#ravenrock

[thedragonandthesnake-comic]

Raven rock, day and night :)

[sebbianas]

the 1989 (taylor’s version) experience for our dear marauders

[starsarestories]

Someone needs to write a marauders fic where there is a purge and a group of them that have never met each other hide together deep in the woods or a mansion or something and it's like the marauders guys and gals and the Slytherin Skittles, maybe Benji too. There needs to be violence, romance, angst, maybe some depressing ending. I just need to read this. Yes, I'm messed up. Blame literally every marauders fanfic ever.

[lackadaisicallizard]

Love

Heavily inspired by/ dedicated to @sebbianas

The marauders are all there for Peter’s engagement, because of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re his closest friends. His family.

Even now, even ten years after they’ve left school and scattered around the country, they’re here. They wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“Have you stopped crying yet?” James asks Peter, walking over to where he’s ordering a drink at the bar.

The surprise engagement party following the proposal is at a local pub, one that they’ve all frequented over the years, and James has made sure that everyone who loves Peter was invited to share in this important moment in his oldest friend’s life.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Peter smiles as he hands James his drink and orders another.

James laughs. “I don’t blame you one bit, mate. I was the same at my engagement, and I was the one proposing.”

Peter chuckles, shaking his head. “I wish I could’ve seen that.”

“Oh, I was an absolute mess.”

“You still were an hour later when you told us.”

“That was me composed!”

Peter laughs again. “You really weren’t.”

James rolls his eyes and shifts his gaze to his husband, who is currently talking to Remus and Evan at one of the tables across the room. He laughs at something Remus says, expression as warm as it gets in public, and James can’t help the smile that appears on his face at the sight.

He’s so in love.

“I sometimes wonder why Reg said yes, honestly.”

Peter scoffs.

James frowns at him. “What?”

“You’re very easy to love, James. I know that first hand.”

“I mean yeah, but I mean more romantically.”

“So do I.”

James’ expression shifts to one of confusion now. “I’m lost.”

“Wait.” Peter looks at him. “You didn’t know I was in love with you?” He rolls his eyes, fondness evident in them. “Of course you didn’t, you’re so oblivious.”

James is silent for a good ten seconds, his brain racing to catch up to whatever the fuck is happening right now.

“Hold on, hold on, wait.” James meets Peter’s now amused expression. “You were what?”

Peter nods. “Oh yeah, I was big time in love with you for years. I don’t know exactly when it started, but it was some time when we were growing up. Remus dealt with a lot of it when we started school. He figured it out pretty much immediately.”

The coherent part of James’ brain is working overtime. “Hold up, Moony knew?”

“Pretty much everyone knew, Prongs. It was glaringly obvious. Well, I don’t think Sirius did actually, but he’s just as bad as you are.”

James pauses as he considers his friend’s words, “Wait, you’re not still…?”

“Oh, no! God no. I’m very much in love with my fiancé now.” He smiles as he says the word fiancé, his eyes flicking to where Benjy is chatting with Sirius before landing back on James.

“Oh good.” James takes a breath.

“I’d fear for my life if I did, honestly,” Peter smirks as James raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Regulus is a little bit protective of you.”

James laughs at this. He supposes he is, not that James is complaining in the slightest.

“You two were meant for each other, you know,” Peter says, and James nods. He does know. He knows it more than he knows anything else in the world. He was made to love Regulus Black, and he’s so lucky that he gets to every day of his life.

“It’s that, right there,” Peter says with a smile, “the look you get when you even think about him. It’s that look that made me sober up and realise I couldn’t love you any more,” his smile turns into a grin, “well that and the very loud pining. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so happy to be constantly insulted.”

James laughs. “They were affectionate insults!”

“Either way, they worked. You found the love of your life, and I realised you weren’t the love of mine. Two birds, I guess.”

A second of silence passes between them. Peter speaks again.

“He reminded me of you at first, you know?”

James raises his eyebrows at that. He loves Benjy, but they are very different people. “Really?”

“Yeah, he knew I wasn’t interested and pursued me anyway.” He laughs and James hits his arm.

“I’ll have you know, Regulus was very interested.”

“And Lily?”

“In my defence, I had no idea she was a lesbian.”

“Oblivious.”

James pouts before speaking, his voice quieter than it was a moment ago, “I’m sorry.”

Peter’s returning smile is soft. “Don’t be. I’m so glad you didn’t love me because I’m so happy now. More than I ever thought possible.” His eyes move to Benjy again and there’s just so much love in them that James almost has to look away for a second to avoid intruding on his friend’s inner thoughts.

“You two are meant for each other, you know,” James repeats Peter’s previous sentiment and his smile widens.

“I know.”

The silence between them is broken by the cheerful sounds of the pub, the sounds of their friends all coming together to witness and celebrate the love that Peter’s found, the love that he deserves.

“You were wrong before though,” James says and Peter turns to look at him, waiting for him to finish his thought, “I do love you. I always will.”

Peter smiles. “I love you too, James.”

Something warm settles in James’ chest and he takes a sip of his drink. His tone turns teasing, “I’m just confirming that it’s platonic love.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Peter pushes off the bar and starts walking towards their friends.

“Love you!” James calls after him.

“Stop hitting on me, I’m engaged!” Peter calls back.

James laughs as he watches him walk away, joining his fiancé and settling into the arm that wraps around his waist, Benjy pressing a kiss to his head before continuing his conversation.

James is so happy for them. He’s so happy for all of them. In fact, he loves and appreciates every single person in this room.

Platonically, for the most part.

[wolfstaranddrarrylover-aria]

Sirius: REM? Remus: yea….? Sirius: who’s the prettiest person in this room Remus: me? Sirius: wrong answer Remus: Lily Sirius: Remus: Lily: Remus: CANT you guys take a joke Peter: I knew you were joking it’s obviously benjy James: nuh-uh Peter: then who is it mr u can’t comb my hair even if my life depended on it James: Reggie of course Sirius: Lily: Remus: Peter: Benjy: Regulus: Sirius: YOU LITTLE BROTHERFU- Remus: *stares at the camera like he’s on a game show* And at that moment, James knew he had fucked up

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

Peter: do you like my shirt?

Benjy: yeah

Peter: thanks. Back home they call me the “tie-dye shirt kid”

Benjy:

Peter: well that and faggot

[moonssong2]

Peter is a literal masterchef when it comes to baking

Benjy can't even make a dough out of water and flour without something going wrong

[cazzythefrogking]

marauders incorrect quotes pt 260

Someone: Dom or sub? Peter: I guess Domino's, since I don't go to Subway that much. Don't see why you'd put them in the same category though.

[aidens-ocean-galaxy]

Peter Pettigrew is either dating Benjy Fenwick or is aroace

don’t tell me any different

[ethan-torchios-bitch]

benjy: stop setting things on fire because you’re curious about what will happen. what will happen is fire

peter: but what if something else happens just this one time

benjy: peter i will cut you

peter: all you’ll do is give me a scar and make me look more badass

benjy: …i will paint your walls a very dull brown

peter: NOO!!

[number1abbasupporter]

i just love doing polls

anyway whos yalls fav!!

[sebbianas]

you just know james, sirius, and remus spied on peter and benjy’s first date with stupid disguises like big fake mustache and shit like that

peter just apologizing and benjy just laughing and telling him its all good he thinks its funny

[starsarestories]

PART TWO - My opinions on who would take whose last name (Marauders era edition):

Marylily - They would absolutely hyphenate their names, but they would argue whose name goes first (Mary wants it to be Lily's so she can shorten it to Mary Evans, and Lily wants the opposite so she can shorten her name to Lily Macdonald). They end up settling on Lily Macdonald-Evans and Mary Evans-Macdonald.

Ravenrock - They would take Peter's last name because his parents don't want the name to die out. So, they would be Peter Pettigrew and Benji Pettigrew.

Marylene - They would hyphenate their names, McKinnon first because it means something in the wizarding world and can prove to be an advantage at times. They would choose both names so their initials are 'MMM'.

Jily - Lily would argue that she wants to keep her last name, as she had no brothers to keep the 'Evans' name going, nor any cousins. However, eventually she would give into the desire to be 'Lily Potter' and would take James' surname.

Bartylus - They would argue over whose name to take because Regulus wants the Black name to die out, and Barty wants to get rid of the burden of the name 'Crouch' as soon as possible. They would argue so much about it and in the end take each other's last names. Regulus Crouch and Bartemius Black.

Xenodora - We all know that Pandora takes Lovegood because it is the prettiest name ever (also, she wanted to drop the Rosier name).

[lackadaisicallizard]

Smart

A ravenrock microfic (peter x benjy)

“My mind is blank.” Peter’s head is in his hands, his tone defeated. 

“Come on babe, you know this one,” Benjy replies, his voice as calm and patient as ever. It’s a little infuriating how collected he is sometimes.

“When will I ever need to know the properties of a boomslang in my day to day life?” 

Benjy chuckles. “If you ever get bitten by one, you might change your tune.” 

Peter cocks an eyebrow at his amused boyfriend. “I’m never going to be stupid enough to get bitten by one.” 

“Didn’t you say James did when he was a kid once?” 

“Exactly.” 

Benjy laughs again, shaking his head. “I love you.” 

Peter hums. “Will you still love me if I fail this potions essay?” 

“You’re not going to fail the potions essay! You’ve got the best tutor in the school.” 

Peter’s lips curl up into a smirk. “Oh yeah, and when does he show up then?” 

“Oh fuck you, Pettigrew.” 

The smirk widens. “Is that an offer?” 

Benjy rolls his eyes but leans in all the same, waiting for Peter to meet him halfway before pressing their lips together. It starts as a slow kiss because even if they are tucked away in the corner, they’re still in the school library. 

Then one of Peter’s hands finds Benjy’s cheek and he feels a hand on his knee as the Ravenclaw moves in even closer. Peter can’t help but smile into the kiss, the warmth of the moment contrasting with the coolness of the library. As their kiss deepens, Peter’s fingers gently trace the outline of the other boy’s jaw, and the faintest gasp escapes Benjy’s lips as Peter’s fingers find the nape of his neck, weaving his fingers into soft brown hair and holding him there. 

Time seems to slow, and the awareness of their surroundings fades away, leaving only this moment. Only Benjy. 

Always Benjy. 

Driving him crazy with his beautiful face and even more beautiful brain. 

God, he wishes he could just live inside the brain of Benjy Fenwick, even just for a day. Just to see inside the mind of someone truly beautiful and witty and just good. 

Peter knows he doesn’t deserve him, but he’s far too selfish to give him up now. 

Because even if he can’t live inside Benjy’s mind, Benjy lives in his. He always will. 

They pull apart then, their breathing a little ragged, their heart rates slightly more elevated than they were a few minutes ago. 

“Can we ditch the studying yet?” Peter asks, already knowing the answer. 

Benjy smiles as he leans back in his chair, his eyes still very much sparkling as they stay on Peter’s face. “Not a chance, Pettigrew.”

It was worth a shot. 

“What if I told you that boomslang skin is used in both polyjuice and beautification potions?” 

Benjy blinks at him. “Did you know that the whole time?” 

Peter puts on his best innocent expression. “Maybe.” 

“Then why on Earth did you pretend you didn’t?” 

“Because when I don’t know things you tell me the answers, and I love when you tell me things.”

“Really?”

Peter nods. “Seriously. I could hear you go on about shrivelfigs for hours. Your mind is ridiculously sexy.”  

Benjy is quiet for a good ten seconds then as he stares at his boyfriend with a stunned expression. Peter is just starting to worry about the silence when Benjy stands up and holds out his hand. Peter takes it, bewildered, as he also stands and follows the other boy’s lead through the library. 

Peter finds his voice as they pass through the door. “Um, Benjy, where are we going?” 

“Back to your dorm.” Benjy’s tone is firm. 

“What about the studying?” Peter asks the question but has no intention on stopping the current unexpected chain of events. 

“We’ll get back to that later.”

“Is this because I called your brain sexy?” 

“Partly, yes.” 

“And the other part?” 

Benjy stops them then. They’re at the base of the stairs to Gryffindor tower. “What is a Chizpurfle carapace used for?”

Peter furrows his brow. “Um, what?” 

“Just answer the question, Pettigrew.” 

“Um, they’re often used in antidotes to common poisons, but they’re quite hard to break open so they’re often fed to venomous tentaculas first.” 

Benjy takes an audible breath at that, eyes widening slightly. “And Horklump juice?” 

“It’s used in the making of various magical ointments. Benjy, what is this-“ 

His question is cut off as he finds himself pushed up against the castle wall, Benjy’s mouth finding his once again. They kiss for an extended moment before coming up for air, Peter using the break to ask a question. 

“Not that I’m complaining about this in the slightest, but are you telling me that me knowing the properties of potions ingredients is turning you on right now?” 

Benjy shrugs. “Yeah, kind of. Is that a problem?” 

Peter smiles, noting the lightly flushed skin only inches away from his own. Benjy’s lips have been kissed a darker shade of pink and his usually neat hair is slightly disheveled. 

“Nope. Not a problem at all.” 

“Good.” Another chaste kiss. “Just one thing.” 

“Yes?” Peter doesn’t even need to know what it is that he wants, he would give Benjy absolutely anything. 

“Don’t hide how smart you are from me. Ever.” 

Peter smiles. “Oh you want a little competition, huh?” 

Benjy snorts. “I wouldn’t go that far, Pettigrew.” 

“Are you underestimating me, Fenwick?” 

A smirk. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

And he knows in that moment that he means it, because people underestimate Peter all the time. He’s used to it. He often prefers it, even. 

But with Benjy- well he’s finally met his match. 

Because Benjy sees him. Not his friends, not his pranks, not Wormtail or Pete, but him. 

Peter Pettigrew.

Whose world is slowly beginning to revolve around a wonderful, kind, blue-eyed, pink-cheeked, brown-haired boy. And as they stand there, wrapped in the moment of each other, Peter is nothing but grateful for the boy who sees him for who he truly is.

[rosekillerismylife]

@marauders-rarepair-fics prompt: rude word count: 233 pair: ravenrock (PeterxBenjy)

“Hello, what do you want?”

“You.”

“You are at Starbucks, sir, may I please take your order?”

“Oh, of course you may. But I’d rather take an order from you.”

“Sir, either you tell me what you want or you can go.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna know.”

“What. Can. I. Get. You?”

“Say, dear sir, can I get your number?”

“No, you cannot. But maybe I can interest you in one of our overpriced coffees?”

“Well, I don’t know how customer service usually works but maybe describing the coffee as overpriced isn’t the smartest thing to do. It actually could come of really rude and could also probably get you fired.”

“Do you want one or not?”

“I’ll have a caramel frappuccino with your number on the cup.”

“Alright, a caramel frappuccino. Coming right up.”

“Don’t forget to add your number, guapo.”

*whispered* “Wanker.”

- after ten minutes –

“Here you go, sir. That’ll be £7,50.”

*looks at the cup* “You forgot something.”

“What?”

“Where’s the number I asked for?”

“That’ll be £7,50.”

“Alright, there you go. Keep the change, pretty boy.”

“Thank you. Have a nice day.”

“You know, a smile couldn’t hurt.”

“Goodbye, sir.”

“Call me.”

“How would I – you slipped me your phone number, didn’t you?”

*from outside* “Absofuckinglutely!”

There’s a tiny piece of paper between the pound notes. Benjy picked it up. It says: ‘Peter Pettigrew. Call me: +44 **********’.

[bri-cheeses]

Christmas Post!!

Okay so I just had this idea so sorry if it’s a little sloppy, but anyways here we go.

The Hufflepuff six and seventh years organize a huge Christmas party the night before everyone goes home. They leave the fifth years out of it because they’re way too stressed about school and homework and O.W.L.s, but the rest of the “upperclassmen” want to party. So they get to work inviting six and seventh years from all of the other houses, which is easy because they’re Hufflepuffs who have countless friends that they can invite.

But anyways, this is the Marauders’ seventh year and the Skittles’ sixth year, so both groups are invited. The day before they have to leave for Christmas break, almost every six and seventh year in the castle heads to the seventh floor, to this one very specific hallway where there’s a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and a couple of pacing Hufflepuffs directing people to a door that is, quite simply, just suddenly there. (James and Sirius recommended it to the Hufflepuffs when they were looking for a place to host the party, but they conveniently forgot to correct the Hufflepuffs when they assumed that it was a very specific and odd room that only appeared the day before Christmas break).

When the students walk in, they realize that they were right to dress up in fancy outfits like the invitation card said, because it is decked out in there. Where exactly “there” is, no one is quite sure, but it seems to be a giant ballroom that no one knew about until today. There’s a large section a floor that’s been left open for dancing, and one side of it is ringed with a wide range of different styles of tables and chairs. There are low, rectangle tables that sit twenty or so, along with high, round tables that sit only two or three. The overall effect should be chaotic, but somehow the tables are arranged in a way that makes it look purposeful and aesthetic. There are also centerpieces at each table, poinsettias and candy cane towers and miniature figurines of reindeer and Santa’s sleigh, and it makes the whole place feel extremely festive.

In addition to this, there’s a long table that’s near the other tables (for convenience) that holds heaps of food. Since the Hufflepuff common room is so close to the kitchens, they’re quite good friends with the house elves and convinced them to cook a feast for tonight. Some of the Hufflepuffs even helped the house elves to make the food, and they had a blast hanging out and cooking with the elves.

Hung from the ceiling are garlands and strands of pearls, and mistletoe that grows in random places. There are also little fairies hovering up there, and it makes for quite a beautiful overhead scene. And, opposite of the side of the room with the tables, one wall is made completely of glass. It looks out over the dark lake, which adds to the beauty of the room because of the light of hundreds of stars in the night sky reflecting off of the black water.

It’s so beautiful that the Slytherin Skittles almost forget to breathe when they walk in, wearing their finest because Evan, their resident fashion expert, insisted on following the directions on the card they were given. They all look absolutely stunning, and certain Gryffindors ( *ahem* James *ahem* Marlene) are certainly not staring as they make their entrance. (For reference, the outfits I’m imaging the Skittles in are based on this post by @melemart ).

Pandora drags Evan off to go find Xenophilius, and Barty follows them because he’s a weak man who follows Evan everywhere like a lost puppy. Especially when Evan is looking like that.

This leaves Regulus and Dorcas with the task of finding a table for them, but since Evan insisted on arriving at a “fashionably late” time, most of the tables are already full. The only table with enough room for the six of them (5 Skittles, 1 Xenophilius), is one of the low tables that seats a ridiculous amount. And there’s already plates there, but they’ve been temporarily abandoned. Besides, the plates are all on one toward one end of the table, and there’s plenty of room for the Skittles to sit.

So they do, waiting for Pandora, Evan, and Barty to return with Xeno. When they do, they get up to go to the table with all the food, picking up delicate china plates that have swirling, moving paintings of winter scenes on them. They load up with all the food they can muster, and Barty gets particularly excited when he sees that they have arancini that look (somewhat surprisingly, he mutters) like they’re traditionally supposed to.

After the Skittles have filled up their plates with soups and salad and stir fry and pizza and steak and chicken and tacos and pasta and dumplings and everything else you can imagine, they return to their table. However, they return to find it filled with the owners of the plates of food—the so called “Marauders” and their friends.

Dorcas ends up next to Marlene, across from Regulus, who shoots them a worried glance. It’s no secret that Dorcas and Marlene are bitter rivals on the Quidditch pitch, and he, along with everyone else, is worried that they’re going to get into some sort of fight. It is a secret, however, that Marlene and Dorcas have been meeting up for the past month or so, and are no longer rivals—if they ever really were. In fact, Dorcas has been planning for a while now to ask Marlene to be her girlfriend once they get back from Christmas break. It’s hard keeping something as wonderful as her growing relationship with Marlene a secret from anyone—especially her closest friends. She’s not sure that she’s done the best job at hiding it, either, typically leaving whatever room she’s in when she realizes that Marlene has a free period, poorly made excuses flying out her mouth as she leaves in a hurry.

But Dorcas gets lucky tonight, because if she tenses up from sitting next to Marlene, her friends simply chalk it up to that old Quidditch rivalry.

Marlene smirks when she notices how rigid Dorcas has gone beside her. Then she simply starts digging in to her food, that infuriating smirk still on her face, and Dorcas wants to kill her. Not really though. But almost.

Across from them, Regulus has long since stopped eyeing them with a worried look. He has taken to staring intently down the table at a diagonal angle. For all their obliviousness when it comes to Dorcas, however, the rest of the Skittles know exactly who Regulus is staring at, and why. Barty huffs a laugh when he sees what Regulus is doing, and shakes his head. Regulus shoots him a glare before going back to what he was doing, this time managing to be slightly more discreet as he eats.

Barty and Evan sit next to each other, Barty gesturing animatedly about something while Evan watches with an amused expression. Barty is sitting next to Dorcas, and Evan is at the end of the table, which suits him just fine. It means that he can keep his full attention on Barty without feeling like he’s ignoring the person next to him.

He wonders distantly about what’s in the eggnog that Barty swiped a few glasses of as Barty’s gestures get bigger and bigger, and his words starts to get tinged with a hint of a Sicilian accent. It’s cute, and Evan sits there with an absentminded smile on his face as he nods along to Barty’s rant about he and his grandma make the perfect arancini.

Across from them, next to Regulus, is Pandora and Xeno. They’re currently in a debate about which would be more interesting to see—an octopus made up of jello, or a caterpillar made of a cheese puff. Pandora argues for the octopus, because one, jello is her favorite food (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like jello?) and two, octopi are fascinating creatures. (“Seriously, Xeno, just imagine what it would be like to see a jello octopus juggling eight different things at the same time!”) But Xeno argues for the caterpillar, because what would it be like when it changed into a butterfly? Would it have a chrysalis that’s made of cheese? Or would it be made of puff? Or would it be made out of Cheez-It Puffs? And would the butterfly be a cheese puff too, or would it just be orange? Eventually Dorcas and Marlene get pulled into their conversation, despite being several seats down, and Marlene argues vehemently for the octopus while Dorcas sides with Xeno, because really, what would its chrysalis be made out of?

And Evan and Barty get up to go get more eggnog and to see what the new, sudden fuss about the food table is, and they see that it’s turned into a dessert table now. And Barty once again gets extremely excited because look, Evan, they have gelato! And so while Barty piles up on that, Evan grabs some cheesecake and a brownie.

They return to their table bringing the good news, and it causes a small stampede as those who are finished with their meals get up to go get dessert. Barty and Evan enlist Regulus to help them bring back eggnog, and they come back with a tray of glasses that they set in the middle of the table.

And eventually everyone returns, and most people snag a glass, and there is definitely something in that eggnog, Evan decides, because the conversation starts flowing so easily between both sides of the table that it starts to feel like they’ve all been good friends for a long while.

And then there’s mistletoe growing over Marlene and Dorcas’ heads and they don’t notice until it’s almost in their faces, and suddenly Regulus is laughing his head off because their faces are so red. He just doesn’t understand what the real reason why they’re blushing so hard is until Marlene says “Fuck it” and leans in to kiss Dorcas on the mouth. And then everyone is hooping and hollering and it’s chaos, but it dies down after a while.

And so Barty and Evan sneak off to go to the dance floor, and Pandora and Xeno leave to go find some of Xeno’s friends, and Sirius drags Remus off to go show him some of the constellations that you can see out the window.

And it’s a good thing that Sirius leaves, because maybe Regulus has finally had enough of waiting, or maybe there truly is something in that eggnog, because suddenly Regulus stands up abruptly, scraping his chair on the floor, and goes around to the other side of the table. No one knows what he’s doing until he grabs James’s face in his hands and kisses him hard, and then James is reaching up to grab Regulus’s face too and they’re practically making out in front of everyone.

And when Barty and Evan hear about it, they’re furious. Because what do you mean Regulus finally made a move, and they weren’t there to see it? After putting up with his whining and pining for years, they don’t even get to see the fruits of their labor?

And so Evan has to go running off in search of some more gelato for his boyfriend in an attempt to cool him down, and then they go over to the window to where there are some high tables that sit two, and they have a good time sharing gelato and looking out at the castle grounds.

Further down from them, Sirius is still pointing out constellations, oblivious to the uproar that just happened at their table, while Remus watches him with a fond look in his eyes.

Marlene and Dorcas take to the dance floor, and Dorcas has just worked up the courage to ask when Marlene blurts out “Do-you-wanna-go-on-a-date—I-mean-like-a-real-date—it’s-okay-if-you-don’t-but-I-just-thought-that-I’d-ask-please-say-yes.” And Dorcas stands shocked for minute, trying to process what Marlene just said. Marlene has just started to get truly worried when Dorcas smiles and leans in to kiss her for a good long minute, before she pulls back and grins and says “I would love that.”

And Pandora and Xeno have also started to dance, but they aren’t dancing in the typical sense of the word. They’re twirling around with their arms up, laughing and having a great time confusing everyone with what they’re doing.

James and Regulus are still at the table, talking to each other, and Regulus actually looks really, really happy for once.

Lily and Mary are standing by the desert table, having what looks like a very deep conversation, and Marlene and Dorcas start to bet on when they’ll get together. Marlene has fifty bucks on January, but Dorcas doesn’t think that it will be until at least Valentine’s Day.

Peter and his date, Benjy Fenwick, have struck up a conversation with some Hufflepuffs, who just brought out a game of Apples to Apples, and they couldn’t be having a better time.

When they all leave several hours later, they all agree that it’s the best Christmas party they’ve ever been to, and the Hufflepuffs start talking about making it a yearly tradition.

Leaving Hogwarts the next day is harder than it’s ever been, but spending Christmas with their families is a nice trade off. Barty gets to spend his Christmas with his grandma this year, since his father is away on a business trip, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Evan and Pandora spend their break in Switzerland, on their yearly skiing trip, and Regulus finally accepts the Potter’s invitation to spend Christmas with them. Dorcas and Marlene promise to send owls to each other, and the constant rapping of owls at their windows never fails to bring a smile to their faces.

All in all, it’s the best Christmas any of them have ever had, and they couldn’t be happier.