#mine: harry and allie

[clovermoters]

anytime, anywhere - lando norris x childhood sweetheart!reader

summary - lando fell in love when he was ten years old, heres small moments of that love over the years.

warnings - kisses, panic attacks, small amount of violence & lando being a SAP

wc : 8k

some music - work song, hozier | my love mine all mine, mitski | love of my life, harry styles | pov, ariana grande | super rich kids, frank ocean.

authors note - hi! as always, enjoy! reblogs & likes are always hugely appreciated!! lots of love, clove!

ten - the meeting

The fluorescent lights of the afterschool program shined bright as you were sitting at the snack table, quietly picking away at the food your mom packed for you this morning. It was 5:30, most kids had been picked up by their parents or siblings. Leaving you and four other kids left, one was a curly haired boy who was sitting not far across from you. Working away at his homework. 

You remembered he was in your class. Lando, you remember, was his name. He was quiet, and he sat far across the room from you, so you haven't spoken to him much since meeting him in september. 

One of the coordinators for the program, Allie walks into the room, having left minutes prior to take a phone call, she looks at you with a sympathetic look on her face before sitting down next to you carefully.

You already know what she's going to say 

“Hi sweetie, that was your mum” she began, taking a deep breath trying to keep her voice low. “Your parents are going to be a bit late today, your mum said dad will get here as quick as possible” she continued. 

This wasn't the first time your parents have called, they were late most days, you tried to understand that they have unpredictable jobs, with both your mum and dad being doctors at one of the top hospitals in the country. 

You huffed, nodding before pulling out a colouring book that was given to you by your teacher as homework, the same homework the brunette across the room was doing. 

Down the table, the other three boys seemed to have heard your conversation with allie. 

“Ooooohhh y/n’s parents abandoned her!” one of them taunts, the boys burst into giggles before Allie sends them a stern face. they don't let up. 

“Isn't this like the third time this week? They must forget about you alot” they poke while their laughter grows louder 

You see out of the corner of your eye, Lando looks up from his book, his eyes looking to you while your head stays down, trying to focus on your coloring.  

Tears prick your eyes as Allie sends them to the hallway, probably to tell them off, some more. The sound of your sniffles fill the room and Lando watches you wipe your tears with your sleeve before he stands up and makes his way across the room and places himself right next to you. 

“I like your colouring” he says shyly, like he isn't sure what to say. You turn to him, his green eyes looking into yours as he offers you a warm, genuine smile. You find yourself smiling softly back at him, like it was contagious. 

“Thanks, yours is okay” you giggle mischievously, looking down to see his work. His colours were slightly different than yours, but you both had the same idea with shades and detail, his jaw dropped in faux offense. 

“Hey! They look the same!” he says, you both break out into a fit of giggles, playfully chatting while you continue with your artwork. 

When Allie returns, she finds you two in a very in depth conversation about the movie you watched in class today. Crayons scattered around the abandoned colouring books, she smiled softly at the two ten year olds as she watched a special bond form between them. 

You chatted about everything, Lando told you about his newly found hobby in karting. How he wanted to try competing and was mostly excited to miss school for races. You told him small details about you, his attention never wavering as you spoke. 

You both chatted until the rest of the kids had left, leaving just you two and Allie, who was sitting quietly in the corner playing some game on her phone. 

“You should come to one of my races” he declares, “i'll let you drive my kart” you cringe slightly, frowning at the boy. the thought of operating the machinery scares you slightly. “When you win a race I'll go karting with you.” You say shaking your head at him, 

The door opened and in walked a lady whose eyes found lando almost instantly, lando had his back to the door since he was fully immersed in his conversation with you. 

“I think your mums here” you say as Lando whips his head around to see his mum. He smiled, getting up from his seat and hugging her tight. You felt your shoulders drop as you realized lando would now go home, leaving you alone. 

“Hi sweetheart, ready to go home?” she asks her son, who hesitates before he answers. Lando made eye contact with you, the girl he’d found a new friend in and felt quite sad to leave her here, when he got to go home. 

Looking at his mum, he shakes his head “no i wanna stay with y/n until her dad comes.” 

His mum looked at you, shrinking into your chair with all eyes on you. She had a sparkle in her eye as she watched him make his way back to you. She could tell her son had grown fond of you by seeing how he continued your conversation as if his mum wasn't there.

“so, if I win a race, you will come karting with me. deal?” he holds his small hand out, you smile, showing him a toothy smile that made his ten eight year old brain stop in time. Wanting to freeze frame it and paste it onto his eyelids. 

You shake his hand 

“deal.” 

Fifteen  - the unofficial first date

You were anxiously scuffing your feet into the asphalt of your local karting track. Lando had won his first karting race long ago, he was actually set to win his first series this year. But you two had never gotten around to getting you into a kart and on track with him. 

Since that day five years ago, you two had been inseparable. He took you to races on the weekend, and you had helped him catch up in school when he needed help. 

You even started going home with him after school and your parents began to just pick you up at Landos. 

Lando knew he liked you, he had known since he met you. Since your hand brushed against his when you both reached for the same crayon. Your smile was contagious and he swore you grew flowers wherever you walked. 

What started as a small elementary crush– over the years had bloomed into something bigger, something Lando couldn't explain just yet. 

Lando was so excited to show you karting, you could see it on his face. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet while he pulled you through the garage with his hand held in yours. You tried to ignore the butterflies that have made home in your stomach years ago when Lando started getting touchy like this with you. It started with his hand lightly brushing your shoulder in conversations, hugs that lasted longer than they should’ve while his head was tucked snugly in the crook of your neck. 

he leads you to a small single seater that you assumed was yours for the afternoon, “this is what you’ll be driving, i'll be in my kart with you the whole time” he explains, showing you how to control it and the proper steering technique, while throwing in a couple tips. His hand is still laced with yours as he tells you about his own kart. 

You loved seeing him in his element. Watching him race was your favourite thing. You admired his face as he spoke, the freckles you've grown to love topped with his curls that he was still learning to care for properly (after you had begged him too). 

“You with me?” he nudges your arm, shaking you out of your daydream. You nod 

“yeah, just zoned out a bit.” you reply, 

When you walked out in fireproofs and a karting suit, Lando felt like time froze, the world around him spinning to a halt as his gaze found you. He thought you looked beautiful everyday, but seeing you in a race uniform made his mind go fuzzy. 

His breath caught in his throat as he watched you walk over to him, holding a helmet and gloves. His green eyes sparkling at you, like you were the only girl in the world.  

He helped you with your helmet, his fingers brushing under your chin as he clipped the chinstrap, sending shockwaves down your spine. When you were secured he gave you a light tap on the side of your head before you both got in your karts, starting your engines. 

-

You were slowly getting the hang of the machinery, the kart vibrating underneath you as you took each corner with more confidence as you went, Lando staying steadily out in front of you. Turning his neck around to check in on you when you two would rush down the straights. You understood why he enjoyed this so much, the thrill of taking a corner slightly too fast, pushing the kart to its limit. 

You almost enjoyed it too much. 

The barrier came quickly, you hit a dead spot on the track, your kart skidding straight into the make-shift padded wall. When Lando watched the yellow flag fly out, he immediately felt his stomach drop, turning around to see you wobbling slightly in your kart. 

Stopping his kart safely off the track, his feet hit the ground as he sprinted to you, dropping in front of you, flicking his and your visor up, his eyes scanning yours frantically as he watched tears brim your eyes. 

“Hey, you okay?” he asks, his concern evident in his voice as he checks you over. “Where does it hurt?” you groan as he moves your arm slightly, cringing as your muscles contract from the sudden shock. 

“Im okay, just annoyed, im sorry” you huff, tears threatening to fall from your eyes, you knew how much lando wanted to take you karting and show you his world. And now you've ruined it by crashing. 

“No, no none of that.” he soothes, helping you out of the kart and back to the garage. Sitting you down and helping you take your helmet off. You looked adorable when he saw your messy hair from the balaclava. Lando had never wanted to kiss anyone yet, but at this moment he was coming very close to kissing you. 

It was like an itch that surged his whole body, the desire he felt to do all the things a couple does. He wanted to try them, with you. The hand holding while walking to classes, the nights spent wrapping in eachothers arms, he wanted all of you. 

 he wanted to learn what being in love was like, and he only saw himself learning with you. 

“Are you sure you're okay?” he asks cautiously, concerned that your adrenaline hasn't allowed you to fully feel any pain you might be in. 

“Yeah, i think i'll just be sore” you sigh, taking a sip from the water bottle he retrieved from the cooler for you, sitting himself on the floor in front of you. He's looking up to you like he's mesmerizing every inch of your face, studying every mole and freckle. 

Lando chuckles, “oh yea, you're gonna hurt like hell tomorrow” he jokes, you kick him lightly as you break into a fit of giggles, your laughs filling the garage with a sense of joy. 

The mechanics nearby smile at the two of you, infatuated with the way Lando acted in your presence. On a normal race weekend, he was focused, almost unable to see past the task at hand. With you, he was light, laughing, almost as if you showed him what happiness was. 

Your laughs die down and you catch yourself staring at the way his nose crinkled as he smiled. How his curls sit perfectly even after being smushed in his helmet. Your cheeks go flush while you fidget with the hem of your fireproof. 

Lando gaze locked onto you, he watches as your face focuses on your fingers, smiling softly before he stands up, offering his hand out to you. 

“c’mon, lets make my dad get us ice cream” 

You break out into a smile, linking your fingers with his before standing up, you two making your way to find Landos dad. 

Even though karting didn't go how he had planned, Lando felt today was a successful day nonetheless. Because he got to spend his day with you, showing you his other world he loved, the world he was building and working towards, imagining what the future would be when he climbs his way to the top, and he knew he wanted you to be right there with him when he did.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue” you say playfully as you walk with him towards the car, he just smiles, his curls bouncing as he strolls beside you.

“Anytime, anywhere.” 

Seventeen - bruise knuckles with a side of love  

The lights were dimmed as you walked into the house of your friend's house, music was pumping through the speakers providing background noise to the conversations you could hear flowing throughout the room. 

Your eyes scanned the room, looking for the familiar head of chocolate curls who you refused to admit was the whole reason you had come. Lando had been away karting for the past week and you haven't seen him, when you spot him, he has his back turned to you fully engrossed in a conversation with Max Fewtrell. 

Max's eyes catch your from over landos shoulder, a small smirk creeping into his face as he announces your entrance.

“ayeee!! There she is!” he shouts, landos head whips around, slightly confused to who Max is referring to, when he spots you, his eyes light up. You two lock eyes and it's like the world falls away for a moment as you take each other in. He noticed you had straightened your hair differently, training a soft curl at the end of your hair, framing your face perfectly. 

He's on his feet in seconds, making his way across the room to close what felt like a ravine between you. Mumbling a soft hey while engulfing you in a hug, it felt like coming home after a horrible day. His arms squeezing you softly as he tucks his head into your shoulder. You hug him back, closing your eyes as you both linger in the hug for a moment. 

You don't realize that it's been long until Max is next to you, he clears his throat loudly, startling you guys apart. He smiles, greeting you with a brief hug that has Lando sending him a slight glare. You failed to notice the brunette pinching his friend's side afterwards, max letting out a small whine. 

You told Lando how much he missed school, he shrugged it off with a laugh, you both knew he had given up on completing school. Joking that you were getting the degree for both of them. The three of you had always been close, going through schooling together since you were young. Though Max knew there was a bond between you and Lando that he would never be able to fully understand. 

You two understood each other without even having to speak, if Lando was upset with a race, Max often would text you as they drove home, you’d be waiting for them on the porch with snacks and a movie. Lando falling into your embrace before you settled on your own end of the couch, one of his favorite films playing on the tv. 

If Max looked over to you two, he’d see Lando absentmindedly playing with your fingers, he’d see you slowly running your hand through his curls, something you knew would calm him down 

You always knew lando needed comfort after a bad result, but you failed to understand that all he ever really needed was you. 

 “I'm gonna go grab a drink, do you want anything?” you ask softly, pointing to the small mini bar that was set up in the corner, one of the guests dramatically pouring non-alcoholic drinks as if you were in a club. 

“Monster pleasee” he drawls, smiling widely as if mimicking a little kid asking for candy. You roll your eyes with a smile before turning to Max, who shows you his already half drunk redbull. 

You turn away, sauntering your way to grab the beverages, lando and max watch you as you make your way. Once you're out of earshot, Max drops his smile before turning to smack lando in the arm. The boy yelps in pain, grabbing his arm with an unamused look on his face

“Oww!” Lando groans as Maxs face stays serious. 

“Why haven't you told her” he asked, leaving no room for bullshit. Lando and you had been dancing around the idea of a relationship for years, and he was tired of it. He was tired of seeing his two best friends hopelessly in love with each other and choosing to ignore it. 

“It's just not the right time,” Lando argues, his voice small. He tried so many times to tell you, to blurt his feelings out like a case of word vomit, to just scream i love you in your face. But every time, the words died in his throat at the possibility of you not returning his feelings. 

“Bullshit.” max counters “you two have been all heart eyes since we were what? twelve? I don't care whatever story you’ve run in your head, she loves you Lando and you both need to open your eyes and see it” he commands, sending a blow straight to Landos heart as he exhales with a sigh, his gaze fixed on you chatting with the boy handing out drinks. 

“What if it doesn't work out? I'm never here anymore max, how is that fair to her?” Lando says, a sense of longing evident in his eyes while he looks at you.

 Max’s offense crumbles slightly, but he didn't let up “she loves you enough to fight for it. She just needs to know you're willing to fight for it too.” he offers, you make your return, holding two cans of monster, the two boys staring slightly.  Like they had just been caught doing something they shouldn't. You frown slightly, your hand rising to cover your face.

“Do I have something on my face?” you ask worried, your hand rubbing along your features as you search frantically. Lando chuckles, lightly grabbing your wrists to halt your movements 

“No no,-” he breathes through a laugh, his touch sending sparks up your forearms  “you look beautiful” he said lowly, like it was only for you to hear. 

 You exhale deeply with a small laugh, sending him a soft, genuine smile that had Lando seeing double. 

This boy was done for. 

– 

The atmosphere had shifted since you arrived, the party was now in full swing as bodies filled the house, the base of the song vibrating underneath the floor. You and Lando were standing in a corner, your conversation light as you both nursed your drinks. 

Lando was explaining the new video game he and max had started playing when he was– quite rudely– interrupted by a boy approaching you, it was the same boy from the drink bar, whose name you learned was james 

“hi y/n, i just wanted to say that i enjoyed our conversation earlier. It's always a pleasure chatting with you” he smiles, one of those smiles that has a cheshire cat behind it, one that makes you slightly stiff next to lando. James didn't acknowledge landos presence, acting as if you were standing next to a plant pot. 

“Oh, thank you james.” you say, noticing lando’s eyes have turned to the black and neon can in his hand, fiddling with the pull tab. He's trying not to listen, but the way you shifted towards him slightly as James kept talking to you made him wary. 

“–hey you wanna get outta here?” James offers. 

Something in lando snaps when he sees the cocky smirk on his face.

“Woah,woah,woah, let's slow your roll here, mate.” he steps slightly in front of you, puffing his chest. 

“Last time I checked I wasn't talking to you” James barks back. his voice became louder as you hid behind lando. 

 “she clearly doesn’t want to be talking with you” he argues, you could see Landos fists balling at his sides. the monster abandoned on the windowsill behind you. Landos neck grows red as the anger bubbles underneath his skin. 

“Yk’what, why don't you let me and the lady have a conversation, yeah?” he says trying to push past Lando, his tone dripping with smugness. 

Oh that had Lando seeing red.

His fist connects with James' jaw, then his nose. Sending him to the floor, you gasp as James groans, before getting up and raising his fist. He doesn't have the time to think before Lando sends another blow to his chest, knocking him down for good. 

Two guests go to James, picking him up to place him on the couch as Max rushes over to you and Lando, his eyes falling to Landos hand.

“Shit mate–” he exhales, scanning the room for a way out “–c’mon let's go get some ice and fix that, you have to drive this weekend.” 

He leads you upstairs to a somewhat secluded bathroom, shutting the door as Lando sits on the sink, the pain from his hand evident in his movements. 

You haven't spoken since the fight, slightly shaken up from watching your best friend almost did beat the living daylights out of someone. You didn't want to think about what could've happened if James was able to land his own punches. 

You press toilet paper to his bleeding knuckles, and Lando hisses from the pain of you pressing on the inflamed flesh. Dropping his head onto your shoulder as max ruffles through the cabinet.

“score!” he exclaims, holding up a bright red first aid kit. He pulls out the alcohol wipes and hands them off to you. 

“m’sorry, this is gonna hurt” you say quietly before you clean the wounds, lando squeezes his eyes shut at the sting, his uninjured hand finds your waist, using it as a lifeline. 

Once the wounds are clean you begin to wrap his hand, your touch light as max hands you gauze, but nothing to secure it with. 

“Max, I need tape or something–” you mumble, focused on the task at hand. Lando watches as your tongue pokes out of your mouth while your eyes –which he's just noticing are slightly glossed over– are focused on carefully covering the wounds. 

Once Max makes his way to find you tape, you and Lando are left in silence, spare from the muffled sound of music still coming from downstairs. You were mumbling soft swears as the gauze would slip in your hold. 

“um- i'm really sorry–” lando breaks the silence, you look to him but he won't meet your eyes, “–i didn't like where he was going with that, but if you–uh..wanted him though, i understand” he says low, his eyes fixed on his lap while you look at him slightly shell shocked.

You scoff, almost like a laugh “you’re an idiot” he looks up, green eyes pouring into yours, hyper aware of the hold you had on his hand and his on your hip.

“Wh-what?” he breathes, confused. You send him a small are you stupid? look before saying what you’ve been trying to build the courage to say for years.

“I don't want him, god did you see his greasy hair?-” you roll your eyes, lando chuckles softly before you continue “i want you, you muppet”

Lando froze, he stared at you with nothing but admiration, you stood in front of him with a smile on your face, he swore he could’ve died right there. He exhaled deeply as a smile grew wide on his face, reaching both ears as he pulled you closer.  

“Thank god because i'm not sure what i would've done if you didn't” he whispers, his eyes flicking to your lips, tilting his head down slightly. You leaned in slightly, his breath fanning across your face before he locked his lips onto yours. 

The kiss was slow, but hard, like the crescendo of a musical piece. Years of longing being poured into it, your lips slotting together perfectly. Moving in sync as your free hand cups his jaw. He pulls you closer by his hold on your waist, humming slightly when you bite his bottom lip.

 The world seemed to have faded away as he deepened the kiss. His tongue swiping across your bottom lip, asking for access you happily granted. You kissed him until you were breathless, smiling against each other's lips, you swore you could see sparkles in landos eyes.

“ten year old me is so happy right now” he mumbled against your lips, smiling so wide as you giggled. You kissed him again, softer this time, drinking in the kiss that you had dreamt about for years.

You kissed him multiple times in that bathroom, the pain in his hand forgotten as his focus was solely on you. 

That was, until the doorknob jingled before Max opened the door, holding tape and a bag of ice. You step back quickly as Max halts his movement, it didn't take an idiot to put two and two together. Your puffy lips, landos slightly messy hair, and his poorly wrapped hand that had been perfectly wrapped when he left moments ago.  

All he did was smile, before handing lando the ice to hold to his hand. He hands you the tape before moving back to the door, lingering in it before he leaves.

“I am so, so, fucking happy for you both.” is all he says before shutting the door, leaving you alone once again. 

You turned to each other slowly, staring for a moment before you broke out into giggles. Once you both quiet down, you rewrap his hand, maybe stealing a kiss or two (or three) while you work, making up for all the time you could’ve been kissing him over the years. 

Lando watched you lovingly, thinking to the future. Yes he was scared, he was scared of what this meant with you in school and him racing. But he could see that you wanted this, you wanted him. if he had to die fighting to make you two work, he was gonna sure as hell try. 

Nineteen - through the storm

The crisp autumn air turned your nose red as you walked through the streets of London towards Max and his girlfriend, Pietras’ flat. It was Saturday afternoon and Lando was in Italy, it was Lando’s first year in F1, you two had been dating for two years now, and had your own flat in London you called home. 

Every race weekend, it became a tradition for you to watch qualifying and the race with Max and Pietra. Ordering pizza while you shout at the tv against anyone who dares to overtake your boyfriend. 

Opening the door you waltz in, announcing your arrival before shrugging your shoes off, placing your coat and bag in the mudroom. Your sock clad feet pad across the floor into the living room where Max had set up the broadcast. 

“How's he doing?” you ask, grabbing a blanket and snuggling into the couch. “He's doin’ fine but I'm not sure we're getting out of Q2” he answers, a sigh escaping his lips as you frown. Lando had told you the struggles he's been having recently with the car, not being able to find that balance he needs. 

The media knew it too, it felt like every time you checked your phone, someone had something horrible to say about the man you loved. You knew it was getting to him despite the brave face he put on. 

Your boyfriend was the type of person who wanted everyone to love him, the amount of scrutiny was eating at him while all he did was try his best in the car he was given.

 It wasn't his fault the car he was given was a tractor.

You watched anxiously as the timer ticked down, a minute left in Q2. Lando was setting his final lap, nibbling on your fingernails as he rounded the final sector, crossing the line to land in P14. his teammate Carlos sainz, landing in P7. 

You deflate, knowing lando wouldn’t be happy with himself, you knew him too well. After years of watching him in F3 and F2, you know what was running through his head and it killed you that you couldn’t be there with him. 

When he was home earlier in the month he told you one night how the one thing that scared him was people thinking he didn’t deserve his seat, this result certainly didn't help him with his self doubt. 

“He's going to be so upset” you mumble, turning your ringer on while you wait for his call. Another small tradition you had was if you weren't in attendance, the minute he had a moment alone, he was on the phone with you.

Max nods silently, Pietra sighing as she makes her way to the kitchen to order pizza for you all, silence stretching throughout the apartment as you watch the final moments of qualifying. 

As the commentators congratulated the pole sitter, raving on about the final laps that had been revolutionary all you could think about was Lando and how he was beating himself up over this. 

You could see the tweets now, the hate, the scrutiny that was going to flood your socials the second you looked, just as you went to pick up your phone, it vibrated from lando calling you, the goofy smile of his contact photo smiling back at you as you answered the call.

“heyy baby!” you say, walking into the guest room for some privacy, sitting down on the foot of the bed. The line was quiet for a moment before Lando responded with a soft “hey” his voice wobbled as he spoke.

“You drove really well lando.. don't beat yourself up over one bad quali” you say softly, keeping your tone light. Soft sniffles came from Landos end of the line, your heart squeezes as you hear him cry softly. Lando wasn’t a crier, so when he did, you knew he was close to his breaking point.

“I can't do this anymore,” he sniffles. “I don't even want to know what they're saying right now.” he cries. You listen to his broken sobs as tears escape your own eyes. You hated being so far away from him while he was hurting like this, he was alone and vulnerable and that made you want to scream. Wishing you could crawl through the phone and get to him. 

You debated telling his trainer, getting someone else in the room with him to make sure he was safe, but you knew he needed to let it out first. You’d tell Jon later, right now you needed to be there for lando. 

Landos breathing starts to become ragged as his sentences come out in short breaths, you hear the panic attack coming before it fully hits him, his voice was shaky as it grew quieter. His words dying in his throat before he could say them, you could hear his breathing becoming more frantic. 

“Lan, baby i need you to breathe for me” He was sending himself deeper into a panic and it only worried you more. You felt useless just listening while he struggled to find a breath.

“I ca- i cant” he chokes out, his sobs echoing through the phone as you begin to frantically text Jon. Your fingers shaking as you message the man, tears flowing down your face.

You: 911!

You: get to landdo now he's habvin a panic attack on the phone wit me 

You: please jon im panicjking myself listning to him

Jon: On it.

You keep assuring him through the phone, trying to say something– anything that will calm him down. Telling him to unzip his race suit, asking him what he can smell, see, hear, or taste. None of it worked, the boy was breaking down in your ears and you felt helpless while waiting for Jon to find him. 

You hear the door open on the other end, the phone falls to the floor as the murmurs of Jons voice filter down the phone. You don't hear much for a few moments, taking the time to compose yourself, wiping your tears with the sleeve of your landos hoodie. 

“hey y/n, he's all good now, i'll have you call him back in a bit. Are you okay?” Jons voice crackles through the phone after a while, you exhale a sigh of relief, clutching a hand to your chest. 

“Yeah… sounds good, thank you jon.” you say softly, hanging up the call.

You splash some water on your face before returning to max and pietra. The two noticed something was off with you immediately. 

“You okay? How is he?” Max asks slowly, you didn't say anything. He could tell something was wrong when tears flooded your eyes. Closing the distance, he pulls you into a hug as a sob escapes your lips, you clutch onto him while you cry. Tears pour down your face as you explain what just happened, Max listens with sympathy written all over his face. 

 Hes silent for a moment, before an idea pops into his head “Let's get you to italy.” he says, determination in his voice as he grabs his phone, immediately googling flights. 

“what- but i don't have anything packed- what if there's no flights” you ramble, slightly shocked he was so set on this idea, he shakes his head, finalized in his decision that you needed to get on a flight as soon as possible and he didn't care how.

“Go home and pack, you don't need much it's only a night- SCORE” he turns the phone around, showing you a flight to Italy “leaves in four hours, if we hurry.. we can get you there” he says. You two lock eyes, a new sense of determination blooming inside you. You needed to be there for Lando, and you were going to get there.

It all happened so fast, one minute you were packing clothes into a duffle bag, and now you had landed in Italy, the flight was quick, two hours from London to Milan. You sat in the cab, the streetlights fading by as you made your way to landos hotel. 

The hotel was beautiful, wishing you could've come on better circumstances, thinking back to all the times you and Lando would be talking late at night, hushed whispers about what it was going to be like once he reached F1, all the places you’d go together. 

You never expected what reality would end up being. 

You stood in front of landos hotel room, Jon was standing next to you. Since the phone call, you had asked Jon to stay with lando. Explaining to him why incase of an emergency, you wouldn't be available for lando. He immediately agreed and also offered to walk you up to the room upon your arrival. 

Once the door opened, and you saw him. His eyes looked drained, his hair was messy from him running his hands through it. When he locked eyes with you, they widened so big they could’ve popped out of their sockets. 

He stared at you for a moment, trying to decipher whether or not you were really here, actually in front of him at his hotel in Monza. Once he felt you wrap your arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace, it hit him. 

It hit him hard.

“Oh my god” he breathed as he melted into your arms, his emotions bubbling over again as tears escaped his eyes. He had never felt so relieved to be in your arms, not since that moment in a bathroom years ago, it was like you were an angel sent straight for him. 

He pulled away to get a good look at you, you were wiping his cheeks softly. He still couldn't believe you flew to him. 

“Are you actually here, or am I dreaming?” he asks, a wet chuckle escapes you both as you realize you're also crying. 

“Im here, i'm real” you smile, pulling him back into a hug as you smooth the hair on the back of his neck. “I couldn’t stay in London when you were here in this state. It would’ve killed me.” you sniffled. His hands wrap around you, holding on like if he’d let go, you'd disappear, and he'd wake up from this nightmare with you still in london. 

He pulled back, placing a soft kiss to your lips before mumbling many “i love yous” into your mouth as you kissed him back, soft and slow. Forgetting about Jon standing a few feet away from you two. He turns away slightly, letting you have your moment. 

You pull away echoing a soft “sorry” to Jon who just smiles softly, shaking his head in dismissal as Lando wraps his arms around your waist, activating his clingy-ness. 

You say goodnight to Jon as you and Lando head into bed, the events of the day taking their effect. Lando immediately wraps his arms around your waist, nuzzling his face into your shoulder, placing soft kisses on the exposed skin before resting his head on your chest. 

“Thank you, for understanding me more than I do myself” he mumbles sleepily, his breaths even out as he finally looks at peace with his mind. Your smile is warm as you place a light kiss to his forehead before finally resting your eyes, having your boy in your arms. 

And when you wake up to a text message from Jon, attached is a video of you and landos reunion he recorded secretly, you smile, cropping the video properly to post on your instagram story.

Posted is a small 10 second clip of Lando realizing you were standing in front of him, then showing the hug you two shared. Rocking back and forth as intelligible murmurs are exchanged between you two. 

captioned for you, anywhere, anytime. 

Twenty two - a handprint on her heart

The sun was shining down on your face as you perched yourself on a lounge chair on the exquisite yacht you get to call home for the summer break. You sported a bright orange bikini as you read your book while you listened to the waves below you.

It was peaceful, until you heard the stomps of two smaller people, followed by the stomps of a bigger person. You looked to the door to see Mila and Athena squealing as they ran around the deck, followed by none other than your boyfriend, who was chasing them, pretending he was a sea monster. 

“Look! There's auntie, she’ll save us," Mila shouts as the two girls make a beeline for you. You quickly place your book down so the girls can climb on top of you, hiding from their overly enthusiastic uncle. 

“Ohh auntie can't save you now! She's on my side” he says playfully while you begin to tighten your grip around the girls, not strong enough to hurt them, but tight enough to where they would struggle to break free. 

The girls giggle as Lando ‘rounds the couch, the girls wiggling in your arms, sounding cries of betrayal while you laugh at the trio's antics. He makes it to your pile of laughter and starts tickling the two girls until they are breathless.

Once he ceases the tickles attack, you let the girls free. They hop to the ground, their baby feet bouncing off the deck as they make their escape from the tickle monster, but to you he's just lando. 

Lando lets out a sigh as he sets himself down on the couch next to you, placing his arms around your shoulder. You had been on this yacht for a week and he had already worked up a tan, he looked divine, the sun hitting his face perfectly as he turned to look at you before placing a kiss on your temple. 

“y’know, it’ll be nice when we have our own munchkins running around a yacht one day” he says, far too casually, as his hand traces your shoulder. You both knew you wanted kids, but also knew being twenty two, in the height of landos career was not the right time for either of you to even think about creating your own bundle of love. 

Before you could respond to him, Max waltz’s his way onto the deck, sunglasses propped on his face as he spots you two. “Don't you two look cozy” he jokes, acting like you two haven't been head over heels for each other since you were small. It was a running joke for years, Max loves to tease you two about anything and everything.

Today was no different 

“oi! LN,” he says, lightly smacking landos sunburnt shoulder, causing the brunette to wince. “When are you proposing, I've got bets placed man!” he says with a faux serious tone. 

You giggle at him, you had discussed this before, you had an list of milestones that you and lando wanted to complete in a specific order

Championship

Marriage

Kids 

“You act like we haven’t basically been married for years max” you say, playfulness evident in your tone as Lando pulls you closer by the shoulder. Lando knew Max was just joking, but deep down part of him did want to forgo the list years ago and just make you his wife.

He's known since before you were officially dating that he’d marry you, it was obvious to him, you were the only option. The only person he saw his future with, the woman he goes home to, the mother of his children, you checked all the boxes of perfection and he was anxious to put a rock on your finger to solidify it for eternity. Devoting himself to you completely. 

Lando observes as you and Max move onto a different topic, he observes every detail about you, the way your nose crinkles when you smile, how your freckles pop when you spend more time in the sun, the way you always manage to speak with a heartwarming smile etched onto your face. It made him dizzy the way he knew you better than he knew himself. You were his everything, there is no lando without you. 

“Lan baby, you with us?” you ask, noticing he spaced out slightly. Nodding he smiles, placing a kiss on your hand, interlaced with his.

“Yeah, just thinkin’” he says simply, thinking for a moment before he taps your shoulder, 

“Wanna go for a walk?”

– 

You walked down the side of the boat, your fingers interlocked as the sun casted a golden light on your skin. Lando rubbed his thumb over your knuckles as you walked to the edge of the boat, overseeing the mediterranean behind you. 

Lando is quiet for a moment, his eyes following the horizon while he thinks. You can see in his eyes he's piecing his sentencing together but struggling– after a while, he speaks up. 

“Max got me thinking,” he pauses, taking a deep breath “I wanna change the list.” 

Your heart stops, looking up at him to find anything on his face that says he's joking, you meet his eyes already looking at you, 

“Are you serious?”

He chuckles, running a nervous hand through his hair, “I've never been more serious about anything in my life baby,” you feel tears welling up in your waterline. “I've known my whole life that I wanted to marry you, I don't want to let a championship decide when.” 

He brings a hand up to cup your cheek, your bottom lip trembling while he continues. 

“You're it for me baby, I can’t remember what my life was like without you in it and I don't want to have to learn. You know me better than I know myself, I am hopelessly in love with you and there's nothing that will ever change that,” you were full on crying now, he takes a moment to collect his thoughts, 

“–loving you is my greatest achievement, no championship could ever come close to how i feel about you,” Lando feels a lump form in his throat as he tries to finish his mini speech before he becomes emotional. 

“Let's get married” 

You cry softly before you cry out a yes and Lando feels a surge of love flow through him. 

“Yeah?” he smiles so wide as you nod, tears freely flowing down both your faces as he pulls you into an earth shattering kiss.

He kisses you like you’re his last breath of fresh air— soft and sensual, holding your face with such gentle care like you’d break if he let go. 

You pull away for air, giggling into each other's lips, stealing more kisses as the sun begins to set over the sea. The air felt warmer as you kissed your fiancè, you kissed him again, and again, you kissed him so many times you forgot where you were. 

That was until Lando pulled away sharply with a gasp. “Wait here” he mumbles before he takes off running back into the yacht, you take a seat while you wait for him to return, slightly confused to where he ran off to. 

Moments later he comes back, hands held behind his back as he makes his way over to you, a cheeky smile spread across his tanned face. 

“I'm sorry, your actual ring is at home.” you choose to ignore that fact for the time being. “But I do have this,” he chuckles as he pulls a small ring pop from behind his back. 

You laugh at the small candy as he opens it, placing it on your left ring finger, placing another kiss to your lips, you throw yourself into his arms, returning the kiss in full force. 

“It's perfect, thank you.” you mumble into his mouth. 

He rests his forehead against yours, his green eyes pouring into yours— a window to his soul showing nothing but love for you as he pulls you closer, his smile giddy. “We're getting married!!” he exclaims, you both giggle as you revel in being newly engaged. 

You think back to when you were kids, before the fancy cars and extravagant races, you loved him before he made a name for himself, before the outside voices. When it was just you two on a karting track, nobody watching to see where he goes next. 

you will continue to love him in the highs and lows of his career, as he shows the world what he's truly made of. You will forever be there, holding his hand, being his first phone call. Continuing to support him throughout it all, believing in his dreams as they’ve now become yours. 

You will love him when it's over, when it's just you two in the quiet mornings, for when you have nowhere to be. When you're old and grey living in the countryside in London, hand in hand on the porch side of your family home, grandkids running around in the yard. 

Like a handprint over your heart, Lando had plastered himself over every inch of your existence. His love hidden in plain sight of places you’ve yet to even realize. you loved this boy with every fiber of your being, and you would love him in every universe, in every past life and through the next. 

You will love him anywhere, anytime. 

~~

i hope u enjoyed, thank u so much for reading <3

[mitzirockerextendeduniverse]

the idea that allyship consists mainly of consuming Morally Correct Media ™️ is perhaps my least favourite element of the tumblr discourse

[records-of-a-slacker]

I think the reason I like Cale so much and that he means just everything, is because his ideals are so close to mine and because he is proof of the kind of person I've always wanted to be.

I basically live by this saying I heard, something along the lines of be the person you wished was there that time no one was. Grow up to be that person who you would have needed that time you were suffering. It's kind of like my life motto. And Cale, he's like the physical manifestation of it.

He went hungry and starved a lot in his life, so now he always feeds the people around him and places a lot of importance on food and proper nutrition, as well as growing up well, and he even wishes the kids would be picky with their food. All his childhood, he was continuously betrayed and failed by the adults around him, who were supposed to take care of him but ended up hurting him so often. So now he's a reliable and caring guardian for all those kids who don't have someone to look out for them. He's never really had a home, and when he thought he did, he lost them one way or another, and he knows what's it like to not have a roof over your head and wander aimlessly without somewhere to go back to. So now he has tons of shelters everywhere, different villas like the one in Harris or the jungle, so that there's a home for him and his allies to return to wherever they go. And when he meets someone who doesn't have anywhere to go, he creates a place for them or takes back the place that was supposed to be meant for them.

When he first meets On and Hong, he feeds them, starting with bread, then meat, then cake, and then even medicinal herbs when he noticed On was hurt. When he met Choi Han, he brought him back so he had somewhere to sleep for the night, had a chance to clean himself up, eat well, and rest properly. When he freed Raon, he healed up his injuries and sent him off., and when he started following him, he always made sure Raon was eating well like with all of his allies. He gave the wolf kids and the tigers a whole neighborhood in Harris village.

He's had his world completely flipped upside down, time and time again, destroyed, decimated. So he saves everyone else's world.

Cale is so special to me, because despite everything he chooses not to be bring harm to people because of the way he had been treated, but to be kind and make it so that the people around him don't suffer like he did.

[typewritingyip]

The Arcturus Missions

Part Twenty - Missions

Part Nineteen

———

Initially from an outside perspective, one might think that every country was rapidly ready to work together after the initial invasion of Earth. Those early days of 1984 certainly felt like the start of something changing. Dozens of events happened before September 17th that year. 

83 people were killed in a mine explosion in Japan, the Los Angeles Raiders won the Super Bowl, Apple launch the Macintosh computer, the first untethered spacewalk happens from the space shuttle, US troops pull out of Beirut, a national drinking age is set in the United States, the Olympic Games open in Los Angeles while the Soviet Union boycotts, multiple booms are set off in multiple airports during the year, and NASA space shuttle Discovery takes its maiden flight. 

Even the days around the initial sightings the world still turns; Australia abolishes the death penalty on September 5th, genetic fingerprinting is developed on September 10th, Prince Harry is born September 15th, the US Embassy in Beirut is bombed September 20th, and October 12th has an assassination attempt on British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. 

Just because the world was under attack by an entirely foreign enemy didn’t mean that everyone was ready to work together. 

Japan, the United States, the USSR, Ireland, and China were the first five countries to have mech suits ready for deployment and they all were entirely different. Japan had redesigned theirs from the base suit under production to resemble familiar animation from the country's entertainment industry, very colorful and reassuring to their public. The United States initially had very militaristic designs, using majority military contractors to build the suits but painted similarly to war planes of different eras. In the USSR, they also were very militaristic but unlike the US kept coloring to a minimum, they used the citizens of the outer parts of the USSR to build the suits. Ireland wanted to quickly join the game, they quickly started to repurpose the disrepaired oil rigs from the North Sea. Lastly, China effectively was able to contract certain works from other countries to assist them in their manufacturing of suits, mostly from the USSR. 

The world kept spinning even while under attack, but for most of the first attacks it was remaining in either country sanctioned waters or off the coasts of major cities. With the Cold War going on, each country was on its own unless it had a major ally with suits. 

—

Sunstreaker sat at the window, frowning out at the glowing city, fidgeting with his hands. Breakdown and Sideswipe were asleep but Jazz was pacing nearby, “Do you think the meeting would be this long?” Already shaking his head, Jazz sighed, “Not for Hound and a few others. Command will still be in the meeting but not one Hound could hear.” Sunny’s fist hit the window and he stood, “Then where the hell is he? Do you think he could have crashed already?” Jazz winced and absently rubbed at his implants, “I don’t think the crash would happen this soon, no.”

The Crash (verb): the overtaxing and overuse of a mech suit to the point of biological deterioration.

He looked back out the window, “Then where the hell is he?” Jazz sighed a bit, finally sitting down, “He’s probably talking with other mechs from the meeting. If half the people I know were there then it’s entirely possible the poor man is stuck in a conversation with Tracks.” The look Sunstreaker gave Jazz had the man lifting his hands, “We’d have gotten an alert if anything really bad happened. Sunny, Hound is fine. You don’t have to worry.” Raking his hands through his hair, the curls stand on ends and Sunstreaker shakes his head, “He’s the only one with experience commanding a group like us, I mean Jazz, if something were to happen to him it would either be you leading us or Breakdown and he’s down for two weeks with a concussion.” Nodding slowly, Jazz sighs, “I’m sure he’s just at command asking far to many questions, look, once Prowler gets back we’ll have an idea of what’s going on.” Sunstreaker turned back to the window, lightly scratching at his implants, Jazz scowled, “Don’t mess with your hardware so much, we don’t have a medic out here and it’s a pain to try and salvage.” Jazz’s own tech was older than Sunstreakers’ and betting integrated.

That was one thing about Sunstreaker, his tech matched his brothers exactly but it had taken him longer to integrate it, and the skin around the hardware was always a little red. Even after passing compatibility testing, the body preferred to reject the hardware whenever it could, a person who didn’t have the strongest bond with their tech would deal with a lot more of the compatability side-effects, such as nightmares. If it wasn’t for Sideswipe, Sunstreaker would have never been a pilot and would currently be sitting in a jail cell back on Earth probably still awaiting trial. 

Jazz moves over and rests a hand on his shoulder, “Hound wont have crashed if he is just starting to experience overuse symptoms. And even if he did, the mechs here in Iacon wouldn’t have just left him on the street.” The door pinged behind them and Sunstreaker looked over, deflating at the sight of Prowl whose face was staring intently at a data-pad, but another mech came in behind him, staring around in bewilderment, “Wow,” Bluestreak’s hand reached out to touch one of the suits just as Prowl’s hand smacked his, “Don’t touch their suits, the humans are probably asleep.” He glances up and pauses, staring at Jazz and Sunstreaker, “Or not.” Jazz was grinning, but Sunstreaker dove for his helmet, cringing at the smell as he pulled it on and started to adjust settings. Waving an arm, Jazz is able to speak up first, “Hey, welcome home!” Bluestreak was grinning, walking over as Sunstreaker finally gets his helmet to pipe in the translations, sighing as they feed him both audio and captions on the visor. 

Mecha are able to cross the room in only a few strides, generally Cybertronians’ are slightly smaller than the average suit but they move just as quickly, next thing Sunstreaker knew was he was back in Bluestreak’s palm stumbling against it, “Damnit!” Sunstreaker desperately grabs at one of Bluestreak’s servos before Prowl moves over just as quickly, “Bluestreak, do not pick up any humans.” Sunstreaker just manages to get the microphone in his helmet on, a small speaker opening up on the side, “Bluestreak, this isn’t funny!” It was as if the room stopped for a moment, Bluestreak was frowning at Sunstreaker and looked to Prowl, “But he is so small and hard to see from far away.” Jazz was struggling not to laugh as Sunstreaker flips him off, “I can understand you now, asshole.” The room shook slightly as Prowl walked over, resting a hand on Bluestreak’s shoulder, “I’d recommend putting the human down before he starts to pull at your plating.” The result was Sunstreaker hitting the window sill surface from a few feet up and groaning, rolling onto his side briefly. 

Prowl sighed deeply, “And they are fragile without their armor, like if we were to walk around without our plating, having exposed protoform.” Bluestreak winced and tried to reach out again but stopped, “I, I…” Sunstreaker slowly got back up, rubbing his arm painfully, “I’m alright Blue, but fuck, please be careful.” Jazz had already climbed for the window to Prowl’s open palm, then up his arm to his shoulder, “These guys don’t have the magnets that I do Blue, especially Sunny and Sides, their suits are too new and didn’t need those parts.” He leans back against Prowl, smiling as the mech moves to sit, already pulling out a tablet, “The humans will have to sleep soon, so whatever you wish to talk about I’d recommend doing so now.” They stare a glance before Bluestreak turns to Sunstreaker, offering his hand, “I’ll be careful.” Slowly and carefully, Sunstreaker climbed onto Bluestreak’s palm, sparing a glance towards the window before looking at Blue. 

They didn’t go anywhere, Bluestreak just held Sunstreaker a bit closer, “I can hardly see you down there, without your suit.” Sunstreaker rolls his eyes, “That is such bullshit Blue and you know it, you just want to be able to hold an organic.” “Maybe.” They shared a smile, but Bluestreak shook his head, “No, I just, I want to say I was sorry for what happened. I didn’t realize.” Nodding, Sunstreaker fixed his helmet slightly, “That is kind of the point. We know there are some of your kind that don’t particularly like organics like us and even only part organics are seemingly shunned.” He sighed slowly, rubbing at his implants briefly, “Us pilots are very much leaning towards that inbetween.” Bluestreak nodded, keeping his hand still, “Well, I’m glad you’re on our side in this fight, Sunny.” It almost made him feel better, almost.

Looking back out the window, Sunstreaker sighed, “Do you know how the meeting with Hound went?” Bluestreak shrugged and josulted Sunstreaker a bit, “No, not really. I wasn’t in the meeting, why? Has he not come back yet?” Shaking his head, Sunstreaker rubbed at his face, “No and now I’m starting to worry, Hound is the kind of guy to push himself to the limit to protect people, and those people probably would be us.” With a bit of a nod, Bluestreak slowly sets Sunstreaker down, “Why else are you worried?” Glancing back, Sunstreaker stared at Bluestreak, “Cause he’s the only one who can actually lead us, keep us alive, and on mission.” He pauses for a moment, glancing towards the other room, “If he’s not okay and we fail, then I’ll have doomed my own brother to death.” Sideswipe might have made sure Sunstreaker got a place in the pilot program, but Sunstreaker got them on Arcturus One, “Oh.” Blue nodded and crouched to be at eye level with Sunny, “You’ll have to explain that to me at some point, I, I know organics age faster than we do. Sure, we die but not as quickly as organics.” Smiling sadly, Sunny turns back to the window, “I’m a young pilot Blue, I’ve got at least another twenty years in me.” And that made Bluestreak’s spark clench painfully.

—

Everyone was asleep when Hound returned, headache back to a painful degree that even the dimmed visor and diminished audio could no longer help. Mirage had been nice enough to help him back to the building but Hound had insisted on going up himself so as to not disturb the others. The door was even painfully loud when he went in.

The living room was empty, the door to the bedroom shut and the door to their makeshift garden also closed, meaning everyone should be either in bed or at least asleep. Everyone had a preference for where their suit would sit through the night and Hound shuffled as quietly as he could over to his designated space, easing himself to the floor before turning off his assistance suit and visual feed, sighing as he removed the pieces attached to his implants. The areas of his implants throbbed painfully. It took a lot longer than normal to get out of the mobility suit, wincing at every pinched connection, Hound knew this was the signs of overuse but hadn’t expected them yet. Though to be fair with himself, he’d never piloted a mech this long and consistently, ever. 

Easing himself out of the piloting chair, he doesn’t even bother with opening the suit, instead shuffling over to the cot he has for missions, pulling off the barrier clothes pilots wear with the assistance suit. It was sticking to his skin both from sweat and blood. It takes another long few minutes to pull on the clothes laid out on the cot before falling onto it face first, trying to relieve the stress on his implants, pressing his face into his pillow Hound moaned painfully. Headaches, body aches, implant irritation; were all the first stage of overuse symptoms and they’d only get worse until the body adapted to the amount of use. Adapt or die. 

Hound was laying face first on the cot, hands resting over the implants on the back of his head and sighed slowly, it was dark and comfortably warm. His head was pounding and it felt like his body had been hit by a bus, he was stiff and just wanted to sleep. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get to sleep.

—

Staying asleep however was not in the cards for him, as only a few hours later something was hitting the chest of his suit. Hound groaned and dragged his hands over his head before getting up, moving over to the suit release and opening the front of the suit. Squinting against the flood of light, Hound kept a hand on his head, “Morning,” his voice was gruff with sleep and Sunstreaker was glaring, “What the hell.” Sighing deeply, he comes out of the suit and nearly falls, “God, damnit..” he sighs and looks back to Sunstreaker, “Yes?” “Where were you? What the hell happened at that meeting? Prowl wouldn’t say anything.” Sighing deeply, Hound rubs his face, “There is a bar in Iacon that plays music from earth.” That quickly dropped Sunstreaker’s sour expression, shifting to one of shock, “What?” Nodding, Hound rubs at his implants next, his hands came away with dried blood and he scowled, “There is a bar somewhere in Iacon that picked up on radio signals from Earth, they put them through some sort of mechanism to clear up the audio.” Stepping around Sunstreaker, Hound starts towards the bathroom, rubbing his hands on his pants, “It’s from thirty years ago, but still.” Sunstreaker shakes his head a bit, “So it’s the best hits of the eighties?” Giving a so-so gesture, Hound shrugs, “Sort of.” He goes into the bathroom, the door closing and locking behind him. 

Sunstreaker scowled again, “That doesn’t explain what happened at the meeting!” His fist collides with the door before he turns away, heading over to where Sideswipe was setting up breakfast, he glances up as his brother approaches, “That sounded like a fun conversation.” Huffing, Sunstreaker walked over and picked up one of the bowls, scowling down at the fluorescent contents, “What is this?” Sideswipe was heating the fluorescent noodle like substance and shrugs a bit, “Not a clue, but Jazz made it for me before the last mission and it’s pretty decent. Just kinda tastes like potatoes.” Nodding a bit, Sunstreaker sits and starts to eat, shaking his head a bit, “I can’t believe him, the guy looks half dead.” Sideswipe hums, “Let the old men be old men, come on Sunny, just relax about it.” Scowling, he starts to shake his head, “I can’t relax about it cause you don’t give a fuck.” Sideswipe was fast, but Sunstreaker was faster, just dodging the bowl full of hot food.

Hound came back out of the bathroom to chaos, which he didn’t appreciate. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were on the floor, shoving at each others faces, Prowl was standing to the side with Jazz perched on his shoulder like a pirate, Breakdown was frowning down at the twins from the table and Bluestreak had appeared from god knows where. Rubbing his face for a moment, Hound takes a breath, “What the hell are the two of you doing!” Both twins shot up and pointed at each other, “he started it!” They shouted in chorus and Hound started towards them, “I don’t care who the hell started it, it’s over now. Get your helmets on, we aren’t leaving anyone out of this conversation.” His head went back to pounding, the shower having relieved it for hardly a moment. Glancing towards Breakdown, he nodded slightly as he too was giving signs of a headache. It took a moment for them all to get to their suits and get their helmets on, Hound wincing as it connects and Breakdown doing the same.

It was likely that his signs of overuse would be exacerbated with the concussion, Hound hoped silently that he’d follow the two weeks of rest order.

“So, do you all need those helmets to understand us?” Bluestreak bends down towards Sunstreaker, offering a hand carefully even as Sideswipe kicked at his wrist, “Don’t fucking touch him.” “Stop arguing, now!” Hound’s voice was loud but slightly strained, climbing up to the table. Everyone fell silent, Bluestreak helping Sunstreaker to the table, Prowl lowering Jazz to the surface and helping Breakdown up before Sideswipe, stepping back slightly to take a seat. Sighing, Hound rubbed his face a bit, swearing, “Fuck, my head is killing me and your arguing is not helping.” Everyone stayed quiet as he slowly sat down, “Firstly, as I briefly mentioned to Sunstreaker earlier this morning. Yesterday, Mirage saw that I was struggling with a migraine and brought me somewhere quiet and dark to rest for a little while. After that, I found out that the specific bar he took me to clears up intergalactic radio waves for entertainment.” he sighs a bit, smiling some, “They were playing music from Earth.” The reaction all happened at the same time, Jazz shouted, Sunstreaker grins, Sideswipe practically jumped for joy and Breakdown smiled, “From when?” Breakdown’s voice was quiet but distinct, “From about thirty years ago, they were playing a radio station out of Los Angeles.” Sunstreaker paused and nodded slowly, “We really are thirty lightyears from home.” There was a weight that settled over them, Jazz nodded slowly, “But we're alive.” 

Hound nodded, adjusting his visor for a second, “We are and were out here for a reason, so that does bring up what was discussed in my meeting with command yesterday.” Jazz shifted a bit, “Hound, are you sure now is the best time to discuss this?” Nodding a bit, he pushes off the ground, “You all deserve to know what plans have been made.” Sunstreaker reaches out and holds his arm a bit, “It can wait till after you’ve eaten and taken something for your headache.” Shaking his head, Hound holds up a hand, “We’ve all got new assignments, separate from each other.” The silence would have been welcoming were it not so compressing, “What?” Sideswipe was slack-jawed, “The hell do you mean?” “I mean, we all are getting new assignments with different commanders for our safety and for the sake of Cybertron.” Sighing slowly, Sunstreaker let go of Hound, “Is this the cause of the overuse or cause of me being caught?” Hound shook his head, “It’s neither, we need to be at our best and the five of us fighting together is not it.” “That’s such bullshit, you’re having us separated because of Sunny.” Sideswipe moves over and shoves Hound, who shoves his back, “This isn’t about that! This is about keeping all of us alive and from killing each other, damnit!” Hound almost tore off his helmet just to throw it.

Instead he kicked one of their empty bowls across the room before turning on Sideswipe, “We aren’t made for following one pilot's orders and I sure as hell wasn’t made to be a commander 24/7, yet that is where we were currently standing.” He spreads his arms wide, “It’s only for three months, to see which works better. Sides, you and Sunny won’t be far from each other, your commanders are deployed together.” He holds up a hand, turning, “Jazz, you will be returning to your previous post under Prowl, it was recommended.” Jazz glanced back to Prowl with a smirk, “I’m sure it was.” Hound’s face almost burned, that look was certainly more than just a friendly one before he turned to Breakdown, “You’re still on rest for two weeks, but once that’s done, you will be under Megatron’s command with me, technically but we won’t be stationed together.” The twins were both glaring and Breakdown nodded a bit, Jazz almost looked lost in thought, “It’s only three months. If this doesn’t work out then we return to what we’ve been doing.” Sideswipe scoffs, “Oh yeah, like that’s been so great. Bluestreak trying to kill Sunny, you suffering from overuse, and Breakdown down and out with a concussion. Face it, you're in over your head.” Hound looked at him, clenching his jaw before looking at Sunstreaker, “You will be working under Ironhide with Bluestreak and a few people from the Primesgaurd. I hope while you’re there you learn to be more intelligent than your brother.” Sunstreaker winced as Sideswipe turned to gawk at Hound and started towards him, “Hound,” “Sideswipe, you’ll be working under Elita-One, it’s about time you came to understand the chain of command cause this shit ain’t cute.” He steps forward, pointing at him, “If this doesn’t cool your head, then you’ll be grounded and your mech will join the Odyssey in storage. Am I clear?” Sides mouth open and closed silent before Hound nodded and turned away, heading for the ladder, “I am going to take the rest of the day off to get rest, I suggest you all do the same, overuse is coming for us all and it’s coming fast.” He slides down the ladder easily.

—

“What the hell did I do to deserve that?” Sideswipe was pouting, scowling towards Hound’s mech which had been closed off for hours now. Jazz had left to go into Iacon with Bluestreak and Prowl, Breakdown had returned to rest as well, leaving the twins sat together on the window sill, staring out at the shining city, “I don’t know Sides, what could you have done to deserve that? Be serious, you shoved and insulted our commander.” Sunstreaker sighed, eating a protein bar and frowning down at it, “Of course he’s not going to put a lot of trust into you now.” Sideswipe scoffed and went back to repainting his assistance suit, “Who asked you?” Sunstreaker gave him a look and leaned back, “I don’t know and honestly, you’re being a bit of a dick right now.” He moves over and starts down the ladder, “I’m going to get some rest, I’d suggest you do the same. It helps with the side effects of overuse.” “I’m not suffering from overuse. I’m not the old man.” Sunstreaker stared at Sideswipe, at his twin, “Sides, we all are showing symptoms, you might want to check your implants, your bleeding again.” His feet hit the floor and he starts walking towards the bedroom, “That and being a bigger asshole than after the Bermuda mission.” “Fuck you.” Shrugging slightly, Sunstreaker went into the bedroom to get some rest.

Sideswipe reached up and touched at his implants, which were sticky with fresh blood and he sighed deeply, heightening irritability and aggression, one of the many stages of overuse. It really was coming for them all and now they’d be spread thin at best, separated from each other. Sideswipe through the sealed paint can across the room. He needed a drink but the first batch wouldn’t be ready for ages. He swore and laid back, staring out at Iacon.

———

A/N

Wow, that took a while for me to actually be able to sit down and write this. I probably won’t post another part till the New Year but we will see.

I want to thank you all for all your support and love, it has meant a lot to me. I can’t believe that we’re 20 parts into this crazy journey and it’s only just starting.

Tags!

@lunarlei68 @whirlywhirlygig @loop-hole-319 @pixillandjester @alek-the-witch @not-a-moose-in-disguise @goddessofwind8water @neurologicalglitch @dersereblogger @pixel-transformers @mrcrayonofdoom @wireplaces @twilightfreefaller @original-blog-name-2 @devilangel657 @robbin-u @childofprimus @miniartistme @starwold @tea-enthusiasm @valeexpris606 @celticdoggo @bird599 @agentsquirrelsgotrobots @aquaioart @dimencreasatlas @thatwandercat @artdagz @seisha974 @starscreamloverfr @halenhusky309 @leethepiper @cat-cassette @blue-wrens @sirassban @astridkolch @cosmique-oddity @garbageenthusiast @osqindaxend @xervias @azulabutterfly @fryseem @spring-mc

And once again thank you to @keferon for this amazing AU! 💜

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

The thing about Gaylors is that it isn't like a bunch of people connected with a song about longing and secrecy or something, and thought "this relates to my experience as a queer person, I wonder if she's felt something similar. Maybe she's bi or something." (She isn't, she has made it very clear, but I could see listening to a song as a young, queer teenager and wondering.) Or even listening to a song like Betty and interpreting it as queer, which my 62 het mother did. No, for Gaylor, Taylor Swift is a lesbian, she's never been romantically or sexually attracted to a man. She's been married to Karlie Kloss since 2016. The kids Karlie Kloss supposedly has with Josh Kushner are fake (then they insert an antisemitic comment about Josh Kushner). All the men Taylor has 'dated' are fake beards who she hates (no word on why she pretended to date a man she hated for 6 years when she could have presumably picked a guy she like. And shout out to Calvin Harris for being so mad when they broke up he broke his car and went on a tirad on twitter but didn't out her. Queer Ally there.) And if you count the buttons on her coat you'd know that she is trying to tell us that. It isn't unlike how instead of looking at her new relationship and going "They are cute, I hope they are having a good time," people are going "they are soulmates, he's her 13th boyfriend [i've heard of] and so its fate. They are going to get married and have children within the next year. If they break up, I'll die." Or people watching a music video saying "there are 5 blue squares, that means 1989 TV is coming next, because its blue and the fifth album" when it also just...had 1989 TV as text on a sign at the end of the video. I know people are weird about celebrities. I am occasionally weird about celebrities. I have watched interviews where famous people seem funny and charming and though "I really hope they are actually as nice as they seem on TV." But that line between the mild parasocial relationships many celebrities invite because of their brand and the "this persons mine" mentality is not ok.

okay I've been sitting on this one for a long time because I thought sharing it seemed like kind of mean but. as long as we're delving the depths of gaylor conspiracy hell I want you all to see this 158 slide presentation "proving" Taylor was planning to come out when Lover was released, discovered by my dear friend @dykeschemicalromance via tiktok. it is, and I do not say this lightly, one of the most unsettling depictions of conspiracy thought in action I've ever seen

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

while working on my research for the Louis' Award Corner masterpost, I noticed the massive amount of awards One Direction, Harry, and Louis have already won (fuck yeah!!), but also how tiresome it is to have to google every single award again & again to see what it looks like and how many of them they've each won - so i decided to make this visual guide for all of us, if you ever need a reference. i hope it will be useful to you (◠‿◠✿)

three little notes: 1 - this guide consists only of 1D, Harry & Louis awards. i have also left out the awards only won by the fans ('Directioners', 'Harries', 'Louies') 2 - i saw links don't work in the PDF, so re: the AMFT Awards, here is the website to that (imo) fake award. idk why it's listed in Harry's Wiki 3 - i have researched and created the guide to the best of my abilities, but if i've forgotten an award or you have a picture i wasn't able to find, etc., please feel free to drop me an ask and I will happily update the PDF thank you! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

❗️ the visual guide is constantly under construction ⚙️, so while I encourage saving the PDF for your future use, please know that the most updated version will always be the one in the dropbox folder!

🔗 Link to Awards Visual Guide

- further resources: Louis Awards • Harry Awards • 1D Awards (mine) Louis Awards • Harry Awards • 1D Awards by Daisie @daisiesonafield-blog Brit Awards by Allie @skepticalarrie Awards by Sabine @awesomefringey

[1d1195]

My Friend's Toyota III

Read the rest here: My Friend's Toyota

~8.9k words

Warnings: Jealous Harry, a little pugnacious today. Nothing crazy, I hope. Mostly silly fluff

This is a bit all over the place. (A filler episode, if you will.) The next (and last part) will be more put together I promise.

-

She brought their hands to her cold lips and kissed the back of his hand. Harry was certain he was going to start sweating with how warm the gesture was and he couldn’t bring himself to care about how ridiculous it all was.

When the seasons change / Can I still hold your hand? / When we get rain / can I teach you how to dance? / It’s not even November, yet she’s worried ‘bout December / If I can have her in my arms / she won’t worry ‘bout the winter

“This feels ridiculous,” she said to Allie’s ear and tugged at the skirt of her dress, so it bunched in her hand, and she could press it to the outside of her thigh. She wanted the fabric to stretch lower. The chill in the air slid up her legs and under her skirt and it was almost icy. “It’s freezing out.”

“This is sweatshirt weather at best. Have another drink and we’ll stand by the fire,” she giggled. But without Harry to steal a drink from the fridge she didn’t have much choice of drinking.

“I know it’s lame, Al, but I want to study,” she practically groaned. “I haven’t a clue what’s going on in class. I was sick all week. I’m super behind.”

Allie snorted and shook her head. “So just take Harry’s notes and ask him.”

“I’m the one that helps him.”

“Sweetie. You’re twenty-one. It’s Halloweekend. We’re drinking and getting candy from cute college guys.”

The only cute college guy she wanted to see was Harry. But Harry was working and wouldn’t be out till much later. He was insistent that she stay out long enough so he could see her costume. “It’s not special...” she told him, her cheeks reddening at his request. “It... it won’t be like other people’s costumes on Halloween. Even Allie said it was cuter than it was sexy,” she admitted thinking of the Risky Business trio Allie was going to be part of for the evening. She scuffed her shoe on the tile floor outside her Sociology class when Harry inquired about the weekend. She had skipped last Thursday and Tuesday to recover from the cold she had. The sniffle punctuated how childish she felt. Harry was able to read between the lines; she wasn’t planning on wearing little to the imagination like many chose to do so. Allie assured her it was still sexy—in it’s own way—but not too sweet; she wouldn’t look out of place.

But she knew the truth. It would look cute and wholesome on her. That was how the guy described her last Halloween while she was working at a bar down south. Down there she could dress with little layering. She didn’t, but she specifically remembered serving a guy that was drunk and flirty. “I could take you home to Mom in that.”

It was her least favorite pickup line, but she knew it was true. It probably didn’t help that it was an angel costume. But it had always been that way. People like Allie dressed adorably and sexily. Allie, and others more confident than she was, were asked to go home for the night with someone they just met. She was asked to babysit or meet a parent. “I bet you’ll look...” he chuckled and pinched his lip between his thumb and finger as he scanned her up and down. He shook his head and smiled at her as her cheeks flamed at his scan. Despite the fact they had kissed and slept in the same bed (and nothing more) for several nights in the last couple weeks, Harry looking at her like she was... beautiful made her feel completely flushed and overwhelmed. It was insane that someone as popular, someone as handsome, someone so nice on top of everything else, liked her. “I can’t wait t’see it,” he promised. “Should I dress t’match you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Really?”

“Well, yeah,” he smiled. “Want everyone t’know you’re all mine.”

She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from smiling large enough to break her cheeks wide open. “I’ll send you the link,” she offered.

Now she had to wait another two hours before Harry was off work and on his way. Allie was already on drink number three and there were still no s’mores supplies by the fire. Even on Halloweekend. It was a real shame. Next time she was going to bring her own.

“But it’s cold,” she whined to Allie.

“Sweetie, it’s not even November. You’re going to need so many layers by the time we get to December.”

No wonder she was sick all week. The chill in the air was killing her. Harry was so kind and while he wanted to dote on her way more than he got to, she was insistent. The kind of insistent he didn’t want to argue with just yet—maybe down the line when they had dated for longer than two weeks. He brought her soup from work and as much as Allie tried to convince her to let Harry stay and wait on her, she was sure she didn’t need Harry getting sick on her behalf. Allie gave Harry a sad smile and a look in her eye that said I tried. For which he was grateful to have her best friend on his side.

*

Allie was the kind of person to talk to anyone that approached her. Like long lost friends. With her long-tanned legs on display, that meant there were a lot more people to chat with her. The remaining two of her trio came and went to take pictures and make appearances. She was able to chat with most anyone as well, but her introverted self, preferred a one-on-one kind of chat. It also helped when she wasn’t so cold.

The only person she spoke to between those moments of chatting with Allie’s friends, was the freshman pledge standing by the fire, aptly dressed as a firefighter—no shirt of course.

“You come here with her frequently,” he noted when Allie scampered off to dance to the unofficial Risky Business theme song inside with her friends. She enjoyed the warmth because she swore her dress was getting shorter by the second for her southern blood.

“Yeah, she’s my best friend,” she cleared her throat. “Are you stuck on fire duty all year?”

He snorted through his sarcastic little laugh but held a kind smile. He looked so young. She thought being twenty-one was young and somehow this eighteen-year-old guy may as well have been thirteen. “No, just the semester,” he sighed. “Thankfully,” he shook his head. “When you’re not here, you should see some of the things I see.”

She laughed softly. “I can imagine.”

“Do you know anyone besides Allie?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Well, Niall... adjacently,” she amended and shrugged. “He’s friends with my...” she cleared her throat again awkwardly. Harry technically wasn’t her boyfriend. But she didn’t know what to say, suddenly. “With... my friend.”

The guy smiled to himself picking up some empty cups around the fire and tossed them into a nearby bin. She helped as well, bending gracefully so as not to show off her butt. Her knees were stiff with cold, and it felt like her skin was going to break open. “Oh, you mean Harry,” he chuckled. “I was wondering about that status. Everyone is really,” he smirked knowingly. “You’re different than his usual kind of friend,” he didn’t mean anything by it. Just making conversation. But his comment made her heart feel like it weighed about six hundred pounds and sank directly to her feet. She shouldn’t have given it a second thought. Obviously, he wasn’t around long enough to know Harry’s motives or type or anything. Anything he said was basically a rumor. Clearly, her silence was noteworthy. “Hey, I didn’t mean to offend you,” his voice was remorseful and sweet. Especially for an eighteen-year-old. “You just hear a lot by the fire,” he shrugged. “The guy is crazy about you,” he reminded her. “I know I’m just a freshman pledge, but I see a lot. I hear a lot.”

“What was your name again?” She asked. Simultaneously, she wanted the conversation to stop but also wanted to know who he was later on when she had time to ask Allie and her friends. Or even Niall.

He stuck his hand out. “Kyle,” he offered while she shook his hand firmly.

“Kyle,” she repeated. “Well, thank you for keeping me company. Next time, I think we should have s’mores.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “My pleasure. You’re fun to talk to,” he smiled. “If Harry didn’t look like he was ready to kill me I would continue the conversation, but,” he pointed behind her and he gave her a wave. “I’ll bring s’mores next time. See ya around,” he meandered back to his station but shifted to the other side of the fire, avoiding Harry’s vision.

She turned to see Harry, pants with the 1960’s themed flower-pants decorating his legs, a brown suede tasseled vest—no shirt, circle glasses with colored lenses, and a chunky peace necklace hung around his neck. The pendant touched just above his navel. How he wasn’t freezing was beyond her. Even in her own dress, long sleeves, with the matching pattern of Harry’s pants, she was nearly shivering because of her bare legs. All those years her mom forced her to wear a jacket while trick or treating—when it was downright warm—were wasted. She wished for a jacket now.

“Hey,” she smiled sweetly.

“Hey, kitten,” he cooed, the irritation in his eyes still just behind the surface. “Y’look beautiful. Y’should wear a flower crown all the time,” he put a hand on her side and kissed her forehead in greeting. Immediately the stares ensued.

“How was work?” She asked.

“Fine, long. Lots of tips tonight,” he grinned, a spark of excitement replacing the irritation immediately. “Can take y’to the fancy restaurant now.”

His hand didn’t move from her side. It warmed her freezing cold body more than the fire did. “We don’t have to do that, Harry. You can save your money. But it does sound nice,” she smiled sweetly.

Harry stepped closer to her. Somehow. She was a good half a foot shorter, even with the chunky heels on that came with the costume. But he still had to bend his neck forward a bit to reach her ear. His hands were on her waist, cupping her hips and she wanted nothing more than to leave this place and snuggle up to him in bed. “I think y’look so sexy,” he whispered.

She blushed, giggled, and shook her head. “I look like I’m about to take the kids I’m babysitting out trick or treating.”

His nose bumped her temple. “No way, kitten. Too sexy t’have a gaggle of kids t’watch on Halloween,” he kissed her head again.

She rested her hands on his bare chest. He was warm. Not cold at all. “Aren’t you cold?” She asked. He chuckled, pulling from her and then wrapping an arm snuggly around her waist. Honestly, pressed to his unclothed skin was the first time in hours she hadn’t felt so cold.

“No, love,” he shook his head. “Have you been freezing?”

“Yes, extremely,” she smiled knowingly. “It’s parka weather.”

He laughed heading toward the house. “It’s barely sweatshirt weather.”

“That’s what Allie said.”

“Where is Miss Allie?”

“Umm...dancing I think,” she sighed. “I envy her confidence.”

Harry pressed his lips to the top of her head, kissed her temple, and smiled against her hair. “Think you’re perfect,” he murmured. No “just as you are” or “like this” was uttered afterwards. It seemed he really meant it.

*

“Hey!” She naturally perked up. It was between classes—her class at noon was cancelled and she didn’t need to be across campus for another hour. Normally, she scarfed down a protein bar and swung into the coffee shop within one of the dining halls to get another caffeinated beverage to hold her over in the afternoon. It was nice to sit and work on her assignments for a bit. She was lucky to get notes from all her classes—one of her peers in each of them was willing to help her out. She emailed her professors as well explaining how she felt like lukewarm death, and she would stay on top of things and be back on track before they knew it. So really, it was nice to have an extra break between her classes to help her get caught up a little more.

But the voice cut through the din of the dining hall and she looked up to see Kyle.

“Oh, hey, Kyle,” she smiled. She cleared a space at the table and gestured for him to sit.

“I never see you at this time,” he noted. She nodded, explained how her class was cancelled and she was getting caught up since she was sick last week. “How was the rest of your Halloweekend?”

It was lovely. Harry bought her a boatload of candy—so many mini bags of Twix bars and they watched three scary movies that had her snuggled close to him for most of the weekend. Harry made special drinks that looked like green, orange, and purple potions. It was adorable, festive, and just really enjoyable. “It was good,” she grinned, thinking about it fondly. “How was yours? Stuck by the fire?”

He laughed dropping his bag beside the table. “Yeah, basically.”

“Do you want to go get food or something? I’ll be here for a while,” she offered.

“Yeah, thanks, that would be great actually. I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, she checked her phone to see how Harry was doing in class. This class he usually had to pay the most focused attention to, or he would miss something. My class got out early. I’m in the dining hall if you want to swing by when you’re done. If you can’t it’s okay.

I’d leave right now if I could, kitten 😘

Pay attention 😘

Kyle reappeared with a burger and fries. He also had a bag of carrot sticks which she thought was pretty adorable. He pulled his water bottle from his bag and set it out as well. “Whoa, is that a real class?” He asked.

She laughed. “It’s for one of my math classes.”

“That’s hieroglyphics, actually.”

She shook her head, still smiling. “Not a math fan?”

“I’m in pre-calculus and only because I took the placement test online and had someone help me get to it. I didn’t want to take the lower-level class for no credit and still have to pay for it,” he explained. She nodded understandingly.

“Well, I kind of like math, so if you need help, we could find a time to meet.”

His jaw dropped. “Shut up,” he practically gasped. “You’re kidding.”

“Of course,” she was too sweet. Allie said it was going to kill her one day. But Kyle was nice. “The hard part will be making our schedules match up.”

He sighed with relief stuffing three French fries in his mouth. “Wow, thanks, that’s so nice of you,” he murmured around the bite of his burger next. “I’m glad I sat with you instead of my friends today.”

“Oh?” She smirked.

“Yeah,” he glanced across the room to a booth filled with four boys who were all ogling the pair of them. “They all think I’m crazy for talking to a pretty upperclassman,” he admitted. “I told them I knew you from fire duty, but they didn’t believe me.” Her cheeks definitely warmed at the compliment, and she felt herself under the scrutiny of the whole group. “M’sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Kyle was unlike any eighteen-year-old guy she had ever met in her whole life. The guys in her high school wouldn’t have been able to compete. “Do you have a sister?” She asked.

He nodded. “She goes to a different school, but she’s a senior,” that seemed to explain it. His sister was a year older than her.  “Why?”

“Your compliments are very kind, and I was just thinking that most guys your age—”

He smiled. “Oh... yeah. The guys all think I’m a huge ladies’ man or something,” he told her with an eye roll. He was brushing it off. But she could see it. In a lot of ways, he reminded her of Harry. “My sister just taught me really well how to talk and treat women.”

“That’s really nice,” she smiled. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No, my older brother is a legacy in this frat, so it’s taken up most of my semester—and before, honestly. I used to come to parties with him when I was still in high school because he wanted to show me the ropes. That’s how I know Harry... kind of, just from observing him and being around the frat life. Where is he, by the way?”

“Class, he should be getting out soon.”

He blanched almost immediately. “Oh, I better go then, I don’t want him—”

“What?” She interrupted with a scoff of laughter in her voice. “You don’t have to go. We’re friends,” she rolled her eyes.

“Um... I think Harry is a bit of the jealous type when it comes to you,” he explained. “I heard he punched someone at one of the parties you didn’t go to because they were talking about you. Plus, the guy in your sociology class wouldn’t keep his mouth shut and Niall had to tell him to shut it, or Harry would shut it for him.”

For a moment, she forgot how to breathe—or exist. She blinked; her eyes closed for a long moment before she looked at him curiously. “I’m sorry, what?” She tilted her head. She had heard rumors of course. The ones of inadequacy, difference of his previous relationships, just complete surprise in Harry being with her in general.

To hear that Harry was jealous—to the point of violence? How did she miss that? “He punched someone?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I wasn’t in the room. But I know he definitely yelled,” Kyle shrugged taking another bite of his burger. Her jaw dropped.

The rumors didn’t bother her—not for why they should have bothered her. The feeling of inadequacy definitely hurt, but that was something she kind of worked out with Harry on her own. Violent outbursts were too much for her. Hopefully that was nothing more than a rumor. “Hey kitten,” she was lost in thought, didn’t even notice Harry approached. Looking up, she saw him staring at Kyle, seated across from her.

She shook her head to get her brain functioning again. “Oh,” she smiled. “Hi, you’re out early,” she stood up and pecked his cheek. He seemed stiff. Kyle paled while Harry continued staring and she felt so uneasy about seeing jealous Harry firsthand. Poor Kyle began cleaning up his stuff as quickly as he could. She put a hand on his arm to still him and he nearly ripped his arm away from her. Poor thing. “Do you know Kyle?” She asked as if he hadn’t almost taken his whole arm off at her touch. But she noted the way Harry shifted. “He’s usually on fire duty,” she explained sitting back in her seat. “I chatted with him on Halloweekend.”

Harry’s gaze was stiff, cold, and nothing like how he looked at her at all. “Kyle,” he repeated.

“Kyle was telling me he’s struggling with math,” she looked at Harry curiously, almost suspiciously. “You can vouch for me, right? I’m a pretty good tutor,” she giggled, and Harry loosened ever so slightly.

“Yeah, she’s a genius, I think,” Harry slid into the booth seat beside her. He kissed her forehead. “M’jus’ gonna grab a quick snack,” he explained and left his bag beside her.

“What are you doing?” She asked as Kyle continued to clean up his stuff.

The color in Kyle’s face returned to normal and he sighed with relief when Harry left. “He’s gonna kill me.”

“Kyle,” she snorted. “We’re friends. He’ll get over it.”

“My friends are tweaking out over there.”

She glanced at them briefly to see them all snickering and smacking each other at their friend’s discomfort. “I see that,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s just a little protective,” she offered.

“I don’t blame him; you’re very pretty and nice,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been at a lot of these parties and no one ever gives me the time of day," he murmured right before Harry reappeared.

“Kyle, y’brother was in Niall’s frat,” Harry said placing his food in front of him—a pre-made sandwich and a bottle of apple juice—which she thought was the cutest thing in the world to see a twenty-one-year-old guy who was hotter than the sun drinking a bottle of apple juice with his sandwich. “What was his name?”

Kyle gulped almost audibly; he was so uncomfortable it was palpable in the air. “Uh... Jesse,” he answered eventually. “He graduated last year. But I went to parties a lot. Showed the ropes kind of thing.”

“Ah,” Harry nodded. “Well, thanks for keeping m’girlfriend company. Don’t know if she told you, she’s from the south. So s’pretty cold without the fire,” he placed a hand beneath the table on her thigh. It made her swoon internally.

Girlfriend.

She could feel her whole face soften and the word. Her heart rate began to fly. She glanced at Harry from the corner of her eye to see if he was having a meltdown internally like she was. He wasn’t. It was as if this was just another ordinary moment of her life, and her heart wasn’t screaming.

Kyle must have heard the designation as well because his smile brightened, and she swore his eye twinkled in acknowledgment. “I didn’t know that. Makes a lot of sense,” he seemed a little more at ease now that Harry had turned off the protective tone. But worry was still just below the surface of his eyes. “Uh... would it be cool to get your number to help with the whole tutoring stuff?” He asked looking at his own phone. She wished she could look at Harry’s face when the poor thing asked. Kyle may as well have been asking Harry for it like some kind of dowry.

“Of course,” she said quickly and pulled her phone up to a new contact and handed it to him. She put her hand on Harry’s, still on her leg. She squeezed it while Kyle cleared his throat and passed it back to her.

“Thank you, my... my mom will appreciate the help,” he admitted, shyly.

“Happy to help,” she promised with a smile. “Thanks for keeping me company again.”

His face paled again, Harry’s grip on her thigh tightened at the same time. “I gotta go,” he gestured to his friends still staring at the three of them. “Thanks for the help, see you around.”

As soon as he was gone, she turned more directly to Harry, getting a good view of his profile. He sipped his apple juice. “Did you punch a guy?” She asked. He rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Of course not.”

“Well, I thought that too, but you almost melted poor Kyle with your laser vision there,” she pressed a hand to the side of his face. Harry smirked under her touch. His cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink.

“M’jus...” he sighed. “Y’have t’understand, kitten. I’ve never felt this way ‘bout someone before. M’not usually the jealous type. Y’can ask Mitch and Sarah. M’not one t’play dick goalie; if someone wanted t’be in a relationship with someone else, m’not gonna make myself sick with worry,” he shrugged. “But you?” He shook his head. “S’like there’s this bug in m’head. The whole picnic was nice, but y’deserve more. M’ready t’do anything t’keep you to myself. T’give you all y’want and more.”

“And you think poor, baby freshman Kyle is going to give me more?” She asked sarcasm dripping in her voice. But it was still kind how she said it. She could hear the worry in Harry’s voice. It was unnecessary, but nonetheless sweet. She couldn’t believe he liked her so much.

“He already has a crush on you,” he grumbled and bit into his sandwich.

“He does not,” but the heat rising to her cheeks didn’t help her case.

“Of course, he does, love,” Harry rolled his eyes. “A hot, upperclassman talking t’a freshman? I’d’ve written our names in a notebook.”

“He’s harmless,” she promised.

“He is, but s’jus’ furthering m’point,” he smiled. “M’literally dating you and ‘ve got a huge crush on you. You’re nice, funny, and beautiful. S’like y’were made in a lab.”

“You forgot I’m good at math,” she teased.

“Don’t remind me. Don’t know why you’re slumming it with me.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I didn’t know we were boyfriend and girlfriend,” it sounded so cheesy saying it out loud. She hoped he wouldn’t think she was ridiculous but it really ached in her chest.

“Kitten, we have been since y’agreed t’sit with me in class,” he smirked. “Y’should’ve asked,” he kissed the top of her head.

She laughed. “That long?”

��Mhmm...” he hummed and draped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Did y’think this was just a little fling or something?”

“No,” she cleared her throat. “Or, I hoped not. But...” she shrugged. “I know I’m not like the other girls you’ve dated. And I know I’m kind of lame—”

“Please don’t talk about my lovely girlfriend like that,” he winked cutely. She rolled her eyes.

“I would be extremely jealous if I saw a girl flirting with you,” she told him.

His flirty smile disappeared, a frown replacing his entire face. “I would never make y’jealous intentionally. I haven’t noticed anyone since I met you, kitten,” he promised. “I really don’t want y’to worry ‘bout me. I know y’hear rumors and I can imagine they bug you, but s’all they are. If there’s ever something y’want t’know, y’can ask. I won’t... blame y’for asking.”

“I trust you,” her voice was so firm, she hoped he knew that. This conversation was almost too serious for a dining hall, but she was kind of glad to be talking about all of it. “Really, truly. Allie is gonna take a little longer to believe you, but even she said you act differently around me.”

“S’good to know,” he smirked. “I’ll work on it. M’glad y’trust me.”

She smiled. “You trust me, right?”

“I do, I really do, kitten. Believe me, s’all the guys that are right to flirt with you that make me crazy. They see someone so beautiful and kind,” he shook his head. “M’no better than them, honestly.”

For a moment, she just looked at him. It was hard to believe he was so crazy about her. After all he had told her, and all the issues she had within her mind, making her feel a little insane at times, Harry didn’t care. He assuaged every worry. Every minor little problem or fear she had, he plucked it right out and assured her that everything was lovely.

She leaned upward and pecked his cheek again. “No punching someone,” she said simply. “I have to get to class, are you going to stay here?” She asked.

“Leave you t’walk with the wolves?” He asked, packaging his sandwich up and putting his juice in his bag. “Absolutely, not,” he rolled his eyes. She giggled and she couldn’t help but notice how Harry’s smile brightened as she did.

*

Prior to university, Harry’s teachers told him and his classmates how they would have so much free time in college. Which was true in a way; Harry had a lot of time to join a club sport, hold down a job, go to the gym, enjoy himself as much as he wanted. However, all those extra curriculars and obligations he gave himself created a packed schedule. The fear of insurmountable debt made him pick up shifts even when he didn’t want to.

It was a miracle he found a girlfriend as busy as he was. If she had more free time, Harry worried she would find someone who had more time for him. But between working, classes, studying, and going for runs with Allie (although she assured Harry that it was mostly walking for the better part of ninety minutes and followed by a half hour of stretching), they mainly saw each other at bedtime.

“I think we’re an old married couple,” Harry murmured into her hair. He loved the feel of her body close to his. Having her in his arms was where he wanted her most.

“We haven’t fought about hair in the shower drain yet,” she reminded him.

“S’because all of it’s in m’mouth right now,” he spluttered, pretending to spit her hair out of his mouth. She twisted around, facing him, he smiled at her. “M’jus’ kidding. I would eat your hair,” he joked.

“You’re insane.”

“’Bout you.”

“Somewhere in the future is a true crime podcast about you murdering me,” she had this habit of placing her hand on his face and skimming her thumb across his cheek. It was soothing, if he wasn’t careful, he would fall asleep before finishing their chat. She threw her voice to do a monologued intro. “He was so handsome. No one suspected that he had a hair fetish that would devolve into full-blown cannibalism.”

He laughed and brought his mouth close to hers. “I wouldn’t eat you, kitten. M’not a psychopath,” he rolled his eyes. “I would probably just keep your body preserved and play house with it.”

She nodded. “Well, that’s a relief.”

He chuckled, rolled his eyes again. “Go to sleep.”

“M’worried you’ll kill me when I’ve let my guard down,” she yawned. “S’always the husband. After twenty-five years of marriage,” she reminded him.

“S’a risk we all take, I think.”

“Can you at least text Allie that she can have my clothes?”

“First on m’to do list after I clean up the blood.”

“I don’t think we should watch scary movies before bed anymore.”

“Yes, dear.”

She giggled. For a few moments they just gazed at one another. Her eyes got droopier, her breath slower. “Good night, Harry,” she whispered.

“Good night, kitten,” he answered just as softly. His tongue was twitching to say three more words. Words that, realistically, he wanted to say the moment he met her. His heart ached to say them as much as his tongue. Part of him wondered if she would say it back. Was it too early? She hadn’t been in love before. He needed it to be special when he said it. Was he prepared if she didn’t say it back?

Her face nuzzled into his collarbone; a sigh escaped her, completely content. He wondered if she was already asleep. Maybe he would just whisper it to her sleeping form for practice. Was he being ridiculous? Was it too soon? No, he never felt like this when he dated before her. “Thanks for being my boyfriend,” her voice was so gentle, so sweet. “I like it a lot.”

He kissed her forehead, his heart cracking under the pressure of how adorable she was. “Pleasure’s all mine, love,” despite how badly he wanted to say it, he wanted it to be more special for her. She deserved that.

*

Harry called his mum as often as he could to check in. It was usually twice a week and texts every day. He was sitting outside the restaurant in the cold, trying to ease his mind off the packed schedule he had for the next couple weeks. It was hard to believe it was mid-November. Finals and their holiday break would be right around the corner. “Hi honey-bunny,” his mum said into the phone. “You on break?” She asked.

“Yeah, hi Mum; how are you?”

“Missing my baby,” she cooed.

He chuckled. “M’jus’ calling ’cause I have a free minute.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. “How’s our leading lady?” She asked.

Harry smiled to himself, despite being alone, his cheeks surely turned pink. Shortly after his breakfast with Mitch, he called his mum to tell her that he met her; the girl he was certain he was going to marry her. “She’s good,” he nearly sighed dreamily. “Do y’want to meet her?” He asked.

“Of course I do!” She nearly cheered. “M’sure she’s lovely.”

“Y’know, her family’s down south. M’not sure what her plans are for the holiday break,” he shrugged. “If she’s stuck here because of flights, could I invite her home?”

“Oh of course! I’ll have to get her a stocking.”

“Er...don’t scare her Mum,” he laughed lightly. “I don’t know if she can yet.”

“Well, you’re certain you’re going to marry her, I better get one anyway.”

His mum was all on board for having a daughter-in-law. One that was sweet and perfect for her little baby boy. Gemma was excited to have someone to poke fun with and truly, she’d always wanted a sister as well. Harry felt his stomach flip at the thought. While his mum was a strong supporter and kind about who Harry fell in love with, Gemma was the slightest bit more skeptical. When he called her earlier in the semester about the pretty girl, Gemma was happy for him. “Harry, you’re very young still. I’m young. Are you sure you want to settle for the first girl you think is the one?”

“S’not settling, Gem. You haven’t met her,” he assured her. “S’not even close to settling,” he promised. “I know m’young...but...’ve wanted t’meet her for a really long time,” he told her. Gemma knew that. Her younger brother, the sweet six-foot giant, had been graced with a heart bigger than anyone she knew. He was empathetic, adoring, and always kind. As much as he hated bugs and spiders, he always wanted them to be saved when they were younger and placed neatly outside so as not to upset their little insect families. Harry dreamed about getting married the first time he had a crush on a pretty girl in his grade school classes. His heart was broken on Valentine’s Day when she didn’t send him a Valentine, but he had pored over his glittery heart craft that he had slipped into her school mailbox. The heartache only lasted a little while—he was only seven at the time—but he wanted love. It was obvious. Gemma and her Mum had cultivated his love of Rom-Coms and they were his first line of advice when he needed help with gifts for the girl he was seeing.

Gemma knew that Harry dated a bit, desperately searching for the lady that he thought would appear long before he went to university. So as much as Gemma tried to quell his excitement over the object of all his affections and remind him how young he was to find the love of his life, Gemma knew that she was different. The way she had captured her brother’s heart so entirely was a beautiful sign.

“Gemma will want to meet her too,” Mum brought him back to the present. His break was waning, and he would need to get back inside momentarily. “I’m really happy you’re happy, Harry.”

His heart felt so whole, it nearly hurt. “Me too, Mum.”

“Have a good rest of your day, honey bunny. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mum, talk to you soon.”

*

When they walked to class, it was freezing. Even for Harry. Which meant it was probably insufferable for her. Her hands were stuffed in her coat pockets, Harry desperately wanted to hold her hand but couldn’t bring himself to steal it from the warmth inside her jacket. “Y’really wanted t’come up here away from the warmth?” he murmured his question.

The leaves were no longer the warm hues of a sunset colors. They wilted into chestnut, sepia colors and piled along fences outlining the campus. The ground was hard beneath her feet, and she wondered if her coat was going to be thick enough to make it through the winter. She smiled. Her cheeks were wind-blown pink, and her nose was a little runny, but Harry thought she had never looked more beautiful. “Yes, wouldn’t have met you otherwise,” she said immediately. He chuckled, his cheeks turning their own shade of pink.

“Wait till y’see the snow,” he reminded her.

“I’m so excited for snow,” she sounded excited. God, he wanted to hold her hand so badly. She pulled a gloved hand out of her pocket at the very moment and pulled a strand of hair away from her lips. “I need hot chocolate,” she grabbed Harry’s hand between them and squeezed it, making him ache with more adoration for her. “Do you work today?”

He did, but it was a short shift. “Jus’ till nine.”

“So hot chocolate at your place?”

He wondered if she could see the somersaults his heart was doing in his eyes. “Please,” he squeezed her hand back. “I’d love that, kitten.”

She brought their hands to her cold lips and kissed the back of his hand. Harry was certain he was going to start sweating with how warm the gesture was and he couldn’t bring himself to care about how ridiculous it all was.

*

Fortunately, Saturday was much warmer than their hot chocolate date. It was still cool, but around the fire, it wasn’t nearly as frigid or achy. Harry once more showed up after his shift. Glancing through the gossip column that was his text messages.

Your girlfriend is awfully cozy with the Fire Marshall.

He knew that it was just to get a rise out of him. He didn’t even have the number saved. But it didn’t mean it didn’t work. After nearly sprinting most of the way from his parking spot to Niall’s house, he had to slow to a walk and take a few laps around the block to ease the anxiety in his mind. Kyle was just her friend. She was kind. She was lovely. Harry knew there was nothing he needed to worry about with her. It wasn’t her.

It was just that she was drop dead gorgeous and Kyle had a massive crush on her. His eye twitched and he rubbed at it as he meandered into the yard. The thought of them having a study session also didn’t help his anxious mind. This was a horrible feeling. He wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.

Fortunately, he saw Allie chatting with a group of her friends in the front yard. Some drinking game was definitely happening—it involved cornhole, which he felt of all the games they could have played, it was probably the least dangerous. He gave her a wave. “Hi Harry! She’s out back by the fire!” She shouted. That seemed like Five-Drink-Allie if he had to bet. Poor thing was going to have a killer headache in the morning.

He chuckled, saluted her, and headed around the side of the house. He saw the bonfire and the pair standing by it. They were close together and his heart skipped a beat feeling anxious and hot as he watched while approaching. “S’mores?” He asked.

“Hi, Harry,” she cooed sweetly standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. Almost immediately, the fiery envy in his heart disappeared and was replaced with adoration once more.

“Hi, kitten,” he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Kyle provided s’mores,” she said knowingly. “Now it’s a real party,” she explained holding the s’mores stick out toward the flame. “Do you like good marshmallows or bad marshmallows?” She asked.

Harry chuckled. “Sounds a bit loaded...What’s a good marshmallow?”

“Not charred on the outside,” Kyle rolled his eyes. A pang of frustration went through Harry over the idea that they had an inside joke he was not privy to. “She’s very serious about this.”

“Golden brown is best,” she explained.

“Sorry kitten, m’a charred s’more kinda guy,” Harry smiled.

She scoffed. “Horrible. Both of you. Wasting marshmallows,” she grumbled.

“M’gonna grab a drink. You’ll be here?” He asked.

“Yeah of course, I think Niall was looking for you,” she added reaching for the chocolate and graham crackers they had placed on a jacket on the ground. It must have been Kyle’s because there was no way she would part with a jacket if she were wearing it, no matter how warm it was by the fire; he was sure her icicle self couldn’t do it. “I’ll make you a gross s’more for when you come back; take your time,” she smiled. Harry winked at her, nodded to Kyle, and headed inside.

He found Niall hovering near the makeshift bar. Grateful he could just ask his friend to sneak him a can directly from the fridge without having to distract the freshman bartender for the tenth time in the semester. “Harry!” He cheered. Niall wasn’t drunk; it took a lot for someone so Irish to get drunk at all. But he was friendly. Harry was certain he would greet him the same way, first thing in the morning. “Mitch and Sarah are here,” he pointed toward a group of people over by the pong table. It looked like a game of quarters this week, but he couldn’t be certain. Niall got closer to him and murmured in his ear while he asked the freshman bartender for something to drink as well. “Is Kyle bugging your lady?” He asked. Niall looked at him knowingly, reading between the lines, Harry knew it wasn’t about her, it was entirely about himself.

“No,” he shook his head. “They’re friends.”

“I can tell him to cool it,” he offered.

Harry nodded. “S’fine,” he promised coolly grateful it was dark, so Niall probably missed the way his eye twitched. Part of him wanted to go steal her away and just take her home. Niall nodded.

“Alright, just checking. He’s a good kid,” he promised.

“Seems it,” Harry agreed. “Game tomorrow?” He asked. Niall nodded, excitedly.

“Yessir,” he saluted and slugged back more of his drink. Harry chuckled circling over to Mitch and Sarah. Sarah was clinging to Mitch. A good sign that she had more than her standard two drinks and was getting a little tipsier than normal.

“I got a great grade on my exam,” she giggled.

Mitch smirked and rolled his eyes. “I see,” Harry laughed. “Celebrating, are we?”

She nodded and held her cup out for Harry to clink with his own plasticky sound. “Is my new best friend coming over tonight for a sleepover? I want those scones she made last week!” Sarah nearly had hearts in her eyes at the thought. Mitch chuckled, kissed the side of her head, while wrapping an arm around her tightly.

“M’sure she can,” Harry chuckled. Allie happened into the room at that point and Harry waved her over.

“Hi!” She chirped and gave Sarah a hug.

“Do you two have plans tomorrow?” Harry asked. “Sarah wants scones.”

“Oh, so do I,” Allie bounced on her toes excitedly.

“You should sleepover too!” Sarah cheered excitedly. “We can put the boys in one room,” she suggested. Mitch snorted and rolled his eyes. He sipped his drink and looked Harry knowingly.

It sounded adorable, honestly. Bringing two facets of his life so close together. But part of him dreaded not spending the night snuggled up to the pretty girl.

“But no, we don’t have plans—I’m not sure if she’s working though...where is—? Oh no,” Allie seemed to sober immediately dropping her cup, spilling it on Mitch and Sarah’s feet before she ran out the back door. Without looking, Harry dropped his cup and the seltzer he had for her and followed suit. He sensed Mitch and Sarah on his heels.

About a foot from the fire, she was standing between Kyle and another guy. Harry didn’t know his name. The s’mores were abandoned, and Kyle had a murderous look in his eye. “Kyle, it’s fine,” she promised as he approached.

“No, it’s not,” he snapped. “Get out of the way,” he ground out to her but she was pressed up against him, her entire back protectively pressed in front of him.

“What are you going to do Freshmeat? Big brother’s not here to get you out of this one,” the other guy taunted shoving Kyle despite the fact she was between them. She smacked his hand.

“Stop it,” she scowled at him. Honestly, Harry thought it would have been cute had he not been so furious.

“Hey!” Allie shouted at the same time Harry shoved the other guy away almost immediately.

“Harry!” She shouted pushing Kyle back another step.

“Back off,” Harry snarled.

“Oh, so you’re okay sharing her with a freshman, but not—”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” Sarah warned.

She was holding Kyle’s arm trying to keep him calm. “Harry, let’s just go,” she whispered nervously. “Please,” she added, her voice catching.

“What did you say to her?” Harry growled, eyeing him. It was obvious he had too much to drink.

“Harry,” Allie warned coming to her side. “It’s okay, let’s just go.”

“You better take care of your girl, Styles. Or someone will do it for you,” he warned. Harry felt so hot with rage it was hotter than the fire.

“Harry,” Mitch said lowly. “Let’s just go,” he repeated.

“I’m getting Niall,” Allie sped back for the house.

Harry set his jaw, glaring at him, and turned his attention briefly to her and Kyle. “Are you alright?” He asked, his voice tight.

She nodded. “Very okay. I just want to go,” she whispered.

Harry backed up toward Kyle and her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him as quickly as he could. “Teasing slut,” he muttered lowly.

But not low enough.

Harry smiled, shook his head, and reeled around. “Wanna repeat that?” He asked.

“Harry,” her voice was close to tears, begging. “Harry, please.”

“Hey!” Niall shouted hurrying out the house in front of Allie.

“I said, she’s a ‘teasing slut.’ You’re just lucky you got to her first—”

“HEY!” Niall repeated but Kyle was the one that lunged at the same time.

“Kyle!” She shouted.

Harry yanked the poor kid away and shoved him back toward Mitch and Sarah. “Harry!” She begged again, apparently unafraid to get close to the action. Niall yanked her back just as fast as Harry pulled Kyle away and Harry started to lunge. With Allie and Sarah holding Kyle back, Mitch grabbed Harry before he could throw a single punch. The drunk idiot cackled at the drama and shook his head.

“Let’s go,” Mitch ordered fiercely. She sighed with relief grabbing his arm and pulling him close to her. Niall shoved the other guy back toward the house.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He almost felt as angry as he was moments ago. “S’not your fault, love,” Niall assured her with a smile. “Harry, y’good?” He asked. Harry nodded stiffly looking at the ground. “Kyle,” Niall looked at the younger one trapped between Sarah and Allie. “You good?”

He nodded once. “M’fine,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Sorry. He was so pushy. I just thought he was trying to drug her or something,” he promised.

Harry tensed up so hard he thought he would tear a muscle just standing there. She shivered. “Thank you, Kyle. But you didn’t need to do all that,” her voice was soft but almost warning—like a mum to her child. “I wasn’t going to drink anything he offered me,” she promised. “You could have gotten really hurt,” she reminded him.

Harry envied her coolness right now. He was fuming and while she was speaking as gently as she could to Kyle, her hand was roaming his arm just as gently. “Worth it,” he promised. They needed to leave quickly, or Harry was going to let all his jealous emotions surge through him.

“I’m ordering an Uber back,” Sarah said. “S’too cold and you’re too hotheaded to walk—you’ll end up sprinting,” she said to Harry. “How many?” She asked. It was determined all five of them would be leaving.

“You’ll watch him?” She asked Niall quietly and gestured toward Kyle who was picking up the trash around the fire.

“Always,” he winked. “Sorry ‘bout the drama, love.”

“Comes with the territory, I think,” she squeezed Harry’s hand.

“You’ll watch him?” Niall asked.

She smiled. “Always.”

*

Allie did a really good job realizing she was going to throw up the moment she got into Casa Mitch and Harry. “Sarah, can you get some meds and a soda?” She asked.

“You’re the bestest friend there ever was,” Allie moaned laying on the floor beside the toilet. Sarah smirked and handed over the supplies and doubled back for a pillow and a blanket.

“Scones in the morning?” Sarah asked.

“Sounds great,” she smiled sweetly. It was obvious Harry was still on edge. He headed into his bedroom and paced while she finished up with Sarah and Allie.

“You good there, Al?” She asked.

She held up a thumb that sort of leaned a little more than halfway down than it did up. Smirking, she waved to Mitch and Sarah gave her arm a squeeze. “Good night, Harry,” Sarah called gently.

“Shout if you need something, Allie,” she pushed her friend’s hair back and left her to sleep on the cold tile. She quietly closed Harry’s bedroom door and waited while Harry continued pacing.

“What did he say?” He snapped.

“Harry, it’s not—”

“Kitten, m’begging,” he looked at her so hurt, so terribly sad, she nearly caved.

“It was nothing, Harry. It’ll do no good to talk it out. You’ll just get mad—”

“M’jus’ gonna ask Kyle,” Harry was still fuming as he paced.

“Harry,” she repeated. “Please. I’m telling you; it was nothing. Please believe me.”

Harry pressed his head against the window. The lights illuminating the paths to the different buildings were soft and the room was otherwise dark. “M’sorry, kitten,” he mumbled. “M’jus’ mad.”

“I know.”

Harry turned and looked at her. He hardly got a sedcond to look at how pretty she was. “You look beautiful, my love,” he murmured. “S’no wonder y’got him all flustered,” he smirked.

She sighed; the relief palpable in the air. “I’m so sorry.”

“Y’did nothing,” he shook his head. “M’jus...crazy ‘bout you, kitten. I’m sorry,” he grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. Her fingers were still cold, and he frowned. “M’sorry,” he repeated and blew his breath across her hands to warm them.

She looked utterly distraught. “He’s going to lie,” she croaked suddenly. Her throat closing around the emotion. “He’s going to say I was making out with Kyle or something. It’s not true Harry, you have to know that. Any rumor you hear tomorrow, it’s unequivocally false,” she had tears in her eyes.

“Baby,” Harry whispered. “I would never believe someone over you.”

“No?” She hiccupped softly.

He cupped her face. “Course not, love,” he kissed her forehead, and it melted her icy body so immensely. The first time in an hour that she felt calm. “M’sorry he said something to you, or about you.”

“It’s...it’s okay,” she promised. “I know you’re probably still... jealous of him, or whatever, but I was really glad Kyle was there,” she told him. “I wished you were, but it was good.”

“Don’t ever stand between me and someone that wants t’hurt you,” he warned. The one thing he would probably blame Kyle for from then on.

“Kyle’s just a baby,” she reminded him.

“I don’t want t’talk ‘bout Kyle anymore.”

She giggled. “Okay.”

Harry pulled his shirt over his head. “Let’s go to bed. We have scones t’bake in the morning.”

*

Harry woke to about thirty messages from a variety of people all claiming to know bits and pieces of everything about last night. Other than Niall’s, he deleted every single message without so much as a glance at the details. Instead, he looked at the sleepy girl, tucked near his chest. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

There was a knock. “Are you naked?” Allie asked. He snorted.

“No,” he murmured quietly.

Despite the fact she had thrown up, she looked pretty good. “I used your toothbrush,” she said climbing into the bed beside her best friend. Harry shook his head.

“Hi Allie,” she murmured.

“Hi sweetie,” she yawned. “You going to make Sarah and I some scones?”

She nodded, tucking her face into Harry’s chest. “In a minute.”

The twin bed was not made for three people and Harry thought it was quite hilarious. “Should I get out t’let y’snuggle?”

“Please,” Allie yawned and threw an arm over her eyes. He chuckled and kissed the sweet girl’s forehead before climbing out of bed.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“I’ll make sure we have everything,” he suggested. “Need a new toothbrush,” he rolled his eyes.

“I like Harry,” Allie whispered.

“I do too.”

*

While cleaning their little kitchen, Harry couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how much he loved her. It was becoming impossible to not say it every chance he got. But he wanted it to be special. More special than he could ever describe. He was sure she wouldn’t care, but it meant more to him that it be special. Especially after he flubbed their first real date.

“What?” She smiled as she looked up from the dishes in the sink.

“Do y’want t’go away next weekend?” He asked. “Before finals get too crazy?”

He was envisioning a romantic weekend away at Mitch’s family’s cabin up the mountain. Quiet, cold, for sure, but warm in the cabin. Just the two of them. He could tell her he loved her. No distractions. Shopping in the little town, cooking together in a full kitchen, sleeping by the fireplace, and just sweetness and a special weekend for the pair of them.

“Do I need to bring anything special?” She asked.

“Another coat, probably," he chuckled.

Her smiled was a mixture of relief and happiness. “I would love that.”

--

general taglist: @justlemmeadoreyou @daydreamingofmatilda @sunshinemoonsposts @tiredinwinter @loving-hazz @likeapplejuicenpeach @straightontilmornin @freedomfireflies @littlenatilda @kathb59 @babegoals @angel-upon @lilfreakjez @mleestiles @ameliaalvarez06 @canyonmoondreams @summertime-pills @daphnesutton @l4rrysh0use @perfectywrong @foreverxholland @lovrave @st-ev-ie @pandeebearstyles @toosarcastic03 @luvonstyles @tenaciousperfectionunknown @classychalamet @love-letters-to-uranus @emmaawbr @crossyourpeter

my friend's toyota taglist: @daphnesutton @storyschanging @vamprry @lovingfurypanda @inkedskin

I'm sorry if I missed anyone in the taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist for more of my writing.

[horeformilfs]

MASTERLIST

Requests: Open

Request Guidelines

RESIDENT EVIL: VILLAGE

Mother Miranda

Pray

Little Crow

Dove

Blood and Broken Art

Alcina Dimitrescu

Scars

Grieving

An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind

Sacrifices in the Name of Love

Blood Bag

Miracina

Rescued From the Nightmare

Bela Dimitrescu

Mistakes

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Shattered Past

Unsheathed Fears

Daniela Dimitrescu

Secrets

Dimitrescu Sisters

Soulmates (In Progress)

Dimitrescu Family

Searching for Home

I'll Protect You...Because I Love You

A Family's Embrace

Donna Beneviento

Flowers

Mine

Lullaby

BRIDGERTON:

Violet Bridgerton

AMERICAN HORROR STORY:

Cordelia Goode

Ally Mayfair-Richards

Billie Dean Howard

Lana Winters

Wilhelmina Venable

Multi Character

Saviors

GLASS:

Dr. Ellie Staple

RATCHED:

Mildred Ratched

WINX CLUB:

Icy

I Told the Moon about You

Darcy

Stormy

The Trix

Its Okay to Feel

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL:

Lady Lesso

Little Raven

Stubborn Little Princess

Trials of the Blue Forest

Crush?

Love and Comfort

Constellations of Love

Silent Resonance

Clarissa Dovey

Dovesso

HARRY POTTER:

Narcissa Malfoy/Black

Christmas Blues

Bellatrix Lestrange/Black

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE:

Wanda Maximoff

Natasha Romanoff

WandaNat

Save me

PEAKY BLINDERS:

Polly Gray

MOTHERFATHERSON:

Kathryn Villiers

WEDNESDAY:

Larissa Weems

Morticia Addams

ACTRESSES:

Helen McCrory

Starving

Drowning

Helena Bonham Carter

I Don't Know How to Be Okay

Comfort

Elizabeth Olsen

Grieving

Cate Blanchett

Breath

Sarah Paulson

Tired

A Mother's Love

Charlize Theron

Scarlett Johansson

Keeping You Safe

Emily Blunt

Gwendoline Christie

Kathryn Hahn

Jessica Chastain

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Avoidance

[wisteria-lodge]

Wait the wiki is bad? I use it all the time 😭 I thought the whole point is it's community-run so people should be able to fix any mistakes (and since it's a huge community that's been running for very long it seems quite robust and strict on verifying information) I do get that it has info from the videogames which most people don't regard as canon, though. But when it does it tends to note it as such, and they still consider the books/movies a higher "plane" of canon.

I love reading the wiki, but I do have to do a lot of follow up and sifting if I'm using it as reference. In tends to throw in the video games, JKR interviews, *actor* interviews, and Pottermore content, and sometimes it's organized and clearly marked, but a lot of times it isn't... and that has definitely slipped up my co-writer (whose knowledge of HP isn't as crazy as mine) a few times. Unless you already have a really solid grasp on everything, it's easy to get confused. Like here's someone who wrote into me, asking about a sentence in the Narcissa page that was 1) Poorly written 2) wrong.

The other problem with the wiki is that since it's community run, every page tends to be written by fans of that particular character. This is especially obvious with the villains. Like read through the Lucius Malfoy, or Severus Snape pages. There is so much there that's bending over backwards to give them a positive edit. There's a lot about Lucius' elegant dueling style (no source) and his skill with potions. Like the actual detail is 'Lucius Malfoy mentions having a potion collection in Book 2.' I don't want that extrapolated into 'Lucius Malfoy was a model student who got into the Slug Club because of his skill with potions.' Like let me write my own headcanons! It starts speculating that Lucius got Voldemort monologing on purpose in the graveyard to buy time for Harry!

Snape's page says that one of his skills is writing poetry. He wrote a rhyming logic puzzle in book one, which I would say is not the same thing. It also says he communicates with floriography, which is a reference to a fan theory about how the plants he lists in Book 1 are a coded message about Lily. Like *I* know that. But then the wiki just cites Book 1. That's not in Book 1.

This is actually so common that co-writer @niche-pastiche and I have an in-joke when we attribute any flattering/creative interpretation to Tom Saunders, Wasp Scientist.

Tom Saunders is a New Zealand biologist who named a species of wasp after Lucius Malfoy because:

"People see wasps as villains, as the 'bad guys.' But the truth is that the vast majority of wasp species are either neutral or beneficial, from a human standpoint. Just as Lucius Malfoy is pardoned after separating from Voldemort's allies, I'm asking people to pardon wasps in order to restore their reputation as interesting, important creatures."

Like I get that you like wasps, and Lucius Malfoy, I do too. But that's not info that's in the books.

(It is Pottermore stuff, but I honestly count Pottermore as tertiary canon at *best.* Like every once in a while it'll be a cool detail, but JKR is *not good* at worldbuilding, so most of the time, instead of explaining things... it just makes everything more confusing. And I think that all of this has the end result of accidentally gatekeeping newcomers who want to engage with the material. Like the person who sent that ask.)

[fitzrove]

Ethan Freeman, Hass and the original production of Elisabeth

Recently, @behindthemirrorofmusic shared an interview clip from her radio show with me (thank you so much!). In it, Ethan Freeman (original Lucheni) talks about, among other things, Hass and the criticism the number has gotten over the years.

Dannii: Several Jewish fans of the show have said it's a rather triggering song and makes them feel uncomfortable - making them feel that Lucheni is turning against them. Did you think about that or does this raise any feelings in you? Ethan: Ah, no. Lucheni is a cynic, but he certainly did not ally himself with the fascistic transition that happens in the course of that number, as it begins to look into the future and towards the growing demonization of Jews in the Elisabethan world moving towards the period of the Nazis. Again, as Che is with the Peronistic fascism [in Evita], Lucheni looks at it with bitter cynicism. I can see people being uncomfortable, but the scene and the number were designed to make everybody uncomfortable [laughs]. And the Austrian audience, who at the time had to - and perhaps to a bigger extent even now still has to - deal with its fascist and antisemitic past... That number was always met with a kind of deathly, breathless silence. Sometimes applause at the end, but first it was always this reaction of "[gasp] This was us!". And that's what the number was there for. Obviously, Harry Kupfer, the director, was a tremendous antifascist, and so he directed the number to hit very hard. I remember we performed the show [one night] and Jörg Haider, the leader of the ultra-right party in Austria at the time was in the audience of the show - and he walked out after the number! I knew I had done my job when I heard he had walked out. Because the number points a finger at exactly the kind of ideology he seemed to purvey. So... As a Jewish person myself, I want to show the world its ugly reflection. If it made me uncomfortable in any sense, watching the Jewish character getting beaten up in that scene, it's because it's supposed to make people feel - "oh, this is not good". I think good theatre is for people with strong stomachs, and if people are extremely sensitive to that sort of thing, then they have to figure out how to deal with it. I don't think for any reason that that [scene] should not be in the show. Because it was a reflection of the history of that time - but not only that time, obviously.

(Interview by Dannii Cohen, September 10, 2023. Emphasis mine. Transcribed from the first episode of the new series of Behind the Mirror of Music. Source)

[rose-of-oz]

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦

Here I am again, with another new Descendants fic! This one, How I Wonder (Where You’re At), is focused on the children of Wonderland characters, which is sort of its own separate realm that’s connected just enough to Auradon for its villains to be sent to the Isle and some of its children to be sent to attend Auradon Prep. Generally, Wonderland kids are outcasts in Auradon, but their brand of chaos and madness is just perfect on the Isle - and when the twin children of the Queen of Hearts are chosen to be sent to Auradon, and the Cheshire Cat’s daughter decides to invite herself along, it’s clear that the seemingly “perfect” kingdom is about to get a much-needed dose of wonder…

(Gonna tag the Descendants gang, @ginger-grimm, @dancingsunflowers-ocs, @manyfandomocs, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, @aceyanaheim, @auxiliarydetective, @kendelias, @nolanhollogay, @witchofinterest, @come-along-pond, and @arrows-unofficial-ocs!!)

Amelia Kingsleigh, she/her, daughter of Alice, OC ship, Lola Tung FC. Ally’s twin sister and Aaron’s younger sister, and also the head and founder of the Wonderlandian Culture Club at Auradon Prep, which she designed in order to try and educate Auradonians about Wonderland (even though neither she nor either of her siblings have ever been there, because Beast forbid any travel between Auradon and Wonderland unless it was politics-related or sending Wonderland kids to Auradon). Not a whole lot of Auradon kids attend it, but she’s still very passionate about Wonderlandian culture and history and educating Auradon on it. Has been friends with Ben since she first started at Auradon Prep and is basically the main reason Haven and Quentin get to come over with the VKs, but doesn’t expect the daughter of the Cheshire Cat to have invited herself along to Auradon, or to fall in love with her. Very sweet and quiet and a bit shy, but also very intelligent and isn’t afraid to stand up for the people she loves and what she believes in. Becomes one of Ben’s advisors after graduation, and dedicates herself to fostering a better relationship between Auradon and Wonderland.

Aaron Kingsleigh, he/him, son of Alice, Aziz ship, Ross Butler FC. Amelia and Ally’s older brother by one year, and a star athlete as a member of both the tourney and R.O.A.R. teams. Also a member of the Wonder Club, as he calls it, because he wants to support Amelia’s endeavour, but isn’t as interested in actually going to Wonderland as his sisters. Has been in love with Aziz for years, but has always held back because he’d be even more of an outcast at school for being a commoner dating a prince; however, the VKs shaking things up and Teagan getting together with Ben gives him the courage to finally confess and get together with Aziz. Not at all your stereotypical jock, because Alice raised him better than that - he takes his studies seriously and is very kind and loyal to the people he loves. Has been besties with Milo for years, but also becomes unexpected besties with Haven once they get over the whole “your mom tried to kill mine” thing.

Haven Hearts, she/her, daughter of the Queen of Hearts, Harry ship, Madison Davenport (formerly Landry Bender) FC. Quentin’s twin sister (younger by three minutes), and a member of the VKs who had a sort of Romeo and Juliet romance going on with Harry, but has to break it off when they and Quentin (and Chelsea, unknowingly) leave to go to Auradon. She wants desperately to be good and break away from her mother’s reputation, and dedicates herself to being better once the VKs choose good at the coronation, which causes some tension between her and Harry when they meet again in the second movie. In the alternate post-second movie story after the Sea Three come to Auradon, though, they reconcile and get back together. She’s fierce and sarcastic by nature but not mean, and she shares Mal’s love for graffiti.

Quentin Hearts, he/him, son of the Queen of Hearts, OC ship, Joe Locke FC. Haven’s twin brother (older by three minutes), and has always existed sort of on the outskirts of the VKs’ little gang, not deemed “tough enough” to properly join but kept around because of Haven’s fierce loyalty to him. He’s been mostly content with that, happy to spend most of his time with Chelsea or helping Carlos with his inventions, but he’s so incredibly happy to get the chance to go to Auradon, where his toughness won’t matter and he can hopefully make some real friends (Haven doesn’t tell him about the scheme to steal the wand until right before the coronation, which is a point of contention between them for a while afterwards). Joins the Wonder Club almost as soon as he arrives, wanting to connect with other Wonderland kids and learn about his culture beyond what his mother had told him when ranting about her glory days, and is so happy to make a bunch of friends (and get a new boyfriend) because of it. A genuine sweetheart, awkward and sweet and generous, but also has a backbone of steel from growing up on the Isle and is not afraid to tell people, including his dear sister, off when they’re being idiots. Definitely punches Chad at some point after Family Day, and even though it earns him a lot of detention he considers it worth it.

Maizie Hatter, they/them, child of the Mad Hatter, poly VKs ship, Erin Kellyman FC. Wacky non-binary sweetheart, and a complete outcast in Auradon, as most kids from Wonderland are, due to their odd style and outlandish personality. When the VKs originally come to Auradon (already all dating each other and very much supported by the Hearts siblings), they try to befriend Maizie because they figure it will be easy to convince them to help them steal Fairy Godmother’s wand, but all four of them find themselves falling in love with Maizie over time. After they all choose good at the coronation - and Mal profusely apologizes to Ben for the love spell and explains that she doesn’t really have feelings for him - they ask Maizie to be a part of their relationship, which they’re only too happy to do. An incredible artist and lover of tea who forms Auradon Prep’s art club with Mal and gets all four of their partners addicted to rose hip tea. Exactly what you’d expect the child of the Mad Hatter to be, wacky and curious and often living inside their own head, but also a lot more observant and smart than people expect. Becomes besties with Ben after the events of the first movie when they start to become more accepted by Auradon society and, later, the Sea Three. The unofficial secretary of the Wonder Club, even though they spend most of the meetings doodling abstract pictures instead of taking notes.

Warner Blanc, he/him, son of the White Rabbit, Jane ship, Joe Keery FC. A rabbit shifter who wears a charmed rabbit’s foot bracelet at all times to allow him to stay in human form, thanks to Fairy Godmother. Winston’s twin brother who is not a member of the Wonder Club, because he allowed himself to be pulled into all of Chad’s bullshit years ago in an attempt to belong at school and not be seen as just a crazy Wonderland kid, and so he barely talks to the other Wonderland kids, even his brother, and has often even gone along with making fun of them. Realizes the error of his ways after Family Day when Quentin chews him out for not defending his fellow Wonderlandians during Chad’s rant, but has to go through a lot of self-improvement before everyone will really accept him again - he’s willing to do all of it, though, because he genuinely is sorry. Has had a crush on Jane for years but never acted on it due to pressure from Chad, but finally gets brave enough to ask her out after his first official meeting with the Wonder Club and they become a really cute couple. Not fundamentally a mean or bad person, despite everything he went along with with Chad, but definitely can be sarcastic and snarky and deals with a lot of insecurities that he doesn’t really like talking about. However, he really does love his brother and his fellow Wonderlandians, and would do anything for them.

Winston Blanc, he/him, son of the White Rabbit, OC ship, Nick Robinson FC. A rabbit shifter who wears a charmed ring at all times to allow him to stay in human form. Warner’s twin brother, and definitely the shyer and lower down on Auradon Prep’s social food chain of the two. An original member of the Wonder Club whose only friends, really, are among his fellow members, and is eternally loyal to it because it’s what allowed him to finally get close to his girlfriend Demi and confess his feelings for her. Has basically avoided Warner whenever possible since he started hanging out with Chad, because he hates what his brother’s turned into, but really does love him and is happy to accept him when he realizes that he’s genuinely trying to be better. Kind of awkward and tends to fumble through most social interactions, but also shares his brother’s snark, though it’s well-hidden with him, and not afraid to get physical to defend those he cares about. A total gamer boy (in the non-toxic way), and spends a lot of time playing with Tyson, who is his and Warner’s other roommate.

Teagan Dee, she/he/they pronouns, child of Tweedle Dee, Ben ship, Anna Lambe FC. A member of the Wonder Club, and also the only non-male member of Auradon Prep’s archery team, having convinced Fairy Godmother to let them join using the loophole of his gender identity. Besties with Lonnie, one of the only non-Wonderlandians in the Wonder Club, but otherwise spends most of their time with her cousin or fellow Wonderland kids. Excels in the majority of her classes because he’s desperate to prove that, despite their dad and uncle’s reputation, she isn’t stupid, and is also the bane of Beast’s existence because A) he hates to see a Wonderland kid outshining the Auradon kids, and B) Teagan is a big voice opposing Auradon’s partial magic ban. Has been hopelessly in love with Ben for years but has been resigned to the fact that he’ll never get to date him, being both a commoner and from Wonderland… until she accidentally makes themself the first person Ben sees after eating the spelled cookie and is unwittingly roped into the VKs’ scheme. Does get to get together with Ben properly in the end, and this marks the start of big changes regarding magic in Auradon and the realm’s relations with Wonderland. An absolute badass on the archery field and very intelligent on top of it, but also can be pretty insecure and struggles with anxiety. Becomes besties with Haven, Quentin, and Chelsea after the whole business at the coronation, and they’re all a fearsome group when they team up together.

Tyson Dum, he/him, son of Tweedle Dum, OC ship (Quentin’s boyfriend), Kiowa Gordon FC. A member of the Auradon Prep wrestling team, but also a proud member of the Wonder Club and doesn’t vibe with any of Chad’s nonsense at all, which has led to a bit of bullying from the tourney team. Incredibly close with Teagan and would do absolutely anything for them, and kind of functions as the protector of the Wonderland kids at school against anyone who’s picking on them. Develops a crush on Quentin pretty much as soon as he arrives in Auradon, and they’re such a cute couple when they get together (which doesn’t really take very long). Very sweet and loyal and protective of those he loves, but also very emotionally mature and intelligent in a way people don’t always expect. Incredibly supportive of Teagan and Ben’s relationship, and does not hesitate to rub in it Chad’s face that he’s going to be related to the king someday (he doesn’t actually care about that, but just to piss Chad off).

Chelsea Cheshire, she/her, daughter of the Cheshire Cat, OC ship (Amelia’s girlfriend), Thomasin McKenzie FC. Grew up on the Isle with Haven and Quentin, since her father used his skills in chaos to be an activist against the magic ban when Auradon was first formed and Beast sent him to the Isle in anger. Has been thick as thieves with the twins since they were only toddlers, despite their mother hating her father and Chelsea and Quentin not being part of the VKs, and so when Haven and Quentin are chosen to go to Auradon Chelsea doesn’t hesitate to just invite herself along, because she refuses to be left alone on the Isle. Joins the Wonder Club along with Quentin (she does know about the wand stealing scheme but doesn’t care to go along with it, and doesn’t tell Quentin because she assumes he also knows), and develops kind of an insta-crush on Amelia, although it takes them a little bit to get together. Very slick and witty and has a taste for chaos, but also knows when to be serious and use her skill at reading people for good. Discovers her cat form and powers of teleportation after coming to Auradon, and is gifted a charmed necklace by Fairy Godmother to control her transformations.

Demeter “Demi” Musling, she/her, daughter of the Dormouse, OC ship (Winston’s girlfriend), Paulina Chávez FC. A mouse shifter who always wears a charmed necklace with a mouse charm to stay in her human form. A member of the Wonder Club who’s been dating Winston since sophomore year, a little bit after Amelia first founds the club. Has been friends with Jane for years, since they bond over being shy and rejected by the more popular girls, and despairs for a bit when she starts to get more popular due to Mal’s support (though she’s still supportive, of course), but is so happy when she finally accepts her own beauty at the coronation. In addition to sharing Amelia’s passion for Wonderland culture and history, also knows a lot about magical history and helps Teagan convince Ben to lift the ban after he gets together with Ben. Very quiet and anxious (some would say “mousy”), but incredibly compassionate and not afraid to stand up about things she’s passionate about. Also a talented artist, and becomes very popular in Auradon for her painting of Wonderlandian landscapes in the future.

Milo White, he/they, child of the White Queen, Uma ship, Archie Renaux FC. Not a member of the Wonder Club (at first) because he’s more accepted amongst their peers at Auradon Prep since he’s a prince and is scared to mess with that, but is still friends with several of its members. Very excited to be the ruler of Wonderland one day and very dedicated to learning about all of their royal responsibilities, although he doesn’t have the easiest time with it at Auradon Prep since a lot of it is different in Wonderland. Quick to befriend the VKs when they arrive (including Haven, Quentin, and Chelsea), and through that friendship they start to care a lot less about fitting in and embracing his Wonderlandian weirdness. Develops a crush on Uma very quickly after the Sea Three come to Auradon, and they’re such an amazing couple when they get together. A bit quieter and less outgoing than their mother, but still friendly and dedicated to his calling as a ruler of Wonderland and loyal to their subjects and friends. Absolutely convinces his mother to adopt Haven and Quentin, to keep them safe from any chance of getting sent back to the Isle and give them the proper Wonderlandian citizenship they were denied from being on the Isle.

And that’s it!! I promise I will properly introduce this fic and these babies at some point, but for now feel free to send any asks you want about any of them!! <3 <3

[definitelynotindecisive]

So I found you through your batfam/Spiderman fic and I was wondering if you could make a rec list?

Hey there! Thank you for checking out my blog and for reading my fic! I love seeing that you've commented on a chapter in my inbox.

As far as a rec list goes, I've never actually written one before. But I assume you want ones that are specifically spider-man/batman crossovers?

It's a whole new way of looking at [daddy issues] by spaghettiash: This a series of two little one-shots that I absolutely loved. It's another Peter gets transported to the DC universe with Dick Grayson looking exactly like Richard Parker. Love this one.

Help Me, I Don't Feel Like Myself Anymore by Astra_Nova_Kat: This fic was amazing, this was my bookmark comment exactly "I need this, I need this like I need oxygen, like I need love. This is so well written, I could cry. I need it injected into my veins and tattooed on the inside of my eyelids, omg." Again, much like the one above, Peter is transported into the DCU and stumbles across alternate versions of Richard Parker and Ben Parker. I loved it.

Aunt May and the Justice League by Anonymous: This fic is great, if you love the idea of Aunt May being kick ass and -fade to black- sleeping her way through the Justice League in a super classy way, and being such a supportive mum to her dear nephew Peter in the DCU. Very much open relationships, though the main plot doesn't really start to kick in until a few chapters in.

Green, through and through by another_fucking_robin: I love this one, particularly because it's trans Peter Parker. There just aren't enough of them, and when it's well written, it plucks at my heart strings. Plus, the Lazarus Pit is an ally, and I love that for them. This fic just starts off so good, I was in love with it from chapter one.

rot with all the burnouts in the cell by magnuschases: This fic is really entertaining. Like, Dick Grayson, you are the father! And Peter's responses were just great. Awkward grandpa!Bruce will always have my heart.

Singing In My Blood by LialeeEderian: This one is cute. Peter literally falls into Dick Grayson's life. Dick Grayson is clearly his alternate universe dad, and everyone can see it.

a shining spider web by Selador: an alternate spin off of Dark Matter by mysterycyclone. In this fic, the nice guy on the subway that gives him sunglasses during his migraine, clearly Jason Todd, takes him home and adopts him. Very cute and sweet.

Homesick by NotSoSweetHeh: I adore this fic. Peter convinces the Batfam that he's actually an alien, rather than a dimension traveller. Seems easier to him, that way. And it is very easy for him to pull off.

Harry Potter and the Great Custody Battle by dajgen: Okay, say what you will about JKR, she's TERF piece of shit and I hate her. However, I do not hate Dajgen and their work (that would make me a hypocrite, considering my work Wildflowers in the Spring, with is also a HP/DC crossover). Controversial to add a HP related fic, but I feel like I should add it anyway, because I genuinely enjoyed it. It's basically a fic where Harry is related to both Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. Harry needs them to get out of the Triwizard Tournament. So, a threeway crossover. I won't give anymore spoilers, should you choose to read it.

I hope you liked my picks, I've never actually made one of these before, so I hope I did it right 😅 feel free to hit me up if you want to share your thoughts about my recommendations. I tried to pick fics that were in a similar vein to mine, since I wasn't sure exactly what you were looking for. Thank you for this ask, it was really fun putting this list together! Shout out to all these very talented writers. There's plenty more, but I don't want to inundate you. If you want more recommendations at a later date, feel free to ask me again 💕💕

[josiehook200]

My Huma Kids in birth order (with some honorable mentions)

For anyone new: Hi, I'm Josie Hook. I'm the one that @theamityelf is borrowing one of mine for their (Please correct me if I'm wrong on the pronouns) Huma kids. Because of that, here's mine. (Also keep in mind, I created a lot of this before D3 came out in 2019.)

Ocean Storm Hook - The eldest of Uma and Harry's children in AUs where they at least had children together. This is the character that @theamityelf is borrowing from me. Unlike their version where Uma's maiden name is Triskelion, Uma's maiden name here is Tailfin. She's existed since 2017 and has gone through a few changes since then.

Selena Grace Hook - Both the second child and second daughter of Uma and Harry. She was created in 2018 as originally Ocean's half/twin sister in a AU called Different Tides (No longer exists) before later becoming her full blood sister in My Odd Family (Also no longer exists) and in Barnacle Gang (Currently exists, alongside with Barnacle Gang: Divorced) She has gone through a personality change and other changes since her creation. She's 5 years younger than Ocean.

Hannah Jordan & Holden James Hook - Uma and Harry's twins. They have existed since 2019 where they were created for My Odd Family. They have gone through a few changes also. They are 10 years younger than Ocean and 5 years younger than Selena. Hannah is the older twin and Holden is the younger twin.

Christopher Jacob Hook - The youngest. He has also existed since 2019. Originally there was a 20-year age gap between him and Ocean. Now there's a 15-year age gap between them.

They are all mostly human due to Harry being completely human and Uma being half human. That doesn't mean they don't turn into some kind of sea creatures. Ocean: Octopus, usable tenacles on her hips. Selena: Pufferfish with an addiction to her phone. Hannah: Dolphin with an unhealthy obsession with glitter. Holden: Shark with an almost allergy to wearing pants. Christopher: Sea-turtle.

Honorable Mentions (Published, unpublished & Former published AUS)

Sandra Beach Lafou & Robert Thief Lafou - Both are Cj and Gil's twins in Barnacle Gang. In a universe where Harry ended up with Gil or Harry is Harley, they're his children.

Eduardo "Eddie" & Alejandra "Allie" Sparrow - Also in Barnacle Gang, they're Jonas and Bonnie's children. (Don't ask. A random ship I put together in 2017 regarding wanting Huma conflict). In a different universe: Uma first came out as a lesbian to Harry and married Bonnie. They had approached Harry to be the sperm donor before having Eddie who had said yes but later backed out to having a bad feeling regarding Bonnie. They later used Jonas, Bonnie's best friend in this as the donor for both Eddie and Alli which Bonnie is both the biological and birth mother due to Uma not ready to be pregnant herself and Bonnie being really weird on what kids they carry being theirs biologically. Bonnie unfortunately cheats on Uma which both Uma and their children end up moving in with Harry where Uma figures out that she also likes men due to seeing her best friend in a different light which then she comes Bi to him later too. In other universes where it's Harry and Jonas: Eddie is Ocean's twin.

Cora Amaryllis Hook - Harry's stillborn first child and Ocean's half sister in An Ordinary World

Hayes Levi Kennedy, Lennox Rupert Walker, Beau Kipp Walker, Ford Douglas Walker, Nymphaea Grey Jones, Novalee Jett Jones, Delilah Juliana Miller, Symphony Rhianna Miller, Kinsely Oakes Wood, Jesse August Taylor & Nathaniel Kane Taylor - Surrogate babies Harry birthed in Finally Mine

Storm Ambrosia, Grace Mirabel, Jordan Olive, James Calvin & Jacob Arthur Deville - Dark Hearts: Walter takes Anna with him when leaving Switzerland after the Village riot from the creation of Dr. Frankstein's monster. Yes, Anna is literally Uma if she was Swiss and just a witch

Rihanna, Serena, Anna, James & Jacob Cook - Average Maria, Dario's friends' children. Irma - Uma, Jerry - Harry & Dario - Gil with braincells.

If you want to read more about these children, the stories where they came from are on my master list pinned on my profile.

Peace! & stay evil!

[thereceptioniststyles]

His Name is Harry

Five Years Ago

The November wind sliced through the air with a sharpness that seemed to penetrate to the core of my being. It whipped at my cheeks, stinging my skin as I made my way from the car to my place of employment, Nextgen Publicity. Nestled in the outskirts of New York City, this humble PR firm stood as a quiet oasis amidst the bustling chaos of the city. Little did I know that today, this seemingly ordinary day, would mark a turning point in my life.

As a receptionist, I had grown accustomed to the ebb and flow of mundane tasks that greeted me each day. Yet, within the monotony, I found solace in the relationships I had forged with some of our esteemed clients. From A-list celebrities to influential entrepreneurs, I relished the opportunity to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. It was an environment that allowed me to witness firsthand the glitz and glamour, while also maintaining a sense of grounded normalcy. Despite the simplicity of my role, I couldn't complain. I basked in the ease of my work, shielded from the relentless storm of celebrity scandals that often consumed the headlines.

Stepping into the reception area, I found myself flanked by a handful of other women, each absorbed in their tasks. Some wore friendly smiles, their warmth radiating through the room, while others maintained an air of guarded professionalism, their coldness serving as a constant reminder of the impersonal nature of our professional lives. Yet, even amidst the apathy that sometimes permeated the space, I managed to find a few kindred spirits, souls with whom I shared a fleeting connection. They were my allies in this sea of superficiality, offering a sense of camaraderie that made the days a little brighter.

With a firm grip, I seized the cold metal handle of the door, bracing myself for the onslaught of the wintry gust that awaited me. The wind howled and tugged at my clothes, threatening to steal away the warmth I had sought within the confines of my car. I unwound the scarf that had been draped loosely around my neck, feeling the chill of the air seep into my bones. I quickly shed my jacket, its weight no longer necessary within the heated confines of the office. With a practiced grace, I stowed them away in the drawer behind me, ensuring that they were neat and out of sight.

Taking my customary seat by the window, I surveyed the scene before me. The reception desk, adorned with its polished surface and neatly arranged supplies, stood as a fortress of organization amidst the chaos that often ensued. A sense of purpose settled upon me as I swept my hair up into a tight bun, ready to face the whirlwind of activity that awaited me. Answering calls, scheduling appointments, and managing the flow of visitors had become second nature, but today, something felt different.

I glanced over, only to meet the unwavering gaze of my manager, Callie. Her piercing eyes bore into mine, laden with unspoken words and hidden intentions. In that fleeting moment, doubt and uncertainty consumed me, as I questioned every move I had made since stepping foot into the office. What had I missed? Had I fallen short of expectations? The weight of her stare seemed to carry the weight of the world, and I braced myself for the impending revelation.

Silently, Callie traversed the room, her footsteps echoing with an air of anticipation. Each click of her heels seemed to reverberate through the space, amplifying the tension that hung in the air. With each passing second, my heart raced, a crescendo of anxiety building within me. Finally, she reached me, her hands coming to rest on the counter, her grin inscrutable.

"Ayla, how are you today?" she inquired, her voice tinged with a mischievous undertone that sent a shiver down my spine.

"I'm... I'm good, thank you, Callie," I stammered, mustering a feeble smile to match her own. But beneath the surface, a torrent of emotions threatened to engulf me. What was she about to reveal? Was it praise or reprimand? I braced myself for the impact, my mind racing through all the possible scenarios.

Callie was a complex figure, a boss who could be both exceptional and flawed. Her dynamic personality made her a force to be reckoned with, yet her Achilles' heel lay in her entanglement with employee drama, her desire to forge connections with everyone. While this camaraderie was welcomed in lighter moments, it had the potential to overshadow her managerial duties, leaving a trail of hurt feelings and unaddressed issues in its wake. As a result, navigating the intricacies of our relationship was always a delicate dance, one that required finesse and adaptability.

She giggled, her amusement filling the room, before playfully slamming her hands onto the counter, the sound reverberating through the otherwise hushed atmosphere. "So, we've managed to fill the open spot," she announced, her tone laden with excitement.

A glimmer of hope flickered within me. The vacant position at the front desk had plagued us for months, but with the busy season fast approaching, relief was in sight.

"Oh, yay! That's fantastic news. When does she start?" I inquired eagerly, my clapping hands betraying my enthusiasm.

Callie's laughter rang through the air, a delicate melody that masked a hidden truth.

"She? Ayla, not all receptionists are girls," she teased, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

I froze, my mouth suddenly parched. It wasn't that I held any bias against men; on the contrary, I appreciated a handsome face as much as the next person. But the prospect of a man joining our predominantly female front desk team ignited an inferno of curiosity within me. How would the delicate balance of our camaraderie be affected? We had never encountered such a scenario before, especially not with the presence of an attractive man.

Suppressing my unease, I managed a nervous chuckle, attempting to mask the whirlwind of emotions swirling within me. "So... We've hired a boy?"

Callie nodded briskly, her eyes betraying a hint of exasperation. "Yes, and from what I've heard, he's quite easy on the eyes."

A lump formed in my throat, choking back a tide of questions. What was his name? Or was his appeal the only information we possessed? Callie sighed softly, her voice laced with resignation.

"His name... his name is Harry," she revealed, her words hanging in the air, heavy with unspoken possibilities.

All Parts

[wow635]

Chapter 6 Sorry guys, a bit late, I had too much on my plate right now but I’m happy I could get it out! Not proofread

A couple days after the whole quidditch cup fiasco me, Harry, hermione and the Weasleys head to diagon ally to get our school supply’s for the year

We split up into seperate little groups so we aren’t all cramped together in chaos. I go off with Fred, George and Ginny. While Harry, Hermione and Ron head off together, and ms and mr Weasley go on a much deserved lunch date.

We stroll down the bustling cobblestone streets, weaving through the other shoppers and wizards going about their business.

The air is filled with the scent of spellbooks and potion reagents, and the sound of owls hooting from the Owl Emporium.

Merlin I love this place. All of it, I couldn’t imagine myself without magic now. But sometimes I do wonder what my life would’ve been like if I never discovered the truth about my parents. And getting chased by an evil wizard every school year

I snap out of it as we enter flourish and blots, the moment my foot reaches the threshold I could smell so many magical aromas. Old parchment and ink fill my nostrils. we begin to gather our textbooks as required from our lists. I help Ginny, George, and Fred in finding the books they need for their respective classes.

We paid for our books and walk toward the door talking amongst each other when I accidentally bump into someone causing all of my books to fall out of my arms and scatter onto the floor. Startled I bend down gathering my books apologizing profusely.

I’m just about to pick up the last one when the person puts their foot of the book. I look up to see who it is and my face drops. Standing above me is none other than Draco malfoy with his usual band or fools behind him.

I stand up and hold my books closer to my chest unconsciously. I feel Fred, George and Ginny step closer to me and I brace myself for whatever is going to come out of malfoy’s mouth today.

“Well look who we have here” Draco’s drawls, his voice dripping with disdain “y/n potter, the precious golden girl” he leans closer, his face inches from mine and filled with ignorance and mockery

“Piss off malfoy” I respond backing away, my face contorting in disgust

“Oh and there goes that charming potter attitude” he sneers, a cruel smile forming on his lips “so predictable, so pathetic just like your parents”

I feel the sting almost as if he’d just gone ahead and punched me in the gut. But I don’t show it. I know that’s what he expects, what he wants. I’m about to retort but I get interrupted by a voice behind me.

“Watch your tongue malfoy” Fred warns low and threatening.

“Don’t you have anything better to do with you pathetic life, than torment other people” I answer after Fred bending down and picking up my last book

Malfoy smirks, his gaze filled with arrogance. "Not really," he replies smugly, his tone laced with arrogance. "It's amusing to see you Gryffindors get all riled up over a few simple words." The tension between us escalates, the air thick with disdain and anger. But despite the hostile atmosphere, I keep my composure, determined not to give Malfoy the satisfaction of seeing me lose my cool.

I brush past Malfoy, bumping his shoulder with purpose. The impact causes him to stumble slightly, but neither of us falter in our stride. As I walk away, I could feel the weight of his gaze burning into my back, but I refuse to look back, holding onto my unwavering determination and pride.

———————————-

( a couple weeks later)

Earlier last week dumbledore had announced that this year would be the year that we continued the triwizard tournament

People including Fred and George were extatic upon hearing the news. I wasn't to fond of it, It wouldn’t be something id ever want to do. But I’m safe because I couldn’t have put my name even if I’d wanted to. Only seventh years are permitted, even Fred and George couldn’t get pasted the age line.

Today we all gather in the great hall for dumbledore to pick the three names of students from the three schools of who would participate in the triwizard tournament this year

I am sat with Harry, Ron and hermione ready to hear who will be picked

First, Dumbledore calls up victor krum from durmstrang. A loud wave of cheers erupts from the great hall, dumbledor points to the back room motioning victor in the direction

Another small paper flies out of the goblet and dumbledore catches it. “Fleur delacour from beauxbaxtons school” he announces with authority. The room fills with applause as the chosen champion from Beauxbatons makes her way to the back of the Great Hall.

As Dumbledore reaches into the golden Goblet, the tension in the room grows palpable. The entire hall holds its breath, waiting in anticipation to see which Hogwarts student will be chosen.

He unfolds it slowly, his eyes scanning the name written on it.

"Cedric Diggory," Dumbledore announces, the name echoing throughout the hall. Cheers and applause erupted from the Hogwarts students, congratulating him. Cedric makes his way to the back, pride evident on his face.

Dumbledore begins another speech about how the tournament is going to go, and how we are all going to proceed, when there’s a loud noise from the goblet. A fourth price of paper flies out and dumbledore catches it in awe

I lean forward in my seat a bit. No one else was supposed to be entered in the competition. I look over at Fred and George wondering if one of their foolish plans worked

Not sure paying attention to dumbledore, instead the Weasley twins. Particularly Fred. I don’t notice him standing there, his eyes scanning the paper, a stern and contemplative expression on his face.

I only snap out of it when I hear his voice “...Siena, Siena potter" he announces

I could feel the colour drain from my face

I turn to Harry the terror evident in my expression. "You, Siena Potter," dumbledore states, his gaze fixing upon me,"have been selected as a fourth champion."

I rise from my seat, my legs threatening to give way beneath me. The walk to the front of the hall, where the other champions were waiting, feels like an eternity. Every step feels heavy, as if I was treading through quicksand. I could feel the eyes of the entire Great Hall on me, their gazes filled with shock, confusion, and a touch of anger. It was as though the world has stopped spinning for a brief moment, and all that matters is the weight of the unexpected role I now found myself thrust into

I walked past Dumbledore and head straight into the room where the other champions are. I walk I and Cedric turns around upon hearing my footsteps. I put a shaky hand to my mouth. My heart pounds in my chest.

Cedric, noticing my trembling and the fear etched across my face, quickly moves closer, concern evident in his eyes. He approaches me "Siena, are you alright, what are you doing back here?" he asked gently, his voice filled with genuine worry. "You look quite shaken."

"I don't know what I'm going to do" | say in a shaky voice " I don't know what happend”

He looks at me not knowing what’s happening. he puts his hand on my shoulder

Then dumbledore comes running

Dumbledore bursts through the door, followed closely by Professor McGonagall.

"Siena did you put your name in the goblet of fire" he says grabbing my shoulders

I shake my head fiercely, my voice wavering with a mixture of shock and fear. "No!" | protest, my eyes wide and pleading. "I didn't. I didn't do it, Professor?"

Dumbledore studies me closely, his expression shifting from

uncertainty to a slight frown. The weight of his gaze left me feeling vulnerable, as if he were searching for a hint of deception or guilt within me. But there is none, only the lingering fear and confusion over this unexplainable turn of events.

"This isn't good" he says to mcgonagall

Snape's voice, laced with his signature coldness, brakes through the tension, questioning my honesty. "How do we know you're not lying?" he challenges.

I shoot back, my voice firm yet tinged with defiance. "Why would I lie?" | retort , frustration coloring my words. "I couldn't even if I wanted to. There was a bloody age line. Who could have done this?"

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchange a glance, each seemingly deep in thought. They know the power and security of the age line placed around the Goblet. It is an impenetrable barrier, one that shouldn't have been crossed by anyone below the seventh year of Hogwarts.

Next chapter ————>

[braveclementine]

Part 16

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. Also, all of Severus and Elizabeths' childrens names are mine and mine alone.I also do not condone any copying of this.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC, GRAND MEETING ROOM

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Severus stands off to the side near Remus as the Minister of Magic, aka Hermione Granger, stands on stage with Harry. Elizabeth is technically on stage, though she is standing off to the side, leaning against the wall. She looks deep in concentration, not paying attention to the other witches and wizards that move around below her. 

Kingsley is there too, though Severus has no idea when he returned to London. The last he had heard, the retired Minister had settled down in Jamaica to live the rest of his days out in peace. 

Sprinkled throughout older Ministry wizards and witches are familiar faces of his past students or former colleagues. His godson Draco stands near Ginny and Ron Weasley. He notices that Minerva has shown up at some point, along with Trang. 

"Order!" Hermione calls from the stage. "Order. Do I have to conjure silence?" 

Severus smiles to himself as he watches Elizabeth roll her eyes. Both of them know you can't actually conjure silence. Rather, it's a spell to give the illusion of silence, though someone could still be speaking. 

"Good. Welcome to this extraordinary general meeting. I'm so pleased so many of you could make it. The wizarding world has been living in peace now for many years. It's twenty-two years since we defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, and I'm delighted to say there is a new generation being brought up having known only the slightest conflict. Until now. Harry." 

Severus frowned slightly as he watched Harry take to the mic next. Until now? 

"Voldemort's allies have been showing movement for a few months now. We've followed trolls making their way across Europe, giants starting to cross the seas, and the werewolves- well, I'm distressed to say we lost sight of them some weeks ago. We don't know where they're going or who's encouraged them to move- but we are aware they are moving- and we are concerned what it might mean. So we're asking- if anyone has seen anything? Felt anything? If you could raise a wand, we will hear everyone speak. Professor McGonagall- thank you." 

"It did look like the potions stores had been interfered with when we returned from summer break, but not a huge amount of ingredients were missing, some Boomslang skin and Lacewing flies nothing on the Restricted Register. We put it down to Peeves." 

Severus immediately felt alarm. Those were ingredients for Polyjuice Potion! Sure, other potions, but for them to be stolen or missing? It had to be Polyjuice potion. His eyes met Elizabeths', who were reflecting his realization back to him. 

"Thank you, Professor. We shall investigate. Nobody else?" Minister Granger asked as she looked around. Severus  noticed that Trang looked like she wanted to say something, and then held back, shooting a covert look at Shacklebolt instead. "Fine, and- gravest of all- and this hasn't been the case since Voldemort- Harry's scar is hurting again." 

Severus almost laughed out loud, except that he knew the details between Potters' scar and the vanquished Dark Lord. 

"Voldemort is dead. Voldemort is gone." Draco said fiercely. 

"Yes, Draco, Voldemort is dead, but these things all lead us to think that there is a possibility that Voldemort- or some trace of Voldemort- might be back." 

Severus couldn't help but exchange a look with Lupin, who looked as convinced as Severus felt. It was impossible. The horcruxes had all been destroyed and Voldemorts body had been viewed by everyone at the Battle of Hogwarts. There was no spell, no potion, nothing that could bring him back to life. 

Except time. . . 

"Now this is difficult but we have to ask it to rule it out. Those of you with a Dark Mark. . . have you felt anything? Even a twinge?" Potter asked. 

"Back to being prejudiced against those with a Dark Mark, are we, Potter?" Draco challenged him. 

Severus sighed aloud. 

"No, Draco. Harry is simply trying to-" 

"You know what this is about? Harry just wants his face back in the newspapers again. We've had rumors of Voldemort coming back from the Daily Prophet once a year every year-" 

"None of those rumors came from me!" Harry snapped. 

"Really? Doesn't your wife edit the Daily Prophet?" Draco retorted. 

"The sports page!" The red headed Weasley girl spoke up. 

"This isn't good." Remus muttered next to him. 

"Draco. Harry brought this matter to the attention of the Ministry." Minister Granger tried again. "And I- as Minister for Magic-" 

"A vote you only won because you are his friend." Draco smirked. 

"Do you want a smack in the mouth?" Weasley snarled. 

"Face it-" Draco said, unperturbed. "his celebrity impacts upon you all. And how better to get everyone whispering the Potter name again than with 'my scar is hurting, my scar is hurting'. And do you know what this all means- that the gossipmongers once again have an opportunity to defame my son with these ridiculous rumors about his parentage." 

"Draco, no one is saying this has anything to do with Scorpius-" 

"What about you Kane?" Draco snapped. "What do you have to say about Voldemort coming back?" 

Elizabeth glanced over at him as though only just realizing that he was there and speaking. She looked around the entire meeting room and said slowly. "I have not seen Voldemort himself. There is a danger, but I can't see it yet. My visions have come much slower in the past years than they did while we were at school." 

Draco shook his head and walked out of the courtroom. Surprisingly, Elizabeth followed him out, looking a little dazed and confused, her eyes slightly glossy. Severus watched her go and then raised his wand. 

"Yes Severus?" Minister Granger asked tiredly. 

"For Potters' previous question about the Dark Mark, I haven't felt anything from it since the Battle of Hogwarts." Severus sighed. 

"Thank you." Granger said, making a note on her papers. 

By this point, a large majority had followed Draco out after Elizabeths' announcement. 

"Would've been nice if Elizabeth had just told us Voldemort wasn't a problem before we held the meeting." Weasley grumbled to his wife. 

"Knock it off Ron." Ginny sighed. 

"Severus, can I talk to you?" Remus asked quietly, the two older men leaving the courtroom. "Is Elizabeth okay?" 

"Honestly?" Severus asked quietly, leaning against the tiled wall of the Ministry hallway. "I don't know. We've had it rough since our last kids went off to Hogwarts. . . well you knew that anyways. We've been making up, this summer has been good, but something still feels off. Whatever is happening has her worried, but she. . . she hides it well." 

"You can't grill her over it?" Remus asked skeptically. "You, Dumbledore, Minerva, you all did that when she was in school." 

"I wasn't worried about our marriage succeeding or failing back then either." Severus sighed. "Honestly, I'm afraid that if I push the wrong buttons it's over. And quite frankly Remus, I can't lose her. I can't. But I'm starting to wonder if she's outgrowing me." 

Both of them were quiet and Severus caught sight of Trang and Kingsley talking to each other, both of them looking worried. Trang was showing him something on a piece of paper and he was tempted to go into one of their minds and find out what the drama was. All with the intentions of keeping Elizabeth's best friend safe of course. But he refrained. 

"That's not the Elizabeth I know." Remus finally said. "She loves you. She always has. Otherwise she wouldn't have put up with you for as long as she has. Maybe it's that depression some mothers get when they no longer have kids in the house. Like she doesn't know what to do with herself now." 

Severus smiled a little. "She's actually pregnant." 

Remus smiled a little too. "So you gave in?" 

"Not like it was planned, but well I won't go into the details but she's happy so I'm happy." 

Remus nodded and the two of them fell silent as Tonks walked over. "Fine." She said, rolling her eyes. "Keep your secrets. But Remus, we're going to be late." 

"Of course." Severus rolled his eyes at Remus sappy love voice, although he knew that's probably exactly how he sounded when he talked to Elizabeth. "See you later Severus." 

"Sure." Severus said, glancing back down to where Trang and Kingsley had been but they were both gone now. He quickly left the Ministry, going to find Elizabeth. 

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I know I said I wasn't publishing anymore chapters until November, but I needed to post something for Maggie Smiths' deathday. Happy (would it be 0th or 1st Deathday?). Anyways, R.I.P. Maggie Smith. I hope you're in a better place now. 🐈