#like i get it i do. but its the same energy as jkr saying she was threatened with getting shot

[irregodless]

look i get not liking people saying mean things about you but drawn out and detailed, yet extremely specific and convoluted threats/wishes is kind of just typical tumblr fare that has never been taken seriously (or mocked when it has been [down with cis bus types]) so it feels kind of disconnected to try and embrace the sites uniqueness only to recoil the first time someone is like

*ties you up in a sack and then beats the sack with hammers*

[drarry-is-totally-cannon]

Drarry & The Goblet of Fire: 4th Year Rewrite

Chapter 7 ~ Something Exciting/Wicked This Way Comes

(A/N: Don't panic. YOU HAVE NOT MISSED THE PREVIOUS 6 CHAPTERS!!! I just started it at 7 because this is where my story diverges from JKR's original Plot. Also, I'm new to writing in 3rd person so we'll see. I'll try my best to imitate the original HP style but it might be a bit off. Ahhh! This took me way too long. I feel like it isn't perfect, so I may edit it later, but at least it's done. My very first Drarry fic!!!)

The Weaslys and their youngest son, Ron's best friends, Hermione Granger, and the famous Harry Potter have been up since before even the sun had made its first appearance in the sky and Harry feels as if he's been hit by Jelly-Legs Jinx. But now, arriving at the destination, the campgrounds for the finale of the Quidditch World Cup, his energy is completely restored. In fact, there's been a sort of buzzing in him since the group met up with Mr. Digory and his son, Cedric.

The moment is still fresh in Harry's mind, despite the slight disorientation from the Port-key.

The older boy had been perched in a tree when they reached the top of the hill. Harry hadn't noticed him at first, still too busy laughing at Ron's groaning complaints about the long walk. But when Cedric greeted everyone Harry's eyes went immediately to him.

His red hair caught the light like the suncatcher in Mrs. Weasly's kitchen making it almost appear to sparkle and the sun gave his skin the same glow. Harry thought he must be part faerie or nymph or something because no boy should be this attractive.

Cedric jumped down from the branch in one fluid movement and strode over to shake everyone's hand. Harry swore he smiled a bit brighter when he got to him, but maybe that was just his imagination. He recalls how Cedric's hands were warm and his grip was pleasantly strong, fitting of his build.

Harry blinks away the memory to look at the Hufflepuff seeker again. Somehow the boy, three years Harry's senior, is even more handsome in real life. 

'I've never been jealous of a bloke like this before. And I've always thought I looked alright, but this is weird . . .'

"See you 'round Arthur. Ced and I have got to be off now. Got to meet the Missus before she gets all in a twist. And goodbye Harry. May the best team win."

Cedric looks away, clearing his throat lightly, embarrassed at his father yet again referencing Harry's terrible fall last year. "Well, it's been truly great meeting all of you. I guess we've got to go. Hopefully, we'll see you around. If we don't see each other before September, know that I'm looking forward to that re-match. I would like to beat you on fair terms." He winks at Harry, his competitive spirit clear in his eyes. Whatever skill he may or may not lack, his spirit certainly makes up for it.

Something about the gesture makes Harry feel warm, a slightly different feeling than the blissful buzz of Quidditch camaraderie. He looks down, then slowly back up to Cedric, not quite meeting the boy's eyes. "Y-yeah. Me too. It'll be . . . fair."

Harry has never been a master of words but even he thinks that was awkward. But he can say no more because with that the Diggorys are off. Thankfully for Harry, most everyone is too preoccupied with the majesty of the grounds to pay much attention to his fumbling. After all, they are something of a sight to behold. Tents in every shape and size imaginable stretch on as far as Harry can see (and probably farther accounting for his notoriously unreliable vision).

"Is this okay?" He asks, his breath taken away at the sheer expanse. He's never seen so many wizards in one place. People from all countries, children younger than Ginny, and adults with silver hair.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Mr. Weasly asks.

"What about the muggles, won't they get suspicious?"

"Nope, there are hundreds of charms around the campground. If any muggle comes within a mile they suddenly remember something urgent they have to do at home. It's quite the sight actually, the poor people, running off like that. And, of course, each family puts charms on their own tents. We wizards rarely get together like this so when we do, we can't resist showing off a bit." The man giggles with joy, sounding more like a Hogwarts student himself than a ministry employee of many years.

—

Harry's amazement only grows as they walk down the rows upon rows of enchanted temporary homes. Most tents look fairly ordinary, their owners making a somewhat decent effort to blend in, but they're still spectacular by their sheer number. Not to mention the few obviously magical tents that look more like small houses. He's not the only one impressed. Hermione gasps.

'These must all involve such advanced, precise charm work. Extension charms, cloaking charms . . . if only I could make something like this, even something small like a bag.'

Even Ron, despite his magical upbringing, has never seen this many international wizards before and gapes at the sheer decadence of some of the tents. He is not so silent about his thoughts, muttering "Must be the pureblood families, right rich snobs the lot of them."

Hermione is too lost in thought to hear and Harry ignores his best mate's grumbling in favour of scanning the crowd for a particular tent. He's not quite sure what he's looking for but is sure he'll know it when he sees it. He frowns when he fails to spot it and follows the Weasleys dejectedly.

After labouring for an hour and a half to set up the tent, everyone heads inside. The cloth enclosure, which from the outside looks hardly big enough for two people, much less 10, has a small loft with a window, invisible from the outside. It's through this window that Harry spots the largest tent he's seen so far. A black mass with turrets, balconies, and several peacocks tethered to the outside.

'That has to be it!'

Harry's suspicions are only confirmed when he sees a familiar head of white-blond hair parting the crowd to enter. At the sight, he jumps down from the loft, scaring an unsuspecting Ginny into dropping her copy of Witch Weekly: 100 Most Influential Women in Quidditch Edition.

She blushes at his sudden appearance in front of her, but he hardly notices. "Ah, Harry. What on earth?"

"Sorry, I've got to, er, get some water?"

"Water?"

"Yeah . . . I'm really thirsty, from the walk, you know."

"Okay. Well, the pump's a bit of a way away, would you like me to go with you, I can help. I'll tell Dad."

Harry sighs, wishing she'd let him go, but that's seemed impossible since he rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets in her first year. As much as Harry denies it, he's easy to read and Ginny is hardly stupid. He should've known she wouldn't accept his lie so easily. 

"Ah, well I kind of wanted to explore on my own, meet up with some of the boys from my year, and do, you know, idiotic boy stuff." He lies easier than he thought he would, quoting Hermione.

Harry feels guilty when Ginny deflates, shoulder sagging with obvious disappointment, "Well, Dad won't want you just going off, this is a big place."

"I know. But I saw Dean and Seamus just outside. I won't be going far. And I'll do everyone the favour of bringing water back."

'Agh, drat! Well, hard to be subtle when you're Harry bloody potter I guess. Probably best though, Ginny's right. I still get lost around the castle sometimes and I've been there loads. And Mr. Weasley isn't the nosy type., I'm sure it'll be fine.'

The thought of being sent out to trek across the grounds for water in the summer heat makes the idea more infinitely palatable and reluctantly, she nods. "Alright, I'll tell Dad so he won't worry."

"Thank you, Ginny. You really are the best."

She lights up at that, and Harry wonders if it was the wrong thing to say, but not for long because his thoughts turn to another as soon as he's out of the tent flap.

Surprisingly, for all their talk, the Malfoy family tent isn't a far walk from the Weasley tent. 

'Everyone must be inside. I'd bet Pansy and Blaise are there, probably Theo too. We didn't plan to meet, I wonder if he'll even want to see me.'

Taking a breath, Harry points his wand at the tent, sending a shower of harmless silver and green sparks, the colours of Slytherin house, inside. It's a spell he learnt from one of the tent's occupants. He snickers when he hears a girl scream. 

'Sorry, Pansy.'

"Ah, what in Merlin was that?" he hears Blaise mutter.

"I told you the Irish are crazy, I don't even know why you're cheering for them, Draco. The Bulgarians have Viktor Krum, who's only the most famous seeker in all of history." Pansy scoffs dismissively.

"Famous, but not best. And we're cheering for the Irish because Malfoys always cheer for the winning team."

'You knotheads, those weren't Ireland's colours, they were ours.' Draco keeps the comment to himself, not feeling like risking Pansy's wrath just now.

"Famous but not best, eh? Like Potter."

Harry, who'd know the sound anywhere, notes the absence of Draco's laugh in the chorus of snickers. 

There's a pause and all sound from the tent stops. "Ugh, bloody Potter. It's always something with him, isn't it? Stupid perfect Potter no one ever shuts about him. I swear if I hear another word about the Golden Boy, I'll puke."

'But you're the one who never shuts up about him, Draco.' Pansy keeps these thoughts to herself, giggling as she looks around at her friends, all thinking a similar version of the statement.

'He's such a good liar, if I didn't know I'd think he really meant that.' Harry shoves the insecurity down. His friendship with Draco has always been a rocky road, fragile due to the circumstances around them. For one thing the natural distrust between the two and then the animosity between the adults in their lives. What started as politeness neither is sure has blossomed yet into kindness. It's quite difficult to know where you stand with someone when you can't even talk in public. 

Harry may not be the most observant but he now knows Draco well enough to see that ever since they met it's seemed as if some invisible barrier prevents Draco from getting close to Harry. Though Harry isn't sure if it's a natural defence mechanism or something more. He can't imagine what it could be since after the Third Year he's assured Draco that everything he does in public is for show. The teasing is all a part of the fun. He's not sure if he can say the same for Draco because sometimes his words feel so real. But what could possibly be the reason for that?

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come back quick though, I want to paint your nails in Bulgaria red."

"How about you don't, and I go find the imbecile who nearly set our tent on fire. Probably some poor drunk Irishman." 

Harry can hear his friend's voice getting closer and steps out of his hiding place. The blond's grey eyes widen when he sees Harry, then narrow again, face falling into an easy smirk on his face.

'He's harmless like this.' Harry thinks, 'Still a snake, but not a venomous one.' 

"My, my, so that was you, Potter. You've improved greatly over the summer. I didn't know you knew any spells besides Expleiarmus."

Harry punches his arm lightly "Git!"

The smirk shifts into something more genuine. "Hah. Sorry, I love my friends but I know they can be intense sometimes. But seriously, what are you doing here, Harry?"

"Oh, nothing much. I was just out for an afternoon stroll, that's a thing muggles do, you wouldn't know, and before I knew it, I was here. It's not far from Surrey really, only a couple hundred kilometres." Harry answers casually.

"Be serious, Harry." But Draco's own seriousness is lost behind the smile that he's trying to hide.

"I'm watching the finale of the Quidditch World Cup, don't be dense." Harry laughs

Draco nods, mostly to himself. "Oh, the Weaslys took you along with them, then."

"You knew the Weasleys were coming?"

Draco rolls his eyes, "Yes, of course I did. I heard my father mention that Mr. Weasly sold his house to get tickets so I assumed he used connections at the Ministry." Both boys wince. "Anyhow, that's very kind of them. I'm glad they did. I think you might love Quidich even more than Weasley."

Harry laughs, "Maybe, but his room is basically a Chudley Cannons shrine."

Draco frowns in mock disgust, "The Cannons? I've always been more of a Magpie fan myself."

"Magpie? Like those Australian birds that attack shiny things? I learnt about them in primary school a bit."

"Oh, right. Gosh, Potter, You got to tell Weasley to drag you to more Quidditch games. The Montrose Magpies. They're one of the best teams in the British-Irish league."

"Cool. Your friends are here?"

"Yeah, Pansy, Blaise and Theo. Crabbe and Goyle are probably off somewhere buying out the concessions. But, I'm sure they'll manage without me for a bit."

"Yeah." Harry agrees. There's something Harry finds satisfying about Draco ditching his friends for him. Like he's bringing him to the Gryffindor side, Harry guesses. But both boys know that Draco could never be a Gryffindor. Perhaps that's even why he and Harry are such good friends. After all, how could he not befriend the boy who risked his father's wrath to secretly help him learn about the history of Slytherin and Parselmouths and then gave them the clue that helped them solve the mystery of the chamber and made Harry realise he was not, in fact, going insane.

"We should probably go, you know, so they don't see us."

Draco doesn't respond for a second, staring off into space and right at Harry. Harry's found that Draco is almost always staring at him. At first, it was a bit uncomfortable, his gaze heavier than anyone else Harry has ever met, grey eyes looking down at him with the intensity of the sun when Dudley uses his big magnifying glass to fry ants. But now Harry is just used to it, used to those grey eyes boring into him. Sometimes he'd swear it's grown almost pleasant now. He never bothers to guess what Draco might be thinking about because he knows he couldn't anyway.

Despite his hefty stare, Draco's tone is light when he speaks. "Right, I know a place."

He looks around as if searching for something, then he points his wand and despite him saying nothing at all, a comically large green top hat with an even larger green shamrock and green jacket also adorned with shamrocks come whizzing into his hands. Harry stares at his use of non-verbal magic. Draco takes no notice of Harry's amazement, throwing the garments at Harry who lets them fall.

"What are you waiting for, get those on." Draco's face falls into comic offence, "Oh . . . oh, don't tell me you're cheering for Bulgaria?"

"I don't know who to cheer for, it's not like I get to follow Quidich much when I'm at home. Why?" Harry asks stupidly, then answers his own question. " . . . Right, yeah. Duh."

"Merlin, you forget you're famous, don't you." Draco sighs, ignoring the mention of Harry's unfortunate home life for the both of them.

Sheepishly, Harry picks up the garments, shrugging on the too-small-looking jacket which somehow (probably by magic) fits him perfectly, and the large hat which casts rough shadow over his face to cover his scar and the white section of his hair above it.

"Come on!" And then Draco is grabbing his hand and pulling him along. 

They end up at the edge of the campground, just in the woods exactly where Mr. Weasley told Harry not to go. The forest looks thicker than it should and green light filters through the trees casting a greenish glow over them. It makes Draco's hair look mint green instead of blond. They both laugh, a little out of breath from the sudden run across the huge campground and relieved to be away from the eyes of their respective groups. 

After he gathers himself Harry notices for the first time Draco's clothes. For Harry, being raised by the Durselys, dressing like a muggle was his first nature, robes feeling awkward and out of place, but, of course, this wouldn't be the case for someone like Draco Malfoy, a member of one of Great Britain's wealthier pure-blood families. 

And yet . . . Harry finds that Draco wears muggle clothes well, even better than he does. This isn't the first time he's seen him without robes, but outside of school, it feels somehow different. He's dressed in all black, an all-black suit with a black shirt. It makes his hair almost seem to glow.

'I guess I can see why all the Slytherin girls fawn over him.' Harry thinks. It's an odd thought, but not objectively untrue. He ignores it when another question enters his head.

"Aren't you hot?"

"I'm a Malfoy, I am always hot, Potter."

Harry cocks his head, ignoring the twinge of annoyance that Draco still uses his surname sometimes, "What? That doesn't even . . . oh. Hey! That's not what I meant!"

Draco laughs. Harry ignores his embarrassment being mocked because it's a real laugh. Rare even when he's alone with Harry. "I know that. Mother put a cooling charm on all our clothes." 

"That's nice."

Draco looks down, "Sorry."

"About what?" Then Harry gets it. He hadn't been thinking about his long-dead mother before, but Draco probably felt bad for bringing up his own, very alive, mother. "It's really fine. You don't have to walk on eggshells, I hate it when people do that. You never have before, so don't start now. Let's just talk. Okay? About anything else, something funny."

"Alright, well father," Draco says the word with heavy exasperation, "keeps hinting about a mysterious event taking place at school this year but refuses to give any details. And I know mother knows as well but she won't budge either. Cruel, the both of them, keeping me in suspense like this."

"Event? Well, I only hope it's not an exam."

"Scared, Potter." The quip is stupid, stupid, and familiar.

Harry gulps dramatically, "A bit yeah. If it is an exam, the homework is going to be enough to fill the entire lake."

"Merlin, yeah. Binns and McGonagall are the worst, sorry, I know you like her, but five essays in two months, really? The professors are aware we have other classes, right? I'm going to get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a muggle affliction of all things." He moans, throwing his head back in a typical display of theatrics, his blond hair ruffling with the sudden movement. When he recovers himself his hair falls perfectly back into place. 

'It's quite nice, his hair', Harry notes. If only his own hair could look as nice instead of sticking up like he's taken a shock. 'Is it a spell?' he wonders. 

Harry can't help but laugh. He's heard of the ailment from Aunt Petunia's awful friends when she used to host Thursday afternoon book clubs in the Dursley's parlour.

Harry groans, "I bet it's an exam, that'd be just my luck. If Voldemort can't get me, sleep-deprivation will."

Draco winces at the name, looking suddenly serious. Privately, he worries that the upcoming event may have something to do with the mysterious people that his father started inviting last year. Now he doesn't even invite them, they just show up, anytime, all the time. He's caught whispered words through walls, snippets of conversations not meant for him.

Voldemort.

Death Eater.

Is his father involved in that? Surely not? Narcissa Malfoy never talks to her son about the war, but that must be because she lost someone, collateral damage, or even had a cousin or something who was a traitor, right?

But before Harry can ask, he's smiling that Slytherin Prince smile of his again. "If you're really worried about it, I'd be happy to help you study . . ." The sentence trickles off, the sound dying on the breeze. Draco looks around, eyes landing on everything but Harry, seemingly surprised at his words.

'Shite! Why . . . why did I say something like that? Merlin, Draco, get yourself together. If you keep acting like this . . . I have to fix this, let him know I didn't mean . . .'

"If you'd like, or not, of course. You don't have to." Then he recovers himself, laughing (but in Harry's opinion it seems half-hearted) "But, Potter, I'm sure someone like you could use all the help you can get. I am second in the class after all. Second only to your bushy-haired menace of a friend. It's like she can make the days longer just to study. I bet if she ever found a way that's exactly what she'd do."

Draco laughs bitterly.

'What's he rambling about? Does he really resent Hermione's grades that much? Is he jealous? Of what though? He's got the brains to beat her. I bet if she didn't have the time-turner, he would. Is this about our friendship? Surely he knows I'd be happy to study with him. I know he's emotional, but this seems a bit much, even for him. Is something wrong?'

Taking a breath, Harry tries to clear his mind. He's not used to thinking so deeply about something like this. It's kind of tiring.

"I'd rather study with you, actually. You're about as bossy as Hermione, but at least you don't expect me to know everything, acting like it's all obvious." The words come out before he's entirely thought them through, but they're not untrue.

Draco thanks Merlin that the darkness of the thicket hides the pinkness of his cheeks.

"It is obvious, and I would expect you to know everything, if you paid attention in class, that is. But I know you don't, so I'm patient. It's as simple as that. Though it's nice to know I'm better than her at something." The words come out slightly sharper than he means for them too, like a snake coiling up, using insults to mask embarrassment.

"Hey! I do, I just daydream sometimes. And you're better than her at a lot of things."

"Oh?" Malfoy arches an elegant blond brown.

'It's like he was made for smirking and sarcasm, isn't it?'

"Well, flying for one. You're a brilliant flyer." Harry knows that Draco knows exactly how smart he is and that he shouldn't be fueling his ego but he can't help it.

'Maybe compliments are what it takes to get his walls down. Ah, I know better than that, he's not that shallow. But I've still got to try.'

Draco moves farther into the shade. 'Look at me floundering over some nice words just because they came from Potter. Pathetic.'

"Well, thank you, Potter. You're not so terrible yourself."

"Oh my god! Wow! That's like the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!" 

Both boys nearly fall over with laughter at Harry's impression of a high-voiced American schoolgirl.

"Your American accent is shite. You sound just like Sally."

"Who?"

"A Hufflepuff from Astronomy club last year, and I'm so sorry, I'm sure she and her family are very . . . nice people, but she's got a voice like she's inhaled helium."

"Oof. Speaking of Hufflepuff, I met Cedric Diggory and made such a fool of myself"

"What? Why? You're not still embarrassed about the broom thing are you, everyone knows that wasn't your fault, don't they?"

"Yeah, but I think I must've sounded like a right idiot."

Draco tilts his head, resembling a confused cat. "Well that's to be expected, but why in particular? I mean, it must have been severe if you picked up on it."

"Oh shut up! I- I just . . . I don't know but I was so embarrassed I couldn't speak. Not even about the fall, just like, I don't know . . . stuff."

"Stuff." Draco questions, trying not to get ahead of himself. 'It's fine. It's probably nothing, don't worry. Just totally straight Quidditch bruv stuff.'

"Oh well, he just good-looking, I guess, and-"

'WHAT?!'

"Oh, are you gay now as well, Potter? Welcome to the club. Would you like a pin" It comes out bitter, and hurtful because Draco is bitter and hurt.

'Does . . . does he like guys now too? If he likes guys why can't he . . . what's bloody Diggory got that I haven't?'

"Huh? What?" Harry blushes the colour of his quidditch robes, "N-No, it's not like that. I actually like . . . erm . . ." he says the first girl's name that pops into his head, "Cho Chang!"

"Cho Chang?" Draco raises an eyebrow, relieved, hiding embarrassment again, but not fully convinced.

". . . Yeah? What's wrong with Cho?"

"Oh, nothing." Draco's tone is sing-song, relaxed, his face calm as always. But Harry sees the glint of mischief in his eyes, the one that's usually there even as others accuse him of scowling.

The look on Harry's face is one of confusion, embarrassment, and terror all in one. 

"I just think you're lying." Draco's expression turns sincere, "I mean, it's okay, mate. You know me of all people won't mind. You know you can talk to me . . . anytime, yeah." But by the end of the sentence, Darco's smiling, a laugh colouring the words.

Once again the two fill the silence with shared laughter.

'His laugh's not half bad, I wish he'd laugh this much in school.'

"Yeah, I don't think I will." Awkward silence. "Not that it's bad to be gay, obviously, love who you love, that's fine, it's just that . . . well, you know . . . I'm not."

"Potter, you dunce, it's fine. I was only joking."

'Because that's all this will ever be.' Draco hides the disappointment behind a practised smile.

"Yeah, right, of course." Harry is too relieved at not offending his friend to see through it.

"Enough of this." Draco waves a dismissive hand, "You know I love good gossip, Potter. Tell me exactly what happened with Diggory."

"You'd better not tell anyone!" Harry swats at him, but Darco shares his seeker reflexes and doges easily.

"I won't. Malfoy's honour." Draco places a hand over his heart and bows like a prince from times past.

'Not that that means much anymore . . .'

"Okay, fine, gosh!"

"'Gosh'?" Draco questions teasingly, "Just say Merlin for Merlin's sake!"

"Malfoy." Harry warns, teasing as well, "Do you want to know or not?"

(A/N: Harry will swear as a form of rebellion and because he learnt it from Dudley doing it behind Petunia's back, but the Durselys never took the lord's name in vain so it's not a habit he picked up.)

Draco puts his arms up in surrender.

'Being with him like this, alone together, talking, laughing . . . I wish we could do this all the time. At school, away from everyone maybe we could- Merlin, I'm turning into some dewy-eyed schoolgirl! But I'd skip around like an idiot if it was with Potter, I know I would. Merlin, am I really such a simp? Is this what he's done to me? Stupid knight!'

"Okay. So I have no idea why but I was just really jealous all of the sudden, well, not jealous exactly, but, I don't know, I just felt so . . . insecure." Harry still isn't quite sure that that's the correct word for the strange tingling feeling he experienced but nevertheless, he wants to hide as he says it.

Draco's brows furrow, considering this, readying advice.

'His advice is usually good. . . . Maybe not this time though. It isn't like the Slytherin prince has got much to be insecure about, then again, he did seem weird about being behind Hermione in year rank . . . I don't know. It's been two years and I still barely know him. Ugh.'

'Potter, insecure? What a bloody joke. Gyffindor's knight? Perfect, popular, seeker, saviour of the entire wizarding world Potter? Ah, well, we all have our down moments. I- . . . Pansy's the prettiest girl I know but sometimes I catch her staring in the mirror with that look in her eye . . . If a friend is all Potter and I will ever be then I should at least be a good one and help.'

"Well, don't be. You're a bloody brilliant flyer, and you've got a talent for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Diggory can turn watches to whistles? So what does Diggory know about a few charms? I could do that in my sleep, without a wand. What's that going to do if You-Know-Who comes knocking at his door?" 

It was a joke, but neither of them laughed.

Anyone observing both boys would notice how they paled at the words.

Frames from Harry's dream flash behind his eyelids, the greenlight blinding him for a second. He would swear that he can hear the thump as the gardener's body hit the old wooden floor.

'No, no, I'm here. Here in the Quidditch World Cup. . . with Malfoy.' Harry reminds himself.

It was a joke. A poorly timed one, one echoing the words of the little voice in the back of Draco's head.

Draco opens his mouth but closes it without saying anything. Harry can tell he wants too, that the words are on the edge of his tongue, dying to spill out, but as always, held back by some invisible barrier.

'I know I've hardly earned the right to his thoughts, but I'd like to know all the same. I felt like I understood him better when we were enemies, but now I know that there's so much more I don't know. That seems like a running theme in my life. Heh. Maybe Professor Binns should just let me write my essay on that. How there always seems to be something that someone isn't telling me, a memoir by myself, Harry James Potter. I've never wanted to know so much about magic before, about the families who carry it, that's Hermione thing. Will Malfoy ever tell me what he really thinks? Not just the brutal honesty about trivial things, but, like . . . real stuff? Hermione says bottling things up isn't healthy.'

"Yeah."

"What?" Draco almost forgot his original comment amongst his worries.

"Yeah, charms won't be much help. They weren't for my parents."

Draco nods, looking a step behind for once. "Right."

Neither boy knows how to broach the subject of what's going on in their heads. But they both know they don't want to leave the presence of the one person who seems to understand.

"Let's meet up later." Harry blurts out, "as friends, of course." he adds using the old gay joke to cover the awkwardness, it sort of works.

"Of course, I could never date an idiot of your magnitude, Potter."

"Right, right, how am I going to"

"I'll find you," Draco assures. 

The words reassure Harry more than is really necessary. The warmth of having a good friend, of course. It is reassuring to have a confidant . . . maybe. If Harry didn't know better, he'd say there was something else in the blond boy's tone, but Harry has never been good at reading people so he must be wrong.

'What? What, why did I- Merlin that was like something out of a cheesy film! I need to stop this. Potter is only so daft. He'll realise eventually. . . . Or maybe he won't. And that might just hurt more. I'm a Malfoy, we're not supposed to be so invisible.'

Suddenly: footsteps!

"Quick, Potter!" Draco whispers, the words a near-silent shout.

"What!"

"Hide."

But there's nowhere to hide, the trees aren't thick enough.

"What's going-"

"My father." The two-word explanation is enough to send shivers down Harry's spine.

"Shite! I can't-"

Then Harry is shoved violently up against a tree trunk, by Draco of all people.

Draco slaps him. "You call yourself a wizard, Potter? Pathetic. I can't believe a wizard as 'great' as you would go wasting your time with low class refuse like the Weasleys, with . . ." Draco pauses for half a second, guilt clear in his eyes, he can't bring himself to say the word, not again. For better or worse he doesn't have to.

"Draco? Is this where you scurried off to? Off fighting with fists like some lowly muggle?" Lucius Malfoy says the word with unmasked disgust. "Did your mother and I simply waste the money we spent on dulling lessons for you?" His look of disapproval is penetrating, the kind of look that freezes one's self-esteem and then shatters it all in the same instant. 

Harry would say it reminds him of his wretched Aunt, but Petunia Dursely could only dream of looking so cruel. 'Aunt Petunia wishes she could look at me like that.'

Draco doesn't want to look at him.

'Don't be a coward, Draco. Not in front of Potter.' He tells himself.

Draco turns to face his father, a calm, unbothered look in his eyes, not like a boy desperate for approval but scared of what it means.

"Well, you see father, I simply couldn't duel him."

Lucius quirks a blond eyebrow, hair barely darker than his son's. "And whyever not?"

"Because it would be too cruel. You see, Potter, here, can't duel. He was raised by muggles." Draco makes an aghast face, but it's theatrical. "He only knows how to use his fists. Isn't that ridiculous, Father? Can you believe such an imbecile is 'The Chosen One'? He's like a troll-"

"Draco, quiet! I hear of nothing but bloody Potter all summer. Now let him go before you dirty yourself. After all, he consorts with mudbloods."

"Of course, father. I shan't touch him any more than necessary." Draco shoves Harry back, slamming him into the tree just hard enough, yanking his hands away like Harry is a hot cauldron, throwing one last artificially nasty glare then turns to follow his father back to his tent.

"Idiot boy." Harry can hear Lucius Malfoy whisper cruelly as he exits the forest with his son. "Did I not tell you to make friends with 'The Chosen One'? If only you'd gotten on his good side then perhaps you could've been useful. Hmmph, surely he will find something an ingrate like you can do."

Harry would like to say the words shock him, after all, Lucius has done nothing but gloat of his son's perfection whenever he's encountered Harry, especially when he's with the Weasleys, but Harry has seen the cruel glint in his eyes. It was inevitable he'd turn that gaze to his son if he hasn't been from the beginning.

'Is this why he never tells me anything? . . . Is he . . . afraid? No, Malfoy isn't afraid of anything.' But Harry knows that isn't true. He remembers that time in the woods in first year, even before the boys encountered Voldemort, Malfoy had been shaking. And when Lupin had mentioned the Boggart. No, not Malfoy, Malfoy isn't afraid of anything, he couldn't care less, but Draco is. Draco is the young boy who cares all too much.

'What would have come out of there?'Harry wonders distantly.

But behind his hard exterior, it can be hard for anyone to see that, even the boy he'd now call his closest friend. Harry ignores the gruesome memory, blinking away the visions of split unicorn blood turning the ground under his feet silver, telling himself not to feel guilty. 

It takes Harry a moment to catch his breath, he doesn't know why. He's definitely the fitter of the two boys, with all his running away from near-death experiences. But Draco is stronger than he looks, and at the moment, with all that fear and adrenaline, the pressure building, mounting to an explosion under his father's watch, he pushed Harry a bit harder than he meant to. Harry doesn't mind. He's used to being shoved. He's had much worse. He understands. It feels almost nice to be shoved for a reason other than someone's enjoyment of seeing him in pain.

With one last glance in the direction the Malfoys left, he leaves the forest, heading back to the Weasly tent.

'Wait . . . the water! Fuck. Right.' Sighing Harry ducks to avoid an explosion of bright green sparklers and heads to the pump.

As he walks a feeling of embarrassment washes over him for the second time that day. He hadn't noticed in the moment, but Draco had been so close, his silver eyes looking so guilty, guilty, and something else. Harry thinks it was far more guilt than was necessary. It's not like he's had a choice. How else would he have explained their being alone in the forest together? It's just the way that things have to be. Harry's learnt to be fine with that. 

'Or should I feel guilty as well, for nearly making him say . . . that word again. How didn't I realise before? Of course, Mr Malfoy reserves his highest standards of all for his family. Maybe having no parents at all is better than that. I know I'd rather have been put in a group home with Nuns than with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, then at least the beatings wouldn't have been personal.'

Harry looks down just in time to see his pail overflowing. It seems heavier than it should as he carries it back.

'Relax, Harry. Not everything is about you. Here no one cares, they're all just here for Quidich. The dream can't have meant anything, nothing bad is going to happen. Don't go being all paranoid. Voldemort is gone. I can't let him have any more power over me. Ron would tell me to enjoy myself, so that's what I'll do.'

Harry nods, waving at Dean and Seamus as he passes them, they nod back, then go straight back to setting sparklers. Harry was going to have fun at a non-school sporting event for the first time in his life, yes he was, and absolutely nothing was going to stop him.

(A/N: OMG! The first chapter. I really hope it's alright, characterisation can be hard for me sometimes. I hope I kept Harry's sass in enough.)

(A/N: Use of underage magic can be explained by this reddit post: [Harry Potter theory] The underaged magic law was created in a subtle effort to remove non-pure-blood wizards from wizard society. : r/FanTheories and these Quora posts: If underage wizards and witches can't perform magic outside of school, how can Harry use Lumos at 4 Privet Drive? - Quora)

[eldritchsurveys]

1203.

Do you ever just feel like you need to be alone for some reason? >> I feel like that often. Being around people is exhausting. If you got paid $5 per survey you made, could you make a living just doing that? >> No, because I rarely make surveys. When was the last time you wore something totally inappropriate for the weather? Does this happen often? >> The last time I remember being underdressed for the weather was the night of Aïda, because it was freezing by the time it was over and my little cloak was not enough (I forget what outfit I was wearing underneath but I was cold as hell in it).

The last time you went out of the house, where were you going and what did you do? >> I went to check out the new community garden, then (after some downtime sitting on the stoop and slurping a margarita slushie thing) went to see Furiosa, and stopped at Target on the way home. This was yesterday.

When was the last time someone cancelled plans on you? Were you annoyed? >> The meetup at the Stray was postponed because of an unforeseen hiccup, which was fine with me because I just took the "going out" energy I'd saved up for that and used it to see Furiosa instead.

Do you have a friend that has a tendency to “dump” you whenever they get a new partner? >> Of course not. Would you ever want to go on vacation with just one of your parents? .

In summer, do you prefer to wear dresses or shorts and tops? Or maybe something else? >> I wear both and other things besides.

If you could dye your hair any colour (and have it look good/professional), what colour would you pick? >> I am not interested in dyeing my hair. Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? >> Way back in the day, yeah. For some reason, I've been in two Facebook back-and-forths regarding the same topic -- why Black people don't appreciate white people wearing their wack ass excuse for dreadlocks. Exhausting.

Have you ever had an unusual type of milk (eg. oat, rice, almond)? >> I've had all of the above and also macadamia nut milk. Milkadamia, is what it's called. Because of course it is.

How many cans of soda would you say you drink in a week, if any at all? >> Zero, I drink fizzy water. When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? >> I do.

If you like to sleep in late, have your parents ever told you off for doing so? . How much stuff do you take with you when you go on vacation for a week? >> I am a pretty light traveller. One average-sized suitcase and a backpack is the standard for me, provided I don't bring my weighted blanket (which I only bring on trips that involve the car and not some other more complicated form of transportation where I have to do things with my baggage).

How old is your oldest living relative? .

Do you know anyone who is an alcoholic? How has that affected you? >> I currently do not, although I have my suspicions about Sparrow's mother.

Could you willingly live on a vegan diet? >> Health-wise, I assume I could since that's basically how I spent the first 13 years of my life (although I am also aware that bodies change over time and maybe there'd be complications nowadays). I have zero interest in doing it now, though. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, are you sad that there’ll never be another book or movie? >> I find it difficult to believe that JKR won't run that franchise completely into the ground for as long as she can squeeze money out of its putrefying corpse. At this point, I'd be willing to bet that even many longtime HP fans are over it.

If you’re an only child, do you wish you had siblings? If you have siblings, do you get along? . How long have you had the shirt you’re wearing? >> I don't know, a year, two years.

Are you a slut? >> I sure am. What happened last time you got drunk? >> I have no idea, that was a long ass time ago.

When’s the last time you straightened your hair? .

Your mood? >> Eh. Fine. Did you sleep alone last night? >> I did.

Do you plan on sleeping in tomorrow? >> I don't plan how much I sleep.

How many cigarettes have you smoked today? >> Zero. Do you like potato chips? >> I like them with sandwiches. Do you give out second chances way too easily? .

What are you excited for? >> Hmm... nothing, I guess. There's nothing major going on any time soon.

[altaruwusmolboiz]

Unpopular Harry Potter Opinions because I'm feeling nostalgic.

TW: EMOTIONAL INCEST, PARENTAL ABUSE

I don't like Snape and I'm nuetral for Dumbledore, but some of you are a little too hard on them.

I do like the Maurauders era, but that is because the boys are flawed. They're intersting characters.

I also don't really ship that much in Harry Potter as a while. Just Perciver and occasionally Plantseeker (And Ronks is cute).

I used to like Wolfstar, but the fandom ruined it.

Saying that the Maurauder fans are better than the Golden Trio fans is just "I'm Not Like Other Girls" energy.

I get that you're frustrated Hermionie is the main character but you need to let her live. She is a teenager, she isn't going to be perfect.

I don't care that much for Ginny. In the first three (four?) books, her character truly had potential, and then I just didn't care enough about her. Hinny isn't a bad relationship, it's a boring one.

I cannot believe I have to write this, but Harry and Hermionie are not incest. Not only do those words mean two different things, in the context of what anti Harmionies are describing, but people being like siblings is not the same as actually being siblings.

Peter Pettigrew was smart. He was one of the best villains of the series, and he shouldn't be ignored.

It's not that big of a deal to say Bellatrix is your favorite character. No one is excusing her actions.

I don't like Molly Weasley, but I think it was a good choice to make her kill Bellatrix, leaning into the motherhood love theme that JK R*wling was going for.

Harry, Ron, and Hermionie saved the school, Neville got the courage to do something he wasn't ready to do, and the Slytherins won the house cup for six years. The Gryffindors deserved the house cup this year.

If anything, Peter Pettigrew should be a Ravenclaw.

Chamber of Secrets book > Sorcerers Stone book

Sorcerer's Stone movie > Chamber of Secrets movie

(Not really an unpopular opinion, just one that isn't talked about often) The first three movies were amazing, fourth and sixth movies were a 4 through 6 out of ten, and the rest are solid 7/10 movies.

There definitely needs to be more diversity in Harry Potter, and JKR is a terf and I hate her, but I don't think every single ship would have been together if she weren't one. Also keep in mind that these books take place in the 90s. I don't think she'd make any of them gay in the books itself if it wasn't, but this particular situation was not just her being a coward.

That being said, I will never defend JK Rowling.

The worst DADA teacher, as a teacher, was Lockhart. As a human, it was obviously Umbridge.

The Starkid Harry Potter musicals aren't that good. Potter Puppet Pals, on the other hand? I love them.

The Cursed Child is fine on its own.

Let people call themselves Potterheads if they want. It doesn't effect you in any way.

None of the deaths struk me as that sad, besides Cedric's and Colin's.

I don't like Draco, I think Draco's home life should be explored. Not a redemption arc, but to understand why he turned out this way. If his parents didn't actively abuse him, they definitely taught him their values.

Shipping Hedric is wrong, but saying Harry had a crush on Cedric is fine.

Ron isn't a character that I ever cared about.

I'm done for now.

[janiedean]

The problem with jkr not facing consequences is also that hp itself was famous all over the world to the extent that ppl are still nostalgic about it but a lot of these ppl don't really follow jkr or start online that much (I'm talking of audiences outside uk/us). Personally any time ppl who knew me as a stan being it up I just go "yea I'll always have a soft spot for the books because of what they meant to me as a child but I've grown out of it especially after what jkr did now" and 99% of the time they have no idea about the term stuff.

Then when I tell them they're shocked but the point is that none of them know about all this because so much of this happens on Twitter and then spreads to only certain pages that are critical and the vast majority aren't that active online. So it's very much a don't know don't care situation.

The scary thing is also, at least in my country, the lack of awareness + ignorance about trans issues which means that if I hadn't learnt and educated myself, or if she'd started her bs 10 years ago I probably would've believed her correct because I did think of her as an inspiration as a teen.

yeah you make... a very good point in the sense that sadly if you're not in the angloamerican sphere and/or you're not on twitter combined with the utter ignorance wrt trans issues that there is everywhere it makes the situation especially bad because hp is like.... even stones know what it is so you can't escape its popularity, but honestly... ngl I think that's why someone in the uk/us/anglo countries has to try to do something more concerning her platform because like

as that post says the problem is that she's like top ten most famous people in the world and say what you want she's basically the face of that ideology at this point - bc like the average person outside feminist circles or whatever doesn't know who julie b*ndel is and the average person doesn't, so whatever terf crap b*ndel sprouts can circulate up to a point, but everyone and the rocks their houses are made of knows who jkr is even if they don't know the name. like my mom prob doesn't know her full name bc I never was into hp but if I tell her 'the harry potter writer' she knows who I'm talking about. and when that kinda famous person with that kinda platform and fanbase and voice and whose stuff will get published regardless of whether she's writing a novel or the grocery shop list can just go and say the shit she does without a counter or at least without a counter of equal weight - because like if stephen king says she's wrong, king still hasn't the same following or influence and if stephen king says something political in general it doesn't have the same reach as she does, so.... there's a problem here and the fact is that her money will most likely go to finance terf organizations too and the last thing terfs need is anyone making their shitty rhetoric more palatable

so like... most ppl don't know/care because they don't engage with her outside her books which fair enough I found out a singer whose music I liked committed sexual harassment with more than one woman because I didn't follow him on twitter and liked the music but not enough to actually care about his personal life, that happens, and like I'll never buy stuff from him again unless he's blatantly cleared and idt he will be but like the point is that the moment someone is in the anglosphere (imvho) and they know what jkr thinks and where her money goes if they care about trans rights (and honestly if you care about women in the first place too bc terf ideology is not pro-women anyway) they should a) not consume any hp book or movie legally, b) shouldn't buy any merch, c) should openly say why they don't engage with hp anymore, d) should discourage other people from engaging with hp content legally at least and if someone says 'ah well she's a jerk but the art is not the artist' they should double down on the fact that supporting her art means funding terf ideology and with this I mean stopping going to the play, stopping buying the books, stopping gifting the books to their little cousins, let the damned prequels tank and stop trending hp related things online to begin with, because okay that won't change things for someone in italy who doesn't follow jrk on twitter nor follows the discourse but it does change things for her in the public debate and honestly it's high time that ppl nostalgic about hp to the point they'll engage with it legally after they knew about jkr's politics realize that hp isn't untouchable nor beyond critics just because it's that popular and realize that one thing is reading lovecraft books a century after he's dead and the money you pay for it surely doesn't go to the KKK or to any organization that supports anything akin to lovecraft's racist views back when he was alive, one thing is keeping hp alive like that and having jkr profit off it while she's alive and spreading ideals that like... literally do hurt people's lives which shouldn't be a thing so like I'd prefer everyone put their hp energy into supporting whatever project the former hp cast members who openly disagree with jrk did and for the love of everything stop trending h*gwarts and shit on twitter and making ppl realize it's an endless flow of cash because that's where it's going to end /shrug

[kittyprincessofcats]

Stepping away from Harry Potter

Melina Pendulum, Lindsay Ellis and Dominic Noble’s respective videos about quitting Harry Potter or why the concept of “Death of the Author” can’t really be applied in this case gave me a lot to think about.

Harry Potter has been a huge part of my life growing up. And even not too long ago, I was one of the people who still bent over backwards to justify some of JKR’s bullshit. Only 4 years ago, I went to see the Cursed Child in London two weeks after its opening, and made my brother a Hogwarts acceptance letter for his 11th birthday. (I could go on with other important memories in my life that are somehow connected to Harry Potter, but that list would get way too long and we don’t have all day. The point is - these books were a very big influence in my life.)

After JKR’s general shittyness became more and more obvious even for someone who idolized her as much as I did, I started to distance myself and expressed my disappointment in her over the years - and as much as I want to say it didn’t taint my love of the series itself, it did. I just couldn’t find the same joy in it anymore, and the only HP related things I still really enjoyed were Hogwarts Mystery and the works of fan creators like The Mischief Managers.

Now that JKR has completely gone full-blown TERF, I really wasn’t sure what to do at first. I thought I could separate art from the artist. I thought I could simply still enjoy Harry Potter guilt-free, while not supporting JK Rowling financially anymore (meaning: no movie tickets, no more merch or books, nothing that could give her another cent of my money). But as those very good videos^ explained better than I could - it’s not that easy. You can’t completely separate an author from their work if that author is still alive, has a huge platform that they’re using to hurt people, and is as deeply connected to their work as JK Rowling is. She’s made sure all the rights to Harry Potter belong to her alone. She acts like her word on the charactes is law even so many years later.

As much as I’d love to reclaim Harry Potter and say it belongs to the fans now - it does legally still belong to her. People add disclaimers to their fanfictions for a reason. I also haven’t forgotten that time JKR went to court against a fan because he’d distributed his French translation of Deathly Hallows before the official translation was released. Legally speaking, not amount of reclaiming can change that these characters are hers. And personally speaking, I also find it hard to disconnect her from this world. I’ve spent years reading and watching interviews with her - I can’t re-read Harry Potter now without remembering what JKR has said about this or that scene, about this or that character. I can’t read about Rita Skeeter’s “mannish” hands without remembering that JKR is TERF. I can’t read about the stairs to the girls’ dormitories turning into a slide to keep the boys out without remembering that according to JKR’s worldview, those stairs would keep trans girls out, too. I can’t hear JK Rowling say “Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home” without remembering that according to her, there are people who wouldn’t be welcome to see Hogwarts as their home.

I’ve spent years being a fan of JK Rowling because she wrote Harry Potter. I bought The Casual Vacancy and The Cuckoo’s Calling not because I was genuinely interested in those stories, but because she wrote them. I’ve spent years admiring this woman - I can’t suddenly pretend Harry Potter wasn’t written by her (and I also don’t think statements like ‘Daniel Radcliffe wrote Harry Potter’ are really helping the problem).

And just a few days ago I saw so many Harry Potter fanpages and general fans wishing “Harry and JKR” a happy birthday - as if everything was fine. As if nothing was going on. As if she wasn’t using her enourmous platfrom to dehumanize an extremely marginalized group of people. A few people had the decency to say “Happy Birthday to Harry Potter an f*ck JK Rowling” instead - but even that is a reminder of who the author of this series is and how deepy entwined she is with her creation. 

Long story short: I personally can’t separate the art from the artist in this particular case. Like Melina brilliantly said in her video: “I love Harry Potter, but I love trans people more.” I know so many amazing and kind and courageous trans people and I admire them so much. Back when I was a closeted lesbian scared of coming out to my family, a group of trans people I barely even knew showed me kindness and support. They were there for me, while JKR and her books were not. (I find it insanely hypocritical that she’s pretending to “defend lesbians” from “predatory trans women”. Lady, you don’t even have a single lesbian character in any of your books. As a lesbian, I’m telling you to kindly shut up and leave my trans sisters alone.)

And this is why - at least for the foreseeable future - I’m not going to be talking about Harry Potter on here anymore. I won’t be supporting JK Rowling financially, I won’t get inolved with any of her future projects, and I won’t support Harry Potter creatively (through fanfics, metas, fan discussion, etc.) I’ve put my Harry Potter books and merch away in the same box all the old stuff from my ex is in. And I’m not saying that I’ll never open that box again, but for now I think there are way better things for me to be spending my energy on.

(And just to be clear: I’m not going to judge anyone else for still enjoying Harry Potter. That’s a choice you all have to make for yourselves and I’m not going to tell anyone what to do - especially since I’m not a part of the group most hurt by her transphobic ‘essay’. This is just about me personally.)

[nyadversary]

asking since your harry potter post was really interesting and made me wonder - are there any magic systems you really like or think are well-constructed and consistent? what are the traits of a good magic system?

oh i definitely don’t feel qualified to make any broad statements about what makes a magic system Good, it depends so heavily on what kind of story you’re trying to tell. i do want to say more about why i think the magic system in HP is ultimately bad though, and i have at least one example of a system i like to compare it with. under cut

very very early on in the HP series — i’m talking about the first few chapters of book 1 — we get the impression that magical ability does symbolize something? like think about how the series opens. the first chapter of the first book follows vernon dursley, a man who lives an extremely mundane life, likes it that way, and is highly perturbed by anything unusual happening or by anyone who seems out of the ordinary. he’s, what, CEO of a drill company or something? some comically boring but well-paying job. petunia is a housewife who passes the time spying on the neighbors. their infant son is already being spoiled and treated more like a prized possession than a human being. and these people hate anything they think is weird, which of course includes anything to do with magic. the dursleys know for a fact magic is real and it pisses them off and they hate it. 

when harry is left at their doorstep, mcgonagall protests and says the dursleys could not possibly have less in common with magical people like them. either she or hagrid says something to the effect that the dursleys are the biggest muggles around, which stuck with me because it implies that magical ability lies on a spectrum and the dursleys, who are outright opposed to anything the slightest bit unusual, are the furthest from magical anybody can be. this implies all sorts of things about what magic could represent for the series going forward — creativity, rejection of social norms, etc. — and, since these people are harry’s only living blood relatives but he winds up finding community for the first time once meeting other witches and wizards, it appears to be setting up a found family theme. which all sounds perfectly good, and people will still cite this as being a theme of the books. the main problem with that is it isn’t the intended theme going forward at all. 

JKR’s weird obsession with blood lineage honestly needs to be unpacked in a whole other post and i don’t think i’m the guy to do it but... obviously as the series goes on, the importance of blood family gets underlined again and again. it turns out harry is being protected by some sort of sacred maternal blood magic (which is never explained) and this is why he has to live with the dursleys, people he hates and has nothing in common with. the fact that they’re his blood relatives trumps anything else. magical ability generally is passed down within families, and in the later books much time is spent going over various magical lineages (voldemort’s family, dumbledore’s family, sirius’ family, the malfoy family, the hogwarts founders and their descendants, etc...). any notions of magic symbolizing creativity is undermined by the lack of actual creativity in how the magic is presented going forward (like i said in the other post, it winds up serving mainly utilitarian functions in the story) and as for rejecting the status quo, the series embraces the status quo. the happy ending the characters work 7 books to achieve just has everything “returning to normal” — voldemort is killed and the remaining death eaters dealt with, the ministry gets a new PM, hogwarts gets a new headmaster, and things continue on as they were before. issues of systemic injustice are left unaddressed, the subplots about magical beings fighting for full personhood status (centaurs, merpeople, house elves, etc) are left unresolved, slytherin house is allowed to continue on as an institution and presumably many wizards are still just as bigoted towards muggle-borns as they always were, and — oh yeah — the idea that muggles are innately inferior somehow? never explained or addressed. the takeway is just that if you can’t do magic, you suck. it’s so disappointing. all the pieces are there for a way better story (hey guys i think there might be some systemic problems with your magic school and your magic government do you wanna try fixing that maybe?) but JKR was never gonna write that story because it’s one she doesn’t believe in.

to summarize how magic works in harry potter just so i can really make it clear how boring it is:

magic ability is innate and the vast majority of people lack it. with relatively few exceptions, the ability runs in families — it’s rare for someone without magical ancestry to have the ability and it’s also rare for someone with magical ancestry to not have the ability

with only a few exceptions, all wizards are able to learn all spells. some wizards are stated to be unusually powerful but how much of this is due to raw magical potential and how much comes down to other factors like education, general intelligence and ability/willingness to learn, desire to cause harm in the case of the unforgivables, etc is unclear. some magical abilities, like being able to speak parseltongue or being a metamorphmagus (or whatever the fuck shapeshifters are called in this series) or being a seer, are innate and can’t be learned by most wizards. like magic itself, whether or not you have any extra ability seems to be genetic (these are all traits we know run in families)

in order to perform magic, devices like wands, cauldrons, etc are used as instruments or vessels to direct the user’s innate powers. there is no summoning, channeling, or ritual use involved and spells typically only go wrong if the wizard in question is inexperienced or something is wrong with their wand. with very few exceptions (the main one i can think of is divination, which is handled very ambiguously and most of what trelawney teaches is implied to be complete crap), magic works in very predictable and straightforward ways

so it all boils down to “you’re either a wizard or you aren’t, and you almost certainly aren’t unless you come from a magic family, but if you are — good news! you have basically the same abilities as any other wizard. don’t worry there’s nothing even vaguely pagan involved.”

which, like. how utterly dull. there are so many other ways one can approach these issues and nearly all of them that i can think of / have seen done are more interesting than this:

you could have a magic system where magical ability is much more specialized. instead of all magic users being all capable of more or less the same stuff, let’s say person A, B, and C are all magic users but each has a unique magical ability (say A can fly, B can talk to animals, C can become invisible) and, while they might be able to develop their individual talents and become stronger, they can’t learn each other’s skills. charlie bone, which is a crap series overall but which i do think has a more interesting magic system, falls into this category, as does a lot of superhero stuff although it’s generally not called “magic” in those stories.

another, similar, approach would be to have more specialized branches of magic that characters train under — say pyromancy, necromancy, etc. — and so, while it might be possible for a water mage to learn a fire spell or two, characters have much more individualized skillsets. RPG magic tends to be this, obviously. harry potter kind of vaguely gestures in the direction of this trope in that the professors obviously specialize in their particular subjects, but it’s not as if snape doesn’t know charms or whatever — it doesn’t amount to much of anything in practice as all the adult characters are capable of performing a diverse range of spells.

how does one wind up with the ability to do magic in the first place? is it innate, and, if so, is it random or does it run in families? is it associated with any other traits? are there drawbacks to being a magic user? can non-magical people acquire the ability to do magic through some other means, and, if so, does this represent an irreversible change? are magic users really “human” or are they something more? are non-magic users lesser? is there any loss of humanity associated with magical ability? do magic users channel their own innate power or are they channeling something else — if so, is it a godlike entity, demonic, or does it defy moral classification? is there “good” magic and “bad” magic, and, if so, is the delineation clear? if these are different branches of magic, are they wholly distinct in how they work or is there overlap? etc, etc, etc.

ultimately i don’t think anyone should be worried about finding the most unique combination of these tropes, because they’ve literally all been done 10 billion times — if i started off listing popular examples of how these tropes are handled in other media pandemic will have ended before i’m done. what’s important is how writers choose to handle these questions when telling their story. like, what does magic mean to the characters? what does their use of magic say about them? what does magic symbolize? etc... these are opportunities for the story to have Themes and Meaning and impart something to its audience! tbh i think it really says something that the magic in harry potter is so ultimately unimportant to the story that people didn’t bother asking the usual questions about what magic itself / the magic system might symbolize... if you look at what rowling might actually be trying to say with any of that, well, it’s not good.

i guess to end off with an example i like. in the bartimaeus trilogy, which is an extremely good YA series and i highly recommend, magic ability isn’t innate at all. magic in this universe is all done via summoning “demons” (energy beings from another plane of existence basically) and binding them to one’s will, which as you might expect is very dangerous if you fuck it up and summoning is on such extreme levels of academic bullshit that you basically have to study your entire life to do it safely (learning dead languages, being able to draw elaborate pentacles with perfect accuracy, etc etc). in practice, this means magic is something only the ruling class does / can afford to do. anyone in any significant position of power is a wizard, while everyone else — the “commoners” — is a second-class citizen under the thumb of what are essentially superpowered politicians. while the fact that magic exists isn’t a secret, the majority of commoners have no idea how it actually works, that it’s really just summoning and anyone can learn it. they’re being encouraged to think of wizards as innately superior/gifted and to defer to them as their betters. yknow, Or Else. there’s much more i could say about this but it’d wind up being its own post and i’d probably have to just break down the entire plot of the trilogy, but i think from what i’ve said you get a sense of the themes / commentary here. 

this has run long but point being, magic systems Can be used to say something about the story and the characters and to make some sort of thematic point or provide social commentary perhaps, and i think it’s cool when they do. harry potter tries its best to avoid having the magic mean anything and when you do try and analyze what it means, you just get a story about how some people are just way better and cooler than others because of. uh. their blood. so rather than further unpacking that suitcase i say you could just throw it away and, as they say, read another book

[the-nado-hunter]

JKR and Harry Potter

So I’m also one of the kids that grew up with Harry Potter, and it was very dear to me. Being a pretty lonely kid that was socially isolated for a very long time, it was a world I could escape to where I could imagine having friends, using magic, fighting evil... all the stuff you love as a kid. Many people started reading and writing because of that book series. The Harry Potter fandom has done some INCREDIBLE things, The Harry Potter Alliance is a group that gets fans into activism and stands with Trans lives and does great work for social activism, and are in no way affiliated with Warner Brothers or JKR as they are an independent 501c3 non profit... so if you still have some scrap of energy left for Harry Potter as a fandom, it may be worth seeing how you can get involved with them, or other organizations looking to protect trans lives. Turn that energy into action, because Joanne using her platform to validate TERFs and spread TERF ideology is dangerous, she’s empowered them to come out of the woodwork and be more nasty than ever... and is currently endangering trans lives.

So of course when JKR’s transphobic views came to the public eye my heart was broken, I was already disillusioned by her making Nagini... a snake acting as a pet/servant to Voldemort, an Asian woman and her retroactively claiming being a werewolf was an allegory for AIDS both of which have so many problems that go along with it I don’t even know WHERE to start. With that you could maybe be like “well I can just not see fantastic beasts so I don’t support that!” or “We can ignore any crap she’s adding that wasn’t in the original text” But now... not only that but with the context of how the author is as a person and her ideology... a lot of problems with the original books series that you could have maybe explained away or just been too ignorant to notice, are now glaringly obvious and questionable.

And it just gets worse and worse. Her new book about a man dressing as a woman to commit murders is baked in TERF propeganda, not to mention her pen name Robert Galbraith is the name of a notorious anti-LGBTQ+ man who  who pioneered a range of practices that would later be known as conversion therapy. Now she’s claimed its a coincidence, and she didn’t know... but we ALL know Rowling has carefully chosen names and always seems to do extensive research behind the meaning of names, so her conveniently after expressing transphobic views just being like “oopsie!” Seems incredibly unlikely... but lets say somehow she didn’t know, she definitely knows now, she’s been informed, but she’s not going to change her pen name. She shrugged it off and just said “i was just oddly fascinated with the name”.

Now her experience with abuse is, horrible, No one should have to go through that. However, she’s used that, and pointed to that to try and justify her bigotry towards trans lives. She’s focused on the people who are: sending her death threats, which no one should do by the way, instead of the many many many trans people who tried, very kindly to explain to her why her words and actions were hurting them, not to mention many people in the trans community have dealt with abuse, and misgendering and the kind of actions and words she’s spouting can be potentially re-triggering, and once again... its empowered TERFs to harass and threaten trans people. So JKR whining about some people being mean online in response to her bigotry seriously lacks perspective.

So yes... it hurts to let something go that was a comfort and a way of coping for a long time... but Trans lives matter more to me right now.

I see some people struggling to let Harry Potter go, and try to pull a “death of the author” or “Hatsune Miku wrote Harry Potter”, Lindsay Ellis has a great impromptu video on why, in this situation pulling “Death of the Author is kind of impossible” . The short version is that because anything with the Harry Potter name on it that you buy sends more money to her... you can’t really continue to support Harry Potter without aligning yourself with her. 

I see a lot of people, with the announcement of the open world Harry Potter game doing mental gymnastics to try and justify supporting the game when literally a day before they were screaming “Fuck JKR!”. Put. Your money. Where your mouth is. A video game is not more important than human lives.

Don’t get me wrong, this looks like the game I DREAMED of existing when I was a kid. And it pisses me off so much to not be able to having that coping mechanism. But once again. TRANS LIVES MATTER MORE TO ME THAN A VIDEO GAME OR MY OWN PERSONAL COMFORT.

Here’s some of the common arguments I hear and what’s wrong with them.

1. She’s wealthy anyway, supporting the game or not supporting the game won’t change anything. You can’t really buy anything that isn’t supporting something problematic

- Maybe not, but it’s the morals and principles of the thing. This isn’t like... being stuck in a situation because of late stage capitalism where “Well I need to eat even if the company selling me this is corrupt!” This game, these books, the park, the movies, the merchandise - they are a luxury . You don’t need them to survive, you’re well aware of how this women hurts people, and you have an active choice here. Continuing to invest in anything HP still puts a big message out there that you care more about a brand than Trans lives. 2. Think about the poor game developers of the Harry Potter game! - First of all, are you high??? The developers are going to make the same amount of money no matter how well the game does. Most of the money from people buying is going to go to corporate levels at Warner Brothers and JKR herself. If your in the camp of “well it would suck to work on something for so long only for it to go nowhere...” That’s just... how the game industry is. Developers know that and accept that on ANY project they work on. There are projects that get super close to release only to be cancelled at the last minute, there are SO many game projects that never make it to the public eye. But the devs are like “hey I get paid either way”. Again, stop making up stupid reasons to try and justify supporting a transphobe that is actively endangering trans lives.

---

Harry Potter was dear to me as a kid. Its hard to let go of something that got you through a lot, but think of all the trans folks that also grew up with that world that was so meaningful to them only to be told “this world isn’t for you and the author is actively supporting causes that harm you and using her large platform to spread propaganda because she knows she’ll be believed more than the lived experiences of trans people or medical science.” Can you even imagine what that would feel like???  Have some god damn empathy, and if you say you support trans lives. Actions speak louder than words EVER could.

As for me on a personal level, I can’t even look at anything fan related to Harry Potter without being infuriated. I see anything HP related, and I get pissed off. The love of it is gone for me. It’s been dead for almost two years now. The only way I could see ever returning to it is if one way or another the money from it no longer goes to Joanne, but that’s not going to happen for a long time, and even then, I’m not sure if I’d be able to come back to it.

Trans lives matter. And they matter more to me than any fantasy world or brand ever could. Period.

[edge-lorde]

hp update: its been a long time, boys. ud think that with this plague outbreak id have more time for shitty phone games, and ud be right! however, the time i normally might use to make tumblr posts has been taken up by reading lotr orc fanfiction non-stop for at least 1 full month. id still be in the thick of that obsession even now if only the fics would update. that is how i find you today folks, for the first time in many weeks i am staring at a screen with nothing to do. so come with me friends, theres no better way to fill the soulless void we are all in than reading a nice long tumbler post. 

disclaimer, first of all, a lot has happened, i prefer to keep these updates as plot spoiler free as possible but do to extenuating circumstances i feel like it is necessary to say, [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER BELOW]

that rowan fucking died,

i wont say exactly how, but i will say that her death was animated as were animations of myself and a few others reacting to our friend fresh corpse. obviously meant to be serious moments but the animations made it seem almost comical. 

i saw at least one post going around right after this update that was like ‘how could the game devs do this to us..... how could they hate rowan so.... this is punishment from on high’ and its like.... u guys do know what a story is right? the events of  a story are not typically done to punish less faithful fans, im pretty sure they were planning to kill rowan off from the beginning. this isnt disney im pretty sure the writers are not writing each chapter the night before its released by popular vote. 

that little “are we drifting away..?” scene with rowan makes more sense now. there was a bit in one of the scenes where the kids all reminisce on rowans life and the mc talks about it being the last real one on one time they had with rowan. a nice bitter sweet moment. i dont hate this turn of events. its a good reminder that actions have consequences and we are way past they days of “should i wear a hat or scarf?” its YA time now. 

i did manage to take 1 screenshot from this time, i had commented that before that when rowan said she didnt have many friedns that barnaby seemed to be hanging out with her without be there as a friend buffer and here was his reaction to her death:

;_;

the funniest part in all of this however, was of course cedericks reaction to rowans death “but she was so young....” LOL fuckin RIP.

lets see... what else.... i forget a lot of what happened but i think there was a time sensitive quidditch event in there somewhere? if so i  dont remember it. what i do remember of the quidditch pals is that im gonna play beater now, skye is being weird and cagey about it, andre is involved.... the others are there.....

sidenote, i love the shitty b characters they throw in to be like yes you know this person but no they are not cool enough for u to even think about befriending. the first one of those is face paint kid, and now we have another, who is a former beater girl with horrible bangs named bean who didnt go to any classes for a whole season so she could just play ball 24/7 and got kicked off the team.  this is a character who only exists to provide an explanation as to why there would be a beater position open but i love them on principle. 

right now im in the midst of another time sensitive event, this one is a bother-your-brother-at-work-day event where recent hogwarts graduate bill weasley is bullied by myself and his younger brother charlie into letting us go with him on one of his curse breaking jobs. 

so for those unfamiliar, bill works for the magical bank of england.... and his job seems to be “retrieving treasure” for said bank. in the books, there is a bit where he takes his family on one of his trips to egypt, where his job seemed to have been tomb plundering indiana jones style for the posterity of the english bank :X. i wont explain here why thats bad but its bad. 

the game devs however in this instance, at least SEEM to be doing what jkr couldnt do by attempting to salvage what is left of gringotts bank and form it into not a super shitty implications factory run by horrible jewish caricatures. bills mission is to retrieve a goblin made artifact that was taken by dragons, so no going to foreign countries to steal things from other people! only going to a dragon reserve to rifle through animal nests. they even appear to be providing us with a likable goblin character, egad!  

my hope for this event is that we get a plotline about how maybe, goblins arent shifty human haters for no reason, and in fact they hate magic humans for very understandable reasons, like being forced to go into hiding with the rest of the magical world even though only the humans wanted to do that, and maybe despite running the bank in england they still dont have a lot of political sway in the world of wizards and witches, and have to rely on the faith that said wizards and witches wont fuck them over at every turn, even as they see how they treat other non-humans, such as house elves, which they desperately dont want to end up like. and maybe they DONT only care about gold... maybe thats a human stereotype based on the fact that theres a long history of humans not respecting goblin ownership customs.... which i could get into..... but i wont.... i just....... very badly dont want them to suck ;__________;

i know i said its ok to still like a piece of media as long as you recognize the problems with it, and i do, but once this game is done im gonna stop hp posting all together. ive been feeling more and more uncomfortable making these posts lately.  

GENERAL GAME NOTES; theres been some new layout changes and such. 

most notably the stairs screen has been changed from a bulleted list of all locations to a screen with tiles picturing an image of each location along with the name + icons of all classes at each place. there is one additional location that is new and yet to be unlocked, and the dragon reservation is appearing temporarily as its own tile as well. i prefer this method of getting in and out of a temporary location to how they did it with car during the last christmas special. the stairs icon also now stays in the corner when you scroll through locations, allowing you to open the stairs menu without scrolling all the way back to the left. 

they also moved a few of the buttons down into the lower left corner rather than the left side & combined the story button and sidequest button. they added a little camera button as well, just like in the dormitory, that makes all the icons in a location disappear and look better for screenshots. 

the daily special add offer thing now has its own button in the top right corner of the screen, and idk if i mentioned it before but now there are daily challenges that appear in the sidequest screen that offer small rewards for completing 3 tasks per day + a better one if u get all 3. the prizes are things like 4 energy, 75 coins, 3 monster food. the better rewards are usually either more coins, 8 energy, 3 gems, or 1 notebook. i think that it does all the different color notebooks but i cant remember for sure if i ever saw the gold one up as a reward. i like this addition in any case. if you dont pick up ur reward by the end of the day, the next time u log on it will force u to stop and accept them, and if one of the rewards is energy and ur energy bar is full, it does not seem to stack beyond the bar so watch out.

 the character stats page is now more zoomed out so you can see your full character instead of just from the waist up. no change to the leaderboard. rowans face in the friendship roster is now a still black and white image that says ur friend may be gone but friendship is forever u-u. 

rowan has been removed from all classes. in the classes where the minigames involved her, those minigames have passed the mantle onto other friends in the class. in potions that person is now liz helping u find stuff off the shelves and in tranfiguration that person is badeea. bless these girls for helping mc get through it. touched my heart. 

theres been a few fun little “i know u have more free time now so uhhhh have some energy” prizes like they do sometimes when they dont update on schedule so thats been nice. just a few days ago they gifted us 3 gold notebooks the same way. :O. 

theres also been a few instances of a energy happy hour where for a limited time energy takes less time to refresh. normally it takes 4 mins for 1 energy to do this but during happy hour its like 2:30 mins. :U its all very interesting.

and that will have to do it for tonight my friends, ill do a post for the dragon event when its done because i do like it so far and i do like getting to bully bill with charlie. 

until next time, remember.......

[mysticalreadingnerd]

Angel on Wheels (Credence Barebone x Reader Imagine)

Words: 1491

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Credence or any character from the FBAWTFT universe. Queen JKR does. I'm just a Hufflepuff Nerd who writes fanfiction to fulfill her happy Credence cravings. GIF credits to the user.

Request: Hi I was wondering if you could do a Credence x shy wheelchair reader imagine thing where the reader is insecure and doesn't think any one will love her because of her disability but gets proven wrong by Credence who shows her he loves her with lots of fluff and maybe a kiss and an excited Queenie (maybe the gang are hanging out at the time) it would mean a lot if you could do this as I often feel this way about my disability xxx bye

A pleasant breeze weaved it's way through the trees, carving a path through the gently rustling foliage and fluttering autumn leaves. Vivid shades of red, yellow and orange glittered across the expanse of Central Park, giving the abundance of trees the illusion of wearing tiaras set with gemstones. Quite unlike a place set in the heart of a bustling city like New York.

Credence took a deep breath. The crisp air that filled his lungs gave him a sudden burst of energy and awareness. His Obscurus thrummed in approval beneath the surface of his skin, alight with the excitement that he was feeling. The entity had become less of a uncontrollable beast and more of a sentient existence, omnipresent as a silent spectator. Always aware, watching.

Had he been the Credence of a year ago, the Obscurus would have burst forth at the slightest fluctuation in his feelings. Though that was a given since fear was the only emotion he felt back then. Constant and intense fear. Accompanied by a pulsing rage that was barely contained. Looking around him, he was thankful that all of that was in the past. He looked on as Newt and Tina bickered about which spot would be ideal for setting up their picnic. It seemed that Pickett was voicing his own reservations from his sanctuary in Newt's pocket, a chirrup or two at a time. Queenie was talking animatedly with Jacob about the contents of the food basket and how their joint efforts had turned it into a sumptuous feast. The jovial Muggle was smiling widely, probably just content being with his beautiful blonde lover.

Credence's gaze then shifted to Y/N as she sat in her wheelchair, staring off in the distance. He followed her line of sight and realised that she was looking at a pair of cyclists who were pedalling leisurely. Occasionally hooking hands, the couple was very apparently in love. Feeling someone's gaze on her, she turned around to look straight at him. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a shy smile lighting up her face and Credence's heart skipped a beat. It had been doing that every time he saw Y/N. Even in a room full of people his eyes always searched for her, settled on her and grounded him to the present.

Gravel crunched under his feet as long strides took Credence towards her. He stood beside Y/N as they looked upon the cyclists slowly disappearing in the distance. He had never been a man of many words and the comfortable silence between them was what always drew him to her. Ever since 'the incident' (that's how he referred to nearly blowing up New York in his rage) and being subsequently saved by Newt, he had been in the care of Y/N's brother, a trusted acquaintance of Tina's and a respected Healer.

She assisted her brother in making healing draughts, potions & poultices, curing minor injuries and ailments, tending to their extensive herb garden and taking care of people like Credence. Though the last one was less of a duty and more of a preference, he hoped. All this was done whilst occupying a magically reinforced wheelchair that adapted itself to her surroundings, giving her approach a surreal, gliding effect. More than once, he had thought of her as a superhero without a cape, whizzing about her daily duties like a bumbling source of joy. 

She looked at him again and held his gaze for a brief second, before training her attention upon the slender fingers clasped in her lap. Her nervous fidgeting everytime their eyes met endeared him the most to her. Above all, when they had first met, she had greeted him with a smile holding the same warmth as it did now, one year later. It was quite akin to being enveloped in your favourite warm and super soft from overuse jumper on a rainy day. During his slow recuperation, he often got bored out of his mind. Being bed ridden without much to do except stare at the ceiling as the sunlight made its daily trajectory from one corner of the roof to another. That was when she came up with the idea of reading aloud from old school books. The lazy afternoons spent in their home, while she softly read out from a battered copy of History of Magic had helped immensely in his long recovery process. It was also one of his favourite memories of her.

"I sometimes wonder..." her mumbled words snapped his attention to the present. He waited for her to continue but when it became apparent that no more words would be forthcoming, he spoke up. "About what?" "Whether I will ever be able to do things like that..." he opened his mouth once. Twice. The image of the cyclists holding hands popped in his mind, only this time it was him and Y/N that he visualised. Lost for words and appalled at the absurdity of his thoughts, Credence blurted out, "Cycling?" His response earned him a wry shake of her head. "No, falling in love." The sad smile that she gave him in return made him berate himself a thousand times more. Besides being extremely dense and unable to read the atmosphere, his insensitivity had probably ruined any pleasant feelings she might have harboured about him. 

The air had abruptly become heavy, as if the melancholy that Y/N was feeling had tinted the wind with hues of blue and murky grey, mirroring the mood. Unable to bear the sudden, oppressive silence anymore Credence said, "I.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you..." But she merely shook her head. She pondered over something before finally sharing what was truly bothering her.  "I wasn't offended...just, things like that make me wonder whether anyone would ever think of me...in that way. It's not easy... finding someone who'd love you, especially for a person like me." The silent resignation that flitted across her otherwise cheery and bashful features unsettled him the most. 

It was enough to make him crouch so that he was kneeling beside her. Taking Y/N's hand in his, Credence gave it a firm squeeze before saying, "You are kind, hard-working, dedicated and fiercely loyal to your loved ones. Your warmth translates into your actions and any person who receives your affections should be immensely grateful for it. I don't know what made you think so lowly of yourself but please, stop." "It's just the truth Credence. Who would like someone like me when there's so many better..." The affronted noise that he made stopped Y/N mid sentence. Taken aback by the earnestness blazing in his brown eyes, she could only stare as his face inched closer to her own. A calloused hand grasped her face with surprising tenderness before his lips crashed into her's in a flurry of barely restrained passion. Warm, soft and tasting faintly like a sweet caramel toffee. His lips entranced her into a seductive dance that made her giddy and slightly out of breath. It wasn't long before they broke apart, gasping for oxygen. 

Mesmerized by the flush that adorned his usually pale face and blushing a deep beet root herself, all Y/N's scrambled grey cells could manage was a barely coherent, "W-what...?" Credence looked at her for a moment, as if making sure that this surreal moment was actually happening before confessing, "You look extremely beautiful when you blush, you know. It's one of the many things that I love about you." On hearing his words, her flushed cheeks darkened into a deeper shade. His thumb brushed her lips once before he continued, "And how can anyone not fall for such an adorable angel on wheels?" He gave her a loving smile before capturing her lips once again. They would have continued for longer had they not been interrupted by a delighted squeal.

They broke apart to see Queenie clasping her hands together, excitement alight on her smiling face. "See Teenie, I had told you they would get together sooner or later! It was just a matter of time!" Tina rolled her eyes at her sister's enthusiasm but gave the couple a warm chuckle, "You two love birds, come on. We finally found a place that Mr Perfectionist here approves of." She glanced subtly at Newt who gave a sheepish grin of his own. 

Credence nodded. However, he didn't give much of a warning as he proceeded to scoop up Y/N from her seat and take her to their decided picnic spot. She clasped her arms tightly around his neck, her heart beating a mile a minute. Nervousness mixed with a heady dose of intense happiness coursed through her veins. "Shall we?" he asked, with a carefree smile on his face. His boyish charm captured her thudding heart anew. "We shall", she murmured, before resting her head on his chest. Love had helped even an angel on wheels to grow wings.

A/N: I hope you like this, lovely anon. I'm of the opinion that Credence is more about non verbal displays of affection and he would constantly show how much he adores you through small gestures like forehead kisses and holding hands etc. Above all, he'd treasure you for who you are, and that means all of you. I bet you are awesome and nobody can tell me otherwise. There's love for every one of us out there and it often finds us in small, sweet ways we never dreamt of. You can always talk to me if you need an overeager Honey Badger rooting for you! :)

Excuse any typos and hope you guys liked this tiny morsel of Credence fluff. Let me know how you found it!

~mystical reading nerd