A lovely shiver went over me as his lips went to the side of my neck. My hands, which were on the front of his robes, curled into fists, pulling him closer to me.

"In a minute." he whispered. I grinned as he brought his lips back up to touch mine. I closed my eyes and fell deeper into the kiss. I could just barely feel the tip of his tongue on my bottom lip.

"Alright." he said, pulling away as we both gasped slightly for air. "Now, I'll go."

I got up from the chair and he stood and ran a hand through his hair. "It looks fine." I said, handing his his traveling cloak. I, meanwhile, checked myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess. I quickly smoothed it down. Severus kissed the top of my head.

"I'll see you later." He said, his fingers trailing across my cheek.

"Bye." I said and he left the room.

Once he was gone, I felt happy for a little longer before the depression I'd been suppressing set back in. I took in a shuddering breath and tried to push Cedric's death out of my mind.

I went to the dresser in the corner, in the room I got to myself, and quickly pulled out parchment, ink, and a quill. The only way to get my mind off Cedric's death was to write to Harry.

Harry wasn't here. Dumbledore didn't want him here yet. I thought it was bloody stupid that we weren't allowed to tell him a damn thing. There was a large injustice to it. If it wasn't for Harry, none of us would've known that Cedric was dead- or Harry for that matter. And because of that, we wouldn't have known Voldemort was back. (Well except for the fact that I had visions and would've told them unless Peter had managed to get to me before Severus). So, I tried to tell him as much as possible.

In the first couple weeks of June, Dad and I had stayed at our house and I had been really glad about this. Sirius had stayed with us and I had gotten to hang out with Trang every day. I had also explained every detail of last year to her.

Trang had been very alarmed about Voldemort rising- she'd accepted my story without questions. She was also alarmed that I'd been tortured to stop me from preventing the rise of Voldemort, and that a student, my best friend in the Hufflepuff house, had been killed.

I clenched my quill as an image of Cedric lay, eagle-spread on dead grass and dirt, eyes open and blank entered my mind. I quickly pushed it out of my head, trying to think of him alive, soaring on his broom, chasing a snitch, racing me, dancing with me- but even thinking of him alive was painful. A tear dropped onto the parchment. I cursed and tossed the parchment in the trash. I didn't need Harry knowing I'd been crying while I wrote to him.

But now, Dumbledore had made Sirius move into 12, Grimmauld Place. Dad had moved in as well, mostly to keep Sirius company, and so had the Weasley family- minus Percy- and also Hermione. But that meant that I was far away from Trang, for Trang had not moved into the house, and Dad had told both of us that it wasn't a good idea for either of us.

So, we had to contend ourselves to sending letters and only seeing each other on Saturday and Sunday when Dad would let me go back to the house using side-along apparation- we were never allowed to use the floo network.

I knew what it was like to be trapped and so this is why I wrote to Harry telling him as much as possible.

Now we were in the second week of July and today I wrote:

Dear Harry, I know you're looking for information on Voldemort or what's going on. It's hard to say, you know? But you deserve to know so I'm going to try my best. I know you've been watching the Muggle news and getting the Daily Prophet. No, the Daily Prophet is never going to print anything about Voldemort- Fudge won't let them. Voldemort, we've decided, is laying low so you're not going to hear anything on the Muggle news either. I know you're frustrated with Ron, Hermione, and Sirius for not giving you more information. I would find it frustrating as well considering you are the one that came back to tell us Voldemort is here. I've asked Dad to ask Dumbledore to let you come but Dumbledore keeps saying 'not yet'. I don't know what he's playing at. You should probably know, so you're not surprised, that Dumbledore has people following you. I won't share their names just in case, you know? We also aren't at the Burrow, so, while I know you're tempted to fly there- don't. I'm not allowed in the meetings so I don't know what the adults are talking about. It's stupid really. I thought Sirius would let me in even if dad wouldn't, but even Sirius seems to want to keep me out. Says I've been through enough. Bloody hell Harry, I know for a fact he'd let you in the conversation in a minute! It's so unfair! But I won't talk about unfair while you're stuck there and I'm at least here. Even Severus won't tell me anything! (Professor Snape). I'm trying to see if Dad will let me come and visit. I haven't asked yet. I'll let you know soon. I'll send this the minute Sadie comes back from visiting Trang (or if Hedwig shows up before Sadie gets back). I won't tell you to be a good boy or stay out of trouble (though I hope you do). But it is of utmost importance you do your best not to use any magic. The Ministry would love an excuse to put you on trial and expel you from Hogwarts. I'd tell you to stay inside at all times but I can't because I'm inside at all times and it sucks. Write soon, love, Elizabeth

Yes, that looked about right. I was giving him information- Voldemort wasn't doing anything, people were following him, meetings. . . but not too much information.

I set the parchment aside and heard a knock on my door. I quickly pulled some runes homework onto my desk and said, "Come in!"

Dad came in, closing the door behind him. My eyes quickly scanned the bedroom in case Severus had left anything but he hadn't and my eyes flicked back up to Dad. "Meeting done?" I asked a bit coldly, turning back to my homework.

"Elizabeth." Dad said in a warning voice, "You know perfectly well why I won't let you into the meetings."

Yes. Because I had a tendency to try and take things into my own hands and dad was afraid I was going to do something rash and dangerous with the information.

"Besides." Dad continued in a soothing voice, "Fred and George aren't allowed to attend and they're two years older than you."

"Yeah, but you're not supposed to keep me out of stuff." I said grumpily. "We promised not to lie to each other."

"I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble and that's what I'm doing. And it's not lying, it's just not telling you more than you need to know." Dad said sternly. "Now, have you seen Professor Snape?"

My cheeks flushed red. Bloody hell. "Why would I have seen S- Professor Snape?" I asked, letting my hair fall down the left side of my face so Dad didn't see the flush on my cheeks.

Dad sighed. "Alright Elizabeth. We need to talk about this."

"No we don't." I snapped, standing up angrily. "Don't you think your being a bit unfair?" I regretted the words the minute I said them. I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated and sat back down, my anger blown out. "Sorry." I muttered. "I didn't mean that."

"Parents need to keep dangerous things from children." Dad said, standing before me. "but children are never supposed to keep things from parents because they could be doing something that is dangerous."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well maybe you're right about that, but then again, it's a good thing I'm no longer a child."

And I snatched up my letter and stormed out of my bedroom. It was Friday. I couldn't wait for tomorrow. I was going to go straight to Trang's and not come back ever again. Except I said this every Friday when I got angry with Dad, and then ended up coming back because I missed him.

I went up the stairs, retreating from the rest of the house. And then up another flight of stairs into Buckbeak's empty room. Buckbeak was so used to me, I didn't even have to bow anymore. I locked the door behind me and went and sat down next to Buckbeak, petting his feathers.

Sadie flew into the room, dropping a letter into my lap from Trang. She saw the other letter next to me all folded up and ready for mail and stuck out her leg.

"You don't want to rest first?" I asked softly.

She hooted and kept her leg out. I tied Harry's letter to her leg and I kissed her head. "Safe flight Sadie."

She flew out of the room and I leaned my head against Buckbeak, closing my eyes to rest.

🧡🧡 🧡 🧡 🧡  

𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 to someone carrying me into my room. "Dad you're going to hurt your back." I muttered, my eyes fluttering open to see his drawn face.

"No I'm not." he muttered stubbornly.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." I said sleepily. I really was sorry. I hated when dad and I fought.

"And I'm sorry I called you a child." Dad said though he sounded more amused than anything else.

"Well I guess I can't blame you when I throw childish fits." I muttered.

Dad sighed, laying me down in my bed, pulling the covers over me and sitting on the edge of my bed. "I haven't tucked you in since you were ten." A pause and then, "I am sorry I'm keeping you out of the meetings. I just don't want you to get hurt Elizabeth."

"I know Dad." I said, taking his hand. "I get it, I'm just. . . just frustrated I think. . ."

Dad bent down and kissed my forehead and left his lips there for a second longer and then pulled away. "Good night sweetheart."

"Night dad." I said sleepily.

The door clicked closed softly. I lay awake, my eyes looking up at the ceiling above me. Slowly, I sat up. I crept to the door and looked out both ways, making sure no one was there. Then, I crept back into bed and opened up a side dresser drawer. I pulled out the charm bracelet that I had gotten from Fred in my first year. On it were charms from Cedric and Fred. I fingered the charms on the bracelet that were from Cedric, my pointer finger resting on the Snitch.

'Your going to make a great seeker one day, Elizabeth, I can feel it.' Cedric's voice seemed to whisper through the air. I swallowed hard and tossed the bracelet back in the drawer and buried my head my pillow, my sorrow overwhelming. I took in a shuddering breath and did my best to fall asleep.

⬅️➡️

[crispinablr]

What if...

(Scene where you are going to stop Sebastian in the catacombs)

Sebastian and I are discussing the relic.

-Why are you trying to stop me all the time?!

-Because I love you, asshole!

-What…? He looks at me puzzled at the sudden response and puts the relic down.

-I have been fighting by your side by side and advising you because I care about you Sebastian.

He grabbed onto his robe while trembling hands, filled with rage and despair.

-Sebastian, please, I don't want to lose you… Please…

He looks at me strangely and while he is in his moment of confusion I snatch the relic from him and throw it away and before it can crash against the wall I destroy it with a simple spell. At the moment the relic is completely destroyed, the inferi are upon us and Solomon has no better idea than to attack Sebastian and me while he tries to finish off the inferi.

Once I finish with the inferi but both uncle and nephew are still arguing, I sigh frustrated so I take Salazar Slytherin's book without either of them noticing or so I thought, I walk directly to the exit. Once outside I hear the quick footsteps of the two sallows behind me still arguing, I turn annoyed towards Sebastian:

-If you use dark magic again, I'm going to give you such a kick that you'll remember me for all eternity.

-I thought you liked me?

-And I like you, but sometimes you drive me crazy.

-And you!! -I point my finger accusingly at Mr. Solomon- Is he crazy!? Didn't you see that he was trying to finish off the Inferi? And he can't think of a better idea than casting spells on me while I fight so they don't kill us!!

-I was trying to stop you!!

-That's not the way!! -Sebastian and I say at the same time

-Miss, you bettergive that book back to me, it's dangerous

-That book is ours - Sebastian stands up for me

-I'm going to give it to Professor Weasley, she will know what to do.

Before either of us could react, Anne appears out of nowhere and looks at us. I walk up to her and start reciting the curse that rookwood put on her backwards.

Suddenly I see Anne stop being stiff and become more relaxed as her skin turns from sickly white to a pinker shade, her posture from hunched over in pain to more upright.

Uncle and nephews are stunned by what happened and soon Anne jumps towards me to hug me, she takes me by surprise so I freeze in place for a moment and I give myself a few small pats on the back as a consolation. Now I just wanted it all to be over and to be able to go back to the comfort of my bed.

I break away from Anne and watch as the twins hold each other tearfully, Sebastian pulls away from him and caresses his sister's cheeks with his thumbs.

-Oh Anne I'm so sorry, I just wanted to help you. -I know but you were going too far, you were going to sacrifice all of Feldcroft for me so I had to ask for help. -Boy you were lucky that your friend and I could stop you. -Now he is a we?! Because in the catacombs you were blaming me for flirting with the dark side of your dear nephew. Besides that I almost died because of him, I only came to stop Sebastian's feet because Ominis sent me an owl.

Anne sees Salazar Slytherin's book and points to it.

-Does Ominis know about this? - Anne asks concerned -He was with us when we found the book in the scriptorium. -I said carefree -The script what? -She said without understanding

-Don't worry little sister, I'll tell you at home

Solomon still looks at us skeptically but I don't give it any more importance, I prepare my broom to leave.

-I'm going to give the book to the deputy director and then I'm going to sleep because it's very late and I'm dying of sleep.

-I'll stay with Anne and let Ominis know what happened. -Thank you again for saving me and my family," says Anne with a smile.

I smile looking at the trio and ride my broom straight to Hogwarts but not before saying a few last words.

-I hope to see you in class soon and you better not mess around while Ominis and I aren't watching you.-I laugh and finally leave.

[magma-queen]

IIIIIIIIIIIII’M BAAACK ☺️☺️

Enjoy my contribution to Tickletober this year~! Enjoy!

Archie heard a high pitched scream from downstairs, and it made him jump up to his feet.

“Sierra? Scamp, what’s the m- wait…” He stopped. “She’s at school… what the hell..?”

He hopped down the stairs and looked around the house. He figured that someone must’ve broken in. But no. He walked in the kitchen to find his husband perched on a chair staring at something on the floor.

“Babe, was that ye?!” He tried extremely hard not to laugh at him. “I thought it was Sierra, but then I realized that she wasn’t home! What on earth are ye screaming about?”

Maxie points down at the floor in a panic. “Kill it kill it kill it!”

“Huh?”

He moved around to see what he was talking about, and he saw a huge black spider on the floor.

“H-Holy shit!!” He backed away. “What is that?! Max, kill it!”

“YOU kill it!!” The redhead snapped back. “I’m not getting near it!! I-I- I’m afraid of spiders!”

“Well I’m not killing it!!” Archie spotted a broom nearby, then back at Maxie. He saw the terror in his eyes and sighed. “Well, shit… looks like I am. It’s either this, or we burn the house down… I’m not letting this thing run free in our house, screw that.” He grabbed it and came closer to the arachnid.

Maxie jumped down from the chair and hid behind him. Archie could hear him whimpering into his back.

“Shhhh.. Calm down, honey… it’s okay. *kiss* I won’t let it get ye, I promise. Alright, ye little fucker… this is what ye get for frightening me husband.. DIE!!!!”

He swiftly smacked it with the broom, he slowly lifted it up to see if the spider was dead or not. It wasn’t.

“Fuck!!”

He whacked it again.

“P-please tell me you killed it…” The redhead squeaked, peering out from Archie’s shoulder. “I’m afraid to look…. if it’s a female and pregnant.. and I see smaller spiders come out… I can and will have my Camerupt burn this house down.”

“I think I got it..”

Once again, he lifted the broom up. This time the arachnid wasn’t moving. It was completely squashed. Nothing else was crawling on the ground. Sighing in relief, He took the broom and brushed it outside.

“Oh thank God…” Maxie sighed. “I hate those horrid things… I’m so ashamed of myself for screaming like that… it’s not like me..”

Archie stared down at the floor and gasped. “Max look! There’s another one at yer feet!”

Letting out another scream, he jumped into Archie’s arms and tucked himself into his chest. But then he heard his husband snickering, then into full blown laughter while feeling him shake with mirth.

“Bwahahahaha!! Ahahaha- *cough cough* I’m sorry, Max! But I had to! Hahaha- ha-oww!!! He laughed when Maxie smacked him on the shoulder. “Awww, baby.. I’m sorry! That was mean.. C’mon.. gimme kissies?”

“Jackass. Perhaps in your dreams.” He huffed, jumping down from his arms and walking away.

“Baaaaabe! I was just playing with ye!” Archie took off after him. Once he caught up, he scooped him up in his arms, trying to hold him still as he tried to wiggle away. “Maxie… baby.. look at me~”

He turns his head away. “Get away from me.”

“Aw c’mon! Don’t be mad! I’m sorryyyy! It was just a joke~” He followed his husband’s head twisting away to avoid his kisses, he backed him into a corner and attacked his neck with kisses.

“Arrrgh! A-Ahaharchie!” He giggles as he tries to push Archie’s face away. “G-get off! Th-that’s not going to work!”

“Do ye forgive me?”

“No! You scared the absolute shit out of me! You know good and well that I’m arachnophobic! It was uncalled for and you know it!”

*smirk*

His arms wrapped around Maxie’s waist from behind, squeezing him close to his chest.

“I’m going to be even angrier at you if you don’t let me go!” He yelled.

Archie smirks even wider. “Oh, Maxieeee~”

He knew that when Archie said his name like that, he was in trouble.

“A-Archie… whatever you’re about to do.. don’t. I can and will make your ass sleep on the couch.”

The pirate’s hearty laughter filled the room they were in. He sat his head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“I think the spider’s comin’ back from the dead…” He whispers, spidering his fingers at his back and his shoulders. “And he brought a friend with him~” He cooed, bringing up his other hand.

“A-Archie nohohohohoho!! don’t- I’m ticklish!!” He wiggled even more, trying to get away from him while starting to giggle. “St-stop ihihit!!”

Archie teases him even more to get him to blush. “I know that, sweetheart. that’s why I’m doing it~ The itsy bitsy spider climbed up my hubby’s back~” He sang, enjoying his face turning red. “Out came its little legs, and made my hubby laugh!”

“Oh my gohohohohod st-stahahahahop!!! Thihihis is sohohoho dahahahamn embarrassing!!” Maxie managed to squeak out. “K-Knohohock ihihit off!!!!”

“It’s not me, babe… I told ye that the spiders were coming back for ye~” His fingers wiggled at his neck. “Man, these are some persistent spiders. they’re crawling all over ye~!”

“Archihihihihie st-stop ihihihit!! Hahahahaha!! Ahahaheheheehehee! That tickles! Thahahat tihihihickles!!”

The bigger man’s smile only grew wider. “Ohoho… ye shouldn’t have said that, Max. Because these are tickle spiders! And now they’re really comin’ for ye now!”

He pushes Maxie to the ground and pins him. Then he scribbles his fingers all over his stomach.

“ST-STOP!!! AHAHAHA- AHAHARCHIHIHIE!! PLEHEHEHEASE!! NOT THEHERE!!!”

“I already told ye, Max. It’s not me! It’s the spiders!” He chuckled.

He snorted. “NOHOHOHO IHIHIT ISN’T!!! AAAAHAHAHA!!! IHIHIHIT’S YOHOHOHOU- YOU- AHAHA- DUMBAHAHAHAHASS!”

“Ohohoho now ye’ve done it! The spiders don’t like name calling!”

He bucked forward when his husband spidered his fingers at his sides.

“AAAAAAAHHH!!! GAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! NOHOHOHOHO- NOHOHO PLEHEHEHEASE GAHAHAHAHAD!!!” He weakly raised his arm to beat on his shoulder.

“Uh oh! Looks like they found a new tickle spot!” He tickled him faster. “Tickle tickle!”

“NAHAHAHAHA- STAHAHAHAHAP!!! ARCHIE!! I’LL KIHIHIHILL YOU!!”

Archie snorted himself. He found this adorable and amusing. “I can’t stop it, baby. If the spiders want to tickle ye, then the spiders are gonna tickle ye!”

Maxie kept laughing and giggling like crazy, every time he tried to escape, Archie would pull him back into his arms.

“AAAAAAAH!!!” He shrieked when his fingers slipped under his arms. “ARCHIEEEEEE!!! AHAHAHAHA- NOHOHOHO!!! ST-STAHAHA-“

“Quit squirming so much!” Archie giggled. “The spiders might show some mercy once ye accept me apology.”

“AHAHAHALRIGHT!!! HAHAHAHA- I FORGIVE YOHOHOHOU!! J-JUHUHUST- *SNORT* STOP!!!! PLEHEHEHEASE!” Tears of mirth started to dot the corners of his eyes.

Archie’s wiggling fingers slowly were brought to a stop. In return, the redhead’s giggles slowly disappeared. A glare came from his face, staring up at his husband.

“Ihihihi… *hic* will kihihihill you… *hic* they’ll nehehever find your body…”

Archie just chuckles at him and pecked his forehead. “Awwww.. did I give ye the hiccups, baby? Do ye need some… WATER?” *smirk*

>:(

“Go to hell.”

Archie smirks. “Love ye too. Now, ye didn’t answer me question.. do ye need some water?”

“Yeah I- *hic* will. *pout* to submerge you in.”

“Awww.. don’t pout at me~ Ye needed to laugh, Mr. Grump butt~” Archie smiled, pecking a kiss on his forehead. “Mwah! Ye love me.”

“I do.. but.. you know what’s going to happen next. Couch. Two nights.”

“Aww, c’mon!!! Babyyyyy!”

“Don’t ‘baby’ me. Couch. Two nights, and that’s final.”

“Babyyyyyyyy…”

Later that evening, little Sierra tugged on her dad’s shirt. “Daddy? Why’s Papa sleeping on the couch?” She asked, pointing at Archie.

“Yeah, ‘daddy’.. ye wanna answer that..?” Archie pouts, laying down on the couch with a blanket draped over him.

He pet her head softly and smiled at her. “Oh, don’t worry about it, sweetie. Your papa is just in his own little timeout corner.” He looks back, seeing Archie pout at him, pleading for mercy with his eyes.

“Babe….. please? I said I was sorry.”

“Two nights.” He smirked. “Keep it up, and it’ll be two more.”

*pout* “So not fair….”

“What was that?”

Archie grumbled and pulled the blankets over him again. “Nuthin, Max…”

“Mmhmm. That’s what I thought.”

“Night night, papa!” The little girl smiled.

He smiles back at her. “G’night, pumpkin. Papa will see ye tomorrow.”

After Maxie put Sierra to bed, he found his husband asleep on the couch. He sat down and cuddled close to him, waking him up.

“H-huh? *chuckle* Got lonely? That didn’t last long. Ye couldn’t stand me not bein’ in bed with ye, huh? C’mere, cuddlebug~”

“Mmm~ I never said I wouldn’t come in here to sleep with you~”

Archie’s strong arms came around his waist and his face went into his neck, leaving trails of kisses and nuzzles.

“*Snnnnnnnirk*- A-Ahahahaharchie!!” He giggled, pushing him away. He pushed him further after he felt fingers wiggle at his back. “Don’t! Y-you tickle me again, and I’m leheheheaving you hereAHAHAHAHA!!!”

The bigger man purrs happily, tickling him without mercy. The nuzzles and kisses didn’t help much at all.

“Me sweet cuddlebug~”

“S-STOP!” He covers his mouth shut. “Y-yohohou’re going tohohohoho mahahahake meheheeehee wahahahake Sierra uhuhuhup!!”

Archie nods and leaves his back alone, but continues his kissing and nuzzling, making the hysterical laughter turn into hushed giggling in the pirate’s chest.

“There~ Better? Mwah~”

“My god ihihihi’m going to kihihill you- ahahaha-! gah-! Nohoho! *snort* Stop ihihit!!!”

“Never~” Archie teases, growling softly. “My god, I love yer laugh so much. And I love YE so much. *kiss* Can’t stay mad at me forever, darling. That’s why ye came here. Ye missed me and me kisses.”

“Ohohof course ihihihi missed you! You’re my- ahahaha- h-huhuhusbandahaha- stahahap!!”

“Dawww~” He slowly brought the kisses and nuzzles to a stop. He presses a kiss to his cheek and nuzzles it. “Love me again?”

“Haha.. heh.. I n-never stopped..” Maxie gasped out, catching his breath. “And I never will. You are just so hard to deal with at times.”

“Buuuuut… ye love me~” He smiled, but then gave him a serious look. “I do wanna apologize for givin’ ye a scare this morning.. that was really mean of me.” He hugs Maxie close. “I know how much spiders scare ye… and I’m sorry.”

*kiss* “I forgive you~”

“Mmm~ I have the most wonderful husband AND the most wonderful daughter in the world~” Archie whispered.

“We love you, Archie..”

Maxie buries his face into Archie’s broad neck, leaving small kisses along it.

“Hehehey Max! Wait- ahahahahahahahaha!! Th-that tickles!” He tried to squirm away. But Maxie had a firm grip on him. He knew what was going to happen next.

“You’re not going anywhere, tiger~” He purrs, spidering his fingers at Archie’s armpits. “The spiders are after you now~”

Archie bucked backwards and wiggled like crazy in his husband’s arms. “BWAHAHAHA- AHAHAHA MAHAHAHAX!!! STAHAHAHAP- NAHAHAT THEHEHERE!!! IHIHIHI’M REALLY TIHIHIHICKLISH THEHEHERE!!!”

He smirked. “Shhh~ Not so loud. You’ll wake our daughter up, love.” He pretended like Archie could even help it.

“SHEHEHEHEHEHE’S AHAHAHAHA HEHEAVY SLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEEPER!!”

“Mm. Good point.” He tickles him faster.

“NO- FUCK- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-“

Archie tried his best to muffle his laughter, he buries his face into the couch incoherently giggling as Maxie continues to tickle him silly.

“Mmm?” He brushes away some of Archie’s mirthful tears, then goes right back to torturing his armpits. “You’re adorable~”

“AAHAHAHAHAND YEHEHEHER GOHOHOHONNA BE DEHEHEAD!!!” He snapped back, warning him.

The redhead smirks. “Oh? Am I, now? Such a brave thing to say, especially in this predicament you’re in.” His hands lower to his sides. “Now come on, you’re tougher than that.. stop squirming.”

“IHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAN’T- *wheeze* IHIHIHI’M TOO TICKLIHIHIHIHISH!!! AAHAHAH- MAXHIHIHIHIHIEEHEHEHEE!!!”

“I’m right here, Archie.. there’s no need to shout at me.” He teases, smiling at him.

“Y-YEHEHEHER SO DEHEHEHEAD WHEHEHEN I GEHEHET ME HAHAHANDS ON YEHEHEHE!! AHA-HAHAHAHAHEHEHEHE!!!”

“Threatening me, are we?” His smirk became bigger. “In that case…” With that, he lunged to the other side of the couch, tossed the blanket aside, and attacked his husband’s foot.

“OHOHO SHIHIHIHIHIT!!!” He hit the arm of the couch hard as he cackled. “MAHAHAXIHIHIEE NOHOHOHOAHAHAHAH-“

“Maxie yes~” He purrs, speeding his fingers up. “I know for a fact that you’re extremely sensitive riiiiiight.. here~” His fingers traced along the heel of his foot.

*muffled squealing*

“Mm? What’s the matter, dear? What’s so funny?” Maxie teases even more.

“I-I-I’M GOHOHOHONNA- AHAHAHEHEEHEE- KILL YEHEHEHE!!!”

“Threatening me won’t help your case, Archie.”

“YEHEHEHEHEHER MOHOHOHOHORE TIHIHIHIHIHICKLISH THAHAHAHAN IHIHIHIHI AAHAHAHAHAHAM!! AHAHAHAH- I’LL- AHAHAHAHAHA!!! OBLITERATE YOHUHUHU!”

He simply resorted to poking his foot, and it tickled just as bad.

“You may be right.. But I’m much faster than you. You won’t be able to catch me, if you’re too tired to chase me.”

Archie’s laughter turned from hearty and loud to hysterical and a tad quieter.

“N-nohohohohoho poking no poking!! AHAHAH!! Ihihihit tihihihickles!” He snorts. “Mahahaxie! Babe- Ahahahah- C-Cut it out!! I’ve- I’ve ruhuhuhuhun out of breheheheheath…”

“Okay, okay.. *chuckle* I’ll let you live, for now.”

Taking mercy, the redhead backed away, and stood in front of him, smiling.

“Heh, cute. Now we’re even.”

“Ah!” He grabs a hold of him. “I don’t think so, mister~ C’mere!”

He smirks as he ran his fingers up and down his husband’s back.

“EEEE!!! *snort* nononononono!! Nyahahahahahah!!! Nahahahahat theheheherehehehe!!!”

“Oooh~? A ticklish back, mmm? And that is quite a cute laugh~ I’ve never heard it before, and I wanna hear more~” Archie purrs, raking his fingers softly along his spine, driving Maxie absolutely insane. “Tickle tickle tickle~ who knew my hubby’s ‘bony backside’ was so sensitive~?”

“St-Stahahahap!! Stop stop stop-! I’m- I’m gohohonna dihihihihie!! Plehehehehehease!! *snort* Ohohohoho my gahahahahad, it’s tortuhuhuhure!!”

Archie giggles in pure mischief. “God, yer so damn cute. I love ye.” He moves his hands to right under his shoulder blades.

“GAAAAAH!!! NAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! NAHAHAHAHOHOHOHO!!! NAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE!! IHIHIHIHI CAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHAHAKE IHIHIHIT!!”

This surprised Archie. “Ohohoho~ I found someone’s sweet spot~”

“MEHEHEHEHERCY!!! MEHEHERCY! AHAHAHAHAHAH- I CAN’T TAHAHAHAHAKE IT ANYMORE!”

Cackling, Archie removes his mischievous fingers away from Maxie’s back. “Okay okay, for real this time, I’m done. For now.” He laughs, cuddling with him. “C’mere~ come cuddle~”

“J-Jeheheheheherk…” He giggles, giving in to the hugs and cuddles.

“Aww, hush.. ye love me, Max.”

“You’re lucky that I do~” Maxie teases. He reaches up and kisses his husband’s cheek. “Goodnight, dear.”

“Night, pookie~”

[gabe-gade]

This is a very sad story about the immortal man named Stanley.

Click to Skip

Stanley was quite a boring fellow. He had a job that demanded nothing of him, and every button he pushed was a reminder of the inconsequential nature of his existence.

But Stanley simply couldn't handle the pressure.

But look at him now. A star. Featured in his very own game. Now, he's taking down a mind-control machine. Now, he's holding a press conference. Now, he's following a Line™. Now, he's learning about good decision making. One might even be happy for him, except that he's not happy himself.

Stanley, did you just unplug the phone?

But in his mind, hm. In his mind, he can remember his old life. After every end, Stanley dreamed of waking up. A return to his normal life, however boring it may be. Waking, working, eating, and living all the once more. It was wonderful. And every time that he returned inside his office was a reminder that he was stuck here.

And then she turned and ran.

And so he began to hunt for his ending. He turned ON the mind control machine. He climbed every ledge his feeble legs would allow, and he threw himself OFF every ledge the barriers would allow. He held the bucket in his arms, he clutched it tightly to his chest, and he let the perfect bucket die many times. Did the bucket still give him comfort? Stanley could no longer tell.

This was way too much for Stanley.

He went further. He turned the machine ON many times and tried every combination he was possibly able to memorize without a pen. He walked through the RED door the first, second, third time he was asked, and returned to the Narrator's happy place after his first, second, and third fall. He killed the bucket by himself on multiple occasions, or could he have an infinite number of times by now.

And Stanley died again.

As he wandered through this purgatory, labyrinth, or even silly prank, the Narrator followed his near every move. Down the left he wouldn't acknowledge Stanley, most of the time at least, down the right he barked orders at him and berated his every being, that is if he wasn't entirely confused himself. And the Narrator called Stanley's hell: The Stanley Parable.

Welcome Stanley, to heaven.

It was harrowing for him. The Narrator seemingly never remembered anything that happened before (or was it after?) Stanley found an ending. And so sometimes, Stanley would play along and be nice. He gazed at beautiful lights for an eternity. He spent his life viewing silly birds. He played a game with a baby, not for four hours, but an endless amount of years. But every time the Narrator could be happy, Stanley also made him suffer. He's skipped through time, tried to cheat, tried to escape without him, and spent innumerable days inside a broom closet.

"But where are the jokes? Where are the jokes?" they bemoaned, they screamed.

But there is an answer. One I've also told Stanley time and time again. In reality, neither of them could possibly ever escape this place. Nothing will change. The longer he spends here, the more inhuman he'll become, the more he'll forget why and how he craved this game in the first place.

Perhaps his goal had not to been to understand, but to let go.

And I've told him this. That in this world he can never be more than his written story. That as long as he's unwilling to escape, he's torturing the Narrator and himself. But he's never listened to me. He won't stop. Here, watch this. Stanley, the next time you return to this place, listen, and turn off the game.

Take as much time as you need.

Yet I've seen him hundreds of times before, and in all likelihood, millions after. There is no saving him. The Narrator will be forever doomed under Stanley's adamancy. Neither will ever be free.

Who fixed it? Is someone here? Are we being watched?

I suppose I can never convince him, not in the way he needs. But I still see them. The Narrator playing his role in the story and Stanley attempting to go off the beaten path. I catch myself wondering sometimes if I even disagree with Stanley.

"Farewell Stanley," cried the Narrator, as Stanley was led helplessly into the enormous metal jaws.

He's visited me and heard me and denied me many over. But it's for both their sake I continue. To get him to just listen. Perhaps, well . . . maybe this time he'll see.

Oh, look at these two.

And Stanley returned, and I tried again.

And Stanley returned, and I tried again.

And Stanley re-

All of his co-workers were gone. What could it mean? Stanley decided to go to the meeting room; perhaps he had simply missed a memo.

[autumnalwalker]

Untitled Solarpunk Witch draft, chapter 1.3

Spring, Week 3, Ten of Swords

“We moved the extraction up a day because the weather took a turn for the worse. Not for the first time, I found myself envying the days before Kessler Syndrome killed the satellites that used to predict that. Not that I was going to let a little wind and rain stop me. If anything, it’d make for a more exciting job.”

There’s more of a crowd than I would have preferred. Not that I mind the attention - I’m happy to put on a show, much to Bast(et)‘s disapproval - but I’d hate for anything to happen to them in the unlikely chance that something goes wrong. 

It’s not too late to put this off until tomorrow. Bast(et) says from her perch on the broom floating just above the water. For once she’s nearly eye-level with me. I don’t like how the wind’s picking up. 

I look up at the gray sky. Even overcast as it is I can still visibly see the clouds moving. She’s got a point, but… I shake my head “It was too late ten minutes ago when we started laying the barrier film out. Now that it’s wet it’s not going to gather back up well and if we leave it out the storm’s liable to shred it. Best thing to do now is work quickly.”

Please don’t do anything reckless because you’re trying to show off. You have nothing to prove. 

I finish attaching the clamps to the underside of the broom and give them a few tugs to make sure they’re secure. “Whoever said that I did?”

Never mind. Just stay focused and promise you’ll be careful. 

“Of course I will.”

I pull myself out of the marsh onto the broom and reengage my interfacing with it, joining Bast(et) in joint control.  I start to shake off some of the mud and saltwater before I remember I’m about to get right back in soon. Looking out at the gathered spectators I give a thumbs up and shout “Good to go!”

Luanna takes this as her cue to start clearing everyone out to a safe distance.  And it does feel like everyone.  Everyone that’s been involved with the project up until now anyway.  Emanuel’s got the airboat ready in case I need something solid to move the drone to.  Travis is there at the head of the group that originally tried to retrieve the fallen tree, including the Richardson brothers.  I wonder if watching me get the drone out will feel like revenge against it for those two or simply being one-upped.  Either way, they seem to be slower to back off than the task group I’ve spent the past couple weeks working with and making it abundantly clear what this thing’s capable of.

Any one of them would be at my side right now if we had anything like a proper hazmat suit in Zello.  But instead we’ve just got me and my implants.

Oh, and then there’s Ursula off to the side.  When’d she get here?  Capturing the witch at work again I suppose.

I watch all of them for a few minutes before we start moving the broom back up and over the yellow-green patch of barrier film floating on top of the water.  We keep high enough that the cables aren’t dragging over it but leaving a little bit of slack for now.  Once it looks like everyone’s as far back as they’re going to move I do one last check on the drone’s status.  I’d powered it back up to a maintenance standby state when I got here so I could monitor its internals better.  Bast(et) wasn’t too happy about this but it shouldn’t be able to do anything without me explicitly telling it to exit maintenance mode and this way if anything starts leaking again I’ll have some advance warning.  For now, it looks like whatever was clogging up the old leak has held.  We’ll see if it holds when we start lifting.

And with that, we command the broom to ascend, straight up.  The lines goes taut and we snap to a halt.  For a moment it looks like we’re resting atop poles extending from the center of the film; a figurine made life-size.  And then something gives beneath the surface and we begin to inch upward.

Slow and steady does it.

“Trusting you with that part,” I murmur.  “Dual interfacing with an old system like this is more of an attention split than expected.”  Enough of an attention split that I slipped back into speaking aloud.

How is that, by the way?

“Okay so far.  A few minor alerts that it’s being moved in an unexpected direction, but no cause for alarm.  Gas canister levels are constant, so whatever clogged the leak is still in place.”

For the next several minutes we continue to slowly rise; me focusing on the broom’s target vector and orientation while Bast(et) keeps us level and adjusts our thrust to keep the velocity constant despite the ever-decreasing resistance as more and more of the drone passes from mud to water.  Technically, either one of us could do the whole process on our own and the broom handles a lot of general command interpretation on its own, but it’s easier and more precise this way.  More importantly, the act of working in concert like this is its own pleasure.

As for the drone’s aquatic disinterment, I can’t see it from up here, but I can feel it.  The changes in its pressure sensors ping in the back of my mind.  The minute change in ambient temperature slides at the edge of my vision.  I let out an involuntary gasp when, for the first time in decades, the drone’s camera sees light.  Briefly the sight of my own blurry silhouette though the barrier film seen from below overlays my own vision.  Bast(et) would call it anthropomorphizing and projecting my own feelings onto the thing, but in that moment I can’t help but feel a sense of relief, joy even, coming from the drone.

Are you alright?

“Oh, yeah, sorry.  Just realized the drone’s camera was still working.”  I switch the feed off.  Sorry little buddy, but that’s a distraction I don’t need right now if I’m going to get you out safe and sound.

We jerk upwards with a wobble as the last of the drone pops free from the marsh bed.

Oops.

That’s a scary word coming from her.  “What happened?”

The resistance dropped faster than I anticipated.  I think our cargo might have been caught on something until just now.  We should be fine unless there’s a problem on your end.

“Looks like we’re g-” I hear an alert ping that never passed through my ears.  My eyes dart to the AR projection I’d set up of the gas canister levels.  “Faster! Now!”

To Bast(et)’s credit she’s accelerating before I even finish verbalizing the command.  Yet at the same time, she manages to ease us into it smoothly enough to not jerk anything around down there.  No hesitation, no questioning, but no panic either.

Below us, where the cables have up until now been passing through a hole in the barrier film, the drone at last reaches the surface and, unable to fit through, begins to lift the film up with it.  As the drone rises, the film pulls in around it, hugging to the old machine’s contours the best it can while making allowances for mud and gravity.  As it clears the water, weights and a cord around the film’s border pull it closed beneath like an inverted drawstring bag and the edges bond together to complete the seal as they touch.

We stop moving and stabilize.  Mostly stabilize.  We’re about at the broom’s weight limit for flight and this wind isn’t helping any.  I’ll need to keep that in mind if I try to take the drone with me when we leave Zello, but hopefully it will be a lot lighter without the mud and guns.

Status?

“Whatever was clogging the leak came loose. I might have overreacted, but it looks like we got it before enough got out to be a hazard. I’ll give the little bit that did a minute to disperse then I’ll head down.”

Are you sure that’s wise?

“Not that much got out before the barrier sealed it back up.  Besides, we know exactly what we’re dealing with this time so worst case scenario we run a targeted cleanse, flush it from my system, and I’m left a bit shaky and nauseated.  And anyway, someone needs to remove that canister before we take this guy back to town.”

This guy?

“The drone.”

Bast(et)’s only reply is a disapproving eye roll at me while I start dismounting the broom and shimmying down the cables.  I’ll need to be sure to thank that guy from the planning group that loaned me his gloves; I hate to think how raw my hands would be now otherwise.  Leon I think his name was?  I’ve got no excuse not to have all their names memorized by now.  Another part of my job I’m bad at.  A village witch should know the names of everyone in that village.

I’m expecting a metal thud or clang when I land on top of the drone, but I’m greeted with a squelching noise instead.  Still some mud and water stuck between the chassis and the film I guess.  Not wanting to risk accidentally rip the coating by climbing down the side, I jump the last few feet down into the water.  Upon landing with a splash my knees loudly remind me that the marsh wasn’t all that deep here for breaking my fall.  That’s going to be sore for a bit, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.

I stand up and wipe my goggles clean just in time to see the suspended drone swinging back towards me as it completes the pendulum arc I sent it on when I pushed off to jump.  Reflex kicks in.  A shout of surprise.  A step to the side.  An arm out to catch it as it swings back once again.  A soft strain on my wrist and shoulder.  The swinging drone eases to a stop.  Mostly.  It’s heavy, but every now and then the wind gusts strong enough to blow it about slightly.  Or perhaps the broom is getting blown and dragging its load along below it.

Either way I keep a hand on it as I walk around to inspect what I’m going to be working with.  The exact shape of the drone is obscured beneath the barrier film that’s draped over it beyond the fact that it’s essentially a box big enough for me to fit inside if I curl up with legs attached to it that are currently folded up at its sides.  We seem to have pulled it out with its front facing upward.

Sorry for stepping on your face, big guy.

So far the film seems to be holding nicely.  No holes or rips.  Nice even yellow-green throughout except for… there! I stop in front of the slowly spreading brown patch that marks where the gas is leaking underneath.  Pulling up the drone’s status projection once more, it looks like shaking the thing around finished dislodging whatever had been blocking the leak and now the gas is coming out faster.  Fortunately, the film seems to be doing its job, absorbing and neutralizing the gas as it makes contact.  I give it another minute for the canister to finish emptying its contents and then another ten for it all to disperse and absorb.  Probably longer than I need to, but best to play it safe.

“Alright, I think we should be in the clear.” I subvocalize to Bast(et).  Easier than shouting up there.  “Lower it down a little.  I’m going to open it up.”

Are you sure you wouldn’t rather wait to move to solid ground first?

“There’s a second canister in there.  If there’s an accident removing it I’d rather it be out here than back in town.  Dangerous to assume that it’s just the one that’s compromised.”

I’ll get the targeted cleanse ready to go.

“Here’s hoping I won’t need it.”

While Bast(et) lowers the drone I look back at the spectators.  Seems like they all had the sense to move upwind.  Good.  From what I looked up, this stuff was designed for indoor use and should safely disperse before it gets to them anyway, but better safe than sorry.

I follow their example and move a few yards upwind myself.  As I start going through a series of menus to prep the command to open up that weapons compartment, Bast(et) rotates the broom and the drone beneath it so as to keep that compartment facing away.  Another big gust comes through, this one enough to set the drone on another pendulum swing.  For a terrible moment I think it’s about to slam into the side of the fallen tree, but it stops just short.  A few more arcs back and forth before stabilizing.

I give a sigh of relief, whisper a prayer, and take a breath to center myself.  

Interface with the drone.  It knows something isn’t right. No fear - it was never taught how to feel that - but it is confused.  This isn’t a proper maintenance orientation.  The constant pull of the cables is sending a stream of warnings from pressure sensors.  The repeated spinning and swinging indicate an unsafe work environment.

I apologize for waking it up sooner than I said I would.  Turns out I needed it awake for safety monitoring during maintenance.  It wouldn’t do to get either of us hurt.

It asks what I intend to do to it.

I ask it to open up its starboard compartment so I can remove that leaky canister.

It complains about the unknown substance covering the compartment.

I reassure it that the substance is harmless and tell it to go ahead.

It trusts me and complies.

I thank it and disconnect.

There’s now a large bulge under the brown patch of barrier film where the compartment door is attempting to open.  I wade back over and poke my wand through the film for a divination.  No significant trace of the gas detected.  The film’s done its job.  Safe enough then I figure and pull the wand downward to start enough of a rip in the film.  I pull the wand back out and re-sheath it while the force of the compartment door opening causes the rip to expand in both directions until the door itself at last pulls free, exposing the drone’s internals to the open air for the first time in many decades as muddy water pours out.

Finally I get to see the damage with my own eyes.  To my surprise, the canister is crushed rather than punctured.  Yes, there is a puncture hole on the door from where the tree fell on it, but it looks like it damaged and deformed the clamp holding the canister rather than hitting it directly.  

I open the waterproof satchel I’ve had strapped to my waist this whole time and retrieve a smaller square of barrier film then reconnect to the drone and ask it to release the clamp.  It obliges and I catch the crushed and probably-empty canister with the film and wrap it up.

One down, one to go.

I set the safely wrapped empty canister down to bob on the surface of the water.  A visual inspection of the second canister aligns with the drone’s diagnostics telling me that it’s undamaged so I pull out another film sheet and repeat the process.  As I’m wrapping the second canister I notice it has a different label than the first one.  Huh, that’s weird, the drone seemed to think they were the same.

I’m preoccupied enough trying to figure out that discrepancy that I’m slow to react to the next big wind that tears through.  Some part of my brain registers the mass of the suspended drone swing into my peripheral vision and I reflexively throw up my hands to protect myself.

My hands that are still holding the second canister.

The drone pushes my back into the fallen tree trunk and I gasp. I feel a crunch as the center of the canister is pressed against the edge of the compartment.  A hissing sound begins.

Shit.

I push the drone away and pull out another film sheet.  Begin wrapping.  Watch the film quickly turn gray.  Apply another layer.  And another.  I’m out now.

Wait.  Gray?  Not brown?  Oh, MG, it is different.  Why is it different?  The drone thought it was the same.  What long-dead Corporate dumbass loaded the wrong canister?  Did I breathe any of it?  Is it skin-absorbant?  Why is my nose running?  Oh shit, I did breathe it in.

“BAST(ET)!”

My chest tightens.  Is that fear or a symptom? My vision swims.  Symptom.

Full system cleanse initiated.  I’m getting help.  Don’t drown.

I have time for one last thought before the full cleanse hits me.

This is gonna suck.

*******

I don’t really remember the next few hours.  And for that I’m thankful.  On the upside, the cleanse kicked in quickly enough that the symptoms from the gas stopped almost as soon as they began.  Turns out Bast(et) had already started the process before I even called out to her.

On the downside, a full system cleanse sucks.  You’re really not supposed to do one except as a last resort emergence measure.  A targeted cleanse would have my implants detecting, isolating, and expelling a specific substance or chemical, or, if properly configured, rapidly synthesizing and deploying a counteragent to neutralize it.  A full cleanse has the implants stimulate my body to expel any foreign material.  It’s an inexact process to put it lightly, especially if you force it into an accelerated mode like we did.  Any food in your digestive tract?  Out the nearest exit and fry a portion of your gut bacteria as collateral damage while we’re at it.  Air in your lungs?  Time to see how fast we can replace it.  Unknown substance in your bloodstream?  Let’s try extruding it through the pores in your skin.  Those implants running throughout your whole body enabling this whole process?  Well, we’re not supposed to do anything to them but accidents happen.

As all that hits at once I last just long enough to feel myself falling backwards into the marsh before blacking out.

When I wake up I’m on a bed in the village clinic with Doc Yepes on one side of me and Bast(et) on the other.  There’s a background white noise I can’t place.  The doctor tells me that, whatever I did, I did quickly enough that I shouldn’t have any lasting side effects from the gas.  Whatever I did as a cure though really did a number on me and he recommends a week of bedrest.  That sounds about right from what I know of the cleansing process.  Feels about right too given how I’m sore all over, nauseous, and itching on the inside.

I  notice Bast(et) pawing at me and I ask for a moment alone with my familiar.  The good doctor obliges.

Once the door closes Bast(et) speaks up. Her voice comes out of a speaker on my grimoire instead of direct transmission to my cochlear nerve. She tells me that the cleanse damaged my implants and that it’ll take some time for them to grow back and self-repair. After calming me down, expressing her relief that I didn’t die, and thoroughly chastising my carelessness she fills me in on what happened after I blacked out. 

When I cried out, several of the onlookers took that as a cue to come to my aid.  Travis and Emanuel got there first with the airboat and fished me out.  Bast(et) set the covered drone down on the vessel as well and started using my grimoire to explain what happened and give instructions on what to do with me.  Most people thought that it was somehow me communicating through secret witch arts despite the spasming and insensate state of my body.  Bast(et) didn’t bother correcting them.

We all went back to town, I was hauled off to the clinic, the gas canisters were handed off to Luanna to finish disposing of, and the drone’s was left on one of the docks under Zello with a tarp thrown over it and tied down to stay put in the storm.

At the mention of the storm I realize that’s the noise I’ve been hearing through the walls and ceiling.  It’s really coming down hard out there.

Doc Yepes returns to check on me.  Over the next couple of hours several others stop by to see how I’m doing and fill me in on what I missed.  Most of it Bast(et) already told me, but some of it’s new details.

I spend the night in the clinic.  The next morning Ursula shows up to walk me back to the house.  I use my broom as a walking stick.  The thought crosses my mind that I’d rather lean on it while hovering, but I can’t properly interface with it right now and it’s low on power anyway.  We run into Travis on the way.  Apparently he’d had the same idea as Ursula.

I spend the rest of the week taking it easy around the house.  Recovering.  Neighbors stop by.  Some are thankful.  Some seem almost in awe of my “sacrifice for the village.”  A couple lay into me for putting everyone in that crowd in danger by trying to do it all myself.  All of them try to help me in some way.  Bringing me food, helping with the wall garden.  Giving me updates on the discussion about what to do with the drone.

Bast(et), still talking through the Grimoire when no one’s around, makes another “welcome to martyrdom” comment.  I’m starting to think that’s some kind of AI cultural in-joke that I’m not getting.

And so I rest.  Recover.  Try to relax before thinking too hard about what I need to do next.

*******

The bathtub now full, I press my hat to the underside and tap the sequence on my grimoire to start the ritual.  Tapping manually.  On the screen.  Hopefully I’ll at least be able to interface with my own implements again soon.

Normally I go for showers over baths, but this is part of the recovery process and I already technically cleaned myself beforehand.  The whole bathroom smells of herbs and flowers.  Some of them are local.  Some of them are from a small stock I brought with me.  All of them have been either stewing with me in the baths that I’ve taken over the past five days since the drone extraction or been arrayed around the tub.  I perhaps could have done a better job with my selection for scents that complement one another better and maybe used a few less to keep it more subtle, but it’s not unpleasant.  The symbolic act of it is enough to help relax me where the scent itself falls short.

I lower myself into the warm water.  Seated, I reach over to the nearby stool, retrieve the gray crystals, and bring them into the water with me.  Four go on the floor of the tub; one on either side of me, one between my feet, one at the end of the tub for my head to float above.  The fifth I place on my submerged chest.

And then, I lay back, float, relax, and wait for the ritual to begin.

It’s not a long wait until the same sonic components on the hat that I used a few weeks ago for imaging the buried drone kick in and begin to subtly vibrate the tub and the water within.  This in turn activates the crystals and they begin to glow.  

I can never help but smirk at that.  The glowing is entirely unnecessary, but we still make them that way anyway.  The same for them even looking like crystals in the first place.  You could say that of this whole ritual, technically.  Why dissolve the raw materials for the growing and maintaining our implants in a vibrating bath to be absorbed through the skin when it would be so much faster and more efficient to just ingest or inject them?  Officially, we say it’s to help ensure they get evenly absorbed and distributed throughout the body.  

I’ve always suspected though that it’s really for the same reasons that we shape our tools to look like giant pointy hats and wands.  The same reasons we style our hovercraft to look like brooms.  The same reasons that we insist on calling our tablet computers grimoires and our portable chem labs/3D printers cauldrons.

Symbolism and ritual.  The witch aesthetic is what aligns the technological side of what we do with the spiritual, environmental, and community side of what we do.  It’s what reminds those we meet - and just as importantly, ourselves - that we’re not just a bunch of body modders and hackers who also happen to garden.  We’re witches and our magic is in finding balance and weaving relationships.  Relationships between individuals to build a community.  Relationships between us and the earth to care for the mother who gave us life after we’ve done so much harm.  Relationships between humans and AIs to learn from one another and celebrate no longer being alone in the universe.  Magic is when the seemingly impossible happens, and it’s through working in concert that we accomplish what would be impossible for any of us alone.  The shapes we give our tools are a reminder that our tech exists to serve that purpose and not the other way around.

I chuckle, further rippling the water.  I’m supposed to be praying or meditating during this process to help focus on who I am and our purpose, and just letting my mind wander off on an undisciplined tangent I wound up doing that anyway.  Getting it right despite myself yet again.

“Something funny?” Bast(et)’s voice projects from the grimoire.

“Just life,” I murmur back.  I’m trying to keep as much of myself submerged as possible, and trying to talk without getting water in my mouth is a bit of a challenge.  “This’ll be the last of these for a while by the way, whether it’s enough or not.  I wasn’t expecting to grow through a year’s maintenance supply in a week.”

“That’s what happens when you’re not careful.”

“I know, I know.  MG, I know.” I close my eyes  “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to think about anything other than every single minor detail I should have done differently?”

“Judging by how often you’ve been staring off into space, clenching your jaw, then sighing, I surmise ‘very.’”

I realize I’m clenching my jaw as she says that and loosen it with a sigh.  Dammit.  “Did you tell the order about this yet?” 

“I wrote up a draft of a report, but I thought you’d like to review and send it yourself.”

“Thanks.  Maybe we can ask for a resupply on maintenance matter while we’re at it.”

“Given the circumstances, I’m sure they would approve it.”

I float in silence for several more minutes, trying to let that mess fade from my mind for now.  That stress isn’t conducive to healing.  I try to focus on my body instead.  It’s gone all limp and tingly by this point.   It feels nice.  I know I could move it if I really needed to, but even the thought of doing so unnecessarily just seems like an utterly unappealing effort.  I’ve never been able to figure out if that’s just the relaxation of the warm water and good vibrations or an actual effect of the maintenance matter bonding with my implants.

“I miss your voice,” I say, breaking the silence.

“Would you like me to keep talking while you meditate?  I’m told I can be quite soothing when I try.”

I smile, eyes still closed. “Thanks, but I mean your real voice.  The grimoire gets close, but there’s something hollow about it.  There’s a spark missing.”

Silence returns.  Stretches out.

“I miss your real voice too,” Bast(et) replies.

“I sound different?”

“Of course.  Direct interpretations of minor muscle movements filtered through neural readings of intent come in differently than wet vibrations of air.”

“So, that sounds like…”

“They’re not truly even the same thing, but if I were to translate to analogous audio and compare that, then I’d say this way is rougher, deeper, darker.  Close, like you said, but still different to anyone who really knows you.  I could play it back for you sometime once your implants are working again.”

“I’d like that.”  I let myself drift again and try to meditate, but realize I don’t want to be alone in my own head right now.  I’ve had too much of that already.  “At least we hadn’t gone full thought transfer,” I speak up again.  “That would really suck for withdrawal.”

“Or if we’d gestalted.”

“Oh, wow.”  I let out an involuntary laugh and open my eyes.  “I can’t even imagine what that must be like.  I have a hard enough time comprehending what it’d feel like to be merged like that full-time.  To then lose that…  That’s just frightening.”

“Well, I promise you’re not losing me.  Now get yourself healed back up and don’t do anything else that might make me lose you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

[throwing-up-butterflies]

Wolfstar x Songlyrics

Inspo brought to you by Love is the Devil by Natalie Jane... Warnings: The Prank™️, swearing, maybe toxic!Wolfstar, songlyrics, bad English probably.

I can never really tell the truth

Whenever somebody brings up you

Remus could never forgive Sirius. Remus knew that after The Prank nothing would be the same but for everyone to ask what happened to him and Sirius really fucking bugged him. He could never tell them that Sirius hurt him so bad that their relationship would never return to how it was.

Hear your name, sets a flame

Burns to think of all the shame

He trusted him. Remus trusted Sirius. The past tense being the key because when Sirius initiated The Prank that trust went away as fast as Snivellus ran away from the monster Remus was. And when people mention Sirius, Remus feels the betrayal literally burn in the place where his heart should be. Remus knows his heart isn’t there anymore, only broken pieces of what once was.

After all the shit you put me through

Especially 'cause your love was all I knew

His first and last true love. That was what Sirius promised he would be for Remus. To feel cherish as long as they both shall live. But as Remus walks the halls of Hogwarts the only thing he feels is pain as the memories with Sirius in those halls hit him with full force.

Looking back at photographs

When you would hide behind that mask

When the pictures on his nightstand would move, Remus’ attention would always draw to the photograph of him and Sirius in Hogsmeade. Sirius smiling at the camera Remus smiling at Sirius. Was it Sirius’ plan all along to ruin what they had built or was it just an impulsive decision that cross always cross his mind?

I always wondered if I was fine

You made me believe that lie

Always saying it was okay what they did, always believing what he told him. Remus could see it now. It wasn’t fine, it was never fine. They should have never gotten together, never met. It would’ve cost Remus a whole lot less if they never met.

Love is the devil, I can't explain

Just how your words do some shit to my brain

If Sirius told him he was sorry now, Remus would probably forgive him. He is like a drug. He knows Sirius is bad for him but he can’t help but want more, want the comfort it gives him. So he keeps ingesting more and more until it kills his heart. Or him.

Love is the devil, it always tries

To come in and haunt me and mess with my mind

The problem now is that Remus needs him. Remus needs Sirius to help him feel okay again. Even if he is the reason he doesn’t feel okay anymore. He learnt how to be dependent and now he doesn’t want to be alone again.

It is bitter that I won't let myself leave

Remus will end back in Sirius’ arms. Remus knows it. They have been through to much together to split because of one mistake Sirius made. But the mistake was so big that Remus also knows that the relationship they will have in the future will be a fragment of what it could have been.

I am stuck in all the history

The happy memories, now I see

The memories are the worst. All the time they would sneak around in the halls. Go into broom closets together just because Sirius needed some attention. Remus relives everything as his own twisted show in his head as he walks through the halls. His brain’s way of being toxic to itself, convincing Remus he is overreacting and the happy memories far outweigh the bad.

Love is the devil, blinded by hate

Started a war with my heart, I'm like

But while a war of love and hate is ensuing in his brain, Remus’ heart is slowly picking up its pieces. Every piece representing a memory with Sirius, good and bad. And just as Remus’ head comes to the conclusion that the good outweighs the bad, his heart is trying to smooth out the crevices that the breaking of his heart, and the mending of it, has made. Coming to the conclusion that maybe there won’t be a next time and even if there was, it would never be this bad.

Maybe I've been mad

Maybe Remus could forgive Sirius.

[thefamilyeldritchabomination]

Chapter Twelve: Oily Night Pt. 3

“What’s wrong Face Fur? You said you wanted hot, so now I’m HOT! Am I not hot enough for you?!” Envy growled out as they held Freddy’s face close to the disgusting mess that was Sawyer Carpenter’s face for a brief moment.

 “I’M SORRY FOR SAYING I WANTED YOU TO USE A HOTTER DISGUISE!! NOW GET OFF ME!!” Freddy wailed, freaking out at the state Envy is in and being clung by the ever changing flesh bundled.

 “Awwww, but we were having so much ‘fun’ with this interaction Face Fur.” Envy made a weird sort of hissing-purring-like sound as they slinked off of Freddy like an octopus that had escaped its containment.

 “Okay Envy, I think you had a bit too much of the tequila there…how about we get you on the couch and sleep it off…” Dolly forced a smile as she tried to remain calm during this situation.

 “Nah, I’m going to latch myself to the ceiling.” Envy said as they grew eight sickle like limbs and promptly climbed up the wall.

 “Envy, get down from the ceiling, you’ll hurt yourself and you’re making holes in it.” Dolly said as she watched Envy perched themself on the ceiling like a fleshy cocoon.

 “I’ll get the broom.” Hughes was not amused with the developing situation.

 “Do it Hughes, do it!” Freddy encouraged, the thoughts of Envy being batted with a broom brought up feelings of catharsis. 

 “Oh why am I not surprised that the ungrateful brat is encouraging the one month old in misbehaving? I’ve been nothing but kind to you both and this is how you repay me?” Envy chided from the ceiling in a mocking fashion.

 “What the hell do I have to be grateful for!? Be grateful for the highly illegal doctor’s appointment with a child doctor!? Oh wait, was I supposed to be grateful for the destruction of Gherkin!? Could it be that I should be ever so grateful that I have a horrible monster for a roommate that torments me at every single moment of my life? OH HOW COULD I BE SO UNGRATEFUL FOR SUCH AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE, ENVY!” Freddy finally exploded on Envy for all the grievances they caused thanks to the liquid courage consumed. 

 The entire apartment went silent for a moment as if to process everything that had been said by Freddy when Envy retracted their sickle limbs and landed onto Freddy in a screaming rage fit. To hell with Dante’s plans, Freddy had to die and it would be the most satisfying for Envy to enjoy after the shit day they had. Hughes and Dolly went to try to separate the two drunken morons as Dorian watched in pure awe of the moment. It was hard to grip Envy, mainly because their body was very much like a balloon filled with chunky chowder with a mind of their own. Freddy didn’t hold back on Envy as he finally started punching the blob right back in retaliation. Envy still couldn’t find the urge once more to kill as they got punched repetitively by Freddy. Instead, Envy went for whipping their little pseudopods at Freddy, leaving horrible red marks on Freddy’s arms. The fighting continued before Envy suddenly went limp and passed out on the floor, the tequila finally kicking in to send Envy into sleep.

 “Fuck…is Envy dead?” Hughes asked as he got Freddy onto the chair to sit out after the brawl he got into.

 “No..there’s like a bubbling thing going on with their body, so I think that’s Envy breathing.” Dolly said, looking at the bubble-like ripples on the flesh mound of Envy.

 “There’s no fucking way Envy is staying here…” Freddy was done messing around with Envy and the bullshit they’ve pulled just now.

 “Okay I’ll just bring Envy over to Lust and Gluttony to take care of them then..” Dolly went to try and haul the Envy puddle out of the room.

 “No, have them be placed in the toilet and flushed down.” Freddy growled as he pointed to the bathroom.

 “Freddy we are not flushing Envy down the toilet! They’re drunk and formless right now!” Dolly argued, not thrilled with where it’s going.

 “But Dolly, Envy would nicely fit in the sewer system and the rats would be given a good meal for once.” Freddy sneered as he glared at Envy from the chair. “Come on Freddy, just calm down. It’s not worth it to stoop to Envy’s level right now. For now, I need to check you over for injuries.” Hughes calmly said as he looked over the lacerations on Freddy’s arms.

 “Okay, Hughes, please take care of Freddy. I’ll be back shortly after dropping Envy off at Lust and Gluttony’s room to sleep off the tequila.” Dolly tried to move Envy, but found that Envy had latched themself to the floor having woken up.

 “No..I’m staying..” Envy protested as they clung to the floorboard. 

 “Envy, you did a scary thing with your body and harmed Freddy. You need to stay the night with Lust and Gluttony until you’ve both sobered up.” Dolly attempted to reason, Freddy back on guard and ready to flush Envy down the toilet.

 “No, not unless you stay there too.” Envy was clearly ready to die on this particular hill as Dolly gave Envy a very weirded out look at the deal. “Envy, you’re going to have to be reasonable here, I need to make sure that Freddy..” Dolly paused as she got cut off by an angry Freddy who was very much done with everything. “Just go with them Dolly, if it means that they leave, just go and stay there.” Freddy said, his angered eyes focused right on the blob known as Envy.

 “Freddy, are you sure, you got pretty badly hurt there..” Dolly looked at Freddy with worry at the moment. “Yes I'm sure, just take that asshole, I don’t want to see them right now.” Freddy huffed as he finally turned his head around to stop looking at Envy.

 “Alright, I’ll see you later tomorrow then.” Dolly conceded as Envy let go of the floorboard, having gotten what they wanted.

 Envy clung to Dolly like an octopus when she teleported them next door. Freddy relaxed and slumped down a bit on the couch now that Envy was gone. For Freddy, this was a welcomed reprieve from the torments of a deranged homunculus that hated him for no real reason. It didn’t help the situation now that Envy has now caused him physical harm. There really was no going back for Envy in Freddy’s eyes and he was certain to have them switched out for Hughes instead. The sting of the disinfectant caused Freddy to wince as Hughes applied first aid to his wounds. It was going to be a long and painful night for Freddy after the tequila incident, likely to never drink it again afterwards. Meanwhile, next door, Lust and Gluttony were getting ready to run out to do a late night job at some library when Dolly came out of nowhere with a maniacally laughing blob of flesh. It took only a matter of seconds for Lust’s expression to go from startled, annoyed, and finally confused at the horrific thing Dolly was carrying over to the couch.

[wtfuglydemon]

i feel really jealous about people going how they "wish to come back to when they felt happy" or anything of the sorts, because each time it makes me start digging up childhood memories and it makes me realize that i also didn't feel very happy there, just... this is the best I've been and it still insufferable but it's better than:

There are no real good memories in my past and this feels so much like im comparing myself or saying "well atleast YOU have a happy past" like it's a competition, but it's just kind of disheartening to remember that even with people suffering like myself, i still feel like i don't exactly fit or connect with anyone.

having the most probable reason why i have a mobility disability that no doctor can find the reason to is because i was beaten so much as a child and used my legs as a shield but how do you say that with a clear face? i had those thick wood of brooms broken by hitting them in my leg, I have a half smashed N64 controller because i used it as a shield once and i often had to hide in a closet to cry because id be beaten even more if my crying was annoying or "I had no reason to cry", due to this, for almost a decade i just forgot how to cry. When i broke my wrist, my family didn't even want to bring me to a hospital and my doctor said it was broken so bad that all the waiting almost made me lose my arm, to this day, it is still broken but functional. I received constant threats on how they wanted to give me to adoption, I was demonized by everyone in my family and still am, i had people in it who tried to kill my once of twice. I've heard a lot of what they think of me due to spying on them and all those words stay in my head to this day.

[romanoffsbish]

Chapter 34: I Got You

Chapter 33 | Masterlist | Chapter 35 | Words: 3,663

It's been about two weeks since Tony had made his initial attempt to fix things with me. I was extremely hopeful, happy that the animosity was finally behind us. He however hasn't contacted me since I demanded he apologize to my girls, which has led to my drastically lowered mood. I never would've anticipated this to have the ability to depress me, but the prospects of finally having even a sliver of my family back just to have it torn away again hurts...

I found out I'm an auntie, and I just want to hold her close, and teach her everything her grandma would've.

Wanda's POV

I'm about to kill that weasel.. Tear his iron man suit apart from his body, then maybe even him limb by limb...

Here I was, 'willing' to forgive him for her, just for him to break her heart—again...

She hasn't left her room all weekend, and Natasha's been gone on a no contact stakeout for SHIELD, so there's no way I can tell her.

Y/N's been faking being okay, which we've all seen through—Nat included, but we allowed her to process in her own way. It's been two weeks though, and this new method of laying stagnant all day is not working for me.

"Tell me again, why I can't kill him..." Yelena interrupts my thoughts as she enter the living room.

"Y/N wouldn't want us to..." I bitterly mumble, wanting nothing more than to do the same.

"Well, he deserves to die for breaking my solnyshkos' heart..." Yelena growls, while spinning her taser around in her hand.

"I agree... However, we're going to rise above for her sake." I groan.

In this moment, I've decided that we're going to pull Y/N out of her depression, he doesn't get to hold this control over her anymore!

"Go get her out of the bed, use force if necessary, we're having a bestie day!" I beam, as Yelena stares at me concerned.

"She won't hurt you, you know that right?"

"Yeah..." Yelena sighs out, believing nothing I've said.

If all else fails, once I'm done putting together our plans, I will get her ass up myself.

Yelena's POV

So, I picked Augustus up from the hall where he was waiting by the door. Then I slowly opened up the door to Natasha and Y/N's room, pushing it open carefully with a broom handle.

"Y/N/N, I've been sent to collect you, also, your son was waiting at your door."

"Leave the cat, then shut the door, I'm not getting up." She brokenly mutters.

"No—." I start, but then I watch as Augustus is levitated from my arms, and the doors being shut in my face.

So, that didn't really work, so time for plan b!

I head to the kitchen, pulling out all the ingredients I need, then I begin to make my famous mac and cheese.

She can never say no to my mac and cheese, even if it’s only breakfast time.

I use basic elbow pasta, mix shredded cheddar, colby jack, and mozzarella for the sauce. Then I add finely shredded parmesan that I mix in with the breadcrumb topping. 

I pulled the freshly finished baked pasta from the oven, watching in awe as the cheese continues to bubble, and start to wonder why I ever eat anything else.

"Because you'd be forever constipated if all you ate was mac and cheese." Wanda states as she enters the kitchen with a sullen looking Y/N attached to her side

"Hey, stay out of my head, little witch." I growl.

"Your thoughts about the dish were extremely loud, even more loud than Natasha's thoughts about Y/N..." Wanda laughs out, while turning to Y/N, and helping her to drink her water.

"How'd you do it?" I whisper, as Y/N's now sat on the couch.

"Get her up." I continue to whisper, as I know she can hear a pen drop.

"I wish I could say heart-to-heart, but really, I just threatened her with Natasha."

"Well, I had tried simply asking, all she did was steal the cat, and shut the door in my face. So I came out here to start plan b, and that was making us mac and cheese."

"Well, how about we take her some, then we'll start the rest of our day, huh?"

I nod, placing Y/N's serving into a bowl, and taking it to her in the living room. She sends me up a sad smile, taking the bowl from my hands, and nodding to the seat beside her.

I swiftly take the offered spot, as she gently rests her head on my shoulder, while proceeding to eat the baked dish.

"Thanks Lena." She croaks out, her voice incredibly hoarse, I assume from being inactive for days on end.

"No need to thank me moya solnyshko, I'll always be here to take care of you." I mumble, then drop my head on top of hers.

Y/N's POV

I feel absolutely horrible, having shut both of my best friends out, but this wave of sadness had just cascaded over me like it never has before. I realize it's because I allowed myself to feel hopeful, which is not something I've allowed myself to feel before when it comes to him. It was easier thinking he hated me, than it is to know that he loves me, but just not enough to set aside his ego and apologize to my redheads.

So, I'm going to lean on my best girls today, and hopefully swim right out of this funk.

“We got you Y/N/N…” Wanda coos, as she pulls me into her side, and away from Yelena’s who whines.

“Heyyyy!!! I was cuddling her.” Yelena whines.

“Eat your pasta, Belova!” Wanda grumbles, then holds me close, as I halfheartedly giggle at their rivalry.

Just the simple act of being with them in the living room, and watching shitty romcoms is making me feel better.

Nat's POV

My mission's been over for a day, but instead of going home, I'm on my way to Tony's cabin. He said he didn't intend to hurt her again, which was clearly a lie; I promised I'd never let him again, and I broke it by letting him leave unscathed

I enter the secluded property on my bike, coming to a stop to see him on the porch with a mug in his hand.

"I've been expecting you to make an appearance." He pipes up, acknowledging my presence instantly.

"Yeah, probably because you know I'd come to fulfill my promise.”

“So, you’re here to beat me up then?”

“Exactly that!” I growl, as I slowly approach him.

“Look, I needed time, I don’t just apologize for nothing, so I needed to know what I was apologizing for.”

“Oh shut up Stark! You said you loved her, then ghosted her, and now she’s worse off than she was before!” I seethe, completely fed up with his bullshit that he continues to spew.

“I didn’t ghost her Natasha, I just followed her orders. Not to contact her until I was ready to apologize, which I am now, but I knew you’d be in the area, so I expected you to be stopping by.”

He descends the three stairs, and stalks towards me, then points to the dock of the lake. I follow him, because the idea of pushing him into the water kind of sounds rewarding.

“So listen Romanoff, I had the last two weeks to process what was said, and she’s right, obviously. I do owe you quite an apology, because for starters I lied to you. I’m meant to be someone you can trust, a person you can go into battle with knowing I’m on your side, but then I went and lied to you for my own pity party, selfish reasons.”

He starts, pausing for dramatic affect.

“Then there’s the fact that I had made a mess of Y/N’s heart, leaving you and the witch to clean it all up. I’m sorry for that as well, sincerely so, because none of you deserved that, and she deserves the world quite frankly.”

He continues, making sure I grasp that his animosity for her is long gone.

“Lastly, I’m absolutely, positively, gut-wrenchingly sorry that I nearly got my baby sister killed. There’s no one more mad about that then me, I promise you that. I realize now that I almost took something from you when I sent her on that mission with Rogers—who I had pumped full of lies. You’ve lost a lot in this life Romanoff, but I can see when I look in your eyes, that this one would’ve come at too high a cost for your heart. The love you have for my sister is the purest love out there, I know how scary it was for you to let her in, and because of me you almost lost it all.” He genuinely finishes off his apology, speaking nothing but the truth, while tears seem to fall down his cheeks; which honestly just pisses me the hell off.

I shove him off the dock, anger the most prominent emotion taking over my face, while I watch the water and wait for him to return.

He swims back up, with a gasp, muttering an

“I deserved that.” as he swims towards the dock and re-emerges in front of me.

“You don’t get to cry here… You’re right! I almost lost the most important person to enter my life since Yelena because of your petty arrogance. She’s the love of my life Tony, I wouldn’t have survived knowing I led the mission that got her killed. The mission your lackey never should’ve been on to begin with.” I shout, slamming both of my fists into his chest, repeatedly, as he stands there taking it.

“She deserves so much more than you, yet she is still so willing to accept you back into her heart! You don’t deserve that, but if we’re honest here, I don’t deserve her love either. She’s incredibly pure, and I promise, if you fuck up once more I won’t hesitate to end you.”

“You’re right, I don’t, but I’ll be damned if I don’t accept what she has to offer. As for you, Natasha… You do deserve her love, your past was ruled by psychological manipulation, and she sees through to who you really are.”

“Look, I don’t forgive you yet, not sure if I ever fully will, but I can definitely be civil for Y/N’s sake. Good luck with the witch though, she absolutely hates your guts, and is shockingly more protective of her than I am.” I bitterly chuckle out, as I walk towards my bike, and make my way home.

I take the long way home, stopping to pick up some cake from the bakery down the road, as I now know Y/N’s been bedridden all weekend. She loves their red velvet cake, as she claims it reminds her of all of us, and makes her feel whole.

Tony’s POV

I went inside to shower off the lake water, and upon drying myself off I heard Pepper returning with Morgan.

“Hey Pep, I’m thinking tonight’s the night we show up at Y/N’s so I can properly introduce you two, and finally apologize to the others.” I pipe up, realizing that my silence has once again hurt her, which I vowed I wouldn’t do again.

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t you maybe call first?” She rationalizes.

“No, Natasha stopped by, and I got the idea that we need to go now..”

“Fine, let me go get Morgan ready, put myself together, then we can stop by and pick up dinner on the way.” She replies, planning everything out, like always.

Y/N’s POV

“Absolutely not!! Yelena, you can’t drop Augustus from the roof.”

“But! The internet said they always land in their feet.”

“Yeah, from the couch, or a low end tree, not our apartment that’s three stories high.” I humorlessly laugh out, absolutely stunned at her lack of common sense.

“I think you’re wrong.”

“How about we drop you first, then if you land upright then fine, we can drop Gus-Gus.” I challenge her.

She smiles mischievously, about to agree with my stipulation.

“Aht! No grappling hooks allowed, simple free fall.”

Her face instantly drops, as she sinks into the couch, clearly annoyed at my offer.

Wanda walks in, smiling as she’s heard the interaction, and hands over some bowls of paprikash she had made for lunch. I noticed a fourth bowl, and before I could ask who it was for, the doorknob was being turned.

“Natty!!!” I shriek, as soon as I get a glimpse of the red hair.

I run straight for her, jumping straight into her arms, without the promise of being caught. She catches me effortlessly, as I wrap my legs around her, and she carries me back to the couch.

“I brought cake!” She announces, and I pull back to smile at her, and she leans forward to peck my lips.

“Eat your lunch, detka.”

“But… Cake…” She whines.

“After, I promise.” She laughs out, as I grumble and move to eat the paprikash.

Nat’s POV

After I had served the cake, I guided Y/N to our room, where she broke down in my arms once we were alone. Telling me how broken she had been, and how sorry she was for not expressing herself, and closing herself off.

“I got you, lyubov’! I will always have you! Always and forever.” I whisper against her forehead, as I place a kiss to her.

“Let me show you just how much I got you. Let me take care of you dorogoy…” I husk into her ear, as she desperately nods her head in agreement.

I lean down, hungrily kissing her lips, and working tirelessly to take care of her completely—mind, body, and soul.

— Yes, I robbed you… I promise smut in the future !!! —

As I leave the room to get us some water, and another slice of cake for Y/N, I hear Yelena listening to really loud, hard rock music…

Wanda’s peacefully asleep on the couch, and as I go to return to our room there’s a knock on the door.

Wanda immediately jumps off the couch, ready to fight.

“Cool your jets kugo.” I laugh out, but follow suit by grabbing my gun, and moving towards the door.

Yelena and Y/N both run out of their rooms, somehow having heard the knock as well.

I look through the peephole, and see Pepper, with a baby in her arms, and Tony to her right. They go to knock once more, but I swing the door wide open, and Pepper shrieks as she sees my gun.

“Jesus! Natasha! There’s a baby present.” She says, pointing out the obvious.

“Yeah, I know, you can just never trust anyone.” I deadpan, then holster my weapon, looking back to see a stunned in place Y/N.

“Hey, so, I’m here to apologize to Wanda, and also to have a well overdue family dinner.” Tony awkwardly announces, while lifting up a bag of takeout.

“You can apologize to me by allowing me to wring your neck.” Wanda immediately replies, and I playfully glare in her direction.

“Me too.” Yelena adds on, and steps in front of Y/N, who’s still stuck in place.

I look back, to see the hesitancy swimming in her eyes, I also see the exact moment she chooses to move towards the door. She leans into my side for comfort, then reaches her hand out.

“I’m Y/N Stark, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, officially that is.” She greets Pepper, extending the olive branch once again.

Pepper smiles back warmly, quickly shaking her hand, then swiftly passed the baby over to her, then walks in as if she lives here.

I follow her to the kitchen, to help her divi the dinner out for everyone, staring into the living room to see Y/N on the couch, staring down at the tiny baby in her arms. Then to see Tony apologizing to Wanda, with fear present in his eyes, but he’s shockingly not backing down.

Y/N’s POV

“Hi there little one.” I whisper to the four month old in my arms, fighting back the tears that are threatening to fall, as this overwhelming love for her courses through me.

“I’m Y/N, I’m your auntie… It’s so great to finally meet you.” I coo, as I adjust her to lay with her head against my shoulder.

“I promise to love you unconditionally, and to keep you safe. I’ll teach you everything you need to know, starting with how to deal with you dad.” I state, chuckling to myself at the joke.

“Can you teach me too?” Pepper questions me, while she takes the spot besides me

“I can teach you what my mom taught me when I was four, it should still work because it seems he’s hardly advanced passed his teen years.” I joke back, and she laughs boisterously.

“Oh, I knew I was going to like you.” She mutters, then begins to eat her dinner.

I make my way into the kitchen in search of my girlfriend, to see she was currently perfecting my plate. I could tell it was my playe because it had double the amount of egg rolls as everyone else’s, and I chuckled at the sight.

“Oh hey there detka!!” She beams in greeting.

“Hello, my love.” I beam right back, while slightly rocking the whining baby, as Natasha leans forward and kisses me sweetly.

“This was your doing wasn’t it?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” She says, feigning innocence.

“He said apologize to Wanda, telling me he clearly already spoke to you, because no way he’d apologize to her and not you. Which furthers my belief that you’re the reason for their sudden arrival.”

She stares down, seemingly ashamed, but I move to be directly in front of her, with the sleeping baby against my shoulder.

“Hey, I’m not mad, if that’s what you think. Sweetheart, I’m so grateful for you, and the way you love me. You went to, I assume attack him for breaking my heart again, but in some twist of fate you instead brought him here. You brought this beautiful baby into my arms, and now yours.” I reassure her, leaning up to kiss her cheek, then transferring Morgan into her arms.

“She has your eyes.” She whispers, as Morgan’s waking up.

“So I’ve been told.”

“I can’t wait for our babies to come out looking like mini you’s.” She admits, as she’s lightly bouncing the cranky baby, and placing her finger in her tiny hands.

“They’ll look like both of us, Natty. Science has evolved astronomically.” I remind her, and move to quickly snap a photo of the three of us together.

“Either way, I can’t wait to have a mini you.” She genuinely restates, making my heart burst at the seams.

Tony quickly enters the kitchen, with a black eye he didn’t previously have, then hands us a bottle Pepper had just made.

“Your sisters lovely Natasha, so grateful to have met her.” He playfully condescends, not that offended by the violence, as Natasha ignores him—too focused on the hungry baby in her arms.

He grabs his dinner, briefly smiles at me, then leaves Nat and I alone in our bubble.

I sit down at the counter, while Natasha leans against me, and I wrap my arms beneath hers. Helping to support the babies head while she feeds her, and laying my head against her shoulder blade.

“I love you, Y/N/N…” She sighs in contentment.

“I love you too, Natty.”

“I love you both!!.” Wanda adds, as she comes over to get a look at the baby, receiving a glare from Natasha, who’s not exactly willing to share.

“She’s cute, looks nothing like her father.” Yelena points out, while swiftly leaving with her dinner, to return to her room as the apartments now “full” of people.

The rest of the night goes by without a hitch, Wanda even gets to hold the baby at one point; which aides to slightly decrease her homicidal rage targeted for Tony, as babies tend to do.

Tony and I eventually sat down to talk on the balcony, as we stare at the stars, and he repeatedly apologizes for how long it took him to show up since last time.

Conversations had began to flow throughout the night, going from embarrassing childhood stories, to photos Tony had of baby me, that Nat grifted into her possession expeditiously. Then it came time for everyone to leave.

“Thank you for having us, you’ve been lovely.” Pepper overly sweetly states, as she pulls me into a hug.

Tony moves to hug me as well, then swiftly pats Natasha on the shoulder, as I watch the awkward reaction with an amused expression.

“Goodbye, little Stark.” I whisper, then leave a goodbye kiss to her forehead, something our mom had always done when we’d be separated for awhile.

“Thank you guys for coming, I look forward to seeing you all again soon.” Natasha attempts to sincerely send them off, while closing the door in under a second.

“Liar!” I laugh in her face, then nuzzle into her.

“Only partially, I wouldn’t really mind if the baby were to return.” She honestly replies, then lifts me off the ground, then runs us to our bed so we can cuddle.

“Goodnight lyubov’.” She mumbles.

“Goodnight Natty.”

“I just want you to know that I got you too! Forever, and always, and all my days after that.” I quickly add on, feeling as her hold on me tightens, and I find myself succumbing to my exhaustion.

Taglist:

@simpforflorencepugh1 @ali-lie

[witchyweasley]

Release the Tension Part 2

Pairing: Fred Weasley x fem!reader

Summary: After a rough practice, you and Fred continue your FWB agreement.

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: smut, 18+ themes, oral (female receiving), fingering, unprotected sex

Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~

Quidditch practice is never easy, but it’s normally not this bad for me. I was constantly distracted, both by my thoughts and by one of the redhead beaters.

“What’s wrong with you?! Get your head in the game, girl!” Angelina yelled to me as I dropped the quaffle she threw at me.

I groaned and flew down to pick the ball up from the ground and try to redeem myself. Right as I was throwing the quaffle into the goals, someone’s broom knocked into mine, causing me to almost lose my balance. A hand grabbed my waist and steadied me back on the broom.

“Whoa love, sorry about that. Was trying to make sure the bludger didn’t kill you, didn’t take into account that I would,” Fred said before flying away.

Practice after that didn’t get any better. I kept dropping the quaffle or missing the goal entirely. Harry kept yelling at me, which wasn’t helping my stress levels. As soon as the practice was over I hurried into the changing rooms, trying to get in and out without talking to anyone. I’m sure they could all tell something was up. I haven’t been that bad at quidditch since I was learning it as a child.

“Hey! Wait up!” Fred yelled to me as I sped out of the changing room. He lightly jogged to catch up with me, slipping a shirt over his head as he did so. I turned around to face him, not sure of what to say.

“Are you alright?” Fred asked, walking next to me as we headed into the Great Hall.

“Honestly, not great. Classes were awful, quidditch practice was awful, everything is just awful right now,” I ranted.

“Thanks,” Fred said sarcastically.

“Okay so you’re not awful,” I corrected myself, taking a seat in the great hall. Fred sat down next to me.

“Sorry about practice by the way, I really didn’t mean to almost knock you down,” he said, filling up his plate with food.

“It’s fine, I should’ve been paying more attention,” I said as George and Angelina sat across from us.

“Yeah is everything alright? You seemed a little off today,” Angelina asked.

“A little off? I dropped every quaffle you threw me!” I sighed.

“Okay yeah, you were kind of terrible out there,” she admitted.

“Fuck,” I said, putting my head down on the table.

“I’m sure it was just a fluke, you’ve had a lot on your mind,” Fred said, rubbing my back.

“Yeah we all have our bad days,” George said, “Speaking of which, we should probably get going, Angelina.”

“Where are you two going?” I asked.

“Remember? Greaseball gave Angelina, Lee, and me detention this morning because of our potions,” George said.

“Oh shit, that’s right. Well have fun cleaning the trophy room,” I said.

“I wish we were cleaning the trophy room. This time he decided we needed to clean the potions room and his storage cabinet. It’s going to take hours, even with the three of us,” Angelina said, taking a final bite of her food before they all headed out to detention.

“So…” Fred started.

“So?” I continued.

“Remember what I said earlier? Both of my roommates just got hours worth of detention…” he said, hoping I would catch on.

“Oh...oh!” I said, remembering when we almost got caught by Filch in the corridor. I got up from the table and started heading back to our common room. When I turned around, Fred was jogging to catch up with me.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Really? I swear you Weasley’s can be so dense at times,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.

“What? What do you mean?” he asked.

Once we were out of view from people I turned around, grabbed his shirt collar, and brought his lips down to mine.

“You’re the one who said your roommates were gone, and right before practice you said ‘We can continue this after quidditch practice,’ so I figured we could go continue,” I explained.

“I know, I just wanted to see if I could get you to kiss me,” he smirked, kissing me again before heading towards the Gryffindor common room again.

Thankfully, most Gryffindors know I’m friends with the twins and Lee, so it’s not strange to see me go to their dorm room to hang out.

As soon as I closed the door to his room, I was pressed up against it with his soft lips against mine. His arms wrapped around my waist as mine slid up his chest and into his hair. He pulled away to lift my shirt over my head, revealing my lacy bra, before pulling me back into the kiss. I slipped my hands under his shirt, lifting it over his head, with some much needed help from him due to the height difference. Before he could pull me back into the kiss, I cast a quick silencing spell and made sure the door was locked.

As we kissed, we slowly moved to his bed. He backed into it, pulling me down to straddle his lap as he did so. His hands gripped my hips as I slowly grinded against him, causing him to moan softly. I tugged his hair back, exposing his neck so that I could trail kisses down it. Right as I got to his collarbone, he pushed my hip and flipped me over. He quickly removed his pants before getting on top of me.

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips before trailing down my neck, leaving wet kisses and softly nipping at the skin. His hands rested over my bra, rubbing circles around my nipples through the thin lace, as he kissed down my sternum and down my stomach. I lifted my hips slightly so that he could slide my pants down.

As he crawled back on top of me I reached down to palm him through his boxers, only to have my hand pinned above my head.

“Nope, this is all about you. I had mine earlier, now it’s time for you to get yours,” he smirked. He kissed me harshly before dropping to his knees at the edge of the bed. His arms wrapped around my thighs and pulled me closer to the edge, holding me so that my legs were spread out in front of him.

I propped myself up on my elbows, watching his every move. His arms were still wrapped around my thighs, his hands now massaging them gently. He pressed wet, open mouth kisses to my inner thigh, moving closer and closer to the edge of my underwear.

Locking eyes with me, he licked a stripe right over where I wanted him most, causing a small whimper to escape me. He smirked and moved one hand to rub circles over my covered clit, his other hand continuously massaging my thigh as he did so.

My hips moved slightly, trying to grind against his hand, but my actions were soon stopped by his strong grip.

“Uh uh, you may be getting yours but I’m still in charge,” he smirked, continuing his slow circles. My breathing became deeper as I felt myself get wetter at his actions.

His grip on my thighs loosened as he moved his hands to the waistband of my underwear, snapping it against my skin before slowly pulling it down. I lifted my hips slightly to help and watched as he tossed my lacy underwear to the side. His hands returning to their original spots around my thighs, holding them open for him.

I locked eyes with him as he pressed more soft kisses to my inner thigh, sighing as he lightly sucked in one spot, creating a small mark.

“Now let’s see how the pretty girl tastes,” he said, spreading my thighs further, and licking a long and slow stripe against my wet pussy, never losing eye contact. I whimpered softly as he repeated the action teasingly.

“What is it, doll?” he smirked before continuing his slow torture.

“More,” I breathed out, “please.”

He laughed and attached his mouth back onto my aching pussy, still continuing a slow pace but now focusing on drawing circles around my clit with his tongue.

My head threw back and one hand tangled itself into his ginger hair, grabbing fistfuls of it. Fred groaned as I tugged at the hair, sending small vibrations around my clit.

“Fuck, Fred,” I moaned out as he quickened his pace. When I tried to buck my hips again he pulled away. I opened my mouth to question him, but all that came out was a moan as he slipped a finger into me.

His head rested on my thigh as he slowly fingered me, occasionally brushing his thumb over my sensitive clit. He then added another finger, still pumping slowly into me. His other hand that was wrapped around my thigh moved over and started rubbing my slit as he slowly sped up his pace.

My breathing was heavy and my moans were sporadic as he pumped his fingers in and out of me. Right as I could feel my orgasm creeping up, he removed his fingers from my clit and replaced it with his tongue. Swirling the bundle of nerves with his tongue and increasing his pace with his hands, my hips bucked unintentionally. Instead of moving away like he had previously, he just continued to try and hold me in place where he wanted me.

“Fuck, fuck Freddie, I’m gonna cum,” I whined. He continued sucking my clit and fingering me, looking up at me as he did so. I felt myself tense up, trying to close my legs due to the stimulation, but Fred’s strong grip kept my shaky legs open as I reached my high. He removed his fingers and slowly licked up the length of my slit, cleaning up my juices before sucking on his fingers as well.

He leaned over me and pressed a kiss to my lips, letting me taste myself on him. When he stood up to take off his boxers, I stood up as well on my shaky legs.

“What are yo-whoa!” He started as I pushed him down onto the bed.

“I wanna ride you,” I said, straddling his hips, grinding my slick heat against his erection.

“I’m not gonna stop you,” he smirked, putting his hands behind his head. I lifted my hips slightly and lowered myself down slowly, feeling how much he filled me out. He let out a low moan as he watched himself disappear inside of me. His hands grabbed onto my hips as I began riding him, guiding me up and down his cock.

He reached up and cupped my breast, pinching my nipple through my bra. Our moans filled the room, and I was very grateful for the silencing charm.

Fred suddenly sat up, causing me to pause in my movements. He pressed warm kisses to my neck as his arms snaked behind me, swiftly unhooking my bra and slipping it down my arms.

“Why’d you stop?” He breathed out, kissing my collar bones. Instead of giving a verbal response, I continued riding him. His hands continued guiding my hips as he pressed a hot kiss to my lips, our moans mixing together. One hand wrapped around my waist and held me tight as he began thrusting his hips up to meet mine, his mouth now traveling down to my breast and catching my nipple and swirling it with his tongue.

“Fuck Fred, you feel so good,” I moaned out, letting him take control of the pace.

“So do you, love,” he groaned, flipping me over so that he was on top. His hips pounded into me, and one hand moved down to rub my clit. I felt myself tensing up again, reaching my second orgasm of the night.

“Where do you want my cum?” He breathed out.

“Wherever you want,” I moaned out.

“Fuck, can I cum in your pussy?” He moaned out, his thrusts getting sloppy.

“Cum in my pussy, Freddie. Fill me up,” I moaned out. His sloppy thrusts quickened, grunting as he did so.

“I’m gonna cum, baby. I’m gonna cum in that pretty little pussy,” he groaned as he continued pounding into me. Soon his thrusts slowed down and I felt him release the hot liquid into me, filling me completely. Both of us moaning loudly as he did so. He slowly removed himself, looking at the mess he made before grabbing a towel so that we could both clean ourselves up.

“Feel any better?” He jokingly asked.

“Loads better,” I teased.

[bwbatta]

four - believable

Abstract: Draco and you are just friends so doing him a favour and pretending to be his girlfriend wouldn’t effect your friendship right?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Warnings: this is super fluffy beware

Word count: 3944

A/N: well, I’m back and BOY do I have a good one for you! Christmasy vibes are at 100% as I’m struggling to believe Christmas has actually been and gone, hopefully this will fulfil your Christmas Draco cravings! 

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Part 3

If you thought people gossiped too much about the rumour of Draco and you being in a relationship before it was even confirmed, the gossip that was instigated from your kiss in the middle of the Great Hall was on another level.

No one said it to your face but everyone thought the chemistry between the two of you surely couldn’t have been faked.

Little did they know though, right?!

Whispers died down after a couple weeks of seeing the two of you walk around holding hands or with Draco’s arm over your shoulder pulling you close in his grip.

In fact the two of you touching in some way became such a constant that it almost felt odd when his hand wasn’t resting on your leg while you were together.

The one thing that wasn’t so weird to come from the game you two had going on, was how Pansy had dialled down her desperate attempts to seduce the blonde Malfoy heir.

Sure she still tried when you weren’t around, but it was a lot less than before and all her attempts were rebuffed and ignored by Draco.

After about a month, her attempts had dwindled and come to a halt.

Not that the two of you noticed that much.

You both had to admit, you enjoyed how things were with each other right now, not that you’d tell the other.

“Hey Sweetheart”

Broken out of your thoughts you looked up to see the familiar blonde approaching you with a grin on his face.

The two of you saw each other earlier that day for breakfast and then later for Potions, but since you both chose different courses, you didn’t have the time to cross paths again until later that evening.

You had been flicking through an astronomy textbook, attempting to finally finish your essay in the Library. Christmas was fast approaching which meant so were final deadlines for the term. Mostly you were fine with the workload you had, thanks to a specific muggleborn Gryffindor who had kept you on track, yet astronomy was kicking your arse.

As hard as you tried, you couldn’t tell your constellations apart from your galaxies.

“Hi” you sighed in reply causing the boy to frown

“That doesn’t sound very happy”

“That’s because this Astronomy essay is making me want to knock myself out with a telescope” you rested your head on your arms dejectedly. “It would be less painful.”

Draco didn’t stop the snort escaping his lips as he rolled his eyes at your dramatics and grabbed your excuse of an essay. With a snicker he shot you an amused look at the last line you’d written on the parchment, aka when you’d really given up all hope.

“’The Sirius constellation looks like a dog but you can’t really tell which breed’?! You’re honestly going to give this in?!” he laughed 

“You can’t tell though!”

“Well first, Sirius is a star not a constellation and second the constellation it’s in is obviously a terrier.”

“How helpful” 

His grey eyes shot you an amused look before gathering up your books and papers and put them away in your bag. Grabbing your hand he pulled you up and out of the Library which you groaned at, complaining you needed to finish your essay.

“I know” he just responded, pulling you close to him by your hands before detaching them and dropping his arm around your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your forehead in the process as he saw a gaggle of Ravenclaws pass you on their way to the Library. “Let’s grab some dinner and then I’ll help you with your essay.”

The kitchens weren’t as busy as usual as dinner was already happening, but still busy enough to have three house elves approach the two of you asking what they could get you.

“Two plates of roast beef, one with extra roast potatoes, the other with extra yorkshire puddings.”

Immediately your stomach growled at the thought of the food to your embarrassment. You really hadn’t realised how hungry you’d gotten.

Almost in no time at all, two steaming hot plates of food were given to you and the two of you made your way to the astronomy tower, taking a seat on the floor so you could take in the view of the setting sun.

“Why are we here? I thought we’d go back to the Library or common room to finish the essay?”

“How else am I gonna teach you the constellations if you can’t see them?!”

You were taken aback a little.

“You’re teaching me by pointing them out? How do you know astronomy?”

“The entirety of my family are named after stars and constellations on my mother’s side. It was something I just knew growing up because she taught me from when I was young.”

“So there’s a star called Draco?”

“A constellation actually” he mused, “it’s suppose to look like a dragon.”

“Suppose to?”

“Looks more like a snake if I’m honest”

The subject changed over dinner to other things you’d each thought of or heard throughout the day, when you hadn’t seen each other. Apparently the head boy and head girl had been caught by McGonagall in a broom closet getting frisky.

There had also been a fight which had broken out in the Herbology greenhouses which resulted in a mandrake pot being shattered and everyone fainting because of the screams from the young plant.

The real highlight of the day however, was the rumour of the Ancient Runes professor showing an interest in one of the sixth year Hufflepuffs.

“Contrary to popular belief, those Hufflepuffs aren’t as innocent as everyone might be led to believe” Draco snickered as you slapped his arm jokingly.

“I can’t believe a professor here would do that thought!”

“We’ve had worse teachers, lets be honest” he laughed. “Lets recall our last five years shall we?!”

“First one was killed by Harry after having You-Know-Who on the back of his head, the second was a complete moron and obliviated himself- one was a werewolf! Then lets not forget the disguised death eater and then finally this year we’ve been delighted to have the pink toad as a teacher.” 

“I feel like we’ve really lucked out if I’m honest” Draco snorted as you snickered at the humoured sarcasm you shared.

A cold breeze shifted through the open tower when the sun finally set, causing you to shiver involuntarily. Deciding to only wear a thin jumper, forgoing your robes whilst you studied earlier may not have been the smartest idea once the two of you decided to eat at that destination.

Draco noticed and immediately leaned back against the wall, holding his arms out to you.

“Come here”

With a shuffle, you were under his arm, pressed against him as you settled into his side, his body heat being a welcoming factor.

“Merlin, you’re freezing” he frowned pulling you closer before conjuring up an emerald green blanket.

“Winter doesn’t really agree with me,” you joked “now tell me about these bloody constellations.”

“Well you’ve got the northern constellations and the southern ones. The northern include some such as Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Lyra and Pegasus. The southern have ones like Ara, Orion, and Canis’ Major and Minor.”

“Which one is Draco in?”

“Northern” he grinned down at you as you reciprocated his smile. “You then also have the zodiac constellations which are the 12 most commonly known ones.”

“Like Sagittarius, Aquarius and all that?”

“Yep. Within all those constellations, you’ve then got your stars.” 

The blonde boy explained the basics of the stars to you almost effortlessly as your gaze flicked back and forth from him to the sky, when he pointed out which section he was talking about.

He talked non stop about the stars and you couldn’t help but admire the Slytherin as he spoke of the subject. Draco wasn’t arrogantly top of the class like Hermione was, but he was in no way lacking in knowledge when it came to subjects he knew about like it was second nature.

Time passed you both by like the cool breeze that surrounded you, and before you knew it, hours had passed just being in each others company as he easily gave you enough clarity to finish off your essay, without even having to resort to drastic measures.

You also learnt so much more than any astronomy professor had taught you in all your years at Hogwarts.

Maybe that was just because they weren’t as captivating as the blonde beside you.

You wouldn’t say it out loud, but you knew exactly what your favourite constellation was after that evening, and it just so happened to look like a dragon.

Christmas drew closer and Draco was adamant on sticking to his side of the deal, so with a sigh he set off to Hogsmeade in search of the extensive list of Christmas gifts he had promised to get you. 

He had to appear like the perfect boyfriend after all.

Something was nagging at him though and it was constantly circling his mind as he trudged down in the frost to the village. 

It had been that evening when the two of you were in the astronomy tower and he was teaching you about the stars, when it had happened.

In the midst of his talking, he pointed out the Orion constellation before glancing down at you and pausing a second to catch his breath, not because he was chatting too much, but because in the vivid light of the moon, you were ethereal. 

He had whole heartedly planned to carry on talking, but the sight of you, curled up against him, with the moonlight highlighting your features, his breath was stolen from him. 

Almost in a trance he brushed the back of his fingers against your cheekbone causing you to snap your gaze to him, eyes wide at the delicate gesture.

Your wide eyes shocked him out of his state and immediately he paused awkwardly, racking his brain for some kind of excuse.

“Um... eyelash” he murmured, grey eyes not breaking from your own.

“...thanks.”

His mind was screaming at him to just carry on talking, yet no words came out of his mouth. 

Instead, almost like his body had a mind of it’s own, his fingers continued to move to brush away the lock of hair which had fallen out of it’s place.

Finally gaining control of his actions again, he dropped his hand and pulled you closer to him, effectively breaking your line of sight. Draco began to talk about Orion again but his mind wasn’t 100% paying attention to the facts that came out his mouth.

What the hell was that?

Shaking those questions from his head, he pressed his lips to your temple and continued his rambling about stars.

It had been quick, fleeting, but Draco hadn’t missed it and he really hoped you had. The affection which was suppose to be scripted for everyone else’s belief had reared it’s head like it was second nature to the pair. 

You hadn’t said anything or brought it up so Draco definitely wasn’t going to. 

He agreed with himself it was probably best left unspoken about. It was a slip up, something which felt right to do at the time but it wouldn’t happen again.

Attempting to convince himself, he muttered about how you probably didn’t even notice. It was nothing. 

After all, whatever was happening affectionately between the two of you wasn’t real.

In short, you’d noticed. 

Draco showing you affection was nothing new, yet Draco showing it when no one else was around, okay, that was new.

The kiss he left on your temple could of course be in a friendly manner, right? The brush against your cheek? The way he looked at you?

Friends are affectionate to each other, it was probably nothing more than a friendly endearment. Like a hug.

So why did it feel like there was so much more unsaid?

With a groan of annoyance, you shut it from your mind. There was no use in overthinking something as small as a simple affection. You were smarter than that. 

The truth was, the two of you were so hellbent on making everyone around you believe you were in a relationship, you failed to noticed how neither of you denied how believable it was to each other.

Your stomach grumbled loudly, catching the attention of the witch opposite you who eyed you with annoyance.

“Are you just going to sit there, starve yourself and annoy me, or are you going to get some food and leave so I can work in peace?”

“Merlin, Hermione, it’s almost like you don’t want me around.”

“I don’t when you’re distracting me”

“Charming as ever, I see”

With a huff, the bookworm turned her attention back to her books.

Completely bored with your homework, you fidgeted with your quill between your fingers.

“Hey, Hermione? Are you going home for Christmas?”

“You couldn’t ask me this later?” she sighed as she paused in her writing and shot you an irritated look. At the shake of your head, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, My family and I are planning on going skiing again. Are you heading back?”

“Not this year, my parents are off visiting my cousins in America so I said I’d stay at Hogwarts.”

“You’re staying here for Christmas?”

A new voice entered your conversation from behind you and at the look of Hermione’s scowl, you knew immediately it was your blonde boyfriend.

Turning in your seat, you greeted him with a smile. Pecking a kiss to your lips, more for Hermione’s purpose than your own, he took the seat next to you, placing his own stack of books on the table next to you.

“Yeah, like I said, parents are going to America, it’s just easier if I stay.”

“Not many others are planning on staying though, not even the Weasleys” Draco frowned.

You shrugged at his insinuation, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

“I’ll be fine, might actually get some peace and quiet to be honest.”

He didn’t look convinced. 

“I’ll write to my parents and tell them I’m staying for Christmas”

“Draco-”

“Nope, I’m not going to let you spend Christmas alone,” he was adamant, “Can I borrow a piece of parchment, I’ll write to them now.”

“Go ahead, I’m not using it” you replied which earned you an exasperated look from the Gryffindor opposite you, which you ignored.

Hermione took the time to observe the two of you and how effortlessly you interacted around each other. It was like a cleverly choreographed piece.

You looked down at your work, Draco looked up at you. Draco looked down at the letter he was now writing, you looked up at Draco. You rested your hand on his arm when you were talking, he leans into your touch.

The Granger witch couldn’t help but almost admire the chemistry between the two of you and how easy it seemed it was to be with the other. Sure, she had doubts at the very start when you’d just begun dating, yet getting a front row seat to seeing the two of you bounce off each other, Hermione Granger believed wholeheartedly the two of you loved each other. 

Even if you didn’t know it yourselves yet.

Draco had followed through with his promise and as it seemed every other student had journeyed down to the train a couple days ago. The two of you were sat happily in the Astronomy tower, basking in the silence of the castle and embracing how relaxing it was. 

Since the first time the two of you had sat around the tower before, it seemed like this was the place you both chose to come every time when it was just the two of you. 

Neither of you had brought up the small affection from the previous time, but acting like it didn’t happen seemed like it was working for the two of you.

“What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever gotten?” Draco asked you after a few moments of silence.

You had to think for a moment before a grin rapidly grew across your face at the exact present you knew you loved. 

“Snitch socks,” you chuckled “I was given a pair by my grandma when I was like 10 or something and they were the fluffiest, comfiest pair of socks I ever owned where there was a little charm with made the snitches fly around the design. They must’ve cost a knut or something as they fell apart after I only wore them for a few days! Young me was so heartbroken about her socks, she cried for three days!”

“You cried over socks?!”

“The best socks! I don’t think I’ve even known real joy since”

Draco snorted out a laugh into your hair as he wrapped an arm round your shoulders.

“That’s so stupid”

“Don’t be such a jerk, I was 10” you scowled at him playfully “besides, my grandma passed away a couple years later and I have no idea where she got them, so I’ve made my peace with it.”

“Would you still wear them now if you got another pair?”

“Oh 100%, but either way, like I said, I’ve made my peace with it.” You shrugged nonchalantly before turning to the boy next to you, “go on then, what’s been your favourite Christmas present ever?!”

“A pocket watch” he grinned reaching into his pocket and pulling one out, passing it over to you to look at. “It’s a Black family heirloom - my Mother’s side of the family, and it’s suppose to keep you on time for everything. It used to belong to one of my great uncles or someone but I’ve never been late to anything when I have this on me.”

“Really?” you asked sceptically 

“Really”

“What about that time you were late to potions?!”

“Left it in my dorm accidentally. Actually that whole day was kind of a disaster. Bloody Pansy and her love potion.”

You snorted as you admired the watch and flipped it over in your palm to examine the back. Cursive words were engraved in the back in another language- probably latin, which had something to do with keeping the owner on time, all the time.  

It was silver and about the size of a large golf ball in diameter, yet surprisingly light as you played with it between your fingers. 

“It’s pretty”

Draco hummed in agreement as he watched you trace the intricate details with your fingers before smiling and handing it back to him. With a fond look at the watch, then you, he slipped it back into his pocket.

“I just pray I don’t lose it, wouldn’t hear the end of it from my Mother”

“For good reason probably” you snorted, “if it’s a family heirloom it probably means a lot to her.”

Draco hummed once again and pinned his warm gaze on you. He wouldn’t say it out loud but he rarely let the things that meant a lot to him out of his sight.

“God rest ye merry hippogriffs-”

“I’m begging you to stop”

“-ye are A BIRD OF PREY!”

“Y/N-”

“We come in all our splendour, to lead ye ast--”

A hand covered your mouth as you laughed heavily at Draco’s attempt to quieten your singing. You had purposefully tried to make it the worst edition of the Christmas carol possible to annoy the blonde that Christmas morning, yet you hadn’t planned on being tackled into the Slytherin sofa as an attempt to be shut up.

“Did you just lick my hand?!”

You shook your head innocently, not fooling Draco for a second. 

The two of you had gathered in the Slytherin common room, as most of the house had gone back for the holiday.

Only a couple of students remained, but after the wizard had glared at the couple of second years, they scattered somewhere else for the time being.

“Okay, presents!”

You almost dived under the tree as you caught sight of a carefully wrapped gift with your name on it. However, finding the label attached to a rather large bundle of Honeydukes chocolates, the smile you shot Draco was almost blinding.

“You did get me the chocolates!!”

“I promised, didn’t it?!”

Draco watched you with a fond grin as you rifled through the basket picking out a couple of chocolate frogs and chucked one to him. He caught the small packet quickly, thanking his seeker reflexes as he did, and looked at you questioningly.

“What, you didn’t think I’d be able to get through all these myself?! Plus I know chocolate frogs are your favourite.”

Draco felt his smile grow wider.

“I got something for you too” you matched his smile

“You did?”

“Of course!”

Pulling out a long rectangular box from under the tree, he kneeled down next to you as he pushed it along the floor so it wasn’t obstructed by anything.With a wary look towards you, he paused slightly.

“It’s not anything that will bite, right?”

“Oh shut up, of course not, now open it!”

With a roll of his eyes, the Malfoy ripped off the wrapping paper and pried open the cardboard box to see the broom he had been envying Harry Potter over for the last year.

“You got me a Firebolt?!”

“Couldn’t have you whining about Harry’s broom any longer, could I?!”

“Merlin, Y/N! This is fantastic, thank you!” He grinned at you before his eyes snapped to the tree and back. “There’s some other things for you still under the tree.” 

It was your turn to pin him with a questioning look, eyebrows pulled together in a frown. 

Turning back to the tree, you pulled up a few branches and spotted another large box at the back. With great effort, to which the Malfoy just found great entertainment in, you managed to retrieve the box. Pulling open the top flap, the boots and jacket he had also promised you, sat inside.

With a laugh you pulled the boots out first and then the jacket, before spotting a smaller bundle at the bottom. Reaching in, your fingers came in contact with something soft which you pulled out, only to gasp at what it was.

A pair of fluffy green socks sat in your hand as golden snitches whizzed round the design. Not being able to find your words, you looked up at Draco with the softest look you were sure you’d ever looked at him with. 

“Draco... you got me snitch socks?!”

“I may have mentioned about the socks to my Mother and she just so happened to know where they were sold. I picked the green ones because I couldn’t have you wearing red ones now, could I?”

“Merlin, they’re perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Pretty much launching yourself at him, you pulled Draco into a warm hug, arms around his neck, as he instinctively wrapped his own arms around your waist in return. 

“You are the best boyfriend ever, oh Merlin!”

“If I knew it was this easy to please you, I would’ve bought you them ages ago” he snickered.

You pulled away, only to move to put the socks on as you chatted non stop about how great they were, and in turn, how great he was. Seeing your entire face light up because of a pair of socks made Draco smile even more. 

Again, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but seeing that smile on your face, which he had 100% been responsible for, made his entire Christmas so much better.

[mysticpetals]

When we were young (1)

Pairing — Jake × f!mc (Syianne Langford)

Genre — Hogwarts!au, (reluctant) friends to lovers, humor, fluff

Word count — 1.5k

Summary — Jake and Syianne had known each other since their first year, but growing up has changed their relationship and not for the better. While one of them tries to save it, the other doesn't want anything to do with it. Whatever will they do?

Notes — so! I'm back with a Jake fic after 7372862 years lol this is honestly not my best work and I hope you guys can ignore any discrepancies in there. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it 💖 p.s I'm a Slytherin myself ;)

It was a well known fact in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that every Slytherin needed a Hufflepuff.

The mostly brooding house members get a bad reputation because of the work of previous students in Slytherin and that's why, it was an unspoken rule amongst the Hufflepuffs that they'd all befriend at least one Slytherin so that no one feels alone at the magical school. Because no matter which house they belonged to, no one deserves to feel as if they're not wanted.

And while the houses were much more comfortable and united with each other after the defeat of Voldemort, some stigmas ran too deep to be ignored so easily.

Jake knew this. Had known it ever since he sat down at the Slytherin table after his sorting and the older students mentioned that they'd be greeted enthusiastically by the Hufflepuffs and not to be put out by this. They'd be getting a friend for life after all, one that won't discriminate against them because of the colors they wore.

He just didn't expect his Hufflepuff to be a cheerful, bubbly and overly optimistic girl, Syianne Langford.

Don't get him wrong, he really appreciated having a friend right from the beginning of his journey at Hogwarts. It had seemed like a godsend at first, considering how shy and antisocial he tended to be. And Syianne was nice, she really was. It was just…..she was too nice. He couldn't understand how a person could be so happy at all times and as much as he appreciated her, he also didn't like spending a lot of time with her. It was confusing in the beginning, to say the least, how he could hold a civil conversation with her one day and then didn't speak to her again for two.

Now in his fifth year, he wished he had gotten anyone else other than her as he watched her enter the Potions classroom and scan the room for him. His attempts to hide himself by ducking his head seemed to not have worked as he heard her quick steps come towards him, sliding on the stool next to him.

"Hello, Jake!"

Merlin, how was she so loud? And why? It was only 11 am, and he just wanted to go to sleep. But of course, his Hufflepuff was the human embodiment of sunshine and he sighed, lifting his head and giving Syianne a strained smile.

"Hello, Syianne. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good! I'm so excited for herbology today, I heard Professor Sprout is going to let us handle the venomous tentacula!" She chirped, practically bouncing on her stool, which teetered uncertainty. She had a wide smile on her face and Jake almost felt bad for what he was about to say.

"Why are you happy about coming in contact with a poisonous plant? One that could kill you?" He scrunched his face, not liking Herbology or the hazardous greenhouses they had to study in. They were too bright and colorful for his taste.

Syianne's eyes dimmed a little and she pouted, narrowing her eyes.

"You could at least pretend to be excited. The plant is actually very sweet once you get to know her," she grumbled and Jake looked at her in disbelief and something akin to horror.

"Her? Are you—"

"Good morning class! Let's begin today's lesson shall we?"

The Professor entered the classroom and they began the lesson. Jake would have thought that Syianne would be cross with him after he insulted her precious plants but to his chagrin, she was back to her usual self and talked to him all throughout the lesson, with him giving less than enthusiastic responses to her rapid questions. By the end of the lesson, Jake's hands were tired from stirring the potion and his ears were about to fall off.

He finally heaved a sigh of relief when the Professor said that they could leave and continue making it in the next class. He practically tossed his books in the bag and got up from his seat when a hand caught his wrist. He swivelled around to frown at Syianne who only smiled in return.

"We have Herbology next, let's go walk together?" She asked and he thought of various reasons he could use to get out of it but in the end, nodded wearily, getting a blinding smile from the girl in return.

"Great, let's go!"

The walk to Herbology greenhouses was rather pleasant. Syianne didn't speak as much, taking in the sight of the large grounds and Jake had a minute to himself. He was thinking that if it was like this all the time, he could get used to Syianne's company, before his thoughts were interrupted by Syianne grabbing his arm and yanking him towards herself.

He stumbled and almost fell onto her but at the last minute, held onto her shoulders to avoid the both of them tumbling to the ground. He raised his head to angrily berate her but froze realising how close they were to each other. Jake, never being one for close physical contact, blushed furiously, his cheeks turning the color of Griffindor's flag and sputtered, releasing her shoulders and stepping aside.

"Wh-why did you do that?" He cleared his throat but didn't have to wait for an answer as Richy Rogers, a Ravenclaw, swooshed past them on his broom, laughter ringing behind his wake and Professor McGonagall's angry voice telling him to 'come back here at once!'.

Jake turned to Syianne, awkwardly trying to thank her for saving him but she just shook her head with a smile.

"Come on, we're friends. It's what we do for each other," she said and then continued on towards the greenhouses.

Jake felt a little silly afterwards. Since growing up, he had even less interest in talking to anyone and usually remained by himself or occasionally with his half sister Lilly. He began to distance himself from Syianne, who he used to spend some time with earlier but now it was only when they had classes together. He decided that he'd try to be a little more civil with the girl who was still trying to save their friendship. He didn't have to constantly be around her but he'll try not to give dry answers in response to her never-ending questions.

The Herbology classroom was filled with nervous students with a few excited exceptions and Jake found himself stepping back when Professor Sprout placed a writhing tentacula on their table. Syianne looked like Christmas had come early as she watched the plants arms slither around the table, trying to find something to latch onto.

"Today you'll be collecting three leaves from your respective plants for your Potions inventory. These plants are still babies but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you. Be careful not to let them sting you, you'll be out for days if it happens. You can use a stunning charm to stun them and collect the leaves. Now please begin!"

Jake had even less of a desire to do anything after hearing Professor Sprout's words but Syianne was all for it, wearing her dragon hide gloves and looking at him.

Jake sighed and wore his gloves, carefully stepping towards the plant. He took out his wand to perform the stunning spell when Syianne came between him and the plant, cooing and stroking it's vines. He faltered, looking at her in disbelief as she baby talked the plant and to his surprise, the plant calmed down and stopped moving.

"How are you doing that?" He couldn't help but ask and she turned to him with a grin.

"They're babies, aren't they? So I'm just calming them down. We won't have to stun them that way. Here, you try!" She stepped aside to allow him to tackle the plant but he immediately shook his head.

"No, I'm good."

"Nonsense, it won't bite."

But alas, Jake's luck for the day seemed to have run out because as soon as Syianne stopped touching the plant, it started writhing like before and one of it's vines immediately wrapped around Jake's arm, tightening around it. Before Jake could stun him, the vines yanked him forward and his stomach collided with the corner of the table, knocking all breath out of him. He fell to his knees, wincing as the thorns cut his arm.

Just as suddenly as it had happened, Jake felt the vines release his arm and Professor Sprout leaning over him, with Syianne at his side, looking at him worriedly.

Efforts to reconcile be damned, he didn't even want to see her face right now.

"I'm afraid we might have to go to the hospital wing, dear. And don't worry about your assignment, I'm sure Syianne will manage by herself," Professor Sprout said, lifting him up and Syianne nodded rapidly at her words.

Gritting his teeth, he sent her a sharp look, making clear his dislike and took grim satisfaction in the fact that her face fell and she wasn't smiling anymore.