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rizlowwritessortof · 2 years ago

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Cowboy Rescue - Part 3

Cory makes an impulsive decision to drive from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Montana, accepting an invitation from an old boyfriend, hoping to put closure to their failed long-distance relationship. When circumstances leave her lost in the Montana countryside in the blizzard of the century, local rancher Dean Winchester comes to her rescue. He is far too tempting to resist, but is she getting herself into just another hopeless long-distance situation?

Pairing: Rancher Dean Winchester x OC Cory Tate

Word Count: 3303

Warnings: There be smut here, my lovelies!

Dividers by the ever-lovely @firefly-graphics - thank you, Daisy!

Dean had already left the house by the time Cory made it to the kitchen the next morning. She could hear the tractor outside, and from the window she could see him steering towards a large pile of snow next to the machine shed. She grabbed a quick breakfast and put on her coat and gloves, heading outside.

The snow had stopped completely now, the clouds thinning and the sun almost peeking through. She smiled, grabbing the snow shovel and beginning to clear off the porch. Dean looked over at her, smiling and shaking his head as he drove by. She smiled back and waved, then continued working. She had the porch cleaned off in short order and moved on to the steps, then the sidewalk. Dean had most of the large open space between the house and the barn cleaned off, so she headed for the barn, glad not to have to step through snow drifts, excited to check on the orphan calf and its new mother.

Dean made another pass, shoving snow ahead of him into the ever-growing pile. He glanced toward the house, expecting to see Cory, but she was nowhere in sight. As he turned his head, he barely caught a glimpse of her coat disappearing into the barn, the door swinging shut behind her. “Shit!” He downshifted and stopped the tractor, leaping from the cab and hitting the ground running. He sprinted to the barn, throwing open the door with a shout of her name. “Cory!”

She turned to look at him, her hand on the partly-open gate to the calf stall, the smile on her face fading as he charged towards her, wrapping his arms around her and swinging her away from the stall. She watched, wide-eyed, as he quickly closed the gate, dropping the pin in place and taking a step back. “Whoa….. Easy. Easy, girl. Easy.” His voice was low, calming, and he slowly moved back to where he had left Cory, turning to face her, his hands gently grasping her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I-I think so.”

“I should have warned you. Damn it. That cow, she’s a little wild, took me a couple of hours to get her calm enough to let me take her calf on the horse yesterday. She was about to charge you.” Cory’s eyes moved to the still-agitated animal in the stall, widening in realization. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just… fuck, I almost let you get yourself hurt.”

“Not your fault, Dean. I didn’t even think. I’m so sorry. Thanks for saving me—again.”

He reached to brush her hair from her face, his hand lingering a little longer than necessary. “Sure you’re okay?”

She smiled at him gratefully. “I’m good. Thanks to you.”

He let out a relieved sigh. “So, how about you go in the house, take it easy, and stay in one piece, okay? I mean, I’m kinda looking forward to tonight.”

Cory reached for his hand. “Me, too. I promise, I’ll stay out of trouble for the rest of the day.”

He kept her hand in his as they walked out of the barn, letting it go as he turned to close the door. “At least until seven,” he said with a smile. She laughed and nodded, heading back to the house, thoughts focused on the night ahead.

Cory stood in front of the mirror, smoothing her hands over the silky fabric of her dress, enjoying the feel of it against her skin. It was an off-the-shoulder style, clinging affectionately to her curves until it reached her hips, then flaring out into a softly draping skirt that floated gracefully to just above her knees. She turned to get a glimpse of her hair, held up in a pretty twist with a single clip. Dainty jewelry sparkled at her ears, throat and ankle, and she reached for her favorite perfume, hoping that Dean would enjoy it as much as she did.

It was almost seven, so she sat down on the bed and slipped her feet into her heels, taking a deep breath. She wasn’t nervous, exactly, but she was feeling almost lightheaded with anticipation. When a soft knock sounded at her door, she jumped, then laughed softly at herself, rising to open it with a smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Dean stammered out, his eyes scanning over her before returning to her face, and he took a breath before speaking again. “Wow. You look stunning.”

Cory felt her face grow a little warmer as she smiled up at him. “You look pretty amazing yourself. Even a tie.” He did look amazing, in a shirt and tie with a tan suede jacket and matching boots, and he smelled wonderful.

Finally regaining his bearings, he grinned. “Yeah, jacket and tie are required. So – shall we?” He held out his arm, and she looped a hand through, letting him lead her down the hall. “Very convenient that you just happened to have that fancy get-up in your suitcase on a last-minute trip to Montana.”

“Well, you never know when you’ll end up snowbound on a mysterious cowboy’s ranch and asked out on a fancy date. A girl has to be prepared.” He laughed, and she continued. “I came to Montana for a party – just going to a different one than I planned on.”

Dean guided her into the dining room, and Cory stopped, staring. The lights were dimmed, and a huge arrangement of various candles flickered in the middle of the table, reflecting off the wine glasses and silverware already in place. Dean grinned at her reaction. “So – impressed?”

“It’s beautiful. You’ve been busy.”

Dean led her to the table, pulling out her chair to seat her. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

She looked up at him and nodded. “I’d love a glass of wine.” He took off his jacket and hung it over the back of his chair, then grabbed both of their wine glasses.

“Be right back. Have to check on the cook, anyway.” He winked and headed for the kitchen, smiling at her laughter.

Dean was in and out of the kitchen several times before coming out, sleeves rolled to the elbow with two plates in hand. Cory closed her eyes, humming in approval as she tasted her steak, which practically melted in her mouth. “This is amazing,” she sighed, tasting the glazed carrots and the roasted Parmesan potatoes next. “So good – you’re a fantastic cook!”

“Yeah? You like it?”

“I’m very impressed. I would definitely come back to this restaurant.” She put a hand on his arm. “Please give my compliments to the cook.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he responded with a crooked smile. “I will. Thanks.”

They laughed and talked their way through dinner, then Dean ushered her to the living room, presenting her with a newly-filled glass of wine. She protested at him not allowing her to help clean up, but he shook his head stubbornly. “I’m just putting dishes in the dishwasher, and I won’t be in there for more than ten minutes. You just look through the movies and see what looks good, I’ll be back before you know it.” He handed her the TV remote and chuckled at her head shake as he left the room. “Ten minutes.”

He walked back into the room, smiling at her tiny frown of concentration as she stared at the TV. “So, old school mystery movie, or new suspense thriller?” she asked, glancing up at him.

“Whatever you want.”

“No, I like both – which one do you want?” She looked up at him from her perch on the couch, her legs curled up beneath her, heels discarded nearby.

“Okay – I vote suspense thriller, then.” Dean nodded towards her shoes, bending to remove his boots. “Good idea. Think I’ll lose the tie, too.”

“Yes, let’s be comfy.”

“Lights on, or off?”

She smiled up at him. “Ooh, off. Let’s go for the whole movie theater experience.”

Dean switched off the light, leaving them with only the glow from the fireplace and the TV. “So, does that mean you want popcorn?”

Cory laughed. “No! Your cooking was too good, I can’t eat any more.”

He plopped down on the couch beside her and stretched his legs out on the large ottoman. “Ready when you are.” She selected the movie, then hit play, and they settled in.

The movie was good, and the suspense built steadily. Cory moved closer as it went on, soon sitting right next to Dean and sharing his footstool. She jumped and clutched at his arm at one point, and he grinned down at her. “You okay?” She dropped her hand back into her lap and laughed nervously.

“Yes, sorry – I just hate jump scares.”

Dean lifted his arm, eyebrow raised. “You want to…”

“Yes,” she answered immediately, moving under his arm and smiling up at him sheepishly. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” God, she smelled good, and it felt so natural to hold her – but he was having a hard time remembering that she’d be leaving in a couple of days. That thought was weighing on him more and more, and he clenched his teeth for a moment, forcing it down to focus on the present. He’d cross that bridge when he had to.

The climax of the movie had Cory digging her fingers into Dean’s thigh, her face buried in his shoulder, and he was more than happy to hold her tight, relishing the feel of her soft skin beneath his hand. She finally turned her head enough to see the screen, still clutching at him until the killer was defeated. She relaxed into his side as the scene moved into a soft, romantic ending, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his arm around her, his body warm against hers.

The credits started to roll, and Cory looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. “That was a pretty good choice. A happy ending is always nice.”

Dean looked into her eyes, raising his hand to trace the line of her jaw. He opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated for a moment, dropping his hand and his gaze, biting at the inside of his lip before finally speaking. “You know, I really want to kiss you. But it feels like… I mean, you’re kinda stuck here, trapped in my house, not like you can leave or tell me to leave or whatever…” He looked at her again. “I don’t want to – you know—take advantage of you.”

Cory let her head rest back against his shoulder, staring up at him unflinchingly. “Okay, but – what if I want to take advantage of you?”

Dean huffed out a little laugh, looking down as he considered her words. “Well…” he said softly, his hand cradling her cheek as his eyes searched hers, “I think I can live with that.” Cory smiled, leaning up to kiss him, a barely-there brush of their lips together. Then, suddenly, she was lying across his chest, his arms surrounding her as he kissed her breath away. She greeted the sweep of his tongue at the seam of her lips with a sigh, opening to him, moaning at the taste of him as she responded. A soft growl vibrated from his throat as her nails scratched lightly through the hair at the back of his neck, and he moved to slip one arm behind her knees, standing with her in his arms.

He walked them carefully through the house, down the hall and into his room, where he lowered her to the floor. Her hands still on his shoulders, she stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him again, his fingers squeezing at her waist, holding her body close to his. “Are you sure?” he mumbled against her lips, and he felt her lips curve into a smile. She took a step back, reaching back to unclip and free her hair, letting it tumble into soft waves over her shoulders. Then she turned her back, pulling her hair to the side and glancing over her shoulder at him.

“Can you unzip me?”

Dean let his eyes roam over the expanse of soft skin, her neck and shoulders bare, drawing his touch like a magnet. His fingertips trailed their way down the slope of her neck and across her shoulders before meeting at the top of her zipper, and she shivered as he bent to press his lips between her shoulders. A cool breath of air sent a wave of goosebumps over her skin as the zipper opened slowly, the gentle touch of his fingers as he opened her dress making her heart jump. He pushed the silky fabric a little farther down her arms, letting it glide silently to pool at her feet.

He went to one knee, letting her step out of the dress, then stood to hang it carefully over the back of a chair behind him. When he turned back around, Cory had moved to face him again, and she reached for the buttons on his shirt, her eyes on his as his heated gaze roamed over her body. She shoved his shirt impatiently over his shoulders, her hands pressed to his chest and abdomen as she let them slide down to his waist. He stood there quietly as she unbuckled his belt, then unfastened his pants, and he took over removing them and his boxer briefs, kicking them out of their path.

Cory took Dean’s hand and led him to the side of the bed, where he sat willingly, quickly bending to strip off his socks and then pulling her close to kiss her, both hands splayed over her back, warm and strong, pressing her body close as they lost themselves in their kiss. When they finally parted, she reached behind her back to undo her strapless bra, letting it drop to the floor as Dean watched, the tip of his tongue trapped between his teeth. Cory pushed gently at his shoulders, and he took the hint, laying back on the bed as she pulled her panties down and kicked them aside. She climbed over him, Dean’s hands guiding her as she tucked her knees up close to him, his erection nestled in the wet heat between her thighs. Dean’s eyes closed for a moment, the sensation almost overwhelming. Cory was feeling the same, struggling to calm her breathing as Dean’s eyes opened again, hungrily roving over her as she let her hands rest on her thighs.

“You told me you didn’t know how to ride,” he teased, his voice raspy with arousal. Cory smiled slowly, an expression in her eyes that sent heat flooding through his veins.

“I said I didn’t know how to ride a horse,” she corrected, then bent forward to kiss him again, Dean moaning quietly as her breasts dragged against his chest.

“Condoms in the drawer,” Dean whispered between kisses, and Cory reached to retrieve one, handing it to him as she moved back to perch herself on his thighs. He tore the foil open, and Cory took the condom from him, rolling it over his length and then slowly stroking him with her hand. She raised up to her knees, letting her eyes close as Dean reached to touch her, slipping a finger inside her, his cock twitching at how slick and warm she was inside. He pumped into her a few times, then pulled back, taking himself in hand so she could guide herself over him, sinking down slowly until he filled her completely. She whimpered softly, her nails digging into her own thighs as her body molded itself around him.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her, watching her face mirror the slight discomfort as her body accepted him, the relief as it eased, the ecstasy as she moved slightly. Her lashes finally fluttered open, and she looked down at Dean, eyes shining, moving her hands to caress his chest. He bared his teeth a little as she shifted, holding back the instinct to move, waiting until she was ready.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, lowering herself down again to nibble at his lips. His arms surrounded her as he slid his tongue between her lips, humming into their kiss as he let his hands roam, stroking her back and hips as she began to rock her body. She moaned softly, the friction between their bodies and the slick slide of him inside her driving her on until she broke their kiss with a nip to his bottom lip, pushing herself upright. Dean clamped his teeth together as she began to fuck herself on his cock, stopping every few strokes to gyrate her hips with him buried deep inside her.

He gripped her waist, helping her raise and lower her body, wincing as her nails dug into his chest where she braced herself. She was trembling, her cunt clenching around him, and she let out a desperate whine as she paused again, grinding down against him wildly. “Let me help,” he rasped out, pushing her arm out of the way to reach down between them and drag two fingers over her clit. She cried out, moving to brace her hands behind her on his thighs, and he rubbed at her furiously, hissing as she began to squeeze him even tighter.

“Dean…” she managed to whimper, then her body seized as she thrust herself against him, riding out her pleasure as he watched, mesmerized.

Cory slowly lowered herself down to sprawl on top of him as her body began to relax, his hands smoothing over her heated skin as he captured her lips. She moaned into their kiss as his cock gave a hard throb inside her and he bucked up a little beneath her. “Need to fuck you, sweetheart,” Dean murmured, and she raised her head a little, nodding. He helped her move, both of them groaning as he pulled free from her, and she rolled to her back on the mattress. He settled himself between her thighs, pushing back inside her slowly, bending to nudge his face against her breasts. “So beautiful,” he whispered, sucking a sensitive nipple into his mouth as he bottomed out inside her, holding himself in deep as her hips canted upwards, her cunt gripping him tight. He sucked hard as he jerked his hips against her, punching a soft cry from her as she wrapped her legs around him, one hand gripping a handful of his hair.

He moved his attention to the other nipple as he pulled back slightly, then slammed in to the limit again, growling softly and nipping at her before lifting his head. His eyes fixed on her face, he pulled back, driving back into her hard, setting a quickening rhythm that had Cory arching her back, her arms thrown wide and her hands clawing at the sheets as her ecstatic moans filled the room. Just as Dean felt himself ready to explode, his ears ringing with the pressure, she shouted his name and seized up around him, her hips coming off the bed as she bucked violently with every thrust, sobbing out her pleasure as she came hard. He clenched his teeth, an animalistic sound escaping his throat as he joined her, forcing her body farther up the bed as he fucked into her hard, his cock pulsing hot as he erupted inside her.

They laid, exhausted, in each others arms, riding out the aftershocks, sweat slowly cooling on their bodies. Dean nuzzled his face into her neck, kissing the damp skin there, his fingers threading through hers beside them. “Hands down, best date I’ve ever been on in my life,” he muttered, and Cory gave a weak little laugh beneath him.

“Totally agree.”

Tags for my lovelies: @saenalife @deanscarlett @jensensgotyoudean @jinkieswouldyoulookatthis @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog @geeklibrarian @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @mrswhozeewhatsis @littlegreenplasticsoldier @sleep-silent-angel @darcia22 @winchesterprincessbride @ellen-reincarnated1967 @eyes-of-a-disney-princess @deanslittleangel2y5 @melanie451 @spectaculacular-sammy @bookchic20 @jodyri @selma-jean-blog @savingapplepie-eatingthings @kittenofdoomage @masked-maiden42 @lean-mean-deanwinchester @ericuhlorain @undecided-garden @ceeceewinchester @typicalweirdbookworm @callmesweetheartifyoumeanit @youtoldalie @tanithlowisabamf-blog @deandoesthingstome @jxackles @nerdwholikesword @soivebuiltupaworldofmagic @kreweofimp @gabavaldman @chaos-and-the-calm67-blog @darkx143 @disassociativedogma @ioanashalala @jencharlan @deansthirstblog @dorky-and-i-know-it @mischief-maker1 @winchestersandwordprocessors @percussiongirl2017 @bringmesomepie56 @akshi8278 @torn-and-frayed @sandlee44 @wingedcatninja @evansrogerskitten @emoryhemsworth @peaceinourtime82 @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @sarcasmqueen74 @maliburenee @mrsjenniferwinchester

#cowboy rescue #part 3 #dean fic #dean au #rancher!dean #dean x oc #dean x cory #there be smut here #dean smut

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sortasirius · 4 years ago

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“Inherit the Earth” and the Fakeout

Absolutely genius. Amazing, iconic, legendary, something only our showrunner Andrew Dabb can pull off.

"But Lilly, the episode was so bad! It was just the brothers, they didn’t look for Cas and Eileen!”

YES. THAT IS EXACTLY THE POINT. THIS WAS A FAKE ENDING, THE END OF THE SEASON, NOT OF THE SERIES.

Let’s get into it.

An empty world. No one left but Sam, Dean, and Jack.

So Dean ran, he somehow managed to pick himself up off the floor of the dungeon and meet up with Sam and Jack. That jacket was this silent reminder. Remember what I’ve been saying, Cas has occupied the negative space all season, this is no exception.

Dean can’t look either of them in the face, he’s doing that thing, where his eyes move everywhere BUT where he should look.

“I couldn’t save anybody.”

Sam couldn’t save the world and Dean couldn’t save the one person that means the world to him.

“Where’s Cas?”

“Dean?”

I think it’s there, in that pause where Dean tries to push down the emotions, continue the fight, not think about the memories he left in the bunker, that Jack realizes what must have happened. Jack is the only one that knows about the deal, he has to know what Cas not being there must mean.

“He saved me. Billie was coming after us. Cas summoned the Empty. It took her...and took him. Cas is gone.”

This may shock you, but I am GLAD they didn’t talk about Cas, especially with what happens at the end of the episode. Cas is allowed to just take up unsaid space. It’s obvious he’s missing with the way they blocked things, obvious he’s missing here. This whole “oh well they don’t care about Cas because they didn’t talk about him”? Malarkey.

“Jack I’m sorry.”

Guilt. Regret. Pain. Dean will carry this with him for the rest of his life. Not only that he lost Cas, but that Sam lost Cas, that Jack lost Cas.

That SHOT, with the distance between Jack and Sam where Cas is SUPPOSED TO BE, and then a zoom out to...THE WORLD.

Okay, as usual, Bucklemming has the subtlety of a sledgehammer lmao.

Jack crying??? Praying to Cas???? Bruh?????

Also it’s just straight-up frightening for everything around my boy to die he is my baby son.

Also not to point out the incredibly obvious, but Dean starts drinking immediately, and continues drinking throughout the whole episode. Grief arc 2.0 babey.

“We can what, Dean? There’s no one left to save! Everybody’s gone!”

“You can’t just give up.”

“What other choice do we have!”

Idk why, but for Sam, who’s the constant, the one who’s always had hope, through everything, through all these years, when he finally says this, when he finally loses his hope? It hits the hardest. Sam is the leader, so not only is he grieving the loss of Eileen, he is a general grieving the loss of his soldiers, his friends, the world that he feels the duty to save.

When they go to meet Chuck, I just can’t get that image of Dean, leaning against the car, handprint still on his jacket, staring at the ground out of my head. It takes him a few seconds to catch up to Sam, like he’s pulled out of thoughts like deep dark water. Remember friends, it doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.

Chuck wearing BLACK? FEAR.

“That’s right, the whole Cain and Abel thing. Us dead, whatever. I’ll kill Sam, Sam’ll kill me, we’ll kill each other. Okay, you pick. But first? You gotta put everything back the way it was. The people, the birds...Cas. You gotta bring him back.”

Willing to kill his brother. Willing to die. Tears in his eyes, begging God to bring Cas back.

And Chuck? Chuck doesn’t care about their surrender, he knows he’s already got them beaten. He cares about their pain, he cares about them suffering, because to him? That’s the entertainment. He’s not entertained by their found family, by their happiness, by their joy. He wants them to suffer, all of them.

“Eternal shame. Suffering. And loneliness.”

And he leaves them with just that. No hope, no family, just the three of them, broken, alone. Jack locked in his bedroom, Sam trying desperately to make life “normal” again. And Dean. Dean who drank so much he passed out on the floor.

He doesn’t feel terrific, he feels like shit, because not only is he dealing with the shame of an empty planet, he’s dealing with the guilt of being back in the place where the Empty took Cas.

This whole thing with the dog was just absolutely heartwrenching shit and if I didn’t hate Chuck before, him snapping Miracle right in front of an already fragile Dean would seal that deal.

I just want everyone to know that this is a Jake Abel stan account.

“Daddy’s boy” is a big insult for my boy Dean to use considering his own past with his trash abusive father but I’ll allow it.

I do think it’s interesting, ending of his arc aside, that Michael is willing to help them now. What changed? Sure, he ended up trying to help Chuck, running back to his father, but why get back in the game? I wonder if it has anything to do with the loss of Adam. It’s an interesting parallel, a man loses his angel while an angel loses his human.

Everything is so DARK in the Bunker now too, even the lighting is loud.

When I tell you I lost my shit when I saw Cas was calling Dean, when I heard Misha’s voice?? I knew it didn’t make any sense but I didn’t care, I would’ve been one step behind Dean as he sprinted towards the door.

Fuck you, Eugenie.

I mean it’s torture not only to Dean, who looks beyond fucking crushed when it’s damn Lucifer at the door, but for us too. Who the FUCK wanted Lucifer back? And to tease Cas??? Garbage.

I mean...fam. Listen, we know who’s writing this episode, this whole Betty thing is just like blatantly unnecessary but again, Eugenie loves Lucifer, gotta distract her with a shiny toy lmao.

It was cool to see Michael and Lucifer onscreen together. It was a cool dynamic that we rarely got to see.

The whole episode is just twist after twist. Listen, it’s their last episode so I guess they needed to fit in a season worth of twists in one episode.

Bye Lucifer. We know Eugenie can’t bring him back. Blessings to all.

This scene with Adam is the FOURTH scene where Dean is drinking...big yikes to my guy’s liver.

Here’s the thing about Michael. He’s a mirror for Dean in season 5. Loyal to an absent father. He has never changed, but Dean has. Dean is able to acknowledge now, the trauma that his father put him through, he was able to move past the need for pleasing him at any cost. Michael and Chuck? Are John and Dean, if Dean had never been allowed to grow. And Chuck proves, like John did, that he would always put his wants (in John’s case “the mission”) over his children.

Also not to beat a dead horse but Michael’s death was also peak Eugenie.

Sam getting to punch Chuck in the face? Thank you, he deserves that.

Obviously I don’t love any scene of my boys getting brutally beaten. But what I love, what I will always love about them, is what Chuck hates about them: they won’t ever give up. They know they won’t win against him, they don’t even land any hits, but that’s not what matters. What matters is their controller doesn’t control them anymore, that they really are free. No matter how hard they get hit, the get back up. It is their choice to stand up to him, no matter the cost.

The moment where Sam and Dean are supporting each other, covered in blood, and they look God in the face, and they laugh. That is why I will love them unconditionally for the rest of my life. That is who they are, they will never cow to the villain, whether that’s Azazel or Alastair or Zachariah or Lucifer or Amara or Death or Metatron or Cain or God. They will always choose to stand up.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because. You lose.”

Chills. What a line.

And Chuck is left, small, human, no longer a villain, no longer anything.

Gotta be real, woulda been nice to, idk, not see all this essential plot in a flashback, but I know I can only ask so much of Bucklemming.

For Dean to walk away from killing Chuck, right after he’s called him “the ultimate killer” is quite simply the most beautifully heartwrenching thing I could ever ask for. Because that’s who Dean was under Chuck, that’s who Chuck wanted him to be.

And he would have before:

But he’s heard some things since then, heard some things about how others see him. Not as the killer, not as a monster, not as angry and broken or his daddy’s blunt instrument:

I’m not saying that Dean doesn’t kill Chuck for Cas. He doesn’t kill Chuck because he doesn’t think he has to anymore, he doesn’t kill Chuck because he listened to Cas, he took Cas’ words to heart. He made the choice not to be the killer.

“See that’s not who I am, that’s not who we are.”

And Chuck is angry, because he thought, after everything, even after losing, that he would still know Dean well enough to know that he would kill him. But Chuck has never really known Dean, he has never understood where he’s really come from. Cas understood, Sam and Jack understand, but Chuck never did, and writing off Dean as angry and broken is his biggest mistake, because that’s never been Dean.

“It’s not his power anymore.”

And it’s not just his physical power, it’s his power over the story, over the boys that’s the real power taken from him.

For Jack to be the one to bring everyone back, for him to be the hero of the story? That’s poetic right there. Now, I will say, I don’t think this story ends with him as God, because for him, the child, to take on this burden, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me for his arc, but we shall see next week. It felt pretty tied up, but there’s one major loose end: and that’s Jack seeing Cas again.

“Just you and me, going wherever the story takes us. Just us.”

“Finally free.”

This doesn’t feel triumphant to me, it doesn’t feel like relief. It feels like they’ve settled, like this is the best they’re going to get, so they might as well make the best of it, at least they have each other.

For Cas and Jack to be carved into the table? I cry.

And for the montage, very similar to “Swan Song” to be set to “Runnin on Empty”? Sorry but that’s just too sus to be ignored.

They packaged this episode as an ending, because for many, it might be. The season’s story, the season about fighting Chuck is over. So, you might be asking (or, well, screaming, judging by my replies lol), what’s left? And that’s a good question, Chuck has been defeated, so what is left? What’s left is what’s really mattered all season: the relationships that have been crafted over the years. Dean and Sam’s unhappiness at the end of the episode, where “just you and me” sounded more of a grudging acceptance than anything else, is one of the clues that has to be looked at. Why didn’t Sam find Eileen, why didn’t Jack bring back Cas? Those two characters specifically are the ones we need to watch out for. As I’ve said over and over again, peace, contentment, satisfaction, those don’t come from Sam and Dean on the open road together anymore. They have a family, more of a family than they did when they started hunting together all those years ago, and that family is what holds them together. They need each other, of course, but each other isn’t enough anymore. Sam needs Eileen, Dean needs Cas. That is where they will find their peace.

This episode, as many written by Bucklemming was sloppy, rushed, packed full of shit, and had little gems that we can talk about forever, but that was the end of the season, and next week? Andrew Dabb brings us home, where Dean and Sam will finally be able to choose what they want for themselves, and that, my friends, is Eileen and Cas.

#supernatural #spn #spoilers #my meta #spn 15x19 #destiel #saileen

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ejlovespie · 4 years ago

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I know You

(Part 2 of 2)

Fandom: Supernatural - Author: EJ (@ejlovespie)

Summary: The reader was attacked and stabbed by a shapeshifter disguised as the man she loves. Will she be able to face her trauma and finally tell him how she feels? Read Part 1.

Pairing: Dean x reader

Word Count: 1726

Warnings: Graphic Violence/Near Death/Fear/Angst/Insecurity/Suicidal thoughts and descriptions/Eventual Fluff

***Part 1 has GRAPHIC details of being stabbed and assaulted. Do NOT read if violence and descriptions of assault (sexual comments and being thrown onto a bed) are a trigger for you. Part 2 has suicidal thoughts and descriptions. Please do NOT read if suicide is a trigger for you. ***

Reader’s Request: Can you pleaaase write a dean x reader angst+fluff+near death one shot where they have feelings for each other but they're too insecure to say anything about it, and then one day the reader is in a motel room alone waiting for dean and Sam to come back from somewhere, and suddenly shapeshifter dean comes in and stabs her multiple times and leaves her bleeding on the floor until real Dean and Sam come back.

A/N: Thank you for the request Anon!! This one was tough to write but I really hope you enjoy it. I am SO SORRY it took so long. Any feedback is greatly appreciated and any mistakes are mine. Thank you for reading! :)

You were used to Dean Winchester being a constant in your dreams. That was what happened when you were in love with someone. You used to eagerly await sleep and the gift your mind would give you at night. Dreaming of Dean had been the only form of intimacy you were allowed...Until now. You still dreamt of him but your dreams had turned into nightmares. Images of being thrown on the bed, those dark, hate filled eyes staring into you, a knife plugging into your body. Every night you woke up screaming in terror. Sam would run to your room and turn on the lights before hugging and comforting you but his kindness had made you feel worse. The truth was you hated yourself. Dean was gone because of you, apart from his brother because of you.

It had been two months since the attack. You spent four weeks in the hospital before being discharged and given a hundred pamphlets on trauma. Dean had come by a few times but stopped trying when you would see him and immediately have a major panic attack. Eventually, he left and never came back. Sam had told you he was hunting the shifter and giving you space to heal and that had made you feel worse. Knowing you pushed him away made your chest ache. You LOVED Dean Winchester and your heart broke knowing he had found you and rushed you to the hospital. He had saved your life and stayed by your side every day and you repaid him by losing your shit whenever he walked in the room. Logically you knew what happened wasn’t Dean’s fault. You KNEW He didn’t do anything wrong but your reaction to seeing him was always the same. You didn’t see the man you loved when you looked into his eyes, only the nightmare you had lived through.

You and Sam had been staying at Bobby’s for the last month and every time you glanced at the single framed photo of the boys on the desk you broke out into a sweat. Eventually, the photo had disappeared and you hated the relief you had felt. There were days you were so miserable and you hated yourself so much that you wondered why you had survived the attack in the first place. You would have been better off dead. At first you tried to read through the information from the hospital’s psychiatrist but you ended up throwing all the pamphlets away. You had taken her advice and tried going out and for a walk but anxiety had forced you back inside, tears streaming down your face. Sam would try to talk to you, had even tried getting you out of the house to hit the library with him but you couldn’t do it. Every day, the grief you felt grew until you couldn’t take it anymore.

Waking up from yet another night terror, you grabbed the knife you had been hiding in your bedside table. Pulling it out, you stared at the blade for a long time while silent tears ran down your face. You clutched the knife in your hands and let yourself feel all of the pain, all of the grief and self-hatred you had been carrying. It washed over you until numbness took its place. You couldn’t live like this. You thought about Sam and Bobby and all of the people you had helped over the years. Would they forgive you? You thought about Dean, the man you loved; the man you missed more than anything and fought against the fear you now associated with him. Suddenly, a memory flooded your thoughts.

You were driving down a long country road in the Impala. Dean was driving and blaring one of his tapes, singing along to it like he didn’t have a care in the world. You were surrounded by green fields and you smiled at the cows and horses grazing lazily. Your hair whipped around your face and you smiled when you breathed in deeply. You smelled the grass and wet pavement outside but even more strongly you could smell Dean’s cologne and the familiar leather and gasoline smell of the car. It was your favorite smell in the world. You looked at Dean when he turned the music down. With his familiar grin he asked, “What are you smiling about?”

You looked at him then, into his gorgeous green eyes, and you studied his face. His full lips and perfect smile, straight nose, and strong jaw. He was so handsome and his focused gaze made you blush. That was the moment you realized you had fallen in love with the older Winchester. It washed over you, a feeling of pure happiness and comfort. Dean was smiling at you and he poked you in the side before asking, “C’mon Y/N. What are you so happy about?”

Turning away from him, you swatted his hand away playfully. “Keep your eyes on the road Winchester. I don’t feel like dying today.”

Chuckling, Dean complied, placing his hand back on the wheel and looking back at the open road. He continued, “You look happy is all..you’re smiling bigger than I have seen before. So, what’s up?”

I love you, you thought to yourself. Instead of answering him you asked a question of your own. “Why are you so happy? I know you and you aren’t this happy unless you’re eating pie.” Laughing again, Dean shrugged before turning the music up and singing along loudly with the song. You laughed too and started to sing along with him, content and happy living in the moment.

The memory faded. Looking down at the knife in your arms, you threw it on the ground and forced yourself to settle your breathing. ‘I know you.’ You said it out loud to yourself and forced yourself to think about your Dean. His smile. His laugh. His eyes. ‘I know you.’ Him singing along to the music in his car. ‘I know you.’ Him hugging you to him whenever one of you was sad. ‘I know you.’ Him fixing up his beloved car at Bobby’s. ‘I know you.’ The two of you drinking together and his goofy grin as he teased you about the faces you made. ‘I know you.’ His fierce love and protectiveness for his family. ‘I know you.’ All of the memories had your eyes welling up again and you quickly got up and slid out the front door so you didn’t wake Sam or Bobby. Running down the drive, you collapsed in the garage and began to sob. When your tears finally began to run out you gasped out the truth you had never said out loud before.

“I am so fucking sorry Dean..I love you so fucking much and I..I miss you..I..I can’t do this without you because my life isn’t worth living without you in it. You’re my best friend and loving you has made me stronger. It has made me feel truly alive and I..I am so sorry...I know you. I fucking know you and I know that thing wasn’t you! Please come back.”

You jumped at a sound behind you and whipped your head around to see Dean. He stood a few yards away with unshed tears in his eyes. Relief filled you when you realized you didn’t feel panic rising up inside you. For the first time in two months you were only seeing your Dean. A smile spread across your face before falling. “..You heard what I said, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question. You could tell by the look on his face he had. Dean slowly walked toward you, pausing a few feet away and crouching down. “I love you too, Y/N. I..I didn’t know it until I almost lost you but I do. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me..You made me feel again and if you had died, you would have taken a piece of me with you.”

Gasping, you flung yourself to him and let Dean wrap his arms around you. You buried your face in his chest and clung to him, inhaling his cologne. You felt his hands on your back, rubbing small, calming circles. With a watery smile, you reached up and fingered the pendant on his necklace. It brought you instant comfort and you repeated your new mantra silently in your head. ‘I know you.’ This was your Dean. You would always know the difference. You both stayed like that for a long time, embracing each other. Neither of you even noticed when Sam walked up, looking for Y/N, and then backing away as to not ruin the moment. Eventually, you pulled apart and just looked at each other. Tentatively, Dean placed a hand on your cheek, pausing to study your face for approval. You nodded and he rubbed his thumb over your skin.

His eyes were so soft and he was looking at you with so much love and tenderness it made you self conscious for the first time in months. Glancing away in embarrassment you wished you were wearing something other than a baggy, stained shirt and sweatpants. You knew how you looked and were all too conscious of the fact that you were an absolute mess. Thinking about your puffy red eyes and matted hair had you cringing. How could this gorgeous man love you in the same way you loved him. You were so far out of his league. Dean’s fingers gently lifted your chin to look up at him before brushing some hair out of your face. “Please don’t hide from me, beautiful. I have missed you so much. I know it's going to take some time but I want you to know I found the son of a bitch. He’s dead..And I promise I will NEVER let anyone touch you again. I will keep you safe. I hope that helps..”

Not sure what to say you just nodded and hugged him again. You would analyze that information and how you felt about it later. For now, you were going to let yourself be held by the man you loved, a man who apparently loved you back, and be grateful for the fact that you were alive and finally together.

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@beabutterfly987

@deandaydreaming

@slamminmine

@deandreamernp

@the-white-shadow-of-hydra

@lyarr24

@the-mystery-spot

#dean winchester #dean #Sam Winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #dean winchester angst #dean winchester fluff #dean angst #dean fluff #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #Supernatural angst #supernatural fluff #spn #spn fanfiction #spn angst #spn fluff

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katehuntington · 4 years ago

Text

Title: Ride With Me (part 25) Fandom: Supernatural Timeline: 2008 Pairing: Dean x Reader Word count: ±6900 words Summary series: Y/N is a talented horse rider who is on her way to become a professional. In order to convince her father that she deserves the loan needed to start her own farm, she goes to Arizona for six months, to intern at a ranch owned by Bobby and Ellen Singer. Her future is set out, but then she meets a handsome horseman, who goes by the name of Dean Winchester. A heartwarming series about a cowboy who falls for the girl, letting go of the past and the importance of family. Summary part 25: Y/N and Dean struggle with the aftermath of their split. Working together proves to be difficult, but other relationships within the ranch family took a hit as well. When the cowboy thinks the day can’t get much worse, complications arise, forcing him to make yet another difficult decision. Warnings series: NSFW, 18+ only! Fluff, angst, eventually smut. Swearing, smoking, alcohol intoxication, alcohol abuse. Mutual pining, heartbreak, slowburn. Crying, nightmares, childhood trauma. Description of animal abuse, domestic violence, mentions of addiction. Financial problems, stress, mental breakdown. Description of blood and injury, hospital scenes, character death, grief. Music: (opening scene) The Eye - Brandi Carlile. (Ride with Meadow scene) Home - Hans Zimmer. Follow ‘Kate Huntington’s Ride With Me playlist’ on Spotify! Author’s note: Beta’d by my mom (yes, you read that right. My mom reads my stuff and is on Tumblr). Thank you, @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish, @kittenofdoomage, @manawhaat, @waywardbeanie, @atc74, and @winchest09 for helping me with this story. Also a special thanks to @jules-1999, who has offered me her knowledge about rodeo events like these, and @squirrelnotsam, who knows Arizona like the back of her hand.

Ride With Me Masterlist

With frustrated motions, Y/N stuffs her clothes into a bag, not even bothered to sort the items out. Her cheeks are tear-stained once again and she wipes at them angrily. Stop crying, it won’t get you anywhere, she scolds herself, done with feeling this emotional. After all, today is Monday, just another day at the ranch, and they have a lot of work to do. Garth and Ellen did the necessary stable work, but the horses which are usually trained by Jo, Dean, and herself had three days off while their riders were in Flagstaff.

Dean. Just the name reverberating in her head forces her to pause her actions. She dips her chin, closes her eyes, and takes a breath. Why? That’s the question she keeps asking herself. Why did he break up with her? Why did he pretend to care, only to hurt her the way he did? Why has he become so bitter, so selfish, so unlike the man she thought he was?

The questions remain unanswered, and she doesn’t expect they will give her any consolation either. That was the whole issue to begin with, wasn’t it? He can’t be honest. Apparently, he doesn’t think she’s capable of bearing the load he is meant to share with his partner. Apparently, she’s not good enough. Just like she didn’t meet her first boyfriend’s standards, who got tired of her spending more time with her horses than with him. Her second relationship ended in a fiasco as well, this time it was his jealousy of her success that caused the split. Yesterday proved that the third time clearly isn’t a charm. But neither of her previous significant others ever caused a cataclysm as the one Dean has left behind. Her heart is a wasteland now.

“Are you leaving?” She’s pulled away from her thoughts by Jo’s voice, her tone matching the horrified expression on her face. She stands in the doorway, looking down at the open suitcase on the floor and the unzipped bag. All of a sudden, Y/N realizes what the scene must look like. “No. I’m just sorting out my washing,” she says quickly. “Oh…” the blonde cowgirl sighs, relieved. “For a second there I thought--” “I won’t let your scumbag cousin chase me away, Jo,” her friend assures her.

Truth be told, though, she has been thinking about it. Last night she had typed down her information on a booking website, ready to confirm her flight back to Freeport, but as her finger hovered over the ‘confirm’ button, she closed the tab and slammed her laptop closed. The intern came here on a mission. She is going to prove to her parents and to herself that she has what it takes to run her own ranch and that she deserves that business loan. She is not going to abort just because her heart is broken, come hell or high water.

“Well, good. I would have roped you like a cow and tied you to the saddle anyway,” Jo scoffs, leaning against the doorframe.

The cowgirl chuckles as she collects the last of her dirty laundry, zips up the bag, and puts it on the bed. The sight of the not-particularly comfortable mattress has her wishing she could crawl back under the covers and get some much-needed sleep. That’s not an option, however, and so she takes her hat from the corner bedpost and places it on her head. Before she goes out, she quickly checks her makeup in the mirror, but thankfully her tears haven’t smudged her waterproof eyeliner and mascara, and her foundation is still covering the bags under her eyes. It’s been a while since she hid behind the beauty-products, but the confidence Dean gave her has disappeared the second he ended their relationship, so she put her mask back on. There is no way she will give her ex-boyfriend the satisfaction of witnessing just how broken she is.

Y/N inhales deeply and squares her shoulders, lifting her chin as she stares at her reflection. The woman who looks back at her is fierce and resilient; the complete opposite of the little girl that’s hiding inside. Of course, she doesn’t want to face the day nor the man who hurt her, but she is left with no choice. There is so much more at stake here; her future, her career. This is business, and she will treat it as such. Y/N glances at Jo, giving her a nod, and her friend smiles faintly doing the same.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Dean pours himself his third cup of coffee. Saying that he had a rough night, is putting it mildly. The first digit of his alarm clock had already changed into a ‘2’ when he finally drifted off, only to jolt awake an hour and a half later, his bedsheets clinging to his sweat-covered skin. For the first time in years, a nightmare has caused havoc, images of his worst memories coming through cracks in the walls he built around all that childhood trauma. After freshening up, he laid in bed again while last night’s events alternated with those same disturbing scenes he saw in his dreams, the sad motion picture of sorrow and heartbreak projected on the ceiling. He gave up on sleeping around four-thirty in the morning, got dressed, and sat out on the porch until the sun came up. But no matter how hard he focused on the sounds of the night that tried to soothe him, he couldn't get her out of his mind. The pain laced in her desperate voice, the tears that fell because of him. But after those hurtful images, he also remembers that bright smile, her giggles, the sparkle in her eyes when she has achieved something. Her tenderness, her touch… It hasn’t even been twelve hours and he’s already craving Y/N, fighting an addiction for a drug he can never have again. The girl who is no longer his Yankee.

A door squeaks and Dean glances aside, immediately redirecting his gaze back to the coffee mug on the small kitchen counter when Y/N comes into view, followed suit by Jo. Instantly, the tension in the living room shoots through the roof, the crooked, little bunkhouse barely able to maintain the strain. He doesn’t say anything, but thankfully Garth and Benny do exchange a ‘good morning’ with the girls, the silence interrupted by the casual exchange.

He spots her perfectly applied makeup, her hair tied back in a tight ponytail that doesn’t allow a single strand to escape the rubber band. Her shirt is neatly tucked into her jeans, ironed and spotless, just like the day when she arrived at the ranch. Even though she looks breathtaking, the vision saddens him; she’s back to being the woman who needs to have everything under control. He gets it, though, because when she took his advice to loosen up, she let her guard down. If she had kept both hands on the reins, Y/N would have never allowed him to get so close and comfortable. Dean only made things worse for her, and now she was left to pick up the pieces of all that he broke.

Without saying a word, he grabs his coffee and pushes the door handle down to make his exit, not wanting to make her life more difficult than he already has.

Ultimately, this Monday was bound to get worse with every passing minute. Dean decided to get an early start before breakfast and got on the tractor, but when the ranch hand tried to back up in order to drag the arena, he couldn't get the old John Deere into reverse. A glance underneath soon determined why and he exclaimed a loud ‘fuck!’ when he detected the puddle of gearbox-oil on the dusty ground. Turning the fresh horses out only added to his agitation, especially when the youngsters stirred up the palomino stallion Led while the wrangler was hand-walking him. The Quarter is still recovering from the nasty tendon injury he suffered on the job, and isn’t supposed to be bouncing off the concrete like a rubber ball on a leash, but tell that to an energetic horse who has barely been out of his box for the past month. Garth readied a horse for his boss, which he managed to ride before breakfast, but Dean was unfocused and gave up after thirty minutes.

Now, they were all quietly eating their breakfast, the delicious meal giving them some consolation. Ellen observes the awfully silent crew, exchanging a look with her daughter, who with a slow shake of her head tells her mother to not bring it up, and so she doesn’t. The head wrangler is the first to get up from his seat, rinse his plate in the sink, and return to the stables. The others follow his example, the barn soon buzzing with activity.

Y/N works like a dog, mucking out the stable in record time without pausing. It’s a good distraction for her reeling mind, the hard labor ridding her of the frustration that boils her blood whenever she thinks of the man who ruined her faith in true love. Garth, sensing that the intern was fine on her own, took the tough job of raking the arena by hand, since machinery has let them down. Meanwhile, Jo and Dean train the animals as per usual, but there’s no bantering between them during the cool down. In fact, the wrangler’s cousin has decided to ignore him altogether.

Getting more irritated with every second passing, the horseman dismounts the six-year-old gelding named Santana, deciding that a light workout is enough for today. The wrangler is always careful to not let his emotions bleed into his work, but he’s finding it difficult to keep himself in check. Jo has already parked her horse next to the bay Quarter and has tacked down the buckskin without granting Dean a look. He sighs; Jo is not easily going to forgive him for hurting her friend, but he still tries to break the stifling silence.

“Can you pass me the water?” he asks, nodding at the yellow garden hose that’s rolled up by the faucet. Without even granting him a look, the ranch owner’s daughter throws the showerhead in his direction, the nozzle clattering on the tiles in front of Dean’s feet. He sighs, annoyed. “So this is how it’s gonna be?” he scoffs. “I get that you’re mad, but you can at least t--” “I have nothing to say to you,” she snaps.

It’s not the first time Jo is angry with him, because the two have a habit of getting on each other’s nerves. This time it’s different, though, and the bitterness in her tone sends a clear message that he has burned his bridges. Gritting his teeth, he lets the comment slide, deciding that it’s useless to fire back a counter. She has a solid point after all; he doesn’t deserve her sympathy in the slightest. Figuring that these will be the only words they exchange for at least a couple of days, the cowboy begins to hose down Santana, when Jo turns on her heels with her horse’s lead rope in one hand and her fist firmly planted on her waist. “You know what? I do have something to say. You just don’t get to speak in return,” she kicks off, about to unleash her wrath. Dean lifts his gaze from the dirt and sweat that he’s washing out of his horse’s coat, for the first time looking into his cousin’s fiery eyes. The petit cowgirl, who is easily nine inches shorter than the man before her, is intimidating nonetheless. He takes a breath, bracing himself for impact. Here it comes.

“You’re a cold-hearted, spineless, self-absorbed dick, know that? For once in your life, you’ve got something good goin’, someone who was willing to look past your gigantic ego and your daddy issues, yet the first thing you do when life gets tough, is drop her like a hot potato. Do you have any idea how much pain you’ve caused the poor girl? Because I do! She wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but she cried for hours, hours, and that’s on you! Guess who had to comfort her, huh?” Jo goes off. “I am so far past mad; I am furious! I really thought you had finally found a reason to change into something better than the abbreviated piece of nothing that you are now, but it seems like Y/N wasn’t the only one who was naive.” “You done?” the wrangler says coldly when she pauses to catch her breath. “Go hump a cactus, Dean,” she sneers.

With those words, Jo strides away, the large animal next to her obediently following her, well aware that now is not the time to be stubborn. The man who’s left with the poignant insults still echoing inside his head, pulls at his bottom lip with his teeth, staring at his feet for a second before he sniffs and focuses on the task at hand again. He might have pretended that her message left him unbothered, but the opposite is true. Jo could as well slap him across the face; it would hurt less.

Defeated, the wrangler takes Santana to his box and removes the halter from the large animal’s head. The sweet horse seeks contact, nudging her nose against Dean’s shoulder. He rubs the Quarter’s withers before he exits the stable, appreciating the only kindness that he’s received so far this morning.

“Dean?” He tenses, not expecting his name to fall off the lips of the woman who he parted from only yesterday. When the cowboy meets her gaze, the look Y/N gives him is as cold as the tone of her voice. “I need a word,” she says, although it sounds more like a demand. “S - sure,” he stutters, glancing down briefly before he looks back up again, suddenly nervous. He’s not sure if he can handle being scolded by his ex-girlfriend as well. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to work together anymore,” she states formally. “I’d like a new supervisor.”

Dean cocks his head back slightly, unbalanced by the appeal. He rubs his temple, averting his eyes but then nods, acknowledging that she’s probably right, even though the request is a painful one. “Yeah, uh - sure. I’ll ask Garth,” he stammers, estimating that he would be the obvious choice since she’s so close with Jo. He wouldn’t want their friendship to be tainted by the difference in rank. “Okay,” the intern responds, her expression stark and strained, before she walks past him.

Motionless, the head wrangler remains on his spot, setting his jaw and closing his eyes for a second. Somehow, he didn’t expect their first exchange to be strictly business. Her stance is so different from what he’s grown used to. Even on the night they met when she gave him a hard time, the tension between them didn’t feel as heavy as it does now. He realized when he called it quits that she would struggle with his decision, but Jo’s confirmation that she spent most of last night crying over their separation has him desperate to ease the pain.

“Y/N…” he says softly while turning before she’s too far gone to pick up on his voice. “I have work to do,” she cuts off, shooting him a short glare over her shoulder.

Dean swallows thickly while watching her leave, fast and determined strides taking her as far away from him as possible. Damn it, he really did ruin his chances of even maintaining any sort of a friendship, didn’t he? He’s not sure what else he expected after the way they parted, but despite the loathing and vexed look she just shot him that feels like a bullet to the heart, he’s glad. Let her be angry, let her hate him. It will be easier for her to deal with those emotions, than just the overwhelming sense of sadness. He knows, because he hasn’t felt this devastated, empty, and incomplete since his family fell apart; he’s talking from experience. Wishing the day was over already, the cowboy adjusts his hat and gets back to work, hoping that riding will offer him the therapy he so desperately needs.

Unfortunately, the day doesn’t pass by nearly as fast as Dean would like to. After riding five horses, he, Benny, and Garth use their lunch break to look at the beat-up tractor that once again has let them down. The head wrangler doesn’t mind skipping his midday meal; he would rather avoid sitting across from Y/N in a room overflowing with awkwardness, plus, he’s not hungry anyway.

The machine from 1979 was bound to die on the crew sooner than later, but after the farrier slash mechanic discovers metal particles in the gearbox fluid, it becomes clear that a simple oil change isn’t going to cut it this time. “Yep, she’s toast,” Benny sighs, wiping his dirty hands with a cloth. “Just what we need,” his friend grunts. He’s not looking forward to his uncle’s response to the setback. “I’ll tell Bobby.” “I can if you want me to,” the stable boy - who is also responsible for the machinery - offers. Dean purses his lips slightly, his thumbs hooked through the belt loops of his jeans while he stares at the old John Deere absently. “Nah, I’ll do it. I got a question for you, though. Do you mind supervising Y/N from now on?” Garth shakes his head, taking in his boss, somewhat confused. “No, not at all.” “Good,” the wrangler replies quickly, thankful that the slender employee takes on the task without question. The clueless young man didn’t pick up on the relationship between Dean and the intern to begin with, and he would rather keep him in the dark, especially now that it has ended. He knocks on the rusty hood of the tractor before he heads off. “I’ll see y’all in a bit. Can you start rolling out the hay to the pastures with the wheelbarrows? It’s gonna take a hell of a lot longer without this old thing.”

The shade inside the stables is welcoming, and not just because it offers cooler temperatures. Dean’s eyes are still painfully sore from the lack of sleep and he rubs at them again, trying to stop them from burning. Shit, and it’s only Monday, he sighs to himself. The three-day event over the weekend means no time off for the employees who attended. The last time he didn’t have to show up at seven in the morning or earlier was late September, which means that he has been working twelve-hour plus shifts for fourteen days straight now. Work never stops on a ranch. The horses depend on him; they will always need food, a clean stable and exercise, no matter how tired, lovesick, or miserable he is.

The cafeteria is already empty. His aunt is probably at the guesthouses to change the sheets and towels, giving the accommodations a quick once-over. However, he finds a post-it on the long table with his name on it; ‘Don’t forget to eat. Bacon sandwiches are in the fridge - Ellen’. As the cowboy smiles for the first time today, he wonders if Bobby has told his wife anything about John’s unexpected visit in Flagstaff, hoping that he hasn’t. Knowing his aunt, she’s going to sit him down for some sweet tea and a talk, even though previous attempts of having a conversation as such proved to be unsuccessful. He appreciates her concern, though, the idea of his surrogate mom caring about him offering Dean some solace.

The wrangler walks through the high barn doors on the other side, the sun doing its very best to cheer him up, but the rays don’t reach his soul. He makes his way to the Singer’s home, reckoning he will find Bobby there. As per usual, Dean takes off his hat and hangs it on the coat hanger, kicking off his boots before he proceeds to the office in the back of the house. After knocking, he pushes the door ajar, finding his uncle behind his desk. The place is still a mess, but the occupant’s features aren’t draped in shadows like the last time he was here. The blinders are open, the window a passe-partout of the Joshua tree, together with the paddocks and pastures surrounding it.

The rancher looks up when his nephew enters. “Hey, son. How’s the tractor comin’?” “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s fried. The oil is swimming with debris,” Dean tells, taking a seat on the other side of the desk. “Metal?” Bobby questions. When the young man across from him nods, he curses. “Balls!”

Dean presses his lips into a firm line, keeping still in the worn chair to prevent it from squeaking. His uncle seemed to be in a good mood after the successful show, but he can tell that this setback has put a strain on the old man’s frame of mind.

“You’re gonna call the service station?” the head wrangler wonders. “No, that’s gonna cost us. We finally managed to make some money, I ain’t planning on spending it on that damned thing.” The rancher adjusts his ball cap before leaning back in his chair. “You boys can give it a go first, open up that gearbox, see what’s broken. I’ll order parts once you figure out what’s wrong with that piece of shit.”

Scribbling something down on a piece of paper, Bobby sighs, but then returns his focus to Dean. “There’s somethin’ else I need to discuss with you.” His right-hand raises his eyebrows slightly, his interest peaked. “What’s that?” “It’s about Cain,” his uncle murmurs. “Apparently MacLeod didn’t tell the entire story.” Dean scoffs, shaking his head. “Should I be surprised? I’m not sure what kinda vibes you picked up from that shady dude, but I sure as hell don’t trust him for the life of me.” “I don’t either. That’s why I think we should reconsider that deal.” Bobby rests his elbows on the armrests of his chair, forking his fingers together in his lap. He expected some resistance from Dean, but not such a strong reaction as his nephew fires back.

“What?! Are you serious?” he counters, perplexed. “You’re just gonna wipe it off the table?” “Not ‘just’, but we need to consider our options,” his boss returns. “How many options do we have exactly? Because the way I see it, this arrangement is a pretty damn good one. It’s good money, a steady income with the prospect of a huge bonus, not to mention what doors it might open for the future. This horse might be the break we need,” Dean advocates, remembering Y/N’s words clearly when she summed up all the possibilities that Cain might bring with him. “Look, I know Fergus is a proper dick, but he has a reputation to protect. There’s too much at stake for him, and I don’t believe he will double-cross us. If we deliver, he’s gonna pay good bucks.” “And that’s where we might have a problem; actually delivering,” Bobby returns, taking in his head wrangler. Dean draws his head back, slightly hurt, frowning at his uncle’s words. “You don’t think I can get the job done?” “I’m not sure if anyone can, son,” the owner of the Gold Canyon Ranch states calmly. “The horse doesn’t just have ‘some behavioral issues’, as Fergus put it. He’s unapproachable, unpredictable, aggressive. That stallion is dangerous to everyone in a square mile radius. Jody rang me this morning to warn us.” “Jody?” the cowboy returns, puzzled. He’s aware that the female rancher knows a lot of people in this business, but he didn’t expect the news of the famous stallion’s arrival would spread so fast. “How did she even know that Cain was coming to us?” “Because MacLeod is a client of hers. Cain is currently in her stables.”

Dean’s eyebrows hit his hairline, emerald greens staring over the desk at the man on the other side. While gaping at his uncle, questions begin to race through his mind. Jody did business with Fergus? Jody is a good trainer with excellent judgment, so if she claims Cain is untrainable, that says something. Their last conversation in Flagstaff comes to mind, the news about Gabe’s hospitalization shocking him at the time. Could his friend’s injuries be the stallion’s doing?

Bobby watches his trusted worker process the information, rolling his chair a little closer and resting his forearms on the varnished wood, closing his hand over his fist. “I know this complicates things, but I’m gonna leave it up to you. If you think you can handle the stallion, I will trust your judgment. But I don’t want you to risk your neck for the money, Dean. We will find another way.”

The horseman chews on his lip as he ponders, his focus capturing nothing in particular as his eyes flick over the items and documents on the desk. “We’ll have a week to evaluate him. I’ll make the call after that,” he decides. “Mind if I contact Jody to get some insight on what I’m up against?” “Knock yourself out,” Bobby consents. “Just leave the numbers that we agreed to out of it.” “Will do.”

Dean gets up from his seat, pushing the chair closer to the desk before he intends to slip out of the office before he’s stopped by his boss. “One more thing,” the wise man says, looking over his enclosed hands. “What’s going on with you and the intern?”

Caught, the head wrangler freezes, eyes wide with shock and pure horror staring into the hallway. Shit. How the hell is he going to answer that? Is he referring to the dance at the opening night of the horse show or the palpable tension that has surrounded the former couple whenever they were in close range of each other? Dean doesn’t know, but he has the feeling that the continuation of this conversation is going to be anything but pleasant. Composing himself before he turns back to face his uncle.

“Nothin’. What do you mean?” He shrugs as the corners of his mouth draw down, pretending to be careless. “Don’t play dumb, boy. I was born at night, but not last night.” Bobby glares at him knowingly. “Are you messin’ around with her?” “No,” Dean says firmly, the truth in his words hurting him deep down. His uncle lifts his chin, holding the cowboy’s gaze while narrowing his eyes. It’s clear that he’s not buying. “You wanna explain then why you two were like two peas in a pot in Flagstaff, but can’t even look at each other now?”

With his hand still on the door handle, his nephew attempts to keep his act together, but then he sighs. Damn it, he was so close to making it out of this meeting alive. Oh well, what’s one more lecture, right?

“Look, there’s nothing going on, not anymore. I - uh, I got carried away and I shouldn’t have let it,” he admits. “I broke it off. It won’t happen again.” “Is this gonna be a problem?” his boss asks sternly. “If you two can’t work together--” “It isn’t. Garth will supervise her from now on. Just to prevent any issues in the future,” he continues, hoping the fact that they actually discussed how to carry on as colleagues from this point forward will put the concern to rest.

“There better be a future for her here on this ranch. I can’t afford to lose a free worker, especially not one as skilled as she is,” Bobby warns, not convinced. “I’d pray that she won’t pack her bags if I were you, ‘cause I’ll give ya one guess who’s gonna have to work twice as hard and whose ass I’m gonna bust.” “She won’t leave,” his head wrangler guarantees, willing to bet his life on it.

His promise might seem based on a hopeful hunch, but Y/N hasn’t given Dean any indication to question her professionalism. She even approached him in order to change the conditions of her internship, which couldn’t have been easy for her. Their interaction will be minimized and strictly business from now on, something he reckons she will handle much more gracefully than he will, simply because she has a bigger purpose to focus on. This placement is a stepping stone to her dream of owning her own ranch, and that goal hasn’t changed. He knows she won’t leave Gold Canyon.

Bobby observes his nephew, still bothered by the fact that he didn’t listen to him when he specifically told the bachelor not to get involved with the intern. He’s going to save the rant for another time, though, the sight of an already dejected man before him having him hold back. It seems like this is doing a number on young fellow, and considering how they were with each other at the horse show this weekend, he’s not surprised. The two reminded him of his twenties when he first got together with his Ellen. The boy is hurting, more than he lets on. “Alright then. Get goin’, I’ve got bills to pay,” he eventually says, shooing Dean out with a flick of the wrist.

Relieved that his uncle is cutting him some slack, he nods and silently pulls the door shut, putting a barrier between himself and the conversation he has been dreading for weeks. If only he could be able to tell Bobby that he’s with the girl he’s in love with; he would have taken the grumpy rebuke with a grin on his face. If only.

While stepping outside, the cowboy pulls his cellphone from his jeans pocket, looking up Jody Mills’ number in his contacts. He begins to slowly stroll back and forth on the porch in its sheltering shade, the floorboards moaning and cracking under his boots as he waits with his Nokia pressed against his ear. The steady tone beeps twice before his friend picks up. “Hey,” it sounds from the other side of the line. “I was hoping you’d call.” “Yeah, Bobby told me about Cain,” he returns. “Kinda complicates things, don’t it?” “I need to listen to me very carefully,” Jody starts, earnest and worried. “Do not take that horse into your stable.”

The cowboy sighs, glancing over the land while hooking his thumb behind his belt. He figured the female rancher would try to convince him to back off. “It’s good money, Jody, and I’ve handled difficult cases before. Cain deserves a shot. I have to try.” “I get it, but hear me out. If Fergus offered you a deal that seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. I know you’re an excellent trainer, hell, the best that I know. But I’m telling you, we’re not talking about a stallion with some authority issues here. That horse is twisted, has wires crossed. I have never seen such behavior,” she presses. “So many people have tried to straighten him out already. I did some digging, and Fergus’ supposedly ‘million dollar prospect’ has moved in and out nine different stables over the past year. No one has succeeded.”

He ponders, not taking her warning lightly. Jody is an experienced equestrian who has dealt with many tough animals. She even passed some horses on to him when she couldn’t get through to them. The woman is well aware of the limits to her expertise and has always been honest with clients when a horse was too much for her to handle, but never before has she doubted that the wrangler from the Gold Canyon Ranch could do the job.

“When Gabe got hurt, was it…?” Dean wonders, hesitant, not finishing his sentence. “It was Cain.”

He sets his jaw, the muscles flexing under his stubble. Although he assumed it was the stallion who has put his former colleague into the hospital, it still shocks him. He continues to pace the deck in front of the Singer’s home. “How is he doing?” he wonders. Jody pulls in a deep breath, the message she’s about to deliver clearly a difficult one. “He’s never gonna walk again. Paralyzed from the waist down.”

Dean closes his eyes and swallows thickly. It’s the outcome they all feared, but hearing the confirmation makes his gut churn. Losing one's legs is a nightmare for everyone, but for a rider? He can’t possibly picture it, becoming wheelchair-bound. Honestly, he would rather die than to never be able to get in the saddle again.

“Dean, I know you believe every horse deserves a second chance, but please, let this one go. He is beyond repair. I’m not asking, I’m begging,” she pleads, a tremor in her voice. “If you take on Cain, it’s only a matter of time before you get hurt, or worse.”

The words are backed up by a heavy silence. The two stay quiet for a while, the words sinking in with the wrangler. Flight animals fueled by fear can do either two things; run or attack. If getting away from the supposed threat is impossible, they tend to go for the last. It’s not something the horse will even think about; it’s a survival instinct. When a naturally kind creature takes a turn like that, it becomes a thousand-pound killing machine. If Cain is truly that far gone, it is likely that he is indeed beyond saving. The trainer has to see it for himself, though, and not just because the ranch can use the cash. He realizes that if he doesn’t take on this task, someone else will, someone with less experience. If this stallion is really that lethal, the next novice trainer might make an error of judgment that will be his or her last. At least Dean has the skills. It seems like he is Cain’s last resort, because if he isn’t trainable, he will get the bullet at some point. He wouldn’t be the first horse to be put down because of similar problems.

“Thanks for the warning, Jody,” he responds after a long pause. “I’ll keep it in mind.” “Dean--” “I know. I know what you’re gonna say, but if I don’t do this, who knows what might happen to him. I’ve got a week to decide if we wanna go through with it. That’s the least I can do.” He can hear his friend grunt, frustrated, probably realizing that changing his mind was a long shot to begin with. “Just… be careful, okay?” “I will, promise,” Dean assures. “Talk to you later.”

The cowboy hangs up, staring at his phone for a few more seconds before he puts it away and steps out into the sun, heading back to the stables. The admonition continues to ring in his ears, and he allows the caution to imprint the decisions he needs to make in the upcoming days. After all, warned is forearmed.

Y/N wishes anyone had warned her how painful it is to have her heart broken by the person who made it beat just for him. Maybe she would have been more mindful then, more guarded. Maybe she wouldn’t have let him have it, had she known how careless he would be.

Around 5 o’clock, her new supervisor said it was okay if she wanted to take her own horse for a ride. Normally she trains Meadow either before or after shift, but she got all the work done at record speed, desperate for a distraction, that all her daily tasks were fulfilled two hours before dinner. Maybe Garth detected that she needed some alone-time with her four-legged friend, because he suggested the ride with a sympathetic smile and a kind nudge, sending her towards the Quarter’s box.

After straightening out the saddle pad, the cowgirl tightens the cinch. Meadow, who can be a bit of a grumpy mare when it comes to tacking up, stands still without moving a muscle, allowing her owner to ready her for a ride without pulling a prank like she usually does. Sometimes the cheeky horse will try to fish Y/N’s phone from her back pocket, nibble at her hat or her sleeve, or refuse to take a step aside when requested, but not today. Maybe she can sense that such an action could set her human off.

The horse accepts the bit when the cowgirl offers it to her, after which she pulls the headpiece over Meadow’s black-tipped ears, securing the straps skillfully. She sniffles, wiping her nose and forcing herself to keep her composure a little while longer. In a few minutes, when she’s away from prying eyes, she will allow to let the tears flow again, but not now, not yet.

Y/N unties her horse, places her left foot in the stirrup, and swings her right leg over the back of her bay mare, softly landing in the saddle. Picking up the reins, she steers her horse away from the tack up area, the smooth leather between her fingers giving her a sense of control that she’s missing in her love life.

Instead of leading Meadow towards the arena, the rider guides her towards the gate that leads to the trail. Her horse had an eventful weekend and gave it her all in competition, so it wouldn’t be fair to put her through a full workout. The performance took a lot out of the willing horse who never seizes to bring her best efforts and more. Even though the freestyle only lasted minutes, the athlete peaked with a brilliant execution of the routine, which takes a lot of skill and strength. Then there’s the ambiance of a show, the new environment, all the sensory overload. The combination of all those factors did a number the Quarter, and she deserves a calm and relaxing ride, much like the young woman she’s carrying on her back. Y/N is in no state to train, well aware that the heightened emotions will get the best of her if something might not work out the way she planned, and that’s not something she wants her companion to bear the consequences of. If anything, Meadow has been absolutely wonderful, seeming to understand that her person is sad and needs someone to lean on.

After closing the fence behind them, the girl and her horse follow the path that leads towards the hills. Cacti flank the road ahead towards the Superstition Mountains, which stand tall in the backdrop. The beautiful amber colored volcanic rock formations seem even more vibrant now that the setting sun blesses nature with a warm glow. The vegetation is much greener than it was when they searched for the herd of youngsters in the reservoir. Autumn is here, and within a couple of months, the ridges that reach for the sky will be covered in snow. It’s supposed to be a beautiful sight, at least that’s what Dean told her.

Now that it’s just her and Meadow, Y/N finally allows the suppressed tears to fall. The battle she has been fighting all day is one she knew she would lose eventually, she just wanted to be with her most faithful friend when the levee breaks. She doesn’t even intend to wipe the drops of despair away, knowing that she has to let it out now in order to keep up the facade later. And so the last rays of the day catch the shimmering pathways down her cheeks, similar to how the water cobbled at Willow’s Creek, where she and Dean shared their first kiss. All the memories, those perfect little moments that she thought to cherish forever, they are worth nothing now. It was all just a dream.

Y/N transits into a slow canter, hoping that the wind in her face will chase the sorrow away. She has to feel something completely opposite to the grief that is ripping her apart. She needs to experience freedom and the bond that comes along with this unique partnership between her and Meadow, the simplicity of moving across the desert like men and their horses have been doing so for centuries. No engines, no computers, no engineering. Just two souls of completely different species merging as one.

Resting her free hand on her horse’s neck and gripping the black mane, she pushes her heels into the Quarter’s flanks, aiding her to pick up speed. The bay mare takes over, her rider is no longer in control, but she no longer has to be. Y/N doesn’t need to direct this movie, because she trusts Meadow with her life. If there is any being on the face of the planet that she would follow blindly, it’s her companion. Meadow has never let her down, not once, and her owner knows there will never come a moment when she will. And so she breathes in, welcoming the wind to fill her lungs with newfound courage, brought on by the majestic animal that gallops across the landscape, carrying Y/N on her wings.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate every single one of you, but if you do want to give me some extra love, you are free to like or reblog my work, shoot me a message or buy me coffee (Link to Kofi in bio at the top of the page).

Read part twenty-six here

#Ride With Me #Dean x Reader #Cowboy!Dean x reader #Cowboy!Dean AU #Dean Winchester series #Cowboy!Dean series #Dean Winchester x Reader #Dean Winchester reader insert #Dean Winchester #Dean Winchester fanfiction #Supernatural AU #SPN #Supernatural #Supernatural series #SPN series #Dean angst #Dean fluff #RWM chapter 25 #Kate Huntington

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freakwiththeknifecollection · 3 years ago

Note

otp headcanons - living things (?) edition: can either of them keep a plant alive? what pets could you see them getting? any pet besides a cat or a dog? there are rats in the basement! how we dealin with it? who names the squirrel that runs along the fence outside the window? their thoughts on bird watching? they encounter a stray cat on a walk! what happens? do either of them take care of the yard/garden? who says “cows!/horses!” when they’re on road trips in the country? would they rather go to the zoo or aquarium? would they ever go fishing or hunting?

can either of them keep a plant alive?

I think Jo could if she really wanted to, but I don't think either of them would have the desire to own any 🤔

what pets could you see them getting? any pet besides a cat or a dog?

Dear Danny boy <3 And there's definitely one or two stray barn cats on the property that Jo feeds (secretly) and come rub up against Dean's ankles when he's working on Baby 🥰 (for context, in one canon-divergent universe I have, after Bobby dies the leviathans DON'T destroy his house and they move in and slowly fix it up <3 I've gone into more detail about it in a few old asks I'll have to find) other than a cat or dog, I'm not sure! I could see Jo having a bunny when she was a kid! *Daphne Moon voice* I don't know why 🤔

there are rats in the basement! how we dealin with it?

The stray cats are let loose in the basement!! Don't tell Dean (I've actually done this with my cat Vinny lmao, my moms friend had a mouse in her garage and they brought him over and he took care of it 👏 hard working independent contractor)

who names the squirrel that runs along the fence outside the window?

Dean!! His name is Fred and when he's drinking coffee in the morning he greets him and asks him about the ol' ball and chain and how the kids are doing (and, of course, nut jokes/puns)

their thoughts on bird watching?

They think it's an extremely tedious hobby for old boring people

they encounter a stray cat on a walk! what happens?

Jo takes pictures and they keep walking since he's allergic, but she comes back later to feed and pet them <3

do either of them take care of the yard/garden?

Dean does! The yard is one of his pride's and joy

who says “cows!/horses!” when they’re on road trips in the country?

Jo!!! Cutie pie!!!

would they rather go to the zoo or aquarium?

The zoo!!

would they ever go fishing or hunting?

Yeah I could see that! I think they would have a lot of fun hunting! Jo would get bored fishing, but Dean enjoys it

#thank you!!!!! no one needs to know how old this is <3 #chestervelle #dean x jo #jo x dean #dean/jo #jo/dean #otp: in my defense i have none; for digging up the grave another time #answered #lydia 💛#living things headcanons #if you're reading this you're 100% welcome and encouraged to come ask me anything about them or send me prompts any time

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halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

Text

TLTNL- THE CENTAUR AND THE SNEAK

Harry continued on with very mixed feelings. His lessons with Snape didn't seem to be getting better, in fact every aspect of his life in school kept getting worse like a very steep cliff he wasn't going to be able to stay balanced on much longer.

Parvati was asking of Hermione if she regretted giving up Divination now.

"To take lessons from a Centaur?" Lily puzzled for a moment. "Yeah, I would be, a bit."

"He's still going to be teaching the same nonsense as Trelawney," Remus insisted, "he'll just be part horse while doing it."

"There's some novelty just for saying that to other students though," Sirius chuckled.

It was breakfast, two days after Trelawney's sacking, and Parvati was curling her eyelashes around her wand while chatting with those around her.

James looked a bit concerned the girl was going to accidentally blow her face off, but he'd never tell that to her face, she had to learn consequences.

Hermione didn't even look up from her paper as she said it made no difference to her, she didn't like horses.

"I thought it was a rule, all girls like horses," Sirius grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes at his idiocy, while Harry had a pleasant little smile for some idea he couldn't quite place, but he had a feeling he had a fondness for horses he wasn't yet sure of.

Lavender looked affronted, correcting he wasn't a horse, but a centaur, Parvati agreeing a gorgeous centaur.

Hermione didn't see the difference, he still had four legs. Then she redirected weren't they all upset Trelawney was gone?

Lavender agreed at once, they'd even brought her some daffodils, not the honking ones from Sprout's garden, but nice ones.

"Can't argue with that one though," Sirius shrugged, he'd never liked the plants that made noises in particular.

Harry asked how his former teacher was doing.

Lily grinned for her child. As daft as he could be, he was never uncaring.

Lavender sighed with sympathy not well, she was still crying and wishing she'd just left, she didn't want to be here while Umbridge was, asking of the others wasn't Umbridge just horrible.

"We'd all say," Lily shook her head in disgust, still adamant she wouldn't have stood idly by during that. She didn't care what Umbridge could do to her, she'd never just stand by and watch such public humiliation take place even against someone she didn't like.

Hermione said she was only just getting started.

"I feel like that should be impossible," James groaned.

"And yet I believe her," Remus said grimly.

Umbridge was not going to be happy Dumbledore hired another part human.

"Am not arguing that point," Lily sighed.

When breakfast was over, Hermione left for Arithmancy, and Harry and Ron at first tried to make for their usual tower, but realized Parvati and Lavender were bypassing the staircase.

"Dumbledore said he'd want to be on the ground floor, and now I get why," Sirius said, looking confused at Ron's lapse.

"Maybe Ron wasn't there, he'd left already," Remus reminded, the whole school hadn't been crowded around after all, it was the tail end of dinner he recalled, and Hermione might have convinced him to get to some school work early, for once.

Parvati scornfully corrected he couldn't make it up those stairs with his hooves, they were in classroom eleven now. Harry had never investigated the rooms right off the Great Hall before.

"I've never more than poked my head into these," Lily said curiously, wondering if Firenze was going to do anything more than the usual set up.

Harry only knew these as unused classrooms, so when he entered behind Ron, he thought he was at the wrong place.

Seemingly wider than it should be, the floor was soft, spring grass, and the trees surrounding them had a thick canopy that seemingly opened to the sky above.

"I think that counts," she said aloud in surprise.

"Wow," Sirius exaggerated the word out of curiosity as he could only visualize that inside the castle. "Let's see what we can do to have Firenze get the job before Trelawney just for this."

Standing in the middle of the room was Firenze.

"Sounds like a sight," James said, feeling a buzz pulse through him for wanting to see this for himself.

Harry was greeted by his full name by him.

Harry felt like the first day of school again, he'd never liked being singled out, especially a teacher, and especially by such an...outstanding teacher. Even if they had already met.

Harry gave him an uneasy hello back.

Firenze said he was not surprised to see him again, it was foretold they would.

"Really? Maybe these things should come with cliff notes if that was implied somewhere I didn't see," Remus muttered, causing Sirius to snort loudly while the others ignored him.

Harry noticed there was the shadow of a hoof-shaped bruise on Firenze's chest.

"Oh dear," Lily sighed.

"Oh Centaur," James corrected. "I can imagine the rest of his heard isn't too happy with this."

Lily gave him the stank eye for the correction without disagreeing.

He turned and sat down with the rest of the class, finding most of whom were staring at him while resting against trees a wide berth from Firenze whom they seemed to find intimidating.

"While I don't blame them," Harry sighed, "don't they ever get tired of staring at me?"

"Stop doing things to cause them to stare at you, like get saved by a centaur," Sirius said in a vain attempt at helpfulness.

When the door was closed and the last student had sat down on a tree stump beside the wastepaper basket,

James smirked with pride and asked, "Everyone else was sitting on the floor, who was the one who decided they got the tree stump?"

"Some Ravenclaw student who always sat on the floor rather than the poofs in Trelawney's class," Harry shrugged. "I think her name was Felicity or something, Trelawney always seemed to like her anyways. I think it's because she used to be a Ravenclaw herself."*

The boys chuckled lightly at the display, though Lily suspected it was just because they would have done the same.

Firenze began addressing them that this classroom existed as a gift from Dumbledore, who had helped him to imitate his natural home, which would be impossible to enter again for their lessons.

"Oh," Lily's face folded in concern and confusion.

"Well I imagine the other centaurs weren't pleased with this," Remus agreed uneasily, "but I wouldn't have thought they'd flat kick him out for doing this for Dumbledore."

"I can picture it," Sirius said grimly. "This is strike number two that we know about in Firenze helping out humans, normally we're tolerated at best. You remember Bane's reaction," he spoke more to Harry now, seeing the pity on his face for someone who'd once saved his life. "This is an even worse offense than Firenze giving you a ride, if you can believe."

Harry just nodded he understood even as he continued to feel worse for Firenze constantly being on the outs of his kind for his help.

Parvati raised her hand, uneasily calling out for his attention by simply addressing him as sir,

"Guess they just realized they don't have a last name for him," James tried to change the subject.

"Do centaurs have last names?" Harry asked, wondering if this was just something they were missing, though as Dumbledore hadn't introduced him with one it seemed more likely not.

"Not that I've ever heard," Remus said with hints of fascination creeping in. "I'm not even sure how they name each other, very little is known about their culture as they're so private about it."

Sirius took the opportune subject that didn't come up much to ask a question that popped into his head, "Do baby centaur's breast feed, or do the females have-"

"And I'm going to stop you right there on the grounds of reminding, I don't know," Remus said the last three words particularly clear. "Nor will I ever ask one. Harry please keep going," he turned to all but beg before Sirius could come up with more.

and asking why this was, they'd been in with Hagrid and weren't afraid.

"Wouldn't have guessed that from their last class," James rolled his eyes as he remembered the thestrals.

Firenze corrected it was not a matter of their fear, but of himself, he was banished from his herd.

They didn't even know Firenze and they all felt genuine sorrow for the poor guy. There could have been more reasons going on than just him taking the job, but the point was what was with this year and everyone being so isolated?

Lavender repeated the word herd in confusion, perhaps thinking more of cows.

Sirius snorted just a bit in surprise. She'd laughed at Hermione for not liking horses much, but didn't know they were called herds?

Then she realized he meant there were more than just Firenze out there.

"Does she know nothing of the Forbidden Forest?" James spluttered at that question.

"I didn't know there were any in there until you told me," Lily frowned at him. "Most people actually listen to the rule of not going in there, so wouldn't know what was in there."

James still looked too stunned to have even heard her.

Dean asked if Hagrid had bred them like he had the Thestrals?

All five of them winced hard, Remus even shifting a bit like he'd put a Shield Charm up in a second for the poor kid. That would get you killed with any other Centaur except this one, and even then, they weren't sure what kind of temper Firenze could have.

Firenze turned very slowly to face Dean, who seemed to have realized he'd just insulted the centaur and apologized as he was corrected they were no playthings of humans.

There was a pause before Parvati raised her hand again.

"Brave of her," Lily murmured, "I don't think I'd have kept questioning him after that."

She asked why he'd been banished, and Firenze explained it was because he'd agreed to come work for Dumbledore, others saw this as a betrayal of his kind.

Harry remembered back to meeting Bane, who'd accused Firenze of being a common mule when he'd seen Harry on his back, and wondered if he'd been the one to kick Firenze.

"There are more centaurs than just those two," James told Harry.

"Though I'd believe it of any in there, even that calmer one," Sirius shrugged, not remembering the name of the last centaur that night, but his point still stood.

Firenze seemed to feel that was enough questions as he began the lessons, reaching up and pulling the canopy even lower so that the dappled lighting faded, and now it was twilight above with all stars visible. The class gasped in surprise.

That gave them all a smile again, Lily humming with appreciation for the visual.

He had them lie on their backs to observe the heavens, beginning to explain that centaurs had spent their generations unraveling the mysterious movements of everything through planets.

Parvati interrupted to tell what Trelawney had taught, like Mars caused burns and accidents-

but Firenze cut in to say this was human nonsense.

"I'll bet she loved that," Sirius snorted.

"Wonder who's going to win their favor, the pretty horse, or their first favorite teacher," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Considering he's not pandering to what they were first taught, my money would be on Trelawney," James shrugged.

Those were of no more significance than a scurrying ant, unaffected by planetary movements.

"I rather like him though," Lily's grin kept twitching with warmth. "If this is how his Divination classes had always gone, at least he's keeping things at a broader level like I always thought it to be, not scaring the kids."

Parvati began to say with hurt in her voice that Trelawney had said-

"Is she really going to argue for the old teacher to the new one?" Sirius ruffled his brow, though he couldn't help admire her determination just a bit even not liking Trelawney.

Harry hadn't much thought of it, thinking of how a few students had done the same for some of their favorite previous Defense teachers.

yet again Firenze cut into state she was a simple human, and therefore blinded by limitations of their kind.

"They seem to think rather highly of themselves though," James chuckled.

"We already knew that," Remus rolled his eyes.

"You probably realized it from experience," Lily muttered.

Harry turned his head very slightly to look at Parvati. She looked very offended, as did several of the people surrounding her.

Sirius couldn't help snickering. They at least knew Trelawney as a real Seer, but those kids didn't and were reacting anyways just out of respect for a teacher, he couldn't help indulging them even if he wouldn't have done the same.

Firenze continued Trelawney wasted her time on fortune-telling, but Firenze as going to show them the impartial nature of the planets, though it may take years to truly find any message. He gestured for them to see one of the brightest spots in the sky, declaring that as Mars, bringer of battles, and its position foretold of a coming war.

"Isn't Mars the Roman god of war?" James reminded. "So apparently it's okay to predict a war is coming for the whole world, but not as a warning for when to handle hot things?"

"You lot just love having a go at everyone, don't you?" Lily rolled her eyes even already knowing the answer. She never would have guessed they'd be poking fun at Firenze's class with anything to do with what Trelawney had told Parvati and Lavender, but she could also tell they were only doing it for their own amusement, this hadn't turned them into believers of this branch of magic any more than McGonagall even with their knowledge of a war to come.

Also to be used were plumes of smoke and their symbols you could ordain. He demonstrated this for them as well, but seemed unsurprised when no one claimed to spot anything, insisting several times that even competent Centaurus took lifetimes to piece together these clues, and even they could be wrong.

"I do love a teacher that tells you what you're doing is pointless," Sirius snickered louder than ever.

His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even centaurs' knowledge, was foolproof.

"A valuable lesson in itself," Remus nodded solemnly.

"Wonder what his finals are going to be like," Sirius muttered for himself, he still wanted to be sick at the thought of Trelawney's first.

Ron muttered he wasn't definite on anything was he? Ron would like a few more clues on this war.

"I'm more worried you're going to find details of that in history rather than the stars," James sighed.

When class was dismissed, Harry was called back, and Ron was allowed to stay as Firenze asked if they were friends with Hagrid.

"Odd way to start, doesn't he see Hagrid himself enough now," Lily frowned.

When Harry agreed, he was asked to pass along a message, 'his attempt is not working, he should abandon it.'

Harry's face puckered with concern, he had a feeling about Firenze's message, and it wasn't strictly a good thing.

The others were clearly in his exact line of thinking, wondering what on Earth Hagrid could be up to that would have him being warned off by a Centaur.

He said he'd give this himself, but he did not think it wise to be too close to the Forest as of now.

"So he's not even planning on leaving the castle for a bit," James wasn't very distracted from whatever Hagrid was doing by this scrap of information no matter how depressing it was.

"That poor guy, I can't imagine how shut up he'd feel, oh wait, yes I can," Sirius grumbled.

Remus gave him a sideways glare, wishing he'd stop referring to himself like it was really happening to him, but then he supposed, Sirius was a bit shut up in here without his say so, so he let the comment slide.

Harry asked what Hagrid was attempting to do?

"Thank you," they all muttered, honestly hoping for an answer for once. Hagrid had been nothing but a mystery all year, and the longer it dragged out, the more uneasy they got.

Firenze debated answering before speaking that this was not his to tell, and he owed Hagrid his life.

"That's, fair," James conceded even if he did sigh with disappointment.

"Hagrid's doing something really off his rocker in the Forest though," Remus surmised from that.

"You think it's what's causing his injuries, he's trying to domesticate something new?" Sirius guessed.

"If he found something on the way back from the giants and been working on it since then," Lily grudgingly agreed.

"Please be anything other than a dragon," Sirius muttered.

Harry's headache was returning with a flurry now. They were very close, he could feel that, but despite that they still weren't close enough he could safely understand without hurting himself further, so in their lull without any further guesses he tried to keep going.

Then Harry was dismissed, more worried than ever.

His good mood from The Quibbler article had not lasted long, and by the time April came, he seemed to do nothing but worry.

"That's really getting depressing," James grumbled for Lily alone. He didn't want his son to hear how much this was bringing them all down, but really, his son's life needed far more fun in it than they were being offered.

It took Harry some time to deliver Firenze's warning, as Umbridge was still overseeing all classes, but finally he managed it by going back for a book he'd missed.

When told, Hagrid only said Firenze was a nice bloke and all, but he didn't know what he was talking about, the attempt was coming along fine.

"It worries me he didn't bother to deny for a second he's doing something," Lily groaned.

"Guess by this point he knew not to bother with Harry," James grudgingly pointed out.

Harry very seriously asked what Hagrid was up to.

"You know very well what I'm up to," Sirius told Harry with mock confusion. "Can't get up to very many things in those walls."

Harry offered him a smile for the joke as always, even if his eyes did tighten with concern for the reminder.

He had to be careful, Umbridge could be on a roll, and he could be next.

Harry felt a very uneasy tingling course through him for that, fear that Hagrid wouldn't actually be Umbridge's next victim of this school, but he also couldn't imagine any other teachers on probation so tried to let it go.

Hagrid simply said there were things more important than a job.

"What on Earth is Hagrid training?" Remus demanded with genuine concern now. He valued magical creatures lives as well, he could certainly imagine defending very many, but something of how Hagrid put that really made him believe this wasn't just any beast.

"I'll be sure to let you know if I find out," Sirius snarked, but all of them were watching with more concern than ever for what Hagrid could be doing. The worst bit was, if Hagrid really believed that, then they couldn't even fault him anymore for whatever he was doing and would feel the need to back him up on it now on principle.

He shooed Harry on, and he had no more room to argue. His other problems continued to pile up, like his homework. As the teachers, and Hermione, were now constantly reminding, OWLs were growing closer all the time, and many of the students were starting to feel the train, like Hannah Abbott who had a breakdown in Herbology she was too stupid to continue school.

Lily crooned for the poor thing, the ones who had taken these tests in full understanding of how stressful they were.

If it had not been for the DA lessons, Harry thought he would have been extremely unhappy.

"That's putting it mildly," Harry muttered.

He lived for the hours he spent in the Room of Requirements, helping those around him work, and smiled frequently at the thought of Umbridge's face when every member gained an Outstanding on their Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL.

"Probably put all that on herself," Remus scoffed in disgust.

"And yet I can't wait for Harry to inform her otherwise," James smirked.

Harry had finally begun teaching them patronuses, and though many managed it, he cautioned greatly this would be much different in front of the actual creature.

That put a spark of enthusiasm into all of them at once. Patronuses were a very special kind of protection to them, especially after what Harry went through, and they were enthralled to see even more.

Cho told Harry he was being a killjoy, they were pretty, as her swan-patronus soared through the room.

"Oh," Lily crooned, "I always expected mine to be a bird, maybe even that one."

"But you don't like to fly?" James pointed out with just a slight pout, he loved that his wife's was his own.

"But I love birds, I always wanted my own, and swans mate for life. I knew whoever I'd fall in love with I'd lover forever."

James looked nullified and stopped arguing the point, while Lily continued to eye Harry with curiosity. If Cho had decided Harry was the one for her, that could mean he truly had found the love of his life as well.

Harry corrected they weren't supposed to be pretty, they were supposed to protect you.

"I don't see why they can't be both," Sirius smirked.

"Don't worry Padfoot, we think you're plenty pretty," Remus snarked while Sirius frowned at him. At least he acknowledged what his Patronus was, Remus would hardly bare to say it aloud.

Harry was musing to himself what they really needed was a Boggart to practice on- but Lavender told him that would be too scary, her own patronus still a vapor.

"I think scary is what she needs right now," Remus said with sympathy. "Something to help her better grasp what she's going to do, just trying without motivation won't get you very far."

"Apparently the motivation to see the pretty animal isn't good enough for everyone," James smirked at Sirius, who stuck his tongue out.

Neville was having problems as well, though his face was screwed with concentration, only feeble wisps came out.

Lily sighed for the poor dear. This really was advanced magic even without the dementor around, it was no reflection on him if this was still a touch above his ability.

Harry reminded he needed to be focusing on a happy memory.

"How many times had you reminded him of that?" Sirius snorted, that was the first thing anyone said when telling how to do a Patronus. "Haven't you learned your own lesson? Being told the same advice helps nothing."

"I was trying to do it the same way Remus taught me," Harry defended. "I told them to try different happy memories, something really powerful to them."

Invited along to his very first meeting by Dean, Seamus called for Harry's attention, saying he was doing it!

"Hey," Remus said in protest, and some concern, "how come Dean wasn't hexed for telling Seamus?"

"Dean asked me if he could come along now that we were speaking to each other," Harry shrugged. "I didn't ask for details, but Hermione agreed and said it wouldn't affect her charm, I suppose she may have temporarily lifted it for Dean so he could tell Seamus."

By the time Harry had looked, it had gone, but Seamus promised Harry it was something hairy.

Harry looked bemused for a moment at Seamus' words, and was not at all expecting his godfather at his side to grin in a now familiar way as he declared, "it's good Seamus has come back when he did, now he can realize all the hairy situations Harry gets up to."

James got to his feet just so he could smack Sirius upside the head for that one, while Lily looked horrified. "How long have you been sitting on that one! Merlin, James you couldn't have warned me earlier that's why Sirius was so happy when we told him our baby's name!"

"It's not like that was the first thing I thought of," James defended as he kept looking in exasperation at his best friend.

"HIs name pun wasn't my first thought," Sirius emphasized, before smirking over at Harry who was still snickering away. "It was the second. The first was how much I'm going to love this kid."

James wanted to keep scowling at him, trying to pass along his infernal joke like that, but it was impossible to hold any anger after that. Lily muttered her husband was a traitor even while she was smiling in agreement.

Hermione's Patronus, a shining silver otter, was gamboling around her.

Remus happily decided to change the subject before Sirius could come up with the idea that all of these Patronuses were hairy thanks to Harry, and instead said loudly, "Was it a river otter, or a sea otter?"

"Err," Harry said in surprise, he hadn't realized there were two different kinds, never having looked up much about animals.

"Was it small and fuzzy, or bigger and rather menacing," Sirius elaborated.

"Small and fuzzy," Harry recalled.

"Sea otter then," Remus decided.

"Can you imagine her animagus," Lily grinned fondly, "she'd be absolutely adorable."

"You've never called us adorable," James accused.

"As if you need the validation," Lily rolled her eyes.

The door opened then, and Harry looked around in surprise as he'd thought all members were present. Then he felt a tugging near his knees, and looked down to see Dobby, still accompanied by half a dozen woolly hats.

"Oh no, Hermione's going to find out about that," Sirius drawled.

"I'm wondering why he's there," Remus said curiously. "He's never interrupted a DA meeting before."

Lily felt a shot of horror at the look on Harry's face that promised it may not be for a good reason, but they'd been enjoying their little chat for so long she asked, "How many others had managed one?"

"Quite a few," Harry shook himself, more than happily staying on track. "Ah, Luna's was a rabbit, the twins was a raven and a coyote, though I'm not sure who was who, err, Ginny's was a horse, Ron's was really coming along, it really had a shape there for a moment but it hadn't distinguished itself quite yet when Dobby came in."

"That's brilliant," Remus congratulated Harry, he truly was an excellent teacher to be helping them out with this, though he agreed with Harry it was all for show unless they could do it around the creature, this was still quite good of all of them.

Harry asked him what was wrong, as clearly something was, his eyes were wide with terror and he was shaking.

"Oh dear," Lily managed to get out, face going blank with shock for a moment before the fear slammed in. This was supposed to be Harry's comfort place, his one reason for continuing school, what bad news was worth Dobby interrupting this. Watching Harry now was not encouraging an answer, but thankfully she wasn't the one reading, Harry as always forcing himself to go on with a set look in place no matter how much his voice shook for it.

Now everyone around him was looking on in silence, what few Patronuses had been conjured vanishing and making the room feel darker.

Sirius shivered slightly. Normally allowing your Patronus to fade meant the fight was over, but this still managed to feel ominous for whatever Dobby was fixing to say.

Dobby seemed unable to speak though, trying to brokenly say the house-elves had been warned not to tell, but Dobby had to warn- then he tried to run head first into the nearest wall.

Harry, having experience with Dobby's habits, grabbed the elf's arm to stop him and ask who had done what, but all Dobby could say was she.

"Spit it out," James got out through gritted teeth, but his flashing eyes made it clear they all had a guess what had happened, and it wasn't McGonagall finding out.

Harry feared he understood though, clarifying Umbridge knew about this place, the DA?

"I'm going to kill someone," Sirius growled.

"How!" Remus demanded. "Did any of the house-elves even know about this besides Dobby, because we know it wasn't him."

"Maybe it was Winky," James said with a scowl. "The little ones probably still so out of it she'd blab anything, and I wouldn't put it past Umbridge to somehow put the pieces together to follow a link between her, Dobby, and Harry and realize something was up."

"How would she have known that?" Harry managed to get out instead of screaming in frustration. "We'd been really careful, Umbridge shouldn't have had a clue to go looking for this at all." He was getting a terrible feeling, his mind flipping through all members of the DA, he just knew he should have realized someone was missing but he couldn't place a name in his panic.

Finally, with a howl of misery, Dobby nodded and tried to continue to beat himself up.

Harry looked up in horror at everyone else before yelling loudly for them all to run!

Sirius could feel almost a laugh somewhere in there, for the chaos that could be erupted from this group suddenly stampeding through corridors in their effort to avoid that frog reject, but it was lost as his heart thudded into his ribs picturing what would happen if they got caught.

There was a sudden pile up at the door, Ron and Hermione got swept away as Harry hesitated an extra moment to scoop up Dobby, and was the last one out so he could shut the door behind him. He hoped they wouldn't all try to make it back to their dorms, as the Owlery and Library were much closer.

Dobby, who was still attempting to do himself a serious injury,

"Don't you even," Remus told him breathlessly, all eyes locked on Harry to watch him get out of this, but Sirius had no self-restraint as he blurted, "I'm sure you could have used my help right then, sorry I couldn't have offered it."

Harry broke off for a moment to chuckle weakly for his godfather, but it did nothing to relieve the tense set of his mouth, the anger he was having to run from the one thing he'd been using to fight back.

was still under his arm as he reached the hallway. He gave the order to him,

"Err, Harry," Lily couldn't help but remind softly, "I don't think you can be giving him orders."

"I don't know," James suddenly put in with an interested look on his face. "I've never known a free elf before, but maybe without being tied to anyone's family, anyone can give them an Order and they'd have to follow through with it. The ones at Hogwarts are compelled to follow any staff members orders, their 'family' is the school after all, maybe this is an even more loose interpretation of-"

He cut himself off as he realized Harry was practically vibrating in place from failed adrenaline, and James realized there was a time and place for this speculation, and now wasn't it.

to go back to the kitchens and deny he'd told anyone, and no hurting himself!

Lily shifted uneasily in her seat, beyond pleased Harry had taken the time to do that for Dobby, but all the more worried what his delay would cost him. She couldn't help the visions flashing across her eyes of what worse than detention Umbridge could get away with doing to Harry when she found out about this.

Dobby squeaked a thank you as he vanished, and Harry tore off for a nearby bathroom he could claim to have come from.

Sirius opened his mouth with a look in place promising it wasn't helpful advice, but Harry hadn't taken notice in time for him to begin as he kept reading feverishly.

Something caught his ankles, and before he knew it he was skidding along instead a good six feet before coming to a halt beside an ugly dragon-shaped vase Malfoy was hiding behind.

"That about described everything about him," James muttered hatefully, the lot of them growing more tense by the second.

"What's he even doing there?" Sirius howled in frustration. "That scum sucker has nothing to do with-"

Harry normally had not a problem with them ranting about Malfoy, but his throat was threatening to close shut with fear if he didn't keep using it, so he kept going loudly for an explanation instead.

He cackled about his own use of a Trip Jinx before calling out for Professor Umbridge, who came upon them with a delighted smile.

Remus was grinding his teeth in deep frustration more every second, wishing those DA kids could turn all those spells they'd learned onto some useful target practice right about now.

Neither were surprised to find Potter, but both jubilant as Umbridge hoisted him back to his feet and instructed Malfoy to find some more. Harry had never seen her looking so happy.

"I can take her face off so you never have to see any expression again," Sirius tried to offer in an attempt at a polite voice.

She instructed for Malfoy and his fellows to stop anyone who was out of breath.

"That doesn't mean a thing!" Lily hissed in outrage. "Harry could have just been running down the hall for any reason, she has no right to-" she cut herself off and ran her nails against her scalp, snagging a few strands of hair but forcing herself not to keep going.

Then Umbridge began marching him along to the Headmasters office. Harry went in her wake with dread for all those who could still be caught. Ron, and how Mrs. Weasley was going to kill him.

"Kill Umbridge more like," James honestly believed. No matter how bad the overbearing mother got, he had to believe she'd stand up for her kids before siding with that fake blood stain.

How Hermione would feel if she was expelled before she could take her OWLs.

"Poor girl will have heart failure," Remus said with absolute belief.

It had been Seamus's very first meeting, and Neville had been getting so good.

Lily watched her son read through all of that with such mixed feelings, but a surprisingly warm glow. Even in the face of his own expulsion, where he'd likely end up back at the Dursleys for perhaps an hour before Sirius showed up and murdered them all, he was still far more concerned about everyone else. Her son really was the most genuine person she'd ever met.

They reached the office to find it already crowded, with Dumbledore at his desk staring serenely on at everyone. McGonagall was at his right with a severe expression in place, Fudge was by the fireplace and looking pleased with this situation,

"Why's he there?" Sirius snarled in outrage.

"Umbridge may have sent something along when she found out this information, wanted him to be there so he could gloat," Remus pointed out with disgust.

Kingsley Shacklebolt and a tough-looking wizard with very short wiry hair whom Harry did not recognize, were positioned either side of the door like guards,

"Another Auror, I'm guessing," James ruffled up his brows. "Probably Kingsley's partner."

"I want Harry to pause for just a moment so I can laugh at this one," Sirius snickered, though was as pleased as anyone Fudge clearly suspected nothing of Kingsley at least for him to be there.

"Why are any Aurors there?" Lily cut into their amusement with still high disgust. "Did Fudge really think he needed protection from Dumbledore now?"

"I sure would if I was Fudge," Remus sneered.

as pleased as anyone Fudge clearly suspected nothing of Kingsley at least for him to be there.

Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes.

Harry muttered something quite foul under his breath that made Lily frown slightly at him no matter how much he deserved it. This was twice now Percy had been in on Fudge's side of the room and as obnoxious as ever. She wished she'd shared her idea now, that maybe Percy was still trying to help in his own way...but she had no more evidence than a mother's wish the boy hadn't really turned completely on his family.

The portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses were not shamming sleep tonight. All of them were alert and serious,

"Not all of them should be me at once," Sirius only contemplated for the barest second before continuing on the same breath, "at least two of them could be Prongs. Sorry Moony, I've never met anyone who wanted to act like you though."

Remus was torn between smacking him and telling him to shut up that time, but Harry was ignoring them both.

watching the events unfold below them, which started with Fudge gloatingly stating 'well, well, well.'

Harry gave him the dirtiest look back he could muster.

"A truly terrifying face," James agreed without an ounce of mocking, "I'm surprised Fudge isn't jumping out the window.

His heart drummed madly inside him, but his brain was oddly cool and clear.

"I've noticed that frequently about you," Lily praised. "Though I do wish you'd stop finding reasons for me to realize that."

For a moment Harry was worried his mother had changed her mind, and in the face of expulsion, she regretted all he'd been doing with the DA, but she was as calm as ever, promising retribution to anyone who dared do a single thing against her son for what he was doing.

Umbridge said for him he was heading for Gryffindor tower when he'd been caught, an excitement in her voice the likes of which Harry had heard when Trelawney was being sacked.

"I can only imagine what Harry would have done in that circle," Sirius said nastily, knowing his godson would not have devolved into tears, but probably started a full on war in the middle of the Entrance Hall.

Then she explained how he'd been caught, and Fudge turned to Harry and said he expected Potter knew why he was here.

"To show some competence in the farce of your employee?" Remus put politely.

"I'd go for deniability," Lily said grimly, "he was caught in the middle of a hallway doing nothing, what can they prove."

"Since Dobby showed up, I think they did have something of use," James disagreed, "so at this point, it's going out with a bang."

Harry had every intentions of beginning with a defiant 'yes,' but stopped short when he caught sight of Dumbledore, who gave just the barest hint of a shake of his head.

Harry felt like he was freezing over in confusion. He was angry, still high on adrenaline, and still Dumbledore wouldn't look him in the eye even while giving him a piece of advice? What had he done so wrong to push Dumbledore into such a confusing state?

Instead he changed direction mid-words, now saying, 'ye-no.'

"Not sure I'd buy that one, do you think he'd let you do a redo?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed critically for what Dumbledore was doing and so hardly paying attention to what he was saying any more than usual.

Fudge was astounded, Harry repeating more firmly he had no clue why he was here, Fudge repeating this anyways.

"I believe he just answered that, did he forget to turn his ears on as well as his brain?" Lily grumbled.

Fudge was growing furious as he insisted Potter had no knowledge of any school rules he'd broken, or Ministry Decrees Umbridge tacked on.

"Those aren't Decrees, their farces of Umbridge's intelligence," Remus stated.

"Don't talk to others, don't have magazines, I get to pick the teachers I work with," Sirius ticked off on his fingers, generalizing a few but putting together, "she's basically trying to force others to be as miserable as she is."

Harry insisted he had done nothing, all while his heart was still pounding away in his chest. If someone had tipped off Umbridge about the DA, as leader he may as well be packing his bags now.

"I can tell Umbridge that I think she's a revolutionary teacher, doesn't mean it's true," Lily insisted, still hoping Harry could lie his way out of this one.

Fudge was growing angry that Potter was denying there was an illegal student organization going on.

Harry put an unconvincing look in place as he said yes.

"Credit for trying?" James offered.

Umbridge changed pace into saying this would go better if she brought in her information.

"Oh yes, please do," Sirius managed to get out through a deep throated growl, "I've been wanting to practice cursing multiple people at once, the more the merrier."

Fudge agreed with this idea, turning to Dumbledore and stating there was nothing better than a good witness.

"You wouldn't know, you tried to dismiss Harry's," Remus sniffed.

Dumbledore agreed as calmly as ever, and they waited in uneasy silence until Umbridge came back with Marietta, her face buried inside her robes.

"She what?" Lily shrieked in outrage.

"Glory, would not have called that," Sirius said in disgust. "I just thought she'd stop showing up, not push her friend under a bus."

"This is-" James worked his face furiously to stop himself raging and screaming. He couldn't help comparing this to his own friend abandoning him in the worst way possible in this dismal future, now his son was going to be suffering the consequences yet again.

Harry sat there, stewing for a moment with an odd look in place. He was furious at what Marietta had done, but he could already feel some grim satisfaction as well, she got her dues for betraying their group, so he kept going loudly over their angry protests.

Umbridge gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she told them to tell what she had already, her mother would be very pleased. Still Marietta said nothing, so Umbridge explained to Fudge that her mother was Madam Edgecombe, she'd been helping them in the Department of Magical Transportation keeping an eye on the Floo Network.

"So her whole line has been pissing me off this year," James hissed, still wanting to spit in someone's face for causing him heart failure after Sirius' last pop up in the school.

Fudge gave a hearty agreement, encouraging the seemingly shy girl to look at them, then shouting in surprise when she did.

All of them were clearly itching towards vindictive amusement. Not one of them had forgotten Hermione's 'jinx,' and this well fell into talking about Dumbledore's Army. Now they were just curious the extent, clearly it was even more than they'd envisioned by Fudge's reaction.

He'd jumped into the fireplace in surprise as Marietta had looked up, and across her face in bright purple pustules was written the work sneak.

They would have laughed even harder than the first time if the threat of Harry being expelled wasn't the result of this misfortune. It didn't at all erase the tight smiles though, Hermione had done better than they'd ever imagined with her spell work.

Upon the reaction, she'd waited in despair and buried her face again, and Umbridge snapped she'd tell then, turning and explaining to them that she'd come to her office this evening and told of an illegal group and where it would be taking place. By that point she'd spotted the hex affecting her in one of Umbridge's mirrors and not spoken another word.

"How long do you think that curse lasts?" Sirius said wistfully.

"Not long enough," James snapped, his eyes narrowed hatefully for this.

"The better question is, where's Hermione so she can teach me how to do this," Remus smirked.

Fudge gave Marietta a very kind smile like he used to don on Harry as he said she'd done the right thing, very brave of her.

"Oh sure, bravery is now snitching on your friends," Lily muttered under her breath. She couldn't imagine why Marietta had gone and done this so much later after it had started, but the injustice of it was infuriating.

Still Marietta refused to look at any of them, and Fudge demanded if anyone had the counter spell so she could speak freely. When Umbridge said she'd tried that, Harry had a moment to be quite proud of Hermione's jinxing ability.

"Oh we never doubted that for a moment," Sirius said with relish, all of them agreeing she'd more than outdone herself this time. The girl had an unfounded talent in the trouble making part of her life she didn't indulge in nearly enough for their liking.

Umbridge still managed to keep going saying that she'd pieced it together from there, as Potter had met with students back in October in the Hog's Head-

she was cut off by McGonagall demanding to know how she knew this?

Umbridge supplied she knew from Willy Widdershins, whom had been heavily bandaged, but his hearing had been well enough to take in the whole thing.

"Why does that name ring a bell?" Lily muttered.

"Not sure, but he clearly wasn't bandaged enough, as he was still breathing," James snarled, always in disbelief how his sons luck had managed to put that meeting in the same time as an informant of Umbridge's also being there.

McGonagall raised a brow as she realized this was why the man hadn't been prosecuted for his regurgitation toilets.

"That was it," Sirius blinked in surprise, before narrowing with a sneer. "Wish I was more surprised he got away with his problems by ratting out the system." He'd never used that phrase in such a way since he'd learned of someone's animagus, but never before would he have had the need to put such a slant on someone he never would have thought would use it like that. He still regretted the jab when James flinched horribly at the reminder and Remus stiffened in his seat.

This was quite an insight into their justice system.

Umbridge cut in this was not the current point, Potter was having an illegal meeting persuading others to join his society-

"It wasn't illegal at the time," Lily couldn't help but correct with a raised brow, even while she felt like a fool for calling something so simple illegal in any regards. Merlin it was a farce on their future that was a thing.

James smiled grimly for his wife, wishing now more than ever she could have been there to counter all this.

yet Dumbledore cut in there to say she had misspoken.

Fudge gave a hearty laugh for what it was going to be this time to get Potter out of trouble. Was Willy Widdershins lying?

"Well he could have been," Remus huffed. "He was a criminal trying to get out of charges and so reported some toff to get him out of trouble."

"I don't think they're going to play whose word against who's in this instance," James shook his head, "when one works too well in their need."

Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day?

"Hardy har," Sirius rolled his eyes in disgust.

Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time,** a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible Dementors?

Harry wouldn't have been surprised to see lightning shooting out of his dad as he howled, "would he stop bringing that up! It's not their fault they have to figure out everything for you because you're too much of a blithering idiot to see past your own reflection!"

Lily had to spend several moments soothing their fussing infant who was crying just as loudly as his father, trying to fight back tears of anger at Harry's life constantly being played off as a joke like this.

While just as angry and not at all aware of the nerve thumping in his jaw line, Remus had caught on a much more interesting part of that. "What on earth did he mean reversal of time, Dumbledore told him about that bit? Why?! The only part that was relevant to was Sirius' escape, and I highly doubt Dumbledore sat around explaining that."

This was odd enough it at least put them off trying to pull another vanishing stunt and going after Fudge next, so Harry took the opportunity to keep going the moment he realized no one had a good answer for why this information had been shared with Fudge, though instantly regretted it.

Percy Weasley let out a laugh as well.

Sirius snarled in frustration, his hands making a wringing motion even as a flare of pity wanted to take a pinch at him. He pictured Percy too much like Regulus, though ironically in reverse. At this point he wasn't even sure if Percy would realize in time his mistake and come groveling back, with a few well deserved hexes from a few of his brothers.

Harry could have kicked him.

"I don't understand why you didn't," Lily said flatly.

Dumbledore merely explained that Umbridge had declared the meeting in the Hog's Head illegal, when the Decree for organizations was not so until two days later.

"Ha!" Sirius let out a sharp bark of laughter that they all felt covered that quite nicely.

Percy looked as though he had been struck in the face by something very heavy.

"I wish," Remus said with a pleasant smile.

Fudge let his mouth hang open, but Umbridge kept going sweetly, stating that though the first was then aloud, all the following over the past six months were not.

"Wonder who she had to pay off to figure out that grain of intelligence," James snarked.

Dumbledore agreed that would be true, if there had been any others.

Lily ruffled her brow as she tried to understand where Dumbledore could be going with that one. Marietta was proof further things had happened, otherwise she wouldn't have been jinxed.

As the headmaster kept attention on this line of questioning, Harry thought he heard Kingsley whisper something, and felt a whoosh at his side, yet when he glanced there was nothing there, nor had Kingsley seemed to move.

Remus opened his mouth in confusion, wondering if perhaps Fawkes was in the back doing something random, but didn't press on the idea.

Umbridge stated that Marietta was proof that further dealings had taken place, but when confronted, Harry saw that the peak of her eyes showing now had a glazed look when asked if Potters meetings had been going on for six months? She could just nod, or shake her head, that wouldn't reactivate the jinx.

"Hasn't exactly been deactivated now, has it," Sirius rolled his eyes.

As everyone in the room watched, Marietta shook her head.

Harry stopped short, his mind spinning back to the sensation he'd just felt, but he couldn't imagine how the two pieces yet fit together as his mum demanded, "did she have a change of heart?"

"Bit late for that," James scoffed, "after the punishments written cross her face."

Harry decided he was overthinking things, and actually felt a bubble of hope inside him once more, hoping this was the last time he'd be threatened with expulsion at least for this year.

Umbridge stood frozen in shock, repeating the question for good measure, but again Marietta shook her head no, no such thing had happened. Umbridge demanded what she meant by this, but McGonagall said in clipped tones that unless Miss Edgecombe was speaking in some unknown language, a shake of the head meant no.

"Maybe she's speaking Bulgarian," Remus offered helpfully as if offering McGonagall and Umbridge another solution.

Sirius snorted and started snickering, but his eyes were still trained menacingly on the book.

Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her round to face her and began shaking her very hard.***

"She what?" Lily shrieked, nearly falling into hysterics. "Does this lime tart have no bounds, she just grabbed a child!" The transgression against Harry still weighed heavily on her, she was afraid even if all the students who weren't expelled would still be getting detentions just for Umbridge suspecting them.

Harry didn't even like Marietta and he'd felt the need to jump forward and help her, and not caring what consequences came from that he flitted forward in a rush.

She hadn't been at it but moments when Dumbledore intervened, his wand appearing as Umbridge released Marietta waving her hands as if they were suddenly burning.

Dumbledore said in a very angry voice his students were not to be manhandled.

James took a slow, deep breath in thanks for Dumbledore stepping in. Even acting as odd as the man was, he was about to accuse him of being Imperiused this was getting so odd of late, at least he still always stepped in when it counted.

"You see that Harry?" Sirius wagged his finger in his godsons face with a triumphant, yet still stern look. "Now imagine if you'd gone and told Dumbledore about her punishments. I'll bet he'd have her out of that castle before you could finish packing her bags."

For just a moment, Harry believed him, and honestly regretted not having said something. What if it would have given Dumbledore more a chance to get rid of her sooner?

Umbridge straightened her bow as she stated she'd forgot herself.

"It's good to know how others act when they're stressed," Remus said acidly, "though I suppose this means she was always out of her mind."

"We already knew that Moony," James reminded, his face still flushed from anger as he again glanced at the back of Harry's hand.

Marietta had not reacted at all to being released, nor had she while being shaken, her eyes remaining as glassy as before.

"What on earth?" Lily squeaked, nobody was that docile.

"Wait a minute," Harry frowned, flipping back a page and again staring at the odd sensation he'd overpassed, and he felt a suspicion rise in him at the same time he looked up and saw something try to click together for the others. It was such a wild idea though, no one dared say it...

Harry only had time to suspect what he'd heard Kingsley whisper as Umbridge kept on track that she'd caught their group red handed, she'd gone back inside the Room of Requirements and found her own evidence.

"But Harry closed the door when he left," James yelped in outrage, he specifically remembered that. "There's no way she could have known the exact same phrase to reopen the same room!"

"What if the room was asked for evidence of this though," Remus said uneasily. "It could have pulled up the same room they were then using."

It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow they were managing to grow more angry by the minute Umbridge had now found out this secret place and how to use it on top of everything else Harry was facing. Selfishly, Sirius almost thought it would be a relief for Harry to be expelled by this point, spend out the rest of his year with him until that toad was gone by whatever happened at the end of the year. He'd be behind when he came back next year, but anything would feel more peaceful than this mess of a place their old school was turning into.

To Harry's horror, she withdrew from her pocket the list of names that had been pinned upon the Room of Requirements wall and handed it to Fudge.

James face palmed and said something he wouldn't normally have. He'd understood the purpose of the list for Hermione's jinx, and suddenly wondered if that had been destroyed if it would have negated the effects then, otherwise he couldn't imagine why that had been kept around.

"I," Lily faltered for a moment as she tried to come up with an excuse for this things existence, before finally snapping, "okay, so they're not allowed in groups of three, but you never specified their names weren't, there's nothing illegal about this still, she still hasn't gotten proof, especially if Marietta is retracting."

Remus sighed, thinking only with this batch of dung bomb rejects masquerading as Ministry people could a sentence as spectacularly stupid as Lily's exist.

Fudge took it, a look of shock spreading across his face as he saw what they'd named themselves.

"And that's still funny," Sirius smirked.

Dumbledore's expression did not change, as he said simply that meant the game was up. Would Cornelius like a written confession, or would these witnesses suffice?

"Err," James began in confusion, ruffling his brow at what Dumbledore was cooking up.

Harry saw McGonagall and Kingsley look at each other. There was fear in both faces. He did not understand what was going on, and nor, apparently, did Fudge.

Remus bounced his knee uneasily, he didn't like what Dumbledore had tried to imply with that...

Asking what Dumbledore could mean, as the man repeated his surname on that paper, not Potter's.

"Oh bollocks," Sirius suddenly paled in shock.

Understanding blazed suddenly in Fudge's face. He took a horrified step backwards, yelped, and jumped out of the fire again.

Sirius laughed darkly. He'd imagined a few times now tossing people into fires, and now Fudge was doing the action for him. It would have been much more satisfactory if his mind wasn't spinning full tilt in worry of where this seemed to be heading.

He stamped the smoke out while demanding that Dumbledore had organized all this, put this army together?

Dumbledore agreed to all, saying tonight was supposed to be the first meeting, and Marietta nodded.

Remus said something in gibberish, shock was preventing true words.

"This is Dumbledore's plan?" Lily looked genuinely worried for her old headmaster's mental health. "How? Why? This doesn't fix the original problem of what Harry was doing, they were still 'caught' in the group, Dumbledore's only sentencing himself to an even larger problem and then Harry'll get kicked out of school!"

"Maybe not though," James corrected with a calculating look in place. "Ever wondered why Sirius told so many rabbit jokes when someone asked about the nicknames, or why we set up so many elaborate pranks sometimes but others we just cursed people. All depended on the time of the month, and a red herring."

Lily nodded in understanding, but it didn't do much to lessen her worry, she wasn't as sure Fudge would be so easily distracted from his vendetta against the both of them.

Fudge swelled as he shouted at Dumbledore he had been plotting against him!

Dumbledore cheerfully agreed that was true.

"I'm sure that's a first response," Remus said absently, feeling several steps behind from shock at what the Minister was actually fixing to do here...

Harry shouted no in surprise as he realized what was going on, but Dumbledore kindly told him to keep his opinions out of this or he'd have to be escorted out.

Fudge told him to shut up as he rounded on Dumbledore, saying he'd come to expel Potter but instead-

Instead he got to arrest himself, Dumbledore finished for him, saying it was like losing a Knut but finding a Galleon.

"Dumbledore sure thinks highly of himself," Sirius muttered, his eyes still a little too wide from surprise at this turn of events, he couldn't even quite wrap his head around this happening yet.

Fudge snapped at Weasley that he had all this written down, the man admitting to starting an army to destabilize the Ministry?

"I'm fairly confident he never said that," James stated, looking queasy at such a fast turn, funnily enough coming from a Quidditch player. He couldn't help it, he'd have much more easily dodged a Bludger than grasped the idea of where Dumbledore was headed, he hadn't even a second to breathe in relief Harry wasn't expelled but now...

Percy agreed he had everything, Fudge telling him to get moving then and have it all ready for the morning paper. Once he was out the door, Fudge turned to Dumbledore and said he hoped he enjoyed his Azkaban cell.

Dumbledore gently said he'd been expecting this snag.

"Snag?" Lily squeaked, her eyes distant and very happy it was Harry reading, she knew her mind wouldn't have been able to keep up with all of this.

Fudge saw no snag, but Dumbledore did, saying they seemed to be laboring under the delusion that he was, to offer the phrase, come quietly.

Sirius snorted so violently his nose nearly fell off. He couldn't help it, this situation was so ridiculous of course he had to laugh, because otherwise he'd be admitting that Dumbledore was having a chat with the Minister about being arrested!

This was not to be. Though he could break out of course, he had much better things to do with his time.

Remus felt a wild laugh crack his expression as well. The image Harry was describing was mind boggling, and yet he fully believed in what Dumbledore said was true...but the fact that he was saying it!

Umbridge's face was growing steadily more red, while Fudge continued to eye Dumbledore like he'd taken a blow to his head.

"I hate having the same expression as him," Harry managed to say, though it helped nothing as he could still feel it stuck in place. After Dumbledore had been ignoring him all year, now he was doing this...

Dawlish stepped forward then, his hand edging towards his pocket, but Dumbledore gave a friendly chuckle as he said he was well aware Dawlish was an excellent Auror, having been there when he'd gotten O's in all of his OWLs, but perhaps he should not, Dumbledore didn't want to hurt him.

Dawlish blinked and took his step back, now looking to Fudge for some sort of clue.

"I don't think Merlin would have an answer for you," Lily told. For the man who'd gone toe to toe with Voldemort, the idea of anyone else having a go at him did indeed seem...foolish.

Fudge recovered himself enough to demand Dumbledore really thought he could take on all four of them?

"I find it more like Dumbledore against having to fake it against Kingsley," Sirius finally recovered himself enough to mock again, though he still couldn't quite reach his usual haughty bravado yet.

"Be fair, I'm sure Dawlish is good at what he does against anyone else," Remus rebuked.

Dumbledore said of course not, unless they were foolish enough to force him to.

James burst out with such exuberant laughter it made Lily jump and the baby screech just as loud as the noise. He couldn't help it though, the confidence was well earned for the man...but even they had never speculated such an instance as this occurring! Dumbledore was, well not being arrested, but someone actually thought they could do so!

McGonagall cut in he would not be alone, pushing her hand into her own robes.

All five of them reclined in their seats. Suddenly this wasn't funny anymore, but much more a smack in the face saying they should be fearing for their lives.

Dumbledore corrected oh yes he would, this school still needed her.

"Oh dear," Lily managed to utter one more time with pure worry of what Dumbledore was going to do to them before Harry told breathlessly.

Fudge had had enough, as he shouted at them to stop him.

In a bright flash of silver light, the floor trembled, and Harry felt something pull the scruff of his neck to the ground. Then Fawkes cried out, there was dust everywhere; a dark figure fell to the ground, a shriek and another fall, then a final no, with breaking glass, scuffling steps, and one last groan before silence.

"That was much less dramatic than I thought Dumbledore would go for," James rubbed at his jaw.

"You weren't there," Harry shook his head as if still getting the flashes of light out of his eyes, while one hand creeped up to his neck in remembrance. "It was plenty fantastic from where I stood."

"What even happened?" Lily cocked her head to the side. "A dark figure fell to the ground, I'm guessing that was Kingsley, a shriek and a thud, someone else got knocked out, somebody cried no, but then..." she trailed off as she tried to picture it.

"I think he may have put a spell on someone to stumble around, they fell into whatever it was that broke and so they had to scuffle a bit, but then they groaned and fell as well," Harry tried to explain through the clouded dust of memories.

"That's only three though," James disagreed.

"Someone might have gone out with the first shot of light," Harry offered.

"I just, I still can't believe," Remus wasn't coming out of his shock any time soon it seemed. "Dumbledore, he-"

"It's okay Moony," Sirius gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. The problem though was that he had no more to say on it, he couldn't have imagined how this had gone so far, let alone to reverse it enough Dumbledore would come back.

Harry struggled around to see who was half-strangling him and saw Professor McGonagall crouched beside him; she had forced both him and Marietta out of harm's way.

Lily hummed with approval for that, she could understand that even when McGonagall had been told to stay out of the fight, there was no way the woman would remain on the sidelines.

In the silence, Dumbledore approached them and said they must be fast, it was best not known they had a moment to speak. Tell Kingsley he was sorry, but it would have been suspicious had he not been cursed too.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you," James managed to say with a genuine smile, like this was all part of some normal conversation.

It was remarkable how quick on the uptake he'd been, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory for them.

"Oh, my, goodness," Remus mouthed the words.

Sirius was still patting his shoulder as he watched Harry go on with some deep emotion he still couldn't name. It wasn't quite smugness at this happening to Dumbledore as well as him, but also some genuine worry for this future. As if it hadn't been hellish before, now it seemed a literal nightmare.

McGonagall asked where he would go, to Grimmauld Place?

"Well, I was wanting some company," Sirius muttered. If there was one person he would have called least likely to be a wanted criminal in this future aside from himself, it was Dumbledore.

Dumbledore corrected he would not be hiding out, and Fudge would very soon regret dislodging him from Hogwarts.

"I can imagine," James nodded vigorously.

Harry began to try and apologize for the DA, for starting all of this trouble,

"That is not something to apologize for," Lily said at once, snapping to anything she could have something intelligible to say. "If he could encourage you to go after that stupid Stone, I'm positive he's been helping you out with this as well in ways we can't even guess."

but Dumbledore cut him off, saying it was of the utmost important that Harry learn Occlumency.

"That's his final word of advice!" Remus did finally come back, now as ruffled at the man himself as the situation. "If he ever did address it I would have hoped he'd offer an alternative! Surely he can't be so stubborn not to realize this isn't working."

"Clearly not," Harry sighed, wishing more every day this would just quit being mentioned. He still had no feelings he would ever succeed at this, and it only ever led to darker parts of his mind for what that could mean.

He grabbed Harry's wrist for emphasis, but Harry heard no more as once again his scar seared, and he felt the snakelike urge to strike, bite, kill.

Harry released a shuddering breath, he could still feel the echo of it now, trying to build up inside of him and emerge from a long gone part of him that he had no want to revisit. If it wasn't for those around him, if he'd truly gone through with it and tried to run when he'd been thinking, he could never have kept going on his own for fear it may come back. Now though, after forcing his eyes to remain focused on those around him, as afraid as him, but not an ounce of fear of him, he found it in himself to keep going.

He wasn't even sure he heard Dumbledore whisper Harry would understand.

"It sure doesn't feel like it," Sirius commiserated with that look on Harry's face. He was frustrated just hearing about it all, he couldn't imagine how Harry could remain sane having to live through it.

Fawkes swooped low then, and Dumbledore raised his hand to grasp the phoenix's tail, then both vanished in a flash of fire.

"Wow," James blinked in surprise. "I didn't know he could take people with him when he does that."

Remus simply nodded, clearly not back to himself enough to elaborate on the ability, too much was going on now for Dumbledore and Harry.

At once, the other four awoke, Fudge demanding where he was?

"That is actually a very good question," Lily shook her head, she had a hard time imagining him anywhere besides his oak desk.

After Umbridge reminded he couldn't disparate from the school, Dawlish declared he must have made a run for it down the stairs, and he, Kingsley, and Umbridge went after him.

The four left only had a moment to take it all in before Fudge told McGonagall mockingly he feared this was the end of Dumbledore.

"You fear wrong," Remus said in no uncertain terms.

McGonagall scornfully said he really thought so? Harry saw some of the portraits making rude gestures at the Minister.

"I knew they couldn't be all bad," Sirius managed to get one last smirk in while he was thinking of it, "those were probably the ones pretending to be me."

"Thank you for that unhelpful input Padfoot," Remus rolled his eyes for his friend, if anything could keep his attention it was him.

Then he instructed she should get these students off to bed.

Harry inhaled again slowly, taking a moment just to savor those words. He wasn't expelled, Dumbledore's plan had worked, but at what cost?

She didn't wait around for a response as the three left, but as the door closed, Harry heard Phineas Nigellus's vice tell the Minister that he may not like it, but Dumbledore had style.

"Ha!" Sirius released a sharp bark of laughter that seemed to echo in the still stunned stupid room. "Would you look at that, I actually agree with him for once."

"Miracles happen all the time apparently," Remus shook his head as Harry passed him the book. 'Not all of them good,' he finished in his head, still gazing awestruck at Dumbledore's departure.

HPHPHPHP

I never get tired of that quote, one of the best things the movie kept in, even given to Kingsley instead.

* I know it's never referenced in book, but since Care of Creatures is held with another House, I picture all the other electives did as well, and I always picture Ravenclaw's in the background of all Trelawney's lessons.

**I actually wonder if JK put that in there by accident or something, the diary would have been a better mocking reference.

***So everyone always agrees Umbridge is the worst character ever conceived, but I'm curious what you guys consider her worst ever moment, or at least when you knew you irredeemably hated her? Harry, as the main character, I was disgusted at what she did to him, but on her evil level I at least understood it, as well as everyone else who crossed her. However, she attacked Marietta after the girl had helped her. This clearly is the kind of person Umbridge really is.

#The Life that Never Lived #Harry Potter #HP #Fanfiction #OotP #reading the books #Jilly #James Potter #Remus Lupin #sirus black #Lily Potter

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drlahlahroo · 4 years ago

Text

A Rare Case

( SNK / Rivetra / Veterinarian AU )

Chapter 1

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She first saw him 2 years ago. Back then, she was on her 4th month as an intern in Trost Veterinary Teaching Hospital and had been assigned in the O.R., where she became one of the lucky few from her university to see him in action.

“They say he’s the best veterinary surgeon in Paradis.”

“But I heard he doesn’t do a lot of surgeries anymore, at least not as regular as most surgeons.”

“I heard it’s because he only takes up rare cases. None of those regular neutering and stuff. He’s just that great!”

“Well he did graduate top of his class back then. So he probably does more than just surgeries.”

“He’s pretty short though. I thought the Doctor Levi Ackerman would be some tall, beefy guy or something after I heard he performed a delicate cesarean on a Chianina cow by himself. Those things are massive, you know!”

“Petra, what do you think?”

Petra had hushed her fellow interns, opting to focus her attention on the ongoing surgery. She recalled looking down at the surgical theatre in wonder as he made one last clamp on a rather large vessel, before he raised a scalpel to make a long cut. Then he and the assistant across from him lifted the basketball-sized tumor from within the abdominal cavity of a Jack Russel Terrier.

No sooner after that, he was closing the dog up. He sutured very quickly – something her professor in surgery would surely argue against, as impatience would lead to ugly stitches and, therefore, ugly scars. But she had attended to that patient post-operation and found his stitches to be so precise and so perfect that it would heal as if nothing ever happened.

It was the fastest splenectomy Petra has ever witnessed in her entire life, especially on a high-risk patient. She never met another veterinarian who could beat his 2 hour and 32 minutes record.

She did come close though. 3 hours and 16 minutes on an almost similar case. Not that time should matter, as surgical success should not be solely based on speed, but it did catch the attention of her dean.

Less than a year after passing the board exam, she received an email from Doctor Erwin Smith, the dean of Veterinary Medicine from her alma mater, allowing her an opportunity to be part of the surgical department in Trost Veterinary Teaching Hospital, one of the top veterinary hospitals in the country. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

So here she is now in Doctor Smith’s office in her freshly pressed white-coat, with the name Petra Ral, DVM embroidered on the left breast pocket. They were going through some minor details about her employment when the door burst open and a rather short, dark-haired man stepped in with a scowl on his face.

“Erwin.” It was the first time she heard his voice. It was low and laced with irritation. “What’s with this new team your making that I have to lead and shit.”

“Impeccable timing, Levi. I’d like to introduce you to Doctor Petra Ral” Dr. Smith said with a smile, seemingly unaffected by the other male’s glare. “Doctor Ral, I’m sure you’ve heard about Doctor Levi Ackerman.”

Petra stood and turned fully to face Doctor Ackerman, smiling despite the intimidating stare he gave her. “Um…yes. I’ve heard many great things about you, doctor.” His scowl only seemed to deepen at that.

“Doctor Ral will be a new member of the surgical department. She graduated top of her class and is one of the best veterinary surgical interns I ever met. Quick, but precise.” At Doctor Smith’s praise, Petra dipped her head to hide a blush. She didn’t exactly think she was that great.

The blond veterinarian turned his attention back to the shorter male, who had crossed his arms over his chest. “Her skills almost remind me of yours, Doctor Ackerman. I was hoping that you’d handpick her to join your special team –”

“I don’t need a team.” Levi snapped back, cutting him off.

“A special team?” Petra asked, turning back to the dean.

“Yes. I wanted to form a special diagnostics and surgical team that would focus on high-risk and unusual cases. Something more in Doctor Ackerman line of interest.”

“And something I don’t need a team for. I’ll be fine by myself.”

Levi had walked closer to Doctor Smith’s table until he stood next to her, allowing Petra an up-close inspection of the well-renowned veterinary surgeon. She always thought he would be around her height based on when she first saw him, but it seemed that she was still a little shorter. He looked quite youthful for a man in his thirties, the only indicator of his age evident in the lines under his eyes. Either that or he just didn’t sleep a lot.

It was at this point that Erwin’s smile dropped. “You need a team, Levi. You can’t keep doing things by yourself.” He then reached for a folder on his desk and raised it for him to see. “I got you a case. It’s a referral from Doc Pixis. The patient and the owner are already waiting in Exam Room 8.” He then glanced at her. “I would like you and Doctor Ral to handle this one.”

Petra blinked in surprise. If this was a case meant for the Levi Ackerman, then surely it must be a difficult one. Something a fresh graduate like her would not be able to handle. “Doctor Smith, are you sure about this? I mean, I just started and I don’t think I have the experience to tackle such a case.”

“I trust in your capabilities, Doctor Ral,” he smiled at her, “I know you’ll do just fine. Hopefully, Doctor Ackerman will appreciate your skill sets as well, at least enough for him to be convinced that he needs a team.”

“There’s no need to tag her along, or anyone else for that matter. If I need someone, I’ll just call one of the brats.” Levi complained once again.

At that, Erwin stood, and he stood tall. Practically towering everyone else in the room. It rendered the other male into silence. Petra could tell that this was a topic the two have probably argued about for a long time now. However, she could understand why someone like Doctor Levi would be against the idea of putting up another team. It wasn’t exactly needed, and it was just going to be an extra expense in the hospital’s part. But it was always hard to say no to the orders of their dean. Besides, it was under his leadership that Trost VTH became the success that it is today.

The dean raised his arm, stretching out the folder in his hand towards the other male. “At least assess her competence, Levi. I’m sure you’ll see how she could be a great asset to this hospital.”

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him inspect her from head to toe with a grimace. He eventually clicked his tongue before snatching the case file from the dean’s hand. Petra watched as he flipped it open, then skimmed through the contents of the first 2 pages, before shutting the folder again. Then he all but shoved the case file in her arms, much to her surprise, before he turned to the door and exited without a word.

Confused, Petra looked down at the folder in her hands before turning back to the dean, who let out a sigh of exasperation.

She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking her words thoroughly before speaking. “Uh…Is he always this…”

“Rude? Stubborn?” Erwin completed her sentence for her with an apologetic smile tugging his lips. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it quickly the more you work with him.”

Her smile dropped, “I don’t think he’s even interested in –”

“Oi.”

Petra quickly turned back to the door, where the dark-haired veterinarian was suddenly standing again. He nodded off to the direction of the hallway impatiently. “What the hell are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

/////////////////

Levi halted in front of Exam Room 8, holding back a grumble in his throat. From the corner of his eye, he watched the ginger-haired vet halt a meter away from him, the case file held over her chest. He turned to look at her and he thought he saw her flinch a bit. She was short, shorter than him, and for once he was glad to find another doctor in this damn hospital that he didn’t have to crane his neck up just to look at. Still, he wasn’t impressed. She looked young and inexperienced – the kind of girl who would rather hug and comfort a horse than drain the abscess from its infected neck. She could be the smartest student in her class but may lack grit in the field. Levi has seen so many veterinarians like her.

Turning away from her for a bit, he called out down the other side of the hall where 3 interns in scrubs were busy mopping near the lobby. “Hey brat.”

A dark-haired male looked up. His green eyes widened at the sight of the doctor and he almost dropped the mop. Petra watched curiously as Levi called him over and the intern stiffly stood between the two of them, his visibly taller height apparent. On his left breast, the name Eren Yeager is embroidered in striking white against his forest green scrubs, which were slightly wrinkled at the edges. She could see the slight apprehension in his features as he waited for the older vet to speak.

“This is Doctor Ral. She’s new. Assist her.”

“Y-yes, Doc.”

Levi handed him the clipboard that hung from the side of the exam room door. “Get the initial signalment,” he said, eyes narrowing, “Don’t fuck it up, Yeager.”

The boy nodded, nervously taking the clipboard before opening the sliding door enough for him to step in.

“Do you always intimidate interns like that?”

Levi turned back to the ginger. She had her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised at him, with a look of annoyance. He clicked his tongue, shooting back a scowl. “His handwriting is shit and he always make a mess in the workroom.” He then crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring her pose. For a while, they exchanged glares.

Then he nodded his head to the direction of the door. “Well, get in.”

Petra blinked. “What?”

“I said get in. You don’t want to keep them waiting.”

She pursed her lips in annoyance before turning to open the sliding door. She steps in just enough to notice the young male intern lift a golden retriever off the weighing scale, when she realized that Levi did not follow her into the room. She turned back to the open door to find him still outside, leaning on the door frame with arms still crossed and eyes closed.

Petra stepped back out the door and faced him. Levi noticed her presence enough to bat one eye open.

“Are you not coming in?”

“No.”

“You’re letting me do this on my own?”

He shrugged. “You interned here, didn’t you? You already know where all tools and the important stuff is. Besides that, you got your license now. Surely you know what to say and do.”

“Doctor Smith said we have to handle this together.”

“Erwin wanted me to assess you,” He uncrossed his arms, opting to slip them into the side pockets of his white coat, “So I’m going to assess you from out here. Now get in.”

She stared up at him with an incredulous expression, mouth slightly ajar. She eventually resigned herself to do the examination on her own, turning back into the room, but not before shoving the folder back at him in almost the same manner he did back in Doctor Smith’s office. She then raised her chin and entered the room, hoping the dog’s owner wouldn’t see the stress behind her smile.

The intern handed her the clipboard, and she gave a glance at the patient’s name in the file before she offered a hand to the older woman in the room. “Good morning, ma’am! My name’s Doctor Petra Ral, and I’ll be Sparks attending veterinarian.”

From his spot outside, Levi watched as the ginger vet performed the basics of physical examination: taking the dog’s temperature, checking the skin, eyes, and ears, running her hands through the fine golden fur and palpating for lymph nodes. All the while, talking animated with the owner, asking the necessary questions while the green-eyed intern wrote as fast as he could.

She had giggled along with everyone else in the room when the Retriever licked her cheeks in affection while she held the bell of her stethoscope to its chest. Levi then saw her squeeze the dog’s face, squishing it. The odd and funny face made everyone laugh. The dog seemed to enjoy the attention (as most dogs do), scooting closer to the female vet and laying its large head on the crook of her arm. The air in the room was calm as she continued with her ministrations. Even the intern, who normally stood stiff and awkward when he was around, visibly relaxed in her presence.

Soon enough, she began asking the more serious questions, and he could see the exchange of worried faces as the owner began to point out her complaints. Levi drowned most of it out. It wasn’t anything different from what he saw in the file from the referring vet: Malaise, continued loss of weight despite normal appetite, and abdominal enlargement with no apparent pain that was first noticed 2 months ago. He was more interested in hearing the tests she’d want to be performed.

“All right,” He heard her say after all questions were asked. He watched her hang the stethoscope around her neck and turn to the male intern, “Eren, let's draw some blood for CBC, creatinine, BUN, TP, and ALT. Then kindly get him to radiology for some abdominal x-rays in left and right laterals and dorsoventral views.”

The intern nodded and began to assist her in drawing the dog’s blood into a few tubes. It didn’t take her long to do the procedure. Levi has encountered many fresh graduates draw blood with shaky hands, but Petra was quick – not a twitch on her wrist.

Soon enough, Eren was leading the dog towards the door and he had to step out of the way as they exited the exam room and continue off towards the radiology department.

Petra made one last conversation with the owner, asking her to wait inside until the intern return with her dog, before she left the room with the tray of test tubes containing the dog’s blood samples.

Just as she slid the door close, she heard him speak, “Why ask for ALT?”

He was still leaning on the wall next to the door, scrutinizing her. She turned to him fully, one hand on her hip and that same exasperated expression on her face. “Well, if only you 'personally' examined the patient, then maybe you would have noticed the abdominal enlargement.”

“Then surely a simple radiograph would have sufficed, don’t you think?”

He saw her roll her eyes at him, which slightly pissed him off, because nobody rolls their eyes at him.

“Well, if only you 'personally' examined the patient,” she repeated with more emphasis, “then maybe you would have noticed that the abdominal enlargement is more prominent on the right side.”

“And you’re suspecting it’s the liver.”

“The liver’s in the cranial right quadrant of the abdomen, is it not?” She stepped forward towards him and, as if trying to match his intimidating air, looked up to see him eye to eye. Petra noticed his irises were an icy blue-grey, almost like steel. “Or do you need help in reviewing your anatomy?”

If he was upset at that, he didn’t show it. Instead he tilted his head to one side, eyeing her back. Levi finally got a good look at her eyes, which were a vibrant but fiery amber.

“There’s no jaundice.” He stated.

She raised an eyebrow. “How would you know that?”

He raised the folder. “It’s stated here. This is a referral remember? Maybe you should opt to read the case files beforehand to avoid wasting time repeating the questions the owner already heard from the last vet.”

Petra glanced up at the folder in his hand, biting her lower lip in annoyance at being bested and for actually forgetting to take a look at the file in the first place. But she still had one counter to his argument.

“Hepatomegaly doesn’t always present with jaundice.”

Levi didn’t change his expression, nor move at all. He did make a low hum, as if in thought. Petra took this opportunity to lightly snatch the folder from his raised hand. She tucked it under her arm and then turned away to the other side of the hall.

“I’m taking the samples to the lab.”

Levi lowered his arm and watched her go. Then he slipped his hands back inside the pockets of his white coat while the corners of his lips tugged upward slightly.

End of Chapter 1

(read Chapter 2 here)

Medical terminologies:

Signalment: the complete description of a patient, like species, breed, age, date of birth, sex, etc.

CBC (Complete blood count): a test to check for the number of red blood cell and white blood cell and other important blood values

CREA (Creatinine): A test that measures the levels of creatinine in the blood, which is a waste product when muscles breakdown. The test determines if the kidneys are functional and has the capacity to excrete the creatinine.

BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen): a test that measures the amount of nitrogen in the blood, which is another waste product. The test also determines if the kidney is functional enough to excrete the nitrogen.

TP (Total Protein): a test that measure the total amount of albumin and globulin (both are 2 types of proteins) present in blood. It is checked when a patient has unexpected weight loss.

ALT (Alanine aminotransferase): a test that checks for liver damage.

Cranial Right Quadrant: The upper right side of the abdomen.

Jaundice: a medical condition that causes yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes, gums and tongue, due to excess of a pigment released by a diseased liver.

Hepatomegaly: a medical condition of having an enlarged liver, which often presents as an abdominal mass.

A/N: This was the result of a request by @mare-dogs. And since I am an actual veterinarian, it was something I couldn’t refuse to do. So, I incorporated my professional knowledge and experience into this Rivetra two-shot. I’m also a big fan of House, M.D., so If you’re a fan as well, then maybe the flow of the story might seem familiar to you.

But damn, a medical themed story is really hard to write! Took me a while plotting how this would go, and I had to draw out old files of interesting cases I actually handled to make this feel more realistic. I also needed to review my books to maintain accuracy, especially with medical facts. I might make a few slip-ups here and there, but I’ll try to make it work.

There is no definitive schedule when the next part of the story will be published, but I’m already on it. So let’s hope I managed to get this done soon. So stay tuned. Until then, spay and neuter your pets!

#rivetra #levi ackerman #petra ral #veterinarian #fanfic #AU #attack on titan

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nicolewoo · 4 years ago

Text

I’ve Been Dreaming About You Part 2

Pairing: Roman Reigns X Reader (Joe Anaoi X Reader)

Warnings: None. Just fluff!

We were just minutes away from Laura’s house when my phone dinged. I handed the phone to Laura and gave her the code to un-lock it.

“It’s an unknown caller.” Laura practically sang out to me. She opened the text and said, “He wants to know if you’re home yet.”

He was WWE superstar Roman Reigns, or as we found out today, Joe Anaoi. He’d seen me and arranged to meet me. He and his Shield brothers had told me that he’s been dreaming about me for over a year. Pick up line? Yeah, probably, but he hadn’t made a move on me. Well, there was a kiss, but he hadn’t tried to sleep with me. Moreover, he wanted to come back on his day off and take me on a date.

“Tell him almost.” I told her, and she texted the message to him.

The phone dinged again, and Laura laughed, “He told you not to text and drive.”

“Tell him I’m not.” Well, we had one thing in common. Not texting and driving was important to both of us. I waited as she typed and then waited for a response.

“He said ok. I told him I’m texting while you drive.” She assured me. The phone dinged again, “Oh! He wants to know if you’ll call him when you get home.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that came over me. “Tell him yes.” I heard her type out the response.

“This whole situation is so weird,” She pondered. I didn’t answer, but only nodded my head. “Are you seriously just going to go out with him?”

I took a deep breath as I thought. “Yes. Why not?”

She sounded upset, “What do you really know about him? I mean, I’m pretty sure Seth and Dean were telling the truth, but really, who knows?”

“We don’t.” I said thoughtfully, “But any time I go on a first date, I take chances. At least with this man, he has a public reputation to protect.”

“Good point.” She said as I pulled up in her driveway. “Anyway, thanks for taking me with you tonight, and please let me know what’s going on. I’m invested in this now.”

I just smiled, “I promise. Now get to bed. I’ve got a phone call to make. Love ya!”

“Love ya too. Talk to you tomorrow.” I drove home, excited to talk to Joe again. Thankfully, the drive was just a couple of minutes.

=====================================================

I settled into bed, plugging my phone in to charge before I called him. “Hello.”

“Hey,” I said.

“You home?” he asked.

“Yes. Home safe and sound. How is driving through Missouri at…” what time was it? I checked the clock. “1 am?”

I heard him chuckle. “Dark and boring.”

“Just cows and billboards?” I’d made that drive quite a few times, although seldom at night.

His low laugh caused butterflies in my stomach. “Something like that. What are you doing?” he changed the subject.

“I just got home, and I’m relaxing now.” I omitted the fact that I was curled up in bed.

“Do you have to work in the morning? I don’t want to keep you up if so.”

It was my turn to chuckle. “I don’t start work until late morning, so don’t worry about it.”

“So, any idea where you want to go to dinner?” He asked.

“Well, that depends on what you like.” I teased.

“I like just about anything.” He said, giving me no direction.

I thought for a second, “Well, if that’s the case, there’s a really great steak house downtown. Depending on where you stay, we may be able to walk from your hotel to it.”

He hummed his approval. “Steak will be fine.” He paused before saying, “Listen, I was thinking about coming earlier in the day. When do you get off work?”

I just laughed to myself. What he didn’t know was that I owned my own marketing firm, and Tuesdays were my lightest day. I could literally get off work by 11 am if I wanted to. I just had to work harder the day before. “I should be off by noon.” I said nonchalantly.

“Really? That’s perfect.” He said. “Any ideas what we could do?”

I smiled to myself, “Yeah, a few. You want to do the tourist stuff or spend the day seeing how the natives live?” I laughed.

“You really spend that much time in St. Louis?” He asked.

“Yes. My city is wonderful, but there’s so much more culture in St. Louis, like restaurants from different countries and art. We just don’t have those things in the semi-small town we live in, plus St. Louis is so close.” I explained.

“I want to see St. Louis the way you do.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

We talked until he arrived in Kansas City at a little after 3 am. I chided myself for staying up so late. I was going to be dragging tomorrow. That said, how often did I get the chance to talk to a WWE star?

We ended up talking a lot before Tuesday. There were sweet good morning texts, phone calls at night and even a couple of face time conversations sometimes with his Shield brothers and sometimes without.

One thing was perfectly clear; there was a connection between us. Or, I guess I should say I felt like there was a connection. I guess we’d find out for sure on Tuesday.

====================================================

I don’t think I’d ever been this nervous going on a first date. I mean, this was Roman Reigns! Well, the guy who played Roman Reigns. He was Samoan, tall, tan, built, famous, rich, kind and funny. What the heck did I think I was doing? Girls like me just don’t end up on dates with guys like that!!!

And if that weren’t enough to scare me, he’d been dreaming about me. What if I didn’t live up to his expectations? My mind raced the whole morning. By the time I drove to meet him, I was shaking from nerves. I pulled up to the front of the hotel and found Joe standing outside waiting for me. He was dressed in jeans that fit him perfectly and a black, button down shirt. His long, dark hair was tied neatly in a bun, and when he smiled at me, I thought I’d faint.

He climbed in my passenger seat, grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it before buckling in. “Hey.” His smile broadened, and I melted.

“Hi.” I answered. He still had my hand and ran his thumb over the back of it. “When did you get in?” I asked as I started driving.

“9 this morning,” He said.

My mind reached frantically to find something to say. “How was your flight?” Oh, lovely. I have the most amazing man in my car, and all I can think to say is basic small talk? I’m going to ruin this date. I just know it.

He turned to face me before saying, “The flight was good, but tell me how your meeting went yesterday.” Thank goodness he wasn’t as nervous as me, and we settled into the easy conversation we’d been having on the phone.

Neither of us had eaten, so I headed to the Italian district, called The Hill, and parked in front of my favorite deli. We ate there, in the cramped deli with its rickety old tables and chairs, every table full and a line to order snaked around and out the door. I was nervous about Joe being recognized and inundated with requests for pictures and autographs, but we were only approached by one child who was waiting in line to order. Honestly, the little tyke was so cute and polite, I found it a pleasant experience.

When our sandwiches arrived, Joe loved it. “I can see why you chose this place. It’s delicious and I’m getting the real St. Louis experience.

“I’m just getting started.” I teased and we laughed.

Once we were done, we got back on the road. I turned into Forest Park before asking Joe, “Do you like art?”

He turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “Art?”

“Let me re-phrase that. Art, botany, history or animals?” I wound the car through the curves and hills of Forest Park like only a native could.

He chuckled. “I thought you were going to plan this date.”

“And I have. We are going to one of four places in the park. You just decide art, botany, history or animals?”

I found an empty parking spot on the side of the art museum and waited for him to decide. “I feel like I should say Zoo, because isn’t it like really popular?”

“It is,” I nodded to him. “and it’s great, and if I had kids I’d be there every chance I got.”

He finished the thought, “but there will be kids everywhere. I’d get swamped.”

I just nodded. “It’s up to you though. If you don’t mind the fans, I’m more than happy to take you to the zoo.”

“I think…” he squinted his eyes a bit in contemplation. “I think you want to show me the art, so let’s go.”

I held my hands up, “Don’t put words in my mouth. We have a stellar History museum, the wonderful Jewel Box which is basically a giant greenhouse with tropical plants or our world class Art Museum.”

“Which would you pick if you could spend a few hours here?” Ah he had me. I smiled big.

“The Art Museum.” We laughed. I opened my car door and got out. He sent me a questioning look as I walked around the car and took his hand, leading him around to the front of the museum. The giant façade looked out over Art Hill, a favorite sledding spot, and a beautiful lake.

“You’d already parked at the Art Museum,” he chuckled.

He admired the statue of St. Louis riding his horse in front of the building before opening the large door for me to go in. In front of us was a giant desk, and he reached for his wallet as he went toward the desk. I pulled on his hand to stop him. “It’s free.” I explained.

“Really?” he said as he drew out his wallet and looked for the donation box. He slid $100 in it, which was sweet and generous.

“Now,” I began to slowly pace around the desk to the atrium. “Just so you know, I have to stop by and see a guy,” intentionally wording it to see if he got jealous.

“Oh really?” He took my hand staring at me to see if I’d give him any clue, half scared and half amused.

I nodded, “Yup.” I started walking us to the room on the right. “I’m completely in love with him.” I said as we stopped in front of Reclining Pan, a giant, beautifully carved satyr lounging while eating grapes with his pan pipe close at hand. “Joe, meet Pan.” I said. Joe eyed the marble, admiring the details before walking behind it to look at the back.

“So, this is the competition, huh?” he teased. “I think I can take him.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as my eyes scanned each tiny carve, each smooth curve, each rippling muscle in front of me, and as Joe came back to the front of the statue to join me, I realized the irony of both the statue and him being so muscular…. Like carved out of marble. “I just can’t decide which of you has the better abs…” I couldn’t hold back a teasing smile.

He licked his lips as he thought, “You want me to open my shirt so you can compare?” We laughed so hard, I thought one of the guards was going to tell us to stop. “Baby, I hope you’re not expecting me to have fur and hooves.” We laughed more. He was serious now, “It’s a beautiful statue.”

We wandered through room after room, up and down the stairs, taking in everything from modern sculptures to hieroglyphics. Some areas we went through faster, some slower so we could take in every detail.

Afterward, I took Joe on a drive around the city including The Arch, Graffiti Wall and some other popular places before heading to one of my favorite neighborhoods. The main street is full of shops selling everything from bread to hardware to French home decorations. We meandered stopping in the little shops along the way. Joe found some spices that he wanted to try. I pondered buying some sun-dried tomato and basil bread but decided against it. A young family with two young kids stopped to ask Joe for pictures, and he obliged.

Since I knew Joe liked beer, and we were two blocks away, I walked us over to Schlafly Bottle Works, a St. Louis local brewery. We sat at a little bar table with our drinks and talked about the art we’d seen, the city, work and so much more. The conversation was easy and relaxed.

When it was time, we returned my car to the hotel and started walking to the restaurant. We got stopped by 3 groups wanting pictures in just 2 blocks. I shouldn’t have been surprised at that, but we’d barely had any interruptions, and now we got 3. The young man behind the valet desk’s eyes bulged out when he saw us, and he quickly opened the door for us. Joe went to tip him, and the young man said he’d prefer a picture with Joe. Of course, he gave the kid both the picture and the tip.

“You made that kid’s night!” I chuckled, “and since this restaurant is owned by a former Cardinals player, it’s not uncommon to have players and other stars in here.”

“May I help you?” the young lady behind the hostess desk asked us, maintaining her professional persona even if her eyes did focus on Joe almost exclusively. Joe grabbed my hand, indicating we were together. I pondered for a second if he did that consciously or unconsciously.

“It’s under your name,” I squeezed Joe’s hand, and he returned the squeeze as he told the young lady and she walked us to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

“Could we maybe get that table instead?” Joe gave the hostess his flirty smile and I watched her melt as he pointed to a quiet corner table where we wouldn’t be so obvious.

She nodded as she cooed out, “Of course Sir.” I couldn’t help but laugh. I melted when he looked at me too.

Waiters and busers went into action. First, ice water in our glasses, then drink orders, then delivering drinks etc. One of the things I loved about this place was that it ran like a well-oiled machine. The servers were among the best in the city, and we never wanted for anything, but we also didn’t feel smothered. We sat and ate and talked and laughed. There were touches across the table. There were long eye locks. We watched as the people of St. Louis paraded past the floor length windows next to us. In short, it was perfect. This was by far the best date I’d ever been on.

After, we finished, we asked our waitress for a good calm after dinner place where we could talk, and she suggested Bailey’s Chocolate Bar. I’d heard good things about it and agreed. There, we found a dimly lit, slightly hidden corner with a loveseat and two tiny round tables in front of us each just big enough to hold a drink or two and a candle. As we enjoyed the privacy and the conversation, intimacy grew starting with hand holding, then his arm around the back of the seat, then soft, gentle kisses.

This man could KISS! My body responded to every single kiss, every single touch, torturing me with need. I wanted……. Oh! I wanted. Watching the light from the candle cross his face. Seeing his smile, smelling his cologne. I wanted, but just as my mind was getting hazy with lust, Joe broke our kiss, taking a deep breath to calm down and asked if I wanted to split a dessert with him. If I wasn’t going to give in to my sex drive tonight, I was going to give into a chocolate craving, so I agreed. The dessert was a smart way to break the sexual tension.

“So,” Joe put his arm around my shoulder casually. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

@mindofasagittaruis @lclb13

#roman reigns #joe anaoi

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