#prefect felix

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

eat your muzzle and the bastard that put it on

something something about locus and felix's dynamic and the effects it has on them and the way the markings on their helmets line up idk man i noticed Locus' helmet had a shape in the jawline that looked like a proper jawbone and my brain hasn't let go of it since

+ the Just Locus version bc i do like how it came out

please do not tag as lolix this is not shipping them its just playing w their fucked up dynamic tyty

[ask-felix-aberg]

[Left alone in the dormitory, Felix begins to feel bored until he notices a certain book that a particular Slytherin prefect has left for him. "Romance 101". Felix decides to stretch his legs while flipping through the book, engrossed in its pages, chuckling to himself.]

[yerimacoustic]

𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 ♡ 𝙨. 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙨 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

summary: you, the head girl of the ravenclaw house, realize you might have bitten off more than you can chew when you take part in a risky challenge with your arch nemesis, seungcheol. 📚🧺🥀

content warnings: academic rivals to implied lovers, hogwarts!au, gryffindor!s.coups and ravenclaw!reader, you’re both head boy and head girl of your houses, banter, banter and more banter (i did my best with it okay), light swearing, kissing, not proofread (sorry besties) 9.8k wc.

note: this took me wayyyy too long but i’m cooking another idea for a fic for a certain seventeen member, so i’m trying to get back into the swing of things <3

“doesn’t it look beautiful?” professor slughorn gazed at the tiny vial resting on his desk, just barely out of reach from the rest of the students. although you had an inkling of what the contents in the bottle really were, you felt just as confused as the rest of your peers.

your best friend, irene was the first to speak up, “professor, what exactly is it?” 

“thank you for asking. what you see before you is a curious little potion known as felix felicis. otherwise known as-“ 

“liquid luck,” you chimed in with a voice behind you just barely beating you to the punch. you knew who it was without turning your head back: choi seungcheol. typical. he was always trying to outshine you. 

ever since the two of you had been selected as prefects for your houses, gryffindor and ravenclaw, he seemed hellbent on making your life miserable. you two seemed to constantly be competing. whether it was for the house cup, who would be the top of the class, even who managed to get their students into bed with all the lights out first. it only got worse when the two of you were selected to be in the slug club, seeing a lot more of each other as a result. 

unfortunately, slughorn seemed to catch onto your rivalry rather quickly and while he never acknowledged it out loud, there were several instances where he seemed to be fanning the fire.

“yes, that is correct, y/n and seungcheol. liquid luck.” professor slughorn lifted the glass from desk, holding it on display for everyone to see more clearly. “desperately tricky to make, disastrous if you get it wrong. however.. one sip and you will find that all of your endeavors will succeed. well.. until the effects wear off.”

you tilted your chin up while trying to hide a mischievous grin from your classmates. you pondered everything you could achieve from one mere sip of the rare potion- you could pass all of your exams with flying colors, you could finish all of your projects in record time.. the possibilities were endless! 

unfortunately, you weren’t the only one chasing good fortunes. seungcheol knew if he led the gryffindor’s team to another consecutive victory, he would be a shoe-in for the holyhead harpies. after all, what was more impressive than leading your time to a winning season four years in a row? he could picture professor dumbledore handing him the house cup clear as day- surely his career in quidditch would only skyrocket from there. 

just as both of you pondered how you would be able to get your hands on such a remarkable potion, slughorn clapped his hands, “now, usually every student in my class gets the opportunity to compete for the potion. this year we are doing things a little differently: the two students with the highest grade point averages are competing against each other!”

oh no. 

you didn’t doubt for a second that you were one of the students in the running; a large folder dedicated to very successful report cards gave you more than enough confidence in your chances. but you didn’t like considering the odds of who your opponent could be: irene, your best friend. jihyo, another member of the quidditch team who had a secret affinity for brewing potions. or.. seungcheol. but what was there to be said about him that hadn’t been said already?

slughorn made a rather dramatic show of reaching into his drawer to grab the grade sheets. you held your breath as you watched the professor reposition his glasses and examine the parchment with furrowed eyebrows. he cleared his throat, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he gazed towards the class, “the two students with the highest scores are…”

now the entire class seemed to be holding their breath. comically, mina and sana leaned in close while waiting for slughorn’s revelation. your gaze shifted unwillingly towards seungcheol, who winked at you. you replied by scowling and looking away with a huff. if merlin was on your side at all, if he really did have a hand in all of your dealings with other witches and wizards, he would let anyone besides choi seungcheol be your contender. 

“seungcheol and y/n, respectively!” slughorn announced cheerfully, setting the parchment on his desk in favor of leading the rest of the class in applause. 

respectively? 

seungcheol scored higher than you? how was that even possible? 

“what?” you scoffed, furrowing your eyebrows. 

“don’t act so surprised, y/n.” seungcheol smirked in your direction, his chest puffing out as he threw his shoulders back. “you’re not the only one in this school working your ass off.”

“but i am the only one who’s finally going to knock you off your high horse,” you retorted.

“i feel the need to remind you both-” slughorn interjected, sending something between a glare and a look of concern in your direction. his tone wasn’t scolding, much to your own surprise. “to keep things civil. if you cannot abide by my classroom’s policies during this.. impromptu competition, then i will have no choice but to eliminate you both and revert back to my old customs.”

you parted your lips but seungcheol was quick to interject and smooth-talk the professor (as he always seemed to have a talent for doing), “you have nothing to worry about, professor. i don’t mind a little competition.” suddenly he looked towards you with a shit eating grin. “especially not when it's so damn cute.” 

and there it was- that furious, fiery sensation in your cheeks. you weren’t sure if it occurred out of genuine flattery, embarrassment or.. pure rage. you wouldn’t have been surprised if steam fell out of your ears in that moment- you were in pure shock and disbelief that he would say something like that in front of everyone. of course, you were also shaming yourself for being so surprised; it was seungcheol, after all. 

the professor ignored the catty whistles and cheers in the classroom with a wave of his hand, “very well. the two of you will brew a draught of the living dead. the first one to create the acceptable potion wins. and there will be no backseat brewing from the rest of the class; you are to take notes on both students’ techniques, is that understood?”

silence passed through the classroom, a few students nodding their heads in response before slowly making their way to the back of the class. “good. seungcheol, y/n, i will give you a few minutes to get your ingredients. good luck to the both of you.”

you, of course, were searching through your textbook for the recipe before slughorn had even extended his best wishes. irene, luckily, had stayed by your side to provide you some much needed moral support. of course, you barely noticed; your nose stuck so far in your textbook you couldn’t see past the faded words. this is what you get for buying it secondhand. 

“you’re gonna do great, y/n,” irene reassured you. “seungcheol doesn’t know the first thing about potions. you’ve got this.”

you chuckled bitterly. “obviously that’s not true. he’s top of the class.”

“she’s got a point there,” seungcheol chimed in, smirking. “don’t worry, y/n, i’m sure there’s plenty of positions in the ministry of magic for people who aren’t proficient in potion brewing. like.. secretaries or scribes; you know, record keepers.”

his words prompted you to slam your book shut, keeping your thumb between the pages so you wouldn’t lose your spot. you looked past your shoulder, keeping your tone hushed so slughorn couldn’t hear the two of you bickering. “need i remind you that i’m the second ranking student in this class for a reason. all it’s going to take for me to rise above the ranks is to beat you at this stupid little competition.

“and by the way, i’m more than proficient at potion brewing.”

“says the one who mixed up dittany and wolfsbane two weeks ago,” seungcheol retorted. 

“it was a simple mistake! anyone could have made it,” you argued.

much to your dismay, seungcheol’s best friend sangyeon felt the need to chime in with a smirk, “why don’t we raise the stakes a little bit?”

“what do you mean?” irene asked, cocking a brow.

“it’s felix felicis we’re competing for. the stakes have never been higher,” you deadpanned.

“i mean- you two obviously have some arguments and disputes you need to resolve. maybe this competition could be a good chance for the two of you to humble each other.”

you tilted your head, part of you in disbelief that you were actually entertaining his words and another part of you believing that he actually made a fair argument. suddenly, a smirk etched at your lips as you began to calculate.. “alright. if i win, which i will, you have to act as my personal assistant for a month.”

seungcheol barked out a laugh, his eyes going wide in amusement, “personal assistant? for a month? what are you getting at?”

“you heard me,” you retorted. “you have to walk me to my class, carry around my books for me, and help me with all of my homeworks, meetings, and schedules.”

“seems a bit outlandish, but alright,” seungcheol snickered. “alright. if i win, which i will…” he paused. “you have to go to the yule ball with me.”

“what?!”

“you heard me,” seungcheol repeated after you, even going so far as to mimic your smirk. “you have to go to the yule ball with me. we have to wear coordinating outfits, we have to dance together, and take plenty of pictures. and you cannot try to sabotage our last ball at hogwarts.”

you scoffed, “there is no way i’m agreeing to that. not even in your wildest dreams.”

“fine, then you can forget all about your precious personal assistant.” 

you huffed. you would love nothing more than the chance to publicly humiliate seungcheol, to get him back for all the times that he had embarrassed you. the devious bastard needed some humbling. but.. what if things took a turn for the worst and he won? he was top of the class for a reason, and the universe seemed to have the cards stacked against you. was it really worth it, adding a bet onto a competition that had high stakes to begin with?

irene sent a knowing smirk in your direction just as you got to your feet, “give me a second to think about it.”

you grabbed irene’s hand, rushing to the supply shelves where the ingredients you had been neglecting were waiting. asphodel, wormwood, valerian root.. as you began to gather everything you needed in one hand, you turned to your best friend with a groan of annoyance, “can you believe that man? he’s incorrigible! insufferable!”

“yes, but who knows? he might end up surprising you and you could have a great time at the dance together,” she peered through the recipe in her own textbook, helping you gather the rest of the roots and broths. 

you snickered, “seungcheol? surprise me? i highly doubt that.”

she shook her head and took a much calmer approach, looking through the shelves and graciously handing you a fair amount of the ingredients that you weren’t able to find. “you deserve a night off, y/n. you’ve been focusing too much on your studies your entire time at hogwarts. you’ve barely had any time for extracurricular activities besides the slug club. just do this one thing and if it goes horribly.. then.. we’ll grab some of those prank snacks from zonko’s and ruin his life until the school year ends.”

you tilted your head in contemplation, “i would like to see his face covered in boils.. fine. but all this bet does is give me more incentive to win this competition. i will not be caught dead dancing with seungcheol.” 

“we’ll see about that,” seungcheol called to you from across the room. 

god, you couldn’t wait to wipe that insufferable smirk off his face. 

once slughorn had reset his rather eccentric hourglass to time the two of you and the rest of the class scooted to the back of the room, everything else seemed to disappear around you. you focused only on the recipe, measuring the broth without letting so much as an extra drop fall into your cauldron. 

then it was time for the sopophorous bean. you tried to cut it in half, as per the instructions, but it actually bounced out of your reach. you tried it again, but it yielded the same results. and then the third time, seungcheol had to duck his head to dodge it once it was sent flying across the room. what in the world? 

you refused to ask for slughorn’s help. you were the second highest ranking student in the class for a reason, after all. you’d gotten this far without asking him or snape any stupid questions. after reading over the instructions again, a particular passage stood out to you: you only needed the juices from the bean. 

exercising great caution and timidity, you attempted to crush the bean with the blade of your knife instead. and much to your pleasant surprise, it worked. the bean didn’t budge. you looked over to seungcheol as you began to pour the juices into your cauldron, immediately furrowing your eyebrows, “how are you already two steps ahead of me??” 

the man looked up and continued to stir the broth clockwise, per the directions. it didn’t stop him from sending an arrogant smirk your way; you had to hand it to him, he was a great multitasker. “a magician never reveals his secrets. especially to the competition.”

you huffed; you didn’t need his help anyways. as you started to crush the thick root into a powder, you could have sworn you heard the clock from across the hallway ticking. uncomfortable silence rang through the air, save a few quiet mutters from fellow students and the boiling from the cauldrons. 

meanwhile, slughorn paced back and forth with his hands intertwined behind his back, studying the two of you carefully. there was a hopeful glint in his eyes, as if he wanted the both of you to succeed. between you and seungcheol, he couldn’t decide who his favorite student was. something told you that the results of this competition would finally give him his answer…

as you tossed the powder into the broth, a thick cloud of black smoke materialized in front of you, covering your face in the powder. the powder had shot straight out of the cauldron, as if rejected by the broth. your hand flew to your mouth as you fell into a fit of loud coughs, which unfortunately were not loud enough to muffle the sounds of your fellow students’ laughs.

just as you regained enough composure to wipe some of the soot out of your eyes, you were greeted by the sight of seungcheol trying to hide a snicker while stirring the broth in the other direction. shit. he was already on the last step. he chortled once he took notice of your scowl, shaking his head, “it’s honestly a shame. i thought you were better at following instructions.”

“i’m doing exactly what the book says! you obviously have some sort of cheat sheet.” 

seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows in mock offense, holding up his textbook with his free hand. “hmm.. that’s curious because it looks like we have the same one. maybe you’ve just lost your touch.” before you could offer a rebuttal, however, seungcheol set the ladle down and waved towards your professor. oh no, oh no.. 

“ah, seungcheol! finished already?” you watched in horror as slughorn strode towards your opponent’s cauldron, fishing a leaf out of his pocket. “well, uh, here we are. moment of truth,” he snickered, holding his breath as his hand hovered over the cauldron. you looked back towards irene, who was watching everything play out in front of her with the smallest frown. 

and just like that, the tightening sensation in your chest loomed, causing you to clutch at the collar of your shirt. you couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of the scene playing out in front of you, and of course, the dreaded feeling that your life was over simply because the tiny leaf dissolved into the broth. his broth. you had lost to seungcheol, your rival, your mortal enemy, once again. 

“merlin’s beard! it’s perfect!” once again, slughorn slowly began to clap his hands and lead the rest of the classroom in a rather loud chorus of applause. the only reason you joined in was because you were in plain view of slughorn and you didn’t want to risk appearing petty in front of him; however, you made no attempts to rid the look of disappointment on your features. 

you were so wrapped up in your dark blanket of self pity that you barely even noticed the older man pick the vial up from his desk and hand it to seungcheol. the look of pride on your professor’s face was too much for you to handle, seeing as how you felt it was entirely misplaced. it should have been you who won. you knew that textbook backwards and forwards, you took extra notes in class every single day, studying was your favorite pastime.. how in the hell did he win? 

“now, as promised, one tiny vial of felix felicis. use it well.” as the classroom erupted into thunderous applause and cheers, you vowed to yourself that you would find out exactly how he cheated.

—-------------------------

you could barely speak to anyone after admitting defeat the day before, including irene, fearing that they would bring up your epic failure. endless hours in the library were not unfamiliar to you; in fact, you considered it like your home away from the ravenclaw dormitory. luckily, your extra time alone did not meddle with your duties as ravenclaw prefect. not that it mattered; when news of your failure traveled amongst the rest of the house, you could have sworn they stopped taking you seriously. 

granted, it had barely been twenty four hours, but still. 

you were brushing up on some light reading, lost in theories of dragon and centaur evolutions when you heard a pile of books slam next to yours on the table. it echoed through the library, causing several nearby bystanders to lift their heads up with matching scowls. when you snapped your head to the left in order to get a better look at the culprit, you instinctively rolled your eyes.

“what? i thought you would be a little happier to see a champion,” seungcheol chuckled in a hushed tone, taking the seat next to you. “oh, and your date to the yule ball.”

“can you keep your voice down? i don’t want anyone to hear i’m going with you of all people.”

seungcheol dramatically pressed a hand to his chest, “oh. that cuts deep, y/n. but i’m afraid people are going to find out eventually. you know, during the prefects’ dance, for example.”

“what?!” you exclaimed, only to be rudely shushed by several of the library attendees. taking a few precautionary looks over your shoulder, you whispered, “you never said anything about a prefects’ dance.”

“that was because i thought you already knew,” seuncheol replied conceitedly. “unless.. oh.. you weren’t planning on going to the yule ball at all, were you?”   

you tilted your head, “i know exactly what you’re implying..”

“implying? i’m not implying any-”

“and i could easily have gotten another date to the ball if it weren’t for you,” you lied. unless you had some sort of secret admirer, you knew there wasn’t a chance in hell that you would have been asked to the ball. you were planning on using the extra alone time in the ravenclaw common room to your advantage anyways; there was much more space in there for studying. “i just don’t have any time for such trivial pursuits.”

“i wouldn’t call social interaction or international magical cooperation trivial pursuits,” seungcheol retorted.  

you slammed your book shut and tossed it into your book bag. “was there a reason you decided to come in here and bother me? besides attempting to get me kicked out of the library?”

“ohh, right,” seungcheol whispered with a mischievous grin. “i forgot to mention one other thing. as prefects, we’re supposed to help plan the event. decorate the great hall, hire the musicians, the works.”

if you didn’t respect the sacred space of the library, you would have screamed your protests at him. of course he planned this out to the number. he didn’t have a partner to assist him in his party planning tasks and he needed another chance to publicly humiliate you. so in order to kill two birds with one stone, he asked you to be his date. since you were a prefect, now that your attendance was confirmed, you had no other choice but to participate in the planning. 

“you slippery snake,” you hissed.

“oh? look what we have here, the high and mighty y/n l/n, picking and choosing which responsibilities she gets to take seriously.” 

“this is a new low, even for you. i can’t believe you would trick me into doing your stupid party planning for you.”

he chuckled, “oh no, no, no. i’m not making you do all of it for me, you have my word. i’ll be with you every step of the way.” you cringed; for some reason, that sounded worse than leaving you to do his chores for him. “now we better get a move on, darling, or we’ll be late.”

seungcheol led you eagerly to the great hall where yeji and seungkwan were waiting. the two of them were head girl and boy of the slytherin and hufflepuff houses, respectively, and had already begun preparations for the ball. when you took note of how eager seungkwan was to take leadership and oversee all of the preparations, you began to wonder why he wasn’t sorted into the gryffindor house. 

of course, yeji knew that he was simply a placeholder until the real self proclaimed leader would show his face. you witnessed a complete shift in her demeanor in real time, an annoyed frown shifting into an inviting smirk the moment she saw the two of you walk to the hufflepuff table. “ah, there you are, cheol. i was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up.”

“i don’t take my position as head boy lightly, unlike some people,” he tilted his head towards you, earning a dirty look. yeji simply held an amused smirk as her gaze shifted from seungcheol to you, a knowing look in her eyes.

seungkwan, however, looked like he had seen a ghost. or a hologram. to be honest, anything else was more believable than you being willing to have anything to do with the yule ball. “y/n! i thought you weren’t coming.”

“i thought so too,” you sighed. “but-”

“she changed her mind,” seungcheol cut in with the shameless lie, much to your surprise. “we both thought it would be a good idea if a head boy and a head girl went to the ball together. especially since its our last year at hogwarts and we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.”

yeji made no attempt to disguise her confusion- seungcheol could easily get any other girl to go to the ball with him. so why would he ask you? and why would you say yes? the two of you had a very public and long lasting rivalry; it seemed odd that the two of you were able to make amends so quickly. “seems like the two of you finally made up,” she cooed, folding her arms across her chest.   

“yeah, for the most part,” seungkwan laughed, pointing out the look of annoyance etched across your features. 

seungcheol barked out a laugh, “we’re both more than capable of keeping things civil. we figured that out for ourselves just the other day, didn’t we, darling?”

it took a great deal of willpower for you to hold back a groan of annoyance. “we’re wasting time. we should probably get started on the decorating now.”

“right,” seungkwan snickered, gesturing to several large boxes cluttering and even surrounding the table. “filch brought everything from the dungeon up here. personally, i think that we should go for a winter wonderland theme. white, grays, light blues..”

“sounds good.” yeji was quick to agree. you would have been surprised, but something told you that she was only agreeing with him so this meeting would go by much quicker. not that you blamed her..

“i agree,” seungcheol chimed in. “yeji and seungkwan, why don’t you work on fixing up the right side of the hall. we’ll focus on the left.”

as the two of them nodded and followed seungcheol’s direction, you could hear seungkwan immediately lecturing yeji on how to carry out his vision with precision and intent. meanwhile, the young man at your side smirked with infuriating amusement as he studied you carefully. as a response you turned towards him with a huff, “let’s just get this over with.”

he chuckled, “i admire your enthusiasm. we’ll need it, considering the ball’s less than a week away.”

great. more good news. 

—--------------------

as preparations for the yule ball were under wing, you actually found yourself horrifically overwhelmed for the first time during your attendance at hogwarts. if you weren’t studying, you were figuring out with the others which bands would play at the ball. if you weren’t monitoring the common room with the other prefects, you were organizing the tables, chairs, and centerpieces. and if you weren’t with irene, the only other person who seemed to bring you a sense of comfort during a time when your anxiety was at its peak, you were with seungcheol, who seemed to gift your anxiety to you.

this stupid ball was taking over your entire life. even with a total of twenty four students carefully planning the evening, it seemed to take an eternity for all of you to come to any semblance of an agreement. day by day you were filled with endless disappointment and dread. worst of all, you couldn’t figure out how you ended up in this situation; there seemed to be no explanation as to how seungcheol went about cheating in your little showdown. you learned that slughorn cast a protection spell against cheating in his classroom, so he couldn’t have muttered anything under his breath. he couldn’t have tampered with your spellbook; the recipe in yours was the same as irene’s. 

through all of the formulas, the lectures on runes and the arguments with seungkwan and yeji about tacky balloons and garlands, the one question that bothered you the most was how in the hell gryffindor’s beloved, corrupt champion managed to cheat. it plagued your mind even as you and seungcheol began to set up one of the three giant, towering christmas trees in the great hall. 

“don’t you love this time of year?” he asked, startling you out of your daze.

you furrowed your eyebrows, finding his attempts at making friendly conversation rather pathetic. you shrugged. “i guess.”

“it’s usually not my favorite, since it can be a pain in the ass to fly a broom around in this type of weather,” he chuckled, gently waving his wand to direct silver ornaments onto the tree. “but i don’t know. something about this year feels special.”

you paused your own enchantments in contemplation, letting a tiny string of garland settle comfortably against the pine tree’s branches. you were using the same spell as seungcheol, hoping to finish the decorations as quickly as possible to put this long day to an end. “maybe this being our last year in the castle has something to do with it?” 

although your statement came out sounding much more sarcastic than you intended, your words came from a place of genuine belief. until that moment, it felt like you had been in denial that you were about to leave the castle forever. go into the real world. 

seungcheol seemed pleasantly surprised that you were making conversation with him, even if your response was somewhat harsh. he chuckled, “i guess so. but.. i don’t know. something’s different. in a good way.” 

“hopefully you figure out what it is before the school year ends,” you chuckled. 

seungcheol only nodded before lifting the last few ornaments onto his side of the tree with a mere wave of his wand and then the two of you stepped back to admire your work. it looked beautiful, the silver and dark blue ornaments glowing in the candlelight. but you knew it would look even better on the night of the ball; seungkwan would be casting an enchantment to make the entire hall look like a real winter wonderland. “i think we’re at a good enough place to call it a day, don’t you?”

you sighed in relief and threw your book bag over your shoulder. “thank god.”

he called to you before you could turn your back on him, “hey, wait a minute-”

you sighed and reluctantly turned around to face him, tilting your head to the side. “what?”

something strange happened to seungcheol. for the tiniest moment, a mere millisecond, if anything, he appeared flustered. at a loss for words, as if he was surprised that you were giving him the time of day. “shouldn’t we go shopping for some dress robes together?”

you made no attempt to disguise your annoyance, clenching your jaw. “what, so you can pick out one of those horrendous, poofy dresses that makes me look like a pastry? i think i’ll go by myself, thanks.”

he laughed, waving his hand dismissively. “no, trust me. i wouldn’t do that to anyone, not even you.”

“even so, i don’t feel like going dress shopping with you.”

“and why’s that?” he raised an eyebrow inquisitively. something about that.. punchable look on his face served as a reminder that you really had no reason to decline his invitation. by some miracle, the two of you had been able to keep it civil for this long. plus, if the two of you had to coordinate outfits (as per seungcheol’s terms and conditions), it would be much easier to do that in person. 

with all of those sentiments in mind, you sighed in defeat. “fine. let me grab my robes.”

the two of you threw your large, black cloaks over your figures before stepping outside in the real winter wonderland. they did nothing to keep the chilling winds from nipping at your noses and causing the tips of your fingers to freeze. pushing past the flurries of snow and following the magically shoveled pathway, the two of you made your way to the nearest costume parlor. 

the moment you stepped inside with your sworn enemy, the reality of the situation hit you. any other girl who was ‘lucky’ enough to be invited to the ball by him would have loved the experience of shopping for coordinating outfits with him. more notably, if you were invited by someone, anyone else, you most likely would have been trying to tone down your excitement. 

and yet here you were, staring at the rows and piles of dresses, tunics, and cloaks in dread. of course, he seemed to notice it, moving a hand to pat your back with a stupid grin. “so.. what’s your favorite color?”

you held yourself back from letting out a huff of annoyance, “green.”

“green..” he cupped his chin with his thumb and index finger, acting as if he was in an state of contemplation. “well, i suppose it's not really in season, but we can make it work. follow me.”

your eyes almost rolled to the back of your head as he grabbed onto your hand, dragging you to a row of dresses. it was oddly satisfying, the way the dresses were arranged in a pattern that made the fabrics seemed to fade from key lime to emerald. and they had a lot of options, the rack suffering from the impact of the hangers. 

you would have expected nothing less from seungcheol if not to display the first dress with the ugliest shade of asparagus green splashed upon the fabrics. “i think this would look gorgeous on you,” he whispered to you in a sentimental tone, his shit eating smirk giving his true intentions away.

“i’m not wearing that, its ghastly.” you snatched the dress from him, putting it back in its assigned place on the rack. “shouldn’t we focus on darker colors, anyways? since those are what’s ‘in season?’” you made sure to add air quotes when using his words, a smug smirk of your own tugging at your lips.

seungcheol’s smile seemed to be one laced with pride, as if he was pleased to see you catching onto his behaviors and mirroring them. “i like where your head’s at. come along...” 

you let him grab your hand again before leading you to a nearby aisle, where dresses with much darker shades of blue and green were stuffed haphazardly onto the racks and shelves surrounding you. “see, this is what i meant when i said i liked green,” you told him as-a-matter-of-factly as you held up a long, modest emerald green dress with gauntlet sleeves that would hook over your middle fingers. 

he stretched out his hand to brush along the skirts of your personal favorite selection, tilting his head as if he was carefully studying the fabric. his gaze shifted from the elegant dress to you, as if he was imagining you in it. “i think i should let you pick the outfits from here on out. you’ve got an eye for color theory.”

you folded the dress over your arm with a dry chuckle, “you should have learned that during our committee meetings together. who was it who organized all of the centerpieces?”

“right. i never got to tell you about how well they match the tablecloths.”

“because someone wishes they had half the natural talent for interior design that i possess.” you imitated his trademarked smirk to the best of your ability, tilting your head to the side once it appeared as if the man in front of you was at a loss for words. “we’re going with this one.”

“don’t let it go to your head just yet. we’ve still got to find something for me to wear.”

“and i have just the thing.” this time it was your turn to grab onto his hand, pulling him towards the men’s section. your eyes scanned through the shelves in front of you until they landed on the ugliest thing you could find in that shop: a large, fluffy collar that was adorned by feathers and a large broach in the middle. “i think it matches your eyes perfectly.”

“you cannot be serious,” he deadpanned.

“hey, you were the one that said i’m picking the outfits from here on out. i think wearing it is the very least you could do, all things considered.” you couldn’t disguise the broadening smirk making its way upon your lips even if you wanted to. the look of disgust upon his features was just too good not to revel in. “what’s the matter, you don’t like it?”

he tilted his head up, pressing his lips to a thin line in a vain attempt to smile, “yeah. sure. it looks very eccentric. i think i’ve got just the cloak to match it.”

your eyes widened in a rather successful attempt to patronize the man in front of you. “do you really? i guess fate really does exist.” you stepped closer to fold the collar around his neck, admiring the look of disdain on his face as he made no effort to pull the hideous thing off of him. “see? i think it suits you so well. you could comb your hair back a little bit..” 

as if you completely forgot who you were talking to, you lifted your hand up to tuck a few strands of his hair behind his ear. seungcheol’s expression of disdain faded at the contact, a puzzled look quickly taking its place instead. your newfound proximity seemed to almost startle him, prompting you to take a step away from him and clear your throat. “let’s get out of here.”

“huh?” 

you shook your head, “we’ve got studying to do. i’m running behind thanks to this stupid ball.”

“you’ll get back on your feet, love,” he countered in a reassuring tone. “you always were an overachiever.” 

his words seemed to echo through your mind even as he walked with you up to the register and graciously paid for your dress without a second thought. you could barely even protest, still feeling rather puzzled. even if it wasn’t customary for a man to pay for his date’s dress, you could let it slide just this once. heaven knew he had the money for it. 

besides, it was the very least he could do, all things considered.     

—---------------

the night of the ball finally arrived. irene graciously allowed you to borrow some extra hairpins she had, tiny snowflakes encrusted with shining diamonds. they shone like tiny stars in the candlelight, only accentuating the emerald fabrics pooled around your figure. 

even so, you felt like a fish out of water among your peers who were dressed to the nines in silvers and deep blues.. you alway thought that beauty seemed to come so naturally to all of them. but not to you. never to you. even now, standing in front of the mirror, caked in makeup, hairspray and a dress you wouldn’t have been caught dead in any other day.. you didn’t feel special. 

irene seemed to sense your distress, just as she always did. it prompted you to wonder if your best friend had some sort of intuition, or if you were just terrible at hiding your emotions. as she stepped by your side and gazed at your reflection in the mirror, draping her arm around your waist, your frown only grew more prominent. she was by far the most beautiful girl in the common room. while you tried not to envy your best friend or place any blame on her, it was difficult putting those sentiments into practice when you got a full look of her light blue dress and gorgeous icy features.

you bowed your head with a sigh. as her eyes followed your gaze in the mirror, she lifted a hand to cup your chin so you would look in the reflective glass again. “chin up. you look beautiful.”

“i don’t feel beautiful.” you sighed, gazing at your reflections with a forlorn sigh. you wondered how she couldn’t see the stark difference between the two of you. 

she moved a hand to brush some hair out of your eyes, offering you a gentle smile. “i promise you- you look absolutely gorgeous. you’ll be the belle of the ball, i’m sure.”

the two of you chuckled as she linked her arms around your waist, smiling at the sight of your reflection. at the sight of a tiny, somewhat reluctant smile slowly starting to surface. “let’s just hope midnight approaches quickly.”

she only chuckled and held on tightly to your hand as she slowly led you out of the dressing room and down the stairs. you could hear the gentle, slow jazz band that yeji and seungkwan had argued about for days beginning to play. their music grew louder and louder with every step down the stairs you took, but the wild heartbeat in your chest seemed to clash terribly with the rhythm of the instruments. it all felt so.. unconventional. and yet, you couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason as to why you were so nervous. 

irene’s date, kai was waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase. you noticed the change in his demeanor in real time, noting how his previously dull eyes widened the moment he saw her making her way towards him. strangely enough, a pang of jealousy surfaced in your chest once she left your side and you immediately missed her warmth. your hand felt empty and cold as she waved goodbye and mouthed a ‘good luck’ to you before joining kai in the great hall.

seungcheol was nowhere to be found near the base of the staircase. before you could assume the worst about him (and mentally kick yourself for ever giving your sworn enemy the benefit of the doubt), you tried to remain neutral as you walked in the great hall alone. 

your eyes widened as you took note of your surroundings- it went without saying that seungkwan had mastered the winter wonderland enchantment. fake snow fell from the star studded ceiling, disappearing before it could fall on any of the students. it fell upon the branches of the large christmas trees and stuck to the walls, icicles hung from the pillars, snowflakes shone in the candlelight and yet there wasn’t even the slightest chill in the air.

there was a large circle around an empty space in the hallway, which you assumed was the dance floor. there was no doubt in your mind that the prefects’ dance would be starting soon, which was why panic began to set in once your eyes scanned through the crowds of students surrounding you. your date was nowhere to be found. of course he had stood you up. you wouldn’t have put it past him to leave you stranded near the dance floor, looking like an idiot. 

just as you turned on your heel, planning to make a quick getaway before anyone could notice you standing there awkwardly, your body went stiff as you bumped into a man standing directly behind you. the first thing you noticed was the familiar broach surrounded by small, white feathers.. “wow, you actually came,” you muttered.

“i could say the same about you.” tonight, there was something almost..endearing about his smirk. maybe it was because he had taken your advice and combed some of his hair back. maybe because his tone lacked that familiar condescending air. or maybe because.. the twinkling lights suspended in the air made his dark eyes shine brighter than usual. “we better get a move on, darling, the others don’t like to be kept waiting.”

just as you nodded, you felt him rest a hand over your arm in favor of leading you through the crowd of students and onto the empty part of the floor. yeji and seungkwan were the first of the twenty two other prefects that you noticed, paired with taeyong and nayeon, respectively. it felt like the rest of them were just waiting for the two of you, watching you and seungcheol walk towards the center of the hall like merlin and guendoloena themselves had graced the student body with their presence. It was horrifying. 

obviously, you’d forgotten to make an efforts to disguise your embarrassment because when seungcheol faced you, he frowned. surprise washed over your features; you thought he would make fun of you or gloat but there seemed to be the smallest hint of sympathy in his eyes. it was almost.. off putting. like he was hiding something. “what’s the matter?” he finally asked.

“nothing.” you were quick to whisper to him. 

“hey-” just as seungcheol curled an arm around your waist to reel you in closer to him, his tone grew hushed. “you don’t have to be nervous. just follow my lead.”

“i’m not-” once you quickly came to the realization that this was neither the time nor the place to argue, you swallowed your pride and timidly draped your arm around his broad shoulders. once his hand was laced with yours, you realized this was the closest you’ve ever been to him, your chests nearly touching, and you weren’t even repulsed by him. in fact, you made eye contact with him for much longer than you ever thought you were capable. “thanks.”

seungcheol nodded in acknowledgement as the band in the corner of the room began to play a beautiful, soothing waltz. he took the lead, starting out with a basic box step waltz and waiting until you got a hang of the pattern before starting to turn counter clockwise like the rest of the couples. he kept a firm but gentle hold on your waist, his hand squeezing yours in reassurance as you found yourself scooting closer to him. “see? as always, you’re learning quickly.”

you hated to admit it, but such an unexpected compliment from seungcheol, of all people, prompted your heart to skip a beat. you pushed the unfamiliar sensation away to the best of your ability. “and you’re a pretty decent teacher. who would’ve thought?” you chuckled.

“well.. maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions.” he chuckled, affection laced within the quiet laugh. “i will say, though, i expected you to step on my toes at least once or twice.”

“there’s still plenty of time for that,” you mused, a smirk tugging at your lips as your gaze flicked down to your feet. he must have purchased brand new dress shoes for the occasion; the patent leather shone almost like a diamond in the limelight. for some reason, you didn’t want to risk scuffing them.

“i suppose,” he shrugged before looking just past your shoulder in quiet contemplation. he wasn’t fixed on any certain point behind you, but his eyebrows were furrowed as if he was studying the fabric of your sleeves carefully before meeting your eyes again. “but would it be so terrible if we got along? just this once?” 

the shift in his demeanor brought a small sense of uneasiness to your chest until he spoke again. hoping to ease the tension growing in your heart, you snickered, “why? you don’t want me to ruin your brand new shoes?”

he hated how your words brought a tenacious grin to his lips, one that he couldn’t get rid of even if he wanted to. and you hated how you found it so endearing, especially when your eyes fixed on the dimples in his cheeks that you never seemed to notice until now. “something like that.” he muttered.

as if he couldn’t get through the dance without embarrassing you just one time, he pulled back from your embrace to spin you under his arm. after you completed the circle he kept both hands on your back, leading you into a less than graceful dip. you stumbled a tiny bit in his tight and affirming grip and held onto his upper arm for that much needed security. before you could bring yourself to curse him out, you let your eyes find his. instead of that infuriating look he had when he knew he’d successfully gotten under your skin, there was a certain warmth hidden in his irises. 

it was confusing.. almost more infuriating. especially considering the heat that rose upon your cheeks when you’d gazed upon his features long enough. 

and then he carefully pulled you back into a standing position and the fuzzy feeling in your head was gone. for the time being, at least. you had kept your arm draped around his broad shoulders, expecting the music to continue. but the students in the crowd began to clap as the rest of the prefects broke away from their partners and you suddenly felt like you’d been in the embrace for much too long. maybe you were overthinking it, maybe you weren’t. 

you let both arms fall by your sides as you took a single step backwards. your date could only chuckle in amusement, “glad that we finally got that over with?” he waved a hand dismissively just as you parted your lips to defend yourself. “come on. i think we could both use a drink.”

much to your own surprise, you let him take your hand in his and lead you to the refreshment table. seungkwan and nayeon beat you to the punch (both literally and figuratively, as seungkwan was already pouring a glass for the two of them), the lovely couple beaming the moment they saw you from across the table. 

“oh, hey guys!” seungkwan was the first to greet the two of you with a large smile. “you guys looked really good out on the dance floor. for a second, i was worried you were gonna steal all the attention away from me and nayeon.”

nayeon laughed before you could even conjure a witty response, “oh seungkwan. it's their last year here, i think they should enjoy their time in the spotlight while they still can.”

thankfully, seungcheol intervened before you could. “please. there’s plenty of time for us to enjoy our respective places in the spotlight when i’m a world renowned quidditch player and y/n’s the most successful auror in the ministry.” 

seungkwan’s eyes went wide. “wait- you mean the holyhead harpies..accepted you?”

just like magic, that all too familiar smirk materialized upon seungcheol’s lips just before he took a sip from his glass of punch rather than providing the three of you with a direct answer. however, it proved to be more than a satisfactory response. the couple in front of you broke out into applause with wide beams and quiet giggles. you, however, stood speechlessly in place.

for until that moment, you’d forgotten all about the potion.. 

“that’s amazing news!” nayeon almost shrieked. “we should celebrate.”

“maybe some other time. we better let him celebrate with his date first,” seungkwan reasoned while sending a knowing smirk in your direction. before too long, the four of you were exchanging goodbyes and more congratulations until only you and seungcheol stood near the table. of course, you weren’t sure how to approach the subject of felix felicis, so the two of you were forced to revel in the awkward silence for a good minute or two. 

that was, until seungcheol decided he had had enough. he brought a hand to your lower back, tilting his head towards the nearest exit. “come on. let’s go get some fresh air.”

once greeted by the chilly december air, you found yourself tugging your wrap closer to your chest. judging by the fresh layer of snow upon the balcony, it had just barely finished snowing for the time being. although he’d removed his hand from your waist, he stayed in close proximity to you, your shoulders barely brushing as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. the two of you took a deep breath in alarming synchronization, releasing a visible sigh afterwards. 

you watched carefully as the small cloud disappeared in front of you before turning to him. “so.. you made the team.”

seungcheol nodded with confidence, but something told you that he had no intention of rubbing his victories in your face. “that’s right,” he replied quietly.

once again, you weren’t sure how to approach the nagging question in your mind- you had no intention of asking if he used the felix felicis to cheat at tryouts, guaranteeing him a spot on the team. you pondered on the correct delivery for just a moment too long, your eyebrows slowly knitting together as your lips parted. “how..”

seungcheol mocked an expression of offense before quietly replying, “pure talent. nothing else.”

“you mean..”

the man in front of you pressed his pouty lips to a thin line before reaching in his inner pocket. your eyes widened as the small vial he pulled out shone in the moonlight. clearly, seungcheol hadn’t used a single drop of the potion yet. you looked in his eyes, only to see the smallest glint of hurt. “do you really think so little of me?” he asked you timidly.

it would have been a knee jerk reaction to tell him yes, to tell him that he got on your nerves and seemed to be hellbent on embarrassing you at every chance he could get. that you thought he was a pompous asshole and thought too highly of himself. but when you reflected on the time you spent together, you realized.. seungcheol was just like any other student that went to this school. 

he had ambitions. he had goals. he had drive. not only that, but he had interests outside the academic field. for example, he loved christmas. winter was his favorite season. he loved strawberry punch. he had a handful of likes and dislikes. in that sense, he was just like any other student that roamed through the halls of hogwarts, trying to make a name for themselves. in that sense, he was just like you. 

and you felt horrible for ever accusing him of cheating.

with those sentiments in mind, you shook your head slowly. “no. no i guess i don’t.”

before he turned towards the balcony again, you were able to catch the smallest glance at of his smile, faint as it was. it seemed as if he saw no need for keeping up appearances, considering the two of you were finally alone. he brushed the thin layer of snow off the railing before crossing his arms over the concrete. “i can’t believe in just a few more months.. all of this will be over.”

you mirrored his actions, keeping close to him as you peered down the balcony. carriages pulled by invisible steeds were parked near the entrance of the palace, covered in thick sheets of snow. “i know. can’t believe you’ll have to find someone on the harpies to torment everyday.”

he snickered loudly, “but what about you? hopefully you’ll meet another auror who’ll keep that fire in you burning on.”

“i don’t think anyone will keep that fire in me like you do, seungcheol,” you confessed, looking over to him with a smirk of your own. it was all you could do to downplay the severity of the confession. “i’ve never met someone so infuriating yet so.. captivating as you. and i don’t think i will for a long time.”

you could have sworn you noticed seungcheol’s ears turn red once the bold confession hung in the air between the two of you. had you brought it up, however, he would have quickly excused the display of bashfulness by blaming it on the cold weather. “in that case.. i’m glad that we were able to do all of this.. the planning, the dancing.. even if it meant you had to lose to me one last time.”

you laughed and shook your head fondly, “you just had to ruin a decent moment between us, didn’t you?”

although a deep chuckle from the man in front of you soon followed your display of annoyance, nothing could have prepared you for seungcheol’s quiet response: “well, let me make it up to you.”

even if you could find the right words to ask him exactly what that would entail, you couldn’t seem to make a sound. your lips were parted as he turned to face you fully, moving a cold hand to cup your cheek. his touch was much more delicate than you could have ever expected from him, a sense of timidity within his demeanor. as if he was waiting for you to push him away.. but you didn’t. even if you wanted to, your gaze on his pursed lips kept you from paying any mind to your surroundings, the snowflakes beginning to materialize, the muffled music, the flickering of the enchanted lanterns…

the next few seconds that followed were a blur. you leaned in to meet him halfway, your lips finally meeting. the kiss was deep, slow, as if the two of you were savoring a moment you’ve waited for far too long to come. he kissed your lips with such gentle deliberation that you wondered how long he really had been wanting this. of course, you could do nothing but return the kiss with equal eagerness as you moved your hand to his other cheek. there was a soft exhale through his nose, which fanned lightly over your skin before he pulled away.

the two of you stayed silent for a moment, relishing the beautiful moment in all of its remaining glory. never in a million years did either of you expect something like a bet would result in such a wonderful night. a wonderful night filled with contemplations and observations you previously would never have entertained. 

and yet, even after such a truly mind numbing moment, you couldn’t stop yourself from asking him, “seungcheol.. what are you going to do with felix..?”

this time, it was his turn to shake his head fondly. “you just had to ruin a decent moment between us, didn’t you?” the chuckle that followed his repetition of your own words was much too endearing, causing that heated sensation in your cheeks to materialize yet again. “but to answer your question, i’m.. not sure. i guess i’ll cross that bridge when i get to it.

“or.. i could always give it to you.”

“no,” you immediately refused with a shake of your head. ”as much as it.. pains me to say it: you earned it, fair and square. besides… i learned from someone tonight that real achievements aren’t made with lucky charms. and even if i don’t become an auror.. i’m more than capable of doing something else with my time.” 

seungcheol bowed his head with a grin. “whoever he is.. sounds really wise.”

“he is,” you chuckled, moving your hand to lace your fingers with his once again. there was a warmth in his palm, one that you sought for as you squeezed his hand. “he’s.. insufferable and pompous the majority of the time. but incredibly smart and driven the rest of the time.”

his gaze remained fixed on your intertwined hands for a moment before his eyes met yours again. “you finally see your worth,” he whispered to you, almost incredulously. “believe me, y/n, i’ve known you to be more than capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to since the day we met.”

feeling unsure of how else to express your gratitude, you placed another gentle kiss upon his lips. savoring the feeling, the taste.. since you knew it was only a matter of time until the two of you would part ways as nothing more than pupils. still, as the two of you spent the rest of the enchanted night dancing, laughing, and talking each others’ ears off, you and seungcheol hoped that this night wouldn’t be the end of your precious time together.

[heedeungsha]

TRIO `✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹

+ Content warning(s): fluff, relationship with danceracha, Leeknow’s girlfriend!reader, Hyunjin’s girlfriend!reader, Felix’s girlfriend!reader, dancer!reader

Danceracha as your bf!danceteacher

. ⋆౨ৎ˚

Lee Minho

Leeknow was your dance teacher before your boyfriend-I mean, it is how you guys met. You were merely a trainee and he’d secretly been watching you outside the dancer room practicing alone, before finally growing the courage to help you. He watched intensely behind you, leaned up against wall while studying your mirrored reflection. You keep your eyes trained forward, so you don’t get distracted by the way his muscles flex when he crossed him arms over his broad chest. It’s a set up and he knows it too, slowly walking up to you without a word as he places his hands on your waist, twisting your body the correct way.

Leeknow’s strict with teaching choreos but luckily, he doesn’t go hard on you like he does his members. “No, try again,” He’d yell out from behind you and you’d do as he said. “No try ag-“ he’d call out not even 5 seconds later. “Leeknow!” you’d sigh, dropping your hand your side just before earning a toothy smile from him. He’d joke around a lot to lighten the thick hot air filling the practice room.

Leeknow would kiss your forehead, “Good job, baby. Next time, try this.” He’d show you how to prefect the step before backing up to let you do it on your own. Despite his stringent teachings, he’d hold in a laugh every time you fell on your ass from moving too fast. You’d pout, feeling frustrated with the step you’re stuck on and he’d come over to pick you up-after laughing up a storm in the corner.

Leeknow would pat you on the ass each time you got the choreo right, and they quickly become rough. His hand would then stay there as he turned you against the mirror, and made out up with you. It was like his way of letting you know you did good. “Same time tomorrow?” He’d joke, knowing he’d be more strict just to tease you.

Hwang Hyunjin

Hyunjin was one of those teachers that took over, showing you how to dance the choreo the right way-with powerful charisma. He’d make you sit back and watch him dance first . His feirceful sharp movements were attractive, highlighting his passionate dancing skills. His duality when he danced was jaw dropping-it’s insane how he’d go from to cute and giggly to intense and serious once the song started playing. That’s what attract you to him in the first place, before finding the courage to talk to him after catching him alone in the practice room without his members.

“Okay your turn love,” Hyunjin would pull you to the middle to learn the choreo with him. “5, 6, 7, 8..” the chorus would play and he’d begin dancing, and you’d follow his movements. As you slowly start to get it, your cheeks would heat up everything he’s attack you with kisses, encouraging you to keep getting better. “You’re doing so good love,” he’d shower you with warm praises.

Hyunjin would study the way your body moved, correcting you whenever you missed a step or did it wrong. He was also your teacher first, knowing how important dance was to you. He loved that you didn’t take offense to his advice and it only fueled you to become a good of a dancer as he is. By the end of it, you were both a sweaty mess, his long blond hair glued to his forehead and his ends sticking to his neck and yours in a ruffled bun. He was irresistible, rolling his sleeves up while showing off his muscular arms. “Focus love,” he’d snap his fingers at your gawking and laugh a storm when you rolled your eyes. He’d help you practice all day until you got it right and picked you up, twirling around the room with you in his arms when you did.

Lee Yongbok

Felix is patient with you. He still remembers he’s your boyfriend after all. To him, he’d met you outside of being an idol, being your dance teacher was just a bonus to be around you everyday. His the kind of dance teacher that makes learning a new chore fun. He’d crack jokes to make you laugh when you miss a step in the routine or tease you, and plant kisses every time you remembered a step. “Princess, it’s okay,” he assured you when you feel frustrated with the choreo. He’d give you space as the practice room grew hot or stood off to the side as he danced with you lazily. Still, you’d catch him smiling at your progress.

Felix would slowly show you, softly holding your waist so you didn’t hurt yourself as he guided you movements. “When you turn, you have to move with the beat, follow the flow princess,” he coos in your ears as he explains how to do a certain step which left you blushing at the thought of his lips against your skin. He’d only laugh, patting your ass to make you focus. He knows how you’re a slow learner so he takes his time with you, making sure you understood everything he said. Apart from being your dance teacher, he’s your proctector first—watching you attentively and quickly running before you can hit the ground.

“Let’s maybe take a break and get some food. I don’t want my princess to stress herself out.“ Felix says, trying to lighten the mood when you get frustrated with how long it’s taking you to learn the choreo. He’d buy you your favorite ramen and once you were full, he’d make an excuse to go home and sleep before going back to the practice room to start again.

. ⋆౨ৎ˚

I enjoyed writing this a lot! Something small and cute. Send more requests (🐹)

[ask-felix-aberg]

Felix' heart skipped a beat as Elland took his chin in his hands, causing a deep blush to spread across his cheeks. He hadn't expected such a response. In fact, he hadn't expected any response at all, and now he himself was at a loss for words! His mind raced to come up with a response, but all he could manage was a shy smile.

Will's pat on Elland's shoulder brought the Ravenclaw back to reality. "Practicing? Oh, um… I… uh…" Felix stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

He glanced at the book in front of him, and embarrassment washed over him. Oh no, was he reading out loud again? Sjutton gubbar! Monty already warned him that he would get himself into some trouble... Felix mentally scolded himself for not paying more attention to his surroundings.

But in all honesty, he just couldn't resist getting lost in the pages of this little treasure of literature. It was just too absorbing. Every page was more amusing than the other, he couldn't put it down.

"I-I'm so sorry, Elland," Felix apologised sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with his Hufflepuff friend. "I got carried away… It's just a really captivating book."

As Felix tried to gather his thoughts and respond to Elland's playful comment about being a blanket, he noticed the prefect's smug expression. The mischievous glint in the Slytherin's eyes told Felix that he was about to receive a lesson in flirting.

*Dinner time! William and Elland were sitting together in the Great Hall when a familiar Ravenclaw suddenly sat down next to the Hufflepuff, engrossed in a certain book. Felix didn't seem to properly register who he sat next to. Without looking up, he blindly took a plate of sticky toffee pudding and muttered to himself:*

"You look cold. Do you want to use me as a blanket?"

Elland blinks once. Twice. There was a plate of sticky toffee pudding in front of him just a moment before, Will making sure his old crush friend gets the best one they can reach for at the Hufflepuff table for Elland to try. And now the sticky toffee pudding is no more.

Instead, the thief has the audacity to turn Elland's slightly confused pout into a blush with just his words. What is this tactic and why is this so disarming? Elland stares at Felix in disbelief. Perhaps he did feel a little cold... But the sudden flirting warmed him up a little somehow. Well, that's one way to get the Hufflepuff's attention.

"Felix, I—" he begins and closes his mouth, feeling a lot of contradicting emotions at this moment. "Felix, I am flattered, really. And a little cold... But if you want a hug — just say so. And," he blushes more after glancing at an uncharacteristically silent William to his left, only to be met with a cheeky grin and something akin to jealousy. Elland takes Felix' chin with his fingers and turns the blond's head away from the book and up so that their eyes meet. 

"So you are a blanket? Oh, how I want to surround myself in your warmth..." he murmurs, trying to sound reassuring. He does not normally do this but he was just talking to Will on the topic of flirting, so why the hell not?

The pickup line did get more and more quiet by the end of it. Will pats Elland on his shoulder, smug and proud. Proud of both Elland and Felix. The little snake then proceeds to point at the book which Elland hasn't paid much attention to until now. The Hufflepuff recognizes the cover: that's Will's book. Oh no. Was it the sly fox' idea? But Will looks too surprised to see Felix at that table so it must be unexpected for him as well. Elland addresses Felix with a little huff, reaching for another plate of the pudding.

"You, er, are just practicing?"

[kiiwiigii]

Abandoned

Demetri x Fem!Reader

Summary: Going to Italy over spring break was not what you had in mind, but Bella said she needed you. Until she didn't anymore, leaving you in the hands of a handsome vampire, who happens to be your mate.

Warnings:

Angst

Bella and the Cullens suck. (Ha ha. I'm so funny.)

Word Count: 1500+

Requested?: Yes!

heya thanks for answering my earlier ask about requests! Could I please request a demetri x reader angsty with fluff where they meet in new moon as reader tags along with bella to help and demtri is drawn to her cause theyre mates and volturi agree to let bella go and be turned later if the reader stays and reader is hurt that edward, bella and even alice agree to it so quickly so she feels abandoned and demetri works to earn her trust and comforts her about it at a later date? (If its too much or you end up tweaking it thats okay!!) <3

A/N: What kind of Volturi fic writer would I didn't do this trope? And for once it's not Alec-centric. I love it! Also, this is gonna be a two-parter.

I hated flying with a burning passion. But Bella insisted that I go with her for emotional support. I almost snapped at her to take Jacob instead. Emotional support animals were free after all. She just needed the paperwork.

Unfortunately, I don't think a big-ass werewolf-slash-shapeshifter would go over well if they were to accidentally transform. Bella was lucky that I even had a passport. In the end, it was Alice who convinced me, definitely playing the loyalty card pretty heavily. If only I had known that loyalty was not extended to me.

Italy was beautiful, but between the sweet relief of landing, Alice stealing a car, and getting caught up in the whirlwind that was the St. Marcus festival, I had barely any time to take it all in. The city was awash with hundreds of people, their red cloaks swirling about as they danced and celebrated.

Bella was diving out the car, screaming Edward's name. I dove into the crowds to follow her, making my way through the throngs of red cloaks to find her. It didn't take long before I was hopelessly lost. What had Alice said? Edward was going to reveal himself. What exactly would happen if he did? That was one thing I had never managed to get out of Bella.

Would he just… spontaneously combust?

No. That made no sense, he never would have come to the Volturi for death if that happened.

But where was the best place to do it?

I looked around desperately before my eyes landed on the clock tower in the center of the square. There. That was the prefect place. I pushed through the crowds, yelling Bella's name at the top of my lungs.

Demetri

"BELLA!"

He turned at the sound, and his dead heart seemed to beat for just a moment. Her voice sounded like heaven. Demetri scanned the square, eyes searching, desperate with hope that maybe, just maybe, she might be who he thought she was.

"Bella!'

It was closer this time, and through a break in the crowds he saw her. Time seemed to slow down as he took in the sight of her. She was by the clock tower, her chest rising and falling with the effort to breathe, as if she had just run a long distance. And given the beads of sweat along her brow and the trickles that dripped down her tantalizing neck, she had.

She was stunning. Beautiful. And more than everything that he had ever hoped for.

The other girl in front of him, Bella, turned around in both alarm and relief.

"Bella," Edward said softly. "Relax. He won't harm her."

"Demetri?" Felix asked, voice heavy with confusion.

"Stay with our… guests, Felix."

Demetri was next to the girl in the blink of an eye, stepping into her line of sight a moment later. She jerked back in alarm before making eye contact with him. And it happened. His whole world seemed to turn upside down. He grinned. She was his.

"Hello, principessa." He lifted her warm hands to his cold lips, enjoying the subtle taste of her skin. "I am Demetri. I will escort you to your friends. If you will follow me."

She raised a disbelieving brow at him, taking him in before landing on his eyes. She gulped a little and nodded her head. He held out his arm for her to take, and after a moments hesitation, she did so.

Upon arriving at the alleyway in which the others stood, his mate let go and hugged Bella tightly.

"You're alright." She breathed, her perfect voice hushed.

"I'm alright, Y/N."

"Good to have you back." It was Jane. "Aro has been wondering what has been taking so long. Let us continue."

He put a hand on his mates back, urging her forward silently.

Demetri found that he no longer cared what would happen with Cullen and his human, not so long as his mate stayed.

I was a moron.

Despite the seriously fucked up and dangerous situation that Bella had somehow pulled me into, I couldn’t help but blush as I felt this stranger's hand on my lower back.

'Demetri. His name is Demetri, Y/N.'

The gesture felt oddly warm and comforting. He felt oddly warm and comforting.

And I liked it. But also I didn't like it. He was making me feel all funny and I honestly didn't know what to do about it.

I glanced back at him, only to find him already looking at me, something akin to wonder in his eyes. He gave me a small smile and I turned back around, blushing harder. I liked that smile. A lot. I shook my head, following behind Edward and Bella, doing my best to not trip.

I had bigger things to worry about. Such as getting out of this situation alive. Alice had neglected to tell me much of anything, and I had only caught snippets of her conversation with Bella on the plane. All I knew was that the Volturi laid down the law, and they were not to be fucked with. I suddenly wished I had paid more attention instead of worrying about the death trap that was called a plane.

I grabbed Alice's hand, my anxiety spiking. She gave my hand a small squeeze, sending me another smile. But something was off. She wouldn't look me in the eye. In fact I couldn't recall her looking me in the eye since we had boarded the plane to Italy. And outside of his initial surprise to see me, neither had Edward. I frowned at the sudden realization, slowing down a moment and pulling my hand from hers. Demetri slowed down as well, gently pressing on my back for me to continue, but I stayed rooted in the spot.

"What are you hiding?" My voice cracked. "What did you see?"

Alice looked back at me, surprised.

"Now is not the time, Y/N." Demetri's lips brushed against my ear.

I really liked the way he said my name.

"Indeed." Jane turned around, her face blank.

Demetri tensed, angling himself so that I was out of Jane's eyesight.

"Do not worry, Demetri. I have no intent to harm your mate... As long as she keeps up."

She was so blasé about the whole thing that it took a minute for me to register what she said. Mate? I had a mate? Mates were a thing?

Demetri hissed at her and everyone edged away from the two of them, looking at Demetri as if he were a dead man. Jane just smiled.

"Let us continue. Demetri, do keep your human in line."

I wondered if my brain had just stopped working at that point because I would have normally said something back, but I couldn't bring myself to do much of anything. Demetri turned back around, looking at me as one would a spooked animal. And I was pretty close to a spooked animal. I was starting to hyperventilate, and I definitely wanted to run, but I couldn't get my legs to work.

"Y/N." He reached out, clasping both of my arms lightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way, but we really must keep going."

I nodded, numb. Alice knew. How long had she known? And Edward hadn't bothered to say a damn thing to me either. Why? They couldn't bother to prepare me for this? I have a fucking mate. That's not something you can just shove under the rug. And Jane. Fucking Jane-

Demetri's hand slid into my own, the coolness of his skin breaking me out of my haze just enough to keep moving forward. I could feel myself beginning to shut down and disassociate, auto-pilot taking over. I could feel his thumb rubbing circles softly on the palm of my hand and decided to focus on that instead.

Jane pushed the heavy double doors in front of us open.

My brain refused to shut off, memories of the last 24 hours replaying repeatedly in my head.

Bella had been released under two conditions:

She was to be turned within the year.

I was to stay here, to be with my mate.

I didn't have a choice, not that it really mattered, because I would have given myself up in a heartbeat for Bella. But they had taken the deal with barely a thought. Even Bella. That's when I realized that she knew. She had known the whole time. And Alice. I kept thinking about how she had worked so hard to convince me to come. To be Bella's emotional support. I wasn't there to be her emotional support. I was there to be traded, like some dog. And it hurt.

I had lost everything.

My friends. My home. My family.

I would never see my mother again. My father had passed a little over a year ago to cancer, so my mother and I were already in the practice of mourning. But my mom, not only had she lost my dad, but now she would think I was dead too. How would she cope?

How was I going to cope? How could I ever trust anyone again? Bella and the Cullens had taken advantage of me. Of my love. My loyalty.

I wouldn't let it happen again. Never.

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[ramshacklerumble]

W-Woah! Didn’t expect to see you around here. Perfect timing, we’re about to cut the cake!

Groovification: [LOCKED]

Set to Home Screen: Uh…Do I look okay?

Home Transition 1: Should’ve known Lilia wouldn’t let me pass the dorm mirror without trying to scare the soul out of me first. The guy really knows how to make you feel alive.

Home Transition 2: Jorge and Hernando started the morning by squeaking up a storm. They were trying to sing to me, but between the two of us, I think I should get them some music lessons.

Home, after login: Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~ 🎵 Oh, haha. The Ramshackle Prefect invited me to listen to a musical from their homeworld on their magic gramophone. Cool, huh? I took a recording hoping Ortho might be able to clean up the audio.

Home Transition (Groovification): [LOCKED]

Tap Home 1: Check it out! Cater got me this awesome limited edition poster for one of my favorite films. I kept asking how he got it, but he just gets this sly look in his eye and won’t tell me.

Tap Home 2: Yeesh. Even on my birthday, Vil gave me a big ol’ chewing out over my hair, but then gave me a present. …It’s hair product.

Tap Home 3: People give Silver a wide berth because he looks so serious all the time, but he’s honestly a great guy. We’re planning on having a movie night, y-you’re welcome to join!

Tap Home 4: Dorms are forced to host birthday parties, so freshman year I felt kinda bad over these random dudes having to throw one for me. This year…it actually felt like they wanted to celebrate…heh heh.

Tap Home 5: A couple of freshmen asked how old I was turning and they looked so surprised. …Do I really look that old…?

Tap Home (Groovification): [LOCKED]

DUO MAGIC: Haha, let’s not to get too wild here, o-okay Floyd…? / C’mon, Flounder! How ‘bout we kick it up a notch?

big thank you to @moonyasnow for their bday boy background templates!

tag list:

@cyanide-latte @inmateofthemind @tixdixl @blithesharem @thehollowwriter @jovieinramshackle

@theleechyskrunkly @skriblee-ksk @boopshoops @the-trinket-witch @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @kimikitti

@felix-cant-ski @nightwingshero @water-writings @beneathsakurashade (dm to be added)

[depressedcoffeeobsess]

𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 ; 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨

warnings: still friends , kisses on the cheek , cursing, some use of Y/N , given last name (sorry)

summary: remus faces the full moon and is scared to go to prefect duties , due to his scars\marks. he gets even more frightened when he's signed to be partners with the sterling girl. But he becomes too frustrated afterwards

Remus Lupin x fem!reader

Word count: tommorow (also known as lazy jo)

[Pt.1]

IT WAS A FEW DAYS after the first incident. Remus unfortunately had faced a lot more scars than usual, this time even getting one on his nose. He felt something like insecure but it wasn't insecure. He was currently on bed rest at the hospital wing. And he was surely unlucky to get the news that he would be doing prefect duties with the sterling girl.He had to make sure she wouldn't see him in this horrible and monsterific state. So he asked Wormtail to cover up for him if the girl asked.

And surely did she ask.

She walked over to the gryffindor table at breakfast. She sat down next to Peter. Peter and the others looked confused. She noticed that Remus wasn't there. So she wanted to inform him that they had duties together. "Morning!" She said in her usual joyful and cheerful tone.

"Morning?" Peter said or more like asked in confused.

"Have you seen Remus anywhere? I was going to tell him that we were set to do duties together." She said quite politely. The marauders excluding remus looked at each other with worry and regret for remus thus they decided to answer the girl, not so truthfully.

"Well um, he's kinda sick right now. You know not feeling the best." Sirius explained laughing nervously. "We could tell him that we, were just about to go up and give him breakfast anyways. The girl looked at them suspiciously.

"Well maybe I can visit him? Or maybe I can take his breakfast up for him?" She suggested looking at the frightened faces before her.

"No!" James shouted at the top oh his lungs. " I meant well um— he wouldn't like to see anyone now because he doesn't want to seek that much attention. Yeah." He nervously gulps out the last part. She get a tiny ping of sadness in her but decides to ignore it.

"Okay . . ." She says her voice barely louder than any whisper. With that she leaves for the ravenclaw table in order to find her friend pandora.

DURING POTIONS CLASS she realised that she would have no particular partner assigned for her. No, her partner wasn't remus but her former partner was in the hospital wing due to common illnesses. She simply didn't care at all though , because she knew she was intelligent enough to do things herself. But like wise slughorn disagreed. She sighed.

She was now partnered up with Peter Pettigrew. This got her mind racing with questions to ask him. She started buzzing her brain like crazy thinking of what possibly would be short yet hinty. And then she got it: where is he?

"Who?" Peter asked confused about who she was talking about. She said it out loud didn't she. Lucky her.

"Remus. I'm talking about him. How is he?" Another question blurted out.they often do that when she's not paying so much attention to her thinking and is more lured to the conversation in front of her.

"Oh well he's in the hospital wing, and he's fine. Totally fine." He answered as less suspicious as he could. The girl simply nodded believing what he had said quite easily. "Oh and he still doesn't want anyone to visit him other than us." He also included. This got the girl thinking too much again.

"Ms. Sterling pay attention please!" Slughorn yelled slightly sluggish at her lack of attention. "I've asked you a question two times waiting for an answer young lady!"

"Oh so sorry professor. Could you maybe repeat the question again?" She asked terribly embarrassed.

"What can happen to the one who drinks the potion liquid luck?" He asked for the third time.

"Felix Felicis is liquid luck, which makes the person who drinks it lucky for a certain period of time. which ends up in causing the drinker to have good luck for a limited period of time, during which they were likely to to succeed in all endeavours in which success was possible." She answered as she had almost copy and pasted it to her words from a advanced book of potions.

"Very good! Five—six points to gryffindor!" He said quite speechless himself. The slytherins behind them grunted annoyed.

And so the day went on almost time for prefect duties.

IT WAS ALMOST THE time for prefect duties. Remus laid anxiously on his four poster bed thinking about whether he would go there or not. He was perfectly fine just got a little hiss from the small slash on his cheek next to his mouth. It was dangerously close to his mouth. He was going up and down. His heart seemed like it would beat out of his chest any minute now. I mean why should he be so nervous. It wasn't like he liked the girl . . . Right? In the end he decided he would have to accompany her as he couldn't leave the poor girl alone, or worse going with someone else.

Suddenly there was a soft knock on the dorm door. Remus thought it was Peter and stood up without hesitation. He swiftly turned the door knob , quietly opening it without hesitation. But what was infront of him took him by mere surprise. It was her! The sterling girl. God knows how she came up here. His eyes widened with pure horror. His head started slowing down because his heart was leaping faster that a snitch.

"Hi there Remus" She said turning her head to get a better view of his face. She looked so relaxed and innocent. His heart rate got even faster, he swore that she would hear it go boom boom. "Um I hope you feel better" with that she shoved a small piece of parchment—or rather a letter into his hands. And then she turned around leaving , skipping.

Remus was in shock. Every step she took away from him made his heart rate go normal. But then again , he got kinda disappointed. He closed the door shut and sat on Sirius's bed. For some stupid reason Remus would occasionally sit on sirius's bed when he felt angry or nervous. Right now it was definitely nervousness. He slowly peeled the letter open to see very cursive yet neat‐readable handwriting. He fell in love. He didn't even read the letter yet. His stomach filled with butterflies. No why butterflies. Fuck butterflies, he had an entire zoo in there. He saw a small heart at the end. And eight lovely words. It had wrote ' I love you to the moon and back ' . The fact that it had mentioned a moon was his biggest tingle. He felt like he was being truly accepted for the person he is. He walked up to the small drawer next to his bed and carefully left the small note in the crook of the drawer.

He decided to get his robes on and leave for prefect duties.

SHE SKIPPED BACK TO her dorm. Her fellow girl mates looked at her pitying every inch of her. But immediately took it back when they saw her face. It was slightly tinted pink and she was smiling like a child who was getting an award of first. "How'd it go Y/N?" One of them , Marlene asked. Lily almost hit Marlene.

She squealed " it went amazing Marls!" She said clearly proud of herself. "I put the note in his hand and skipped back here!" Mary and Marlene looked at each other. Lily did a mental face palm and took a deep sigh.

Mary shook her head dissatisfied. " no wonder everyone looks at you like shit" Mary cursed under her breath.

Withought even thinking anymore she got ready for prefect duties.

REMUS MET THE GIRL outside the gryffindor common room. He looked slightly feared. And well he was feared that the girl would see his scars and come to the common sense that he was a werewolf. But he was scared she would call him a monster. He took a shaking breath and looked at the girl. Even in the dark he could find her smile. Her smile was brighter then the sunshine that came from the bright sun.

"Are you okay remus?" She asked softly with a ping of concern. He wanted to give her a nod but instead he gave her a shook of his head. "Oh well is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well—I," He took a sigh and prepared himself. "Could you maybe hold my hand?" He asked his voice lower than a whisper.

"Sorry I couldn't get you?"

"Could you hold my h-hand?"

"One more time."

"Could you hold my hand?" He asked for the third time.

"Sure. I suppose its you're way of getting comfort!" She said happily almost. He nodded. But the truth was it was a lie, she was his way of comfort.

Withought a second thought she intertwine her fingers with his. It was like the perfect fit. It fit in like a heart and a chest. He felt his whole body going numb. Boom boom goes his heart again.

They were walking together. No clear words exchanged between the pair of them. He knew she was muttering soft things on and on. But couldn't glue the words together to get a perfect sentence. Be brave he kept thinking.

"So what did you learn in defence against dark arts today?" He asked breaking the endurable silence.

"Oh it was the patronus spell. It was amazing when professor did it. But unfortunately we were caught up in learning to see the time passing by. So we're going to do the spell tomorrow." She explained fully patient.

"That's cool , I heard Snape can already conjure a full bodied patronus." He said thinking about what his patronus would be.

"Really? That's amazing I wonder what my patronus is gonna be like. My mum got her patronus as a donkey, quite sad honestly. She had to pay galleons for her friends to keep it a secret. I hope my patronus is graceful like a Swan and courageous as a tiger. But I don't want it to be any of them." She expressed with light and sorrow in her words. "My dad got his patronus as a Swan. Mum says she can see where that came from. Though I don't want to know." She piled words onto more words. Remus laughed quietly. Following that she also laughed. And boy oh boy, remus's heart went thumping like crazy as if a carpenter had been hammering a nail. His face flushed , it wasn't that bright but you could say he was flushed.

They ended the duty near the painting of the gryffindor common room. "I had a lovely time with you Remus but," She sighed. Remus suddenly froze. Did she finally figure it out? "Why do you have scars on you face?" She asked. Remus almost took a sigh of relief.

"Um well Sirius's Owl sweeped by our window and slashed me on the cheek—" He didn't get to finish it off. The girl pulled him byt the colour and kissed him on the—cheek. It was near his mouth. Too near. Dangerously near to his mouth. He flushed brighter than the candy apple red.

"Good night remus" She said sleepily. She muttered the password and got into the common room. Leaving a very flushed remus in the hallway, wide eyed. He was so thankful that it was dark. And from that moment he realised ;

I'm in love with her . . . again.

°°°°°°°°°•°°°°°°°°°

A/N : sorry for leaving you on a cliff hanger love's .

OH THE WHOLE ZOO PART!!!!!

• dividers by @issysh3ll

•I totally need @amiableness to proof read this. (GO FOLLOW HER EEP!!!)

• @jamesweather for reblogging my pt.1 (read it!!!)

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Lily Potter is not Mediocre

I wrote this initially as a response to a reblog on this post, but I wanted to give Lily a post of her own that isn't tied in with my rambling about shipping Voldemort. So here it is:

We don't know a lot about Lily, but what we do know implies she is very magically talented and has a bit of a cruel streak to her. She isn't as perfect as some portray her, nor as awful as I've seen some claim her to be. but oh boy do I disagree about her being mediocre.

Let's talk about the magical power first, becouse I feel a lot of people underestimate Lily's magical talent.

“Excellent, excellent, Harry! Good lord, it’s clear you’ve inherited your mother’s talent. She was a dab hand at Potions, Lily was! Here you are, then, here you are — one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and use it well!”

(HBP)

I know some people like to claim Lily was only good at potions because of Snape, but I don't think that's the case. I'm sure he helped her out at first, but they stopped being friends at 5th year and she continued to seemingly have good grades at Potions since Slughorn really loves her.

As a child, Lily has incredible control over her accidental magic and accomplishes difficult magic naturally and intuitively:

But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.

(DH)

Lily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.

(DH)

This is way more advanced than magic usually shown by kids, especially because of how controlled it is. The only other character we see on level with Lily's control at such a young age (and who mastered unaided flight on their own) is Voldemort.

Harry also shows insanely powerful accidental magic (including Apparation) and let's just say, I don't think Harry's magical talent came from James.

Lily was both Prefect and head girl (like Tom) again showing she had a great academic track record and was likely a top student in many of her classes. We know she was good at Potions, but she was likely very adapt at Charms as well:

You have your mother’s eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work

(PS)

Now, I talked in the past on here about how Harry is insanely magically powerful, specifically when it came to intuitive magic that just reacted to his emotions/desires or him being able to feel magic (this is that post). If we take Dumbledore at his word on how Lily cast her sacrificial love on Harry (which I tend to do) her sacrificial magic was insanely intuitive magic like we see Harry repeatedly do throughout the books.

I think the reason no one else ever did is because of the specific circumstances and Lily's specific words, yes, but I also think, that like her son, she had a knack for her magic responding intuitively to her desires no spell needed. This is a mark of a very powerful wizard/witch and not something a mediocre wizard would be likely to accomplish.

We see Harry cast this same sacrificial love in DH. And he, too, doesn't really cast anything, it's intuitive, his magic is powerful and incredibly reactive to his emotions — and I believe Lily was the same.

JKR has mentioned Voldemort tried to convince James and Lily to become Death Eaters, more than once ("Thrice defied him"). He wouldn't have given them more than one chance if either of them was mediocre. I also don't think he would've tried to get Lily to step aside so he wouldn't have to kill her as many times as he did if he thought she was average at best.

As for her personality, you're right, she isn't exactly Harry, but they do share some very important traits, and as I said, I think she and Tom would clash less than Harry and Tom (as in Lily doesn't get angry the way Harry does, so their reactions would be different).

Lily acted charming and prideful:

She turned, nose in the air, and marched off towards her sister.

(DH)

“Hmpf. Yes, well. You shouldn’t have favorites as a teacher, of course, but she was one of mine. Your mother,” Slughorn added, in answer to Harry’s questioning look. “Lily Evans. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl.I used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. Very cheeky answers I used to get back too.”

(HBP)

Slughorn talks about Lily's personality more than any other character, and what he says does paint her as similar to Harry.

She was talented and bright. Slughorn, who thought Tom Riddle, considers Lily Potter one of the brightest students he ever thought. She was in no way mediocre.

She was charming and had a firey personality to her. She was enthusiastic and charismatic and was easily likable.

I especially like what Slughorn says about Lily being good for Slytherin. Like Harry, she was likely considered by the hat for both Slytherin and Gryffindor due to her cleverness and bravery being both part of her.

And these cheeky answers Slghorn refers to, are like Harry's. Harry is the cheeky student Slughorn is referring to in the same breath as Lily's. Harry got his sass from Lily, not from James. Harry's tendency to back-talk Dark Lords came from his mom.

She's more scared when she's younger, crying more, but she clearly grows up to be fiercer, as Slughorn mentions and as we see in some of the memories:

“Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends’ too! You’re not going to — I won’t let you — ” “Letme? Letme?” Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once.

(DH)

As for the cruel streak I mentioned:

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, “Let him down!”

(OotP)

Lily, even as Snape's best friend, can't help but find the bullying funny for just a moment. It means her sense of humor can be on the crueler side at times. The fact that it's implied, even during SWM that Lily didn't really hate James, just disliked his behavior is quite telling. Like, I don't think he needed to change much for her to go out with him. Sirius even says he mostly just stopped hexing people in the halls. I think he wasn't as arrogant, but he was probably still very egocentric. And Lily liked that (contrary to Harry who'd find it more annoying).

Additionally, when Lily wants to, she knows to hit where it hurts (the Slytherin streak Slughorn talks about?):

“That’s where you’re going,” said Petunia with relish. “A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy ... weirdos, that’s what you two are. It’s good you’re being separated from normal people. It’s for our safety.” Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.“You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.” Petunia turned scarlet.

(DH)

She knows Petunia and she knows what would hurt/embarrass her the most and she goes for the throat. Even if later she tries to smooth things over with her.

I also wanted to note her wand. Ollivanders said she had a Willow wand, and willow wands have some interesting facts about them:

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, and I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

(From Pottermore)

(Ron has a Willow wand too, btw, like the second wand he gets that is really his)

This implies Lily was insecure, and you kinda see it in her behavior as a child. Her deference to Petunia and how many questions she asks Snape:

“Normally,” said Snape. “But you’re Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents.” “Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?”

(DH)

She is scared, walking up to the sorting hat:

He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, “ Gryffindor”

(DH)

But the hat placed her in Gryffindor becouse of the bravery was there. The insecurity isn't warranted (according to the wand's description). She had the fire and fierceness there all along. she may thought herself average but it was never true.

The description of the wand also suggests Lily would've been quite good with advanced non-verbal magic, which fits everything I mentioned about her magic being very intuitive like Harry's in the first section here.

So Lily is in no way mediocre and Harry is his mother's son.

[beautifulchris]

muggleborn

pairing: lee minho x gn!reader

wc: 3,7k

featuring: bang chan, seo changbin, han jisung, lee felix, ateez’s seonghwa, the boyz’s changmin

summary: minho likes to go to the prefect’s bathroom to relax but oh! you're here as well

genres: hogwarts!au, kinda strangers to lovers!au?, slytherin!minho, hufflepuff!reader, fluff

warnings: it’s fem implied because in the universe, there’s one guy prefect and one girl prefect; other than that i used gender neutral pronouns

notes: thank you for reading and liking my work, it means a lot ♥ moodboard made by me, pictures found on the internet. reposting works from my old blog

order of writing: chan - jisung - minho - hyunjin - jeongin - seungmin - changbin - felix

networks: @kflixnet @k-labels @straykidsland

tag list: @badwithten @raethethey send ask/dm/comment to be added!

On a cold sunday in november, you were so exhausted from all the homework you had this week, you decided you needed a long, hot bath to decompress. Well, more like Seonghwa, your best friend, helped you finish your homework early and forced you to rest because he could see you needed some. You obviously went to the prefect bathroom because it was rarely used and very comfortable.

You opened the door after giving the password and soon realized someone was already taking a bath. Since nothing forbade several people to use the bathroom at the same time, you approached and saw Minho, eyes closed, humming a song you probably heard somewhere before. He seemed somewhat peaceful.

Minho was either feared, admired or loved. You didn’t know much about him so you were just curious. How could he be so cold yet afraid others would discover his secret? A secret you knew about since third year, the only time you talked to him, actually.

You had lost one of your most precious quills you owned and went to see Myrtle Warren in the girl’s bathroom on the first floor to ask for her help. You became friends with Myrtle in first year, when you entered the bathroom for the first time. At the time you didn’t know it was abandoned and ran into her. You’ve always called her by her name (not Moaning Myrtle) and been nice to her so anytime you would need help, she would accept without much complaint.

When you entered the bathroom, you first heard “I can’t tell them I’m muggleborn!” then saw two boys facing each other by the chipped sinks. You could see one’s back then a head popped up from the side and looked at you.

“Hi!” he said, waving his hand.

The other one turned around, glared at you and almost ran to the door. You saw the look in his eyes, he was scared. When he was next to you, your mouth moved on its own while you were still processing what was happening.

“Being a muggleborn doesn’t make you any different from the rest of the students. It’s almost incredible that you were born into a magicless family. Imagine how special that makes you. I promise you’re not worth less and if anyone dares to say otherwise, I’ll jinx them.”

You surprised yourself by your words, but maybe it was the Hufflepuff in you that couldn’t stand seeing him down like that. His heart warmed up and he smiled —you couldn’t see that— and he left without a word. Your gaze drifted to the door and you stayed like that until the one that greeted you came to you.

“Hey, I’m Chan.” You recognized him as the keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

“Y/N,” you smiled softly.

“Thank you for your words. I think it got to him.”

“With pleasure. It’s the same for you by the way. I hope you’re not feeling self-conscious about it.”

He looked at you dumbfounded. “How—”

“Just a guess,” you answered, “and your reaction proves I’m right.”

Chan smiled, showing his dimples, then made a more serious face. “Can I ask what you’re doing here?”

“I came to find Myrtle, I got robbed.”

“Oh shoot! I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, Myrtle or I will find it. What were you doing here?”

He scratched the back of his neck. He was in the girl’s bathroom after all and he knew it. “Um. We needed a quiet place to talk and this one was the closest.”

For the little story, Myrtle found the quill, a second year had stolen it. He gave it back when you came to him with Myrtle giving him death glares from behind you.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

You hesitated between taking your bath with him or leaving him be and coming back later. You didn’t really know him and you didn’t know if it was the right place to start a friendship so you decided it was best to go. When you stepped back, your eyes still on him, you stumbled on one of the sinks, swearing under your breath. He opened his eyes wide in your direction and stopped humming abruptly.

“Y/N??” Oh, he knew your name.

“Um, sorry, I’m going to leave, I’ll come back later.”

“Or you can join me? Maybe, if it’s not too weird?”

You froze. Was Minho really asking you to take a bath with him when it was literally the first time this year that you exchanged a word? Wow. Bold. Maybe he just saw the perfect opportunity to get to know you better and was internally praying you would say yes.

You did and joined him, seating not too far to hear what he would say but not too close either to insert boundaries. Because, yeah, you wanted to know more about him too but not scare him off. People labeled him as cold but at that moment, he was far from that. He kept smiling shyly and it was a nice sight.

You didn’t leave that bath until the water was cold and you had wrinkled fingers, meaning you stayed in there for about three hours, talking and playing in the water. You just had that connection with him and almost regretted you haven’t started talking to him before.

What you didn’t know was that Minho had a crush on you since the time you talked in the girl’s bathroom, three years ago. Your words really got to him and even if he never shared his secret information with anyone but his closest friends, he had this feeling that if anyone would come at him for it, you’d be by his side. In a way, the idea comforted him.

The next day, even after your efforts to rest, you were tired.

“I had so much trouble sleeping last night,” you sighed as you sat at the Hufflepuff table next to Seonghwa.

“Even after all my efforts to make you rest?” 

“It could be because someone was thinking about you,” proposed Changmin, your other friend, mindlessly playing with his marmalade toast. Both were Hufflepuffs.

“Who the hell could think of me at 3 am?”

A large group of people heard your sentence, including the ‘someone’ in particular, who was about to sit at his table, bowing his head in embarrassment.

Changbin, who saw and heard it all, laughed. “What, you’re the one preventing them from a good sleep? Man, I didn’t know you were so mean.”

“Shut up Binnie, like you can probably realize, I didn’t sleep much either.”

“When do you plan on telling them?” he asked as he gave Minho the tea-pot.

“When the time is right. Which is not now, we just started talking.”

“That’s a start, I wish you good luck.”

Minho sighed. “Thank you.”

Since that day, you would talk to him from time to time, getting to know each other better because obviously, three hours weren’t enough.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

Weeks passed and a morning after the christmas holidays, you found a note on the backboard about the apparition lessons. You were thrilled by the news. In the Great Hall, you heard some students of your year already talking about it. You sat next to your best friend, who was already seated at the Hufflepuff table.

“Hi Seong. Can’t wait to take the apparition lessons,” you excitedly said as you poured cereals in the bowl in front of you.

“Hey, me too.” He gave you the milk and you thanked him.

“Bet you’ll apparate a mile south,” laughed Changmin, resting on his elbows in front of you.

You smirked. “Bet you’ll apparate under the rain.”

“You children.” Seonghwa’s remark only made Changmin and you giggle.

A week after you signed up for the lessons and paid the required 12 galleons, they finally started. It wasn’t as easy as you could think but you were determined in succeeding.

The first week, the ministry employee that came to give the lessons basically spent the entire hour talking about the dangers of apparating without a flawless concentration. Like leaving an eyebrow, a piece of cloth or even a leg behind.

The next week, the first tries were made. You all needed to try and apparate into a hoop by focusing your mind on the hoop and then spin around with the intention of appearing in the hoop. No one perfectly succeeded.

Weeks passed and the keeper of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Seungkwan, disappeared in front of you. Turned out he apparated in the Quidditch pitch.

“He probably thought too much about Quidditch,” Seonghwa had told you. 

If only Seungkwan was the only one to disappear. Juyeon, beater of the same team and Changmin’s close friend, ended up in the school grounds under the rain and Wooseok, from Gryffindor, was found a mile south.

Remembering your talk with Changmin a month before, you went to him after the lesson.

“Does that mean we can predict the future? Sounds scary,” he gasped dramatically.

“Idiot, it could happen to anyone. Sicheng apparated at the entrance of the forbidden forest last year.”

“How do you know?”

You shrugged. “Seonghwa told me. He’s a fan.” Sicheng was one of the chasers of your house’s Quidditch team.

The first person to succeed was you. You were astonished to say the least while your friends, on the other hand, weren’t even surprised. They always said you were the best of your year and this accomplishment was just proving it once more. A guy in the back made a displeasing comment about you but you didn’t hear. The next day during breakfast, however, you were obliged to see the same guy’s head inflating after drinking his tea. One of his prefects counter-spelled him and went back to eat like it was nothing.

Next week, Gryffindor Chanwoo apparated between the forbidden forest and the lake, although he was the last one to apparate anywhere else but into the hoop.

The following weeks, Seonghwa, Minho and Seungkwan succeeded, followed by Juyeon, Wooseok, Changmin and a few others.

“It was about time,” the latter had sighed.

The last few weeks, everyone managed to reach their goal without losing any members. Finally, all those you cared about had their license to apparate, including Minho, and you were proud of them —and yourself.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

Life was somehow good to Minho because you too had feelings for him. The day you realized that, you were in your fourth year, at the library on your own, working on some transfiguration homework. A 6th year slytherin with books under his arm passed by you, calling you a ‘nerd’ with a disgusted face. It wasn’t an insult for you anymore, you were just doing your homework and listening in class, the rest was easy but only because you were passionate about it.

Seeing he was ignored didn’t please him but before he could add anything, his books turned into birds and flew away from an open window. The noise made you look up at the guy in disbelief while he was running out of the library and after his books, screaming, under the disapproving look of the librarian.

Behind a shelf, there was a boy who put his wand back in his pocket and returned to his homework as if nothing happened. You knew it was the boy you gave a speech to the year before and from this day, you were thankful for the countless times he got your back when you basically said you had his. Thinking your crush on him had no place to be, you tried to repress it, but his somehow protective behavior made it grow bigger. And here you were, befriending him two years later.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

It was april, you were close friends with Minho by now and spent time with him everyday. Today, you were seated on a bench with Minho’s cat, Pepper, on his lap because yeah, he had a beautiful Russian cat with green eyes. You were almost giving more attention to Pepper than Minho but, he could totally get that, his cat was what he valued most in the school.

“I don’t really like your friend,” he sighed and for a moment, you were confused.

“Which one?”

“Your best friend.” You didn’t get why he was all mysterious all of a sudden.

“The only reason I see you could hate him for, and that’s pure jealousy, is his height.”

“Wait— you’re saying I’m small?” He looked at you in disbelief.

“You’re the one saying it, not me.” You smiled so brightly his heart skipped a beat. Maybe he didn't have to be scared of him.

Later that day, Seonghwa and you were in your common room, doing your homework together.

“So, how’s it going with Minho?” he asked as he was closing a book about potions he borrowed at the library.

“What do you mean?”

“I guess none of you confessed yet,” he whispered, then cleared his throat. “Are you going to confess?”

You didn’t even bother asking him how he found out. “You’re not my best friend for nothing, uh. Am I that obvious?”

“It’s sickening. I wish one of you would do something about it soon.”

“Thanks for your opinion Seong, it’s much appreciated but—”

“Oh please, don’t start with your ‘but he doesn’t like me’ bullshit, he DOES. Listen to me. He’s as obvious as you, if not more, so please, do something about it or I swear I will.”

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

The next day in history, you were seated next to Seonghwa, like 100% of your classes. Minho was behind you with Dahyun, the Slytherin prefect with him. The class was often a bit boring because the professor would often talk way more than necessary. Today, you knew the subject already so you let yourself relax a bit and take less notes.

“Hey, I was wondering,” said Seonghwa out of nowhere, “what’s your favorite flower?”

“I think it would be Parrot’s beak. It’s from the Canary Islands and pretty rare,” you replied after a moment of reflection. “Why?”

“Oh, just like that.” He winked and gave his attention back to the professor.

“What’s yours?”

“Oak-leaved geranium.” His eyes never left the blackboard and you hummed in response, going back to listening as well.

At the end of class, Minho was the first one to run out. He took a secret passage behind a tapestry which led him to stairs. He followed some fourth years and when he saw a Gryffindor getting his hair colored in red and standing on end, he just knew who was behind it. He soon enough saw Jisung and his partner-in-crime laughing their asses off, that was until they saw him.

As prefect, he was in the obligation to take points from Jisung (only, because his friend was in Slytherin and he couldn’t afford to take points from his own house). Since he was impressed by the fact Jisung put a transfiguration spell in a hair-rising potion, he decided fifteen points would suffice instead of twenty.

“By the way, I need to ask you something.”

“Just after taking points from me? That’s bold.” Jisung crossed his arms.

“It wouldn’t have happened if you respected the rules, you know.”

Getting out of arguments, he surrendered. “What can I do for you?”

“I need you to find Felix.”

Jisung pushed the older one in the closest empty room then took the Marauder’s Map (for more info read Jisung’s au) out of his inside pocket (he made it himself). He recited the formula and looked at it closely.

“Felix’s outside by the lake. I’m not surprised, are you?”

“I must admit I’m not. Thanks.”

Without waiting a second more, he ran to Felix, who was playing with a plimpy he befriended. The creature fled as soon as it saw Minho running its way.

“Minho? Are you okay?”

He held a hand up while catching his breath. “I’m alright. I need you to put something in the Hufflepuff common room.”

“What, exactly?”

Minho looked around him, took a stone that was at the edge of the lake and gave it to him. “This.”

Felix examined the stone. “…This?”

“Yeah, somewhere Y/N could see it, please.”

He nodded. “Consider it done.”

“Thanks. By the way, do you know what oak-leaved geranium means in the flower language?”

“I believe Seungmin once mentioned it meant true friendship, why?”

Minho didn’t realize at first that he was smiling widely. “Just like that. Thank you so much.”

He then went to the library, needing one last thing: a picture of a parrot’s beak. Once he looked in every flower book in the herbology segment, he asked the librarian, who eyed him scornfully.

“Parrot’s beak isn’t magical. You’ll find what you need in the muggle area. Be quiet now.”

He mouthed a ‘thanks’ and walked to the said area to find what he was looking for.

When he found it, he went to the dungeons to hide behind a huge statue, used Orchideous to make a bouquet of parrot’s beak out of his wand, added a note and waited. Felix soon entered with the stone in his hand. Minho knew he would stay by it until you would find it. A few students entered the Hufflepuff common room, then you came in with your best friend. Minho approached discreetly and used a switching spell to switch the bouquet with the stone. Then, he left before anyone could see him.

You were about to sit on the couch when a beautiful bouquet of parrot’s beak appeared out of nowhere. You beamed and took them in your hands.

Seonghwa looked at them too. “There’s a note.”

“What does it say?”

Seonghwa took it and started reading. “To Y/N, the most kind, smart and stunning person on earth. From a MB.”

You smelled the flowers and smiled joyfully. Seonghwa was smiling too, almost amused.

“How did they know it was my favorite flower?”

“We talked about it twenty minutes ago, Y/N. Someone must have heard it.”

“Is it you?” you enquired.

“I’m sorry but it wasn’t me. I didn’t know what they looked like. They’re really beautiful, by the way.”

Felix watched the entire scene and was pleased Minho made you happy. He couldn’t wait to tell him about your reaction.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

Seated on the couch with your bouquet in one hand and the note in the other, you were thinking. “MB…”

“Is that initials?” asked Seonghwa.

“Or Miami Beach.”

“Really, Changmin?” Seonghwa face palmed.

 He shrugged. “Just giving options.”

After a while, you sat up straight. “Oh my god.”

“What?” Both the boys asked, confused.

“Muggleborn,” you whispered.

“Makes sense,” approved Seonghwa.

Changmin was looking at his friends. “Does it, though?”

Thing is, you knew a lot of muggleborns (and were too oblivious to think about Minho).

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

The next day, Felix went to Minho before breakfast. “Y/N was beaming. Never saw a smile that bright and eyes so sparkly.”

Minho’s smile was wide. “Thank you so much, Felix. Do they know who did it?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t do eavesdropping,” he said, giving his friend a subjective look.

“I don’t do that either!”

“Sure. How’d you know Parrot’s beak was Y/N’s favorite flower then?” Minho’s cheeks burned and he refused to look the younger in the eyes.

Later, you found Minho at the library and spent time with him.

“So, I heard you received a bouquet,” he said as casually as he could. For a brief moment, he thought you were going to ask him if it was him and got scared.

“Yes, the flowers were really beautiful. I put them in a vase on my nightstand.”

You were beaming and Minho, seeing you this happy, almost revealed himself. 

“I wonder who sent them though. I mean, these flowers aren’t that known, even in the muggle world.”

His lips were burning to tell you but he was scared the feelings weren’t mutual.

“Minho? Why do you look sad all of a sudden? Did I say something wrong? Is this about the,” you stopped to get closer to him and whisper, “muggles?”

He couldn’t believe you were worried about him. “Oh, no, no, don’t worry! I— um, was wondering if, I don’t know, you had an idea on who sent it?”

“Actually, I do have an idea.”

Minho gulped. “You— you do?”

“Yes. The person’s obviously in history class with me. And they’re seated close to me. Plus, they’re muggleborn, from what I learned from the note. So I narrowed it down to two people. First Dahyun, which, I think, has zero reason to send me flowers as we never really had any conversation. Also she glares at me from time to time. Doesn’t add up.”

The boy was sweating. The more you talked, the more he regretted his question. What if you rejected him?

“The other person, on the other hand, we’ve talked more and I highkey want it to be him.” You looked him in the eye with such intensity he choked on air.

“Who’s that?” he risked.

A smirk was spreading on your face. “Vernon. He’s cute.”

His face dropped and you couldn’t help but laugh. Teasing him was funny.

“I’m kidding, it’s you.”

At this moment, Minho was still confused but happy. If he understood what was going on correctly, you knew it was him who sent you the flowers and you wanted it to be him??? He absolutely didn’t see it coming.

“So… you… like me?”

You smiled at him fondly. “I do.”

His heart was pounding, he was ready to kiss you. You felt like he was thinking about Seonghwa so you tried to reassure him as much as you could.

“Seonghwa is my best friend, nothing more. I can assure you.”

“Oh, I know,” he said, a satisfied smile on his face. “I like you too.”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

“Can I kiss you now?” You bit your lip, the question was really attractive.

Without answering, you got closer to Minho and pressed your lips to his.

“How dare you make out in the library? OUT! IMMEDIATELY,” shouted the librarian from behind. You both moved back from shock and ran out, hand in hand, a big smile on your faces.

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please let me know <3 and here's the masterlist!

[ask-felix-aberg]

[Polyjuice Swap 2024!]

(Thank you @lil-grem-draws for being the mad genius behind this very special event!)

── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─☆:⭑🍂🍁🦇🍁🍂⭑:☆─ ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ──

── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─☆:⭑🍂🍁🦇🍁🍂⭑:☆─ ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ──

Felix could hardly contain his excitement as he entered the grand ballroom, a smile tugging at his lips as he admired the scene before him. William had been talking about this event for days, practically glowing with pride as he reminded anyone who'd listen that it was his "expert negotiating skills" (and a very generous anonymous sponsor) that had made this magical night possible.

The Ravenclaw was thoroughly impressed - it seemed as if every prefect had poured their heart and soul into the preparations. Festive lights cast an enchanted glow across the entire room, flickering candles and dark webs drifted above, and enchanted pumpkins floated along the walls, their carved faces casting eerie shadows over the guests.

He marvelled at the marvellous array of costumes. His fellow students had truly embraced the spirit of the evening. And even though most of the faces were hidden beneath spooky masks and fancy cloaks, the Ravenclaw still managed to recognise some familiar faces, though none of the ones he was really looking for.

Felix' eyes drifted toward a small line of eagerly waiting students near several rooms to the sides, each one set up for the Polyjuice Potion event. Excitement started to spread across the face of the blond boy once again as he approached one of the queues, anticipation bubbling up in him as he waited for his turn.

── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─☆:⭑🍂🍁🦇🍁🍂⭑:☆─ ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ──

A few minutes later, Felix found himself face-to-face with the cauldron of Polyjuice Potion, wrinkling his nose in disgust. The liquid had an unappealing green-khaki colour, thick and unpleasant, bubbles foaming up from the surface and emitting a particularly pungent odour that had him breathing through his mouth. It was all sorts of awful, Felix understood now why they would use separate rooms for that.

Taking a steadying breath, he raised the mug for a hearty gulp, immediately regretting the decision as the taste hit him - a repugnant mix of salted liquorice, vinegar, and something that resembled rotting eggs.

Felix winced, fighting the reflex to gag. The urge to use the vomit bucket beside the cauldron was tempting, to say the least, but Felix swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. He knew Polyjuice was an ordeal, but trying it firsthand was something entirely different. The young wizard forced himself to hold it down as he waited for the transformation to take hold.

The changes started slowly. Felix watched his hands as they began to prickle and grew larger, the skin shifting in both texture and tone, his fingers and wrists extending in a manner that felt distinctly wrong. He could feel his face beginning to rearrange itself painfully, his bones feeling like they were being pulled and stretched in impossible ways.

The sensation was nearly enough to make him reconsider the whole idea, but just as he felt he couldn't bear it a second longer, the pain finally began to ease, replaced by an odd sense of familiarity. He glanced into the mirror in the corner, where an enchanted gargoyle gave an appreciative whistle. "Handsome, aren't we?" it teased.

Felix squinted, blinking in surprise before a chuckle escaped him as he recognised the familiar face staring back. Monty? He'd turned into @ask-andrew-montrose ! So Monty had signed up as well! Felix grinned, running a hand over the now scruffier hair, touching his transformed features, thoroughly impressed by how flawlessly the potion had worked. Not bad at all.

"Looking sharp, aren’t you?" commented the smug mirror gargoyle. Felix stifled another chuckle, rolled up his sleeves, and loosened his tie as he gave his reflection one last look. This could be fun, he thought to himself as he headed out of the room to find the others.

As Felix made his way toward the snack table, he nodded and smiled at a few passing students, only to be met with frowns, raised brows, and puzzled glances. Suddenly, it clicked - he was supposed to be in character! Andrew would never do something like that, Felix scolded himself and quickly adopted a more serious expression.

Finally reaching the grand buffet, he sighed softly in relief, this could be harder than he expected to be. Perhaps something light would help settle his mind and stomach after that dreadful potion. He reached for a bright orange cupcake, taking a bite, his nose brushing the creamy frosting as he glanced over the spread, already considering what else might wash away the lingering Polyjuice taste.

For a fleeting moment, he even thought he saw Allegra on the far side of the table, but before he could get a better look, a voice broke his focus, calling out to him...

[coldblooded-angel]

More stuff for my Saltburn Potter AU cuz I can’t stop thinking about them

Oliver has remedial classes since he’s a transfer student and ends up in tutor classes with Felix for History of Magic.

Oliver’s strategy to get to Felix is focused more on getting close to Venetia and Farleigh (since they’re in the same house)

Oliver sabotages Felix’s scrolls so Oliver can volunteer to help Felix with his homework.

Felix takes Oliver to his first trip out in Hogsmeade. They go shopping and Felix almost buys out the entirety of Honeydukes when he learns Oliver has never had any non-muggle candy.

Felix bought Oliver’s first broom and teaches him flying. (Oliver ignores the fact that he is fucking terrified of heights since he gets to hug Felix from behind)

Felix likes buying Oliver new clothes, always commenting on his secondhand uniform and scarf.

Farleigh realizes that Oliver can do non-verbal magic because he caught Oliver getting revenge for him against a homophobic student. (Oliver casted a spell on their shoes that made them walk into every wall.) Only the professor figured out who it was and gave Oliver detention.

Farleigh and Oliver develop a love-hate relationship. They one up each other in classes but also like making snarky side comments about everyone else.

Venetia gets closer to Oliver because she thinks its cute he’s so “exotic” and finds his accent funny. She talks his ear off about relevant pop-culture things and gossip while Oliver shoulders the work of their Potions class.

Farleigh catches on that Oliver sneaks around at night (somehow without getting caught by the teachers or prefect).

Felix totes around the fact that he is the only one Oliver shares his personal life with. (He’s starting to get jealous that Oliver is housemates with Venetia and Farleigh.)

Once Felix accepts Oliver into the group, Oliver shadows Felix everywhere. They sit together when they eat, when they’re hanging out in the quad and when they do study dates in the library.

Felix loves going into the muggle world to party and takes Oliver into his first ever club.

They get too drunk to make it back to the Slytherin Dungeon so Oliver spends the night in Felix’s room. (They also get doused in vinegar because they mess up the password for the Hufflepuff common room too many times.)

Okay that’s it for now. I love harry potter AUs so much I am so excited to write one

(A link to the first post: https://www.tumblr.com/coldblooded-angel/740677956980047872/saltburn-potter-au-but-fuck-jk-for-ruining-this?source=share)

[whatwouldvalerydo]

The theory of blow magic - How to train your dragon - 6/9

Warning: minor sexual references (nothing major), swearing, smoking and drinking

My favorite golden trio, action taking place at the Dragon Sanctuary. Talia, Charlie and Felix has some theories of their own to share.

Late summer, autumn, winter, spring, the season rarely mattered when the weather decided to show its nasty teeth and storm down on the earth below. Entering the warm tent, Felix ran a hand through his hair trying to tame it back in place “I swear if it were not for magic we would be blown away into a ditch by now. Surprised it did not knock me on my arse out there.”

Looking at him, Charlie smiled “A little wind never harmed anyone.”

“A little wind? Maybe next time you can go outside and see how you like being flung across the terrain.”

“Do you need me to blow you a kiss to make you feel better?” he smirked.

“Or blow him like the wind.” Talia said lifting a glass for Felix to take.

Snorting, Charlie made himself more comfortable on the blankets set near the fire “Blow magic.”

Sitting next to her, Felix resisted the urge to groan out loud “Oh do not start that. I swear it feels like working with children all over again.”

Suppressing laughter at seeing Charlie trying to mimic Felix’s expressions, Talia turned her attention to the former Slytherin prefect “Do tell, was there really a dismembered book about how to perform the perfect felacio?”

“There was definitely something floating about, I did not waste my time with reading such foul instructions.” Taking a sip from his drink he almost chocked when Talia asked.

“How do you know it was foul if you didn’t read the pages?”

“Maybe it wasn’t up to his expensive tastes.” Charlie chimed in “Or maybe he didn’t like the name. Bet you all my months’ wage that he would have devoured it if it was something called How to tame ones’ dragon.” He winked at Talia making her laugh.

“Or the Waltz of the one-eyed snake.”

As they went in a fit of laughter, Felix took another mouthful of alcohol “Or Ruffling the peacock.”

“There he is.” Charlie smiled raising his glass “We should definitely write a manual of our own, an homage to drunken late nights.”

Topping her drink, Talia raised her own glass “There would need to be sex for it to make it, everything is about sex these days. We only have funny wild shenanigans.”

“Well maybe the Theory of Blow Magic was written because there was no sexy time but the author wanted it.”

Shaking her head at Charlie’s statement, Talia clicked her tongue when the idea formed in her head “I’ll do you one better, what if the bloke couldn’t get it up and it needed magic.”

“You two are utterly impossible. The poor bloke is probably twisting in his grave right now from our mockery.”

Leaning closer to Felix, Charlie stared intensely “Since when do you advocate for a blokes meat sausage?”

Opening his mouth to speak, Talia covered his lips but turned to her other friend “Shhh Charlie, let him. I’ve never heard him be so passionate about something like this before. Maybe he’s working on his own matting manual.”

Removing her hand, Felix gave her a serious look “You are worse than him at times.”

“That I am. And you would do well to remember it.” Poking his nose, she removed her hand from his hold “And you should learn to relax more. Sit back, feel the blow.”

“The only thing I am feeling right now is a bloody headache forming.”

“Then drink more.” Charlie urged him, pouring more alcohol in his glass despite Felix having taken just a couple of sips “Blow off some steam, form a theory.”

“How good are you at taking a blow right to the face?”

Letting out a booming laugh, Charlie replied “Please, you’d probably break your hand in my face.”

“Incorrigible, the lot of you.”

Placing a hand against her heart, Talia gasped “What did I do?”

“Just drink, please.” Taking two more gulps, Felix knew the night was off to a good start.

[ask-elland-n-will]

Polyjuice Swap

[Disclaimer: those are not actual Sebastian and Felix. All the character interpretations are just that, interpretations of my own characters' behaviour under the effects of the Polyjuice Potion. If you can guess who they are — be my guest 🎃]

While Nilliam (niffler + William) was sulking on the chairs to the side of the main dancefloor, a "Sebastian" gently glided in, having just escaped a flock of students asking for a dance. The person wearing the Slytherin's skin was fond of dancing. But it was a non-stop barrage of people asking for a chance the moment they realized that there was a rogue Sallow, indulging anyone brave enough. One's feet got tired (only partially from getting stepped on). The "Sebastian" just wanted to hang out with his friends for a while.

"I see your swap didn't go as planned?" he let out a small laugh, taking in the prefect. It was hard not to guess who was hiding under such a vibrant teal facade: anyone with eyes could guess William just from his body language at that moment. That, and the cry he let out earlier, right after drinking his Polyjuice Potion.

"The second I find out who dared to add niffler fur to the potion, I'll make sure they spend a month in detention! Mrs. Blainey said I might stay like that for an entire week! Sebastian, a WEEK!"

"There is only one person I know who wields the power of detention with such determination, and it's my dorm mate," the "Sebastian" continued, trying to stay true to his new identity.

"I am not William," William blurted out.

"Ah, of course, my bad."

Another voice joined in on the conversation:

"Can't you drink another potion to change from that into somebody else?"

Will and "Sebastian" looked up to be greeted by a tall figure of a Ravenclaw approaching them somewhat unsteadily, as if getting lost in his footing.

"Felix, please, come sit with us," said the human Slytherin, freeing up the only armchair by Nilliam's side, and "Felix" did sit, without much convincing.

"Another Polyjuice?" pondered Will. "Oh no, no, don't you remember what happened last year? Cyrus drank two of the monster potions, and it was horrific. Not the funny horrific but the horrible terrible amalgamation of…" Will just gestured with his hand claw with a look of disgust on his teal face.

The prefect was lucky that the nurse at the very least managed to get him his voice back. Otherwise, Nilliam would've been honking in classes and at the meetings for the entire duration of the effect! Cassandra would've had a blast!

"Has anyone pet you yet?" went on Felix.

"Sorry, what?"

"You know, cause you're fluffy?"

Felix leaned all the way into Will's space and demonstrated exactly what he meant: pats were administered onto Nilliam's unusually soft and fluffy hair, Will's cheeks got ruffled, and the area below his beak was—

"Felix!"

Will gently slapped Felix' hands away (gently only because he was afraid to hurt anyone with his claws) but his voice was as stern as ever. Sebastian held the laughter in while Felix didn't look phased at the slaps at all. The sort of smirk he had playing on his lips was a little too smug, and the wizard reached for Nilliam once again.

"No!" Will jumped off his chair to be out of reach and stood behind Sebastian. Just in case. The pats were pleasant, but he was not a fox at that moment and it felt wrong. Next thing he knew they'd be rubbing his belly, and that would not be appropriate in the slightest!

"Now I want to do it, too," Sebastian confessed and reached to pat Will's hair too. The action was met with more huffing and honking, but Nilliam allowed it just this once before sitting back down and scratching his own belly absentmindedly.

"Sebastianch— Sebastian, I am here for a different reason," stated Felix, and Will's ears (or what is it that nifflers have?) perked up. That was an oddly familiar way of calling Sebastian, on top of how strange Felix was behaving. Judging by Sebastian's face, the boy realized that, too, going with a classic: "Oh?"

"Duel me."

Sebastian blinked.

"Duel you," he deadpanned. "Now?"

"Yes, when else? Adjacent room in 2 minutes? Be there."

Sebastian was about to protest, but Felix already got to his feet, as unsteady as before, as if he wasn't sure how to use his extremities. Sebastian moved to help him up and Felix grabbed him by the shoulders for support.

"You can bring your prefect friend if you are afraid."

Sebastian furrowed his brows just as William honked out:

"Hey, I am right here!"

"Would you rather we do it right here, too?" Came an instant reply.

"Uh," was all Will mastered and shook his head, forgetting to point out that he was a prefect and this would cost all of them points at the end of the day. Such a direct and low-key menacing Felix was enough of a novelty for him to feel out of his depth.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"That Felix wasn't really Felix, was he," chuckled Sebastian when the Ravenclaw was well out of earshot.

"It means the true Felix is also somebody else," points out Nilliam and squints at Sebastian. "Wait… Are you really Sebastian?"

The reply comes with a wink.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

[carewyncromwell]

 “It's time to stand up -- stand up! Show me what you're made of! Hands up, hands up! Fight the fear...fight the fear! Rise up from the ground -- Gonna make you a believer!”

~”The Fear” by the Score

x~x~x~x

a sincere thank you to @catohphm​, @jackies-ear69​, @hphm-jeniferltheman​, and @ariparri​ for brainstorming about MC’s friends’ boggarts with me!

x~x~x~x

The year she took on the task of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Patricia Rakepick soon became many students’ favorite professor. Scholarly sorts like Rowan Khanna appreciated her extensive knowledge of the subject, while more avant-garde sorts like Jae Kim and Nymphadora Tonks liked her dry sense of humor. This didn’t even touch aspiring Cursebreakers Bill Weasley and Merula Snyde, both of whom Rakepick had a pointed interest in and greatly esteemed Rakepick for her skills.

There were students who didn’t take to Rakepick as well as others, though. Ben Copper could never completely relax around Rakepick, thanks in large part to how critically her eye always seemed to fall on him. Even serial rulebreaker Tulip Karasu got bad vibes from Rakepick, suspecting ulterior motives to the professor’s seemingly more kindly actions. 

And of course there was the last student Rakepick had taken a targeted liking to, and arguably the strongest liking at that -- Hogwarts’ infamous Cursebreaker, Carewyn Cromwell.

Carewyn had distrusted Rakepick from the moment she first arrived at Hogwarts the previous year to supposedly help deal with the Cursed Vaults, and Carewyn’s opinion hadn’t softened toward Gringotts’s Head Cursebreaker anymore now that she was a professor. Even when Rakepick ended up saving Carewyn from an Imperiused Ben the previous school year, it only served to make Carewyn all the more wary of Rakepick’s intentions. After all, Carewyn couldn’t help but think, how was it that Rakepick caught up with her and Ben so fast, that night? Had she been keeping tabs on her? However concerned Rakepick had seemed for Carewyn, the Cursebreaker still left her, Bill, Charlie, Hagrid, and Torvus to deal with the Forest Vault, rather than going with them or dealing with it herself. Even now that Rakepick was a professor, she kept trying to get Carewyn, Bill, and Merula to work “with her” (read: under her leadership) to reach the next Cursed Vault. Admittedly Carewyn planned on searching for the next Vault and rescuing Jacob with or without help...but she couldn’t help but agree with Tulip that Rakepick clearly had her own motives. The Head Cursebreaker had even said herself that she intended to find the Cursed Vaults and “reveal their secrets” -- therefore Rakepick was mainly interested in retrieving the Vaults’ so-called “treasure”...something Carewyn didn’t give a damn about, in the face of finding and saving her brother.

Carewyn’s distrust of her didn’t seem to bother Rakepick in the slightest, though. If anything, the professor only seemed to expect more from Carewyn and single her out in class more because of it. 

Once Rakepick quizzed the entire class on protective wards, only to insist that Carewyn tell her the difference between Protego Diabolica and Protego Horribilis. (Carewyn correctly explained that the first was a Dark curse intended to kill any enemies who tried to cross the boundary, while the second was a strong form of the Shield Charm specifically intended to protect against Dark curses, and Rakepick awarded Slytherin ten points before moving on.) 

Another time, when Rakepick brought an entire swarm of pixies for the fifth-year class to defend themselves against, the professor insisted that Carewyn use a spell other than Immobulus, the spell they’d been actively studying, to stop them -- apparently Rakepick knew Carewyn had gotten help with the spell from her ex-Prefect, Felix Rosier, in the past and she thought that the assignment would be too easy for her on its own. (Carewyn responded to the challenge by using Impedimenta to slow down each pixie enough that she could levitate them one by one back into their cage with a Locomotion Charm before closing it -- a solution that brought a satisfied smirk to Rakepick’s face.)

It was therefore no surprise in late October when Rakepick decided to give her fifth-years a proper review on boggarts, the Cursebreaker-turned-professor had Carewyn come up to the front of the class first to deal with the creature.

Carewyn was a bit startled despite herself.

Rakepick’s lips turned up in a smirk.

Carewyn frowned deeply at Rakepick.

“Of course not,” she said with a faint huff. 

She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of her class with a grimmer look, her jaw setting as she rose to her feet.

“...I should let you know, though,” she spoke very clearly despite her eyes being averted and her voice being low, “my boggart is You-Know-Who.”

A few of her classmates exchanged glances. Rakepick’s eyebrows raised.

“That is not an uncommon fear, Miss Cromwell,” said the professor.

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed a bit without looking up.

“I know,” she said curtly. Her gaze lingered on the desk she’d been sharing with Badeea. “That’s why I want to make sure everyone knows it -- I don’t want to scare them.”

Rakepick’s confident look seemed to darken, becoming a bit grimmer as well. “You won’t have to, Miss Cromwell. The boggart will do a good enough job of that -- your classmates may as well just accept it.”

Carewyn looked up at last, her eyes narrowing a bit more, as Rakepick indicated the box to the side of her desk with a clipped nod.

“You may begin when ready. Though I’d advise you not to keep me waiting -- I only have so much time allotted to me for this lesson.”

Carewyn pursed her lips. Walking purposefully around her and Badeea’s desk, she shot a glance back behind her. Her eyes glided over Rowan, Ben and Charlie quickly before finding Talbott; when Carewyn made eye contact with him, the Ravenclaw straightened up a bit, his hawk-like eyes narrowing a bit upon her face as he nodded.

I’m okay, his look seemed to tell her.

Carewyn inhaled quietly through her nose, giving him a very short nod in return, before she faced the wardrobe, her wand held high.

“...Alohomora.”

With a shriek of the hinges, the box’s lid was thrown open, and a huge, black mass erupted out of it. The huge black cloak was accompanied by skull-white, spider-like hands and the face of a monstrous man -- one tall and pale with heartless red slits for eyes.

A couple of people in the class inhaled sharply despite themselves, seeing the Dark Lord Voldemort standing before their classmate. Rakepick, however, spoke to them with dry reassurance.

“Don’t you, Miss Cromwell?”

Carewyn kept her focus solely on her boggart rather than respond. Raising her wand, she pointed it right at her target and bellowed,

“Riddikulus!”

CRACK.

In an instant, Voldemort was seated at a full dining table of Mrs. Weasley’s home cooking with a red and white checkered napkin comically tied around his neck, looking completely bewildered.

Charlie laughed loudly, but louder still was Barnaby, who actually got up from his seat.

“It’s just like I said!” he said excitedly through his laughter. “It must be impossible for You-Know-Who to enjoy any good food without a nose!”

Others started to laugh too -- even Talbott had to chuckle. Carewyn bit her lip as she grinned in amusement too.

“Quite good, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick, very pleased. “All right, now, class, prepare yourselves -- when I call you up, you shall come forth and face your boggart. When you see your fear, think up a way to turn it into something humorous -- then cast Riddikulus to defeat it. Ready now...Mr. Lee!”

Barnaby eagerly scampered around the desk, raising his wand. 

“I’m ready for this!” he told Carewyn brightly. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since we went into the Fear Vault...”

Boggart Voldemort shifted his gaze over to Barnaby, his red eyes flashing --

CRACK.

The boggart had become a clown -- a rather menacing, fanged, Voldemort-looking clown, but still a clown.

“Riddikulus!” said Barnaby.

CRACK.

A bucket of water appeared over the demonic clown’s head, before turning over and splashing all over it -- it sputtered in confusion as all of its face paint was washed off and its curly red hair lay like flat curtains around its face.

Barnaby gave a fist pump. “Yes!”

“Good job, Barnaby,” Carewyn said, beaming proudly.

“Miss Tonks!” said Rakepick.

Tonks darted forward just as eagerly. The sopping wet clown shifted his gaze over to her -- then, with another CRACK, it had become herself, only with mousy brown hair and eyes, colorless, friendless, and insecure -- 

Tonks, without her Metamorphagus abilities.

“Riddikulus!” laughed Tonks.

CRACK.

Boggart Tonks had shifted into Tulip, holding up a bottle of hair dye potion and laughing as loudly as Tonks herself. The real Tulip was also laughing from her own desk.

“Disguising yourself as someone and wigging them out -- that is a good idea for a prank, Tonks!” Tulip called out with a wicked grin.

“Mr. Winger!”

Talbott leapt up onto his feet, sweeping across the room with the grace of a bird coming in for a landing.

CRACK.

Boggart Tulip had transformed into a black-hooded figure holding a wand alight with acid green, the Dark Mark glowing in the sky over his head -- a Death Eater set to kill him like they had his parents --

“Riddikulus!” Talbott spat out with venom.

CRACK.

The Death Eater’s cloak seemed to expand into strips of fabric that lashed around it in strips, wrapping the frantically wriggling figure up tightly like a mummy.

“See, Andre?” said Talbott with a cool smirk over his shoulder. “I told you long cloaks only get in your way.”

Andre crossed his arms, his face appearing rather sassy. “A stylish person knows how to wear a cloak properly...and also doesn’t consider wearing American-style cowboy hats unironically in public -- ”

“Mr. Weasley!” Rakepick cut off the two Ravenclaws’ debate at the legs.

Charlie hopped nimbly right over his desk and zipped up to the front.

CRACK.

The boggart had become a very official-looking desk piled high with paperwork stamped with the purple seal of the Ministry of Magic.

“Being stuck working in an office for the rest of my life,” Charlie explained helpfully to Carewyn, and he gave a shudder. “Still reckon Mum wants me to go that way, like Dad did...”

Carewyn offered him a sympathetic smile. “You’ll never belong in an office, Charlie.”

Charlie grinned as he faced the boggart. “Yeah -- I guess it is pretty ‘Riddikulus!’”

CRACK.

The desk chair was suddenly filled by Charlie’s brother Percy, who’d organized all of the paperwork perfectly -- only for his younger twin brothers Fred and George to barrel on through on their brooms and send the tall stacks of papers flying.

“Miss Haywood!”

Penny, as devil-may-care as she usually was, hesitated just a bit before running up to the front. Her face hardened with focus and determination, even as her wand hand trembled.

CRACK.

The boggart had transformed into a hulking, furry werewolf, its fangs dripping with blood as it growled ferociously.

Carewyn shot a quick look over at Chiara. Her face had gone very white as she shrank back in her seat.

“RIDDIKULUS!” Penny shouted as loudly as she could, even as her voice cracked.

CRACK. The werewolf became a giant stuffed toy, which flopped down to the floor face-first.

“Mr. Caplan!”

Diego had been ready a good five minutes ago -- he slid right in front of Penny with the grace of a dancer, his wand raised.

CRACK. The boggart became a wrinkled, hunched-over old woman in ragged clothes with a face shaped like Diego’s. She clearly wasn’t human, though -- she smelled horribly, like rotten eggs and petrol, she grunted and groaned like a zombie, and her eyes bulged unnaturally out of their sockets.

“That’s La Tunda!” said Rowan. “Tundas are shapeshifting creatures that make themselves look like your loved ones in order to lure you in, trap you, and then drain you of your blood.”

“Take five points to Slytherin for anticipating one of my future lessons, Miss Khanna,” Rakepick said very lightly.

Diego’s hand clenched that little bit more tightly around his wand, murmuring something very quietly under his breath before pointing his wand at the boggart.

“Riddikulus!”

CRACK.

In an instant, a flock of monarch butterflies flew out of Diego’s wand, attacking the Tunda and knocking it backward off their feet. The rest of the class laughed, though Diego gave a slightly weaker laugh himself.

“Sorry, Abuela,” he said sheepishly. “I don’t like the butterflies anymore than you do...”

“Miss Murk!” said Rakepick.

CRACK. The boggart became four people, all of whom looked very clean-cut and uptight -- the youngest of them, a girl who looked identical to the older sister standing beside her -- had Ismelda’s face.

“Riddikulus!” Ismelda cried, her mouth spread into an almost manic smirk.

CRACK. The four people were all splashed with mud, and the other three members of the family ran off in disgust and humiliation as Boggart Ismelda splashed happily in the mud puddle by herself.

“Mr. Kim!”

CRACK. The boggart became a cold, empty house with no furniture and barren cabinets with no blankets, clothes, or food.

“Riddikulus!” shouted Jae.

CRACK. The house fell apart like a movie set, revealing a bunch of TV crew shouting at each other in Korean about the poor craftsmanship.

“Miss Lobosca!”

CRACK. The boggart became a rather pretty girl with curly brown hair, curled up in a ball in the corner and her wide, terrified eyes streaming with tears.

“Get off of me!” she screamed. “Get away from me -- !”

Selina, Carewyn realized in horror.

Chiara’s face had lost all of its color, but she faced Boggart Selina with a very strained, strangely gentle expression.

“Riddikulus,” she whispered.

CRACK. Selina became Tonks, doubled over in fits of laughter from a Tickling Charm.

“All right!” she choked through her laughter. “All right, you win -- you’re better at the Tickling Charm than I am!”

The real Tonks laughed too. “Oh come on, Chiara -- no need to rub it in!”

Chiara gave both Boggart Tonks and the real Tonks a very small smile before looking up at Carewyn. Seeing the concern in her friend’s face, Chiara gave her her best reassuring smile.

“Are you -- ?” started Carewyn, but before she could finish, Rakepick had already called up that one Gryffindor boy who was terrible at Wingardium Leviosa to take his turn.

CRACK. A laughing crowd of students became a surprise birthday party.

CRACK. A mirror reflection turning invisible became an incomplete portrait being painted by an admirer.

CRACK. A demonic-looking Merula Snyde was suddenly decked out in bright pink and ribbons, crowing about loving lollypops and unicorns. (This one in particular prompted Merula to take out her wand and threaten to hex both Tulip and Carewyn in the face for how hard they were laughing.)

“Miss Khanna!” barked Rakepick, so as to put a stop to the escalating fight.

Rowan dutifully came up to the front of the room, her shoulders locked beside her head and her wand held high with determination.

CRACK.

Whatever Rowan or anyone else had been expecting, it wasn’t what the boggart became. Instead, it transformed into the spitting image of Carewyn.

The class looked from the fake Carewyn to the real one, incredibly taken back. Rowan faltered.

“Carewyn?” she said.

Boggart Carewyn, however, didn’t answer. Instead she merely turned on her heel and started to walk away.

“Carewyn!” said Rowan.

Forgetting herself, she reached out as if to grab Boggart Carewyn’s shoulder, only for her hand to get knocked out of the way. A fake Charlie Weasley had appeared out of nowhere wrapped his arm around Boggart Carewyn’s shoulder and was steering her away.

“Come on, Carey -- let’s go play Quidditch!”

Rowan flinched. Out of nowhere also appeared a fake Bill, wrapping his other arm around Carewyn and continuing to steer her away.

“Now, Charlie, don’t forget, Carey and I still have to deal with the Vaults -- ”

“Hey, Cursebreaker!” a fake Andre’s voice called out in the distance. “Still up for a midnight broom ride tonight?”

“Carewyn!” called another voice in the distance that almost sounded like Barnaby’s. “Carewyn, you just gotta see this new Mooncalf at the Magical Creature Preserve -- ”

“Carewyn, I just finished listening to the CD you sent me over break -- ” said a voice vaguely like Chiara’s. 

“I don’t suppose you have any time to give this a read, Carewyn?” said a voice like Talbott’s.

Soon the voices were all piling up on each other. One kind of like Liz’s -- one kind of like Tonks’s -- kind of like Orion Amari’s -- one like Rosmerta’s, and Hagrid’s, and Rakepick’s --

Rowan’s dark eyes had become very wide behind her glasses. She’d gone very quiet and her wand hand had fallen slack at her side. Carewyn looked from the boggart to Rowan, her concern giving way to alarm, as she dashed forward -- Rakepick, however, stopped her, sweeping in front of Rowan first.

“Step back and collect yourself, Miss Khanna,” she said brusquely. “I don’t need Miss Cromwell throwing herself in front of you to protect you.”

Rowan blinked rapidly, awareness and then shame flooding her face, as Rakepick tossed her hair to look over her shoulder.

“Mr. Copper!” the professor said sharply. “You next!”

Ben looked as if he wanted nothing less than to leave his desk. Still, knowing he had no choice, he swallowed back the lump in his throat and -- raising his wand -- stumbled forward.

Boggart Carewyn -- still flanked by the fake Charlie and Bill -- turned to look over her shoulder at Ben, her blue eyes oddly blank and penetrating. Then, in a moment, the shapes all seemed to contort together, morphing and twisting --

CRACK.

The boggart disappeared completely. The entire class stiffened, staring at the spot where the creature had been. The silence dragged. Then, suddenly...

Attack.

A voice filled the room. It was a cold male voice that dripped through everyone’s ears with the softness of silk and the frigidness of icy water -- a voice that made Ben crumple in on himself like a piece of paper.

“No,” he whispered.

Attack. Again. Attack.

“No -- no, no -- ”

The boggart Carewyn had reappeared -- but this time, she wasn’t the least bit nonchalant. This time she was crumpled up on the ground, her eyes very wide as spells from nowhere rained down on her, cutting at her face and clothes and blasting her wand out of her hand.

The real Carewyn moved forward. “Ben -- !”

Once again, though, Rakepick stopped her, this time by actually taking hold of her arm.

“You can’t save your friends from their own demons, Miss Cromwell,” she said very lowly.

Do it, said the voice filling the room. Finish her. Kill h --

“DEPULSO!” Ben screamed.

BAM.

The boggart Carewyn was blasted backwards. It seemed to flicker, for an instant becoming Merula, and then the clown, and then the werewolf, before hitting the wall. Ben, however, had not lowered his wand -- his brown eyes were wide with terror as he pointed it at the boggart again.

“STUPEFY!”

The stunning spell knocked the boggart right back into the open trunk with so much force that it lost consciousness. Then Ben pointed his wand at the trunk and cast “Colloportus!” to lock it. 

Breathing hard, Ben looked up at Rakepick, who was frowning deeply as she released Carewyn, crossing her arms. 

“I don’t believe I said anything about locking that boggart back in its cabinet, Mr. Copper,” said the professor very coldly.

Ben bowed his head in shame.

“...No, professor,” he said very quietly.

“And yet you did it,” Rakepick challenged him.

Ben swallowed. “I...didn’t know how to make the Imperius Curse funny, professor.”

Rakepick’s eyes narrowed as her eyebrows rose. “Your lack of creativity doesn’t excuse not following the assignment.”

Carewyn was outraged.

“Ben used quite a bit of creativity,” she defended her friend fiercely. “He knew he couldn’t defeat his boggart with laughter like the others did, but he still came up a way to defend himself and everyone else from it. If that isn’t ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts,’ I don’t know what is.”

“If you truly knew all that Defense Against the Dark Arts encompasses, then you would not be a student sitting in my classroom, Miss Cromwell,” Rakepick reminded her very coolly. “Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Copper, for putting an end to our lesson early by stunning and re-trapping our boggart without direction. Mr. Copper and Miss Khanna, you shall face your boggarts again next week with Messrs. Hayden and Egwu and Misses Ali, Tuttle, and Snyde -- and in that class, I expect a proper demonstration of Riddikulus.”

Merula shot a scornful look over at Ben as he sat back down next to Charlie, who patted his shoulder reassuringly. Rowan slunk back down into her seat too, her head bowed in shame. 

“...Yes, ma’am.”

Carewyn looked from Ben to Rowan, her blue eyes rippling with pain. Then, shooting a venomous look at Rakepick, she -- rather than returning to her seat next to Badeea at the front of the class -- switched seats so as to sit down next to Rowan in the second row.

Rowan looked up at Carewyn, startled. The red-haired Prefect didn’t look at her, instead keeping her hard gaze up on Rakepick at the front of the classroom, but she lightly pressed her shoulder up against her friend’s.

That boggart isn’t true, Carewyn prayed Rowan would understand. I won’t leave you -- please don’t believe that...

Rowan, however, couldn’t meet Carewyn’s eye. Instead she shifted away and started to quickly pack her books into her bag.

Carewyn’s heart clenched.

“Rowan -- ”

“Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick curtly. “A quick word, after class.”

Carewyn looked up from the desk to glare at Rakepick. Then, glancing at Rowan reluctantly, she rose from her seat and approached Rakepick in front of her desk. 

Once the rest of the class had filed out, Rakepick spoke again.

“I’m sure you think I was quite unfair to your friends just now,” she said seriously. “Undoubtedly because you yourself probably feel some trace of responsibility, for the forms their boggarts took in the first place.”

Carewyn’s eyes flashed, but she tried not to let the pain show on her face. She did not want Rakepick to have any inkling of just how spot-on her guess was.

“But you will not always be able to protect them from harm, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick. “On the contrary -- it is likely you will be forced by circumstance to solely focus on your own survival. Ben Copper’s attack of you this last spring is more than enough proof of that.”

“And yet you still act like Ben was a villain in that whole affair,” Carewyn challenged her. “Even after seeing visible proof that his greatest fear was being controlled by the Imperius Curse, like when he attacked me, you still take pot shots at him.”

“I’m not the only one in your circle who harbors doubts about Mr. Copper’s story,” Rakepick said very quietly. “Just as I’m certain you’re not the only person in my class that harbors doubts about me.”

Justifiably so, Carewyn thought resentfully, and her eyes narrowed.

“However much you may doubt my intentions, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick, “I am here to instruct you and your class in how best to defend yourselves. And however much potential you possess, both as a leader and a protector, I do not want you sacrificing yourself for people incapable of doing the same. You deserve allies strong enough to protect you just as much as you protect them -- ”

“I don’t want my friends to sacrifice themselves for me, Rakepick,” Carewyn snapped. “And I will not have you advise me on which people deserve my loyalty -- only I have the right to do that.”

Carewyn turned on her heel and prepared to leave. Rakepick didn’t stop her, but once Carewyn reached the door, the professor made the Prefect pause when she spoke again.

“I know you intend to go to Knockturn Alley. Mr. Kim is an admirable choice of back-up -- but if you intend to get there, you’ll need a fireplace connected to the Floo Network: something not easy to find, inside the castle walls. Meet me outside Dumbledore’s office on Monday, and I can get you inside.”

Carewyn cocked her eyebrow suspiciously. “And get both Jae and me caught on our way back to Dumbledore’s office and be banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of our school careers? No, thank you.”

“I have no interest in you being hindered from finding the Cursed Vaults, Miss Cromwell,” Rakepick said lightly. “Nor do I have any interest in Mr. Kim being prevented from moving as he pleases -- he does Gryffindor house proud, and as I said, his knowledge of Knockturn Alley makes him useful.”

Rakepick’s Niffler, Sickleworth, scampered up her arm to curl up on her shoulder. Rakepick scratched under his neck idly.

“My interest is in you succeeding in your undertaking, Miss Cromwell,” she said levelly. “Your success will bring both of us closer to the Cursed Vaults -- so it’s only right that I ensure that outcome by giving you the means to succeed.”

Carewyn crossed her arms, the suspicion not shifting from her face. Then, after a long moment, she said,

“...Fine. Jae and I will meet you outside Dumbledore’s office on Monday. But we have our own way back into school -- so don’t bother tipping Filch off to when a pair of shady-looking students might be popping up back through Dumbledore’s fireplace.”

Rakepick smiled wryly as Carewyn left the room, closing the door with a sharp snap behind her.