#severus is of course a free man too when the people learn he killed the dark lord

[bi-snape]

I had an idea for a fanfic

Severus becoming a death because his close friends were some how made to join or had joined not thinking it would be bad. So he joins in order to protect them cause he can't bare to lose anyone he cares about.

Now Severus is risking his life protecting Klaus Mulciber (Klaus isn't his real name), Evan Rosier, Regulus Black, Wes Don Avery (Wes Don isn't his real name), and Rabastan Lestrange. In doing so each of them, in turn, has also risked their life for Severus which leads to their death or capture.

It also leaves Severus with three portkeys, a house, and a strange locket which was given to him before they each met their fate.

Here's how he gets the portkeys, a house, and the locket.

The first portkey

Klaus Mulciber gave Severus his family ring which acted as a portkey during a mission gone wrong. Severus had been hit by a spell which knocked him unconscious and instead of leaving him like the other death eaters told him to, he ran to his aid. He killed the auror that attacked Severus and in a state of panic afterwards he tried to shake Severus awake but to no avail, he then looked for Sev's wand when the other Auror's began closing in.

In stead of using the portkey Klaus picked up Severus and ran, after awhile he was hit with a hex that caused him to fall. He pulled Severus close to him and held his face in chest given that Severus's mask had fallen in the fight. As the Auror's took them in they had difficulty prying Severus from Klaus's arms. Once Severus began to stir Klaus placed his ring on Sev's finger and muttered out the word that would activate it. Severus who was barely conscious mumbled the word back in confusion and was transported to an unknown location. Klaus who had let go of Severus inorder to stay behind was then arrested and sent to Azkaban.

The second portkey

Wes Don Avery had given Severus a family necklace that he turned in a portkey. It was given during a raid, Wes had gotten badly injured and was very close to death, Severus had found him and insisted that he could heal him. Tho Wes knew it was over for him. He pulled the necklace from his pocket and placed it into Severus's hands, he held his hand and told him to go and how to activate it. With tears forming in Severus's eyes as he watched the life leave from Wes's, he held onto Wes's body and activated the portkey. Once they arrived in Avery Manor Severus broke down, he kissed Wes's forehead before contacting his family so that they could bury him.

A home

Severus had healed Rabastan after he and a few death eaters had walked into a trap. Considering that this was not the first time that Severus had saved him, he decided to gift Severus an abandoned two story home from his family. The house had been forgotten and Rabastan decided to tie Severus to it should he ever need somewhere to go for safety. Not a few days laters Rabastan was arrested during a raid and sent to Azkaban.

The third portkey

During another mission gone wrong, Evan and Severus hid there Evan placed his family's ring into Severus's hand. Both were exhausted from the fighting and were unable to stand, it didn't help that they were injured as well. As the Auror's came close Evan kissed Severus, promised him that he will always love him even in death, and imperio'd Severus and made him to activate the portkey. Severus with tears streaming down his face activated the portkey with extreme sadness and was gone. The next day he caught wind of Evan's death and had hid away in the home Rabastan had secretly given him ignoring the calls of the dark lord, his will to live slowly fading.

The locket

Kreacher had managed to find Severus and begged for his help. He told him of the plan that Regulus had and this caused Severus to panic. Somewhere along their lives he saw Regulus as a little brother and he be damn if that boy got himself killed. Kreacher quickly took Severus to where Regulus was and was able to reach him before his demise. Severus had grabs hold of Regulus after he had drank the potion and held him close. He casted a series of spells to knock Regulus unconscious and took him to the secret home Rabastan had given him. There he took care of Regulus until he well. Once Regulus was safe, kreacher gave the locket to Severus and explained that it held something evil inside. Confused Severus spent his time studying it and creating a potion to help Regulus over come the one he had drank.

Eventually the way he gets them would be memories and it would kinda start with the death of Lily and James, Dumbledore and Severus happen to meet at their house at the same time. Severus is upset and is confused on how the dark lord knew where they were hidden (for the sake of this story we'll say that Peter told Voldemort the prophecy and not Severus)

Dumbledore: I'm afraid the dark lord knew of their location because of Sirius Black

Severus, confused: Black?

Dumbledore: *nods* He was their secret keeper

Severus: *laughs hysterically like a mad man with tears in his eyes*

Dumbledore: *stares at him in concern* Sever-

Severus: You've got to be kidding me!!!! Do you even hear yourself!!!! I hate that blasted mutt but even I know he'd never sell out Potter!!!! You've gone mad!!!!

They argue more but eventually Dumbledore changes the topic by stating that Harry is to be placed with Petunia. This tho starts up another argument between the two. Dumbledore eventually silences Severus claiming it's for the best and takes Harry to Petunia's home. Severus of course follows which causes Dumbledore to sigh.

Once Dumbledore leaves Harry at Petunia's doorstep he leads Severus away because he can see the look in Severus's eye that shows he's plotting something. They apparate away but after a minute or two Severus apparates back to Petunia's home and before she could answer the door and sees Harry, Severus rushes to the doorstep and snatches up the basket that held Harry.

From afar he notices Petunia open the door, look around, and then close the door with an annoyed sigh. Then Severus apparates away to his secret home with Harry in his arms. Once Harry gets settled, he asks kreacher to watch while he went out in search of Sirius.

During his search he finds that Sirius is in Azkaban, he manages to sneak into Azkaban and provide Sirius with a note and a ring (Mulciber's ring). The note states that if he wanted to see his godson to say -the activation word-

Sirius, who desperately wants to see his godson, without a second thought activates the portkey. He's then taken to the secret home and is shocked to see kreacher there. Kreacher leads him up stairs to where Harry is but Sirius stops in his tracks when he catches a glimpse of his brother in one of the rooms there. He runs in and goes to brother and tries to wake him.

Kreacher takes notices and goes after Sirius, he pulls him away from Regulus and says that he's resting and to leave him be. Sirius wants to argue with the elf but the sound of a baby crying stops him. He suddenly remembers why he's here and runs towards the sound of the noise. He runs into a room and sees Harry crying, because of the noise, and goes to pick him up.

Kreacher, under the instructions of Severus, changes Sirius's appearance so that he could leave the home to get supplies for Harry. Severus returns to the home in secrecy to continue to care for Regulus and to provide Sirius with funds to care for Harry.

Years go by and Harry grows up believing Severus is his guardian angel. Severus shows Harry the joys of magic in secret, and when Harry speaks of him Sirius thinks that Harry has an imaginary friend. Severus changes Harry's appearance to match Sirius and when he has to go hogwarts, he leaves a note for Sirius instructing him to send Harry there.

Sirius does just that, with Harry new appearance and name he attends Hogwarts and is shockingly sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry writes to Sirius stating what house he's in and that his guardian angel was right, that he was gonna be in Hufflepuff. Sirius is confused but doesn't question it, tho he's a little bummed that Harry isn't a Gryffindor.

Eventually around the end of the story Severus learns why Regulus went after the locket and manages to the get the other horcruxes. Once they've been destroyed and Voldemort is gone, it's then revealed that Severus had been taking care of that and that he was Harry's guardian angel. Not only that but it's also revealed that Rabastan had been residing in the home as well but had never made his presence known. He connect the room, next to Regulus, with his inorder to be able to check on him in case Severus isn't able to stop by.

Since Harry is a horcruxe himself, they take him to the goblins in hopes that they can help him. They of course manage to remove the soul and destroy it and all is well. A few days later Regulus finally wakes up after years of slumber and is reunited with his brother and everything ends happily.

[priorireverte]

Congratulations Rhiannon!

Your application for Charity Burbagehas been accepted. I’m so excited to have Charity around as that opposing voice to forgiveness and reconciliation with the undead former Death Eaters. What is she going to do? I’m a little scared for us all.

Please look to the checklist for the next steps and reach out if you have any questions!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME & PRONOUNS: Rhiannon, she/her

TIMEZONE: GMT

ACTIVITY LEVEL: My activity level is pretty decent? I’m always available via discord for plotting and am normally able to get on the dash for replies every day if not every other day.

ANYTHING ELSE: No triggers. I’ve been roleplaying for over a decade, and have been roleplaying exclusively on tumblr since 2012 so I’ve been around a lot - mostly in Harry Potter roleplays.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Charity Ffion Burbage

BIRTHDATE: 20th March 1965

DEATHDATE: tw torture 28th July 1997. Charity was personally killed by Lord Voldemort following a prolonged period of torture after she had been kidnapped by Death Eaters not long after the end of the school year. Her death was never made public.

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Cis!female, she/her pronouns, bisexual. Her sexuality has never been something that she’s hidden, having been publicly involved with both men and women. She’s never cared what people have to say about it - as far as she’s concerned it’s no one’s business other than her own.

BLOOD STATUS: Half-blood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Ravenclaw. The hat did briefly consider placing Charity in Gryffindor, but her curiosity and thirst for knowledge ultimately won out.

OCCUPATION: Returned. Prior to this, Charity spent four years as the Muggle Studies Professor at Hogwarts, and before that she was working in Misuse of Muggle Artefacts

FACECLAIM: Gugu Mbatha-Raw

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

POSTBELLUM

Confusion was the first thing that Charity had felt upon waking. She could feel rough stone against her back and as her eyes came back into focus she could see that she was no longer in Malfoy Manor. The space resembled neither the dank, low walls of the wine cellar that had been fashioned into cells, nor did it resemble the imperial coldness of the dining hall. That was when the panic set in. Where had she been taken now? The last thing she remembered was pleading towards Severus Snape’s impassive form as the jeers and cackles of the Death Eaters rang throughout the marble hall. She didn’t believe the Unspeakables when they first approached and explained the curious circumstances surrounding her return. Believing them to be Death Eaters, she summoned what strength she had and kicked and scratched, desperate to get away. It just didn’t make sense. Coming back from the dead was something reserved for muggle fiction - it wasn’t actually possible. But yet here she was, and the Unspeakables were insistent. She answered their questions distractedly; the cogs in her head were too busy turning over the situation to care too much about what was being asked of her. Just how was this possible? Sure, inferi were possible, but that was lightyears from what she was. Having grown up largely in the muggle world, the inability to use magic bothered her little - especially when there were more pressing matters. After all, doing things the muggle way had always been her default. Whilst she had grown used to doing certain things with magic, readjusting to doing them without magic was a minor inconvenience at worst. There was one name amongst her fellow returned that truly set her blood boiling, even more than the other Death Eaters. Whilst she wasn’t sure it was reciprocated, she had considered Severus Snape a friend once, when they had been colleagues. She hadn’t wanted to believe it when she had heard that he had been the one to kill the headmaster, Charity had always wanted to believe the best in people. But those final moments at the manor had broken any lingering faith she may have had in the dour man. The rest of the returned Death Eaters could fester away in Azkaban - it was what they deserved - but in her mind Severus Snape didn’t deserve a second chance. Once her trust had been broken, it was near impossible to regain; something that had only been heightened in her new perspective on life. Justice was needed and she would see to it that justice was indeed taken on all of them.

PERSONALITY

Ever curious, Charity loved getting to the bottom of how things worked. Her parents had always championed this, encouraging their daughter to never shy away from asking questions. Books, puzzles and various children’s science kits had occupied her free hours as a child, and she delighted in getting to the bottom of a mystery. There were few sweeter feelings than those felt in those moments she cracked the codes. Charity was loyal to a fault, willing to go above and beyond for those she cared about, even if that meant getting herself into trouble. If a friend needed help, she would give them the shirt off her own back, and if they needed a place to stay? Well, Charity would have the spare room in her flat ready quicker than they could say Bowtruckle. She was a firm believer in treating people as you wished to be treated, and would never back down at a perceived injustice. Of course, this got her into trouble at school more than once, with Charity often ending up in detention over going toe-to-toe with pureblood supremacists. They weren’t any more special than anyone else for coming from a long line of wixen, and Charity could never understand why they would believe that - a more inclusive society could only benefit everyone. There was so much that could be learned from the muggles that could only improve the world they lived in. It was something that only grew stronger within her as she grew older, and she did her best to impress it upon the students who took her class at Hogwarts, especially after Voldemort returned. A gregarious soul, she had always been one to get stuck right in, treating new acquaintances as if she had known them all her life. Of an evening she could have been typically found in the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks with a beer in hand, unwilling to let the looming shadows of war affect her day to day life. Every moment was precious, and Charity would be damned if she couldn’t live her life to the fullest. After all, wasn’t it the muggles who said that the best revenge was living well?

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY

Born into a cadet branch of the Rowle family, Margot Rowle had never quite fit in to what was expected of her. Warm and indulgent, no one had been surprised when she had been sorted into Hufflepuff, though it marked a first for a house full of Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Her school years were hardly remarkable though she did well in all her classes, and following graduation she joined the Muggle Liaison Office. A few years in she was assigned to a case in Wales, a dragon had been spotted and causing trouble near a mine in Tonypandy. The last thing she had expected when she had arrived in the area was to fall in love, yet fall in love she did. After a whirlwind romance that led to her being cast out from her pureblood family, Margot married Owain Burbage and settled into a muggle life among the verdant valleys she now called home. First came Rhodri, born a year after Margot and Owain’s marriage, then Charity two years later, and finally Morwenna followed along four years later. The Burbage household was a happy one, constantly full of friends and family. Whilst she largely lived like a muggle, Margot made no secret of her origins, telling her children stories of Hogwarts as bedtime stories. Charity had been the only one of the children to show any signs of magic as a child, and neither Margot or Owain had been surprised when the owl had tapped at the kitchen window the morning of Charity’s eleventh birthday. This didn’t change anything, she was still treated just the same as her other siblings. Returning home for the holidays, she never struggled to fit back in rhythm with the rest of the family - it often felt as if she had never left at all.

HISTORY

Upon graduating from Hogwarts, Charity returned home to Wales for a brief spell. With so many ideas and options for a career swirling about her head she didn’t know what her next steps should be. After several lengthy conversations with her mother, she decided to take a position within the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. It wasn’t the best job around, but it provided her with a steady salary whilst she figured out what it was she really wanted to, and having grown up surrounded by muggles there were few who were quite as suited to working with muggle items as she was. It was only supposed to be for a year or two, but that quickly turned into eight long years. Charity finally quit in 1991, and decided to spend the next two years in the muggle world, working various small jobs and settling in East London. It was by chance that she had seen the position advertised in the Daily Prophet when visiting her parents. Teaching had never been something she had ever really considered, but something within her told her it was the right path to forge ahead on. Recalling the inaccurate Muggle Studies lessons of her teenage years, she proceeded to overhaul the curriculum, with a particular focus on muggle achievements and areas that had no direct equivalent in the magical world. She loved her work, knowing that this was where she belonged. Her classes only grew more outspoken as the war crept up on them, determined to dismantle the prejudices held by many of the students. If she couldn’t save the current generation she was a part of, she would do what was within her means to insure that future generations would be different.

OOC EXPLORATION:

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? I decided to apply after it was recommended by a friend (hi, nic!). It’s such a unique concept, something that is a rarity in the hprpc. It’s been a long time since a plot has made me this intrigued, and I’m curious to see just how the returned will adjust to be among the living once more. Charity is a character I’ve been interested in for a while, and I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and give writing her a go.

ANYTHING ELSE? I am absolutely obsessed with pinterest, so here’s a lil board for Charity

[lilytakeharryandgo]

STOP ROMANTICISING SEVERUS SNAPE - A MANIFESTO

“Albus Severus Potter, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a great strategist, the other one was a racist, hateful, bitter, scary bastard. Voldemort must have damaged some brain cells when killing the Horcrux inside of me.”

Now that I have Snape fans raging and screaming for blood, here’s my show of evidence:

If the boring, same argument brought up by Marauders stans is Snape being a Death Eater, I know it’s basic, but it’s basic for a reason: it’s true. Supporting Voldemort doesn’t mean you support his ideas? I’m sorry, what did he support? The Dark Lord’s contouring skills? It is a truth universally acknowledged that joining a group of racists and following them in perpetrating crimes does make you a racist and a criminal.

JK Rowling herself said that Death Eaters are an analogy to Nazis, Marauders stans are not making this up. Are you questioning what JK ROWLING said? Because you know, she is JK ROWLING.

We know it was Snivellus that created the Levicorpus. He must have used it against the Marauders in order for them to learn it. And let’s just remember that “Snape’s worst memory” takes place after the Shrieking Shack’s incident, when dear, lovely Severus tried to unmask Remus so that he could be expelled for being a Werewolf. He went down to the Whomping Willow of his own free will, no one forced him, and he supposedly knew what was happening there: he risked his own life only to get Remus expelled. Yes, it was Sirius who thought it would have been funny to lure him to the Shrieking Shack where Lupin was due for his transformation, and that was wrong. However, why did he do that? Because Snape was constantly spying on them. Was it wrong? Definitely, no one is trying to get Sirius out of this one. Still, James saved Snape in time. Did James do that just because he wanted to protect Remus? Most likely: James gave them all a family and he loved his friends and would have done everything for them, and he did. But also, he wouldn’t have let an “innocent” (if we want to call him that) die. So James saved Snape’s life, which dear Half Blood Price seemed deeply ungrateful for later, and yet, Snape constantly tried to get the Marauders expelled from Hogwarts time and time again while using Dark Magic and creating his own dark spells (see the irony?). Stop saying that the Marauders’ actions pushed him to become a Death Eater. As if “Snape never missed an opportunity to curse James” was a lie. As if Snape wasn’t on his way to being a buddying Death Eater by his 5th year. As if Snape hadn’t came up with a curse that slices your body open by his 6th year. As if the Marauders had nothing to do but ruthlessly bully Snape all day and all night, when they actually are described as the brightest as some of the brightest students of their year despite being engaged in loads of other things like the creation of the Marauders Map, becoming Animagus, dealing with Remus’ monthly transformations (because those demonic guys didn’t leave him alone and didn’t report him to get him expelled as someone else was willing to do), James and Remus being responsible enough to be Head Boy and Prefect. Oh, and training for a war and joining the Order once they graduated. Minor things, right? Things they were busy doing in their personal lives such as surviving, living and being happy? Nah, that never happened, their entire life consisted of bullying innocent, poor service teenagers, that was their goal. Snape experienced one side of the Marauders (and we read that from his own pov, so it’s a little biased too): that is not a deciding factor of whether or not they (and especially James) are good people. He was so fascinated with the Dark Arts, even after Lily’s death and hence his presumed redemption, that Dumbledore did not appoint him as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Snape’s apologetics make it sound like the Marauders made Snape’s life hell every minute of everyday and he was the poor victim who was not capable of standing up to himself against those horrible demonic creatures, but he was the one inventing the Sectumsempra and using it against James, against George. Only a truly tormented person could have invented such a bloody spell. 

So now let’s talk about Remus. Remus, a hero who fought against Voldemort and joined an anti-terrorist resistance organisation when he was just 18 years old, who fought alongside Frank and Alice Longbottom in the Order, is about to start his first class with the third years. Neville is there, of course, Remus knows his parents’ fate, how they were tortured into madness, and probably guessed that Neville’s biggest fear would be similar to what he guessed Harry’s would be. He’s probably planning on stepping in before Bellatrix Lestrange shows up, but then it’s not her, it’s Snape. Snape who insults him in front of his class, Snape who tries to shame him. Can you imagine how he must have felt? Yes, they bullied him, but his best friend James grew up, and what did he get in return? Death. Instead, Snape hasn’t gotten over himself a little and most importantly he does not realise that being a teacher also means being responsible for those children. Snape never changes: he is the same petty, angry, bitter child that he had been in school, except now he’s bullying children half his age instead of yelling racial slurs at his classmates. While Snape is one of his students’ greatest fear, Remus starts off the year by letting his pupils confront their biggest fears. Remus truly, deeply cared about his students, and wait… what did Snape do? He got him fired! But even most achingly than that, just imagine… it’s 1993, Remus is coming back after a rough full moon. He’s feeling down, he’s weak, both physically and emotionally, he’s one more time without his friends by his side, one more time alone as he was before the Marauders became Animaguses to be alongside him to support him during the roughest times (horrible people, isn’t it?). So Remus is coming back to his class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and his best friend’s son is writing an essay on how to kill him. But Snape didn’t stop there, no, he told the whole Wizarding World that a man who had struggled to keep his condition secret all his life was a Werewolf. He had to withdraw from his position as a professor because of that, and straight after that the Ministry issued a law against Werewolves which made it impossible for Remus to have a job. So, to sum it up, not only he exposed him as a Werewolf, he also condemned him to live in poverty and be persecuted for that reason. Also, quoting, when Remus was trying to explain things in PoA he attacked him and said “I’ll drag the Werewolf, perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too.” James and Sirius were the kind of persons, the kind of friends and brothers, who risked their own life every month for one of his best friends. Think about this: they found out about Remus’ situation when they were just boys in their first years of school, and they didn’t leave him, they decided to help him embarking in something much bigger than themselves. Whereas dear lovely 33 year old Necrophilus told everyone about Remus’ secret and basically had him fired. Sounds angelic, why haven’t I thought about doing something like that before? That would most certainly secure me a spot in heaven!

Do we want to talk about an abusive person? Well, Snape was not just abusive as a person, he abused and took advantage of his position as a teacher (and Head of House too, to reward extra points from the other Houses) to bully his own students (even after his presumed “redemption”). He told Neville he would have given his failed potion to his toad, Trevor, so that the fatal effects of the potion would teach him a lesson. He bullied Neville to the point that he was literally his greatest fear - Neville’s parents were tortured to the point of insanity by Bellatrix, yet Snape was his greatest fear. He also condoned and took part in bullying when Draco cursed Hermione’s teeth to grow. He said he didn’t see any difference, then watched as she ran off crying. From the very start he starts bullying Harry: he perfectly knew he was raised by muggles, he knew how Petunia was and still went on to ask questions that he wouldn’t be able to answer. And after calling Neville and idiot for a mistake that anyone could have made he took points from Gryffindor because Harry didn’t tell him how to do it right - great teaching strategy, let’s nominate him for Most Valuable Teacher. Harry had nothing to do with what went on during Snape’s school years, but he physically resembled James and he was his son, so let’s bully him from the very first second! And honestly, asking an 11 years old Muggle-raised kid the difference between monskshood and wolfsbane in front of everyone on the first day? There is no difference! They are colloquial terms for the same plant. He just wanted the intellectual upper hand over a goddamn little kid. But he didn’t stop there: that resentful git always tried to blame Harry for something even without proof (as most of the time), and he physically abused Harry because he was angry (“Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry fell hard onto the dungeon floor.”). He knew how important it was for Harry to learn Occlumency and he stopped giving him classes and later ignored when Lupin asked him to start them again even when he knew how poorly Harry’s progressed. And he was cruel: he knew Harry was sad about Sirius’ death, and gave him a detention in which he was going to see his and his father’s names multiple times while copying out old detention records. Yes, Harry’s deeds should have called for expulsion, as McGonagall states, but Snape chose something more painful than that. Not only he punished Harry (don’t get me wrong, he almost killed Draco, he deserved detention if not expulsion), but he chose to inflict him more pain and at the same time tried to ruin the memory of Harry’s father figures. Ordinarily, copying out old detention records wouldn’t be worse than writing lines, but Snape vindictively tailored that detention to inflict pain.  In addition to this, he could have been an awesome teacher if he wasn’t a disgusting waste of a human being. He knew from his teen years that the instructions that the textbooks were giving were not as goos as they could be so he improved the potions and recorded his own methods at 16. Harry himself states what an amazing teacher “the Prince” is. If Snape were not such a horrible person, he could have either written the entire textbooks himself, or taught his students his own alternate methods. Instead he spent his time bullying children. He could have been great and become everything a Slytherin should have been

Snape also saw his friends perform Dark Magic on Mary Macdonald and when confronted by Lily, literally didn’t see any problem with it and compared it with the Marauders’ pranks.

He called Lily, his supposed best friend, a Mudblood. Then he tried to get away with it by saying he didn’t mean it and that she (and only she) was different from the other Muggleborns. And Lily tried, she tried to tell him he was not on the right path, she tried, and she got called a racial slur from the person she trusted the most at the time. And, for the extremist Snape apologetics in the back, who even hate Lily (how can they hate on Lily I don’t know, but apparently these people exist too): Lily Evans did not owe anyone anything. She had the right to cut ties with her friends for any reason she pleased, whatever that’s because she was sick of them or because they were hanging out with a group of terrorists wannabe. She did not owe anyone her love, loyalty or energy. She tried to be Snape’s friend despite his other group of friends (“but Mulciber’s and Avery’s idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don’t understand how you can be friends with them”), but there’s canon evidence that Snape chose his Death Eaters friends over Lily’s friendship and safety. It was her choice to cut ties with him after what he and his friends had done (and the racial slur of course, truly a touch of class), and it’s not like he was a good friend to begin with: he called all other Muggleborns “Mudblood” and was canon friends with the people who wanted Lily and other Muggleborns killed, and he even still wanted to be a Death Eater while being her friend. Like, wait here while I go out and slaughter your people, Lils! And if Snape stans are still arguing that he was suffering because he got dumped, that’s another no: he did not get dumped, she just didn’t have romantic feelings for him but was trying so hard to be his friend and he was just a whiny baby about it. Is that a crime? No, it isn’t. Is not getting over it and taking it out on countless kids who weren’t even born instead a crime? Yes, it is.

Also, from the get-go we see him drop a tree branch on Petunia. That shows that he didn’t see a problem in hurting the people Lily loved (seen later in a larger proportion, that’s his tag line). Lily loved her sister, but Petunia was an obstacle between her and Snape, hence, Snape hurt her. And no, that was not accidental underage magic, just as Lily performs magic on the flower, Snape uses magic to cause a tree branch to fall on Petunia. Even as a child he had no qualms about hurting someone Lily loved, this really serves to underscore the idea that Snape, with his so called love for Lily, was not invested in her happiness or wellbeing because he didn’t care about the people she loved. As a child he didn’t care about hurting her sister and at 20 he didn’t care about the imminent deaths of her husband and son. If he truly loved and cared for her, he would have wanted to see her happy. Not even considering how crushed she would have been if her husband and only child were dead, and she was left alone and pregnant in the middle of a war.

Okay so now let’s talk about James. Yes, James was a spoiled brat, and Lily hated him for that, then guess what? He matured, he started protecting the weaker ones and joined the Order along with Sirius, Remus and Lily to fight for a better world. He didn’t hold it against her nor did he sulk for days, he grew up and matured because he was a well adjusted human, unlike some. James Potter was many things other than an “arrogant bullying toerag” (hey, also, well done for trying to destroy a 15-year-old orphan’s memory of his heroic father): he was a friend who risked his life every month for Remus’s safety and comfort. A brother who took Sirius in and was “the best friend he ever had.” An adored friend of half-giant Hagrid, in an age when all “half-breeds” were looked upon with suspicion during the war. An all time “favourite student” of Minerva McGonagall, so much that she waited all day at his son’s future home and wept at his death. A savior of his enemies even when they were trying to expose his friends’ secrets. An activist protecting the right of existence for Muggles, Muggleborns and hybrids right out of school. A soldier who faced Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it. A caring father who went into hiding to protect his son. A loving husband who sacrificed his life for his family. A faded trace of magic still trying to guide his son when the man that killed him returned to life. A young man that inspired so much loyalty in his friends that Remus Lupin, who so feared the idea of harming people because of his condition, was 100% willing to abandon those morals to avenge his death, and would have done so, had Harry not reminded him and Sirius that James would not have wanted them to murder anyone for him. A Patronus helping Harry through his darkest moments until the very end.  James had a friend facing bigotry and he became an illegal animagus to help make that friend’s life better. Snape had a friend facing bigotry and he joined up with the bigots. No one is trying to pretend that James was an angel, but he got better and better until his last breath. And again, that spoiled brat and the love of his life joined the resistance and were martyrs. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus all died for Harry. Are you trying to blame James and Lily for sacrificing their own lives to save their infant son? What terrible parents they were! Their sacrifice was an act of love and wait… actually ended up saving the Wizarding World. The only thing James and Snape had in common was that they would have both sacrificed James’s life in order to save Lily’s. James was the hero, he was the one who faced Voldemort without his wand (pretty dumb thing but he was a Gryffindor, hence no surprise) in order to give his wife and son more time to flee. When he opened that door on Halloween, he thought he was sacrificing his life so that they could live. He literally died wandless perfectly knowing he wouldn’t survive, but facing death for those he loved, hoping he would be able to stall enough time so they could escape. He was never more dedicated in anything in his short life than he was to the loves of his life: he died for Lily and Harry, and would have happily died for Sirius, Remus and Peter. And this is absolutely canon, of course it is: we might not have some explicit description of him but all we know comes from the lives he touched, how they talked / not talked about him, the pain they felt - the seven books are a testament of James and Lily’s love. James Potter was the kind of person that would have been happy to die for love, he would have taken pride in that. How do we know that? Are we making this up? No, we are not: all we have are the words of people who knew him, from his best friends to McGonagall, and who remembered him as a hero. This, albeit indirectly, speaks volume about the kind of person he was. He might have been obnoxious and arrogant as a teenager, but at 21 he died a hero - wandless, alone, betrayed, hopeless, but also bravely and out of love - and nothing can change either of those. Yes, he bullied Snape (let’s be clear here even though I highly doubt Snape did not retaliate) and that is a disgusting attitude. But how can you forgive a 31 year old man for bullying his kids and not a 15 year old boy who bullied one of his definitely not innocent classmates? Who matured and who later died, at the young age of 21, for his wife and son? How can you hate James Potter when as soon as he graduated, he was ready to fight a war against the most powerful wizard of his age? Yes, he had a big head and I am fairly certain he did actually strut - and let’s just take a moment to remember why Harry doesn’t know anything about him… oh, right, Snape went to Voldemort and told him about the prophecy - but he was a caring person, who stood up to what he thought and stood up for his friends and his family. The spoilt boy Snape’s apologetics hate, who grew up to be a great man, who died fighting and protecting, not some emo with a crush and an ego the size of the Great Lake!  Wait, I hear somebody trying to bring up the “we have no real evidence of him becoming a better person” thing. Let me get this straight: James was mentioned to have jinxed other students, not to have bullied them. He did not pick out targets, it was implied to be done at random as it is explicitly stated that he jinxed random people in the corridors. Fred and George pranked other students in the same way, and they would have often have more disastrous effects, but no one calls them bullies. We know that on one known occasion attacks Snape with Sirius at his side and almost pantsed him with a spell of Snape’s own invention. James and Snape had a rivalry, and it was two-sided. It wasn’t James relentlessly hexing poor, innocent Snape, so if you still want to call James Potter a bully, okay, do it, he was a bully bullying a bully. The evidence speaks for itself: he was Head Boy in 7th year (hence I don’t think Dumbledore despised him that much), he was unapologetically a blood traitor, he dated Lily Evans (who hated him for how he was and would have never fallen in love with such a brat, so it’s pretty evident he did actually change), he joined the Order of the Phoenix (an anti-terrorist organisation, at the peak of the war, as a teenager, whereas someone else joins a racist dark cult), he died protecting his wife and child! And if we really, really want to bring the ‘evidence’ thing up… well, we have no evidence he bullied Snape, except for one little incident - I’m fairly certain he did, but let’s play it literally now. And since we are there, we may not have been blessed with more about the Marauders, but Sirius and Remus both tell Harry Lily changed his mind about James because he became a better person, why don’t Snape stans consider that an evidence pro James but “Snape’s worst memory” is their pro Snape pamphlet? That chapter showed us an incident where both Sirius and James were assholes but everyone that was there supported it but Lily. All the other Students supported it because of what the fandom conveniently forgets that Snape loved Dark Arts, disparagingly called Lily a Muggle twice, tried to expose Remus and run around with a group of Death Eater wannabes tormenting Muggleborns all through his school years (he literally says that torturing Mary Macdonald was funny - “That was nothing, it was a laugh, that’s all”), to the point where Lily’s friends and herself questioned their friendship: “none of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. I’ve made excuses for you for years.” And eventually, when questioned by Lily if he wanted to join Voldemort, he couldn’t find any way to lie to her: “you and your precious little Death Eater friends— you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You Know Who can you?”. He literally didn’t find anything wrong with Voldemort’s political position (only the fact that he wanted to kill his obsession, he only had that so called change of heart when it personally affected him as his beloved Dark Lord wanted to kill the object of his lust). So yes, he did join the Death Eaters because he wanted to and was everything he’d always desired. Does this make him a bad person? HELL YES.  

And wait, can somebody remind me why the Potters were forced to hide? Wow, it must have been because Snivellus dearest spilled the tea to his master. So basically it went like this: “Hey Dark Lord! Our adorable group of racists kills Mudbloods for fun, but there’s this filthy Muggle born I fancy, can you please kill her husband and baby so that I can have her?” How the hell could he think Lily could have ever forgiven him? He was totally fine with Dumbledore saving Lily but not her husband and infant son (see how deeply he cared about Lily’s happiness?) and only cared for him being the rebound. James and Harry were totally expendable but hey, bravest man ever known!  

So yes, he protected Harry (in his very own and questionable way, he did), but I’m sorry, that’s not enough. However, before someone says “in the end he cared about Harry” let me say a big, important fact: NAH HE DIDN’T. And not only he didn’t, but he also openly states that: in the Deathly Hallows chapter with the Pensieve, Snape describes Harry as selfish, self-important and arrogant - does it matter than all the other teachers like him and see none of those things? Of course not. And he’s not talking about sassy 4th-6th year Harry (who I really thank for that “there's no need to call me "sir" Professor” gem): Snape is tasing about an 11 year old who was picked on his whole life, who never had a family of his own and who lived in a cupboard under the stairs. He’s a child, an orphan (now tell me what’s that heroic about tormenting an orphan). However, Snape had decided that Harry must be bad news from the start, so he reasonably spends six years making his life as difficult as possible. That’s a great way to honour Lily’s memory, right? Do Snape stans remember what their hero answered when Dumbledore asked if he had grown to care for the boy, after all? He literally shouted “for him?” before casting a Patronus (a little over obsessive too). He felt he owed it to Lily to make sure Harry survives, and for Merlin’s sake, he did! He went to Voldemort and basically condemned the Potters. I’m not saying he is THE reason why they died, that honour goes to the lurid latrine rat, but he is one of them. Protecting Harry was the least he could do. Switching allegiances doesn’t cancel the awful actions before Lily’s death, as much as taking advantage of his position can’t be justified by his loyalty to Dumbledore. And most importantly, he cannot be redeemed by his stalkerish obsession for Lily (or by the creepy ‘look at me I want to die looking into your mother’s eyes,’ ew). All he did was made out of selfishness, even in his quest to redeem himself. Snape had a chance to honour Lily's memory, and disregarded it every single day. He claimed to regret his past, yet his cruelty to Harry was persistent and immature. Plus, loving someone doesn’t redeem terrible deeds. He aligned himself with a terrorist organisation who murdered for sport entirely of his own volition, endorsed the torture of Muggleborns, but of course, what a hero! I will never understand how people continue to use Snape’s obsession with Lily and ‘protecting’ Harry thing as an excuse for all the pain and terror that he inflicted upon small children. Does that mean you’ll excuse a father who continuously hit and emotionally abused his child and made their life a living hell if his excuse was “well I was still protecting them they had their dead mother’s eyes”? This is SICK.

And if you can still argue that “he had a terrible childhood,” that is inarguable, however, it just cannot justify him. Remus was bitten when he was 4, he had no friends until he was 11, lived in constant fear that he was going to be outed as a Werewolf, was forced to turn into a monster every month, lost everyone he loved and lived in poverty for 14 years and still managed to be a decent person. Luna watched her mother die, was picked on by almost everyone, was treated as a freak and only had one friend until she was 14 and still managed to be a decent person. Ginny was literally possessed by Voldemort himself for almost a year, guess what? Decent person too. Neville was constantly told how worthless he was, lived knowing his parents were tortured to insanity and was bullied and belittled by everyone. Decent person? Yes, right again. And do we want to talk about THE lonely kid who was abused his entire life? Sirius was raised and abused by blood supremacists, was disowned by his family, framed for murder (of his best friends, for Merlin’s sake!) and literally lost almost everyone he loved and still managed to be a decent person. He couldn't help the way he was? The environment around him conditioned him to be that way? If I remember correctly, Harry was raised by neglectful relatives, wore ill-fitting clothes, felt inadequate among his peers… Harry is proof that a terrible childhood doesn’t excuse despicable behaviour.

So, Snape hated Neville because he could have been the Chosen One instead of Harry (but it’s definitely on him for going to Voldemort and condemning the Potters), he hated Harry because he was James’s copy and he hated Hermione because she was a Mudblood and brilliant as Lily was. Makes sense, again, and again, it stresses how much of a beautiful person and teacher he was, don’t you think so? Also, had Voldemort picked Neville to kill instead of Harry, Snape would still be a Death Eater. It’s not like he thought being part of a group of supremacists and terrorists was wrong. It wasn’t until something directly affected him that he turned his back to his master - so brave, right? Snape may have done some good for the Wizarding World when he joined the Order, but while he was alive, he was horrible. He wasn't fighting the good fight because he couldn't possibly imagine a world where Voldemort was in charge (honestly, he couldn't have cared less), he was doing it to spare Lily’s life and get her for himself. James and Lily fought for the light because they believed in the light. Snape fought against the dark because the dark had offended him. Had Voldemort gone after the Longbottoms instead, Snape would have lived and died as the most loyal Death Eater in history.

Wait, I hear a “there’s no evidence that Snape voluntarily murdered anyone in his entire life” over there! He joined a group whose aim was genocide and was actually one of the few members which were part of the inner circle of Death Eaters, he didn’t get there by throwing kisses and rose petals around. It is explicitly said that not all Death Eaters actually bore the mark. Only selected wizards can be part of Voldemort’s circle, and not only Snape was part of that circle during the First Wizarding War, but it is also heavily implied that he passed messages from Voldemort more than once. Plus, he was also able to speak directly to Voldemort and even ask him to spare Lily’s life. Voldemort actually told Lily to move over three times before killing her, and he didn’t do that because he had such a kind heart and wanted to spare a Muggleborn’s life, he did that because Snape begged him. And maybe we haven’t read the same books, but it’s not like Voldemort strolled along Diagon Alley offering favours to random people. In addition to this, Snape did most certainly kill someone since Dumbledore compares Draco’s soul to his, meaning he has done remorseless acts of great evil before, hence his soul was already damaged, unlike Draco’s. So please, stop saying Snape was somehow influenced into joining the Death Eaters and never committed any crime: he fully believed in what they pledged and actually longed about being one of them for years (according to Lily). No one manipulated him into joining said group nor into perpetrating crimes. And no one manipulated him into being a horrible person even after he “switched sides.” He’s the one who willingly decides to be a terrorist, he’s the one who willingly decides to abuse children half his age, and he’s the one having the nerve to be awful to Harry when he’s the reason why Harry doesn’t have any parents.

And he was so childish and cruel! He threw a tantrum after discovered he was getting an Order of Merlin and wasn’t going to see Remus and Sirius in jail (even though he knew they were innocent).

There we go: HE KNEW SIRIUS WAS INNOCENT (don’t try to deny it, he was part of the inner circle of Death Eaters, he perfectly knew Sirius was not the one selling the Potters to Voldemort)! Did this matter for him? Of course not! And was Snape cruel and abusive to Harry because he blamed himself for Lily’s death and Harry was a constant reminder of his guilt? Yes, he was. But you know who else blamed himself for the Potters’ deaths and also was constantly reminded of them by Harry, and yet, did not abuse him because of his guilt? That’s right, Sirius. Sirius whose death was indirectly caused by Snape who kept making fun of him for being locked in Grimmauld Place. Sirius who had no problems breaking out of Azkaban, all he had to do was turn into a dog and leave. He could have left anytime he wanted to over those twelve years but he didn’t. You know why? Because he thought he deserved to be there. It was his fault his friends were dead. Everyone could blame him all they wanted with false accusations and it didn’t matter, since to him, changing Peter to the Secret Keeper, he was guilty for his friends’ death and deserved to be in Azkaban. He only broke out when he knew Harry was in danger after seeing that filthy rat on the newspaper. And when he broke into Hogwarts? Do people remember those lines: Hermione said “It’s very lucky he picked tonight, you know,” to which Ron responded “I reckon he’s lost track of time, being on the run. Didn’t realise it was Halloween.” Please, of course he realised it was Halloween, he perfectly knew that. He went after Peter on the anniversary of James and Lily’s death to revenge them and to save his godson. Sirius might have strut as much as James during his teens but again, he turned out to be a decent person.

And think about Harry, a 17-year-old grown up in an abused “family” (and still managed to be a decent person too): he has no memories of his parents, the only thing remained is a photograph. A photograph of a happy little family, showing James and Lily in love with the fruit of their love. Snape found it and ripped off and stole the half with Lily smiling so he could pretend her happiness and love were directed at him and not at her husband and son (yes, people, that disgusting moment actually existed, and it was so creepy Yates couldn’t put it in the movies). He stole Lily’s picture and Lily’s last words from Sirius, a friend she loved, the Potters’ best man, James’ brother. How nasty. What can I say, at least he waited until after Sirius’ death to go to Grimmauld Place and raid his bedroom?

Lovely Snivellus, such a cupcake, also laughed and mocked Tonks when her Patronus changed when she fell in love with Remus (let’s also remember that Tonks’s one was not the same as Remus’s, as stated by Rowling, before Snape stans can accuse me of applying double standards: Remus’s Patronus was a regular wolf, and okay Harry is oblivious at times, but he would have recognised a regular wolf) despite the fact that his own changed to match Lily’s - let’s just remember that THIS is obsessive behaviour, whilst James and Lily’s Patroni represent them being soulmates. Snape’s Patronus does not honour Lily, stop considering this the greatest romantic moment of all times, it does not show virtue nor morality, it’s just the representation of his creepy fascination with necrophilia. It’s disgusting, not noble. His so called love for Lily is creepy. She found happiness with another man, yet Snape was possessive, manipulative, and inarguably obsessive. And let’s remember that J.K. Rowling said that “he thought Lily would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater”… was he really her best friend or was he just completely blinded by his attraction to the dark side? This is not a redemptive love, this is problematic, toxic, abusive, emotionally-stunted, obsessive.

This is because there was never a love triangle and that’s why there is simply NO Team Snape! Not winning at the genetic lottery doesn’t justify being such an awful person! Also, THIS is why the tag line should be changed from “always” to “Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! I'll hold him off!” or to “until the very end” because a father’s eternal love for his son is much more important than a racist’s obsession of a dead woman (dead because he contributed to her death, to be precise). His always and doe patrons can’t get him out of this one. Eventually, let’s remember J.K. Rowling’s dedication in Deathly Hallows: “[…] to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.” Not “always” nor creepy moaning, just the pure words of a hero, of a loving father who died protecting the ones he loved most. 

Now, I don’t get why we should celebrate Snivellus as the hero of Slytherin and an example of the “not all Slytherins are evil” when Regulus Black died in a cave, drowned by reanimated corpses to bring about the downfall of Voldemort, and Narcissa Black straight up lied to Voldemort because she’s first and foremost a mother, ruthless in doing whatever it took to save her beloved son. Regulus and Narcissa were brave: despite their flaws they knew what mattered the most and they were two big key factor in Harry’s survival and Voldemort’s demise. Sure, Snape was among the three that deceived the Dark Lord, but whilst Regulus did it because he realised what was right and what wasn’t, and Narcissa did it because of love, putting her family first (plus, she wasn’t even a Death Eater, and this tells a lot about her, as her loyalties solely lie with her family), Snape did it because resentfulness. Sure, Regulus joined the Dark Eaters of his own free will and Narcissa did what she did only after having her family threatened, but since one of Snape stans’ major point in his defence is his family being abused, let’s take their family into consideration too. The Blacks were pureblood supremacist, they grew up within that establishment and yes, some members of the family rejected those arguable ‘values’ but not everyone has the courage to do that (also, every Black family member is indisputably a badass, don’t get me started on that). On the contrary, Snape was a half-blood, and still, ended up hating muggleborns - yes, don’t try to say he didn’t, he joined the Death Eaters because he believed in Voldemort’s cause. He disparages mud bloods, he joins in on their massacre as a Death Eater after having idolised them for years in school before actually joining them. Read this again: he idolised a group of pureblood supremacist, he actively helps orchestrate genocide against the muggleborns. And what is his Freudian excuse? He believed that, in so far as Halfblood, he had to ‘prove’ that he was magical and capable enough (does this remind you of somebody else who hated muggles albeit being a half-blood and eradicates his whole Muggle family?), you can see that in how he strived to highlight his maternal Prince lineage in his stupid nickname. And no, now don’t try to blame the Marauders’ behaviour for this: Severus Snape, the man you glorify, hated muggleborns and went out of his way to commit genocide against them. So, in the end, if you still deny that, despite it being clear in the books, you are being dishonest. If, on the contrary, you fully realise it and still glamorise Snape despite how horrible of a person he was, well Snape stans, you have sunk to a new low. I’m not trying to justify anyone who supported said supremacist beliefs, but at least Regulus and Narcissa were born and bred within one of the Sacred 28, those beliefs were instilled in them from the very beginning, Snape reached them all on his own (well done for embracing your nazi self Snivellus). Regulus turned his back on Voldemort as soon as he realised how wrong he had been: at age 18, he literally sacrificed himself to try and stop his master. Narcissa, on the other hand, never sworn loyalty to Voldemort: she was a pureblood elitist, yes, she was guided by pride, but she was also calm, rational and restrained where her sister was crazed and her husband was reckless. So… Regulus faced death in the hope that when when the time had come, Voldemort would have met his match and would have been mortal once more, and Cissy only wanted best for her family and did everything she could to protect her son. She perfectly knew that Voldemort could have easily killed her in a second, but she wanted to find Draco, kept a straight face as the strong woman she was and fooled the Dark Lord. And why did Snape deceive Voldemort? Oh, right, he told him the prophecy that eventually led to the killing of the woman he was obsessed with (and no, again, he did not care at all about her husband and baby), this, of course after asking him to spare her life so that he could have had her (so this is, once again, classic Snivellus holding grudges). Regulus and Narcissa are pretty much the epitome of Slytherin, and still, let’s celebrate Snape! As a Slytherin myself, I am utterly disgusted by Snape’s behaviour. He could have been an amazing teacher, he had the talent to be one of the greatest Potions masters ever, and he willingly chose to throw it away in favour of being awful for the sake of bullying his own pupils. If we have to pick characters who proved that not all Slytherins are evil, let’s look at Regulus, let’s look at Narcissa, let’s look at Slughorn and Andromeda. Slughorn fought against Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts and refused to become a Death Eater, Andromeda married a Muggleborn. And guess what? None of them bullied children for 15 years.

Then, for the “I sometimes think we Sort too soon” thing… no, just no. Before you can start yelling at me, I am not, I repeat, I am absolutely not saying this because I endorse the whole Gryffindor being saints thing. I am a Slytherin, and a proud one. I just don’t agree that Snape was brave. Is being a resentful, childish and abusive man being brave? Wow, I’ll have to refresh my vocabulary!  It is not brave to bully your pupils for years because you lost your loved one, it is not brave to refuse to accept a woman loves somebody else and moves on, it is not brave to keep a childhood grudge against that someone because they ‘stole’ the so called love of your life, it is not brave to try to destroy an orphan’s image of their heroic father. Snape was burned Lily had chosen James over him, so burned that, fuelled by jealousy and envy (and by his pretty questionable ideals too, because it’s too convenient to forget he is 100% a Death Eater and hence a supporter of Voldemort’s lovely view for the Wizarding World), he struck out and ended up getting Lily killed. I don’t consider playing the martyr by “teaching” (if we really want to call that teaching instead of child abuse) and being an occasional spy being brave. I call it feeling guilty, I call it ‘I deserve to suffer for hurting Lily but I still choose to bully her own son instead of honouring her,’ I call it ‘I keep on tormenting an orphan because I hated his father and he looks too much like him, plus, he has his mother’s eyes so I’m constantly remembered of 1) Lily choosing James over me and 2) Lily dying because of me telling my beloved Dark Lord the prophecy.’ Any protection Snape offered Harry, he did it because of his penance, not because protecting him (and hence stopping Voldemort) was the right choice. Wow, how brave of him. I don’t think Snape could have been a Gryffindor at all, and I hated how David Yates (again, very conveniently for his martyr business) placed the Gryffindor scarf hanging up in the background in Snape’s death scene as a nod to his supposed bravery. Like, really?! Even if you really want to call him brave, he’s still an awful person who shouldn’t have been allowed to teach because of how abusive he was, an awful person who was a member and supporter of a supremacist, racist and violent sect, an awful person who caused the death of innocent people - and I could go on and on. You can’t let a few good deeds outweigh all the bad! It’s not like some potion or Imperius Curse made him join the Death Eaters, spill the tea about the prophecy and terrorise those children. He willingly chooses to do that because he was an awful person until the very end. And still, Snape apologists be like “the conclusion of his arc is that abusing your position of power over children is forgivable if you stalked one of their parents when you were a teen.” Again, sick.

Snape’s portrayal in the movies is entirely fan-service throughout the whole series of films, but especially in DH part 2: they never showed Sirius arriving at the Potters the night Lily and James died, they never showed the moment his whole world collapsed when he saw the corpses of his best friends, the moment he blamed himself for what had happened. No, we got an entirely made-up (and creepy) scene of Snape getting there, holding Lily’s body and crying when that never happened! We also never got a scene with Sirius and Remus evidently struggling to hold it together while they tell Harry about James, how he changed and how Lily fell in love with him. Their pain would have shown how much James had an impact on their lives, for the better, but of course, we only got a partial rendition of Snape’s worst memory, with careful cuts of course, they couldn’t say he didn’t find anything wrong with the torture of Muggleborns, right?

You can like Snape, sure, he’s a flawed character with an interesting past, but he’s not a hero, stop portraying him as such instead of what he really was: an abusive, creepy, racist man. You are allowed to like villains (who doesn’t?) but stop praising him! You don’t have to justify his actions because you like him: he was awful, recognise it.

Do we (still) need to talk about double standards? Well, there we go: people hate Lavender Brown and Cho Chang. Fair enough, pretty annoying girls if you want to hear me, but why do they get hate? They get hate for how they handle their feelings: Lavender gets hate for how she handles her unrequited romantic feelings, and Cho gets hate for crying and grieving over the death of her boyfriend. Does this sound like a thread to you? With the sole difference that they get more hate than Snape and this is disturbing and honestly just sick. He is a terrorist, he literally moans the entire series and abuses and terrorises children because he couldn’t have Lily but hey, misunderstood hero!

Stop romanticising Snape: the only reason why people love him is Alan Rickman, and all of this hatred is just a pathetic way of trying to cover up that James grew up while Snape didn’t. How can people glorify and stand up for a man who canonically is a vindictive bully? To be honest, I’m genuinely concerned for people who over romanticise such a man. Correct me if I’m wrong: do you see anyone sticking up for the Dursley’s or Umbridge, when they do basically the same stuff to Harry as Snape? How is Necrophilus any different? I will never regard him as a hero for as long as I am alive, however, the movies conveniently cut those parts where Snivellus was the half princey of baddies, right? Also, I really wish Sirius could have found out about this lovely nickname Snape gave himself as a teenager, that alone would have cured his depression, post traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, this is a real tragedy.

Severus Snape did not die for love. He died because Voldemort thought hew was the true Elder Wand owner. I repeat: he did not die for love. Period.

He raised a wand to McGonagall!

Avada

Kedavra

[ivory--raven]

Analysis: Albus Dumbledore

Dumbledore is a very, very questionable character.

His years with Grindelwald influence what he does much, much later on in life. Albus wanted power, he craved it. He says to Harry (if we believe that that was indeed really him)

I too sought a way to conquer death

and of his relationship with Gellert,

It was the thing, above all, that drew us together. [...] Two clever, arrogant boys with a shared obsession.

We know he defeated Gellert in 1945, but did not kill him, instead locking him in Nurmengard. JK said post-books that Albus was on love with Gellert, and it's hinted at in Crimes of Grindelwald ("oh, we were closer than brothers").

Even many years later, he says

"Me. You have guessed, I know, why the Cloak was in my possession on the night your parents died. James had showed it to me just a few days previously. It explained much of his undetected wrongdoing at school! I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I asked to borrow it, to examine it. I had long since given up on my dream of uniting the Hallows, but I could not resist, could not help taking a closer look... It was a Cloak the likes of which I had never seen, immensely old, perfect in every respect... And then your father died, and I had two Hallows at last, all to myself!"

His tone was unbearably bitter.

Harry asks:

So you'd given up looking for the Hallows when you saw the Cloak?

Dumbledore forces himself to meet Harry's eyes and says

oh yes. You know what happened. You know. You cannot despise me more than I despise myself.

At this point he is talking about the death of his sister Ariana. But although he says he had long since given up on my dream of uniting the Hallows he never says it was no longer his dream, implying that it still tempted him in 1981.

Of Ariana, he says that Harry should despise him, and

you know the secret of my sister's ill health, what those Muggles did, what she became. You know how my poor father sought revenge, and paid the price, died in Azkaban. You know how my mother gave up her own life to care for Ariana.

Another mother sacrificing herself for her child!

I resented it, Harry.

I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I wanted to shine. I wanted glory. Do not misunderstand m, I loved them. I loved my parents. I loved my brother and my sister, but I was selfish, Harry, more selfish than you, who are a remarkably selfless person, could possibly imagine. So that, when my mother died, and I was left the responsibility of a damaged sister and a wayward brother, I returned to my village in anger and bitterness. Trapped and wasted, I thought! And then, of course, he came...

Grindelwald. You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me. Muggles forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution.

Oh, I had a few scruples. I assaged my conscience with empty words.

Of the ressurection stone, he said

To me, I confess, it meant the return of my parents, and the lifting of all responsibility from my shoulders

He says that he was

offered the post of Minister of Magic not once, but several times. Naturally, I refused. I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power.

Before 1945, then, Dumbledore has the idea in his head that he should not have power, that he is too easily tempted by it.

it would not be unreasonable, I think, to wonder if he saw another boy, gifted, brilliant, clever, arrogant, and decided that he ought not have power either, that he was too similar to Albus himself and Gellert, who during this time was wreaking havoc in the wizarding world.

He says that he despises himself, and it's possible that that was the root of his dislike of the next child he met with similar traits: Tom Riddle. An orphan, a dislike if those 'less than' him, a penchant for cruelty he was seemingly unbothered by.

The greater good drove much of what Albus does. He knew Tom was a Parselmouth, and did not come forward even when Myrtle died - instead choosing to inform Tom that the school would close if it didn't stop, thus bringing an end to the basilisk's hunt... Perhaps he hoped Tom would be legally disposed of, a threat gone, and the lives of a few students were an acceptable sacrifice - the 'any harm done' he mentions - for the well-being of the people he feared Tom would kill if allowed to roam free - the 'benefits he talked about'.

Albus often seems to make justifications like this.

He was witnessing, after all, another boy with a cruel streak, lofty ideas of himself, ambition and dislike of the idea of dying, wreak havoc on the Wizarding World.

Years later, he traded Harry's life for others. Severus finds out in a rather unpleasant way: Albus says

We have protected him because it had been essentiitk teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength. Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth: sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged things so that if he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort.

We have protected him because it had been essential teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength. Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth: sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged things so that if he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort.

Severus is horrified:

You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?

Albus says,

Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you seen die?

And...

Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms. Along the way, he was to dispose of Voldemort's remaining links to life, so that when at last he flung himself across Voldemort's path, and did not raise a wand to defend himself, the end would be clean, and the job that ought to have been finished in Godric's Hollow would be finished: Neither would live, neither could survive.

Harry feels terror. He wonders if dying will hurt. It does not occur to him that he has a choice, that he could try something else... and he thinks

Dumbledore's betrayal was almost nothing.

Harry thinks through Albus' plan, and is not angry. Instead, he considers himself 'foolish' for not seeing the big plan. He thinks he has failed because Nagini lives. He wants to do what Albus would have wanted even now.

To reach that point, he had ten years of belittlement, ten years of living, underfed, in a cupboard, malnourished - in the first book it is mentioned that he is short, scrawny and had knobbly knees because of a lifetime spent in confinement.

And then the bearded, wise wizard, a grandfatherly man, cared for him.

Harry doesn't remember caring adults. He craved approval. When Albus puts his life in danger, (and Albus himself admits that they were tests to prepare Harry for his death) Harry says that it is good of Albus to allow Harry the choice.

It isn't a choice, not really. Harry has been conditioned not to think of any options.

Harry is trained up just as Albus planned. And in the end, he did what Albus wanted.

He arranged everything because, on Albus' orders, Severus told Harry about Albus' idea that Harry would have arranged everything!

Even from the grave, his portrait was manipulating Severus into living a lie and risking his life again and again, no longer for the woman he loved, just because Albus wants him to and has convinced Severus to do it..

The power Albus had was not the power he had feared, but it was power nonetheless

Harry did one thing differently. One thing Albus had not planned

And that was offering Tom the chance to redeem himself. Again and again, Harry tries to explain, tries to tell Tom about what he doesn't know - and strips Tom down to his very core, to the arrogant, gifted, so very brilliant boy, a boy clever enough and arrogant enough to catch himself in a complex trap.

Harry asks Tom to redeem himself.

Albus didn't think Tom could be redeemed.

Tom refused.

And why wouldn't he, when nobody who knew of his ambitions believed he had any chance of loving, of empathy? He had been taught nothing. Even Harry had a loving family to observe, and later on the Weasleys showed him that love, but Tom? An orphan among many others, hated for his powers, someone presumed to be a muggleborn in Slytherin, returning year after year to deadly, war torn London? It isn't hard to see where he got the idea that he was not cared for, not loved, not really... And if he couldn't have it wasn't worth having!

Albus' downfall was believing too much in war and absolute power, and not truly embracing the love he preached. Albus is a man of sacrifice and trade offs. In the ghostly station, Harry sees a crying baby and feels bad, and Albus sees a vanquished enemy and is satisfied. He convinces Harry to believe that he is right - Albus believes himself. Harry, a boy told again and again that he was worthless, a liar, a boy who had had everything he believed in ripped out from under him multiple times, finds it easier to be convinced then to believe his first instinct.

Albus didn't believe in forgiveness. He did not forgive himself, he did not forgive Severus. He kept bringing up Severus' past actions to control him. He was unwilling to try and give Tom a second chance.

And perhaps it can all be traced back to a blonde boy whose darkness be thought could be overlooked, but could not, and a redheaded boy fascinated by things he would later condemn, whose past haunted him forever.

[durzarya]

HP x Good Omens crossover part 2

So here is part two as I promised

You can find part one here: (1)

So Harry goes home, and he has so many things to say, because yeah he wrote letters, but it’s not the same

He starts to tell everything about the whole mystery, about the Stone and how he faced Voldemort again, how he killed a man, and how he might be responsible for another two deaths, and dad please save them please

After the first panic, because their son’s life was in danger, Crowley realizes that he actually knows the Flamels, but like from the 15th century, they were one of the few people who know about him being a demon, he never wanted them to die

And apparently they invented immortality, which is, what even are humans, and now they are dieing, angel we are doing something

This is how a couple around their 50s move into the house next door. Dumbledore baffled by their choice comes to visit. Aziraphale being a good neighbor invites them for tea, Crowley does not want the headmaster in his house, because he couldn’t protect his son, but loses the argument

Aziraphale: “It’s nice to have so many young people at the house!” Nicholas: “You are doing quite well for you age too!”

Dumbledore is so confused, Crowley never loved more his bastard of am angel

It should be a gloomy summer, because it’s supposed to be the last, but Adam wants sun and fun, and the world listens to him as always

the Flamels start making another stone, the Them want to hear everything about Hogwarts and sometimes Hermione and the Weasleys come over for fun (Draco too, but never at the same time as the others, he has an image)

Ginny still has a crush on Harry, it goes away quickly after an afternoon with Pepper

They become friends, it’s terrifying

Soon it’s time for Harry’s and Adam’s birthday and all of their friends are staying over the house (even Draco, come on it’s important!)

It’s a two-day celebration, as usual and the second day arrives Dog, the hellhound and the whispering starts

Crowley and Aziraphale are worried for Adam and Harry of course, they would let the world burn if it would mean the two would live

But this time Adam knows, that he is the Antichrist, he knows what the voices want, and he knows what he wants and he could rebuild a world from the ashes, but he likes this one. They already have plans how to make it better (at least Pepper and Wensleydale knows, and Brian likes helping people, and he would do anything for them, for his own little paradise here)

Anathema moves into the cottage and starts searching for the young Beast and the lesser Beast, instead she finds a bunch of weird people and a handful of sweet kids, she accidentally leaves her book in the Crowley-Fell house (the four immortal read it on a single night)

The first time they hear about her, there is a debate between the kids if Anathema is a witch, a witch or a witch (the first one being a someone without any actual powers just knowledge about things others don’t, the second being someone with power but not the same as Harry has, and the third one being a normal Hogwarts student)

Soon they start talking about the history of witch burning and how many innocents were executed end up with how higher authorities manipulate education

This is the first time Anathema meets and promptly invites them to her newly rented cottage, brilliant young minds need to be cared for, after all

It’s almost the same, but this time Adam doesn’t go mad, Anathema gets her book back sooner and slightly more people face off the combined forces of heaven and hell (the Bentley still ends up in fire and three still ride the sky as two)

The Them face off the horsemen Beelzebub and Gabriel arrive and there is a bunch of people they never met, and they aren’t afraid until the Flamels start threatening with immortality (humans never dieing, this way heaven and hell won’t have their soul)

They summon Lucifer too, and he is angry up until the point his son calls the Serpent of Eden father, and now he is intrigued, still a little scare never hurt anyone

The Devil firmly back in hell, or at least for now, angels and demons terrified and humanity alive Adam and the Them finally get their Hogwarts letters

Dumbledore delivers them personally again this time with Severus at his side, because a) neither were on the list until today and b) he needs to know what’s happening with this family

“No Albus he is not Lily’s brother!” “I could be, professssor.”

Crowley loves causing chaos, thank you very much

They go to the Diagon Alley again and Adam receives a black talking diary, with Draco frantically singing behind his back not to write in it

He doesn’t listen, because there is something tugging at him, instinct telling him to do it, he wouldn’t do it, but they are not the same voices that asked for the world ending, it’s more like him knowing he would get a dog

Tom Denem is fifteen and half a soul and he is delighted he finally has someone both to talk and manipulate, fifty years is long time alone

He tries to take Adam’s magic, a tiny bit, just enough to give him a way for later, for possessing for taking more

Except he is Adam, and he is powerful and protected and he ignored voices more powerful than a whisper, so when he takes a tiny bit of his magic… he pops into existence

The following family meeting is awkward, especially after they figure out that the boy is Voldemort, the man who killed Harry’s parents and tried it again a few months ago

And yeah he is Voldemort, or he is going to be, for now he is a power hungry fifteen year old horcrux made by both accident and opportunity, he didn’t commit all those horrible things

Adam has an idea, if he is half a soul, why shouldn’t he make it whole again? He knows what he feels like, he can wish the other pieces here

This is the point where the rest of the them arrive so while he does his thing there is another round do explanation

Pepper threatens the former/future dark lord with death by fire if he hurts anyone she loves, Tom decides this is the weirdest thing ever happened to him, and he found out he was heir of Slytherin

Adam summons all the pieces except for the one that is Voldemort’s ghost, and everyone has a fright when a shiny snakelike child comes from Harry wailing and crying (it’s Aziraphale who calms it down with a shushing parseltongue)

Tom has the other half of his soul laid out on the table, and the strange, powerful boy is inspecting it. He tries not to feel judged

Adam is confused, all these little parts and they don’t seem to fit together, and he can make souls and bodies from nothing, Atlantis and his father is living example for that, but repairing something is harder than making it new even if it’s worth it

He can’t make these for, but the soul that matters not the thing that holds it. It doesn’t take long for all the parts to transform into little puzzle pieces

It’s a 3D one with 128 parts and finally he can do this

The Them help too and it’s weird, because it’s something obscure with no help or instructions, but they can know where the parts supposed to go

And every time Brian puts a piece to it’s place, Tom can feel his thoughts becoming clearer, when Wensleydale does it, the power hunger in him eases and Pepper makes him feel at peace and Adam gives him a will to be alive not just live until the end of the times

It’s almost done, his soul is now in four pieces, but one is missing, the same one that holds ghost Voldemort and that’s the most important one

Because taking the soul apart is dark, but not random, even when it happens spontaneously the magic chops down a part of the soul (every time taking something from you), but the core remains, and Tom doesn’t have that

But Adam is the Antichrist, he can make souls and bodies and reality bends for him, this will be more difficult because the piece needs to fit, to hold the four part together

And he can do many things, he invents the best games and he doesn’t listens to authority. Imagination and free will, all human traits

But Adam also loves

He loves strong enough to stand up against the combined forces of heaven and hell and choose earth. All the love he ever felt he learned from his family, from this tiny village and friends

Tom has imagination and free will, but Adam has seen his soul and he couldn’t find an ounce of love here. So maybe if he shares his it will be strong enough to hold a soul, to heal one really

And suddenly the last puzzle piece is there fitting perfectly and Tom doesn’t know this warm fierce feeling, but he knows he won’t be able to ever give it up

Everyone is exhausted and after tucking the children in (“Yes Tom, you too!”) an angel and a demon decide they can have another kid

The next day Tom Fell officially arrives, after his father’s early departure from the living

Two days later Dumbledore shows up again with another surprise letter this time for a fifth year student (all of the other letters were sent already, why do magical people just keep popping up in this place??)

He almost has a heart attack when he sees Tom Riddle sitting at the breakfast table eating cereal

After an accusation, a dressing down and an apology (“How dare you, headmaster! That’s my cousin, he just lost his only living parent!”), Dumbledore leaves more confused than before

Everyone still speaks parseltongue in the family

Tom can’t wait for the upcoming year

Yeah I think I will finish here, and I will add some random headcanons later, because there are some more but nothing like this

[bravestslytherin]

Random thoughts on the friendship / working relationship between Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey

-Their first official meeting as colleagues was a bit awkward considering how often he’d tried to avoid seeing her when he was a student. 

-He was supposed to be learning how Poppy’s inventory system worked so he would know what to brew for her and when.

-He mostly kept his mouth shut and listened, but when he saw a few potions that he had no idea could be used for medical applications, he had to ask.

-She was surprised but explained, and then they got to talking a bit about what sorts of improvements she would like in the potions she used (purely hypothetically, of course -- though he eventually managed to create some of them). 

-She mentioned that she wished Healing was always as simple as giving someone potions, since they were easier to administer than trying to invent counterspells for god-knows-what accidents and duels students got themselves into. 

-Severus thought for a moment he might have ruined the conversation and their new working relationship when he impulsively mentioned that he might be able to help her with matters involving curses, but she only nodded and said she’d keep it in mind.

-She ended up liking having him there when a curse or jinx went awry, partly because he was more than competent at countering them, and partly because he soon became a more reliable presence than the Defence teachers who only lasted a year each.

-She tried to invite him for tea a few times in his first year of teaching, but he always refused unless there was actively something for him to do in the hospital wing or she had a question that couldn’t be discussed in passing. (It didn’t always work, but she became very good at storing up questions so that they had the excuse for a longer meeting.)

-She didn’t have to work so hard once he asked her about a book he saw in her office that intrigued him. She loaned it out on the condition he tell her what he thought when he finished with it. -He asked to borrow another some time later, and again not long after that. After a while, she joked that people were going to start wondering whether he was trying to switch careers if he kept reading medical literature.

-It was her turn to wonder whether she’d ruined their working relationship when he only got quiet in response. He didn’t tell her that if he’d made different choices as a younger man, he might’ve trained for Healing or the accompanying research -- and if he hadn’t already sold his life away for a promise, he might’ve tried to pursue it again.

-She didn’t comment on it again, but suggested more books occasionally so he would realise he was free to keep borrowing them.

-He became very skilled at Healing magic, but of course kept it mostly hidden. He almost always sent students to her with their complaints, but almost never sought out her services himself. 

-Half of those times were mostly under false pretense anyway -- she occasionally caught him trying to reorganise her stockroom at two in the morning and he grumbled about the dungeons being cold when she insisted he cut it out and go to bed.

-It was obviously a terrible excuse, but she always let it go and offered him one of the spare beds for the night instead. Usually that led to him sneering about how he wasn’t incapable of warming charms and storming out, but he did occasionally accept and spend the night there once she’d gone back to bed. (But he was always gone before she woke up in the morning.)

-Neither of them were quite sure why he did it. Poppy thought it might have been nights he felt particularly lonely or restless; Severus put it down to nights he was too lazy to walk back to the dungeons and too weak to care that he was being lazy. They never talked about it.

-That and their occasional book conversations were about as close as they got to friendship. These grew even less frequent when Voldemort returned.

-After Severus became headmaster, they barely spoke more than ten words to each other. She didn’t know whether she was pleased or not that he’d left Minerva in charge of all the administrative matters that Poppy was accustomed to bringing up with the headmaster.

-He didn’t have the time or energy to miss her company much, but there was the occasional depressing moment when he realised how much he’d learned from her in 15 years and that they’d probably never speak to each other again.

-After the Battle of Hogwarts, Poppy was far too numb and exhausted to process her feelings when she learned he’d been killed. But she did remember that her first coherent thought was that his death was a terrible waste.

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Gatsby! you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Lucius Malfoy

↳ please refer to our character checklist

Reading over your audition was truly a pleasure! You brought him alive for us, and personally there were a few places that you had me falling in love with your portrayal of him. I can’t wait to see what you bring to the dash, and more importantly what having Lucius around is going to be like!

*your faceclaim change to Boyd Holbrook has been accepted

application beneath the cut 

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Name: Gatsby

Age: 24

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Time Zone: EST

ACTIVITY

I am a senior paralegal so, needless to say, sometimes I do become busy. However, I should be able to log on in the evenings unless I have something going on. On weekends, I will be particularly active. I like to write and I like to roleplay. I expect that, provided the roleplay wants me here, I will be able to meet the expectations you have set forth.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

The tags.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Oh dear, that’s difficult. I suppose I identify most with someone like Sirius: Not quite what your family would expect of you, but content with that. A bit dodgy when it comes to your decision-making skills in social situations, opinionated, but with a heart in the right place.

That being said… I have never actually played Sirius… I prefer Death Eaters.

ANYTHING ELSE?

None.

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Lucius Abraxas Malfoy - I believe, per the naming patterns of the Malfoy men, that the middle name is traditionally the father’s first name. Draco Lucius Malfoy, meaning Lucius would be Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, and Abraxas would be Abraxas Brutus Malfoy.

BIRTHDAY / STAR SIGN

May 16th, 1954 - This puts Lucius pretty firmly in the Taurus range. I particularly like this for the following quote:

“Unlike the Aries love of the game, the typical Taurus personality lovesthe rewards of the game. Think physical pleasures and material goods, for those born under this sign revel in delicious excess. This zodiac sign is also tactile, enjoying a tender, even sensual, touch.”

OCCUPATION

Lucius works for the Ministry. I know this isn’t explicitly stated in the books, but I think it’s fitting. I imagine that his father, Abraxas, probably pulled strings to get him accepted with relative ease rather than letting his son toil for it. I headcanon him as working for the Department of International Magical Cooperation– specifically in the International Magical Office of Law. He is so politik, and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he was some derivative of magical attorney. He knows what can and cannot be said, he’s calculated, and he is very good at getting out of things. He’d thrive in a law office. Additionally, on the international level, he’d be an asset to Voldemort because he can affect the influences leaving Great Britain as well as at home.

FACE CLAIM

I am fine with Sam Claflin, but I tend to use Boyd Holbrook or Jamie Dornan. My preference would be one of the latter, particularly because I think Sam looks a little too boyish alongside Elizabeth Olsen, but if you disagree, that’s fine!

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

I actually have always liked the Malfoys best in Harry Potter. Normally, I’m a Narcissa player, but in playing her I have come to understand the sorts of things I like out of a good Lucius versus a mediocre one.

He’s a character of subtlety, for sure. A lot of the pureblood way of life reads old-fashioned to me. I think that Lucius would understand the expectations placed upon him and would absolutely try to uphold those values, but he would also have reveled in the gifts he was born with. So he would know how to act in front of old-fashioned types, but I think he is also deeply in tune with the world around him. He’s stylish, observant, and calculating. There are very few people that can come between his goals/ambitions and whatever means necessary to achieve those things. I don’t tend to play a Lucius who is particularly nice to people who don’t matter to him, either. While he knows how to people-please and has no trouble groveling when it is the most beneficial course of action, he has pride to a fault. He wouldn’t pander to the Weasleys of the world unless he had something to gain.

Lucius has a way with words, he’s charismatic, he’s flirtatious, and he’s not afraid to get what he wants no matter who he has to step on.

That being said, I don’t accept the interpretation that Lucius would ever abuse Narcissa or the people close to him. He can be an asshole (he’s a Death Eater, after all), but rule number one in becoming an overlord is never turn against your queen or your inner circle. He would not risk his comfort among those with whom he shares status for much.

However, he is deeply principled. Lucius supports the Cause, and he believes in blood purity. His family is Pureblood back to its roots, and that means something. However, he also doesn’t particularly love getting his hands dirty. He’ll kill who he must and wreak havoc where it is asked of him by the Dark Lord, but he lacks the same sadistic streak that some of the others have. He wants to reap the benefits of being a Death Eater, but he doesn’t get off on the chaos.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Preferred Ships: Lucissa is my OTP, but I’ll entertain anything with chemistry

Sexuality: Pretty stalwartly heterosexual, but I can see him possibly using someone else’s attraction to him to his advantage regardless of gender.

Gender and Pronouns: Male, He/Him/His

Lucius has never been shy about sex. He likes sex, he can and has used sex in the past to forward himself, etc. However, he does have decorum, so even his closest friends wouldn’t know much about his and Narcissa’s sex life–she matters to him, after all. Thus, he would respect their privacy. In school, Lucius likely had several lovers: he’s attractive, charismatic, and manipulative. I doubt he had a hard time getting women to want to sleep with him. He is not unfaithful to Narcissa, however, and left the days of many partners behind him when they were engaged.

He’s definitely distinctly dominant in the bedroom, though. He’s controlling about a lot of things in his life. I don’t think that would change behind closed doors.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER

-A MOODBOARD: http://www.gomoodboard.com/boards/LomwbpC5/share  (hopefully you can see that!)

-A PLAYLIST:

Undisclosed Desires - Muse | ��Soothing/I’ll make you feel pure/Trust me/You can be sure”

Sympathy For the Devil - Rolling Stones | “Please allow me/to introduce myself/I am a man of wealth and taste”

Sinister Kid - The Black Keys | “And that’s me/that’s me/ the boy with the broken halo/ that’s me/ the Devil won’t let me be”

NFWMB - Hozier | “Ain’t it warmin’ you, the world goin’ up in flames?/ Ain’t it the life where  you’re lightin’ off the blaze?/ Ain’t it a waste it watch the throwing of the shade”

Fame - David Bowie | “Fame makes a man take things over/Fame lets him loose, hard to swallow/Fame puts you there where things are hollow (fame)/Fame, t’s not your brain, it’s just the flame/That burns your change to keep you insane"

Make Me Feel - Janelle Monae | “It’s like I’m powerful with a little bit of tender/An emotional, sexual bender/Mess me up, yeah, but no one does it better/There’s nothin’ better”

Gorgeous - Kanye West | “Not for nothing I’ve foreseen it, I’ve dreamed it/I can feel it slowly drifting away from me/No more chances if you blow this, you bogus/I will never ever let you live this down, down, down"

All These Things That I’ve Done - The Killers | "Another head aches, another heart breaks/I am so much older than I can take/And my affection, well it comes and goes/I need direction to perfection, no no no no"

-A FEW HEADCANONS

Lucius’ mother died when he was in fifth year. His father cared very much for her, and Lucius himself definitely was a mama’s boy until he had to learn to get on without her. He doesn’t talk about her much

When his parents went into talks for the betrothal, he thought that he was going to be saddled with Andromeda. Narcissa was a welcome surprise.

A good portion of his family is French. He spent many summers in France growing up on the vineyard his grandfather owns. He speaks French fluently.

He is a wine connoisseur. Lucius loves wine and can tell you a great deal about it.

When he killed his first Muggle, he had to resist the urge to throw up. He didn’t, but he had never had to do something so visceral before.

-A FEW POTENTIAL PLOT POINTS / CONNECTIONS

Lucius chafing under the more visceral aspects of being a Death Eater would probably attract attention of the others. For a man whose status is the most important thing to him, navigating his justification for any reticence might be fun!

I see Lucius and Severus being close friends–he is the one who brought Severus into the fold, after all. So, assuming the RP’s Severus is interested in that, I think commiseration about their places in the Death Eaters would be nice.

I would love to talk with your Narcissa about why they only have one child. Did she have trouble getting pregnant? Did they only want one? I think there’s a lot to possibly explore there.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

“Normally, I might leave such things up to Severus. It seems to be a talent of his, after all.“ He ran a hand over his hair, considering carefully. Most of the magical kit he had was sufficient for his needs. "For myself… Perhaps a spell to render someone more gullible might be interesting. It’s not really that difficult to make people believe what I want, but to not even have to try? That might be helpful.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

“At risk of sounding redundant, I would likely choose Severus once more. He’d be familiar with the fauna, and he’s known for his even temper even in stressful situations. As for the item… A lantern seems practical. Lumos can only be active so long before you actually need your wand for more useful things.”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

Frowning, he lifted a shoulder. “Those decisions that I know will benefit me in the long-run, but may be difficult to explain to my inner circle at the time of making them. Upsetting Narcissa is always something I try to avoid, but if we will be happier at the end of things, sometimes it’s necessary.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

“That I’m inconsequential. Without worth.”

REACTION TO LAST EVENT DROP

((I had some trouble finding this, but I saw that the last applicant mentioned the Daily Prophet being burned down))

Lucius is very busy trying to deal with the chaos resulting from the Daily Prophet’s temporary upset. After all, there is finding out why it happened and also figuring out how best to explain it away. The Ministry is abuzz with questions. Lucius would be focused on trying to figure out how to benefit himself and the Cause, while also minimizing possible inquiries from other countries as word got out.

WRITING SAMPLE: ((I borrowed Narcissa. Hope that’s okay))

The clock in the hall ticked steadily in the silent manor. The dim light in Lucius’ study was the only disturbance in the otherwise serene darkness as the house slept. However, there was hardly time for much sleeping when one thoughts were otherwise plagued. Of course, there was always the interminable question of "what was next”? Surely there would be some recompense for what had happened at the Daily Prophet. Undoubtedly, the Dark Lord was brewing a solution as he sat pondering.

When it had happened, Lucius had been… otherwise engaged. He recalled the raid he had been on the night before, remembering the mudbloods that had been hiding in the floor of all places in some blood traitor house. Bellatrix, per usual, had been wild at the chance to dole out what she thought was an excellent punishment for the crime. Lucius, for his part, had simply wanted to be done with all of it. Still, it wasn’t particularly simple to put out of one’s mind the scent of burnt flesh. Of course, he knew it was for the cause, and it wasn’t his place to question his orders. But could he be blamed for looking to the future? They were a threat, surely, and very few at the Ministry didn’t know that something was afoot, though most were intelligent enough not to discuss it where people might be listening. And yet he knew that a threat was something hardly concrete. He was working to maintain his birthright, just as all Purebloods were, but Lucius Malfoy longed for the rewards.

Of course, he was a loyal lieutenant–he would have to be a fool not to be. When the Dark Lord said to jump, Lucius responded with a blithe “How high?” When all was said and done, the work now would mean luxury later.

The thought had a scoff leaving him. He was no stranger to luxury as it was. Still, to have luxury and security… that he craved.

“Lucius?” Came a familiar voice from the door.

He looked up from his thoughts, tearing himself away from his rumination as a soft light outlined Narcissa’s golden curls. “I’d thought you were sleeping,” he said to her, pushing to his feet to cross to the doorway.

“I was,” she answered, voice soft so as not to disturb anyone else. “But then you never came up.”

Ever the dutiful husband, he was quick to give her a charming smile. He knew what was expected, and he could hardly have her sitting up staring at him while he said nothing at all. “How inattentive of me,” Lucius responded. “Shall we remedy that, Mrs. Malfoy?”

As she took his arm, he gave a wave of his wand to put out the light that still burned at his desk. Musing could wait–and had to, it seemed.

And yet how many would he need to help kill before all the rest of them bowed as they should?

[scaredofrobots]

The Oath Pt 7

ON A03 / FFN CAUSE OLD

Sunday is the first good morning in a long time.

James wakes up before Sirius and goes to the store.

He’s got a project planned and doesn’t want to delay.

Although he spends more time at the mall than he intended- he doesn’t fuck up the muggle money (for once) and is damn proud of himself.

When he gets home Sirius is pouting until he sees James has brought breakfast (which is from a terrifying place called Waffle House Sirius is obsessed with) and forgives James instantly. They chat over greasy hash browns and too much bacon about seeing Lily again and what they want to do when they go back to England.

That is until James brings up his project.

The project which is somehow totally offensive to Sirius.

“YOUR BEARD?!?” Sirius exclaims, “but we look so distinguished!”

“I never said you had to shave...I just think that it's time,” James lies, “war is over...no need to continue the rugged soldier look.”

“If you’re wanting to get Evans to drop trou I’m pretty sure the rugged soldier look is going to be more effective,” Sirius grumbles

James takes a breath counts to ten. The he rolls his eyes and tells Sirius, “I’m not letting you piss me off today.”

SIrius chuckles and retorts, “Good luck- but you better get started. It took you long enough to shave when there was nothing there. I imagine this is going to last until phone call time so I am going out. I have Disneyworld tickets to buy and a day to plan for my godson”

And with that Sirius picked up their trash and headed to the kitchen.

Once Sirius is done, James heads into the loo to begin his project.

The “Rugged Soldier Look” is just a name he has given to his beard to avoid the truth.

James has gotten very good at avoiding the truth- to avoiding anything that makes him look past his disguise and see the man he has become.

He has created two versions of himself in his mind.

‘Before James’ and ‘After James’.

He hopes that in some small way- removing the beard, seeing his face for the first time in nearly a decade will take him back to ‘Before’ to a man that Lily will recognize, a man that Lily will still love and someone that by some fucking miracle she might forgive.

He begins to trim his beard and tries not to remember.

Growing a beard had started not by choice. Being locked in a dungeon deprives you of many things, and shaving is one of them. Near the beginning, he had asked….but they thought he’d use a razor to slit his wrists or someone's throat so he was denied.

James had been appalled. But now, now he’d done so many things that sounded laughable in comparison. He thinks this as he lathers his face with shaving cream.

After Sirius had come, and they’d set their plan to join he denied shaving again. Sirius convinced him to “make it look neat for fucks sake” and he’d agreed. Sirius joined in solidarity. Sirius had always hated the Hogwarts facial hair rule and was glad to grow it.

James grew a beard to hide.

To hide his disgust with the choices he was making.

To make himself unrecognizable in the mirror

The first swipe of his razor takes him back to his first mission.

Where he had to prove loyalty.

This first thing is the one thing he isn’t sure… it will be the last thing he will tell Lily….he isn’t sure if she will forgive him for it.

But he will tell her.

Even if it is the last thing he tells her.

He might not tell her for years- he might tell her tomorrow.

He has seen what secrets can do to people in the aftermath of this war. James has been so much a part of that destruction he feels cursed with his chance.

A chance at a fresh start.

They’d joined up shortly after James killed Pettigrew.

Sirius and Regulus- ever the storytellers revealed that Peter had come to set James free, and that James refused because he had finally “seen the error of his ways”.

Regulus had done an amazing job of having enough visits with James logged to prove it. That Regulus had convinced James and that Peter had been turned back by Dumbledore.

Sirius, of course, would follow James anywhere and that was their story.

The first time James had to smile at Voldemort, to kiss his foot and take the mark.

Then the tests.

There were many.

Anyone deemed less  than a pureblood was fair game.

The last thing he would tell Lily happened on the third day of tests.

James arrived into the atrium.

He’d barely slept the night before.

He was sure he would be discovered and that today was a trap.

James stopped short when he saw Severus Snape.

His jaw twitched. And he kept himself from lunging forward or drawing his wand.

That fucking bastard. If his final test was to kill Snape he would do it.

He would do it in so many violent ways Voldemort would never question him again.

“Potter,” Voldemort drawled, “Severus here says you were with each other at Hogwarts.  Close to enemies although you both had similar tastes in your filthy attraction to muggle borns.”

Swallowing his rage at the insult to Lily, James put on his best grin and said “Yes- well it seems we both woke up to our perversions and are trying to atone for them.”

“Yes….yes...well Severus here doesn’t believe you. I asked him for the one thing you wouldn’t do and well….I’ll just let you see for yourself.”

The doors opened and two death eaters brought forth a child.

A red headed boy who was cursing like mad.

“A muggleborn,” Voldemort announced in a bored voice.

James raged. He pushed it down and said deceptively calm, “What shall I do to it my lord?”

Voldemort grinned and Snape looked surprised-almost disappointed.

“Well- we know how effectively you are with Avada Kedavra…” Voldemort started

‘Good,’ James thought ‘Quick then. I can pay for my sins later.’

“But I’m feeling a little bored. Cruciatus I think….and then….make him forget everything about magic. We’ll send him to an orphanage to live with the filth like him,” he finished.

James nodded. Held up his wand and for a split second hesitated and then, “Crucio”.

Three hours later, there was no need for obliviate.

James rinses his face and looks into the mirror.

For a moment, he doesn’t recognize himself. Has he become so broken that even his old face can’t hide the brokenness?

Suddenly the phone rings, breaking him from his thoughts. Sirius must’ve returned while he was away because he hears his voice answer the phone, “Nigel Babbington’s office- how can I help you?”  

James wipes the remaining shaving cream off and tries to listen to what Sirius is saying. He hears “Evans” and darts to the living room. He tries to snatch the phone out of Sirius’ hand but is stopped. Sirius holds the receiver ever higher and tells him “You look like you’re fifteen”. James lunges and Sirius takes the opportunity to jump with the phone over the back of the couch.

James glares before Sirius tells him, “Calm down Prongs, Evans was mine first and I didn’t get to talk to her yesterday and you’re going to be intolerable when you reunite so I want 3 minutes.”

Starting to pace James tells him, “I’m watching the time.”

For three minutes all James can do is ignore Sirius and Lily’s conversation, pace, and stare at his watch.

It is a long fucking three minutes.

He tells Sirius, “Times up!” and somehow Sirius gets another minute.

James all but snatches the phone from Sirius and can only think to say “Hi, How was your day?”

The response is Lily’s laugh. So normal. Maybe they will be ok.

He listens to her talk about trying to get Harry to actually fucking pack. She outlines tomorrow and when she drops something on the other end she exclaims “SHIT FUCK!”

James scolds her, “Lily- please don’t fucking curse in front of our child.”

Lily scoffs and retorts, “Well I would watch my language but he did call a kid an arsehole on the playground the other day for bullying someone- so I think it is a lost cause”

“Sounds like his mother- that does,” James tells her and he is struck, not for the first time about how nervous he is to be a dad...will he be good enough? Will Harry like him?

Lily seems to sense this and tells him, “Well I think your son might wear a hole into this floor if I don’t let him talk to you soon. I’ll give some warning before we are out of quarters.”

Harry gets on the phone and James enters another world. His son is fascinating. He’s so articulate and funny and James has missed so much. He can’t wait to see him, to hug him and to learn about him in person. James is so excited by Harry’s description of football he feels like the air is sucked out of the room when Harry says, ““Well, Dad we’re almost out of time- Love you- here’s Mum”

He is extremely disappointed until he hears Lily again, ““Well, James- I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow”

Tomorrow. He can manage that.

His voice thick James tells her, “I suppose so….I love you Lil. I-I can’t wait.”

“I love you too- think you can keep Sirius in line for 24 more hours?” Lily asks

And her response is so Lily, trying to make sure he knows things will be ok- that some things well be the same he is obliged to respond, “Only if you promise to take him off my hands for the next ten years”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

And then the line goes dead.

James cant stop smiling for the rest of the night.

After he brushes his teeth- he looks in the mirror again.

He is smiling and for the first time in ten years, he almost recognizes himself.

[potions-and-potters]

Hey you should totally ,,, *sticks leg out* ,,, tell me ur favourite snarry fics because i've run out of good fics and it made me sad

I most definitely ,,, *sticks leg out* ,,, will tell you my favorite snarry fics but I make no promises that they’ll be anything you’ve not read before. Also, because I’m very opinionated, imma give a brief little blurb of my opinion for each.

My Favorite Snarry Fics (in no particular order):

Because I Love You, You Idiot by TheMightyFlynn

I’m rereading this at the moment, actually. It’s so so so so wonderful. It’s a creature fic with Sev as a Veela. It’s arguably a little OOC, but it’s so full of sexy smut and warm fluff that I just can’t stop rereading it. I highly recommend it. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve reread this thing. I love this Severus because he’s still him, but it’s like an indulgent him, if that makes sense. My favorite line in any fic ever comes from this fic. 

With Eyes Wide Open by suitesamba

This one kind of frustrates me at times because I wish it was a bit more… emotional? It’s a forced marriage between Harry and Sev, and I’d say it’s a little more realistic than some in regards to their relationship. I just sometimes find myself so desperate for them to get super emotional at the end, but this is not an extreme fluff fic. I LOVE the subtleness of how Severus is shown to be so attracted to Harry (all I’m going to say is rutting. you’ll know when you get there). It’s a lovely fic. Also it has touches of jealousy in it which are delicious.

The Courtship of Harry Potter by Diana Williams

I’d recommend this for anyone starting out in courtship fics. It’s rather tame as courtship fics go. Not smutty (though, if I remember correctly, there is some sexy times). It’s a wonderful and easy read. Severus is great, and it’s quite funny.

Nature’s Changing Course by Durrant

I’m not too much of a fan of de-aged fics, but this one is so sweet. Sev (who is de-aged) and Harry are in their last year of school post the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry is so sweet and innocent. Sev is unsure and adorable. It’s also got amazing teenage lust that leaves you gushing kudos for the author for writing such hotness that somehow is the utmost of cuteness.

Changed and its sequel Claimed by Sablesilverrain

Omegaverse. These are sort of my guilty pleasure. I’ve not actually read these in a good while. Harry is an Omega and Sev is an Alpha and it is hot hot hot. Like I said, my guilty pleasure.

Secrets of Midnight by Lizzy0305

Definitely OOC. Severus just… doesn’t act like that. But I love it so shhhh. It’s hot and fluffy and SO AMAZING OH MY GOD IT’S LIKE TWO FICS IN ONE. I see it as broken into two parts. The first part is student-teacher relationship. It’s hot and fluffy and makes my heart happy. The second part is post Battle of Hogwarts. It’s delicious and wonderful and my heart soars. Some of the lines in this are just so funny I can’t even. I don’t want to spoil it for you but AHHHHHH. Read it. You gotta. 

The Unexpected Omega by Nagabelle

Omegaverse (obviously). It’s an au in more ways than having alphas and omegas in it. The smut will steam up your windows, so watch out. The sequel The Unexpected Heir is still incomplete and it kills me because I need to know how it ends. It’s another guilty pleasure fics. I love a good omega fic.

A Convenient Marriage by Diana Williams 

OH MY GOD THE JEALOUSY IS MOUTHWATERING. I love, love, love, love the latter half of this fic. Oh it’s so delicious and wonderful. Severus is so *swoons* with his jealousy and his protectiveness. Ugh. If you’re looking for a realistic forced marriage thing but with fluff and sexiness, I recommend this wonderful fic.

Of The Passion of Potters by Brego_Mellon_Nin

Sometimes you just gotta read a smutty fic. This is deliciously smutty right from the start. It’s quick paced, and an easy read. Oh, and there’s this scene which involves Flitwick that I just love to bits. Oh, Severus. It’s so so funny.

A True Match by LilRinnieB

Fluffy happiness with some lovely smut thrown in. It’s another indulgent fic of mine that I love to reread when I want a confident and forward Severus that knows exactly what (read: who) he wants and an oblivious Harry.

Between the Lines and anything else by Dementordelta

Harry gets to know the Half Blood Prince by communicating how he did with Tom in that diary. Harry is so cheeky and I love reading Sev slowly losing his self control around him. Also, everything Dementordelta writes is just wonderful????? 

Addiction by Lizzy0305

Vampire!Severus is lip licking good. Oh this story has everything I love. Jealousy, mates, smut, teasing, possessiveness, humour, fluff, and Severus losing his tightly held control because Harry James Potter is a sexy little fucker whom he loves very much.

Jealousy Is the Best Policy by Lomonaaeren

I honestly read this fic over and over again just to get to the end of it where Sev is an absolute savage and Draco is told to fuck off in the most wonderful (and luckily for Harry, pleasurable) of ways.

Arbitrium Liberum by Lizzy0305

Sev’s ego and smugness bite him in the bum and it is GLORIOUS. Professor Potter is having serious issues with this free spirited Severus. Honestly, what I wouldn’t give for a day with Sev under the affects of this potion. 

Playing With Matches by Emynn

Harry, Harry, Harry. My poor little oblivious Chosen One. When will you ever learn. Severus needs to also get it through that cute little skull of his that Harry doesn’t take subtle hints. Smash him against the wall and kiss him dizzy, Sev. This match making fic is so entertaining. Sometimes I like to hurt myself with reading pining, and this has got glorious pining in it.

Sudden Urges by lilyseyes

Sev has no self control and it’s just great. SHAG HIM SEV. SHAG HIM SILLY.

Parable of the Talents by Lomonaaeren

Another guilty pleasure fic. Jealousy and some poor misguided soul thinking he can get Sev who is clearly Harry’s and we all know it. Sev has no mercy and no chill. Oh, Severus. Oh, Harry. 

Going Green by Emynn

The ending always has me like !!!!!! Severus you idiot. You of all people should know the importance of word choice. Also: Miscommunication can FUCK OFF. 

Tempus by Suziesu74

Guilty pleasure. Student-Teacher fic with Harry back in the past and Sev is the student. It’s got lots of smut, and I’ll tell you now can be a bit… problematic if I’m honest. Sev is underage (I’m pretty sure) and Harry does some questionable things. But it’s just one of those fic’s I keep coming back to. Also, I love the plot. It’s a unique execution on time travel fics. 

One of a Kind by Emynn

OH MY GOSSHHHHHHH. It’s so short but it’s so sweet. I wish there was so much more. The jealousy in it kills me. I LOVE how protective of Harry Severus is. I don’t want to ruin it, but Sev’s reaction during the dueling? Oh. I can’t. He’s so wonderfully protective. I love him so. I just love the premise. I want more.

The Boy Who Lived a Bit and its sequel Care of Magical Creatures by Barbarella

My literal favorite fics of all time. This is SO in character. I think that’s why I love it so much. It’s got heart stopping smut and fluff. The plot if AMAZING. They are completely themselves. It’s so wonderful because it’s everything you want in a fic and with our beloved otp of snarry, and yet it is so realistic that you can totally see this being real. I love it. SO SO SO SO SO much. I mean this is my favorite of all time. In any fandom. These two fics are just THE BEST. 

The Fire Call Series by Flic

Made up of several shorter fics as chronological order sequels. It’s a great mix of sexy and fluffy. You know how sometimes you find a wonderful series but the last fic in it kind of makes it end ‘meh’ like? Skinny Latte, which is the last fic, is a super sweet ending to the series. Which I was so happy about. 

Sunrises and its sequel Happily Ever After by Julia the Younger 

Oooooooh. The angst!!!!!! Let me tell you how much I do not like super angsty fics. hella. I hella don’t like them. But the angst in this is worth it. It’s a more realistic fic, and unlike Barbarella’s two realistic fics, it takes the realism in a not-as-blissful-and-fluffy-but-still-quite-happy path. Also the jealousy provides a grand moment in Sunrises and Happily Ever After’s ending is so sweet.

So as you can tell, I really like jealous!Severus and Possessive!Severus and Protective!Severus. I think it’s because I feel like Sev is a jealous, possessive, and protective man. So, it sort of makes sense to me that he’d be like that and to see him put those to Harry out of love and lust makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I also love mates and bonds. I think it’s so romantic when they’re fated

Anyway, these are my favorites. I hope you like them! Also, you can always give my fics a read :D I’ll be writing more soon. My inbox is always open to prompts (I’m working on fulfilling some right now actually), so feel free to send me them!

Happy reading!

[wandchoosesthewizard]

but also i need malfoy meta? like how did narcissa get to be where she was? is there anything she wouldn't do for her family? how does she actually feel about her sisters? i need malfoy things pls

Gonna put this giant fucking rant about my most precious Malfoy under a cut. Because I am just gonna go off!! (And honestly it does get really long).

So let’s kick this off by directing you here for a little light reading because instead of plotting I mostly just fucking regurgitated a lot of Narcissa feels. 

So - obviously - given the scant information we have in the books, a lot of this is just my head canon and I mean, you know, whatever. Take it or leave it. The only exception to this is Narcissa, Lucius & Draco’s love for each other. They love each other and I will accept literally nothing else. (Like most specifically Narcissa and Lucius’ love for each other, and their love for their son. Draco’s feelings may be more complicated - understandable so - but Lucius and Narcissa LOVE each other and they LOVE their son and yes they made mistakes and may not have raised him perfectly (what parent does???) but you can get the fuck out of here if you think Lucius was an abusive husband or father…) 

And then we start to swathe out into the muddy waters of my feelings / interpretations. I’m sorry it’s a bit scatter shot but… It’s just what happened.

So I think one of the biggest things I need to state here is I play very heavily with the canon timeline - ignoring and acknowledging it at my whim. So I often play it so that Narcissa is in the same school year as Severus (sometimes along with Lucius, sometimes not) with Andromeda the year above and Bellatrix again the year above that. And this comes into play more later on. So let’s begin. 

Narcissa Black is the third and last child of Cygnus Black III & Druella Rosier. She was meant to be a boy (as, honestly, were her two sisters before her) but she was a last ditch attempt. Narcissa is aware of this flaw from a young age - and while she is not abused for it - there is a certain… Emotional neglect. She is spoiled, treasured and she supposes it is what love feels like. But there is also the pervasive knowledge that she is a tool - more than she is a person. 

She is to be wed to a man from another high-class family. Andromeda and Bellatrix are betrothed to the Lestrange Brothers and she is… For a long time, unsettled. There is a fear she will be wed to her cousin - Sirius or Regulus - as her aunt and uncle were. However, nothing trouble her more than the delay - the delay in finding her a suitor. Is she unloveable? Is she unmarriageable..? What is wrong with her?That is the first fear Narcissa Black remembers having. 

The second is the fear of madness. Their family breeds in - as they have to if they wish to stay ‘toujours pur’ - and you can see glimmers of madness in Bellatrix certainly (something made only worse by Azkaban) and in some people’s interpretations, Walburga. I also think that Violetta Bulstrode (for whom she has her middle name) her great grandma went mad and Narcissa witnessed this at a young age.

This is her second biggest fear and eclipses her first fear easily. Because - because she is raised to believe she is special, beautiful and precious. She is different from her sisters (and there is always an inkling, perhaps, that she is not her father’s daughter) in looks. She is blonde, beautiful and brilliant. You can fake enough to make yourself loveable. You cannot hide insidious madness creeping through your veins.

It’s why - I play her as a very controlled, very private person - with a surface veneer of sociability. She laughs, she smiles, she parties, she charms - but her inner workings, her thoughts are private. Her fears, her sadness, her anger - she keeps a tight reign on them and has for a very long time (which backs up her skill at occlumency). 

So - you’ve got a special young woman - Bellatrix is probably treated very strictly, Andromeda is, likely as the middle child, ignored. And Narcissa - the baby, is also - quite possibly ignored, but a little more spoiled and the one for whom the rules don’t exist.

They spend a lot of time together - learning to be proper ladies and Andy is her favourite. Bellatrix has an edge of cruelty to her, a temper often left uncontrolled - the loudest voice and the harshest opinions. Sirius is nicer than Bellatrix but their personalities are both loud and dominant, and so, she likes Regulus better too. 

Bellatrix goes to school. It is her and Andy alone now (and, occasionaly, the boys) and she loves it. Adores the monopoly of her sisters time and affection, resents it when Bellatrix comes home but must keep that to herself. Andy goes to school and she is bereft. Alone. Her parents have little to no interest. It feels like a year of solitude (she is, of course, entirely too dramatic in this regard). 

And then she goes to Hogwarts and it should be the best time of her life. While at school she doesn’t put in as much effort as she could, or perhaps should into her school work - she has already learnt there are no consequences for her - and she’s more than willing to get someone else to do her homework for her. Sirius ruined it, of course, by being sorted into Gryffindor. It is the first crack in the perfect facade of her family. (Depending, on of course, where Andromeda went when she was sorted.) 

It upsets her, of course - as does everything else he carries on doing - he is still her cousin (even if he isn’t her favourite). And him leaving - it shredded their family in her opinion. It made it very easy to hate him. 

When Andy leaves - it’s harder. That’s her sister, her favourite sister and it is the most painful thing she could do - to abandon Narcissa like that. Like she doesn’t even care about her family. Hating Andromeda - she… She can’t. She knows she should, Bellatrix who has suddenly turned her full attention onto her tells her she should. Her parents tell her she should. Her aunt and uncle tell her she should. 

And she can’t. She wants to. She can’t. She loves Andy. 

But it’s not like she can see her anymore. 

She needs space to breathe - but suddenly - there isn’t any, the pressure is unbearable and there isn’t anyone she can talk to. And Bellatrix - she loves her sister but this… This is too much. 

But she endures. It’s what she does. I’m not sure how she gets over it  - she probably meets Andy in secret - vents her spleen and then… Puts up and shuts up. 

As for Lucius and Narcissa. I am very free flow about how it happens - Arranged marriage? I’m on board for that. Something more organic? Yes please. Something - somehow - to do with Severus introducing them? Fuck yes. 

But like I said, they love each other. I’m not very specific on the how or why - I can pretend I’m keeping it open for whoever I’m playing opposite - but there is, for Narcissa, that recognition of - oh. This. This is what love actually is. This is what it actually is. I’m not sure if it feels… Unconditional? To her but there is something there - that tethers to her to him. 

Draco - I feel is (and this is where I snap back to the original timeline) is their only child for a reason. I think - and if Narcissa and Lucius are older than James and Lily - it’s either because they waited or because they had difficulties. Given how doting we canonically see Narcissa to be (sending her son weekly care packages, refusing to let him go to Durmstang) and the fact he is their only son, I am inclined to believe the latter. 

And I think - for Draco - For Lucius - well Narcissa says it best herself:“Let go, Bella!” snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other’s face. Bella merely laughed. “Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn’t–” “There is nothing I wouldn’t do anymore!” Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as she brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister’s arm as though burned. 

I think - one of the big problems I have with Cursed Child - is apparently after all that… After lying to Voldemort - who would kill them all if she was discovered - After running, unarmed, screaming for their son at the battle of Hogwarts - Narcissa and Lucius would lose their son and their grandson to bigotry? No. No way. Narcissa has lost too much of her family. She would swallow her pride and suck it up. And she might not be the best at it, at first - but she would not lose her son over who he chose to marry, who he chose to love any more than she would cut off her own arm. She might never be perfect but she would try. (And let’s not get into how the last movie /cursed child shits all over that bc. I will kill.) (And yes, you can directly transfer this on to Drarry and Scorbus or Dramione or whatever other non-traditional choices you might have for Draco. Narcissa would figure it out somehow simply because she has to.) 

(Also gimmie all the post war Lucissa angst.) (And all the first war Lucissa living the high life of pureblood & death eater elite) (And then also the post Voldemort fall high life too) (just give me Lucissa who love each other and make each other better and build each other up or give me death.) (I’m getting tired now and this is devolving, so I think this is where I’m gonna have to leave it but if you have more specific things you want me to explore plz plz plz prompt them - for any of my characters bc I love ranting I s2g) 

[ink-splotch]

I was wondering, what if Harry and Hermione had met before Hogwarts?

The first time Harry Potter met Hermione Granger, she was standing with her chin up and her hands on her hips a few paces from the old olive tree in the schoolyard, glaring into the far distance. The wind was trying to twist and buffet her hair into her face, but mostly it was just tangling cheerfully with itself.

Dudley and Piers were busy kicking all the other kids off the play structure, so Harry had retreated out into the grass. He stood a safe distance from the weird girl who was pretending to be a statue and thought wistfully of lunch.

“There’s a fallen bird’s nest,” the girl said in a rapid and certain tumble of syllables. “The boys knocked it out of the tree, but I chased them off and I’m hoping the mama bird comes back. I’m Hermione Granger. We just moved here.”

“Harry,” he said.

“How’d you get that scar?” she said.

“Car accident.”

“That’s a weird scar for a car accident.”

Harry shrugged. “It killed my parents.”

She blinked quickly at him and even at that distance he wished vaguely that she wore glasses, too, because her gaze was something that really felt like it should have some built-in bluntedness. “Mine are dentists. Mum’s taking me to the library after school, want to come?”

-

Before they went into Diagon Alley, Harry asked Hagrid if they could find a payphone. Hermione picked up on the first ring.

“Harry! Where have you been? I’ve been trying and trying to call–”

“Sorry, yeah. Um, so, I’m not coming back to school next year, I…” Harry drifted off, staring at Hagrid’s massive moleskin shoulders. The giant man saw him looking and gave him a tentatively cheerful little wave. “It’s been weird, Herm.” He pressed his forehead into the phone stand, but not too hard. “I think you’re the only thing I’m really going to miss.”

“Harry,” Hermione said and Harry started to frown, because that wasn’t her stern and startled voice. That was the voice that meant she was off down a charging war path of other thought and might not have heard him at all. “I’ve been reading.”

“Of course you’ve been reading,” he said. “I’ve been being forcibly hidden from a swarm of post office owls–”

“You’re in books,” she said in breathless delight, squeaking over the telephone line. “First thing we did, of course, after the professor explained, was get her to escort us to a bookstore– a whole bibliography, Harry, a whole world’s bibliography I haven’t even touched– how am I ever going to–” She took in a little calming breath, and murmured, “Different infinities, it’s okay, Hermione, okay.” A sharp exhale and then she tumbled right back into her rushing rivelet of a sentence. “And I picked up a good dozen, besides the school books, of course, and Harry, you’re in books, in Dark Wizardwork of This Century and A Modern Wizards’ History and October’s End: A Biography–”

“Hermione,” said Harry with slow enunciation. “Are you a wizard, too?”

“A witch, I think,” she said. “But I’m still reading up on the sociology of it all.”

-

Hagrid wouldn’t say Voldemort’s name, but Hermione would. She came over with a stack of books up to her chin, gave the Dursleys her normal pointed little stare that said she’d like to set them a little on fire, and curled up in his cupboard with him.

He supposed she probably could learn how to set them on fire, now, if she really wanted to.

She gave him passages and excerpts with his name in them, with his parents’ names, a home he hadn’t known. There were pictures of a ruined house with the smoke drifting in little curls of ink. There was his mother, smiling and waving in black and white. There was his mother, laid out on the floor, with a sober little caption below it. That picture was still, except for curtains fluttering in the window.

Hermione finally dragged her face far enough up from the pages to see Harry holding his own hand very tightly, and then she closed the book and reached for one about which magical creatures you should pet and which you shouldn’t.

“Sorry,” she said.

“I wanted to know.”

“I’m still sorry.”

-

The Grangers drove Harry, Hermione, Hedwig, and their trunks to King’s Cross Station. Mrs. Granger kissed the top of Hermione’s head while Mr. Granger mussed Harry’s mop of dark hair affectionately, and then they swapped children and repeated the treatment. Hermione pushed her hair back out of her face and marched them all to Platform 9 ¾, the entrance mechanism of which she had read all about.

“Before you go,” Mrs. Granger said, “let’s buy you some sandwiches? I don’t know what sort of food they’ll have past that–”

“There’s a trolley,” Hermione said, but her parents dragged them off to a snack kiosk anyway, Harry happily in tow.

As they were on Hermione’s tight schedule, there were plenty of compartments open, and they took one all to themselves– well, to themselves, Hedwig, and Hermione’s books, which took up two seats. (Harry would wheedle Hagrid into taking him to Diagon Alley for Christmas shopping that year, where he would get Hermione a carry-all bag for her small personal library.)

Hermione took a long preparatory breath while Harry unwrapped his sandwich. “Harry? What if I go and sit down under the Hat and I just sit and sit there, and then it says I’m not a witch at all?” Hermione said, the words getting more squashed together and higher-pitched as she went. “I’m not magic, it just got confused, and they send me home? Harry, I don’t want to be a dentist. Other people’s mouths are disgusting–”

“You’re not going to get kicked out,” Harry said, chewing amiably on his sandwich. It was not good, but the Dursleys hadn’t bothered with any breakfast for him and he hadn’t wanted to bother the Grangers about it either. It was a bit dry on the way down, but it settled warmly in his belly.

“But what if I do?”

“I’ll stage a protest,” said Harry. “Refuse to do my homework til they reinstate you.”

“You’re not going to do your homework anyway.”

“See how dedicated I am to you.”

She made a dismissive little noise at him, wringing her hands in her lap.

“Hermione,” he said, and she lifted her bush of hair to look at him. “You’re the most magical person I know. It’s gonna be alright.”

She gave a long slow blink but whatever she might have said was interrupted by an uneven knock at the door. “Um,” said the pudgy boy standing there. “I’ve lost my toad.”

Hermione leapt to her feet. “Where did you see him last?”

Harry followed in the wake of her forward charge, but he brought the rest of his sandwich with him.

-

(Harry did not know this and would not know this until Mrs. Granger mentioned it casually over a Christmas dinner years and years later– but she and Mr. Granger reported the Dursleys for child abuse and neglect, over and over.

The reports got lost– minds scrubbed down, papers vanished– but they kept calling in reports. They considered kidnapping. They couldn’t imagine why the wizarding world might want to keep their chosen one somewhere so toxic, why they might want to keep this underfed child and his messy hair with those people.

“My mother left me a blood protection spell,” said Harry, whose scar had not ached in years. He poked at his mashed potatoes under the focused attention of Mrs. Granger’s stern little forehead wrinkle. “I had to live with family, blood family.”

“Then they should have made them treat you right,” Mrs. Granger said, as though it was that simple.

Mr. Granger gave Harry another helping of peas.)

-

On the steps of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy thrust out his hand to the Boy Who Lived, who surveyed the open palm with amusement. “Thanks,” said Harry. “But I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself.”

The redheaded, freckly, hand-me-down clothes boy Malfoy had been bothering snorted. Harry slipped his hands into his pockets.

“You’re the kid with the rat from the train,” Hermione said. “And the spell that didn’t work.”

“It was a cool rhyme anyway, though,” Harry said. “Hi, I’m Harry, this is Hermione.”

“Yeah, she said, then. I’m Ron– uh, Ron Weasley.”

“Yeah, he said,” Harry said, rolling his eyes Malfoy’s direction. “Come on, you wanna stand with us? Hermione will tell you about the ceiling.”

“It’s enchanted!” said Hermione.

-

When Hermione founded SPHEW, Harry was not surprised. He had spent too many schoolyard days escorting spiders to safe spaces, keeping vigil over fallen bird’s nests, and watching Hermione stand up on her desk chair in heated pitched verbal battles with teachers. She’d driven at least two teachers to tears and taught most of them at least a few new vocabulary words.

-

Over summers and holidays, Harry and Hermione took Ron to the movies, to the seashore, to Hermione’s top three favorite libraries. Hermione’s Aunt Meg taught them how to whittle under a cloud of cigarette smoke that clung to Harry’s hair until he washed it out.

In this life, there were things in the Muggle world that Harry missed, that he wanted to see again. He loved Hogwarts, and he nominally went home to the Dursleys each summer, but he knew he always had a bed at the Grangers’. He knew the weird system they used to organize the books on their shelves. He’d pass Mrs. Granger the marmalade in mornings before she had to ask. He got free dental check-ups all his life, which was good because the Dursleys rarely bothered taking him into the dentist.

The whole Granger family tore apart newspapers every morning, calling article excerpts across the table and pointing each other to their favorite journalists. Before Hermione even first stepped onto Hogwarts grounds she got a subscription to the Daily Prophet. During Harry’s fourth year, Mr. and Mrs. Granger got Arthur Weasley to buy them an owl and then began an unending campaign of furious letters to the editor that never got published.

-

In a crumbling boat shed, Severus Snape died, but first he pressed a shining bundle of memory into Harry’s hands.

The fight was still going– Neville newly broad and certain; Luna whipping out quiet, barbed little curses; Ginny charging like an army in and of herself. Hermione had her arms full of basilisk fangs. Ron was moving people like bishops and knights. But Harry had a long damp walk before him, so he had time to wade through that life not his own.

Severus had been a lot of things– one of them was in love. Harry dragged his feet through forest mulch, seeing a little redheaded girl in sunlight, hands not his own offering her transformed flowers. It had been just them for so long. For Severus, for so long, there had been no one but him and Lily.

Even in Hogwarts, Severus had drifted through the classrooms and common room and library. He had believed in magic, in the cool slide of good knives through dried roots, and in Lily– always, always in Lily– Lily in sunlight, Lily chewing on her thumbnail over Transfiguration homework, Lily flicking soapsuds at him in her kitchen at home over summer, Lily pig-tailed and seven, wide-eyed as he showed her the first magic she’d ever seen, a leaf to a flower, a bit of sunlight to a bit of fire.

He had loved, and it had been a real thing. He had fucked up, and it had been a real thing, that heartbreak, that regret.

When Harry turned the Stone in his hand and saw his mother step into pseudo-life in that forest clearing, he thought I wish I’d known you. He thought about how she was in sepia and gray, here, just like in the pictures in the pages of Hermione’s books.

But he was also thinking about Severus. He was remembering Lily in sunlight, remembering her walking away, remembering her in that same cold photographed sprawl but in color–in grief–in bruised knees and heaving gasps.

Severus had been the first to find Lily’s body and it had felt like someone had cut the sunlight out of him. Harry was living through that grief, but he was also living through the wail of the child crying unacknowledged. His tiny pudgy hands were wrapped around the guardrail of his crib.

Harry was thinking about a girl standing in a field like a statue, hands on hips. He was thinking about Hermione’s raised hand ignored in Potions, or the way Snape had sneered that he didn’t see a difference in her cursed teeth. Love had made him brave, perhaps. It had killed him, but it had not made Severus good.

Harry wondered if his mother would have escorted spiders to safe places, if she would have stood guard over fallen bird’s nests, if she had worried herself to pieces that first time on the Hogwarts Express about the Hat telling her she didn’t really belong.

“I wish I’d known you,” he told the specter of Lily Potter. He held his own hands tight.

For Harry, for so long, there had been no one but him and Hermione. Even in Hogwarts, there were things only she would understand– parking meters, the cobweb ceiling of his cupboard, the silence of marmalade at breakfast. Harry believed in magic and he believed Hermione Granger was the most magical thing he knew.

“They’ll be alright,” he said. “I’ll be alright. I was alright, mum. I wish I’d known you– but I wasn’t alone.” He squeezed his hands tighter– Hermione showing him her favorite spots in her favorite libraries; Ron shyly showing them the Burrow like it was anything less than a magnificent masterpiece of warm rooms and patchwork architecture; Hermione standing in the field like a statue, bushy-haired and seven years old, jaw set. “She wasn’t alone, either,” he said. “And she’ll be alright. Ron will be alright. I have to do this, don’t I?”

“We are so proud of you,” Lily said.

“Thanks,” said Harry. “Sorry,” said Harry, and wondered if Hermione was going to be able to read the little passages and excerpts with his name in them, with those un-moving pictures and the sober captions underneath.

He dropped the Stone.

-

When Harry Potter died for the first time, crumpled in forest mulch, he didn’t go to a squeaky clean King’s Cross Station. There were no crescent moon glasses to twinkle kindly at him.

He stood under an old olive tree and a little girl looked up at him with those eyes that needed shielding, needed blunting, needed a manufacturer’s warning. “A wind’s coming,” she said. “You can just go. It will be easy.”

He stood outside Diagon Alley, a Muggle payphone tucked between his shoulder and ear. “You’re in books,” she said, with a breathlessness he’d barely heard for years. There had been too much weight on his shoulders, on hers. “You’re done,” she said. “You’ve done enough. Go on, tap three bricks up and two to the left.”

He stood in Godric’s Hollow, in the snow, holding her hand, looking at the ruined house. “You should have had this,” she said. She was seven and small, not nineteen and weary like she had been in life. The sky was overcast but there was sunlight glinting in her hair. “You can still have this. You can have everything.”

“You’re not real,” Harry said.

“But you are,” she said. “There’s a wind coming. It will be easy.”

“You’ve never done anything easy in your life,” he said.

She took both his hands– hers were so small against his grown fingers, his broad palms, and how had they done everything with hands that small? Basilisks and werewolves; shouting down teachers from atop desk chairs.

Harry was sitting in his cupboard in the light of its single bulb and he was too big for this space, his shoulders curling forward, his head bowing. She was standing there with sunlight still in her hair and her arms piled high with books. “You don’t belong here,” she said. “It will hurt. You won’t fit, if you go back. Everything can be easy. Everything can be fine. It doesn’t have to hurt, ever again.”

“Hermione,” he said and leaned forward, put his hands on her hands where they were gripping her books. “It’ll be alright.” He smiled and she was staring at him with those eyes, those goddamn eyes. “We never fit, remember?”

“We tried,” she said and Harry squeezed her small hands gently.

“Send me back,” he said. “I want to go home.”

-

After the battle, as Hogwarts rang with frantic healing, crushing grief, and raging celebration, the three of them retreated to the library. Hermione hauled them down narrow aisles until she found her favorite tucked-away nook and they all collapsed on sagging sofas that seemed to not have been touched at all by the war.

“Well,” said Hermione. “What now?”

Ron let his head flop back against the seat, hair tumbling all over his pale forehead. “I’m going to nap,” he said. “For a month.”

“That’s not physiologically possible,” said Hermione. “Or if it is, then it’d be a coma.”

“It’s a metaphor,” Ron said, then: “no, wait, a hyperbole.” Hermione beamed at him. He blushed a little and elbowed her gently.

“After this, you’ll be in books, you know,” Harry told her.

“Not– I mean–” Hermione rubbed at her nose furiously. Ron laughed enough to wake up and sit up, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

While Ron came up with outlandish titles for Hermione’s eventual many biographies, Harry pulled his feet up onto the sofa. He watched the candles float quietly between the shelves.

[geekymrsreid]

Draco Malfoy x OC *Untitled for now*

Draco Malfoy x OC Untitled 

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter at all rights go to JK.Rowling. Though if I did own it Draco would have gotten more love towards the end and Fred Weasley would have either died a more heroic death or not died at all. 

Prologue:  It all started when she was just 5 years old, her dad let her go to the park where she met this boy. He was her age and they played on the play ground a lot with each other. Every time she could come to the park that boy was always there. He had blonde hair and steel gray eyes. Though one day he told her his family was moving and that he'd most likely never see her again. She was really sad and cried but she then managed to make a small daisy in her hand. It was like magic, the boy was a bit surprised but he then smiled and kissed her cheek taking the daisy from her that she made. He spoke, "Maybe we will see each other again some day." Alice blinked wiping her tears away. She smiled and kissed his cheek in return. "If so, I look forward to it." 

Though out of all that time she had never knew the boys name and he never knew hers. Though Alice had meet a boy that looked similar to him at Hogwarts but he was a complete jerk. His name was Draco Malfoy. But little did they both know, she was that young girl and he was that young boy. They both grew and were in the same house Slytherin's. But yet he still treated Alice poorly but for some reason she grown to love this man. Chapter 1.

Alice then seen Draco rush off to the bathroom well Moaning Myrtles bathroom, he looked like he seen a ghost so she decided to see what was wrong. Because even though he was a jerk, Alice still cared. She then walked into the bathroom and tilted her head slightly and frowned concerned, "Draco? Whats wrong why are you crying?" She asked him. Draco had always held on to that daisy, when he learnt more about magic had casted a spell to make sure it never died and kept it in his room at Hogwarts. Now his life was full of dark secrets his father controlling him and Voldemort wanting him to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

At times Draco just wanted to turn back the clock to when he was a child, care free and nothing to worry about, just the park and that girl he use to know hanging out and playing in the tree house. He was deep in thought when Alice walked in on his panic attack "Nothing." He snaps rinsing his face over the sink "what do you want!?" He yelled at her. She blinked seeing him in such a state pained her. "I'm sorry I don't want anything I just wanted to make sure you were okay.....I'll leave now....." Alice said and before she had the chance, Harry her half twin brother. The chosen one came into the bathroom his wand out. Harry then spoke to Draco, "It was you wasn't it YOU hexed Katie Bell?" He asked him. Alice pulled out her wand. She glared at her brother. "Get out of here. He did no such thing." She stated. Alice's father was Severus Snape the dark lords right hand man right now. So she knew what was going on. But Alice didn't know about Voldemort forcing Draco to kill Dumbledore. Harry didn't believe her words. He started to shoot spells at us. Alice dodge and ducked and shot her own spells. Though she was getting tired of this. Harry then spoke of a curse she was familiar with. "Sectumse..." He barely got out before she got in-between the two and attempted to shout the same curse spell but clearly she couldn't say it fast enough though instead of hitting Draco like it was meant for it hit Alice, she immediately fell down.

The pain was so horrid. She understood why her father told her to only use it in a life or death situation. Harry was too surprised to say anything he literally just stood there starting to back up but eventually just fell to his knees in shock getting soaked in the mix of my blood and the water. Moaning Myrtle was making quite the racket. "MURDER MURDER IN THE BATHROOM!!!!" She screamed. Alice wanted nothing more to shhh her and tell her that she wasn't dead. But she could understand Myrtles screams, what happen just now was terrifying. Draco had rushed to Alice's side, he was soaking in her blood and the water but more so then Harry he was trying to heal her.

Draco was in a panic state he hadn't meant for someone else to get hurt in all this. He cussed under his breath,"Why the bloody hell did you have to come after me to check on me why.....of all people why me. Your a damn idiot!" He said to her. But then Professor Snape, Alice's father had come bursting into the bathroom, he shoved Harry out of the way he was quite livid and he was tempted to shove Draco out of the way but he didn't he merely yelled, "Get out of my way!" He then started the counter-curse it sounded almost like a song. Snape had to say it three times before the wounds started knitting up and closing.

He and Draco both helped Alice stand to her feet. She was a bit out of it but still semi-conscious. Snape then looked at Draco and spoke, "Take her to the hospital wing, there might be some scarring but with some dittany potion its possible we might be able to avoid that...." He stated. Draco didn't argue with him and supported her on the way out of the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle had stopped her shouting but was still sobbing in the stall. Snape had more problems to deal with which was Harry Potter. Snape thought 'Where in the bloody hell did he learn that curse spell?' He then turned and glared at Potter. "Potter! I demand you go get me all your school books RIGHT NOW!" He yelled.

Snape was in no mood to deal with liars and bullshit. Harry immediately didn't waste any time getting up and running out of the bathroom rushing to the Gryffindor Common Room. Though he got lots of looks and people were trying to ask him questions on what happened but of course Harry ignored them all. Everyone had seen Draco carry Alice to the hospital wing, she had passed out not even a few steps out of the bathroom so he had to carry her bridal style which definitely got stares. Pansy even rushed over to the two as Draco carried Alice to the hospital wing, Pansy was sobbing her best friend injured and she didn't know why and Draco wasn't one to talk he just did his best to get Alice to the hospital wing as fast as he could. He laid her on one of the bed and got the dittany potion.

Madam Pomfry tried to tell him she could do it but Draco refused to let her. He was already guilty that Alice had gotten hurt because of him. Draco wasn't one to want to have to owe someone back so this was his way of paying her back for taking the hit instead of him. So he put the dittany potion on her. The scars had healed up pretty good they looked like Professor Snape said they would. Though he didn't know why but he actually stayed there in a chair while she slept. Pansy had been staying by Alice's other side. Believe it or not the word about what happened to her spread like a wildfire. Mainly due to Moaning Myrtle. Also her father had told plenty of people of what happened probably to shut them up plus he had also sentenced Harry Potter to detention every Saturday until the end of the year. Eventually though Draco had fallen asleep in that chair by her. He had started to dream of his childhood.

*This is my first time posting my own writing on here. But I hope you all enjoy it. I will eventually come up with a title for this and start posting on Wattpad. But I will also try to post a new chapter here as well maybe every two weeks or maybe daily if I can but I make no promises for daily new chapters. But for now Thank you for reading <3 Please re-blog it would mean the world to me <3 *

[spaz8550]

Stay

Ch 9

In October Sinead returned from St. Mungos to find Albus sitting on the couch with Severus.

"Sinead, sorry to appear here so suddenly. Bill was here when we arrived but he had to return to work. Since Dolores Umbridge is in the school monitoring who comes and goes I can not have you enter Hogwarts without her knowing. I am planning on getting her out of the school for several hours tomorrow. When she is gone I want you two to continue to work together. I will send an owl when she is gone. I should be going I need to make another stop before returning to Hogwarts." Albus walked out the door Sinead looked to the man sitting next to her.

"Albus spoke to me in private before coming to see you. He thought it time you hear my story." Severus raised his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. Sinead gasped, she had never seen it in person. "I was a Death Eater during the first war. I assume you know the story of the Potters?" Sinead nodded taking a seat knowing this would be a detailed story. "I grew up with Lily Evans, Harry's mother. We met before coming to Hogwarts and we were friends. I loved her but I was foolish and was drawn into the dark arts. She married James Potter after graduating and I joined Voldemort. There was a prophecy that I overheard and I begged the Dark Lord not to kill her and then I went to Albus. He said they would be protected but the Dark Lord found them anyway." Severus was pacing and took a few moments before he continued. 

Sinead felt for the man standing before her explaining a part of him that most people wouldn't understand. 

"Albus asked me to become a spy and he would keep Lily and her family safe. I passed information to him about the Dark Lord. Now that he is back I am doing the same. I have convinced the Dark Lord that I am a humble servant and thought him dead like all of the other Death Eaters." 

Sinead gave a half smile.

"I will do everything I can to help." Severus and Sinead's conversation became quiet shortly after. After spending a few moments in uncomfortable silence Severus finally spoke.

"I should be getting back to the castle." Sinead nodded.

"I will see you tomorrow then."

"Good night." Severus left the flat and Sinead sat staring at the spot he stood. He was hardly her type but something was drawing her to him, she felt his heartbreak at the mention of Lily's name and she felt the pain in his voice. The fact that he was risking his life everyday for the cause was heroic but she knew that was not something he would say about himself.

Severus apparated to Hogsmeade and walked back towards Hogwarts after his conversation with Sinead. He could see why Bill was so taken with her. He was ashamed to admit it but he was as impressed with her as Albus was. Since the encounter over the summer Severus had learned to shield himself when Sinead was around. He was curious to know if she felt the bond the same way he did but the only person he could ask would be Albus and he didn't want another lecture from the Headmaster. Books had aided him in some knowledge but the subject was not often written about and the topic of bonding was only briefly mentioned. Severus was going to mention the topic when Sinead arrived the next day and see how she reacted.

The next day as planned Dumbledore found a way to have Umbridge return to London but the woman returned before an owl was even sent to London. Albus walked to the dungeons to see Severus setting up ingredients to potions he needed to brew and was hoping Sinead would be there to assist him.

"Severus, it seems that things did not work out as planned with Dolores. Would you like me to let Ms. O'Neil or would you like to see her yourself?" Severus frowned. "I take that as I will inform her. I know things-"

"Albus, I have a list of potions to make for the hospital wing." The older wizard frowned.

"I'll speak to Sinead then."

Sinead was in her bedroom looking at two outfits that she had laid out on the bed. Neither of them she would wear when she normally brewed but she wanted to impress Severus. She settled on the black top and skirt then dressed quickly. Sinead was just finishing packing her books when she heard someone floo into the flat. She walked into the living room to see Albus dusting himself off.

"Sinead, I'm sorry. Things did not work out as planned. Dolores went to the Ministry but unfortunately nothing kept her there longer than a few moments." Sinead's face fell. "You will see him at the next Order meeting."

"Albus, Thanksgiving is coming up and I know it's an American holiday but I'm thinking of inviting everyone in the Order over for dinner." Albus smiled.

"That is a nice idea. From what I know Thanksgiving is on a Thursday."

"Yes, my friend Danny is coming in from Boston. He's arriving on Wednesday so I'm thinking of dinner on Friday. It's not on the exact holiday but it's close enough."

"The next meeting will be held on Wednesday night so you can let everyone know then." Albus returned to the fireplace and flooed back to Hogwarts. Sinead wandered back to her room and pulled off the clothes she had dressed in.

On Wednesday Sinead walked to Grimmauld Place with a large tote bag. She had made cookies and wrote out invitations to the Thanksgiving dinner. Bill had helped her practice using spells to enlarge the flat and make the table longer. Sinead was one of the first to arrive and handed Sirius his invitation.

"I know you can't leave the house as yourself but maybe you can come over as Snuffles and change back into yourself at my flat." Sirius pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek.

"This is something to be happy about. I haven't left this place since bringing Harry to Kings Cross."

Molly arrived next with Tonks not long after. Molly was thrilled with the invitation and listed off items she would bring. Tonks also accepted the invitation. Sinead put everything down on the list as Molly looked over the food Sinead was going to make.

"Dear, I can come over early to help. That is if you need me too."

"Molly, thanks for the offer but I think I have everything planned out really well. I'm used to cooking for my extended family so I'll bake the desserts the day before and do some prepping on Thursday."

"Ok, if you need any more help just send me an owl."

Kingsley and Hestia both turned down the invite saying they had plans. Remus accepted when he heard Sinead's friend who was as a werewolf would be there. Alastor declined because of Order business. Emmeline declined due to her job as watching the muggle Prime Minister. Elphias and Dedalus also declined but Sinead was happy with the group that would be going. Everyone was asking about the holiday when Severus and Albus arrived. Sinead handed both men their invitations.

"I think the holiday is about a muggle named Pilgrim." Elphias said as Sinead shook her head.

"Ok, this is a really brief explanation of Thanksgiving. A group of people called Pilgrims landed in Plymouth and eventually the Native Americans came to help them and they shared a big meal. Plymouth is in Massachusetts not far from where I grew up so it's a big deal back home. It's mainly a holiday to celebrate being thankful for what you have with your family."

"Oh it sounds like such a nice time. We're so thrilled to be invited." Molly said with a grin.

"Plus Sinead is a great cook." Sirius added.

"Sinead, I won't be able to make it there for dinner but I should be around sometime around dessert." Albus said as Sinead wrote him down on the list. "Severus?" Albus asked with a small smile.

"I-umm... sure." He said quickly as a few people at the table tried to hide their surprise.

"Great." Sinead gave him a smile as she placed her note in her bag.

The meeting was brief since not much was going on. Sirius of course began to argue with Albus that the Order should be doing more but Kingsley pointed out that Fudge was being unreasonable and nothing could be done until the Ministry accepted that Voldemort was indeed back. The meeting ended and Sinead stood up stretching.

"See you next week! I'll bring some desert." Tonks said hurrying out the door.

"See you next Friday, dear. Do let me know if I can do anything else!" Molly said as Arthur gave her a wave. Several of the members wandered out and Sinead started towards the door

"Sinead, I'll see you later. I need to go in and finish up some book keeping." Bill said as Sinead nodded.

"Walking home?" Sinead almost jumped she thought she was alone but Severus stood next to her.

"I think so. It's a nice night for a walk."

"Mind if I join you? I could use some fresh air before going back to Hogwarts." Sinead nodded. They didn't talk on the short walk to the flat and when they reached her building Severus turned to her. "See you next Friday."

"Yes, see you then. Goodnight." Sinead managed before Severus turned the corner. She walked up the stairs and unlocked the door. Right away she went to work on the list. Molly was bringing several desserts and Tonks was going to bring something so Sinead just needed to focus on the meal itself. Within minutes she came up with a good enough list and went to look at how many place settings she had. Luckily she had brought her grandparents china which had a setting for twelve.

The days ticked by and Danny arrived from Boston. Sinead had planned to brew from home that week so she could spend all of her time with her friend. She had brewed all the needed potions over the weekend and just had to drop them by on Tuesday. Danny helped pick out various types of alcohol and declared that he would be the "bartender" for the night. Bill and Danny didn't get along so the older man spent most of his free time in his room since Danny was sleeping on an inflatable bed in the enlarged closet. Sinead had packed up all the jackets and boxes and shrunk them and hid them in her own oversized closet.

"So is there a man I should be getting ready to question?" Danny asked on Thursday as Sinead began to prep for the meal the next day. Bill who was sitting on the couch reading the Daily Prophet spoke up.

"I know at least two men like her. One of them is wanted for murders that he didn't commit and the other is a Potions specialist like Sinead." Sinead glared at Bill.

"You don't know what you’re talking about. Bill is just being jealous as usual."

"So you don't like anyone?" Danny asked knowing that she most likely did like someone.

"No, anyway there is someone who would like to talk to you. He's a werewolf as well, his name is Remus Lupin."

"Oh good someone to talk to."

"He can't take the potion now because of work but he wants to someday."

"Interesting, does everyone know I'm going to be here?" Sinead had mentioned it to Remus.

"Remus knows, I was so busy I didn't get to mention it to everyone else but it'll be fine."

[raekuulsreadfic]

[PS] Chapter 1: The Book What Was Read

NOTE: I do not own Harry Potter. I own a copy of each Harry Potter book, I own a copy of each of the audiobooks (British recordings, oddly), I own a copy of the fifth and sixth movies. But the Intellectual Property belongs to J.K. Rowling, and that’s how it should be.

ALSO NOTE: All other incidental characters belong to their respective owners.

ALSO ALSO NOTE: In a vague attempt to not completely violate copyright law, I’m just including the parts being commented on (except the first bit from chapter 1 because tone). Ms Rowling’s lawyers, If this is still a significant violation please let me know quickly so that I can remove those as well.

“The Boy Who Lived”, Dumbledore read quietly. Snape groaned. Himeko disappeared unnoticed; she wouldn’t be needed here for some time.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

“Never mind the fact that Tuney once tried to get into Hogwarts.”

“And how do you know about that, Severus?”

“Just keep reading, Albus.”

...The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

“Dudley Dursley, small? This must be an alternate universe!”

“Or, Severus, it could be that this is back when he actually was small.”

“Just keep reading, Albus.” Snape was starting to get annoyed at the fact that both times he had a smart remark to make, Albus had an equally disarming rebuttal.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.

Snape, determined to at least get a chuckle out of Dumbledore, tried again. “Yes, their greatest fear is that people will find out that Vernon’s secretly a trapeze artist.”

Dumbledore smiled a little, but continued reading.

...Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years...

Both men were sad at this. “That would have been at Lily’s wedding, I think. It was the last time I saw Petunia and Lily together.” Snape said.

“How did you get invited to James Potter’s Wedding?” Dumbledore asked.

“Have you ever known me to pass up a chance to see Lily Evans?”

“Not what I asked. How did you get an invitation?”

“I asked for one.”

Dumbledore suspected that he wasn’t going to get a real answer to his question, so he just kept on reading.

...The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.

“Who is that ugly man and how did he get such a beautiful wife?” Snape offered.

“Severus, it said the neighbors, not the jealous former friend of Mrs. Dursley.”

...they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

Dumbledore chuckled. Snape looked at him, trying to fix a glare at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, Severus. Just imagining what you could have said there, is all.”

“I’ve met Dudley Dursley. If Harry does end up being James Adrian Potter reborn, I’ve decided to blame it on him instead.”

Dumbledore looked at Snape thoughtfully, and then continued reading.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.

Dumbledore frowned. “Halloween. It has to be.”

Snape nodded.

Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work...

Snape chuckled. “At least Petunia got someone with her sense of humor.”

It was Dumbledore’s turn to look confused. “What do you mean?”

“Petunia was always someone for visual puns like that.”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand, Severus.”

“Vernon’s most boring tie. Another word for what drills do is ‘boring’, as in boring a hole in a piece of wood.”

Dumbledore considered this for a moment, then groaned and continued reading.

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

Snape buried his forehead in the palm of his hand. “And so begins our descent into insanity.”

...and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls...

Dumbledore looked at Snape, expectantly. There was an awkward silence.

“What?” asked an irritated Snape.

“Nothing” Dumbledore said simply, and read on.

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar -- a cat reading a map.

“Minerva” muttered Snape. He bit back a smile; anytime McGonagall got involved with Muggles, there was always something funny to tell afterwards.

...There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.

Snape was trying not to laugh.

...Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.

Snape looked at Dumbledore. “Has Minerva ever actually lost a staring contest?”

Dumbledore smiled. “Only once, and that was back when Tom Riddle was at Hogwarts.”

...It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.

“Typical. Muggles saw something that they can’t believe, so instead they pretend it was something that they can believe. Show them veritaserum, and they think that it’s sodium pentothal.”

“What is sodium pentothal?” Dumbledore asked, curiously.

“It’s a muggle drug that works like veritaserum, and it has some of the same drawbacks.”

Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

“He got a lot more than drills that day.” Dumbledore said, somewhat sadly.

...there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.

Snape frowned. “A muggle is noticing them. A fine thing it would have been, if the day the Dark Lord finally fell was the day all muggles learned about magic.”

Dumbledore smiled nostalgically, and kept reading.

...He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.

Dumbledore laughed. “We’ve been dressing like that for hundreds of years. If anything, it’s a stupid old fashion.”

...why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!

Dumbledore coughed nervously, and continued reading. Snape raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt -- these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it.

Dumbledore swore under his breath. Snape raised his other eyebrow, but still said nothing.

The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

A tray of food materialized between the two men. It was covered in sandwiches. Snape took a sandwich and nibbled on it. “Albus, I’m assuming we’ll be taking turns reading?”

Dumbledore nodded, and continued reading.

...they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.

Snape frowned. “And so continues our descent into madness.”

“Severus, it hadn’t even been one day yet, and everyone wanted to know what happened.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. The Dark Lord attacked Lily’s house, murdered two innocent people, and exploded before he could kill an innocent child. Thank you for that, Sirius Black.” Snape finished bitterly.

Dumbledore didn’t like that Snape was bitter about his enemy from school still, but knew that it was Sirius’ fault that the Potters had been killed. How else could Voldemort have found them? And then there was what got him thrown into Azkaban… even if Sirius hadn’t betrayed the Potters somehow, he still blew up a street and killed people. Albus shed a silent tear for Peter Pettigrew, and continued reading.

Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning...

Strangely, Vernon Dursley had been having a nearly identical day to that today. Not that Snape or Dumbledore could have ever known that.

...This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin.

Making a mental note to try and convince Fudge to hire actual muggles in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse office, Dumbledore continued reading.

"...The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"...

“I don’t know what’s worse,” said Snape, “the fact that we couldn’t keep any secrets at all that day, or the fact that we’re bleeding lucky we were only really noticed by this particular muggle.”

Dumbledore took a sandwich and handed the book to Snape. “Severus, I think you should read for a bit.”

Snape nodded. “End of a chapter or something?”

“No; I just want a sandwich, and I need a drink.”

Snape frowned, but found the spot where Dumbledore left off and continued reading.

...He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid.

Continuing in his reading voice… “He opened the newspaper, and was shocked to read the headline ‘Vernon Dursley Admits He’s Stupid’.”

Dumbledore choked on his sandwich with laughter. After taking a large drink of water, he took the book back from Snape. “As much as I found that humorous, I’d rather read the book and still be alive rather than take a lunch break and risk choking to death because of your wit.”

...It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.

“Harvey Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone… Harold Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone… no, they just don’t have the same ring to them.” Dumbledore said, chuckling.

“Shouldn’t it be Philosopher’s Stone?” Snape asked, genuinely curious.

“Hmm… now that you mention it, that does seem a bit odd. Then again, maybe the Stone was called a Sorcerer’s Stone in the universe these books came from. Assuming, of course, it even is Nicolas’ stone they’re referring to.”

...if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...

Snape growled, but said nothing.

"... Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

Both men facepalmed. “Leave it to Dedalus Diggle to completely blow the Statute of Secrecy out of the water.” Snape said. “I’m guessing he’d had a bit too much firewhiskey by that point.”

“How do you know that’s Dedalus?” Dumbledore asked. “It could be any number of wizards.”

“I just know. I don’t know how I know it.”

...He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.

“She was sitting there all day, Albus?”

“She was sitting there all day, Severus.”

...Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered.

“The man’s never met a normal cat before, I guess.” Dumbledore said.

“If this was his only encounter with creatures of the feline persuasion, then he still hasn’t met a normal cat.” Snape replied. There was no more denying it; Dumbledore was enjoying Snape’s wit. With a chuckle, Albus returned to the book.

"...Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern."

“It’s because the one wizard that was keeping us from acting like complete idiots has just exploded.” Snape said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “So, naturally, we ignore the Statute of Secrecy in order to spread gossip.”

"...Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

Dumbledore had to keep himself from laughing loudly at the mental image; thousands of owls falling as though it were raining them.

...And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

“Even Dursley knows there’s something weird going on!”

“Severus, we’d had precious little reason to celebrate prior to that.”

“That’s no excuse to all but advertise to the muggles that we’re still here.”

"...Er -- Petunia, dear -- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

Both of the old men tensed, but for different reasons. Dumbledore knew that this would have been their last Harry-free conversation, and Snape knew the resentment that ran between Petunia and Lily for years.

"...Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."

“I don’t know if I should be offended by that or not.” Dumbledore said, knowing Snape’s response.

“Given that it’s Vernon and Petunia, I would err on the side of yes.”

...The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

Snape and Dumbledore simultaneously said “or for someone.” Snape flushed a little, while Dumbledore just chuckled and read on.

Was he imagining things?

“I thought he didn’t believe in imagination.”

“You don’t need an imagination to hallucinate, Albus.”

“Quite right, but not quite the point.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now he’s questioning whether or not his imagination does exist, as opposed to his strict disbelief in imagination.”

Snape facepalmed. “Correct conclusion, wrong reasoning, Albus. As always.”

...he yawned and turned over -- it couldn't affect them....

“How very wrong he was.” Snape mumbled under his breath. Dumbledore laughed. “What?”

How very wrong he was.

“Oh. Ha ha, very funny, let’s all laugh at how Severus Snape said the exact same thing as the book.”

...A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

Snape stroked his beard in mock thoughtfulness. “Hmm… I wonder who that could possibly be.”

“Who, me or the cat?”

“I am not going to dignify that with a response.”

“Why not, Severus?”

“It’s a clear setup with me as the fall guy. Besides, we both know it’s you and Minerva, soon to be joined by Hagrid and Potter. What I want to know is why any conversation between the two of you at this point in the story would be relevant.”

Snape had to avoid looking directly at Dumbledore as he said this, for the older man was giving what Snape had heard called “puppy-dog eyes” – a pleadingly adorable begging for something. In this instance, it was for a response to the setup.

“Please keep reading, Albus.”

...This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

“Really? I thought it was Aberforth!” Snape said acidly. Dumbledore chuckled and resumed reading.

...Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,

“That doesn’t sound like a good name for it, but it’s better than most of what I’ve come up with.” Dumbledore said.

“Might I suggest ‘Deluminator’?”

Dumbledore considered the name for a moment, then continued reading.

"...Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

“I will silence you if you say it, Severus.” Dumbledore said warningly. He hated the rumors that he was having an affair with the members of his staff. How much easier it was for him that he had no interest in such things, yet all the harder at the same time. “I hear enough about it at Hogwarts; even if you only say it in jest, I will not take such comments lightly.”

"...My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

“Albus, even you’d be stiff if you’d been sitting on a brick wall all day.” Snape said before he could stop himself. Dumbledore chuckled and continued on.

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall... People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."

“This sounds oddly familiar…” Dumbledore mused, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“...I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore.

“Wait a minute.” Snape held up his hand. “You never use the word ‘seems’ unless there’s reasonable doubt that what appears to be is what is.”

“Severus, please, we’ve been over this before.” Dumbledore sighed. “Do you really think Mister Flight-From-Death isn’t going to have something in reserve for in case he’s died?”

Snape chuckled at the name the two of them used to refer to Voldemort. “And yet you refuse to elaborate on what those alternate plans could be.”

Before Dumbledore could respond, Himeko reappeared from a wooden door that had materialized. “Did I miss it?”

“Miss what?” asked Dumbledore. The door faded into non-being, as though slowly vanished.

“The part where you blush.” She said simply.

“We have not yet gotten to any blushing that may or may not have happened,” Snape said silkily, “though I will be listening closely now that I have reason to.”

"We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

Snape and Himeko both started laughing. “Only you, Albus. Only you.” Himeko said as she calmed down.

"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.

And now all three of them were laughing. It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down, only to start laughing again at the absurdity of them laughing over something that really wasn’t all that funny to begin with. It took a few more minutes after that, but finally the reading resumed.

"...It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

Himeko laughed. When confronted by the confused looks of the two others, she explained. “The Dumbledore in my universe had an affair with the Pomfrey in my universe. The day I went to investigate some temporal loops in the Hogwarts area, I walked in on them just as they were starting in on a good snog…” Her voice trailed away when she saw the dangerous look on Dumbledore’s face. “Keep reading please.” she said hurriedly.

"...The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are -- are -- that they're -- dead. "

Dumbledore and Snape bowed their heads in silent remembrance. Himeko held a silent memorial for all those that lost their lives in the war, both before and after the brief armistice that Voldemort’s first death resulted in. With a slightly cracked voice, Dumbledore resumed reading.

"...We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

Snape looked at Dumbledore. “Your guesses have usually been accurate, Albus. Take one.”

“But you’re not handing me a ticket.”

The other two looked at the aged warlock for a moment, completely nonplussed. Dumbledore sighed, and started talking to nobody in particular. “My guess is that Lily, when she died, created a special barrier inside of Harry’s blood. It was that barrier that protected Harry from the very next person to do him harm.”

Himeko nodded. “It was also because of the blood barrier that Harry was able to survive the Dursleys in my universe. Albus, you may have protected three arguably innocent people from inadvertent doom and torture by placing Harry there, but would it have killed you to have placed him with a Wizarding family?”

Dumbledore glared at Himeko. “Would he still have been Harry Potter if he had grown up knowing that he was famous?”

Himeko opened her mouth, then closed it again. After thinking for a moment, she said quietly “You never know. I’ve seen universes where Harry was raised by Gilderoy Lockhart of all people, and most of those Harrys were still fundamentally good people, even if admittedly big-headed.”

“Why would I send Harry to live with Lockhart?”

“Because he’s a conniving Slytherin that’s made himself rich and famous by classified information?” she supplied.

“…run that by me again?”

“I said, he’s made himself rich and famous by classified information.”

The two men looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “Never mind, you’ll learn soon enough what I’m trying to say. Read please.”

"...I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."

“And I can already name one good thing that came out of my dad’s movie hitting it big in Surrey ten years ago.”

“What would that have been, Miss Nonohara?”

“Sei Arei was at the zoo last year. My Harry’s worst times were after the zoo thing and before he started at Hogwarts. These Dursleys aren’t as bad as mine were, but they probably would have abused Harry worse had you not intervened after that.”

“Abused? How badly?” Dumbledore’s eyes started to widen. If other universes had Harrys that were abused, what of his own?

“Mine was locked in the cupboard under the stairs for two days, without food or water, because he broke his arm. When he was six. Thankfully, your Dursleys didn’t do that to your Harry.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t have kept an eye on things if given the choice? Our Harry never cared for the Dursleys until almost the very end, and even then it was because of classified information. This one has a chance for a normal home life, although it may still be wise to keep him out of that home, blood barrier or not.”

“But the Death Eaters-“

“Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,” Himeko began, bringing the full weight and power of her station into her voice, “sometimes what is best for one person is better for the greater good than what you think is best for the greater good. Remember those words as you read.”

Snape was shocked. He had never seen someone do that to Dumbledore and walk away unscathed. He resolved to ask Albus exactly what that meant later on.

"...I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -- there will be books written about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!"

Snape looked at Himeko, his eyes betraying his fear. “Is there a Harry Potter Day in the future?”

Himeko smirked. “That’s classified.” Snape just groaned in response.

"...Can’t you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

“I’ll give you that point, Albus, but Petunia? Really? Miss Petunia ‘Jealous Of Her Sister’ Evans? Surely Graham and Janet Evans could have helped find someone else if the blood barrier was so bloody important.” Snape, emboldened by Himeko’s words, was now tearing into the headmaster. “And I know they were still alive for a year after Lily’s death, because they kept in contact with me. They didn’t know any of Potter’s family, and they would have raised him without any Wizarding anything if you had asked.”

“Do you really think I didn’t go to them first? It was they who suggested Petunia. They, like myself, were hopeful that some people could get over their childhood grudges for the sake of a person’s well-being.”

Snape folded his arms angrily. “As long as you didn’t just leave Harry out on the doorstep or anything. ‘I know, I’ll place all sorts of protective enchantments on this house, tie them to Harry’s blood, and just leave him out on the doorstep, in the middle of a cold autumn night, for anybody to find. What could possibly go wrong?’”

Dumbledore shrugged. “It’s not like there are people that go door-to-door in the wee hours of the morning. Harry would have been first seen by the Dursleys.”

Snape looked murderous. “Have you never heard of milkmen, Albus? They do go door-to-door in the wee hours of the morning, leaving bottles of milk on the doorstep. It’s a miracle that nothing newsworthy happened. At the very least it should have made it into the muggle news. ‘Boy found abandoned on doorstep, family mortified.’”

Dumbledore shrank in his chair, clearly embarrassed. Himeko turned to Snape. “As much as I enjoy watching you chew out Mister Omniscient here, it happened in the past. There’s nothing we can legally do to change it. That’s partly why I’m here, anyway.”

“Why else are you here, Miss Nonohara?”

“That’s classified.”

Frustrated at the universe’s sudden dislike of himself, Dumbledore resumed reading.

"...I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

“As would I, Albus.” Snape said.

“And I.” Himeko said. Dumbledore seemed heartened at this, and continued reading.

"...Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."

Both of the men clenched their teeth at the mention of Sirius Black. Himeko sighed. It was not fair that they had to think that Sirius was evil and Pettigrew a martyr, but rules were rules. Besides, Snape would more than likely tear the Burrow apart if he heard Pettigrew was hiding there, and that would definitely create instability. Actually, now that she thought about it, that bit of information would come out anyway, wouldn’t it? She decided to handle that when the time came.

"...Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground...”

“You couldn’t have removed the scar anyway, because classified information.”

Snape threw a sandwich at Himeko’s head. “Why do you keep saying that?”

“What, classified information?”

“Yes, that.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut about certain things, so I had one of the other time witches put a spell on me. If I were to reveal something that would create instability if you were to act on it now instead of at the proper time, for instance if I were to mention classified information during Harry’s fourth year, what ends up coming out of my mouth instead is the phrase ‘classified information.’ I don’t always notice it until after I’ve said it. Anyway, the scar is classified information, classified information is classified, and Harry names his second son after the two of you.”

“What was that last thing?”

“…classified?” Himeko tried weakly. “Okay, so I guess I can tell you that Harry marries classified information and that his sons are named classified information and Albus Severus Potter.”

The two men smiled, and continued reading.

"...Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door.

“Why does it seem like Minerva and myself are the only two people at Hogwarts with any degree of common sense?” Snape lamented.

“Why did Erika have to look like me?” Himeko said in response. Neither of the two men knew what she was talking about.

"...I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall -- Professor Dumbledore, sir."

“I suspect that, had I told Hagrid that Sirius had been James’ secret keeper, and therefore directly responsible for James and Lily’s deaths, he would have taken Sirius to Hogwarts and kept him there.”

Himeko sighed again. Stupid time-travel rules.

"...Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

Snape threw the entire tray of sandwiches at Dumbledore’s head. “Idiot. You should have at least stayed there, or woken up the Dursleys, or something. November is a cold month!”

Dumbledore sighed, and finished the chapter. After a brief pause, he handed the book to Snape, then started to wipe his tears. He had never realized just how badly he had handled the Harry situation until today, when he had started to read this book. He could only dread what sort of things he would do in trying to protect the boy, all in the name of the Greater Good.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

Author’s Note: Woohoo, finally completed the first chapter. In the universe where this Himeko is from, Dumbledore and Snape both survived the war and was able to learn about them directly. The ‘classified information’ bit is from Haruhi Suzumiya. For those that missed it, the Himeko in this story is a Sailor Pluto, studying under Setsuna Meioh. I have not yet decided if she will be in Kingdom of Magic, but I don’t think she will.