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outfit swap! ✨

for fem dnf week day 1: sharing clothes

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars XCIII (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: How are we feeling after the last chapter? I encourage you to sit, relax, and enjoy what’s coming bc I promise it’s great -Danny

Words: 6,220

Series’ Masterlist

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Listen to: This -By Ed Sheeran.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Dark Days.

Mel remembers going back to bed after a whole hour well spent with Harry.

 They talked for most of the time, silly nothings just to keep hearing each other. Between unfinished sentences and bashful glances, whether if it was love or mere attraction, Mel was certain they were falling into it together.

The next morning she woke up with a fuzzy feeling she couldn't quite place at first. Then it came to her: Harry and her, talking quietly in the common room and...

She let out a short, excited squeal, hoping that the rest of the girls were still sleeping. Mel peered through her curtain and saw her classmates resting. She fell back on the mattress, smiling to herself, reminiscing...

When she walked out of the room with Hermione, talking about Krum –he'd asked her to go and spend a week with him during summer– she felt on the verge of confessing the events of the previous night, but Ginny walked up to them as soon as they got to the common room, eager to hear about what they had to go through to be part of the second task.

Mel felt a tug on her stomach, she was elated to confirm Harry liked her back, but she couldn't reveal it to Hermione or Ginny, she knew how easy some secrets could slip from Hermione's mouth when she wasn't thinking, it didn't happen often but she couldn't risk Ginny finding out that way... not that it would ruin their friendship, but she figured it would still hurt her, and she hated the possibility.

She was in the middle of this crisis when she caught sight of Harry in the middle of a bunch of Gryffindors, all asking him about the second task and what he'd done to solve it. He hadn't seen her yet, and Mel watched him speak with an easy smile on his face as he retold his adventure to Fred and George. That boy right there had kissed her not so many hours ago.

When they were about ten feet away the crowd dispersed and Harry finally noticed her. It was ridiculous really, the way he would smile at the sight of her.

"Good morning," Mel tried to sound calm, but it came out a bit strangled.

"Hi," Harry retorted with the same eagerness, Ron merely glanced up at them from his food.

It was Saturday, which meant they had the whole day to themselves. How was she supposed to keep her mind busy and her hands to herself if they had nothing to do but spend time together?

Thankfully, she didn't have to worry for long. Students would walk up to them throughout the day to ask Harry, Hermione, and her all about their experience –as a nice extra, some even asked Ron about his experience with the committee. Mel and Harry kept it simple, but Hermione grew grumpy after the third hour cause their classmates would tease her about being Krum's favourite person. Oddly enough, none of them teased Harry and her, and she realized that it was because they thought they were dating, just like Cho. She didn't feel the need to prove them wrong.

Harry still could remember the feeling.

At first, he waited anxiously for her reaction, but as soon as her hands pulled him closer he forgot about everything. It was the two of them only and a whole world for themselves with time to spare. Mel was the only important thing he could think of, the only thing that truly was worth it.

Her touch, her hair falling against the back of his hands... every time he thought about it he couldn't help but smile, couldn't even be bothered to be mad at the strangers walking up to him asking about the second task. He kept thinking about that brief moment when they finally broke apart after their first kiss. She looked up at him and Harry said, half-joking and half-worrying:

"Does this mean we're not just friends?"

She laughed shortly, and he forgot about the question when Mel pulled him in for another kiss.

Harry was eager to find a quiet, private place so he could ask more questions, or just to make sure she was okay. It felt like the whole school was trying to work against him, interrupting every opportunity.

Nevertheless, it came to him the same way all things you most desperately want: After long, long waiting.  After dinner he made sure to stay behind and, in pure Mel fashion, she read his mind and also took her time, climbing up the stairs slowly.

"Did you have a good day?"  

It was weird to see her flustered and know it was him the one who was causing it. He liked it, made him feel taller and older, even though he was still the same height as her and about four weeks younger too.

"The best," He smiled, "you?"

"It was okay," She smiled timidly. "I think it's the first time people run to me and not away from me."

He laughed.

"Must be nice."

"Yeah, though I really wanted them to leave us alone, at least for a second..." She avoided his eyes when she said it.

"Yeah..." They reached the tower, Hermione and Ron walked in first. Harry heard plenty of people there, and he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at all of the lot.

"Well..." She stopped at the entrance, keeping the entrance open.

Harry was wondering why wasn't she moving when he realized she was waiting for him to do something. He wasn't quite sure of what, but he was desperate to have any kind of contact. He stepped forward and kissed her.

It was short, just enough to revive the funny little feeling in the pit of his stomach. Mel's face was flushed. When he got into bed that night, Harry felt like he was already dreaming.

Well into March an owl appeared during breakfast bringing Sirius's note.

'Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.'

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," Harry frowned, "if he's caught..."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

"That doesn't excuse him," Mel said.

"It's time for Potions," Harry announced, standing up and folding the letter. "We should go..."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing close together with Pansy Parkinson and her friends. When the girl saw them arrive at the dungeon, she spoke up:

"There they are, there they are! You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy threw a magazine at Hermione, who caught it roughly.

They sat at the back and when Snape wasn't looking, Hermione read through the magazine quickly. She stopped abruptly in one page, and they all huddled together to read it:

Harry Potter's Secret Heartache

A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.

Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."

However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."

Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate. We wonder as well, where is Mel Dumbledore in all this and is she aware of her friend's betrayal?

"I told you!" Ron hissed. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!" Hermione snorted.

"Scarlet woman?" She repeated with a grin.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still amused. "What a pile of old rubbish. I'm sorry about my betrayal, Mel. I hope you and Harry recover."

Mel laughed, if only Skeeter knew... Hermione gave the Slytherin girls a sarcastic smile and waved.

"There's something funny, though," She said later. "How could Rita Skeeter have known..?"

"Known what?" said Ron. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"

"Don't be stupid," Hermione frowned. "No, it's just... how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"

"What?" Ron dropped what he was doing to gape at her.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione was blushing and avoided Ron's eyes at all cost. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to —"

"And what did you say?" said Ron, who wasn't even paying attention to what his own hands were doing.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, her hands shaking, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there... or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task..."

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated.

"Well, you were there!"

"I was distracted trying to see if Harry and Mel were okay!"

"I was busy seeing if Harry and Mel were okay too —"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," Snape had come out of nowhere. "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor... Ah, reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape quickly took the magazine from their seats. "A further ten points from Gryffindor... oh but of course," He was now skimming through the article in which the magazine was still open. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings..."

The Slytherins laughed and mocked them, Snape took cruel pleasure in reading the words out loud.

" 'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache... dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps '... Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching. Well, I think I had better separate the four of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley and Dumbledore you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter — that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."

"Well, tomorrow's a new day where I can earn those ten points back," Mel sighed as she watched their friends leave the table.

"How are you not upset?" Ron snapped.

"Am I supposed to believe Harry and Hermione have been dating behind our backs?"

"No! But you... you like Harry!"

"Yeah, but Hermione's not his girlfriend!" She replied.

"What about Krum? Aren't you upset about Hermione hiding all that from you?" Mel stared at him pointedly. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, Ron! Hermione's my best friend..."

"She's my best friend too!"

"It's different..."

"How come?"

"Last time you were rude to her even though you're the one who's got the obsession with Krum. I thought you'd be beyond happy with the news, if Krum and Hermione get together you'd be friends with him! Isn't that what you wanted?"

"I never said I wanted that," He threw the ingredients into the cauldron rather forcefully. "Why, he doesn't look like he could take a joke!"

"Honestly, Ron," She snorted, "if I didn't know you any better, I'd say you're stinking jealous."

Ron made the strangest noise, dropping the ginger roots on accident as he looked away.

"Don't be stupid," He said, then continued under his breath. "Jealous... Yeah, right."

Mel glanced at him. Could it be..?

No, Ron was just terrible, it'd been exactly the same when he knew about Erick, he just didn't enjoy the idea of splitting the group with different people. It was as simple as that.

Unless...

She shook her head and continued working, she was being silly! Just because Harry had liked her all this time didn't necessarily mean that Ron was the same... she would've noticed! Ron was a terrible liar!

Then again, Harry was a terrible liar too, and she never saw that he liked her back until a few weeks prior...

Karkaroff entered the Dungeon and went directly to the teacher's desk. Mel watched both men argue before Snape turned his back to him and continued the lesson, Karkaroff remained in one corner. When the lesson ended, Harry approached with concern.

"Karkaroff and Snape are hiding something for sure," He stated.

He narrated the scene and the four of them wondered what could Karkaroff possibly be hiding in his arm. He told them about Snape threatening Harry with using a truth potion to make him confess he'd stolen ingredients from his office. Harry wasn't guilty -not that time, at least- but he did worry that Snape could make him confess about Sirius and... other things, he said, looking intently at Mel.

The weather was nice those days, Harry liked it cause he and Mel could walk around the school grounds for hours. Ron and Hermione would also go with them, but they seemed to sense something was going on between them and would give them space.

However, that weekend they had to forget about their walks and head to Hogsmeade, where they were supposed to find Sirius. Harry's bag was filled with plenty of food, enough for at least two days.

They stopped at a shop to buy a present for Dobby, at least an hour went by before they concluded they had enough socks to fill the elf's wardrobe. Mel and Harry secretly thanked him for somehow playing a part in their story, but none of them ever shared their thoughts to the other.

Once reaching the part where the houses were fewer and people weren't often seeing outside, Harry and Mel let their friends take the lead, pretending like it was nothing, they held hands with an easy-going smile on their faces.

Mel's mind wandered away to one of her daydreams, maybe next year once they were a bit older and the tournament was over, they'd be free to walk together everywhere, even held each other closer... maybe kiss...

An animal sound brought her back and her attention turned to the large, shaggy dog waiting for them on the fence. He had a newspaper in his mouth and was wagging his tail excitedly.

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry, letting go of her hand -which saddened her just a little- and patting the dog's head lightly.

The dog examined Harry's bag with a quick sniff and started to walk away to the foot of the nearest mountain. After merely two minutes of climbing, the kids were losing their breath,  sweating now under the sun, Mel hoped his hiding spot would be nearer now, she didn't think she would like to keep going much longer.

Finally, they reached a narrow entrance and followed Sirius inside. The cave was big enough to fit all of them, and to Mel's surprise, Buckbeak. The four of them bowed at the creature, Buckbeak bowed back and allowed both girls to touch him.

"Chicken!" She heard Sirius said roughly. She noticed the old robes -the same ones he'd been wearing since leaving Azkaban- and how skinny he looked. "Thanks– I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

He grinned like it was nothing to be worried about, and Harry smiled awkwardly, obviously worried. Mel felt a sting of annoyance, how could he live like this? Why?

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" Harry said.

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather. Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."

"It's not funny," Mel frowned. "You look awfully skinny, Sirius. If you would've told us something we would've sent you food..."

"That would've been too risky, a bunch of owls leaving large packages in the mountain... no, I'm fine," Sirius noticed the look of both and added sternly. "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter... well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried." Ron picked the paper from the dirty ground and examined it.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry inquired.

"You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," Sirius shrugged.

"You could've just stayed with my mum, it's close enough," Mel added. Sirius had known her parents enough to recognize her antics.

"Emily told me Harry's relatives have seen my picture in the news, suppose they look over the fence one day and see me calmly drinking tea in your kitchen? You think they would keep it to themselves?"

"I... I guess you have a point."

Sirius nodded silently, still eating. Ron handed the Daily Prophets, 'Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch', and the 'Ministry Witch Still Missing — Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved.'

"They're making it sound like he's dying," Harry mentioned, talking about the headline that mentioned Crouch. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here..."

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron told Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry. "The night my name came out of the goblet..."

"He didn't look ill," Mel said. "He looked... I don't know, worried. I just assumed he was like that because of Harry."

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, still stroking Buckbeak's head. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now — bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron mumbled only for Sirius to hear.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?" Sirius asked with a lot of interest.

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup..." said Harry, and he proceeded to tell him the whole story about the Quidditch final.

"Let me get this straight," Sirius was now pacing around the cave, still holding a piece of chicken. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right."

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No. I think he said he'd been too busy."

"Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

"Erm... No. I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars. Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box– Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people. Some Bulgarian ministers... Cornelius Fudge... the Malfoys..."

"The Malfoys!" said Ron. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"What for?" Mel frowned. "He had a very good wand, and someone would've noticed if he took it, being as far as he was."

"Anyone else?" said Sirius.

"No one," said Harry.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione added quickly.

"Oh yeah..."

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius. "What's he like?"

"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he, now? I wonder why he'd do that?"

"Says he's taken a liking to me."

"Hmm..."

"Wouldn't be surprised if he's bet on you winning the tournament," Mel huffed. "Mr Weasley said to my mum he's very keen on beating on almost everything."

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared, remember?" Hermione told them.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."

"How d'you know? How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"

"Come off it," said Ron. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione.

"Told you," Ron rolled his eyes, "told you she's obsessed with house—"

"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?" Sirius interrupted.

"Went to look in the bushes," Harry continued, "but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course... of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf... and then he sacked her?"

"Yes," Hermione kept going angrily, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled —"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!"

"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." Sirius pointed wisely. "All these absences of Barty Crouch's... he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He worked very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too... It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"D'you know Crouch, then?" Harry questioned.

"Oh, I know Crouch all right. He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban — without a trial."

"What?"

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not. Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know? He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic, he's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical — and power-hungry. Oh, never a Voldemort supporter... No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side... well, you wouldn't understand... you're too young..."

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," Ron scoffed. "Try us, why don't you?"

"All right, I'll try you..." A flash of a smirk appeared on the man's face. "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing... the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere... panic... confusion... that's how it used to be."

"My mum found both of her parents dead... her own father had already retired, he wasn't on duty..."

"Times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others," Sirius nodded. "Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning — I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial.

"Crouch fought violence with violence and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you — plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened... Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently, they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Yep," Sirius was done with the chicken and was now digging through the loaf of bread. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while... gotten to know his own son."

"Was his son a Death Eater?"

"No idea, I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. Emily and Remus made sure to update me... the boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione tried.

"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione!" Sirius laughed. "Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again — doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy... then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

"He gave his own son to the dementors?"

"That's right. I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though... they all went quiet in the end... except when they shrieked in their sleep..."

Mel ached for the way Sirius' eyes darkened with anguish. The things that man lived on his own, innocent without the world knowing, without any friends...

"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry brought her back from her wondering.

"No... he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in. He wasn't the only one, most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."

Harry reached silently for her hand and squeezed lightly, it made her feel a bit better.

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made. One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic... next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told him, still very much holding her hand.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him... If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yeah, it does!"

"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape —" Hermione interrupted.

"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him —"

"Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"

"I dunno — maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out —"

"That would make sense," Mel nodded, wanting to give Ron a victory. "We heard it before, Snape's on his second chance already, maybe he's eager to gain Dumbledore's trust by helping us, but it doesn't mean he's reliable now... Maybe he saw no point in helping Voldemort, weak as he was..."

"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said, his grip so firm that she couldn't find it in herself to pull away.

"I think all of you got a point," said Sirius. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was... Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters– Rosier and Wilkes — they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges — they're a married couple — they're in Azkaban. Avery — from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse — he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater — not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.

"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius. "Well, I've no idea what that's about... but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers..." He shook his head in mild frustration. "There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."

"What if he just wants to keep an eye on him? It's better to have him under his watch than free doing Merlin knows what," Mel offered.

"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" Ron added, agreeing with her.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though... he's a different matter... is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not... what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"

Mel finally let go of Harry's hand to reread the Prophet's article.

"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?" Sirius asked Ron.

"I can try... Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," added Sirius.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there: Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all — quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic... maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long..." Sirius drowned a yawn and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What's the time?"

"It's half-past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said. "Now listen... I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."

"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said, then sent a playful smirk at her. "And Mel, when I don't listen to what she says."

"Very funny..."

"I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over," Sirius shook his head, "and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"

Mel snorted, but Sirius raised a brow at her.

"Are you serious?"

Sirius smirked.

"Yes, I am," He handed back the container that used to have food. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you, see if I can scrounge another paper."

"We could send you ones so you don't have to go out there as often..."

"No, I like my walks," Sirius assured her. "It's good for me, see the sunlight every day... I'd missed it."

"Sirius, please reconsider my mum's offer," She said gently so it wouldn't sound like an accusation this time. "Please..." The look Sirius gave her was quite like anything else she'd seen, she didn't know what to call it. She only knew he wasn't pleased.

"We'll wait and see how things go, then we can revisit that, all right?" He sentenced, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Now let's get out of here."

"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron asked them. "But maybe he doesn't care... it'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," Hermione assured them with certainty.

"I don't know," Ron grimaced. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career... Percy's really ambitious, you know..."

"We know," Mel sighed, unconsciously reaching out for Harry's hand and holding it tightly.

"Poor old Snuffles," said Ron once they reached the castle. "He must really like you, Harry... Imagine having to live off rats."  

Harry said nothing but he didn't let go of her for the rest of their walk.

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha​ @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere​ @t-rexs-world

[mithranqueersmusings]

Baby, You’re A Rich Man XIX

Chapter: 19/28

Rating: T

Summary: Ringo could never understand why that group of three boys made him feel so uncomfortable, or why the way George looked at him sent him into a panic. After a chance encounter Ringo discovers the truth and has no clue what to do with the information.

Tags: AU - Gangsters, Slow Burn, Smut, Eventual Romance, Violence, Angst

Pairings: George Harrison/Ringo Starr, John Lennon/Paul McCartney

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

"I think this calls for a celebration!" Paul shouted excitedly when they left the house and climbed back into George's car.

The excitement of the whole ordeal was still rushing through Ringo, his heart beating faster than normal and his fingers were itching for a cigarette. George held his hand tightly as they sat in the front, both of them with ridiculously large grins on their faces.

"What did you have in mind?" John asked, he seemed the most excited out of all of them.

"I say we head out for a real fab dinner, proper fancy like, since we're all big spenders now, eh Ringo?" Paul winked at him when he turned round with a smile "Then head out to the clubs, get borderline unconscious and see where the night takes us."

"Well you know I can't say no to that." John said with a grin.

"Not to put a downer on things, but can we at least get some sleep first?" George asked as he drove the car back onto the street "I'm still pretty knackered from last night."

"Sure, that's the reason you need to rush Ringo back to bed." John giggled like a child.

"I'm too tired even for that." George laughed.

"Poor Ringo, after all he's done for you." John frowned dramatically which made Ringo laugh.

"I dunno, I'm family now so isn't that technically incest?" Ringo joked.

"Ew, don't put it like that, please." George mimed throwing up.

"George you can't go around calling people 'daddy' then complaining about incest." Paul smirked, earning a proud look from John.

"Daddy?" Ringo asked surprised with a grin on his face, George was turning bright red.

"Wow, thanks for that Paul. Really appreciate it." George kept his focus on the road but the blush in his face wouldn't die down, yet he was still smiling.

"Uh oh, did Paulie say something amiss?" John smiled "Can't believe you haven't broken that one out yet, George."

"Remind me why I'm friends with you two again?" George couldn't look at Ringo in this moment.

"Because if you weren't we'd go airing your dirty laundry around." Paul laughed "And we've got baskets full."

"Who knows - maybe tonight's the night!" John was almost in stitches.

"No need to be embarrassed, George." Ringo teased, nudging his boyfriend playfully who finally turned to him with a smile.

"It's not like that with me and Ringo, alright? If you must know." George was trying to sound serious but John's laughter was too contagious.

"No way..." Paul gasped "You're telling me-"

"George, my boy, you're all grown up!" John cackled "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Fuck off the both of you." George glared.

"Sounds like you're doing all the fucking!" John was rolling around with laughter.

"Who could've guessed?" Paul had tears forming in his eyes.

"Come on now, lads, that's enough of that." Ringo said somewhat sternly but his tone was light "I'm sure George has got some right nasty stories about you two that he's trying very hard not to blurt out right now."

"I've got nothing to hide." John said with a smirk.

"We both know that's not true, Lennon." George smirked at him in the rear-view mirror.

"I don't like where this is headed." Paul said.

"Shoes on the other foot now, eh Paul?" Ringo chuckled.

"No, no I wouldn't dare." George held his nose up dramatically to feign his moral superiority "Our friendship is just too important to me."

"If you call what we did 'friendship' then Ringo must be getting a real lavish treatment." John giggled again.

"I won't deny it." Ringo smiled.

"Alright, alright, let's lay off now." Paul sat up straight "There'll be plenty of time for us to humiliate each other at dinner."

"Oh good, I'll make a list." John joked.

"You do that Johnny boy." George smirked.

There was a pause before Ringo spoke "This isn't gonna end in a big orgy is it?"

The whole car burst into laughter then, Ringo included.

"Not unless you ask nicely, Ringo." John wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"In your dreams." George said, Ringo wondered how he was able to still drive with all this chaos going on.

The drive back to George's continued in this manner, the four of them joking and laughing with one another with Paul or Ringo eventually having to step in before it went too far. Ringo was surprised with how normal the conversation felt to him, with the three of them talking and joking openly about their sexual experiences. Granted, he'd spoke to his mates about girls he'd slept with but it was always somewhat awkward and a desperate show of masculinity. Now, Ringo felt completely at ease hearing in excruciating detail how John lost his virginity, or how George got cramp during his first time and almost cried in embarrassment. Even if the aspect of George having his first sexual experiences with his two closest friends was strange at first to Ringo, now he saw no issue with it as it was clear that Paul and John loved each other very much and that George had eyes for nobody but him.

When they finally arrived back at George's, they all had tears in their eyes from laughing so much. They all clambered out of the car still in hysterics and haphazardly greeted the doorman on their way in. Into the lift they all squeezed, John resting his head on Paul's shoulder as he fought off sleep. Ringo couldn't wipe the smile off his face, his cheeks and stomach hurt from all the laughing. The familiarity of George's flat was very welcome and they all collapsed comfortably onto various pieces of furniture; Ringo thought about how he'd likely be spending all of his time here now, with these three, if he was going to be living on their floor and he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do.

"Where are we gonna eat tonight?" George asked, taking off his jacket and tossing it lazily onto the floor.

"Maybe Ringo should choose." Paul suggested, he was sitting in John's lap when all eyes turned to Ringo.

"Oh... I dunno. I don't really know any fancy places." Ringo said sheepishly.

"Who says it has to be fancy?" George asked, he was lying across Ringo's lap.

"Why don't we go back to your old workplace, that could be funny." John smiled mischievously.

"Oh God, I thought we didn't have to go there anymore since George stopped stalking Ringo." Paul chuckled.

"Who says I stopped?" George winked which made Ringo nudge him with his knee.

"I don't think I'll be going back there any time soon." Ringo said somewhat quietly "My work 'mate' threatened to call the cops on me."

"What for?" John laughed, he was playing with Paul's hair gently.

"What do you think?" Ringo asked, gesturing to the slim boy laying in his lap.

"No... Really?" George sounding partly offended and partly angry.

"That seems all the more reason to go." John said, he had a stern look on his face "Teach that fucker a lesson."

"Come on now, John, how's that gonna help?" Paul asked soothingly, Ringo never thought he'd seen him looking more comfortable than sitting with John as he did now.

"I never said it would help." John snickered.

"I wouldn't mind kicking the shit out of him, but that's just me." George said.

"No, no, we can't." Ringo tried not to sound desperate "He's harmless anyway, just a hollow threat."

"If you're sure." George said taking hold of Ringo's hand "But I'm sure me and John would jump at the opportunity to beat him up, wouldn't we John?"

"It'd be my pleasure." John grinned.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Ringo joked "But anyway let's just focus on having a good time tonight."

"Can we decide on somewhere to go then? I swear its impossible making a plan with you lot." Paul scoffed playfully.

"You just pick Paul, that's what always ends up happening anyway." George said with a smile.

"Only because you guys are so impossible." Paul folded his arms dramatically.

"Let's just go somewhere with good food and cheaper drinks." John suggested "We're probably gonna end up throwing our dinner up anyway, does it really matter where we go?"

"Good point." Ringo laughed.

After a little while John and Paul finally retired to bed, not without a stern warning from Paul that they had to be awake by 7 'or else'. George lay in Ringo's lap happily, allowing his hair to be played with while he allowed sleep to slowly overcome him. Ringo felt completely at peace like this, very thankful that he didn't have to work until tomorrow evening and while his brain wanted to shift into panic mode: to think about all the things wrong with accepting Brian's offer, with all the things that could go wrong the next time he went to work, but his happiness was just too powerful to overcome. Ringo noticed George slowly slipping into sleep so happily carried him to bed, he noticed him stirring awake at points but George just welcomed the gesture. Ringo drew George's bedroom curtains closed and slipped of George's shoes and belt, just as he had all that time ago when he first stayed the night here, and similarly stripped his clothes off onto the floor before climbing into bed. The softness of the sheets sent a smile across Ringo's face as he cuddled up to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him and resting his head on his shoulder as he too fell asleep.

Ringo had no idea how they managed to sleep that long but before he had already really noticed that he was falling asleep, he was being awoken again by some banging on George's bedroom door. Ringo shot up in alarm, George just groaning sleepily beside him, but relaxed immediately when he heard Paul's voice shouting from the other side.

"I'm coming in, you two better not be fucking!" Paul called, opening the door slowly.

John burst in the room without a care, causing Paul to roll his eyes "Aw, that's boring. I was hoping to catch something juicy."

"Fuck off John." George mumbled, still lying on his side with the covers pulled up over his shoulders.

"You should really lock your door George." Paul tutted, walking over to the curtains and pulling them open harshly. "You guys have been asleep for like 10 hours, you know that right?"

"Jesus, really?" Ringo asked with a laugh, he was holding the cover over his chest as casually as he could.

"Let me sleep!" George shouted weakly, his eyes still not open.

Ringo rocked him somewhat roughly "Come on, get up now."

John made his way over to the bed, jumping down into the centre "Room for one more?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows, making his way between the two of them.

As soon as George felt John brush against him he shot up "Fine, fine, I'm up!" He rolled out of bed sluggishly, rubbing his eye and stretching with his other arm.

"Spoil sport." John stuck his tongue out at George then slipped underneath the covers to take George's place.

"No, come on John, I'm not spending another half an hour trying to get you out of bed." Paul signalled with his hand and John reluctantly got back up to his feet.

"Now clear off you two, we need to get dressed." George said, already undoing his shirt.

"Oh sorry, didn't realise you'd become so Catholic." John chuckled but headed out of the room nonetheless.

"10 minutes, no longer, alright?" Paul said sternly as he closed the bedroom door.

"Yes mother!" George called out with a laugh then turned to Ringo "Sorry about them."

Ringo finally got out of bed, feeling a little cold just in his boxers, and began to rifle through George's wardrobe to find some of his casual clothes "No, it's fine, I'm just still not used to John's..."

"Sluttiness?" George joked "He's just having you on, it doesn't mean anything. Well, unless you want it to mean something."

"Really?" Ringo asked surprised, he'd found one his dark blue jumpers at the bottom of the wardrobe and tossed it onto the bed "Is Paul alright with that?"

"He's not fussed really, he knows John will never replace him." George walked up beside Ringo to find something to wear for himself "But every so often they might bring someone else to bed, for a laugh usually. John's always the one to initiate it, but Paul has to approve o'course."

"Weird." Was all Ringo could think to say, finding a pair of trousers and sloppily getting dressed.

"If it bothers you though, I can say something to John and he'll lay off." George was in nothing but his boxers now and the sight made Ringo freeze for a moment.

"No it doesn't bother me. I just didn't know if he was serious or not." Ringo couldn't keep his eyes off George while he tried to put his jumper on.

"Fair enough." George smiled at the sight of Ringo with flushed cheeks "John's just got a lot of love, you know? He's gotta share it around somehow."

Ringo managed to bring his attention away from George's gorgeous body long enough so that he could dress himself, he evaluated himself in the mirror and decided he looked good enough. It was always refreshing to see George out of a suit, as much as he did look good in them, as he was now wearing a turtleneck which accentuated his strong jaw perfectly. Ringo had always thought George was attractive, even if it he couldn't admit it the first time he saw him, but the more he spent time with him the more George just looked even more beautiful; it was a strange phenomenon, because Ringo thought George couldn't get any more attractive.

"How do I look?" George asked with a grin, meeting Ringo's prolonged gaze.

"Gorgeous." Ringo smiled back.

They headed out of the room to find John and Paul sharing a heated kiss on the sofa, George just coughed awkwardly to pull them away from each other. Without any more delay they headed down to the lobby and into the darkening evening. Paul insisted that they walked because he didn't trust John to not get ridiculously drunk yet manage to convince the rest of them that he was sober enough to drive them home.

"It's not my fault you always believe me." John laughed "You're supposed to be the responsible one, not me."

"I know, that's why I'm removing the car from the equation entirely." Paul explained.

Paul had decided on what he described as a 'semi-fancy' place for them to eat which Ringo couldn't really decipher. They ended up at what Ringo could only conclude was a very fancy place, at least by his standards, and they got in without any trouble despite the long queue waiting outside.

"Do you even bother making a reservation?" Ringo asked with a chuckle, trying to block out the complaints the people in the queue were making.

"Of course, we're not animals." Paul laughed "Well, I'm not anyway."

They were seated at a far corner in the restaurant, the waiter seemed very happy to see them, and headed off to fetch them a bottle of wine which John asked for before even sitting down. They sat in a booth which faced the band, currently a fairly attractive woman was singing quite emotionally, with John and George sat on the outside. Ringo was once again intimidated by the menu, as he always was, and looked over at George for some guidance. While Ringo was getting more used to being in such upscale places he still wasn't surely whether he particularly liked them, nor did he think the rest of them did, and he always wondered why they always ended up in such places. The waiter returned with a bottle of wine and four glasses, John didn't even bother pretending to read the bottle to see if it was 'acceptable' or not and just drank it.

"Keep 'em coming." John said with a wink to the waiter who just nodded stiffly.

They ordered their food and began what Ringo imagined was going to be a long night of drinking. It didn't take too long for the food to arrive and they all dug in without much conversation, Ringo was absolutely starving considering he hadn't eaten all day. They got through two bottles of wine easily before they even finished their meals. The music switched up for a jazz band which Ringo greatly appreciated, he began singing along to some of the songs without noticing.

"I just realised, this is the first time we've been out as two proper couples." Paul smiled with his wine glass in hand.

"Wow, word gets around fast." Ringo chuckled, passing a joking look to George who just smiled at him.

"In all seriousness though, I'm really glad you two ended up together. Back a day when we used to get lunch at your place I worried it wasn't gonna work out." Paul paused to take a sip.

"Why's that?" Ringo asked.

"Honestly, I didn't think you were gay." Paul laughed.

"Well I wasn't technically." Ringo smiled shyly which made John laugh.

"How can you not be gay technically?" John giggled "Were you only gay philosophically? How about metaphorically?"

"I just didn't know I suppose." Ringo shrugged his shoulders.

"Suppose I just have that effect on people." George grinned devilishly, putting his arm around Ringo's shoulder.

"Must be true after all, it's contagious." John laughed.

"Well the cycle's ended now at least, unless Ringo goes passing it along." Paul winked and nudged Ringo playfully.

"Hey now, we're not like you two." George said rather defensively "All we need is each other."

"No need to get uppity George, just a joke." Paul said with a smug smile.

"And you didn't seem to be complaining about our generosity before Ringo came along." John smirked.

"Whatever." George took a sip from his wine.

If this conversation was happening between anyone else, although Ringo couldn't imagine who else would be having a conversation like this, he would've thought they were actually trying to upset one another but with these three he knew it was all done lovingly.

"You guys sure to do talk about sex a lot." Ringo said with his mouth full of food.

"Well you can only talk about the weather for so long." John quipped back quickly which made them all laugh.

After a ridiculous amount of wine, they finally got through their dessert and asked for the bill. Ringo wasn't sure whether he was drunk or not but as soon as he stood up he knew that he certainly was. He held onto to George's arm as they walked out of the restaurant partly for support but mostly because he just wanted to touch him. Ringo had a feeling he'd drank more than anyone else but once John burst out into song in the street he wasn't sure anymore. They drunkenly shuffled down the streets before they came to a club, it was one they'd never been to before - at least not with Ringo - and it was clean looking enough. From outside Ringo could already hear the music, although it was pretty muffled by the bricks and his alcohol intake. It was rock and roll music which made all of the boys very happy, especially John, and they made their way to the dance floor immediately.

After dancing for a while they retreated to the bar where they each ordered a drink. Ringo had offered to pay for everyone, considering he'd be coming into more money than he'd ever had before very soon, but they politely refused and somehow they ended up paying for Ringo's drink instead. With a drink in hand Ringo turned his back to the bar and looked out at the club and came to a realisation.

"Where's all the girls?" He asked George, having to lean in and shout over the music.

"Bored of me already are you?" George grinned but when he saw Ringo's vacant expression he felt he had to explain "This isn't the type of club girls are particularly interested in going to."

Ringo wasn't sure if it was his own fault for not understanding George, but his words almost sounded like another language "Huh?" He shouted back which made George laugh.

"It's a men's only club, if you catch my drift." George leaned in closer to Ringo's ear.

"Really?" Ringo said after a pause "I didn't know there were any."

"Ringo, love, there's a lot you don't know." George bit Ringo's earlobe playfully before pulling away to take a sip of his drink.

Paul and John had vanished off somewhere after they got their drinks and Ringo hadn't noticed their absence until now. He looked at the groups of men dancing here, and he found himself thinking how normal they all looked. Well why shouldn't they look normal, Ringo asked himself, he looked normal - or at least he liked to think he did.

"Isn't it illegal?" Ringo asked, thinking aloud more than speaking directly to George.

"Of course it is, but who's gonna do anything?" George was leading them back to the dance floor now "Brian makes sure the police stay away from the place, so anything goes really."

"That's nice of him." Ringo smiled thinking about Brian, how kind he'd been during their first meeting.

The two of them finished their drinks quickly, making Ringo shudder at the strong taste, before they began dancing again. Ringo hadn't felt this drunk in a long time, but he wasn't complaining and just allowed himself to mellow out. After a while, Ringo had no idea how long, John and Paul resurfaced and began dancing with them. Both of them looked fairly flushed, with Paul's lips plump and John's hair ruffled with a very satisfied grin on his face.

"Really, you couldn't wait until you got home?" George asked with a smirk.

"You try resisting him." John nudged Paul lovingly who gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I wasn't hearing any complaints." Paul said proudly.

Ringo just laughed, he was never really sure how to respond when their conversations got like this, the three of them joking back and forth at lightning speed without any time to even think.

"Geez Ringo, you look pissed." John chuckled, lowering himself slightly so that they were eye to eye.

"I'll level with you John, I feel pissed." Ringo grinned stupidly.

John put his arm around Ringo's shoulder and hugged him into his side "You're a right sort, Ringo. Glad George picked you up when he did."

"Thank you." Ringo slurred out, looking at George hazily who was looking right at him happily.

They danced for a while longer before heading back to the bar, this time getting two more drinks each. George quickly headed off to the bathroom and in his absence another man took his place, between Ringo and John. Ringo didn't even notice he was there, he hadn't even really realised George had gone, before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The man asked, he was blonde and rather short.

"Maybe." Ringo said with a lazy smile. "I don't know you though."

"Well I'm sure we can fix that." The man purred, moving in closer to Ringo.

Ringo stumbled backwards clumsily "Sorry mate I'm not interested."

"No need to be scared, I can show you a good time." The man moved closer again but he was stopped by a hand gripping his shoulder tightly.

It was George, he towered over the man and spun him around with ease so that his back was pushed against the bar "You heard him, not interested, now fuck off." He growled.

"Jesus, sorry. Can't hate a guy for trying." The man said with a weak smile, he wasn't hiding how scared he was of George very well, before he hurried away into the crowd.

"You alright?" George asked with a serious expression, Ringo was still processing what was happening.

"Yeah fine... Was he hitting on me?" Ringo asked and George couldn't help laughing.

"God, you are pissed, aren't you?"

"Sure am, you better catch up."

Ringo raised his eyebrow and offered his drink to George who took it gladly and downed it with ease. He slammed the empty cup down on the bar and scrunched up his face as the alcohol went down his throat which made John jump.

"Blimey, when did you get back?" John asked, he'd ordered a third drink.

"Oh just after some bloke tried it on with Ringo, thanks for helping by the way." George smiled sarcastically.

"George, I'm gonna be real with you, I don't really have any idea what's going on. So I'd appreciate it if you stopped expecting me to notice things." John slurred, Paul just looked at him and rolled his eyes.

"What are they like, honestly?" Paul said shaking his head.

"Paul you can't talk when you're giving blowies in the toilet first chance you get." George laughed as Ringo offered him his second drink.

"Hey now, I do that when I'm sober, thank you very much." Paul retorted with a drink in hand.

They stayed at the bar for a while, Ringo wasn't even sure who was paying for the drinks at this point but he was hoping that's why his money had mysteriously disappeared from his pocket. It didn't take too long before they were all stumbling around, when they tried to dance they kept knocking into people and at one point it looked like John was going to start a fight. The man who was flirting with Ringo reappeared at a point but George only had to look at him before he vanished once again. Ringo danced with everyone individually at different points in the night: when he was with George it was bordering on obscene with how they pressed their bodies against each other, with Paul Ringo felt very happy as they were spinning each other around sloppily, and with John it was the most ridiculous as they were by far the most drunk of the group as they were trying to dip one another or climb on the other's shoulders. After yet another failed attempt of Ringo trying to climb onto John they all decided to head outside for a smoke. Ringo worried that the cold air was going to sober him up but it just made him feel even drunker. He wasn't sure how late it was but he was just hoping the club wasn't going to close anytime soon.

"How's your first gay club treating you then, Ringo?" Paul asked as he lit his cigarette.

"I haven't noticed a difference, but that might be because I'm very, very drunk." Ringo leaned up against the wall as he smoked.

"I thought John was bad, but Jesus, Ringo you can really throw them back." George said, he was standing close beside him.

"Thank you very much." Ringo grinned.

"Here's hoping you can make it to work tomorrow." Paul smirked.

"Here's hoping he can make it home, more like." George chuckled.

"No, Ringo's not gonna miss an opportunity to sleep on George's sofa, are you lad?" John was currently swaying from side to side.

"I'll probably pass out before I even get my clothes off." Ringo laughed, he was just staring at the floor.

"John knows all about that one." Paul said "Once he offered to suck me off and then he fell asleep halfway."

Ringo burst into laughter hearing this which made George laugh too. John looked offended at first but couldn't help laughing with the rest of them. After they finished their cigarettes they headed back into the club, which had now significantly emptied. Ringo felt a pang of sadness in his chest at the thought of having to go home, for the night to be over, but he had a feeling that the closing of the club wasn't really going to put an end to things.

George pulled Ringo enthusiastically to dance but once they stopped in place, he pulled him in for a kiss instead. Ringo felt his head swimming as George pressed his lips up against his own, he tasted strongly of smoke and alcohol which normally would make Ringo feel sick but he just loved the taste of George. It felt like they were kissing forever, George's hand lowering down to Ringo's back, and Ringo grabbing a handful of George's hair. Eventually they pulled away from each other but Ringo couldn't help wanting more, and he felt determined to stay awake as long as possible so that he didn't risk repeating John's mistake.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 21, 2019  - WILD ROSE, TOY STORY 4, CHILD’S PLAY, ANNA

Before I get to this week’s usual column, I want to draw some extra attention to a movie opening this weekend, NEON’s WILD ROSE, a terrific musical drama starring newcomer

Jessie Buckley as Rose-Lynn, a single mother from Glasgow, Scotland who has just got out of prison after spending a year there. She’s a talented singer who has big dreams of being a country star at Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry, but she constantly has to choose between this dream career and her two young children.

Directed by Tom Harper (“Peaky Blinders”), the film is pretty amazing, especially to watch Rose-Lynn’s story unfold and how much energy Buckley brings to the role. It’s almost impossible not to love Rose-Lynn’s feisty take-no-shit attitude, which really drives the film but it’s also nice to see Julie Walters as her mother, who is tired of her daughter neglecting her two kids.

This really has been amazing year for musical films between Rocketman, this and the upcoming Yesterday, and I hope that continues since I love inspirational music films. I really hope people seek this one, although I do worry that in some of the places where country music flourishes, audiences might have trouble with the difficult Glaswegian brogue, though I do hope that isn’t a hindrance, since the movie is quite wonderful.

Rating: 8.5/10

Now, let’s get to the other new movies in wide release, and I’m afraid to say that I don’t have a ton to say about any of them other than my actual reviews. Obviously, Disney and Pixar Animation’s TOY STORY 4 (Disney-Pixar) is going to be the big movie of the weekend, and I’ve already reviewed it and loved it. I won’t have a chance to see Orion Pictures and U.A. Releasing’s remake of CHILD’S PLAY until late Wednesday night, but I’m a little trepidatious of it other than the fact it stars the wonderful Aubrey Plaza. (MY REVIEW of Child’s Play is now live.)I guess we’ll see how it goes, but my review will be on The Beat on Thursday at noon.  Lastly, there’s Luc Besson’s new action movie ANNA (Lionsgate), starring Sasha Luss from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which I actually won’t be able to see before Thursday night but I hope to have a review of that over at The Beat, too.

I talk more about the upcoming wide releases over at The Beat, so do check that column out as well, but if you’re still here, than you know that there’s lots of other stuff to city, especially if you’re lucky enough to live in New York and L.A.

LIMITED RELEASES

Some really great docs opening this weekend, and I want to focus on those first. First up is Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM (Magnolia), an amazing doc about the influential and inspirational author of books like “Beloved,” “The Bluest Eye” and “Sula,” none of which I’ve read, but I’m definitely more intrigued after reading about the influence she’s had on black culture as well as promoting black writers since her editing career began in the late ‘40s. The movie isn’t just about her history or her process, though, and in some ways it reminded me of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro to show how important Morrison has been to literature and the Civil Rights movement. This movie opens Friday at the Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center in New York and Pacific Arclight and Landmark 12 in L.A., and I highly recommend it.  I’m hoping Magnolia will be able to get this out there, and it looks like they have a fairly robust release plan, so definitely seek it out if it plays in your city.

Equally enticing is Oliver Murray’s doc THE QUIET ONE (Sundance Selects), which takes a look inside the amazing archival efforts made by Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. I’m a pretty big Stones fan and have been for decades and the access Murray gets to his archive of pictures and films really helps painting a picture of his time with the Stones. While I think this will be more interest to Stones fans than anyone else, I do recommend it. It will open at the IFC CenterFriday, as well as in Boston, L.A. and San Francisco and then will be on VOD on June 28. Both of the opened played at the recent Tribeca Film Festival.

It’s kind of crazy that Jordan Roberts’ BURN YOUR MAPS (Vertical Entertainment) (based on the short story by Robyn Joy Leff) premiered at the Toronto Film Festival way back in 2016 and it’s finally being released now, but hey, it happens. It stars Jacob Tremblay as an 8-year-old boy -- Tremblay is now 12 – named Wes who has dreams of becoming a Mongolian goat herder, befriending an Indian immigrant (Suraj Sharma from Life of Pi) and they travel to Mongolia together. Also starring Vera Farmiga and Virginia Madsen, it will be in select cities and On Demand.

Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, Max von Sydow and Colin Firth (woo, what a cast!) star in Thomas Winterberg’s THE COMMAND (Saban Films). It tells the story of the Russian flagship nuclear submarine K-1413 KURSK  that sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea in August 2000, and like Saban’s other films, it will get a nomination theatrical release but mainly be seen on VOD.

Let’s get to some fun genre stuff….

A new horror anthology worth checking out is NIGHTMARE CINEMA (Good Deed Entertainment), which premiered at last year’s Fantasia Fest. The premise that ties the five chapters together involves five strangers who come to an abandoned theater to face their greatest fears with Mickey Rourke playing a mysterious character called the Projectionist. The episodes of the anthology are directed by Juan of the Dead’s Alejandro Brugués; the legendary Joe Dante; David Slade, who has directed “Hannibal,” “American Gods” and “Black Mirror” (including Bandersnatch!); Japanese filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura and the man who put it all together, Mick Garris. It will be in theaters and On Demand Friday.

A late addition to the weekend is Israeli director Guilhad Emilio Schenker’s Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club (Rock Salt Releasing), which premiered at Fantastic Fest last year. It’s about a woman named Sophie who is getting older but who only has to seduce one more victim in order to achieve the rank of Lordess.

Lastly, there’s Carolina Hellsgård’s “post-apocalyptic feminist gothic fairy tale” Endzeit Ever After (Juno Films) follows two young women who develop a friendship while trying to survive after zombies overrun the Earth as they’re stranded in the Black Forest.  This opens at the IFC Center Friday and in L.A. at the Laemlle on June 28.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Streaming Weds on Netflix (and opening at the IFC Center in New York) is Petra Costa’s documentary THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, which I’m mainly interested since I have family in Brazil who are quite political and this looks at what happened that cause two Brazilian presidencies to unravel.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

On Friday, Metrograph Pictures releases a 4k restoration of Jack Hazan’s 1974 film A Bigger Splash, an intimate portrait of British artist David Hockney at a pivotal time in his life after he breaks up with his boyfriend and muse Peter Schlesinger and is trying to complete his painting “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)”, which sold last year at auction for $93 million (!!!) The Metrograph will have all sorts of guests and QnAs at the screenings of the movie over the weekend.

This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph  is the influential Japanese thriller Battle Royale (2000), while Playtime: Family Matinees  will screen Tim Burton’s 1995 family comedy Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Over the weekend, the Metrograph will also screen two films by Juleen Compton, 1965’s Stranded and 1966’s The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean, neither which I’ve seen so I don’t have much to add.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Besides the Weds. matinee of Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain (1966), starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, the New Bev is doing a double feature of Lady in Cement (1968) and Pretty in Poison (1968) on Weds and Thursday, then Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) with Cactus Flower  (1969) on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s Midnight movie is Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, while Saturday’s Midnight is something called Candy (1968), co-written by Buck Henry.  The KIDDEE MATINEE this weekend is one of my personal childhood favorites Chitty Chitty Bang Bang  (1968), starring Dick Van Dyke. Sunday and Monday, the theater is showing the Shirley MacLaine/Bob Fosse film Sweet Charity (1969) and Monday is a matinee of Ocean’s 11. No, not the one from 1960 as that would screw up the Bev’s late ‘60s motif.. it’s Steven Soderbergh’s movie from 2001 starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon. The Tuesday Grindhouse is off next week replaced by a double feature of Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn’s There’s a Girl in My Soup (1970) and Don Knotts’ The Love God? (1969).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

Out in Astoria, they’re beginning the series Grit and Glitter: Before and After Stonewall in conjunction with the 50th anniversary with screenings of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures  (1962) with two George Kuchar shorts on Friday, Tony Richardson’s 1961 film A Taste of Honey and Kon Ichikawa’s 1963 An Actor’s Revenge on Saturday and Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason  (1967) and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Taorema on Sunday. (All of these are screened separately with separate entrance fees.) On Saturday and Sunday, MOMI screens a special The Muppet Movie 40thAnniversary Celebration, as well as a screening of 1979’s The Muppets Go Hollywood on Saturday. As part of the See It Big! Action series on Saturday, they’re showing Shaft director Gordon Parks, Jr.’s 1974 film Three the Hard Way.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

A new restoration of Jennie Livingston’s 1991 film Paris is Burning continues to play as part of Pride Month and the 50thanniversary of Stonewall, and Alain Resnais’Last Year at Marienbad will continue to play through Thursday. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Gurinder Chada’s 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham starring a very young Keira Knightley. Next Tuesday night, the Film Forum is screening a double feature of Dean Hargrove’s 2015 film Tap World along with his 2004 short Tap Heat.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

On Thursday, the never-ending Scorsese/Cassavetes series continues with Faces  (1968) and Mean Streets (1973)  and maybe this is the end of that series. Friday night is a screening of Eric Rohmer’s La Collectionneuse (1967) and on Sunday, the Art Directors Guild Film Society screens Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

AERO  (LA):

On Thursday, Cinematic Void is screening a double feature of Brian De Palma’s The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Dwight Little’s 1989 The Phantom of the Opera (with Little in person). Friday starts a Tying the Coen Brothers Together series in conjunction with Adam Layman’s fantastic Coen Brothers book with double features of No Country for Old Men and Blood Simple on Friday, The Big Lebowski and The Man Who Wasn’t There on Saturday and Fargo with A Serious Man on Sunday. Adam Nayman will be in person for the first two and actor Fred Melamed will be there for the latter.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

On Friday, the Quad premieres a new 2k restoration of Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg’s 1984 film Before Stonewall as well as a new series called Queer Kino playing through June 27, including Frank Ripploh’s German film Taxi zum Klo (1980), Wieland Speck’s Coming Out (1989) and more.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

This weekend, the Tribeca theaters is showing Toshio Matsumoto’s 1969 film Funeral Parade of Roses, the Wachowski’s Bound (1996), a 20thAnniversary screening of the thriller Jawbreaker with director Darren Stein and a few more recent movies including Booksmart. Not a bad line-up for this upstart arthouse theater.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This week’s Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance is David Lynch’s Eraserhead (again) and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook,Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad screens Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life  (1959), while Late Night Favorites: Springscreens Pulp Fiction, Alien (again) and Jaws.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

The Ermanno Olmi series continues through June 26.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This week’s Friday midnight is Stanley Kubrick’s classic The Shining.

Next week, the month of June closes off with the threequel Annabelle Comes Homeand Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis’ musical rom-com Yesterday.