#my school mate sitting next to me was horrified

[gontroublevt]

I was just reminded on how child me most likely got the train ride at Knotts berry farm permanently changed because I had sticky fingers and no impulse control. In my defense I gave the gun back!

[eastwindmlk]

For day 16 of @jilytoberfest we have an open ended piece (@siriuslychessi said it would be fine) Prompt: 🎶“My words are my faith, to hell with our good name”🎶 - Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy. Word count: 748

James Potter had a tendency to get himself into situations that people believed only happened in films. Some people, particularly a handful of his colleagues, had started calling him ‘Big Fish’ and would make faces when he brought up stories that others simply found entertaining.

Like how he accidentally wandered onto the set of a TV commercial and replaced the poor kid not nailing his lines. Or, when he and his mates had started an actual food fight in the school cafeteria. To this day he swore they had not meant to start anything, they were just faffing about when a spoonful of apple sauce hit Benjy Fenwick, which made Gideon laugh and Fabian decided to add a smear of spag bol to his twin’s crisp uniform shirt.

It all escalated from there. James still firmly believed that he didn’t start it and the twins should have helped clean after, but that injustice was something he learned to live with.

The same Benjy who was there throughout medical school and the semester he brought a skeleton to class to not have to sit next to anyone. Bone-ita even had a picture ID and PPE said nothing when the haughty senior residents started the stupid nickname.

Then when James signed up for Doctors without Borders, Benjy was right there flying off to India with him where they were stationed at the same clinic. it was then that James learned that Benjy was more than happy to say nothing when their colleagues started calling him 'Big Fish'.

Around this time, it was that James started to believe that he might actually be the one who started it all.

Well, he supposed that Benjy would have a reason to revive it once more after he told them about this particular one. Which was an odd thought to have while running full tilt through Heathrow Airport trying to catch the love of his life before she left for god knows how long.

James supposed he was lucky he had only arrived home yesterday, after five long years, the layout of the airport still fresh in his mind.

He might need to leave out the fact that three security officers were lagging behind him while he jumped over the metal fences forming the queues at the gate. He could still see her auburn braid near the front, fumbling for her ticket as he shouted for her.

“Lily!” His voice is hoarse from the exertion, his hands grip the rapidly warming metal bar that separates him from the ticket desk at the gate. The braid whips around, emerald eyes wide with shock meet his. “Lily, please don’t go,” he pleads and slips under the final obstacle while she looks at him, horrified.

Lily approaches him with a cautious smile. “James, what on earth are you doing here?” she hisses at him, her face contorting into something unreadable for a moment before she schools her features into a calm mask.

“Don’t go,” he repeats stubbornly, his hands darting out to take hers. “Marry me instead.” At this the mask slips and he can see the pain flash through her eyes while she wrenches back her hand. “Please,” he pleads once more.

She glances over her shoulder at the passengers still waiting to board, the flight attendant's sideways glances. “James, I can’t. You’re too late,” she stammers and covers the grimace on her lips with her hand. “I-I-I need to go. I’m getting married in Paris tomorrow, James.”

"You hate Paris,"

"I love France."

"Paris isn't France." His eyebrows knit together, eyes still burning into hers. “Don’t go.” The words are now barely a whisper. “I love you, Evans. I know I’ve been gone for a bit. I… Work got in the way but… You said you would wait for me,” he said, too hurt to accuse her of anything.

“And I did,” Lily replies, the pain seeping into her voice now. “I waited for three years but you never came back to me, James. I…”

“I am here now.”

"I can’t. I won’t call this off. Not even for you.” She sighs, her hand brushing his shoulder before it dropped to her side once more. “I’m sorry.” The words are whispered against his cheek before she vanishes with only the lingering kiss and one last look over her shoulder.

Off to marry another man. Suddenly, James cannot find it in himself to care much if they believe him when he tells his colleagues this story.

[aneurinallday]

The Tragedy of James Steerforth

Chapter VI: Downfall

Steerforth’s third appearance occurred at one of London’s most prominent bookshops, where an event was being held to promote their most recent bestseller: the recently published autobiography of David Copperfield. David himself was there, sitting behind a table stacked with copies of the book, proud to present his work to a throng of attendees.

Despite a few hurdles in the publication process, the coming-of-age tale had been quite the sensation with London’s readership due to the many twists and turns that befell its unfortunate protagonist - made all the more gripping by the fact that they were entirely true. The only thing more exciting than sordid fiction was a sordid truth.

Once David had recovered from the surreal sight in front of him - a small crowd of complete strangers queueing up for his signature, holding copies of the book he’d written - he gladly greeted each stranger in turn, signing each book with a lively flourish. He soon lost count of how many he signed, but even the ache in his hand was something to celebrate - a happy pain that saved him the trouble of having to pinch himself to check he wasn’t dreaming.

This was it - the beginning of the rest of his life. He’d finally made it.

A drop of ink falling from his quill onto his white cuff distracted him - he paused to tug down his sleeve so that the stain was hidden. His head was down, and as the next attendee stepped forward, he saw only their legs. Then a loud thud startled him - a copy of his hardback book had been dropped on the table with a decisive thump. Taken aback by the attendee’s rudeness, he looked up, and immediately his happiness fled.

James Steerforth was looking down at him, smiling a sour smile.

“Hello, Daisy,” he said. “I know you don’t like it when I show up without an invitation, but the sign outside the bookshop said everybody was welcome. So here I am, feeling very welcome.”

He was as sharply dressed as ever. His waistcoat and trousers were both polkadot, but the reverse of each other - the former white with black dots, the latter black with white dots. He wore them with a black neckerchief and a blue blazer with gold buttons. His cane, from which he had always been inseparable, was tucked under his arm.

“What’s the matter, Daisy? I thought you’d be happy to see me.” This time, there was barely a pretence at friendliness. His eyes were malicious and his voice dripping with spite.

“What are you doing here?” David uttered.

“What does it look like? I’m here to congratulate my friend, the world-renowned author! I was delighted to hear that you’d found a new publisher.”

“Were you?” said David doubtfully.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be happy for my dear school-mate? When I saw a copy of your book lying in the gutter, I just had to scoop it up. Would you do the honour of signing it for me?”

“Have you actually read it?”

“Only the parts which concern me - I skimmed the rest. I see you changed my name, age, and other attributes.”

“Well, I didn’t want to risk revealing your identity - I didn’t exactly gloss over your various shortcomings. If my readers were to find out who you were, it could be…unpleasant.”

“Is that a threat, Daisy?”

“What? No!” David was horrified. “The last thing I would want is to cause you any discomfort. James, believe me when I say that I hold no ill will towards you. I simply wanted to tell the story of my life, and, well…you were a big part of my life. For the sake of your privacy, I did my best to make you unrecognisable.”

“How very considerate of you,” said Steerforth bitterly. He tapped the open book with his finger, reminding David of the purpose of his visit. David scribbled his signature with more force than intended.

“There. You have what you came for. Now please leave.”

“Not yet. Before I go, I thought we might share a moment together - admire your wordsmanship.”

He picked up the book, flicking past the table of contents and preface. He cleared his throat exaggeratedly, and began to read out loud:

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. Oh, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy - don’t you see? There are no heroes in your story. No villains either. There are only the people you’ve maligned in your quest for a compelling narrative. This entire book is a work of fantasy, written by a habitual liar in the grips of delusion. Your imagination would put Scheherazade herself to shame.”

“Please step aside. There are people behind you waiting.”

“Such impatience!” Steerforth tutted, “One would almost think you don’t want me here.”

He flipped through the pages, his green eyes scanning for a particular passage.

“Where is it…where is it…Ah, here we go. I was not considered as being formally received into the school, however, until a particular student arrived. Before this boy, who was reputed to be a great scholar, and was very good-looking - why, thank you, Daisy! - and at least half-a-dozen years my senior, I was carried as before a magistrate. Goodness, you make me sound very important indeed.”

David listened silently. These words had been the truest expression of his heart, each sentence a labour of love; yet when he heard them read aloud in Steerforth’s disdainful and mocking voice, it suddenly seemed that they had been penned by an amateur hand. He no longer felt proud, but embarrassed.

“Please stop,” he said, “Let other people have their turn.”

He could hear people in the queue murmuring among themselves - they were beginning to notice the hold-up.

But Steerforth ignored him. He jumped ahead to the next chapter, and resumed:

“There was an ease in his manner - a gay and light manner it was, but not swaggering - which I still believe to have borne a kind of enchantment with it.”

David surreptitiously attempted to tug the book from Steerforth’s hands, but Steerforth dodged away nimbly. He continued to read, projecting his voice over the low buzz of the bookshop, drawing glances from the people browsing the shelves.

“I still believe him, in virtue of this carriage, his animal spirits, his delightful voice, his handsome face and figure - Daisy, you’re making me blush! - to have carried a spell with him to which it was a natural weakness to yield, and which not many persons could withstand. I could not but see how pleased they were with him, and how they seemed to open their hearts to him in a moment.”

He lowered the book and looked at David.

“You write of me in such glowing terms. One wonders at your lack of loyalty.”

“Loyalty?”

“Yes. You pretend to be a paragon of virtue, yet here you are, making coin off the lives of other people. People you claim to have loved.”

“Stop. Just stop.”

“Why should I?”

“Please, James,” David implored, “Just leave.”

“No.” Steerforth snapped the book shut, and tossed it contemptuously aside. “I won’t leave you alone. Not before I make my feelings known to you. Not before you learn how it feels to be shamed in front of everyone.”

“James, the only person you’re shaming is yourself. Please leave, for your own sake, before you cause yourself any further embarrassment.”

Suddenly, two women’s voices could be heard saying:

“That’s Mrs Steerforth’s boy. I remember meeting him at the theatre a few times. What was his name - James? One time, he got drunk during a play and made such a spectacle of himself…”

“What was the play?”

“Black-Eyed Susan. It’s just as Mister Copperfield wrote in his memoirs…James and the scoundrel in the book must be one in the same.”

Steerforth looked around at the watching crowd, who were now muttering and pointing at him. He seemed to realise that nobody was on his side.

“What are you looking at, you cretins?” he spoke with sudden anger, “Have you come to fawn over this fraudster too? Not that I’d expect any better from people who buy this sort of drivel.”

“Get out of here,” another man scoffed. “Bloody fool.”

A dark shadow crossed Steerforth’s face. Without another word, he turned, donned his hat, and stalked out of the bookshop. For a moment, David sat frozen. Then he jumped to his feet and hastened after his former friend.

“A short break, please, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, bobbing his head apologetically as he hurried past the queue. “I do apologise for the delay - I’ll be back shortly - I do apologise…”

He caught up with Steerforth in the street outside.

“James, wait! Let’s not part like this - in this ridiculous manner. For God’s sake, let’s sit down together and talk like men.”

“Talk?” Steerforth laughed humourlessly, refusing to slow his pace as he strode down the street. “You still want to make things right with me?”

“Of course I do. Please, would you meet me at The Prince of Wales tomorrow evening? We can share a pint and sort this whole thing out.”

“I can’t imagine a bleaker torture than an entire evening of your company. After everything you people did to me…”

“James, nobody’s done anything to you,” David sighed, exasperated. “If there was an insult, it occurred only in your head. I don’t even know why you’re angry.”

“You don’t?”

“No! I don’t! Please tell me.”

Steerforth said nothing.

“Do you even know why you hate me? Or do you just hate the universe and everyone in it? My God, you blame everyone for your loneliness but yourself. Anything to avoid taking responsibility for your wasted life.”

Steerforth spun around to face him.

“You had no right to put me in your book! No right at all!”

“I had every right to tell my story. I took great pains to protect your identity. Not that it matters now, I suppose - look at the mess you’ve made.”

For the first time, the resentment in Steerforth’s eyes was mixed with a sort of desperation. He said:

“You hurt me, Daisy. You hurt me deeply. You made me a villain in everyone’s eyes, and now you have the audacity to act the hero. To act as if I’m the one who should be making amends, when you’re the one who needs forgiving.”

“You made yourself a villain! You ruined Emily, you betrayed Ham, you put yourself and your crew in danger, you estranged your mother…Those were your choices, not mine. If I hurt you, I am truly sorry, but it was unconsciously done. I’ve never had any ill intentions towards you, or towards anyone. Quite the opposite, I’ve always wanted you to be happy.”

“Can’t you change the book? Can’t you write me out of it?”

“How?” David exclaimed, “James, it’s been published. People have already read it.”

“But can’t you…can’t you have it reprinted?”

“We just ordered another thousand copies from the printer. We won’t need another reprint for at least another three months, or however long it takes to sell out. I’m sorry, James.”

For a moment, Steerforth looked as if he were about to plead. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated and closed it again. His face darkened once more. Wordlessly, he turned his back on David and strode away.

This time, David didn’t give chase.

In the days that followed, word of James Steerforth’s shocking behaviour spread quickly through certain echelons of London society. In a reckless act of self-sabotage, and in a continuation of the downward trajectory that he’d set his life upon, he’d inadvertently revealed himself as the charismatic but cold-hearted scoundrel portrayed in David’s memoirs. The spoiled son. The condescending snob. The irresponsible seducer. The fool who’d sailed into a storm and needed to be rescued by the same people he’d betrayed. The callous child who’d rejected his own mother.

It wasn’t quite the talk of the town, but it was the talk of the social circle that mattered most to him: the bored and wealthy. He found himself feeling out-of-place among the people he’d grown up with - no longer an object of admiration and affection, but of sidelong glances and surreptitious whispers. He wasn’t being shunned, but he could feel the prickle of unease when he shook hands with school-friends, and hear the furtive murmurs that greeted his arrival at every garden party and afternoon tea.

As always, he’d been the architect of his own downfall. And as always, he found ways to blame anyone but himself.

Chapter VII: Bottle

[lemontrash]

Ok, buckle in. So I went to a high school that provided 5 years of single-sex education for girls only before throwing you aged 16 into a co-ed with the boys' school next door.

Although we had spent the years already gooning at each other through the fences, smoked pot together on the railway track and been on the same buses, the schools in their wisdom decided we needed a formal introduction to the opposite sex which comprised 2 fucking days of icebreakers.

This included standard horrors such as:

2 truths and a Lie (aka, are you a boring nobody or a weirdo)

Sit on each others laps to make a circle (aka sweatily press arses to laps and pray no one gets a woodie)

Mingle over drinks (aka clutch a plastic cup of flat supermarket coke and lurk by the wall whispering with your mates)

And the Chlamydia Disco.

The brain child behind this particular flashbulb memory was Mr B, the boys school chemisty teacher - a big shouty baldie with a disconcerting passion for imparting Sex Ed at every opportunity. The kind of prophylactic zealotry that did not scream pedo so much as knocked up his girlfriend at 16 and subsequently brought shares in Durex.

We were corralled into a sports hall and given two pieces of paper. One was a 'dance card' with 10 slots for you to write names in. The other had to be discretely unfolded to find out if you had a green dot or not, which signified you were a filthy chlamydia carrier or an innocent babe at the upcoming hedonism. You choose a minimum of 5 of the dance slots to participate in.

The Disco preceded like horrible musical chairs. The music started, you had to grab a different partner each turn, dance (read stand there withering) for a horrifying eon (read approx 60 seconds) and then when the music stopped, write down the name of your dance partner and confess if you had clyamidia or not. As you danced without a condom, you passed the germs on.

Can you please imagine being 16, forced to dance with a boy you don't know, and then announce you've given him an STD?

We could. We immediately partnered with our own friends for the first 5 turns only and refused all eye contact thereafter.

At the end of this agony, Mr B got everyone who started out diseased to stand up and be paraded as Patient Xs, and then made everyone left uninfected to put their hands up to demonstrate how much it had spread. This included me and my friends. He pointed out how the more partners you had, the greater your risk and added very pointly that my group had been lucky. He asked what we'd learned about avoiding STDs other than relying on luck.

I'm not ashamed to say my response was that it wasn't luck, it was strategy, and that starting early and sticking to lesbianism was very effective.

Anyway, that's how I ended up not studying chemistry.

conducting an experiment

[treasure-erina]

TREASURE MAP EP13+14

MOMENTS WITH ERINA IN THE SCHOOL EPISODE

NOTE: bold is english, [anything] in brackets is editors comments/subtitles

A/N: ive never written anything before, so please go easy on me! This is the first thing I’ve written for Erina as well, so please feel free to request any moments or asks about her and the members!

erina enters the classroom right before haruto, "hello! we're classmates? did you guys eat anything? how are you?" [seems like nervous erina equals hyper erina]

mashiho and asahi burst out laughing at her nervous rambling

"whyyy don't laugh >:" erina pouted

"Okay okay we won't 🥰🥰"

erina sits in the front [the baby is a good student]

she bursts out laughing at doyoung's poor acting in his character intro but goes along with it

"hi doyoung :D I'm new here too!"

"lets be friends" [ amazingly makes friends even when being so deep in character]

They are seen making their own handshake and giggling together

[the start of an amazing friendship]

when jihoon entered she started teasing him

"oh! i saw you! O:"

"Where o:"

"idk :]"

[everyone bursts out laughing at the baby's obliviousness]

in the show us your charm segment, she couldn't face any of the members and her ears turned red from embarrassment when jaehyuk got too close to get her to be his seat mate

"Ah- pLEAse NO!" "BE MY SEATMATE <3"

when it was her turn she was so embarrassed but attempted to regain her confidence

2NE1's "I am the best" started playing and she was feeling herself

[erina gains confidence] [making the classroom her stage]

"I AM THE BEST I HOPE YOU ALL VOTE FOR ME

*screams in embarrassment *

and afterwards she sits down quietly with her head on the desk (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

"AHAHAH SHES SO EMBARRASED" "HER EARS ARE SO RED PLS-"

When choosing desk buddies all she says is "I hope someone chooses me (ᵔ.ᵔ)"

they all decide to not go up and all turn to each other and hug

"HEY ! AM I ALONE THEN? D:"

they all crack up at her horrified face and assure her someone will be her partner

then whOoOo >:

In the end doyoung stands behind her and surprises her

"me! I'll be your partner! MY FRIEND"

"OH YES MY FRIEND :D"

[baby is happy with her seat mate]

In the second period, everyone is teasing erina

"oh its okay you don't need to play" "lets give her three chances"

"NO! I CAN DO IT!"

she attempts to carry doyoung which she fails at first try. when she tries again her legs tremble

[looks like erina's soul is being sucked out of her]

but she gets across and celebrates and everyone praises her

they both last till the 100 cm where its erina's turn

"oh my baby.." hyunsuk mutters

"what if she straines her back?" jihoon wonders

"everyone! i will try and give it my best" Erina announces

she bridal carries doyoung and squats down

like completely to the floor

and starts shuffling her feet to get across

"OH?😟" "WHOA! 😧THAT WORKS?" "GO RINAAAA🤩‼️‼️"

she trembles and struggles to get up from the squat but manages to pass the round

"I....need rest..i give up now"

sadly the next round doyoung fails as well, complaining that even though she isn't heavy, she has long arms and legs

"ITS SO HARD, SHES ALL LEGS AND ARMS DANGLING"

when choosing the lunch she looks at all the menus

[captivated by hamburger] I choose burger!

[baby leaves her friend for hamburger guy]

in guessing the pose erina was made to stand straight with her hands to her side

"ehh that's too easy" jeongwoo complained

but they got it nonetheless

when choosing their favourite student erina just smiles and says "I love you all <3" "but is there anyone special" "idk :))"

when putting the badges in she goes to doyoung's box and places it inside

“I feel like we really connected through the limbo competition, and I realised he's very funny”

she's betrayed when its revieled that doyoung put his in junghwan's

*GASP* "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FRIEND??"

pouty the whole outro

but bonus clips of doyoung comforting her and saying "you will always be my friend" and rubbing her back were posted at the end of the episode

A/N 2: reblogs and comments are appreciated!

[keijislove]

Challenging Fate: Tom Riddle X Reader

A/N: warnings: LONG ASS

“S’cuse me Professor!” a timid looking first year poked his head in through the door of your Potions class, “May I borrow a Y/N L/N?”

“Well, yes, of course.” Slughorn said impatiently, “Miss L/N, you may go.”

You rose to your feet and left after the first year in confusion: what did he want you for?

As if he’d read your thoughts, the tiny boy squeaked, “The head boy’s been asking for you... he said he’d curse me if I didn’t call you.”

You scoffed in utter disgust: how very like him. You crouched down to the boy’s level and spoke gently, “I’m sorry... but I don’t exactly think it’s a good idea for me to see him right now. If he dares to curse you, I’ll jinx his tongue off.”

Seeming frightened, yet not wanting to argue with a full-grown sixth year like you, the boy scurried off down the corridor.

Watching him leave, you muttered to yourself, “Nice try, Riddle.”

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

“Y/N!” your friend Margot chanted, “C’mere!”

“What?” you asked, walking over.

“Your rounds have changed,” she explained, “We’re not together any longer. I’ve got to be with that swotty Hufflepuff prefect and you’re set with the other Slytherin prefect. Head boy.”

“What?!” you groaned loudly, “What for?! I know he’s perfectly capable of doing his rounds himself! He just wants to - I dunno what he wants from me!”

“I reckon he fancies you, mate,” Margot seriously spoke, “And I don’t see what you’re complaining ‘bout, he’s perfect.”

“A perfect arse, yes,” you said dismissively, “And he doesn’t fancy me.”

“Maybe he wants to be friends with you?” she asked.

“He’s lost his chance,” you fiercely said, “And these rounds are going to be murderous.”

-----------

As predicted, your prefect duties made you want to commit murder. To kill this stupid, arrogant, full-of-himself Slytherin standing beside you with an irritating air of superiority and smugness.

“Did you honestly think that you could evade me forever?” he asked you in what you thought was more of a sneer than anything.

“You’re exploiting your privileges as a head boy,” you pointed out in anger, “You’re supposed to take care of the school, not annoy some poor girl to death with your endless ‘peace offerings’!”

“Why have you been ignoring me for the past five years?” demanded Tom in a voice that shook the corridor.

“Because you’re an arse,” you said indifferently.

“You-” Tom drew his wand and made a sort of strangling gesture.

Your eyebrows rose up questioningly as you stood your ground, unflinching and not intimidated by his superior persona.

“Touché, Riddle,” you said, “Threatening people to get what you want. Real mature.”

Tom made a sort of hoarse grunt, dropping his arms limply to his sides before speaking, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done.”

“That is exactly how I felt five years ago,” you deadpanned, checking your watch, “And our time’s over. Goodbye, Tom Riddle.”

----------

“But I don’t get what he is supposed to have done.” Margot muttered as you climbed into your four-poster bed.

“That is something strictly private,” you curtly said, wrenching the hangings closed and burying yourself into your blanket.

Lying there, you thought back to the torturous year you had endured after what seemed like an unbreakable friendship suddenly went horribly wrong.

Your next few rounds with Tom continued smoothly, him bugging you and you refusing to talk to him.

“What’re you gonna do after school?” Tom had abruptly asked one day when you were patrolling the corridor.

“Certainly not what you are going to do,” you muttered.

Tom looked confused, “Huh?”

“Oh, you know,” you dismissively said, “Lord Voldemort.”

“How do you know about that?” he demanded furiously.

“I may be a year younger than you, but we’re still in the same house,” you coolly spoke, “I didn’t see you fancying the former when you were in your second year.”

“I told you, that was not my fault!” Tom angrily snapped at you. He hated it that you were pointing out his faults. Because you were right.

“Was it mine, then?” you asked, “My fault?!”

“I never said-”

“Oh really?” you spat, “You didn’t say? Because if I recall correctly, Tom, you did say. You said a lot of things.”

“Do not shout at me,” Tom’s face morphed into a snarl so revolting that even you had to take a small step back.

Pleased that he had frightened you, he spoke, “Come do your rounds like you’re asked to. Time’s over for now, you can leave. And take this.”

He thrust a lopsided package at you. You furiously opened and closed your mouth several times, Tom’s sneer widening with each one, before you gave up and glared straight into his face before whipping around and out of sight.

Tearing open the package once you had reached your dorm, you found the shard of a mirror, as if it had been cracked into two. You had a sneaking suspicion what it was and that theory was confirmed once you saw a single, dark eye whip in and out of sight. Roaring with fury, you threw it into your trunk, ignoring Margot’s snap of, “Really now!”

What had happened between you and Tom, nobody knew. In fact, you didn’t think there was a soul at Hogwarts that knew what had happened. Thinking back to the days when you were both young, tears often stung the corners of your eyes.

You and Tom were best friends. Perhaps even closer – like a half without which the other always remained incomplete. What happened? Where had it gone so horribly wrong? Easy. Magic.

----------

Your school day were finally over – you were a full-grown witch who had come of age. As you had told many people earlier, it was your ambition to become a Healer. Yet you sat here in a small yet comfortable house with your house elf, Hokey.

“You is looking nervous today miss,” Hokey remarked. You were kind to house elves in general, leading to this bond between you and Hokey.

“Anxious, Hokey,” you muttered, “I don’t feel so good.”

“Is you ill, missus?” Hokey worriedly asked, “Hokey can make tea-”

“No, no,” you tried mustering a smile, “I just... my cousin Hepzibah is meeting someone today, and I don’t have a very good feeling about it.”

“She is upsetting you,” Hokey angrily said, “That miss Smith is upsetting my mistress.”

“Nobody’s upsetting me,” you hurriedly said, “The man she has asked for... I... I know him.”

“The young Master Riddle?” Hokey asked, interested, “Hokey likes master Riddle. He always knows what to say to Hokey.”

“Yes, he does that,” you muttered in distaste.

Finally deciding that you couldn’t take it anymore, you sat up, “Hokey, I have a job for you. You will hide in Ms Smith’s Manor and tell me exactly what takes place between her and Tom Riddle.”

And with a sort of gratifying salute, Hokey disapparated with a loud crack.

---------

After about two hours of nonstop pacing and wringing your hands together, your elf apparated into your living room.

“Well?” you asked, “Did you hear anything?”

“Yes, miss, Hokey is hearing lots, miss!” she squeaked, eyes shining with excitement, “The young master Riddle has asked Ms. Smith to show him her two prized possessions!”

“Er, what were these possessions?” you asked, steadily growing more anxious, terrified your suspicions might be correct.

“A locket, miss,” Hokey earnestly said, “And a cup. She – she says the locket is his, miss, Salazar Slytherin���s! And the cup! Very pretty cup, miss, she says it belongs to-”

“Helga Hufflepuff?” you asked in a horrified voice.

Hokey nodded.

“Hokey, was he.... was he wearing some sort of bracelet or- or a ring or...?” you breathlessly asked.

“A ring, miss,” she answered, “Black stone, miss, looked expensive to Hokey.”

Trembling slightly, you nodded, “Thank you Hokey, you may leave.”

TWO DAYS LATER

THE DAILY PROPHET

RESIDENT OF DIAGON ALLEY – HEPZIBAH SMITH, 54, FOUND DEAD INSIDE HOUSE

“Oh my god,” you whispered, laying the newspaper feverishly in front of you. You buried your head in your hands, thinking back to the time you’d been extremely confused to have found a talking diary in your friend’s trunk. It all added up now, what he was doing, where he was, what he was.

Grabbing the shard of a mirror you had sworn to never use, you desperately looked into it. You were uncertain as to what you should do, so you resorted to lamely calling, “Um, Tom?”

No response.

You could’ve sworn you’d seen a small dark eye flash into sight, but you couldn’t be sure, for it was gone the moment it came.

“I don’t have time for this!” you whispered angrily to the wretched mirror, “I know you’re there! I know you’re listening! And I... I know what you’ve done.”

A flash of brown – gone.­

“Tom,” you desperately said, “Tom, please listen to me. If maybe we could just... talk this out?”

For the first time in what felt like hours, a pair of cold, dark eyes flashed into the mirror.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The voice was monotonous, constricted and cold as the eyes on the handsome face it originated from.

“I think you do,” you quietly said, “You did it, didn’t you? You killed Hepzibah Smith.”

“How did you-”

“Because I know you, Tom, I know you. I know what you’re really like!” you angrily cried, “You think you’re so secretive, which is true, I doubt your ‘Death Eater’ friends can tell if you’ve done something. But I know you. I know how you go about things; I know what you’re up to, I know what you’ve done and what you’ve become. And I know what this will lead to.”

“You don’t know anything about me!” his voice snarled with fury, “You, sitting there, you-”

“Tom, please just – just come over to my place for, even a few minutes if that suits you,” you desperately said, “Please.”

“Whatever you’ve got to say won’t change me-”

“I’m not saying it will,” you quietly said, “But I want to do what a friend does-”

“Now she wants to be friends,” Tom furiously bellowed, “Six bloody years of trying to convince her – but no! Let me tell you this, L/N, Lord Voldemort does not have friends. Lord Voldemort is a frankly terrible friend-”

“But Tom Riddle is not,” you spoke.

This statement seemed to have some impressive effect on him, for he said nothing for a solid five minutes. Then, voice quavering in the slightest, he said, “Don’t freak out if I Apparate.”

--------

Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a crack and a man wearing the Borgin and Burke’s employee T shirt appeared in your living room.

“Make this quick.” Tom said seriously.

“You have something to do?”

“No, but I’d rather not stay too long with you,” he snapped.

Ignoring this unnecessary jibe, you guided him to the couch. After a few minutes of a deafening silence, you spoke, trying to keep your voice even, “I know you’ve been making Horcruxes.”

If there was anything he’d expected you to say, it was certainly not this. His eyebrows rose to a point where they disappeared into his neat, dark hair and he asked, “How in the name of Merlin’s saggy left trouser legs-”

“Secrets if the Darkest Art,” you explained, “You left it open on the common-room table one night.”

Tom swore loudly.

“And, I found your ‘amusing’ talking diary.” you snapped, “D’you have any idea how long it took for me to find out what you were up to?”

“You did though, that’s amazing in itself,” Tom breathlessly said. Suddenly, his face shifted into the grin you knew so well, “I knew you were smart.”

“And I though you were too!” you spoke, “Apparently not, if you think this is what you’re going to do with your life!”

Tom’s grin faded instantly.

“I don’t-”

“- want to listen to reason,” you firmly stated, “Come with me.”

Several protests later, you had managed to wrench the boy out of his seat and into your bedroom.

A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols. A silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, neither liquid nor gas.

“A Pensieve?” Tom asked inquiringly.

You placed a finger on your lips and dragged him over before extracting a long, silvery, thread-like substance. It swirled in the basin menacingly as Tom saw a younger version of himself floating in it.

Giving you a questioning look to which you nodded, he ducked inside the Pensieve.

A small boy was sitting on a bed in a greying room with a book in his hand. This mundane occurrence was maddening and he found himself constantly glancing at the door, as if waiting for someone.

Sure enough, the door opened and a small girl of around ten with H/C hair and E/C eyes walked inside.

“Hi,” the boy grinned, “What do we do, then?”

“I wanna eat something,” the girl pouted, “They gave us horrible food for lunch today.”

“Rightfully said,” the young boy muttered, “Let’s sneak out, the old cat’s got sandwiches stashed up inside her personal pantry.”

The girl gasped, “Tom! We’ll get caught!”

“You doubt me too much, Y/N,” the boy faked hurt.

-         

A woman was shouting at two meek children at the top of her voice.

“Sneaking out! What were you thinking! No supper for both of you-”

“But Mrs Cole,” the young boy called Tom interjected, “Why does she not get any supper? I led her here myself. It was me.”

Mrs Cole and young Y/N gasped at the same time.

“You – you nasty boy!” Mrs Cole yelled, “You trick all my poor children into your little schemes! I’m telling you, you’re not right in the head!”

-         

A slightly older and more-haughty looking version of Tom Riddle was striding up the orphanage’s hallway, disgruntled.

Upon entering his room, an eleven-year-old Y/N flung herself upon him in a hug, saying, “Oh Tom! “I missed you so much since you left!”

“Get of me!” Tom shouted, throwing her off with all his might, “Don’t talk to me, you filthy muggle!”

“Filthy mug- what are you saying?” the girl asked, “What-”

“I don’t know you,” he coldly stated, “And get out of my room.”

-         

A much more reserved eleven-year-old Y/N was moodily stabbing her potatoes at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

Beside her, a dark-haired boy occasionally kept poking her side to get her attention.

Refusing to listen, she resumed a deadpan stare at the plate in front of her, disgusted at the boy next to her.

How could he think all was forgiven when he had said such horrible things to her?

Landing straight onto the bedroom floor, you pointedly looked away, refusing to meet the eyes of the man next to you.

You could practically hear the cogs turning over in his head as his eyes bore into your stiff figure.

“I-” he thickly began.

“You don’t have to say anything,” you waved off, “But that was just part of it. I showed you a bit of your past... now let me show you a bit of your future.”

Tom looked mildly confused for a few minutes, but his expression cleared as you pointed to a glass ball on the table.

“Ah,” he spoke, “You were always good at Divination.”

“Thank merlin I was,” you muttered, “Look in here.”

Muttering an incoherent incantation under your breath, you watched, satisfied, as a face swam into focus inside the glass ball.

Well – if someone was kind enough to call it a face, that was.

It’s skin was paper-white and tautened, with two slits for nostrils, a thin mouth and a pair of cold, red eyes with vertical slits for pupils. The cruel-looking mouth opened and whispered an unfamiliar name – “Harrrrrrrry Potterrrrrrrrrrr.”

There was a sharp gasp next to you as the ball nearly went flying. Not caring, Tom looked at you in a mixture of disgust, revulsion and horror, “What – what was that thing?!”

“That was you,” you quietly said, “It’s where you’re going.”

“That was me?!” he asked in a horrified whisper, “That – that – monster?”

“Yes,” you moaned into your palms, “It was.”

“What did it – what did I say?” he asked, “A name... I don’t recognise it...”

“Harry Potter,” you spoke.

“Who?”

“He is born about forty years later or so,” you explained, “I looked into his future as well.”

“And?” his patience seemed to be wearing off.

“And you attacked him. Every chance you got, because he deprived you of your power when you tried to kill him. You know why? Because of love. Love, Tom, this baby showed you sense when you were too blind to see it. And you know what happens in the end?” you whispered in anguish.

“What?”

“He kills you, Tom, he kills you,” you miserably said, “You ruined your own life and this poor boy’s as well – I – Oh, just look!”

Repeating the incantation, you gestured Tom to look into the ball once again. The adorable smiling face of an eleven-year-old swam into focus – one which quickly morphed into horror and uttered out a bloodcurdling scream. An innocent boy.

“Please tell me this isn’t true,” Tom whispered, “No, it can’t be, it-”

“It is Tom, it is you!” you said desperately, “This is why – I’ve been telling you all along that-”

“I think.” Tom said loudly, voice shaking, “I told you that nothing you would say would change my mind?”

And you watched in absolute horror as your once childhood best friend, now unrecognisably inhumane, Disapparated out of your house.

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

Working as a Healer in St Mungo’s was fairly fun, just as you’d expected, and you were perfectly content tending to your patients all day, buzzing from ward to ward.

"Healer L/N." a crisp, abrupt voice startled you out of the little daydream. "New patient. It's extremely critical." 

 "Can't it-" you asked, gesturing to the occupied beds in your ward. 

 "Wait?" the head Healer asked, "Afraid not, Y/N. This one insists to be attended to by you." 

 "Well, okay." you muttered, nonplussed. 

 Following her into the magical maladies ward, you gasped at the sight of the frail body in the bed. The head Healer swooped out, slamming the door as you took in what you were seeing. 

 Tom Riddle was lying down, thin as a twig, pale as a sheet and trembling, but his features still forced into what was evidently a pained smile. 

 "I-you-what on Earth?" you sputtered. 

 "The cu-" he winced in pain, trying to sit up as you rushed to help, "The cup is the only one left." 

 Realisation washing over you like an icy wave, you nearly burst into tears. 

 "Oh -  god, not so much as a warning, Tom..." you muttered, "I could've helped and-" 

 "And nearly died in the process?" he scoffed, "Haven't I put you through enough grief?" 

 He stated right into your eyes with a blazing passion. You didn't know what happened, somehow your lips were now glued together and moving in sync, not a care in the world. 

 FIVE YEARS LATER 

 "Daddyyyyyy!" your bubbly daughter, Merope, was speeding around the room on a toy broomstick. "Daddy look, I did it!" 

 "Amazing, sweetheart." Tom smiled at the child, "You'll grow up to be a proper woman like your mother, one day." 

 "Daddy, how did Mummy and you fall in love?" Merope abruptly asked out of nowhere. 

 "Ahh..."  Tom muttered in embarrassment as you stuffed your knuckles into your mouth to suppress your giggles, "Daddy made a lot of bad choices, darling. Mummy helped him see that." 

 "Ooh, so you were like the mean Prince?" Merope asked excitedly. 

 "Yes, exactly. And your mum was the princess." Tom smiled. 

 "Yayy." Merope squealed, "I'm gonna get married one day, watch!" she ran upstairs, humming loudly. 

 "Princess Y/N?" you asked, cringing. 

 "Oh cmon what else was I supposed to say?" Tom demanded. 

 "That's true." you agreed, "But try not to call me that. Like, ever." 

 "Alright, beautiful." Tom pressed a swift kiss to your temple. 

 "Princess." he added before running for it as you scrambled furiously after him. 

A/N: WHOOO I HOPE YOU LIKED THATTT. Also, I’ve noticed that the most popular oneshots are my Tom Riddle ones...

[imaslutforremusandsirius]

Tease

Wanted to try a male reader for once and i really enjoyed writing this :) One of my favs dare I say. Have fun!

Warning: 18+

---

„You said you didn‘t want it!“ Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defense when you threw the empty chocolate pack at him.

„I was being polite!“ You protested, „Posh boys like you should know that!“

Sirius‘ eyes narrowed and he threw the pack at your head this time. „I am not a posh boy, fucker. You better fucking kiss my feet or I will-“

You tackled him with a cry, hitting his face repeatedly with a pillow. Your body jerked on top of his rhythmically, which either meant that he was laughing or chocking to death. And you really hoped it be the latter.

„Don‘t you fucking dare asshole! You promised not to bring it up!“

His next words came out muffled from underneath the soft fabric, which began to feel not so soft, considering that you were pressing pretty hard. Sirius started to panic and yelled out a „Help! Help! I‘m dying!“

You felt strong arms wrap around your stomach and drag you away from your murder mission.

„Let me go! He needs to die!“

James was laughing so hard at Sirius‘ horrified face that even he had trouble keeping you at bay.

„This is bullying! I‘ll tell Minnie! You fucking lutanic!“

„Minnie doesn‘t care about your sob story, she would be delighted to find out I killed you before she could with all of your missing homework!“

Sirius barreled towards you with a battle cry, but James threw you to the side, effectively blocking the tackle with his body. Sirius must have aimed to hurt you a little, because James fell down with an painfully loud thud.

„Bloody hell, Pads. That bloody hurt.“ James groaned, rubbing his ribs soothingly.

Sirius scrambled up and helped his friend off the ground, throwing you a dark look. You sneered at him, sitting down on the bed farthest away. James grinned at his friend, mouth opening to make fun of him.

„How could he hold you down like that? He‘s smaller than you!“

Sirius huffed, blushing a little with embarrassment and he turned away, presumably to hide his red cheeks. „He had an advantage. I was being strangled, mind you.“

„Strangled my ass“ you said under your breath and crossed your arms petulantly. „He made fun of me. Again!“

James raised a brow in amusement, eyes flickering towards you and you groaned when you saw his expression. Here we go.

„Is it about a certain wolf?“

Sirius turned around so fast you heard his ankles crack and moved to stand next to his friend, delighted to have him at his side and chuckled. Your scowl darkened and you got up, trying to push though your friends to leave.

„Fuck off, both of you. I‘m leaving.“

Sirius stopped laughing and raised his hands in defeat. „Oh come on, don‘t be ridiculous, we‘re only taking a piss mate.“

Your mouth fell open to hurl more curses at him when you saw Remus appear behind the two boys and clamped your mouth shut again. Fuck, was your hair alright? You secretly smoothed it over, glaring at James when he wiggled his brows suggestively.

„Alright, everyone?“ Remus asked, voice exhausted and he fell down next to you on the bed, sighing with relief when his aching joints didn‘t have to carry his weight anymore. The moon was taking a toll on him.

„Are you alright?“ Your voice came out worried and you stroked through his messy curls. Remus only let out a tired „Mhm“ as he sank down further into the mattress, pressing into your hand.

„Is it the moon?“

„Mhm.“

„Are you hurting already?“

Sirius chimed in from his bed. „I think it‘s safe to say that the old man is always hurting.“

You glared at him. „Shut up, Black. No one asked you.“

Sirius huffed and turned his back towards you with a dramatic toss of his dark hair, pulling his curtains closed.

This time James spoke up, peaking his head from the corner of the bathroom door. Some of his toothpaste spilled over when he opened his mouth and you grimaced at the disgusting sight. James and Sirius seemed to share one braincell. A part-time braincell, that was clearly rusty at this point from being so rarely used.

„Need anything?“

Remus jerked, clearing jostled awake from his little slumber and groaned in annoyance. „Peace and quiet. Oh wait, that‘s death.“

You couldn‘t help the snort that escaped you at his deadpanned tone and whacked him on the head. Remus cracked an eye open and smiled at your amusement. You schooled your expression and held your hand up in a mock salute.

„No one is dying. And if, then we‘ll do it together.“

There was a series of Amen‘s and you nodded in satisfaction, like a general who never liked being told no. Already dressed in your pajamas, or actually only your pajama pants, you crawled into your own bed, across from Remus‘. You wished that Remus would have clasped your wrist and made you stay, he did that sometimes, but alas it was just a wish. You had it bad for the boy, fingers still tingling with the feel of his hair. You thought about what it would be like to kiss him, to touch his scars and feel his breath on your face when you slept.

You huffed frustratedly when your brain forced stupid scenarios into your mind. Fuck, were they nice ones at that.

No, he isn‘t gay, brain! Fucking stop with the mental images!

Your brain decided to one up itself and showed you a very suggestive image of Remus on his knees, sucking your dick with such contentment it made your breath hitch.

Fuck.

Or Remus on his hands and knees, every little detail of his body on display, making such lovely keening noises you thought you had died for sure.

Oh fuck.

You opened you eyes instantly to stop the dirty thoughts of your best mate, mind you, and tried to calm your breathing. Apparently, meditation is a hoax, because no matter how many sheeps you counted or deep breaths you took, your brain was still convinced that Remus sucking you off was the hottest thing ever. And it is the hottest thing ever, you agreed. So did your raging boner.

Only this once.

Against your better judgement your hand trailed down your chest towards your pants, slipping under the waistband of your underwear. Your hand wrapped around your hard cock and imagined Remus on top of you, kissing your lips feverishly. Groaning and moaning into your mouth, telling you how good you feel around him. Telling you how long he had waited for this moment. Biting your lip you moved faster, stifling your groans when your palm spread your precum over the sensitive tip. You were so close, head thrown back in pleasure, fuck so close so clo-

„Shit sorry!“

Somehow you managed to pick up a shocked gasp through your trance and your eyes opened wide, jerking violently. And here he was, the source of your inescapable desire. Remus fucking Lupin. Who just caught you wanking. Your brain has meanwhile decided to pack its suitcase and piss off, because suddenly you couldn't produce a single clear sentence. It felt like being a baby all over again, not knowing how to use your voice or twists your tongue to get the right words out. Not that there was anything to say, you couldn’t just pretend like you weren’t touching yourself.So, you just stare at him like a moron, your hand still in your fucking pants. Slowly but surely you felt your face heat up and you didn't even dare to breathe loudly, too scared to scare Remus away.

His eyes were fixed on your hand, teeth biting his lip. Not knowing what to do, he apparently decided to just stand there. The curtains of your bed were gripped tightly in his fist, as if it were the only thing that kept him steady at the moment. The both of you stared at each other for a good minute, digesting the embarrassment of the situation until Remus climbed into your bed.

Wait. 

Alarm bells rang shrill in your head, the nerve cells in your skull burst into panic. 

Remus in your bed. 

Crawling between your legs. 

Your hand still in your pants. 

What.

„Let me help?“ Remus‘ voice was raspy, slightly scared that you‘ll reject him. He was seated between your knees now, wringing his scarred hands nervously. It took you a few seconds to register what he had said as you blinked at him in mortification. 

Remus hung his head, nodding to himself as if he had known that this would happen and moved away. Fuck, no come back. Brain! Say something!

Your brain was still hyperventilating however, so your legs decided to give you a hand, definitly under the order of your hard cock, which was already throbbing with excitement. You snap your legs shut, trapping Remus’ upper body between your thighs and pulled him on top of you. Not expecting the move, Remus fell forward and his lips smashed on yours.

Oh wow.

This was better than you expected. This exeeds all 638 fantasies you ever had of this moment. This was real.

You kissed for a while, both of you falling into each others arms to feel as close as possible, grinding your cocks on each other like horny teens. Which you were, to be precise. You moved your head to the side to break the kiss, grinning at Remus’ lust hazy expression and bucked your hips up again.

“I’ll have that help now, if you’re still offering...” You whispered, basking in the boyish grin of the wolf.

Moving to wipe your hand on your bedsheet to finally touch him, Remus caught your hand and brought it to his mouth. You whined quietly when you felt his tongue tickle your palm. Remus mmm‘d softly, a devilish glint twinkling in his bright eyes.

Lifting your hips, Remus pulled down your pants and you propped yourself up on your elbows to watch. Nothing in the world could keep your from branding the sight of Remus licking your cock into the depths of your mind. 

Remus leaned in, mouthing at the skin of your stomach, inching closer to your weeping tip. He took his time, breathing your scent in deeply, his eyes closed.

„Come on Moony“ you urged, lifting your hips. Remus held you down, smirking up at you teasingly.

„Either you let me go in my own pace or you can suck it yourself.“

You immediately stilled and made a motion of locking your lips with an imaginary key. Remus chuckled soundlessly and you nearly, nearly, bucked your hips up again. His mouth was so hot and wet and god it was really Remus sucking your cock. The thought alone made you shudder and writhe under him, your hands burried in his curls. Remus may not know much about blowjobs, but he made up for it with his enthusiasm. His moan was just filthy, the way he looked at you through his eyelashes as if he just wanted to devour you, to break you into pieces.

“Oh Remus” you groaned into your fist, knuckles white from gripping his hair so tightly, “Wait ah fuck please wait!”

Remus rolled his eyes and pulled away, raising his brow at you. His facial expression was something akin to “How dare you interrupt me?” 

You took deep breaths to hold yourself from cumming when he smeared the tip of your cock against his glistening lips, coating himself in your cum while he glared at you. This boy is sin.

“Wanna cum with you” you explained breathlessly, pulling him up to smash your lips on his. Remus groaned low in his throat when you sucked his lips, moving to straddle your lap. The rough fabric of his pants made you snort contemptuously and you tugged at the waistband, mumbling an annoyed “Off.”

Remus seemed to agree, with the way he nearly ripped the zipper clean off and finally he was naked. Not fully, but you let him be, knowing he’d be insecure about his scars. You’ll work on that next time. Next time.

Remus placed his hands on his thighs, letting you admire his body. His confidence shot up by the way your breathing got heavier and your cock twitched under his. Every millimeter of your skin is touching, both of you slowly rocking your cocks against the other. Your cum mixed and made it easier to move and you took them in your hands, a huge breath escaping your lips with the sudden rush of electricity. Remus quickly casted a silencing charm and gave into the pleasure, setting a fast pace by thrusting his cock in your fist.

“Fuck you feel so good” Remus groaned and squeezed your wrists, “I’ve wanted this for so long”

You nearly laughed by how ridiculously acurate your fantasies had been and gripped harder, crying out when Remus leaned down to bite your shoulder hard, leaving imprints of his teeth on your flesh.

“’M’not gonna la- oh Moony fuck” You were lost in your pleasure, already sensitive with your denied orgasm from before. Remus slapped your hand away and spit on your cocks, taking them in his hands this time. His pace was aggressive and impatient, hand unyielding and he rocked his hips as fast as he could. 

“Want you to cum on my cock” Remus grunted, his other hand gripping your jaw to look into your eyes. His pupils were blown out, as if he was on a high. You felt him pulse against you, his eyes screwd shut and he came with a loud cry, making you tip over the edge as well. His hand kept going, thighs holding you down when you tried to squirm away. 

Bringing his cum covered hand to his mouth, Remus gave it a tentative lick, eyes fluttering shut when his tongue wrapped around his fingers. You watched him hum around his hand and he gave you a satisfied smile, totally in bliss with your little session.

“This was fucking hot” Remus grinned and fell down next to you, blinking at you tiredly.

You bit your lip and mustered up enough courage to squeak out a “So you’re gay?” 

Remus gave you a flat look. “I came on your cock didn’t I?”

You cleared your throat and laughed quietly. “Yeah. Yeah you did.” Your voice came out dreamy and you threw your leg over his middle.

And just like that you surrendered to your exhaustion, while Sirius and James were hysterical with exicetment. Their shared braincell was activated and currently made it its mission to come up with ways to catch you next time. Embarassing you was their thing after all.

[radio-charlie]

I waltz into the dining hall one morning. The smell of baked beans on rubbery toast wafts enticingly from the long tables where my classmates sit, tucking into their brek before the first class of the day begins.

"Guys - sorry, I mean, mates, guess what I managed to do last night."

Heads perk up at my announcement. Some mouths freeze mid-chew, specks of baked bean clinging to upper lips.

"I tore the souls from five - that's right, five! - living humans, fused them into one, then housed that merged soul in a humanoid vessel I'd created from the very best parts I could find! We now have a super being and we can tell it to do whatever we want!" Containing my excitement is almost impossible. I feel manic with gleeful anticipation, clenching my hands into fists as I hide the sweaty little things in my pockets.

The mouths remain frozen mid-chew. Eons later, someone breaks the silence.

"Uh."

"Uh??? Is that all you have to say to this? This is groundbreaking! You don't understand how I've used dark magic to secure a future for us and our childr-"

"You didn't secure anything. You committed an atrocity. Like, several atrocities, even."

I splutter uselessly for a bit, my cheeks glowing hot.

"Atrocities yes but for the greater good! You just hate that I did something cool because I'm a woman!" My fists are out of my pockets now and ready to fly.

"Blanche Banweisse Kalispell. We know you. We've had to sit in the same room as you ever since that stupid hat placed us in the same house. You don't do anything for anybody but your own self. Chances are you did all of that shit just to prove to us you could. That is why we hate you."

The enormity of it is too much. The humiliation! Who cares about those little means to this glorious end? Those individual human beings should be grateful that this whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts. All they had was their free will. Their consolatory notions of authenticity. I've given them something they had not even been able to imagine. And now I stand here before these plebeians, my one outstanding talent torn to shreds by their baked beans mouths. I'll show them all!

"Since nobody will acknowledge the staggering implications of this milestone, I will have to illustrate them to you more explicitly. Come here, beastie! Make mummy proud."

A faint rustling sound emerges from behind a conveniently placed curtain. Out steps a person. Or what seems to be a person, at first. The gaze it absently greets its horrified audience with resembles a pond with a perfectly smooth surface, where one can see right to the bottom but discern neither light nor shadow anywhere.

A young man at the dining table begins to retch. Another pipes up, tremulously.

"Please, Blanche. We acknowledge your greatness. There are no other war criminals as big-bosomed or brainylicious as you. Please just put that thing away."

I flip my long shiny hair and then feel my hand go limp a bit when I realise what a cliché that sort of thing is. My hand, dry now, steady now, reaches for my wand. I give it an easy little whir to command my beastie to do something impressive. But then I hear another voice, one I had thought I'd never hear again, speaking from behind me, near where the curtains are.

"No need to lick her boots like that, son. She's a piece of shit and you should say it."

"Excuse me?" Spinning around to face the beast, I can feel the hairs on my head almost standing on end from my fury. "What did you just-"

"You heard us right. Next time don't grab the souls of five people who know you're a pathetic megalomaniac racist, genius."

Suddenly, the entire dining hall explodes. Magic school administration is unable to provide an official explanation. Some sources say, though, that it was just a fun way to end the scene. The only casualty is Blanche. The only thing mourned was the baked beans.

Dark magic is the only magic discipline that your school doesn’t teach and forbids the practice of. Unfortunately it is also the only discipline that you are any good at and so, year after year, you try your hardest to convince the school that dark magic can be used for more than just evil.

[bubbleteaimagines]

One-shot: Y/n Is Spiderman(Andrew Garfield Version) and goes to Forks High School, and Is a loner, and orphan. The Cullens are curious, about him, because Edward can't read his mind because of his Spider-Sense, and Alice can't see his future. Also because his blood, and scent acts as an anchor to The Cullens to control their bloodlust which makes them appreciate him more, and're always near him in school so Jasper doesn't go outta control.

the amazing spider-man

twilight one shot

twilight & spider man crossover, male!reader x the cullens

no warnings really

your senses were in overdrive as you entered the small cafeteria. not just because you were now surrounded by hundreds of chatty teenagers, but because they were there.

the cullens has been on your radar for quite a long time. having fought vampires before, it was your nature to inspect them before they became a threat.

you had known that the cullen’s were a ‘special’ breed of vampires, choosing to only feed on animals than humans.

it was nobel act but still, you had to be cautious.

you took a seat at an empty table and gently set your lunch down. after months of attending forks high school, you still hadn’t made very many friends. instead, you preferred the silence of being alone.

you took a bite out of your sandwich and just as you did, you smelled them.

looking up, you saw the five unnatural creatures walking into the cafeteria like they owned the place. the blonde, rosalie, was scowling at all the people that gawked at her. the burly brunette, emmett, had an arm around her protectivly. jasper, the one you knew had the most trouble controlling himself, was being reassured by his mate alice. and edward...well...he looked the most normal as he wore an expression that was downright miserable.

you noticed them the second they entered the cafeteria. your senses tingled, warning you of danger. but they didn’t seem to notice you though, at least not yet. it would be a couple seconds before edward realized that he couldn’t read your mind, and that your blood was calling out to them in a way different than everybody else’s.

you slumped back into your seat as the curious vampires turned to you. with your hearing, you knew that they were talking about you.

“do you guys smell that?” emmett asked his siblings, nodding his head in your general direction so fast you almost missed it.

“it’s coming him,” edward hissed, motioning towards you. “i can’t read his mind.”

“and i can’t see his future, either,” alice said worriedly.

“do you suppose he’s something supernatural, too?” jasper asked.

“not likely. just a really rare human,” rosalie said.

you almost smirked. oh, if only they knew.

shaking your head, you leaned back into your seat. you had biology with edward and jasper next. you’d learn more about them there, but for now, you enjoyed your lunch and let them speculate over who exactly you were.

the classroom filled up quickly.

and you were late, no thanks to flash thompson, a boy that seemed to have it out for you ever since you arrived.

he had tripped you in the hallway, and because of this you weren’t able to get a good seat.

you were hoping to be somewhere near the cullens, but by the time you had arrived they had already stolen your table in the back.

you scowled as you had to sit in a middle row, next to a clumsy girl named bella. you hated that you were so exposed, but luckily bella was just as antisocial as you were.

she made no move to talk or even want to acknowledge your presence during the whole class. the only time she had to speak to you was during the lab you guys were working on, and it was because she asked for a bandaid.

“papercut,” she whispered, her cheeks turning red at your expression.

you looked horrified, but it wasn’t because of her.

it was because you currently had two vampires behind you, knowing that at least one of them could barley control themselves.

you froze up, your instincts kicking in just in case you needed to stop them.

but...you dared to take a peak back at the cullens.

you didn’t know what you expected — maybe them staring at bella with dark eyes with their fangs bared or something — but in reality, it was none of that.

both edward and jasper seemed to be in complete control, not even phased by the human girl’s blood. in fact, as far as you could see their eyes were still as gold as honey.

they weren’t even looking at bella.

but that was because they had their attention on someone else.

someone who’s scent seemed to cancel out everything else in the room.

you.

the confrontation came shortly after school that day.

because you were an orphan and lived by yourself, you had the pleasure of walking yourself home.

only, that’s not quite what happened.

for some reason, you decided to walk through the forest that day and use your webs to swing around. it was honestly your favorite thing to do. there was nothing more liberating than swinging above the tallest trees, and saying hi to the birds that flew in the sky.

you had just made your way past a river and was pertched in a tree when you saw them.

or rather, your senses alerted you of their presence and a second later, they were there.

all seven cullens seemed to be gathered at the base of your tree. it shocked you, and you began wondering why in the hell they were there. you tried to hide but you knew it was no use, they could smell you.

“hello there! do you mind coming down? my family and i would like to talk to you,” carlisle, the leader of the group who you knew to be a doctor and had the most control, spoke.

his golden eyes held kindness and he held his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat. the others simply stared at you curiously.

“and how do i know you’re not being genuine?” you called back down to them, hanging onto the tree. “i’ve met your kind before. most if not all want to kill me.”

“we’re different,” a woman, esme, spoke up. “but i’m sure you already know that. because you’re different, too, right? you’re not human.”

“partially,” you found yourself correcting. “i had an...accident a few years ago. now i am what i am.”

“please, just come down. we can talk about this in a more comfortable setting,” carlisle said.

you found yourself hesitant for a moment. sure, their eyes were golden but they were still vampires, right?

but then again...if they wanted to kill you they wouldn’t have entertained you for that long. despite living forever, vampires had no patience when it came to a meal.

“...fine...,” you reluctantly agreed and got your webs ready, “i’m coming down.”

the forks breeze whipped at your face as you latched your webs onto a tree and swung down. the cullens looked absolutely amazed as you landed in front of them, unharmed.

“how did you do that?” emmett wasted no time in asking. he sounded beyond excited.

you almost smiled. “long story. i was bitten by a spider and now i have all the capabilities except i’m human,” you explained.

“fascinating,” edward whispered. “is that why i can’t read your mind?”

“or why i can’t see your future?” alice piped up.

“probably,” you merely shrugged. “but i can’t be for sure. i don’t really know much on vampires, except how to kill them.”

the family looked stunned at your revelation.

“why are you here?” rosalie asked cautiously, her body language changing to protect her family. “what do you want with us?”

“what i want with all vampires,” you told them. “i don’t wanna hurt you but i will if you hurt any humans.”

“jasper told us that you prevented that, though,” carlisle spoke up. “around your blood...he wasn’t even phased.”

“it was like everything else cancelled out,” jasper confessed. “this girl...she had a paper cut but it didn’t even bother me.”

“and it was because of him?” rosalie asked astonished.

you blushed slightly as they all turned to you.

“didn’t know i had that effect,” you muttered.

“would you be willing to talk more?” carlisle asked. “my family and i, we live not too far from here. perhaps we can talk more and see if maybe, you could help us.”

“help you? you mean like with your thirst?” you asked.

“precisely. if you can stop jasper...” edward shook his head. “i heard his thoughts. isabella is alive because of you. if we can find out more, then maybe...”

“maybe we could have a real shot at not thirsting for human blood anymore,” rosalie said.

the meeting with cullens had been strange, to say the least. but it was also nothing short of fascinating.

it took you a while to open up, but after discovering that your blood was somewhat of an anchor to them you found yourself actually wanting to help the cullens.

they weren’t bad people. and if they all had a choice, they wouldn’t be what they were.

you knew jasper especially had regrets about being a vampire. he had a hard time controlling himself around humans after decades of drinking their blood.

but now, you had decided to come to an agreement with them.

if they helped you hunt rouge vampires that were feeding on humans, then you’d stick around and help them control their thirst.

that was precisely why, a week later, the whole cafeteria stared as you walked in with them side-by-side.

for once, jasper didn’t look tortured as he walked passed the array of humans. alice didn’t have to search the future constantly wondering if he’d hurt anybody.

rosalie and emmett were over the moon at the possibly that you could help them adopt a baby since their thirst was under control.

and edward...well...

he still looked miserable, but you supposed you couldn’t help everyone. besides, it wasn’t because he had to endure thoughts coming from a room full of teenagers.

it was because, for some reason, he still thirsted for isabella swan.

but that was a story for another day.

[newtonsheffield]

I adore all your fics but something about A Letter You Never Read is making me flail even more then usual, bravo! Amazing job and congrats on 6 months of Bridgerton and Sons :D How does the first family dinner that Anthony brings Kate to post-ALYNR go?

I am truly shocked at the response this fic has gotten tbh

This might sound ridiculous, but I genuinely didn't think anyone would care . It was, like everything I write, pure self indulgence.

Anon Also asked: I think it would be hilarious to see Kate meeting the bridgertons in a letter you never read - I can imagine violet being beside herself with joy and the boys wanting to tell her all about Anthony pining after her 😂

Okay! Let's see Kate at her first Bridgerton family event.

Anthony had tried to say it so casually, she knew he had, but Kate knew what this meant to him, knew how much he probably wanted her to say yes. "No pressure or anything, but my Mum's invited you for dinner this week." She'd stilled, Newton nipping at her fingers, sitting in her lap. She knew really, what he was asking her, three weeks into their relationship. He wanted her to meet his family, to start twining their lives more firmly together. And as much as she liked the idea, as much as she liked the idea that her boyfriend wanted to let her into his life even more than he already had, it made her nervous. Anthony ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Forget I said anything." "I would love to meet your family." She said quickly, her hand on his arm to calm him, even though her heart was pounding. "Fair warning though, next week my Dad wants to meet you." And his smile had been so beautiful it had stolen her heart from her chest.

SO here she was, standing outside certainly the biggest house she'd ever been invited into, a bouquet of flowers clenched tightly in her fist. She'd panicked on the phone to Mary last night, "Mary he wants me to meet his family. What if they absolutely can't stand me?! What if his mum thinks I'm stupid and his Dad thinks I'm trash?! He'll break up with me and this will all be a humiliating footnote on the rest of my life!" Mary had sighed, "Sweetheart, have you seen yourself? The Bridgertons are going to love you. Besides, I've met Edmund and Violet and they're lovely just be yourself." Privately Kate thought that nothing good could come from being herself. That was hw she was in this mess to begin with.

Anthony's hand was warm in hers, his smile bright when he said, "Relax, Kate, they're really excited to meet you, and they're going to love you. I think my Mum already does." and then, before she could respond, Anthony had swung open the door, and they'd nearly been swallowed whole by the chaos. A boy who would be barely older than ten was standing at the tope of the stairs screaming "Hyacinth stood on my AT-AT walker lego and wrecked it!" A girl who must be Hyacinth given the slightly smug expression was saying "It was bad anyway!" Eloise and Francesca, who Kate had already met were appearing to be placing bets on which of their siblings would prevail as the two on the stairs started wrestling.

"What the hell?!" Anthony said, a little alarmed and everyone stopped. He appeared to be shooting murderous glances at each of his siblings, before an apologetic one at Kate, who could barely hold in her laughter at the chaos unfolding before her. "Anthony?!" A woman's voice called out, "Are you here sweetheart?" Anthony barely had time to call out "Yes, Mum!" Before a woman appeared, much younger than Kate would have thought honestly, her dark hair swept back off her face, her eyes alight with excitement, followed by a man who looked so startlingly like Anthony Kate nearly dropped her flowers.

"Hyacinth, let go of your brother immediately!" Anthony's mother hissed, gesturing wildly to her husband to do something about the situation. Anthony's father's solution was to sweep towards his youngest child and lift her onto his shoulders, forcibly breaking the headlock she had her brother in. Anthony cleared his throat.

"Mum, Dad, this is Kate Sheffield." He said quietly, his hand squeezing hers tightly, a small smile on his face as he finished, "She's my girlfriend." his mother made a soft cooing noise as though the prospect delighted her "Katie, this is my Mum and Dad, Hyacinth and Gregory and Eloise and Francesca who you met the other week." Anthony finished, gesturing to everyone. "Yes, we did meet the other week, didn't we Frankie? Not that we really got a chance to speak, Anthony was rather-" Eloise had started, but Anthony's mother clearly sensing danger interrupted.

"Kate! It's so lovely to finally meet you." She said, a little too loudly, and before Kate could react she was swept into a very tight hug, the flowers she'd brought held limply behind her back. "It's lovely to meet you as well, Mrs. Bridgerton." Kate said still feeling a little awkward and she pulled back. "And you, Mr. Bridgerton." She turned to his father who was looking at her with a strange mix of curiosity and pride. "Oh please, Violet's fine." Violet said taking Kate's hand and breezing from the room. "My goodness you're even more beautiful than I remember, no wonder Anthony's in such a state." Kate felt her cheeks flush. "Now we are just so so glad that you and Anthony reconnected, oh he just liked you so much in school. We all knew it but the poor boy was far too nervous to do anything about it." Kate felt her eyebrows raise, surprised that his mother would know who she was by name alone. "Mum!" Anthony said, his cheeks burning as he scampered after them, "Well, it's true, son. Vi, do you remember that time Anthony got hit in the head with a football because Katie Sheffield" he said the name in a dreamy sigh, "Walked past?"

Kate felt laughter bubble in her chest, her nerves slipping away. "Edmund, you're embarrassing him." Violet said lightly, forcing Kate into a seat at the breakfast bar in the Kitchen, Anthony plopping into the seat beside her, looking adorably petulant, She took his hand squeezing tightly and a small smile came to his face. "You're both embarrassing me." he muttered, his ears burning red, worsening as Kate kissed his cheek. "Excuse me, Kate." Gregory said politely, looking quite nervous as she turned towards him. "Anthony said that you have a puppy." "Anthony said, you have a puppy together." Hyacinth corrected eyeing Anthony who quickly said. "I didn't, I said Kate had a puppy. Katie I didn't tell them we got a dog together." He said quickly, his eyes horrified. And honestly, he needn't be so embarrassed, everything about this evening was only making her feel even closer to Anthony than she already felt, even more in love with him than she was, not that she could tell him that.

Gregory sighed, nudging his sister, "Anyway, um, me and Hyacinth were wondering if maybe we could meet the puppy?" He looked so adorably nervous to have asked, so much like a younger version of Anthony that Kate felt her stomach clench. "Mate, you can't ask people if you can meet their-" Anthony started, but Kate cut across him. "Next time I come, I'll bring him for you to see, he loves meeting new people. Maybe we can take him to the park sometime." Anthony was looking at her with such an odd expression, almost as if he were in awe of the very simple thing she'd just done. Gregory and Hyacinth high fived, tearing from the room.

"Well as I live and breathe if it isn't Katie Sheffield!" Benedict Bridgerton's voice boomed through the Kitchen, clearly just arrived. Kate smiled. "It's been a long time, Ben." She said as Benedict nudged Anthony out of the way to talk to her. "Oh too long. I had to listen to this one cry on the phone for months after you blocked him on Instagram." "I didn't block him." Kate said quickly, anxiety swirling in her stomach. Anthony swatted at his brother's ear, and just when she thought it couldn't possibly be more manic, and voice boomed. "My Lord, Anthony! Katie Sheffield's in the kitchen! The very reason you spent so much time in the shower is right here in the-" Colin's voice was cut off by a groan as Anthony's elbow connected with his stomach.

When Kate returned to the room sometime later having had to take a call she heard her boyfriend hissing. "Why can you not just be as cool as I am about this?! Why do you have to embarrass me?!" "Anthony, you look like a horny beetroot." a voice said Dryly. "Colin!" Edmund Bridgerton admonished and then, "But he isn't wrong Anthony." Kate couldn't help but Kiss Anthony very soundly when she returned to her seat next to him, unable to stop herself, affection overflowing for him, the room filled with awkward silence as soon as she appeared.

"I'm really fucking sorry about my family." Anthony groaned as they slid into the car, his forehead slumping against hers. Kate chuckled, "They love you, and they're happy that you're happy. It's nice." Anthony groaned again. "And besides, when you meet my family, it'll be way worse for you than that."

[alinastracker]

If you’re still doing the prompts I have oneeeee hehe

" i mean... i-i'm cool with sharing the bed if you are. "

you got it baby 🥰

but i know something’s starting right now

It’s a sweltering Ravkan summer day, but nothing brings heat to her body like watching Mal in the pool, water droplets racing down his chest. His shaggy hair is a mop on his head, and she realizes this is what he must look like in the shower.

This is exactly why she didn’t want to bring him on the trip.

It’s the first week of July, and for the past three years, that’s meant a trip to the Os Alta Resort with Genya and Zoya. It’s a way for them to relax after exams and catch up now that they all attend different schools. But at the end of May, the two of them had FaceTimed her about a change for this year.  

“We were thinking of taking the boys with,” Genya says gently, nervous for her reaction.

Zoya is frank as ever. “It’s cheaper that way. Besides, after all this long distance, I could use a week of uninterrupted fuc—”

“Zoya!”

“Relax, Starkov. We’re all adults here.”

“Anyway,” Genya cuts in. “We’re just telling you in case you wanted to bring someone, too. Maybe Mal?”

“Mal and I aren’t dating.”

Only in her dreams.

“Might as well be,” Zoya mutters.

So in the choice between bringing Mal on what has basically turned into a couple’s retreat and going to said couple’s retreat alone, she’s chosen the former. It would be fine. Mal knows her friends. Him and Nikolai like to talk sports. Maybe it’ll be a little weird, being the only non-couple, but they could deal.

It would have been fine, if it weren’t for this morning’s check in.

"So it looks like we have you booked for three single rooms," the concierge says.

Alina frowns. "One of those should be a double."

The concierge checks again, each click of his mouse making her anxiety rise. He frowns. "Sorry, miss. It's showing me all singles."

"It's fine," Mal says. "Could we just upgrade it to a double, then?"

"Er, I'm afraid we're all booked, sir."

Nikolai claps his hands together, cheerful as ever at Zoya's side. "Well, I'll just switch with Alina, and Mal and I can — shit, Zoy!"

Zoya had stomped on his foot.

"We are not switching shit," she hisses under her breath.

Nikolai sighs. "My deadly dearest, certainly it's no big deal—"

"I bought us a new toy for this trip. We are not switching."

There is a brief moment where everyone freezes, then Genya groans, shaking her head as she murmurs apologies to the concierge, who is trying hard to pretend he hasn’t heard a thing. The tips of Mal's ears go red, and Alina is sure hers match. David, lost in his audiobook, is oblivious to all of it.

Nikolai clears his throat and turns to the two of them with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, mate. You're on your own."

The concierge slowly raises a finger and says, "We might be able to supply a cot?"

Alina can feel everyone's eyes on her, which is the last thing she ever wants. She has the strong desire to curl in on herself, but that only really works in the winter when she dons large coats and sweaters. But it’s summer, and she is in only a mustard yellow crop top and jean shorts, though she suddenly feels as exposed as if she were completely naked.

Mal takes one look at her and gently nudges his foot against hers. "I mean . . . I'm cool with sharing the bed if you are?"

Her brain is looking for anyway out of this whole conversation, so she nods.

So far, they have been in their room once to drop off their things and change into bathing suits, both of them dancing around the bed without ever touching it. The air in the room feels charged even with sunlight still pouring in. What would tonight be like?

More importantly, how was she supposed to handle sleeping beside him when she can’t even handle watching him in the pool?

Genya climbs on Mal’s shoulders for a game of chicken — David is, unsurprisingly, not in the pool, but sitting beside Alina on a lounge chair. She feels a pang of something like jealousy as she watches the game commence, which cannot be more ridiculous.

They can’t avoid the night forever, and it comes much too quickly despite how long they spend mingling at the resort bar. In their room, Mal lets Alina use the bathroom first. A kind offer, she thinks, until she realizes it leaves her to stake out a spot on the bed first. No more dancing.

Left side or right? Does Mal have a preference? Does she? How long until Mal finishes in the bathroom and comes out to see her staring at the bed like a mental person?

Right side, she chooses finally. She curls up on the left side of her body usually, so this way, she doesn’t have to face him as they sleep. Good call. As she untucks the covers from the bed, she secretly hopes to find something horrifying, like blood or bugs, so they can get a refund and leave. Sadly, it is a perfectly fine bed. Alina plops onto it and tucks herself in.

Mal finishes in the bathroom a few minutes later, and if he’s as rattled about their sleeping arrangement as she is, he does not show it. There’s plenty of space between them as he settles into bed. Maybe this won’t be as bad as she feared.

“Well, goodnight,” Mal says through a yawn.

“Goodnight,” Alina replies.

They each turn off their bedside lamps. Mal is softly snoring soon after, but Alina stays awake much too long for her liking, thinking of how close he is.

They fall into a similar routine for the next couple nights. During the day, all is fine. Their little group meshes well. Genya and Nikolai are often off together, both of them on a mission, it seems, to try every flavor of ice cream from Os Alta's ice cream bar. Or sometimes it’s Nikolai and Mal running off, joining a game of pool volleyball, both of them stupidly competitive. When Zoya gets annoyed with the overload of children at the waterpark, she joins David on one of the lounge chairs to read for a while — Zoya a smutty historical romance and David a nonfiction on modern space travel. We just shouldn't let Jeff Bezos come back, he argues to Genya later, while Zoya murmurs to Nikolai something she wants him to do to her that night.

Alina thanks the saints her room isn’t next to Zoya’s.

The trip is going so smoothly that she doesn’t realize what trouble Sunday brings with it. It’s always their favorite part of the trip: bottomless margarita night. They all have absolutely horrific, hilarious pictures and videos of themselves from the past three years thanks to bottomless margarita night at Os Alta. But the thought of being drunk like that while she’s sharing a bed with Mal?

Okay, so she just won’t drink tonight. Problem solved.

“You can’t not drink!” Zoya says, personally offended.

“Come on, it’s tradition!” Genya agrees.

But she’s determined to hold out. Only when she sees the others with their drinks, she decides one sip won’t hurt. One sip becomes one drink, and one drink becomes a couple. Soon enough, she’s drunk enough to sign herself up for karaoke, another Os Alta tradition.

“I dunno what I should siiiing,” she slurs, swaying lightly on her feet.

“I have the perfect song for you!” Genya cheers excitedly.

So that’s how she ends up on stage, drunk off her ass, horridly singing Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. She really gets into it, jumping and nailing the talking parts a little too well. But she can hear Genya and Zoya screaming the lyrics along with her, and it only encourages her.

Genya records a Snapchat of her performance, snickering to Mal and David about how she’s going to accidentally send it to the asshole Alina dated last year who’s still entirely too obsessed with her.

Nikolai is the only one of the boys drunk enough to sign up, taking the stage after Alina to perform a disgustingly off-key version of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. They all agree that Freddie Mercury is rolling in his grave.

By the end of the night, the four of them are totally wasted. David, who had spent the night nursing one drink, his focus on getting Genya her drinks and ensuring that she didn’t trip over herself, has to help the aforementioned redhead up to their room. Nikolai and Zoya are a sight, both wickedly drunk, trying to help each other stay upright. Mal had only downed a couple drinks and is mostly sober, which Alina is very thankful for, as she can’t hold herself up to save her life. She nearly trips on absolutely nothing so many times that Mal finally scoops her into his arms, carrying her the rest of the way to the room. Alina giggles the whole way. 

There’s no getting ready for bed that night. Mal sets her on the bed, and she resigns to sleeping in her red summer dress. When Mal joins her after having a shower, drunk Alina has no qualms curling up against him and sniffing him.

“Mm, you smell good,” she hums.

Mal chuckles even as he tenses. Alina has her arm around him and her face pressed into his side. He’s not sure he can breathe. She’s too drunk to notice the blush on his face.

“That’s probably just because you smell like alcohol,” he hedges.

Alina giggles and shakes her head. “No, you always smell good.”

He doesn’t know what to do with this information, but he does a lot of thinking instead of sleeping as Alina passes out next to him.

Monday morning brings with it a pounding headache for Alina. She prepares for the bright sunlight streaming through the window, but the room is dark when she opens her eyes. Mal isn’t beside her, but he left aspirin and a glass of water on the nightstand in addition to pulling out the blackout curtains. She falls in love with him a little bit more. 

The day is a quiet one. The girls and Nikolai spend their time at the spa, Mal and David off doing saints know what. She gets the best massage of her life, and while her head still aches despite the pain pill, seeing Nikolai get his toenails painted bright red makes every sip she had last night worth it.

When they’re in the room again after dinner, tucking themselves into bed, Mal says, “You told me I smell good last night.”

Alina pauses. “I did?”

The night comes back to her. She totally told him he smelled good, and she had closed the space between them on the bed, curling up right next to him. She remembers all of it, suddenly and painfully.

“Oh, saints. Mal, I’m so sorry. I didn’t . . . I shouldn’t have—”

He cuts her off. “It’s okay, ‘Lina. You don’t have to apologize.”

“I don’t?”

Mal smiles an amused smile and leans over, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “No, you don’t. Not you. Never you.”

Alina is almost positive she can hear her heart pounding as Mal reaches for something tucked in the drawer of his nightstand.

“For you,” he says, handing her a long rectangular box. “Saw it today when I was out with David and I just— I thought of you.”

She can’t even process the image of Mal and David out shopping together, needing to open this damn box. With shaky fingers, she lifts the lid. Waiting for her inside is a dainty necklace with a gorgeous gold sun charm.

“Oh,” she says softly.

Mal blushes, and this time, Alina notices. “Do you like it?” he asks. “I just thought of you singing last night when I saw it. You’re so bright, Alina. All the time. Just like the sun.”

She has no idea what this confession means, or how she earned it from drunkenly telling him how good he smells — which his really quite good — but her heart has kicked into overdrive. She isn’t sure what, or how, but she knows something’s starting right now.

“I love it, Mal.” She turns so her back is facing him and hands over the necklace. “Will you help me put it on?”

He wraps the chain around her neck. The sun rests perfectly against her heart. She notices every little brush of his fingers against the back of her neck as Mal works the clasp.

When the necklace is secure, they both lay back down, noticeably closer this time. Not as close as last night, but close enough that their arms occasionally brush, close enough that she’ll end up kicking him during the night. Alina sleeps on her right side. 

Their trip might be ending tomorrow, but something better was beginning tonight.

[deadpcnned]

the gamble of the heart | chapter 2 (r.l.)

chapter two: repression

series masterlist

previous chapter

pairing: remus lupin x potter!reader

chapter summary: y/n pursues her relationship with mason and sees the repercussions on remus. and herself. 

warnings: swearing, kissing, alcohol 

wordcount: 3.8k

a/n: new chapter! the next chapter is shorter so i’ll have it up sometime this week. 

“Stop,” Y/N drawled, but she made no effort to move the arms that were holding her in place. “I should probably say hello to my friends.” As Y/N used her fingers to comb through Mason’s blond locks, she couldn’t help the content smile that fought its way onto her face. 

“Probably - but I think I’ll miss you too much,” Mason mumbled against her lips. Y/N knew if she let him kiss her she would never get the chance to even glance at her friends. There was just something about Mason that drew her towards him. It was like whenever Mason Tomlinson was in question, Y/N was physically being pushed towards him and she would find herself doing things she’d never expected. It was a wonder to her how she fell for him as quickly as she had. 

There was no doubt that Mason Tomlinson was handsome and extremely charismatic, yet Y/N would have never guessed that she would feel as strongly as she did for him after only two weeks. She always considered herself to be a practical person, but when Mason looked at her with his big green eyes, she lost any pragmaticism. And Mason knew how to take advantage of that. 

“Mmm, Mase. You know I’ll stay if you ask me to,” Y/N pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips and they twitched slightly beneath hers. 

“I’m asking, love,” Groaning, Y/N placed her head against Mason’s chest before pushing herself away from his grasp. She looked through the doors to the Great Hall and could see all of the strangers she was so shamelessly flirting with her boyfriend in front of. 

“Nope,” She said, giving him a pointed look. “I am going to sit with my house today. You’ll just have to miss me.” 

“Will you miss me?” She would. That was the strange thing about her recent affair. It was like when she wasn’t with Mason she was floating purposelessly. It was as though she was a kite and he was the piece of string that was keeping her from floating out into space. Her independent streak was something Y/N had always valued, but since meeting Mason it was like she never wanted to be away from him. 

“You know I will,” An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she noted the jovial expression on Mason’s face. Why couldn’t she stay away from him? 

After departing from Mason, Y/N took the familiar path to the Gryffindor table. As she noticed three familiar boys, she smiled to herself. Suddenly, she was half walking and half skipping towards her best friends. When she reached she threw her arms around Peter from behind and squealed. 

Hi, boys,” she giggled, not noticing the dry expressions on their faces. “Did you miss me?” She took a seat next to Peter and surveyed their faces carefully. Who pissed in their pumpkin juice?

“Tomlinson busy today, Y/N?” Sirius accused. 

“No? I just wanted to sit here today. Are you guys mad?”

“Yes,” James shrugged. “You haven’t spoken to us in two weeks, because of your new friend.” Oh. Y/N had been so consumed in Mason she didn’t realize she was neglecting her closest friends. 

“I’m so sorry, you guys. I guess I didn’t realize I was doing that,” She offered, her hand reaching out to hold James’ hand from across the table. Upon feeling his hand squeeze hers, she let out a relieved breath. 

“We’ll forgive you on one condition, Y/N” Sirius mused, the shadow of his mischievous smirk evident. Y/N quirked her eyebrow at him, prompting him to continue. “You have to tell us everything.”

Y/N began to gush endlessly about her boyfriend and was so enthralled in the topic that she hadn’t noticed a fourth figure appear in the seat beside James. As Y/N finished explaining how Mason had asked her out after a few days of sharing a class, she looked up only to have the air knocked out of her lungs. 

“Remus,” His name had left her mouth just like it had a million times before, but now it was leaving a bitter taste behind. He nodded his head towards her before starting to fill his plate with some toast and meat. While watching him Y/N barely caught the rest of the boys telling Remus that they needed to finish morning detention and they’d see him in class. 

The last time Y/N and Remus had spoken was a few weeks prior when she had sent him an owl over summer vacation. She felt another odd ache in her stomach, but it sharply contrasted the feeling she had with Mason. This was different. It was like when she was with Mason she couldn’t help but want to be near him, but with Remus, she wanted to want him close. But that couldn’t be possible. She liked Mason immensely so why was she still experiencing residual feelings for Remus? 

Y/N couldn’t help but analyze every detail of the boy in front of her. He had cut his hair slightly shorter (which he did at the start of every school year) and it had become a slightly lighter shade of brown, likely due to the summer sun. She also winced as she looked at the new scar that trailed from the back of his hand and disappeared under his robes. 

“Rough full moon?” Remus looked up at Y/N, started for a couple of seconds, and returned his gaze to his food. Y/N looked around the Great Hall awkwardly before starting again. “How have you been, Rem? Been a few weeks since we last talked.”

Y/N was met with a deafening silence and a shrug from Remus, but she noticed that he had taken the luxury of rolling his eyes, as well. 

“Right, well… oh I’m not sure if you know, but I’ve got a boyfriend now,” Remus snapped his head up, an indecipherable look on his face. “Would you like to meet him?”  Remus looked away, but when he looked back at her, Y/N wished she hadn’t ever said anything. He looked furious.  

“No, not really,” Remus finally said, before getting up from his seat and storming off. 

Y/N watched him as he walked away and felt her head begin to spin. It would be idiotic for her to act like she didn’t know why Remus was so angry, but she never wanted to confront those feelings. She was terrified for the moment that someone would ask her what happened between her and Remus. Because the truth was she had no idea. What she and Remus had was real, she knew that. But ever since she met Mason it was like something had shifted. Suddenly the only thing on her mind was Mason, Mason, Mason. Seeing Remus had awakened something in her she hadn’t felt in weeks and she hated it. So she was going to do the only thing that made sense. She was going to repress her unwanted feelings so far down, she’d forget they existed. 

—

These days the word Quidditch could seldom be spoken at Hogwarts without someone associating it with the Potter name. That was for two very competitive and very proud reasons: James and Y/N Potter. The Potters had an aptitude for the game and everyone at their school knew it. 

Y/N and James often argued over which Potter was the most valuable asset on the team. “If it wasn’t for me being a seeker, the game would go on for ages. I literally win us the games,” James would argue to which Y/N would say, “You must be joking, James. If it wasn’t for me constantly throwing bloody bludgers at the opposing team’s seeker, you’d never catch that snitch.” 

But regardless, Quidditch was the thing that connected the cousins most. Growing up, Quidditch was all the pair knew and for Y/N it had become an escape. There was something about being so high in the air as the wind blew harshly against her skin that made her feel free. Maybe it was the fact that not many people could reach her when she was flying through the sky or maybe it was simply the thrill of the game. 

“Ready, Potter?” Marlene yelled as Y/N adjusted her helmet. “What about you, other Potter?” The two cousins grinned as they approached each other. 

“On the count of three,” James began. “1, 2 —” Before he finished his countdown the two Potter kids each raised their right hands and clasped them together. Laughing maniacally they thrust themselves into their pregame ritual (which was a very poorly executed handshake-dance combo), effectively filling the locker room with loud laughter.

“We are now, Mar.”

With that, the team began their walk to the Quidditch pitch. Y/N bounced on her feet as they approached the crowded arena, a habit she had when she got excited. It was the first game of the year and against Slytherin no less. She knew that if they won this game the party was going to be absolutely insane, which was, of course, all a Gryffindor could ask for. 

The game had gotten intense as soon as Madam Hooch had blown her whistle. The Slytherin Beaters were giving Y/N a run for her money, but luckily the Gryffindors had been able to hold their own. Regulus Black, who was the Slytherin seeker, was taunting James playfully as they each kept an eye out for the snitch. Y/N was close enough to James to see how his attention began to shift from Regulus’ face to beside his head and then back. He had seen the snitch. And it was right next to Regulus. 

Y/N could easily distract Regulus, who was too caught up in teasing his brother’s mate to properly prepare himself against a hit from her Bludger. She also knew that if James tried to grab the snitch, Regulus would have it in his hands in a second. The younger Black brother was known for his quick reflexes after all. The decision was easy.  

Making one lap around the pitch to gain momentum, she shot her Bludger right at Regulus who with a horrified look ducked the ball. At that moment James leaped forward on his broom and grabbed the snitch. The stadium erupted in cheers so loud not a single Slytherin’s disappointment could be heard.

“And the Potter’s have done it again! They really are a dream team.” With a triumphant smile, Y/N made her way down and was quickly thrown into a circle of people where she found James right in the center. 

“Nice one, cuz,” James winked, happily relishing in all the attention he was receiving. 

“Yeah, mate. You too,” Y/N followed James out of the crowd of excited Gryffindors but they were looking for two completely different people. Y/N watched James look around for either Sirius or Lily (she didn’t know who he’d look for first these days) and she found herself looking for one boy in particular. Mason. 

Instead of the image of a blond boy dressed in a repulsive blue (Mason had refused to wear the Gryffindor colors), she found herself staring at a taller boy who was donning her favorite colors. Remus had not only worn a scarlet cable knit sweater (which it was way too warm for) and yellow-gold scarf, but he was wearing a beanie that was meant to give the appearance of a lion’s mane He had also used muggle paint on his face. His left cheek had a red number seven and the right revealed a very badly drawn snitch. He looked utterly stupid. But the worst part of it all was he was dressed almost exactly as he had at the last Quidditch game of the previous year. 

In the past two years that Y/N had played Quidditch on the Gryffindor team, this game had definitely been her best. The Gryffindors had just secured the Quidditch cup, which Y/N thought was the best way to end her fifth year. Y/N’s performance in the last game of the year just made it that much sweeter. 

“I reckon you played alright, Potter,” Remus smirked. He had been right in front of her as soon as her feet had touched the grass beneath her. Waiting for her. Like he had at every one of her games. 

“You know I did a lot better than alright, Lupin,” She shoved his chest, but before she could move her hand he had flattened her palm against his chest. 

“Yeah, you did,”  She was only distracted from his intense gaze when she heard Sirius let out a wolf whistle at the sight. Remus let go of her hand, blushing slightly as he glared at Sirius. 

“Oh, shut it,” Y/N scolded. She nodded her head to the right, indicating for Remus to follow her. After walking a little while longer, they had found themselves walking on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Remus had grabbed a hold of Y/N’s hand as soon as they were out of everyone’s sight. She glanced over at him deciding that he had dressed warm enough for the cold that was invading the new spring season. She stared a little longer to get a better look at his painted face and eclectic accessory. She wanted to laugh, but the sound died in her throat as she took a better look at his cheek. 

There on his right cheek was a big number five. Her Quidditch number. 

“You look utterly stupid,” Y/N insulted him, though she had intended to say something else that had been on her mind. She and Remus had reached a weird sort of limbo. They had gone from just being a part of the same friend group to being each other’s best friends in their fourth year and now they were here. In their fifth year, Y/N and Remus had spent the majority of it flirting and being affectionate with one another. However, they were still technically not a couple. They had spent so long being each other’s friends that it was second nature to make jabs at one another in good spirit. Y/N liked it that way. She liked the healthy balance of romance and humor they shared. Only at this moment, she wished she had told him how happy he made her. But Remus, like he always did, understood. 

“Wanted you to know that I’m your biggest fan,” Remus stopped walking and softly pulled Y/N closer, positioning them to be face to face. 

“Are you? My biggest fan, I mean?” Her voice had fallen to a whisper despite no one being near.  

“Without a doubt,” Remus said fervently, his voice just as low as hers. “I know your parents might disagree, but no one’s as big a fan of yours as I am. I promise you that.” Remus brought one of his hands up to her cheek and stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. Lowering himself slightly he placed a kiss on her cheek before hovering over her lips. Y/N’s heart was beating harshly against her ribcage and she felt like her feet were lifting off the ground. Remus had a way of doing that to her. Whenever he was this close to her, she felt like she was back on her broom floating inches above the ground. He had a way of giving her that freeing sensation even when she was trapped under his lustful gaze. Moving forward just a little more, Remus teasingly grazed his lips against hers. 

“Remus,” she whined, earning an innocent hum from him. “Just fucking kiss me.” And boy did he kiss her. No matter how many times she had felt his lips against hers, it never failed to amaze her how much better each kiss got. He kissed her slowly, probably to continue to tease her, but she found herself enjoying it more than he could’ve intended. His lips were soft, contrasting hers which were chapped from the wind but she didn’t care. The taste of mint and chocolate was intoxicating and she was losing herself in his touch. She hardly noticed when he pushed her against a tree, kissing her harder than before. Remus pulled back slightly only to dive right back to kissing her. After doing that a couple more times, he hesitantly kissed down her neck. No, please don’t stop, Y/N thought. 

With one last kiss on her neck, Remus mumbled against her skin, “We should probably get back.” Remus had one hand on her waist and the other pressed against the tree behind her, keeping her in her spot. 

“Don’t wanna,” She pouted and she felt Remus groan against her neck. “I wanna stay with you.”  Sighing, Remus pulled back and placed his hands on her cheeks. He used his fingers to warm up the apples of her cheek which were bright red from possibly more than just the stubborn cold air. 

“And I want to stay here with you, but you promised Lily that you would help her with some work before the party tonight,” Y/N laughed because that response was so Remus. Making sure that she kept her word and did what she had to. Taking care of her in an unconventional way. She gave him another peck and just looked at him with adoring eyes. “What?”

“Nothing, you’re just something really special. You make me feel elated, you know that, Remus Lupin?” Remus beamed at her and kissed her again. Just hard enough to express his bliss, but not get them stuck in the forest for another fifteen minutes. 

“I think that’s why we were put in each other’s paths,” Remus’ words caused Y/N to draw her eyebrows together in confusion. “I mean, call it fate, destiny, or just insignificant chance, but I think we were meant to know each other. Just for that. To elate each other. Don’t you think, Y/N?” 

“Y/N?” Y/N was drawn out of her trance and when she blinked Remus wasn’t in front of her anymore. Instead, she was staring at green eyes and a blue sweater. 

“Hm?”

“I said don’t you think?” Mason said, only now realizing Y/N had been completely lost in thought. “Here, you must be tired. Have some of my juice.” Finally blinking out of her daze, Y/N properly took in the boy in front of her. 

“Babe! I’m sorry I didn’t even realize you were there,” She immediately jumped up to kiss him and with each second she felt any thoughts of Remus disappear. Besides, they shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Repress. Repress. Repress. 

“I noticed,” Mason attempted to sound lighthearted, but there was an edge to his voice. “Uh, any way you wanna do something before the party tonight?” She nodded her head and let herself be dragged away from the bustling crowd around her. But not before she realized she could feel a smoldering gaze directed towards her. 

—

A crowded common room, the smell of firewhiskey, and deafening music was without a doubt Y/N’s second favorite feeling after flying. If there was a party at Hogwarts you could bet you’d find Y/N carelessly dancing or making a spectacle of herself for others’ entertainment. And the person right next to her? Always Sirius Black. 

There was no reason tonight’s party was any different. Sirius was downing Firewhiskey straight from the bottle with one hand and spinning Y/N in circles with his other. The music in the back was pulsing through their veins just as much as the alcohol was and they were horridly singing the lyrics of the song in the background. 

“Potter.”

“Black.”

“Don’t let that Ravenclaw make you into a drag.”

“Never,” she whispered her face inches apart from his. 

“All I need to hear.”

The two probably would’ve kept dancing if Mason hadn’t wrapped an arm around Y/N and pulled her away from Sirius. The alcohol mixed with the sheer excitement she had seeing Mason in front of her, compelled her to grab a hold of his collar and kiss him as hard as she could. Lost in his touch, she ignored Sirus’ drunken “gross” and continued to sloppily make out with him. Eventually, they had reached the corner of the common room and unabashedly deepened their kiss. 

The most surprising part? Y/N was doing the most kissing. She was leaving purple bruises along his neck and biting his ear. She was running her hands up his arms and pulling at the collar of his shirt. She didn’t know why and she didn’t know how she was doing this in a room full of people. All she knew was something about this boy was so spellbinding and she needed to feel him against her. But she was halted from fulfilling her needs by someone pulling her off Mason. 

Her eyes met Remus’ bloodshot ones, which she assumed were caused by the empty bottle of Firewhiskey in his grasp. Pushing him off her, she stepped back a bit trying to gather her thoughts.

“Remus, what-” She was cut off by Remus' discordant voice.

“No - no. I -” He hiccuped, pointing an accusing finger to Y/N. “You… you suck.”

“Remus, you’re drunk-” she started again, but to her dismay, she was cut off again. 

“NO. I - no, you’re going to listen. You said - you said you, in your last letter, you know what you said. So if it was true how could you be w-with him,” Remus growled as his eyes trained on Mason’s slowly reddening face. “How can you act like we never happened?” 

Y/N flicked her eyes towards Mason and gulped as she noticed how angry he looked. She had never really talked to Mason about her past with Remus because he had never asked, but judging by the look on his face he didn’t want the conversation to be prompted by Remus insulting him. Luckily, Y/N was saved by James.

“Remus, c’mon. Now isn’t the time,” He mumbled. He held a sympathetic look in his eyes as he looked at Y/N, but she had a feeling the sympathy in his voice wasn’t for her. 

“No, Prongs. She needs t - to tell me,” In his frenzied state, Remus had tucked his head into the bespectacled boy's neck.  

“Okay, mate, but not right now.” Y/N watched as James led a babbling Remus up to his dorm, her heart clenching. She had done this to him. She had betrayed him, his trust, his heart.  She betrayed him and when he asked her why she couldn’t even tell him. She wouldn’t be able to tell him or herself, because she truly didn’t know why. 

taglist: @chococerealmilk​ @rare-breed-of-human​ @rexorangecouny​ @messagesinthesky​ @theawkwardone-isme​ @kitkatkl​ @faceache111​ @peasantview @missmulti​ @666cookies​  @thetiredslytherin @wonderful-writer​ 

[maxineswritingcenter]

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 24

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

2004 

“We lay to rest a beloved member of the community. A mother. A friend. A daughter. A wife. Claudia Stilinski...” We stood on the lawn of Beacon Hills Memorial Cemetery, watching Aunt Claudia’s casket being lowered into the ground. She had been sick for so long and it was starting to turn ugly... But she was in a better place now, that’s what Uncle Noah said. When he spoke at least. I looked past the grieving people, like Ms. McCall, Scott, the entire police department, and looked at Stiles. He looked so tired. His cheeks were tear stained and his eyes were red from crying. 

Once people started to disperse, my parents and I made our way over to Uncle Noah and Stiles. While the adults talked, Stiles and I just continued to stare at the grave. The grounds keepers were starting to cover her body with dirt. 

“Do you want me to spend the night tonight?” I whispered, reaching over and holding his hand. 

Stiles shook his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek, “I want to be alone tonight.” He gave my hand a squeeze.

“Wouldn’t tonight be the worst time to be alone?” 

“I just want to be at home with my dad. I need some time for myself.” 

“(Y/N).” We both turned at my father’s voice, “Let’s go, sweetie.” We both looked back at the grave.

“Okay. Well, call if you change your mind.” I gave his hand a squeeze before letting it slip away. 

We got into the car, making our way back home. 

“How you holding up, sweetie?” Mom turned back and looked at me over the sink. 

“I don’t want to be alone tonight.” I said, looking out the window.

“Well, you don’t have to.” Dad said, “We’ll get into our pjs and watch Disney movies. You know how much Aunt Claudia loved Disney movies.” 

I swallowed thickly, “Actually... I was hoping that I could go to see the Hales. If that’s okay.” Dad sighed loudly and mom smacked him subtly. 

“Sure, baby.” Mom said, a sad smile on her face, “I’ll call Talia when we get home.” 

-

When I was dropped off at the Hales’, Talia welcomed me with open arms, a blanket, and a hot chocolate. I guess what I needed was away from the whole situation. We played games, Laura braided my hair, we made friendship bracelets. At the end of the night, Laura and Cora had fallen asleep to the movie we had been watching and Derek had snuck us both onto the roof of the Hale house. We were on our back, looking up at all the stars in the sky and the moon shining down on us. We had been in silence for a while until Derek cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“So, uh, are you excited for high school next year?” 

I sighed and shook my head, “After today? I don’t think I’ll be ready for anything.”

“Yeah...” He turned on his side to face me, “I’m sorry about your aunt. I know she was important to you.” 

“Thanks...” I turned, “I guess I’m just kinda worried about everything. I don’t know what life is going to be like without her. And I’m worried about Stiles too.” 

“I bet. I don’t know what I would do if I lost my mom.” He said. Then, he reached out and grabbed my hand, “Whenever you feel like this again, let me know. You can come over and we can do this again. Whatever you need, I’ll be there.” 

I smiled, a slight blush to my cheeks that I really hoped was hidden in the dark, “Thanks, Derek.” 

“Of course.” He smiled, “It’s what friends do.” 

-

The communication with Beacon Hills was slim to none. And, ya know, that didn’t feel great. I understood that everyone was busy living their lives whether it was being a high school student or fighting supernatural beings or being a supernatural being or the sheriff in a town full of both. But unanswered texts and calls were starting to get to me. 

The ones I got weren’t great either though. Stiles occasionally sent me a long email about the events that had happened since long distance calls weren’t in the phone plan. 

I had learned more about the alpha pack - a blind one, a woman who could definitely use a manicure, a strong man, and twins who could morph into each other. I was almost a little happy I didn’t have to deal with that. 

All the betas were missing except Isaac who had stayed behind. Even if he did get in trouble every now and then. 

And then missing turned into dead. Hearing that Erica was dead really hit me hard. I barely knew the girl, a few moments and quick chats usually didn’t mean that much. But they found her locked in a closet, rotting. It was horrifying. She was a child. She was finally enjoying her life - a new life without seizures and bullying, her parents had taken her to get pictures taken; happy to see that their little girl loved herself for the first time. Now she was gone. 

They found Boyd alive, thankfully. And surprisingly, they had found Derek’s sister: Cora. 

Not forgetting that there were flocks of animals committing mass suicide and kids turning up murdered. It seems home is getting more and more dangerous. Not only was there an alpha pack but there was a creature called a Darach, a dark druid. 

The leader of the alpha pack, Deucalion, was trying to get Derek to join his pack. He also wanted me to join as well, apparently he had been asking where I was. To join, he would have to kill the betas. Derek, who I’m sure was done being manipulated, refused. To keep him safe, Derek kicked Isaac out of the depot to live with Scott. 

Speaking of dead...

Even thousands of miles away, the vision of falling three stories still hurt as much as if I was actually there. A battle between the alphas, Derek and Scott. And honestly, I wasn’t sure if Derek was alive or dead. Every little message I thought to him just echoed in my head. I had cried, tried forcing myself to work through it. But nothing really worked. I still woke up in the middle of the night, naked on the castle grounds having shifted my feelings or else I was instinctually trying to search for him. First it was anger, next it was denial, then more anger. And that was all just last night. 

Hell, not even forgetting to mention the fact that the test Lachlan ran on me was a little more than just a blood panel. They checked for human chorionic gonadotropin hormone aka the pregnancy hormone. And things were just getting better and better. Because it was positive. I am pregnant. And the father may be dead. 

-

Sending a preemptive long distance fee to Stiles’ PayPal account, I called the house phone. It didn’t have caller ID but it was something. Michael didn’t think it was a good idea, however, it was gonna be a cold day in Hell before I listened to his double agent ass. Lachlan thought I deserved closure. And I trusted him more. 

“Stilinski residence.” Stiles’ voice was a little scratchy, but still loud and clear. 

“Stiles, if you hang up on me I swear you will live to regret it. I still have access to your secret YouTube channel.” There was a pause on the other end, then a sigh. 

“Hey (Y/N). I was wondering why I got an email from my PayPal."

 "Is there a reason I've been on everyone's pay no mind list? Because it's starting to piss me off."

"Well... Derek said that we shouldn't worry about or get you stressed out."

"So not talking to me for months is supposed to help?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh... Ya got me there."

I groaned and started tapping my foot, "I just...." My mind seemed to go blank, my heart rate going up. That's not right. I wasn't doing anything to make it spike like this.

"I know, I know. And I'm sorry, I wish I could contact you more. But there's a lot going on here with the alpha pack and Lydia and-and Derek-"

"Shit." I wheezed, sitting down on the bed. My body felt so warm and not in the way it normally would.

"Yeah I know, it's a lot right now-" His voice was drowned out by my senses taking over. It was the familiar warmth of intimacy. But not from me. It was Derek! He was alive. But he was with someone. And that someone-

He was kissing her. Touching her. His heart racing. Her touch set his skin ablaze and nothing else mattered. Not even the wounds on his body that nearly killed him. But all that mattered was her intoxicating touch. The touch of a woman he didn’t know. But her whole being enveloped him.  

I screamed loudly in anger, but behind that anger was so much pain. My chest ached and felt like it was being pulled across the world. I dropped the phone, holding my chest.

"(Y/N)? (Y/N)! What's wrong?!" My breathing was erratic and my thoughts were going wild between what had just happened and what I was thinking and what I had to do from here. I felt so helpless and alone. What could I do?

Then... There was an answer. Maybe it was the stress? Maybe it was my raging hormones? But I had my answer.

I picked the phone back up.

"(Y/N)! Talk to me, what's going on?"

I inhaled and exhaled deeply, "Derek’s alive."

"He is?"

"But not for long." I hung up.

How dare he? HOW COULD HE? AFTER EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH OUR ENTIRE LIVES AND HE JUST- JUST THROWS IT ALL OUT? And for what? Who could have been more important than me? I'm his stupid mate for Christ's sake.

But if he wants to sleep around?

Fine.

Fine.

He could for the next thirteen hours. Because I'm going back to Beacon Hills for the soul purpose of ripping his heart out like he did mine. And if this emotional trauma affected my child? Well, there were repercussions for that too.

-

Michael and Lachlan were in my room, watching me as I threw together a bag to take on the plane. Remarkably, as a member of the Lunar Circle I would get free airfare courtesy of Lachlan mostly because the guy was insanely rich and he agreed with my revenge plot, for the most part.

"Okay, let's think rationally here." Michael said, taking things out of my bag as I was putting them in, "He's a total douche bag for doing this. We all agree. But in your state, I don't think you should fly. I mean anything could happen."

"I can fly until I'm thirty-six weeks along." I said curtly, grabbing my things out of his hands and putting them back in the bag.

"Come on, think about what you're doing-"

"I have thought about it. And I'm going to kill him."

Michael looked back at Lachlan who had his arms crossed over my chest, only observing.

"A little help here, Praetor McLeod?"

Lachlan shrugged, "Seems justified to me."

"Murder? Murder seems justified to you." He asked incredulously.

"It's the werewolf way." Lachlan said simply.

"Thank you, Lachlan." I smiled.

"Anytime."

"Okay, what about this?" Michael stood in front of my path to my bag, "Murdering him seems like a great idea right now, I totally get it. But-but if you do that, it will weigh heavily on your conscience."

"The Lunar Circle has excellent insurance, including therapy." Lachlan chimed in.

I moved Michael out of the way, "Duly noted."

Michael sputtered, "And-and your baby? What about your baby? That's their dad."

"Their dad who decided to stick his penis in another woman." I raised my eyebrows at him, "That one? Yeah, what a stand up guy."

“But you love him. Don’t you think killing him-”

“Michael!” I slammed my suitcase shut, “Shut up.” I turned and faced both of them, “You’re right, okay? I do love him, which is the worst part. I hate him so much but I still love him. I dedicated my life to him and I thought he had dedicated himself to me. I was wrong.” I zipped the bag and made my way out the door, “I’ll be back at the end of the week.”

-

Getting on the plane didn’t take long. Relatively short lines, quick ticket, fast boarding. Like someone was looking out for me as I went to kick Derek's ass. Becoming alpha to Derek's pack was starting to sound better and better as the pain continued to radiate through my body. Eventually, I just felt numb.

The people on the plane were nice. I sat next to an older gentleman who slept for the most part so I could whisper profanities under my breath. The stewardess had been kind, making sure I had enough to drink. It seems someone had tipped them off I was pregnant, probably Michael. The guy had been a nervous wreck since he found out I was pregnant. He wouldn’t even let me train, not like he had much of a choice in what I did. But he sure knew how to annoy me out of a room. Lachlan had been supportive, talking about adding an additional room onto mine for a nursery. I told that it wasn’t necessary since I wouldn’t be staying in Scotland that long. 

After the plane landed, I was met by a very tired looking Stiles. We didn’t speak much, just began the drive back home. 

"So...." He swallowed, his eyes darted from me to the road ahead, "Pregnant," He chuckled nervously, "That-that's great! I'm so happy for you.” He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. He was hesitating, he wanted to say something else, “Uh...Speaking of-” I groaned loudly, another lecture. 

He ignored my dramatics, “Maybe you shouldn't kill him. That's not good for the baby..." 

“It wasn’t good for the baby when he decided to take our bond, step on it and rub it in the dirt.” He was silent, but not for long.

"Yeah-but you see we kinda need Derek to help with some big bads. Like Deucalion and the Darach and ya know, other stuff." 

"I remember you telling me about it. I tried to do some research but Lachlan said that we didn’t have too much information on them.” 

“Well that’s not too helpful.” 

-

We made it back to the house at sunset, which was perfect timing. The cover of night would be great to conceal me in the dark. Sure, he would smell my scent but he would have no idea where I was coming from. I pulled on the handle on the door but stared at it when it didn’t budge. Still locked. I looked back at Stiles. He looked tired, a wreck.

“Would you just... See dad before you cover yourself in blood? He was really excited to hear you were coming home.” Like he always seemed to be, Stiles’ was right. I should see Uncle Noah. 

“I will. I need to rest anyway. Besides, I can’t kill him on an empty stomach.” I winked.

“You terrify me.” He unlocked the doors. We got out just in time for Uncle Noah to jog down the driveway. 

“There she is!” He grinned, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tight. 

“I missed you so much.” I said into his shirt, giving him a soft squeeze. He pulled away and looked over me, “Look at you.” He motioned to my stomach that looked more like I was bloated than a fetus growing inside of me, “This-this is... Mhm. Exciting!” 

I chuckled, “Thanks. Very mhm.” 

“Uh, you hungry?” 

“Starving.”

-

Dinner had been extremely awkward, the conversation mostly coming back to the child growing inside of me. Lots of questions from both of them. Mostly how I hadn't called. In actuality I had called approximately twenty times a day with no answer from anyone per Derek's request. Unfortunately for him, his requests were now being put on the back burner. I excused myself to my room.

My room was kept the same, I'm certain no one had been inside besides Uncle Noah. And from the ruffled blankets, maybe Stiles. Back when we were kids, we used to sneak scary movies and had to sleep in a huddled pile because we were too scared to sleep by ourselves. 

I grabbed a jacket and opened up my window, I was half way out of it when my door opened. Stiles stood in the doorway. We stared at each other for a minute. 

“I may regret saying this one day because I don’t care for Derek, but don’t kill him.” He said, “Kick the living shit out of him, sure. Get in a few punches for me. But don’t kill him. We need him.” Of course, all it took was Stiles to talk me off the murder-ledge. 

“I won’t kill him.” I smiled, “I’ll be home soon.”

-

Odds are, with the alpha pack threat Derek will have the depot protected. What he failed to remember was that the most dangerous being in the world had a key to every place in the depot. I simply walked in the front door. Almost like he was expecting me.

His scent was so strong, like the forest after it rained. It made this ball of emotion well up in my chest bringing me back to all the love and memories we had shared together. Not all the memories were life and death. They weren't all fights. Some days, Derek and I would curl up and bed and never leave, only grabbing food here and there. His smile would light up his whole face, sometimes it would even reach his green eyes and make them sparkle. When he would nap, he would lay his head on my chest and sleep, like he was finally at peace with himself and the world. That was the person I loved. 

I walked through the main room at the depot, getting to the stairs. The worst part here was the pictures, us together, the pack. I want to make the depot less abandoned and more homey for the betas to have a place to go and relax. Some of the pictures had turned heads at the photo developing counter (but I had managed to convince them that it was for a theater class). The worst part was that on my way here Boyd had been killed. If only I had been here soon, if only I had been here at all. Only two of the pack remained, Isaac and Jackson who was no longer a killer lizard thanks to Lydia. Say what you will about Peter Hale but sometimes he knew what he was talking about.  

If Derek knew I was here, he hadn’t tried to make a move. Smart. 

After wandering a bit, I finally decided to face the music. I found him hunched over his desk in the main office room. Rain was dancing against the fluorescent lights from the street lamps down below. He hadn’t looked up at me the whole time that I walked up to him. He felt defeat and alone. He had lost everything. He was looking down at his desk, his hands laced together. He looked up slightly, more looking at my shirt than my face. 

“I...” His voice was soft and quiet, something unlike the loud, booming man I was used to, “I messed up.” 

“Yeah, you did.” It was silent for a moment, then he spoke again. 

“Who’s with you?” He asked, his eyes scanning the room. 

I narrowed my eyes at him, “No one.” 

“Then why do I hear another heart-” His eyes widened. He stared directly at my stomach. I thought I almost saw his ears perk up. 

“Are you...”

“I am. I’m having a baby. Emphasis on the ‘I’m’.” I really hadn’t wanted to do much talking, I really hadn’t planned on saying anything besides obscenities and screaming at him. He stood up from the desk and quickly came around, he reached his hand out towards my stomach but I smacked it away. 

“You have no right to touch me. Especially when I can still smell her stench on you.” I scrunched up my nose and sneered. 

“Look,” He licked his lips, “I can’t give you a good answer or an excuse-”

“Good, because I don’t want one.” I glared. 

He looked at me a moment then continued, “I don’t know why I did what I did. Something just came over me. Please tell me you believe me.” He put his hand on my shoulder. 

He really should have taken a lesson out of his own book. With amazing speed, I grabbed him by the throat and threw him across the room. When he landed, my features shifted and my eyes glowed red. He groaned, holding at his waist. That’s where he had been injured in the alpha fight, it had healed but it was still sore. 

“I don’t want your apologies.” I growled, walking towards him, “I want you to feel what I felt. The pain and the suffering. The violation...” I chuckled darkly, “You know that I felt her hands on you? Touching the most private parts of your body that only I was supposed to feel. Do you know how disgusting I felt afterwards? I felt used and dirty and it wasn’t even my body.” I stepped on his chest with my boot to keep him down on the ground. He still wasn’t looking at me. I snarled, grabbing him by his shirt and shoving him against the concrete pillar he landed on. 

“Look at me!” I roared, “You broke me into a million little pieces. You didn’t answer my calls.” I punched him. 

“You kept me hidden in the dark about Erica’s death.” I hit him again. 

“You wouldn’t let my family communicate with me and when they did they couldn’t even tell me everything that was going on. I was begging to hear from someone, anyone, I was all alone!” I threw him across the room. 

“You blocked my number two months ago.” I stalked over to him, ignoring the tears running down my face, “I couldn’t even hear your voice on your goddamn voicemail!” I got down on my knees and grabbed his chin so that his eyes met mine. 

“LOOK AT ME!” I screamed, “Look what you did to me! For months you’ve been using our bond for your own strength, strength that used used to heal and have sex with another woman!” My voice was starting to crack as all the things I had thought about were coming out, “See how much my heart broke when I felt how happy you were with someone other than me.” He was finally looking at me. The worst thing though was that his eyes were full of so much love for me, that special twinkle that Peter said only happened when he looked at me. I wasn’t angry anymore, I was devastated. 

“I came here to kill you.” I sniffled, my features shifting back to normal, “I wanted to tear your heart out. But I can’t... I can’t because I love you and I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I shouldn’t have hurt you, but I want to because of what you did.” As the anger fogged cleared, I realized that I was just as bad as he was. 

“You had every right to hurt me-”

“No, I didn’t. I shouldn’t have hurt you. I’m sorry.” I looked down at my hands, “I felt so out of control. I thought I was getting better at it.” 

“You were.” Derek sat up slowly, “It’s the baby. All of your emotions are going to be heightened. More than usual.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” I made my way towards the exit, not caring that he was calling after me, running to catch up to me. I just left him there. Even when I got home and he tried to get into my window, I just ignored his pleading. What I did wasn’t right, I shouldn’t have hit him or punched him. I was just so angry and that anger clouded my vision. 

Weren’t we a pair - one cheats and the other goes into a blind rage. Perfect. 

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

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[sondrawr]

Where Monsters Dwell

“What kind of place is this?” “The kind of place where fairy tales live and monsters dwell.” —Smoke Bitten

Adam Hauptman is intimately acquainted with fear. It was born in a jungle in Vietnam and never quite left him. Even in his happiest moments—of which there were many, especially recently—it lurks in the fringes. Lying in wait.

When he sees Mercy broken on the burnt grass, seemingly dead, he feels that fear claw up his chest and strangle him. He blacks out for god knows how long, his worst fear playing like a feedback loop in his mind. It isn’t until Samuel, still wolf, bites him in the arm that he finally comes to.

That’s how Adam finds himself, naked and half covered in blood, cradling Mercy’s body. His pack huddles around him, worry creasing their faces. He feels the stink of his fear billowing out of him like smoke, choking everyone around him.

“She’s alive, damn it!” Gary finally manages to gasp. He is panting, voice raspy. How long had he been trying to tell him?

Adam reaches down into himself and feels for that thread-thin bond that connects him to his heart’s mate. It’s there, flickering. He grasps it in both hands, wrapping it around his wrist, anchoring himself to sanity. To her.

Mercy survives that night, like she has done so often before. But one day her luck will run out; his fear whispers the words he knows too well. She’s not like Coyote—damn the man—who resurrects like the sun every morning.

Adam hates beyond telling that her unconquerable spirit is wrapped in such an insubstantial thing as human skin and bones.

:::

Adam first met Mercy Thompson in Montana when she was about thirteen years old. He was up on business, Alpha of a New Mexico pack and newly engaged to a blonde, 22-year-old coed named Christy.

Mercy at the time, before the deaths of her foster parents robbed her of childhood, was still all scraped knees and awkward arms of adolescence. Jutting chin and slumped shoulders—defiant and bored.

There was a ghost of a bruise on her face from the accident where she wrapped Bran’s brand new sports car around a tree. He had heard of that incident within hours of it happening, as he suspected most wolves did, even across the ocean. Mercy’s antics were already famous.

She sat on a chair outside Bran’s office, the scuffed toe of her sneaker knocking into a leggy console table nearby. Looking at him sidelong, she had the air of someone waiting their turn at the principal’s office.

When the door finally opened to let him in, he asked, “What did she do this time?” He stepped around Bran to enter the office.

Bran’s mouth pressed flat in an irritated line, while Charles smirked in the corner. He was the one who answered: “Something about chocolate Easter bunnies.”

“She poisoned a group of boys at school,” Bran snapped, closing the door a little too roughly behind Adam.

“Really?” That seemed a bit extreme for the young girl, whose reputation for pranks were mostly harmless, if effective.

“She injected several chocolate Easter bunnies with ipecac,” Charles explained. “And then warned the boys not to steal them, or ‘they would pay.’ They, of course, did not listen. Apparently the boys had been in the habit of stealing the younger kids’ candy for a while.”

Adam laughed despite himself.

“She wants for discipline,” Bran said with a frown.

“Mercy has plenty of discipline,” Charles answered. “It’s the focus of it, that’s the problem. Her interests are too narrow and she has an overdeveloped sense of justice.”

“And her foster father can’t do anything?” asked Adam.

Charles smirked. “If Mercy were a wolf, I wouldn’t be surprised if she outranked him. Any good she does is out of love for Bryan and his mate, not because of fear or intimidation.”

That was, Adam realized, the principle by which Mercy lived her life. It was the driving force of all she did for her family and friends—the pack she forged for herself, not with magic ties but by fierce loyalty and reckless love.

:::

It has been months since she recovered from her devastating injuries. Injuries that Samuel said at first would be the end of her. Her survival is nothing short of a miracle and, Adam suspects, a bit of Coyote’s magic.

Now night holds new terrors for him. He lays in bed at night just listening to the steady beating of his mate’s fragile, mortal heart. Dreading the day when it would inevitably stop.

:::

Mercy was twenty-three when he next saw her in the middle of a Washington desert. Alone in the world but still causing trouble. The first order of business for his newly arrived pack was eliminating the rogue wolves who were harassing her. Saved without so much as a thank you.

Was it coincidence or conspiracy that brought her to the Tri-Cities when Bran had ordered Adam to move his pack north from New Mexico? Coincidence on her part probably, but definitely not Bran’s, whose machinations were wide reaching and infamous.

That Adam bought the property behind her trailer was pure, ornery spite on his part.

She had marched up to him on the first day of construction and stuck a finger in his chest. “Tell Bran that I don’t need a babysitter,” she told him, eyes flashing. “I’ve done fine for eight years without his help—I’m done with wolves.”

“Good to know,” he answered, because he knew that response would drive her crazy, and turned back toward the construction of his pack house. He imagined her making faces at the back of his head and smiled.

:::

He kisses a line down her body, pausing at the shiny-pink of each new scar. Scars she earned in defense of his pack—in defense of him.

And he knows his love is killing her.

Oh god, would her life be better without him? Yes, the fear—the monster—inside him says. Yessss. We will kill herrrrr.

Panic like bile rises in his throat, and he gulps it down. Beneath him Mercy tenses, sensing his change of mood. He murmurs quietly, nuzzling her, lulling her back into softness underneath him. His lovely Mercy. His mate, for who he would willingly lay down his soul, let alone his body.

Whom he would kill for. Without question.

This. This will be his goodbye, then.

He presses a kiss to her inner knee, to her neck, and then presses into her, drawing a sigh from her lips. With his own he continues his careful ministrations, whispering a benediction against every mark on her skin that dares to be there because of him.

:::

His touch is a disease. His touch is a curse.

He can’t bear lying next to her and not touching her, so he doesn’t. He stays late in his office. He sleeps in the spare guest room. It’s killing him, but every day she’s alive, and it’s worth it.

It’s killing him that she wanders the house with those empty eyes, a line of concern between her brows, the hurt and confusion that clearly marks her face.

But at least she is alive. And soon, it will be over.

:::

Adam’s favorite memory of Mercy—the one he thinks of before he puts the gun to his head—is of her in the wedding dress too fancy for the church reception that his pack and daughter put together. She’s dancing with Jesse, at the heart of the people he loved most in the world, swaying to a country song blasting from the church’s ancient speaker system. And she turns to him and smiles.

He can see it as clear as if it were right in front of him. There was so much love in her face then. How different are those faces, the one from his memory and the one Mercy wears at this moment, when she finally sees him for the monster he is.

But she is not disgusted and horrified, as he feared she would be. She is furious. She throws a barrage of words against him, her unfettered anger like a battering ram.

In the years Adam had known and loved Mercy, he has become intimately acquainted with her many moods. Sneaky, playful, worried, content. They were as familiar to him as the feel of Mercy’s calloused hands in his.

Her white hot rage was something entirely new. And through clenched teeth she seethes a truth so utterly profound, that in that moment it shatters the madness that grips him. He lowers the gun in his hand.

Three simple words they had spoken to each other again and again. Whispered in passion and in play. Promised—sworn.

“You are mine.”

:::

He believes her. And for now, so does the monster.

You are mine.

You are mine.

You are mine.

He follows her home, to bed. And though he can’t make love to her like he wants, he worships her body with oil and hands and mouth.

It isn’t until she is completely sated and asleep when the monster rips through his body again. A monster that he now realizes is the ugly marriage of his own fear and self loathing, and Elizaveta’s death curse.

But instead of hurting his mate like Adam fears, the monster scrabbles out from beneath the covers and huddles in the corner of the room. It sits there watching his mate, the covers rising and falling to the rhythm of her breathing.

Within a few minutes, the even breaths stutter and stop. “Adam?” she calls, voice rough with sleep.

It’s the monster that growls in response, and Adam waits. It didn’t work, he thinks. The monster is still here. Will you finally leave me like you’re supposed to?

And still he remembers her promises: You are mine. You are mine. You are mine.

“For fuck’s sake,” she says sounding annoyed. “Get back to bed. I’m cold.”

Oh, my Mercy.

After a moment, the monster cautiously approaches the bed, and it creaks under the sudden weight. It wraps itself around her, tucking her head under its chin. She draws up the covers over them both, and they settle to sleep.

For the first time in a long time Adam prays. Let this be enough. This love. Let me be enough to keep her safe.

If God is kind and he is lucky, maybe it will be.

Maybe the monster will love her, too.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

I love your fics so much, thank you for keeping this ship alive! I really appreciate your hard work and I love your characterisations for James and Sirius. There's no pressure to write this if you're busy, but a deathly hallows fic would be cool. Sirius survived the battle at the Ministry. Voldemort brought James and Regulus back (to use them as bait or to torture them, any reason is fine) but Peter has been guarding them? Mainly Sirius' reaction to them being alive? Probably angst then fluff :)

Naturally, Sirius's first reaction was to kill him. Considering how many years he'd been thinking about murdering Pettigrew, it wasn't exactly a surprise that that was his first reaction. And then he had some time to think about it, and that initial reaction didn't go away.

Unsurprisingly, Harry was the one holding him back. Rather, Harry was in his way, and Sirius wasn't going to risk hurting him. "Sirius, don't," Harry said as he slid in front of him, facing Pettigrew. It was a good thing there was no one else in this building, otherwise they'd be incredibly suspicious of what was happening between all of them.

"Move," Sirius said tensely.

"No. What are you doing here?" he asked Pettigrew.

"I- I-" Pettigrew swallowed thickly, looking as nervous as ever.

He was saved from having to continue when a head peeked around him. "Oh good," he said flatly. "Another Potter. That's what the world needed more of."

"Regulus?" Sirius said numbly.

Harry glanced back at him, looking as bewildered as Sirius felt. "Regulus as in your brother?"

"That would be me," Regulus confirmed, stepping half out from behind Pettigrew. He was then pushed further to the side so an extremely familiar figure could reveal himself with a wide grin.

"Sorry Wormtail," James said, not sounding very sorry at all, "but you were taking too long. Dark magic, Voldemort's got some strange ideas, and a nice heaping of something I'm going to call divine intervention. Like, seriously, if he knew he could resurrect people, wouldn't he have picked people that supported him?"

"He never was very smart on the small scale," Regulus said.

Sirius felt like his legs were going to give out. "What the hell is going on?"

James blinked at him. "Didn't I just say? Voldemort resurrected us. Still iffy on the why of it, but-"

"Aside from Dumbledore, he considers Harry and Sirius the biggest threat to his power," Pettigrew interrupted quietly. "With Dumbledore gone, he wanted to get rid of them next. He figured he could lure them into an ambush with the two of you as bait and then there would be no one to oppose him."

"And we're supposed to believe that you suddenly had a change of heart?" Harry asked.

"I'm not asking for anyone to trust me."

"Then what are you wanting in exchange for getting them out?" Sirius asked, because there was no way he was bringing them here purely out of the goodness of his heart-- not after he'd cared for Voldemort in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts and helped him get back to his full strength.

"Someplace to hide," he answered immediately.

"You should-" Harry started to say, but he cut himself off before he could finish. He'd probably been about to say that if Pettigrew wanted protection, he should go to Dumbledore for it, not them. Harry was having a hard time dealing with it. Despite having more misadventures in school and having to deal with so many issues by himself, he'd still looked to Dumbledore as the wizard with all the answers-- the one that could save them, just as he'd saved the Wizarding World from Grindelwald all those years ago.

Sirius knew the feeling. Even for all the mistakes Dumbledore had made, he'd been a hell of a lot better at managing the situation than anyone else. Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "There's an old Black property you can stay at. Warded to hell and back, if you want to stay there, but after that you're on your own." It wasn't as good as Grimmauld Place had been, but that location was compromised, what with Snape and everything. The entire situation with Snape didn't sit right with him, but he didn't have the time to think about it now, and he hadn't had the time for weeks, and probably wouldn't have time for a while longer. Figuring out what was going on in Snape’s head wasn’t exactly a high priority for him.

Pettigrew nodded vigorously. He'd probably hole up there and not leave for a decade, or until he heard news that the war was over.

Sirius glanced at James, eyes lingering, then Regulus. What was he supposed to do about this? The obvious answer is that they'd stay with him and everyone else at the Black Manor-- Merlin knew it had the space to fit everyone-- but he should make sure it was them, right? Only he had no idea how to do that. It was supposed to be a rule of magic that no one could be resurrected. With a lot of heavy spellwork, people could be charmed to look like them, but voices were hard to pin down. There was a piece of a person's essence in their voice, which is why polyjuice was so time consuming to brew.

But their voices had been perfect. Maybe that was authentication enough. "Safe to say neither of you have grand plans?" Sirius asked, a touch flatly.

"Nope," James said cheerfully. "Open schedule. I'll be back to kicking arse as soon as I get a wand again."

"...You don't have a wand?" Sirius asked. It shouldn't surprise him, but it did. Mostly he was worried at how vulnerable they were without wands.

"I wasn't exactly brought back to life with all my possessions intact."

Sirius glanced at Regulus, wondering if he was going to answer, but he looked to the side shiftily. He did have things he wanted to do, but he wasn't going to say it. Sirius was going to choose to believe that that wasn't about him, but about Pettigrew's presence. He made a mental note to ask Regulus about it when they had a moment alone together. "We'll see about getting you wands tomorrow." He'd do it tonight if it wasn't so late, but buying a new wand wasn't exactly a two minute endeavor. "C'mon, we'll drop Pettigrew off and then go get some sleep."

"That's it?" Regulus asked. "You're accepting that it's us just like that?"

"I've got my reasons, Reggie," Sirius said, just because he knew Regulus hated that nickname.

Sure enough, there was a familiar twist to his mouth, but it eased when he caught the smile on Sirius's. Then he rolled his eyes with his usual long suffering sigh. It was strange that it had been so long since he'd been alive, and even longer since they were on good terms with each other, but this was as familiar as breathing.

Sirius winked at James, who stifled a laugh. "Let's go."

*

Pettigrew thanked him for the place to stay, and Sirius pretended like he still didn't want him dead. Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of murdering someone right now, and he would settle for never seeing him again-- a courtesy extended because he had brought James and Regulus back; if Lily had been with them, Sirius might have considered actually forgiving him, but Pettigrew only operated out of fear, and Sirius would never be able to trust him.

The handful of other people staying in the Manor were already in bed, so Sirius was saved from having to explain the situation.

Regulus stood awkwardly in the corner, not sure what to make of being here with people he barely knew in a place he'd only visited during holidays as a child before their father succumbed entirely to paranoia and moved them to Grimmauld Place permanently.

James had some getting-to-know-you conversation with Harry before the kid got so tired that Sirius sent him to bed, and then James barreled into him, hugging him so tight it hurt. Regulus ambled off to his old room without saying goodbye, only making eye contact for a couple awkward seconds with Sirius before he left; they hadn't said anything to each other, and they'd probably make it through most of tomorrow morning without breaking that silence.

"Merlin, Sirius, I missed you so much," he whispered.

"Were you- were you aware of time passing?" It was a horrifying thought, that he might’ve been in limbo for that long.

"No, I meant- erm, y'know, me and Lily were in hiding, so I hadn't seen you for months." James pulled back a little, letting his arms drop to the side. "I imagine you've had it a hell of a lot worse, though. I mean, it's been... what, fifteen years?"

"Something like that," Sirius said, even though he knew it to the day. Moony said that he was obsessed, but he disagreed. He'd spent so long in Azkaban, letting the days meld together into a massive, horrible blur. Keeping track of how much of his life he'd lived without James was just a way of keeping tabs on that lost time.

"What've you been up to? I want to hear everything I missed."

"Not much to tell," Sirius hedged, knowing as he said it that it wouldn't be enough to deter him.

"I missed fifteen years and you expect me to believe that there isn't much to tell? If you don't want to talk about yourself, then how about Harry as a kid? It seems like he's turned out pretty great."

No one had told him. That made sense. After all, who would've mentioned it? Pettigrew wasn't about to explain everything, and presumably, the only other person he'd talked to was Regulus, who was similarly ignorant of what had happened. "James..."

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"I didn't raise Harry."

"What are you talking about? You're his godfather, of course you raised him."

Sirius sighed, walking over to the couch and collapsing onto it. "Did Pettigrew tell you why he was in a position to save you tonight?"

James opened his mouth, then closed it again. "No," he said quietly. He sat on the couch next to Sirius, close enough that he wouldn't have to shift his weight very much to make contact. "I assumed he was undercover or summat, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me that's wrong."

"Mate, he was your secret keeper in the first war. He betrayed you to Voldemort."

James didn't say anything, looking like that hadn't occurred to him before.

"I went after him because of it, wanting revenge. When I finally found him, he blew up the street. Cut off his finger and transformed so he could run. I got blamed for the deaths and went to Azkaban."

"What?" James breathed, aghast.

Sirius ignored that and rubbed his palms together just to give him something to do with his hands. "I escaped a couple years ago. Got my name cleared of the crime last month. There's... there's really not much to tell. I haven't done anything except been on the run and tried to help Harry when I could. Not that he needed it. He's a bright kid." He paused, letting that sink in. The Azkaban thing, not that Harry was smart-- the latter didn't require time to get used to. Then, "How long were you and Regulus back for?"

"I dunno, maybe a week? We talked a lot, got to know each other a little. He's pretty funny when he wants to be. You were really in Azkaban?"

"Is that really so hard to believe?"

"Yes. Where the hell was Moony?"

"Imagine, for a moment, a werewolf trying to force the Ministry into letting go a suspected member of the Death Eaters."

"How could anyone think you were a Death Eater?"

"The name Black carries a lot of baggage, mate. You know that."

James's expression made it clear that he did know that, and he thought it was shite; personally, Sirius agreed, but he didn't see the point in saying so aloud. James didn't push it. Whether it was because he didn't want to think about it or he knew that Sirius didn't want to talk about it, he left it alone, and Sirius was grateful. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Yeah, of course."

The first thing James did when the door to the bedroom closed was kiss Sirius. The second thing he did, immediately after, was go rifling through the clothes so he could change into something of Sirius's. Even when he'd had his own wardrobe, he'd still often chosen to wear Sirius's things. He'd always said that they were more comfortable, but Sirius had known it was because James liked the way he smelled. Even now, with perfectly legitimate reasons to need to change and specifically to wear Sirius's things, Sirius would be willing to bet that James's motivation remained unchanged.

For his part, Sirius was stood, frozen by the door, a hand brought up to his mouth, because James had kissed him so easily, like a good night peck to remind Sirius that he loved him, and it wasn't something that Sirius had felt in over a decade. He was as mind-numbingly in love with James today as he had been yesterday and the last time that he'd seen him alive. James had taken his feelings as a given, and he'd been right.

*

Sirius was the first one in the house up, trying to figure out the logistics of getting two people wands without letting anyone see their faces. A few cosmetic spells to change distinctive features would be the best option, but a lot of places had protections in place so that people couldn't do that now. A safety precaution for them, but a minor one. Mostly, it was an annoyance since it prevented Sirius from doing things the easy way, and it didn't do much to stop the wizards that wanted to hurt people. Polyjuice wasn't so easily circumvented, but they didn't have very much of that and Sirius would prefer to save it for an emergency-- not to mention part of it was already being saved for Bill and Fleur's wedding so that Harry could attend. It's not like he could just decide to brew more with everything else going on.

He was still trying to figure it out when Regulus walked into the room. Without a good morning or a nod hello, he said, "Do you know what a horcrux is?"

Sirius had rather forgotten how blunt his brother could be, as well as how light his footsteps were. He jerked so hard in surprise that he knocked over his cup and spilt tea all over the table. "Why do you know what a horcrux is?"

"The Dark Lord has at least one. Possibly more. We're never going to survive this if-"

"It was you," Sirius said, realising it all at once. Harry had told him about the locket and the cave he'd gone to with Dumbledore, and he'd said that there was a note inside, but he hadn't shown it to Sirius; he'd only summarised what it said. "You died stealing Slytherin's locket."

Regulus blinked at him, not betraying the shock he was surely feeling. "Yes."

"Where is it? Or did you manage to destroy it?"

A pause, then he shook his head. "I left it with Kreacher. I don't know if he was ever successful."

"You would've left it with him," Sirius said grumpily.

"You should be more kind to him."

"He believed in all our parents' blood purist rubbish, and you want me to be nice to him?"

"You were always cruel."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "After I get you a wand, will you go over to Grimmauld Place and see if he still has it?"

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because he bloody hates me, and I hate him. I'll go with you if you care so buggering much, but he won't tell me shite if I go there alone."

Regulus stared at him for a moment, then repeated, quietly, "I still think you could've been nicer to him."

"For fuck's sake, is this really an argument you want to have with me?" Sirius asked. "Consider, for a moment, what you used to believe and think if I'll ever be willing to concede to you about something, even if you're right."

Regulus continued to look at him. He'd always done that: stared silently and waited. Sometimes, even when their parents had asked him a direct question, he'd stayed quiet.

Not so suddenly, but rather as part of a growing emotion that had been building from the first moment he saw his brother alive and well again, he felt like dirt. What was he supposed to do about it? The answer was, obviously, change how he was acting. But he didn't know how else to act. Even having James back wasn't enough to fix everything. It made Sirius feel a hell of a lot better, no doubt, but it didn't actually help him know what to do. Creepy as it was to think, James was basically a kid. It's not like James would have all the answers he needed for how to win this, how to save Harry from any further harm, or how to help everyone that needed it.

"Your last wand was ash, right?" Sirius asked.

Regulus nodded.

"I'll try and get you something similar."

"You're not taking me with you?"

"It wouldn't be safe. James is going to stay here too," he added, thinking that that might make Regulus feel better. After all, this time, it wasn't personal. Sirius wasn't going to take anyone with him when he left today because the risk would be too great. For that matter, the sooner he got it done, the better. He cleaned up his mess and headed for the door. "I'll be back soon."

"You're leaving now?"

Sirius paused and turned back to face him. "The sooner you have a wand, the safer you'll be. I'll only be a minute."

Regulus didn't say anything. He just stared.

"What?" Sirius prodded.

"Nothing," Regulus said immediately, but that was clearly a lie.

Sirius waited for him to change his mind, but he didn't. "Fine."

*

"Are you alright?" James asked when they were alone again. Not alone by happenstance, but because Sirius had gone to the loo, and James, with his usual disregard for normal societal boundaries, had followed him. At least he had waited until Sirius was done to talk.

If it was anyone else, Sirius would say that of course he was alright. But this was James, and James would know in a flat second if he was lying. "It's wartime, mate. No one's alright."

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Calling me mate."

"Because you are?"

"Yeah, but it's just us here. We don't need to hide our relationship from anyone."

Sirius chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to think of how he should phrase what was on his mind.

"Is this about Lily?" James asked, because he could understand how that would complicate matters, especially with Harry around.

"No. It's- it's about you."

James swallowed thickly and tried to keep a brave face. "If you don't love me anymore, you can-"

"Don't be stupid," Sirius cut in, "of course I still love you."

"Then what's wrong?"

"You're... for Merlin's sake, James, you're practically a kid. You're only a couple years older than Harry now."

"Okay," James said slowly. "Does this bother you or are you worried because you think it should bother you?"

Sirius opened his mouth to say that yes, it did bother him, then he paused. "I- well, I don't know. I've been too busy for introspection."

"Either make the time or let it go. It's just me, Sirius. We've always got each other; we always will."

"You say 'always' a lot for a bloke that was dead a month ago."

"If me being dead for ages didn't change how you felt, I don't see what that has to do with anything."

Sirius chuckled. It was such a James thing to say that he couldn't help himself. "Fine. If it makes anyone think I'm being a pedo though, you have to explain it to them."

"I will. Happily. They'll have to sit there while I talk about you. Do you know how long it's been since people couldn't leave while I do that?"

"I'd imagine it's been a while."

"And you'd be right. Lily said that if I did it one more time, she was going to make me cook every night instead of switching."

"I thought you liked cooking," Sirius said. That's what James had always told him when Sirius said that he didn't have to cook him breakfast.

"I do, but not every single night for someone that's such a bloody picky eater. Not blaming Lily, but she had a whole list of things she couldn't eat. You would eat anything and everything I put in front of you and say it was delicious."

"It was delicious."

"And that's one of the many reasons I keep you around," James said with a grin.

*

"Reg, Regulus, buddy," James said, putting an arm around his shoulders and steering him away. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Don't think what's a good idea?" Regulus asked, frowning.

"You and Harry."

"Me and Harry what?"

"Dating."

"Okay?" he said slowly, clearly confused about where James was getting that from. It's not like he was attracted to Harry, and Harry certainly wasn't attracted to him either. "I'll keep that in mind, but you know that you're only sort of his father, right?"

"Excuse you, I'm definitely his father."

"A father that's the same age as an older brother," Regulus said.

"True as that might be, it doesn't change what I think of the two of you."

"There's nothing there to be thinking about, but okay." Regulus slipped out from under his arm and quickly left the room.

James huffed and stomped over to the study, where Sirius was trying to figure out the logistics of how many people could reasonably fit inside the Manor. James had offered to help, but Sirius threw him out-- with a laugh-- when James had sat on his lap and kept distracting him with kisses and invitations for more fun things they could be doing. "Your brother is being irresponsible," he said as he barged in.

"Yeah, he does that. I thought you knew. Or did the horcrux hunt not clue you in?"

"I think he fancies Harry," James said, hoping to get Sirius on his side.

Sirius snorted.

Maybe Sirius wasn't on his side; there had to be a first time for everything, he supposed.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, love."

"You think Regulus doesn't fancy him?"

"I think that whether or not Regulus fancies Harry is immaterial because he'll never act on it, and if Harry is the one to initiate some sort of relationship, then it'll hardly be Regulus's fault if it all goes to shite."

James blinked once, twice, then said, "I don't think I like your parenting method here."

"Oh, you're right, I should go meddle in both of their love lives. That'll get them to like me." Sirius stretched his arms over his head and James considered abandoning his protection of Harry to give sitting in Sirius's lap another try. "So long as they aren't trying to hurt each other, I'm staying out of it."

"That doesn't sound like the meddling Sirius Black that I fell in love with."

"Tragically, I grew up," Sirius said, throwing a smirk in his direction.

James was weak, so he walked over and leaned against the desk, facing Sirius. "Tragic, indeed. I mean, look at you. You went and got horribly handsome while I still look like a kid. So unfair."

"Life's not fair," Sirius said, leaning forward and putting an arm around James's hips to pull him closer.

"I can see you're very upset about that on my behalf," James said flatly.

"Oh, extremely."

"Are you going to do anything to cheer me up?"

"The fact that I haven't kicked you out again should let you know the answer to that," Sirius said, pulling James's shirt up enough that he could kiss at his newly bared skin.

*

James sniffled, rubbing at his face with a sleeve to get rid of the tears before they could fall down his cheeks and make them itch.

"James?" Harry asked, since calling him 'Dad' had felt weird to both of them.

James glanced over at him, then rubbed harder at his face. "Hey. What's up?"

"Are you okay?" Harry asked. He pulled up a chair next to him.

"Yeah, just- y'know. Thinking about Lily. She would've loved all this," he said, giving a wave to encompass the room, the house, and everyone in it. "She always thought it was stupid that we split up. She always wanted a big family... friends around all the time."

Harry was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, it wasn't what James expected. "After being told about you and Sirius, I always wondered if you ever loved her. But you did, didn't you?"

James nodded. "It wasn't simple, and if she was here now, I'm sure things would be very different, but I do love her."

“Ah,” he said, then he shifted his weight awkwardly, unsure what to do with himself. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"Nah, you're fine, Haz. On the topic of love, has anyone caught your eye?” James gave another wipe at his eyes since he wasn’t crying anymore but still had some stray tears that had leaked free while he was talking to Harry. “Now that you're not, y'know, running from people that want you dead."

Harry grinned at him. "If there was, I wouldn't tell you," he said, jokingly giving his shoulder a shove.

"Oh, I see how it is. Pick on your old man."

"Yeah, you're so, so old, at the ripe age difference of four years."

"That's right. Respect your elders, you young whipper snapper."

*

James shifted so that his ear was pressed over Sirius's heart. His head rose and fell with every breath Sirius took. He'd been back for a year now, and he still wasn't tired of this. He acted casually when his death was mentioned, but every morning he got to wake up next to Sirius was a miracle. A miracle he never tired of.

Moony joked that he was clingy, and Regulus said that he was so over-the-top in love with Sirius because they were practically the same person so it was little more than an exercise in narcissism. James didn't care what anybody else said, because getting this for a year had been more than he thought he'd ever get. Getting it for the rest of his life? Definitely a miracle.

He knew the minute that Sirius woke because his breathing changed, and a few seconds later, Sirius's fingers threaded through his hair. "You awake?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Nightmare?"

"Yeah." Nothing noteworthy. He didn't even remember it. All he knew was that it had scared him awake, and the only thing that could calm him down was wrapping himself around Sirius. It was a solution he hardly minded.

"You want to talk about it?" Sirius offered.

"No. I don't remember what it was. I just couldn't get back to sleep."

"Okay," Sirius said, and then they laid there for a long time in comfortable silence, the only sound the ticking of the clock.

[artzychic27]

Dark Quill

RIIIIIP!

Marc’s eyes widened as the Italian tore up his journal, page by page. He knew this girl was a liar, but he didn’t think she was just flat-out evil. He just asked her to stop lying about Marinette, and now this was happening!

“You made a mistake choosing to side against me!”

“I-I didn’t take sides.”, Marc managed to say despite still being in shock over his journal being destroyed, “What are you talking about?”

“Marinette, stupid!”, she hissed before tearing out another page, “You decided to side with her, you tried to defend her! I’m gonna show you why you made a horrible mistake.”, another page, RIP!

Marc was horrified. He never believed Lila’s lies and just thought she was just trying to impress her classmates, but he threw that idea out the window when he heard that Marinette was expelled for cheating, pushing Lila down the stairs, and stealing. Her. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the sweetest girl in school. After Nathaniel told him that Lila was the one accusing her of doing such things, and that Marinette supposedly sent mean texts to Lila over the weekend when her phone was being repaired, Marc knew then and there that Lila Rossi was out to get the pigtailed girl.

Alix told him how she, Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel tried to get everyone else to see the truth once they found out for themselves, but Lila would always turn on the waterworks and claim they were bullying her, making them look like the bad guys. They eventually stopped trying and decided to let everything crash and burn when Lila finally tells the wrong lie.

Marc wouldn’t give up so easily, though. She could lie about celebrities all she wanted, they’d eventually find out and sue for defamation. But it would be a cold day in hell before Marc let her lie about Marinette being a jealous bully…

Why did he have to confront her in an empty hallway with no witnesses?

“Since I’m so nice, I’ll give you ‘til the end of the day to choose the right side.”, she said with such malice, “But just a reminder- If you pick wrong, I will make your life hell. It’ll be too easy. They say keep an eye on the nice ones.”, she smiled evilly, “Just imagine Nathaniel’s face when he realizes that his innocent boyfriend is really a cruel, jealous bully.”

Hearing Nathaniel’s name come out of her evil mouth, Marc glared at the girl with so much hate that she took a step back, “Don’t even think about laying a finger on him!”, he felt tears about to pour out of his eyes any second, but he would not give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry

The Italian smirked, realizing that she found his trigger, “I never said anything about hurting him. A few choice words and I’ll make sure he’s disgusted at the mention of your name.”, tearing three more pages out the journal, Lila threw it to the floor, added insult to injury by stomping on it, then walked away

Once the evil Italian was out of sight, Marc dropped to his knees and cried as he picked up the remains of his journal. In his fifteen years of living, Marc’s dealt with many horrible people. Sure, they cheat and make fun of people, but there’s a reason behind it- They’re just petty, jealous, or insecure. But Lila Rossi is just evil. She gets a thrill out of hurting people; she lies to get whatever she wants. And she wants Marinette to suffer, and for Marc to be alone and hated by Nathaniel.

—

“Such a strong mix of emotions. Protective, devoted to his love, terrified of what may come, yearning for vengeance, a desire for justice. It’s almost too easy.” A pure white butterfly flew into the outstretched palm of Hawkmoth’s hand. Once covered with his under hand, the magic of the Miraculous transformed it into an Akuma, and it flew out the window, “Fly away my little Akuma. And evilize him!

—

Marc was too busy crying and picking up the pieces of his journal to hear the fluttering wings of the Akuma, and to notice it landing on his journal where it absorbed into it, turning it black. At that, Marc lifted his head up, revealing the red skin around his eyes and the dreaded Akuma symbol over his anger-present, tear-stained face

“What?”, he spat

Hawkmoth has never felt emotions this strong. It almost made him revoke the Akuma, worried of the destruction the boy may cause. No, he couldn’t let an opportunity like this go to waste. Marinette Dupain-Cheng evaded him many times, she was a ticking time bomb ready to bring about doomsday when Rossi pushed her over the edge. He’d just have to go for the next best thing…

“Dark Quill, I am Hawkmoth. With your powers, you can write your own story, create a new ending. One where this conniving villain parishes. And all when you put pen to paper.”

“… Fine. But I get to go after Rossi first.”, Hawkmoth sputtered a bit. Before he could speak and regain control, Marc continued, “You’ll get the Miraculous when I’m done. Got it?”

After a terrifying silence, Hawkmoth answered, “You may retrieve the Miraculous after you get your revenge. Do we have a deal?”, he asked, trying not to stammer, not wanting to show any fear

“Yes, Hawkmoth.”, Marc replied

At that, Marc was engulfed by a black and purple mist that bubbled up from the journal. When it dissipated Dark Quill stood in Marc’s place. The Akuma’s skin is a pale grey, he had no pupils or irises, just his white sclera. His hair became messier, and what appeared to be a hair ribbon was two red quills. A black mask covered his face, and his lips were painted black.

His outfit was a blood-red jumpsuit with a high collar, puff sleeves, and Renaissance pants. Along with the bodysuit was a black vest with blue accents, black fingerless elbow-length gloves, dark blue stud bracelets and a matching belt, and black knee-high platform boots. In his hand, he held a rolled-up scroll.

With a smirk, Dark Quill plucked one of the quills from his hair, unfurled the scroll, and began writing. “I’m coming for you, Liar Rossi.”, on the scroll, in black ink, was, ‘Those who saw the truth found their hatred for the Liar and her posse increased tenfold.’

--

Nathaniel has never wanted to punch someone so much in his life. He always thought Lila was annoying, but God! And not only her, but these idiots surrounding him.

There was Alya, who’s blog was becoming a tabloid, going on and on about Lila and her “accomplishments”.

Then Kim, who followed that girl around like a puppy. He obviously had a type- Petty and whiney when they don’t get what they want

They were all so stupid!... Well, except for Marinette, Alix, Juleka, Rose, and Adrien. Everyone else? Idiots who’ll believe the dribble that falls out of the Italian’s mouth. Nathaniel didn’t know where these thoughts were suddenly coming from. He always thought his classmates were kind of irritating from time to time, but now he just hated them… And from the dirty looks Alix and Marinette were giving their desk-mates, they felt the same way.

“Nath, did I ever tell you about my uncle? He’s a famous artist in Italy.”, Lila said, making Nathaniel roll his eyes at her obvious lie, “I could show him some of your work. He has connections with a few museums, and…”

‘Make it stop!’, he thought, rubbing hid temples to ease his headache, ‘The bell will ring soon. The bell will ring soon.’

“And who knows? Maybe he can find you a new writer for your comic!” Now that was the final straw, “No offense, but the writing seems a little subpar. I actually won a few writing contests, so I-“

“God! Will you shut up?!”, everyone in class gasped at the redhead’s outburst, “You are just so annoying! I have had put up sitting next to you and being forced to listen to your shit!”

“Nathaniel!”, Bustier scolded, “Don’t use language like that.”

Alix stood from her seat and slammed her hands down on the desk, “Cram it, Caline!”, she yelled, “That bitch just insulted Marc’s writing!”, she pointed out, casting a glare at Lila. All eyes were now on Lila. She started the waterworks and came up with a lie on the spot

“I-I didn’t mean to insult Marc.”, she stammered as she wiped her eyes, “I was just trying to help Nath get his art more recognition. B-but he yelled at me!”, she wailed, making students come to her aid, glare at Nathaniel and call him a bully. They were too mad to notice her sending a sneer the artist’s way

“Dumbasses.”, Marinette said with such malice in her voice. Everyone turned to the pigtailed girl with widened eyes. They’ve never heard her curse before.

“I’ve put up with a lot of your shit before, guys, but this? Come on. You honestly believe that thing”, she pointed a finger at Lila, “has connections? That she can get you whatever you need to succeed in life? She’s a damn fraud! Even a certified idiot can tell you that.”

The students who believed in Lila were stunned into silence. Why were they being so cruel to Lila and them? Lila didn’t lie, and they weren’t idiots.

“Yeah, and I can do without her constantly clinging to me, and touching me all the time!”, Adrien snapped

“B-but Adrien!”, Lila whined, “You said it was okay.”

“Why would I say that?”, he asked, “I despise you! You’re a liar, a thief, and just. A. Bitch.”, Nino cautiously approached him and put a hand on his shoulder

“Dude, what’s going on with you?”, he asked. At that, Adrien merely rolled his eyes and muttered what sounded like a curse word under his breath

Lila, becoming angry, ran down the stairs and tried to hold onto Adrien and remind him of his father’s threat, only for him to push her away and not reluctantly go through with it like he usually would, “Adrien, have they been manipulating you?”, she asked with a hand placed on her chest, “Did they threaten you?”

“Shut up, Rossi! We’re tired of your pathetic shit!”, Rose shouted. And once again, the students and teacher gasped as one of the sweetest girls in class cursed for them all to hear. Everything then turned to chaos. Marinette, Nathaniel, Alix, Rose, and Juleka pointed out everyone’s flaws and called out Lila’s many lies, (Not that anyone listened) while Adrien just glared at them with so much hate in his green eyes. Their classmates just looked at them, stunned. Not even Lila could do anything to stop them. They were supposed to stay silent and out of her way. When did they all grow spines?

Before they could tear into them some more, the bell rang for lunch, much to everyone’s relief. The art kids needed to take a few breaths, and the other students felt like crying or hiding in their rooms. And Lila wanted to set them straight and remind them who they were messing with.

“Finally.”, Nathaniel said, grabbing his messenger bag, “Let’s go before we lose anymore braincells.” At that, the arts kids and Adrien left the room

--

Mme. Bustier’s class walked out of the classroom minutes after comprehending what just happened and assuring Lila that it wasn’t her fault. While they were making their way to the cafeteria, all eyes were on them. None were friendly.

‘Ugh, it’s them.’

‘Lousy tabloid writer.’

‘Idiots.’

‘Is that actually her hair? I thought she had sausages taped to her face.’

‘What a liar.’

‘Jagged Stone had a cat? I thought they were supposed to be his fans.’

Alya whispered to Lila, “What’s going on? Why is everyone saying this stuff?”, she asked. Lila put on a meek demeanor and pouted

“I-I don’t know. I bet Marinette and the others are spreading lies about me.”, she wiped away a fake tear, “Now they’re turning the whole school against me!”, she whined, making Lila pull her into a hug

Watching from an empty classroom was Dark Quill. Once again, he plucked a quill and began writing, “Out of nowhere, a pencil case hit Lila on the side of her head.”

“I-I just-“, she let out a yelp as a red, black, and blue pencil case hit her on the head, “OW!”

Everyone looked for the culprit, but the other students looked just as confused, having no idea where that pencil case came from. Back in the classroom, Dark Quill continued writing, “The Akuma form of Dark Quill would soon reappear when the time was right.” A bright light engulfed Dark Quill. When it faded, Marc was in his place. The scroll and quill also changed, becoming a red pencil and a white journal

“What exactly is your plan?”, Hawkmoth asked as the Akuma symbol appeared on Marc’s face. He smirked and replied, “You’ll see.”, before he walked out of the classroom

--

“Have you guys seen Marc?”, Nathaniel asked as he sat down at a table with the other members of the art club. They all shook their heads, “I haven’t heard from him since this morning. I hope he’s okay.”

Alix grinned, “Aw, someone misses his boyfriend!”, Juleka smacked her on the shoulder

“Nath!”, the voice Nathaniel grew to hate called out, making him slam his head down on the table. They looked to see Lila and her posse walking in, only to be met with harsh glares from the other students. Nathaniel grabbed the plastic knife off of his tray and handed it to Alix before asking, “Will you be a good friend and kill me?”, but it was too late. Lila made her way over to the table and sat down between them

Marinette smiled, “Lila, I say this in the nicest possible way. Get the hell out of here before I rip those two sausages off your head.”, seeing the Italian’s astonished expression, she smirks

Lila ignores her and turns her attention back to Nathaniel, not caring about the annoyed look he was giving her, “I’m sorry about insulting Marc’s writing like that, it wasn’t my intention.”

Rose coughed into her elbow, ‘Bullshit.’

Ignoring her, Lila continued, “But I don’t think you should be hanging around him anymore. He may seem nice, but when you’re not around, he acts so mean!”, she wailed. Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “I saw him copying someone else’s story and claiming that it was his. A-and when I tried to talk him out of it, he threatened me.”, she forced a tear out of the corner of her eye

 Juleka chuckled, “Great story, Lila. One of your most pathetic.”, she spat. The whole table laughed, but Lila was fuming

“I’m serious! Marc really did threaten me!”, at that, the entire cafeteria laughed, except for the few students in Bustier’s class who believed her stories

Aurore approached her, “Rossi, you’re talking about the boy who cried when we had to dissect frogs in biology.”

“And when I killed a spider.”, a brunette boy, Ismael, pointed out, “The boy is a literal saint.”

“Aw, Ismael,”, Everyone turned to the source of the touched voice and saw Marc, standing at the doorway, “you do care about me.” Ismael crossed his arms over his chest, “Do not. I’m just wondering why lil miss Lie-la is spouting bullshit about you.”

Lilla, still trying to look like the victim, held onto Alya’s arm. The creole girl shouted, “Leave her alone! She’s just trying to warn Nath.”

“Uh, last time I checked, only people I like get to call me ‘Nath’.” Alya was taken aback. Nathaniel got up from his seat, walked over to Marc and planted a kiss on his cheek, which the disguised Akuma enjoyed, “And you honestly believe that my sweet Rainbow could threaten someone?”, Marinette and Rose giggled at the adorable nickname

Alya looked a little unsure but then she saw Lila crying. She sniffed, “S-so you think I’m lying?”

“Yep.”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“It’s pretty obvious.”

“Yeah.”

Kim frowned, “Why are you guys being so mean?”

“And why are you singling us out?”, Marinette asked, now fuming, “You don’t see how everyone here hates that girl’s guts?”, she pointed to Lila, who was now scowling, throwing away the whole ‘kicked puppy’ routine, “And you all know Marc. He would never threaten anyone. He doesn’t even talk to Lila.”

Noticing their eyes shifting around the room, Marinette rolled her eyes, “You guys honestly think there’s an Akuma making us act like this? Newsflash! We’re tired of you guys!”, she jabbed at Kim’s chest with her finger, prompting him to back away.

The Akuma Class was horrified. This had to be the work of an Akuma, they just knew it. Their friends didn’t really feel this way about them, they were just being controlled by an Akuma out to get Lila

“Dude, there’s gotta be an Akuma!”

“We know it!”

“You don’t really mean what you’re saying!

“THERE’S NO AKUMA!”

…

A voice cut through the silence, “No. There is.” Everyone, especially Nathaniel, gasped when they saw Marc being engulfed by the same bright light from earlier. They all backed away when the light faded to reveal Dark Quill

“… Huh. I guess there was an Akuma.”, Marinette said as she backed out of the cafeteria, everyone too busy staring at the new Akuma to notice as she ran off to transform into Paris’ hero

Lila pointed to the villain, “See?! There is an Akuma after me! He’s making everyone say all these horrible things!”

“Marc?”, Nathaniel whispered, “W-what happened?”, he asked as he slowly approached his Akumatized boyfriend

“Don’t listen to him! He’s an Akuma, of course he’s gonna lie!”, Lila exclaimed

“Well sweetie, if you must know, Lila threatened me, then tore apart my journal.”, he said as he cupped Nathaniel’s cheek, “… The rest you know.”

Nathaniel’s concern faded as he slowly turned his head toward the Italian. She actually backed away when she saw the fiery rage in his turquoise eyes, “You. Did. What?!”

“Lila wouldn’t threaten anyone!”, Ivan yelled

Mylene added, “She doesn’t lie either!”

Dark Quill frowned, “God, you’re all twits.” Plucking a quill, he began to write, “Doing what she should have done months ago, Alya checks her sources.”

Alya looked confused, wondering what he meant. Then suddenly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, “I-I’m not doing this!”, she starts typing something in the search bar while Lila desperately tries to snatch the phone out of her hands

“H-he can do whatever he wants with his powers!”, she said with desperation in her voice, “He probably got rid of all the websites that mention me!”

The class was sure that what their friend is saying was the truth. This Akuma could probably bend reality and do whatever he desired with his powers. He made every student at school hate them and Alya pull out her phone against her will. But a voice in the back of their heads told them otherwise. They often doubted Lila because of this voice, but she had no reason to lie, so they had no reason to distrust her… Right?

Alya scrolled through her phone, a look of confusion on her face, “There’s nothing here...”

“See? I told you!”, Lila yelled, “He erased every record of my accomplishments, so you all think I’m lying! He’s out to get me!”

He chuckled, “Now why would you think that?”, then wrote something else on the scroll. Five red darts materialized at his side, and the Akuma class suddenly flew across the room, leaving Lila exposed. Lila paled when she saw that the darts were aimed at her. “Rossi, all you have to do is tell the truth, and- Oh, what the hell? Let’s just get this over with!”

Lila tried to run away, but she found her feet glued to the floor. This Akuma clearly thought of everything. The darts hurdled at her and Lila closed her eyes, waiting for the darts to pierce right through her… Only for a red and black spotted yo-yo to wrap around her waist and pull her out of her shoes, leaving the darts to hit a wall. All heads turned to see Ladybug standing at the doorway, looking pissed

“Great. Once again, saving your sorry self.”, she spat, much to everyone’s shock

“I could’ve handled him myself, Ladybug! I didn’t need your help!”, Lila said in response

“Hey, idiot!”, Aurore yelled, “She saved your damn life! Show a little thanks!”

Dark Quill only grinned, “Well, it would seem Paris’s hero is aware of Miss Rossi’s lies. How convenient. Ladybug, I thought Lila was your dearest friend.”

The spotted heroine only gagged, “Please! I would rather be cataclysmed than be friends with her!”, she spun her yoyo, using it as a shield to block the darts heading for her while the class stared with their jaws hung open. ‘Lila wasn’t friends with Ladybug?’, they thought.

Then, as if summoned by the mention of his power, Chat Noir burst through the door. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” The Akuma class shuddered as the usually friendly superhero sent a glare their way. Alya even put down her phone, “Look, I get why you hate Lila. But we can’t let you hurt her.”

“Hurry up and take him down, now!”, Lila demanded

Dark Quill scowled as he wrote something down on his scroll, “Dark Blade appeared. His sword ready to cleave the liar in two!” At that, Dark Blade appeared next to him in a flash of red light. Lila’s eyes widened when she saw the armored Akuma running towards her with his sword raised. Ladybug readied her yoyo, but soon found herself being used as a human shield when Lila pushed her to the front and held her wrists so she couldn’t use her yoyo to defend herself

“What the hell?”, she screeched. Chat let out a snarl and extended his staff to duel with the knight. He then gasped, “NO!”

“Dark Blade immediately froze in place!”, Dark Quill narrated in a panicked voice as he quickly wrote on the scroll. The Akuma suddenly stopped on his tracks. Ladybug, still trying to get out of Lila’s hold, wondered why he called off the attack until she saw the familiar mess of red hair. Nathaniel stood in front of the knight; his eyes widened when he saw that the tip of the sword was only an inch away from his face, and he let out a relieved sigh.

Nathaniel backed away and locked eyes with Dark Quill. Fear was present on his grey face, and a single tear trailed down his cheek, “Marc… Rainbow, I’m fine. Really.”

Lila released Ladybug and made a run for the exit. But before she could reach the door, she fell. She looked and saw that a pair of metal shackles have formed around her ankles. Another pair, with a chain connected, appeared around her wrists. The Italian let out a yelp as she was pulled by the extra chain towards Dark Quill, who was livid

“You. Will PAY FOR THIS!”, he yelled as tears formed in his eyes

“I’m not the one who summoned the knight and almost put his stupid boyfriend in danger!”, she retorted, but then let out a scream as the shackles tightened around her wrists. “Everyone in Paris will know who you truly are!”, Dark Quill gave Nathaniel one last sad glance before writing on his scroll. He and Lila disappeared in a flash of blue light

“NO!”, Ladybug screamed

“Alya’s gone!”, Nino said frantically as he searched for his girlfriend

Chat scratched his head in confusion, “Did the Akuma take her, too?”

The Akuma class let what Lila had done sink in. They felt horrified, disgusted, and betrayed. Lila. Their supposed friend. The most honest person they know. Used Ladybug as a human shield. If she would do that, then it was clear she lied about her and Ladybug being best friends… And about everything else.

“Marinette was right…”, Mylene said what her classmates were thinking, tearfully, “Lila really is a liar.”

The scowls and sneers Alix, Rose, and Juleka have been giving their classmates earlier melted into guilty expressions. Same for the other students. They remembered all of the things they said and could barely look them in the eyes

“Nathaniel, are you alright?”, Ladybug asked him as she glanced over at the still frozen Dark Blade

“Yeah, I’m fine.”, he said, “Marc wouldn’t hurt me.”

The spotted hero smiled and let out a breath of relief, “Please don’t do that again.”

“Save Marc, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Feel free to let Marc take care of Lila.”, Ivan grunted. Everyone turned to the usually pacifistic boy with astonishment. He shrugged, “You were all thinking it.”

“Where could they have gone?”, Marinette asked herself

“Well, Marc did say he would show Paris who Lila really is, and he did take Alya with him.”, Nino said, “Nadja Chamack has the most popular show in Paris, and the Ladyblog grabs everyone’s attention when there’s a livestream. They’re probably at the TVi Studio.”

“He’s going to reveal her on live tv and the Ladyblog!”, Chat Noir exclaimed

Ladybug nodded ad the capped boy, “Thanks, Nino. Let’s go Chat.”

And they were off. The tension in the cafeteria was thick as the Akuma class felt like idiots for believing Lila, and the others felt remorse for how they acted

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Chat Noir were sailing and vailing over the rooftops in the direction of the studio when their yoyo and staff suddenly beeped. They stopped on a roof and used the phone setting on their weapons; a live stream of the Ladyblog was playing

“Hello, viewers.”, Alya greeted, but not in her usual ‘live on the scene reporter’ tone. Her voice had a hint of ire, but she tried to mask it with a strained smile, “Alya here, and once again, I’ve been kidnapped by an Akuma. But don’t worry, I’m not going to be sacrificed like last time.”, she joked, then panned the phone around to show Lila, tied up on the couch next to a terrified Nadja “The Akuma is having me do a livestream so everyone will see Lila for who she really is!”, she snapped, “This girl used Ladybug as a damn shield!”

“Alya, you can throttle Miss Rossi later.”, the young reporter panned her phone over to Dark Quill, “Right now, let’s introduce our guests.”, using a quill plucked from his hair, he wrote on the scroll, “Bursting through the doors was Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and Prince Ali.”

The cameras turned to the doors as Jagged, Clara, and the Prince made their way into the room. The celebrities and royal looked very confused, “Now how did we get here?”, Jagged asked

“What are we doing in this place?”, Clara asked before pointing to Lila, “And why does that girl look red in the face?”

Ali spoke, “Um, I was at a very important meeting. I shouldn’t be here right now.”

“Oh, this will only take a moment.”, Dark Quill said, and they backed away at the sight of the Akuma, “Have a seat.”

They nodded, not wanting to anger the Akuma, and made their way over to the couch. They casted a confused glance over to the tied-up girl, “Who’s she?”, Jagged asked, and Lila internally screamed

“Oh, Jagged, you don’t remember Lila? The girl you wrote a song about?”

Jagged sputtered, “Wrote a song?! About a teenage girl?!”, he stood up and faced the cameras, “That is just sick! I am in my bloody late thirties!”, he exclaimed

“Why, the girl tied up next to you, of course.”, Dark Quill, gestured to Lila with a taunting smile. Jagged gave the girl an incredulous look, “You were so grateful that she saved your poor kitten from being run over by an airplane, gaining a hearing loss in the process.”

“That is false!”, the Rockstar shouted, “I never owned a kitten in my life! I’m highly allergy to animal fur!”, he points to Lila, “Whatever this girl is saying about me is false!”

Clara gasped, “How could she say such falsehoods? They’ll only do worse than good.”, she rhymed

“So true Mme. Nightingale.”, Dark Quill nodded, “So I’m sure you absolutely abhor the lies she’s been telling about you, hm?”, off Clara’s stunned reactions, he continues, “According to Lila, she taught you some of your best dance movies, but you didn’t give her credit.”, he sent a sneer at the Liar, she returned the look

“SHE WHAT?!”, Clara yelled in anger, much to everyone’s shock, “All of my dance moves come from only me! Not from this… This LYING HUSSY!”, everyone in the studio went silent as soon as they heard the pop-star curse. Jagged stifled a laugh, Prince Ali covered his mouth in shock, Nadja hid her face with the papers in her hands, and Lila just glared at everyone in the room, “I apologize for such a harsh word, but it seemed appropriate for this wretched girl! I take my dancing seriously, and I hope miss Rossi gets punished harshly…”

The prince lets out a cough after a few seconds of silence, “H-has she said anything about…”, the Akuma quickly turned to him, making the prince sink into his seat, “…me?”

Dark Quill smiled, “Yes, your majesty. Whenever Lila wasn’t in school, she was spending time at the palace with you, helping your with your environmental charities, crying whenever you and some other prince would fight over here.”, he lets out a dark chuckle then grabs Lila’s face, “But what’s there to fight over, really?”

Lila thrashes in her chains, “I was just jealous of my friends, okay?! I just wanted them to like me!”, she wailed, ignoring the heat radiating off of the music artists and Prince

“Are you kidding me?”, Jagged asked as he rubbed his temples, “She’s kidding right?”

Alya groaned, “God, I feel stupid.”

Dark Quill summoned his scroll, and pulled out another quill, “Time for you to finally tell the truth, Lie-la.” On the scroll, he began writing, “Lila Rossi finally revealed every lie she’s to-“, before he could write the last two letters, Ladybug and Chat Noir burst into the room, “Oh, great.”

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!”, Lila screeched

Ladybug ignored her and approached the Akuma, “Dark Quill, you got your revenge. Just surrender now.”

Dark Quill scoffed, “Oh, I haven’t even started!”, he grabs Lila and hoists her up by the front of her shirt, “I want this she-demon to reveal everything! Then I’ll make sure Paris never has to deal with her ever again!”, he let go of the scroll, and it floated in front of him. He wiped his hand over the sentence he was writing before the heroes barged in, making the ink disappear. Dark Quill wrote, “The Akuma, the Liar, and the amateur reporter teleported out of the studio.”

A white light engulfed him, Lila, and Alya. Chat tried to grab Dark Quill, but he vanished out of the room, and Chat ended up on the floor, “M’lady, maybe it’s time to break out the Lucky Charm?”

“I think so too.”, she agreed, then yelled out, “LUCKY CHARM!”

A red feather floated down gently into her hands, “A feather?”

Chat shook his head, “I don’t think he’s ticklish.”

“That’s a rooster feather.”, Jagged said as she walked over to Ladybug. The spotted heroine handed him the Lucky Charm object, “Yeah, my old man bred a few when I was young. I’d recognize one of these anywhere.”

As Ladybug examined the feather, she realized what she was meant to do with it, “I got it! Thanks, Jagged!”, the rockstar beamed at the praised from the hero. Ladybug turned to Chat, “Go look for Dark Quill, call me when you find him.”

“I can have the news choppers look around if that’ll help.”, Nadja suggested

“It will!”, at that, the two heroes ran out of the station.

--

Ladybug ran into an alley, “Spots off.”

After the detransformation, Tikki floated in front of her, “What are you planning, Marinette?”

“When I was battling Kwamibuster, I remember seeing a rooster Kwami.”

Tikki perked up, “Orikki?”, Marinette nodded, “Who do you have in mind for the job?”

“The one person who can help Marc now.”

--

The drawers of the Miracle Box opened before her as Master Fu gave her the warning about the Miraculous getting into the wrong hand and choosing only people she could trust.

Marinette reached down to pick up the thumb ring. “I know just the person.”

--

In the Louvre, Alix was furiously skating around the gallery while Nathaniel, Juleka, and Rose watch, “GOD! She was exposed on live tv, and still tries to make herself look like the victim!”, she exclaimed, “Whatever Marc’s gonna do to her, she deserves it!”

Juleka furrowed her brow, “I hope it isn’t too bad.”

Alix stopped skating, “Huh?”

“Well, Marc said he make sure Paris never had to deal with her ever again.”, she reminded the pink-haired girl. Rose’s eyed widened, “… He wouldn’t.”

“No.”, Rose covered her mouth

Nathaniel shook his head, “N-no. Marc wouldn’t do that!”, he denied

“I don’t know Nath. He did summon Dark Blade to slice her open.”, Alix reminded him, horrified

“Nathaniel!”, the four of them turned to see Ladybug running into the room, “I need you!”

Nathaniel choked on his own spit, “E-excuse me?!”

“I need you to tell me. How much do you want Marc back?”

“I-I’d do anything! He’s still in there, I just…”, he wipes a tear forming at the corner of his eye. Ladybug rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “Well, you can help him.”

The four of them watched as Ladybug held a hexagonal box in front of the redhead

“Nathaniel Kurtzberg, here is the Miraculous of the Rooster, which grants the power of distraction. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the Miraculous to me.”

Nathaniel was speechless, and just stared at the box resting in Ladybug’s hands. When ten seconds passed buy and Nathaniel didn’t say or do anything, Ladybug waved her hand in front of his face, “Nathaniel?

Alix snapped her fingers in front of his face, “Nath? Bud?... I don’t think- Oh! He’s falling!”, Juleka and Rose catch him before he can fall to the floor, and help him back up

Helping Ladybug save Marc was one thing but being a superhero?! Nathaniel couldn’t believe it. He wanted to scream and jump on his bed… But what if he failed? He’d disappoint Ladybug and… Marc.

“Nath, you gotta do it.”, Alix told him as he was brought back into reality, “Marc needs you.”

“I…”

Juleka gave him a reassuring smile, “You got this.”

“Do it, Nath!”, Rose screamed as she shook him by his shoulders

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Ladybug placed the box in his hands. Nathaniel opened it, revealing a bronze thumb ring inside. It was two loops connected by a single chain and adorned with a feather decoration. There was a bright flash of light that spiraled around Nathaniel, and the art kids shielded their eyes for a moment before looking at the little Rooster-like creature floating in front of them

“Hi! Nice to meet you! I’m Orikko! You must be glad to meet me!” Nathaniel and Juleka just stared with their jaws hung open, Alix has already seen a Kwami, so she wasn’t too impressed, and Rose was trying not to squeal at how adorable the Kwami was, “Ooh! I love your hair!”, they gathered Nathaniel’s bangs in their hair and moved them to the side, “I am going to have so much fun styling it!”

“W-what are you, exactly?”, Nathaniel asked

“Why, I’m a Kwami! I give you powers, enhanced abilities. Just put the ring on you thumb and say the words: Orikki, sunrise!”

Nathaniel nodded and slipped it on his thumb, “Orikko! Sunrise!”

The Kwami flew into the Miraculous, turning it gold and adding a red enamel feather that connected the two rings. A yellow beak appeared over Nathaniel’s face and extended into a red mask that covered his face. His hair swept back into a faux hawk, and the tips were colored a red much darker than his hair. His outfit was similar to Rena Rouge’s, only the boots were yellow, the bodysuit was a burnt orange color, the underbelly was yellow, he had elbow-length dark red gloves, and the ends of the tail looked like feathers. In his hand, formed a formed a golden bow

Royt Hon was ready!

—

Meanwhile, Chat Noir was at the top of the Eiffel Tower, sword fighting with Riposte as news helicopters hovered around them and recorded the fight, along with Lila, tied up with rope and dangling over the railing of the fence. Dark Quill was plucking the rope and cackling as Lila screamed whenever she felt a vibration, thinking she was going to fall

“I’ll give you one last chance, Rossi!”, the scroll appeared next to him in a puff of smoke and unfurled, “Just tell Paris the truth, and make things easier!”

“I’M NOT LYING! LADYBUG WILL BE HERE ANY MINUTE!”, she screeched

Dark Quill sighed, “You just have to make things complicated.”, he plucked one of the red quills, and began writing, “Once the last lie has been told, Lila Rossi shall meet her demise!”

“Dark Quill, what are you doing? Don’t kill her! That is an order!”

“You want me to write a death scene for you?...”, he was met with silence, “Then zip it! Now tell all of Paris you’re lies, Rossi!”

”I… I hate Ladybug!”, Lila yelled, clearly against her own will, “I want her dead!”

Alya gasped, nearly dripping her phone, and judging by Dark Quill’s widened eyes, he was not expecting that. The citizens watching from below frowned and started yelling. Ladybug was their hero, so anyone who hated her was public enemy #3, before Hawkmoth and Mayura

“Why do you hate her?”, he asked

“That bitch ruined my chances with Adrien! He should be MINE! All I did was lie about being some damn fox hero! Who gives a shit?! Every time I get myself Akumatized, I try everything to get rid of that stupid bug!”

…

Alya and Chat were speechless. Dark Quill was horrified, as were the citizens below

“You… Get yourself Akumatized on purpose?”

“Yeah! That’s how much I hate those heroes! Every time there’s an Akuma attack, I just laugh whenever Ladybug is crushed, thrown into a wall, or worse!”

“And the celebrities you’ve met? The places you’ve visited?”, Dark Quill asked, getting over his shock

“They were telling the truth back at the studio!”, she admitted, “I don’t know any of them! Jagged Stone never even owned a cat!”

Before Dark Quill could ask another question, Alya called out, “What about Marinette?! Was everything she said about you true?”

“Duh! All that self-righteous pain in the ass had to do was fall in line like the rest of you idiots! But instead, she decided to go to was with me! So I tried to ruin her life! I framed her for everything! She didn’t push me down the stairs, I put my necklace in her locker, and I put the answer sheet in her backpack! And everyone was too stupid to check the security cameras!”

Back at Dupont, the students and teachers were watching the live stream with looks of rage and disgust. M. Damocles even ordered the custodian to check the security footage from when those incidents took place

“And why do you hate here?”

“Because she stole Adrien from me! His dad even gave me a modeling contract so I would keep them apart because I told him she was a bad influence!”

Chat Noir lost focus when he heard that, and Riposte used that moment to attack and overpower him. He was now pinned to the floor with Riposte’s sword just inches away from his face

“Anything else you’d like to admit?”, he sneered

“I tore up Marc Anciel’s stupid journal and threatened to make everyone hate him!”, she glared at the Akuma with all of the hate in the world, but he smirked.

“Well, if that’s all, you should be plummeting in three… two… one.”, and at that, the rope snapped, and Lila was falling to her death

“NO!”, Chat yelled

Alya covered her mouth in horror, “Oh my God!”

It seems as though luck was not on Lila’s side. The trampoline the firefighters used to catch people jumping out of burning buildings had a massive hole, so nothing was keeping her from becoming a stain on the ground. She was halfway from her doom when suddenly, a red and orange blur swooped in, and she found herself on the second floor of the tower. She looked up and scowled when she was met with a new hero

“Who are you?”, she spat, only to receive a hate-filled glare from the rooster-themed hero

“Just stay here, and don’t do anything stupid… Liar.”, and he leaped away

—

“Is that all you’ve got, Ladybug?!”, Dark Quill shouted as he swiftly dodged her yo-yo. Behind him, Chat Noir was still pinned to the floor by Riposte, his staff was out of his reach, “Just hand over your Miraculous!”, an arrow suddenly shot past his head, “What the…”

The arrow hit Riposte, and she disappeared into pieces of shredded paper. Chat Noir was back on his feet, and ready to join the fight. Royt Hon leaped onto the railing, holding the bow in his left hand, and a glowing arrow in his right. Alya held up her phone to film the new hero.

“Good to see you again, m’lady. I wasn’t eggspecting a new hero.”, he joked. Ladybug let out a groan, and Royt Hon chuckled a little

“The name’s Royt Hon.”, he answered before turning to Dark Quill with a soft look, “Marc, this cant be what you want. I know you’re not a violent person.”, he said calmly. Dark Quill was stunned for a moment before he scowled and his grip tightened on his quill as he wrote again

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M LIKE!”, he screamed, then multiple heat-seeking missiles appeared at his side. He pointed to the heroes, and the missiles went after their targets. While they were preoccupied, Dark Quill jumped from down, ready to get rid of the liar once again

Ladybug used her yoyo to grab one missile and fling it into two, making them blow up. Chat smacked one into another, the same result. Royt Hon got his bow ready and pulled back the string. Five glowing arrows appeared, and when he released, they shot right through the remaining  missiles, and they blew up

“Nice shooting, Royt!”, Chat complimented as he patted him on the back, much to the Rooster hero’s gratitude

“We better go. He’s probably after Lila.”, Ladybug rolled her eyes at the mention of the liar’s name, then she turned to Alya, “You should go home.”

The journalist nodded, “I will. And I’ll be making a new post on a certain someone.”, she said with hatred in her voice before walking towards the elevator

—

“Lie-la!...”, he called out, “I’m not gonna drop you this time!... Maybe.”

The liar, still tied up, hid behind once of the beams and tried to keep her breathing quiet as this psychotic Akuma searched for her. How could Hawkmoth do this?! He should’ve akumatized her! Not some pathetic loser out to kill her!

“Found you.”

Lila paled as the Akuma threw her to the cold hard floor. She looked up and saw Dark Quill approaching her with a look that said, ‘I’m going to kill you.’, and as she prepared for her demise, she heard…

“SUNRISE!”

Lila and Dark Quill shielded their eyes as a being made of light approached them. Dark Quill tried to open his eyes and write something that would get rid of this blinding white light, but he couldn’t concentrate and shielded his eyes again.

“CATACLYSM!”

Dark Quill felt the scroll disintegrate in his hands, and heard the flap of a butterfly’s wings, followed by, “No more evil-doing for you little Akuma! Time to de-evilize! Gotcha! Bye-bye, little butterfly.”

Dark Quill uncovered his eyes and was relieved to find the bright light has finally dimmed. He saw Royt Hon, giving him a look of concern, and Chat Noir handing Ladybug a pair of ladybug-print sunglasses. She tossed them into the air and shouted,

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

The sunglasses exploded into millions of ladybugs that flew all around Paris, fixing the damage caused by the Akuma. Jagged and Clara returned to their hotel rooms, Ali was back at Achu, much to the relief of the castle staff. Dark Blade, still frozen in the cafeteria disappeared, and Lila was no longer tied up.

Dark Quill was engulfed in purple energy that vanished to reveal Marc, who blinked in confusion. “W-where am I? What happened?”, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Royt Hon giving him a sympathetic look, “What did I do?”, he asked fearfully

—

Hawkmoth sighed, “Maybe it was for the best. His emotions were too strong, I couldn’t even control his actions… Another time, perhaps. Now that Miss Rossi is out of the picture.”

—

“YOU TRIED TO KILL ME, YOU WORTHLESS NOBODY!”, Lila screeched. Royt Hon glared and wrapped his arms around Marc, making him blush. Before Lila could say more, Ladybug approached her, looking furious and her fists shaking, ready to punch her. Chat Noir even extended his staff and bared his claws. She backed away

“Like you would hurt me!”, she gloated

“Oh, I think she has every right.”, she turned her head and saw Alya, holding up her phone, still recording, “You just exposed yourself live in front of Paris. Admitting your hatred for the city’s beloved hero, framing Marinette, and working with a known terrorist!”

“I-I…”, she pointed to Marc, “He made me say those things! They were all lies! He’s jealous me, just like Marinette!”, she claimed, crocodile tears already forming

“Why would I be jealous of a lying bitch?”

Lila let out a gasp and cried harder, “See? He hates me!”

“Oh, I could think of much worse.”, Chat muttered before turning to Royt Hon, “Royt, get Marc out of here. We’ll deal with Rossi.

“I’ll get your Miraculous later.”, Ladybug added as she cracked her knuckles, and Chat cracked his neck. Royt sent the liar a smirk before gathering Marc in his arms bridal style and carrying him away. Alya stormed over to Lila, her fists ready

“I posted lies because of you! I called my best friend jealous!”, she shouted as Lila back into a corner to get away from the angry reporter, and the even angrier heroes

—

Royt landed outside the school and set Marc down, “Are you alright.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”, he smiled before worry took over, “Where’s Nath? Is he alright?!”

“Uh… Yeah!”, he answered, “I saw him and three girls by the Louvre, actually.”

Marc sighed with relief, “Oh, thank God. I gotta apologize. I almost hurt him, he must hate me-!”, Royt reacted and took his hand in his

“He knows you didn’t mean to. You weren’t in control, he understands that. You just didn’t want Lila to hurt you or Nathaniel…”

Marc smiles, “Thank you…”

Royt blushes, “No problem…”, he started leaning in, but suddenly felt Marc’s hand on his chest, stopping him. He gives the boy and confused look

“I-I have a boyfriend.”, Marc said, looking away in embarrassment

The Rooster hero remembered that he wasn’t Nathaniel right now and internally face palmed, “Heh. Sorry! Sorry about that…”, they suddenly heart a beeping sound. Royt looked and saw that the feather on his ring was flashing. ‘Thank you.’, he thought, “I should go. I’ll see you around.”, and he jumped up to the roof of the school and went from rooftop to rooftop

“Yeah…”

—

“You should have seen them!”, Orikko gushed as Ladybug giggled at the sight of Nathaniel’s red face, “It was so cute! I haven’t seen sparks fly like that since Captain Phoenix met Lady Lacro Iris on one of her expeditions!”

“Okay, okay, back in the box.”, the Kwami groaned, gave Nathaniel one last hug, then returned back to the ring. “Thanks, Nathaniel.”

“It was an honor working with you and Chat Noir!”, he admitted, his voice laced with joy before turning butter, “So, what happened to Lila?”

“Let’s just say that Karma finally caught up with her.”, she pulled out her yoyo and prepared to swing away, “And since the other heroes have been compromised, I’ll be sure to find you when the situation calls for Royt Hon.”, before Nathaniel could say anything, she swung away. He looked around to make sure he was alone, and squealed

“NATH!”, Alix yelled as she ran out of the Louvre and tackled him to the ground, “YOU WERE AWESOME!”

“We saw it all on the Ladyblog!”, Rose squealed

“You were a total badass.”, Juleka complimented

Alix got off of him and help him back in his feet, “So, how’s Marc?”

Before Nathaniel could answer, a voice called out, “Nath!” The redhead whirled around and saw Marc, a look of relief on his face. The two ran towards each other, and met with a loving embrace, “I’m so sorry.”

Nathaniel chuckled and ran his fingers through Marc’s hair, “It’s okay, Rainbow. It’s okay… Lila’s gone.”, seeing Marc’s smile, he kissed his soft pink lips as Rose and Juleka awed while Alix nodded with approval

“I don’t really care but… What happened to Lila?”, Alix asked

—

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in the park, eating macarons and watching Lila being pushed into a police car as she kicked and scream while a woman, who had a similar appearance to her cried and cursed in Italian. Onlookers took pictures of the exposed liar, no doubt they were going to spread her name and turn her into a pariah

“I have been waiting for this for a long time.”, Ladybug said as she but into a macaron. Chat responded with a nod, and the two fist bumped