#ron and harry made out once but it turns out ron's appreciation for viktor krum was purely aesthetics

[adenei]

Exile

We're back for Era 5 of @cruelsummer-ficfest!

Song: Exile (Folklore)

Ship: Romione

Read on Ao3

His hand tightens around the bottle of Butterbeer he’s suddenly lost the taste for. He knew she’d be here; why wouldn’t she? But he still hoped she wouldn’t show. 

To make matters worse, she walks in with another man. And not just any man, but the one she knows will cut him the deepest: Viktor Krum. The Quidditch star’s hand is splayed across the small of her back and her eyes shine as she glances up at him, laughing at a joke that Ron is sure isn’t funny at all. 

It’s sick and twisted irony at its finest. Two years ago, they were here in this same spot for the same occasion, only now there is no unknown looming in the midst of a full-fledged war. Now, there is no Hermione in his life either. She’d made certain of that.

It didn’t take her long to pack her things and leave for Australia shortly after the war ended. She’d given no explanation, no goodbye. She took everything he thought they’d fought for and left him alone to pick up the pieces.

Maybe it wasn’t love after all.

Memories of Bill and Fleur’s wedding flit through his mind as he watches Vicky lead Hermione to an empty table. His heart aches as he remembers dancing with her; how just for a moment, things felt normal. Just for a moment, he was a teenage boy, drumming up the courage to seek something more with the girl who meant everything to him. Only for it all to be ripped away in the blink of an eye. 

Now, two years later, everyone who survived the war is gathered again for Bill and Fleur’s vow renewal, where there are no threats of danger looming on the horizon. Only the promise of a well-deserved party. 

But try as he might, Ron cannot find it within himself to be happy. She should be here with him. It should be his hand on the small of her back, whispering a joke about how Percy’s too serious or Mum trying—and failing—to cut Bill’s hair again. And her laugh would be real because he knows what she finds funny.

Instead, he stands on the sidelines, shielded by the circle of his brothers and Harry, who are engaged in some other conversation. His eyes never leave her, though she doesn’t notice him at all. 

Maybe, if things were different, he could ask what went wrong. Where the fine line they always walked between friendship and something more snapped. Why she never gave him a chance. Would it have been so hard to hear him out? To give a warning sign that she was leaving?

Though he’s learned to read her well over the years, he never could read her mind. And he couldn’t turn things around. If she’d just given him a warning, he could have fixed things. He could have followed her. 

But war doesn’t care who it fucks up along the way, and Ron and Hermione are perfect examples of that. A lost love that never stood a chance. 

Sometimes, Ron wishes it was him and not Fred. Even death would be better than the life of exile he leads as he sees her now.

💔

From the moment she arrives, she can feel his eyes on her, burning into her skin like Fiendfyre. It’d been a coincidence, arriving seconds before Viktor. But she appreciated his warm smile and kind gestures once he realized she was attending alone. It was the support she needed to get her through those first awkward moments.

Hermione laughs. Not at the lighthearted joke Viktor makes, but at the reaction she elicits from him. Like he’s ready to get his knuckles bloody and stake his claim. Her heart flutters as she sees a glimpse of the Ron she once knew. The Ron she fell in love with before the war sucked the life out of him.

She tried to wait for him. Gave him so many chances to come to her, to open up, to talk. Even to simply cry as she held him and told him it would be okay. Any of that would have been better than the vacant stares she received instead. The shell of a man who’d had so much personality; all washed away from the locket, seeing her tortured, and witnessing death.

The decision to leave him behind had been the hardest yet, even harder than sending her parents away. Deep down, she knew he couldn’t come with her. She’d lost track of how many tears she cried—and still does. One year gone, and she still misses him more than anything. Still yearns for a chance to be something more. He was her crown; she’s empty without him.

💔

Ron and Hermione spend the better part of the evening avoiding each other. No one urges them to seek the other out. Everyone is careful not to speak the other’s name in their presence. It’s only when Ron finds the atmosphere of the tent too suffocating that he steps out into the grounds of the Burrow for a break, and Hermione follows.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to Vicky?” he says once he settles by the old oak tree near the pond.

She draws a sharp breath in, not realizing he could sense her presence this whole time. “No. It was nice to catch up with him, but he’s not the reason I came tonight.”

“I would hope not.” Hollow laughter catches in Ron’s throat. “Considering this is a celebration for Bill and Fleur.”

“I didn’t come for them either.”

Ron turns and peers at her in the moonlight reflecting off the water. “Then why are you here?”

“For you,” she says simply. 

The words take Ron aback, and his forehead creases as he watches her closely. 

“Why?” he dares. “You left. Why would you come back?”

She steels herself with a deep breath. “I never left for good. And I never wanted to leave you. But you were—I didn’t know how to help you anymore, Ron. You were broken and everything I tried wasn’t helping. I needed to find my parents. I couldn’t delay my search any longer. And I thought maybe some space might help.”

“Then why didn’t you say any of that?” he snaps.

“I tried! I’d ask you to take a walk with me, joined you in your room after dinner. Every time I tried to bring it up you’d say you were tired or excuse yourself or do something else to avoid any hint of emotion that didn’t wrap you in grief!”

He opens his mouth, then closes it. No words come out as he stares in utter disbelief.

“I never intended to be away for over a year, but the search took longer than I thought it would. I barely found them before I had to return for Hogwarts. Maybe I should have been clearer, but I thought you knew. I wasn’t giving up on us, I swear.” Tears fill her eyes. 

His demeanor softens as he pushes himself off of the tree and takes a step toward her. “You tried to tell me?”

She nods. “I gave so many signs.”

“I never saw them.”

They both remain quiet for a while, neither knowing what to say. After a while, Hermione finally dares to speak again. “You seem like you’re doing better.”

“I guess.” Ron shrugs and kicks his toe into the ground. “There’s still something missing, though.”

Hermione reaches out to touch his arm. It’s a risky move, but she does it anyway. “I’m sure there always will be,” she whispers. “You’re missing a brother.”

“What?” Ron looks up. “No, not Fred. I’ve learned to work through that.”

“Lavender, then?”

“No.”

“Then—”

Ron steps forward, cutting her off. “You, Hermione. You’re missing.” His hands find the sides of her face, cupping her tenderly as he guides her gaze to him.

Tears well in her eyes and a few spill down her cheeks from the overflow. “I missed you. I was so worried we wouldn’t be able to move past this.”

“I know. I’m sorry I fucked up.”

“You didn’t. You were hurting. You lost so much.”

They’re so close their foreheads touch. She can feel his hot breath on her skin as her arms wrap around his torso, willing him to close the distance. And he does, but not until he responds first.

“Yeah, but I didn’t lose my ‘everything.’” 

Their lips meet. It’s soft and sweet and full of emotion, but there is no urgency to it. Not like there was during the battle. This kiss is a reconciliation, a step out of exile and into each other’s arms, where they’ve always meant to be.

When they break apart, Ron makes a promise. “I know I couldn’t change things around back then, but I’ll be better now. For us. I can’t lose you too, Hermione.”

“You won’t. I promise you won’t.”

I think I’ve seen this film before

And I didn’t like the ending

So I’m leavin’ out the side door

[busysavingtheuniverse]

my feelings on ships in hp are that hinny is absolutely canon but linny are also fucking but huna just vibe together in this weird subspace between friendship and romance (i'm sort of hesitant to call it qpr but that's absolutely what it could be) and hinny and neville had adventures separately and together and luna is also married to her wife rolf and hannah and neville are absolutely a thing and rolf and hannah bond over not understanding this mess and accidentally start dating and realize Oh No... We Are Part Of The Problem

meanwhile ron and hermione are the straightest people you will ever meet in your entire life

[kerie-prince]

clumsy

Hermione Granger x fem Slytherin!reader (fluff)

requested: (@chokemepansy) im terrible at requesting because i blank on ideas BUT anything for hermione please <3 take your time ily 💓

warnings: a single curse word, but mainly just soft hours

summary: Hermione has her very first date with you at Hogsmeade (song inspo from Fergie's Clumsy) (pardon my lame ass summary)

a/n: ty for requesting, luv 🥺 hope you like it! i made the reader slytherin just bc of you <3 and yes, i put in an outfit inspo but it's not like the cringy ones from wattpad

(gif not mine, cred to owner)

You came to love the smell of parchment and books. The sound of pages being turned, the feeling of a new book in your hands. You loved them because it made you think of Hermione.

Merlin, you were infatuated with everything about her. The excitement in her voice when she talked about her favorite books, the small paper cuts on her fingers from turning the pages – she didn't mind them as it was normal for her – and the look on her face when she received praise from professors.

She was all you thought about and you wanted to go to the top of the Astronomy Tower and yell out "I LOVE HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER" for the whole school to hear. And you were positive she felt the same. Hermione would refuse to let go of your hands when you walked together from class and on some occasions, you'd catch her staring at you during study sessions. Just like she was doing now.

"Miss Granger, for the last time, I am asking you what are the contents of polyjuice potion?" Snape was hovered over her desk. Hermione jumped in her seat and turned to face the brooding professor. Your Slytherin housemates who sat at the back of class laughed at her startled state as she named the contents. You looked back and glared at them all. When Snape left your table and continued his lecture, you leaned closer to Hermione and whispered as low as you could, “Are you okay? You seem kind of distracted,” you noticed.

“Y-yes, I'm fine,” Hermione stuttered. Snape excused the class and Hermione waited for you to be done packing your things just so she could hold your hand to the Great Hall. “Are we still going to Hogsmeade on Saturday?” you asked.

“Harry’s got detention with McGonagall for ‘ accidentally’ turning Crabbe into a water goblet in class,” Hermione used her free hand to make air quotations, “and Ron’s busy with Lavender that day.” She had a sad look on her face, thinking that they wouldn't be able to go to Hogsmeade after all. You picked up on it and had an idea. “So, just the two of us then?”

Hermione’s chest became warm, “Okay. It's a date.” Your eyes slightly bulged out and to Hermione, you had an indistinguishable smile, “I mean, not like a date date, but a girls date.” You weren't sure if she meant it like that, but you laughed at her stumbling her words. The always composed girl becoming a cute, blubbering mess for you. Not that you knew for sure it was because for you but you’d given it a lot of thought.

She never held Harry’s hand like she did yours unless he was upset about something and she was comforting him. And she certainly never held Ron’s hand. Nor does she ever hug him knowing Lavender would go ballistic. Not that she’d ever want to. He was her best friend, yeah but she had never gotten used to it. They both had an unspoken thing to not hug.

“Sounds fun,” you chirped, “can’t wait for it.” You gave her a lingering hug before going to your table. You sat in between your best friends Pansy and Daphne. Pansy had a smirk on her lips once you were in her line of sight, “Did you finally tell Granger?” You knew what she was talking about and nudged her arm with your elbow, “Shut it.” The two girls chuckled and gave each other knowing looks. “I might tell her on Saturday,” you disclosed.

They had matching shocked faces; for nearly a year, they’ve watched you pace around their shared dorm debate with yourself whether or not to tell her about how you feel. You’d have a sparkle in your eyes every time you talked about her and nearly spent every day with her. They weren't upset about it. In fact, they couldn't wait to see you two together. But you were unexpectedly insecure by thinking of the worst case scenario in which she’d reject you.

“That’s great, Y/N/N. I’m so happy for you. I know everything will turn out well,” Daphne supported. Pansy nodded and pointed to Daphne as to say ‘Me too’. You grabbed the hands of both girls and held them tightly, “Thanks, girls. I love you guys.” You wrapped an arm around both of them and brought them in for a hug. Daphne returned it while Pansy made a fake coughing sound. “I can’t b-breathe,” she exaggerates. You held on for a couple seconds more before letting go and started eating. “Okay, so how is this happening?” Pansy asked.

“We’re going to Hogsmeade together on Saturday,” you inquired. “So the whole lot is going as well?” Pansy was talking about Harry and Ron of course.

“No, just the two of us alone,” you replied, taking a bite of the chicken on your plate.

“You mean, this is a date?” Daphne exclaimed. “We’re going to help pick an outfit, no questions asked.” She had a stern look that dared you to talk back. As sweet as Daphne is, once her mind is set to something, she doesn't budge. You accepted it and was met with her usual warm smile. Inside, you were ecstatic and couldn't wait for Saturday. Your crush has gone on for too long, and you were tired of waiting.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

Your dorm mates got you up at the crack of dawn. And by crack of dawn, it was actually 10 am at most. They made you change into every outfit they picked out which totaled in 8. You appreciated everything they were doing, but some of the outfits were too much for a day in Hogsmeade. Daphne picked out tennis skirts with cropped argyle sweaters. Pansy picked short dresses that stopped at your mid-thigh and black wool turtlenecks to go over them. They had completely different aesthetics which is what probably made them perfect friends.

You settled on something casual; a thick striped long sleeve polo with light blue jeans and white trainers. It was going to be a nice spring day and you didn't want to wear something that would be too short and you get cold later. Daphne did your hair in two French plaits and Pansy did your makeup modestly. Once you were done, it was noon and you rushed to meet Hermione for your ‘girl date’.

She took the air straight from your lungs. She looked more breathtaking than the night of the Yule Ball. You distinctly remember being incredibly jealous of Viktor Krum and beat yourself up for not asking her before he did. But now, if he was here, you were sure that the famous Quidditch athlete would be jealous of you.

Hermione’s usually wild hair was tamed into smooth wavy curls that framed her delicate face. She wore a floral print button up that was definitely new as you’ve never seen it before. Or did she save it just for you? Her navy jeans hugged her ankles and she donned light pink flats. And probably for the first time since the Yule Ball, she had mascara and lipgloss on. Casual, but perfect.

Your face was flushed, and you weren't sure if she was also blushing or if maybe she was just wearing blush. “Shall we?” You reached out to grab her hands – her soft hands – and waited for her response. She didn't say anything when she laced her fingers with yours and started walking on the path to Hogsmeade. Hermione was about to say that you looked pretty when she tripped over a small rock on the pathway. “Are you okay?” you expressed concern. She was still holding onto your hand as she steadied herself up, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

You snorted and had to hold the butterbeer in your mouth, “Ron did what?” Hermione laughed as she told you how Lavender exploded on Ron for forgetting their anniversary and when he tried to make it up by giving her chocolates that he got from his older brothers, Lavender instantly grew a huge chin that drooped over her neck. Ron had gotten so mad at them and in unison, they told him ‘Why’d you think we’d ever give you real ones?’

“So that’s why no one has seen her for a couple days!” you noted. She was nodding as she laughed. You could only imagine what it was like to see it in person. Poor Lav. You went back and forth talking about whatever went on since the last time you were together.

Hermione went on talking about a new book she read about over the winter holiday. The way she expressed her emotions and passion for it made you fall for the Gryffindor girl more. When you hadn't said anything, she stopped and lowered her head, “I’m boring you, aren't I?”

You sat straight in your chair and fumbled your words before reaching out to grab her hand from across the table, “No, no, no, of course not. I could never be bored of you, I love you.” Your eyes widened. You didn't exactly expect to let it slip out like that, but you studied her reaction to see if you could leave it at that or otherwise. She sat still with a poker face. “Y-you’re my best friend, Mione–”

“I love you, too,” she confessed. “Huh?” Please, please, please tell me I heard her right. You didn't get to fully process what she said because after a few seconds, she gathered all her courage and reached over the table to give you a quick peck on your lips. It would've been a sweet moment hadn't she accidentally knocked her glass over in the process. Everyone in the Three Broomsticks had their eyes on you, Hermione’s face beet red and lowered out of embarrassment. You tried cleaning the mess and out of nowhere, Hermione ran out. Fuck this you thought as you ran after her.

“Mione, wait!” She hadn't gone far and luckily for you, she listened. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes averted from yours. “Where are you going? Aren’t we on a date?” Confidence had finally kicked in when you asked her. Hermione’s breath hitched. She couldn't see anything in your face that showed you were joking. Because you weren't. “Yes,” she grabbed your hands and started walking towards the other shops in the small village. Until once again, she nearly fell back when she nearly slipped over another rock on the ground. You supported her back up and giggled, “You’re so clumsy.”

—

requests open!

[lunasilvermorny]

Maria Black - Harry Potter OC

Introduction:

This is my HP OC that I created a long time ago, when I was around 12-13 y.o.  (so, you know... it’s been a while!)

Over the years I’ve developed her story more and more, changed it as I got older and basically kept the headcanon alive for years - but I never wrote about her. Everything I had I kept inside my head, and all the potential stories remained as nothing but a day-dream.

Until today! (or a few days ago, when I came up with the idea.)

It’s time to document this headcanon, even if it’s not going anywhere serious other than some stories and drawings.

I can’t emphasize it enough - I made most of it during the mid/late 2000′s, waaaay before the Cursed Child. So please don’t associate any part of my HC with this terrible excuse of a canon. JKR already proved that her judgement is questionable, so for me the only thing that is canon are the books and my headcanon relates to them and nothing else!

Anyway, let’s dive in!

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Bonus drawing from baby-OP:

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General plot:

Maria is the daughter of the Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange and was born a few months before they were sent to Azkaban. Her aunt Narcissa took her in and she was raised by the Malfoy family.

When she was about 5/6 y.o., she went to Azkaban to see her mother. (in the headcanon, her father died in Azkaban). She got scared by the Dementors and when she tried to find the exit, she came upon Sirius’ cell. This encounter changed her life and made her realize that her family is one of the “bad guys”, and she’s decided to leave the first chance she gets.

The day she left to Hogwarts was the last day she spent with her family.

Since it’s a HP OC-insert kind of headcanon, she befriended Harry, Ron and Hermione and was practically the 4th member of this friend group. So most of the plot of the headcanon correlates with the plots of the books, so I’m going to focus more on the individual parts that doesn’t relate the regular plot.

Before she got to Hogwarts she asked to be referred to as Maria Black and not Maria Lestrange. In the future she’d also legally change her name.

Because she’s decided to never go back to the Malfoys ever again, she was basically homeless for the first two summers away from Hogwarts. She mostly relied on magic (around other wizards, so no one will know she’s a minor using magic) and some friends that let her stay with them every once in a while.

(The is a LOT more, so if you’re interested, keep reading ^^ )

After the 3rd year was over, one of her friends that was an exchange student from Beauxbatons, invited her to spend the summer at his house in France. The reason he wanted her to come over was because his father was a coach for the French junior-league Quidditch team and wanted him to let her into the team, so in the future she’d be able to become a professional player. He knew that she plans on filing for Emancipation of minors, that will strip all the legal rights from her family and free her from them - but for that she needed a sufficient income. Her friend’s father was glad to help and after she showed him her skills, he let her into the team. When she was 15, she got into the professional league. (I based this part of the HC on the fact that Viktor Krum was also a student, when he became a Quidditch star.)

Sirius was the most important figure in her life and became like a father figure to her. Through him, she also felt that Harry and her (although not by blood) were related.

For a long time, the ending of the headcanon was that Maria killed herself after Sirius was murdered, but in recent years I’ve reversed this decision and kept her alive for the duration of the book and beyond that.

During her 6th year, after her mother already escaped Azkaban, she was forced to hide in Hogwarts (she wasn’t allowed to keep her role in the Quidditch team anymore), because Bellatrix made it clear that she’s going to kidnap Maria and force her to join Voldemort’s side.

She was able to avoid this fate only up to the plot of the 7th book, that’s when she was finally captured and held hostage in an attempt to force Harry’s hands and save her. However, before she was kidnapped, Maria asked from the Order and Hermione that if she’s ever to fall captive, to prevent Harry from saving her at all cost, since it’s an obvious trap.

Frustrated by the fact that the trap hasn’t worked combined with Maria’s general resistance, Bellatrix tortured her daughter for the entire duration of her incarceration, mostly by using the Cruciatus curse on her over and over again. At a near-dead state, Bellatrix used the Imperius curse on her to try and make her fight on Voldemort’s side at the Battle of Hogwarts, but Maria was too weak and wasn’t much of use to her in the end.

After the fight, Maria was in a coma for a few months and even after she woke up, she had a very long recovery period. The worst expression of it manifested in her PTSD from the Cruciatus curse that caused her to scream in agony almost every time she went to sleep. At some cases she was in such bad shape that no one was able to wake her up.

After a partial recovery, she returned to her pending career as a Quiddich player.

Her relationship with Fred Weasley:

Maria was fairly popular and had dated a few people (in a non-serious way, due to her age), but her first love was Fred Weasley. They’ve started dating in secret when she was in her 5th year.

During the 6th year, she has prepared him for the possibility of the kidnapping and asked him not to come rescue her if it ever happened.

In the summer after her 6th year, to reassure her that they will both survive the war, Fred gave her a ring and told her that after it’s all over, they’ll get married. (It wasn’t a proposal per se, but an attempt to give her hope when she was sure she’s going to die.)

Maria wasn’t aware that Fred died since she almost met the same fate herself at the Battle of Hogwarts, and found out about it from George after she woke up from the coma.

Her relationship with Neville Longbottom:

At the beginning, no one knew she’s Bellatrix’s daughter. People were suspicious of her during year 3 (after all, she is Maria Black) because they thought she was assisting Sirius (and at some point there were rumors that she was his secret child), but it wasn’t until year 5 that the news about her being Bellatrix’s daughter has spread out by Malfoy.

Maria considered Neville a close friend and was afraid of his reaction once he finds out, but even though he had to get over the initial shock, he told her that he knows that she’s nothing like her mother, that she has proven she’s on their side and that he’s not going to judge her over something that is out of her control.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, during her recovery, she’s met Neville’s parents and also spent time with them while she was admitted. The fact that she was tortured by Bellatrix too was a bonding factor and made her and Neville even closer.

After a few years, Neville and Maria have started dating, but their future together in unknown.

PTSD and irreversible damage:

I mentioned that due to the torture she experienced, Maria suffered from PTSD, caused primarily by the Cruciatus curse. She would have recurrent nightmares that caused her to scream and cry in agony, as her body turned and twitched, as if she was under the curse.

In most cases people were able to wake her up, but in more severe cases, she was able to stay in that state for hours. The worst case was a day and a half without a break. She was taken to the hospital by apparition, but the snap switch in location has severely worsen the situation and she was taken to the ER (or a magical equivalent of an ER), where she was under treatment for days until the outburst finally got under control. She was in a coma for two months after that and had to go through the long recovery once more.

In addition to that, Maria also suffered an irreversible damage in her reproduction system. Bellatrix knew she doesn’t share her purist views, so to make sure she doesn’t “taint” the family legacy with a mixed-blood offspring, she completely destroyed the system, to a point that it was almost impossible to reconstruct, even with magic. Maria went through many treatments, but was eventually considered infertile.

Her relationship with the Weasley family:

Maria was accepted as one of the family back when she was still in Hogwarts.

Even though her relationship with Fred was a secret - Molly, George and Ginny knew about it. After Fred’s death, Molly has told Maria that she still views her as a daughter and said she’s always welcome at their house.

She usually spent the holidays with them and came to visit Molly and Arthur almost every weekend. She usually brought game-tickets to anyone that was interested, especially when she’s started playing for the biggest teams. (Nothing will make me do the proper research of all the Quidditch teams, so let’s just suspend our disbelief just a bit more, because I don’t have a specific name.)

Her relationship with the Malfoy family:

During the year she was Bellatrix’s prisoner, she was held captive at the Malfoys’ mansion. Even though Bellatrix showed nothing but cruelty to her, Narcissa secretly tried to help her, mostly by giving her food during starvation punishments, clean her room and at extreme circumstances - heal her wounds.

Even though she hasn’t set her free, Maria appreciated the fact that Narcissa risked herself by helping her, so after she heard about Lucius’s death, she agreed for a reconciliation.

Although there were some push-backs (especially from Ron), she accepted an invitation for dinner at the Malfoys’ mansion, where she reconnected with both Narcissa and Draco.

After that she came to visit every now and then, although not as frequently as she visited the Weasleys.

Maria and Harry:

As I mentioned before, Maria is basically an OC inserted into the main plot, so she’s best friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Harry and Maria always had a sort of sibling connection, that was reinforced by their connection with Sirius. After his death, they referred to each other as the only family they’ve got left. (Even though Maria technically had Tonks, but that’s a story for another time.)

Maria and Ron:

Their friendship was a bit more complicated. Although not romantic in nature, they had a mutual crush on each other at a certain point (but nothing came out of it), and they always had a certain tension afterwards.

They also have very different personalities and got into many conflicts. Ron usually accused Maria of being a fake friend, because she was very friendly in nature and had many friend-groups other than the main three characters. Maria in return accused him of being too judgemental and had a hard time taking him seriously.

However, with all the flaws, they also had many things in common - their love of Quidditch, their disregard to the rules and in general they had a lot of fun hanging out with each other.

Maria and Hermione:

Probably have the rockiest friendship out of the three main characters. They are almost opposites, aside for their academic approach. Maria is more reckless and easy going, and she usually can’t handle Hermione’s stiffness.

Maria was especially sensitive to any criticism of Sirius, and they had many fights over it during their 5th year.

But even though their friendship wasn’t ideal, when it came to real struggles, they were there to support each other, especially emotionally.

Her special connection to Sirius:

Sirius was the catalyst that made her realize that she was born to a dark wizards family. She’s met him only once (before the events of the 3rd book), but it was a strong enough impact that affected her entire world view.

She put Sirius on a high pedestal and saw him as a parental figure. He was the first in the family to openly rebel and she followed his footsteps when she left the Malfoys’ household. This is also the reason why it meant so much to her that she was sorted into Gryffindor and not Slytherin.

During the 3rd year, everyone suspected that she helped sneak Sirius into the castle and was covering for him, since she refused to accept the accusations against him. She didn’t have any proof that he’s innocent and Sirius never told her that he is, but she was determined that he’s a good guy.

After Sirius escaped, he hasn’t kept in touch with her as much as with Harry, but it didn’t discourage her. She had a feeling that he’s hesitant to accept her because she’s still Bellatrix’s daughter and never resented him for it. However, after his death, Lupin told her that Sirius was very proud of her and had greats hopes for her - he just didn’t know how to show it.

Dobby:

Since she grew up with the Malfoys, she has known Dobby her entire life. They were pretty friendly toward each other, but they were instructed not to talk with each other.

Once, she tried to give Dobby clothes to set him free, but because she wasn’t technically a Malfoy, it didn’t work. After that, Lucius forbid Dobby from ever interacting with her again.

AUs:

Did you really think I don’t have like 200 different AUs for this headcanon? Of course I have! I’ve been building this headcanon since I was a literal child!

My favorite AU is the one where Fred didn’t die in the Battle of Hogwarts, and he and Maria got to be together after all. They usually get married (although there is a variation where she broke up with him instead), and in one AU in particular, healers are able to restore her fertility and they have a child together.

Maybe in the future I will make more posts about these AUs.

HPHM

Since Luna is very close with the Weasleys too, in most AUs Maria gets to meet Luna and the two become friends. Luna is also Maria’s private healer, since Maria gets injured a lot during Quidditch games.

---------------------------------------

There is so much more!!

But I will leave something for future posts :)

[petriichvrs]

DAY SIX   :   one final word   /   a letter to noxtms.

dear :  alyssa, amanda, atlas, bee, beth, birdie, blo, cherry, chris, daisy, dew, gabi, gia, hunter, j, la, lex, lucy, maeve, mozzie, nancy, plume, r, rosie, sam and last but never  least, vicky.

here’s the thing. i try as much as possible to say how much i appreciate all of you having joined nox as often as i can, because i think as a person i have a tendency not to be entirely present of all the time, even while i seem it, and it’s important to me - as both admin and as someone who’s befriended what feels like everyone here - that you all know. the thing is, i’ve admined a lot of roleplays over the time i’ve been writing, some of them for longer than others, and i’ve met a bunch of you both in those groups and outside of them. i have a lot of experience, but i had never broken into the harry potter fandom ( in spite of it having formed such a key part of my childhood ) and i hadn’t realized that when i opened nox, i was going to discover such a community. 

it’s really not me just saying it when i say that nox wouldn’t be NOXTMS without each and every one of you. i’m proud of the work i’ve put into the group and i accept however much i’m allowed to of the praise for it, but i’ve put maybe more into other groups and never had them feel the way that nox does. we’re all aware, obviously, it takes every writer in a group to make it something special, and i think that it’s every single one of you who has turned this group into my absolute favorite. there’s things in nox right now - like the marauders verse, but even just movie nights and a successful points system and little ic meetings - that i never could have done in another group because they just wouldn’t have worked, the combination wasn’t there, but i feel like... i struck gold with each of you, as members ? i feel like i got beyond LUCKY, and i have a tendency to over worry about nox, but you guys always make me feel a little bit safer in the knowledge that the group is okay, it’s doing good, and it’s everything i could have ever wanted.

i tried to find praise in other places for you all over the course of this meme, but i’m just going to go for one quick fire round. alyssa, you really are so fucking funny, and you created something really special with avalon and the king arthur myth thing she’s got going on. amanda, mary is the most thought out oc i’ve maybe ever seen and we might’ve had to wait a while for a ron, but he’s brilliant. atlas, you have a tendency to not see yourself the way you ought to, but heather and jo are two showstopping characters that we’re so lucky to have, and you yourself are a wonderful member who i’m so glad came back. bee, i’ve seen what you can do with harry elsewhere and i have you to thank for the fact nox even exists, really : you reminded me through your writing how much i love the world, and your takes on marietta and charlie are perfect. beth, lavender is such an unfairly hated character in canon, and she deserved someone like you picking her up and breathing fresh life into her, which you’re doing amazingly. birdie, for someone who likes to admit they haven’t done much in groups, you’ve really slotted yourself right in here, and i can’t pluck one character from your lineup - you do something admirable with all of them, and i really do hope you’ll RECONSIDER your stance on a fifth. blo... i love everything you do, i really always have, and your writing is a testament to just how talented you are, but i don’t know one person who puts as much continuous thought into their characters as you do, and it really shows.

cherry, i made a joke once about how if you could do something special with jughead jones i shouldn’t be shocked about what you can do with better source characters, but it’s not even a joke anymore... what you started with hermione you’re continuing with lucius and percy, and i love everything about them. chris, this is the second time you’ve joined nox as someone who doesn’t know much about it, but i’m so grateful you did it as my characters kid - i love when we get to play family dynamics most of all, and oriana is an absolute gem. daisy, chatting with you is a dream, and your mind is just... amazing - you do something with george that plays into my favorite sort of character tropes, and zephyrine is something so different and fun that i can’t wait to write with them too. dew, not just anyone would pick up gregory goyle and try and do something amazing with him, so i’ve been not-so-patiently waiting to toss everyone i’ve got at him since your intro. gabi, knox is one of my favorite ocs and for someone who only brought in an oc, to start with, you’ve managed to slot her in brilliantly. gia, what can i even say for you... as always you bring everything you have to the table, and i get to write not just connections that are genuinely FUN ( damien and niko, anybody? ) but also my favorite sort, which comprise of... family and friendships like molly / ginny & tonks / ginny with one of my favorite writers, yet again. hunter, i’m so glad i borderline peer pressured you into picking up pansy, because she’s been a joy to see in action, and a pretty great addition to your roster of characters - that already includes angelina and mason, two characters i love reading the replies of. 

j, most astoria’s i’ve seen have gotten lost on the ‘draco’s dead wife’ thing and have forgotten to turn her into her own, unique character - the same can’t be said here, and astoria has fast become one of my favorite individual characters because you’re at her heart. la, i haven’t gotten to see enough of beatrix yet, but i think anyone who wants to play into an umbridge family is so brave and so talented, so i can’t wait to see and do more. lex... absolute love of my fuckin life ? not many people would join a group even though they don’t know much of the source material and absolutely immerse themself in it, but you’ve done this now... more than once- and each and every time, you manage to craft characters i really do ROOT for and love so much. please be fuckin nicer to yourself always, you’re so talented and i love you so much. lucy, gabrielle deserves to be given a character arc beyond ‘damsel in distress’, and so far, i’ve loved everything you’ve done with her. she’s a breath of fresh air on the dash and i think we’re lucky to have you ! maeve, LISTEN. LISTEN TO ME. I’M HOLDING YOUR FACE BETWEEN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE THIS IS SO UNBELIEVABLY EMBARRASSING: YOU ARE SO TALENTED, YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL SOMETHING THAT MAKES UP WHAT NOX IS, YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME CHARACTERS I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I NEEDED SO BADLY ( HELLO THEO N OLIVER ) AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, YOU’VE DONE SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL WITH EVERY PORTRAYAL AND YOUR AESTHETICS FOR DENNIS MADE ME CRY.  mozzie, you are ALSO so fucking funny, and you are yet another writer that i feel.. so lucky has been drawn to nox - blaise and luna are fascinating characters in canon, sure, but you have done something so much BETTER with them here and i cannot stress that enough to you. nancy, selene is such a fun oc, and i really, really mean that. she’s something different to the status quo, and i feel blessed that i get to have as close a connection as i do with her. 

plume, you yourself have been nothing short of the most lovely ooc presence, and i’m so glad that it’s someone like you who’s bringing parvati patil ( the noxtms variant ) to life, and so happy whenever i see her on the dash. r, i could go on for paragraphs on you alone - you were always one of my favorite writers in eq, and i was always so HOPEFUL you would finally cave and join nox. thank you for being here, and thank you for my daughter, thank you for my sister, thank you for these characters i love. rosie, you haven’t gotten a chance to even settle in yet, but that isn’t going to stop me from expressing how excited i am to have a bill weasley, finally, and to see what you do with him ! sam, the other love of my life... you don’t get enough CREDIT for just how brilliantly you’ve characterized viktor krum, especially, but you also don’t get enough for how you gave us the loveliest child of severus snape we could have ever asked for, and the hottest dowson i ever did see. you go through it far more than you should have to, but you’re such a talented writer and such a staunch friend who i feel lucky to have made. and vicky, once again : last in alphabetical order, but certainly not in my heart. did i expect in 2020 to bond with someone over buffy ? not even a little. but i really was so fuckin’ DELIGHTED to have something i could talk to you about cause you’re just... cool, vicky, you’re so so cool, and you’re so talented at seemingly... everything ? making gifs, being a pal, writing characters like dudley dursley but also somehow making alicia and penelope equally different and fascinating and cool ? have i said cool ? have i said it ENOUGH ? 

i don’t want to be done, here, but i didn’t expect for this to take so many words, so i should probably wrap it up fairly snappily : thank you all so much for joining this group i love so much, and please know regardless of all else, i love everything you’re all DOING, and everything i see. i don’t say that enough, for certain, but i’m going to try and be better about it. beep beep, bitches : it’s my undying love and affection. 

not to sound like severus snape but like. always,

rachel.

[manage-mischief]

Picture Prefect

Read on AO3 here. 

Author’s Note: So, I’m not really sure I ship Dramione. At least, not in an endgame type of way. But, this idea came to me while rereading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time. I think there definitely could have been more to Draco’s character than was in the books/movies. I felt like it would be interesting to understand Hermione’s relationship to him, and that there was likely a bit of romantic tension/pining that may have been behind some of Draco’s actions/motivations. You know what they say about little boys and pulling girls’ pigtails on the schoolyard. Anyways, this takes place during OoTP, before Dumbledore leaves. This is also my first FF, so I’m still learning. I’ve just always thought about writing something but have been too nervous before now. Any kindfeedback or reviews would be appreciated. Thanks in advance :)

Disclaimer: I’m not J.K. Rowling. I own nothing.

Summary: Hermione goes on evening patrol with Draco Malfoy and things progress quite differently than expected. Secrets, lies, and broom cupboards may be involved.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we,” she sighed as she descended the stairs and laid eyes upon her patrol partner for the evening.

He gave a noncommittal grunt in return. Uncharacteristically pleasant this evening, she noted. Without a word, the pair set off past the Great Hall and got to work.

When Hermione had first discovered she was going to be a prefect for Gryffindor House last summer, she had been thrilled, but not surprised. She had top marks in all of her classes, and a (mostly) clean disciplinary record. Sure, she, Harry, and Ron had had a few run-ins with the wrong side of the law. Still, there was, at least in her humble opinion, no one more qualified for the job. When she found out that Ron would have the job alongside her, she had been that much happier. During the celebration held at Grimmauld Place, she had never felt prouder. Yes, she was an intelligent girl. Yes, she had even scored a date to the Yule Ball with internationally-renowned quidditch seeker Viktor Krum (and had especially enjoyed the look of jealousy and disbelief on Pansy Parkinson’s face, she might add), but this accomplishment somehow carried more weight for her.

Being muggle-born, she knew that there were some who viewed her as unworthy of Hogwarts. Some would even go to unspeakable lengths to try and force her out of the wizarding world—as she had learned the hard way during her bout of paralysis-via-basilisk during her second year. But, here she was: the top of her class, muggle-born prefect. The prefect title meant something. Anyone in her world could understand the accomplishment, and no one could deny her the honor that the title bestowed.

Ok, maybe she was a bit over-enthusiastic about the role. It did seem that, most of the time, she was nothing more than a glorified hall-monitor. Yet, she wore her badge with honor. And, as she and Ron strode towards the Prefects Compartment on the Hogwarts Express on her first day she felt that nothing could have lowered her spirits. That is, however, until she saw him. Her new colleague, leaning against a table with his usual, haughty, I’m-better-than-you-because-I’m-pureblood air, his blond hair standing out in stark contrast with his dark robes with emerald green accents. Draco Malfoy.

And so, this is how she ended up on evening patrol on this otherwise wonderful night with a boy who was, in her opinion, one of the rottenest snakes to ever roam the halls of Hogwarts.

The first time she had met Draco had been on the Hogwarts Express during her first year. Bright-eyed and bushy-haired as ever, Hermione had hugged her parents goodbye and wandered onto the magical locomotive, anxious yet elated. She had been thrown into the magical world so fast. One minute, she had been running from bullies in the park by her house as they called her a freak. The next, she was meeting with a stern-but-kindly witch who explained to her that she was talented and special. Hermione was determined to learn as much as she could about her knew world as fast as she could, so she would be able to prove herself at school. Once she set her mind on something, nothing could stop her.

Armed with countless wizarding books and a new bank of knowledge, she confidently strutted into a train compartment and took a seat. She cheerfully introduced herself to the three other young wizards already occupying the space. The others followed suit. Two large, intimidating boys introduced themselves as Crabbe and Goyle. She was pretty sure those were last names, but had a feeling that prying for more information would be futile, seeing as they had both grunted out one-word answers to her questions and then looked away. They did not seem very bright. The third boy had brilliant blond hair and smiled in a way that made her blush slightly in spite of herself. “I’m Draco. Draco Malfoy. It’s a pleasure,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

Draco had been overly friendly to respond, and all too eager to converse with Hermione. They asked each other about their wands, their favorite shops in Diagon Alley, and the classes they were most excited to take. “I can’t wait for Transfiguration. I know it’s one of the more difficult branches of magic, but it seems quite fascinating,” Hermione blabbered on cheerfully. She had been very proud of herself for holding her own during this conversation. Her reading and preparation had paid off! Draco seemed to have no idea she hadn’t grown up in a wizarding household.

He smiled at her. “Well, I hope we’re sorted into the same house. It’ll be a shame if I can’t spend any more time with you in the future.” Hermione again blushed. She kind of liked Draco’s cockiness and confidence. “So,” he continued, “where d’you want to be sorted? I know where I’ll be…Slytherin. My family has been in Slytherin for generations,” he remarked, haughtily.

“Oh, I’m not sure I have a strong preference. Although, Gryffindor seems like it would be a good fit. Or Ravenclaw. I guess we’ll see,” Hermione said.

“Where were your parents when they were here?” Draco asked, eagerly.

“Oh…well…they didn’t go to Hogwarts,” Hermione replied. She didn’t know why she didn’t reveal that her parents were Muggles. She wasn’t the least bit ashamed. But, something about the boy’s mention of his Slytherin family heritage made her wary. Hadn’t she read somewhere that Slytherins were obsessed with blood purity? Surely that was ancient history. It couldn’t mean this boy believed that only pureblood witches and wizards were worthy of magical education, right? After all, with such a small portion of the population having magical blood, there must be hardly any purebloods left!

“Oh, so they went somewhere else? Ilvermorny? Durmstrang? My father wanted to send me there, says Hogwarts’ Headmaster is an old crackpot…”

“No, no. They didn’t go to any magical school. They’re muggles,” Hermione interrupted. Immediately, the tone of the conversation took a sharp turn. Crabbe and Goyle both stared at her as if she had grown an extra head. Draco sat up straighter in his seat, and where before there had been a playful look in his eyes, there was now only wide-eyed fear and accusing. “So, tell me, what makes you think you’re worthy to be here, talking about magic to me and my new friends, when your parents are so backward they probably can’t even tell a wand from a stick in the mud?” Draco sneered at her. His two cronies sniggered. Hermione knew she was not welcome anymore. She shot out of her seat, determined not to cry, and stormed out of the compartment. She could hear Draco’s voice in the distance as she quickly scampered away, fuming. “Well, boys, glad we got rid of her, eh?”

Of course, leaving that compartment was the for the best. She had met Neville and, not long after, her future best friends, Harry and Ron. Luckily, not all wizards were as closed-minded as Malfoy had been. She had not let him get to her, and since then, had outperformed him in every class. Still, she always found it strange to reflect back on the one pleasant conversation she had had with him and relate that cute, smiling boy to the absolute toe-rag she knew today.

Speaking of today, it was getting late, and Hermione was becoming fed up, fast. Her and Malfoy had only been patrolling for half-an-hour, yet it felt as if it had been an eternity. They walked in silence, keeping at least a foot’s distance in between them at all times. The corridor was silent. It was shaping up to be a long, dreadfully boring night.

They reached the first-floor bathrooms around 11 o’clock. “I’ll check the girls and you check the boys,” Hermione broke the silence. Malfoy rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, “no really Granger? What an ingenious idea.” She simply shook her head and went to check for students out of bed. The bathroom was empty.

“Nothing in there.” She saw Malfoy emerge from the boys’ loo across the hall. “Same here.” On they went.

Half of their shift had now passed, and all they had seen was a sleepwalking Ravenclaw first-year, who Hermione had gently guided back to bed. They were passing by the statue of George the Smarmy when suddenly, she heard footsteps. She paused and cocked her head.

“C’mon Granger,” Malfoy sighed. “It’s probably Filtch and Mrs. Norris.”

“Hush!” Hermione hissed. It most certainly was not Filtch. The footsteps clicked, making it clear their owner was wearing high heels. They were approaching fast. She couldn’t ignore her gut feeling that something was amiss. But, what was it? Why did the footsteps sound so familiar to her? “Have you lost your marbles? Let’s go! It’s a professor or someone! Nothing we have to worry about!”

Aha. It was a professor. Of course. That’s why Hermione recognized the footsteps immediately. She could hear in them the haughty sense of purpose that made her loathe Defense Against the Darks Arts classes daily. Umbridge. Just as she could hear the toad-like professor approach their corridor, another pair of footsteps sounded in the distance. Umbridge must have been meeting someone. But who, at this hour?

She didn’t know why she did it. Perhaps it was because she was on edge from all of the secrecy surrounding the DA. Perhaps it was because of the wrenching feeling in her gut that Umbridge was up to more than she let on here at Hogwarts. But, no matter the reason, before she knew it, she was grabbing Malfoy by the front of his robes and pulling him into the nearest broom closet.

“What the bloody hell, Granger?!?” he hissed indignantly. At least he had the sense not to shout. Otherwise, their cover would have been blown. “What’re you playing at?”

“Be quiet,” she shushed him promptly. Quickly, she pulled out the pair of extendable ears she kept hidden in her pockets. As much as she hated to admit it, Fred and George had really hit the mark with their creation. She always kept a pair with her, and had found them to come in handy on many occasions. As she fiddled with the device, Malfoy continued to look at her, wide-eyed. “What the hell are those?!”

“Extendable ears, now, HUSH!” Hermione said matter-of-factly. “Extendable what?” “Ears. They let you listen in on other peoples’ conversations without getting caught. Now please kindly shut up so I can hear what’s going on!”

“…in this time of night. I wanted to do this privately. Most students use this corridor to snog without getting caught, so I thought it would do the trick.”

Umbridge’s girly voice echoed. Malfoy was still staring at her with a look of pure confusion.

A private meeting. But with who?

“Of course, Dolores. Do you have any updates?”

The second voice belonged to a man. She knew she had heard it before. But…it couldn’t be…

“Oh my god,” Malfoy whispered, now seemingly as invested in the conversation as Hermione had been. “What’s Fudge doing here?”

Hermione’s eyes widened. Fudge. The Minister of Magic. She was sure glad she had had the sense to hide in the cupboard, even if she was a little too close to Malfoy for comfort. She couldn’t have had him running away and blowing her cover.

The pair of them remained quiet, now both eager to hear what was going on.

“Well, Cornelius. I’m afraid matters at Hogwarts are far worse than we feared.”

“How so?”

“Well first of all, there’s the Potter boy. He and his little friends seem determined to undermine my authority at every turn! He has no respect for the Ministry. Always going on about You-Know-Who despite my countless warnings and punishments!”

There was heavy silence for a moment before Fudge spoke again.

“And do the other students believe him?”

“Some do. Others think he’s gone mad. Most don’t know what to think, and it has been hard for me to convince them to take our side, despite our efforts to disparage him in the Prophet.”

“Surely these students have more sense than to believe the word of a 15-year-old boy over the Ministry and the Prophet! Why are we having such difficulty keeping this under control? I thought I could trust you to handle this, Dolores.”

“I…I am doing all that can be done! But that’s the thing. It isn’t just Potter who has been proclaiming the story that You-Know-Who has returned. It’s Dumbledore, as well. It is not so easy to discredit the Headmaster in the Prophet. He is too well known and well respected. Students love him. Which is why I am proposing that we focus our efforts on a new plan.”

“Yes?”

“Removing Dumbledore from this school, and making me Headmistress.”

“That is quite easier said than done, Dolores. You said it yourself, Dumbledore has the respect of the student body, as well as most of the parents, I might add. Implicating him in illicit activity to remove him from Hogwarts will be extremely difficult.”

“We almost got Potter, this summer.”

“Yes, and the fact that those Dementors even showed up in Little Whinging was a happy accident! How can we expect something like that to happen again?  And at Hogwarts, no less?”

“Yes…a happy accident…well. I shall keep my eyes open for any ‘accidents’  that will allow us to relieve Albus from his post. In the meantime, you’d best be heading back to London. It is getting late. But I promise you this, Cornelius. Come hell or high water, I shall make sure Albus Dumbledore never sets foot in this school again. You can count on me.”

“We’ll see, Dolores. Have a good evening.”

Their footsteps echoed down the halls and disappeared into the night.

“I can’t believe it,” Hermione exclaimed. “That conniving little…”

“Blimey Granger. I thought you were intelligent!” Malfoy rolled his eyes. She glared daggers at him, daring him to continue insulting her. He sighed, “Of course the Ministry’s trying to oust Dumbledore! Fudge is scared of him. He thinks Dumbledore’s going to take his job.”

Hermione was taken aback at his words. She had known this information, of course, thanks to her months of living with the Order. Still, she was surprised that Malfoy knew this information, and that he had been so willing to admit it. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Draco couldn’t have come across this information by himself. What was his shifty father telling him?

“Like you even care,” Hermione tersely responded. “You and your father have been trying to get rid of Dumbledore since the day you arrived here! And probably before! You’d just love old Umbridge to become Headmistress and become her little pet.” Ok. Tirade over. Yelling at Malfoy, while satisfying, wasn’t going to do her any good. Hermione knew they should be continuing their patrol. Plus, she wanted to return to the Common Room and fill Harry and Ron in on the evening’s events. Hopefully they’d still be awake…

“You always think you know me, but you don’t.”

“Excuse me?” Hermione whipped her head towards him just before she was about to exit their cramped hiding spot. Had she heard correctly?

Malfoy gave a sad sort of grunt. He hesitated for a moment, as if considering whether or not he should continue. Hermione continued staring at him intently. She was mystified.

“You and your little Potter Protection Squad. You all always think you know me, know my story, know my life. ‘Oh, Malfoy hates everything good. He’s always out to ruin things for us. He’s a jerk. He’s the enemy. He’s evil,’” he mimicked her in a high-pitched voice. Hermione couldn’t speak, still baffled. He continued.

“For your information, I detest Umbridge just as much as you do. I just know how to be subtle about it. And I know my place. I know what happens to me if I don’t get on her good side. You wouldn’t understand. You’re from a muggle family.”

“You know what, Malfoy? I am absolutely sick and tired of you bringing up my parentage. I have as much of a right to be here as you! And I understand plenty, thank you very much! I am top of our class and work hard to prove myself to intolerant people like you and your family every single day! Don’t you forget you were impressed by me when we met on the Hogwarts Express first year! Impressed by more than just my knowledge of the wizarding world, I might add!” She spit back, her breath labored from the force of her outburst. She could feel her cheeks flushing. It had been an unspoken agreement between them to never mention their first encounter. She could see his face tint red as well.

He stared at her for a moment. Then, without warning, grabbed her by both of her arms and turned her so they were face to face, which was quite cramped due to their inopportune hiding place. His gesture was not threatening, however. He looked sad.

“You don’t understand. I…I sometimes envy that you’re from…well…your background.” He huffed. “I mean being a Malfoy is an honor. People envy me.” His voiced switched back to the shaky timbre it had been. “But…there’s certain…expectations. My family is one of the greatest pureblood lines in wizard history. Malfoy and Black. We have a reputation to uphold. My father reminds me of that every chance he gets.” His face darkened. “I have to hate Dumbledore. I have to be friends with people like Crabbe and Goyle. I have to suck up to Umbridge and support her for headmistress. You don’t understand what happens if I don’t.”

Hermione continued to stare at him. She blinked, trying to understand why and how Draco was capable of showing such vulnerability with her. He searched her face, almost desperately, for a reaction. Hermione softened her face. Perhaps there was more to him than she thought. Maybe he just needed someone to listen. When he realized her receptiveness, he spoke once again.

“Everyone in my family expects me to be like my father. Become a…” he stopped himself. But she knew what he would have said. “Well, become like him,” he carefully worded. “No one has ever asked me what I want to do. And I can’t tell them. I can’t tell my family to shove it…that I don’t want to be part of their circle! That I’m terrified of what’s coming and of what I’ll have to do!” Draco’s voice broke. Hermione remained silent, entranced. Without thinking, she took his hand gently. They both looked down at their hands, now touching. When he spoke again, he refused to meet her gaze.

“My parents were part of an arranged marriage. Even their lives weren’t their own. Everything…every bloody thing that’s ever happened in my life and before has been about blood purity. About money, and power, and respect. They expect me to uphold that tradition. I’ll marry a pureblood girl. I can’t object. I’ll be disowned. Banished. Burned off of the family tree for even thinking about, as they call it, ‘tainting the bloodline.’” He sighed once more. He finally brought his eyes back to meet hers. His stare was intense and a bit frantic. Hermione felt her heart pounding in her chest and her cheeks growing hot. Who was this boy, and what had he done with the tosser Draco Malfoy? At least she knew how to deal with him when he was being a jerk. But this? This vulnerable Draco standing before her? Her brain could not figure him out.

His voiced softened further. “I’m sorry I’ve called you names. I know you probably won’t believe me, but I truly am.” And then, it rose once more, “But don’t you understand? I have to act this way! You terrify me, Hermione. And…that just…can’t happen. I…I don’t have a choice.”

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The pressure in her chest was too much to bear.

“Draco. Everyone has a choice,” she whispered, softly, her eyes still locked on his.

He swallowed. Then, he leaned forward, slowly. She could feel her own body move towards his in response. Her heart pounded and her mind went blank as she felt his strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her into a kiss. She pressed into him, her body moving with his in a passionate dance. He ran his hands through her hair. She could feel her pulse rising, heat surging through her body. The pair continued hungrily for a few more moments. Then, as if on a timer, they both regained composure and pulled back from each other, panting. Hermione smoothed out her hair. Draco fussed with his now-disheveled robes. They regarded each other once again, neither sure what to say to the other.

Hermione blinked in a vain attempt to regain focus. She couldn’t deny that had been the most passionate kiss she’d ever received, including those from Viktor—who had more than once professed his love for her. But, she thought to herself, that will never excuse his behavior. He had humiliated and degraded her, time and time again. The names he had called her were almost unforgivable. Had he changed? She couldn’t be sure. But, one late-night encounter in a broom closet was far from enough proof for Hermione. After a few moments of silence, she realized he was waiting for her to speak. To say something about what just happened. Her mind was still racing too fast to latch onto a single thought.

“I’m sorry about your family Draco. That sounds very hard.”

Oh, if she could have kicked herself in the moment! Sorry about your family?!? That sounds hard?!? She felt like a proper wanker! What an idiotic response to what had just happened!

“I wish things were different,” he replied. This shocked her.

“Are you saying you want to be with me?” She inquired.

“I’m not sure,” he answered, almost inaudibly, sheepishly running his hands through his hair.

“Draco,” she sighed. This was all too much information for Hermione to handle. “I’m not sure, either. Thank you for apologizing for calling me those awful names…but…I’m not sure that’s enough. You just said it yourself. Your family life is complicated. I’m sorry. If you ever want to change, to escape, I will be here for you. And, I may even want…this…too. But, I won’t be the girl who you degrade in public and then snog in a broom closet when no one is watching. I don’t deserve that.”

Draco simply stared back at her for a long time. She could tell he was thinking. Would he really say he wanted her? Would he really change? Would she really want to be with him, even if he did? Ugh, Harry always said girls were confusing, but she was beginning to think that boys that were really the ones who were bonkers!

Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke once again, “I’m sorry. I just…” he shook his head. He glanced towards the door. “We had better finish patrol and then head to our dorms.” Under his breath, Hermione heard him mutter, “I have a lot to think about.”

Unable to form any intelligible words, she just nodded her head. The pair emerged from their cupboard and set off back down the corridor, as silent as before. When they finally parted for their respective common rooms, they met each other’s gaze once again. Draco smiled softly, “Goodnight, Hermione.”

She gave a tentative smile in return. “Goodnight, Draco.”

As she entered the Gryffindor Common Room, she was deep in thought.

“Oi, Hermione! You’re back late,” Ron shouted to her from the table in the corner, on which Harry and him had stacked piles of books and essays. In the back of her mind, she mentally rolled her eyes. Of course, they hadn’t finished their homework.

“Was patrol with Malfoy as awful as we thought?” She gave a noncommittal sigh which Harry took for annoyance. “That bad, huh? What a git,” he shook his head. He and Ron then launched into a conversation about how much they hated Draco Malfoy. Hermione did not listen. She was still deep in thought, her thoughts swimming as if she were looking at them from the surface of a pensive: slippery and liquid and not quite fully formed.

“You alright, Hermione?” Ron asked, snapping her back to reality.

“Fine,” she answered half-heartedly. “Just dead tired. I think I’m going to head to bed.”

She climbed the stairs to the 5th year girls’ dormitory, and told herself she would tell the boys about Umbridge’s conversation in the morning. Right now, she was too preoccupied with thoughts of a certain Slytherin prefect to think about anything else. As she crawled into bed and closed the curtains of her four-poster, she found herself clinging to a small bit of naive hope. It did seem like Draco was serious when he kissed her. Maybe, just maybe, people could change for the better, even people as entrenched in the pureblood movement as Draco Malfoy.

She should have known it was silly to hope for such things.

[slytherinknowitall]

Potion Fumes and Cauldron Leaks

Chapter 9: Girl Talk

(Click here for chapter 8!)

(Click here to start from the beginning!)

Disclaimer: I don’t own the “Harry Potter” book series. The story of “Harry Potter” is the property of J. K. Rowling, it is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

“Hermione, would you mind if Ron and I go now? Not to be rude, but we have Quidditch practice and … you know,” Harry said sheepishly.

Hermione couldn’t help but smile. For her birthday, Ginny and the boys had surprised her with a truly lovely evening. They had caught her after Transfiguration class and brought her to her private chambers which had been decorated using a seemingly completely random assortment of silly and rather tacky Muggle party supplies. As a result, the four of them were now sitting in her small bedroom amidst an explosion of colourful balloons, gigantic honeycomb balls made of flimsy tissue paper as well as lots and lots of cheap, glittering plastic streamers.  There was even a cheesy banner hanging on one of the walls that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE! XOXO in big, bold letters. How her friends had orchestrated all of this, she did not know. Even after some intense questioning on her part, they had refused to disclose how exactly they had managed to gain access to the password-protected Head Girl Tower without her knowledge; however, Hermione had the sneaking suspicion that a certain free elf may or may not have had something to do with it.

Naturally, the trio also hadn’t forgotten to shower her in gifts, all of which were now neatly stacked on her dresser, right next to all of the other presents she had already received earlier during the day: a beautiful bouquet of fragrant wildflowers from Neville, a rather peculiar-looking necklace and a handmade card from Luna, and a parcel filled with an abundance of merchandise from the newest Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes product range, courtesy of Fred and George. Needless to say, Hermione wasn’t planning on touching or especially using any of the joke items, but she still greatly appreciated the thought.

The newest additions to this small collection were a small, round bottle of fairly pricey perfume from Ginny, a fluffy scarf made of thick, mulberry-coloured wool with a matching beanie and half-mittens from Ron (though Hermione thought it likely that he hadn’t actually bought them but rather had them made by his warm-hearted mother) as well as an expensive quill set from her favourite stationary store in Diagon Alley and an interesting book about wizarding tattoos – which were permanently charmed upon application and therefore moved across sections of the body similar to the way magical photos or paintings did on canvas – from Harry. The Muggle-born had almost let out a little laugh when realising that it was the exact same volume that she herself had purchased from Tomes and Scrolls only a few months prior and that was now sitting on one of her shelves in this very room. Not that she would ever tell him – it was the gesture that counted, after all!

“No worries,” Hermione said. “Of course you can go! I know how important this last season is for the both of you.”

“And besides,” the youngest Weasley chimed in. “Hermione and I need some time to ourselves for a long overdue girl talk anyway! With all this school work and stressing out about Quidditch, we really haven’t had the chance to chat in like forever. I’m sure you won’t mind me missing out on one training session, right?” she asked, as if they hadn’t already hashed all of this out beforehand.

“Not at all,” Harry answered lovingly before moving in to give her a quick peck on the lips, with Ron demonstratively looking the other way. After having the weight of constant threats and fear for the lives of his loved ones lifted from his shoulders following the end of the war, it seemed as though the young wizard with the famous lightening scar was finally feeling comfortable enough to have a normal and out-in-the-open relationship with his redheaded sweetheart.

The two boys then hugged the birthday girl goodbye before making a swift exit. As soon as the door shut behind them, Ginny turned to Hermione with the biggest grin on her face; it almost made the freckles on her rosy cheeks look like they were dancing.

“We finally did it, Hermione!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Absentmindedly picking at the remaining crumbs of a cake that had once read Sweet Eighteen, the older girl frowned in confusion. “Who did what?” she asked.

“Harry and I! You know …” Her expression turned cheeky.

“Oh … OH!” The nature of the topic instantly made the witch feel awkward. “Um, well, that’s great for you, Gin!”

“Thank you! Oh Hermione, it was absolutely wonderful! We sneaked out late night on Saturday and met up in the Room of Requirements. I don’t know what Harry asked for exactly, but he definitely aced it! The whole room was decorated with rose petals and floating candles; and there was a huge canopy bed and even a fireplace! I can’t even begin to tell you how long I’d been waiting for this moment and it turned out just perfect! Harry was so gentle and …”

Hermione listened to her babble on with only half an ear. She was happy for her best friend, of course; but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a little sullen. With the majority of her teenage years having been spent cramming for exams while trying to keep Harry alive and out of trouble, she had never had the time for any romantic escapades. In her juvenile blindness, Gilderoy Lockhart had been her first heartthrob and she had even harboured a small crush on Sirius Black for a while. A quick snog with Viktor Krum underneath the Quidditch Pitch bleachers during the night of the Yule Ball, however, had been the most action she’d ever had. While most people – including Harry, Ginny and probably even Ron himself – still seemed to think that she and the Gryffindor Keeper would someday end up together, Hermione had ruled out that scenario a long time ago. She loved the boy dearly, but he would never be more than a good friend to her; they were just too different. She needed someone more mature – someone who put as much emphasise on intellect and academics as her. But did someone like that even exist in the first place?

“… And I’m just so happy right now! I really feel like our relationship has been taken to a whole new level.” Ginny paused for a second. “Anyway, enough of me. Now tell me what’s been going on in the life of Hogwarts’ smartest smartass.”

“Hey!” Hermione proclaimed exasperatedly, but she did have to giggle when she saw the redhead’s smug expression – her friends had all figured out a long time ago how to rile her up using foul language. “Well, not much really. I’ve just been studying, fulfilling my duties as Head Girl, doing my lessons with Professor Snape and –“

“Galloping gargoyles! I’d totally forgotten about you and that slimy bastard!” the younger girl shouted, ignoring her shocked and appalled look. “You know, I still can’t believe that you chose him as your tutor! I mean, I’m already having a hard time with how strict McGonagall is being with me, and she can’t be even half as bad as that minger. How are you holding up?”

“It’s really not that bad. I mean, yes, he does make me work hard, but I knew that going in. And quite frankly, a big workload is not the worst thing – I do want to improve my brewing skills, after all. Plus, I do think that all of you have a completely wrong impression of Professor Snape. It’s true that he’s quite stern and almost cold sometimes, but he was a true hero during the war; you know that as well as I do. And after allowing me to work in his private lab and giving me that amazing birthday gift, I really don’t believe that –“

“WHAT?” Ginny’s outcry was so intense that her hazel eyes bulged to an abnormal extent. “Private lab? Birthday gift?! What the hell? You haven’t even been working with that plonker for a month and you already seem to be talking about a completely different Snape than me!”

Hermione was more than a little irritated at being interrupted yet again, but she decided to let it slide. “Merlin’s beard, Ginny, calm down! Yes, we are both talking about the same Professor Snape; and yes, he still is the same snarky and spiteful wizard as always. More importantly, however, it wasn’t like he invited me into his laboratory voluntarily. The Hospital Wing was in desperate need of medicine, but the Potions classroom was occupied – so he didn’t really have a choice but to have us use his personal workspace to brew.”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense. It’s still a bit weird, though.” There was a brief moment of silence. “Wait … Wouldn’t his private lab be inside his personal quarters?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, the ginger-haired adolescent started jumping up and down excitedly on the bed. “By Salazar’s balls, Hermione! I cannot believe you entered the Dungeon Bat’s private chambers and lived to tell the tale! How does it look down there? Is it true that he has every single mirror covered with a piece of cloth so that he doesn’t have to see his own ugliness, just like Charlie used to want me to believe? Oh, you have to tell me everything!”

She rolled her eyes. “Just stop it. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. I had to promise him not to tell a soul anyway. So don’t even try to squeeze any specifics out of me!”

“Oh, come on! You can’t lure me with such a scandalous story and then leave out all the juicy details! You will tell me, even if I have to force you!” And with those words, she dropped to her knees, grabbed one of the bed’s many pillows and started hitting her friend with it ruthlessly.

“OUCH! Hey, Ginny, stop it! AH!” Hermione tried dodging the cushioned weapon, but it was to no avail. “Okay, okay, stop bothering me already! You really are something, Ginevra Weasley – it’s quite mean of you to treat me in such a way on my birthday, you know!” she exclaimed before hastily fixing her now messed-up ponytail. “I will tell you, but not before you promise me not to tell anyone, not even Harry! Professor Snape would kill me if he found out that I dared to blab.”

The redhead was beaming following her victory. “Pinky promise!”

Hermione audibly sighed before proceeding. “Well, his rooms are definitely not what you would expect. I didn’t view them in their entirety, of course; but from what I could see, there wasn’t a speck of Slytherin colours anywhere. It didn’t feel like a dark and gloomy dungeon space either. His sitting room is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of books, some of which I have never even heard of, Gin! Oh, how I wish I could just go back and browse for a few hours! A few of the books seem to be centuries-old originals that were written by hand and –“ She stopped herself when she noticed the annoyed look on the other girl’s face. “Anyway, it’s actually quite cosy down there; he even has a fireplace. And yes, there was a mirror, without any cloth in sight. That’s about it, really. There were some doors leading to other rooms, but he understandably directed me into the laboratory rather quickly. I know that you’re not that into brewing, but let me tell you that even you would be amazed by that place. So much amazing machinery and such rare ingredients! Oh, I could go on forever!”

“Yeah, yeah, please spare me the details. I couldn’t care less about his silly collection –“ Ginny skilfully overlooked her friend’s glare. “The interesting part is that you’ve actually been inside his private chambers. That’s absolutely insane! Just wait until Harry and Ron find out, we’ll be able to play so many awesome pranks on that git! Next time you go –“

“No, Ginny! I told you, you cannot tell anybody!”

“But –“

“NO! No ifs, ands or buts – just stop! You promised me, remember? I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to go back anyway. Besides, after receiving that terrific gift from him yesterday, I really ought to be thankful rather than play any mean tricks on him.”

To beat her to another overemotional outburst, Hermione quickly recounted Dumbledore’s surprise visit and explained the tradition of giving gifts to one’s apprentice to celebrate them becoming another year older.

“So McGonagall will give me a birthday gift, too?” Ginny asked eagerly. The Head Girl confirmed with a brief bob of her head. “Sweet! But what did the old bugger get you anyhow?”

Hermione furled her eyebrows in distaste before using the Summoning Charm on her new most prized possession and handing it to the girl.

“Huh? It just looks like some old book that’s about to fall apart,” Ginny said, clearly disappointed by the worn object laying on her lap.

“I know that it may not look like much, but it’s the exact opposite. This here,” Hermione lifted the book so that it was on eye-level. “– is one of the most infamous wizarding works ever created. It’s so rare that not even the Ministry possesses a copy of it. Gin, this book is priceless – it’s easily worth more than the net worth of all current and past Quidditch players in the entire world combined!”

Finally understanding the severity of the situation, Ginny gasped. “And Snape still gave it to you?! Why in Merlin’s name would he do something like that?”

“I honestly don’t know. Such a gift would already be considered excessive even if we were friends, so I don’t understand at all why he would give it to me despite his obvious hatred towards me.” She heaved a sigh. “I’ve been racking my brain all day trying to come up with a way to properly thank him, but I don’t think I would even know what to say. I mean, this is the most amazing thing that anyone’s ever done for me!”

(Click here for chapter 10!)

[aurora077]

Hermione’s Moment

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13181660/1/Hermione-s-Moment

It was hard, keeping it a secret from her friends. Hermione felt like twirling around and shouting it to the world. She had to keep fighting the grin that rose unconsciously to her face whenever anyone mentioned him (and Ron mentioned him a lot). But she knew that she had to. Nobody would believe her (And if they did she certainly didn’t want his fans to go all manic on her).

Well, at least the boys wouldn’t believe her (Ginny on the other hand had been terribly excited for her. She couldn’t have hidden it from everyone or she was sure she would spontaneously combust). They hadn’t even registered she was supposedly free for the ball. They were scrambling about like headless chickens, searching for someone to go to the ball with. They’d been through a list of all the girls at Hogwarts that they knew or had classes with, but not once did they consider asking her, their supposed best friend. In fact, they were so worried about their own dates, they never even bothered to ask her if there was anyone she was going with or wanted to go with. It made her a bit upset quite frankly.

They were her best friends. But sometimes, it seemed like they didn’t consider her much. Even if they didn’t think to ask her themselves, they still could have been worried about if she had a date as well (like they were currently doing for each other). However she didn’t even cross their minds. It was quite pathetic to think about really. It was times like this that Hermione wondered if it would be better to try and branch out and make other friends as well, except, well, she was never very good at making friends in the first place.

Which is why it took her completely by surprise when Krum –no, Viktor, asked her of all people to the ball. She spent most of her time in the library doing work and research to help Harry, you know, one of said best friends who didn’t have the time to think about her even though she stood by him the entire time as opposed to other said best friend, (no she wasn’t bitter about being left out at all). She had no idea how Viktor had even seen her behind all the books she had stacked around her (and the hordes of giggling girls flocking around him). But seen her he had. As it turns out, most surprisingly at that, Viktor Krum was shy. He told her he had had to work up the courage to come talk to her. And there she was hating on him because his presence brought the annoying army of fans to the library where they proceeded to completely disrupt her concentration. It made her feel like a right jerk. But also completely fluttery inside.

She felt like something out of a muggle fairytale had just happened. Because though fangirl she was not, she was very aware of the fact that this was an international Quidditch star. Ron couldn’t shut up about him after all, so she was certainly acquainted with his accomplishments. So an internationally famous Quidditch star asked her, Hermione Granger, to the Yule Ball. Which he was attending as a champion. In other words he asked the girl most people ignored to open the ball with him as his partner. Well, most people other than Cormac McLaggen who seemed to have been making his way over to her a few times, presumably to ask her to be his date. But she deftly avoided him....much as she might have wanted a date, she’d rather have none than have to spend the entire ball listening to him going on and on about himself. It didn’t matter how handsome he was, he was so self-absorbed it was sickening. Viktor on the other hand had been nervous and shy, nothing like she would have expected him to be (Cormac probably used up the quota of arrogance.) It was difficult to say no to such a humble request. He had asked her quite nicely if she would do him the honour of accompanying him to the ball. Except he stuttered and fumbled with his English which she actually thought was quite adorable. (She spent the rest of the day with him in a secluded corner of the library trying to help him with his pronunciation at his red-faced request since he had been having trouble with her name.)

The Triwizard Tournament had suddenly meant more than just the dangerous competition that could get her best friend killed. (Which she hadn’t forgotten about no matter what Ron would later suggest). She actually had something to look forward to. She had figured if nobody asked her she would ask Ginny to go with her as a friend since the girl wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise. Ginny was buzzing with excitement for her and didn’t mind that she couldn’t go with Hermione because Neville, poor sweet Neville, had asked her to go with him after Hermione turned him down in potions. She had never considered that he might ask to be honest but she was glad that it worked out and that both Ginny and Neville got a date out of it.

She didn’t mind keeping it a secret from most people since Ginny knew who she was going with so they could talk about it together, though she did have to stop herself from skipping through the halls or people would get suspicious. She was just so ecstatic! She’d been spending some more time with Viktor lately and he was so sweet it made her heart melt. She’d never imagined someone would take an interest in her, especially not someone like him. If her own friends couldn’t even be bothered with her, why would anyone else? She was never so happy to be proven wrong. The only downside was that they would have to meet in secret because neither of them wanted to be interrupted by his fans. In fact, he told her that he loved Quidditch and was happy that the people liked him, but that he’d really appreciate some privacy in his life. He wasn’t fond of fame, much like Harry in a way. He just wanted to do what he loved and make his country proud. And he liked to read! Certainly not as much as she did, but casual reading was better than no reading at all. He listened to her and paid attention to her interests. In turn, he knew he could trust her enough to talk to her about himself without it getting out to the press. He couldn’t spend as much time with her as either of them liked though because like it or not there was a deadly tournament looming over the heads of the champions, previously affecting one person she cared about, and now it was two. She didn’t help him since she was still loyal to Hogwarts and Harry. It was a competition after all. But then again they didn’t talk much about the competition anyway.

For the first time in her life she could say she felt wholly like a girl. Viktor made her feel special and appreciated in a way nobody else in her life had. It made her giddy. She was looking forward to the ball, and despite the fact that they were from different countries, she was hoping to keep him in her life in some form or the other. She wasn’t silly enough to think they would get married and have 10 kids and a white picket fence, but she did acknowledge that at this point she’d be open to a relationship with him. Even if that didn’t work out, he’d be a valuable friend. He was already a better friend in some ways than her current male companions. She cared for them of course, and she knew they cared about her, but she definitely didn’t feel it sometimes.

“Hermione..” someone snapped their fingers in front of her and she jumped.

“I’ve called your name 5 times already, but you were in lala land,” Ginny said, laughing at her surprise.

“Oh sorry Gin, I was just thinking,” she said.

“Yeah, I know you were,” Ginny smirked, “I bet I know about what too.”

“Oh hush,” she blushed.

“Anyyyway, I came to tell you we’re going dress shopping!” Ginny said excitedly.

“We are?”

“Yes! We’ll just pop on over to Gladrags in Hogsmeade. Of course mine will probably be second-hand but no worries! It is going to be your night!” Ginny insisted.

And for once, she had to agree. It was going to be her night. Whether anyone else knew it yet or not.

[amiandthechaos]

I know! Ron x Viktor and Chudley Cannons 😍 give me anything!

“The Chudley Canons.”

The words that came out of Viktor Krum’s mouth seemed to float in the air above all the people on the table, and the silence stretched for a bit longer than usual.

“Come again?” Ginny asked, her face splitting into a smile that Ron didn’t appreciate one bit.

Viktor finished swallowing. “I have just been bought by the Chudley Canons,” he repeated and shrugged one shoulder. “I know they have been very bad in the past, but they’re replacing the entire team and offered me the position of captain and a large sum of money. So I accepted. I like Britain anyway.”

Ron was pretty sure his face was the color of the grilled tomatoes on his plate, and even more so when everybody (except Viktor) turned to look at him.

Sunday lunch at The Burrow was usually a rather boring affair, but he never missed a chance to see his family now that he had moved in with Harry to a flat in London. Harry and Hermione usually tagged along as well, and this time, Hermione had decided to invite her dear friend and newly retired Quidditch Star.

“But I read in the press that you’d retired?” Harry asked Viktor, taking his eyes off Ron.

“From big cups and national teams, yes.” Viktor nodded and smiled warmly. Ron shivered. “I vant to play in a smaller team and not vorry too much.”

After that the conversation changed thanks to Percy and Hermione, who started discussing the latest antics of the new Minister for magic. Ron never thought he’d be glad to hear their boring bureaucratic rubbish, but now the attention was not on him, which meant he could return to sneaking glances and Viktor when he wasn’t looking. Oddly enough, Ron could feel someone’s eyes on him when he looked away from Viktor, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“Time for pudding, everyone!”

Bill and Fleur helped Ron’s mum remove the dirty dishes from the table and replace them with plates of thick slices of pie. Ron started eating as he nodded along to something George was saying, but then his eyes fell on Viktor again, and his heart dropped when he saw him talking to Ginny. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, and that made him all the more worried because Ginny had that wicked look in her eyes that could not mean good news for Ron.

They stopped talking after a while and Viktor ate his pie quietly. Ron attempted to send Ginny death glares several times, but she was determinedly looking anywhere else.

Conversations grew less animated every minute, now that everyone was full and slowly making their way to the garden to enjoy some leisure time under the late afternoon sun. Ron was about to follow Harry and Hermione outside when suddenly Ginny’s voice rang louder than necessary.

“Hey, Viktor, would you like a tour of the house?”

Ron spun around rapidly, dread spreading coldly through his body as he saw Ginny patting Viktor’s broad shoulders amicably. Viktor smiled at her and nodded politely.

Ron rushed to stand in front of them, trying hard not to blush as Viktor looked questioningly at him. “Uh, Ginny,” Ron said in a very obviously forced, casual tone. “He’s probably too full to be climbing all those stairs right now. why don’t we all go outside?”

“Don’t be silly,” Ginny dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “He’s an athlete. I’m sure Viktor will be just fine.”

Viktor smiled again. “This house is very interesting. I vonder how many rooms it can hold.”

Ron didn’t know what kind of things Ginny had told Viktor, but it didn’t seem to be a way out of this without making a scene, so Ron merely nodded and started leading the way. “I’ll go with you, then.”

The three of them walked up to the first floor, where Ginny showed Viktor her bedroom whilst making odd comments about the dull color of her walls and lack of decoration. Ron pinched her hard in the arm when Viktor wasn’t looking, but she simply pointer her wand at him menacingly until he backed away. Ron had left his wand downstairs.

As they went up to the second floor, Ron tried with all his might not to stare at Viktor’s backside as he climbed up the stairs, but he failed miserably.

“Percy used to share a floor with Fred and George?” Viktor asked with amusement. “They must have drove him mad.”

There wasn’t much to see in Bill and Charlie’s old bedroom on the third floor, but as they continued their way up, Ron’s apprehension increased. He should have asked Harry and Hermione to create a diversion downstairs so they had to come down. Or he should have tried to steal some Peruvian Darkness Powder form Fred and George’s old room so he could activate it as soon as they reached the fifth floor.

“This is mum and dad’s bedroom,” Ginny told Viktor. “As you can see they don’t have anything on their walls. No pictures or posters of any kind. Much less a Quidditch team.”

Viktor looked like he found this information strange, but he nodded anyway. Ron stepped on Ginny’s foot as hard as he could, but she zapped him with a slight electric shock from her wand and he had to retreat.

As Viktor stepped into the first stair leading up to the fifth floor, Ron called out his name, desperately. “You should see my dad’s garage! He keeps all of his muggle experiments down there. I’ll show you.”

Viktor looked interested and Ron’s heart lifted, but then Ginny stepped in between them. “There’s only one room left! And then the attic of course, but that’s not as interesting.”

Ginny grabbed Viktor’s arm and started pulling him away from Ron, who followed quickly and envisioned many ways to make Ginny miserable in the future, as soon as this was over.

“Ron’s room,” Ginny said as they neared the door. Viktor looked over his shoulder at Ron and smiled at him. Ron felt his knees weaken.

“Old room!” he corrected. “Ancient, really. I haven’t been here in so long, I hardly remember what it looks like.”

Ginny put her hand on the doorknob. “You’re being too humble, Ron. Yours is truly an spectacular and unforgettable room.”

Ginny pushed the door open and led Viktor inside. The orange glow hit Ron’s eyes and he deflated so much he wondered if it was possible for the floor to swallow him and spit him out somewhere else. Ginny called him and he slowly dragged his feet towards his humiliation, thinking that it was probably less pathetic than running away.

As soon as he stepped inside, Ginny perked up. “I think mum’s calling me!” And with a loud pop, she disapparated.

Viktor was taken aback for a moment, but then his eyes kept roaming up and down Ron’s room, which looked like it hadn’t been a day since Ron finished decorating it when he was ten years old. All the posters were in perfect condition because they were magical, the orange of the walls looked brighter than ever, and Ron’s mum had even kept all the orange bed clothes exactly the way Ron did when he lived there. He know realized how ghastly everything looked, especially with the addition of his own orange hair and bright red face.

Ron tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.” He cleared his throat and looked out the small window at his family and friends downstairs. “It’s really stupid and-”

“Wow,” Viktor interrupted him, and Ron turned back to look at him, expecting a mocking fit of laughter to erupt at any moment now.

But Viktor didn’t look like he was about to laugh, nor did he seem like he thought Ron was the most pathetic man on earth. He was looking at Ron with a mix of surprise and acknowledgment.

“I feel so embarrassed,” Viktor said.

Ron frowned. “What? Why?”

Viktor rubbed the back of his neck. “Every English person has told me that the Chudley Canons are bad, but I have never vatcted a game myself. I have been saying bad things about them and now I can see I vas mistaken.”

Ron didn’t know what to say. Why would Viktor feel embarrassed about this?

“If you like them, they must be a good team.”

Ron’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, they’re…they’re not that bad,” he stammered. “They’ve had some pretty amazing matches, even if they don’t win.”

Viktor nodded. “I vas a very bad professional by accepting to enter a team I don’t know.” He stepped a bit closer and Ron’d heart pounded. “That’s why I’m embarrassed.”

“That’s alright. The Canons have a bad reputation, but a very interesting history,” Ron said, unbelievably glad that the attention wasn’t focused on him or his extreme fanaticism for the team.

Ron watched in slow motion as Viktor’s hand reached up and landed on Ron’s shoulder.

“I need someone to teach me.”

Ron gulped and nodded.

With a swift movement, Viktor stepped in next to Ron and threw his arm around his shoulders. “And maybe later ve can come back up here and put my face on your valls too.”

Ron laughed nervously, thinking that there were probably already a few posters of Viktor hidden in between Chudley Canon’s players. Before Viktor could reply or look more closely at the room, Ron started leading them out, one hand bravely on Viktor’s back.

“You could start telling me about the canons as you show me your father’s garage,” Viktor suggested once Ron had closed the door behind them.

With the feeling of Viktor’s arm still around him, Ron couldn’t help his next words, “For starters, you’re probably the best player they’ve ever had.”

Viktor’s smile was brighter than Ron’s entire room.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Notes on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I read the fourth book starting in Glencoe, where I hiked high up a mountain to tremendous views (I even saw a rainbow across the gorge), continuing on in Fort William from where I took the Hogwarts Express itself (the Jacobite Steam Train, which goes over the viaduct as shown in the first movie) to Mallaig, and in that gorgeous seaside town I finished the book, late at night and unable to sleep.

They organized portkeys among 5 continents, which made me wonder which country is left out of the World Cup

Harry has such a crush on Bill Weasley

Ron has such a crush on Viktor Krum—he shows Neville the Krum figurine all proud—imagining, after Lucius Malfoy’s criticism, how many Wizarding World Cups Ron and Harry might have attended to watch Ginny Weasley play, how proud Ron must have been, and they probably got into the Top Box once she was a reporter

Shouldn’t Harry be able to see the thestrals from having seen Lily die in front of his baby eyes?

There never seem to be more than the standard professors at the head table, and there’s only one professor per department which must be awful.

Trelawney guesses Harry’s late December birthday (Tom Riddle born on December 31)

if you look at JKR’s original plans to kill Ron and have Hermione and Fred get together, there are actually a lot of clues towards HermionexFred in this book

Harry: “If I’d dropped dead every time she told me I’m going to, I’d be a medical miracle.” “You’d be a sort of extra-concentrated ghost.” —not that off actually, as a horcrux

Neville asked Hermione, Ginny went with him to the Ball—she blushes when Ron suggests she go with Harry—Ron shipping them early on

Percy is such a great example of that banal kind of evil that allows eviler evil to continue and flourish—a “rule-follower”

one thing that always strikes me is Barty Crouch, Jr.’s respect for the other side, the aurors, how he tells the trio that he appreciates their strengths

Harry doesn’t think anyone will be there to see him when they say that everyone’s families will be there—tears

the fairness fight between Cedric and Harry is fascinating because they’re both arguing fairness but in house ways. Harry is saying, you won, you got there, you won the game, Cedric is saying, it’s not fair though, I didn’t fight well or win it right. 

it’s weird that Voldemort asks his followers how they doubted his ride when they “knew the steps I took” but he hid the horcruxes from almost all of them.

the 6 missing—3 dead, 1 coward (Karkaroff), 1 left forever (Snape), 1 reentered (Crouch Jr.), leaves out all those in Azkaban

“I was less than spirit”—he’s such a drama queen, he literally was 1/7 of a spirit—shouldn’t he have had to come back through a horcrux? still confused about the soul wandering through Albania and what it’s actually classified as

“I told him to take the Cup with me,” said Harry.... “He wished Ron would look away.”—I think this is the moment after which Ron never doubted again that Harry didn’t want fame and glory. 

Mrs. Weasley as Harry’s first ever parental hug, this late in the game

Hermione turning Rita Skeeter into a beetle instead of like turning her into the authorities is one of the best examples of how her intelligence factors into her being a Gryffindor rather than a Ravenclaw

[trademarkblue]

100 Days of R/Hr: Day 2

Prompt: “I Want To Know What Love Is” by Foreigner

Prompted by: @polawerth​

In the spirit of non-traditional prompt responses, here’s this. It’s 6th year, it’s PG-13 for language, and that’s about all I can say without spoiling it. This whole thing pretty much materialized, fully formed, upon my second listen to the song prompt. I hope you enjoy it! x

She looked a bit uncomfortable at the mere thought of being left alone to stand there while he went for drinks, and he eyed her, sceptically. “Why?”

A light flush crept across her cheeks, and she tugged his sleeve to get him moving with her toward a long table on the adjacent wall.

“I’d just rather not give Cormac an opening to come and chat with me, if you really want to know.”

“What?” This was an unexpected turn, and he felt mild annoyance rising on her behalf. “Has he been bothering you?”

“He asked me to come to this party with him,” she said, “and I really wasn’t sure, for a few weeks there, if you were still planning on accepting my invite. But, of course, I turned him down, and… he wasn’t thrilled.”

Ron felt an odd mixture of pleasure and regret at this news - firstly, that she had turned down another offer for him, and, secondly, that she had questioned his intentions because of how he had treated her. He really ought to explain himself. But, as soon as the subject matter that would have to be covered resurfaced in his mind, he felt his stomach flip over sickeningly, and he suspected there was no way in hell he was going to be able to bring that up out of nowhere. They had arrived at the drinks table, and he snatched up a tankard of mead for her before taking one for himself. “Thanks,” she said, rather brightly, as she took his offered drink, and they quickly headed off through a thick cluster of guests to find another relatively secluded spot at the back of the room. “Can you see Harry?” Hermione asked, relying on Ron’s height, towering above more than half the crowd, to spot him. He craned his neck and glanced around. “Yeah,” he laughed. “He’s with Luna and… pretty sure that’s a vampire trying to chat him up.”

“Well,” Hermione said, attempting but failing to hide her amusement, “I don’t think he’d rescue us right away if our fates were reversed, do you?”

“No,” Ron agreed. “In fact, we had quite a few laughs at Quidditch practice about you shut up here with Slughorn’s mates.”

“Oh, brilliant!”

Ron grinned through the next few sips of his drink. “It’s a bit hot in here, don’t you think?” Hermione asked, and she took another sip of her own mead. “Yeah,” Ron agreed, “but I reckon this room isn’t meant to hold this many people, not to mention… How many drinks have we had?”

Hermione raised her eyebrows in alarm. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she said. “We could go outside to the corridor for a minute and get some air,” he suggested. “I don’t think anyone will miss us… Well, they won’t miss me, anyway.”

“Would you really rather be in Harry’s position?” she asked, sceptically, as she dropped her half-empty tankard onto the next floating tray.

“Definitely not,” Ron said, feeling sorry that he had let an edge of resentment creep into his tone. He really didn’t mean it, he considered. She was right. He was better off not being stuck in here all night with a line of people waiting to prod him about his personal life. “Let’s go, then,” and she led the way across the room toward the doors. The moment she opened them, a gust of wonderfully cool air wafted across their faces.

The corridor was deserted, lit only by evenly spaced sconces. Ron tugged the door shut behind them, and they were instantly surrounded by comforting silence. He followed her halfway down the corridor, until she stopped in the shadowy space between two flickering candles, leaning back against the wall and sighing. “Boys are so lucky, sometimes,” she said, and she reached down to remove the shoes she’d been wearing that had made her several inches taller than he was accustomed to. “At least your shoes don’t cut off circulation to your toes after an hour.”

He winced in what he considered to be a supportive way, before the reality of their isolation in the dark crept up on him. Of course he had been alone with her before, but never quite like this. Friends, he reminded himself. She had asked him to the party as friends. Then why was his heart beating so fast? He tried to blame the four tankards of mead he had consumed, and he could even blame the three she had had on the way her eyes met his for a bit longer than was typical. And, yes, maybe he had never encountered quite this combination of nerves and alcohol, but he surprised himself when he suddenly opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m… really sorry,” he muttered. She blinked at him, shoes held together in her left hand as she pushed slightly away from the wall, moving the tiniest bit closer. “What for?”

“You know what for,” he said, in a low voice, barely refraining from sighing. “I could guess,” she admitted, softly, “but I’d rather you say, so I don’t make a mistake.”

He ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair, looking away from her. “I know you only asked me here because you’re my friend, and you felt sorry for me being left out. I do appreciate it, and I shouldn't’ve-”

“What do you mean? That’s not why I asked you.”

His eyebrows shot up with alarm, and he could see her cheeks colour a deeper shade of red before she tore her gaze away from him and sighed.

“It’s not?“ he asked, tentatively.

"Nevermind,” she dismissed, shakily. “We can go back to the party now. But I don’t think either of us should have anymore to drink.”

She stepped away from him, turning to head back down the corridor. “Wait!” He stopped her in her tracks between the next two sconces, lightly grabbing ahold of her wrist. “Why did you ask me, then?”

Her eyes flashed to his, desperately. “Do I have to say it? I did the asking, isn’t that enough? You were supposed to figure it out.”

“Figure out what?” He was really pushing his luck.

“Don’t be thick, Ron,” she groaned. He couldn’t leave it this way, not with her right there… with the way she was looking at him. He suspected she’d rather melt straight through the floor than have to say what he was begging to hear. He could do this. He could be sodding brave, for once.

“I want you to have asked me as more than a friend,” he said, hardly believing he had actually managed to scrape the words out through his suddenly scratchy throat.

Everything about her expression changed, and he knew, immediately, that he’d said the right thing. “You do?” she whispered, a small smile spreading across her face. “Yeah,” he said, roughly, realising he was still holding on to her wrist. She took a step closer. He did the same thing. She licked her bottom lip, and his eyes were suddenly glued to her mouth. She leaned her head back the tiniest bit as she moved in close enough that her dress robes brushed the front of his.

He ducked his head, trying to ignore the part of his brain that was screaming, that couldn’t let him believe this was happening. They were so close now, he could feel her hot breath on his mouth.

“I’ve never done this before,” he admitted, at a near whisper.

“I hoped you hadn’t,” she smiled, and she stood up higher on her bare toes.

He was suddenly panicking. There was no way he could compare to what she knew from before, and he felt idiotically compelled to let her know. They were a breath apart when he spoke again. Damn his nerves. “But, you have.”

Her nails dug sharply into his bicep as she gasped and moved back from him. Shit, shit, shit. Why couldn’t he have kept his bloody mouth shut? Why couldn’t he have just forgotten it like he kept telling himself, over and over again, that he already had done? “What do you mean?! How…” she squeaked, words failing her.

“I’m sorry!” he shouted, quickly, ears suddenly burning. “It doesn’t matter. Ginny told me, but she was just being a git, because I found her snogging Dean, and-” “Is that why you’ve been a prat to me these last few weeks?!” she cut over him, horrified.

“Yes,” he admitted, bitterly. She whimpered with frustration, closing her eyes for a second.

“But, it doesn’t matter, anymore,” he lied, “and, I’m here with you now, aren’t I?”

It wasn’t even just about desperation over possibly losing his chance to kiss her tonight, anymore. Now, he was just hoping with all he had that they could fix it, right now, and he wouldn’t have to spend another stretch of unbearable weeks fighting with her. They had come too far to go back, hadn’t they? Blimey, he could only hope she agreed. “You know why I never told you, don’t you?” she asked, sniffing, and he suspected she was on the absolute verge of frustrated tears. “Because I was afraid you’d get upset and do something irrational!”

“Spot on,” he said, darkly, feeling another wave of remorse and self-pity washing toward him. “I asked you here because you’re exactly who I want to be here with,” she said, a bit shrilly. “Do you understand?”

He did understand, though he was still struggling to believe his luck, that she honestly felt even a fraction of how he felt about her. And, to think that, lately, he’d been so fiercely avoiding confronting his own feelings, that he’d nearly ruined it. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I know.” A long silence stretched between them, and he couldn’t remember holding eye contact with her for this long, ever before. She took a tiny step closer. “Do you want to go back to the party?” she asked in a small voice, and he had a strong suspicion that she was really hoping his answer would be no. He shook his head, and her smile returned, very slowly. He took his own step closer, and she had to tilt her head back again to go on looking up at him. He could do it, he thought. They’d just been so close, moments ago. He only had to lean forward, just a bit, lift his hand to the side of her neck, watch as her eyes fluttered shut-

Ron!

She couldn’t be speaking. Her lips were an inch away from his own, and he could feel a warm exhale as she gripped the collar of his shirt. Ron!!

His eyes shot open, and reality came crashing back as he met her fearful gaze, lantern light flickering in her pupils. He was in the hospital wing. He had been poisoned. He’d ditched the bloody party and never explained to her. And he’d been snogging Lavender Brown. “You were having a dream, or something,” Hermione said, softly, dropping slightly away from him to resume her seat in the chair at his bedside. “At first I thought maybe you were in pain…”

“No,” he tried to reassure her, but his voice was quite hoarse, and he wasn’t as convincing as he would have liked to have been. But she nodded, once, and all he could do for the next few seconds was be thankful for what he did have, at least. He might have fucked up, but she was here. And, he had to admit, he preferred the fantasy dreams to the cold nightmares where he thought he would die without making things right. He coughed, and he could feel her concerned gaze lingering on him as he reached for the glass of water on his bedside table. He took a long drink and looked at her again. “How long have you been here?” he asked her. She shrugged, darting her eyes away from him. She’d been by to see him four times since he’d woken here, two days ago. It was really quite a lot more than he deserved, he reckoned. He owed her something, however small, whatever he could manage. But, he knew, from spotting the time on the clock across the room, that she was here far past visiting hours, and he could hear Madame Pomfrey moving around in her office, likely heading toward him any second to administer a series of revolting potions… surely to send Hermione to bed with a stern scolding. Whatever he wanted to say, it had to be now, and it had to be quick. “Wish I’d gone to Slughorn’s with you.” Her wide eyes flashed back to meet his, shocked. “I know you only asked me as a friend, but it would’ve been better than everything else I did, anyway. I’m just…  sorry, by the way. I don’t say it very much, and I should probably start.” As he had predicted, Madame Pomfrey emerged at that moment, tutting loudly in Hermione’s direction as she approached Ron’s bed. “After hours!” she hissed as loud as she dared, so as not to wake the two other students who were softly snoring in their beds across the room. “Miss Granger, what are you doing?!” “Sorry, Madame Pomfrey,” Hermione said, looking quite flustered as she stood quickly, her chair scraping loudly across the floor and causing Madame Pomphrey to glare at her firmly.

But Madame Pomfrey’s expression changed to exasperation as she patted down her apron, evidently searching for something.

“I forgot your sleeping potion,” she said to Ron, eyes flashing back to Hermione. “I really don’t need it,” Ron started, but Madame Pomfrey cut across him as if she hadn’t heard him. “Miss Granger, why are you still here?” “I’m going,” Hermione said, hurriedly, taking a small step backward, looking incredibly conflicted as Madame Pomfrey nodded sharply. “Good, because if you’re not gone when I return, I’ll have to recommend detention,” and she whipped around to hurry back to her office. Hermione looked quite frozen to her spot, and Ron could hear her breathing unevenly, finally returning her gaze to meet his, a softness settling in that he was quite surprised to see. But, Madame Pomfrey was quick, and he could already hear the crescendo of her returning footsteps. “You should know,” Hermione managed, in a slightly strangled whisper, “I didn’t just ask you as a friend.” And, without leaving time for his reply, she turned quickly around and headed for the door, wrenching it open and slipping outside, shutting it again with a slightly echoing boom. As her words rang in his ears, a grin spread across his face, and the light feeling he recalled from his dream rushed back over him, not even to be diminished by the three whole spoonfuls of absolutely disgusting potion that Madame Pomfrey forced him to drink, because he’d almost died, three days ago. Worth it.

[ramajmedia]

Harry Potter: 10 Characters Who Were Forgotten As The Movies Went On

Somehow, the final Harry Potter movie released 11 years ago, bringing a decade of on-screen storytelling to an end and providing fans with a fitting finale for a series that had left them enchanted for over 10 years. But while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 hit many high notes, there were characters omitted from the final blockbuster that would have warranted their inclusion.

RELATED: Harry Potter: Horcruxes Ranked By Difficulty Of Obtaining Them

Over the years, certain people from the Potterverse were snubbed as Warner Brothers tried to cram as many individuals in as possible. With the books getting bigger, the films were destined to follow suit. We now look at 10 people whose roles became significantly less as the franchise edged towards its enthralling, final chapter.

10 Madam Hooch

Many were excited when it was revealed Zoe Wannamaker, a regular in British television programs, would be playing the role of Madam Hooch throughout the Harry Potter series. She makes her first, and only, appearance during the 2001 blockbuster the Sorcerer’s Stone but fails to appear in any more movies going forward.

In the books, Hooch is admittedly not a character at the forefront of the action. But Wannamaker’s character deserved more than just one outing. In the core material, she strips Harry, Fred, and George Weasley of their broomsticks following an altercation with Draco Malfoy after a Quidditch game. Quidditch’s own role was reduced as the movies went on but that scene, at the very least, should have made the cut.

9 Viktor Krum

Viktor Krum was on the fringes of the action during the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, despite being one of the contestants of the Triwizard Tournament. The star of the Bulgaria Quidditch team is overlooked throughout the blockbuster, with scenes showing him catching the golden snitch and interacting with Hermione Granger both failing to make it into the movie.

Krum was also underused as the series went on. A scene showing him talking with Harry Potter during Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley’s wedding was scrapped from the final cut of Deathly Hallows - Part 1, meaning the character’s involvement in the franchise was limited to just one film. Which, given how his relationship with Hermione impacts her later one with Ron Weasley, was an unforgivable decision.

8 Sybill Trelawney

There was certainly weird characters within Harry Potter’s world who gathered an appreciation among fans. Divination teacher Sybill Trelawney was one of those, with Emma Thompson’s portrayal of the crazy, divisive lady going down well with those who were eager to see her weird ways played out on the big screen.

RELATED: Harry Potter: The Best Teacher From Every Movie

Trelawney features in both the Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix movies but, despite that, fans wanted more. There was never any mention of her fierce relationship with the centaur Firenze, who succeeds her as Divination teacher once Dolores Umbridge gave Trelawney her marching orders, nor that she was behind the so-important prophecy. Plus, we never saw footage of her throwing crystal balls at Death Eaters during the Battle of Hogwarts. A missed opportunity.

7 Cornelius Fudge

Cornelius Fudge is a fairly prominent character during the first five Harry Potter movies. But the moment he loses his job as Minister of Magic, he drops out of the franchise never to be seen again.

In fairness, even the books pay little attention to Fudge once it’s been revealed that he’s lost his job following Lord Voldemort’s return to power. Still, there were scenes he should have been involved: Namely the one showing him interacting with the Muggle Prime Minister. At the start of the Half-Blood Prince, we learn all about how the magical and non-magical worlds exist in a peaceful coalition. Such details are snubbed from the theatrical version of the story.

6 Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin is a great character. He’s one of the most popular members of the Order of the Phoenix, ensuring the Boy Who Lived always has a helping hand and being a key player in the fight against Lord Voldemort and his loyal Death Eaters. After being a significant character in the Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix, Lupin is marginalized.

RELATED: Harry Potter: The Biggest Twist From Every Movie, Ranked

Lupin has just a handful of scenes in the Half-Blood Prince and both Deathly Hallows movies. In the books, he becomes an even greater advisor to Harry, while also fathering a child with Nymphadora Tonks. Lupin even plots to turn his back on his wife but that detail is omitted as well, making one of Harry’s greatest allies one of the series’ most underused characters as a result.

5 Nymphadora Tonks

Like Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks is a big part of the books. Her relationship with the werewolf is a key talking point during the Half-Blood Prince novel, while her determination to bring a child into the world at such a chaotic point in time also gets plenty of page time.

In the movies, plenty of her relationship with Lupin is omitted and snubbed, never to be talked about. There’s a touching scene that shows her touching hands with her husband shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts but, because so many details of their relationship fail to make the final part of the entire franchise, it looks a bit thrown in. Like Lupin, she’s another character who deserved better.

4 Luna Lovegood

There’s one scene, in particular, that shows how Luna Lovegood is underused throughout the Harry Potter series. During the Battle of Hogwarts, she helps Harry gain access to the Ravenclaw Tower in search of Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost diadem.

Luna finds her screen time for both the Half-Blood Prince and both Deathly Hallows movies cut significantly as Warner Brothers try to cram in as much as possible. But the scene of her showing her remarkable intelligence to gain entry to her common room should have made the cut of Deathly Hallows - Part 2. The last movie spends much time focusing on Harry but forgets to pay tribute to those who helped along the way. Luna is a victim of that.

3 Kreacher

Kreacher’s role in the movies is significantly reduced as well, despite his importance to the story during the books. It’s the house-elf who feeds Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger useful tidbits of information as they aim to take Salazar Slytherin’s locket from Dolores Umbridge and, in the books, he also joins the Order of the Phoenix in their fight against Voldemort.

RELATED: Harry Potter: 10 Best Members Of The Order Of The Phoenix

JK Rowling herself insisted that Kreacher be included in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie but he barely features after that. As a result, the movies skim over the details of his intimate relationship with Regulus Black - one of the biggest revelations from the Deathly Hallows novel.

2 Kingsley Shacklebolt

Kingsley Shacklebolt is introduced to audiences in both the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book and blockbuster. He’s a tough, imposing Auror with a light sense of humor but many details of his character are overlooked following his arrival into the franchise.

For example, there’s never any mention of the fact that, for a time, Kingsley worked alongside the Muggle Prime Minister in order to keep him safe from any assassination attempts. He admittedly returns for the Battle of Hogwarts but there’s no scene of him fighting Lord Voldemort in a duel - despite it being included in the source material. Throw in the fact that his appointment as Minister for Magic was overlooked completely and we can’t help but feel the whole character was somewhat underused.

1 Voldemort

OK, so Voldemort fans can’t complain too much. He is, after all, a central figure in the books and movies. However, he still becomes somewhat underused by the time his character dies at the end of Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

The Half-Blood Prince movie, for example, sheds little light on his crucial upbringing, with characters such as Marvolo, Morphin and Merope Gaunt all failing to get even a mention. We also see little into Voldemort’s mind as the story progresses, despite Harry often tapping into his enemy’s head to see what he’s up to and what he plans to do next. Voldemort was a regular in the series but, for a character so big, Warner Brothers should really have given audiences more.

NEXT: Harry Potter: 6 Best Death Eaters (& 4 Worst)

source https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-characters-forgotten-movies-progressed/

[bjorrnstark]

A different kind of soulmate AU.

[Inspired by Through His Eyes by Felicitate on Wattpad]

It is a rainy Tuesday evening when she first sees it. She is eight years old and she sees a glimpse of a pale small hand holding a tiny golden ball, which seems to be fluttering quickly with some sort of wings.

She is excited but does not tell her family. There were a long line of seers in her family, people who were able to see glimpses of their soulmate’s life, through their soulmate’s eyes. Her family would question the life out of her, and she did not know enough about him yet. No, she would wait before she told her family.                                                       ~~~~~~~~ She is eleven and between the three years she has only seen two more glimpses into his life. A chocolate frog that jumps. A flashy new broomstick. She has not questioned what it means, not since she received her letter a few weeks ago. She understands now that he must have come from a different world. One that she now understands through reading various literary works. Anyway, she is not displeased. She had always imagined she’d had magic running in her veins ever since her parents had told her what her family members were able to do. 

                                                       ~~~~~~~~ 

It is first year and she is wondering if he is in the same school as her. If he is breathing the same air as her. If his eyes have seen her.

Months later, she is on a high. At home, during the holidays, she is still gleeful for winning her house 50 points. Still proud of what her and friends had accomplished. Suddenly, she sees a vision. He is flying, she feels the wind in his hair, hears the shouts and hollers of others trying to catch him, sees the trees below and the bright blue skies ahead. He is chasing the clouds, and for once she doesn’t mind flying. 

                                                        ~~~~~~~~ 

It is second year and she wonders briefly if he is Ron or Harry. She decides that it is not Harry. That he would have never been flying before had even gotten his letter.

In the whole mess of trying to find the heir of slytherin, and trying to protect her friends, she had totally forgotten about him. Until she sees a lake behind a piece of glass. A crack of light that shines through the deep waters. A beautiful sight, in a place that is rather dark. She thinks it. He thinks it too. Abruptly, the scene is gone.

Later, she thinks it’s Ron. He, who must have seen a snitch when Charlie was seeker. He, who must have felt the rush of the wind flying with his brothers. He, who must have at least once gotten a chocolate frog from a Wizarding family member or friend. He, who must have seen the lake when polyjuiced as Crabbe and Goyle with Harry.

Even later, she reasoned that it could have been any wizard really. From any continent, who went to any Wizarding school. Still, an inner part of her wished it was Ron. 

                                                        ~~~~~~~~ Third year never gave her much. She was too busy anyway. Between figuring out the whole Sirius Black mess, a whole load of classes and trying to keep Harry safe, as always, she never gave her soulmate much thought. However, unconsciously her thoughts continued to linger on him. Ever since her vision of a slight bruise on his arm she wondered what he’d done.

She attempted to search Ron’s arm casually to find a scratch, a bruise, a something. She was unsuccessful, as he opted to wear sweaters or his school robes.

During the summer she hoped to see more of him, of his life. She dreamt of meeting him. The school years managed to keep her mind off him, yet the summers provided enough time, loneliness and longing to keep her thinking of him. She prayed fourth year would give her more. 

                                                       ~~~~~~~~ She regarded the pitch with fantastic boredom. The Irish and Bulgarian players doing nothing much to appease her. She hoped it would be over soon, that someone would catch the snitch and everything be over with. Soon enough it was.

She was out with Harry and Ron when the mayhem ensued. She felt the horror when looking at the muggle family being paraded around. She felt bile rise when regarding the woman with her undergarments for the world to see. Malfoy’s warning felt rather personal to her. The boys were angered at his words, but she felt the seriousness of them, the warning to leave or else. She was with Harry and Ron when she first saw the mark in the sky. The next minute she saw it through his eyes. The mutual feeling of discomfort had her feeling satisfied, a sense of hope that who she was destined to be with was not evil.

During the school year, she became accustomed to Viktor Krum. A quiet boy, who had more to offer than just athletic prowess. With time, she began to appreciate his finer qualities. His kindness, his disregard for attention, his passion. Despite being a Durmstrang student, a school that teaches dark arts, he was good and she admired him.

She saw more visions that year. Herself at the yule ball, and the feeling of something blooming at the pit of his stomach. Again herself, from wrapped in a towel after the second task and a sense of relief. Once again, a glimpse of herself seating during breakfast. She sees a fleeting image of several seated students who were wearing yellow and blue.

She prays it is Viktor. Reasons that he a world class quidditch player. He is a seeker. He would fly, he would see the snitch often, he could injure himself easily. Viktor took her to the yule ball, made his interest in her obvious. They sat with the Slytherins. She never knew what durmstrang was like, it could have potentially had an underwater class. The signs were adding up. She had found her soulmate, and she would let things play out. 

                                                      ~~~~~~~~ It is fifth year and she is wrong. She sees herself through his eyes and immediately knows that it is not Viktor Krum, but someone else.she sees neat writing on parchment, a quill broken in half in frustration, and a tear on a white pillowcase. She feels a lasting impending doom. At last, she sees a green and silver tie. 

                                                       ~~~~~~~

 In the dark times of year six she tries to seek him out, the only ray of hope. Her eyes glaze over each slytherin face, trying to decipher who he is. Her gaze lingers on Theo Nott. Blaise Zabini. Those rather partial towards the war. Those who hadn’t yet picked a side. Her eyes never roamed those she knew she would be pitted against. Those who hated her presence, her very essence of life. She didn’t have time to search for her soulmate in Crabbe. In Goyle. In Malfoy. 

                                                       ~~~~~~~

She is in bed, hoping to let slumber overcome her in these stressful days. Instead she is met with a vision. A pale forearm outstretched, and an inky image of a snake slithering out of the mouth of an open skull. Hey eyes snap back to reality. She cries through the night. It has ended before it had even begun. 

                                                        ~~~~~~~~

 It is seventh year and she has decided to put him off her mind. She has bigger problems now, finding the horcruxes, helping Harry. She refuses to think of him, of how the one made for her was out to kill her. On dreary nights alone, after Harry had long gone to bed she would only allow one tear slip beneath the defences of her damp eyelids. For a long time, she sees no more glimpses of his life, and she is glad for it. Until one day, she is lying on the floor withering in pain, having curses thrown are at repeatedly by an insane witch. Through the agony, her screams and tears she gets another vision. She sees herself screeching on the floor, her busy hair even wilder, hands clutching at her side. She feels his sorrow, his anguish, his own suffering at seeing her like this. Feels him being at a crossroad, his wish to help her but his need to protect his family. The connection is lost as she is hit with another spell. Before she slips into the darkness, her eyes make contact with her soulmate. Draco Malfoy. 

                                                        ~~~~~~~~

Twenty five years have passed, but she still visions of his life. She catches glimpses of his trial, his wedding, his son and daughters. His workplace. His friends. His wife. She is washing dishes when she gets another vision of his life. She sees a blur of white blond hair flying, and a girl wearing baby blue jump into his arms. As his eyes roam she views a tiny toddler sitting on an older child’s lap, drinking something from a bottle that he’s feeding her. Then she sees a woman's backside. A woman with curly, dark hair. The child in his arms is set on the floor, and the vision is as good as gone. An instant later she feels hands slide over her protruding stomach. She is turned around to come face to face with her husband. She takes in his pale grey eyes, and silky white blonde hair. His hands lovingly skim her belly. She tilts her head back, and her unspoken question is answered with a kiss. Her kids protest, and squirm in disgust. She smiles against his lips. She wonders briefly if her children will experience the roller-coaster of finding their soulmate. She hopes they do, it's a ride that's worth it.

[potions-and-potters]

Could you do a fic with the theme that they're set up on a blind date and one is a hopeless romantic and the other is a cold hearted sex fiend?

Thanks for the prompt! I never thought about a blind date situation before, and it was rather interesting. I hope what I’ve written is satisfactory. It’s got a little bit of everything, and of course, some smut. Here is the link! If you’re on AO3, then please send me your username so I can gift it to you! 

Sorry for the wait!

For those of you who wish to read it on here:

Title: Fuck-N-Run

Summary: “Dates are simply the social etiquette required to be displayed before two people can bed each other without causing a scandal"

Category: M/M

Rating: Explicit

Words: 17,909

Relationship: Harry Potter/Severus Snape

Note: I didn’t mean for this fic to be more than a few thousand words, but I’m rubbish at keeping things short.

There are some visuals in the notes at the bottom. I don’t own the images I’m linking to; I just used them as inspiration.

I actually finished this a few days ago but held off posting until today, the ninth of January, for dramatic effect in honour of one Severus Snape’s birthday. I think he’d appreciate the gesture. So, Enjoy the fic, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEVERUS SNAPE!

Also, this hasn’t really been edited, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Fic:

Theambush came on a chilly Thursday evening.

TheWeasley house was quiet except for a soft love song playing lowly on the radio.The man’s tenor voice drifted throughout the living room as the fire crackledlightly. Warm candle light bled into the room from the kitchen, where the scentof freshly baked pumpkin scones wafted out.

If onestrained an ear, it was possible to hear the low murmur of voices from outside,and the odd creak of a floorboard from upstairs. Most everyone was in thegarden, watching stars and talking about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.Ron’s voice was particularly lacking in the chorus of support every time theBulgarian National Quidditch team was mentioned. Of course, he would say it hadnothing to do with Viktor Krum, and everything to do with his now unwaveringsupport of the Holyhead Harpies, and his pride in his little sister’s positionon the team. 

It wasin this moment, lulled into a false sense of safety and relaxation, as HarryPotter sat by himself on the worn couch with a Butterbeer in hand, that he wasambushed.

“It’s one date, Harry!” Ginny exclaimed inexasperation, looking down at Harry as her fiery red hair fell across her eyes.Beside her, Hermione nodded. She stood with her wand in hand, ready to hexHarry if he tried to make a break for it – again.

“Idon’t want to go on a date!” Harry replied with his nose wrinkled in distaste.“And definitely not a blind one!”

“It’llbe good for you, Harry,” Hermione said, looking far too much like she wanted tohelp him.

Harrydidn’t need help.

Sure,he hadn’t gone on a date for a while, but he wasn’t looking to date. He wasperfectly content with his adventurous club loo hook ups, and odd tumbles inbroom closets at various events (most of which were thrown in his honor anyway,so why shouldn’t he have a little fun at them, anyway?). Did these tales makeit onto the front page of the Daily Prophet? Yes, usually more often than not.However, Harry had been dealing with lies concerning himself being published inthat rag since he was eleven, so he really didn’t care if a one night standdeclared they made passionate love in the Three Broom Sticks’ store room. Itwas far better than watching another relationship blow up in the public eye,and having to pass by every witch and wizard holding a copy with his failedlove life on the cover.

Atleast that’s what Harry told himself, anyway.

“You’restarting to get a reputation,”Hermione said in a scandalized tone.

“Great,what are they saying about me now?” Harry asked, taking a sip of his butterbeer.“Have I turned dark, and decided that Voldemort had the right idea this wholetime?” he joked bitterly into his cup.

“No,”Hermione replied, clearly annoyed at Harry’s dismissal and zero-fucks attitude.

“There’sa rumor that you’ll have sex with anyone that compliments your eyes,” Ginnytold him, a touch of amusement in her voice.

Harryhad to snort at that. One girl had gushed over his eyes, calling them shiningemeralds, and just because he’d buggered her and she’d run to the Prophet withit the next day, everyone thought that was all it took? He’d fully intended tosleep with the blonde beauty when he’d saw her drooling over him across thedance floor at a particularly dull dinner (yes, in his honor). The complimenthad nothing to do with it.

“I’lladmit it’s annoying, but so what?” Harry said with a shrug. “Nobody can believeeverything they write is true. They manage to contradict themselves on theirown made up stories three times in a week!” Harry laughed. He took a sip of hisdrink, and made a humming noise when he remembered, “it happened just lastweek!”

Ginnycrossed her arms, unimpressed and not backing down. Harry sighed.

“Look,I know you’re just trying to be nice, but I’m fine!” he said, looking betweenthe two of them.

“You’reworkaholic auror with a playboy reputation that’s locked up his heart becauseyou’re too afraid that someone might break it,” Hermione snapped.

“Sothat’s what this is about!” Harry exclaimed, latching onto the first part ofthe sentence. “You think I spend too much time at work!”

“Don’tchange the subject,” Ginny told him firmly.

“I likebeing an auror,” Harry said, ignoring her, and feeling his defenses go up. “I’mgood at it, and it helps people! Just because I work a little more than some ofthe others-“

“Webarely see you at all!” Hermione interjected, arms thrown up into the air.

“-doesn’t mean I’m a workaholic, and even if it did that’s not necessarily a badthing. I have to keep up-to-date on all the dark arts, and the intelligence wereceive, and figure out counters and cures and preventative measures. I’ve gotan important job, and it doesn’t end just because I’m no longer in my aurorrobes!” Harry explained. “You should know, Hermione, your husband’s an auror,too!” he added.

“Roncomes home and leaves work at work,” Hermione answered with a flash of anger.

“Wellgood for him then,” Harry said, voice rising, “I can’t do that. I won’t dothat. I made a vow when I became an auror, and to myself, that I’d be the bestauror there was, and I can’t do that if I’m not constantly improving andlearning!”

“Youalready are the best auror!” Hermione yelled.

Therewas a moment of silence before Ginny came to sit next to him. Harry tried notto bristle further, or pull away as she took his hands gently in her own. He turnedhis eyes to meet hers when it became apparent that she was waiting for him todo so.

“Youhave such a big capacity to love, and you deserve to have someone to share thatwith,” she said sincerely, eyes searching his own. “But if you shut your heartaway before you give it a chance, and don’t try,then you’ll never find that person,” she said softly.

Harryglanced to Hermione, back to standing in the same position she had been, whoseeyes were equal parts plea and worry. He looked back to Ginny and saw a similarlook there too, and knew he was beat. With a sigh he looked into hisbutterbeer, accepting his fate.

“Fine,I’ll go on the bloody date,” Harry mumbled in defeat.

“Great,”Ginny smiled, triumphant. She popped up off the couch with a renewed sense ofenergy, and a sparkle in her eyes.

“Thisis just a date, though. I’m not going to fall in love with the first person youset me up with,” Harry made sure to point out.

“Youmean you’ll let us set you up on more?” Ginny asked, twirling around with awolfish grin.

“Ifthis one goes all right,” Harry said slowly. It couldn’t hurt, having a steadyflow of potential hook ups, at least.

“Exactly,”Hermione said. “That’s what we were trying to tell you. There’s no harm done ifit doesn’t turn out. Think of it like a practice date!” she smiled.

Sure,Harry thought, draining his butterbeer. A practice date.

Severusdowned the glass of scotch in one mouthful, the familiar burning warmth rushingdown his throat. He had long since stopped taking tea when he met with Albus,and it seemed to stave off the offer of lemon drops or other such sugary things.

“Do sitdown, my boy,” Albus said as he himself sat at his large wooden desk in hisoffice.

Severussent him a withering look at the name. He was forty-three for fucks sake. DidAlbus have to call him a boy? He’d survived two wars (shockingly), and taughtfor twenty-two years. He was not a boy.

Nevertheless,he sat down in the chair opposite, swinging his black robes across his lap ashe did.

“Ifyou’ve summoned me here to try to push some dull, misguided girl looking for ahero to worship, then I will have to, once again, decline your generous offerto set me up on some foolish quest for love,” Severus said in a disgusted tone.

Albussmiled at him.

“I onlywant you to be happy, Severus,” he said after a moment.

Severus’seyes narrowed. His happiness had never been anything Albus had been concernedwith before, and it was a childish dream that Severus himself had given upachieving long ago. Why the old man cared now made no sense. Furthermore, whyAblus thought the only way he would be happy was if he fell helplessly in lovewith someone (which was a laugh right there), was beyond him.

Albus,however, was determined.  Week afterweek, for years now, he had called him into his office, offered him tea,biscuits, and sweets, and tried to convince him to go on, of all things, a blinddate. No matter how many times Severus refused, Albus would be inviting himback the next week.

Henever said whom these dates would be with, but Severus could guess. There wereplenty of pathetic, idiotic, girls all over Britain who were picking up DailyProphets and seeing him within the pages. The things they were saying. Severus had to repress a shudder at thememory of one headline last month that he’d seen while shopping for potion’singredients in Diagon Alley. In the very same trip, he’d been stopped at leastfive times by starry-eyed witches trying to shower him with their affections.One of them tried giving him flowers. It was all getting out of hand.

He’dbeen threatened with Witch Weekly’s “Most Eligible Wizard” for the third year in a row.

Evenhis students were starting to swoonduring classes. He had enough trouble trying to make sure they didn’t blowthemselves up before all of this nonsense. The last thing he needed was sillylittle girls trying to slip him – him! – a love potion. As if he wouldn’t beable to tell.

Hetaught them how to make the bloody stuff.

Severusdebated getting up and filling his glass with another two fingers of scotch.He’d been drinking quite a bit lately. It was no wonder why.

“Whydon’t you just give it a try?” Albus asked. “It might not be as bad as youthink. In fact, it might surprise you.”

Severusrather doubted that.

“I’dlike to think I’ve gotten to know you quite well over these many years,”Severus wondered how many years it had to be until he was no longer considereda boy, “and am rather certain thatthe individual in question is sure to be a wonderful match,” Albus continued onin explanation. “Humour me, my boy.”

Severusglared, and then thought about the offer.

Perhaps,if he went on one disastrous date, Albus would see that it was a lost cause andgive up. Severus supposed he could suffer through one evening if it meantgetting Albus off his back for good. Besides, there was a high possibility thatthis girl, like many others he’d encountered recently (students included,unfortunately) would be all too willing to throw herself at him and it had beenquite some time since he’d had the opportunity to get laid.

Houseresponsibilities had never taken up so much time in the past, even when HarryPotter had been in the castle. Evidently, there was no limit to the recklessthings students would do, and dangerous situations they would purposefully getthemselves into, simply because they knew he would have to “come to theirrescue,” as one swooning fifth year had claimed.

A goodfuck might at least relieve some stress.

“Fine,”Severus sighed, causing a concerning twinkle to gleam in Albus’s eye.

Severussat at a round, white-clothed table with a burning red candle in a small ornatecandle holder in the center. A wine glass and a leather-bound menu marked hisdate’s would be seat. The seats were hard, but the wood was crafted with greatdetail. The room was moderately well lit, considering most restaurants that aimfor that romantic atmosphere usually were anything but.

There wasa piano on a small platform by a roaring fire that had been charmed to play acalm, sweet melody. The tables around his own were placed far enough away togive just the right amount of privacy to prove it an intimate occasion. A clearmessage of intent: anybody in this restaurant was on a date.

Thewaiters, surprisingly, wore suits but no formal robes. It was a trend amonghigh-class restaurants that was fast gaining ground in the wizarding world.This establishment was no exception, which one would expect considering itlooked to be somewhere that a glass of their cheapest wine would cost theaverage man a month’s wages.

Luckily,Albus was paying.

Whichwas why, as he waited for his date (who was late) he had ordered a glass ofridiculously expensive wine just to spite the old man. Severus took a sip ofit, not caring how petty it was. He had plans to make the old man pay furtherfor this, anyway.

Thiswas not the place one brought somebody on a blind date. This was the type ofplace one brought somebody to propose.Severus just hopped the woman he was being set up with at least had enoughbrains to realize that would most certainly not be happening tonight. Or ever.

Hefound himself wondering about this woman. Who she might be. Had he met heralready? How old she was. If it was a former student, he was leaving. What shelooked like. He did, after all, only agree to this because he was itching for afuck. What was her personality like. Good company was hard to find, and theaverage person tended to lack enough intelligence to keep his attention for morethan ten minutes.

Severus’sthoughts came to an abrupt halt when he caught sight of Harry Potter walking infrom the chilly February weather outside.

Hewatched as the Boy Who Lived Twice rubbed his hands together in an effort towarm them. He paid no attention to the excited waiters or the whispering dinersas he asked the same waiter who seated Severus a question.

Harry,as Severus had started calling him a couple years ago due to the boy’sinsistence, was looking particularly fetching tonight. Not that he didn’t lookgood every day, because he did. Since fifth year, if Severus admitted it tohimself, Harry had suddenly turned into quite a beautiful man. Quidditch andauror training were much to thank for Harry’s physic, which was muscled, toned,and deliciously evident even under robes.

Severushadn’t seen Harry in several months, since last August, actually. It seemed theyoung auror had grown his hair out enough for it to be able to be brushed backin a thick wave, parted on the left of his head with notably shorter sides. Itsuited him perfectly, making his untamable black hair look purposefully ruffledin a suggestive manner that Severus was sure witches everywhere appreciatedjust as much as he did. The new haircut showed off his scar, which Severus wasmildly surprised at, considering Harry himself had once admitted he usuallytried to hide it.

As hewalked past the waiting area, Harry removed his coat to reveal a dark blue,almost black, jacket, which fit him wonderfully, a deep royal blue polo shirtthat hung off him in a way that told anyone who looked that there was mostdefinitely flat, defined abdominals and taught pecs beneath it, and trousersthat matched the jacket and fit snugly in all the right places, accentuating hisslim hips.

WhomeverHarry was meeting was in for an envious treat.

Severuswatched with interest as Harry walked his way, and glanced around discreetly tosee if he could make the lucky individual who had scored a date with HarryPotter. It must have be someone rich and important. Someone who won one ofthose auction dates that Harry participated in for charity. Severus rememberedwhen funds to rebuild the school had been low and Harry had agreed to auctionhimself off for a date to the highest bidder. They had received a staggeringamount of money from a middle-aged witch in Bulgaria.

Hewondered which charity this would be going to, as it most definitely had to befor such an occasion. Harry Potter did not date. At least, that was what theevidence pointed to, anyway. While Severus was under the impression Harry andthe youngest Weasley were in inseparable love, the two had split apart onlythree months after her graduation from Hogwarts. For two years, Harry’sfascinating love life had graced the pages of various gossip magazines heconfiscated during classes. Each relationship ending more disastrously than thelast.

Thatall came to a sudden halt when Harry had, apparently, discovered one nightstands and dirty nightclubs. The Boy Who Lived Twice had gotten the taste forthe playboy lifestyle, and it seemed he was not going to be giving it upanytime soon. Harry never commented on the scandalous sex tales that came outabout him, nor the fact he did not seem to discriminate when it came to the genderof his conquest.

Severussuddenly went stiff as the sneaking suspicion that Harry was heading to himprickled across his skin. Harry must have spotted him, and was probably comingover under the pretenses of a quick ‘hello’ in order to find out why he of allpeople was in a place as sickeningly romantic as this. Severus hopped whomeverhe was meeting was delayed several more minutes. He didn’t think his pridecould take it otherwise. Even if he was able to slip in the fact that he wasdoing this for Albus, or rather to get Albus to leave him alone.

“Er,hi?” Harry said, eloquent as ever, as he stood in front of the tableuncomfortably. His eyes shifted around, and he was visibly nervous. A bitconfused. Slightly embarrassed by the faint blush colouring his cheeks. Hewasn’t saying anything else, and he wasn’t moving away, or even making anyindication that he intended to go anywhere else. His hand came to rest on thechair in front of him, fingers curling around it as if he planned to-

Severusfelt his eyes widen in horror as the realization dawned on him.

“No.”

Harrywas running late, of course.

Itwasn’t actually his fault though. Ginny and Hermione were arguing about whatshoes he should wear, and it made Harry regret agreeing to them coming overbefore the date.

Harryactually had developed a rather good sense of fashion, good enough to be voted“Best Dressed Wizard” once again this year. He was already dressed, andactually early, when he was fire-called by Ginny. Hermione was with her, andthey requested to come through in order to make sure he was appropriatelydressed. Harry wondered if they thought he would show up to a date in the samekinds of clothes he went clubbing in. He’d agreed to let them floo over simplyto prove a point.

It washis own fault that they’d stayed. He’d asked for help choosing which watch towear, and it had escalated quickly from there. They had gone through all hiscuff links (they’d settled on the matching snitches), his belts (they’d gonewith a skinny black leather one), his necklaces (they chose a simple silverchain), his bracelets (Ginny had decided his silver watch was enough, eventhough Hermione quite liked a wide leather band), his rings (all were decidedagainst), his scarfs (which he had managed to convince Hermione he did not needdespite the cold weather outside), and just when Harry had thought he could getrid of them and still be on time, he had made the mistake of wondering aloudwhich pair of shoes to put on.

Hermionethought the pair of black Chelsea boots was both practical for the time ofyear, and appropriate for the date setting. Ginny disagreed, thinking that apair of lace-up leather ankle boots in a dark navy color to match his jacketand a touch of a heel to give him some added height, were the way to go. Thetwo witches argued over the shoes for a solid fifteen minutes as Harry took thetime to add additional finishing touches in the bathroom. He added some moreaftershave, and several spritzes of an overly expensive cologne he’d beengifted with. He checked his reflection in the mirror, cleaned off his roundrimmed glasses, and reapplied some lip balm to combat the dry winter weatherthat seemed to chap his lips at the mere thought of it.

When hechecked his watch and saw that he would be at least five minutes late if heleft right then, he decided enoughwas enough.

“Allright, all right,” he said as he came out of his on-suit, “that’s enough.”  Ginny and Hermione were glaring at eachother, wands in hand. Harry rolled his eyes at them, and glanced between thetwo choices he had. He sat himself on the bed, and reached for the ankle boots.“I like these ones,” he said, and ignored both Ginny’s triumphant smile andHermione’s frustrated little noise of disapproval.

“Haveyou got your wallet?” Ginny asked as Harry laced his boots up.

“In mypocket,” Harry replied.

“Wand?”

Harrydidn’t dignify that with a response.

“Don’tforget your coat,” Hermione said when he stood.

“Hermione,I’ve not even left my bedroom yet,” Harry said, giving her a chastising lookfor her mothering. Hermione didn’t bother to look affronted.

“I’vereally got to go, so will you two,” Harry looked at them both, and then to thefloo, “you know,” he said, gesturing with a shoo motion, “leave already?” heasked.

Both ofthem looked reluctant at the idea. Harry was relieved, however, that once hewalked out the room, they did follow. He looked back as he grabbed his coatfrom the coat rack by the front door of his apartment. They both stoodawkwardly watching him.

“Bye?”he tried, eyebrow raised as he popped his coat collar.

“Do youremember the address?” Ginny asked. “For the restaurant?”

“Yes,”Harry answered.

“Whatabout how to get here? Do you need the directions again?” Hermione asked.

“Iremember,” Harry drawled, seeing where this was going.

“Justremember that it’s not some person you’re picking up at a bar,” Ginny said asHarry walked towards them to usher them to the floo. “You’ve got to be a littlemore tactile, a little more classy,” she continued even as she started walking.

“Bepolite,” Hermione added, as if Harry were a child, “and make sure you speakabout appropriate topics for a date.” She turned to give him a threateninglook. “No talk of work, or quidditch, or politics,” she warned.

Harrywondered what she expected him to talk about if she was black listing the onlytopics he knew about.

“Andkeep the conversation light,” Ginny added.

“Silenceisn’t a bad thing,” Hermione pointed out.

“Butnot too much, don’t let it get awkward.”

“And besure to ask questions about the person, but don’t shy away from answering thoseabout yourself.”

“Anddon’t close off if they do ask about you.”

“Or getdefensive.”

“Butdon’t ask too many questions, either. This is a date, not an interrogation.”

“Speakingof interrogations, did we mention not to bring up work? Don’t bring up work.”

“Yes.Okay. All right. All right,” Harry laughed, literally pushing them into thefloo.

Hermionetwisted back, eyes locking onto Harry’s and a soft smile coming to her face.Her hand cupped Harry’s cheek as she said, “Oh, and, Harry, don’t forget to beyourself.”

Withthat the floo whisked them away, concerned, nervous, hopeful looks and all.

Harrysighed as he was left alone, and nodded to himself.

It washigh time he got going. He grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into thefloo, and clearly intoned the destination.

Harrymanaged to stumble only slightly out of the floo when he arrived, one blockaway from the restaurant. The cold February weather hit him straight away,stealing his breath with a sharp wind and light snow flurries. Harry shoved hishands in his coat pockets and started walking.

Thestreets were moderately busy, but luckily with the snowy weather, nobody waspaying much attention to who was out. Harry was able to get to the restaurantwithout being stopped once for an autograph.

When hearrived, he eyed the outside with suspicion. It was a rustic brick buildingwith sleek black doors and a simple sign with the restaurant’s name written inelegant script. Hermione and Ginny had said it was a more upper-class place,but this was nothing like he’d imagined.

As thewind whipped through his coat, Harry shivered and headed towards the door.

Hepushed through the door and was hit with welcome warmth. There was the softsound of conversations that blended together to create a calm atmosphere, and asweet melody played on a piano from somewhere in the room. The restaurantseemed to glow with warm candle light, giving off a sense of peaceful intimacy.

Thiswas not at all what Harry had been expecting.

Thiswas downright romantic.

Harrynoted with annoyance that a part of him fluttered with warmth at it all. Hesquashed down those feelings, unwilling to allow his traitorous hopeless romanticcharacteristics to come bursting through the wall he’d constructed around hisheart.

As hetried to rub some warmth back into his hands, Harry approached a man in astrictly formal suit behind a black podium.

“Hello,I’m supposed to be meeting someone here? I’m a bit late, so they’ve probablyalready arrived. Name should be under ‘Fawkes’ for a table of two?” Harry saidto the unfazed man.

Harrywasn’t too surprised that in a place like this, the staff were more acquaintedto seeing recognizable witches and wizards walk in the door. He did note ayoung girl who was supposed to be showing an elderly couple to a table hadfroze upon seeing him, blinking rapidly with her mouth slightly agape. Hertraining must have kicked in, however, as she managed to get herself undercontrol and continued on with the customers she had. Harry was pleasantlysurprised.

Theother guests were not as polite, and as he turned to scan the restaurant, hewas recognized. The whispers started, and people were pausing in their meals,forks up to their mouths, as their eyes darted to him in shock. Several peopleturned around in their chairs to stare at him.

Harryignored them in favor of listening to the waiter’s directions to his table.

“Thanks,”he responded, giving the man a small smile. He started to take his coat off ashe walked, eyes scanning the restaurant.

Harryspotted the table towards the back of the restaurant. It was small and round, acrisp white tablecloth laid over top and a candle in the middle. Someone wassat at the table already, sitting in the seat Harry would most likely havechosen for himself if he had gotten there early enough, one that looked out tothe rest of the restaurant. A perfect place to keep an eye on things.

It waswith a jolt of shock that Harry recognized the man sitting at the table.

SeverusSnape sat eyeing him over a glass of red wine. It was the closest Harry everthought he would see the man get to Gryffindor colors. Severus looked the sameas he did when Harry had first met him, except his hair had grown to shoulderlength over the years, and had, to Harry’s amusement, gotten layers, addingvolume and a nice texture to it.

He waswearing his robes, of course. It left everything to the imagination becauseHarry couldn’t see a damn thing other than folds of black fabric hangingloosely around him. Harry felt naked in comparison.

Snapehad yet to take his eyes off him, and Harry figured, if the cautiouscalculating look in his dark eyes was anything to go by, Snape had yet to understandwhat was happening. If he did, he surely would be up and out the door. Thiswas, after all, a blind date for them both. Ginny and Hermione had told himthat in an attempt to assure Harry the other person was just as nervous as hewas.

WhenHarry made it to the table, he wasn’t sure what to do. Snape still hadn’t doneanything, and Harry took it to mean he was waiting for Harry to say somethingfirst. The man’s eyes narrowed at him as the silence stretched on.

“Er,hi?” Harry said lamely. He shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followedit, and when Snape still didn’t react, he decided to just sit down as they werebound to be being watched and he didn’t want to draw any more attention.

Itseemed, as he went to pull the chair out that Snape finally clocked on. Theolder wizard’s eyes widened in complete shock.

“No,”he said.

Harryblinked.

No?What did that mean? No, Harry couldn’t sit down? No, Harry wasn’t his date? No,Harry wasn’t actually there? No, what?

“Um,pardon me?” Harry asked, a little meekly as he did sit down.

“Thisis some ridiculous joke you and the headmaster have planned, and I want no partof it,” Snape stated angrily. Harry wondered if he’d get up and storm out. Itwas a dramatic enough exit that he’d do it, too.

“I wasunder the impression that this was a blind date set up by Hermione and Ginny,”Harry managed to explain rather calmly.

“Didyou know?” Snape asked, ignoring him. At Harry’s apparent confusion, heclarified, “Did you know you were meeting me?”

Thetone he asked it in told Harry to tread very carefully. It was a bit likefacing off with a snake, except this one Harry couldn’t just order about. Thisone was far more dangerous than a snake. For a moment, Harry wondered how Snapewould feel about that thought. Was it a compliment or an insult? Snape was aSlytherin, Head of Slytherin at that, and he did always seem to like having theability to intimidate others. Though, at the same time he had almost diedbecause of a snake and was sure to have many unpleasant memories that involvedsnakes. So, Harry wasn’t sure. He supposed it could be taken either way. Fromthe look on Snape’s face though, Harry also supposed he should answer the manbefore he ended up with fangs in hisneck.

“No,”he replied. Honesty was the best policy, right? “I was completely blind to whomy date would be, and I’m assuming that you were too?”

“Yes.”

Itdidn’t take a brilliant Legilimens to know that Snape was uncomfortable. Beforethe man could bolt, Harry tried to save the situation.

“Look,I know you probably aren’t too happy with this,” Snape raised a single eyebrowat this statement, “but it doesn’t mean the evening has to go to waste,” Harrytold him. He gestured to the nice table and the wine in Snape’s hand. “It’s allbeing paid for, right?” Snape nodded, going back to that cautious andcalculated look of his. “Then why don’t we just enjoy our evening as twofriends having dinner together?”

“Thisis hardly the place where two friends have dinner together,” Snape drawled, andHarry chose not to comment on the fact that the man had no instantly arguedagainst Harry calling them friends.

“Well,now it is,” Harry said instead.

“It isnot,” Snape challenged, and Harry wondered if it would actually kill Snape toagree with him for once. “We might as well just leave now and go home,” Snapesaid.

“Why?”Harry asked in confusion. Was spending one dinner with him so bad? Sure, it wasa rather intimate and romantic place, but that didn’t mean they had to treatthe evening like that. It didn’t have to be a date. Harry blinked. “It doesn’thave to be a date. Just stay for a little while.”

Snaperegarded him silently, and Harry found himself holding his breath as he waitedfor a reply.

“Fine,”Snape said. He brought his wine glass to his lips, and muttered, “It’d be ashame to waste the wine anyway,” before downing the rest of it.

“Great.”

Harrypicked up his menu and scanned through it. Just as he was reading about theirfavored lamb dish, he heard Snape scoff at him quietly. He glanced up inquestion.

“Isthere a problem?”

“We’reon a date,” Snape said as if that explained it all.

“We’renot on a date!” Harry replied quickly, voice going up an octave. Why did Snapecontinue to insist this was a date? Harry had said it didn’t have to be a date!Yet Snape kept saying it over and over. Harry frowned, his brow crinkling. Hecouldn’t read Snape’s face, but something flickered across it for a moment. Itmade Harry’s frown deepen before he had an idea. Unsure, Harry cleared histhroat, and voiced a light and cautious, “Unless you want it to be?”

Therewas a beat of silence, which was excruciatingly awkward and anxiety inducing,and then, right when Harry was about to surely die from embarrassment, Snapescoffed again. Harry felt himself prickle at it.

“What?” he asked the older man, feelingthat familiar flare of anger Harry had often felt around Snape during his yearsat Hogwarts.

“I donot date, Potter,” Snape replied.

“Ever?”Harry couldn’t help but ask in astonishment. He thought with all the attentionSnape was getting, men and women, he would have thought Snape would at least goout a couple times with someone who intrigued him. If he never went on dates,maybe Snape worried that he wouldn’t be any good on them and thought it was toolate to start? “If your nervous about your first-“ Harry started but Snape cuthim off with a sharp look and a sneer.

“I’vebeen on dates before,” he replied venomously, the ‘you idiot’ was left off butjust barely. Harry found him once again reminded of the snake analogy.

“Thenwhy did you say you-“

“Datesare simply the social etiquette required to be displayed before two people canbed each other without causing a scandal,” Snape interrupted him again. He eyedHarry before adding, “I’d have thought you of all people would be familiar withthe concept.”

“Idon’t take them on a date first,” Harry said in confusion, completely unable tothink about the fact he was talking about dating and one night stands withSnape.

Snaperaised an eyebrow at him. “My, my, and to think the Golden Boy can’t even bebothered to show a modicum of gentlemen behavior before he does a Fuck-N-Run,”Snape said in a cool voice full of amusement.

“Fuck-N-Run?!”Harry repeated in disbelief. He couldn’t believe they were talking about this.That he was talking about this with Snape. That Snape had just said ‘fuck’ andsaid it so casually. That Snape had just called a one-night stand a‘Fuck-N-Run’ of all things.

Snapeleaned in, black eyes hard.

“Keepyour voice down,” he hissed. 

Harryglanced around and saw several people were watching them in surprise. Hesupposed he did say that a bit loud. He was caught off guard, though. Hecouldn’t help it.

“Isthat what you do, then?” Harry batted back after composing himself a bit.

Raisingan eyebrow, Snape replied, “How is that any of your concern?”

“I’dlike to know if that’s what you plan to do to me,” Harry askedconversationally, giving as good as he got. He thought he saw a slight twitchof Snape’s lip at that, but he wasn’t sure. He watched, keeping still andstanding his ground as Snape’s eyes quickly ran over him.

“Isthat an offer?” Snape asked in a bored voice.

“Youdidn’t answer my question,” Harry pointed out.

BeforeSnape could reply, a waiter came for their order. Harry suddenly realized hehadn’t actually chosen yet, but remembered reading about the lamb before he andSnape started talking. He ordered the lamb and Snape ordered the duck, actingas though it were nothing out of the ordinary that they were on a not dateblind date, and that they hadn’t just had that conversation.

Notwanting a strained silence to fall between them for the rest of the night,Harry tried to get them back on track for thatevening-dinner-between-two-friends thing they had both agreed to. Or did they?He thought they did?

“Howare classes?” he asked as a waiter poured him some wine. He looked up from thenow full glass of wine to see Snape arching a brow at him yet again. He sighed.“This would be a lot easier if you’d just play along.”

“Theonly reason I play along on dates is because the payoff is usually somehalf-way decent sex,” the man replied. “As I’m not getting that, I don’t seewhy I should play along at all.”

“Wasthat what tonight was going to be to you no matter who sat down at this table?”Harry asked.

“Yes.”

Harrywas mildly surprised at the honesty. “Why not just get a girlfriend?” Harryasked, and snorted into his glass at the look of horror that came over Snape’sface at the suggestion. “Not a romantic I take it?”

“Whatabout me, Mister Potter, makes you think I’d be a romantic?” Snape asked,looking at Harry in a chiding way.

“It’dbe easier than having to woo your date every time you want to get laid,” Harryquipped back. “It’s Harry, by the way,” he added, not willing to ignore the useof his last name. They were on a date after all, Snape could at least use hisfirst name. Or rather, they weren’t on a date, but it was like a date, but not,but-

Thiswas getting confusing.

“Muchlike yourself, Harry, I’m more of theFuck-N-Run type as well,” Snape said. Snape’s eyes narrowed. “Now, will youanswer my question, or will you be avoiding that one as well?”

“Youseem to be forgetting those memories you gave me. I know exactly how romanticyou secretly are, Severus, and sodoes the rest of the world ever since your trial,” Harry said, enjoying thealmost slip of emotion on Snape’s face at the use of his given name. He’d notactually given Harry permission to use it, but Harry figured considering theirsetting, he would use it anyway. “I’m surprised you’ve not got people throwingthemselves at you for a shag. No polite society demanding date required,” hecontinued. “Now that you’re a hero and all that.”

“I’mnot a hero,” Snape said in disgust. “And unlike you I don’t fuck anybody whocompliments my eyes,” he replied with a toothy grin.

“Thatis not what happened!” Harry said in annoyance. He narrowed his eyes at Snapein realization. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the type to read gossipmagazines,” he said suspiciously.

“Confiscatedfrom a third year during class,” Snape replied easily. “You were the coverstory.”

“Noticedthat, did you? It seems it’s either you or me that makes it on there weekly.Mad that I took your spot, are you? Hoping to see yourself on there withanother riveting piece on your heroism and bad-boy attitude?” Harry askedinnocently.

“Don’tremind me,” Snape said, lip curling at the thought. “They’re pathetic. Don’tthey have anything better to publish?”

“Wesell best.”

“That’seven more disturbing.”

“You’llget used to it,” Harry said. At Snape’s look of disbelief, he smiled and shookhis head. “I mean eventually you’ll learn to stop caring. It’s hard sometimes,and there will be times that something gets to you, but you have to let it go.”

“Anddoes it get to you often?”

“No,but then again I’ve had years of practice,” Harry replied. “I’ve been dealingwith this since I’ve been eleven,” he shrugged. “There’s not much they can doanymore to get to me.”

“Idon’t like it,” Snape admitted with a frown.

“Neitherdo I,” Harry also admitted.

Whentheir food arrived, they ate in silence for a while before Harry broke it onceagain.

“So howare classes going?”

“Studentsseem to be more stupid than ever and they seem to think by nearly killingthemselves they’ll somehow endear themselves to me,” Snape replied.

“Thatsounds… less than ideal.”

“Thiswhole idealization of me is irritating,” Snape said. “It’s caused problem afterproblem, and now it’s endangering the lives of my students. I want it overwith.”

“Goodluck with that,” Harry laughed and they continued to eat in peace again.

Snapelooked uncomfortable for moment. Harry kept eating. He figured if Snape hadanything to say to him, he could be the first one to talk. Harry just enjoyed hislamb.

“How doyou do it?” Snape finally asked after a while. It sounded like it might havepained him a bit to have to ask, but he was looking at Harry a bit desperately.

“Pardon?”Harry asked in confusion.

“How doyou deal with it,” Snape asked again, gritting his teeth. “With,” he searchedfor the words, and Harry waited patiently, “with all of it,” he said. Hisshoulders slumped a bit, just a fraction really, but it spoke loads to anyonewho’d been around him long enough.

“I justignore it,” Harry said simply. He watched Snape for a while. He took in thedark eyes, the bags under them, the tension running across Snape’s body, theway everything, even his skin, seemed to say tired, and done, andguessed. “You’re stressed,” he stated. Snape laughed bitterly.

“Yourgenius astounds me,” the man drawled.

“No,”Harry shook his head, “you don’t get it. Your problem isn’t the attention. Yourproblem is dealing with the stress that attention causes.” Snape looked backblankly at him. Harry shifted in his seat, leaning closer. “You need a way torelieve the stress. In Hogwarts, I used Quidditch. Now I use my work.”

“Andwhen your work is the cause of your stress?”

“I letloose by going out.”

“Whichin turn causes more stress from the scandalous sex tales that come aboutthereafter.”

“No, Idon’t care about them. Sex is actually a really good stress reliever,” Harrysaid with a shrug. “Maybe you should try that.”

“Whatdo you think I was trying to do tonight?” Snape asked, eyebrow raised.

“Wow,you weren’t even going to try to give this a chance?” Harry laughed. “What ifI’d been some fantastic man or woman that you’d be great with? You wouldn’teven try?”

Thatreceive two raised eyebrows.

“Don’ttry to act like you’re any better,” Snape replied. “You’re just here to nodoubt get Granger and Weasley to leave you alone,” Snape said, and it wasannoying how he managed to actually get it right.

“They’reboth Weasley, actually,” Harry pointed out. “For the record, I would have gavethe person a chance, if I thought they were worth it.” Harry felt a flare ofanger at the look Snape gave him at that. “I would have! In fact, I’d havegiven you a chance if you’d asked for it!”

“Howtouching,” Snape replied.

“It’sno wonder you’ve not got a girlfriend,” Harry muttered.

“Everyoneseems rather insistent that I have one of those,” Snape said, “It’s ratherannoying.”

“Whynot give it a shot then?”

“I’veyet to meet anyone who interests me for more than a few minutes,” Snape saidhonestly, and Harry wondered if the wine was getting to him. He was on histhird glass. “Everyone is so boring.”

“Youseem not to be too bored with me this evening,” Harry said and he actuallydidn’t mean to say that so maybe he should stop drinking the wine as well? Hewas only on the one glass, so he wasn’t sure why he said that. Impulse controlwas never his strong suit, but that was a bit-

Snape’slaugh cut his train of thought right off. “Are you saying you’d like to beconsidered?” Snape asked. This conversation was heading in a vastly differentdirection than it had been intended to go.

“Asyour girlfriend?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“I’dhave thought ‘boyfriend’ would do, but if that’s what you’d want to be called…”he trailed off with a smirk. He swirled his wine in his glass, looking down atthe red waves. “But I must admit, the idea of you in a dress and stockings israther intriguing,” he added before drinking the wine.

Harrysputtered. Snape smirked further.

“Ithink you’ve had enough,” Harry said and made to take Snape’s glass away. Snapelet him take the empty thing from him, and sat back in his chair in amusement.

“I’mnot drunk,” he said.

“Sureyou’re not.”

“Ithought you were the one who wanted us to play pretend?”

“Oh, doyou get drunk on all your dates? Is that the secret to wooing them all? Getdrunk then take them back to your place for a Fuck-N-Run.”

“Idon’t take anyone back to my place,” Snape replied. “Doesn’t make it easy to dothe ‘run’ bit if they’re the one who needs to leave.”

Harrylaughed. “Right. Of course.” Harry looked at his plate and Snape’s, andconcluded that they had both finished. “Let’s get you home,” he said beforedrinking the last few mouthfuls of his wine.

Snapeseemed to sober shockingly fast.

“Youseem to be under the delusion that I’m both drunk and in need of yourassistance,” his former professor said. “I assure you I am neither.”

Harrysighed at the hostile tone of Snape’s voice. They’d been having a nice time,for a second there at least. Not the type of conversation he’d imagined everhaving with Snape, but nice all the same. The look in Snape’s eyes now,however, told Harry he was one wrong word away from causing a fight and hereally did not want to deal with that.

He wasalready on a date. A real date. In public. With Snape. In this type ofrestaurant. People had been watching them all night. There was bound to begossip about it tomorrow if not an article the day after that. The last thinghe needed was Snape causing a scene.

“Can wenot do this here?” he asked. “Let’s just go.”

Snapedidn’t say anything. He simply got up and started walking to the door.

Harrysighed, and followed. Did the man have to be so bloody dramatic abouteverything?

Severuslet the cold February air hit him as he was deposited outside of therestaurant, the click of the doors sounding softly behind him. It was stillsnowing, and the streets were emptying at the late hour. With a mumbled spell,his body heated and he carried on down the street.

In thefresh snowfall, his footprints were covered up easily. He focused on that, andthe crisp air instead of what had happened inside. He wasn’t ready to thinkabout it, to fully process what had just occurred. Not until he had a canter ofscotch and his comfortable dressing gown on.

Regardlessof these plans, and his needs, his mind thought about it anyway. He’d agreed togo on a blind date, and his date had turned out to be Harry Potter. Despitewhat Harry had tried to convince them both, what they had just sat through wasa date.

A gooddate at that.

Severushadn’t expected it, and he was thrown off by it all. He berated himself forallowing the night to continue past Harry’s greeting, and especially for the flirting that had started towards theend of it. What was he thinking? All he wanted to do now was to get home, butof course, Harry bloody Potter wouldn’t let that happen.

“Severus!”Harry called, running to catch up.

Severusclosed his eyes at Harry saying his name. That bloody Gryffindor and hisinsistence to break all rules, even social. He was foolish, reckless idiot whowas going to give Severus more trouble, or at the least a headache. Again,Severus found himself asking what he was thinking.

Harrycaught up and he turned to face him. As he slowed down from his run, he put thecoat he had clearly grabbed on his way out the door on, the movement causinghim to stretch slightly and his shirt to go taunt on one side, revealing thelovely sculpted body that was hinted at by the clothing. His cheeks wereslightly rosy with the wind and exertion of running in the opposite directionit was blowing. His hair was ruffled by it as well, and his eyes were shinninga vivid green.

Yes.Well. It seemed Severus had his answer. He was thinking that Harry Potter was alittle bit gorgeous, and it wasn’t so hard to see why anyone would losethemselves in a date with him.

“Why’dyou leave like that?” Harry asked.

“I’mgoing home,” Severus replied.

Harryopened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as a lightbulb went off in a flash.He blinked in rapid succession, and they both turned to see Rita Skeeter appearfrom nowhere with a quill and parchment in the air and a lackey by her sidewith the camera. She had a thin-lipped grin on her face, with a smudge of red lipstickon her front teeth, which spoke of headlines and nefarious plans.

“SeverusSnape and Harry Potter out and about, eh?” the cockroach asked with a gleam inher eye. “Whatever shall we think of it?” She looked between them both, and thecamera went off again.

“How’dyou know where to find us?” Harry asked, looking irritated and confused. Thecamera went off again, this time aimed at just him.

“I’vegot my sources,” Skeeter said in a tone that told them all that she wasn’tsaying anything else on the matter. “Word is that you two were just at thatlittle restaurant with the fancy food, intimate spaces, and romanticatmosphere,” she said, gleefully teasing.

“Nocomment,” Harry said.

Severusglanced at him, unsure how to feel about that or any of this. He’d managed toavoid anything like this so far.

“Lookslike your boyfriend here’s a bit hurt by that,” Skeeter said, the quill writingaway and the camera going off in Severus’s face. “Care to comment,” she said,question for either of them.

“We’renot together!” Harry sputtered.

“Justtwo heroes out on a romantic stroll through the glittering snow after anintimate dinner on valentine’s day?”

“It’snot valentine’s day!” Harry said incredulously.

Skeeterdidn’t reply. The quill, however, kept writing.

“Doesthis mean you’re done with your playboy days, Harry?” Skeeter asked after abeat.

“I’mnot-“

“Throwingaway the strings of girls, and boys, who you’ve left broken hearted aftersingle nights of fevered passion, all because you’ve found love with your DeathEater turned Hero, Order of Merlin First Class, former Professor SeverusSnape?” Skeeter said in one breath, cutting Harry off as the quill scratchedaway furiously, stopping on the last syllabus of Skeeter’s spun story.

“Youforgot renown Potions Master,” Harry muttered sarcastically. Skeeter’s eyesnarrowed and the quill seemed to look at Harry as well before it jotted thatdown too. Harry’s jaw locked, and his hands fisted his robes.

“Ithink it best for you to leave,” Severus said calmly.

Skeeterlooked at him in amusement.

“Leave?”she repeated as if the idea were ludicrous. “I’m just getting started.”

Withnarrowed eyes of his own, Severus simply replied, “I think not,” in a firm,quiet voice.

Skeeterlooked back at him without a drop of hesitation, and turned back to Harry. “Howdoes it feel being in love? Afraid it’ll end like your last relationship?Splashed out on the pages of every newspaper and magazine for everyone to seeyou were simply being used for their fifteen minutes of fame, never reallyloved, just used and manipulated as you’ve always been, nobody to truly carefor you, only ever wanted for your body and money, never truly wanted for-“

“That,”Severus said, stepping forward and lowering his voice in a threatening tone,“is quite enough.”

Skeeterpaused, and Severus kept his hard gaze on her even as she kept her eyes onHarry. The flash of a camera went off, and Severus snapped.

Hiswand was in his hand before Skeeter could blink. “Flipendo,” he said quietly,casting the jinx and following it up with, “Furnunculus,” as Skeeter fell tothe ground. The lackey froze, and Severus just raised an eyebrow at him. Theman disapparated on the spot. To Skeeter, Severus looked down and whispered,“if you come near either me or Mister Potter again, I’ll do a lot more thanthat.”

It wasthe tamest threat he’d made yet Skeeter whimpered.

Withnothing else to say, Severus continued walking down the street, leaving Harrystaring open mouthed at Skeeter on the ground, boils covering her face.

He hadalmost made it a good ten feet before Harry caught up with him again. The youngauror jogged up to his side, clearly trying to say something but unable to putit into words. Severus held back from commenting on his lack of eloquence, butjust barely.

“Thanks,”Harry said eventually.

“It tookyou that long to come up with that?” Severus asked, and damn he’d been doing sowell not commenting on Harry’s utterlack of control over the English language.

“I’dlike to say more, but it all really just leads back to that,” Harry said.

Severushadn’t stopped walking, and he was aware that being taller than Harry gave himthe advantage of long strides, but he didn’t slow down to accommodate for theshort Boy Who Lived Twice.

“Thatwas your first time dealing with it head on, wasn’t it?”

“Obviousam I?” Severus couldn’t help drawl back.

“Youcan’t really go around jinxing every reporter,” Harry laughed, and Severusstopped himself from saying ‘watch me’ and kept his mouth shut. “EspeciallySkeeter,” Harry continued. “She’ll write up a completely false story just tospite you for it now.”

“Ithought I was supposed to ignore it,” Severus said. Before Harry could answer,he continued with, “She should have stopped when I told her. She had no rightassuming those things.”

“Wellshe was kind of right,” Harry said tilting his head in thought.

Severuslooked at him sharply. In what way, exactly, was Skeeter right? Despite theirlittle conversation, they were most certainly not dating, and as Harry hadinsisted that was not a date that they had just been on. Or were on?

“I’m abit curious as to what she’ll write up now,” Harry admitted.

“Andhere I thought you’d put your arrogant, self-centered ways behind you,” Severusreplied. Harry chuckled. “It’ll probably be something about you declaring yourundying love for me,” he said, thinking aloud.

“Probably,”Harry agreed.

“Youdon’t seem too upset,” Severus pointed out lightly.

“As yousaid,” Harry replied, “you’re supposed to ignore what they write.” They turned thecorner, the floos were in sight at the far end of the street. “Besides, I havealways fancied you a bit since fifth year,” Harry added nonchalantly.

Severus’sbrain went blank for a second, and he barely managed to keep walking. He felthimself tense and couldn’t even wonder if Harry had noticed because he himselfwasn’t capable of thought at the moment because what the bloody fuck did he just say?

“Severus?”Harry called and when Severus blinked, he saw that they were standing in frontof the floos.

Oh.

“Perhapsyou shouldn’t floo right now?” Harry said worriedly. Severus didn’t sayanything. “Why don’t we walk around a bit longer?” Harry suggested. “There’s anice little lake a couple streets over with a bridge across it.”

Severusnodded.

They walkedback out onto the main street in silence. Severus wasn’t sure how to react. Hesuddenly felt very self-conscious and was overly aware of everything aroundhim. He heard the crunch of the snow beneath their feet, the muffled music frominside a store, the soft sounds of life behind the doors of another restaurantthey pass. It was all sharp and focused and a bit overwhelming.

Harry,of course, was oblivious to what he’d done.

“Thiswasn’t so bad as far as blind dates go,” Harry said and that was not the rightthing for him to say, but maybe it was because finally Severus found words.

“Ithought it wasn’t a date,” he replied.

“I saidit could be if you wanted,” Harry countered.

Acouple seconds of silence went by, and before Harry could ask, Severus said, “Isuppose it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, no.”

“Didyou, er, did you ever fancy me?” Harry asked. “Before? Like I did? Not that I’msaying you do now, although I was rather under the impression that you mightfrom what-“

“Yes,”Severus cut the babbling off.

“Oh,”Harry replied. “Good.”

Severusdidn’t respond.

“Didyou ever fancy me as a student?” Harry asked nervously.

Yes, Severus thought. Aloud he said,“Perhaps,” and left it at that.

“Oh,”Harry said. Then, “Why didn’t you ever do anything about it?”

“Youwere my student,” Severus answered, looking at Harry to see how he couldpossibly not understand that.

“So?”

Severusglared at him.

Hecouldn’t be serious. How could he not understand? Harry was in fifth year. Hewas his student. He was Harry bloody Potter. He was a reckless, troublesome,impulsive, beautiful Gryffindor. Nothing would have happened. Nothing could have happened.

“Weshould have done this ages ago,” Harry said, letting it go.

“Dowhat?”

“Go outon a date.”

“Oh, sofinally admitting it, are we?”

“Ididn’t mind admitting it! I told you that it could be that if you wanted!You’re the one who didn’t say anything!” Harry huffed.

“Like Isaid, I don’t date.”

“Fuck-N-Run,”Harry said.

Severusfound himself smiling at Harry’s tone. “Although, I must agree. We should havedone this sooner.”

It wasas close to romantic as he was going to let himself get.

Theyhad made it to the lake. Severus looked out at it, and had to admit it wasrather beautiful. The frozen lake had a thin covering of snow on it, and itsparkled in the moonlight. The bridge was wrought iron, and the railing wasintricately detailed with loops and crosses. A sliver of moonlight shone acrossthe lake. There were several lamp posts scattered throughout the small parkgiving just enough of light to the rest of the park.

Theywalked onto the bridge and stopped half way. Snape didn’t seem to be in themood to say anything more, but Harry itched to talk. They’d just admitted to fancyingeach other eight years ago, and possibly for that duration. They had things todiscuss.

Like ifthey could do this again. Next Friday. Or sooner.

Harryleaned against the railing, sighing as he tried to think of something to say.He was aware of Snape standing rather rigidly next to him, and he felt a pangof regret for having caused Snape’s relaxed state to vanish in the restaurant.It had been so nice. Snape was so different when he relaxed. Well, notdifferent, not really. He was still his sarcastic, venomous, brilliant self.There was just something, a small change that made a big difference, which madehim feel different that Harry hadsensed.

Harrycollided with the floor of the bridge with a heavy thud, gasping at the impactand cold.

“Expelliarmus,”Snape’s deep voice said. Harry turned quickly, pushing to a sitting position asSnape then said, “Orbis,” in a quiet and deadly voice.

Withwide eyes, Harry saw a man with a scruffy beard and a crumpled robe get suckedinto the ground. He yelled in anger, wiggling the top part of his body as hetried to get out. Snape’s narrowed gaze watched every movement as he held hiswand ready.

Aboutto thank the man for yet again saving his life, Harry opened his mouth a momentbefore he spotted another wizard appear at the end of the bridge. He whippedhis wand out, causing Snape’s eyes to snap to him, and yelled out, “Expelliarmus!”

Thewizard blocked this disarming spell easily, and Harry jumped up as he did so.Snape turned to face the wizard, wand up and eyes glittering with recognition.It was a reminder to Harry that they had yet to round up all the Death Eaters,and that Snape was in danger every day as a result.

“LocomotorMortis,” the Death Eater said, the leg-locking curse aimed at Snape.

Harry jumpedin front of him shielded them both with a flick of his wand. “Ebublio,” Harrycast, but the Death Eater managed to dodge out of the way before being encasedin a bubble. “Petrificus Totalus!” Harry tried again.

“Confringo!”the Death Eater said as he spun away from the spell. Harry and Snape jumpedback as the bright teal light hurtled towards them. It hit a tree at theopposite end of the park and exploded it into smithereens.

Panting,Harry looked over to check if Snape was okay. The man was pushing himself to astand, his wand already up.

“Crucio!”the Death Eater yelled before Snape was able to say a thing.

Harryran, shoving himself into Snape and tackling him to the ground as the red lightmissed them both narrowly.

“Potter!”Snape yelled indignantly.

“Expulso!”the Death Eater yelled again, walking towards them.

Harryignored Snape, pushing up to a kneeling position and blocking the older wizardfrom view. He blocked the burst of blue light from hitting either of them, andraised his wand. “Locomotor Wibbly,” Harry said, and the man wasn’t fast enoughto block the curse. He fell to the ground with a yell as his legs gave out.

Harrythrew another jinx at him, but the Death Eater seemed to have better reflexesthan most of his friends, as he rolled away and back up on his feet.

TheTempest jinx was flying at Harry before he could get away, but Snape suddenlyyanked him back down. The lightning strikes hit another tree, and a fire burstto life in the park. Harry looked down at Snape, and smiled before the olderman pushed him off and they both stood.

BeforeSnape could cast anything back, Harry hit the Death Eater with a stinging jinx.As the man yelped in pain, Harry pushed himself off Snape and back onto hisfeet. Instantly, he was dueling with the Death Eater, curses and jinxes flyingback and forth.

WhenHarry narrowly missed the sickly green light of the killing curse, Snape triedto jump into the fight with a spell Harry hadn’t heard before. It wasridiculous that Snape still knew so much more than Harry when it was Harry’sjob to know these things, but then again Harry wouldn’t be surprised to learnthat it was one of Snape’s own inventions.

TheDeath Eater sent a curse back at Snape, but Harry interfered, earning amurderous glare from his former professor. Harry didn’t have time to event sendhim an apologetic glance as the Death Eater turned his attention back to him.

“Crucio!”the Death Eater called out again, but their dueling had taken it’s toll on himand he wobbled forward as he cast it, causing the curse to miss Harry byseveral feet.

Italmost hit Snape, as the man once again tried to join the fight. Enough wasenough, Harry decided. He wouldn’t let Snape get hurt. He was the auror here,and it was high time he showed them all why he was, as Hermione pointed out,the best the Ministry had.

“PetrificusTotalus,” Harry said with a hint of apology, aiming it at Snape. The man lookedback in complete surprise. Harry guessed the only reason he didn’t block it wasthat he clearly was not expecting it, and there was a look of betrayal on hisface right before he went rigid. “Stupefy!” Harry yelled at the Death Eaterwalking towards them both, forcing himself back into the fight and his guiltaway.

TheDeath Eater blocked it easily, continuing his advance. He threw severalwordless spells at Harry, but Harry blocked every one of them. They were fastlocked back into their duel, lunging and spinning as deadly spells were flungat each other. Harry was relentless, casting nonverbal and verbal spells oneafter the other as he blocked those that came at him.

As justa couple minutes went by, Harry noted the Death Eater was tiring out, and heleapt on his chance. He increased the speed of his attacks as he fired offspell after spell. The Death Eater stumbled back, but managed to steady himselfon a tree. He threw another Cruciatus Curse at Harry, but Harry was able toduck it and yell back, “Sectumsempra,” as he did. 

Stillfrozen, Snape couldn’t react, but Harry found himself glancing at the man allthe same. He wondered how he felt at hearing Harry use his curse. This errorcost Harry, as suddenly he was found himself hit with a spell that knocked thebreath out of him and sent him flying over the bridge.

The iceon the lake cracked with a harsh sound, and Harry had a split second to gasp atthe impact and the sting across his arm and hands before he was plummeted intothe icy water below. The cold rushed across his body, soaking into his verybones and he swam up to the surface urgently.

Hemanaged to gasp for air before seeing a red light coming at him in hisperipheral vision. He ducked back under the water, pushing his hands againstthe ice underneath to force himself deep down into the lake.

The iceabove cracked once more and then the water above rippled violently as anexplosion shook the water. Harry started to swim, trying to get away and keephold of his wand as the cold started to freeze him. His fingers were feelingnumb and he was running out of air, but the Death Eater kept throwing curseafter curse after him.

Harrycould hear muffled cries of various blasting and exploding curses. He looked upjust in time to see the ice take the green light of the killing curse, blastingit apart. Harry started to swim back the other way, desperately needing air nowand unable to cast anything when his fingers were so cold he wasn’t sure hecouldn’t feel them around his wand.

As hebroke the surface he gasped, and the cold weather hit his wet, freezing body.He pushed himself out of the water quickly as another curse came hurtlingtowards him. He rolled across the ice, thankful that it didn’t crack againunder him and plunge him back in the water below.

Harrycast a nonverbal heating charm on his fingers as the Death Eater made his wayacross the bridge for better aim at Harry. Feeling was coming back into hisfingers, but it wasn’t quick enough for Harry to block the pale light that leftthe Death Eater’s wand. Harry rolled away again just as the spell hit him inthe side. It sliced through, warm blood dripping oozing out in large dropletsbefore starting to gush properly. The water still on Harry’s body helped theblood spread across his body and soak into his clothes, dripping down onto thewhite snow and clear ice.

“Impedimenta!”Harry yelled, gritting his teeth against the pain and getting up.

TheDeath Eater was caught by the jinx, and was raising his arm in slow motion, hiseyes just starting to widen in recognition of the spell that came at him.

“Expelliarmus!”Harry yelled then, wasting no time. The Death Eater’s wand went flying. “Incarcerous!”Harry yelled again as he walked over.

Tied uptight in a thick rope on the bridge, the Death Eater struggled to free himself tono avail. The impediment jinx had worn off, but with no wand to untie himselfand no hands free, he wasn’t going anywhere.

Itseemed that Snape had regained the ability to move, and was no standing up. Helooked over to where Harry stood by the Death Eater, a mix of emotions on hisface before he hid them all behind a blank mask. Harry tried not to bristle atthe fact that Snape felt he still needed to hide around him.

Harrylooked at the other wizard, still in the ground who was now shouting. “Melofors,”he said quietly, wand pointed lazily at him, and the man’s head was incased ina pumpkin.

“Really,Potter?” Snape said disapprovingly.

Harryshrugged, and then gasped in pain as the movement reminded him of the slice onhis side. He hissed in pain as he lifted his arm to see the blood stainedjacket quickly darkening as more warm blood seeped into it. His jacket andshirt was ruined, and it would be a miracle if the entire outfit wasn’t donefor.

“Let mesee,” Snape said suddenly right in front of him.

Harrylooked up and Snape’s dark eyes met his own. He didn’t look angry. Well, okayhe did, but not the type of angry that was aimed at Harry. Which made no sense.His eyes gave away his concern though, and that made Harry laugh, which in turncaused the concern to flee and the eyes to narrow.

“I’m sorry,”Harry said shaking his head. “It’s just that I thought I’d be fighting you nextconsidering what I did,” he explained.

“Yes,well we can deal with your utter lack of self-preservation another time,” Snapesaid, looking at Harry so that he knew that time would definitely come, justnot now. “Right now you’re hurt and you need medical attention.

“I’mfine,” Harry shook his head.

Hiscoat had a growing dark patch of blood, and the wound was clearly not going tostop bleeding any time soon as the blood dripped down from underneath his coatand onto the bridge. He had left a dripping trail of blood all the way over,which was mixed in with the water that was also dripping off him. He wasshivering from the plunge he took into the lake and the weather outside thatblew an unforgiving wind. He was panting and wheezing, and he could barely keephis eyes open, which Severus wasn’t sure was due to the exertion of what justhappened or the amount of blood he was losing.

“Youare not fine, Harry,” he said. An array of healing charms and potions werelisting themselves in his head, and he made up his mind in a matter of seconds.“I’m taking you back to Hogwarts.”

“Poppyhas enough to worry about without me being there,” Harry tried to laugh butended up grimacing in pain. “Besides, I’m no longer a student,” he added.

“I hadno such plans to take you to Poppy,” Severus replied. “Who do you think brewsall the potions she would be giving you anyway?” he asked with an eyebrowraised.

“Youmean…”

“We’llbe apparating directly into my quarters.”

“But-“

Severusglared at him.

“I’m-“

“If youtry to tell me that you’re fine again I’ll add another jinx to the pile you’ve alreadybeen hit with tonight,” Severus threatened.

“St.Mungo’sthen!” Harry said and Severus wondered why Harry was so against going to hisquarters. “They treat me all the time, and once the other aurors arrive to takethese two they’ll order me there anyway,” Harry said. At Severus’s unchanginglook, he added, “They’re sure to have the same potions as you,” as if thatwould help his case.

Severussnorted at the statement in disgust.

“I’moffended that you would think their potions to be remotely as good as mine.They buy them in stock from some supplier in Ireland,” he explained. “They arenot nearly as good as mine, and you won’t be having them. I also don’t knowwhere this idea that I’d be allowing you to wait around here while you eitherfreeze to death or bleed out just for some bloody aurors to show up to takethese pathetic excuses of wizards away, came from.”

AsHarry clearly tried to think of a reply to that, Severus glanced around to seea crowd had started to form now that the fight had ended. Witches and Wizardswere whispering, some with their wands out in case, others far too caught up inall the drama to think about any further danger.

Annoyed,Severus grabbed Harry’s hand and disapparated them before someone could take apicture.

With acrack, they appeared in Severus’s living room. Severus was aware of the factthat nobody other than Albus has seen his quarters, and having Harry thereshould have felt like an infringement of his privacy, but he didn’t feel thatway at all as Harry practically collapsed in his arms.

“Easythere, Potter,” he said quietly, arms wrapped around the injured auror.

“’SHarry,” was the mumbled reply as green eyes fluttered closed.

Severuspicked him up in his arms, bridal style, and laid him on his black couch. He’ddeal with the blood stains later. Harry whimpered in pain and turned his headwith a wrinkle of his brow. Sighing, Severus looked down and raised his wandover him.

Hebanished all of Harry’s clothes on his top half, leaving him completely dressedbelow the waist. The blood soaked clothing was in a pile on the floor, soppingwet and smelling of iron. Harry shivered and Severus wished he could cast aheating charm to warm him up, but didn’t want to cause the blood to startgushing as it seemed to be slowing ever so slightly. Instead, he covered Harrywith an accio-ed Slytherin green blanket and went to his private store ofpotions.

Hepicked out several, including a blood replenishing one, and headed back toHarry. He placed the potions on the coffee table and kneeled beside thewheezing body. He quietly intoned, “Vulnera Sanentur,” continuing his chantuntil the deep wound on Harry’s side closed up.

Harrywas still wheezing, so he lightly moved his hands to the young man’s rib cage.He pressed down, ignoring Harry’s cry of pain, and felt a small break along histwo of his ribs. He checked with his wand, and confirmed that Harry hadfractured two ribs, most likely when he had been thrown off the bridge.

“Ferula,”Severus cast, binding and splitting the bones. He then placed a warming charmover Harry before turning to the potions on the table. He gave him the bloodreplenishing one first, tipping it into Harry’s mouth and ordering him toswallow.

Alittle voice in his mind told him of all the scenarios he had thought of fortonight that might have involved that exact order, this had not been one ofthem. He told it to shut up, and focused on getting the other potions intoHarry.

As thelast drop of the final potion made its way down Harry’s throat, Severus removedthe blanket covering the young auror. He couldn’t see anything properly as theblood had dried across Harry’s skin. Severus held the tip of his wand rightover the mess, and said, “Tergeo.”

Oncethe dried blood had gone, he could see the faint, long scar that was leftbehind by the slice. Harry opened his eyes slowly, and Severus looked back. Asmile came to Harry’s lips.

“Thankyou,” the young man said. He looked around the room, and Severus wondered whathe was thinking. “You don’t invite anyone back to your place,” Harry recalledaloud.

Severusdidn’t reply.

Harry lookedat him again, a smile stretching his lips.

“Doesthat make me special?” he asked bravely in a teasing tone.

“You’vealways been special,” Severus replied automatically. Harry’s smile widened.

“Ihave, have I?”

“Always,”Severus confirmed, and he hadn’t been aware that they had been leaning in, butnow here they were. Harry’s face was rather close to his, so close that hecould feel his breath on his face and notice the gleam of mischief in the greeneyes, and he had time enough to think that maybe he shouldn’t have given him aPepper Up potion and instead should have let him sleep it off.

ThenHarry was kissing him.

Hislips were chapped and cold, but they were solid beneath his and filled him withwarmth regardless. Harry pulled back for a split second, their lips touchingstill before he pressed forward again and gave him two more smaller, gentlekisses, as if he were testing the waters.

AsHarry went back for a fourth small kiss, Severus moved his hand to the back ofHarry’s head, keeping him in place as he kissed him back. He pressed forward,not letting Harry get away with another delicate press of their lips. He wantedto feel this.

Severus locked their lips together as he movedforward on his knees to press himself further against the edge of the couch andcloser to Harry. He licked across Harry’s bottom lip, and the second his mouthparted he dipped his tongue into the hot mouth.

Relentless,much like Harry had been during that duel, Severus mapped every inch of Harry’smouth. His mind was a jumble of flashbacks, remembering Harry fighting. He’dbeen shocked when Harry had hit him with that curse, and thought for a secondthat Harry had misunderstood, thought that Severus had planned it, and was nowturning against him. Then Harry had fought the Death Eater, forcing him backand away from him, and Severus understood that Harry was protecting him. He didfeel frustrated that Harry thought he was allowed to come to his rescue, andSeverus conveyed that feeling in the kiss. He made it hard, biting, anddominant so that Harry would never question what type of man Severus was.

“Sorry,”Harry gasped away, gulping in air as he clearly got the message.

Severusbrought his mouth back to his own and sighed into the kiss as his tongue wassurrounded by the hot and wet of Harry’s mouth, where it should be. He deepenedthe kiss, stroking deeper into Harry’s mouth, as he pulled Harry close to him.

Flashesof Harry dueling replayed in his mind. He was so fast, so effortless. As ifdueling came as natural as breathing. It was no wonder he was the best aurorthere was, but Merlin was it a sight to behold. Spells came from his lips withease, and Severus groaned at the thought of that as Harry’s tongue movedagainst his own. Severus thought of Harry fighting again, of the way he seemedto think a mile a minute and make fighting, a split second away from death,seem like a beautiful dance as he lunged and dodged, as he spun and cast. Hispower flowed through him and into every spell, the slightest flick of his wristcausing possible devastation. Yet, Harry never once used an Unforgivable. Hewas so talented when it came to dueling. As if the very thing existed solelyfor him.

Severuspulled Harry on top of him as he moaned deep within his chest. His hand slid toHarry’s arse, squeezing as he pulled him up the length of his body, and down tobring them together. Harry gasped into his mouth before letting out a deliciousmoan and sucking on his tongue. Severus encouraged him by continuing to squeezehis arse and starting to grind up into him.

Theycame up for air, and Harry kept his lips away against Severus’s wishes as hehung his head, eyes closed as he focused on their groins. He pushed down hard,making their rutting even more blissful and pulling a gasp from Severus aswell. Harry panted about him, small little grunts coming out of him every sooften.

It wasdisgustingly good. Impossibly good. Abysmally good. Sinful in the dirtiest waysand Severus couldn’t stop. Theypanted and thrust against each other, Severus wasn’t able to settle on closinghis eyes from the utter bliss or forcing them open to watch Harry’s debauchedexpression. Just as he would do the latter the sensations would steal hisbreath away and his eyes would close. He was lost in what felt like everythingright in the world before Harry would make a dirty little sound and he had toopen his eyes to look at the wicked faces Harry made.

Likeboiling shots of promised pure pleasure, Severus’s orgasm started to build lowin stomach. Part of him wanted, needed, the release desperately. This baserside of him egged him on, bringing filthy things to his mind. Filling it withthe earth shattering possibilities of noises that Harry would make, and howhe’d look. Asking him if he wanted to get that blissful feeling along withHarry, making them both hot and sticky with their come. The answers to thesequestions were, of course, yes. More than anything, and the mere thoughts hadhis orgasm building steadily, that so close feeling almost too much for him tothink of denying. Screaming at him to just go a little further and then he’dhave it.

Severuswas thrusting more erratically now, these thoughts tumbling around in his headand making him moan out as Harry seemed to be in the exact same position, callingout in a series of long ah’s as he built crushed their pelvises together.

It wasonly when their pricks brushed, and Severus almost yelled out at it that theother part of him managed to get heard. It’s message was simple: if he came nowthen he wouldn’t be able to fuck Harry yet, and didn’t he want to know whatthat was like? To feel himself buried inside Harry?

Theanswer was a strong and desperate yes.

Severusgrabbed Harry’s hips tightly, stopping him from thrusting any further. Harrywhined and tried to thrust anyway, the absolute loss of control getting toSeverus and forcing him to have to close his eyes in attempt to not orgasmanyway.

“Sev,”Harry pleaded, unable to get anymore of his name out as he made a desperatesound.

“Notyet,” Severus replied, eyes still shut, “not yet.”

Harryrelented and dropped down, his body resting on Severus’s, his pants hitting hisrobes. Severus almost laughed at the thought. He was still fully dressed. He’dalmost came and he hadn’t even taken his clothes off. He smiled into Harry’shair, which was conveniently right under his chin as Harry tucked himself intohim as he calmed down. Severus placed a kiss on his head, one hand staying onHarry’s arse as the other traveled to his back. He stroked the smooth, leanmuscle and smiled at Harry’s content sigh.

Soonenough, Harry’s hands found him as well. They started to tug on his robes, andhe moved his head to look down at Harry. Green eyes met his.

“Wantthem off,” Harry said resolutely, then went back to tugging. He managed to pushthe black material off his shoulders, and Severus just let him, not activelyhelping. “Sev,” Harry whined when he couldn’t tug the material any further withSeverus’s arms wrapped around him the way they were.

Severuswondered if this new nickname was something Harry planned to use in the future,and gave Harry, or rather his hair, a curious glance. He wasn’t completelyaverse to the idea, but only for Harry. He’d thoroughly hex anyone else – Albusincluded – if they even tried. As he thought about this, Harry sneakily managedto pull the robes from his arms. Severus smirked at Harry’s sound of victory,and stroked his hand across Harry’s arse, earning a lovely little yearningmoan.

Harry’shand traveled down his chest, stroking over his coat as he fingered eachbutton. Feeling calmer, Severus decided their mouths had been apart for far toolong, so his hand moved from the young man’s back up to his head, tilting it upfor a kiss.

Harry kissedhim without hesitation, automatically opening his mouth and making Severussmirk into the kiss. It was much slower than before, and Severus tangled histongue with Harry’s almost lazily. He could feel sparks of arousal swirlinghigher as he felt the delicious glide of wet, hot muscle against his tongue.

Handsroamed his chest as Harry got more into the kiss, making small noises thatspiked Severus’s arousal further. The kiss stayed slow, but it turned filthy ona dime. Severus showed Harry what it was like to get his mouth fucked by atongue and all Harry could do in response was moan brokenly as his handsstarted pulling buttons undone.

Severusfelt each button pop undone as Harry worked, all twelve coming undone in recordtime. Harry, when motivated, always excelled at whatever he did. Severusrewarded his efficiency by moving Harry hips until they were once again linedup, and thrust against him.

A needto touch Harry’s naked skin came to him in a surge of want. His hand slippedfrom Harry’s hip and wiggled their way between their bodies. He was faintlyaware of Harry pushing his coat open and attacking the buttons of his whiteshirt. Severus’s fingers grazed across a hard length in Harry’s trousers andthey both moaned.

FeelingHarry’s erection pressing against him through his robes as they rutted was onething. Being able to touch just it through trousers was something elseentirely. Severus’s fingers traced it down the length and back up, noting thatit distracted Harry enough to leave him panting with his forehead againstSeverus’s still clothed chest. He stroked Harry’s prick roughly, pulling awhine from the young man that broke at the top.

“Feelgood?” Severus asked in a voice that plunged into darkness. Harry bucked intohis touch as he stoked him again.

Severusdidn’t move his hand as Harry pulled back to look him in the eyes. Harry’s eyeswere lust filled with pupils blown wild and shining in the candle light.Severus’s hips bucked up themselves at the heated gaze, and he moved to tasteHarry’s mouth again but found the lips busy in a grin.

“Whatare you grinning at?” he asked suspiciously. Harry’s grin widened and his eyesdipped down to Severus’s body. In retaliation, Severus bucked his hips up andstayed there to grind against Harry, pulling more lovely moans out of him. Severussmirked in satisfaction, but it didn’t last long as Harry turned his face backto him, and the grin was wider.

“I’vejust realized that I’ve never seen you out of your coat before,” Harryexplained. He ran his hands up Severus’s chest, and Severus could feel thewarmth from Harry’s hands through his shirt. Harry glanced up at him throughlong black lashes.

With aneyebrow raised, Severus replied, “Well, you’re about to see mi in much less, soI suggest you get your amusement out now.”

“Notamusement,” Harry told him, silently accio-ing his wand to him. He pointed itat Severus’s shirt as he said, “Appreciation.”

Withthat he drew a line down Severus’s shirt, straight down the buttons, cuttingthe shirt open with a nonverbal as he did so. Severus gasped, and his head fellto the ground, neck arching back as he suddenly found himself panting, hisarousal spiked as high as it had been during their rutting in seconds.

“Muchbetter,” Harry murmured before lowering his head to place a kiss on Severus’schest, right above his heart.

“Harry,”Severus croaked.

“Let’shurry this up,” Harry responded, and his wand tip touched Severus’s trousersand they vanished. He did the same to his own a second later.

Severusgroaned deeply as he felt Harry’s toned thighs straddling him, skin to skin.Harry didn’t help as he wiggled his hips back and forth, making Severusextremely aware of them both being naked except for boxers and Harry wassitting on top of him. Severus placed his hands on Harry’s bare waist and strokedthe soft skin as he felt Harry’s hands caress his chest.

“Onemore thing,” Harry whispered, his lips suddenly a breath away.

Unableto put meaning to the words with such a distraction, Severus just closed thedistance between them and kissed him. Harry chose that moment to do away withtheir boxers as well, and then there was unfathomable bliss as their pricksfinally met without anything in the way. Instead of moaning loudly into Harry’smouth, Severus got his own back and kissed Harry breathless.

Harrybroke the kiss to gulp air into his lungs. Severus closed his eyes and lethimself focus on the wonderful feeling of Harry, completely naked, on top ofhim. 

“Lube?”Harry asked.

“You’rea wizard, Harry,” Severus drawled, not opening his eyes, hands on Harry’s hips.

“There’sspells for this?”

At Harry’s surprised tone, Severus opened his eyes in concern.

“Surelyyou’re joking?” He blinked. “You’re not joking.” He sighed, looking down atHarry’s lovely body pressed against his, smooth, toned, defined, and hard. “Iwas under the impression Poppy had that discussion with you all yearly startingthird year.

“Imissed them,” Harry said.

“Everyyear?”

“I wasa little busy most of the time, if you hadn’t noticed,” Harry replied.

“Youdidn’t think to ask your Prefect or Minerva how to make them up?”

“Pleasedon’t mention Professor McGonagall when we’re naked and hard, and you’re aboutto fuck me,” Harry said with a look of disgust.

Severuscocked an eyebrow at him.

“Aboutto fuck? You’ve not even been prepared,” he purred.

“Nospells for that, then?” Harry asked, “Good, that’d be embarrassing consideringthe amount of wizards I’ve already been with,” he muttered.

Severus’sgrip tightened on Harry’s hips as a wave of anger washed over him. “If youdon’t want me to mention your Head of House, then you’ll remember not mentionany previous lovers,” he seethed. “Or this,” he thrust against Harry, bitingback his moan as their unclothed pricks slid against each other for the firsttime, “won’t ever happen.”

“I justmeant that I don’t know the spells, and if that’s how everyone does it then I’msurprised nobodies added that detail to their stories when they run and telleveryone that they just got fucked by Harry Potter,” Harry explained after agasp.

“Whilethey are available to use, some people do prefer to do it the muggle waystill,” Severus said. “Personally, I don’t see a difference if the correctspell is used for lubrication. Oils can be messy and if it’s a potion, usuallyexpensive and for more… advanced sex.”

“Kinky,”Harry laughed. “So, you know how to make those I’m guessing,” he said beforemoving to kiss along Severus’s jaw.

“Ofcourse,” Severus replied, enjoying the attention, especially as Harry reachedthe scarred tissue where Nagini had struck. He couldn’t help the moans thatcame out, and Harry picked up on them. He licked broad strips across it. “Now,however, we’ll be using the spell,” Severus said, and Harry must have lickedthe vibrations under his lips and tongue as his prick twitched.

“Willyou teach me?” Harry asked, lips grazing Severus’s neck.

Severusaccio-ed his wand and felt a smile against his neck. He slid the tip of hiselegant black wand down Harry’s back, making the young man shudder, and down tohis arse. He moved his other hand to one of Harry’s arse cheeks and pulled itslightly away. Harry moaned.

“Lubrico,”he said, wand tip aimed at Harry’s hole.

“Oh,”Harry said, a frown coming to his face as he no doubt felt the liquid drippingout of him. Severus knew even though it was warm and just the right amount, itstill felt odd the first few times. Harry wiggled around as he tested it out,and Severus had to bite his lip. It was as if he’d never done it before.

Severusstilled, his mind replaying what Harry had said a few minutes before.

considering the amount of wizardsI’ve already been with

when they run and tell everyone thatthey just got fucked by Harry Potter

Severuscleared his throat.

“Harry?”he asked lightly.

“Yeah?”Harry wasn’t paying attention, too busy moving his hips and focusing on, whatSeverus was now understanding to be, a completely new sensation.

“You’venever bottomed, have you?” he said plainly.

Harrystopped undulating his hips. Green eyes met black. A sheepish look came to hisface before it was replaced with a frown.

“Ididn’t want any of them too,” he said. “It feels more intimate. Too muchvulnerability for a quick fuck with someone you don’t know. It’s not somethingI’d ever consider with, as you say, a Fuck-N-Run.”

“Ah,”Severus said in acknowledgement. He was sure if he should think too much aboutthat, but he certainly noted the warm little ball he got in his chest.

“Youdon’t mind, do you?” Harry asked, looking nervously down at him.

Severusstared back at him blankly.

“Harry,no man in their right mind would ever refuse taking you, let alone yourvirginity,” he stated.

“I’mnot a virgin!”

“Youare when it comes to bottoming, and that makes you have a sweet virgin arsethat’s completely unclaimed,” Severus replied. To his glee, a blush spreadacross Harry’s cheeks.

How wasthis foolish romantic ever considered a playboy?

“Nobodyhas yet acquaint you with the joys of anal stimulation,” Severus continued,slipping a finger down Harry’s crack and swiping its pad across his hole. “I’llbe sure to give you a thorough introduction.” His finger pressed in, and Harrymoaned at the stretch. As he felt the tight heat, Severus sucked in a breath.“Perhaps more than an introduction,” he corrected.

Heopened Harry slowly, making sure he was fully used to one finger pushing in andout of him before he complied with his pleas of ‘more’ and the like. It was awonder that he didn’t explode at the sounds Harry made as he was stretched.They were truly sinful.

As hemoved to two fingers, Harry discovered what pushing back against them could dofor him. Severus accidentally ended up knuckle deep as he hadn’t expected it.He watched Harry’s face for painful regret, but the little minx simply smiledwith pleasure, a happy huff of breath coming from his slightly parted mouth.

Severustwisted his fingers, pulling all sorts of sounds from Harry, as his eyes burneddarkly while he watched the various blissful faces Harry made. Scissoring hisfingers brought Harry’s hips into overdrive, and soon Severus managed to add athird without problem.

“Please,”Harry begged.

Severuspurred at the sound.

“Please,”Harry whined again.

“What?”Severus asked, feigning innocents as he hooked his fingers and shoved them inand out a little harder. On the fourth thrust in, he touched Harry’s prostateand Harry bucked as he yelled out from the sensation.

“Ineed-” Harry whined as Severus massaged the sensitive gland. “I’m so-“

Catchingon, Severus fingered Harry harder, battering his prostate until Harry wasliterally quivering above him. Harry’s prick was leaking constantly, the liquidstarting to coat Severus’s own prick. He moaned as Harry shifted his weight andleaned back to get more control. As Harry thrust his hips down harder to meetSeverus’s fingers, his prick bobbed straight up.

Harry’seyes were closed, and he was so obviously right there, that Severus decided tomake him lose it. He leaned forward, not stopping his pace as he thrust hisfingers in and out of Harry’s now loosened hole. As his mouth hovered overHarry’s prick, he looked up to the lust lost mess fucking himself as hard as hecould.

“Harry,”Severus said calmly, and just as Harry’s shinning green eyes met his, heswallowed Harry’s prick down to the root in one smooth movement.

Harryyelled his release, coming into Severus’s mouth in hot spurts.

Severusswallowed easily, finding the taste surprisingly enjoyable when he usuallydidn’t. He allowed Harry to pump his pick into his mouth a few more timesbefore he pulled off. Harry looked devastatingly debauched. He must have had atrace of his come on his lip as Harry’s eyes wouldn’t leave the spot, wideningas he panted. Severus made a show to lick his lips before twisting his fingers,still buried inside Harry’s arse, in reminder.

“Yes,”Harry moaned.

“Stillup for it?” Severus asked, voice hoarse.

Insteadof answering, Harry shifted himself to sit on his hips. His hand wrapped aroundSeverus’s prick, and Severus hissed at it, eyes slipping shut. He listed theingredients for wolfsbane in his mind, trying to take his mind off the feelingof Harry’s lovely hand touching his achingly hard prick.

AsHarry lowered himself, Severus mentally prepared for the contact. It barelyhelped restrain his groan as he felt warm wetness hit the sensitive tip of hisprick. He forced himself to breathe steadily as various thoughts, each dirtierthan the last, swirled around his mind. Thoughts like the fact his pre-come wasgoing to mix with the lubricant in Harry’s arse. The lubricant that he put there.The lubricant he put there so he could fuck Harry’s brave, reckless brains out.

“Fuck,”he breathed as his prick entered searing heat. Harry let out a soft, surprisedmoan, and it didn’t help at all with Severus’s quickly building orgasm. “Fuck,”he whispered as Harry kept going, making those same little moans all the waydown, undulating his hips as he got used to it.

“Itfeels so-“

Severuswasn’t sure he was going to be able to handle what came out of Harry’s mouth.

“I feelso fully,” Harry groaned as if hewere the one taking unbelievable, sinfully wicked pleasure.

“Merlin,stop,” Severus begged, throwing all of his self-control at not coming rightthen.

“Wha?”Harry’s blissed out face had a soft frown as he tried to express his confusion.

“If youwant this to last any longer, then you’ll give me a minute,” Severus said,aiming for calm but failing miserably.

Severusmentally recited the ingredients and instructions for all the potions heassigned his first years. He was on the last few instructions of the last onewhen Harry started to move. It was a slow but sure upwards motion, the velvetywet heat of Harry’s arse moving along his prick.

“Potter,”he growled.

“Not mydad,” Harry murmured in response to his first name not being used.

Severus’simpending orgasm, and very nearly his erection itself, vanished instantly atthe thought of James Potter. He made a disgusted sound, and almost shoved Harryoff of him, but Harry must have realized what he’d done as he flung himselfforward and put his forehead to Severus’s.

“No,no, no. That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Harry said quietly,eyes closed and lips moving against Severus’s as he spoke. Severus wasn’t surehow he felt and he still had half a mind to push Harry off him. “Hey, focus onme,” Harry whispered. “Focus on me. Focus on us. Right here. Right now.”Harry’s hands stroked down his sides, and Severus didn’t move, curious to seewhere this would go but ready to bolt all the same. “Focus on my hands on myvoice,” Harry told him. “On my lips brushing against yours.” Harry brushed hislips lightly across his, and Severus felt a little bit of his disgust diminish.“Focus on my hands stroking your chest.” Harry’s hands continued to stroke,gentle and soothing. “Focus on the touch of my skin on yours.” Severusbecame aware of every point they connected. “Focus on the feeling of my thighspressing against your sides.” Severus wanted less and less to flee. “Focus onthe weight of me sitting on top of you.” Severus felt held down and secure.“Focus on the heat surrounding your prick.” Severus couldn’t remember why hewanted to leave. “Focus on the slide of my body as you’re pumped into me.”Harry started to move, slowly and sensually, and Severus focused on the amazingfeeling. “Focus on urges your body is giving you.” Harry whispered. “Focus onthe need to claim my virgin territory.” Severus was panting and it all felt sogood. “Focus on my need for you to take me.” Harry increased his speed. “Focuson my need for you to fuck me hard.” Harry’s voice was shaking. “Focus on myneed for you to make me feel it.”Harry was panting now, slamming himself down, and Severus wasn’t sure when hishands had started to hold Harry’s hips or meet him thrust for thrust. “Focus onmy need for you to make me come all over you as your prick pounds me.” Harrywas moaning between his words, having to pause now as he got lost in the fuck.Severus’s back and neck were arched, his head pushing into the ground as hemoaned loudly. “Focus on my need for you to fill me with your hot release,only-“ Harry whined and panted as if he couldn’t breathe, “Only you.” Harry wassmashing himself down, and Severus wasn’t sure who was moaning louder. “Focuson my need for you, my need for you, my need for, my need for, need for-“ thewhining was desperate and lost and Harry started chanting, “you, you, you, you,only you, only you, only, only, only-“

Harryscreamed Severus’s name as he came.

Heslammed himself down, his body contacting and spasming around Severus’s rock hardprick as he came again for the second time that night. His hot, pearl-whitecome ejaculated out onto Severus’s chest in streaks. He moaned dirtily as hefinished.

Severus’sjaw was locked and his teeth were gritted as he forced himself not to come. He’dnever had to use such determination and will power, but he had to thrust intoHarry. He had to flip them over and drive into the gorgeous wizard who’d justcame brokenly atop him.

“Youfucking tease,” Severus told Harry once the young man seemed able to breathe atleast.

Severusheld Harry securely to him and rolled them over with ease. In his blissfulafterglow, Harry didn’t realize what was happening until he was on his back.Severus pulled Harry’s arse onto his lap as he started to thrust. Harry gaspedat the sensitivity, but Severus could tell he loved it.

“Youwant me to fuck you?” Severus asked through gritted teeth. He held Harry’ships, and ground his prick into Harry’s prostate. Harry yelled. “You want me tomake you feel it?” He relished in the feeling of thrusting into Harry. It wasbeyond words. “You want me to pound you?” His mind was a disgusting mess ofimages that all involved Harry full to the brim with his come. He moaned andfucked into Harry harder. “You want me to come in you? Fill you with my seed?Mark you and ruin you?” Harry was thrashing beneath him, begging and repeatinghis name as if it were a sacred prayer. “Is that what you want, Harry? BecauseI’ll give it to you. I’ll give so much more to you. Everything. Fuck you so hardyou can’t think of anything else for weeks. You fucking gorgeous, irresistible,perfect-“ Severus’s orgasm was so close and he didn’t have the strength ordesire to stave it off anymore. “Fuck!” he yelled, pistoling his hips so fastand hard that Harry shook with the force, reduced to a gurgling, whimpering,frantic mess.  “Going to make you mine,” Severus growled and Harry camefor a third time, spurting the small amount left in his balls all over his ownstomach.

AsHarry’s hole tightened around his prick, Severus thrust in until he was buriedto the hilt, and came harder than he ever had, Harry’s names on his lips. Hecould feel ropes and ropes of come coating Harry’s passage, spraying hisprostate and the perfect walls of tight, soft heat inside his body. He groanedat it, feeling Harry collapse utterly boneless beneath him.

Severuspulled out several seconds later when he thought he could move, and lay downbeside Harry. They were panting, hot, sweaty, and covered in Harry’s come.Severus knew his robe, which they had inadvertently used as a blanket belowthem, would be covered in come as well, especially as his come leaked out ofHarry arse. It was a wonderful thought, how full of him Harry had been and nowwas. How he would be again if either of them could ever recovered enough.

Withoutthinking, Severus pulled Harry closer, moving his body half on top of him. Hecast a few quick nonverbal, wandless spells to clean them up and freshen them abit. The beautiful afterglow was unaffected, as was evident from Harry’s happysigh as he snuggled closer.

Severuswrapped an arm around him, burying his face in Harry’s dark hair. The worldcould fall apart right then and he wouldn’t even move to acknowledge it. This,right as they were, was everything he needed. He wondered if next time they’dbe able to make it to the bed.

“Sev?”Harry asked, finding it hard to respond in his afterglow haze. His voice wassleepy and he didn’t bother to open his eyes or move at all. Severus, feelingmuch the same, hummed back in question. “Is this not a Fuck-N-Run, then?” Harryasked with a tired smile, taking note of Severus’s complete lack of intentionsof letting him go.

“Shutup,” Severus replied affectionately, nuzzling into Harry further as he pulledhim just a little bit closer.

Notes:

Harry’s outfit was inspired by this dashing photo of Daniel Radcliffe.

Harry’s hair is inspired by this sexy picture of Harry as an Auror.

I don’t know why but I put a lot of thought into Harry’s shoes:   Ginny’s shoe looks like this but is in this colour, while Hermione chose this shoe.