#i saw my teacher cover her face to silently laugh she loved my essay it was 4x the length of everyones elses essays

[shigussy]

kahoot was kinda after my time bc it was only ever used in a class once when i was in my last year of school but i feel like it was definitely bc someone named themself the n word but dw i know who did it it was a black guy who was trying to frame his white friend for it

[demig00ddess]

Sleeping Beauty

Charlie Weasley x MC

Warning: huge spoilers for Year 6 Chapter 18!

————————————————————

CHAPTER FOUR

THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEATH

    1989.     Middle of the first semester.     The quill in the hands creaked monotonously, writing words on the paper. Professor Binns’ voice and the stifling atmosphere of the office were slowly putting in the trance. Emma bit her cheek more painfully and continued to take notes on the lecture.     Behind the farthest desk, Binns’ rustling voice was hard to hear, so Emma regularly consulted the textbook. Two seats were empty in the first rows. One of them is next to Penny, there was always Rowan. The second — next to Charlie, he occupied it for Emma every lesson. Today Emma quietly slipped into the office just before the start of the lecture so as not to meet with her classmates.     Penny sat down next to Charlie and whispered something in his ear. For some reason, Emma felt as if she had swallowed the bubotuber pus. She shook her head, for sure it seemed to her because of fatigue. She was satisfied with the back seat, but the fact that someone else was sitting in her place next to Charlie was a little annoying. Charlie listened to Penny and nodded absently. He looked around uneasily, trying to see someone or something. Emma was glad that she was safely hidden from the front desks by the backs of her classmates.

    “… delegated authority to Wizn… Wesegn… to Wizengamot.” Emma stubbornly wrote down the professor’s words, despite the fact that her hands were shaking and big blots remained on the parchment.     She felt sleepy, but she could not afford to fall asleep. There was a bright flash of green light in front of closed eyes. The Dreamless Sleep Potion they had been brewing on Potions had run out. The dose from the hospital wing that Madame Pomfrey had advised not to overuse had ended too. But after such a sleep, she got up even more tired.     A flash of green and Rowan’s body falls right in front of her. The friend’s eyes are wide open in surprise, her mouth is slightly open in a silent scream. “Debt collected.” Emma could not bear it, she woke up with a cry and tears in her eyes. The silencing charms she put on her bed every night kept her from waking an already worried Liz. Whatever Merula said, the same charms were imposed on her bed, she could not afford to be considered weak by anyone, not even Izmelda.     Every time Emma closed her eyes, there was a green flash and the body of her best friend fell in front of her. At first, it was only memories of Rowan, but then a deadly beam hit Ben, and he fell dead in front of Emma. Merula died next, then Charlie, Penny, Barnaby, Bill, Tonks. Her friends threw themselves under a killing spell, and she could only watch their lifeless bodies fall to the ground. Emma tried to revive Jae and Badeya, begged Tulip to get up, but they were all dead.     Charlie turned around again and Emma looked away. There was her own cry in her ears when a green beam hit him when the red head hit the ground and her tears fell on the freckles on his still warm face.

    Emma doubled over to stifle the pulling pain and rumbling in her stomach. After eating, she felt sleepy, but she couldn’t sleep. After lights out, she would sit up in the Slytherin common room with her books and send especially curious juniors to the bedrooms.     Most of the teachers averted their eyes from her as if they didn’t want to disturb her. Snape gave her an incomprehensible look as she submitted an essay on the Draught of Living Death a foot longer than he demanded. And Flitwick freed her from homework, after, because of trembling hands, she conjured not a small fountain of water, but a real tsunami, flooding the office.     During the day, Emma wandered and loitered about the castle, avoiding familiar faces. She shunned talking, trying to hide in a niche or take refuge in some class. She felt that some part of her had died and now she could not exist normally. She wandered half-dead.

    An idea came to the head like lightning. Half-dead! Surely! How the thought didn’t occur to her at once. Emma jotted down hastily Binns’ last words.     “Professor! Professor Binns, please wait!” Emma made her way through classmates.     “Um, Underwood? Do you want anything?”     Emma hesitated a little, she didn’t think what exactly she would ask the teacher. The classroom was empty and she finally found the words.     “Professor, I wanted to know about Rowan, Rowan Khanna. She always said that she wanted to be the youngest professor at Hogwarts. Um — Couldn'tshestayherelikeyou?”     “Excuse me?”     “Couldn’t she become a ghost? I mean, you came back to teach students, she could come back too. She would have come up with everything, finish her studies, and then began to teach. I’m sure Professor Dumbledore would have let her! She could have stayed here! Haven’t you… haven’t you seen her?”     Emma blurted it all out in one breath, afraid that the professor would interrupt her. Binns adjusted his glasses and for the first time looked at Emma like that, with the keen, clear gaze that Emma often saw in Dumbledore.     “Miss Khanna was a gifted witch. And for all her love of teaching, she was drawn to explore and learn something new.” Emma stared at the old professor. “So rest assured, Miss Underwood, she went ahead.”     “Went ahead? Where did she go?”     “Unfortunately, I do not possess these facts. But you should know she’s not coming back. I’m sorry, this is a big loss for Hogwarts.” Binn turned and walked through the board.     “For Hogwarts,” Emma repeated. It seemed to her that Rowan had died a second time, again in front of her eyes. She had already seen her friend, ethereal, pearl-silver, but talking to her and laughing. But Rowan went ahead.     Emma stuffed a quill and blob-strewn lecture notes into her bag. She wanted to hide somewhere, in Moaning Myrtle’s toilet or a dark closet. She had no strength to return to the common room.

    At the exit from the class she was caught by someone’s strong hands, Emma jerked sharply, holding a wand to the attacker's neck. She could feel her heart pounding thumping deep in her head. “I have to defend myself.”     “Emma,” Charlie gently moved the trembling wand away from his neck. Emma freed herself from his grasp and dashed down the hallway.     “Emma! I want to talk! Please!”     “Not now, Charlie,” she wanted to hide quickly. Charlie caught up with her and gently turned her around. He didn’t insist but asked. There was not a drop of pity in his bright eyes, they were full of concern. He examined her carefully as if trying to see if she had done something bad to herself.     “You were right,” Emma turned her gaze into his boots. “You better stay away from me. Everyone should stay away from me.”     She turned and walked away. She had already lost one friend and couldn’t bear to lose someone else. Charlie caught up with her again and grabbed her into his arms.     “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I should never have said those words to you. You are my — You’re my best friend and I will be by your side. Whenever you need me, I’ll be there for you.”     Emma shook her head, pulling back.     “Your brothers — ”     “My brothers will support me,” Charlie interrupted her, he was confident in his words. His eyes said that he would not let anyone else hurt her. Emma felt her eyes fill with tears. The students scurried along the corridor and Emma again had a keen desire to hide.     “Come with me,” Charlie whispered in her ear.

    They walked and walked until they came to a sprawling tree near the lake, scaring several of the Hufflepuff freshmen out of there. Charlie hit the ground first, rummaged in his bag, pulled out the sandwiches wrapped in a napkin, and handed it to Emma.     “How long have you not eaten?”     “A couple of days, maybe more,” Emma sat down next to him and sniffed at the sandwiches. “How did you know?”     “Couldn’t find you in the Great Hall.”     Emma took a bite of her sandwich and put it aside, feeling nauseous. Charlie looked at her closely but said nothing. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Emma bit by bit on the sandwich to keep from getting sick.     “I spoke to Nearly Headless Nick. Also asked about… this.”     “What did he say?”     “The same as Binns.”     Emma felt a tear roll down her cheek.     “I saw Rowan’s parents yesterday, they came to pick up her things. I visited them every summer. They loved her so much…”     Emma burst out, talking and talking, ignoring the tears. Charlie just sat there and listened. When Emma finished and exhaled helplessly, he leaned her head on his shoulder and began to speak. He told her stories that he had heard from his mother as a child. He talked about the books he had read. Emma lay on his shoulder and listened, inhaling the scent of grass, honeysuckle, and something else very familiar. She didn’t notice as her eyes began to close, and Charlie’s voice seemed to ring out farther and farther.

    She didn’t get much sleep, Emma woke up from her own scream, she was tossing around, not knowing where she was. She was choking on tears and couldn’t breathe, it seemed that someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs.     “Shh. I’m here, everything is fine,” Charlie’s quiet and soft voice rang out over her ear. He put his arm around Emma, stroking her hair soothingly. She sobbed and grabbed his hand, afraid to let go.     “Do you want me to tell a tale about the fountain of Fair Fortune?” asked Charlie a few minutes later, when Emma calmed down. She nodded.     “Jacob used to tell me this story when I couldn’t sleep.”     “Now you need to sleep too. I’m not such a good storyteller, but I hope you like it. High on a hill in an enchanted garden, enclosed by tall walls and protected by strong magic, flowed the Fountain of Fair Fortune…”

    When Emma woke up, the sun was already setting, she was lying on Charlie’s lap, covered by his jacket. Charlie himself was reading a book, only wearing a sweater. Emma jumped awkwardly and blushed.     “Did you get some sleep?” Charlie pulled out a blade of grass tangled in her hair. The tips of his ears turned pink. Emma nodded in surprise, she slept for hours without nightmares. “You smiled in your sleep. I missed it, your smile I mean.”     Emma flushed and hastily turned away, pretending to straighten her clothes. She vaguely remembered what she had dreamed, but Charlie was definitely there. “Well, he’s your friend, the others must have been in the dream too,” she told herself.

    Charlie had already packed his things, got to his feet and gave her a hand. Emma got up, too, and handed him his jacket.     “Don’t,” Charlie threw the jacket over her shoulders. “You can freeze after sleep.”     “Are we going to the castle yet?” Emma tried to hide the disappointment in her voice.     “We’re in time for dinner. Sit down at the Gryffindor table, okay? You need to eat, and you're boycotting food.” Emma’s stomach purred in agreement. Charlie gave her a bribing look, “Penny also wanted to sit with us while we are allowed.”     “Oh,” at the mention of Penny, appetite disappeared.     “Oh?” Charlie asked. “Did you have a fight?”     “No, I didn’t mean that.” Emma said, not understanding why she was angry at Penny. She always supported Emma and wished only the best for her.     They walked in silence for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Emma broke down.     “You and Penny have become very close, haven’t you?”     “Yes,” Charlie said simply. “Especially recently. We spend a lot of time together.”     “Oh,” Emma said again, and they both fell silent.

    An unpleasant weight filled Emma’s chest, making her difficult to breathe. She noticed this even during their trip to Romania, but then she wasn’t up to it, she was too keen on their adventure. But since… since the moment… Emma couldn’t bring herself to say what had happened even in her thoughts. For the last couple of weeks, Charlie and Penny have hardly ever parted, and for some reason it hurt her.     Emma was happy for her friends, she loved both Penny and Charlie, as friends, of course. And it was great that they got together. Something was still gnawing at her, but Emma brushed the thought away. She didn’t want to be selfish, and even more she didn’t want to interfere with the happiness of her best friends. Especially in these times.

    “Glad for you,” Emma said already at the castle.     “Sorry?” Charlie snapped out of his thoughts.     “I’m glad for you and Penny, that you’re getting close,” she explained, trying to avoid Charlie’s gaze.     “Thank you,” Charlie looked surprised, letting her into the Great Hall.     “I’ll eat at my table,” Emma said sullenly.     “But — ”     “I’ll eat, I promise. I just… want to eat at my usual place. Alone,” she added hastily, noticing that Charlie had something to say. He nodded and gave her a confused smile.     “Then I’ll see you later, right?”     They went in opposite directions, joining their classmates. A few minutes later, Penny entered the Great Hall and went straight to the Gryffindor table. Charlie said something to Penny, who was smiling contentedly. Emma poked at the broccoli with her fork and looked away from the chatting couple.

    After dinner, Emma hurried down to the dungeons, once again avoiding her friends, and began to write an essay on the Orion constellation. It wasn’t until she was getting ready for bed that she realized that she hadn’t given Charlie his jacket back. Already in bed, having applied a silencing charm, Emma picked up the jacket in her hands, pondered for a couple of seconds and wrapped herself in it, curling up on the bed. The familiar smells immediately enveloped her, and she closed her eyes.     “Cinnamon” flashed through her head in the dream. The smell that haunted her for a long time was the light scent of cinnamon. It smelled like that at home when, years ago, her dad made cinnamon rolls, according to grandmother’s recipe. Emma buried her nose in the jacket and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

    It was the second time in two weeks that she had no nightmares.

[ateezmakemeweep]

you’re taking reaction/imagine requests? asdfghjkl um- can we have an imagine with ateez teasing and embarrassing you in front of your classmates during your online classes during quarantine? i know it sounds lame zxcbxm

❥ kim hongjoong

“so i was thinking i could do this part and maybe you could do-“

hongjoong opened the door to your shared bedroom, making you look up from your computer and narrow your eyes at your boyfriend. you subtly shake your head at him before continuing to speak to your project partners. 

he had heard you complain for the past week about how they hadn’t been doing anything, that their powerpoint slides and essay portion still wasn’t done despite the deadline being tomorrow. he raised an eyebrow at the girl’s nasally voice saying that she still didn’t quite understand what she had to do. 

he could only listen to you for so long try to explain it to her, voice high and shaky the way it always is when you’re uncomfortable; he knows how much you prefer working alone, that group work and public speaking are the two worst aspects for you in school. 

it’s why he prances his way over to your desk as you look into the camera, only sensing his presence when he leans over your shoulder and places his arm down on the desk. “are these the girls who weren’t doing shit?” he asks, mouth in your ear but the words loud enough for everyone to hear. your cheeks flame and you push him away from the desk, stuttering out an apology as you glare at hongjoong who’s looking at you from across the room. 

embarrassment and all, though, it must’ve hit a nerve in them because when you checked back at the document a few hours later, after yelling and scolding hongjoong for a good thirty minutes, everything was completed. 

❥ park seonghwa

you had told him to stay out of the camera. that you would stay in the living room with him but that he couldn’t make a sound or have his presence known. 

and it’d been working until your teacher called on you to answer a question, his voice hard and commanding the way all of your classmates have grown used to. everyone had just thought the man hated you all, his blunt way of speaking and loud, booming tone scaring the shit out of all of you for the first few weeks of class.

you came to learn that’s just how he was, a severe case of tough love that some long-time professors just harbor after dealing with loudmouth college kids. but when seonghwa heard the man harshly call your name, his head looked up from his phone and he narrowed his eyes; he didn’t like someone talking to you like that. 

“can you give us your thoughts since you’ve just been sitting there with a stupid look on your face.” 

he isn’t able to see the small smirk on your face at the professor’s words, instead throwing his phone aside and poking your arm gently. 

“who the fuck is he talking to like that?” 

your eyes widen as you immediately mute your sound, pushing seonghwa back and shaking your head at him. “seonghwa, are you crazy!?” your laptop is turned away so your classmates and professor don’t see you and your boyfriend talking back and forth, the crazy overprotective man next to you saying he doesn’t care who it is, no one’s allowed to say shit like that to you. 

“he doesn’t mean it in a bad way, he’s just like that!” but when seonghwa shakes his head and deems that’s completely unnecessary, you take your laptop and stomp off toward the bedroom. you ignore the call of seonghwa’s voice before you close the door, warning him through gritted your teeth he better not follow you. 

when you turn your camera back on, your cheeks are warm and embarrassment floods through you at the smirk on your teacher’s lips and the curious looks of your classmates. 

“your boyfriend’s not gonna beat me up, is he?”

❥ jeong yunho

you were listening to the professor’s lecture with your feet in yunho’s lap, the boy quietly doing his own studies as he listened to music through his headphones. 

the video session was scheduled for an hour and a half, looking at the time in the corner to reveal only forty minutes have passed. you let out a sigh, resting your head on your hand as you do everything in power to pay attention to the professor’s monotone voice. 

yunho looks up and sees the bored expression on your face, pausing his music but remaining nonchalant as he moves his gaze back to his textbook. but just as he hears you start to yawn, he moves his long finger to your foot and scratches up the bottom of your sock-covered skin.

and thank god your mic is muted because you jump and yelp at the ticklish feeling and your laptop falls over into the couch cushion, your squeaky “yunho!” followed by his deep chuckle making you smack him playfully as you adjust yourself again. 

you notice a few of your classmates smirking and hope it has nothing to do with your little mishap, squinting at yunho as he continues to laugh at you. when the teacher announces it’s time for a class discussion, you go to move your feet but he grabs your ankle, a pout on his face as he promises not to do it again. 

but you missed the way his pointer and middle finger were crossed behind his thigh, the mischievous boy waiting until you started talking to scratch his nail under the bottom of your foot. 

“and i think that’s something really import-ANT…in this lesson,” you say, the way you jump making him snort. you kick him in the side before sitting up, apologizing to your professor before you attempt to continue your intellectual discussion. 

❥ kang yeosang

you thought it was lucky that your class time matched up with yeosang’s practice time, a quiet peaceful hour and a half for you to sip your coffee and really pay attention to the lecture. 

but since you were in your room, you didn’t hear the front door or the sound of shoes hitting the floor. you only became aware of your boyfriend at the same time as your whole class, your bedroom door pushing open and yeosang jumping to belly flop onto the bed directly behind you. 

“hi, baby! shit, i am so sweaty, i can’t believe-“

“uh, yeosang-“ you try to say but the boy only takes a heavy breath and continues to talk, going on about how difficult the new choreography is and how if he doesn’t start working out hard, it’s gonna be the death of him. and you love that he’s telling you all of this, you really do, but you’re also not ignorant of the fact that your entire call has turned silent in amusement and fascination at yeosang’s cute rambling. 

“why are you sitting over there, can’t you just lay with me so i can-“

“yeosang, please stop talking,” you beg him quietly, the panic in your voice causing him to look up; your cheeks are burning and you look about ready to burst out into awkward laughter, the boy’s face dropping when he sees about 25 boxes of random faces staring at him. 

“oh-oh my god! oh my, god! i’m so sorry, i’m just gonna- why wouldn’t you tell me!” he frantically runs out of the room, your own hand covering your face because it’s not even like he gave you a chance. 

“i’m sorry,” you say to your class, your pink cheeks causing your professor to smile and shake her head, carrying on with the lesson like you and your boyfriend aren’t gonna hide under the covers in embarrassment for the rest of the day over this. 

❥ choi san

your teacher didn’t require sound during lectures but she liked to make sure everyone was up and awake for the eight a.m class, always asking you guys to leave your cameras on so she can see you’re “attentive and alert.”

and usually you didn’t mind but today san was fast asleep so you had your headphones in, your camera turned away from your bed and facing the bright window as you tried your hardest not to nod off right then and there. 

you didn’t think you woke san when you snuck out from under his arm but you found that you were sadly mistaken, just twenty minutes into the lecture his whiny morning voice starting. 

“baby….come back to bed,” he mumbled into the pillow, a smirk on your lips as you look over at him. his one eye peeks open and he sees you sitting at the desk in front of your laptop, wearing his shirt and a pair of shorts with knee high socks that makes him all too desperate and needy to have you back in bed with him. 

you watch his eyes rake over you and a pout make its way on his face, holding his arm out as he whines out your name. “soon, san, i’m almost done,” you tell him, even though it’s a lie and you hope he’ll fall back asleep within the next few minutes

but he waits for all about five before he gets up, concentrating on writing notes down with the professor’s voice in your ear that you miss the way he shuffles toward you. it’s not until he wraps his arms around you from behind and buries his face in your neck that you realize he’s here, your eyes shooting to the camera and cheeks flushing before raising it to the ceiling. 

“san! my whole class just saw that!” you squeal, the way he pulls your neck back to kiss your lips proving he’s completely unbothered by the fact; he just wants you back in the warm bed, who cares about school?

❥ song mingi

“guys, you have to be quiet!” your roommate tells the boys, “y/n’s on a video chat with her class and-”

mingi, in a burst of excitement to finally see you after being apart for a week, ignores the girl’s words and bursts right into your room. his deep, happy yelp of your name and excited waves causes you to snap your head back and smile immediately at him; your heart softens at the way he’s bouncing like a giant child. 

you return a small wave before nodding toward the door, holding up your two palms and wiggling your fingers to indicate ten more minutes. but the boy just doesn’t get it, making his way over to you before he stops and sees a whole laptop of people staring at him. 

he looks at you in surprise, like he wasn’t already warned that you were doing this, before jumping to the side and waiting politely in your bean bag chair. 

you turn back around and have to fight the smiling desperate to make it’s way on your pink cheeks, ignoring the way your friend in the class starts private messaging you asking who the cute boy behind you was. 

❥ jung wooyoung

“why’s your camera off, y/n?”

your eyes narrow at the obnoxiously familiar voice coming through your laptop speakers, shaking your head as you do your best not to curse him out. 

given that your real class time is over two hours, your professor allows for a fifteen minute break where usually everyone either turns off their cameras to eat or has one big chaotic chat, usually led by no other than 

“wooyoung, shut up,” you snap when you can’t take it anymore, his nonstop questioning and high pitched giggle piercing right through your eyes. 

“why don’t you say it to my face?” he counters and you can just hear the smirk in his voice. you leave your computer and stomp out of your bedroom and down the hall, kicking open the door to see the boy himself sitting in front of his laptop with a shit eating grin on his face. 

“we are never taking another class together again!”

❥ choi jongho

“any last minute questions?”

“oh, um yes!” you reluctantly speak up, hating to ask in the first place and especially now over this new type of video chat set up. “about the project,  should we be using apa format or-”

“goodbye, baby, goodbye!” 

your mouth drops open and heat immediately creeps on your face, jongho walking past you with headphones in as he sings and dances like there’s no one around. but there’s about thirty of you around, his singing piercing through the speakers of every single one of your classmates as they watch him shimmy and shake across the room.

he continues his singing until he closes the door to the bathroom and you don’t even think he noticed you sitting in your desk at the corner, an awkward laugh threatening to bubble out of your mouth as you try to regain your composure. 

“i’m so sorry,” you blurt out, cheeks pink as you shake your head and try to ignore the giggles coming from your classmate when, even from the bathroom, they can hear jongho singing his heart out.

[storiesforallfandoms]

tutor ~ draco malfoy;harry potter

word count: 1704

request?: no

description: draco learns something about his "know it all” ravenclaw tutor that breaks his heart, and makes him extremely angry

pairing: draco malfoy x female!reader

warnings: bullying mainly

masterlist

You tapped your pencil against your book, looking over your shoulder yet again. Draco was late. Not like you really had anywhere to go besides back to your room, but you wished he would let you know if he was going to be late. It’s not like he couldn’t send you a magic message or anything, he knew where you were.

You had already finished the assignment you were supposed to be helping Draco with. You hoped he didn’t ask you just to let him copy what you had done, although he had never done that in the past so you couldn’t see him doing it now.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he rushed into the library. “I didn’t realize what time it was or that I was so late. I was with Crabbe and Goyle and - ”

“You couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to get you out of there?”

Draco made a face as he sat across from you. “Why would I have to make an excuse? I don’t care if they know I’m here.”

You turned back to your book, ignoring the question. You were sure Draco knew the real reason you figured he had lied to leave his friends, but you didn’t want to say it.

Draco raised an eyebrow at you. “(Y/N)? Why would I have to give my friends an excuse as to why I was meeting with you for tutoring? Do you think I’m ashamed? I’m not. I’m struggling with some courses and you’re the smartest girl in our grade, of course I’d turn to you - ”

“Just drop it, Draco,” you tell him, waving his comments away. “Look, I already have my paper finished, you better start yours so I can help you.”

You knew he wasn’t going to drop it completely, but he moved on to the paper when you mentioned it.

It went like your usual study sessions did: you sat in silence for a while as Draco started his homework. He broke the silence first to ask questions, you helped him the best you could without basically writing the paper for him, and before you knew it you were talking like friends.

In a sense, you were friends with Draco. You had been assigned to tutor him and at first he wasn’t very happy about it; he found it embarrassing to have to be tutored. But after your first few sessions you both started talking and getting to know each other and started getting on like friends. You met up on Hogsmeade trips sometimes, or went to Quidditch games together. Sometimes Draco would somehow slip a letter into your room for you to read, because he knew how much you loved reading and writing letters.

He had met your group of friends, who weren’t fond of him at first but grew to like him. You hadn’t properly met his friends yet, but that’s because you hadn’t asked, as he had asked to meet yours. You weren’t itching to really meet his friends.

Draco was nearing the end of his essay when a familiar high pitched voice called, “Draco!”

You cringed immediately, refusing to turn around as Draco looked over your shoulder. “Pansy, I told you I had homework to do.”

The familiar Slytherin approached Draco, just about sitting on his lap until he moved his parchment so that it covered his lap.

“I know, but that was nearly hours ago, I was wondering when you’d be back.” She turned her attention on you and you tried your best not to look up at her. “What are you doing with her?”

Draco looked up at Pansy, confused. “She’s my tutor, I meet with her for help with homework.”

Pansy’s screeching laugh made you cringe. “You meet with her?! How many galleons did you pay to be paired with him, (Y/L/N)?”

You looked down at your book, although you were no longer paying attention to the words on it. Draco was now looking between you and Pansy, slight irritation on his face.

“Pansy, she was assigned to me because she’s a smart student, there was no bribery involved.”

“I’m just asking a question, it can’t be a coincidence that the biggest loser in our year is assigned to someone as popular as you, Draco. She’s probably trying to mooch off of your popularity.” Your hands were curling into fists as she laughed. “Then again, you’re probably right. Her lack of a life makes her a know it all goodie two shoes, which makes sense as to why she’s the smartest in the year.”

“Pansy, go away!” Draco hissed. “I’ll be back when I’m finished writing my paper, now go!”

Pansy muttered a few more insults to you as she walked past before leaving the library. Your vision was blurring with tears and once you knew she was gone you began packing up your things to go back to your room.

Draco reached out and grabbed your arm, stopping you. “Is this why you asked if I made an excuse to get away? Do they bully you often like that?”

“Let it go,” you tell him as you pull your arm away.

“No, I won’t just let it go,” he said. “Why did you not mention the way Pansy treated you before?”

“Why would I?” you asked him. “So you could talk to her about it? That would only result in her picking on me more. It doesn’t need to be brought up, it’s irrelevant. Just leave it alone, okay?”

“It’s obviously not irrelevant, (Y/N). What she says obviously upset you, if there is anything I could do to stop her I’d want to do it. Her treating you like that isn’t right.”

“But the things you say to Hermione are?” you snap. “Making fun of her for being smart, for being Muggleborn, for just existing, those things are okay? You’re such a hypocrite, Draco.”

You finally pulled away from the conversation, marching back to your room as fast as possible, trying to blink back the tears as you went along.

~~~~~~

You and Draco hadn't spoken in days. You hadn't planned any other study sessions, he didn’t come and talk to you in the Great Hall or in class. You’d see him walk past you with Crabbe and Goyle in the hallways and you knew then that their friendships with them won over yours.

You were sat at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall one night for dinner before bed. You were picking at your food, not really hungry, a common occurrence lately. Your friends were trying to coax you to eat, but it was no use. Ever since you and Draco had stopped hanging out it was like Pansy had been bullying you more. Probably proud that she had gotten Draco over you.

Suddenly, the room went silent. You looked up to see everyone looking towards the doors. When you looked over, you saw Draco standing there with flowers. No one in the Great Hall was more shocked than you when he walked past the Slytherin table and walked directly towards you. The closer he got the more you started to recognize the flowers he was holding; daisies. Your favourite flowers. You had told him that back when you had first met.

He came to stand in front of you. You turned in your seat to look at him, shocked. “What are you doing?”

“I'm so sorry for not noticing what was right in front of me,” he told you. “I should have known that the people I considered my friends were bullying you. It wasn’t right for me to do it to anyone and it certainly is not right for them to treat you that way.”

You looked over to the Slytherin table to see Crabbe and Goyle watching in shock and Pansy looking so angry you were sure smoke was going to come out of her ears. Your face burned as you realized that everyone, teachers included, were watching the scene. You stood and took hold of Draco’s arm, dragging him out of the Great Hall so you could be alone.

“I can’t believe you did that,” you told him, crossing your arms.

“You didn’t like it?” he asked. He looked genuinely shocked that you hadn’t.

“Not really,” you shrugged. “I mean, I love the flowers, and I can’t believe you remembered daisies were my favourite.”

“Of course I remembered, I thought it was fitting because they represent innocence, and they’re beautiful, like you.”

You look away at this so Draco doesn’t see you blush more. “I just don’t like being the center of attention like that.”

“I guess asking you out on a date is out of question then, since I’m usually the center of attention.”

You looked up at him suddenly. “Wait, what? You want to ask me out on a date? This is a joke, isn’t it? Pansy put you up to this to embarrass me. Low, Draco, real low.”

You turn to walk away but Draco grabbed your arm, like he did the last time you had properly spoken.

“I’m being serious, (Y/N),” he told you. “I’ve wanted to ask you for some time, but after what happened in the library with Pansy I knew I had blown my chances. I was thinking all week on what I was going to do to try and make it up to you, and the first thing I thought of was to make sure you knew that I’m putting how I used to be behind me. I won’t pick on anyone ever again, I promise. And I won’t let Pansy or Crabbe or Goyle pick on you either.”

His hand slid from your arm to your hand, taking hold of it and squeezing it ever so slightly. “I mean it, I do want to be with you. So...would you like to go on an actual date sometime?”

You looked up into his eyes. He was being sincere, you could tell. He really wanted to go out with you. He really liked you more than just friends.

A small smile came across your face as you told him, “Okay, yeah. I’d like that a lot.”

Ugh I don’t like this imagine as much as I thought I would, but it’s been in my drafts for so long I wanted to finish it and finally post it.

[darling-drag-brainrot]

Oh golly gee, did I finish my first proper fanfic? Yes!!! Maybe you should read it 😳😳😳

It’s Lemonyanka/Lemyanka of course because I will look for any excuse to think about and talk about both Lemon and Priyanka because I adore them 💖

Also I’ll just post the whole thing here on Tumblr as well <3

“You know my name?” The girl at the counter said, expression awestruck, all wide eyes and raised brows, “How? Are you a mind reader or something? A psychic? Oh my god- you’re like Miss Cleo! Here tell me- what’s my favourite color? Oh wait no- what was the name of my first dog? Wait no- nevermind- how about- when am I gonna die?”

“Uhhh I don’t think I can answer any of those questions. But you seem healthy… so I’d say you’re not gonna die for another like fifty years. I’m not a psychic or anything though so don’t take my word on that. Your name is literally just written on your shirt.” Lemon said, motioning to the nametag with Priyanka scrawled messily on it that the other girl wore on her cream colored apron, “Nice name though. I’m Lemon. Now about that latte...”

Priyanka seemed to ignore Lemon’s comment on the latte, snickering to herself before she asked, “Lemon? Like the fruit? Are you sour too Lemon? You seem sour today. What’s the matter Lemon? Need some sugar to make you into lemonade?” Priyanka winked flirtatiously before continuing with, “Cause I can give you some sugar if you want. Wink wink.”

“Oh my god can you please just hand me my drink now?” Lemon demanded, pressing a hand to her temple in exasperation, “I can’t keep playing twenty questions with you, I actually have places to be.”

Lemon should have simply kept her mouth shut, because Priyanka seemed even more excited now, bombarding Lemon with way too many questions, “Oh? Where do you have to be? You busy? Why? Where? For how long? What’s keeping my Lemondra occupied today?”

“I have dance class.” Lemon said with a sigh, realizing that she probably wasn’t going to get her drink until she dealt with the other woman’s interrogation, “And I didn’t sleep much last night so I need a coffee to wake me up.”

“Oh you didn’t sleep?” Priyanka began to wiggle her eyebrows, “You a busy bitch? Spent time with your boyfriend all night or something?”

Lemon scrunched up her nose at the concept, “Ewww no.”

“Ah, so you were spending your evening with a lovely lady then? I get that, you have fun?”

“What? No- I’m single. I was up all night doing an essay for one of my classes.”

“Single?”

Priyanka leaned closer at this, practically climbing over the counter between them. She really wasn’t subtle at all, was she?

“Yeah, single. Now if you’d actually listen to me, I’d love a single cup of coffee.”

“Maybe. Eventually… But Lemondra, when you say you’re single are you like- looking for a man or more like- a fun super cool barista chick to spend time with?”

Lemon didn’t respond, rolling her eyes before she lifted her wrist to display a small bracelet in the colors of the lesbian flag.

“Oh? So darling Lemon does like women? I guessed correctly after all! Maybe I’m the mind reader then!” She covered her mouth, “Maybe I’m Miss Cleo! But you like women? I’m women! Do you like meeeee?”

Dear lord, Lemon just wanted her coffee.

“Yeah, sure, I like you. Can I have my coffee now? And a slice of cake as well?”

Priyanka opened her mouth to say something and Lemon quickly pressed a finger to her lips.

“I don’t need to hear it. Cake please?”

Priyanka nodded, rolling her eyes as she silently went and grabbed a piece of cake, putting it in a to-go container before handing it to Lemon.

“So,” She said, a dumb smirk crawling onto her face, “You like cake huh? I could go for some lemon cake myself actually.” Then she finger gunned in Lemon’s direction.

Why had God forsaken her? All Lemon wanted was some coffee and a snack, not whatever the hell this was...

“Hahaha funny funny joke Priyanka, please, I am begging for my coffee at this point.”

Priyanka finally seemed to relent, sighing dramatically before she asked, “What did you want again?”

“Latte please, two shots of espresso.”

“Got it.” And then Priyanka turned around and got started, and in less than a minute Lemon was standing there with a steaming cup of coffee being pressed into her hands.

“That’s it?” She said, voice a little too loud for so early in the morning, “All your interrogating for a coffee that took you less than a minute to make?”

“Yep.” Priyanka said, eyes bright and mischievous, “That’ll be five dollars please.”

Lemon handed Priyanka a ten dollar bill, grabbing her slice of cake as well before she made her way to the door, calling behind her, “Keep the change.”

As she entered her dance studio minutes later, coffee nearly finished, she moved to sit down and wait for her teacher to arrive. Now a little more awake, she was able to process the events of the morning with a bit more clarity. And as she looked at her cup, she noticed a string of numbers in surprisingly neat handwriting near the bottom alongside the message: Come again doll~

When had Priyanka done that?

Lemon decided not to think about the logistics of it all- instead opting to finish her cake as she sat- before she pulled out her phone and put the number into her contacts. She’d text Priyanka later she supposed. The girl had been beyond annoying, but in a surprisingly cute, endearing way. And Lemon was never one to turn down phone numbers from beautiful girls anyway.

After class Lemon made her way back towards her dorm, deciding on a whim, to stop by the cafe. She could use a snack, and maybe- just maybe- she wanted to see Priyanka again.

“Lemondra! You came back to see me!” Priyanka squealed the second she spotted Lemon, apparently choosing to ignore the fact that it was two in the afternoon and there were several people in line who needed their drinks.

As Lemon waited for her turn she noticed how efficient and quick Priyanka was. She could get someone’s order, make it, and have them out the door in what seemed like seconds- though was honestly closer to a minute or two each. It was impressive.

Though of course Priyanka seemed to quickly forget her own barista version of superspeed, as the second Lemon came up to the register she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, clearly in no rush to take Lemon’s order.

“You look ravishing Lemondra, here for more coffee? Or more cake? I mean, I have plenty of cake to serve you- if you catch my drift.”

“Drift caught.” Lemon deadpanned, before breaking into a small smile, “But I’ll just have a poppy seed muffin. I mainly came by to chat.”

“Awww so you saw my message? You liked it? You wanted you some more Priyanka?”

“Admittedly yes, though I was curious what your backup plan was supposed to be if I just ignored your message. Or what if I hadn’t even noticed it?”

Priyanka shrugged, “Didn’t have a backup plan. I knew it would work, everyone wants a piece of this cake.” she laughed, pointing towards the display case of cakes, “Both what I got, and what we sell.”

“I see.” Lemon said, rolling her eyes in mock exasperation, “Well I guess you weren’t wrong. Your cake is exceedingly nice… and what you sell ain’t half bad either.”

Priyanka let out a loud cackle, bending over at the waist to pound her fist into the countertop, “Yes! Fuck yes! You’re my kinda girl Lemondra, I fucking love you.”

Lemon raised an eyebrow, smirking as she said, “Aren’t you supposed to say that a little later down the line? Come on bitch, we haven’t even had our first date yet.”

“Oh god! You’re right,” Priyanka said with an over dramatic gasp, “Here- we can go on a date the second my shift is up, then I can confess my undying immortal love to you. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.” Lemon said, “When’s your shift done?”

Priyanka didn’t answer immediately, turning to grab a poppy seed muffin from beside her before she was handing it to Lemon with a wink.

“Gimme two dollars and fifty cents, then I can clock out. I’ve served my time in this coffee scented hellhole, time to blow your mind by taking you on the best date in the whole goddamn world.”

Lemon handed Priyanka another five dollar bill, “Well then keep the change and let’s go bitch, I wanna get this date started! I’m ready to have my mind absolutely blown.”

“Oh trust me,” Priyanka said with a cocky grin, taking off her apron and name tag before she was hopping over the counter, “You’ll never be able to look at dates the same after this. It’ll be life changing bitch.”

Lemon couldn’t help but laugh, “Sure, I can’t wait then- I’m assuming you’ll be leading the way?”

“Of course babe, trust me.” Priyanka suddenly turned around to face the counter, yelling with far too much enthusiasm, “Ilona get out here and do your fucking job, I’m clocking out!” She didn’t wait for a response, moving towards the exit before bowing low in front of Lemon, “Now, after you m’lady… or should I say… m’lemon?”

Lemon swatted at Priyanka playfully, taking her hand before she pushed the door open, “Don’t you ever say that again you bitch.”

Priyanka giggled, “What- m’lemon doesn’t like the pet name? I don’t see the problem.”

Lemon was about to respond, ready to explain to Priyanka why m’lemon as a nickname was absolutely awful- but before she could she was cut off by a sarcastic, “Thanks for the heads up Priyanka, I love the last minute notice- ya know I’m not being paid to step in and handle the place myself whenever you wanna go on dates or whatever?”

Lemon blushed as she turned to see another woman behind the counter, an annoyed look on her face as she stared Priyanka down.

“You aren’t being paid to sit in the backroom on your phone either Ilona, but you don’t hear me complaining about it.” Priyanka said, more smugly playful than accusatory, “And we were just leaving. I’m taking m’lovely m’lemon out on a date. Don’t wait up.”

“It’s just Lemon.” Lemon supplied, though neither woman seemed to listen to her.

“Well take your m’lemon out the door and go make out or whatever somewhere else- somewhere far, far away from here.”

Lemon quickly grabbed Priyanka’s hand, pulling her through the door and to the street, calling out an apologetic, “We’re leaving, don’t worry!” over her shoulder.

Priyanka stayed silent for a moment, deliberating it seemed before she began to lead them down the street- a comfortable silence between them as they walked. It was nice… especially with Priyanka seemingly lost in her own thoughts… not speaking at all. Lovely.

“Wow,” Priyanka finally said, voice full of shock, which made Lemon look up at her curiously, “I can’t believe this.”

Priyanka lifted up their intertwined hands, shaking her head solemnly before she said, “Already holding hands with me. Jesus Christ Lemondra, what kind of hussy do you think I am? At least put on some protection before we do this next time- I don’t wanna get your cooties.”

Lemon snorted out a laugh, goddamn Priyanka and her ability to make anything funny, “You’d love to get my cooties.”

“Mmmm maybe I would Lemondra,” she said, stopping in her tracks to bring the back of Lemon’s hand up to her lips, kissing her skin softly.

It was kind of romantic if you asked Lemon, and she felt her heart melt a bit in her chest at the gesture, though the moment was quickly disrupted by Priyanka saying, “Hmmm… not as sour as I was expecting.”

This caused Lemon to raise an eyebrow, “Why would my skin be sour-?” Then it hit her. Another stupid joke about her name.

“Alright fuck you,” Lemon said as Priyanka broke out into cackling hyena laughter, “I swear to god if you make anymore jokes about me being named Lemon I will actually end you.”

Priyanka nodded, making a very serious, solemn face as she crossed her heart, “No more lemon jokes. Understood.”

“Thank you.” Lemon murmured, pressing a kiss to Priyanka’s cheek, “If you actually manage to keep your mouth shut maybe I’ll…” She tapped a finger against her chin in mock thought before she smirked, saying in a saccharine sweet faux innocent tone, “Maybe I’ll give you a treat after our date.”

Priyanka nodded even more enthusiastically than she had before, a bit red in the face, clearly picking up on Lemon’s thinly veiled innuendo.

Then, once more, she had to open her mouth, “Will the treat be lemon cake?”

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 1.2}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student (however no underage romance), blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 5.2k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

______________________________

Despite all her efforts to mentally prepare for this, Robin didn't feel the least bit ready to find her essay resting on her desk the next time she stepped into the potions classroom. Chewing nervous on her bottom lip, she placed her leather bag down next to the table in the second row and took a seat reluctantly, almost as if expecting the parchment to jump at her any second now.

Frowning, Robin gave the rolled up thing a lingering look, while the seat next to her was abruptly taken in a haste that seemed rather uncanny for a slow Friday morning. A quick glance out of the corners of her eyes told Robin that her bench neighbor had arrived in the same awkwardly insecure manner as she had the weeks before. For a short moment, Robin wondered if the chubby girl whose name Robin admittedly hadn't managed to make herself ask for yet, was feeling this scared because she had to sit next to someone like her. Robin's frown deepened upon that thought, before she turned her eyes back to the parchment on her desk at last.

Just as she was about to finally give it a look and inspect the damage it had done to her grade, the door flew open with a start and a black river of fabric rushed past her through the aisle between the desks. Robin's heart skipped a beat in surprise, and she cursed herself under her breath for STILL being started by Professor Snape's mode of entrance. He made an entrance like that every week, and every week Robin found herself startled by it yet again. She briefly wondered if he did it on purpose, to mess with the students. To get their attention, perhaps.

"Open your textbooks on page fifty seven." Came the monotonously determined command from the front, interrupting Robin's internal monologue, while every audible chatter around the room had long died out. This was the only class that ever happened in… the students falling silent and paying attention the very moment the professor entered the room. Robin couldn't say that she minded much, she had always rather dreaded the minutes wasted with the teacher trying to get everyone's attention.

With a quiet sigh, Robin took out her textbook, notebooks and the quill Marleen had charmed for her to never run out of ink, and instead placed the bloody essay into her bag, leaving it uninspected for now. She would have to wait until after class to look at her grade, since focusing on anything but potions class in potions class was nigh impossible.

Next to her, the Hufflepuff girl let out a tiny noise of despair, and Robin glanced her way while opening her book on the requested page. For a moment, she silently watched how the girl vainly roamed through her bag with trembling hands, only to sit back up empty handed and with a flustered face.

"We can share my book." Robin heard herself say before she could stop herself. Darn, she really didn't need any more problems, nor to be made fun of… again. But she also couldn't keep her mouth shut. Ever.

The girl's eyebrows shot up in surprise, before she gave Robin a timid but overwhelmingly thankful smile. "That- uh, that's very kind of you." She whispered back, and Robin pushed the book to the middle of the desk silently before turning her head back to her professor at the front.

He was watching them intently, with one eyebrow risen, but with no comment. Robin had to force herself to hold his gaze instead of looking away like her bench neighbor did, and for but a second, Snape's eyebrow lifted just a little bit higher in an expression Robin couldn't put a name to. Then he turned back towards the entire class.

"Today we will be brewing a simple antidote to common poisons. If you did your assigned reading before class, I shouldn't have to say any more." Professor Snape spoke sternly while he sat down behind his desk, letting a piercing glance wander around the room. Seeing as none of the students made a move to react in any way, he added with a scowl, "Instructions are on page fifty seven. Collect your ingredients at the front." With that he averted his eyes from the students and instead focused on the stack of parchment on his desk.So much for the insightful lecture Robin had hoped for.

While most students started shuffling and talking quietly in small groups then, Robin's eyes remained fixed on Professor Snape for a moment of irritation, a deep frown on her face. Usually, Snape would at least give a scolding comment about the previous week's assignment at the beginning of class, saying how yet again they had failed to bring forth even one single 'outstanding', or he'd even make remarks about the sheer inability of his students to be any more than just complete dunderheads. Today however, he seemed quite unwilling to do either. Robin wondered if it had anything to do with last week's essays that he was even more dismissive than usual. Or maybe he was simply having a bad day? Professors surely had bad days as well, everyone did...

"Now, Miss Mitchell." Snape's sternly taunting words were uttered without him even looking up from whatever he was reading, and Robin's eyes snapped away in an instant, followed by the burning embarrassment of getting caught while staring. Even if unintentionally, she HAD, in fact, stared at him for quite some time while so deep in thought. Darn, first the probably failed essay and now this…

To cover up for her lack of confidence, she quickly rose to her feet and set out to collect her ingredients like she had been told to, while trying to shake off any thoughts about her professor. Whatever was up with him today, it wasn't for her to dwell on. She did wonder however if anyone else had noticed this minor change in his demeanor at all, the slightly deeper frown on his face or the even more cutting edge to his tone… But she honestly had no intention to find out. He had a bad day, so what? She did, too.

Thus she focused on the things she knew, and that was following the instructions in the textbook. Obviously she had done her assigned reading beforehand –potions was currently the only subject she actually did her readings for– and thus she was quite certain that she would get this antidote right. With an almost unshakable determination to do her best, she started with step one.

… … …

It was only half an hour later –Robin was currently cutting up dittany into perfect little pieces– that her focus was broken by one of her fellow Slytherin students.

"How's the potion coming along, jay?" Alexander Downing, a particularly dense individual and proud pure blood, sneered at Robin. Oh how much he must love to call her 'jay' at every possible and impossible opportunity… in fact, he had done it so often that some other not-quite favourable Slytherins had started adopting the same moniker for Robin as well. "Doesn't look right, don't you think?... Your 'potion'?" He drawled the word out in an overly mocking tone as he leaned over his third row table to gawk into Robin's cauldron with a disgusted look on his face. "Can't expect much more than failure from a filthy mudblood anyway."

As he leaned back into his own space with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, getting a few appraising laughs from his friends, Robin had to forcefully bite down the white hot rage that poisoned her blood and made it difficult to breathe. She shot Alexander an angry glare and turned back towards her cauldron without a word, but she wasn't done with him by far. No, he had called her jay often enough to forge himself an enemy, but calling her a mudblood was what had sealed his fate just now. Robin would have her revenge… and it surely would send a signal to his friends just the same.

"You're muggle born?" The quiet voice of the Hufflepuff girl next to her suddenly brought Robin's mind back to the classroom.

Her surprise at getting caught while living in her head once more took her ability to react for a moment, but the Hufflepuff didn't seem to mind and simply kept staring at Robin both in surprise and wonder. And since Robin saw no judgement in the girl's eyes whatsoever, only heard the quiet snorting coming from the row of boys behind her, she decided that she would try to make a friend one more time before finally giving up on her classmates once and for all.

"Yeah…" She finally sighed, in resignation almost at her own decision. "Nothing is short of ordinary in my family. The muggle kind of ordinary, I mean."

For but a short moment, the Hufflepuff's eyes lit up in pleasant surprise, then she blushed a deep crimson. "I… I didn't think there were any muggle borns in Slytherin at all."

"There won't be when I'm done with jay!" Alexander roared out rather loudly from behind the girls, laughing along with his friends at his own comment, and he thereby earned himself a dangerous glare from Professor Snape.

Robin for her part merely rolled her eyes at the stupid idiots behind her and ignored them like she usually tried to. Instead she focused back on the Hufflepuff girl by her side. "I wouldn't know if there was another one besides me. But since I'm most definitely in Slytherin and also definitely muggle born, you could say that you thought wrong." That, Robin realized, came out a bit more defensively than she would've liked, but she also couldn't bring herself to take it back. The girl bit her bottom lip and quickly looked back towards her slimy, brown potion that truly looked nothing like it was supposed to. Robin almost felt sorry for her own harshness, as well as the girl's obvious lack of talent for potion making.

"Why, uh, why does everyone call you jay?" The girl finally asked, and Robin was almost glad to find that she hadn't scared her away with her admittedly hostile attitude. She should make an effort be kinder to her bench neighbor, the girl had as of yet been nothing but nice, after all.

"I think they call me jay because my name is Robin." She shrugged. "Robin Mitchell. I guess the bird analogy is just funny to them for some reason."

"Oh… I'm sorry they keep doing that. It can't be nice to be an outsider in your own house." The girl looked truly remorseful as she spoke, while awkwardly stirring her failed potion in an attempt to somehow save it by stirring alone.

"No, it's not."

"If it helps anything, my parents are muggles as well."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… but in my house that's no big deal really. Some idiots make a fuss about it, but it's truly the minority."

"Sounds nice. I'm starting to think I was simply placed in the wrong house." Robin finally admitted a bit jokingly, even though she neither felt confident in her statement nor in her use of humor. She liked Slytherin… she just didn't like the Slytherins she had met as of yet.

"Couldn't agree more!" Alexander added in from behind them.

"Shut up, idiot!" The Hufflepuff snapped at him immediately, and Robin's eyebrows rose in surprise. She surely hadn't seen that coming, especially not after what was being said about Hufflepuffs and their inherently harmonious nature. Another reason to stop listening to the gossip and prejudice between houses, if the rumors about Professor Snape weren't enough indication of that.

"Don't speak to me like that, you worthless daft cow!" Alexander shot right back, and Robin watched how the girl's face fell in immediate shame inflicted by the crude insult. Obviously she wasn't the only one who had fallen victim to his bullying.

"What's your name? I'm sorry I never got around to asking before…" Robin questioned her then, both to actively ignore Alexander and to distract the girl from his vile words.

"Ah, well, I didn't know your name either, so I cannot really blame you for that." She gave Robin a small and crooked smile. "I'm Theresa."

For once, Robin smiled at the girl in return. Theresa… she surely was nice enough for a stranger, and fierce enough for a first year. Robin could actually see herself being friends with her. Maybe, if they got to know each other better from here on. "Nice to finally meet you, Theresa. After sitting next to you for five weeks now."

Upon Robin's words Theresa chuckled in amusement at last, and Robin had to smirk as well, in relief that Alexander's words hadn't caused a lasting damage to her potential friend. A moment passed, and both girls finally focused back on their brewing in comfortable silence. Enough chatter for now… Robin still had a potion to make and a revenge to conduct.

… … …

After the dittany was slowly stirred into the steaming liquid, she continued to hand-pick the valerian sprigs and all the while she debated about how to put Alexander back into his place with the least effort and the most effect. Most things that came to her mind were so incredibly dim witted that they could very well come right from Alexander himself, and Robin dismissed those ideas in the sheer refusal to sink quite as low as him. Only once she added the final ingredient, a chopped bezoar, to her cauldron way ahead of time and even further ahead of everyone else, Robin found herself graced with the sudden memory of something she had read about in Jessica's fourth year potions textbook a few days ago. It surely was nothing short of risky, but both brilliant and stupid enough that she absolutely had to try now that the idea had struck her. Besides, she was good at this, at potions. She knew what she was doing! Nobody bullied Robin without receiving a serious payback. And nobody bullied the people she even remotely cared about without a full blown revenge.

Thus, as soon as she had added the bezoar, she decided that her potion was about as done as it could be. Her ingenious plan however was just beginning. Taking out a piece of parchment, she wrote 'Please play along and it'll be worth it. I'm gonna say something now, and you'll tell me it was part of the assigned reading. I want Alexander to hear it.' and passed the note to Theresa next to her. The girl frowned at Robin for just a moment, making her think that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to include her in the plan after all, but then she subtly nodded with a small smile, and all of Robin's precautions vanished into thin air. Alexander Downing would get what he deserved at last, after being the main cause for five weeks of Robin's continued suffering. Enough was enough.

"Oh no, I believe I've made a mistake!" Robin sighed dramatically, quietly enough that only Alexander and his idiot friends would hear. No need to alert any other students of the ongoings between them now. "I totally mixed the ingredients up! But this is just such a difficult subject, how was I supposed to know that we should add aconite instead of a bezoar?!"

"Well, it was mentioned in the reading we had to do for today that bezoars are almost as outdated as our textbooks themselves!" Theresa lied so easily that Robin was actually impressed with her. "Maybe you should've read it before coming to class."

"Yeah… I really should have. Now I'll certainly be in a lot of trouble." She was quick to reply, adding just a hint of feigned despair to her tone.

"Serves you right..." Alexander snorted, before grinning triumphantly. "Obviously we have to exchange the bezoar for… the other thing. It's common knowledge among REAL wizards that bezoars are outdated… but how would you know about that, right?" He scoffed arrogantly, and not quite so subtly went to retrieve the aconite instead of the usual bezoar.

Robin turned back to her own cauldron with an exaggerated eye rolling, and only in the safety of her own space allowed herself to grin in utter mischief. She had only guessed that Alexander hadn't done his reading, but it had been a more or less educated guess based upon the information gathered in the previous five weeks, and thank goodness had she been correct. Bezoars being outdated? Only someone who had paid absolutely zero attention to anything Professor Snape had explained would've bought that nonsense. And Alexander luckily was such a someone. A prime example of a dumbass, even. Well, and Robin had a brain, but Alexander's lack thereof was nothing she should take pride in.

While Alexander indeed passed on the news of the supposedly outdated instructions to his friends, Robin smiled reassuringly at a nervous looking Theresa for a moment, and then turned towards her cauldron once more. The antidote really had turned out quite as perfect as she had expected, especially considering that her mind had definitely been elsewhere today. Hopefully Professor Snape would be just as content with her work as she was… maybe he would even forget about her flunked essay and her short moment of stepping out of line in the beginning of class.

Only then it crossed Robin's mind that the little inside joke she had just had with herself in the form of her revenge on Alexander might actually be interpreted as stepping out of line, and most definitely would be in this context! Her heart skipped a beat at the realization, and she could already feel her hands getting clammy. Oh no… no no no. She had made such an effort up to this point to make a good impression on her professor, to do well in this class and get good grades, and now it would all be ruined by her own blind seek for vengeance. Gods, she was an idiot! So much for trying to be mature about her emotional impulses… Obviously she didn't regret doing it either, Alexander really had it coming after all, but she definitely regretted doing it here. Right in front of Professor Snape's eyes. Not a smart move, Robin…

While she anxiously awaited the end of class, when he would make his way through the rows of students to carefully inspect the outcomes of today's brewing session, she couldn't quite keep the worried frown off her face. How did other kids do it? Acting up, getting into trouble, pulling pranks even on their professors? Robin didn't have the slightest idea; this was the first time she had ever done anything so stupid and she already was determined that the momentary satisfaction she'd gotten out of it wasn't worth the anxiety of possibly getting caught. Maybe she just would have to grow a thicker skin against the bullying indeed. It's what her father already had so coldly told her to do in elementary school, when she had come home crying because the other kids had laughed at her for being… well, her.

But that was years ago. In Robin's mind, she was a different person now. No more crying, or rather no more letting others see her cry, and no more blindly trusting other people. All that, she had left behind even before she had stepped onto the train to Hogwarts. Now all she had was herself and her smarts, and she was determined that she wouldn't need anything else to succeed around here.

Her mental pep talk came to a sudden halt when the room around her fell oddly silent at once, leaving only the quiet bubbling of the potions to be heard. Robin looked up from her book that she had been staring at without actually taking the words in, only to see that her professor had gotten up from his desk and was now indeed making his way along the many rows of desks. How he moved absolutely soundlessly was a riddle to her, but she made a mental note to keep that talent of his in mind. Who knows, one day it might save her from being startled by him suddenly appearing behind her back.

For a few minutes, Robin subtly watched (and also eavesdropped) on Professor Snape giving various students his feedback, or rather a good scolding. Not one positive word left the man's lips, and not one student got spared his commentary. Seeing as it was only three more students before he would come peering into her own cauldron now, Robin nervously rearranged her notebooks into a perfect stack, placed her quill in a straight parallel line next to them, and quickly cleared her table of every and any leftover supplies and utensils before giving the desk a final (rather improvised) swipe with the sleeve of her robe. Maybe she should look up a spell for swipe-cleaning one of these days…

Then Professor Snape stepped around to Theresa's side of the desk, and Robin could already hear very little but the beating of her own heart at that point.

"Forgetting our textbook and then having the audacity to mess up now, did we?" He commented in a threatening nonchalance, as his gaze lifted from Theresa's admittedly failed attempt at the antidote to her poor, blushing face.

"I-I really tried to, uh, to get it right…" She stuttered, averting her eyes from her professor's. In the dim light of the torches and candles alone, they almost looked entirely black as they gazed down at Theresa without any visible emotion while he waited for her to speak on. "Maybe I didn't measure the ingredients carefully enough… I think…"

"Obviously you didn't…" He simply voiced, with the same indifferent and slightly condescending expression he always wore.

"Measure correctly?" Theresa inquired insecurely, and Robin bit her bottom lip in nervousness.

"Think." Was his only reply for a moment, but after a moment he gave Theresa a stern look and added, "Maybe less talking and more focus would be advisable next time, Miss Franklin. Consider the measurements a suggestion, not a fixed mark. Reevaluate based upon the reality in front of you."

"Yes, sir…"

Robin's eyes stayed fixed on her professor as he took the two steps to stand right in front of her desk now, looking at the clean tabletop (the only one in the room), then at her with an eyebrow risen in that particular manner yet again, and finally down at the antidote simmering in her cauldron. She held her breath as his brows furrowed for a short moment, then his face went right back into its stoic solemnity. With his head still turned down towards her potion, his eyes shot up to hers for no more than three long seconds, before he straightened up even taller than he had been standing before and walked on to the next student without a single word.

Robin let out a shivery breath in utter confusion. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn't really expected any praise coming from him. He never praised anyone, she'd already discovered that much. But at least a little acknowledgement, was that too much to ask for? Or at least a comment on what to improve? How was she supposed to learn like that?! A quiet huff of frustration pressed past her lips… was this a 'say nothing if you've got nothing nice to say' kind of thing? Hell no… he was brutal in his comments, he surely wouldn't just keep his scolding words to himself now. Then what was it? Had she disappointed him beyond words? Didn't he deem her worthy of feedback? Because she was a-... No. She had to stop thinking in Alexander's terms. And her wish for a change of topic was granted, even if more than likely to her disadvantage rather than her saving.

"Mister Downing… Care to explain?" Professor Snape hissed at Alexander, and all color drained from Robin's face as she slowly turned in her seat to witness the disaster unfold. The impending doom she had brought upon herself as much as upon him.

"But sir, I didn't do anything wrong!" Alexander defended himself, and a few indignant snorts were heard from the back of the room. Snape ignored them.

"You clearly have no idea what situation you find yourself in, Mister Downing. Obviously it has escaped your notice that you were supposed to brew an antidote? Or haven't you learned to read prior to your arrival at Hogwarts?"

"No, sir! I followed all the instructions, and I did the reading on the outdatedness of bezoars, and…"

"Pray tell, do you have an urgent desire for detention or are you truly this dense?"

Now Robin finally couldn't suppress her own snort anymore, and she found herself forgiving Professor Snape for not giving her a proper feedback. Him mocking Alexander right now more than made up for it. Unfortunately, that was when Alexander caught on to her scheming as well, and his face turned beet red.

"SHE!" He yelled out, and Robin's smirk dropped immediately as he almost stabbed a stubby finger into her face. "That filthy mudblood told me that we were to exchange the bezoar for anco… acro…"

"Aconite..." Robin groaned out under her breath, in utter annoyance and with a roll of her eyes, before she could remind herself to keep her stupid mouth shut. Bloody hell… that was as good a confession as she could've given. Well done, stupid.

Professor Snape's menacing eyes were on her in an instant, and Robin winced, then shuddered. Oh no… For a second he stared at her like he wanted to suck her soul out with his eyes alone, but then (to everyone's surprise) he turned back to Alexander.

"As it appears to me, Mister Downing, that despite this tragic joke made at your expense, you have failed to do your assigned reading prior to today's class. Also it would seem like you have made an enormous effort to keep everything I have been explaining to you dunderheads over the course of term from getting into the way of your astonishing ignorance." Professor Snape's voice was neutral, collected, yet sharp and dark as it got… but none of that could cover up the ever present sense of danger radiating off him in palpable waves. "I expect a ten page essay on bezoars and their many uses in potion making on my desk by Monday night." With that, he turned away from Alexander and scolded the next student for their poor attempt at the antidote, leaving Alexander to angrily pout to himself.

Robin for her part couldn't believe that professor Snape still had not wasted a single comment on her, nor that he had simply disregarded Alexander's constant bullying of other students. Didn't that matter at all? Or was it some bullshit pure blood privilege? Her heart was again beating furiously, almost jumping out of her chest at this pace, while her thoughts seemed to spin in circles. All things considered, she should feel lucky. She had stupidly enough admitted to doing what she'd been accused of, but there had been no consequences whatsoever. At least not for her. Alexander however…

"See, not even Snape denies that you're a filthy mudblood…" He muttered from behind her, in unmistakable hatred. "One of these days I'll kill you, jay, and he will even give me bloody house points for it."

"I'd like to see you try." Robin spat back, at last engaging in the pettiness of a vocal argument. But her capacity for taking bullshit surely was used up for today, as was her patience. "You, the great pure blood wizard who doesn't even know a single thing about bloody bezoars! Or about potions for that matter…"

"Oh, and YOU know all about potions, huh?" He sneered. "Don't be so bloody pretentious, you're nothing, and I'll make sure that everyone knows that."

Before Robin could say any more to defend herself or her wounded pride, Professor Snape made his way back to the front of the classroom to make some final announcements before the end of class, robes billowing behind him theatrically as ever. With an annoyed sigh and a rapidly forming headache, Robin noted down her assignments in a notebook that had served her as a commonplace journal ever since the first week, before stowing away her supplies in her bag as soon as the class was dismissed.

However once she rose to her feet to head out, the unmistakable deep voice of her professor cut right through the bristling noise of the other students. "Where do you think you are going, Miss Mitchell?"

"...Sir?"

"My office, now." With this statement that desperately screamed 'punishment', he turned on his heels, and with strides that were so long that Robin wouldn't have been able to keep up even if she'd tried, he disappeared through a door at the very back of the room.

"Serves you right…" Alexander spoke up yet again, with another nasty grin. "I hope he kicks you out. And even if he doesn't, being alone in a room with Snape is definitely worse than writing a stupid ten page essay…"

"Oh shut up, will you? At least come up with some good insults before you open your mouth." Robin growled back with a feigned angry frown, while still she nervously picked at the hem of her sleeves behind her back. A moment later Alexander made his way out of the classroom with his friends, muttering under his breath how much he hoped that Snape would just turn Robin into a heap of vermin, and for some reason she didn't rule that out of the wide range of possibilities for what was to happen to her soon. Once more her nerves got the better of her, and she bit her bottom lip as she frowned at the door in the front of the room. Before today, she hadn't taken notice of anyone being called into her professor's office, and that realization deeply concerned her. Could she truly be expelled for this one stupid practical joke?!

"I'm sure he won't be all too harsh on you…" Theresa finally spoke up in a quiet voice that proved just how uncertain she was about her own statement. "And even if he is, just remember that… that… he's just…"

"Thanks for trying." Robin gave her a forced half smile. "I won't drag you into this, don't worry. As far as anyone knows, you never helped me do this."

"I wasn't concerned about that." She replied sympathetically and shouldered her backpack. "I just wanted to wish you look. I'll see you in transfiguration on Monday, yes?"

"Yeah…" Robin replied quietly, all the while not taking her eyes off the door to his office that he'd left ajar. "Have a-... uh, a nice weekend."

With a small nod Theresa left, and the very last students filed out soon after her, which left Robin standing alone in the middle of the silent classroom. And for the second time she asked herself: what had she done?!

______________________________

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[hurt-care]

Back Home

It’s a Lupin-fic drop around here today. Here’s another old favourite

Set during Prisoner of Azkaban

-

It was three days after his transformation and still Remus Lupin felt terrible. While he was now able to avoid some of the less pleasant parts of the full moon with the Wolfsbane Potion brewed by Snape, his body still had to undergo the transformation that rearranged his bones and organs and left him exhausted and weak. The last thing he wanted was to miss more than his allotted two days of classes recovering, so on the third day he dragged himself out of bed despite a blossoming head cold and forced himself to shower and dress.

He was used to the concerned looks of students and fellow faculty alike after the full moon, but the looks on the faces of his first class told him that he looked worse than usual.

“Are you alright, Professor?” George Weasley asked when Remus had managed to clear his throat and speak loudly enough to settle down his class of fifth years.

“A touch of cold, that's all,” Remus replied and set the class working on counter-curse spells while he wandered up and down between their desks, adjusting wand positions and correcting pronunciations while struggling not to cough on anyone.

By the time his third class of the day filed into his room, he wasn't certain he could be on his feet much longer.

“Professor Lupin?”

“I'm fine, Hermione,” he said, looking up wearily from his spot hunched over his desk. “Just a cold.”

“Err, alright...I'm sorry...I just was going to ask how long you wanted the essay to be?” she said, rocking on her heels as she looked at him with an expression of growing concern.

“Oh...um....sixteen inches I believe I set it at.”

“Is it okay if I have twenty?” she asked, holding out a long piece of parchment as several students holding markedly shorter papers behind her groaned.

“That's fine,” Remus replied, taking the parchment and adding it to the pile of assignments on his desk. He cleared his throat and spoke as loud as he could, hoping the rest of the class could hear. “If the rest of you can turn in your assignments, we'll get started.”

The rest of the class deposited their papers on his desk while Remus tended to his dripping nose with a rather well-loved plaid handkerchief.

“Err...Professor?”

He looked up from behind the shield of soft cloth to see Neville Longbottom gazing shyly at him as he held out a fresh white handkerchief.

“Um...do you want an extra? My gran always packs too many in my trunk. I'm not very good at cleaning spells so she thinks I need about a dozen more than I really do. I mean, the house elves clean them if I need so...um....anyway...”

Remus lowered his own handkerchief and smiled wanly.

“Thank you, Neville,” he said, accepting the starched white square of fabric. “That's very kind of you.”

He tucked the handkerchief into his robe pocket for inevitable future use.

“Alright, everyone,” he said, standing and holding himself steady with a tight grip on the back of his desk chair. “Apologies...my voice is a bit off today so please keep it down so everyone can hear. We're going to start out with recognizing cursed objects. If you could please turn to page....hehh...”

He paused mid-sentence, lowering his red-tinged nose into the sleeve of his robe.

Hurhh-TSGHH!

The sneeze tore out of him with a thick, throaty sound and he coughed twice afterwards to regain his voice. A quiet chorus of blessings came from the students along with a few small snickers from (Remus suspected) Draco and his friends.

“Sorry,” he said with a sniffle. “Page thirty six. Read the chapter and then we'll discuss.”

He sank back down into his desk chair and flipped through his teaching notes while the students read. With his head propped up by a hand, he barely realized he'd started to doze off until a voice piped up from amoung the students.

“Um....Professor? I think we've all finished.”

“Mhm?” Remus muttered, blinking away fatigue. “Oh...right. Sorry. Alright, who can tell me three ways to check if an object is cursed?”

How he managed to keep the class going for another hour he wasn't sure but when he finally dismissed them they filed out into the hallway chattering and laughing. Harry turned in the door long enough to give Remus a small smile before he followed Hermione and Ron out.

Remus rose, joints cracking in protest, and gathering his papers into tattered briefcase. He had forty minutes before his next class and while the idea of popping up to his quarters for a quick kip was tempting he knew if he went back to bed he'd only find it harder to go return to work. Instead he headed for the Staff lounge with his case in hand.

He was nearly there when he ran into the school matron, Poppy Pomfrey. She'd been a new staff member when he'd started at Hogwarts as a boy and had been instrumental in making the arrangements to accommodate a werewolf at the school. They'd grown close during that time and she was one of the only people he'd kept in touch with during the many years since he'd graduated. Even during the years when he went silent, sending no word of his location or doings to Dumbledore, he'd managed to send word to Poppy that he was still alive and making do.

“Hello, Professor Lupin,” she said, looking him up and down with a calm expression.

“Hello, Madam Pomfrey,” he replied. “Just headed to the Lounge for a break. Care to join me for a cuppa or do you have to get back to the Infirmary?”

“I do have to get back, and I think you ought to come along.”

“Oh, no, I think I'll just see if Minerva is around.”

“Remus Lupin,” Pomfrey said, her voice gaining an icy edge to it. “The infirmary. Now.”

He stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Madam Pomfrey,” he said with a small smile. “I appreciate the concern but I'm perfectly fine. I've got a class in forty minutes so I really must be going so I have time for tea.”

“Mister Lupin,” she said, stepping in front of him to block his path towards the Lounge. “Now.”

He felt about fourteen years old again under her piercing gaze. He exhaled, breath wheezing from his lungs in an exasperated sigh.

“Fine,” he relented. “For some potion or whatever you recommend, but I've got to be back by two.”

He followed her down to the Infirmary and stepped inside the familiar ward, heading for the third door on the left. It was one of the private rooms reserved for teachers or students with contagious ailments. It had been his usual resting place after full-moons during his school days where he could be attended by the Matron without revealing his scars and wounds to other patients.

Madam Pomfrey followed him into the room and shut the door behind her.

“Robe and shirt up and off please,” she said, taking up a quill and parchment from a pocket on the back of the door. They floated beside her, ready to record an assessment.

Remus tugged his robe up and off so he sat on the edge of the hospital bed in his trousers and button-up.

“It's just a cold,” he said hoarsely.

“Shirt up,” she repeated. “I need to hear your lungs and heart.”

He sighed and pulled the shirt up and off. If he hadn't been listening for it, it would have been easy to miss the sharp intake of breath from the Matron when she saw his pale torso marred with more than double the number of scars than he'd had when she'd last examined him. The giant puckered brown gash on his side, inflicted the first moon after James and Lily's death, stood out particularly stark against his milky skin.

Circling behind him, Madam Pomfrey inserted a small device into her ear and pressed the tip of her wand to his back.

“Breathe in as deeply as you can,” she instructed. He could practically feel her eyes boring into the jagged scar on his lower back where he'd almost impaled himself on a stair railing in a wolfish rage one Halloween almost seven years ago.

He took a deep breath, feeling his lungs crackle and wheeze in protest. It came rushing back out with a sputtering cough and Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand quickly.

“Temperato!” she said, touching her wand briefly to his brow as she came around to face him again. A small gold ribbon floated from the end of her wand, twisting into a number Remus couldn't clearly see. The tutting sound Madam Pomfrey made when she saw it told him enough.

“I'll send word to Dumbledore that he'll need to find someone to cover your last two classes today.”

“No,” Remus said, reaching for his shirt to put it back on.

“Yes,” Pomfrey retaliated. “Don't fight me on this, Remus, please.”

In an unexpected gesture, she reached out and smoothed the hair back off his forehead. It was a touch he hadn't felt in years...not since his mother had died...not since Sirius and James and Peter had met him in the mornings after the moon...

“I'll have a house elf bring down your pyjamas and dressing gown,” she said as the quill scribbled furiously on the parchment floating at her side. “I'll get you some potions to help with the congestion and the coughing and to bring down the fever. I think your body just got a bit worn out from the transformation. Nothing to be ashamed about, Mister Lupin. Your classes will be fine. I trust you have lesson plans?”

Remus nodded, swallowing hard to bury the growing lump in his throat.

“Good,” Pomfrey said. “I'll go send for you things, then. Shouldn't be long. Get your lesson plans from your case and I'll send them along to Dumbledore to arrange.”

“It's just a cold,” he reiterated as he pulled his lesson plans from his case and handed them over. “Couldn't I just rest in my room?”

“If you wish, but I'd rather have you here to keep an eye on you for a few hours. These potions shouldn't react with the Wolfsbane but I'd rather be safe and monitor things,” Madam Pomfrey replied, giving Remus' lesson plans to a House Elf who appeared with a 'crack!' at her summons.

“Bitsy, please bring these to the Headmaster and then go to Professor Lupin's room and fetch his pyjamas and dressing gown for me, please.”

“Yes, Madam Pomfrey,” the House Elf said eagerly, taking the papers and disappearing with another loud 'crack!'

“That's settled, then,” Poppy said to Remus, taking her parchment notes and tucking them back into the pocket on the back of the door. “Get changed and into bed when Bitsy returns and I'll be in shortly with the medicines.”

Remus nodded mutely and watched her go. The House Elf reappeared only a short while later with his favourite button-up flannel pyjamas and robe in hand. He pulled the pyjamas on and settled into the single hospital cot. It was weirdly like returning home to sleep in his childhood bed, he thought as he settled into the pillows.

Madam Pomfrey returned after a few minutes with a tray of potions and smiled as she saw him tucked up in the bed.

“This is a strangely familiar sight, Mister Lupin,” she said affectionately. Remus couldn't help but smile back.

“Yes, but I've got a few more grey hairs than—ehh........”

He paused, nose crinkling in anticipation of a sneeze. He took up his handkerchief from its place on the nightstand and tucked it over his nose to catch the outburst.

Ehh-TESGHHTT! Nghh-TSGHH!

With a thick sniffle he wiped his nose and finished his thought.

“I have a few more grey hairs than the last time I was here.”

“Bless you. Me too,” Poppy replied with a laugh as she set the tray down and began dosing out the potions, handing small cups over for Remus to drink. He swallowed each dutifully, putting on a brave face despite the unpleasant tastes.

“That's a good lad,” she said, gathering the tray back up and depositing a few lozenges on the nightstand along with a decanter of water and a glass. “Get some rest, Remus.”

He slid down under the covers obediently and watched her go, shutting the door as she went.

Sleep was quick and when he woke again, it was dark outside and he was coughing harshly. Tears blurred his eyes as he hacked, doubled over in bed with his knees tucked up as his chest heaved and strained to clear. A comforting hand was on his back, guiding him up to sit and putting a glass of water to his lips. In a moment of confusion, he tried to figure out who the soothing person was...his mum? Lily? He could feel the cool hand press to his forehead as the coughs calmed and he sat, leaning against the headboard panting and wheezing.

Ghhh-TSGHHH!

His head snapped forward and he sneezed freely towards his lap with a harsh explosion.

“Bless you!” the person said, putting the hand on his back again and rubbing a small circle. “Poor lad.”

His eyes finally opened and focused. Ahh...right. Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey.

“Sorry,” he croaked.

“Hush,” she said. “Lie back down. I'll get you another dose of Cough Ease.”

She disappeared momentarily and came back with a spoonful of thick liquid. She put it to his lips and he swallowed the bitter syrup.

“Are you warm enough?” she asked, adjusting the quilts across his legs. He gazed up at her through fever-added eyes and nodded. How long had it been since someone tucked him in? Brought him medicines? His eyes were drooping closed again and just as sleep took him once more he was sure he heard her sigh softly.

The next time he woke there was a bowl of soup on the nightstand kept warm with a charmed tray. He sat up and moved the tray to his lap, eating the hearty broth slowly and feeling the warm liquid loosen the congestion in his head.

When Madam Pomfrey came in to check on him, he was blowing his nose with strained, partly productive honks. She gave him a sympathetic smile and checked to see he'd eaten his soup.

“If you'd like to return to your own bed for the night, you're welcome to,” she said, pressing that same soothing hand to his brow to check that the fever was gone. “I'll send up some more potions for you before you go to sleep.”

He considered the option but shrugged and looked at her with a boyish smile.

“Do you mind if I stay here? I don't want to take up a bed but if it's okay...”

She looked secretly pleased by his decision.

“Of course!” she said. “Stay until you're well.”

He nodded gratefully, settling back down under the quilts. As he snuggled into the pillow, he felt her hand pat his back gently like she used to when he was a boy still frightened from the transformations and in too much pain to sleep. A swell of affection spread through his limbs at the touch.

“It's nice to have you back, dear,” she said as she moved to leave his room again.

He made a sound of agreement from his nest of blankets, unable to find the words to express how utterly grateful he was to be there. For so long he'd avoided visiting, fearing the castle would be too filled with the memories of his friends and forgetting that it still held people who cared for him. He nodded back to sleep filled with a feeling of love for the first time in a long, long while.

[codevassie]

For one shot promt, romellura first date!

CV: These two are so cute agsjdbfsn. Thank you so much for the prompt! I hope you like it! 

Romelle’s hand was damp, and steadily growing cold from the condensation of the thin plastic cup in her grip, but it was easy not to notice when her mind was altogether occupied elsewhere.

“I swear I reorganized that essay thrice over and it still didn’t flow right,” Allura said, voice like a song to Romelle’s ears. She flicked a hand, swishing a lock of frizzy white hair back behind her ear, and Romelle imagined her own fingers there, tracing the shell of her girlfriend’s ear, caressing Allura’s beautiful hair. “The teacher said it was fine, but I just know there was something off about it,” she gave an agitated huff, resting her chin in her hand, colorful eyes shining under the rather horrible mall lighting. “I suppose I still got a good grade, so I guess it shouldn’t matter.”

“Mmhmm,” Romelle hummed, the words, unfortunately, not having much of an affect on her entranced state. Allura’s eyes flickered over, puzzled, then amused. She raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t hear anything I just said, did you?” she asked, voice full of tease. “Some first date,” Allura smirked, and this was enough to jog Romelle out of it. She sat up, blinking and trying not to look guilty. She shook her head.

“I heard!” she protested. Allura, thankfully, decided to leave it at that, reaching across the table to take her hand.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she said. Heat immediately went to Romelle’s face and she turned to the side, trying to hide her face in her other hand. Her other hand, however, was cold and wet. How had that happened?

Romelle sputtered, yanking her face away. Allura laughed and, when Allura laughed, it was contagious. Romelle chuckled too, the two bending over the table to giggle as closely as they could. At this distance, Romelle could almost feel the touch of Allura’s breath against her face, against her lips. If she just leaned the slightest bit forward-

“Oh, watch-” Allura exclaimed suddenly, and Romelle flew back. Allura’s hand darted out to save the cup of strawberry tea, Romelle’s, which she had apparently been knocking over in her attempt to get closer. There was no possible way for Romelle to go any redder.

“Sorry!” she squeaked. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth.

Allura shook her head. “So clumsy, Rom,” she grinned, then she picked up her own drink and stood. Romelle watched her, her ease and grace, her radiant smile, and the way she would always reach back for her, always ask silently for a hand to hold as they walked.

Romelle accepted the hand and stood with her girlfriend, only just remembering to take the saved drink from the table before they went. Allura took a sip at her own drink as they left the food court, approaching rows of shops and the weekend crowd of the busy mall.

They walked easily, side-by-side, pointing to windows of shops and giggling at small anecdotes they told each other as they decided where to go. For a first date, it was considerably normal, and a lot easier than Romelle had worried over the entire week prior. It was like any other day they would have hung out; just, now they were girlfriends.

Romelle was the first to drag Allura into one of the stores, one full of weird t-shirts she couldn’t wait to have her girlfriend try on. A thousand photos later of the two in the weird, bright, awfully random t-shirts, Allura eventually managed to get them out of there.

Then, there was the candle store Allura loved, where they offered each other their favorite scents of the day to smell, eventually reduced to racing around to find the most awful ones there. Then there was the bookshop where Allura traced the spines of books as they passed, and the candy store, where she called Romelle “sweeter than them all”, and, ultimately taking Romelle out of commission for the rest of that store and many after. Eventually, they had gone around to so many places that they had exhausted themselves back to the food court, where they promptly collapsed into one of the booths.

“You should have gotten that shirt, ‘Llura,” Romelle laughed, leaning on the table with her elbows, a lot more tired than when she had done the same before. She rested a cheek in one palm, smiling up at her girlfriend. Allura rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop herself from smiling too.

“It was a monstrosity, Romelle,” she said. Romelle pouted.

“I thought it looked good.”

“Well, you would look good in anything,” Allura said flippantly, and Romelle froze.

And, damn it, she wanted to kiss her again. She wanted to so bad.

Damn it.

“Romelle?” Allura asked, looking concerned.

“Huh?”

“Are you okay? You zoned out there for a second,” Allura asked, and Romelle had to fight to keep her cool. Why was it always like this around Allura? She was so giddy, even still, now that they were officially together. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.

“Fine! Fine!” Romelle answered quickly, looking about; anywhere but at Allura. She wasn’t sure what she would do right then if she looked at the most beautiful person in the galaxy. Possibly puke. Probably say something she shouldn’t - something very sappy and not at all appropriate for a couple who’s only been together for a week and two days.

That’s when her eyes fell on the spinning horror across the room. Bright bulbs of light danced across the reflective surfaces of mirrors and worn bronze-colored metal. An intricate painting replica covered its top with cherubs and green branches. It went round and round at a steady, if slightly rapid, pace, decorated with gilded coaches and decorated horses.

It was a classic carousel, and it was perfect for the non-existent dilemma Romelle thought she had to escape. She stood quickly, pointing over at it.

“Let’s ride the merry-go-round!”

“What?” Allura asked, sounding somewhat alarmed, but Romelle was already grabbing her girlfriend’s hand and walking toward the thing, eyes set on the dancing lights and honestly sad-looking ticket booth.

As soon as she got to the booth, she slapped some money down. “Two tickets, please!”

When the tickets were handed over, she dragged her girlfriend onto the machine, skipping and weaving through the models and looking for the perfect spot, relieved with the distraction.

She found it, two beautiful horses standing side-by-side, and bolted toward them, whisking her hands back as if to put the steeds on display for Allura. Allura looked all sorts of amused and uneasy. Noticing this, Romelle, dropped her hands, eyes and frown troubled. She stepped towards the other girl.

“What’s up?”

Immediately, Allura dropped her apprehension, collecting herself as she usually did. Allura tried to never show weakness; she was the calm and confident face of the Altea family, after all.

“These are the two we will ride?” Allura asked, zoning in on the task, and stepping up to the plate. Romelle nodded, and watched her girlfriend go over to one of them, one hand on the worn metal pole that kept the structure errect. She put her foot in the stirrup and elegantly mounted. Looking back, she regarded Romelle, asking, “Well?”

Romelle nodded, taking to her own horse and swinging up. As she looked from the view atop the plastic steed, she began to grow excited again. She felt like she could see so far! Romelle saw above the crowds of mall-goers, she saw the fountain in the middle of the room, bubbling with water and glittering with coins. She only came back to herself when the ride suddenly jerked underneath her. She heard a high yelp.

She turned back around to observe her girlfriend, desperately clinging to the pole in front of her, holding on for dear life. Romelle burst out laughing. Almost immediately, Allura sat back up, steadying herself carefully, and attempting to look unphased by the ride. It was too late, however, for Romelle to see.

“Have you never been on a carousel before?” she asked, voice carrying over the distance which separated them. Her head went up and down as their horses carried them oppositely, watching Allura’s face be the one to blush for once.

“And what if I haven’t?” she asked.

“It’s cute,” Romelle said, smiling up at her girlfriend, then down in the next second. Allura shot her a look, still holding on tightly. With how poised and self-assured she sat, though, Romelle was probably the only one who could tell.

They rode around and around, Romelle cheering for her girlfriend and Allura trying to cover her face with her shoulder because she didn’t seem to want to let go. Slowly, Allura seemed to grow legitmately mroe comfortable as they went along, stretching to look out and around the ride, taking in the gilded decorations, the aging mirrors and whirling lights.

And Romelle- Romelle couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Off the way her eyes lit up to the strange beauty around her and the cheery tunes from the speakers above. Off the way her hair fell in her face and she laughed. Off the way she didn’t even think to push it back, taking her hands off the security of the pole almost unconsciously, already accustomed to the odd experience and with that steadfast bravery she’d always had.

When the ride ended, they both looked rather disappointed. Romelle forced her eyes away and slid off her horse, turning around to ask Allura how’d she liked the ride.

But Allura hadn’t gotten down yet. Romelle approached, reaching up a hand. “My lady,” she teased, and Allura rolled her eyes. Still, she took the hand, and Romelle was allowed to help her down.

When Allura reached the ground, it seemed like the ride had taken more of a toll than she’d thought, and she lost her balance, stumbling forward… right into Romelle’s arms.

Romelle caught her breath. Allura seemed frozen too, before laughing slightly and murmuring a soft, “Sorry.” However, she did not move away. They stood there, as if on pause, for what felt like an eternity before Romelle’s brain short-circuited for the last time and she leaned forward, caught in those eyes, trapped by the line of that jaw and sweet breath of candy from those lips.

Their lips met and Allura gasped before leaning in, pressing closer. Romelle pulled her in by the waist, where she had caught her, and felt her hair come loose from behind her ear, probably tickling Allura’s cheek. The other girl didn’t seem to mind though. In a breath, they had kissed like no kiss Romelle had ever experienced before, and, in another, they were apart again, looking into each other’s eyes. They both looked as if they didn’t know if they should believed that had just happened. Allura’s eyes blinked a few times, eyelashes batting in a mesmerizing way. Romelle sighed.

“Ladies,” the amused ride attendent suddenly said behind them and they both jumped. Romelle looked into Allura’s eyes, which shined half embarrassed from the PDA, and half on the edge of laughter.

“Oops,” Romelle whispered.

[girls-love-girls1200]

37. Seulgi x Reader •Bad Girl•

Tapping your fingers in a fast continuous motion on the large wooden library table, you silently prayed for inspiration to hit you, the daunting white page in front of you burning through your skull.

Essays, you hated them, don’t get me wrong you loved writing, and had a talent for it too, just not when you were given a theme and track to follow.

“Could you stop with the damn tapping?

The harsh voice scared the hell out of you, and once you realized whom it belonged to, your heart rate did not slow down, on the contrary, it sped up.

Kang Seulgi, also known as one of the most popular people at your school for some reason obscure to you.

You heard her name being whispered in the hallways every day, the same hallways that seemed to be cleared every time she passed and you found yourself squashed against a locker as the other kids parted for her like the Red sea.

Legend had it she had been kicked out of her last school for vandalism and sending one of her classmates to the hospital.

All you had seen her do was bite back at some teachers and stare at everybody that got in her way with a burning hate.

In your opinion she was like any other person in this high school except for your best friend, pretty annoying.

“If you ask nicely I will.”

Her dark eyes filled with surprise, you took notice of her grunge, goth look, heavy makeup on her face, even more noticeable as her eyes seemed to burn with indignation,

“How about you stop being a huge pain before I break your fingers and shove them up your...”

A loud shush interrupted her vulgar statement, the old librarian’s face bright red, hands on her waist.

“Get out of my library right now, the both of you!”

You huffed in annoyance before grabbing your stuff and sticking it in your bag hurriedly, you fixed your round framed glasses before turning towards the bother next to you,

“Thanks for this you vulgar little emo.”

Seulgi seemed ready to knock your front teeth out as you made your way out of the library, her eyes making their way to your jean clad cute little butt.

A strange feeling rising in the pit of her stomach as she watched you walk away, two questions swirling around her head,

who is this girl and how dare she?

Your next encounter was on a rainy Thursday morning, Seulgi had been wondering aimlessly down the hallways, not feeling the current algebra class. She turned a corner and almost ran straight into you,

“What, are you skipping or something?”

Seulgi’s arrogant voice already bothering you, “I’m actually hanging some school clubs announcements, you should think about joining them, do something with your life.”

Seulgi really had a good time teasing you, she loved how your cheeks turned a light shade of red whenever she spoke,

“And who gives you permission to do it during class hours?”

Your eyes rolled dramatically at her insistence,

“My mom is the vice principal, I do some favors for her, and she just lets me and my photography group alone.”

Seulgi scoffed at your answer, “Sounds a lot like nepotism to me.”

You turned around, skirt slightly rising at the sudden movement, Seulgi’s eyes lowering in an instant,

“Oh wow, such big words!”

Her eyes darkened as she took a step closer, trapping you between herself and the wall, your heart making a strange little tap dance in your chest.

“Don’t sound so surprised, a girl can be pretty and smart at the same time.”

There was barely any space between your faces when the bell rang suddenly, making you jump on the spot. It took a few seconds to register her words and for the offense to hit you, “I never said...”

Your words got muffled by the noisy stream of students flooding the hallways, you stood still, mouth agape and thoughts all over the place as Seulgi disappeared into the sea of teenagers.

On Friday the weather seemed to have worsened, leaving your photography group, you sprinted across the school parking lot, backpack hanging from your shoulder and protecting your new Leica M5 under the heavy parka you were wearing.

You were in a good mood, photography had been really fun today, and the rain always somehow made your mood brighten.

Unsurprisingly you struggled to open the door of your grandpa’s old car, a gift for your last birthday.

Once inside you sat for a few minutes, waiting for the old beast to warm up, listening to the rain outside falling incessantly.

As your eyes wondered at the the outside world they fell on a trembling figure just outside the main entrance.

From the dark clothing and smoke coming from her you could tell who it was in an instant.

As you slowly stopped the car right in front of her you rolled down the window, offering a warm smile, “Need a ride home?”

She seemed taken aback by your sudden friendliness, stubbornly shaking her head in a refusing manner, you couldn’t help but feel your heart warm as you took in her appearance with more attention than usual.

There she stood, shaking from the cold, cigarette in one hand and smuged mascara from the rain, pretty eyes staring right through you.

Not taking no for an answer you stretched over and opened the door for her,

“Stop being so stubborn and get in.”

Seulgi reluctantly flicked the cancer stick away, getting in your car she gave you a thankful smile, immediately nearing her hands to the heating vent.

“You can pick a cd, they’re all in the glove compartment, oh and it’s kind of...”

A loud laugh escaped her lips as a waterfall of cds and random stuff fell from the compartment as soon as it opened,

“Messy.”

She only laughed louder as your cheeks turned a deep shade of red, eyes focused on the road ahead.

“I live in Rosewood by the way.”

You tried not to give away your surprise at her words.

Rosewood was a gated community just outside of town, it was known for being the home of some of the richest families in the area, the elite.

You couldn’t hide your surprise though, when Seulgi picked one of your favorite R&B albums and the soft notes filled the car,

“What, did you think I only listened to heavy metal or something?”

Eyebrows lifting playfully, she hit your arm lightly, “I thought the vice principal would have taught her daughter not to judge a book by its cover.”

You loved how easy going Seulgi was acting at the moment, there was someone special behind the mean girl facade she put on every day at school,

“It was the cop actually that taught me that, my dad.”

Your chest tightened just a little as you thought about him, the girl next to seemed to sense you were uncomfortable with the subject so she immediately switched to how she was positive she had failed her algebra test earlier.

“You really should try a bit harder Seulgi, your parents must have paid a hell of a lot to get you accepted in december and I heard my mom talking about how the principle is really not happy about your attitude.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t really care.”

You scoffed at her words, “I know for a fact you do though, I’m not falling for this bad girl facade you have going on.”

Seulgi finally realized how different you were from any other kid at your school, somehow more mature, and absolutely beautiful.

“So, does the cop know you smoke weed?”

So she saw it.

The cheeky smile on her face indicating she had no problem with it calmed you down a little,

“Actually my dad passed away last year while on duty, but if you ever wanna smoke give me a ring and I’ll be there.”

The pretty girl sitting next to you couldn’t understand how you still had a smile on your face, she couldn’t even fathom losing her own father, even though they often fought, she absolutely loved him.

As you passed through the security gate you seemed to enter a world of privilege.

Lowering the windows and looking around, you felt extremely out of place, “Wow, this neighborhood even smells of rich people.”

Seulgi hit you in retaliation as she kept indicating where to turn until you reached this huge property, a perfectly mowed lawn with a path on the middle that led to a large white painted mansion, extra security guards stood at the beginning of the path eyeing your old vehicle suspiciously,

“Well, I’m not a fan of any type of guns, so I’ll just leave you here okay?”

Seulgi thanked you before stepping out of the car, and slamming the door shut.

You were watching her leave just to make sure she arrived safely when she turned around in a rush and ran back towards you, thinking she had forgot something you lowered the window, Seulgi took a few deep breaths before actually being able to talk to you,

“How about we meet up to study algebra on Saturday and then I take you out for dinner?”

Anxiety seemed to be painted on her face as she waited for an answer, it was actually nice seeing her so flustered,

“Is it a date?”

Your hopeful tone seemed to give her back her usual cockiness as she smirked at you,

“Absolutely Y/N.”

Eyes shining, she looked at you with the purest look on her face,

“I guess I’ll see you on Saturday then.”

[andy-loves-corgis]

The Eyes, Laugh and Lies of Anneliss York - Part 1 (Lily)

Hey guys, I know this is mainly a Choices blog, but my lazy ass doesn’t want to create another blog so you’ll get some Harry Potter fanfics too!

Book: Harry Potter - Marauders Era

Pairings: James x Lily, Sirius x OC, Remus x OC

Notes: So, this fic is from 2015, when I just wrote for HP fandom, and @drakewalkerrosenberg wanted to see a little of my HP fics, so here it is.

It’s basic centered on my OC Anneliss York, her life will be told through the eyes of her friends and lovers now that she’s dead. Each chapter will be someone’s POV, and they will complement each other. Tell me if you want to be tagged.

***

Lily Evans

The house was cold, my husband’s family manor used to be full of joy, but now it was empty. His father died first, his mother couldn’t bear to live without him,passing right after, and now she was gone too.

Anneliss was dead.

I just couldn't stare at her portrait anymore, she was my best friend, the one who lived my ups and downs, who was with me every bloody time that I needed. She couldn't be just gone, a person like her cannot die! Life was beaming out of her fingertips at anytime. It hurt so much to remember the times that I've spent with her, mainly due to the fact that her gorgeous 7-month-old daughter is right here, smiling on my lap, playing with my son. Looking one more time to her smile, I can’t help but chant the words we’d always said to each other, even though she’s not saying it back. Never again.

“I love you like a sister, Liss"

November 11th, 1972

I was sitting at the far corner of the library studying potions, Severus was serving a detention due to Potter bullying instincts and couldn't be there with me. I had already written two parchments of our potions essay (even though the professor had said it could be only one and a half) and was checking the information when I felt someone's stare on me, when I looked at my side I saw a girl not much taller than me, with long brown hair with the sides pinned with bright red hair clips, eyes that I couldn't figure out if they were blue or green and some freckles spread on her face. I knew her, she was Anneliss York, Gryffindor; same year as mine. Somehow she was related to Potter and the talk was that she was the adoptive daughter of our Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dumbledore. She was a bit of a loner.

"Hi" she started shyly "Could you lend me the potions book when you're finished? There is no other available and I haven't started my essay yet. Besides, I really suck at this subject"

"Sure" I answered awkwardly "Humm... Do you want some help?" her face lit and she nodded.

That day she would become my best friend.

February 8th, 1974

"Why can't you go with me to Hogsmeade?" I ranted looking for my brown jacket in my drawers, the brunette on the bed beside me sighed.

"Lily, I've already told you, I'm going out with Sirius". She didn’t even bother to look at me.

I was dazed by her answer "I thought you got over your crush on that neanderthal", she sighed once again.

"And I did, he and James made a bet, fifty chocolate frogs on who would take a girl to a date and kiss her by the end of the day, he promised me half of the prize and I said yes".

"Wait. That's why that toerag you call cousin was screaming in the halls 'Evans, go out with me'?" I stopped my search for a second, really irritated.

"Probably" She said carelessly scraping the dirt out of her nails.

I had finally found my jacket and looked judgingly to her "You sold yourself short, and you're going to lose a perfect day with me and Sev", she snorted putting a red Every Flavor bean on her mouth, muffling the sound of her next words.

"Yeah, like I would go out with the couple".

"We're not a couple!" why everyone thought we were? She raised her brow and said:

"Sure" she said going in the bathroon's direction "I'll pretend he's not drooling over you every bloody minute, now if you excuse me I have to get ready for my first kiss and lots of chocolate frogs later on. I'm really a lucky girl".

I laughed at her remarks, she was really a girl of attitude.

June 21st, 1976

Mudblood

I couldn't believe he had said it, he could not have said it! He was my best friend, long before Hogwarts, when magic was just a silly daydream of mine. He said that word, that piercing word that would haunt me forever in the wizard world. It doesn't matter that he came to apologise, why would I be different from every other muggle-born that he called that? I was beyond second chances with him and that hurt me more than I could imagine. I was crying my eyes out in the dorm, so immersed on my own self-pity that I didn't hear her coming.

She sat on the edge of my bed and hugged me, I started sobbing "Why does my blood matter so much?" my body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Shhh" I heard her next to my ear, her hand was caressing my disheveled hair and I started to hear her voice filling my head. "It doesn't mean anything to those who really matter" She laid me on my bed and I heard her melodic whispers.

"Don't lose it all,

in the blur of the stars.

Seeing is deceiving,

dreaming is believing,

it's okay not be okay.

Sometimes is hard,

to follow your heart,

but tears don't mean you're losing,

everybody's bruising.

Just be truth to who you are."

And she lulled me to sleep, so I could wake up a new person. I would be a better friend to her, that was always there for me whenever I needed.

January 10th, 1977

The night was silent, the ones who couldn't find a place near the fireplaces went to sleep early because the cold outside was as imposing as the dark figure that was slowly starting a war on the wizard world, I was wide awake in my bed, thinking that I would be an adult ‪in 20 days‬, a mudblood adult, who could be killed at any moment.

"Lily, are you awake?" I heard Liss calling me, and the apprehensive tone she used worried me.

"Yes" I answered, but silence met me on the other side, I knew she had not fallen asleep so she was probably thinking about what she was going to say, "spill it" I almost ordered, the other girls in the room were sound asleep (Mary was too soundly for my taste).

"IsleptwithSiriusontheholidays" she said so fast that at first I couldn't understand, I guess it was the shock, because when I could figure what she said I choked on my breath.

"You did what? Merlin, Liss, haven't you dumped Edlor Thomas because he was only thinking about sleeping with you? How could you sleep with your bloody best friend?! That's crazy Liss, how did it started? Are you two dating now? Does Potter know? He's gonna kill him..."

"Lily, calm down please" she whispered pleading "It just happened, it's your fault actually, no one wanted to go with us to Tenerife! It happened, it was nice, we're still best friends, nothing has changed... I guess" I tried to calm my breath, but Liss' confession was making me uncomfortable about keeping my own secret .

"I kissed Potter yesterday, under a mistletoe" I confessed in a small voice.

"YOU WHAT?"

I couldn't even answer, since her exclamation had awaken all of the girls in the dorm, but I got the feeling that I wouldn't hear the end of it on the next day.

September 2nd, 1977

"Liss, wake up! It's first day of school, our last first day. I need to run or I'll have a heart attack" I was shaking a peaceful sleeping girl who started mumbling really pissed when awake, but started to dress up anyway. It was our tradition, actually it was my tradition. I would wake her up at dawn and make her jog with me on our first day of school, and she would be grumpy and snarl at my comments. That's just how we were.

"So, how are you?" I asked when we stopped by the Herbology greenhouses."Is Remus talking to you again? I couldn't find him yesterday at the banquet" she looked at the grass, she had been like this for two weeks now.

"No, no word since he broke up with me" she answered in a small voice.

"I think he's right you know, if you're battling feelings for Sirius you should just let them out, I think he likes you too. Of course you made a mess by dating Remus, but if he's giving you the chance to be happy, take it"

Her stare was lethal and I could study those eyes which sometimes seemed green and other seemed blue, she was really pissed.

"Well, Lily, I think it would be just polite of you to know your heart like you know mine. James won't chase you forever you know" that said she just started jogging ahead of me.

Touché.

October 13th, 1977

We were laying on the gardens, it was past the school curfew but we sneaked out anyway, it was our last year and I could afford some rule-breaking (I could cover it anyway by being a Head Girl). James Potter, the new Head Boy, had kissed me this afternoon, the Gryffindor lost the first game of the season to Ravenclaw and James was frustrated, I felt really bad for him. I was studying near the windows of the Common Room and saw him marching towards me, still in his quidditch uniform full of mud and sweat with a determined look on his face, we had become friends over the past few months and I never saw him like that. It was fast, he didn't even stop in front of me, just put both hands on the sides of my face and kissed me. 'You are going out with me next weekend' he said to my blushy face and I would have kissed him again if it wasn't for all the students around.

"Liss?" I asked the girl by my side, who turned her face from the sky to look at me. "I'm in love with James Potter"

And she would take my hand, smile at me and say "I'm glad you finally noticed it"

September 17th, 1978

"HE PROPOSED!" I screamed entering her flat as she jumped frightened in fear with her hand on her wand, those were dark times and for a flick of a second I forgot that.

"OH MERLIN'S ARSE!" she exclaimed after the information sank in "You are going to be married! I'm so so so happy for you" she was hugging me tight, I could feel her happiness and that made me feel alive, she was the sister that my own could never be.

"Will you be my maid of honor?" I asked drying the tears that I didn't even knew I was shedding. "If you didn't ask I would possibly slice your throat!" she said smiling fully.

"How about you and Sirius? When are you two tying the knot?" she started to laugh openly.

"Can you imagine Sirius Black getting married? He surely prefers to mess around in my kitchen and complain about the amount of drawers that he has here"

January 3rd, 1979

"I feel like we have to be afraid all the time" Liss told me while we were having tea at my place, I had to agree with her, those were dark times, but I knew something that she didn't.

"Let's do something stupid for once!" I said with a mischievous smile, I was becoming more and more like my husband, "Let's go to some shop, you buy me a dress and I buy you one, and we aparate in some beach and just pretend we don't have any worries! Just for today, please?” she laughed like I was crazy but went on anyway. We stopped by a muggle store that I loved, spent half an hour looking for the dress, actually she did, I already knew what to buy to her.

"Oh Lil, white? You know that when I use white it seems like my freckles multiply" she said when we were back to her flat and she tried her treat, I snorted, she looked amazing on the long strapless dress.

"You don't even have a hand full of freckles, don't let Sirius comments get to you. Besides the deal was: I would choose you a dress and you would do the same to me, now cheer up. It's time for the beach"

I was so excited to see her face, we stepped on the warm sand and we both smiled, she had her back to the sea and I was trying not to focus on what was behind her. "Here" I said taking a sparkly little head piece of my purse and putting in her hair "Something borrowed... hum, the dress is new"

"What's going on, Lil?" when she turned her eyes grew wide, as she took it all in her mouth opened and closed a couple of times. There was a small tent decorated with flowers, a strange man behind an altar and Sirius Black wearing a white tunic on the right side, while James was wearing a black one on the other.

"You need something blue" and I conjured a bouquet of blue spring star flowers "As for something old, you would have to go for our friendship".

"Oh, Lil" there were tears in her eyes, I felt honored to take her to the altar, so she could be forever happy, like I was.

November 15th, 1979

We were surrounded by Death Eaters, they were large in numbers than us and I was truly scared for the first time, Sirius was on another mission and Liss was at home feeling frightened all the time, the pregnancy taking its toll on her, I emitted the help signal to the Order's members, we needed back up, but I could never think that she would come, that she would risk herself and her baby for us. But she came, she came because I called, she came because we are her family and she wouldn't let anyone harm us, that's why when she was attacked and started bleeding near a dumpster I felt my heart sink.

"We will take you to a safe place, Liss" I assured her while James and I headed to the hospital "Everything will be alright"

But it wouldn't. I had to gather courage to enter her room in St Mungus, and when she looked into my eyes she knew, and that broke me.

"No" she said in a small voice, "no, no, no. no. NOOO!" she started screaming in her bed, she grabbed the sheets in her fists and cried. "My baby, not my dear baby! No, Lily!” she sobbed and collapsed on the bed when nothing more could hold her awake. And I was there the whole night when Sirius didn't appear, I held her hand because her pain was my pain.

January 14th, 1980

"I'm leaving the house by the end of the week" she said behind her tea mug, her eyes ,always so bright, were dead "It's been long since we stopped looking at each other's face. I think it's just better"

I couldn't meet her gaze any longer, my lie filling the space between us, I felt sorry for her, it was so unfair to have it all and see someone you love so much lose everything, she finished her tea and stood up "I will write you to tell where you can find me. Oh... by the way, this is for you" she said taking a little package out of her purse, when I opened my breath was caught in my throat, it was a comforter with little broomsticks on it. How did she know?

"You will be a wonderful mother, Lil" she said opening a genuine smile and I could see a flick of light in her eyes.

June 21st, 1980

We were laid on her backyard, feeling the grass on our backs, just like we used to do at school, our swollen bellies side by side, I was so happy for us, for how her life was back on tracks. We spent an awful lot of time together making plans for our babies, how they would be intelligent, and brave and would be best friends like all of us, and her light laugh would fill up the warm air, her eyes would light up and she would say:

"I love you like a sister, Lil"

.

Tagging: @ehkw1989 (Hey girl!)

[inkycrowwrites]

Imagine Jonathan Crane saving you

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x reader

A/N: We’re back! And it’s my number one boy’s birthday! A few days ago I promised I would write something for today, so here we are (this story is slightly based on a creepy story I heard on a video a long time ago, If I ever encounter it again I’ll tag it). I’m planning on writing again, because fuck depression! I’ll work on some things some people asked for and then we’ll officially open requests. Again, if you find any grammar mistakes or feel like I forgot to include a warning please let me know at my main blog @regipumpkin. Thank you for reading!

Warnings: Cursing, assault attempt.

Your family never had a lot of money growing up. It actually wasn’t all that bad, your parents and sister loved you very very much and that was enough, but now that you finally finished High School you needed to move out.

The town you grew up in didn’t even have its own college so Gotham was the cheapest and closest option. It took you a whole year and a half to convince them to let you go, that college was the only way you could finally study animal genetics. Ripping your dream away from you would break their hearts.

A friend of your sister got you a job at his uncle’s sketchy motel on the outskirts of the city. It wasn’t very pretty but as long as you kept the rooms clean you could stay free of charge and eat dinner for free as a housekeeper. It was an offer you couldn’t refuse.

Things went smoothly for the first months. Sure, working and studying a career at the same time wasn’t easy, but you’ve been helping support your family since you were sixteen, even now you still send them your tips.

A couple of weeks ago while cleaning a room, you found a trail of blood coming from the bathroom. The three men that stayed at the room had left hours ago and thankfully, for your sanity, that was the only piece of evidence they left behind. You dropped everything and ran to the front desk for help. When the manager saw your pale face he just smirked and said “welcome to Gotham”. The police came to ask you a few questions, but just like the other employees told you to repeat, you didn’t see anything, that was the answer that would keep you safe. The police didn’t bat an eye, they seemed to be used to people not answering questions.

Now Friday night was finally here, your teachers had mercy on you and asked for a small essay which you had already finished and your shift was over, or so you thought. As you reached the front desk to leave your equipment your manager told you that the other house keeper had to leave because of an emergency. This wasn’t something she did often as she had two kids and had to provide for them, you only hoped that everything was alright back home.

She left her cart at the third building, the one farther from the office, and thankfully only one room to clean, the one at the end of the hall. As you scrubbed the shower you heard loud laughter from the next room, your first thought was that they were probably drunk, perfect, more cleaning tomorrow.

When the room was finally done you felt exhausted, you locked the room and pushed the cart. The pretty lights from the city caught your attention, perhaps Gotham wasn’t that bad, you had to admit it had a certain grisly charm. The wheels got stuck in the carpet and as you pushed harder it collided into the next room’s door with a loud bang. The voices from inside the room immediately went silent. The door opened slightly and a man peeked from the inside “what do you want?”

“It was an accident, sir. The stupid cart, sorry to bother you”

The man opened the door completely with a smile on his face, you recognized him from the other day, he was one of the men who left the bloodied room.

“No harm done sweetheart. You hungry? We got some pizza and booze here, wanna have some fun?”

“I need to go”, was the only thing your fear allowed you to mutter. You lowered your head and kept pushing the cart as fast as you could. A tight grip on your arm coerced you to let out a distressed shriek “don’t be such a tease, babe. You’ll break my heart”

“We promise you’ll have fun” spoke a second voice from inside the room.

Tears formed at the edge of your eyes, you screamed for help. With all your strength you kicked him in the shin and ran leaving everything behind.

“GET BACK HERE BITCH!” Two of them came behind you. And like a beam of hope a door of one of the rooms opened. Your instinct screamed at you to get in and so you did, crashing into someone, you didn’t have time to apologize, you slammed the door but right before you could lock it, the men barged in. They dragged you out as you kicked and screamed “please! No! Let me go please!”. The last glimpse you had of that room was a whole chemistry set on the sink and the room desk along with some strangely colored lights, the person you collapsed into was nowhere to be found.

The man on your right suddenly collapsed to the ground, you turned to look at him, he squirmed scratching at his neck pathetically. Then the one at your left fell too, wheezing painfully. A tall, slim shadow stood between you and the third man “Stay away from me! Fucking freak!” the man screamed as he pulled out a gun, “ah, but ‘freak’ is such an underappreciated compliment”. The shadow threw something at the ground and a yellow cloud engulfed them, you backed away as much as you could and covered your mouth and nose. Just as you expected the third man screamed bloody murder and dropped the gun to the floor. The cloud dissipated, the tall man took a cloth out of his coat and pressed it against the man’s face.

“Shush, not yet”. After a few moments the man fell silent.

As you stared at them you felt dizzy and a little disoriented. You had to lean against the balcony bar to keep your balance. You caught the man’s attention, he turned to you and walked with long cautious steps, each time you felt more and more anxious. He stared at you with piercing blue eyes through brown unattended hair, you felt obliged to break the silence.

“Thank you for-for saving me”

“But we aren’t done yet, dear”. He pulled a new needle and you panted as a knot formed in your throat. “May I ask for a favor, miss?” you nodded nervously. “Help me get these gentlemen back to their room, they came to me like a gift. It’s an opportunity I can’t ignore”. You collected yourself and helped him drag them, in your position running wasn’t an option.

As you helped him with the third man your foot bumped into something, it was the lost gun from earlier. You stared at it, he stopped too, curious about your next move. You left it there and continued. If it weren’t for his help...you preferred to ignore the thought.

This time he was the one to break the silence, “Do you happen to know anything about chemistry?”

“No” you lied, he sighed in response “of course you don’t. What a shame, I guess you’re of no use to me anymore” again he toyed with the syringe in his long fingers and smiled at you.

“Off you go, dear” he walked you back to the hall. You simply stared at him with wide eyes in disbelief. This was just a trick, he was playing with you.

“Ah! I know what you want” he turned to the table in the room, took the wallet of one of the men and gave you $20 “there you go, have a good night. By the way, if I were you I wouldn’t call the cops, for your own safety”

“Yes sir” you gulped and walked away turning to look at him a few times. He simply putted one of his long knotty fingers on his lips as if to shush you and stared with an eerie look until you lost him at the turn.

Needless to say, you didn’t catch any sleep that night. Constantly peeking through the curtains searching for anything unusual. Not even the police lights you were getting used to illuminating your room came.

When the sun finally rose you felt slightly safer. You got out of bed and walked to the diner for breakfast, you still had the same clothes from last night but at least if you collected your food the rest of the employees wouldn’t suspect that something was wrong with you.

They gave you the usual, eggs with bacon. It was the usual for you because it was the cheapest dish they could feed you. Your stomach still felt sick from last night, you took your food to go along with a cup of coffee and walked over to your room.

But your feet took you somewhere else, when your mind snapped back to reality you found yourself in the building from last night right in front of that man’s door. He was probably gone by now, after what he did you would do the same, but then a wild stupid idea went through your head and you knocked on the door. Immediately regretting it the need to run away almost took over you, but the door opened before you could back away. He stood inside with a stoic expression. The only light in the room came through the door, behind him laid a body from last night. You felt neutral towards that.

When he realized it was you again he seemed slightly surprised “Yes?”

“I brought you breakfast, sir”

“I never requested room service” he seemed slightly pissed “no, sir. It’s not that-”

“Open it” he commanded, you took the food container out of the paper bag and showed him “bacon and everything” you smiled slightly, “I swear it’s not poisoned. It’s a thank you gift, for saving me last night”. He bowed his head a little and laughed with a low voice “You’re not from Gotham, correct?” Surprisingly he took the food and coffee anyway and nodded as if to say he appreciated it.

“Wait sir! The maid in charge of this building, her shift starts at 8 o'clock. I thought you would like to know in case you-”

“I’ll be gone by then”. You nodded and turned around to go back to your room. Just like before he stared at you as you left, except that this time when you looked back at him he looked away from your gaze and closed the door. Your instinct told you that this wouldn’t be the last time you encountered him.

[gyeommark]

Without You || Kim Yugyeom

Genre: Angst (University!AU-ish, sort of?? idk)

Yugyeom x Reader

Words: 4,4k (holy shit did I get carried away I’M SORRY)

A/N: Honestly, this is so long and I felt kind of a weird vibe from it so I really hope you like it because maaannnn I don’t know, I don’t know. Let me know!!! Also, it took longer than expected because something came up so I’m sorry about that tooooooo but here you go :)

A/N2: Excuse my typos and sh*t, I didn’t proof read it :(

You two had met in the most common of circumstances; maybe too common for you to believe that he’d end up meaning so much to you.

–Y/N, this is Yugyeom, Yugyeom, this is Y/N–. One of your friends officially introduced him to you one day. You had a couple hours free before you had to go to another lecture so you were hanging around in a coffee shop near campus waiting for said friend to join you. She walked in the establishment followed by the tall, fair skinned guy.

You’d seen him around before, of course. You even had a couple classes with him so you knew his name too but you had never actually talked nor made the effort to hang out since he had his own group of friends, as well.

–Hey… I know you, don’t I?– You smiled, nodding at them and silently inviting them to take a seat with you. He chuckled, looking down at the chair before hesitantly occupying it.

Your friend frowned, looking at you and then at him with a confused expression.

–We have a few classes together, don’t we?– He spoke up again, looking at you shyly to which you nodded quickly.

–We’ll you could’ve told me before I made a fool of myself–. Your friend complained and gave Yugyeom a not-so-gentle slap on the shoulder. –We were talking about her on he way here and you decided to say this now. You guys are awful–.

She got up angrily, dragging her chair on the floor, causing a loud screeching sound to echo through the small shop, making you both wince even when you were still chuckling.

And thus, that’s where it began with you and Kim Yugyeom.

After that day, you started talking and hanging out sporadically for a couple months, only polite greetings on the halls or quick coffee runs before your shared classes. Then it started evolving onto him saving you a seat next to him when you slept in and were late to class (which was a very common thing to happen, to be honest) and you waiting for him with a chocolate frapuccino after his dance practice.

He was startled when you showed up at the practice room one day with two cups on your hands and a gentle smile adorning your face. Yugyeom didn’t want to make it obvious that he noticed your presence but it was hard to keep his eyes off you, even if it was only your reflection in the mirror.

You had lost track of time while you worked on an essay at the same café you two had ‘met’ almost six months prior. It was considerably late, taking it that it was pitch dark outside and you remembered overhearing Yugyeom talking on the phone and mentioning something about an afterhours practice. You sighed in relief, hoping he’d still be there so you wouldn’t have to walk all alone at night.

He was startled to see you there, to say the least. He almost missed a couple steps when he noticed you and that was unforgivable. He wondered what where you doing there and how exactly you knew he was there. He was sure he didn’t mention it to you but there you were, sitting in a corner while mindlessly scrolling through your phone with an absent smile.

Once his practice was done, he was nervous to approach you, to say the least. He felt the thump of his heart against his ribcage getting stronger. It always happened when he was around you but he always attributed it to the fact that he wasn’t really used to being around females but somehow it felt different.

Hesitantly, he walked up to you with his hands tugged inside the pockets of his black hoodie.

–Hey…– You heard his soft voice near you and you stood up as fast as you could without falling to the ground. Yugyeom smiled widely at your clumsy mannerisms. –What are you doing here?–

You smiled, taking a sip of your beverage to hide your embarrassment behind the steaming cup as you extended your other to hand Yugyeom the one you had gotten him.

He gladly took it and started heading out with you walking by his side.

–I sort of overheard you saying that you had a late practice… And I didn’t want you to head back on your own–. You felt yourself blushing and you knew it was because you had twisted your motives but you didn’t want to seem like a scaredy cat to him.

He laughed out loud and nodded happily. His laugh always made you smile, it was so careless and sincere.

As you walked, you tried to fill in the silences with trivial talk about assignments, teachers and how you probably wouldn’t be able to sleep with the amount of caffeine running through your veins.

Yugyeom listened intently to every word that escaped your lips, always glancing at you; still unable to shake off the erratic beating of his heart and he wondered if you were feeling the same or if there was another reason for you to obviously lie about your motives to be there for him that night.

Your apartment wasn’t that far from campus so, after fifteen minutes of walking, you arrived and sighed, grateful that he was there to keep you company.

–Thank you–. Yugyeom blurted out as you fidgeted with the door lock. The door finally opened but you looked at him, not understanding what exactly he was thanking you for. You frowned. –For the shake and walking with me, it was nice–.

You smiled when you noticed his ears starting to gain a rosy tint.

–You don’t have to thank me, it’s the least I could do for all the times you’ve saved me a seat–. You chuckled, disheveling his hair with one hand in a playful manner. –Thank you for walking me all the way here, though. You should get going before it gets even darker–.

His eyes widened when he felt your hand tangle in his locks and his breath was almost knocked out of his lungs. He stuttered.

– Y-y-eah, I-uh… I’ll see you tomorrow–. You smiled and nodded as you took a step to give him an one-armed hug to which he responded with one of his arms around your waist.

It was an impulse reaction. Your skinship had been limited to kisses on the cheek when saying hello or the occasional slap on the shoulder when he said something inappropriate.

Yugyeom went on his way and you closed the door behind you, trying to shake off the uneasiness that formed in your stomach. Yugyeom walked silently to his small apartment with goosebumps covering every inch of his body; goosebumps that started making appearances every time he was with you, every time he saw you walking up to him from afar, hell, they appeared even at the mere thought of you.

He knew he was in too deep.

It became a habit for you to wait for him after his practices, so much that you wouldn’t let other plans get in the way and Yugyeom loved you even more for that.

Everyone could see how you’ve gotten closer over time, spending your free periods together, going to lunch and occasionally dinner dates.

Dates.

You weren’t dating or at least that’s what you told yourself. Never did you see a hint of interest from Yugyeom and as much as that made you feel uneasy and a bit sad, for some reason, you were totally fine with how close your friendship grew to be.

–So you went to dinner with Yugyeom again, didn’t you?– Your friend asked with raised eyebrows as you watched some show on the t.v.

–Yeah–. You replied, mindlessly. –This new restaurant had a couple’s discount so we went there–.

–But you’re not a couple, are you?– You almost choked on the chip you were chewing. Your whole face turned red. No, your whole body turned red and you turned to look at her with a contorted expression that ranged between shock, anger and sadness.

You didn’t even have to speak for her to put her hands up in surrender.

–Hey! Don’t blame me! Everyone thinks you’re together and how can I blame them?! He looks at you like you’re some divine creation and you gravitate around him… Jeez–.

A minute of uncomfortable silence fell upon you as you thought about what she had just said and how creepily happy it made you feel.

Did you have feelings for Yugyeom?

You probably did and just were too stupid to realize, even after almost two years of friendship with the boy.

–You like him–. She stated. It wasn’t a question, it was an affirmation and you couldn’t deny it now.

–It doesn’t matter. You’re wrong, he sees me as a friend–. Your emotions were riding the most intense rollercoaster because as you spoke, it had dawned on you: he’d never see you as anything else.

Time passed by after the conversation with your friend and since then, you had tried to guard yourself for building up even more feelings for Kim Yugyeom. Your heart still beat erratically when you saw him walk into the lecture hall, the air in your lungs still dissipated when he smiled at you and your limbs still turned to gelatin when he gave you a side hug while joking around.

Somehow, in the process of trying to distance yourself from Yugyeom, you started talking and hanging out with a guy from your philosophy class. He was good looking, too, tall (but not as tall as Yugyeom), black wavy hair and olive green eyes.

First time Yugyeom saw you with him, he felt something inside of him crack. You were sitting on a bench in the quad, your body facing the guy completely and you were laughing loudly. The wrinkles around your eyes were noticeable even from where he was standing.

Then, he snapped; he snapped when he saw how the disrespectful excuse of a man put his hand on your thigh but what made him lose it was that you didn’t flinch. You didn’t push him away; he hoped you would, but you didn’t, instead you put your own hand over his and Yugyeom felt his fists start to shake.

He power walked to the practice room and started dancing away his feelings.

Had he not meant anything to you? Were you not feeling the same thing as was he? Were all the laughs, the serious talks and the dates meaningless to you?

Did he misread the signals? Was he an idiot?

That night, as he laid flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling with all of his energy drained out, Yugyeom told himself that he’d let you be. He wouldn’t meddle, he wouldn’t reach out to you. He didn’t want to be put in a position where you’d just go to him for comfort or pass the time when your little boyfriend wasn’t around.

Every night that passed you found your mind drifting to Yugyeom, wondering how he was doing. For the past months you had barely talked, let alone hang out. You gave up on getting him chocolate shakes after practice when he changed his schedule without letting you know.

Your heart shattered when you texted him one night.

You: [6:48 p.m.] “Heyy. They opened a new italian place downtown and got discounts! Wanna hit it?”

Yugyeom: [7:14 p.m.] “Sorry, got a date. Rain check”

It was unfair for you to feel left out and heart broken when you read those words, since you had been the first to practically ditch him over another guy but it still stung.

The majority of your efforts to hang out with Yugyeom weakened after that.

You’d see him walking to class with who you thought it was his new girlfriend. She was pretty, you couldn’t deny it and he looked content. He had an arm wrapped lazily over her shoulder as he walked to the lecture you shared with him.

He didn’t save a seat for you anymore. You didn’t bother to say hi, you only smiled politely at him and he’d do the same in silence.

You learned afterwards that he had met her in the dance lessons he sometimes taught. The Arts department held a showcase for the end of the semester (and for you and Yugyeom, the end of your college years); of course he was participating. Your boyfriend had practically dragged you to said showcase much to your delight.

You regretted not protesting the minute you walked around the corner and saw the big stage built on the quad. Your whole body froze and not even the boiling hot chocolate that you held in your hands could’ve warmed you up.

That’s what jealousy felt like, then? Like you freeze with shock for a minute, then boil with anger for a few seconds, only to end up pooling into sadness until you can forget about it?

Jealousy sucked and you were being selfish for feeling like that when you had a perfectly good boyfriend standing next to you; smile plastered on his face and feet bouncing a little to the rhythm of the music.

He had no idea about Yugyeom. For all he cared, Kim Yugyeom was just a classmate of yours that you only rarely said hi to.

Yugyeom was too lost on the routine he had worked on with his girlfriend to notice that you were there but he did feel something in the air change. Maybe he was just nervous.

The routine was a strange mixture of tango, house and something else you couldn’t pinpoint. It looked rather intimate and that made you uncomfortable but everyone else seemed to be engrossed by it. Great.

The music stopped and maybe it was planned or maybe it was a spur of the moment but the world stopped for you when you saw Yugyeom kiss his blonde partner with a grin on his face. Everyone in the crowd cheered and clapped but you wanted to throw your beverage at them and sprint away into Pompeii.

–Y/N!!!!–. The extremely loud mention of your name made you come back to your senses, making you shake your head a little before being attacked and engulfed into a deathly bear hug.

By the sequined pattern on his cardigan and the sound of his heeled boots you knew who it was immediately.

Everybody else ignored the yelling; everyone but Kim Yugyeom, who was about to walk off stage. It wasn’t only because it was his best friend’s voice causing the outburst but because he hadn’t heard your name being spoken in ages. He spotted his friend jogging across the quad and then his eyes fell on you.

Your hair had gotten longer and you even looked thinner and taller. Maybe it was the shoes. You were frowning and you looked upset by something before BamBam crashed into you.

You grew fond of BamBam in the time you were ‘close’ with Yugyeom. He was hyper and his dumb sense of humor baffled you sometimes but it was nice being around him. You also very much liked how happy Yugyeom got when they were together. They turned into little kids, cracking jokes, laughing way too loud, eating way too much.

–You disappeared from the face of Earth suddenly, what happened to you?– The skinny man asked once he finally let go. –Yugyeom’s been moping around for almost a year and it’s getting kind of annoying–.

Your eyes widened, immediately looking over at your boyfriend who was pretending not to pay attention.

–We grew apart, that’s it–. You muttered, now looking at BamBam with daggers in your eyes, hoping he’d get the hint to stop talking about Yugyeom.

–Yeah, right–. BamBam rolled his eyes at you but nudged you on the shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. –Anyways, I know it’s not of my business or anything but it’d be nice if you came to dinner tomorrow, you know… To celebrate–.

–Celebrate?– You questioned out loud. What was there to celebrate? You losing your best friend over a silly crush that you didn’t know how to handle? Using an innocent, decent guy to try and get over Yugyeom? There was nothing to celebrate. You were miserable at best.

–He got engaged last week–.

BamBam probably didn’t know the effect his words would have on you and so when he saw you spacing out, he mentioned something about texting you the details and walked away.

You couldn’t be bothered to react. You were too lost in his words.

Engaged.

Kim Yugyeom was engaged.

But he was so young and he had so much ahead of him. He had met this girl only a couple months ago, was it really love?

Would you let him go on with his life without telling him how you truly felt?

You left for your apartment as quickly as you could, so much that you didn’t even bothered on letting your actual boyfriend know. Your phone vibrated unceasingly inside your pocket and you ignored it completely, knowing that it was the poor tormented boy probably scared to death that you had vanished.

You got home, showered and just sat on your bed with your phone in front of you. It had been well over two hours since you had left him alone and he was still calling non-stop.

You built up the courage to answer the hundredth ninety-sixth call. You didn’t bother on greeting him.

–I can’t do this anymore–. You said bluntly. Your boyfriend (if you could even call him that) laughed dryly onto the speaker, perfectly understanding what you meant.

–Is this because of the Yugyeom guy? The guy you never talked about and pretended you didn’t know? The one my friends asked me about and told me they thought you were actually dating him instead of me?–

You gulped but didn’t have the strength to say a word.

–Do you love him?– His voice got deeper, almost cracking. You hated that you were doing this and that you have been so heartless towards him. You were a monster but you knew he deserved to be with someone who actually loved him; someone who wouldn’t waste almost a year of his life like you had.

–Yes–. You affirmed before hanging up.

–You told her what?!– Yugyeom cried out in the kitchen of his own apartment, the one he shared with BamBam, conveniently enough.

–Listen! I don’t know what the hell happened between you and why you suddenly stopped hanging out and cut every line of communication to the point of behaving like fucking strangers but she was your best friend! You were so close it actually made me nervous I’d lose my spot at times and you’re a completely different person without her!–

–Nothing happened between us, get it? Nothing, that’s the point. She chose to replace me and cut me from her life! She decided to hurt me so why would I want her at my engagement dinner?–

BamBam was just about to open his mouth when the front door opened slowly. The two guys looked at it with a mixture of fear and confusion.

There you were, standing on the other side with disheveled hair tucked under a hood and blushed cheeks, looking down at your feet.

–Because she’s really sorry about being an idiot…–You murmured, scared to look up to them, but more so to see Yugyeom. It had been months since the last time you were alone in a room with him. –Because she misses you…–

The two guys looked at each other. BamBam’s mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ before quickly fleeing the scene and gently pushing you inside on his way out.

You hesitated for an instant but caved nonetheless, closing the door behind you and finally looking at the man that still held your heart in his hands. He looked great, honestly. He had lost the remains of baby weight you remembered him with. His jaw was way more defined; his hair was longer and lighter.

He looked great whereas you were well aware you looked like a mess.

–She misses me?– Yugyeom wanted to be stern; he didn’t want to be vulnerable again. He wanted to be mad and visibly angry towards you but he also wanted to hug you close to him. His emotions were betraying him.

You nodded quickly, tears filling your eyes and slowly clouding your vision.

–A lot…– Your voice cracked due to the knot in your throat that you had been fighting ever since you opened the door to his place. You dried the tears from your eyes with the sleeve of your oversized black hoodie.

A hoodie that you had stolen from Yugyeom a long time ago. A hoodie that you always wore to bed because it reminded you of him.

–Then why did you push me away? Why did you replace me with him?– The pained words made you look at him in the eye. He was disappointed; his eyebrows were furrowed slightly and the corners of his mouth hung low. It broke your heart.

–Because I’m dumb…– You laughed dryly at your own words. When Yugyeom didn’t say anything, you took a deep breath and mentally prepared yourself to say everything you had been holding back for a year or so.

–I figured… Maybe if I started hanging out with someone else, a boy, it’d be easier for me to be around you–. Yugyeom’s frown grew deeper and subconsciously took a couple steps towards you. –I didn’t want to be the silly girl that fell in love with her best friend and fucked everything up because of those feelings but I ended up doing just that, didn’t I?–

The girl that fell in love with her best friend. Those words resonated in Yugyeom’s head and he started feeling dizzy so he sat on the nearest coffee table, looking up at you.

–I knew that you didn’t feel the same way about me and I tried really hard to hang out just like before but I felt you slipping away and I thought ‘okay, maybe he’s too busy, maybe he just doesn’t feel like being around me’ but I kept trying because I couldn’t imagine a life where you weren’t there. Every scenario I pictured, whether it was one, five, ten or fifteen years from now, you were always there and maybe it was silly, giving it that we hadn’t been friends for the longest of times but I couldn’t help it so… when you texted me that night, telling me that you had a date, well… I just stopped trying–.

Yugyeom was having a hard time processing the words that escaped your lips. You loved him. Was that what you were saying? You started dating someone else because you liked him? That was the most twisted logic ever.

–BamBam told me you were having an engagement dinner tomorrow…– You mumbled, trying hard not to cry. Yugyeom couldn’t peer his eyes off you. You looked beautiful even when you were fighting the tears and dealing with a stuffy nose. He nodded slowly.

–Well…– You continued. –I’m not going, obviously… But I just wanted to come and tell you, at least once… That I love you, Kim Yugyeom. I love you a lot and I hope you’re really happy from now on… Even if I think you’re too young to get married…–. You chuckled even if it stung to say those words out loud.

He squinted his eyes but said nothing; his mind was racing. You turned around to leave, thinking that you had no more business there, when you heard him speak up.

–You can’t just come back into my life and tell me you love me–. He groaned. You were too scared to turn around and face him again because you knew he was right. You were being selfish again. –You can’t do that, Y/N. It’s not fair!–

The moment his voice’s volume got higher, you instantly turned around, astonished, only to find him mere centimeters away from you. Your breath hitched and your eyes widened. Your heart was beating so fast and hard that you were afraid it might come out from your mouth.

–I’m sorry–. You whispered, pursing your lips and looking up at him.

His eyes darted from your eyes to your mouth, making you gulp.

–I liked you from the moment I first saw you, stumbling to get to the lecture on time. Even before we were introduced. I loved you the moment you appeared with a choco shake after my dance practice and I have loved you since then; my love hasn’t quivered the tiniest bit and every night I prayed that some miracle happened to make you realize you loved me too but I knew that would never happen. So I found someone who adored me like I adored you and I knew no one could love me the same way…–

A single tear escaped your left eye because you had no idea where he was going with that.

–And now, you’re here. Telling me that you love me, telling me that you can’t picture your life without me. Making me realize that my love wasn’t unrequited but I was just stupid to do anything. Making me love you once again; making me want you once again… It’s not fair to her–. Yugyeom sighed, pressing his forehead against yours and trapping you against a wall. You bit your lip.

–I know…– You murmured, his eyes boring into yours, making your stomach churn and your heart go into frenzy.

Slowly but steadily, finally letting go all the bottled up feelings, Yugyeom leaned in for a kiss and you didn’t push him away. It wasn’t fair but it also was unavoidable. His soft lips pressed firmly against yours; your eyes fluttered closed and you sighed when you felt him nibbled at your bottom lip, softly.

His body molded onto yours, digging his hands onto your waist as your own rested on his chest, feeling his heart beating just as chaotically as yours. You tugged at his black cotton t-shirt to pull him closer.

Your lungs started to sting due to the lack of oxygen and reluctantly, you pulled away. You kept your eyes shut, afraid to open them.

–I can’t picture my life without you, either–. He said, softly; his breath tickling your nose. You opened your eyes to see him smiling sweetly at you and it suddenly hit you: he wasn’t living without you.

___________

M A S T E R L I S T

[forksofwisdom]

Embers of the Sun - chapter 4

Story Summary: Bella Swan, the new student at Forks High, is ready to graduate. She was prepared for a boring year and just wanted to make a couple of friends. Why are there mutant Wolverines running around the woods of La Push? And why do all the handsome men she meets look at her with such unbridled horror? An imprinting AU where Bella moves to Forks two years later than in canon. 

Pairings: Bella/Paul, eventual Angela/Leah

You can also read the story on ff.net!

(chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3)

Not beta read!

Chapter summary: First day of school, Angela turns out to be a gift from the gods and the Cullen siblings… not so much. 

Chapter 4 - Meet the Cullens

The first discovery Bella made on Friday morning while walking from her front door to her truck was that the coat she’d brought from Arizona was not waterproof. It was pouring buckets, and she shivered as the raindrops pierced through the fabric of her coat and drenched the hoodie she was wearing underneath. Her second discovery was that dressing up for school had been a horrible decision; she’d worn her converse shoes that day and had landed in a puddle the moment she’d stepped out of her truck in the school parking lot. 

With a growl, Bella slammed shut her door and jumped onto dry land. She fumbled with her keys as she tried to shake the water from her shoes and felt like crying when she dropped them into the puddle. People were starting to stare, so Bella pulled up her hood to hide her misery and fished her keys up. She was tempted to pull the ties of her hoodie to cover her face entirely as she approached the front office to get her schedule. The school was a collection of matching square buildings. They were all the made from the same maroon-colored bricks and surrounded by trees and shrubs. Bella’s mood did not lift; the heavy rain clouds made everything seem so dreary and cold. Her foul expression was enough to keep anyone from approaching her, but she made an effort to clear her face before greeting the receptionist. 

The office has a small waiting room, equipped with folding chairs and a bulletin board, which displayed the words: Respect, Integrity, and Commitment. Underneath that was the school motto, ‘WE ARE ALL SPARTANS’, written in bright yellow letters.

“Isabella Swan, welcome,” said the squat woman sitting behind the desk before Bella had time to introduce herself. “Your father informed me you were coming.” Shelly Cope, her nameplate sat on the corner of her desk, had red hair and wore glasses that made her eyes seem small. Her impartial smile informed Bella that there wouldn’t be any small talk. 

Good, Bella thought.

“Yes, I’m here for my schedule,” Bella said. The secretary pushed away from the table and rolled her chair over to the printer and pulled out some paper that she stapled together before showing it to Bella.

“Here you are. I’ve put a map in there as well.” She flipped it from underneath Bella’s schedule to show her the school’s layout. ”Your first class is 12th grade English, and it’s held in Building 3, room six. Mr. Berty, your teacher, will provide you with all the material you need for his class.” The dismissal was evident in her voice, and Bella thanked her before heading out into the rain again. 

She shielded her papers from the worst of it and was grateful that Building 3 was the closest to the secretary office. 

“Bella!” 

Bella looked up at the sound of her name and saw it was Angela. They’d been about to enter the same building, and Bella nearly jogged into her when she paused to open the door. Angela held the door for her and their shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor, leaving wet footprints as they sought refuge from the rain.

“Hi, Angela,” Bella breathed. 

“I didn’t think I would see you so soon,” Angela said pleasantly. She pulled down the hood of her raincoat and unzipped it to shake her hair out. Her glasses were starting to fog up from the rise in temperature. “What class do you have?”

“English,” Bella answered.

“With Mr. Berty? Me too.” Angela was familiar with the hallways, and Bella let her guide them to classroom six. There were a handful of students loitering outside the classroom, sluggish and heavy-lidded as they waited for the bell to ring. Angela waved to them, and the jerked their heads and mumbled an unenthusiastic greeting. Bella would fit in nicely here. She was already exhausted after having spent the entire night tossing and turning in bed from first-day-of-school jitters.

“What kind of teacher is he?” Bella asked her and sent the gathered students a stiff smile. Like Ms. Cope, they didn’t seem surprised to see her and shot her furtive sidelong glances.

The bell rang, signaling the start of class.

“I guess you’ll see for yourself,” Angela said apologetically as a tall man with graying hair opened the door from the inside. He must be Mr. Berty. He waved them inside with little fanfare, and Bella saw that he was wearing a tweed suit jacket with elbow patches and plaid pants. He looked like he could either be the type who believed that his own brilliance was wasted as a high school teacher or was simply eccentric. Bella hoped it was the latter.

They filed into a standard looking classroom. It was smaller than Bella was used to. Posters made by previous students covered the white walls, and the wooden tables were organized into three neat rows. They only allowed two students to sit side by side. Mr. Berty returned to his desk and Bella approached him while the students took their seats.  

“Who might you be?” Mr. Berty asked, peering at her over his reading glasses.

“I’m the new student, Isabella Swan,” Bella said, and he nodded.

“Ah, yes. Here is the lesson plan for this term,” Mr. Berty said, and Bella was relieved that he wasn’t about to make her stand in front of the class and introduce herself like they were still in grade school. Instead, he did something much worse. “You might as well hand them out to the rest of the class. Take a seat once you’ve finished so we can get started.”

Bella took the stack of paper silently and made quick work of handing them out while Mr. Berty did the roll call. She avoided making eye contact with anyone, but her school bag hung off her elbow awkwardly, and it bumped against the tables every other step she took. She approached Angela last. She’d saved her a seat and Bella slid the sheet of paper over to her with a grateful smile.

“Now that we’re all here, there will be no mercy today even though it’s our first day. This is a double period class, and I see no point in wasting it by giving you a few more minutes of recess.” Mr. Berty clapped his hands together, making the half-asleep student jerk in their seats. He appeared to regain vigor from the sound of their groans. They’d all been hoping that he’d let them off easy today. “We’ll be focusing on Shakespeare’s work for the majority of the year but rest assured there will be plenty of opportunity for essay writing and presentations.” Mr. Berty smiled when his students slumped lower into their seats, their misery apparent.

The rest of his lecture continued in that fashion, and Bella wondered why teachers felt the need to tell their students everything that was written in the lesson plan. It must be a rite of passage to waste everyone’s time during the first day back. They were nearing the end of their first period when Mr. Bert finally stopped talking. He split them into pairs to 'work on their communication skills' as he put it.

Bella thanked the universe for already being acquainted with Angela because they shared a furtive grin and tackled the task at hand without needing any awkward introductions. They were supposed to compare their favorite work of fiction and discuss the differences and merits of each book. It turned out they both shared a love for Jane Austen so filling out the worksheet was a breeze. Angela chose Sense and Sensibility while Pride and Prejudice continued to be Bella’s favorite. They were in the midst of discussing the differences between Elinor Dashwood level-headedness and Elizabeth Bennet’s playful impertinence and drawing the similarities of their passionate nature when the bell rang. 

“I’ve never met anyone who’s into Austen as much as I am,” Angela told Bella after they’d handed their worksheet to Mr. Berty.

“Me neither,” Bella said. It was true, Bella had spent hours reading and re-reading the novels in her youth but had been crushed to realize that none of her old classmates shared her interest in the classics. “Now, you have to be honest with me because this question will be a deciding factor for me to keep you as my friend or not.” Bella’s tone was mockingly grim, and Angela caught on quickly and assumed a serious face. “Fuck, marry, kill; Mr. Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Mr. Collin?”

Angela burst out laughing, blushing lightly at Bella’s crude language. “Oh, one is easy; kill Mr. Collins, but I always had a little bit of a crush on the Colonel after having seen the BBC adaptation from 1995,” she mused, making Bella gasp with delight.

“You’ve seen it?” Bella asked with uncontainable delight. She’d watched the series so many times that Renée refused to watch it with her anymore. She forgot her nervousness. “I don’t care who you fuck or marry; you are officially my best friend!”

Angela seemed just as eager as Bella. “I’ve got the special edition with restored colors and commentary,” she admitted in a shy voice, and Bella looped their arms together, letting Angela lead their way to their next class, which was American History.

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” Bella joked, and Angela nodded in agreement. 

Their history lesson passed quickly; their teacher was as eager for the break as the students and promptly dismissed them after giving them the rundown of the course. Bella and Angela continued their conversation, and soon they’d made plans to meet up sometime and watch Angela’s entire Jane Austen film and tv-series adaptations together. Making friends wasn't so hard as Bella had initially thought. She was so relieved to have found a kindred spirit in Angela that she forgot to be worried about lunch.

They were sitting at one of the tables located in almost every corner of the hallways around the school and Bella was getting to know Angela a little better. Angela had lived in Forks her entire life; her father was the Lutheran minister, and her mother worked as an accountant for a small local business. She also had twin brothers, Joshua and Isaac, who could be very rambunctious and trying at times but Bella could hear the affection in her voice as she recounted all of their mischiefs. Angela was just getting into the swing of things, telling Bella about the time her brothers had put a lobster in the cradle as Baby Jesus before the start of the annual Christmas play when they were interrupted.

“Yo, Angie!” A blond haired boy called with unnecessary loudness. He strutted down the hallway towards them with two other guys. He perked up at the sight of Bella and 

“Hi, I’m Mike,” he said and held out his hand for her to shake. He was smiling at her with a little too much interest and Bella heaved an internal sigh. 

“Guys this is Bella.” Angela, bless her heart, took it upon herself to make the introductions. “Bella this is Austin-” she gestured to the acne-ridden sandy-haired boy who raised his hand in greeting. “- and this is Ben.” The short, black haired boy shot Bella an awkward smile as he sat down next to Angela and entwined their fingers together. Bella blinked. Angela hadn’t mentioned having a boyfriend. 

“So, Bella-” Mike started to drawl.

“Where’s Jessica?” Angela asked Mike pointedly, cutting him off. He shrunk back and rubbed the back of his neck guiltily.

“She went with Lauren to save us a good table in the Mess,” Mike said. “She told us to go and find you. Your schedule is messed up; we hardly have any classes together. Ben here was starting to pine for you by the third period.”

Angela laughed awkwardly, tightening her grip on Ben and patted the back of his hand with her free hand. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t have met Bella otherwise. Besides, we have photography together next class,” she reassured Ben and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. He blushed.

“C’mon, I’m starving,” Austin groaned, and they got up. Angela disentangled herself from Ben and fell into step with Bella. He didn’t seem to mind and took to discussing the new chapter of some superhero novel with Austin. Bella couldn’t help but notice that Angela was an entire head taller than her boyfriend, who was about as tall as herself. 

The mess hall was starting to fill with hungry students, and they took their place in the forming queue to get their meal. The other students had food stamps, and Angela loaned Bella one of hers when she realized that she hadn’t brought any money.

“I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” Bella promised after thanking her. Angela shook her head and reassured her that it wasn’t necessary. Bella didn’t dare take the time to examine what the school had to offer with a line behind her and picked the same stuff as Angela. They headed for a table that was occupied by two pretty girls and two guys who were both wearing varsity jackets.

“Hey, Lauren, Jessica; this is Bella. She’s new here,” Angela introduced Bella when they took their seats.

“We know,” the girl with white blonde hair, Lauren, said. She seemed to dismiss Bella after giving her a once over with sharp green eyes and leaned into the dark-skinned boy sitting beside her. He tried to tangle his fingers in her hair, but she jerked her head away with a warning glare. He rolled his eyes and introduced himself as Tyler Crowley.

“Hi!” a brunette with voluminous curls waved cheerfully to Bella when she took a seat across from her. Mike had his arm around her shoulders. She must be Jessica. “Don’t mind, Lauren. She’s not good with new people.”

“Shut up, Jess,” Lauren scoffed, but there wasn’t any heat behind her words. Angela, who was sitting next to Bella, raised her eyebrows in a ‘what-can-you-do’ way and Bella stifled her smile.

“Hey, Conner,” Mike shared a fist bump with the other guy.

“Yo, dude. Did you catch the game last night?” Conner asked, licking his spoon free of yogurt. 

“The Seahawks got slaughtered, man,” Tyler laughed, and Mike buried his face in his hands with a groan.

“Don’t remind me.” Mike shook his head, and they launched into a heated argument over which team player was to blame for their defeat. Jessica rolled her eyes and leaned forward to tell Angela about what kind of morning she’d had. Apparently, she’d found a dead squirrel on her front porch.

“- I literally died,” Jessica said dramatically, and Lauren grimaced with disgust.

“What did you do with it?” 

“Dad got a stick and took it into the woods. It was super gross; it didn't have any eyes!” Jessica said with too much relish for a girl who was supposedly traumatized by the event. 

Bella nibbled on the side of her cafeteria bland pizza slice and realized that she was sitting with the popular cheerleaders and jocks. It was an absurd thought because she’d spent years making fun of their type. She couldn’t help but think that Jessica and Lauren were both shallow, but then again; she hadn’t known them for more than twenty minutes. 

It was a weird moment for her.

“So, we’re graduating soon. Have any, like, plans?” Lauren asked the entire table. She was obviously the leader here because the other conversations came to a stop to join hers. Lauren didn’t seem too interested in knowing their goals because she immediately launched into her own plans once she had their attention. “I’m going to Canada.”

“Lauren was scouted by a model agency in Victoria this summer,” Angela explained in a hushed voice when she noticed Bella’s confusion. Lauren seemed genuinely excited by the prospect, and she even let Tyler touch her hair when he pressed a kiss to her lips. Bella looked away at their display of affection.

“You’re going places, babe.”

“I’m going to attend uni in Seattle,” Ben said and the rest of the table seemed to have similar plans.

“I’m thinking about getting a degree in communications and maybe entertainment. I really want to have my own talk show one day,” Jessica piped up with a dreamy smile.

“Then you can interview me once I’m famous,” Lauren laughed, and Jessica joined her with a strained smile. Bella sensed a bit of jealousy coming from Jessica and wondered if it was because Laura was the more popular one.

“Totally!”

“What about you, Bella?” Mike asked her and Bella was suddenly the focal point of the entire table.

“Um, I’m going to university and maybe become a teacher.” She shrugged, flushing a little underneath their attention.

“Me too,” Angela said. “I want to be a kindergarten teacher.”

“What do you think the Cullens are going to do?” Jessica asked, and Bella was left behind at the leap in the conversation. She had no idea who the Cullens were, but it seemed like a favorite subject of Jessica’s because there was a gleam in her eyes while the others rolled their eyes. The atmosphere soured even further when Lauren spoke.

“Who cares? They don’t need jobs because they’re all rich and beautiful,” she sneered.

“Speak of the devil,” Mike muttered, and Bella looked up.

A lanky young man and what appeared to be a child at first glance had just entered the mess hall. A closer look told Bella that the girl wasn’t a child but around her age and was just unfortunately short and thin to the extremes. Despite this they looked like a pair of runway models who’d gotten lost on their way to the catwalk and somehow ended up in Forks, Washington instead. Bella couldn’t believe they were still in high school with features like that. Maybe it was the way they dressed, but they appeared years older than the rest of the student population. They walked with the kind of confidence rarely seen in a teenager, and there wasn’t a blemish in sight. They were both deathly pale, and the girl reminded Bella of a pixie; she appeared to float across the room with the graceful steps of a skilled dancer. 

Bella felt a twinge of envy at her coordination. Some people just had it all.

Her companion was just as fetching. He was devastatingly handsome with windswept hair that was the most unusual shade of copper. Heads turned as they walked past but they didn’t seem to care, getting a tray of food and taking a seat in the corner. They slouched elegantly in their chairs and stared in separate directions in stony silence. 

Were these the Cullens? Bella was almost afraid to ask at this point. 

Sound returned to the room, and slowly the students returned to their conversations, shooting the Cullens glances as they put their heads together to whisper and giggle about something; most likely how hot they were.

Jessica sighed before she caught herself and shot Mike a guilty glance. He'd been checking out the pixie Cullen, and Jessica elbowed him in the gut. Mike winced.

“Are they related?” Bella wondered. They didn’t look remotely similar beyond their pale skin and good looks.

“Oh, no,” Jessica answered, eager to dish out their dirty secrets. “Dr. Cullen adopted them, that’s Alice and Edward Cullen, but they have three other siblings who graduated last year. Emmett Cullen, and the Hale twins; Rosalie and Jasper.” Jessica leaned in like she was about to share something scandalous, sending the Cullens an eager look. “They’re all like, together together.”

“Wait, like romantically?” Bella asked.

“It’s really weird,” Jessica nodded and was put out when she saw that Bella didn’t share her disgust.

“Well, you said that they’re not related,” Bella said slowly. Call her a romantic, but she believed that love could be found in the most unexpected places.

“It’s weird,” Jessica asserted before resuming her gossiping. “Alice and Jasper are together, and so are Emmett and Rosalie but Edward is like the only one who’s single,” she said and looked at Edward with a hungry expression. “He’s never shown anyone interest though because apparently, no one is good enough for him.” She blushed and drew back to fold her arms against her chest. Mike glared at Edward Cullen and pulled Jessica to him, which seemed to cheer her up. “Whatever, it’s not like I care.” Her sour expression gave away that she wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended. Bella didn’t know what to say to this. 

She glanced at the Cullens again and met the golden eyes of Alice. Her large doe eyes were alight with some indiscernible emotion, and she whispered something to her brother, not taking her eyes off of Bella. Bella looked down at her plate quickly, embarrassed at having been caught but a quick glance told her that Edward was watching her as well. He didn’t seem to share his sister’s excitement and glared at Bella. Humiliated, she felt like a sideshow freak when they kept staring at her.

“Bella, what class do you have next?” Angela offered Bella an out from the awkward silence.

“I have Spanish,” she said after consulting her schedule. It had been an obvious choice because Bella had taken it in Phoenix, as it is the second most common language spoken in California and Arizona. “What about you?” Bella asked, and Angela reminded her that she had photography with Ben after lunch.

“I’m taking French,” Lauren piped up. She buffed her nails against her blouse without looking up. Jessica appeared to have gotten over her herself and her good mood was restored.

“So am I!” she said brightly. “Mike, you have trig right?” 

“Don’t remind me,” he moaned and looked over at Connor and Tyler. “Do you guys remember anything from last year?”

“Nope.” They didn’t appear to be bothered by the fact and started to pile their trash onto their trays when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. 

Bella’s map came in handy when she was forced to split up with Angela, who’d been her guide up to this moment. She arrived at the correct classroom in the nick of time. Mrs. Geoff, the Spanish teacher, greeted her enthusiastically and made her stand in front of the class and introduce herself in Spanish. Bella wanted to sink into the floor, but her grasp on Spanish was good enough, and she was able to rattle off some inane facts about herself.

“¡Te felicito! Tu trabajo está muy bien hecho,” the teacher exclaimed and received blank-eyed stares from her students.

“Gracias, señora,” Bella said and quickly went to the only seat available. She nearly swallowed her tongue when she saw Alice Cullen sitting in the chair next to hers. Bella sat down and gave Alice an awkward smile, which she returned trifold, nearly blinding Bella with the beauty of it. Her teeth were straight and a pearly white. Bella had the urge to go and brush her teeth, feeling self-conscious.

“So your name is Bella?” Alice asked, her voice sounding like wind chimes. Bella got lost in her eyes for a moment. Bella had never seen such an unusual eye color; they were a stunning liquid gold. She shook herself out of her daze when she realized Alice was waiting for an answer.

“Sí,” Bella replied jokingly. 

“How wonderful.” Alice’s smile widened impossibly. She seemed oddly thrilled about learning Bella’s name because she laughed with delight at the simple introduction. Even her laugh was beautiful.

Mrs. Geoff spoke in Spanish throughout the class, but Bella had a hard time focusing. Alice was the most beautiful creature she’d ever met, with her pale skin and red. She reminded Bella of a miniature Snow White.

Alice didn’t pay attention to Mrs. Geoff either because she kept asking Bella questions in a low whisper. Bella was a little flattered by it. The rest of the students seemed stunned to see Alice voluntarily talking to another human being outside her own family. Mrs. Geoff didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. 

“What color were you thinking about?” Alice’s question brought Bella back. They’d somehow gotten onto the topic of interior design. Bella had learned that Alice was a fashion enthusiast with a thing for decorations, and had let slip that she was thinking about painting the wall in her room to add a little warmth to it.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” Bella admitted.

“Well, I recommend you go to Benjamin Moore in Port Angeles and look at their swatches. Here, let me give you my number in case you need help picking out the right color,” Alice said as the bell rang. She ripped some paper from her notebook and scribbled her mobile number on it and gave it to Bella.

“I don’t have a phone,” Bella said dumbly.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” Alice dismissed. “There are plenty of places that sell them.”

“Thanks.” Bella blinked, feeling like she’d been caught in a whirlwind.

“No, problem,” Alice smiled and waved as she headed in the other direction. “I’ll see you around, Bella!”

“See ya,” Bella said weakly. She got caught in the flow of students and walked with them in a slight daze.

Alice was a little overwhelming. It was apparent that she was the type who knew what she wanted and had no issues with getting it. It was an admirable trait, but Bella was a little shell-shocked after taking the brunt of her attention. Yes, Alice was persistent for someone her size but otherwise harmless. Mostly.

Bella soon learned that the same could not be said about her brother.

Biology class started out fine. Mr. Banner, the teacher, handed Bella her book and bade her take a seat without making her introduce herself using the theme of the subject as Mrs. Geoff had done. It would have made an interesting introduction: “Hi, my name is Isabella Swan, but call me Bella. I started out as a zygote inside my mother’s womb and developed into a human through the wonderful process of mitosis and meiosis. I’m also a Virgo.”

The only seat available was next to one Edward Cullen. 

Everything rolled downhill after that.

Bella couldn’t help but stare at him when she walked between the aisles. Edward’s chiseled features belonged in renaissance paintings or on statues of Greek deities, crafted by master sculptors, not in this backwoods high school. Bella had never seen anyone as handsome as him. It was disquieting, and it provoked something indescribable inside her. 

He looked like an angel. 

When she drew near, his nostrils suddenly flared, and his head jerked up. Edward glared at her with monstrous black eyes, his pupil indiscernible from their darkness, and his face contorted like he’d smelled something foul. He went so far as to lean away from Bella as far as his seat allowed him when she sat down next to him.

Her heart gave a painful squeeze of mortification, and she quickly looked down at the tabletop, her hair falling forward to hide her face. She tried to subtly sniff her shirt to see if she stunk and was a little insulted when she smelled nothing out of the ordinary. Sure, Bella didn’t smell like her usual strawberry shampoo, having forgotten to pick it up at the store, but she wasn’t smelly, and her natural musk was too faint for Edward to smell from this distance. Maybe he was sick; he certainly looked like he was in agony. 

She drew a breath and was about to ask him if he needed the nurse when a tantalizing sweet scent wafted towards her, similar to the one his sister bore. Her mind felt fuzzy, and Bella was drawn towards it like a bee to honey, but the look in Edward’s soulless eyes spelled death. It was a spine-chilling experience. 

Bella looked away quickly. She took it back; Edward wasn’t a beautiful angel, not at that moment. He was an archangel, cast out of heaven and turned demonic. He didn’t look human.

Maybe he just has bad gas, she thought to herself, feeling the beginnings of hysteria creeping on her. Twenty minutes dragged past, and Bella kept one eye on the clock and the beast beside her. She hadn’t heard a word of what Mr. Banner was saying, distracted by the murderous intent emanating from Edward. He hadn’t moved, frozen in his odd hunched position. Bella doubted that he was even breathing; his chest wasn’t moving, and his hand was covering his mouth and nose. He certainly wasn’t blinking.

Fear. That was the feeling Edward provoked inside her; a deep primitive fear that urged Bella to either leap out of the window to get away from him or to pick up her pencil and stab it into those unnatural black eyes of his. Bella was not a violent person by nature so the sudden desire to attack a classmate, no matter how creepy, took her by surprise.

What was happening to her? Bella didn’t know, but she knew it had something to do with Edward. She refused to take this anymore; Edward Cullen had no right to affect her like this. Bella stood up and walked to Mr. Banner’s desk for her escape. He looked up at her, and she didn’t have to fake her nervous smile.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I go to the bathroom?” she asked in a low voice.

“Certainly,” Mr. Banner said and handed her a hall pass.

“Thank you,” Bella said and hurried out of the room. One last look at Edward almost sent her running. He was no longer straining back but leaning forwards like a predator readying itself to leap onto its prey. He looked like he wanted to eat her.

Bella settled for a brisk pace down the corridor instead of hightailing out of the school like she wanted to. She was halfway down the hallway when Alice Cullen, of all people, rounded the corner. She was speaking anxiously into her phone, and Bella caught a bit of her end of the conversation when they walked past each other. “-can’t see him, Carlisle. Hi, Bella!” Alice wiggled her fingers at her but didn’t slow down, which suited Bella just fine. She’d had enough of the Cullens today. “No. I’m getting him now.” 

Him? Did she mean Edward? If so, Bella hoped she was taking him to the hospital for a rabies shot. He was clearly feral.

She made it to the bathroom without any hindrance and locked herself in one of the stalls. It offered her a bare minimum of protection, but at least no one could see her. If you can’t see it, it’s not there - it being a black-eyed monster in this case. The irrational thought was exactly what Bella needed to calm down. She stared blankly at the scribbles on the stall door as she wrangled her thundering heart under control. Someone had written in looping cursive about, oddly enough, the militia movements of the Confederate Army in the Civil War. It was signed J. W. at the bottom, and Bella sent a silent thank-you to them for the distraction. 

Five minutes passed faster than she liked and Bella was forced to return to the Biology classroom. She felt like she was heading towards the gallows.

Edward was nowhere in sight, and Bella was faint with relief. She returned her hall pass with shaking hands and returned to her seat. Feeling brave, she vindictively took the chair Edward had occupied. It was silly, but it gave Bella a small measure of comfort; how evil could he be if his presence hadn't left behind a tainted mark.

Bella’s thought hadn’t even finished when she noticed hairline fractures in the wood extending from the place where Edward had gripped the desk. Had he broken the counter? It seemed a bit excessive, but Edward must really not like her. She ran her fingers on the underside of the wood and found finger size groves embedded there. 

Her breath came fast and shallow, and Bella was on the verge of hyperventilating when she caught a flash of copper in her peripheral vision. Her mind had evidently associated the color with Edward, and rightly so, because her head snapped to the side, afraid that he was coming for her again. Alice was frog marching Edward across the car park. It would have been a comical sight, Edward’s lanky height dwarfed Alice’s tiny form, if Bella wasn’t freaking out. Alice led him towards the woods for some reason. Didn’t they have a car?

Then something astonishing happened; Alice pushed her brother forward with unnatural strength and his shape blurred as he took off at a sprint. With the same supernatural speed, Alice followed suit, and they were both gone before Bella had time to blink.

The only thing keeping Bella grounded was the grip she still had on the table, her fingers fitting into the indentations Edward had left behind. 

It was proof that she hadn’t lost her mind.

A/N: I don’t speak Spanish and neither does anyone else in my family so don’t hesitate to correct me if what Mrs. Goff said was incorrect!  

Next chapter: Momma Renée gives life advice, and dinner at Billy’s turns into an eye-opening experience, featuring Bella; the amazing grocery mountaineer.

[liw-the-melancholic-apple]

How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems. But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Nine: A hard night’s day I

Back in the common room I sat down on a fluffy carpet and buried my head in my hands. I wasn’t sure whether going off at Sirius in front of all of them was smart. It could have just alienated him further. It could make the other boys mad at him. They more or less seemed annoyed now. I didn’t want to cause any more trouble. I really didn’t. When I realised I was thinking in circles I half-heartedly pulled out my Charms book from my bag and looked for a desk. I could have gone up to work by myself but I needed other people being around, even if it was the babbling and screaming first years who played exploding Snap in one corner. The old desk with the skinny legs and rose carvings that was painted black always spoke to me. I pulled one of the mustard-yellow satin chairs to it and elongated its legs. Nothing but an armchair to do your homework.

The more I read about huminification charms, the more I forgot my current complicated life and the better my essay on the possible advantages of humanified objects got. I loved the idea of charming a clock to sing me the time or to have my books grow feet and ears so I could command them to tidy themselves up. I reread the whole thing when somebody threw a shadow over my little desk.

“Jette?”

“Toby…” I braced myself for a confrontation that hadn’t yet happened.

“Uhm… Pince said you have checked out Montague’s Marvellous Mushrooms and Mosses.”

“I have.”

“Could I borrow it? Sprout has us on identification and I’m really stuck on one of the samples. I think it’s Taiwanese Mountain Moss but it could just as well be seaweed…”

“It’s upstairs. I can get it for you.”

“If you would? Thanks.”

“Give me a second.” I got up and went to my dorm. The book lay in a big pile on my desk. I had only checked it out to do something while avoiding everyone I knew. Grabbing the book I wondered why Toby was speaking so normally to me. For the past three and a half weeks he hadn’t said a single word to me and only ever looked at me to silently threaten my life. I was quite convinced that he hated me.

“There you go.” I handed him Montague’s work.

“Thanks, I’ll have it back to you as soon as possible.”

“Oh, no. Keep it as long as you like. I got two more weeks before it’s due back and I don’t really need it. I just wanted… something to read.”

“Thanks.” He turned to go back to the couch where he sat with Magnus but stopped halfway and faced me again.

“You’ve seemed absent recently.”

“Pardon?”

“I haven’t seen you around as much as usual. Everything okay?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. It’s just… Look, I’m Crick’s friend. Someone hurts him, I’m against them.”

“I realised.”

“Maybe we’ve gone overboard a bit. After Chloe yelled at Magnus we both considered what she said but it didn’t sound like Crick to blatantly lie about what happened.”

“I doubt that he lied. For him it is probably exactly what happened. It’s his truth. But, you know, not mine.”

“So, you didn’t tell him you loved him?”

“Ugh!”, I got up from my chair and started pacing around. “No. Not like that. I mean I’ve known him since I was …born? Must have told him I loved him at some point. And I told him about the crush in second year. But recently? No. The only time I remember that that word was even used was in the owlry in November.”

“That’s what he told us. You told him you loved him when you were alone in the owlry.”

“No! I said ‘we’.”

“Come again?”

“We were talking about how the girls and I spent more time with the Poter-posse and how he felt abandoned. So, I told him that we didn’t want to make him feel that way. Because we were his friends and we loved him. We! The group. All of us. Platonically.”

Toby didn’t seem convinced.

“What about the date?”

“What date?”

“You went to the party together. It was a date.”

“Not to my knowledge. When Mum said that Mrs Cricket was going to buy tickets for Crick and Jonas Milla and I wanted in on the fun. I convinced Mum to let me go if I stayed with Jonas and Crick. Milla then found out that she’d go skiing. So, I asked Crick and Jonas if they would consider walking there with me and getting me back home. I told them that they didn’t have to look after me at the party because I could just find myself new friends but that I would love to go.

Jonas had made plans to preparty at a friend’s house but Crick said that it would be no problem. How is that a date?”

Magnus had walked over to us and listened in on my story.

“It isn’t. Will Jonas confirm that?”

“Yes, Mag, he will confirm it.”

“Look, if I had known how Crick felt about me I would have been a little nicer about the whole thing. More considerate. But I didn’t know. Why should I have assumed that he’d think of that party as a date when I absolutely didn’t? If Milla had been in the country I would have begged Crick to take her, too. I was blind to the possibility of Crick and I ever being more than friends. So, if there were clues on how he felt I just… I just didn’t see them.”

“That does sound more like you than being a heartbreaking skank”, Toby commented with a crooked smile.

“Thank you.”

“I hate it when Chloe’s right. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“You believe me?”

“Don’t think we have a choice, mate.” I leaped at them, wrapping one arm around each of their necks, trying hard not to cry and failing.

“Woah, Jette, it’s all good. No tears. Please, no tears.”

Magnus wiped away the wetness from my cheek with his thumb and smiled at me. “Hot chocolate?”

We put the houseelves to work and came away with three steaming cups of cocoa. I finished my homework sitting at their table, joking around every so often and feeling like maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad.

When the other girls came back from their lame astrology course Chloe instantly greeted us with a “Come to your senses, I see” which caused Magnus to roll his eyes and Toby to shrug. They joined us around the little coffeetable and we all let our homework be homework. Instead we decided to interrogate Milla about her plans for the next day, after all her big date with Remus was less than twenty-four hours away.

“He planned the thing”, Milla grinned. “And he’s very secretive about it. All I know is that we’re to meet in the foyer right after breakfast and that I’m not to smoke with you and the others but on the way to the village. No idea what we’re gonna do then.”

“It’s so romantic”, Blair dreamily said.

“No, it’s about damn time”, Nica answered. “They approach their expirydate.”

“Their what now?”, Toby asked laughing.

“Oh, you know. There’s a certain moment during the whole flirting thing by which you have to have gotten somewhere. Otherwise you’ll just stay friends. I thought everybody knew that. If none of the two makes a move, they’ll both just be done with it.”

“News to me”, Magnus said.

“That’s because you fell for Chloe and told her instantly.”

“And you were lucky that I liked you, too.”

It was one of the best afternoons I’d had all month.

But of course the joy of that afternoon was shortlived. When we walked into the Great Hall for dinner Mulciber and younger Black waited for us near the door.

“Would you look at that, Regulus? An entire group of mudbloods, filthy halfbloods and blood traitors.”

“And a good evening to you, Mulciber.”

“I think we should teach McKinnon and Levenstein a lesson in who to surround themselves with, don’t you?” Magnus stepped in front of Chloe while Toby shielded Blair.

“Oh, cute. They brought dirty bodyguards. Shame they won’t bloody help you.” Black’s eyes had a crazy glare in them, that I hadn’t seen before. “Don’t you know that their muddy magic can’t combat ours?”

“I’m giving you one chance to just get out the way and let us get on with our evening, Black. One.”

“Or what”

“Or I’ll show you what I could have done to Mulciber and his friends here, when they insulted your brother in October. Remember that? When you were actually rather decent and not yet consumed by those idiotic ideals your friends are so obsessed with? I remember you defended me.” Mulciber looked at Black.

“Temporary insanity”, Black said casually with a shrug. “Back then I wasn’t aware how much you love yourself some mudblood.” Black raised his wand at Milla and out of the corner of my eye I saw her flinch and take a step back.

“Black, hexing fellow students is against this school’s houserules. As is harassing them. Now, get out of our way!”, I yelled.

“Lacanta”, Black yelled in response, wand still pointed at Milla. Her hair started to crawl back into her scalp. She screamed in pain and shock. That was the moment that I forgot I was a prefect and an example to my fellow students. That was the moment I decided to be a good best friend and a very talented duellist. I grabbed my wand and pointed it at the Slytherin table.

“Oppugno!”, every last spoon from the green table flew towards Mulciber, Black, Flint and the rest of their little gang. As they were distracted by the attack I used the time to stop the curse Black had thrown at Milla and had her hair grow back.

I heard the spoons fall to the ground and instinctively conjured protection around us before binding all of our opponents with the Incarcerous by yelling the charm and waving my wand over all of them. One by one they fell onto the spoon-covered ground wrapped in thick yellow and black rope.

“So much for muddy blood not standing a chance!”, I huffed at them.

The Great Hall had fallen absolutely silent. The army of flying spoons had alerted every last person to our little conflict and when I looked up to the teacher’s table I realised that Professor Slughorn, Professor Sprout and the headmaster were coming our way.

“Maybe you should go and sit down”, I suggested, realising that I had been the only one who actually broke the rules. But my friends refused to leave my side. To be honest, I was happy they stayed. It felt good knowing they were with me and had my back.

Dumbledore undid the ropes and waited for the Slytherins to get back up.

“Mr Plouer, Mr Maguire, Miss McKinnon, Miss Levenstein, Miss O’Leary, Miss Scribe-Anderson, Mr Flint, Mr Avery, Mr Mulciber, Mr Lucasson and Miss Weary will now sit down at their respective tables”, Dumbledore announced with a calm voice that didn’t allow any discussion. Professor Sprout escorted the Hufflepuffs, Professor Slughorn lead the Slytherins back to their benches.

“Mr Black and Miss de Witt. Again. This time on opposing sides, I see. Not too long ago you made me reconsider punishing Mr Black, Miss de Witt. Will you be doing the same thing, now?”

“No, Sir. This time I’d like him to be expelled. But I’ll be happy if he get detention until the end of the year.”

“Yeah? In that case you should be in detention until you graduate, seeing how you attacked us twice!”, Black shot back.

“Miss de Witt warned you, Mr Black. She gave you a chance to walk away. I heard that with my own two ears. I might be old but by no means am I deaf.” We both stared at Dumbledore gobsmacked.

“You chose to ignore the warning and hex Miss Scribe-Anderson with a particularly nasty jinx. I hear it’s a very painful experience to have your hair retreat into the follicles. You will face consequences for this action, Mr Black.”

“But Sir, she…”

“She, too will face consequences”, Dumbledore cut Black off. “While you displayed excellent knowledge and execution of defensive spells, Miss de Witt, you chose to first attack Mr Black with a table-full of spoons, rather than instantly rendering them no-risk. I assume you could have bound them right away?”

“I suppose so, Sir. But my best friend was screaming in agony and Mulciber and Flint had their wands ready to hex the next of us. I decided to distract them first, so we could help out Milla. You’ll have noticed that not a single spoon touched either of them.”

“Indeed I have noticed.” He remained quiet for what seemed an eternity and you could have heard a needle drop in the Great Hall. Absolutely everybody was listening to our conversation.

“Detention for the both of you. With your respective Heads of House. They will determine the punishment. Two weeks each, you hear? I do not want to see anything like this again of either of you. But Miss de Witt, however impressive this demonstration was, you are a prefect to your fellow students, which means you act with grace and common sense. One more mishap like this and I’ll have the badge revoked. Understood?”

“Understood, Sir.”

“Well, enjoy your dinner, then.” He abruptly turned around and went back to the head table. I wasted no time getting away from Black and joined my friends.

Professor Sprout waited for me. Her usually motherly face had lost all warmth. The wrinkles that normally made her seem like a quirky grandmother now gave her a harsh appearance. She was mad.

“Once you’ve finished, you will report to my office. Immediately. No talking to your friends, no smoking in the courtyard. You will report to me instantly.”

“I will, Professor.” Without another word she turned around.

Professor Sprout’s office looked like a botanical garden. Every surface was covered in pots of all sizes, mainly in terracotta colour. They held plants that had fangs, produced purple bubbles, had tentacles and sent their blossoms flying through the air. From the ceiling hung even more pots, from ropes and chains, some suspended in the air without any help. Those held ivy and ranks cascading down onto the floor. The walls were covered in pictures and sketches of plants, that were likely pulled from textbooks. In the far back stood a huge wooden desk – also adorned with flowers and plants – in front of a big cupboard, a tub of soil and several watering cans.

I’d been here before. Generally it was a welcoming office that was filled with laughter and praise but I expected this time to be very different.

Upon knocking I got no answer but heard feet moving through the room, so I opened the door. Professor Sprout juggled three watering cans while rushing from one side of the room to the other, amber coloured robes flying into the air and crinkling. She hadn’t heard my knocking and didn’t seem to realise that I had entered. I let her finish watering a particularly naughty looking plant that slapped at her with thorned tentacles about the size of my legs.

“Professor Sprout?”

“Jette. Come in.”

She cleared away three tiny pots with what seemed to be human heads growing inside of them from a chair and gestured for me to sit. Then she took her own seat behind the giant desk. It took forever before she’d speak again.

“Professor Dumbledore and I are in agreement that your behaviour this evening leaves a lot to be desired. You are a Prefect. You should lead with good example and inspire your fellow Hufflepuffs. When you were given the badge at the beginning of the year you told me you understood that.”

“I remember.”

“So, I’d like to know what you think you’ve inspired your fellow Hufflepuffs to do tonight.”

“May speak absolutely freely?”

“By all means.”

“The only reason Mulciber and Black waited by the door was to find a victim, Madam. And they found that victim in us. Both of them are obsessed with blood purity and their own superiority. They are convinced that people like me, people like Milla should have never been allowed to attend Hogwarts. They are racists, Professor. Nothing short of it. I stood up to a bunch of racists in order to defend myself and my friends after we’d been attacked by them. Truth be told, I think I inspired my fellow Hufflepuffs to be proud of who they are and to remember they have the same rights to be here as anybody else. I hope to have inspired them to not take any of this elitist talk serious. I hope to have inspired them to choose wisely who to listen to and who to surround themselves with. I want to have inspired them to fight for their rights, be that with their wands, their fists or their voices. We might be kids in your eyes, Professor Sprout, but we read the Daily Prophet. We see the lists of missing people. We know about the debates in the Ministry. We hear what’s whispered in the corridors and we know what’s thought in the dungeons.

I’m expecting this whole bloodpurity-nonsense to blow up into one hell of a mess. And if my actions – however irresponsible or rule-breaking they were – inspired even one of my classmates to stand up for themselves when that mess is upon us, I’ll be proud. I do not see myself as a witch of second class. As a person of second class, because my grandmother fell in love with a muggle. I do not consider Milla or Toby people of third class because their parents are muggles. I don’t even understand how one could come to that conclusion. And because of that I will sure as hell not stand by when they are attacked for being who they are. For being brought up by loving good people.

I understand that I broke the rules and I understand that I should be punished for that. But I will not apologise for my actions. Not to you, not to Professor Dumbledore and not to those scumbags of Slytherins. I’d do it again. Because it’s right.” I took a deep breath and looked at Sprout. Her expression hadn’t changed throughout my lengthy speech.

“The headmaster has asked me to determine your punishment. It will last for two weeks.” She handed me a big, antique silver key on a leather band. “These are the keys to Greenhouse 4. You will spend one hour a day caring for the plants in there. You are to tell me at breakfast of every day when you plan to carry out your detention. If you want to do it before the classes, you tell me at dinner the night before. Enter the greenhouse and you’ll find a list of tasks. They shouldn’t take you longer than an hour but if they do you’ll finish the list before you leave. Is that clear.”

“Yes, Professor it is.”

“But?”

“But I thought student weren’t allowed in Greenhouse 4.”

“They normally aren’t. There’s nothing dangerous in there, dear. Just sensible plants and those we grow for the ingredients in Potions. You should be fine.” She put her glasses on again and went through the parchments that were scattered on her desk.

“You can go, now, Jette. Don’t lose the key. Have a good weekend.”

“You, too, Professor. Goodnight.”

Back on the third floor corridor I closed the door of Professor Sprout’s office and stared at the key. It was silver in colour and shiny and about as long as my entire hand. There were only about three teeth on it but the stem and the head were ornate to the max. Those ornaments were mainly owls and horned boars. The black leatherband was tied around the head that looked like a three-leave-clover. Everything about the key gave me the impression that it had been around for centuries and I wondered how old the greenhouses actually were. Had they been on the grounds when the school first opened? The key made it seem that way.

While fiddling with the band my feet carried me back to the foyer where I found my friends trying to hold back a raging Remus.

“Let me go! Let me go! I’ll have him! I’ll kill him dead! LET! ME! GO!”

“Will you calm down?”, James yelled back but to no avail.

“Get off me!!”

“Remus, please!” That was Milla’s voice but I couldn’t see her. I ran the last couple of steps to them and first found Nica who confirmed what I already suspected: The boys had come to dinner late and found out about what happened to us.

“Get off, get off, get off! He deserves the pain, mate!”

“I know he does, but you don’t!”, Sirius’ hoarse voice had that same soft and calm tone again that I knew from New Year’s Eve.

“Remus, please! It’s not that bad, just calm down!”, Milla pleaded.

“Not that bad?!? Are you kidding me?”

“Remus John Lupin, you listen to me”, I shouted using my outside voice and my prefect tone. “This  incident has already gotten me probation as a prefect because I didn’t act like a rolemodel. Black will get detention. The last thing you need right now is to be grounded tomorrow, yeah?”

He stopped struggling for a moment and looked at me. “If I were McGonnagal I’d have you stay in the castle tomorrow if you do something stupid now.”

“That’s it!”, Milla decided. “You calm down this instant, have a smoke and a hot chocolate and then you forget about Sirius stupid brother. I will not not go on a date tomorrow. Am I making myself clear?” She, too, had used her prefect voice.

“He called you a mudblood and physically assaulted you, Milla.”

“I’m aware. And very flattered that you’re willing to defend my honour with such passion but I’ll be more flattered if you tell me how pretty I look in my new hat on the way to Hogsmeade.”

Remus’ fighting against the restraining hands of his four best friends and Magnus died down a little. I was certain that he was giving it up when Mulciber, Flint and younger Black came up to the foyer from the dungeons. Instinctively, Blair and I moved to block Remus’ view of them but he was too tall for that scheme. I saw his muscles tighten again and the other boys digging their heels into the stone floor. He didn’t yet say anything.

“Oh, is someone mad because we teased the little mudblood?”, Flint asked in the most condescending tone. Remus let out a quiet but very animalistic growl.

“Oi, de Witt, you’re on the list now, too, you know. Thought we could maybe let you get off lightly, given that your great-grandparents were purebloods but that’s over. You’re nothing more than a filthy mudblood-loving bloodtraitor. Worth nothing more than my brother”, Black announced, obviously hoping to intimidate me. I was going to answer but Sirius was quicker.

“Reg, don’t you think you’ve gotten into enough trouble tonight?” He still held back Remus, only looking over his shoulder. His brother let out a cackling laugh.

“Oi, Cricket get in here and help me out!”, Sirius shouted and to my surprise Crick and Jonas came to release Sirius of his Remus-restraining-duties.

“Reg, I’m talking to you. Don’t you think you’ve proven where you stand? We all know what you’re thinking, we all know you’re better. Just let it go. Don’t get yourself into any more trouble.”

“As if that was any of your concern, bloodtraitor.”

“Of course it’s my concern! You’re my little brother. However twisted your views might be I don’t need or want you to be scrubbing toilets for the rest of the year.”

“I! AM! NOT! YOUR! BROTHER!”, Black’s voice echoed through the foyer, rendering every other student silent.

“You are a disgrace to the ancient and noble house of Black! You deserved every bit of what they did to you! You deserved to be cursed and tortured and beaten. You don’t value or respect you blood. The moment you left, they burnt you off the tapestry and disowned you. And so, did I! Have fun living with your bloodtraiter-friends but don’t think that there’s a fraction of respect left in me. You’re dead to me.” Black pushed Sirius who stumbled a good couple of feet back. Then, the whole Slytherin group left the foyer through a corridor to their right.

Peter, James, Magnus, Jonas and Crick were still leaning against Remus who stood as relaxed as he would have on the train to the holidays. All of them were staring at Sirius. Like Nica, Milla, Blair, Chloe and me. Like every other student in the foyer.

Sirius didn’t move. I only saw his back but I imagined him staring at the spot where his brother had stood a minute ago. An eternity passed before James let go of Remus and went over to his best friend. He spoke to him in a hushed voice and got him to move again. He guided him to the courtyard, raising three fingers in the air to us.

“Guess, we’re giving them three minutes… Chaps, thanks. But you can let go now.”, Remus said, the first person in the room to speak in full volume. The other boys stepped back from him and Milla first punched him in the arm, then leaned against him. The rest just stared at Peter and Remus waiting for some kind or explanation, while my eyes focused on nothing in particular and I let my thoughts run.

I had been right. They had tortured him. His parents had tortured him. Those three sentences raced through my head in a loop, so that I didn’t realise that Peter was talking to me.

“”Jette? You coming?”, he asked very carefully and softly.

“Sorry?”

“The three minutes are up. We’re gonna go check on Sirius.”

“I have a feeling you two should do that without us”, I answered, thinking of the weeks of silence I had endured for knowing.

“I think you should come”, Remus insisted.

“No, no, I won’t do that. It’s…eh… personal. His best friends should check on him.” The other girls and three boys nodded and we all stepped closer towards each other.

“You are his friends, too. I really think you should come and prove that to him. He might need it.” Remus’ words convinced the other girls, but neither me nor the three Hufflepuff boys. In silence we went down to the common room.

When we had all climbed through the fake barrel I turned to go upstairs to my dorm but Jonas held me back. “Is it true?”

“What younger Black said?” He nodded.

“I think so. I mean, I know he lives with the Potters, so I’m guessing the rest is true, too.”

“They beat him?” The first words Crick had spoken to me in nearly five weeks. The first time he looked at me like he was Crick and I was Jette and we were friends.

“I think so.”

“Merlin, I’m such a git! I punched him.”

“I’m aware.”

“Of course you are…”

Jonas pulled me and the other boys onto one of the couches.

“You wouldn’t know from the way he acts. He’s so…”

“I know. I know.” I went back to the situation I had just witnessed and tried to ignore the obvious traumatic conversation between the Black brothers, which lead me to a different thought.

“How did you help them out? Like why? Didn’t see that coming.”

“I don’t have a problem with Remus”, Crick answered.

“You don’t?”

I realised that Magnus and Jonas got up and left us alone.

“No. I never had.”

“Liar. You hate him. You hate them all!”

“No, no! I… My problem with them was that I thought you hung out with them because you liked one of them too much.”

“Crick, I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know. I didn’t think it was a possibility, it was… to me it was just us going to a party. It was us being friends.”

“I know. It’s not your fault. I was seeing a sign in everything you did because I wanted to. And I didn’t handle myself well on New Year’s. You’re not the one who should say sorry.”

“I hurt you.”

“I scared you. That’s worse in my book.” We were quiet for a moment.

“Jette, I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I know you to be a good person, kind-hearted, loyal, loving. You don’t play people. But in that moment …”

“I get it. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I said things I shouldn’t have. I accused you of things you would never do, I know you’d never do and I called you… well, not very nice things.”

“Not to my face, you didn’t.”

“I told Black I thought you were a scheming whore.”

My eyes widened. Surely, this couldn’t be true.

“And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I was hurt and I was confused and I felt embarrassed and I didn’t think before I spoke. I just… I was so convinced you’d be happy. I didn’t even consider the possibility you wouldn’t want me. Guess, I am that arrogant.”

“I never meant to hurt you or confuse you or embarrass you. You’re Crick. You’re my Crick and I care about you.”

“Which is probably why I fell so stupidly hard for you.”

“I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Don’t. We’re friends. I like being your friend and I’ve missed you recently. I’ll get over it. With people like Black, Mulciber and Flint running around we need all the friends we can get, right?”

“We’re friends?”, I felt a tear rolling down my cheek and wiped it away in annoyance.

“Yes, we’re friends. Com here.” Crick pulled me closer and put it arm around me. I buried my face in his shoulder and concentrated on my breathing to not burst into sobs.

“I missed you, too”, I whispered right before Felix, Jonas, Magnus and Toby joined us.

“Finally! Are we good, again?”

“Yeah, we’re good”, Crick answered, gently pushing me away. “Safe distance. It’ll take me some time to get back to normal.”

“Whatever you want”, I smiled at him.

The boys caught me up on their lives. Jonas had had his problems with Valerie who had hoped he’d become her boyfriend over the first weeks of January and he finally officially confessed that he was into Elaine. I glanced at Crick who was suddenly very interested in his finger nails.

Toby had gotten into some hot and steamy action with a muggle girl in his home town during the holidays that he described so vividly Felix went from red to nearly purple as he listened.

“Jette!”, Nica yelled over the commotion of the common room.

“There you are! Come, we’re meeting the boys up in the fifth year office. Come!” Blair tried pulling me from the couch but stopped when she realised that I was sitting next to Crick. Still holding my hand she looked between him and me.”

“They’ve worked it out”, Felix explained while slowly returning to his natural face colour. Blair smiled. “That’s awesome!”

“How’s Black?”, Jonas asked.

“He’s okay.”

“Was it all true what his brother said?”

“Yes”, Chloe answered with very puffy eyes. “He moved in with the Potters last summer after his mum used an unforgivable curse on him.” Her voice turned into a whisper at the second half of that sentence.

“No, she didn’t.”

“Yes, she did.”

“How do you know that?”, I asked realising that this was information I didn’t know before.

“Sirius told us. We’ve been outside until now and nearly froze to death but we’re not done talking. Figured you’d wanna come. He said it’s not a secret from his best friends. Those he can trust.” Aim. Shoot. Headshot. More like heartshot. He told them. He trusted them with what must be his biggest secret because they were his best friends. Ouch. What was this day?

“Get up. Let’s go. Milla went right up with them. They’re waiting. Sirius is forcing all of us to tell a secret, so he has something to hold over our heads.” Nica laughed. I didn’t move.

“I don’t feel like talking, actually.”

“Are you having a laugh?”

“No, I’m not. I’ll stay here. Maybe take a walk. Besides, I missed out on the whole conversation; I’d just be in the way. You go.”

They attempted to take me with them two more times but I remained strong. If I saw Sirius right now, I’d yell at him until I lost my voice and he needed anything but that right now. The boys asked me whether I was okay, I lied and excused myself. The corridor was empty. What was I supposed to do? I aimlessly went up and down the hall a couple times, then tickled the stupid pear in the stupid fruitbowl on the stupid painting and went into the stupid kitchen. It was empty. The houseelves were gone and only one candle was lit. I took it with me to the little nook in the very back that was hidden behind a big ingredient cupboard where I had sat with Milla last year. I poured some sugar on the window sill and let one of the small teacups dance around in it making spirals of sugar as it did. While I watched the circles and spins I welled up again. They learned about this whole situation the exact same way I did: by someone telling them without them asking. Not because Sirius wanted them to know. Why did they instantly get the whole story and were treated as best friends and trustworthy people, while I got pushed into non-existence for several weeks? Had I failed Sirius – and therefore the other boys – in some way, shape or form as a friend? Had I not made it clear that I was their friend, that I cared about them, that I respected them? I prided myself in being a good friend. I was proud to be loyal and trustworthy, that I listened to my friends rants even if I had fourty times already. I thought of myself as a good person and a good friend and it bothered me that I apparently hadn’t succeeded in conveying that. Thick teardrops fell into the sugar and slowed the teacup down. It bothered me that all of the other girls had proven themselves to be trustworthy and kind and loyal and deserving of conversations and the truth. It bothered me that I over the last couple of months hadn’t. And it confused me, too. After all when Crick had gotten out of hand they had stepped in without me asking them to. They obviously deemed me worthy of being defended – and getting punched in the face! – as well as taking in. I didn’t understand where the line lay that the other girls had crossed and I hadn’t. I kept running through scenarios and theories for hours, incapable of stopping the tears from falling.

“Miss needs to get up! Miss needs to go upstairs and have breakfast. Or Miss should go have a sleep in a bed and not next to the stove. It’s not comfortable. And Mimi needs it. It’s the stove to prepare the tea on, Miss.” I opened eyes to a pair of gigantic sky blue tennis balls with pupils and the roundest nose I’d ever seen.

“Good morning, Miss!”, the houseelf chirped. “Do you think Mimi could use the stove, Miss?”

“Oh, Morgana, yes, by all means! I’m so sorry. I didn’t plan on falling asleep. I apologise for delaying you.”

“Oh, no Miss, don’t. Mimi just came in and found Miss. No problem. No problem, at all.” The elf started putting pots of water on the stove while I sat up and rubbed my aching neck. I still sat on the window sill, the wet sugar and teacup still in front of me. I quickly waved my wand to clean up the mess I’d made.

“Thanks, for waking me up, Mimi.”

“Of course, Miss. Can Mimi do anything else for Miss? Maybe some tea or coffee or toast and jam?” Coffee sounded absolutely heavenly.

“I really don’t want to bother you, Mimi. I could just go upstairs, I reckon breakfast will be served shortly.”

“In half an hour, Miss. But you could take something to shorten the waiting time.” She smiled at me from one ear to the other.

“Mimi makes great tea and coffee, Miss!”

“I don’t doubt that for a second, Mimi. I can’t survive the day without two cups of coffee at least. And it’s always great.”

I didn’t think it was possible but her smile widened even more.

“Thank you, Miss, thank you. Mimi makes you a cup!”

And so she did. Armed with the biggest mug of coffee I had ever owned – Mimi insisted I keep it as a gift and token of her appreciation of my appreciation of her coffee – I left the kitchen and walked across the corridor to fall onto an armchair in the common room. My neck still hurt, my arms were sore and my back felt roughly fifty years older than it was. Smart move, de Witt. Fall asleep in the kitchen.

“Where have you been?!” Milla sprinted down the spiral staircase from the dorms. I checked the time. It was before early.

“Why are you awake?”

I had spent quite some time with Sprout yesterday evening, then we all witnessed the Black brothers go at each other, then I spent like ninety minutes in the common room and then Milla had been upstairs with the Potter-posse. I was sure that she didn’t get to bed before one or two o’clock. She was Milla. She was supposed to not get up before noon.

“I needed the loo and you weren’t there. Like when I went to bed.” She sat down next to me, still wearing her pyjama’s, looking at my jeans and jumper from yesterday suspiciously.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“And where?”

“Kitchens.”

“Why?

“Not like I did it on purpose. I went there for a tea and to think and just fell asleep.”

“I thought that you stayed with Crick and the lot, now that you’re friends with them.”

“Well, Crick said he’d need some time to get back to normal. He pushed me to a safe distance…”

“Can’t blame him.”

“Right. And we had caught each other up on the holidays and the past few weeks, so…

“So you could have come up with the others and talked to us.”

“Yeah, theoretically.”

“Theoretically? What kept you from doing it practically?” I bit my tongue and looked at the burned, black logs in the fire place.

“Remus told me that you knew since New Year’s.”

“Of course he did.”

“He also told me that it was why Black went silent on you.”

“Of course he did.”

“Seems like you would have wanted to get the whole story. To… I don’t know… find out why he was mad… or… you know”

“Ehm…Didn’t feel like it.”

“Why not? You were so angry at him for being angry with you. Why not ask him why he’s so stupid?”

“I kind of know, already.”

“Oh?”

“Can we not do this? I slept really badly and you should probably get ready and go to breakfast. You got a date today, you know.”

“Believe it or not, I remembered that.”

She clearly didn’t want to but she went back upstairs. I stayed in my armchair, sipping my coffee, trying not to cry again and not to think about the whole situation. It had been a really weird day. Classes on my own, tainted memories, yelling at Sirius, making up with Toby and Mag, getting attacked by little Black, getting into detention in Greenhouse 4, witnessing half the school learn about Sirius living with the Potters, making up with Crick and falling asleep in the kitchens crying. What the hell?

[fullmoonimagines]

Doors//Stiles Stilinski

Anon: Can I request a Stiles x female!reader with the prompt number 8 that looks like "you're basically the only reason I get up the morning?" But like the reader is feeling sad, anxiety and all that, and when she's at the lowest she kinda confesses her bad emotional state to him? Something like that would be super awesome ❤❤❤❤ and you're even more awesome ❤❤❤❤❤❤

8. “You are pretty much the only thing that makes me want to get up in the morning.”

(Set in season 6b, if senior year had dragged on longer and Stiles was still in BH)

Y/N POV

I love Beacon Hills, I really do, but sometimes it really sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I have great friends and it’s a beautiful place to live, but the one thing I could do without was the huge magnet that this town was to the supernatural. Alpha packs, berserkers, dread doctors, ghost riders, hell, some kid even turned into a shapeshifting lizard. With all that’s been going on in the past couple years, I’ve been pretty proud of myself keeping my grades up. That is, until basically the entire town decided to turn against my friends and take up arms.

Feelings of distress buzzed through my body as I hurried to finish my test. The scribbles on the page were barely legible but were written as quickly as possible as not to run out of time. I began the last paragraph of my essay right as the bell rang, and my heart dropped into my chest. I thought I had more time. I tried to scan over my work one more time before the teacher spoke: “Pencils down everyone, time’s up. Please staple your pages together and hand them in before you leave”.

I filed in line with the rest of the class and absentmindedly turned in my work. The pressure in my chest and the knots in my stomach made me feel sick as I walked through the halls. If I didn’t get at least a decent grade on the test I just took, and the ones I took yesterday, I could fail.  The frown that was more than likely showing across my face was replaced with an imposter of a smile as I walked through the doors of the cafeteria, meeting my friends at our usual table. The chatter of students and conversations between friends past by me with no effect. The anxiety that I felt was so profound that I didn’t even hear my own best friend trying to grab my attention.

“Y/N?.. Y/N!” Lydia said more forcefully, breaking me from my trance. My head snapped up, eyes meeting hers, which held a confused gaze.

“Are you okay?” she asked with more worry in her voice, and soft curls bounced around her shoulders. “I’m fine” I answered, a little too quickly, breaking eye contact and shifting my gaze to the floor. She left her seat at the other side of the table and came to my side. She took my hands in hers, making my eyes shift back to hers. She didn’t say a word but gave me that look. The look that meant “I’m here for you no matter what, and you don’t have to tell me what’s wrong but I’ll figure it out eventually”, the one with the caring puppy dog eyes that could make even Derek Hale spill his inner-most feelings.

I took a deep sigh before speaking, knowing she had won. “It’s my grades Lyd. If I didn’t do well on the past couple tests, I could fail. What am I going to do if I fail one of my classes? It’s senior year, I need all of these credits to graduate”. She sat silently and listened intently, before bringing one of her arms around me to rub my back. “I’m sure you did just fine Y/N, you’re a smart girl. And even if you get a bad grade, it’s just one test. You have the rest of the semester to bring your grade up” she explained, “And if you’re still worried about your scores, you can always check your grades online”.

I nodded to her with a smile and she gave me a small hug before returning to her seat across the table. Maybe my scores were in the database, it had been a few days since I’d taken the test. I grabbed the phone from my pocket and quickly began typing in my login information. The slow school wifi hadn’t changed a bit in the last week, and I sat anxiously waiting for the screen in front of me to load. The knots in my stomach returned once again once the screen did load. The number staring back at me was way lower than I had initially expected and I couldn’t help the tears from welling up in my eyes. I grabbed my bag from the floor and almost ran out of the cafeteria doors. I made my way down the hallway and through the parking lot. This day was becoming too much for me, numbers swirled in my head, and tears fell from my eyes.

Hours after arriving home, I hadn’t strayed from my bed. I let the blankets envelop me completely as slow music played softly in the background. The tears that fell from my eyes have since dried, and the pressure in my chest had released. I turned my phone to silent as soon as I got home, not wanting to deal with any other problems the world outside was having at the moment. I let the music lull me back into a daze, and rested my head against the pillow.

Stiles POV

Ever since I saw Y/N earlier, I knew something was wrong. As soon as school was over, I jumped in the jeep and sped to her house. I parked, and ran up the front sidewalk as quickly as I could. When I reached the end of the walk, I reached my hand up to knock on the door, but was surprised to see that it wasn’t fully shut in the first place. I stepped cautiously inside the doorway and looked around for any sign of Y/N. Without seeing anything, I shut the front door behind me and quietly made my way up the stairs. The closer to the top I got, the faint sound of music filled my ears. I pressed my hand against the closest door, and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. There she was. Y/N laid curled on the bed under all the covers, the only thing visible was strands of her soft looking hair. I took a deep breath and called out to her.

“Y/N…”

Y/N POV

His voice was like honey, calling out my name. I peeked my head out from underneath the mountain of blankets to see the brown eyed boy standing in my doorway. “The front door was open” he said gently, “after I saw you leave today, I was worried about you”. We sat in silence for a moment before I pulled back the covers and motioned for him to join me. I heard his shoes drop to the floor before I felt a dip in the mattress. He pulled the covers over his head like I had and turned his body to mine, our faces so close they were almost touching. I could feel his breath mix with mine as we laid there, neither of us saying a word.

After struggling with the thoughts whirling in my head, I decided to speak. “I wish I was like you”.

“Like me?” he questioned.

“So put together. I can barely pass a few tests, let alone solve crimes”. He gave me a small laugh before bringing his gaze to meet mine.

“Y/N, I’m an anxious mess, You are pretty much the only thing that makes me want to get up in the morning” he laughed, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he realized his confession.

“I-I uh” he began, shifting his gaze, looking anywhere but at me. I brought my hand up to his cheek and his eyes darted to mine, then down to my lips, and back up. I could see the jumbled thoughts in his mind disappear as he brought his face closer to mine until I felt his soft lips. When our lips broke apart, the smile on his face was infectious, but it soon vanished.

“What’s wrong?”.

“You really shouldn’t leave your door open, creeps off the street could just walk right in here” he explained in a half-serious tone while wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Yeah, that does explain how you got in here now doesn’t it?”.

Writer’s Note: Thank you for the request anon! I hope you love it! A special thanks to @redstringlovers yet again for being a very motivational life coach :)

Stiles Tag: @parislight 

Forever Tag: @redstringlovers @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @hoodforcalum @rosecoloredshawn @barrett86861

[yeehawbisexualold]

You're a Marshmallow, Emma Swan

A CS Veronica Mars AU.

Rated T. 4.3k words. (1/?)

A/N The first chapter very closely follows the pilot in order to set up the characters and plot. Future chapters may not be as verbatim. Also, words in italics are used to represent voice-overs. Although David will be her father, I decided to keep Emma’s last name as Swan because Veronica Mars is such a distinctive name and so is Emma Swan and I don’t think Emma Nolan or the Nolan family would pack quite the same punch.

Welcome to Storybrooke high school. If you go here, your parents are either millionaires or work for millionaires. Storybrooke, California, a town without a middle class. If you’re in the second group, you get a job—fast food, movie theaters, mini-marts. Emma Swan’s after school job means tailing philandering spouses or investigating false injury claims.

She gets out of her car, a beat up, yellow bug, to see a crowd formed around the school’s flagpole. The source of the crowd’s interest, she finds, is a naked boy, duct taped, precariously to cover his private bits, to the pole with the word snitch (misspelled as “snich”) painted across his bare chest. She pushes through the hoard of spectators, gawking at the scrawny boy’s misfortune. “Who’d that guy rat out?” “Why doesn’t somebody cut him down?” “Yeah, I’ll do it. I wanna be the guy up there tomorrow.”

Reaching into her pocket, she tells the guy snapping a selfie on his phone to move.

“Who died and made you the queen?” the jack ass asks as she pulls out her pocket knife. He backs away silently when she snaps it open near his face.

“You’re new here, huh?” she asks the kid as she begins sawing away the duct tape near his wrists. He nods. “Welcome to Storybrooke High.” The bell for class rings and as the crowd begins to disperse, she sardonically cheers “Go Pirates!”

She cuts away enough to free him but leaves him with the pieces that protect his modesty.

In advanced placement English, she rests her head on her desk, falling asleep to the sound of her droning teacher’s voice.

“Did anybody complete the reading?” the woman inquires, removing her glasses. “Emma? Emma Swan, congratulations you’re my volunteer. Pope, An Essay On Man, lesson one.”

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy and confined from home, rests and expatiates in a life to come,” she speaks from memory.

“And what do you suppose Pope meant by that?” the teacher quizzes.

She twiddles her fingers. “Life’s a bitch until you die.”

“Thank you, Miss Swan, for that succinct and somewhat inappropriate response.”

~

Random locker searches are the latest tactic the administration has adopted in its losing war on drugs. Except for Emma Swan, the searches aren’t random. She knows when they’re going to happen before Vice Principle “Grumpy” does. (His real name is Leroy but the students of Storybrooke aren’t much for respecting authority.

“Emma Swan. This should be good,” one of Sheriff Zelena Mills’ lackeys says with a smirk.

“Will you please open your locker?” Grumpy asks.

She twists in her combination and swings open the door to reveal a perfectly bare locker. Well, bare to the exception of a photo of Grumpy framed by a red heart and taped to the metal door

“Wow,” she huffs with a grin. “This is a little embarrassing.”

~

Emma sits alone at a round, red plastic lunch table, stabbing her disposable fork into the atrocity the school calls lunch. She stares blankly across the outdoor cafeteria at a group of rowdy students.

I used to sit there, at that table. It’s not like my family met the minimum net worth requirement. My dad didn’t own his own airline like Greg Mendell’s or serve as Ambassador to Belgium like Tamara’s. But my dad used to be the sheriff and that had a certain cache. Let’s be honest though. The only reason I was allowed past the velvet ropes was Neal Hood, son of software billionaire Robin Hood. He used to be my boyfriend. Then one day, with no warning, he ended things.

The most obnoxious of the students perches himself on Neal’s lap, rubbing his chest as he smirks at Emma.

And let’s not forget Killian Jones. His dad makes 20 million a picture. You probably own his action figure. He built his career on being the British bad boy and his son tries his damnedest to upstage his levels of naughtiness. Every school has an obligatory, psychotic jack ass. He’s ours.

Neal pushes him off and turns his attention back to Tamara who’s snuggled herself up against his side and Killian simply sits next to him clapping his hands together and pointing at Emma with a wild grin.

A figure sits down across from her, partially blocking her vision of Killian’s antics.

“You ok?” they ask, startling her out of her focused glare.

“What?“ 

It’s the kid she cut down earlier.

“You look, I don’t know, hypnotized.” He explains, opening his lunch.

“Did I say you could sit here?” she snaps at him. As soon as he stands, shoving his lunch back in the bag, she feels remorse. Killian pisses her off but that’s no reason to treat the new kid, who’s already had a rough enough first day, like shit. “Wait. Of course, you can sit here.”

He sits back down with a smile.

“That was cool what you did.”

Before she can respond, she’s interrupted by a voice behind her.

“My bitch. Weren’t you supposed to wait for me at the flagpole?” The bare sleeved, tattooed interrupter crouches down and gets in the kids face. “I’m not sure I could have made that any clearer.”

The kid looks like he’s going to shit his pants. 

“Leave him alone,” Emma demands and the guy turns his attention to her.

“Love, the only time I care what a woman has to say is when she’s riding my big ole hog and even then it’s not so much words as just a bunch of oohs and aahs, ya know?” He asks planting himself in front of her.

“So it’s big, huh?”

“Legendary.”

“Well, let’s see it. I mean if it’s as big as you say, I’ll be your girlfriend.” She smiles brightly and gasps as if she’s just had a thought. “We could go to prom together!”

When he just laughs and leans back she continues “What seems to be the problem? I’m on a schedule here.”

“Dude, don’t let blondie talk to you like that!” his friend chimes in.

“Sounds like your buddy here wants to see it too.”

“Hell, I’ll show you mine!” the buddy shouts but is interrupted by Grumpy, arriving to break up the disturbance and ask Emma why trouble follows her around.

“So what did you do?” she asks the ‘snitch,’ who’s name she learns is Henry, after everyone clears away from the table. If she just confronted Will Scarlet, the leader of the local biker gang, she deserves to know what she was standing up for.

He explains how he works at the local gas station and while he was working alone last night, some of the guys walked in and stole alcohol from the store, stuffing bottles in their jackets and only paying for a pack of gum. He tripped the silent alarm but when the police came—"We don’t have police here. We have a sheriffs department.“—and he went outside, he realized an entire gang sat in the parking lot. Intimidated by all of the guys, he told the sheriff he pressed the alarm by accident. “You need to go see the wizard, ask him for some guts.” The sheriff told him before hauling the two bikers away.

“Go see the wizard? She said that?” Emma asks once he’s finished his story. “Congratulations, in your short time here, you’ve already managed to piss of the biker gang and the local sheriff.”

~

She heads to her fathers P.I. office, Swan Investigation, after school and is surprised to find Regina Hood’s car there. She hates Emma almost as much as she loves her son.

She sits down at the reception desk and busies herself with paperwork, waiting for Regina to walk out. Ingrid, the local, low-level lawyer walks in and offers “her father” a case to discover how the strip club her client works for keeps their liquor license and help her client make a deal.

After Ingrid leaves, Regina walks out of her father’s office.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, David. I don’t like you,” she says coolly, strutting past in her clean, pressed, white pantsuit, her chin tilted back in an air of arrogance. She turns her icy gaze to Emma. “I hate the fact that I’m here. But I know if anyone will be dogged and resourceful in this matter, it’ll be you. Don’t call me at home, I’ll call you.”

And then she’s gone, the air feeling decidedly less chilly without her presence.

Sure she’s a bitch. But can you blame her? After all, dad did try to send her husband to jail for life.

Her dad joins her to eat and she attempts to figure out why Regina was here. He ignores her attempts at questioning him, joking about the plastic resemblance of the cheese on their sandwiches. But after enough grilling, he reveals that Regina believes her husband Robin is having an affair—late nights and motels—and that he took the case because they need the money.

“Good, I would have been pissed if you hadn’t.”

“I wouldn’t have cared if you were.”

They continue eating together until the phone rings and her father announces he has to leave for a trip to El Paso, demanding she leaves the Hood case alone. She nods in response, knowing full well she’s lying.

~

She follows Robin Hood to his office. As she sits in her car, staring up into the windows of the building, she thinks about her best friend Milah, Robin’s daughter. Leaning back against the seat she recalls the pep squad car wash they worked in October of last year, both of them wearing the tight t-shirt and shorts combo, Emma with her hair in pigtails and Milah with hers long and loose.

“I’ve got a secret, Emma Swan,” she giggled, conspiratorially as she rubbed a soapy sponge along the hood of a car. 

Those were the last words Emma ever heard from Milah. Later that night, she was found dead by her pool.

Emma’s father had been driving her home when he received a call about a disturbance at the Hood estate. When they arrived, David instructed her to stay in the car. But she saw Neal, sitting on a bench with his arms tucked around himself, rocking back and forth, his face ashen and his eyes wide, filled with an emotion to this day she can not name. All it took was one look at him and she was rushing in the house to see what happened.

“Where’s Milah?” she asked, her chest tight. All he could offer in response was a scrunched brow and a mouth, shaking into a frown.

Outside she found the area swarming with cops, a grieving couple, and by the pool, the lifeless body of her dead best friend—eyes wide and unseeing, blood dripping down her face from the gaping wound above where her temple met her scalp.

But everyone knows the story, the murder of Milah Hood. It was on the cover of People Magazine. It made entertainment tonight. The town was flooded with journalists. And of course, everyone remembers the bumbling, local sheriff. The one who went after the wrong man.

That bumbling sheriff was my dad.

Six weeks after Milah’s death, her crime scene video was leaked by someone in the sheriff department. In a matter of hours, millions of people around the world had seen the grizzly footage. Someone had to be held responsible and that someone was David Swan.

“So, Swan, does your dad still think that Milah’s father did this?” Killian confronted her in the school computer lab. “That’s my girlfriend. Your friend. Neal’s sister. Your dad is destroying the Hood family. What’s the matter with you people? What’s the matter with you?”

She knew he was lashing out because he was hurt but so was she. When he maliciously spit out the words, “I’m done with you.” She thought good because she couldn’t help but hate him a little bit for the way he was treating her.

Her father’s belief that Robin was the murderer no longer mattered. An emergency recall removed him from office and the investigation was no longer in his hands. Her mother wanted to move out of Storybrooke. The loss of status and loss of income was too much for her.

They had to move because they could no longer afford to stay in their house but Emma and David were not going to be run out of town.

~

A pair of Milah’s shoes were later discovered on the house boat of one Triton King and her father’s successor, Sheriff Zelena Mills’ face was plastered across the news for her amazing arrest.

~

Emma’s dad may not have been right about Robin but, sitting in the parking lot of a skeezy motel named the Camelot, she knows Regina is right about him now. She can’t imagine it’s a business meeting that’s being conducted at one in the morning, behind the door of one of the upper-level rooms.

Before she can get any substantial evidence, her car is swarmed in the parking lot by none other than Will’s gang.

“Car trouble miss?” he asks with a smirk.

“Might be a loose belt but if you wouldn’t mind checking under the hood,” she answers sweetly.

One of the guys walks up to her open window and her dog Wilby, affectionately nicknamed backup, jumps out. The guy lands flat on his back as the dog snarls at his throat. Another stomps up, yelling at her to call off her dog and she tazes him in the chest. Down he goes.

She calls Wilby off.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll call it a draw,” she tells Will.

“Love, come on, it’s too late for that.”

“Here’s the deal,” Emma informs him, no bull shit face in place. “Leave that kid at school alone for a week and I’ll make sure your boys walk.”

“Why do you care for that kid so much, anyway? Things I heard about you… You must really lay the pipe right.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” she says cheerfully with a sarcastic nod of her head.

Mr. Electricity begins to lift himself up, using her door as leverage, and she charges her tazer in front of his face as a warning.

“Alright, one week. But if you don’t get them off, I’m coming for you, your boy, and your little dog too. And remember, if you get lonely out here, Will love you long time.” He kisses the air at her as he revs his engine.

Quite a reputation I’ve got, huh? You wanna know how I lost my virginity? So do I.

It happened at a party at Tamara’s, that much she knows. She’d curled her hair and put on one of her favorite dresses—white, knee length, and flowy. Her reason for going was simply to show everyone that the way they treated her didn’t affect her.

It was a mistake.

As she walked through the crowded room of people from whom the only attention she received was pointed whispers and giggles, people whom she once considered friends, she was handed a drink. She didn’t know who handed it to her but she chugged it down.

Before long she was stumbling around dizzily and then everything went blank. She woke the next morning, alone in bed, a soreness between her legs and her underwear on the floor. She walked through the house, crying silently, an entirely new type of pain tightening her chest.

She’d thought she’d felt all the pain a person could feel—being unceremoniously dumped by whom she thought was the love of her life, having her best friend murdered, all of her old friends turning against her, and her mother leaving her and her father. But there was at least one thing left the world had to throw at her, one more thing to show her that life truly was a bitch and things would never be the same.

In the present, Robin Hood steps out of the motel room door and Emma snaps as many pictures as she can before he shuts it behind him.

She doesn’t actually get a shot of the woman’s face but she gets some pretty good images of him talking through the door way and the license plates of each car in the lot. That should be enough to get her started.

~

The next day at school, she sits at her usual table. The kid she’d saved is already there.

“You should hear the things people say about you,” he begins.

“You didn’t have to sit at my table,” she grumbles. Who is this kid? She saves his ass and he chooses to sit at her table for what? To make fun of her?

“And what a fine table this is. What do you suppose it’s made of?” he ponders, tapping his closed fist against the shiny top. “Oak?”

“Look, if people are saying such awful things…” she trails off, shaking her head.

“Well, I figure I’ve got a choice. I could either go hang out with the jerks who laughed at me, took pictures of me while I was taped to that flagpole. Or I could hang out with the chick who cut me down.”

It feels good, his kindness, and a warmth blooms in her chest at the thought of a possible new friend.

“So you wanna get the bike club off your ass?”

“Can we come up with a code name?” he asks, eyes wide with hope.

“Sure, kid.”

She laughs at school for the first time she can remember since Milah’s death.

~

Her dad returns that night and as he prepares steak on the grill, Emma tells him she got pictures of Hood at the Camelot. He reprimands her for disobeying him but then asks to see the photos. He looks through the stack of images and pauses on one of the license plates of a car.

“I want you to stay away from Robin. You hear me?” he commands firmly, in the serious father voice he so rarely uses.

“But dad, why?”

“Listen to what I said, Emma. Stay away from him. I’m telling Regina I’m dropping the case.”

He storms into the apartment, leaving the grill unmanned.

~

When Grumpy conducts his next “spontaneous” locker search at school, he makes a stop at Killian Jones’. Killian opens the door, expecting to be in the clear, only to showcase a lovely bong in the shape of a naked man, one hand on his hip, the other grasping the bowl placed where it’s penis should be.

“What’s this, Killian? This appears to be a device used to smoke marijuana.”

Killian looks around the hallways, flooding with people now that the class bell has run and as he’s lead away, his confused eyes land on Emma standing beside Henry.

“I know it was you!” he shouts, angrily, jamming his finger in her face. “This isn’t over, ok?”

She fake yawns at him, patting her hand over her mouth. Henry grins at her side.

“You’re so cute and innocent. I’ll get you for this,” he threatens as he’s pulled away by Grumpy and the deputy.

Jefferson, the residential stoner, passes by and offers her a high five. She’d recruited him in art class the day before to make the bong for her.

Phase two of operation freedom was done.

After school, she drove home to the sheriff’s department. Phase three. With a remote control detonator, he sets off a spark in the bowl of the phallic bong residing in the evidence lock up. The smoke from that sets off the fire alarm and the woman behind the counter calls the fire department.

Then, after the flaming crisis is handled, she heads to the fire department.

“Did you make the switch?” she asks the fire chief who then hands her a large envelope with a video tape inside.

A lot of people in this town still love dad. That comes in handy.

~

The residual love of her father only gets her so far though and sometimes she is left to her own devices.

Using a phony accent she makes a phone call pretending to be the secretary of the sheriff’s department, claiming to be having trouble with the computer’s system. She asks the man on the phone to run a set of plates involved in a hit and run for her. Except there was no hit and run and the plate number she if reading off is from the car parked at the Camelot the night she watched Robin.

“I’ll be damned, that’s some family,” the man on the other line says, chuckling.

“What is it?”

“That car is registered to one Kathryn Swan.”

She hangs up the phone in shock just as her father opens his office door.

“Explain to me again why we’re dropping the Hood case.”

She’s going to give him one more chance to explain himself, to tell her the truth, to tell her why her mother’s car was parked outside the Camelot the night Robin Hood visited it. But he doesn’t take it. Instead, he sips his coffee and gives her some bullshit excuse about corporate espionage, telling her it’s dangerous and they don’t get paid enough.

He asks if she wants to rent a movie and she walks out, leaving him alone in the office.

She heads to the court house and asks the receptionist which direction the bikers case is.

“Emma! I haven’t seen you since…” the woman trail off uncomfortably.

The last time I was here? Come on. That’s easy.

The last time she was there was the morning after Tamara’s party. She’d limped up to the counter, eyes smudged with mascara, and said she needed to report a crime.

After she sat in front of Zelena and reported what happened, Zelena chuckled in her face and asked “Is there anyone in particular you’d like me to arrest? Or should I just round up the sons of the most important families in town.”

Emma sat silently, shocked and dismayed. She knew Zelena was mean but this was downright wicked.

“I’ve got not a shred of evidence to work with here. But that doesn’t matter to your family now does it?” The woman continued on ignoring the tears streaking down Emma’s face. Ignoring her disheveled appearance, her wild hair, her red eyes, her torn dress. Ignoring the pulsing pain Emma could feel through out her entire body, not a pain physical in its origin but manifesting itself as such and causing her anguish never the less. “Look at this, she cries. I’ll tell you what Emma Swan. Why don’t you go see the wizard, ask for a little backbone.“ 

Emma left Zelena’s office with no answers to what had happened to her and no hope of ever finding out.

Now she sits in a courtroom, watching a smug Miss Mills deliver her testimony of her account of the night she arrested the two bikers at Henry’s place of work.

“Your honor, can we show the tape?” the opposing lawyer requests.

When the tape is loaded, no robbery is to be seen. Instead, an officer walks a prostitute to his car and is seen opening the door for her, getting in on his own side, and then guiding her head down to his lap.

Phase one of operation freedom had been staking out the strip club and recording the footage of their interesting ways of keeping a valid liquor license.

“Sheriff Mills is this how you run your department?” the judge questions.

Emma finger guns at Zelena and walks out of the court room.

She meets Henry at the beach and presents him with the actual footage of the robbing. He thanks her and tells her that “Underneath that angry young woman shell there’s a slightly less angry young woman just dying to bake me something. You’re a marshmallow, Emma Swan.”

She grins and turns her head away, amused but unwilling to admit it.

They spend some time flying around his remote controlled airplane. Just as she’s getting the hang of it and actually having some fun, Henry interrupts her.

“Emma, look at your car.”

She turns to see Killian lounging across the hood, crowbar in hand, surrounded by his 09er buddies (the richest of the rich, those residing in the the prestigious 90909 zipcode.)

“Do you know what your little joke cost me?” he asks, hopping off the car and swinging the crowbar.

“Well, I’m pretty sure you won’t be getting your bong back.”

He smashes a headlight. “Wrong answer.” He twirls the metal in his hand. “Would you care to guess again?”

She crosses her arms across the chest of her red leather jacket, keeping her face impassive, unwilling to let him phase her no matter what.

“Clearly, your sense of humor.”

And he smashes another head light.

“Nope, the correct answer is my car. That’s right my daddy took the Jolly away. And you know what I won’t be having?” He questions, resting the bar behind his neck and stepping closer to her. He leans in her face and answers his own question with a smirk and raised brows. “Fun, fun, fun.”

She wants to smack his British accent right out of his mouth.

“Uh, Killian,” his friend warns as a heard of bikes pull up along side them.

It doesn’t take long for Will and his friends to flip the situation in her favor.

“What do we have here? Vandalism?” Will asks. “No, the only vandalism that happens in this town goes through me.”

Killian tells Will he doesn’t have a problem with him and Will tells him he’s wrong. With Will smashing in the hood of Killian’s friend’s car (with the crowbar he’d pulled out of Kilian’s hands) and his biker buddies tearing apart the inside, they’re easily convinced to “head for the hills.”

~

Emma sits in her car outside of her father’s office building, watching him move around through the window.

This morning, when I woke up, I had one person in the world I could count on. But if there’s one thing you learn in this business, the people you love let you down.

David leaves, driving away in his car and she heads into the building. Her dad thinks she doesn’t have the code to the safe but he’s wrong and until now she hasn’t had to use it. She types the code in and opens it to find a large file, stuffed with folders and papers. As she pulls the contents out she realizes it’s the Milah Hood murder file, some of the evidence less than a month old, including the photo of her mother’s car she took the Camelot.

If the confessed killer is already in jail, why hasn’t dad given up on the case?