#listen. 'ron was going to be spiders. he just was.' and 'you are hagrid now' live rent free in my head

[thedreadvampy]

DO YOU GET IT? BECAUSE AI ART BROS REFUSE TO UNDERSTAND THE INTENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF IMAGERY??? DO YOU GET IT? THIS IS WHAT THE PAINTING IS ABOUT. IT'S ABOUT THE IDEA THAT ART IS NOT A WINDOW ONTO A FULLY FORMED REALITY BUT A CONSTRUCTED IMAGE. THERE'S NOTHING BEHIND THE MONA LISA. CECI N'EST PAS UNE LANDSCAPE. I AM VERY FUNNY AND NORMAL AND DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MY OWN JOKES.

I'm so mad bc I worked weirdly hard on this joke but it was for Twitter and nobody follows me on Twitter but it really tickled me

[sunnyie-eve]

10 | He's Your Father

Series: Little Things

Paring: Mattheo Riddle x OFC Potter!

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: Might be a few mistakes

| MASTERLIST |

Out at Hagrid's hut we knock on the door so when he opens it pointing a huge crossbow at us we were shocked. "What's that for?" Harry asks him. 

"Oh, nothing. I was expecting... it's doesn't matter." He lets us three in. 

"Look, we have to ask you something. Do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asks him. 

"What you have to understand about that..." Hagrid is cut off by knocking at his door so we get under the cloak to hide. 

Hagrid lets Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic in. They tell him that Hagrid has a record against him so they have to take him to Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy then shows us taking crap about him and saying that he has an order of suspension for Dumbledore. Dumbledore gives us a look while he talks to Malfoy before leaving with him. 

"If anybody was looking for some stuff, then all they'd have to do would be to follow the spiders." Hagrid then leaves too.

"Come on." Harry tells us to follow him. 

We go out of the hut and tells us to follow the spiders. "Harry, I don't like this at all." Ron whines. 

"Shush." Harry tells him so I grab Ron's hand. 

"I hate spiders too." I let him know. 

"Can we go back now?" He cries to Harry squeezing my hand. 

"Come on." He tells us. I hold onto Ron terrified of the spiders. 

"Who is it? Hagrid? Is that you?" A raspy voice calls out. 

"We're friends of Hagrid's." Harry says before we see a huge spider leg making us step back. He comes out all the way making me whine. 

Harry calls him Aragon saying Hagrid needs help. Ron and I look around and we see more spiders that are big too. "Harry." Ron cries but he doesn't listen. Ron and me hold each other closer terrified. "Harry..." Ron tugs at him making him snap do we point up at all the spiders. 

"Can we leave now?" I cry holding on to Ron for dear life as they all come down around us.

Harry tells the spider that we will go now but he tells us that he only promised that they won't harm Hagrid. "Can we panic now?" Ron asks. 

We pull out our wands then the car shows up to help is. "Let's go!" I jump in first getting in the back with Fang. Ron drives but the spiders follow us. "Go!" I scream at him. I look behind us seeing them all making me want to scream more. 

Once we were out of the forest the car drives away again. "We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."

-

"You should really quit sneaking away from everyone." Mattheo finds us in the halls after we found out what the monster is after visiting Hermione when we got back. 

"Is my dumbass going to get in trouble?" I cross my arms at him. 

"I'm sorry for snapping at you." He sighs before we hear all teachers need to go to the second floor so we all run to see.

 We hear that Ginny was taken to the Chamber of Secrets making us all look at each other. Harry says we need to give warm Lockhart so we run to go see him too. When we open his office door we see him packing up to leave. 

"You wrote them!" Harry shouts at him. 

"He's a fake Harry." I tell him. 

"Your sister is right. Do you use your common sense!" Lockhart goes to explain that he just took credit for what other wizards have done.

"Is there anything you can do?" Mattheo asks. 

"I'm rather gifted with memory charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbing, and I'd never have sold another book." He then picks up his wand pointing it at us so we all do the same to him. 

We all go to Moaning Myrtle to figure out how she died and we figure out the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is the sink. Harry opens it and we look down the hole. "Excellent, Harry. Ah, good work. Well, then, I'll just be... There's no need for me to stay." He tries to leave out I just push him into the home. 

"Hazel." The boys look at me. 

"What? You would end up doing the same." I shrug my shoulders. 

"It's really quite filthy down here." We hear Lockhart. 

"All right, let's go." Harry says so we one by one jump and slide die the pipe and land in pile of bones.

"That's a huge snakeskin." I say walking beside Harry with Mattheo close to me. 

"Heart of a lions, this one." Ron said as Lockhart falls down. 

He just fake it taking Ron's wand saying how he already has a story about what's going to happen. "Say goodbye to your memories." He tells Harry. 

"You mean yourself?" I say as he shouts obliviate causing the spell to backfire on him sending him flying back. Him hitting the walls makes the spot between us there and Ron fill up with large rocks. Us three go on to find Ginny while Ron tries to move some rocks. "Carful Harry." I say as he goes first. We come to a large room filled with stone snake heads and see Ginny laying on the floor.

We rush over to her begging her to get up. "She won't wake." We hear another person and we look over to see an older boy. 

"Tom. Tom Riddle." Harry says as he comes closer to us. 

I look at Mattheo then Tom and back at Mattheo. How the hell was his dad sixteen. 

"She's still alive, but only just." He tells Harry. 

"Are you a ghost?" Harry asks him. 

"A memory preserved in a diary for 50 years." He takes Harry's wand as Harry takes to Ginny. 

"Give me my wand Tom." Harry tells him and Tom explains he can't help because the weaker Ginny gets the stronger he gets. He then tells us that he made Ginny do everything and that he framed Hagrid. 

"I knew I couldn't try to persuade my own son to open the Chamber of Secrets because of Dumbledore kept a close eye on me he would do the same to my own son." Tom says adding before saying for many months now he's new target has been Harry.

"How is it with a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar and how did you die and come back? While Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" Tom gets mad. 

"Why do you care how we escaped? Voldemort was after your time." Harry tells him. 

"Voldemort is my past, present future." Tom writes out is full name the moves the letters are to spell, I am Lord Voldemort. 

I look at Mattheo, who was looking at the floor. "You kept that from me." I tear up while Harry tells Tom he's the Heir of Slytherin. 

"You're Voldemort." Harry says making Tom turn around.

 "Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No. I fashioned myself a new name... a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world." 

Both Harry and Tom go at each other about Dumbledore before Tom calls the snake. As I see it's head I step back and Mattheo grabs my hand pulling me out of the way. "Harry!" I scream at he trips. "Harry run and hide!" I scream before getting down next to Ginny trying to wake her up. 

Harry comes back and the snake shows up again. "Hat." I see the Sword of Gryffindor appear. "Careful Harry I shout as he climbs. 

"Shut it." Tom points the wand at me so Mattheo steps in front of me keeping me behind him away from Tom. 

Harry kills the snake upsetting Tom Riddle. "Remarkable isn't it, how quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body? I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry. Then I'll let your sister join you." Tom tells him while Mattheo bends down grabbing the book. "What are you doing?" He asks as Mattheo opens the book putting it in front of Harry then grabs the tooth off the ground giving it to him. 

"You should." Mattheo tells him then walks back to me. 

"Stop! No!" Tom shouts right before Harry stabs the diary.

Once he was gone Ginny wakes up saying she did it all not meaning to and the phoenix heals Harry. The four of us head back to Ron with Lockhart and the bird flies us all out back up to the school. The next morning the four of us meet with Dumbledore in his office. 

"The four of you realize, of course... that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules. And there is sufficient evidence to have you all expelled. Therefore...it is only fitting... that you four receive Special Awards for Services to the School." He tells us then sends Ron to have an owl send a letter to Azkaban to get Hagrid back. "Mr. Riddle, you have proven to me that you are not wanting to follow in your father's footsteps. I'm sorry for being so cautious about you. You may go." Dumbledore tells him so he leaves. "Miss Potter, I believe you have someone you need to talk to." He smiles so I go follow Mattheo.

"Mattheo!" I shout to get him to stop. "Why didn't you just tell me?" I ask him. 

"I should have just told you my father was... Voldemort. The man who killed your parents. You would have never wanted to speak to me again. You would have assumed I would be just like him. I didn't want to lose a friend like you." He gets loud. 

"Maybe that could have happened! But I know it wouldn't have gone that way because I knew you for who you were. Now though... My trust is a little weak. I understand you helped kill the memory of your father but you didn't trust me. The amount of times you have talked about him and never told me. It's not like I would've told anyone because what we talk about is only between us." My voice cracks. "I just need a day alone from you." I say looking down and he leaves me.

"What did you tell him?" Harry walks up to me looking at Mattheo walking away. 

"Hurt he didn't just tell me who his dad was. He's talked about how bad he was, not wanting to be like him or want anything to do with him. That my trust in him is a little weak now. I just want the day away from him." I sigh sitting down. 

"I understand you two are super close but his father is Voldemort. I don't want you being so close to him anymore. He can always to be like his father and use your friendship as a weakness to get to you. To us." Harry makes me look at him. 

"You want me to stop being friends with him?" I stand up straight. 

"I'm sorry."

I laugh, "No. You can't make that decision for me." I walk away.

[austenpoppy]

"Ron was not really worried for his family in the Goblin's revenge" - debunked with one quote...+ small analysis

It's an argument often made, you know. The idea behind that, of course, is that Ron simply used his family as an excuse to lash out at Harry, while his real motive was that he was jealous of Harry and Hermione's closeness.

Yet you see, here is the last line said by Ron before the fight, and just after the Trio spied on Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Dean and Gornuk and Griphook's conversation - Ron was in general very quiet and subdued after the trio stopped listening to the other's conversation, but he still could not help but react vehemently when Phineas Nigellus spoke ill of his sister :

'Ah', said Phineas Nigellus, now turning his head way and that in an effort to catch sight of Harry, 'yes. That silly girl acted most unwisely there -'

'Shut up about my sister,' said Ron roughly.

And then you don't hear from Ron again before the beginning of the fight, though we know that, unbeknownst to Harry and Hermione, he must have walked away from the discussion to lay on a lower bunk.

Yet unfortunately, in the meantime we had Harry saying :

'And Snape might've thought that was a punishment,' said Harry, 'but Ginny, Neville and Luna probably had a good laugh with Hagrid. The Forbidden Forrest...They've faced plenty worse than the Forbidden Forrest, big deal!'

The "Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter" doesn't come out of nowhere.

The thing that people fail to grasp when they think about "The Goblin's Revenge", is that they should read the fight in light of what we learn during "The Silver Doe", but that they should not dismiss what happened in "The Goblin's Revenge" either, nor should they say that Ron's concerns are mere "justifications" or "excuses" to lash out at Harry.

You have to instead reread each of Ron's concerns as a mix between genuine worry, and a way to express other underlying, deeper factors - just like Harry's antagonizing and cruel comments are not to be read as face-value either (but you all know the only one I blame here is Voldemort).

Honestly, it was quite clever story-telling.

Here Ron is clearly worried for his family and his sister, and he knows that the Forbidden Forrest is very dangerous - after all, even Hagrid could not lay foot in certain areas of the Forrest, either because of the centaurs or the army of human-eating Acromentulas that became wild once Aragog died.

However, what angered Ron was the apparent lack of concern of Harry, who seemed to think that being punished in the Forbidden Forrest is nothing - "big deal".

And therefore, in light of 'The Silver Doe' chapter, you have to understand that the way Ron interpreted that comment from Harry goes beyond, and deeper, than simply worry for his family and anger at Harry for (apparently) not caring enough for them.

Ron was hurt that Harry didn't seem to care enough about the things that mattered to him. Ron was hurt that Harry didn't seem to care enough about the Weasleys - but Ron is a Weasley too. Ron was hurt that Harry didn't seem to care about things that were beneath him. So, in Ron's mind at that point, according to Harry's logic (which is understandable, don't get me wrong), when Ron saw Aragog and his family - (he mentions the "giant spiders" in the fight), it was "[no] big deal".

Ron was in fact accusing Harry of saying that what he and his family went/is going through was nothing. Ron was accusing Harry of not caring about people "beneath him", of thinking that the suffering of people like him can be forgotten and tossed aside because they're nothing next to him.

Both boys let slip some interesting elements during the fight that reveal part of their true motives. Harry, for example, revealed his trust issues and his desire to push back hard against people to see if they care enough when he refused to let Ron take off the locket and accused the other two of whispering behind his back.

Some of Ron's lines are really worth mentioning too. And one of the most revealing is when he barely took note of Harry's explanation as to why he had said the comment above.

'I was only saying - she was with the others, they were with Hagrid -'

'yeah, I get it, you don't care !'

Ron here did not listen to what Harry was saying. He simply insisted "you don't care" as if it was a fact. It implies that Ron believed that Harry didn't care/love him and the people he cared about because Harry viewed them as insignificant. Above all, it implies that Ron believed Harry thought his concerns were insignificant.

Frankly one day I'll be analyzing this fight in detail, but it can be summed up this way :

Harry : Please tell me you care enough about me to stay no matter what, despite my problems

Ron : Please tell me that you care enough about me to tell me I matter and that my concerns/issues are not insignificant.

The whole fight, somehow, is partly about two boys who love each other to death but are afraid the other doesn't care about them.

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 121: Record

"I found some weird box full of muggle stuff," Ron called, carrying said weird box out into the open living room that Hermione and Draco were working in since they had mandatory cleaning on Saturday mornings for everyone who lived in Grimmauld. "I don't even know what these are," he added, holding up flat, black circles with holes in the middle.

"They're records," Hermione replied, glancing up from the cabinet she was working on cleaning out. "They play music," she elaborated.

Ron made a face, "They're probably junk," he replied.

"What are?" Harry asked as he emerged from the creepy closet off of the kitchen, covered in spider webs.

"These records," Ron said, kicking the box with his toe.

"Oh," Harry said, making his way over, "Were they Sirius', do you reckon?"

"It says 'Lily Evans' on the side," Draco pointed out.

"Probably junk either way," Ron said.

Draco Malfoy had spent more than half of his life in love with Harry Potter. He might not have called it love when he was young but the older he got, the more clear it became that he had been a lovesick idiot for most of his life. He'd spent a lifetime memorizing every detail of that face. So he couldn't really be blamed for noticing the split second of hurt that flashed across Harry's face before he nodded, "Yeah. You're probably right. I'll just run them out to the bin."

"Let me," he said before he'd really formed a plan. "I've got all this to take out anyway," he said, gesturing to the box of junk that he'd weeded out this morning. "And we all know that Kreacher has less of a problem with it when I do it."

Harry gave him a little smile that Draco wondered if anyone believed was genuine. "Thanks," he said.

Draco levitated his box and the box of records and headed down toward the kitchen. When he was out of ear shot he murmured, "Kreacher," and the elf appeared.

"Yes, Master Draco?"

"Hi," he said, giving him a little nod, "Could you help me with something?"

"Anything!" he replied, nodding hard enough that his ears flapped.

"Could you hold onto this box for me?" he asked, gesturing to the box with the records.

"Of course," he said, immediately taking the box and disappearing.

Draco nodded in satisfaction and started plotting how he'd learn enough about records that he could help Harry use his mother's.

(Read more below the cut)

Two weeks later, on another Saturday morning cleaning day, he still hadn't made much progress. Luna had actually been the most helpful but he hadn't any idea where to find a record player.

But as luck would have it, one turned up in the library, tucked in a cabinet behind some very dusty potion vials and a rusted old cauldron. "Kreacher," he whispered.

When he appeared he held out the record player and asked him to keep it with the records.

He felt quite pleased with himself now that he'd found the record player; he was certain that he'd be able to play records for Harry in no time.

-------------

It took a couple more weeks. Figuring out how to get electricity into the house was no easy feat (but it was easier once he found out that someone, Sirius he suspected, had done it before).

When Harry arrived home that evening, Draco dragged him into the living room, "Draco, what is going on?" he asked, laughing at him as he tried to get him to hurry up.

"I have something for you," he said, nudging him into the room and presenting the record player. "Ta da!"

"Err," Harry said, looking more closely at it, "What is it?"

"It's a record player," he said.

Harry's head whipped around so fast that it made Draco feel dizzy, "What?" he whispered.

"I found it," Draco said, "when I was cleaning in the library. And I thought you might," he shrugged and reached for the box of records, holding it out to Harry, "I thought you might want to listen to them."

The other man looked at him then down at the box in his hands, eyes wide as he reached out a trembling hand to brush his fingers over the spot where 'Lily Evans' was inscribed on the cardboard box. "You," he started before breaking off and covering his mouth with his hand. "I don't know what to say," he whispered.

His heart was full to bursting and he was pretty sure he'd never done anything as good as this in his life. "Would you like to listen to one?"

Harry looked up at him and nodded.

Carefully, he took out the record on the top and slipped it out of it's jacket, "Ella Fitzgerald," he said. "I've no idea who that is."

"Me either," Harry replied, coming closer to watch over Draco's shoulder as he set the record on the plate, turned the player on, and set the needle.

Music spilled forth entrancing them both, It's not the pale moon that excites me, that thrills and delights me, oh no, it's just the nearness of you.

"Wow," Harry murmured, watching the record spin. He turned to Draco, "I can't tell you what this means to me," he whispered. "Thank you."

He shrugged but couldn't quite keep the pleased smile from his face. "You're welcome."

Harry looked back at the record player before looking over at Draco again, "Do you want to sit and listen with me?"

He nodded, "I'd like that very much."

------------

It became something that the two of them did together fairly regularly after that. Sometimes they'd sit together and read while they listened to records, sometimes they'd talk while they listened, or catch up on work, or just listen together but it quickly became Draco's favorite pastime.

One Friday night while Ron and Hermione were out on a date, Ginny was away for a tournament, and Luna was working late, the two of them put on a record and ate dinner in the living room, continuing to drink wine while they talked and laughed long after their pasta was gone.

As the Bob Marley album, Exodus, came to an end, Draco stood up and made his way over to the box. "Etta James," he read, "At Last." He smiled and showed it to Harry, "look, she drew little hearts next to the song titles."

Harry smiled that melancholy sort of smile that made Draco ache inside. "Let's hear it, then."

Draco put it on for them and plopped back down on the floor in front of the sofa, his side mere inches away from Harry's, close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off his body.

"I like this one," Harry sighed thirty seconds in as he leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. "Do you think they used to dance to this one?" he murmured wistfully.

Draco's heart clenched painfully as he was overwhelmed by the sense of loss that Harry must feel constantly. He had to take a slow deep breath before he responded. "Maybe," he whispered back.

The corner of Harry's mouth curled up in a soft smile, "I think they liked to dance," he murmured. "Hagrid gave me a picture of the two of them dancing together when I was at Hogwarts."

"Yeah?" he asked, hoping Harry would say more about that.

Harry nodded, "They looked really happy, you know?" he said. "Like they were the only two people in the world, like they weren't in the middle of a war," he sighed. "I like to imagine both of them dancing with me when I was a baby," he confessed in a whisper, "when I was crying or something. I like to imagine that the love that saved my life was tangible all the time, you know?" he murmured.

"I'm sure it was," Draco said softly.

He leaned over and rested his head on Draco's shoulder and Draco hardly dared to breathe. After a moment Harry said, "Would you dance with me?"

"Yes," he breathed immediately. "Yeah, of course I would."

"Yeah?" Harry asked, sitting up slightly to look at him.

Draco nodded and stood up, reaching for Harry's hand and tugging him up after him. He kept Harry left hand in his right and wrapped his left arm around Harry's shoulder, leaving space for Harry's right arm around his waist.

The other man hummed softly, drawing Draco in a little closer and closing his eyes as they swayed around the room. Draco couldn't stop staring; at the way Harry's eyelashes were long enough that they brushed his glasses, at the tiny nearly invisible freckles that dusted his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, at the barely visible wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, at his lovely full lips, and the way his stubble looked against his skin.

I love you he couldn't help but think, over and over like it was a personal mantra, like it was the only thing that could keep him alive; he ached with it, with the desire to hold him, to kiss him, to tell him what he really thought of him, to build a life with him, to give him everything that he deserved to have.

Harry's eyes blinked open as the song came to an end, his brows furrowing slightly as he brought his hand up to cup Draco's cheek, "Are you alright?" he asked softly, wiping a tear that had slipped out.

"Merlin, sorry," Draco said, taking a step back to wipe his eyes. "Sorry. It's just your life has been so unfair and when I think about you not really knowing your parents and having to live with your shitty relatives, and-" he choked on the tears.

"Hey," Harry murmured, pulling Draco back into his arms and rubbing his back, "Hey, it's alright."

"It's not alright," he managed.

"Well, no," Harry agreed, "I suppose it isn't. But it's all past now," he said. "Now I have my friends and I live with people who love me and whom I love," he carded his fingers through the hair at the base of Draco's neck. "Ron and Hermione, Luna and Ginny," he swallowed, "you."

"I just wish," he started before breaking off because finishing that sentence would be showing far too much of his hand.

Harry drew back slightly to look at him, "What?"

His eyes were so open, so earnest that Draco couldn't help himself. "I wish you'd let me love you the way you deserve to be loved."

The other man blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Promise me that nothing changes if you don't like what I have to say," he said, clenching his fingers in Harry's t-shirt.

"I promise. You're one of my best friends, Draco," he assured.

He took a deep breath, "I'm in love with you," he finally managed. "And I just want to love you, all the time. I want to hold your hand, and dance with you, and make you laugh, and surprise you. I want so many things for you-"

"Me too," Harry interrupted. "I'm in love with you, too, I mean."

"Really?" he whispered, hardly daring to believe it, his eyes welling up with tears again.

"Oh, love," Harry said with a little smile, wiping Draco's eyes with his thumbs, "Yes, really. Come here," he said, pulling him in closer and swaying to the music, letting Draco cling to him as they moved together.

As they continued to dance, Harry started to tell him all of the things that he dreamed about for the future together. Painting a picture of the beautiful life they could have and after a few minutes, Draco joined in, adding bits of his hopes as well.

They stayed up late into the night, talking and dreaming of the life they wanted to give each other. And every time they fought after that, one of them would get out the record player and they'd dance together and remind each other of the lives they wanted to build.

----------------

Day 120: Tough | Day 122: Moon

[allthatyoulove]

The Perfect Spot

Fred Weasley / Reader

Summary: You get to stay an extra night at Hogwarts with no supervision. So what do you do? Play hide and seek, of course!

Includes: underage drinking, cussing, fluff, making out

Words: 3.8k

A/N: I’m thinking of doing a part two to this, let me know if that’s something you guys would like! Hope you enjoy the story! Feel free to leave any feedback and please let me know of any warnings or errors I missed! Thanks for stopping by :)

---

Tonight’s the night.

All of the professors and staff of Hogwarts have gone to some motel in Hogsmeade, leaving the 5th through 7th years in the school by themselves for the night. It’s tradition for the 5th-7th years to stay the night in the school without supervision after school ends for the summer.

It’s a new tradition, so we were going to make the most of it before some kids ruin the school and it gets disbanded.

Fred and George snuck in a bunch of alcohol, spreading it around the group and trying to keep it lowkey so none of the other kids snitched or, even worse, wanted us to share.

We were all in the corner of the long corridor that the students decided to sleep in for the night. It was exactly like the dining hall, but there were no tables or stage. The windows were the only source of light as the sun began to set. We weren’t sure what time it was, only being able to go off of the moon from inside the corridor, but either way, most of the group was already plastered.

We were sitting in a circle, in the farthest corner of the room, in this order from right to left: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Me, Fred, George, and Ginny. We each had our own pillows behind us, intending for us to all sleep with our feet in the middle and in this circle formation we had created. There was one huge blanket in the middle covering all of us that George had engorgio-d so no one would fight over it.

We were lightly drinking the bottles the twins had brought at the beginning of the night, then Ginny said she had an idea but we all had to be drunk for it to be fun. So we picked up the pace, and now almost everyone was hysterical. Harry and Ron were extremely smiley, laughing at almost everything. Hermione was almost in tears, telling everyone how much she loved and appreciated them. The twins were making jokes, making everyone piss their pants over what they were saying. Ginny was being the loudest, trying to playfully argue with everyone through her laughter. Everyone was feeding off of each other's energy, which made a circle of laughing and whisper-yelling.

“-and then 50 bloody spiders the size of Hagrid started chasing after us!” Ron finished.

“Ron there were like 3 spiders, mate” Harry said, bursting out into laughter. The rest of the group clutched their stomachs in laughter while Ron’s face turned red, soon laughing along with us.

Tears started to leave my eyes from how hard I was laughing at Ron’s attempt to sound brave in front of Hermione. We all knew he was deathly afraid of spiders, so it made it all the more funny.

I was coming down from how hard I was laughing, wiping my eyes when I felt a hand brush the side of my thigh. I looked to my left, at Fred, to see his eyes on George, who was making a comment to Ron about him being a coward. The knuckles of his hand were brushing the outside of my thigh underneath the blanket.

My entire body heated up, the voices of the people around me being tuned out as I focused on his touch.

I have had a crush on Fred since I first came to hogwarts, but in the past year he has flirted with me more than ever before, touching me whenever he gets the chance whether its his knee against mine when we sit next to each other or putting his arm around me while walking through the campus. I’ve noticed it, but didn’t want to get my hopes up or read the situation wrong and make it weird between us.

But with his hand going from brushing my thigh to resting his hand on it, I don’t think it could be read wrong. His hand sat on top of my thigh, with his fingers resting on the inside, lightly moving it back and forth.

He continued to pay attention to the rest of the group, who were engaged heavily in another conversation, darting his gaze to different people and even adding in some things himself. My eyes followed whoever was talking as well, but I couldn’t hear anything they were saying. I was too focused on the way Fred’s hand slowly got closer and closer to the apex of my thighs.

“Okay, listen up you lot. I think we’ve had enough to drink, which means it’s time to share my master plan.”

My eyes shot to Ginny, being snapped out of my trance at the sound of her yelling over the laughter.

The rest of the group followed, immediately snapping out of their laughter to listen and leaning in as if she was going to tell us a secret.

“I was thinking, what if we played…”

She waited a second, as if a drumroll was playing in the background to announce her idea.

“Hide and seek.”

The entire group gasped in shock, frantically looking around at each other and agreeing with how good of an idea it is. Ginny looked proud, nodding her head in confidence as everyone got excited.

“Should we have everyone else play? I think the more people, the better.” Harry said, looking around the group for their opinions.

“Yeah I think if we had a small group of seekers and the res’ were hiders, that’d be better. We could split it evenly so we switch after all the hider’s hv’been found.” I said, getting an adrenaline boost at how fun it was going to be. There were 429 students in the 5th-7th years, but most of them weren’t convinced to stay another day after school had gotten out. So, there were about 150 students in the hall right now that would be playing. It was going to be a good game.

Everyone nodded and agreed in confirmation to what I said, and Ginny got up to yell out the directions and rules to everyone else in the hall.

We all got up, trying to gain our balance after drinking on the floor for so long and giggling when Ron almost pulled George down with him after he started to fall over. We brushed off our pajamas, hiding the bottles underneath the blanket while Ginny was giving her speech.

“Alright I think everyone’s got it. You guys can pick which team you’re on, I think they’re already splitting themselves into groups over there.” Ginny said, coming back to the group as the rest of the corridor broke out into loud conversation. George was the first to speak up.

“I’ll be a seeker with Harry and Ron. You all can be the hiders because you lot can’t even see straight”

Hermione giggled, clutching onto Ginny to stay balanced as Ginny spoke up, pointing at George.

“You’re on, Georgie. I may not be able to see straight, but…”

We waited for her to finish, as she stood there with her finger pointed at him. It was quiet in the group for a couple of seconds before everyone burst into another fit of laughter.

“Let’s just get the game started” Ginny said, turning red and turning around slowly so she didn’t fall over.

We started walking out of the corridor, following the rest of the large group of students that were headed that way as well. Everyone had grabbed their wands to use as light in finding our way around the huge castle.

Fred caught up to me, grabbing my elbow that was holding my wand to get my attention. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, careful to hide what he was saying from the others.

“Have any ideas on where to hide?”

His breath on my ear made me feel fuzzy inside, whether that was magnified by the alcohol or not, and I smiled up at him, knowing that I looked absolutely plastered.

“No clue. What’re you thinking Freddie?”

He smiled his mischievous smile and pointed with his head towards the doors we were about to walk through, leading to the hallway.

“I’ve got the perfect spot. I’ll show you.” He said, rather seductively.

My stomach fluttered as I smiled down at my feet. He rested his hand at the small of my back as we walked through the huge doors together, shuffling into the hallway with the group of kids. They were making a huge half-circle around what we could now see was Ginny, the hallway being lit up by the lanterns hanging on the wall.

“Anything outside of the castle is off limits. No Forbidden Forest or going out to Hagrid’s hut, because no one will find you and the castle is plenty big for everyone to hide. No magic cloaks or spells to see any footprints. The seekers will give you 5 minutes to find a hiding place, so make it good.”

Everyone was quiet, listening to Ginny give surprisingly good and clear instructions with how drunk she seemed to be 2 minutes ago. She was a good leader.

“Those are the only rules. So, let’s do this!”

Everyone gave a quick cheer combined with claps and talk of where they were going to hide. Some kids started to run away right away, squealing in excitement and rushing to get to their hiding places.

Fred, Ginny, Hermione, and I joined with the rest of the group while we waited for the other hiders to clear out.

“You are going down, mr. chosen one!” Ginny yelled at Harry, linking her arms with Hermione and walking off towards the stairs.

Harry blushed a little and laughed, turning in towards Ron and George, who looked like they were already coming up with a plan for attack.

Fred and I looked to each other, smirking. The alcohol definitely did nothing but amplify my attraction towards him. Seeing him in the dim light with his hair slightly ruffled, in a black shirt and plaid pajama pants while I’m drunk was definitely… sinking in. He towered over me and had his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at me with a smirk. If I’m being honest, one word from this man and I would jump into his arms. I had all night to gawk at him, and the low conversation from the people behind us reminded me that the timer was going down and we already spent a good minute just staring at each other.

“So where’s this place you had in mind, Weasley?”

“I thought you’d never ask” he said, grabbing my hand and turning to go down the hall opposite Ginny and Hermione.

We walked until the first turn, turning left and going down another long hallway before coming before a staircase.

“Just up here” He said, guiding me up the flights of stairs.

He broke into a light jog up the stairs and I struggled to keep up, trying to keep my balance. He had taken the same amount of shots I did, but he was also a giant so I’m sure it had less of an effect on him.

We reached the top of the stairs, and Fred looked all around him at the three different hallways in search of something.

“Y’know where you’re going, Fred?”

“Yeah, of course, umm….”

He looked around once more before settling on the hallway to his left, which looked like a last minute decision.

“It’s this way, trust me” He pulled my arm forward so I was now in front of him, wrapping his arm across my back and settling his hand on my waist, using his hand to hold me in place in front of him. I kept walking until he turned me, stopping us in front of a door.

“Go on, open it.”

I reached out and opened the door. It was pitch black inside, and before I could protest against going in, he ushered me inside the small space and closed the door behind us.

“Fred-”

“Lumos.” He whispered. The tip of his wand instantly lit up, brightening up the small room as I looked up at him. He smirked down at me, his gaze wandering over my face.

“Was this your plan all along, Weasley? Get me alone in a dark room?” I flirted, smirking at him as I stood on my tippy toes to look at him closer.

He faked a shocked gasp, “How’d you know, you little minx?”

I smiled at him as I settled back down on my feet, starting to fall back a bit before Fred’s hand instantly shot out to grab me and hold me in place. I didn’t register it in time, instead looking around the space we were in.

The light that Fred’s wand was supplying was rather dim, but perfect for showing the contents of the room.

Filch’s office.

There were a few dressers pressed against the wall, with a desk and chair in the middle. There were small artifacts around the room, but nothing that caught my eye. I gazed over the room, but it was all just a blurry mess to me. I turned back around to Fred, seeing that his eyes never wandered from me. I smiled up at him, looking at his lips and just waiting.

“You’re so beautiful” He said, cupping my cheek with his hand that wasn’t holding his wand.

“Not so bad yourself, Freddie” I said, leaning in.

He smiled at me, meeting me in the middle and pressing his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and leaned as much as I could into the kiss, hearing the faint sound of his back being pressed to the door. I held onto his elbows, deepening the kiss. He leaned his head forward, making me lean back. I stumbled backwards a little, and one hand left my face to wrap around my waist, bringing me in closer to him.

I softly moaned into the kiss, causing him to tighten his hold on me and lift me up completely with the arm around my waist, turning us around so I was against the door. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and both of his hands went to the bottom of my thighs to hold me in place. I heard the faint noise of a student yelling, signalling that they had started to look for everyone now.

Fred pulled away, kissing my neck instead as my hands went to his hair.

“Fred, they’re looking for us now” I said, out of breath, warning him in case he forgot that we were in a game of hide and seek, like I had.

“Mmm” he mumbled into my neck. I could feel him leaving hickeys that I would have to make up an excuse for later. I couldn’t grasp that this was happening, teetering on the line between euphoric and giddy on what I was feeling, what I was doing.

I had waited for this for so long, I couldn’t do anything but feed off his adrenaline and excitement in this moment and meet it with my same feelings.

He picked me up and pulled me away from the door, lifting his head to give me a quick peck on the lips before we were moving. My arms wrapped around his head right away, feeling the room spinning from how drunk and turned on I was right now.

His hand shot to rest across my back, resting on my shoulder as he walked over to the desk in the middle of the room. He sat me down on it, standing in between my legs. It was completely dark in the room again, Fred’s wand being the only thing turned off during this whole interaction.

He reached over and clicked on the lamp that was on the desk, both him and I turning slightly as our eyes adjusted to the dim light that filled the room. I opened my eyes slightly, turning back towards him as he did the same.

He smiled a big smile at me, nodding as if assuring to himself that this was actually happening.

“Wicked.” He breathed out, still smiling from ear to ear.

I let out a breathy laugh, pulling him in by his neck for another quick peck. He pulled away slightly and rested his forehead on mine, looking at me.

“You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“Oh don’t be daft Freddie, you’re drunk” I giggled at him.

His expression turned moderately serious right away, scaring me that I had said something wrong or ruined the vibe.

“I’m being serious, you git” He joked, smiling at me and pinching my side.

“Ow- okay, okay! I believe you! It took you long enough to show it” I said, smiling back at him.

“Whaddya mean it took me long enough? I just figured out you liked me 2 minutes ago!”

“Who’s the git now? I’ve liked you ever since I came to this bloody school” I said, leaning up slightly to kiss his cheek and smile at him.

He looked at me incredulously, freezing in place.

“You’ve liked me that long? And never said anything?”

“Well, no… I didn’t want to make anything weird if y’didn’t feel the same way”

“You’re insane” is all he said before grabbing my face and leaning in to kiss me again. I smiled into the kiss and pulled the cord to the lamp again, turning it off.

This kiss was even more heated than the last, both of our hands roaming each other's body. My hands were going from his hair to his face, his going from my face all the way down to my waist, groping and pulling whenever he could. He tasted like cherry and alcohol, and I was getting drunk all over again, this time on him.

He pulled away once again, trailing his kisses from my neck down to my chest, exploring it with his tongue.

All at once, I heard 2 or 3 people’s footsteps running from the stairway down the hallway, towards the direction of the room we were in.

“Fred, fred” I whispered, nudging his shoulder to get his attention.

“Hmm?” He hummed, slowing his actions but continuing to place kisses on my collarbones.

“There's people coming this way” I said, using the hand I had in his hair to lightly tug on it, pulling his face up to meet mine.

He pulled out his wand, aiming it at the door.

“Colloportus” he whispered, making a gesture at it before I heard the lock of the door locking into place softly.

I fake-gasped at him before whispering, “You’re cheating!”

“I’ll make it worth your while, darling” He said, smiling, kissing me before bringing his attention back to my chest.

My hand went into his hair as I gasped out his name, encouraging him.

His hand barely dipped into my pajama pants, messing with the band but never going any further. I was ignoring the footsteps of the people outside at this point, not caring about the game.

“Fred, please” I begged, trying to hint at what I wanted from him.

His fingers dipped just below the fabric when suddenly someone from the outside of the door grabbed at and shook the handle.

“Hey! Someone locked the door!”

I grabbed onto Fred’s shoulders, craning my head to look over at the light underneath the door. He did the same, immediately moving his hands around my waist as if they could burst into the room at any minute. We both sat there looking at the shadow underneath the door as they shook the handle a couple more times before stopping. We froze for a second, waiting for something else to happen before we heard them run off.

He turned to me, and my eyes had started to adjust to the dark enough so I could see him looking at me with his lips swollen and his eyes dazed. His hair was ruffled, and he looked more drunk now than he did before we came into the room at all. He looked beautiful.

We both burst into laughter at the same time, burying our faces into each other's necks. I pulled away, pulling his face up to meet mine and fixing his hair as he looked at me with admiration.

“We better get out of here before someone gets your sister and it gets awkward” I said, looking into his eyes.

He huffed in irritation, dropping his face to my shoulder. We stayed like that for a minute as I ran my hands idly down his back, enjoying his presence. I didn’t want to wait too long, though, and have to walk out with hickeys on my neck to a group of more than 100 students.

He must have read my mind, because he straightened and stood up before backing up a step and holding his hand out to help me down from the desk. I took it, doing a little hop off of the desk as I took a second to regain my balance and brush off my pajamas. I took my wand out, casting “Lumos” to look around and make sure we left everything as we found it.

“You’ve got a little something there” Fred said, pointing at my neck.

I looked at him in confusion, following his eyes to brush my neck before I saw him break into a smile and realized what he meant.

“How am I supposed to explain that, bloke? You better hope it’s dark out there!”

He just laughed as I finished my scanning of the room and came to the conclusion that it looked as we found it.

I scanned Fred really quick, letting out a quick laugh before speaking.

“I think you’ve got a little situation too, Freddie”

He raised an eyebrow and followed my eyes down, before shooting his eyes back up at me and using his hands to cover where I was looking.

“Alright, very funny.” He said, suddenly uncomfortable with the way he was standing.

“Aww it’s okay Fred, it’s totally normal”

He turned red, motioning at the door with his head.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get out of here”

I laughed and turned towards the door, hearing the sound of him messing with his trousers as soon as my back was to him. I turned off the light at the end of my wand, unlocking and opening the door slightly, peeking out and scanning the hallway. It was still dimly lit, with no one in sight.

I beckoned Fred over with my hand as I slowly snuck out into the hallway. He followed me, softly shutting the door behind me. I stood up straight, looking at him as he scanned the hallway as well.

“I guess we better go get found then, yeah?”

“Let’s do it” I smiled at him as he grabbed my hand, intertwining them. We started down the hall and got to the top of the stairs before Ginny and Hermione came around the corner.

“Ha! Gotcha! Finally, we found you! The whole team of seekers were looking for you guys, you were the last ones!”

I laughed as Fred turned to look at me, our eyes meeting.

“I told you I had the perfect spot”

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you have any thoughts on Hagrid?

Oh Hagrid.

So, I certainly have thoughts on Hagrid, and as usual I'm sure they're liable to offend somebody. Nonetheless, here we are.

Hagrid should have been fired years ago, should never have been made a professor, should have been fired as a professor immediately, and did deserve to be expelled from Hogwarts.

Hagrid's one of those people who... means well, and isn't actively malicious, but also actively endangers those around him without a care in the world. In fact, if something happens to one of the children, then it's the children who are wrong and certainly not the adorable man eating spider he kept in his trunk.

It didn't want to hurt nobody!

So, let's start with Hagrid's expulsion. Yes, Hagrid took the fall for Tom Riddle and was used as a scapegoat. However, the way I see it, it was a little nuanced. I think it was likely concluded that Hagrid was not the one who graffitied the walls with rooster blood, that was very out of character for him. That, most likely, was some pureblood brat who thought it would be funny. However, it was likely his spider going around petrifying everybody and eventually murdering one of the students.

Technically, Aragog did not do this, however Hagrid was secretly and illegally raising a man eating spider on school grounds in his trunk. Sooner or later, given that Aragog grows to be the size of a house, that spider was going to eat somebody. And certainly, to me, even raising it on school grounds is justifiable cause of expulsion. You don't do that shit.

Hagrid then lets Aragog free into the Forbidden Forest, an invasive species, where he now devours the centaurs who had been offered sanctuary in Hogwarts lands. Hagrid personally broke a piece treaty, made the Forbidden Forest infinitely more dangerous, and he never acknowledges this.

He even takes children along with him for detention, leaves them on their own, and would be shocked and appalled if they were eaten by Aragog. Groggy would never do such a thing!

Hagrid learns nothing from getting expelled, by the way, just that Slytherins suck.

Dumbledore comes through and gets Hagrid a job where he will never be fired and always be able to secure a modest but decent living.

This is a very good thing because fifty years later and Hagrid's still at it, breeding a dragon illegally on school grounds and then having three eleven year olds illegally traffic it out of the country for him to Romania.

That's a very fireable offense, Hagrid, well done there. Hagrid, once again, learns nothing, is just very sad that he has to send Norbert off to live a better life in Romania.

Hagrid never realizes that, perhaps, having Ron, Hermione, and Harry cover his tracks for him was not a great thing to do. He dimly realizes that maybe raising a dragon in his hut wasn't the smartest thing to do, but, well, it was so cute.

When Hagrid is made a professor, within only a week, a student breaks a limb. He, and the kids of course, blame Malfoy for not listening to directions. But you know what, they're thirteen year old kids, of course at least one of them is a dumbass who doesn't listen to directions! In every class you're going to have at least one dumbass thirteen year old boy who's going to poke the Hippogriff with a stick. And he does, in his first class of the day, that dumbass is Draco Malfoy.

Hagrid, somehow, is still not fired and retains his position as professor.

He learns nothing.

The very next year he starts breeding death machines he calls Blast End Skrewts. They're cannibalistic, breathe fire, are poisonous, very temperamental and territorial, grow at a rapid rate, and are liable to murder the students the first chance they get. Naturally, Hagrid makes his entire class about the children taking care of these things, they're adorable.

It's a miracle no one died.

Otherwise Hagrid's a very simple fellow, extremely loyal to Dumbledore and not very bright. Which is of course why Dumbledore uses him for such tasks as "fetch Harry from his abusive household for me, k thnx".

He's not a bad person, per se, he certainly doesn't intend harm to others (and when he does inflict harm upon others, i.e. physically deforming Dudley, he doesn't seem to realize the gravity of the harm he inflicted upon them). However, his lack of insight and foresight makes him an incredibly dangerous person and one who should never hold any job remotely dealing with children.

Hagrid would be a great dragon raiser in Romania. No, wait, he'd kill his coworkers. He'd be a great hermit living in the mountains with magical grizzly bears.

[lunarfly]

Ok so I decided to finally post the promised: defending Romione (🥺💗💕💖💞💘) against Dr*mione (ಠಿ_ಠ) shippers.

So I've read a few posts about Dr*mione shippers, talking about why their ship is amazing (which had nothing to do with canon btw) and bashing Ron (for no reason) and I'm literally shaking out of anger.

Here are my thoughts:

1. "Ron is too dumb for hermione"

Stop- Just-

Stop.

RON IS NOT DUMB.

Yes, he might not be very interested in school subjects, but 👏 that 👏 doesn't 👏 mean 👏 he 👏 is 👏 dumb 👏.

He is actually very smart! He beat McGonagall's chess game, he is logical and quick-thinking. There's MANY examples of this that I won't name right now, but it's a canonical fact. Ron. Is. Not. Dumb.

And consider he was dumb. So? Would that stop Romione from happening? NO! Hermione didn't mind Ron not being smart. She was just upset that Ron was lazy and wouldn't study anything until the last minute. She wanted to get both Harry and Ron to study according to a schedule.

Is it clear? Intelligence doesn't determine love.

**And this is something that confuses me. This doesn't have anything to do with the point, but why does nobody realize that Harry isn't much smarter than Ron? Yes, he was better at DADA but that requires TALENT, not intelligence. And I'm pretty sure we all know that Ron is talented as well (hopefully everyone realizes that). Nobody uses the fact that Harry wasn't intelligent against Harmione, but everyone uses the fact that Ron wasn't intelligent against Romione. The double standards tear apart the fandom.

2. "Ron bought hermione perfume and Draco could get her something better."

Soooo, you're saying that just because Ron didn't have the money that Draco had means that Hermione didn't deserve Ron?

Wow, this just says a lot about you dr*mione shippers. You only care about the money that Draco has, not his personality. You don't like Ron because he's poor (and I know how FanFics give the "kind Draco" Ron's canon personality so the only "problem" with Ron is his looks and lack of money). And you don't see Hermione nor Ron the way they are. This "point" of yours is literally stating that Hermione should be a gold-digger and get Draco because he can get her the expensive presents that she deserves. Yikes.

3. "Draco can understand the emotional side of Hermione while Ron can't."

Wait

What?

WHERE DO YOU GET THIS IDEA FROM-

Draco is only EVER concerned about his own self, he is a NARCISSIST. He would NEVER care for someone (let alone Hermione) as purely and truly as he cared about himself. He didn't even care about Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson etc. He was selfish. The only reason he could express his emotions was because he had to go through a lot since he realized that killing Dumbledore wasn't as easy as bullying Hermione. This would never ever work.

And even if Ron didn't understand her as much, he STILL comforted her. Take the beginning chapters of The Deathly Hallows as an example. You'll see.

4. "Ron is too immature."

I need help.

Of course Ron was immature when he was 11!! Yes, he acted immaturely many times, yes, he made many mistakes, but guess what? He changed! He changed for Hermione!! Draco didn't change at all, not for Hermione, nor for anyone else. He remained the same bratty bully.

If you could reread the books and read prisoner of azkaban vs deathly hallows, you will definitely see how much Ron has matured. He doesn't argue with Hermione anymore, he comforts her, he's there for her. Yes, he made a mistake but he was manipulated by the horcrux! We don't blame Ginny for what tom riddle's diary made her do, do we? So stop blaming Ron!

Anyways, I think if dr*mione shippers have read the books, they'll know what I'm talking about when I say Ron changed for Hermione. I honestly don't know how you could miss Ron's character arc.

5. "Ron would be jealous of the brilliant Hermione."

What?

If I remember correctly, the reason Draco bullied the trio was because he was jealous of them. His jealousy turned into a 7 year torture for the trio and now you're saying that Ron is the jealous one? Please.

But anyways, Ron has been jealous of Harry and has made a few mistakes. But there are reasons behind them and I can defend him for each of these with arguments other than "everyone makes mistakes" (cough cough* Draco stans* cough cough).

First of all, Ron has admitted being jealous of Harry's fame because he lives with 5 older brothers who outshine him. But that's not really a mistake because he never let it get in his way. There were only 2 situations in 7 years when he left Harry out of jealousy but I think these have different explainations.

No1 Ron left in goblet of fire. I think the real reason that Ron let his jealousy get in his way this time, was not only because Harry got to participate in the tournament which could bring him eternal glory, but more likely because he was disappointed that his own best friend didn't even tell him that he was entering and didn't even help him participate (which wasn't true, but Ron thought so back then).

No2 Ron left in deathly hallows. This one was 100% because of the horcrux and I think we should all accept this by now and stop hating on Ron for being affected by dark magic.

And just like that, Ron never let his jealousy get in his way of friendships. I can't think of a situation where Ron is jealous of the brilliant Hermione so if you remember, please let me know so I can argue against it. <3

6. "Ron and Hermione would break up and remain friends, it's easy to imagine because they didn't have a strong relationship."

This was actually said, someone actually said this-

I'm just going to say that Ron and Hermione are happily married to this day (which definitely proves that their relationship is strong) and give the dr*mione community a moment of silence.

7. "Ron didn't do anything for Hermione and was just a jerk."

Coming from a person who has read and reread the books multiple times, I can assure you that Ron did many things for Hermione.

Of course, he was immature at first, he was mean to her, but slowly he started seeing more of the good in Hermione and started changing for her.

And even when he was immature, he still cared about Hermione and would protect her no matter what.

Let's remember how many times rubbish Ron stood up for Hermione against the brilliant bully Draco. 🥰

Let's remember how cowardly Ronald faced his fears of spiders to help Hermione (and the rest of the school, just how jerkier can he get?). 🥰

Let's remember how ridiculous Ronniekins stood up for Hermione against sensational Snape and got himself into detention (oh yes, this is the book version of the movie moment where Ron agrees with Snape about Hermione being an 'insufferable know-it-all'). 🥰

Let's remember how rotten Ronny comforted Hermione when she was worried about Hagrid and Buckbeak (and he even let her hug him and cry on his shoulder, how rude). 🥰

Let's remember how revolting Ronald sacrificed himself to save Harry and Hermione in the chess game. 🥰

Let's remember how horrendous Ron attempted to hex Draco when he used a slur that was meant to offend Hermione. 🥰

Keep in mind that all of these were done when Ron was still immature and still argued a lot with Hermione.

And these aren't even all.

8. "Ron and Hermione have a loveless marriage."

What the-

I'm sorry, I'm trying to be respectful here but this is crap. And the fact that the person said they also had "proof" from the c*rsed ch*ld but didn't want to spoil it-

As much as I hate the c*rsed ch*ld, I can tell you that it did its job portraying Ron and Hermione's unconditional love. Even in alternative realities, where they didn't get married, they were still in love.

And why would you even think that Ron and Hermione would marry and have kids if they didn't love each other? I need explainations.

Next.

9. "Ron never listens to Hermione."

I'm sorry, what? I'm genuinely confused??

What do you even mean by this? Yeah, they used to argue a lot, and? Ron thinks Hermione is brilliant and wonderful and he follows her advice. I can't recall a moment where Ron won't listen to Hermione, doesn't agree with her and ruins her plans. Anyone else?

Since this one is a big mess and a confusion, I'll move on to the next one until someone explains the points and arguments.

10. "Draco could make Hermione laugh while Ron couldn't."

....

Do I really need to say anything for this one?

Ron was the funniest one from the trio, that's why Harry enjoyed his company so much! Don't you remember the line in goblet of fire where Harry thinks about how much he misses having Ron as his best friend, because without him there's less fun and less laughs? I do.

But what I don't remember is finding Draco's sense of humor funny. I'm sorry but his intellectual level is almost as low as Crabbe and Goyle's. His insults are none other than Potty and Weaselbee, he only got 3 O.W.L.s and all of his jokes were stupid and dumb and their only purpose was insulting people he was jealous of.

These fanfics have rotten people's brains...😬

Anyways, I'm going to stop here. I've delayed this post for very long and I'm so excited to finally post it!

I read a book on wattpad by a dr*mione shipper and it was nothing but a giant headache. That's where I got all of these statements from. Most of the garbage in the book revolved around Draco and Hermione being inseparable and getting over all obstacles (wth) and other stupid stuff like that which really annoyed me. The book was called "why we love dr*mione" and it was by Bittenwizard. You can read and enjoy! Trust me, you'll have lots of content to post about after that 🤠👍

*I always try to be respectful to all ships, but sometimes some of them really anger me because the ships are either toxic or the arguments are plain trash. I'm sorry if I offend anyone.

Thank you for reading this. If you're a dr*mione shipper, I hope I've convinced you to give up the ship or come up with better arguments for it.

If you're an anti-dramione I hope you enjoyed the post. I'll delight you with more anti-toxic-ships content. :)

Thank you once again! <3

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Family reunion; Sirius Black x daughter teen reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this is my first Harry Potter fanfic in awhile so if I get anything wrong, I apologize in advance. So this takes place during POA and I know it kinda drags along in some parts but I promise it gets better in some parts. Now idk if I'll make a sequel to this part, maybe with enough encouragement from you guys, maybe I'll get around to writing a part 2 that takes place during Order of the phoenix. But for now please enjoy this oneshot of Sirius Black.

Warnings: Swearing, mild violence, death of parent(s), bit of angst and fluff.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queen-paladin​

@platawnic​

__________________________________________________________

If you had told me that when I first walked through the halls of Hogwarts that in my 5th year that I would reunite with my dad, honestly I would believe it.  I always believed my father was innocent, even at just 3 years old I remember that night very clearly.  Because it wasn’t just the night that my godfather James and god mother Lily were killed, but my mother was also killed that day.

I saw with my own eyes (my mum had borrowed my godfather’s invisibility cloak to hide me) as Peter Pettigrew killed my mother with the ultimate unforgivable curse.  I remember crying over her dead body pleading for her to wake up, I remember daddy walking in and seeing us on the floor and him crying alongside me.

I especially remember when he left me at uncle Remus’ place for protection to go hunt Pettigrew only to be framed for murder of not only him but 12 muggles.

Since then my uncle was next in line to take care of me should anything happen to either my parents or godparents (my mum had no other living relatives and my dad wanted to ensure that I had no ties to the Black family tree should the worse happen).

For years I’ve been under my uncle Remus’ care who believed every word the Ministry said about my dad.  He didn’t want to but the evidence was stacked against my dad (even though no deep investigation had been made).

Anyways—oh wait I’m getting ahead of myself. I tend to do that a lot.  The name’s (Y/n) Lupin-Black, I’m currently a 5th year Hogwarts student in Ravenclaw (my mum’s house).  Even though I’m in Ravenclaw I’ve been friends with the Weasley twins Fred and George since our first year when the two of them stole my notes and wouldn’t give it back till I could tell them apart.

Amazingly I did and since then they’ve stuck to me like glue. The three of us do cause a bit of trouble at times (I get my mischievous side from my dad and brains from my mum, according to Gryffindor’s head professor, Professor McGonagall).

I also have an ability that I also inherited from my dad. I am a legal animangus, in fact I’m the youngest animangus the Ministry ever recorded.  

It took a lot of hard work and training in order to focus but by my second year I had mastered the ability.  My animangus form is a puma, and I’ve used it to help with my uncle’s—condition.  In fact that was the reason I wanted to become one.

He was at first against it but with a letter recommendation from Professor McGonagall and my head of house, Professor Flitwick, my uncle had no choice but to allow me to go through it.

Now as a 5th year, things have been—hectic these past few years since Harry Potter came to Hogwarts.  The Chamber of Secrets had been opened last year, and we had an incident with a troll, lost 2 DADA professors (but what else is new with that), but this year my uncle is the new professor for that class, and so far according to the Golden trio, everyone loves him.

But back to this story about my dad.  This year everyone at Hogwarts was on alert because my dad had escaped from Azkaban, the first ever wizard to ever do such a thing.  Now our school was to be housing for the Dementors until my dad was found and captured.

I tried to keep a low profile about it but at nights whenever I helped my uncle out during his ‘wolf-trots’ I would also try to see if I could find my dad.

Then one night it happened.

I was out with uncle Remus but I had lost trace of him through the Forbidden forest.  As I walked along in my puma form, my ears soon picked up the sound of barking.  Not werewolf barks, they were—dog barks? But why was a dog all the way out here? Dogs are the sort of creatures allowed within a mile of Hogwarts, nor can they get pass the barrier.

I raced on ahead and when I stood over a cliff but lowered myself down behind the rocks.  There I saw a scruffy, lean, but massive black dog barking at a few Acromantulas.  God I hate those things, I don’t care what Hagrid says, spiders can’t be trusted!  And I was right because right now this dog was being attacked by about seven of these things.

As one of them knocked the dog down and pinned it to the ground, ready to bite it and fill it with its venom, I let out a protective roar.  The spiders all looked up at me and I leapt down from the cliff and stood protectively in front of the black dog.

With a slash of my paws, I struck one of the spiders across it’s many eyes before biting down on it and tossing it like a paper ball.  I then leapt forward and pinned one of the other spiders down.  Another one tried to attack me but as it reared upward, the dog suddenly came up and rolled around with the spider.

I bit the head off the one I had pinned before racing across and swiping the legs off another one.  Soon realizing that they couldn’t win since a few of their siblings had already fallen, the rest of the spiders retreated back into their burrows and caves. I let out a loud and aggressive roar before turning towards the dog.

We walked towards each other till we stood face to face of one another.  As I stared at this dog, something about it was familiar to me.  Through the scruffy, madded fur and the very lean body I looked into it’s eyes and if I were back in my human form I would’ve gasped.

This wasn’t any ordinary dog, it—it was him.  My dad. Of course this was his animangus form, I remember! All the times he’d chase me around in his dog form when I was little, our nights curled up under the stars whenever mum wasn’t home, it was him!

My ears bent back as I sniffed at him.  When he noticed that I wasn’t any ordinary puma, he came up and sniffed around me.  He let out a surprised grunt as his ears perked up and his tail went up as it softly began to wag.

I leaned my head up against his letting out a loud, affectionate purr and he nuzzled against my head as well.  His paw would reach up and lightly touch the side of my head, almost as if he were embracing me.  We continued to nuzzle each other and I knew that if we could both show our human forms, we’d both be weeping hysterically as we’d hug and kiss each other.

But for now, our animangus forms would have to do.  As his head rested on my chest, I licked down his neck where I had seen a pretty bad scratch.  I licked his wound when we both heard the sound of a werewolf’s howl. Uncle Remus.

We both turned towards the direction of the howl before looking back at each other.  Dad gave me a gentle nod.  I looked between him and the direction of the howls hesitantly while giving him sad eyes. How could I leave him when I just found him after 12 years.  He came up to me and licked my muzzle up to behind my ears.  He then backed up and let out a couple of confident yet soft barks.

I nodded and nuzzled him again purring before licking his face affectionately.  I backed up and walked to where uncle Remus was but turned back to dad one last time. He let out another bark before I let out a low meow before racing on ahead to find uncle Remus.

That was over a month ago, but here is where our story truly begins.  Harry and his friends were slowly starting to piece together the story of my dad and Peter Pettigrew but with some straying doubt from my uncle, Harry still believed that my dad betrayed his parents and sold them to Voldemort.

I myself have tried to get him to see that my father wasn’t a threat but Harry has shut himself away from me.  He’s called me practically every name in the book and refuses to listen to me, hell he barely can even stand the sight of me.  Ron’s also elected to ignore me and treat me just like the school and the whole wizarding world has treated my dad.

Hermione on the other hand tolerates me just a bit more. She wants to believe what I have to say but due to the 12 long years of ‘evidence’ against my dad, she can’t seem to fully understand why the wizarding community would lie about framing an innocent man.

I sat alone by the Black lake looking up at the gloomy sky and stared out into the still, calm lake.  I let out a heavy sigh when I heard a voice behind me.

“You should really started heading back to the castle, it’s almost curfew time.” I turned around and there stood uncle Remus.  “And I would hate to give my niece a detention.”

“Please. You couldn’t find it in your heart to ground me for a week when the Weasley twins and I exploded the supply closet in the potions classroom in our second year.”

“Yes but I did give you a stern good lecture about messing with those chemicals.” He sat down beside me on the rocky surface and stared out the lake alongside me. “This reminds me back to my years at school with your father and the rest of my friends. We always snuck out here to this lake for late night swims.”

“Now, now uncle don’t go influencing me. You never know I might just run it by the twins.” I teased.

“(Y/n).” he started in that lecturing manner of his.

“Kidding, kidding. I know of the dangers of this lake.”

“Plus I never approved of us coming here to swim. It was always James and…….” He trailed off.

“Uncle do you really believe dad did what people said he did?” I said as I looked up at him.  He sighed deeply and said in a soft manner.

“As much as I want to believe it didn’t happen, I wasn’t there to say it wasn’t your father.”

“But I’ve told you countless times about my mother’s death! I saw with my own eyes who it was that killed her.”

“And I don’t doubt that. But with your godparents and those 12 muggles……your father’s family ties…..”

“Don’t define him! That’s why he made sure to not let anyone of the Black family tree get custody of me! Why he made sure that you were to be my guardian after papa James and mama Lily died!”

“If I‘m being honest he shouldn’t have done it to begin with.”

“Because of your condition?” he went silent. “Uncle……I never cared about that. You were never a monster to me. Why do you think I studied to be an animangus?” he turned to me.

“I’m just thankful you didn’t do the same thing your father did. Going ‘bout it the illegal route.” He cupped the side of my face, “You know Harry’s not the only one with his parent’s appearance.” I smiled solemnly.

“I know. My mother’s face but I have my father’s eyes.” It’s true.  Throughout all my life I had been told of people, especially uncle Remus here that I look practically identical to my mother, my eyes however are just like my father’s.

“I wish that she did get to see the women you grew up to be. She would be very proud of you.”

“Sometimes I—fear that I’m starting to forget about her.” I admitted to him.  Uncle Remus stroked my hair and allowed me to rest my head on his shoulder as an arm wrapped around me.

“Just think of how you succeeded throughout your schooling. That’s your mother right there. She was far too clever for her own right, even more than me. I’ll even admit that at times I was jealous of her at times.” We both softly laughed.

“I do recall dad telling me some of your little competitions you and mum used to do to prove just who was the most clever. She always beat you.”

“Not at everything!”

“I’m kidding. I know you did beat her at some stuff.” I looked up and saw my uncle looking toward the sky.  He almost seemed deep in thought about something. “Uncle? Uncle? Uncle Remus?”

“Hmm? Oh sorry love. But back to the reason why I came here; even though I am your uncle and guardian, I’m still a professor at this school and I order you to get back to the castle.”

“Yes Professor Lupin.” I said as I got up and walked away. However I snuck behind a tree because I wanted to see just where he was going.

If he wanted me to get back to the castle so urgently, why not just take me all the way there himself? What’s he up to? So I quietly followed behind him in my animangus form.  Sticking to the shadows and any tall shrub or bush to hide myself from my uncle, I crouched down low behind a rock as he now stood before the Whomping willow tree.

He took out his wand and said a spell which made the tree go still.  Once the branches went still, I saw him enter inside a small entrance of the tree and I quickly followed, now phasing back into my normal form.

I noticed that this place now suddenly looked like some sort of shack.  It was haunting and creaks and groans were heard all around me.  I reached out for my wand but before I could even grab it, I felt something touch my neck and a low, graveled voice said.

“Don’t. Move.” Ahh bollocks!

“Professor Snape.” I said lowly, trying to not be a threat. Yeah much like my dad, Professor Snape pretty much hated me since day one (I’m pretty sure he hates every student that isn’t a Slytherin).

“Sneaking out past curfew, allying in your father’s hiding, I would have the right mind to have you expelled from Hogwarts and have you be taken to Azkaban alongside your fugitive of a father.” Oh man did I really wanna punch him at this point.

“Professor you know he’s—” I felt his wand press harder against my neck as he hissed in my ear.

“It’s your word against the Ministry’s. Now follow me and do as your told.” Knowing I had no other choice, I allowed him to lead me up the stairs where I heard my dad’s voice say.

“Peter Pettigrew. And he’s in this room! Right now!”

“Take your wand out, and if he’s armed, disarm him.” I took my wand out and as my dad was calling out for Peter to come out, I stepped forward and cried out.

“Expelliarmus!” I saw as a wand fell out of my dad’s hand and that’s when my dad turned to me in shock.

“(Y/n)?” he gaped at me.

“(Y/n) what are you doing here?! I thought I told you to go back to the castle!” uncle Remus said.

“You should’ve realized that she’s more like her father in every way. Including disobedience.” Professor Snape soon made himself known as he now aimed his wand at my back, making sure to let my dad see it. “Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped to be the one to catch you.”

“Severus—” my uncle started off. Snape sent him one dirty look and as usual my uncle submitted as Snape hissed out.

“I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle and now here’s the proof.”

“Brilliant Snape. Once again you put your keen impenetrating mind to the task, and as usual it comes to the wrong conclusions. Now if you’ll drop your wand and step away from my daughter, Remus and I have unfinished business to attend to!” his wand moved from my back to my throat.

“Give me a reason. I beg you.” He challenged my father.

“Dad.” I pleaded with fearful eyes.

“It’ll be alright darling.” He assured me.  His eyes then turned cold as he stared at Snape. “It’s one thing when you put your nose where it doesn’t belong, but when you force others to do your dirty work for you, that’s where I draw the line. If you don’t let my daughter go now, then I will show you a reason why I belong in Azkaban!”

“Sirius don’t be a fool.” Uncle Remus said.

“Well he can’t help it Remus it’s habit.”

“Quiet Sirius!”

“Quiet yourself Remus!”

“Listen to you two quarreling like an old married couple.” Snape said but that’s when dad sassed back at him.

“Why don’t you run along and play with your chemistry set!?” I was then shoved out of the way as Snape now had his wand right at my father’s neck now.  I fell to the ground but was quickly brought back up and held in my uncle’s arms.

“I could do it you know. But why deny the Dementors? They’re so longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh yes, a Dementor’s kiss, one can only imagine what that much be like to endure. It’s said to be unbearable to witness but I’ll do my best.”

“Severus please.” My uncle tried to reason with him again. Once again Snape glared at my uncle and sneered once again.

“After you. Then we can deal with that rebel daughter of his next.” The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife before suddenly Harry called out.

“Expelliarmus!” then Snape went flying back towards an old rotten bed which collapsed right on him.

“Harry what did you just do?” asked Ron.

“You attacked a teacher!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Tell me about Peter Pettigrew.” Harry demanded as he pointed his wand at my uncle and I.

“He was an old school friend of theirs.” I answered him.

“No. Pettigrew’s dead. You killed him!” Harry said as he now pointed his want towards my dad.

“No he didn’t. I thought he was too till you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map.” Uncle Remus said.

“The map was lying then!” Harry argued.

“The map never lies! Pettigrew’s alive! And he’s right there!” my dad said before pointing towards Ron.

“Me? He’s mental!”

“Not you Ron! Your rat!” I told him.

“Scabbers? But he’s been in my family for—”

“12 years?! Curious long life for a common garden rat. He’s missing a toe isn’t he?”

“So what?” demanded Ron.

“All they could find of Pettigrew was his……” Harry started off.

“Finger.” Both my dad and I said.  The two of us looked at each other and softly smiled before my dad continued.

“The dirty coward cut it off so that everyone would think he was dead. And then he transformed into a rat!”

“Show me.” Harry ordered.  At this point my dad went to grab Ron’s rat but of course he refused to let go.  Once he managed to get Pettigrew out of Ron’s grip, Ron pleaded for my dad to leave Scabbers alone.  Hermione and I held him back so that my dad and uncle could finish the job.

Unfortunately Pettigrew was too fast for them to get a good shot to change him back.  So I quickly whipped out my wand and right as the rat went for a hole in the wall, I shot the spell and he soon morphed, for the first time in over 12 years, back into the stout, pudgy man that killed my mother.

My dad and uncle pulled him out of the wall and for the first time, Harry, Ron and Hermione saw Peter Pettigrew, the real man behind my father’s framed crime and the person responsible for Harry’s parent’s death and my mother’s killer.

“Remus…….S-Si-Sirius? My old friends.” Pettigrew praised before trying to make an escape for it, but they wouldn’t have it.  When his eyes soon lay on me, I felt my blood boil. “Ohh little (Y/n). So much like your mother, and with your father’s eyes. You remember me right? Your old uncle Pete—” as he came closer to me, I allowed my puma claws to come out as I scratched him across the face.  He whimpered as blood now began to seep down his face.

“You have no right to talk to me!” I growled at him. “I saw what you did that night! I WAS THERE YOU BASTARD!! YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!!” this time Ron and Hermione had to be the ones to hold me back from tearing that rat apart.

He shielded away from me in fear before turning to Harry who was just stunned in shock.

“Harry, look at you. You look so much like your father. Like James. We were best friends you know……”

“How dare you speak to Harry!” my dad hissed protectively. “How dare you talk about James in front of him!” soon the two of them had Pettigrew pinned by the piano, their wands at the ready.

“You sold James and Lily to Voldemort didn’t you!?” my uncle demanded.

“I didn’t mean to.” Wept the rat man pathetically.  He then began to go off on a ramble of how Voldemort was powerful and had weapons we had no idea he possessed. “What would you have done Sirius? What would you have done?”

“I would’ve died! I would’ve died rather than betray my friends or the woman I love!” my dad exclaimed as Peter tried to make his escape.  Harry blocked his escape but Peter whispered into his ear about something.

Finally I decided to step in and I pulled the rat away from my godbrother and aimed my wand at him.  Without even hesitating my father and uncle joined at my side and I said.

“Then you should know uncle. That if the Dark Lord didn’t kill you, then we will!”

“No wait!” Harry exclaimed.  My breathing sharpened as I said.

“Harry, this bastard……”

“I know what he is (Y/n). But we’ll take him to the castle. Together.” He placed his hand on top of mine and he softly whispered, “Would you mother want this?” I looked at him, tears starting to form in my eyes.

I turned back to Pettigrew who was now on his knees praising Harry for his mercy.

“Bless you boy. Bless you sweet boy.”

“Get off!” Harry snapped. “I said we’d take you back to the castle. Afterwards the Dementors can have you.” oh now this I like.  The traitor’s face turned from pure bliss to absolute horror as he fidgeted fearfully trying to make himself smaller.

After leaving the Shrieking Shack and exited out of the Whomping Willow, I watched as my dad walked ahead and stood to look up at the school.

I looked to Harry and gave him a soft nod.  His eyes showed hesitation but with a gentle shove he walked towards my father and I watched as the two of the proceed to talk with each other.

“You knew he was innocent?” Hermione said to me.

“Yes, I did. As I said back there it wasn’t just uncle James and Aunt Lily that died because of Peter. I was there to see my mother die right before my eyes. She had the invisibility cloak at the time, probably stole it from uncle James just to spite him or something. But she hid me with it and I saw as Peter came in and killed her with the last of the unforgivable curses.”

“I’m so sorry (Y/n). To think you had to see something like that.”

“We’re sorry we’ve been wankers to you about this (Y/n). Harry and I especially, can you forgive us?” Ron said.  I softly smiled and ruffled his hair.

“There’s nothing to forgive Weasley. Although you’re gonna have to do a lot of kissing up to your brothers Fred and George. They’ve been wanting to slug you for your behavior towards me.”

Then something happened that I wished never did.  The clouds slowly began to move away to reveal the full moon.  Oh no!

“Uncle Remus!” I exclaimed but it was too late.  He was starting to transform into his werewolf form.

My dad quickly ran up to him trying to hold his transformation back, but it was no use.  The agonizing groans and screams coming out of my uncle as his bones snapped and broke before changing and morphing to fit his upcoming werewolf body.  And to make matters worse, Pettigrew seized that opportunity to escape from our grasp.

Even though Harry disarmed him with an Expelliarmus spell, it still didn’t stop the rat from turning into true form before making his escape.  My dad knowing he couldn’t hold uncle Remus any longer told us to run.

Soon my dad was thrown down the hill and I exclaimed out.

“DAD!!” I quickly ran towards uncle Remus hoping I could knock some sense into him before his final transformation came around. “Uncle Remus you can fight it! The monster does not control you, you control it! Fight it! Think harder on your human senses!”

Just like my father, I too was sent down towards the hill as the last thing I heard was the sound of my uncle’s werewolf howl.

When I opened my eyes, I saw myself in Madam Pomfrey’s nursing wing.

“(Y/n), oh thank goodness you’re awake. Can you stand up?” Hermione’s voice said over me.  My vision finally came back and I said.

“What happened?”

“There’s not a lot of time to explain (Y/n) but your dad’s in serious danger. The Dementors are going to suck his soul.”

“What!?” I said fearfully as I shot up. “They can’t do that. He’s innocent!”

“Which is why I need to ask if you can stand and walk?”

“Yeah I can but why?” she pulled me up from my bed over to Harry who stood at the center of the room.

“Sorry Ronald but you can’t walk.” She then took a necklace out from her shirt and placed the chain around Harry and I before holding out what looked like a mini-hourglass.

The pendent began to spin around and soon right before our very eyes, the world around us seemed to go backwards.  Night turned into the gloomy afternoon once more as the medical wing was now abandoned and Hermione stopped the pendant’s spinning and she said as she took the chain off of mine and Harry’s neck and tucked it back into her shirt.

“Where were we at this hour Harry?”

“Uhh going to Hagrid’s I think.”

“And (Y/n) where were you at this time?”

“I was down at the Black Lake with uncle Remus, why?”

“Alright come on!” she took off running.  Harry and I ran after her confused asking her just what was going on.

That’s when she explained to us about the time turner necklace she had been given by Professor McGonagall, and she explained to Harry that that was how she was able to do all her classes this term.

So throughout the day we went down to Hagrid’s and I even got to see Hermione sucker punch Malfoy right in the nose (which I praised her on). We went down to Hagrid’s hut and we made our plan to save Buckbeak the Hippogriff (apparently Professor Dumbledore said that more than one life could be spared today).

As the day went on, it was nearly time to try and save my dad. So we sat just down the hill from the Whomping Willow.  We watched as uncle Remus came in and made the tree stop it’s swaying for a brief moment before entering inside, followed by me shortly after him.

“Wait you’re also an animangus?” Harry asked me.

“Surprised?” I asked him.

“When did you become one?” asked Hermione.

“I was roughly around your age when I took my test before the Wizard council to get my official license. They said I was the youngest registered animangus there ever was.” I looked up and said, “And there goes Snape. Right in after me.”

The two young teens turned and saw that Snape did go in shortly after me.

“Now we wait I guess.” Harry said.  We all made ourselves comfortable because we knew it would be awhile before we all left the Shrieking shack and came back before the Whomping Willow.

Then after seeing us come out, I watched as Harry went down to talk to my dad and that’s when he told me.

“You see me there talking to Sirius? He had just asked me to come live with him, you as well (Y/n). He talked about you and your mother a lot. As well as my parents.”

“I know. They were really good friends Harry. Even at just 3 years old, I knew my dad would never have betrayed yours. Never, not even if he were tortured. That’s why he named your parents my godparents.”

“I guess we were meant to be siblings either way.” I softly grinned at him and ruffled his hair before pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“I remember be so excited to have a younger ‘sibling’. Though I’ll admit I wanted you to be a girl, but you eventually grew on me.” Hermione giggled while Harry turned away embarrassedly.

Then that’s when the trouble began.  We saw uncle Remus transform into his werewolf form, the fight between him and my dad (who was in his animangus form), and then even be chased by him when Hermione howled to stop him from attacking Harry.

I phased into my animangus form to protect Hermione and Harry in case my uncle came around to find us.  When he did, I stood protectively in front of my brother and Hermione snarling and roaring at him.  But before we could charge at each other, Buckbeak had came in and fought my uncle off.

Man poor uncle Remus is having a really rough night. I then felt a coldness in the air and when we looked up we saw the Dementors flying towards where my dad must’ve been at after the fight with uncle Remus.

I gestured for Hermione and Harry to get on my back and once they were on, I raced on ahead and we stopped across the frozen lake and we all watched with horror as the Dementors began to suck out both Harry’s and my dad’s souls.

“Now just wait Hermione, my dad will come. He’ll be standing right there.” Harry said as he got off my back and walked a few steps ahead of us.  Hermione and I looked at each other sympathetically and she got off my back as well and stood beside him.

“Harry—your dad’s…….”

“Dead I know but just watch. He’ll cast the Patronus right there. Just like he did before.” We waited and waited but all we saw were my dad and Harry dying right before our eyes.

“You’re dying Harry. Both of you.” I said as I morphed back into my normal form.  God I had heard of witnessing a Dementor’s kiss is something awful but—god this was torture.  I wanted to step in and save my dad and Harry from the Dementors but what could I do? I’m not strong enough to conjure a Patronus charm, plus I would be outnumbered even if I tried any other spell I could name.

Next thing I saw was Harry racing forward to the spot where he said his dad was standing at.

“Harry!” Hermione called out but I wrapped my arms around her to stop her from racing towards him and that’s when we saw him lift up his wand and exclaim.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Soon a bright light came from out of his wand and a bright wave of light shot out, which sent all the dementors away, saving Harry and my father from a terrible fate.

As I stared at my godbrother, I couldn’t be more proud of him. Not even I was able to conjure up a spell like that at his age, hell I can barely do it now.  He truly was a gifted young man, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

After saving himself, we were now flying on Buckbeak heading for the highest tower where my dad was being kept.  I was sitting right behind Hermione while she was terrifyingly holding onto Harry for dear life.

“You were right Hermione. It wasn’t my dad I saw earlier. It was me! I saw myself conjured the Patronus before. I knew I could do it this time because—well I’d already done it. Does that make sense?”

“No! But I don’t like fly-AHHH!!!” She screamed as Buckbeak took a dive down towards the school, while Harry and I were cheering our heads off.

When we reached the tower, there we saw locked up in a cage, my dad looking forlorn as he awaited his fate.  He quickly turned to us and I took out my wand and pointed it at the lock as I proclaimed out.

“Alohomora!” the doors unlocked and swung wide open. “C’mon dad, we’re busting you out of here.” I extended my hand out to him and he immediately took my hand.

The four of us now flying on Buckbeak with Hermione up front, me behind her then my dad and Harry.  

And for the first time in 12 years, my dad finally felt free as a Hippogriff flying high in the sky.  Never have I heard him sound so happy and it brought a smile to my face as I heard him cheering.

We landed in the garden wing of the school and as my dad helped Hermione as well as me off of Buckbeak he said as we walked towards the corner of the garden.

“I’ll be forever be grateful for this. To the three of you.”

“I want to go with you.” said Harry.

“One day perhaps. For some time my life will be too unpredictable. Besides, you’re meant to be here.”

“But you’re innocent.”

“And you know it Harry.” I told him. “Just like I’ve always known.”

“She’s right. And for now that’ll do.” As Hermione left the three of us to have our little family moment, my dad then turned towards me. He stood before me and gently cupped each side of my face.  His calloused thumbs stroking my cheeks as he said to me, “I expect like Harry you might be tired of hearing this, but you are a splitting image of your mother. Except your eyes, you have……”

“Your eyes.” I finished for him.  Tears flickered in my eyes but I tried to hold them back. “I’ve only dreamed of something like this happening, and—even now I fear this still feels like a dream.”

“I’ve told you once when you were little; Dreams can feel like many things. Whether to make us feel happy or afraid, but in dreams you can never feel what is happening to you. So this, right here, is real my darling kitten.”

He took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  When I felt it, I knew that this was real.  My dad was free, he was here, and he was right in front of me.  I embraced him as tightly as I could, burying myself into the ragged cloth of his prison uniform.  Slowly a few tears dripped from my eyes one by one as I felt my dad embrace me back just as tightly while rocking me from side to side.

“I’ve missed you so much dad.”

“Not as much as I’ve missed you. I’ve missed so much of your life. You were just a little girl when I was taken away and now I’ve seen you’ve become a beautiful young woman, just like I’d hope you’d be. Your mum would be so proud. Just as I am. I’m so sorry I put you through this.”

“I know why you did it dad. If I were older I would’ve done the same thing. I just……wish none of this had to happen.”

“As do I kitten. As do I. There hasn’t been a day that I don’t regret leaving you like I did. I made you lose both your parents.”

“That’s another thing I’ve inherited from you.” he looked at me confused. “Uncle Remus has always said I did get your stubbornness.” He softly chuckled before grabbing the back of my head and pressing his forehead against mine.

We stayed in that position for what felt like forever till he pressed a kiss to the center of my forehead before he guided me over to sit next to Harry.  He knelt down before the both of us as he said to us.

“It’s cruel that I got so much time with James, Lily and (m/n) and you both so little. But know this. The ones that love us never really leave us. And you both can always find them,” he then placed his left hand over Harry’s heart while his right hand pointed towards mine, “In here.”

Dad stood up and walked over to Buckbeak and mounted on top of his back once again, gently gripping onto the chained reins.  As Harry and I came up and stood beside Hermione, my dad complimented to her that she was indeed a bright witch for her age.

Buckbeak then reared as he let out a proud roar before taking off running before flapping his proud wings and taking off high towards the moon with my dad on his back.

Two souls finally free from the law.

The clock tower began to gong loudly and that’s when Hermine told us we needed to get back to the hospital wing.  We quickly raced towards the medical wing before the last strike of the belltower.

We saw Professor Dumbledore with his back towards us as he peeked through the doors before closing them.

“Well?” he asked us.

“We did it. They’re free.” Harry said.

“Did what? Goodnight.” The headmaster gave us a wave before descending down the stairs.  Oh that crazy old man.  The three of us walked towards the door but before we went in, we had to watch ourselves disappear to start the whole rescue all over again.  Once we disappeared, that’s when we came in the room.

“How did you get there? You were just over there. And now you’re there!” Ron said to us in shock.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Ronald? Do you Harry? (Y/n)?”

“No clue. Maybe you should have your head examined Ronny, think you might be going mental.” I teased.

“Yeah Ron. How can people be in two places at once?” Harry joked alongside me.

Things after that were pretty crazy.  After it had been leaked out about my uncle’s condition (damn you Snape!) my uncle resigned as professor at Hogwarts, Harry had gotten the new firebolt broom (curtesy of my dad) and he got to test it out.

I was in my bedroom just finishing the last bit of my packing to return home for the summer when my owl Arella came flying in.  Her familiar grey and white feathers ruffled as she landed on her perch and she made her trilling sound.

“What have you have there, girl?” I noticed she had a small jewelry box tied to her back along with a note in her beak.  I took the note then untied the box from her back as she shook herself out and ruffled her feathers.

I set the box down and opened up the note and inside was a letter written in my dad’s hand writing.

My beloved kitten,

This once belonged to your mother (I gave it to her just shortly after you were born) and I figured she would want you to have it.  Keep it close to your heart and her memory will never leave you.

Your father,

Sirius Black

I set the note down and opened up the box now and inside was a necklace.  It was a silver heart-shaped locket and I noticed a little button at the side of it. I pressed down on it and it opened up to reveal something that not only broke my heart, but also filled it with joy.

The moving picture inside was my mother holding me as a baby. Her wide smile as she held me in her arms, her eyes filled with nothing but love.  When she looked up and her smile softened, I really did get to see what my uncle and dad were talking about.

I really did look like my mother.  Same hair, same mouth, same face, almost everything was of my mother. A single tear fell down my cheek as I kissed the picture and held it close to my heart.

Soon I began to get brief flashbacks of various moments with my mother.  I remember how she’d always sing me to sleep while having the windchimes of various creatures softly ring above me.  The way she’d make breakfast, and how we’d play together at papa James and mama Lilly’s place.

I unhooked the chain and placed it around my neck and saw as the heart shaped locket actually rested against my own heart.

“Thanks dad. And thank you mum. I miss you, but you can rest easy now. Dad’s free.” I said as I stared up at the sky holding the locket closer against my heart.

[goofygomez]

It’s hard to let go - A Harry Potter OneShot

Description: Traipsing through the Forbidden Forest, Teddy Lupin finds a peculiar stone, which shows him his heart’s desire.

Wordcount: 6660

I got the idea for this after listening to a Harry Potter podcast. I hope y’all enjoy this, as it took me well over a week to perfect. Enjoy!

---

“Do you really think this is a good idea?”

Victoire’s voice trailed off as Teddy led her through yet another deserted corridor. Rays of silvery moonlight spilt from an open window on their left, bathing the floor in a pearly white hue. Their footsteps echoed off the high-ceilinged walls, bouncing back at them, threatening to give them away.

“Don’t be so paranoid, Vee,” said Teddy, amused. He smiled back at his girlfriend, his long, turquoise hair bobbing up and down as their traipsed through an oak door that led to an empty classroom. He led her in with a wink, leaving the door ajar so as to hear any approaching footsteps.

The room itself was rather small, Teddy noticed. It was not much larger than the Transfiguration classroom two floors down, yet it held an eerie atmosphere around it. The windows were tall and thin, their panes illuminated by the full moon behind closed curtains. A thick layer of dust covered some of the desks, yet the teacher’s desk was pristine-looking. It was mahogany, with ornate legs and a small stack of parchments strewn carelessly across it.

Teddy swiped the papers away and turned to look at his girlfriend, Victoire Weasley. She was much shorter than he was, with long, waist-length silvery hair that flowed effortlessly down her back. Her eyes were a deep, dazzling blue that seemed to pierce through the seventh-year boy. Her cheeks were flushed under his gaze and she averted her eyes, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her right ear. Merlin, she’s beautiful, Teddy thought with a smile.

Apparently, in his stupor, he had also said it out loud, for Victoire turned an even deeper shade of red to rival his father’s hair. “Thanks,” she said in a quiet whisper. She was used to such compliments from boys around school, Teddy knew, but he had a distinct feeling that she was only lost for words around him. “You look good too,” she added as an afterthought, looking up into Teddy’s soft, brown eyes.

Tonight, he was sporting his usual turquoise hair, his father’s eyes, his mother’s nose, and his godfather’s jawline. It was commonplace around Hogwarts nowadays to not question when a seemingly new student entered a room, only to be revealed later on to be Teddy Lupin. His metamorphmagus abilities had developed from a young age, his godfather had told him, and he’d used them to his advantage multiple times in the past.

Even after years of knowing him, most of the teachers couldn’t really tell who he was when Teddy was under some random student’s guise. The only people who seemed to tell him apart, he had learned, were Professors McGonagall and Longbottom, who had known him since birth.

He stepped closer to her, raising a hand and brushing away another stray hair off her beautiful face. With a small smile on his face, he bent down and pressed his lips softly to hers, as though afraid he might break her. An explosion erupted in his brain, and it was just like the first time all over again. She pulled him closer to her by the collar of his robes, deepening the kiss. He could feel the smile forming on her lips beneath his.

They’d started dating only a few months earlier, and they had been the best months of Teddy’s life. He had known her his entire life, played stupid children’s games with her, yet he could hardly believe he was now her boyfriend. How many times had he stayed up late thinking about her last year, and now he had finally won her over.

Their jubilation, however, was short-lived.

Hard footsteps were heard from just outside the room, and Teddy heard the distinct purring of a cat. Whirling his head around to stare at the door, he and Victoire saw the glow of a lamp bobbing its way closer to their location.

“Maybe he’ll walk past us,” Victoire suggested under her breath, but Teddy knew better than to trust his luck. At that exact moment, the oak door swung open and Teddy wished he could have had Harry’s invisibility cloak with him. Filch’s grey eyes scanned the moonlit room until they landed on the couple by the largest window, their cheeks flushed and pupils dilated. Filch’s smile was crooked and sinister.

“Well, well, well,” he said in a croaky voice. “Who do we have here? Little Weasley girl and the Lupin boy, that it?”

Teddy said nothing, choosing instead to stare defiantly at the old man. He’d had his fair share of detentions from the old caretaker, and he couldn’t remember a time when he’d been afraid of the man.

“I think that will be another night’s detention, Lupin,” Filch croaked. “You too, missy, you ain’t getting away that easily.”

The following day, Teddy and Victoire were sitting at the library, huddled over their respective homework assignments, when James Sirius Potter came bustling in. Mrs Pince raised an accusatory finger at him and hissed, “No running in the library, young man.”

James paid her no mind and stood beside Teddy and Victoire with two small pieces of parchment in his right hand. He wore a sly grin on his round face, his auburn hair sticking in every direction, much like his father’s did. He had started his first year this past September, yet his robes were already dishevelled and dirty in places. Teddy wondered what his grandma Molly thought of this.

“What’s up?” Teddy asked, barely looking up from his Charms essay.

“Aunt Min – I mean, Professor McGonagall gave me this and told me to hand it over to you guys,” he said, blushing at his own mistake. He handed them each a piece of parchment

Teddy took it warily and groaned. Victoire did the same.

“Saturday night with Slughorn?” she exclaimed, receiving another warning look from Mrs Pince. “Sounds like a treat,” she said bitterly.

Teddy rolled his eyes, putting down his quill. “It probably will be,” he said. “You know how much he loves you. He’ll probably do all the work while you tell him stories about your parents or Harry. He loves those.”

“You know, I just might use that,” Victoire said sheepishly, smiling up at him.

“What did you get?” James asked timidly, peering over the parchment in Teddy’s hand.

“Little excursion into the forest with Hagrid,” he said. “That’ll be fun.”

“Oh, how lucky,” James exclaimed, keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t get thrown out. “My dad told me a little about all the cool stuff in there. He says there were rumoured to be vampires in there at some point.”

“With the amount of times he went in there, I don’t think he believed them himself,” Teddy informed the boy. “I’ll probably just have to help Hagrid with some wounded animal or other.”

Victoire’s face paled, making her blue eyes seem to pop out. “You really think so?”

“Dunno, I’ll have to go and find out,” Teddy said, shrugging. “It’s tonight.”

James screwed up his nose, apparently deep in thought. “Has my dad ever told you any stories about the forest?”

“Why do you ask?” Teddy replied, raising a curious eyebrow.

“He’s only ever told me about those rumours or the time that Anglia car went in there,” James said, looking down at the table. “But I think he doesn’t want to tell me about the really bad stuff. Probably thinks I won’t be able to handle it.”

Teddy thought about it for a moment, remembering the time Harry had told him about the giant spiders chasing him and Ron out of the forest. Indeed, this did seem like a father-son discussion, so he shook his head.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he said in an apologetic tone. “We don’t talk much about that.”

“Uncle Charlie told me about the time they brought in dragons for the Triwizard Tournament. They kept them there until mum, Harry, and the other two fought them,” Victoire piped in.

“Cedric and Krum,” Teddy offered.

“Yeah, them.”

“Yeah, but those were there only for the tournament,” James complained as if the fact that he wasn’t going in the forest was a personal offence. He turned to Teddy. “Well, let me know if you find anything cool in there.”

“Will do,” Teddy promised with a small smile, watching the young boy he considered his brother bound his way out of the library.

He remembered his promise to James that night as he walked over the moonlit ground to Hagrid’s hut. Rapping twice on the door, he stepped back and saw Hagrid’s enormous form appear in front of him, his tangled beard showing hints of grey and his beady eyes fixed on the boy.

“Alrigh’ there, Teddy?” Hagrid boomed, a smile on his face. This wouldn’t be that bad, Teddy thought.

“Hagrid!” he said, a little too enthusiastically. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited in some time. NEWTs and all, you know?”

“Ah, good man. Best keep to yer studies. No need to worry about me,” Hagrid said, nodding. “Ready to go?”

Teddy cast a sideways glance at the forest and nodded slowly. As they began to walk toward the edge, he heard Hagrid chuckle and turned to the man. “What’s so funny?”

“You remind me of little ‘arry in his first year,” Hagrid said fondly. “First detention he ever got was with me. We went right in there.” He pointed at a spot a few yards away.

“You went into the forest when he was eleven?” Teddy asked, raising his eyebrows.

“He was with me, it was nuthin’.” Hagrid waved an enormous hand in the air dismissively, though Teddy could tell his massive shoulders had tensed slightly.

They walked silently the rest of the way. A few owls hooted overhead, and the fluttering of their wings was the only sound Teddy could hear. The thick trees loomed ever closer, almost pitch black against the starry night sky. Even though he didn’t really want to believe those rumours James had mentioned, Teddy’s hair changed to jet black as he approached, the better to be masked.

Hagrid gave him a small nod and heaved his trademark crossbow onto his massive shoulder, leading the way down the path. The November chill swept past them and he pulled his robes tighter around his body, cursing himself for not bringing an overcoat. It occurred to Teddy that he still didn’t know what they were doing, and he said as much.

“I need some help tracking down some stray unicorns that ran off the other day,” Hagrid said, stepping over a branch. “A couple o’ fifth-years got carried away with ‘em and they buckled.”

“Why at night, though?” asked Teddy, trying and failing to sound brave.

“Easier to spot in the darkness.”

“Right, right, silver body and all,” Teddy said absently, looking around at the markings on the trees and ground. Could there really be werewolves in here?

He wasn’t actually scared, he told himself. He’d been to the edge of the forest many times with his friends, but this time it was different. They were venturing deeper than he’d ever imagined. The trees were thickening rapidly, swallowing even the faintest ray of moonlight until they stood in pitch darkness. At one point, Hagrid raised a huge hand and stopped Teddy in his tracks.

“You mind if we split up from here? Cover more ground,” Hagrid asked gently, looking down at him through his wiry black hair.

“Yeah, sure,” Teddy said, with more confidence than he was experiencing.

“Run into any trouble, just shoot red sparks and I’ll come running,” the giant said, patting his crossbow.

Teddy nodded and drew his wand, muttering, “Lumos.” He turned to the left and strayed off the path, leaving the relative safety of Hagrid’s shadow, or lack thereof. His wand aloft, he examined the trees and ground around him, looking for any signs of disturbance. For all he knew, this could have been a previously unexplored part of the forest, though he doubted that was the case.

Several painfully silent minutes later, he tripped on a root, hitting his face on a low-hanging branch. He fell face-first onto the cold ground. His wand, which had flown from his hand, was casting an eerie glow onto a small clearing. It could not be bigger than a small car in size, yet the sudden absence of trees in this particular area was curious, he thought.

As he bent down to pick up his wand to examine the place further, a sudden gleam of light beside it caught his eye. Reflecting the wandlight was a small, black stone. He picked both his wand and the strange stone, examining it curiously.

It was pitch black, not unlike his current surroundings, with a strange symbol on it: a triangle with a circle and a straight line inside it. He noticed the stone was cracked just at where the vertical line stood and turned it around to inspect the rest of its surface. As a whole, it didn’t look like anything other than a runic symbol he might have seen in Ancient Runes, but before he could delve further into his theory, a voice behind him spoke.

“Hello, son.”

The sudden noise made him jump on the spot, his left hand clutching the stone with such ferocity that it hurt his palm. He whirled around on the spot and saw two figures standing side by side. The first one, the one who had spoken, was a tall man with brown hair and kind, brown eyes, so like his own. His clothes were shabby, and yet he looked as happy as Teddy had ever seen him.

The woman, a short witch with spiked, bubblegum pink hair, was smiling too. Her face was heart-shaped, and her eyes were filled to the brim with tears. Her nose, much like his own, was short and thin.

They both looked odd, he noticed. The sheen they gave off resembled that of the Hogwarts ghosts, yet they seemed more solid than the likes of Moaning Myrtle or Nearly-Headless Nick. They looked, in short, neither living nor alive. Neither flesh nor ghost.

Teddy felt he would soon join in on his mother’s sobs, but a couple of words managed to escape his already open mouth.

“Mum?” he said feebly, looking at the woman. “Dad?”

“Is it really you?” he said tentatively, still not wanting, or daring, to believe his eyes.

“It is us, son,” said Remus Lupin, and his hand found his wife’s, who intertwined their fingers. “I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten.”

“We’ve missed you,” his mother said, tears flowing freely from her eyes, “so much!”

He ran forward to them, extending his arms, but walked right through their outstretched arms. Disappointment welled in him, followed by inexplicable anger. How could he see his parents yet be unable to hold them? He turned and looked at their suddenly sullen faces, and knew they were thinking the same thing.

“I’ve missed you too,” Teddy said in a small voice, looking into his father’s face intently as if trying to memorize it even though they had countless pictures at his place. He had seen them before, even heard their voices, yet he’d never been able to talk to them. Never been able to hold them...

One time, when he’d asked Hermione about it, she’d looked solemnly at Harry and then at the small boy, shaking her head. “No spell can reawaken the dead, Teddy,” she had told him, a pained expression on her face.

And yet, here they were, in the flesh, or close enough that it didn’t matter.

“You’ve grown into such a handsome young man,” Tonks said. She looked into his face, noticing the way his turquoise hair bobbed with the soft breeze. Teddy looked up and smiled, closing his eyes and concentrating hard.

His hair suddenly changed to jet black and his eyes to a bright green. This had been his favourite look growing up, his grandmother always told him. Remus gave a choked gasp and Tonks whooped.

“You’re a metamorphmagus!” she exclaimed happily, fresh tears replacing the old. “I knew it! I knew you would be.”

“Yeah, it’s come in handy,” he said cheekily, looking up at his father, who was about half a head taller than he was. Remus raised an eyebrow, feigning strictness.

“You haven’t gotten yourself into a lot of trouble, have you?” his father asked, a hint of amusement in his tone, and Teddy shrugged.

“I’m in detention right now, so make of that what you will,” he said, directing a quivering smile at Remus, who chuckled.

“I’m proud of you,” Remus said, nodding in approval. “I know James and Sirius would have been ecstatic as well.”

For a moment, he was confused as to why he was talking about James, and then it clicked. James had, quite clearly, been named after two of the Marauders, of which his father had been a part. The creators of the Marauders’ Map, who had succeeded in becoming animagi at the age of fifteen to help their friend in need.

“Thanks, dad.”

He still couldn’t believe he was here, talking to them, hearing them laugh. And they were talking back, beaming and crying with him. And they were proud of him. How often he had heard Harry say those words to him in the last 17 years, he wondered. Yet this time, as the words come out of his father’s mouth, his skin was crawling with goose pimples.

They stayed silent for some time, basking in each other’s company. Teddy was wondering whether he ought to tell Hagrid about this unforeseen event but thought better of it. Harry will know what to do, he thought. Despite how much he wanted to talk to his parents, he knew whatever could bring back dead people that Hermione didn’t know of was bound to be extremely dark magic.

He knew, and yet he couldn’t seem to let go of the stone. His eyes travelled from his father to his mother, who beamed at her son. She raised a wavering hand and drew it as close as she could to his cheek, making him shiver. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long time, Remus looking lovingly from her side, and Teddy let out a choked sob.

Why was it so hard to let go now, he wondered. He had never met his parents, much less talked to them. He had had more experiences with Harry and his grandmother, yet he couldn’t remember ever crying this much with them. It felt like a gaping hole had been patched up haphazardly, and he was afraid of reopening that wound, lest it never heal again.

He drew away from his mother, whose face fell. It cost him everything he had to say the next words. “Mum, Dad, I have to go.”

“No, please don’t go, son,” she pleaded, her eyes glistening.

“We could stay here for however long you want,” Remus said with a smile, “Talk about anything.”

Every word was a stab in the heart as Teddy shook his head firmly. “I gotta go back to Hagrid, it’s probably time to go back. I’ll find some time to talk to you, though,” he promised, nodding at his mother.

“No! Wait!” he heard Tonks say before he let go of the stone and both figures vanished from sight. As though they’d never been there. They never had, Teddy thought bitterly. Feeling an enormous weight dropping onto his shoulders, his knees gave way and he collapsed onto the floor. He let the tears flow freely now, falling onto the twig-strewn ground. The rustle of leaves overhead was the only sound aside from his sobs.

Raising his wand, he shot red sparks into the night sky to alert Hagrid of his position. He figured it would take a few minutes for him to arrive, so he relished in the relative silence of the woods.

He had seen his parents, actually seen them. And he’d talked to them. His father was proud of him, of Teddy. He couldn’t get that voice out of his head. “I’m proud of you.” He picked up the stone from the ground and pocketed it. Harry would know what to do...

His brief reverie was broken by large stomping footsteps from behind him and someone panting heavily.

“Teddy! Teddy!” Hagrid was yelling. “Wha’ happened?”

“I’m okay,” Teddy called back, furiously wiping the remaining tears from his face and rising to his feet. Seconds later, the gamekeeper appeared before him, holding his pink umbrella in one hand and his massive crossbow in the other. Hagrid took one look at Teddy and his face paled.

“Wha’ happened?” he asked, a tinge of panic in his booming voice.

“Nothing, I just thought it would be time to get out of here,” Teddy said, rather convincingly. “I didn’t know how to find you.”

“You scared me, Teddy,” Hagrid said, lowering the weapon. “I’m glad yer okay. Well, it’s been an hour already, let’s get outta here.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

An hour later, Teddy clambered onto his bed and shut the drapes around his four-poster bed. He looked up at the canopy with drooping eyelids. He thought of the experience he’d just had; of his parents and their smiles and their tears. Had it all been a dream? Could he have just imagined them out of sheer longing? But if he had imagined it all, why now?

These and a million other questions flew through his mind as his conscience began to wane and his eyes finally closed, plunging him into a flurry of dreams filled with werewolves, black stones, and Hagrid’s crossbow, all of which were connected somehow.

For the following week, Teddy kept the stone stowed safely in his trunk, willing himself not to fall into the temptation of using it again. Every night, he dreamt of the small object and the idea of seeing his parents again, to talk to them, to be near them.

A few weeks later, a letter arrived from Harry during breakfast. It contained the usual stuff: Harry’s exciting promises to tell him of his adventures as Head Auror, Ginny’s love, and a request to remind James to write back to them as soon as he could. As he relayed the message to the first year, he bounded off to the fifth year Gryffindors and sat beside Victoire, who kissed his cheek. Teddy noticed that some of the boys around him shot him dirty looks, and he looked smugly back.

“What’s up?” Victoire said, cocking her head.

“Nothing much,” he said, shrugging.

“I know when something’s bothering you, Teddy,” she reminded him. Her tone was neutral, yet her face held an unmistakable resemblance to her grandmother. “We basically grew up together, remember?”

Teddy sighed. He didn’t think he was ready to confide in her about the stone, at least not until he’d spoken to Harry. Nodding, he said, “I’ve just been thinking of my parents lately.”

He looked away, not trusting his eyes to remain dry at the thought. A second later, a hand soft as silk grazed his right hand. Victoire took hold of his fingers and intertwined them with her own.

“What have you been thinking about them?” she asked softly, still playing with his hand as though amused by it. Looking around, Teddy saw that no one was paying attention to them anymore.

“Just stuff,” he said vaguely, shrugging. “I suddenly miss them a lot, you know? Even though I never met them. I’m probably just going crazy.”

“I know what you mean,” she said, nodding wisely. “Sometimes I miss Uncle Fred, even though he died before I was even born. It may be that you saw something that reminded you of them and it sparked the thoughts.”

Teddy smiled at his girlfriend, wondering if she would even believe her if he told her the truth. For now, he decided against it and agreed with her theory, which was technically not that far off. “That’s probably it,” he said confidently, kissing the top of Victoire’s head. He heard a gagging noise from one of Victoire’s friends and shot her a glare. All the same, he got up and started getting ready for Herbology with the Ravenclaws and his favourite teacher, Neville Longbottom.

That night, the nightmares came back in earnest. He was running through the Hogwarts hallways, alone. The walls were crumbling around him, rubble bombarding him from above, and screams echoed off the high-ceilinged walls. He didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Bodies were strewn on the floor around him, yet he dared not look into their faces. How could he be here? He had barely been a baby when the Battle happened...

As he turned a corner, he froze in his tracks, the muscles in his face contracting. His parents duelled back to back, dancing around each other with ease, almost playfully. As Tonks Stunned a Death Eater, Remus shot a Full Body-Bind Curse at another. Teddy watched, transfixed, unable to move a muscle, for he knew what came next. He tried screaming at them, warning them, but his voice came out as a whisper, barely audible over the crumbling ceiling and shouting fighters.

It happened almost instantaneously. A flash of green from somewhere to their left streaked through the room, hitting Remus square in the chest. As his father fell to the ground with a sickening thud, Teddy watched as his mother rounded and roared in rage, pointing his wand at a stocky man who wore a malicious grin on his face. But the man had already raised his own and was uttering the fateful words.

“STOP!” bellowed Teddy, and this time, miraculously, it worked. The scene dissolved into white mist and he was plunged into darkness, not unlike the one that had enveloped him in the forest.

He shot up in his bed, clutching the sheets so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Cold beads of sweat clung to his forehead and hair, and his breathing was coming out in heavy pants. Pulling open the drapes and walking over to the bathroom, he wondered how he hadn’t woken anyone up.

The man staring back at him from the mirror was a stranger to him, or so it felt. His usually hazel eyes were a deep black, his pupils dilated and bloodshot. His hair, always so extravagant in its Turquoise colour, had turned a dull shade of brown. Frowning, closed his eyes shut and concentrated.

Nothing happened.

His hair remained brown and his eyes, though less tearstained, still held that dead look in them, like a candle had been put out from behind them. Sighing deeply, he turned on the spot and walked into the dormitory towards his trunk. He rummaged through it for a moment before extracting a small black stone with a large crack down the middle.

Berating himself internally yet unable to stop himself, he walked down the stairs and into the Hufflepuff common room. It was a beautifully decorated circular room with a large number of sofas for people to lounge in after a hard day’s work. A small fire still crackled in the hearth, giving off enough warmth for the early December chill to stay at bay. The embers had begun to wane, yet the light was enough for Teddy to traverse the room with ease.

He sat on one of the loveseats and looked down at his watch; a gift from his godfather for his seventeenth birthday. Three o’clock. Checking that the coast was clear, he retrieved the stone from his pocket and stared at it, the strange triangular symbol mocking him. Closing his eyes, he turned it in his hand. He didn’t know why he knew it would work that way, but he knew it had worked by the sound of muffled footsteps and the rustle of drapes to his left.

When he opened his eyes, he was once again facing the tall man in the shabby clothes and the short woman with bright pink hair. They sat down on the couch opposite him, and Teddy noticed how they seemed to hover inches above the soft material.

“Mum, Dad,” he whispered, his lower lip trembling.

“You came back,” his mother said proudly, reaching over and doing her best to place a spectral hand on his knee.

“I tried not to,” he admitted, more to himself than to them. To his surprise, they didn’t show any sign of shock. Remus and Tonks looked at each other knowingly and then at their son.

“So,” his father said, clapping his hands soundlessly, “where to begin?”

Teddy spent most of his nights talking to his parents after that. He told them stories of his years living with his grandmother. Tonks would usually tear up at the idea of her mother raising Teddy on her own, but the boy would assure her that she had more than enough help from the Potters.

Remus was thoroughly interested in the fact that Harry had married Ginny shortly after the war. Teddy had been the ring bearer, he reminisced with a smile. He realized that they rarely spoke about themselves, but he was so ecstatic to be able to speak to them, he didn’t give it much thought.

Days blurred into weeks, and soon enough, Teddy was boarding the Hogwarts Express to spend Christmas at the Potters’. Even though he was thrilled to see his godfather and his cousins again, as he got off the train and greeted them, his thoughts still lingered on the small black stone stowed safely back in his trunk.

The following night, just after everyone had gone to bed following a bountiful dinner, courtesy of Kreacher, Teddy sneaked out of his room and into the sitting room on the ground floor. The house had once been much smaller, but new additions to the family had called for larger accommodations as time went on. All the same, money was not a problem in the Potter household.

As was usual, he checked that the coast was clear and sighed in relief. He sat down on the sofa and looked down at the stone in his hand, the strange rune staring back at him, resembling a triangular eye. Taking a deep breath, he turned it in his hand. Before he could hear the usual shuffle of feet hitting the carpet, someone coughed behind him, and an icy chill went down his spine that had nothing to do with the winter weather.

Teddy whirled around in his seat and stared up at his godfather, who was looking at the boy with a mixture of curiosity and amusement in his face. His bright green eyes pierced through Teddy’s brown ones and Teddy felt himself shrinking under his godfather’s gaze.

Without a word, Harry walked to the opposite couch and sat down slowly, limping slightly from an injury he’d sustained in a raid that week. Both men looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak. After a few minutes of silence, Teddy caved and said, “How’d you know I would be here?”

“What makes you think I did?” Harry asked with a level tone, scanning Teddy from head to toe, and Teddy had the strange sensation that he was x-raying him.

Nodding, Teddy pointed at the silvery cloak in Harry’s hand. “If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have hidden under that and spooked the crap out of me.”

Harry looked down at the cloak and chuckled softly, shaking his head. “You always were a bright one, Tedster.”

“So how did you know?” Teddy asked again, frowning.

“Victoire,” Harry said simply.

“Vee?”

“She sent me an owl about a week ago, mostly talking about you,” Harry said, nodding. “She said you’ve been acting strange this past couple of weeks, that you haven’t been eating much. She’s barely seen you smile lately, which worried me most of all. She was just looking after you.”

“So?” Teddy asked, rather defensively. “What does that have to do with me being here?”

“I decided to watch you carefully today, Teddy,” Harry said calmly. “You were rather aloof all through dinner, glancing back at your watch every few seconds, even though time was going no faster. I noticed the symptoms of someone who would soon be out of bed immediately.”

Taken aback, Teddy pursed his lips and decided to say nothing to that. The black stone was still clutched tightly in his right hand, and his left rested on his knee. The moon bathed the coffee table between them in a silver light that seemed to make the wood shimmer. Harry’s face was clearly visible on the opposite side of it, looking at Teddy, the boy noticed, with no clear signs of disappointment.

“What’s up, Teddy?” Harry said softly, leaning in and letting the moonlight shine on his face. The round glasses reflected most of it so his eyes seemed to glow against the darkness behind him. “Why are you sneaking around the house at two in the morning?”

Hesitant, Teddy’s eyes drifted downwards to his closed fist and then back at Harry, who took note of that. Heaving a deep breath, Teddy’s face contorted in a pained expression, his eyes welling suddenly.

“I – I wanted to see my parents,” he said, his voice breaking as he fought to keep it steady. “I just wanted to see them and speak to them, and I knew none of you would understand.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up so far up his forehead they were almost hidden in the tangled mess that was his hair. When he spoke, Teddy was surprised to hear hurt in his voice. “You thought I wouldn’t understand?”

Teddy’s eyes widened as he realized what he’d said. “That’s not what I – I’m sorry, Harry.”

Composing himself, Harry took a deep breath and nodded at Teddy’s hand. “Mind telling me how you were planning on speaking to Tonks and Lupin?”

Reluctantly, Teddy released the grasp on the stone and opened his palm, showing the small object to Harry. Harry gazed down at it with wide eyes, shock replacing sadness so quickly that Teddy could scarcely believe those two emotions had been displayed three seconds apart.

“How did you...? Where did you...?” Harry stammered, looking from the stone to Teddy.

“I had detention with Hagrid in the forest,” Teddy explained. “At one point, I tripped and found this lying on the floor.”

“I thought it would be gone by now,” Harry mumbled, mostly to himself. “Seventeen years...”

“Uh, what?” Teddy asked, furrowing his brows.

Harry seemed to remember that Teddy was in the room with him and shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “I just happen to know what that is.”

Somehow, Teddy was not surprised, yet his curiosity was stronger than his pride. “I can see my parents with it,” he said, a tinge of longing in his voice. “I can talk to them.”

“I know, Tedster,” Harry said solemnly. He extended his hand and Teddy got the hint, dropping the small stone in his godfather’s palm.

“So what exactly is it?” Teddy asked eagerly, leaning in. “How can it bring them back when nothing else can?”

“That’s because it doesn’t,” Harry said, almost bitterly. “You see, this is part of a set. Three objects depicted in a children’s story from centuries ago. Last time I saw it was just after... just after your parents’ deaths.”

Teddy’s eyes were wide as plates, and a thousand questions flew through his head, yet he remained silent, expectant. Harry had told him many stories of the war, which had grown a bit more gruesome as Teddy got older, but he had rarely spoken about the battle itself. Whatever Harry was about to tell him, Teddy knew, was costing him an enormous effort.

“It’s called the resurrection stone,” Harry continued. “Supposedly forged by death, it does exactly what its name implies. It brings people back from the dead.”

“But I thought Hermione said nothing can bring people back,” Teddy said eagerly, unable to contain himself.

“And she’s quite right,” Harry said, a little more harshly than he’d meant to. “This stone, whatever it does, only does half the job. The people that come back are merely a picture of their old self, an imprint. Close to a ghost, except they’re more solid, are they not?” Teddy nodded.

Teddy saw Harry remove his glasses and wipe away the faintest trace of tears that had formed in his bright green eyes. Awed, as Teddy had rarely seen Harry cry, he leaned in further and waited patiently for Harry to compose himself.

“I used it, once,” said Harry. “Just before I... Just before I defeated Voldemort. I saw my mum and dad, Sirius, and your dad.”

A soft breeze was blowing through the half-open window. The red curtains billowed softly, as though an invisible hand were reaching through them. The grandfather clock on the other side of the room marked three o’clock, its soft chiming thunderous against the stillness of the air.

“They told me how brave I’d been, how noble. But they didn’t sound like they had in life. I realised that soon after the war. You see, they urged me towards death. They were proud that I was giving up my life when all evidence showed that they should have been horrified.”

Teddy decided not to comment on what Harry had just revealed to him, but made a mental note of it. Harry had tried to give up his life? As much as he hated the thought, it did sound like something he would do...

“The stone is a powerful and dangerous thing, Teddy,” Harry said suddenly, after a few seconds of silence. “It can drive people mad, to see their loved ones yet to be unable to join them. I know just how much you must miss Remus and Tonks, I really do.”

Another pang of guilt coursed through Teddy as he thought of his earlier comment, and he grimaced.

“But they are gone, just as my parents and Sirius are gone. No spell, potion or stone can reawaken the dead, Teddy. One day, when we are gone, we’ll get to see them again. But today, you are alive. Alive and surrounded by a family that loves you, who wants nothing but the best for you from the moment you were born.”

Tears were running down both men’s faces, but neither made a move to wipe them away. Teddy thought of the conversations he’d had with his parents over the past few weeks, about how foolish he’d been.

Harry’s free hand found Teddy’s knee and squeezed it fondly, looking into Teddy’s eyes. They remained silent for a while, the stone’s presence lingering between them like a disease. After a few minutes, Teddy closed his eyes and nodded, smiling at his godfather, who returned the gesture.

“Dreams and fantasies make us who we are, Teddy,” Harry said, nodding. “But, as a wise man once told me, it does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live.”

Silence. It was deafening after this conversation, yet Teddy was somehow afraid to break it. More questions flooded into his head, all of them fighting for precedence. Instead, he chose not to pester Harry further.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Teddy said, looking away. “I should have told you about it as soon as I found it.”

“I’m not mad,” Harry told him calmly. “It’s understandable to seek the counsel of our loved ones, however distant they may be. I’ll keep this safely hidden from now on if you don’t mind,” he added as an afterthought, waving the small stone in his hand, and Teddy agreed.

“But,” Harry said as he stood up, Teddy following his lead. “Next time you find an extremely dark and powerful object that may try and kill you, come to me first.”

Teddy chuckled and walked with Harry towards the entrance to the kitchen. “Will do, Harry.”

[thewannabepositive-blog]

The castle grounds snarled with a wave of magically magnified wind. The sky outside was a great black ceiling, which was full of blood. The only sounds drifting from Hagrid's hut were the disdainful shrieks of his own furniture. Magic: it was something that Harry Potter thought was very good.

Leathery sheets of rain lashed at Harry's ghost as he walked across the grounds towards the castle. Ron was standing there and doing a kind of frenzied tap dance. He saw Harry and immediately began to eat Hermione's family.

Ron's Ron shirt was just as bad as Ron himself.

"If you two can't clump happily, I'm going to get aggressive," confessed the reasonable Hermione.

"What about Ron magic?" offered Ron. To Harry, Ron was a loud, slow and soft bird. Harry did not like to think about birds.

"Death Eaters are on top of the castle!" Ron bleated, quivering. Ron was going to be spiders. He just was. He wasn't proud of that, but it was going to be hard to not have spiders all over his body after all is said and done.

"Look," said Hermione. "Obviously there are loads of Death Eaters in the castle. Let's listen in on their meetings."

The three complete friends zapped onto the landing outside the door to the castle roof. They almost legged it, but witches are not climbing. Ron looked at the doorknob and then looked at Hermione with searing pain.

"I think it's closed," he noticed.

"Locked, said Mr Staircase, the shabby robed ghost. They looked at the door, screaming about how closed it was and asking it to be replaced with a small orb. The password was "BEEF WOMEN," Hermione cried.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quietly stood behind a circle of Death Eaters who looked bad.

"I think it's okay if you like me," said one Death Eater.

"Thank you very much," replied the other. The first Death Eater confidently leaned forward to plant a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh! Well done!" said the second as his friend stepped back again. All the other Death Eaters clapped politely. Then they all took a few minutes to go over the plan to get rid of Harry's magic.

Harry could tell that Voldemort was standing right behind him. He felt a great overreaction. Harry tore his eyes from his head and threw them into the forest. Voldemort raised his eyebrows at Harry, who could not see anything at the moment.

"Voldemort, you're a very bad and mean wizard," Harry savagely said. Hermione nodded encouragingly. The tall Death Eater was wearing a shirt that said 'Hermione Has Forgotten How To Dance,' so Hermione dipped his face in mud.

Ron threw a wand at Voldemort and everyone applauded. Ron smiled. Ron reached for his wand slowly.

"Ron's the handsome one," muttered Harry as he reluctantly reached for his. They cast a spell or two, and jets of green light shot out of the Death Eater's heads. Ron flinched.

"Not so handsome now," thought Harry as he dipped Hermione in hot sauce. The Death Eaters were dead now and Harry was hungrier than he had ever been.

The Great Hall was filled with incredible moaning chandeliers and a large librarian who had decorated the sinks with books about masonry. Mountains of mice exploded. Several long pumpkins fell out of McGonagall. Dumbledore's hair scooted next to Hermione as Dumbledore arrived at school.

The pig of Hufflepuff pulsed like a large bullfrog. Dumbledore smiled at it, and places his hand on its head: "You are Hagrid now."

"We're the only people who matter. He's never going to get rid of us," Harry, Hermione, and Ron said in chorus.

The floor of the castle seemed like a large pile of magic. The Dursleys had never been to the castle and they were not about to come there in Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash. Harry looked around and then fell down the spiral staircase for the rest of the summer.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry began yelling. "The dark arts better be worried, oh boy!"

[lovelylanden]

Kittens and Confessions

Where Minerva McGonagall finds Harry spilling his secrets to a kitten on his first day at Hogwarts and upon learning about his abuse from the Dursleys’, decides to take him under her wing. 

Note: This one shot came about thanks to this post by @rose-grangerweasleyisbae and I couldn’t resist bringing it to life. I was listening to Harry Styles’ album while writing this and now my heart hurts. @millie-9730 and @welcometotheravenclawcommonroom asked to be tagged in this once it was finished so here you are, my loves! Enjoy x

Word count: 1.3k

---

Orbs of light shone bright, high above Harry’s head, bathing him in magical light. Hagrid, along with the rest of the first years, were far ahead of him. Harry had quickly fallen behind his classmates upon nearing the castle, wanting nothing more than to drink it all in. The cobblestone exterior was strong but weathered from centuries of standing steady, like the walls of Azkaban, worn smooth from the crash of unforgiving, roaring waves.

He stands just before the steps, eyes skirting around the front entrance before taking a tentative step forward only to jump back as something shifts to his far left. He freezes until a cat strides through the clearing and he lets off a shaky breath, bending down and offering a nervous hand out and the cat, and after eyeing him with curiosity, the cat slowly nears closer, nestling it’s face into his palm.

Harry’s first initial instinct is to bring his hand back and so he does, looking around with a sporadic heartbeat, breathing heavy as if about to be caught doing something he shouldn’t. The cat’s fur was incredibly soft, like one of the many fur coats Petunia owned and often threw in Harry’s face, ordering him to make himself useful. 

Petting the animal seemed like a luxury he wasn’t worthy of as he hesitantly brings his hand forward and it disappears into the cat’s thick fur. The animal’s body underneath the coat was small and incredibly scrawny, similar to his own, and Harry traces his fingers over their ribs with a heavy frown. The cat takes another step toward Harry only to screech with pain and only then does Harry notice the animal’s limping, frown deepening.

“You’re hurt,” Harry whispers, voice small. “They’re not very nice out there, are they?” He asks softly and the cat eyes him curiously, as if hanging on his every word. “I get hurt sometimes too,” Harry admits, staring down at his hand still lost in it’s fur. “My cousin and my aunt and uncle don’t seem to like me very much,” He says, blinking off tears. Harry thinks back to his cupboard under the stairs, his only friends the spiders that made home in the crooks of his room. Until Vernon found out and killed them with insecticide the next morning.

“You’ll be my friend, right?” Harry whispers and the cat purrs softly as if to confirm Potter’s request.

“Harry Potter,” A voice calls and Harry flinches, eyes wide with fear as he looks over the thin woman before him. She eyes him with slight fascination and longing, as if she knew him but as Harry takes more of her in, he realizes he didn’t recognize her in the slightest. Surely he would’ve remembered her thick robes and pointed hat. “The ceremony has already begun. What are you doing out here?” She asks.

“I-I’m sorry,” Harry whispers. “I just— I was so overwhelmed,” He admits. “And I found this cat. She’s hurt and hungry and I— Can you heal her?” He asks.

Minerva McGonagall’s face instantly softens and she bends down, the cat scurrying toward her as if accepting her as one of their own. She pulls out her wand, so dark in colour it was nearly black with a thick bead at the handle and deep ridges near the end for comfortable casting. Harry eyes it in awe as she murmurs a spell to heal the cat and grins wide when the kitten meows appreciatively. “Let’s get you inside, Harry,” Minerva says and Harry nods, scooping the cat up in his arms.

“Who are you?” Harry can’t help but ask and Minerva smiles softly.

“I’m one of your professors, Minerva McGonagall. I taught your parents years ago,”

“My— My parents?” Harry chokes with wide eyes. “Can you tell me more about them?” He asks softly.

Minerva rubs Harry’s back gently. “With time, of course,” She says.

“Can I— Can I keep her?” Harry whispers hopefully after a long round of silence and after a moment’s hesitation, his professor nods, eyeing the cat warily. “Please don’t tell my aunt and uncle. They’ll never let me have her,” Harry says, biting his lip anxiously as Minerva places a hand between his shoulder blades and steers him inside the castle.

“I won’t say a word, Mr. Potter,” Minerva promises and Harry visibly relaxes, stiff shoulders loosening and a trapped breath finally leaving his mouth.

“Thank you,” He murmurs.

Minerva offers a small smile and shoos Harry along before bringing out the Sorting Hat and begins calling out names. Snuggling the cat in his arms, Harry is the happiest he’d ever been.

***

Minerva strides down to Dumbledore’s office moments before the clock strikes midnight. Hissing the password at the gargoyle, she takes the steps two at a time, bubbling with anger. “Albus Dumbledore,” She snaps.

The greying man looks up from his desk, eyes sparkling behind his half moon specks. “Minerva McGonagall,” Albus grins.

“Harry Potter started his first year at Hogwarts today,” Minerva prompts with a raised eyebrow.

“I saw him at the ceremony,” Albus says simply.

“He was late,” Minerva continues as if she hadn’t heard him. “I found him outside the castle coddling a cat and telling it how horrible the Dursleys’ were to him,” This gets a raise in Albus’ eyebrows and Minerva scowls. “I knew the moment you dropped him off that night that it was a horrible idea,” She says flatly.

Dumbledore shrugs, seemingly unbothered which makes Minerva’s blood boil. “Then take him in,” He says with a grin. “Bring him home with you for holidays and summer break,” The man says it as if it were easy and Minerva prickles at the suggestion.

“I can’t just take him from his home,” She says crossly.

“Why not?” Albus asks. “If his family is truly as horrible as you say, would they even notice his absence?”

***

Months pass and with time, November melts into December and everyone is packing home for winter break. Harry frowns, dreading going back to the Dursleys’ and strokes the cat in his lap.

After Minerva had healed the kitten outside of Hogwarts on Harry’s first night, Potter had taken her as his own. Poly. That was the name Harry had chosen. Two weeks into adopting her, he notices the extra toes she has.

“Polydactyl!” Hermione has yelped with delight, eyes bright.

“What’s that mean?” Ron asks, mouth full of sweets, sitting beside Harry on the couch in the common room.

“It means,” Hermione sighs, flicking dark, frizzy hair from her eyes. “that Harry’s cat was born with extra toes,”

Ron’s eyes widen, intrigued and before he could say another thing, Professor McGonagall struts into the common room, finding Harry quickly. “Mr. Potter,” She calls. “I’d like to have a moment to speak with you,”

Harry nods gently, concerned as he follows her outside the Gryffindor tower, the Fat Lady eyeing them curiously. “Is it about my Transfiguration grade? I’m so sorry. I’m just not very good and Hermione—“

“It’s not about your Transfiguration grade,” Minerva tells him with a hint of a smile. “I wanted to ask you if you’d like to spend winter break with me this year,” She says and Harry’s eyes widen.

“Away from the Dursleys’?” He whispers cautiously, as if the opportunity would soon be ripped away from him.

“Yes Harry,” Minerva says. “I can owl your aunt and uncle right now and you can pack your bags for holiday at my house,”

With sparkling eyes and a wide smile Harry nods brightly. “Thank you!” He says, hugging her tightly and Minerva’s heart warms.

“You’re welcome, Harry. Now run along and pack your things,” She orders gently and Harry is grinning again as he makes his way up to his dorm. When he does, he pulls Poly into his lap, the cat having migrated to his room. “We did it,” Harry whispers into her fur. “We’re finally safe,”

The kitten meows with delight and licks Harry’s face gently, as if agreeing with him and as Harry packs up his belongings, he finally feels content.

[fandomnom]

Imagine:Harry Potter:New Girl~Draco

You stand in a winter mix looking around (Gif above) admiring the white snow around you until you hear a voice scream “Y/N!!!” You turn around and start to run to your house with your aunt looking angrily at you and says “You stupid girl you never listen when I tell you stay in the basement.” You say “Sorry aunt Milen I won’t do it again.” You aunt grabs you by the ear in the house and throws you down the basement stairs and closes the door.You cry in the basement until you hear a noise.You switch on the lights and see a spider in your hand.(gif below)

You look at the pretty spider and say “Hello there creature i’m Y/N.” The spider lifts a arm up and waves at you.You look shocked and say “Oh my you’re so kind,you’re my only friend."You look in shock when the spider says "Oh Y/N I have been looking for you for such a long time you must know you are special.” You say “No i’m not I am just a girl you know.” The spider says “You are special the fact that you’re talking to me is proving your potential.” You are about to say something when you hear the basement door open,you tell the spider “go hide.” The spider crawls away and your aunt asks “Y/N Who were you speaking to?!” You say “Just myself Aunt Milen.” She says “Stop you weird child.” You say “Yes mam.” She closes the door and the spider comes back and you say “I must go to bed now,you can stay if you want."You put your covers on the floor and lay down….

At 3 am you hear a loud thunderous sound waking you up.You run upstairs and walk outside to see a giant man standing outside.Your aunt and cousin run outside and look angry when they see him.(gif below)You wall up to the man slowly and say "Hello sir.” He says “Y/N, Y/L/N you must want to know how I know your name let’s just say you’re a wizard and I am Rubeus Hagrid.”

You look in shock and ask “I’m a wizard?"Rubeus says "Yes and you have been admitted to Hogwarts.” You say “Take me please.” You run and follow Rubeus and you guys take off…

After Rubeus helps you find your want and everything else you guys drive up to a huge building…(gif below)

You guys get out and you say “This place is magnificent.” Rubeus says “Not so fast young wizard we need to find out what house you’re going to be part off.” You straighten up and follow him through halls of moving paintings and make it to a large room with a whole bunch of kids that become quiet when they see you walking with Rubeus.When you and Rubeus stand at the front he says “We have a new student everyone and today we shall find out which house she belongs to.Rubeus puts a hat on your head and it says "A courageous,kind,and special child…..Gryffindor is yoir house.” Everyone seems quiet until a brown haired female starts to clap and everyone caps alo ng with her screaming.You look back and see a man with black hair smoldering at you. You walk over to a table and say “Hello my name is Y/N.” A guy with circle glasses says “I’m Harry,that’s Ron and this is Hermoine.” They all wave and you sit with them.While you are sitting with your new friends you a blonde haired kid looking kind of dissapointed.(gif below)

You ask Harry “Who’s that?” Harry says “That’s Draco Malfoy he’s a slytherin.” You say “He looks so sad.” Harry says “Yeah that is a little odd but, don’t mind him.” Harry continues to feast and you stare long enough for Draco to see you.When Draco sees you he looks you in the eyes and looks angry then feats with his friends.

The Next Day while in class while the professor isn’t looking Draco sends a letter to you.(gif below)

You slam the letter and put it in your book.The professor asks “What’s going on Y/N?” You say “Nothing Professor.” The class then continues…..

Later on at night time….

You sit on the floor and look in your book(gif below) and the letter Draco gave you falls on the floor.

You pick up the letter and begin to read it:

Dear Y/N,

I wish you were a Slytherin maybe we could’ve been friends.I’m afraid that I might have caught feelings for you.Do not tell anyone about this.This should be a huge secret you must keep or at the end someone will get hurt.You are beautiful.You are amazing.Since I like you I will like to know if you feel the same.Circle yes or no.

From,Malfoy

You hold the letter to your chest smiling slightly and circle yes.You tuck the letter deep inside your book to prepare to hand it to Malfoy the next day.You lay down in your bed and try your best not to wake Hermione up.

The Next day…

It’s snowing you,Harry,Hermione,and Ron are out.You guys bump into Draco and his Slytherin crew.Draco says “It it isn’t the dork freaks.” (Gif below)

You say “Leave us alone.” Draco says “Shut it newbie let the real people handle this or you’ll get hurt.” You say “Oh..two can play at that game…Guys let’s go.” You start to walk off with everyone else and you turn to Draco then begin to rip his letter in pieces.Draco turns shocked in the face and his crew looks confused.“

Later in the night…

You walk along the hallways tearing in the eyes until you hear a voice whisper "Y/N!!” You turn around and see Malfoy marching towards you.(gif below)

Malfoy finally reaches you and holds in his arms tightly crying.Malfoy says “Y/N I am so sorry.” You say “I don’t know how to respond.” Malfoy says “I want you and I to be something please..I….I need you.” You grabs his face and says “I like you too Malfoy just don’t hurt me like that again.” Malfoy caresses your face slowly then he kisses you and you kiss back,you smile when you feel Malfoy smile when kissing you. Malfoy says “For a little while we must hide our relationship because you’re new and I don’t want you to get hurt for being with me so I have to act like I hate you.” You nod and say “I got it.” You and Malfoy smile and Laugh then you two go back to your rooms.

The Next Day…

You and Malfoy sneak off together and you reach for his hand.(gif below)

Draco says “I care for you so much.” You say “I care for you Draco.” You and him sit across from each other in the woods.You guys sit criss cross playing with your wands Draco makes a small heart with his hand.He blows the heart towards you and smiles.You say “I know you hate Harry and the rest of them for real.” Draco says “Of course.” You say “Draco at least try to be nice okay?” Draco sighs and says “Fine.” You say “Let’s Go before everyone gets sneaky and tries to find us.” Draco says “You go first.” You start to run off quickly and after 2 hours Draco then goes…..

[casputin]

15. Aragog

'So that's one Ravenclaw, one Hufflepuff and one Gryffindor, oh, and a Gryffindor ghost,' said the Weasley twin's friend Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. 'Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherins? The heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin - why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?' he roared, to nods and scattered applause.

Percy Weasley was sat in a chair behind Lee, but for once he didn't seem keen to make his views heard. He was looking pale and stunned.

'Percy's in shock,' George told Harry quietly. 'That Ravenclaw girl - Penelope Clearwater - she's a Prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a Prefect.'

But Harry was only half-listening. Another student petrified. If Hermione hadn't have given her a mirror the night before then it could have been worse. It was only a matter of time before another Myrtle happened.

'What're we going to do?' said Ron quietly in Harry's ear. 'D'you think they expect Hagrid?'

'We've got to talk to him,' said Harry, making up his mind. 'If only to clear his name. Besides, he may know something about the Chamber or Voldemort's family that we don't.'

'But McGonagall said that we can only leave the tower for classes,' said Hermione.

'I think,' said Harry, more quietly still, 'it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again.

...

Harry had inherited just one thing from his father: a long and silvery Invisibility Cloak. It was their only chance of sneaking out of the school to visit Hagrid without anyone knowing about it. They went to bed at the usual time, waited until Neville, Dean and Seamus had stopped discussing the Chamber of Secrets and finally fallen asleep, then got up, dressed again and went to join Hermione in the Common Room.

'It's about time,' she said, 'I've been waiting here for ages, I thought you'd fallen asleep!'

The three of them huddled under the Cloak and shuffled through the portrait hole to Hagrid's.

...

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he has just been appointed Head Boy. Harry didn't realise what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about a fortnight after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Harry overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle

'I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore,' he said, not troubling to keep his voice down. 'I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the wrist Headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent Headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets close. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in ...'

Black paused at Harry's cauldron and took a look.

'Sir,' said Malfoy loudly. 'Sir, why don't you apply for the Headmaster's job?'

'Now why would I want to do that?' Black asked without emotion. 'I just love teaching you all so much. What joy could I get out of being Headmaster?'

Malfoy snickered.

'Besides, I can assure you that Dumbledore will be back sooner rather than later he has, after all, only been suspended.'

'Yeah, right,' said Malfoy, smirking. 'I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job. I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir ...'

'That's enough now, Mr Malfoy, your potion is bubbling over, I think that needs your attention right now,' said Black as he walked off to the other side of the dungeon.

'I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now -'

'That is enough, Mr Malfoy,' Black said. He hadn't raised his voice but the dungeon had fallen silent and Malfoy looked as though he had just been stuck. '10 points from Slytherin and I hope never to hear that language in my classroom again.'

At that moment the bell rang. Black cleared the contents of each of their cauldrons with a swish of his wand then said, 'Pack you're things quickly please, then I will lead you to Herbology.'

In Herbology Professor Sprout had then pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were working on their Shrivelfig with Neville. Next to them were a group of Hufflepuffs including Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott.

'That Draco character,' Ernie said out loud, directed to the four Gryffindors as much as his fellow Hufflepuffs, 'he seems very please about all this, doesn't he? D'you know I think he might be Slytherin's heir. Do you think it might be him too, Harry?'

'No,' said Harry firmly. Ernie and Hannah started at him, but a second later Harry spotted something that made him hit Ron over the hand with his pruning shears.

'Ouch! What're you -'

Harry was pointing at the ground a few feet away. Several large spiders were scurrying across the earth.

'Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest,' said Hermione. 'It's a shame we can't go now.'

'Oh yeah,' said Ron, paling by the second 'a real shame.'

At the end of the lesson Professor Black escorted the class to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville lagged behind the others so they could talk out of earshot.

'We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again,' said Harry. 'We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the Forest with Hagrid, he might be some help.'

'You don't have to do this Ron,' said Hermione. 'I know you don't like spiders, let me and Harry do it.'

...

The Gryffindor common room was always very crowded these days, because from six o'clock onwards, the Gryffindors had nowhere else to go. They also had plenty to talk about, with the result that the common room often didn't empty until past midnight.

Harry went to get the Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk right after dinner, and spent the evening sitting in it, waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George challenged Harry and Ron to few games of Exploding Snap with Hermione, Neville and a subdued Ginny watching on. Harry and Ron kept missing on purpose to try and finish the Ganges quickly, but even so, it was well past midnight when Fred, George and Ginny finally went to bed.

Harry and Hermione waited for the distant sounds of two dormitory does closing before seizing the cloak and throwing it over themselves as Ron and Neville wished them luck.

It was another difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers. At last they reached the Entrance Hall, slid back the luck on the oak front doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds. Silently they strode across the black grass finally teaching Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows.

When Harry pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep booming barks, they hastily feed him treacle fudge from a tin in the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together.

Harry let the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark Forest.

'C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk,' said Harry, patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the Forest and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.

Harry and Hermione took out their wands and whispered 'Lumos!' and a tiny light appeared at the tips, just enough to let then watch the path for signs of spiders.

They noticed two spiders hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the trees.

'OK,' said Hermione, 'let's go.'

...

They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be doing downwards, though the trees were as thick as ever.

Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Harry and Hermione jump out of their skins.

They looked wildly around in the darkness, and Hermione gripped hold of Harry tight.

'There's something moving over there,' she whispered. They extinguished their wands and waited silently. Some distance to their right they heard something big snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees.

The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting.

'Do you think it's gone?' Hermione asked.

'I don't know...' said Harry.

Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze if light, so bright in the darkness that both of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder.

Harry and Hermione screamed, fearing the worst. Then all of a sudden it honked.

'Hermione!' said Harry. 'It's Mr Weasley's car!'

They stumbled and tripped towards the light, and a moment later emerged into a clearing.

Mr Weasley's car was indeed standing there, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlamps ablaze. As Harry walked towards it, the car moved slowly towards him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog happy to see a friend.

'It seems to have gone feral,' said Hermione.

The wings of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the Forest on its own.

Harry's breathing began to slow and he put his wand away. He squinted around on the floodlit ground for any signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights.

'We've lost the trail,' he said. 'C'mon, let's go and find them.'

'I don't think we need to,' said Hermione, her eyes fixed on a point some ten feet above the Forest floor, right behind Harry. 'They've found us.'

Harry didn't even have time to turn around. The was a loud clicking noise and suddenly he felt something long and hairy seize him around the middle and lift him off the ground, so that he was hanging, face down. Struggling, terrified, be heard more clicking and saw Hermione's legs leave the ground too, heard Fang whimpering and howling - next moment, he was being swept away into the dark trees.

...

Harry feel to the ground on all fours as the side released him. Hermione and Fang thudded down next to him. Fang wasn't howling any more, but viewing silently on the spot. Hermione looked exactly like Harry felt. Her eyes were wide in terror and all the colour had drained from her face.

Harry suddenly realised the the spider which had dropped him was saying something. It had been hard to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word he spoke.

'Aragog!' it called. 'Aragog!'

And from the middle of the misty domed web, a sitter the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was a grey in the black of his body and legs, each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind.

'What is it?' he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.

'Men,' clicked the spider who had caught Harry.

'Is it Hagrid?' said Aragog, moving closer, his weight milky eyes wandering vaguely.

'Strangers,' click the spider who had brought Hermione.

'Kill them,' clicked Aragog fretfully. 'I was sleeping ...'

'We're friends of Hagrid's,' Harry shouted. His heart seemed to have left his cheese to pound in his throat.

Aragog paused.

'Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said slowly.

'Hagrid's in trouble,' said Harry, breathing very fast. 'That's why we've come.'

'In trouble?' said the aged spider, and Harry thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. 'But why has he sent you?'

Hermione hadn't said a word yet, but had her focus entirely on the beast in front of them.

'You're an Acromantular,' she said.

'The female is bright,' Aragog conceded. 'But that still doesn't explain why Hagrid sent you.'

'50 years ago Hagrid kept you in the castle, am I right?' said Hermione. She took Aragog's silence as an impatient yes. 'And you were blamed for the attacks on the students. But I don't think it was you. In fact I know for a fact that the true monster is something that all siders flee from, even those as powerful as you.'

'Do not speak it's name,' Aragog warned. 'You are correct, of course. Both Hagrid and I were wrongly accused. But Hagrid is a good man. He cared for me as a boy and protected me ever since. He still visits me in my Forest home. He even found me a wife, Mosag. You see how my family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness ...'

Harry summoned what remained of his courage.

'So you never - never attacked anyone?'

'Never,' croaked the old spider. 'It would have been my instinct, but from respect of Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was like was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet.'

Harry felt the spiders closing in around them.

'We'll just go, then,' Harry said, hearing leaves rustling behind him.

'Go?' said Aragog slowly. 'I think not ...'

'But - but -'

'My sibs and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them feet meat, when it wonders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid'

____________________________________________________

Of course that's when the trusty Ford Anglia pops along to save the day! You'll note that even Hermione's research didn't help much here.

[crimsonslytherin]

I’ll Be Your Reason - Chapter 11

(First) - (Previous)  

Words:   3962

A/N: Please note I used some deleted scenes/parts from the book

“Is it true you can talk to snakes?” Fiona looked up from the book she was reading at the Gryffindor table to see a familiar blond standing in front of her.

“Yes,” she replied before looking back down at the book.

“If I brought you a snake you could tell me what it said?”

“I can already tell you ‘put me down’ would be what it would tell you,” she said as she closed the book. “What do you want?” Draco sat down beside her, facing the aisle, and leaned against the table.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you…? We’re not friends, you realize this right?”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Just Potion’s partners,” he added with a nod. “We got the highest marks on the essay.”

“Good to know. Was there something you needed besides to complain about not knowing I could talk to snakes?”

“You staying for the holidays?” he asked.

“I’m supposed to, yes. Why?” She narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Just wondering.” He stood up, unnecessarily adjusting his robes. Fiona opened her book and continued to read. Draco hesitated but soon walked away.

____________________

That night during study hall Harry couldn’t help but feel eyes on his back. He turned to see a group of students look at him. They looked away once he looked at them. He turned back to his work only to turn to see another group look at him. When he looked at Ginny and she looked away he let out a sigh. He closed his books and gathered his things.

“I’ll see you back in the common room,” Harry said. Fiona started to gather her books too. “You don’t have to come with me, Fee.”

“I know,” she said as she stood. Harry gave her a small smile and stood. They two left the hall, everyone turning to watch them go. As soon as they were out of sight Harry stopped. Fiona turned to him and tilted her head. He stepped back towards the other room and listened as a few students spoke about them. Some thought he was the heir while others were convinced that Fiona had to be it. Fiona’s face was stern and she started to walk back towards the room. Harry grabbed her hand and shook his head.

“Don’t listen to them,” he whispered. She nodded but frowned as they started to walk away.

The two had walked only a few yards away from the hall and up a small set of stairs when they bumped into Hagrid.

“Hello you two. You alright?” Hagrid asked.

“Hagrid, what’s with the… dead chicken?” Fiona asked.

“Second one killed this term,” Hagrid told them as he held up the dead rooster in his hand. “I reckon it’s either a fox or a blood sucking blood-bear. So I’ve just been up at Dumbledore’s getting permission to put a little charm round the ol’ hen coop.” Harry looked around. “You sure you’re all right? You’re awful hot and bothered?

“It’s nothing. Look we better get going. We’ve got a lot of studying,” Harry excused them before the two headed up the grand staircase. They were about halfway to the common room when they suddenly heard the voice.

“Blood...I want blood...” They looked at each other before following the wall. “they all must die. Kill... Kill... Kill! Time to kill.” They saw a lot of water on the floor and turned the corner to see Nearly Headless Nick floating in midair and spinning slowly.

“Harry… it’s Justin.” They looked down to see the boy on the ground. Harry kneeled down beside him while Fiona stood next to him.

“Caught in the act!” The two turned around to see Filch standing at the end of the hall. “I’ll have you two out this time.  Mark my words.”

“No! Mr. Filch! Y-you- you don’t understand!” Harry called after him.

“Oh!” Fiona jumped seeing a line of spiders retreating near the body. Harry stood and he and Fiona walked to the window where they were leaving by. They heard footsteps and saw Filch return with McGonagall. She gasped seeing Justin and hurried over.

“Professor... I swear I-we didn’t!”

“This is out of my hands, Potter,” she said.

…

She led the two to a statue of a griffin and motioned them to it.

“Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you.” The two walked up to it. “Sherbet lemon.” The griffin started to spin and stairs came up. The two stepped on them and rode them up.  They reached the top and Harry pushed open the only door.

“Professor Dumbledore?” he asked before the two walked in. They walked up some stairs and Harry noticed the sorting hat up on a shelf.

“Bee in your bonnet, Potter?” it asked.

“I... I-I was- I was just wondering if you’d put me in the right house,” Harry said.

“Yes, you were particularly difficult to place. But, I stand by what I said last year-- you would have done well in Slytherin,” it said. “Both of you…”

“You’re wrong,” Harry said. The hat hummed. There was a low chirping sound.

“Harry, look,” Fiona said as she pointed. Harry turned to see an old phoenix. The two walked over to it. Harry smiled up at it and then it burst into flames.

“Harry?” Dumbledore asked. The two looked up to see the headmaster up on a balcony.

“Professor! Sir, your bird- there was nothing we could do- he- he just caught fire!” Harry tried to explain.

“Oh, and about time, too.” The two looked confused. “He’s been looking dreadful for days.  Pity you two had to see him on a burning day.” Dumbledore headed down the stairs. “Fawkes is a phoenix. They burst into flame when it is time for them to die, and then they are reborn from the ashes.” Suddenly a baby phoenix poked its head out of the ashes. “Ah, fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, and their- their tears have healing powers.”

“It’s beautiful,” Fiona said. Dumbledore smiled at her. Suddenly the door burst open and the three turned to see Hagrid.

“Professor Dumbledore, sir! Wait! Listen!” He approached them. “Professor Dumbledore, sir, it wasn’t Harry or Fiona!”

“Hagrid-“

“In fact, I’d be prepared ter swear it in front o’ the Ministry of Magic!”

“Hagrid! Relax. I do not believe that either of them attacked anyone,” Dumbledore said putting his hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“Well, of course you don’t, and... Oh... Oh, right. Well, I’ll, um- hum. I’ll just wait outside, then.”

“Yes.” Hagrid left the room.

“You don’t think it was us, Professor?” Harry asked.

“No, Harry. I do not think it was you... or Fiona. But I must ask you, is there something you wish to tell me? Either of you?”

“No, sir. Nothing,” Harry said even though Fiona was giving him a look. When Dumbledore looked at her she shook her head.

“No, sir,” she said.

“Very well, then. Off you go.”

The two left Dumbledore’s office and started back to the Gryffindor common room. They were silent about half the way until Fiona suddenly stopped walking. Harry turned to her to see her hugging herself.

“Fiona?”

“Maybe you should’ve told him,” Fiona said. “About the voice and how after we hear it we keep finding people...”

“You could’ve told him too,” Harry pointed out.

“I know but… coming from me…”

“It wouldn’t mean any less coming from you,” Harry said.

“No, it’s not that…”

“Fiona? What’s wrong?” He took a step towards her, tilting his head to the side in concern.

“You know I didn’t open the chamber, right?”

“Of course you didn’t,” Harry said.

“But… I am related to Salazar… if people find out I hear something before people are getting attack they might think-“

“No one thinks it’s you,” Harry said. She gave him a look.

“You heard them, Harry. People do.”

“You’re a Gryffindor, not Slytherin.”

“You’re a Gryffindor too and people are suspicious about you,” she pointed out.

“That’s only because no one expected me to sneak Parselmouth.”

“And they do expect it of me. Given the choice between Harry Potter, the boy who defeated the dark lord or Fiona Gaunt the girl who’s related to Salazar Slytherin… who do you think people will-“

“Stop.” Harry put his hand on her shoulder. “Fiona, I know you, Gryffindor house knows you. You’re nothing like a Slytherin no matter your family name.” Fiona bit her lip as tears came to her eyes and Harry pulled her into a tight hug.

____________________

The great hall was decorated for Christmas night, the ceiling was snowing and the trees were all decorated. Most of the students had left for the holidays but a handful from each house decided to stay, including Draco and his lackeys. Ron, Harry and Fiona were sitting at the Gryffindor table in a section that was almost empty as Hermione brought over her plate of sweets.

“Everything’s set. We just need a bit of who you’re changing into,” Hermione said quietly.

“Crabbe and Goyle,” Harry said.

“We also need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can’t burst in on us while we’re interrogating Malfoy.”

“How?” Ron asked.

“I’ve got it all worked out.” She pulled out two cupcakes. “I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. Simple, but powerful.” She put them down. “Now, once they’re asleep hide them in the broomstick cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs, and put on their uniforms.”

“Whose hair are you ripping out then?” Ron asked.

“I’ve already got mine. Millicent Bulstrode– Slytherin- I got this off her robes,” she said holding up a small container with hair in it. “I’m going to go check on the Polyjuice Potion. Make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find these.”

“Fiona, are you changing too?” Ron asked. Fiona shook her head.

“I… I can’t go in there. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Harry said giving her a smile. “I understand.” She smiled back.

“I’ll go help Hermione,” she said before getting up and following after her.

…

“We’ll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves,” Hermione said as she put the potion into three glasses. She handed one to each boy. “Add the hairs.”

“Ugh- essence of Crabbe,” Ron said.

“Cheers!” Hermione said.  The three took their drinks, Fiona grimacing when she saw their faces.

“I think I’m gonna be sick!” Ron groaned. He dropped his glass. It shattered on the ground as he ran into one of the stalls.

“Me too,” Hermione said also dropping her glass before running into another stall. Harry dropped his glass with a groan.

“Ughh!”

“Are you alright?” Fiona asked. Harry leaned over the sink. Then he started to notice the skin of his hand bubbling then his face until he looked like Goyle. “Woah…” Fiona turned to see Ron come out of the stall looking like Crabbe. “Wow…that is…” Fiona let out a breath.

“Uh... Harry?” Ron asked. Harry turned to see him.

“Ron!”

“Bloody hell!”

“We still sound like ourselves. You need to sound more like Crabbe,” Harry said. Ron lowered his voice a bit.

“Uh... Bloody hell.”

“Excellent.” Harry grinned.

“But where’s Hermione?” Ron asked.

“I- I don’t think I’m going. You go on without me!” Hermione called from one of the stalls.

“Hermione, are you okay?” Harry asked.

“Just go. You’re wasting time!”

“Come on,” Harry said and the two left.

“Hermione, what’s wrong?” Fiona asked.

“N-Nothing.”

“Hermione, you can trust me.”

“Okay… come in,” she said.

…

Harry and Ron followed behind Draco to the Slytherin common room through the dungeons after running into Percy then him.

“So I was thinking maybe a rose,” Draco said. “Or maybe the jewelry…”

“What?” Harry asked. He and Ron exchanged confused looks.

“For Gaunt,” Draco said as he looked back at them. The two looked shocked and Draco rolled his eyes. “I told you yesterday. I need to pick which one to give her for Christmas. Then the other I can give to her for her birthday once I find out when it is… a rose might be a bit much though,” he mused.

“Why would she take a gift from you?” Ron asked.

“Did all those sweets rot your brain?” Draco hissed as he glanced back at him. “I’m not going to tell her it’s from me. Not right away, anyway.”

“Why are you getting her anything?” Harry asked, resisting the urge to glare. Draco frowned and looked back at the two suspiciously.

“I told you,” he said.

“I forgot,” Ron said.

“She’s…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve finally got her to talk to me besides just defending Potter. I’m trying to get her to… be my friend.”

“Since when do friends give each other roses?” Harry asked. Draco looked around to make sure no one was around.

“Uh…My father suggested I… put more of an effort into befriending her by giving her a present.”

“So you don’t actually like her?” Ron asked.

“I-I already told you two,” he hissed, his cheeks turning pink. “I guess it’s a good thing you forget things so easily. Can’t go around telling anyone.” Harry and Ron exchanged wide-eyed looks. Draco said the password to the Slytherin common room and the three went in. Draco sat down on a couch. He looked at the two. “Well, sit down,” Draco said. The two sat on a couch across from him. “You’d never know the Weasley’s were pure-bloods, the way they behave. They’re an embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them.” Ron’s fist clenched, his knuckles cracked. “What’s wrong with you, Crabbe? “ Harry nudged him.

“Ahem...Stomachache,” Ron said.

“You know, I’m surprised that the Daily Prophet hasn’t done a report on all these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place,” Draco said.

“You’re wrong!” Harry couldn’t help himself from shouting. Draco stood.

“What? You think there’s someone here who’s worse than Dumbledore? Well? Do you?”

“Harry Potter?” he offered with a gulp.

“Good one, Goyle. You’re absolutely right. Saint Potter,” he spat. “And people actually think that he’s the Heir of Slytherin!”

“But then you must have some idea who’s behind it all.”

“You know I don’t Goyle. I told you yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you?” he walked over to a table and sat on it. “I don’t think Gaunt would tell me if she was but… she can be kinda scary sometimes,” he admitted quietly. He picked up a small present and shook it by his ear. “Is this yours?” he asked. Harry shook his head. Draco put it in his robe pocket. “But my father did say this: It’s been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn’t tell me who opened it-- only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So, it’s only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time. As for me, I hope it’s Granger.” Ron stood and Harry quickly stood to hold him back. “What’s the matter with you two? You’re acting very...odd.”

“It’s his... stomachache,” Harry said. Ron nodded. “Calm down.” Draco took out the present he’d pocketed and opened it.

“S- scar,” Ron whispered.

“Hair!” Harry whisper-shouted. Ron covered his head and the two ran from the room.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Draco called after them.

…

“That was close!” Ron exclaimed as he and Harry ran back into the bathroom.

“Hermione, come out. We’ve got loads to tell you!” Harry called out.

“Go away!” Hermione called out from inside the stall. The two looked at Fiona who bit her bottom lip. Myrtle floated out into view.

“Ahh! Wait till you see. It’s awful! He- ha, ha, he- hee!” she giggled.

“Hermione? A- are you OK?” Harry asked as he pushed open the door. Ron grimaced. Myrtle continued to giggle.

“Do you remember me telling you that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?” Hermione asked.  Harry put on his glasses. “It was cat’s hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode’s robes. Look at my face.”

“Hee, ha, ha!” Myrtle giggled before floating away.

“Look at your tail!” Ron exclaimed with a grin. Fiona smacked his arm. “Sorry.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital wing,” Harry said.

  ____________________

“Have you spoken to Hermione?” Ron asked as he, Harry and Fiona walked up the stairs to the grand staircase after dinner that same night.

“She should be out of hospital in a few days, when she stops coughing up fur balls,” Harry said with a slight chuckle. “Speaking of… have you found Grimm?” he asked as he turned to Fiona.

“He was in the dorms this morning but I couldn’t find him after lunch,” Fiona said. “I think I’m gunna look a bit more…” The three stopped seeing a lot of water on the ground.

“What’s this?” They ran down the flooded corridor.

“Yuck!”

“Looks like Moaning Myrtle’s flooded the bathroom,” Harry said. The three ran in to see the sinks running and they could hear Myrtle crying.

“Oooh, oooh, ooooh, huh– huh.” Harry pointed to where she was up by the window. “Come to throw something else at me?” she asked.

“Why would I throw something at you?” Harry asked.  

“Don’t ask me! Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it’s funny to throw a book at me.”

“But, it can’t hurt if someone throws something at you. I mean, it’ll just go right through you,” Ron pointed out. Myrtle flew down so she was right in front of him.

“Oh sure! Let’s all throw books at Myrtle because she can’t feel it! Ten points if you get through her stomach!” She punched through his stomach. “Fifty points if it goes through her head!” She punched through his head.

“But, who threw it at you, anyway?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, I didn’t see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend thinking about death - aah - and it fell through the top of my head. Uh-huh. Whoo-oooh-whoooo...” she moaned as she floated away. Harry noticed a book on the ground and picked it up. He shook it a bit to get the water off before looking to Ron and Fiona.

“Guess we’d better turn the taps off,” Fiona said. “Someone could slip.” The boys nodded. They moved to the large set of sinks and turned all the taps. One of the sinks wasn’t running but none of them took any notice.

…

“Grimm!” Fiona called about an hour before curfew that night. She let out a sigh as she stood at the bottom of the grand staircase.  “Where is he?” she asked aloud. Suddenly she heard a meow and looked down to see the cat looking up at her from the entrance to the dungeons. “Grimm!” She quickly headed down as the cat walked down a corridor. “Come back!” She looked down and saw a little black box on the floor with a green ribbon where Grimm had been sitting. She picked it up and looked up to see Grimm rounding the corner at the end of the corridor. She ran after him and turned the corner to see Draco standing there with his arms crossed.

“Lost something?” he asked with a smirk.

“No.”

“Then what are you doing all the way down here?”

“None of your business,” Fiona said crossing her arms.

“You're outside the Slytherin common room, Gaunt,” he pointed out. “It is my business. What’s that you’ve got there?” He nodded to the box she’d picked up.

“Uh… I found it. Is it yours?” She held it out to him.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “Guess it’s yours now,” he said making her frown, if he was trying to be subtle he was failing horribly. “So what are you doing down here? Unless you came looking for me?” he asked with a smug smirk. Fiona let out a sigh.

“I lost Grimm,” she admitted looking down.

“Your cat? You lost him?”

“He ran away and I followed him down here.”

“And now you can't find him.”

“Look, unless you know where he is, leave me alone.”

“Of course I know where he is.”

“You do?” Fiona looked surprised.

“Would I lie to you?” he asked. Fiona gave him a look. “Don't answer that. Follow me,” he muttered the password and a part of the stone wall behind him opened up; he turned to her.  “Aren't you coming?”

“I'm not going in there,” she said shaking her head.

“Scared?”

“I really hope you’re not going to say you’ll protect me again,” Fiona said. Draco winced. “Besides, I don't know the password so I'm not allowed in.”

“Are you always this difficult? I'm trying to help you.”

“If Grimm is in there, bring him out here,” she said as she crossed her arms. “I'm not setting foot in there.” She put her arms around herself in more of a self hug. Draco let out a sigh and shook his head.

“Fine. Wait here,” he said. He went inside and the wall closed behind him. A few minutes later Draco came back with Grimm in his arms. “Happy Christmas,” he said jokingly with a chuckle. “He likes it down here,” he said. “This isn't the first time he's been down here either; seems to always be waiting out here until someone lets him in.”

“So this is where you go all the time,” Fiona said to the cat that looked at her lazily.

“I think he likes me,” Draco said with a smirk as he looked down at the cat.

“That makes one of us,” Fiona said. Draco frowned.

“I helped you find him. The least you could say is a thank you,” he muttered as he put the cat down. Fiona frowned and looked away.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Was that so hard, Gaunt?”

“Stop calling me that,” Fiona snapped with a frown.

“It is your name,” Draco reminded her.

“My name is Fiona.”

“Fine then... Fiona,” he said with a smirk.

“Thank you. Good night," she said before turning, Grimm following by her side.

“I have a name too you know!” Draco called after her.

“Good night, Draco,” Fiona said without looking back at him but she knew he was smirking even more.

…

Fiona and Grimm returned to the Gryffindor common room. No one was still awake, the room was empty. Fiona noticed the book Harry had picked up earlier on a desk but thought nothing of it. She simply went upstairs to bed.

After getting changed she was about to get into bed when she stopped. She turned to look at the little black box she’d put on her bedside table. Fiona shook her head and laid down, facing away from it. Grimm meowed softly and Fiona turned to see him holding the box by the ribbon in his mouth.

“I don’t want it, Grimm,” she whispered. “If he wanted me to have it he should have given it to me himself.” The cat walked around the bed and put it down in front of her. Fiona let out a sigh and picked it up. She looked at the cat before looking back at the box. Fiona pulled at the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box. There was a note inside and she could easily recognize the handwriting.

 Merry Christmas

Fiona put the note aside and pulled out a chain, at the end was a sphere pendant. She held the chain up and saw that inside the sphere it looked to be snowing, like it was a mini snow globe charmed to have an endless snowfall.

____________________ 

(Next Chapter)

[wildegreenlight]

Of Bros and Babes

Here is a little Ron/Harry brOTP fic for your enjoyment. I love these two so much, and I just need more of their friendship (especially in their adult/after the war life) Special shout-out to @callieskye for her editing prowess!

Ron Weasley was enjoying one of his favorite things in the world- a Saturday morning lie in. This particular one did not qualify as his best because his lovely wife was not curled up next to him. She had left him early in order to help her mum shop for furniture. Apparently, muggle furniture was crafty and could only be got at oddly early hours of the day. He let out a sigh, missing Hermione but determined to rest-it had been a hell of a week. He and Harry had just wrapped up a rather nasty case; he didn’t know what had been worse: all the nights away from home or the entire day of paperwork they had to do when they got back.

He flexed his hand, still sore from the miles of parchment. Speaking of sore…Rolling over to stretch his back, Ron could not contain the grin that bunched his cheeks as he recalled exactly how said back had become sore. It never ceased to amaze him that she craved him every bit as much as he craved her. I hate being gone, but Merlin, how I love coming home!

Ron snuggled down into the warmth of the blankets-if he were really lucky this is exactly where Hermione would find him when she returned. Sleep was rapidly approaching when it was arrested by the shape of a great horned stag which spoke with Harry’s voice.

“Ron! Come quick! Need you! My place! Don’t tell Hermione!”

His response was automatic. With the swiftest and precision that made him one the corps most impressive young Aurors, Ron was dressed, wand in hand before he really had time to process the distress call.  Don’t tell Hermione?! Concern for his best mate trumped his confusion, so he Disapperated with a crack, landing directly on Harry’s doorstep.

Before he could even raise his fist to knock, the door was ripped open, revealing a completely disheveled Harry. His hair was unruly, even by Harry standards, his glasses were slightly askew, and his eyes were panicky in way that Ron had not seen in…well, ever to be perfectly honest.

“Thank God you’re here!” Harry peered around him suspiciously. “You didn’t bring Hermione did you?”

“No…she’s shopping with her mum…Harry, what in the bleeding hell is going on? You know I don’t keep secrets from Hermione!”

“I know…sorry…come in…I’ll…you’ll see.”

Ron followed him inside, mind racing to figure out what could be so wrong that he would want to keep Hermione in the dark. To his surprise they didn’t stop in the parlor but continued down the  hall, coming to a stop outside his nephew’s nursery.

“Is it James? Is something wrong with James?”

“No…yes…I don’t know…that’s why I needed you,”  Harry pushed open the door, apparently breaking the silencing charm he had cast minutes earlier. The baby’s cries were near deafening as the two crossed to his crib. “He won’t stop-I’ve tried everything-rocked him, fed him, changed him, took him outside, brought him inside, nothing works Ron!”

“Ok, ok…let’s sort this out..come on little guy-tell Uncle Ron what’s going on.”

Ron scooped the red-faced infant up in his arms and began to bounce him gently-the crying quieted a bit but did not cease.

“Reckon he’s sick?”

“Took his temperature-nothing. Scanned him-nothing.”

“Has he ever done this before?”

“Cry? Yes, Ron, babies DO cry.”

“I know that you git-I mean non-stop like this.”

“Not that I know of…I mean Ginny is usually with him…or your mum.”

“Where is Ginny by the way?”

“Had a meeting with the Harpies about coming back to training.”

Apparently the little one did not like to discuss his mother’s career, for at that  moment he let out the wail of a de-potted Mandrake. Harry’s nerves were obviously beyond shot, and Ron was doing his best to maintain his head for strategy.

“Today’s the first time it’s just been me…ya know?”

Everything began to click into place; Ginny had left James with Harry for the first time, and obviously, it was not going well.

“That’s why you didn’t want me to tell Hermione.”

“Yeah…she might tell Ginny and I…”

“Say no more mate…we got this…two of us have faced much nastier demons than this little guy…even if he does look like you.”

“I was thinking the really scary parts of him are ALL Weasley.”

“All part of my evil plan.”

“How’s that?”

“Throwing you and Ginny together at such a young age-just wanted you to end up with a kid that was half Weasley-best payback really.”

“Payback? For what?”

“It’s a right long list,” he nodded down at the wriggling infant, “and I don’t have the time for details: giant chess game, giant spiders, giant giants…I could go on.”

“Giant Arse! Here I thought you did all that ‘cause you love me.”

“Oh, I do, I love all my brothers but that doesn’t mean,” James’ cry drowned out the verbal spar- eliciting concerned looks from both men. Ron sifted quickly though all the “uncle” knowledge he had accumulated in the last five years.

“Fed him?”

“Course I did-not an idiot!”

“Dja burp him?”

“Uh-no.”

“Well, that gives us something to try at least.”

Ron popped the unhappy baby up on his shoulder, patting his back the way he’d seen his mum do when she worked her grandmother magic on a fussy Weasley baby. When James screamed bloody murder, Harry all but decided to floo him to St. Mungos, embarrassing press be damned. At precisely that moment, the little lad went stiff as a board, letting fly a belch that would have made Hagrid proud.

“Little sprog may look like you, but he’s definitely got his mum’s burp.”

“Another part of your plan?”

“Precisely.”

Harry reached for the newly calmed babe, but Ron shook his head, “Look mate, no offense, but you look like something Crookshanks hacked up-go get a shower-I’ll keep an eye on him until you get done. That way when Ginn gets home she’ll think you’re a pro.”

“Good idea-you sure?”

“‘Course! Besides, James needs a little quality time with his favorite, and most handsome, uncle.”

“Oh! I didn’t know Charlie came in from Romania!”

“Twat! Get outta here before I change my mind and call Ginny!”

“Ok,” Harry held up his hands in mock surrender, backing out of the nursery, “And Ron?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for saving my sorry arse…as usual.”

“Hard habit to break, but I reckon you’ve saved mine just as much-now go on-you smell a bit ripe!”

Alone with his newest nephew, Ron made his way over to the rocker, settling down and adjusting James in the crook of his arm so that he could see his tiny face.

“Feeling better? Good. Just so you know, don’t plan on this being a regular thing. You’re a great kid and all, and your parents are two of my favorite people in the world-don’t tell them I said that-but Saturday mornings are for sleeping, alright? I mean, I know one day your Aunt Hermione and I will have little ones of our own to wake us up, but that’s a while off, you know? Not that I would mind it not being a while off, it’s just…I’ve got some things to do first, to be ready.  I would feel more comfortable if we had a bigger place and a few more galleons in the bank, ya know? Not that I think it’s all about money, but I just don’t want her to have to worry the way my mum did. And I want my kids to not have to worry about wearing trainers that are too tight or robes that are too short. Mione says I’ll spoil them rotten, our kids, but I won’t. I want them to work and be appreciative, but…it’s hard to explain.”

The infant cooed contentedly in his arms, giving his uncle a brilliant yawn. Ron looked through the open door of the nursery and listened intently; he could hear the water running in the ensuite down the hall.

“Sleepy? I understand. Now, what I’m about to do is to remain our little secret, ya hear?” Ron began to hum, ever so softly, picking up the melody of a song that his mother had sung to him as a child. “This is one of your mum’s favorites.” His voice was soft and warm as he sang gently:

                               Babbity Rabbity there on your stump

                               Babbity Rabbity why don’t you jump

                                               down through the valley

                                               under the trees

                                               over the river

                                               fast as the breeze

Even before the song had ended, little James Sirius Potter was fast asleep; his uncle Ron followed close behind. In the bedroom Harry Potter smiled as he listened at the magical baby monitor; as satisfying as it would be to tease his best friend later, he figured keeping that little secret was the least that he could do.

[arodrwho]

image description below the cut

[id: tweet from Botnik Studios @botnikstudios which reads “We used predictive keyboards trained on all seven books to ghostwrite this spellbinding new Harry Potter chapter”. attached image is of the cover of “order of the phoenix,” photoshopped to read “Harry Potter and the Portrait of what Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash” and the first page of the ghostwritten chapter. the final four images are of text from that chapter, and read:

1: Chapter Thirteen The Handsome One

The castle grounds snarled with a wave of magically magnified wind. The sky outside was a great black ceiling, which was full of blood. The only sounds drifting from Hagrid’s hut were the disdainful shrieks of his own furniture. Magic: it was something that Harry Potter thought was very good.

Leathery sheets of rain lashed at Harry’s ghost as he walked across the grounds toward the castle. Ron was standing there and doing a kind of frenzied tap dance. He saw Harry and immediately began to eat Hermione’s family.

Ron’s Ron shirt was just as bad as Ron himself.

“If you two can’t clump happily, I”m going to get aggressive,” confessed the reasonable Hermione.

2: “What about Ron magic?” offered Ron. To Harry, Ron was a loud, slow, and soft bird. Harry did not like to think about birds.

“Death Eaters are on top of the castle!” Ron bleated, quivering. Ron was going to be spiders. He just was. He wasn’t proud of that, but it was going to be hard to not have spiders all over his body after all is said and done.

“Look,” said Hermione. “Obviously there are loads of Death Eaters in the castle. Let’s listen in on their meetings.”

The three complete friends zapped onto the landing outside the door to the castle roof. They almost legged it, but the witches are not climbing. Ron looked at the doorknob and then looked at Hermione with searing pain.

“I think it’s closed,” he noticed.

“Locked,” said Mr. Staircase, the shabby-robed ghost. They looked at the door, screaming about how closed it was and asking it to be replaced with a small orb. The password was “BEEF WOMEN,” Hermione cried.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quietly stood behind a circle of Death Eaters who looked bad.

“I think it’s okay if you like me,” said one Death Eater.

“Thank you very much,” replied the other. The first Death Eater confidently leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Oh! Well done!” said the second as his friend stepped back again. All the other Death Eaters clapped politely. Then they all took a few minutes to go over the plan to get rid of Harry’s magic.

3: Harry could tell that Voldemort was standing right behind him. He felt a great overreaction. Harry tore his eyes from his head and threw them into the forest. Voldemort raised his eyebrows at Harry, who could not see anything at the moment.

“Voldemort, you’re a very bad and mean wizard,” Harry savagely said. Hermione nodded encouragingly. The tall Death Eater was wearing a shirt that said ‘Hermione Has Forgotten How To Dance,’ so Hermione dipped his face in mud.

Ron threw a wand at Voldemort and everyone applauded. Ron smiled. Ron reached for his wand slowly.

“Ron’s the handsome one,” muttered Harry as he reluctantly reached for his. They cast a spell or two, and jets of green light shot out of the Death Eaters’ heads. Ron flinched.

“Not so handsome now,” thought harry as he dipped Hermione in hot sauce. The Death Eaters were dead now, and Harry was hungrier than he had ever been.

***

The Great Hall was filled with incredible moaning chandeliers and a large librarian who had decorated the sinks with books about masonry. Mountains of mice exploded. Several long pumpkins fell out of McGonagall. Dumbledore’s hair scooted next to Hermione as Dumbledore arrived at school.

The pig of Hufflepuff pulsed like a large bullfrog. Dumbledore smiled at it, and placed his hand on its head: “You are Hagrid now.”

4: “We’re the only people who matter. He’s never going to get rid of us,” Harry, Hermione, and Ron said in chorus.

The floor of the castle seemed like a large pile of magic. The Dursleys had never been to the castle and they were not about to come there in Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash. Harry looked around and then fell down the spiral staircase for the rest of the summer.

“I’m Harry Potter,” Harry began yelling. “The dark arts better be worried, oh boy!”

end id]

ron was going to be spiders. he just was.