#it gets freddy to think a bit.. he has not gone entirely selfish.. he’s here to put an end to the corporate for good..

[bxnnie-bxwl]

thinking of evil!freddy again… and am thinking doing it different this time inspired by posts I’ve seen about freddy wanting to distance himself from the figure head he has to be.. he wants to be his own person and not this puppet who has to deliver everything he has each second of his life.. and you can tell in the game whenever there’s a voice recording of Freddy he distances from it because it is not truly him..

so in this au I thought that when Freddy glitches out on stage he’s sent to repairs.. but something snaps in him and he decides to escape.. so the rest of the band has have to fill Freddy’s shoes… some being happy to get the spotlight but Bonnie was quite upset to Freddy disappearing ):

And then the story sort of follows a bit the same as security breach but with Bonnie instead of gregory.. but Freddy comes back (((:

So freddy in this is more that he refuses to follow rules anymore., and somehow fuelled by some sort of anger and despair.. I wonder. But he soon joins up with Gregory and Bonnie <33

[pit-and-the-pen]

Chapter 4

 Just a short chapter to kick off my ideas for this series! Hope you enjoy! 

        A knock on Fred’s door interrupted him from a rather pleasant dream, the smell of apples faintly being chased away as he stirred awake. “Go away” He grumbled as loudly as he could muster before pulling a spare pillow over his head and rolling over onto his stomach. 

       “You’re late for training.” George calls from the other side of the door. Fred just groaned loudly and swore. He’d never hear the end of this from the guys. Trudging out of bed, he threw on whatever clothes he touched first. Deciding he could put together a better outfit later. His training gear would cover it anyways. 

     Walking out of the door, George whistles lowley when Fred passes him. A cup of warm coffee was shoved into his hands by George. Fred’s not normally a coffee drinker, but grimaces and downs the small cup anyways.  “Boy, you would think you stayed up the whole night.” George laughed at Fred’s disheveled appearance. “She even got you home at a reasonable time and everything.” He laughs a little louder at the slightly starstruck look that takes over his brother's face at the mention of last night. He claps his brother over the shoulder.  “Look at you, losing sleep over a pretty face.” 

Fred winds up to argue back before George holds his hands up. “Mate, it’s a good look on you. Well not right now obviously but overall.” George winks at his brother as they start to walk down the pathway outside to the training arena. “I haven’t seen you that lively since Bill was crowned.” Fred really wants to argue but he can’t, he knows he became a stiff the moment he became next in line. 

He remembers how him and George used to run rampant through the castle, pulling as many pranks as they possibly could. Minerva or even their mother yelling after them. The thought brings a smile to Fred’s face. How much of a simpler time that was. Back before they were looking face down at a war. Before his father’s problems we’re thrown into his lap because, in all reality, Bill wants nothing to do with them. The same way that Charlie had wriggled out under the guise of helping peace relations in Romania. The same way that Percy left the weight on Fred’s shoulders by being a royal face on the front and getting so good at raising morale that they decided to keep him exactly where he was. 

Plus, as much as everyone loved Percy, he cared too much about how he was perceived to make a great king. He would be too powerful in the wrong hands and the family had its fair share of people that would take full advantage of that fact before the crown even touched his head. He. realized he had been silent for a little too long and just sighed. 

“Sorry George. I know I’m no fun anymore.” His brother nudged him in the ribs.

“Whoever said you were fun in the first place eh?” George said in such a serious tone it made Fred pause. He saw the look on his brother's face and realized the joke had gone right over his head. I really do need to lighten up. He thought to himself and chuckled at his brother. 

Running a hand through his hair a small pang of sadness hits him harder than he thought it would’ve. He’s really just lost so much of himself by the prospect of being king someday. And he really knows it’s just a matter of time. The entire family is waiting with baited breath for Bill to finally run off with Fleur. They keep getting closer every day and it’s only a matter of time until the couple run off to the hills of France. Fred mentally curses at the thought. Bill isn’t doing it to be selfish, he knows that but Fred will be damned if he lets George suffer through everything he’s going through. If it becomes Fred’s turn he’s bringing them through a war and he’s never been more terrified at that idea.

 Fred walks down to the arena in a bit of haze. His thoughts run all over the place. Worse case scenario, one after the other, plays in his mind. How they don’t have enough bodies to fight a war. About how everyone will hate him when he has to draft. The kingdom falling because Fred couldn’t make the important calls at the right time. It’s enough to make him wish that he had stayed in bed. 

Before he realizes it, he’s stepping onto the gravel rink of the training arena. Trying to clear his head with a small shake, he realizes he can spiral later. Right now, he’s doing what he can. Everything else for now can wait. This is what he needs to do to play his part. Keep an eye out for who has leadership potential. 

With the Triwizard tournament coming up, currently being worked up and finalized as he stands here, he needs to keep a clear head. Does he think that right now is not the time for all the usual pageantry? Of course, but for now, it’s not his call to make and he’s grateful for that. He just falls in line and takes his orders when they are given. George gives him a firm pat on his back as he takes his usual spot on the bleachers, pulling out a large book and a quill. Ready to take notes down to report back to Bill. As he expected, there are a few lears and teases about his tardiness, comments he brushes off with a shrug. A few comments on seeing him with someone last night and he quickly shuts down that line of thinking. 

He pairs the men off into their small sparing groups. Deciding that he didn’t trust his own reflexes today, he informs them he wants to work on non-wand fighting. 

“Why would we do that when we have wands?” A voice calls out from the crowd. He sighs heavily. Of course these knob heads would think that. 

“What are you going to do if your wand gets lost, or heaven forbid, were to break in the middle of a fight?” He squints at the man that questioned him. “Are you going to run in the middle of a fight because of that? No. That’s why this is just as an important skill as dueling.” Fred pats the longsword currently resting on his hip. A few people from the crowd chuckle. They just assume it’s for show. He notices a few of the men looking behind him as he’s speaking. He sends a glance over his shoulder and he wants to curse from the sight in front of him. None other than Draco Malfoy. Loud and proud, standing like he owns the damn place. 

He bites back the eye roll and gestures to his men. “Work amongst yourselves for a moment.” He looks at the defiant faces. “With wands if it’s that damn important to you.” He says dismissively but with a tone that says this isn’t the last of that conversation. 

The relationship with the Malfoy family and the Royal family is rocky to say the least. They were part of the group that broke off and tried to become important in the Dark Lord's personal court, before it crumbled, of course. They were also some of the loudest opponents for the Weasley family to become the ruling family and decided to let that little detail fuel every one of their actions for the last fifty years. They did all of this while trying to worm their way into the most powerful positions. Much to Fred’s displeasure to admit, Lucius had managed to redeem himself quite well and from that Draco grew up just as good as a prince would have. 

“To what do I owe the displeasure of your presence Draco?” Fred sighed out. Not bother to care about diplomacy. There was something about the boy that just made his blood boil, too many smart comments aimed at his fathers competency when they were in school together he reckons. Malfoy just scoffs, pointing his head high in the air as he always does. 

“I was sent from the castle to come and get you. Important meeting apparently.” His voice full of discontent, obviously not liking being sent to run errands. 

“And why are you even in the kingdom again?” Fred taunts. “Front line too scary for you?” 

Once again Malofy scoffs. “They pulled Potter and I both out last week. That’s all that I know. Sent in replacements and everything.” Draco raises an eyebrow at Fred’s shocked expression. “Do you not even know what’s going on in your own kingdom? I thought they would be filling you in before him at this point.” He laughs and Fred lunges forward. Grabbing the shiny armor that Draco is wearing. Proof of how little he actually had seen of battle. 

“Woah. Not here Freddie” George says, coming to pry Malfoy out of Fred’s grip. Fred looks back at the group of men currently inspecting every detail of this interaction. 

“Better watch that temper, your majesty.” Malfoy spits out before Fred lets him go, giving him a large shove to get some distance between the two of them. He watches with a small smirk as the blond stumbles back and takes a second to regain his footing.

 Fred turns to the crowd, not even bothering to pretend they haven't just seen the interaction. “Well looks like you have been saved from a boring day.” Fred addresses them. “You’re dismissed but we’re doing double training to make up for this interruption.” He calls and claps his hands, letting everyone know they’re dismissed. 

There are a few groans from among the crowd but after the little show Fred put on no one thinks it smart to try to test his patience at the moment. 

I’ve tried to get this up three times and tumblr has decided to hate me so sorry if the formating is a little off. I tried to fix it but I’m terrible at editing if you havent noticed already.

Taglist: (some wont tag so if you changed urls and still want to be tagged please let me know!) @they-write-once-in-a-while @magical-spit @birdie-writes @ickle-ronniekins @heart-of-tempered-steel @wand3ringr0s3​ @thoseofgreatambition @things-that-start-with-f @elf-punk @bitchywhisperswizard @a-little-too-much @izzytheninja @kpopgirlbtssvt @shadowsinger11 @harrysweasleys 

[amostimprobabledream]

Why I hate Grace.

I was giving my thoughts on Peaky Blinders a few weeks ago and I danced around the subject of my dislike for this character but didn’t have time/room to get it all out. So here it is! Grace fans, you probably want to look away now. So to me, Grace is kind of symbolic of the bad writing on Peaky Blinders, which is especially egregious because usually the writing of the show is good. But right off the bat, her arrival creates a number of plotholes that don't resonate with Tommy's character. Just for a start, nobody seems to find it suspicious that an apparently attractive woman (seriously, people go on and on about how pretty Grace is and while it's not as though she's ugly at all, you can't help but wonder if the Peaky boys merely think so because she's the only woman of significance not related to them) is so determined to be a barmaid in The Garrison, where Tommy, upon seeing her, immediately asks her if she's a whore. Grace is understandably offended by the question, which again makes you wonder why she'd want to work somewhere where such a question isn't just an assumption, but the first thing Tommy asks - we know she's a spy, but the other characters don't.

Then, Tommy corners Grace and starts asking why she keeps being so nosy about the Blinders and their business. They go for a walk and Tommy asks Grace if she's a Catholic. She says she is, but when Tommy points out that no good Catholic girl would walk into a church without making the cross, he immediately exposes her as a liar and points out he also knows that she lied to him about what town she was from, because he asked around and nobody had ever heard of her. So what does he do? He...promotes her to being his secretary? What?

Okay, so you might argue that Tommy puts her in said position to keep an eye on her, or thinks she might be useful if she has the balls to lie to him, but she tells such an easy-to-unravel lie and her excuse is because she wants to "fit in". Again, he lets her off the hook but she covers up a lie with an even more obvious one  - if Grace cared about fitting in, she'd make more of an effort to do so, but she keeps demanding Tommy let her sing in the pub and asks questions above her station to Arthur, which got reported back to Tommy. Sure, it's her job to spy on the Peaky boys, but she's so transparent about it that it's honestly ridiculous that Tommy would ever put her in a position that close to his personal affairs. Not to mention, Grace is so inexplicably haughty towards Tommy, telling him, "You disappoint me" when he kisses her. You'd think if she was good at her job, she'd learn to shut her mouth and keep her head down like a decent spy, but she always acts as if she's better than Tommy because, like Polly points out, she's a spoiled little rich girl at heart and she does think herself above the Shelby's.

Then Tommy completely inexplicably chooses to give Grace a fucking gun and tells her some men are going to come in and try to kill him and he's relying on her to bail him out. I know the cops were meant to come in at the stroke of six and they fuck up, but WHY would you ever place that level of trust in someone you already know is a liar? Sorry, but I just don't buy that Tommy was blinded by "love". I can buy that maybe he was curious about Grace, possibly even fancied her a bit, but definitely not so stupid that he thinks it's a good idea to put his fucking life in the hands of a woman he knows basically nothing about. She could have fallen out of the sky for all he knows. Tommy even continues to trust Grace after she kills an IRA guy right in front of him because she sobs, "I didn't know I had it in me like that", yet she disobeyed his instructions and whenever Arthur or John do that, Tommy gives them a bollocking. He lets Grace off, again, for seemingly no reason other than she played the damsel in distress role and he buys it. This doesn't make Tommy look like a smart man blinded by love, it just makes him look like an idiot around Grace.

Also, there seems to be an uncomfortable level in Tommy/Grace of Tommy getting a kick out of using Grace to piss Campbell off. It's pretty obvious Campbell has a creepy crush on her, and Tommy exploits that for all it's worth when he explicitly rings Campbell to inform him that he's going to bang Grace. (Incidentally, their sex scene made me go, "Oh, I guess they're gonna fuck now. Yup." It was like they did it because the screenwriter said so.) He's basically cucking Campbell and I think it's a big reason why even Grace fans admit that she's "not as good" in Season Two - Grace just doesn't work without Campbell around. At least in Season One you can argue that every shitty thing Grace does to Tommy/the Peaky Blinders is partly because of her job as a spy and Campbell is her boss. In Season Two, there are no excuses for the way Grace acts. She's a selfish, self-righteous hypocrite. She jumps at the chance to go to Birmingham on the offchance it was Tommy who called, then acts all offended when he assumes she came to sleep with him, to the point she actually smacks him in the face. What does Tommy do about this? Nothing. When Grace complains they could have run away to New York together, all Tommy says is, "I had things to do", instead of asking Grace why she thinks he'd abandon his family, business, friends and country all to chase after the woman who sold him out to his worst enemy. Grace honestly expected Tommy to put her first after everything she did to him. I won't act like Tommy is a saint in this - he did nearly pimp her out to Billy Kimber - but at least he acknowledges it was wrong of him to do and he never acts like he occupies any moral highground like Grace does. When Grace admits she sold Tommy out, she sobs she "did a terrible thing," yet never tries to actually help him out in a way that would put her at risk - she quit her position, sure, but Campbell's creepiness had gone so far as to propose marriage to her, Grace was still looking out for herself when she left, because it got her away from Campbell. She asked Campbell to spare him, knowing full well that Campbell has wanted Tommy dead since day one. She plays the damsel in distress again and she's pissed when Tommy doesn't fall for it a second time. Then when she talks about her husband, she tries to rub it in Tommy's face how he's “a good, kind man”, but then quickly backtracks on that to fuck Tommy anyway because her husband is impotent - and Grace just can't deal with not getting what she wants. Tommy's rich enough to afford to buy a house for Ada and Polly by this point, he's running Birmingham and seeking to expand into London, so Grace pulls the oldest trick in the book and gets pregnant - then Tommy has to do the responsible thing and marry her, because the baby is his and it's literally the only piece of leverage she has over May. (May even points out that she's been stringing Tommy along and all Grace can do is throw the fact that "Grace's Secret" is the horse's name at her. Again though, did Tommy call it that to piss off Campbell? This was before Grace returned to Small Heath but after Campbell had, so I think yes.)

Then in Season Three, again, Grace is pretty much a pointless character, because she has no purpose anymore outside of being "Tommy's wife". Campbell is dead and so the conflict of her character in Season One, as contrived as that was, is gone. People complain about Grace being stuffed into a fridge and whatnot, (and tbh, you could say that about Freddie, but Freddie also served his purpose in Season One after he buried the hatchet with Tommy), but honestly I think that it was all they could think to do with her because Charlotte Riley was unable to pick up her role as May for Season Three, so they had to work around it. It's the only explanation I can think of about why Grace is just such a blatantly awful person in the Second Season - I've heard people say before that Tommy leaving the field after his assassination was prevented would have been the perfect ending to the season, but that scene at the end where he returns to The Garrison and announces he's getting married seemed really hastily tacked-on - I feel like it was added because they were forced to rewrite the drafts for Season Three and put whatever plans for May they had on the shelf. Not to mention, Grace's actress Annabelle Wallis has apparently stated she hates May because she's "annoying" and "gets inbetween Tommy and Grace". No, Grace got in the way of Tommy and Grace - she's the one who chose to leave Birmingham after she got exposed as a Mole instead of taking the consequences! And also, how is May the annoying one? At least she doesn’t whisper all her lines. It's just so immature of the actress to bash on the character and encourage ship wars, especially considering Grace comes out the winner of the love triangle, so what's the bitterness about? (I've not heard what her opinion is on Lizzie, but I doubt it's as hostile, because it's made obvious in the show that Tommy doesn't love Lizzie the same and the poor girl is constantly competing with a dead woman for her husband's love.) Plus, in Season Three, the wedding is all about not upsetting Grace, Tommy's family have to play nice with Grace's family, and Polly is once again the only person who knocks Grace's smug ass down a peg by reminding her that the family haven't forgiven or forgotten Grace's crimes against them - the only reason they're putting up a pretence of tolerating her is for Tommy's sake. Not hers. Not everybody in the world wants to accommodate Grace. Killing Grace was honestly the highlight of the entire Season, because I couldn't stand watching her smirking over how she got everything she wanted when she didn't pay for any of it. (Polly is also the only one who comments on how Tommy has conveniently forgotten all the shit she pulled on him and Tommy acts like she was a totally innocent bystander when she got killed and it’s like, no, Tommy, baby. Grace knew what she was getting into when she married him and he knew that - it’s pretty much common knowledge that everybody who is even tangentially associated with the Peaky Blinders gets hurt eventually, just look at how Ada was nearly gangraped even though she hadn’t been involved with the family business for two years.)

Come Season Four and Five and there's already a problem here - there is still more to talk about with Grace, even though she’s dead and Tommy spends most of Season Three rampaging over her death. But he just inexplicably won't let go of her. And again, this doesn't come across as Tommy being so in love with Grace he can't fathom a world without her, it comes off like her actress has dirt on the director or something. He constantly hallucinates the bitch, we hear her singing all the time, it's kind of implied that Tommy prefers Charles over Ruby because Charles a boy and has a saintly dead mummy while Ruby is the daughter of a former whore (not that Tommy doesn't love Ruby, obviously, because he absolutely does), and what really annoys me about Tommy hallucinating Grace is that she's the only character he does this with. He doesn't dream about Greta, his first love, he doesn't dream of Danny or Freddie or his mother. He doesn't even fucking dream about John! Remember John, Tommy's little brother he knew his entire life? Apparently nobody else does! No, it's always all about Grace, who keeps helpfully telling Tommy to hurry up and kill himself so he can be with her again. This doesn’t seem like an out-of-character, guilt-induced vision - it mimicks her attitude in Season Two, that nothing else in his life can be as important as she is.

And that's why I hate Grace. (Please don’t send me rude or hateful messages over this post, it’s just my opinion and it’s pretty much irrelevant anyway since I doubt Stephen Knight is going to stop using Grace up as some kind of martyred dead saint anytime soon. I just wanted to get this rant out of my system.)

[freddiesaysalright]

Beautiful Mess Part 9

A Brian May x Reader Fic

Summary: Reader works in a bookshop. She meets Brian May and they have an instant connection. It seems to be a fairy tale romance. But, things are seldom what they seem.

Word Count: 3k

Tag List: @psychosupernatural​, @someone-get-a-medic​, @bensrhapsody​, @deakyclicks, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession​, @minigranger​, @crazyweirdocalledfriday​, @mrs-jack-murphy​, @not-john-watsons-blog​, @simmisblog​, @mirkwoodshewolf​, @assembledherethevolunteers​, @thosequeenboys​, @lv7867​, @maymacca​, @rethought​, @brianslittlepet​, @jinxy93​, @stephydearestxo​, @mrcleanisthicc​, @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls​, @readinghorn​, @lookuptotheskiesandsee​, @reedusteinrambles​, @borhapqueen92​, @1204-moonchild​ If you’d like to be added, let me know!

A/N: I’m so sorry this update took so long! Things have been crazy between dance, my niece being born, my grandmother getting surgery, and then I got sick! I hope you all enjoy this next part :)

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  

Part 9 here we go!!!

AIDS.

Your head spun with how hard that hit you. You didn’t know much about it, only that it was essentially a death sentence. There was treatment, but no cure. How? How had this happened to Richard?

Several emotions went through you. Shock at the news that Richard was gay. Hurt that he had this diagnosis. Anger that he was cursed with this. Devastation because you were going to lose him. Sooner or later, he would succumb to it. You opened and closed your mouth a few times, at a complete loss for words. What could you say? 

“I’m so sorry,” Brian said.

That didn’t feel like enough.

“Thank you,” Richard replied. “Y/N, I...I wanted to tell you that you don’t have to worry. I’m still going to take care of you.”

You found your voice at last.

“Jesus Christ, Rich,” you said, barely audible. “You come in here, tell me you’re dying, and you’re worried about what’s going to happen to me?”

“Well, there’s no use worrying about myself,” he said. “I know what’s going to happen to me.”

You heard bitterness and anger in his voice as he said it, though it bubbled just below the surface. Richard was not an emotional person, so even if he wanted to scream and cry about this, he never would.

“What do you mean you’re going to take care of her?” Brian wondered.

You were hit with a wave of gratitude for him. He was moving the conversation where it needed to go instead of lingering on this terrible news. His lack of emotional attachment meant he could be logical and get the information. You, meanwhile, were still frozen with shock.

“I’m leaving everything to her,” Richard explained. “My entire share of my inheritance will go to Y/N upon my...departure.”

This snatched you out of your daze of grief.

“What?”

Richard looked at you. 

“You have been the one person who really cared about me, Y/N,” he said gently. “You saw me as a person, even more than my mother and father, who looked at us as pawns. Means to an end. Everything I have would have been yours anyway.”

You blinked back fresh tears.

“Hold on,” you said. “You’re talking like you’re going to die tomorrow. There’s treatment and -”

“I’ve turned down treatment,” he said.

Your hand snapped to Brian’s. You needed something to hold onto or the continuous blows from Richard were going to knock you on your back.

“W-why?” you breathed.

“I don’t want to prolong anything,” he began. “I don’t want to drag out my life when there’s no point. I’m going to meet my fate head on and with dignity.”

You weren’t quite sure what to make of that. Did he think that was some sort of bravery? You felt like he was being selfish. But it also felt like it was selfish of you want to keep him here when he could be at peace. What was the right way to feel right now? Too much was happening all at once.

“That’s not all,” he said.

“Don’t tell me anymore,” you winced, and you felt Brian squeeze your hand. “I’m about to fall apart as it is.”

“This isn’t too terrible,” he said and a small smile flashed briefly across his face. “I’m going to the estate in Switzerland to live out the rest of...well, the months I’ve got left.”

“Months?” you questioned.

He nodded. “I want to have some peace and quiet and...solitude. I’ll get word to you when I think it’s close, and I hope you’ll be there with me when…”

The thought of it made your heart feel like it was being clawed to bits.

“I’ll be there for you, Richard,” you promised.

It was the last thing you wanted. But you felt you owed him that much. He cleared his throat and got to his feet.

“I’m sorry to have utterly ruined your morning,” he said. “Especially after the recent events. I’ll let you take all this in.”

“When do you leave for Switzerland?” you asked quickly.

“In a month,” he answered. “That gives me enough time to get my affairs completely in order.”

“Alright…” you trailed off.

A surge of emotion was brimming up inside you.

“I’ll see you, Y/N,” he said, getting to his feet and striding over to you. He leaned over and kissed your forehead. “Please don’t be sad for me.”

You could only nod. You could hardly even look at him. You heard the door close, and he was gone. Part of you wanted to call him back. You needed every moment with him you could get because soon enough he wouldn’t be here.

Brian’s voice pulled you back.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

You shook your head as your lower lip began to tremble. Then, you completely broke down. You fell into Brian, who just gathered you up in his arms and whispered comforting words to you while you sobbed. He held you tight, stroking your hair, and showing you the utmost love and support. All you could do was wail and soak his shirt with your tears.

It was several minutes before your breathing evened out enough where you could talk. Even then, it took you a while before you could get any words out. 

“I’m sorry, Brian,” you whimpered. “I’m such a mess...everything is such a mess.” 

“Dove,” he began, wiping away a tear with his thumb. “You’re the most beautiful mess I’ve ever seen.”

You half smiled at that.

“Thank you,” you whispered. 

He leaned forward and kissed your lips sweetly.

“You’re not a mess,” he said simply. “You’re human. A lot has happened to you lately. You’re allowed to cry and be upset. This is a lot to take in.”

You tried to smile, but it faltered. Then you let yourself rest in his embrace. You remained on the couch for hours, holding tightly to Brian because he felt like the only solid ground left. Everything else was crumbling beneath you.

The next day, Brian returned to the studio. You went with him, not wanting to be alone. Cat came along too, which delighted Freddie when you all arrived. They were also thrilled to see Brian, and embraced him warmly. Freddie and John greeted you, but Roger still seemed to be holding a grudge. You understood it, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Roger was one of Brian’s best friends, and you wanted him to like you.

“Welcome back, mate,” Roger said warmly to Brian.

“Thanks,” Brian returned, same as he had with John and Freddie. “Have I missed much?”

“You’re going to love what we’ve done with Roger’s song, darling,” Freddie began, and he led Brian away, leaving you alone with John and Roger.

“How are you, Y/N?” John asked politely. 

“Alright,” you replied.

You were still reeling from everything Richard had told you.

“Look, I wanted to apologize to you both,” you said, deciding to just rip the metaphorical band aid off. “I know I’ve put Brian through a lot, even physically - he could have died that night - and it’s hurt you guys as well. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” John said. “But to be clear, Brian May will die when I’ve killed him out of petty malice and not a moment sooner.”

You both chuckled.

“Thanks, John,” you said, and he nodded. You looked at Roger.

“I…” he began. “You hurt him really badly, Y/N. I’ve never seen Brian this...I dunno, this affected by someone.”

You looked down. If only Roger knew how deeply you felt his words. You still had some of that guilt placed on yourself.

“I understand,” you said. “I know I acted selfishly. But please believe me when I say I will do everything in my power to keep Brian from getting hurt again. I love him so much. Honestly, Roger, I’ve never been this affected by someone. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love Brian and I plan on spending the rest of my life showing him that.”

Roger heaved a sigh as he looked at you. He ran a hand through his blonde locks and bit his lip.

“Just...take care of him, okay?” he said. “He’s the most absentminded fucker in the world, and he needs someone to look out for him.”

“I’ll guard him with my life,” you promised, a smile slowly forming across your lips.

Roger stuck out his hand, and you shook it. He was hesitant, but willing to accept you for Brian’s sake. That was the best you could hope for right now.

The band got to work, and you watched them. For a moment, you were transported to a place where you had no worries. No Richard, no store, nothing. It was just music. Before meeting Brian, you had never had an appreciation for rock music. But he showed you now and during the show you attended that it could help anyone escape for a time. Seeing them all work together and create such a sound was a pretty incredible thing to watch.

As the hours passed, you became more restless. The urge to occupy your mind with your own work was overwhelming, but you had not seen the shop in days. When the band took a break for lunch, you told Brian you were going for a walk.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he wondered.

For the first time in days, you wanted to be alone.

“I’m alright,” you said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at you but he didn’t argue. You slipped your coat on and disappeared down the hall before popping out the door. The frigid air felt refreshing on your face. It was crisp and sharp. You walked down the street and saw the shop before you normally would have. There was still police tape around the window and glass littered the sidewalk. The window was covered by a large piece of wood. It looked like it was shut down permanently.

Your heart broke at the sight. It looked so...sad. Standing alone, dark, and empty. All those books with no eyes on their pages. You took your keys from your pocket, unlocked the door, and went inside. 

This sight was even worse. Glass was still all over the floor. The spot where Brian lay was still stained dark from where he bled. There was also spatter from the confrontation by the counter. And drops leading from where Brian was laying to the front door, showing the path he’d stumbled when the intruder let him go.

You also noticed that the place was still decorated for Christmas. The holiday had passed nearly a week ago, when you and Brian were still hiding away from the world. You hadn’t even realized. You normally loved Christmas, and spent it with Kimballs, caroling and opening presents. Would you ever find that kind of joy again? You hoped so.

Without really thinking about it, you began to take the Christmas decorations down. Although, you found yourself avoiding the back of the shop. As painful as it was to look at the ruined front, a fear of another ambush plagued you and it was as if an invisible wall confined you to the front half.

You packed all the Christmas decorations into a box. Then you retrieved cleaning supplies from the bathroom and started to wipe away the stains. The police had given you the go-ahead for this, since they had already collected the evidence they needed. You started over  by the counter, wiping up the intruder’s blood first since it was easier. You tossed the rags in the bin. You took a brush over to the place where Brian lay.

As you knelt down, you tried not to picture the way he looked that night. How the color slowly drained from his face and each time he winced with pain. You squeezed your eyes shut and shook your head, forcing the image away. You began to scrub. Back and forth and back and forth. The suds turned red, and yet there was still more stain.

You dunked the brush back in the soap bucket and started again. The brush swished over the wood, soaking it with warm soapy water. Still the stain remained. No matter how hard your pushed or how many times you scrubbed that spot, it would not come out.

Tears of frustration stung your eyes. Just when you were ready to start screaming, the bell on the door tinkled. You sucked in a terrified breath and whipped around to see who it was.

“Sorry,” said Brian. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“You…” you trailed off. “You didn’t. I just...how did you know I was here?”

“Well, you were taking so long, I figured there was nowhere else you could be,” he said. “I just...knew you wanted to be at the shop.”

You sniffled.

“I can’t get this stupid spot up,” you confessed.

You dropped the brush and it clattered loudly to the floor.

“Well, it’s had some time to soak in there, hasn’t it?” he replied.

A beat of silence passed between you.

“What’s the usual turnaround rate between everything falling apart and when you need to start picking up the pieces?” you wondered. 

“I think that depends on the person,” he answered.

He sat beside you on the floor.

“I wish I wasn’t so…I don’t know,” you said. “I don’t know what I am right now. I feel sort of numb.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “You’ve lost a lot. And you’re going to lose another big thing, you just don’t know when.”

“I can’t even clean up my shop,” you said. 

“You don’t have to right now,” he told you.

“I want to,” you insisted. “I want to start feeling normal again.”

“You mean you want everything to go back to the way it was,” he said.

“Yes, exactly.”

“It won’t ever be that way again, dove.”

You leaned over and rested your head on his shoulder. 

“I know,” you said quietly. 

He kissed the top of you head.

“I love you very much, Y/N,” he said.

“I love you too, Brian,” you returned.

You looked up at him and he kissed you properly.

“Come on,” he said when you broke apart. “Come back to the studio. Cat misses you.”

You smiled. “Well, I can’t very well leave him alone, can I?”

Brian helped you to your feet and you left the shop, locking the door behind you. 

Over the next few days, you returned to the shop for short periods of time, getting it back together in small doses. That way, you didn’t get overwhelmed again. You arranged to have it open again after New Year’s, when the new window would be installed.

Brian helped in any way he could, but you insisted he prioritize the band. He had surely missed a lot, and you didn’t want his work to suffer for your sake. Besides, now you had your whole lives to be together. Two days before New Year’s Eve, you had just put the final touches on the shop, when someone walked in. You turned, expecting it to be Brian, but your great surprise, Charlie stood in the door.

“P-papa!” you gasped. “I...It’s good to see you.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been so absent, Y/N,” he said. “But as you know, Susan and I have had quite a shock from what Richard told us.”

You looked at the floor.

“I know,” you said. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t -”

“I’m not here for an explanation,” he said. “What’s happened has happened and we cannot undo it. Even more important, Richard cannot change who he is.”

You waited for him to go on.

“I…” he took a deep, shaky breath. “I know that my son is going to die and I know the reason. I also know he still plans to leave everything to you.”

You swallowed.

“Is that alright?” you wondered.

His eyes watered as he gazed at you. “Oh, my darling girl. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You both stepped forward and embraced. Relief washed over you. So, you had not lost as much as you thought. Charlie forgave you. You still had your family.

“You really forgive me, Papa?” you asked.

He stepped back and looked at you.

“No,” he said with a chuckle. 

You frowned, brow furrowing at him.

“Because, Y/N, there is nothing to forgive,” he explained with a soft smile. “It’s me who should be doing the apologizing.”

“What?” you wondered. “What on Earth for?”

“Because we forced you and Richard into something neither of you ever wanted,” he said. “And in doing so, doomed you to a life devoid of happiness. We were so desperate to appear like these great lords with their old money, that we forced some archaic tradition onto our own children. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“Oh, Papa,” you sighed, hugging him again. “There is nothing to forgive.”

You held each other for a long moment. A lot of unsaid things went into this embrace. With his arms, he showed you that his love for you was unconditional. You did not have to marry Richard to be Charlie’s daughter. You already were. You had been for years.

At that moment, the bell chimed again. This time it was Brian.

“Y/N, I couldn’t find the -” he stopped dead when he saw Charlie. “Oh. Hello.”

Charlie smiled. “Hello, Brian. I’m glad you’re here.”

Brian looked confused. “Are you?”

“I am,” Charlie assured him. “I wanted to invite both of you to me and Susan’s New Year’s party. If you’re sticking around, Brian, we’d like to get to know you better.”

Brian’s precious smile claimed his lips.

“Well, I plan on being around for Y/N forever,” he said. “So, I’m pleased to hear it.”

They shook hands and started talking. You watched, feeling steady on your feet at last. It wasn’t just you and Brian on a little piece of land by yourselves. There was a way forward. A clear path that was forming in front of you. Now, you were stepping into your future together. Despite all the terrible things you’d experienced and heard the last few weeks, you had that to look forward to.

[midnights-calm]

Let’s talk Tangled

Ah one of my favorite shows. But I will admit that I didn’t really get too invested until Destinies Collide aired. 

That being said, I absolutely hate what they did to Cassandra’s character. Particularly her motivation (big shocker there).

This is gonna be loooong, so the rest will be under the cut. 

Warning: There will be swearing

Season 3 honestly felt like it had so much planned but ending up dropping the ball on most of it. I’m not entirely sure if it was do to Chris and his whims or studio pressure or whatnot, but this season felt extremely rushed and it didn’t do anyone any favors. I feel that Cass was kinda put on the back burner for most of the First half of the season, becomes a threat in Cassandra’s Revenge, and is tossed back and forth for the rest of it. 

I honestly can’t complain too much about her episodes between CR and the finale, they were nice and gave us at some nice bits of character development. That all got thrown out the window in Plus Est En Vous (I’ll come back to this.)

Let’s start with how when only get to see glimpses of Cassandra in the first half of the season. Honestly, every time we saw her I honestly felt as if she didn’t plan any of this out. I get that at the time she and Booberry couldn’t hold an entire episode to themselves, but it would’ve been nice to see the same uncertainty but slightly to the left every time we checked in ( And I know it’s Zhan Tiri, but her character was so fucking dumb, but that’s a rant for another time). 

I felt as if Cass didn’t think this thing through before she took the Moonstone. She had at least a couple of weeks between when they left The House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow and when they reached the Dark Kingdom, so she had plenty of time to think about what all this choice entitled, and what she was going to do afterwards. But nope, she mopes and tries to control the rock while being pulled around by Casper’s bitchy cousin.  

Then Cassandra’s Revenge aired. Again, I really liked everything from CR up until the finale. I had a few nitpicks here and there but it was good for her character. And then... Plus Est En Vous. I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this episode. There’s so many problems that I could write an entire rant of it’s own. 

For now lets focus back on Cass. She has so much screen time this episode, and piratically does nothing with it. She destroys her old room, puts the rotted blackberry in a cage, and cries for forgiveness when she looses. Yes she died helping or whatever, but she was all ready to kill Rapunzel until the Moonstone was taken from her. And let’s not forget about everything she destroyed and lives she ruined at the end of OUaH. And what is her punishment for he action? Nothing. Absolutely. Nothing. Varian, a literal child, was sent to prison for almost the exact same crimes, and Cass gets off scott free. That’s bullshit and we all know it. 

Oh but what was it that caused her do do all of this again? Oh riiiiight, Mommy issues. (Can you tell how much I loved this?)

Can I just say that Gothel being Cass’ mom makes no goddamn sense? I’m going to anyways. Gothel being Cassandra’s mother makes no goddamn sense. Why would Gothel, a woman canonically know for being nothing but vain and selfish and who never does anything if it doesn’t benefit her, have a child and go through the process of raising her only to have her do basic house chores? Sure having someone do you’re work for you would be nice, but not worth the nine months of pregnancy, and the years afterwards of raising and training she’d have to go through after.

Wanna know what makes even less sense? This being the sole reason that Cass betrayed Rapunzel. Like, Cass, Honey, you didn’t even know or care about who your mom was four episodes ago, and that’s what you’re using as your villainous motivation?

Alright, let’s take a quick break and do a little thought experiment. You are the kid of the highest ranking officer of the military, and are well on your way to taking his place once the chance arises. But instead of continuing training for when you do get that chance, you get assigned to babysit and teach your leader’s long lost daughter. You make friends with her, accidentally bring back the reason she was kidnapped, and eventually leave with her as she follows her destiny. But on the trip towards that destiny, she constantly ignores you, brushes off your advice and actively drags not only herself, but you and the rest of your party into obvious dangers that could’ve been easily avoided. We’d all be pretty frustrated in that situation right? And then some spooky little gremlin shows up and tells you that your friends ‘adopted’ mother, who you know was super abusive, is actually your bio mom. 

I want you to take a look at these two possible motivations for betraying your friend. Between not feeling heard and actively being pushed aside/ignored or Worst mom of the century in actually my mom, which is the better motivation? If you went with the first one, good job! You get a cookie.  

I honestly don’t know where they went wrong with this. Through out the first two seasons, Rapunzel constantly ignores Cassandra’s advice and gets into more trouble, or she straight up insults Cass in both her words and actions (i.e. Challenge of the Brave and after the crispy hand in The Great Tree) They had the prefect way for Zhan Tiri to manipulate Cassandra, and they didn’t use it?!

Most of my problems with season three would be fixed if they had gone with this building problem of Cass being ignored and the growing frustration with it. Cass is unsure? Remind her of how Rapunzel ruined her chance to prove herself. Cass refuses to listen to reason? Well Raps wouldn’t listen to her. 

And it would’ve been so easy to direct Cassandra’s anger at just Rapunzel to encompass the entierty of Corona since King Freddy over here didn’t listen and caused all of the problems in the show (Again, rant for another day).

But that’s just speculation on my part.  I’m not a writer for the show, nor am I knowledgeable about the circumstances behind it’s production. All I am is a fan who really liked Cass’ character and was disappointed with how it played out.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading this through to the end! I really love this show, but they really did everyone dirty in S3 so... yeah.

[magicbat]

A Mortal Engines Review/Outrage

Here thar be spoilers.

When I saw that Mortal Engines was finally getting a film, I was super excited. I finished the last book 7 years ago and always thought they had great cinematic potential. The film has finally come and, while as a standalone film it’s fun - and don’t get me wrong, visually gorgeous, basically exactly what I imagined it would look like - it doesn’t do the books justice. Like, at all.

I understand that there’s only so much time in a film and there is a lot that happens in the books, so naturally some things were cut or changed - things that immediately spring to mind:

the fairly natural introduction of Bevis Pod at a more audience-appropriate time so that he’s actually a character of reasonable significance when his time in the spotlight comes.

The removal of Chrysler Peevey - the pirates are a fun diversion but don’t contribute a huge amount overall to the plot at large I guess.

Less time spent in Batmunkh Gompa (erroneously referred by characters in the film as Shan Guo even though that refers to the land BEYOND the wall and it appears on a MAP in the film as Batmunkh Gompa so???????)

Equally, some things of real consequence were cut or changed to the significant detriment of the film:

Magnus Chrome being completely sidelined as a villain and all of his maniacal power being transferred to Thaddeus Valentine. Chrome instead just kind of appears and is ineffectual for two scenes, when actually he’s meant to be a key message carrier for the book - weapons of mass destruction are a BAD idea and you shouldn’t play with forces you don’t understand.

Continuing with the role swap of Magnus and Thaddeus, Thaddeus was absolutely a villain in the books but he was a bit more sympathetic. The one thing that the film DID get right is that Thaddeus was ambitious - but mostly because he wanted the best for Kate, not because he actually particularly cared about London. He was an out-country scav who had something that Chrome wanted (also touched on in the film), which afforded him the life of luxury he never could have had otherwise. He had a charade to keep up that got well out of hand.

Literally everyone hating Tom on Airhaven for being a Londoner. Yes, there are some people who are suspicious of him, but aeronauts are the driving neutral trade force of the world. Captain Kora is a warm and friendly man AND an anti-tractionist - the whole point of it all was to give Tom a reason to question Municipal Darwinism and challenge his convictions and stereotypes that AT’s are vicious and savage.

And then, there’s the absolutely unforgivable sins...

The extent to which London survives. London is meant to be obliterated by the meltdown of Medusa, taking the vast majority of its population with it. Chrome and Thaddeus are meant to be two sides of the same coin when it comes to facing their demise as a result of their hubris - Chrome weeping that he “only wanted to make London strong,��� and Thaddeus clutching his dead daughter, the one thing he wanted to keep safe, watching the Jenny Haniver fly away with his other daughter, the one he treated so badly, and coming to terms with the fact that he did some pretty shitty things and that, really, a lot of this was his fault. And then dying in a fire. London was meant to be absolutely obliterated by MEDUSA and its survivors were meant to learn from its mistakes. More on the absolutely nuking of the series later though...

K-Division. This is meant to epitomise the degree to which Chrome’s reign had gone absolutely batshit. The creation of stalkers from Deep Gut prisoners was meant to be absolutely abhorrent and show how totalitarian and authoritarian Chrome’s madness for power had become. And speaking of K-Division and stalkers...

Shrike. Oh my God, Shrike. So, fair play to Jackson et al. - Shrike looks and feels absolutely fantastic in the film. He is terrifying, utterly unstoppable (but is apparently weak to a boot to the chest? More on that in a sec...) and exactly as uncanny as he is supposed to be. Also his war-shriek? Terrifying. Kudos there. But his characterisation is soooooo lacking and flawed. Shrike was meant to be an aged relic, relatively harmless unless you got in his way, to the point that he actually lived on a settlement. He helped out, didn’t need food and generally kept to himself, so what was the problem with him being there? While he was distinctly no longer human, he was, to a degree, able to think rationally - and the film does, I will concede, do a reasonable job of showing that it is specifically his dangerous obsession and confusion around Hester that activates the insane killing machine part of his head. Ok, sure, in the film he has his own little microtown and he takes Hester on board, exactly like he’s meant to, and they did a good job of showing how something deep within him is stirred by Hester’s ‘brokenness’ and his latent memories of his own child. But here’s the real problem I have, back to that point on the chest-boot - I was so incredibly disappointed to have Shrike die half way through the film? He’s the fucking NARRATOR of the ENTIRE SERIES! He survives THOUSANDS OF YEARS, experiencing and relaying emotion in a way that is so brilliantly uncanny and murderous and complex that... anyway. They done fucked up Shrike by having him be a metal Freddie Kruger for about half of the film and then suddenly and inexplicably having Anna Fang kill him with a This Is Sparta kick. Absolutely ridiculous.

Oh, but Shrike’s leitmotif? Brilliant. Absolutely terrifying musical queue. Good job on that one.

And last of all...

Hester. You knew this was coming. What have they done to you, Hester? First of all, ok, maybe it was difficult to give her a literally disfiguring face scar. But she is meant to be literally broken. She’s meant to have a crooked smile and one eye permanently locked in a scowl. I told myself that it was fine and that they only changed that to make Hester a bit more relatable and main-character material. It was a long shot and a vain hope but hey, I hoped to be proved wrong.

Hester is meant to be an insecure, selfish, murderous and wild girl. And they did a reasonable job of showing this at the very beginning of the film. They even included the bit where she robs Tom! Nice! But then they make her far too nice far too quickly in the subsequent sequences. And Tom doesn’t even like her all that much to begin with! More importantly though, Tom and Hester’s relationship develops much more organically in the books. Again, screen time, yada yada, but there’s so much important stuff! Hester’s desire for revenge is so strong that she sabotages so much just to get even an inch closer to Valentine, which really pisses Tom off when he’s trying to show her what is, to him, a more reasoned point of view. Hester has no qualms with killing - Tom does. In fact, unless I’m much mistaken, Tom scarcely raises a hand to anyone. Ever. In fact, one of the main things that happens is him getting shot and developing a heart condition as a result. Tom is absolutely a pacifist, give-peace-a-chance kind of guy, who may fantasise in the same way that many young people do about going on grand adventures, but never actually WANTS to kill anyone. Part of his arc with Hester is that, while he disagrees with a lot of the things she does, he never stops trying to see the good and shows her humanity and compassion. Again, Batmunkh Gompa was glossed over, but Tom is meant to buy Hester a new scarf, showing acceptance of her insecurities and empathy, if not agreement, with her situation.

All of this is for the sake of making Hester a bland dull tough girl Katniss Everdeen young adult protag. She is not a hero. She is not a good person. She is deeply flawed and scarred and traumatised... but she’s still human! As valentine is trying desperately to save Kate, Hester comes to help, and the book highlights how confusing this is for her!! I could go on and on about how the main characters of the book are so badly butchered by the entire thing but I’m acutely aware of how long this post is already.

So that’s my verdict. It’s a fun film. It’s a good watch. But honestly, as a huge fan of the books, it’s left a sour taste. The ending even conveniently ties everything up in a half-arsed bow that destroys the entire overarching plot of the series through to the 4th book. I suspect that they had so little faith in the committee-approved screwup of a script that they made sure there was no precedent for a sequel.

[kalimagik]

As Family the First Time

Charlie Weasley x Reader

Includes storyline of “A Hogwarts Mystery” 

Word Count: ~4K

A/N: Here is the Charlie post that I promised you all! I already wrote it, so it was easy for me to edit and such just to upload. If you enjoy reading, like, reblog, comment, or give me a follow! I have a few requests that I will get to writing, but I’m away for the week, so I will write them when I get back home! (Don’t you worry! I got some good ones too!) I’m also starting to edit my long fic that will be a Harry Potter Series! So be on the look out! Happy reading, loves! <3<3 P.S. I didn’t really have time to edit this, so I apologize 😅

“Are you sure you want to do this, love? It’s always so crazy at home.” Charlie questioned as the couple prepared for their journey from Romania to England.

“Charlie, I’ve told you a million times. I can totally handle your family. I’d been there a few times during our school years. Plus, at school, I spent time like half of your siblings anyways! Bill was there for our first 5 years and one of my good friends. Percy was Percy. And I even befriended the twins! I can totally handle this. Why do you doubt me?” Y/N laughed, tossing a sweater into her suitcase.

“Okay, you got me there, but it’s gotten even crazier. Ronald’s friends are almost always there and the twins have gotten even more chaotic since their first two years at school!”

“Charlie, do you not want me to meet your family as your girlfriend or something?”

“Yes– I mean, no. I just like to have you for a little more to myself in that aspect.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. She’d been in Charlie’s house during school and they’d gone on the craziest adventures while Y/N broke all the cursed vaults. She’d been very close to following in Bill’s steps as a Curse-Breaker, but was pulled towards dragons after practically raising a Welsh Green and visiting the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary with Bill on assignment. They were magnificent creatures.

Now, she didn’t work with them like Charlie did. The boy was constantly covered in cuts, bruises, scars, and burns from working so closely with the dragons. Y/N on the other hand observed and took notes and did research surrounding all of the different ones. However, there was one dragon that both of the dragonologists shared a bond with. The dragon that Ron wrote to Charlie about, Norbert or Norbertta, adored Y/N. Maybe since she was raised by Hagrid, she was a little better with humans, but she loved Y/N.

She’d laid some eggs and Y/N got to watch the entire process close up. It was a dragonologists DREAM!

Anyways, once Y/N and Charlie found themselves at the same dragon sanctuary, they reconnected. They’d always been good friends in school and maybe, there’d been a little spark between them, but they never dated or anything. Just an intense amount of tension in their last 2 years. It drove Bill mad because he wasn’t around enough to push them together.

But, here they were. 4 years out of school and they finally started dating, but for the first year and a half, they hadn’t gotten around to telling either of the families yet, so Christmas was the best time, right? That’s why they were packing, Charlie told his family that Y/N had moved to Romania and that her family wasn’t going to be around. And seeing as how she had holiday time at Christmas as well, Molly immediately invited her to their home at the Burrow.

“It’s about 4:30. The portkey is going to leave soon, so we should get going,” Y/N smiled, zipping up her bag and pressing a kiss to Charlie’s lips to get him moving.

“Now is your last chance to stay here, love. I’d of course stay with you and we could just make a family of our own!” he beamed.

Y/N couldn’t stop the loud laugh that erupted from the back of her throat. “WOAHHH! Slow your roll there. We haven’t even thought about an engagement yet!”

“Okay, maybe not, but who says we’ve ever done things in the right order? I mean, I kissed you before you even knew if you liked me or not.”

“True, but a kiss and a baby are two very, very different things,” Y/N giggled. “Now, common, we’ve got a portkey to catch!”

The couple made it to the location of the portkey where about 7 other witches and wizards were travelling to England. Once they reached England, they would then apparate to the Burrow. Simple.

“Okay, please grab onto the boot, it will be leaving in three…two…one!”

The pulling right behind her navel was never something she could get used to, but once landing in England, she’d gotten the hang of landing on her feet.

“I will never like those things,” she shuttered, picking up her bags. “Not when Rakepick took us on one and not now!”

“Really, I think it feels like riding a dragon! It’s blood brilliant!”

Y/N rolled her eyes, preparing herself for yet another uncomfortable experience as they prepared to apparate.

Regaining her balance once again, Y/N looked down the hill to see the Burrow standing brightly in all of its glory.

“I’m telling ya, this is your absolute last chance. We can always snag a room in London and spend the holidays there.”

“Charlie, why do you not want for me not to spend time with your family?”

“Not you, I’m just slightly selfish. I know the second we walk in, my mother is going to feed us. Bill is going to want to catch up. Ginny just loves having you around more than Fleur, so she’ll be right there. Fred and George will want to show you what they’ve been working on or flirt with you because they don’t realize you’re dating their handsome older brother and couldn’t care less about any age difference. They just see you as the badass girl who mum should’ve despised for all the danger Bill and I got into, but didn’t. Ron isn’t as much of an issue because the boy is in teenage moods according to mum. Although, if Harry and Hermione are there, he should be okay.” Charlie rambled on about his family.

“We’ll be here for at least two weeks, so if they take me from you for an evening or two, it’ll be completely fine. Oh look, it seems that they have seen us. Do you want to tell them we’re dating now or what?”

Charlie took in a deep breath trying to decide, but it didn’t have a chance to respond before Arthur, Bill, Fred, and George were calling out to them.

“I’ll find the right moment, don’t you worry,” he whispered. “Dad! Brothers!” he smiled, opening his arms.

“I’ll hug Y/N first!” one of the twins yelled.

“Fred! I called the first hug!” George quickly interjected.

“I do have the capabilities of hugging two people at once,” Y/N chuckled, opening her arms for both twins, who seemed to have doubled in size since the last time she’d seen them. “When did you two double my height?”

“Oh you know, a lot changes when you move off to Romania. Freddie and I have matured,” George informed her, straightening his coat.

“That’s not what mum’s last letter said. I heard you two blew up a bathroom. I bet McGonagall had a heart attack.”

“Charlie, we used to sneak off school grounds on a regular basis for dangerous adventures. She didn’t have a heart attack because of us.”

“Good point. Also, don’t talk about all that in front of Ron and his friends. Mum would kill me if I gave them any ideas. They put themselves in regular danger too, so I hear.”

“Yes, uh, no ideas would be excellent,” Mr. Weasley echoed. “Now, Y/N, how are you doing?”

“Dad, you took my question!” Bill smiled, coming in for a hug.

“I’m doing well. Hagrid’s dragon’s eggs just hatched and Norbertta has let me get near them. It’s been SO exciting!” Y/N smiled.

“Missing curse breaking at all?” Bill asked.

“I would say that I’m enjoying the quiet life, but like with dragons isn’t exactly quiet,” she laughed.

“So are we going to stay out here talking all night or are we going to head inside? I mean, Y/N/N and I are used to camping, but I was promised a warm bed,” Charlie pointed out.

“Right you are, Charlie! Fred, George, can you take their bags please. Y/N will be going to Ginny’s room. We’ll be a tight fit, but we’ll make it work. We always do.” Arthur instructed.

“Oh, dad, Y/N can sleep in my room. She doesn’t need to sleep on a cot. I’ll bunk with Bill.”

The two lived with each other already, so it would be weird to be in a room by herself for a few weeks. Who knows though, maybe if Charlie told about them being together,

“Is Fleur here, Bill?” Charlie asked on the way down to the house. Y/N walked beside him, so Charlie had to resist the urge to take her hand in his.

“She went back to France for the holidays. Wanted me to come with her, but when I heard you were coming home, I decided to hang back. Haven’t seen my closest brother in a while, not to mention one of my best friends from school,” Bill winked at Y/N.

“I’m excited to be back in England! I just wish my parents and brother would have decided to stick around. We could’ve gone to see them too!”

“We?” Bill asked, eyebrows raised, but a smirk on his face.

Y/N bit her lip. Shit. Little did she know that Charlie had spilled the beans to Bill months ago, making him promise not to say anything to anyone.

“Brace yourselves, Mum has been looking forward to this since you wrote home, Charlie,” Bill said, keeping the door open behind Arthur.

“Y/N! Charlie!”

The pair was hit by the warmth of the Burrow and Molly making her way around the table to them.

“I’m so happy you got here safe! PERCY! RONALD! GINNY! HERMIONE! HARRY! Y/N and Charlie are here! Dinner will be on soon!” Molly called right before wrapping her arms around Charlie and then Y/N.

“We’re so happy to have you hear, dear! I cannot believe your family decided to go on holiday over Christmas. No matter, we’re happy to have you back in our house. I don’t think you’ve been here since 3rd year! It’s been far too long.”

“I think 3rd year is when Bill brought Merula and I back for Christmas, but I saw you guys when Bill graduated from Hogwarts and when Charlie and I did,” Y/N thought back.

“Still, far too long! Ah, Ginny, come say hello!” Molly motioned over.

“Y/N! You’re here!”

Y/N opened her arms wide for the young red head. She was in her 2nd  year already and Y/N couldn’t believe it. She’d always gotten along with Ginny. She saw a lot of herself and her spirit in Ginny.

“Hey squirt! How have you been! How’s school?”

“It’s fine. Been crazy all year as usual, but I’m happy you’re here!”

“Hogwarts is always unusual! Always was for Bill, Charlie, and I. Lots of adventure to be found in that place.”

“Hello, Y/N. Good to see you again.” Percy said formally.

“Hello, Percy. How is your last year at Hogwarts?”

“Busy. There’s been a lot going on!”

Before Y/N could respond, they heard Ron’s voice coming from the top of the stairs.

“Mum, did you say Charlie was home?” Ron asked, footsteps being followed by 2 other pairs.

“Yes, dear!”

“You’ll love Charlie,” Y/N heard Ron tell his friends. “And…Y/N’s here too,” he suddenly stopped at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide.

Harry bounded down, running right into him. “Ow! Ron, why’d you stop?”

Y/N couldn’t help  but chuckle. Ron never seemed to know what to say around her.

“I’m Charlie.” He held his hand out to Harry and Hermione. “And this is Y/N. He went to school with me. She was in Y/H, not like it really matters though. She was the bloody best curse breaker Hogwarts has ever seen.”

“Hey!” Bill played offended.

Knowing what it felt like to be all anyone can talk about, Y/N did her best to remain normal around the Boy Who Lived, even though she couldn’t believe what he had been through already in his short life.

“Hi! It’s so lovely to meet you. Charlie has told me all about you two from Ron and his mum’s letters.” The two 3rd years shook her hand too.

“Dinner’s on! Everyone to the table please,” Molly said as plates flew from the cabinets to the table.

“Y/N, you can sit next to me here!” Fred hollered from down the table.

“Oi! She can sit here,” George retorted across the table.

“Knock it off.” Y/N could tell that Charlie’s voice was deepening, almost as if he was getting angry. He did say that he hadn’t wanted her to be taken away by his family. “She’s going to sit next to me, alright?”

Y/N did her best to conceal her laughter. It was always amusing when he got like this. Not to mention, Y/N then never had to do any teasing.

“I think I'd like to sit with Ginny. If anyone wanted to know what I would like,” Y/N laughed, walking towards her little friend. “We have a lot to catch up on! But, you can come sit beside me, if you’d like, Charlie.” She giggled.

Dinner went well. Ginny told Y/N all about what she’d been learning, who she hung around, which professors were her favorite, and how she loved Hogwarts. The twins went on about the best pranks that they had pulled since the last time they saw her. Y/N heard from Ron’s friend Hermione a little bit. She was as sweet as could be, but definitely a bright witch. She of course caught up with Bill. They still wrote to each other, but not as often as they had before.

But, when Molly stood up to clear the table, Y/N’s attention broke away.

“Oh, let me help you with that, Mrs. Weasley,” she offered.

“No, no! Sit down. You’ve traveled so much today. Bill and the other boys can help me. Ginny will show you her room, so you can get settled in.”

“Oh, mum, I told Y/N that she could stay in my room. I’ll bunk with Bill. There are already enough people in Ginny’s room. She should get some privacy,” Charlie responded.

“Fine, fine. Ginny, show Y/N where Charlie’s room is. Boys, will one of you get her bags?”

“No worries, Mrs. Weasley! I can get them myself! Thank you though,” Y/N smiled, picking up her two small duffle bags. “Lead the way, Squirt!” Y/N smiled at Ginny. Red spread onto her cheeks as she turned towards the stairs. What had Y/N said?

Y/N followed the red headed girl up the stairs to the 4th floor. A green dragon painted on the door.

“I’m guessing this is Charlie’s?”

“Uh huh!” Ginny beamed, her usual persona returning. “Want me to help you unpack your things?”

“Sure! Lead the way in!”

Ginny sat on the bed while Y/N took things out of her bags. She could sense that she wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say, so Y/N started instead.

“Do you not like it when I call you ‘Squirt’ anymore, Gin?”

“Oh, no, no, no! I just uhhh….”

Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ginny asked. “A secret that you won’t tell anyone else?”

“Of course! I promise I won’t say it to anybody,” Y/N smiled, sitting on the bed across from Ginny.

“I sort of, kind of have a crush on Harry. And when you called me squirt, I remembered that he was there and it probably made him look at me!” Ginny blurted out, like she’d been just waiting to tell someone.

“Squirt, you’re shaking! It’s okay to have a crush! Everyone has them.”

“Even you?”

“Yes, even me,” Y/N smiled, hoping she was calming the girl down.

“Who?”

Well, Y/N wasn’t expecting that.

“Can you keep a secret too?” Ginny nodded vigorously. “I have a crush on Charlie…”

Ginny’s eyes grew wide. Ugh, gossiping with a 13 year old was fun.

“Really? Charlie? I think you two could work. I mean, don’t tell him, but he’s had a crush on you for a long time.”

Y/N giggled, feeding into Ginny’s antics. “Oh really? How long?”

“I think he had one on you ever since he heard you fought the Hungarian Horntail. And then, when you went to the Dragon Sanctuary the first time, Charlie said you weren’t scared at all. I think he was mesmerized. You should tell him,” Ginny giggled.

“Wanna know another secret?” Y/N whispered.

“Another one?!”

“Well, it has to do with the same one. Want to hear it?” Ginny nodded. Hanging on to every word. “I did tell him,” Y/N smiled.

“You did? What happened?”

“We’ve been dating for a year and a half,” Y/N whispered, as though someone would be listening in.

“REALLY?!” Ginny squealed. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

“I don’t know. We are just always in Romania and haven’t really seen anyone. It was fun being in our own little world. No one else in the world to worry about, you know?”

Ginny’s smile was huge! She was so excited she was nearly trembling. “Are you going to tell everyone? Is that why he said you could sleep in his room?” Ginny was blurting out questions left and right.

“We were going to tell everyone during this trip, but I don’t know when. I sorta left that up to Charlie.”

*Knock, knock, knock*

“How’s unpacking going?” Charlie asked, opening the door.

“Half done!” Y/N laughed, looking at her unpacked bags.

“What have you two been doing all this time?”

“Just chatting,” Y/N responded, a twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, just chatting,” Ginny smirked, still not containing her excitement.

“Alright, Squint, what’s going on with you?”

“Y/N told me a secret and I can’t tell anyone else. She made me promise…”

“Oh, did she now?” Charlie asked, moving his focus to Y/N’s grinning figure.

“You can tell him, Gin. He’s in on the secret!”

Ginny essentially combusted. “YOU AND Y/N ARE DATING!” she yelled.

“Wooooah, Squirt. I said you could tell him, not the whole house!” Y/N laughed.

“Sorry,” Ginny blushed.

“Alright, now get outta here. I wanna talk to my girlfriend,” Charlie cooed. Ginny couldn’t stop giggling as she hopped off the bed and out the door, shutting it behind her.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Y/N laughed, picking one of her duffle bags off the ground.

“You blabbed!”

“Oh? I blabbed? How about the fact that you’ve definitely told Bill. I made the ‘we’ comment and he didn’t even question it! Don’t think I didn’t figure it out!”

“But you told Ginny. What would possess you to tell Ginny? She’s always been the blabbermouth!”

“No way she’s worse than Fred and George,” Y/N spit back.

“Okay, no, they’re worse. But you saw how she was when I walked in, she couldn’t keep it to herself.”

“Yeah, she also mentioned how you were mesmerized by me after we went to the Dragon Sanctuary for the first time,” Y/N winked. She watched as his freckles disappeared with the color of red growing on his cheeks.

“See, what did I tell ya! So, why did you tell her?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret!” Y/N turned her nose up.

“She’s got a crush on Harry, doesn’t she?”

“How do you know?”

“Mum’s thought so since they first met. Ginny can barely say two words around him. It’s hilarious!”

“Don’t be mean! First crushes are hard!” Y/N slapped Charlie on the wrist.

“Tell me about it!” he rolled his eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“I had a crush on you since 2nd year and you had no idea. So obviously, the other person can be quite oblivious,” Charlie laughed, thinking back on it.

“I was not oblivious! I just wasn’t thinking about that. I was kind of busy avoiding being killed, remember?” Y/N pointed out.

“Oh no way! You went on your first date with Barnaby in our 4th year. And everyone had a crush on you!”

“Okay, but that was in school. Look who ended up with me, huh? Huh?” Y/N tried to direct him away from school time memories.

“True. I did get pretty lucky that you didn’t follow Bill into his job. I’d be so lost now!”

“Lost? More like dead. You’d have gone and tried to tame the meanest dragon in the place. Really, your family should be thanking me!”

“I don’t know. That could be payback for putting Bill and I in so much danger during school…”

“Merlin! I don’t think your mum ever blamed me for that. She still invited me for Christmas every year, no matter how much danger we were in…”

“mhmmmmmm, you may be right.”

“Should we go back downstairs?” Y/N asked.

“Wait, but I came all the way up here and haven’t kissed you yet!” Charlie pouted.

“Fineeee,” Y/N groaned before giggling. He was still pouting when she quickly pecked his lips and pulled away.

“Woah, woah, woah! I was thinking maybe a little more, maybe?” Charlie begged.

“Charlie, we’re in your childhood bedroom with your family downstairs.” She felt bad looking into his sad chocolate eyes. Ugh, why was he so cute?

“Uh, Charlie?”

“One more?”

“Do you think Ginny’s spilled the beans yet?”

Charlie’s eyes grew double the size. “We need to go.”

Y/N tried to stifle her laughter as Charlie pulled her down the stairs, going way faster than she was.

“Charlie! I’m going to fall over!”

“We have to make sure she hasn’t told them yet! I’m not ready!” Charlie shot out.

“Not ready to tell us what, brother?”

The pair came face to face with essentially the entire Weasley family, including Harry and Ron.

“I was just preparing to give everyone dessert,” Mrs. Weasley said, putting down a plate of food.

“Mum! Don’t change the subject. What do you have to tell us, Charlie?” George pushed, following the suite of his twin.

“Yeah Charlie, what do you have to tell them?” Y/N teased, standing right beside him and grabbing onto his hand.

“No!” Ron’s mouth dropped open.

“Merlin’s beard!” Fred spat out.

“Are you two…together?” George asked, big eyed.

“And I already knew it and didn’t say anything!” Ginny added in proudly.

“I hadn’t even said yes or no, squint. Thanks for the help.”

Y/N felt the grin on her face grow as she watched the interaction between a family that she adored so much. “Want to tell them then?” she pushed.

“Fine,” Charlie groaned. “Y/N and I have been dating.”

“Have been?” Bill scoffed.

“Oh, sod off. I told you like 2 weeks after it started! Don’t give me that grief!”

“This isn’t new?” George wondered.

“It’s been about a year and a half!” Ginny stated proudly, smiling at Y/N who nodded in return.

“A YEAR AND A HALF!?” 4 voices, one being Mrs. Weasley said in unison.

“Well, how did this all happen?” Mrs. Weasley now smiling rushed forward, pulling Y/N into a second hug for the night. “You’re with my boy. Oh thank goodness. I was really starting to worry that one day he was going to bring home a dragon!”

“Gee, thanks mum.” Charlie sarcastically replied.

“Well, tell us what happened,” Mr. Weasley encouraged. “You won’t get any peace and quiet until you tell this lot the story.”

“Yeah, not even I got the full story!” Ginny giggled, pulling out a chair for Y/N.

“Wait, wait, wait. Y/N. You mean to tell me that you have kissed our brother? The brother that has been in love with dragons since I was born and that used to dress our owl up as a dragon?” Fred asked, disgusted.

“What? He’s passionate,” she giggled.

“EWWW!” the twins replied at the same time.

“Wait,” Ron piped up, “you’re saying that you two just hang out all the time in Romania, working together and seeing each other…after work?”

“Well….actually….” Y/N dragged on, looking over to Charlie.

“We live together,” he grinned broadly for the first time since his family started grilling them.

“LIVE TOGETHER! Y/N no way. He isn’t even that great!” George blurted.

“I think he’s pretty fantastic actually,” Y/N blushed as Charlie stood behind her chair, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Oh, Fred, George, be quiet. Let them tell their story! We want to know everything! Common, common! Everyone sit down. Have some dessert. Listen to Y/N and Charlie!” Mrs. Weasley commanded.

The room quieted and all eyes were on the newly outed couple.

“Would you like to do the honors?” Y/N asked Charlie.

“I like it better when you tell it, love,” Charlie grinned, kissing Y/N’s forehead.

Ignoring the groans from the boys, Y/N began to tell the story with Charlie interrupting way too often to add in details. Y/N didn’t say anything because it was just so cute how he did it. But, it turned out to be a really wonderful first evening of an even better two weeks. It was really just a great time to be back in England.