#no no he was angry because merlin didn’t tell him

[evaslytherpuff]

Press Play

18+ Theo Nott X Innocent F!Reader (College AU)

Plot: You were just trying to do your duties as a Prefect. After catching Theo stealing from the potions closet, you had no choice but to report him. Now, Theo is out for revenge! You become his latest target and he’s willing to do anything to make sure you learn your lesson. Never snitch on a Slytherin.🐍

CW: Blackmail, Toxic Behavior, Manipulation, Teasing, Masturbation, Oral (F!receiving), Dubious Consent, Recorded interactions without consent! This story is not intended for Minors! Read at your own risk!

“Detention for a month! A fucking month!” Theo growled as he stormed into Herbology and took his designated seat next to Draco who was swatting at his Dittany plant.

“Damn, I feel sorry for you mate.” Draco chuckled with a shake of his icy blonde head. Theo wasn’t in the mood to laugh, smile, or joke around in the slightest. All he could do was stare daggers in your direction. The person who got him in trouble in the first place by being a little snitch. You had caught him stealing ingredients out of the professor's potions closet and immediately ran off to tell Slughorn what you witnessed. You claimed that you only did it because you were supposed to, you’re a prefect, it’s your job to report when students break the rules. Theo didn’t want to hear any of it as he left the professor’s office, his body trembling with rage.

You must have felt him glaring at you because you looked up and locked eyes with him. Your face grew pale and you quickly looked back down at your textbook, pretending to not notice the death stare you were receiving. Theo smiled to himself. Good. You should be intimidated, maybe even scared, you may look sweet and innocent but he didn’t care. He was now out for revenge.

When class was over you had tried to flee as quickly as possible but Theo was a lot faster and cornered you outside of the greenhouse. His hands were placed on either side of your head which caged you in and prevented you from escaping.

“You know…I always thought you were so kind and a girl who usually minded her own business. Now, all I see is someone who has a big mouth!” He growled in your ear as he leaned over you. “You didn’t have to say a damned thing to Professor Slughorn and yet…you did.” He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “You snitched on me, got me in trouble, almost kicked off the quidditch team and for that…I want revenge.” His jaw clenched tightly as he stared into your frightened eyes.

“Is that a threat?” You tried your best to sound strong and powerful but he could hear the fear in your voice. It was obvious that his words freaked you out. He dropped his arms and stepped away from you with a vicious grin on his face.

“No. It’s a promise.” He spat with a glare before turning around and walking away.

Merlin, or the devil, must have been on his side the very next day because you had a huge accident right in the middle of the great hall during dinner. A clumsy Hufflepuff was switching seats at their table and ran right into you with a plate full of food. Your uniform was ruined and you were covered in a plethora of messy cuisine. Completely shocked and mortified, you fled from the hall holding back tears. Theo had to admit that he felt bad for you, maybe for a split second, but he also saw this as an opportunity.

“I’ll see you later.” He said with a pat to Mattheo’s back before he left the hall as well. He jogged to his dorm to search for what he needed and felt a sense of mischief wash over him when he found what he was looking for. A video camera.

He was fascinated with gadgets and gizmos muggles were always using, he even used magic to fix or improve them, and he knew that this device would come in handy. Feeling giddy and still angry, he set out to find you, already having a clue as to where you might be.

His hunch was absolutely correct and he found you alone in the girls locker room taking a shower. He cast a silencing charm on the door to remain as quiet as possible and a disillusionment charm on himself so he wouldn’t be seen. He crept up to the stall you were using and turned the camera on. Theo tried to be as silent as humanly possible as he stuck the lens of the device through the side of the shower curtain. He watched the display closely as your body came into focus and had to do a double take. He wasn’t expecting you to be so…sexy.

He swallowed hard as he gawked at your wet figure gracing the screen of his camera. You typically wore a school uniform that was two sizes too big for you and it was clearly hiding your mouth watering shape. The water shimmered off of your beautiful breasts, cascaded down sensual curves, and created a wet vision he thought he could only dream of. There you were though, in all your soaked glory, like one of his wildest fantasies.

He couldn’t fight the hard on that was raging in his pants as he watched you bathe, your palms roaming all over your alluring body. He was never envious of soap before until tonight. His free hand traveled down to rub his length through the fabric of his trousers. His eyes were glued to the screen of his camera as your hand slid down the front of your torso and stopped just above your pretty pussy. A sigh left your lips before you dipped your fingers between your folds and Theo’s eyes grew wide over the realization of what you were about to do. Soft moans floated through the air as you began to rub your sensitive clit in steady and firm motions. His hand ran over his aching cock as quickly as you worked your precious cunt. He bit his lip to stop the groans from escaping his mouth as he watched you masturbate in front of him. Sweet and innocent my ass, he thought, as he stopped himself from cumming in his boxers. A delicious scheme popped into his mind as you covered your mouth with your other hand and your climax overcame you. A wicked and cruel idea that would guarantee his revenge without a doubt. He would get you back for snitching on him…but he would also get what he now wanted more than anything.

Theo paced his dorm anxiously. You had received his note in class that demanded you meet him after detention at 9pm. If you didn’t show, his initial plan ultimately failed, it would also spell disaster for you. Deep down inside…he was hoping you’d knock on his door.

As if on cue, a gentle tapping echoed throughout his room. He took a deep breath before yanking open his door and smirking down at you as you stood in the entrance.

“Come in.” Theo gestured for you to step into his private dorm. You hesitated but walked inside with your hands clasped behind your back. Your nerves were plastered all over your face as your eyes scanned his bedroom. He had cleaned it, making sure it was utterly spotless. He didn’t want anything giving away what he was truly up to.

“Theodore…please accept my apology. I really am sorry that I reported you to Professor Slughorn. I was just doing what I’m told. I had to say something because I thought you…might be up to no good. I didn’t even stop to ask you what you needed the ingredients for. I just made assumptions and that was wrong of me.” You frowned and started to fidget with the hem of your skirt. Theo’s eyes couldn’t help but drift to the glimpse of your thighs that was revealed in your motions.

“You really got me into a mess. I hope you understand that. It’s great that I have…a way with words, and convinced our professor to just give me detention. He was going to kick me off the fucking Quidditch team! He mentioned possible expulsion! Do you really think “sorry” is enough to fix this? It’s not!” He paused. “I have something in mind though. Why don’t you take a seat.” He waved towards his bed and leered at you while you sank down on the edge of his mattress.

He had you right where he wanted you. Things were going perfectly and according to plan. Theo was practically vibrating with excitement over his possible win. He sat down beside you and noticed how you flinched as he reached behind you for the remote on his pillow. He stifled a chuckle as he placed the device in your hand.

“Why don’t you press play, Cara Mia.” He whispered in your ear and took in how you shivered beside him. Your hand shook uncontrollably as you raised the remote and aimed it at his television. You were reluctant to press the button until he cleared his throat which caused you to click play quickly.

He had his gaze glued to your face while you were focused on the TV. He took in each and every expression you made as tears welled in your pretty eyes and your breathing became erratic. Your hand covered your mouth in horror over your shower video that you were currently watching.

“Who knew you had all of that hidden under your uniform, Bella.” He cooed in your ear and you flung yourself away from him and stood up from the bed.

“You—you recorded me? Why? I already said I was sorry!” You shrieked as tears streamed down your adorable face.

“You can prove just how sorry you are to me. You almost got me expelled! You nor Professor Slughorn asked what I even intended to do with the ingredients I stole! Right away you saw me as the bad guy! Well…now I am the bad guy. Sit! Down!” He shouted and you swiftly obeyed as he turned off the television. He moved to kneel down on the floor in front of you and reached out to wipe the tears from your face but you smacked his hand away. He sighed in frustration after you turned down his attempt at kindness so he gripped your chin in his hand and forced you to look at him.

“You are going to do everything I tell you until my revenge is complete and it won’t be finished until I say it is. You won’t protest, you won’t say no to me, no ifs ands or buts. If you defy me in any way…I’ll show your little video to everyone in school. Do you understand me?” He growled in your face and you nodded frantically against his palm. He released your chin and gently brushed his thumb over your cheek.

“Wha—what do you want me to do? I—I’ll do your homework, I’ll give you my notes, I’ll help you study. I—I’ll assist you in any way just please, I’m begging you, don’t show that video to anyone. Please, Theodore.” More tears spilled from your eyes as he stood up to look down at you.

“Ha. You think I need help with school? No. No no no.” He tsked and peered into your eyes. “I want to have my way with you. You will meet me here every night exactly at 9pm and you will do whatever I say. There will be a few rules though. No kissing. Don’t leave any marks where people can see them. You can’t tell anyone about this. Finally, don’t catch feelings! After seeing your…video, how could I resist? You’re awfully tempting.” He helped you stand up as your face paled and jaw dropped. He couldn’t help but smirk when you struggled to form a coherent sentence.

“What’s the matter, Bella? Cat got your tongue?” He taunted as he removed your robe and pulled your tie over your head. He started to undo the buttons of your top when you stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“Are—are you serious, Theodore? Sex? Th—that’s what you want?” He tilted his head at you when he noticed your lip quivering and fresh tears run down your devastated face. He felt a slight pang in his chest seeing how upset you were but he still wasn’t going to change his mind. You almost got him kicked out of school.

“Of course I am. I promise it won’t be so bad. You just have to do whatever I say. That’s all. If you misbehave in any way, I’ll share your video. All you gotta do is be a good girl and things will be fine. Okay. So…let’s begin.” He paused. “Take off your shirt.” He said sternly while you just glared at him, your expressions a mix of anger and distress over your new situation. Your hands trembled as you slowly undid one button at a time then hesitated before you slid the top from your shoulders and let the material fall down your arms. Now, you were just standing in your bra and skirt and he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. He loved how your lace bra perfectly hugged your breasts and his fingers itched to cup and play with your tits. He stalked closer to you and gently clasped your throat in his hand, your eyes growing wide as you gasped, before pushing you down to lay on his bed. Your legs still hung off the edge of the mattress as he moved to lay beside you. He took a moment to really take you in while he was propped up on his elbow before releasing your neck to run his fingers over your collarbone. He ran the back of his knuckles slowly up and down your chest. He repeated these soft motions hoping that it would help you relax but your body remained tense and you refused to look at him.

“Look at me.” He murmured softly in your ear. You shut your eyes tightly before turning your head to face him. You took a few deep breaths before opening your eyes for him. His hand finally cupped your boob and you hissed in a breath. He groaned over the softness of your breast blending perfectly with the texture of your bra. He palmed and caressed your chest as you trembled beside him. He switched to your other boob and you tried to hold back on a whimper.

“Merlin! You’re so sensitive. It’s okay…you can let it out. I want to hear you. Remove your bra for me, Bella.” He breathed in your ear and watched goosebumps spread across your skin. You stared up at the canopy of his bed as you lifted yourself up a bit to undo the clasps of your bra. You slipped it from your body and quickly covered your chest with your arms. He rolled his eyes as you laid back down next to him.

“I’ve already seen them before or should I play the video again to remind you?” He smirked and leaned in to pepper your neck with kisses.

“No! I just—I’m nervous alright!” You groaned in frustration as you slowly removed your arms from your chest and glued them to your sides. Your eyes were shut firmly and your breathing was shaky as you displayed just how nervous you were, your body stiff as a board.

“Relax, Bella. I’ve got you.” He whispered as his gaze drank in the beauty of your chest exposed to the cool air of his room. Your pretty nipples pebbled from the cold right before his eyes and his hand reached out to pinch one between his fingers. He brought his head down to slip the other into his mouth and you yelped from the warmth of his tongue. He pulled away from your body with a glare.

“Damn woman, you really are sensitive. Are you alright?” He asked with sincere concern.

“No! I’m not alright! That’s such a ridiculous question! This is just…it’s just too much for me. I said I was sorry and it didn’t help. Look at where my actions have gotten me.” More tears formed in your eyes and a part of him knew he had to comfort you. Sure he was pissed at you for snitching on him but something about you tugged at his heart. He couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Look, I accept your apology. Try to see things from my perspective. You almost got me expelled. How would you feel if you were me?” He asked as he moved to lay over you. Your face was inches away from his and you frowned.

“I wouldn’t do this to someone. I wouldn’t blackmail them. I—I don’t know what I would have done.” You said softly and looked away.

“Try and see it this way. The two of us are just blowing off steam and having a good time. No strings attached. You could do whatever you want to me. Try something you’ve never done before. As long as you’re good, your video is safe with me.” He rubbed your cheek with his thumb and you bit your bottom lip.

“I—I’ve…never done…any of this before.” You said sadly and sniffled.

“Wait…are you saying…you’re a virgin?” He asked as he sought out your eyes. You refused to make eye contact with him but you nodded without another word.

That’s what it was! Your innocence is what drew him in. He loved your reactions to being touched and thought you were absolutely adorable. He felt such a rush after knowing he was the first guy to see you like this. The thought of being your first made his heart pound in his chest.

“Fuck…you’re a gift, Bella.” He moaned as his lips claimed your neck once again. He buried his face against you, lavishing you with feverish kisses, as you whined and arched beneath him. He kissed from your neck to your collarbone down to your flushed chest. His tongue lapped out to lick and tease your stiff nipples, his mouth alternating from one to the other to suck on them hungrily. His hands gripped your sides to try and hold you in place but your writhing only turned him on even more. He stopped showering your breasts with attention and kissed down your stomach, his eyes falling on your skirt. You were panting and blinking rapidly as you lifted your head to watch him.

“Theodore? What are you about to do? What’s happening?” You looked so confused, disheveled, and aroused beyond recognition. Something in Theo snapped, in his eyes, you looked like a sexual goddess blessing his bed. For you, this was probably so overwhelming. So he made a decision in that moment. He would be merciful. He slid from the bed and knelt down on the floor between your legs. Your skirt shadowed what he desperately wanted to see, his hands snaking up your legs to rest on your thighs. You shivered from his touch and realization flashed in your eyes as you watched his hands slide further under your skirt.

“Call me Theo. I’m—I’m gonna make you feel good.” He murmured as he brought his lips to hover above your thigh, his warm breaths against your skin made your legs tremble in his hands. He gently caressed your thighs to attempt to soothe you but you still seemed to shiver no matter what he did. His hands explored the expanse of your skin as he reached under your skirt to wrap his fingers around the waistband of your lace panties. He tugged them out of place and you attempted to shut your legs around his head. He chuckled as he blocked you trying to shut him out with a firm hand on the inside of your thigh. You whimpered and covered your eyes for a moment as he moved closer and slowly lifted your skirt. He finished his work by completely removing your underwear and sticking them in his pocket. You frowned at him but didn’t protest as he moved further up between your legs.

“A man…has never tasted you before?” He asked breathlessly as he spread your legs even further.

“No.” You sniffled and watched him closely as he licked his lips. He brought his face closer to your cunt and smiled when he noticed just how wet you were.

“My my. For someone who doesn’t want this, you’re fucking soaked, Bella.” He chuckled.

“Shut up!” You huffed and let yourself fall back against his bed, your pretty face beet red. He placed one kiss where your beautiful leg met your glistening sex and you quivered as a soft moan escaped your lips. He leaned in and gently kissed the lips of your pussy and you gasped loudly, covering your face with your palms. Your wetness clung to his lips as he pulled away from you and he couldn’t help but lick them, his eyes widening over how sweet you tasted.

In that moment, he didn’t hesitate, Theo latched his mouth onto your dripping cunt and started to eat you out like a man starved. You tasted like the most delectable treat to ever bless his tongue and your scent was equally as intoxicating. He groaned into you as his hands moved to grip your hips. He was sure he left bruises on your delicate skin but he didn’t care, he felt utterly lost in you. Your moans echoed throughout his room, your hands were no longer on your face but gripped the sheets instead, your sensual body was writhing against him and his hungry mouth and he was savoring every second of it.

“You taste so fucking good!” He groaned against your dripping folds, your juices running down his chin to leave wet spots on his sweatpants. He let go of your hips to reach down and free his aching cock from his clothes. One hand wrapped around his length and started to pump furiously, matching the pace of his tongue. His free hand wrapped around one of your legs to reach your throbbing clit. His thumb rubbed circles on the sensitive bud while his tongue delved deeper into your innocent hole.

“Th—Theo! It’s—it’s too much! Oh fuck, I’m close! So close!” You cried while your fingers moved to grip his hair. Your hips ground urgently against his mouth and fingers and your desperate need had him stroking his cock even faster. He increased the pace of his thumb and watched as your back arched up from his bed. He quickly sucked on your aching clit and you cried out as you came on his tongue. With a few more pumps, his orgasm followed right behind you and he came all over the bedroom floor. That had never happened before. He got off just from eating you out. Something inside him felt hungry and primal and he just couldn’t stop himself. He gave your pussy one last kiss and you shuddered as he moved away from you to let you catch your breath.

He tucked his cock back into his boxers and looked up to gauge your reaction. You were staring blankly up at the bed canopy with your hand over your chest. He slowly moved to sit beside you and wiped your slick from his mouth as you tried to gain your composure.

“I—I can’t believe—that just happened.” You murmured.

“Are you alright?” Theo asked as he helped you sit up beside him. You nodded gently but wouldn’t make eye contact with him. You slowly stood up from the bed but he noticed the slight wobble in your legs as you moved to grab your bra and shirt. You eyed his pocket as you slipped on your clothes but he shook his head at you with a scoff.

“You’re not getting them back, Bella. I’m sure you won’t miss one pair of panties.” He smirked as you glared at him and put on your robe.

“Fine. Keep them.” You sighed heavily but he loved how your cheeks grew red over the thought of him keeping your underwear. He helped you walk to his door and he held it open for you.

“Same time tomorrow. Don’t be late.” He gripped your chin between his fingers and you blushed.

“I thought that…I thought you wanted to have sex with me.” You said softly as you finally looked into his eyes.

“Maybe another time, be glad I chose to be kind tonight. If I really wanted to, I could have had you screaming my name while I pound that pretty pussy of yours.” He smirked at you while your jaw dropped in shock.

“I—I can’t believe you just said that.” You said softly while your cheeks burned a bright red.

“I’ve got you thinking about now, don’t I?” He asked with a cocky smile on his face.

“N—no! I’m just—still shocked about all of this and what happened. I just wanna go to bed. I’ll umm—I’ll see you tomorrow.” You replied meekly and pulled your robe tighter around your body as you walked through his door.

“Oh! Don’t forget,” he called out to you, “make sure you don’t run into any prefects on your way back to your dorm. Wouldn’t want anyone catching you and thinking that you were up to no good.” He chuckled wickedly as your jaw dropped over his audacity.

He shut the door on you and listened as you stormed off down the hallway. When things were quiet, he quickly moved over to his television and moved a small plant he had on the stand. Hidden beside the leaves was his camera. He hit the rewind button then grinned when he pressed play and saw the video he had recorded. Everything the two of you had done tonight was captured on film and added to his list of blackmail material. He smiled viciously to himself as he put the device away. Yes, he was definitely going to have his way with you.

Tag list: @underthenightskydreamsneverdie @slytherinravebabe @helendeath if I missed any tags, please let me know and I will happily add you.🥰❤️

My first Theo fic! I hope you like it because I have plenty more to come. It feels good to be writing again.🥹❤️

[777heavengirl]

the one with Pobol y cwm

sirius black x reader ! - 1,091 words masterlist bags masterlist A/N: HAPPY BDAY SIRIUS BLACK MY BELOVED- SURPRISE UPDATE IN HONOR OF HIM TODAY- oh dear pls dont look at this too in detail i am very sick and exhausted but i wanted to put something out for his bday...

Sirius had never been a crier. Yet as his nimble fingers dug into the soft material of your sweater, and his body shook with sobs— it became clear to you that he had just been holding it in. 

He hadn’t said much after he walked through his door, red-eyed and ready to crumble. 

But you knew. 

You had always been this way. Just knowing, him. Knowing somehow, what he was thinking, what he was feeling. You could tell, most of the time anyway.

You knew he felt sorry, and you knew he felt frustratingly heartbroken. Angry and furious, but deeply blue. The little boy inside of him had lost his mother, and there was nothing he could say to himself that would make it better. 

 Because through all her faults, her disgusting vile words, and even worse behavior. Through her hexes and unforgivable curses, through every bit of torture that Walburga had subjected Sirius through, it was still his mother.

She would always be his mother.

Disowned or not, abuser or not, the owner of his nightmares, the person he hated most. Nothing could ever erase the fact that for at least the first sixteen years of his life, she had been his mother, and in a way, in a deeply hurtful, and grief-ridden way, she would always be. 

So he cried. For the mother he had until age ten, for the mother he had been subjected to until sixteen, for the mother he never had in the first place. 

It didn’t matter how many times Sirius told himself to not cry over her, it didn’t matter that he truly hated her. It didn’t matter he once had half a mind to kill her himself. He realized that he’d never get the good relationship he had always secretly wanted. As long as she was alive, even though Sirius would rather die himself than admit it, the stupidest goddamn part of him was still holding on to that chance. 

He had never realized he was still clutching onto that.

Until the chance got ripped away.

So you sat, with his face buried in your stomach as he kneeled in front of his bed, in front of you. Sobbing. His arms around your torso and clutching at the material of your jumper with white-hot fists. 

You didn't know what else to do besides hug him back, trying not to cry. Your hands pet his hair, strong and steady, because you knew that was what he needed the most right now. 

Your reliability, your care, your unconditional love for him. 

And you did, love him that is. 

From the bottom of your heart, you loved Sirius Orion Black.

Even if you hadn’t talked in weeks, even if you felt like a ghost in the house, even if you had been planning your move out no less than thirty minutes ago in a fit of anxious desperation.

“I’m sorry Sirius” you didn’t think he heard you over his earth-shattering sobs, but he shook his head slightly, almost as if wanting to say no, don’t be. “I am sorry, I know she was horrid-”

“I hate her-” his words were hoarse and raw, he didn’t look up. “I still hate her, I need her to wake up so I can tell her- god I can’t tell her-” You could feel his words reverberating through his throat, 

“I hate her so much, I hoped she’d die in some- in some disgusting gruesome death, I just-” he took a deep breath, his breath ragged and shaky “I hoped it would be something ironic and karmic like getting hit by a muggle bus but that goddamn bitch had the audacity to go in peace- in her sleep no less merlin- I- I- just keep hoping that I’m dreaming and that she’s… there and rotting alive in that awful house” 

“I’m sorry-”

His voice was calmer now, still buried in your sweater, still embracing you. “I hate her and I am glad she’s dead, she doesn’t deserve to be alive and well after everything she put me and my brother through- but the stupidest part of me- is still mourning”

He loosened his hold on you, and he slumped between your legs, his face now only half-buried in your torso. You could see the red splotches that had bloomed on his porcelain skin.

“I don't know what I feel any more love, I feel out of control”

“I know”

“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you”

“I’m sorry too-”

“Please don’t leave me… don’t leave me alone”

“I don’t think I could leave even if I wanted to Sirius- not that I do… don’t worry-” Your fingers carded through his hair “I will always be here”

“I’m sorry-”

“You don’t have to apologize- we can talk about that later… do you want to go for a walk?”

He lifted his head up slightly, enough to steal glances of your face as he wiped his face with his fingers. 

“Can we just watch Pobol y cwm-” his voice was low and gloomy, it broke your heart.

“Yeah, we can watch Pobol…” You tried smiling at him, it was a sad one, but he mirrored it nonetheless. It was hard not to get emotional while seeing him this way. 

Shattered and somber. 

Irrevocably burdened with the knowledge that while yes he mourned his mother, just some idolized version of her he buried deep within the confines of his mind— he would never get justice either. 

Sirius Black was relieved, he realized, as he laid his head on your shoulder and watched the advertisements on TV. His abuser was dead, it was more than he could ask for. Yes, he’d have to talk to you eventually, tell you how he feels, even simply explain why he got so upset. He’d have to write to his brother and not repeat the cycle of anger that was embedded deep within their veins. He’d eventually have to face his father. He’d have to face the fact that he, did indeed, have grief over the death of Walburga. 

But all of that could wait for tonight, he had you right now. 

With your arm around him, tucking his much larger form into your side, with his legs over your thighs and Pobol y cwm playing in the back. The soft of your sweater, and the sweet soft scent of your hair, the warmth from your hand drawing circles on his back. It was all that mattered right now.

It was just you and Pobol y cwm.

taglist ; @thatlittlered @giuli-in-earth

let me know if you wanna be added ! or if i missed you

[empress-simps]

Uncle Padfoot’s Motorcycle

Pairing: Dad! Remus x Mom! Reader CW: Language and Remus who’s gonna face the wrath of his wife. Summary: Uncle Sirius takes baby Moony out for a ride on his motorcycle and you aren't happy about it.

Note: I’ve literally enjoyed writing this, and dad! Marauders literally make me hdiskskssjska ALSO THANK YOU FOR 500 FOLLOWERS YOU GUYS🫨🥹 I LOVE Y’ALL

"Sirius Orion Black and Remus John Lupin!"

Sirius could feel his soul practically leave his body as he saw you, in your ever angry form, march to where he is handing your year old daughter to Remus' awaiting arms.

This is it, this is how Sirius thinks he’s going to leave the face of the Earth.

"Erm, I have to go! See you next week yeah?" Sirius clambers onto his motorcycle, praying to any deity that he would fly faster than you hexing him with your wandless magic.

"Bye pah foo!" Lyra grins, her four teeth in clear display as Sirius looked back and waved, "See you soon, baby moony! Have to go before mummy hexes me to no end!"

Remus watched his friend blankly, deep down wishing he too was in the back of the motorcycle with Lyra so he could escape the imminent wrath his wife that was to rain down on him.

“Remus. John. Lupin.”

Each word you uttered was like a nail on his coffin. He tried his best not to wince as he heard how utterly cold and sharp you spat his name out. So, gathering up his remaining courage, he faced you with a smile- and he definitely didn’t place your squealing baby girl in front of him, making her somewhat his shield. He hoped the cuteness of Lyra would soften the blow quite a bit.

“Hi, darling! You’re back early- “

“Tell me I did just not see our one-year-old baby land in front of our house riding Sirius’ flying motorcycle or so merlin help me I will strangle you.” You warned, taking Lyra from his hands, who happily snuggled in your arms.

Well, shit.

There goes his only chance of living.

He offered a wry smile, ignoring how sweaty his hands had become. “Alrighty, I won’t tell you- “

“Remus! You seriously thought it was a good idea to let our child ride a flying motorcycle? She just turned a year-old last week for Merlin’s sake!” You scolded, poor Remus. Call him a seer because he can already see himself sleeping on the couch for the entire week, a few days if he’s lucky.

“Darling, Sirius and I made sure it was completely safe.” He tried to explain, “Lyra doesn’t even have a helmet! What were you guys thinking?!” You hugged your baby closer to your chest.

“Well, Padfoot said it’s unnecessary since they’re technically flying.” You scoffed in disbelief as you comforted Lyra who started to fuss. “Remind me to make Sirius fall next time I set his eyes on him on that darn vehicle of his.”

Remus could only let out a nervous chuckle. "Erm, I will."

“Why was Padfoot even here the first place?” You raised an eyebrow, going back inside the house to place Lyra in her playpen as Remus followed you like a servant who’s trying to regain your favor. “He also took Harry out for a ride. After that, he went here and told me Lyra should also experience it.”

You turned around and faced him, a hand on your hips. “I’m guessing Lily isn’t aware- because there is no way in her right mind that she would let her two-year-old son ride a flying motorcycle.”

His silence was the only thing you needed to hear from him.

“Where even were you when he took Lyra out for a ride?”

He blinks stupidly, “Outside, watching them.”

“You better choose your next words carefully Lupin.”

“I was supposed to ride with them, darling! But Sirius already took off when I was about to get onto the motorcycle!” He explains, hoping it’ll be enough to save him as he recalled the events from earlier.

“Pah foo!” Lyra grinned as she clapped her hands excitedly, her sandy brown hair that was tied in pigtails was swaying with every move she made. Sirius returned her excitement, bypassing Remus who answered the door and made a beeline to the squealing baby.

“There’s my baby Moony!” He lifts Lyra up from her playpen and peppers her face with kisses while Remus smiled, rolling his eyes playfully. “I’m starting to think you’re just visiting so you can hang out with my daughter, Padfoot.”

Sirius turned to look at him, smiling playfully as Lyra tugged on his curls. “I’m afraid so, Moony.” He then turned his attention to the child. “Now, who wants to go on an adventure with uncle Padfoot?”

Sirius’s eyes twinkled with mischief as he held Lyra aloft, her giggles filling the room. “We’ll soar over the treetops, chase the clouds, and maybe even race a few owls, eh?” He bounced her gently, eliciting more delighted squeals.

Remus watched them, a fond smile on his face, thinking that his best mate wouldn’t seriously do it. “Just make sure you keep her within sight, Padfoot. No loops or dives,” he added with a mock sternness that fooled neither Sirius nor Lyra.

Sirius mock saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain Moony!” He turned to Lyra, whispering conspiratorially, “Your dad’s just worried we’ll have too much fun without him.”

Remus didn’t even know how it happened, he just suddenly became aware of the situation when Sirius and Lyra were off, the flying motorcycle roaring to life as they took to the skies, leaving a trail of laughter, the faint smell of engine oil in their wake, and a faint ‘I fly, dada!’ from Lyra.

You sighed, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. “At least Lyra’s safe, I know Sirius wouldn’t endanger his god daughter.”

You watched as Remus’s eyes softened; the worry lines smoothed out from his forehead. “Yes, Lyra is safe, and Sirius might be reckless, but he’s also fiercely protective,” he agreed, his voice carrying a note of gratitude. You hummed in agreement.

Remus tested the waters, “So… I won’t be sleeping in the couch, right?”

You couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, the tension from earlier dissipating like morning fog in the sunlight. “No, Remmy, you won’t be sleeping on the couch,” you said, your voice laced with a hint of amusement. “But let’s agree that any future flights require both parents’ approval, alright?”

Remus let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “Agreed, and I promise, no more surprises,” he said earnestly, reaching out to take your hand.

Just then, Lyra’s babbling caught your attention, and you both turned to see her playing with a small, plush fox, looking eerily similar to your animagus form that Sirius must have sneaked into her playpen.

“Maybe we can’t protect her from everything, but we can make sure she knows she’s loved and safe,” you mused aloud, watching Lyra.

Remus nodded, his eyes reflecting the same sentiment. “That’s all we can do,” he agreed. “And maybe teach her a few tricks so she can outfly Sirius one day,” he added with a wink.

You glared at him playfully, then laughed, imagining a future where Lyra, with her inherited Marauder’s cunning, would indeed give Sirius a run for his money. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind,” you said with a smile.

As the night drew on, the house filled with the soft sounds of a family at peace. The day’s adventures were recounted with laughter and gentle teasing, and plans for a grounded tomorrow were made. And in that moment, all was well in the world of magic and mischief.

[gaiussleechtank]

It was one of those nights: the peaceful ones where both King and Court Warlock could shed their titles and just exist as two friends sharing cups of wine beside a fire. Both were silent as they nursed their drinks and basked in the dim lighting the fire provided Arthur’s dark chambers.

Merlin was lying across the floor on top of countless pillows and blankets, parallel to the hearth of the fireplace. His feet were bare as he had kicked off his boots hours earlier and the cords of his tunic were pulled extremely loose. Merlin’s legs were crossed one over the other as one hand played with a lock of his own hair as the other blindly traced the engravings of his goblet.

Arthur was sat his chair above Merlin, facing the fire and looking down at the peaceful man. He was glad that Merlin’s eyes were closed because it allowed the King to openly stare. For someone who was regarded to be so aware of everything all of the time - Merlin has not once ever cottoned on to Arthur’s gaze on him. In a way, it was reassuring that Arthur didn’t have to fear being caught by the very man he was observing. But it another way it was far too frustrating: Arthur nearly wanted to be caught and then in turn be forced to admit his reasons for staring.

For the Goddess’ sake, how could Arthur not look anywhere but Merlin with the man lying so enchantingly in front of him, doused in the golden light of the flames?

How could he lay his eyes elsewhere when nothing and no one else brought him nearly as much happiness and fulfilment in his heart than Merlin?

How could he when Merlin was everything that he loved?

The nearly empty goblet rested on his lap with his hands encircling the rim, it would be stupid to say it.

“Merlin?” Arthur broke their silence.

Merlin hummed in response, he didn’t move nor open his eye, but the tone of his voice easily told Arthur that he was listening.

“I’m in love with you.” Oh, fuck.

The body in front of him stilled. Merlin’s hand retracted from his hair as he slowly sat up. Arthur couldn’t tell you when the Warlock’s eyes had opened but he could give you a thousand words at least on what it felt like to be under their unending gaze. Merlin didn’t look away from Arthur as he got to his feet and came to stand in front of his King.

Merlin might not have ever been aware of when Arthur’s eyes were on him - but Arthur was far too aware of Merlin’s piercing stare. The King averted his eyes and stared down at the lingering mouthful of wine in his cup, listening to Merlin’s few footsteps.

A hand slid underneath Arthur’s jaw and half cupped the side of his face: hesitantly, Arthur let himself be guided to look up at Merlin. Had it been anyone else, this would have been so dangerous - to willing put his heart and mind at risk by giving someone else so much control over him would have been a death wish if it were anyone else.

Yet this was Merlin, the one person in his life that he would faithfully trust the world with to the ends of time.

It was sad eyes that Arthur saw. Not angry. Not disgusted. Not hurt, or even happy. Sad, sad, eyes that Arthur would nearly say were brokenhearted.

Merlin sighed with a pained and defeated expression. “Not again.”

“What?” Arthur felt his breath catch in his throat.

Merlin smiled with a soft pain, his thumb stroked over Arthur cheek as he said, “You don’t love me, Arthur.”

“I- I do.” Arthur stammered, he hadn’t anticipated out right refusal, denial and disbelief as an outcome. “I do love you, Merlin.”

Merlin swallows and seemed to choke back tears.

“No, Arthur, you don’t.” He repeated. “This is a love enchantment, this has happened before. You aren’t in love with me.”

The words were far too rehearsed, Merlin’s expression too knowing and understanding. Arthur felt like a petulant child being gently corrected on the truth. Had this really happened before? Had Arthur been enchanted to be in love with Merlin before?

“Merlin, I know my feelings, please believe me.” Arthur begged in futile.

“I don’t think you realise how badly I want to, but I can’t.”

Arthur’s eyes widened at Merlin’s confession - even though the feelings were reciprocated, Arthur was still being rejected - but he saw it. He saw all of the held back and restrained love Merlin held in his eyes for Arthur. He finally was bearing witness to Merlin’s affection, only because the Warlock was allowing him to.

“Is it really so unbelievable that I love you that you are convinced my mind is under the control of a spell of potion?”

“I know you love me - in the way friends love one another, brothers even.” Merlin stressed, his words clearly hurting himself. “But you don’t love me the way I want you to, you never have and you never will.”

“You do want me to love you like this?” Arthur countered.

Merlin closed his eyes and shakily let out a sob, his hands ran from Arthur’s jaw and face, around the King’s neck and weakly grasped at the back of Arthur’s head. He pressed his face into Arthur’s hair, Arthur pulled Merlin in closer and strung his arms around the Warlock’s waist and back: he could feel Merlin weep.

“You won’t remember this conversation, you never have, so why not?” Merlin muttered with a bitterness that surprised the King. “I have loved you for years, Arthur, what I feel for you goes beyond the devotion of prophecy and bond of friendship. I’ve always known that you will never feel the same.”

How his heart ached on the verge of breaking: Merlin loved him. He was in love with Arthur. He felt the same as Arthur but clearly awful past experiences that Arthur cannot remember are preventing him from acting on the truth.

Arthur tried to speak but was cut off before he could even utter a syllable.

“No, Arthur, please stop.” Merlin said, slipping out of Arthur embrace. He looked so guilty.

Merlin believed Arthur not to be in control of his mind and actions, he believed Arthur to be susceptible to anything. Though Merlin was nowhere near the kind of person to take advantage of someone under the influence of something mind altering. Even though this ‘supposed potion or enchantment’ was giving him what the Warlock wanted, Merlin still held back and refused.

Even such a simple embrace, the kind of embrace that was becoming more commonly between them as the years progressed seemed to wreck so much regret through the man - Arthur wanted to shake him and scream at how wrong Merlin was: that he could and was consenting to any any hold or touch Merlin could or would give him.

Arthur stood up and met Merlin far too closely. Their faces were mere inches apart, dangerously so. The King saw how badly Merlin wanted to give in, he could see the arguments and thought process that Merlin was going through.

His hand hovered over the side of Merlin’s face as leaned in closer.

“Don’t.”

He froze.

“You’re not in the right state of mind.” Merlin breathed out, more for his own sake than Arthur’s.

Arthur hand fell to his side but he didn’t move away.

“Please tell me how I can prove my honesty.” He asked.

Merlin looked down with resignation and then turned away to the doors.

“Come, Sire, follow me.” Merlin murmured as he left.

He hadn’t called Arthur ‘Sire’ in years, not even in heated arguments did Merlin enforce that distance between them. It spoke tales to Arthur on how hurt his best friend was. He dashed after Merlin, it wasn’t hard to follow the sound of weary footsteps.

They were heading for Merlin’s laboratory. Arthur caught up with broken hearted Warlock and joined their hands together - Merlin allowed it.

Met with the smell of dodgy potions, old books, strong herbs, ash and numerous other smells that Arthur had grown familiar with associating with Merlin’s experiments, Arthur saw and felt Merlin relax slightly. They were on his ground now, they followed his rules.

Arthur let go of Merlin’s hand and took his chair that he always sat in when observing Merlin work.

“You stare a lot.” Merlin said as he leafed through shelves of bottles - no doubt searching for a cure-all potion that he had concocted in earlier years.

“I always have, you’ve just never noticed.” Arthur replied honestly.

Merlin sighed for the thousandth time that hour and stood up straight and returned to Arthur, bottle in hand. It was a small vial with opaque pink liquid filling less than a third of the bottle. He stood on the other side of the work bench and handed over the vial of anti-serum.

Wordlessly and without hesitation Arthur uncorked the bottle and drank his mouthful. Setting down the bottle, he leaned closer to Merlin, head propped up by his elbow, hand under chin, staring at Merlin patiently.

The Warlock also leaned closer, gold creeping into his eyes without a single incantation as he analysed Arthur’s reaction to the potion. The world seemed to hold its breath as it waited for the two men to get onto the same page.

“Well, am I really under an enchantment?” Arthur asked after a very long pause.

Merlin’s mouth fell open as his brow and eyes once again creased into tears.

“No… You aren’t.” Merlin managed to say, covering his face as he cried.

Arthur stood up and joined Merlin on the other side of the workbench. He pulled the shocked and relieved and sobbing Warlock into another hug. Both holding onto each other equally tight.

“I love you, Merlin.” Arthur promised his Warlock firmly.

[chickenlizard13]

All You’ve Done

Pairing: Ominis Gaunt x Reader (gender neutral)

Word Count: 12790

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Like a hint of spice

Description: Buckle up kids. This got waaaaayyy longer than I’d planned, and I’ve taken a lot of liberties with the story. I envision Ominis’s wand working like a topographical map, kind of like Toph in Avatar The Last Airbender. Anyway, mainly follows Sebastian’s quest line.

“You got a staring problem?”

You were violently ripped from your thoughts by a low angry voice. Tearing your eyes from the other side of the room, you look up at the boy glaring at you from the end of the table. Furrowing your brow, you tilt your head in challenge, eyebrows rising. “Excuse you?”

You watch his hackles rise and his scowl deepen, before letting out an irritated huff. “I asked if you have a fucking staring problem.”

You give him a once over, trying to figure out where you’d seen him before. You vaguely remember dueling him in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but were struggling to produce his name. He was in Slytherin, and you were pretty sure he had an interesting reputation, but that was all you knew at the moment.

You’d met so many people in your first few days here, who could really blame you for blanking on a name? Squinting harder, you looked at the smattering of freckles across his face and wild brunette locks, hoping they’d trigger your memory. He bristled at your intense gaze, mistaking your concentration for hostility, and refused to back down.

Bringing your hand up, you repeatedly tapped the center of your forehead with your index finger, trying to summon his name to your mind. S something. Ssss-tanley. Steven. Sylis?

He’d started to fidget at your odd behavior, eyes darting questioningly to Natty as she sat beside you. Natty had seen you do this before, and laughed at Sebastian’s bewildered look, telling him to give you a moment.

“Sebastian!” You snap your fingers and point at him with a triumphant look on your face. “I’m sorry, uh, what did you want again?”

Suddenly remembering why he’d approached you in the first place, his face darkened once more. Leaning down, he gets right in your face, blocking your line of sight from your previous fixation. “You’ve been staring at Ominis for a particularly long time, and I’d like to know why.” You return his scowl and roll your eyes at his aggressive display.

“Don’t see why it’s any of your business, freckles. Can’t someone just enjoy the view in peace?” Your dismissive tone does little to dissuade him. Sebastian narrows his eyes, and doesn’t budge.

“I would think twice about messing with Ominis, if I were you. House Slytherin is not an enemy you want.” Rolling your eyes, you let out an exasperated sigh and stand up, brushing past him. You ignore his irritated calls, striding towards the blonde’s table. Ominis sat hunched over, frustratedly staring at the leaves in his hands. You purposefully make a noisy approach, so as not to spook the blind boy with your presence. Stopping next to his chair, you take a breath before you speak.

“Hello.”

Ominis slowly raises his head and does his best to look in your general direction, the look of frustration staying on his face. “...Hello. Can I help you?”

You smile at the warry tone and attempt to make your voice as sincere as possible. “I noticed you’ve been staring at these leaves for quite awhile. I was wondering if you’d want some help with…whatever, it is you’re doing?”

A look of indignation crosses his features and he sticks his nose up at you. “I don’t need anything, thank you very much. Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean that I’m incapable.”

Merlin’s beard, Slytherin boys were a prickly bunch. Sighing tiredly, you consider just turning around and walking away, but instead cross your arms and lean your hip against the table.

“I didn’t ask if you NEED any help. I asked you if you WANT any help. It’s fine if you don’t, but you’ve been sitting here fondling leaves for the better part of an hour. I assumed the wrinkle in your forehead would become permanent if I didn’t put you out of your misery. I see that I was mistaken” Without waiting for a response you turn to leave, only taking a few steps before he calls out to you.

“Wait.” You stop and turn, raising an eyebrow expectantly even though he can’t see it. He shuffles his feet and looks down at the floor, mumbling begrudgingly. “I have to write 5 inches on the medicinal and physical differences between Mallowsweet and Dittany for Herbology, and I’m having trouble with the physical portion. Someone was supposed to be here half an hour ago to help, but he still hasn’t shown up.”

Gazing over your shoulder, you could see the smoke coming out of Sebastian’s ears as he scowled at you. Natty hid an amused smile behind her hand, eyes darting between the both of you. Taunting him, you give him a wink and a sly smirk, resisting the urge to chuckle as you hear him curse you out from across the room.

Facing Ominis, you sit on the table and put your feet on the chair next to him. “So, Dittany grows on long stalks, ending in bright pink flowers. The leaves are smooth, and more circular, than Mallowsweet.” His attention had been drawn away, as he’d no doubt heard Sebastian’s string of expletives across the room, but swung his head in your direction as you spoke.

Grabbing a Dittany leaf, you gently take his wrist, ignoring the way he stiffens at the contact. You place the leaf in his hand, letting him feel the edges for a moment before moving on.

“Mallowsweet on the other hand, ends in a point and has small ridges along the edge. The leaves progressively become more yellow, the closer they get to the cluster of orange flowers at the top. Unlike Dittany, Mallowsweet grows in short clumps, the stalks close together.” You pick up a Mallowsweet leaf and tap the back of his other hand with your knuckle, signaling that he should turn his palm over for the second leaf. He does so willingly, and takes a second to feel both leaves simultaneously.

This whole time you’d been focused on describing the leaves as accurately as possible, and only now turned your gaze to his face. He seemed to be deep in thought, features unreadable, his eyes pointedly turned toward his hands.

He turned his face towards you and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Sebastian's untimely arrival. “And what is going on over here?”

Apparently he’d had enough of watching from afar and decided to make himself known. You rolled your eyes at him once more and hopped down from the edge of the table. “Oh, there he is, you’re late. Just a little homework help, don’t get your panties in a twist.” You could hear Sebastian grumbling about how he doesn’t wear panties as you walked away. What you didn’t see was Ominis grabbing his wand and pointing it in your direction, trying to discern any identifying features from your retreating figure.

__________________

The next few weeks flew by as you dove head first into your classes, doing your best to catch up to your fellow fifth years, as per Professor Weasley’s expectations.

You were in the middle of Potions class, finishing up your Wiggenweld brew, when Professor Sharp walked up behind you quietly. Corking the bottle, you turn and face him, silently handing him the potion with a pleased smile. He took the vial just as silently and inspected it thoroughly, examining the liquid and smelling the contents. Grunting in approval, he replaced the cork and handed it back to you. “Impressive. Wiggenweld is not an easy potion, and you’ve executed it exceptionally well.”

Your smile grows a bit as you thank him for his kind words. He gestures for you to follow him back to his desk with a slight nod of his head. The two of you make your way over, and you stop at the front, as he circles around to stand behind his chair. “Professor Weasley has asked me to give you extra assignments to help you catch up with the rest of the fifth years. I’d like you to try your hand at the Edurus potion. You can find the ingredients in my office. You may use them for today, but you will be expected to provide your own in the future. We’ll see if your Wiggenweld was actual skill, or just pure luck.”

You smile as you thank him again, making your way to his office. As you walk over, you can see Garreth Weasley lurking conspicuously by the door. There’d been many a conversation in the halls about Garreth’s failed brews, and how he often roped unsuspecting students into his schemes. Uninterested in being involved, you did your best to avoid eye contact, walking quickly to the office door. Before you could escape, he stopped you, a mischievous smile lighting up his face as he spoke your name. “Did I hear correctly that you’ve gotten permission to go into Sharp’s office?”

Groaning internally, you close your eyes before turning to face him. “Yes, Garreth. Why do you want to know?”

His eyes grew bigger as the mischief turned to giddy excitement. “That’s great! How would you like to be part of something truly spectacular? I’m working on a new potion, and there’s just one final ingredient before it’s finished!” You open your mouth to deny his request, but he continues without letting you get a word out. “What is this ingredient you may ask? A Fwooper feather! Sharp has one in his office, and it would be a great help if you could grab it for me while you're there.”

Shaking your head, you let out a large sigh before looking him in the eyes. “Garreth, I’m not stealing from Professor Sharp for you.” Garreth began waving his hands back and forth frantically, a panicked look on his face.

“No, no, no, listen. It’ll be fine! Fwooper feathers aren’t THAT valuable. He won’t even miss it! Please, do this for me? Just this once, I swear!”

You pressed your lips into a thin line as you regarded the red head. He was pouting, giving you the biggest puppy eyes you’d ever seen. It was tempting to just give in and get him the feather, if only to spare you the crocodile tears. Ultimately, you decided that you’d rather stay on Sharp’s good side, and that Garreth should really focus on actually learning to brew potions instead of his semi dangerous concoctions.

“Look, Garreth. I can appreciate your…creative vision, but I am not willing to compromise my current standing in Professor Sharp’s good graces. You’re going to have to find another way to get that Fwooper feather.” You turn to continue your way into the office and feel a hand grab your sleeve.

“Wait! I promise you won’t get in trouble! I just really need-” You gave him a stern glare and whirled on him.

“Garreth. I will not be pressured into doing something I don’t want to. I’m all for breaking some rules every now and then, but stealing from a professor I respect and want to learn from, is not something I’m willing to do at this juncture. Please, drop it.” Unprepared for your ire, Garreth took a step back in shock, before slinking away in dejection. You felt a little bad, but it was for his own good. It would serve him to be told no every once in a while.

Quickly gathering the ingredients, you start walking back to your potions table, having spent way too much class time arguing with Garreth. You passed behind Ominis sitting at his own station, still trying to perfect his Wiggenweld, when he accidently knocked his wand off the counter. It hit the floor with a small clunk, and Ominis scrunched his eyebrows together, leaning down to retrieve it.

He must have misjudged where the counter started, and was about to put his whole hand into his scalding potion pot. Before you could think, you grabbed his wrist and yanked it away from the cauldron, burning the back of your hand on the lip.

You immediately went to apologize for grabbing him so suddenly, when he ripped his wrist from your grasp. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Opening your mouth, you attempt to explain what happened. Ominis heard none of it and continued to yell, drawing the attention of the rest of the class.

“You think it’s funny to just grab someone like that?! You’ve got some fucking nerve-” You caught Sebastian stalking over out of the corner of your eye, a dark look on his face. The entire class was giving this spectacle their undivided attention, heaven forbid you had one uneventful potions class. Wanting nothing more than to finish this potion and leave, you interrupt Ominis as he accuses you of purposefully knocking his wand over.

“Ominis.” Upon hearing your voice, he clamps his mouth shut, a look of surprise and something else crossing his face. Sebastian comes to a halt next to you, teeth bared, but you ignore him and continue talking.

“You were about to put your hand into your boiling cauldron. I didn’t think that you’d particularly want to take a trip to the Hospital Wing today. I apologize for startling you.” Picking up his wand, you place it carefully onto the table, still within arms reach, but far enough that it won’t fall again. Sebastian bashfully scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, as you brushed past him. Ignoring the stares of your classmates, you quietly brewed the Edurus potion, face carefully neutral.

Upon finishing, you brought it over to Professor Sharp. He gave it the same level of scrutiny he’d given your Wiggenweld, grunting in approval when it was up to his standards. You turned to follow the other students out of the room, when you heard Professor Sharp clear his throat. “I appreciate you denying Mr. Weasley’s request earlier, not many are able to resist his particular brand of...persuasion. He would do well to focus on actual potions while he’s still a student.” Letting out an amused huff at what he meant by ‘persuasion’, you bid him goodbye, continuing on with the rest of your classes.

——————————————-

You hated that you had to ask Sebastian for help. The smug satisfaction ever present on his face as you snuck through the Restricted Section, searching for any wisps of ancient magic. He’d been needling you endlessly about what you were after, but you successfully evaded his questioning each time.

Sebastian was too busy trying to annoy an answer out of you to notice Peeves popping out of a bookshelf, threatening to tell the librarian about your late night escapades. Fearing the consequences awaiting you if you were caught, you allowed the familiar pull of ancient magic to guide your wand. A book flew off the shelf, opening on its own, hovering before you. Peeves started floating away, taunting Sebastian with your impending detention, when your wand pulsed and dragged Peeves screaming into the pages. The book snapped shut and shuddered once, before calmly putting itself back on the shelf.

The both of you blinked at the shelf silently, holding your breath, before staring blankly at each other. Sebastian opened his mouth to ask, closing it as you held up a hand, shaking your head. You turn away from him, sensing that you needed to travel deeper into the Restricted Section, knowing he couldn’t come along.

“Well, it looks like you have free reign of the Restricted Section this evening. You can poke around to your heart's content.” He looked at you quizzically as you started heading down the stairs leading deeper below the school.

“You’re going alone? Why can’t I come? What about Peeves?” You stop and give him a gentle smile over your shoulder.

“Don’t worry about Peeves. He’ll find his way out.” Probably.

You turn to face him fully on the stairs, your smile widening. “I figured you’d want a free evening to peruse the books, uninhibited. Don’t worry about me. Thank you for getting me this far. It wasn’t completely terrible.”

He gave you a wide, boyish grin. “I think I miss judged you.” He gave you a parting wave, before sneaking off to bury himself in as many illicit tomes as possible. Smiling to yourself, you continue your way downwards, excited to discover what secrets lay so far beneath Hogwarts.

—————————————

After your jaunt through the library, you discovered that you rather enjoyed Sebastian’s company. Contrary to your first impression, he actually had a working brain between those ears, and he knew how to use it. Your friendship slowly grew over the passing weeks, until finally, he sent you an owl requesting your presence in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Tower.

Meeting him late that night, he shared with you his dearly kept secret, known only to him, Ominis, and now you. You guessed he still felt a little guilty about his behavior during your early interactions, thus offering the Undercroft in apology. The only stipulation being no one, especially Ominis, would know.

Swearing to guard his secret, you left the Undercroft, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before your morning classes.

As fate would have it, you’re immediately cornered by the last person you wanted to see.

“Hello Sebastian.” Wide eyed, you stare at Ominis, unblinking. Perhaps if you didn’t breathe, he wouldn’t notice you. Instead assuming he’d just missed Sebastian entering the Undercroft.

It would seem that luck had abandoned you, his eyes narrowing at the lack of response. “Hold on. You aren’t Sebastian at all, are you? Did you just come from the Undercroft?!”

Biting your lip, you consider your options. You could always lie, and say you stumbled upon the room by accident. You could come clean, and admit Sebastian’s guilt. You very briefly even considered just making a break for it, praying Ominis wouldn’t catch you. You had no good options, least of all one that would end with the three of you on good terms.

Ominis’s brow twitched impatiently, wand pointed directly at your chest. You supposed that the blonde boy already thought pretty poorly of you, seeing how your previous interaction ended. Why not give him one more reason?

“I…did.” You answered cautiously, unsure where you were going, letting your lips take you.

Ominis’s scowl deepened, a haughty sneer placing itself on his lips. “Sebastian showed you didn’t he? That fool. I can’t believe he would-”

“Relax, Ominis. Sebastian didn’t give up your secret, um…willingly.” What were you saying? What did that even mean? Before you could say anything else, Ominis stopped talking and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“What do you mean by that.” There was no question in his voice, only a frosty demand. You resisted the shiver tickling at your spine, swallowing the need to take a few steps back.

“I saw Sebastian duck in here earlier and followed him. He- uh, he’s not as sneaky as he thinks.” You had absolutely no control over the words coming out of your mouth. Cringing internally at your horrid acting, you wondered how Ominis hadn’t seen right through you.

“Don’t worry. I promised to keep the Undercroft a secret…for a…a price?” WHAT. Why would you say that? Why would you say that? You watched his chest heave in anger, latching onto the implication of your threat. It seemed he’d rather believe you the villain, than consider his friend's betrayal.

“What. Price.” There was something in his voice that sent a chill through your bones. Something hissed behind his lips, sinister and cold, almost too faint for you to hear. You felt like a rabbit cornered by a cobra, nowhere to go but through him.

Swallowing, you steeled yourself, resolving to end this interaction quickly so you could wallow in self pity from the comfort of your bed. “Nothing much, just a favor. No need to concern yourself over it.” You stupidly give him your back as you slide past, wanting to bolt from this absolute disaster, but forcing your legs to maintain a casual pace.

“If you tell anyone about this place, I will make sure the rest of your time at this school is a living hell. My father is good friends with Professor Black, and I will not hesitate to exploit that connection if I need to. Not even your precious Professor Fig will be able to save you.”

Humming lowly, you continued down the hall without looking back. You could faintly hear Ominis snarl in rage, as he opened the door roughly to question Sebastian. The sound was drowned out by the whirling thoughts in your head. What had you done? You couldn’t have created a bigger mess if you’d tried. There was no way you could come back from this, no way Ominis would want to be anywhere near you. You didn’t even know if you’d be allowed around Sebastian anymore, knowledge of the Undercroft not worth the loss of a new friend.

Resigning yourself to lie in the bed you’d made, your legs trudged the rest of the way to your dorm. Wondering what the morning would have in store.

——————————————-

Whatever had been said that night between the two, Sebastian never brought it up.

Instead, he invited you to Feldcroft to meet his sister, and uncle. Which was a less than pleasant experience, to put it lightly. You would see Ominis around the halls and in classes, but you wouldn’t get much more than a withering glare in your general direction. Sebastian reassured you that he just needed a little time to cool down, but his seemingly permanent scowl lines told a different story.

You took some comfort in knowing that Sebastian and Ominis’s friendship improved greatly, often seeing them walking together between classes. It brought a smile to your face every time Sebastian would wave to you enthusiastically when Ominis wasn’t looking, quickly putting his arm down when the blonde would face his direction. Things continued on like this for a while, settling into this weird passive aggressive routine you weren’t sure how to break.

————————————————-

Ominis was pissed. Ever since the Undercroft, he’d made sure you knew how displeased he was in your presence. He’d spent the rest of that night cursing himself for being so foolish, having believed you to be kind, just as the rest of the student body. After his outburst in potions class, he’d been contemplating ways to apologize, wanting to give you a better impression of him. Not anymore. After that night, he couldn’t even stand to hear your voice.

Your loud laugh would echo through the halls, instantly souring his mood. He questioned Sebastian constantly about the favor he owed you, but was brushed off every time. The brunette remaining tight lipped, telling him not to worry about it. In truth, he really did owe you, for taking the full brunt of Ominis’s wrath. Sebastian planned to come clean once Ominis had settled, but it seemed to be taking longer than expected.

Ominis couldn’t let it go. He began lurking around corners, listening to the whispers of other students. He listened intently for any other favors you were owed, paying particularly close attention to those you’d been seen with frequently. Nothing. All people ever did was sing your praises.

He sat alone on the second floor of the library, hiding between the tall stacks. For once, trying to avoid all human contact, his nerves frayed and mind tired.

Low murmurs were filtering in from the next aisle over. Ominis sat, uninterested, until an unmistakable laugh caught his attention. His ears perked up, instantly recognizing your carefree giggles, followed by Natty’s light scolding to be quiet. Ominis slowly stood from his seat, creeping to stand just around the corner, out of sight but in better ear shot.

Once the giggling from the both of you faded, you stood in comfortable silence, returning your borrowed books to their respective shelves. Standing there, it didn’t seem to Ominis that you were going to say anything more, taking a step away to find another hiding spot. Just as he lifted his foot, Natty’s voice quietly broke your companionable silence.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, my friend.” Her voice was quiet, as to keep her question private, but not quiet enough to escape Ominis’s sharp hearing. You hum in acknowledgement, awaiting Natty’s inquiry.

“What on Earth did you do to piss off Ominis Gaunt so badly?” Natty never minced her words, always opting to get straight to the point, something you truly appreciated about her.

Ominis could hear your breathing stop, before heaving a big sigh and plopping down in a chair. His wand pulsed, and he could tell that you’d put your head in your hands, face directed to the floor.

“You noticed that, huh?”

Natty laughed jovially, ignoring your obvious distress. “Who hasn’t? He certainly isn’t trying to be subtle.”

He could hear you sit back, your voice muffled by the hands covering your face. “…it’s embarrassing.”

Natty nudged you to continue. Sighing, you dropped your arms, hands slapping your thighs loudly. “Sebastian…told me something he shouldn’t have, and the only stipulation was that Ominis wouldn’t find out. Unfortunately, as if by magic, he caught me almost immediately. Which, believe me, was already bad enough, but then I had to make it worse by lying to him.”

Natty hummed, waiting for you to continue. “He was so angry, and I’d just promised Sebastian I’d keep his secret, you know, a secret. We’d just started really being friends and I didn’t want to jeopardize that, so I panicked and just said the first thing that came to mind.”

Natty’s brow lifted. “Which was…?” Your head fell back into your hands, your words becoming slightly muffled.

“I told him that I’d keep their secret for a price. A price, Natty! Like I was some kind of Ashwinder demanding ransom. What the fuck was I thinking?” You groaned, and Natty remained silent as you rambled, the words spilling out of your mouth.

“You don’t understand. He was so scary. I was nearly pissing myself the whole time. It took everything in me to not sprint away. Ranrok’s loyalists have nothing on Ominis when he’s well and truly put out.” You paused briefly to take a breath before charging forward. “I just- I just kept talking. I couldn’t stop. And my acting was so bad. I really don’t understand how he even believed me.”

Natty attempted to hide her smile with her hand. Ominis could vaguely hear you smack her lightly, crying that it wasn’t funny, but his mind was elsewhere.

He suddenly felt very guilty about how he’d treated you that night, now recognizing your obvious discomfort and nervousness. Why had Sebastian let you take the blame for him? Ominis thought back to his boarish behavior the last few weeks, angry at his blatant hostility and lack of attention. If he’d taken a moment to actually consider the situation, he might not have wasted so much energy hating you. He hoped you’d be willing to forgive him, but didn’t have very high hopes.

————————————————-

It took a couple days before Ominis gathered enough courage to approach you, but broke down after hearing you laugh with Sebastian before Potions. You’d noticed his sudden change in behavior, because of course you did. He seemed more withdrawn than normal, barely ever facing your direction. His newfound stoicism had begun to worry you, and asking Sebastian had been no help. He’d simply shrugged and grumbled something about Ominis being too clever for his own good.

Acquiring your extra assignments from Professor Sharp, you headed to the Room of Requirement with your newly rescued beasts, excited to show them their vivarium.

Clearing the classroom threshold, you spotted Ominis, arms crossed, leaning against the wall conspicuously. He’d been avoiding you the last few days, so it was odd to see him openly waiting around. You paused your steps and regarded him. He looked a little worse for wear, but otherwise seemed fine, physically at least. Approaching him cautiously, you stop a healthy distance away. “Hello, Ominis. Did- Did you need something?”

His fingers tighten on his sleeve, brows scrunching. You thought that you’d maybe been mistaken and you were only aggravating him further.

He didn’t turn his head to face you, but his eyes looked in your direction, trying harder than usual to pinpoint your location. “You can drop the act now.”

You fidget with your fingers and bite your lip, looking up at him through your lashes.

“I, um, I don’t-“

“Don’t even bother. Sebastian already told me about your little charade. You might as well stop while I still have a modicum of patience.”

You sighed, shoulders slumping, letting the nervous tension leave your body. “You know, it’s just like him to tell on me and ruin all my hard work.” You glance at Ominis briefly, noticing his expression had morphed into something like amusement, but it just as likely could have been a trick of the light. “So you know, but you still seem upset?”

Huffing at you, he rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall, keeping his arms crossed as he faced you fully. “Of course I’m still upset. I don’t enjoy being lied to, no matter how noble the reason. I’m perfectly capable of making my own judgments, thank you very much.” You looked at the ground and flattened your lips into a thin line, nodding in agreement before remembering that he couldn’t see you.

“Yeah ok, I deserve that. I’m sorry.” You watched him shake his head and turn his head, looking pointedly down the hall.

“Yes, well, please refrain in the future. It’s going to be very difficult spending time together if I can’t trust your word.” Slight color rose to his cheeks as he realized the possible implication of his words. “Since you’re friends with Sebastian and all. I imagine you’ll start frequenting the Undercroft more often now that your farce has been discovered.”

You chuckled and smiled at him. “Of course. I’ll try not to make a habit of it.” He nodded once, and turned to swiftly walk down the hall.

You’d thought that was the end of it, but are surprised when Ominis stops abruptly, calling to you over his shoulder. “I apologize for my behavior the other night, and everyday since then. It was rather rude and unnecessary.” Without waiting for a response, he walks off down the hall. You smile after him and continue on with the rest of your day, feeling lighter than you had in weeks.

————————————————

You did, in fact, visit the Undercroft more frequently after that. Mostly with Sebastian, but Ominis was slowly making a habit of accompanying the brunette when the two of you made plans. He’d also started showing up to your study table without so much as a greeting, simply sitting down and pulling out his assignments for the day. Today was one of those days. You glanced up from your Herbology homework to see Ominis making a beeline for your table. Smiling to yourself, you watch him approach, waiting for him to be fully seated before greeting him.

“Ominis.” You only get a hum of acknowledgement in return, before you both turn your attention to your respective assignments. An hour passes in comfortable silence, only interrupted by the clock tower signaling the start of a new hour. You’d planned to practice your spell work in the Undercroft after the library, and started packing your things to head out. Glancing at Ominis, you hesitate for only a moment before circling around to his side of the table, leaning down next to him.

“Ominis.” His head turns slightly in your direction, signaling that you had his attention without looking away from his enchanted quill. “I’m heading to the Undercroft for a bit. Care to join me?” You lean away and watch him consider your offer, before quietly disenchanting his quill and following you out of the library.

The walk to the Undercroft was done in comfortable silence, occasionally bumping shoulders on the way. He led the way down to his secret room, making sure no one had seen your entrance before closing the door securely. He headed for the center of the room, casually discarding his robe on a lounge chair on the way. You’d just crossed the threshold when he whipped around without warning. “Levioso.”

Instinctively, you shout Protego, his spell bouncing off the shield harmlessly. You look at him bewildered, about to ask what had gotten into him, when he whipped two more spells at you in quick succession. Dodging one and shielding against the other, you cast Stupify, only for him to roll out of the way effortlessly. “You know, you’ll never stand a chance against dark wizards if all you do is run away.”

“Ominis, what is happening right now? Did I do something to upset you?” He huffed and rolled his eyes, still brandishing his wand in your direction.

“Did you not come here to practice your spells?” He shot off another basic cast without warning. You leapt out of the way just in time, the spell hitting the wall behind you.

“I mean, I did, I jus- oh shit! uh, I wasn’t expecting to- fuck! Immediately find myself in a duel.” You continue to tuck and roll, as Ominis quickly fires a few more spells your way. A cocky smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth, giving you the sense that he was only playing with you at the moment.

“You think Sebastian became so good at dueling by accident? He’s only considered the best because I don’t care to waste my time playing in Lucan’s little club. I’d wipe the floor with my eyes closed.” You barked out a surprised laugh, almost costing you your robes as a ball of fire came hurtling towards you. Ominis’s smirk grew into a wicked smile. Your eyes lingered a bit too long on his lips as you circled around each other slowly.

“You should add ‘comedian’ to your long list of talents.”

“Is it comedy, or just honesty?”

“Mmm, humble too.” This time you take the attack, casting Depulso, attempting to knock him prone. He threw up his shield and cast Stupify in retaliation, hitting you in the chest.

You stumble a bit, and scramble to regain your balance. Before you could react, Ominis cast Expelliarmus, ripping your wand from your hand. He followed with Accio, yanking you across the room towards him before your wand finished falling. Spinning, you land directly in front of him, feet wobbling as you hit the ground.

An arm snakes around your waist and tugs you forward, steadying you. You feel the point of a wand lightly touch your throat, and a low amused rumble come from the chest pressing against you. Looking up at Ominis’s face, you notice he’d closed his eyes at some point during your sparring, a pleased smile resting comfortably on his lips. Your mouth hangs open as you gape up at him, mind reeling at how good he looks like this. Relaxed and happy, if not a little cocky. You search for something to say, anything, when he parts his lips.

“I win.” His voice is barely above a whisper, his smile growing at your indignant huff.

“You cheated. That wasn’t a fair fight.” His arm tightens ever so slightly around you as another chuckle escapes him.

“They never are. I even gave you a handicap, and you still lost.” He opened his eyes as you clicked your tongue in annoyance, eyes crinkling around the edges as you lightly smacked his arm.

“It doesn’t count as a handicap if you’re not actually restricting yourself, you ass.” He barked out a laugh and lowered his wand, but didn’t remove his arm from you.

“You’re free to try again, if you’d like. Though I doubt being prepared this time will change the outcome.” You narrow your eyes at him.

“I’m gonna kick your ass.”

His haughty smirk morphed into an actual grin as he finally released his hold on you. “I’m looking forward to it.”

——————————————

You, in fact, did not kick his ass. The tension between you continued to grow after every round, the air growing heavy with something unnamed, calling it quits after the fourth duel.

Following that, you would sneak into the Undercroft together while Sebastian was in class, enjoying the easy banter that came without the brunette dominating the conversation. Not that it had been very difficult to hide your increasingly frequent rendezvous. Sebastian had become more and more preoccupied with his search for a cure recently, talking about his latest discoveries every time you were all together. Both you and Ominis grew more concerned the deeper Sebastian delved into the Dark Arts, often discussing how to steer him away from the path he traveled on. You’d decided to trust him to know when to stop, but you weren’t convinced when he started pestering Ominis about the location of Salazar Slytherin’s secret Scriptorium. Ominis continuously refused to tell him any information, and was just getting more irritated by the day.

Ominis was ranting to you one day after combat training, yelling about how Sebastian had kept him up half the night prior with his whining. You’d been contemplating how to end Sebastian’s obsession without potentially pushing him away, when a truly wild thought occurred to you. You tried to interrupt Ominis’s pacing and irritated grumbles.

“Ominis.” He continued on as if he hadn’t heard you, eyebrows scrunching further the more he worked himself up.

“Ominis.” You called his name a bit louder. Still no response. You could sense a whole new wave of annoyance about to explode out of his mouth, and attempted to interrupt it before he really got going.

“Ominis!”

“What?!” He whipped around to face you, a slightly unhinged look in his silver eyes.

“Stop your incessant pacing for a moment and come over here.” He narrowed his eyes and grumbled, but did as he was asked, stopping a short distance away.

“What.” He was decidedly calmer than he had been, so you excused his shortness. You took a deep breath, preparing to share your possible solution, knowing he’d object immediately, but hoping to persuade him.

“I had a thought, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.” He huffed and crossed his arms, putting all his weight on his left leg while raising one eyebrow.

“Well? Spit it out.” You rolled your eyes and took a deep breath, knowing he was acting this way out of worry.

“Alright, first of all, you can lose the attitude. We’re on the same team here. No reason for you to get pissy with me.” He clicked his tongue and looked away, but didn’t make any more comments as he waited for you to speak. Rolling your eyes again, you try to choose your next words carefully. “What if, and hear me out here, we take him to the Scriptorium.”

Ominis went to object, but you covered his mouth with your hand before he could get any words out. You tried to ignore the feel of his lips on your fingers and kept talking. “I wasn’t finished. We take him to the Scriptorium, and if we find something, we hide it before he can get his hands on it. He’ll see it’s a dead end, and look elsewhere.”

You look up into Ominis’s hard eyes and slowly remove your hand from his mouth. His arms remain crossed as he scowls, remaining quiet for only a moment longer.

“Congratulations. That was officially the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Absolutely not. How could you think going INTO the Scriptorium is a viable solution? My Aunt Noctua disappeared after entering that place, and we all assume she died terribly in her search.” You could see the sadness creep into his expression at the mention of his beloved aunt.

As you’d grown closer the last few weeks, he’d started opening up to you about his family history, and how he adored his aunt for sharing his personal beliefs. Your brow furrowed in sympathy, completely understanding his aversion to anything to do with the Dark Arts. You place your hand gently on his elbow before speaking again.

“I know, but letting him think his search is futile would be better than the alternative. I have a bad feeling it’ll only escalate if we don’t intervene.” His face is turned to the floor, and his eyes still hold the same hardness from before, but he is clearly considering your words carefully. You squeeze his elbow gently, pushing on. “It would also be nice if you could get some closure about your aunt. Maybe there’s something she left behind?” You watched his shoulders sag as he exhaled loudly. Defeated. “We stop as soon as things get too dangerous. Ok? I promise.”

He thinks for a moment more, but you could tell that you’d won. He heaves a large sigh before looking up at you, eyes searching your face as if he could actually see your expression. “Ok.” You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, and give his still folded arm a tight squeeze. “-but, we leave as soon as I say, alright? Not a second later.” You nod in agreement and say yes, hoping the two of you would be able to pull this heist off under Sebastian’s nose.

—————————————————

The following night, you found yourself standing in a dark hallway deep in the Hogwarts dungeon. No other students ventured this far, and your only source of light were the sparsely scattered torches. Which only served to cast an eerie glow over the bricks.

“The entrance is here, but there’s some kind of trick to getting it to open. Something about three’s.”

You look around and notice two large, unlit braziers flanking the arch way towards the Slytherin Common Room. Three pairs of bejeweled snake eyes seemingly following your every movement. Looking around, you spot a similar brazier standing alone down the opposite hall. Having become familiar with the little puzzles peppered around the castle, designed to bolster your field guide, you theorized those braziers probably needed to be lit.

Taking out your wand, you cast Confringo on the lone brazier, quickly casting it on the other two after. For a moment, nothing happens, and you second guess yourself. Just as you went to ask the boys for other ideas, faint hissing traveled past your ears, and only grew louder as a door revealed itself on the wall.

Sebastian’s face holds a poorly concealed grin, giddy at the new discovery. Ominis looks like he wants to call the whole thing off here, but instead approaches the door. “Alright, we found the entrance. Now, how to open the door.” He puts his hand on it, feeling for some sort of doorknob or locking mechanism, coming up empty handed. Sebastian squeezes in next to him to get a better look and the ornate designs.

“Say something in Parseltongue.” You cock your head at Sebastian quizzically.

“What’s Parseltongue?” Ominis sighs heavily, but doesn’t look at you.

“A Parseltongue is someone who can speak to snakes. It’s a rare ability, and almost all known Parseltongues are directly descended from Salazar Slytherin.”

Sebastian shuffles his feet excitedly and stops trying to hide his boyish grin. “And we just so happen to have one standing right here!”

Ominis looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. You knew he was feeling uneasy. Walking up beside him, you grab his hand, causing him to look in your direction uncertainly. You gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, ignoring Sebastian’s gaze darting between you two. Ominis squeezes back, and doesn’t release you as he starts speaking. The unknown words caress your skin as they slither through the air.

The door responds, granting access to the pitch black rooms beyond. You give Ominis one last squeeze before letting go and heading into the dark, Sebastian following close behind. Ominis hesitated, but decided that whatever was beyond the door would be best faced by the three of you. As soon as everyone crossed the threshold, the entrance closed and locked, forcing you to continue forward through the maze.

“So, what did you say to Ominis?” Sebastian came up next to you, speaking in a low tone just out of their companions earshot.

“What makes you think I said anything to him?” You kept your gaze focused on the stones in front of you, worried Sebastian would glean something from your expression. Sebastian huffed in amusement while moving some cobwebs out of his way.

“Don’t even try. I’ve been hounding him for information for weeks. I tell you about the Scriptorium, and suddenly he’s on board? Clearly something happened with you two.” You blush a bit at the underlying implication in his words, thankful for the low light in this maze.

“You just don’t have the same way with words, Sebastian. I simply put the situation into perspective for him.” Without giving him a chance to respond, you push forward, scanning each surface for a hint of what was to come. Sebastian muttered a doubtful ‘Right.’ under his breath, but dropped it for the moment.

You found several unlit torches on the walls, getting to work lighting as many as possible. There were unique puzzles acting as locks needed to move forward. You found scattered pages along the way, each revealing itself to be written by Noctua Gaunt. Handing each one to Ominis, he stores them safely in his robes to read later.

Solving the last puzzle, the three of you cross into the next room. You had a feeling this was the final hurdle before discovering the Scriptorium, but stop short after entering the room. A pile of bones lie on the ground near the opposite door, next to the word ‘Crucio’ scratched into the floor.

Mind reeling, you pivot, attempting to walk back to Ominis, only to find him directly behind you.

He’d stopped so close that your forehead nearly bounced off his chest. His face unreadable as he stares in the direction of the body, the hand holding his wand shaking ever so slightly. You take his other hand in yours, silently confirming his terrible suspicion. He lets out a shaky breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding, body tense, only worsening when Sebastian read the word aloud. “Crucio?”

Ominis sucked in a sharp breath, his grip on your hand tightening painfully.

Keeping his grasp on you, he whirled back the way you came, dragging you along with him. “We’re leaving.”

Just before you’d reached the doorway, it vanished, leaving you nowhere to go but forward. You yanked on Ominis’s hand, preventing him from hitting his head on the solid wall before you. His breaths became erratic, his hand shaking violently in yours.

“Ominis it’s- the door’s gone. We have to- we have to keep going.” You tried your best to remain calm and keep your voice from trembling. Ominis started shaking his head, tears beginning to gather in the corner of his eyes.

“No. No, no, no this can’t- we can’t- we shouldn’t- we shouldn’t have come. I knew we shouldn’t have done this. You- You promised we’d leave when I said. You-” Tears started to gather in your eyes from watching Ominis’s worst fear come true. You hated yourself for ever suggesting this in the first place, wishing you could take it all back. You hold his hand in both of yours, staring helplessly, trying to figure out how to calm his panic. Sebastian spoke from the other side of the room.

“We’re not trapped, Ominis. We just need to cast Crucio and we’re in. Since you’re the only one who’s cast it before, you should-”

“NO, Sebastian. I’ll never go near that spell again. I can’t.” His silver eyes were wild as they shot in Sebastian’s direction, a shuddering breath escaping his lips.”You need- You need to want to cause pain when you cast it. I have no such desire. I- I can’t.” You squeezed his hand as hard as you could, trying desperately to squeeze the guilt out of him. Tears were openly running down his cheeks, his expression one of pure torture, as if he was reliving the day he cast the curse all over again.

“It wasn’t your fault, Ominis. Your family-”

“That doesn’t excuse anything. At the end of the day, I still cast it, and I will live the rest of my days haunted by the memory.” You looked to Sebastian for help, but only received a gesture to come over to him. Annoyed that he wasn’t trying to help his distraught friend, you looked back at Ominis.

“Ok. It’s ok. You won’t have to cast it. We’ll figure out another way out of here. Stay right here.” You gave his hand one final squeeze before making your way to Sebastian. “What do we do?” He regarded you for a moment before flicking his eyes back towards Ominis.

“Well, I also technically know the Cruciatus Curse, but I haven’t actually cast it before, so I can’t entirely guarantee anyone’s safety. I can either cast it on you, or teach you and have it cast on me.”

You already knew the answer. There wasn't a bone in your body that would allow you to cast such a horrid curse on your friends, growing nauseous at the thought. You looked at Ominis, once again facing the wall you’d come through, and steeled yourself.

“Cast it on me.” Sebastian nodded and took a step back, waiting for you to give the signal.

“I won’t forget this.”

You took a steadying breath and nodded. Faster than you had anticipated, a bolt of red lightning was streaking from Sebastian’s wand. “Crucio!”

Your knees hit the ground as you were struck. You’d tried to hold in your screams, for Ominis, but the pain was too great. Your wails echoed loudly in the tight space.

Through your tears, you could vaguely make out Ominis crouched over, covering his ears. A small part of you thought that you deserved this for opening his old wounds, but that thought was quickly replaced with another wave of blinding agony.

As the spell began to fade, you could hear the door into the Scriptorium melt against the floor, the path open. Your body screamed in protest, but you stood up as quickly as possible and focused on the task at hand.

“Are you alright?” Sebastian wore a look of concern, and it warmed your heart that he hadn’t immediately run off into the other room. You nodded and walked inside, still clutching your ribs.

“Fine. Let’s look around inside. Sebastian, start in this room, we’ll search upstairs.” Without waiting to see if Ominis would follow, you dragged yourself by the handrail to the study on the second floor.

Casting Revelio, you spot a book lying on the desk emitting a dark and twisted aura. You pick it up and examine the cover, identifying it as Salazar Slytherin’s spell book. If Sebastian wanted anything in this room, it would be this book. You hear footsteps coming up the stairs, pulling you out of your thoughts, whirling around, you recognize Ominis’s blonde hair ascending the staircase.

As he reached the last step, you whispered his name, beckoning him closer. You started hurriedly filling him in when he got close enough. “Ominis, this is Salazar Slytherin’s spell book. We can’t let Sebastian find it. Help me look for a place to-”

“Does it still hurt?” You sputtered in surprise.

“Does what still hurt?”

You could see deep set worry in Ominis’s brows, his lips turned down in a sorrowful frown. “The curse. Does it still hurt?”

You blinked slowly, not quite understanding his train of thought. “Um, well yes, but that’s not important right now-”

“Yes it is. Of course it is. How could that not be the most important thing right now?” His hand took your unoccupied one gently. His other came up to lightly stroke the side of your head, tucking his thumb gently behind your ear, barely touching you.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to experience that torture.” You could feel his breath on your face from how close he’d gotten and how breathy his voice had become. “So sorry.”

His face shone with regret, wishing he’d been able to spare you this pain. You squeezed his fingers, about to reassure him that you were alright, when you heard Sebastian call up to you.

“I haven’t found anything useful down here! What about up there?” You were ripped from the intimate moment by the realization that you still had a job to do. You cursed under your breath and looked around, seeing a book of similar size on a top shelf behind Ominis. Casting Accio, you pull it towards you, placing it in the spot the spell book previously occupied. Thankfully, it filled the outline in the dust well enough to avoid suspicion. There was no time to stash the book in your hands, hearing Sebastian climbing the stairs, calling for you both. You look at Ominis wildly and shove the book into his chest.

“Tuck the book into my waistband.” You let go of the book, forcing him to catch it before it fell to the ground. You quickly grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him down toward you. Pausing only briefly to apologize.

“Please forgive me.”

“What-” You didn’t give him time to ask what you meant, hoping that he’d figure it out. You pulled him the rest of the way down and crashed your lips together clumsily. He stood there frozen until he heard Sebastain call for you again, almost to the top of the stairs. Ominis wound his arms around your waist, underneath your cloak, tucking the spell book into your waistband like you’d asked. Making sure it would be secure until you could move it to a safer location.

You could hear Sebastian stop short at the top of the stairs and just stare. Both you and Ominis pretending you hadn’t heard him, continuing to kiss. You started losing yourself in the blonde’s mouth, realizing how much you liked kissing him. His hands clutched your waist, pulling you as close to him as possible, seemingly becoming as lost as you. One hand came up to cradle your cheek, thumb stroking just under your eye. Your fingers found their way into his hair, lightly scratching his scalp and tugging slightly on the short strands. Ominis groaned into your mouth and deepened the kiss, licking at your bottom lip needily.

“OK, that’s enough. What exactly is going on here?” You tear your mouths away from each other in genuine surprise, having both forgotten Sebastian had been standing there. He raised an eyebrow, regarding the both of you as you stayed intertwined.

“Uh, well, the um, the pain from the, the curse hadn’t fully subsided yet, and I needed a…distraction.” You hoped your half baked lie would be enough to fool the brunette, but you weren’t very confident.

Sebastian's eyes flickered back and forth between you two, definitely suspecting something was going on, also noting that you had yet to release each other. Ominis’s body curled protectively around you, shoulders hunched as if to shield you from Sebastian’s gaze. He closed his eyes and shook his head, deciding that he wasn’t willing to deal with this right now.

“Right, well were you able to find anything of importance, or have you just been snogging this whole time?” You and Ominis finally realize you were still cradling each other, and jump apart. You looked down at the floor blushing, gesturing to the book on the desk. Ominis was looking anywhere but you, trying to hide his blush behind his hand. Sebastian eyed the both of you as he walked over to the book. You didn’t know what book you’d summoned from the shelf, but you hoped that it was something less dangerous than the spell book. Sebastian flipped through the pages, seemingly satisfied.

“A book of rare potions. This could definitely prove useful.” With that he snapped the book shut and turned towards the exit. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve all had enough excitement for one day.” He started walking without waiting for either you or Ominis. Exiting, the back of your hand brushed Ominis’s, silently promising him that you’d take care of the book. He nodded slightly and you bid the boys goodnight, quickly heading for the Room of Requirement, thinking of places to stash the tome.

—————————————————-

You didn’t see much of the boys for a while afterwards. Trials set by the Keepers and your academic responsibility pulling you in too many different directions to have much free time to spend with your friends. Ominis wore a constant face of worry when you were around, repeatedly asking if you were alright. You did your best to reassure him that you were just busy, before apologizing and hurrying to your next task.

Ominis hadn’t realized how much he enjoyed your company until he didn’t have it anymore. He craved it, and was struck with how much he missed you. He didn’t want to be selfish and ask you to carve out time to spend with him in your outrageous schedule, so he settled for keeping a close eye on you whenever you were near.

Thoughts of the Scriptorium floated through his mind constantly. Wanting to know why you’d thought to kiss him, and if you’d let him do it again. Sebastian had stuck his nose in the potions book you’d found, and had yet to come up for air. He wished there was a way to take some of the burden off his friends shoulders, but came up short every time.

After completing all of the Trials, you now had a fairly good grasp on the ancient power you wielded. You’d listened to all the warnings from the Keepers on the responsibility of this power, and you swore to use it wisely. However, there was one thing you needed to accomplish, preferably without the Keepers ever finding out. Surely removing a curse was more acceptable than removing emotion, but you thought it best to keep it secret.

That’s how you found yourself in Feldcroft, standing outside Sebastian’s uncle’s house. You knocked on the door lightly, praying that Anne was home alone. She opened the door and greeted you cheerily, inviting you in. You glanced around and didn’t see anyone else, which was exactly what you needed.

“Hello!! It’s been too long, thank you for the visit.” You smiled warmly and sat down at the table.

“It’s great to see you, Anne. How’ve you been? Have you seen Ominis or Sebastian recently?” She joined you sitting at the table, wincing a bit in discomfort before settling down.

“I’ve been well. As well as I can be anyway. Fortunately both Ominis and Sebastian have paid me a few visits since we last spoke. I believe they’re actually on their way over shortly.” You nod quickly, realizing that you didn’t have much time.

“Alright, we’ve gotta do this quickly. Anne, I can help you, but you can’t tell a single soul what happens here. I need you to trust me and not ask questions, ok? Explaining would take much too long and put you in too much danger. Please, please just trust me.” You looked her in the eyes, willing her to say yes, so you could accomplish your goal before the boys arrived. She bit her lip and studied the table, nodding hesitantly, and then more resolutely.

“Do it. Uh, whatever ‘it’ is.” You breathed out a sigh of relief and took out your wand, placing it over her heart.

“Take a deep breath.” She did as she was told, and you began to pull the curse out of her while she exhaled. She had a slight look of discomfort but remained still until you were done. She slumped back into her chair as you placed the curse in a jar, to dispose of when you returned to the castle. You could see the color already returning to her face as you studied her, making sure you hadn’t messed up in any way.

She had her head down quietly, and you were about to ask if she was alright, when you saw teardrops start falling into her lap. Panicking, you reach for her, afraid something was wrong. Suddenly her head shot up and she beamed at you, smiling so bright you thought you might end up blind.

“The pain, it’s- it’s just…gone! Thank you. Merlin’s beard, thank you. I can’t ever repay you for what you’ve done.” You shushed her with a hug, glad to see the girl Sebastian spoke about come back to the surface.

“You don’t have to thank me. Just promise me, if anyone asks, tell them it was Sebastian. One of his potions, or something. Please, keep this between us.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes with her hand. You wanted to say more, but heard the tell tale signs of the boys arguing as they approached the house. You got up quickly and cast Disillusionment on yourself before whispering to her. “I was never here.”

She nodded again as the door opened, both boys walking in. You waited until they went to greet her before slipping out the front door, creeping away. You could hear Sebastian’s cries of joy as he held his sister close, asking her a thousand questions.

What you didn’t notice, however, was Ominis watching you slink away down the path. Disillusionment never worked on him, his wand detecting a person’s mass. He’d accidentally exposed many hidden persons, often getting them into trouble.

He listened to Anne and Sebastian talk, wondering why you hadn’t stayed, but as Sebastian grilled Anne, he could hear the slight hesitance in her voice. He turned in their direction, watching Anne wring her hands under the table, something she did when she was lying.

She glanced over at him, noting his silence, in stark contrast with Sebastian’s excited chatter. Noticing how closely he studied her, she looked away quickly, laughing nervously at Sebastian, who was too wrapped up in his own excitement to notice.

Suddenly, it dawned on him what you’d done. He knew the rules you’d broken, the danger you’d put yourself in, and he wanted to weep. His emotions were everywhere, a part of him wanting to stay and celebrate, but a larger portion desperate to fly back to the castle in search of you. He struggled to get his breathing under control.

Anne could see the change in him, and shook her head, eyes wide, begging him not to say anything. Ominis took a few deep breaths, striding over to her quickly. He pushed Sebastian out of the way and enveloped Anne in his arms, squeezing her tight.

Sebastian wormed his way in between the two, joining the relieved embrace. The three of them sat quietly, and there wasn’t a dry eye when they’d finally pulled apart. Laughing through their tears, the boys regaled Anne with their latest escapades, excited for her eventual return to the school.

You sat in the back of Ominis’s mind as he celebrated with his friends, longing to share this moment with you, but understanding why he couldn’t. He resolved to find you as soon as they returned to the castle, eternally grateful for the risk you’d taken.

____________________

Sebastian and Ominis only spent a couple hours with Anne, wandering back towards the castle in the early afternoon. The boys parted ways after entering Hogwarts, Sebastian walking leisurely toward their Common Room.

Ominis didn’t even wait for Sebastian to turn the corner before taking off. He checked all of your usual haunts, failing to spot you anywhere. He started checking the classrooms to see if you’d maybe gone to speak to a professor, all coming up empty.

He made his way to the Astronomy Tower, having already checked the other classrooms, wondering where you could have possibly disappeared to. He passes a blank portion of wall, stopping at the light sound of metal on brick. Turning, he watches in awe as a door appears, beckoning him forward.

He opens the door slightly, cautiously sticking his wand in first, mapping the room beyond. His eyes widened as he yanked the door open, and taking a few hesitant steps in, he disappeared inside.

The room was enormous. He subconsciously wondered how his wand had never picked up such a huge space. He could hear the faint call of gulls and running water, sensing another large room down a nearby hall, but unable to glean any details.

There didn’t seem to be anyone else there, until a house elf appeared next to him, startling the blind boy. “Oh, Master Gaunt! What a surprise! What can Deek help you with?” Ominis looked from Deek, to the room, and back to Deek.

“Wha- What is this place, um…Deek?” Deek smiles at him kindly.

“It’s the Room of Requirement, Master Gaunt! It sometimes appears to students in need. What were you looking for when it appeared? Maybe Deek can help you find it!” Ominis blinked. He’d been thinking about you. His thoughts had been a jumbled mess, unsure what to even say when he finally found you. During his search, Ominis had considered keeping his knowledge to himself, but ultimately decided to come clean. He hadn’t thought he could keep his emotions in check enough to come up with a convincing lie. His heart was pounding too hard with a driving need to see you, the feeling only increasing the longer you evaded him.

He relayed his intentions to Deek, who smiled widely back. “Well! You’re certainly in the right place. They’re right down the hall, should Deek show you?”

Ominis shook his head and thanked the elf, walking quickly into the next room. There were plant pots and potion desks lining the walls, a pleasant scent hanging in the air. Ominis scanned the room, spotting you over by a truly massive Chinese chomping cabbage. He had no idea they could get that big, but there you were, petting it lovingly, unafraid.

He has no memory of walking towards you, not entirely in control of his body. You turn around, bumping directly into his chest, and let out a surprised gasp. “Fuck! Who- Ominis! You- Merlin's beard, you scared me. How did you-“

Ominis drops his wand on the floor carelessly, hands coming up to cradle your face reverently.

“Thank you.” His lips land on your forehead first, kissing the skin slowly. You make a small noise of surprise, but otherwise are unable to speak.

“Thank you.” He kissed your left eye, voice barely above a whisper. Your hands unconsciously rest themselves on his forearms, gripping them slightly.

“Thank you.” You feel the delicate press of his lips on your right eye.

“For saving Anne.” He kissed the bridge of your nose tenderly, before skipping your lips and kissing your chin. “For saving Sebastian.”

He looks at you with hooded eyes, stopping a hair's breadth away. Thumbs caressing your cheeks lovingly, pausing only for a moment. “For saving me.”

You shake your head slightly. “I didn’t-“

“You did.” He runs his thumb along your bottom lip, brushing it ever so slightly. He hadn’t realized until this moment, but you had indeed saved him. He’d lost so much so quickly, and was on the path to losing whatever he had left. Anne was gone, and Sebastian was killing himself to get her back. Ominis had felt like he was drowning. His friends, who were really his family, were fading. There had been nothing he could do to stop it, but…you did. Self sacrificing, stubborn, beautiful you. He knew he was done for. He wanted to fill his lungs with you, leaving no room for anything or anyone else.

The air hung heavily between you, the tension almost stifling. Ominis gently brushed your nose with his.

“Can I kiss you?” Ominis spoke the words into your mouth, his voice needy, waiting for your answer.

“If you want to.”

He let out a shuddering breath, and inched impossibly closer. “Desperately.”

Pressing your lips together, he kissed you slowly, savoring each second. He groaned, pulling away briefly, only to come surging back with renewed vigor. Ominis’s hands slid down your sides, coming to wrap around your middle. Your arms came up around his shoulders, fingers carding through his hair, tugging at the strands. Ominis gasps, pulling your hips impossibly closer, grinding his lower body into you.

He tears his mouth away from you, but doesn’t go far. Leaning his forehead against yours, you both take some time to catch your breath. He recovered faster, and started gently scattering soft kisses around your neck and jaw, continuing his ministrations while he spoke. “I don’t- I can’t articulate how grateful I am. You’ve done- Merlin’s beard, you’ve done so much for me. How would I even begin to repay you?”

You’re roused a bit from your dazed stupor at his words, tilting your head down slowly to look at him again, shaking your head. “Ominis, there’s nothing to repay. You owe me nothing.”

Ominis took a step back and sunk to the floor, kneeling in front of you. You had to grab onto the table behind you to avoid collapsing. You were rendered speechless at the sight of Ominis, on his knees before you. His hands rested on your outer thighs, thumbs stroking back and forth idly.

He looked up at you with unadulterated adoration, his sightless eyes searching for you longingly. “You saved my family.” His fingers tighten ever so slightly on your thighs.

“I owe you everything.” Leaning forward, his lips placed a light kiss on your left thigh, scorching you through the fabric. He moved to kiss the other thigh just as tenderly, a shiver racing down your spine in anticipation. Hands creeping up to rest on your hips, he pressed a couple more kisses into your stomach, face nuzzling you here and there.

“I’d spend the rest of my days showing you how grateful I am,” his chin came to rest on your stomach “if you’d let me.” Eyes hooded, boring into yours, you move your fingers to brush his cheek ever so slightly. He leaned his head fully into your palm, an edge of desperation slipping into his voice. “Please, let me.” He turned his face, kissing the palm of your hand, whispering into your skin like a prayer. “Please.”

You can hardly breathe. Your heart, pounding faster than your first time flying on Highwing. The sight of this beautiful, refined, proud man begging on his knees was something straight out of a muggle romance novel. You cupped his other cheek with your hand, bending over and pressing a firm kiss into his soft lips. He groaned into your mouth, chasing you as you tried to pull away. Indulging him for a few more seconds, he whines as you actually pull away this time.

“Ominis.” You pant his name into his mouth, he gasps and unconsciously rolls his hips forward, looking for friction.

“Yes, darling.” He looked like a man starving. His hands had tucked themselves behind your knees, trembling from the effort of maintaining a sliver of his composure.

“Ominis I-”

“I’m heading out to run a few errands for Professor Weasley, do you or Master Gaunt need Deek to get anything?” You and Ominis were startled out of your private little world, jumping apart for fear of Deek seeing you in such a compromising position.

Your brain fought through the foggy haze it'd settled in, and quickly answered Deek. “We’re ok Deek. Just talking. Take your time! No rush to come back.”

You waited until you heard the elf apparate out of the room, looking around for somewhere to conceal you both, should Deek return too soon. You hear the familiar sound of the room changing itself to accommodate your needs.

Ominis yelped and covered his head, and you spotted a door forming on the far wall. The door swung open on its own, revealing a spacious bedroom on the other side.

“What the hell just happened?” You turned back to Ominis to see him peeking out from under his arms comically, in great contrast to his previous behavior. Ominis lowers his arms at the sound of your amused laughter, pouting a bit. You brush the back of his hand with yours and he quickly captures it in his.

“Uh, well, it seems like the room thought we needed a more…private place to finish our conversation.” You looked away blushing, but quickly turned back when you felt an impatient tug on your hand.

“I can’t find it. Show me.” You could hear the barely contained neediness in Ominis’s voice. Realizing Ominis didn’t have his wand, you start searching the ground around you.

“Ominis, your wand-”

“Don’t care. We’ll look later.” Getting impatient, he starts dragging you in a random direction.

Laughing once more, you redirect him towards the open door, spotting a fully furnished master bedroom, attached bathroom and all. Ominis waits for the sound of the door closing, before crowding you against it, trapping you with his body. His hands cradle your face once again, forcing you to look into his stunning silver eyes. He looks like it pains him to keep your lips apart, but he resists the temptation with furrowed brows, waiting. “Well?”

You want to laugh at his ridiculous question, but your voice comes out closer to a sob. “Do you even have to ask? I think you know very well that I’m yours, that I have been for-” He didn’t even let you finish before slamming his mouth down onto yours. Hands quickly trailing down to your thighs before hoisting you up to wrap your legs around his hips. You exchanged pleased sighs and hungry moans, your tongues dancing to the tune.

You fought to stay together as long as possible, becoming lightheaded as your lungs screamed for air. Ominis only tore himself away to suck in a deep breath, panting a desperate ‘I love you’ against your lips before diving back in. You lost track of how long you stayed entangled, exchanging I love you’s between sweet kisses and gentle touches, your intense fervor for one another slowly cooling to a low simmer.

At some point Ominis had carried you to the bed, where you currently lay facing each other, basking in the other's arms. Your fingers ran through his hair as he placed lazy kisses on your neck and collar bone, purring a quiet ‘I love you’ after each one. You sighed contentedly, thinking about how far you’d both come from that very first meeting.

You laughed quietly to yourself, prompting a curious hum from Ominis, who continued his slow ministrations.

“You wanna know something?” Your voice was barely audible, afraid to break the peaceful atmosphere too soon.

“What’s that, my darling?” Ominis whispered the words into your shoulder, placing a light kiss on it right after.

You fought to keep the shit eating grin off your face, not wanting Ominis to get suspicious at the change in your tone. “The day we first met, when I came over to help you with your assignment?”

“Mhmm?” Another kiss behind your ear.

“Sebastian actually caught me staring at you.” You huffed out an amused laugh. “He’s very protective, tried picking a fight with me.” Ominis chuckled with you, running the tip of his nose along your jaw, quiet for a moment.

“What were you thinking about?” You smirked to yourself, knowing you’d caught him.

“When?” You put on an innocent act, pretending you didn’t know what he was asking.

He huffed another amused laugh against your cheek. “When you were ogling me shamelessly across the library.” His hand was gliding gently down your arm, coming to rest on your hip.

“Well…” You finally allowed the wide grin to spread itself across your face, making sure he’d be able to hear the taunting lilt to your voice. “I was thinking about how pretty you’d look with your dick in my mouth.”

Ominis barked out a surprised laugh, pulling you tighter against him and hiding his red face in the crook of your neck. You could feel the wide, happy grin he pressed into your skin, shoulders shaking with laughter. He brought his teeth to your ear, biting it gently in retaliation, causing you to squirm as he trapped you against his chest.

“You naughty thing.”

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Ok so funny Merlin au, I don’t know if anyone has already had this idea but:

Arthur begins to believe that Merlin is magic after Merlin has “funny feelings” about things such as dangerous scenarios and bad nobles. Arthur realizes that Merlin has scarily good intuition that he, himself can’t explain. And the fact that Merlin knows so many things about magical creatures and that said magical creatures “that can only be killed by magical things” end up dead via Arthur when Merlin is around. So obviously the only answer is Merlin has magic and doesn’t know about it.

Arthur is so worried that Merlin will be devastated to learn he has magic and doesn’t know how to tell him. He also worried about the fact that one day he won’t be able to protect Merlin the next time someone accuses him of being a sorcerer because Merlin might have done magic by accident. He tries to breach the subject carefully, never fully bring up the whole sorcerer, he keeping watch on Merlin making sure he doesn’t display any signs about having magic.

Merlin is an anxious mess because Arthur keeps making sly comments about magic around him and is constantly watching him. Like Arthur is waiting for Merlin to slip up. Merlin is going insane and having heart palpitations on the Daily now. He thinks Arthur knows he has magic and is angry.

Arthur on the other hand, sees Merlin withdrawing from him and being extra nervous and secretive and naturally comes to the conclusion that Merlin has figured out he has magic, with Arthur help, of course; And is not distancing himself away from Arthur because of it.

Imagine Arthur seeing Merlin’s get really close to Lancelot during this time. He’s worried that Lancelot will figure out that Merlin has magic, or that Merlin is telling Lancelot that he has magic. He’s a little (a lot) muffled at the fact that Merlin might have talked to Lancelot about his magic. Arthur is also worried about Lancelot snitching so he has a “talk” with him about Merlin and magical behaviour and many threats but never directly saying that merlin has magic, you know in case Merlin didn’t actually tell Lancelot. Lancelot is just so confused. (For a week straight after this “talk”, both Lancelot and Merlin think that Arthur thinks that Lancelot has magic)

This would be especially funny if this is during the time when Uther is alive because there would be one giant misunderstanding where Arthur is protecting oblivious Merlin from being found out as a sorcerer but Uther thinks he walked in on his son boning is manservant.

Uther later tries to have a talk with Arthur about Merlin but Arthur panics because he thinks Uther is accusing Merlin of sorcery.

And it just goes back and forth until the reveal, just a constant series of misunderstandings.

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I need a fic where Merlin doesn’t know he’s Emrys and doesn’t know about his destiny, he’s just a good person who sees someone constantly almost dying and saves him because he can’t just sit and do nothing.

Kilgharrah doesn’t exist. Plot holes aside, the bitchy basement gecko can go to hell.

Anyway.

This all takes place during The Beginning of The End episode.

Mordred doesn’t call Merlin Emrys, he just cries out for help (and for his dad). Merlin steps in, the rest of the episode is the same but Merlin is determined to help the druid boy he found. Without crusty dinosaur harping on, he gets to choose the right thing for his own morals and critical thinking. Gaius is unsurprisingly resistant, so Merlin is being extremely careful, then Arthur finds him in Morgana’s chambers while he’s healing Mordred.

Let’s go with Morgana already knows about Merlin’s magic and he’s been helping her too against Gaius’ advice.

Arthur feels betrayed and is upset because Merlin can’t seem to give him a straight answer about anything. It’s all still new to him, but he’s learning that Merlin is good even if he doesn’t answer any of Arthur’s questions about magic or why he doesn’t use spells or anything like that. He’s angry but he can’t punish Merlin and free Mordred without being hypocritical, so he mostly sulks.

In all the perceived lies, Arthur snaps and instead of punishing him, he doesn’t let Merlin leave his side until he tells the truth.

So when Arthur takes Mordred back to the Druids, Merlin goes with him. Iseldir greets them as “Emrys and The Once and Future King” They’re both confused, but obviously Arthur is the future king so Arthur asks who Iseldir thought Merlin was.

Iseldir reveals their destiny that Merlin is the god of magic. Merlin is silent and Arthur is so confused and hurt about why Merlin didn’t trust him.

Iseldir answers all of Arthur’s questions about destiny and the prophecy while Merlin doesn’t say a word. He takes it to mean Merlin is ashamed or something similar about the truth coming out, meanwhile Merlin is grappling with the fact that he supposedly isn’t human. After days of Arthur picking on him for “lying” and all the unintentionally cruel jibes, when Iseldir tries to say Merlin was blessed with his power and that it was something he should be grateful for.

Merlin breaks down in a Percy Jackson style “I’m not a god! There’s something wrong with me! I get that whatever I am isn’t supposed to happen, I know I’m a monster, believe me. I never even learned magic and every time I’ve tried to get rid of it, it’s almost killed me! So don’t tell me that this is a blessing, that this curse is something I should be happy about because it’s the reason I’ve spent every single day of my entire life terrified!” Then he stops for a second and the tears roll down his cheeks, “I’m sorry, but I’m not what you think I am. You need to find someone else to believe in.”

(Skip to the end for a happy ending, this is angsty. Warning for dark!Arthur and major character death)

Arthur thinks Merlin is lying and banishes him on the spot. Iseldir warns against it, but Merlin is just so tired so he doesn’t fight it. He’s left broken and believing he’s a monster, so be leaves to protect his friends.

Until a month or so later Arthur is on a hunt when he gets separated and lost, then injured by bandits. Merlin finds him, (he’s been sent off by the druids for failing this destiny he knew nothing about, in search of a solution but they’re not very forthcoming with information) and Merlin heals him. Then they get all the diamond of the day moments while Merlin is nursing Arthur back to health until he succumbs to infection.

Merlin gives his life for Arthur, knowing that he’ll be a good king. This leads Arthur to become really dark, he kills his father and takes over Camelot, welcoming magic but killing anyone with a different opinion. No one is safe, war breaks out and Camelot falls. When Arthur dies, young and during an uprising, he meets Merlin again in Avalon. Merlin doesn’t recognise Arthur with all he’s become, and Arthur is punished to watch all his people suffer with his old mind while watching Merlin continuously pushing him away because “he’s waiting for Arthur, he shouldn’t be alone when he gets here. He would’ve been a good king, he needs someone to take care of him now.” And it breaks Arthur’s heart to hear it every time.

That’s all I got so far, it could be that they’re both driven mad waiting, Arthur by watching his people and Merlin by waiting for a man he’s doomed to never recognise again. I’m not sure, I haven’t gotten that far.

Or for less angst, hurt/comfort where Arthur has to realise that Merlin is just as in the dark as he is, he really doesn’t know any of the questions Arthur had and he’s probably been looking for answers a lot longer. They work together to fix everything and while it’s difficult, Merlin still has issues with lying to protect his friends (intent/outcome issues) Arthur is too trusting still and they have to deal with Morgause and all the other threats but they overcome it together. Albion is united and they live happily ever after.

[bweeeb]

JEALOUS

part three

Theodore Nott x Y/n Millicent reader

Friends to lovers

Summary: When Mattheo appears with a bruised face in the Slytherin common room, circumstances align to return to how they were before, or perhaps even improve upon them.

Pansy had always appreciated Y/n's optimism, which made it all the more surprising to see her so disconnected from the world. After all, how could someone so positive be so lost in thought? In the seventeen years that Pansy Parkinson had known Y/n, she had never seen her so detached from what was happening around them — except when it came to books and more books.

Pansy couldn’t quite tell if the issue was with the specific person sitting diagonally opposite at the table or if it was simply because the OWLs were approaching and Y/n wanted to excel in her exams. It wasn’t just about doing well; she wanted her parents to be as satisfied with her performance as she was.

The only person truly close to Y/n during that time was Mattheo Riddle. He had been around, and although their relationship didn’t progress beyond a casual level, they both found contentment in keeping things simple and unspoiled. This approach, as Mattheo had suggested before they first slept together, only strengthened their friendship.

The girl was sitting with her legs crossed, reading a book about magical creatures, when Mattheo entered the common room — his nose bleeding and cut, cheeks smeared with blood, chin bruised, lips injured. To be honest, Y/n could tell he was pretty messed up, and even though the common room wasn’t well-lit and Riddle's steps were quick as he passed her, Millicent quickly noticed something was wrong and grabbed his wrists before allowing him to go up to his dormitory.

— What happened?

— Nothing! Mattheo turned to the girl, who tilted her head mockingly.

— Don’t fuck with me, Mattheo.

— Oh, I already did, baby. He smiled, and Y/n groaned at his stubbornness. — I’m fine...'"

— Merlin, of course not, you’re all messed up. Look at your face, Matt. The girl murmured, placing both hands on the sides of Riddle’s face as he groaned in pain. — See? I can’t even touch you.

— I think you shouldn’t. Mattheo groaned once again and Y/n frowned.

— What? Matt, who did this?

— No one, Y/n.

— Did you beat yourself up for being an idiot?

— That’s exactly it. Mattheo smiled at her while lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.

— Look at me. — she requested, though it came off more like an order — Mattheo.' She called, and he looked at her.

— I can’t tell you, baby. You’ll be angry. He whispered, and Y/n's expression changed; her jaw tightened in a way that Mattheo had never seen, her honey-colored eyes looking so deadly outside of bed. — Don’t kill him, princess.

— Who the hell does he think he is?

— I deserved it! If that helps anything. Those were the last words she heard him yell before she left the common room and ran after Theodore Nott.

Y/n didn’t walk for long; she knew exactly where he was. She climbed the Astronomy Tower and found Theo sitting against the brick wall, looking at the sky.

— Did you come here to yell at me? Because if so, I think I’ll pass. Theo said preemptively as soon as he sensed the girl’s perfume in the room.

— Why did you hit him? She asked as he exhaled cigarette smoke into the air and shrugged.

— He deserved it...i think.

— You think? — she asked, approaching but not sitting next to him. It had been a long time since she heard his voice; it felt strange, sensing that he was different.

— No, I'm sure. He looked up, his blue eyes no longer as clear or bright, meeting hers. Theo could even say that her eyes had a similar glow, something akin to the negative.

— He’s your best friend, Theodore.

— You were my best friend, and he took that from me. Nothing more fair. Theodore's voice conveyed the pain clearly to Y/n. She relented, allowing herself to slide down next to him on the ground.

— He didn’t do anything... we did it to ourselves.

— My mother would be disappointed with me. He let out a sigh and continued looking at a particular spot in the sky while she observed his profile with a trembling breath. — I think Mattheo is right.

— Mattheo says a lot of shit and isn’t always right, Theodore. She murmured.

— But he would be right about this. Theo looked into her eyes, and she saw a tear marking the waterline in the beautiful blue eyes of the Italian beside her.

— I think we both made choices that hurt each other, Theo. She would understand.

Y/n gently placed her hand on one of his cheeks, and Theo’s eyes closed, savoring the warmth of her touch as a solitary tear traced down to her index finger. — I’m sorry, bella. I was an idiot. He apologized, and Y/n wrapped her arms around Nott’s neck, pulling him into a comforting hug.

— It’s okay, Teddy. I was an idiot too, and I’m sorry for hurting you. I didn’t know you cared so much. Too weak to respond, Theo just nodded on her shoulder and sniffled softly, knowing full well how relieved he was that she called him Teddy and not Theodore.

— I meant it when I said I loved you. I love you! Amo ogni parte di te, i love every part of your soul, your body, your voice. I’ve been in love with you since the moment Pansy introduced you to us. I just thought I’d never have a chance with you angel. Theo moved back, placing his hands on either side of the girl’s face, who was silently crying. — No, non piangere, bella ragazza, mi dispiace. He lamented, wiping the tears streaming down her cheeks.

— I don’t know what you’re saying because I stopped practicing my stupid Italian since it reminded me of you, Teddy. She whimpered as her tears flowed.

— La mia bella ragazza. He whispered, pulling her into another hug where she buried her head in his chest, accepting the gentle stroke of her scalp that Theo gave. — Mi dispiace, dolcezza.

— I don’t think I’ve ever felt as jealous in my life as that night, Teddy. She murmured into his neck when the crying stopped.

— I wanted to kill Mattheo when I saw you entering our room with him. He admitted. — Do you think he’ll be okay?

— Yeah, I think that was his plan.

— To make you almost kill me and stay with you forever? Theo murmured.

— Shut up. Mattheo is a good friend, but he likes to provoke you. When he saw what was happening, he wanted to help me get revenge. Millicent shrugged and pulled away from Nott’s neck.

— Great, another reason to hit him.

— Stop it, Teddy. Y/n gave the boy’s chest a gentle push, who smiled sideways and quickly pulled the girl by the neck until their lips touched. — I love you. I meant it too when I said I loved you, Teddy. She told him, settling on the boy's lap, who pulled her closer.

— You have no idea how good it is to hear you calling me that, Principessa. I couldn’t stand hearing you call me Theodore. Mi stava uccidendo. He groaned and kissed the girl’s lips again.

In the end, things turned out just as Y/n had thought.

---

Cute, I hope you liked it.

Requests are open, message me if you have any ideas💞

[wisteria-blooms]

sunburns & dragons (charlie weasley & reader) (6/??)

CHAPTER DIRECTORY

TAGLIST: @badgerqueen07 @superduckmilkshake @k-k-merlin @kisskittenn @pluiesdefleurs@lilianelena39 @bathwater101 @evilunicorns4minions @noah-uhhh-what @adalia-jaycee (Let me know if I missed you, or if you want to be added!) A/N: COVID was gross. Anyway, we're back, baby!

CHAPTER 6: A sudden argument with your family leads you one way: out the manor's arching, double doors. Left alone with your pocket change and barren options for housing, you strive find your own way out of it, somewhere, somehow. You soon learn that you're not the only one with these issues. (5.7k words)

CHAPTER 6: PARTNERS IN CRIME

A few seconds after the front door shut, and the tension fizzled like angry champagne bubbles being poured by some young and inexperienced bartender, you closed your eyes in relief. Your heart settled like the dust and your lungs exhaled in what felt like a million years. You thanked your stars that you’d made it through relatively unscathed. Well, the kiss was something you hoped was either ignorantly forgotten or too awkward to bring up by your family. But the fact that your lips were still tingling and you could hardly stand properly told you that you weren’t going to forget it anytime soon. 

“Thank you for having Charlie over,” you said to Lucius and Narcissa. “I imagine we should retire for the night now. It’s been rather eventful.” 

You began to ascend the stairs, foot safely landing on the first step, until you heard the distinct sound of a throat being cleared behind you. 

It was Lucius. “Hold on just a minute, (Y/N).”

You turned around, hand on the railing. Sweet. Well-tempered. Docile. “Yes, father?”

“It’s rather rude to leave without providing an explanation,” he stated.

You feigned innocence. “What about?”

“You know very well what I’m talking about.” Lucius’s tone bordered on contempt, his eyes crinkling. “Was that any way to bid goodbye? Does this Weasley boy have any manners at all?”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Draco nod faintly in agreement.

 That scene of indecency was burned into his and your mind both, for very different reasons.

“He can do what he likes,” you responded curtly. “It’s our relationship, after all. Does that satisfy you for an answer?”

“Satisfy me?” Lucius questioned, his words sticky and trying to latch on for a confrontation. “You tell me, does my daughter bringing over an ill-mannered imp of a partner satisfy me?”

You narrowed your eyes and clenched your mouth. You weren’t going to fall into Lucius’s trap of getting you to raise your voice. Instead, you were going to choose to be clever.

“He wouldn’t be considered ill-mannered if you didn’t choose topics to purposefully rile him up,” you spoke. “You haven’t talked about dragon domestication in ages, so why tonight?”

“How would you know that I don’t care about it?” Lucius retorted. “It’s ingrained into our family history. You, too, are a Malfoy before all else.”

You crossed your arms around your chest; you didn’t believe a single thing out of your father’s mouth and that thought made you sad. “And not because Charlie happens to be passionate about dragons and their well-being?”

“I wouldn’t ever sink so low.”

“I beg to differ. You’d do anything to see your enemies drown.”

“(Y/N), that’s quite enough from you,” Narcissa snapped from beside you. 

“Yeah, calm down, Draco advised, stepping from behind you. 

Narcissa put a hand on your shoulder. “Just head upstairs, we’ll talk about this tomorrow,”

Every inkling of patience was being drained from you. This didn’t even involve your mother or Draco. You weren’t going to be told to stay and go like some sort of untrained dog. 

You whipped around and faced Draco. “This isn’t your argument.”

“It is when you’re making a fool of yourself,” Draco responded coolly, knowing both your parents were on his side. “You best just drop the charade after tonight and save some face.”

“And who said it was a charade?”

“Well, isn’t it bloody obvious?” he shot back. 

Your voice was low with warning. “Again, this conversation is between me and father.”

“And I’m saying I agree with Draco,” Lucius butted in. You turned back to him. You were feeling defeated, standing in a circle with three people who wanted to manage every aspect of your life. This must be what zoo animals felt like. “Disengage from this Weasley boy, this act, and I’m willing to forget this night ever happened.”

He offered it like it was a favour to you, but it wasn’t. “You’re asking me to end my relationship?”

“What relationship?” Lucius repeated.

Draco felt the need to interject again, “You don’t mean anyone believes you are actually dating him?”

You turned back and got dangerously close to Draco. Beneath your breath, you warned him. “And you best believe that if you keep arguing for father, I will knock every single one of your pretty little teeth out.”

You pivoted back to Lucius. 

“Pray tell, father, do I live my life for me or you?” you asked, trying very hard not to sound affected. Emotions had no place in a Malfoy argument and you had to constantly remind yourself. “I’m partner-less, I should find someone. I have a partner, I should break up with him. I should stay in more, but should get out more. I’m too young to do this, but too old for that. Clearly, what you want for me is all very confusing.”

“You’re right. You should be free to live how you want.” Lucius’s agreement caused you to shake your head in disbelief. “But I won’t have these acts of indecency in my house.”

“Well, we all live here, don’t we?” you countered, arms crossed, on the edge for a witty answer. In that moment of silence, it hit you—clarity and a loophole. A small grin threatened to break out on your face. 

If you couldn’t do what you wanted in your father’s house, what about your own?

You re-arranged Lucius’s words and sent them right back at him. “But I’ll do whatever indecent acts in my own house, and that’ll be okay?”

There was a pause—a blowback of breath—possibly because Lucius was registering what you meant. Then, he let out a harsh laugh after piecing your words together. “I would like to see you try to find a house in the first place,” Lucius said, condescending and confident. “If that’s what you mean, then there is nothing available.”

He had to be wrong. How could there be no vacancy of anything? “That’s quite the assumption.”

“It’s not an assumption, it’s knowledge of the market.”

“Of course, I’m sorry for doubting you,” you conceded. “But I guess we’ll see what happens.”

 You walked up the stairs with some restrained ferocity. If you let your rage out, you’d stomp right through the marble floor.  On the last step, you stopped and turned around, looking your father in the eye. “Have a good night.”

You had to literally bite down on your tongue not to add: ‘Maybe Charlie and I will visit for Christmas.’

The last thing you saw was Narcissa shaking her head at her husband and walking over to talk to him, but you wanted to hear no more. 

You almost slammed the door on the way into your room but stopped yourself at the last moment. Instead, you channelled your rage into a long, silent scream until your throat prickled. You walked over to a desk by the windows and stared at the quill and candle. You were tempted to write to Charlie, but stopped yourself there too. Why would he want to be tangled in your personal problems? You’d dragged his good name through the mud enough today. 

Instead, you rang for Dobby. He appeared in a flash.

“Bring me some property listings, would you, Dobby? And a cup of tea?” You contemplated what else you might need. “And draw a bath for me, please.”

“What kind of tea would Ms. Malfoy like?” Dobby asked. 

“Something known for its calming properties,” you mumbled to yourself. “Chamomile?”

Dobby nodded and disappeared to the kitchen.

You walked into your closet and found the suitcase you’d unpacked just weeks ago. You bent down and unzipped it. The coin-size pile of sand on the inside edge, fresh from the French beaches that you hadn’t cleaned out made you smile; it reminded you of Charlie confidently saying he wanted to visit your Uncle Theo’s new estate. 

And his words gave you resolution: whatever was available, you were going to move out. 

You hated that Lucius was probably in his room, laughing off the idea of you even thinking about living on your own, without his wise guidance and the plush comforts of the manor. But the thought of spending another day, caged in and moulded by someone else’s hopes and expectations, was not the life you wanted. Instead, you imagined his grin morphing into a frown when he’d walk into a moving crew packing your life into cardboard boxes. Oh, the thought of that was delicious.

To solidify your intent, you walked over to the racks of clothing in your closet—first things first. Planning for the weather, you began with some outer layers: your softest sweaters, some work pants, wool dresses, stockings, and threw them into the open suitcase. Folding and organising was an afterthought. You sidestepped over to more intimate attire: socks, bralettes, underwear, a slip dress for sleeping, and some tank tops. You heard a rush of water from your bathroom and a knock.

Dobby walked in from the bathroom. “Everything is near the bath, Ms. Malfoy.”

“Thank you, Dobby,” you said with a smile. “You’re dismissed for the evening.”

Abandoning your suitcase, you walked into the spacious, steamy bathroom. You inhaled the scent of lavender. You undressed and walked up the steps to the bathtub. From there, you sunk in, trying to wash the day away. You splashed your face and your fingers stuck onto your lips in the process. 

You froze. 

It dawned on you again that you’d kissed Charlie Weasley. Or he’d kissed you. Or you’d kissed each other, but what did semantics matter in this context? You had to wonder what he was thinking right now, and if he was paralyzed replaying the scene in the bathtub. 

Reality rushed in like a burst damn. Oh, Gods. What were you going to say to him when you saw him next? When were you going to see him next? Was he already chatting about it to Bill? Or even worse, Fred and George? Bill’s letter was probably en route to you. But Charlie wouldn’t be able to describe to Bill about how his hands felt so big and strong around you, about how his hard body was pressed tightly against yours, and about the newfound sensation that brimmed in you when he deepened the kiss. 

You were feeling dizzy and not because of the heat.

You gulped down a healthy portion of tea and picked up the classifieds to distract yourself. Your heart fluttered with hope that there was something you could move into soon. 

But as your fingers flicked through the pages, your fantasy began to crumble like the bricks in the dilapidated units you were looking at. Sure, you could share a two-bedroom apartment with another person right by Knockturn Alley for 100 galleons a month, or even better, share a room in the same building for only 50 galleons. It didn’t look terrible, but further reading revealed that the bathroom wasn’t even in the unit itself. On the last page, there were a few penthouses and standalone houses whose cost went to upwards of 3000 galleons a month. 

Was there anything in the fucking middle? 

Unless you wanted to live in a literal shack or a literal mansion, you were royally screwed. You drained the bath, dried yourself, and slipped into a short, white silk dress. Maybe some sleep would help.

You had dreams often. As a little girl, you dreamt of gobbling everything up at Florean Fortescue's and building snow forts in the backyard. As a teenager, you dreamt of midnight kisses up on the astronomy tower. Tonight, your dream was a memory. 

You were walking into Cauco, your frilly dress hem rubbing on your bandaged knees and your hand attached to someone. It wasn’t Charlie, because even though he was taller than you, this man was much taller. As in, you had to raise your hand to keep it linked to his. As you entered the store, you detached from him to make a beeline with Draco for the pastry display. 

“Let’s get this one,” you said, pointing to the croissant filled with fresh cream and strawberries, your little fingers staining the perfect glass display. Maybe you chose it because you loved it, or it was one of the only things you could see at your height. Above you, there were other tarts, cakes, and an assortment of pretty macarons with labels you couldn’t see. 

“I don’t want that,” Draco protested. He pressed his entire forehead on the glass. “I want this.” There was a spot of drool on his mouth as he focussed on the shiny chocolate eclair. 

“Maybe father will get us both,” you said with optimism.

“What if he doesn’t?” Draco asked.

You frowned. “Then we’ll get yours, but you have to share with me.”

“Okay, fine.”

“(Y/N), Draco,” your mother called. “Your father and Mr. Circelli are waiting.”

“No!” Draco was the first to exclaim, evading her and banding with you instead. “We want dessert!”

“Who’s Mr. Seagull?” you questioned, holding onto Draco, refusing to go. “We want dessert, mother!” 

“We’ll get dessert later,” Narcissa assured. “Mr. Circelli has a child your age, Draco, (Y/N). You’ll be too busy making a new friend. Now, come on.”

Tuesday was the earliest day in the week you could make your dreams come true.

“Mr. Circelli,” you greeted, stepping into his tidy office. “Good morning. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.”

You extended a hand which he grasped firmly.

“It’s my pleasure.”

Mr. Circelli (or ‘Mr. Seagull’ as far as six-year-old you was concerned) was an old friend of Lucius’s. He was tall and thin, with a perfectly slicked-back bed of dark hair. Mr. Circelli boasted a web of connections and exclusive properties for his wealthier clientele, your father included. You’d first met him when you were too young to care. Now, he was going to be very important in your plan of moving out. Your dream acted more like a vision, and you were thankful for it.  

As precarious as it was to attempt to find housing through someone connected, even if faintly, through your father, there were certain advantages to it, you were sure.

“How’s your mother and father doing?”

“Excellent,” you responded joyfully. “They send their regards.”

Mr. Circelli smiled. “So, you’re looking into your own property?”

“Yes, I think it’s about time.”

Mr. Circelli shook his head with a grin. “I can’t believe how fast time has flown, last I remember, you were a shy child attached to your father’s hip.” Then, he pulled out some listings, the same ones you were browsing two days ago. “But the market is slim-pickings, I’m sure you know that,” he stated. 

You nodded. The ads you looked through were barren. There was availability, but none suitable for you. He flicked through his files until he landed on one. “But luckily, my team and I have first access to housing before other realtors.”

He slid the file over to you. As you perused the images, he described the listing for you: “A one-bedroom apartment in Primrose Gardens. The second room is an office, but can be converted to whatever you please. There is an ensuite washroom for you, and one for guests. It’s just been prepped for move-in today. I think this is most suitable for a young professional like yourself.”

Everything about the unit looked specular. The living area and kitchen were spacious and airy, the master bathroom looked marvellous and grand, and the views of the city were heavenly. The only thing that you couldn’t shake off was that the rent was concealed. 

“Not that it matters,” you said with hesitation. “But might I ask how much I’m looking at monthly?”

“Oh,” Mr. Circell vocalised. You didn’t think your father usually asked how much anything was, ever. “My apologies, Ms. Malfoy.” With a flick of the hand, the rent was revealed. 

You blanched immediately.

1800 galleons a month. You’d anticipated the number to be horrible, but not this horrible. 

“And as per our usual standards, we require a pay stub, a deposit for six months, and two references from our clients,” he explained. 

A feeling of defeat crept in. Most of your pay was locked up at Gringotts (thanks to your father and his financial advice; it seems that he could screw you over while being helpful, too) and taking it out prematurely meant heavy consequences. What was currently in your bank account could cover the deposit and you would just have to live frugally afterwards, but your measly Ministry paycheque wasn’t going to be good by any standards. You should’ve never taken a gap year and multiple vacations knowing you’d have to move out someday.

You gulped. You were almost too afraid to ask in case you were going to blow your cover, but you did: “Given that I’ve been working for a short while, are there alternatives in case what I provide isn’t sufficient?”

“You could find a guarantor, a co-signer, if you will,” he said with a nod, agreeing with himself. “Someone who can take care of the rent should you not be able to. That’s not to say that I’d think it’d come to that. I have no doubt that a lady like you, Ms. Malfoy, would be timely and expeditious. Sadly, it’s a regulation I cannot skirt.”

“And the reference?”

“It can be anyone, but in most cases, our client’s guarantor provides the reference in this option. “In your case, it might be wise to talk to your father. He’s very proficient in this area.”

“Oh, he’s a little—”

“Upset?” Mr. Circelli finished for you.

You were afraid to answer. How did he know? Had they talked?

Mr. Circelli smiled. “I felt the same when my children moved out. I can imagine his grief, but it’ll pass knowing you’ll be living in the best of what London has to offer.”

‘Except my father would never grieve for me’, you thought. 

You nodded pleasantly. “When is the deadline for my application?”

“I’m happy to provide you until Saturday morning. Again, we don’t usually hold units for so long, but given the relationship between your father and I, I’m happy to make an exception.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Circelli.” 

You got up and shook his hand. His face was flush with optimism that this unit was going to be yours. You, conversely, were dead sure he was going to be disappointed.

When work ended on Wednesday, you headed right over to Fred and George’s closed shop for dinner. You were not intent on spending any time with your family, so you opted for take-out with the boys. The three of you were gathered around a bottle of red wine on a long, rectangular table in the middle of the store. The radio buzzed lowly in the background as ambient noise.

You scraped the ravioli off your fork with your teeth and poked Fred in the cheek with the blunt end of it. “Hey, Freddie, what does your bank account look like? And how are your writing skills?”

“Perfect, and even better,” he responded, slurping up his pasta. 

“What’s this for?” George asked from in front of you. 

“I’m applying for an apartment.” You clarified, “So, I’m moving out. This is just paperwork I have to do to make it a reality.”

“Well, this is news,” Fred added, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “When did this happen?”

“You can imagine how it happened,” you lamented with a sigh. “In the same fashion that the whole dinner fiasco happened.” You grabbed the bottle of wine and poured your glass full again. “But my chances aren’t looking good for it. I mean, how do you get a reference without having rented anything from anyone? Or a guarantor that’s not your parent? And why is rent so expensive?”

“What could possibly be expensive to you?” Fred scoffed. 

“When’s the last time you put a six-month deposit on an apartment in Primrose Gardens?” you shot back.

“The goblins would definitely offer you a line of credit,” George suggested. “But Bill says they’re predatory, so I wouldn’t do it.”

You nodded. “That would be my last resort. I was thinking—”

A knock on the window interrupted your train of thought. Three heads whipped around to the source of the sound. George lifted himself off his seat to investigate. Your first immediate thought was that it was Charlie. Your heart drummed and a sudden cold sweat coated your body. You were not ready to look at him yet, not today, not ever. As George peeked through the blinds and slowly opened the door, you shut your eyes. You were tempted to clamber under the table to hide. 

“No way,” George exclaimed.

You opened your eyes again. Whoever standing in the door definitely wasn’t Charlie, because there was no sliver of red hair above George’s head.

George moved out of the way to unveil a face you hadn’t seen in ages. 

“Alicia?” you said, surprised. You abandoned your fork and ran to her. You catapulted yourself into her arms and Alicia Spinnet, always so nimble and strong from sport, caught you and spun you around. It felt like old times, years ago when she’d score a point against Slytherin on the Quidditch pitch and you’d celebrate obnoxiously together to piss off your own house. 

You were greatly relieved it was her. Though it dawned on you that Charlie was at Hogwarts and it couldn’t have been him in the first place, so there was no reason to believe he would be here.  

“Alicia! Spinster!” Fred clamoured, swinging his legs over the chair and running over to join the commotion.

Alicia rolled her eyes. “Why do you still call me that?” 

“Seriously,” you said in her defence. “You’re rude, Fred.” 

“I mean, look at yourself,” Alicia fired, gesturing up and down his body.

Fred put a hand over his heart. “Ouch.”

“What are you doing back in England?” you asked excitedly. Seeing Alicia was enough to make you forget the tornado that was your life right now. “I thought you were chained up with MACUSA.”

“Lee’s birthday, primarily,” Alicia said. “And to see my family, too, of course.”

Your eyes widened. How could you have forgotten about Lee’s birthday?

George chuckled. “You’re just in time for the big fest this Friday.”

“This Friday?” you repeated. You bit your lip. That was basically when the rental application was due, because Lee’s birthday never ended with you waking up at home; it ended up with your face on the flat upstairs.

“You bet,” Fred said, patting your back. “Alicia will round up the girls and Lee before we meet up.”

“Are you joining us, (Y/N)?” Alicia asked. “Angelina is making those Fizzing Whizzbee shots again, just like old times. We’ll see if we even make it to the bar after drinking those.”

You stilled. You wanted to accept, but the pursuit of pleasure had to wait until you sorted out your housing situation. “I’ll get back to you on that. I just have this thing at work to finish up.”

“Sure, it’s work,” Fred mocked, rolling his eyes. “Why don’t you tell Alicia about what—”

You clamped a hand over Fred’s mouth. “We’ll catch up on Friday!” you promised. Alicia nodded happily. 

You hoped Alicia wouldn’t ask about anything, because you couldn’t find it in you to explain your situation to another soul. 

Due to Fred’s consistent ability of forgetting to tell you about important things like Lee’s birthday, you only had two days to prepare for the damn thing. After asking the girls what they were wearing, you decided on a black chenille sweater dress. The mock turtleneck and long sleeves were chosen to keep you warm in case you ended up drunk and asleep on the streets. The dress hugged you in the right places, but wasn’t scandalous enough to attract unwarranted attention. And the reason for your choice of colour was that, well, Fred or Lee were historically prone to slosh beer on you as the hours went by. 

“I can clearly see my favourite spot in the house is occupied,” you said as you walked in. You hung your overcoat on the rack. “Is there anywhere I can do paperwork before we go?”

Fred continued reclined on the couch. He lazily pointed to the room in the middle. “In there.”

“Thanks!” you exclaimed. 

You walked into the unused room sandwiched between Fred and George’s rooms. To your surprise, it was furnished with a desk, a chair and a made bed that you could barely see from the entrance. The room was small, laid out in a ‘L’ shape. Only the desk was visible from where you stood. Otherwise, there was a small wardrobe immediately to your left. Last you saw this room, it was a dusty storage space full of cobwebs and cardboard boxes. You didn’t know what inspired Fred or George to clean it out, but you were happy they did.

You sat down at the table and flicked the candle on. From your purse, you drew out and laid out Mr. Circelli’s files, your last paystub, a painful cheque for 10800 galleons, a slightly less painful separate cheque of 500 galleons as a thank you (because Lucius always insisted on monetary favours, and he was rather good in maintaining relationships with his clients), and Fred’s reference. The office wasn’t far from the bar, so you were going to drop it off after you left. And then drink enough to forget about it.

From inside the room, you heard a door close and a conversation taking place. The voices were muffled but otherwise audible.

“We got you a housewarming present,” Fred boasted. 

“My present?” a different male vocalized, his voice seeping through the thin walls. It definitely wasn’t George’s voice. Or Lee’s. Or—

It took a few seconds, but the bass notes of the mysterious voice keyed into the right parts of your brain: it was Charlie. Your knee banged up on the table, sloshing the melted wax around and whipping the candle flame sideways. Why was he here?

“In your room,” Fred responded. “You’ll like it. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower. Long night ahead of me…”

You heard the doorknob turn and it finally registered in your slow state—which was concerning since you hadn’t had a drop of alcohol—that Charlie was coming into the room. Panicked, you put all your documents back into the dossier and shuffled away from the door. 

But there was nowhere to hide. Your only option was to scuttle towards the bed which was directly to your left and jump out of the window. The result of that was dark and bleak, so you stayed put.

When Charlie opened the door, you were the first thing his eyes caught, and you the same. He had a navy blue sweater over a dress shirt that was tucked into a familiar pair of slacks. His head nearly grazed the doorframe when he stepped in.

“Good evening,” you managed to eke out, your throat tense. 

“No way,” Charlie said incredulously with a laugh. He stalked closer until he was standing over you. “You’re the present?”

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

Your eyes immediately flittered to his lips. You know, the same lips you kissed almost a week ago. 

“You’re in my room, (Y/N),” Charlie informed airily as he spun your chair by the backrest to the left so he could step between the small space. He was barely a few inches from you, so close that you could appreciate the subtle spice of his cologne. He set his briefcase down by the foot of the bed and landed on the mattress with an unabashed thud. “Ah!”

“I wasn’t told this was—” you tried to explain. 

“Nope, you’re in my room,” Charlie clarified, looking at you with his arms tucked behind his head and one leg crossing over the other.

Damn it! Fred had given you the misconception that this was an unused space. If you’d known this was Charlie’s room, you would’ve opted to work downstairs. 

“When did you move in?” you questioned. 

“Tuesday night.”

You crossed your legs, inching slightly closer from the chair. “Why did you move here?” 

“I had to get out of there,” Charlie gasped, his curls sticking to his face as he clutched his chest dramatically, like he was waking up in a cold panic. “All day, every day, it was baby talk. And my charms weren’t working. The house has been stretched to its limits with enchantments. I’m surprised property bylaw hasn’t come to inspect us yet.”

“So, you mean to say, you barely last a week back home.”

“You wouldn’t either if you had to sleep on a bed half your own height,” he countered. “But half of me… hm, that might suit you just fine.”

You made a face at him. He responded with a wider grin. 

“Is this place really an improvement?” you asked earnestly.

“I can extend my legs now, even if just marginally,” Charlie affirmed. He uncrossed one leg and extended it to prove a point. “I’m getting quality sleep.”

“Even if just marginally?” you repeated, your tone teasing. “Won’t this be your second night here?”

“Yes,” Charlie hummed as he sunk into the pillow.  “But I truly can’t hear”—a loud bang rang from the other room—“a single thing. It’s nirvana.”

Suddenly, there was a very sharp creak of the shower handle before the gurgling of pipes and finally, the explosion of water. You choked back a laugh. Charlie hummed and shook his head from side-to-side, pretending not to have heard anything. 

You felt at ease. The worry of having to talk about the dinner or the kiss last week slid cleanly off of you, like rain into a sewage drain. At this point, you’d preferred not to talk about it.

“Mhm,” Charlie moaned as he sunk lower into the bed. His voice was deep and velvety. His eyes fluttered closed. “This feels really good.”

Never mind. A pang of stars barraged your vision. Your crossed your legs even tighter. He didn’t intend to sound…. sexual, right? 

As Charlie continued to shut his eyes, searching for a wink of sleep, you were trying very hard not to stare at his triceps as he unknowingly flexed them. Every time you pulled away from the defined muscle, your eyes drifted to his mouth instead. You had to stop looking at his stupid, no-good lips. He tilted his head, shifting positions, and the way his eyelashes swept over his closed eyes made your heart skip a beat. Charlie painted in such a vulnerable light stoked something in you; you really wanted to brush his hair back, lean in, and kiss him, hard. 

No, no, no. Firstly, that would be weird and invasive, and secondly, why were you thinking about kissing him?

“I’m moving out, too,” you blurted out, trying to break your own line of thought by starting a new conversation.

Charlie quickly cracked an eye open. “Where to?”

“I found a unit in a condominium complex.”

“Why the change of heart?” he questioned with a chortle. “I thought you loved your parents.”

You bit your lip, thinking about the explosive argument that occurred last week after he’d left. “It’s about time I made something of myself, gain some independence, I’m sure you’d understand.”

“You must’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Charlie remarked. “It’s been proper tough to find availability for anything.”

Or to find a guarantor for anything. 

“I was lucky.”

‘Or rather, I used my father’s connections’, you thought.

Charlie looked up to the grey and speckled ceilings, eyebrows furrowed in woe. “Me? I haven’t been so lucky. Couldn’t find a single thing.”

“Will Hogwarts house you?” you offered. “That could be decent accommodations.”

“And spend the best years of my life back in school? No way.” Charlie’s eyes fell downwards to the file on your table. “Is that what you found?” You nodded. Charlie gestured with a flick of his head. “Let’s have a look-see.”

You slipped the listing out from the dossier and got up to hand it over to Charlie. He took it, holding it in one hand and languidly brushing his hair back with the other. He let out a low whistle as he read through it.

“This is what Malfoy money gets you, huh? Looks pretty decent for the price.” He gave the listing back to you. “I never had issue finding a place in Romania. Honestly, I don’t think my own country wants me back.”

“What are you two love birds doing in there?” Fred interrupted from outside the room. He didn’t stand there for long though because he strode right in, throwing his manners along with the door aside. A grin stretched across his face when he saw Charlie laying down on the bed, and you beside him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Charlie teased.

“Go shower and get dressed, Charlie,” Fred commanded. “You’ve always been so slow.”

“What? You occupied the shower before me,” Charlie protested. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“It’s Lee’s birthday.”

Charlie cocked his head. “Lee?”

“A friend of ours. You might as well come, or I’ll think of you just as boring as Percy.”

“You’re right. I can’t be that.” Charlie swung his legs over the bed and squeezed past you as well as he could, in the narrow gap between you and the wall. Wedged between you, his arm making full contact with your bare one, he eyed you with a mischievous glint. His face, to your dismay, came into focus and so did his Cupid’s bow, making his mouth look so devilishly inviting. His eyes darkened as he asked: “Are you coming too, (Y/N)?”

Were you coming? There was nothing intelligible or witty that was going to come out of you. 

“Of course she is!” Fred—thankfully—answered for you. “Why else do you think she’s all dolled up? For you?”

Charlie unglued himself from you and walked past Fred who followed him. Charlie’s voice began to trail off as he got further from the room. “I don’t know, you said something about a present...”

When you were alone again in the room that you just discovered belonged to Charlie, you sat back down on the chair. You stared at the leather briefcase perched by the bed and the freshly-crumpled sheets, both tell-tale signs that Charlie was here.

He was here, he was there, he was everywhere. And it was sinking in that he was going out with you tonight.

>> NEXT CHAPTER

CHAPTER DIRECTORY

[bri-cheeses]

| Rosekiller microfic | Word count: 663 | I wrote this such a long time ago and just stumbled upon it recently lol | Anyways, give it up for asexual Evan (my beloved) <3 |

-

“You don’t want me, okay?”

“Yes, I do!” Barty ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that?”

“Because you don’t want me.”

“But I do—”

Evan interrupted him sharply.

“You might think you do, but you don’t. So just leave it alone, okay?” Evan’s words were biting, intended as much for himself as they were for Barty.

“I don’t understand why you’re so insistent upon this. I do want you, have wanted you for a long time—why can’t you believe that?”

Evan just glared at him.

“Please, Evs, tell me what it is.” He was begging now, desperate for a response.

“You just… wouldn’t. Want me, that is. Not if—” Evan cut himself off. He’d gone too long without saying it to confess anything now. Old habits die hard, and all that.

“Not if what? You can tell me, you know you can. Don’t convince yourself that you can’t.”

And it was that last sentence that caused a bolt of anger to make its way through Evan chest. He could feel it, tightening and squeezing as his breaths grew short and quick.

Barty thought that he’d be okay with it, this secret that Evan was keeping from him, but he wouldn’t be. Evan had spent too long being his friend to not know that about Barty.

And it was unfair of him to demand an explanation from Evan. Because despite the long years of friendship between them, Barty didn’t deserve it, hadn’t earned it yet, and it was mighty presumptuous of him to think that he had.

“Merlin, Barty, can’t you just leave it alone?”

“No! You know why? Because for whatever reason you’re denying this right now—” he gestured between them— “you’re just making both of us miserable. I can tell, so don’t lie to me and say that you want it to be like this. Because you don’t.”

“You’re right, I don’t want it to be like this! I never have! I never asked for this, or wished for this, or tried to be this way, and yet, guess what? Here I am anyway.”

Evan breathed heavily, worrying flickering through him at what he’d just revealed. But he desperately, perhaps foolishly, hoped that his words were vague enough that his true meaning would remain unclear .

“Drop it, Bee,” Evan insisted finally, then made to turn around.

He didn’t get far before a hand grabbed his sleeve, turning him back around to face an angry Barty.

Their faces were so close, near enough that Evan could see the way Barty’s eyes were slightly tightened with displeasure but also… worry. It did something funny to his chest even as he hoped that his own emotions weren’t written out as clearly.

“Evan, listen to me. I’m not giving up on this until you tell me what the problem is, because I deserve to know. I deserve to know why you won’t even try for a chance at us.”

Barty’s hand on Evan’s sleeve tightened as he talked, seemingly unbeknownst to Barty himself. It echoed the way Evan’s anger tightened in his chest, working its way through him.

“This isn’t your thing to know. You aren’t entitled to everything about me, and this? You don’t deserve it.”

Barty flinched, but Evan carried on.

“You haven’t earned this, so no matter how much you want to beg and twist and needle, I’m not going to tell you. Because I do not want to.”

Evan shook off Barty’s hand, then looked away as he delivered the final blow, tone filled with a hint of violence. “So just leave it alone, Crouch.”

It was the last name that did it. Evan could see it in the way Barty stumbled back, looking a little lost. Evan would bring himself to care, but it gave him the perfect opportunity to leave.

And leave he did, turning on his heel and storming out, leaving Barty a confused, questioning mess behind him.

-

[thesorcerersshadow]

something i didn’t personally pick up on until the rewatch before this (lmao) is that it doesn’t… REALLY seem like hunith & merlin were on great terms when he left. i’ll probably go into this more during 1.10, but the events described there (hunith finding out will knew about merlin’s magic and sending him away to camelot in response) must logically have happened right before - or at least, not long before - this episode. which means that i think this episode is sort of inextricable from the implications of 1.10. and we know merlin said that hunith was “so angry” when she found out will knew, and merlin tells will he didn’t want to leave, so the implication seems to me to be that there was a big blow-up before he left.

i think this is also reflected in how merlin reacts when gaius brings up hunith. there is an element of discomfort there.

and i am just, so fascinated by his facial expressions when she comes up that i had to make some gifs about it:

"your mother asked me to look after you." "yes."

merlin's discomfort here, of course, is probably to be expected - it is uncomfortable to talk to someone you don't know all that well yet about a way in which you are vulnerable, about your parent insisting you need looking after. but there's something else here, too, because like... the way he hesitates and thinks carefully on his words before landing on a somewhat terse "yes", the way he glances to the side briefly as though he's remembering something, the way his eyes go downcast after he speaks and he only looks up again when gaius says something else... he doesn't just seem uncomfortable, he seems upset. which makes sense - the reason merlin needs 'looking after' is the reason he and hunith (may have; i believe so) fought before he left.

right after, there's this exchange.

"what did your mother say to you about your gifts?" "... that i was... special."

nd despite merlin having some amazing facial expressions throughout the show, this might be one of my top ten merlin face journeys just for how much it conveys:

(gif broken into two to meet tumblr's gif size requirements.)

(colin morgan can do a MILLION THINGS with his face (and voice) in FIVE SECONDS FLAT, i love him.) like... he's smiling awkwardly, but then he's also looking up and to the side, again, as though remembering something hunith said, and his cheeks are are all but blushing; it is very clear that he is Embarassed, but it's also kind of wistful. that side glance is almost but not quite an eye roll. this expression is like... embarassed and annoyed and fond and and wistful. (a million things!!!) which, again, to me reads like his feelings about hunith are Complex at the moment, though of course, he ultimately loves her very much and very deeply. (merlin is a #momma's boy.)

and what's interesting to me is that by the time 1.10 rolls around, this all melts away. maybe it's just been long enough, and maybe he's missed her, and maybe it's partially because when he sees her again, she's hurt, but whatever the reason he just... cannot stay mad at his mother. <3

also, to be clear: none of this is me saying hunith is a bad mom, because i don't think that's true! she was a mother who wanted to protect her son and lived in a world that made that challenging, and she was very, very afraid. i don't doubt that she made mistakes, but i also don't doubt that they were the kind of mistakes you make because you love someone, because you care.

[maxdibert]

i want to know what do you think about Remus since you already talk about James and Sirius i really need to know :3

When someone puts a big topic on the table, in Spain we say: sujétame la cerveza lol So yeah, Lupin is one of THAT topics. Here we go:

Look, I can deal with Remus Lupin having literally zero self-esteem and a massive inferiority complex, and for that reason using Sirius and James as his safety net at Hogwarts, not stopping them when they were complete jerks because he was afraid they'd reject him and he’d end up alone. I can deal with that, I can excuse being an accomplice to bullying just like I can excuse Severus for getting involved with the Death Eaters because he saw himself as vulnerable. I forgive him, seriously. I can even forgive him for being an absolutely irresponsible adult and not taking his potion—Merlin knows why. I can let that slide too. But there are two things I can’t let slide.

The first, and less important one, is that he justified James’ actions to Harry. I mean, it's the least important because I can understand not wanting to tarnish the kid’s image of his father, but when the same kid is telling you that his father and his friends (including you) were assholes, maybe you should admit that you were a total jerk. Or that at least your friends were, and you did nothing. I get why Sirius denied his guilt because, well, Sirius Black. Like, what are you going to expect from him? To him, there was nothing wrong with it. But Remus was aware that it was wrong, and as an adult, he can admit it. You don’t have to make up some story about Snape envying James over Quidditch (lolololol like Severus Snape would remotely care about that gym-bro crap). But anyway, I see this as almost the least serious thing.

What I will never, ever forgive him for in my entire fucking life is that at 36/37 years old, with gray hair already down there, HE WAS ALMOST FORTY YEARS OLD, PEOPLE, he got a woman in her twenties pregnant, had an existential crisis, and was considering leaving her WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH HIS CHILD. WHAT IS HE DOING?? Like, I don’t even know how to express this in English because my language is Spanish, and I swear I have a ton of adjectives in that language to insult this man, but in English, it’s harder—but hello?? He was ALMOST FORTY YEARS OLD, HIS WIFE WAS TWENTY-FIVE, HE SLEPT WITH HER, GOT HER PREGNANT, AND LEFT??? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE, REMUS LUPIN?? WHAT’S IN YOUR HEAD?? Like, if he was so terrified of passing on lycanthropy to the child, why didn’t he use a condom?? Or, I don’t know, the magical equivalent—HAVE YOU HEARD OF A VASECTOMY?? And if he really, truly felt so bad about impregnating A WOMAN IN HER TWENTIES—LIKE SERIOUSLY, LET'S PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE: SOMEONE THIRTEEN YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIM. THIRTEEN. DAMN. YEARS. Why didn’t he just NOT DO IT? Like, as the adult in the relationship, he could’ve genuinely said no. No, this is unacceptable. No. No, sorry. So many years of gender studies and feminist readings for this. SCREW THE NICE GUYS. Like, his whole “woe is me, I’m poor, I’m old, I’m ugly, I’m dangerous” schtick? Well, you should have gone off to Timbuktu then, but don’t get her pregnant only to then abandon her. A TEENAGER HAD TO GO. A TEEN-AGER had to tell him he was being a piece of shit. This is why I say Rowling doesn’t respect her female characters because if she really did, she would have had Tonks dump him and raise the child on her own because, seriously, what was she thinking?

Just talking about this makes me genuinely angry. It's just that Lupin is THAT KIND OF GUY, you know? The one who acts all nice and soft and like he’s never broken a plate in his life, and he’s all poor me, and I’m super nice and super sweet, but then he turns out to be a huge jerk, like a giant piece of work. He’s the textbook nice guy, and one of the worst, the kind who goes after young women. Look, I’m just saying that if Harry Potter were written today and the topic of Lupin came up, and Rowling didn’t condemn him to the stake in her books, she would have been canceled a long time ago. Seriously. There’s no way that in today’s fiction a man nearly 40 years old gets a twenty-something pregnant and threatens to leave her, and that this guy is seen positively by the narrative. Simply no. Canceled. I’m canceling you, Remus Lupin, not for myself, but for feminism. Thanks.

[chloe-skywalker]

Magic Divide - Arthur Pendragon (Part 1)

Arthur x fem!reader

Warnings: judgy-ness?

Word count: 2,310

Summary: Arthur has found out Y/n has magic. He didn’t react in the nicest way so Y/n decides to leave Camelot.

Authors Note: My first writing for Merlin BBC, love Arthur from the adventures of Merlin. Hope you all enjoy it! P.S. theres a part 2! (an its already written!)

Masterlist

Merlin BBC Masterlist

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Y/n stood not far from the stables as she packed up some of her stuff, getting ready to leave when she heard footsteps and yelling of her name.

“Merlin?” Y/n spoke as she turned to face the people she considered family. She was confused as to what the rush seemed to be.

“Y/n!” merlin shouted again as they all came to a stop around her. “What are you doing?”

Y/n looked to all their faces before looking to the floor feeling slightly ashamed. “Leaving.”

“Leaving Camelot?” Gwen wondered with a furrowed expression like the rest as to why she would be leaving.

“Why?” Lancelot asked feeling concerned about the girl he considered like a sister.

“Arthur found out.” Y/n sighed out softly.

“About your magic?” Merlin questioned now feeling alittle worried.

“Yes. And feels betrayed, as he should.” Y/n added feeling disappointed in herself. It was a lose lose situation. Tell him about her magic and risk losing him or he find out and still lose him. Or worse.

“No, he shouldn’t.” Morgana stated shaking her head ‘no’ as she walked forward to wrap her friend up in a hug. They grew up together, practically sisters. Morgana always trusted Y/n and Y/n always trusted Morgana. It hurt Morgana to see her hurting over stupid Arthur.

Y/n turned to look at Morgana, she could tell the y/h/c-ed girl had unshed tears in her eyes. “Yes, he should. He had every right to feel betrayed and angry. I kept something big from him.”

“No, Y/n. If anything he should understand why you never said anything.” Lancelot agreed with Morgana. With how Arthur was raised, and his views on magic he should’ve understood why Y/n didn’t say anything.

“Doesn’t matter now. He hates me. Arthur hates me now because I possess magic.” Y/n’s voice cracked and it broke their heart to hear. Y/n snuffled and cleared her throat before giving them a tight smile. “So I’m leaving.”

“You can't leave.” Lancelot wanted to change her mind.

“We’ll miss you to much.” Gwen gave her a sad smile.

“Don’t leave. Not because of Arthur.” Morgana scoffed at the future Kings idiocy.

“I value my friendship with all of you. With the other knights, with Gauis. But-” Y/n didn’t want to leave but what was holding her for good anymore. “I don’t have anything holding me here anymore. Not in the way I was. With Arthur and I’s relationship- or even just friendship. I don’t feel welcome in the castle, and if I don't feel welcome where I’m staying what's the point?”

“Your not just staying in the Castle, but in Camelot. We’re-” Lancelot waved around to acknowledge them all who were there. “In Camelot.”

Gwen smiled at Y/n, stopping forward. “You could stay with me.”

“Or me. Gauis loves you.” Merlin added, also smiling at the princess.

“No one want’s you to go.” Morgana pointed out smiling at Y/n. They all would miss her so much if she decided to leave. Who knows when they’d see her again. “You could stay with me. We’re like sisters.”

“I love all of you.” Y/n smiled gratefully at them but she needed time to think. Plus she hadn’t been home in what felt like forever due to her and Arthur's somewhat courtship. “But I think it’s time I go back home. I haven’t been in almost a year.”

As much as it saddened them they all also understood where she was coming from. “You better come visit me.DOn’t leave me alone in that Castle forever okay?” Morgana smiled getting both of them to laugh alittle.

“I won’t.” Y/n smiled at Morgana, who didn’t know that castle needed more women. Y/n looked to Lancelot, Merlin, Gwen, and Morgana smiling at them with a mixture of sadness and happiness. “An your always welcome to come visit me as well. All of you are welcome. Anytime.”

“I’ll miss having you here.” Gwen told her with watering eyes. 

“I know.” Y/n gave her a tight smile. She’d miss them to.

“Be careful.” Lancelot stated as he pulled her into a hug, resting his head against hers.

“I will.” Y/n smiled into the hug.

“An expect a visit soon.” Lancelot smiled sending her a wink as they pulled out of the embrace.

Y/n laughed nodding. “Ok.”

“Arthur’s a clotpole.” Merlin said shaking his head at what the princes’ actions were causing.

“Sometimes.” Y/n nodded in agreement. Arthur could be at times.

“Please visit.” Merlin pleaded pulling her into a hug.

Y/n smiled at his actions. “I will. But I need to be home right now.”

With goodbye’s said and hugs done they did try to get her to stay once more, especially once the rest fo knights found out she planned to leave. Y/n decided she had to tell the her main reason for leaving. The things Arthur had said to her since he found out, they were horrible things. About something, she had no control of inheriting. After she told them they all agreed she needed to get out of Camelot for a while, and away from Arthur.

^     ^     ^

“What's with the look’s Morgana?” Arthur grumbled, he was getting fed up with the looks she had been sending him for a while now.

“Screw you, Arthur.” Morgana scoffed before she stalked off out of the castle, pissed.

“What’d I do now?” Arthur asked looking to Gwen for an answer since he was confused.

“No offense your majesty but I agree with Lady Morgana on this particular topic.” Gwen stated before following out where Morgana had went.

Arthur now shocked and even more confused turned to his knights before asking. “What’d I do?”

“Sorry Prince but we-” Gwaine turned guestering to himself and the rest of the knights, then back to himself looking at the prince. “Agree with the women.”

Arthur walked over to Merlin in a slightly dazed state of shock before asking his servant. “Merlin-”

“Don’t look at me sire.” Merlin shook his head, looking away from the prince. In fact, looking anywhere but at Arthur.

“You agree?” Arthur questioned, with raised brows.

“Yeah.” Merlin gave him a quick nod before he pursued his lips together. Leaving Arthur with no real answer.

^     ^     ^

“Have you seen Y/n around, Merlin?” Arthur asked curiously. He hadn’t seen her in a while even though he had been avoiding her. When Merlin stayed quiet Arthur called his name. “Merlin?”

Merlin gulped he decided having to be the one to tell him this sucked. “She’s no longer in the castle, sire.”

“Then where is she staying?” Arthur asked puzzled to where else she would stay.

“At her home.” Morgana stated giving him a deadly look with her eyes.

“Morgana-” Merlin tried to cut in but Morgana wanted to rip Arthur a new one. She’d been holding her tongue long enough.

“No. He should know. After all if he’s just now aksing after a week of her being gone from Camelot,and many more weeks that he had avoided her. He should know what he did. What he caused.” Morgana continued, letting out her thoughts she’s held in.

“What are you talking about, Morgana?” Arthur squinted at Morgana’s rant. Not knowing what she was talking about. Not a clue.

“Y/n left.” Morgana stated plain and simple. Maybe that he’d understand.

“Left?” he repeated now very interested.

“Yes, left. Y/n left Camelot and went home about a week an half ago.” She explained and watched Arthur’s face morph into one of shock. “You look shocked Arthur? Did you really think she’d stay? After you said such horrible things to her. About something she was born with. Something she’s only used to help people with. You ignoring her, not speaking to her, acting as if she did the most terrible thing in the world.”

Arthur sighed. “She has magic Morgana-”

“So what?” Morgana shouted,how could he just forget about all the good times, how could he forget his love for Y/n over something so little. “Not everyone that has magic uses it for evil intentions. Y/n has saved her kingdom, Camelot, my life, yours, she had done nothing but good things with her magic and you made her feel awful about it. . . SHe thought you loved her more than that- hell Arthur most of us thought you loved her more than that. Thought you loved her enough that something like that wouldn’t matter. Guess we were all wrong.”

Arthur felt hurt by all the things Morgana was saying. He knew they were true which also hurt a lot. But magic, he’s been taught it’s evil. Didn’t that matter? “She kept it a -”

Morgana thought she knew Arthur but if he kept this up she knew she’s been dead wrong.

“From you? Yeah, she did. She kept it a secret from everyone the only reason some of us knew was because we caught her saving someone or something.” How could he not see she was scared? How could he not see why she was scared to tell him? “Arthur, don’t you get why she hid it from you? Uther hates people who wield magic. An you sometimes tlk the same, because he taught you to think it’s all bad and to kill them when you find them.”

That stunned Arthur. Y/n actually thought he would hurt her? Is that why she left? She feared for her life and feared him. “She thought I would’ve had her killed?”

Morgana looked at Arthur and really looked at him to see his emotions. He looked distraught in his eyes, so she sighed. “With the things, you said, how you looked at her and then how you treated her after? I would’ve thought you might of if I was in her shoes as well.”

Morgana left to let him think on her words. And he did. Arthur turned to Merlin. “Was I really that awful to her, Merlin?”

“Yeah, Arthur. You were cruel to her.” Merlin admitted to the blonde. He kinda felt for him though.

“y/n really left?” he whispered hoping if he spoke softer his voice wouldn’t crack.

Merlin sighed sadly. “She said she was here because of you. She no longer had you, so she left. Went home.”

“God, Merlin.” Arthur rubbed his hands over his face and then through his hair. “How do I fix this?”

“I don’t think anyone but you can fix it, Arthur.” Merlin told him, it was one of the rare times he actually wanted Merlin's advice. So he was happy to give it to him.

“Yeah. But how do I fix it is the question.” Arthur muttered to himself before he headed off to his room. He needed to think on this one.

^     ^     ^

“You asked to see me, father?” Arthur spoke as he entered the throne room. Hoping he wasn’t in trouble.

“Yes, Arthur. It seems Morgana would like to go visit Y/n. Now since she had gone home she’ll have to travel. I have to much to do so you’ll be escorting her. You and your knights. For Morgana’s safety.” Uther explained to his son. He was way to busy with King Duties to leave Camelot right now. Besides he had other motives for sending his son. Y/n had gone home 2 months ago maybe this was the chance he needed to fix things between them. The chance he’s known Arthur has been looking for.

“Yes, father.” Arthur nodded, ready to leave now if possible.

“You all leave tomorrow so inform your knights. All of you should pack tonight.” Uther stated.

“Yes, father.” Arthur answered turning to leave to go inform his knights to pack.

“And Arthur.” Uther spoke up stopping Arthur before he could leave through the double doors. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but you might want to fix it.”

Arthur nodded in understanding. “I have a plan.”

“Good. Now go pack.” Uther dismissed his son to leave the room.

“Yes, Father.” Arthur said before leaving the room, nervous and excited.

^     ^     ^

“So where are we heading out to this time, Prince?” Lancelot asked as they finished packing up the horses.

“Valmore.” Arthur stated as they got ready to head out.

Everyone looked at eachother in question before Gwaine spoke up. “Valmore?”

“Isn’t that-?” Leon questioned out loud looking to the others for confirmation.

“Y/n’s kingdom.” Morgana finished and confirmed with a nod and smile. Morgana mounted her horse. “Yes, it is. I miss my friend.”

“So we’re visiting.” Arthur stated as he to mounted his horse and the others followed.

“So, do you have a plan?” Merlin asked as he came up beside the prince also on a horse like the others.

“Yes, Merlin. I have a plan.” Arthur rolled his eyes at his servant's question.

“Is it good?” Merlin turned his head to look at the prince.

Arthur scoffed and turned to glare at the scrawny manservant that gets on his nerves all the time. “Yes, it’s good, Merlin. I don’t have bad plans.”

Merlin squinted and gave a tilt of his head, teasing the prince. “Well…”

“Back off Merlin.” Arthur stated before he went ahead of everyone else, leading the way.

“He have a plan?” Gwen asked as her and Merlin became parallel on their horses.

Merlin shrugged his shoulders at Gwen's question. “Says he does.”

“It better be a good one.” Morgana said riding next to the two. Morgana hoped Arthur would pull his head out of his ass and fix things with Y/n. She missed her friend and truthfully she was worried about Arthur. He’d been different since Y/n had been gone, not the bright Arthur he was usually was.

“Hopefully.” Merlin sighed.

~

Tag list:

@gruffle1 @padawancat97 @mininjageek

[futurepastme]

Gaius and Merlin have dinner and talk about Uther

Just because I haven't really posted anything Merlin lately, (I think) here's a little scene with Gaius (not merthur for once yet):

Merlin was about to go back to read more about some spells he had marked as ‘must learn,’ when he heard the door to the physician’s chambers opening. He waited before leaving his room - he was off duty and didn’t really want to see anyone - until he heard the characteristic sound of Gaius’ cauldron going into the fire, only then he left to the main chambers with his new treasure of a book in hand.

Gaius had half of his body leaning over the cauldron, mixing their dinner - porridge, probably - with a long wood spoon. Merlin watched him work on it for a while before removing the spoon and tapping it on the cauldron’s edge to make sure there was nothing left on it. Gaius turned around and gave a little jump of surprise upon finding his nephew staring at him.

“Good God, my boy, are you trying to get me killed?”

“Never! You’re the one that cooks dinner, If I caused your death I’d starve.” He smiled at Gaius as the old man shook his head.

Gaius went around the room collecting the books he was using earlier that morning, putting them on a neat pile before heading to the bookshelf.

“So, long meeting, wasn’t it?” Merlin drifted back to his earlier place at the table, setting his book on top of it and looking at Gaius’ white head of hair as he worked on putting the books away. He saw him shake his head.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into Uther this time, but I fear it is nothing good.”

“I heard he’s inviting a bunch of kings to this week’s feast?”

Gaius turned around, the one eyebrow of disapproval raised. “And where, pray tell, did you came upon this information?’’

“I made George tell me.” Merlin answered with a sheepish smile.

Gaius shook his head again, this time glaring at Merlin, and walked back to the cauldron now that he was finished with the books. “It’s wrong anyway,” he stirred it a little bit before reaching for a pot, filling it with a spoonful. “Uther cancelled this week’s feast. Should be announced to the rest of the castle first thing in the morning.”

Merlin stood up and began setting two seats at the table so they could eat. “That’s good then, if he’s no longer receiving the kings, I mean.” He filled two goblets with the drinking water they had in a jar, and sat down at his place. Gaius marched to join him, holding two pots of porridge for them. 

“Ha!” Gaius sat the pots with more strength than usual making them clank, “If only! He has postponed it to the end of the month.” Gaius satdown and picked up his spoon then pointed it at Merlin, using it to emphasize his words. “He didn’t clarify what exactly it is that he wants to discuss with the kings, he kept calling it the Peace Convention.” He shook his head again. “I’m worried.”

Merlin sighed, “Does he not recall what happened the last time? I bet King Alined still wants war, and King Olaf must still be angry with Arthur, I mean, Princess Vivian was still enchanted to be in love with him when they left.”

Gaius shook his head again with quick movements while still eating, when he was done swallowing he answered “I don’t know what goes on Uther’s head these days, Merlin.”

Merlin scraped off the rest of his dinner with the spoon, he hadn’t realized how starved he had been, and stood up to have his seconds. 

“You should ask Arthur about it, Uther kept him in the room after dismissing the council.”

“Arthur’s still there?” He sat down with his now refilled pot and went back to eating. “Great, he’s going to be insufferable in the morning. What could Uther possibly want with him after a whole day?”

“After the normal meeting subjects, Uther spent most of the afternoon trying to convince the council to receive the dignities at this week’s feast, it took us a long time to convince him otherwise.” Gaius finished his pot and stood up to get his own seconds. “Whatever is he wanted with Arthur, he either didn’t have a chance to bring it up this evening, or just didn’t want the rest of the council to intervene with more of his plans.”

Gaius sat back at the table to start his seconds, while Merlin rested his head on his hands after finishing his own. Both men kept quiet for a while, lost in their own minds as Gaius finished his dinner.

“Anything interesting in that book of yours?” Gaius changed the subject, and with the memory of the new spells he would be able to learn, Merlin smiled, ready to give him an answer.

He didn’t have a chance to, though, as they heard the characteristic Rat-tat-tat of knocking on the door.

“Come in.” Merlin said, as Gaius was still chewing.

The door opened to reveal a tired-looking George, he greeted them both with a nod before turning to address Merlin. “Prince Arthur has summoned you, Merlin.”

Merlin let a little sigh fall from his mouth, frustrated with the interruption - he really wanted to talk with Gaius about the book - as he stood up, headed to join George at the door. “Thank you, George.” He stopped midway to glance one last time to Gaius, his dirty dishes - cleaning them was his task, as Gaius always cooked dinner - and his book.

“Go see what the prince needs.” Gaius dismissed him with a wave and a nod. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Merlin nodded goodbye and joined George, closing the door behind them.

☽♚☾

[setaripendragon]

Okay, now I'm kinda interested in what the Kingsman "The King's Whores" wip is about...

=D I am so glad you asked!

Basically, it's a post!Secret Service (not Golden Circle or King's Man compliant) fic where Harry gets found alive and comes back to take the position of Arthur, and the first thing he has to do is replace a bunch of agents who died because of the four minutes of murder.

Eggsy decides that his own appointment wasn't scandalous enough, and not only does Kingsman have a classism problem, it also has a sexism problem, and goes trawling the east end's street hookers for his candidates for the trials.

The story is told from the PoV of a street hooker called Emma who is Massively Confused about this rich-ass chav who's paying her and a bunch of other girls a lot of money for the privilege of... taking them to dinner at the Ritz?

The plan is to have Eggsy run a couple of 'tests' to check for general comatibility (the ritz), physical ability (free running? laser tag? adult-sized jungle gym? I haven't decided yet), and some sort of puzzle-solving/detectiving skills (city wide treasure hunt? some sort of pin the tail on the asshole rich guy??? still a bit vague on this one, ngl) and Emma eventually gets bonus points for pretty much figuring out what Eggsy's looking for and possibly catching him bugging them all and such.

And the grand finale is going to be Eggsy presenting these three to Merlin as his candidates, and ALL of the other agents and candidates pulling faces as the girls fly through the Kingsman tests in a little epilogue montage and, like, two out of three of them getting the job or something.

(Harry thinks it's delightful, and fist-bumps Eggsy when Emma's knighted, much to the agony of all the other stuffed-up inbred aristocrats in Kingsman)

Have an excerpt:

“If you want us to get in your car, you’re gonna have to tell us where the hell you’re taking us.” Emma informed him with a grimace. So far, he’d been remarkably polite and respectful, but she knew full well just how quickly that could change once a bloke didn’t need to be. And sure, there were more of them than there were of him, but she couldn’t guarantee on it staying that way.

Eggsy thought about it for a moment, then nodded in a ‘that’s fair’ sort of way. “Dinner at at the Ritz.” He informed them blandly, and then grinned with mischief.

“Bullshit.” Emma snapped.

Eggsy sobered up at that, but he didn’t look angry to be called out, or even irritated. He just looked sombre. “I give you my word, that’s all. Dinner, two hours, and I’ll drop you all back here in exactly the same condition you’re in now, only better fed, and maybe a little bit tipsy. They got good wine there.” He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “And you don’t have to come. The money’s yours whether you do or don’t, but hey, when else’re you gonna get to make all the waiters at the Ritz uncomfortable as hell?”

That was tempting, Emma had to admit, but she also had her kids to think about, and if she got abducted, who the hell would look after them? “Your word?” Laura challenged, unimpressed.

“A true gentleman never breaks his word.” Eggsy replied sincerely, and it was an odd thing to hear in such a common accent, but Emma was pretty good at reading people, and she was pretty damn sure he meant it.

[brandileigh2003]

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Feel free to give me kudos or comments on AO3 too

Fandom: marauders (harry potter). Characters: remus lupin, Lily Evans. Wc: 997

CW: (+ other things that would be in tags)

talk of injuries, mental illness. Remus is trans. Post-prank. Pre-wolfstar relationship. Lily & Remus friendship

***************

“Remus?” Lily whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly. 

Remus sat up with a gasp. “Hm?”

“Why aren’t you in your room? It’s close to… Your time of the month. You have to be hurting sleeping here,” Lily sat down beside him, eyes furrowed in concern. “Were you crying, love?” 

“Um. I just. I can’t be around him,” Remus replied. He tried to ignore the crying question as well as the one about pain. Because the truth was, Remus hurt so badly. Every single joint was like it was on fire, and his stomach hurt because not only did the universe see fit to have him be turned into a werewolf before his fifth birthday, it had him born into the wrong body, and lately his period seemed to want to line up with the moons. Remus wanted to scream, or punch something. Better yet, punch Lyall. He didn’t think that Remus fully understood what it meant to take testosterone potions and permanently change his body. 

Lily’s compassionate voice broke him down and he finally told her everything about the month prior, of Sirius betraying one of his biggest secrets. He was honestly surprised that Snape hadn’t told her yet, but he supposed since the mudblood incident, she hadn’t given him the time of day. Which; good for her. He had hated seeing her in pain watching her oldest friend get in deeper with the other dark Slytherins, and although he didn’t want her to be in pain, being close to him would only get worse as the war loomed closer. 

“That’s… Oh Merlin, Remus. I am so sorry,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing his back gently.

He was crying again, and he hated himself, more than ever. He felt tired and weak, physically, mentally, emotionally. Plus  any other way that one can just feel ready to just lay down and not really care if they ever got back up. 

He wiped his face but winced at the still tender wounds on his face. Which was yet another thing that he would always have to carry from that night. The wolf was more angry than ever when he thought that he would finally have prey, not be hungry for once, and took it out more than usual on Remus. His hip still wasn’t right, and his face now was bisected with what would certainly turn into scars. 

“I was going to finally tell him, Lily. How is that for life just not letting me have anything good,” Remus finally said. Lily was one of the only people that he had confided about his feelings for Sirius. And what made it all so much worse is that Remus had been nearly certain that Sirius also had feelings for him too. But Remus should have known that he shouldn’t hope for anything. Instead of what he thought might be a new relationship, he now felt further from Sirius than ever. 

“Want to know something even more fucked up?” he continued, laughing hollowly. “I still love him. I want to forgive him. I want to run to him and throw myself in his arms. I want to write off everything that he did as pressure because of… Well. Everything with his family. You have heard enough that I am sure that you can imagine.”

“Remus, love. Nothing can excuse that betrayal. I know that things aren’t easy. And that Sirius struggles with mental health. But, he is supposed to be your best friend. His actions could have caused three deaths. Sev, James and you. Because they would either put you in a camp for dangerous creatures or execute you,” Lily said firmly but kindly. 

“I still feel guilty though. I should just let it go. It’s breaking James' heart every time he has to leave one of us to spend time with the other. Because I just can’t be around Sirius. Classes are hard enough. I go to the dorm as little as possible. I’m afraid I’ll just lose it. And any action would be something I regret. Yelling, forgiving him, kissing him. Nothing feels right. But if I just let it go back to normal, he won’t be so sad.” 

“This is about you though Remus, you can’t put everyone above yourself,” Lily said. 

“But if I don’t I will lose all three of them. James is his best friend, his brother, his soulmate, his… something. But. Eventually James will choose him. Or I will push James away so that he will be happy too. Because him and Sirius need each other. And Peter will do whatever James does.” Remus said. He had already spilled out everything else, so might as well get into his deepest fears too. 

Remus didn’t feel like arguing. “Everything hurts Lils. It all feels washed out. Dull. Food doesn’t taste good. I think I’ve forgotten how to smile. I can’t focus on homework, and I honestly don’t find myself caring either. I either can’t sleep or sleep too much. Even colors feel muted. I don’t even know how to explain it.” 

“Remus. You’re worrying me. This sounds like major depression,” Lily was playing with his fingers. 

“I’ll be okay, I promise. I am sorry, I shouldn’t be putting all of my problems on you. I was just…” Remus waved his other hand around uselessly. 

“Remus. I want you to always talk to me. I’m glad that you trust me. But. I think that you need help. Will you come and talk to Madam Pomfrey? Honestly, if you don’t, I am worried enough I will do it regardless,” Lily said, nervously. 

Remus didn’t have the strength to fight her, so just meekly followed her through the hallways and she sat with him while he tried to explain it all to the nurse. Pomfrey gave him a big hug and said that she had a few things that might help. 

Remus managed a small smile of thanks and could only hope she was right. 

**I do not agree with jkr nasty views. I love taking the characters and making them queer 🏳️‍🌈