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rreeaahh · 1 year ago

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We are both filthy now | R. A. B.

Third chapter of "One way ticket" | Ch. 1 / Ch. 2

READ THE AUTHOR NOTE, THANK YOU.

taglist> @my-beloved-fandoms

pair> regulus black x lestrange! reader (slytherin)

summary> a birthday party means, for most people, a way to celebrate your existence - for purebloods, however, is a good way to spent time together with their master. regulus and y/n are not fond of the event, but no matter the traumatic experience they both go trough, they are still enemies - and y/n should've know that.

word count> 4.5k (wtf)

warnings> some type of angst; slow burn af; family toxicity; female discrimination; description of getting the dark mark; regulus hitting reader's hand; not proofread!

a/n> hi m'loves<3 do not forget that the tag list is open, feel free to ask to be added! im sorry for the long wait, it was one tricky chapter to write and from now on im gonna stop hunting the perfection, ill just enjoy writing. im more than happy to see all the notification from you on this series, and im beyond grateful - ill love to read your reaction, it makes me incredibly happy and helps me write. any comment is more than welcomed<3 any reblog helps this series to get to more people and it only takes a minute to do so. thank u for reading, ily all<3

Dear Y/N,

I hope my letter finds you well – your cousin’s pathetic owl is one lazy bird, let me tell you, but Rodolphus seems to be quite fond of it, and won’t let me get a new one.

Anyway, I write to you in hope that you’ll make me the pleasure to attend my birthday next weekend – I already spoke with Rodolphus and your father and they assured me you’ll come, but I still think it’s better to write to you personally.

We’ll also have a little meeting, besides the party itself, so I’m sure you’ll find it rather educative than a silly simple ball – do not worry, I know you tend to get anxious when surrounded by people you don’t know that well, but my cousin Regulus is coming too! I’m sure you two young purebloods will have all the fun you need.

Don’t worry writing me back, just come along with Regulus back from Hogwarts. Your presence if the only gift I need.

Lots of hugs,

Bellatrix L.

Y/N puts the letter on her desk and grabs the other envelope – this one also has her family’s wax seal, the L and the raven on top of it sending her chills on her spine.

Y/N,

Don’t even think of not attending Bellatrix’ party. You cannot let this family down. Your cousin, Rabastan, will wait for you on the Platform 9 ¾, since me and Rodolphus have a lot of work to do for the meeting. Saturday morning, no later than 10 A.M. The meeting will be at our house.

Don’t disappoint me.

Cyrus Lestrange

She scoffs and lets the paper fall from her fingers. She was only a child when her cousin, Rodolphus, married Bellatrix, Regulus’ cousin. They were the youngest at that party so all the adults expected them to spent time together. Truth is, however, that Regulus was shy and quiet and only stayed by her side, listening to all of her questions and never responding back. After the wedding, when her father seemed to be so pleased with little Regulus, with his manners and his obedient nature, Y/N decided that she hated Regulus Black. He was just a little prick, and she decided that she’ll be better than him – always.

As her roommates are deep asleep, Y/N stays at her desk and watches the two letters. She grabs again the one from her father and watches how the flame of the candle on her desk dances on it, the paper getting warmer and warmer, until it’s lit on fire. She hates to keep her father’s letters – it’s like she’d want to ever see them again.

With the burning paper still between her fingers, she gets out of her dorm and walk on the dark corridor of the Slytherin Girls’ Wing and goes to the Common Room, where the fire seems to be burning with green flames. The Black Lake is silent behind the large windows, only the water’s movement being heard. She throws the letter in the chimney and smiles at the sight of the fire eating up her father’s words. It’s like she’s watching him get eaten up by the flames.

“It’s late, Lestrange.”

Y/N jumps on her feet and gets a grip of her night robes. The light green material covers her body now that she’s tugging her fingers into it. From the dark green sofa, Regulus Black watches her with a bored expression. He was reading a book and in front of him, on the small black table, is a cup filled with tea, she could guess.

“Always staying in the shadows, like a rat,” Y/N mutters and walks to him, staying on the couch in front of him. While she sits down, she lets the robe fall from her shoulder, exposing the skin. She’s dressed in a dark purple pajama set, made out of silk, and the little string of her tank top falls with the robe. Regulus seems to notice the bare skin just exposed and he gets his eyes to look at her face fast, before she could sense his gaze. He feels… disgusted.

“Always speaking like you own the whole place,” he talks back and smirks, “when we both know it’s nothing like that.” His voice is flat – no matter his facial expressions, Regulus Black always had a boring voice when he’d talk to her.

Y/N just watches him for a second. He’s still in his Quidditch equipment, even if the Slytherin team came back from practice a few hours ago. His hair is messy, his eyes are circled by a dark color, in comparison with his light skin, and he looks tired.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” she lets the question escape her lips without even thinking.

“I could ask you the same thing, if I really cared,” he says and grabs his cup, drinking slowly from it.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Black,” Y/N laughs and puts her hands over her chest. Regulus notices that, too. “I’m sure you got an owl from Bellatrix.”

“Yes, Bella wrote me about her birthday. Unfortunately, if you’re telling me about it, it means she wrote to you, too,” he says in a quiet voice, letting out the air in his lungs.

“She’s part of my family, too, Black,” Y/N says and surprises herself – she never gave that much importance to the family relations. She only had herself, at the end of the day, no matter how much her father would scold her for being an absent member of the House of Lestrange.

Her father never really showed her love – he was meant to be her father, but he was just a kind of legal tutor who raised her and was responsible for her well-being, and her cousins looked down on her – she was just a silly girl, meant only to bear children and get more powerful connections for her family. Her uncle and her aunt were distant, and maybe that was better than giving her reasons to hate them, like the rest did.

“Please, do not remind me – I still can’t get over that.” Regulus seems annoyed, bored, tired of her presence. And, yet, he stands there, face to face with her, watching each other – studying each other with such attention like they’re looking for a weak point.

“Why are you such a hypocrite, Regulus?” Y/N suddenly asks. He just smiles in the corner of his mouth, grabs his cup of tea and gets up from the sofa.

She feels him getting closer to her and in a second his breathing is hitting her face. “Don’t act like I’m the only one putting an act on, Miss Little Perfect,” he says amused.

Her brows drop. The skin on her forehead wrinkles and her eyes watch his, wanting to see behind them – they are empty. “I know you look up to me, Regulus, but there’s no need to remind me,” now she’s the one to smirk, and he’s the one to frown.

“Please,” he scoffs, “I wouldn’t look up to a pathetic orphan even if you’d be hanging out from the ceiling,” he mutters and gets back up on his feet, looking down to her. Regulus is not the tallest boy Y/N knows, but that position gives him a more decent posture.

“That orphan is better than you,” she whispers. “That’s why your momma always prays the ground I walk on, right?” she laughs and she can sense his body getting alarmed by her words. “My dad just wanted an heir, someone to get his name far – but Walburga wants more than that, right? Now that Sirius, your disappointment of a brother, left, she only has you, but she doesn’t seem to be fulfilled,” the air leaves her lungs when Regulus drops the cup of tea and gets on top of her. The liquid spills on the stone floor.

His hands grab her bare shoulders, his leg is between her hips and he presses her body into the couch. Her back is arched into the plush material of the sofa and her eyes widen at the proximity. His jaw is tightened and his breathing is deep while Regulus watches her face with a spark into his eyes. “Do not, ever again in your filthy, pathetic, good for nothing life, talk about my family,” he mumbles and his grip only gets tighter – his nails digs into the skin of her shoulders like he wants to rip it off.

Y/N shoves him away and quickly gets up from the couch. Regulus is on the floor, right into the tea puddle he made, and he seems to be caught with his guard off. “Do not, ever again in your pathetic, sad, good for nothing life, call me an orphan – I have a family, Black. The blood in my veins is just as pure as yours, and my name is just as important as yours.”

And she leaves him there, into the Common Room, to take a bath into his own mess. She needs to go back to sleep – tomorrow she has to go back home and get ready for a birthday party.

The whole night she tried to forget Regulus’ hands onto her skin – her shoulders felt like burning, like they got marked by his touch. She tried not to think about the anger in her soul the whole ride back to London, when she was forced to be in the same wagon with Regulus – apparently, they both wanted to travel into the Prefects’ cabin. At least, they both kept their mouths shut and didn’t even looked at each other.

She didn’t have to have a very warm welcoming back home – Rabastan waited for her at the station and kept his eyes on the road the whole time. He only asked about other Slytherin kids in her year and some older ones – he wanted to know if she was behaving well enough towards them. Once she got to enter the big mansion she called ‘home’, there was chaos – all the house elves were running left and right with platters, candles, flowers in their hands and all of them stopped to look at her and welcome her mechanically. She just got up to her room and closed the door behind her. When she dropped on her bed, there was silence – there was no longer Regulus Black, or Cyrus Lestrange or any other dumb man who made her angry.

Once she woke up, she started to get ready for the gathering she was forced to attempt. She got dressed in a dark grey dress, elegant enough not to make her father a fool and yet, simple enough not to make Bellatrix feel left out – it was her birthday, after all.

“There you are,” says her father as she gets out of her bedroom. “I thought you’re still asleep.”

“I was getting ready.”

Cyrus looks her up and down in a judgmental way – he points to her neck. “Make sure the chain is visible, nothing else.”

Y/N forces a smile and a hand travels to the gold flower at her neck. “Yes, father.” He gives her his elbow and the two of them go down, where the elves decorated the whole floor with black and purple roses and white candles. There’s a long table near a wall, right at the fireplace, where are plates with food and glasses of expensive champagne.

“Here,” Cyrus whispers and gives Y/N a red box, and before she could question his action Bellatrix is right in front of her, laughing happily.

“Y/N! I’m so glad to see you, how are you?”

Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black, is a very… bipolar witch. Once, she’s loud, smiley, in a good mood, and then she acts like the Devil himself. Y/N could never figure out why her cousin, Rodolphus, wanted to marry her – there were plenty of purebloods who wished to be married to him, but all his attention was on Bellatrix ever since they were in school together, despite the fact that she didn’t show any kind of interest in him during those years. Now, Rodolphus would do anything Bellatrix asks without blinking twice.

“Happy birthday, Bellatrix,” Y/N smiles and hugs her in a soft manner. While giving her the small box, she can see her cousin behind his wife, watching them carefully.

“I told you there was no need for gifts,” Bellatrix says and gives Rodolphus the box to take care of it. “I assume you just got down here,” she continues and grabs her hand, getting her away from her father – he doesn’t seem concerned about that. Cyrus always said that Bellatrix was a good wife and that Y/N had a lot to learn from her. What he did not know is that Y/N really wanted to learn a lot from Bellatrix – she wanted to know more about the power a witch could hold.

“Yes,” she said and looked around her own house. It was full of wizards, all of them being purebloods and talking to each other with a clear superiority in their voice. “I hope I’m not late to the party.”

Bellatrix scoffs. “The true party begins only when he gets here,” she smirks and Y/N freezes, knowing who she’s talking about. Tom Riddle was certainly not her favorite person, no matter how much he convinced her father that she will be a good daughter for him.

“Wonderful,” she manages to say and walks beside Bellatrix to greet her guests. She smiles and greets Bellatrix’ parents and gets a deep breath when her aunt and uncle come to wish her a happy birthday.

“Y/N, how are you, dear?” Walburga asks and kisses her both cheeks. Bellatrix seems busy talking to her uncle about the upcoming meeting, while Regulus sits behind them and only listen. “How is school?”

“It’s good, wonderful, even,” she smiles and Walburga laughs happily. “I’m working on some essays for Potions and Transfiguration, maybe they’ll be published after I finish school.”

“Did you hear, Regulus? Y/N plans to publish some essays after graduation,” she scolds her son and now his attention is on them. He only smiles to his mother and she goes on with the talking. Neither of them seems to be truly focused on what she’s saying – they look at each other like they’d snap each other’s neck if they could.

“Regulus, why don’t you invite Y/N to dance?” Bellatrix pops between them and her aunt claps her hands satisfied with her proposal. “You know how much joy it brings me to see you two together, Reggie,” she continues and puts her arm around his shoulders. He looks at his cousin with doubt in his gaze – she made them dance together at her wedding, too, like they were some monkeys to entertain the adults.

With a silent scoff, he forced a smile in his cousin’s direction and looked shortly to his mother, who only seemed to tell him the same thing with her eyes. “Shall we dance together, Y/N?” he asks and gives her his pale hand.

No matter how much she’d like to hit it, getting it away from her, she grabs it lightly and smiles. “With pleasure,” she mutters and the adults all clap their hands and smile in their direction as they go to the center of the room, where other people are dancing slowly.

Bellatrix flicks her wand and the room is now filled with a more vibrant music – they smile to each other and Y/N’s skin is burning under her dress where Regulus’ hands touch her. He cups her hand into his and the other one rests on her back, bringing her closer to his body. She has a hand on his shoulder and they both move synchronically to the rhythm.

“You disgust me,” he whispers into her ear, sending shivers all over her spine.

A big smile appears on her rosy lips and she looks behind him, where her father is beside Orion and Cygnus Black – they all had firewhiskey glasses in hand and talked with serious expressions on their faces.

“The feeling is mutual, my dear Regulus,” she mumbles and steps on his foot, careful to put the heel right into his toe.

“Then, you could’ve save us both and deny Bellatrix’ stupid wish.”

“On her birthday?” she scoffs. “Yeah, right, you tell her no, I like to be alive.”

Regulus lets a small chuckle out and before she could look at him, he spins her away for a second. When her body is back into his arms, her vision is blurry. “You better keep your mouth shut during the meeting,” he says in a cold tone.

“Why, Reggie?” she mocks the tone Bellatrix used. “Scared the Dark Lord will see more potential in me than in you?” She’s joking. On Merlin’s beard, she’s only trying to piss him off.

“Tonight is my night and you better not do anything to steal it from me,” he spits the words into her ear. Her skin becomes ice cold and all her blood runs faster into her veins because of the way he presses his fingers into her back. “I warn you, Y/N, stay in your place,” he mumbles and when the music changes, he lets go of her and smiles, before going away.

After some hours, the chaos in her house begins to cool down – the guests start leaving until there are only the usual people. They all sit at the long table, talking about some things that happened in the Muggleworld and how unacceptable they were – for someone who said they despised the muggles, they sure talked a lot about them. The conversation dies when the chair at the end of the table is occupied by the tall, dark haired wizard. They all rise from their sits and greet him with joy.

“It’s good to see you too, my dear friends,” Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort says and he shakes her father’s hand. Her lungs take the air in with great difficult, given the fact that there’s only a sit between the dark wizard and her. “I assume I need to apologize to Bellatrix,” he speaks and looks to his left, where the witch smiles from one ear to another. “I did not bring any gift with me, Bella,” he explains.

“You are my greatest gift, My Lord,” she says and from her left, Rodolphus and Rabastan just nod their heads. “Your presence gives us hope for a better future for us, the right titled wizards,” she continues and everyone agrees.

Bellatrix is one of the most loyal followers the Dark Lord has besides Cyrus Lestrange and the rest of his friends from when they were in Hogwarts. He saw the potential in her, just like he saw it in Y/N.

“Then tell me, which is the reason of this meeting?” Voldemort asks and looks at every face at the table.

It was not Y/N’s greatest pleasure to sit at that table from time to time – her father thought it was good for her future to assist those meetings, but they were incredibly boring. There were many parents of her housemates and from other kids from school, but not even a single person her age – that until Bellatrix brought Regulus to join her. Apparently, he was quite a fan of that man because of his cousin’s stories.

“We think it’s the time to welcome another wizard between us, as an official member, my Lord,” Lucius Malfoy speaks and his voice is just as annoying as ever.

“Oh, really?” Voldemort smiles. “And who might that be, Lucius?”

“My cousin, my Lord,” Bellatrix says and points to Regulus. “Regulus is one of the most dedicated wizards to your plans,” she continues and the air leaves Y/N’s lungs.

Looking over the table to Regulus, she could see Walburga smiling proudly while he just looks to Tom Riddle. “My Lord,” he says, “I swear I’ll serve you with every power I have.”

“Then come closer, young Regulus,” the dark wizard says and plays with his wand between his fingers. The boy gets up on his feet. From his right, Cyrus Lestrange clears his throat. “Yes, Cyrus?”

“My Lord,” he begins, “I was not aware that the Death Eaters were open to new members.”

“We always have free spots for the one who wish to serve our believes,” comes his explanation.

“In that case, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Y/N is just as worthy of getting the mark as young Regulus is.”

Her heart stops beating. What did he just say?

“Right, Y/N?” his father touches her back, forcing her to look at him. His eyes are desperate. There is no way, in his opinion, that his only child will not be recognized as a worthy follower of Lord Voldemort.

All eyes are on her. She can feel them. However, she does not care about them – the only ones that matter are her father’s, and the one from across the table who looked down at her.

“Yes, My Lord,” she says that quietly that she barely hears her own voice. Her father pats her back and goes back to Voldemort. Y/N can’t gather the courage to look at Regulus.

“You said she was worthy from the first day you saw her, My Lord,” Cyrus says. “You said she will be a powerful witch, with a great future – how is she supposed to be powerful if not under your command?”

Voldemort smiles pleased. “You’re right, my old friend. Come, child, let me get a better look of you.” Her father looks at her and orders her to do as asked just with his eyes. Do not disappoint me, hesays with his burning gaze.

Mechanically, Y/N is on her feet and walks behind her father, in front of the sick looking wizard. His hands are cold, like he’s dead, when he touches her jaw. He looks at her like she’s some kind of animal that needs to be inspected.

“Are you willing to follow my orders, whenever you are needed, child?”

There’s a knot in her stomach. She wants to say no. She wants to leave that house and never come back. She’s scared.

“Yes,” is the only answer she can give in return.

“Very well,” Tom Riddle smirks satisfied and gestures to Regulus to come closer too. They are now next to each other. She can hear his breathing from her left and her knees are about to go numb. “Who wants to go first?”

Before she can say anything, Regulus already has his shirt lifted from his left arm and brings it closer to the man. Y/N can hear the soft scoff of his father.

“You need to swear to always serve me, boy,” Voldemort demands, the tip of his wand pressed into Regulus’ arm.

“I swear, My Lord. Whenever you’ll call for me, I’ll be there, ready to do everything I’m capable of for you,” Regulus speaks.

With a big grin on his face, Voldemort begins to press the wand deeper into the skin, until Regulus grabs his arm with his free hand. From under his skin is visible a dark smoke that lingers there, running like it’s chasing his blood. His nose is twitching from the possible pain, but besides that, his expression is blank. When the wand is lifted, the Dark Mark is on his white skin. There is silence, like the rest would wait for him to scream. His parents have a proud expression on their faces as Regulus watches the crowd with a blank, serious stare.

“Your turn, Y/N” Voldemort says after a few seconds and puts his hand out there to grab her arm. She lifts the sleeve of her dress and looks at her father – Cyrus Lestrange watches her with a demanding manner, like he’s forcing her to go closer to Voldemort. Which she does.

“I always knew you’d be a great witch, child,” he says with a proud tone in his voice. He wanted her to be his weapon. “Say you’ll serve me without question, Y/N. Let the others know that from today, you’ll become one of the most powerful followers of mine.”

“I do, My Lord,” is the only thing she says like she’s hypnotized – her body doesn’t listen to her commands, it acts on its own.

The wand is cold against her skin, but as soon as Voldemort presses it harder into her arm, a burning sensation hits her entire being – she needs to grab her arm in order not to get it away from the unspoken spell. The black smoke feels like venom and she wants to scream from the bottom of her soul. Instead, she just bites the flesh inside her mouth, the taste of blood blooming from her cheek. When the wand is lifted and the mark is done on her arm, too, there’s silence again – and when there’s no screaming, all the Death Eaters gets up and start to applause them, to congratulate them.

“That’s the best birthday ever!” Bellatrix laughs maniacal and jumps from a foot to another.

She still has her left arm in her right hand, looking at the black drawing on her skin. She’s too afraid to touch it, like it could burn her fingers. Two arms wrap around her in the noise and she’s hugged by her father. Cyrus Lestrange hugs his daughter, and a single tear rolls down on her cheek.

“Good job, Y/N,” he says in her ear. “Now you’ll show everyone what you’re made of.”

She gets slightly away from him and she can feel the vomit sensation grow in her stomach. While everyone clink glasses of champagne and laughs with joy, she excuses herself and leave the dining hall.

She could not see Regulus in the crowd. She needs to see him to be sure it was all real. And she finds him on the corridor near the bathroom, at a balcony with a view to her garden. His shoulders are moving up and down and his breathing is accelerated. If she didn’t know any better, she wouldn’t guess he was… crying. She stepped closer to him slowly and put her hand on his back.

“Regulus…” she said softly and tears started to form into her eyes, too. What have they done?

“You couldn’t contain yourself, right?” he screams and turns around to face her. “You got to be the center of the attention tonight, too,” his voice is full of hate, which she ignores when she sees his wet blood-shot eyes. Her hand tries to touch his shoulder, wishing to show him… empathy?

“Regulus…” she mumbles again and her voice is hurt. Maybe they are in this together; she just needs to explain everything.

“Don’t put your filthy hands on me!” he says and slaps her hand away.

Y/N doesn’t know what hurt more – the slap, the burning feeling in her arm or the fact that she thought that maybe, just maybe, Regulus was willing to show her kindness then, when it was clear that neither of them was feeling good with their actions.

She looks at his hand – the one he slapped hers with – and at his arm. His left arm.

“We are both filthy now,” she says with despair and turns around, leaving him alone.

#slytherin #angst #hogwarts #smut #regulus black #regulus x reader #the black family #x reader #one way ticket #slytherin reader #voldemort #dark mark #death eaters #marauders era #regulus fanfiction

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remussl0vers · 6 months ago

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requesting guide

updated: 17.06.23

please make sure to read this before requesting anything — i'm hoping that you'll respect my boundaries on what am i comfortable with and with not writing.

MASTERLIST

I tend to curse often in my fics, and are usually comfortable with covering more serious topics, so make sure to check the content warning before hand. I always write warnings when I believe they're needed, but do let me know if you think something should be added!

also senders may request as many as they want <3

FORMS OF WRITING :

oneshot

imagine

headcanon

series

alphabet

I tend to write oneshots over 1000 words, so if you want feel free to specify if you want a long or short story.

CONTENT I WRITE :

fluff

angst

sensitive / triggering topics

gore

smut / spice

most tropes ( best at friends to lovers )

I'm pretty comfortable with writing sensitive topics as well as angst ( anyone who's read my works before will know that they're the things I write best ) however, if I'm not comfortable with the topic as a whole I will DM you, or possibly put it off for a while.

*If you have a writing prompt from somewhere as well, feel free to send it through !!

CHARACTERS :

male reader / ftm

gender neutral

genderfluid

original character

I do not write female readers / characters anymore. If there aren't specified pronouns then I will write it as a male character.

There are also some characters I only feel comfortable writing for with a male reader/character and vice versa, which I'll note who.

PAIRINGS :

love interests

platonic

family

polyamorous ships ; depends on the character

WHAT I WILL NOT WRITE :

support of homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, racism, sexism, pedophilia, incest ; if they're mentioned in a request in terms of the character being bullied / abused ( in the past ) then i may write it but NOT explicitly, only a mention

a pairing against a character's canon sexuality

rape

pregnancy

female reader

anime

WHO I WRITE FOR :

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES :

charles rowland

edwin payne

monty

niko sasaki ( not romantic )

crystal palace ( not romantic )

DESCENDANTS :

ben beast

harry hook

carlos de vil

jay

mal bertha

evie grimhilde

LOCKWOOD & CO :

anthony lockwood

lucy carlyle

george karim

quill kipps ( friends / family only )

MARAUDERS :

remus lupin

sirius black

regulus black

james potter

lily evans ( not romantic )

evan rosier

barty crouch jr

marlene mckinnon ( not romantic )

dorcas meadows ( not romantic )

pandora lovegood ( not romantic )

mary mcdonald ( not romantic )

MARVEL :

peter parker / spiderman ( tom and andrew )

loki laufeyson

kate bishop

yelena belova ( not romantic )

steve rogers

bucky barnes

pietro maximoff

wanda maximoff

valkyrie ( not romantic )

natasha romanoff

tony stark ( not romantic )

gwen stacy ( emma stone )

gwen stacy ( atsv )

*marvel and particularly the mcu is a fandom i'm more comfortable with than most, so if there is a character not listed, then i may or may not write for them

NARNIA :

prince caspian

peter pevensie

edmund pevensie ( only during dawn treader )

SHADOW AND BONE / SIX OF CROWS :

kaz brekker

inej ghafa

jesper fahey

wylan van eck

nina zenik

alina starkov

nikolai lantsov

genya safin ( not romantic )

matthias helvar

STRANGER THINGS :

steve harrington

jonathon byers

max mayfield

robin buckley ( not romantic )

TEEN WOLF :

stiles stilinski ( *i will take most/all dylan obrien characters )

isaac lahey

scott mccall

liam dunbar ( not romantic )

allison argent

malia tate

lydia martin ( not romantic )

kira yukimura

derek hale

THE HUNGER GAMES :

finnick odair

peeta mellark

katniss everdeen

THE MAZE RUNNER :

newt

thomas

minho

X-MEN :

logan howlett

charles xavier ( james mcavoy )

jean grey

mystique

rogue

erik lehnsherr ( not romantic )

wade wilson / deadpool

kitty pryde

bobby drake

*FANDOMS COMING SOON : PJO, DISNEY, HANNIBAL

#requests #send as many as you want #pls

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starlightsuffered · 3 months ago

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Stop Studying

Pairing - Dom!Fem reader X Sub!Regulus Black

Warnings - Smut, oral (male and female receiving), one instance of choking, teasing/edging, bondage, blindfold, slight praising kink, unprotected sex, dom and sub dynamic.

My boy was a whiz at potions. He always got top grades. I was proud of him. However, Slughorn had come up with an essay that challenged even Regulus. He was a procrastinator, because he so often could whip up something deserving of a good mark the night before it was due. I was the anxious sort and had finished my report early.

"Baby, it isn't due for three days," I mumbled into Regulus's neck. "Plus I have a surprise planned for you."

"You aren't making it easy to focus," Regulus retorted. His long hair was a mess of curls from how many times he'd pushed it back and run his hands through it.

"You've been working on it for three hours," I whined, running a hand delicately over his neck, squeezing lightly. He shuddered. We hadn't had sex in about three weeks. School had been too demanding. I couldn't count the times I'd had to touch myself before bed as I thought of him. I wasn't sure if he'd done the same. I missed his body and touch. I'd told him when we were a couple months into dating that I was someone who got reassurance and comfort from regular sex. He'd been happy to oblige, but now I was worried. I knew it was only the stupid essay's fault, but my need of physical touch was creating false narratives in my head. Perhaps he didn't want to touch me.

"Can't you take a little break?" I asked. He just hummed in response, no commitments made.

"Fine," I huffed, sitting down to read my book. Although I was a wizard, I did find a lot of interest in muggle books, especially their fiction. Regulus always thought it was odd how voraciously I would devour these books written by people who didn't even know what magic was.

The characters in the book were finally about to have sex for the first time. I felt a pathetic wave of jealousy over this fictional couple. At least she got to suck her boyfriend off, I couldn't say the same for myself.

I was appalled with myself when I felt hot tears of frustration sting my eyes. I let out a string of curses as I scrubbed at my eyes.

I realized that my boyfriend was finally looking at me. He looked deeply guilty. He pushed his thick dark hair back once more.

"Don't look at me like that," I sniffed.

"Angel, I'm-" he began.

"Don't you dare Regulus Arcturus Black," I snapped. "I did not start crying to manipulate you. I'm sorry, it was just my book."

I didn't want him to feel forced to have sex with me. I couldn't live with myself if he felt like I was making him do this.

"Angel," he was standing now, edging closer.

"Don't look at me like I'm a kicked puppy," I said, my frustration only serving to produce more tears.

"I have been neglecting you."

I just looked down into my hands. I didn't correct him this time. It would have been one thing if he'd just had extra work, but he'd been snappy with me lately. I'd also noticed he'd made time for Quidditch, but couldn't carve out anytime for me. Even during lunch and dinner in the Great Hall I could barely speak to him because his nose was stuck in a study guide for 'Perilous Potions and How to Protect Yourself'.

"Come on, let's do whatever you had planned," he said cheerily, sitting next to me.

"I don't want to force you," I mumbled, using the bookmark he'd bought me from Hogsmede last weekend as an apology for spending the whole trip studying.

"Force me?" Regulus chuckled, his breath ghosting over my neck as I shuddered.

"Do you understand how badly I've missed touching you?" He asked, voice dark and deep, breath still tickling my ear.

"I've never been with anyone who makes me feel the way you do. I can't even explain how my body reacts when you touch me."

"I almost thought you were getting tired of me," I whispered back sheepishly.

"Are you kidding me? Don't be stupid."

"I even wore that tiny skirt to breakfast this morning and you barely looked at me. That hurt Reg, you know I was wearing it for you."

"Oh I noticed," he replied breathily, drawing designs on my exposed thigh. "I read the same sentence over sixteen times because I couldn't focus thinking of you in it. When you left for Transfiguration I had to stay at the table an extra five minutes to get myself together before going to Quidditch Practice."

"Really?" I asked coyly. It wasn't that I exactly wanted to keep him away from his work, but it was nice to hear I'd had that affect on him.

"Yeah, trust me, I haven't stayed away because I want to. I have to get good grades on my N.E.W.Ts, you know how my parents are."

Yes, I did know how his parents were. I suddenly felt a wave of guilt crash over me. He'd probably been stressed out of his mind worried about the abuse he might face if he got a bad mark.

"I'm so sorry Regulus," I said gently. "I didn't think about that."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he replied and his soft lips met mine. I pulled him closer by his Slytherin tie. He sighed happily into the kiss as I gently licked his bottom lip, asking for entrance.

"I almost forgot how nice your lips feel," Regulus mumbled. I wound my hands in his hair. When we'd first met he'd kept his curls short. It was one of the only ways he would rebel against his parents, keeping it long how I liked it. I tugged on it and he moaned against my mouth. I swallowed the moan, so content to be back in his arms.

"You know what?" I asked in a low voice, licking a stripe up his neck. He shivered at the lude contact. "You've been so bad, ignoring me. I think I should punish you."

"Oh?" Regulus's breath hitched. "What did you have in mind."

I stood up abruptly. I fixed my skirt where Regulus had been toying with the hem. I held out my hand and the wizard below me smirked as he took it. I led him to an empty dorm room.

"Clothes off," my tone changed the second the door was locked. I noted the enthusiastic look on Regulus's face. He knew our roles when it came to the bedroom. I took care of him, I was in charge. Nothing got him more excited than the dynamic shift where I bossed him around. In comparison, nothing made the butterflies collect in my stomach quite like seeing him splayed out, completely at my will.

"What's our safe word?" I asked Reg once he was naked on the bed, his beautiful cock already half hard from his imagination and my tone. Regulus rolled his eyes. He'd never once needed the safe word, but seeing as I liked to spice things up and push him pretty far, I always made sure I reminded him of the word before we started.

"Hinkypunk" he responded, arms crossed like a petulant child.

"Excellent," I responded with a devilish grin as I mumbled "Incarcerous"

Regulus let out a squeak of surprise as ropes bound his ankles and wrists to the bed. Now he was truly on full display. I looked over his pale slender body with approval.

"What is this my girl?" Regulus asked carefully. I hadn't yet told him if was allowed to speak or not so he was treading carefully.

"Punishment," I replied easily. I mumbled another spell and a black blindfold covered my boyfriends gorgeous eyes. He swallowed loudly.

I stuck my wand into my bun for safe keeping and crawled onto the bed next to Regulus. He sensed my presence and licked his lips.

I started with one hand gently on his throat, pressing ever so slightly, however I was too greedy to keep it there long. I had missed his body. I ran my hand from his chest down to his ankles at a excruciatingly slow pace. We'd see how he liked not being able to touch me.

Next came my lips. I sucked on the delicate skin of his throat as my hand explored his abdomen lovingly. I always stopped my hand right before the place he wanted me most.

"C-Can," he cut himself off with a needy sigh as I let the pad of my thumb caress the inside of his thighs.

"Am I allowed to make noise?" he stuttered. Most of the time, I enjoyed hearing every noise my boy had for me, but there were times when I loved the torture of ordering him to keep his mouth shut. Though I'd given no such orders yet, Regulus knew how this game was played. I was in charge, and he'd better ask before becoming a moaning mess. I decided I wanted to hear how wonderful I could I make Regulus feel.

"Of course my love, let me hear exactly how good you feel."

"I used Mufflliato," I whispered into his ear. "Feel free to be as loud as you like."

He groaned as I sucked his earlobe into my mouth. I smirked, letting my lips continue their trail down his body. I left wet kisses all down his neck and chest before flattening my tongue over one of his nipples. He moaned as I rolled the bud with my tongue meanwhile my hand delicately massaged the skin of his thighs. He was breathing heavily as I moved to his next nipple, my hand now delicately squeezing his balls.

"Common, more," he let out the smallest of pleas. I smirked, my plan going just as I had hoped. I removed my hands and mouth from him completely drawing a whine from his pretty lips.

I took my wand out and got rid of his blindfold. He blinked a few times and tried his restraints. They held firm and he pushed out his lower lip in a pout.

"Watch me baby," I said, drawing his eyes to my form.

I placed my wand back in my hair and began to slowly unbutton my top. Regulus was sitting up as well as he could to watch my little show. He licked his lips and held one captive between his teeth as I slid out of my top. I trailed a hand down my body to start removing my skirt.

"Fuuuck, you're so hot baby," Regulus moaned, hips bucking involuntarily. I was pleased to see his cock standing at attention, veins thick and straining, with a clear bead of precum on its head.

I turned around, sliding my panties down and looking at him over my shoulder. He was desperate to touch me, hands flexing open and shut. I wiggled my ass for him as he groaned. I unclasped my bra letting my breasts fall out. I turned around to show him the full effect.

"You've got to let me touch you baby," Regulus pleaded.

"Why?" I queried as I got back onto the bed. "You we're fine going weeks without touching me before. What has changed baby boy?"

"I don't know how I did it," he babbled, pupils huge. "I could never do it again, I could never leave you needy like that again. Let me show you, let me show you how bad I want you."

"Hmm," I took my wand out, a look of hope lighting up Regulus's face. I muttered two incantations quickly back to back. For a moment Regulus was released and he tried to dart towards me but the second spell locked into place, restraining him once again. He whimpered and I chuckled.

"Baaaabe," he groaned.

"Maybe don't date someone who is so good at charms eh?" I smirked. With that I grabbed his cock before he could utter another word. His head fell back in pleasure as I pumped him up and down.

"Ah, ah, ah," I chided, stopping the movements. "You're going to watch everything I do to you. You aren't going to touch me, but you will keep your eyes locked on me. If I see you give your attention to anything else, I stop, understand?"

"Y-yes ma'am," he gulped.

"Good boy," I smiled, caressing his cheek. I took his shaft in my hand again, making sure his eyes were trained on me. I began to move my hand.

"Oh baby, that feels so good," he praised. "Your hands are magic."

I swiped the head of his cock with my thumb everytime I moved up. He was trying to lightly thrust up into my hand now. I pushed his hips down, a silent command for him to keep still. He obeyed and bent down to take him into my mouth. I started with just the tip, popping it in and out of my mouth, tongue swirling around it.

"Merlin's beard, bloody Hell," Regulus's eyes rolled back into his head. I stopped all movements. Regulus looked up in utter terror.

"I'm sorry, y/n, I'm sorry, please don't stop!"

His begging was so pretty I decided to let it go just this once.

"Don't let it happen again," I growled.

"I won-ahhh," he called out pitifully as I took him fully into my mouth. My nose was brushing his stomach and he was muttering curses in multiple languages. I began to work my mouth on him, hollowing out my cheeks, and using as much saliva as I could. I kept my eyes on him the whole time.

He was so pretty, long curls plastered to his head with sweat, puffy pink lips from biting, overblown pupils. I admired the creamy color of his skin, and the purple marks I'd left on his chest and neck. I also enjoyed the way his chest heaved as if he couldn't possibly get enough air into his lungs. His wrists would be raw from pulling at his ties in desperation to touch me.

"Angel, I'm so close," he panted and I immediately took my mouth off him. Regulus let out a wine, scrunching his eyes closed with need.

"I'm going to ride you now pretty boy," I said, barely giving him a warning before I sunk down on him, taking him fully inside me.

"Fucking Hell, holy shit," Regulus could barely get the words out as I bounced once then twice. I took out my wand as I moved, making his bonds disappear. His hands were immediately all over my body. They went from my hair, to my breasts, to my hips, and finally to my ass to help me bounce up and down on his thick cock.

"You feel so good," I praised. "You fill me so well, fuck Reg!"

"What is wrong with me," he moaned. "How did I ever go without you for so long. How did I ever, uhhh, forget about your tight pussy." He was having trouble getting the words out.

I felt pleasure building up inside me. I knew the excitement of watching him get all worked up had made me wet and near the breaking point before he'd even touched me. I was surprised he was lasting as long as he was with all the teasing I'd done.

It came over me like a sudden rainstorm on the Hogwarts grounds. My orgasm rippled through my body like lightning and I was screaming his name.

"Oh fuck," Regulus was gasping for air, enjoying the feeling of my walls tightening around him.

"You're going to make me cum," Regulus called out. I snapped out of my bliss and climbed off him.

"Did I say you could cum?" I asked. It was hard to be intimidating on wobbly legs but it did the trick because Regulus's mouth hung open like a fish, his eyes teary with his denied release.

I looked at his cock. It was nearly purple with desire and so hard it looked painful. He was involuntarily thrusting upward slightly, just to get some sort of relief. He was throbbing with desire, his cock slick with my juices and his precum, making me even more wet than I already was.

"Oh, you make me wait weeks to fuck you, and you think I'm going to let you out of here after just giving me one orgasm?"

I placed my hands on my hips, pushing out my breasts. Regulus couldn't stop licking his lips.

"You're an evil, evil woman," His voice was hoarse from moaning and shouting.

"Oh really?" I chuckled and went over to my underwear, beginning to get redressed.

"No, no! Please!" Regulus was right where I wanted him, begging.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"What can I do," he begged, crawling toward me, cock still hard and waiting.

I pointed down to my heat with a wicked grin.

"You've got to eat out this evil, evil cunt," I said, waving my hips.

"Come here," his voice was dark and gravelly.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "You'd eat out an evil pussy? Are you sure you want that?"

"Oh, just give me the chance," Regulus smirked.

"Beg," I said, crossing my arms.

"Please baby," Regulus was whiny and impatient and I fucking loved it.

"Let me show you how good I can make you feel. My tongue was made for your pussy. I want you so bad. Please Angel, let me taste you."

I crawled up on the bed again, and placed my pussy over his mouth. He eagerly grabbed my hips and dove into my heat. The pornographic sounds of his tongue in me, darting in and out and circling my clit made me moan. He was so talented with that blessed tongue. I'd nearly forgotten how many skills he had.

I was bucking my hips forward within mere seconds. I unashamedly rode his face. He groaned, sending vibrations through my heat. He alternated from my clit to inside me. I made sure both his hands were on me so I knew he wasn't touching himself. The knot in my stomach was tightening deliciously as his tongue danced between my folds.

"I'm gonna cum baby, keep going, just like that," I urged him on as he gripped my hips tighter as he continued his onslaught.

"Fuuuuuck," I moaned as I came undone for the second time. I removed myself from him and saw a beaming Regulus, mouth shiny with my juices.

"Good?" He asked, I was unsure how he needed reassurance after all the noise I'd just made.

"So good baby," I said leaning down and pressing my mouth to his. My core was heating again as I tasted myself on his tongue.

"Sorry I've been so mean my good boy," I said pushing his hair away from his face. "Time to make it up to you." I promised as I sunk back down on his cock again.

"Thank you," he said, my name rolling off his tongue as if he were saying a prayer. I began to move on him, sure he wouldn't last long with all the edging I'd put him through today. I rocked my hips on him, spelling his name with my body.

Regulus was shouting a mixture of curses as he alternated between begging and thanking me. He was a blabbering mess, hair pointing every direction from my hands. I yanked on his curls as I rode him.

"Ugh, feels so good when you do that," he groaned when I tugged on his ringlets. His nails were going to leave marks on my skin and the thought made me shiver with delight.

"M getting tired," I moaned, barely able to get the words out. Without warning, Regulus flipped us so he was on top and began to snap his hips at a glorious speed. I hadn't thought I'd be able to cum again that day, and yet I could feel myself approaching the precipice of orgasm number three.

"I won't last much longer," Regulus panted, his thrusts becoming sloppy, yet he was still so insanely hard inside me.

"Let it go Regulus, come for me."

That was all he needed. He slammed into me one last time, leaving me seeing stars, and then he was cumming into me with hot spurts. I could hear him calling my name over and over again as he rode out his orgasm. The way his cock twitched inside me threw me over the edge, and I was calling his name as I saw even more stars.

"That. Was. Bloody. Amazing," Regulus panted in my ear after collapsing on top of me. "I don't think it's ever been that good."

"See what you were missing?" I giggled, gently running my fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry for neglecting you love," he said pressing a kiss to my temple.

"I'm assuming, after that, it won't happen again?" I chuckled examining his still blissed out expression.

"Hell no, I'm not going that long without fucking you ever again."

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lotuslovers · 2 years ago

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‘Running from love’ // t.r part 4

Pairing: female!potter(james’ sister) x Tom Riddle

wc: 1.6 k

Summary: In the past, the reader hadn't hope to fall in love with him, their goal was to prevent the rise of the Dark Lord but nothing seemed to go as planned when they are sent back into the future. In the months following the return, Tom Riddle continues to haunt their nightmares and their new reality as he closes in on them. How can an old love cause so much harm?

Trigger warnings: none

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | tbc

How does one set up a meeting with the Dark Lord? I suppose you can’t just owl his assistant for available time slots. She had no clue about his whereabouts so she decided it was time to owl one of their closest friends, Abraxas Malfoy. After a long drawn out night, she attempted to compose a letter by rewriting it time and time again until she knew it was sculpted to perfection. She sent the letter off in a black envelope to the owl post office to be set out. The letter read:

Dear Abraxas,

It comes in time where I reach back out to you, to my dismay it is under these circumstances. I understand it has been many years, decades since you have last heard from me but hopefully you haven't forgotten me. My letter regards my Tom, the attached letter is to reach him, I haven’t a clue where he is so if you could pass it to him I would be thankful. My friend, hopefully you are well, I am doing quite fine, I can’t address what happened to me or why I disappeared, that is for another letter. How are things? Must be a lot of things we can address in the future, perhaps over a cup of tea, you always told me those were for serious talks. Until then and when I am ready, this will be all until I send a letter back. You mustn’t send a letter in response or attempt to charm one my may, I prefer my location a secret. So be kind enough to not try for all attempts will fail. Best regards, Malfoy.

Sincerely,

Y.O’C

P.s please make sure Tom personally gets it and only he reads it.

Tom’s letter read:

Dear Tom,

My dearest, I never intended to leave all those years ago. I intended to stay with you, to love you to my best capability, to perhaps have you round’ my folks home, meet my family, get married, have kids, and grow old together. Our time together was cut short, for reasons I must’n disclose in a letter but in person. I will explain it all if you will let me. I know what you have done yet I still love you as much as the last day I had in your presence, I ask that you give me a chance to explain. You don’t have to but I wish to at least explain, in case I get my Tom back to me or atleast get closure for the both of us. If you are willing to meet me, I ask you don’t be angry with me and you come alone as I will. The location hasn’t been chosen yet, as I haven’t thought of a place but I will send an owl to Abraxas to give to you as I don’t know your location, I trust you will abide by my wishes and wait for my owl. Meet me at 12 pm on June 16, location will be owled at a later date. I love you Tom, please don’t ever forget it.

Sincerely yours,

Y.O’C

∞

Sending the letter was half the trouble, the real issue was following through with the meeting. I hoped it would only be me and him but even just the two of us alone had uneased myself. Besides Regulus, no one knew I had gone to meet him and even then he had no idea the date or location of where it was agreed.

On the brisk morning, I apparated to a small secluded area in the English countryside. Walking along the cobblestone steps, slowing up to the dark mahogany doors of the long gone manor I pulled the cloak closer over my head. The grand house succumbed to the vines that began to grow up the sides of the once incredulous architecture. The family home of the Riddles had long gone, becoming an estate, only being in good enough condition to still stand. When preventing Tom from killing his father, his dad started a new family that continued the line. Here I was shivering with the knowledge he would be inside waiting for me, possibly awaiting to kill me but he hadn’t yet so I continued. Pushing the door open, a small squeak of the rusty hinges let out through the air before returning to silence as I closed it behind me. The layout of the house reminded me of the Malfoy Manor, tall doors lining the walls ushering out to separate wings or presumed ballrooms and the giant sturdy staircase lined with oil portraits. I wondered how different he would have turned out if Tom Riddle SR. accepted to raise him, instead of being stuck with the croon Mrs. Cole.

The farthest door on the left was ajar, the faint light of a fire along with candles were the only indications of another person being here with me. Making sure to pull my hood over my eyes whilst tucking my wand in my pocket I sturdied myself before opting to continue down the hall. Silence hung through the air besides the content click of my boots on the wooden floor, passing a few door frames I made it to the open one. Peering into the room, it appeared to be a study lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with a variety of books. In the center of the room was a lit fireplace in front of a set of couches. The center couch was a dark figure of a man, she knew it was him from the moment she set eyes on his side profile.

The posture was a give away, along with the book he held in his palms, his diary. His hair was in a tight set of dark brown curls, his skin gleamed with warmth allowing it to dance along his face, his posture was perfect but loose, in his hand opposite to his diary was a cup of firewhiskey, his face was hardly a day older then when you last saw him. Your presence was known but he didn’t glance your way, hiding behind your cloak and the shadows just basking in the way his presence calmed you. Finally closing his book before setting his cup down he spoke “i supposed you would use her as a rouise eventually Albus, such a pity you had to be the first to die in this disgraced house” he twirled his hand before his wand appeared out of thin air.

Glancing up at the doorway, his eyes burned with full fury as he assumed Dumbledore was here. But fearing the worse you spoke softly “Tommy” he instantly froze.

“y/n?” his voice shook as you nodded behind shadows of the low pulled hood. “Come on, I know this is a trick, Dumbledore give up and show yourself” he pointed his wand at you, shaking his anger as he stood up abruptly. Seeing him in person was surreal, you were sure tears were streaming down your face, still hiding in the shadows. “It's me Tom” you spoke, approaching him, faced down as your voice broke. “It can’t be” he said, almost trying to convince himself but in an instant he surged toward you, pinning you to the wall.

He dug his wand up your jugular where it lay just on top of your pulse point, just as he had so many times in those awful nightmares. His rough palms grabbed your chin, finally lifting it to meet his eager gaze. Tilting it up so far that your hood sunk down, revealing her face to his eager eyes. Standing inches away from his face as he let the shock set it. His breath hitches in his throat, his shoulders tensed before he dropped his wand and pulling you into a tight hug. Nuzzling up into your hair, he caressed your cheek and drank in your appearance as if it was the last thing he got to see. “It's been years, why have you just found me my love” he spoke finally letting his own sobs echo through the air. “why don't you look a day older than when I last saw you?” he mumbled into her hair as he pulled you closer down to his shoulder. You finally broke, “Oh Tom, I missed you so much. I can explain everything I promise just let me hug you”. The experience was surreal, he picked you up to bring you both to the couch. Lying cuddled up, his deep breaths tethered you to reality. He had aged in the past decades, the young boy now grew into an older man. The dark brown hair of his was now parted in the middle with loose curls now framing an older more angular face. His eyes sparkled in a new sheen, the past version you knew was so far away.

“Can you explain now?” he asked, lifting a hand to rub the hot tears off your cheeks.

“I will” she said, but now nothing was certain. He had wanted to kill her, but now he hadn’t. He had only wished to when he thought she was Albus, only then was she truly in danger. Now, his aged self comforted the girl in such a scenario no one would have expected. How could she admit the truth, how she existed then only to prevent his own casualties? Could anyone reason to the implication that she loved him to save him, how could he react?

She wanted to greedily enjoy the silence between the both, pretending they had fallen asleep on the Slytherin homeroom’s couch again when they were young. But they weren’t kids anyone, she had lived this year of her life two times already and for Riddle he soaked up the decades away from her, building his power. They had both changed, now they only held ideas of one another but they wanted so badly to fall back in time to before the night their whole worlds paused.

#ray writes #tom riddle #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle x you #tom riddle fluff #time turner au #marauders era #harry potter fanfiction #tom riddle oneshot

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canonrpfinder · 2 years ago

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💜 hello hello !! 21+ female here, looking for longterm 18+ roleplay partners. i am a fulltime student and working at the same time so replies might be slow at times. i enjoy all things aesthetics, making pinterest boards, screaming about our characters, making up headcanons and just generally being in love with the plotline so if this is something that strikes your fancy, keep reading. i prefer canon x canon ships, 3rd person style. the listed characters are the ones i write for, i prefer mxm relationships or mxf with me writing the female characters but i am not dead set on that one. it all depends on the chemistry between the writers.

fandoms i’m familiar with: marvel - tony stark, wanda maximoff, charles xavier hannibal - hannibal lecter harry potter - naricssa black, remus lupin, lily evans, regulus black, theodore nott (marauders era) grishaverse - jesper fahey, inej ghafa umbrella academy - five the secret history - francis abernathy

fandoms i have a muse for and would like to explore more: 1899 - ángel scream - stu inception - arthur night at the museum - ahkmenrah, octavius atlas six - tristan, parisa, gideon if we were villains - james

#roleplay #rp #marvel #hannibal #harry potter #grishaverse #the umbrella academy #tua #the secret history #1899 #scream #inception #night at the museum #atlas six #if we were villains #18+ age range

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padfootagain · 2 years ago

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Because We Are Made of Dreams (Prologue + I)

Prologue + Chapter 1 : A Brand-new Year

Hello!!! I’m very excited to share this story with you all!!!

This is the first fic I’ve ever written, that I’m rewriting entirely! I wrote this 8 years ago, and at the time, my English was terrible (I know it’s still not always correct, but then it truly was horrid), and my storytelling skills were not… great... But it’s normal, I’ve told many stories since, and have had a lot of practice!

Still, there are things that I dearly love about this story, so I’ve decided to start it over, make many changes in the narrative, and make an improved version of it!

I want to warn all of you that this story presents some very violent scenes, and is not intended to be read by children. So be careful if you read it, it’s much more violent than the fluffy stuff I usually write! (even though there’s still fluff in it, it’s me we’re talking about…).

I hope you’ll like my story, and will find it interesting! Please, let me know what you think 😊

****

Pairings: Sirius Black x Original Female Character + Jily

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence and torture, graphic depiction and mentions of child abuse, mature themes. There is graphic depiction of violence and child abuse in the prologue, so do not read this if this triggers you.

Summary: The Marauders come back to Hogwarts to begin their sixth year there, and many things will change for them during these coming months. Outside the safety of their school, the world is growing darker. Inside the Castle, they'll find both new friends and enemies.

Summary for this chapter : Sirius breaks free from his parents. The Marauders enjoy their trip to Hogwarts. It's time for the birth of new friendships, and the taking of important decisions.

Word Count: 8497 (This post contains the prologue (2214 words) and the first chapter (6283 words))

Prologue

Walburga was bringing the last touches to the annual meeting of the Black family. The event was probably the most important moment of the year for the witch, as it was the perfect occasion to prove to all who belonged to the Noble House of Blacks how respectable she and her husband were. And this year, the meeting would take place in her own house; it was thus the perfect opportunity to shine. As she took one last look around her living room, everything was perfect. It was dark, covered with tapestries, old portraits, velvet seats… It felt old, ancient even. The air was heavy, as if filled with the weight of dozens of generations who used to live there before them… It added a weight onto the heart, onto shoulders too. It was oppressive, all in all. There was something malevolent that seemed to linger in the walls, in the dark, in each shadow. Walburga loved it. She found it perfect, with every item precisely set where it ought to be.

Well, everything except...

"Sirius! Can't you dress up properly?!"

The sixteen-year-old boy rolled his eyes and straightened his robes. Really, the entire thing was utter bullshit...

"And you’d better behave yourself, young man!"

"I will, if they do."

"Don't start!" she roared, her voice so powerful Sirius could have sworn the whole living room was trembling, or maybe it was just an after-effect of his ears almost exploding.

This day was going to be a nightmare, and he knew it. The only thought that brought Sirius a spark of hope and relief at this moment was the image of the warm and welcoming Potter's cottage in Godrig's Hollow, where he would spend three entire weeks of freedom with James. Only one evening. He only had one evening left in this hell, and the next morning, he would take the Knight Bus to join his best friend, his brother... They would have so much fun…

But this happy ending depended on whether or not Sirius could survive the next few hours with his entire deranged family, all gathered in one small room…

Near the large mantelpiece, Regulus was watching Kreacher help his mistress getting ready for the gathering. The younger Black was perfectly dressed, just like any respectable pure blood, standing very straight, his chin high and proud, impatient for their guests to arrive. Sirius, on the other hand, was constantly slipping a finger between his throat and his tight collar, clearly uncomfortable and annoyed by the whole thing. And as he watched his younger brother, Sirius couldn’t help but notice how much they had grown apart along the years. They were so different now. Then again, they had always been different, but there was a time when, despite their differences, the two brothers were still close. It wasn’t really the case anymore. They had grown up. For Sirius, it meant struggling to free himself from their parents, rebelling, building himself another life out of this godforsaken house. For Regulus, it meant bending under the weight of the Blacks’ heritage, and agreeing with their parent, even if rather out of fear than genuine belief. They had grown so much apart. Sirius couldn't help but regret his lost relationship with his younger brother. He regretted the days when he would defend Regulus against their parents, when they used to play and laugh together. But Regulus was too docile and scared of their family, when Sirius was reckless and bold. And so, Sirius ended up in Gryffindor, and Regulus in Slytherin…

The child like a stranger in his own home and the perfect little pure blood...

Sirius threw his younger brother a bitter glance, but bit back any remark.

Orion Black, the perfect image of a respectable patriarch, entered the room, wrapped in his best robes.

"Is everything ready?" he asked his wife.

"Yes, all is fine."

She glanced in the direction of Sirius.

"And everything is going to be fine, because you will behave yourself and shut up the whole evening, are we clear?"

"Cristal clear", Sirius answered through gritted teeth.

"Good."

Suddenly, a green fire was lit in the hearth and wizards and witches started to arrive through the Floo Network. They were greeted in the most honourable way by their honourable hosts, before sitting in the most honourable living room and being served by the most honourable house elf in the most honourable manner - honourable being the word Sirius usually used to define how creepy and delusional his whole family was. He also referred to the sudden nausea that plagued his stomach at the sight of his family with the same adjective. He made a huge effort not to roll up his eyes in front of every single newcomer.

The evening went on, dull and boring for Sirius, as these gatherings always were. He had stopped listening, and was imagining what James and him would do first the next day. Probably a game of Quidditch.

Sirius never emptied his trunk whenever he had to stay at Grimmauld Place. He had not done so since his fourth year at Hogwarts. It was a way to keep this place out of his mind, as if his real home was the school, his friends, the Potters, and not this dark place he had to live in now. So, his trunk was ready, waiting patiently in his bedroom for the next day.

Freedom. He couldn't wait…

But he was torn from his thoughts as he suddenly heard his name being mentioned in the conversation around him. He didn’t really want to focus, but couldn’t really help it.

"It must be so hard for you Walburga, with him in Gryffindor..."

As usual they were talking about him as if he weren’t even in the room. How lovely...

"Oh, you can't imagine! I don't know what to do with him, really. He's just useless and unbearable!"

What a nice pair of adjectives to describe her elder son...

"And his friends must all be blood traitors, if not worse!"

Sirius tightened his old on the armrest of his chair, blood boiling in his veins… He didn't give a damn about what they said or thought about him. Actually, he rather took all the insults his mother threw at him as compliments. He was different from them, and proud to be so. He was ashamed of them. He was ashamed to look like them, to have the same name, the same blood… so many things in common for people radically different. Same hair, same deep grey eyes, same features... He would have gladly exchanged his last name with any muggle-born if he had had the opportunity. And so, he didn't care about them insulting him; but hearing them insulting his friends was something else entirely.

"All traitors alike indeed! When they aren't Mudbloods altogether! I can't believe he's inflecting such a shame onto all of us, after all we have done for him!"

All they had ever done for him…

Sirius scoffed at that. All they had ever done for him?! Well, the list was pretty long, in all these years of abuse, of beating, and shouting, and curses and insults… Of repeating over and over again that he was nothing but a shame to his family. They had never had a loving, or even kind gesture towards him, and he knew he meant nothing to them. And she was claiming they had made sacrifices for him? What a joke!

"I heard he was friends with this… Potter boy, too."

Sirius gritted his teeth. He couldn't help it. James was his best friend, his brother, and he couldn't bear to hear them insulting him. But he had to remain calm if he didn't want to get into too much trouble with his family just a few hours before escaping this prison, so he took several deep breaths, trying to focus on another conversation, but all he could hear was his mother and her sister…

"He is indeed. He's awful! This boy has no manners and such ideas! I'm sure he's the reason why Sirius is so rebellious towards his father and I."

"But it can't be a surprise, with blood-traitors like his parents to raise him, really. They are of the worst kind, and such a disgrace to the whole community!"

Sirius could take no more. James's parents were like a second family. They were the kindest and most generous people he had ever met. They had welcomed him in their home with open arms since his very first year at Hogwarts, and they had never failed to treat him as a second son ever since. He loved the Potters the way he should have loved his own family, and he couldn't let his mother and her stupid sister insult them like this...

Suddenly, Sirius's glass shattered, sending shreds of cutting glass all over the room. His parents threw him a threatening look. But Sirius didn't care anymore, he was too angry to think straight.

"Don't you dare insult the Potters!"

His voice was low and menacing, more like a growl than a voice, and all of a sudden, the room fell completely silent. They were all too shocked to answer. Finally, Orion spoke in a low and scary voice that matched his son’s tone.

"Apologise to your aunt! NOW!"

"No! I’ve had enough of this!"

"Sirius!"

"NO!"

He got up and strode towards the staircase. He couldn’t take any more of this, he just couldn’t, he was going mad in this house, with these people, with these insults, with this hate towards everything and everyone he loved…

"If you don't come back here and apologise, I will not accept you in this house again! Do you hear me?" cried his mother with all her might.

"So be it then!" Sirius snapped back.

It was too much. He had had enough of the insults, of the threats, of the whole pure-blood mania. He wanted to get out of there, he had to. He had to get out, he had to…

He felt like if he didn't escape this house, he would explode and destroy everything around him, even destroy himself…

He entered his bedroom, grabbed his wand and his trunk and stormed out of the room, running down the staircase and hurrying towards the door.

"Filth! Traitor! Shame on you, you beast!" raged his mother." Don't you ever come back again in our home! Do you hear? You're not part of this family anymore! You're not our son anymore! You have nothing and no one! You are alone and homeless! A stray pet is worth more than you, you filth!"

"Don't worry, I won't come back!" snapped Sirius, dragging his trunk behind him across the corridor, only a few steps away from the door, from freedom...

But his father was standing in front of the door, a cane in his hand…

Before Sirius could defend himself, his father had hit him hard in the ribs. The boy bent over, an arm clenched against his broken ribs, letting out a moan, while Orion hit his elder son on his back, making him fall to the ground. He kicked him hard on the ribs, making Sirius gasp desperately for air between loud moans.

And Sirius wanted to defend himself, he genuinely did. He cursed himself for being so weak, for letting his father get the better of him… But the pain that burned his torso and back, the struggle to take a mere breath, and years of reflexes aimed solely at protecting himself against his father instead of fighting back made for obstacles too high to overcome. Instead, Sirius huddled against his trunk, covering his face with his arms.

Orion let go of his walking stick, grabbed his son by the hair, pulling him up, and punched him hard on the face several times.

By then, Sirius felt too dizzy to understand what was truly going on. He saw fists flying towards him, felt the tugging of his hair, raw and hard. But then, he felt himself being grabbed by the collar, it felt harder to breathe. A few seconds passed, and somehow, he found himself flying, not touching the ground… One, two seconds, maybe less, and then a hard fall on his back, on what his touch recognized as concrete. He moaned, his entire body in so much pain… he could hear his mother shouting, but couldn’t make out the words. He was too weak for that. He was made more aware of his surroundings again by the loud thud his trunk made as it landed on the pavement next to him. When he looked up, he was a couple of meters away from the door, his parents standing in the doorway with hateful glares distorting their faces, and his terrified brother taking a glimpse at Sirius from behind Walburga. He watched as the door slowly closed, staring right into Regulus’s grey eyes, the same as his own, the same as their father’s… They stared at each other until the door was fully closed, and the Blacks disappeared.

Sirius remained there, lying on his back, staring at the front door with its irony 12 written on dark wood, and a grin formed on his painful face.

At last, he was free.

Chapter 1: A Brand-new Year

Clara sighed deeply.

Of course, her father being an Auror meant for him to be a little overprotective at times, and he often was right to be so. But this time, it was all too much, and he was being ridiculous…

"Dad, I'm just going to King's Cross, not on a battle field," protested the girl, but her father quickly shushed her.

"With everything that is going on these days, I'm not leaving you out of my sight until you're on the Hogwarts Express."

She couldn't blame him for being worried, of course. After all, she was scared as well of Voldemort and his ever-growing number of followers. She could hardly get mad at her father for being willing to protect his only child, especially when she had been the one asking for her father’s help to protect Lily’s house. The young witch had been worried about leaving to Hogwarts without protecting her parents’ house properly first.

Clara's father was right, and she knew it.

"Alright then, come on."

They walked through the magical wall, reaching the infamous platform nine and three-quarters. And no matter if this was already her sixth year at the Wizarding School, her heart still skipped a bit at the sight of the large train, of the crowd of students loudly running around, hurrying to and fro across the platform, hugging their loved ones they were leaving behind…

A flash of red appeared in the crowd and Clara hurried in the direction of her friends. She hugged Lily, Alice, Dorcas and Marlene, her fellow Gryffindors.

"How are you, Alice?" Clara asked, noticing her friend's perfect tan.

"I'm great, Cannes is wonderful! And Frank was such a sweetheart all along, I'll tell you everything, don't worry."

Just as his name was spoken, Frank Longbottom appeared on the platform and Alice hurried towards her boyfriend, abandoning her friends for the rest of the trip. Almost simultaneously, waves of loud laughter reached the four girls, and none of them wondered to whom these laughs could belong. Soon enough indeed, the four Marauders appeared among the busy crowd, walking casually towards the train. Lily turned her back to them, causing her three friends to laugh.

"I hope you’re aware that with your hair, they will recognise you anyway, whether you turn your back to them or not…” asked Marlene, still laughing at her ginger friend.

"I know that, thanks!" the redhead answered. " But maybe if he sees I'm talking with you, and that I'm busy, he won't try talking to me."

"Lils, it's James Potter we're talking about," Clara reminded her. “This guy has virtually no limits."

"My life sucks," Lily sighed.

"Maybe you're in luck today, he's not coming our way," Dorcas added, her tone amused and teasing.

"Thanks, Merlin!"

"Oops, in fact he is."

"Fuck!"

Indeed, a second later, James and his friends were standing next to them, greeting them warmly.

"Hey girls! How are you?" James joyfully asked, a crooked smile on his lips and his gaze fixed on Lily, even if his question was aimed to the whole group.

"Fine, you?" answered Marlene, still unable to hide her smile.

"I'm very well, thanks. You're alright, Evans?"

But Lily turned to the boy only to throw him a disdainful look.

"I was before you came around, Potter."

James winced dramatically, but Lily was not amused.

"Ouch, we haven’t even reached Hogwarts yet, and we're already like this?"

Indeed, this was a brand-new year that was beginning, there, on the platform. These were the first words the two teenagers had exchanged in months. And Lily had to admit to herself that she had been unreasonably harsh. After all, James Potter was a pain in the arse, but he had merely asked her if she was okay. There was no need to be so rude, and a blush spread across Lily’s freckled cheeks at the thought, guilt forming in her heart.

"I'm sorry,” she mumbled, pushing a strand of her red hair behind her ear. “I didn't want to be mean. I'm fine, thank you."

But James didn’t seem to care at all. Instead of being mad, or hurt, he shot her a bright grin.

"It's alright Evans, no need to feel bad! I think I can survive one more harsh answer from you. I’m getting used to it, by now. Besides… I was about to ask the usual question, but I guess your previous answer will imply a ‘no’..."

Lily clenched her fists and her face turned even redder, but this time it wasn’t out of embarrassment or guilt, but out of anger.

"Potter!"

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving you alone," James laughed, throwing his hands up as a sign of both defeat and appeasement, before slowly backing away.

His friends laughed at him, following him towards the train, leaving Lily annoyed and her three friends struggling to keep a straight face. These two were truly ridiculous sometimes…

Clara still had to say goodbye to her father before she could board the train, and so she hurried back to him while her friends climbed inside the Hogwarts Express, struggling a little with their heavy luggage. But then, after six years, they were used to it.

Clara hugged her father tight, while students hurried towards the train. They stood there for a while, in a loving embrace, a few meters away from the crowd. It was time to leave, the train would soon depart, carrying the students away from their families, until they could come back for Christmas time…

"You do be careful!" John admonished, kissing Clara’s head. "And don't forget to write!"

"I will be careful and I won't forget to write. I promise dad, don't worry. I love you."

"I love you too, darling. Take care."

"You too. Don’t be too reckless, okay?"

He chuckled as they broke their embrace, nodding, and a proud glint shone in his eyes as he answered.

“That’s a deal. We both stay out of trouble, okay?”

Clara nodded, a little emotional, the same way she felt every time she had to leave. No matter if this was their sixth goodbye, it still felt just as painful as the first time. It was bittersweet, a mix of the sadness of goodbyes and the excitement of new beginnings ahead.

They exchanged one last smile, before she would grab her trunk and finally walk to the train. She waved again at her father, standing before the door. She hoped nothing bad would happen this year, while she was away…

But eventually, she had to face the long corridor instead of the busy platform. And the train whistled, smoke started to appear above its black and red shape. And before Clara could find her friends again, the train had left Charring Cross and her father behind.

"Fuck!"

"Let's face it, Lily, we're doomed!"

"Clara, I think this is worse than being doomed..."

A simple yet terrifying situation was the cause for the girls’ despair: all the compartments were completely full, except for... the one occupied by the Marauders.

Brilliant... What a perfect way to start their sixth year…

There seemed to be no other choice, though. They had crossed the entirety of the train twice, and couldn’t find anywhere else to sit. And Clara was tired of pulling her trunk behind her back and forth through the moving train. At this point, she would have been happy to sit next to a cave troll…

Meanwhile, Marlene and Dorcas had abandoned them, joining some of their seventh-year friends for the ride to Hogwarts, and Alice was busy with Frank, probably snogging in a dark corner of one of the wagons.

Which left the two witches on their own, in this desperate situation.

"Come on, Lily, it's not like we have a choice. All the compartments are full, and we can't stay here in the corridor for the whole trip,” decided Clara. “So, let's go. Besides, it’s not that bad. We could be stuck with Snape and his friends, that would be truly the worst."

Lily mumbled something under her breath, clearly annoyed by the whole thing, but before she could argue, Clara strode to the boys' compartment and opened the door, ignoring her friend’s glare.

"Hey, guys!” she chimed, waving at them and wearing a bright grin on her lips, trying to sound friendly.

After all, it was the beginning of the year, and it seemed that they would have no choice but to spend the next few hours together, so… might as well be nice. At least, more so than usual. “Sorry, but all the other compartments are full,” she went all. “Can we sit with you?"

"Sure," the four boys shrugged.

When Lily finally entered, James sat straighter, making Sirius roll his eyes in amusement. Clara settled in the empty spot next to Sirius, and he gave her a polite smile before focusing on his conversation with Peter again.

"Well, you couldn't stay away from me any longer, could you? You were missing me too much already," James joked, staring at Lily as she dragged her trunk inside the compartment.

But the girl glowered at him, sitting on the seat opposite Clara’s.

"Potter, don't start!"

"As you wish," James merely shrugged, and Lily was almost surprised that he would abandon so easily.

The boys focused on their own conversation again, while the two girls took their copies of the Daily Prophet out of their bags to pass the time. If Clara went straight for the crosswords section, biting the end of her quill as she read the first riddle, Lily went through the different articles, a small frown marking her interest.

After a few more minutes, Sirius seemed to get tired of Peter and Remus’ debate, and leaned closer to Clara to peer at the page she was focused on. She didn’t even notice him, not until he spoke, at least.

"Hippogriff," Sirius said, indicating a column of her crosswords.

"Thanks," she answered absentmindedly, completing the blanks.

"Quaffle," he indicated again.

She completed the right line, but Sirius found yet another word in a matter of seconds.

"It's really nice of you to help, but could you let me think a bit longer before answering to all the riddles for me?"

Sirius was about to roll his eyes when Clara looked up at him with a teasing and amused smile. He was surprised to find no trace of annoyance in her green eyes. She even turned the newspaper a little more towards him, so he would get a better view of the crosswords. He gave her a smile too.

“Sure. But hurry up, then. It’s not my fault if you’re too slow.”

She chuckled, focusing on the newspaper again, and wrote down another word.

It was quiet for a while in the compartment. Peter, James and Remus were casually chatting, James stealing glances at Lily every now and then. Sirius and Clara were focused on the most difficult riddles of her crosswords. Lily kept on reading the news. Outside, grey clouds coloured the sky, a few patches of blue peeking through from time to time, as if to remind the world of the heavens’ true colour. Fields of green and gold passed by, left in the wake of the speeding train, with splashes of darker greens and browns coming from bushes and trees. They passed before a few houses and farms too, with walls of stone and a lazy smoke escaping from tall chimneys. It was quiet, peaceful, with an underlaying of excitement at the thought of their destination, of reaching Hogwarts once more. To most of them, if not all, it felt more like going home than anything else.

But they all tensed up as Lily let out a sudden gasp.

“Oh, God…” she let out in a shaky breath, her hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock.

All turned to her.

"Lily, you're alright?" asked Remus, worried.

But Lily wasn't listening and she didn't answer. Clara moved to sit next to her, leaning closer to read the article the witch was still focused on.

An entire family had disappeared two nights before.

Voldemort's Death Eaters' work without doubt, though they were not clearly mentioned. Clara's eyes grew wide when she read the names. Katherine and Joshua Knights…

"Merlin!" she gasped.

The two girls looked at each other. They knew them, though they were not close. They lived not far from Clara's house, and in the countryside, all wizarding families knew each other, even if they were not friends. Clara’s family was never close to the Knights, but they were cordial and helped each other when need be. It felt so strange to think that she would never go borrowing some Floo powder to them anymore…

"Girls, what's wrong?" asked James, his tone genuinely worried now.

The four boys were staring at them now, their brows furrowed. The girls handed them the newspapers.

"They lived not far from my house. I knew them quite well," Clara added.

She would not cry, it was visible on her features, but Lily passed an arm around her shoulders anyway. She was in shock more than anything else. It was hard to imagine that something of the kind could happen to people she knew…

Sirius clenched his jaw at the sight of her blank gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke earnestly, his voice unusually quiet.

Clara thanked him with a nod, before he would read the rest of the article.

All were quiet now, silence only disrupted by the rhythmic sounds of the train flying across the tracks. Around the fragile pages of the newspaper, James fists were tightly clenched, rustling the paper. He was so focused, so serious, Lily didn’t recall having seen him like this before. All traces of a smile or of mischief had disappeared from his features.

“Your father is an Auror, isn’t he?” Remus asked, looking up at Clara again once he was done reading the article. “Does he know anything about this?”

But the girl shook her head.

“Even if he does, he won’t tell us anything about it.”

“Does he work on Voldemort’s case?”

“Yes, he’s on the main team for the case. But then again, everyone at the Auror Headquarters is investigating on Voldemort and his followers, one way or another.”

“It must be tough for him,” Peter added, his voice apologetic.

“Yeah, it is. He’s alright, though. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Do they have any leads?” James asked, but Lily shook her head.

“John… I mean… Clara’s father… he helped me casting defensive spells around my house last week, before I would leave my parents alone to go to Hogwarts. I reckon it speaks volume.”

She looked quite defeated all of a sudden, tired, and so did Clara. But then again, with parents coming from Muggle families, they were both among the most endangered in this conflict.

"Well, with defensive charms summoned by an Auror, your house is probably the safest place in Britain after Hogwarts," said James gently.

Lily looked right into his hazel eyes. His expression was kind and sincere, and he gave her an encouraging smile. She smiled back at him.

"You're right."

She looked up at Clara again, a chuckle in her voice.

“Besides, it made you practice your terrible locking charms…”

“Hey!” the girl complained, forcing her mood to rise again. “That’s not nice at all!”

“Just saying that with your crazy project of being an Auror, you’d better master this type of spells…”

“You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“Simply speaking the truth…” Lily kept on teasing her friend, folding back her newspaper and stuffing it in her bag, unwilling to read any more bad news.

After all, they were going back to Hogwarts. She didn’t want to think about all this, not now. She wanted to be merry and innocent, even if only for a little while.

“You want to be an Auror?” Peter asked her, quite surprised.

But Clara merely shrugged, taking back her seat between Sirius and the door.

“I don’t see how else I could help against this band of psychopaths.”

The boys nodded, giving her an encouraging smile.

“I’m sure you’ll make a terrifying Auror,” Sirius joked. “I am terrified merely sitting next to you.”

They all laughed, and the tension finally faded, excitement about the new year settling in their compartment again. They were casually chatting when the door suddenly opened on a sixth-year Ravenclaw boy. Tall, with carefully styled brown hair and electric blue eyes that popped out against his tanned skin.

“Hey, Lils! I was going to the prefect meeting, want to come with me?” the boy asked with a bright grin.

Lily blushed enough for James to notice. He glanced at her as she pushed back a strand of hair behind her ears. She did that every time she was nervous. Her smile was shy but genuine when she nodded to the Ravenclaw prefect. James struggled to swallow the lump that was growing in his throat, a familiar jolt of pain crossing his ribs. Familiar… he was used to it by now. It was the same that bloomed every time Lily rejected him, every time she was mad at him, every time she cursed his name…

He was good at hiding it though. He had an awful lot of practice with it. Jokes and shrugs and casual disinterest made wonderful masks, indeed.

“Sure!” the girl answered, rising from her seat.

A second later she was gone, a bright smile on her lips. Clara shook her head and smiled as her friend closed the door behind her.

"I thought the prefects' meeting was only in an hour," said James, checking his watch.

Remus merely shrugged.

"They're friends, they must want to talk for a while before the meeting. Catch up on each other after the summer, you know?"

Clara still hadn't stopped smiling, and her gesture only made James’s frown deepen.

"Alright, Clearwater," said James, turning on his seat to face her, "tell us everything. What’s the deal this guy?"

"There's nothing to tell, Potter," she answered, her tone innocent.

"Come on. What's going on between the two of them?"

She stared at her crosswords again, amused.

"For now, nothing."

"And, in a near future?"

"Who knows about Cupid's plans, really..."

She smiled harder, ready to chuckle, but then she looked up at the boy before her, and her laugh died in her throat.

His expression was neutral, maybe a little too much so. She had to admit he was doing a great job at hiding how he truly felt. But then, there was something in his hazel eyes that felt like pain, and it took him too long to hide this detail. Clara saw it, and frowned a little at the sight. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Sirius was faster, taking a game of Exploding Snaps out of his backpack.

“Hey, mate! Want me to give you another chance at this game? After all… you were bloody ridiculous yesterday…”

James turned his attention back to his friend, smiling once more. The mischievous and joyful Potter was back. Clara looked at Sirius and couldn't refrain a small smile. Sure, they were immature, and stupid, and prats most of the time, but they had always been there for each other, and even Clara couldn't deny that. They loved each other, they truly did.

“Well, you’d better get ready, because today I won’t be so nice to you. I’ve let you win yesterday, but I won’t be so generous twice,” James replied, helping his friends getting the game ready.

Sirius let out a loud laugh, that sounded a little bit like a bark, before he would turn to the girl sitting next him.

"You wanna play too?"

"Sure," she nodded.

As the game started, Clara had to admit that this year was not beginning as she had imagined it would. Spending her journey back to Hogwarts playing Exploding Snaps with the Marauders… now, that was something surprising, for sure. But she couldn’t deny the fact that she was having fun, and the more the afternoon went by, the more she enjoyed herself.

Surprising… maybe that was what this year had in store for her: surprises…

In the room set at the end of the train, where every year the prefects’ meeting took place to organize the arrival to the school, Lily Evans and Liam Timmins were talking about what they had done during summer. It was a rather small room, badly lit up by a tiny window on the wall on the left and a bunch of candles melting at the centre of the round table. With the chairs set around the table, there was barely any space left to move around the room. It didn’t really matter, though. The two friends were simply happy to have a moment on their own before reaching Hogwarts and its busy schedule.

Lily laughed hard as he told her a funny story involving him and a Quaffle. But he didn't care if he sounded completely stupid, ridiculous even. Lily's laugh was so beautiful, it was worth it...

He was determined this year. Over the last few months, Liam and Lily had grown closer, but the Ravenclaw boy had not dared make the first move. But this year, everything would be different. He was determined to ask her out, and to do it right at this moment, as soon as possible… His crush on her was too strong for him to remain silent any longer, after all…

He intensely looked at her, as she wiped her tears of laughter away from her eyes, a hand on her painful stomach. When he spoke, his tone was suddenly serious and held only in a breath.

It was time. Time to tell her everything. He took a couple of deep breaths, counted to three… and let it all out.

"You really are beautiful, Lily."

She immediately grew quiet. She wasn’t expecting this, and looked up at him, taken aback, her eyes open wide. It was strange to hear him say it out loud, but the more she thought about it, the less surprised she was. They had grown closer over the past few months. And she couldn’t deny that he was rather handsome, standing before her in the dim light of the room. And he was funny, and smart, and nice, and she reckoned that he seemed pretty much perfect on paper. She felt herself blushing. They were staring at each other, motionless, something electric hovering over them.

She didn’t push him away when he gently tucked a strand of her ginger hair behind her ear. She didn’t push him away when he caressed her cheek, nor when he cradled her face in his hand. He seemed to silently ask her if this was okay, and she gave him a smile. It seemed enough of an answer for both of them. And when he softly guided her lips towards his, she let him, leaned into the movement even. When their lips shyly touched, she finally closed her eyes…

… and the door opened.

They pulled away as fast as they could, both of them fleeing each other’s gaze, embarrassed to be caught like this. But it was only Remus, and Lily heaved a relieved sigh, welcoming her fellow Gryffindor prefect with a smile. She knew he was not the kind to spread rumours, her moment with Liam was safe with him.

"Oops! Sorry, guys."

He walked into the room, revealing James standing behind him, on the threshold. Lily looked up at him, suddenly worried again, but he simply nodded towards her and Liam, before talking to Remus again, in a perfectly casual tone, as if nothing had happened at all.

"See you later, mate!"

James turned around before his friend could answer, before Liam could say anything, just to stop staring at Lily while she looked like this. Cheeks flushed, and a touch of embarrassment and worry on her features. Still beautiful, though…

He strode towards the nearest bathroom, locked himself inside, rested his palms on the sink. His eyes closed. Tightly so. So tightly it hurt and the dark made way to specks of white and red. He tightened his hold on the sink. It was hard for him to breathe now…

He took a few deep breaths, calming down, slowly, softly, forcing the air in and out of his painful lungs, his painful chest, his painful heart…

Merlin, it hurt so much…

But then, beyond this pain, anger started to bubble in the pit of his stomach, climbing up towards his chest, his heart, spreading through his veins. He was angry now. Angry against Liam for kissing Lily, angry against Lily for kissing this stupid Ravenclaw, but most of all… most of all he was mad at himself for feeling this way still. Even after all these years, even after all these rejections, how could he still react like this to her?

He couldn’t go on living like this. He had done everything he had thought of, had tried everything to convince her to give him a chance, but she didn't want to. She hated him, end of story. And as he looked up into his own reflection in the tiny mirror set above the sink, and witnessed how miserable a simple kiss could make him feel, he took an important decision. Without a doubt, the most important decision he had ever taken in his life.

He was giving up on Lily.

No more tricks, no more begging, nothing. He was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake, and he was going to be strong from now on. She was moving on with her life as if he didn't even exist, and he was going to act just the same. He was finally ready to close this chapter of his life. He clenched his jaw, opened the door again and walked into the corridor, his shoulder bumping against the wooden doorframe when the train was shaken a little too much by the uneven tracks.

Lily Evans belonged to the past, and nothing more.

When Remus opened the door of the compartment again, he found his three friends in a heated conversation. The train had almost reached Hogwarts, and the sun was already setting, painting the grey clouds with splashes of pink, red, orange and gold above the everlasting fields and mountains that formed in the distance, only vague shapes that one could merely guess in the twilight.

Meanwhile, Clara was staring at the three boys with raised eyebrows and a pair of round eyes.

"Maybe we could make a dragon again," proposed Peter.

"Do I really need to remind you how it ended last year? The whole Hufflepuff table was on fire!" Remus reminded his friends, sitting down.

He didn't even have to ask what his friends were talking about. As usual during their journey to Hogwarts, the boys were planning the show they performed every year at the welcoming feast: magical fireworks.

"Moony's right, no dragons," said Sirius wisely.

"You guys are mad," Clara stated at last.

"It's tradition, Clara," answered James sternly. "Every single time since our second year, we have prepared fireworks for the welcoming feast. And don't try to deny it, it's always brilliant!"

"Except when you accidentally set fire to a table," she replied.

James opened his mouth to answer, but stopped dead and waved his finger, narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, you've got a point," he finally answered in a smile. "But we are not going to burn anything this year. Promise."

It was Lily’s turn to enter the compartment, a large and dreamy smile on her face.

"I'll tell you later," she answered Clara’s questioning look in a whisper.

Her friend nodded and they both focused back on the conversation at hand again. When Lily finally realised what they were talking about, she frowned.

"You're not going to burn anything again, are you?"

"Merlin, we’ve missed one finale. One. Over four years of entertainment, you only remember the only one that ended in a tiny accident," Sirius heaved a defeated sigh, throwing his head back in annoyance.

"One tiny accident that almost burnt the entire Hufflepuff table!"

"Perhaps, but you can't deny that our dragon was really awesome," Remus argued.

The other three nodded, and the girls couldn't help but laugh.

"True, it was beautiful," Clara admitted, chuckling and nodding.

"Finally, you're making sense," laughed Sirius.

His laugh really did sound like a bark, it was quite strange. Still, it was pleasant and infectious enough to make the others laugh too.

The conversation lingered on this subject until the train reached Hogsmeade. James and Sirius helped the girls with their trunks until they were out of the train.

"Thanks," said Clara, surprised when Sirius put down her trunk next to her on the station.

"'Welcome!" he replied with a warm smile.

These boys really were surprisingly nice this year. Clara had to admit that she had spent a nice time with them, had had a lot of fun… Maybe they had finally matured a bit.

They were separated in the carriages, the Marauders waiting for Remus to be done with guiding the younger students across the platform. Meanwhile, Lily was supposed to take care of the first-year students after they would reach the Castle, so the girls found back Marlene and Dorcas and they all got into one of the first carriages.

"All right, what the hell is that thing upon your face? Why are you grinning like an idiot?" Marlene asked Lily as soon as she closed the door of the carriage behind her.

The redhead blushed.

"Liam", she answered shyly.

The Marlene and Clara clapped and jumped on their seats excitedly, while Dorcas was rolling her eyes.

"I knew he was crazy about you!" Marlene exploded. "How? When? What?"

"On the train. We talked about the holidays, and he made me laugh and..."

"And?!" asked the two girls in unison, suspended to her words.

"He told me I was beautiful..."

Her two friends sighed dreamily. Dorcas snorted.

“You’re ridiculous,” the girl complained.

"And he kissed me!" Lily went on, ignoring his cynical friend.

They cried, jumping on their seat again. Lily couldn’t refrain a fond smile at the sight of her silly friends.

"That's wonderful, Lils!" Clara congratulated her.

"Yeah..."

Lily's dreamy smile was back on her face, and something told Clara that it was there to stay…

"So, are you going to talk about it?" asked Remus, turning to James.

"Talk about what?" asked Sirius.

There was barely anyone around anymore. Night had fallen, clouds heavy with rain hiding the shining stars. It smelled of wet grass already, as if Nature could feel the rainy night to come. It was strange to see the train station deserted, quiet. It was so busy mere minutes before…

The four boys climbed inside the last carriage.

"Liam kissed Lily on the train," answered Remus, closing the door behind Peter.

"Oh..."

Sirius looked carefully at James. After more than five years of the whole Lily Evans drama, he was expecting the worst; but instead of being upset, James simply shrugged.

"There's nothing more to say, really."

"Are you alright?" asked Peter.

"I will be,” James nodded with confidence. “I’ve realized something on the train. She really, earnestly, doesn't give a damn about me, and she never will. And… I'm tired of being the only one who cares, to be honest. So, I've taken a decision: I'm going to stop caring about her. I'm moving on. Lily belongs to the past, and I'm focusing on the future."

"Wow..." Remus finally let out after he found back his ability to articulate. “Are you sure?"

"Yep! I'm going to enjoy myself this year. I'm not going to try anything to get her attention anymore, and I'll just be myself, without caring about what she thinks of me."

Sirius patted his friend's shoulder, a warm smile on his lips, even though he was hiding doubts behind the friendly gestures.

"Good decision, mate."

"Thanks, Pads."

"Yeah, it's great, Prongs," Remus added.

James nodded, a smile still on his face, and looked outside by the window. It was so dark, he could barely see the trees the carriage passed by. It started to rain.

Lily Evans belonged to the past…

Clara was paying attention to the Marauders during the ceremony this year. They had promised a great show, and she was curious to finally see it. But she was also curious to find out how they were going to do it all…

They acted perfectly normal while the first years were sorted into the four houses. But when Dumbledore started his traditional speech, she noticed that the four Gryffindors were discreetly taking out their wands, hiding their hands under the table and whispering under their breath. She nudged Dorcas, who sat by her side, and the two girls watched the Marauders getting ready, while Dumbledore went on with his speech. They didn’t listen to the old wizard, merely wondered about what the four boys were doing.

It lasted several long minutes, before the boys would look up again, falling silent once more, faking to listen to the end of their Headmaster’s speech. Sirius caught Clara’s stare, and he winked at her with a crooked smile full of mischief, making the girl roll her eyes. Still… she couldn’t wait to see what they had in store this year…

Dumbledore’s voice finally died down, replaced by cheers as the feast began. The first hands were already reaching for food, set magically on the tables, when a loud detonation echoed throughout the hall. Everyone looked up at the ceiling, as the sound seemed to come from there. A second detonation, and this time all saw one of the stars shining above their heads explode, freeing colourful sparks that slowly fell towards the ground. And then a third blew up, and a fourth, and a fifth, and each time it seemed that silence was shorter and shorter between the loud detonations. Until several stars exploded together, and then all of them at once: blue, red, golden, green, orange and white sparks burning against the ceiling and gently falling in a bright and colourful rain. And the students -and teachers- were already mesmerized, but then all these sparks that were hanging there, suspended in mid-air, moved together to gather at the centre of the Great Hall. It formed a ball of light, that seemed to twirl on itself, until two wings seemed to spread across the room, followed by a feathered tail, claws, a beak… Soon, a gigantic bird was flying across the room. The many colours that shone across its body turned all into red and gold, while the tail grew longer, the shape of the bird more defined. All in the Great Hall recognized in its shape a burning phoenix…

It flapped its wings, flying back and forth and leaving in its wake golden sparks that lingered for a moment before blinking and dying out. There was so much light, it painted the walls, the tables, and the faces marked by awe in red and gold hues. After flying across the hall a few more times, the bird opened its mouth wide, and burst into flames, its shape disappearing in the ablaze light, before it would vanish.

From the smoke that gathered against the ceiling, little stars started to form again, white and cold and distant after the vivid colours and the warmth of the flames. The ceiling took back its usual appearance, quiet and peaceful… almost.

At the centre of the ceiling, starts gathered in clusters to form two words, a signature from the four mischief makers: The Marauders.

The school burst into cheers, and cries, and so many hands were clapping, it was so loud, it was almost painful. All turned towards the Gryffindor boys, who acted as if they were nothing but innocent and unaware of who was behind these beautiful fireworks. Only when they caught Dumbledore’s and McGonagall’s proud stare did the boys finally laugh and exchanged looks filled with pride.

The fireworks this year were on everybody’s tongue for the rest of the evening. Sometimes to compliment how beautiful the scene had been, sometimes to wonder at how the four boys could have done it.

When the Gryffindors entered their common room, quite tired after their long and eventful day, Clara didn’t follow her friends to the girls’ dormitory. Instead, she lingered for a moment in the common room, and headed towards the Marauders, who seemed deeply lost in conversation. Still, when they saw her walking up to them, the boys fell silent and waited for her to speak first.

“Well done, guys. The fireworks were particularly great this year,” she told them with a grin, winking at Sirius.

She didn’t give them any time to speak, turning on her heels and hurrying back towards the stairs again, where she disappeared.

The boys resumed their conversation, but Sirius was not listening. He was lost in thought instead.

He reckoned that Clara wasn’t so bad, after all. After spending most of his day with her, he came to the conclusion that he had enjoyed her company way more than what he had expected. She wasn't as boring as he had imagined her to be. He had always considered that she was probably as serious and uptight as Lily, which meant too serious and uptight. But she had been a laugh during their journey to Hogwarts. She seemed to have a good sense of humour.

Maybe he would try to talk to her more this year...

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