#i think lupin probably asked dumbledore and got a 'he's fine worry about yourself' and went great good thanks

[greenerteacups]

i don't remember exactly from the books, but the first time i read them i just assumed that remus straight up didn't know where harry was. like, he might have been able to assume he was with lily's family, but does remus know who the dursleys are? dudley's a bit older than harry, but not much, so presumably petunia married around the same age as lily. does remus remember the name of his friend's wife's estranged sister's husband? or is he like, idk, i was seventeen and there was a fucking war on, i think it was victor or verne or something. last name? didn't catch it.

and even if he got his hands on a phone book and tracked them down, how's he gonna find them? call up the dursleys and say "yeah, i'm one of james's schoolfriends, i'd like to see harry, please." petunia would hang up that call immediately even if she didn't hate magic, because she's not giving a total stranger her current address and access to her very young children. on the off chance she knows who remus is, that's all the more reason for her not to tell him. she clearly wants him to have nothing to do the wizarding world (see: reaction to harry's hogwarts letter), and remus would be an immediate point of entry.

common criticism i see of remus lupin is that he should've taken in harry as a baby (forseeing his mistreatment by the dursleys) but petunia is harry's blood relative. she is a mother, financially stable, and physically and psychologically capable; she and vernon are ostensibly fit to accept a second child. meanwhile, remus is a single 21-year-old who can never have stable employment. he can't afford childcare while he's working/wolfing. even if he had money, his mental state (likely the worst of his depression) is in shambles after the deaths of his friends and comrades. his furry problem would be a danger to harry. he no longer has a strong support system. he is in no state to, especially by himself, figure out how to care for an infant, raise a child, and protect this very very high-profile boy from politics, violence, and literally himself. and remus never checks up on harry or visited him, because he trusts dumbledore implicitly and can't imagine that his childhood would be unsafe. i think he wouldn't presume that petunia could mistreat harry either. he's friends with james, but doesn't seem to know lily that well (lily's letters talk about sirius, but never remus) so maybe he doesn't know of her hatred for wizards.

no hate for young remus yo

[mycrofts-gunbrella]

Remus Lupin x Reader Smut- Uncontrollable

According to your calendar, it was less than a week away until the next full moon which meant two things. One, you had to work out about a week's worth of DADA lessons as you'd be upgraded from assistant to teacher until Remus was back to his normal strength and could come back. And two, your husband was at max level of horniness and will try to grab you at any given point. You weren't complaining when it came to early morning quickies and nights of sheer pleasure but when it comes to during the day, your usual shy, private husband seems to no longer care where he is when he makes his moves. Which leads you to situations like the one you're currently in..

It had been a rushed morning with both you and Lupin waking up a lot later than usual and having to quickly get ready before you were late to class- meaning, of course, you didn't have anywhere near enough time for your morning 'routine' and naturally left your other half in a rather 'teasing' mood all day. Whether it was subtle gropes of your ass as he'd slide himself behind you or whispering his plans for later in your ear as you sat beside him at his desk, Remus Lupin really wasn't messing around. This continued throughout both of the periods before dinner in the Great Hall, with added curses that "of all days it had to be a bloody Friday" since you had no free periods all day to relieve both of your now pent up sexual frustration. With your arm hooked around his, you both began to walk to dinner.

"Do we really have to go? Can't we just use this hour for something more worthwhile darling?" Remus lightly whined. You laughed at him and rolled your eyes.

"We have to make an appearance Remus, it'll look awful if we don't show our faces. Besides, you need to eat something. I didn't even see you eat a sandwich at lunch!"

"I'm planning to eat something.. but you won't let me." Remus smirked, pulling the exact same cheeky expression that would get you both in trouble as teenagers.

"Remus!" You exclaimed, slapping his arm and looking around to make sure nobody heard him.

"Fine, fine. How about we compromise? We go, we eat and then I'll say we have a few more tests to mark before next period? Please?" He begged, pouting and moving his arm to hold your hand as you rounded the corner near the hall. You leaned up and softly kissed his protruding bottom lip and smiled.

"Sounds like a plan Moony." And with that you took your seats at the end of the table and applauded softly as Dumbledore made his little speech to the students. You'd barely been sat for 5 minutes before Remus placed his hand on your thigh in attempt to get your attention. "Not yet. 10 more minutes, I'm sure you can wait, you're a big boy." You teased in his ear before smiling and going back to eat some more of your meal.

What you didn't expect as your husband's reaction was a smirk but you tried to ignore it. At least until his hand moved towards the inside of your thigh under your skirt with his thumbs rubbing deep circles into your skin. You shot him a warning glare but he ignored you and carried on eating his food with his other hand. It wasn't long until his hand travelled higher and he started to rub your clit through your tights and underwear, causing you to moan quietly and then cough so no one would pay attention. Your hand gripped your fork til your knuckles turned white as he surprisingly hooked his fingers through the waistline of your underwear and slowly pushed two fingers in your entrance, bending and thrusting his fingers into you while you could only focus on not causing a scene at the dinner table. Damn this man and his capabilities to make you feel so good so quickly.

"Something the matter darling? You don't seem to be touching your food." Remus spoke, smirking knowingly at you as McGonagall turned to see what the commotion was.

"Are you okay Y/N?" Minerva asked from beside you, giving your softly panting form a once over. You glared again at your husband and turned to smile at the woman to your side, with Remus making no efforts to cease his movements and instead speeding up while he pretended to look concerned. You took a deep breathe as you felt yourself being pushed to the edge.

"I'm o-okay. Bit of a cold coming I think, I'm starting to get a headache." You managed to stutter out. At your final word Remus moved his hand so his thumb could rub circles on your clit and you came undone, placing your head in your hands and biting your knuckle as you came over your husband's fingers.

"You've barely touched your food and your face is burning dear. Perhaps you should go and have a rest before next period?" She suggested. You were about to try and convince her you were fine before Remus interjected.

"Must be something wrong for you not to want your dinner, my love. It tastes delicious." You turned and went wide-eyed as you watched Remus slowly lick his fingers clean of you. That's it. You couldn't wait any longer.

"On second thought, perhaps you're right professor. Maybe I should get some rest. Care to join me Remus?" You stood, taking his arm and leading him out of the hall before he could answer. "Remus John Lupin you are going to be the absolute death of me." He only laughed in response as he took control and pulled you round the corner and shoved you against the wall, pressing his lips hungrily against yours as he gripped your hips so tight you're sure it would bruise. You slid your fingers into the belt loops of his trousers and pulled his body closer to yours, feeling the tent begin to form and press against your lower stomach. His hands lifted to undo the buttons of your blouse and begin to squeeze your breasts while his lips travelled down your neck leaving little bites and kisses on their way. "What if someone sees us?" You panicked slightly, pulling away from him and trying not to moan at the sight of his dilated pupils and dishevelled hair.

"No one will be coming out for another 20 minutes and by the time we get back to our room we won't have a lot of time, it's fine." Remus tried to reassure you but the look on your face still displayed worry. He sighed and stepped back. "I'm sorry, you're right we should wait. I shouldn't have-" You cut him off kissing him again and softly tugging his bottom lip between your teeth.

"I never said we need to wait THAT long.. we'll just have to be quick.." You winked, grabbing a fist full of his shirt and turning the both of you around so his back was firmly against the wall. He almost growled in a sense of relief and went back to wrapping his arms around you and smashing his lips onto yours once more. You quickly pulled away and he gave you a look of confusion before his eyes rolled into the back of his head as you began palming him through his trousers and sinking to your knees. Unzipping his trousers, you pulled him free from his boxers and began to teasingly lick the tip of his erect cock, moving your tongue to lick the vein going down the side of his shaft until he let out a deep moan.

"Y/N.. Please.." You didn't need to be told twice and took his entire length in your mouth, moaning softly around him as you began to bob your head up and down. You reached around to grab his hands and place them on the back of your head before giving him a look of encouragement as you could feel him trying to hold back moving his hips. He slowly began to guide your head and thrust his hips in time with his movements while moaning your name softly. "M-Merlin. I don't- ffuck- deserve you." You moaned again at his words of encouragement, the vibration encouraging him to pick up speed while you reached around and squeezed his ass as you let him use you as he needed. Suddenly his movements became erratic and sloppy as you felt him twitch in your mouth and shoot his load down the back of your throat. Remus couldn't help but hold your head in place as you swallowed around him. His grip loosened and he pulled you to stand, kissing you once again but this time slower with more passion behind it.

"Better?" You smirked, brushing your hair back in place with your fingers and then fixing your husband's messy locks. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps getting closer. Panicking, you hastily went to trying to button your shirt while Lupin tried to tuck his shirt back into his trousers. It was too late. McGonagall was already in front of you.

"Good to see your headache has improved very quickly." She glared at you as you averted your gaze to the ground. "Over 20 years since the pair of you studied here and I STILL catch you fooling around in the school corridors?" She lectured the pair of you and the memories of you and Lupin getting caught together in broom cupboards and corridors during your school years came flooding back. Suddenly her glare softened and she shook her head and smiled. "Never did think the two of you would ever become adults on the inside. Now please, don't let me catch you again or one of these days I'll have to report you.. 20 points from Gryffi-.." She stopped, realising that two of her favourite students now worked as staff at the school and she smiled again. "Just go away and sort yourselves out. And may I suggest cancelling your lessons to fix whatever is going on between you two at the moment because if any of the students catch on to the kind of foolery that occurred here or in the Dinner Hall there will be consequences do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor." You both spoke in unison as you walked back to your shared quarters and sent an owl to leave a note on by your classroom to say there would be no more lessons today. As soon as you got in and sat down you both started to laugh.

"Bless her, the amount of things that woman has seen over the years must be haunting." Remus laughed, laying back on the bed and pulling you to lay beside him.

"And that's just from us." You giggled, rolling to your side to face your husband. 

"One day we probably should grow up and stop sneaking around the school like hormonal teenagers and control our urges until safe to do so."

"Well it seems pretty safe to do so now.. I doubt Minnie's going to pop her head in here." You suggested, moving to straddle your husband's waist. He smirked and began to rub circles into your hips.

"I'm starting to think you may be worse than me when it comes to controlling yourself. It might be a problem.." He smirked, sitting up to place a quick peck on your lips. You grinded your hips against his and grinned as he moaned.

"You love me really." You pouted, unbuttoning his shirt and throwing it to the side.

"That I do, darling. That I do."

[siriuslyloonylove]

One Rule, and One Rule Only by siriuslyloonylove

Sirius Black has one rule, and one rule only, about his feelings: “never, ever bother someone with your feelings if they’re busy”. And he’s always stuck to this rule, for example when James has a quidditch match the next day, he won’t wake the boy up if he has a nightmare, or if Peter’s eating, he doesn’t talk about how his parents starved him over the summer.

But the most important person he doesn’t want to bother is Remus, the boy whose problems seem worse than Sirius’, even though Remus repeatedly tells Sirius that it’s okay. The raven haired boy doesn’t want to bother him because what if he thinks badly of me for complaining about my stupid family while he never complains about turning into a werewolf every month?

Sirius knows he’s being illogical with that last bit, but when are feelings ever logical? He logically knows that Remus would do everything in his power to help him, even on the days before and after the full. He logically knows that being in a relationship means having someone to lean on when you can’t stand by yourself. He logically knows that Remus is the only one, besides James, who can help him when he’s feeling down about his family.

But he irrationally thinks that no one loves him, even after Remus spends an hour every night before bed kissing each and every one of Sirius’ scars, telling the boy a different thing he loves about him for every scar on his body, and has yet to repeat the same reason twice even after a year of doing it. He irrationally thinks that he’s only James’ friend because of coincidence, even after he took Sirius in as his own brother when he ran away from home and held him when he woke up in sweats from a particularly bad nightmare. He irrationally thinks that Peter is only his friend because James is, even after Peter smuggles freshly made blueberry muffins from the kitchens when Sirius is having a bad day.

He logically knows that he thinks irrationally, which leads to him bottling up his feelings until one day they explode and there’s nothing anyone can do to calm him down other than getting Remus, because everyone knows the only person he’ll listen to in this state is the boy with scarred skin and curly blond hair.

The explosion happens on a late fall evening of seventh year in the Gryfinndor common room after an eventful meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore.

“Headmaster, you wanted to see me?” Sirius announces himself to the room after walking up the spiral steps that lead to the Headmasters office. He can hear his great-great grandfather muttering curses about Sirius from where his portrait hung on the wall, but chose to ignore the hateful man.

“Oh yes, thank you Mr Black for meeting me on such short notice, please sit” Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the chair sitting across from his desk. Sirius nodded politely and sat down, looking around the room to take in his surroundings as this is the first time he’s been in here without knowing he was in trouble - I haven’t done any pranks this month, so am I in trouble?

As if reading the boy’s mind, Dumbledore laughs and says “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble, I just wanted to have a chat with you about a pressing issue.”

Sirius sighed in relief, shoulders untensing for a short moment until he remembered what the man had said. “What issue? Has Regulus done something? I swear I don’t even talk to him anymore, well he doesn’t talk to me.” He said, nervously playing with the rings on his hands.

“No, no this isn’t about your brother, well it is but it is more about your family in general - I received some unsettling information this morning about the whereabouts of your parents and wanted to gauge your reaction.” The old man vaguely said, leaving the boy confused.

“Okay?” Sirius started, “Have they done something bad-well something worse than usual?” He corrected himself mid sentence.

The old man chuckled at his response, shaking his head in surprise, “I see you already have a gauge for their actions,” he smiled sadly, “But yes, they have done something that they don’t see is wrong.” Dumbledore said vaguely, again.

“Okay? So why am I here, I mean I’m in no contact with my family other than the occasional howler sent to me when Walburga is drunk.” Sirius says as a matter of a fact, not understanding why he has to be here when he could be spending his time with his friends, sadly not with Remus because he has an essay to write in the library with Lily.

“Yes, Mr Black I am well aware of those howlers - we really need to block those coming in, that’s on me - but I am also aware of the fact that you don’t speak with them.” Dumbledore agrees, making Sirius even more confused, “Can you tell me your feelings on that?”

This catches Sirius by surprise, no one has even dared to ask that question in fear that they might get hexed, and he can’t very well go on hexing the Headmaster, so he shakily answers, “Well Sir, it’s not really something that I know how to describe - I wasn’t surprised when they disinherited me, I saw it coming from the moment I got sorted into Gryffindor, but I was surprised when they disowned me, not the family itself but Reg, because that’s when I knew that he had picked a side and it wasn’t mine.”

Dumbledore nods solemnly, “Yes, and who’s side are you on?”, which was the wrong thing to say.

“Are you asking me this because I’m a Black? Are you asking me who’s side I’ll pick in the end because I have incestual blood running through my veins, or is it because dark magic was taught to me before I could speak? Maybe it’s because you think I’ll choose my brother over my real brothers - which you must know that family doesn’t mean blood, love does. And if you think that I’ll pick Voldemort's side, then you’re not who I thought you were, because I’d rather die than let my friends die.” Sirius says defensively, not caring that he’s mouthing off the Headmaster, who doesn’t even have the audacity to look surprised.

Before Dumbledore can even open his mouth, Phineas shouts, eerily calm, from his place on the wall “How dare you speak to your Headmaster that way you filthy little blood traitor, I cannot believe you come from the Noble House of Black-”

“-Silence” Dumbledore booms from where he’s sitting at his desk before Phineas could spit more curses at him. If he wasn’t so angry, Sirius would’ve poked his tongue out at him just to piss off his great-great grandfather even more.

“Now Sirius, I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be, but that doesn’t give you permission to talk to me like that because all I’ve done is help you.” Sirius fights the urge to roll his eyes because he knows damn well that Dumbledore only does things that will eventually benefit himself, he’s heard the exact words come from his parents. “However, I am glad to know that you feel this strongly about the war.” Dumbledore says, smiling.

“Of course I feel this strongly about the war, I’m right in the middle of it and I learned a long time ago that I can’t push myself to the sidelines because someone will get hurt.” Sirius shivers, remembering The Prank.

“Yes, and I should’ve thought of that before having you come here, well now that I know how you’re feeling, you are free to go.” Dumbledore says, making Sirius sigh in relief.

But just as he’s about to get up, he remembers what started this conversation, “What did my parents do?” he asks, looking Dumbledore strongly in the eye.

“Nothing for you to be concerned about.” Dumbledore lies through his teeth, and if Sirius would’ve been more clear headed, he would’ve pressed on but instead he nods and gets up, walking towards the staircase.

“Oh and Sirius,” Dumbledore says as Sirius is about to walk down, “I’d be more careful about who you choose to shout at, you never know if you choose the wrong person in the end” He finishes vaguely. Sirius furrows his brows but chooses not to question it, just nodding and walking down the stairs.

When Sirius gets back to the common room, he immediately goes and sits down on the comfiest chair available, not even noticing his friends trying to get his attention. The only thing on his mind is wishing that Remus was here, but Sirius knows that he won’t get to see his boyfriend until after Remus was done with his prefect rounds after the library.

“Padfoot”

“Pads”

“Paddie”

“Siri”

“S”

“Sirius”

“Black!”

“Sirius Orion Black-Potter!” James says, exasperatedly, finally catching Sirius’ attention with his name changing.

“Huh- did you just call me Sirius Orion Black-Potter-Lupin?! Me and Remus aren’t married, and why did you add Potter?” Sirius says, looking confused.

“Yes! You weren’t listening so I had to get your attention!” James says frantically, moving his hands around in exasperation. “And one, you are a Potter, two you and Moony will probably get married before me and Evans will.” James says seriously.

“I second that last one!” Marlene shouts from across the common room, stopping snogging Dorcas for a second before going back to it. Get it Marlene!

“See!” James shouts happily, excited that someone agreed with him for once, before realizing Sirius’ solemn expression. “Wait what happened? Did you just get back from Dumbledicks?” James asks, reaching up to fix his glasses on his nose.

“Yeah.” Sirius responds, “But it’s fine, I promise, we’re not in trouble” he adds shakily, quickly standing up from his seat, “I’m going to go upstairs and lay down, I’m kinda tired” Sirius ends, walking towards the stairs before anyone can say anything, especially since it’s a Friday.

He hears Peter asking James what’s wrong, but doesn’t stay long enough to hear the laters response. Sirius quickly enters the dorm room and closes the door before taking off his shoes and getting in Remus’ bed and under the covers, taking comfort in the smell of soft vanilla and chocolate.

The tears don’t come immediately, but Sirius also doesn’t realize when he starts crying so he doesn’t really know how long he’s been crying by the time he does realize it. All he knows is that he’s clutching Remus’ pillow in his arms and crying into it because I’m so overwhelmed.

Why would Dumbledore even ask me that? Doesn’t he know how much it hurts to hate someone you love? Doesn’t he know-

Sirius’ thoughts are interrupted by someone opening the dorm room door, making him settle deeper into the bed wishing that whoever it is thinks that he’s asleep. His wish goes unheard when the person sits on the bed next to him. He slowly opens his eyes to see James sitting next to him with a sad smile and Peter standing behind him with a warm muffin in his hands.

“Hey Pads, we brought you a muffin” Peter smiles sheepishly, blushing pink.

“Yeah, and we brought you a cup of your favorite tea, we had to bribe the elves with helping do the dishes for the next week.” James and Peter smile proudly, which makes Sirius start to cry even more. “Oh no, Pads don’t cry! We don’t mind it, it’s worth it to see you feel better! Well I hope you feel better…” James says, looking scared.

“No, I- thank you, I know, I just had a really hard meeting with Dumbledore and I just feel overwhelmed” Sirius hiccuped through his crying, quickly wiping away his tears. “I promise I’m fine, I just needed a moment, but siriusly thank you guys” He tries to smile at his joke, though it comes out more like a grimace.

James smiles at him softly, reaching out to gently pat Sirius’ arm and move the comforter higher up. If Sirius were clear headed, he would push James away because he’s such a mother hen, but right now it comforts him.

“Okay Pads, do you need anything else? I can take over Remus’ shift if you need him” James offers, which makes Sirius start shaking his head muttering ‘no’ over and over again, he sits up and starts quickly mumbling about how Remus is busy and he doesn’t want to bother him, James can barely make it out.

“Okay Sirius, okay, settle down, I won’t get Remus” James promises, wrapping his arms around Sirius gently trying to get him to lay back down, noticing that the tears are falling faster down his face. James looks at Peter with a look that says “go get Moony” who responds with a quick nod and sets the muffin on the bedside table before quietly leaving the room.

“Please, you can’t get him Prongs, he’s so stressed with his essay and his rounds, I don’t want to bother him, please” Sirius cries out, grabbing onto James’ wrists and looking him in the eye. “I can’t let him know how sad I am, please”, his voice breaking off.

“Okay, calm down love, I won’t get him” James says, heart breaking at the sight of his best friend crying. Sirius nods frantically, letting go of James’ wrists to latch onto the pillow again.

Remus can’t see me like this, he just can’t. Would he think that I’m weak? I mean he breaks and rebuilds his bones every month and he doesn’t complain about it, this isn’t nearly as bad as being a werewolf - family issues happen to everyone, they have to, right? What if he breaks up with me because I’m selfish and crying over something that isn’t that bad?

James can sense that Sirius is overthinking everything, so he lays down next to him and wraps his arms around the shaking boy. Fifteen minutes pass of Sirius crying in James’ arms, the later hiccups every once and a while but relatively stays silent, sobbing quietly.

The door finally opens and he gently lets go of Sirius and stands up to give Remus room to climb into the bed, James nods at him, smiling sadly. Remus just looks at him with sad eyes and gets into the bed, wrapping his arms around a panicking Sirius.

“James, you promised!” Sirius exclaims, starting to shake even more, trying to push Remus away out of fear of rejection.

“I did promise, but I said nothing about Wormtail!” James said sheepishly before running out of the room and shutting it behind him and a flushed Peter.

“Fucking dickhead” Remus hears Sirius mutter, making him chuckle sadly.

“Hi, mon étoile” Remus softly says, making Sirius blush even through the tears. Sirius lets go of the pillow and cuddles closer to Remus, laying his head on his boyfriend's chest, even though the irrational part of his brain is screaming at him for it.

“Hi, mon loup” Sirius says, blushing even more at their terms of endearment before crying a bit more.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” The curly haired boy gently says, running his fingers softly through Sirius’ hair, making him cuddle more into his chest.

“Not necessarily” Sirius whispers. He would never admit it, but having Remus there makes him feel a lot better even though his mind is racing with irrational uncertainties.

“Can I tell you what I think is going on, and you can tell me whether I’m right or wrong?” Remus says, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Sirius’ head.

Sirius takes a moment to think about it, what if he’s mad at me? Or what if he pities me? But what if he loves me anyways? Sirius’ curiosity takes the best of him and slowly nods his head.

“I think that Dumbledore said something upsetting, or inferred something, about your family and you’re overwhelmed and think that I will think badly of you for having feelings, which by the way is bullshit because your family sucks and I love you no matter what.” Remus says, surprising Sirius, because that’s exactly what he’s thinking.

“What the fuck Moony? Are you reading my diary or some shit?” Sirius says while smiling, wonder and tears filling his eyes while he looks up at Remus to see his face.

“Sirius, I know you, I’ve known you for seven years and have loved you for every single one” Remus says, making the boy in his arms blush, “I know you think no one truly loves you, but I’m here to prove you wrong, for almost the billionth time by the way, because I love you and you’re allowed to have feelings. I know you’re scared that I’ll think you're weak, but you’re not. You’re the strongest person I know, stronger than me, and not to compare trauma, but hateful parents is a lot worse than my furry little problem.”

“But Remus-”

“No, you can’t change my mind about this, you are so unbelievably strong and I’m so proud of you. I don’t know what happened in the meeting, but I do know that it hurt you a lot. Fucking Dumbledore, he better stay away from the shack this next full or the wolf’ll tear him to shreds and I wouldn’t even care.” Remus interrupted him.

“Moony!” Sirius exclaimed, laughing while still crying.

“I’m serious!”

“No, you’re Remus, I’m Sirius.” Sirius said proudly, the tears stopping in favor of being proud of his joke that got old years ago.

“Fuck I walked straight into that” Remus laughed.

“You’re gay.” Sirius said feigning seriousness.

“Sirius! Stop!” Remus said, now crying from laughing so hard. “I’m trying to be- well you know what I’m trying to be, but really, I love you and nothing can get in the way of that, not your family, Dumbledore, not even Azkaban.” Years later they both would look back at this, one hoping it’s true and the other hoping the other knows it’s true, but for now they laugh with tears in their eyes.

“I love you, mon étoile.” Remus says, reaching up to wipe the tears from Sirius’ face and resting them on his cheeks.

“I love you too, mon loup, so much, thank you” Sirius says, wiping Remus’ tears away and leaning up to press a soft kiss on his lips, the love overpowering the sad feelings.

⭐︎

⭐︎

⭐︎

second post for the night! i'm not really sure i like this one, it didn't turn out how i wanted it to and didn't even come close to what my original prompt/idea so yeah that sucks but it's alright. plus i think it was very fast paced and weird but oh well, please tell me what you think though! some people seemed to like it on ao3 (i still don't know how to link it in this post) so i decided to post it on here too :) i think i'm going to rewrite this sometime because it's not my favorite and i think i can improve!!

edit: bahahaha i accidentally named this the wrong name, it's supposed to be "only rule, and one rule only" lmao not "explosive feelings", i mean it was the original title but it didn't really fit so yeah sorry lmao

[bludhavents]

hiii ☺️ whenever you want/can, could you do random/fluff prompt 11 with Cedric?

11. “just trust me on this one” reader x cedric.

omg i loved writing this i’m sorry it took an extra day for me to post, i wanted to make sure i was really proud of it before i sent it out. thank you so much for the request i hope you enjoy reading🤎

Felix Fly-icis: Cedric Diggory x reader

“Bloody hell, y/n i’ve been looking for you everywhere,” you heard Ron yell through the hallway. You turned around with a puzzled look on your face; Don’t be mistaken, Ron was a sweet boy who you’d talked to on occasion, but by no means were the two of you friends. You had no idea why he’d be looking for you, nevermind what could be so important he felt the need to shout it out in the hallway.

“Oh, uh. Sorry, Ron, I didn’t know you were looking for me, what’s going on?” You spoke once he was caught up to you. His eyes opened wide and he took a deep breath and began speaking.

“Well Cedric told Cho who told Luna who told Neville who told Dean who told Harry who told me to tell you,” Ron gasped for air before continuing, “Cedric wants you to meet him at the Quidditch field for lunch. Something about Liquid Luck. Or maybe it was Felix Felicis, I don’t remember,” his eyebrows drew together as he tried to think back to what Harry told him. “Either way, I’m almost positive he said the Quidditch field. Almost. You won’t be mad if I’m wrong, will you?” The expression on his face was nothing short of terror.

You let out a small laugh, “Ron, it’s okay. Liquid Luck and Felix Felicis are the same thing, genius. And I promise I won’t be mad. Thank you for passing the message on, see you later.”

With that, Ron turned around and made his way down the opposite side of the hallway, leaving you to ponder why in Merlin’s name Cedric would choose to meet at the Quidditch field. He knew how you felt about the sport.

Quidditch certainly was not for everyone. Neither was flying in general, for that matter. Despite the countless times Professor Sprout had tried her best to convince you that flying on a broomstick isn’t as terrifying as it seems, you refused to try and had no intention of ever doing so.

Poor Professor Sprout had truly done everything she could think of to help you overcome your fear of heights, but it was no use. The thought of not being able to put your feet on the ground, the possibility of falling, and the rare—but possible owl collisions always instilled the idea that flying was dangerous and had every right to be feared. Quite honestly you were surprised to be the only one in your class who was afraid of heights, in the Muggle world it’s a very common fear, almost every Muggle was some degree of acrophobic, but it’s no surprise that the Wizards werent afraid to defy the laws of nature.

You often didn’t even attend Quidditch matches even though you’d be tucked away safe in the bleachers; Seeing your housemates gliding through the air and trying to knock the opponent off their respective broom made you queasy. You thought Quidditch was a fine sport, in fact you always wished you could overcome your fear and learn to play, but the idea itself was laughable. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that you were afraid of flying.

So to say Cedric’s invitation to meet at the Quidditch field was strange would be the understatement of the century. Not to mention the Liquid Luck, it took six months to brew for goodness sake. Despite his own self-doubt, you were sure Ron got the right potion name. If he could remember the long list of people the message had gone through before it reached you, you were sure he could remember the message itself.

After you pushed your curiosity aside, you were excited to spend time with Cedric. You made your way through the corridor and sat in the back of the DADA classroom replaying the day you became friends with Ced.

You’d properly met him at the beginning of the semester after someone told him about your acrophobia. With this new information, Cedric had taken it upon himself to ask if you wanted him to teach you. He was very kind about it all, and you could tell he genuinely wanted to help you; There was no judgement or teasing in his tone. He was always a very admirable person in your eyes, and was without a doubt the most hufflepuffely Hufflepuff you’d ever met. Being a Hufflepuff yourself, you knew what true loyalty and compassion looked like, and Cedric was a shining example.

Your hesitation was seemingly very clear to Cedric after he proposed the idea of lessons. He spent almost an hour in the Common Room assuring you that he didn’t mind going as slow as you needed to, telling you that he wouldn’t pressure you to do anything you didn’t want to do, and saying that you could quit whenever you pleased. He just wanted to help you and get to know you.

The first lesson was absolutely dreadful. The typical anxiety you felt about flying was now paired with the nervousness that comes with being alone with a very handsome boy. Despite him being as empathetic and careful as possible, Cedric couldn’t get you to even watch him fly for more than sixty seconds at a time. Needless to say the first lesson was also your last. Cedric didn’t want you to quit, but he understood where you were coming from. The two of you got along really well, though, and he was the first person who made you laugh through your anxiety. After the two of you hit it off so well that day, Cedric proposed a lunch at the Black Lake.

So for the past six months you and Cedric spent four days a week eating, laughing, and sometimes even swimming at the Black Lake during lunch hour. It was easy with him. He made you feel comfortable, understood, and carefree, and you did the same for him. The two of you enjoyed each other’s company more than anything else; It was almost addictive. A lot of the moments shared between the two of you could’ve easily been considered romantic, and although neither of you had ever had a conversation about wanting to date, there was a sort of unspoken agreement that you each had feelings for the other. It wasn’t hard to miss, either. Cedric and you had such an intense chemistry that one would have to be a fool to not recognize it as love.

Professor Lupin pulled you out of your thoughts as he dismissed the class and sent you on your way to lunch. You were careful to blend in with the hallway traffic flow, so you headed towards the Dining Hall with the rest of the students before you broke away from the crowd and hurried off into the girl’s quidditch locker room. You knew all of the players would be off to lunch already, but that didn’t stop you from rushing across the room and leaving through the back exit that led straight to the field. When you stepped into the bright sunlight you didn’t see Cedric anywhere, and a quick moment of panic struck you at the thought that maybe Ron had relayed the message wrong and Cedric was waiting for you somewhere else. Your worries quickly dissipated when Cedric seemingly appeared out of thin air. He was barely hovering on his brand new nimbus 2000 over the grass in the middle of the field. His smile was as charming as ever and in his hands he held his old broom and a tiny potion bottle.

“Y/n!” He quickly flew to your side and landed on one knee next to you. Cedric held the potion bottle in his hand like a wedding ring, “Hi.”

You laughed, he surely could be extra cute when he tried, “Hi, Cedric.” You gave him a gentle pat on the top of the head.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat. “Oh Y/n dearest, I come today to present you with one bottle of liquid luck,” he was talking like Dumbledore, and his dorky grin grew bigger as he kept going. “The day we met you wouldn’t even touch a broom, and I made it my personal duty to have you try. So today, as I present you with the magic potion, you will fly.” By the end of his speech you were so lost in his sparkling eyes it took you a minute to process his words.

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah! Come on, it’ll be okay,” He reached for your hand and you helped him back to his feet.

“I don’t really understand what you mean,” you let out a nervous laugh as he handed you his old broomstick.

“I was thinking, you just have to take some liquid luck and you’ll have no chance of falling!” The excitement was evident across his features.

“Oh, uh-,” you stammered. “I don’t know how i feel about this.” His plan was good, but there was no way you were going to be able to talk yourself up onto the broom. You felt bad, he’d probably been brewing this since the week you met and you didn’t want to let him down.

“I promise I’ll be right there with you. Please, just trust me on this one,” you searched his eyes for any sign of insincerity, and before you could think about it you grabbed the bottle out of his hand and drank the liquid luck.

“Yes!” Cedric threw his arms in the air and hopped back on his broom, flying straight up and doing a backflip in celebration of your sudden boost in confidence.

The potion tasted terrible, but you didn’t have much time to think of your regrets before it took affect. Your whole body felt lighter and you became giddy with excitement before tightening your grip on his old broom. Cedric came back down to the ground and shook your shoulders, you thought he might’ve been more excited than you were.

“Okay, are you ready to try this?” He calmed down a tad and made direct eye contact. You responded without a moment’s hesitation.

“So ready.”

He cheered in excitement before taking both of the brooms and setting them on the ground, just a little bit apart from eachother. He moved to stand over his broom and you did the same to yours. The two of you simultaneously lifted your brooms into the air and shared a look of pure joy.

“On the count of three, okay?” Cedric reached out to hold your hand. “One. Two. Three!”

You let go of his hand as you both took off into the air, laughter ringing in your ears as you experienced the thrill of flying for the first time ever. Luckily you’d known how to fly, so the liquid luck was only calming your nerves, the rest was your talent.

“Cedric I’m doing it!” You looked beside you and saw how much fun he was having, the proudness overcoming his features as you conquered your biggest fear.

“You’re really doing it, you’re flying, y/n!” He shouted back.

The two of you were in the air for hours, forgetting about the rest of your classes and messing with eachother above the quidditch field. When the sun started to set, the two of you headed back down to the field and landed.

“Thank you, Cedric. This was the best day of my life,” you breathed out, wrapping Cedric in a tight hug.

“Mine too,” he said, hugging you back and resting his chin on top of your head. “You know that I have feelings for you right?” Cedric blurted out.

“Yeah, I know,” you spoke into his chest. “I have feelings for you too, Ced.”

[tricksters-captain]

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

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

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

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

(MASTERLIST HERE)

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

Word Count: 2,606

Warnings: Some language, angst 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You sent the professor a forced smile as you left. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay, see you later, Professor.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Make way. The headmaster's here.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I was––”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I heard something about––” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And what do you think?” Oliver asked, 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEXT PART

Tag List 

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

[color-me-malfoy]

The Train To Apparent Death

(don’t worry, no one actually dies)

Draco Malfoy x Non-Slytherin Reader

Summary: You’re lucky enough to get a ride with Draco Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express, but madness lies along the way.

Platform 9¾ was still Platform 9¾.

Just like every other day at the Hogwarts Express, first-years still bidding goodbye to their parents, much older students rushing in to sit with their friends, lots of mothers and fathers asking if they brought their wands, their books, their robes, their everything.

The difference was, there were more words of warning.

“Dear, always stick with someone, Sirius Black is on the loose!”

“Don’t go wandering in the middle of the night or Sirius Black will bite your fingers off!”

“Oh, golly, I’m having second thoughts about it now that Sirius Black could be anywhere!”

You subtly covered your ears as you walked past the crowd of sobbing and waving parents and stepped onboard.

You looked in the windows of each compartment, looking for one that wasn’t too crowded. The first had a bunch of first-years, trying to show off their magic abilities, which were none, thanks for asking. The second had a girl your age reading an upside-down book, talking and singing to herself, which you absolutely did not need.

The third cart had just one sleeping man, his face covered with a newspaper, laying sideways, occupying the entire seat. No thanks, I’ll pass, you scrunched your nose in disgust.

The fourth one was empty, except for a boy on the corner, his face covered by the cover of The Daily Prophet he was reading. You opened the door and walked halfway in with your trunk.

“Could I sit here with you? Everywhere else is full, so-”

Your words got lost in your throat as the boy put the paper down and stared back at you with intimidating grey eyes.

It was Draco Malfoy.

“-or, I could just find someplace else.” Your voice cracked as you spun around to leave. “Have a nice d-”

“No, I suppose I could tolerate just one person for the train ride. Consider yourself lucky. Get in and shut the door.”

Did Draco Malfoy just let you sit with him? For an entire bloody train ride?

“I-” your face heated up. “W-Well… thanks then.”

You slid your trunk under your seat and sat down across him as he turned his attention back to his newspaper.

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” A high-pitched voice made you look up. It was the trolley witch with the sweets trolley, which was your favorite part of the train ride.

“I’ll have two bars of chocolate and a sherbet lemon, thanks.” You paid for the sweets as she handed them to you.

“Do you want anything?” you asked Draco, but he only responded by rolling his eyes and blocking your view of his face with the paper.

“You know what? I’ll take a chocolate frog too.” You paid for it and thanked her, and after you closed the door, you slid the chocolate frog next to him.

What you didn’t know was that he pulled the newspaper over his face because he could hardly stop from smiling.

You looked up at the headline of his paper and yelped in surprise as you came face-to-face with the screaming image of Sirius Black.

“Mother of Merlin!” you cried.

Draco put his newspaper down with no trace of the grin, in its place an annoyed grimace.

“What?” he asked blatantly.

“Sorry, it’s just- I…” you looked away and pointed at the paper. “…Sirius Black.”

“Oh,” he folded the newspaper and went back to reading, the headline page covered by the other pages.

“Thanks,” you opened your bag and took out your copy of Newt Scamander’s Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.

A few hours passed, and neither of you said a word to another, until he put his paper down and looked at the time, and you were able to stay calm as the image of Sirius Black came into view once more.

“Do you think Sirius Black could get into Hogwarts?” you asked just above a whisper.

He stared out the window, and you were just about to drop the conversation until he spoke softly.

“My father said the Ministry’s in charge of preventing that,” he said, without glancing at you.

“But isn’t the Ministry the people who run Azkaban?” you asked again. “I mean, if Black’s escaped them once, he can sneak right under their noses again too.”

“Are you scared, L/N?” he smirked, still not looking at you.

“Yes, of course, he’s killed people, so it’s natural to fear for my life,” you pulled your sleeves over your hands, “I’d rather be scared than apathetic.”

“A pathetic what?” he joked, and you failed to hide your laugh. But you shut your mouth as his face suddenly grew serious.

“Father said the Ministry’s setting up tighter security throughout the school perimeter,” he sat straighter. “He says even Dumbledore hesitated for a while. So, there’s nothing to worry about, is there?”

“I suppose not,” you mumbled.

There was a few more moments of silence until the train rumbled, slowed down, and shook to a stop.

Draco stood up and grabbed his luggage. “Oh, great! I can finally get off this bloody-”

His words turned into a shout of terror as all the lights went off.

“Merlin, what is going on! Wait till my father-”

“Malfoy-”

“-hears about this! By Salazar’s beard, he’ll probably have me study somewhere else than this pathetic-”

“Malfoy, y-”

“-pig sty! He’ll probably have Dumbledore removed fr-”

“Draco, please stay quiet, you’re making it worse,” you pleaded.

He snapped around as he heard the slight tremor in your voice.

“What is it?” He asked, trying to keep the concern from showing in his words.

“No, no,” you replied. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Stay put. I’ll get you some water.” He cursed himself as he stood back up. Why was he doing all this for you?

You heard the compartment door slide open and pulled your knees to your chest. After a while, he came back with a glass of water. He took something out of his bag, and light filled the room as he whispered, “Lumos.”

You took the water and took a light sip, but stared at the water with confusion.

Your breath was visible, and the water in your cup formed cold mist.

You turned to the compartment door, and on its window ice formed, spreading like a web until it filled the entire door and even enveloped the knob.

“Draco?” Your voice shook as you moved crawled further away from the door.

“Wha-” he stopped in his steps as he saw the ice forming on the door.

The two of you stared at the frozen door in silence until he snorted.

“It’s probably just some snow, I’ll wipe it off.” He said, but even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

“Draco, no-”

He didn’t listen to you as he walked over, pushing the door open as some shards of ice fell to the floor, turning into puddles of water.

“Malfoy, would you stop?”

You pushed him away from the door, slamming it. But your eyes widened and all breath left you as you took in the figure standing very still right outside the door. It was a creature covered in grey, shredded material, and the only thing separating you and this monstrosity was a single pane of glass.

It gave out heavy breaths, and fog appeared on the window. You didn’t realize the tears trickling down your face until they turned cold on your cheeks. You wanted to move backward but you couldn’t; your feet were planted on the ground, telling you if you moved it might not be so patient with killing you.

It gave out one last exhale, the grey cloth fluttering dangerously as the entire door filled with fog. When the fog receded, the creature was no longer there. But you still didn’t budge.

“Bloody hell,” you heard Draco’s voice behind you, but you didn’t turn around.

“So that’s what a dementor is? Merlin, that thing was ghastly! If this doesn’t keep Sirius Black out of the school I don’t know what will- Y/N? Y/N, it’s gone. Y/N, don’t stand there like a-”

“What the hell was that?” You croaked, your voice harsh.

“Y/N, it’s gone,” he chuckled. “there’s absolutely nothing to worry about!”

You felt someone grab your arm, and you tried to pull away, but you were face-to-face with Draco.

“Merlin, you’re cold as ice. And you’ve gone white! Y/N, what’s wrong-” He stared at your tear-stained face for a second, then his expression changed.

“Oh, no,” he brushed his finger across your face. “Hey, Y/N, sit down.”

You didn’t move, but squinted hard to clear your vision. He sighed, then you felt one arm rubbing your back and lightly pushing you down onto the seat. He took your hands in his, blew a little on them, then massaged your palms with his thumbs. You felt yourself slowly come back to your senses, and steadied your breathing as he looked on.

As the two of your locked gazes again, he took you in his arms, rubbing circles into your back.

“Wha… What was that, Draco?” you asked.

“That was a dementor, it’s the kind of creature that guards Azkaban. Those are the things that the Ministry sent to Hogwarts to keep watch at the gates.” He frowned, then turned to the door as a knock startled you.

Draco groaned, then stood up and strutted over to the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Professor Remus Lupin, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

You looked up and realized it was the man you had seen in one of the compartments.

“Oh, well, what is it?”

“I’m just here to warn you about the dementors. They won’t harm you unless you’re Sirius Black.”

“Oh, thanks a bunch, professor,” Draco rolled his eyes, “Thanks for telling us they’re harmless after a student went into a panic attack because of them.”

“Oh, dear, is she alright?” Professor Lupin looked past Draco and at you.

“I’m fine professor, just a little cold,” you said.

“Oh, and she’s cold, professor, aside from the fact she went ghost-pale and couldn’t move, professor,” he added sarcastically.

You were about to tell him it was fine, when you felt him drape something around your shoulders. It was his robe. You snuggled deeper into it and looked back up at Professor Lupin.

“But anyways, I’m fine. How are the other students?”

“Oh, Mr. Potter’s soul was nearly sucked out by the dementor, he lost consciousness for a while. Which reminds me, do any of you have a cloth or a towel?”

Draco rolled his eyes at the mention of Potter, but looked back at you as you almost fell off the seat reached for your bag and rummaged through it. He pushed your hand away and knelt down to you.

“What are you doing, L/N?”

“You heard him, Harry needs a towel.”

“Well, I’ll get it, sit down, you just looked like Death a few minutes ago.”

He got a towel from your bag and handed it to Professor Lupin.

“Ah, Professor,” you sat up, sticking your hand in your pocket. “I heard chocolate helps relieve the pain. Maybe this could help?”

As you handed Professor Lupin the chocolate, Draco Malfoy stared at you in awe. You had just been so terrified just a few minutes ago, yet now you were more concerned of someone else’s wellbeing. He was so puzzled. He expected to fall in love with someone who was as spunky as him, someone who was as cold as he was, yet his heart chose you, someone who he could never imagine to be bad.

What the bloody hell was going on with him.

“Thank you, Y/N, I look forward to seeing you in class,” Professor Lupin smiled.

“Oh, and five points to H/H.”

You smiled weakly, then as Lupin left the compartment, you looked back at Draco, who was staring at you with an unreadable expression.

“What? Do… Do I still look like Death?” You laughed nervously.

“I…” Draco opened his mouth to speak, but closed it immediately, and shook his head while smiling.

“What?” You sat up as he shuffled in next to you.

“It’s just… do you know how beautiful you are?”

That took you aback. It left you stunned for a second.

“Why would you say that?” You were nothing short of confused.

“Because… I always saw you as one of the prettiest girls of our year, but the only thing that outshines that is your heart. I just saw you nearly die of horror five minutes ago, but you just… gave Lupin that chocolate instead of keeping it to yourself.”

“But Potter needed it more-”

“Potter, Schmotter.” He rolled his eyes. “What I’m saying is, I’m madly in love with you.”

You stared at him, speechless.

There was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “Of course, if you don’t feel the same way-”

You leaned forward and kissed him. Not actually kissed him, but a temporary brush of your lips on his; slow enough for him to stutter in surprise, but too fast for you to even register it in your brain.

He turned to you and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Did you just kiss me?”

You suddenly realized the danger of what you did and practically flew to the other side of the compartment.

“I-I didn’t mean to,” you stammered. “I’m sorry-”

But you were cut off when he pulled you up by the shoulders and leaned in.

“If you’re going to kiss Draco Malfoy, you have to do it absolutely perfectly,” he whispered hoarsely, “As you know, all Malfoys settle for nothing but the best.”

He pressed his lips to yours, and your hands found their way to his neck and up to his hair as he pulled you closer by the waist.

It felt like he wouldn’t pull away for a long time -but then again, neither would you- if the train hadn’t stopped.

“Well, a-are we dating now?” you asked unsurely.

“Not yet,” he pecked you on the nose. “This Saturday, Courtyard, wear something nice.”

You smiled.

“Of course, Draco,” you winked. “As you said, all Malfoys settle for nothing but the best.”

=

You and Draco sat down at your respective table wearing the biggest smiles on your faces.

Your friends were talking and chattering happily, but as they turned to you their jaws hit the table.

“Wh-what’s the matter?” You asked.

Your best friend pulled on your arm.

“You’re wearing a Slytherin robe.”

=

A/N: Now y’all know why Draco was concerned about Harry fainting ;)))

[nearlymanaged]

19. Insufferable Smartass and The Plan

Curiously, it was Sirius who suggested that him and Remus should bring their homework to Hogsmeade. When Remus pointed out that they might as well just enjoy the little daytrip with their friends and work later, Sirius started talking about how important school was and how procrastination was ‘the grave in which opportunity is buried’. In fact, he seemed eerily set on working on their Transfiguration essays together. In the end, regardless of what kind of Confundus spell had been cast on Sirius, Remus had no objections to the plan so they ran upstairs after breakfast to gather their stuff. 

When they came back down to the Entrance Hall, they cut in line (one of the perks of being sixth years) and headed straight to where James, Peter, and Lily, among some other friendly faces, were waiting for Filch to check their permission slips.

“Didn’t you two have a study date today?” James smirked at them and - with full, wholehearted, giggly approval of none other than Lily - ruffled his hair. Remus made a mental note to mention this very moment in his speech at James and Lily’s wedding, which, all of a sudden he was sure, was going to happen one day.

“Multitasking,” he nodded knowledgeably, “we’ll be drinking butterbeer while writing about the dangers of poorly executed human transfiguration.”

“I’m sure drinking butterbeer is somewhere there on the list of things not to do while you transfigure yourself,” Sirius added with the same gravitas.

“Well, if you get anything written at all, I’ll copy some of it later,” James looked at him while buttoning his jacket up.

“Why would you even suggest such a thing!?” Sirius exclaimed but Remus also caught him winking.

It just so happened that it was a beautiful spring day. Most of the students had no interest in hanging out at Three Broomsticks, or any other little shops and cafes of Hogsmeade, for more than five minutes. Remus and Sirius decided to get their homework out of the way first, so they headed for the pub, with the promise of meeting up with the rest of their friends at Honeydukes later.

Sirius insisted on paying for their butterbeers, which Remus accepted, albeit reluctantly. “I’ll get you something at Honeydukes,” he bobbed his head as Sirius followed him to one of the booths with two glasses in his hands. He also just so happened to sit down on the same side of their table, right next to Remus. But, of course, it made sense, because they were going to do homework together…

“Nah, just let me treat you to this.”

“Alright, what did you do?” Remus’ mouth split into a tentative, yet mischievous grin.

“What do you mean?” Sirius propped his elbow against the backrest of his seat and turned sideways, resting his right ankle on his left knee, to face Remus.

“Are you in a lot of trouble?”

“You’re deducting this from me buying you a drink?” Sirius smiled brightly, curiosity etched into his beaming eyes.

“Mixed with the fact that you’ve been set on getting away from our other friends. Are you trying to get out of detention? Look, before I casually confide in Dumbledore that I couldn’t bear to keep going if not for my best friends always there, always right at my side, I’d like to know what it is that you did to deserve a significant enough punishment that you actually want to get out of it,” Remus finished with a smirk.

“I--” Sirius frowned momentarily. “D’you know what… I think I do do that, don’t it?” He barked out a laugh. “You’re right!”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out…”

“Fuck, you are bloody amazing, you are,” Sirius gazed at him, nothing short of starry-eyed. 

“I am?..” Remus chuckled.

“But you’re wrong this time.”

“I am!?”

“I haven’t done anything. I just want to treat you to a drink, that’s it.”

“Oh…” First, Remus gaped at Sirius dumbfounded, and then a melodious laugh erupted from him. He felt giddy all of a sudden. “Alright then…”

At first, they successfully dove into their essays. Remus was pleasantly surprised to see that Sirius had, in fact, already written a few paragraphs. But then, the more they sat there in that booth, their thighs and knees always touching; the more times Sirius leaned in so very close to glance at his essay, the more his black wavy hair tickled the side of Remus’ face -- the harder it was to focus on writing about Mirabella Plunkett and whether she was or wasn’t an animagus.

“Can I ask you something?” Sirius spoke up out of the blue a while later.

“When have you ever needed permission for that?” Remus mumbled as his quill traced the last couple of words of the sentence.

“Did you ever manage to conjure a corporeal Patronus?”

“Uh…” Remus tore his gaze off his essay and met Sirius’ grey eyes.

“My question has nothing to do with what we’re currently doing, by the way,” Sirius grinned.

“I’ve gathered.”

“So?”

“I don’t know… Kind of...”

“Kind of? So yes or no?”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

Remus pursed his lips and his eyebrows dipped in contemplation. He knows!? “Some kind of an animal,” he answered slowly. 

“Some kind of an animal?”

“Mhm.”

“It wasn’t a dog, was it?” Sirius smirked and Remus cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair, shuffling his gaze back down onto his homework and biting the inside of his cheeks to keep from grinning.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled nonchalantly. “I’ll have to think about it. We should finish this in the meantime.”

“And then you’ll tell me?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.”

Remus couldn’t have said whether it was a minute or ten that he spent pretending to read his textbook while mentally rolling his eyes at himself for getting so flustered and giddy. Finally, after another round of butterbeers paid for by Sirius, they were both done with their essays.

“I did borrow a couple of your ideas, but I changed the wording and everything,” Sirius knit his eyebrows together as he looked down at his homework.

“Let’s see…” Remus started proofreading it. He spoke again after a couple of minutes, “you wrote the same exact sentence twice here. Is there a particular reason for that or..?” He slid the essay closer to Sirius and pointed at the lines he was talking about.

“I did?” Sirius grabbed the parchment and pulled it closer to himself. “Well it’s obviously your fault. You’re distracting me.”

“I’m distracting you?” Remus’ eyebrows shot up in an amused expression when Sirius lifted his eyes from the essay.

“Yes… Did you know you’ve got ink on your nose?” Sirius’ face instantly broke out into a smile.

“I do?..” Remus tried to use a napkin dispenser as a mirror but its once shiny surface was far too dusty and scuffed up to reflect anything.

“Let me…” Sirius grabbed a napkin, touched his wand to it, and conjured a tiny bit of water to get it damp. He then reached over - although him and Remus were sitting so close that there wasn’t much reaching to do - and wiped the blue smudge off the tips of his nose.

“Thanks…” Remus touched his nose absently. Now that he thought about it, Sirius would have probably made fun of Peter for having ink on his nose and would have let James walk around with a blue stain on his face without telling him at all, just for the heck of it. 

“No worries,” Sirius sat back with a newfound cheeky smirk on his face. Remus was very much aware that his ears must have gone red and Sirius evidently felt emboldened by it. “So what’s your Patronus?”

“Didn’t you say it was a dog?” Remus mirrored his expression. “Aren’t you going to fix your essay?”

“Later… So it is a dog then?”

“It is.”

“Any dog we know or…”

Remus bit the tip of his tongue as he tried to tone his admittedly idiotic grin down at least a little bit. Clearly, Sirius knew exactly what his Patronus was, and by the looks of it, he seemed to be pretty pleased by it. Remus started loading his parchment and ink into his bag as he shrugged in response to the question. “I think you know. Now, if we’re done with Transfiguration, why don’t we go find the others?” He got up and swung the strap of his bag over his shoulder.

“The...others?.. Wait, no!” Sirius grabbed his things and recklessly stuffed them into his bag, probably breaking his quill in the process. By the time he got up to his feet, Remus was at the door, holding it open for a pair of old ladies walking into Three Broomsticks, before he dove into the sunshine and crisp breeze outside.

“Oi, Lupin!” 

“Black?” Remus scrunched his nose at Sirius once the latter caught up with him.

“Remus! What is wrong with you?”

“So many things, where do I even begin…” The boy smiled sheepishly.

“Do you not like me? Am I just making it up?”

“What…”

“Haven’t you noticed that I’ve been…” Sirius shrugged animatedly, causing some passers by to cast dirty glances at them. “...swooning over you for months!? I mean, what is wrong with you?! Why won’t you see that I’m in love with you?”

A long silence wrapped around these words as they echoed in Remus’ head, and he simply stared at Sirius’ face. And it dawned on him, slowly, gradually, the meaning that Sirius’ voice carried. “I thought I was supposed to be the swooning type?” He said with a smirk springing to his lips.

“Bloody Merlin… Am I making it--”

“Can we talk? Not here?” Remus motioned at the entire length of High Street filled with people.

“Shit. Well,” Sirius mumbled as colour drained from his face. “Not like I didn’t know this was a possibility… But I will respect whatever you say. And, just so we’re clear, I don’t think this should get in the way of our friendship…”

“Sirius.”

“...because I don’t want to not know you ever again. I’m fine with being your friend…”

“Sirius, I…”

“...if that’s what you want. I just need an answer so I can move--”

Remus sighed to himself with a roll of his eyes - he couldn’t believe he was about to do this - he closed the gap between the two of them in one smooth stride, and, drowning his fingers in the black mane, pressed his lips to Sirius’, effectively cutting him off.

He had spent what felt like every waking moment of the past couple of days replaying that Truth or Dare kiss in his head, sinking deeper and deeper into the fantasy of getting to snog Sirius again. And yet - a fleeting thought flickered in his head - he wasn’t prepared for this. He couldn’t have known how dizzying it would be to feel Sirius’ arms snake around his waist, pulling him closer. He couldn’t have known how positively drunk with happiness he would feel when they pulled apart.

“I’m sorry, so rude of me to cut you off,” Remus’ lips formed a giddy grin while Sirius stared at him, seemingly dumbstruck, still holding him close. “What was it that you were saying?”

“I…” He blinked rather comically and gave the tiniest shake of his head. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you, please, repeat what you just did?”

Remus felt his heart quite literally expand in his chest as they kissed again, happy smiles permanently stuck on their faces.

* * *

“So you’ve been swooning over me?” Remus beamed sheepishly as he fiddled with the lapels of Sirius’ leather jacket.

“Very much so,” Sirius nodded stoically, making a mental note to perhaps one day tell Moony about what Amortentia smelled of to him - not just yet though. 

“No, you haven’t!”

“Yes, I have,” Sirius gave another nod of his head, feeling like his own exhilarated grin could barely fit on his face. He could hardly believe what had just happened. “Ask anyone we know.”

“What?..”

“Yep, everyone knows I fancy you.”

“W-what?”

“Oh yeah. James knows, Peter knows, I’m pretty sure Lily knows, and probably all her friends. Definitely Marlene and Mary. Everyone who’s seen us snog the other night knows. I’ve a feeling McGonagall knows too. Dumbledore probably knows as well, seeing as he keeps such a close eye on you. Madam Pomfrey? Ten galleons says she knows. The house elves know it, I think. Regulus shouted a weird insult at me the other day that suggests that he knows as well. Speaking of Slytherins, I wouldn’t be surprised if Snivellus knew. Who else?..” Sirius stared off into the distance, scratching his chin as he did.

“What…are you talking about...” Remus was squinting at him now.

“Oh yeah, everyone knows. Honestly, I thought you’d have figured it out by now yourself.”

Remus’ face split into a sunny smile all of a sudden. “Would have been easier if you had told me.”

“Last I checked, you snogged the living hell out of me so I’m hardly the one to take all the blame. Besides, I’ve tried telling you.”

“No, you haven’t,” Remus shook his head with an ever present smirk.

“I have too. Numerous times.”

“When?!”

“I don’t know, every day for the last couple of months,” Sirius shrugged, only vaguely aware of the hairs on the back of his neck standing up in some kind of electric excitement. He must have looked like an idiot too, he was sure, gazing at Moony the way he did. But he couldn’t help himself. Nothing had ever felt so unequivocally good and right, and if Sirius didn’t know better, he could have sworn he was dreaming. 

“What?” Remus scrunched up his nose, causing Sirius to chuckle.

“You,” he answered with an unabashed dreaminess permeating his voice.

“I know,” Moony’s lips formed a smug little smile. “You’ve been swooning over a disfigured werewolf with a compulsive need to correct people’s grammar - it must be tough.”

“Those are two of my favourite things about you. Always have been. That hasn’t changed.” Sirius rebutted without missing a beat, leapt over to Remus’ side, and took his hand, lacing their fingers together, which elicited a chuckle from the boy. “What?” Sirius nudged him with his shoulder.

“Nothing,” Remus shrugged and looked down at their linked hands. “I’m just really excited, I suppose.”

“I’ve never seen you laugh out of excitement before.” 

“Maybe I’ve never been this excited before, then.”

“I know I haven’t,” Sirius said and, only allowing himself a split second’s hesitation, lifted his free hand to cup Remus’ face and drew him into another kiss.

When their lips broke apart, their foreheads remained glued together, resting against each other for another moment. “Please tell me you didn’t write that Valentine’s day poem...”

A tickled laugh erupted from Sirius. “That was absolutely my own fault for allowing too much creative liberties…”

“As in, you actually hired that dwarf?” Remus arched his eyebrows as they fell into step side by side.

“I did. I also made a heart in your porridge that morning but you called it a butt, you uncultured troll.”

“That’s ‘uncultured troll that you’ve been swooning over’, excuse you.”

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks and when Moony - who also stopped, since they were holding hands - peered at him curiously, Sirius tugged him a little closer. “I am so into you,” he spoke barely above a whisper.

“Even though I fold my socks?” Remus attempted a nonchalant chuckle but his blushing ears gave him away.

“Even though you fold your socks.”

“Even though I’m a monster?”

“For the millionth time, Moony, shut the fuck up,” Sirius frowned momentarily. 

“Calling it something else only increases--”

“Yeah, I know, says Dumbledore. Whatever. I’d still rather call you ‘honey’ or ‘love’ or ‘handsome’-- or ‘nerd’, really,” he flashed Moony a charming grin before pointedly averting his eyes. “Or ‘my boyfriend’, if that’s alright with you…”

“Well, seeing as I’ve fancied you since about fourth year…”

“What?! Where was I?!”

“Fourth year?..” Remus stared off into the distance, squinting slightly, scratching his chin as he did. “If I remember correctly, you had a crush on that one sixth year Slytherin girl.”

“Unbelievable…”

“In fact, I think you went through a phase that year where you were only interested in older girls, so...”

“No, I mean… What was wrong with me?”

“Well, just off the top of my head--”

“It’s a rhetorical question, you insufferable smartass,” Sirius’ eyes glistened mischievously and then he planted a kiss on Remus’ lips - because he could, finally, after all those months.

“And you’re absolutely sure you want to be romantically affiliated with an insufferable smartass?” Remus sounded slightly out of breath when he spoke, a giddy smile painted across his face.

“More than anything, quite literally.”

Remus laughed - giggled - again, and Sirius felt like his feet were about to leave the ground; he was that full of love and of dizzying happiness. And that was his new favourite sound all of a sudden - one that he knew was for him only. 

“That summer after our fourth year...” He slid his hands into Remus’ jacket pockets - either for lack of knowing what to do with his hands or for a reason to touch his boyfriend Remus. “...was the summer when we talked on the phone a lot.”

“It was.” Moony gave a nod of his head and one of his trademark inquisitive looks.

“It was a bit romantic, wasn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” Remus chuckled lightly. 

“I’d really missed that this last summer. You’ll have to come visit this summer break!”

“Will I have to sleep on the floor of your bedroom this time?” Remus teased.

“I think I prefer the bed, but whatever you say. We can do the floor, we can do it wherever,” Sirius went on with exaggerated coyness etched into his features. “I’ll do it any place and any way you want.” 

“You say all these facetious, idiotic things,” Remus mumbled low, slowly bringing his hands up to Sirius’ face, squinting at him ever so slightly, “and you wear these dangly earrings and this dung eating grin, and I simply can’t…” Without finishing the sentence, Remus kissed Sirius senseless. 

Finally, Sirius snaked his arm around Moony’s waist and they started down the street again. They chatted as they walked, exchanging flirtatious lines and smiles, and Sirius caught his imagination painting an exciting picture of everyone finding out about him and Remus. A part of him could hardly wait for it. It was the same part that wanted to get atop the Astronomy Tower just to shout to the world about his boyfriend Remus, just to share his amazing luck with everyone. 

But at the core of his being, as he gazed into those beaming green eyes, Sirius wanted nothing more than to see Moony smile the way that he was smiling at him then - every day, for as long as they lived.  

The two of them slowly made their way to Honeydukes. It turned out to be the busiest shop in town, crawling with Hogwarts students. They stopped a few feet away from the entrance, allowing two small gaggles of third years to cross their path.

“D’you think...do you reckon it’s going to be strange? For James and Peter...” Remus smiled at Sirius sheepishly, his eyebrows dipping in dubiety. 

“Oh,” Sirius burst out laughing, his eyes glistening as he cupped Remus’ face with both of his hands, gently brushing his fingertips against the freckled skin, “oh, my love! They’re going to be relieved, trust me.”

“Are they?” Moony’s face slowly mimicked Sirius’ grin.

Before too long, the two boys went into Honeydukes where Remus, standing on his toes, located their friends huddled at the far end of the shop. Sirius started weaving his way through the sea of people, holding Remus’ hand in his - as they had done before when in crowded places. But this time, it felt different, far more exhilarating, Sirius thought.

By the time they crossed the room, however, they realised that their friends had gone. “Oh, there they are...and they just walked outside,” Remus followed them out with his gaze.

The two of them turned around, joking about, still holding hands, and Sirius led the way towards the exit. When they were almost at the door, they heard a familiar voice, speaking just outside, just out of sight.

“...and then they won’t be able to wriggle their way out of it!” Peter exclaimed triumphantly.

“Sirius won’t,” James spoke up next, “but who knows what lie Remus will come up with. The boy’s a bloody master at denial and dodging questions.”

At these words, both Sirius and Remus looked at each other, the same curiosity reflected in their faces. But before they could make the decision to either remain hidden or join their friends outside, Lily’s voice carried: “Trust me, it’ll work. They’ll be in each other’s arms by the end of it.”

“Or are you just saying that because you actually want to pretend to be on a date with me?”

Sirius and Remus both frowned and then almost broke out laughing at the same time in response to James’ words. 

“You wish, Potter!” Lily let out a melodious laugh and then spoke again, more sternly this time. “It’ll work. They fancy each other, but they’re both too stupid to make the first move. We just need to nudge them a little in the right direction. Don’t tell me this isn’t a brilliant plan?”

“Fine, it is. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t want to pretend to be on a date with me, does it?”

“Give it a rest, will ya, lad?” Peter’s exasperated, yet absolutely defeated voice caused Sirius to slap his hand over his own mouth to keep from laughing, while Remus clutched his chest, wheezing soundlessly. “I think the plan’s brilliant. And frankly, I’m tired of the whining and sighing.”

“Whose whining and sighing?” Remus whispered at Sirius but he just bit back a grin and shushed him.

“Peer pressure is a powerful weapon,” James quipped, making Lily and Peter chuckle outside. 

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Lily squealed.

“But what if they get together before then, on their own?” Peter asked and, after several silent seconds, during which they probably exchanged looks, the three Gryffindors burst out laughing.

“Good one, Wormy!” Lily cackled, to Sirius’ deep surprise.

“But seriously,” James spoke quieter now, “to be able to do this for two of my best friends is an honour. You know, I think it’s a privilege to be a part of it…”

“Gosh, you sound like they just asked you to be the best man…”

“Well, Sirius certainly will, won’t he?!”

“See,” Sirius turned to Remus and whispered with a playful smile, “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that everyone knows.”

“I can’t believe this…” Remus shook his head slowly, staring blankly into space. “I can’t believe they’re plotting like that, behind our backs.”

“It’s interesting how confident they all are that you fancy me.”

Remus looked over to Sirius’ face again and was met with a cheeky smirk. “I know, it is interesting,” he played dumb, although not very successfully. “Is it bad that I kind of want to go along with their plan just to see what would happen?”

“But it wouldn’t make any sense if-- Wait…” Sirius’ smile faded. “You mean, pretend that we didn’t just snog multiple times and go along with their plan?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

An outraged gasp erupted from Sirius as he shot Remus a dirty look. “Are you ashamed of me?!”

“Yes… Yes, you got me,” the boy uttered in a monotone.

“I’m just yanking your wand, Moony,” Sirius barked out a laugh at his boyfriend’s sarcasm. “Naturally, we have to do it.”

“Who are we if we don’t do it?”

“Certainly not Marauders.”

“A disappointment to ourselves, really.”

“And to all future generations of delinquents.”

“Besides, who are we to deny James the opportunity to go on a fake date with Lily?”

“Nothing but scoundrels if we get in the way of it.”

“Well, shall we?” Remus nodded his head in the direction of the exit.

Sirius quickly scooped up both of Moony’s hands and pulled him a little closer. “You make me so happy - always - but especially today.”

And they kissed, again, just inside Honeydukes, feeling like no one else was there, like no one could see them, even though it was brimming with people.

“Ah, there you are, we were looking for you,” Sirius drawled, a giddy smile permanently plastered all over his face, as he and Remus walked outside - no longer holding hands.

“We were looking for you!” James leapt over to the two boys and hooked his arms around their shoulders.

“Did you get your chocolate supply?” Lily looked over at Remus.

“Believe it or not, I’m still stocked from last time.”

“Oh? That is a little worrisome. How’s your blood sugar level?” She grinned.

“It’ll get me through the day.”

“What’s going on?” Peter, seemingly completely uninterested in the conversation, looked at Sirius curiously.

“What do you mean?” He shrugged with his hands buried in his pockets, fully aware that he must have looked nothing short of drunk - because that was close to how he felt.

“You two look awfully happy…” Peter shuffled his gaze onto Remus.

“We do?” Sirius asked brightly. “Moony, what do you think? How come we look so awfully happy?”

“Oh, that would be the euphoria of having finished our homework, Padfoot,” he answered with a radiant smile.

[emmelineparker308]

Father Dearest Part 4

Fandom: Harry Potter: Golden Trio Era Pairing: Harry Potter x reader Summary: Your third year at Hogwarts is about to start and with it come a lot of new changes. Harry, your best friend and crush, is in trouble from some man named Sirius Black. You try desperately to keep Harry safe but what happens when you find out some heartbreaking, mind shattering information about your father? Warnings: angst, long writing lol! A/N: Enjoy! Please like and reblog if you like it!!

“Did you hear about what happened to (Y/L/N) during DADA?”

“Oh my god, do you think that she is being abused at home?”

“I knew it, I knew that there was something off about her.”

 These were the whispers that followed you around for the rest of the week. Harry, Ron and Hermione would throw a dirty look at anyone that even dared to look at you wrong and maybe due to that, and the fact that other more threatening news was flooding Hogwarts, the incident that occurred in the DADA class was forgotten from almost everyone’s mind.

 The only thing you had been looking forward to after Moony’s class was Hagrid’s first lesson. Looking forward to it seems to be too happy a phrase to use. You had heard from Fred and George who already had their Care for Magical Creatures class that Hagrid had them caring for some crazy dangerous creatures. In fact, most of the castle was muttering about Hagrid’s lessons and you were apprehensive of what monstrous creature Hagrid would introduce to your lot. To make matters worse the Gryffindors were paired with the Slytherins for Magical Creatures. After the encounter in Lupin’s class Malfoy had been a bit more reserved in talking back in class but you were sure his tongue was going to wag in Hagrid’s class. As you made your way down to Hagrid’s hut you found that the Slytherin Prince was already there, barking all sorts of rubbish that is puny crew was lapping up. Pansy Parkinson, a toad of a girl, was hanging on every word that drew from his lips.

 “Wait till my father hears about this, that Dumbledore’s got this oaf teaching class. Honestly this whole school is going to hell,” he stated disgustingly as Hagrid was fixing something up in his garden. Harry who heard the remark turned around fuming, you had to grip his arm and hold him back before he launched himself a Malfoy.

 “What is it Potter? Got something to say?” he taunted Harry.

 “Last I checked your father was sacked from being a governor of Hogwarts after threatening the other governors. So, having your now unemployed father hear about the news of Hagrid’s post doesn’t really carry that much weight,” you recounted as the gryffindors sniggered and Malfoy turned red. You knew that the Malfoy’s were rich beyond measure and that his father technically didn’t need a  job to survive, however it still managed to bruise Malfoy’s ego.

 “At least I have a father, what was it that the boggart said? Right, ‘You’re scum, and I never wanted you’,” Malfoy stated smirking at the effect those words had on you. You froze up beside Harry, and Harry seizing the chance of you letting go of his arm grabbed his wand and threw a spell at Malfoy.

 Malfoy was about to retaliate when Hagrid came walking towards you booming, “What’s goin on ‘ere? You lot be’er not be causin’ ‘rouble ‘his early in.” Hagrid lead you into a clearing at the edge of the forest and went on to explain what the lesson was for today.

 You who had been beaming at him to show your support felt a pricking sensation in the back of your head. It was a sensation you had grown accustomed to over the past summer, a feeling of being watched. You didn’t know what it was but the past summer when you were taking your nighttime walks or when you were running errands for Remus on the weeks of the full moon you would feel this weird sensation. Nothing ever came of it, you would turn around constantly, checking your surroundings yet you would find nothing, no one was watching you. You didn’t want to alarm Remus, who (you were sure) would lock you up in the house all summer had you disclosed this information to him.

 The feeling stopped the last few weeks of summer vacation, you were sure that due to all the excitement and busyness of packing up for Hogwarts you mind simply didn’t have time to make you feel uneasy. However, the feeling was back, you instinctively turned around, you were met with nothing but trees and shrubs. There was a slight rustling of a shrub but just then a sudden breeze had started from nowhere and you heard Harry scream. When you turned your attention back to the class you saw Harry riding on a Hippogriff. Had Harry not looked like he was going to vomit, the site would have been majestic. You knew all about the hippogriffs having stumbled across an old Care for Magical Creatures textbook of Moony’s. You were slightly jealous that Harry got to ride one, and even more impressed at Hagrid for not showing a dangerous creature. Sure, the Hippogriffs may look intimidating, and yes they can cause serious harm but that’s only if you were daft enough to disrespect them.

 As Harry touched down, you along with the rest of the Gryffindors cheered. Harry was placed back onto the ground by Hagrid and you were about to get his attention to ask for a ride yourself when Malfoy pushed you out of the way. Thankfully, Dean was able to catch you before you met the floor. “Yeah, you’re not scary at all are you, you big chicken,” you heard Malfoy confidently strut to the Hippogriff. Before any of you could stop it, Malfoy was attacked, and Hagrid was fussing over him saying that Malfoy would be fine. It took ‘Mione and you to scream that Malfoy needs to go to the hospital wing for Hagrid to snap out of his panic and carry the oaf who was now moaning in pain. Dean who had been holding you still, let go of you almost as if you were made of hot iron and apologized under his breath and sprinted to catch up with Seamus.

 You were about to yell out thank to Dean for catching you when you turned around and realized the reason for Dean’s sudden odd behavior. Harry was still watching Dean with an emotion that you were not able to place filling the green irises that you were so familiar with.

 “How much trouble do you reckon Hagrid’s gonna be in?” Ron asked as you all made your way towards the castle.

 “I don’t know. Knowing Malfoy’s father, we haven’t heard the last of this,” you somberly stated.

The next few weeks went by in a blur, Malfoy moaned over his arm, which in your opinion had nothing wrong with it. You saw him catch a piece of parchment you had thrown at him with his bandaged hand without so much a thought, or a bit of pain. He just put on a show whenever he thought people weren’t paying enough attention to him. The oaf. Urgh. You would purposely throw things at him and place heavy books atop his “broken arm” whenever you had the chance. Alright you suppose it was very mean to laugh in his misery but in your opinion had he just listened to Hagrid’s instructions nothing would have happened. Hagrid obviously felt awful and kept apologizing, but Malfoy was still a git about it. He was going on and on about how he was going to have Hagrid sacked and Buckbeak killed. Once he said it very loudly in front of Hagrid that it brought the happy giant man to tears. You, being the ever so kind and patient person, you were, “accidentally” pushed Malfoy into Bowtruckle dung while he was still laughing getting dung even into his mouth.

Aside from Malfoy there was a rather awkward situation that occurred between Harry, McLaggen and you. McLaggen was a showy upperclassman, he was the epitome of the stereotypical Gryffindor. Tough, and brash, but not exactly the brightest of the bunch. He stalked up to you during one morning, chest puffed out and toothy grin plastered over his face. To you he resembled more of an ape than a boy but that didn’t stop some girls from eyeing him. “Hey (Y/N),” he charmed as he pushed Harry and you apart and sat down between you.

“Top of the Mornin’ to ya, McLaggen,” you sarcastically stated. Harry and Ron snickered at the disinterest in your voice but McLaggen clearly didn’t get the hint (again nOt tHe bRiGhTeSt bUlB)

“Listen so the Hogsmeade trip is coming up,” he started.

“Is it? I didn’t know you could read a calendar,” you retorted but he chose to ignore your statement.

“I know that this is your first trip to Hogsmeade and for a bird it’s just sad to go alone. I know that you’re probably fretting over it but not to worry, you to accompany me,” he finished his proposition. You were actually dumbfounded for a second at his remark. He hadn’t even asked you out, he told you that you can go with him.

“McLaggen, though I’m sure that would be, er- well fun isn’t the right word, tolerable, it would be tolerable. I will not be going alone. However, if I ever find the need to be in the company of a donkey, I’ll let you know,” you hotly stated and walked away. 

“Mate she just called you an arse,” you faintly heard George bellow out over the laughter that filled the Great Hall. 

Soon it was time for your first ever Hogsmeade trip. You offered to stay with Harry when you realized that he wouldn’t be able to go with you, but he told you to go have fun. While on the way to Hogsmeade you noticed Ron nervously looking at you, he always looked like he wanted to say something but after sneaking a peak at Hermione he opted to stay quiet. Once you got to the village even Hermione started acting odd, glaring at you every once in a while. Upon getting the clue, you jogged on ahead of them, citing that you wanted to buy Harry something and went into Zonko’s Joke shop. As you made your way out of  Honeyduke’s you felt an arm wrap around you, but no one was near. Vanilla and Pine Cones. “Harry, no way, how?”

“Fred and George gave me this wicked map,” he explained getting out of his cloak. “It showed me a great route to take without alerting Filch.”

“Great. I was starting to get bored. Let’s go into Three Broomsticks and get a butterbeer. I’ve never tried one,” you stated while dragging him along with you.

“Where’s Ron and Hermione?” Harry asked as you found an empty booth in the corner. Madame Rosmerta, the bartender had given you a rather weird look when you went to counter to place the order.

“They were acting odd once they got here. I decided to leave them alone,” you stated. Your butterbeers came and you both drank the liquid, letting it fill you with warmth. You dragged Harry around with you through the entire village. From Honeyduke’s Harry brought enough sweets to last till Christmas, you had made a comment on it when he said that more than half of it was for you. From Zonko’s you brought Ron the Screaming Yo-Yo he had mentioned wanting. You even walked over to Madam Pudifoot’s but one look at the pink exterior and you pulled Harry with you in the opposite direction.

“Harry,” Hermione exclaimed, as Ron and she came out of the joke shop. Ron looked rather glum until you handed him your package. He opened it and almost tackled you onto the ground in a hug.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the action and kept talking to Harry, “How did you get here?”

“Never mind how,” Ron laughed, “Harry, we’ve got to go into Zonko’s there’s some wicked stuff in there for pranks.” As Hermione hit Ron, you noticed Madame Rosmerta outside of her pub.

“Hey ‘Mione, look who it is,” you diverted their attention to the bartender who was talking to the Minister of Magic, he was looking rather intimidated by her antics. You looked over at Ron who was very red in the face as Hermione took to teasing him about his crush on dear old Rossie.

“Sirius Black?” you heard her say over the chipper of the crowd. Almost immediately you felt movement from you back and you knew Harry was making a beeline for Three Broomsticks. Without another thought you placed an invisibility charm on yourself and walked in Harry’s footsteps.

“Sirius Black? Come now Minerva why would he be coming to Hogsmeade of all places?” you heard Rosmerta ask as McGonagall started to explain the horrendous crimes that Black did. You huddled in a corner far away from everyone in the room but still close enough to hear the conversation. You felt a warm presence next to you that you guessed to be Harry.

“In the darkest times, when James and Lily Potter had to go into hiding Sirius Black was appointed as their secret keeper. He was the only one in the world that knew about their whereabouts, and when it came time to, he betrayed them,” McGonagall explained as tears welled up in your eyes.

Poor Harry must be going through a tsunami of emotions right now, you worried. Knowing that Sirius Black was after him was one thing but now realizing that he was the sole reason his parents were killed must be doing a number on him. You could tell he was shaking, and you felt around for his arm and held on to it.

“So, you think what? That he wants to finish the job You-Know-Who started and kill the boy?” Rosmerta questioned.

McGonagall’s lips stretched into the thinnest line you had ever seen, “Rosmerta the fact of the matter is that he still remains Harry’s godfather. Not only that, that poor girl (Y/N), she has no clue of course.” Your head was spinning from all the revelation that was happening but at your name your ears perked up.

 “Oh, that lovely doll, the one with brown eyes and black hair,” Rosmerta added, “I just saw her in my shop, she’s a splitting image of her mum, it made me tear up a bit. I will say her eyes and that hair, that she got from her father. She reminds me so much of her mother, even smiles the same way. (Y/L/N) was such a wonderful woman.”

 “”Metra, my dear,” Fudge interrupted, “The lass has no idea that her mother was Estella (Y/L/N) and that her father is Sirius Black.”

Taglist: @missmulti​ @may-machin​ @magicalaquarian​ @junkersandroadies-son​ @prongsyy​ @cute-but-weirdo​ @lozzybowe​ @minecraftlover444​ @selmeuuh @play-morezeppelin​ @ilovespideyyy​ @wecouldbreakthedistance​

[maraudersandlily20]

this one's sad but something about Harry and Remus after Sirius's death?

There was, in the days after Sirius’s death, a moment when Harry felt the real impact of everything that had happened. He was sitting alone, half way into the water, his pants soaking. The rational part of Harry told him that he could catch cold, sitting in the water, or that there were creatures under the surface that were full of malintent.  But, the rest of his mind that was numb and seeking the grounding of anything physical to the world thought that sitting in the water was as good as he was going to get.

It was late June, and he could feel it. The air was growing warmer and everywhere on the school grounds was the feelings of anticipation of summer break. Harry had been excited about the summer months just a few weeks before, looking forward to when he would get to spend a lot of quality time with...

The numbness sunk in again. He had been walking in a daze, unable to process what people were saying to him, or if he was actually existing the past few days. He couldn’t quite get a foot into reality. He couldn’t sleep, he barely ate. He simply didn’t feel like it. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the dark curtain that waved dramatically as his person fell through. So he tried to keep his eyes open.

Harry was lost in thought, feeling the cold water splash against his skin, and so he didn’t see Remus standing a bit away, watching him, carrying a small note from Minerva. She had practically begged him to visit the school and try to get through to Harry. Since his explosion in Dumbledore’s office, he had become practically a walking corpse.

Remus understood, of course. That feeling of grief was one he was quite familiar with. It had been his close and faithful companion since he was 17 years old. But he worried. He worried how someone as broken as he would be able to comfort another broken person.

He took a deep breath before taking off his shoes and his socks and wading into the water til he was standing beside Harry. The water was cold, but not unbearable. Harry had no reaction to his presence, didn’t even spare him a glance, but that didn’t deter Remus. He simply sat down, submerging his lower half, like Harry had done, and looked out across the water. It felt like someone’s cruel idea of a joke, that the world was so warm and bright, so open and free, and these two people only felt darkness.

“Minerva asked me to check on you,” Remus said, his voice a whisper. Harry nodded, but said nothing. Remus was unsure of himself, unsure of what Harry needed, and so he opened his mouth and let whatever he wanted come out.

“My mother passed away when I was 17. She was sick for a long time. I had used her illness as an excuse for my monthly disappearances, but there was some truth to it in the end.” Remus grabbed a handful of dirt and pebbles, watching them sift through his hands and away with the lapping water, repeating the movement again and again.

“It was cancer. Such a silly muggle illness with no rhyme or reason to it. My father didn’t recognize the signs until it was too late. For some reason, magic couldn’t heal her, and neither could the muggle doctors. And she died. It was... hard. Hard to bear. Hard to find that my mother had died due to an illness I couldn’t prevent.”

Harry was quiet, the words of his old friend starting to penetrate his mind. He realized he didn’t know much about Remus Lupin, and found himself curious to the point of the story. 

“I always thought that I would end up killing my mother. Whether it be from stress or an accident during shifting. It was always a looming thought over my head every time I went home. But it never happened. I would go home and my mother would bake, and we would fish, or pick flowers, or garden. She had this little pack of ducklings that treated her like a mother and followed her every move whenever she stepped outside.” His eyes grew misty and he smiled. “I haven’t thought about those ducks in a while.” He looked over to Harry, who was still looking away, but Remus could tell he was listening. 

“it’s interesting, when I remember her death now. I don’t remember much of the actual day, but I remember the day before, when I spent the afternoon in the hospital. She had been feeling uncharacteristically well. She asked me for an arm and she pulled her I.V. along with her. We looked quite a sight, I’m sure, but mom didn’t mind. She just wanted to walk. We went through the entire floor, saying hello to familiar nurses and friends that she had made.” Remus turned his eyes to the horizon, as if picturing it all like he was there again. There was a bit of silence, as if Remus was gathering his strength about the whole thing. He hadn’t spoken about these experiences for many years, and it was easy to tell. Harry let his gaze wander over to him, noticing his sad but touched expression. 

Remus pushed on. “We talked about anything and everything, from flowers to bees to the type of parchment to use. She asked me about the future, what I wanted to be when I grew up, what I was looking for in someone I loved. I don’t know if my mom knew about me and Sirius, but I assume she did. We were writing to each other constantly and I have never been one to hide my feelings very well.”

Remus turned slightly, trying to face Harry more in the water. The young boy looked up at him, his eyes red. He pulled them off of his face and tucked them into his shirt. “Go on,” he said, his voice quiet.

“When I left the hospital, I asked my mother if she could do one thing in the whole world, what it would be. And you know what she said? She said, I wish I could sit in my garden and watch the sunset, and feel the love of the world forever.” Remus rubbed at the tears coming out of his eyes, but he was smiling. 

“After she died, I was sitting in front of her grave, asking her why she had to go so soon, why she couldn’t have fought just a little harder. Why she had left me alone in such a scary time. I stayed there for hours, watching as the sun got deeper in the sky. I felt very very very alone.” 

“Did Sirius show up?” Harry asked, sounding very much like a boy who had had a bad dream.

“He did.” Remus pulled up his knees and rested his arms on top of them. “My father probably told him where I was. He came and sat beside me, just like this, not saying a word. He loved me in a way I had never been loved, but in that moment, I think he understood me more than he ever had.” He sighed, deeply, like he couldn’t get enough oxygen to clear out the feelings he had inside. “We sat in front of her grave in silence until Sirius told me the story of how he had gone to the hospital to visit her, without me knowing. He had bought her flowers and read her a book, and stayed there for hours til the nurses kicked him out. I asked why he had never told me. And I’ll never forget what he said.”

Remus looked over at Harry, his tears coming in earnest. “He said, “I didn’t go for you. I went because, if Hope Lupin could raise someone as good as you, then maybe she could have something good for me.” He shook his head. “He went because of the person she was, and wanted to take a little bit of that for himself.”

Harry looked ahead again, watching the sunlight shimmer against the water as they sat in silence. “He told me, you know.” Harry said finally. Remus looked over at him curiously. “He told me about you and him. He told me how you had loved each other when you were younger, like how my dad and mom had loved each other. He said, though, that now it was different. You both had changed too much to ever find your way back to each other like you had before.” Harry turned to him “Was that true?”

“Partly,” came the quiet response. “The boy that fell in love with Sirius Black didn’t exist when Sirius’ name was cleared. In his place was a tired old man who had seen enough heartache to last a lifetime. It was... difficult. To let him back in. But we tried. We tried so hard. When you love someone that much, Harry, you would do anything to make things work.”

Harry nodded. His gaze landed in his lap, where his hands were soaking in the cold water. “I don’t think Sirius was afraid of anything,” he whispered. “Even when he was alone and hiding, he always pushed on and came out the winner. He seemed so fearless, so... invincible.”

“Sirius was stronger than anyone I had ever met before, except my mother.” Remus agreed before placing a soft hand on Harry’s arm. “But you’re wrong. He was afraid of one thing; he was afraid of what this world would do to you. He was afraid of how you would see him. He was afraid that you would lose the parts of yourself that made you... you. The ones that seemed ingrained into you, the parts that you inherited from your parents. He was afraid of seeing you broken. He was not stronger than that fear. It was with him every moment of every day. It was his worst nightmare.”

For the first time in days, Harry felt tears rush to the surface and pour out of his eyes. He cried, thinking of the one person in the world who saw him, who loved him, who would have taken care of him, and how that person was gone. “I don’t know how to do it, Remus,” he sobbed, his voice catching. “I don’t know how to go on without him. I’m so tired of losing everyone I love. But I never thought I’d- I never thought I’d lose him.”

It was then that Remus crossed the invisible line between them and wrapped the boy in his arms in a hug. Harry let out a gasping cry, clinging tight to the only person who seemed to understand his grief. It was a pain in his chest that he thought might never be filled. 

“I wish I could say it got easier,” Remus said, stroking Harry’s hair comfortingly. “I wish I could say that one day, you’ll wake up and be perfectly fine. But you won’t.” He pulled back. “Losing someone you love doesn’t get better, it doesn’t miraculously heal. It leaves a hole inside of you that cannot be filled by anyone else. And though it doesn’t go away, you start to learn to live with it. It takes a lot of time. But it happens.”

Harry pulled away, wiping his nose with his shirt. “I just wish there was a place for him. A place that we could go to talk to him. But there’s nothing left. Just... emptiness, just the lack of him.”

Remus perked, having an idea. “Come with me,” he said, rising from the water and watching as the droplets fell off him. He offered Harry a hand and watched as the boy rose. They looked quite the sight, their lower halves completely drenched. But Remus ignored it and pushed on. 

He and Harry walked toward the large whomping willow which was swaying slightly in the June breeze. As they approached, it was like it sensed them and perked up in case of danger. But Remus started to whistle and the tree grew still. He bent over and picked up a flat stone before making his way to the trunk of the tree. Harry didn’t understand what they were doing, but watched like he was hypnotized. Remus took out his wand and whispered a spell under his breath before beginning to write on the stone. When he finished, he held it up for Harry to see. “Here lies Sirius Orion Black. The only person in the world brighter than the star he was named for.”

Remus bent over to place the stone against the trunk of the tree and patted the bark. “Sirius always loved this tree. He said it was misunderstood and mistreated, just like him, but when you stopped for a moment and tried to see the beauty of it, tried to understand why it acted certain ways, it became less of a threat and more of a beauty. And I have never looked at this tree the same since.”

“Sirius was always good at seeing things differently, seeing both sides of things.” Harry murmured. “He never wanted anyone to feel the way he had growing up, with a family that didn’t love or understand him. I think his desire to see the best in every second is what’ll I’ll miss the most.”

“Hmm,” came the soft reply. “I think I will miss his ability to make any moment a moment of light, with just his smile. I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like it again.”

Harry leaned over and wrapped his arm around Remus’ waist. “I’m sorry you lost him.” he said, letting the tears stream from his eyes.

“I’m sorry you lost him too,” Remus answered.

And they stood there, under Sirius’ misunderstood tree, looking at a stone that bore his name and encapsulated just a bit of his spirit, and felt the loss of their person together. It was heavy and dark, but the memory of him gave Harry a moment of peace. And he had hope that the hole that Remus talked about might become less looming and more manageable, like a friend that would remind him of how not to take good things for granted, and to look for beauty in unexpected places.

[twoidiotwriters1]

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

A/N: Super busy week we having but I hope you’re having fun -Danny

Words: 2,969

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter 

Chapter Twenty-Four: Test of Patience.

"These are old, but we can fix them," Sirius handed a pair of Regulus' old robes to Erick. "Try them on, see if they fit you..."

Mel had mentioned during breakfast that Erick had decided to go back to Hogwarts, which pleased Emily a great deal. Sirius tried to hide his disappointment, yet another friend he couldn't keep around the house, but as soon as he heard Erick quietly mention he still needed to get robes since he couldn't borrow one from a bunch of Gryffindors, Sirius' spirits lifted, he dragged Erick out of the room and into his brother's.

The robes were a bit musty but they would do for a week at least, the twins joked about stealing a few from the school's laundry, but Erick blatantly refused to accept stolen items. Mrs Weasley promised she would send him the books as soon as she were at the burrow and Hermione had a few extra supplies for him to take back to school. 

It was clear that everyone in the house had adopted Erick and even though he wasn't entirely happy about it (He was having a hard time accepting that he needed their help) he did show lots of gratitude towards everyone.

As they were saying their goodbyes before leaving (they were going to take the Knightbus), she found a moment to talk to Sirius, but he was adamant to let her speak, knowing beforehand what she wanted to say.

"You go and have fun, alright?" Sirius told her. "Don't worry about us, I promise I'll take care of your mother–"

"Will you take care of yourself too?"

"Don't look at me like that, little Em," He said grimly. "Don't give me those eyes, you know I wouldn't put the Order's plans at risk..."

"You're building a family, you're doing something important," Mel held his arm tightly. "I'll never get tired of thanking you for giving my mum a second chance. Don't forget that."

"It was Mily who gave me a chance that I definitely didn't deserve," Sirius tried to joke, but his eyes were lacking their usual playfulness.

"Are you ready to leave?" Lupin patted her shoulder. 

"Please take care," Mel insisted, this time looking at both men, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You make it sound like we're the children here," Lupin laughed. "We know what we're doing."

"I'm just making sure!"

"Alright, time to cut the nonsense," Sirius shook his head. "If I hear you're wasting your time at school worrying about us I'll send you a howler— and look after Erick... he's good."

"I know," Her eyes wandered to the boy currently smothered with attention by Emily. "I won't let him do anything stupid."

Mel hopped on the bus with the rest of her friends after receiving her own hurried kisses and hugs, she felt slightly anxious about leaving them behind. Sirius was an adult, but it didn't mean he was wise, and her mother was unable to leave the house completely.

Being excited about a baby now felt ridiculous, in the middle of everything that was happening? Sirius Black's kid? How was her mother going to explain this to the world, if she wasn't supposed to have any kind of contact with a criminal? Mel had to trust they would find a way to make it work.

Erick's books arrived the morning after they got to the castle. Some people commented on the way his robes were old-looking, but Erick wore them with his head held high and no one dared to confront him about it.

On Monday people kept asking about the D.A. meetings, but Mel and Harry brushed them off saying they would use the galleons once the time came. Smith made a pretty nasty comment when he found out Harry was going to 'Remedial Potions', which was the way he had to refer to his Occlumency lessons.

Seconds after Smith had left, Cho Chang approached, it was the first time seeing each other ever since their kiss, and judging by Harry's attitude, he was fully aware of that.

"Oh. Hi."

"We'll be in the library, Harry," Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and took him away.

"I, er... Fred, " Mel rushed back to the stairs. "See you!"

"So," Fred told her one night during dinner. "Next Hogsmeade visit... I just want to know what's the plan, are we going out or..?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't see the point, we're not a real couple..."

"I guess not," He replied. "We should still go, otherwise boys will assume we're no longer together—"

"I don't really care," Mel yawned. "They can ask, but I'm not obliged to explain myself."

"Would you go if I asked you though?"

Mel snorted. "Are you going to?"

"Don't laugh, you heartless witch!" Fred threw a bean at her, but he was laughing too. "I heard Chang and Harry are going together."

"Are they?" Mel looked over to the Ravenclaw table. "That's why she cornered the idiot... wait, how do you know that?"

"News travel fast," Fred winked at her. "Are we going, then? Are we making a scene?"

"Not the one you want for sure," She raised a brow. "But it could be enjoyable... never had a real date before..."

"This is not a real date—"

"I know that, but at least others think it is," Mel paused. "Wow, that sounded really sad. I don't know... I don't need to prove a point anymore..."

"Well, that's even better! The real fun can begin!" Fred finished his dinner and stood up.

"What's that— Wait! Where are you going?" Mel stood up. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Some students gave her a few curious looks, Angelina walked up to her.

"Practice tomorrow at seven. Don't be late."

"Practice..? Oh!" She'd forgotten all about Quidditch. "Sure. Hey, guess which broom I got—"

"A firebolt," Angelina smirked. "George told me yesterday. That's great, it means we still have a chance."

"News do travel fast around here," Mel pouted. "Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow."

The girl hissed in pain, dropping her quill over her finished essay. 

"What's wrong?" Ron frowned. 

She closed her eyes for a moment and saw a flash of something, Harry's voice came from the back of her mind.

"What's in the Department of Mysteries?" 

Hermione and Ron stared at her. 

"It's Harry, isn't it?" Ron whispered. "That's so strange!"

Mel blinked, rubbing her forehead. 

"He's having a hard time with the lessons... maybe I should help..."

"Yeah, you should," Ron agreed. "Snape's an awful teacher— Why is he teaching Harry when Dumbledore's teaching you?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to catch Umbridge's attention," Mel shrugged, "I mean, students are used to see me in and out of the Headmaster's office, but if Harry starts to go as well Umbridge will try to see what's going on— And he's busy either way, he barely has time to teach me..."

"Are you in pain?" Hermione asked. "Maybe we should leave the library... if you start to scream—"

"No one's going to scream," Mel said defensively. "It caught me off guard! I can do this..."

She closed her eyes again, but this time she didn't try to see Harry, the girl held onto the edge of the table, breathing in and out the smell of old books and parchment, when she opened her eyes the pain was gone.

"It's over?"

"Yep," Mel smiled, continuing with her homework. 

Maybe it was that she'd talked things out with Harry and she could fully focus on the present, but she didn't have such a hard time trying to tune him out now.

"So rare..." Ron muttered in awe.

"What did you say before?" Hermione tilted her head. "About a department of mysteries?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Mel frowned. "It wasn't me, Harry was talking about it with Snape, but I have no idea what that—"

"That's in the Ministry!" said Ron. "Maybe they're talking about his dreams!"

"Hmm..." Hermione said, lowering her gaze to the parchment. "It does sound like it has to do with his dreams... we'll ask him later."

When Harry found them, he was looking slightly pale.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

"Yeah... fine... I dunno— Listen... I've just realized something..."

He explained further what Mel had seen, it was part of the nightmares he'd been having for months now, and he finally knew where that place was.

"So... so, are you saying... that the weapon — the thing You-Know-Who's after — is in the Ministry of Magic?"

"In the Department of Mysteries, it's got to be. I saw that door when your dad took me down to the courtrooms for my hearing and it's definitely the same one he was guarding when the snake bit him."

"Of course," Hermione said.

"Of course what?" Ron frowned.

"Ron, think about it... Sturgis Podmore was trying to get through a door at the Ministry of Magic... It must have been that one, it's too much of a coincidence!"

"How come Sturgis was trying to break in when he's on our side?" said Ron.

"Well, I don't know," Hermione admitted. "That is a bit odd..."

"He could've been framed," Mel offered. "Maybe someone tricked him."

"So what's in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked. "Has your dad ever mentioned anything about it?"

"Well, that's where the Unspeakables work, you know, Mel's dream job," said Ron deep in thought. "No one really seems to know what they do in there... Weird place to have a weapon..."

"Oh, right!" Mel hit her forehead softly. "I think Mr Weasley told me about it last year!"

"It makes perfect sense," said Hermione. "It will be something top secret that the Ministry has been developing, I expect... Harry, are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah... fine..." He was rubbing his forehead roughly. "I just feel a bit... I don't like Occlumency much..."

"I expect anyone would feel shaky if they'd had their mind attacked over and over again," said Hermione. 

"How come you're not exhausted when you practice with Dumbledore?" Harry asked her.

"We don't spend the whole hour attacking each others' minds, sometimes I just meditate, I shut down my emotions so he can't see through me, and then I try to see through him... it's not so bad, perhaps because he's patient with me. Snape's probably not doing that..."

"And how come you're not feeling my headache?"

"Oh, she felt it!" Ron said excitedly. "But she... uh— grounded?"

"That's right," Mel said proudly. "Told you I could control it, I just had to find my way around it!"

Harry nodded, looking slightly perplexed. 

"Good..."

"Let's get back to the common room, we'll be a bit more comfortable there..." Hermione insisted.

"Headless Hats!" shouted George, as Fred waved a pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the watching students. "Two Galleons each — watch Fred, now!"

Fred swept the hat onto his head, beaming. For a second he merely looked rather stupid, then both hat and head vanished.

Mel was laughing along with the rest of her housemates, she was giving out hats while Lee Jordan was receiving the money. She watched Harry walked away from the fuss in annoyed silence and Fred nudged her arm.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He had his first lesson with Snape," Mel explained. "Poor bloke, he's having the worst—"

Mel inhaled sharply and dropped the hat she was holding, she felt as if something had hit the top of her head.

"What is it?" Fred eyed her up anxiously, quickly holding her in place. 

"Call Ron," She closed her eyes tightly and tried to ground herself for the second time that day.

Ron had gone upstairs right after Harry, and once her vision cleared, she pushed Fred aside.

"I have to go..."

When she got to the door, she heard Ron desperately calling for their friend.

"Harry! HARRY!"

Harry was maniacally laughing on the floor. Ron was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Harry!" Mel called, but he didn't listen. In a desperate attempt to bring him back, she slapped him, the burning sensation on her own cheek quickly faded. Harry's voice died instantly.

"What happened?" Ron asked hoarsely.

"I... dunno..." Harry blinked, he sat up with difficulty, panting. "He's really happy... really happy..."

"You-Know-Who is?" 

"Something good's happened... Something he's been hoping for."

"Hermione told me to come and check on you," said Ron as he helped him to his feet. "Mel walked in right after me, 'Mione says your defenses will be low at the moment, after Snape's been fiddling around with your mind... Still, I suppose it'll help in the long run, won't it?"

Mel and Harry shared a look.

"Listen, I know I said I would mind my own business, but—"

"I could use some help," He admitted, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'd appreciate it if you could..."

"I can," She replied. 

‘MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT" FOR OLD DEATH EATERS

The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.’

"There you are, Harry. That's why he was happy last night..." Ron muttered.

"I don't believe this... Fudge is blaming the breakout on Sirius?"

"What other options does he have? He can hardly say, 'Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort' — stop whimpering, Ron — 'and now Voldemort's worst supporters have broken out too.' I mean, he's spent a good six months telling everyone you and the Dumbledores are liars, hasn't he?" 

"What an idiot," Mel sighed. "This is bad. This is worse than bad... Poor Neville..."

She looked around the table, the boy didn't look sad that morning, and it occurred to her that maybe not all the students read the newspaper every morning, but some definitely did, she confirmed as much when the watch in her pocket warmed up, letting her know Erick had arranged a meeting.

"Oh my —" Hermione gasped.

"What now?" Harry groaned.

"It's... horrible," said Hermione.

Mel took the newspaper and the boys leaned closer to read along.

 ‘TRAGIC DEMISE OF

 MINISTRY OF MAGIC WORKER

St. Mungo's Hospital promised a full inquiry last night after Ministry of Magic worker Broderick Bode, 49, was discovered dead in his bed, strangled by a potted-plant...’

"Bode..." said Ron. "Bode. It rings a bell..."

"We saw him. In St. Mungo's, remember? He was in the bed opposite Lockhart's, just lying there, staring at the ceiling. And we saw the Devil's Snare arrive. She — the Healer — said it was a Christmas present..."

"How come we didn't recognize Devil's Snare..? We've seen it before... we could've stopped this from happening..."

"Who expects Devil's Snare to turn up in a hospital disguised as a potted plant?" said Ron defensively. "It's not our fault, whoever sent it to the bloke is to blame! They must be a real prat, why didn't they check what they were buying?" 

"Besides we were focused on Neville's parents," Mel lamented. "We didn't notice anything else... But I doubt that was an accident."

"I don't think anyone could put Devil's Snare in a pot and not realize it tries to kill whoever touches it?" Hermione agreed. "This — this was murder... A clever murder, as well... If the plant was sent anonymously, how's anyone ever going to find out who did it?" 

"I met Bode!" Harry said after a moment. "I saw him at the Ministry with your dad..."

"I've heard Dad talk about him at home!" Ron gaped. "He was an Unspeakable — he worked in the Department of Mysteries!"

"Holy fuck," Mel breathed, leaning back on her seat and pushing the hair out of her face. "This is terrible."

"Where are you going?" Ron inquired as Hermione leapt to her feet.

"To send a letter— It... well, I don't know whether... but it's worth trying... and I'm the only one who can..." She left without ending her sentence.

"I hate it when she does that," Ron rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, it's a bit exasperating, but we'll find out eventually," Mel said gloomily as they got up and made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Would it kill her to tell us what she's up to for once? It'd take her about ten more seconds — hey, Hagrid!" 

"All righ', you three?" 

"Blimey, Hagrid, have you been fighting with Dragons?" Ron elbowed her ribs harshly to shut her up.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"Fine, fine," said Hagrid nervously. "Jus' busy, yeh know, usual stuff— lessons ter prepare — couple o' salamanders got scale rot — an' I'm on probation..." 

"You're on probation?" Ron yelled in outrage, it was Mel's turn to nudge his ribs. "Oof! Sorry — I mean — you're on probation?" He asked again, lower this time.

"Yeah. 'S'no more'n I expected, ter tell yeh the truth. Yeh migh' not've picked up on it, bu' that inspection didn' go too well, yeh know... anyway... Bes' go an rub a bit more chili powder on them salamanders or their tails'll be hangin' off 'em next. See yeh..."

"Probation," Mel said through gritted teeth. "I'll give her probation..."

When she arrived at the library (alone, because Hermione was busy with homework as well as Ron and Harry) she noticed Erick standing next to their usual table.

"You read the Prophet?" Mel asked him. "I can't believe it! And Hagrid's on probation now, I swear things can't get any messier..."

"They can," Erick grimaced. 

Mel noticed someone was sitting behind him. Her eyes widened at the sight and she stumbled back, stopping when her back hit a chair. Daphne Greengrass stood up giving her a very grave look.

"Evening, Miss Dumbledore."

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere @t-rexs-world​ @just-here-to-escape-from-reality​ @21bruhs @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @dielgonacoffee​

[cyborgsquirrel]

Sanctuary: Chapter 22

Pairing: Wolfstar

Summary: The epic tale of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, from their first meeting until their happily ever after.

Link to Prologue

Link to All Chapters

Monday, 8th November 1971, 1:45 pm Remus was sitting next to Peter in Charms class as far away as he could get while still being at the desk. The accident at the Quidditch match the day before had been a sobering reminder of how many risks he'd been taking. It had been stupid and reckless to attend the Quidditch match. Sirius insisted that their skin hadn't touched, but he was worried sick. Maybe it had, and he just hadn't noticed. He didn't know what to do; tell someone, or wait and see? On the one hand, if he told Professor Dumbledore, and he had been right and the Headmaster was unaware of how infectious he was, he might be asked to leave the school, even if Sirius was fine. On the other hand, if he told no one and Sirius was infected... Well, a lot of people could die.

He could afford to hold off on making a decision, though. The next full moon was over three weeks away. If he kept an eye on Sirius, he should notice if there were any signs of lycanthropy in him. Sensitivity to smells and sounds, for example, or acting like he was in pain when he moved around. He wouldn't be as used to hiding pain as Remus was.

They were practising Alohomora in class that afternoon, and Remus, Sirius, James and a few other students all easily unlocked the full range of locks they were given to practise on, and Professor Flitwick gave a demonstration of Colloportus and told them to attempt to relock them. He also promised a fun lesson as a final practical the following day. The students chattered with excitement at the news. Remus couldn't find it in himself to feel excited, despite how legendary Flitwick's "fun practicals" were. He couldn't stop thinking about the possibility that he'd infected his best friend and cursed him to a life of pain, suffering and prejudice. Sirius would probably never speak to him again, and who could blame him? He'd been so selfish. It didn't take him long to get the hang of the locking spell, and as he re-locked the last of the locks on his desk, he noted how pleased Madam Pomfrey would be that she no longer needed to take him all the way down the tunnel to lock him in. Of course, she would still have to come down after the full moon to get him and carry his injured, bleeding body back to the hospital wing. He was still a burden; he would always be a burden. Better to shut himself off so no one would have to suffer with him. The rest of the week continued similarly, with Remus keeping his distance from everyone. Including his friends. He returned to his old routine of eating alone in the kitchens and spent all of his free time alone in a deserted corner of the library. The other Marauders seemed to be understanding of his behaviour, but it was wearing on their friendship, and he kept catching them whispering in corners and passing notes in class that never got passed to him. He told himself it was for the best. It was safer for them to not be around him. Safer for everyone. But gods did it hurt. The fun practical in Charms turned out to be another maze, this one with locked doors in their path. Remus smiled throughout and joined in with his friends joking, but inside, he felt hollow. Dead. Sirius had yet to show any signs of infection, but it was far too early to say. The symptoms wouldn't show until three days before the moon at the earliest. Maybe not even until the day of. If he had been infected, he would have no time to prepare. Not that you even could prepare yourself for the agonising pain of your body ripping itself apart and rebuilding. Sirius would never forgive him. How could he? In Transfiguration, they had moved on from altering an object's shape, material and colour, and were working on the states of matter, specifically turning a liquid into a gas, in their case water into steam. A few people suffered minor burns when they were unexpectedly successful. Remus kept his eye on Sirius. If he burnt himself, would it immediately heal? He couldn't remember much about his time in hospital after he was bitten. It was all a blur. How long did it take for the regeneration abilities to kick in? It didn't matter in the end. Sirius didn't burn himself; he was far too skilled for that. They tended their flitterblooms and flutterby bushes in Herbology. It was the easiest class for Remus. The natural scents of plants and compost eased his mind, and having the gloves on made him more relaxed. His friends seemed happy that he was connecting with them again, but when the class was over and he was once again distant, he could see the disappointment on their faces and felt like shit. He should never have allowed himself to get close to them in the first place. It had been stupid and selfish. He wasn't safe to be around. When Saturday morning arrived, Remus spent breakfast alone in the kitchen as usual. He wasn't looking forward to the weekend. It would be the first one he spent alone since becoming friends with the Marauders, and he knew it was going to be painful. He didn't even have the chocolate-flavoured nutrition potion to cheer him up, as Madam Pomfrey had decided he only needed it the day after the full moon. He thanked Breen for the food and left the kitchen, feeling utterly miserable, and almost walked straight into Sirius, who took a swift step backwards to avoid the collision. Remus looked up to find all three of his friends waiting for him. 'You,' James said, pointing at him, 'are coming with us.' Remus shook his head. 'I'm going to--' 'The library,' Sirius said, crossing his arms. 'Yes, we know.' Peter shook his head. 'Not today, you're not. You're coming back to the dorm with us.' James nodded. 'We've had enough of you avoiding us.' Remus felt thoroughly ganged up on, and he slumped his shoulders in defeat. 'Fine,' he snapped. 'I know, it's such a hardship, having friends that care about you,' Sirius said, shaking his head sadly. 'I'm afraid that you're just going to have to grin and bear it. Because you're stuck with us.' 'Forever!' James added, his tone laden with doom. Remus chuckled despite himself and followed them up to the dorm. They walked in silence; Remus had no idea what to say to them, and it seemed obvious that whatever they had to say, they wanted to do it privately. When they arrived, they told him to sit down, and they stood in front of his bed in a line and launched into what appeared to be a well-rehearsed speech. 'We know you're freaked out by what happened at the Quidditch match,' Sirius said. James nodded. 'And we can't even begin to imagine how scary that was for you.' 'But we miss you,' Peter said. 'It's not the same without you.' 'We're your friends and we're the Marauders,' Sirius said. 'And one of the rules in the Marauders code is that a Marauder always helps a fellow Marauder.' All three of them nodded, their faces deadly serious. This was not a joke to them. 'Obviously we can't prevent you from being touched at all, although we will do our best,' James said. 'But we noticed that you're more scared about your skin being touched than when it's through your clothes.' 'And that was something we thought we could help with,' Peter said. 'So James wrote to his dad,' Sirius said. 'And he found these.' Sirius handed him a box. 'We all chipped in to pay for them.' 'Open it,' James said. Remus stared at the box for a moment, glanced up at his friends who were watching him, and back at the box, before peeling back the lid and peeking at the contents. It was a pair of gloves and a hood, with holes for his eyes and mouth. He pulled them out. They were pale white and incredibly thin. 'They're made from kelpie skin, so I wouldn't wear them in Defence class, Emhio might get upset if she notices,' Sirius said. 'But when you put them on, they'll take on the exact appearance of your skin underneath, so no one will know you're wearing them.' 'We figured you probably wouldn't want to wear the hood all the time, but it'll be useful if you have to be somewhere really crowded,' James said with a shrug. Remus didn't know what to say. They must have cost a huge amount of money. 'This is too much. I can't let you do this,' he said, putting them back in the box. 'You have to return them, get your money back.' 'Are you questioning our commitment to the Marauders' code?' James asked, crossing his arms. 'You need help, we have the ability to provide it. It's our duty to buy you these.' He shoved the box back into Remus' hands. 'I'm not sending them back, so if you don't use them, it will just be a waste of money.' Remus' eyes were burning with emotion. 'I don't know what to say. Thank you. All of you.' 'You're welcome,' Sirius said. 'So, will you start hanging out with us again now?' Remus grinned at his friends through his tears. 'Yes, I think I will.' All three of them whooped with happiness, and Remus swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat. They really were the best friends in the world. But if they ever found out what he was, would that change? Would the rule about keeping secrets extend as far as lycanthropy? He doubted it. Who would ever want to be friends with a werewolf? Even his own dad could barely stand to look at him. He had to be prepared to lose them one day. His secret couldn't stay secret forever.

-o-o-o-o-

James' dad was a genius, and Sirius wanted to kiss him. The gloves had been the best idea ever. Remus was eating in the Great Hall with them again, and he was back to being relaxed and happy around them, though Sirius could swear Remus was watching him a lot. He kept catching him looking at him. Did Remus suspect that he knew? Should he say something? Reassure him? He had no idea. The last thing he wanted to do was scare him off again. The week went by fast. On Wednesday, they started working on a new charm with a lot of potential; Locomotor. While similar to wingardium leviosa, the object would only float a few inches high, and it had a longer casting range. As far as the other side of the Great Hall, James had pointed out with a wink. Sirius had grinned. There were a few Slytherins that needed to be punished. They had come across them picking on a first-year a few days previously but had been unable to intervene at the time as they were under the cloak. Wednesday afternoon, they had earned themselves detention using locomotor to tip over four pitchers of pumpkin juice on four particular Slytherin laps. It was completely worth it, and they took the punishment dished out by Minnie with good grace. Polishing the trophies in the trophy room was kind of fun, anyway. A great way to use up some of his excess energy, while also admiring his reflection in the shiny surfaces. They all worked hard in Transfiguration on Thursday. The lessons had moved on to turning water into ice, and they all agreed it would be useful for the Christmas feast event. They hadn't discussed what they were going to do yet, but ice and Christmas seemed like they went together almost as well as Marauders and mischief. On Thursday afternoon, they had their first attempt at making a hiccoughing solution in Potions. Only Peter was successful, though James and Sirius both earned As. Remus earned a T when his cauldron started emitting a high-pitched whine before the potion inside vanished with a bang and a puff of smoke. While Slughorn was distracted, Peter swiftly filled a few vials from his own cauldron and slipped them into his bag. They would undoubtedly come in useful at some point. By Friday evening, the sky had filled with ominous dark clouds, and the air hung heavy with the smell of rain. Sirius was nervous. It would be his first storm at Hogwarts, and he really didn't like storms. They bought memories he didn't want to think about. He was going to embarrass himself; he knew it. When lightning lit up the dorm for the first time, he managed to stifle his yelp, and he was pretty sure the thunder that rumbled a minute later was loud enough to cover his whimper, but that wouldn't last. He knew from experience that by the time the storm had passed, he'd be a blubbering mess. Hiding was his only option. He couldn't let his friends see him in that state. It was humiliating. Sirius got up to go to the bathroom, planning to hide out in a shower cubicle until it was over. He could say he was having a very long shower if anyone asked. Halfway across the floor to the bathroom, though, another flash of lightning struck, and the thunder was close on its tail. He jumped about a foot in the air and squealed. James glanced up from the letter he was writing. 'You alright, mate?' 'Yeah, just made me jump,' he said, and to his great embarrassment, his voice came out shaky. James frowned at him. 'You're paler than Remus. Are you scared of storms?' 'No!' Sirius said, a little too fast and a little too loud. James held up his hands in surrender. 'Alright, no need to get defensive. I was just going to offer to sleep with you if you needed company.' Sirius hesitated. 'You'd do that?' 'Course,' James said with a shrug like it was no big deal. 'We're the Marauders, right? You need help, I'm here.' Sirius tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to having people who cared so much about him that they'd share his bed during a storm just so he wouldn't be scared. 'Okay, I admit it. I'm a total baby, and I'm terrified of storms. And I'd really like to sleep with you if that's okay?' James didn't say a word, just pulled back his covers and patted the spot on the mattress next to him. Sirius bounded over and climbed in, pulling the covers up to his neck and lying down. James put his parchment and quill away and scooted down in the bed, putting his arm around Sirius. 'You're not a baby. You just have really shitty parents,' he whispered. When the next flash of lightning lit up the room, Sirius flinched, and he jumped when the thunderclap followed. James squeezed him tighter, and he managed to relax. 'It's okay. I've got you,' James said, and Sirius closed his eyes, feeling safer than he ever had in his life. When he woke at six, the thunderstorm had ceased but the rain was still pelting down in sheets, and he wondered if the Quidditch match would be cancelled. Sirius untangled himself from James--who was wrapped around him like an extra blanket--and showered, before returning to his own bed for his early morning journaling session. About half an hour later, he heard Remus moving around, but he still hadn't emerged after ten minutes and Sirius got curious. He tiptoed over to his bed and peeked around the edge of the curtains. Remus was sat up with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Despite being sat up, he appeared deeply asleep. Is that what meditating looked like? He remembered Remus' promise a few weeks previous to teach him and eyed the rain out of the window again. If the match wasn't cancelled, today would be the perfect day for it. James and Peter would be gone for a while, and he was fairly certain Remus wouldn't want to attend. As it happened, the match wasn't cancelled, and Remus was enthusiastic about teaching him. So, after breakfast, they bid goodbye to James and Peter and laughed as they watched them dash out into the pouring rain, becoming instantly soaked, before they returned to the dorm. Remus used the charm they'd used in the Great Hall to create tinkling background music and then told him to sit down on the floor with his legs crossed and close his eyes. 'Are you comfortable?' Remus asked. Sirius shifted about a bit until he was. 'Yes.' 'You need to quiet your mind, let all your thoughts go until you have a blank space.' Sirius cracked an eye open to look at Remus. 'Is that even possible?' Remus opened his own eyes and frowned at him. 'If it wasn't possible, I wouldn't ask you to do it, would I? Close your eyes.' Sirius smirked. 'Sorry, sir,' he said and closed his eyes again. 'Focus on the music, and the sound of the rain. And your own breathing,' Remus said. Sirius did so, listening to the patter of the rain hitting the window and the melody of the music. He focused on his breathing, keeping it calm and even. Remus spoke quietly. 'Now think of a place where you feel safe and build it in your mind. Piece by piece.' Sirius instantly thought of Hogwarts. The dorm room he shared with his friends, the common room and its roaring fire. The Great Hall and the Black Lake. He built each part of the castle meticulously in his mind, including all the secret passages, alcoves and rooms they had found. He took extra care with the dorm room, making sure everything was exactly right. 'What now?' he asked into the quiet of the room. 'Have you finished?' Remus asked. 'Yes.' 'Okay, now. This part can be painful. I want you to think of a bad memory. It doesn't have to be your worst, just bad. And I want you to find an appropriate room to store it in. Put it inside and lock the door.' It wasn't difficult for Sirius to come up with a bad memory. He had so many to choose from. Deciding on one of the many times he was locked in the cellar at home without food, he asked, 'How do I put it in?' 'Imagine yourself there in your safe place, and imagine the memory has a physical form. Pick it up and place it inside.' Sirius pictured himself inside his mental Hogwarts, and he appeared there. Tall, long black hair, aristocratic features, every part of him exactly as he was in reality. The sensation was strange. He could still feel his physical body, sitting cross-legged on the floor, but he could feel his mental body too, trailing his fingers across the stone wall. 'I'm here, I can feel the walls and the floor. It's weird,' Sirius said. 'Yes, it can be strange at first. You'll get used to it,' Remus said, his voice quiet and soothing. 'Can I make the memory look like anything?' Sirius asked. 'Yes, anything that makes sense to you.' Sirius thought about it. The memory was desolate, and painful with the gnawing hunger. Lonely. Cold and damp. He pictured one of the bricks that made up the walls of the cellar. Grey stone with damp trails caused by the moisture in the room it was from. It appeared on the floor in front of his mental body, and he picked it up. He was instantly drawn into the memory. Feeling everything. He gasped. Remus' voice echoed from the cellar walls. 'Sirius? It's okay, fight through it. Put it inside the room.' Right. He wasn't locked in the cellar. It was just a memory. He was in his dorm with Remus. Safe. He clawed his way out and back to his safe place. Back to Hogwarts. He was standing outside the blank stretch of wall that hid the Slytherin common room. What better place to put all his unpleasant memories? He didn't need a password here. It all belonged to him, and the wall opened at his mental command. He walked inside. Looking around, he wondered where to store the memory. Somewhere it wouldn't look too out of place. He glanced at the fireplace. Well, he was in control here; he thought. Concentrating, he vanished one of the bricks surrounding the fireplace and pushed the memory stone into the space left behind before stepping back to inspect the result. It looked good. There was a faint difference in the colour of the stone, but it was only noticeable if you were looking for it. He wasn't sure why he wanted to hide his memories, disguise them, but it felt like the thing to do. Reaching out, he brushed his fingers against the cellar stone and was pulled back into the memory briefly. As soon as his fingers left contact, the memory stopped. He had complete control over it. 'I'm finished,' he said. 'Okay. I think we'll stop here for today. Exit your safe place and lock the doors behind you. Then focus on your physical body and come back to it.' Sirius followed Remus' instructions and strolled out to the Hogwarts grounds, locking the front doors behind him before realising the grounds were a part of his safe place. He needed to leave Hogwarts entirely. He finally reached the gates and locked them, before focusing on his physical body. The feel of the carpet beneath him, the solidness of the ground. The sound of the music and the rain in his ears. He opened his eyes and Remus was smiling at him. 'You did really well.' 'Did I? I only dealt with one memory.' 'That's more than I managed my first time,' Remus said with a shrug. 'Can't I do a few more?' 'It's been three hours, and I heard a particularly loud cheer a few minutes ago. I think James and Peter will be back soon.' Sirius was shocked. 'Three hours?' Remus nodded. 'Didn't feel like that long for you, right?' 'Nothing like it,' Sirius said, shaking his head. 'That's something you need to be careful of. Time can pass quickly when you're meditating.' 'I see that,' Sirius said. 'You said this was a muggle thing, though. That didn't feel very muggle.' 'Yeah,' Remus said, frowning. 'I thought the same. I learnt about it from a muggle book, but I think it might work differently for wizards.' Sirius nodded. 'Probably.' James and Peter returned a few minutes later. Hufflepuff had beaten Ravenclaw by 200 points, meaning Gryffindor would need to beat Hufflepuff by at least 150 to stay in the running. James was adamant the team could do it, and Sirius believed him. If there was one thing James knew about, it was Quidditch. Three days later, on Tuesday afternoon, James called a Marauders meeting, and they all gathered in the dorm room. 'I've called you all here today to discuss our plans for the Christmas feast,' James said, standing on his bed. 'The school will be expecting something spectacular from the Marauders, and we can't disappoint them. So, ideas?' 'Aren't you the Chief Imaginator? Sirius asked. 'Ideas are supposed to be your job.' James jumped down from the bed. 'I'm glad you said that,' he said, putting his arm around Sirius' shoulders. 'I think we should turn the feast into a party. Music, a dance floor, the works.' 'I like it,' Remus said, nodding. 'We should wait until the feast is over though.' 'See, that's what I thought too,' James said. 'But how can we time that? We don't know what time it will end.' 'Some kind of trigger word, maybe?' Remus said, frowning. 'I'll look into it.' 'Brilliant.' James turned to Sirius. 'I need you to design some ice sculptures.' Sirius grinned, his mind immediately brimming with ideas. 'I can do that.' 'Nothing rude, Sirius,' Remus said. Sirius scowled. That was three-quarters of his ideas out right away. 'Spoilsport.' 'What about me?' Peter asked. 'There's nothing for you to do yet, mate. But it's early days. I'm sure something will come up that needs your expertise.' Peter nodded in understanding. 'What are you doing for Christmas, Remus?' Sirius asked. 'Going home?' 'I was thinking about staying here, actually. I'd like to have access to the library for my homework. But I don't know if my mum will mind. I was planning on writing to her soon.' Sirius felt a thrill of hope. If Remus stayed, maybe he could bring up the werewolf thing somehow. James and Peter were both going home, so it would just be the two of them. It might be the perfect time.

-o-o-o-o-

Extract from The Official Marauders' Notebook

Notes passed between James, Sirius and Peter. Later removed and burned.

Monday, 8th of November Have you noticed Remus has been really quiet since the Quidditch match? I think he's really freaked out about what happened - Sirius I was thinking the same thing. We need to do something to help - James Like what? - Sirius I'm not sure. It seemed like he was most worried about his skin being touched, right? - James Yeah. That's what he asked me - Sirius So... Gloves? - James He doesn't like attention, though. If he's wearing gloves all the time, people will stare - Sirius I'll ask my dad. He might know something that could help - James Wednesday, 9th of November My dad wrote back this morning. He says there are gloves made from kelpie skin; they change to look like your hands, and they're 15 galleons. There's also a matching hood for another 20. I can cover 25 galleons. Can you and Pete make up the rest? - James I have eight galleons left of my allowance this month - Sirius I have two galleons, but that's all my money - Peter So? - Sirius So nothing. If it will help Remus, then he can have it, I was just saying. I'll have nothing left for sweets - Peter I'll buy you sweets, Pete. I'll get more money next week - James Thanks, James - Peter Thursday, 11th of November I sent Dad the money. He's going to buy them straight away. We should have them by Saturday morning - James Thank Merlin. Remus looks miserable - Sirius.

-o-o-o-o-

A/N Hi, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I just wanted to make clear that I do not advocate locking bad memories away inside your head, that is not a healthy way to deal with trauma and Sirius will be revisiting those memories to deal with them properly at a later date, this is just the first step. 

Also, my beta has gone back to work now, so updates will probably slow down a bit :( 

Chapter 23

[alindakb]

Letters to my Parents - Monday 27 December 1993 - by Alinda

Monday 27 December 1993

Dear mom and dad,

This Christmas holiday is the best. It’s just me and Draco down here in the dungeons. All the other Slytherins have gone home to their parents for massive dinners and whatnot. Draco told me what Christmas at his house normally looks like. It’s filled with all these stupid traditions and fake cheer. He’s really happy he told his parents he wasn’t coming home this year. I know I should feel bad about the fact that Draco and his father hardly talk any more now he’s with me, but I just can’t. Not after what happened on Christmas afternoon. But I’ll get to that later.

First I need to tell you about Hagrid. Hermione, Draco and I went to visit him last week, the day before everyone left for the Christmas holidays. When we got to his place that looked like an iced cake in the snowed up landscape, he first didn’t answer when we knocked on his door. We could hear noises inside, so I called out for him. When the door opened Hagrid stood there like a lost puppy. His eyes were red and swollen and tears splashed down the front of his leather vest. He flung himself onto me and I had to be saved by Draco and Hermione. Man, Hagrid is heavy! We helped Hagrid back into his cabin. He just kept crying and I was really worried. There was a letter on his table and Draco read it. He started to walk up and down the cabin and he kept shaking his head. He was really angry by the time he finished the letter and passed it on to Hermione, who read the letter out loud.

It started off good, saying Hagrid bears no responsibility for the hippogriff attack on a student. But that was the only good thing about the letter. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures will have a hearing about it because of the complained of Mr Lucius Malfoy (explaining why Draco got so angry) and that the Hippogriff needs to be kept tethered and isolated till the date of the hearing.

Draco went on and on about how his father was an idiot. The attack had been nothing big and Draco was fine. Madam Pomfrey had healed his wounds in seconds and there was no lasting damage. And Buckbeak didn’t even do it on purpose. It cheered Hagrid up a little to see Draco come to his defence, seeing as Draco had been terrified of the Hippogriffs before I helped him approach them.

Hermione was all businesslike about it. Assuring that it will all be good if Hagrid can put up a good strong defence. Hagrid isn’t sure, thinks that the entire committee is in Lucius pocket and that they will sentence Buckbeak till dead. Draco agrees, but also said he’ll come along and speak up for Buckbeak since he’s the student that was attacked, he should be able to convince them that Buckbeak is not dangerous. It all helped a little to calm Hagrid down. I made some tea and we stayed a while longer. Hagrid is not doing that well, with everything that is going on with Buckbeak, and with nobody really liking his classes (we lied and said we liked them, I hope you don’t mind, but we couldn’t break Hagrid’s heart even more), and with the Dementors around. He says it reminds him of his short time in Azkaban.

Hermione asked if it was awful in there, and Hagrid told us that he’d never been anywhere like it. That he couldn’t stop thinking about horrible stuff, like the day he got expelled from Hogwarts, the day his father died and the day he had to let Norbert go. And after some time he just hoped he would die in his sleep. It’s the only reason he won’t help Buckbeak escape now, he’s afraid they will throw him into Azkaban again.

And then everyone went away for the Christmas holiday and Draco and I kind of forgot all about helping Hagrid with his case. We just stayed in bed late each morning, smooching each other senseless. And when we get hungry we both take a short shower, I braid Draco’s hair and then we just make our way down to the great hall to grab a late brunch. None of the other students that stayed behind bother us and the teachers don’t seem to be that hard on us. Professor Snape hasn’t yelled at us once this whole week about having more distance between the two of us. And he normally does that all the time. Always says there should be at least two inches of space between us on the bench at breakfast, or that we need to sit on opposite sides of the table with potions, so we at least don’t turn it into a love potion by accident.

We didn’t sleep in on Christmas morning. Both too excited to give each other our Christmas presents. I had Daphne order some beautiful hair ties and elastic hair bands. We picked out some stuff from one of her beauty catalogues, so I would be able to make even prettier braids into Draco’s hair. Draco really loves them, by the way, and I love how they brighten up his hair. Draco got me some very soft sweaters and a magical set of pens that change colour while writing. I’m wearing one of my new sweaters now, I love how Draco can’t stop hugging me when I wear them.

After we exchanged our gifts we took a look at the pile of gifts at the end of my bed. Draco had some books about proper behaviour and the importance of pure bloodlines from his father. Like that will make him less gay and less in love with me. Draco didn’t even bother to open them, he just threw them into his trunk. His mother’s gift was better, she had sent him loads of chocolates with a note that he should share them with me.

I had gotten a grey sweater (a slate sweater according to Draco, really his knowledge of names of colours is ridiculous) There’s nothing wrong with my knowledge of colours, it’s useful you barbarian that only knows green, blue, yellow and red. Those are not the house colours! Stop hijacking my notebook you sophisticated person and let me barbarian in peace. I know Slytherin green isn’t called green, you’ve told me a million times already! And you still call it Slytherin green, you would think you will learn. Oh, just shut up, kiss me, and let me write to my parents in peace. I still need to tell them about the anonymous gift. And a beautiful gift it is, I wish I had thought of buying it for you. Don’t be ridiculous, you could never afford it with your allowance.

Sorry for that, mom and dad. Draco needed some attention. He’s off fetching some food from the Great Hall right now, he won’t bother us again. Let’s get back to my gifts. Mrs Weasley had sent me a slate sweater with a golden snitch on it and a dozen home-baked mince pies. Hagrid has sent me sweets and Hermione gave me more books to read. I also had gifts from our other friends. Blaise had sent us a book about gay sex and how to stay safe with a note to say we were not allowed to do any of it while he was sleeping in the same room. Greg had gotten me some new polish for when I get a new broom and Daphne gave me a book on braiding techniques. And Luna had sent me a magazine about Dementors and how to protect yourself from them. It’s called the Quibbler and Draco said they only publish nonsense. Still, I appreciate the gesture.

But the most amazing present had no card and I have no idea who sent it to me. It is a Firebolt! It has a glittering handle with a golden registration number, perfectly smooth, streamlined birch twigs for a tail and it hovers at the perfect height for me to mount it. I first couldn’t believe it and Draco was just as perplexed as me. A real Firebolt, send to me as a Christmas present. Who would spend that much money on me? It wouldn’t be Lupin, even though he used to be friends with both of you, he doesn’t have that kind of money. And I know Professor Snape wants us to win the Quidditch cup, I don’t think he would send me a present this expansive. We debated for a little while if maybe Marcus had his family give it to me, but it seems unlikely.

We didn’t waste any time with showers that morning, or hair braiding, or breakfast. We pulled on the first clothes we could find and started to make our way out of the castle. Only to get stopped by Professor Snape. He took one look at the Firebolt and demanded to know where we had gotten it. We told him it was sent to me for Christmas. Snape took the Firebolt from me and examined it carefully from handle to twig-ends. He wanted to know from who it was and when we couldn’t tell him because there had been no card or message with it, Professor Snape decided to confiscate it so it could be checked for jinxes. He said something about Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick stripping it down and I think my heart stopped right there. Draco uttered something and Snape just said it was necessary and that it would only take a couple of weeks. He was sure I would have the broom back in time for the next Quidditch match. And with that, he walked away with my beautiful new broom.

After that Draco and I just sat down on the stairs up to the Entrance Hall and stared at nothing until it was time for the Christmas meal. It was probably as good as the last two years, but I hardly tasted it. Draco was just as quiet beside me. There weren’t many students at school this year and we all dined at the same table. Professor Snape told us to light up, that it would be fine. And then Professor Lupin snapped at him that he should give us some time to grieve, that brooms are like lovers to Quidditch players, but that Snape won’t understand that since he never had a heart for the sport anyway. And then Headmaster Dumbledore made the entire table open Christmas Crackers to light the mood.

When dinner was finished, Draco and I headed back to our dormitory, only to be stopped by Professor Snape. He wanted to explain that he just wants to make sure that I’ll be safe. There is a change that the broom came from Black and that its sole purpose is to kill me. And I understand that it’s all about my safety. But for only a little hour I was the owner of a real Firebolt, the best broom there is at the moment, and I didn’t even get to fly it. I’m sure there is nothing wrong with it now, but who knows what it will be like after they subjected it to all sorts of anti-jinx tests?

But enough about that. That afternoon Draco and I just lay down on the sofa next to the fireplace in our common room. First, we just lay there, feeling sorry for ourselves and after a while, I just wanted to think of something else. We started to kiss, first just small kisses, sweet and innocent. But somehow the kissing got heavier by the second. I ended up on Draco’s lap and we just moved our bodies against each other. And mom, maybe you stop reading here because, well it got really heated. It wasn’t the first time I got hard while kissing Draco, and I know for a fact it also wasn’t the first time Draco got hard. But it was the first time where we kept moving our hips to brush our groins against each other. At some point, I think we stopped kissing, only able to breath heavy until pleasure just erupted out of me. Dad, I never had an orgasm before and this was so intense. Draco came too, and we just hold each other for a long while. I never felt this good before in my entire life.

Just that morning Draco and I had joked about the book Blaise had sent us, and now we are both thinking about it. About how better it might even be when we aren’t still wearing all our clothes. But also about how scary it all is. We’re only thirteen years old, isn’t that too young to start thinking of having sex? But on the other hand, I want Draco so much, want to be close to him all the time? I don’t know what to do now. I’m a little scared that Draco will want to do more now, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that. I love kissing him, and what we did that Christmas afternoon, it was amazing and I want to feel like that again. But I don’t know if I want to start getting naked together. I wish I could really talk to you about all this, dad. I don’t want to lose Draco because I don’t want to take this any further, but I also don’t want to do something I’m not ready for. I know I should just talk to Draco about it, but I’m scared of what he will say. It’s not like anything has really changed. We still kiss all the time and I still want his hand in mine all the time. And we still have so much fun together. I just wish I knew if he wants to do it again, or if he wants to go even further?

Tell mom I love her and that I miss you both. I’m sure it will all be okay. We’ve already been through so much together, I’m sure this won’t make me lose him. He loves me and I love him and that is all that matters.

I’ll write again soon.

Love you,

Harry James Potter.

[isidar-mithrim]

It’s the morning after the Third Task, and Neville has been summoned by McGonagall. He goes there worried about his marks, having no idea he’s about to find out that he lived for a year near the man who tortured his parents into insanity.

{First installment of the serie ‘Have a biscuit’}

___________________________________

{Have a biscuit}

Falling down

“Come in, Longbottom” said McGonagall when he hesitantly opened the door, peering inside her office.

She was sitting at her desk with a grim face, and Neville’s heart beat even faster than it had before, when Nearly Headless Nick had told him McGonagall needed to see him right after breakfast. He was hoping with all his might this had nothing to do with his Transfiguration marks. Sure, she’d said he’d passed the final test, if barely, but he couldn’t think of any other reasons for her to summon him. The only certain thing was that his gran would kill him, if McGonagall kicked him out of her class.

He swallowed and entered the room, jumping in surprise when the door closed automatically behind him.

He lingered there, unsure of what to do and not very willing to find out why he was there.

“Well, sit down, then” McGonagall said impatiently, gesturing at the chair in front of her. An instant later, though, she seemed to regret her firm tone, because she cleared her throat and added a softer “If you please.”

Neville stared at her for a moment, not at all reassured by this show of kindness, but then he hurried to do so, fighting the urge to low is gaze on the desk between them.

He’d expected her to be frowning at him, but she actually looked quite concerned, and that made him feel even more anxious. He closed his eyes for a second, praying he’d be allowed to stay at Hogwarts even without taking Transfiguration.

“You… you wanted to see me, professor?” he asked tentatively, his voice low.

“Yes, Longbottom.” She took a deep breath, her nostrils going wide. “I’m afraid I have to give you a news that will probably come as a shock.”

She’d spoken with a strange tone, like… like if she was sorry, or if she was trying to be... well... human. That didn’t ease his tension at all, and a sudden, terrifying thought crossed his mind.

“Is… is my gran ok?” he whispered.

McGonagall widened her eyes, clearly taken aback by the question. “Of course, of course, she’s perfectly fine” she clarified hastily, waving a hand as to dismiss the very idea.

Neville breathed out, feeling a surge of relief.  “Er… ok, good... yeah” he mumbled, beginning to feel slightly embarrassed for jumping to that conclusion.

“Actually...” McGonagall said with unusual hesitation, as if she was bracing herself for something bad, “... it’s Alastor Moody I wanted to talk about.”

Neville dropped his jaw, staring at her astounded. “Moody?”

“Exactly” she confirmed, but that didn’t make it more believable. He kept staring at her, incredulous. She’d summoned him to talk about Moody?

“Well… er... what about him?” he asked at a loss. May be he wasn’t going to teach any more? But that couldn’t explain why McGonagall wanted to inform him – specifically him! – so urgently.

“I understand you were quite fond of him” she said with that oddly softness that creeped him out a bit.

He nodded, not sure of what to say. It was true that – in his own way – Madeye had been very kind to him during the year, and Neville was obviously going to feel sorry if he had to leave, but he still couldn’t get why he was there. It would have been nothing new, after all, since they’d changed every D.A.D.A. teacher so far. Maybe McGonagall thought he couldn’t handle Moody leaving right after Lupin? Had she been afraid he would have get emotional at the news, and had decided to spare him the embarrassment of doing so in front of everybody?

It wasn’t a very flattering thought, to be honest, but it wouldn’t have been that surprising.

He suddenly realised that McGonagall was watching him intently and he squirmed in his chair, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze.

“Neville, truth is...” MgGonagall sighed again, and he took it as yet another bad sign. What if… Merlin, what if Moody had died too? His heart sank at the thought, but he didn’t dare to ask. “... truth is, you haven’t met the real Alastor Moody.”

Neville was dumbstruck. He couldn’t believe is own ears. What could it possibly mean? Of course they had met him... he was there a whole year...

“I... I don’t understand, professor…”

She looked at him with that strange expression again, like if she was sorry for him, and he felt a chill run down his back; then McGonagall hastily cleared her throat and apparently regained her composure.

“Have a biscuit, Longbottom” she said sternly, pushing a tartan tin towards him.

He stared at them in disbelief.  “A biscuit?”

“Yes, a biscuit” she repeated firmly.

He glanced at her, yet again unsure of what to do –  was he supposed to politely decline? And if not, should he eat it right away, or wait for later? But in that case, where was he supposed to put it?

McGonagall pushed the box even closer. “Just pick one, Longbottom” she said gruffly.

Finally out of options, he took a Ginger Newt and ate it in small bites, chewing as quietly as possible, careful to keep is mouth perfectly shut. He could feel her gaze on him, and he fervently wished she’d taken a biscuit as well.

“Er… they’re really good” he said when he’d swallowed the last bite. “Thank you.”

She just nodded in response, putting the tin box aside. Now that he’d finished the biscuit, the silence got even more awkward, and MgGonagall’s gaze even more intense.

“How... how could he not be the real one?” he asked tentatively.

She sighed deeply again, straightening her glasses, and Neville twisted his hands in his lap.

“At the end of August, an imposter captured the real Moody, took his appearance and replaced him at Hogwarts” she explained with a serious tone.

“Oh...” murmured Neville. He hadn’t even known it was possible to took somebody else’s features, and his stomach lurched at the thought. “Is he... is the real Moody ok?”

McGonagall seemed mildly surprised by his question, but answered nonetheless. “Yes, Madama Pomfrey says he will be fine.”

“Good” he mumbled, trying to make order in the chaos of his mind. “So, did the imposter...” he paused, unable to say ‘killed’ out loud. “I mean, what happened yesterday at the maze... was that is fault?”

“It was” she answered gravely.

“Oh…” said Neville, his heart heavy. “And… did he escape, or…?”

“No, he didn’t. Professor Dumbledore saw through his disguise and was able to capture him.”

“So… he’s in Azkaban, now?”

“He is. He was moved there this night, after receiving a kiss by a Dementor as requested by the Minister.” She’d spoken with a neutral tone, but her widened nostrils and thin lips betrayed her disapproval. Neville had to agree, almost feeling sorry for the man. He couldn’t think of a worst fate than having his own soul removed… except, perhaps, being tortured into insanity. He hastily casted that thought aside, searching for something else to ask.

“Was he... was he a Death Eater, professor?”

McGonagall made a move like she was about to put a hand on his shoulder, then seemed to reconsider; she laid her hands on the desk and clenched her fingers so tightly that her knuckles whitened, and he felt a rush of dread.

“Neville… I’m very sorry” she said, her voice almost cracking. “He was Bartemius Crouch Junior.”

He just stared at her, abashed. That… that didn’t make sense… It simply wasn’t possible…

“But... but… he’s dead” he stuttered. “He… he died few years ago… Gran told me… he died in Azkaban… I… I read it on the papers…”

“It was all a ruse” said McGonagall. She kept talking, saying something about Crouch’s mother and some Polijus Potion and his father, but Neville wasn’t following anymore, he wasn’t even listening, it was like he wasn’t there… It simply wasn’t possible… Moody had always been kind to him… He’d given him a book, and he’d asked him how the read was going several times… He’d told him little memories of when he worked with his parents, said he missed them very much… He’d comforted him when he’d been upset for the Cruciatus…

“No… no, he can’t be him… he’s dead…”

“Neville…”

“He was always kind to me… He… he made me tea once… I… I would have know if…”

McGonagall handed him a tissue, and it was like being brought back to reality all of a sudden. He felt his eyes swelled, his face wet with tears and snot. He took the tissue and blew his nose, not even bothering to feel awkward, then he wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

“How could I… how could I not know?” he murmured, his voice trembling.

McGonagall looked at him with what he could finally recognise as pity. “He played is part well. He tricked everybody” she said, her voice a bit cracked, her eyes shining.

“But… I… I should have know… I should have seen...”

“Neville” she said more fiercely. “You can’t blame yourself for this. Even professor Dumbledore fell for it, and they go way back.”

“I let him… let him tell me things about… about them…” he whispered, hot tears still running on his face.

He saw McGonagall blinking hard, her lips clenched tightly. Then she grabbed his wrist, fixing him in the eyes. “It’s not your fault, Neville. Do you hear me? Don’t ever blame yourself for that. We are the one who should have seen through his fraud, we are those meant to protect you from people like him.”

He nodded slowly and blew his nose again, a bit comforted by her renewed fierceness and by her words.

“Why?” he asked in a low voice. “Why he did all that?”

Why had he spent a whole year fooling them? Fooling him?

McGonagall sighed deeply for the umpteenth time, and he couldn’t believe there was still more.

“I’m afraid he did it for the same reason that sent him to Azkaban years ago… helping You-Know-Who to come back.” She paused for an instant, laying a tentative hand on his shoulder without lowering her gaze.

“Unfortunately, this time Frank and Alice weren’t there to stop him.”

**

Neville walked back to the Gryffindor tower in shock. He was barely aware of the students walking around him, he didn’t care if people stared at him, he wasn’t affected in the slightest by the Slytherins’ remarks about his puffy eyes.

Eventually he found himself standing in his empty dormitory, his gaze fixed at his red curtains, at a loss.

Then, with the corner of his eye, he saw it.

It was laid on his bedside table, because he’d wanted to keep it close, he’d wanted it at hand. How many evening he’d fallen asleep while lost in those pages… It was the book that had made him understood there was something he was truly good at, the book that made him see what he wanted to do in his life.

Feeling more betrayed than he ever did, he grabbed Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean and, page by page, he tore it apart.

When only the cover was left, he threw it out the window with all his strength and watched it fall, feeling like his whole world was falling down with it.

[Read the next stories – ‘Standing up’ and ‘Moving on’ – on tumblr]

[aidanchaser]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Everyone Lives AU

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero

Chapter Six Gilderoy Lockhart

Dear Mum and Dad,

Professor Lockhart is awful! Please convince Uncle Remus to come be our teacher right away. He keeps talking to me about being famous and how someday I’ll be as famous as him and I can’t stand it. He made me late to Herbology just to ask if I would invite you guys over for tea because you’re both Order of Merlin, First Class, and he’s Third Class so it’s “practically the same thing.”

I’m beginning to think he’s not a real teacher. Maybe he’s the danger Dobby was warning me about. He gave us a quiz on his favorite color and then let out some Cornish pixies, and when his spell didn’t work, left us to clean it up! One broke Ron’s wand. He patched it with some Spellotape but I don’t know how well it works.

Please, Mum, I’d much rather have you as a Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Or even Sirius. Just write Dumbledore and tell him you’d love to take over for Professor Lockhart.

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

I’m sure Lockhart just wanted to provide his students with some hands-on experience dealing with Cornish pixies. They aren’t especially dangerous, so it seems reasonable to leave them to second years. I’ll admit the quiz sounds a little silly. Maybe it was a joke? As much as your Mum would love to teach you, I’m not sure I could stomach her being at school all year and leaving me at home.

Now that you’re gone, she’s already started talking about getting a job in the Ministry again. She seems a bit more determined this year. Hopefully it’s just a passing fancy. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if she was gone half the day.

Let us know when your first Quidditch match is. We’re very excited to see you play again.

Love, Mum and Dad

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Uncle Remus,

Cornish pixies really aren’t deadly, right? One bit Neville’s finger and Professor Lockhart says it’s fine, but I’m not really sure I believe him. I lost points on my exam because I didn’t remember that his secret ambition is to market magical hair care. He’s an awful teacher. I’d almost rather have Snape. Almost.

I’d really rather you were my teacher. Mum thinks you’d be good at it. I do too. I like learning from you, and I think everyone else would too. You should write to Dumbledore and tell him you can take over for Professor Lockhart.

At least Herbology is fun. We got to repot Mandrakes. Professor Sprout doesn’t usually let us do practical stuff.

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

Cornish pixie bites are not deadly, but Neville should probably see Madam Pomfrey, in case of infection or allergic reaction. She’s a wonderful woman and very patient with small things like a pixie bite.

I’m afraid I wouldn’t be as great a teacher as you think. It’s one thing to learn at home, and a completely different thing to teach a classroom. I’m sure Dumbledore knows what he’s doing by hiring Professor Lockhart.

Good luck with mandrakes. I seem to recall fainting in that lesson. Wasn’t the best time of the month for gardening. You might want to ask your father for any mandrake-related questions. But if you need any help with Defense Against the Dark Arts, please let me know. I’d be happy to help.

Love, Uncle Remus

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Sirius,

Defense Against the Dark Arts is awful and I’m so glad I have this book from you because we’re not going to learn anything from Lockhart this year.

I included a great picture Colin Creevey gave me. He’s nice, but he’s super annoying and always taking pictures and asking for autographs but that just makes Malfoy more obnoxious and Lockhart worse because Lockhart thinks I’m doing it for attention and if I have to listen to him go on about what it takes to win Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award, I might accidentally hex him.

He tried to get me to pose for that picture Colin took and I think the fact that he can’t even drag me into the photo says a lot about how I feel about him and these ridiculous pictures.

Love, Harry

P.S. Do you have a brother?

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

I don’t recommend hexing a teacher, unless you can get away with it. But if you can get away with it, go for it. I remember one time your dad and I had this brilliant prank. We gave McGonagall some biscuits, and of course she was suspicious, but it wasn’t the biscuits we put the love potion in, it was the tea. (The biscuits as a distraction was Remus’s idea, and it was brilliant.) Of course, she found out after it wore off and she realized she’d given us a pass on a bunch of homework we didn’t do, and we all got detention for it AND had to do the essays. Not our finest moment. But the setup was beautiful.

Lockhart sounds like a real treat. Sorry, mate. I am framing this photo, however, and putting it on the fridge. It’s golden.

And the family I grew up with isn’t really my family. Your dad’s the only brother I’ve got.

Love, Sirius

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Draco,

I wanted to personally apologize for the scene that occurred in Flourish and Blotts this last summer. I should have been more attentive to the situation and quicker to prevent a fight. I hope you are doing well and will continue to excel in your studies. I’ve heard you are quite good in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I wish you the best of luck and if you ever have any questions about your classes, you are more than welcome to write.

Sincerely, Remus Lupin

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

November 18th, 1979

Dearest Sister,

Mother told me about your pregnancy. I do hope this one works out. I am quite ready to be an aunt. It sounds much less trying than being a mother. I suppose now that I’m married too, Mother will expect me to have children any day now. But I don’t dare bring a child into this world before we’ve perfected it. Our cause is too important for me to waste time raising a child.

Of course, I don’t mean ill of you or your husband. He’s proved himself very useful these last couple months. And having children is important, ever so important. We must continue our bloodlines, but it just isn’t a sacrifice I can make at this time. And do take care of yourself. Don’t worry too much. You can’t have a healthy baby without being healthy yourself.

I’ll try to come by before Christmas and see you. I do miss you so much. Family is the most important thing in the middle of a war, especially in the middle of one focused on protecting our blood.

Have you heard anything from Reggie? He was helping the Dark Lord with something important, but none of us have heard from him for a fortnight now. I thought perhaps he had said something to you. Please let me know if you hear from him. I’m quite worried about him. He’s all Auntie has left.

Love, Bella

[afaithy]

A Crinkle in Fate; Ch. 11: Heartchanging realization

Original: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16896918/chapters/40183823

Fancast:  http://afaithy.tumblr.com/post/182695568319/so-an-anon-asked-for-some-real-people-references

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

— Nelson Mandela

Summer passed in a blink of an eye. The amount of time spent together allowed Sirius and Tonks to bond and she now saw him as the brother she didn’t have. To Sirius was more than pleased to take on the role and he enjoyed teasing the girl. Lupin came to visit several times during the three months of summer vacation; sometimes on his own and some other accompanied by his parents.

When September 1st came, the three stood together in the platform 9 ¾  saying good.bye to their families and ready to board the train back to Hogwarts.

Unlike the year before, Tonks didn’t have to seat in a compartment with unknown people; in fact she was now trapped in a very crowded space with four Gryffindor boys with lots of energy, a girl with lots of things to tell her and a quiet and grumpy Slytherin boy who was having too much fun calling her by her full name.

“So this year we get to go to Hogsmeade…” Peter said excitedly “Finally!”

“It’d be fun and we will bring you lots of things, Tonks.” Lily smiled.

Sometimes it was tough to be younger, but surprisingly, she didn’t feel bothered or envious of them. In fact, she felt ...normal. She wasn’t that excited to visit the town after all.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Lily.” Tonks smiled.

“Blimey, I always forget you’re one year younger, Tonksie.” Sirius said pouting “And there I was planning some adventures for us…”

“You can have your adventures without me, Sirius…”she laughs “I’ll be fine. There’s always something to do in the castle.”

“You wouldn’t have this problem if you hung out with the students from your year instead…” Snape said with a frown.

“Oh, well...mind you. Maybe I’m too mature to be with people from my age…”

“If you’re comparing you matureness to theirs...then maybe you should have skipped another two years…” Snape shrugged pointing at James and Sirius who were know making faces and jokes with some chocolate sticks.

“...Fair enough…” Tonks chuckled under Lily’s laughter “Then let’s leave it at...I hang out with you because I like you…”

“And that’s a good reason enough…” Lily approved “Come one, Severus. You’re not really annoyed about it. You were asking about Tonks each time I got her  owl.”

“I was just curious of what new stupidity she had done with Black…” he replied quicker than necessary and Tonks chuckled.

“But no. For real, I’m alright. I’m not dying to go to Hogsmeade, anyway…”

“You’re not? I mean there are lots of things to do and see there…”Peter asked incredulously.

“It’s just a town…” Tonks shrugged “A town with pubs, with shops, with people…like any other town. I can survive a year without going, I am sure.”

“You’re probably right…”Lupin nodded “but that doesn’t change that we will miss your company…”

“Aww, I can give you a picture so that you can keep it in your pocket.”

“I’m sure Remus would like that…” James laughed and Lupin elbowed him.

“Still...we will bring you a lot of things and then, next year, we can all go together.” Lily said.

Tonks nodded. The conversation soon drifted to some other random topics; Lily was happy to tell her what things she and Snape had done during summer vacation and Tonks was happy to tell her about the her own. Sirius would occasionally jump in with a funny memory and then Lupin would most likely remind him that it had all been his bad ideas. The trip to Hogwart felt shorter between the laughs and jokes the filled the tight train compartment.

The group reluctantly fell apart when they entered the Great Hall. As much as they’d have prefered to share the table, no all of them were Gryffindors. The SLytherin table was just next to Hufflepuffs and if she ignored the idiotic face of 80% of the table occupants, Tonks could find some solace from Snape sitting right behind her.

“Say what Half-blood scum. No one tried to kill you this summer?” Boreas laughed.

“Ignore him…” Snape whispered in a barely audible whisper.

Tonks smiled. Snape could be rude and had no reservations when claiming how much of an annoyance she was, but the he sure knew how to let her know he was on her side when the situation required it, she thought as the sorting of the new first years took place.  

“Hm...none seemed to trip this time..” she caught Snape whispering behind her “Disappointing…”

“Well, mind you. That seems to be a privilege reserved for me…”

“Normal people wouldn’t sound so proud about it…”

“Have I ever been normal?”

“Heh, you just admitted it.”

“What?”

“That you’re abnormal….” “I never…ahg..you  know what, if you keep taunting me I’ll throw the centerpiece at you…”

“What are you going to do? Throw the berries at me?”

She could hear Snape’s victorious snort and she felt like throwing him her plate, though that would have catched too much unwanted attention and she wasn’t going to fall into his trick to make her the center of attention of the entrance ceremony again. She grabbed one of the small berry like things from the centerpiece with the intention of throwing it at Snape, but to her surprise, hor most likely horror, the so called berry wasn’t a berry but some type of magical pill bug that uncoiles as soon as she had touched her and crawled up her hand. In the middle of her panic, she shook up her hand with far more strength that she had intended hitting twof her Hufflepuff mates and sending the bug flying; the bug knocked at the the juice bottle with a loud crash that echoed in the hall making Dumbledore stare at her with an amused smile as the bug ended up over the Hufflepuff prefect’s head..

“For Merlin’s sake, Tonks...what the hell are you doing?” her prefect said annoyed and she was sure her hair would probably be brightly purple as the bug began crawling down the Prefects face. THe girl let out a panicked screech as another Hufflepuff boy helped her take it off. As soon as the boy had grabbed the thing, the pill bug was gone and all that was left was one round, marble like fake berry. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the whole table broke into laughs.

Snape was far too amused by what she’d done when she turned to glare at him.

“You knew it was charmed!” she mumbled accusingly “And you know I hate pill bugs!”

“I didn’t think you’d be idiot enough to try that…”

Tonks sent him a annoyed look as the food appeared in the tables. She’d get even with him later.

***

Tonks began her first week of classes as a sophomore in her most traditional form: stumbling and spending almost 80% of the time on the floor. On Friday morning, the girl was rushing in to breakfast  in the Great Hall when a certain poltergeist, pulled on her tunic causing her to stumble and crash against the benches at the Gryffindor table. It seemed that Peeves had comet to enjoy watching her in very indignant positions lately.

The students eating at the time had laughed loudly, but were quickly shut off by a glare sent by her favorite cousin and his gang. As per usual, the one to help her back on her feet had been Lupin.

“You okay?” he asked with a frown.

“Ah...Wotcher, Remus…” she answered rubbing her waist to asses the damage. It stung but it wasn’t too bad “Yes, I’ll survive.”

“Always know how to make an entry, don’t you, cous?” Sirius smiled “Sit down, will you?”

“Ah, I think I’ll just grab it to go since I seem to be already late…” Tonks said shaking her head “You don’t happen to know a poltergeist repellent spell, do you Remus?”

“A what?”

“Peeves…”she shrugged “The damn prat has made of me stumbling into a hobby.”

“Wait...is that why you have been falling all over the castle?” Lupin asked concerned.

“Well, I’m clumsy...but not that much. Peeves keeps messing with me...I guess he finds it rather amusing…”

“That’s not alright. It is dangerous…” Lupin said shaking his head “I’ll ask dad…”

“Well, thank you. Then ...I’ll leave now. I still need to make it to Transfigurations. Wish me luck...hopefully I will make it without breaking my neck…”

She had said in a joking manner, but Lupin seemed to take the prospect with horror.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go alone…”

“I’ll be fine. It’d be a little embarrassing if I have to go to classes with an escort…” she laughed “Anyway...so I’ll see you all later!”

Tonks picked a buttered toast from Sirius plate and left the Hall slightly limping. Lupin was watching her with worry when Sirius patted his back with a smirk.

“What?”

“Nothing…” Sirius laughed.

Lupin quirked an eyebrow at his friend and rolled his eyes. He knew better than to expect a proper answer when Sirius entered into his “all mysterious” mode; the boy would eventually tell him what was going through his mind. He looked at the spot where Tonks had been standing at some minutes before. He could only hope that the girl would make it out from her first week unscathed.

“She’s always so energetic, is she not?” Lily giggled “It’s quite admirable…”

“If only I had as much energy as she does in the morning…” James said. He wasn’t a morning person and after three months of sleeping in to late hours, waking up early to attend classes was giving him so issues.

“Oh, that girl is always awfully early…” Sirius replied “but I guess it’s a family thing. When I was staying with them, I was always the last one to wake up…”

“Oh, you two met her parents….” Peter said curiously “So how are they?”

“They’re nice folk. Dromeda is just as I remember her, haven’t changed a bit and her husband is great.” Sirius grinned “They were all great with me staying over and all; and you would guess, but it seems Remus’s mum and him might have known each other!”

“Really?” Lily said amazed.

Lupin nodded.

“Tonk’s father is older, but he’s Welsh as my mum. Coincidentally, they’re from the same town and attended the same muggle school. They saw each other a few times before. It wasn’t until my dad told the story of how they’d met that Mr. Tonks realized it.”

“Oh wow. That’s such a coincidence. So how’s the town she lives in? She gave me very vague descriptions when I asked…”

“Well, she doesn’t live in a town; which makes it even better...if you ask me.” Sirius replied “ A pretty house in the countryside, with big gardens and few to none snoopy neighbors. Great place. I wouldn’t mind to spend more holidays in there…”

“They live up north. Close to the Moors.” Lupin added “Outside of town…”

“I never thought of her as a country girl…”James said resting his head on his hand “but sounds like a nice breather from London. Maybe I should join the party next time, too!”

“Somehow I think Andromeda would love that…”Sirius chuckled “she was quite happy to have people around for a change....”

“How about a full summer camp this year. I could persuade Severus to attend…” Lily smiled “He hates to travel, but he might do the effort if it is for Tonks…”

“He would, wouldn’t he?” James said with smirk “Don’t tell me Snivellus actually fancies the queen of clumsiness?”

“Wait, what?” Sirius growled and Lupin found himself listening with sudden interest.

“Not in that way…” Lily replied glaring at James “Severus has few friends. He appreciates her even if he doesn’t admit it himself. I think he finds...likeable? That she’s so into challenging him…”

Sirius seemed horrified, but he didn’t say anything more. Lupin on the other hand was thoughtful. He had noticed that those two were quite close; maybe Snape was the third person in the group- after Sirius and himself- with whom she seemed to feel most comfortable with. The boy told himself that it was only natural considering that they had spend quite an amount of time  together doing those small jobs with Slughorn. It was a good thing that she was making friends -other friends besides himself- then why was he feeling a little irritated by James’s silly remark about Snape and Tonks closeness?

They didn’t see Tonks again until much later that day. The girl had skipped lunch  and her whereabouts were unknown until mid afternoon, when classes were over and they were free for the day. The group stumbled with her as she climbed down the stairs to the courtyard and Lupin noticed that her limping seemed a little worse than earlier.

“Tonks!” he called her once she had properly stepped into the courtyard. The last thing he wanted was to startled her in the middle of the stairs and provoke her another fall.

The girl turned to them looking miserable and Lupin felt a knot in his throat.

“Oh...wotcher…” she said with a sigh.

“Woah….what’s up with that face?”  Sirius said blinking worriedly “what did you break?”

At the question Tonks let out miserable groan.

“Ooookaaay. For real ...what’s wrong?”

“Peeves…” she replied simply.

“What did he do?” Lupin asked her worried.

“Well…”

But before she could answer, a group of giggling second year Ravenclaws stopped by pointing at her between laughs and mutterings. Tonks let out a loud sigh and putting her arms on her hips in a, supposedly dignified pose, she turned to them with a firm face.

“Oh, okay...snap out of it. It was a damn accident! So fly off and do something more productive than stand there gossiping about me!”she growled angrily at the girls who stared at her with wide eyes and quickly rushed away.

“Wow cous” Sirius whistled “You really scared them off. So...what was an accident?”

Tonks turned back to them. The spark of hardness and anger in her face quickly dissolved, and the same miserable look she’d held before the Ravenclaws interruption took over once more.

“I told you that Peeves was making me trip as a hobby...well he did it again when I was coming out from charms and I kind of hit one of the magical armors when I went down. I don’t what was wrong with the thing, but it went crazy thinking someone was attacking it and well...it hit that stupid statue of the druid.”

“You mean the one that is reading that big book?” James asked. “Yeah, that one. The armor hit it with its rusted sword and the druid dropped that book over…over...” “Over?” Lupin coarsed her.

“....Mrs. Norris…”

There was a long silent pause  that was suddenly broken by Sirius bark laugh followed by James and Peter’s giggles and guilty chuckle from Lupin. The boys were actually relieved; the miserable look and the paleness in the younger girls had made them think that something worse had happened.

“It’s not fun! Filch was furious. I had to stand his yells for two and half hours before professor Sprout came looking for me!”

“And what happened to Mrs. Norris…?” James asked trying to drown his laugh.

“Well...she’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking. But she might lose a piece of her tail…” Tonks sighed “ And hey, the cat might be a pain, but...it doesn’t make me feel any less guilty.  Now Filch is demanding that I to get detention for the rest of the year…”

“What? Why? It’s not like you hexed Mrs. Norris.” Sirius asked with a frown, but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. The whole situation was so ridiculous “I mean...you just tripped....”

“Well, Filch thinks I did it on purpose….and since he can’t actually punish Peeves, I am the scapegoat...” Tonks said sighed “I really don’t mind the detention, if I really had done something. The whole thing was just a chain of unfortunate events!”

“He’s not a teacher. He can’t put you on detention” Lupin reasoned resting his hand on her shoulder “I doubt professor Sprout would give into Filch’s demands. She knows you wouldn’t have done that…”

“Well, yeah...that’s what Professor Sprout told me. She said I shouldn’t worry, that she’d talk to Dumbledore and that it was unfair to punish me for an accident. But Filch isn’t happy…I’m pretty sure he’s going to make the rest of my school life a nightmare if I don’t get that detention…”

“That old rat…” Sirius said crossing his arms “Well, if he’s going to put you through hell...I’m sure we can put him through hell as well…”

“We all know how much he hates students anyway…” James nodded “If he bothers you we can...leave him a present?”

“Besides...what’s the big deal. I am sure Madam Pomfrey can fix that cat’s tail in a blink “Peter said.

Tonks bit her lip in a gesture that Lupin now knew meant she was concerned. He rubbed her back comfortingly and smiled at her.

“Don’t worry about it. Professor Dumbledore wouldn’t be that unreasonable. I’m sure of it. You missed lunch, didn’t you?”

“I was stuck in Filch’s office…” she shrugged “And honestly, with all that mess I kind of lost my appetite…”

“Well, but you need to eat something. Come on...we were planning on doing a small picnic outside. How about you join us…?” Lupin offered.

“And mess up with your Boys’ hang out? I wouldn’t dare…” Tonks replied shaking her head “I think I’ll just go back to my room. I’m tired. I will see you guys later.”

With that said, Tonks said goodbye to them with a gesture of her hand and walked away as fast as her  slight limp allowed. Lupin watched her disappear among a group of students and he felt Sirius and James rest their elbows on his shoulders. He still wondered why those two enjoyed doing that considering that he was several inches taller and the position was probably uncomfortable.

“Well...there she goes. Do you reckon she’d start every year with an injury? Because lat year she rolled down a hill…” James said slightly amused “She shouldn’t take it on as a habit. I like her, and I certainly would prefer if she survives her school life…”

“Yeah, but considering what Dromeda told me of her, she’s already used to get all knocked over…” SIrius chuckled “Clumsiest thing ever...that one...adorable, though...don’t you think, Moony?”

“Yeah...adorable…” he replied absently “I mean...it is cute, as long as she doesn’t get that hurt. I’m worried that Peeves will continue to sabotage her…”

“Oh, yes...that, too. Well...any ideas of how to control a damn poltergeist, Mr. DADA ace?”

“No idea, but I’m going to owl my dad as soon as possible. I don’t like to see her getting hurt…” Lupin sighed “What…?”

Sirius was grinning amused at him.

“Nope, nothing. Come on...I want to get out of this castle for a while…” he answered turning around and walking away.

Lupine frowned, intrigued by his friend's behavior, but decided to ignore him as he followed the rest of the group out.

***

Tonks was feeling ill. She had originally intended to get into her dorm and nap the rest of the day, but the Hufflepuff house was crawling with students and after the events from earlier she wasn’t feeling in the mood of gossipers and mocks. She had twisted her ankle on her fall and even though she knew that Madam Pomfrey would fix it in a blink, she didn’t feel like hearing the nurse’s lecture regarding her inability to stay in her feet.

That’s how she’d ended up in the library, curled in her favorite seat in the Muggle LIterature section with  her ankle swollen and stinging and a pretty strong headache.

“First year a fracture hip; second year a twisted ankle…” she muttered to herself “well, I guess it’s getting better…”

At least she could enjoy some peace and quiet in there; and she certainly enjoyed the chance of reading a good book in her free hours, however, after a few minutes, she found herself drifting off into sleep.

Her sleep was light, but filled with dreams. Strange dreams that made her heart beat heavily. She saw a group of redheads, most of the male, with kind smiles; she saw a boy with glasses that reminded her of James and a girl with honey colored hair. She saw a lot of faces that felt familiar, but she could not name. She also saw a green symbol in the sky: a skull with a snake coming from its mouth. The images were scattered, not exactly connected to each other, yet somehow related. It was confusing and yet comforting, unlike other dreams she’d had.

You can change it all. If that’s what you really want…

Her eyes fluttered open as the words vanished into the deeps of her mind. She felt a warm heaviness on her shoulders that she didn’t recall having before falling asleep. It was a robe, more precisely, a Gryffindor robe judging by the scarlet and gold lines in the rim and if her senses didn’t fail her, the scent of chocolate, tea and mint was something she could easily recognize.

“Remus?” she said still half asleep.

The boy was sitting in his usual spot with a book open in front of his face. He turned to her as he heard his name being called and his green eyes stared at her gently.

“Hey…” he replied putting down the book.

“ What are you doing here…?”

“I could ask you the same. Didn’t you say you were going to you dorm?”

“I...tried, but it was too noisy…”

“Noisy?”

“My head hurts…” she replied. The pain seemed to be slightly stronger and she was beginning to feel nauseous.

Lupin looked at he conflicted. He raised from his seat and came to kneel in front of her. Soon his hand was resting over her forehead.

“You might be having a slight fever. I saw you trembling, that’s why I gave you my robe. Are you feeling sick?”

Yes.

“ No, it’s just a  headache…”

“Are you sure? Maybe I should take you to madam Pomfrey.”

“The last thing I need is her lectures, Remus…” she half snorted “I am okay. I just need to sleep it off…”

“Then wouldn’t it be better if you went back to your room?”

“I told you...too noisy…”

Lupin sat down next to her concerned. It was obvious that he wasn’t convinced that sleeping in a reading chair in the library could be better than her warm  bed, so Tonks pushed herself up and rested her head on his shoulder.

“There...it won’t be that bad for my posture like this…”

“I doubt my shoulder is more comfortable than a pillow, Tonks…”

“Then I can use your lap...just don’t make go to my room. It’s not comfortable…”

Lupin seemed to ponder it, but he eventually gave in.

“Alright, you can use my lap. That has to be better than my shoulder.”

And- she had to admit it- it was. Lupin was still too tall for her so his shoulder felt a little too high, his lap however was nice: soft and warm. She could get used to it.

Lupin watched the girl drift back to sleep with her head resting comfortably on his lap. Her hood had fallen down a little and he could see  the locks of her purple hair that, after a few minutes of sleeping, had turned its points into pastel pink, crating a slight gradient. Unconsciously, he found himself caressing one of the wavy locks.

So that was what she tried to hide under her hood, he thought. He had read about her little gift, but he had never seen it, and as he watched her singular hair between his fingers, he couldn’t help but think that it was a beautiful. THe way the hair turned from a shade to another so naturally that it reminded him of the petals of a flower. It was such a pity that she didn’t let others see it, considering how lovely it was. He would hex anyone who would dare say otherwise.

Tonks sleep quietly. At least she seemed to be  having a pleasant rest and Lupin’s lips curled into a smile. He had picked his book, but somehow he found himself too distracted to read it. His attention was all over the sleeping girl: from her lovely color changing hair to the quiet raise and low of her breathing. He pulled  his robe up to her shoulders and sat there watching her sleep. The book was long forgotten on the table.

[fandomimaginegoddess]

Wolf Pup:  Harry Potter Imagine

PART ONE

Summary: Remus takes in an orphaned young werewolf. 

“Get out of my house you little monster!  Get out and never come back!”  Shrieked my mother as she threw whatever she could get her hands on at me.  I had come home that morning, after a night with a full moon in the sky, covered in blood.  You may be wondering, How can a 10, almost 11 year old do so much damage?  Well I wasn't a normal (wizarding world) ten year old.  At least not anymore.  A few months ago I was bitten by a werewolf.  I had been hiding it from my mother perfectly until tonight.  But now she knew.

“M-Mommy No.  Please, I love you…”  I sobbed.  

“Get out!”  she screamed as she grabbed her wand and pointed it at me threateningly.  I ran out of the house with tears streaming down my face.  I ran as far as my legs would let me.  I eventually had to rest.  I leaned up against the wall of a building and slid down as I cried into my knees.  

“Now, what has such a talented young witch so upset?”  Asked a voice.  I looked up and saw none other than Dumbledore looking down smiling softly at me.  I stayed quiet because I honestly just didn't know what to say.  My mom kicked me out because I'm a werewolf?  Yeah that will go over well…  “I think I know someone who can help you.  Come with me and I will take you to him.”  said the great wizard as he extended a hand to me.  I wasn't sure what he was talking about but hey what have I got to lose?  I took the elderly wizards hand as we started walking.

“Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?”  He asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

I looked at him surprised.  I hadn't gotten a letter yet.  “What?  I mean. Y-Yes!  I’m very excited!”

“Your birthday is coming up too.  I bet you will get all sorts of great stuff.”  He said with yet another twinkle in his eyes.

“Uh…  Maybe…”  I said thinking of my mother.

“Ahh here we are.  Remus!”  called Dumbledore as he knocked on the door.   
A man, assumably Remus,  answered the door.  “Oh, good to see you Dumbledore.  what can I do for you?”  asked the man.  

“Take care of this young orphaned werewolf.”  replied old man as he motioned to me.

“How-how did you know?!”  I exclaimed.

The other man laughed.  “Because he is Dumbledore.  And your asking an awful lot of me sir.”  Remus said.

“Your the best person for the job Remus.”  Dumbledore explained.

Remus hesitated for a minute before letting out a huge sigh “All right…  Your right…  I will do it…”  He breathed as he ran a hand through his hair.  “Come on in…  Whats your name kid?”  Remus asked.  

“(Y/N)”  I replied as I was ushered into the house.  Dumbledore and Remus continued to talk for a bit until Remus walked into the house and showed me around.    

“All right,  This has always been the guest room.  But now its your bedroom.  Make yourself at home.  We can go out and get you some things like clothes and whatever else you need a bit later.”  Remus said.

“Why are you the best person raise me?”  I asked curiously.

“Because, I’m a werewolf too.”  He explained as he walked out of the room.  

about an hour I was laying on my new bed in my new room when Remus came back in.  “You ready to go shopping?”  He asked as I nodded and hopped off the bed.   The two of us headed into town to some muggle shops.  “lets see…  What do little girls need…?”  Remus asked himself as I began to wonder if this man was really capable of raising a child.  “Well I suppose we will start with clothes”  He said as he led me to a clothing store and bought me all the clothes I would need.  

“Now… What else?”  he pondered as we walked around the store.  That was when I saw it.  It was incredible...  It was a stuffed toy wolf.  I had never seen anything like it...  I walked over to it in awe.  I picked it up and oh my gosh I had never felt anything that soft.  I hugged it close to my chest.  It was like hugging a cloud.  How did the muggles do it?  I really wanted it but I didn't want to ask Mr. Remus for it.  I just met him.  Besides that he probably would say no anyways.  

“Of course!  Toys!  I see you've already found one you like!”  Remus Exclaimed from behind me.  He purchased the wolf and some other nice toys for me.  He also got me some great muggle books and stuff.  The creativity of those people is absolutely amazing…  We walked around the alley some more while I hugged my new stuffed wolf who, by the way, I named Diesel.  Mr. Remus bought me all the other things that I would need as well as we walked around.

“Thank you for everything Mr. Remus.”  I said. 
“Oh, don't you worry about it (Y/N).  I’m happy to help.”  He replied.  “Now, what would you like for dinner?” He questioned.

“Anything is fine with me sir.”  I answered.

“You don't have to call me sir.  Mr. Remus was okay.  Does steak work?”  He asked.  My face lit up as I nodded vigorously.  “Steak it is!”  He exclaimed as we went and bought the meat.  

Finally we headed home and remus put the steak in the fridge and then helped me put all the stuff we bought away were it should go.  

“You wanna help out with dinner?”  Remus asked with a playful grin.

“Yeah!”  I exclaimed in excitement as I rushed to the kitchen.  I’ve never gotten to help with dinner before.  But I’ve always wanted to.  Now I finally can!

“Great!  But before we start how do you like your steak?”  He asked.

“Rare”  I replied.

“I figured that was the case.”  he said as he began to teach me how to cook.

“Can you set the table?  Everything is in that drawer.”  he asked once we finished the meat and he pointed out the drawer.  I nodded as I did what was asked of me.

We both then sat down for dinner.  We learned a lot about each other.  I learned that his last name is Lupin for one thing.  Which I found very funny by the way.  Mr. Remus however, wasn't nearly as amused as I was.  Once I stopped cackling at his name, Mr. Remus also told me of his days in Hogwarts and about all of his friends.  Friends such as, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and finally James and Lily Potter.  Who are the parents of the boy who lived.  Sadly, they were not so lucky.  I told him about my mother and my life before today.  About when I got bit.  About how my mom found out my secret and kicked me out.  

“I’m worried about her.  I was the only family she had left.”  I mumbled.  

“Then she shouldn't have pushed you away.”  Remus stated as he took another bite of his food.  Then he saw the sad look on my face.  “But I'm sure she's fine!  Don’t you worry!”  He exclaimed as I nodded, Ignoring the worried feelings for my mom.  I know she kicked me out, and I should hate her for that, but I just can’t.  She was always a good mom to me, and I still love her.  I always will.  

We soon finished eating and cleaned up all the mess from dinner.  I let out a huge yawn.  “You sound like your ready for bed.”  Remus laughed as I rubbed my eyes and nodded.  “Alright then, off to bed with you.”  He said.  I extend my arms to him in a ‘carry me’ sort of way.  “Really?”  He said with a hint of amusement in his voice as I nodded sleepily.  “Fine, lets go.” he said as he lifted me up as carried me off to my bed and tucked me in.  “Goodnight (Y/N)” Remus said as he was turning out the light.  All he heard in response were quiet snores as I was already asleep.