#i mean look at albus’ face he literally stopped working

[crystcllise]

albus always hugging scorpius without reciprocation.

scorpius finally hugging albus first and with certainty.

it’s them.

[cayenne-twilight]

Professor Layton Iceberg Explanation

As I said in the tags of the original, the iceberg I made was a meme consisting of both real theories and satire/parodies/fandom memes. If anyone is interested, I can work on an unironic version that only has real theories.

Buckle in because this post is LONG and heavily saturated with lore and information.

Actual theories

Parallel universe 1960s where the world wars didn’t happen. There’s an unused file in Curious Village that shows the year as 1960 and the time machine from UF is set to 1973, ten years into the future. The series canonically takes place in an undefined time period (hence the technological inaccuracies and fantasy elements), but it’s based off the 60s. There’s more evidence but we don’t have time to go over every little thing. I linked my “no wars” theory below but TL;DR the outdated airplanes and underdeveloped medicine in the Layton series imply that the world wars may never have happened. https://cayenne-twilight.tumblr.com/post/632205992162099200/outofcontextdiscord-timegearremix-zonosils-war

The real meaning behind the statue in Future London. In UF, the purpose of the statue is to spark Layton and Luke’s conversation about their friendship. Luke is stressing out about moving overseas and sees himself and the professor in the story behind the statue, but in the bigger picture, Clive must have been the one to commission it. Some theorize that the little boy is Clive and the man is either his father or the professor. One idea I’ve seen is that Clive wishes he could be Luke for real, while another is that he wishes he died ten years ago, and another is that he’s literally terminally ill explaining why he doesn’t care about consequence. Personally, I think “the boy succumbed to his illness” refers to his mental illness seeing as he wanted the professor to save him from his madness as he saved him all those years ago.

True location of Monte D’Or. there are no deserts on the British isles to my knowledge, so it makes the most sense for Monte D’Or to be in Southwest USA where English is the default language, they have a desert, and there exists a city famous for flashy hotels, casinos, and entertainment. What makes it odd is that nobody ever mentions overseas travel, and all the major characters are from England.

Loosha’s origins are not explicitly explained if I remember correctly, but the implication was that her prehistoric (supposedly) species was sealed away along with the garden, allowing them to survive all the way to the time of LS until Loosha was the only one left. The garden provided a good habitat and protection from predators, and it’s logical that they’d slowly die out anyways, but there’s no explanation of any specific factors that led to Loosha being the last.

Beasley is not a bee I wrote a post about this one as well, but TL;DR Beasly lacks several defining bee traits whilst having several human ones. He is not human, yet, by definition, not a bee. It’s possible that he is the result of Dimitri’s testing, but whatever his untold story is, he remains an enigma of nature. https://cayenne-twilight.tumblr.com/post/632381715250282496/theory-beasly-isnt-a-bee

Subject 2’s identity is currently unknown. There is a subject one (parrot) and subject 3 (rabbit) so there has to be a second. For a long time, people suspected Beasly to be him seeing as he’s a bit of an amalgamation and definitely not a regular bee (see above). After the release of LMJ, though, people began to suspect Sherl, the intelligent hound who could speak to certain people but not others. That being said, it’s possible for one to be subject 4. Sherl’s memory of a bright flash matches up with subject 3’s memory of being electrocuted. They never explain why the animals were being experimented on, but it was probably Dimitri making sure the conditions of his machine were safe for humans before reliving the incident from ten years ago.

Lady Violet died from the plague from DB. There’s no evidence for this or anything, it’s just an idea. People say she died from the flu but I don’t remember them saying that in the game, at least the US version. Extending off my “no war” theory: it’s theorized that the Spanish Flu was spread by the travlelling soldiers, so if that’s true, it’s possible for the epidemic to have been averted for some decades. Maybe the Spanish Flu reached England later than in real life. The hole in this is that DB’s plague must’ve been close in time to 1918 while Violet’s death was much later, so it would’ve had to stick around.

Bill Hawks is working with Targent and Arthur Cantabella. There was a force in the shadows buying the time machine technology from Bill. Someone with a ton of money who helped him cover up a freak accident and get away with it completely, a feat that involved shady means like violence by hired thugs. Some theorize that it was Targent, seeking power over time in exchange for a little mafia magic. The Labarynthia project was sponsored by the UK government, so as the PM, Bill must’ve known about it. He probably supported dubiously ethical, high stakes (witch pun) psychological experiments like Cantabella’s and helped him stay in the shadows.

All the NPCs in St. Mystere and Folsense are dead. I make fun of this type of theory later, but they’re admittedly captivating. I’m pretty sure the canon in CV is that the villagers are Bruno and Augustus’s OCs that they made robots of and built a town around, but it’s more interesting to think that the village was there before, and the townspeople died of a plague and were replaced like Lady Violet. In Folsense, there really was a plague and they never explain the NPCs there. They’re either real people who appear way younger than they are due to hallucinations (even the ones who already look old ?), or they don’t exist at all, which is pretty spooky. This part of the story is a gaping plot hole. In a similar vein to CV, the edgy yet plausible theory is that they used to live in Folsense but died of the plague and now live on as hallucinations.

Hershel seeing everything as a puzzle is a coping mechanism for all his trauma. This was a joke but I thought about it for more than five seconds and it makes way too much sense.

Plot holes and unexplained questions that we like to overthink because it’s fun

The downfall of the Azran was vaguely explained in canon by people being so greedy that it lead to the civilization collapsing. It’s not a stretch to imagine that happening, but it would’ve been more interesting with a little more detail.

Layton and Luke are programmed to routinely forget how to walk. I didn’t know whether to list this in the joke section or not, but it’s odd that the characters actively participate in the walking tutorial (as opposed to showing a little memo to the player) as if they didn’t know how to before, especially when they go through this several times a year.

The truth behind Pavel. He’s simply a joke character who teleports, is a polyglot (sort of, at least he wants us to think he is) and is mega confused all the time. He’s a fun character to make crack theories about because of his cryptic nature that even he doesn’t seem to understand.

Miracle Mask deleted scenes. The first trailer for MM featured animations that were not in the final game. One was the Randall falling scene, except in a slightly different style than the one we know. Others were completely foreign, like Layton and Luke pacing across a theatre stage as if Layton’s about to expose someone with a dramatic point. Cut content and “could’ve beens” are always curious to think about.

Evan Barde: secret mastermind. Arianna and Tony’s dad is a mysterious character who died under mysterious circumstances. I think the canon is that his death was a genuine accident, but concept art of him making a creepy evil face suggests that maybe he originally had a larger role in the first drafts of LS than the finished game.

The secret to how Paul and Des pull off their disguises is unclear and will remain unclear. There is no plausible explanation for their shape shifting. Unless Paul is just a little dude wearing a human suit like that one Wizard of Oz species and Des is the best quick-changer ever and hides his naturally feminine legs under his cloak.

Alfendi’s mom. When LBMR came out people scrambled to piece together who Hershel had a kid with, but there’s no way alfendi is his biological son. This happened with Kat as well and her biological parents turned out to be brand new characters, so I’m sure Al will get an adoption backstory if his arc continues, be his parents old major characters or nameless, faceless NPCs.

Granny Riddleton and Stachenscarfen are omnipotent deities. Idk which section this fits best under, but these two characters have some serious power. At first introduction, they’re implied to be robots, but they appear everywhere in later games. They follow the Professor wherever he goes and assist him on his adventures, GR collecting puzzles and housing them by some odd magic, and Stachen teaches you how to walk. They both introduce and supervise the gameplay. By extension, I guess this idea could apply to Albus as well in the prequels. GR and Stachen even had the power to appear in LMJ, something no major character could do. I consider them akin to the velvet room attendants from the Persona games.

Clive’s kill count is a vague subject in the game for the sake of keeping it PG. I don’t know if anyone’s ever mathematically estimated the damage he caused, and I sure don’t want to try, but the game appears to push the idea that he didn’t kill anyone at all, saying they stopped him in the nick of time and things like that, even though we watch him raze the city. If they ever want to bring him back post-time skip, I can see them twisting it so that the mobile fortress cutscene wasn’t a linear sequence of events, but instead a compilation of scenes over the course of hours so that London neighborhoods around him could be evacuated and have it make sense. Knowing Level-5, it’s more likely that they wouldn’t think this deep and do something more lazy, though.

Memes and references

Post-time skip Flora is real references the famous L is real theory from Super Mario 64. Like Luigi in SM64, Flora was also a highly anticipated character who didn’t appear in a new game, in this case LMJ or LMDA. In the end, Luigi did become real in the DS port so hopefully Flora is real will be realized as well.

Hershel can’t read is a veteran fandom meme referring to how in the first few games, especially Curious Village, Layton asks Luke to read every document out loud for him. Perhaps this was an exercise to improve Luke’s reading skills and independent thinking, or perhaps he was just too lazy or preoccupied to do it himself, but this grew into the joke that our genius Professor was actually illiterate this whole time.

Layton’s smash invitation is hidden in PLvsAA. It’s no secret that the fandom would kill a man to get the Professor into the smash brothers franchise. In PLvsAA one of the puzzle artworks features a goat eating a familiar white envelope with a red stamp, sparking the joke that either Layton or Wright got the invitation their respective fans desired, but it got lost along the way.

The science board is the mysteriously vague organization Don Paolo got kicked out of for the crime of being evil. It’s the epitome of liberal arts majors and art school graduates trying to bs their way around not knowing any science and failing miserably. “He was very good at all the sciences, but then the CEO of science told him to stop because he was using the power of science for evil science”. They do this again when “Dr. Stahngun” describes his time machine what with the soolha coils and whatnot.

Hoogland is death cult initiation is a parody of “Mario 64 is Freemason initiation” which is ridiculous, just like the creepy human sacrifice subplot of AL.

You can see the reflection of someone watching you in Aurora’s eye references the famous, creepy Talking Angela theory. In retrospect it would’ve been funnier if I said Angela instead of Aurora.

Every copy of Professor Layton is personalized references the famous “every copy of Super Mario 64 is personalized”

Clive’s fat ass in HD is a meme that originated from the announcement of UFHD, saying that half of the excited fans wanted to cry again while the other half were simply attracted to Clive. If we want to enter real bottom-section-of-the-iceberg-chart territory then let’s say Clive’s character has some sort of psychological siren properties that draw people to him like a magnet and/or Harry Styles.

Things I pulled out of my ass for shits and giggles

Infinite hint coin hack: I’m sure a tech savvy cheater could hack the game for infinite hint coins, but there’s no easy or interesting way. I don’t know why someone would do that though, considering a lot of the hints suck and there are puzzle guides on the internet.

Cringy, unused Randall villain monologue. This joke is derived from the actual scrapped MM content as well as deleted content being a popular element of iceberg charts, but it’s sadly not real. Would’ve been hilarious, though.

Last Specter Puzzle 031: Light Height tracks and records children’s intelligence level. It doesn’t, but it’s always fun to make fun of arguably THE most ridiculously difficult puzzle in the franchise. (Seriously, do they expect 7+ year olds to know trigonometry???)

Hershel struggles with tea addiction. Hershel from the games drinks tea in moderation, but the manga begs to differ. He has a tea set in the Laytonmobile, and an attempt at teatime while driving causes him to crash.

Folsense is a metaphor for Alzheimer’s. This is inspired by those edgy kids’ show theories where everyone’s in hell or something, but nobody has ever said this.

London Life is reality and the plot of the games is all in Luke’s head. That’s one way to fill every plot hole. How funny would it be if Luke made up crazy characters and stories based off his fellow townspeople Sharkboy and Lavagirl style. “This dude who lives in a castle and asks people to give him all their money for nothing in return is a vampire from 50 years ago involved in a tragic love story”.

Secret ending encoded into Tago’s Head Gymnastics. It’d be crazy if there was, and Dimitri would hound Tago for the secret to time travel. If you didn’t know, the Layton games started as an adaption of Akira Tago’s puzzle series, except they decided to add a story to make it more interesting and marketable.

Daily puzzles datamine your DS. I’m bad with technology but is it even possible to datamine a DS??? Idk, but I think my DS lite from 2008 is safe.

[booksforevermore13]

I know now

Summary: Harry heaved in a breath, and looked at her, this time seeing her for herself, and not the little girl he had gotten used to in his mind.

"I know now," he said.

And Lily smiled.

Read it on AO3 if you prefer.

...

"I learnt about fishes today." Harry heard Lily's voice and turned to look at her.

A smile tugged at his lips as he saw the small, though hazy figure of his daughter by the edge of the bed, red hair bundled on her head in an angry halo as she tugged her dress further down her knees.

One hand reached out beside him to find his glasses, flailing around when he felt a pair being gently put over his eyes. Harry kissed Lily's hands, brushing his beard against her palm and smiling as she giggled.

"Now, about the fishes," he started as Lily climbed up on the bed and crawled onto his stomach, Harry holding her by her side to keep her steady.

"I saw a movie today," she said, "about Dory. And Nemo. But I liked Dory the best," and Harry nodded, though he hadn't the slightest idea what she was saying. "Dory is blue in colour and she has yellow fins, like the yellow of the sun and she can breathe in water and make whale sounds, like this." She oohed and Harry laughed as she oohed until she lost her breath.

"Dory sounds good," he said seriously, lips set in a half-smile.

"I think she's really pretty. Even prettier than Mummy."

"Then I bet she's good."

"Mummy said so too. She said I was right."

Lily smiled triumphantly, and Harry smiled back, gently stroking her hair out of her bun. Lily hated her hair like that, but at three, it had grown past her shoulders, and Ginny had resorted to tying it every morning before school.

Lily didn't like that either.

"Daddy," she called now and Harry's eyes left her hair and settled on her.

"Hmm?"

"Can you make me Dory?"

"Make you - wait, what?"

Lily looked expectantly at him and he stared blankly back at her as he fumbled with what she said.

"Dory's a fish, Lils," he said after a while. "I don't think anyone can be Dory."

"But you can do anything," she protested. "And Mummy always says anyone can be anything they want."

And that was what Lily asked. Never an extra side of ice-cream or a piece of fudge in the middle of the night. A few months back, she'd asked him to turn her into a tiger. The month after, she'd wanted to be a princess. He'd agreed gladly to that, before she'd proposed he turn into a frog so that she could kiss him and he'd turn into a prince.

Now, it was Dory, the blue fish.

It seemed as if she took Ginny's advice most literally.

He was tempted to turn her down, at least the logical part of him did, but then he looked at her and saw the way she was staring at him, with that hopeful glint in her eyes and almost immediately knew she'd won.

She always did.

It wasn't a surprise when an hour later, when they looked into the mirror, they met with a disgruntled orange dad carrying his elated blue daughter, yet, both of them happy.

Dory and Nemo indeed.

...

"Think you can catch up, old man?" Lily said as she took off after the Snitch, her hair flying behind her, like her mother's had, years before. Harry watched with a smile as she flipped her broom in the air, hands steady as she shot off again in typical Weasley fashion. He had to warn her about that, but part of him — the part that defended his children from his wife after a poorly executed prank — knew she had it handled.

It was only after James had hollered at him to get moving, did he realize that he had to catch the Snitch too. "Sorry," he yelled as he took off behind Lily, searching for that familiar golden glint of light he'd gotten used to over the years before realising there wasn't any to follow.

He slowed down. A Wronski Feint, she'd been attempting and almost succeeded in pulling off.

She'd almost got him.

Almost.

"Why are you slowing down?" James yelled from his Keeper post as he dashed to block a Quaffle. Instead of kicking it away from him, he caught it, turned around and put it through the hoop.

Cheating it was, him playing Keeper and Chaser at the same time, but there were only four players, and his children were set on making it as realistic as possible.

Harry only smiled knowingly at James, the Dad-smile, the one that his children hated, before he heard Lily yell and took a sharp turn to face her.

She was holding something, something small and grinning widely and as Harry squinted, he saw a golden object in her fist, wings folded as it struggled against her grasp, a futile attempt to get out, as every Seeker knew.

"Wha—"

"Yes, Lily!" Albus yelled, before he even had a second to register his disbelief. He whooped and stuck out his tongue at James. "Take that, you oaf!"

"Oh, shut up," James muttered as his glare turned to Harry. "I swear Dad, if you took it easy on her—"

"I didn't!" Harry defended. "There - I thought - there wasn't any Snitch when I followed her!"

"What's she holding now, a trumpet?"

"Yeah I transfigured it into a Snitch," Lily said sarcastically from behind Harry and he could hear the distinct flutter of a Snitch caught. "Look around, you'll probably see the real one behind your shoulder.

Albus was laughing hysterically on his broom while they fought and Harry had a distinct feeling that there was something else going on between them three. He watched them for a few seconds, before turning to Lily.

"How did you do that?" he asked her, glancing yet again at the Snitch in her hand.

Lily shrugged, an arrogant smirk plastered on her face as her eyes gleamed with what he knew was glee. A smile made his way on his face as he took in her stance, one he'd seen many times before.

James yelled behind him, breaking through his reverie and Harry turned around, just barely catching him pass over a coin to his brother.

"You had bets?" he asked incredulously and Albus slipped the coin in his pocket with a sheepish grin.

"I thought that was obvious," Lily said flippantly from behind him and Harry frowned.

"What were you betting on?"

"Which of you'd catch the snitch first," James said, "thanks Dad. Really appreciate it."

"Your welcome," Lily piped in again and James glared at her. "What?" she defended, "everyone here knows I'm the only one here who can beat him."

"Bollocks."

"Yeah?" Lily mocked and Harry chuckled as he watched James rise up to the challenge, not long before they were yelling at each other, mostly led by James and Lily with the occasional comment from Albus that fuelled their entire brawl.

It'd take their mother to make them stop.

He laughed out loud when he saw Ginny walk outside with a chocolate covered spatula and brandish it at the three of them as she yelled something he couldn't hear.

He had been right.

Harry flew towards the ground, landing on his feet a few metres away from his wife. He smiled as he saw her turn to face him.

"Lily caught it," he announced, entirely unaware of himself and watched as Ginny smiled in amusement and turned away from him.

"Didn't expect that, did you?"

"Absolutely not."

They walked into the house, Ginny heading towards the kitchen and Harry following her. He watched her for a while as she bustled about, taking out the eggs from the fridge and flour from the cabinet, attempting to open the sugar with one hand before Harry did it for her.

"Where are they?" he asked after a second, noting the absence of his children hovering around the kitchen.

"The boys are upstairs," Ginny stated, "Lils said she'll be at Luna's. Said she had some work."

"Work?"

"Yes, well, we both know what work she actually has."

Ginny looked up at him, grinning. First year off at Hogwarts and Lily had stepped out the train with her three newly indicted friends, two of them being her cousins. The Marauders, they called themselves. The two years that had followed, they'd only grown closer, choosing to spend all their time together, Luna's house being their place.

Mostly because she never interfered.

Harry had only grown to notice the striking similarity they had to the original four.

"It's an acquired name, but I don't think they'll mind," Ginny said softly and Harry laughed, recognizing the words Lily had said the day she'd come back from Hogwarts.

"They won't," he agreed. "They'd be proud, actually."

He dipped one finger in the batter, laughing as Ginny swatted it off.

"Are you upset?" she teased as she continued mixing the batter with her spatula.

"About what?"

"Third time this week you couldn't catch the snitch" she pointed out and Harry laughed.

Five years ago, he'd been the one teaching Lily how to catch a snitch. How the roles had reversed.

"She's clever, I'll give you that," Harry said. "Though I can't fathom how she managed to hide the Snitch from me."

"She didn't," Ginny said with a smile. "I thought you of all people wouldn't fall for that."

"What do you mean?"

Harry waited for her answer but then frowned as he saw her smile fall.

"Nothing," she replied finally and sighed. "One day you'll realise she's more like you than you'll ever know."

He didn't know what Ginny was hinting at. It had become obvious over the months that he was struggling, reaching out to Lily. At fourteen, it seemed whatever he said, it wasn't enough to understand her. His own daughter was a mystery to him, and sometimes he envied Ron for the easy understanding he had with Rose.

"I don't get it," Harry muttered as he slipped her hands around Ginny's waist, bringing her back closer to his chest. He bent forward, pressing his lips below her ear and Ginny smiled sadly.

"I hope you don't mind getting flour on that shirt."

Harry didn't answer, and Ginny arched her neck to look at him. "You're going to tell me what you're thinking?" she asked, and he smiled down at her as he saw her eyes shrouded with concern. Even after all these years, she knew exactly what he was feeling, every time.

He shook his head and Ginny turned around, Harry's arms still around her.

"I don't know her anymore," he admitted. "Not like-not like I did back then." He sighed. "I don't think I even know what her favourite colour is now," he said, looking down at his wife.

"It's still green, I can tell you. Green like the forest—"

"After the rain," Harry finished and laughed.

He remembered when Lily had said that for the first time. She was three, her biggest fascination then, being his eyes. He remembered how she had begged him one day to change her brown eyes to his green, and he'd wondered why. Her eyes were the most exquisite ones he'd seen, exactly like her mother's, but apparently, the three year old thought differently. He'd taken her to the forest the next day and told her to choose a leaf, any leaf so that he could transfigure it to something she'd be able to keep with her always. He'd not expected her to choose the entire forest, and Harry had simply smiled then at the innocence with which she'd looked at him.

"She's going to be seventeen soon," he said finally. "She's not… my little girl anymore."

"Yet she still looks at you like she's three."

"And I hope that never changes."

...

Ginny was outside. He knew she could listen to each and every word he said. He looked across him at Lily, and then back at the ground again.

This was not for Lily.

She was not made for the Ministry. She was not supposed to be an Auror.

How was Ginny not seeing this?

How had she accepted it so easily?

Twenty-five years ago, when he'd walked into the Ministry, he'd vowed that things would change. They had to at that time.

Fifteen years later, he'd found himself vowing he'd not let his children suffer the same fate he had had. That he'd not let them become a pawn of the Ministry.

To his credit, he'd succeeded.

Three years ago, when James decided to become a Curse Breaker, he'd felt the relief that one felt after a hard job well done. One year later, when Albus claimed his dreams of becoming a Healer, he'd been satisfied. He had been so sure he'd saved them from a miserable future.

Harry had never expected his youngest to say those words.

"Dad," Lily urged now. "Dad."

Harry looked up from the floor, and met with his daughter's eyes, carrying a look he'd seen many times before. It was the look she had before she caught the Snitch, the one she'd had when she'd asked him to turn her into Dory so many years ago.

It was when she was unstoppable.

"How'd it come to this, Lils?" Harry asked. "Why an Auror? I always thought you wanted to play Quidditch. Like your mum."

What had gone wrong?

"That was when I was eleven, Dad," Lily said, and he had that unworldly feeling that he had let her down. "I'm seventeen now. I know what I want to do."

"No you don't, Lils," he said. "The Ministry isn't what it was before. It isn't—"

"You don't think I know that?" Lily said quietly, and he could see the anger flashing in her eyes.

She knew that. She'd known that for years now.

She'd been on the receiving side of it.

Four years back, when she'd needed help, the Ministry hadn't given it.

Four years back, when she'd been cornered by Dementors in broad daylight, the Ministry hadn't come to her rescue.

He remembered the muffled cries he'd heard from her room that night, cries she'd tried hard to suppress, but hadn't been able to. She'd been the witness to the work of a Dementor. An innocent Muggle being a victim. He knew she blamed herself. For not being able to produce a Patronus. For not being able to save a person who'd only ever tried to help.

He'd failed in protecting her.

And she'd paid the price.

Eleven years back and it had happened again.

She had a friend. Julian. He remembered him. When they were seven, they liked to play in the pond at the back of their house, pretending to be frogs turned into princes. He remembered how the cookies vanished when they were together, how the swing he'd tied to the poplar tree in their garden was reserved only for them.

That day Ginny had had to go out, so Lily had gone over to play with him.

Harry had always known his work would one day catch up with him.

Just never like this.

When he'd got that message from Ginny, her horse prancing around the room in a panicked gallop, he knew it had happened. When he Apparated into their house, Julian's parents were the first thing he saw. Lying on the floor, victims of the killing curse.

But nothing could have prepared him from what he saw upstairs.

Julian's body. His eyes gazing into the ceiling, his hands which had never stayed still before, lying limp on the ground. It was very much unlike the sandy-haired boy he'd grown accustomed to see during the weekends, sitting opposite to him in the kitchen as he helped himself to Ginny's pancakes.

Beside him, Lily lay on her mother's lap, sobbing into her shirt, but refusing to leave Julian's side. He could hear her incoherent cries, her mumbles as she repeated a phrase over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

And his heart broke, because his little girl had seen something no child should ever have to see.

Because she'd watched her friend die.

Because he'd failed again.

And she'd paid the price.

Lily knew the Ministry — better than even he did — how they chose whom to save, how they chose whom they forgot, their cases never to be heard of again. How the Ministry had slowly lost sight of what they were fighting for. How it was just a crumbling shell in the place of what it had once been.

And even though it was the most daunting thing he'd ever admitted to himself, deep down, he knew that Lily was wired to this. Just like he'd been at her age, this was what she knew she wanted to do.

But unlike him, he knew she'd succeed in what he failed.

And even though he didn't understand, he knew he didn't have a choice.

"I always thought you wanted to be a Quidditch player," he said, and Lily smiled, her eyes tired. As if she was tired of fighting for herself.

But he knew she still had fight left.

"I think you lost me there on the way," she replied finally and Harry smiled.

"Yeah. Yeah, I probably did."

"One day you'll realise she's more like you than you'll ever know."

He'd never understand, but he'd try.

He'd vowed he'd never let his children do the same mistakes he had, but perhaps, that vow had been more for him than it was for them. And in the end, he knew that him being an Auror had only fueled the fire he'd begun to see in his daughter.

Perhaps, him being an Auror hadn't been a mistake at all.

If that's what she wanted to be.

"You know, Dad," Lily said, and Harry, for a second there, saw a hint of fear in her eyes but didn't know what it was for. "I don't exactly need your permission."

"I know you don't."

"I'd just really like you to know."

Harry nodded, his green eyes glinting with unshed tears. Green like the forest a rainy day, she'd said. Green like his.

Because if there was one thing he'd always known about his daughter, it was that she knew him. That even when he'd lacked in being a father to her at times, she'd never lost sight of him.

Even when he hadn't listened to her present.

But he'd listen to her now. He'd do for her what he should have done years back.

Listen.

So he smiled because he'd lost her there, but never completely. Because she was his daughter. Because she was his to protect and let go.

Because she was more like him than he'd ever know.

Harry heaved in a breath, and looked at her, this time seeing her for herself, and not the little girl he had gotten used to in his mind.

"I know now," he said.

And Lily smiled.

...

Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

Huge, huge thanks to my teammates for beta-ing!!

[prbni]

Dramione Headcanons/Prompts

(Note:Might update the post and tags according to the requirement)

A 15 y/o Scorpius Malfoy accidentally stumbles upon a pensive of his father, that contains the memories of a certain witch he had feelings for before he met Scorp's mother. Seeing the loneliness and despair that has fallen upon his father after the death of his mother Astoria, Scorpius decides to use the prohibited Time-Turner to change the courses of the past.

But this meant two things: he'd never be able to experience the love and warmth of his mother and....he probably would cease to exist.

"This is madness Scorp!" Albus shouted angrily. " Uncle Ron and Auntie Mione are happily married. They have loved each other for ages. And this also means,Rose wouldn't exist as well. Do you really intend to do this over the one-sided crush that your father had on Auntie Mione once upon a time?!"

Basically, Albus trying to convince him in all possible ways that this is a bad idea.

Cue to Ron and Hermione arguing at the backyard of Harry-Ginny's house. They even forgot to cast Silencing Charm. Hence,everyone including the kids heard their argument.

"Oh,stop behaving like you're the only one who has been compromising in this marriage!!! Did I tell you to give up your position in the Ministry of Magic? No!" Ron yelled. " Why are you even bringing this up?! I never said it was your fault or anything!"Hermione tried to reason. "BECAUSE I'M TIRED. TIRED OF EVERYONE PRETENDING LIKE YOU HAVE DONE ME A FAVOR BY MARRYING ME WHEN IT IS THE OPPOSITE!!!" "Wh-what do you mean?"Hermione asked meekly. Ron scoffed. "Your parents are gone,Hermione. If we didn't take you into the Burrow, you wouldn't have anywhere to go. You needed us. You needed me." Hermione looked like she was trying to process the words that Ron just said. Or maybe, she was just trying to convince herself that Ron is capable of saying something like this. It's just Ron being in a foul mood. He definitely doesn't mean it."Ron let's talk about this tomorrow, okay?" Hermione tried to calm herself down. "Harry and Ginny are probably waiting for us in the dining table."

"Why? Can't face the truth?" Ron sneered. "If you were sensible enough Ronald, we'd be having this conversation at our own home,with a Silencing Charm on and without children listening to this," Hermione retorted while hinting towards Albus and Scorpius behind them,who were looking warily back and forth between the older duo. It took a while before Ron realised what she meant and grudgingly complied to go inside the house.

Scorpius gave Albus a if-this-is-what-you-mean-by-them-being-a-happy-couple look.

"Well,older couples fight. My parents fight as well. Uncle Ron is a bit aggressive,you know. But they have been like this for years.Also we don't know what actually happened between them.See,Aunty Mione didn't even fight him back," defended Albus."She didn't fight back because she knew we were listening,Al. And I don't know but this sounded more like defamation than argument." Albus sighed loudly,aware that there's no point in arguing. "So, you're still keen on getting Mr.Malfoy and Auntie Granger together in the past?" he asked instead.

"I think now I'm even more keen on getting them together,"Scorpius replied with a slight grin.

Yule Ball AU: Draco is awed when Hermione descends downstairs.

His expressions form into a scowl when he witnesses Ron and Hermione's encounter,and it pisses him off to no end when he sees her crying.

"Pathetic shite really. Ruined the whole festive mood" he mutters to himself. Even all the purring and cooing of Pansy Parkinson beside him couldn't fix his mood."Well that's what she gets for gushing over Weaselby of all possible blokes. Even Longbottom or Potter would know better than making her cry at the Ball. Seems like Weasley lacks in everything,even courting manners. But well,what do I care?"

"Enough to disturb others' sleep through your late night self-indulgent altercations" a voice drawled in beside his bed.

"Seriously,mate. Try to sleep or let others sleep. This was a long,tiring day and we have a tournament ahead,"Theo grumbled from under the covers while Draco shot a glare at this direction.

Another Time Travel fic. This time it's Hermione and Draco going back to time for their own purposes but getting entangled in the middle as they decide to help each other out before returning to the original timeline.

"Be wise before you hold my hand,Granger" Draco said. "I'm not just offering you for a dance. I'm offering you for a lifetime with me. Once you accept this, you're never returning to Weasley."

If Hermione didn't know better what Draco looks like and sounds like when he's joking,she'd almost think this was just one of his attempts at flirting. But one look at his eyes and the intonation of his words sent her shivers.

"That's not how time traveling works,Malfoy. We aren't supposed to end up together. That's not why we're here,"she explained.

"It's okay,Granger. You can just tell me you don't want this,"he chuckled bitterly. "For if you did, you wouldn't care what happens and what's supposed to happen. You'd just join me without excuses."

"I'm not making excuses,Draco. I'm a mother as well. If I mess here in this timeline, they'd be gone there in the future,"seethed Hermione.

One of the common tropes here: Compulsory Marriage under Marriage Law post-war. Here, Hermione is literally fighting with the Ministry to prevent her marriage with Draco. While Draco reluctantly agreed to the marriage since this was the only way to save himself from landing into Azkaban, Hermione had a huge outburst.

"Minister,are you seriously telling me I have to marry this git?" Hermione scoffed in disbelief. "Now now Granger. That's not the way to refer to your future husband," Draco drawled in. She almost forgot Kingsley called both of them to talk about their compatibility in terms of marriage. "Quite rich coming from someone that called me filthy mudblood the entire time he'd known me".That seemed to shut Draco up. The Minister in the question coughed a bit to grab their attention. "Hermione, I'm sorry,okay? I tried talking with the other ministers about this. But nobody including myself seem to come up with a solution better than this." "Granger, don't act like this is a punishment only for you. If choices or circumstances were any better, I'd rather do a dirty dance with goblins of the Gringotts than showing up here and talk about the prospect of marriage....or whatever this is," Draco said in an annoyed tone."Serves you right for all the horrid things you were part of," Hermione replied to him and then turned to Shacklebolt, " I understand why and how this is a punishment to him. But this is a punishment to me as well. And what am I being punished for?"she almost cried out. Draco visibly flinched a bit. "Ever since I stepped into the Wizarding World, almost everyone has taken a knack of making a point to me that I'll never be good enough to belong here. So, I studied.I learnt as much as possible,more than anyone else and tried to dedicate myself to whatever it takes to make a perfect witch. Then, Voldemort returned. Second Wizarding War came along. Everyone talks about what or who has been lost who has made sacrifices but does anyone know I had to take it to myself to wipe out my parents' memories of me and drive them away because the Wizarding World cannot provide them with protection?!"Her eyes were glistened and voice became hoarse. "Hermione,you have to know I'm sorry and thankful-" "No,Minister. I'm not holding anyone accountable for what became of my parents. That's completely my own doing.What I'm trying to understand is after everything I've seen and been through, why am I to be hitched against my own volition to this rotten scum of a Deatheater?!" "Ex.Death. Eater,"Draco said in a dangerously low voice. "You have all the reasons to hate me,Granger. But don't carelessly throw around words like you know me. Despite all the hatred and animosity over the years, I tried to warn you during the Triwizard tournament. I didn't want you to end up at the Manor and I definitely didn't want this!"he shrieked pointing at her forearm where that eight-lettered word was curved in forever. "I didn't want this either," he said in a softer tone,pointing at his own forearm and own scar this time. "So,you see. I'm not the good guy that you'd want as your husband. But I'm not as evil as you expect me to be either." Draco's eyes held nothing but honesty and sincerity which took Hermione aback. "Have you said your piece?" she asked with a renewed vigor to which Draco nodded.

"I'd submit my wand and all magical articles to your office tomorrow,Minister. And return to the Muggle world for good. I shall take your leave now." With that she stomped out of the room without even sparing the other two wizards a glance or letting them speak.

Draco's boggart wasn't his father's disappointment in him. Heck it wasn't even the Dark Lord himself. His boggart was a certain Muggleborn witch crying and writhing in pain on the stone cold floor of the Manor,her screams ringing through the Manor walls tortured by his own aunt while he stands there like a coward, doing nothing,not even looking at her.

After being able to successfully able to restore her parents' memories using the Memory Charm,ever-so-curious Hermione Granger tries it on herself. What she didn't expect was an overwhelming rush of memories consisting of a certain very familiar blonde with very unfamiliar moments between them. Shock,surprise,sadness and anger crashed down on her altogether. Did anyone else know? Had he obliviated himself as well?

She knew accepting a dare from Weasley Twins meant trouble. Yet,when they called her a scaredy cat for trying to back down from the bet,she lunged into it. Even if that meant she had to stalk Draco Malfoy the annoying ferret for a week while disillusioning herself. What she didn't realise was that the thing that started as a dare would become habit while being thrust into a totally different perspective of what the-boy-who-made-her-school-life-hell really was.

She was tired of being called ‘boring’ and ‘no fun’. The one time she decided to pull on a prank was on someone no one would expect. Draco Malfoy. So,when an accident happens while concucting the Love Potion and the cauldron explodes,Hermione falls in love with her forever nemesis. Or should I say, pretends to fall in love with him.Draco Malfoy was already having a hard time accomplishing the task he was assigned with. A bushy headed witch being all sappy and clingy was the last thing he needed at the moment.

[lupin-for-president]

Scorbus Headcanons

(Please tell me if you would like me to write a short fic off of any of these, because I love them)

Scorpius is insanely affectionate, don’t even try to argue with me on this one, you know it’s true

Even when he and Albus are still “just friends” he is touching him All. The. Time.

The worst part is Albus doesn’t even realize Scorp is doing it at this point because he’s just so used to all of this affection from him

James passes them in the library one day and sees Scorpius with his arms wrapped around his brother’s waist while Albus is looking on the shelves for a book and he’s just like “????”

When James asks Albus about it later he is just like “Oh, I didn’t even notice.”

By the time they start their third year no one in the school is sure whether they’re dating or just friends because they’re with each other 24/7

Albus does weird motherly things for Scorpius like fold his clothes and wipes the crumbs off of his face at dinner

Albus also picks out all of Scorpius’ clothes for when they go to Hogsmeade or other trips and complains the entire time which drives Scorpius mad

“You’d think coming from a family like yours you’d have more class, Scorp. Really, it’s almost shameful.”

“Well I’m sorry that you took more after my own father than I did, Al.”

Even though he has better fashion sense, Albus literally just walks around in their dorm shirtless and in grey sweats which drives Scorpius up the fucking wall

Albus gets jealous as hell any time someone apart from his family talks to Scorpius for more than fifteen minutes at a time and will pull him away without an explanation

“Al, that was rude! She was in the middle of her sentence!”

“I don’t fucking care what she was in the middle of, she was basically undressing you with her eyes and it was bloody disgusting.”

Scorpius just smiles and throws an arm around Albus’ shoulders whispering things like “Jealous, love?” and “You want to do that yourself?”

Albus blushes like crazy any time he gets called out for showing any interest at all in Scorpius and you can’t change my mind

The amount of sass in this relationship is unmatched. I mean, their father’s are Draco I-didn’t-know-you-could-read Malfoy and Harry No-need-to-call-me-sir-Professor Potter, would you expect anything less???

Like when they’re sitting on the couch in the common room

“Hey Scorp, mind running up to the dorm and grabbing my book for me?”

“I wasn’t aware I was your errand boy, Al. Would you like me to fetch you some supper next?”

Or when they’re in the middle of class working on a new Potion

“Al, you think you could lend me an extra hand over here?”

“Sure, but I actually really fancy having two, ya know. And the blood would be a real bugger to get out of my robes.”

Albus doesn’t even know what a chair is anymore because he’s always sitting in Scorpius’ lap, regardless of where they are and who they’re in front of

There is so much unintentional PDA between the two of them it is unreal

The first time Scorpius kisses Albus on the cheek in public it’s a total accident

He was on his way to study but Albus had scored a detention for backtalking a Professor so he had to separate from him for a few hours

Without thinking, he just leans in and places a quick peck to Albus’ cheek

He doesn’t even realize what he’s done until he turns around and comes face to face with a wide eyed Rose

“Scorpius, did you just do what I think you just did?” Rose asks, bewildered.

Oh, both the boys are completely flustered

On any given afternoon Scorpius can be found curled up in one of Albus’ sweaters and his face buried into his chest/neck

Albus just pretends he’s not there or lightly rubs his back or runs his hands through his hair

When Scorpius goes through his “rebellious” phase about mid fourth year, he convinces Albus to pierce his ears at like midnight on a Tuesday

To make Scorpius stop crying, Albus pierces his too

You can only imagine the slightly mortified look on Ginny’s face (and the immensely proud one on Teddy’s) when Albus comes home for Christmas modeling black studs

Albus ends up liking it so much that by the end of the week he has Teddy pierce a second set of holes, as well as give him an industrial in his right ear

Scorpius finds it hot as hell

Albus is bad about leaving marks all over Scorpius at all the wrong times

For instance, the night that he had dinner over at the Malfoy’s for the first time, Scorpius had three dark purple kisses painted on his pale skin from just a few days prior

Draco was glaring at Albus througout the whole meal

You should’ve seen the look McGonagall gave him, he nearly thought he was going to turn to stone

Right before summer break their sixth year, Scorpius goes through a huge “I stan Teddy Lupin and everything he does” phase and decides he wants to dye his hair

Albus refuses to do it (he loves that diamond blonde way too much)

When he walks into his dorm room one day to find Teddy (“How the hell did you even get in here?”) knuckle deep in a bowl of neon blue hair dye, he nearly loses it, but they’re already halfway done so he had to let him finish

When they all leave Hogwarts a week later for summer vacation, Draco calls the Potter-Weasley household

“Potter!”

“What, Malfoy?” Harry nearly groans, blowing out a huff of air.

“Not you, the younger Potter, the one snogging my son. Put him on the phone, I need to ask why Scorpius’ hair is the color of a fruit loop.”

Albus and Draco have a very heated conversation about how they both absolutely cannot believe that Scorpius would do something like this

Scorpius is dying of laughter in the background the entire time

During their last year at Hogwarts, Albus shows up with a set of rings, each a simple silver band, one with a green gem and the other a diamond

Scorpius nearly cries when Albus gives him the green gem one during breakfast, full on kissing him in front of everyone in the Great Hall

“They’re the color of our eyes. Thought it might be nice to have,” Albus shrugs nonchalantly, but there’s a blush painting the tips of his ears

They both wear them on the middle finger of their right hand (Albus’ is displayed quite often because of how much he flips Rose the bird)

The day of their graduation from Hogwarts, Scorpius cries

When Albus asks him what’s wrong, he nearly feels his entire heart shatter

“This doesn’t mean we’re over, does it? We’re not over just cause we’re done with school, are we? We’re still going to be together?”

Oh Albus is having none of that

“Of course, Scorp! You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Albus teases, kissing Scorpius over and over until the tears finally stop rolling down his cheeks

After they arrive back on platform 9 3/4, they’re inseparable.

Harry and Draco are losing their bloody minds with how much of the other’s son they’re seeing now

“God, Potter. You’d think he practically lived here.”

“I could say the same for yours, I might start charging him rent.”

One day while both the families are out together at a diner (it was Scorpius’ idea), Ginny makes the comment that if they just got a house of their own then it wouldn’t be a problem

She was joking, of course, but the boys took it 100% seriously

So about a month later they bought a small but nice house not too far from either of their parents

And it was there, in the middle of their newly furnished living room, that Albus proposed to Scorpius with another silver band

But this time, it went on his ring finger.

(These are the headcanons I was talking about hahah @ellavaneck)

[albino-whumpee]

First mistake

In which we learn Albus can´t see anything.  

Taglist:  @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @giggly-evil-puppy @cowboysrappin @haro-whumps @burtlederp @neuro-whump @comfortforthepain @whumps-the-word @whole-and-apart-and-between @broken-horn @ashintheairlikesnow @rosesareviolentlyread​ @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @as-a-matter-of-whump  @whumpasaurus101 @grizzlie70​ @twistedcaretaker

CW// Pet whump, dehumanization, defiant whumpee, migraines, whumpee as caretaker. Pretty mild one. 

Days later, Albus was having a headache.

It was getting harder to read the reports or even his own notes, and his eyes weren´t taking lightly the increasing strain.

“Are you taking anything for that?” Sasha asked with cards and papers scattered around their table on the cafeteria.

Albus grunted “I can´t take medicine” he said squinting harder at his excel document. Re-reading it for the tenth time.

“You allergic?” Tony asked scratching his head before showing the boy the piece he was working on “Hey, what do you think of this?” Albus sighed, giving up on trying to understand.

“I don´t need them” The boy took a look at the man´s tablet and was marveled as always. But the colors made him stare away. Too vibrant for him “It´s good” he said closing his eyes for a second.

“Dude are you sure about that?” Sasha asked stopping the sound of rushed typing.  

“I have gone through worse without them. I´m fine” he growled annoyed at her insistence “Why does this have last week´s numbers?” he showed her his tablet. She took a look and then directed an even more worried look at him.

“Because it´s last week report, Albus. I sent you the new version an hour ago” she explained making him look at her and then at the tablet.

“No, it´s version 8 right? It´s this one, look” he said feeling a tug on his chest when she shook her head and Tony stretched his neck.

“Ah, no it says right there it´s version 6″ the man said as Sasha pointed with her finger the number 6 at the top. Now more visible at the distance. “See?” the boy sighed before covering his face with his hand.

“Good thing you haven´t sent it to Zarai” Sasha tried to comfort him, but when he didn´t say anything both stared at him. “You didn´t…”

“No, not yet” he said making both sigh in relief. “I have two hours left at least” he said opening the mail app and downloading the correct document. Using index and middle to expand the screen and verify the file´s name.

Sasha looked at Tony and then back at the boy “No, it´s due in half”

“What?” The boy jumped and rushed to check on his notes. His breath growing quicker until he read the actual note and his heart skipped a beat. His eye trembled, before he let himself fall on the table covering his head in a quiet attempt to soothe himself from the anxiety.

He had had trouble reading back at the facility. They had partially erased that part of him before, only to reinstall it later as “costume training” as the handlers liked to call it. It had taken more than just a few hits on his right hand and on his thighs to learn to read and write again without passing out. Despite the white pain he had felt at the beginning, he had gotten used to the small burn at the back of his eyes.

His sight was blurry and even now making up letters up close was difficult sometimes. But he thought it would be fine as long as he squinted enough. He was slow because he always expanded the screen to read…

Was it really something so small, reason enough to get him fired? He shivered and hugged himself harder as he realized that it was enough. Ma´am had a long history of firing slow workers and he couldn´t let that happen.

He trembled at the thought of being returned to the white walls, with its freezing tiles and the muffled sounds of people screaming. The electricity ran through his limbs like a ghost´s caress.

Tony looked at Sasha and reached to tap on his shoulder. Only making him jump away “Hey, hey! It´s ok, Albus, hey, don´t worry man, let me help you with that” the words made Albus teary eyes look up at him at the exact moment Tony gave him his glasses.

The boy blinked a few seconds trying to accustom to the clear view. If just a bit blurry but definitely an improvement.

“Ah, just like I thought. Look here” he pointed to his tablet and he followed his finger to see the document with literal new eyes. “You can read them better right?” Albus nodded.

“Hah, welcome to the four eyes club” Sasha giggled as she went back to work “So you were cranky because your eyes hurt huh? You don´t need to go through pain if I can help it you know. I´ve got ibuprofen in my bag all the time”

“I´ve heard its normal for albinos to have poor sight, didn´t you use glasses before? Your eyes have that little...hm, tremble, you know?” Tony asked him, but he put the act as if he was too busy fixing the document to avoid answering. He didn´t know anyways and time was running out too fast for him to worry about the blinding pain from trying to summon memories kept under the fog.

“Thank you Tony, you´re a life saver” he said so meaning it more than the man could know “I´ll do anything to pay back the favor…just…need to finish this…” he wasn´t lying, but for his luck, he took it as a joke and allowed himself to focus in making his fingers fly on the screen. After Tony simply nodded and waited a few minutes, the man chuckled at the concentration face he put.

“You´re sticking your tongue out” he giggled taking a photo, just before he stood up to sprint to the printer down the hall. 

“You´re done?!” Sasha and him yelled, jaw hanging open. 

He took the paper and read it on his way back to the table “It took me an hour because I couldn´t see the numbers but now?” he smiled shaking the papers in his hands. “Thanks Tony! I´ll give them back later!” the albino shouted, trotting to his owner´s office.

“Good luck!” he managed to hear before he entered the elevator.

He recomposed as he entered the office. Only to find Zarai crying.

She quickly turned around to face the window wiping the tears off. 

“M-Ma´am?” he asked, stepping inside and closing the door. “Are you…?”

“Where´s my report, Albus? You´re two minutes late” she cut him out with a husky voice. Albus shifted the papers on his hands.

“I´m sorry, ma´am”

“Knock on the door next time” her voice shifted to that of anger. The boy stared at the documents for a second, before laying them on her desk.

“I´m sorry, ma´am. I´ll do better next time” he replied in a low voice. He stood there twisting his fingers anxiously, until she turned to face him. Her face looked older, showing some signs of fatigue that didn´t have anything to do with work.

“It´s not like you have a choice right?” she said taking the papers and quickly passed them over to let her prodigious memory work as Albus kept his head down in submission. She put the document down and stared at him. “Are those Tony´s glasses?” Albus hadn´t noticed until now that he still had them on. It was comfortable seeing clearly, but he quickly put them on his pockets. “Why do you have them?”

“I, uh…” he stuttered thinking how to string the words together “He lent them to me”

One eyebrow shot up, “I can see that. Since when do you need glasses?” she asked with her brows in a knot. Albus swallowed, fearing he might have become an inconvenience. Undesirable. But he couldn´t ignore her.

“I´m not sure ma´am…” He managed to say.

“They didn´t say anything about bad vision… its recent then?” she mumbled to herself “Do you see well on those?” the question left him frozen.

“…yes, ma´am” he answered after a second. She nodded absent mindedly before standing up.

“Well, check where there´s an optic store and we will go after work. You have to give Tony back his glasses before he stamps himself against a wall” Albus stayed still as he realized she had joked with him. She gave him a look “Yes, I can try be funny sometimes too. I´m not made of ice” she wiggled her hands in a Duh- gesture. “You´ll have to pay for them yourself though. You can do that now” She proceeded to walk out the office for her evening smoke. “Thank you ma´am” he managed to say before she made a gesture as if to close the door but regretted at the last second. “Yes, ma´am?”

“Do you need a pill for that?” she asked leaning on the door frame. 

“No, ma´am. I´m fine” he lied, putting a smile the woman didn´t fell for. 

“I have ibuprofen on my purse. Take one, please” she ordered him before turning on her heels and closing the door. 

The boy let out a sigh. 

She was so hard to read. 

—-

He stayed there for a while, searching for a place like she had ordered him to. But couldn´t stop thinking about her.

How he had found her crying.

It was true he had seen her gloomy and contemplative lately. More than usual. Definitely more emotional than normal. Hugging Momo and staring at the garden for a long time until she stood up and left to her room.

He wondered if it didn´t have anything to do with that weekend´s trip with Claude and Mister Robert. What was it? Why was she in so much pain?

Albus glanced at the photo on her desk. The one with the kids and Sann´s clone. He already had a hunch about what could it be, but… it wasn´t his place to ask and if she didn´t tell him, it wasn´t information he needed to know.

Browsing the internet the sudden realization he would be seeing Sann for the weekend popped on his head and made him blush. He looked at his hands and tried remembering the lady from the sign language video.

“My…” He pointed with his index at his chest and then pulled up both hands in front. Forming “H” with both hands and then ticking one above the other. “Name is…” then he formed each letter. Stumbling a bit between U and S. Sighing at the way he still needed practice to teach it to Sann.

He was breaking one of the most endorsed rule of the facility by thinking about him.

“Don´t get attached to the others”

But he wasn´t there anymore.

[tricksters-captain]

Weasley Twins/Cedric Diggory Imagines - Accidental Meeting - Part 4

AN: As you read this take into consideration that things are changed from the books/movie plots in order to fit my storyline together. This chapter is quite short but I’ll have another up soon!!

Overall Summary: (Y/n), is a young witch who always kept her head down due to her complicated past; one day she bumps quite literally into one of the most popular boys in Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, and that’s when (Y/n)’s plan of keeping her head down seems to go up into the air. Things only seem to worsen when two redheaded twins start to take notice too...

This Chapter: Remus tries to talk to (y/n) about her Boggart experience but  when news is out that Sirius Black is inside the castle there are other problems at hand...

(MASTERLIST HERE)

Pairing(s): Cedric Diggory x Reader, (Eventual) George Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Fred Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Oliver Wood x Reader

Word Count: 2,606

Warnings: Some language, angst 

Lupin guided you to his office, his arm comfortingly wrapped around you still. 

He offered you a seat and a glass of water which you took. 

“Now, (y/n), I’ll admit I was curious to see what the boggart would turn into for you but I didn’t expect to see what I did.” Lupin confessed, sitting on the edge of his desk as he folded his hands on his lap. 

“What? My mother?” You scoffed, taking a sip of the cool water. 

“Not exactly.” Remus’s eyes flickered from his hands up to your face. “I believe that what you fear is not your mother or your father, (y/n). I believe you fear becoming like them.” 

“Excuse me?” You were taken back by the professors bold confession. 

“The boggart may have taken the shape of your mother but it was very clear that the arm that the boggart reached towards you with was the arm that usually bares the dark mark.” Remus started to explain his theory. “I may be new (y/n), but I do hear the whispers that go around the students. Now, your parents were very impressive dark wizards and they did terrible things but just because you are their blood, does not mean you are like them.”

“It’s easy enough to say that but people don’t understand. They hear my name and all I see is fear.”

“You are in charge of your own path, things may happen that will change things sometimes but at the end of the day, when it all comes down to it, you are who you choose to be.” Remus’ words only passed through your head, you were still too shaken from the experience to really absorb his advice. 

“May I be excused, sir?” You didn’t know how to respond to his previous speech and wanted to just be alone for a little while. 

“Think about what I said.” Remus opened his office door for you, leaning on it as he waited for you to walk out. “Your parents are far away from here, don’t let them control your life, (y/n).”

You sent the professor a forced smile as you left. 

You didn’t want to be around anyone which didn’t exactly help as everywhere you could go people would be; the common room, your dorm, the library etc. 

“Miss Seyler!” McGonagall’s voice echoed down the staircase as she saw you start to descend them. “Miss Seyler, may I have a word?” 

You slowed and waited for your head of house to reach you. 

“What can I do for you, professor?” You asked her politely even though you just wanted to run off across the grounds to avoid any more confrontation. 

“It’s not what you can do for me, Miss Seyler, it’s what can I do for you...” She corrected you, “I heard about the incident in class with the boggart from one of your fellow students and I wanted to know if you’d like me to speak with the other professors about talking to the students and telling them to stop discussing your kin?” 

You knew she meant well but the last thing you needed was for students to think you were weak and pathetic by getting the teachers to practically ban any talk about your parents.  

“Honestly, Professor, it wasn’t that great of a deal. I’m fine.” You tried to convince her but her glasses shifted on her nose as she scrunched her brow in disbelief. 

“Miss Seyler, now I know you prefer to keep your head down and out of things but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that your fellow students are talking about you, spreading false rumours and if I’m being honest almost scaring the younger years and I won't have it.” McGonagall confessed. 

“Professor, whilst I appreciate the fact you care about what’s happening. I’m sure it won’t be long until somebody else takes the limelight for a little while. Most likely, Harry Potter and his two friends.” You were trying to sound positive but you weren’t sure it was working. 

“I’m going to discuss this with Albus and mark my words, Miss Seyler, this bullying will not be tolerated.” And with that McGonagall excused herself. 

You audibly groaned at the thought of Dumbledore suggesting that students should be told not to discuss your family but you had some relief in knowing that Dumbledore would be the last person to stop people having conversations especially about people they should be worried about like your parents and the Dark Lord. 

You watched McGonagall rush down the stairs most likely to try and grab Dumbledore before supper. 

You tightened your grip on your book bag as you decided where was the safest place to avoid people for the next couple hours and you settled on one of the archways near the schools entrance. No one would be leaving the castle with supper so close and it was a weekday so students would have to return to their common rooms afterwards to study for the evening.

You swiftly found a place inside an arch, pulling out your uncles letter and reading it again. 

You sighed, lowering the letter as you thought about your uncle and the stress he must be under at home all alone. You looked out across the grounds as the wind softly blowed past you, it was cold with it being the end of October but you weren't bothered too much by it as the arch sheltered you somewhat.

The smells from the kitchens and great hall filled the wind and made your stomach rumble. You knew you’d have to dig into your stash of treats later on and possibly harass Wood for some of his trunk full of snacks.

 As you scanned across the grounds, you spotted a large black dog off to the side of the school.

You thought it must've been one of Hagrid's new adoptions but Hagrid was no where to be seen. 

You watched it sneak along a wall until it stopped and looked towards you. 

You knew it was looking directly at you. You could feel it. 

The black dog narrowed its eyes at you before slipping round a corner and disappearing. 

A strange shiver rolled down your spine but you shrugged it off as you tucked your letter away and pulled out one of your potions books. 

“Blimey, Miss Seyler, what are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in the great hall for supper like everyone else?” Hagrid’s voice brought you from your book and as you looked towards the clock tower you saw you had been sat there for an hour already. 

“Guess I just got sucked into my book.” You lied, you didn’t need to tell him you didn’t want to be in supper. 

“Well, you best run along, it’s getting dark out. Don’t wanna be getting into trouble now.” Hagrid gestured towards the sunset and you gathered your things to do as he said. 

“Hagrid?” You suddenly remembered the large black dog, “Do you have another dog? Besides Fang?” 

“No, why?” Hagrid shook his bushy head, 

“Its just I saw a large black dog on the grounds earlier. I just thought he was yours.” You explained, pointing to where you saw it. 

“It’s prob’ly a creature from the forrest, I suspect. Sometimes, they get too close to the castle, I’m sure Dumbledore will sort it out if it happens again.” Hagrid didn't seem too bothered by the news so you felt more relaxed at the sighting. 

“Okay, see you later, Professor.” 

“I’m still not used to the sound of that.” Hagrid beamed as you bid him goodbye.

As you went further into the castle you could hear the chatter and footsteps of students leaving supper so you just took yourself back to the common room. 

When you started to climb the stairs, you noticed some kind of backlog. 

“What's going on?” Harry Potter stood in front of you with his friendship group. 

“Probably Neville forgot the password again.” Ron grumbled, 

“Hey.”Neville Longbottom spoke up from behind the boys.

“Oh, you're there.” Ron didn’t exactly apologise for the remark.

“Let me through, please. Excuse me! I'm Head Boy! Get back, all of you. No one is to enter this dormitory until it's been searched.” Percy Weasley announced from the top of the stairs by the common room entrance.

“The Fat Lady! She's gone!” Ginny Weasley, the twins youngest sibling, rushed through the crowd to tell Ron, Harry and Hermione. 

“Serves her right. She was a terrible singer.” Ron remarked, 

“It's not funny, Ron.” Hermione scolded him. 

“Keep calm, everyone.  Be quiet.” Percy continued shouting above all the muttering. 

“Excuse me.” Dumbledore passed you as Percy announced his arrival. 

“Make way. The headmaster's here.” 

You watched the headmaster reach the top of the stairs to see the painting was torn and the fat lady really was missing. 

“Mr. Filch? Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady.” Dumbledore told Filch as Filch clung onto his cat, scanning around at the surrounding paintings. 

“There's no need for ghosts, Professor. The Fat Lady's there.” Filch found her quickly as he pointed up the wall. 

There was a sudden commotion of people rushing to see followed by Dumbledore dodging his way through students to reach her. 

“Dear lady, who did this to you?” Dumbledore asked as she hid behind a hippo in a safari painting. 

“Eyes like the devil, he's got, and a soul as dark as his name. It's him, headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle!” She rambled, still frightened out of her wits. “Sirius Black!” 

The name sent ripples through the surrounding students as they began to panic. 

“Secure the castle, Mr. Filch. The rest of you, to the Great Hall.” Dumbledore summoned all students to the great hall. 

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you.” Oliver grabbed hold of your arm as he squeezed his way through some third years in the great hall. 

“I was––”

“Silence! Now, as you may have heard, Sirius Black has been sighted inside the castle. Now, the castle is going to be searched by the staff but for now, I wish all students to remain in here until further notice.” Dumbledore waved his wand and all the benches began to stack themselves to the side as a stack of sleeping bags and pillows piled in the corner. 

“Guess we are spending the night in here.” One of the third years whispered to their friends. 

“No one shall leave this hall unattended. Anyone who requires the use of the bathrooms will be accompanied by a teacher or prefect.” Dumbledore finished his announcement before leaving the great hall with Snape, McGonagall and Filch.

You noticed Percy and Penelope had taken it upon themselves to start handing out the sleeping bags and pillows so you and Oliver got in line for one. 

“Why weren’t you at dinner this evening?” Oliver didn’t waste any time with the questions. 

“Something happened, I didn’t feel like being surrounded by gossip.” You muttered to him, keeping your voice low so no one could eavesdrop. 

“I heard something about––” 

“––Can we not discuss it right now?” You cut the boy short, sending him a look of warning. 

You took your bedding and made your way over to a space in the hall. 

You pretended not to notice the small gatherings of people discussing both your classroom incident and Sirius Black from each corner of the hall. 

“Are you actually going to tell me what’s going on with you or do I have to get the twins to annoy you so much you have to come and talk to me?” Oliver cocked his eyebrows at you as he laid his sleeping bag down and sat on top of it. 

“It’s a long story.” You sighed, doing the same.

“Well, it looks like we are gonna be here all night so I’d start talking now.” 

You were thankful you still had your book bag with you as you dug through it and pulled out Demetrius’ letter. 

“Well I guess we’ll start with the beginning of the day.” You handed him the letter so he could read it whilst you eyed around the hall to make sure no one was paying too much attention to the two of you. 

“He thinks your parents could escape? Do you think the Ministry could be hiding something from him?” Oliver whispered, handing back the letter. 

“I’m not sure. He’s always been paranoid but it doesn’t seem quite right. I feel like they could be lying about their new security being so high.” You put the letter away quickly before anyone could spot it or someone nosey like Snape.

You quietened down when the twins came over with several other Gryffindor boys to join you and Wood. 

You were thankful you had a book with you so you could ignore anymore conversations. You didn’t want to think about Sirius Black or how he even got into the castle in the first place. It only made you feel more nervous. 

As the hours passed, the chatter died down and soon the snoring started. 

You lied beside Oliver, both of you still awake but tucked into your sleeping bags. 

“I heard about the boggart.” Wood whispered, moving onto his side to face you.  

You pursed your lips into a thin line and sighed quietly, moving onto your side to do the same. 

“It was her. My mother.” You whispered back, “It seemed so real.”

“That’s why they’re scary bastards but it was just a boggart.” Oliver reassured you. 

“I know. Professor Lupin spoke to me after I ran out of the room. He was telling me something about how I shouldn’t listen to what everyone says about me being like them. He told me the boggart wasn’t even my mother but the fear of being like her.” You leant closer to Olivers pillow to speak as the light snores of surrounding students weren’t quite loud enough to hide your discussion.

“And what do you think?” Oliver asked, 

“I don’t know. I just know I never want to see her in front of me again.” You confessed, your eyes growing dark with anger and concern. 

“You won’t have to.” Oliver tried to say confidently but after Sirius Black, who really knew what could happen. 

Both yours and Olivers heads turned when one of the doors opened, letting in the light from the corridor outside. 

You spotted Cedric guiding some first year out of the hall and towards the bathroom. You almost forgot he was a prefect.

“You know what I also heard today?” Oliver had more amusement in his voice now. 

“What?” You whispered, turning your head back to face him. 

“I heard that Diggory walked you to charms earlier. I also heard you two were tucked away privately in a corner of the library.” Oliver wiggled his eyebrows at you and you reached across to pinch him. 

Oliver hissed, rubbing his arm before laughing quietly at your actions.

“He’s not who I would pick for you but at least, he’s a good quidditch player, I’ll give him that.” Oliver’s comment made you roll over with a quiet groan. 

“Who said you even get any say in who I choose to spend time with?” You whispered over your shoulder. 

“Well I am your closest friend after all.” Wood swiftly replied. You couldn’t help but know that was the truth. 

“Goodnight Oliver.” You didn’t want to admit he was right so you ended the conversation there. 

NEXT PART

Tag List 

@viirgobbyy​ @itsfangirlmendes​ @obsessedunicorn24​ @rye-li​ @thealienplace​

[pellucidity-is-me]

On Comparing Two Werewolves

Summary: Another scene from my fanfic (link in blog description) that can work as a one-shot. Dumbledore returns to his office the night before Halloween, argues with a few portraits about Remus Lupin’s place in Hogwarts, and decides to take a closer look on his own past with Fenrir Greyback.

Wordcount: 4396

Dumbledore returned to his office, humming Benny Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing. He looked around and smiled at all the decorations on his walls. The group of Gryffindor boys calling themselves the “Marauders” had snuck into his office and decorated it as a little Halloween practical joke. It was very advanced magic (highly impressive for first-years), and it would have fooled anyone else. But not Dumbledore—and he was going to let the prank play out. It was harmless, after all.

Dumbledore removed the portrait-coverings from the walls. The portraits found it terribly annoying to be covered up like that, and Dumbledore did like having their input... most of the time. However, many of them held very hostile beliefs towards werewolves, and Dumbledore didn't want Remus to hear any of it. Remus had, of course, probably heard it all already. But the boy was eleven years old, and Dumbledore wanted to let him be a child as long as he could.

Even if it meant having his office expertly decorated for Halloween.

Especially if it meant having his office expertly decorated for Halloween.

"They've decorated your office," Eupraxia Mole said sternly from her portrait-frame. "A couple of boys. I think there were three. One of them was the werewolf." Dumbledore noticed the contempt with which she said the word and raised an eyebrow.

"I am aware, Eupraxia. And I do not see it fit to discriminate against Remus when you are quite literally a portrait. You're not even a living being, and I do not need to argue with you."

"The audacity!"

"I'd say you weren't fit to run this school if you weren't the best Headmaster we've ever had," said Everard, twirling his moustache. "I trust your judgement, even though I do not trust the boy."

"Thank you, Everard."

"I was a Healer before I was Headmistress, you know," said Dilys. "I've healed a few, and they are not completely ill-mannered, to my knowledge. Most of them seem to be normal at first. It is society, I believe, that drives them to be the monsters that we believe them to be. Watch him carefully, Albus. It is still possible that he will go down that path."

"Very insightful, Dilys."

"Half-breed, that's all he is," said Dexter Fortescue. "They all end up the same! Why you would put the school in danger by allowing him in, I have no idea! You ought to just put a stop to this nonsense and put him out!"

"You've heard our conversations, Dexter. He is no more dangerous than you or I."

"Whiny, snivelling little brat if you ask me," said Phineas Nigellus Black. "Doesn't seem to pose much of a threat. It's Sirius Black I'm worried about. I would recognize his voice anywhere, and this hijink will be reported directly to his mother. If he were anyone else then it would be acceptable. But he has a responsibility, as heir, to act his age. I've heard Walburga rant about him—he's a Gryffindor."

"No harm done, Phineas. I find him to be a bright and entertaining boy, myself."

"Of course you would," said Phineas snidely. "You let a literal monster into Hogwarts. That never would have been done in my day. It wouldn't have been done in anyone's day. There's a reason it's never been done before."

"Remus is an eleven-year-old boy. There is no reason to be afraid of an eleven-year-old boy."

"How do you know he's not a senseless monster? You have no proof," Euphraxia argued.

"Monsters are not pleasant, clever, kind, and mild-mannered," said Dumbledore evenly. He was getting a bit frustrated now. It should be such a small thing, letting a werewolf into Hogwarts. The portraits only disliked the idea of it because it had never been done before. It was difficult to talk with paintings that were stuck in the past, could not grow, and could not mature. Dumbledore again wondered why he was doing it.

"He's faking it." Euphraxia blew out a puff of air and let her portrait-y lips flap a little. "I can't believe you can't tell. He's not a normal eleven-year-old; he is a monster assuming the shape of an eleven-year-old, pretending to act as any other child would. It's obvious, Albus, that he's lying. You saw. He nearly lost control that one time. Had to stop, breathe, and take up his façade again. Remember?"

"He was stressed. I would have stopped to take a breather, myself. And, forgive me for saying so, but I excel at reading people. He is not pretending to be a person." Really. The notion was ridiculous. Remus was good at a great many things, but pretending to be a person for six and a half years was not something that he could do. It wasn't something that anyone could do.

"Don't get defensive, Albus," said Dilys. "We are only trying to protect the school. That is our duty, after all. I am inclined to agree with you, but I would be cautious if I were you."

"Thank you, Dilys. I accidentally allowed myself to forget that you are only portraits, and that I cannot easily change the mind of a painted inanimate object."

"I had no idea that you were so irresponsible," said Phineas, "letting my descendant go bad like that."

"What was I meant to do?"

"Re-sort him. Put him in Slytherin. That House will lead him right."

"The Sorting Hat does not agree."

"You mean the inanimate talking hat?"

"I see you've heard of it."

"This school is going to go up in flames!" Dexter continued. "A werewolf running rampant in a school full of children! I may be a portrait, but I've heard of the deeds of Fenrir Greyback! Mark my words, that boy will go bad!"

Armando Dippet cut in for the first time. "I remember Fenrir. I taught him, though he didn't go by the surname 'Greyback' at the time. You taught him, too, Albus. Quiet. Soft-spoken. Like the Lupin boy."

"Not all quiet teenagers are the same person, Armando."

"I know, I know. But I see my colleagues' point. I never would have imagined Fenrir to grow up the way he did. Something snapped, Albus. Something changed. He wasn't the same after being bitten."

"He became bitter because of a tragic event. I can't see Remus taking that route."

"And I couldn't see Fenrir doing it, either. I advocate for equality, of course. But I don't think you should have let Lupin into the school."

"And you," said Dumbledore, picking up his quill, "are only a portrait. I do not wish to discuss this any further. I make the decisions. You have all made your opinions clear, but my say is final. Sirius Black is a Gryffindor, and Remus Lupin is a Hogwarts student. And remember: you all are sworn to secrecy about his condition."

"Condition!" scoffed Dexter. "What a euphemism! It's not a condition, nor is it a sickness... it's a way of life! It's a species!"

Dumbledore closed Dexter's portrait with a snap. "I would like some peace and quiet. Do not make me permanently remove your portraits from my office."

The portraits were quiet (most of them even left their frames, perhaps to sulk somewhere else), and Dumbledore finished composing a letter to the Minister. But something niggled in the back of his head. He remembered Fenrir, of course. He had gone to Hogwarts. He had been human at the time. But what had he been like? He had seemed like a normal student. Dumbledore had never paid much attention to him.

Dumbledore rifled through his bottles of memories and found what he was looking for. He poured it into the Pensieve and entered the memory of one of his classes. Fenrir Greyback was sitting at a desk, his head bowed over a book and his fingers tapping on the desk impatiently. Dumbledore bent next to him and tried to remember.

It was almost unnatural to watch this boy—whose face was now constantly in the Daily Prophet—who was now one of the most feared people on earth. He looked so young and innocent: he was hardly the same person. It was no wonder that no one ever recognized him after he went bad. Dumbledore himself hadn't believed it; when the name Fenrir Greyback had become popular amongst fearful wizardkind, Dumbledore had thought that it was simply someone with the same first name. After all, he'd taught multiple Fenrirs. He'd even entertained the notion that the name was completely fake, or that he hadn't taught Greyback at all... he'd never once made the connection until he had seen that 1965 photograph of the man, and it was hard to believe even then.

Dumbledore studied the young Greyback's face, but could find no trace of Remus Lupin in his eyes. He simply looked bored, and Dumbledore could hardly fault anyone for being so in the middle of Transfiguration class.

Fenrir was quiet. Hardly ever spoke at all, in fact. He didn't spend any time around peers in his own House—he spent more time with the Gryffindors, in fact, than anyone else. Fenrir's chosen company reminded Dumbledore of James and Sirius, in fact. But he was always an add-on; someone who never had nor was ever considered a "best friend". He was just... there. Quiet. He reminded Dumbledore more of Peter Pettigrew than Remus Lupin, if Dumbledore was being honest with himself.

Dumbledore could hardly see the current Fenrir Greyback in the boy's appearance: the man who had grown out his nails and hair, who had embraced his condition and used it to become more wolf-like and intimidating. This eleven-year-old boy looked... sweet. Happy. Had he changed? The boy stood up and walked over to young-Dumbledore after class ended. Dumbledore only had to search the depths of his brilliant memory for a moment before he remembered this conversation.

"Professor Dumbledore," said the young Fenrir Greyback, his eyes bright. "I forgot to do my homework again."

"And what were you doing instead, Fenrir?" It was always so unnatural, hearing his own voice in a memory.

"I was... er."

"Yes?"

"I dunno, sir. Sleeping. Reading. Outside. I just didn't feel like doing it."

"First year is an excellent time to start applying yourself, Fenrir. Habits are formed when you are still young. Do you realize that you have not turned in a single homework assignment since school began?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why are you here?"

"Sorry, sir?"

"Why are you at Hogwarts, if you are intent on shirking your responsibilities?"

"It's not like I'm not learning the spells. I can perform them. I just don't want to do the written homework." Now, that sentiment reminded Dumbledore of those of James Potter and Sirius Black. But still not Remus.

"Which will help the spells to stay in your long-term memory," Memory-Dumbledore said. “We teachers rather know what we are doing."

The memory faded and reformed, and Fenrir was now in third year. Dumbledore looked on as Fenrir spoke to Armando Dippet, who looked thoroughly frustrated with the child.

"Fenrir," said Dippet, not unkindly, "You are still refusing to apply yourself. What do you plan on doing after Hogwarts?"

"Don't know, sir," Fenrir said dismissively, "and I don't care. I'm meant to be doing something more than sitting still and doing homework."

Dumbledore was almost amused despite himself. Well, that ended up happening, didn't it?

The memory shifted again, and Fenrir was laughing with his friends... running and chasing them around the Hogwarts grounds... playing catch and Exploding Snap.

All monsters had started out as boys and girls, hadn't they?

Dumbledore remembered a little more of Fenrir now. He hadn't been able to sit still for the life of him. He used to tap the desk with his fingers so loudly that the children sitting next to him would be driven to madness. He held grudges. He had gotten good enough grades, but only ever ended up doing enough homework to squeak by when exams rolled around. He had been innately interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts and was a decent duellist.

Dumbledore could see some traits in Fenrir that might have contributed to his current state. He was resourceful and cunning, yet didn't often think before he acted and was wont to give into current desires rather than make future investments. He seemed to value a "pack" setting—he was fiercely loyal to those he cared about and didn't seem to care whether anybody else lived or died. He didn't seem to show much empathy, save to a few of his closest friends, but he didn't exhibit a lack of empathy either. He was just... there. A student.

Could Dumbledore imagine him going bad? Sure. But people went bad all the time. Anyone had the potential to go bad; it was only a matter of choice.

This boy had been bitten by a monster shortly after leaving Hogwarts (according to Dumbledore's recent calculations), was shunned by the wizarding community, went through unimaginable pain every month, and had eventually decided to look after his own desires rather than the needs of others. Dumbledore could see him doing that. He could see many people going down that route.

But while Fenrir had been self-centered because of his condition, Remus remained others-centered.

No, that wasn't quite right in all respects. It was right in hardly any respects, actually. Fenrir had focused on others as the object of his hate. Remus had focused on himself. Remus never got angry with others for his suffering—not for long. He seemed to quite loathe himself on occasion, but almost never others. Remus was always focusing on himself, it seemed: he pitied himself, blamed himself, and overall thought about his own troubles quite a lot. It wasn't always a strength, but it was undeniably Remus.

Fenrir, alternatively, considered himself better than others—with or without the lycanthropy. Remus considered others to be better then himself because of the lycanthropy. Funny how that worked out.

They were different people, Dumbledore deduced. Greyback was a monster. Remus was not.

He had already known that, of course. And he was thankful for it.

But looking into Fenrir's young eyes, so full of life and energy, he couldn't help thinking of Remus'—the dead opposite. Remus always had a tired look to him, looked so much older than he really was, was much too mature, and had grown up before his time. Why did Greyback get a childhood and Remus did not?

So was the mystery of the universe.

Dumbledore resolved, then and there, that he would never let Remus Lupin go bad. He had allowed Grindelwald to do so in his childhood. He had already made the mistake of letting someone's faults take over until that person was no longer who they once were. He would not let the same thing come to Remus. He was going to invade the inner workings of the universe and fix things—that was his responsibility as someone who was both powerful and intelligent. Dumbledore knew how to fix things, and he was going to do it. He simply couldn't sit idly by and watch Remus' world burn.

But Remus didn't really need his help, did he?

He returned to his office, where all the portraits were sleeping—with the exception of Armando.

"Greyback, hm?" Armando asked. "Have you considered?"

"I have. My mind has not changed."

Armando chuckled. "Albus Dumbledore, changing his mind. That will happen the day that a Welsh Green becomes Minister for Magic."

"On this matter?" Dumbledore said. "Not even then."

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

There was one more memory that Dumbledore wanted to view, but he waited until all of the portraits were sleeping. He fished the vial out of the cabinet and poured it into the Pensieve, slightly dreading it. But it was perfect for Halloween, wasn't it?

And then there he was. That night that he had been out on the streets, walking on the cobblestones and singing to himself, enjoying the cool air and the streetlamps. His hair had been a little darker then, and his eyes a little brighter. It was only about five years ago, but it felt like an eternity.

Fenrir had been a werewolf now for... let's see, if he was eleven in 1948, and bitten at age eighteen, and now it was 1966, and he was about twenty-nine now... eleven years. Less than twice the amount of time that Remus had been a werewolf: present-day Remus had been a werewolf for six and a half. But Dumbledore didn't want to compare the two more than what was necessary, though he knew that it was inevitable.

Dumbledore saw his memory-self pause and look around. When Dumbledore heard a strange sound and he couldn't tell where it was coming from, he had a ritual of sorts. First, he would look up, because that's what the average person would least expect. Then he would look down. Then he would look to his left, because he was right-handed. Then he would look to his right. He watched his memory-self do all of this, and when he was doing the final step—spinning in a circle—he noticed the source of the sound.

It was Fenrir, of course, shrouded in a black cloak that was so ripped it barely covered him. Memory-Dumbledore did not recognize him at first. "Hello?" he said, drawing nearer. It wasn't until the thing looked up and met Memory-Dumbledore's eyes that he realized. Memory-Dumbledore recognized Fenrir's image from the papers, so he drew his wand and trained it on the creature, ready to attack if need be. "Fenrir. Fancy meeting you here."

Fenrir smiled, and both Dumbledores noticed his teeth—sharp, pointed, and stained with red... Very Halloween-y, thought Dumbledore, and also mildly disturbing.

"What are you doing out here, Fenrir? Do you need assistance in getting somewhere? Azkaban, perhaps?" Memory-Dumbledore pretended that he was not repulsed. Memory-Dumbledore imagined that it was only tomato juice or something on his teeth. Even Memory-Dumbledore, though, knew that this wasn't the case.

"Dumbledore. Long time no see." Fenrir wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes were not those of the eleven-year-old boy at all. They were more dangerous. They were bloodshot. They were narrowed. Wolf-like was the first word that came to mind. Dumbledore's eyes drew to Fenrir's hand, which sported long, curled nails. He realized with a jolt that Fenrir had bitten Remus Lupin only about a year prior.

"You look a little worse-for-wear, Fenrir," said Memory-Dumbledore. "I deeply sympathize." Memory-Dumbledore did not yet know the extent of Fenrir's exploits. He remembered still the young Fenrir, full of life and a deep desire to do the right thing... Memory-Dumbledore had stupidly believed that he could somehow turn Fenrir to his own side, even though he'd been Voldemort's weapon for years now.

"You can't sympathize," said Fenrir. His voice was deep, gravelly, and scratchy, almost like a sinister record-player. He pronounced his R's in the back of his throat and ended his sentences a bit abruptly. How had his voice changed so much in a few short years? Remus' voice sounded nothing like that, so it had nothing to do with the lycanthropy. But Clark Darnall pronounced his R's that way—had Clark picked it up from Greyback or had they both gotten it from another place? "You can't sympathize," said Fenrir again. "You have no idea what I've been through."

Memory-Dumbledore, indeed, did not know. But current Dumbledore had an idea.

"I'm sorry, Fenrir. Is there anything I can do?"

"'Course not. It's not a problem anymore. I made the best of it. Made do with what I had. You know how it is."

"Hm. Have you been hurting anyone?" Memory-Dumbledore's hand twitched on his wand, knowing the answer—but he wanted to hear Greyback say it; perhaps, he thought, it would drive the man to conviction....

Fenrir was quick to confirm, and there was no guilt in his voice. "No more than they've hurt me. You've heard the stories, haven't you? You know what I've done."

Memory-Dumbledore looked at him intensely. "Fenrir," he said, "I am a very powerful wizard, you know, and I will not stand for that." Fenrir eyed Dumbledore's wand warily, but Dumbledore was not budging. "There is a way out, you know... we can keep you safe on the full moons. You are infamous for attacking children, my friend—but it's not too late to step away from all that... you'll have to pay for your crimes, of course, but we can keep you hidden from the higher-ups at the Ministry, who no doubt want to execute you. You're not trapped in this lifestyle."

Memory-Dumbledore had suspected that some of the rumors about Fenrir were unfounded, but he'd been wrong. He'd felt sympathy for the boy who had attended Hogwarts not too long ago, but he'd been wrong. Clark Darnall was in Dumbledore's ranks, and he'd warned Dumbledore of the horrific acts that Fenrir had committed... he'd already spoken to Dumbledore about Remus at this point. But Dumbledore had still thought, somewhere, deep down, that Fenrir could not have changed so much from when he was a boy—that he was only evil because he had not been given a proper choice—and Dumbledore had known that, if he could convince Fenrir, then he'd automatically have all of the werewolves in Britain on his side... countless lives could be saved.

Dumbledore was a brilliant man, yes, but he was sometimes incorrect. This was one of those times.

"Dumbledore. You know me; you taught me. Do you really think that it's so easy to convince me? You underestimate me—I wouldn't leave behind all that I've built, not for the misguided lie that there's a place for me amo-" Crack. Fenrir had, intelligently enough, Apparated away in the middle of his sentence. Nay, the middle of a word. Memory-Dumbledore had not seen it coming, and that was a rare occurrence.

Memory-Dumbledore marveled at the boy's—no, the man's—no, the monster's cleverness, and resolved to keep an eye out and figure out what he was up to before he could hurt more people. It wouldn't be that difficult. Memory-Dumbledore was already, so to speak, following the scent, and he was sure that he would have plenty more chances to apprehend the werewolf. Memory-Dumbledore walked away, less of a spring in his step, but confident and relaxed.

Current Dumbledore made his way over to the place in which his memory-self had once stood and peered down the alleyway where Greyback had been standing. A dead rabbit, still warm-looking and covered in blood, lay on the ground.

Dumbledore's stomach roiled a bit, but at least it wasn't a toddler.

With that comforting thought in mind, Dumbledore removed himself from the memory, sat down on an armchair, and opened a book.

He did not read it, though. His eyes skimmed over the words and his hand idly flipped pages, but his mind was back in the alley, watching the boy-become-monster.

The pieces clicked together in a way that they were wont to do in Dumbledore's keen mind. They were pieces that had come together in the past, yes, but now they did so even more securely.

Ten years after Fenrir was bitten, at age twenty-eight, he had attacked Remus. And he'd been savage for a long time before that. Remus had been a werewolf now for six and a half years: when Fenrir had been a werewolf for six and a half years, he had probably already begun attacking people.

The portraits had been wrong, obviously, and this proved it. But now Dumbledore thought about why.

It wasn't because Remus was a better person than Fenrir (though that was undoubtedly the case). It wasn't because he had somehow escaped whatever disease had made Fenrir go bad. It wasn't because the lycanthropy somehow affected him differently. So why had they turned out differently?

A mixture of personal choice and better circumstances, Dumbledore decided.

Remus was doing so well because he had such good parents—who had taught him right from wrong, who had spent time with him, who had loved him unconditionally. He would be further shaped by his professors and friends. He would learn, he would grow, and he would continue to live in human society—as he had done for his whole life. He'd made a choice early on to be this way, and now his choices were manifesting themselves in his personality. That was what made a person human (in the abstract sense of the word), not a species.

It was likely that Fenrir had not had systems of support like Remus did. That didn't force him to become what he was, of course, but it made it much more difficult. And then Fenrir had made a choice to do this—to give in to things that he knew were wrong—to let the worst parts of him invade his life and personality—thus Fenrir Greyback was born. Would things have gone differently if his parents had loved him unconditionally? Had they? What if Fenrir had still been in school (though Dumbledore knew that Dippet would not have allowed that)?

But one thing was for certain: it had nothing to do with lycanthropy. It was not biological. It, like many other things, was a matter of choice. It was one’s choices, after all, that showed one who they truly were—far more than their abilities.

And that was why Sirius Black, who had grown up a descendant of Phineas Nigellus, was a Gryffindor. That was why James Potter, who loved everything Gryffindor, was a Gryffindor. That was why Peter Pettigrew had chosen friends that did not match him in either ability or personality. It was all personal choice applied to surroundings: it wasn't even werewolf-specific. No one was biologically a monster.

Dumbledore had already known all that, but it was nice to put it into words.

Everyone starts out as children, he mused as he fiddled with a Disillusioned bat decoration hanging off the wall.

And as the memories replayed themselves in Dumbledore's mind well into the night, he meditated once again on the fact that having such a brilliant mind and a tendency to stick his nose in other people's business was both a blessing and a curse.

[imagineitup]

𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 (𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭) : 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵: chaotic, clumsy slytherin muggle, meets scorpius, who helps them? i think it'd be so cute ☺️☺️ hope you are well!

𝘢/𝘯: ok hear me out … scorpius coffee shop au 

𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵: when you spill the coffee order all over the attractive customer, you expect him to scream at you.  what you’re not expecting is for him to profusely apologize.  he even asks if you’re alright.  um, what?

- - 

“Double-shot espresso,” you call, raising an eyebrow at the name written on the receipt, “for Scorpius?”

It’s a strange name, that’s for sure.  You’ve seen your share of strange names, even though you go through the entire ordeal of trying to repress the last five years of your life.  You shake your head, trying to clear things out of your mind.  It’s near closing hours, and there’s only a few more minutes until you’ll get to leave.  Yet to your dismay, there are still people inside the coffee shop: students loitering around the dim lamplight and listening to music through tangled headphones, couples quietly holding their lover’s hand, little kids opening and closing the door to hear the whoosh of wind and soft bell clink. 

You let your eyes roam around the coffee shop, trying to guess who this ever elusive Scorpius is.  Maybe it's the older man leaning on his cane, doing his best to regard the different porcelain mugs despite failing eyesight.  It would make sense, considering this Scorpius hasn’t come to get his coffee yet.  Or maybe, even, the little kid yawning and tugging at his mom’s sleeve.  Little kids get all sorts of strange names these days, because apparently the more unique the better. 

“Scorpius?”  

But before you can contemplate any longer, there’s a screech of metal to your right, and you watch in amusement as an older boy your age comes running up to the counter, hopping on one foot in an attempt to regain the balance lost from his rush.  There’s another loud clatter as his chair leg regains its balance against the floor.  “Here, here, hi Scorpius --” he frowns, out of breath.  “Wait … you’re not … I’m Scorpius.”  His cheeks flood pink, and he runs a hand through his disheveled hair.  His eyes sheepishly meet yours.  “Sorry, I promise I haven’t done that in years.  Today’s just been a mess.”

Well.  You never thought this Scorpius would be cute.

But you end up laughing softly at him, shaking your head in amusement.  “I gathered.  You’re drinking a double-shot espresso at closing hours, and I think it’s safe to say I’m just a little concerned.”

“Pssh,” Scorpius says, shrugging bashfully.  “I just needed a jump after the apparating.  I’m exhausted.” 

You let out a screech.  Is he insane?  Your hands drop forward, and you watch in horror as the recycled paper cup you’re holding teeters forward and sloshes all over Scorpius and his nice coat.  The cup rolls against the floor, and you freeze, terrified.  Shit.

“Oh my god.  Oh my god I--”

“Agh,” Scorpius yelps, stepping backward to mournfully look at the coffee staining his wool sweater.  Then he bites back a hiss as he wrings out his hand, his bottom lip clenched in-between his teeth.  “Ouch.”

You’re suddenly all too aware of the other customers watching you with blank, unimpressed stares, some even going to the extent of ignoring you completely due to second-hand embarrassment.  The little kid with his mom finally manages to convince her to walk out the door, and the little bells jangle twice as they exit. 

You turn your attention back to Scorpius.  “I’m so, so sorry --”

Scorpius’s eyes quickly dart back to yours, and you wince, expecting him to yell.  Or at least hit you with a disgusted gaze and demand a refund.  But instead, he panics?  He steps forward again, clearly forgetting about the mess on the floor and the coffee sloshing against his shoes, and he reaches a tentative hand out toward you.  “Are you alright?  I’m so sorry!  I didn’t mean to make a mess, can I, can I help?  Fix it, I mean.”

What?

You’re speechless, all your words disappearing.  All you can do is stare in stupored awe, wide-eyed and speechless at the boy who stands across from you.  Here he is, this strange, strange boy, who talks about apparating out loud and apologizes to you for something that was entirely your own fault. 

“What?” Is all you can manage.  “Wh--”

“Are you okay?” Scorpius repeats, gently and clearly concerned.  “It was hot.  I, erm, really hope you didn’t burn yourself.”

“But I spilled it on you?” 

Scorpius shrugs.  “Well, must’ve been a reason, no?” He laughs bemusedly, shrugging good-naturedly.  “And besides, it’ll dry out in seconds.  It’s no big deal.” 

“But your sweater …” 

“I’ll just magic it out.”  

Your mouth drops open.  He didn’t seriously just say that, did he?

Scorpius stuffs his hand over his mouth, and then stammers, “I mean, the washing machine will do wonders.  Like magic.”  He turns, grabbing a handful of napkins from the counter and immediately starts dropping them to the floor, using his foot to seep up the coffee. 

You watch him with wide eyes.  “I’ll do it, you just sit --”

“No, it’s the least I can do --”

“Oh my god, I’ll get a mop.”

You run into the back room, the double doors swinging behind you as you let your face fall into your hands.  After taking in a few breaths, you let your eyes scan around the cabinets and extra bags of coffee grounds, and you shakily reach for the mop in the corner, nearly knocking over a box of glass supplies. 

When you re-emerge from the back room, you watch with bewilderment as Scorpius reaches for something in his jacket pocket, freezing when he sees you.  “Oh, perfect!” 

He cheerfully takes the mop from you, all too eager to help clean up. 

“Hey, wait a minute.  You want anything to eat?” 

Scorpius’ eyes widen, and he sneaks a look at the pastry shelf.  “No, I … I shouldn’t.  Albus didn’t give me that much muggle money,” he sneaks a look at the coins held in his hand, “he only gave me these.  Said it was enough for the espresso?”

Albus?  This Scorpius really ain’t sly. 

But you nod, busying yourself with fixing him another espresso, this time making sure to create it as perfectly as you can and to fill it to the brim.  As soon as you slip the lid atop the cup, you wander over to the patisserie display, reaching for the metal tongs to sneak in two iced gingerbread men and a loaf of banana bread.

“Scorpius?” 

He perks up, leaning against the mop and then stumbling, flushing a bright red.  He quickly places the mop against the side of the wall, and then turns to you as he sees the drink in your hands, pleased.  “Is that my espresso?”

You nod, handing him the cup (carefully this time), and then the parcel of baked goods.  “Here.  It’s the least I can do.  It’s on the house.” 

Scorpius blinks.  He tilts his head slightly to the side, his eyes filling with awe.  “Wow,” he whispers, his lips parting.  Then he gingerly reaches out to take the parcel, his face lighting up as he looks inside.  “You gave me three?”

You smile sheepishly.  “Yeah.” 

Scorpius attempts to slide over the coins he has, but you stop him, placing your hand over his and pushing the coins back to him.  “It’s on the house.”

“On the house?” 

“Free.”

Scorpius’s mouth drops open.  “But --”

“But what?”

“But I can’t accept this.”

“Well, you’re going to.”  You laugh, shrugging.  “Tell Albus Potter to teach you more about muggle etiquette.”

Scorpius grins.  And then he frowns, eyebrows scrunching up.  “Wait, what? Muggle?  What’s that?  I mean, what?  Erm, how do you know that?” 

You laugh, lips twisting up into an easy smirk.  “I’m a Hogwarts drop-out.  Magic wasn’t really my thing, so I decided to come back.  Finish up school and work here on the side.”

“But how’d you know --”

You hold up a finger, “you mentioned apparating,” you hold up another finger, “literally said ‘muggle money’,” and then a third finger, “and then you said Albus.  The Potter’s are practically famous, you know.”

Scorpius flushes pink. 

“And the phrase, ‘on the house’.”

Scorpius looks at his shoes, obviously flustered.  “Oh, I, uh --”

“It’s cute, though.  You should come back, one day.  I’d give you my number, but I don’t think you have a phone.”

Scorpius frowns, then smiles shyly.  “Do you have an owl?” 

You quickly write your address down on a napkin.  “Here.  Owl me one day.”

Scorpius’s fingers fumble as he reaches for it, and the smile that spreads across his face lights up the room.  “Okay.  I’ll come back.  And I’ll write you.  Every day!”

You laugh.  “I’m counting on it.”

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Draco Falling in love if you were in Gryffindor Pt2

Warnings: Swearing. Angst.

You were there for the last trial and some anxiety just fucking hit you like a bus

Something was wrong. You knew this and you tried to voice that.

Draco could tell you were nervous for your two friends that were in this

Most of the trial was spent trying to calm you down, Fred and George also trying to distract you

That's when Harry came back and you stood up and saw it

"No." You whimpered.

Draco couldn't see what made you react like that until he realized that Harry was on top of Cedric.

You buried your face in Draco's jacket and just sobbed

Fred and George couldn't believe this happened.

Hermione and Ron watched as Mad eye Moody walked away with Harry sobbing

You were left to hear Cedric's poor father screaming over his dead son's body.

The next few days were hard

No one dared to separate you and Draco.

Which finding him asleep on the couch with you in his arms in the Gryffindor common room was now a regular occurrence.

Mcgonagall never questioned shit.

You helped Harry through his grieving and he helped you with yours.

You spent the summer again with the Weasleys

Fred and George's business was surprisingly well

Something strange happened though.

Mid-day, all of you were sitting around having lunch and there was a knock on the door.

Draco was standing there with this shocked look.

"Draco? Sweetie what's wrong?" Molly asked.

"I've uhm..." He walked in and ran a hand over his face. "I've been disowned." He said making everyone stand up.

"What!?" You asked.

"My uhm.. my family called me a blood traitor for being with you and uh..." Draco blinked a few times.

"They disowned me." He repeated.

"Good lord!" Arthur gasped and you hugged him.

"You've got us Draco... We're not going anywhere." Fred said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"If I see Lucius in public can I kick his balls?" Ginny asked making everyone turn to her.

"What? I'm just saying! A swift kick to the--"

"OKAYYY GINNY!" Molly said putting a hand over her daughter's mouth making you all laugh.

Draco stayed with all of the Weasley's too.

Molly found him sitting outside one night and she sat next him.

"Are you alright?" Molly asked.

"Couldn't sleep. I give Y/n so much crap about staying up late but I'm the one who can't sleep." He chuckled.

Molly put a hand on his shoulder and he sighed.

"We love you Draco. Just the way you are and we wouldn't change a single thing about you. You're not a blood traitor." Molly said.

Draco hugged Molly and she gained a son that day.

The school year started with Umbridge.

That damn woman and cats. What the fuck was with her and cats!?

You hated that woman more than anything and when Fred and George pulled a bunch of fireworks out you were like "Right on!"

Course when they were expelled it pissed you off more than you could possibly say.

For some reason Draco was loved by this woman though and he used that to his advantage.

When he found out about her hurting Harry you actually had to restrain him from killing her.

When centaurs took her you wouldn't stop smiling.

You kept singing "ding dong the bitch is gone" and everyone couldn't stop laughing.

Draco's parents did try to convince him to leave you and come back home to which he responded with a simple "No. Fuck off."

You guys joined the order

You stood by Harry every step of the way and when Arthur nearly died Draco was pissed.

Like he had some murderous rage in him

You all worked with Harry and Sirius though

Sirius actually loved Draco

Like yeah, the kid's dad is an unbearable asshole but damn this kid's got a spark!

Draco actually thought Sirius was awesome too.

When he found out the two of them were related they were like "Hey! Disowned buddies!"

But everything came to a screeching halt when you helped Harry

and ended up in that battle.

Shit hit the fan and of course Draco's father was there.

It all happened so quickly, flashes of light going by you as Tonks tried to get you and Draco to safety.

Then you heard it.

Bellatrix's killing curse.

You turned around and saw Sirius stumble and your heart dropped.

You broke away from Tonks, sprinting to Harry.

You had to pull him back as he let out this hauntingly sad scream.

When you finally got out of there Harry was of course having a meltdown.

Draco was there for him though listening to it all

It was almost hard to believe that Draco hated him at one point.

Draco made him laugh at one point

"Did you see my father's face when the thing actually broke though? I think he almost cried"

Harry was glad he had this guy as a friend

The school year was of course hard on Harry

Ron could see the poor guy's mental state just deteriorating

Draco no longer had to worry about things getting back to his parents, so you bet your ass Harry sat at that table every fucking day.

"Wait wait wait. You're telling me that his cane is also his wand?" You asked about Lucius's cane.

"Yeah he pulled out at the ministry, that's why he carried it with him? I always figured it was because he was a pompous ass who wanted to look official." Harry said making you all laugh.

When Albus died all of you were in this state of shock

Like holy shit this is bad.

Like it was bad before but now it's bad.

When Snape took over Draco genuinely could not tell if he was evil or not.

He was literally the only one in the group who was automatically like "He's evil dude"

You guys didn't realize how bad this would get until you had to bust into Bellatrix's vault

You were more of a look out of sorts

And uhm

All of you ended up at the Manor.

"Seriously, is your dad goth or just a fan of black?" You asked.

"Personally I think he takes the whole evil thing too seriously." Luna said.

"See Luna gets it." You said.

Then they chose a prisoner... Or two.

They figured the quickest way for information was to ask Draco while hurting you.

And boy it almost worked

You screamed bloody murder as she carved into your arm

He had to restrained by two people as you screamed.

Even Lucius thought this was too extreme, for fucks sake you were children.

Harry finally got free though and you all left

You were crying like crazy, you couldn't catch your breath as Draco held you.

The two of you were so scared then and damn it only got worse as that final battle approached.

You told your family to run and do not fucking look back and they did

Molly hated seeing you come home that day

You looked so exhausted and you just hugged her crying.

Fred and George both hated seeing you like this.

I mean: yes you spent your past few years here in the burrow but damn it that was your family.

You finally got to that battle

You fought strong and hard the whole time

Any death eaters near you or your friends went down in seconds

Draco saw Fred in danger and saved his life.

"You just saved my life!" Fred panted.

"Anything for a friend." Draco said also out of breath.

"We're not friends Draco." Fred breathed. "Sorry I--" "We're brothers." He finished.

And damn it Draco fought even harder because the Weasleys became his family.

When Ginny and Molly were in trouble he was not having that shit.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER YOU PRAT!" he said before fucking destroying her.

Molly managed to find a smile in such a tense situation.

Ginny also thought "This guys an asshole. But he's my brother so it's fine."

You and Draco fought together at one point against his parents

Oh God Draco was a wreck as he was arguing with his father.

"YOU COULD'VE BEEN WITH US! YOU COULD'VE HAD THE WORLD WHY DIDN'T YOU WANT THIS!?" Lucius screamed as he threw attacks.

"I JUST WANTED YOU TO FUCKING LOVE ME!" Draco answered, knocking Lucius on his feet.

"Go. Don't you ever show your face again!" Draco told him.

And Lucius booked it with his mother.

Then the battle reached a halt when Harry was dead.

Draco took it hard, burying his face in your shoulder as Hagrid held Harry.

Hermione and Ron both couldn't believe this was happening. This was their best friend.

You listened to Neville's big "Fuck you" to voldemort before noticing Harry's leg twitch.

You touched Draco's shoulder and Harry finally fell out of Hagrid's arms and Draco grabbed the wand and threw it to Harry

The battle was so bright it looked like the light from it was fucking melting

And then Harry won

It was over.

Everyone was cheering until their throats gave out

You hugged Draco and the Weasleys hugged you guys.

When you finally let go Draco let out a laugh.

"Y/n I have a question." He finally said.

"What is it?" You asked.

"Will you marry me?" He asked.

Everyone in your vicinity went dead silent before you said

"YES YOU IDIOT!"

Your wedding was awesome by the way

Molly made the cake

Later down the road you had kids

And you spent every holiday at the Burrow because the kids loved their grandparents

Course they also loved their uncles who gave them free stuff from their shop.

Everytime you went to King's cross you and the group would get dinner together.

You became a journalist, Draco worked at the ministry alongside Arthur

You absolutely loved the people sitting at the table.

Because damn it: This was family.

And it wasn't going anywhere.

[jacobthedinogeek]

So as a Harry Potter fan who watched the movies before reading the books, I have a few shall we say controversial opinions mostly on the film adaptations. Now, let's get one thing straight here; I 100% believe that the books are superior and there are definitely changes I didn't like in the films. Nonetheless, the opinions I share here will surely cause most Harry Potter fans to hate me. So here we go.

- Harry may not have contained the majority of his sass from the books, but that does not ruin his character. Daniel Radcliffe still manages to portray his bravery, loyalty, intrigue and inner struggle, in turn making a near perfect representation of Harry Potter.

- On that note, Ron may not have had a lot of his better moments from the book, but there was still enough in the movies to give me the idea that he was a loyal, if at times difficult friend to Harry.

- I really don't care about the shipping war drama. Ronmione is canon and that's all I need. The chemistry Rupert and Emma share is good enough for me.

- Following that, I prefer their kiss in the movie than the book. The book was all told from Harry's point of view, so we had to witness the kiss in the midst of all the panic students after they said what they did in the Chamber of Secrets. The movie takes proper advantage of its visual medium and shows us Ron and Hermione traveling to the Chamber of Secrets, destroying the horcrux, and then sharing a kiss in a much more private and less chaotic location. Yes the chamber isn't the most romantic place and yes the book kiss can be seen as an 'in the heat of passion' moment, but I still find the movie kiss to simply be more practical and better presented.

- Harry's final duel against Voldemort is flipping epic in the book, don't get me wrong, but I think the movie made the right choice in changing it to a more active fight. I simply see it as a proper change of medium. In the book, Harry and Voldemort having that last verbal argument before finishing the duel in a single strike is amazing to read, but in a movie it would have been pretty boring and slowed the pacing to a crawl. So instead we get an incredibly dynamic battle where they teleport, evade each other and finish it off in the courtyard literally crawling to each of their wands, while other parts of the battle happens at the same time. It was simply amazing to watch.

- Harry's decision to break the Elder Wand in the movie made perfect sense to me. Unless I'm missing a detail (which I will surely be ridiculed for if I am), Harry's intention with the Elder Wand, as well as the other Deathly Hallows, was to keep them hidden and out of touch from the outside world, so that when he dies, likely from natural causes, the Elder Wand will lose its power and have no true owner. In this sense, I find breaking the Wand and tossing it off the bridge makes more sense if anything. Boom, problem solved and we get a good visual of Harry humbly rejecting that kind of power. (He could have used it to fix his own Wand though).

- Dumbledore screaming at Harry about the Goblet of Fire was certainly a bad choice, no argument there. I can certainly go on about why that was a wrong change to make. However, it doesn't ruin the movie's interpretation of Dumbledore nor does it ruin Michael Gambin's performance. RIP Richard Harris, it would have been great to see you continue to play him, but Michael Gambin did a fantastic job of portraying the complex old wizard in the later movies.

- Hagrid does not get enough credit as a character and Robbie Coltrane does not get enough credit for playing him perfectly. To me, Hagrid is the embodiment of true humility. After everything that happened to him, the harassment he recieved as a half giant, being falsely accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets, and all Dumbledore can get him is a job as a grounds keeper, and the man is still honoured to be working there without a hint of bitterness or demand for higher retribution. He only ever gets angry when someone else is bullied, harrased or threatened. The way that Robbie Coltrane changes his tone with the Dursleys as soon as they insult Dumbledore still gives me chills, like he can go from big lovable teddy bear to drawing out his umbrella and muttering "don't ever insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me ever again". Agrh, such an underrated performance.

- Snape is first off a very different character from book to screen. Where as the book version is a downright abusive sociopath, the movie is much more like a moody loner, which means that those who only watch the movies don't tend to hate him that much. On that note, the scene where Ron defends Hermione from his insults in the book but not in the movie is more of a difference in Snape's character than it is if Ron's (that's right, I'm defending movie Ron again). Because of the downright cruelty of book Snape, Ron and pretty much all of the Gryffindors jump to her defense when Snape calls her a know it all, even though they'd all agree with him. They probably make fun of her for it on their own time but that doesn't stop them from banding together against a man like Snape. The movie version of Snape doesn't portray nearly the same amount of cruelty so there isn't much of a motivation to argue against him.

- Speaking of Snape, I'm going to say something that will cause you guys to shutter. I hate book Snape as a person and don't think he deserves forgiveness, but I love him as a character and wouldn't change anything about him. I'm here for a fictional story and sometimes truly complex characters and morally grey characters are what I want. He truly is a despicable human being, but when he does something noble, even if it's for selfish reasons, I am more invested in his character. Movie Snape might be a more likable person and more sympathetic in a sense, but book Snape will always be a more complex, interesting and ultimately unique character.

- Finally, and please hear me out for this one, Black Hermione is not canon, but I still love the idea of her being black in Fanon. There is a line in the third book that describes her white face as she's looking around a tree. Boom, not canon. That being said, I love seeing all the fanart and fanfiction that re-imagines her as a black woman, as well as Harry as an Indian person. I like it and I encourage other creators to continue to explore it. But if you're going to argue that that stuff is canon, there's simply concrete proof it isn't. I know I'm speaking to a minority with this one as most fans clearly understand this and don't take it too far, but if you're someone who not only tries to debate this but also openly mocks and harrasses others, especially the filmmakers for casting caucasian actors in the roles, then you're the one being truly disrespectful.

Well there you have it. Those are my controversial Harry Potter opinions. Feel free to hate me for them.

[weloveharrypotter]

Father Figure Pt. 8

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Student! Orphan! Reader

Summary: Y/n, Albus, James, and Teddy all pull the prank, and Y/n seems to only drift closer to Teddy and away from Kat. (This is an Au where Fred lived. It takes place in current time, cursed child doesn’t happen. Also I know Teddy Lupin is supposed to be 6 years older than the reader and James Sirius but for the sake of the fic I’m making him a year older)

Warnings: Cussing, prank

Y/n, Albus, James, and Teddy were all waiting outside the potions room.

“Why am I the one that has to distract the charms professor?” Albus asked.

“Beacuse that’s what we voted on.” James replied quickly.

Albus sighed and leaned against the wall while we all looked. Soon enough the charms professor turned the corner.

Albus, James, and Teddy ducked behind walls and furniture, and took up all the spots, and Y/n was stuck with no cover.

Teddy saw this and before the charms professor saw this, he gently grabbed Y/n and pulled her over with him.

His back was to the wall. He held his right arm around her waist as her back pressed against his torso.

They both blushed a bit before pulling themselves together. The professor passed by. The group of three made their way into the potions room.

Albus sat down outside the door pretending to read a book, and keep look out. Teddy, James, and Y/n started to work.

Sooner or later the dungbomb and fireworks system was set up. That’s when they heard the signal, four knocks.

The signal was for when Albus was about to distract the professor. The four stood quietly. They heard mumbling voices from the door.

They only caught a few word here and there. That’s when they caught wind of the conversation, and how badly Albus was failing at his job.

“Why are you acting suspicious?” They heard the charms professor ask.

“I’m not.” Albus said too quickly.

Y/n rolled her eyes and rubbed her head, James face palmed, and Teddy sighed disappointedly.

They all now knew how bad of a liar he was, and took note to make sure he isn’t allowed to be the distraction anymore.

They heard a few mumbling words before there was a jiggle at the door knob.

All of their eyes widened as they looked at each other.

“What do we do?” James asked.

“Window.” Y/n said. They all ran over.

“Wait the grounds keeper.” Teddy said as James climbed out.

“Just run!” Y/n said.

James and Teddy helped Y/n out. The shut the window after she had gotten out.

“Hey!” The groundskeeper yelled. They all looked at each other and all had the same thought.

At the same time they broke out running. The groundskeeper was audibly running after them. Luckily they all kept about the same pace.

“Get back here!” The groundskeeper yelled.

“Where do we go?” James asked.

“We’ll all split up, and meet back at the lake in about five to ten.” Y/n said.

“Sounds good.” Teddy agreed and James nodded.

They ran their separate ways and of course the groundskeeper chose to follow Y/n. She ran past the trees and bushes, occasionally getting hit in the face.

She made her way to the lake, but knew she couldn’t let the groundskeeper follow her. She managed to get ahead of him, and then turned a corner.

She saw a tree that was definitely climbable. She ran up and climbed her way pretty high up. She sat on the branch as she watched as the groundskeeper turned the corner.

She watched as he looked around and huffed angrily. He turned around and made his way back to he way they came.

Y/n had waited a minute or two before climbing back down. Than she made her way to the lake.

As she walked up to the lake, she could see Teddy and James sitting on the dock, waiting.

“Glad to see you two made it.” Y/n said as she walked over.

“Glad to see you you made it too. I was starting to think you got caught.” James said.

“I don’t get caught.” Y/n replied.

“You did a minute ago.” James said as she sat down next to them. They sat in a triangle position all facing inward.

“I... did.” Y/n said.

“I got... caught.” Y/n restated.

“What? Never been caught before?” James asked.

“Nope never.” She replied.

“Are you serious?” Teddy asked.

“Yup. I mean some people knew it was me but couldn’t prove it so, no punishment.” Y/n explained as she brushed her hair in the right side of her face, behind her ear.

“Your bleeding.” Teddy said as he sat up.

Y/n touched where he was looking at and then looked at her hands. She was indeed bleeding.

“I’ll be fine. Probably just got hit by a thorn bush.” Y/n explained.

Teddy scooted closer and grabbed her face gently. He moved it slightly to see better.

“We should get back and clean it up.” He said.

“I’ll be fine.” Y/n insisted.

“Better safe than sorry.” James chimed in.

“Alright than.” Y/n gave in after a moment.

They all stood up and made their way back to the school. Once they got there they made their way to the Gryffindor boys dormitory.

When they walked in they were relived to see they were the only ones. Teddy made Y/n sat on the bed as James got the first aid kid.

James soon came out with the kit and handed it to Teddy. He opened it and dampened the cotton swab with rubbing alcohol.

He then rubbed it on Y/n’s cut. It stung a little but not enough to make Y/n do anymore that a small hiss.

“Sorry.” Teddy apologized.

“It’s alright.” Y/n replied.

Teddy finished up cleaning her cut and pulled out a band aide. He opened it and stuck it on her face.

“Thank you.” Y/n said.

“No problem.” Teddy replied.

“Do you have a bathroom?” Y/n asked.

“Yeah right there.” James answered.

Y/n gave him a quick thanks and she walked over, and into the bathroom. Once the door closed Teddy turned around.

He looked up at James’ face, and he rolled his eyes.

“When are you going to tell her?” James asked.

“We’re not starting this tonight.” Teddy replied.

A minute or two later Y/n walked out and walked back to the bed.

“Despite being caught and everything, that was fun.” Y/n said.

“Right. Being caught can be fun sometimes too. The thrill of the chase and everything.” James said.

The trio talked for a while before Teddy and Y/n thought it was best to head out, seeing as it was almost dinner.

Teddy and Y/n got to the common room and said their goodbyes. Than Y/n made her way to the girls dormitory.

Y/n got to the dorm room and changed into some casual clothes. Luckily the schools dress code had gotten less strict after the battle.

The kids not longer had to wear their uniform during dinner, and could wear what they wanted as long as it was appropriate.

After Y/n had gotten dressed she put her phone in her pocket and hid her wand. Once she was done she made her way out of the dorm, and to the dining hall.

When she walked up to the arch way she saw Kat and Taylor making out, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

She can’t believe Kat would go back to him. He cheated. She sighed as she shook her head and stepped in.

She didn’t have anywhere to sit. Kat was her only friend. She went to go turn around and than bumped into someone.

She looked up and saw Teddy.

“Sorry.” She said.

“It’s fine, love.” He replied.

“Where were you going?” He asked.

“Oh uh, I don’t... really have anywhere to sit.” Y/n informed.

“Bullshit.” Teddy said as he grabbed her hand.

Teddy pulled her over to the gryffindor table, and was leading her to someone. He looked around before spotting someone.

He continued to drag Y/n over to the person he was looking at. Once he stopped Y/n looked up and saw James. Teddy tapped him on the shoulder.

James turned around.

“What?” He asked.

“Can Y/n sit with you?” He asked.

“Of course, yeah.” James said.

Teddy pulled her over and she took a seat next to James. Teddy leaned down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“There now you have a place to sit.” He said before standing up, and walking away.

—————

James and Y/n were talking when they heard someone clear their throat behind them.

The pair turned around and saw the Gryffindor prefect behind them.

“The headmaster wants to see you.” They said before walking off.

James and Y/n looked at each other with an ‘oh shit’ face.

They stood up and hesitantly made their way to the headmasters office.

——————

Once they got there they saw a nervous Teddy and Albus.

The headmaster appeared from around the corner.

“Now do you know why your here?” They asked.

“No.” James replied after a moment.

“Really?” Headmaster asked knowing he was lying.

There was silence.

“That prank you pulled was dangerous despite the intentions behind it.” He said.

“Next time report the professor behavior to me, and I’ll handle it.” Headmaster added.

“And the punishment?” Albus asked.

“15 points from Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. You’ll all have detention with the charms professor for the incoming week. You homes will be notified.” He explained.

They all nodded.

“Now, head back to the dining hall.” He said.

The four of them headed out of the office and stoped for a second.

They were notifying her home. This was the reason she could never get caught. This was the literal worst case scenario for her.

Y/n sighed shakily.

“It could’ve been worse.” James said.

Teddy hummed in agreement. Y/n quickly walked off despite Teddy, Albus, and James calling her.

She needed to be away from the school. With someone who knew and understood.

——————

Y/n had gotten to diagon alley and a few tears slipped. She wiped them away the second they fell. She got to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

She pushed the door opened and spotted Fred looking at a sheet of paper behind the counter. She walked over to him.

“Hey, Fred.” She said shakily. He looked up and smiled but dropped when he noticed her shaking a bit.

“What’s wrong darling?” He asked.

“C-can we go to your office?” She asked. He nodded.

The pair made their way up to his office, and he closed the door behind him. Y/n walked over to his desk, and sat cris cross on top of it.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I pulled a prank with James, Albus, and Teddy.” Y/n informed.

“And we got caught.” Y/n explained.

“Darling it’s ok to be caught-.” “And they’re going to inform our homes.” She said cutting him off.

“They’re going to tell the orphanage what I did.” Y/n admitted with tears brimming her eyes.

Fred stood shocked.

“Yeah, that’s not good.” Fred said quietly.

He walked over. He stoped in front of her.

“How bad of a prank was it?” He asked.

“Not the worst I’ve done but, I’m me so... probably bad.” Y/n admitted.

Fred sighed one again, and brought his hand up to brush his fingers through his hair. However, when he brought his hand up Y/n couldn’t help but flinch.

Fred stood shocked not knowing what to do.

“I-I wasn’t going to hit you.” Fred said softly.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n mumbled before getting up and attempting to leave.

Fred, however, caught her wrist and kept her from leaving.

“Hey, look at me.” Fred said.

Y/n sighed and turned around.

Fred squatted down and looked up at Y/n.

“It’s ok. I know you couldn’t help it. It’s not your fault.” Fred said.

Y/n unintentionally let a tear slip. Before she could wipe it Fred did.

“It’s going to be ok. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to let them hurt you again, ok?” He asked.

After a moment, Y/n nodded. He stood up and pulled her into a hug. Of course, Y/n hugged back.

———————

Y/n had gotten back to Hogwarts and was walking into the Gryffindor common room.

She stepped in and the portrait had closed behind her. She started to walk over to the couches.

“There you are.” Y/n heard a familiar voice say very relived.

She looked up and saw Teddy getting up quickly, and James getting up but not as fast.

“How have you not been caught?” Y/n asked.

“The head of house hasn’t made her rounds yet. Curfew is in thirty minutes.” Teddy explained.

“How long have you been waiting?” Y/n asked.

“Since you left.” James answered.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Y/n replied.

“Yes, we did.” James retorted.

“That’s what you do for friends.” James added.

“Friends?” Y/n asked.

“Yeah. I mean, unless you don’t want to be-.” “No it’s not that... it’s just, I’ve never really had one of those, or at least not real ones.” She explained the second he finished as she looked down.

James and Teddy shared a look. They both wrapped a shoulder around her and she looked up.

“Well, you do now.” They both said.

Y/n smiled and chuckled.

“Thanks.” Y/n said.

“No need to thank us.” James said.

“The pleasure is ours.” Teddy finished.

“Now, you two off to bed.” Teddy said.

James and Y/n said their goodbyes to one another, and to Teddy, before going their seperate ways.

Y/n made her way up to her dorm room, and walked in. Most of the girls were asleep, but Y/n took notice that Kat wasn’t there. She was probably staying at Taylor’s dorm.

She walked over to her bed and laid down. The events of today played through her head. Her mind was racing but still somehow managed to eventually drift to sleep.

——————

(A/N): Thank you for reading. I hope y’all enjoyed this. There will be more parts. 😊

[k-s-morgan]

You know, I always look forward to and dread your updates. Don’t get me wrong, I love your writing, your metas and all the fics you have written but ‘What he grows to be’ gives me such an upset feeling. Maybe dark stories are not my cup of tea but I’ve read dark stories before and they haven’t affected me the way yours does. Throughout the whole story my heart feels heavy but I can’t bring myself to stop reading. Also I have a question: could you please explain Harry’s devotion to Tom? Like I don’t study psychology or anything so I’m not an expert (so correct me if I’m wrong) but I don’t see a reason for Harry to sacrifice so much for someone like Tom who is nothing but cruel towards him. He’s been condescending always treating Harry like a helpless thing who needs looking after. He is cruel and manipulative and has a complete disregard towards anything about personal boundaries. I mean he’s basically ,in a loose term, a psychopath. I can understand the way you write Tom, I don’t get the way you’ve written Harry. He’s so weak. He has none of that courage he used to have in the books. He doesn’t have that spirit that made me fall in love with him. He gives in so easily. He forgives easily. He has no morals left. He’s not the Harry I know. Like he literally excused multiple murders Tom committed because he loves him? It’s just so hard to comprehend. I tried to put myself in Harry’s place and instead of feeling sympathetic towards him, I felt angry at how much he has lost himself. I don’t see any thing good in Tom. I would understand for Harry to love him with such abandon if he has anything good in him. But Tom has done nothing but made him suffer. Why did Harry change so much? Just because he only has Tom in this world? Because he raised him? Tom was never a helpless, innocent child for Harry to feel compassion towards him. He was cruel and manipulative from the beginning. It just frustrates me how Harry keeps forgiving Tom and then apologizing to him after his ‘punishments’. It might be cruel for Harry to ‘die’ as a punishment but still does it warrant him forgiving Tom so easily after the atrocities he has committed? It’s a complex situation, I understand and truly I don’t mean to offend you or anything. I’m just trying to understand. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this because you know them better than I do as it is your own story. I don’t know if it makes me a bad person but it always gives me so much satisfaction to see Tom suffer even though it’s for such a short time. Please tell me he won’t get away with everything like always does and that Harry won’t just forgive him easily like he usually does. Because what Tom just did was so cruel and horrifying that I was in shock when I read it. The way he used Harry’s weakeness against him... sorry for the rant!

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for such a long and detailed ask - it's always great to know that my work affects people, even if it evokes so much frustration :D I firmly believe in the death of the author concept, so I don't feel like I can impose my understanding of characters on my readers. Everyone sees them in different ways: some readers think Harry overreacted, others think he should kill Tom and be done with it, etc. What He Grows to Be is certainly a disturbing story, and I think it differs from my other works because Tom and Harry are very different. With Will and Hannibal, violence and manipulations are mutual while here, Harry is genuinely kind and empathetic, and Tom takes advantages of that.

As for my personal view: I don't think Harry is weak. I think he is very fucked up, even more so than in canon because he had to live through even more trauma after the war in WHGTB. In canon, being understanding, forgiving, and empathetic are some of Harry's major traits. It always shakes me to think about how he named his child Albus Severus after two people who caused him so much pain. Yes, Dumbledore loved him in his own way, but ultimately, Harry was his weapon. Years of abuse, every interaction, every test - everything was done with a purpose of manipulating him into being a perfect self-sacrificial hero. And yet Harry still loves Dumbledore with devotion, he still holds awe for him. Same with Snape: yes, he wasn't as terrible of a person as Harry imagined. He suffered a lot, he tried to redeem himself, but Harry never saw anything but hostility and derision from him. And yet he forgives everything to the point of naming a child after him because Snape loved his mother and took care of him. 

Harry didn't hate his relatives after years of abuse. He managed to feel empathy even for Voldemort, and not just once. He tried to give him a chance during the final battle, tried to make him see where he went wrong - that speaks of a unique kind of compassion and a big lack of self-worth. In WHGTB, due to the circumstances, all these traits are amplified.

As it could be expected, the story of Harry's all-encompassing love for Tom started with pity. When he first adopted him, he felt reserved and wary. He didn't like him, he didn't trust him, but he still started to grow attached to him because that's who Harry is: he can't share meals, teach, talk, and decorate house with a person without feeling something for them in the process. When Tom broke the vase and tried to repair it, terrified and guilty, Harry's pity and attachment won out. In that moment, he saw a little fragile boy who was never loved and who craved approval and acceptance. And Harry was determined to give it to him.

For a while, like you said, Tom was rude and condescending. But he showed he's capable of regret and remorse. He tried to heal Harry after hurting him; he listened to him with fascination during lessons and was willing to change his ideas; he laughed and cooked with him. Affection got stronger, and with it, what seemed annoying started to come across like lovable quirks. Harry despised Tom's showing-off at first, but then, after he got used to him and his company, he started finding it funny and endearing. He invested all of himself into this child, making him into his life goal - he couldn't not love him. He started to live for the small moments of Tom's affection and acceptance. His love for Ron, Hermione, his parents, Sirius - it combined and focused on Tom alone because in many ways, Tom was the key to making sure that when these people are born, they live a fulfilling and happy life. In Harry's mind, the more he loved Tom, the more chances of succeeding he had, and then the boundaries of this love started to blur, and Tom began to genuinely outshine every other person he has ever known because he was there and others were not.

When Gringotts happened and Tom's perception shifted, Harry was showered with his absolute devotion and focus. You said that you don't see anything good in Tom, but Harry does - and it's also important to remember that before Beth, Tom was very careful about not letting him see his real face. In Harry's eyes, Tom learned to help others, like when he offered his hand to a Muggle boy. He discarded the ideas of blood superiority and developed a far more moral outlook.  He learned to be caring, worrying about Harry when he's sick, making potions for him, covering him with a blanket at night, helping other students, achieving equality, etc. Tom's devotion is a completely irresistible thing to Harry because he's always been responsive to kindness, no matter how limited it was.

After Beth, it was already too late for him. Love and empathy are a terrible weapon in  Harry's case: he can't just unlove someone who has become his main life purpose. The only way is to try to understand Tom, and as long as this understanding exists, Harry finds an ability to forgive him.

You said Tom has done nothing but make him suffer, but for Harry, that's not true. 80% of time he spends with Tom is the happiest time of his life. Tom became the only person in his world, the person Harry poured of all his love, loneliness, and longing into. Tom is a family Harry never had. He was a child Harry could relate to, so he spoiled him, argued with him, shopped with him, and basked in the happiness of making him smile; Tom was a friend ready to listen and reassure, to discuss how their days passed, to do something fun together; now, Tom has started to slowly growing into something more. The celebrations, the shopping, the holidays, the flying - all these are happy memories for Harry. The only major instances of pain were Beth and now Charlus. Harry feels shattered every time Tom comes close to acting on his darkness, but as compared to the time they spend together, happiness still exceeds the heartbreak.  

When it comes to breaking his limits, Harry doesn't forgive easily. He didn't speak to Tom 6 months after Beth and he subjected him to a terrible trauma as punishment; the thought of Tom killing Charlus almost drove him crazy, but he couldn't ignore the fact that it happened before the system and that Tom has been trying since then. After the ritual, Harry leaves - and yes, I can assure you that forgiveness is definitely not coming any time soon! Although as the toxic cycle of their relationship shows, Harry can't really stay away from Tom indefinitely either.  

Harry is happy with Tom, and he knows Tom loves him. He understands that Tom is a psychopath and that ordinary criteria cannot apply to him, and so he struggles with making sure that Tom follows a lighter path while praising him every time there is some progress. In many ways, Harry succeeded: Tom is not planning on massive destruction. He doesn't discriminate; he made sure that other purebloods became more tolerant; he still wants power, but he's getting to it in ways that don't presuppose violence and murder. Every time Tom shows darkness, it's in an instance concerning Harry.

Harry loves being loved, even though Tom's love is not healthy. He loves being protected because this is something he missed severely in his first life. A big part of him wants to be taken care of, to let go and just enjoy life without constantly having to make difficult decisions. Tom gives him that, and under some conditions, they could be happy together, finding a perfect balance.

Alas, it's not going to happen any time soon (or maybe at all ;)!    

[missymallow]

Drarry: Albus and Scorpius’ Adventure Travelling Back in Time. (13)

---

"For the love of Merlin, snap out of yourself, Potter!"

Harry mildly paid attention to the sound of Draco hissing as he ended his spell with the last incantation, his spare wand making the last contact with Draco’s index finger before he lifted them and watched as the last golden spark emerging from the wand dissipating into thin air. With a satisfied nod, he slid his wand back inside his back pocket when the sound of skin being slapped had Harry to look up just in time to see his younger self was rubbing his hand, wincing. His face was sorted into a wounded look as he looked up to Draco who was looking back at him with an annoyed look.

He blinked at the scene.

"But it was my fault!" came the voice of his younger self. "I could've killed you!"

By the way his younger self evidently dropped his gaze down to Draco’s exposed chest, Harry knew instantly what the ruckus was about. 

He repressed a smile the second Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance, and decided to slowly step away from the two younger adults who were not aware of his existence at the moment. He shook his head when they continued to bicker; Draco hissing angrily whilst his younger self seemingly tried to find reasons between their arguments. 

"I didn't know it would leave scars!"

"Well, what do you- oh stop that! stop looking at me like that!"

Harry chuckled as he stepped out of the room, silently closing the door behind him. He took a moment to just stare at the door before he walked away, a fond smile carved upon his face when Draco’s voice got higher by the seconds, even through the closed door. He decided to let the two young adults deal with it themselves. This is something that they need to talk privately, after all. Though, he had to admit, he and his Draco had dealt with it much better compared to their counterparts. Perhaps it was because by the time it happened, they had already forgiven each other, way before they had met each other again years after the war. 

He couldn't help but smile as he recalled that they had made love for the first time to each other that night; after whispering forgiveness into each other's lips, confessing their desires, and secrets between wandering hands, eyes never leave one another.

"I adore you." Draco had whispered lovingly, and it was that moment where Harry decided he wouldn't mind spending his forever with the white-blond haired man.

He remembered Draco’s face, flushed with happiness as he accepted Harry's proposal, he remembered Draco’s wide smile the moment he said 'I do', he remembered Draco’s excitement when they knew he was carrying their twins, and when the image of Draco with sunken cheeks, sickly thin body with grey pale skin, and tired dull eyes seeping through his mind, Harry had to exhaled a shaky breath, closing his eyes tightly until the image of Draco whimpering in pain disappeared. 

He halted his steps and leaned his body against the wall, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he forced himself to stay focused. This was not the time to be pathetic. His family needs him, his sons need him, and Draco needs him. He heaved a determined breath at that, pushing his body away from the wall and continued his journey towards McGonagall's office. 

He pulled out the spare wand from his back pocket as he tapped his left wrist, couldn't help the snort that escaped when 'sleeping, safe' written under Albus and Scorpius' tattooed name on his wrist. He tapped for the second time, chuckling when he saw where the twins had resided themselves. Knowing his sons, seeing that they were actually at the Gryffindor tower, mainly sleeping in his former bed was reassuring enough. He trusted Ron and Hermione to keep their eyes on the twins.

He sends his Patronus when he meters away from the gargoyle, to inform McGonagall of his arrival, and proceeds to enter the Headmistress' office when it was already opened for him.

"Good evening, professor." greeted Harry once he saw McGonagall peacefully sat behind her table, seeping her tea gracefully. She smiled at him when she looked up, putting her cup gently.

"Harry, please have a seat."

"Thank you." said Harry, pulling a chair and sorting himself before he squirmed around, uncomfortable. He looked up when he heard a chuckle from McGonagall.

"You may as well remove your glamour." said McGonagall with amusement.

With a sheepish grin, Harry quickly waved his wand, and felt a great relief when his magic started to wash away. He sighed in content once he was back to himself; scars and tattoos on display- he automatically rubbed his husband's initial tattoo on his ring finger as he always did, a constant reminder of where his home is.

McGonagall seemingly caught his action and immediately smiled. "I hope you've managed to make some progress with your inspection?"

At that, Harry sighed. "I did, actually." he bit his lips, frowning a little before he continued. "Like I said before, professor, we have a theory that the curse was casted in between before and after Draco graduated from Hogwarts. I have given Draco a full body inspection and yet, I found none."

McGonagall slowly nodded, giving Harry a calculating look. "I thought it was a good thing, because it meant that his blood was pure?"

"He is, professor." agreed Harry, smiling a little when he recalled the golden sparks dancing across Draco’s pale skin. Golden means purity, barely touched by others, blood pure as a virgin maiden. "It was a good thing that he was still a virgin, but-"

"-but you're afraid that he was cursed during his time away before he met you again."

"Yes, professor." sighed Harry, reaching out his hair and ran his fingers through his locks, trying to tame down his frustrations."I just- it's really hard for me to think that he suffered years, unknown of the curse that was placed on him."

McGonagall's brows went slightly crooked as she frowned. "He was not aware of his curse?"

Harry shook his head, "The curse was undetectable until it consumed cursed one's magic entirely."

"How did you know about the curse, if you don't mind me asking?" 

"He fainted while he was working one day, seven years after he gave birth and Hermione was the one who brought him to St Mungos and it was how we found out about it." explained Harry.

McGonagall nodded, lacing her fingers together. "His magic collapsed, I assumed?"

"Yes," agreed Harry, pursing his lips in a thin line. "The curse consumed his magic for years it seemed, even before I met him again but it was not until the last two years that the curse finally took a toll on him."

McGonagall said nothing, but put her attention on her cup as she delicately brought it up to her and took a small sip. Harry patiently watched as the Headmistress placed down her cup gently, brows slightly frowning as she seemingly in a deep thought. Harry unconsciously held a breath when McGonagall brought her gaze to him, frown ceased from her face but she still appeared serious. 

"You found out about the curse years after he gave birth, and his magic collapsed then. What about when you said it finally took a toll on him?"

Harry took a shaky breath at that, pushing the image of a pale face Draco with sunken cheeks away from his mind. "He was bedridden. The curse literally took his magic, his energy, his ability to function. It was fine for the first year, he can still perform easy spells even though he couldn't walk anymore. But nowadays, he can't even open his eyes without exhausting his body." said Harry, wiping tears that suddenly gathered around his eyes. "He- he couldn't eat, he couldn't even do anything anymore. I was- I was ready to give up, the Healer said that there was nothing to be done anymore, his body has give up and it was only matter of time before- before he- I should've been better, I should've paid more attention to him, I should've put more effort, I should've-"

"Harry."

Harry stopped, suddenly aware that he was sobbing, tears streaming down his face. He looked up to McGonagall who appeared to be affected as well, as her eyes turned glassy. She blinked the tears away, and took a steady breath. "Harry, I am sure you have done everything you could."

"No, professor. I-"

"Tell me, Harry." said McGonagall, cutting through Harry's utterances calmly, and gave a reassurance smile when Harry looked rather devastated. "Are you aware of the reason why you've found out about the curse years after Draco gave birth?"

Harry frowned, "What do you mean, professor?"

"Male pregnancy is indeed rare in the Wizarding World, some will cause certain complexity to the carrier. The curse should have made a great impact on his pregnancy." explained McGonagall. 

Harry's heart jumped at that, mind hastily working as he tried to recall anything that was informed to him. "I- I think Hermione did mention it, but it's really hard for me to pay attention." 

McGonagall kindly smiled, seemingly unsurprised by his words. "Magical pregnancy however, works both ways," said McGonagall then, and Harry unconsciously leaned forward at that. "The carrier will provide their offspring magic, and the offspring will provide their magic to their carrier as a return."

Harry blinked, processing the information. "So, you're saying that my sons have been providing Draco with their magic?"

"Precisely, Harry." agreed McGonagall. "I am certain that you can recall Draco’s health during his pregnancy?"

Harry nodded, memories of Draco who was glowing and looking much healthier during his pregnancy playing through his mind. Draco did not encounter any complexity during those months he was carrying their sons. He was having a healthy pregnancy. 

"You were having twins, Harry," McGonagall words snapped Harry out of this thought as he focused his attention back on the Headmistress. "Their combined magic can easily cover up the curse, as well as slowing the process of magic consumption done by the curse. It was the exact reason why the curse was not detected during his pregnancy."

"But, why seven years after he gave birth?"

McGonagall bit her lips, thinking. "I believe, due to his magic separation with the twins. Just like during pregnancy, magical children will share the amount of their magic with their carrier until they are old enough to produce magic on their own."

"Hence, accidental magic." mumbled Harry, getting a grasp of what the Headmistress has been saying.

"Accidental magic was a sign of children producing magic on their own." agreed McGonagall. 

"I see," said Harry. "I really need to pay attention to what the Healer and Hermione have been saying to me." Harry rubbed his face, a bit frustrated with his ignorance.

McGonagall only gave him a kind smile. "We were not on our best self during difficult times, Harry."

"Thank you, professor." said Harry, as he looked up to McGonagall. "I really have no idea what I've been doing these past few years. I am lost without him, and I feel useless, not knowing what to do to save him."

"Thank Merlin you have two wonderful boys to bring you back on track," said McGonagall, proud smile on display. "I believe you need to stop thinking of the difficulties, and think more like a Gryffindor."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "Those two are mental, travelling back in time and succeeding."

"Well, what do you expect, Harry?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow, amused. "They're your sons, after all."

Harry gave a light laugh; proud and resigned at the same time.

They are indeed.

---

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[rons-hermiones]

Come Find Me

Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Thirteen

With unsure nods, the pair vacated the kitchen and back into the living room. There was a mix of weeping family members and those out doing something. Searching the area, thinking of where Hermione could’ve gone. 

Ron soon decides he’s done being in the mourning category. He needs to remain strong and vigilant, for no one else but Hermione. 

“Someone needs to get Dumbledore here.” Ron’s shaky voice says, commanding all eyes to him. 

“Albus?” Arthur asks curiously, his eyes a little glassed over as he rubs Molly’s back. 

The youngest Weasley brother nods, “You-Know-Who he wanted,” he inhaled, trying to keep his voice leveled, “he wanted Hermione.”

Eyes widened in shock. Bill’s mouth hangs open as Lupin furiously paces the room, tapping at his temple. 

“What would that bastard want with Hermione?” George grumbles lowly, but it’s loud enough for everyone to hear.

“We don’t know,” Harry finally spoke, “that’s why we need Dumbledore. Now.” His tone left no room for argument. 

“I’ll do it.” Lupin tells the group, stalking off to the kitchen. 

Everyone was rather astounded by the proclamation, they were expecting Remus to push Ron or Harry to divulge what happened.

“I got it.” Tonks announced, suddenly appearing from the back door. 

Everyone whirled around to face her, “her wand, I have it. It’s Hermione, isn’t it?” The woman’s voice became softer. 

Ron stepped forward and gently took it from Tonks hand. 

‘Not so brave without our wand, are we muddy?’ 

He shivers as the cold wood caresses his hand. 

“She hasn’t got a wand,” Ginny moaned behind the veil of hair she had been hiding behind, “she’ll die.” 

“Oi Ginny!” Ron said angrily, no one had ever seen him this mad before, his sister flinched. 

“Don’t you say things like that.” Molly told her daughter, hugging her to her chest. 

They were all interrupted by a soft rapping on a nearby window. 

“Dumbledore already?” Charlie said aloud. 

Instinctively, Ron pocketed Hermione’s vine wood wand and drew his own. Arthur lurched to the window, ready to strike, when he stopped. 

Breathing a sigh of relief he turned, “it’s your owl Harry.” 

“Hedwig?” He asked suspiciously as he stalked toward the bird. 

Tied to her leg was a rolled up piece of parchment. Giving her a nice pet first, he soon untied the contents and noticed it was addressed to Hermione. 

“Who is it?” Bill asked. 

He sucked in a breath, “it’s for Hermione, it’s from her parents.” His voice dropped at this. 

Molly suddenly let out a small cry, completely forgetting that her own parents were to be told that their child, their only child, was gone. 

“What’s it say?” Fred piped up from his spot on the arm chair. 

Harry’s eyes fell on Ron’s, “I’m not sure if it’s my place to open it.” 

Wordlessly, he passed the envelope over to Ron, whose mouth was agape at being trusted with such a thing. 

Ignoring the gazes from his family, he peeled open the thing and let his eyes fix on the page. He skimmed every other line as certain sentences stuck out. 

Merry Christmas! 

We’ll send your gifts as soon as we’re home. 

I hope you’re being kind to the Weasley’s. 

We’re sorry to tell you this way, please don’t be too upset.

Grandma Jean passed last night, on Christmas Eve. 

It was peaceful. 

She thought of your grandpa. 

She thought of you. 

Don’t disappear on the Weasley’s. 

Stay where you are. 

We’re fine. 

You have Ron and Harry. 

We love you. 

See you soon. 

He let the parchment flutter to the ground. He hadn’t had it in him to read the entirety of it, but what he read was enough. 

The phrases like ‘don’t disappear’, ‘stay where you are’, and ‘see you soon’ reverberated around in his head. 

“Ronnie, what is it?” Bill probed gently from his spot next to Fleur. 

He swallowed the bile in his throat, “her grandmother, she passed. She’s gone.” A few gasps filled the room, “their daughter, she’s, she’s gone too. How are we gonna tell them? How am I gonna tell them? It’s all my fault.” 

Despite not knowing what entailed, no one, besides Ron himself, blamed him for what happened. 

“Ron,” his mother swiftly budged in, ready to console her son. 

However, he was having none of it, he didn’t deserve it, “her parents they don’t know about any of this.” 

Late at night in fifth year, he found Hermione in the common room. She was working mercilessly over a piece of parchment as tears pooled on the pages. When he asked what was wrong, she finally let it out and admitted she’d been living a lie. Telling her parents Hogwarts was lovely and the only thing on her mind were exams. No dark lord, no death eaters. 

For a brief moment, he wondered if Harry knew too. 

“Not about You-Know-Who, not about Cedric, the department of mysteries, not even about prejudices against Muggleborns.” He admitted to everyone in the room. 

And by the look on Harry’s face, this was news to him. 

“Did you know?” Ginny dared to ask Harry. 

At this, the chosen one shook his head. Suddenly feeling guilty, Harry had been wallowing so much in his own problems he failed to be there for Hermione, who was fiercely loyal to him. 

“Why would she lie about that?” Fleur butted in, not judgmental, but just trying to understand. 

“She was scared they’d take her out of Hogwarts.” He told everyone, Tonks nods  in understanding, her dad being a Muggle. 

“Because of me.” Harry said without missing a beat. 

“No,” Ron protested. 

“Yes, she wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for me. She wouldn’t be gone, she wouldn’t be lying to her parents.” He stated, sure that was the case. 

“You’d also be dead without her.” His best friend stated with conviction. Ron was already lost in self wallowing, the last thing he needed was for Harry to drown in it too. “We both would be.” He couldn’t help but add, despite the situation being so close to home. 

“Ronnie,” Fred’s voice, sounding the most gentle he’s ever heard, broke through the air, “can you tell us what happened? Please.” He pleaded. After all, everyone here cared for Hermione too. 

A few times Ron opened and closed his mouth, not really knowing what to say. After fumbling like a fish for two minutes, he settled for something, “I’m not-“ I’m not strong enough. 

But, the words never came, a crack sounded outside, and for a sickening moment he imagined Bellatrix Lestrange to waltz through the door. 

Instead, he was meant by his fathers shouts, “it’s Dumbledore!” He exclaimed, opening the back door. 

In a moment's notice the Headmaster's looming six foot frame is towering in his doorway and at the sight, Ron knows somewhere within him he has to manage to be strong enough. 

“Albus.” Molly said, relieved at the sight of him, “we’re sorry to do this to you on Christmas and all.” She stood wiping at her eyes. 

The old man didn’t have the heart to tell everyone here that Christmas had long gone, it was nearing two in the morning. 

“Of course Molly. I’ve had Remus go collect Alastor and Kingsley. Nymphadora, do you mind getting Minerva for me?” He asked kindly, annoyingly calm if you ask Ron. 

Dumbledore, being one of the only people to get away with calling her that, Tonks just nodded to him as she stalked out to the backyard. 

Ron gulps, it’s just now hitting him how serious this all is. The Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful Wizard living, someone with their own bloody chocolate frog card is in his living room. But there’s no time to marvel at it or even feel shocked, because he knows why he’s here. 

He’s here because Hermione’s gone. 

Next, the white haired man found a spot on the sofa and surprisingly plopped down. “Now, I need to know everything if I am to help.” 

Ron’s still reeling from telling Harry and because of the owl from Hermione’s parents. And by the looks of it, Harry’s feeling the same as he stands stock still and paler than usual. 

Thankfully, Bill notices the boys expression and takes over as much as he can, “it all started we were all in here, opening gifts, and then,” 

“I was in the garden, we-,” he swallows the lump in his throat, “we were in the garden.” Ron almost whispers. 

A little awkwardly, unsure what to say, Bill just nods and goes on, “we were opening gifts and we heard a crack, apparition.” Dumbledore nods at this. 

“Two cracks.” Charlie interrupts, earning a slanted look from Bill. 

Doing his best to not get frustrated by the multitude of people butting in, he ignores it. “So we went outside. We heard her first...” he trailed, not wanting to say it. 

“It is crucial you tell me everything that happened, everything that was said.” Dumbledore reminded at his uncertainty. 

“Bellatrix,” Harry’s shaky voice said, “she was saying how she killed Sirius.” 

Everyone, Bill included, waits for Harry to continue the story on, but instead the dark haired boy offers the eldest Weasley a nod. 

“Greyback was with her too.” Bill added, “She didn’t say much honestly, nothing out of the ordinary. Recognized the lot of us, Tonks, Lupin, Harry, called us blood traitors, remembered Hermione from the ministry.” At the mention of her name the room tensed, “then she casted incendio around the Burrow and skipped away, literally.” 

Neither Ron or Harry made a move to fill in the gaps. 

Bill sighed, “Harry, he ran after her, Hermione followed, so did Ronnie. By the time they were all gone, the fire, it blocked the path.” 

At the admission, the chosen one's eyes bulged, “it’s all my fault. She ran after me.”

“Harry,” Ron tried weakly. 

Sensing the lack of energy, Fred surprisingly jumped in, “if one of you went all three one of you would’ve. You know that just as well as I do.”

“Mr.Weasley is correct, now I know this may be difficult but I’m going to need one of you to please tell me what occurred. This is the only way I’m able to help your friend.” The old man eyed Ron and Harry who had found themselves standing side by side against the window. 

“I can’t say much, I was running before I stunned Greyback. Hermione and Ron were with them longer.” Harry was able to speak, mustering any courage he had left. 

Ron stared blankly at his headmaster. 

“Ron.” His mother said gently, “please.” She sounded like she was crying. 

Sucking in a shaky breath, he hoped to some higher power this would be the last time he ever told this story. He knew he would be reliving it for the rest of his nights,  whenever he fell asleep. 

“I didn’t hear Bellatrix say much, not the first time at least,” this made the room shudder, “all I could see was her wand pressed to Hermione’s throat, Greyback was eying her like a meal, so I tried to disarm her.” His voice dropped, “it didn’t do anything, I couldn’t use any spells, I couldn’t hurt Hermione.” Ron’s eyes grew glassy, “then Harry came.” 

Seeing Ron needed a minute, the dark haired boy jumped in, “I stunned Greyback. He fell to the ground. It surprised Bellatrix, Hermione was able to get away. Next thing I knew, I was running.” His eyes flicked back to blue ones. 

“So were Hermione and I. She started going-going,” he’s stuttering, “going on about how Lestrange told her  that You-Know-Who, he’s been talking about her.” 

Small gasps filled the room, even Dumbledore’s eyes grew wide, “about Miss Granger?” 

Ron nodded stiffly, “she was certain they wouldn’t kill her, said they needed her for-for something. Bellatrix, she said she wasn’t here for Harry.” 

It was Harry’s turn for answers. His eyes pleaded with Dumbledore for any piece of wisdom, practically begging to know what game they were playing at. However, for once, the old man didn’t seem to know any answers now, they laid with Ron. 

The youngest Weasley brother sensed his responsibility and thought of Hermione, using her to be strong. 

“We stopped by the old oak tree to catch our breaths, we knew we had to go after Harry, but before we could we heard the two of them. She thought we were Harry, when she said as much, Greyback asked why it had mattered, they were on strict orders not to kill him.” 

“Why?” Harry’s voice broke, he needed to know. Bellatrix had ample opportunities to end it but she hadn’t. 

Dumbledore shook his head, “I can’t say for certain Harry. It sounds as if Voldemort,” the Weasley family shivered at the name, “wants you for himself. Tom has always been one for theatrics, anything for an act of defiance. What I can’t understand is why they didn’t attempt to apparate you.” He voiced aloud. 

Slowly, the Boy-Who-Lived nodded in acknowledgment, but certainly not in understanding. 

“What happened next Ron?” The man asked softly. 

He cleared his throat nervously, “Bellatrix, she said if she found me, that she’d-she’d kill me.” Nearby, Molly moaned in pain, falling into Ginny, “that I was just another blood traitor. But for Hermione, she said-” he shut his eyes tightly, “said she’d be a perfect gift for him.” 

They all knew who ‘he’ was. Fleur was trembling as the story continued, Ginny had the urge to clamp her hands over her ears, Charlie was fully engaged, and the twins nervously eyed the floor. 

“Said she was the brilliant one and all that, that she must know something and they’d get it out of her.” He released a breath, “Merlin, she’s so stupid, so stupid.” He began to cry. 

“Ron, you need to tell them. For her.” Harry reminded in an equally as broken whisper, clapping a hand on his shoulder to give him strength. 

“She knew they wanted to kill me and she knew they didn’t wanna kill her...” he trailed, wiping at his eyes. 

“No.” Fred said aloud, before he could help it, dropping his head in his hands, putting together what happened. 

“She casted the stunning spell on me and a disillusionment charm, there was a crack and she was gone.” Ron said it rushed, sloppily, unable to even get through it before collapsing against the wall. 

Molly stood up, sat down and embraced her son.  

“Did Bellatrix perform any spells or curses on Hermione?” Dumbledore asked the sobbing boy. 

“Albus.” Missus Weasley scolded. 

Ron shook his head numbly, “expelliarmus, that was it.” 

The old man paced around the room before directing his attention to Harry and Ron, the latter now calming in his mother’s embrace. 

“Did she know something?” He asked flustered. Harry’s never heard the professor sound so rushed, so panicked. It worried him to the core. 

Frantically, Potter shook his head, “I don't know, maybe, no? I don't know.” He’s panicking now too. 

The white haired man turns his attention to Ron, “she wouldn’t have to me anything, she wouldn’t.” It broke his heart even more, it’s just now hitting him that Hermione’s gone and he can’t remember the last thing he said to her. Just what he wanted to say. 

“Has she been fixated on anything? Talking, asking, reading?” He lists off, Harry hasn’t heard him use this tone since his name was pulled from the goblet of fire. 

The boys look at each other and think, but nothing comes up, they can’t even see straight. 

“That book.” Ginny states in a crisp voice, “she’s been reading the same book for weeks. Writing notes on it.” 

He rounded to the young girl, “what book?” 

Ginny shook her head unknowingly, “I don’t know. She puts it away whenever anyone comes around.” Her voice is uneven, but it’s evident she wants to help anyway she can. 

“The cover is black, there’s gold trim. There’s no title, very old looking.” Fleur speaks for the first time, recalling their time under the tree. 

“Do you know where it is?” He seemed determined to find it, Harry sensed realization in his eyes. 

Fleur shook her infadictly, Ginny shrugged, “her trunk?” She suggested. 

“Please take me there.” He said to no one in particular. 

Over his large frame, Ginny’s eyes found Harry’s, she nodded at him, signaling it was his duty. 

“Follow me.” Harry stood from the floor and rushed to the steps. 

Dumbledore’s robes flew behind him as the old man climbed the steps with fervor. When he reached Hermione’s trunk, he flung it open unceremoniously and ripped through its contents like a mad man. 

Harry had half the heart to scold him and be more gentle with her things. And he was just about to say as much, until the headmaster stopped moving. 

In his old, shaking hands, was that old thing that had been attached to Hermione for weeks. 

Harry had asked her about it a few times, she just said it was for ‘light reading’ and brushed him off. He chose not to mention it, reading was ordinary for her. 

Next, a brown journal was being pried open by Dumbledore. By the looks of it, the pages were spelled as he whispered a counter incantation to it as the witches neat scrawl filled the pages. 

“Hey, it’s just her diary! That’s private.” He scolded. 

And for the first time since they got up here, Dumbledore turned to him, eyes wide as saucers. 

“This is no diary Harry.”

[theplaid-wearingmoose]

Found You Again~Sirius Black x Reader~

This is literally a self indulgence for me. I’ve been rereading the Harry Potter series and Sirius is my favorite character so this is my contribution to the Sirius Black tag.

Part 2 is here

Thunder rumbled loudly outside of Sirius’ hideout. The dark cave he was trying very hard to get some sleep in was occasionally illuminated by lightning flashes. Sirius had transformed into his dog form and curled up into a ball near the back of the cave. Being a great big dog saved him the trouble of having to find blankets, as his thick fur kept him warm. His escape partner, Buckbeak was sleeping beside him, unbothered by the storm outside their temporary home.

Sirius had finally gotten somewhat comfortable enough to fall asleep when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps crunching on the leaves outside. He lifted his head quickly and looked over at Buckbeak. The hippogriff had heard the noise too but did not move besides lifting his head from his enormous front legs. Sirius stood as he saw a dark figure approaching the cave entrance. He let out a low growl. Normally, would-be intruders turn and quickly leave in fear of being ripped apart by a wild animal, but the dark figure did not turn away. Sirius growled louder, warning the figure of their impending injuries if they continued. Then the figure spoke.

“Relax, Sirius. It is only me.”

Sirius immediately stopped growling and sat back on his hind legs. He recognized that voice. He watched as Albus Dumbledore entered the cave, surprisingly dry and smiling warmly at him. Dumbledore turned to the hippogriff who was watching him carefully. “Hello again, Buckbeak.” Dumbledore said, bowing low to the creature. Buckbeak bowed his head back to Dumbledore and, sensing that neither he nor Sirius were in any danger, lowered his head and went back to sleep. Dumbledore chuckled to himself and turned back to Sirius who had now transformed back into a man.

“Good evening, Sirius. I apologize for having disturbed your sleep.”

Sirius shook his head and rubbed his arms, now feeling the cold without his fur to warm him. “Not at all, Professor. I’d offer you a place to sit but…” Sirius gestured to cave around them, showing a lack of chairs. Dumbledore grinned. “That’s very kind of you, Sirius, thank you.” Dumbledore pulled his wand from his robes and conjured two squishy beanbag chairs. He nodded to Sirius, inviting him to sit as he settled into his own beanbag. Sirius couldn’t hold back the sigh of content as he sank into the soft chair. He couldn’t even remember the last time he rested on something that wasn’t hard ground.

“I assume you must be quite hungry, Sirius. Although I have noticed Harry has been visiting the kitchens quite often lately.” Dumbledore flicked his wand and a plate of sandwiches and a flagon of pumpkin juice appeared appeared in front of Sirius. Unable to contain himself, Sirius lunged forward and grabbed at the sandwiches. He tossed about half the plate to Buckbeak so he could eat too and tore into the remaining sandwiches in front of him. He nearly cried when the plate refilled itself with more sandwiches. “Harry…sends me food..mmm when he can. It really helps.” Sirius said, his mouth full. Dumbledore smiled. “I am sure the house elves have no trouble preparing extra food. They quite enjoy it. Please, continue Sirius. I don’t mind if you eat while we talk.”

Sirius had paused as a courtesy to Dumbledore, but at his words, dove right back into the sandwiches. “Is something wrong with Harry? He writes to me but if there’s something he hasn’t told me..” Sirius asked, worriedly. The only reason he stayed this close to Hogwarts this long was because he felt concerned about Harry’s scar hurting. He wondered if Harry had discussed his scar pain with Dumbledore already. Dumbledore shook his head and held his hand up to stop Sirius. “Harry is not the reason for my visit, Sirius. I am here with a possible solution to your current situation. I wonder if you recall a certain young lady? Y/N Y/L/N?”

Sirius stopped chewing. He felt his stomach do a flip and his heart sped up just a bit at the name. Y/N? Why is he asking me about her? Sirius thought to himself. He finished chewing slowly and swallowed hard before answering Dumbledore. “Yes…I remember Y/N.”

Y/N had been Lily’s best friend. Maid of Honor at her and James’ wedding. The love of Sirius’ life. They had moved in together as soon as they left Hogwarts. Sirius had been something of a ladies man in school. Until he met Y/N. The other Marauders had laughed at how quickly Sirius had fallen for her and how romantic and gentle he became because of her. It was like something had changed in him overnight. Sirius and Y/N had been together even longer than James and Lily had. He was going to marry her. He’d promised her he would. He’d promised her that he’d always be there to protect her and take care of her. Though Y/N always knew how to handle herself. He remembered fondly.

But surely Y/N thought he was guilty. Everyone else had. Even Remus, even Harry. He remembered the last time he saw her. It was the night he’d been arrested. He had just gone to check on Peter to make sure he was still safe. He’d found him missing and hurried to the Potter’s. When he found James and Lily’s bodies, Sirius was filled with rage, for he knew Peter had betrayed them. He told Y/N what had happened, told her that he begged Hagrid to let him take Harry where they could raise him. He told her that he was going to kill Peter. She’d begged him not to. She pleaded with him to stay and they’d figure something out together with Dumbledore. But he was too angry, too set on revenge. Sirius remembered kissing her goodbye, telling her to stay put and stay safe, that he’d be back for her. He remembered the terrified look on her face. Then he was hauled off to Azkaban and never saw her again.

Dumbledore’s voice brought him out of his memories and Sirius realized he’d begun to cry. He quickly wiped his eyes and shook his head, as if he was trying to shake the memories away. “She has been writing to me for months, since the news of your escape. Wants to know if I know where you are and how you’re doing. She seems quite concerned about you, Sirius.” Sirius was taken aback by that. “You…you mean…does she think I did it? Does she think I betrayed…” He let his voice trail off as tears threatened to fall from his eyes again. He couldn’t bear the thought of Y/N hating him, thinking that he’d betrayed their friends and killed Peter.

“Of course not, Sirius. I would daresay she knows you better than anyone and did not believe it for a second.” Sirius felt relief wash over him. Y/N…his Y/N knew he was innocent. Sirius felt the happiest he’d been since seeing Harry. “Why are you telling me this?” He asked. Dumbledore smiled again. “I have informed Y/N of all that has happened since Harry and Ms. Granger helped you escape Hogwarts. Face to face of course, we could not risk my letter being intercepted. She wishes to see you, Sirius.” Sirius felt like his heart fell to his stomach. Y/N wanted to see him? After all these years she still wanted to see him? Seeing that Sirius was unable to speak, Dumbledore continued. “She has provided me an address. I believe you already know where it is. I believe she expects to see you any day now.” He handed Sirius a slip of parchment. Sirius looked down at it, instantly recognizing Y/N’s near perfect handwriting. His heart sped as he read the address. Our old place…she never left it. “I do not think Y/N could bring herself to leave.” Dumbledore said, as if he had heard what Sirius was thinking. Sirius looked up at Dumbledore, smiling widely. “Thank you so much.” He breathed. Sirius couldn’t contain himself and threw himself on Dumbledore, hugging him tightly. Dumbledore chuckled and returned the hug.

Sirius remembered his filthy condition and quickly let go of the headmaster. “Sorry..” He apologized sheepishly. Dumbledore waved his apology away, smiling kindly. “I imagine you will want to get going straight away. Remember to keep out of sight. Y/N will write to me when you have reached her.” Sirius nodded quickly. “What about Buckbeak?” He asked. He longed to see Y/N again more than anything but he had grown attached to the hippogriff and couldn’t bear to leave him behind. “Hagrid has enthusiastically expressed his wish to take Buckbeak back. He doesn’t know that he escaped with you but believes we’d found him somewhere near Paris and decided to return him. But we’ve decided that for his safety, he has now been christened Witherwings.” Dumbledore added, with another bow to Buckbeak. The hippogriff didn’t seem to mind the name change and merely blinked at Dumbledore once before nodding his head to him again.

Sirius thanked Dumbledore once more and said his goodbyes to Buckbeak. “Behave yourself, mate. Don’t get into anymore trouble.” He said, rubbing Buckbeak’s head. Buckbeak tilted his head slightly and blinked at Sirius a couple times, before nudging him gently with his large head. Sirius smiled and patted the hippogriff on his neck. He turned back to Dumbledore. “One more thing…does Harry know? About Y/N?” Dumbledore sighed and looked away from Sirius for a moment. “I’m afraid he does not. I did not wish to overwhelm him and there was not much of way to explain who she was without mentioning who you were. This was of course when you were still in Azkaban, Sirius. If you wish to tell Harry now of his godmother, I see no harm in doing so.”

Sirius nodded once, thanked Dumbledore again and transformed into a great black dog. Dumbledore waved to him as he made his way over to the entrance to the cave. “Take care, Sirius.” Sirius barked softly back and bounded off into the forest.

It would take him almost a week to reach Y/N. They hadn’t lived far from Diagon Alley as Y/N had gotten a small job in Madame Malkins after they left Hogwarts. Sirius had tried to tell her that she didn’t need to work as he had inherited a great deal of money from his uncle, but she was stubborn and liked to have something to keep her busy. Sirius remembered how he would respond with something usually along the lines of “that’s what I’m here for, love.” and Y/N would giggle adorably and playfully push him away. Even in dog form for the majority of his trek to London, it took him about 6 days to reach their old village. Sirius padded down the sidewalk, his memories flooding back to him. He remembered walking down this sidewalk as if it were only yesterday.

It was midday when he arrived at the base of the small hill. He looked around at his old neighborhood and noticed some flowers blooming in a nearby garden. He snatched some up in his mouth and proceeded to walk back up towards the hill. He was exhausted but seeing his old home, knowing his love was waiting for him there gave him the push he need to run up towards the house. It looked very much the same on the outside. The paint hadn’t chipped and the grass was trimmed neatly. He could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen window that was open. Y/N loved to bake and always kept the window open. Their neighbors often commented that they could smell Y/N delicious baking from the end of the street. Sirius paused on the front porch, nerves flooding through him. He rested a large paw on the door and scratched at it gently, hoping Y/N would hear him. He waited a minute or two with no response. He rose up on his hind legs, flowers still in his mouth and smacked his paw against the doorbell. “Be right there!” He heard from inside the house. His heart sped up again at the sound of her voice. So beautiful and melodic. As footsteps neared, Sirius looked around, wondering if anyone had spotted him. The door opened and Y/N came into view. She looked over him confused for a minute when a person didn’t greet her. Then she looked down and quickly covered her mouth in shock.

“Sirius!” she gasped. Sirius dropped the flowers at her feet and gave her the best puppy eyes he could muster. Y/N collapsed in front of him, tears quickly flooding down her face. She threw her arms around him, hugging her to him tightly. She sobbed into his fur for a minute before realizing. She stood up quickly. “Hurry! Get inside!” Sirius snatched the flowers from the porch and trotted inside, happily. Y/N quickly closed the door behind her and turned. Sirius turned back into himself, causing Y/N to dissolve into tears once again. Sirius rushed to her and took her in his arms. He inhaled her scent as he held her, like he was scared she’d be ripped away from him again. He felt himself begin to cry as well and soon, they were both sobbing in each other’s arms.

Sirius kept his arms around Y/N as they stopped crying. He gave her a gentle smile and lifted his hand to her face, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks before bending his head down to kiss her softly. The two of them sighed into the kiss, having missed the feel of each other’s lips for years. Sirius held her face in his hands, feeling her soft skin beneath his rough touch. Y/N ended the kiss much too soon for Sirius’ liking, but she kept her arms around his neck, keeping her close to him. “I’ve missed you.” She murmured. Sirius pressed his forehead to hers and nuzzled her nose with his. “I missed you too, love.” Sirius kissed her again, He felt as if he stopped kissing her and let go of her, she would disappear from his arms. She let out a quiet laugh and she pulled back from him slightly so she could properly look at him. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “No offense, my darling, but you smell like wet dog.”

Sirius threw his head back and let out a bark-like laugh. “Well I did run here.” Y/N laughed and pointed to the stairs. “You can shower if you like. I um, kept the closet exactly the same. Your clothes are still there and everything.” Sirius grinned and kissed her once more. He made his way up the stairs, getting slightly overwhelmed as he recalled where everything was. He found his way to the bathroom and felt he could cry again as he turned on the shower. Finally able to remove his Azkaban clothing, Sirius stepped under the running water, groaning happily as the warm water cascaded down his body. He felt he could stay in this shower for hours, scrubbing 12 years of Azkaban and months of living on the run from his skin. He manged to rid his hair of the tangles and scrubbed til his skin was pink. When he left the shower, he felt more clean than he had in years. He left the bathroom and could hear Y/N humming to herself downstairs. She would always do that when she was happy. He recalled. She was evidently baking more things because the smell was stronger than when he had arrived. He wrapped a towel around himself to dry off and made his way to their bedroom. Y/N hadn’t been lying. She had left everything exactly as he remembered it. His clothes were hanging neatly and fresh, like she washed them even without him having worn them. He was happy to be in his own clothes again.

He paused to look around their bedroom, happily reminiscing. He made his way back down the stairs and stood in the doorway, watching as Y/N moved about the kitchen. She hadn’t heard him come down the stairs. He often moved silently and used that as an opportunity to sneak up behind her and scare her. She stopped moving as she pulled cookies out of the oven. Judging by the smell, she had made his favorite, snickerdoodles. “Delicious.” Sirius walked over quietly and wrapped his arms around her. She jumped, slightly startled. “Sirius! Merlin’s beard, don’t do that!” She exclaimed. Sirius laughed again and kissed her cheek gently. “I couldn’t resist, love.” Y/N sighed and turned to him. She inhaled sharply as she took in the sight of him. Now that he was clean, his face looked much less gaunt and his handsome features began to come through once again. She stroked his face gently and smiled warmly at him. “I have something for you.” She said. She took his hand and led him back to the living room. She sat him down on the couch and pointed her wand at the wall behind him. “Revelio.” She muttered. The paint on the wall began to peel away as though it was quickly disintegrating. A small safe appeared and Y/N opened it quickly. She pulled a long box out of the safe and handed it to Sirius. “Dumbledore managed to get this for me. I’ve kept it safe this whole time. I think I knew somehow you’d be able to be free.”

Sirius’ eyes widened as he opened the box and found his wand inside. “My wand…” He ran his fingers over the runes that were carved into the base. The wand felt warm under his touch. He pulled it from the box and felt a dull vibration all through his arm. He grinned and pulled Y/N into another kiss. “You are absolutely the best, love.” Sirius murmured against her lips.

Sirius and Y/N spent hours catching up. Sirius told Y/N how everything went down from his escape from Azkaban to now. Y/N told Sirius about all the things he’d missed and informed him that Remus would be by in a few days and couldn’t wait to see him. “Dumbledore must’ve told him because he sent an owl about two days ago asking if you’d arrived yet.”

“How is Moony, by the way? I heard he resigned the day after Harry had saved me.” Y/N made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes. “Would you believe it, that greasy slimeball Snape is the one who outed him? Told all the Slytherins about Moony being a werewolf, just because he was pissed off that the dementors hadn’t gotten you.” Sirius growled lowly. “Git...” He sighed and looked away, knowing Remus had loved that job and it was so difficult for him finding work at all, given his condition. “Moony comes by once in while. Stays for a couple weeks. He always takes off before his cycle starts though. Insists he can’t be around me when it starts. He always looks so worn out though, Sirius...” Y/N answered, sadly. Not wanting to make Sirius upset, she tried to change the subject.

“Oh but Moony’s told me so much about Harry. Oh Sirius, he says he looks just like James!” Y/N exclaimed, tearing up. “Except his eyes are definitely Lily’s.” Sirius replied, tears forming in his eyes as well. “I’d love to meet him. Properly since I assume he doesn’t remember me. Dumbledore....hasn’t told him about me I suppose?” Sirius shook his head, sadly. “He figured Harry would be too overwhelmed, especially finding out that I’m his godfather. He apparently found out when he still thought I was guilty.” Seeing Y/N’s sad expression he quickly added “But Dumbledore says if I want to tell Harry about you, I can. There’s no reason he can’t know he has a godmother as well.” Y/N’s face lit up and Sirius leapt up to start his letter to Harry.

After he had finished it and sent it with Y/N’s owl, he sat back down and took her hands in his. “You think Harry could come live here with us? Instead of with that dreadful aunt and uncle of his.” Y/N asked. Sirius squeezed her hands gently. “I offered that to him as we were bringing Peter to the castle. He seemed incredibly eager. I doubt his mind has changed since.” Sirius replied, excitedly. Y/N let out a squeal of delight and threw her arms around Sirius. “Oh this will be so wonderful!” She jumped up and began running about, straightening things as though Harry was arriving any minute. She began planning things rapidly, making changes, and thinking of all the things they would need to make sure Harry was happy. Sirius could only watch her and smile fondly. She always looked so cute when she got like this. She saw him watching her and paused, blushing slightly at the look on his face.

“What?” She asked breathlessly. Sirius chuckled. “Last time i saw you act like this was the day of James and Lily’s wedding.” Y/N grinned and brushed her hair out of her face. “Well I was busy then too. A certain clumsy Best Man had forgotten his socks and his tie somehow so I was quite busy worrying about that and dealing with a nervous bride.” She retorted. Sirius gasped in fake hurt and stood quickly, folding his arms across his chest. “How could you? I still looked quite dashing that day if I recall correctly.” “Yes, my love, but you also had no socks. So you did also look a bit funny.” Sirius gasped again then grinned wickedly at her. “Well now that’s just mean, love. You’re going to pay for that one.” He growled before lunging for her. Y/N screamed with laughter and took off, narrowly evading Sirius’ arms. She charged up the stairs, Sirius following quickly behind her. He managed to catch her in the bedroom, the two of them collapsing on the bed, giggling like children.

Sirius was on top of her, his long hair tickling her cheeks as he gazed down at her. They were both panting from their quick game and Sirius couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting down to glance at her chest that was steadily rising and falling. He stroked her cheek gently, love filling him as he gazed into her eyes. His hands slid down her sides slowly. Sirius felt pleased with himself as he felt goosebumps on her arms. He was satisfied to know his touch still affected her like this. She reached a hand up to stroke his face. Her skin was soft against his and Sirius closed his eyes, he enjoyed having her touch him again. She pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him and he rolled over on to his back so that she was now on top of him. She swung one leg over his waist so that she was now straddling him. Sirius felt like he was a teenager at Hogwarts again and they had just ditched class to snog in a broom closet. His hands roamed over her body, making her moan softly against his lips. He buried a hand in her hair and tilted her head to the side so he could kiss her neck. He’d memorized her body and still remembered where every single one of her sensitive spots was.

Y/N began to rock her hips against his, feeling him get hard beneath her. She broke the kiss to pull her shirt over her head. Sirius swallowed hard, his eyes widening. “You...are so beautiful, love.” He whispered. He didn’t think he’d ever get to see Y/N like this again and he wanted to savor it. Y/N blushed again as she continued to undress. “You’re way too dressed, my darling.” She purred. Sirius nodded in agreement, too transfixed on the now naked woman in front of him to say anything. He stared at her as he slowly removed his clothes. He pulled her to him again, her skin felt hot against his. Their lips met and it was as if something had snapped in both of them. Twelve years of restrained feelings of longing and need poured out of them.

The night was long and filled with hot, burning passion. Love exploded between them. Sirius felt so hot he thought he would catch fire any second. Y/N’s cries of pleasure combined with his own arousal quickly overwhelmed him. Their hands were everywhere. Sirius felt as though he couldn’t touch her enough. Y/N’s hands were all over him, burning deliciously wherever they touched. They tangled in his hair as his hands tangled in hers. She was chanting his name like it was the only word she knew. It had been far too long for both of them and Y/N was coming undone around him fast. They had immediately fallen into a rhythm but it was now faltering. Y/N was clinging to him desperately as she came but Sirius couldn’t make himself slow down for all the galleons in Gringotts. He felt himself nearing his release as he thrust his hips forward. He threw his head back and moaned loudly as his orgasm pulsed through him.

He collapsed against her, sweat dripping off their bodies. The two of them held each other, breathing heavily. Sirius rolled over to face her and stroked her cheek again. Her eyes were closed and she hummed happily at his touch. “I love you.” He whispered. “I love you too, Padfoot.” Y/N murmured back. He kissed her forehead and pulled her as close to him as possible. As his eyes began to get heavier, he felt more relaxed and at peace than he had in years.

Sirius Black was finally home again and he had the love of his life by his side once more.