#horrible wizard of my heart just let me draw you

[kudzuoath]

"I need you to tell me you want to live."

Temperance spends a lot of time checking in with Gale. But it started in the Act II romance scene.

[justporo]

Astarion doesn't know how to cook, but wants to make Tav a romantic dinner. He enlists the help of Gale and regrets it near instantly. Do with this what you like :3

My dear mushy, this is a wonderful prompt, so thank you so much for that. (I loved that it had me write another one of the companions!)

It is in fact so wonderful that it will turn into a short little two-part thingy (because it makes sense in my head and also I can split up the parts, so I can go to bed now, hihi)

So, have: Gale and Astarion pissing each other off in this part and find out if Tav actually does get her romantic dinner in the second part of:

A Night of... Shattered Glass and the Smell of Burning?

“Dinner? Oh Astarion, all these months on the road and all this time since we’ve come to Baldur’s Gate. And you only ask me now?”

“Not with you, you idiot, with Tav!”

Astarion was standing in the wizard’s study – in the place Gale had obtained after your joint adventure to stay a while longer in the city. The wizard was sitting behind his massive desk, Tara on his lap who purred excessively because of all the head scratches she received. And in front of the desk stood Astarion, arms crossed over his chest and an displeased expression on his face. His body was halfway turned towards the door as if he wanted to be ready to leave the room and this place – forever – whenever the need arose.

Gale grinned at the vampire’s uneasiness but didn’t say anything to soothe his former companion – he was relishing the moment way too much for that. So he opted to just stare at the elf and make him suffer a little while longer.

Astarion sighed in defeat and pinched the bridge of his nose with thumb and index finger before he let them stretch out, pressing into his closed eyes. “Gale, don’t make me regret I’ve come here, please”, Astarion pressed out from behind gritted teeth.

Tara stretched out on Gale’s lap, yawned deeply and jumped off her owner’s lap to saunter around the desk. Gale let her, keeping his gaze on the vampire: “No really, you have to give me at least this one moment in return, Astarion, just one teeny tiny moment of you coming to me for help. You’ve actually grown so much over just such a short span…”

Astarion zoned out while the wizard rambled on trying to have his superior moment of being sarcastic and sassy – Gods, it had been a horrible idea to come here. He felt the wizard’s cat stroke around his legs then, rubbing her head against his shins and looking up at him expectantly.

So, he bowed down to lift her up and started to pet her to which Tara responded with arching her back into the vampire’s careful touch and starting to purr loudly. At that a smile crept onto Astarion’s face. He’d always liked cats – fierce and beautiful creatures.

“…and I feel so honoured that you would ask me out of all people, Astarion – really!”, ended the wizard his sarcastic speech and was finally silent. Astarion rolled his eyes: “Now go and write it all into your journal and draw pink glittery hearts around it while kicking your little feet. Are you done now?” Gale lifted one finger and narrowed his eyes with raised eyebrows: “Allow me one more question.” Astarion groaned. “Does Tav know?”, the wizard asked.

“No”, hissed the vampire in response and stared angrily at Gale “and if you’re going to tell her, I am going to rip your godsdamned throat out.” Gale reacted with lifting his hands defensively: “Alright okay, I’m done. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Some of the tension left Astarion’s body. “So will you help me or not?”, he asked while focusing on the cat in his arms instead of the person he was asking something off – openly committing to wanting help, talking about a weakness – and may it be something as inconsequential as this – was not something he had learned awfully well to accept; perhaps he never really would.

Gale’s gaze softened a little and he stood up from behind the desk to walk around it and leaning against it in a relaxed pose. He crossed his arms over his chest: “So… come again, what exactly is it exactly that you’re planning?”

Finally, Astarion lifted his gaze to look at the wizard. His eyes was full of suspicion after Gale had at first opted to tease him about a genuine demand. And it had already cost him an enormous amount of pride to swallow to actually come over and voice his request for help. The wizard sighed: “Okay listen, I’m sorry, I was a dick about this – it’s just… I wouldn’t have expected this from you, is all…”

Astarion didn’t say anything in response, his reluctancy had not yet left him. And so an awkward kind of silence stretched between the two men – unable or unwilling to be more open and sincere; at least for the time being.

“Listen”, Gale started again “I’ll help you, I promise. But you have to tell me what you want to do or else I don’t know how.”

Astarion looked down again at the purring cat in his arms. After a few heartbeats he sighed and said: “In a few weeks, it will be six months since… Tav and I are official. And I thought after all the peril she, I mean we all, but she especially has been put through and after everything she’s done for me…” The vampire’s words trailed off and he threw Gale a glance. There were no more words needed in this instance, Gale had been there beside him and Tav when they had walked into Cazador Szarr’s lair.

The wizard felt his throat close up at the memory – as much in dread, as he remembered, as in compassion for his… friend.

“So”, Gale coughed and readjusted his position against his giant wooden desk, before he went on in a more animated manner, “you thought a nice romantic dinner would be a nice opportunity to show her a little bit of your gratefulness and also celebrate your love.” “I see we are finally on the same page, my wizard partner in crime”, Astarion replied then cheerfully – thankful for the change in mood.

“And the problem is that it’s been a while, naturally, since you had the pleasure in the kitchen”, Gale went on. Astarion cleared his throat: “To be honest, even before… let’s just say food had just always come on a plate.”

“Hah, and now it always comes from a neck, right?”, Gale tried to crack a joke and failed miserably. The vampire looked ready to leave once more: “Please leave the jokes to me, Gale. Else I’m leaving – and taking the cat.”

Gale let his head fall back until he was facing the ceiling. “This won’t be easy”, he whispered under his breath. Then he lifted his hands as he let himself look at the vampire once more that had started cooing at Tara in his arms – making little kissy faces at the cat that was stretching out one of his paws as if in a gentle caress of the elf’s face.

“Let’s just get to the point. What did you have in mind then?”, said the wizard and made a few steps towards Astarion how was now stroking Tara’s face with a single finger as if she was a baby. Only when Gale was almost in front of him did he notice that the wizard had asked him another question.

The vampire gave another sigh and then shortly bent down to set down the animal which protested softly but then just kept stroking around his legs. “I thought you could teach me some stuff. Show me to make some dishes so I can prepare the dinner for Tav myself…” “Yes okay, but what does she like – I mean, back on the road we all made do with what we could get our hands on, but if you want to surprise her with something shouldn’t it be something to impress her?”, Gale interrupted, immediately getting into planning mode. His head was already turning on how to get organised and starting. “Well, Gale, from what I’ve heard the last time you wanted to impress a woman it didn’t go all too well, didn’t it? Maybe tone it down a little”, the vampire bit out. But a sparkle had entered his red eyes, nonetheless, at the thought of actually pulling this surprise off.

Gale though was back at looking at the ceiling, cursing whatever had put this flatulated vampire in his path. “Alright”, Gale sighed, “first thing we have to settle is that we can’t go for each other’s throats all the time – VERBALLY, verbally”, he exclaimed with raised eyebrows and pointed a finger at Astarion when the vampire had started smirking at him in a kind of way.

“I didn’t start – at least this time”, the vampire shot back. “Astarion”, Gale drawled annoyedly in a tone that might’ve been used many a time towards his cat – which did actually look up at her owner and cocked her head at him.

“Fine”, Astarion agreed in the same tone. “So, let’s figure out the desired menu first, shall we?”, Gale said to put them back on track. “What’s Tav’s favourite food, what dishes does she like – sweet, savoury?”

Do that Astarion put a hand to his chin and started to think. His brows furrowed and his gaze was suddenly miles away: “Her favourite thing are strawberries by far, but that does only work for dessert. Maybe with something chocolate-y, she really does have a knack for sweet stuff.” At that point Gale opened his mouth to crack another joke but shut it immediately when he realised how genuine Astarion had become all of a sudden.”

“She likes hearty foods – nothing needlessly complicated or pretentious. And she always goes on about how she’d love to have more fish but that it’s so complicated to prepare sometimes, hmm.” Astarion was still lost in his thoughts and kept rambling on about every last detail he could remember about what might work and what they had to avoid.

Gale’s face split into a huge, warm grin, bewildered by Astarion and how much he knew about these small little details about his soulmate and how much genuine care and love shone in his eyes as he kept talking about her.

Gale put out his hand to lay on Astarion’s shoulder who was still somewhere else, still talking. At the light gesture the elf flinched and shock filled his eyes for a short moment before he realised is was only the wizard. “Second rule, don’t just touch me”, he hissed at the man who was still smiling warmly at his friend behaving like a feral street cat.

“Agreed. Let’s just get to work, Astarion. I’ll make a chef out of you in no time. Let’s go.” And with these final words Gale went off towards his kitchen.

Astarion expressed his doubts in the wizard’s self-impression but followed closely behind.

[johannestevans]

My Top Stories for 2023!

In case you missed ’em: these were my most popular works of fiction and non-fiction of the year!

It’s very nearly 2024, and it’s been a big year for me! 

I’ve published so many short stories and new essays, I had a great time at EasterCon and BristolCon, and have published pieces with several new (for me!) publications on top of moving into my new apartment. I’m now based in Yorkshire instead of Ireland, and that means I’ll be attending a bunch more conventions and other events across Wales, Scotland, and England as well as still going back to Ireland from time to time. 

Firstly, as a big thank you to all my supporters and to ring in the new year, I’m currently doing an end-of-2023 giveaway! Sign up here! 

On 01/01/2024, I’ll be drawing a winner of the giveaway, and they’ll receive by post / mail signed copies of my paperbacks, Heart of Stone and Gerald Poole and the Pirates, vouchers for my eBooks, some badges, and some other goodies that will be contained in the parcel. 

Secondly, I wanted to remind people who’ve had a little bonus or gifted money and want to treat themselves that as well as being able to subscribe for access to all reader-locked works on Medium, by any authors, for $5 USD, I have a Patreon where I publish almost all my works (barring those that might be against Patreon guidelines, of which there currently aren’t many), there is an option to pay annually on Patreon! 

You can subscribe to me monthly on Patreon for access to my works at £3 / £6 / £10.50 / £17 per month — there’s no difference in the benefits of these tiers, just that you can choose to support me with a subscription for what you can afford. 

If you subscribe annually on Patreon, you get a 16% discount on what you would ordinarily pay monthly, and you get full access to everything for the duration of the year’s subscription! 

With that intro done, let’s get to my top 24!

My Top 12 Fiction Pieces of 2023

January 2023 — Erotic Short: Running the Table

A trans man is the favourite pocket on the pool table.

Rated E. Cis M/trans M/cis M. 4k. Featuring consent play with a prenegotiated rape roleplay, object insertion (not sanitary, not safe, just sexy), double penetration, begging, tears, size difference, age difference, lots of anal play, belly bulging.

Jock and Phineas first appeared in Centre Pocket, where Jock initially makes the threat of the pool balls.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

February 2023 — Erotic Short: Fresh Bounty

A bounty hunter takes a young wizard to the king’s court.

1.7k, rated E, cis M/trans M! Power play with a lack of negotiation, but fully consensual enthusiasm for it, cockwarming, threatened overstimulation, D/s, implications of public use, and sex on horseback!

CW for a mention of it in dirty talk, but no animals are actually abused, harmed, or looked on sexually.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

March 2023 — Erotic Short: Purpose-Built Toy

A stretchy supervillain goes up against five huge superheroes.

3.2k, rated E. Trans M/5 alien Ms with alien cocks. There is absolutely no redeeming plot features in this, it’s just horrible unrealistic porn with lots of come inflation, objectification, humiliation, and belly kink.

There are several consent issues in this fic, where the trans guy is basically being turned into a fucktoy for these aliens without anyone asking how he feels about it — with that said, he’s really into the whole thing, and absolutely does not want to opt out.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

April 2023 — Erotic Short: Slime Breeder

An elf is used as a distraction as his party fight a gigantic slime.

3.5k. A trans masc elf getting fucked from all ends by a giant slime creature, used as a seedbed by it, then played with by his variously gendered friends in the aftermath.

Mildly to very dubious consent here, but Sam is absolutely enjoying himself by the end of it — featuring a giant slime monster, aphrodisiacs, tentacle sex, encasement, choking, oviposition and egg-laying, cumflation, overstimulation, anal, oral, and vaginal penetration, objectification, lactation, milking. All that fun and beastly stuff!

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

May 2023 — Erotic Short: The Mermaid and the Fisherman

A wanderer meets a mermaid, and the two of them work to understand each other.

This short is also available for purchase on Smashwords as an eBook, and is originally from September 2020.

7.3k, rated E, M/M. A young man fleeing home has taken up residence in an old fishing cabin on the west coast of Scotland. He is observed, very closely, by a mermaid from beyond the maerl beds nearby.

Featuring cultural differences, humour, oviposition, cervix penetration, mild chem sex from the mermaid’s aphrodisiac, some rough sex, some mildly dubious consent, stuffing, belly bulge.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

June 2023 — Erotic Short: Agony and Ecstasy

An abbot takes a stranded sailor on for… personal duties.

6k, M/M, rated E! Age difference, virginity kink, some naivety, some oral and anal, first time enthusiasm.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

July 2023 — Erotic Short: The Stasis Box

A prisoner is frozen in time with his holes still accessible for the crew of a mining vessel to use.

5k, rated E, trans M/cis M but hundreds of other people. A trans twink agrees to be involved in an experiment in lieu of his year-long prison sentence — he’s placed in a stasis box, frozen in time, with his holes still accessible for the crew of a mining vessel to make use of.

This is honestly one of the most fucked-up things I’ve ever written, it goes big on the sci-fi body horror fucky horniness.

Full consent is given throughout, the twink knows what he’s in for. Featuring medical kink, fingering, anal and vaginal fingering and sex, sensitivity, time stop, big overstimulation, mind-break and ahegao, objectification, huge come inflation, gaping, come vomiting, general degradation.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

August 2023 — Erotic Short: The Interview

A workplace roleplay with age difference and some hearty degradation.

Rated E, 4k, cis M/trans M. Younger boss/older prospective employee, pre-negotiated roleplay, degradation and humiliation, daddy kink, nipple play, PIV, riding, sex in the office, casual sex, bareback. The older man is fat, but none of the degrading language is about his body or his size except for commenting on the size of his chest — the degradation primarily is about his age and assumed loneliness.

Words used for the trans man’s body are tits and chest, one comparison to a cow’s udder; cock, cunt, hole.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

September 2023 — Erotic Short: Training Toy

A cheerleader loans out his favourite toy to the football players.

3k, rated E, trans M/many cis M. Continuing on from Stuck.

A cheerleader trains up another student to be a good fucktoy, and shares him out to local football players — featuring D/s, multiple orgasms, mild bimboification vibes, training, multiple penetration, degradation, objectification, anal, vaginal, and oral, big penetrations.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

October 2023 — Erotic Short: A Gift For the Wolfmen

A young man in a brothel is invited to join a quartet of hulking wolf-like warriors.

6.4k, rated E. Two trans men, both being gangbanged by four cis wolfmen with huge cocks.

Fantasy universe with adventurers and so forth. Featuring stuck-through-wall and grope boxes, body writing, vaginal, oral, and anal play, huge come inflation, size difference, knotting, power dynamics, virginity kink, objectification and dehumanisation, degradation, humiliation, breeding kink, body modification, mentions of lactation and pregnancy, and enthusiastic consent throughout.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

November 2023 — Erotic Short: Confession and Penance

A priest takes a hands-on approach to addressing a worshiper’s poor working habits.

11k, cis M/M, rated E! Tiernan, a manipulative workaholic who only ever relaxes during Mass services, is taken aside by Father Mullen when it all gets to be a bit too much. D/s, BDSM-approach to enforcing self-care, spanking, painplay, bit of a priest kink but it doesn’t go into that aspect too much, faith. Also some anal.

Note that by definition consent’s an issue here because this is the very definition of religious abuse, especially because Tiernan is a CSA survivor and references past CSA by another priest. Content warnings for the religious abuse and references to the CSA throughout, as well as dubious consent in other sexual situations. For all that, though, the tone is generally light-hearted and is more dark humour than dark drama.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

December 2023 — Erotic Short: Knight Tactics

An elf serves as a distraction and an exhaustion tactic for a bandit camp. By letting them fuck him.

3k, trans M/loads of cocks, assumed as cis M. Amaethon gets himself stuck in a wall so that the bandits will work out their stamina fucking him rather than fighting off the king’s guard.

Stuck in wall, free use, fully (and gleefully) consensual whilst pretending he isn’t, mild belly bulging and come inflation, gaping, exhaustion, messy and come-spattered, etc. All the fun stuff.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

My Top 12 Non-Fiction Pieces of 2023

January 2023 — Fast “Who am I?”: A Fun Game to Play with Friends

A silly fun game to play rapidly with your friends and loved ones in 2023.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

February 2023 — Our Flag Means Death S01 E01: Close Textual Analysis

Examining OFMD E1: Pilot in close detail and liveblogging/analysing the text.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3

March 2023 — Ringing The Devil’s Doorbell: A Light-Hearted, Practical Guide

Let’s talk sex! Vulvar and vaginal stimulation for fun, pleasure, and profit.

Contents:

Preface

The Anatomy of the Vulva and Vagina: the actual anatomy of the vulva, it and the vagina’s attendant parts, and how everything fits together

On Testosterone: the effects of testosterone as a HRT treatment on the vulva and vagina in the context of sexual pleasure

(I don’t have any specific advice in regards to different intersex configurations or further genital and hormonal diversity, but that section might nonetheless be semi-relevant; there’s also some notes on vaginal atrophy that might be relevant if you’re menopausal or similar)

Stimulating the Vulva and Vagina: ringing the Devil’s doorbell, dancing about in his vestibule, and then running into (then out of) (then into) (then out o — ) his house

Additional Reading: more resources and links

Read on Medium

April 2023 — The Precarity of Subscription-Based Income

We’re basically busking online. No wonder we have anxiety about it.

Read on Medium 

May 2023 — The Straight Male Gaze on Pretty Male Gays

How does it feel when straight men want to fuck us?

A quick little intro — I went ham on this one. I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and it just gave me a lot of feelings.

Warnings throughout this piece for discussion of the film’s gore and violence, the homophobia both in- and out- of universe, sexual violence, homophobia in general. I use a lot of slurs in this one because I self-identify with a lot of them, and a lot of this piece is about the ways in which queer identity is weaponised and not weaponised against us.

Bon appetit.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

June 2023 — Passing Privilege: Through My Eyes, as a Trans Man Who Passes

Second puberty and the waves we send through the spaces around us.

On Medium / / On Patreon / / On Tumblr.

July 2023 — Yentl: A Trans Man Studying Talmud is Distracted by Gay Thoughts

Yentl (1983, dir. Barbra Streisand) and Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

August 2023 — Barbie Isn’t Anti-Men — It’s Anti-Toxicity

Patriarchy does damage to us all, and Barbie (2023, dir. Greta Gerwig) clearly depicts that.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

September 2023 — Close Reading: A Deep Dive into the Process

An in-depth guide into applying analysis to a piece of text and extrapolating meaning.

A close reading is what we call an in-depth analysis of a piece of text, which might be in the case of fiction a short story, or for novels and novellas might be a portion or an extract from the text.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

October 2023 — Looking For 🍑🍆💦: A Beginner’s Guide to Grindr for Trans Men

Approaching Grindr (and cruising culture) as a trans man.

Read on Medium

November 2023 — As a Trans Man, Why Do Doctors Always Want to Get Me Pregnant?

I’m so tired of fielding questions about my “lost” fertility.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

December 2023 — Uncling Duties

A selection of conversations with my friends’ cats, Kira and Bercow.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

[i-was-bored-so-this-happened]

Greensleeves Chapter Eighteen: Harpy Hare

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3 Warnings: Canon-typical violence Wordcount: 3.9k

Gale shares the true source of his pain. The party return to the grove. Xaph, Astarion and Wyll save a tiefling child from harpies

Read on AO3 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Writing Masterpost

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

The more Gale says, the heavier Xaph’s heart feels. It quivers inside her lungs. He isn’t just any wizard hoping to catch Mystra’s attention. He had it. He was Chosen. Being chosen by different gods has different meanings. For Mystra it means a mortal consort to test and tease until they break, and Gale had broken. Xaph has a horrible feeling about where this story’s going.

“...I learned of a book. A Netherese tome in which a piece of the fractured Weave had been sealed beyond her reach. ‘What if’, I thought, ‘What if after all this time I could return this lost part of herself to the goddess?’” the question hovers in the air but no one lifts their voice to combat it, “I was certain that this deed of raw power draped in romance would convince Mystra to take me by the hand and welcome me into her hitherto forbidden domains.” If there’s one quality all the denizens of the hells share, it’s ambition. A quality they share with many humans, come to think of it. That’s what he’d said after their run-in with Raphael and oh does he know ambition. “I was mistaken.” That’s not how being Mystra’s Chosen works, according to history. Maybe he’d thought he was different. Better. What was it Wyll had said that morning? Lethal hubris. Tale as old as time. “I obtained the fabled book and took it into my study,” here, here he falters and finally brings his eyes up from the ground to meet Xaph’s, “As for what happened next…I…Let me show you.” Pleading, pouting, for Mystra he’d said. For Xaph he sinks down onto one knee and holds out a gentle hand. The way he had the night he’d shown her the Weave. The night he’d held the image of Mystra in his palm. Xaph takes his hand, and she doesn’t even have the wherewithal to mind her claws. She scratches his wrist as he presses her hand to the fabric that covers the place where his human heart beats. The tadpole quivers. He’s letting her in. Gale doesn’t let her in. He communicates through the tadpole, but he strictly guards his mind against any intrusion. He is the only one of her companions that the tadpole hadn’t squeezed memories out of when they’d met. He’s letting her in.

She didn’t know the worms could transmit sensation and physical feeling. She wishes she still didn't know. Gale’s second hand flies to Xaph’s wrist to anchor her hand as his mouth drops open. Pain takes root where they touch and burrows through the muscles of Xaph’s arm, to her shoulders, to her back. Purple light encapsulates them, as it had that night of imagined mountaintops and soft touches, but it’s angry this time. Xaph’s tadpole is hurtling through the freshly unlocked doors of Gale’s mind. One door at the very end of the corridor is triple locked, iron-bound, swings open and pulls Xaph in. Into the dark. Then a book. Xaph is vaguely aware of their physical bodies moving, struggling to hold onto one another as pain wracks them. The book, it opens, but there aren’t any pages. Just magic. The blackest Weave, that moves of its own accord. It pounces, alive, and parasitic it digs through the layers of flesh of his chest until it wraps around his heart and squeezes. Part of him. This is why he has to consume the Weave. This is what he’s feeding. This is what keeps him awake at night and sucks the marrow from his bones and took the magic he is trying to regain an-

It’s too much. He draws the line there, forces the door shut and pushes Xaph out of reach of the door. Far enough that her vision becomes her own again. Her fingers have balled into a fist in Gale’s robes. Chests heaving out of sync, it takes them several moments to remember where they actually are. 

“How are you still alive?” It’s effort to uncurl her fingers and loosen the grip she has on Gale’s shoulder. She hadn’t felt herself moving to grab him. 

“Thankfully, the moment I absorbed the fragment wasn’t enough to kill me outright,” he’s regained his vocabulary but he can’t disguise how much he has to think through the sentences to get them out, “It was only the beginning. This Netherese blight, this orb for lack of a better word,” Gale’s hands lock around Xaph’s elbow, and she does the same to his to help him up, “Is balled up inside my chest, and it needs to be fed,” when contact is broken, all of the pain in Xaph’s body is gone. Gone back to Gale. She wants to take it from him. She wants to hold it for him, “As long as I absorb traces of the Weave from potent enough sources, it remains quiet,” this she knows, she’s the one that’s been feeding it, why…oh. The rest of the party. They’re surprisingly quiet, “Were it ever to fully destabilise, however-” 

“You’d die.” He’s been carrying a second death sentence all this time. She wants to throw it back in Mystra’s face. She wants to hold his hand. She wants to yell at the sky. She wants to hug him. 

“Rather worse, actually. I will erupt.”

“Gale-”

“I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry would level a city the size of Waterdeep.”

“Sorry, I’m not the only one whose body is a ticking time bomb?” Karlach reminds them of the others in their group with a jolt.

“That’s one way to look at it.” Gale acquiesces. 

“You thrice-damned rotten bastard! You’ve been the greatest threat to us all this time!” Lae’zel cries, and Xaph’s fairly certain that if she and Karlach and Wyll weren’t blocking her path to Gale she’d attack him there and then.

“That’s the other way. I’ve no choice now but to admit that I am. Perhaps it would be best if I leave and put as much distance between us as I can before the orb erupts.”

“You’re one of us,” Wyll says, “And we should stay by his side.” Karlach echoes agreement and Xaph catches the crinkle of Gale’s brow before he schools his features. 

“We travel together, Gale,” she wants to hold his hand, squeeze her promise into his pinky finger because he’s looking at her like she’s about to say she’s joking and cast him out. Someone - Lae’zel or Shadowheart - growls in disapproval and Xaph’s head snaps to the side, “Speak your grievances.”

“What sort of monster would keep a secret like that?” Astarion says, but there’s a smile in his voice. He isn’t as annoyed about this as he’s putting on, and Gale breathes out in relief, “Honestly, you can’t trust anyone these days.”

“I thank you all. I understand if you stand against me. I’m humbled if you stand with me. Either way, I will do my best not to let you down. I stand at a precipice, but if you do not give up hope, neither shal I. I’ll fight. I’ll resist. As long as I can. Now even I am tired of the sound of my own voice. Let’s get to the grove.”

Wyll moves forward and pushes a reassuring hand into Gale’s shoulder. He glances at Xaph, who flicks her eyes to Lae’zel, and he nods. Wyll retreats with Astarion in tow and shepherds Lae’zel out of melee range of Gale. Shadowheart hadn’t spoken, and she doesn’t speak now as she falls into formation. Xaph watches the swing of her braid and knows they’ll be discussing this later.

“Make it to the grove?” she asks before she and Gale join the parade. He nods and links a finger with hers as he passes, making her turn to walk beside him.

“You are a soul that steels my own.” The wizard whispers in that moment where their heads turn to maintain eye contact. Turning into an almost-dance again, and then they part.

“Hey,” Xaph starts, a memory resurfacing when she sees the swing of Karlach’s tail, “If I’d known you were Chosen, I wouldn’t have said all that shit I said the other night when Karlach got me drunk. I meant it, still mean it, but I wouldn’t’ve said it.”

***

The grove is a breath of fresh air, quite literally. Behind its gate the atmosphere is different. Lighter. Maybe it’s the illusion of safety, maybe it’s an excess of druidic magic, maybe it’s sheer relief to have a solid wall between them and the wilderness. Likely it also has a lot to do with seeing the tieflings again - at least on Xaph and Wyll’s part - unharmed and getting ready to travel to Baldur’s Gate without the threat of goblin hordes. A few dozen of the tieflings swarm in the party’s direction when they recognise them and sure, they have a moment’s pause when they see Wyll but they greet him nonetheless. 

“Shadowheart, find him somewhere to sit.” Xaph nudges Gale out of the way of the oncoming refugees, freeing them both from the obligation of socialisation. Shadowheart coaxes the owlbear cub to follow them. A few of the tieflings close to Wyll’s age approach him and shake hands and show him how to bump horns in friendly greetings. Ikaron, one of the more on-edge scouts, watches Lae’zel carefully until she snaps him into conversation and he drags Geux with him. Xaph watches it, her heart warm, until she feels a presence rocketing towards her. She turns in time to catch Arabella before she’s jumped, lifting the child into the air. Arabella shrieks but doesn’t try to escape Xaph’s grip, looping her arms around the ranger’s neck and bumping their foreheads together before maneouvering onto Xaph’s back. A second child latches onto Xaph’s leg. Ide, a few summers younger than Arabella. “You missed me then?” she asks them, laughing. Gods this is nice.

“Did you get them? The goblins?” Ide asks, looking up at Xaph with round eyes, tilting his head so far the ring around one of his horns is liable to fall off.

“Gutted them,” Xaph answers, poking his stomach in demonstration, “Get into any trouble?”

“‘Course.” Arabella answers, yelping with laughter when Xaph jostles her in response. A few of the other children have gathered, expecting gory stories. Mattis and Mol hang back, flipping a coin between one another.

“Hey! Want to meet my new friend?” With effort, Ide weighing her leg down, Xaph waddles over to her other tiefling companion, “This is Karlach,” she’d shrunk into the background, suddenly nervous. This is probably the most people she’s seen in ten years. “She’s been to hell and back, just like you little devils. Karlach, this is Arabella, Ide, Silfy, Gan,” leaning forward to keep Arabella on her back Xaph passes a hand over each of the children’s heads as she introduces them. When she looks around to make sure she’s introduced everyone in her gaggle she sees that Wyll has pulled Umi up onto his shoulders and is letting the little boy feel his horns while the older teenagers give him advice on how to look after them, “Hey, one of you go and find Dammon for me, yeah?” all three of the children on the ground sprint away, Arabella wriggling down off Xaph’s back to join the race. Two more of the kids yell and chase after them. She watches them, laughing again as they push and shove to get to the blacksmith first, and then she turns back to her friend, “Doing okay?”

“Yeah. Aces. Just…it’s been a while.” Karlach’s eyes go wide and she dodges as a tiefling launches herself at Xaph and puts the ranger in a headlock. Xaph laughs, play-wrestles, but words push into Karlach’s mind all the same,

You’re alright. You’re not going to hurt anyone. Xaph’s voice, smooth and calm even as she growls at the tiefling she’s wrestling. Karlach is introduced to tiefling after tiefling after tiefling, and every single one of them smiles at her. Smiles. No one’s been happy to see her in over a decade, and the unfiltered joy radiating from these people, her people, is the most beautiful thing she’s seen in a very long time. Elegis, the tiefling who had pounced on Xaph, keeps up friendly conversation. Okta gives her food, in a metal bowl so she can’t burn it. Rikka, trailed by Doni, congratulates her on her survival. And Dammon. Dammon might just be her new favourite person in all of Realmspace. Xaph nods encouragingly and distracts the others while Dammon takes Karlach down to the space he very optimistically plies his trade in. Metalsmithing isn’t exactly a tenet of druidic magic. The anvil’s hanging on by a thread, and they can only hope Karlach doesn’t break it. 

Gale and Shadowheart watch from the sidelines as Xaph dissolves into the crowd of tieflings. She hugs them, bumps foreheads, links arms, and every few minutes the child perched on her hip changes. At one point she has a toddler in each arm and Arabella on her back again. She’s smiling with all her teeth and her tail is wagging and it’s not the orb that makes Gale’s heartbeat stutter. Doni drifts towards them and sits himself at Shadowheart’s feet. He’s mute, they’d found out quite quickly the first time they were here. Shadowheart lets him stay, and his tail drags back and forth along the ground. When the owlbear relaxes, Gale shows the child exactly where the cub likes to be scratched. Astarion is distanced from most of the group, but he quite happily contributes to conversation when he’s approached, and Lae’zel is demonstrating just how many ways one can disembowel a goblin. Wyll’s…adjusting. He’s awkward, and the surrounding tieflings seem clingy in comparison when in reality they’re not treating him all that differently once they get over the initial shock of his new appearance. Umi sticks to him like glue, and that puts him at ease. Zevlor waits until the party is together again before he approaches. He and Xaph and Karlach talk in broken Infernal before he addresses the group at large,

“Thank you. Thank you. Halsin returned a few days ago, but we wanted to wait for you. And now…” he sighs, “With no armies on our heels we can finally leave. But perhaps we need not speak of farewells. We’ll join your camp to celebrate once we’re all packed up, if you’ll have us.”

“Can we help you collect your things?” Wyll asks.

“You’ve done more than enough for us,” Zevlor pats Wyll’s arm, the way he would a younger tiefling, “But do speak to Halsin. He’ll want to thank you too.” Zevlor bows, and several of the party return the gesture. When he leaves, the party sit together for several long minutes and watch the tieflings as they settle and return to their tasks. Xaph squints at the children and whispers under her breath. Their names. When one of the boys gets close enough she catches his attention and asks,

“Zaki, where’s Mirkon?”

“Dunno.” Zaki shrugs.

“Okay. Where could he be? Hideout?”

“Mmm,” Zaki frowns in concentration, “Oh! He likes the beach?”

“Beach?”

“Past the druid-pit.”

“Excellent, thank you, Zaki. Go tell Rechel and Rikka we’re going to go find him,” Xaph pushes the boy in the direction of the grown-up tieflings who are wrangling the children and stands, “Astarion, Wyll, a hand?”

“I’m looking for lost billy-goat-kids now?” Astarion complains.

“Do you want to talk to the druids instead?”

“Oh fuck that.”

***

“I think I’d’ve rathered the druids!” Astarion yells, knee-deep in the clear blue water of the beach, “Fuck, these are new boots.” They’d found Mirkon, being serenaded by a quartet of harpies, tempting him into the depths. The child had snapped out of the enchantment when Xaph had pulled him out of the water and up onto her hip.

“Just shoot the thing,” Xaph shouts back, wading towards Wyll and taking him by the scruff of the neck, “Wyllyam Ravengard, pull yourself together.” She slaps him sharply  and as his head shakes in recoil the pink sparkles swirling around his head and discolouring his eyes dissipate.

“Maledictus,” Wyll throws out a hand and something wickedly fast and dull purple leaps from his fingers to the harpy that is leading the song, “Thank you.” The song dwindles to croaking and the harpy is so distraught at the loss of her voice she doesn’t see the arrows Astarion sends into her chest until she plummets into the water.

“Take him,” Wyll opens his arms and lets Xaph transfer Mirkon to him. The child’s legs are limp and swing back and forth, but he manages to loop his arms over Wyll’s shoulders, “Get him as far away as you can.” Wyll nods and starts to wade back to shore. Xaph moves deeper into the water, towards Astarion.

“I really can’t believe you sometimes.” He grits the words out between swings at the harpy that glides within the boundary of his personal space.

“I like to keep you on your toes.” Xaph hefts her battleaxe, turning one and a half times to build momentum before it finds its mark in another harpy.

“You like to ruin my boots,” Astarion counters, then turning to snarl at the harpy who has managed to land a hit on him, shredding through his sleeve, “Third bloody pair-”

“-in a month, I know-”

“-and you fed a pair of them to Gale-”

“I said I was sorry!” Xaph swings and misses, “Shit!” She turns to chase the harpy but its wings have taken it further than Xaph can reach and by the time she draws her bow it’ll be even further away. Desperation burns hot in her chest because Wyll cannot manage the harpy and the child when he has no magic left to draw on. Curse the limitations of being a warlock. Thinking of magic, Xaph runs through her own limited list of spells. She hasn’t got an arrow ready, and a fire bolt will get knocked aside by wind. One. She knows one. She’s managed it a few times. Three, to be exact. During her early morning - peaceful - practice. It’s a better chance than fire. Xaph draws a circle in the air with her hand, mimicking a lasso, “Flagellum dris.” 

It hurts, that’s the first sensation, the sting of nicking her finger on a rose’s thorns. Then the most disturbing feeling of something being pulled out from under the skin of her wrist, and then the sight is a whole different kettle of fish. A vine, two fingers thick and barbed, erupts from the veins of Xaph’s wrist. At least that’s what it looks like, what it feels like. The positioning of the thing is awkward, but from her few previous successes Xaph knows that she can easily wrap her fingers around the base of the thorn whip and direct it as she desires. The vine unravels as though it had been kept coiled somewhere in Xaph’s body and grows and stretches in the harpy’s direction. By Xaph’s instruction it wraps around the beast’s ankle, the thorns digging in and finding purchase in the marble-grey skin of the thing’s leg. With a yell Xaph pulls her arm back sharply, yanking the harpy away from Wyll and Mirkon and back towards her and Astarion. Towards the battleaxe Xaph raises when the thorn whip disappears. The blade separates head from shoulders. 

A loud splash signifies that Astarion has won his fight, confirmed by his cursing at his boots. They make their way back to shore, back to Wyll and the child they’d come here to find.

“He’s alright. Shaken, bit jelly-legged, but fine,” Wyll tells them, shaking a bottle above Mirkon’s head to show them he’s already given the boy a healing potion, “Think you can walk back up, Mirkon?” Wyll asks, and the boy shrugs. The harpy’s song has affected him far more than the grown-ups.

“Come here, muzz, I’ll take you.” Xaph offers, passing Astarion her battleaxe and kneeling to bring the child in to her chest. She’s stronger than the men. Mirkon can only be six or seven. Too young to be out here alone. All of these children are far too young. Xaph murmurs soft things into his hair while she carries him. His head rests on her shoulder, his arms wrapped tight around her neck and his legs around her middle. She can feel his tail around her elbow, and out of instinct her own tail rises to press into his back as though to further steady him. 

When they reach the top of the hill and cross the threshold into the druid’s hollow, they find the rest of the party. Gale’s face is drowned in concern that lessens when he sees no visible injuries on his friends, but his gaze instead is pinned on the child in Xaph’s arms. Lae’zel’s knees bend into a combat-ready stance, but a touch on the arm from Shadowheart prevents her from drawing her weapon. The hollow is devoid of druids except for Halsin, who looks a lot healthier than he had the last time they’d met. He sees Xaph, Astarion and Wyll - or rather he sees Mirkon - and breaks conversation to greet them. Xaph sways from side to side, her hand pressed to the back of Mirkon’s hair. She props her chin on the top of his head, between the beginnings of his horns, and looks up at Halsin.

“Harpies on the beach,” Wyll explains, “He was out there looking for the nest, so I reckon they’ve been there for a while.”

“Harpies? Not an issue for a druid enclave, but when there are children around…” Halsin’s hand cover’s Xaph’s in the child’s hair and druidic magic covers the boy’s scalp, “He’s fortunate that you found him. As am I. As are we all.”

“Parents?” Xaph whispers, still watching the druid. Halsin shakes his head. “Anyone?”

“A sister, Eramas, but she’s only seen sixteen summers herself.” Halsin answers. Xaph mouths a thank you, “No, friend, thank you. Thank all of you. The grove still stands. Nature prevails.”

“I did it for them.”

“I understand. Kagha did not foster care for them as she should have.”

“What is her punishment?”

“She is to start her training anew. A novice once more. With the Oak Father’s blessing, she can see the error of her ways,” Halsin explains. Xaph bites her tongue to stop the retort boiling in her throat from bubbling out. Druid, she reminds herself, druid, “I understand Zevlor’s people have plans to celebrate their freedom. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Wait, what about our problem?” Astarion asks, waving a finger about his ear to indicate the tadpole.

“I have told your friends some, and I shall tell you the rest tomorrow. For now, rest. Enjoy your victory. Accept our thanks.”

He leaves them with that, and Astarion complains about the weirdness of his parting words every time they meet him. The party meander back towards the gate, where the refugees are. Mirkon’s sister rushes up to them at the sight of her brother and takes him from Xaph, thanks and tears falling freely. She’d thought the goblins had got him somehow. The group find the same rocks they had sat on before. Doni’s still there, petting the owlbear. They sit, and they breathe, and fall into casual conversation. If they closed their eyes and ignored the stubborn worm that shoves for attention, they could imagine they’re in a pretty little town square or a beer garden or a picnic area. Simply passing the time of day. If only.

[ybcpatrick]

who is this fellow you keep reblogging? i'm fascinated

his name is kevin owens! he's a french-canadian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. and i am WOEFULLY infatuated with him, it's HORRIBLE, it is TERRIBLE, it is APOCALYPTIC. he fucking SUCKS, i can't STAND HIM.

in character, he's an arrogant, manipulative, bullheaded prick who will stop at nothing to reach the top. it doesn't matter what prize he's chasing: championships, revenge, justice for himself (or sometimes, others)... once it's in his sights, he's not gonna let anything get in his way. even if it means stabbing people in the back, rebelling against his bosses, or the repeated song and dance of betraying-and-getting-back his best friend/nemesis/literal soulmate. KO knows he's one of the best in the game, and he feels he is owed that recognition. he can be cruel and calculated, and impressively violent, but he can also be shockingly fruity affectionate, and downright hilarious, too. he's got LAYERS.

kevin owens is not a good man... though sometimes, it feels like he doesn't even mean to be such a dick. at his core, kevin's just trying to provide for his family. he's honestly kind of insecure! he's got a temper, yeah, but really, he has no clue how to process his emotions, and so they all end up translating into righteous fury.

in any case, he draws you in. you want to root for kevin, because he is genuine. in the world of wwe, the outlandish is normal; demons and undead wizards and leprechauns and giants and a fucking turkey man are all real, and readily accepted. ridiculous shit happens, week in, week out, because it's just part of the job; KO is startlingly real in contrast. he's just a guy. he's a grumpy, realistic, ambitious guy, and you love to watch him fight for what he's after. and when he's being a lil bitch? you love to watch him get his ass handed to him.

and then out of character, he's just like. incredibly sweet, humble, talented... 🥹🥹 he loves his family, he loves his friends, he loves animals, he loves having fun and telling great stories, and he just loves professional wrestling. quick with a joke, constantly lifting up his fellow wrestlers, wears his heart on his sleeve.. he's so cute it drives me absolutely nuts. kevin seems like such a great guy and I Just Really Really Like Him And Think He's Neat.

sorry this is so long. blorbo of the month. scronky from my wrestle. i like kevin owens.

[euterpessi]

Romance Manhwa/Manga Recommendations:

Historical Manhwa/Manga:

Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess

I’ve reincarnated as the reverse harem game’s villainess, the one and only adopted daughter of the ducal Eckart family.

But the difficulty just has to be the worst!

Everything I do will only lead me to death.

I must be paired with one of the main male characters from the heroine’s harem before the ‘real daughter’ of the duke family appears!

Two older brothers who always pick a fight with me on every little thing.

The insane crown prince whose route will always lead to my death.

‘I only see the heroine and no one else’s wizard, and also her loyal slave knight, too!

‘First, let’s take some of them which I see no hope in, out of the list!’

“I didn’t know my place up until now. From now on, I’ll live as quiet as a mouse so you wouldn’t care the slightest bit!

But why do their interests in me keep on rising every time I draw the line?!

The Villainess is a Marionette

Cayena, the Imperial Princess, was known as the most beautiful woman in the Empire. She was a woman who knew nothing but evil and luxury.

However, she was destined for ruin: she would be used as a chess piece by her younger brother to secure his throne and killed by her crazy husband.

“I’ll make you the Emperor.”

“… Sister, are you referring to me?”

“In exchange, give me freedom.”

She had to change things before she became that Cayena.

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’S Mansion

Poisoned to death by her own betrothed?! Eunha didn’t wake up in a novel’s story just to get killed off again as an unfortunate extra! To change her story she needs a cover… 6 months pretending to be the fake fiancée of the novel’s male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight. But will this cold-hearted, angel-faced demon of a man really help her avoid another ill-fated ending?!

Your Throne / I Want to Be You, Just For A Day

The story follows main characters Medea Solon and Psyche Callista, who become archenemies after competing for the position of crown princess of the Vasilios Empire. On the day of the Yearly Prayer, Medea and Psyche accidentally switch bodies.

The Remarried Empress

Navier was the perfect empress, however, the Emperor wanted a wife, not a colleague. And so, the Emperor abandoned Empress Navier and placed an enslaved girl beside him. That was fine until Navier heard the Emperor promise the slave the Empress’ position. After many ups and downs, Navier decided she would accept being the Queen of the neighbouring country and remarry.

Kill The Villainess

Eris Mizerian was the villainess of a novel. The only daughter of a marquis, she got executed after scheming against the pure and lovely protagonist, Helena. My only goal, after possessing her, is simply to leave this world and go home. I am prepared to face even death, but the laws of this world keep stopping me.

A changed Eris begins to draw the attention of three men who once loathed her; the Crown Prince, the High Priest, and the Knight.

"It doesn't matter. I will never be able to love this world."

Even if the only way out is death,

even if the only way out is make a deal with a witch...

I will absolutely leave this world!

This is the story of the villainess who defies fate, Eris, and her escape from this world!

The Way To Protect The Female Lead's Older Brother

I accidentally took possession of someone in a 19+ reverse harem novel.

The problem is that I became Roxana Agriche, the older sister of the sub-villain. My damn father kidnapped the heroine’s brother. Now, is the only thing left to meet a terrible end from the vengeance of the heroine?

But what if I can avoid that horrible development?

“I’m also interested in this toy.”

“I’ll protect you until you can get out of here safely.”

The heroine’s brother, Cassis Pedalian, will definitely be able to pay me back later.

Shadow Queen

“Can you be my daughter for me?”

By his offer, Elena became Duke of Franceschi’s fake daughter.

She became the queen and gave birth to Crown Prince’s son.

Then suddenly, Princess Veronica who was assumed dead came back.

She was only just a toy.

But eventually, Elena gets her son taken and is murdered.

However, she went back to the past.

“I’ll destroy all of you.”

I’ll never live as a toy again.

Elena decides to seeks revenge.

Under the Oak Tree

The daughter of a duke, the stuttering Maximilian, married a knight of lowly status at her father’s coercion.

After their first night, her husband departed for an expedition without another word.

He comes back three years later, this time as a famous knight in the whole continent.

How would Maximilian face him on his return?

"The more I think of you, the more lonely and lonely I become. I don't know why I can't quit even though it's so painful."

I'm Stanning The Prince

Angela’s fanfic became such a sensation that it even reached the Imperial Family, leading her to get arrested on charges of treason. Nevertheless, her fanfic improved the First Prince’s image, and his sister, the Princess, decides to take political advantage of this and keep Angela by their side. 

The heroine who can now fangirl to her heart’s content, and the Prince who doesn’t know how to act around her. As they bicker back and forth, they start growing closer…

Miss Not-So Sidekick

Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!

Even Though I’M The Villainess, I’ll Become The Heroine!

I wasn’t able to overcome the harassment and took my life, but I was reincarnated with the perpetrator? The perpetrator is the heroine, Florre, and I am the villainess, Dahlia, who’s going to die horribly.

“They said you are a villain with neither blood nor tears, but unlike the rumors, you often shed tears.”

“Your Highness must believe all the nonsense the idiots are talking about, huh?”

Grand Duke of Cervian, the half brother of the Male lead and who will be punished for treason afterwards. He approached me. I can’t lose the man who will be my greatest ally.

“Your Highness, would you marry me?”

“Now…… what did you say?”

“And take revenge together.”

A similar situation, a fixed ending. The heroine is not the only one who knows the ending of the novel. I took a long and arduous path of revenge.

Who Made Me A Princess

The beautiful Athanasia was killed at the hands of her own biological father, Claude de Alger Obelia, the cold-blooded emperor! It’s just a silly bedtime story… until one woman wakes up to suddenly find she’s become that unfortunate princess! She needs a plan to survive her doomed fate, and time is running out. Will she go with Plan A, live as quietly as possible without being noticed by the infamous emperor? Plan B, collect enough money to escape the palace? Or will she be stuck with Plan C, sweet-talking her way into her father’s good graces?!

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

With the marriage of her prostitute mother to the Count, Aria’s status in society skyrocketed immediately. After leading a life of luxury, Aria unfairly meets death because of her sister Mielle’s schemes. And right before she dies, she sees an hourglass fall as if it were a fantasy. And just like that, she was miraculously brought back to the past.

“I want to become a very elegant person, just like my sister, Mielle.”

In order to face the villainess, she must become an even more wicked villainess. This was the new path Aria chose to take revenge on Mielle who murdered both her and her mother.

The Evil Lady's Hero

Junipe Magnolia, a villainess friend of the heroine in this novel called Rael Cania.

The Junipe inside the novel has always loved the male lead, Iseed. To the point where she harassed Rael out of jealousy because she's loved by Iseed.

And thus, Junipe is destinied to die in the hands of the male lead of this novel.

But one day.

"Why did I become Junipe?!"

But let's think about it, it's still one year away from the time Junipe is going to get killed by Iseed. So, I have to meet Iseed and Rael first, I'll be able to find a way out of my death if I do so.

Yeah, let's meet them first!

But, this man is just so tender-hearted and kind. Would Junipe be able to escape from this man?!

I Tamed a Tyrant and Ran Away

God gave me a chance to relive my life. Before the rebirth, I had been used for the past 400 years as the empire's sword. And so, I swore to destroy the empire. I found the young prince of the country and became his teacher. I taught him how to become a tyrant and asked for the country.

"I will do the lady's will."

He conquered the whole empire for me, and I ran away.

"I came to take you, Charlize Ronan." Dylan became a perfect tyrant and searched the entire empire for me.

"You tamed me, so why did you run away?"

Untouchable Lady

“Please, Hilise. Please die in place of Gabrielle.” My always dignified brother begged me for the first time. He wants me to die for our stepsister, whom we don't even share a drop of blood with. “For the first and last time, I ask you this.” I've always been miserable, and there is no exception this time. The seventh time that I was betrayed and killed, I was completely free of lingering feelings. “I'm glad that you're a scumbag until the end.” I won't be swayed by love anymore. It's my turn to abandon them first.

I’ll Live On As A Villainess

I reincarnated as the villainess in a book!

The one who dared to commit attempted murder on the heroine is the owner of this body?

Let's just live in a quiet place where we have fun and eat! That's what I thought for a while.

It was so, so, so cold here in the north, where I was kicked out as a punishment.

Before I froze to death, I called the Great Demon of Fire and set fire to the fireplace but...

Why isn't he going back? If you've done the job, shouldn't you go back?!

I was flustered to find out that I had signed a life contract with a demon just to start a fire but to think that I'd be responsible for relieving his desires!

The bickering romance between a big puppy demon and a small villainess lady!

It Looks Like I’Ve Fallen Into The World Of A Reverse Harem Game

When I opened my eyes, I was in a different world. I had become the game’s villainous princess who was feared by all. Not to mention… Completely naked men I didn’t even know were approaching me left and right! “Are you cold? Shall I warm you up with a hug?” “Oh? Have you not had enough yet?” Seriously, what’s up with this situation? And just how the hell am I going to get out of this freaking game?!

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

I’m Jubelian? The daughter of the duke and the villainess of this novel?

I managed to avoid my death with some previous knowledge about my life, as this was my second time at it. Now, I should be able to live a peaceful life!

“I’m not going to marry a man unless he has everything. I want the most wealthy, famous, and competent man there is.”

I dreamt of a glamorous life as the daughter of the duke, but my father tells me the Crown Prince who is known to be a lunatic is to be my husband! As an extraordinary measure, I couldn’t help but start a contract relationship. That is, with a handsome side character that looks better than the main one.

“Why are you trying to avoid being engaged to the prince?”

“He’s scary. I heard that he even kills his own entourage if he doesn’t like them.”

A few days later, the prince sent a terrible letter to me.

“I will not kill you.”

Oh no, did I set up another death trap for myself?

Like A Wind On A Dry Branch

"Hi, You."

Count Casarius fell victim to a plague and died suddenly, leaving behind a will stating that Rietta, his beautiful young widow of the manor, whom he tried to use as a concubine, be buried alive alongside him. Just before Rietta is buried, Archduke Axias, rumored to be a cruel tyrant, arrives at the funeral to collect the enormous debt Count Casarius still owes him.

“Everyone here seems to feel sorry for her, and I still have a debt to collect from Casarius… If I take her instead of debt, I think all of you here should be happy," he smiled.

"Hello, Temptress."

Everything was a Mistake

Roa Valrose reincarnated as villainess in the book. In order to avoid the fate of being burned at the stake, she approaches the hero, Nocton Edgar.

It hurts every time she gets closer to him. Nevertheless, for her survival, she does everything he wants her to do.

“Come again, Valrose.”

The mysterious Nocton unexpectedly sought her out every day.

Then one day, her friend for 10 years says something unknown to her.

“Actually, I have a dream. The Duke of Edgar is a terrible villain!”

He is not the hero, but the villain?

As soon as she realized that she had misinterpreted the role, she decided to get away from Nocton.

“Let’s not meet anymore.”

But the villain’s reaction was strange.

“Don’t go. You’ve always been special to me.”

She was suspicious of his sudden change of attitude.

Will she able to get rid of Nocton safely?

I Became the Tyrant's Secretary

I became the secretary of a tyrant in place of my clumsy brother to survive.

But I have so much potential for it. I’m so darn good at my job. Because I served the tyrant so well, ‘Everyone has a happy ending’.

Well then, shall I quit being a secretary and live a leisurely life now?

“Rosaline, tell me what you want.” He asked as he stepped down from his chair.

“I want to quit.”

His eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Do you want to die?”

Your highness, you never hold on to people who want to leave, so why’re you being like this to me?

Seduce the Villainess Father

After being in a bus crash, I woke up to the world of my favourite web novel.

Not only that, It was before the protagonists were born, to their parents’ world!

To stop the incoming multiple bad events.

I tried to prevent the kidnapping of the sister who is pregnant with the female lead!

But I got kidnapped instead?!

It's depressing to be kidnapped, but my body couldn't handle the mana and became a sunfish-like state

But... if I am next to the emperor who kidnapped me, my body becomes normal!

Right! The way to save that man from marrying a witch and getting killed by his son, and for someone who is vulnerable to mana such as myself to live, is for us to get married!

The Villains Savior

Set on a path to tragedy and misfortune from a young age, Aseph Randell is doomed to die a villain. That is, until the mysterious Elzay Tiathe appears in his life with a promise: "I can save you." After having vivid visions of him for so long, can Elzay untangle the twisted fate tied to Aseph... or will they both be dragged down together?

Contemporary Manhwa/Manga:

Night Crying Crow

This woman; who is she?

If something was action, it'd be action. If something was romance, it’d be romance. The A-list actor Cheon Woo Kang, who's great at every (genre), had his heart stolen away by an unknown woman who’d broken into his house!

“We'll meet again.~"

Woo Kang contracted an over imaginative illness as he drew the woman, whose name he didn't even know. In front of Woo Kang, she reappeared as the police officer Park Tae... Could the shadow of the crisis that appeared in front of them be a coincidence?

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Yoshino Somei would have been a normal high-schooler if not for the fact that she is the granddaughter of the leader of the Osaka-based Somei Group, the Kansai region's largest yakuza organization. One day, Yoshino hurries home after hearing of the news about the unification of Kansai and Kanto's biggest syndicates, the Somei and the Miyama groups. This, according to the article, will result in a marriage of the leaders' grandchildren—one of whom is Yoshino herself! Despite her best efforts to annul the arrangement, Yoshino has to go to Tokyo to visit her fiancé, Kirishima Miyama, who is unexpectedly nice and charming.

During their first meeting, Yoshino is swept up in various events and becomes unable to refuse moving to Tokyo, which is why, half a year later, she now lives with the Miyama group. At school, she soon realizes that Kirishima is very popular, so her relationship with him garners the hate of his fangirls and subsequently results in bullying. To make matters worse, Kirishima could not be further away from her prince charming since he, after all, was born to be a yakuza member.

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii follows Yoshino and her new life in Tokyo that is filled with nothing but troubles connected to the underworld. However, though she wishes to be as far from it as possible, this isn't Yoshino's first time dealing with the world of the Yakuza...

Positively Yours

To Hee-won’s dismay, the BFF she crushed on and her other BFF are now dating! Seriously bummed, Hee-won decides to go wild just one time, and find solace with a handsome stranger. A very satisfying one night affair has now turned into more — she’s pregnant! Fate brings them together again, and now the regimented Doo-joon is determined to do the right thing and marry her. But they’re basically strangers! Except... their bodies have been very intimately acquainted. What’s this mother-to-be to do?

True Beauty

After binge-watching beauty videos online, a shy comic book fan masters the art of makeup and sees her social standing skyrocket as she becomes her school’s prettiest pretty girl overnight. But will her elite status be short-lived? How long can she keep her real self a secret? And what about that cute boy who knows her secret?

Cheese In the Trap

Hong Sul is a ordinary college student. Yoo Jung is the school's most popular upperclass man. He's good looking, rich, smart, and even nice. However, Hong Sul thinks there's more to Yoo Jung than what meets the eye…

SPY x FAMILY

The master spy codenamed has spent his days on undercover missions, all for the dream of a better world. But one day, he receives a particularly difficult new order from command. For his mission, he must form a temporary family and start a new life?! A Spy/Action/Comedy about a one-of-a-kind family!

Doppio Senso (18+)

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about a guy.”

KyungHyun stopped in the middle of a deep kiss and sighed. His lips began to form a smile, but his fierce glare said otherwise. Possessiveness and jealousy spread across his sculpted face.

“Will you tell me his name?”

His easygoing and languid voice reached her ears.

“Why?”

“So that I can shoot him down.”

[somerpmemes]

The Owl House Starters

Change as needed

“No! My only weakness! Dying!”

“That doesn’t count, right?”

“Do you have any friends? Real ones?”

“Tiny trash thief!”

“Oops, that happens sometimes.”

“I’m a squirmy little fella.”

“I like food, I like love, just let me write about it!”

“Oh, he gets so cute when he’s thirsty for power.”

“I’ve never actually broken any of your stupid laws… in front of you.”

“I hate everything you’re saying right now.”

“We’d be the strongest power couple ever.”

“Self-doubt is a prison you can never escape from.”

“Anyways, let’s bounce before any more monsters fall in love with me.”

“I am not your cutie pie!”

“No one wants an un-oiled snake.”

“Remember, never befriend a man in sandals and always measure twice, cut once.”

“Be back by nightfall or risk mortal peril!”

“I know I’ve had enough delight for one day.”

“Sorry to break it to you, ___, but no one here is that well-dressed.”

“This has been a rough day.”

“Big houses always belong to big whack jobs.”

“Today just got good.”

“Wizards are just old people with glitter in their pockets.”

“Anyways, your food is gone and we are too.”

“Never trust a man in casual drapery.”

“All that mean-spirited laughter made me sleepy.”

“I don’t like this. I really don’t like this.”

“All your food was so tiny and cute.”

“If you can think of a better plan I’d love to hear it.”

“Betrayed by my own cool accessories.”

“I didn’t have to be part of this!”

“I… don’t like this.”

“I think I’ll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still… alive.”

“Wow, you’re so unnoticeable I almost rolled into you.”

“It’s okay, the thorns only went through a few layers of skin.”

“Alright, into the darkness you go.”

“Oh my god, I haven’t eaten real food in so long please give me some.”

“You can’t just cut open a human, can you?”

“Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life!”

“Ahh, baby’s first wanted poster.”

“Even demons have inner demons.”

“This is my paying attention face.”

“Look, now we’re boo boo buddies.”

“It’s like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out.”

“I respect your cunning but I also hate you for it.”

“Oh, gross. Can I keep that?”

“This is terrifying, so why do you look so happy?”

“Oh no, a twist!”

“I’m kind of over that nickname, but okay.”

“Oh, what lovely thing do we have here? It’s just so dang shiny, oh my.”

“And look, I drew flip book.”

“I will literally do anything to stop this.”

“If I’m seen, I could go to jail… again.”

“Alright, let’s see this mess.”

“That’s probably fine.”

“Time to prepare for bloodshed.”

“Welcome down to my level!”

“I know I should be repulsed but that look is fierce.”

“I’m gonna steal everything that’s not nailed down!”

“I was up all night poison tasting and, for some reason, I don’t feel great.”

“I need an extra pair of eyes looking out for pickpockets. And an extra pair of hands in case I want to pickpocket.”

“I got leaves in my pants. And I like it.”

“I was a strange child.”

“You think this can stop me? I can still bite your ankles.”

“If you’re gonna eat me, just do it now!”

“___, you’re getting all swoony again.”

“Rivals are meant to be annihilated, not befriended.”

“Witches eating babies is so 1693.”

“Ugh, you.”

“I thought we were as cool as cucumbers but we’re as sour as pickles.”

“Whoa, I almost passed out.”

“It’s been hours, how can it keep screaming!?”

“Say that again and I steal your tongue.”

“Keep going, this is fun to watch.”

“Isn’t that taking it a bit too far?”

“Just go away before things somehow get worse!”

“This never happened.”

“And who doesn’t like their name in lights?”

“That’s the incorrect reaction!”

“I smell an easy mark.”

“Well, I hate her.”

“It’s like demonic possession with the ones you love.”

“This is just like my favorite early 2000’s movie!”

“I’m so old… and pointy.”

“I’ve got some very confusing emotions right now.”

“My life’s not a joke! But yours is!”

“Novelty costumes are where I draw the line.”

“I am not above disrespecting my elders.”

“This vacation just took an alarming, back-alley turn.”

“Geez, I thought I’d like being babied. But I feel small and helpless, like some sort of baby.”

“Hey, take this, society!”

“I didn’t like her telling me what to do before, but now I love it!”

“Let’s go let out some teen angst!”

“This is how the cool kids ride. Super backwards, on purpose.”

“Your life is pretty terrible. But, hey, it’ll probably be over soon.”

“This is some of my best work, really captures the shame.”

“That’s sweet, kid. Now let’s never speak of this again.”

“Show, don’t tell, man.”

“Oh, look what you did. I’m gonna go rub it in.”

“That seems like a potential problem to me.”

“You being the razzle, I’ll bring the dazzle.”

“Do you always have confetti on you or—?”

“You’re just gonna be unhelpful, huh?”

“Okay, time to run for no particular reason!”

“Oof, I’ve had this nightmare before.”

“Like I’d actually apologize.”

“I want power, and I want drama.”

“Are you ready to give up?”

“I was afraid, I acted stupid.”

“I just wish you told me the truth.”

“You know, it didn’t taste as bad as I thought I would.”

“Impressive, still alive.”

“This is a throne worthy of a tyrant!”

“No, no, keep those sticky hands away.”

“No one wants to see that.”

“Since when are you into sports?”

“Gross, sympathy.”

“Don’t spend all night plotting revenge.”

“Oh, this is an interesting development.”

“I’ll take that weird grumble as a yes.”

“I’m feeling confident about this plan.”

“Trust must be earned.”

“If you run, you’ll just make it harder for yourself!”

“Your pride has destroyed you.”

“So tiny, so angry.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be clean again.”

“If you ever want to search for the truth, I’ll help you.”

“Aww, that’s a horrible lie.”

“Partake of my free snack samples!”

“Why isn’t anyone paying attention to me?”

“A, eww. B, I’m bored. C, I feel like pickpocketing some dork while they browse.”

“I know my good angle.”

“Ugh, what are the basement dwellers doing out in natural sunlight?’

“Hey, there’s more to life than shipping.”

“___, I know you’re trying to help, but I think you’re crossing a line.”

“Ooh, I love punching.”

“You’re ominous, and I like it.”

“And of course you would be here just to be a nuisance.”

“I wanted to compare sunglasses.”

“Fame can really box you in, you know?”

“Besides, if anyone’s putting you down it’s gonna be me.”

“If it’s disappointing in any way I’ll spend the rest of my life trashing it.”

“He scammed us. Can you believe he scammed us?”

“Good entrance. But that outfit? Hah!”

“I’ve got a new crush and her name is education!”

“Ahh, fresh garbage.”

“I have never seen such an extravagant earring.”

“Wow, a surprisingly peaceful domestic moment. When will it be ruined?”

“Weaponizing my pride, well played.”

“Sorry, whoever’s over there!”

“Well, go on. Eat the snow.”

“Huh, it’s no fun if they don’t tremble.”

“Oh, okay, alright. Yup, an idea’s happening.”

“Shh! I don’t need your validation!”

“Get back here before that thing bites you!”

“No, we’re gonna die.”

“Cool. I didn’t actually think you could do it.”

“It’s not a secret.”

“Alright, your adorable banter is literally making me sick.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve seen worse.”

“Aww. I won’t be doing that, but thanks.”

“Quitting: it’s like trying, but easier.”

“You humans are filled with liquids, right?”

“I guess I have always liked pouring things into other things.”

“Time to scrounge through the trash.”

“I ain’t no desk jockey.”

“You don’t know diddly dang about squiddly squat!”

“I love secret rooms!”

“You have an aura of lies.”

“Also, you can eat trash.”

“Do the right thing, you dingus!”

“It just goes on like this for an hour.”

“Carnivals bring crowds and crowds bring suckers.”

“We’ve got scams to run.”

“I know poison when I see it.”

“You can’t scam a scammer.”

“You should really put a lock on your closet.”

“I love crimes!”

“Now this is my kind of weird.”

“That’s way safer than becoming blood brothers.”

“Beat up the man and steal his things for me.”

“This mama is ready for trauma.”

“All right. Approval!”

“Curse these stubby legs!”

“Sketchy carnival rides are not to blame this time.”

“___, you’re lucky I can’t be mad at your adorable antics.”

“Just when I thought I couldn’t respect the law any less…”

“Aww, what a supportive sign.”

“Yep, I just counted to one million.”

“Looks like we ruined his life for a second time.”

“I’ve always wanted to own a jagged piece of cheap metal.”

“Yes! Bread puns, bread puns forever!”

“Now I know what friendship tastes like.”

“I think today is a talons day.”

“It’s fun because it’s stupid.”

“I’ll admit, I was adorable.”

“Be careful with my brain.”

“Wouldn’t you rather talk about it?”

“That’s my motto after all, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’”

“No schemes, no plots, no ruses. None.”

“I can’t believe I made him cry.”

“Are you solving a crime or about to commit one?”

“Sadly this is one problem crime can’t solve.”

“I’m supposed to choose someone interesting, accomplished, and noteworthy. People aren’t meant to be all those things!”

“Yup, her brain’s burned up real good.”

“Be still my fantasy-loving heart.”

“I’m pretty good at getting stuck inside people’s heads.”

“Hey, I found something magical.”

“I’ma put my face in it.”

“It’s like a little doghouse for angels.”

“If you’re handing out attention, I deserve it.”

“Eww, I mean, aww.”

“I really messed things up.”

“It’s eggs, it’s full of eggs.”

“No one turns down an interview with someone this pretty.”

“Me? Avoid? What? No. But let’s skip it.”

“There’s levels to me, kid. Levels I say!”

“Oh, right, I put people in there.”

“I’m gonna hug you so hard you’ll never forget me again!”

“I regret teaching you about the internet.”

“Ah, a severed hand. Perfect response.”

“Hmm, the demon at my shoulder makes a good point.”

“Always trust a shoulder demon.”

“The more I look at him, the more uncomfortable I get.”

“Man, you’ve got some quick grabbers.”

“I can’t wait to get overdressed, take awkward photos, push all the buttons!”

“We’re gonna turn this bloodbath into a fun bath.”

“Do you think I could pull off red eyeshadow?”

“Girl, you could pull off anything.”

“We’re style geniuses!”

“Ominous footsteps, creepy woods, this is no problem.”

“Dang, I look great.”

“___, you always go overboard and I end up bailing you out.”

“Now, what’s the fun in watching a kid get eaten by a monster if it’s my kid?”

“___, I don’t think you’re ready but we’re literally out of time.”

“Why so twitchy, witchy?”

“Teenagers are brutal. They’ll boo anyone and that kind of public humiliation will stick with you for life.”

“You look nice. Strange, but nice.”

“Honestly, I’m kind of amazed with how fearless you are.”

“You’ve done things I could never do.”

“Thing is, you’re sitting in my personal chitchat zone, which means you gotta talk.”

“I am a little weirdo.”

“You gotta pander.”

“Cheating a isn’t anything to brag about.”

“Well, can’t reason with crazy!”

“I’ve been talking for too long.”

“Feeling sentimental?”

“I love water.”

“I don’t know much about sports but I do know about sports movies.”

“What happens in the montage stays in the montage.”

“Not everything can be solved with a good attitude and a dope movie soundtrack.”

“Sorry, I just really love backstories.”

“You just destroyed your social life.”

“That’s such a stupid rule!”

“You’re not gonna show this to anyone, right?”

“I haven’t forgotten what you promised me.”

“Ahh, you’re a thorn in my side but you always dig your way into my heart.”

“Jeez, you’re morbid.”

“Ahh, it’s a fate much worse than death if you think about it.”

“Please don’t make me regret taking you here.”

“Love me a properly ventilated castle.”

“I spy with my little eye something coming this way!”

“I’m going away and I don’t know if I can come back this time.”

“And  ___, thank you, for being in my life.”

“I want her back as much as you do.”

“Don’t look at me like that, this is for your own good.”

“Ah farts, I got caught.”

“You understand, don’t you?”

“Please tell me that’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“To be great, you have to make sacrifices.”

“Ahh, ___, you chose the wrong side.”

“I like your spirit, but try that again and things won’t end well for you.”

“Go on, then. Go be a hero.”

“I may have lost but so have you.”

“I can teach you what I know, and what we don’t know we can learn together.”

[xxreader-writerxx]

Red Haired Boy

Word Count: 3.6k (sorry got carried away)

Fred Weasley x Fem Reader

Warnings: PTSD, mentions of death (happy ending tho), panic attack, graphic violence at parts, mentions of blood, cursing (maybe?), tell me if I need to add anything

Y/N= Your Name L/N= Your Last Name Y/H= Your House Y/N/N= Your nickname

I get shoved sideways by a red haired boy and run into the wall. I let out a small gasp feeling my shoulder run into a sharp brick. I hold the cut with tears in my eyes. I see the boy turn around and run back worried. "Bloody hell! I'm so so sorry!" He tells me and I shake my head firmly. "It's alright." I mumble trying to make it seem like I'm not crying. "No it's not, you're bleeding!" He tells me and I see another boy run and stop seeing us. "Fred! He's on my tail!" He tells him tugging his arm. "Go on then! I need to handle something!" He tells him angrily getting his arm free. "Whatever..." The other boy mutters. "Does it hurt?" He asks and I shake my head shyly. "No... I'm fine. Really."

"WEASLEY!" I hear and see its our groundskeeper. "I'm going to enjoy this one..." He mutters to himself as he pulls the boy by his arm harshly. I look at him and he looks sad but smiles weakly at me. "AH MY ARM. OH IT HURTS!" I say not thinking. "What?!" He asks and I clutch my arm. "AH HELP HELP!" I yelp and he drops Fred, as soon as he's freed I silently tell him to run and he smiles at me. He runs and Filch is still distracted by my wailing. I stand straight and smile. "Its gone now. I think I just need to get patched up." I say calmly, walking to the infirmary.

"What do you mean?" I hear as I get wrapped up by Madam Pomfrey. "It was bloody amazing. She started screaming her arm hurt and let me run off!" A nearly identical voice replies. "Well good for her but karma must've came to bite you." The voice replies. "Yeah... But- No way! It's her!" He says and I look up to see the boy I helped earlier. "Hey- What happened!?" I ask seeing his eye covered in blood. "When he was running he was distracted and fell face first into a statue, cut his eyebrow pretty good." His identical brother tells me. "Oh no!" I say and he walks over and Madam Pomfrey groans.

"Sit there, I'll be back in a moment... Foolish boy..." She mutters and he hops up next to me. "Fred Weasley." He introduces and I smile shyly, shaking his hand. "Y/n, Y/n L/n..."

"I wanted to say thank you, for not only saving me but I also wanted to say thank you for saving me despite me hurting you." He tells me shyly and I smile. "My pleasure."

***

I wake up to my boyfriend kissing my shoulder as I sleepily wake up. "Hi baby..." I whisper groggily. "Hi darling..." He smiles at me and I notice he's kissing my scar from how we met. He places his cheek against mine as I wrap his arms around me. "Whatcha thinking about?" I ask and he sighs. "I never payed you back for saving me the day you got this..." He tells me and I laugh. "How bout..." I say pushing him lightly so I'm on top. "Five minutes, whenever I choose to use it, you have to do whatever I want." I whisper and he smiles cheekily. "Yes ma'am..." He tells me and I chuckles. "Yay that one day I will be doing no dishes." I tell him and he scoffs. "I was thinking something more sexual but ok." He tells me and I kiss his nose.

***

I look around frantically for my loved ones, happy I am a half witch so my family isn't here, blood related though. I look for the Weasley Family trying to see through the falling dust and rubble. I see a messy ginger hair and get excited. I limp over as quickly and see its not my Weasley but Percy. He's screaming for help. I ignore the pain coursing through me and run the best I can.

He's digging through rubble and I freeze in fear. "W-who is that?" I ask seeing a hand underneath it all. "JUST HELP!" He screams and I rush over moving each piece of rubble. I finally help drag the body out. I lay him on me to support his head and moves his hair from his eyes. "Freddie?" I ask softly and he looks at me smiling. "Hey..." He barely says and he gasps slightly for air. "Hey, stay awake for me... Percy get help, he's bleeding a lot..." I cry and he runs. I feel Fred's weak and cold hand wrap around mine. "I hoped you were in my last moments ya know?" He tells me smiling, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Well let that be another day. Freddie you are going to stay alive you idiot." I tell him chuckling through my worry, combing his hair lightly. "I want you to be happy. Don't wait for me to come back. Find someone who makes you happy. Alright?" He asks and I scoff. "I would if you were dying. But you aren't." I sob and he holds my hand. "You'll be ok..." He whispers closing his eyes but I grab his head shaking my own. "Hey remember the time we met?" I ask smiling at him and he nods smiling. "You cut my shoulder so deep and I saved you minutes later, remember that?"  I ask and he scoffs leaning his head back weakly. "Didn't think my last moments would be getting guilt tripped." He tells me and gasps at a pain in his side. "Well because of that you told me you would give me five minutes of anything I wanted. I want to have five minutes, after this war, dancing with you. You understand? I want to get married and dance for five minutes." I demand and he chuckles, then cringes at the pain.

Wizards swarm us and help him onto a stretcher as we finally let go of each other's hands. People help me up saying I need to heal my injuries. I keep my eyes on him scared..

***

Three months.

Three fucking months and nothing is better. They said it would be better by now. But I still miss him, miss my fiancé. He died shortly after I saw him. His dead body being the only thing on my mind every single day. Today I need to collect his belongings so I throw myself out of bed sadly. I walk out to the room to the empty, quiet, kitchen. I look for my mug and think George must have put it away when he was cleaning. The twin of my passed fiancé constantly stops by to help around the house, he says it helps pass the time.

I climb on the ladder and see he just put it far back in the shelf. I look right above it and look at it shocked. It's Fred's mug.

I hold it and tear up. "Why couldn't you stay? You promised you would stay! You promised! Wh-why did I have to loose you?!" I scream and fall to my knees feeling my heart crumble. "You promised..." I whisper against the mug. I put it down and feel the ground rumble from the nearby train. I ignore it until it makes my mug fall from the counter and drop on Fred's. "No... No no no no no..." I sob picking up the pieces.

George's POV:

I walk into the building to see Y/n yelling at the landlord angrily. "NO YOU CALM DOWN GARRETT! THAT BLOODY TRAIN BROKE MY FIANCE'S MUG! HE FOUGHT IN A WAR YOU WOULD NEVER IMAGINE! HIS MUG IS IRREPLACEABLE! HE FOUGHT DEATHEATERS! DID YOU FIGHT DEATHEATERS GARRETT?! NO! SO YOU WILL GET THAT BLOODY BLOODY TRAIN TO STOP OR PUT A DAMN SPELL ON THIS BUILDING SO I DON'T HAVE TO THINK I AM ON A CRUISE EVERYTIME IT PASSES!" She yells at him holding a bag to her chest, tears streaming down her face. I grab her arms holding them to her chest as she continues to yell at him. "Sorry mate its just a horrible day." I explain as I wrestle her into the lift. "Y/N!" I yell at her and she sobs clutching the bag. "All I had left George! I didn't even know I had it! And it was gone just like he's gone! It was practically a reenactment!" She cries and I hold her close. I kiss the top of her head knowingly.

"He's gone!" She sobs and I nod not wanting to add to it. As much as I miss Fred, she misses him more. She has had everyone in her life leave her and he was all she had besides our family but we weren't even close to him. She trusted him with her life and it was ripped away so quickly. Her love for him was more than a man could describe.

"Let's get you washed up..." I whisper and she nods silently.

***

Fred's POV:

I limp inside the home I once knew and look for my mother, brother, anyone. I can barely see through my bloody hair that has overgrown. I climb the stairs harshly noting the pain in my ribs. I open my room and everything is empty on my side. I walk over to George's bed and nothing. "Mum?" I barely croak. I keep searching ignoring the pain.

I hear a teacup fall and break behind me, I whip around to see my mother as pale as possible. "George? What's wrong?!" She asks and I try to smirk. "Mum wrong twin, but before I yell at you about that I need to find- well myself..." I say drawing my wand. "What? George are you alright? Please don't tell me my boy is gone too." She whimpers. "Mum, where have you last seen me, or well Fred?" I ask and she walks over, tears filling her eyes. "Georgie... Fred died. You remember don't you?" She whispers, combing my hair, I nearly relax at the sensation, haven't been able to see my mother in a year. Only being tortured.

"Mum? I died?" I ask and she sobs, holding me. "C'mon Georgie! Don't tell me we have to go back to St. Mungo's!" She sobs into my chest. "What?! George went to St. Mungo's?!" I ask getting worried. "Oh Godric... Georgie! Y/n! She snapped! Please stop this!" She cries and I freeze. "What do you mean mum?" I ask and she cries more. "You know what happened!" She clutches my shirt tightly. "Mum!" I say grabbing her wrists. "It. Is. Fred. I have been tortured for a year. I need to go find Georgie and Y/n. Where's my girl?" I ask getting worried. She places a hand on my cheek and looks at me carefully. "Freddie?" She asks and I nod, cupping her hand. "Yes mum. Freddie. Can you heal me up and show me where my girl and twin is? I haven't seen them in so long, I miss them." I ask and she smiles. "ARTHUR COME HERE!" She yells as she helps me to the den.

***

I walk into George's apartment with him and my parents slowly. "Why's she living here?" I ask and George sighs. "Please be calm alright?" He asks and I nod. He unlocks the door and looks around. "Y/n?" He calls and sighs. "Don't know why I try anymore..." He whispers mostly to himself. "Please show her slowly George. We can't have her getting worse." My mum tells him and he nods.

I walk into a room across from his and see her laying on her bed. "Hey Y/n! Got you a surprise..." George says and points to the corner. "Let me get her used to seein me first." He whispers and I look at him confused. She turns around and smiles at him silently. "Still no talking?" He asks and she tears up. "It's alright. Can you trust me real quick?" He asks and she nods confused. My heart breaks seeing her, she looks broken.

"C'mere Fred..." He tells me and she whips her head around. I walk over and she tears up. "No..." She whispers and I back away. "Hey Lovey..." I whisper. "You're dead." she tells me and I chuckle. "Turns out. A lot of people think that..." I joke and she walks over. She pokes my chest and I poke her shoulder playfully. "What was that for?" I ask joking and she says nothing but wrap her arm around me.

"Hey Y/n/n, want some tea and we can explain?" George asks and she nods. "Alright me and Fred-" He begins but she shakes her head, holding me tighter like a toddler with a teddy. "I want Fred to stay." She says and I kiss her head. "Y/n, you need to change." He tells her and she grips on my shirt. "I want Fred to stay." She repeats and he sighs. "George. She can just change while I'm turned around. I don't think she'll let me leave, right lovey?" I ask and she nods, nuzzling her face into my shirt. "He'll leave again." She states and I kneel. "Never again. I promise." I tell her and she starts to cry. "You said that." She tells me and my heart breaks. "I know, but this year was temporary. I promise." I tell her.

George finally leaves and she changes as quickly as possible and races back to hug me again. I pick her up and she stays hugging me. "Freddie..." She whispers and I nod. "I gotcha baby." I tell her and she shoves her head in the crook of my neck.

I sit down and George is tearing up. "You got her to talk." He tells me and I look at her confused. "What do you mean?" I ask and he wipes his face. "She was ok at first... Then she saw a Scrapbook of you guys. She realized that you were actually well- You know what I mean. And she stopped talking. We brought her to St. Mungo's in hope she'd start talking but after a month I just took her in here. Hoping one day she'd talk again. Then you came back. She talked for the first time today. Only because she saw you." He explains. "Your turn." She says and I nod, rubbing circles on her back.

"They thought us twins were the only two who were important enough to be in the army but slightly unimportant to kidnap one and try to get answers. They replaced me with a soldier using Polyjuice. Luckily... I had the memory of you guys keeping me strong." I explain kissing her neck. I feel tears on my shoulder and I move to see her face. "What's wrong lovey?" I ask and she hides in my neck again. "My fault." She cries into my neck. "Hey... What do you mean?" I ask and she nuzzles her face into my neck. "I didn't notice..." She cries and I kiss her neck up and down softly. "No baby, they took some of my memories so it would be impossible to not notice." I explain and she holds me tightly. "But I love you so much. I should've." She explains, taking breaks, every time trying to remember a word or at least how to say it. "I'm going to pack her things, I think your flat will be more comfortable." George says and I nod.

"I'm sorry." She mumbles and I kiss her again. "Me too..." I whisper.

***

"Good morning darling." I say as I sit on the couch next to Y/n. She smiles at me slightly and I grab the newspaper. "Want me to read for you?" I ask and she nods,  laying on my lap. I run my fingers through her hair as I read the news, showing her the cartoons. I'm smiling and laughing for her until she gets up and grabs a grape. She eats it and I pop up straight. "Sorry did you want that?" She asks and I smile at her. I kiss her all over her face and she giggles. I start kissing her even more causing more giggles. The sound I haven't heard in two years, right before the war.

"Freddie!" She giggles and I smile at her with the dopiest smile I can muster. "I love your laugh..." I sigh and she smiles at me. I get a call and answer it seeing its George.

"Hey could you come down to the shop? Ron set off fireworks after falling and there might be a hole near your office. We tried fixing it but your Magic Blocker is being a pain" He tells me and I sigh. "Alright coming. You two are very much interrupting the best day of my life." I say kissing the crown of Y/n's head. "Why? What happened?" He asks and I smile at the girl in my hold. "Y/n both ate and I heard that gorgeous giggle of hers." I say smiling proudly at Y/n. She blushes slightly and I kiss her nose.

I get up to change with Y/n following closely behind after hanging up and change in our shared room as she fiddles with the sensory knickknacks. With my ADHD and her PTSD we got them to keep our minds healthy. I laugh when she throws the dollar bill squishy at me playfully. I pick it up and she smirks at me. "Pass me my wallet." She tells me and I sigh knowing what I'm getting myself into. I toss her the wallet and she opens it looking for something.

I continue getting dressed when I feel a coin hit my back. "Hey! Dollar bills!" I say tossing the coin back. "I see no such rule." She replies and I smile. "How can you annoy the hell out of me but make me fall so much harder..." I mumble and she smiles. "Its cause I pay good." She quips, tossing a coin at me. I finally get my belt fixed and I walk over. I pick her up and drop her onto our bed. I kiss her neck and she giggles as I tickle her lightly. "I love you so much..." I whisper and she kisses my cheek. "Not as much as I love you." She whispers back.

I get fully dressed and I watch as she disappears into the closet and returns, first eyes searching for me quickly and when she finds me she walks over hugging me. "Ready to go?" I ask and she nods.

Y/n's POV:

I walk into the shop with Fred as we walk out into the streets of Diagon Alley. "Busy street today." He mutters worried and I nod, holding onto his hand tightly. "Don't worry. If we lose each other, meet me at the shop. You know the way." He tells me and I nod silently.

We set off and halfway I lose him in the crowd. I look around scared. My heart beats faster and faster as the seconds pass. "Fred?" I say loudly and get no response. My heart starts to go faster than I've ever felt. "Fred?" I say, tears forming in my eyes.

What if he gets kidnapped again?

What if he's hurt?

What if I get kidnapped?

What if Fred has to go through the same as I did?

What if-

I rush to the shop and go into the bathroom, locking the door as I fall to the ground crying. My heart beating faster than it should. I try to breath but no air is allowed down my throat. Tears fall from my eyes and I cry harder.

I need to go back and look for him.

Stop being a coward.

He could be hurt.

God I can't move.

What if me being a coward causes the last of the Deatheaters kidnap him again?

I can't lose him-

"Y/n? Darling?" I hear and I wipe my tears, quickly standing up shakily. I unlock the door and smile at a distressed Fred. "Hey I just had to fix my makeup." I say and his frown deepens. "C'mere." He says holding his arms open. I stop before hugging him and take a step back. "How do I know?" I ask and he sighs. "I got some Veritaserum in the back if you'd like that." He tells me and I run into his arms, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry." I cry softly into his chest and he kisses my head. "I'm here for you every step of the way. For better and worse." He whispers into my head softly.

"Now it's time to deal with my idiot brother's mistakes."

***

Fred comes into the apartment and smiles happily. "Lovey!!!" He says and I smile brightly at him. I hold up my now empty plate and he wraps his arms, one hand holding his briefcase, around me. "I made you some too!" I tell him and he looks at the coffee table. "I can't believe I was lucky enough to marry you..." He whispers in my ear and I smile. "I can agree." I tell him, kissing his nose. It's been two years since he got back and I finally got better. I started talking again, laughing, hugging, all because I had my loving husband next to me the whole time. I still have some issues with him leaving but not as bad as before.

"How was work?" I ask as he sits down, starting to eat. "Good. Missed you though." He tells me and I smile, laying on his lap as he devours his food. I unbutton his shirt and pull up the t-shirt underneath, I put my head under the cloth and kiss his scars lightly as he rubs my hair lightly. "I love you my crazy lady." He tells me and I pull my head away, smiling at him goofily. "I love you my red haired boy."

[elles-writing]

Dragon Heart - III.

A/N: Another part after like weeks? Yeah! Anyways, I wasn't sure about this series, but I'm so glad I got more inspiration! I wasn't motivated to write as much, especially because my mental health condition. Anyway, I'm so happy about this chapter!

Warnings: -

Genre: -

Taglist: @guardianofrivendell @anjhope1 @legolasoftherings @kumqu4t @grunid @elvish-sky @artsywaterlily @alexloveskili

If you want to be added to tag list, send me a message or comment please.

"I thought you said that there is no more visitors," Bilbo frowned up at Gandalf. He shook his head.

"This one isn't just one another visitor." He said, and when he opened the door, curious pair of eyes with sparks in them greeted him.

"Gandalf," overheard the dwarves. Some of the younger dwarves shared a look. It was a female, young female, by the voice.

"This is Y/N. She's closely related to someone, who was studying dragons their whole lives." Y/N looked at him. This was a secret she wasn't really happy she had to tell to the old wizard, but at least the dwarves didn't knew.

"How old's the lass-ow, Fili!" Her eyes quickly found young dark-haired dwarf. She let out a chuckle.

"Older than you might think," Y/N said. His wide eyes found hers.

"Y/N? Is that-is that you?" Bilbo said, once he was able to speak again.

"Bilbo?" The girl smiled and nodded to herself, after she studied a bit of his features. She pulled him to hug.

"I missed you," she muttered and ruffled his curls. The hobbit was little embarrassed, uncomfortable and surprised, but happy, all at once.

When she pulled away, she noticed the dwarves observing her, mostly suspiciously - well, especially the older ones - from the corner of her eye.

You need to gain their trust, she thought.

She leaned on the doorway, hands crossed over her chest, when the discussion started.

"To fight a dragon, you'll need an expert,"

"He said he's an expert!"

"I'm not afraid! I'll come there and put a sword to it's jacksie!"

"Do you know how big a dragon is? It isn't the size of an orc, or a warg. Dragon wouldn't even have to open his mouth to burn you alive," Everyone went quiet after Y/N spoken. She was frowning at all them. If they all thought that slaying - she hated to think about it - a dragon - was a piece of cake, then they all would be burned alive and the beast wouldn't even blink.

"I would not suggest you to just run up to a dragon, if you are not complete fools or want to die by painful death. But who knows, the way is still long, and-"

"Wait, a, um," Bilbo nervously looked around. She noticed fear in his voice. How could she not. If she would be in his place, she would feel the same way.

"Well, imagine a flying  with long and sharp teeth. It will burn you in a blink of an eye, and there will be only pile of ashes left!"

"Y-yeah, I know what dragon is," Y/N turned and shot the dwarf a look, but he ignored her.

"It will be horrible pain, but only for a second," the dwarf continued.

A dull sound near her made her turn around.

"Bilbo!" She kneeled down to the hobbit.

"Good job," She frowned at the dwarf with hat. He didn't seemed to be as guilty as confused. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Help me to get him to the armchair," she pointed over to living room.

Meantime Bilbo was uncouncious, the young dark-haired dwarf from earlier stood next to her.

"Where do you know Master Boggins from, miss Y/N?" She turned her gaze to him.

"I spended some time here, with...Bilbo's family." She pointed to the living room. The dwarf nodded.

"What's your name?" She asked as she was looking around the hobbit hole. It didn't changed much since she left the last time, Y/N noticed.

"Kili, at your service," He introduced himself with small smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Kili," She said as she flipped through one book. It was full of tales and stories. She remembered that book. The ink was paler, but she was still able to read it.

She was the one who brough it here.

"A book with tales?" He curiously looked what she was looking at. She shrugged.

"Yeah." Smirk stretched across his lips.

"I didn't knew Master Boggins was not as prude as he seems to be,"

"Well, some hobbits, especially Bilbo Baggins, can be surprising," Y/N shrugged and flipped through the pages. The two of them were in silence, until something caught Kili's attention.

"Woah, those illustrations are gorgeous," Kili said. You looked at him, as he curiously studied the drawings and paintings.

"They are, indeed." You nodded.

"The pictures look like they could speak," Kili said barely above whisper, and carefully runned the tips of his fingers across the paper.

"My father made them," Y/N said quicker than she could stop it. Kili's glittering eyes looked at her, as he wanted to say something.

"He must've been a very talented person, when he created these breath-taking pieces of art," Kili winked.

"He was a blacksmith," Y/N said, closed the book and placed it back to the shelf to other books.

[honeyxmonkey]

Whumptober Day 5: I've Got In My Red Ledger

Douxie gently cupped Nari’s frozen cheek, feeling the stinging burn of the ice practically eating away to his bone… but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He stared at Nari’s face which was permanently fixed in an agonized scream.

Douxie found that despite the horror that was right in front of him, he almost couldn’t believe it.

“No… Nari…” he choked out before a broken sob clawed its way out of his throat and he flung his arms around her tiny frozen form and let out a wail of grief and horror. He couldn’t protect her.

His friends found him clinging to her frozen form as it was crumbling and cracking right in his grip. They could see the frost crawling up his fingers and arms, spreading across his whole body, slowly freezing him right along with the little goddess. Even with Skrael dead, his magical ice was deadly and consuming.

Jim and Toby had to yank Douxie away from Nari before the ice could eat him whole. He fought them, screaming and thrashing in their grips the entire time, ice cold to the touch.

Aarrrgghh eventually had to grab him tight, holding the distraught wizard to his chest to keep him still. Douxie’s struggling began to cease and soon he was just sobbing against the troll’s stone chest.

He not only lost his sister, but also his familiar.

He didn’t stop crying but it dwindled down into shallow and quiet sobs and Aarrrgghh didn’t let him go.

The others stood around awkwardly while Douxie had a full on mental breakdown, not knowing what to say or do.

_______________________________

After too many minutes to count, Douxie had spent his tears, sinking to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself as he stared off into space. Aarrrgghh had a permanent hand on the wizard’s head to give him something in his grief. Just a reassurance to try and let him know that he wasn’t alone.

_______________________________

“Great gronka morka!” Blinky gasped, eyes wide with horror as he stared down at the newly revealed page. “The titans don’t need to unite with eachother, they need to unite with a Heartstone! That actually makes horrible sense!”

All eyes turned to Douxie, waiting for some sort of outburst again but he just looked up at Blinky, eyes red rimmed from tears, still crying silently. “So she died for nothing?” He asked, voice broken and quiet.

And that was it. No magical reaction to his emotions. He was too mentally and emotionally drained to spare an ounce of a magical outburst and that in of itself was terrifying for his friends because it was like this was his breaking point. He didn’t even seem to have the same urgency as they did about the situation. He was just… there, eyes distant and cloudy. He didn’t care anymore because everyone he loved and cared for more than anything in the entire world was gone. And what kind of world would it be without them?

He lost his best friend and his little sister all in the same day and he couldn’t handle it. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that the world is ending because Archie and Nari are gone.

This was it for him. He’d lost everything.

The crushing weight of the reality that he couldn’t protect any of them is breaking him. The team realized that if they were going to finish this, Douxie wouldn’t be able to help.

"Aarrrgghh, you take him back to Barbara. We can't fight until we know he's safe." Jim instructed softly, glancing at his distraught friend with sorrow. "When this ends we can help him. But only once it ends."

_______________________________

They needed him for the ninth configuration.

"How do we know he'll come?" Toby asked desperately as Claire opened a shadow portal.

"We have to trust that he will." Claire said before jumping through.

She entered the castle to see that Barbara had been semi-successful in calming Douxie down. He wasn't crying anymore but he looked so… empty. Claire wasn't sure which she preferred.

The shadowmancer cleared her throat, catching their attention. "Douxie," she said softly. "We need you."

Claire half-expected him to say no, but to her surprise Douxie silently got up from his chair and nodded grimly, a sort of set determination coming to his eyes. He may not have been the most cheery but atleast he was going to help. She wasn't sure if they could do it without him.

Little did she know what Douxie planned to do.

_______________________________

Douxie spit blood onto the steaming rock, seeing Bellroc flinging his friends off the titan out of the corner of his eye. Jim was the only one left standing, holding Excalibur out at the demigod with rage, standing over Douxie protectively. Jim knew he was hurt… knew he couldn't fight anymore.

"The last remaining pieces of Merlin's legacy die together." Bellroc cackled. "How fitting."

Jim snarled at them. "Try it you little bastard."

Bellroc tilted their head to the side with an amused smile before flicking their wrist, sending the injured wizard flying towards the edge of the titan.

Jim shouted his name, running forward to catch him but he was just too late. Douxie fell a long way towards the ground, no one to catch him.

_______________________________

Despite his injuries, he managed to catch himself on an anti-gravity spell, crashing onto the hood of a car with enough force to dent it. Douxie felt his back flare with pain but he ignored it as he hauled himself up, seeing a flash of blue ignite from inside the titan.

The amulet.

Douxie staggered towards the rest of his friends, all of them watching the battle from the ground. A tugging feeling in his gut told him that Jim needed help and he wasn't about to let another one of his friends die. Not when he could instead.

Taking a deep breath, Douxie limped forward, scrolling through the runes on his vambrace. Coughing up a little more blood, he started to draw the sigil in the air, murmuring the words under his breath.

He held a hand out towards the magic nullifier, drawing on its energy, letting it flow into him. With another hand outstretched towards the titan, he twisted his hands, the glowing runes in front of him moving in sync like a giant clock.

He heard Blinky gasp behind him, and he should have guessed the old troll would have known what he was doing.

"Ultima Frecanta!" Douxie shouted before Blinky could even attempt to stop him.

An explosion welled within him, magic beyond his control pushing and clawing and tearing its way out. Douxie forced it to flood down his arms and towards his hands where it pooled out and shot towards the titan, engulfing the entire thing with a ragingly hot dome of magic that crashed and tore its way through the creature and through Bellroc, fighting and distracting the demigod to hopefully give Jim a chance at victory.

Douxie couldn't help the agonized scream that burst from his throat as the magic he was using tore him apart from the inside out. He felt every inch of him being consumed by it and it was excruciating. Magic too strong for him to handle pulsed and webbed its way through his veins, his heart, his lungs. His very bones began to crack and shatter like glass as the magic crashed over him like a wave.

Finally, when his body had nothing left to give, Douxie fell to the ground, twitching with convulsions from the power he'd just exuded. He couldn't breathe, his lungs feeling like pure fire. What was left of his magic pulsed beneath his veins, trying to repair his broken body but there was no coming back from this.

That was good… that was okay. He'd be with them soon. He'd see them again. That's what he wanted.

"Douxie!" Claire shouted with despair, running towards her teacher, dropping to her knees beside him. She shakily brought him into her arms, not caring about how scorchingly hot to the touch he was.

She could hear Jim making his way down from the titan, not knowing what had just happened. What was happening.

"You absolute idiot!" She seethed, sobs wracking her body. "What did you do that for?"

Douxie was gasping and choking for breath but he smiled all the same, looking like he was happy with the outcome. Oh for the love of God he was, wasn't he?

"Its okay Claire." He gasped, irises and pupils still glowing blue, even the blood vessels on the whites of his eyes were glowing blue. Every vein in his body was glowing blue, every part of him was taking on an aftermath shock of the magic overuse. His hair had turned white much like hers but every strand was devoid of the color it'd once had. He lay limp in her arms, blood… god even his blood was blue, bright and glowing like everything else that was left of him… dribbled from his mouth. "I can see them again."

"No, don't say that please." Claire begged, sobbing. "We can fix this. We can fix you Douxie. You'll be okay! You'll-"

"No." Douxie rasped. "Please let me go… I want to go…" He glanced over at Jim who was watching with absolute horror and guilt. He saw Jim's gaze turn to the chronosphere, which was laying forgotten on the cracked asphalt. "Don't you dare." He croaked out. "I need to see them again… don't bring me back… please."

Jim wanted to ignore him. He wanted to grab the damn thing and reverse time, stop all this from happening but he didn't. He just nodded at his friend grimly, joining Claire at his side instead. "Why?" He asked, voice cracking with tears.

"There's nothing left for me to do…" Douxie explained, glow beginning to fade and they all knew it was because he was dying. "You need to carry on, Jim. Lead them… keep protecting the earth. Promise?"

"I promise." Jim said with tears beginning to stream down his face. It was a promise he couldn't keep.

"Good…" Douxie said and slowly took in another breath, and when he exhaled it… he didn't breathe again.

_______________________________

Jim glanced over at Douxie as he sipped his coffee. He knew the wizard probably thought he was being weird, having been watching him for a few weeks now but Jim hardly cared. Watching his friend die had been too much and he knew the world wouldn't be able to get on without him.

Yes, he'd done the one thing Douxie had asked him not to but Jim didn't care. His friend was alive again and that was all that mattered.

The Trollhunter jumped when Douxie stopped in front of his table and angrily slammed something down in front of him. He stalked off without another word and Jim looked down at the paper to see two words that had been scrawled down angrily.

Alley. Now.

Jim sighed and stood up, precariously following where Douxie had gone. He wasn't surprised to find the wizard waiting for him with crossed arms and a rage in his eyes that would make any sane man run in terror. Jim, however, wasn't sane.

"How dare you?" Douxie hissed, hands forming into fists at his sides. "The one thing I specifically asked you not to do!"

"Douxie I-"

"You meddled with time again." Douxie growled. "You not only reset the timeline but you also erased the victory we all clawed out of hell to achieve!"

"You died!" Jim tried to defend himself but Douxie roughly shoved him against one of the brick walls, eyes flashing blue dangerously.

"I WANTED TO!" Douxie yelled, an arm pressed to Jim's throat. "Don't you get it!? I wanted to die! I lost everything! I just wanted to see them again! I wanted to finally rest!"

"And you expected us all to just move on!?" Jim demanded, shoving Douxie away.

"Yes!" Douxie looked like he could punch him. "That's exactly what I expected!"

"Well it's not what you're getting." Jim growled, standing his ground. "You can't ask me to stand by and let you get yourself killed. Because I don't know about you, but you're pretty fucking important to the rest of us." He stuck a finger in the wizard's face. "I dare you to do it again, Douxie. You can sacrifice yourself in battle all you want, Hisirdoux Casperan. Because I'll reset the timeline as many times as I need to to make sure all of my friends make it through alive."

Douxie sharply grabbed his wrist, shoving his hand away from his face. "You're messing with powers you don't understand, Jim."

"Maybe so," Jim agreed. "But I'd rather die a hundred deaths than watch you do this to yourself. The Trollhunter answers every call and you may not realize it, but you're calling pretty loudly."

Douxie glared at him, taking a step back. "This could turn into something even worse than the Arcane Order. Are you prepared to be responsible for that?"

Jim grit his teeth. "Absolutely I am. I'm not going to watch you die again."

"You can't save everyone."

"I can try."

[disastercg]

“The little architect, dreaming up her own world,” the entity hissed. Its phantasmal body of cosmic dust and otherworldly mist slithers around the curse-breaker. The obsidian floors underfoot bubble, then raise Inna on a precarious network of slippery beams. “You never had a solid foundation underfoot, did you?” it laughed. “Watch where you step, my dear. It’s a long, long way down.” 

𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒   |    𝖺 𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗎𝗅𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇  ;  𝖺 𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝗇𝖺 .

inna isn’t cursed with vertigo, and normally is no stranger to walking the metaphorical plank. but when she looks down, her worldview spins on axis. she’s reminded of something; she’s reminded of her home. where she grew up most of her life. those windows peered out into the fields and forest near their home. she would sit at the table for hours, all alone, looking out those windows and drawing the world around her. over time, she imagined more things there. she would draw those too. from imitating reality, to envisioning a new one.

as she looks into the abyss below, one foot lined behind another one on the beam high up, she’s home again. and now those windows she looked out of every day so fondly, are boarded up. she can almost see her father’s eyes in the darkness.

Blackened sludge poured from the entity’s abyss of a mouth, falling past the beams. From it rose the form of her brother; at first a healthy warrior, then the beauty of a Cursed Blood first bitten, and the inhuman stare of one who’d succumbed to the curse’s bloodlust. All the while, he begged Inna to save him.  

she didn’t understand why it was happening. from shock alone she teeters on the beam. she missed that face. her surprise and relief poisons. she’s afraid. 

“you look horrible,” sweetly, sadly, she tells her brother as she extends a hand, hoping to brush away the sludge, the wrongness of him, the very thing she came so far to fix. “yo-you aren’t yourself.” she was oblivious to how true that was, “you should have stayed put like i said. i’m trying so hard to fix this.” he’s begging now and she ignores it to continue a monologue, feeling all at once too deep in this, yet far away. “i don’t care what father said, i can do this. i will do this-- look, i found the wizard and i’m making progress.” she reaches her palm further to touch him, but it seems like he’s farther away every time she tries. “you should see all the things i can do now. i’m not the same girl. just come back h-ome,” her voice breaks, she recovers because she’s afraid to sound like a crybaby now. “why’d you leave? where i can’t reach you or save you then?” she finally snaps at his continuous begging. she takes a few bold steps forward and swipes her hand out with new vengeance, trying to scoop him up.

“It’s pointless,” the entity giggled. “No matter how far you extend your hand, you’ll never reach him. The gap between what you know and what you need to know is far too wide!” The golden cracks on the entity’s maw splintered further, as if it were split lips on a twisted smile. “If you found him, would he even recognize you? It’s so easy to corrupt these little beasts when they’re dying of hunger,” it said. 

it tells her the thing she feared most and she responds with violently shaking her head, as if trying to shake the notion away. her heart breaks with each shake, and each word that comes after. “shut up,” her fear is taking a backseat, frustration, not fear but sheer building terror, and a fair bit of anger. “you don’t know what you’re talking about!” she snarls quietly, becoming a little less human herself, out of breath, wisp of angry air escaping, “you weren’t there. he promised me he wouldn’t.” he wouldn’t leave. not when he promise. he wouldn’t forget her, or change. not when he promised, damnit. “you’re not him. you’re not my brother.” her voice is stronger than ever, “you don’t know how strong he is.”

“Or I could give you a cure to his affliction. Wouldn’t you like an easy cure? I’ll even let you study it to duplicate its ingredients, since you’re so desperate to save these pitiful, cursed things. How noble a wish yours would be!”

it stops her from the anger threatening to explode. a moment of resilient silence. how does it know her dreams? her fears, her future plans, her weak spots? it doesn’t seem fair. 

she’d be foolish not to consider it.

so foolish is she when she opens her mouth and with her typically soft and quiet mantle back in place, says, “i don’t need you,” she fists her hands at her sides, “i can save them by myself. my brother and anyone else who needs me.” she wraps her arms around herself, hiding behind oversized knit what she thinks might be doubt in her heart, “you’re not even real. just like you don’t know my brother, you don’t know me. you don’t know how hard i’ve studied or what i’m capable of.”

everyone is so quick to dismiss her. even herself sometimes. but not this time.

she closes her eyes, squeezes them shut until her eyelids are uncomfortable, her teeth gritting in the process. she’s leaving this place, if it’s the last thing she does.

she springs out of bed moments later, sweat drooling down the sharpness of her cheekbones and coating her neck and chest. her eyes go crazy in the night, scanning her room for the frightening sight that had just plagued her. but there’s none to be found. just the messy sanctuary of her room within the tower of rest.

it was close. too close.

with a sigh she bolts out of bed, grabs the book she had been reading before bed, and knowing she won’t be sleeping, heads to read it out in the common room. ignoring the way her chest aches and her heart won’t stop overbeating, her nerves and fear still clinging to the vestiges of her.

[lifeofkaze]

A Very Hexley Birthday

A/N: Seeing all those beautiful edits on my dash for the birthday of my favourite twins in the Potterverse (I said what I said), I knew I couldn't possibly do any better. So instead, let's have a look what Ethel and Jim are up to on their birthday, shall we?

This is for you, Bestie! @the-al-chemist

Happy Birthday, Jim and Ethel! 💛❤️

Naturally, Ethel and Jim Hexley and Héloïse Perrault belong to my favourite person in this world @the-al-chemist. The attending guests belong to @slytherindisaster (Lysander Mercury), @kc-and-oc (Siobhan Llewellyn, Bradford Pendleton, Oliver and Eliot Gerard, Ivy Anders), @hogwartsmysteryho (Vinny Raymond), @that-scouse-wizard (Cledwyn Ironwood), @cursebreakerfarrier (Galen Stagg), and @unfortunate-arrow (Anthony Rosen).

Even though the golden arrows of the September sun were showing themselves on the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Jeremiah Hexley was in a rather glum mood when he reached for the huge bowl of porridge at the Hufflepuff House table.

It was just out of his reach and his fingertips only grazed the rim; he simply would have needed to stand up to get it, but that would only draw attention to the tall, lankish boy, which was something he generally tried to avoid, but especially so today. So Jim sat straight again and reached for a slice of toast instead.

“I wish you the finest of mornings,” he heard a voice call out to him, “isn’t it a wonderful day outside? You should have seen the colours of the sunrise; no one can paint anything as beautiful as that.”

The voice belonged to Lysander Mercury, another Hufflepuff boy from his year, and undoubtedly Jim’s best friend. He had a spring in his step as he walked up to Jim, and his thumbs were hooked under the straps of his suspenders; he hadn’t bothered putting the black jumper of their school uniform over them yet.

He sat down opposite Jim with a graceful motion, grabbing the porridge bowl in the same instance and pushing it over to Jim. Giving Lysander a grateful look, Jim helped himself to a healthy portion and drizzled a teaspoon full of dark golden honey on top, just the way he liked it. But even the prospect of his favourite breakfast wasn’t enough to lighten Jim’s mood, and it wasn’t lost on Lysander.

“Why such a long face, old fellow?” he grinned, and his stress on the word ‘old’ wasn’t lost on Jim, quite the contrary. “It’s not a day to be brooding!”

Jim opened his mouth to explain himself, but was interrupted by the sound of quick footsteps approaching from behind him; a moment later two pairs of arms were flung around his neck and Jim almost knocked over his bowl of porridge in his attempt to not be thrown off the bench.

“Happy Birthday, Jim!” two girls shouted into his ears in perfect unison, of course they did. The sound of their excitement cut through Jim’s eardrums and he winced as he pushed them away.

“Uhm, thank you,” he muttered, “Happy Birthday to you as well,” he said in the direction of the smaller of the two.

Ethel Hexley, his twin sister and complete opposite and in every aspect imaginable, grinned and clapped Jim on his back so hard he almost lurched forward. “Thanks, kiddo. One more year of making sure my little brother has at least some fun in his life.”

“Like a proper big sister should,” her best friend Selene Fraser added with a knowing nod. Not even the Sorting Hat had been able to separate these two, and sometimes Jim wondered who out of them three actually were the twin siblings.

“But, er, you know Effy’s only older by a few minutes... so she isn’t really my big sister, if you want to put it that way…”

Jim trailed off when he saw something whisk past him into the direction of the porridge bowl. Before he had the chance to dive straight into it though, Lysander had already gotten hold of the brown and white ferret Ethel and Selene shared custody of; Alan’s nose twitched as Lysander held him out to Ethel.

“Take your ferret back, Hexley,” he said, “I’d say you two are looking like the actual twins here, but seeing as it’s unfortunately your birthday as well, I’ll let it pass. Consider this my present.”

“Seeing as Alan definitely is the best looking guy I’ve spoken to today, I’ll take that as a compliment, Mercury,” Ethel immediately shot back, with that unmistakable glint in her eyes that Jim knew promised nothing but bother, very wordy bother.

Lysander had already leaned slightly forward as well, his eyes fixed on Jim’s twin sister, ready for their morning round of bickering and Jim sighed.

“Could you two, uhm… maybe, just maybe… perhaps stop it? Just for today?”

“Leave him, Effy, he’s not worth it. Not a match for you anyway,” Selene muttered to her best friend; Jim gave her a grateful look.

“True, Sels, I won’t have my birthday spoiled by a wanna-be artist in suspenders,” Ethel said indignantly, and Lysander opened his mouth in protest. Selene elbowed Ethel into the side, before setting Alan onto her shoulder and linking arms with her, quickly pulling her away before things would escalate. Again.

Selene turned around after a few steps and called over her shoulder. “Come to the Quidditch pitch after classes, Jim, will you? We have a little surprise for you!”

*

Throughout the whole day, Jim wasn’t sure what made him more uncomfortable: all the attention he got because it was his birthday, or the prospect of a surprise set up for him by Ethel and Selene. The sheer idea of everything these two could have been planning was enough to upset Jim’s stomach and he couldn’t even enjoy his favourite roast beef for lunch.

When their last class of the day was over, Jim reluctantly made his may over to the Quidditch pitch, as he had been told to. He had wanted to ask Lysander to come, but then again, bringing Ethel and Lysander into the same space was too much for him today; or any day, to be precise.

As soon as he stepped through the opening in the wooden perimeter of the pitch, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Ethel and Selene had laid out several red and white chequered picnic blankets in the middle of the immaculate green lawn, just like the ones their parents had at home. He could see baskets full of sandwiches, little cakes, fruit and cheese on every single one of them, alongside countless jugs of pumpkin juice.

Naturally, Ethel and Selene were standing in the midst of the people already gathered there, laughing and joking and having a wonderful time, and Jim’s heart sank a little. He saw many familiar faces; he saw Siobhan Llewellyn and her best friend Galen Stagg, who were feeding slices of roast beef to a very content looking Alan; he saw Oliver Gerard who was laughing with Ethel about a lively story she was telling; he had brought his brother, Eliot, a Ravenclaw boy Jim didn’t really know, and who was looking very comfortable talking to Selene, who was standing next to Ivy Anders and Vinny Raymond were sharing some cake; he could even spy the eternally grumpy Cledwyn Ironwood, who never got tired of proclaiming he wasn’t Ethel’s friend but, just like Jim, had obviously stood no chance in declining the invitation.

All of these people were there, but all of them were Ethel’s friends, not his. Jim sighed; he knew Ethel and Selene had meant well, but they just didn’t understand him, they never really did.

“I ‘ope we aren’t late, non?”

Upon hearing the familiar French accent, Jim’s heart skipped a beat before beating doubly as fast as before. He turned around and his eyes went wide when he saw the group of people who had quietly come up behind him.

“Bon anniversaire, Jim!” Héloïse swept in and quickly kissed him on both cheeks in close succession, before pushing an immaculately wrapped gift into his hands, the edges of the paper sharp and the bow perfectly tied. Jim tried to thank her but his words came out as a horrible stutter and he felt the heat rise to his face; it felt particularly warm where Héloïse had kissed him.

Next up came his dear friend Bradford, who shared his enthusiasm for painting; he extended his hand to Jim to wish him a happy birthday as well, and the gift he was handing over to him felt suspiciously like the elaborate sketchbook Jim had seen on his last trip to Hogsmeade.

His roommate Anthony was there, too, as always accompanied by his wolfhound Conall. Jim bent down to pet the animal and scratch his ears. He had to smile when he saw how enthusiastic Conall was at the prospect of all the attention; at least one of them was, then.

Even Lysander had been invited, or had in any case decided to show up; you never knew with Ethel and him. But whether he had actually been asked to be here or not, Jim was glad to see him.

By Brady’s side, more quiet than the rest, stood Brady’s friend - or at least that’s what they claimed to be - Carolyn Nyberg. Jim was surprised to see her here; he and Carolyn didn’t really have anything in common but Brady, but then again, they were seldomly seen without each other these days. She inclined her head and quietly congratulated him.

The question as to why Carolyn had come, though, was quickly answered when Ethel spotted the new arrivals and bounded over to them. “It’s so good you came! I’m so happy all of you could make it to our birthday picnic. Most of you, that is,” she said with a pointed look in Lysander’s direction, but before he could shoot back, her attention had already shifted to Carolyn.

“Did you manage to make what we talked about?”

Jim could see Carolyn was trying hard not to roll her eyes. “Please, who do you take me for? That was a child’s play.”

Brady gave her a pointed look. “Be nice, Caro, it’s their birthday.”

She sighed, but her face softened and she reached into the hidden pocket in her dress, producing a small, stoppered vial with purple liquid inside. She weighed it in her hands, looking at the mugs of pumpkin juice on the picnic blankets. “I’d say six drops per mug should be sufficient.” She moved the vial out of Ethel’s reach when she extended her hand towards it. “Not one drop more, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.”

Jim’s apprehension about Ethel putting a potion into their drinks soon vanished when he saw what it was that Carolyn had brewed on his sister’s request. After drinking from the modified juice, everyone of their guests had a distinct spring to their step that made them jump a little every time they moved. He remembered how much fun Ethel and Selene had had when they had turned the floor of the courtyard elastic with the Spongify charm; it had gotten them three weeks worth of detention and a passion for jumping as high as they possibly could.

Not being particularly keen on moving around like a bouncing ball, Jim had only taken the tiniest sip of pumpkin juice when Ethel had offered it to him; it was enough to give his step a tolerable spring, but not enough to make him bounce like the others, and that was just the way Jim preferred it to be.

Jim usually didn’t feel comfortable among so many people, but he had to give Ethel that, even he was enjoying himself. He watched Héloïse and Selene sharing excited whispers about the latest story of the Muggle detective they were so keen about, while Brady was bickering with Siobhan over one thing or the other, and Lysander was busy trying to place Alan on top of Carolyn’s head, who told him very sternly to stop it if he didn’t want a swig of Veritaserum served with his next meal.

Happy that his and Ethel’s friends seemed to be having a good time, Jim sat down on one of the blankets, partly because he wanted to eat something, and partly because he needed a step back from the hustle and bustle.

It wasn’t long, however, before Ethel spotted him. She walked over to him, jumping into the air with each step, and slumped down onto the blanket beside him.

“Aren’t you enjoying yourself?” she wanted to know. For a very brief moment, concern flickered over her freckled face. “Because I did my very best to make this fun for both of us. Look, I even invited that horrible friend of yours,” she said and pulled a face in Lysander’s direction; he stuck his tongue out at her in response before turning away.

“No, uhm, I just needed a short break,” Jim answered and set down his plate. “You, er… you did a great job, Effy, you know? I’m having fun, I think… It’s a lovely birthday party, really… so thank you. I, uhm, I didn’t expect this, to be honest.”

“But why?” Ethel asked; she looked truly baffled at his words.

“We’re just so… uhm, how do I say it… we’re just so different, you and I. I’m quiet and, er, shy, I guess and you’re so… loud and popular and we’re just not much alike.”

Ethel dipped her head back and laughed loudly. “I’m not popular, Jim,” she sniggered, “I just don’t leave people alone. Tell them you’re friends often enough and they end up believing it,” she grinned and waved to Cledwyn, who rolled his eyes and looked away. “There’s nothing more to it than that. I bet you could do it, too.”

But Jim shook his head. “I’m not really so sure of that... I think.”

Ethel nudged him into the side with her shoulder. “Give yourself more credit. You’re my twin brother after all, that has to account for something. If this is any help, we may be polar opposites, but you’re still my favourite person in this world.”

“Uhm, what about Selene?”

Ethel pursed her lips. “Okay, maybe it’s a tie.”

Jim had to smile at that. Remembering something, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a piece of parchment, tied to a scroll with a crimson piece of ribbon.

“Happy Birthday, Effy,” he said, for once without a stutter.

Ethel’s eyes went wide when she saw the picture Jim had drawn for her. It showed the two of them, laughing with each other. Ethel, despite being smaller than Jim, had his head in a headlock and was ruffling his hair while he was trying to escape, but he was laughing just as much as she was. The drawn versions of themselves were moving over the parchment in fluent motions. Jim had asked for Héloïse’s help with enchanting it; with his French still being awful, it had been one of the most awkward and complicated conversations in his entire life.

“It’s beautiful, Jim, thank you,” she said and flung her arms around his neck. When she let go, she looked a little sheepish. “Now I feel stupid for what I got you, although I’m pretty sure you can need it.”

With a wink, she produced her own gift. Jim could see she had wrapped it in her typical Ethel-style, with way too much wrapping paper and loads of colourful ribbons; one of them looking suspiciously like the hair tie their grandmother had gotten Ethel for Christmas. He blushed deeply when he read the cover of the small red book the parcel contained:

101 Foolproof Ways to a French Witch’s Heart - A Guide for Modern Gentlemen

“Effy… that… um… you… why…” Jim stuttered, his face a deeper shade of red than the Gryffindor banners hanging from the wooden tower behind Ethel.

His twin sister only sniggered. “Read it and thank me later.”

She got to her feet and pulled Jim along, motioning to the entrance of the pitch, where Selene was in the process of levitating a giant birthday cake onto the field. It had enchanted lion and badger figurines on top; the lion was throwing tiny pieces of cake after the badger, who caught it with its mouth.

“Come on now, dear brother,” she said as she linked arms with him and half marched, half dragged him across the lawn towards their friends. “We have a cake to cut.”

[gameofdrarry]

Wizards Hearts Recs: Secret Relationship

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

Goodness and Justice Have Dwelt in Your Heart  by violetclarity Rated:  Mature Words:  1952 Tags:  Secret Relationship, Dark!Draco, Angst Summary:  “But sooner or later you would regret having consecrated your love to me, for you do not know my soul.” // An upside-down remix of Wolves and Lambs Look Not by LowerEastSide. Read on AO3

📜 just tell me when it’s alright by M0stlyVoid Rated:  Explicit Words:  23,002 Tags:  Secret Relationship, Rimming, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Forced Orgasm, Possessive Behavior, Jealousy, Bite Kink, Bruise Kink, Light Dom/sub Summary:  Harry’s been fighting tooth and nail for any bit of normalcy he can get his hands on. He’s sick of feeling like something’s wrong with him, tired of feeling different. He thinks he’s finally gotten to the root of it, and has settled into a routine that makes him happy. Naturally, that’s when Draco Malfoy walks back into his life and upends it once again. Has Harry bitten off more than he can chew with his former rival? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 fine i'll hold my breath / til i forget it's complicated by teatrolley Rated:  Not Rated Words:  10884 Tags: Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, there's a lot of shagging, and a lot of unresolved emotions, because these two dudes are idiots, but we love them, and they love each other, Oops, its complicated though, OR IS IT Summary:  Harry and Draco become friends with benefits, and Harry thinks it's more complicated than it actually is ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Difference Between a Cat and a Comma, Or, The One Where McGonagall Has Sass by shilo1364 Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  18600 Tags: Mentor Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts Eighth Year, background Ronmione, Transfigurations, HP: EWE, Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Coming Out, Secret Relationship, Humor, Fluff and Humor, No Smut, No Sex, Ginny is Harry's best friend, harry is annoyed at Ron and hermione, Harry/Draco and Ginny/luna double-date, Inspired by a Tumblr pun, Thestrals, tea with Hagrid, Transfiguration (Harry Potter), Tie-Switching, Great Hall Relationship Reveal Summary:  Eighth year at Hogwarts is going to be boring. That's what Draco Malfoy thinks when the Wizengamot makes attendance a condition of his pardon. After all, after letting Death Eaters into the school, failing to kill his headmaster, and being forced to serve a homicidal madman, how could finishing up his education *possibly* be interesting? Answer: a coveted Transfigurations advanced study position, Minerva Mcgonagall's surprising fondness for him, Thestrals, tea with Hagrid, tutoring Harry Potter, Granger and Weasley's excessive PDA, and the perplexing nature of sleight-of-hand double-dates with Harry, Luna, and Ginny. And then, of course, there's righteously indignant (if misinformed) Weasley, Draco's own insecurities and flair for dramatics, and a long-suffering Kingsley Shacklebolt. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Parseltongue, Quidditch, and Smut, Oh My! by cassie_black Rated:  Mature Words:  14392 Tags: Fluff, Smut, Sexual Content, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Parseltongue, Secret Relationship, Angry Sex Summary:  Hot boys, ball games, and snake talk! (A very late Christmas present for the lovely nursedarry!) ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Still Life by orphan_account Rated:  Mature Words:  3011 Tags: London, POV Harry Potter, i guess!!! Summary:  N/A ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 I'll Tell You A Secret (Just Don't Tell) by nerakrose Rated:  General Words:  18331 Tags: Coming Out, Domestic, Fluff, Cute, Community: trope_bingo, Curtain Fic, Secret Relationship, Car Accidents, But no one dies, HP: EWE, Forced coming out, Muggle Life, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World Summary:  Harry and Draco are living a fairly normal life with a fairly normal relationship, except for the part where it's, well, secret. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Code-Cracking For Gryffindors by Saras_Girl Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  4065 Tags: N/A Summary:  Harry should know better than to conceal mysterious body art from dorm-mates who pay no heed to what happened to the cat. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Too precious to share by slowroad Rated:  Mature Words:  1667 Tags: Romance, Fluff, Humor, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Established Relationship, Secret Relationship, HP Fluff Fest 2020 Summary:  Harry and Draco are several months into their eighth year at Hogwarts. They have been in a relationship for a while now, but no one knows about them and they are happy to keep it that way. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 On The Couch by Frayach Rated:  Explicit Words:  26035 Tags: Desperation, Soul-Searching, Passion, Therapy, Voyeurism, Infidelity Summary:  It’s a Mind Healer’s worse nightmare to lose a patient to suicide, but Mind Healer Nick Nichols can attest to the fact that a murder/suicide is even worse. If only Dr. Freud had come up with a sure cure for love. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Curiosity, Wonder, Spontaneous Delight by cloudings Rated:  Explicit Words:  114710 Tags: Hogwarts Eighth Year, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, but its more like, enemies to friends with benefits to lovers?, Enemies with benefits?, Porn, Blow Jobs, Accidental Voyeurism, Voyeurism, Scars, Masturbation, Masturbation in Shower, Fantasizing, Flirting, if it seems like there are too many gay characters in this I say fuck you, Getting Together, coming to terms with sexuality, Sexuality, Bisexual Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy, Lesbian Ginny Weasley, Improper Use of the Imperius Curse, Dry Humping, Making Out, Secret Relationship, Sneaking Around, Draco Malfoy Speaks French, as he should, Drinking, Partying, Jealousy, Anal Sex Summary:  After Harry hears some rumours about Malfoy, he becomes more and more curious until he just has to get some answers. Malfoy is more than prepared to give him anything he needs, just as long as he gets something back in return. Harry’s not sure why he’s surprised that it’s something moderately illegal. In which Ron continues to get far too many eyefuls, Hermione has had quite enough with everybody, and Harry’s not sure why enemies to friends to friends with benefits isn’t enough for him. OR Harry becomes incredibly curious, and somewhere along the line ends up accidentally falling in love with Draco Malfoy. Because of course he bloody would. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Twist of Fate by Oakstone730 Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  302209 Tags: Canon up until Epilogue, Triwizard, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Redemption, Forgiveness, Angst, Memory Loss, Secret Relationships, obliviate, secret boyfriends Summary:  Draco asks Harry to help him beat the Imperius curse during 4th year. The lessons turn into more than either expected. A story of redemption and forgiveness. Pairings: HP/DM (Slash) Timeframe: 1994-2002 Goblet to 4 yrs post-DH EWE Rating T for language, high angst, content. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Breakin' the Rules by orpheous87 Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  3146 Tags: Implied Sexual Content, H/D Sex Fair 2020, Auror Partners, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Draco Malfoy, Gay Draco Malfoy, Bisexual Harry Potter, Secret Relationship, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, St Mungo's Hospital, Fluff, Coming Out, Happy Ending, Hurt Harry Potter, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE Summary:  Harry and Draco are Auror partners. They're in a relationship that they've been forced to keep secret due to relationships between Aurors being forbidden. Harry is okay with this, as he hasn't come out to anyone other than Draco, but after a mission goes awry, their relationship is exposed. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Little Talks by Femme (femmequixotic), noeon (noe) Rated:  Explicit Words:  11351 Tags: N/A Summary:  Draco's been shagging the Head Auror for months now, and he's sure it's just a fling. Until Harry asks him to a Quidditch match, that is, and things go horribly wrong. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 You Look the Way I Feel by yourdifferentoctober Rated:  Explicit Words:  108693 Tags: Hogwarts Eighth Year, Mental Health Issues, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Top Harry Potter, Orgasm Delay/Denial, First Time, Praise Kink, Bottom Draco Malfoy, Snogging, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Enemies to Lovers, Sexual Tension, Falling In Love, Jealous Harry Potter, Possessive Harry Potter Summary:  Draco returns for his eighth year at Hogwarts in an attempt to salvage whatever he can of his future. His plan: sit as many N.E.W.T.s as possible, distance himself from the Malfoy name, and keep out of trouble. Of course, with his father on trial and at risk of unthinkable punishment, not to mention the anxiety-fueled "episodes" that have been plaguing him since summer, the school year doesn't go so smoothly. Especially when Harry Potter keeps seeking him out. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Magnetism by Queenie_Mab Rated:  Explicit Words:  26028 Tags: Illustrated, Chaptered, Adaptation, Rimming, Anal Sex, Veritaserum, Bad Poetry, Bets, Drunk Sex, Drunken Confessions, Blow Jobs, Mistaken Identity, Bottom Harry Summary:  Muggle Romance Novelist Draco Malfoy is exiled in the Muggle world after the war, but as fate would have it, the chemistry between him and Harry Potter draws them together, no matter how much Draco resists. Adapted from the manga/anime, Gravitation by Maki Murakami ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 In Secret by Rei382 Rated:  General Words:  2119 Tags: Secret dating, Secret Relationship, Christmas, did I ever say how much I love arthur?, No I did not?, well now is my chance Summary:  Harry and Draco are secretly dating. At least, they think it's secretly. ❤️ Read on AO3

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 20

Douxie x fem reader

Masterlist in Bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 20 summary: Battle of Killahead time.

Douxie made sure to heal your hand before you arrived to see the trolls. You supposed he wanted to make a good impression on your brother and you having your hand burned wouldn’t help him.

You went through Claire’s shadow portal and stepped into a stone cave. Jim and Callista were there and so was...Vendel. You froze in the middle of the portal and Douxie bumped into you as he came through.

“What’s wrong? Douxie asked, half leading you half carrying you away from the portal.

“That’s Vendel,” you whispered, tears already pricking your eyes.

You didn’t have the time to explain more as Claire popped in. “Hey, that's my boyfriend you're operating on!”

Vendel jumped “Oh! Humans! Sound the alarm!”

You heard a faint swoosh as Arthur came through the portal. “Hold! Please, Vendel of Dwoza. I humble myself before you. Camelot needs your help.”

“And why should we help Camelot?” Vendel asked, side eyeing you as tears rolled down your face. They weren’t tears of sadness or joy at seeing himd, you weren’t really feeling any exact emotions, you were just overwhelmed. Seeing your late mentor in the past could do that to you.

“-Camelot has been devastated,” Arthur was saying and you realized you had zoned out, just staring at Vendel through your tears.

Vendel sighed “Perhaps we could talk about this in a more private setting?”

“Of course,” Arthur said and Vendel led him away. You followed them out into a bigger room where Vendel and Arthur stood by a wall to discuss while a ring of knights guarded them. It made sense to have guards, but unfortunately they weren’t just guarding, they were keeping you and your friends from hearing the conversation.

Douxie kept his arm wrapped around your shoulder in silent support as you tried to listen.

Gumar the Black's swarm of Gumm-Gumms are ready to strike. The monsters seek vengeance on both our kind,” Arthur pointed out.

“And after all you've done, you expect us trolls to fight in this war for you?” Vendel asked, jabbing a figure at Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. “No, not for me; with me, as equals.”

“Glorkus me!”

“I vow, if we win this war, we shall live in peace.”

“Gumm-Gumm's are terrifying warriors while we are but humble gravel miners. How do you expect us to ever defeat Gunmar?”

“We will give you a secret weapon,” Arthur said.

Jim came up behind you. “You really think they can work this out?”

You and Douxie turned to face him. “They have to, or everyone in Camelot and Dwoza are doomed.”

“Then so is saving history. Great,” Claire grumbled.

“I assure you, all will be fine once I've completed my amulet,” Merlin promised as he walked over to your little huddle. “So, this is the once and future Trollhunter I've heard of. May I have a word, alone?”

Jim shrugged. “Um, sure. Be right back.”

You let go of Douxie to give him a quick hug. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, and it seems that there are some things I missed out on,” Jim said, looking at Douxie.

“I’ll explain everything later,” you promised as Jim walked away. You moved back over to Douxie, but decided to face away from Arthur and Vendel. Everytime you looked at your old mentor all you felt was a heavy crushing sensation in your heart and lungs. It felt like you couldn’t breath at times.

You had lost Vendel in such a horrible way and at such a horrible time. It killed you inside that you couldn’t warn him of Usurna’s treachery without fear of messing up history.

You recalled when you had first met him, you had snapped at him when he didn’t believe your brother would be a good Trollhunter and after you had calmed a little he had offered an apprenticeship to you. You hadn’t been onboard with having Véndel as your teacher, but he grew on you, the two of you had just gotten off on the wrong foot. And from there he grew into a father figure for you, just as Blinky had for Jim. He had always been a silent supporter of yours, encouraging you in your practice of magic.

You were once again snapped out of your musings by Claire. “I think they’re done talking, we should go discuss what’s gonna happen next,” she suggested and the four of you walked over there. “Hey, is everything okay? What are you talking about?”

Jim glanced nervously and guiltlily between you and Claire. “Oh, um... nothing. Just Merlin prepping me for the trip home.”

Douxie smiled. “Wait, wait, wait, you finally finished the Heart of Avalon? It's working?”

Merlin nodded “Indeed. But first, we must survive the battle to come.”

“Wizard,” Arthur called, interrupting any further conversation. “We've reached an agreement. Now you must convince the crowd.”

You and your friends stayed on the ground while Arthur and Merlin went up to a rock balcony that looked over an area of Dwoza. It was interesting how much cozier it was here than in the other Trollmarkets which were much more open concept. You would have enjoyed exploring it more had you not had other more important things to do.

“Trolls of Dwoza, hear us now!” Vendel called.

Arthur cleared his throat. “As we speak, death comes for us all. But we bring an offer of hope.”

Douxie grinned at you and opened the time map. “Here comes the light show.” A string of golden sparks flew out of it and around the room before converging into a bright ball. The ball glowed brighter before becoming a large projection of the amulet. It flew across the room where another projection appeared, showing Killahead Bridge. The Amulet found its place on the bridge and a portal opened up, consuming projections of gumm-gumms.

“I've designed a grand weapon, an amulet which will choose the greatest warrior among you to banish the Gumm-Gumm menace from our realm and become the Trollhunter!” Merlin announced. You cringed when you saw how the crowd of trolls reacted to the name.

“The amulet's power will activate Killahead Bridge, once a border between our worlds, turning it into a magic prison for Gunmar and his brood, trapping them in the Darklands and ending this war!” Arthur explained, trying to call attention back to the main goal.

“I, Draal, Dwoza's strongest, shall be chosen for glory!” Your head snapped up when you heard that voice. You couldn’t believe Draal was there too. He seemed just like himself, trying to earn the amulet. You felt more tears pool in your eyes when you remembered what had happened to him. He was yet another person you could not warn of future events.

You glanced over at Claire and Jim and you saw that their eyes were misty too. Douxie came over and wrapped his arm around you again gently wiping away a tear that had slipped out. You smiled up at him and took a deep breath. You’d have to stay focused and fight to keep your time together in the future intact.

“The battle will not be easy. While the wizard builds this am-yoo-let, the king's men will train our bravest,” Vendel announced.

Lancelot stepped forward. “Indeed. I shall guide the-“

Steve jumped on Lancelots back, startling the knight and making you laugh to which Douxie responded by looking at you with pure adoration in his eyes. “Yeah! Knights Steve and Lance here to whip you big hosses into warriors! Krav Maga! Turtle stance! Whoo! Ah! Hee-yaw!” Steve yelled, earning more laughs and a few cringes from you and Douxie.

Arthur ignored Steve’s outburst. “Then we ride for Killahead to draw Gunmar out.”

With those final words everyone cheered.

~~~~

“Well, it seems we may have a shot at surviving this after all,” Archie said as you walked through a hallway.

“One shot is the best I can offer. When Killahead activates, it shall unleash a surge of magic across the realm,” Merlin explained coming up behind you.

“Just enough to power the Heart of Avalon for a trip through time!” Douxie exclaimed.

“But only one, which means everything must go according to my plan. Hisirdoux, with me. I need your assistance.”

Claire smiled as Merlin left. “At least we're reunited. We'll get through this... together. Come on, I wanna take you somewhere.”

“Uh, you two take a beat. Merlin and I have still got to actually finish the amulet all our hopes are riding on,” Douxie said going off after Merlin.

You hesitated, trying to decide which way to go. It didn’t seem like Merlin needed you and Jim and Claire were going on an impromptu date.

Douxie turned to look back at you. “Coming, love?”

“I’m actually gonna stay here and train. Good luck with the amulet,” you said and Douxie nodded.

“I’ll meet you when you're done.” He gave a wave goodbye and you went your separate ways.  

You made your way to the training grounds and looked for a sparring partner however all the trolls declined, so you went and found yourself a rock.

You hummed to yourself as you practiced your swordsmanship and spells. For a years worth of Magic practice you were quite good if you did say do yourself. You had learned so many new things and you were so proud of yourself.

You leapt into the air, using your magic to push you up and sent a fire spell down at the rock. The spell hit the rock and it lit up with magical flames.

You waved your arms, calling the orange fire back to you and got ready to attack in another way. However, a tap on your shoulder interrupted you. You jumped, startled and whirled around only to find Douxie there. Your eyes were immediately drawn to the staff he was holding.

“Hey there, darling. How’s practice going?” He asked, an excited smile on his face.

“‘How’s my practice going?’ You got your staff! That’s so cool! You totally deserve it.”

“I-yeah.” He looked away from you and you could see that he was still holding himself to impossible standards. You moved closer to him.

“Hey, don’t give me that look you are such a great wizard.”

He leaned down to kiss you. “I guess I’m pretty excited.”

“‘Pretty excited,’” you scoffed. “You had such a big smile on your face when you walked in here. You are way more than ‘pretty excited’.”

“Fine I’m really excited and I can’t wait to use it. It’s gonna be nuclear.”

“I bet.”

Your conversation was cut off from stretching into the topic of the battle when Archie called for you guys, “Merlin is ready to reveal the amulet!”

“Coming!” You called back. Douxie offered you his arm and you took it as you made your way to the cozy little meeting room.

“Today, the amulet will choose one of you to defend your people, to hunt these trolls who have betrayed your kind. You will no longer fear the daylight. You will wield it as the Trollhunter,” Merlin announced and you grinned, looking about for Deya.

Callista scoffed. “Let's see which one of your brown-snouters gets picked.”

Draal stepped forward. “It would be my honor.”

Douxie looked over to Merlin who nodded. “For the Glory of Merlin... awake.”

“Whoa, whoa!” Callista exclaimed as the Amulet flew around the room, from troll to troll. You watched as it eventually settled on her.

“Rise, Trollhunter... and become,” the amulet said.

“Uh, I think your amulet has the wrong troll,” Callista protested.

Merlin shook his head and walked over to her. “No, the amulet does not make mistakes. For whatever reason, it has chosen you. Speak the incantation. Find your purpose, the savior of our worlds.”

Callista’s eyes widened. “Me? I've never been chosen for anything.” She admired the amulet and began to read the inscription. “'For the Glory of-‘“

Draal cut her off and you frowned at him. “Bushigal! It chose Callista the Calamity? She's basically a fleshbag.”

“This is the humans' big plan. The only place that outsider will lead us is death!” Another troll called.

“Ignore them. Accept this honor,” Merlin pushed.

Callista stutumbled, backing away. “No, they're right, I'm not a hero. I'm not even good at being a troll.”

“Go on, say the words!” Merlin yelled as Callista ran off.

“Cal, wait!” Jim called.

Callista briefly turned back. “I... I can't do this!”

You and your friends went to run after her, but Vendel stepped in front of you. “Is this some sick human joke? I believe you fleshbags have done enough damage.”

“We're doomed!” A troll behind you cried.

“Gumm-Gumms are coming for us and we've wasted time with your silly games!” Draal growled.

“We must hide!” Another added.

“We all must fight as allies,” Merlin argued.

Vendel scooted. “You think just because your king gives us a shiny toy, you can buy our loyalty? Leave, and take your trinkets with you!”

“The amulet chose Callista?” Archie questioned as he flew to a ledge behind Claire. You and your friends had retreated to another room after the whole scene and you were worried that things might not turn out. You took a deep breath, trying not to panic.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wasn't Deya the first Trollhunter?” Claire asked and you nodded.

“She was, Deya the deliverer. But I never met any trolls named Deya here,” you explained.

“Either way, without one, Killahead will be a bloodbath,” Douxie pointed out.

“I think I know where Callista went. Claire?” Jim prompted and a portal opened, swallowing them.

“What about the king? Doesn't history need him at Killahead as well?” Archie questioned again. He was making a lot of good points.

Douxie nodded. “Don't worry, I'm on it.”

The two of you made your way to the surface and you looked for Arthur’s aura, you had a good idea of where to look though and you found him.

He was kneeling by the edge of the cliff where Morgana had died, his crown discarded behind him.

“You should talk to him, he might still want to arrest me,” you whispered to Douxie.

“I’m sure he’s forgotten all about that, but I guess it’s inspirational speech time,” he mumbled, walking out of the trees towards the king.

You watched with Archie, but Arthur didn’t seem to be getting cheered up.

“Maybe you should go help him?” Archie suggested and you nodded.

“Let’s hope I don’t get arrested.”

“Who are you, boy?” Arthur asked as you walked towards him.

“I am Hisir-I'm nobody.” He sighed. “History won't remember me. Stories won't be told about me, but I won't let that stop me from fighting for what is right. You are Arthur Pendragon. No matter what happens today, I know for a fact that your story will be told. But it's up to you what legacy you leave behind-- an epitaph... or a legend.”

“But who will stand with me?” Arthur asked.

“I will,” you spoke up, wrapping an arm around Douxie.

“Galahad, stands with his king!” Galahad yelled, coming up on a horse.

“I will stand with you!” Lancelot vowed.

“Sir Steve's got your back, King-o!”

“And I,” Douxie added.

“You'll need air support,” Archie called, flying around you and Douxie.

Arthur grined. “Then let Camelot be remembered as the warriors we were born.”

“Huzzah!” Everyone cheered. You looked over at the setting sun and sighed. You had read so much about the Battle of Killahead and now you were participating in it. You could only hope the outcome would be the same.

~~~~

You arrived at Killahead bridge just as the sun began to truly set. Half the clearing was shaded and the other half was light, but that wouldn’t last long. You summoned your sword and a few daggers and got ready to fight.

You stopped at the tree line and looked up to see Gunmar and his army gathered upon some rocks.

“One king cannot stand against an army, Arthur!” Gunmar taunted as Arthur stepped forward.

“It's a good thing he has an army!” Douxie countered as the rest of you came out of the trees.

“Perfect! More meat for my troops. Beserkers, tenderize them!” Gunmar roared. You watched in horror as Gunmar sent some of his soldiers to their deaths. The moved into balls and rolled down into the clearing, turning to stone once they got into the sun.

“Living cannonballs! Look alive!” Archie warned. You leapt into the air as one got near you. You looked down and winced as you saw soldiers get taken out.

“We must hold Killahead Bridge, no matter what nightmares Gunmar throws at us,” Merlin ordered.

“Arthur, I can smell your fear!” Gunmar called and you could tell that he was growing impatient.

“It's leaking out of his pantaloons!” A gumm-gumm joked and you rolled your eyes. Arthur’s aura was radiating fear, but his courage and determination almost covered it up.

Gunmar laughed. “Prepare to be crushed!”

“Knights of the Round Table, our battle cry will shake the heavens and awake the old gods to witness. Today, we say 'no more' to fear and darkness! For Camelot and glory!”

Douxie turned to you, Jim, and Claire. “I know the Trollhunter isn't here, but we are! Champions! And when I get us all home, brunch on me! For Camelot!”

“For Camelot!” You all echoed, getting ready to rush into battle.

“USA! US- uh...Cam-e-lot! Cam-e-lot!” Steve chanted.

“Hisirdoux, our fates may be uncertain, but there's one thing I am sure of—I chose you well.” Merlin gave a small smile and gently nudged Douxie.

You took a breath. “We’ve got this.”

Douxie looked at Merlin and then you, determination shined in his eyes and radiated off of his aura. “Let's show these blokes the power of wizards!”

“For Camelot!” Arthur cheered as the sun finally disappeared. You, your friends and the rest of the army charged down into the little valley and you immediately blasted two gumm-gumms, though two more took their places. It worried you that Gunmar had so many soldiers.

You leapt into the air and sent a fire spell down, cutting through the enemy lines.

“Heads up!” You heard Claire yell as she came through a portal and kicked away a gumm-gumm. The beast stumbled backwards and you sent a knife through it.

“Just in the nick of time,” Jim thanked.

Claire chuckled, but was cut short by Jim wincing. “We're getting through this... together.”

You sent a quick pain relief spell at Jim then you turned your attention away from them and towards Douxie. He and Archie were taking care of things, but as you landed another gumm-gumm came up from behind. You raced over to him and when the gumm-gumm swung your sword was there to meet him. Douxie quickly moved out of the way and you dropped your sword, sidestepped and blasted the brute in the back.

Douxie turned and blasted a gumm-gumm that ran at him and stabbed one next to it. Another leapt into the air, but before it could hurt either of you DOuxie created a blue beam that trapped it in midair. He killed it and did the same to two other gumm-gumms.

“Arch!” Douxie called when he caught more in his beam. Archie dove towards you and set fire to the beasts. “Ha, ha! Always hated those twits!”

“You’ve got to teach me that some time,” you said, leaping high into the air. You curved and dove face first towards the ground, letting gravity build your momentum. At the last second you twisted again, using magic to keep you from breaking anything, and sent a magic ripple across the ground, taking out about a dozen gumm-gumms. You swayed a bit, not expecting the toll that modified spell would take on you.

“You’ve got to teach me that,” Douxie mimicked and you smiled at him, sending daggers through the gumm-gumms that were right behind him.

“Fight on! The day isn't over yet!” Arthur encouraged. Suddenly you felt a very dark aura enter the battlefield and you looked upwards to see a portal open.

“Night has already fallen.” Morgana yelled. She raised her arms as she touched the ground. “Elemen-zath!”

A blast similar to the one you had just made, rippled through the air. “Demon witch!” Galahad cried.

Douxie looked to you. “Morgana's returned! She's enemy number one!”

“Go! We'll hold the bridge!” Jim said, looking at you.

“Hisirdoux, with me!”

You hesitated, looking between Jim and Douxie. You watched as Jim winced slightly as he moved his arm.

Douxie turned back and you made eye contact with him. “Stay with Jim!” Douxie said, giving you a quick hug.

“Stay safe,” you called back as he ran off towards Merlin. You hopped you had made the right decision as you rejoined the battle fighting alongside your brother.

“Rally, Knights of the Round! Humanity will not go quietly this day!” Arthur called. “With me! Drive them back!”

“Yeah! I ain't afraid of no creeps!” Steve cried charging back into battle.

You raced away from them as you saw a few knights almost get the better of Bular. Swords clanged as you raced past the battle, feet barely hitting the ground. When you arrived you jolted to a stop.

You could outright help Bular, you had to be sneaky. A gumm-gumm came up from behind you and you whirled to face it, an idea forming. It swung its sword at you and you created a shield to meet it. Normally the sword would have bounced harmlessly off the shield, but instead you sent yourself flying backwards, crashing into the knights that were fighting Bular. Honestly they shouldn’t have been standing so close together if they didn’t want to be used as bowling pins.

Bular roared, running off into the ranks to pick an easier fight. You contemplated going after him to make sure he didn’t die and history stayed the same, but you decided against it when you saw him join up with Gunmar.

You apologized to the soldiers and went off to help Jim and Claire fight.

You took down gumm-gumm after gumm-gumm, even trying out the spell you had seen Douxie do. Though the spell you used most was your fire spell, it seemed to do the most damage and could hurt more gumm-gumms.

A blast of Excalibur’s magic radiated through the battle ground and you used the excess to try your spell again. You flew into the air twisted and hit the ground again, sending off another strong blast. Your orange magic turned many gumm-gumms to stone, but there was always more, just as there had been when you were fighting Angor Rot and his golems.

Your celebration was cut short however when the ground shook and a wave of heat hit you.

“The Arcane Order? They're here?” Claire cried.

“We may have come to the end of days! Charge!” Galahad ordered and you had to admire his bravery. You ran to face them with the knights and when one sent a fire spell towards the knights you put up your arms. The force of the spell sent you backwards, but you held your ground. You grunted and sent the flames back at the order, careful not to hurt Nari. She may have been bad now, but you understood that in the future she changed.

More knights rushed to take on the order and you fell back to help Jim.

“Y/n, give me a boost!” Jim called. You sent a wave of Orange magic towards him and he leapt into the air, coming down behind a line of gumm-gumms. They didn’t even have time to react before Jim turned them to stone.

You took care of any behind him, sending daggers at them.

“Y/n!” Claire warned and you whirled around to see some of the monsters charging at you. Before you could react, Claire sent you through a portal and you landed on top of a gumm-gumm’s shoulders. You blasted his two friends and flipped off of him, twisting in the air and performing your spell. The blast radiated around you and you immediately moved to fight more.

You sent spell after spell, fighting alongside Claire and Jim and occasionally Steve. You all watched each other's backs. You mimicked the beam spell Douxie did earlier, turning a gumm-gumm to stone

Suddenly Morgana’s aura was back and you snapped around shocked to see her completely unharmed.

“Brother! We have some unresolved issues,” she hissed.

Arthur stumbled back. “Sister? You're alive? Stop this! Our blood is the same.”

Morgana called. “Is that so? Then let's spill some of yours and make sure!”

You raced to Arthur, ready to take on Morgana yourself. You didn’t know what had happened to Merlin, Douxie, and Archie, but it was the unknown that scared you.

You watched as a golden light brought Arthur to his knees. “You were right. It is like you said.” He dropped Excalibur and you got ready to shield him if necessary. “We are all the same. I have wronged you, as I have all creatures in my realm. I now fight to save them from the violence I have sown. This carnage, these deaths, we can end this.”

Morgana hesitated and you slowed to a stop too. “This-this is a lie. A trick!”

Arthur shook his head. “No, this is our redemption. I should have listened to you.”

While you had been ready to guard against Morgana, what you hadn’t anticipated was the arcane order to teleport in and end him.

“Brother! No!” Morgana cried.

“Merlin's puppet is gone. Go finish it! Show us your loyalty, Morgana!” The fiery one ordered and you tensed ready to fight Morgana.

Her hands glowed gold and a blast radiated through the air as she let out an anguished wail.

“What have you done with Douxie!?” You asked, send a blast towards her. It hit her, sending her backwards, but she didn’t fall.

“What does it matter?” She asked, sending a blast towards you. You leapt into the air, ready to dodge it and pounce on her, but when you hit the ground she had disappeared.

You looked around for her, but she was nowhere. Panic and fear for Douxie and Archie coursed through you as you made your way back to Claire and Jim at an inhuman speed.

You jumped into their battle and took down five gumm-gumms, your anger and fear giving you the power.

“My king!” You heard Galahad cry and you looked over to see Arthur was no longer giving off an aura.

“Their king is dead! Leave no survivors,” Gumar ordered.

With that the gumm-gumms seemed to get a burst of energy. They overtook you, Jim, and Claire, forcing you to your knees. You began to squirm and chant a spell, but a disgusting piece of gumm-gumm armor was shoved into your mouth. It didn’t stop you from trying though as one raised its sword to kill Jim.

You broke free and sent a blast at all of your captors, freeing you. More of the monsters came to take their place, but a horn sounded, distracting them. You looked over to see Callista.

“Hey, need some help?” She asked. “Because I brought some friends!”

“Yes! We are here to not run away!” You heard Blinky yell.

“Well said, brother!” Dictatious said.

“Let's show these glorkheads how a real troll fights! For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!”

You watched in awe as she charged. A blue glow erupted from the amulet, slightly blinding you as she ran into the valley. Her armor came onto her piece by piece as she took down gumm-gumms. She was amazing.

“Callista, glad you made it!” Jim said as you all fought some of the remaining beasts.

Callista turned to all of you after she finished. “It's Deya, actually. It always was.”

“Deya?” You all echoed. A smile lit up your face.

“History is on track!” You cheered, but your smile faded fast when you recalled all that had happened before Callista arrived.

You turned to Claire. “I need to find Douxie.”

“I’m on it.” A portal bloomed and you readied your sword. “Be careful, I’ll come and help soon.”

“I will, let’s just hope that they’re okay.” You took a shaky breath and jumped in.

You walked out of the portal only to be blasted with a golden beam sending you into a wall. Apparently Morgana had gone to finish her fight with the wizards and your boyfriend was okay.

With that thought you fell to the floor. The breath was knocked out of you and you laid there, trying to find the strength to get back up before Morgana realized there was another magic user in the room.

“She's too powerful! We have no choice but to seal her away!” Merlin yelled.

“I know. I'll try to buy some ti-“ Douxie was cut off and you felt heat radiate through the room.

Morgana laughed. “Oh, shame! Little Douxie finally gets his staff, just in time to die with it!”

You finally gathered the strength to get up, your fear for Douxie once again consuming you. THankfully you noticed him lying on the ground on the opposite side of the room. Merlin had pushed him out of the way.

You took some deep breaths and created a shield around yourself. You watched as the fire cleared away, revealing Merlin to be in chains. Morgana charged and began to fight Douxie. He met her every move, countering her, but you didn;t know how long he’d be able to hold her off.

“You can't even wield it! You should stick to your usual tricks.” Morgana taunted and you realized that while she was distracted by Douxie, you could go free Merlin.

“Use the power of your staff! Make it your own!” Merlin encouraged Douxie as you came up to him. You put a figure to your lips to quiet the old wizard as you worked to undo the chains.

You carefully peaked around him to watch the battle and you were rewarded with the sight of Douxie’s staff transforming into an electric guitar. He raised its tricking Morgana in the face.

The witch stumbled backwards. “What?!”

Douxie admired the guitar. “Bleeding balroths! This is nuclear!”

Morgana put a shocked hand to her face. “Did you just strike with a-a lute?”

Douxie shook his head. “Uh-uh-uh-uh. No, uh-uh. Spellcaster guitar, darling.” He strummed it. “Needs tuning, though.”

Merlin groaned. “I meant make it your own weapon!”

“Well, this is technically an 'axe',” Douxie joked, earning a silent chuckle from you. He began to play more.

“Hisirdoux, this is no time for dreadful music!” Merlin scolded.

“Dreadful?” Douxie scoffed.

“Absolutely infernal,” Morgana agreed and you were tempted to reveal yourself to compliment Douxie’s music, but you thought better of it. You’d make sure to do it later though.

“No worries, this is just the opening track!” Douxie said, playing louder.

“What do you hope to do? Blow out our eardrums?” Merlin asked and you whacked him.

“Stay quiet,” you hissed as you got to the last bit of chain. “You don’t want Morgana to know I’m here.

“Well, pardon me if this rock is too freakin' awesome for your medieval sensibilities!” Douxie countered and you laughed, forgetting you were supposed to be silent. Thankfully Merlin covered it with a cough.  

Morgana held up her staff. “Enough of your noise!”

Morgana sent a beam of golden magic at Douxie who tried to counter, but you could see him struggling. “And...nope. Plan B,” he yelped, jumping down.

As they fought Morgana overpowered him and you watched as Douxie fell. Morgana sent a blast at Douxie who shielded himself, but he was quickly thrown against the wall, barely able to keep himself safe.

“Do not fret, Merlin. You'll find a new apprentice to replace him. Are people not dispensable, after all?” Morgana taunted, but her celebration was premature. Archie soared towards her, blasting her with fire just as you freed Merlin. He called his staff to him and you held out your hands. You and Merlin sent blasts at Morgana, giving Douxie the time he needed.

“Archie! Arch, light me!” Douxie requested. He heard out his hands and blue fire swirled around the room, creating a ring around Morgana.

You got ready to join the fight, but the fire quickly faded to show Douxie hovering in the air with a frozen Morgana. “Hurry! I can't hold her that long!”

Merlin brought his staff down and a green symbol grew out from it, creating a circle. “You've lost yourself, Morgana! Bound to dark magic. I have no choice but to seal you away! Sigilia infractum!”

Suddenly you and Merlin were pushed back as Morgana broke Douxie’s hold. “Master!” Douxie cried, rushing to Merlin. You noticed he seemed to be bleeding shadows.

Merlin groaned. “She's too powerful! You have to finish this alone.”

Douxie nodded, standing up. He placed his own staff down and began to chant. “Sigilia infractum! Causera!”

“I will destroy you all! No matter what it takes, no matter where you go, I will end all that you love until you feel my agony!” Morgana vowed, sending a blast of magic at Douxie. You threw out your hands sending a shield to him, but before it could hit a shadow portal appeared consuming it.

“Hey! Hands off my teacher!” Claire yelled.

Morgana scowled. “I swear on your lives, I shall rise again!”

Claire scoffed. “Already seen it. You don't win. See you in 900 years!”

Douxie completed the spell and you ran over to hug him, but instead he just fell into your arms.

“Douxie!” You cried.

“Douxie! Are you okay?” Claire asked as Archie jumped onto him.

Douxie yelped as Archie started licking him. “Ugh! That's-that's disgusting!” You and Claire laughed at him.

“At least you’re safe.” You smiled.  

Douxie sighed. “Well...I think we just saved history.”

“And took down a ninth-level sorceress,” Archie added.  “Merlin would be proud.”

You all looked over to see the sleeping wizard. “Yeah, if he wasn't out cold,” Claire said.

~~~~

Now that the battle was over, it was time to get your affairs in order and go home. You had mostly enjoyed your time in Camelot, but you were definitely homesick and you really missed Mao.

“Everybody, ready yourselves. We don't have much time. I'll dial us in for when we left,” Douxie said as he stood at the helm of the castle.

“But what's gonna happen when we get there? The danger we escape, it'll be waiting for us. And Jim's still hurt,” Claire reminded.

“Yeah, we need a plan or something. Can you encase Jim in the gem like Merlin did?” You asked.

Douxie looked at you and Claire, pity shining in his eyes. “Claire, Y/n, about that... Jim is-“

“Ready to face the inevitable,” Jim interjected.

Douxie hesitated. “Jim, are you sure?”

“Jim?” You and Claire asked.

Jim sighed. “Claire, the shard in...There is no cure. That's what Merlin told me earlier.”

Claire took a step back. “That's crazy! We can find something! I'll learn a spell. We can stay here.”

Jim shook his head. “If we don't all go back right now, the future won't exist. And what kind of hero would I be if I sacrificed everyone else? Not to be ironic, but we're out of time.”

“No, no, no. We can’t be out of time, you’re only sixteen,” you protested.

“Douxie, tell him! We can fix this! You can fix this!” Claire cried.

Douxie looked away from you. “I'm sorry. He's right. We must go back now, but when we do, we'll find a way to reverse this. I promised I would return you home, and I am, but the portal can only stay open for a few moments. This is our one shot. Trust me.”

Jim shook his hand and you hugged your brother tightly. You weren’t ready to let him go, but you relented and joined Douxie.

“You said to make the tough calls, old man. I hope I'm doing the right thing,” he mumbled. He hit a switch on the time map and you watched as the rings around the Heart of Avalon shifted till they were aligned, creating a bright beam of light and your portal home.

Douxie helped you to the boat and you jumped on.

Claire helped Jim over. “There has to be another way. This isn't fair!”

Jim gave a sad smile. “That seems to be a reoccurring thing with us. You sure you wanna keep dating me?”

Claire mimicked his smile. “I'd date you for a hundred lifetimes, Jim Lake.”

A tear fell and Jim wiped it away. “Hey, we'll figure this out. We always find a way to save each other.”

You and Douxie walked over to the helm and he put his staff in. “It’s gonna be okay,” he promised you.

“Man Camelot was crazy! Why don’t they ever talk about that in the history books?” Steve asked, walking to the bow and earning a chuckle from you.

You gently leaned it to Douxie as you went through the portal. “My burden to bear,” he whispered.

You shook your head. “We’ve got this. We’ll find a way to make everything right.”

****

Yay, it's out! I can't believe after this there is only one more chapter........until the movie comea out, if course. After that I'll continue it. But stil, it's come a long way. Anyways, I hope y'all have a fantastic day/night and stay safe! Thanks for reading! I hope you like it and feel free to leave comments.

Also thank you to @super-nova-of-death @lillycore and @catuskat666 for helping me make a decision for were to take this chapter!

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

[dragonologist-in-the-making]

More than a disease

Pairing: Remus x reader

 Request: Hi! So i had this idea with remus x reader where they're learning about werewolves and some kids make rude comment about them being monster and she gets really heated up saying that it's not like people choose to become a werewolf cause they've got nothing better to do, they're turned against their will and you can't judge people for things they can't control? And remus goes up to her after the class and they start spending time together and develop feelings and remus feels nice knowing that when he is ready to tell her about himself she will take it well?sorry it's so long also change whatever you want you're the writer

 A/N: I don’t know if anyone who’s reading this watches Supercarlinbrothers on youtube but they have this theory that once Dumbledore became the headmaster if they couldn’t find a DADA teacher for a year he would fill in (because let’s be real, how many people do you think are applying for a job which they know will only last a year. For 50 years? He’s going to have to fill in sometimes), so I’ve rolled with that here.

 Wordcount: 1.5k

 Warnings: I don’t think there are any, just some fluff here!

 Remus couldn’t help but watch the (y/h/c) girl as she walked to her desk, chatting animatedly to her friend about something he couldn’t hear, but wished he could. Anything she could talk about with that much passion had to be worth listening to, even if it was something as mundane as cauldron sizes. He’d been trying to work up the courage to ask her out for a while now, they shared a few classes together and always had the most interesting conversations, talking about anything which was on their minds. There was just one thing stopping him, and that was his monthly transformation.

“It’s page 394 in your textbooks today.” Dumbledore smiled as he walked through the classroom. This would have been about the only thing which could have broken Remus’ thoughts. 394. He knew that page, he had memorised that number, hoping the day would never come. Today was the day the class learned about werewolves, and he was hoping to god that nobody would make the connection to him. He quickly flipped open his book, pretending to study the page with fascination, although of course none of the information was new to him, or to his three best friends, who were currently all trying to do the same as him.

 The lesson was going as smoothly as Remus could imagine it being, the class silently taking down notes from the textbook and from what Dumbledore was saying, as he described the signs of spotting a werewolf and more. The lesson went smoothly, until near the end.

 “As of yet, there is no potion or remedy to the symptoms of lycanthropy, to help the human turned wolf retain some of their own mind during the transformation. Because of this, there is a strong prejudice against werewolves in the wizarding world, which I encourage you all to consider yourselves, and decide whether this is fair.” Remus winced slightly at Dumbledore’s words, he appreciated them and the kind sentiment they contained, but he knew how easily they could trigger a conflict in the class. And just as he predicted, this was exactly what happened.

“Yeah, we should just let these dangerous monsters walk among us.” Severus Snape spoke up from the other side of the classroom, a smile on his face. Remus threw a warning glance to his friends, begging them not to do anything and draw attention to him, that was the last thing he needed. It seemed his friends weren’t the people he needed to worry about arguing against Snape, as a voice he would recognise anywhere piped up hotly.

 “Hey, do you think they chose this life?” She shot back at him, rising from her seat with her hands balled into fists. “Do you think they volunteered to never be able to find a job, to have everyone not even give them a chance? To not be trusted? This is a horrible thing they’ve had to go through, a tragedy thrust upon them without permission.” Her voice was rising with every sentence, and all heads were turned to her, mostly in shock. Sure, she wasn’t the type to sit silently in the back of the class but this was definitely out of the ordinary. “It’s people like you, people who just write them off as if they’re nothing more than a disease, you’re the problem. I would rather spend my life with a whole pack of werewolves than one second in your company.” You spat, chest rising rapidly with your heavy breathing from the agitated state you had worked yourself into.

 Remus couldn’t help the hope that flooded into his chest as he took her words in. She understood him, she didn’t think that he was a monster. If she ever knew, she would see past his disease to the person that he was. He desperately tried to fight the smile which was edging onto his face, but failed miserably, tilting his head down to try and hide it, but a newfound confidence surging through him.

 “Thank you, Miss (y/l/n).” Dumbledore spoke calmly, gesturing for you to take your seat. You did so, blushing a little but still with a determined glint in your eyes. “And it seems we’ve arrived at the end of the lesson.” He was quick to assign you homework before everyone gathered their belongings and started to leave the classroom. Remus told the boys to go ahead and that he would meet them there, as he hovered outside the classroom waiting for her to exit. She did so a couple of minutes later, a guilty smile on her face as she spotted him.

 “Detention.” She shrugged lightly as they started to walk to lunch together. “Couldn’t have expected less, really, I did start shouting in a classroom. I think he agreed with me though, because it’s a detention with Hagrid, which means it can’t be anything too harsh and he probably is just doing it to try and show he has no bias, which is completely fair. Besides, I would spend all night doing manual labour for Filch if I had to, some things are more important, you know? I’m glad I said that, I think it needed to be said. Don’t you agree?” She finished her monologue looking up at the boy, hopeful expression on her face as she asked him the question.

 “Go on a date with me.” He blurted out, unable to stop himself from asking after she literally stood unbeknownst next to a werewolf and went on a tirade about how any punishment was worth her defending them. Her eyes widened slightly, but so did her smile.

 “I would love to, Remus.” She replied, hesitantly leaning up on her tiptoes and pressing a delicate kiss to his cheek, giggling at the goofy smile this left on his face.

 Since that moment, the months had flown by, filled with many dates between them as autumn turned into winter and the pair had grown inseparable. Although it was extremely irritating when they tried to steal her away to spend time with them instead, Remus was incredibly glad that his friends got along with her, too, and even in the time they had spent apart over Christmas, an owl arrived at his window every day with a new letter from her. Now, January was drawing to a close, and he knew that he was ready to tell her his secret.

 They had borrowed James’ invisibility cloak, to sneak out to the grounds and find a secluded spot where they wouldn’t be found, to just lie and look at the stars. She was currently pointing out different constellations to him, and although he already knew them he felt like he was learning all over again listening to the information coming from your mouth. “And that’s the star that Sirius is named after.” She said, pointing to a star slightly to their left, which shone brighter than the rest. They were silent for a few minutes, laying comfortably in each other’s company before she spoke up again. “What do you want to do when we leave here?” She asked, a question that seemed to come out of nowhere. He turned his head towards her, propping himself up on his elbow to be able to see her face better.

 “Why do you ask?

 “I don’t know, I think we’ve just been asked to think about our futures a lot, lately, haven’t we? Being in our last few years here.” She spoke, the stars shining in the reflection of her eyes. “I think I want to work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.” She mused, and Remus felt his heart flutter slightly, that same care that had encouraged him to ask her out all those months ago showing itself as it so often did. “I think that’s where I can help people the most. What about you? Any ideas?”

 “I… don’t think I have much of a career to plan.” Remus admitted, taking a breath and knowing this was the time to tell her. As she predictably asked why, he spoke into the cool night air. “I’m a werewolf, (y/n). I know you know how hard it is for us to find any job, let alone a full career.” He barely even had time to worry about her reaction before she had quelled it, a bright smile lighting her face.

 “I wish other people could see past this disease, Rem, because you’re so much more than that.” She reassured him, scooting closer to him and resting her face in his neck, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone. “You’re much too smart to be overlooked because of a choice you were never given.” He could hear her sighing faintly, wishing that she could change everything, to give him the life that he deserved, to make people see him for who he was, not what he turned into. “Well, I guess this just means that I’m going to have to do really well in my job, to help the boy I love.” Their laughs mixed together in the darkness around them. Together, she would help him through the tough times, the rejections, and she would always fight her hardest to help him and others like him. But more importantly than that, he knew that she would always love him, and would see him as more than his condition.

[thewidowsghost]

Chapter 1 - The Unknown Muggleborn (Harry Potter Various x Reader)

3rd Person POV

(M/n) (L/n) walks out of her boyfriend's vacation home in London, her daughter - (Y/n) - propped on her hip and gets into her car.

It was Halloween of 1981, also her daughter's second birthday and (M/n) was going to visit her friends, James and Lily Potter, as well as their son, Harry.

The brown haired man watches his girlfriend fondly as she gets into her car, then walks over to her window. He leans into the window, ruffling his green eyed daughter's hair and the little girl giggles. (Y/n) playing with a little stuffed black and white kitten and makes it walk on her father's arm. The kitten had been a gift from her dad for her birthday, and her father had a birthday button pinned to his daughter's shirt.

(M/n) leans over and presses a kiss to her boyfriend's lips and ruffles her boyfriend's slightly spiky brown hair.

"Do you want me to come with you?" asks the brown haired man.

"Tony, I'll be fine," (M/n) says, a loving glint in her eyes.

"Okay, I love you," Tony says, leans out of the window and (M/n) drives off, (Y/n) still giggling in the back seat.

About half-an-hour later into the drive, (Y/n) lets out a cry as she drops her stuffed kitten. (M/n) glances in the rear-view mirror as tears streak down her daughter's cheeks.

Then (M/n) fixes her gaze back on the road and slams on the brakes, the car skidding to a stop a few feet from a cloaked man. The figure turns to look at the car and slides a long piece of wood from the pocket of the cloak.

(M/n) glances back at her daughter, who had gone silent, (M/n)'s green eyes wide with alarm, the young girl completely forgetting about the stuffed kitten on the floor.

(M/n) lets out a scream as the car door blasts open and the figure points the long bone white stick at her. Then, the cloaked man's gaze shifts back to (Y/n) and (M/n)'s silvery green eyes fill with terror.

"Don't!" (M/n) cries as the cloaked man shifts the piece of wood on her daughter. "Stop!" she calls again and the cloaked figure's wand shifts back to (M/n).

Though she was terrified and wanted to run, she knew she couldn't leave her daughter for this man to kill. And it's not like (M/n) didn't know who the cloaked figure was, either, for she knew exactly who this was - Lord Voldemort.

Lord Voldemort - the wizard who was known for killing hundreds of muggles, witches, and wizards alike.

(Y/n) begins to cry at her mother's screams and Voldemort, (M/n) lets out a cry and goes to draw her wand, but Voldemort shoots a jet of green light, at her, instantly killing her.

Voldemort points his wand at (Y/n), the two year old girl's eyes crossing at the stick pointed at her. There is a flash of red light and (Y/n) falls unconscious, a strange hourglass shaped mark on her neck.

Voldemort leaves, the car still running, (Y/n) unconscious in the back of the car, and (M/n) dead in the front seat.

A few minutes later, (Y/n) comes out of her unconscious state, and begins to babble for her mother, but when she doesn't get a response, she begins to cry.

The young girl's cries alert a woman passing by and the woman opens the door of the car and the brunette looks in horror at the mother, a hand moving to cover her mouth.

(Y/n)'s cries grow louder at the sight of the stranger, the young girl just wanting her mother and father, and her stuffed kitten that she could still see on the floor.

The brown haired woman looks back at (Y/n) with gentle eyes, and the young girl's cries begin to grow quieter until they stop, her eyes wide.

The woman opens (Y/n)'s door and hands (Y/n) the stuffed kitten from off the floor, and (Y/n)'s green eyes stare into the woman's clear green eyes.

The brown haired woman unbuckles (M/n)'s seat-belt, and pull out her wallet.

"(L/n)," the brunette whispers and (Y/n) looks towards the front, her tiny hands messing with her stuffed kitten. The green eyed woman looks through the purse, trying to figure out the girl's name. "(Y/n)."

At her name, (Y/n) meets the woman's gaze, her lip quivering. The brown haired woman unbuckles (Y/n) from the car and cradles the young girl in her arms.

The brown haired woman turns off the car and walks with (Y/n) back to her house, the woman instantly being met by her husband.

"Jean, darling, what's going on?" A brown haired man asks, looking in concern at the young girl in his wife's arms.

"Tom," Jean - presumably the woman - says softly, "her mother's dead."

The man - Tom - looks at the girl, who is still clutching her stuffed kitten, with a saddened look in his eyes.

(Y/n) catches sight of a little girl with bushy brown hair playing with a book in the living room floor. (Y/n) babbles something and the bushy brown haired girl looks up, babbling something unintelligible back.

(Y/n) reaches her arms towards the other little girl, and Jean sets (Y/n) down by her two year old daughter and the brown haired girl reaches her hand out for the stuffed kitten still clutched in (Y/n)'s small hands.

The two girls don't pay attention to the conversations behind them as the two girls begin to play with the little kitten.

Tom and Jean call the police, reporting the dead woman and the young girl that Jean had taken out of the car.

The next day, Mr. Dursley finds it harder to concentrate on drill that afternoon, and when he leaves his building at five o'clock, he is so worried about the voices he had heard earlier. He is so worried that he walks straight into someone just outside the door.

"Sorry," he grunts, as the tiny old man stumbles and almost falls. It is a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realizes that the man is wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem upset at being almost knocked to the ground.

On the contrary, his face splits into a wide smile and he says in a squeaky voice that makes passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugs Mr. Dursley around the middle and walks off.

Mr. Dursley stands, rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thinks that he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was; he is rattled. He hurries to his car and set off for home, hoping he isn't imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

As he pulls into to driveway of Number Four, Privet Drive, the first thing he sees - and it doesn't improve his mood - is the tabby cat he'd spotted earlier this morning. He is sure it is the same one; it has the same markings around its eyes.

"Shoo!" says Mr. Dursley loudly; the cat doesn't move. It just gives him a stern look. Is this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wonders. Trying to pull himself together, he lets himself into the house, determined not to mention anything to his wife.

Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She tells Vernon over dinner about Mrs. Next Door's problems with their daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word - "Won't!". Mr. Dursley tries to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he goes into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allows himself a grin."Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

"Well, Ted," says the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Mr. Dursley sits frozen in his arm chair. Shooting stars all over Britain?Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

Mrs. Dursley comes into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It's no good. I'll have to say something to her, he thinks. He clears his throat nervously, "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

At he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looks shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended that she didn't have a sister.

"No," she says sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbles. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snaps Mrs. Dursley.

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."

Mrs. Dursley sips her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wonders whether he dares tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decides he didn't dare. Instead he says, as casually as he can, "Their son --he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose so," says Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"Oh, yes," says Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."

He doesn't say another word on the subject as they go upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley is in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley creeps to the bedroom window and peers down into the front garden. The cat is still there, staring down Privet Drive as though it is waiting for something.

Am I imagining things? Could all this have to do with the Potters? If is does . . . if it gets out that they are related to a pair of - well, I can't bare to think about it.

The Dursleys get into bed, Mrs. Dursley falls asleep quickly, but Mr. Dursley lies awake, turning it all over in his mind. I can't see how Petunia and I can get mixed in anything that can be going on, he yawns and turns over, it can't affect us . . .

How very wrong he turns out to be . . .

Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside is showing no sigh of sleepiness. It is sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixing unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It doesn't so much as quiver when a car door slams on the next street over, nor when two owls swoop overhead. In fact, it is nearly midnight before the cat moves at all.

A man appears on the corner the cat had been watching, appearing so suddenly and silently you'd have though he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's ears twitch and its eyes narrow.

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He is tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He is wearing long robes, a purple cloak that sweeps the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes are light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose is very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name is Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore doesn't seem to realize that he'd just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots are unwelcome. He is busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he is being watched, because he looks up suddenly at the cat, which is still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seems to amuse him. He chuckles and mutters, "I should have known."

He finds what he is looking for in his inside pocket. It seems to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicks it open, holds it up in the air, and clicks it. The nearest street lamp goes out with a little pop, he clicks it again - the next lamp flickers into darkness. Twelve times he clicks the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the on whole street are two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which are the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looks out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they won't be able to see anything that is happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slips the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and sets off down the street toward Number Four, where he sits down on the wall next to the cat. He doesn't look at it, but after a moment he speaks it it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore says. He turns to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he is smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who is wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, is wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair is drawn into a tight bun, and she looks distinctly ruffled.

"How did you know it is me?" she asks.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," answers Professor McGonagall.

"All day?" Dumbledore asks. "When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.

Professor McGonagall sniffs angrily.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she says impatiently."You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no -- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerks her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars.... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent -- I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," replies Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," says Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes,swapping rumors."

She throws a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he is going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she goes on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," says Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

"No, thank you," answers Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense -- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinches, but Dumbledore, who is unsticking two lemon drops, seemingly not noticing. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."

"I know you haven't," says Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."

"You flatter me," says Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you't too - well - noble to use them."

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

Professor McGonagall shoots a sharp look at Dumbledore and says, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"

It seems that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It is plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she is not going to believe it until Dumbledore tells her it was true. Dumbledore, however, is choosing another lemon drop and does not answer.

"What they're saying," she presses on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are -- are -- that they're -- dead. "Dumbledore bows his head. Professor McGonagall gasps. "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it...Oh, Albus..."

Dumbledore reaches out and pats her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he says heavily.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembles she goes on. "That's not all.They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But -- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how,but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke -- and that's why he's gone.Dumbledore nods glumly."It's -- it's true?" falters Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"We can only guess," says Dumbledore. "We may never know."

"What about (M/n) and her daughter (Y/n)?" McGonagall asks tentatively. "I remember (M/n) saying that she was going to take (Y/n) over to see the Potters."

Dumbledore bows his head again sadly, and Professor McGonagall's face seems to fall even more.

"Not them too," McGonagall says sadly.

"Her daughter lives," Dumbledore says.

"Well, where is she now?" McGonagall asks.

"She is currently living with Muggles," Dumbledore answers. "The Muggles' daughter is the same age as (Y/n), and will most likely attending Hogwarts at the same year."

"Why not take her to her father?" McGonagall asks curiously.

"Nobody knows who he is," Dumbledore answers. "Just that he's a famous muggle, and (M/n) decided to keep his name off (Y/n)'s birth certificate as to not draw unwanted attention from others."

"At least young (Y/n) is alive," McGonagall says softly.

Professor McGonagall pulls out a lace handkerchief and dabs at her eyes beneath her spectacles.

Dumbledore gives a great sniff as he takes a golden watch from his pocket and examines it. It is a very odd watch. Twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets are moving around the edge. It must have made since to Dumbledore, though, because he puts it back in his pocket and says, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," replies Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."

"You don't mean -- you can't mean the people who live here?" cries Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four."Dumbledore -- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son -- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for him," says Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeats Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous -- a legend -- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -- there will be books written about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!"

"Exactly," says Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

Professor McGonagall opens her mouth, changes her mind, swallows, and then says, "Yes -- yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyes his cloak suddenly as though she thinks he might be hiding Harry underneath it. "Hagrid's bringing him."

"You think it -- wise -- to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," says Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to -- what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they look up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swells to a roar as they both looked up at the sky -- and a huge motorcycle falls out of the air and lands on the road in front of them.

If the motorcycle was huge, it's nothing to the man sitting astride it. He is almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five ti mesas wide. He looks simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hiding most of his face, hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots are like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he is holding a bundle of blankets.

"Hagrid," says Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," says the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he speaks. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."

"No problems, were there?"

"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bend forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, is a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they can see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

"Is that where - ?" Professor McGonagall breathes.

"Yes," answers Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a prefect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."

Dumbledore takes Harry in his arms and turns towards the Dursleys' house.

"Could I - could I say good-bye to him?" asks Hagrid. He bends his great, shaggy head over Harry and gives him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid lets out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" hisses McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobs Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't sand it - Lily, (M/n), an' James dead an' Harry and (Y/n) off ter live with Muggles -"

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispers, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore steps over the low garden wall and walks to the front door. He lies Harry gently on the doorstep, takes a letter out of his cloak, tucks it inside Harry's blankets, and then comes back to the other two. For a full minute, the three of them stand and look at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shake, Professor McGonagall blinks furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shines from Dumbledore's eyes seem to have gone out.

"Well," says Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"I'd like to visit the place where (Y/n) is staying if that's alright, Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall says softly.

Dumbledore nods, clicks the Put-Outer, and places his hand on McGonagall's arm.

There is a loud pop and the two are standing outside a brick house. There are windows lit and the front door is open, leaving the screen door the only protection from the outside world.

Through the door however, the two see two young girls, one with (H/c) hair and the other with frizzy brown hair, playing together.

"They seem to get along well," McGonagall comments.

"They do," Dumbledore agrees. "I believe it is best to keep (Y/n) here until she returns to the wizarding world."

"I do have a question Dumbledore," McGonagall says. Dumbledore turns to her and nods for the professor to continue. "Was Voldemort trying to kill (Y/n) as well? If so, is she as powerful of a witch as Harry may turn out to be?"

"I do not know," Dumbledore admits. "If she as well survived a killing curse," Dumbledore pauses, as if collecting his thoughts. Then he changes what he was going say, "Harry defeated Voldemort by surviving a killing curse. (M/n) was killed before Lily and James. If (Y/n) also survived a killing curse, why did she not defeat Voldemort as well?"

"Maybe Voldemort was not aiming to kill young (Y/n)," McGonagall offers.

Dumbledore nods as though agreeing with the Professor, though he had his own thoughts running though his head.

Word Count: 4482 words

Tell me if you guys liked this first chapter and also if you can figure out what this is a crossover of.

So yeah, I'll see y'all soon!

Love, Kaitlynn ❤️😍