#reposting cause last link stopped working

[yaikat]

Introducing the Pocket TF2 Server!

A chill server for anything TF2 related! Talk with other fans (game strats, lore, headcanons, THAT COMIC 7 THAT JUST DROPPED, you name it!), share your fanart or fanfics and more. We even have roles dedicated for people looking to play the game with others!

You must be at least 16 years old to join.

The server is LGBTQ+ friendly and does not allow N/SFW or pr0-shipping content.

To access all the channels you must first read the rules and click the button under them.

A few people have joined already, so don't be scared of being alone in the server! We're also thinking of doing tournaments and other fun activities in the future. We just need some more members to try and get those going!

Join today!

[bethelighthalazia]

Ruined everything!

Summary:  Jealousy takes the better of your boyfriend and the stress of the last days just makes him say things he regrets.

Genre: angst (?), fluff (?)

Pairing: bf!Hongjoong X fem!reader

Word Count:  604

Warnings: none

[note: It's just a little drabble, but i saw this gif and it just gave me this tiny bit idea which i just had to write down ^^’]

© by bethelighthalazia. Do not repost, copy or translate. Unless stated otherwise, those works are mine and born from my own ideas. I don't have any claim on the mentioned real existing Idols whatsoever.

Laughing, you stood aside with Seonghwa, who was taking his break from shooting. You had brought coffee for everyone and waited with him for all the others to take their break too, although when Hongjoong comes up to you, he already looks a bit moody. It doesn't stop you from holding his coffee towards him with a smile.

“Hey Joong, here's your coffee. Seonghwa said you didn't have one y-” Before you could finish your sentence though, one of the members accidentally bumps against you while talking to the others and causes you to drop Hongjoong's coffee. Unfortunately, it spills onto his outfit. You tried to catch the cup and when you look up into his face, you actually wince, his expression more than angry.

“Great, y/n! Now I have to get changed and the staff has even more work!” Hongjoong huffs out, grabbing the tissues from your hand harshly before you hurry to get more tissues. “Hongjoong, it's fine, the stain is not as big, we can fix it.” Seonghwa tries to calm the captain, but for some reason, this seems to anger him just even more. “Yeah, of course you stand up for her, huh? How about you take her then? Don't need a stupid girlfriend who ruins everything all the time!”

These words feel like a slap in your face and the moment Hongjoong turns and sees you standing there, he feels horrible for saying it. Of course he loves you, but the day had stressed him so much, he lost his patience and let it out on you. “Y/n, I-” He started, but cut himself off, noticing the tears that had appeared in your eyes. 

You didn't want to hear it, your week already had been shit and now your boyfriend says this? Before anyone could react, you throw the tissues at him and turn around, leaving the set, running. It just had to happen someday, Hongjoong is an idol and you are just a normal girl, so why should one like him love you?

It didn't take long for your phone to blow up, the boys asking you to come back and that your boyfriend didn't mean it. When Hongjoong called, you declined the call and turned off your phone for now. If he truly wanted to find you,he knew where you would go. The only place, you always felt safe and comfortable, even though without him, it felt cold.

Hours went by, you had curled up on the chair in his studio, and when Hongjoong entered it, you had fallen asleep from crying. When he saw you there, his heart stopped for a moment, thankful that you didn't leave completely. Carefully, he laid a blanket over you before sending the boys a text, letting them know that he found you. 

“Y/n…I'm so sorry for what I said. I never meant it…” He whispered, his fingers gently caressing your temple, then he carefully lifted you out of the chair to settle down on the little sofa with you in his arms. “D- don't leave me, joongie…” Your voice was quiet and sleepy as you shuffled in his arms without waking up, bringing a sad smile to Hongjoong's lips. 

“I would never leave you, y/nnie…I love you too much for that. You are my best friend, my muse, my treasure. And I'm so sorry for hurting you with my words. I swear, this will never happen again.” He whispered, followed by endless quiet apologies until the captain also fell asleep, his arms wrapped around you in fear of losing you because of his stupid words.

taglist: @mingis-mizu, @tinyelfperson

(if you want to be added to a taglist, follow the taglist-link in my pinned post)

[yoshida-chiyo]

"let me take care of you"

pairing: heeseung x fem!reader

genre: smut

warnings: explicit sexual content, bdsm dynamics, domination, use of lube, strong language

word count: approx. ~500

disclaimer: No images used in this post belong to me. All credits to respective creators. Contact for credit/removal. Your work is valued.

author's note: This narrative contains explicit content intended for mature audiences. minors dni.

As soon as he entered the room, Heeseung knew he was in for a wild night. You had been teasing him all day with suggestive texts and photos. Although he had been trying to play it cool and act unfazed, he couldn't deny the growing anticipation in his stomach.

You were sitting on the bed, dressed in one of his button-up shirts and a pair of lacy black panties. Your hair was in a messy bun, and a mischievous smile played on your lips.

'Hey, sweetheart,' Heeseung greeted, already feeling his heart race.

'Hey, baby,' you purred, patting the spot beside her on the bed. 'Come here.'

Heeseung eagerly walked over to her and sat on the bed, his eyes fixed on you. He could feel the heat already radiating off of you, and it only made him want you more.

You leaned in to kiss him but pulled back at the last second, leaving him breathless and wanting. 'I want you to lay down and let me take care of you tonight,' you said, your voice low and seductive.

Heeseung didn't need to be told twice. He lay back on the bed as you crawled on top of him, straddling his waist and sending shivers down his spine.

You began kissing down his neck, leaving a trail of fire in your wake. Heeseung could feel himself getting turned on already, his body responding to your touch.

'Fuck, baby,' he cursed, his hands gripping your waist tightly.

You smiled against his skin, knowing you had him right where you wanted. You continued to leave a trail of kisses down his chest, stopping to pay special attention to his sensitive nipples.

Heeseung moaned and arched his back, his hands running through your hair. 'Please, don't tease me,' he begged.

You chuckled and sat up, straddling his hips. You leaned down to capture his lips in a passionate kiss, your hands running up and down his chest and causing him to shudder with pleasure.

As you kissed, Heeseung could feel himself getting lost in the sensation. He knew you were purposely trying to overstimulate him, and he couldn't help but love every minute of it.

You pulled away from the kiss and sat up, a mischievous glint in your eye. 'I want to try something new tonight,' you said, reaching over to the nightstand and grabbing a small bottle of lube.

Heeseung raised an eyebrow but didn't protest as you poured a generous amount onto your hand. You began stroking him slowly, your eyes locked on his.

'Shit,' Heeseung moaned, his body responding instantly to your touch.

You continued to stroke him, increasing the pace and pressure. Heeseung could feel himself getting closer and closer to the edge. Just as he was about to come, you stopped and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

'Tell me, who makes you feel this good?' you asked, your voice dripping with seduction.

'You do,' Heeseung moaned, his body trembling with pleasure.

You smiled and leaned back up to kiss him, your hand still stroking him slowly and expertly. Heeseung could feel himself getting lost in the sensation, his mind foggy with pleasure.

With one final stroke, he cried out and came, his body shaking with the intensity of it. You continued to stroke him until he was spent, then you leaned down to kiss him again, your hands running through his hair.

'You're amazing,' Heeseung whispered against your lips.

'So are you, baby,' you replied, a satisfied smile on your face.

Copyright © yukimura-chiyo - All Rights Reserved

Note: Please refrain from reposting my work. If you appreciate it and would like to share, kindly link directly to the original post. Thank you for respecting the effort and creativity put into this content.

[otomiyaa]

nice.png

(literally how I named the image, couldn't think of something else)

Hi guys :') To my followers and tumblr friends, I'm really sorry if my sudden disappearance scared or upset you. It wasn't quite... planned. And today was a busy day and I needed some time to consider what I wanted to do.

Short version of the story:

My tumblr account got terminated for copyright infringement. A certain Mr. Green got me in unlucky trouble (ref 1, 2).

I won't get it back, or try to get it back. It's gone.

Needed a moment to consider 2 options: ask Mia to extend my dramatic farewell letter and stay gone, or make a new blog.

Not planning to post new writing here. I won't be using words like 'never' or 'forever' because I'm a known clown with things like this, but the intention is to no longer post fics. I will finish Tickletober on AO3 and then take a break from writing. So yes, I cancel the swiftscribbles event too, sorry!

When I opened my laptop, I could see my old blog in its final hour lmao (I found out about the loss on my phone). So that's what the snap is from on a fitting grave. It was fun while it lasted!

Long version of the story:

Losing my blog(s): My Tumblr account with main blog + sideblogs got terminated overnight, it was quite the surprise! I've either been reported or tracked by bots. The posts are a bunch of numbered URLs I can't open, but the message is clear: for including anime content, genshin impact or media from other sources (whether it's videos, screenshots, official art, gifs or even fanwork) you technically can get a strike. Upon googling the claimer I quickly found this first, and knew it was a lost cause. Although it feels shitty and unlucky, I am in no place to appeal. It's like when I used to make AMVs in the past, you never knew whether a song or even anime footage was going to give your YT account a copyright strike or even a ban, it was a gamble. I have lost YT accounts before, and now I lost the Tumblr one. With 7+ years of tickle trash content and a bunch of sideblogs. But oh well, moving on!

Starting a new blog: It was a serious consideration whether this was my ultimate chance to do what I've always said I wanted to do eventually - quit my blog. My first thought was to ask Mia to share my explanation and literal goodbye with you guys, and stick to my chaos of a Twitter account to indulge in fandom stuff. But then I thought of how happy Tumblr made me, even without the fic writing, but just.. reblogging things, getting random asks, shouting about life and of course, about tickles. I decided to make a new blog after all, but also decided the following:

The 7K+ milestone swiftscribbles event is cancelled, for which I apologize! The follower milestone, together with the motivation to write the fics, and even the asks with the requests I got, all died with my former blog.

I will see how long I can survive without posting a new fic or drabble. A loose headcanon or two might fly around sometime. And if necessary, a link to a new fic on AO3.

Tickletober? Hell yes I'll finish it, I would cringe in bed for 49 days at least if I would stop. I just won't post the fics here, but on AO3.

Reposting/reblogging my old works? Undecided at the moment but I'm tired and lazy. I don't feel too upset since most of my fics are still on AO3 at least and not completely gone.

Anyways, I'll see what happens and how long I can enjoy this nerfed version of blogging.

Surprisingly I'm not upset about losing my other blog, there were a lot of memories but it was also very cringe. I'm gonna be just as cringe here, but at least I feel cleansed.

For those who choose to follow me again, thank you, but please know that there won't be much original content coming from me, for now!:)

[ladykailitha]

Well Met By Moonlight Part 3

Hi!! So I can't link to part 2 (well I can, but that whole section remains lost) at the moment because the damn post is broke and can't be edited and according the belabored staff it was an issue for a lot of people that posted during that seven hour window when the tags were down last Thursday. So they have a shit ton of help tickets to wade through, though they have assured me they are looking into it.

But as soon as they have it figured out I will link back to the original post, until then I'll link the fixed reposted version for now and apologize profusely for the fuck up.

I have the whole back story plotted out for what happened and why, I'm just not sure where the story is going to go to get to those reveals. However this means you get enjoy the ride with me.

So without further ado, Steve gets his man vampire.

Part 1 Part 2

***

Steve turned to Robin. “Telling you to leave, too isn’t going to work, is it?” he asked with a sigh.

She grinned at him. “Nope!”

He turned to Eddie who had been watching the whole interaction with a curious tilt to his head. Steve thought he looked like a puppy like that. Big brown eyes, adorable head tilt, the hair being a stand-in for floppy ears...

Puppy.

He was also one hundred percent sure that Eddie would have been offended by the comparison.

“What’s got you smiling like that, sweetheart?” Eddie asked.

“You,” Steve replied truthfully.

Robin faked retching. “Oh my god, I’m going to gag on the absolute sap oozing off the both of you.”

Steve blushed, but Eddie wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

“That’s it,” Robin said, throwing her arms in the air. “I’m out of here. Steve, don’t die. Eddie, you hurt my best friend and not even all the vampires in the coven and all the wolves in this pack would be able to stop me from ripping you to pieces, do you understand?”

Eddie smiled with just his lips, his eyes crinkling with mirth. “I read you loud and clear.”

Robin nodded and then marched back into the trees.

Suddenly Steve could feel the importance of it just being the two of them.

He cleared his throat and scratched his cheek nervously. “I wanted to thank you for the rescue. I was so sure I was going to die that night.”

Eddie grinned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “I’m glad Uncle Wayne sent me.”

Steve felt his insides turn cold. “Oh. You only came to my rescue because Wayne sent you?”

Eddie cocked his head to the side thoughtfully as he took in the question. “Sweetheart, I think you misunderstand something. Rescuing you was an obligation to the pack leader, loyalty to my uncle and maker, and a sign of my love and devotion for you. I don’t need to have a single reason. I’m allowed multiple reasons for doing something.” He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. “For doing you.”

Steve snorted, but the ice was beginning to melt in his gut. Eddie took a step closer and then another when Steve didn’t flinch or take a step back. Soon they were inches from each other.

“I am worried,” Eddie murmured gently. “What kind of trouble a turned vampire and a werewolf alpha would cause in a town that is already balanced on the edge of a knife.”

Steve nodded, carefully taking Eddie’s face into his hands. “I’m worried too. But I think we’re going to need band together not just turned vampires like you and your uncle and my pack, but the coven, too. What happened to me was just the tip of the iceberg and the new sheriff seems shockingly anti-supernatural.”

Eddie pursed his lips and nodded. “God, do you know how much I’ve wanted to stand here with you like this? To have you see me?”

Steve brought their foreheads together. “I did see you, Eds. I did. But I wasn’t the alpha then and you were a mere mortal.”

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shuddering breath. “It’s why I asked Wayne to change me, you know. Because if Hopper was afraid of him then made if he made me, Hopper would have to let me near you.”

“Oh, darling...” Steve murmured. “I wish you didn’t have to do that, but I don’t think your uncle would have appreciated me turning you into a werewolf, so...”

Eddie threw back his head a laugh. “Oh god! The look on his face would have been priceless. I almost wish I had waited until I was twenty-one to ask, just for that reason.”

Steve smiled. “Yes, but then it would have been Wayne that rescued me and I wouldn’t gotten to see how sexy you are when you chase your prey.”

Eddie’s face transformed under the feral grin that spread over his features. “You get a little hot and bothered watching me defend you, baby?”

Steve bit his bottom lip and shook his head.

“No?” Eddie asked tilting his head to side, still grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah...” Steve said, dragging the word out slowly. “To say I was a little hot and bothered would be a little like calling a tornado a gentle breeze.”

Eddie laughed and turned his head away, pulling gently out of Steve’s hands. He looked back at Steve who now shared his dopey grin. “And people in this town call me the menace.”

Steve laughed too. “I just get to hide my weirdness under the guise of being a werewolf.”

“I’d really like to kiss you now,” Eddie murmured.

Steve stepped into his space, their chests nearly touching. “I was wondering when you were going ask.”

Eddie chuckled and tangled his hands into Steve’s hair, drawing their faces close. Their lips were a literal breath away when Eddie stopped, just taking in the mingling of their air as they were already panting.

Steve closed the remaining distance and finally, finally they were kissing. It lit every nerve ending in Steve’s body up like a firework. He never knew kissing could feel like this. He gripped the back of Eddie’s leather jacket and held on for dear life.

“Wow.” Eddie felt like he had been forced to run the mile in gym. He couldn’t breath, his heart was beating erratically, and every muscle burned. It was amazing. He dived back in and kissed Steve again. He couldn’t get enough.

Steve had never felt like this in his life. It was deep and sensual and everything he had been told growing up that love should be. And now he was standing on the edge of precipice waiting for that last gust of wind to knock him over the cliff and into Eddie’s strong arms.

“Fuck, Eds,” he breathed when they stopped for breath. “You smell, taste, and feel amazing. God, I don’t want to stop.”

Eddie let out a growl, deep from his throat. “I know, baby. I know. But if we don’t your entire pack is going to get an eyeful.”

Steve chuckled. “Nudity isn’t a problem with packs. All the shifting makes it hard on clothes.”

Eddie’s growl turned into groan. “You can’t just say shit like that when my dick is that hard. It’s gone soft thinking about seeing Murray or Hopper naked.”

Steve laugh startled out of him. “Yeah, I could see that having an effect. I do know a place we could be alone if you wanted.”

Eddie smiled. “I like the way you think, sweetheart.”

Steve let out an ear piercing whistle and a large black, shaggy wolf came running up through the tree line. The wolf sat down and wagged its tail happily.

Steve laughed. “I figured it would be you. You’re on sentry duty until I get back at dawn. I’m going to Skull Rock.”

“You got it, alpha,” the black wolf said his voice thick with a barely contained giggle.

Steve knelt down and they hugged each other with their necks, allowing their scents to mingle.

“I’m glad you’re still the alpha,” the wolf whispered.

Steve stood up. “I will protect this pack with everything in my power. I promise you that.”

The wolf nodded solemnly.

Steve turned to Eddie. “Come on. I’ll race you to Skull Rock.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow, but before he retort, Steve had shifted and was sprinting in the direction of the local landmark.

The wolf let out a breathy laugh that only wolves could make. “You better start flapping those wings, lover boy. Otherwise Steve will beat you.”

Eddie shook his head and took flight, transforming as he leapt into the air.

*

Eddie managed to barely pull out a win by tackling Steve right before the rock out cropping and rolled to the finish line.

Steve ended up on top of the vampire fully human with bright laugh bubbling from his lips. “You cheated.”

Eddie grinned. “Of course I did. It’s the only way to win, babe.”

“It’s a good thing you’re so cute.”

Eddie hummed, his hands roaming over Steve’s bare skin, calloused fingers catching on the smooth expanse.

“Feels good,” Steve murmured, nosing Eddie’s throat.

Eddie’s hands continued their trek down his back, to cup his ass. “You feel amazing, sweetheart. How did I get so lucky?”

Steve gasped, grinding down into Eddie’s hips. “I’m the lucky one. I never thought I would find someone who gets me the way you do.”

Eddie huffed out a laugh. “You werewolves go fast, don’t you?”

“We have to,” Steve murmured. “We might live longer than humans, but we don’t live nearly as long as you vampires do. If we don’t move fast we might lose a chance to breed and that would hurt the pack in the long run.”

Eddie’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, babe. I wasn’t thinking when I said that. Are you going to have to breed with someone as the alpha?”

Steve buried his head deeper into Eddie’s neck. “I don’t want to. I want the Harrington line to die with me. But as the alpha I might have to.”

Eddie’s hands went back to roaming over Steve’s skin, this time to comfort. “What made you decide to go for the alpha position after Hopper was declared dead?”

Steve raised his head. “Because I looked at the other options and knew that if I didn’t, the pack would be stuck in the old ways and people like Carver would kill us all.” He gave Eddie a peck on the lips. “Would you want to be in a pack under Ted Wheeler or Murray Bauman?”

“Wait,” Eddie said raising both eyebrows in surprise, “those were your two options ultra-conservative Ted Wheeler or super conspiracy nut Murray Bauman?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. It was insane.”

“What about Derek Sinclair or oh...” Eddie’s brain finally caught up to his mouth. “Oh shit. It was literally you or the old guard, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Steve said. “And then when Joyce got supplanted by Nancy as alpha female, her and Murray conspired to bring Hopper back so that things could go back to the way things were before.”

“That’s messed up,” Eddie said. “Could you banish them for that?”

Steve sighed, rolling off Eddie to lie next to him on the ground. “I’ve thought about it a lot, I won’t lie. But I worry how Jonathan and Will are going to react to their own mother getting banished. Would I end up having to banish them too? Could I split up a family like that? Would they willingly go with her?”

“That’s a lot to think about,” Eddie agreed, rolling over on his side and propping his head up by his elbow. “Especially for someone so young.”

“I’m not a fan of Billy Hargrove, the racist, homophobic asshole that he is,” Steve said, “but he is the reason I tried for the alpha role in the first place. If he could take over the coven at the young age of eighteen, then I could take over the pack at the tender age of nineteen.”

“Wayne told me that the amount of supe on supe violence has gone down since you took over,” Eddie said. “The coven respects the pack and the pack respects the coven.”

Steve nodded. “I still wouldn’t mind having outside voices from the pack. The echo chamber has gotten so loud that we get bullshit like the pack tearing apart a vampire that wandered into the encampment instead of helping him or accepting his help, in the case of you rescuing me.”

Eddie nodded. “It’s that suspicion that breeds contempt and allows people like Jason Carver to stir up the town against its supernatural founders.”

Steve sighed. “I worry about the undercurrent of distrust that’s been building for god knows how long.”

“Let me help you forget about it for awhile, baby,” Eddie murmured.

A shiver ran down Steve’s spine in anticipation. “Yes, please.”

Eddie leaned for a kiss and then pulled Steve back over on him.

***

Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Yes, everyone, Billy is in this and while he still is all the things that made him repugnant, Steve still respects him. But we'll get more into that at later date.

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @bookbinderbitch @littlewildflowerkitten @vecnuthy @redfreckledwolf @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @just-a-tiny-void @potato-of-the-lord @goosesister

[ninjagirlstar5]

It's the last day of June, at least where I am, which means it's time to post all the art I made for Pride Month! I had planned to make more but I was busy with a bunch of other stuff, like work, going on vacation (which wasn't all the great, oof), other drawing projects to keep myself from suffering burnout, and struggling to get into the flow of writing again. And I'm not going to push myself to do one more cause it's late at night so I'm probably not going to finish it, and my arm is starting to ache. That is a sign to stop for the day. That being said, I am quite happy with how many of these turned out.

Anyways, here's my LGBTQ+ headcanons for the couples we see here and happy Pride month!

Teruya Otori: Gay (or Homoflexible if I'm in the mood to ship him with one of the girl characters, but otherwise he's, like, 99% gay in my head). Mikado Sannoji: Genderqueer & Bisexual Setsuka Chiebukuro: Bisexual Hibiki Otonokoji: Pansexual Kiyoka Maki: Pansexual (usually more attracted to guys but would also date girls) Mikako Kurokawa: Asexual Lesbian Haruhiko Kobashikawa: Bisexual (did not realize this until much later cause he thought finding guys attractive was normal hetero behavior. It isn't.) Satsuki Iranami: MtF Transgender & Pansexual

The poses were based off of this ship pose meme. The google link goes to an account that reposted this meme, and I can't find the original post due to the artist switching accounts and having their old one be completely blank. But I did find their new accounts through their old account: @/taffybuns (main blog) & @/taffybunnie (art blog). Please don't harass the person that reposted this meme. It's just unnecessary pain.

[valentineforlemonandcherry]

Joke's On You Part 23

When Fred Weasley carelessly bumps into you into the hallway, you decide to take him a notch down; not by berating him, but by showing him up at his own game of using your charm and intellect to get what you want. And it’s fine if the end result doesn’t leave everyone quite satisfied - in fact, that’s what you want…

[Fred Weasley x Reader.] [Warning: Story Contains Explicit Smut.] [Warning: Non-Consent.] [Warning: Manipulation.] [Warning: Humiliation.] [Warning: Light Bondage.] [Warning: Slight Voyeurism/Exhibitionism.]

Note: Part 23 does not contain any smut.

Note: This is the official last chapter for Joke's On You. The reason why it took so long to release this is because I couldn't stop writing more episodes of Fred and Reader one-upping each other and falling in love. I basically cut out about five extra chapters of their time together, but I felt for story purposes (pacing) that it was time to bring this story home. At some point, I will release the extra chapters, but for now, I really hope you enjoy the finale of Joke's On You. Thank you for sticking with the story, and especially to the original readers that encouraged me to keep going. How funny is it to think that it all started from a one-shot?

*Please do not repost or copy my work without my permission. Thank You!

⍟ Click Here for Joke’s On You Home Page (All Chapter Links) ⍟

As soon as you woke up the next morning, you felt a wonderfully light feeling in your heart. Smiling, you murmured, “Fred? Can you show me how to get to the kitchens? I loved those heart-shaped pancakes that they had yesterday, and I want more.”

There was no reply.

Maybe he already woke up and left. Although that would be odd. He never wakes up before me. You sat up in the bed and turned your head.

Sure enough, Fred was up. He was sitting on the other side of the bed and staring at the wall.

Confused, you waved your hand in front of his face. “Um, Fre - ?”

Fred grabbed your hand and gripped it hard.

You started, surprised. But sensing that this was serious, you quickly got a hold of yourself. “What’s wrong? Are you ill? I’m right here. I’ll help - ”

Fred shook his head furiously. “No, this isn’t about me.”

“Then what? Tell me.”

“You tell me – what is this?” Fred turned your hand towards you, so that you were looking at the back of your hand. Your heart jumped, for you saw that the bandage was half torn-off, and there was still the dark red scar, spelling out the words, I will repent for my irresponsibility.

Fred growled, “What the hell is this? Who did this to you? Just give me the name, and I swear to Merlin - ” You pulled your hand away and pressed the loose end of the bandage down.

Fred’s usual cheerful eyes were blazing with fury. His shoulders were extremely tense, his jaw taut, his mouth pulled into a serious frown that even you had never seen before. In short, his entire demeanor spelled murder for whoever had caused this.

You knew that Fred, much like yourself, did not respond well to being told what to do. So, you tried to defuse the situation by keeping your own energy as calm as possible. You kept your voice steady as you said, “It’s not a big deal - ”

“Not a big deal!” Fred suddenly exhaled, as if to stop himself from exploding any further. Still, his voice was angry enough as he exclaimed, “You’re hurt! What the hell happened?”

You fell silent. I don’t want Fred to know that it’s Umbridge. If I tell him, he’ll retaliate, and I don’t want him to get into any more trouble. What if Umbridge gives Fred the same detention she gave me? I couldn’t bear seeing these marks on Fred, and the thought that it would be my fault makes me feel physically sick. Finally, you said quietly, “It’s my right to decide whether to tell you something or not. This was something I could handle by myself, okay?”

Fred was completely taken aback by this. “What? You – You don’t want me to know?”

You saw Fred’s brow furrow, and an entirely different kind of anger – one that was shot through with hurt - began to take place inside of him. Oh no, he’s misunderstanding. He thinks that I don’t trust him. Trying not to hurt Fred’s feelings, but unwilling to confess what happened, you said, rather hesitantly, “It’s not that I don’t know want you to know, necessarily…” You reached out to him, trying to touch his face.

Fred avoided your hand. Drawing back, he looked at you with a complicated gaze. “Then what? I said I’ll keep you safe. Don’t you remember? I promised you. So why aren’t you telling me when something’s bad happened to you? When someone’s hurt you? What good am I if you can’t trust me right now?”

Your heart thumped painfully in your chest. You scooted up to Fred’s side. “I do trust you,” you said softly. “It’s just…” Your voice faded away, and you reached for Fred again, slowly, so that he could reject you if he wanted. But Fred, with a soft sigh, reached for you, too, and he pulled you into a tight hug. The second you were in his arms, you knew you were safe. You breathed out slowly. Oh my god… I’m home. Your heart kept thumping heavily in your chest, so much so that you wondered if Fred could feel it against his own chest. In your mind, you prayed, Please don’t let me hurt Fred. I know he’s only trying to help me. But this isn’t his battle to fight. Besides, he has his future already lined up for him – 93 Diagon Alley. That’s where he should go, and soon. And I can’t follow him there. I only want to make the sweetest of memories with Fred. I don’t want there to be pain between us. Please, Merlin, keep him from any pain. You whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, and I’m really sorry it startled you this morning. But I wasn’t hurt, and it wasn’t a big deal. I promise.”

Fred loosened his hug just enough to be able to see your face. You managed to smile at him, but he could tell that you weren’t completely there. You saw a thousand thoughts flash through Fred’s eyes, but he chewed on his lower lip before he finally said, “Let’s go to the hospital wing.”

You cocked your head at him. “Why? It’s all healed. The scabs look awful, I know, but they’ll disappear in a week or so - ”

“I’d rather they be gone now,” Fred said, a tinge of his anger bleeding into his words.

You touched his cheek. “Please don’t be so angry with me,” you whispered. “It’s hard enough without you being mad at me.”

Fred blinked. “Huh? I’m not - Why in the world would I be mad at you?”

“Then you’re not yourself.” You pressed your hand against his cheek. “Come back.”

Fred slowly let out a breath. You shifted forward, nestling back into him.

“I’m not mad at you,” Fred said, speaking softly now. “Sorry if it came off that way. It’s just that the thought of someone hurting you is – is kind-of unbearable. And the thought of you having that insane nonsense on your body is driving me a little crazy.” He blinked at you. “Don’t you want it gone?”

You hesitated. Of course I do, but I can stick it out. I’m past the worst of it, anyways.

Seeing you considering, Fred quickly negotiated, “If you let me take you the hospital wing, I’ll show you how to get into the kitchens.”

At this, you brightened. “Heart-shaped pancakes?”

“With strawberries.”

“Let’s go!” you cheered enthusiastically.

Fred gave you a half-smile, and he stood up from the bed while still holding you. In fact, he insisted on carrying you up to the hospital wing like a princess.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

When Madam Pomfrey spotted Fred carrying you in, she bustled out of her office at once. “What is it? Broken leg? Broken foot?”

“Er, no…” You held up your hand.

“Broken hand?”

“Not quite.”

Madam Pomfrey was very confused when you explained that your ‘injury’ consisted only of some scratches on the back of your hand because Fred had carried you in so carefully that anyone would have guessed that you had suffered a serious injury that hindered your ability to walk.

Madam Pomfrey cautiously suggested, “Well, if it’s healing fine on its own, then - ”

Fred cut in, “Could you just look at it?”

Madam Pomfrey looked from you to Fred, then back to you.

You gave her a small smile. “Please?”

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “Fine. Let me see.”  

However, when Madam Pomfrey peeled away the bandage and recognized the words on the back of your hand as dried cuts, her mouth turned into a thin line. “It’s healed nicely, but we can certainly do more to… complete the healing cycle. Just one moment, dear.” She left to retrieve a Potion.

As you settled down on the hospital bed, you noticed Fred glaring furiously at your hand. You slowly covered the scars with your other hand. Trying to keep the mood light-hearted, you reminded him, “Now, remember, you’re to show me where the kitchens are after this. I want those heart-shaped pancakes.”

Fred let out a hard breath. “Fine, yes.” He started to pace beside your bed, when suddenly, he whirled around. “Was it Malfoy? It was, wasn’t it? That greasy little git. That’s why he was pressing himself up all over you that one evening, whispering some stupid shit into your ear. I swear to Merlin, Godric, and all the holy ancestors, he’ll pay for this.” He sprang up onto his feet, with his hands already balled up into fists.

“No!” You hurriedly reached over and yanked Fred to you, pulling him down onto the bed beside you. “It wasn’t Malfoy. Stop jumping to conclusions.”

“I’m not jumping to anything,” Fred retorted. He started to say something else, but Madam Pomfrey had returned.  

“Weasley, step away,” she instructed. “None of that in my hospital wing.”

“We weren’t doing anything bad,” you said honestly.

“Well, you’re too close together for my liking,” Madam Pomfrey said, setting the potion down on the tray beside your bed.

“Is he?” you mused. Fred started to move away from you.

Knowing that Fred had every intention of finding Draco, you reached out and grabbed his hand tightly in yours. When Madam Pomfrey shot you a look, you smiled brightly at her. “I’m sorry, Madam Pomfrey, but I like having him near me. He’s my boyfriend, you see, and I feel better when he’s next to me.”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head and barely kept from rolling her eyes, but she let you hold Fred’s hand as she treated the scars on the back of your other hand. Meanwhile, you mouthed at Fred, “Don’t you go anywhere.” Fred sighed, for he recognized that you were keeping him from going after Draco, but he couldn’t help except to listen to you and stay there, letting you clutch his hand as Madam Pomfrey treated you.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Fred kept to his promise and took you down to the kitchens. You gasped in delight when you saw the tower of heart-shaped pancakes that the house elves had made. They were just about to send them up to the kitchens, but they were happy to shave a couple off of the top for you. In turn, the house elves were thrilled that you took such joy in them and they began to tell you about all of the other foods that they could make heart-shaped versions of.

“Chocolates, misses, and fruits!”

“Amazing! And what else?”

“Sandwiches, miss. We can make sandwiches all heart-shaped if we want to, miss.”

“That’s wonderful. How about cakes?”

“Oh, those are the easiest - cakes and biscuits and the like!”

“Well, that’s just delightful,” you said, and all of the house elves beamed at you.

A tiny, quite young house elf crept up to you and whispered, with his big eyes bulging, “Would missus like a heart-shaped cake?”

You smiled at him. “Oh no, that’s all right, I don’t want to trouble you - ”

“It’s no trouble! Breakfast is done now, and Kippy has a whole hour before lunch work begins.” With that, the house elf went zooming off.

You looked up at Fred with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean to make him bake a whole heart-shaped cake just for me.”

Fred chortled. “Yeah, you’ve got to be careful what you say to house elves.”

Only fifteen minutes later, you had a glorious heart-shaped cake in your hands, topped with luscious, whipped cream and garnished with pink and red heart sprinkles and fresh strawberries. You thanked Kippy so much that he burst into tears and Fred had to pull you away.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

After that cheerful breakfast, you and Fred headed back up to your dormitory room, where you set the cake carefully on your desk. You turned around to see Fred sitting on the edge of your bed, still looking a bit moody. You sighed quietly. He’s not going to let this go, is he? He’s trying to be considerate, but it’s really bothering him.

You walked up to him. When Fred looked at you, you ran your hands through his hair and then pulled him towards you into a warm, loving kiss. Fred put his hands on your waist and kissed you back, all the while pulling you into his lap. “Mm,” you murmured softly, as you traded kisses with Fred. Then, you whispered in a low voice, “Are you always so intense when you’re angry?”

Fred scrunched his face. “What? I’m not being intense. I’m holding back.”

“I know you are, but you’re still… very intense.”

“I’m just – I don’t want to pressure you but – What am I supposed to do if you don’t trust me?” 

You nuzzled his cheek with your nose, as you confessed, “I trust that you’ve got my best interests at heart and I trust that you’ll protect me, but I also trust that you’re going to fully lean into your pranking, thieving, and generally deceitful skills to get said justice - ”

“- Well, sure - ” Fred agreed instantly.

You tapped your finger on the end of his nose as you finished, “ - And I don’t want you to go and do something foolish just because of me. I would hate that so much.”

Fred lifted his eyebrow at you. “I think you underestimate my ability to be stealthy. Not everyone is as good at catching me in the act as you, hellcat.”

You laughed lightly. “True, but my point still stands.”

Fred sighed. “Morals are too inconvenient. When will you learn that?”

“Really?” you said, in a voice of mock innocence. “I find that morals are only ever convenient. Take repentance, for example – that’s an excellent moral value, and I found it very convenient on New Year’s Day.” As you spoke, you gently stroked his wrists, reminding him all too clearly that you’d had great fun tying him up that night and seeing him squirm all over his bed in his stupid little pajamas…

“All right, all right,” Fred said, annoyed.

You giggled and made to stand up, when Fred suddenly slipped his hands out, only to grab your wrists instead. Keeping you in his lap, he said, “Can I just ask you one thing?”

You nodded.

“Those words – you know they aren’t true, right?” Searching your gaze, Fred pressed, “I mean, those words didn’t actually affect you, right? You didn’t repent for anything, right?”

You hesitated. “No, I… didn’t repent for anything.” But even you could hear the uncertainty in your reply.

Fred growled, and he squeezed your wrists.

Ah, no, why did I have to sound so uncertain? you admonished yourself.

“Fred, no,” you said hurriedly, trying to rectify your slip-up. “I didn’t repent, okay?”You slipped your hands away and then quickly hugged Fred around his neck. “So don’t worry about it. Please.”

Fred could feel how tightly you were clutching onto him, and he realized that you were genuinely worried about what he might do if you were honest with him. I’m trying to protect her, but she’s getting anxious because of me. I have to calm down. He took a deep breath and tried his best to relax. “Fine,” he muttered.

“Good,” you whispered, petting him lightly at the nape of his neck. “Thank you.”

“But you listen to me,” Fred said. “You can keep me in the dark all you want, but I will find out about what happened, and then – it’s a free-for-all, all right?”

“No,” you stressed, and you bit Fred on the shoulder. “Bad boy.”

Fred winced slightly, but he muttered, “That doesn’t work on me anymore. Remember, I’m your boyfriend and not your boy toy.”

Laying your head on his shoulder, you blinked up at him and said softly, “Does that mean you’re immune to my pleas, then?”

Fred looked down at you, and his gaze fell on your honest, sweet expression – or so it appeared, anyhow. He could also recognize the glimmer of mischief hidden away in your seemingly innocent eyes, and he saw the cute little half-truths just waiting to fall from your soft, pretty lips. God damn it, why does she have to look like a fucking angel when she’s trying to manipulate me?

Your lips barely moved, as you whispered, “You didn’t answer me, baby. Does nothing I do charm you anymore? Isn’t there anything I do that still excites you or am I going to have to tie you up and spank you to - ?”

Fred cut you off with a sudden kiss.

“Mmpfh! Ah…” you moaned. Your head tilted back slightly, and Fred reached over and grasped the back of your neck, holding you to him as he kissed you fervently.

A long minute passed, and when Fred paused, you were both breathless. Fred muttered, in-between rather ragged breaths, “Shut up. You know I’m still head over heels for you, so shut the hell up.” He rested his forehead against yours, and you felt his breath pass pleasantly across your cheeks.

You laughed lightly, though your breath caught a little. “Wow, I didn’t expect you to admit it just like that. In fact, I’m a little disappointed.”

“What d’you mean?” Fred asked, opening one eye to give you a skeptical glare. “Weren’t you trying to squirm a confession out of me? Isn’t that what you live for, you little hellcat?”

“Mm, no,” you said honestly. “Actually, I was getting rather excited about the prospect of having an excuse to tie you up and spank you properly. I do miss having you on a leash, you know, and seeing you pant like a little puppy for me. You have the cutest little mouth when you pant.” You paused and suddenly pressed your thigh against Fred, and he let out a sharp exhale. You smiled sweetly at him. “Like that.” You gave Fred another kiss, ignoring his now rather icy gaze. “You’re so cute,” you whispered to him, kissing his cheeks all over.

“Whenever I think you’ve given up on your nonsense, it comes roaring right back again,” Fred sighed, shaking his head a little.

“As if you have a leg to stand on, with your stupid pranks,” you mumbled, still pressing kisses across his cheeks. “And may I point out that my so-called ‘nonsense, which is actually brilliance, is kept private, between two willing participants, whereas your dumb pranks implicate innocent bystanders, like the professors and other students.”

“Nope,” Fred said, rejecting your argument, while letting (and rather liking) how fervently you were kissing him all over. “In your case, I’m the innocent bystander getting sucked in.”

“That’s definitely not true,” you breathed out, as you nudged your way down to then press your lips against his neck. “I always ask for consent. The whole fun of it is watching you shamefully beg for me. That requires that you say ‘yes’… just, I prefer you on your knees, blushing and sobbing as you do it.” You sat up again and looked at Fred with an innocent gaze. “Is that really so bad?”

Fred’s eyes fell to your lips, which were quite pink now, from having kissed him so much. Feeling himself flush, Fred resolutely looked away from you.

Knowing that you had the upper hand in this argument by his silence, you smiled cheekily at Fred and you ran your finger teasingly down his chest. “So, you’re still head over heels for me, eh?”

“Shuddup,” Fred grunted, and then he all but shoved you off of his lap.

“Fred!”

 Fred got up, ignoring your grumbles about “being treated like a sack of potatoes.” Just then, he spotted something on your floor. He leaned over and picked up a tiny pink feather. “Oh look, from your glorious canary days.”

“Huh?”

Smirking, Fred waved the feather in your face. “You made for a good bird.”

You frowned at the feather. “I don’t recall any such horrendous event,” you said flatly. “

Fred grinned. “You really did squawk like one, it was great. Lee and George were highly impressed with you. They told me to offer you a position in our little crew – as our mascot.”

 You flicked the feather out of his hand. “The three of you could never handle me.”

“Well, not as a human being, no,” Fred replied immediately. “But that’s why we think that it would work out better when you’re a bird. The offer’s conditional on you being a bird.”

A mascot… For their shop. You absent-mindedly ran your fingers through your hair.

Fred paused, realizing how quiet you were. “What, no comeback? No witty retort? Finally ran out of them, have you? Took you long enough.”

“Only you would think that they were witty. It’s just normal conversation for me, Fred. I’m sorry you find it hard to keep up.”

Fred’s mouth fell open.

You giggled at how stupid he looked. You got up from the bed and stretched. “Let’s do something fun today.”

“Like what? Not studying,” Fred replied mockingly.

“No,” you said sincerely.

“Then what?”

You thought about it, tapping your finger on your lips. “Hm…”

“Do you want to pray or commit a conspiracy?” Fred asked, coming over and lowering his head to peer into your face. “With you, both are equally possible.”

You smiled at this. “And would you help me do either one?”

Fred grimaced. “I prefer the latter, but sure, if you insist, and if…” He ran his hands lithely along your waist and hips. “… you make it worth my while.”

You shrugged. “I can make you cum without even taking my clothes off, so that’s easy.” Annoyed, Fred started to retort, when you decided, “I want to learn how to make a firework.”

Fred paused, honestly surprised. “Really?”

“Yes.” You looked up at Fred, tilting your head. “Will you teach me?”

Fred grinned, and to your relief, you saw his usual, overly confident spirit flare up again. “Teach you? Yeah, baby, I was born for this.”

Good, you thought, I’ve distracted him from the marks on my hand. Thank Merlin.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Fred told you to go down to the grounds and wait for him. Meanwhile, he went up to his dormitory room to gather a few supplies. George and Lee were both there. When Fred entered, George said, “Good timing. Need you to sign a form.” He thrust a piece of parchment forward, and Fred caught it. It read, “Final Release Form for Lease for 93 Diagon Alley.”

“Once the owners confirm this contract, we can start moving in right away,” George said. “That gives us about two weeks to prepare everything. Sound good?”

Fred took the parchment over to his desk and signed it. “Yeah, that sounds… great.” He handed George back the parchment. Then, he started to gather items for fireworks and put them all in a big bag.

George and Lee exchanged looks.

“Fred,” George called.

“What?”

“How come you’ve got all that fireworks stuff?”

“I’ve got an interested customer.”

“In our raw materials?” George frowned, confused.  

“Yep.”

“What kind-of customer is that?” Lee chortled. “Maybe it’s someone interested in straight-up arson. Be careful, Fred.”

“Arson, blackmail, conspiracy – I’d say she’s already an expert in all that stuff,” Fred agreed. “Anyways, I’d better get going. Antsy customer, y’know. Don’t want her to change her mind.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

When you saw Fred coming towards you, you stood up and smiled at him. “There you are. I was wondering what was taking you so long – Fred? Fred! Fred!” You screamed as Fred lit up a firework in his hand and promptly began running towards you.

Fred laughed as he chased you with a firework. You were not in the least amused and dashed about, screaming, “Fred Weasley! You put that down! Down, I said!”

“You shouldn’t put a firework down,” Fred said smartly. “Else you’ll blow up the ground! Like you did, when you dropped that firework and stranded yourself in a tree, stupid.”

You flushed, and you meant to retort, but you were too busy dodging Fred, running this way and that. Godric, he’s fast! you thought, puffing as you reached the limit of your stamina. Guess he’s not a Quidditch player for no reason. Stupid, lanky Fred Weas - Aargh!

“Gotcha!” Fred reached out and grabbed your arm. You squirmed and tried to slip out of his grasp, but Fred, with a hard grunt, anchored you to his side. Finally, keeping you safely tucked against him, Fred let the firework go. It flew into the air and exploded in a puff of harmless smoke and sparkles. You coughed and flailed about dramatically as smoke enveloped you for a moment.

“Calm down,” Fred said, rolling his eyes at you. 

Instead, you rummaged in your pocket and pulled out a familiar piece of cloth.

Fred recognized it at once. “Hey, isn’t that the smoke-free cloth I used to carry around with me?”

With the cloth over your nose and mouth, you replied, “Yes. You gave it to me, remember? You set off those fireworks as an excuse to pull me aside.” As the smoke cleared, you took the cloth away and smirked at Fred. “And then you begged me to let you make love to me.”

“I don’t remember any such thing,” Fred replied.

You came over to Fred and playfully stroked the side of his face with the cloth. “Oh, but I do. You were so desperate, so needy. Your eyes were all bright with want, and I swear to Merlin that you were blushing, like some lovesick little puppy.”

“I was not,” Fred retorted, scoffing. He made a grab for the cloth, but you darted away, quick as a whip, and danced out of his reach. Shooting him a wicked, sly grin, you sang, “You begged me, you said, please, oh please, won’t you at least look my way? Won’t you let me make love to you?” Coming back to him, you slung the cloth around his neck and recounted brightly, “And when I said no, you cried.”

“You’re totally making this up, you loon,” Fred said, grabbing your hand to stop you from wrapping the cloth around his neck. “Anyways, c’mon, I’ll show you how to make a firework.” As he pulled you along, he looked back at you and remarked, with a merry glint in his eye, “And you better listen to me, else you might end up stranded in a tree again, kitty.”

You scowled. “Will you let that go, Weasley?”

Fred shot you a grin and chirped, “Nope. Not in a million, billion, trillion, bajillion years. Now, come along.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Fred led you into an open glade in the Forbidden Forest. The glade was large enough that the fireworks wouldn’t catch on any trees, yet the trees surrounding the area were high enough to ensure that any lit fireworks wouldn’t be seen by anyone at the castle.

“All right.” Fred pushed up his shirt sleeves and pulled out a number of items from a large bag that he’d brought.

Oh my, he has nice arms, you thought. You also found yourself admiring how bright his ginger hair looked as it fluttered about in the bright sunlight and light wind. Mm, he’s a cute one, all right.

“There’s some basic rules that hardly need saying…” Fred paused, as he caught you staring at him. With a proud smirk, he continued, “But I guess I’ll say them anyways, since I’m evidently so good-looking.”

“Hm?” you said thoughtlessly.

“Pay attention so you don’t blow your own head off,” Fred said, and he patted the ground next to him. “This is serious stuff, y’know. Not like studying.” You squatted down next to him and put your chin in your hands.

“First off, no matter what, don’t let the gunpowder mix with anything else and make sure the compartments inside the firework structure are tightly fitted. Second, don’t ever point the firework tip at yourself.” Fred looked over at you. “Got it?”

“Sure,” you said dreamily, resting your chin in your hand. “I’ll make sure to point it at you.”

Fred reached over and flicked your forehead. “Stop being a smart ass, I’m trying to teach you something important here.” He shook his head.

You hid your pleased smile behind your hand, as you felt ever so pleased with how seriously Fred took fireworks and how un-seriously he was taking you. Still, when Fred started to construct the first firework, you rolled up your own sleeves and paid close attention.  

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     * 

Three hours later, there was a pretty pile of fireworks on the ground, all of which you and Fred had put together. Working in the late afternoon sun, you were both sweating quite a bit and had all sorts of dust and powder streaking your hands and faces, but you couldn’t be happier.

At one point, your hair flew into your face, and Fred paused when he heard a loud, “thbwtt-tt” as you tried to spit your hair out. He came over and messily tied your hair back. You looked awful, with half your hair up and half your hair down, and your part all messed up, but you didn’t care one whit.

At another point, you noticed that you were running out of the pink coloring agent for your firework, so you went over to Fred’s bag and began to rummage around. To your confusion, you pulled out a top hat.

“Fred?” you called. “What’s this?”

Fred practically bounced over to you, excited as all hell, as he announced, “That’s my latest invention! Look!” He grabbed it from you and put it on his head. Then, he lifted it –

“Nothing’s there,” you said.

Fred held up a finger and then poked you in the cheek. “Patience, you.” He set the hat down and lifted it again. You gasped, as a rabbit appeared, blinking awake. It looked right at you and began to twitch its nose and whiskers. Fred set the hat down, and lifted it again – and the rabbit was gone. Your mouth dropped open.

“Nice, eh? It took a good bit of Charms work to figure it all out, and George, Lee, and I had a hell of time asking Flitwick for help without letting him know what we were up to.” Fred grinned at you and spun the top hat on his finger, clearly showing off.

“That’s marvelous!” you said, awed.

“Thought you’d like it,” Fred said, as he carefully put the top hat away.

“So, you’re not against cute inventions?”

Fred looked back at you, confused. “What kind-of question is that? A good prank’s a good prank – whether it’s cute or not, who cares?”

“Really?” You clasped your hands together.

“Yeah, really.” Fred cocked his head at you. “What’s going on in that head of yours, hellcat?”

“Well, I was just thinking...” You sidled up to Fred, putting your arms around his shoulders. “That you could develop a whole line of products centered around cuteness and love.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Fred said. “I said I don’t care about whether a prank’s cute, I didn’t say that I’d want to purposefully make stuff cute.”

“Just listen for a second,” you said, squeezing him in your hug. “Imagine a range of love potions, all decorated with sparkly charms and - ” you caught sight of Fred’s expression and quickly amended, “all right, forget the sparkly charms. But imagine love potions, only they’re hidden in chocolates, or else a love potion that seems to act fine, but then gives the drinker a comical voice. Or maybe daydream potions, where the drinker drinks it and they get to be in a little lovey-dovey world of their own for ten minutes, or – or – oh my gosh, you could sell Pygmy Puffs! Most pet stores don’t sell them because of how little and pesky they can be - ”

“Kind of like you?” Fred said dryly.

“But I’ve always wanted one! They’re so cute,” you said, now completely lost in your own thoughts.

“I don’t know if they would fit with the rest of our products, though,” Fred said.

You looked up at him and said softly, “For me?”

Fred meant to scoff, but he found himself pausing because, despite your exuberant voice and cheerful smile, your eyes were strangely… sad. He blinked. What…? He suddenly wondered, even though he knew it was nonsensical of him to think this - Does she know? Does she know that George and I are planning to leave in just a couple of weeks?

No, she can’t know, he thought quickly. The only way she would know is if she found our order form, but if she’d gotten her hands on one of those, she would have reported us already. And yet, there you were, with that soft knowing smile that told Fred that you would always be one step ahead of him. Shit, does she already know, and that’s why she’s being so soft today?

You tugged lightly at his arm. “Fred?”

“What?”

“I’m not saying you really have to do it. I’m just saying – if you’re ever bored, you could maybe think about it.”

“Uh, sure,” Fred replied. He tried to look once more at your face, but you ducked your head and instead placed a kiss on his chest.

“Anyways, a couple of more fireworks, and we should have a good show on our hands!” you said excitedly, and you bounded away from him and back towards the fireworks.

There was one tiny little mishap, however, when the hot sun began to heat up all of the fireworks, and your very first firework, which unfortunately had a tiny slit between the compartments, allowing the gunpowder and the other agents to mix a little, began to sputter.

Fred heard it first, for he recognized that soft spt-t-t-t sound all too well. He, George, and Lee had all heard it a million times before. He raced over to you and yanked you back from the pile.

“Fred - ?”

“Sh!” He looked carefully at the pile and noticed a tiny firework about to take off. He hurriedly pointed his wand at it. “Wingardium Leviosa!”

The firework rose into the air, away from the other fireworks. Then – POOF!  It went off in a cloud of pink fumes and sparkles. You shouted in surprise as Fred deftly held you in front of him as a shield. “AH!”

As you found soot raining down all over you, you suddenly realized, “Did you just use me as a shield?”

Fred immediately let go of you and ran swiftly to the other side of the meadow. You grabbed an empty bottle and threw it after him, but he was long gone. You yelled after him, “You jerk!”

“Hey, I saved you!” Fred yelled back breathlessly, still keeping a safe distance from you. “You were about two seconds away from having your top blown off!” He paused. “Although, I guess I wouldn’t have minded that too much. You do have a very nice set of tits – ouch!” A second bottle, courtesy of you and your fabulous right arm, had sailed through the air and knocked Fred right on his clever little head.

“Aw, c’mon,” Fred groaned, rubbing his head. “It was a joke – or a mistake – or whatever you want to call it, but don’t get mad.”

“I’m not.” As you spoke, you started to carefully set up a line of fireworks, all pointing towards Fred.

“Hey, hey,” Fred began, holding his hands up. “You just said you wouldn’t get all pissy!”

“And I’m not,” you confirmed. “I never get mad and I certainly do not get pissy.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what the hell are you doing now?”

Setting the last firework in place, you stood up and put your hands on your hips. Staring expressionlessly at Fred,  you said quite matter-of-factly, “Cool, calculated murder. Got a problem with that?”

Fred crossed his arms back at you. “You wouldn’t.”

“The situation says otherwise,” you supplied dryly.

“What would you do without me, hellcat?” Fred challenged you.

“I’d carry on per usual,” you said flatly. “How do you think I’ve lived after I’ve killed off all the boytoys before you?”

“The – The boytoys before me?” Fred sputtered, suddenly quite disarmed.

“Poor suckers. I killed them all, one by one. I had to, of course. For my reputation. No boytoy is worth my future.”

Fred paused, shifting back and forth on his feet. But then, he planted his feet firmly on the ground and said knowingly, “Nah, but I’m different.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah. You’d miss me too much to be able to kill me.” Fred smirked at you. “I’m the most fun you’ve had since you were born. I know you, you stick-in-the-mud, goody-two-shoes weirdo. You’d miss me for sure if you killed me. Like a hero without a villain, or an artist without a muse.”

You scoffed. “As if. Why would I miss you?”

Fred began to scowl, and then to pout.

Oh, I can’t tease him when he looks all upset, you thought. With a soft sigh, you relented, “I’m not going to miss you when I’m going to be waiting for you, right on the other side, silly. Did you forget that I’m an angel?”

Fred’s pout disappeared, as he realized that the only reason you weren’t going to miss him was because you were going to be with him there, too. You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to stop a smile from spreading over your face in reply.  

Just then, an unexpected voice sounded out. “Oh, was there a planned execution? I must’ve missed it on my calendar.”

You whirled around to see Lee and George strolling into the meadow. George was carrying an empty bag in one hand, and Lee was carrying - You gasped upon seeing the familiar creature in Lee’s arms. “I thought it was confiscated!”

“He,” Lee corrected you, lifting up the niffler. “And he was, but we got him back.”

“How?”

“Not important.”

George put down the bag and pulled out his wand. He pointed his wand at the fireworks, all of which moved to point upwards at the sky, instead of towards Fred.

“Thanks, mate,” Fred said, and he loped back towards you, George, and Lee.

“What happened to you?” George asked, looking you up and down, as you were entirely covered in soot.

“Better not to ask - ” Fred began.

“Him,” you cut in, while pointing a furious finger at Fred. “He happened to me.”

“And that’s why you pointed all those fireworks at him?” Lee guessed.

You nodded, and Lee laughed as he watched you glare at Fred, still annoyed.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Fred scoffed. He reached over and pinched your cheek. “I did save you. Besides, you look like a grumpy old toad when you pull that face and I’m sick of looking at it.”

You let out a long breath. “Oh, fine.” You sidled up to him, as if to make nice with him, but instead, you just rubbed your face all over his sleeve, using his shirt to clean your face.

“So fucking petty,” Fred muttered, immediately followed by an “OW!” as you bit his shoulder hard in payback for his comment.

“Godric, you two are the same level of psycho,” Lee remarked. “Are you sure you’re dating?”

“Well, it’s the only way to keep her from killing me,” Fred muttered, rubbing his shoulder.

“That’s right,” you said proudly. “And don’t you forget it.”

Lee gave you an amused, if not impressed, look. “I thought you were just the upstanding prefect, until you started dating Fred. And then I just thought you tolerated him for some unknown reason. But you’ve got a streak of mischievousness, too. And pettiness.”

“I do not,” you said, brushing yourself off in a dignified manner and oblivious to the fact that Fred was slowly inserting twigs into your messy ponytail. “I’m simply handing out just deserts. If I seem mischievous or petty at all, it’s because it’s the only language that this numbskull - ” you jerked your head at Fred, and he quickly pulled his hand away “ – can understand.”

Lee thought this through, before pointing out, “But if you’re spending all of your time focused on giving Fred his just deserts, isn’t that you just chasing him around? Isn’t that just – dare I say it – an infatuation?”

Fred perked up, while your eyes turned into slits as you glared at Lee. “Yep,” Fred drawled, trying to hide how pleased he was at Lee’s comment. “Yep, yep, yep. That’s exactly what it is – an infatuation. She’s simply obsessed with me. Aren’t you, hellcat?”

You replied, in a short, tight voice, “The two of you are missing the point entirely. It is not infatuation by any means. It is simply justice. If you can’t see that - ”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s call a spade a spade, and get it over with.” Fred grinned as he slung his arm around your neck. “You love me, you want me, you can’t get enough of me.”

Rolling your eyes, you pushed Fred off of you. Fred chuckled at you as you walked away from him.

“Anyways, I wanted that top hat you were working on, Fred,” George interjected. “Going to make a copy of it for safekeeping. Don’t know what we might lose in the move.”

“Ah. Right.” Fred shot a quick look after you when George mentioned the word “move,” but you thankfully didn’t seem to hear George’s comment at all. Although, Fred thought wryly, that may be less because hellcat’s playing cool and more because she’s in yet another petty fight. The niffler had decided to latch onto your hair pin and you were having a hell of a time getting the niffler to let go.

“Stop it!” you said to the niffler. “Let go, now!”

“Grrr,” the niffler growled, refusing to unclamp its tiny claws from your sparkling hair pin.

“You grrr,” you replied angrily, sounding like a five-year-old.

As you tried to pry the niffler’s paws away, the niffler bit at your fingers. You called out, “Lee, a little help here?”

Lee chortled. “Nah, I think you’re handling it just fine on your own.”

“Her? Or the niffler?” Fred asked.

Lee shot Fred a wink.

Just then, the niffler managed to slide the hair pin out of your hair. He fell to the ground in a heap, but straightened himself out at once, and quickly shoving the pin into his pouch, he scampered away at once.

“Wha - ? You come back here!” you yelled. “Give that back!”

Lee clapped for the niffler, while George smirked at you. And, in a quiet voice that nonetheless was crystal clear to your ears, Fred murmured pleasantly, “Niffler – two, crocodile – zero.”

Fuming, you said, “Fine! Have it your way, then!”

You made to storm off, and Fred took that chance to turn to George and say, “Hey, while you’re down here, would you mind lighting these fireworks for us? I want to take her up the hill a ways, so she’ll have a clear view.”

George meant to sigh, but when he saw his brother’s expression, he instead put a hand on Fred’s shoulder and said, quietly and seriously, “Sure.”

Fred nodded his thanks and then he ran off to catch you – you, who were already stomping back towards the castle.

“Oi!” Fred called to you. “Wrong way, idiot!”

“What?” you shouted back, annoyed.

“The hill with the view is that way! You aren’t going to see anything from the castle!”

“See what? The three of you and the niffler making off with my family fortune? No, thank you!”

“No, all the fireworks that we made, you numbskull! We’re saving your family fortune for later!”

At this, you paused. “You’re going to set them all of the fireworks off, now?”

“Yeah!” Fred said impatiently, “Now are you coming to see them or not?”

You folded your arms and turned around to stare hard at Fred.

Fred tapped his foot impatiently at you. “What’s there to think about? Come down here!”

“I’m thinking about whether a fireworks show is worth my dignity,” you replied honestly.

Fred rolled his eyes. “‘Course it is! ‘Specially when it’s Weasley Wizard Wheezes’ fireworks show!”

You still thought it over. “How many did we make?”

“Seventy.”

You squinted at Fred, not trusting him. “Really?”

“No idea, but it was a lot.”

You sighed. “Fine! I’m coming. But I’m not coming for you, I’m coming to see the fireworks!”

“I know, I know, just hurry up!” Fred called. Then, he watched as you came towards him – first walking, then jogging, then sprinting full on, right towards him. He opened his arms and you sprinted right into him, knocking the breath right out of him, and he didn’t care one whit. Laughing, Fred took a moment to kiss you. Then, wiping the remaining soot tenderly from your cheek, he said, “C’mon, let’s hurry! George and Lee are waiting for us.”

You nodded. Fred took your hand and the both of you ran way, way up the hill, away from the castle, to get the best spot from which to see all of your fireworks – the pink pigs with wings, the nifflers with gold coins, the silver ones spelling out ‘POOP’, the violet ones spelling out ‘REPENT,’ the red canaries surrounded by sparkling hearts, the Cupid figures carrying little golden bows, and the huge crocodiles that opened their mouths wide and went snap! into an explosion of merry greens and golds – burst into the air in the most dazzling display of lights.

“I can’t believe how clear they are,” you said, in awe, trying hard not to blink as you didn’t want to miss even a second of this incredible display. “It’s broad daylight, but they’re all so clear! How?”

Fred reached over and pulled you into his side as he said, with a confident, happy smirk on his face, “That’s magic, baby.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Afterwards, as you were helping to clean up and pack things away back into the bag, Fred’s gaze briefly fell onto your hand again. Fortunately, the scars were now gone, but Fred still felt furious about it.

George swatted Fred on the shoulder with the top hat. “What are you thinking so hard about, huh?”

In a low voice, Fred told George about the scars on your hand. George’s mouth turned into a grim line.

“The last thing that I want to do is to push her,” Fred explained. “But Godric, it bothers me that someone did that to her and I can’t – I’m not doing anything about it.”

George sighed. “I know what those scars are.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, Ron and Hermione told me that Harry has scars just like that on the back of his hand. His said ‘I shall not tell lies.’ It’s what she does, apparently, to students who ‘break the rules.’”

Fred’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

“Umbridge.”

Fred’s eyes flashed.  

Lee, who had helped you get your hair pin back from the niffler, came right at the end to catch the tail of the conversation. “What, are we ganging up on Umbridge?”

“Yes,” Fred seethed. “We are. And not some tiny little prank, either. I’m going to kill her. I’m actually going to Avada Kedavra her right out of - ”

“Don’t Avada Kedavra her. I mean, c’mon, that’s not very original,” Lee said casually. “You can have much more fun than that. You’ve got the perfect opportunity to go all out on her if you want to, after all.”

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean, you two are out of here in two weeks, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, let’s put our heads together and figure out how to destroy Umbridge on your last day, where you won’t have to face any consequences.”

Fred looked over at Lee. “But what if you get into trouble? You’ll still be here.”

Lee shrugged. “I can handle it. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re the weakest of all of us, Fred.” In his arms, the niffler squeaked in agreement.

Just then, your irritated voice broke into the conversation as you called, “Hey! How come you’ve got a map of the prefects’ hallway in your bag? And how come my and Percy’s rooms are marked with red ‘X’s? And how come you’ve marked the timing of our shifts? And – hey! Why is my room labeled ‘Satan’s Hellhole?’”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

When you and Fred made it back up to your room, the two of you played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would get to shower first. Or at least, you pretended to indulge Fred in this little game. However, as soon as Fred stopped walking and put his hand out, you bolted for the shower.

“Oi!” Fred yelled, but you had already locked the door behind you.

“Why should I have to play for my shower?” you said loudly. Just then, you turned around and saw no less than six twigs sticking out of your hair. You let out an audible sigh.

“Something wrong?” Fred called innocently.

You ripped two of the twigs out of your hair before saying back, in as sweet a voice as possible, “No, honey.”

And Fred knew he was done for.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Sure enough, when you came out of the shower, all clean and blushy and soft-looking, you made a point to slip your towel off in front of him.  Crossing over to your dresser, you flung four or five panties over your shoulder and onto the bed, next to Fred, before you pretended to sigh and murmur, “Nothing cute enough. Oh, well, guess I’ll just go… bare.”

Before Fred could comprehend what was going on, you’d slipped up onto the bed, grasped his arm, and pressed yourself against him. Rubbing your thighs together slightly, you looked up at him and murmured, “Your turn.”

“I – uh – I think I’ll shower a bit later,” Fred said, gazing at you with nothing short of complete desire. His hand was already trailing up your thigh.

You frowned. “But you were so eager to take a shower. I showered quickly for you. I didn’t take my time as I usually do. I usually like to lather on a bit of a strawberry soap at the end to wash here - ” You gently touched your breasts and then let your hands float down your curves “ – and here. You know, just to have that soft…” You let your hands slide over your tummy and drift tantalizingly over your blushing thighs. “…touch… that you like so much.”  

“Yeah, uh, right, soft, uh - ” Fred was murmuring some absolute nonsense as he shifted closer to you.

You bit your lower lip, trying to hold back your laughter. “What, Fred?” you murmured.

“Um, I…” Fred slipped his hands on your hips and began to run his hands up and down. “Oh, Gods,” he moaned, feeling your pretty frame all over. He made to grab your hands, as they were resting on your thighs, but then, as smoothly as though you were made of water, you slid out of his hands and rolled neatly over on the bed.

Pulling the silk blanket up, you covered yourself. Resting on your stomach, you lifted your legs and crossed them, so that the silk sheet abruptly fell down your legs and onto the small of your back, revealing your hips, your ass, and your pussy. “Well, go on, take a shower,” you repeated, blinking softly at Fred.

With quite a hazy look on his face, Fred dumbly pushed himself up on his side on one elbow and he stared at you as you hummed, twirled your finger in your hair, and gently crossed your legs in the air.

Fred had to swallow, to combat his suddenly quite dry throat, before he croaked out what he thought was but a humble suggestion. “Before that, though, uh, maybe you’d like me to, you know, kiss you…”

“No,” you said at once. You sat up, and the front of the silk sheet fell too, catching for just a moment against your soft, perky nipples.

Fred moaned softly. But all you did was reach out with your foot and give Fred a gentle shove as you told him, “Get in that shower, Fred.”  

“But, baby - ”

“No ‘baby,’” you corrected him. “‘Baby’ is busy, Fred. She’s busy pulling twigs out of her hair.”

Fred suddenly popped up from the bed, and a scowl replaced his hazy look. “Is that what this is about?”

You shrugged. Then, you suddenly whispered, “Oops, I forgot about those…” and the next second, you got up from the bed, with your sheet still dangling around you, and you went around picking up the panties you’d thrown before. You quite intentionally spread your legs as you bent over the bed each time you had to reach down… Once, you made to reach down to grab your panties, but your hand kept going and you found yourself slipping your fingers over your pussy. Tightening your thighs around your hand, you lazily stroked your fingers against yourself and then, still bent over like that, you threw your head back softly and let out the prettiest little moan…

“Christ,” Fred growled.

Still bending over to show off the perfect heart shape of your hips and ass, you looked at Fred over your shoulder and whispered, “Go take a shower, Freddie. A long shower, and then, maybe by the time you come out, I’ll have forgotten about what an inconsiderate, pompous jerk you are and I may decide - ” reaching back, you gently spread your ass cheeks to show Fred your waiting pussy “- to let you have me. How does that sound?” 

Mind spinning, Fred hurriedly went to your bathroom. Grumbling, he closed the door and turned around, only to find that you had laid the twigs down in a perfect heart shape on the bathroom countertop and in the foggy mirror, you had written, “Weep and repent, Freddie boy.”

Scowling, Fred reached over and wiped the message off. He made to take off his clothes and hang them up, when he saw, already hung on the bathroom hooks, a pretty pair of your panties and a small tag on them, on which you had scrawled in eyeliner – Never for you.

Fred slammed his hand against the door and moaned loudly. He was so fucking hard for you, and it felt embarrassing, and worse of all, he now had to go into this stupid shower and go through the stupid process of washing up when you were just outside, prancing about all naked, with your stupidly perfect face and your stupidly angelic eyes and your stupidly charming voice and –

Fred suddenly yanked open the bathroom door and shouted, “Curse you, hellcat!” Then – slam! – the door shut and the shower turned on.

Outside of the shower, you fell over with laughter, clutching your sides and trying to keep your overflowing giggles to a minimum as you realized how perfectly your trap for Fred had worked. He’s so silly, you thought, wiping tears from your eyes. If he only had a shred of maturity of any sort, this wouldn’t affect him at all. Oh, Godric, he’s so foolish… and cute… You spread the silk bed sheet back onto the bed and then put the pillows back in place. You patted your pink pillow lovingly, knowing that Fred was going to sleep there tonight – if he doesn’t explode first, you thought happily.

You got dressed. Then, you quietly slid under your bed, meaning to give Fred a good scare. Only, when he came loping out of the shower, wrapped in a fluffy pink towel of yours, once he saw that you weren’t in the room, he ran over gleefully to your closet and hid inside.

You clapped your hand over your mouth to keep from making a noise, but you couldn’t help yourself – the giggles turned into wheezes and then into choked laughs and finally, Fred poked his head out of the closet and spotted you, waiting for him just as he had been waiting for you.

“You little rascal,” Fred said, coming out of your closet. He came over and pulled you out from under the bed. The two of you fell onto the bed, sitting up against the bedframe side-by-side.

You smiled up at him brightly and said softly, “Great minds think alike, huh?”

“Yeah,” he replied. But a second later, he added, “But no one ever talks about the flipside of that.”

“Which is?”

“That not-so-great minds must think alike, too. You know, since you’re not included in the ‘great minds,’ you’ve got to be on the other end, the idiot end, and they have to have a common factor amongst them too, by definition of them not being great.”

“Huh…” you said thoughtfully. “That’s a fair point.” You patted Fred’s cheek and murmured lovingly, “Some self-awareness at last.”

Fred rolled his eyes at you, and you smiled brightly back at him. “Fine, whatever, have your stupid little victory,” he mumbled.

In a soft voice, you murmured, “That’s all I ask.”

Fred slid down from the bed frame onto the bed so that while you were still sitting up, he was now lying down. Fred let his head slip onto your thigh.

You whispered, “You know I adore you, don’t you, Fred?”

Remember that, you thought. Please remember that once you’re at 93 Diagon Alley.  

“‘Course you do,” Fred said, yawning. “I’m brilliant.”

You smiled. Softly stroking his hair, you murmured, more to yourself, “I guess you can just think about pranks and pussy, after all…”

“Huh?” Fred mumbled out sleepily.

“Nothing. Sh… Go to sleep, baby,” you whispered. You lovingly touched his cheek, letting your warm fingers drift over his face…

Fred let out a soft, sleepy noise of content as he slowly fell asleep.

You quietly lifted your wand and Summoned your textbook. You read up on some chapters as you let Fred sleep on top of you.

But after a few hours, you realized that it was nearly time for your study date with Patricia.  

“Fred,” you said softly. “Let go of my leg.”

“Mm,” he mumbled, not opening his eyes.

You shook your leg a little.

“Sh…” Fred berated you, still holding onto you.

“Fred, I’ve got to get up.”

“Shush,” he murmured softly, “haven’t you ever seen someone trying to sleep?”

“But I have to go to my study session with Trish.”

Fred groaned. “Are you still on about studying, of all things? Merlin, do you never learn? It’s all rubbish.” While he spoke, you finally managed to pry Fred’s hands off of your thighs and you slipped away.

Fred sighed, but he let you go. Instead, he buried his face against your soft, pink pillow and as you left, he called out, “M’ gonna slobber all over this pillow while you’re gone!”

You laughed quietly as you shut the door behind you. Go ahead, Freddie, I consider that pillow yours, anyways. It’s your spot, on my bed, and I’d like you to be there always.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

“I’m so glad we aren’t fifth years,” Patricia commented, watching all of harried-looking fifth-year students poring over their books at the library. “O.W.Ls were the worst, weren’t they?”

You nodded in agreement, but you also looked at Patricia with an amused look. “You got eleven O.W.Ls, Trish.”

Patricia pulled a face. “Yeah, but they were hard to get. That’s what I’m saying.”

You smiled at her. “Come on,” you beckoned. “There’s an empty table over here.”

About an hour later, Kenneth and David joined you, and the four of you studied in quiet.

But then, a cocky voice floated out over your heads. “Ah, studying to be my apprentice?” A second later, a happy, freckly face popped up over your shoulder.

You shoved Fred’s face away at once. “Quiet, Weasley. I’m studying so that I can pass stricter regulations on your stupid products.”

Fred chuckled. “Do the Wizengamot know that your aspiration is to be a stone-cold dictator? ‘Cause last I checked, our form of government is a representative democracy.”

“Who cares?” you muttered shortly. “As long as there’s justice.”

A stunning silence followed your words, and David cleared his throat awkwardly.

Ah, shit, you realized abruptly, I forgot I wasn’t just with Fred.

Fred was smirking lightly at you, while David, Kenneth, and Patricia were all staring at you in earnest worry and disbelief.

“Er – a joke,” you said, cracking a pained smile at them. “I made a joke.”

“Oh,” Patricia said.

Fred grinned. “Actually, I wanted a word with you, hellcat. Got a minute to spare from staging your coup?”

You sighed and got up from the desk. “Fine.”

Fred walked away, towards the shelves in the back and you followed him. As you did, you realized that his shirt tail was sticking out. Just before he turned around, you reached out and grabbed it.

“Oi, what’re you doing?” Fred said.

“You should properly tuck in your shirt, Fred.”

Fred remarked cheekily, “But I like you holding onto me.”

You rolled your eyes at him as you tucked in the back of his shirt. “What did you want with me?”

Fred paused. The way you phrased it sounded so… “Well, that’s a long discussion,” Fred said, biting his lower lip.

You swatted him on the shoulder. “Don’t. We’re in a library.”

“What, I can’t have dirty thoughts in a library? What about when you hid under a table and sucked my cock for - ?”

“Shush,” you said, pressing your fingers against Fred’s mouth. “All right, I’ll rephrase. What did you come to tell me?”

Suddenly, the cheekiness disappeared from Fred’s demeanor. “Right,” he said softly, murmuring gently against your fingers. You let your hand drop away, only for Fred to reach down and grab it in his. He quietly ran his thumb along the back of your hand. You stood there silently, knowing that he was smoothing over the area where Umbridge had once etched those awful words on you.

“Fred, I’m all right,” you said gently.

“I know,” he replied. “I know you are.”

You reached up and brushed Fred’s hair back. “Are you all right?”

Fred took a moment before he nodded.

You gazed at him, realizing that it wasn’t quite true. You felt your heart slowly begin to sink… I always knew… But it doesn’t hurt any less. You leaned forward and rested your forehead against Fred’s chest, hiding your face from him.

Fred was silent, just holding you, and that was your biggest indication of what was to come.

“Fred,” you mumbled, with your eyes still closed.

“What?”

“Do you remember, when we were in the wardrobe and you were being a sleazy butthole and feigning your way out of a proper detention - ”

“It wasn’t a proper detention. You had some stupid chore planned for me.”

“ – you gave me a kiss that was kind-of soft, a teeny bit romantic, not at all like you… Remember that?”

Fred replied wryly, “Yeah, but if you were about to ask me to kiss you like that again, I think that last line ruined your chance.”

“Mm,” you said softly, with your eyes still closed. “Well, fortunately, I know just how to pick my chances back up.”

Fred scoffed, but then, you lifted your head and, getting up onto your tiptoes, you pressed yourself into him and kissed him. Grasping his tie, you gently pushed him backwards until Fred’s back thudded lightly against the nearest bookshelf.  You slid your hand onto Fred’s cheek and slipped your thumb into his mouth. He let out a soft breath and you paused for a moment, simply sharing that moment with him, before you pulled your hand away and kissed him again, softly yet quite tenderly.

“Ah,” you breathed out against his mouth. “Yes, I’ve wanted you like this. You’re mine, sweetheart. All mine…”

“I know,” Fred murmured back softly. “I know you love me.”

“Yes,” you agreed, barely whispering. Still, he heard you. You smiled a little, even though something in your heart was hurting rather badly. Don’t, you reminded yourself. Be strong. Be happy. Only good memories. Closing your eyes, you kissed Fred again, and you let your lips brush up against his softly for a moment before you turned your head and caught his lips in a deeper kiss. “Mm…”

Fred let you pin him against the shelf, but after a moment, he ran his hands lightly up and down your sides, admiring your shape and loving that he got to hold you. The two of you shared another lengthy, soft kiss that made both of you go slightly dizzy. If we go any further, I won’t be able to stop, you realized. I’ll become selfish, and I don’t want to do that. Settling back onto your feet, you murmured, “I’ve got to go back. Stage my coup.” In your head, you added, And you’ve got to stage yours, haven’t you, my love? You’ve got to figure out exactly how you’re going to leave me.

Fred fell back against the shelf again, catching his breath. For a moment, he wasn’t able to look at you. Staring up at the high windows of the library, through which the evening sunlight was coming through, he said, “Listen, tomorrow evening, around five o’clock, could you go to the Astronomy Tower?”

You looked at him curiously.

“Bring your anti-smoke towel with you and avoid Gregory the Smarmy’s corridor on the way up,” Fred instructed.

You hesitated. “Are you luring me into a trap, Fred Weasley? Out to catch yourself an alligator, are you?”

Fred smiled at you, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Then, suddenly, he grabbed your waist and he pulled you to him so strongly that he nearly swept you off your feet. You gasped softly as you tripped forward and and your hands flew to his chest as you caught yourself. Fred kissed you roughly, almost desperately. Holding you tightly, he whispered meanly against your mouth, “Silly. What do I need an alligator for, when I’ve got a mean old crocodile all to myself already?”

“Ah…” you moaned softly, as Fred bit gently on your lower lip before kissing you hard again. He touched you all over, with his hands flitting up your back and over your shoulders before he finally buried his hands in your hair and made you tilt your head upwards a little so that he could kiss you even more deeply. Your heart was pounding; you couldn’t breath when he was kissing you like this and holding you like this. Your entire body felt aflame and you suddenly forgot how to think. But there was no need for thought, as all there was was a tender, overwhelming warmth. You forgot where you ended and Fred began and you didn’t care to question it anymore – no, you didn’t even want to contemplate that there could be difference or distance between you. Never, you whispered fervently in your mind, as you let the fire of Fred’s kiss trail all the way down your spine to your very toes. I always want to be with you and be yours. Always.  

Finally, breathing quite heavily, Fred drew away from you and he set you down on your feet. You opened your eyes and stared up at him, wide-eyed. Your lip gloss was on Fred’s lips. You reached up, meaning to brush it away, but Fred shook his head. “It’s fine.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t be late tomorrow,” Fred murmured, and he gave you a kiss on the forehead before he walked away.

Tomorrow… Five o’clock… Astronomy Tower. You slowly made your way back to the table.

“What happened to you?” Patricia asked.

“Hm?” you murmured, as you sat down in your seat. “Oh, nothing.”

“But you’re blushing all over,” David pointed out, staring at you as though he’d never seen you before.

“Am I?” You pressed your hands to your cheeks, only to find that they were, in fact, quite warm. “Oh… I suppose I am.”

“You might want to - ”

“Hm?” You looked up at Patricia.

She pointed to your mouth. “Um, half your lip gloss is gone.”

“Oh.” You reached up and wiped your mouth. “Better?”

Patricia, David, and Kenneth traded looks, wondering if they should tell you that your hair was quite frizzy and that your shirt had been pulled out of the waistband of your skirt.

Finally, Kenneth cleared his throat and replied, “Yeah, all better.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Five o’clock. The Astronomy Tower. You held that promise in your mind for the rest of that day and all throughout the day the next day. You had never been so aware of time before, to the point that you found it difficult to focus on anything else. Tick, tick, tick.

Walking into Defense Against the Dark Arts at four o’clock, you noticed that Fred, George, and Lee were absent. You took your seat next to David. Tick, tick, tick.

“You all right?” he asked you. “You seem a little…”

You smiled at him. “I’m fine. Thanks, David.”

You kept your head down all throughout class, quietly jotting down notes as you usually would. Tick, tick, tick.

At four fifty, a loud BOOM! rang out in the corridors. Umbridge paused, looking up from her desk in alarm. Then, a series of pops and bangs went off and a few happy shrieks could be heard.

“What - ?” Umbridge began. At that moment, the door flew open and Filch hobbled in. He shouted loudly, “It’s them Weasley twins again, Professor!”

“Again? What have they done this time?” Umbridge cried, leaping to her feet and running to the door.

“Fireworks, ma’am - !” Filch began, but even as he spoke, a stray firework flew into the room and – BANG! Students shouted and dove under their desks, but you merely looked up and watched as a spray of orange and red sparks rudely spell out the letters “P O O” in the air.

“Get them!” Umbridge snarled. “This is the last straw!”  

“Yes, Professor!” Filch said.

Umbridge and Filch ran out into the hallway, followed by a mad dash by all of the students wanting to see what was going on. You remained calm and exited the classroom last. You stepped into the hallway just in time to see an enormous dragon, comprised entirely of green-and-gold sparks, clamp its glittering jaws directly on a screaming Umbridge. And you could see, a bit further down the hall, in Gregory the Smarmy’s corridor, that absolute pandemonium was reigning as shocking-pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter whizzed lethally through the air, rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars ricocheted off the walls, and large purple bats swooped ominously through the air, leaving behind streams of glittering black smoke behind them. You reached into your pocket and pulled out your enchanted handkerchief. Holding it to your nose and mouth, you quietly disappeared down the corridor and into the staircase. You looked behind you, and confirming that the staircase was empty and you weren’t being followed, you took off, sprinting as hard as you could all the way up to the Astronomy Tower.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

You hurriedly opened the door and ran straight out onto the open balcony. Sure enough, there was Fred. He was holding a broomstick in his hand. Behind him, you saw George waiting in the sky, hovering above the tower on his broomstick.

“Hi, hellcat,” Fred greeted you. "Punctual, as always."

“Hi,” you breathed out, stopping a few feet before him.  

George, seeing that you had arrived, took the opportunity to swoop down to the lower stories to chuck a few more fireworks in through the windows. Loud gasps and shrieks of laughter rang out as more fireworks exploded in the classrooms and hallways.

Fred tried to smile at you, but he couldn’t quite get himself there, and his expression was closer to a grimace.

Knowing that he was finding it difficult to find the right words to say, you decided to say it for him. “To 93 Diagon Alley, huh?”

Fred sighed heavily and dropped his head. “So you already knew.”

You gave him a small smile. When Fred looked up, he caught that soft, sad smile on your face and he also saw that soft, pink heart beating nervously in your chest, as it always was, only you wouldn’t let anyone see, anyone except him. And he knew that, he knew that so well, and so when he thought of having to live without you, he found that he couldn’t – he wouldn’t – “Come with me,” he blurted out.

Your eyes glistened as you whispered softly, “Oh, Fred…”

Fred dropped his broomstick, and it fell to the ground with a clatter. He crossed the few steps to you in a brief second and he grasped your hands in his. “Listen, I get it,” he said, looking at you with utmost earnestness. “The world needs people like you. The Wizengamot will be better off once you join, I know. You’ll protect and save people who sorely need protection. You will, I know it. Even your family – they need you to prove them wrong, to prove that the magical world is a legitimate world and that you have serious things to do here.” He squeezed your hands in his tightly as he continued, “But just because people expect you to be a certain way doesn’t mean you have to be that way. I mean, you’ve got a wicked sense of mischief, and it makes you happy to be silly. I know that about you. Only, you’re always hiding it, downplaying it, berating yourself for it, blaming yourself for it. But why? When it’s the part of you that makes you so spirited and charismatic and lively?”

You stood there, biting down hard on your lower lip and trying to stop your face from screwing up as you held back the sadness that was now bleeding out of every atom of your heart.

Fred’s voice was soft and honest, as he promised, “You could be great. No doubt about that. But if you – if you were to be with me, I would never judge you badly for choosing to be silly instead – in fact, I think I would kind-of love you for it. Because you would be happy, I think. And that’s what it comes down to. You don’t have to be great. You could be happy.”

You couldn’t feel the ground beneath your feet anymore. You felt strangely fragile and intensely vulnerable, like a single seed of a dandelion, about to be whisked away to an entirely different dimension by the slightest of winds. He saw so much of you. How? you wondered. How had Fred Weasley seen so much, when all of your close friends and family had not?

Almost as though he could read your mind, Fred murmured, “I’ve said too much, huh? But I mean it – you could be happy.”

Trying your utmost to hold it together, you replied, rather hoarsely, “I am happy, Fred. I’m with you.” You squeezed his hands back. “I think I lived a little bit because of you - ” Your voice gave out, and you felt a sudden sob escape you. You hurriedly held your breath, but it was too late.

Fred blinked, shocked. “Are you – Are you crying? Wha - ? Don’t cry.”

You laughed, even as your tears began to fall in earnest.

Fred rushed to hug you. “I said, don’t cry! Gods, what the hell am I supposed to do if you cry?”

Nestling against Fred, you wiped your eyes with your sleeves. Then, pressing your hands warmly against his chest, you looked up at him and said, calmly and warmly, “I’ll tell you what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to go out and light up the entire world. You’re supposed to fly off with your brother now and never look back. You’re supposed to live well and be happy, with or without me.”

Fred closed his eyes at your last words. So, she’s not coming with me. Of course not. She wouldn’t be my little hellcat if she did. He swallowed hard. “I wish I’d won that tic-tac-toe game.” Opening his eyes, he looked down at you and said fervently, “I would have made you come with me now. That would have been my wish.”

“I wish you’d won too,” you replied, smiling at him. But your smile faded and your hands slowly drifted down his chest and then fell away from him. Staring at his chest, at your favorite spot in the whole world, and wishing that he could feel in his heart how much you loved him, you told him, “Be good now, Fred. And mind you run a respectable joke shop. Who knows? If it’s respectable enough, maybe I’ll come visit it one day.”

Just then, George flew back up towards the tower. “Oi, Umbridge’s on her way up!”

Fred reached over and put his hand on your face and drew you in to kiss you one last time. At the same time, he slipped a piece of paper in your front pocket. He whispered in your ear, “That dragon firework eating Umbridge alive - that was for you, you know.”

You smiled. “I know.” You pressed your hands to his face, trying your very best to remember the shape of his handsome face against your hands. You gazed at him hard, etching this memory of him inside of your heart. For one moment, we can be each other’s. Just one more moment. Fred returned your gaze, and you both stood there, openly loving each other.

“Fred!” George called. “She’s nearly there! I can see her through the windows.”

And now it’s time to let go.

Fred's brow furrowed as you let your hands fall away. “Say you were trying to catch me," he told you. "Throw a few spells at me as I leave, so you won’t get into trouble with Umbridge again. Or else I really might have to come back and kill her.”

“Don’t worry about me,” you reassured him. “I know just what to do.”

Fred smiled, though his eyes were quite wet. “Atta girl.”

“Go,” you said.

You heard the door at the bottom of the tower burst open and Umbridge and Filch shouting loudly.

“Go!” you urged.

Fred pressed your hand to his mouth one more time before he dashed back to his broomstick. He had barely got on and kicked off into the sky when Umbridge and Filch burst onto the balcony.

“Professor!” you yelled. “There they are!” You pointed into the sky.

Seeing Fred and George on their broomsticks, Umbridge screamed, “You two get down from there at once!”

“You know what?” Fred said. “I don’t think we will.” He turned to his twin. “George, I think we’ve outgrown full-time education.”

George replied, “Yeah, I’ve been feeling that way myself. Time to test our talents in the real world, d’you reckon?”

Fred grinned. “Definitely.”

Furious, Umbridge raised her wand at the two of them – BOOM!  

A huge firework exploded on the ground, immediately letting off a huge plume of thick smoke. Umbridge and Filch coughed loudly and then blindly stumbled backwards. You cried out loudly, too, but in fact you had been the one to let off the firework, and you already had your enchanted handkerchief pressed over your face. When Fred had taught you to make fireworks, you had kept one of the last ones for yourself, sure it would come in handy sooner rather than later. As Umbridge had started to throw a spell at Fred and George, you had subtly thrown the firework onto the ground.  

Pretending to cough and struggle, you slipped off of the balcony first, and then, under coverage of the smoke, you hid behind the doorway. You waited for Umbridge and Filch to run out of the smoke and – whoosh! – you pulled a lever that you had installed yesterday evening by the doorway, and a huge net came down and swept up both Umbridge and Filch.

Umbridge screamed and Filch let out a wild cry. “What is this?” Umbridge yelled, thrashing in the net.

“Oh, Godric!” you yelled, pretending to be distraught. “Professor! Oh, no! Wait, I’ll go and get help!” You dashed out of the room and raced down the stairs.

You ran as fast as you had ever run, all the way down the staircases and down the long entrance hallway, until you came bursting out of front doors. Fred and George were still in the sky, hovering lower now as they announced their business loudly to the cheering students. Fred was yelling, “If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp or any of our fireworks, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley — Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes! Our new premises!”

George added, “Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they’re going to use our products to get rid of Umbridge!”

Umbridge, who had managed to magick herself out of the net, shrieked from the top of the Astronomy Tower, “STOP THEM!” But it was too late. With a last salute, Fred said to Peeves, who was hovering in the air besides them, “Give her hell from us, Peeves.” And Peeves, who had never taken an order from a student before, saluted back.

Fred and George took off, then, swooping merrily in the air before flying straight off into the gorgeous spring sunset. A roar of cheers and applause rose from the students and even a few of the professors clapped as Fred and George began speeding away from the castle. They didn’t see you as you, on the grounds below, began to run with them. You ran as long as you could, deep into the Forbidden Forest, until you couldn’t see them through the trees anymore. You fell to your hands and knees, breathing hard. Your heart was beating so fast that it physically hurt, but that felt right to you. That felt… right…

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

It was Kenneth who came and found you. You were sitting calmly against a tree, gazing up at the night sky.

“Here you are.”

“Hi, Ken.”

“Are you all right?” he asked you.

“Of course. Never better.”

Kenneth offered you his hand, and you took it.

“How did you know I was here?” you wondered.

“I didn’t. I searched for you.”

“Oh.”

You both headed up to the castle together.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Kenneth asked. “I didn’t really like Fred, but…”

You laughed lightly. “Of course I’m all right. What, you think I’d cry over a boy?”

The two of you entered the castle. Kenneth made to walk you to your room, but you said firmly, “No, I’d prefer to go up myself. Thanks, Ken. Really.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

You quietly closed your bedroom door behind you. Well, that’s that. It all played out exactly how I expected. So there’s no reason to mourn. I’m glad I made the most of my time with Fred. I have no regrets. So, I shouldn’t be sad. Right. Nothing to be sad about.

You stripped off your jacket when you felt a lump in your front pocket. Frowning, you reached in and pulled out a piece of parchment. Your eyes flashed when you recognized the title, written in your handwriting, which spelled out, ‘Petition to Fred Gideon Weasley, regarding the use of certain pet names.’ You saw that in addition to your requested nicknames of ‘Freddie’ and ‘Freddie boy’, Fred had scrawled on ‘Sir,’ ‘Your Highness,’ ‘Your Genius,’ ‘My Lord,’ and ‘Worshipped Entity.’ He’d signed it at the bottom, too, in his loopy, messy signature. And at the very end, next to his signature, he had scribbled, ‘Signed by your boyfriend, who loves his hellcat to hell and back because it’s the only proper way to love her.’

You burst out laughing, and you burst out sobbing at the same time. He really is so sweet. You hugged the paper to your chest as you thought to yourself, Fred, I tried to tell you at the end, but I don’t think you’ll ever know… how much I love you. And then, I never did really let you know, because I didn’t want to cause you any pain, how much I’ll miss you. God, I’ll miss you. I do, already. You slowly walked over to your wall and pinned the signed petition besides the drawing of a hellcat that Fred had done for you, and the page of notes that he’d turned into a paper airplane… Be happy, Fred. That’s the best world, really – not us together, but where you’re happy.

You remembered that you had once told Fred about your happiest dream. “It’s my favorite dream, to be honest. It makes me feel all warm for the entire day when I have it. You’re setting off a bunch of fireworks, and they’re all glittery pink hearts and they’re so brilliant and bright, exploding all over the sky. There’s a crowd of people clapping. I’m not among them, but I’m watching you, too. I’m so happy. I’m happier than I ever thought I could be. And so are you.”

You went over to your bed and sat down. Reaching out, you touched the pink pillow that Fred always slept on. Tracing the ruffles with your fingers, you let yourself admit one last time, Love you, Fred. Love you very, very much.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Three Years Later

“Look.” Patricia waved a flyer in front of your face. “Weasley Wizard Wheezes.”

You looked at the flyer, which had about a million different colors on it and screamed in bold orange font: “WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO? YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO! THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"

You bit back a laugh. The Wizengamot member next to you, Griselda Marchbanks, scoffed, “Could it be any more garish?”

“They’re making loads of money, though,” David murmured, while flipping through a stack of papers in preparation for the session on a new magical rights bill that you were all scheduled to debate and vote on today.

“Not just that,” Amelia Bones said. “We’re buying from them as well. They make excellent spell-repelling attire.”

“Well, that’s surprising,” Griselda murmured, “given that it’s a silly joke shop run by dunderheads who didn’t even graduate.”

Patricia looked at you. “Aren’t you curious?”

Kenneth, who had been sitting quietly and taking notes on what he wanted to say in today’s debate, looked up at you upon hearing Patricia’s question.

“Why would she be curious?” Griselda asked, glancing over at you. “You’re not into this sort-of thing, are you? Er – U-No-Poo?”

You smiled. “No, I’m not.” You turned to Patricia. “What I am curious about is why you’re comfortable talking to me about Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes, when I know you haven’t finished reading the proposed bill.”

Patricia quietly slunk away.

You grinned and you sat back down at your desk. But your gaze fell back onto the flyer that Patricia had left behind. You subtly slipped it into your stack of papers. Although, you didn’t need to look at it to know the store’s address, as it was still 93 Diagon Alley.

I once told Fred that I’d go see his shop once it became respectable, you remembered. Well, three years of being the highest-grossing joke shop and now the supplier of a ten-year government contractor – I think that’s respectable by any means. So it was that after the Wizengamot debate that afternoon, you quietly cleaned up your office and then Apparated to Diagon Alley.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

You stared up at the huge statue installed over the door of the shop. It was an animated statue of the Weasley twins, each wearing a black top hat. The top hat would lift up to reveal a cute bunny, then come back down, and then lift up again – only to reveal that the bunny was gone. You smiled. I remember that prototype.

You stepped into the shop, though with some difficulty, for the place was absolutely crammed – not just with products, but with customers. Wow. Congratulations, Fred Weasley.

A staff member, wearing a bright orange shirt, asked you cheerfully, “Can I help you find something?”

“No,” you said quietly. “I’m just… looking.” Even before you finished your sentence, you felt your eyes drawn up to the top of the staircase that was in the middle of the store.

There was Fred Weasley, looking stupidly jaunty and happy in his dragon-leather suit.

“Oh, Godric, crimson dragon skin? Fred, could you be any more unrefined?”

“You just wait, love. Once I have a bit of money to spend, I’m definitely gonna be worthy of the name ‘sir’. I’ll look so good, I’ll blow your socks off.”

You barely resisted the urge to shake your head at how ridiculous Fred looked. But it made you happy, really happy, to see him so clearly in his element. Yes, you thought warmly, I reckon I could call you a ‘Sir’ now. But you hardly need that kind-of affirmation anymore. You’ve done so well, Fred. So, so well. I’m so proud of you, and happy for you. Keep living well, my love. You turned around and began to leave.

However, you couldn’t help yourself, and just before you reached the door, you looked over your shoulder to catch one more glimpse of Fred. In that instant, Fred’s eyes met yours. The smile slid off of his face, and his eyes widened.

You smiled at him for the most fleeting of moments before you left the store, leaving Fred Weasley just as dazed and confused with your mere presence and in his own store, as you had once made him feel one late-spring afternoon in a secret passageway in Hogwarts a few years ago.

❧ The End

[mx-pastelwriting]

Kinktober Day 16: Photo

Hank Palmer x GN! Reader

Summary: Seeing a photo you nude in Hank's wallet leads you to make new ones.

Warnings: Established Relationship, Smut, Nude Photos, Nudes

Kinktober Masterlist

Minors do not interact!

Opening the leather edges of Hank's wallet, looking through it, trying to release some of the boredom that ached in your joints from the long car ride. Stopped at a gas station, Hank right outside as you looked at the many cards that were slotted in the leather pockets, uninterested by it all that was until you undid the last folding of the wallet.

Pictures of you in different poses looking at the camera, taking you a minute to remember the scenario in which these were taken. Having gifted Hank these last Valentine's Day, though never knowing what happened to the pictures, it hadn't crossed your mind; he kept them on him all the time.

The sound of Hank closing the gas tank pulled you away from the wonder as to how many people had seen the pictures. Quickly hiding the wallet under you, watching as he gets in, closing the door behind him.

"I hope this isn't the fun wallet I've heard about," you say, wallet in hand, pictures on display only for the two of you. Looking over to you confused, stopping the action of putting the keys into the ignition, seeing as his eyes scanned over his wallet, then pictures.

Laughing shyly at your words now making sense, "That's my fun wallet," he says, emphasizing "my" while starting up the car, then taking the wallet from you to get a closer look.

"So they're for your eyes only?" you ask, still needing the reassurance that he wasn't passing it around. Hank gives you a look before responding, "Yes, baby," he says, putting a hand on your thigh as he drives out of the gas station and onto the road.

"But why do you have them in there?" you ask, making him laugh. "They help me with trail days," he replies, confusing you further.

"How?" "Well, the court bathroom is usually empty, so I go in there-" "Okay, I get it." You cut him off, causing his laugh to fill the car. Thinking about it further, Hank, having for almost a year enjoyed your photos, something tightens within you.

Squeezing your thighs together as a wash of hunger goes over you, looking over to Hank's lap, scanning his open legs. It didn't help how his hand rested on your thigh so high up, wondering if he could feel the warmth pouring out of you.

Resting a hand of your own, his lap moving towards his belt, hearing it clink as you undo it followed along with Hank shifting in his seat, giving you more room to work. Quickly you unbuckle, supported on your knees, leaning over his lap, having taken his soft cock in hand then mouth.

Feeling as the car slowed with the faint sound of his grip tightening on the wheel. Breathy moans mix with curses as your tongue messages his cock shaft and tip wetly.

The road once smooth against the highway is now rocky as Hank pulls off to the side of the road, adjusting his seat back, wanting a full view of your lips wrapped around his cock, unaware of his next action until staring into the camera lens of his phone.

Licking upwards on his cock, smiling, wanting the next pictures tucked away in his wallet to be at the best moment for Hank to remember.

Hello, I hope you enjoyed if there is any grammar mistakes or misspellings sorry about that feel free to let me know in the comments, have a great day/afternoon/night!

Fanfiction is protected under copyright law when plagiarism is involved. If you plagiarize my work, either a piece or whole in any language, I will take legal action. Inspiration or the same idea does NOT apply to this, only word-for-word plagiarism in any language.

♥ mx-pastelwriting does not consent to their fanfiction being copied, copied & credited, translated, used in videos and/or audios, screenshotted, used in AI, or reposted on any other platform without permission.

♥ mx-pastelwriting does give consent to "reblog," sharing links to direct work, and being in recommend lists.

Kinktober Taglist: @raajali3 @crustyowos @fly-on-the-wall @www-interludeshadow-com @carolb111 @thays0 @theescorpiolovechile @lokiiified

[tomboyjessie13-artblog]

For anyone who are wondering why this was reposted, it's because the original version had a belly dancer outfit being used as a courtesan outfit and didn't realize that it was a negative stereotype until 6 days later. So, I had to remove the drawing and edit out the outfit with an edited evening dress from her first fashion chart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a remake to a fashion chart I made last November: Link

I've taken the liberty of fixing and replacing outfits I've lost interest in, but I left the original alone for historical purposes. It would've been done a week and two days earlier had it not been for an error I made that caused me to get angry and sick before my time of the month hit, also distractions and being tired. But it's all good now, so onto the drawing.

- Overcoat: I actually went ahead and remade her leather jacket into an Alaska leather long coat, the reason for that is because I fell out of love with the previous design as it looked too much like an Organization XIII cloak, that and I'd just found out that Cairo has a bit of a conservative dress code, so why not? Also, I just think it's neat. I've also gave her a pair of sunglasses that would later become Kakyoin's, inspired by my fanfic.

- Main outfit: What she mostly wears under her overcoat in her arc, her outfit mostly consists of a zipper dress, six arm bands, thigh high boots, biker gloves, spiked bracelet, chained choker, all made of leather. And is complimented by three golden bracelets, ankh shaped earrings, fishnet stockings, and gold and black makeup that shapes the eye of Ra. Basically, she sort of looks like an 80's biker/goth chick.

- Mesh top: The first outfit I've drawn when coming up with more goth inspired outfits for Eris, which consists of a black crop tank top with matching pants, platform boots, silver accessories, wristbands, a Debbie Gibson hat, and a bluish green mesh top with purple make up and nails, loosely inspired by X-Men Evolution's Rogue.

- Fishnet dress: The second outfit I've drawn when coming up with more goth inspired outfits for Eris, which consists of a black form-fitting dress with a fishnet neckline, fishnet sleeves(which are hidden with a different black coat), fishnet leggings, and longer platform boots with belts. She also has her hair put up and wears green nails and makeup.

- Leather corset: The third outfit that actually came from an incorrect quote I've written on August 1st. She mostly wears the same accessories as her first outfit, except the attire is replace with a leather corset, a crop top, black jeans, short boots, and red nails and make up. I actually gave her a mesh top underneath because the outfit felt incomplete.

- Pajamas: There's isn't much to this one, just a button-down night shirt that covers her arms and torso and doesn't wear makeup and jewelry, the only difference now is that she's wearing pajama pants since the original didn't look right to me now.  - DIO's Food: Forgive me for the dehumanizing title, but this is what DIO refers to his women in his harem, being treated like cattle to keep a Vampire well fed. This is also what Eris wore when she met DIO and how she became one of his favorite lovers and servants after awakening her Stand. As you can tell by the age, she's been serving him longer than my other OC Medea King.

- Lady of the night: This is the outfit that Eris used to wear when she worked as a worker at the "bathhouse" DIO bought for money laundering and buying his "meals", it's mostly a bright magenta colored evening dress with matching shoes and earrings, gold and silver jewelry, sheer leggings, and a dark blue leather jacket. She will later stop wearing this color after becoming an agent.

Eris Raitt belongs to me Anime base belongs to Rainfall-Bases Blank base here: BASE 272 - girl with no boots by Rainfall-Bases on DeviantArt

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

Do you guys know about creative commons? (if yes, ignore me :] )

I'm just asking, because (especially with that copyright restrictions apply) many museum, educational, and general open access sources use creative commons guidelines, which are a more permissive type of copyright restrictions that can be individualized per item. Many allow for reproduction as long as you aren't profiting from the work. I assume this tumblr isn't monetizing anything lol, but I wanted to make sure that you guys knew about that because I personally did not know about CC until a few years ago and copyright stuff can be difficult to navigate

To be extra clear: Mod Salix actually does have a degree in museum studies, and specifically checked both websites for information on reuse. Neither has anything about CC licensing, and the one has a specific page about copyright that not only specifies reuse, but states "You’re encouraged to use images as a way of remembering and sharing your experience of our exhibitions, but the reproduction of portraits as commercial items or the use of the images in a way that would cause offence is strictly prohibited.", and I personally am uncomfortable suggesting that pitting Maori art in a tumblr poll bracket is absolutely non offensive. Neither does it really fall under "remembering and sharing your experience of our exhibition," exactly.

At last check, we had 219 works submitted. We will already be cutting a fair number of works for much more petty reasons than "bothering an important cultural institution for an extremely ridiculous tumblr poll", but technically, yes we could bother them. We have no guarantee that they'll get back to us, much like the three (of six) tumblr artists have not gotten back to us yet, nor would I want to waste their time on it.

For the record: those two pieces I will be specifically linking after the first bracket is up because I do want to share these Maori artists that have been shared with us.

this feels a lot like you're going "ethically it's FINE because they didn't post it on tumblr yet" and that attitude got a lot of pixiv artists to delete their pixivs because people kept reposting even with credit. These two specific submissions both have specifically stated restrictions on reuse, and that made me check on both their restrictions and that made me go "hey wait, actually, ethically, this is entirely feelsbadman". Reposting is not just the nitty-gritty of removing attribution, because there are posts circulating on this site where someone has reposted it and left a "credit to artist" but no one ever goes and looks at that artist because they'd rather recirculate the repost and the repost has an order of magnitude more notes than any of the original artist/posts ever did.

Also, I live in a place that already does not respect indigenous rights enough, so I'm a little.... touchy about respecting other cultures' indigenous peoples, and if they say "ask permission before using for something that might be offensive", I'm going to actually stop to think about it a little bit.

[bethelighthalazia]

Gone too far

Summary:  What if San notices his sasaengs in the crowd near you at Coachella and suddenly you are nowhere to be seen anymore?

Genre: angst, hurt/NO comfort

Pairing: bf!San X fem!reader

Additional Characters: ATEEZ - members

Word Count:  1601

Warnings: kidnapping, sasaengs, death threats, reader getting hurt, blood, panicked San, angry San, angry ateez, possibly weapons mentioned, major character death

networks: @mirohs-aurora-society

notes: I apologize in advance for any tears and heartbreaks <3

other links: n/a

© by bethelighthalazia. Do not repost, copy or translate. Unless stated otherwise, those works are mine and born from my own ideas. I don't have any claim on the mentioned real existing Idols whatsoever.

Only a week ago, San had introduced you to ATINY as his girlfriend after a bit over a year of dating now. None of the boys would have thought that this would start a chain of actions that end up with what happened today and the following days.

It's the soundcheck for Coachella. You were settled near the stage, watching and cheering for San and the boys, while they made sure that their big performance would go perfectly fine. You knew that they're nervous, but you always believed in them. Every now and then, San glanced over to you, just like the other seven boys do, they all grew close to you, since you made San happy. 

Unbeknownst to you, there had been some of San's fans, mainly one specific sasaeng and her friends, but San had spotted them already. He had looked worried, but you thought it would only be because he's nervous about the performance, after all, they're the first korean boy group to perform here. This thought is quickly discarded when you feel something pointy being held against your side, a hand quickly wrapped around your face to cover your mouth while you're dragged into a little crowd, out of San's view.

You could hear his voice falter through the microphone, him whispering your name first before shouting it, the panic in his voice evident. Hushed voices told you to stay quiet while you were dragged away, the sharp object by now cutting into your flesh, since you only wore one of San's crop tops he brought with him. The last thing you heard before someone knocked you out, was San's broken voice calling your name again and again, followed by the sound of his microphone dropping and some faint sobs.

— San pov —

“Where is she?” Hongjoong asked, he's fuming with anger and his voice merely an angry hiss. After San broke down on stage during the sound check, they had looked everywhere, but no one had seen y/n anywhere. Now, San was sitting on the sofa, Wooyoung trying to console him while San's eyes seemed void of any life. His hyungs were discussing the search with the bodyguards and managers, but they haven't found any lead to you yet.

While Wooyoung quietly talked to San, the door to the backstage room burst open and Jongho arrived with Yeosang, some paper in his hands. “Hyung! We found this at the spot where y/nnie was watching us from…” The maknae said quietly, handing the paper to Hongjoong. It was a collection of cut out letters, blood splatters on it. The letter said that San should forget you, or the blood wouldn't be the only thing you'd lose. With a quick glance at San, Hongjoong clenched his fists, feeling angry, but also helpless. What if these people truly hurt you? What if searching for a way to get you back to his younger member would endanger your life?

“Hyung…what's that?” San's croaked voice rang through the room, his eyes focused on the paper in Hongjoong's hand. The older one already wants to put it into his pockets, yet San was quicker, snatching the paper from the captain's hand, Wooyoung and Jongho trying to stop him but failing. When San finally reads the letter, he feels tears clouding his vision, squeezing them shut to try and refocus his eyes on the cut out letters. It doesn't take too long and his legs give out under him, causing San to drop on his knees, his breath shallow and his heart feeling as if an icy hand grips around it. “It- this…this can be a coincidence…right? We don- don´t know if this really is-” He stutters, hyperventilating while speaking. Wooyoung quickly gets down next to his best friend, trying to calm him down, but it doesn't help at all. The final blow is Jongho, who holds out his hand and then opens it, your necklace, a locket with a photo of you and san inside, dangling from his fingers, the silver of the chain and pendant covered in a crimson red.

San ́s eyes widen at this sight, frozen in shock for a few moments before he just falls against Wooyoung´s chest, sobbing uncontrollably and muttering out your name between the sobs. Hongjoong watches this for a few more moments, thinking about a solution. The letter said not to include police, but it did not say anything about getting help in other ways. The captain and Seonghwa exchange a short glance before Seonghwa gets out his phone to start a livestream from backstage, Hongjoong speaking, while the eldest makes sure to get San into the view of the camera as well.

“Hello Atiny. We know our stage should begin in a few hours, but we felt the need to come live to ask you for help. As you guys can see, San is devastated, and not only him, but all of us. Y/n, San´s girlfriend has vanished and we know that she had been taken by someone. They have sent a letter, telling San to not think about her, but his fans,” Hongjoong says calmly, but his voice is shaky as he holds up the letter they got, followed by a picture of San and you. “If any of you have seen her in the last hour, please let us or our staff know, so we can get our y/n back.”

Most comments were useless, only talking about how unfair it is that you got to be his girl, not even showing concern for you at all. However, one comment got Seonghwa´s attention, his eyes wide. ‘I saw her with friends, she seemed passed out drunk tho’. He immediately sent a private message to the person through the group´s account, asking if they could explain more. The commenter explained that you seemed somewhat out of it, one of your assumed friends holding you up but when they had asked the group if they needed help, the friends seemed to have run away. Seonghwa tried to get some more answers from the commenter, but they couldn't tell him much more. A knock on the door did pull the attention away from Seonghwa´s phone and towards the door. 

Hongjoong was the one who answered the door, everyone holding their breath when they stared into the face of San ́s manager who only shook their head. “What-” The captain asked, but got cut by the manager´s words. “They´ve found her…But i don't think you should go.” He says quietly, but it's loud enough that all the boys look at him now. San tries to get up and walk towards the door, but wooyoung is quick to catch him, because his legs just give up halfway when a police officer appears behind the manager. “We need one of you to confirm that it's her.” The officer said and with a quick nod, Yunho already walked up, gesturing to the others to take care of San. Exchanging looks, the members nod, but then Wooyoung looks up at the others and waves Seonghwa over to take over holding San, so he could accompany Yunho.

The walk to where they found you felt like hours for them, neither Yunho, nor Wooyoung talking the whole time, both lost in their own thoughts. When the police officer stops, he looks at both with a concerned look, frowning. “It's not a very nice sight. But we need to know if it's her. Please step away if the sight makes you nauseous.” He says, then leads the two men to the spot they found you.

You laid there, your empty eyes staring up to the sky, at least the one that's not covered by the blood coming from a big hole that was smashed into your temple. Wooyoung grabs Yunho´s arm tightly to hold himself up at the sight, Yunho only nods and then has to avert his gaze, looking away from your destroyed body. “It- It´s y/n…” Wooyoung mumbles before stumbling away from the scene, barely holding onto his hyung before crouching down to empty his stomach outside of the police barricades. Yunho just supports his younger member before they both slowly make their way back to the backstage area where they had left San with the others, but they freeze in their tracks when they hear the blood curdling scream from the spot where the police had found your body. 

Somehow, San had convinced the others to bring him here and before anyone could manage to hold him back, he had fought his way through and stumbled through the barricades. Now, he's just kneeling there, staring at your body that quickly gets covered with a white sheet, which turns red fast. His head dropped forwards on his chest, his eyes looking empty, as if all life had drained from them. Yunho and Seonghwa hurried to grab him, pulling him up and away from the scene by his upper body and San doesn't even resist, his legs dragging over the grass. The only sounds that can be heard from San are whispered words, or rather, one word; repeating your name over and over. Without hesitation, Hongjoong cancels the second Coachella performance and all concerts and anything for the next few months, even making a video statement that because of what happened, they won't be doing any live performances or anything for the time being. Then, he returns to taking care of his members, tears in his eyes because you were loved by all of them, they all were grateful for the love you gave San all the time.

taglist: @mingis-mizu, @tinyelfperson, @hotteokkay, @minkilicious, @bunnliix,

@gong-fourz, @yeosangiess, @dinossaurz, @scuzmunkie, @h3arteyes4mingi,

@vnessalau

(if you want to be added to a taglist, follow the taglist-link in my pinned post)

[littlestsnicket]

What other headcanons do you have for your ASoUE/Doctor Who crossover idea? What kinds of adventures do the Doctor and Lemony get up to as a Tardis crew?

how... how did you find this to ask me about it?!? (i mean that only in terms of like, how tumblr works, i could not in a million years find that post on purpose but i am extremely pleased that you did!)

so, i think the initial thought was that i don't think Lemony would go off in the TARDIS. Lemony is, in a way, a Doctor analogue, so he has to stay and protect is own universe. he has his own trauma, his own responsibilities, his own smaller, but possibly even more overwhelming obligation and desire to help. if you have that, the story has to be the Doctor showing up to help with a crisis (alien related, so Lemony's not qualified to deal with it on his own), and then them parting ways again. it would be the 10th doctor, but i wanted to dig into the 11th Doctor's thing about just being a mad man with a box, passing through, and how it's not really true but the Doctor desperately needs it to be. i think they're uniquely suited to have a really interesting conversation about responsibility with their experiences of being a time lord or VFD member in the background of some alien of the week doctor who plot transposed into the snicket verse. there is also 100% a scene where they have a fencing bout. is it just for fun to blow off some steam or are they having a real sword fight with life or death stakes? we'll probably never know.

i did find the fic snippet in my mess of WIPs so i am reposting it under the cut instead of trying to link back to the original post.

“What do we do now?”

“I’m very clever, I’ll think of something.” The Doctor intends to be reassuring. He’s said the same words in the same cadence countless times (and when the Doctor says countless it means something) and they have nearly always had the desired effect, but the man in the hat laughs; it is a mirthless, tired sound. 

“I’m not sure that will help much, as I am very clever as well. Or so I am told. ‘Mr. Snicket is too clever for his own good. I expect he will continue to cause a great deal of trouble for our organization.’ The same yearly performance review since I was a neophyte.”

“What?” the Doctor says. His eyes widen further as he processes what the man had said. “What?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Mr. Snicket? Is that what you said?”

“Yes.” The man frowns and then sighs. “I’m Lemony Snicket.”

“No. No, you can’t be Lemony Snicket.”

“You are not the first person to say that, but I assure you--as much as it pains me--I am.”

“No, you can’t be,” the Doctor says again. The man in the hat makes a face the Doctor finds familiar; it’s the same face he makes when he suspects a new companion is about to say ‘it’s bigger on the inside’, but the Doctor has to say it. “You can’t be Lemony Snicket because Lemony Snicket is not real, Daniel Handler made you up.”

The man in the hat looks shocked. He removes his hat so he can stare at the Doctor. “I’ve been accused of an astounding number of inaccurate things, but that takes the cake, a phrase which here means—”

Mr. Snicket stops abruptly, his brows knitting together unconsciously as the Doctor scans with his sonic. “If you would be so kind as to desist in whatever it is you’re doing. That noise is quite unpleasant.”

The Doctor ignores him. “No. No, no, no. I thought I fixed it after the last time! It’s too dangerous to be hoping about between dimensions without Gallifrey as an anchor point. I shouldn’t be here, wherever here is exactly.”

He gets in one good sweep of the room before Mr. Snicket grabs the sonic out of the Doctor’s hand. Very few humans have the reflexes to do such a thing.

“Give that back,” the Doctor says, his voice low and dangerous.

Mr. Snicket holds out the sonic, his other hand rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Just please stop making that noise.”

The Doctor snatches back the screwdriver and tucks it into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

“I don’t see that it matters much,” Mr. Snicket continues, “where here is, or if it’s where you’re supposed to be. You are going to help.”

[apparently-artless]

My tags aren't working 😭😭😭 do you have any recommendations on what to do? Ty <333

Ah, yes. The never-ending problem with tags. Here are a few tips I can suggest that helped me before:

IF ALL YOUR POSTS ARE IMPACTED

it might just be Tumblr being Tumblr so try to wait a few hours or so

if it's more than a day already and the issue still persists, you might want to contact Tumblr support, especially if not all users are encountering the same problem [I encountered this before, and support fixed something at their end]

IF ONLY SPECIFIC POSTS ARE IMPACTED

check your tags and try to remove tags with special characters if there are any

try to repost instead [just literally did this on my latest post, same tags and all, and now it's working]

try to include the transparent image below on your post (at the beginning or at the end of your post), for some reason, I couldn't find the actual link that explains why this works but it worked for me before

if the tags are still not working, especially if your post consists of multiple images or GIFs, this is the most tedious but let's hope you will not have to rely on this: you have to check the images/GIFs individually and identify which ones are causing the issue. Once you identified the file causing the issue, try to edit it and maybe do a test post to check if the tags are working now

For the last suggestion, I would make a test post, then post the images one by one. If the post stopped showing through tag search, then that means the last image you added is the one causing the issue. It might be more than one, so continue this step until you checked all images that are to be included in your post. Once you identified the file/s, try to edit those files again. In my case, I edited it by adding some subtle changes in brightness and contrast.

I'm trying to reach out to Tumblr support again hoping they could provide some tips or guidelines to possibly avoid this issue because it's very inconvenient to be checking and editing images individually just so the tags will work. What I've observed though is it's got nothing to do with the file size. I have GIFs on that post that have larger file sizes but are not causing problems. I won't get my hopes up though when it comes to Tumblr support's response. I'll try to observe this issue on my end and possibly update this post once I identified the common denominator for those GIFs.

Anywho, hope this helps! And I apologize if my explanation is lengthy and my English is bad. (￣▽￣*)ゞ

[creaturebrood]

a pretty good excuse (1/2)

sypnosis - You find your heavily-pregnant ex boyfriend on a tram-bus while on your way to your cousin's place for a party you don't want to go to. feat - Javier (OC, he/him)

contents - trans mpreg, labor pains & eventual birth, implied past assault/abuse, 2nd person POV, queer reader word count - 2842 words, goddamn

(if you think you've seen this before you're right - i initially posted this a day or so ago but tumblr nuked it so i'm reposting without the inline link.) (edit: it worked. i'll link my oc rentry some other way)

You were on your way to your family home for the holidays - one of your cousins always insisted on throwing this huge party feast thing to bring the family together for festivities. It was never anything you really wanted to go to, for "queer person having to visit their overwhelmingly cishet family" reasons, but your parents always insisted, not wanting you to drop off the face of the earth since you'd moved out a couple years back. None of them were openly bigoted, but it was clear none of them could relate to your struggles, and you were always outcast from the intricate social circles they naturally fell into. Unfortunately, their lack of obvious distaste meant you felt like you always had to come up with a good excuse not to visit them, and, well, you were already waiting for transport, so that window was closing fast.

A cool breeze, signifying the arrival of the tram-bus to the station, blew through your hair as the vehicle slowed to a stop. The doors slid open, you threw your bag back over your shoulder and stepped inside, and as you'd expected, the front of the tram was pretty full. Busier than usual with the bustle of holiday travel, of course, but it was just as likely some were still just commuting to work. You make your way towards the back, which was always a bit less populated… you're not thrilled by what you see. An ex-boyfriend, heavily pregnant, is in the far corner of the very last row of seats. He - Javier - was clearly trying to hide himself away, on top of being obviously very uncomfortable. You still catch one another's eye - he seems about as miserable to be sharing this ride with you as you are him. Hurriedly, you avert your gaze, and sit yourself down in the second-to-last row seat on the side furthest from him. The empty gap of space between your seats does not feel like enough distance in the slightest, and you quickly realize you cannot get the sight of him out of your mind. You'd known he was pregnant, it was even the source of the breakup, but this was the first time in months that you'd seen him, and his figure seemed almost grotesque compared to the other pregnancies you'd witnessed. Desperate for a distraction, you take your phone out of your pocket, shoving in your earbuds as the tram jolts and starts moving. You swear you can hear a groan coming from his direction before your music begins.

You manage to mostly ignore him for almost an hour, but eventually, the questions piled up. Whether his figure had been exaggerated in your head or not, what exactly he was even doing while you were trying so hard to ignore him being there. Whether he was thinking about you like you couldn't stop yourself from thinking about him. His belly was still burnt into your head, massive and heavy. You had to see it again, just to confirm - you tilt your phone onto its side, open the camera app, and switch to the front-facing view before angling it just enough to let you see him in the corner. He was almost… Worse than your brief initial glance, as bunched up as he could manage and clinging to the horizontal seat in front of him for dear life.

It was, honestly, hard to look at. Looking away was harder, though, and your mind fixated on him, squinting at your phone's screen to try and make sense of what you were seeing. As the tram came to another stop, you found he was trembling, too, rather than the shakiness you'd just assumed was caused by the natural bumps of the ride. It began to sink in that you might have to actually do something about this. More questions begin to swim in your head - why was he alone here, anyway? Maybe you weren't the only one he cheated on, you thought bitterly. How long had it been? A few seasons had passed, at least.

The timeline you recalled put another thought in your head. You were sure it'd been well over nine months.

God damn it, he was probably in labor. Irritated, you roughly stuff your phone back in your pocket. This wasn't your responsibility. You didn't have to interact with it at all - but you couldn't just ignore it, either. That'd be even worse, surely? He was a lucky motherfucker for you to be the one who found him, the city was dangerous for people who were vulnerable. Reluctantly, you shift towards the aisle, then stand, grasping one of the support bars to keep yourself up as the tram once more jolts into movement - you're not the only one, you see Javier's body tense and curl in on itself in time with the vehicle you're in. You can hear his breathing as you approach - ragged and sharp, his exhales lined with tiny, hushed whines - and no matter how much you'd demonized the man in your head since the breakup, you couldn't deny that seeing him like this was sort of getting to you.

There was no way you were going to show that, though. Not after what he'd done. Your voice is gruff, accusative when you speak to him, intent on getting some kind of answer before you were willing to help.

"Where's the daddy?" You ask. "Shouldn't they be here for this?" Your ex barely reacts, aside from pressing himself tighter into the corner, which was apparently possible. The fingers on his free hand - the one not clenching the seat in front of him - are pressed tightly into the fabric concealing his overburdened belly.

You force your eyes away from it, trying again to get his attention. Frustration was already rising in you, joining the bundle of other negativity you held about your fractured relationship.

"Hey. Where is. Your partner?" The impatience in your voice was obvious, now. Finally, you got a response. Javier meets your glare with his own, sharp and defensive. He looks utterly trapped. "Go. Go away," he forces out, in between ragged breaths. You feel your anger shift - but your stubbornness forces your annoyance back to the forefront. "Believe it or not, I actually want to help you," you snapped, your voice raised, but not enough to alert the other passengers. You weren't expecting Javier to flinch the way he did. It wasn't really like him - the standoffish-ness was, sure, but you'd never really seen him cower before. Blinking, you take a step back, re-center yourself, and after a moment, you quietly sit down beside him, taking off your shoulder-bag to place it on an adjacent seat.

"Okay," you begin, "okay. I need you to talk to me. Will you talk to me?" There was nothing but a small grunt in reply, and even that took a few seconds. Fine. "Where is the other parent?" Your question, and the rest of your demeanor, shifted as you let yourself analyze his reaction - you were more concerned than accusative, now. Your ex's head remained buried into the crook of his sleeved arm, and more seconds passed, feeling long and drawn out. Again, his voice is ragged when he speaks. "Don't know. Not here." "Are you.. Still together?" It would definitely be weird to leave your laboring partner on a tram in this condition.

"N- no. Maybe. Don't know if we ever were."

Well, you're not really sure how to take that. Had you fucked up? Maybe if you'd not rushed into conclusions - you cut yourself off, realizing you were doing it again. Hesitantly, you follow up - "did you ever want to be?"

Javier gives no response, but you didn't really need one. The lack of an answer was an answer in itself - maybe rushing to conclusions this time had been accurate. Silently, your brain started to go a little haywire. You should have heard him out, but no. You hadn't, and look where it got you both.

Regardless, nothing could be done about it now. You gather your thoughts, again. "I am so sorry. You don't have to forgive me, but I am so sorry." More silence. His form, which had steadied a bit since you'd sat down, was shaking again. "It's. Not your fault." "We can figure that out later," you cut in, before he can blame himself. It works, he shuts up.

Both of you are quiet now, slowly getting used to each other's company again. It can only last so long, though, before you see his abdomen constrict. Tired breaths become uneven as he holds them in, attempting to combat the pain, before eventually escaping as soft, high-pitched whimpers - this goes on for a few seconds, until his body goes lax again. His face is still hidden against his arm, but you can tell how worn down he is, tears soaking his sleeve. This whole thing is an absolute nightmare for you both, you can't stand doing nothing anymore. "Hey. Can I touch you?" You're reluctant to even ask, afraid he'll say no. For a moment, his bewilderment seems to outweigh everything else - he shifts a bit to look back at you again, and you clarify, "not like that". All you get is a noncommittal grunt before he returns to burying his face into his sleeve. "No? Yes?" Again, you get nothing.

But, while his body is stiff and tense, he doesn't flinch away as you scoot closer to him. You decide to test his boundaries - your hands encircle the one he's holding to his belly, lightly gripping it between them - you get no sign of discomfort or reluctance, but still, that's as far as you'll go for a while.

The air around you is tense, but it does eventually soften, and you take it as an invitation when his fingers finally begin to clasp around the hand beneath his. Bringing yourself even closer to his side, you lightly rub the back of his hand with your thumb - he seems to be growing more comfortable in your presence, almost managing to appear relaxed for a time before the next contraction hits.

Immediately, his body stiffens again, accompanied by a small yelp as the pain catches him off guard. You carefully attempt to guide him towards you, separating him from the seat he's clinging to and wrapping his arms around your neck instead as he struggles to force himself through. There's no attempt to fight back, and it's not long before he's pressed into you instead of the plastic seat.

Even with the contraction pain, he seems calmer - your arm wraps around him as his belly softens, and his body again relaxes. All things considered, it's a pretty comfortable position.. right now, it was almost like you and him hadn't broken up to begin with. Suddenly, though, that "relationship" had a lot more weighing on it - the delayed reaction that told you your ex was in labor forced you to also put it together that labor and pregnancy meant that there were physically babies in him that needed to come out - and that you hadn't actually been paying attention to the pains. You had zero clue what stage of labor you were seeing. Maybe Javier had a better idea?

"Hey, uhh. Have you been.. Timing contractions or anything? Do you know what stage you're in?" "…No?"

So much for that. His head lifts away from your chest, wearing an expression laced with confusion. You get the impression by how quickly he hides himself again that he's generally clueless about the whole process.

"You at least know you're in labor?" "Yeah. I mean…" A pause, like he's thinking, but it doesn't go anywhere. "No offense. Do you.. have any idea what you're doing?" "I. tried to avoid the topic." The way he says it comes off like an admission of guilt. "Maybe if I ignored it long enough it - it'd go away."

"That turned out well." "Shut up. Besides. it wasn't human. The… Father. I. Know you were there when your siblings were born. But. What good will human tactics even do here?"

You sighed, once more fishing your phone out of your pocket. "I suppose that explains some things. Do you know what we're dealing with?" "I think I remember it talking about the river. It said its culture is that of pleasure. I'm inclined to disagree-" The statement is cut off by a pained grunt, almost on cue. You activate your phone's stopwatch as his stomach distorts.

This pain seems to be worse than the last ones. His whole body grows so tense he's once more reduced to trembling, his fingertips grasping the back of your shirt tightly and his head pressed hard into your chest. Like before, his breathing becomes limited, transforming into small, shrill whimpers that come out in between long, breathless pauses. Javier's weakened body limpens before the pain lets up, but only for a few seconds - he takes a few strained breaths before stiffening again. Is he bearing down? With the amount he's straining, he must be. Why even try to time contractions if he's this deep? You turn your focus entirely to him, putting your phone back away and pulling him closer to you as you slide your hand under his shirt. Sure enough, his abdomen was nearly rock-hard.

When it finally lets up, he seems to break. "Help me," he pleads softly, you can hear his panic rising as it hits him that this is just going to get worse. "Get it out. I can't - I can't. It's too big. It's. Pressing. But not moving." Disjointed sentences devolve back into soft whimpers, you gently run your hand along his side. "I don't think.. You're dilated enough to push yet? If you're only now bearing down." He responds with a distressed whine. "How - how long? I can't -" you can hear his crying through his trembling words, now - "can't do this. It should - it shouldn't be like this. Never wanted this. It's. It's."

He seems to run out of will to speak as the tram slows again. There's still a lot of stops between here and your destination - you have absolutely no idea how much time is left until things get serious, and it's very clear you didn't have anywhere near as much time as you thought you did. On top of that, you do not like the prospect of going through any of this in public for various reasons.

"Where are you trying to go, anyway?" "…Away." "Nowhere specific?" "Just.. away." ".. Right."

You look up from him, taking in the city around you through the window. You could see.. A pet supply shop, a bunch of unmarked buildings. Your phone tells you you're about thirteen miles from your booking. The area seems.. Safe enough to stop for a moment, and the pet shop probably had one of those family restrooms.

"We're getting off here," you announce, having made your decision. Javier barely responds as you re-equip your bag, but he does react as you try and help him up - you have to catch him as he nearly falls, and he clutches your arm to steady himself as much as he can. Being upright doesn't seem to be doing him any favors, but it would be best to get to your booking sooner rather than later if you could at all.

"Why are we getting up?" He protests, a shaky arm encircling his belly. "We're getting off. There's a pet store here that still looks open. I'm gonna call a taxi to get us to the cabin I booked this weekend, but first I wanna check progress- see if there's even time." None of that seems to register except "weekend" and "cabin". "I- Mph. Tomorrow.." "… is a holiday. I know." "Oh."

You shake his shoulders lightly as the guilty look reappears in his eye, you know he knew your holiday arrangements. "Hey. It's fine, and we gotta go." "Mm." He won't budge. "Trust me when I say this, Jav. I won't miss em, and they'll only miss me superficially. Don't feel guilty for making me miss something I don't care about." He grunts, but budges a little bit - it's enough to get a move on, and you half-carry him to the door of the bus-tram, helping him down the stairs onto the sidewalk.

You take a second to get your things together before proceeding, and then promptly stop Javier from completely crumpling to the pavement as another contraction hits. It's long enough that you have to briefly sit again to wait it out, but thankfully, it doesn't otherwise seem as intense as the last one. There's a desperation in his voice when he asks if this is really okay. You tell him it is.

Besides, this serves as a pretty good excuse. (TBC)

[valentineforlemonandcherry]

Foxtail & Wolfsbane 41

Summary: Your lifelong obsession to hunt down the Nine-Tailed Fox has not gone as expected, and seventeen years later, you find yourself coming back to the place where it all started: Hogwarts. However, with Sirius Black’s escape from Azkaban and Headmaster Dumbledore’s hire of a certain Professor R. J. Lupin, you suddenly find yourself intertwined in the fates of those with whom you thought you had parted ways with long ago.

[Multi-Post Story] [Rowan Scamander x Reader] [Remus Lupin x Reader] [Young Sirius Black x Reader] [Tristan Graves x Reader] [Severus Snape x Reader] *Note: Rowan Scamander, Tristan Graves, Susana Holmes, Cas Carneirus, Henrietta Weiss, Thomas Picquery, and Magdalene Clarke are OC characters.

Note: Part 41 does not contain any smut.

*Please do not repost or copy my work without my permission. Thank You!

☾ Click Here for Foxtail & Wolfsbane Home Page (All Chapter Links) ☾

You and Remus traveled back together to Grimmauld Place. It was an odd journey because you were sure that Remus would want to return as quickly as possible – and yet he kept insisting on using Muggle transportation.

First, the two of you trekked through the forest together. You were both quiet, not speaking much. However, as you approached the forest outskirts, you felt as though a spell was about to be broken. Remus was about to step past you, when you grasped the cuff of his robe.

“Remus, wait.”

Remus turned and looked at you, waiting for you to speak.

You wondered how you could express the complicated thoughts feelings that had been running through your heart over and over again. “There’s something I’d like to make clear before we go back to the real world and lose ourselves in the chaos out there again. It hasn’t always been easy, Remus. When you said to me, all of those years ago, that you didn’t want me by your side…” Your fingers tightened on Remus’ cuff. “I understand now, of course. And Merlin knows you have every right to your own feelings. Only, when I realized that all of those years, you had kept such an important secret from me - ” You shook your head, frustrated because you weren’t saying clearly what you wanted to convey. “This isn’t – I’m not - ” Shaking your head, you started over, speaking as calmly as you could. “All of these years, there’s one thing I wanted to tell you, both when we were together and when we were apart…” You looked Remus directly in his eyes and said truthfully, “I’m glad to have met you, Remus Lupin. I’d do it all over again, every bit of it, to meet you again.”

Remus felt his heart shiver in his chest. He started to step towards you.

That was when you continued, “That’s not conditioned on any type of relationship. I’m not asking for – Merlin knows I’m not asking to – to be with you.”

Remus stuttered to a stop. Oh…

“What I mean is that your happiness is my happiness and your sadness is my sadness.” You gave  Remus a brave smile. “I suppose I’m trying to say that I wish you’ll always be happy. That’s all.”

Remus felt as if everything was frozen in time. Lovely wants me to be happy… But not with her.

You waited for Remus to respond. Only, he continued to gaze at you like a deer in headlights. You broke the silence first by saying, “Well, then. Let’s get out of here, huh?”

You forged ahead, breaking through the last line of trees. Remus let out a long, low breath and straightened out his cuff (which you’d wrinkled) before he followed you out.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Once you and Remus had found your way back to civilization, Remus suggested taking a ship instead of a Portkey back to Europe. You wondered aloud if that would be all right when “certain Order members in London” were bound to be waiting for him. Remus stared at you as though he wasn’t certain how to respond.

You turned away from Remus to avoid his gaze, but you didn’t regret saying it aloud. While you didn’t want to be overbearing, you also didn’t want to cause any friction between Remus and Tonks. Finally, you encouraged Remus to send a Patronus to let Tonks that he was all right and that he was on his way back.

When you bought your ship tickets, you realized (with huge relief) that only two months had passed while you and Remus were in the mythical world.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

That night, you lay awake in the bunk bed. Last time I was on this ship, I had Artemis squirrelled away under my cloak. She would fall asleep on my stomach and keep me warm. I always slept better when she was around…

Just then, you heard a light snore wander up from the bunk below you – where Remus was sleeping. You turned onto your side and pressed your hand against your sheets. You thought of Remus and his wolf self. There was so much hurt in his heart, you remembered. I wish I could be the one to help him through that.

But no, you caught yourself. I can’t think like that. Remus has Tonks. She’s better for him. She’s brighter than I am, and she’s effortless about it.

Right, you thought, rolling onto your back again. Now, it’s time for me to grow up and make something of my life. I should get a real job, for starters. No more of this chasing myths. You shut your eyes and made to go to sleep.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Twenty minutes later, you opened your eyes again. Damn, I can’t seem to sleep.

Giving up sleep altogether, you left your bed and climbed down the ladder. You started to put on your shoes and your cloak when Remus woke up. “Lovely?” he murmured. “‘S that you?”

You knelt beside Remus’ cot and pulled up the blanket around him. “Sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep, Remus.”

You began to turn away when Remus croaked out, “Wait, now - !”

You started to shout a warning, “Watch - !”

Thunk! Remus sat up too suddenly and clonked his head against the upper bunk. He immediately flopped over and put his hand to his head. “Ow…”

“Oh, Remus.” You came back to him. Leaning onto his bed a little, you rubbed his shoulder. “You’re taller than you think you are. I think it’s time you finally admit that, and stop being so clumsy.”

Remus moved his hand away and cracked one eye open at you. “And you need to stop moving about so fast,” he said, his voice still thick with sleep. “Give me some time to catch up with you before you go flitting off again, please.”

“I’m only going outside for some fresh air,” you replied. “I don’t need to wake you up for that, do I?”

“Well, perhaps not, but you did,” Remus murmured. With a sigh, he sat up again (carefully this time). “So I’m coming with you, if that’s all right.”

“You don’t have to,” you said softly, wondering if Remus was actually awake and aware of what he was saying. “You should stay in bed.”

“Why? Would you be uncomfortable if I came with you?” Remus asked.

You hesitated. Uncomfortable? I suppose so – since my heart won’t stay still whenever you so much as look my way.

Then, you caught the way Remus was looking at you, waiting for your reply.  

Uncertainly, you replied, “No…” You fidgeted slightly. Since you were only half-dressed, with your shoes half-on and your cloak loosely hung around your shoulders, your awkward shifting made your cloak slip off one of your shoulders.

Remus reached over to fix your cloak. “Then, may I come outside with you?”

You shrugged. “Sure, but I’ll be right back, so there’s really no need.” Your shrug made your cloak slip off again. 

Remus gave you a weary smile as he reached over yet again to fix your cloak again. This time, he fastened the button on your cloak for you. As his fingers gently brushed your throat, Remus replied, in his still-tired, raspy voice, “I know that’s what you intend, but I can’t help feeling like you’ll go flitting off on your next adventure any second now.”

“Flitting off?” you repeated, catching Remus’ odd turn of phrase.

But Remus nodded and said, rather seriously, “I’ve started to think that you are a myth, and you’ll disappear before my eyes at any moment. And while I don’t mean to keep you, I wish you’d give me a moment to get my bearings together before you disappear again.”

You couldn’t help but smile at this fanciful accusation. Reaching out, you touched the back of Remus’ hand to convince him, “What do you mean, I’m a myth? I’m right here, aren’t I? I’m just as human as you.”

As soon as the last words slipped out of your mouth, you wanted to take them back. You stilled, instinctively expecting Remus’ eyes to darken and for him to draw away from you, as he had always done. Instead, Remus’ eyes remained quite light, if not a bit sleepy, and he whispered back, “Thanks to you.” He slipped his hand from under to over your hand and he gripped your hand gently in his.

Oh… His hands… I’ve always loved the way his hands feel on me – No, but wait, this isn’t appropriate. Right, I don’t think Remus is fully awake. You abruptly snatched your hand away from Remus. Clearing your throat and shoving your hands deep into your pockets, you stood up and said, “Of course you’re welcome to join me. Put on your cloak, Remus. I’ll wait outside.”

With that, you quickly walked away from him.

Staring after you, Remus slowly turned his hand back over and he gripped the blanket for a moment before he got up and pulled on his cloak and shoes and followed you out.  

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *   *

You and Remus made your way up to the deck. Although you were tired, you let out a sigh of relief when you felt the fresh sea air wash over you. Admiring the stars shining brightly above you and the dark waves crashing gently against the ship, you let yourself get lost in the vast vista of untamable nature stretching out before you.

I don’t know why, but I love the freedom of the unknown. This sense of adventure… It sings in my soul, you realized. What do I do, though, when I know now that adventure doesn’t build anything lasting in life?

You glanced at Remus, who was standing beside you. He seemed to be looking up at the moon.

Remus isn’t a werewolf anymore, you mused. That means that he’ll be able to move on with his life. He can build whatever life he wants with Tonks. The only thing holding him back from building his life was his werewolf self.

But I’m different. I don’t have a reason why I’m unstable. Rather, I’m simply not a steady person. I feel most at home with the fantastical, even when it’s detrimental to my ‘real’ life. You thought to yourself, I wonder if Remus sensed that about me. I wonder if that’s why he never trusted me enough to tell me that he was a werewolf.

You felt a familiar pang of hurt go off in your heart – and it was strange not to feel or hear the Nine-Tailed Fox reacting to that with a snarky comment. In fact, you missed her reactions. Without her, there was only hurt.

You chanced a sideways glance at Remus. All those years together, you never let me in. I have no doubt in my mind that I would have accepted your werewolf self. I would have loved you the same and respected you even more. Instead you shut me out, time and time again. I understand why. I understand that I’m not a stable, trustworthy person. I understood, too, the fear of being seen as less than human. 

But what was I supposed to do? If I intruded on your privacy and forced you to tell me, you would hate me. But since you didn’t tell me, you kept me at a distance until I became a burden to you, unable to reach you when you needed me. Yes, you were always putting up a front before me, I see that now. All of those times I thought were happy times, like the first time we made love, you must have been so stressed. I sensed it back then, but I didn’t realize why that guilt existed or how deep it went. 

Remus was indeed gazing up at the moon. It was a half-moon tonight. Out of habit, he let out a sigh of relief. Whenever he saw a nearly full moon, he still tensed up. Eventually, though, his eyes fell onto you. There you were, outlined against the darkness of the endless sea, with your hair becoming tangled by the salty breeze, and faint starshine reflecting in your eyes and glinting off your cheeks. He swore that something of the mythical realm, or perhaps of the Nine-Tailed Fox’s energy, stayed with you, even if you weren’t aware of it yourself.

“What are you thinking about?” Remus asked. “Your next adventure?”

“No, there’s no ‘next adventure’ for me, I’m afraid.”

“Is that so?”

“Mm, I think I’ve had my fair share of adventure with the Nine-Tailed Fox.”

“That is more adventure than most people have in a lifetime,” Remus agreed easily. “But then, what are you thinking so hard about?”

You shot Remus a questioning look. “What makes you say I’m thinking hard about something?”

“I know what you’re like when you’re fixated on something,” Remus replied quietly. “Your expression, your energy… They change when you’re ruminating.”

Giving up on feigning ignorance, you murmured, “I’m not sure you want to know.”

Remus waited patiently, looking at you with a soft, curious gaze.

Avoiding his gaze, you reached out and grasped the railing in front of you. You stared down at the dark waters below for a beat before you admitted, “If you want to know the truth, I’m thinking about why you didn’t tell me what you were.”  

Remus’ eyes flashed. A moment later, his brow furrowed and his expression became tense.

With a sad smile, you whispered, “I told you that you didn’t want to know.”

Remus let out a long and heavy sigh. “So, you haven’t forgiven me for that, have you?” Then, he muttered to himself, “Well, of course not. It would be strange if you could forgive me.”

“You’re right. I haven’t forgiven you for not telling me, ” you acknowledged. “And if there wasn’t all of this – this otherworldly stuff going on, I’d be a lot more obvious about it.”

Remus shut his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe. He hated this. He could feel your your disappointment.

However, you then said, in a softer voice, “Though, in a way, I’m glad that I didn’t have the chance to react right away. Because it made me think about it a lot more. I don’t fully understand still, but I feel calmer about it now, for whatever that’s worth.” You let go of the railing and turned to Remus. “I’m sorry I wasn’t someone you could rely on. When I saw you with your wolf, it made me realize how you’ve always been struggling, all by yourself.” You paused for a moment, willing yourself not to become too emotional, before you continued, “The truth is that I can’t help but be upset because I always wanted you to trust me the way I trusted you. See, you were such a blessing in my life because I felt I could tell you everything and you’d accept me. The fact that you didn’t feel the same way about me – Well, it’s something I’m still figuring out. I’ve been thinking about our time together and I still think about you quite – quite often.”

You suddenly realized that you were very close to spilling out your heart to him. You quickly turned away. “Sorry, I’ve said too much.” You tried to lighten the atmosphere by joking, “I told you that you wouldn’t want to hear all this. Sharing late-night thoughts is never a good idea, especially because when I’m with you, I’m prone to saying silly, silly things…”

Remus didn’t move. You kept your head down. But as the seconds went by, you felt incredibly torn between looking at him to read his expression and running away altogether. Finally, Remus murmured aloud, “That day we parted… You left me a letter. I didn’t find it until after you’d gone, but I remember it very well. You…”  He fell silent again.

In your mind, you begged him to go on, to tell you his thoughts.

Meanwhile, in his mind, Remus was recalling the words you’d written to him in your letter. After you had gone, all he had had left of you was this letter. He’d read it so many times that the pages had gone all limp and the ink had mostly faded away. You had written, “Just to be clear, I’m not angry with you, Remus. I’m truly not. I just feel sad, because you must feel that you can’t trust me as completely as I trust you. I don’t want to pressure you. I’m not writing to tell you that you have to tell me what’s going on with you or anything. But I just want to promise that I will work really, really hard to earn your trust and to be someone reliable enough that you feel you can tell me your deepest troubles.”

“Remus?” Your troubled voice brought Remus back to the present.

Remus gazed at you. “Nothing,” he said quietly, unable to tell you what he felt for you in words. “It’s only that…”

“Only what?”

Remus smiled warmly. “You haven’t changed at all, Lovely.”

When you heard Remus say that, your heart fell. He’s saying that I still don’t feel like a reliable person. He’s trying to make it sound endearing, but his point is clear. You pretended to nod at Remus, but it was really an excuse to duck your head down and hide how hard you were biting down on your lower lip.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Meanwhile, back at Grimmauld Place, Sirius received quite the surprise when he found a piece of Muggle mail on his doorstep.

“How the hell did this get here?” Sirius wondered, flipping the envelope over to read it as he walked into the kitchen.

Tonks and Bill were already in the kitchen. Tonks called, “What is it?”

“A piece of Muggle mail. But Grimmauld Place isn’t visible to non-magical folk.”

“It must be a magical person that dropped it off, then,” Bill surmised. “They just happened to do it by Muggle means.”

“But why?” 

Tonks stood up and peered curiously over Sirius’ shoulder. “Open it. Maybe it’ll give us a clue.”

Sirius ripped open the letter. He read aloud, “To a certain wayward Remus J. Lupin: It has come to our attention that you defaced the following books by ripping pages out of them. Unfortunately, these books have now been deemed ‘damaged’ and you are responsible for paying the following amount to replace the value of these books – Gulping gargoyles!”

Bill nearly choked on his spoon when Sirius shouted out such an outdated phrase.

“Two hundred and sixty Galleons!?” Sirius yelped. “What, did he go sharpen his claws on the whole fucking library or something?”

“What kind of books are they?” Bill asked curiously. “Does the letter say?”

Sirius reeled off, “Mysteries of the Lost Forests; Maps of the Ancient World Volumes I, I, and II; The Secret Geography of Japan; Magical Doorways and Cupboards: How Not to Lose Your Head by Accidental Head-Sticking-into-Dangerous-Holes’ ­– What in the name of…? The hell was Moony doing?”

“We can ask him when he gets here,” Tonks said. “He should be here either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“Do you think he’s found fox girl?” Bill asked, having unconsciously picked up on Sirius’ nickname for you. “That’s why he left in the first place, right? And those book titles all indicate that he was trying to locate a specific place.”

“Yeah, I s’pse so.” Sirius folded the letter back up. As he tossed it on the table, he remarked, “He better have found fox girl, ‘cause he certainly can’t pay back this library all by himself.”

“Do you think the librarian delivered it to us?” Bill wondered.  

Sirius shook his head. “The librarian isn’t someone we know, so she couldn’t have known the password for Grimmauld Place.”

“Strange,” Tonks remarked. “Wonder who got this letter to us, then.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

In a nearby candy shop, Albus Dumbledore, the Head Managing Wizard of all magical libraries and friend of all librarians, whistled merrily as he bought himself a good helping of sour lemon candies. He planned to offer them to Remus Lupin to cheer up the poor fellow once he’d read the letter that Albus himself had taken great care to drop off at Grimmauld Place.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

You and Remus arrived in Europe. Now, the two of you had to head back to London. When Remus suggested taking a long train trip back, you said, in a rather confused voice, “Well, all right, I’m game. Merlin knows I haven’t got any plans. But perhaps you should send another Patronus to Tonks.”

Remus drew his wand and sent his Patronus to Sirius.

“And maybe another to Tonks?” you suggested.

Remus frowned slightly. “She’ll get the message. They’re both at Grimmauld Place, after all.”

“Oh.” You hesitated. Strange. Oh, well, it’s none of my business.

Recognizing that you weren’t telling him something, Remus’s frown deepened.

Just then, the train whistle blew and the conductor shouted for passengers to board. You and Remus boarded the train. Although the train was mostly full, you and Remus were able to snag a compartment for yourselves for at least a few minutes.

It was only when you had both taken your seats that Remus finally threw up his hands and gave into his long-suffocated curiosity. “All right, I have to ask. You keep bringing up Tonks. Why?”

Startled, your head swiveled as you turned to look at Remus. “Huh?”

“Why do you keep talking about Tonks? What about her is so interesting to you?”

To me? you thought incredulously. I was trying to think about you, Remus.

Unwilling to say this aloud, however, you ended up blurting out, “Uh, her hair changes more colors than mine.”

“Yes, but - ” Remus stopped and shook his head when he actually took in your answer. “Wait, what?”

You quickly fibbed, “She – um – She’s a Hufflepuff – No, an Auror – a Metamorphagi!”

Remus looked more confused than ever. “So – So, this is why you think I should send all of my Patronuses to her?”

Unable to think of a reply to salvage yourself, you were relieved when the compartment door opened and a family of four came in.

Although Remus did not try to repeat his question, you could feel his skeptical gaze boring a hole into the side of your face. I’ve never met anyone as kind and gentle as Remus, but Merlin, he really knows how to stare, you thought, flushing.

Trying to diffuse the tension, you pointed out the window and chirped brightly, “Look, it’s a great horned owl! He’s got a letter in his beak. Blimey, I wonder who was able to tame that owl for a pet. Rowan said that great horned owls are harder to tame than thunderbirds. ‘Course, he was exaggerating to make a point, but I… I think you get my… drift…” You had turned your head to look at Remus, only to find that his gaze had become even more serious and piercing. Your pseudo-cheerful voice slowly dried up into hesitant nothingness.

Keeping his voice very low, so as not to be overheard by the family, Remus said to you, “Perhaps it’s none of my business, but I feel I must ask, what happened to you and Rowan?”

You whispered back nervously, “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Remus said, barely moving his lips now, “weren’t the two of you engaged?”

“Oh… No, we weren’t,” you answered. But then, thinking about it, you corrected, “Well, we were close. I mean, we were trying to get there. Rowan was being very sweet, committing himself to me. He was waiting for me to reciprocate, only I…” Your hands slowly balled up into fists as an intense feeling of guilt pierced through your chest. “…I found that I couldn’t.”

“Is Rowan still waiting for you, then?” Remus asked. “Waiting for a confirmation?”

You turned away from Remus, feeling deeply ashamed of yourself as you murmured, “No, he knows that there’s no point in waiting. I reckon he saw right through me from the beginning.”

“Saw through you…?”

“From the moment I came racing back to Grimmauld Place, Rowan knew…” you whispered. A heavy, dull throb of pain went off in your heart. There were so many painful things about what had happened between you and Rowan, but the worst was that you realized, in hindsight, that you had used him. You had never meant to, but you had taken so much from him and then failed to live up to the same level of commitment. Keeping your head down, you fell into talking to yourself as you murmured, “He knew I’d come back because I cared about someone else, and I selfishly dragged him along with me anyways.”

Remus frowned, not understanding your words. Lovely came back for someone else?

However, as those words ran through his mind, Remus suddenly had a flashback to the night you’d returned to the Order. As soon as you saw Remus and realized that he was hurt, you’d pounced on Sirius. Remus’ breath caught. Did Lovely actually come back to check up on me? Did she hear that Sirius had escaped and come to make sure that Sirius wasn’t using me again? Or am I simply desperate enough that I’m tying events together in an utterly nonsensical way?

Remus’ eyes flickered over to you, and he tried to gain a hint from your expression. Only, you had turned towards the window so that Remus could no longer see your face.

Just then, one of the children in the compartment screamed and accidentally threw her Chocolate Frog right in Remus’ face. Splat!

You looked up, only to find a half-eaten Chocolate Frog plastered on Remus’ cheek. Remus slowly pulled it off of his face. When you chuckled at his expression, Remus lifted an eyebrow at you.

Meanwhile, the child screamed, “He took it! He took my candy!”

“He did not take your candy,” the mother said, exhausted. “You threw it at him. You need to apologize to the nice man, all right?”

“Never mind,” Remus said graciously.

You silently offered Remus your handkerchief. He took it and wiped his face with it.

Ten minutes later, when the trolley lady came around to sell snacks and drinks, Remus ordered four Chocolate Frogs – one for each of the kids, one for himself and one that he put into your pocket, along with your handkerchief.

“Thank you,” you said quietly.

Remus nodded. Then, he peeled open his own Chocolate Frog. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched Remus, who had been staring at you so intently just minutes ago, now eating a Chocolate Frog with evident satisfaction written all over his face.  

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

“Last stop! Last stop!”

Someone nudged your shoulder. “Lovely, wake up. We’ve got to get off now.”

“Huh? Oh…” You had fallen asleep against the window without realizing it. You pried your face off of the glass and followed Remus off of the train.

Once you both were on the platform, Remus looked over at you to make sure you were still behind him. Taking in your state, he suddenly laughed. “Seems like you slept quite well.”

You quickly reached up and patted the side of your face.

“There’s nothing on your face,” Remus assured you. “It’s just that you’re looking  a bit dazed there.”

“I’m fine,” you replied, blinking quickly as you tried to adjust your eyes to the sunlight pouring into the train station.

“Right,” Remus said. “But here, take my hand, just in case.”

Remus held out his hand to you and you instinctively took it. It was only when you felt Remus’ hand fold warmly over your own that you thought, Wait… What’s he doing? This isn’t right. What about Tonks? You paused, however, as you thought back to Remus’ evident confusion about you constantly mentioning Tonks. Does that mean they’re not together? But I saw them together, that night in the kitchen.

Remus finally pulled you free of the crowd. However, you suddenly dug in your heels and pulled your hand out of Remus’ grasp.

Remus paused. “What’s the matter?”

“We shouldn’t be holding hands like that, Remus,” you said firmly.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I was gripping your hand too tightly. I simply didn’t want you to get lost - ”

You finally gave up on the subtleties. “Oh, come on, Remus! You can’t be seeing one girl and then holding another girl’s hand like that. And of course you should send a Patronus to your girlfriend if you’re away for this long, especially if you’re with just one other person! Even if you don’t mean anything by it, it’s disrespectful to your girlfriend!”

Remus blinked owlishly. “My girlfriend?”

“Yes, your girlfriend! Or your date or your friend or – I don’t know what you’d define her as, but you know – Tonks!”

It suddenly clicked for Remus. “You think Tonks is my girlfriend?”

“‘Course she is,” you said knowingly.

Remus stared at you. “Why are you so sure about that?”

“Because,” you stated matter-of-factly, “I saw you two kiss in the kitchen.”

Remus inhaled rather sharply. It was a stroke of luck that there weren’t any flies nearby or else they would have suddenly found themselves zooming up his nostrils.

Seeing his expression and taking it as confirmation, you said sagely, “Yes, Remus, I know. You don’t have to pretend otherwise in front of me.”

Hoarsely, Remus said, “It was one kiss.”

“Sure,” you agreed, “but it wasn’t just the kiss. I mean, any two people can kiss. Besides, it was her birthday and she was drunk. Except you – It was the way you looked at her - ” Your eyes had slowly begun to slip down Remus’ tall frame throughout your little speech and by now, you were staring determinedly at his feet. “It was all warm. Like you were regarding her with – with love. You loved her. You love her. And why not? Tonks is wonderful. She really is. Her hair changes any color she wants it too, not like mine, where it was a dull blue for ages…”

Remus’ eyes flashed. “Is that why you changed your hair back?”

You flushed, realizing too late what you’d just admitted. But you held your ground and said firmly, “Remus, I don’t want to be the reason why the two of you fight or have a misunderstanding, especially when it’s taken you so long to accept your own happiness, Remus. I know how much you struggle with that.”

“But - ”

“I told you, when I saw you with your wolf spirit, I realized how lonely you must have been, even when you were with me. You couldn’t love him the way you should have, Remus. Because I couldn’t be there for you the way I should have. But now that you’re no longer a werewolf, you can have the life you want with Tonks, and I think that you should absolutely go for it - ”

All this time, Remus had been attempting to interrupt you by making little hand gestures, but you had steamrolled on in your surefire facts, spewing out a whole narrative for Remus. Finally, though, Remus had had enough of this incredible story of some version of his own life. Fed up with your nonsense, he grabbed you by the shoulders.

Upon seeing his furious expression, you suddenly fell silent. “Ah…”

“Are you finished yet?” Remus asked you brusquely.

“Um, um…” You stared at Remus with wide eyes. Seeing that he was upset, but not quite sure why, you offered a peace treaty by saying, “Well, you get to write the ending. It’s your life, after all.”

Remus let out a long, tortured sigh (this would have been the moment at which the poor fly would have been shoved right back out into the world). He had never had such a headache in all his life. Through gritted teeth, he spoke very deliberately. “Yes, it is my life, and I don’t appreciate you chalking it up to whatever story you happen to believe in.”

You cocked your head at him. “But I’m right, right?”

Remus growled, “How is it that you can figure out the Nine-Tailed Fox, but you can’t figure out me?”

Feeling wronged, you blurted out, in a flustered tone, “Honestly, she’s much easier to read than you. Listen, Remus, I’m only trying to look out for you!”

“I know that,” Remus said sharply. “I know.”

“Then – what’s the issue?”

Remus closed his eyes. When he did, he squeezed your shoulders tightly. Then, opening his eyes again, Remus said, “Forget about Tonks for a moment. Do you remember when we were lying down together in the attic and you were telling me to make a wish?”

You looked up at Remus curiously.

Remus prompted, “You knew that the Nine-Tailed Fox would grant my wish for me and you told me to focus on what I wanted most, right?”

“Oh,” you realized. “Yes, of course I remember.”  

Remus asked you, in a serious voice, “Do you know what my wish was, Lovely?”

You answered at once. “To no longer be a werewolf.”

Remus shook his head.

“What? It wasn’t?” you said, entirely taken aback. “But I thought that that was what you wanted, most of all.”

“Of course I always wanted that, but…” Remus tensed slightly. “When you asked me for what I wished most, I couldn’t help but wish for something else.”

You bit your lip nervously. “What else could you have possibly wished for?”

Remus dropped his head for a moment. When he lifted his face again, you were startled by how much emotion was overflowing and clashing and breaking in those hazel eyes of his…

“What, Remus?” you whispered, suddenly frightened. “What did you wish for?”

Still holding onto your shoulders, Remus leaned down towards you and peered into your face as he confessed, “My wish, Lovely, was to be with you.” 

[greenrocks]

Hi, I'm Mohamed Ayad 🤗❤️

Hope you are well🌹

Can you help me make my voice heard

And share my family's story?🙏🏻

Can you repost my pinned post from my blog or donate 10 euros?

By helping to repost my story, you can

Save my family and children from cold, death and war. We live in the winter season in a tent that does not exceed three meters, closed with nylon. The weather is very cold and my children and family cannot bear it. In general, we live in difficult days that no human being can bear. We do not have work because of the war and we do not have any kind of money. This is accompanied by a crazy and terrible increase in prices. Although the water is not suitable for drinking, this is the cause of many diseases. The last of the suffering is that we are outside Hamad without taking our belongings or tents. Now we are searching the ground in the streets and our children and the elderly are suffering.🌹🌹

Thank you very much and I wish you the best ❤️❤️

🕊️❤️🌹🌹🌹🙏🏻🫂🫂

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

Merry late Christmas everyone.

DID YOU KNOW THEY'RE SUFFERING IN COLD WHILE YOU'RE AT HOME WITH YOUR FAMILY?

HOW CAN YOU KEEP QUIET?

STOP WHINING YOU SEE POSTS ABOUT GAZA EVERYWHERE AND IT'S BOTHERING YOU. IT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT THEY HAVE TO ENDURE.

Donate in link below to help them access food, water and medicine which is especially needed during the cold months of winter, no matter if they're snowy or not.