#oliver is there but they didn't really put him in the frame so rip

[wisssp]

Whistling in the Dark

this is a Weasley twins x oc piece & if you don't like it then don't read it(:

female reader; first person pov; slow burn; smut; minors-DNI

wc: 1,523

Chapter 3

The days slowly drifted by, as the first week normally does. It also doesn't help that everyone is looking forward to the "welcome back" party being held in the Gryffindor common room tonight. The winner of the quidditch cup tends to host the next year's introduction celebration. A small tradition I'm getting to experience for the second time. I need to see what Paige has to wear because I definitely don't have anything.

Soon enough Friday's classes come to a close and I meet Paige back at our dorm. I walk in to find her scrambling through my closet. I cross my arms and laugh at her attempt to find something.

"Best of luck to you, I already knew I wouldn't have anything to wear. Quick trip to Hogsmeade?" I grab my wand and my wallet, not even waiting on her response and rip her out of our room.

~

We didn't find much of anything at the first store.

Everything was way too expensive and all of the fabrics were slightly itchy. At the second store, Paige found this beautiful floor-length lilac slip dress which was practically a second skin. It complimented her so well, yet I was simultaneously losing hope because the party was in three hours.

We walk up to the third store and it was like a light beamed down on this tiny gorgeous black whimsical halter dress. I yanked it straight off the rack and bolted to a dressing room. To my complete surprise it fit me perfectly. I showed Paige and we both jumped around, thrilled that we found dresses at the last minute. I paid for the dress and we made it back to the dorm with an hour to get ready.

Paige got ready in the bathroom while I sat on the floor in front of our tall mirror. We both did a grand reveal once every last hair was in place. She decided on an elegant fishtail braid off to the side with tiny strands framing her face and some lavender eyeshadow. She accompanied the dress with a pair of strappy silver heels that showed off her white pedicure as well as a silver clutch and my god she was an angel.

I, on the other hand, straightened my hair and put it in a slicked-back ponytail, my bangs bouncy as ever. I decided on a pair of black stilettos and a small black wristlet. We fed each other a slew of compliments, fixed our lipstick and with that, we were off.

We arrive in front of the painting of the large woman and see that Neville is manning the door.

"Well hello ladies, welcome back to Hogwarts, you two look rather lovely this evening." He stated with a bow.

"Well thank you very much, Neville, you're lookin' pretty dapper yourself." I curtsey back at him and flash him a smile. He smiles back and opens the door to our night of debauchery and chaos.

We dance our way over to the refreshment table as Dirty Laundry by Don Henley rattles our bones. I mix myself a fire whiskey and coke, down a few swigs and turn to face the party, unaware of mister Oliver Wood standing directly behind me. His eyes raked my body and a beautiful smirk appeared on his face.

"Well you sure clean up nicely, Scamanders. Honestly, wow." He glanced between Paige and I, then grabbed my hand, kissing my knuckles while maintaining eye contact. I look over his shoulder to see Fred and George in the middle of a conversation, when Oliver brings my attention back to him.

"Wanna dance?" he raises his eyebrows awaiting my answer. Feeling the few sips of my drink, I give him a nod and a small smile as we make our way to the open area that was deemed the dance floor. We start bouncing and swaying about, really enjoying ourselves. Every once in a while he'd bust out some ridiculous dance move which didn't fail to make me laugh.

After the song ended, I stepped off to the side to take a few more sips of my drink when I glance up to find George's eyes dead on me. Just as I was about to wave, I feel a hand snake around my waist.

"Please don't do that again." I hear a rasp that made my cheeks heat.

"Frederick I'm not clear as to what you're referring to." I try to spin and face him, but his arm grips me tighter.

"You don't recall? Let me refresh your memory." He whispers in my ear and guides me to the dance floor, my back pressed to his abdomen. His hands are glued to my hips as he starts grinding mine against his. I soon realize what game he's playing and now I am determined to make him regret it. I started grinding into him harder and felt his grip tighten. I swayed to the beat of the music and threw my arm back around his neck which gained me a low moan in my right ear.

"You're too hot for your own good, Lady Bird. You've got no clue what you do to me." He ran his hands up and down my sides, making me gasp. He grabs my hand and spins me around to face him, then placed one leg between mine, fitting us together like puzzle pieces while we danced. He looks down into my eyes and something in me told me he was going to kiss me, but to my dismay the song ended. For a minute there I forgot we weren't alone in this room.

"My turn! My turn!" Angelina Johnson then runs over as Fred rolls his eyes."I want a piece of whatever you've got on that dance floor." She then proceeds to ogle Fred and boost his ego further.

"Have fun, Weasley. I'm going to top off my drink anyways." I leave him to deal with the crazy and meander over to the refreshments table once again.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been? And what in the hell was that with Wood? No fraternizing with the enemy!" Paige grabs my arms and shakes me on that last note.

"Okay no more drinks for you. Wood asked me to dance so I said sure and it was fun. As for where i've been, someone got jealous and spent the last song dancing with me." I turn towards my new drink and take a sip.

"Oh which one was it this time?" She raises her eyebrows at me, practically making me choke on my drink.

"Oi, Lady Bird, thanks for leaving me with no defenses." Fred comes jogging over to us.

"Settle down, Frederick. You're a big boy." I say while pinching his cheek. Paige looks at me as her jaw drops once she connects the dots. I smile and nod at her while Fred rambles a bunch of nonsense about finding his brothers. He departs while Paige grabs my arm.

"And he's just going to act like nothing happened?" She looks after him rather puzzled.

"I guess so but honestly this is only the beginning of the party and I'm here to stop thinking, not to overthink." I send a cheers her way and down half of my drink when I see George beelining my way with a mildly annoyed look on his face. He clutches my bicep and pulls me over to the dance floor, despite my minor protests. He grabs my hand in his and places his other arm around my waist like we're about to slow dance. I hear a deep sigh escape his lips.

"Now, I've had a couple drinks but I just want you aware that you really ticked me and Fred off, yeah?" I furrow my eyebrows at his statement, a bit confused.

"You made Fred angry by being friendly with mister Wood. You pissed me off by showing off with my brother instead of me." He states matter-of-factly and then pushes me away for a spin.

"Lady bird, you're asking for trouble if you keep it up." He firmly says in my ear as I'm stunned by the feelings of desire and lust rushing through me. He spins me one last time and bows as if thanking me for the dance, then pivots on his heel and walks away.

I find Paige's eyes in the crowd, ensuring she saw everything. She stared at me with wide eyes and then I see Ron's red mop arrive next to her. She broke our eye contact and gave him all of her attention. It was in this moment that I decided to observe them. I was hoping he was going to ask her to dance but it seems like he just said a few words to her and then disappeared. She looked back at me with pink cheeks.

What is going on with them?

[valkyrie-echo]

Project Echo, Part 1: Chapter 18 (Reviving Bucky Barnes)

Part 1 Summary: A long-buried Hydra disaster, a monster in the shadows, a missing child. Eight months after the events of “The Winter Soldier”, Bucky turns himself in to the Avengers on one condition: They must help him find a girl snatched off the streets by Hydra seven years ago. In their quest, the Avengers accidentally unleash a horrifying creature of darkness and shadow, intent on making their quarry its prey.

Chapter 18: Reviving Bucky Barnes

A week passed without any sightings of the creature, and everyone was thankful for the break. Bucky started meeting with Sam regularly to talk through things and, when he still couldn't sleep for fear of the memories, Thor or Steve would go to the gym with him and practice fighting. Tony tried convincing everyone that a three-on-one fight with the Hulk would be a good idea, but no one saw how that came close to 'fun'.

Natasha and Clint weren't seen around the commons area too often- they continued to get no response from the girl. Whenever Nat entered the lobby, Bucky would excuse himself. He could tell she wasn't a fan of his- especially since JARVIS' full med scan on the girl painted a vivid picture of his handiwork. She didn't have to say anything- Bucky could see her rage in how she moved, and he made it his mission in life to avoid her. Doctor Johansson returned with a small team to begin putting the nameless child back together again and check the recovery of his other patient. He could barely make eye contact with Bucky after examining her.

One rainy afternoon, as Bucky worked on rebuilding a car engine from the 1970s, Clint came in, "How's it going?"

"New engines are more difficult to figure out than I thought. I swear there's a piece missing," Bucky was making an effort to be as amiable as he could around the team- especially Tony. Stark had cleaned out a section of his robotics lab and given Bucky access to his old junk car collection to rebuild on his own. It was Tony's original hobby- before the Iron Man obsession began, and he was happily passing it to the Winter Soldier now.

Clint looked slightly uncomfortable, "Listen, I'm sorry about all this with Nessa, I still don't think there's any reason-"

"Nessa?"

"Inessa," Clint nodded, "Nat couldn't get a name from her so we made one. It means-"

"Pure," Bucky smiled, "it's a good name for her."

Clint gestured to the door, "Can I show you something really quick? I've been having trouble with something, you might be able to help."

"Sure," Bucky pulled off his grease-stained apron and gloves, then followed Clint out to the lounge. He froze as soon as he saw where Clint was leading him.

"See," Clint snickered, "we have an overabundance of cake and gifts, and we need someone to take it off our hands."

"Surprise!" Everyone was wearing party hats and streamers were draped from the lights. All the Avengers (and their friends) were present, including Pepper (allowed back into the building that very day by Tony), Jane Foster (who Bucky only knew from a picture Thor carried around), Mariah Hill and Rhody. Bucky was overwhelmed. He hadn't even known it was his birthday. A giant "98" hung from the rafters and he silently vowed not to tell them that he hadn't even known the year before just then.

Steve came over and clapped him on the back, laughing. He pulled out a large piece of metal with a bow on it and handed it to him, "Couldn't have you finishing too early," the goddamned missing piece!

"You little-" Bucky put him in a headlock with his metal arm, "still no respect for your elders, huh?"

"Uncle, uncle!" Bucky let him go and was quickly swept up in the sea of people. He had to admit that just this once being the center of attention (for a good reason!) felt great, and he couldn't stop smiling.

"You cleaned up well," Pepper came over, smiling, and held out a hand to him. This time Bucky shook it. "Tony speaks very highly of you."

"Woah Pepp," Tony came over, "I have an image to keep up."

"Well then, Bucky, this is just from me," Pepper held up a gift bag.

Tony raised his hand, "My idea!"

Pepper rolled her eyes and prompted Bucky to open the gift. He was curious. He reached in and pulled out a silver frame. Once he realized what it was, his mouth fell open and tears filled his eyes, "Where did you find this?" he managed a whisper.

"The historical society. Steve gave me some background so I could start looking."

The frame held a photograph of his parents on their wedding day. It had been digitally cleaned-up and printed on much nicer paper, but it looked exactly like the one his mother had kept on the mantle in their apartment. He touched the picture. His family. It had been decades since they died, but how he had a piece of his past. He wiped his eyes, "Thank you."

"Happy Birthday," she gave him a hug.

"Are we doing gifts already?" Clint came over with Natasha.

She nodded her greeting, then held out a flat, wrapped package, "An olive branch."

He unwrapped the parcel and looked at it- a tablet? He'd seen the others with similar contraptions, but like Steve he mostly avoided them. Natasha hit a button on the side and video filled the screen- a live feed of Inessa, sitting in the living room of Natasha and Clint's apartment under the guard of two suits, "I turn on cartoons. No sign she's even seeing them, but maybe one day she will."

"Thank you," Bucky had been dying to know how she was doing, it drove him crazy sometimes, this was as precious a gift as Pepper's, "How is she? Have you managed to get anything from her?"

Natasha shook her head, "It would be easier if they'd tried to alter her, like what they did to you. Re-directing someone can be undone with time but you-" she corrected herself quickly, "they, they took her to a blank slate. It can take weeks or even months to make progress from there. We just have to hope whoever grows in her place resembles whoever she was."

Bucky nodded, "And no luck identifying her?"

Clint shrugged, "We can't even figure out which country to start looking in. You said she spoke English, but JARVIS' scans say she's got the nutrient and calcium levels of someone from the second or third world. She could be a missionary's kid. No one ever reported her missing- either she'll have to tell us who she is or Hydra will."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do towards that end," Bucky had tried to convince Steve and the others to let him go on a mission to Auckland after Dennisson, but instead they'd installed an electromagnet on any door or window that could open to the outside. Bucky couldn't survive a fight with Hydra without his arm, and couldn't leave the building with it. He'd finally surrendered and agreed to stay (though the magnets remained just in case).

"Can I talk to you- alone?" Natasha lightly grabbed his arm and steered Bucky away from the others towards a quiet corner. "Listen," she sighed, "I just want you to know that I'm not mad at you. You don't have to keep avoiding me, really."

Bucky shifted uncomfortably, "I know what I did, you don't have to pretend it doesn't make your skin crawl-"

"It does," Natasha admitted, "but the only difference between what's in your past and what's in mine is that I chose to kill, maim, torture- whatever was needed. The KGB ripped my soul right out of me, but I could have left before Clint found me, and I knew it. I'm paying for all that now, just like you are and will continue to do in the future. I don't blame you- I blame the people who used you... I'd like for us to be friends, if you're alright with that."

"I am," Bucky nodded.

Natasha smiled, "Now, go- get back to your party. I'm told Tony will actually attempt to light every candle on that damn cake, and it's always fun to see DUM-E roll into a room with the fire extinguisher.

Chapter 19: Thomas Dennisson