#harry/ofc/daphne

[realitybitesyouknowit]

Harry Potter's life was not a very good one, but then one day that all changed, one day he found a snake in his cupboard. Slytherin Harry, dark/grey. There will be bashing. HarryxDaphne/Tracey/OC pairing.

Last chapter read 108

Tags contain vague spoilers I use them to remind myself what stories are what.

[foundtherightwords]

Fallen Empires - Chapter 10

Pairing: Geta x OFC

Summary: Having done the unthinkable to secure his throne, Emperor Geta rules with ruthlessness and paranoia. Now, after escaping an assassination attempt, a badly injured Geta is saved by Daphne, a young widow, who takes him back to her remote village without knowing his true identity. As Daphne nurses the former emperor back to health, attraction blooms between them, and Geta discovers a soft side he didn't know he possessed. But can their love survive his thirst for revenge and his desire to reclaim power?

Chapter warnings: a bit of violence

Chapter word count: 2.6k

Prologue + Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Geta watched as Daphne's dark figure walked down the street. He waited to see if she would look back, but she kept walking and pulling her donkey along, her feet steady, her back erect, until she vanished amongst the crowd.

He wished he had said something more profound, or perhaps more tender to her. He wished he had taken her hand. He wished he had—

No. It was for the best. After all, she was becoming a distraction. If he'd taken her hand, he wouldn't have had the strength to let go. Yet, as he made his way into the tavern, he found himself reaching for his cheek, remembering her touch there when she was shaving him. Realizing what he was doing, he frowned in annoyance with himself and rubbed a hand roughly across his skin, trying to wipe away the memory, to no avail.

It was odd, not having a beard. It made him feel naked, vulnerable. The last time he had been clean-shaven was when he was gazing at his brother's corpse. He supposed that had been part of the reason why he'd grown a beard, so he wouldn't be reminded of his brother every time he looked into a mirror.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he stepped into the tavern. It was cool and dim after the sun-drenched street outside. After his eyes had adjusted, he saw that it was set up pretty much like any Roman tavern, with a counter presided over by a woman in her middle years, her black hair shot through with gray, caught up in untidy loops around a square-jawed, formidable face. This must be the innkeeper, Eukleis, whom Daphne had mentioned. Behind the woman were shelves stacked high with amphorae of wine and a curtained doorway leading to a room in the back, no doubt where the kitchen was.

Although it was between the midday and the evening meals, the tavern was crowded. Customers thronged around the counter and filled simple wooden tables dotted around the small room, some even spilling out onto the street outside. The staff—a pretty, buxom girl who seemed more preoccupied with flirting with the men than working, and a thin, harried-looking man—ran back and forth like shuttles in a loom, carrying trays of drinks and food. The innkeeper barely glanced at Geta as he walked up to the counter and ordered wine and something to eat. What she did look at was the Roman coins he handed to her.

"Not from around here, are ya?" she asked.

"Are these coins not acceptable?" he said, instead of answering.

The woman immediately closed her fist—as big and strong as a man's—around the coins. "No, of course not, all coins are accepted here," she said unctuously. "Welcome to Adala."

Geta decided not to mention his travel plans just yet. He retreated to a table in a corner, where he could watch the comings and goings of the customers. The girl brought him an amphora of wine, a beaker, and some plates, taking her time putting things down on the table.

He drank the wine, which was sour but refreshing, and picked at his food—a bowl of chickpeas, some olives, bread, and grilled mutton on a bed of wilted lettuce. There was a law forbidding taverns from selling meat dishes, but almost no one in Rome abided by it, and it seemed to be similarly disregarded here. The serving girl circled back a few times, making eyes at him. If it had been a few months ago, he probably wouldn't have minded a tumble with her upstairs, but now, all he could think of was Daphne, her eyes blazing in the dark room, her body trembling under his... No. Daphne was gone. He must not think of her. He turned his attention back to the room, and the serving girl, seeing that he paid her no mind, went away pouting.

The mention of Macrinus's name from a nearby table made him prick up his ears. The table was occupied by two men, with the looks of small-time merchants about them. "At least the war is over," one of them was saying, his bald head shining with sweat despite the coolness inside the tavern. "And we can trade with Parthia again."

"Sure, sure." The other nodded over his wine. "But that compensation Macrinus is forced to pay to Artabanus, where'd you think it's coming from? Our own pockets, that's where!"

Baldy wiped a sleeve across his shiny dome. "That's true," he mused ruefully. "200 million sesterces is a lot. Not a great start as Emperor for old Macrinus."

"Can't be worse than the previous one," his friend said.

Geta gripped his cup of wine so tightly he almost shattered it. His mind was reeling. The war with Parthia was lost? Macrinus as Emperor? How could this be?

"Will he stay on the throne for long, d'you reckon?" Baldy was asking. "Or would we have another Year of the Five Emperors?"

Geta still remembered that time, though he had been barely five years old then. One was assassinated, one executed after purchasing the throne, two—including his own father—engaged in civil war, and one was allowed to be co-emperor, only to be killed once his usefulness ran out. His father had emerged the victor from all that chaos. Now here was his son, lost in chaos without a way out.

But he would not stay lost. He was a survivor, and he would survive again. He needed more information though. Picking up his amphora of wine, he went over to the two merchants' table.

"Excuse me," he said in his most polite tone, "I can't help but overhear your conversation. I've been away from these parts for a while and have some trouble catching up with current affairs. You two sound like you have a firm grasp on them. Do you mind if I join you?"

The two men eyed him for a brief moment, then Baldy's friend spoke up. "Not at all," he said, patting the chair next to them. "You're welcome, friend." He flashed a smile, showing off a gap in his mouth and a gold tooth next to it. It sent a jolt through Geta, as he remembered another gold tooth, in another mouth, splattered with blood. Steadying himself, he sat down and poured generously for both men.

"Did I hear you say that Macrinus is now Emperor?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "Marcus Opellius Macrinus, the praetorian prefect?"

"The former prefect," corrected Baldy. "The very one. He's been Emperor for a good three months now. Where have you been that you didn't even know that?" He downed his cup and smacked his lips. Geta suspected that the wine had more to do with their ready welcome than his attempt at friendliness, but he didn't care. He refilled Baldy's cup.

"The silver mines of Britannia," said Geta, coming up with the furthest, most remote place he could think of. "I was ill with a fever on the way back, so I haven't heard anything."

He was surprised at how steady his voice was, how his hand didn't even shake as he signaled for the serving girl to bring them more wine, even though his insides were seething, like Mount Vesuvius, with questions and suspicions.

"What happened to—" he began to ask and found his voice stuck in his throat. He couldn't even say his own name. How pathetic. He corrected himself, "What happened to the former—"

Before Geta could finish his question, Gold Tooth held up a hand in caution. "Shhhhh!" he hissed. The air whistled through the gap in his teeth. "It is punishable by death to utter his name now!" Just as he'd done with Caracalla. So they were both condemned emperors now, like Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and Commodus before them. Were his statues being destroyed at this very moment, were coins bearing his face being melted down, was his name being struck from every official record?

Leaning down, Gold Tooth said in a conspiratorial whisper, "They say Macrinus had him offed. I wouldn't be surprised."

A fire started in the pit of Geta's stomach, the low, simmering fire of anger. He took a deep breath, trying to keep that fire in check, and asked, "And what of the Dowager Empress?"

"She's dead too," Gold Tooth said carelessly, and Geta's heart sank. His mother. His one mainstay. The only hope he had left. Dead. Gone. "Some say she killed herself," Gold Tooth continued. "Some say Macrinus had her killed as well. He would certainly be a fool to let her live."

Despite Geta's effort, the fire grew and spread throughout his body, scorching him like little red-hot needles, making it difficult for him to speak. Still, he managed, "The army let Macrinus get away with it?"

The two men glanced at each other with a contemptuous look. Clearly, they thought Geta was some na��ve youngster, clueless as to how politics worked.

"What does the army care, as long as it's still getting paid?" Baldy said. "In fact, I know a great many soldiers would thank Macrinus for putting an end to this senseless war with Parthia."

The fire reached Geta's face now. A red haze licked at the edge of his vision.

"It wasn't senseless," he said through clenched teeth. "It would've expanded the Empire and brought such glory and riches—"

"What riches?" Baldy sneered. "All I know is that it halted trade with Parthia for nearly a year and cost me thousands of drachmae."

"Yes, I have to agree with my friend here," said Gold Tooth. "Even back when—the—the other one was on the throne, he did nothing but put money into the army's pocket."

"And he was a tyrant and a murderer to boot," Baldy chimed in.  

"Good riddance," nodded Gold Tooth.

"Fools!" snarled Geta, his caution burning to ashes in the fire of his anger. "You don't know what you're saying! How can provincial bumpkins such as yourselves understand his vision? He would've turned Rome into the greatest empire—"

"Listen to this lad!" exclaimed Baldy with a snigger. "Why such a hard-on for our former Emperor, eh? A pretty face such as yourself, were you the Antinous to his Hadrian, boy?" He let out a snort-laugh, clearly pleased with his joke.

And Geta saw red.

With a roar, he flung his wine away and lunged at Baldy, sending cups and plates to the floor and the other customers to their feet in a panic.

"Shut up, you fat fuck!" he roared, grabbing the older man's saggy throat. "You'll pay for that!"

He reached for the dagger at his belt, but before his fingers could find the handle, Eukleis had jumped out from behind the counter. For a big woman, she could move with impressive speed, and she threw her considerable bulk between Geta and Baldy, holding them apart.

"None of that in my tavern!" she rumbled. "Either drink in peace, or take it outside!"

"He started it!" Baldy protested, pointing a greasy finger at Geta.

"He insulted me!" Geta spat, writhing and squirming to escape Eukleis's hold, but the strength of her grip was as impressive as her speed.

His hand found the dagger. Eukleis saw it and let go of Baldy to grab Geta's wrist with her other hand. "Oh no you don't, laddie," she said. She squeezed his wrist until Geta's fingers went numb and the dagger fell to the floor with a clang. Eukleis then hauled him across the tavern by the scruff of his neck, like a mother cat dragging her kitten, and tossed him through the door. "Out! And don't come back, or I bring the Vigiles down on ya!" she shouted.

Geta scrambled up from the dust, intending to barrel his way back in, only for the dagger to come flying out the doorway, almost catching him in the eye. He ducked, slipped on a pile of horse dung, and collided with a large earthenware vat at the corner of the street, placed there by the night soil men to collect urine for laundry and tanning. The vat wobbled and shattered, its odiferous content spilling across the ground, coming in a stinking wave over Geta's feet and even splashing the hem of his tunic. A disgusted groan rose from the crowd mingling outside the tavern, mixed with a few derisive laughs.

His face burning, now with shame rather than anger, Geta picked up the dagger and stumbled down the lane.

He walked for what seemed like a long time through the labyrinthine alleyways of Adala, not knowing where he was going. In truth, he didn't care. He was still so dazed after everything he'd learned that he hardly took notice of his surroundings, not even the stench of piss and shit coming from himself. The fire of rage and betrayal was back, burning up his insides, only this time, finally, he knew at whom to direct it.

Macrinus.

Geta berated himself for how blind he'd been. Macrinus had been behind it all from the start. He'd suggested the trip to Carrhae; no doubt he'd whispered some poison in Martialis's ear and convinced Martialis to act as the assassin.

And, as Geta thought further back, the wrathful fire inside him cooling momentarily in the chill of fear, he realized Macrinus had been there during Caracalla's demise as well, not in person but in spirit, hovering in the shadows and the spilled blood, like a lemure. Of course. Geta had always wondered where his feeble-minded, weak-willed brother had found the strength to act against him. It must have been Macrinus all along. Macrinus must have convinced Caracalla to murder Geta for him, seeing Geta as the greater threat, so it would leave Caracalla as the easier target to be taken out later. Only Geta had upset that plan by killing Caracalla first, so Macrinus had wormed his way into Geta's inner circle, waiting for the right moment to strike, and like a fool, Geta had let him...

Knowing who his enemy was did little to help him. Geta had thought he only had to get back to Edessa, to show his enemy that he was still alive, and they would all fall to their knees before him. But now, he was no longer so certain. Macrinus had been not one, but several steps ahead of him. Macrinus had declared himself Emperor, and if he had ended the war with Parthia, that meant he had the Senate and the army behind him.

A strange bitterness colored his rage. Geta had always known the Senate had no love for him, but the army? He had increased their pay, marched with them, fought with them, had done everything in his power to improve life for them, and the moment he fell, they had pledged their allegiance to another. Macrinus's treason enraged him, but the army's disloyalty hurt, more than he wished to admit.

A stitch in his side forced Geta to stop. He slammed his fist into a mud-brick wall, furious at his own helplessness. This was no time to be whining about how the army had deserted him! He needed a plan, something firm and clear to act on. But try as he might, wrack his brain as hard as he could, he came up with nothing. Only the fire of rage kept burning higher.

A scream from somewhere to his right jolted him out of his seething and brooding.

"Help! Somebody, help me!"

A woman's scream. There was panic in that voice, distorting it, but he recognized it anyway. Daphne's.

Without stopping to think, Geta ran.

Chapter 11

Taglist: @sheneedsrocknroll92, @justnobodynothingmore, @barcelonaloverf1life, @myotakureprieve, @flawssy-227, @itsrainingbisexualfrogs, @deliciousfestsalad (if you want to be tagged or removed, let me know!)

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 43: Sweet and Sour and Other Things

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist:@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon  @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes 

​​​​Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know

It seemed like Romina could never be in complete peace with her network circle. First it had been Draco, then Arden, and now Harry. Romina was getting tired of it. Harry hadn't spoken to her since the incident in Potions. Apparently, he really took it to heart that she hadn't allowed him to hex Draco.

"He's gone berserk!" Romina chose Hermione to vent to and perhaps that hadn't been the best idea considering Hermione was already dealing with the fact Harry and Ron weren't talking to each other either. "Not talking to me over that? Seriously? I kept him away from detention!"

The girls were heading for the library, though Hermione swore that if Viktor Krum was there she would leave on the spot. She could only tolerate his crowd of admiring girls for so long.

"He's overwhelmed, you have to remember that," Hermione said, hoping to ease Romina's feelings. She really didn't want to deal with three angry people not talking to each other.

"I do! That's why I stepped in!" Romina exclaimed. "In his right mind, I know that Harry wouldn't initiate a wand duel with anybody! Not even Draco!"

"I think this time Draco may have been asking for it," Hermione said as they passed a group of Hufflepuff girls wearing the badges Draco had created.

"I'm not saying he didn't deserve to be wailed on but we all know that if something happened, Snape would've gone after Harry. I was just trying to help!" Romina huffed. "I even punched Draco for him." Half of a lie. She also punched him because he pissed her off. "I tried finding him in Hogsmeade to talk to him but he didn't even go. And now he just seems more mad at me."

Hermione looked away as soon as Romina asked. The Slytherin was too focused on her irritation to notice Hermione's guilty face.

Yes, Harry had gone to Hogsmeade a few days ago. She would know, she was with him all afternoon. He was under the Invisibility Cloak the whole time. Harry hadn't wanted to deal with anybody's comments but it didn't mean he couldn't see them. Hermione had spent most of her time trying to persuade Harry to talk to either Ron or Romina, or both! But Harry mentioned that Ron hadn't even asked about him and Hogsmeade. Hermione couldn't lie there since Ron really hadn't asked about him.

So she tried with Romina. Romina had definitely asked for Harry at Hogsmeade. But then Hermione made the mistake of bringing Harry to the Three Broomsticks. They tucked themselves in a corner so nobody would accidentally sit on the invisible Harry. Romina was there with her friends Arden, Carolinha and Daphne. And for a moment, Hermione had been really close coaxing Harry out from under the cloak to go talk to Romina once and for all. But the girls were soon joined by more of their group.

Harry liked Angel, he was nice like Carolinha. Blaise and Theodore he could tolerate — they were neutral in almost every battle — but Harry couldn't stand the fact that Draco had come by with a drink for Romina. At first it looked like Romina would refuse it—she pushed the glass back to him. There was a small exchange between the two. Harry saw Romina with her defiant look (he knew that look from years ago). Draco leaned close (too close if anybody asked Harry) and said something to Romina to which she then rolled her eyes at and responded. In the end, she accepted the damn drink and looked pretty content with the situation.

Hermione had seen it as well. She had actually winced when she heard Harry's snarl. He was even less happy with Romina after that and Hermione, sworn to secrecy by the laws of friendship, was stuck in the middle again.

"I think he's over exaggerating," Romina said. "I genuinely tried fixing things by looking for him."

She had searched for Harry for so long that in the end, Arden was the angry one. She claimed Romina was wasting her time on her first trip of the year to Hogsmeade (a trip that Romina was supposed to be enjoying this year) so she dragged Romina to the Three Broomsticks where they eventually found Carolinha and Daphne. Romina admitted that she did sort of forget about her search for Harry once she and the girls started talking. She definitely forgot when they were joined by the boys and a drink was placed in front of her. Draco was smart enough to know that Romina wasn't entirely over the badges. She gave him the credit for at least being aware he wasn't in the clear yet. She then rescinded the credit when he thought she was stupid not to see what he was trying to do by buying her a drink.

"What makes you think I would even want it?" Romina raised her head defiantly, promptly waiting for the best answer he could come up with.

Draco leaned close to her, wearing a stupid smirk on his face. "Why wouldn't you want a free drink?"

Romina rolled her eyes. He was just too damn cocky. She pushed the drink back to him. "Because you could have well poisoned it," she didn't think twice in answering,

"Like I would do that in a public spot. I know how to pick my moments, Oswell."

"So then you  are  trying to poison me?"

In the end, Arden groaned beside Romina. "Just take the bloody drink already!" she hissed at Romina. "Making everything a damn challenge between you two. It's annoying!"

Arden hadn't exactly been quiet with her words. Everyone else seemed to agree with her. With a roll of her eyes, Romina accepted the drink.

"So we're good then?" Draco asked her after she took a sip of her glass.

"I guess," Romina shrugged, offering half a smile. "I look forward to seeing you screw up again. It's inevitable for guys." Romina's joke, which honestly hadn't really been a joke, was well received by the other girls. It did help lighten the mood and after that, she began to really enjoy Hogsmeade.

Romina sighed heavily. "I don't know what else to do."

"Just keep trying please," Hermione almost begged her. "I can't take the silent treatment between Harry and Ron. I'll surely lose my mind if I have to deal with the same thing between you two."

Romina felt pity for the spot that Hermione was put in. Anyone else would have surely cracked by now. "Okay, I promise."

They arrived shortly later at the library but they only lasted an hour before Viktor Krum showed up. Hermione promptly ushered them out before Krum's group of admiring giggly girls showed up.

~0~

Romina kept to her promise to Hermione and tried making amends with Harry. Whenever Romina had the opportunity to, she would try to get close to Harry to talk with him. It was fairly easy considering Ron wasn't around and Hermione tended to be in the library or studying, but even then talking to Harry wasn't an easy job either. He blew her off with such ease that Romina had to wonder if Harry had always kept this disdain against her to himself for years.

"Harry, please," she caught up with him during one of their Care of Magical Creatures lessons. He picked up his pace but Romina did her best to keep up with him even if she did have to half jog it. "Why is this such a big deal? Not even Draco gave me this much crap about it!"

"Hm," Harry curled his fists when he remembered what he saw at Hogsmeade. "Shocker."

Romina shook her head. "C'mon, we're best friends! I was just trying to help! Hermione would've done the same thing!"

Both she and Harry knew that was a lie. Hermione would've never told such a big lie to a professor, much less to Snape.

"I have a big mouth, I know, and I sometimes get riled up when I feel challenged and that's what happened back there!"

"I didn't challenge you, Romina," Harry said curtly. He stopped walking abruptly, leaving Romina a few steps ahead. "You got in the way, I would've had Malfoy this time."

"And then what?" Romina asked, exasperated that he hadn't yet thought of the aftermath of such a ridiculous duel. "Snape would've had your ass with that. I know you know that. I feel like there's more to this than you're telling me and that's not fair."

"Technically, it's what you're not telling me," Harry said.

Romina blinked. Her nose scrunched as she wondered what on earth he was talking about.

"I need to get to class," Harry said, walking hastily past her. Hagrid was grouping the class up ahead and Harry had no desire to be on Romina's side nor Ron's.

~ 0 ~

Days later, Romina communicated her latest attempt to talk to Harry with Hermione. Hermione wasn't surprised at all that Harry had said what he did to Romina. She was just perplexed why he hadn't said it more clearly. If he was that upset with those presumptions, he should have just told Romina directly.

"Hermione, at least tell me he's spoken to Sirius already?" Romina asked as an afterthought. Whatever problems she had with Harry didn't mean she wanted to see danger come his way. Speaking to Sirius was key for Harry to stay safe and well.

Hermione nodded silently. She stopped walking and reached for Romina's arm. "Yesterday night he did."

"And did it go well?" Romina suspected there was something she was missing. Hermione was gripping her arm tightly.

Hermione half shrugged. There wasn't much to report in that aspect. Harry had spoken to Sirius for all five minutes before Ron, of all people, interrupted the conversation right when Sirius was about to tell Harry the spell he needed to take down the dragon. Because oh yes, Harry had figured out the first task were dragons.

"He's going up against dragons!?" Romina half-shrieked, causing Hermione to shush her as several students walking by gave them curious looks.

"Nobody's supposed to know!" Hermione said.

"Well, how did Harry find out?"

"Hagrid showed him—it's a long story," Hermione said when Romina opened her mouth to no doubt ask how on earth Hagrid knew about the dragons. "What's worse is that Charlie, Ron's brother, is one of the wizards in charge of the dragons and Ron didn't exactly say anything."

"Well...we're assuming that Ron knew…" Romina weakly tried to say but even Hermione thought otherwise. Romina sighed. "You know, this year was supposed to be better than last year but I honestly think it's going to be worse. Much, much worse."

"Just keep trying, please," Hermione insisted, once again squeezing Romina's arm.

"Yeah, of course," Romina assured her. "But keep me in the loop about what's happening with Harry. Even if he doesn't want me helping him, I'll do it."

Hermione promised and from there, the girls split for their respective classes. Romina didn't have much of a head for Muggle Studies that day. Rolf was more talkative during the lesson, ironically, and simultaneously used that to try and cheer Romina up. Even as they left the class with an outrageous amount of homework, Rolf rambled on about something called nargles and how everybody apparently had them.

"You and Luna seemed to have hit it off," remarked Romina blankly. She was only paying half attention to the conversation.

Rolf chuckled. "She's interesting. And she does have a lot to say about you."

"Hm, she's about the only one right now with good stuff to say about me."

"Not true, and you know it." Rolf tapped the side of Romina's head. She rolled her eyes. "You're the talk for some people—rumors about the incident with Harry and Malfoy."

Romina groaned. "It came back to bite me in the ass. I'm paying big time for that one."

Not much later did she attempt to talk to Harry again, only this time he didn't even give her the opportunity to string a whole sentence.

"I need to find Hermione for something," he snapped as he strode right past her. He seemed determined and with purpose so Romina decided to call it quits for the day.

She told Arden she wasn't hungry for dinner and went straight for the common room. She decided to take on the homework she'd been assigned for Muggle Studies despite its due date being very far. If anything, she should get started on the Transfiguration work. But of course, being perfectly honest with herself, Romina knew that whatever class she decided to focus on wouldn't actually happen. There was just too much on her mind.

Later on, she heard the entrance opening up. Dinner was over and the students were retiring to their dorms. Romina wasn't sure if she was going to be able to sleep either. She started gathering her things from the couch. Sleep or not, she would be more comfortable on her bed anyways.

"Are you coming to sleep without me having to nag you?" Arden stopped by the couch.

"Yes, don't worry," Romina said. She stacked her one book over the other. "I'll be there in a bit."

Arden watched her for a few seconds as she picked up more of her things. She ultimately decided Romina was telling her the truth and headed for their room.

"So you're starving yourself now," Draco's voice came a few seconds later.

Romina shrugged as she put her roll of parchment on top of her pile. "I just wasn't hungry."

"Right. It's because of Potter, isn't it?"

Romina turned around. She didn't have to say anything. Actually, she did but for fear of making things worse, she kept her mouth tightly shut.

"Arden mentioned it," Draco went on, "You're being ridiculous. So what if he's not talking to you?"

"You got a lot of nerve considering it's your fault," Romina remarked. And so much for keeping your mouth shut.

"My fault?" Draco repeated incredulously. "I'm not the one who told that fat lie in front of the whole school."

"No, but you're the one who made those stupid badges in the first place. As if you actually gave a damn about Cedric Diggory being the champion. You just wanted to mess with Harry as usual."

All Draco did was shrug. It was more or less true.

Romina rolled her eyes. "It's great, really, because no matter how much I try, Harry won't talk to me."

"And somehow you equate that with not eating. That sure makes sense."

"I am not starving myself!"

"No, you're not." Draco reached for something under his robes and the next thing Romina knew, he was tossing her something wrapped up in a napkin.

She barely caught it with her free hand. "What is this?" she frowned. She couldn't unwrap it with her thumb as much as she tried.

"A biscuit. Can't exactly take a plate with me, right?" Draco gestured to the bread in her hand. "But eat it. I'm not going to take more if you're just going to throw it out because of Potter."

"Thank...you…?" Romina was too surprised to sound remotely close to sure.

"Eat it," Draco warned her as he went for the corridors.

Romina stayed where she was for a couple minutes. She was utterly lost but at least now she had something to eat. And it was actually good.

~0~

She might get yelled at, she might even get detention for it, but Romina would try anyway. The day of the first task had finally arrived and knowing Harry, he must be nervous out of his mind. He always said that his legs felt like marshmallows whenever he was really nervous.

"You're going to get in trouble," Hermione insisted despite hurrying along with Romina down to the champions' tent.

"That's why I have you to keep a lookout," Romina said obviously. "I have to talk to him!"

"Now?" Hermione flapped her arm in the direction of the bleachers that were almost full. Everybody was anxiously waiting for the tournament to begin. "You pick now of all times to try again!?"

"Yes!" Romina stopped once they reached the tent. "There's no better time than right now!" She peeked around the tent to make sure there were no teachers around. "Because Harry's at his worst right now and he needs all his friends. Ron's clearly not coming anywhere close here."

Hermione lamented the fact. "Alright, fine," she relented. "Go."

Romina beamed. "Thanks!" She tiptoed down the front of the tent until she reached the opening. She could hear someone walking back and forth near the entrance but she wasn't entirely sure if it was Harry.

If it's Fleur, I can get away with wishing her luck on behalf of my grandmother. If it's Krum, I'll say I was looking for Cedric. If it's Cedric...I'll say I was looking for Harry.

Romina was actually dizzy from all that logic but she went ahead and whispered to the champion inside. "Pssst! Harry? Is that you?"

To her luck, it was Harry. He didn't come out but Romina sensed he was right by the entrance. "What do you want, Romina?"

Romina sighed. "What do you think? To wish you luck."

"Really? Not here for Cedric, then?"

"Come off it, Harry. You're my best friend. And I really hate the idea of you being this angry with me while you have loads of worse things to deal with."

Well, at that, Harry could agree it wasn't fun. He didn't have Ron around nor Romina. Two of his best friends were far away and unavailable. "You'll get in trouble for being here," he said weakly. He had no idea why he even said that anyways.

"Please, remember when we snuck out of my house to go to Victoria's 10th birthday?" Romina asked.

Of course Harry remembered. It was one of the brief moments where his aunt and uncle had allowed him to go over to Romina's house for a whole afternoon under the pretense that they would actually be at Romina's house with her aunt and uncle in the house. Neither were true. Sage and Lyonel Oswell were both working and they took advantage to slip on over to their neighbor's birthday party. Dudley was not invited and Victoria would gladly keep their presence a secret. It was all gung-ho until Sage Oswell returned from work early and discovered them. She was livid but she did Harry the solid of not telling the Dursleys' about his lie. They were, however, both grounded under her roof.

"We had to do chores like crazy," Harry said, flexing his hands as if they were still aching from all the mopping and grooming he was tasked with.

Romina laughed lightly. "My hands were all pruned up for days after doing laundry and dishes."

Harry's smile slowly faded. Sometimes it was hard remembering his life before Hogwarts. Things were so much simpler and just childish for a child. "Rom, I miss you."

"I miss you too," Romina said. She turned just as Harry decided to step out of the tent. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that lie to Snape. I was mad that you and Draco were talking to me like that so I sort of went with the easiest thing I could do to get both of you back the quickest."

"Mission accomplished," Harry said with a shake of his head. He couldn't get enough teasing from the Weasley twins alone.

"Are we...are we okay, then?" Romina turned to face him completely.

Harry still thought of Hogsmeade. Maybe Hermione was right and he was just over exaggerating. Right now, at the brink of dealing with a dragon, it all seemed pointless. "Yeah, we are," he nodded.

Romina couldn't contain herself. She threw her arms around him for a hug. "Oh thank goodness! I love you, silly!"

Harry's laugh was muffled with her long hair. "Love you too, Rom."

The flash of a light stunned the two until they realized it was a camera flash.

Rita Skeeter stood a few feet from them with her cameraman beside her. "Young love!"

Romina glared then looked to the side to see Hermione apologetically smiling at her. Hermione's not the best look out, Romina concluded.

"Ohh how...stirring," Rita gushed. "If everything goes unfortunately today you might make the front page."

"How the hell did you even get down here?" Romina knew she of all people shouldn't be asking that. She snuck down too, after all.

"You have no business here." Viktor Krum had come out of the tent with the commotion. "This tent is for champions and friends."

"No matter. We've got what we wanted," Rita said triumphantly then walked off with her cameraman.

Harry could half smile at Krum's words. Friends. He glanced at Romina who was already smiling at him.

"Well alright then friend," Romina started backing away to where Hermione was, "I will be cheering you on."

Harry grinned. He hoped so!

"C'mon Hermione," Romina tugged the girl by her arm. For some reason, Hermione was looking at Krum and vice versa. "Hermione!"

"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed, having no idea what Romina had said.

"You okay there?" Romina eyes her curiously.

"Of course, yeah! Loads now that you and Harry are good again!" Hermione beamed at the idea. Now all they had to do was get Ron to join and they would all be great again.

~ 0 ~

'It seems like Mr. Potter has found love in the midst of the difficult times the Tournament brings. Longtime best friend Romina Oswell (yes, from  that  family!) Had to sneak down before the first Task to wish her boyfriend good luck. The special hugs and exchange of 'I love you' were sweet enough to make you sick! Now Mr. Potter seems to have been able to move past his girlfriend's family's dark reputation. That is what love does in the end!

Romina slammed her copy of the Daily Prophet down on the table, startling those around her having breakfast. "That cow!" She yelled enough to attract the attention of the next table, the Gryffindors.

Hermione looked back at her with her own copy. Unfortunately, Rita Skeeter hadn't stopped with Romina. Hermione was also featured further down the page. She was apparently preying after Viktor Krum of all people.

It was only a few days since the first task and already Rita had done them so dirty out of nothing! Romina was furious but, deep inside, a little impressed with the woman's speed. Still, there was another overwhelming feeling...

"I'm going to murder her," Romina declared, "The next article having to do with me will be about the tragic murder of Rita Skeeter."

Arden was drowning porridge beside her. "Big deal," she said in-between chews, "Not the first time anybody thinks that about you."

"There's a huge difference, Arden," Romina said, "We were nine back then! It wasn't serious!"

"Don't get all upset, nobody's going to take that junk seriously." No sooner had the words left Arden's mouth when Carolinha and Daphne plopped down opposite of them.

"You're dating Harry now!?" Carolinha shrieked, once more attracting unwanted attention.

Romina pointedly looked at Arden. Arden, in return, amended her words. "Fine, only idiots will believe it."

"Hey," frowned Carolinha.

"Is it true?" Daphne insisted on an answer. "I mean, I can kinda see it but still."

"Idiots," Arden reiterated before going back to her porridge.

"No, of course it's not true!" Romina exclaimed. Her eyes skipped over the pair of girls to where Harry sat. He had just smiled at somebody at the next table and spilled milk down his shirt. He had forgotten he had drunk something! "You really think I'm going to be in love with that!?" She gestured furiously at him. "He's like my brother!" Her words seemed to have only appeased them halfway. Romina groaned. "Unbelievable!"

When had she ever given any indication that she liked Harry beyond a friend? She was pretty sure she never had. But now suddenly a crappy article was enough to make many people think otherwise.

"You really know how to get your name into people's mouths, don't you?" Draco caught up with her in the hallway later in the day.

Romina was forced to stop walking. "I have History of Magic to get to. Move."

Draco unrolled his copy of the Daily Prophet and went to the exact spot featuring Romina's and Harry's story. "You do realize that Angel is working up the courage to ask you about this. Thought I'd cut out the middleman."

"How noble of you," Romina said dismissively. "And also how stupid of both of you to think this is true."

"So it's not?"

Romina clapped her hands together hard enough for the strap of her book bag to slide down to her elbow. "Let's see," she leaned towards the article in front of her, "Oh yes, because I definitely told Rita that…" she raised her finger to one line in the middle and read out loud, "'Harry's my light in this dark world that I live in.' Does that sound remotely like me?" She looked up at Draco, her expression flat again.

Draco gave it some genuine thought and the idea of Romina saying those exact words was beyond laughable.

"I assume the wheels are working in that head of yours?" Romina's finger went in circles beside her head.

"I had to ask." Draco started rolling up the pages.

"Why?"

Draco shrugged. He'd read the article earlier in the morning and as stupid as it sounded, he needed to ask Romina directly about it. He didn't quite understand where the urge came from but he didn't spend much time thinking about it either.

Romina shook her head. "How on earth could you believe in that rubbish?"

Just as Draco opened his mouth to answer, they heard the collective shouts of the Weasley twins from a distance.

"Ah! The Chosen One's girlfriend!" Fred clapped as he and George walked towards them.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Romina. That's why.

Romina pursed her lips together. "Don't say a word," she raised a finger at him.

"I don't have to—they're saying it all," Draco said wryly. He turned to leave.

"Well could you...don't say anything either!" Romina called after him. She didn't hear his laugh. Romina groaned and turned to face the approaching twins.

"There she is," George said with a big grin on his face. "The Chosen One's girlfriend! My, my, what a big secret you've been keeping from us, Camille!"

Romina could honestly strangle them right now. "Come here," she directed them with her fingers to lower down to her level.

"Another secret?" Fred said as he and George followed her finger.

Romina smiled sweetly. "Not exactly," she said just before smacking them upside their heads. Her smile dropped to be replaced with utter anger. "Why the hell are you yelling that nonsense!?"

"Because it's funny as hell," George snickered as he rubbed the side of his head.

"And not true!" Romina exclaimed.

"Well of course we know that," Fred rolled his eyes.

George snorted beside him. "Yeah, what do you think we are? Idiots?"

Romina pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're screwing me even more. Some people actually believe what Skeeter wrote."

"Yeah, I know," Fred nodded. "Harry's been red ever since breakfast."

"I need to talk to him about this," Romina said with a sigh. "It's embarrassing. I've known Harry since we were seven. He's seen me with pigtails."

The twins exchanged glances with each other.

"Can we see pictures?" they both asked with the same teasing grins.

"NO!"

~ 0 ~

By the time Romina actually got to talk to Harry, he was still red but it was mostly laughs between them. It eased Romina's nerves so much. They had just gotten back on good terms, after all. Romina wanted to take things easy. Things seemed to be just that way while Harry and Ron laughed. It was also nice to see those two finally good again. Romina joked that they all needed to get together to give Hermione a huge thank you card for dealing with all of them during their respective arguments.

Romina handed Harry their homework for their charms class. Her time was terrible as Hermione joined them on their spot on the ground of the courtyard.

"That's cheating!" She said as she dropped beside Ron, her book bag sliding down her arm in the process.

"Please," snorted Romina, "With that summoning charm he used for the task, he should be letting me copy."

The irritated look on Hermione's face was enough to make the trio giggle at her. Clearly that hadn't been what she meant.

"Speaking of, have you figured out what the golden egg is supposed to do for the next task?" Romina asked Harry partly to get Hermione off her back.

Harry shrugged carelessly. He was studying Romina's homework into his book bag. "I have until February."

"Still, time can fly pretty quickly. Can we help?"

"We're not supposed to," Hermione pointedly reminded them.

"Yeah, because that worked out for the first task," Harry snorted. "But like I said, I have until February. Right now, I just want to think of nothing but Christmas and nonsense."

"Yeah," Ron agreed and high fived with Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I can actually say that sounds great," Romina said as she too raised her hand for Harry to high five. He was all too happy to do it. Romina laughed with him.

"Oh, um, Romina?" Hermione bit on her bottom lip suddenly. "Angel's looking this way and he doesn't seem very happy."

"Huh?" Romina followed Hermione's gaze to see Angel across the courtyard. He looked away as soon as Romina turned her head but it was too late by then. Romina had seen the put-out expression on his face.

"Rom, he doesn't actually believe in what that article said, right?" Harry asked, making a face as he recalled the cringy lines of the article.

Ron snorted. "Half the school does, why shouldn't he?"

Hermione whacked his arm. "Ron! People should know better!"

"Then how about what it said about you, huh?" Ron challenged. "You and Krum."

Hermione's face went pink fast. "That's utter rubbish!"

Romina waved a hand at them to shush the argument. "Every word that Rita Skeeter writes is rubbish. I'm hoping things will die down as time goes by."

"Then maybe you should clarify things for Angel," Harry said, "Because I really don't feel like getting the stink-eye again."

Romina rolled her eyes. "That's because somebody was supposed to tell him already."

"Who?" Harry blinked.

"Another idiot," Romina huffed.

~0~

Romina wouldn't waste time beating around the bush. As soon as she saw Draco in the common room, she marched right up to him.

"Hey!" she called seconds from reaching the couch.

He looked up from a book in his hands, none too pleased he'd been disturbed. "Why is it that whenever you're around, I can never have peace?"

Romina scowled at him. "First of all, as usual, that's rich coming from you. You do realize it's your fault we didn't speak for almost 2 months, right?"

"Oh this oughta be good," Draco said as he put his book down, "What do you want, Oswell?"

Romina shook her head at him, though with a struggle not to smile. "I thought you were going to tell Angel about that stupid article and that none of it was true!"

"When did I say I would do that?"

"You literally said you were cutting the middleman out! What else is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh...I don't know, I thought it would be more fun to let him squirm for a bit." Draco smirked as he picked up his book to continue where he left off.

"What?" Romina made a face. She sighed and walked around to take the seat next to him. "I'm confused…"

"There's a shocker." Draco regretted his words when Romina punched his arm. "How the hell are you so strong?"

Ronina ignored him. "Aren't you friends with Angel?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because lately it seems like you're not. Actually, if I'm getting it right, you guys have been sort of shaky ever since we saw each other during summer."

"Putting so much thought into this, Oswell. I'm touched."

Romina could do without his smirk. "I'm being serious, Draco. What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing," he said in a half laugh. "I have just said a couple things that he hasn't liked."

"Like what, exactly?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fine." Draco tossed the book which, now that it landed on Romina's lap, was actually a comic book, then shifted on the couch to face Romina. "I told him he needed to stop sticking his nose where it didn't belong. And before you say anything," he raised a finger at her open mouth, "he was trying to make me feel bad for not apologizing to you back then. But that's not all. I guess I was on him for not having the courage to speak up in regards to you."

"To me?" Romina made a face.

At this point, it looked like Draco was ready to smack her for being so oblivious. "He likes you, Oswell! God, how many times do I have to say that!?"

"Well...you could say it without yelling it at me," Romina said, close to pouting. Draco rolled his eyes at her. "And really, is it any of your business what Angel decides to say or not?"

"It becomes my business when he starts acting all high and mighty around me. You can say what you want about me, but I'll say whatever the hell is on my mind."

Romina had no doubt that he would. He had countless times. "Yeah, you don't have much of a filter. One of these days, though, you're going to pick the wrong person to be unfiltered with and get your ass kicked."

Draco didn't pay her any attention. "To answer your question, Angel and I are on neutral terms for now," Draco said, shrugging nonchalantly. He didn't seem very perturbed with the situation. "I didn't say anything because I thought after a while it would become obvious that it wasn't true."

"And yet you had to come ask me directly," Romina pointed out, flashing him a smile.

"Ah, see," Draco wagged a finger at her, "I asked directly. If it's on my mind, I'm going to say it." The certainty in his words made Romina roll her eyes. He was seriously too cocky and proud sometimes.

"It's never that easy, you know," she said.

"For you, I can see. You're just as terrible as Angel for not telling him it's never gonna happen."

"Oh, and why are you so sure about that?"

"Cos it's obvious. Angel's too soft."

Romina gasped in offence. "What are you trying to say about me? And I'd watch that unfiltered mouth of yours!"

Draco knew there was no way he was going to get out scot-free once he said what he had to say but in the end, the desire to see her reaction won out. "You're sweet and sour." Even with the room's dank light, he could see the pink tinge on Romina's cheeks.

"I'm what?"

"You're sweet—that's self explanatory—but then you get sour and all hell breaks loose."

Romina gaped at him. "How d-are you!?" Her voice cracked out of embarrassment.

Draco laughed. "You asked and I answered."

"With the wrong answer!"

"No, I don't think so," Draco struggled to keep his laugh from getting louder. Romina looked ready to murder him.

"I am not sour," Romina folded her arms over her chest.

"You have a knack of running your mouth whenever you feel like you've been a)—" Draco started listing off his fingers, "—challenged, b) blown off, c) just downright offended. Notice how I said 'feel' because half the time, you're just imagining stuff."

Romina rubbed the side of her neck. Okay, that may be true in some parts. "I don't like being 'sour'," she said quietly.

"It's not a bad quality but I know for a fact Angel can't handle that. He's going to coddle you and that's the last thing you need."

"And what, pray tell, do you think it is that I need?"

"A good smack," Draco didn't hesitate to answer instantly. "Among other things."

"Well!"

"Well, if you're being senseless, why on earth should you be coddled for it?" Draco waited for an answer that he knew Romina would never give. Another quality of hers was being terribly fair. He knew that she knew he was right.

"The fact that you're actually making sense is kind of scary, not going to lie," she said in the end.

"Sweet and sour is what you are and the sooner you get that, the quicker you can find a way to let Angel know the truth already." Draco grabbed his comic off her lap and flipped to the page he'd left off on.

Romina exhaled and leaned back on the couch. "I have no idea, honestly. I guess I've been putting it off."

"No," Draco said sarcastically. He flipped one more page.

"I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"You're going to do it either way."

"You're so blunt!"

"I believe it was 'unfiltered'?"

Romina turned her head at him but he was too focused on his current page to care. She leaned slightly in his proximity. "What are you reading anyways? I've never seen you read comic books."

"It's not mine—I stole it from Goyle." From the corner of his eye, Draco could see Romina's widened eyes. "Relax, I'll give it back eventually. He pissed me off so naturally I had to get him back where it hurts most."

"I don't know what's worse," Romina started with a true pensive moment, "The fact you steal so easily or the fact that I'm just now learning Goyle willingly reads. And comic books too!"

As soon as she started scooting close to him, Draco reacted. "What are you doing!?"

"I want to see!"

"No!"

"You can't tell me anything—you stole the damn thing!"

"Oswell, I swear to God, you need to back the hell up! God, don't you know anything about personal space?" He scrunched his nose when her chin came to rest on his shoulder.

"That may have been a recurring comment on my report cards in my muggle classes." And yet, Romina reached over to flip a page back.

Draco gaped at her. "Unbelievable!"

"I just want to see," Romina insisted. "What are you going to do?"

"Smack you!" Draco gave the answer almost before Romina even finished asking it. "I take it back, you're sweet, sour, and annoying."

"All I hear is that you think I'm sweet," Romina said with an annoying laugh. She flipped the page back to where Draco had originally been. "This one's kind of boring."

"Then get off me," Draco said pointedly.

"Or we could just read it together?" Romina tilted her head enough to meet his gaze. She was definitely closer than she planned on (for reasons having to do with the simple act of annoying him). She felt the familiar warmth rush up her face but even then, she couldn't pull away. Despite his snaps, she felt comfortable with him. They could go back and forth with snaps and bickering but they could also easily fall into whatever this was. Friendly and playfulness with a touch of snaps inbetween. It was just so...nice.

"You're so childish, Oswell," huffed Draco but he let things be anyways.

"Yeah, cos you're ever so mature," he heard her mumble under her breath.

For the sake of his sanity—because he was sure they could go back and forth again for the rest of the evening—he said nothing more. They read the comic together in silence but every so often, Romina had to point out things that just didn't sit well with her. Surprisingly, Draco didn't show signs of annoyance. It started getting funnier the further they went along the pages. Romina was very animated over these comics, something Draco couldn't quite get with. He really only took the comic from Goyle to get back at him. Romina took these things very seriously apparently.

"Sweet, sour, annoying and weird," he said some time later. "The list just keeps growing."

Romina had gotten tired of their earlier position and decided to rest an arm over Draco's shoulder to then rest her cheek. She didn't think she could get away with it but clearly she had and she was slightly giddy over it.

"Keep talking but all I hear is the sweet part," she said calmly as she flipped to the last page of the comic. She missed his smile.

"Of course you do," he said. He would've shaken his head if she wasn't right next to him. He could've pushed her away but that meant getting rid of her rosy scent. It seemed peculiarly stronger today and he was just fine with it.

"You keep complimenting me, it's not my fault," Romina shrugged lightly. "I have an obligation to point it out."

"You're quite insufferable, you know that?"

"That's my line."

"So you admit you say it just because?"

Romina side-glanced him with an admittedly pretty smirk. "Careful there, you almost sound like you're hopeful."

Draco rolled his eyes but with his pale skin, it was almost impossible to hide his flush. "Shut up," he said as a last resort. Romina laughed.

A few seconds later, Romina's laugh was interrupted—or rather covered���by an even louder commotion at the entrance. To their surprise, they saw Arden and Theodore coming in laughing together.

"Am I seeing right…?" Romina mumbled to Draco who was just as surprised as her.

"Bloody hell, how long have we been here?"

"Oh hey," Arden greeted them, "My, you two look cozy."

In that moment, Draco could genuinely say he hated Arden King. Romina pulled away from him as soon as the words left Arden's mouth. The air around him changed and he was no longer smelling sweet roses. (And he didn't have the warm touch either).

Romina had scooted a few inches from Draco and sent Arden a glare for her words. "What are you two up to?" She flipped the subject because she was sure that Arden would have plenty more to say if they gave her the opportunity.

"Well, Theo and I were pretty much making up crap for our Divination homework…" Arden explained and had another good laugh with Theodore. "I taught him that Trewlany pretty much buys anything you put so long as you add in 'the planets will align' and whatnot…"

'Theo?' Romina mouthed at Draco. For a moment, he thought he misheard too.

Theodore confirmed it, however, when he started listing the several ways they were supposed to die this upcoming Christmas. "I gotta say, Arden's kind of creative with these things."

"Oh, so suddenly I'm supposed to forget the last month?" Draco asked him. "You told me what I would die of if we didn't switch back."

"Yeah, you got Parkinson—I'd say that's the short end of the stick alright," shrugged Theodore. "I like my partner. At least she's funny."

Romina and Arden giggled with Draco's stunned reaction. "What?" he demanded.

"Don't tell me you actually thought you were funny?" Arden asked, nearly losing it when he raised a hand to stop her.

"Nott, you and I have some talking to do," Draco declared, getting up from the couch and tossing the comic so carelessly that it hit Romina on the side of her head.

"Hey!" she frowned. She got a hand as well. "Hey!"

"Keep the comic, Oswell." Draco motioned Theodore to walk with him to the hallway.

"It's not — it's not ours!" Romina called after him in vain. She sighed and got up with the comic in her hand. "Thanks Arden, you ruined it."

Arden turned her head slightly, her lips curving into a teasing smile. "Oh, and what exactly did I ruin?"

Romina cleared her throat awkwardly. Why the hell had she said that? She scratched her head. "Uh, I...you know what? I need to go finish homework."

"Mhm," Arden pretended to agree, "Sure."

Romina made a quick stride for the hallway. She hoped to God that Arden would grant her a couple minutes to come up with a better thing to say before coming into the dorm as well.

[sleepybeauxshifts]

hogwarts university script tour!

{i took a small break from tumblr and shifting in general but now i’m back with a new dr!! so here’s me rambling about it and there’s plenty more posts coming soon!}

plot things <3

so plot wise my dr doesnt follow the plot of the book or movies at all. voldy is dead bc i dont wanna deal with that. there is no war, sirius was never in azkaban, the DADA post was never cursed, all those things. remus is the DADA professor every year bc duh.

me!!

{i have updated this section as of march 10, 2025}

my name in this dr is Abigail “Abbey” Belladonna Lestrange. i'm a british-american witch that grew up mostly in america and now lives in london. when i shift it is my 2nd year. im a slytherin and a pureblood. i’m 19. the year is currently 1999 (two years after what would have been the golden trio’s seventh year at regular hogwarts, but its university now boys). my main focus of study is potions and divination.

my living situation

{this section has been changed as of march 10, 2025}

i live in a nice house in london, england with my family. {for a detailed intro to my family see this post}. each of my siblings has their own bedroom.

friends!!

so my main Slytherin friends are pansy, draco, theo, blaise, daphne and millicent!! pansy is my bestie and we share a dorm!! i also am friends with people in other houses like neville!!! the golden trio, remus’ son (his name is ethan btw), and CEDRIC DIGGORY (<3).

pansy is like my BESTIE like i tell that girl EVERYTHING.

ethan (remus’ son, an oc i made) is also on of my BESTEST friends ever. he’s the reason i started living with his dad and sirius bc we were good friends and i wanted to move closer to school so he made it happen.

im not super duper in it with the rest of the slytherins, they’re great, but they’re not my jam too much. i do vibe with the girlies (daphne & millicent and pansy ofc)! but i’m not like a draco girly. i just like making fun of him it’s really fun. i’m good friends with all of them i’m just much closer with people in other houses.

harry kinda gets on my nerves… like idk i dont love harry very much but he does feel pretty much like an annoying brother. ron is kinda the same except im less annoyed at ron bc his mom is nice to me.

idk how i feel about hermione. im sure she’s really nice but she also kinda seems like she would piss me off, i hope she doesnt tho.

i love neville, i’m friends with him. i will literally tell people off for talking bad about him. if ANYONE makes fun of this little herbologist in front of me i will throw hands.

cedric is my main love interest. he’s only a year above instead of two like in the actual plot. he’s one of my best friends but i never hang out with him in like a huge group, we both prefer to hang out with each other one on one. we’re not currently in a relationship, but we’re kinda talking and being silly little flirts. i did script he has a crush on me.

dorms!

okay the dorms in my dr are two people share like a college dorm situation. and there’s also a shared bathroom with a toilet, shower and a bathtub (i wanna take my bubble baths). roommates are assigned by gender (which is gender inclusive) and house, not necessarily by year tho, but most of the time you end up with someone in your year. you can also pick your roommate after your first year so me and pansy just planned to keep rooming with each other bc we’re both chill.

silly hogwarts things

there are a bunch of clubs to join!!

astronomy club

baking club

book club

chess club

choir

healing club

herbology club

history of dark magic club

divination club

dueling club

meditation club

fantastical creature club

international magical cooperation club (i came up with this one!!)

we dont have a curfew of any kind, we get treated like adults (bc this is literally college)

we can enter each others common rooms and have sleepovers in other dorms, guests of other houses are always welcome!

i might script out uniforms and just have us have to wear nametags with our house symbol/colors. if i dont script out uniforms then i’ll script that the uniforms look good.

my cat

her name is pippa she is very very cute!

my silly random extras i scripted

i cant get cheated on

cho doesnt look at MY MAN (this one’s a joke)

im good at tarot and divination

i can cook well

i get amazing grades

i never get lost

i can cast a patronus charm

i have infinite money

i scripted that molly weasley makes me a sweater for christmas….

i might do a series of posts about the different people in my dr and my relationship with them etc. in more detail. or just a bunch of posts going in more detail about anything.

if you guys have anything specific you want me to ramble about in this dr let me know! and i will make a post answering.

[siriuslygay1981]

Introduction post!!

🎉✨⭐💫🌛🌞

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

You can call me Star/Basra/Bea, I go by them all :).

They/them! And he/she sparingly

Queer(not really labeled.) Poly!

I like cosmology/astronomy, writing, music and reading! I'm a writer, an artist, I love learning new things and I am always looking for friends! I have too many hobbies to list but I'm open to discussing them more if asked! Unable to make a decision that has multiple options...My personality is filled with contradictions that i will not explain <3 (Links to other important posts/profiles at the bottom!)

Slytherclaw, infp/istp, Cabin 5/7/11/13/14 , Capricorn

` * 🔭🐇

Things I'll post Abt/Fandoms I'm in:

Marauders era, Harry Potter, Stranger things, Good omens,Marvel, DC (specifically batman-robin-redhood stuff),Anime, Artrick, dune, that 70s show, Dexter, Bojack hm, twd, Alice in borderland, killing Eve, lupin, and Cobra Kai. Writing and in general probably random rants about whatever thing I've watched/read recently. I will reblog the most random post that I relate to or just want to reblog too ofc. I might post art sometimes ! My writing too ofc!!

Fav Characters; Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz, regulus black, James Potter, Peter parker, Wade Wilson (dp), iron man, black widow, Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Paul atreudies, hawk/Eli, Jason Todd, Tim drake, dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Alfred, Evan rosier, 10th Dr, art donaldson, tashi Duncan, izuku midoriya, bakugou katsuki, denki kaminari, Ken kaneki, oikawa tooru, Satori tendou, Harley Quinn, blaise zambini, Sirius black, Bellatrix black, narcissa black, lily Evans, marlene McKinnon, remus lupin, grover, matt murdock, jumin han, 707, Eric forman, Steven hyde, Donna pinciotti, Clarke griffin, Octavia Blake, finn the human,Lexi grey, Penelope featherington, Colin BRIDGERTON, Benedict bridgerton, Kate BRIDGERTON, Daphne BRIDGERTON, Eloise BRIDGERTON, Oliver marks, James Farrow, Neil josten, Andrew minyard, Neil perry, raven, beast boy, mon-el, (Names every character ever)

｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡

Boundaries-

No:

hate comments

Bullying

Slurs/racism/homophobia etc etc

Eveyone can:

Reply/ask questions

Ask to be friends

Texting me on here

Ask to collab

Mutuals only:

Asking for socials

Asking personal info

♥︎̶̶ ´ ˘ ` ۫ ִ ׂ🪕 ◟♡ ˒

My spotify-

My ao3-

I give permission to use any idea I've written/talked about as long as it's credited and I'm tagged (I'd love to see it :) ) Unless I've mentioned otherwise

Beta reader applications are open! If you wish to be a beta reader for any WIP (published or not) let me know!

My Pfp- (Dont remember but if anyone knows pls let me know!!)

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Request info-

I won't do inc3st, I won't do illegal, I won't force myself to write what I don't vibe with and I'll tell you that.

I'll do NSfw, I'll do any ship, any scenario! I might even do x reader. You can request in Asks or messages.

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Masterlist

Shifting

[sendandburn]

Clearing up misconceptions

So a lot of people seem to believe that Abraxas Malfoy married Druella Rosier, however...

Druella Black[4] (née Rosier) (fl. 1951-1955) was a pure-blood witch who married Cygnus Black III. The couple had three daughters: Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black. " (Harry Potter Wiki)

So who did Abraxas marry? Honestly.... We don't know. All we know is that however it is, they are definitely not a Rosier. Perhaps he married an Avery, Macnair or Mulciber.... Or someone from a different pureblood family entirely.

Another common misconception, constantly being perpetuated by fanfiction cause people just LOVE the idea of a Teeny Tiny Wizarding world :

Dorea and Charlus Potter are James Potters parents.

They are not, as you can see right here:

"James Potter I (27 March 1960 - 31 October 1981),[1] also known as Prongs, was an English pure-blood[3][4] wizard and the only son of Fleamont and Euphemia Potter.[12]" (Harry Potter Wiki)

So what Charlus and Dorea are of James? Well, either They are his grandparents or, my own personal take, his Aunt and Uncle.

Ofc, you are free to write them as his parents if you want but not only you will be essencially erasing and/or flat out ignoring the freaking inventor of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion but also systematically destroying every chance Progsfoot/Starbucks, Jegulus, Sirry, Drary and whatever the heck the oficial ship name for Regulus Black/Harry Potter is (Regarry? Hagulus? Hargulus???) ever had of happening.

Look, i get why someone would want to destroy Sirry and Regulus Black/Harry Potter and as much as i love progsfoot, it is not that popular so it's not that surprising that someone would want to kill it. But Do you seriously want to obliterate two of the three most popular crack ships on this fandom, just so you can pretend the wizarding world is even more inbreed than it already is?

Wich, if you want to avoid incest, would leave you with the following options for partners for Harry :

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Bill Weasley

Cedric Diggory

Cho Chang

Neville Longbottom

Ron Weasley

Hermione Granger

Ginny Weasley

Marcus Flint

Oliver Wood

Dean Thomas

Theodore Nott

Blaise Zabini

Astoria Greengrass

Daphne Greengrass

Pansy Parkinson

Susan Bones

Hanah Abbot

Fleur Delacour

Gabrielle Delacour

Victor Krum

Luna Lovegood

An Oc

Remus lupin

Albus Dumbledore

Severus Snape

Tom Riddle

Minerva McGonagall

Amelia Bones

Alastor Moody

Evan Rosier

Barty crouch jr

Mulciber Jr

Avery Jr

Fenrir Greyback

Xenophilus Lovegood

Rubeus Hagrid

..... Or Cargo of any kind

Not as big of a selection as you would have by just leaving things as it is, but it may still please somebody so, whatever.

I guess the choice is up to you

Just remember that this is not canon.

[elisedonut]

❄️HARRY POTTER REC FEST 2023❄️

Day 9: A rare pair fic (less than 2000 fics on AO3) 

My Choices:  

Actions Left More Permanent by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)

Almost all of what I read falls into this category so I decided to go with an extreme route. Limiting my choice to a rarepair with less than 5 works to narrow my choices down some.

In the end this Scorpius/Percy fic is what I chose because I do remember enjoying it quite a bit!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Percy Weasley Characters: Scorpius Malfoy, Percy Weasley, Daphne Greengrass, Lucius Malfoy, Astoria Greengrass, Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Albus Severus Potter Additional Tags: Age Difference, Older Characters, Angst, some Daphcius & Drastoria ofc, cameo from Harry, the Malfoys are not as disfunctional as one might believe lol Summary:

Scorpius knows hardship and the safety of being tentative. But is timidity worth sacrificing a social life, even a small one?

@hprecfest

[ginevrastilinski-ocs]

Crossover List: Nate?

Lmao can I just say everyone? It's way faster! 🥺💚

Aurora Anderson ofc my babies

Abbie Hudson

Adelia Kline (vibes vibes vibes)

Amelie Kline

Ash Astor & Roman Kline (I just want Aurora's family and Nate's family to merge together okay?)

Barbie Corcoran

Betty Fabray (& Mac, Claude and Tommy as well)

Camilo Ayers

Cece Cartwright (we definitely need to talk more about them)

Charlie Sylvester

Christie Hummel (the potential of these two)

Cole Manning

Colton Cartwright ovb

Daphne Carter

Delilah Puckerman

Demi July

Dolly Corcoran

Faye Anderson

Haruki Knox

Hillary Holliday ofc

Holden Pierre

Jeremy St James

Jo Berry

Josh St James (Just want these two to interact pls)

Josie St James

Joy Schuester

June Harris & May Taylor

Kendall Pierce

Lilibeth Anderson

Mandy Abrams

Marilyn Pillsbury

Roxie Flores

Sadie Berry

Savannah Evans

Zoe Giardi

[excentrykemuse]

Smile Lines

Title: Smile LinesAuthor: ExcentrykeMuseFandom(s): Bridgerton / Harry Potter SeriesPairings: Anthony Bridgerton/Romilda Vane, Rosa Vane(OFC)/Roger Davies, Daphne Bridgerton/Duke of HastingsWord Count: 2.5kRating: PGPrompt: January 2025 PromptsWarnings: Romilda Vane, Anthony Bridgerton’s List, SocietyPrompt: For Dreamersloversandme: Anthony/Romilda Vane: This fic uses characters from Amortentia…

[plotandburn]

Harry gets adopted by...

......ok,not those specifically. the idea is as follows:

the fict will be inspired by "the four imortal sisters challenge".Now, before anything else, i would like to clarify that this is not a "Harry Potter characters in the sims game" the idea is to bring the sisters out of the computer and into the Hp world,making them more fleshed out characters whose main goal will NOT be raise a bunch of children together! No they will only raise one: Harry and will have individual goals separated from him.

The sisters will be imortal supernatural beings of your chosing, but htey must have the power to control the 4 elements they represent. Also, they MUST posses the traits and skills dictated by the challenge wich are as follows:

Traits:

Fire -  ​Non-committal or Romantic, Hates Children, Outgoing

Water - Perfectionist, Neat, Family-Oriented

Air - Genius, Bookworm, Loner,Ambitious

Earth - Active, Self-Assured, Loves Outdoors and  Vegeterian

Of course,As humans are more complex than sims, They are allowed to have other traits that you are able to chose. i strongly recomend hot headed for Fire and Oblivious & easily distracted for air.

Skills:

Fire:

Mixology

Musical Instruments (including singing)

Charisma

Comedy

Mischief

Water:

Cooking​

Handiness

Painting

Air:

Logic​

Writing

Programming

Earth:

Gardening

Fishing

Martial Arts

Sports of any kind

They can have other or each other skills but, as no one is perfect, should you give them a skill that they don't have in the challenge, they must be bad or just average in it.

Now,unlike the challege, the sisters are allowed to have a job but it must be a job the requires their skills from the challenge in wich they must be experts at.

On this fict, the races of the Hp characters must remain as they are on canon but, as it is in the challenge, the sisters can be of any race that the writer wants them to be.

Their backstory and how the4y came across Harry is up to you and as for ships recomendations are as follows:

Fire: One of the Weasley twins(once they are of age), Sirius Black or Severus Snape (ofc that is only if you chose to make her romantic instead of Non-committal)

Water: either Remus or Cedric

Air: Remus,Severus or Percy

Earth: Honestly? i think Victor Krum or Charlie Weasley would be a good match for her.

As for Harry, the sky is the limit but he must be treated just like the children the sisters raise in the challege, meaning that he must be trained in cooking, martial arts, painting, music and chess during the summer

Aditional rules:

No reader-inserts, self-inserts or unhappy endings are allowed.

spanking, watersports, extremely underage ships or parent/child incest are only allowed if portrayed on a negative light.

Peter Petigrew and Dolores Umbridge must be bashed

Dumbledore must be gay and atracted to Grindewalt and Grindewalt alone.

poor grammar is not allowed (you don't need a beta but at least use grammarly some form of grammar corrector)

You are not allowed to bash Severus Snape, Sirius Black,Draco Malfoy or Remus Lupin

8. Hagrid can only be paired with Madame Maxine and no one else

9. Mad Eye Moody and Amelia Bones can't be paired with anyone

10. Minerva Mcgonagal can only be paired with Poppy Pomfrey or anyone on the staff that she never taugh herself.

11. Crabbe and Goyle can only be paired with Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greengrass, Milicent Bulstrode, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, each other or an Oc.

12. This can't be a crack fict or have a unhappy ending.

other than that, have fun.

[hermiones-amortentia]

Fandom sees the slytherins as the sexy Goths who are terribly oppressed and misunderstood instead of the obvious fascist cult supporter and the breeding ground of racism and bigotry they are in books.

They want ANYWAY to prove slytherins are good/cool/sexy/misunderstood. Now 99.999% slytherins in books are trash(yes including Snape and Draco). So instead of following canon they give those characters personality transplant. Draco from a spoilt cowardly two faced rat becomes a tortured sexy bad boy who wears leather pants. Pansy from a one dimensional pug face racist bitch becomes a feminist lesbian queen. Now Draco's real best friends Crabbe and Goyle are ugly, fat and dumb. Not really cool enough for OOC leather pants fanon Draco. So they replace Crabbe and Goyle with Sarcastic Blaise and intelligent sexy Nott. Those two are just two names. Perfect fodder for fanfic writers. There's a female version as well. There are ppl who cant get over Pansy's pug face and obvious trollish atti. So they turn to Ice queen Daphne Greengrass. She is also a name in books. So perfect blank slate for fanfic writers.

Nott is mostly there to be an ally to Draco after years of abusing the shit outta Hermione now suddenly wants to fuck her. Nott gives Draco support. Zabini as well. And Ice Queen Daphne Greengrass is often the only aristocrat girl who isn't intimidated by Harry and educates him about the wizardingworld. ofc we all know Weasleys are poor, red head, dirty, illiterate so they can't associate with Harry. Nott often takes Ron's place in Harry's life and Daphne takes Ginny's place.

That's the fandom history of Theodore Nott being a 'fan favorite' character atleast in the fanfic circle.

i must admit despite my over-decade-long obsession with harry potter, i've not kept up with the ins and outs of the online fandom. would anyone care to explain the obsession people seem to have with theodore nott?

i thought he was a relatively minor character in the books/cursed child... did he get the marauders treatment with more fan-developed history/hc/character traits? (i like the marauders, just using as an example)

[realitybitesyouknowit]

Chapters: 9/9 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter Characters: Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Arcturus Black III | Sirius Black's Grandfather, Henry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis (Harry Potter), Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley Additional Tags: Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), Harry Potter Has a Twin, Powerful Harry Potter, No Golden Trio, Harry loves his brother, Blacks take charge, Harry is trained Summary:

Henry Potter got a lightning bolt scar and defeated Voldemort. He was proclaimed the Boy-Who-Lived and shipped off to the Dursley's. Why is it then that he remembers things a little differently? WBWL, Potter twins. Powerful Harry. [Harry x Daphne]

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 41: Hallow's Tricks

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist:@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon  @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes 

​​​​Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know

Halloween was approaching now but even though Romina loved the holiday, she couldn't find it in her to be in the spirits for it. And it wasn't like she wasn't surrounded by Halloween. Pumpkins had begun going up as decorations around the school. Their meals had started bearing the pumpkin themes as well. Many of the students were already planning on what their Halloween eve would look like apart from the fact it would also be the night the champions of the Triwizard would be announced. It was all perfect...so why the hell wasn't it?

Romina had to shake herself out of her thoughts to give Angel the attention he deserved. They sat on the floor of the common room with the table between them; Carolinha and Daphne sat on the couch behind Angel. Angel, bless his heart, had tried familiarizing himself with the muggle traditions of Halloween and he was eager to show Romina what he had so far.

"I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not sure I like the idea of muggles going around imitating us but I guess it's harmless doing costume competitions," he was saying. Behind him, Carolinha was showing Daphne the magazine full of muggle costumes that Angel had somehow acquired.

"You're telling me," Carolinha scoffed. "People actually walk the streets dressed as ketchup and mustard bottles?"

Romina nodded. "Yup. My favorite pair I've seen has to be the PB and J."

"PB and what?" Daphne lifted an eyebrow at her.

"Peanut butter and jelly," Romina said, surprised that she had to even explain that.

"What have you dressed up as, Romina?" Angel curiously asked, though with a hint of a flush. He thought she probably looked adorable in whatever costumes she'd picked in the earlier years.

Romina was none the wiser as she thought back to the years before Hogwarts. "I was Tinkerbell the last year I went to my muggle school. That's the little fairy in Peter Pan with the green dress, doesn't talk." All three of her friends gave her the same blank stare. "Not ringing any bells? No, of course it wouldn't be. Before that, I was a witch of course. Couldn't help myself with that one. I've also been a vampire slayer, a cheerleader, and queen."

"Way to be on the nose," Angel remarked, making Romina laugh. "Witch, vampire slayer and a bloody queen? Really?"

Romina flushed pink with embarrassment. "I thought I was being cool about it."

Angel leaned forwards, resting his arms over the table. "More like blatantly obvious."

"What? That was I queen?" Romina pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "Why yes, that is blatantly obvious." Carolinha and Daphne both snorted. "Thanks for pointing that out."

Angel playfully rolled his eyes. "Sure, you're the queen."

"Say it again!"

Angel wasn't even surprised anymore. "You're the queen, Romina." It was all worth it when he heard Romina's giggle. That was what Draco and Arden saw when they emerged from the corridor.

"Trying to be a little more obvious there, Angel?" Draco made the call before he even finished thinking it. Soon as it left his mouth though, Arden shoved her elbow into his side. "Ow!" He threw her a glare.

Arden upheld his glare with her own, silently reminding him about what they'd just talked about. "Maybe we should go," she 'suggested'.

"Go where?" Romina asked them, forgetting the conversation altogether. She had begun understanding what Theodore meant the last time they talked. It seemed like she was never able to find either Arden or Draco alone. They were either gone or together. It was beyond strange and kind of irking her.

"None of your business, Oswell," Draco muttered and started walking for the entry door.

Arden groaned as she hurried after him. "We just talked about this!"

"Talked about what?" Romina never got her answer. Arden disappeared with Draco once again. Romina scowled. "What the hell is going on?"

"Romina, don't even worry yourself with Draco," Angel said, leading to a very huffy response.

"I am not worried," Romina said, "I would never be worried about him."

"Well good because you shouldn't be," Angel said, "I've noticed that you're not arguing with him a lot anymore."

"Oh, we've noticed that too and thank god because it was getting annoying," Daphne remarked. She'd gone back to the flipping through the magazine with Carolinha.

Romina shook her head. "We haven't stopped, he's just…not doing a lot anymore."

"Isn't that good?" Carolinha made a face because the way Romina had spoken led to believe that she was annoyed.

"Yeah, course it is," Romina scratched behind her ear. She wasn't going to admit that it was somehow leaving her a little disheartened inside. If Draco had lost interest, then it meant he had no intention of fixing things with her. He was ready to leave things as they were.

"Romina, are you okay?" Angel asked after silence stretched between them for too long.

Once again, Romina had to shake herself out of her thoughts. She needed to stop thinking so much about things. But then there's Arden…

"Actually, I forgot I have to finish some homework," she ultimately decided to say. She got up from the floor and went straight for her dorm. She would bury her face in homework if it meant warring off thoughts for a while.

~ 0 ~

"I told you not to say anything if it was going to be mean, sour or downright snappy," Arden reprimanded Draco once they were far away from the common room. They walked together down the hallway.

"It's Angel who's doing it," Draco snapped. "You know he's pulling all this crap to finally make a move on Oswell, right?"

"So?" Arden snapped, thumping him on the side of his head. "That's none of our concern!"

He smacked her hand away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"Then stop being an idiot! Who cares what Angel's doing? At the rate you're going, Romina's never going to speak to you again. Isn't that what you should be more concerned about?"

Draco didn't say anything but the huff he gave was answer enough. Arden picked up on the fact he used that as an admittance to something he didn't want to say out loud.

"Just take my advice already and talk to her," Arden said for what she was sure was the millionth time.

"It's hard."

"How?"

"She infuriates me!" And that was the nicest way Draco could put it. He wasn't sure if Romina had always been like that but lately she was annoying him in every way possible. She never let go of the stupid war she started with him. For every thing he said, she had something to quip back. He liked a challenge but why did she have to constantly be in a battle with him while others like Angel got all the playful banter, the nice eyes and giggles—

He stopped walking abruptly. Unwelcomed heat rushed up the back of his neck and face.

Arden was a few steps ahead before she noticed Draco was no longer with her. She looked back at him and wondered what the hell he was frozen for. "What are you doing?" She raised an eyebrow at him. She swore she saw him jump.

"Nothing!" he said quickly. He pushed away all thoughts concerning Romina and her giggles. In fact, he shoved them to the deepest part of his mind. He had no business thinking about that.

"Okay, are you going to do what I'm telling you to or are you going to drag this out for another month?" Arden asked, "Because we've been at this all October."

"I just need more time," Draco said. Arden blinked in surprise. That was a different answer than the previous times. The first time he had said some not so nice words to her for "talking to him like that" and whatnot. He was thinking about talking which, in fairness, was a step up. He was thinking how best to approach the subject with Romina.

So Arden would take it.

~0~

"My dear Aline!" Romina had heard Fred's call from a good distance. She tried her best to escape down the hallway but in the end, the Weasley twins captured her by the arms and lifted her up to then carry her.

"When will you stop doing this!?" Romina groaned, her legs swinging back and forth in her attempts to get down.

"When you grow some more," George said then shares a snort with his brother.

"You jerks!" Romina exclaimed.

"Calm down, Aline," Fred said once they put her down. They had carried her all the way to the courtyard. "We just wanted to discuss some things with you."

"And for that you had to carry me through the whole school?" Romina fixed her shirt that had ridden up a little on the ride. "Can't you be normal?"

"We have style," George said proudly, flicking the collars of his shirt. Fred did the same.

"You have something alright — nerve," Romina shook her head. Both twins laughed in agreement. "So what do you want?"

"We were just wondering what ideas you had for Halloween this year," Fred said.

"Right." Romina crossed her arms over her chest.

"Any new Muggle tricks you learned for us?" Fred wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Ron said you watched some new muggle Halloween movies during summer. Anything we can use?"

"That depends, do you guys do musicals?" Romina smirked. "Cos the Nightmare Before Christmas had some good songs."

"I'm not sure singing is where our talents lay," George said, "But you're more than welcome to join us."

"Yeah, my thing's the violin. Arden does the singing."

"Arden?" Harry heard the last thing Romina had said. He, Ron and Hermione were walking up to the trio. "If she doesn't watch out, she's going to get hexed."

Before Romina could ask what he meant, Ron answered it. "We just saw her with Malfoy in the library."

"Again?" Romina said a tad softly. Last time she heard, Arden said she was heading for the astronomy tower to work on a project.

"Again?" Ron made a face. "You mean she's willingly spending time with Malfoy?"

"Maybe they were working on a project," Hermione said with a groan. "We shouldn't be getting into anyone's business, even if it is someone like Malfoy."

"I care for Arden only," Harry clarified. "She's our neighbor and friend, right Romina?"

Romina nodded silently. She was more preoccupied wondering why the hell Arden lied to her earlier. Theodore is right. He has to be. Except it absolutely irked her that he was right.

"Well if he gets smart with Arden, Georgie and I are more than happy to help out with some tricks," Fred said, swinging a shoulder around Romina. "We have an insider in the Slytherin House." Romina felt his subtle nudge and as much as she wanted to smile, it wasn't wide enough.

"Romina, we were going to go visit Hagrid, if you wanted to come," Harry said, eyeing her strangely.

"Um, yeah, that would be nice," Romina said, deciding that she needed to stop thinking so much about business that wasn't anything to do with her. Hermione was right.

"What about our tricks, Romina?" George asked, feigning offence that they were being forgotten.

Romina playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll make a list of all the cool things I saw in the last Halloween movies."

"There's our partner in crime!" Fred gave her a big hug from the side and followed it with a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Ah! Fred!" Romina exclaimed, swatting him away from her.

"Off we go, George!" Fred announced as he took off in a sprint.

"Agreed!" George nodded. He made to leave but at the last second, he dove for Romina and kissed her other cheek.

"GUYS!" Romina yelled after the pair who couldn't have run any faster. "Ron, your brothers are insufferable!"

"Which ones," Ron said, causing a round of snickers.

"C'mon Rom," Harry slid his arm around Romina's shoulders.

"Just don't kiss my cheek," she warned as they started down for Hagrid's hut.

"Kiss the spots where Fred and George kissed you? Yeah, I'll pass," Harry said, crinkling his nose at the thought. "Maybe later."

"Jerk," Romina chuckled.

~0~

As it turned out, Romina remembered exactly what had soured her mood before visiting Hagrid. Seeing Arden in the Great Hall reminded Romina. Looking around to make sure that no one else (specifically a blonde) was around, Romina headed for their table.

"Oh hey," Arden greeted Romina when she sat down beside her. "I was wondering where you went."

"I went with Harry, Ron and Hermione to visit Hagrid." Romina started going through their dinner options on the table.

"How nice!"

"Mhm…" Romina watched her friend pick up her goblet to drink.

Arden noticed it soon enough and cut her drink short. "What?"

Romina ducked her head; she swallowed hard. She was itching to bring up the subject but she had no idea how.

Thankfully, Arden had known Romina for such a long time now. She knew Romina like the back of her hand. "What is it?" Arden asked her. "Something's on your mind."

"N-no…"

"Romina, I can see it. Come out with it," Arden motioned. "Afraid I'll bite or what? C'mon." Arden nudged her on the side until Romina ended up smiling. "What's the secret?"

It's yours, Romina sourly thought. "Arden, you would...you would tell me if something big happened in your life, right?"

Arden snorted. "Yeah, just as soon as something happens."

Romina sighed in annoyance. She left her plate and shifted to face Arden. "You know that in this entire world, you and Harry are my best friends." Arden nodded. "You two are the people I most trust. You've been with me way before Hogwarts. I love you guys."

"Me too, Romina," Arden agreed. "And I'm sure Harry feels the same way. Why are you talking like this?"

Romina was frustrated. She was frustrated with Arden for not telling her the big secret about her and Draco. She was frustrated with herself for not being able to directly ask Arden about it.

"Romina, what is it?" Arden pressed for the answer. Whatever was nagging at Romina's mind had to be big to make her act like this.

"Arden, you would tell me if you were seeing someone right?" Romina finally asked. "Whoever it was...right?"

Arden had no idea where the question had come from but if it was bothering Romina so much, she would just answer it. "Yes, of course."

Romina nodded, staying silent to give Arden the chance to speak. Except, Arden didn't. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say. "You would tell me, right!?" Romina asked again, nodding at Arden to speak.

"I already said yes," Arden said, making a face of confusion. "Why, is anyone interested? Oh! Is it that cute Durmstrang boy Blaise talks to? Cos he is cute!"

"Arden!" Romina snapped, startling the brunette. "Aren't you—is there something you want to tell me?"

"Not really, no," Arden answered slowly, eyeing Romina with concern. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Romina couldn't believe her ears. "Me!?" she said incredulously.

"Yeah, what is it with you lately?" Arden genuinely wanted to know. "Is it this Draco thing that's finally getting to you?"

Romina wanted to tell. She wanted to yell so badly. She swallowed it down, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up.

"Romina, what's happening?" Arden stood up with Romina but the latter was storming away before Arden even touched her. "Romina!"

"Leave me alone!"

~0~

Romina did not speak to Arden for the rest of the week. She found it incredibly hard to get over the fact Arden lied to her face. Romina felt like she needed time to get rid of her anger before she could talk to Arden again.

Meanwhile, Arden was going crazy trying to figure out why on Earth Romina was so upset with her. As much as she thought, she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. She even got the others in their group to try and help her out but they were just as lost as she was.

"I'm turning into you," she told Draco before their Divination class was to begin. "She's not talking to me."

"Sounds to me like she just came to her senses," Draco remarked, smirking at Arden's scowling reaction. "All this time, you've been nagging me about screwing up. Now look where you are."

"Why the hell do I even talk to you?" Arden muttered.

"Because I made my payment," Draco was happy to respond with. It was hilarious reminding Arden that she was basically in debt with him until further notice. Course then Pansy showed up to claim her seat next to him and reminded him exactly how big his payment had been. And Romina had yet to direct a word to him.

"What do you want, King?" Pansy demanded.

Arden didn't even bother with her. She locked eyes with Draco and pointed a finger at him. "Talk to her now."

Draco would've liked to demand how the hell he was supposed to do that when Romina made it her personal mission to stay clear of them both. He ended up thinking about some ways during class. Trewlany never had anything interesting to say anyways. Plus, Pansy would take care of the work for him. (It was the only good thing that came out of the exchange).

After class, Arden made sure to remind him to go find Romina. He had to shake Pansy off him, literally—she was clinging to his arm—to go search for the stubborn girl. Whether it was lucky or not, he spotted Romina sitting by herself in the courtyard. She held a book in her hands, muggle by the looks of it.

"'Princess Bride'?" He asked in bemusement when he sat down beside her.

Romina silently flipped the page. She should've known better than to pick a public spot for reading. Hermione Granger owed her for such stupid advice. This was supposed to calm me down...

"Gotta say, Oswell, I didn't take you for the princess or bride type," Draco remarked. He smirked when Romina met his eye.

"I can like many things," she said with no emotion whatsoever, "But don't get it confused. It's not your typical princess story."

"Does it have a prince?"

"Yes but—" Romina was quick to say when she saw Draco opening his mouth, "—he's actually the evil one. It's the masked man in black who gets the girl."

Draco snorted. "Seriously? I didn't know you were that type!"

Romina scowled at him. "Shut it! Can't you go somewhere else? Bother some poor first year or something!?"

"I needed to talk to you!"

Romina scoffed. "Now you want to talk to me?"

"Hey, I've been trying to find you but you keep hiding or something!"

"I am not hiding from anybody." Lies. Romina was definitely doing her best to avoid him and Arden. It was easier with Draco because they didn't share a dorm. "If I was hiding, would I really come out to read here of all places? Use your brain, if you have one of course."

"You didn't have any doubts when we were partners in Potions," Draco reminded her with a smug smile. "You were definitely happy with the results."

Romina rolled her eyes. "You love the attention you get from your class partners, don't you? Heard you specifically switched Theodore for Pansy of all people. I know Divination isn't all that hard but...even then..."

Whatever smugness Draco had vanished. "I did not ask for Pansy."

Romina scoffed. "Right." She turned the page of her book.

"I didn't!"

"Then why did you switch partners?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Because Theodore's came up to me about three times to complain about you and Arden blowing him off. Honestly, whatever you two have going on, do me the favor and leave me out of them."

"Going on…? What the hell are you talking about?"

Romina finally stopped pretending to read—she had been looking at the same sentence over and over for minutes now—and looked at Draco. Her eyes had widened to make her point that this was Draco's moment to tell her the truth. Given that Draco had no idea what this truth was, he could only stare back. The blank stare was Romina's final straw.

She smacked his shoulder with her book. "You're insufferable!"

"What did I do now!?" Draco was sure he was going to lose count on how many times Romina had hit him with something.

"And you've got some nerve!" Romina exclaimed, smacking him again with her book.

"Can I at least know what I had the nerve of this time!?"

Romina's answer came in the form of another smack. "Like you don't know!"

"I don't!" Draco saw the next smack coming when Romina raised her book again. He caught it before it hit him on the head. "Stop hitting me!"

Romina held onto her book tightly and tried pulling it out of Draco's hands. "Let go!"

"Why? So you can go ahead and 'lightly tap' me again?" Draco would never forget the poor excuse she gave him the last time she decided to get violent with him. Romina should count her lucky stars he didn't retaliate for that one. Anyone else who dared to hit him on the head in front of a whole crowd would've been hexed.

"If you don't let go of my book right now, you're going to wish all I did was 'tap' you!"" Romina pulled on her book again. Draco was surprisingly stronger than he looked. Her pull did almost nothing. She could feel his fingers touching hers each time she pulled. It shouldn't be causing her any type of sensation. The same went for the stupid smirk on his face.

"Got lost in my eyes there?" Draco made the question just as soon as it'd come to mind. It was too hard to resist.

"You wish," Romina said, releasing her book in the process. She laughed when he nearly fell back from the sudden loss of her pull.

"Oh, that was funny?" Draco released a breath once he'd reclaimed his balance on the bench.

Romina nodded, the ghost of her laugh still playing at her lips. "Mhm, yeah."

Draco mocked her for a brief second before whacking her on the head with her own book. It wiped any trace of a smile and laugh from her.

"You hit me!" Romina said, eyes wide and mouth in a gape.

"You hit me like 10 times already!"

Even though that was very true, Romina wouldn't admit it. "Give me that!" She snatched her book from him. "Go find Arden or Pansy or whoever the hell you're talking to these days!" She jumped from the bench and glared.

"I'm talking to you right now but I frankly don't understand what's going on." This was nowhere near what Draco envisioned when he thought of talking to Romina...but she always had a way of changing things around him. He got up as well and faced Romina. "Why are you so...grumpy lately?"

"I am not grumpy!"

"Yeah, you are. It's adorable up to a certain point…" Draco said, trailing off when he noticed the fluster on Romina's face. He smirked. "Alright there, Oswell?"

Romina couldn't stand his smirk. "I hate you!" She gave him one more smack with her book then stormed off.

"Don't think you do!" Draco called after her in an almost sing-song manner.

She absolutely hated him.

~ 0 ~

The Halloween feast was, as usual, delicious. The Great Hall was filled with floating candles and pumpkins but what really took the attention was the Goblet of Fire's new place at the head of the room. Tonight, the three champions would finally be announced. Everybody was jittery, to say the least. Even Romina was excited despite the fact that Mr. Crouch was back in the school. She had done her due diligence of not looking his way. She was having a much better time with Angel, Carolinha and Daphne anyways.

"'I myself am strange and unusual'," she mimicked Lydia Deetz after gushing about the character in her latest line of favorite Halloween movies. "She's who I would've gone as for Halloween this year."

"That movie just sounds weird," Daphne said, shaking her head.

"I think it's funny weird," Carolinha shrugged her shoulders. "Definitely haven't heard something else like that. Muggles are creative."

"It was such a good movie but remember—don't say Beetlejuice three times!" Romina warned with a playful finger.

"Yeah, that guy just...he doesn't sound too nice," Angel said with a grimace. "Why'd you like the movie again?"

"Because it's funny," Romina chuckled. "Our favorite part was the singing."

"And when you say 'our' you mean Arden…?" Angel watched Romina sober from her laugh at the mention of her best friend she currently wasn't speaking to.

Arden currently sat with the Carrol twins a bit further down the table, unsurprisingly (in Romina's mind anyways) not too far from where Draco was sitting with Blaise. Romina didn't even look in their direction.

"Don't start, Angel," she warned quietly.

"You've never gotten into a fight with Arden," Angel said. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Romina insisted. She grabbed one of the pumpkin pastries on her left. She would rather not think about the fact her best friend refused to tell her about her ongoing dating. She was thankful that the feast was done a few minutes later. She would much rather focus on the champions that were going to be called.

Dumbledore had risen from his seat, commanding the silence of the entire room. "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!" He approached the Goblet whose flames were beginning to glow red. Soon, it shot into the air to spit out a piece of parchment.

Dumbledore caught it and unfolded it to read the first champion's name. "The Durmstrang champion is ... Viktor Krum!"

Everybody burst into cheers and applause as the Krum got up from the Slytherin table to walk up to Dumbledore. He shook hands with the headmaster then followed Crouch and Lugo Bagman towards a door behind them.

The Goblet soon spit out another name. The parchment was baby blue and perhaps laced?

"The champion from Beauxbatons... Fleur Delacour!"

A girl with near silver blonde hair rose from the Ravenclaw table. Romina recognized her as the girl Ron often fawned over. And by the looks of it, all the rest of the boys fawned over her too.

"Look, the other students aren't that happy," Carolinha remarked about the rest of the Beauxbatons students at the Ravenclaw table.

"Seriously," Romina said after shifting in her seat to get a better look. Some of them were actually crying. "Where's the solidarity my grandmother spoke of?"

Fleur soon disappeared along with Krum and now the final name had been released from the red flames. Excitement increased tenfold as they waited to hear who would be the Hogwarts champion.

"The Hogwarts champion... Cedric Diggory!"

The entirety of the Hufflepuff table jumped from their seats to cheer Cedric on. He was perhaps the most cheered for champion. Romina was no exception to the cheering.

"I know one of the champions!" She clapped excitedly.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions!" Dumbledore said once the applause had finally died down. "But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the tri-wizard cup!"

But before he could say more, the Goblet hissed as its flames once more turned red. Confusion spread in the room as the flames released another piece of parchment.

Equally confused, Dumbledore reached for the fluttering parchment in the air. There was a long moment of awkward silence before Dumbledore finally read the name on the parchment. "...Harry Potter."

Silence.

Even Dumbledore seemed like he didn't believe what he had read. Gazing down at the parchment again, he repeated the name written down. "Harry...Harry Potter!"

Romina nearly keeled over. Her head flipped in the Gryffindor table's direction and saw Harry was frozen in his spot. All eyes were on him. Some students were even standing up just to stare at him better.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again, lowering the parchment in his hand to spot the brunette.

"Go on Harry. Harry for goodness sake," Hermione urged Harry. It had to be better than just sitting there waiting for the vultures to come for him because oh they were going to come. Hermione saw at least a handful of angry eyes on Harry.

Harry was numb but his legs seemed to do him the grace of letting him stand up.

"He's a cheat! He's not even seventeen yet!" He heard someone say as he slowly walked up to the head of the room.

"What is he doing?" Carolinha whispered to Romina. "What on Earth does he think he's doing?"

Romina could only shake her head. There was no way in hell that Harry had figured out a way to slip his name into the Goblet. Better men had tried. So how the hell did his name end up in the Goblet?

~ 0 ~

It was absolute chaos in the Slytherin common room that night and the following morning. There wasn't a single soul who believed that Harry had not willingly put his name into the Goblet of Fire.

"Please, half of you didn't even like Cedric Diggory before tonight," Romina spat at a grumbling group of fifth years near the fireplace. "You all wanted a Slytherin champion so don't for a second say you loved Cedric."

"C'mon Oswell, you can't defend Potter for this one," Draco called. He, Blaise, Theodore and Angel were huddled at one of the tables. "He just wants the attention."

"Harry wouldn't be stupid enough to put his name into the Goblet, much less for attention," snapped Romina. "You're the one giving him the attention if we're being technical." She went straight for the dorms that night. She could very well pick a fight with everyone and she would if they asked for it.

"C'mon Romina," Carolinha watched Romina sulk on her bed later in the evening. "You really don't think Harry may have just gotten smart like the Weasley twins tried to a while back?"

"He wouldn't do it, Carol," Romina insisted. "God! Haven't any of you paid attention so far!? Harry doesn't seek attention! He doesn't put himself in mortal danger for fun!"

"Harry's not like that," Arden spoke quietly and avoided Romina's look. She was as unwelcomed as any other time but she would be damned if she listened to someone else claim that Harry put his name into the Goblet.

Romina did look in her direction but she didn't snap. For a moment, there was solidarity between them. Truthfully, Romina missed that.

"Then how did his name get in there?" Daphne curiously asked. "Because out there," she made a nod for the common room, "there's a lot of nasty rumors going around."

"They're just that, Daphne, rumors," Romina said sharply. "I beg you guys not to believe in them. I know Harry, okay? I have all my life. He did not do this." Carolinha and Daphne ultimately nodded but there was still a hint of doubt. Romina didn't waste the night arguing with them. She had a feeling there would be plenty of unconvinced people to deal with in the days to come.

~0~

Romina was able to find Harry the next morning but was surprised to find out that Ron was one of the people who firmly believed Harry put his name into the Goblet.

"He's finally lost it," Romina whispered after hearing Harry's moment with Ron the previous night.

"I tried telling Harry it's more jealousy than anything else. It's always Harry getting the attention whether or not he wants it." Hermione seemed torn between both sides. Romina understood her. It wouldn't be easy handling both boys for the time being.

"I don't," Harry practically snarled. He was just as furious as Ron was with him. He expected his best friends to believe him! Two out of three did!

"Really, try to understand him," Hermione insisted. "Ron's got all these brothers to compete against at home and you're his best friend and you're really famous…"

Romina made a cutting motion across her neck. Harry could give a damn about anything else right now.

"Great, really great," huffed Harry, "Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it. People gasping at my forehead everywhere I go…"

"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione snapped. She didn't deserve any of his attitude, that much she was sure of. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"She's right on that, Harry," Romina remarked only to earn a deep scoff from Harry in return.

"You haven't spoken to Arden in how many weeks now?"

Romina blinked. Fair point.

"I'm not running after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry continued. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself when I've got all my neck broken or—"

"That is nowhere near funny," Hermione scolded him.

"Bad joke indeed," Romina said, "At least tell me you've already written to Sirius about this?"

"I told him earlier," Hermione informed.

"And let me guess, he hasn't?"

"Not that I know of!"

"I'm right here!" Harry snapped at the pair. "And I'm not doing it. He came back to the country just because my scar twinged! He'll probably come bursting into the castle if I tell him that someone entered me in the Triwizard Tournament!"

"Doesn't matter, he would want to know," Hermione said sternly.

"He's going to find out anyways, Harry, might as well cut out the middle man," Romina patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"How?" He asked, clearly unconvinced.

"It's called the frikin media, Harry! The Daily Prophet is guaranteed to be covering this and given that you're 14...I'm pretty sure it's going to be some big news."

Harry stayed quiet, and pensive. That did make sense. Sirius was in hiding but he didn't live under a rock. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll write."

"Thank you," Romina said, voicing Hermione's relief as well.

The two girls personally accompanied Harry to the owlery to witness the letter being written. They couldn't take the chance of Harry backing out at the last minute.

~ 0 ~

The days that came after were no better for Harry. Romina didn't have to be in Gryffindor to know that. In fact, it was probably better that she was in another House. She saw things perfectly.

The Hufflepuffs were absolutely livid with him. None of them were talking to the Gryffindors. Even the Ravenclaws were doing their best to avoid the Gryffindors. Romina didn't bother much with her own House. The Slytherins were split in three. One side was just as livid as the Hufflepuffs, the second side were genuinely interested to see how the hell fourth year Harry Potter was going to compete against the more advanced students and the last side simply didn't care.

"I don't think we should be splitting our loyalties between Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory," Luna Lovegood shared her unique opinion with Romina one afternoon. The two girls had found a comfortable spot in the courtyard where Luna could show Romina the latest edition of the Quibbler.

Romina smiled to herself. Luna never had one bad thing to say about anyone, not even one bad thought. "I wholeheartedly agree, Luna."

Luna shrugged slightly. "Hogwarts has two champions. We're fortunate, really."

"I don't think Harry sees it that way," Romina said with a light sigh. She leaned on Luna's side to get a glimpse of the next page of the Quibbler. "He's scared. He's got less years of experience and the fact that most of the school hates him doesn't help either."

"I'll cheer for him," Luna said, making Romina smile. Luna hadn't even properly met Harry. She just knew him through Romina and Ginny Weasley.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Romina said.

"Romina," she heard Rolf call. He was approaching the two girls. "Hey!"

"Hi Rolf," Romina smiled at him. "Luna, this is my cousin, Rolf Scamander." The bright blonde girl wiggled her fingers at Rolf. "Rolf, this is my friend, Luna Lovegood."

"Yeah," Rolf nodded. Romina guessed that he knew much of Luna's quirky reputation like the rest of the school. "Hey," he smiled at Luna. "You reading the Quibbler?"

"Luna shows me the editions every month," Romina said.

"My father's the editor," Luna explained.

"Oh, that's cool!" Rolf exclaimed. Luna beamed. It wasn't often that people said things like that to her.

Romina looked between the pair with a small smile. "You want to read it with us?" she asked Rolf, figuring Luna would be more than happy to share with another person. Romina didn't think anyone else really read the Quibbler, much less with Luna herself.

"Sure!" Rolf said, making way for Luna's other side on the bench. "Oh, I almost forgot. Romina, I just ran into Arden King—she was asking for you."

Romina's eyes lowered to the Quibbler's pages. She had no idea why turnips were supposed to be lucky but she would rather read that than deal with this conversation.

Luna, however, had no idea that Romina wasn't on speaking terms with Arden. "Arden is your friend, isn't she?"

"Was," Romina whispered before clearing her throat. She looked up and happened to see Harry walking from the opposite end. "You know what? I forgot I have to go talk to Harry about something. Rolf, you want to read the Quibbler with Luna?"

"Umm…yeah, but what about Arden?"

"I'll see her later," Romina said, promptly getting up from her seat. "I'll see you guys later." She hurried away before either Luna or Rolf said something else about Arden.

Unsurprisingly, Harry was alone when Romina walked up to him. Hermione was off in the library and he just couldn't stand spending so much time there.

"Not like Ron, huh?" Romina giggled.

Harry's expression soured at the mention of Ron. "Not at all but you know what? At least Hermione believed me."

"He'll come around, Harry, I know it," Romina assured. "Has, um, has Sirius written back yet?"

"Yeah, yesterday. He wants to talk face to face."

Romina stopped walking, widened eyes meeting Harry's. "How's that going to work?"

"I'm sure Sirius has a way. He told me this Saturday at one o'clock in the morning."

"Tell him everything, Harry, got it?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I know—"

"I mean it, Harry Potter. Everything," Romina pointed at him. She knew exactly how Harry was. He would try to hide things from Sirius no matter how dangerous it got.

"Yes, I promise, sheesh!" Harry exclaimed. "Get off my back, will you? It's not been a lovely week."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," Romina said. "I did get to read Rita Skeeter's article about you—erm, you didn't tell her that you cry at nights, right?" Harry deadpanned her until she answered herself. "Right, course…"

"Everything in that article was lies," Harry huffed. "I didn't say any of that stuff."

"It's like Hollywood," Romina said.

They started walking again, albeit slowly as they continued to discuss the lies that were sure to come in future articles if Rita Skeeter was the author.

"But listen, Harry, just know that I'll be cheering for you. In fact, even Luna Lovegood is on your side!"

"The only Ravenclaw," Harry mumbled.

"Well, I know that Angel, Carolinha and even Daphne are rooting for you. Just, um, don't be surprised if you hear the girls gushing about Cedric too."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Is it just them gushing over Cedric? I seem to recall you doing the same thing at one point."

Romina's face turned a bright red. "Shut up he's cute,," she promptly said, making Harry chuckle. "You know I'm your number one supporter!"

"Right. Hey, what does Arden say about this?" Harry had to ask. He'd been trying to broach the subject but lately his days were consumed by his own problems.

"I don't know what she says these days," Romina shrugged.

"Rom, why are you two fighting? You never fight."

"I abhor lies, Harry, you know that. And right now, Arden is lying to me. I know she is and she knows it too but she doesn't admit to it."

"I really can't see Arden lying to you of all people," Harry said, even making a face at how absurd that was. He'd known both Romina and Arden since before Hogwarts and if there was one person Arden King could never lie to, it was Romina. Romina was Arden's confidant for everything. It was vice versa.

"Well she has now," Romina said quietly, "And it hurts. I thought we were best friends."

"Just talk to her, Rom," Harry insisted and heard Romina's loud groan.

She picked up her pace, leaving Harry to trail after her. "No!" she yelled. "I've given her ample time to come clean! I'm not going after her for anything!"

"Oh, so you're so keen to tell me to talk to Ron but you won't take your own advice?"

"That's different!"

"How!?"

Romina whirled around, coming face to face with Harry. They bore the same challenging glares. Ironically it was something that Arden used to point out whenever they got into moments like these. Unfortunately, Arden was nowhere near to help ease the tension, neither was Hermione for that matter. The only person nearby wasn't quite interested in helping them out.

"Why so tense Potter?" They heard Draco's voice somewhere nearby.

Romina and Harry tore their eyes from each other to face Draco, only that took a moment seeing as they couldn't actually find him. Romina happened to look up and found the blonde perched up on a tree. Her face scrunched up in utter confusion. "What the fuck are you doing up on a tree?" Harry followed her gaze up and frowned.

"Gotta see the sights, Oswell," Draco remarked, "You know you spent about an hour with Looney Lovegood over there? How interesting can that really be?"

"You spy on me now?" Romina raised an eyebrow. "Are you that bored? Or just that creepy?"

"Rom, let's just go," Harry reached for Romina's arm. He had absolutely no mood to deal with Draco today.

"Don't go so quickly, Potter," Draco called, stopping the pair in their tracks. "You know, my father and I have a bet going on. I don't think you're gonna last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five."

Now it was Romina trying to tug Harry away.

"I don't give a damn what you or your father thinks Malfoy," he snapped, "He's vile and cruel, and you're just pathetic. Let's go, Rom!" He turned right on his feet and strode away, leaving Romina to scurry after him.

Neither saw Draco jump from his spot on the tree, hand whipping out his wand to aim on Harry's back. The loud bang stopped Harry and Romina in their tracks, but neither understood where it came from, nor why several students had yelled. They turned around and saw Moody not too far from them with his wand out and levitating a...white ferret?

"I'll teach you to cast when someone's back is turned!" growled Moody apparently at the creature. It bounced in the air, going zig-zag all around.

"I'm so confused," Romina whispered to Harry, both of them in a trance much like the growing crowd around them.

"I'm not," Harry said, his eyes widening as he started making the connections. Romina saw the odd smile on his face. "That's Malfoy, ha!"

"What?" Romina hissed.

"Didn't get you, did he?" called Moody over to Harry. Harry shook his head, his grin might as well be glued on by this point. Moody forced the ferret into a smack against the ground.

Romina flinched. She actually heard the smack. "Make him stop!" She tugged on Harry's arm but he was frozen and not out of horror. "Harry!"

"What's going on?" Romina then heard Arden's voice through the crowd. The brunette pushed her way through the crowd until she was close enough to be pulled by Romina. "Romina, what's—"

"That's Draco!"

"What?" Arden's eyes widened and her mouth pursed together to hold back a laugh. Moody was now punctuating his reprimands by smacking the ferret against the ground, the tree and even a stone bench.

Romina groaned. "Arden! Do something! That's your boyfriend!"

"HE'S MY WHAT?" Arden's scream could have rivaled the growing laughter from the crowd. She was absolutely affronted with the confident claim.

Romina frantically pushed Arden out of her way to run through the crowd. She shoved whoever was in her way until she was on the other side. She had no idea where she was going but she had a good idea of the people she was looking for.

She found McGonagall in the hallway and without thinking, Romina yelled her name until she had run up to the professor.

"Miss Oswell!" McGonagall naturally reprimanded her. "That is no way to address somebody!"

Romina was out of breath from running and yelling. "Professor — outside — Professor Moody — and Draco! He's a...!" Romina had to hold her knees to keep herself standing. She was a blundering mess and she knew it.

McGonagall was downright appalled with what she was seeing. "Miss Oswell, calm yourself down and then find me. Perhaps with a little bit more etiquette."

"But Professor!"

"Keep this going and I will take points from Slytherin!"

"I don't care!" Romina snapped frantically.

McGonagall couldn't look any more irritated. "Alright, that's 50 points from Slyth—MISS OSWELL!" McGonagall yelled when Romina yanked her by the hand. "This is highly inappropriate! Let go now!"

Romina did no such thing. "It's Professor Moody! Please!" She insisted, running quicker and holding McGonagall's hand tight. "He's done something terrible!" Romina wasn't sure if McGonagall had said anything, or yelled for that matter, during their run. Romina felt her ears ringing and her heart pounding. She didn't care if she lost the entire points Slytherin had racked up so far. She just needed to get McGonagall to the courtyard so she could see—

"MOVE!" She screamed at the crowd in her way. She did hear when McGonagall scolded her again for squeezing them through the crowd.

Moody was still holding the ferret captive. It certainly got McGonagall's attention off Romina. "Professor Moody what are you doing?" She asked him.

Moody was absolutely calm as he moved the ferret from one point to the next. "Teaching."

It took only a second for McGonagall to realize why Romina had been so frantic. "Is that a student?" she looked back at the young girl who nodded. Romina was still horrified and frankly pleaded for Mcgonagall to do something.

"Technically it's a ferret," Moody answered. He shoved the ferret down Crabb's pant leg, causing a whole roar of laughter, including Harry's and Arden's.

Romina would have yelled at McGonagall to act if her status at Hogwarts wasn't already in danger for the way she dragged the professor there. Fortunately, McGonagall snapped out of her own trance. When Moody pulled the ferret out of Crabbe's pants, McGonagall took the opportunity to point her wand ahead and turn Draco back to normal.

He was, understandably, all out of sorts. His robes were askew and his hair was sticking up in all kinds of directions. He twitched, his eyes flickering from one side to the other as if Moody were about to hit him with another spell. "My father will hear about this!" He yelled, but soon regretted it when Moody stepped forwards.

"Is that a threat?"

Draco chose to run away there and then.

"I could tell you stories about your father that would curl even your greasy hair boy! It doesn't end here!"

"Professor Moody!" McGonagall had to shout over the laughing crowd of students. "We never use transfiguration as a punishment, surely Dumbledore told you that."

Moody didn't look abashed in the slightest. "He might've mentioned it…"

"Well you will do well to remember it." McGonagall turned to the crowd of students, eyes sharp and blazed with irritation. "The rest of you—don't you have studying to do?"

Students went every which way except for Romina. For when she turned around, she came face to face with Arden.

"You. Me. Talk. Now." Arden left no room for refusal. She grabbed Romina's arm and pulled her away.

[eesirachs]

hey im crazy interested in theology but my environment has never rlly fostered it and ive really only gotten as far as the book of revelation. do you have like an extensive list of stuff you've learned about/read/are interested in?? like the real historical deep dives? i know the basics but i want to really learn the details and the fringe stuff but i don't even know what im looking for. just like. anything to do w theology especially catholic. if you have the time though of course so np if not!! thank you either way:))

i am happy to make a list! below i've condensed an mdiv and half a doctorate in theology. if you need any particular recs, any pdfs, or any syllabi on a subject, dont hesitate to pm me. ofc some of these broad categories overlap. i've tried to keep this to books and not articles because that would overwhelm me

tanakh

coogan & chapman historical & literary intro to the hb; trible god & the rhetoric of sexuality; christine hayes' yale divinity school lecture series; bellis & kaminsky jews, christians, and the theology of hebrew scripture; near eastern archeology (journal); ex audito (journal); robert alter (translations); walter brueggeman; anchor bible series; john barton critical companion to hb

early christianity

(primary sources): gnostic texts; irenaeus; ignatius of antioch; eusebius; ambrose; jerome; augustine; nestorius; cyril of alexandria; capadocian fathers; dionysius; bede; meister eckhart; aquinas (secondary sources): norris christological controversy

martyrs & mystics

(primary sources): perpetua & felicity; blandina, queen pulcheria (read of her from nestorius); julian of norwich, hildegard von bingen; macrina; quintilla & priscilla (montanists writ large); theresa of avila (secondary sources): mandelker & powers pilgrim souls; beverly lanzetta womens body as mystical text; patricia donahue-white reading divine maternity; estelle jelinek tradition of women's autobiography; bernard ginn the varieties of vernacular mysticism; anne jensen god's self-confident daughters; peterson handamiden's of the lord; peter brown the body & society; epstein & schraub body guards: the cultural politics of gender ambiguity; gilliam clark the female man of god; herbert musirello the acts of christian martyrs; taylor petrey resurrecting parts; many will also recommend caroline bynam holy feast & holy fast and rudolph bell holy anorexia--i do not recommend these but they may be essential context

feminist, womanist theologies; asian theologies, mujerista theologies, disability theology, ecotheology

(keep in mind that some of these are first and second wave feminsim and do not reflect theological standards of inclusivity) rosemary ruether sexism and god talk; elizabeth johnson she who is; delores williams sisters in the wilderness; monica coleman making a way of out no way; m. shawn copeland enfleshing freedom; melanie harris ecowomanism; mary daly beyond god the father; jacquelyn grant white women's christ and black women's jesus; elizabeth johnson women, earth, creator spirit; katie canon katie's canon; marit trelstad cross examninations; monica coleman ain't i a womanist too?; virginia fabella & sun ai lee park we dare to dream; ada maria isasi-diaz en la lucha, daphne hampson on autonomy and heteronomy; kwok pui lan introducing asian feminist theology; elizabeth schussler-fiorenza in memory of her; phyllis trible texts of terror; eboni marshall turnman towards a womanist ethic of incarnation; lai ling elizabeth ngan ways of being, ways of reading; kelly brown douglass the black christ; chung myun kyung struggle to be the sun again; carol christ rebirth of the goddess; sallie mcfague models of god; mayra rivera decolonizing epistemologies; crscy john we dare to dream; karen baker-fletcher sisters of dust, sisters of spirit; sharon v betcher spirit and the politics of disablement; darby kathleen ray deceiving the devil; rita nakashima brock & rebecca parker proverbs of ashes: violence, redemptive suffering, and the search for what saves us; readings in ecology and feminist theology; elizabeth johnson ask the beasts; kwon pui-lan postcolonial imagination & feminist theology; kelly brown douglas sexuality & the black church; marcella althaus reid indecent theology; monica r. miller in ain't i a womanist too?; the oxford handbook of theology, sexuality, and gender; isasi-diaz in our own voices: latino/a renditions of theology

critical theory and carnal hermeneutics

richard kearney carnal hermeneutics; emmanuel falque the metamorphosis of finitude; jean-luc marion god without being; elaine scary the body in pain: the making and unmaking of the world; bataille eroticism: death and sensuality; thomas lacquer making sex; jean-luc nancy on being; emmanuel falque the wedding feast of the lamb; noel carrol the philosophy of horror; monster theory; jean-luc nancy corpus; lacan's fifth seminar; jean-luc nancy being with the without

horror

the medusa reader; richard kearney stranger's gods and monsters; gerard loughlin alien sex; barbara creed the monstrous feminine; daniel stephen hey the malady lingers on; julia kristeva powers of horror; yi fu tuan landscapes of fear; jacques derrida the animal that i am; elizabeth klaver images of the corpse; foucault the abormal; rene girard violence and the sacred; adams christ and horrors; kristeva stabat mater; philip johnston shades of sheol

queer theory

pak su yon coming home/coming out; gloria anzaldua speaking in tongues; tina beattie queen of heaven; dale b martin sex and the single savior; joseph marchal bodies on the verge: queering pauline epistles; rhiannon graybill are we not men? unstable masculinity in the hebrew bible; queer theology: rethinking the western body

appetites

t&t clark handbook to early christian meals in the greco-roman world; peter-ben smit fellowship & food in the kingdom; pitre brant jesus & the last supper; mary douglas food & the social order; mary douglas deciphering a meal; panayotis coutsoumpos, paul and the lords supper; reta halteman finger of widows & meals; hal taussig in the beginning was the meal; david grummet material eucharist

aesthetics & art

bal mieke contemporary art, preposterous history; jo cherylo exum between the text and the canvas: the bible and art in dialogue; richard taylor how to read a church; david gordon finding beauty where god finds beauty: a biblical foundation of aesthetics; rosalind hackett art & religion in africa; steven pinker on mentalese; thames & hudson the reenchanment of art; elizabeth grosz chaos, territory, art: deleuze and the framing of the world; griselda pollack psychoanalysis and the image; john berger ways of seeing; james elkins the object stares back; james elkins pictures & tears; helene cixous stigmata; gaston bachelard the poetics of space; james elkins on the strange place of religion in art; theodore adorno aesthetic theory; gilles deleuze pure immanence; david morgan the sacred gaze

sacraments

(primary sources): hans boersma heavenly participation; calvin institutes; hubmaier balthasar; luther; edward schillebeeckx christ the sacrament of the encounter of god; alenxander schmeman; tertullian de baptismo; aquinas summa contra gentiles; zwingli (secondary sources): gustaf aulen eucharist & sacrafice; r swanson unity & diversity in the church; john behr the trinitarian being of the church; paul f bradshaw (prolific in this subject); yngve brillioth eucharistic faith & practice; clifford dugmore the mass & english reformers; gayle felton this gift of water; j fisher christian initiation; edward kilmartin the active role of christ and the holy spirit in the sanctification; jack lewis baptismal practices of 2nd and 3rd century church; andrew mcgowan is there a liturgical text in this gospel?; john mckenna eucharistic presence; frank meige sacramental semiosis; kyle pasewark the body in ecstasy; h. m. riley christian initiation; herman sasse this is my body; e. j. yarnouth anaphoras without institution narratives; kimberly belcher hope efficacious engagement; brightman the english rite

[lunatheseus]

Nono no need to apologize, yeah I think the prankster persona the twins embodied is almost a direct consequence of being left out… every brother had a niche, so they created one for themselves (ofc them being funny comes naturally so)

I also laughed out loud at your next door neighbor comment lmao I love it

I also think that Ginny’s character should have been expanded on more… she’s dubbed as the only girl and the one who married Harry… that’s it? What about her quidditch achievements? They are nowhere to be found…

OMG and to touch on the lack of hangout scenes: I want Slytherin hangout scenes!! Think about the drama that they’d have: they’ve known each other their entire lives, but also not at all. I wonder what impact that has on their friendgroup dynamic! Also Theodore Nott was supposed to be the “loner” but he’s also a super deep character that I would have loved to learn about! Pansy, Blaise, and Daphne too.. I wonder how Daphne feels about Draco marrying her sister (with no build up lol, seeing a pattern yet?) They all also have issues with their parental figures + societal norms… (I would’ve liked to see a pure blood slytherin who doesn’t have to deal with those pressures) IDK I feel like all of the “villain kid” characters are so interesting, I need more lol

There’s also an absolute lack of Hufflepuff representation lol, it’s just Cedric Diggory and a couple mentions of Hannah Abbott +Tonks that’s basically carrying the entire house HAHA

Endgame Couples in Harry Potter that I often wonder about - rambles and questions

Angelina Johnson & George Weasley:

Angelina eventually marries her late boyfriend's brother?

I'm curious as to how that even happens. What's the thought process behind that for her? What about how George feels about it?

Like- girl ended up with her dead boyfriend minus one ear and half of his livelihood gone...

Don't get me wrong, George definitely deserves a great life and future...

But also, (for George) how do you date your dead brother's girlfriend in the first place?

Idk the only real "solution" is that they helped each other through the grieving process of Fred's death???

Bill Weasley & Fleur Delacour

I can't say I'm well versed in the details of their relationship but... it's definitely interesting.

They definitely have relationship goals moments:

They met by chance: at Gringotts as coworkers

Fought alongside each other during the war

THE WEDDING

But also...

Bill caught Fleur's eye when she was in the Triwizard Tournament: Fleur was 17 Bill was 24 💀💀

How'd that even happen????

Like- whaaaat?

That means that Bill was 18 when Fleur was just starting school at Beauxbatons (which I assume was when she was 11)...

I mean- in hindsight, it's not that bad... but I wish we got more or a build up yk?

Like- Charlie was literally working at the Triwizard Tournament because of the Dragons... how did she not meet him first?

Ginny Weasley & Harry Potter

No. They had an amazing setup, but no.

It's like dating your younger sister.

There was also no buildup, chemistry, or reason.

I also thought the saving Ginny from Tom Riddle was supposed to be a nod at the "Handsome Prince saves the Damsel in Distress" trope... yeah no.

Also, Ginny literally disappears and has no relevance/importance to the stories after that, only becoming relevant when she started dating Dean Thomas (which I personally thought was cute) and Harry suddenly realized that he was in love with her all of a sudden. There's no buildup, and they had no chemistry in the supposed romantic scenes...

They honestly just did Ginny dirty....

Nymphadora Tonks & Remus Lupin

Ouch. This made me cry.

Ok I get that the 13 year difference is a bit odd... but to some degree it makes sense:

Remember that Tonks' mother married for love, even if it was out of the norm. Tonks is literally continuing the legacy lol

Lupin and Tonks were both outcasts, they relate to each other and appreciate their uniqueness

Anyway, their sacrifice was brutal but also devastatingly beautiful

[magpiefngrl]

I posted 807 times in 2022

94 posts created (12%)

713 posts reblogged (88%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mikkeneko

@veliseraptor

@ohnoyizhan

@lqtraintracks

@bloody-wonder

I tagged 804 of my posts in 2022

#fanart - 178 posts

#drarry - 84 posts

#wangxian - 81 posts

#the untamed - 70 posts

#mo dao zu shi - 49 posts

#to queue or not to queue - 45 posts

#i laughed - 41 posts

#writing - 35 posts

#inbox - 35 posts

#ofmd - 32 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

#death of the author is also not 'ignore everything that is actually in the text in favor of what you feel like saying about it'

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

9 1/2 days has updated omg

Photo credit: Andrew Hocking (this is a picture of Kennack Sands, it's a real beach in Cornwall)

Kennack Sands, chapter 7 of my Cornwall fic aka 9 1/2 days, is out. It's only been two years, no big deal lol

It's drarry, rated E, currently sitting at 54k with two more chapters to go. It's a Canon Divergence (or rather Detour, you'll see) from the events of Book 7 with Harry and Draco being stranded together after the escape from Malfoy Manor.

Link to Chapter 7

Link to Chapter 1 if you want to read from the top

My eternal gratitude to @lqtraintracks who has betaed the chapter on short notice and gave me some excellent suggestions. Love u <3

66 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#4

Hellooo! 💕

Sorry to slide in like this, you absolutely don't have to answer this, I just have no idea how else to grab your attention 😫

Your drarry fic series 'Arthur and the Lust Leaks' is seriously one of my all time favourites, they're just so hilarious! I love the dynamic between Daphne and Draco, Arthur (of course!🐣) and the general concept is just wonderful on its own XD

The concept of magic folk getting "Lust Leaks" when they're extremely horny is actually GENIUS!! Like what, how on earth did you come up with such a clever idea!?!?

My question is how would you feel about others using the concept? So long as you're credited for the inspiration, of course!

Thank you! You're brilliant!!💖

Oh what a lovely ask! I'm so glad you like the concept and thrilled you enjoy the 2 fics! I had a ball writing Daphne and Draco and ofc Arthur is adorable <3

How I came up with the Lust Leaks. When I joined the DTH fest, I'd only published one drarry fic that I'd written non-stop and obsessively over a few weeks; a fic which had poured out of me in a torrent. With The Full Monty I was more deliberate. I had a prompt, which gave me a direction to follow, but I wanted to do more. Now, my favourite author is Astolat and one of the things I love about her work is that she always has some cool magical element in her stories. I'm a fantasy author at heart, and her inventiveness and worldbuilding truly resonates with me. So, with this new drarry fic of mine, I wanted to create a magical element that would be new and interesting and would fit with canon.

I thought of developmental stages for children. How magical kids' magic appears when they're young. I can't remember the exact age it's supposed to happen, but in my mind it was linked to the stage where kids develop ego (around age three) (ego meaning the psychological theory, not selfishness). And then I thought what's another big stage of development (adolescence, lots of hormones) and what happens then? (sexual maturity). And what if, during that tumultuous time of their life, their magic goes haywire too?

I can't remember if I came up with the concept first and used it in the story or if I came up with something embarrassing happening to Draco and decided to dig into that idea and develop it. Either way, it went: idolise astolat-> magic appears when toddlers turn into children -> adolescents have raging hormones and this could affect their magic-> lust leaks when horny.

I wanted to write more in that 'verse myself. Back in spring 2017, I'd started writing a Lust Leaks Hogwarts-era fic inspired by a throwaway line in the fic about Blaise and how everything he touched grew wings and flew. I also began a sequel of the Full Monty with the title Saving Arthur. But I had a few big fests coming up and a birthday fic to write, and they got abandoned.

Finally, to answer your question: If you wish to use the concept in your fanfiction, then I'd be happy for you to do so. The credit would be much appreciated, and perhaps even a link to Full Monty for anyone curious to see the origin? That'd be brilliant.

However, this is only for fanfiction. If you're interested in using the concept for original fiction or any kind of work commercially available, then my answer is no. But I'm assuming you want to write drarry/ HP fic :)

This was a fun trip down memory lane. Thank you for sending the ask, for your very kind compliments, and I hope you enjoy playing with my lil' idea xx

68 notes - Posted December 7, 2022

#3

Happy 10th HP anniversary, LQT!

This month my darling friend, @lqtraintracks, celebrates ten years in the HP fandom.

Ten years omg! 🎊🎊🎊🎊

Ten years of passion and enthusiasm and love for drarry and the HP world; ten years of spreading joy to other fans; ten years of astounding writing (gods, I envy her so!); ten years of invaluable contributions to the community.

Lqt, the fandom is blessed to have you as a member and I feel honoured to call myself your friend. I thank my lucky stars I joined drarry when I did and got to meet you 💖

Here's a few things you should know about Lqt:

1. She's a phenomenal writer. No, I don't use this word lightly. If you haven't yet sampled her work, you're missing out. If I were you, I'd rectify this asap. Lqt's craft is a masterclass of its own: strong sentences, beautiful prose, thoughtful characterisations, scorching sex scenes, lots and lots of feels. Her writing sizzles. She's so quotable too. I can't think of another writer who has such a strong gift to write lines that the whole fandom imprints on and can remember years later. For instance: "I've fucked you in that shirt." I'm still losing my fkn mind over this line. Mention Blood and Fire, one of Lqt's masterpieces, to a reader and they'll immediately go "omg I've fucked you in that shirt!!!!!!"

2. She's a supporter of queer and trans rights in true Gryffindor spirit. Passionate and tireless, Lqt actively tries to make fandom a more inclusive, safe and welcoming space for everyone. She's an example to emulate.

3. She's a fierce, generous friend. I don't know what I've done to deserve her, but her generosity and kindness and support seem never ending. She's been there for me, esp during a tough period last year, and has listened to me vent when I felt like getting things off my chest; she's given me advice when I asked for it; and has been a relentless cheerleader when I needed a boost. She's the kind of friend who reads my fics even when they're in fandoms she's not familiar with. She might know nothing about wangxian but she will read my fics and she will comment with some lovely praise, and--I don't know if I ever told you, @lqtraintracks, but that floors me every single time. That you read and comment on my wangxian/hualian/non-HP fics. I'm a bit choked up about it, ngl

Right. *wipes tears* Recs!

My first LQT fic was Entropy to Ecstasy (drarry/ 4k/ E), a stellar example of second person POV and, er, rimming. Is this the most delicious combination or what? The longing in this fic is tangible; the UST through the roof. I adored it and still do; what a marvellous introduction to a great writer.

My latest LQT fic was Heart Like Neon (drarry/ 41k/ E) and it was one of the highlights of 2021. It's got enemies to lovers and hate sex and UST to-die-for but also excellent new magic (the Reaching! how amazing and such a Harry magic!), a large cast handled deftly, and a fantastic relationship progression. And again: so many wonderful quotes! "Being good… it’s not just one choice. It’s a thousand different choices. And that’s just one day." How do you do it, LQT????

But the fic that has carved itself in my heart is Blood and Fire (drarry/ 45k/ E). (The banner above is a realistic depiction of the state of my mind and body while reading the fic.) It's a story of second chances; of regret and mistakes; of making amends; of forgiveness. It's got agonising pining and excruciating longing; palpable tension and hot hot hot hot sex. It includes the most emotional hug of all times. It's a fic that makes me feel like "a bundle of kindling who invited fire over for dinner". (see what I told you about the quotes? She's fkn killing it!) It's a drarry classic (yes, I went there) and it's a fic that I will never, ever forget. For me, this story is up there with Donna Tartt and CS Pacat.

LQT, happy anniversary!!! May you enjoy another 10, 20, or more years in fandom! I'm so happy to know you 💖

79 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

#2

I started watching Avatar The Last Airbender (just season 1 so far) and had a look at the wikis. Can't tell you how shocked I am that the show isn't Katara x Zuko endgame. Shocked I tell you!

83 notes - Posted March 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

9 1/2 days is complete!

I think it's pretty obvious from the graphic that I began this fic a loooong time ago, back when we used to create collages for our fic posts :DD Trends have changed, people post some gorgeous banners these days, but this collage waited patiently for literal years for me to get my act together and finish writing, so there was no way I'd use anything else. Old school graphic it is.

******

Fic Title: 9 1/2 days

Warning: Author Chose Not to Use Warnings

Rating: Explicit

Length: 69.6k

Summary:

After the events at the Manor, Harry and Draco find themselves stranded in the countryside with a broken wand and Death Eaters on their tail. This is the story of an uneasy truce, featuring faerie forests, seaside caves, Romani camps, kind old ladies, and a shared bed in an attic.

Or how two boys fell in love in the midst of a bloody coup.

******

Thank you to the fabulous @lqtraintracks for her thoughtful suggestions in these last two chapters. The story is much better as a result. <33

Links to new chapters: 9, 10.

Read from the start

ETA: I've got some free time today and tomorrow so if anyone wants to send asks about the fic and its progress through the years, if you have any questions as to what hindered me, what spurred me on, or about what inspired me; or whatever: send me an ask! It's such a huge weight off my shoulders and I feel I need to get a lot out of my chest.

105 notes - Posted June 18, 2022

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