#emmeline my sweet it's been AGES

[bisexualrapline]

!!!!! MISS MAAM WHAT DAY ARE U SEEING HOBI PLEAK

thursday!!! me and my friend bought the nosebleeds that dropped like a week or two ago 🥲 we decided to save our coin for bangtan cb hehe WHAT DAY WILL YOU BE THERE

[nobodyssoldier]

i. a web weaving

i have lived many lives. woman and warrior both. i was severed from my mother and she clung to me, desperate, like a woman adrift in an ocean of troubles. i have been salvation, confidant, and pillar — but i have never been a child.

ii. digging deeper

name: amelia bones

age: 25

former house: hufflepuff

blood status: pureblood

face claim: marissa bode (ask for alternatives)

allegiance: the order of the stag

gender & pronouns: utp

stacks upon stacks of books, all of them annotated, most of them fiction. you were a contradiction of fantastical thinking and pragmatism; scribbling thoughts in the margins and moving through the house like a keen but somewhat absent observer. you jumped from interest to interest, but what fascinated you most was the inner workings of the mind. ‘old soul’, but that’s not quite right — is it? you were just a girl with eyes wide open; a girl who saw the world in crystal clarity, your own form of divination, and who never missed a sideways glance or a comment on the offhand. your mother climbed into your bed and wept into your hair. you did not speak of it.

you were a master of circumvention. you discovered early on that, if you spoke in a low enough voice and dressed the point up in metaphor, no-one would care to look hard enough. they’d never see past the elegant cursive to the true horror; that you are nothing but falsehoods and steady hands. you are not a prophet, nor a scholar. you have no real answers. with polite smiles and glassy eyes, they turn from you and you think ‘good. let me live in this fantasy forever’.

but the story ends, as most things do, with one harsh truth: seeing is easy, being seen is hard. you’re a mean, mistrustful stray by nature, but once coaxed inside, you find yourself drawn to the light of the hearth. there’s a unique pleasure in the warmth of a palm against your cheek and a conspiratorial look shared as opposed to indulged in privately. you talk into the small hours, form tenuous friendships, and feel for the first time that you could find a new home; somewhere comfort is exchanged, not taken.

the winter of your heart is over. the ice around you thaws, slowly but surely, and flowers spring up in the spaces between your ribs. roses for passion, sweet peas for pleasure, and daffodils for new beginnings. this is what it feels like to be something other than alone.

iii. connections

one. DORCAS MEADOWES , ex — yesterday, i dreamt about you. i hardly remember the details, just that we kept on merging into one another. i was you, you were me.

two. EDGAR BONES , sibling — i remembered the sound. she had been just in time. “we take care of our own,” my mother said, while my sister and my brother and i all stood gaping at the branch that would have ruined our day. “we snickets take care of our own.” i was not taking care of my own.

three. EMMELINE VANCE , best friend — i have just said something ridiculous to you, and in response, your glorious laughter.

[poetryasreligion]

LIVING IN A BODY

This forward will be short and sweet because it's hard for me to talk about my own experience of living in a body—rather than paraphrase, I think I articulated it the best I could when I wrote this essay.

In short: I've been in recovery for an eating disorder for a few years now, which is by no means a unique experience for women in our society. I want to give myself and my community permission to accept our bodies as they are without judgement, but I also want to give us permission to think about more interesting things than our physical forms. The following poetic resources have helped me deprogram patriarchal ED/diet culture and see my body as a temporary vessel for my soul but worthy of care nonetheless.

Dead Weight by Emmeline Clein (part memoir, part cultural criticism, part research nonfic/public scholarship on eating disorders in America)

Excerpt: In the morning with her, I forgot that my stomach slides down in a shape I hate when I lie on my side, my mind completely consumed by the hill of her cheek and the words needled into her ribs and the shades of gold in her hair. That forgetting, is that love?

Hunger by Roxane Gay (memoir)

Liquid Cartography by Twila Newey (poem // the body as nature)

Sometimes I Think My Body Leaves a Shape in the Air by Ada Limòn (poem // body and its incompleteness)

The Pain Scale by Eula Biss (essay // chronic pain - a little off-theme but incredibly evocative nonetheless)

The Age of Instagram Face by Jia Tolentino (article // social media and beauty standards)

This tweet (the beautiful intricacies of our biological processes, the tireless and thankless labor our body performs daily just to keep us alive... my goodness!)

[engie-ivy]

Marlene’s little brother has a thing for Sirius, because who doesn't have a thing for Sirius? Marlene is freaking out, and everyone thinks it's just hilarious. Remus would've thought it was hilarious too, had Marlene’s little brother not been very close in age, cute, witty, and oh so bloody charming.

Somewhat longer fic that will be added to my Crush Confessions Series! 3756 words, so not that long. Wolfstar Fluff, of course😎

Muggle Charms

James Potter’s garden party is the event of the summer. Everyone gets together at the Potter estate for a day of listening to music, swimming in the lake (yes, there’s a lake on the grounds of the Potter estate), and playing friendly Quidditch matches. Mrs Potter walks around with all sorts of delicious foods, James and Sirius fly their brooms above the lake and make bets who dares to jump off from the greatest height, Mary and Emmeline are sunbathing and make bets who will need to be healed first.

It had started the summer after first year with just the four Marauders, but every year, their number has grown, and this year is the largest group thus far.

Marlene McKinnon is last to arrive, and, as usual, her arrival doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Everyone, come meet my little brother!” She shouts across the field.

The McKinnons have four children. Marlene’s mother and two of her siblings are Muggles, while the rest have magical abilities. Marlene’s sister is the oldest of the siblings. She’s a Muggle who works as a primary school teacher. Despite growing up with a father who’s a wizard, she has always felt slightly uncomfortable around magic, but she loves her family fiercely and is very protective over her younger siblings. As she’s much older than Marlene, she has always been more like a second mother.

Next comes Marlene’s older brother, who’s wizard, but has finished Hogwarts long ago. He now works in the Sales Department for a company that develops novel potions against levitation- and portkey-sickness. According to Marlene he’s a serious businessman by day, and a giant goofball by night.

Last is Marlene’s younger brother. He’s a Muggle, but where Marlene’s sister likes to pretend magic doesn’t exist, he thinks it mighty fascinating. He and Marlene are incredibly close, writing each other constantly and hanging out as often as they can when Marlene was home from Hogwarts. She has never brought him to James’ garden party, though. He works in the Food Service Industry, and the bright summer days on which James plans his parties are the days on which he most likely has to work. This year, however, he had managed to get the day off.

The first thing Remus thinks is that the McKinnons have good genes. He can’t really tell which of the two siblings is older, which means they must be very close in age. The boy has the same thick, blond hair and bright blue eyes as Marlene, as well as the same freckles from the sun. He’s short for a guy, barely taller than Marlene, but he’s quite muscular, with broad shoulders. All in all, Marlene’s younger brother is a very cute guy.

“Everyone, this is Miles!” Marlene says, when everyone has gathered around. “Let’s see... Here we have James Potter, he’s the host.”

Miles grins at James. “Some house you’ve got here, mate. Thanks for having me!”

James grins back and lifts his beer. “Cheers, mate!”

“James is Lily’s boyfriend,” Marlene says. “You’ve already met Lily-” Miles gives Lily a warm smile “-and of course you know Dorcas.”

“Hullo Dorky.”

“Hiya Miley.”

“And here we have my other girls, Alice Fortescue, Mary McDonald and Emmeline Vance.” Marlene points each of the girls out, and Miles gives them all a friendly nod.

“And these two are the Prewetts, Fabian and Gideon- don’t worry about who’s who, none of us actually knows.”

“Oi!”

“And this is Caradoc Dearborn, and this Benjy Fenwick, so miraculously you’re not the shortest guy here.”

“Marlene!”

“And here we have the rest of the renegades, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black.”

The chance in Miles is instant.

The polite smile he was wearing turns into a coy smile, as he gives Sirius a not-so-subtle once-over, though Remus doesn’t think it was ever meant to be subtle. Miles takes a step forward towards Sirius. “Well, hello there.”

Remus can’t blame him. He would’ve reacted the same had he been in Miles’ position (alright, maybe he would’ve turned into a blushing, stuttering mess and forget his own name if he were suddenly faced with a guy like Sirius, instead of step forward with an enticing smile and flirtatious greeting, but that’s beside the point). Sirius looks bloody amazing. His swimming trunks are clinging to his legs, and his damp hair is hanging over his bare chest, with little droplets dripping down his muscular body.

Sirius grins knowingly at Miles. “Hi.”

Marlene’s head whirls around from Miles to Sirius to Miles and back to Sirius, so fast Remus worries she might get a whiplash.

“No,” she says. “No, nope, uh-uh, absolutely not. Not. Happening. No.”

She steps between her brother and Sirius, facing the latter, and jabbing a finger against his chest. “You are not going to try anything on my little brother, got it?”

Sirius holds up his hands and takes a step back. “I only said hi.”

Marlene looks at him suspiciously, like she suspects Sirius saying hi is some sort of secret seduction technique (which would actually explain a lot).

“C’mon Marls.” Miles moves to stand next to his sister, and throws an arm over her shoulder. He winks at Sirius. “We all just want to have a good time, don’t we?”

Marlene’s face is getting more red by the second. Her fingers are clutching her cardboard plate, causing it to rumple. She’s clenching her jaw, while intently staring at the pair a bit further on the field.

“I can’t bloody believe it,” she hisses. “If Black thinks I’ll let him hook up with my little brother, he has another thing coming!”

Miles had managed to catch Sirius when he went to grab a drink, and they have been chatting apart from the rest of the group for about half an hour now, to Marlene’s great distress, and everyone else’s amusement. Well, everyone else except for Remus, but he thinks he’s been hiding it quite well.

Remus doesn’t know how the guy does it, but Miles somehow manages to stand closer and closer to Sirius. He’s looking up at him through his lashes, with those big blue eyes and that damned smile, sometimes even going as far as to bite his lip. Sirius has definitely been blushing at some point!

While Remus is the only one who can emphasize with Marlene’s distress over the situation, he really doesn’t like how she’s blaming it all on Sirius, while evidently its her brother who’s acting like a little minx.

“Honestly, Marlene,” Lily says, shaking her head. “Didn’t you talk to Miles about there being an incredibly hot, single gay guy present?”

Remus agrees. Marlene should’ve known what would happen when she decided to introduce her brother to Sirius! You cannot bring him here knowing Sirius is looking like he does, and expect him not to react!

Marlene huffs indignantly. “My little brother is a precious angel who’s not interested in such a thing as ‘hot, single men’!”

Lily looks at Miles and Sirius. Miles seems to be laughing at something Sirius said, and touches his upper arm while doing so, letting his hand slide down Sirius’ bicep. Lily turns her head back to Marlene and raises her eyebrow.

Marlene just folds her arms over her chest and pointedly looks away.

Later, when Miles reaches up to brush a strand of hair from Sirius’ face, Marlene’s face has taken on a more purple colour. By this time, she has started angrily chewing on her cardboard plate.

Luckily, everyone’s too busy making fun of Marlene to notice Remus looks like he’s going to be sick.

Normally, a day at the Potter estate flies by, but Remus is positive this day lasts at least three times as long. But Remus has been getting through it. He hopes that after today, he won’t see Miles McKinnon of ever again. Well, he mostly hopes Sirius won’t see Miles McKinnon ever again, he can admit that . To himself, that is.

Currently, he’s sitting down with James, having a butterbeer. Just when he thinks he might make it through these last hours without further additions to his misery, Marlene comes striding their way, Dorcas on her heels.

“Potter,” she says, stopping in front of them and placing her fists on her hips. “You’ve got something I need, and I want it now!”

“Sorry McKinnon,” James says with a smirk. “I’m a one woman man.”

“In your dreams, you wanker,” Marlene snaps. “You’ve got an Invisibility Cloak, no?”

James takes off his glasses and starts polishing them with his robes. “I may or may not possess such a thing.”

Marlene rolls her eyes. “After seven years of going to school with you, I think I can safely say that you do. Well, I need you to use it. Miles asked Black to take him on a tour around the lake.” She scrunches up her nose. “And you have to follow them so you can report back to me whether Black has kept his paws off of my little brother!”

“More the other way around,” Remus mutters, but Marlene hears and glares at him.

“My sweet and innocent little brother would never do such a thing! He simply... wants to see the surroundings and needs Black for directions.”

Dorcas throws her head back and cackles loudly. “The only directions your ‘sweet and innocent little brother’ is interested in, is the fastest way to get into Sirius Black’s pants!”

Marlene directs a deadly glare at her.

Just when Remus thinks at least Dorcas knows what she’s talking about, she continues. “C’mon Marls, Miles can make his own decisions. Let the boys have some fun!”

Let the boys have some fun? That’s not a good idea! That’s the opposite of a good idea! That’s a terrible idea!

“Well,” Remus says, managing to sound surprisingly calm. “We’re on Mr and Mrs Potter’s property, and Miles has only just been introduced to the gang. I mean, he and Sirius barely know each other. I’d say it’d be rather inappropriate if something happens between them here and now. You don’t want Marlene’s brother to give off the wrong impression.”

James sighs. “What if I lend you the Invisibility Cloak, and you can follow them yourself?”

“Oh, no!” Marlene holds up her hands and takes a step back. “There are certain things I don’t ever want to see my little brother do, or hear my little brother say. If I were to... accidentally stumble upon them, I’d either have to Obliviate myself, or be scarred for life.”

Remus snorts. Not so sure about her brother being so innocent after all, is she?

“Well, Padfoot’s my brother!” James argues.

“Remember when I put in a good word for you with Lily, and finally got her to agree to go on a date with you?” Marlene plays her final card, and effectively.

“Fine!” James puts down his butterbeer and gets up. “Remus, let’s go.”

“What? Me? Why?”

“Because you got me into this, Mr ‘it’d be inappropriate’. And besides, I’ll feel like some perverted Peeping Tom spying on them alone.”

“So better to have two Peeping Toms?” Remus argues, but he knows it’s an argument he’s not going to win.

That’s how Remus finds himself in the place he wants to be least of all, crouched down under the Invisibility Cloak with James, and, after casting a quick Silencio over their footsteps, following on Sirius and Miles on their ‘casual, totally not romantic, definitely not a date’ stroll.

“-and once I’ve gained enough experience, I’d like to come back to London and open my own restaurant!” Miles finishes.

“That’s amazing, Miles!” Sirius exclaims. “I’ll definitely frequent!”

“As long as you don’t expect any free food just because you’re so handsome,” Miles teases.

Sirius gasps in pretend-shock. “I would never use my looks for such purposes!”

“Right,” Miles chuckles. “You be careful, Sirius Black. A face like yours is a powerful weapon.”

“Wow,” James whispers admiringly. “He’s good!”

Remus grits his teeth. Of bloody course Miles McKinnon is all charming and smooth, chatting Sirius up.

“What about you?” Miles asks. “What are your plans for the future, now that you’re some kind of strong and powerful wizard?”

“I’m starting my Healer training soon!” Sirius beams, and Remus can’t help but smile at the pride in his voice.

“That’s... like a doctor, right?” Miles asks.

“Yeah,” Sirius replies. “But without the cutting people open.” He shudders. “Definitely no cutting people open.”

“Oi!” Miles protests, bumping his shoulder against Sirius. “Doctors cut people open to save lives, you know. They don’t do it for a laugh.”

“I’m sorry!” Sirius quickly says. “I didn’t mean to offend. It’s actually very impressive what Muggle doctors can do without magic, and the things they’ve come up with! I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Miles says, glancing at Sirius. “Don’t worry about it.”

Sirius smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just... I was raised in this really conservative pureblood Wizarding family. I’m always afraid I’ll say something Muggle-phobic without realising.”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t that bad, honestly.”

“Good,” Sirius says, relieved. “I’m just... trying to be better.”

Miles smiles softly at him. “Just the fact that you’re trying already makes you better.”

They walk in comfortable silence for a moment, until Miles speaks again. “That must’ve been hard though, growing up in a family like that. Marlene already mentioned you��re living here now. Is that why?”

Sirius nods. “I ran away from home the summer before. Best decision I’ve ever made.” There’s a tightness in his voice, though, and an emotion in his eyes that makes Remus want to run towards him and pull him into a hug.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Miles says sincerely. Then he gives Sirius a teasing smile. “Though I must say, it’s a good look on you, the whole ‘sexy rebel’-thing.”

Sirius barks a laugh, and the pained expression slides off his face. “Well, I’m glad my issues at least fit my anaesthetic!”

Remus doesn’t know whether he wants to bless Miles McKinnon for being able to turn Sirius’ mood around and make him smile, or whether he wants to curse Miles McKinnon for being able to turn Sirius’ mood around and make him smile.

“I bet you love provoking your family, don’t you?” Miles asks.

“That might just be my most favourite pastime,” Sirius replies sincerely.

Suddenly, Miles stops walking, so Sirius stops as well and turns back to face him.

Miles takes a step towards him. “I bet it would really provoke your family if you were to make out with a boy, a Muggle boy at that.”

Sirius swallows and his face slightly flushes. “That... That’ll definitely do the trick, yeah.”

Miles comes even closer, now almost standing chest-to-chest with Sirius, and he tilts his head up and leans in.

James still looks mighty impressed with Miles’ flirting tactics, while Remus wonders if the sound of his heart shattering might give them away.

Suddenly, Sirius steps back. “Wait, stop. I... I can’t.”

Miles looks disappointed, but not too shocked. “Why not?” He asks. Then he jabs his finger against Sirius’ chest, much like his sister did earlier. “And I swear to god, Sirius Black, if it’s because I’m a Muggle you can stick that wand of yours up your-”

“No, no, no!” Sirius quickly says, whilst letting out a breathless laugh. “It’s not you, really, it’s me.”

Miles gives Sirius a stern look, while placing his fists on his hips, making Remus wonder whether they’re sure Marlene and Miles aren’t twins. “If you’re gonna give me that lame excuse, at least elaborate what it is about ‘not me, but you’ that makes you reject me. I mean, I’m not proposing a marriage here!”

Sirius sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “There’s... someone else. I mean, there’s not really, I don’t have someone else, but I have feelings for someone else. So therefore this-” He gestures between himself and Miles. “Just doesn’t feel right.”

Remus exchanges a look with James, who looks just as stunned as he is by this information.

Miles, though, just folds his arms over his chest and looks at Sirius thoughtfully for a moment. “So, Lupin then?”

Remus freezes. What? Him? Oh no. He’s not sure he can bear to hear Sirius’ denial. ‘Lupin? Remus? No, of course not! What in Godric’s name gave you that idea? Why the hell would I fancy Remus?’

However, Sirius just sighs and looks down at his shoes. “I’m that obvious, huh?”

Remus stares dumbfounded. It’s... true? He feels an eruption of butterflies in his stomach. Well, he always feels some butterflies when he sees Sirius, but now it’s like all those butterflies had babies, and those babies had babies again, creating an immense flutter.

“Nah,” Miles says. “If I had known for sure, I wouldn’t have made a move. I only had a suspicion, but I decided to take a chance anyway. I’m not too surprised by this turn of events, though.”

“It’s really the only reason,” Sirius says. “Because you’re bloody great, you know that? You’re gonna make some guy really happy one day. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

Miles groans. “ ‘Its not you, it’s me’, ‘anyone would be lucky to have you’. Shall we go before you start telling me we can still be friends?”

Sirius grins. “Normally I’d suggest we at least pretend to have had a good snog, just to see if Marlene’s face can get any more purple, but I don’t want to give Remus the wrong impression. Not that he’d care,” he adds with a mutter.

Miles stops walking again. “What? Are you seri- No, Marlene warned me not to say that. Really?”

Sirius just blinks at him.

Miles shakes his head. “I mean, you asked if you were being obvious, well, you were nothing compared to Lupin. Although, that could just be me. I couldn’t help but notice when he’s looking at me like he wants me to catch fire every time I come near you. Wait. You wizards can actually do that, can’t you?”

Remus huffs. He wouldn’t have actually set Miles on fire! At least he doesn’t think so.

Sirius frowns at Miles. “You must be mistaken. Remus is nothing but pure kindness! He always makes everyone feel welcome! You can’t help but like Remus!”

A warm feeling spreads through Remus’ chest.

Miles just looks at Sirius, shaking his head. “You’re actually in love, aren’t you?”

Sirius blushes and looks away.

“Well,” Miles says. “You should tell him how you feel. He clearly feels the same. Then you can both stop this pining.”

James, who just had to process the shock of one of his best friends fancying another one of his best friends, now has to process the shock of his best friends fancying each other. He’s staring at Remus, and consequently trips over a rock. He does manage to catch is balance, but he lets out a loud yelp.

Miles stares at the empty spot behind them on the path, surprised, but Sirius’ eyes narrow in suspicion. He lifts his wand, and the next moment a gush of wind blows the Invisibility Cloak off of Remus and James.

To his credit, Miles recovers pretty quickly from seeing two people appear seemingly out of nowhere, including the person they were just talking about. He blinks a couple of times, then says “I suppose this works as well.”

Remus and Sirius are just staring at each other.

“Uhm...” James says. “I was sent here by miss McKinnon to escort the younger McKinnon back to the estate.” Because apparently awkward situations make him talk like he’s an eighteen century nobleman. “Off we go, young lad.”

Miles doesn’t protest when James grabs his arm and starts dragging him away, but he does turn around to give Sirius a thumbs up.

“We were sent here by McKinnon,” Remus quickly says, when he and Sirius are alone. “She wanted to know if anything would happen between you and her brother.” Remus takes a deep breath. “And maybe I wanted to know if anything would happen between you and him myself as well,” he says softly.

“Were you jealous?” Sirius asks. It sounds curious, not angry, judgemental or smug, just curious.

Still, Remus can’t help but pout, and he looks away. “Of course I was jealous. Bloody Miles McKinnon, with his big blue eyes, batting those ridiculously long eyelashes at you, and being all cute, and witty, and charming.”

“You know, if you want Miles to snog you instead, you should hurry and you can probably still catch him,” Sirius says irritably.

“No!” Remus quickly says. “No. I just mean, I wish it was me. When he calls you handsome, when he brushes your hair away from your face, when he leans in to kiss you... I wish it was me doing those things.”

“Why don’t you?” Sirius whispers, staring at Remus intently.

“Because!” Remus says desperately. “Because I know how to be your friend, but if I even think about flirting with you, I turn into an awkward, rambling mess.”

The only thing that can possibly be going through Sirius’ mind right now is how the hell he let the sexy, confident, flirtatious boy walk away, to be stuck with the flustered heap of awkwardness that is Remus Lupin.

Remus stares down at his shoes. “I mean, I like you a lot, and also because I feel comfortable around you, I do, but when it comes to flirting, I suddenly get scared that you’ll laugh at me or something. I even think it’d be easier if you weren’t my friend, if we didn’t know each other so well. Then maybe I could-”

Remus stops talking when Sirius gently cups his cheek and tilts his head up. Slowly, ever so slowly, he leans in, giving Remus enough time to pull away had he wanted to. Which, for the record, he absolutely doesn’t. Sirius presses their lips together. And it’s...

Well, it’s not awkward at all.

It’s fireworks, and symphonies, and the sun breaking through the clouds. It’s a sense of belonging, and knowing all is right with the world, and a feeling of coming home.

Both boys are a little out of breath when they pull back, more because of the intense emotions than because the kiss had been that passionate.

“See?” Sirius smiles at Remus. “If I want you to stop rambling, I can always just... interrupt.”

“Rude,” Remus mutters, before pulling Sirius back into another kiss.

[mandoalorian]

Can I request a soulmate au with anyone you see fit? I don’t mind I just love that sort of mushy stuff, CONGRATULATIONS ON TWO HUNDRED FOLLOWERS

Soulmates [Maxwell Lord x Reader]

Authors Note: you may recognise a quote in here from Dawson's Creek— if you spot it, I love you. it's something that has always resonated with me a lot. This was so fun to write. If you followed me on twitter the chances are you'll know all about Lady Lord and she does make a brief cameo in here :) I've found a new passion and that is writing domestic dad! Maxwell. Anyways, thank you for the amazing request, I hope you enjoy!!!

Warnings: angst but it's funny I swear— light hearted fluff and just a little ~sexual tension~ but nothing explicit.

Rating: 15 (just to be safe!)

MASTERLIST | Submit your requests HERE

Summer 1993

Maxwell tucked his daughter into bed and switched on the nightlight. "What book would you like me to read to you tonight?" Maxwell asked, pushing the reading glasses that were perched on his nose into a more comfortable place. He kneeled down, his back aching slightly with age, and flicked through the many children's book your child had the privilege of owning.

"Daddy?" your daughter asked, shuffling around slightly under her pink silk bedding. She reached over and grabbed her favourite teddy bear, nursing it in her arms.

"Yes princess?" Maxwell replied, pausing momentarily from looking through his daughters books and turning to face the little girl. Her eyes were big and sparkling, and they reminded Maxwell of your own eyes.

"What's a soulmate?" her voice was sweet like honey, innocence dripping from her tongue as she blinked her pretty eyes with curiosity.

Maxwell pondered for a moment, hesitation filling his gut. Maybe this would be a better conversation for you to have with her; he thought. Maxwell was never really good at explaining such topics, or talking about feelings. But, this was his daughter— and she was as pure as could be. He wanted her to know. He wished that his parents had told him of the concept long before he found out about it.

Maxwell straightened himself up and shuffled closer to his daughter. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his chest. She shuffled her head slightly trying to get comfortable, but in the process, her hair got caught in the little clip of his suspenders. Maxwell carefully removed her hair and brushed it out of her face. He had never prepared himself for this conversation; so he was just going to do what you always encouraged him to do. Speak from his heart.

"It's uh... Well, it's like a best friend but more. It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else. It's someone who makes you a better person. Actually, they don't make you a better person, you do that yourself - because they inspire you. A soulmate is someone who you carry with you forever. It's the one person who knew you and accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did, or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you will always love them. Nothing can ever change that."

"So… mommy is your soulmate?" your daughter asked her father. Maxwell nodded, a small blush creeping on his cheeks. "Who is my soulmate?"

"I don't know princess, that's something you'll learn for yourself one day." Maxwell said, planting a gentle kiss into his daughter’s forehead. "Why did you ask such a question?"

Your daughter's mouth twisted into a proud smile that could only be comparable to one of Maxwell Lord. "Today, at school, Augustus held my hand during recess. And my friend, Katherina, told me that little Gussy might be my soulmate."

Maxwell furrowed his eyebrows. "Who's Augustus?" he frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Augustus Emmeline the third!" Your daughter beamed.

"The third, huh?" Maxwell raised his eyebrow. "My little treasure, you tell daddy if he ever hurts you, okay?"

"Gussy would never hurt me." your daughter rolled her eyes, a small giggle escaping her lips.

Maxwell figured tonight wasn't the best time to explain the woes of heartbreak to his eight year old daughter, so he let her comment slide. He kissed her nose again and turned out her night light. "Get some sleep sweetheart, you have ballet and piano recitals tomorrow."

"Okay daddy, I love you." she shuffled to her side and clutched onto her teddy bear even harder, closing her eyes.

"I love you too." Maxwell smiled before leaving her bedroom.

You were in the kitchen, changing the cat litter, when your husband snuck up from behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and kissing your neck. He rocked his hips into yours, swaying side to side like he was dancing with no music. "What you doing?" Maxwell sing-song’ed in your ear. You laughed, tearing yourself out of his grip.

"Sorting out Lady's litter," you grimaced, nodding your head towards the long haired white cat who was sitting by the back door, innocently staring at you and Max. 

"Thought I could smell something." Maxwell pinched the bridge of your nose and you gave him a roll of your eyes.

"Did she go to sleep okay?" You asked Maxwell, setting the cats litter tray back in place. Lady Lord, your white kitty, mewled a 'thank you' before scurrying off into the living room.

"Yes," Maxwell nodded. "She did, however, ask a strange question," you looked at your husband, prompting a further explanation. "She asked me what a soulmate was."

"She did?" you raised an eyebrow in inquiry, washing your hands in the sink and drying them with a soft towel. "What did you tell her?"

"You know," Maxwell shrugged. "Just spoke from my heart. Like you always tell me too."

You smiled, approaching your husband and tugging on the straps of his suspenders. "Good."

"It reminded me of when we found out we were soulmates." Maxwell smirked and you let out a sigh. "Do you remember?"

"Oh my goodness Max, how could I forget?"

Winter 1984

"I refuse to believe that this monster is my soulmate." you growled, eyeing up Maxwell Lord up and down feeling nothing but disdain for the smarmy businessman.

"Well baby, you better believe it." Maxwell rolled his dark brown eyes, a devilish smirk sprawled across his lips.

It irked you- it angered you. Every little thing he done annoyed you; and now this revelation? You were beginning to believe he was playing a sick prank on you— and he had Diana and Steve in on it as well. You couldn't understand why they'd share Maxwell's malicious intentions against you (or so you presumed they were malicious… everything that man did was suspect), but you wouldn't put it past Maxwell to manipulate them.

"It's true," Diana sighed, shrugging her shoulders casually. "Eros told me himself."

"Eros." you deadpanned, placing your hands on your hips and knotting your eyebrows together in unamusement. In the corner of your eye, you spotted Maxwell's smirk grow as your annoyance festered inside of you.

"Or more commonly known as Cupid," Captain Steve Trevor beamed, innocently spewing out his unwanted explanation.  "Eros is the winged God of Love. He shoots two people with his arrow and they become soulmates. They find each other and they fall in love." You studied Classics at university; of course you knew who Eros was.

"I know who he is!" You spat furiously and Steve raised his hands in defense. You felt your cheeks burn up with anger as the concept of Maxwell Lord being your soulmate dwelled upon you. You turned back to Diana, in hope that there had been some sort of misunderstanding. "Eros’ father is Ares, the God of War. Can we really trust him?"

"His mother is Aphrodite," Diana replied non-chalantely, failing to understand your point. "Besides, Eros is neither Ares nor Aphrodite. We need not to compare the winged God of Love to his parents."

"So, Eros just came and visited you, and told you that myself and the CEO of freaking Black Gold Cooperative are soulmates? There's no way." Before Diana could reply, Maxwell cleared his throat. Your head snapped to face him. "I don't want to hear a peep out of you." You pointed your finger, digging it hard into his chest. He swatted your hand away and straightened his posture under your glare.

"Actually, I found out from this." he brought out a peculiar, amber gem from the pocket of his suit jacket. "Eros just confirmed it."

"You found out from a pretty rock?" You folded your arms across your chest.

"It's a dreamstone-," Maxwell began to explain but you cut him off.

"I don't care." you scoffed, grinding your teeth together in white rage. You turned back to Diana.

"Listen," Diana said, her voice as sweet as honey. She raised her hand and placed it gently on your shoulder, meaning nothing but comfort. "Eros told me that every soulmate shares the same soulmark. Do you��� do you have any marks on your body that could be—"

You processed her words, thinking long and hard. "I do, I have a mark on the inside of my thigh." You shuffled around uncomfortable.

"Can I see it?" Maxwell beamed, his chocolate eyes sparkling.

"Not unless you want a fucking lawsuit." You snapped back at him and you watched as his charming but smug smirk fell from his face. He rolled his eyes and took a step back from you. "Diana, is there another way we can make sure that we are soulmates?"

"We could kiss and see what happens?" Maxwell suggested and you clenched your fingers into a fist. Would this man ever learn to shut up.

"It's true, you could kiss and see if you feel anything." Diana pointed out and you pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance. Maxwell howled with laughter while Steve just stood there, as confused as ever.

You sighed, holding your face in your hands before turning back to Maxwell. "Show me your soulmark."

"Show me yours." Maxwell charmed and you wanted to scream.

"No."

"Yes."

"With all due respect," Steve cleared his throat. "You two argue like an old married couple." He raised an eyebrow and nudged Diana. "Are they always like that?"

"Yes." Diana smirked.

"No we are not!" You and Maxwell yelled in unison.

Your head snapped towards Maxwell and he couldn't help but smile at the angry scowl playing on your lips and the crinkle in between your eyebrows.

"Diana and I are going to head out and get some coffee, do you two want anything?"

You and Maxwell were too busy bickering to hear Steve's polite offer. Pointing your fingers at each other, both of you demonstrating your power struggle as your voices slowly became more raised. Steve and Diana exchanged a look before realising they best be on their merry way.

"My office, now." Maxwell growled in frustration, grabbing your wrist and tugging you into his extravagant office. Usually his micro-agression would have earned him a punch in the arm and string of insults from you, but despite his firm grip on you, his hand slipped down your wrist and his finger interlocked with yours.

You would've pulled away from him. Gritting your teeth together, you could think of a thousand curses to scream at the slimy CEO but instead you were left feeling slightly dazed. There was a spark when his fingers graced the back of your hand. Like genuine electricity. And it had lit a fire in the pit of your stomach. He sat you down on the loveseat by his desk and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Did you feel that?" he asked and you frowned.

"Feel what?" you grumbled.

"That… that spark." Maxwell's hand fell to his hip as he stared at you, perplexed.

Yes, you had, and there was no denying it. Instead, you opted to avoid eye contact. He had his way with people— his charming business strategy. His charisma could make the whole world fall for him. But not you. You wouldn't fall for him.

"So stubborn," Maxwell huffed, as if he was reading your mind. He slipped into the loveseat and sat next to you, his dark eyes gleaming. "You think I wanted this? Of course I didn't. I don't have time for relationships." You scoffed, about to interrupt him but he raised a finger and continued. "I'm too busy. I'm better alone anyway. But we have something special. I hate to admit it, but you can't keep running away from the truth."

He was right. Fuck, he was right and you hated it. All this time you had been shutting out the truth. It was like destiny had brought you two together. You were the complete opposite of Maxwell Lord, but maybe Eros was right for shooting his arrow into you both. Maybe he done it for good reason. Maybe you and Maxwell completed each other.

"You're disgusting," your voice was merely just a croak. You couldn't give up. You had to keep fighting. "You built the foundations of your business on lies. You're a fraudster, a scammer, and you should be in jail." Your own words made your heart shatter.

Maxwell looked away from you, his eyes glossy. Your words stung. "You can hate me all you want, but we were chosen for each other. I don't understand it. I don't think I'll ever understand it. But this happened for a reason."

"How can you be sure?" you whispered.

Maxwell cleared his throat. "The dreamstone… and Eros and… everything Diana has told me. I hate to believe it, but I trust her. She knows better than anyone else." Maxwell shrugged. "And I've felt it. And I know you have too."

"We are literally rivals." Your voice was but a mere whisper.

Maxwell took a step closer to your breaking any distance. You swore you could feel his warm breath tickle against your neck as his words sent shivers down your spine. "Kiss me."

You looked up at his once chocolate brown eyes, now practically ebony and completely lust blown. He gently raised his hand to cup your cheek and swiped his thumb across your jaw. What had happened to you? You were succumbing to him. Because you knew, deep down, it was true. But you remembered Diana's words. A kiss would confirm it.

"I hate you Maxwell Lord." you shook your head before standing on your tippee-toes, matching his height. You tilted your head, the curve of his nose brushing against yours as you pressed your lips against his.

There it was. That same spark. The kiss was hypnotising. At first, you tried to escape the fact you were kissing Maxwell Lord, but as he slung his arm around your waist and pulled your hips into his, you figured you could maybe embrace it. 

You found your hands tugging amongst his dark blonde locks of hair. You always imagined his hair to be greasy, layered in many unnecessary products to keep it perfectly styled throughout the day. But it was soft and well conditioned. As you pulled gently on it he bit on your lower lip and caused a sweet moan to escape your lips. That only spurred him on more, as he dropped his hand and cupped the roundness of your ass.

Both of your hands were settled on his broad shoulders, and he grumbled a little when you pulled on the lapels of his suit jacket, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. The little noise he made sent vibrations straight through your core and on instinct, you pressed your body further into him. 

Maxwell glided his tongue over the plumpless of your lower lip, begging for entry, which of course you granted. You had kissed many people before but it had never felt as intoxicating as this. You couldn't stop. He was your poison, and you were addicted.

But why him. Why would Eros match you with a man like Maxwell Lord? He was cunning… manipulative…an amazing kisser. You pulled your away from him, detaching your lips from his with a pop sound and looked up into his nervous eyes.

"Did you feel anything?" his voice was hoarse and rasp, as if the kiss had took everything out of him.

You couldn't lie anymore. You couldn't kid yourself. You took a deep breath.

"Maxwell, I've felt something for you since the moment I started working here. All my life I've hated you. Your father and your shitty business stole from my family. But when I scored the job at the museum, and when I saw your speech in the main hall, I felt something inexplicably unique. Something I've never felt before. Seeing you stand there and witnessing your charm with my own two eyes ignited something primal within me. I needed you— more than I've ever needed anything before, and I cursed myself for it. You didn't know me, but I knew you. I knew of all the hurt you caused me, and my family, and many other families around the world. I knew of your greed and ruthless nature. And I tried so hard to hate you so bad."

"Everybody thinks they know me, but they don't. Everyone thinks they have me all figured out from my infomercials… or they judge me based on my parents. Let me tell you, I'm not my parents." Maxwell assured you and you offered him a small comforting smile. "I'm sorry Black Gold Cooperative hurt your family. I know it might not seem like it, but I'd never want to hurt anyone."

And for some reason, you believed him. You saw the kindness in his eyes. You knew he was genuine. You had gathered up so much hate for him over the years. So much anguish. You never thought you'd ever be able to forgive him.

"Eros put us together for a reason." you whispered and Maxwell tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.

"I think we can make this work." he told you, his voice quiet and of a deeply pleasant nature.

"Yeah, me too." you replied, your heart fluttering.

"So…. about that soulmark on the inside of your thigh."

"My lawyer is one of the best in the country Lord, don't try me." You winked before flicking your hair and leaving his office, the door slamming behind you.

This was going to be the start of something amazing.

Taglist for this specific AU: @heythere-mel @kiwi-the-first

Permanent taglist (let me know if you would like to be added!): @supernaturalgirl @phoenixhalliwell @ah-callie @luvzoria @stardust-galaxies @wickedfrsgrl @goth-topic

[vance-emmeline]

ϟ  ━  was that  EMMELINE VANCE around  the  leaky  cauldron  ?  SHE disapparated  before  i  could  approach  them  !  what  a  pity,  for  they  are  DETERMINED  and  LOYAL,  but  maybe  it's  best  to  keep  my  distance  because  they  are  also  CLUMSY  and FIERY.  i  remember  that  they  were  a  RAVENCLAW  back  in  school  but  have  since  made  a  name  for  themselves  as  a  DAILY PROPHET JOURNALIST.  if  this  alleged  war  came  knocking  on  their  door,  it  is  supposed  that  they  would  FIGHT  FOR  DUMBLEDORE   (  cis woman &  she/her /  zoey deutch /  26 /  half-blood).

biography & statistics below the cut

𝒷𝒾𝑜𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓅𝒽𝓎

Emmeline Vance has always been described as ‘capable’. From a young age she was solving puzzles in creative ways and forging a path for herself early in life. Her parents offered Emmeline a safe and happy childhood, although they both worked long, exhausting hours at the ministry meaning that child-care was left to her grandfather who owned Honeydukes sweet shop. As a small child, there was nothing that Emme loved more than suggesting new sweets her grandpa to try and make to try and then helping him make the ideas from her imagination into a reality. When she was six years old, her grandpa gave her her own little apron and nametag for when she was at the store.

Helping out at the store truly shaped Emme as she grew up. All sorts of people stopped by the store in their trips to Hogsmeade - all shapes, all sizes, all races, all blood statuses. Emme naturally became kind and compassionate, willing to help whoever might need it no matter what their background. Her first signs of magic showed in the store - she had to carry 3 tubs of jelly slugs from the cellar to the top of the store, and managed to levitate one in front of her like grandpa did with a degree of concentration after huffing about the fact she couldn’t carry three with her little hands. Certainly, her grandfather was more of a parent than her own parents ever were.

The issue of parenting came to a head just before her ninth birthday, when her parents decided that they were going to move to France to start life afresh. Emme’s father had been offered a job at the French Ministry and they had taken it easily, jumping at the opportunity to start life again in the beauty of France. But Emme’s little heart broke at the idea of not only being taken away from Britain and the promise of Hogwarts, but from the most important person in her young life. A few roaring arguments between her father and grandfather while Emme was supposed to be sleeping (but was really hovering at the top of the stairs trying to listen to what the adults were saying) and the three adults called her downstairs asking her a simple question.

“Would you rather live in Britain with grandpa or move to France with Mummy and Daddy?”

Emme never answered verbally, but instead ran over and clung to her grandpa’s leg, who had been more of a father to her than her own father had. It wasn’t their fault, of course, that they worked long hours and hardly ever saw their daughter - but Emme’s decision was easy. And so it was that within the next few months Emme’s parents prepared to move away and prepared to leave their daughter behind (promising visits, of course). In January, her parents were gone leaving her to live with grandpa and grandma in their small flat above the store. Life passed by peacefully until her eleventh birthday arrived and with it, a letter inviting her to Hogwarts.

On her first day at Hogwarts, Emme learned that not everyone was as kind as her. Her grandfather had pulled her aside at Hogsmeade station before she ran to join the arriving students and said ‘be brave enough to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves’. Those pearls of wisdom stuck a chord deep within Emme, who had always considered herself kind but hadn’t had to put herself in any level of discomfort to be kind so far. She had lived a reasonably sheltered upbringing, after all. Cruel thoughts had not been present in either her home or the sweet store (after all, who can find it in their hearts to be cruel when surrounded by that much sugar). With that wisdom fresh in her mind, Emme made her way towards Hogwarts where the sorting hat confidently placed her in Ravenclaw. 

From there, Emme excelled at school. She had always loved reading as a child, and she made a name for herself quickly as one who always placed near to the top of her class. She engaged in lots of extra-curriculars including Charms club and Dueling club, and spent most of her evenings buried in magical practice and theory. In fifth year Emme became a prefect. 

During her careers meeting, Emme looked at the pamphlets before her and knew there was only one real option for her. She had half considered the aurors programme, but reading and writing had always been her passion. Emmeline applied for a job with the Daily Prophet as a junior journalist. Working hard at her N.E.W.Ts, Emme left Hogwarts with an Outstanding in all subjects and a well-earned place at the Daily Prophet.

Since starting work at the Daily Prophet eight years ago, Emmeline has carved a name for herself as a well-respected journalist. She always works for the truth no matter how uncomfortable or unsettling it might be, and is determined to bring the truth to the public. This has, on occasion, led to Howlers being sent through the post but Emme is not deterred.

Emme is a notorious coffee drinker and can almost always be found with a flask in hand. She also loves to bake, frequently bringing in home made snacks to share around the office - Merlin only knows that their office needs a sprinkling of happy on a semi-regular basis. She gets excited about any and all holidays, and her absolute favourite place to be is the beach - especially when she’s wandering up and down the sand wearing a cosy jumper and bright yellow wellington boots. Despite reporting on some of the atrocities that happen in the wizarding world, Emme still lives with a sense of optimism and an understanding that the world really is full of good people even if it might not seem like it.

Emmeline is committed towards seeking justice both professionally and personally for all. She believes that the way that muggle-borns were treated at school was unjust, and has continued to speak against this in her journalism. When it becomes clearer that Voldemort is truly persecuting muggle-borns, Emmeline will step up to work against him firmly. When Emmeline commits, she throws her whole self behind a cause and can never be called ‘half-hearted’.

𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓈

Basics:

FULL NAME  :  Emmeline Raye Vance MEANING  :  The name “Emmeline” means gentle and brave.  MONIKERS  /  NICKNAMES  :  Emme GENDER AND PRONOUNS  :  Female, she/her DATE OF BIRTH  :  13 April 1958 AGE  :  26 ORIENTATION  :  Bisexual OCCUPATION  :  Daily Prophet Journalist

Background: 

LANGUAGES SPOKEN  :  English, French FAMILY  :  Samuel Vance (father), Eliza Vance (mother), Ambrosius Flume (grandfather) SPOUSE / SIGNIFICANT OTHER  :  open & wanted for plotting! CHILDREN  (  chronologically  )  :  n/a

Magical Detail:

BLOOD STATUS  : Half-blood ALUMNA OF  :  Hogwarts, Ravenclaw, 1976  ACADEMIC FEATS  (  clubs,  organizations,  positions,  etc  )  : duelling club, charms club, prefect  O.W.L.s  (  subjects taken and the results  )  :  astronomy, charms, defence against the dark arts, herbology, history of magic, potions, transfiguration, ancient runes, arithmancy. O in all subjects but arithmancy and history of magic which were E’s. N.E.W.T.s  (  subjects taken and the results  )  :  charms, defence against the dark arts, herbology, history of magic, potions, transfiguration, ancient runes. O in all subjects.  WAND  : Maple, unicorn core, 10 ¾ inches, supple AMORTENTIA  : Fresh coffee, baking bread, the smell of seaside air, new books.  BOGGART  :  Werewolves PATRONUS  : A swift - a creature with a strong sense of determination and a drive to accomplish things. They are hopeful, positive and energetic and are drawn to live and work in large communities where they find inspiration from the high spirits of others.

Physical:

HAIR  :  Mousy brown EYES  :  Brown HEIGHT  :  5’3 BUILD  :  Athletic, slender. MARKINGS  (  birthmarks,  tattoos,  scars,  etcs  )  :  A scar on her left hip from a fall down the shop stairs when she was younger. A small tattoo of an opening speech mark on her left wrist, and a closing speech mark on her right wrist - inspired by her journalism and her love for writing. Not a permanent marking, but Emmeline has a sapphire necklace that was a 17th birthday gift from her mother. It is perhaps the most expensive thing that Emme owns, and she never takes it off.

Personality:

TROPES  : Gentleman and a scholar - “He manages to be both a highly intelligent expert in his chosen field and a pleasant, well-adjusted and socially engaging human being, some times even more attuned to the nuances of social etiquette than many less-intellegent Gentleman and a Scholar -  “He manages to be both a highly intelligent expert in his chosen field and a pleasant, well-adjusted, and socially engaging human being, sometimes being even more attuned to the nuances of social etiquette than many less-intelligent characters. Frequently, his emphasis is more on the humanities than on the natural sciences.” MBTI  :  ENFJ-T ENNEAGRAM  :  Type 2 - The Helper ALIGNMENT  :  Lawful Good TEMPERAMENT  : Phlegmatic ZODIAC : Aries POSITIVE  TRAITS  :  Determined, loyal, resillient NEGATIVE  TRAITS  :  Clumsy, fiery

[isabella-aldwyn]

 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 ( 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗜: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗱𝘄𝘆𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 ) 

Areej (harry’s mun) and I (but really mostly areej) had actually chosen personalities and face claims for all the Aldwyn siblings around february . And of course, some of you guys have seen this WIP of mine since february. Task 4 finally lit the fire under my butt to finish it. So behold -- the five thousand Aldwyn children! 

Bella is exceptionally close with her siblings. Their Mother, who had grown up in the Italian countryside, strongly believed in tending to a warm hearth and even more so, a warm family. The siblings are perhaps too tight-knit, in which the siblings are incapable of not nosing into each other’s businesses. Despite their varying personalities, the sisters are more often than not inseparable and will descend on visitors in a crowd of Aldwyn.

Many of the family’s children are known for sporting tanner or olive skin and hazel green eyes, thanks to their mixed English and Italian heritage. (Unless you were the children who ended up with the dark brown eyes, ahem, like Bella.)

Edmund Antonio Aldwyn - the former Lord Cheltenham. (deceased 1798 at 31)  -  A well-respected man known for his honour, intelligence, and amiability. (Though Harry often thought the man was too serious, it seemed that Edmund was more prone to humour outside of family matters.) His reputation preceded him wherever he went and he was a very well-received man by peers and ladies alike. His death in the Ton sent ripples and he was greatly mourned. Prior to his death,  many wondered for many years why a man who was so highly regarded never found himself a wife, especially given the attention the man commanded. Edmund often explained away his reluctance to find a wife by insisting he wanted his sisters to settle before he did. Fiercely protective of his sisters, Edmund spent much of his time working with their Father to ensure that his sisters would experience the very best of lives. Also the closest of friends with Charles St. Clair who died not long after Edmund passed.

Henry “Harry” Percival Aldwyn - the Lord Cheltenham (age 26)  - The second son, who was given the heartless task of becoming Lord of the Estate after both their Father and Edmund died in quick procession. The closest sibling to Bella, the two spent much of their childhood exploring the Cheltenham countryside. 

Isabella Rose Aldwyn - (age 25) -  As the eldest daughter, bella had assisted the governness and their Mama in raising her six younger sisters. Bella was, for the most part, unsuccessful in transferring her assertion of independence and mischief to her sisters, with the exception of Charlotte. Bella is often underestimated due to her volatility, but she is the most likely of the family to get things done when push comes to shove. Bella is also the best musician in the family, and is unrivalled in the pianoforte and the lyre.

Eleanor Teresa Aldwyn - (age 22) - Took after Edmund in severity. The most prim and proper of the sisters, she found herself often the responsible one if Bella was not around. She is often the one snapping at Bella about teaching their younger sisters of bad habits, and is not opposed to butting heads with Bella (who believes Eleanor to be too strict). Unlike her older sister, Eleanor is intent on marrying well and has debuted the same year as her sister. 

Sophia Marie Aldwyn - (age 20 - The softest sibling, the dreamer of the family who is often lost in her own thoughts. When she is not daydreaming, she is reciting and writing poetry. The Season is something that has truly gone over her head. Though she has also debuted with Bella and Eleanor, she has spent all the events sitting on a bench with no intention of partaking. Though she is already 20, she dons a youthful glow that makes her seem much younger than she is.

Tabitha Luisa Aldwyn - (age 16) - Twin of Marianne, though she cannot be any more different from her identical twin. Tabitha has always been a life-long learner, surpassing all her elder siblings in every subject, whether it was mathematics, science, or literature. Given she is a female, she unfortunately cannot attend University like Edmund did. With her outspoken insistence that she will not marry, the family fears the day they must ask Tabitha to debut. 

Marianne Vittoria Aldwyn - (age 16) - Perhaps it was a desire to differentiate herself from her twin from a young age, but Mari nurtured an intense disgust for her studies since she was a child. Instead, she has shown to be quite a fashionable lady in the making, keeping up with the latest Parisian fashions and avant-garde trends. She is often more detached and cold than her other siblings. Far from slow-witted, she prefers to give off the impression that she is unimposing -- the opposite of Tabitha who very much prefers to be heard and taken very seriously. 

Emmeline Celia Aldwyn - (age 13)  - The nosiest and most demanding of the Aldwyn children. Has very picky tastes and is outspoken when she needs things to match her preferences. Her talent in information is uncanny in a 13 year old. It is clear to all that she will grow to be one who not only thrives off the gossip of the Ton but will be the first to know of the latest news. Being the youngest before Charlotte (who was unexpected) resulted in her being treated like a Princess which subsequently developed a bit of brattiness in the child. Developed an idolizing crush on a certain Prince who stopped by the Aldwyn residence.

Charlotte Matilde Aldwyn - (age 9) - The Aldwyns had believed eight children to be more than enough trouble but lo and behold, five years after Emmeline, Charlotte was born. A sweet-hearted and enthusiastic child, she likes to shadow Bella and is quite attached to her elder sister, very much following bella in her footsteps. 

[roseskiesandbutterflies]

Killer Queen - Chapter 12: Thank God It’s Christmas

Summary: Life is easy when things go your way. I know this from experience. I also know that that can disappear in an instant and that you have to be able to rely on your friends. Luckily my name is Arabella Ruth White and I’m the fifth marauder. But I want to show you the girl behind the mask. It takes a lot of work to be this fabulous, darling. (This story is also on Wattpad and AO3 of the same name.)

A/N: So hello again! I know it’s been 3 months since I last updated this fic, and a lot has changed since August so let me catch you up real quick. First of all, in the UK we basically came out of lockdown only to go back into it last week so that’s great. I’m in Year 11 now which is the last year of high school if you didn’t know, and I’m in the middle of my mocks right now, so my free time has plummeted. This unfortunately means that updates across all of my fics will be much slower for the foreseeable future, or at least until Bojo finally cancels our exams. We can but hope.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry it’s kind of a filler but I promise that the plot is properly about to kick in, just like I said a couple chapters ago. I’ve realised that I’m now the same age as these characters which makes things a lot easier in terms of writing them realistically. Also I’ve decided that all of the characters and just this whole fic in general has main character energy which is Good. We love to see it. Anyways I shall see you next time! Hasta luego.

Warning(s): swearing

Word Count: 3.1k+

Inspiration: random headcanons I found on Tumblr and Pinterest, The Boy Who Killed God by SeraMGrigori on AO3, All The Young Dudes by MsKingBean89 on AO3, Sweet Things by Cocomouse on AO3

Taglist: @bhmay @briarrose26

Ask/comment to be on my taglist! Let me know if it’s for a specific fandom(s). Full list is in my bio.

Ruth had her face pressed right up to the glass of the tiny kitchen window, making it smear up from her breath, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She curiously watched her cat, Sooty, cautiously interact with the much larger cat from down the road, circling each other in a manner that would be rather ominous if the former wasn’t a quarter of the latter’s size. Sooty was almost completely obscured by the overgrown grass that was screaming to be cut; Ruth wouldn’t have even known he was outside if it wasn’t for his extraordinarily long tail poking through.

“Ruth, why are you sitting on my poor washing machine?” her mother came in, half amused, half concerned, “You’re going to break the damn thing.”

She gasped in mock offence and turned round to look at her, “Are you trying to say something, Mum?”

She gave her a knowing look and said, “You know that’s not what I meant. Now, you didn’t answer my question, what on earth are you doing on my washing machine?”

She jumped off before Jocelyn could chastise her any further, “I’m waiting for the boys. We were saying about going down the pier or something today so we could give each other our presents, and I’m waiting for James’s parents to apparate them all to our garden. And they’re taking forever,” she pouted, elongating the last word way more than necessary.

“Well, what time did you tell them to come round?”

Ruth thought about it for a second before saying, “Around one o’clock, I think.”

She raised an eyebrow, “And what time is it now?”

She looked at the ground and mumbled, “Half twelve.”

“Well, there you go. You have half an hour, and you haven’t even got dressed yet,” she pointed out.

“But-”

“No buts. You’re not going out in your dressing gown so go and get dressed,” she said, playfully swatting Ruth with the tea towel and chasing her out of the kitchen.

She laughed maniacally as she ran out of the room, “But Mother, I am dressed,” she said, taking off her dressing gown like a stripper.

“Then why are you wearing your dressing gown?” Jocelyn asked exasperatedly.

“Because it’s bloody cold!” Ruth grinned.

“Language,” she muttered, shaking her head with a smile but sobering up when she noticed Ruth’s face fall, “What’s up with you?”

She faltered for a moment, caught off guard by Jocelyn’s quick observations, “Mum, did you, erm, did you hear about Melanie?” she grimaced with the fear of treading grounds such as those. Her cousin hadn’t mentioned anything about who she had told about the pregnancy, so for all Ruth knew, Jocelyn didn’t have a clue and she was about to get Melanie into some serious trouble.

Luckily for them both, Jocelyn’s face softened with understanding, “I heard. Your aunt told me all about it a couple weeks ago.”

“What do you think about it all? I mean, Christ, Mum, she’s only seventeen,” Ruth sighed, running a hand across her hair with an anxiety that she hadn’t even realised she had been suppressing.

“Come here,” she said, taking Ruth into her arms and holding her for a moment, “She’s going to be okay. She’s not alone, remember that. She’s got your aunt and us and that boyfriend of hers. She’ll be fine.”

A sudden knock at the window followed by four familiar faces made both Ruth and her mum look up in surprise, followed by a disappointed laugh from the former when she noticed that Sirius was only wearing his signature leather jacket, with no hat, scarf or gloves. She opened the kitchen door to let them in, hugging each of them as they entered.

Jocelyn smiled at the group before winking at her daughter, “I’ll make myself busy, then. Have fun today,” she said as she left with her steaming cup of tea.

Ruth grinned before turning to the boys, “Sirius, darling, it’s December, not June. Where the hell is your coat? And don’t tell me you’re too cool to actually keep yourself warm,” she added before the boy in question could say anything.

“Leave it, Ruth, I’ve been trying to talk some sense into him all morning, he won’t listen,” James sighed dramatically, sounding scarily like an exhausted mother.

“I won’t listen? You’re the one who nearly strangled me with that damn scarf!” Sirius exclaimed, looking desperately to the others for back-up, only to be met with shrugs.

“You dress appropriately for the weather, or you face the consequences,” James deadpanned, before bursting into laughter from the miffed expression on Sirius’s face.

“God, you really have become your mum, haven’t you?” Peter smirked, holding back his own laughter.

“Shut up, Pete!” he whined, stomping on the ground petulantly.

“Now you’re my brother,” Ruth snorted.

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

The fresh air bit at their noses as they made their way down the bustling high street, bracing themselves against the crisp December wind. Sirius was still the only one not wearing a coat, the rest of the group bundled up in their Gryffindor scarves which may or may not have been the only scarves they owned. Except for fifteen-year-old-grandmother Remus, who absolutely had a worrying obsession with anything you could make via knitting and the like. Peter had been positively swallowed up, and between his hat that looked about two sizes too big and his scarf, you could only see his eyes and the top of his nose.

“It’s a bit nippy out here, lads,” Ruth said, just as an icy gust of wind hit them, bringing tears to eyes, and actually making Peter stumble a little bit. As Jocelyn said at every possible opportunity, the wind was always stronger at the seaside.

“Is it really, Ruth? Gosh, I hadn’t noticed, thank you for telling me,” Remus glared at her, which would have been tenfold more menacing if half of his face wasn’t concealed by windswept hair.

“You are most welcome, dear Remus,” she grinned, sticking her tongue out at him in defiance.

“Children. Actual children,” Sirius muttered in a tone not at all dissimilar to that of an exasperated father.

“Says the one who refused to put his scarf on because he’s a stubborn bastard,” James said pointedly.

“Oh, you’re still going on about that one?”

“Always, my dear boy, always. I’m already making sure my best man’s speech mentions it at least twice,” he said proudly.

“He’s gotta find someone to marry first,” Peter pointed out, voice muffled from under his scarf.

“And what’s that supposed to meant, Pete?” Sirius rounded on him, forgetting completely about James’s strange obsession with his lack of winter clothing.

“Well, I don’t know but it might have something to do with the fact that you’ve never had a girlfriend for longer than three weeks,” Ruth shrugged.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you, Ruth,” Remus laughed, “But she does have a point, Sirius.”

“Why are you all ganging up on me, it’s very rude,” he huffed, “Anyway, it’s not my fault that I want to win the bet me and Ruth started in third year.”

“Darling, you’ve always had the option to pull out and admit that I am proud to be the biggest hoe that Hogwarts has ever seen,” she said with as much faux innocence as one can muster while talking about sex.

Sirius was silent for a moment before pointing out, “Wait, hang on, I’ve had a girlfriend for longer than three weeks. I went out with Emmeline Vance for about five months!”

“You mean you were on again, off again with Emmeline Vance for about five months,” Remus raised an eyebrow.

“You’re both gonna end up clapped as anything by the time we leave,” Peter mumbled as they walked through the threshold of their destination: Ruth’s beloved record shop.

Cromer’s one and only record shop was a favourite haunt of Ruth’s. If anyone wanted to find her during the school holidays, the record shop would be the first place they would go to, the second being the arcade on the promenade because they have the best games darling, and the third being the beach. It never seemed to cross anyone’s mind to look for her at her own home; it was a generally unspoken rule of sorts in the town that seeing Ruth at her house was as rare as seeing a double rainbow. It was the place where a good part of her pocket money went to, and the owner was incredibly grateful to have such a loyal customer. Ruth just told him to consider himself lucky that his was the only establishment in walking distance of her house that supplied her with her vinyl obsession. And oh boy, did he do just that. The White family were responsible for a good twenty per cent of his sales.

They filed into the shop, instantly taking off their hats when the somewhat aggressive heat hit them. The limited daylight spilt in through the floor-length windows that flanked the door, highlighting the records on show. The shop itself was rather small, with only two aisles running straight down to the till. They were separated by cases upon cases of albums, packed like sardines into their crates and sorted semi-alphabetically. Posters adorned almost every available space on the otherwise dull walls, looking over the customers with a keen interest. Underneath them were further crates, these ones pushed back against the walls and full of singles, which were ordered even more haphazardly than the albums if you could believe that. Ruth made her way down one of the aisles, leaving the boys to browse artists that they barely even knew. At the back end of the shop sat the counter, behind which sat the owner, Steve.

Steve was a rather short and stout man who had the grave misfortune of looking around a whole decade older than he actually was. That was more so to do with the way with which he held himself, and the fact that he wore those glasses that had a chain attached that you only see on elderly men, than his physical appearance. He had a terribly receding hairline that seemed to creep back every time Ruth came into his shop. She reckoned that he’d be completely bald by the time she left Hogwarts for good. He always seemed to wear the same attire, consisting of loose-fitting trousers and a grey t-shirt that always had a stain that Ruth would rather not enquire after. His fingers were coated with a nicotine stain that you only get after smoking for a good few decades, teeth and fingernails tinted yellow.

His smile was warm, and his eyes lit up like a match when he noticed Ruth walking up to the counter, “Arabella, good to see you!”

“You too, Steve, how’s everything been these past couple of months?” she asked, leaning on the counter with her elbows.

“Not bad, not bad,” he said, “A lot better than this time last year, that’s for sure. Thanks, by the way, for the advert in the newspaper suggestion. Business has gone up a great deal since then.”

“Well, I couldn’t let you give up the shop that easily, could I? Nah, you’ve supplied me with the very best music these past few years, it was the least I could do,” she beamed.

He smiled gratefully at her before glancing at the boys behind her, leafing through bands they’d never even heard of for the most part, “I see you’ve brought your mates at last.”

Ruth snorted as they all poked their heads up and waved at the same time, each one oblivious to the other, “Yeah, I thought I might as well, I’ve been putting it off for too long.”

“One of them your boyfriend?” he winked, laughing at Ruth’s mortified expression.

“No! God, no, that’s a horrible thought,” she shivered, recoiling in disgust.

“What’s a horrible thought?” Sirius asked as he sauntered up to the counter.

“Your face,” Ruth muttered as he swatted her shoulder, mouth agape in shock.

“How rude! I can’t believe you would say something like that!” he gasped before turning around and whining, “James! Ruth’s being mean to me!”

It was then James’s turn to gasp in disappointment, “Is she? Oh, come here, I’ll protect you from the meanie,” he said in the most motherly voice he could muster, opening his arms and hugging Sirius while glaring at Ruth.

She stared at them in disbelief, looking at Remus and Peter for guidance, only to be met with shrugs. She resolved to simply shaking her head in exasperation and turning to the ‘new releases’ section of the shop.

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

“You know what we should do,” Ruth said, holding up a chip to emphasise her point, “We should go on a gang holiday when we’re older. Just go travelling for a couple of weeks or something.”

They were currently sitting on the beach which, as you can probably imagine, isn’t the most pleasant of experiences in the middle of winter. The harsh wind nipped at their faces and Peter’s nose was crimson with the cold, but they found themselves sitting there anyway, watching the teal waves advance and retreat under the December mist that lazily rested on the ocean’s surface. They were sharing a couple of bags of chips that they’d bought from the chippy just aound the corner from Ruth’s house, trying their best to shield them from the prying seagulls circling the skies above them like hawks.

Peter audibly gasped with excitement, “We should get one of those caravans that muggles used to drive all the time in the sixties.”

“Yes! And we could charm it so it’s bigger on the inside like the tents they have at the Quidditch World Cup!” James added, ecstatic just to have been able to chime in with a Quidditch reference, let alone about the actual holiday. Sirius grinned stupidly as they high fived, making Ruth cringe and groan like an embarrassed daughter having to watch her parents kiss. Though, once she thought about it, that analogy was pretty accurate, perhaps more than she would have liked.

Remus held out his hands in suspense, something he always did when he’d thought of a master plan, “Two words. Tardis. Caravan.”

The sounds that then erupted from the group could not be described as human, more like a group of over-excited seagulls.

Once they’d calmed down, which took more time than it probably should have done, James suggested, “We should go to France so Sirius can show his French off!”

Sirius glared at him, muttering under his breath and by doing so, proving James’s point, “Putain de chienne. Je ne me montre pas, vous seriez tous perdus sans moi.”

“Oui, oui, er, baguette,” Peter snorted, rubbing his arm when Sirius hit at him playfully.

“Right, well,” Remus cut in before they jumped at each other’s throats, “Presents? The whole reason we’re here?”

“Gosh, Moony, here I was thinking that you were here because you wanted to see us and enjoy our company, but no, you just want your damn chocolate,” Sirius huffed.

Remus blinked at him for a second before asking tentatively, “Moony?”

“Moony,” he nodded.

Remus pinched his brow and sighed, “I’m going to regret asking but why?”

“Werewolf. Moon. Moony,” he explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

He raised an eyebrow at him, “Do I get a say in this by any chance?”

“No. I’ve thought of names for all of us, actually. I’m Padfoot, Peter’s Wormtail, Ruth is Silverspot and James is Prongs,” he counted off his fingers before nodding resolutely.

James smirked, eyes gleaming and Ruth already knew what he was going to say, “Am I Prongs because of my big–”

She slapped a hand over his mouth and glared at him menacingly, “Finish that question and I swear to God, James, I will slap you into next year.”

“Sirius, I think you’ve had far too much spare time on your hands,” Remus said while James and Ruth engaged in a very mature staring competition that lasted all of ten seconds.

“Yeah, five days without us and you’ve given us all nicknames,” Peter added, looking rather concerned for his friend’s mental state.

“Do you want me to change yours to Massive Knobhead?” Sirius asked with a scarily fake smile on his face.

James cut in before any fighting could ensue, “Okay, let’s get on to the presents, shall we?”

Sirius just shrugged and made a noise of vague agreement, while Peter just looked rather relieved to avoid conflict.

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

“Sirius, will you keep still!”

It was the fifth time that Remus had had to utter those words in the past two minutes, much to everyone’s annoyance and to Sirius’s amusement.

“Keeping still is for wimps!” Sirius announced with a stupid grin on his face before ruffling his hair once again.

“My fingers are gonna fall off from the cold at this rate,” Peter scowled, shooting daggers at Sirius with his eyes. Remus had given him a polaroid camera for Christmas after he’d been going on and on about wanting a muggle one all year, and he’d been trying his best to get a photo of the others for what felt like hours.

“Sirius stand still or I will petrificus totalus your sorry ass,” Ruth groaned, and James had to suppress a cheer when Sirius finally, finally, did as he was told. Peter took the photo as quickly as he could and waited patiently for the photo to develop, grinning when the image came into colour. “Let us see, then!” she exclaimed impatiently, holding her hands out like a baby would and snatching the photo from Peter.

“Oi, careful, I did not wait that long for Sirius to stop moving for you to just rip the bloody photo in half,” Peter huffed, re-joining the group with a false reluctance.

James grinned when he got a look at the photo, “Oh, Pete, that’s a bloody good photo. You should be a photographer or something,” he said, ruffling Peter’s hair playfully as the boy’s face flushed red.

“He’s got a point, Wormtail,” Remus mused, watching Sirius’s face light up at his use of the nickname, “It is a good photo. Though it’s weird having us stood still for once, I’m so used to us being in magical pictures.”

“I like it,” Ruth smiled, glancing at the boys affectionately, “I think it makes it even more special,” she paused for a moment, inhaling the very essence of that moment and relishing in it, “Happy Christmas, lads.”

[imyourliquor-youremypoison]

A Girl’s Best Friend (Peter Parker x OC) - Part 18

Synopsis: Diamonds are man’s best friend- or dogs are girls’ best friends, wait… how does the saying go again?

Warnings: Family issues; Peter has a crush and it’s complicated; mention of assault; good dogs; College AU; aged up! characters; TONY STARK IS ALIVE AND WE ALL LIVE IN A HAPPY PLACE CALLED DENIAL

A/N: This story has turned into a game called “how much longer can I drag this romance out?” and the answer is: very long.

Word count: 3.7k (chapters getting longer....)

Part 17 <<< >>> Part 19

MASTERLIST

Peter and her agreed to take things slow, to first build back the trust they had before diving into a relationship.

               That being said, neither of them had accounted for the ever-present longing they felt when they stood right next to each other yet couldn’t take the last step separating them. They never expected it to feel so wrong to sit on opposite ends of a couch, or to give up the nearly systematic physical contact they maintained before.

               Emmeline used to surprise him by jumping up from behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, they walked with their arms linked, Peter poked her left side while he stood to her right to throw her off, and little things like that. Why did they miss those so much? It was always the little things.

               A month later, they both expected to have grown used to their new status quo, but then Valentine Day rolled around, and Peter found every cell in his body urging him to throw aside caution and ask Emmeline out again. If not then, when? How much longer until they had rebuilt the foundations of a solid relationship? How much longer until his double life wasn’t constantly standing between them? And more importantly: how much longer would he be able to bear it?

               Unbeknownst to Peter, Emmeline struggled with the same issues, and she wasn’t doing much better when the entire city suddenly turned into a big splash of red and pink, with chocolate advertisement everywhere. Emmeline avoided Time Square altogether and declared she was on a sugar cleanse, not even looking at a piece of chocolate.

               She was the one to give in to temptation first. Slowly, day after day, she started getting touchy again. Certain moments she genuinely felt as though she would lose her mind if she kept this security distance with him.

               It started small. It started innocent. She squeezed his shoulder when she walked behind him – in class, at the Tower, it didn’t matter. She bumped into his shoulder to get his attention when his focus wavered. She looped a hand around his elbow when they walked together again.

               Peter didn’t think much of it except that he enjoyed it very much and was relieved to feel her warm touch again. The gentle grasp of her fingers around his elbow didn’t seem that much of a big deal until he was deprived of it. He knew she could walk on her own regardless of the height of her heels, but he sometimes doubted of his ability to walk without her support.

               Then it wasn’t so innocent anymore. It was desperate, though Peter himself was so acutely aware of her touches and moved by them that he never filed them as such. Why just lean over his shoulder when she could wrap her arms around him and rest her chin on his shoulder to see what he was working on? Why go get a chair when Peter’s lap was available? Why hold his elbow when she could wrap her arm around his waist?

               It was getting out of hand, she knew that. Could she stop? No, but she knew, at the very least, that she was playing with fire. The best instance of this was the day she asked to see his powers.

“Alright, show me,” she had told him, gesturing him to bring it on.

               They had been working in Peter’s dorm room, quizzing each other for an upcoming exam, but any studying had stopped a while ago and they now simply talked the day away while lying on his bed in various relatively uncomfortable positions.

“Show you what?” Peter asked, head perking up to look at her.

               He had been lying on his bed, feet up on the wall, while Emmeline had been dangling hers off the mattress. She had stood up.

“A Spider-Man thing! I don’t know! I mean, I’ve known you’re Spider-Man for over a month now, but I have yet to see it for myself,” she said, crossing her arms and shrugging her shoulders. “The people demand proof, Parker.”

“You’ve seen me use my powers,” he objected, sitting Indian style on his bed now and shaking his head. “You’ve seen me lie in a hammock made of my own webs.”

“No, no, no, that doesn’t count. You wore your mask, it doesn’t prove shit,” she argued. She was already holding out her hands to help him off the bed. “I can’t reconcile the picture of you and him. You’re so… different… but also the same? And I don’t know, I guess I’m a little confused sometimes, and I think it would help tremendously if I coul- “

               Peter picked up a web shooter from his backpack so fast Emmeline didn’t process what he was doing until it was too late. She never got to finish her sentence because he shot a web at her. Suddenly, she was pulled forward when Peter yanked on it, making her fall straight into his open arms.

               The least she could say was that she hadn’t expected this to happen when she made her request. What had she expected? That was a good question. Certainly not to land against Peter’s chest, palms open on his collarbones, her deer-in-the-headlights look making him smirk in this boyish way that never failed to make her blush. She tried to look away but there was nothing she could do to hide it from him when they were so close.

               Hadn’t she yearned for a proximity like this?

               Come March, they were both holding their breath, waiting for something to happen – anything at all would do, just as long as this sweet mutual torture came to an end.

               Life went on as per usual, Winter slowly melted away to make way for Spring, and the slow mending of their relationship seemed long over with. The broken trust felt like an old injury, leaving only a thin, pale scar they barely noticed anymore. Then why couldn’t they act on their feelings?

               Virtually nothing stood between them anymore – Emmeline had reclaimed her independence, Peter’s secret was out, she was part of his everyday life and his superhero life now that she interned at Stark Industry. What else were they waiting for?

               It was a recurring question that plagued both their minds. Unbeknownst to each other, they had both reached the same conclusion: it wasn’t about waiting the right time, or overcoming obstacles, or even exterior factors keeping them apart.

               There was fear – a fear of ruining something so delicate and fragile, yet so precious, as the bond they had developed. It was new for both of them, albeit in different ways. Peter had never met a girl like her, someone who accepted both sides of him and didn’t treat him differently even after finding out the truth about him. Emmeline had never realized she didn’t have to go through life all alone until he walked into her life and showed her.

               Somehow, it felt a little wrong to disturb the carefully set balance they established. They stood in precarious equilibrium, the slightest disturbance would throw them off balance, and who knew what would happen then?

               It was a matter of estimating the risk-reward ratio, and deciding whether or not they wanted to go into the unknown.

               But such downcast thoughts didn’t cloud their minds during the day – they were reserved for lonely evenings spent apart or sleepless nights. The latter were particularly tough on them, they made it hard not to give in to that late night haze that pushed most people to do or say things they would never do or say in broad daylight.

               Peter had lost track of how many times he swung by her new place, thinking he could push his fear aside and swipe her off her feet right then and there, before finally coming to his senses and going home. Emmeline couldn’t count how many times she had to turn off her phone completely, lest she make that midnight call that would change everything.

 *

 “You didn’t have to come here with me,” Peter repeated for the million’s time as he grabbed the glass door and held it open for Emmeline.

“I really don’t mind,” she told him again. How many more times until he believed her? Did he think spending time with him was a chore to her. “Besides, who were you going to ask for a second opinion if not me?”

“Ned?” Peter said with a funny face.

“Is it a question or an answer?” Emmeline laughed.

               The bell rang, signaling their presence to the store’s sole employee.

“I don’t even know. But when I asked you to help me find a birthday gift for May, I expected to have a few ideas thrown at me, not a full shopping day.”

               Emmeline unwrapped the scarf hanging around her neck, letting her hair fall down her left shoulder.

“We’ve been at it for an hour, Peter. That’s hardly a ‘shopping day’,” she snorted lightly, tugging at the sleeve of his jacket so he would follow her. “What does she normally wear?”

               Peter wasn’t too sure about this, but after ruling out the usual mundane gifts that were more practical than fancy, Emmeline had insisted on going to a jewelry store.

               He thought about it for a second, until his eyes set on a glass window.

“Earrings,” he said. “She wears earrings every day.”

               With all the expertise of a young girl brought up in wealth, Emmeline began to scour the rows and rows of jewelry, pointing out several to Peter who hummed in appreciation whenever he liked something.

               This went on for a while, until the store manager was finished with the previous customers and came to see them.

“Miss, sir,” he began. “How may I be of help? Are you looking for something in particular?” He looked at the window display in front of Peter and Emmeline before adding, “a ring, perhaps?”

               Peter stiffened and his faced burnt up faster than he thought possible while Emmeline blushed lightly and turned towards him, a sideways smirk on her lips. She edged on embarrassment and laughter, not knowing what to say.

“Oh, no,” she eventually told the men in his fifties that stood before them. “We are here for a birthday gift. We thought earrings would be nice. Maybe gold – what do you think, Peter? I think your aunt is a gold perso-“

               A sudden shriek coming from other customers who had wandered in the store cut her off. Peter’s hair stood on end the second the shrill sound interrupted his train of thoughts. Before anyone knew what was going on, the front door had been blocked from the inside by a man dressed in black, while two others stood each side of their partner, AK 47 in hands.

               How could he have missed that? Peter felt his heart drop at the realization of what just happened. Within a handful of seconds, they had been taken hostage and locked into a small hole-in-the-wall store. Had the old man’s assumption thrown him off to the point of missing something so big? It wasn’t good.

               Coming back to his senses, Peter pulled Emmeline to his chest and turned around to shield her with his body the second they began to fire their guns, earning another round of screams from the other customers and the store manager.

“I want everybody on the floor right now!” One of the men shouted, firing his weapon again to scare everybody into obedience.

               Peter dragged Emmeline with him to the floor, making sure she was safely hidden behind one of the display windows that would act as a shied if bullets came their way.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself, pressing her eyes shut. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she sang like a litany, taking the full measure of their circumstances. “This is bad.”

“Be quiet,” Peter told her, resting a hand on her shoulder as he slowly sat up on his heels to look through the window and have a peek at what the burglars were doing. One of them held his gun against the manager’s head.

“Can you…?” Emmeline asked him, her voice barely above a whisper so no one else could hear her.

               He knew what she meant, but the answer was no. Peter hadn’t brought his suit, and even if he had, he wouldn’t be able to change.

               To their right, in the corner of the store, were the other customers, the ones that had screamed to alert them of the robbers’ presence. They could see everything.

               Peter looked down, then towards Emmeline, a grave expression on his face as he shook his head. She closed her eyes again and clasped her hand over the one he put on her shoulder.

               Emmeline was holding his hand so tight it hurt and her chest rose quickly as her breathing got erratic although she made a visible effort to stay calm and put up a brave face – too bad Peter knew the signs of panic all too well.

“Em,” Peter called her to make her look at him. Her eyes plunge into his and he sees the fear behind her irises. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you, alright? Do you trust me?”

               She nodded energetically and exhaled slowly, letting her head drop on his shoulder to show that she did, indeed, trust him with her life. However, as soon as she felt him move, she tensed up.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Peter. You don’t have your suit,” she reminded him.

“What do we have here?” a gruff voice asked, interrupting their hushed conversation.

               A tall man dressed in black and wearing a mask that hid the entire lower part of his face emerged from behind the piece of furniture they hid behind. Peter tried to hold her back but she had let him go when her assailant pulled on her hair. Emmeline was dragged back harshly without any caution, letting out a terrified cry. Her hands flew to her scalp and she screamed in pain as the man dragged her on the floor, holding her by the hair.

“Look at this,” he told one of the others.

“What am I supposed to look at? A pretty girl?” he asked, clearly uninterested.

               The man who was still holding Emmeline, now crouched down beside her, meeting her tearful and angry eyes. She struggled in his grasp, trying to make him let go and preventing him from taking a good look at her. He only tightened his hold and used his other hand to grab her chin, squeezing harder than necessary, his ugly, grinning face too close for Emmeline’s liking.

“Don’t you recognize her? Her face was all over TV after that poorly executed shooting on Christmas Eve,” he explained, suddenly gaining the attention of his partners.

               It was true. Because her parents ran as soon as the situation took a turn left, leaving Emmeline behind, the media deduced the worst had happened. It didn’t help that she walked away from the shooting without telling a soul and headed straight for her apartment and then Peter’s place in Queens. In the end, it was Dexter who told everybody he had seen her well and alive – a good opportunity to appear on live TV.

“Oh, yeah, I know that face now that you mention it! It’s that girl!”

“Mister mayor’s love child, what a coincidence! Not really a child anymore,” the man who held Emmeline drawled out unpleasantly, making her turn her face away from his stinking breath. He allowed her to, having made his point. “Would be a shame if something unfortunate happened to you, don’t you agree princess?”

               Peter watched on in horror as Emmeline spat in the man’s face, a scowl on her face, and yelled at him.

“You don’ get to call me ‘princess’, you disgusting piece of shit!”

               One had to admire her bravado, although it nearly gave Peter a heart attack when she deliberately provoked the man who so clearly physically overpowered her – and he wasn’t even alone!

               He gave her a back-handed slap that echoed in the now mostly empty shop. There were three robbers, Emmeline, Peter, and five other people – four customers, and the store manager who was asked to put all the jewelry in a bag. All four of the other hostages were directly in Peter’s line of sight, which meant they could also see him. He couldn’t simply open his bag and take out his web-shooters for everyone to see.

               But when Emmeline landed heavily on the floor in a pained grunt after having been hit by this man, he didn’t think twice and jumped on his feet.

“Stop!” he shouted, getting everyone’s attention. Three guns were now pointed at him, but all he saw was Emmeline looking up at him, faintly shaking her head no to tell him to stop whatever he was doing. Abort mission.

“Get the fuck down!” One of the men told him, taking a step forward without lowering his gun. “Now’s not the time to play hero to impress the girl!”

               The one who had dragged Emmeline away from Peter in the first place now grabbed her by the arm to pull her up and onto her feet, holding her at gunpoint.

“If you move, she dies,” he warned Peter.

               Peter held his hands up in surrender to show that he wasn’t going to attempt anything. He tried not to linger on Emmeline’s insistent stare and the way she tried to communicate with his through eye contact only. Stop your nonsense, Peter! This is madness! You don’t have your suit, you’ll get hurt or worse!

               He could almost hear her voice in the back of his head, urging him to stay put, but he couldn’t stand sitting behind that counter while she was being manhandled for being the mayor’s daughter. Truly, Peter’s mild dislike of the man turned into something of a stronger nature every time he was mentioned.  

“I won’t do anything,” he told them, keeping his hands up. “Just let her go, please. If you want to threaten someone, take me instead.”

“No, Pet-!” Emmeline shouted before being silenced with a blow to the back of her head and falling on her knees.

“Don’t hurt her!” Peter asked them, his own panic rising steadily. He couldn’t do much apart from buying the police some extra time to arrive.

               He didn’t wait for their green light and simply walked around the counter, hands up, to stand between them and Emmeline’s crouched figure on the floor. One wrong movement and he would be littered with too many bullets to count – or to recover from.

               The manager was almost done bagging all of the jewelry, but he was obviously dragging it out to buy some more time, having picked up on what Peter was trying to do. From afar, they could already hear the sirens.

“Fuck, the cops are coming,” one of the men swore, lowering his gun and turning to the manager. “Hurry up if you don’t want a bullet between the eyes!”

               He didn’t have much choice but to do as he was being told. Behind Peter, the four other customers whispered between themselves, their voices rising slowly as panic grew. One of them, a man in his thirties, seemed to be particularly shaken up and ready to snap.

               Following Peter’s example, probably thinking it was a show of bravery, he stood up, hands in the air, although they were shaking rather badly and he had a frantic look in his eyes.

“Sit down! Sit the fuck down!”

“Don’t play hero, dude! Get on your fucking knees!”

               The robbers began to shout at him, not giving him a second to say anything at all. Still on wobbly legs, the man slowly inched towards the front doors, as if he wasn’t being aimed at with deadly weapons.

“I just wanna leave,” he stuttered out when the three men stopped barking orders at him. “You have her, what use am I? Just let me go, please.”

               Peter’s sympathy for the man wavered just a bit when he glanced at Emmeline’s crouched figure on the floor as he mentioned ‘her’. He was ready to let them have her if it meant he could get out of a scary situation. He was ten years older than her, trembling in fear while she remained calm and alert. Of course, there had been the initial terror and panic, but being recognized seemed to have helped her to ground herself.

“Sir, stay calm,” she tried to stop him from making a big mistake. “Everything will be fine.”

“How do you know that?! Ugh?!” the man began to lose it and started to freak out properly. “I don’t wanna die here! I just came to turn a bracelet my ex bought me! I don’t wanna die!”

“No one is going to die,” Emmeline stated as slowly and reassuringly as she could. “Return with the other customers.”

               The situation was escalating too quickly, Peter didn’t like where it was heading. Emmeline was still on the floor, trying to appease – in vain – a selfish man whose own survival clearly took precedence over everyone else’s. His erratic behavior might even prompt the others to do the same and try to escape.

               If this turned into a shooting, Peter wouldn’t have any other choice than to act, at the risk of outing himself.

“Listen to the lady, man. Sit the fuck down, I won’t repeat it another time!” the man who had manhandled Emmeline said, his cutting voice leaving no doubt as to his seriousness.

“You can get away with a robbery, but if you kill a man, your face will be everywhere on the news!” the panicky customer smart mouthed, unaware that he was digging his own grave. “I haven’t seen your faces, I’ll just leave and you’ll never hear of me again!”

               Everything happened really quickly then, and it was only thanks to Peter’s supernatural speed that it didn’t turn into a proper disaster. Peter jumped into action when he saw the robber’s hand tighten on his gun, and took the bullet that was meant for the other guy.

.

.

.

Reblog to save a writer

Taglist: @of-virtuoso​ @justanothergenzkid​ @complete-trash-101​ @the-freefeather​  @yarkmydude

[heartfeltheart]

Alchemy: Tiny Steps

Chapters: 25/45 Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter Rating: T Relationships: Edward/Winry, Lan Fan/Ling, and May/Alphonse. Primary Characters: Edward Elric, Severus Snape Additional Tags: Crossover, Teacher!Edward, BrOtp Edward/Severus. Sassy beyond measure. Pro!Snape Series: Part 2 of 9. Summary: Part two of the Alchemy Series.  Politics. Either you love it, hate it or you live it. For Alchemy Teacher Edward Elric, he lives it, hates it and loves it when he gets the upper hand. Here is to another year of hell… D/C: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. Discord: La Red(Mesh Mash of… stuff.): https://discord.gg/KYjmVAb Alchemy Series: https://discord.gg/DejEYNJ

George Weasley: Shows a great aptitude in Alchemy along with his brother, Fred Weasley. Try to remember who is who. This one needs to develop his critical thinking skills, it is apparent that both brothers help each other with what the other slacks with. While George has a complete understanding of the laws but as stated before, critical thinking along with a clearer and advanced understanding of the laws. Warning: Chronic prankster.

Rachel McWilliams: If only I could get her a full evaluation, I could only do so much without fully knowing what more I could do for her. There is a difference between knowing something and remembering something. She remembers what she needs to remember and at her convivence, but does not fully understands what she is talking about. I have received several complaints of her constant chatter to the point it severely distracts everyone. There are times she will be quiet, but it is just as unnerving whenever she goes in those quiet tangents. Warning: If she does not follow our warnings, contact Filius.

Yaxley Prang: Has one of the biggest sweet tooth… Emphatic and cares for his housemates. Enjoys creating recipes and figuring out how cooking could be implemented into Alchemy. Makes one mean carrot and zucchini bread. Pomona mentioned to me he dropped an elective to continue studying Alchemy, ended up dropping divination and switched it with ancient ruins and added in muggle studies. Need to talk to him about adding extra classes, last thing we need is him running on caffeine. Warning: Lost his mother at a young age due to that moldy-mort, a very sore subject for him.

Emmeline Evan: Blunt, mature and very warm-hearted. One of the oldest students I have, shows some promise but not enough time to be taught fully. This was a clear example what I warned that cat woman about. Anyway, she has a tendency to be very oblivious to a lot of things and Alchemy cannot be one of them. Even if she see's facts, she does not see the full picture or ask the necessary questions to further her studies. Warning: Don't be surprised if students attempt to woo her and she has no clue what's happening. Very oblivious. (Don't you say anything, Al. )

Alphonse scanned through his brother's paperwork for Wednesday's class, Critical Thinking. Students that require a deeper understanding of the world around them, to think in and out of the box and so on. Important for them to understand that life is filled with color but behind the seams, it's black, white and grays of all shades.

So far, a lot of the students who just passed the entrance exam are skeptical of what was being said to them. A lot of them had an idea what they assumed to be Alchemy and what from what they were told. So far Alphonse kicked out one person just went on how Alchemy is supposed to be, to a wizard/witch point of view. One less student to teach. Let's see if he can bring down the numbers even more.

-.-

"My head..." Edward rasped out, wincing at how dry his throat felt. His arms felt like stone when he attempted to move them. The only thing he felt he could move is his automail foot. Vision blurry made it impossible to figure out where he was at that current moment. 'Where am I?'

Edward suddenly felt metal touch his lips and a cold liquid hitting his lips. The need of quench his thirst overtook his mind to question what he was being forced to drink but that was overthrown. His thirst won over and when the liquid touched his tongue, the eldest Elric Brother felt warmth filled his entire body. Feeling began to return and his vision becoming clearer. Once his sight returned fully to him, he saw that it was Severus holding a goblet up to his lips. The liquid in said goblet smelled like peppermint, rosemary, and… feverfew? Whatever it was, it was helping him get rid of the constant ache in his head. "Zank you."

Severus could only raise an eyebrow at hearing Edward's voice. Edward had started to lose his heavily accented voice, pronouncing English words easily and nearly fluently. Still had hints of Amestrian but nothing when he first met him. Now? It's like right back to the beginning for Edward. "How do you feel?"

"I feel like schit. Put vadeffer you kaffe me is making it ko avay." Edward slurred out, feeling sleep taking over him again. "Vat did you make drink…"

Severus watched Edward slurred out his words before returning to a magic induced sleep. This would be the last time the young man be forced to drink a sleeping drought. It was heavily diluted to help with the concussion Edward is suffering from. From what Poppy told him, that Edward is almost in the clear but needed one more potion and a long rest before going about his normal business. Well, normal business for Edward Elric.

"How is he?"

Severus turned around to see Alphonse entering the room from the second entrance of the room. "I gave him the last required potion. It would have been a fast process if he allowed Madam Pomfrey to use magic and fully utilizing my potions, but considering his stance towards that…"

"His stance against magic in or on his body…I know." Alphonse let out a despondent sigh. "He would rather suffer through the pain than make it go away quickly with magic. Don't use it against him, he already does that enough as it is."

"I know."

-.-

"The main colors of the wedding are red and gold?" Izumi attempted to describe the color of dress she needed to get for Edward and Winry's wedding. She was asked by Edward to stand in as the Mother of the Groom and right now, she is looking for a dress along with Gracia, Elicia and Riza. "I want something like this…"

Gracia could only chuckle and show complete apprehension at how Izumi described the dress she wanted. She turned her attention to another attendant of the bridal shop. She was asked to become the Mother of the Bride and wedding planner. Her daughter is to be the flower girl and have Black Hayate be the ring bearer. Riza is the Maid of Honor and is currently debating type of dress she wanted to wear for the wedding. Winry had gave free reign of her wedding. The only rules she did put in is that the colors are red and gold, no bachelorette or bachelor parties, and nothing to revealing. A simple country, fairy-tail inspired wedding. At least Pinako managed to convince her to not it all themed Automail and machines. That was a clear second. "For the bridesmaid's dresses, could we avoid lace, open-backs and something not to heavy? Color? Dark gold, of a dark enough yellow to pass it off…"

Gracia didn't need to look back to see how Riza let out a sigh of relief when she rejected a dress that would have been perfect, but the back had a see-through lace showing off the back. "Something like this back the back covered."

"Mommy, could my friend come to the wedding?"

"We'll have to ask Winry, dear. Which friend?"

"His name is…"

-.-

Alphonse slowly edged towards the trapdoor that was the only form of entrance and exit of the Divination Tower. The Divination Professor is freaking him out and is professing his future, past and present death. Now she is going on about how the color of his eyes only proceeds death of everyone that connects with him and his brother. "Truth… if this is your twisted away of punishing me… you've done it."

-.-

Terrence Higgs: One of my start students along with George and Fred. Despite coming from a Pure-Blood background, he does not see blood or house colors. See's the world as it is and from what he described, the Higgs are a Gray Family. Have him go over arrays and elemental alchemy. It may be too advanced for him, but I believe he could make it. Warning: He had to drop several classes to continue taking Alchemy and Quidditch. Keep in contact with Severus to see where he stands.

Edmond Mortin: I swear this kid's voice is so deep! Whenever he talks it's like a cross between Sid and Major Armstrong! The kid enjoys scaring the crap out of people and joins Fred and George in their pranks. Loves pranks. Very much… I might get this kid to transmutate something before he leaves the school. Warning: Only makes himself known when he wants to. Knows every rumor that goes around this school.

Wynne Rabnott: I swear she's like a mini Major General Armstrong in terms of being 'icy' towards everyone around her. Can't blame her, her family came from a primary non-magical background but quickly married into magic and allowed money to talk for them. She's with that boyfriend of hers due to the fact 'he's of good stock', I swear I never understand how their family make her face theses views. She is has a good balance but needs to have all aspects put together. Warning: She has that death like stare…be warned.

Nathaniel Praxley: May be Pure-Blood, but his family cares enough to suck in their pride to get help in a non-magical means. Found out he has a mild case of dyslexia, working with his parents, Filius and the doctor that diagnosed him. I believe I found a way to help him study. Now we have to find a way to raise up his self-esteem, the kid doesn't believe he's smart enough for Ravenclaw. If only he knew, the kid knows his stuff and doesn't even fully realize what he's truly capable of. Warning: I've heard many of his housemates are tormenting him, have to get one of my older students from the same house to watch over him.

Thursday Class.

Balance.

This day and the next, then hopefully Edward will be ready to get back to teaching. Alphonse could only wonder how his brother managed to get through teaching last year. To think that last year he would be teaching on his own. Oh truth… he takes back everything he ever told his brother about being a teacher. He'll be the one that would murder a student… or horribly maim them.

"Sir, isn't alchemy just a form of lost magical art form? Creating gold and such?"

"…Get out."

-.-

'I feel like I should start gloating…?'

[emi-vance-blog]

my goodness, is EMMELINE VANCE back? it’s been a few years since the half-blood has been around the castle, but i’d recognize her anywhere. rumor has it the seventh year spent the past few years aligned with the ORDER. they’re still DETERMINED & RESILIENT and JUDGMENTAL & DISTRUSTFUL, though. and the gryffindor still reminds me of bruised knuckles, a cool breeze, sweets melting in your mouth. well, then, i guess some things never change. 

tw: abuse, tw: alocholism, tw: sexual assault (I was kinda vague about it but it's there)

NAME: Emmeline Kaira Vance

NICKNAME: Emi

AGE: 20/21

DATE OF BIRTH: 28th November 1959

SEXUALITY: Demisexual

PARENTS: Elizabeth Vance [muggle, deceased]  & Rohit Khan [pureblood, absent]

SIBLINGS: 5 half siblings, all older. Oldest half-brother Sai Khan.

HOUSE: Gryffindor

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

HOMETOWN: London

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good

PERSONALITY: ENTJ

PATRONUS: Unicorn

Overall, Unicorns are kind of giving by nature and have the capacity to venture far beyond their peers to reach places that others would find impossible.  This is the greatest strength of the Unicorn.  Their adventurous nature refuses to see limitations.  They are always moving toward the next great idea and they almost always take the road less traveled to get there.  Their seemingly endless energy can be infectious, and when they take on a challenge, they are as passionate as ever… for a while.  While they truly care about the challenges they take up (and they do so often), Unicorns are quick to give up on something if they don’t see the end result fast enough for their liking.  That’s not to say that they don’t care, they just lose focus on one project and would prefer to spend their exceptional capabilities on something else for the moment. The life of a Unicorn is about the experience, not the big plan. At best they use their energy to change the world.  At worst, they become self-obsessed and spin their wheels in all the wrong directions.  They never lack ideas, and are always on the move.  If the Unicorn can get focused on a single destination, there is practically nothing that can stop them from getting there.

BOGGART: her friends being dead / held under the cruciatus

WAND: Ebony with dragon heartstring core, 10 inches, inflexible.

Ebony - This jet-black wand wood has an impressive appearance and reputation, being highly suited to all manner of combative magic, and to Transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider, ebony wand owners have been found both among the ranks of light and dark revolutionaries alike. The ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and will not be swayed lightly from their purpose.

Dragon Heartstring - As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner.The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.

BIO aka the multi-chaptered international life story that literally no one asked for (TLDR AT THE END):

Prejudice is something that Emi is familiar with, something that has followed her from the day she was born. She was an accidental pregnancy, the result of a one-night stand between muggle tourist Elizabeth Vance and pureblood heir, Rohit Khan. Her paternal grandparents were furious when news of her conception got out, and banned Rohit from having any connection with his illegitimate child other than providing the woman with monthly payments to keep her silence. The family was big in both muggle and magical circles, and it would not do to have such a shameful secret exposed - especially since Rohit already had a family, and his eldest son Sai was already fifteen years old. Sai's mother was in favour of having the infant killed, but her husband forbid it, of the opinion that his son should learn to manage his own mistakes. And murder of an infant would make for even more unseemly gossip, if word was somehow to get out.

Emi spent the first six years of her life in England with her mother. She was bold and determined, getting into fights with bullies who tried to tell her to "go back where she came from" and running circles around her peers academically. For all her intelligence, she failed to understand how to make friends her own age, and would often be found trailing along after the older kids who found her amusing.  Her life wasn't easy, but Emi hadn't known anything else. This was just how life was, or so she thought.

The first step to change was her first act of accidental magic. It was Christmas, and all the occupants of the building had thrown a big party on the rooftop. Everyone was drunk - this included one of her neighbours, who wanted to touch in her ways she didn't like or understand. He went flying across the rooftop, out from the secluded corner he had lured her to and slammed his head on a metal pole. Nobody realised what had happened or who was responsible, and the incident was written off  as a drunk man's careless shenanigans. Emi didn't say anything, but she didn't forget either. It took her years to trust someone to touch her and sometimes, when she recoils from the idea of intimacy, she wonders if this incident is the reason for it all. 

The minute her magic manifested, Emi's name was automatically added to the Khan's family tree tapestry. Her grandfather insisted that Rohit retrieve the girl and bring her back to India, and her grandmother was furious. But her grandfather's word was law in the family, and so after a tearful goodbye, Emi left behind her old life and moved to Bombay. There was nothing she really felt tied her to England, and she was more than happy to get as far away from her neighbour as possible.

From the very first moment in the large, ancestral home the extended family lived in, Emi was an outcast. She was an illegitimate child, and a half-blood to boot. The culture seemed to her barbaric and backwards, and she fought back at every opportunity. She wouldn't wear the itchy dresses, she wouldn't address her younger cousins and second cousins with honorifics, she wouldn't stay silent when members of the household pulled mean trick after trick. She missed England terribly - she missed the organised traffic, the cool rain, her mother singing her lullabies before bed. The requests she made to go home seemed to fall on deaf ears, and four years passed.

In those four years, Emi discovered an unexpected ally - her eldest half-brother, Sai. In his early twenties, and expected to carry on the Khan legacy, Sai wanted nothing more than to escape from his family's overbearing influence. He didn't believe in his family's ideologies, and definitely didn't believe in the bullying of a child - and he told his mother as much, after discovering Emi in the kitchens one day, scrubbing pots with a bruise on her left cheek. He started to look out for her - bringing her sweets, helping her with the homework the tutors gave her, buying her the comfortable cotton clothing she sorely missed. In return, Emi slowly opened up, telling him stories of her time with her mother and all the things that she was still so homesick for. Hearing these stories gave Sai an idea, and he slowly hatched a plan.

At his twenty-fifth birthday party, the day he was supposed to accept his title as heir and step up to the responsibilities of his family, Sai instead made an announcement about the new job he had managed to land - the Indian Ambassador at the British Ministry of Magic. He would be moving to London, and taking Emi with him.

The backlash was loud, intense, and furious. It was practically a riot. It wasn't that the job was bad - it was reputable, even to the standards Rohit might hold his other sons up to. But not the heir. And to take his half-sister under his wing , to knowingly associate with a half-blood was an even bigger taboo. But Sai would not be swayed - he had come too far to back down - and a few days later he and Emi found themselves in Diagon Alley.

Tracking down her mother was relatively easy, but the reunion was bittersweet. In the time that Emi had been in Bombay, her mother had picked up an abusive boyfriend and an alcohol problem. With Sai's help, Emi managed to get rid of the former, but it seemed that the latter was there to say.

 When her Hogwarts letter came, she was wary and reluctant. She didn't want to leave her mother again, as much as it tore at her to see the formally affectionate woman constantly slurring her words and reeking of wine. So far, the magical world hadn't been any nicer to her than the muggle one, and Emi would much rather face the enemies she did know rather than the ones she did not.

The visit from Professor McGonagall won her over, and in the fall of 1971, she set off to Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor. She was still wary, and initially cold to her peers, but she opened up, little by little. She spent the years enjoying her childhood, laughing with her friends, gossiping with them, sneaking late night snacks, cramming essays. She loved having the power, the magic that came out of her wand, and she was a devoted student. She especially focused on combative magic - never again would she let anyone try to take advantage of her - and excelled at DADA. The clouds slowly gathering over her teenage years came in the form of blood prejudice (really, she was quite used to this by now - it was more annoying than hurtful), her lack of understanding at her peers' romantic/sexual inclinations and her mother's deteriorating health. Elizabeth Vance's addiction to alcohol was only getting more severe by the year, and in Emi's sixth year, she passed away after falling over while drunk and bleeding out. Emi couldn't forgive herself for the incident - if only she had been at home, not at Hogwarts, she could have stopped this. She could have helped her mother beat her alcoholism, and she could have saved her life. At the same time, the annoying pureblood ideology was starting to become more dangerous, and Sai was growing worried.

On September 1st, 1976, Emi hugged her brother goodbye, and stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. It was becoming risky to stay in Magical Britain, and Sai had decided to move back to Bombay. He wanted Emi to come join him after finishing her final year - she wasn't fully sold on the idea, but that was okay. She had time to decide, after all.

Until she didn't.

The betrothal letter came two days before the end of the Christmas holidays. It made no sense - she was a half-blood, she was supposed to be unwanted - but after hearing Sai sing her praises, her father and grandmother had apparently decided that she was worthy of being married off.  The wedding was to a wealthy Indian muggleborn, who had risen in society by making a fortune but still lacked the reputable family connections. The letter caught fire in her hand, and Emi spent the rest of the day sulking.  Was there ever going to be something she didn't have to fight?

The attack left Emi stranded. She had no home, no family in the country - nowhere to go other than back to Bombay. Where she refused to be, because she wasn't a piece of meat who would willingly be sold off like her older sisters and cousins. She would not.

With no magical qualifications, and little other choice, Emi stayed with a friend in London, and picked up a couple of part-time muggle jobs. It was enough to survive, and if she could have turned her back on the wizarding world she might have even considered college and restarting her life. But the wizarding world was were all her friends were, and there was no way she could walk away while the people she loved suffered. She joined the order and did what she always did best - she fought.

When the time came for her to reply to the betrothal and return to Bombay Emi did the only thing she could - she lied, putting into motion the plan she had first come up with when she was seven year olds watching her cousin sit on the wedding podium wearing ten pounds of gold and red-rimmed eyes. She recruited a friend to pose as a fake boyfriend, using him as the reason she would stay in London and not get married. She was almost disappointed with the lack of drama that followed - Rohit simply switched the betrothal to another distant cousin whose father had displeased him, and Sai merely warned her to stay safe in the war. An escape plan cultivated over years for, what, exactly?

The re-opening of Hogwarts filled Emi with hope and fear. Hope, because it felt like the world might be on the road to recovery and a qualification would allow her to get a job. Hopefully one that didn't involve dealing with grumpy customers. Fear, because it was not just her and her friends returning to Hogwarts - it was also the purebloods that sneered at her and secretly wished she would die. Perhaps some that were actively working towards that goal. It might be school, but it was also a battlefield and Emi knows she needs to stay alert at all times. But the nostalgia and memories of happier times have only made her realise how tired she is of all the constant fighting. Was there ever going to be a time where she didn't need to fight?

TLDR; half-blood, has spent her entire life fighting one thing or another, no remaining family in England, doesn't trust anybody but the friends she grew up with, talented duellist

[emmy-tanaka-blog]

*  ♡ ˙ ˖    /    kiko mizuhara + cisfemale + she/her. — did you know emmy’s real name is emmeline tanaka ? oh yeah, they are a twenty-seven year old artist known as the the sweetheart that has been in town for a year. this pansexual libra can be sweet + compassionate, as well as clumsy + shy. i hear their soulmark is a hummingbird on the wrist, and their soulmate looks like jodie comer. paint splattered on a shirt, a nervous smile, untied shoe-laces.

{ hi y’all! my name is tessie, i’m 20 years old and i use she/her pronouns. i’m super duper excited to be here & to introduce everyone to my smol, shy bb emmy!! she’s super lovable and just extremely shy, but she lOVES LOVE !!! so if you wanna plot pls pls lmk by either liking this post or by shooting me a message! hope y’all are having a great day and wishing you all the best ! <3 }

B R I E F   H I S T O R Y 

Independence came to Emmeline ‘Emmy’ Tanaka at an early age. Emmy’s father, Joseph Tanaka, had immigrated to the United States with the rest of his family from Japan when he had only been five years old, whereas her mother, Joana Beaucourt, had been born and raised in Jericho, Maine.  When Joseph met Emmy’s mother, it was love at first sight. The two descended into a quick and passionate relationship, and although they were not soulmates, they loved each other fiercely and tenderly. However, when Emmy was only eight years old, her father packed up his bags and left without a single reason or final goodbye.  And yet, Emmy held onto the belief that one day, her father would return. But when five years went by with no sign of her father, Emmy stopped believing in such things. She stopped being foolish. By this time, she was thirteen, and her mother had been working odd jobs here and there to support Emmy. It was then that a switch went on inside of the young girl, and Emmy did what she thought was best: she shut herself out.

Rarely leaving the confinements of her room, Emmy learned to be independent. Rather than complain about the throes of life to her mother, she went on each day without saying much of anything at all. She fixed her own meals. She went to school by herself. She helped her mother pay for rent by getting a job of her own. And, through it all, she became self-sufficient.  Still, despite her quiet nature, when in the company of others, she was shy and extremely awkward.

As the years went by, Emmy started to get restless. So by her senior year of high school, she decided to move out of Jericho and to go to college. Not in Jericho, but in New York.  Her mother pleaded with her to stay. But college was on Emmy’s mind, and so, with a kiss to her mother’s cheek and a promise to call and visit as soon as she could, Emmy left for New York. Since she had saved up over the years (and with a little financial aid), Emmy was able to afford to go to a small art school, investing her time in drawing, sketching and painting anything and everything. She became so entrapped in her life of art that she had trouble getting jobs, much less making friends. Eventually, though, she got a job working in a small kindergarten as an art teacher. And yet, her heart started to yearn for Jericho after so many years. She missed her mother. She missed home. And with this in mind, she decided to return back to Jericho.

Now, she’s been back for a year, and through everything, she’s still that same shy, reclusive and sweet person that she’s always been. But now, she hopes to make a name for herself in this town she used to call home and to perhaps even find her soulmate.

P E R S O N A L I T Y

Emmy is an emotionally driven-character, being someone who rarely gets angry but nonetheless does what she thinks is right. Some mistake her as being awkward and aloof due to her rather shy attitude upon first meeting. And although she is quite shy and reserved, first impressions are never something to go on, right? Because in reality, she’s generally a very positive and loving character. Showing affection and love has never come as a difficult feat for her, and because of this, she’s very loving to those she cares about. 

However, making friends has always been a difficult feat for her, but she loves love. But underneath her bubbly, positive personality is someone who is afraid, naive and a little foolish. She rarely gets sad or angry, due to the fact that she’s afraid that if she does, an onslaught of emotions will pour out. Because of this, she often pushes any other emotion down and denies ever being angry or sad for as long as she can. She’s human, though, and she does get sad and angry. She’s just good at hiding it. 

W A N T E D  C O N N E C T I O N S

Emmy needs friends !! She’s really shy but has such a good heart, so having people cose to her who can help her grow/can support her would just be so so nice !!

HER MOther !!! I would cry if someone brought me the connection of Emmy’s mom oh mY GoSH !! (Her mom had her when she was quite young, around 18-20 yrs old, so she wouldn’t be that much older than Emmy herself). 

 {Pls feel free to message me if you have any ideas for connections, but tysm if you read through all of this !! I really appreciate it <3}

[amarauder]

chapter thirty-one ❥ original

it’s a hate-love thing original version.

james potter x reader.

- the final chapter :)

James looked sadly at the Muggle bodies lying on the streets, and shook his head. He and many other Order members, including Y/N, had been sent to London to investigate the Muggle attack by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was the third attack that month, and terror ensued everywhere in the Wizarding world. They couldn't even trust anyone now—not even members of the Order. Who knows what unexpected person may turn out to be a spy?

"This is terrible," whispered Arabella, clutching the hands of Sirius, and shivering. It was early December, and very chilly.

"Worse, much worse," mumbled Remus, shaking his head along with James. "I can't believe Voldemort would be like this."

"Damn him," cursed Moody, stomping his feet, either from anger or from the cold. "Bloody murderer, he is."

Alice gave a small cry, and huddled close to Frank, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was still at the crack of dawn, and the teardrops that slid down her round, pink cheeks looked like frozen dewdrops about to slid off a leaf after a night of rain.

"Why would he do this?" said Y/N, her voice quivering. "It's barbaric, killing all these poor, innocent Muggles who don't even know that magic exists."

"We're going to stop him," said Jennifer with determination, as she yanked Gideon's arm closer to her own. "Don't you have anything to say, Gid?"

"Yeah, horrible," murmured the comely young man, scratching his head. "Fab"—he turned to his brother—"what do you make of this? I have an eerie feeling about this attack, somehow."

"It's a Muggle attack," replied Fabian, nonplussed. "What else is there to say? It's one of You-Know-Who's worst doings, but he has been doing these things for ages. What're you thinking about, Gideon?"

"Somehow," said Gideon slowly, "I think that this is an end and a beginning of something terrible."

"What are you on about?" demanded Remus aggressively.

"I mean to say that perhaps You-Know-Who—"

"Voldemort," corrected the young werewolf curtly.

"You-Know-Who might have some large plan to expunge all the people who are against him and his regime. Perhaps he has a plan right this second and is talking it over with his Death Eaters to get rid of the people of the Light—in other words, the Order. He may be planning to kill the Order members first before he moves on to other people. However, he could also go on to the most powerful Wizarding families in our world. They're the Bones, McKinnons, Longbottoms, us Prewetts, and the Potters."

James' eyes flashed, as he looked over at the young man. "Are you sure about this, Gideon?"

"I don't quite have substantiated proof, but James, he'll be after us soon!" Gideon's crystal blue eyes widened considerably. "You would suspect that You-Know-Who would be after us, after all the work we've done to go against him and the Dark Side. You know how he hates some of the old Wizarding families who aren't on his side. He'll do anything to either get those families on his side, or kill them. Now that he sees that nothing would make those families support him, he'd probably resort to the latter."

"Hogwash," said Remus aloud. "A bunch of crap, I say!"

"Lupin," gasped Jennifer, her hand fluttering to her mouth. "It makes perfect sense, why don't you get it?"

"Oh, you're only supporting him 'cause he's your boyfriend."

"You're not supporting him because you're just jealous that he is my boyfriend!"

"Jennifer, Remus," scolded Violet gently. "Enough of this already. This is a serious situation, and we'll not fool around any longer. It's time for you two to make up and let go of your past. If you don't cooperate, we may all perish in this war."

"She's right," said Jackson quietly, holding his girlfriend's hands.

"You—" began Remus, but he cut his thoughts mid-way. "Never mind. I'm sorry."

"So am I," agreed Jennifer stiffly.

"Well, then," said Lily awkwardly. "Er—what were you saying, Gideon?"

Gideon simply raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at the young wife and sighed. "Your family may be in danger, Y/N."

"I—" Remus stopped halfway through his sentence again, and refrained from speaking unless spoken to.

"Well, Gideon, then I suppose your family would be as well."

"Yes, I am quite aware of that, as well as the fact that there are many families that are plotting against our families right at this moment."

"Such as mine," added Sirius, finally joining the conversation. "My brother's a Death Eater."

Silence followed this statement, as the Prewett brothers looked his way. Fabian looked perfectly calm and nonchalant, but Gideon stared at Sirius as if he were a madman.

"You're kidding."

"Not. Is it that surprising, Gid? My family's always been supportive of the Dark Arts."

"Sirius, you know that your family aren't that loyal to You-Know-Who."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, but my brother wants to please Mother and Father, and he's blinded by Voldemort's stupid promises to all that join him. I won't be surprised if he runs away the day after he's recruited."

"He's still your family, Sirius," said Alice softly.

"Family? Ha! The Order is better family than mine ever was. Everyone in the Black family hates me, except for Andromeda. What does that tell you? My cousin, Bellatrix, has probably joined up already with the Death Eaters with her fiancé, Rodolphus Lestrange. Don't expect my family to not do anything to support Voldemort, Al."

"For Merlin's sake, Black, stop saying his name!" snapped Moody irascibly.

Sirius pointedly ignored the Auror, and took a deep breath, calming slightly from his sudden fulmination.

"So you're saying, Prewett, that my best friend and his wife are going to die, just like that?" said Remus slowly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Remus," said Gideon pleasantly. He still didn't notice the fact that Remus disliked him immensely. "Does it not make sense to you? May I care to elaborate—"

"No, no, that will be all." Remus didn't want to tempt him with another speech.

"He's already taken over much of Europe," said Fabian statistically, looking over a thick wad of paper. "Let's see now...some of Luxembourg, Germany, nearly all of Britain, France, and a small part of Italy. I hear he's moving toward Ireland soon."

"How do we know you haven't made all this stuff up, then?"

"What on earth? Why would you suspect me of such a thing?" Fabian looked at Remus in astonishment.

"You never know if a member of the Order is an ally or enemy."

"Then how do I know if you're not a spy?"

"'Cause, I'm not!"

"Remus," interrupted Violet soothingly, placing her small hand upon his shoulders. "Please don't start this again. It isn't like old times anymore; this is serious now."

"No need, Violet, I'm fine."

Y/N sighed, looking over at the young werewolf, who was currently in despair. She felt terrible for Remus, and her heart went out to him, but what could she possibly do? She couldn't say that she knew how he felt, because she really didn't. First he lost his girlfriend, and was now living under the same roof with her and her boyfriend. Now, he had to suffer more than ever during the full moon periods, and there was always the threat that Voldemort may convince him enough to join the Dark Side.

"Cheer up all, it's the holidays," said Arabella, feigning exuberance. "How about we all head down to Hogsmeade and look at the decorations?"

"You young people can go," muttered Moody. "I'm going back to headquarters. Merlin knows that we need at least some responsible members who are dedicated to the Cause."

"You know, I'm a very responsible member of the Order."

James groaned inwardly, and squeezed his eyes shut. Here we go again, he thought gloomily. Another bickering between Arabella and Moody is not something I want right now.

"Yes, of course you are," said Moody in a sarcastic tone. "Running off to God knows where every single second of your life—so faithful."

"Don't insult me, sir! You are no better, you ugly, you pathetic piece of—"

"Let's go," said Sirius suddenly, dragging Arabella by the arm and Apparating. Arabella sighed, and followed suit, and Remus, Jennifer, Y/N, James, Violet, and Jackson went as well.

"Ah, Hogsmeade, it's good to be back once more," said Y/N joyously, as she breathed the cold air, and touched the moist snowflakes that were falling.

"Let's go see Emmeline," said Sirius enthusiastically.

"Padfoot, you dolt, she's already graduated from Hogwarts!" James laughed. "She bought a flat in London."

"Darn."

"Now what?"

"Honeydukes," announced Jackson, when no one else would reply. Since there was nothing else to do, they all assented and entered the sweet shop, ready to empty their pockets of gold.

"James Potter, a pleasure to meet you once again," came an oddly familiar oily voice from behind them.

James narrowed his eyes, and turned around. "Snivellus," he hissed venomously.

"Severus!" exclaimed Y/N, her hand fluttering up to her mouth, as she clutched James' arm painfully.

"What do you want, Snape?"

"Ah, finally calling me by my given surname, are we, Potter? I guess those nickname days are over, huh?"

"I said, what do you want, Snivelly?"

"Why, I can't say hello to my fellow classmates whom I graduated with two years ago?"

"Oy, over here!"

They turned around yet again to see Emmeline waving her arms cheerfully. She was as pretty as always, with her brown hair framed over her pink cheeks. Around her arm was a handsome man with dark-brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hey, Em," said Lily.

"I thought you graduated from Hogwarts," said Sirius, puzzled.

"I have, stupid. Can't a girl visit Hogsmeade anyway? Oh, how rude! This is my boyfriend, Randy Smith." She gestured to the man.

"Related to Laura Smith?" persisted James.

"Yes, my deceased younger sister." His eyes clouded, and he looked over at James. "You're James Potter, aren't you? The most famous and youngest Auror at the Ministry."

"Oh, well—er—" James shuffled his feet, his face crimson. "I can't say most famous, but yes, I am an Auror at the Ministry."

Emmeline grinned. "Grown modest, have we, James? Well, Dumbledore sent me the letter asking me to join the you-know-what, so I'll be at you-know-where tonight."

"Excellent," said Arabella. "So, how long have you two been an item?"

"Three months," confirmed Randy, his arm tightening around Emmeline's waist. "Best three months I've ever had in my whole life."

"Em, can we talk?" asked Y/N in a strained voice.

"Yes, of course." Emmeline followed Y/N to a small corner, puzzled. "What is it, Lils?"

"What happened to Kenneth? Have you given him up?"

"Oh, Lily." Her eyes turned glossy, as she wiped the sleeve of her robes on her nose, sniffling slightly. "I would never give Ken up, no matter what. Kenneth was attacked that day so long ago at Hogsmeade, remember? So he was brought to St. Mungo's for treatment. They had already buried Laura Smith. I frequently visited Ken at St. Mungo's, but a month later, they had told me that his condition was extremely critical. He died a few days later."

"Em, I'm so sorry that I brought that up." Y/N hugged the younger girl tightly, as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

"It's quite all right. You should have known sooner or later. That's when I met Randy a little later, and we began dating. You see, I don't love Randy, poor boy, but I respect him. However, Ken will always be in my heart, even if he was a fling at Hogwarts, because I did truly love him."

"Yes, I know you did, Emmeline. Now aren't you glad that I let you have that small break during the prefect meeting on the train?"

Emmeline laughed, her tears dissolving. "Well, duh! I may have been a complete ditz back then, but hey, I was good with the guys."

"Shall we go back?" Y/N offered, taking the girl's hand in her own and squeezing it comfortingly.

"We shall."

"What am I going to tell him, Bella?"

Y/N clutched her stomach as if it was going to fall off any second. Her e/c eyes inspected her best friend carefully, as she continuously smoothed down her thick, light/dark,  h/c hair with her other hand. One small s/c finger wrapped a strand of hair around it, as she chewed her hair thoughtfully.

"First of all, Y/N, take that hair out of your mouth. Secondly, just tell James the truth: you're pregnant."

"Do you even know how he's going to take that piece of information, Bella? James will freak out, and maybe he won't even want the baby."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, why wouldn't he want the baby? James is a very paternal sort of person, though I really can't see how at this moment. However, you know that he loves you and would never leave you."

"I'm not sure if he does anymore."

Arabella dropped her hands that she had unconsciously been holding up in mid-air, and stared at Y/N, open-mouthed. "Of course James loves you. You remember how he chased you back in our fifth year, constantly asking you to go out with him. He tried so hard just to gain your friendship in our sixth year, and finally had your heart in seventh year. Now you're saying the boy doesn't love you anymore? You're paranoid, N/N."

"Still, if James finds out..."

"Find out what?"

Y/N jumped up, and looking around, saw James come into the house, a hand running through his black hair. He grinned at his wife, and waved merrily, raising an eyebrow at the worried look upon her face.

"Why the long look, Y/N? Are you hiding a naughty secret from your dear husband? You know that's not very nice of you."

"A secret? Certainly not!"

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Tell me when you want to, love. I'm going to fix something to eat. Boy, it's already two days before Christmas Eve, huh? Time sure flies." He went to the kitchen, humming to himself.

"I can't tell him," said Y/N sadly, watching him leave.

"If you won't, I will."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"Arabella Figg, you will not tell my husband that his wife is pregnant. That's so unromantic."

"Well, you're the one who won't tell him, so do you expect to go up to him when your water breaks one day and say, 'Hey James, give me a ride to St. Mungo's, I have to get my baby delivered'."

Y/N laughed despite of herself. "You're right, I'm being ridiculous. However, I won't tell him just yet."

"Then when will you tell him?"

"Christmas Day. That'll give him an extra gift, won't it?"

"That's the spirit."

"You know what else is ironic?"

"What?"

"Alice is pregnant, too."

Arabella squealed so loudly that James came bounding out of the kitchen, his hand flying involuntarily to his hair.

"What the hell, Bella? What is it? Death Eaters? Voldemort?"

"Alice is pregnant!" she squeaked joyfully. "Can you believe it? Oh, now we know what she and Frank have been doing, locked up in their bedroom all the time..."

"Ugh, stop, Bells," scolded Y/N, groaning. "You perverted individual."

James smiled. "That's great. I'll have to congratulate Alice and Frank the next time I see them. Frank must be really proud, now being a father. Wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl."

"James, if we ever had a baby"—Y/N hesitated—"would you be mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be?"

James looked at his wife wonderingly, as she paled visibly. He frowned. What was wrong with YN? She had been acting very strange lately, not her usual laughing self and sulked every day, looking out of the window flaccidly even at meetings. He had a fleeting thought that perhaps Voldemort was taking over her brain, but he vetoed the idea at once. Y/N was too strong for people to take over herself.

"I don't know. Maybe you don't want a baby."

"Of course I want a baby...especially a boy. Then I'd name him Harry."

"Why is that?" (A/N: Even though I didn't mention this, Dumbledore had already cleared the memories that Lily and James, as well as anyone else had of the future. Also, let's pretend the headmaster doesn't know about the future either.)

"I don't know; it just sounds good in my ears. 'Sides, my grandfather was named Harry Daniel Potter. So if we ever have a boy, we shall name him Harry James Potter. It's a tradition for Potters to name their sons after relatives, especially with their middle names be the first name of their father."

For the first time in a long time, Y/N gave a true smile. To see James so worked up over planning the names of their future children gave her hope that perhaps he wouldn't disown her when she would tell him that she was pregnant. James' hazel eyes were shining as he excitedly chattered on about the Potter history, and how their children would be all he and Y/N would teach them.

"I love you, James," she whispered, hugging him.

"My, what brought this on?" However, he was pleased, and kissed her forehead softly.

"I'm just really happy, that's all, and I do love you."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not who you used to be: that little H/C haired girl with a terrible temper and a sharp tongue—L/N."

Y/N laughed. "I'm still a h/c haired girl, and I have a temper and a sharp tongue. Don't think I changed that much, James."

"Oh, but you have. You used to be so pushy when it came to boys, that no boys would go near you. I was the only one brave enough."

"Yeah, right. That was because you threatened to hex them for eternity if they ever went near me."

James blushed, and scratched the back of his neck, feeling ashamed. He had never realized that he had done such terrible things back at Hogwarts, cursing people whom he didn't like at first sight, especially Snape, and showing off every day with his Snitch and his hexing abilities. Sadly, many people had looked up to him because he was "Mr. Perfect". Only he, his friends, and Y/N knew that he truly wasn't perfect, but only she had the nerve to tell it to his face.

You know you deserved that, said a nagging voice in his mind. If L/N didn't tell you to stop being a kid and grow up, then you would've still been that arrogant berk. Seriously, you have a cold heart, James Potter.

His eyes widened, and he looked over at Y/N pleadingly. "Do you think I should be in Slytherin?"

"What?" Lily looked up in surprise. "Why?"

"'Cause I used to hex people all the time back at Hogwarts, and that's a real low thing to do to anyone and anything."

"Oh, James, you're a true Gryffindor. Everyone goes through a period where they show off to get attention. Yours was just much longer because you really did have something to show off."

"Thanks, N/N." He grinned. "If we ever do have a kid, I'll make sure he or she'll be just like you."

 "Where's my wand?" screeched Sirius, looking around the room.

"It's right in your hand, you dolt," replied Arabella, giggling. "Oh, let's open the presents now, please?"

"Not until everyone arrives, Bella," admonished Y/N, peering over to the brunette through the tinsel on the Christmas tree.

"Why couldn't your parents have used Floo Powder?"

"They're Muggles; you can't expect them to be so comfortable with the Wizarding ways, can you?"

"My Mum is."

"She's a Squib, and Squibs still know everything about the Wizarding world; they just can't perform those things with a wand."

Arabella thought about it for a moment. "You're right, I guess."

"I'm always right, aren't I?"

James grinned from where he was standing, eating a piece of toast. "See, Padfoot, I told you we Potters are never humble. This is what you get for marrying me, Love—now you're confident too. It's not egotistical; it's simply knowing what you're about."

Y/N snorted, "Who said I wasn't before? Besides you're not that egotistical Jamie."

"Isn't that a little too nice?" said Sirius dubiously. "I mean, come on, I've known Prongs longer, and he really was a bit conceited."

"Yeah, I don't think my intentions were that angelic."

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're trying to be modest? Puh-lease, James, that is so not your area of expertise."

"Well, I thought I was good at everything." He grinned in a cocky manner.

"Hey, guys," said Jennifer cheerfully, coming in with a tray of hot chocolate and chocolate-chip cookies. "You all hungry?"

"Am I!" exclaimed Sirius, bounding for the food. He grabbed a cookie and munched on it enthusiastically. "Thanks, Jen."

She smiled. "Always the same, aren't you, Sirius?"

"Where did you come from?" asked James, helping himself to a cookie as well, though more calmly than his best friend.

"Floo Powder. I didn't feel like Apparating then knocking, so I decided to get here from my fireplace. Say, where's Gideon and Remus?"

Jennifer and Remus had recovered their old friendship a few weeks ago, and now they were as close as ever. Their friends knew, of course, that they were still in love with each other, Remus being a little more obvious than his ex-girlfriend was. Jennifer claimed lately that she was in love with Gideon Prewett and adored his twin brother, Fabian, but the girls knew that she was lying, though they admitted that she was quite talented in that area. Jennifer was still in love with Remus, though she denied it constantly to her friends.

"They're not here yet," replied Lily, "which is why Bella and I are going to take this chance and tell you to admit it."

"What're you on about?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know, Jen. You know you love Remus."

Jennifer nearly dropped the tray that she had been holding. "What gives you an idea like that? Our relationship is over, and there's no vestige of it at all. We're starting over with friendship, like when we were kids."

There was a snort after her comment, probably from Sirius. No one truly believed the veracity of her denial, of course, since it was too obvious that Jennifer pined for Remus even when she was with Gideon.

"Liar," mumbled Arabella, standing up from where she was sitting and brushed back her brown curly locks. "I'm going to get Violet and Jackson. They're probably doing a naughty deed back in their apartment."

"No," said Y/N a bit louder than intended. "What if you walk in on them doing that 'naughty' deed? That would be so humiliating, not to mention disturbing."

"Oh, how could I have forgotten? Watching Violet and Jackson having s—"

"I have everyone's presents," interrupted Jennifer, a faint blush upon her cheeks. "Shall I put them under the tree?"

"Please do, Jen."

A few hours later, after everyone else had come and presents were opened, Y/N was debating on how to tell James about the baby. She was biting her nails through the Christmas dinner while everyone else was laughing and gaily chatting about their plans for that day, and only James and her friends noticed her peculiar behavior. However, only James didn't know why she was behaving such, so he sat there, worried, while Sirius was knocking him off his chair every five minutes, being drunk and all.

Y/N stood up, unable to bear it anymore. She had to tell him, no matter what his reaction would be.

"James, can I talk to you?"

She wants some kind of divorce, thought James, panicking. I must be a really bad husband to her.

"What is it, Y/N?" he questioned anxiously. "What did I do? I promise to be a better husband from now on!"

"No, James, it's not you. I—I don't know how to say this."

"You're cheating on me." His voice was flat.

"WHAT! You know I'd never, dear. No, it's just that I'm—pregnant."

There was a pause and then silence. James' jaw dropped as he stared at his wife incredulously. However, he thought of her odd behavior recently and how Y/N had no energy for many things. Also, she had been constantly talking about "Harry" and if they had a baby, what they would do.

Suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. He was a father...a real father! He knew that his dad would be proud of him. He was a father now, someone that his kid would look up to someday.

"I'm a father!" he exclaimed loudly, and all the Order members got out of their seats to watch Y/N and James' tender kisses.

Emmeline Vance smiled from where she sat in her stately attire. She had a sad smile now, not the seductive one she flashed in her Hogwarts days. Kenneth Hughes had changed her life, even though they had gotten together in the most unexpected way. However, the cruelty of life had taken him away from her, and now she was no longer that flirting and prissy little girl she was back in her schoolgirl days. She no longer wore those cut-off robes down to only her knees but had an austere and prim adornment. Nevertheless, it had not vetoed her passion for life and her spirit. Perhaps she would have been a good Gryffindor after all. After all, though her own love life was lost and would never be recovered, she was still a hopeless romantic and softened whenever she saw a touching moment between a couple in love...especially Y/N and James. The latter did not know how much inspiration they evoked for the people of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, and how they would in the future.

"Padfoot, really," said James in a panicking voice. "Come with me. I need someone to take Y/N to St. Mungo's." (A/N: Is that where they get the babies delivered? Well, it's going to be now!)

"Why would you want to go to St. Mungo's?" murmured Sirius sleepily through the flames in the fireplace. He was in his own apartment, and Arabella was sleeping in the next room. "You sick, Prongs?"

"Y/N's baby is coming!"

"WHAT?" Sirius scrambled to his feet, now very wide-awake. "Well, why didn't you say so, Prongs? I'll get Bella."

He hollered for his girlfriend in her room. "Bella!"

Arabella groaned, and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Why the hell are you calling me up in this hour, Sirius? It's only seven o'clock and a Saturday. Go back to sleep, will you?"

"Y/N'S BABY IS COMING!"

Her reaction was quite similar to her boyfriend's. She hurriedly dressed into a navy blue pair of robes and Apparated to the Potter Estate along with a half-dressed Sirius.

"We can't have her Apparate," she said gravely. "It'll kill her. So will Floo Powder. So now what do we do?"

"Call Violet," advised Y/N, breathing heavily. "Oh, James, what do I do?"

"Calm down, N/N, we'll think of something."

So Violet and Jackson, whom were both already awake by then, Apparated to the Order headquarters. Both were very composed, unlike the other four best friends, who had been in frenzy before that.

"You're right that Apparating is out, but Floo Powder is the only other way," said Violet.

"But—"

"James! Listen, we don't have time to drive all the way there. We're Flooing, and that's that."

So they had gotten Y/N to the hospital, and she had been in labor for quite a few hours. Remus and Jennifer had arrived soon after Y/N and the rest of the group, and they were all waiting outside the room where they could hear Y/N's faint screaming inside the room.

James was twiddling his thumbs, and looked around him nervously. His eyes rested on a tall and very comely young man, looking up at the ceiling. When the man turned his face to him, he gasped.

"Frank?"

"James?"

"What're you doing here?" asked Sirius. "You hear about Y/N and her baby?"

"No, I'm here for Alice," he replied, puzzled. "What...Y/N's having her baby, too?"

When they nodded, Frank grinned. "I guess our kids are going to be born on the same day, hey, James?"

James nodded, feeling slightly calmer. At least there was someone who was in the exact same position as he was in at the moment.

Sirius smirked, "So, I guess my Halloween Parties do work wonders, huh?"

"Jamie here's been worried all day," said Arabella as she shoved her ridiculous fiancé. "Woke us all up at seven in the morning."

"We've been here since six," put in Frank, sighing. "Poor Al...you two decide on a name yet? If we have a boy, it'll be Neville after his grandfather. If a girl, then Jackie."

"Harry if it's a boy," confirmed James, "and we don't know the name if it's a girl. If it's a boy, he'll be Harry James."

"Harry James Potter," repeated Frank, and said it to himself several times. "Harry James Potter—I like it! That name will be his most prized possession for the rest of his life, that will. Maybe others will like it so much, and tell it to their friends so that everyone will know him!"

Little did he know that that statement would come true.

A few more hours later, when Frank, and everyone else, except for James who was too scared and in mental agony for his wife, were asleep on the chairs, a kind-faced Healer came out of the room where Y/N was and tapped James' shoulder.

"Are you the young husband of Y/N Potter?" she queried softly.

James gulped nervously and nodded, "She's not hurt, is she? B-"

"You have a son, sir. You may come in if you wish."

He hurriedly complied and went in the room. There, Y/N was fast asleep, her dark/light h/c hair framed over her s/c face. Next to her in a small bed, a small baby was sleeping. Though he was only an infant, he already had a very small patch of light black hair. James grinned. Harry already had his hair. The baby suddenly woke up and started to cry, waking Y/N up in the process. In closer inspection, he saw that the baby's eyes were a bright, brilliant e/c...Y/N's eyes.

Tears came to James' own hazel eyes as he smiled at Y/N, who gave him a weak smile in return.

"He's beautiful," he whispered softly. "Harry James Potter. He's got your eyes, Y/N."

"He's got your hair and nearly all your looks," replied Y/N lovingly. "He'll be the replica of you when he's older, James."

"I hope his personality, however, is exactly like his mother's. I learned from my mistakes, but I don't want little Harry here to be the bullying prat I was at school."

"Harry Potter. It's a wonderful name, dearies," complimented the Healer kindly. "You are the famous young Auror, James Potter, are you not? The son of Daniel and Sarah Potter, our most elite Aurors at the Ministry?"

James blushed and grinned. "Nah, we Potters aren't that great. It's sort of a tradition for us to become Aurors because we've always had 'nothing to fear or lose'. My grandfather came up with a quote for our family: 'Us Potters have always been bold, smart-alecks, but nothing can take away our spirit.' I do hope that my son can carry that out as well, as a legacy to the Potters before and after us."

"Well said, Mr. Potter. Who knows, maybe your son will become a famous Auror like you and the rest of your family someday." The Healer smiled indulgently at James and then looked over at Y/N. "Dear, you're the talk of us Healers here at St. Mungo's. We've always admired you from the first time we saw your picture in the Daily Prophet. You and your husband have always been a source of admiration for most of us in the Wizarding world. We all know that you will do great things in the future."

Y/N smiled politely and nodded. However, she wasn't so sure on the inside that she would be brilliant. Everyone seemed to think that she and James were the most wonderful Aurors in the Ministry, and would do great things in the future, but what could she do? They were just a bunch of young kids, fresh out of Hogwarts for only a few years, in love. Maybe she, James, and little Harry were destined for great things in the future, but she'd never know now.

By then, everyone came into her room, and she squealed with joy at the knowledge that Alice gave birth to her baby boy, Neville, as well. It was a memorable moment, with all the friends standing around a tired but exhilarated Y/N and the Potters' newborn son. It seemed as though the happiness would never end.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The year of 1980 passed by quickly, and by then it was September of 1981. Sirius and Arabella were married in the June of that year, and Harry was already one year old. However, the events around them were not that cheerful. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters were dominating all of Europe, and moving on into the West, into the States, where the Wizarding community was extremely powerful, even more so than in Europe. Of course, more power attracted Voldemort.

The Order was getting frantic. Nearly half of their members were dead or captured. Gideon and Fabian were both dead, killed by Death Eaters. They had been brave and loyal to the Order, fighting until the end. Jennifer had been in a state of depression ever since the incident because even though she hadn't been deeply in love with Gideon, she liked him very much, and he had treated her well. Others among the dead were Marlene McKinnon, whom the Death Eaters had killed along with the rest of her family. Dorcas Meadows and Edgar Bones were also killed, the former murdered personally by Voldemort.

However, the most dramatic change in their lives was the fact that Voldemort was now after Y/N and James. No one, not even Dumbledore, knew really why, except for the fact that it was something about a prophecy. Sirius, of course, had been made the Secret Keeper, because James trusted him with all his heart. However, many of the Order members were doubtful. Trust a Black to keep a secret such as this? Preposterous! The Blacks have been known to be supporters of the Dark Arts, not the Light. Nevertheless, James held a firm foot on his decision, and everyone soon relented. However, no one knew that Y/N, James, and Sirius changed the Secret Keeper to be Peter. Remus didn't even know, because Sirius didn't trust him anymore. He was a werewolf, and werewolves were easily influenced...who knew if Remus was really on their side.

So they had chosen Peter, since he was the other best friend that Y/N and James could rely on. No one suspected Peter to be anything but loyal to the Order. No one suspected that Peter's loyalties were already divided.

Y/N and James were now living in Godric's Hollow. It was the safest place for hiding, and Voldemort would probably never suspect it.

"I don't know, James," said Y/N quietly. "There's something I can't put my finger on. Maybe we shouldn't have changed Secret Keepers."

"What could possibly possess you to say that, N/N? You don't trust Peter?"

"I don't know, James," she repeated. "It's a feeling I have. About something that's going to happen soon."

"Maybe you're just worrying too much."

"You think?"

"You need a break, Y/N. You've been tiring yourself at the Ministry too much. Live a little. Look at the beautiful fall landscape outside. There's nothing like fall in England, huh? Today's Halloween, we should celebrate.

"Except for the fact that we can't even see our friends often anymore, and we can barely go outside for fear that Voldemort would pop up any moment and kill us along with poor Harry. I'm scared, James."

James sighed, and looked away. "So am I, Y/N. So am I."

Silence followed, and it was only shattered when there was a piercing cry from baby Harry from his crib. Y/N hurriedly went to him, and picked him up gently, humming a soft lullaby in process. James watched his wife and son tenderly from the corner of his eye and held out his arms.

"Let me hold him."

Y/N handed him Harry, and he rocked his fragile son like he was a piece of glass. Harry gurgled and looked up at his father with large E/C eyes that sparkled brightly. His small hand went up to the growing tuft of black hair on his head, and squealed.

"Look at him!" exclaimed Y/N, laughing. "Already like you, James, messing up his hair like you used to do when you were at Hogwarts."

"Nah." The father shook his head. "I don't think Harry's like me at all, Y/N. There's something about him that I can't just put my finger on. I actually feel myself vibrate whenever I hold him, and I feel a sense of power radiated from his body. This boy will grow up to be powerful, N/N. I can feel it. He may look like me, but he has your personality, and that's something that Harry's blessed with. Having my type of personality is something he'd hate me for when he grows older."

"You aren't that bad."

"Oh?"

"You aren't an arrogant, bullying toerag anymore, that's for sure. Why else would I have married you? I wouldn't have looked at you twice if you didn't change and start to actually grow up in our sixth year."

"You were rather harsh on me, though, I have to say. You hated everything about me and were suspicious whenever I did a good deed. By Merlin, it was as if I was the Devil himself."

Y/N was quiet for a few moments before she spoke. "I have that feeling again, James."

"Love..."

"No. I have to tell you this. I feel as if we'll get killed and won't be together again. However, I have a feeling that Harry will live. We will die, but Harry will live and thrive in the Wizarding world once more, and defeat Voldemort."

"Oh, so now you're like Trelawney, that old hag?"

"James, I'm serious. I know it sounds complete ludicrous and fantastic, but it's a strong feeling that I just can't shake off."

"You could've at least spared off the part where we're supposed to die. I'm only twenty-one, and I have my whole life ahead of me. We're the famous pair of Aurors at the Ministry, and everyone knows and respects us. I'm not about to have my life ended by some insane Dark wizard who's going to take over the world."

"What if it's true, James? What if we do die, but Harry miraculously lives?"

James looked thoughtful for a moment, as he rocked Harry back to sleep again. "Harry will be a hero, then. He'll be popular as soon as he steps onto the grounds of Hogwarts, though many people might fear him. He'll be kinder and more considerate than I ever was, and wouldn't be cocky, arrogant, or cruel. He'll grow up to be exactly how I'd want my son to be." Tears came to his eyes as he said this.

"No one will watch him, though."

"Plenty of people will. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and your friends, not to mention the rest of the Order."

"James, what happens if those people can't watch him?"

"Then Harry will have to raise himself up without us. Y/N, why are you brooding about this? It's not like this is really going to happen."

A loud knock interrupted James, and Y/N clutched her husband's arm fearfully, her heart pounding loudly.

James hands were shaking, "Who's there?"

"You know."

"You know who?" James replied back, feeling a deep hatred for Peter develop.

"Correct."

"Y/N, take Harry and go! Go! Run! It's him! I'll hold him off—"James took one final look at the love of his life, knowing this would be the last time.

The door flew wide open, revealing the skeleton-like body of Lord Voldemort. He laughed harshly, and his red eyes scrutinized the scene.

"James Potter, we meet again," he said softly. "I remember you as a boy at Hogwarts. Rude, arrogant, just like your parents. However, there needn't be any reason for you to be anymore. I will make this death quick and painless, shall I?"

"As long as you don't touch Y/N or Harry." James said bravely.

"Avada Kedavra!" roared Voldemort.

James' eyes widened, as his body turned stiff and fell to the floor with a thump. His expression was a mixture of fear and also of determination. Though he did not want to, he had been prepared to die.

Y/N screamed as she held Harry tighter to her chest. No, it couldn't be. She looked over at her husband's dead body, as tears ran down her cheeks. James Henry Potter, the man she had known ever since she was eleven, was dead. Her love, the light of her life besides her son, was gone.

Memories of her Hogwarts days flashed in Y/N's mind as her heart shattered. The first train ride to Hogwarts...she and James glaring at each other...getting Jennifer and Remus together...dancing with James...laughing with James...James proposing...James kissing her...

It was all too painful. Though they did not like each other many times in their life, they were still in love. Now, James was gone. She stared at his face, her whole body shaking. If Voldemort would kill her, she would be prepared for it.

"Please," she whispered. "Not Harry, not Harry!"

"Stand aside now, girl, stand aside—"

"Please, not Harry! I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl."

"Take me, kill me instead."

There, she had said it. She wanted Harry to live and flourish. She didn't want him to die at the hands of this man. Y/N wanted to see her baby boy grow up, marry, and be happy, and she would risk her life to see that happen.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Y/N's body landed right next to James'.

Hagrid wiped away tears as he saw the scene. The Potter's hiding place at Godric's Hollow was completely destroyed. The house was torn down, all their belongings broken. Y/N and James' bodies were lying next to each other, their hands almost intertwined, where baby Harry was crying softly.

"There, there," he whispered, picking the small bundle up into his large arms. "Yer going't be all right, little fellow."

He looked over at Y/N and James' bodies. "Y/N, James, how could this have happened? You two're the greatest wizard and witch I's ever known."

Hagrid then looked at Harry and gave a small smile. He looked just like his dad, but had his mum's eyes. He also had both of his parent's strength and will to fight.

"Yer going't be a great wizard someday, 'arry," he said gently to the baby, who had stopped crying. "Yer parents were good people. Greatest people I's ever known. They were in love, and they never gave up n'matter what happened."

He stared at the Potters' bodies once more. "Ye can fin'lly rest in peace now, Y/N an' James."

Hagrid flew off on Sirius' motorbike with Harry. Memories of a bygone period gently floated into the still dark atmosphere, an era both terrible and wonderful, and disappeared into the night.

tags: @theredheadedwinchester

masterlist

a/n; hope you all enjoyed this fanfic! thanks for reading it! 

[ohemmy-blog1]

     — scarlett leithold + cis female + she/her ; is that emmeline heading toward the crawford home? she must be going home to her family. at eighteen years old, the barista is often called the thrill seeker. maybe it’s because she seems so vibrant + empathetic, but i bet her parents think she's erratic + naive. rumor has it that she has borderline personality disorder and has been self-medicating to cope, but i doubt that’s true. em doesn’t seem like the type.

Quick Stuff:

Name: Emmeline Crawford

Nicknames: Emmy, Em

Age: eighteen

Birthday: june 8th

Occupation: barista at a local coffee shop. Em recently graduated high school and does not currently plan on going to college.

Sexual orientation: queer (prefers girls tho)

Relationship status: single

Drinking / smoking / drugs: yes / yes / yes

More details:

Emmy has been struggling with bpd for years but doesn’t tell people because she doesn’t want anyone to worry about her

& she’s terrified that people will abandon her if they find out

She’s also recently been partying and experimenting with drugs. She knows how much substances fucked up her family so she’s touchy about it.

She really hardly talks about her family trauma, she’d rather pretend it didn’t happen / numb herself about it.

She is very friendly and loves to go on ADVENTURES! Anything to leave her room, drive around, and feel spontaneous. 

Other than her family, Emmy hasn’t had very many lasting friends/significant others. She tends to cling onto people when they do show more than a fleeting interest in her, because she doesn’t really believe she deserves friends.

When she becomes close to people, she is extremely loyal. Emmy has ride-or-die love for her siblings, even though she has been testing her boundaries recently.

DEFINITELY uses flirting as a defense mechanism 

Normally is fun to be around and the life of the party, but occasionally has angry outbursts

She literally hates going to work and will do anything to avoid it. Emmy is smart but didn’t always do well in school because she never turned in her assignments. 

OOC stuff:

I’m Maddy (she/her), I’m 20, and I’m in the est timezone

I haven’t been in a rp for a WHILE and I miss plotting with my whole soul so please come to my chat and plot with me :’)

I’m down for any ideas you’ve got!

Especially:

drug plugs

a really sweet friend (sibling?) who has been with Emmy through everything and is her confidant

ex-friends / people Emmy has burned bridges with

ex-hookups

current hookups

a girl she has hella feelings for but maybe the girl isn’t as into her, which drives Emmy fuckin crazy bc abandonment issues 

[jel815]

Breathe out so I can breathe you in.

Emmeline Westington Wright Duchess of South Framley, is a widow. Her beloved William was killed in an accident. Emmeline then takes over the South Forburn Estate until Johnathon the heir; is of age. Emmeline is making wedding arrangements for her good friend Eline’s, upcoming nuptials. Emmeline finds out William’s good friend Captain Alexander Simmonet is set to be at her welcome home dinner party. He has been at sea for eight years. Duchess Emmeline realizes she misses him and has had a crush on the Captain since her William has died. She wants to show Alexander her secret sex room where she lived out her BDSM fantasies with her husband. Emmeline’s never acted on her feelings for the Captain for fear of being rejected. Captain Alexander Simmonet has been in love with Emmeline for a very long time. He never exposed his feelings to Emmeline out of respect for his best friend William. It is at the dinner party where Alexander discovers his feelings for Emmeline is reciprocated. He then learns Emmeline has an offer for Alexander he can not refuse. This book was amazing. It is so much more than your typical BDSM Sex novelette. Yes, the sex is super hot. It will make you want to hose yourself down with Holy water as you read. (Just kidding). However, it is also a sweet romance. Emmeline and Alexander discover their heated sexual attraction is much deeper than they realize. I loved that. This is the third book I’ve read by this author. I read this backward, beginning with three. Lol. This is my favorite. The story and characters are much deeper and three-dimensional. I can’t wait to read more by this author. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#Leatherandgold.  #GemmaSnow.  #Romance. #BDSM.