#some fluffy nottpott for you and me this AM

[wixenforever]

Burning of the Library Deleted Scenes Pt 1.

I have so much written that either gets removed and saved for later or, in the case of this scene, will never fit in the story again because the plot and setting went in a different direction. But, I love this scene. Like, so much. This is from an alternative beginning to Chapter 21.

I figure I may as well breathe some life into these scenes I really liked by putting them here! This one came to mind today because I'm considering a moment with Sirius's patronus in the next chapter but I can't decide if it will make the final cut...🙃

Setting note: in this version of events, Theo and Harry go to Sirius's room to ask for his blessing to take Theo to Gringotts for a wand. Remus is helping Sirius clean out his old bedroom. Theo has just learned the truth about John's identity and is reflecting on all the spooky creatures like John that go bump in the night.

Theo caught his tongue between his teeth and shook his head. "John just reminded me of everything I used to have that protected me from the things I should be scared of," he said, with less venom. "That's also why I want to go to my vault. It'd be nice to have something of mine that's...actually mine."

"Oh! I didn't realize you practiced the old ways." The springs squeaked as Sirius sat on the bed. "If you want a salt candle or something like that, I can get one for you."

Harry had no clue what Sirius was talking about, but Theo looked floored by the offer. His blue eyes widened, "I would, but, won't that offend John?"

"Huh..." Sirius clicked his tongue and looked to Remus. "What say you, o defense expert? Can you think of something that's non-offensive to the fae? No salt, no iron. Maybe..."

"Clover," Theo suggested, crossing his arms. He was starting to shiver. "Actually, a clear quartz would be great. I can bless it myself."

"I don't know old magic like that," Remus admitted, when Sirius kept looking at him. "Maybe there's a book in the library that could help."

Harry edged closer to Theo, "What are you talking about?"

Theo smiled, and for the first time that morning he seemed a little bit normal. "Old style magic refers to...looking at magic in a spiritual way, I suppose. The kind of magic that's done without wands, passed down from verbally over many generations." Harry waited, but Theo seemed to be uncharacteristically lost for words. His hand came up, clutching near his throat. "I used to have a lot of different...amulets, I guess you'd call them? Trinkets. Little pieces of magic that did different things, or had different charms woven into them."

"And you make them yourself?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, or my mother did," Theo said quietly. "Even my father made some for me."

It was as if all the air was sucked from the room. Theo continued looking off to the side, tracing the divot at the bottom of his throat. "She always said they were supposed to be temporary, made to be used," he sighed, "but I had one that I wore around my neck. It was called an echo stone. Made from a boulder at the bottom of the loch. It could make you feel like you were underwater. My dad made it for me." Theo rubbed his jaw, as if embarrassed.

"Really?" Harry prompted, hoping that Theo would keep talking. "That's so cool."

Theo cleared his throat. "It's the same style of magic as this," he said, closing the distance between them and reaching out to lightly touch Harry's earring. His cold fingers brushed against his earlobe. "Or this," he pointed at Harry's ring. "Just a little less refined. Old style magic lives on in mage rings and covens, druids and standing stones. The magic of the wild." He put a little mystique into his voice and winked.

Harry stared into Theo's eyes and felt like he'd been doused in ice-cold water. Goosebumps crawled over his skin.

"Why don't we learn about this kind of magic?" he said breathlessly.

Theo's smirk only grew, "It's a secret, Harry. Don't you know they call it dark magic for that reason?"

"Oh, I see," Remus interrupted lightly, startling Harry. He'd forgotten they weren't alone in the room. "You're the one who's corrupted Harry with dark magic."

Theo threw his head back and laughed, "Me? He's the one who asks all these questions."

"He does ask a lot of questions," Remus nodded gravely. "I sympathize with you. Harry forced me to teach him the patronus charm at thirteen, if you can believe that."

"What?"

Harry hunched his shoulders, mortified that all their attention was now on him, and even more annoyed by the weirdly amused expression on his godfather's face. But Theo would not be avoided, he ducked down so they were eye-to-eye. "You learned that at thirteen? I just assumed it was something you learned how to do for the Tournament! Fourteen is still young, but third year?!"

"Yeah, don't you remember when I hit Malfoy with it on the Quidditch pitch?" Harry asked snarkily. "He was pretending to be a dementor. It wasn't corporeal yet, but almost."

Theo furrowed his brow. "You really think that everyone knows everything about you, Mr. Boy Who Lived?"

"What? No!" Harry's voice squeaked embarrassingly. He felt himself turn bright red and wanted melt into the floor. "You're his best mate, aren't you? Wouldn't you know that?"

Theo smirked and flicked his nose, drawing another noise from Harry's throat that he was certain he should not be making, having long grown out of his voice cracking. "Just assume I don't remember anything from third year, for future reference."

"How does it feel to be so smart your can just sleep through all your classes?" Harry sneered, trying to gain some upper ground again. Theo just laughed at him.

"I do terribly in charms, honestly," he shrugged, leaning against Sirius's bed. "I could never do a patronus."

In a flash Harry remembered something Remus said to him when he was learning, that dark wizards had a hard time with the charm, or couldn't do it at all. He decided, right there, that he was going to make sure that Theo could cast it one day.

"It's a devil to learn," Harry said, deciding to keep his plan to himself for now. "Even harder to cast successfully near dementors. I wouldn't have set my mind to learn it if they didn't affect me so badly."

"Hmm," Theo wrapped his arms around himself again. "What is it?"

"A big stag."

"A big stag?" Theo repeated, raising his eyebrows, "Is the size important?"

Something about the way he said it completely froze Harry's tongue. He gaped wordlessly, too red and too stunned to do anything but watch Theo's face flicker with amusement until finally he started laughing, covering his mouth.

"You're too easy, Potter," Theo jeered. "Are your friends really that straight-laced? You won't last two minutes with Blaise. Oh, god," he dropped his face into his hands and repeated, "you won't last two minutes with Blaise."

Sirius thunked to the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face, only they couldn't actually hear anything. Remus sighed and twirled his wand, "I silenced him. He's unbearable."

"You're both unbearable!" Harry said, pointing at Theo and his traitorous godfather. "You're both as bad as John!" He gasped, looking at Theo in horror, "You're just like John, come to think of it!"

"You have excellent taste in companions," Theo returned easily.

[lumosatnight]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @acnelli (x), @schmem14 (x), and @indigo-scarf (x)!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I just reached exactly 100 works! Low-key so happy that my Pansmione soulmates fic was #100.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

301,754!! I am actually shocked by how high this is.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (97)

First Kill (TV 2022) (1)

방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS (1)

Wednesday (TV 2022) (1)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What is this, fucking Jeopardy? [Drarry, E, 20.4k]

White, the colour of flowers [Drarry, M, 3.2k]

A Heart So Colourful ♡ [Viktor/Ron, E, 1.5k]

Impervius, Not [Drarry, T, 5.0k]

7 Days of Halloween: I Don't Feel Like Myself Anymore [Wolfstar, E, 29.7k]

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Oh heck yeah! I love getting and responding to comments. I've met some wonderful people in the comments section of fics.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Your Cigarette Smell [Sirius/Narcissa, E, 9.7k] with canon-compliant character death, so I think you know where this is going.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Any of my fluffy fics? Maybe Lavmione in Lavender for Morning or Nottpott in Silver Surprise.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet (*crosses fingers*). I've had some mildly annoying comments (like saying how they disliked background Dramione in a Drarry fic I wrote), but nothing to make me wanna bash my head against the wall.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Umm... yes. I am currently in the middle of posting the smuttiest, most depraved series I have ever written for this year's Kinktober.... so check it out ig?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not so much crossovers but heavily inspired by other stories. I wrote Dronarry in a Sandman AU and also Hermione/Daphne in a Twilight AU 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! My Nottpott fic was translated into Russian. How cool is that??

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have done art collabs but never co-written a fic. Definitely something I'd love to try. Maybe it'll happen next year!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Idk there's too many to choose!! I probably read Drarry the most, but I think that's mostly because there's just SO MANY amazing Drarry authors. I can honestly be convinced to like any ship if I like the writing style and the story. I'm a huge rare pair and femslash shipper!!! The communities are just so wonderful 💖

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Never say never! But I'm really lacking motivation to finish my Squid Games AU Drarry fic. I love the concept, but the plot is just not flowing.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotion. I like my fics to pack a punch. I think I'm getting pretty good at it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Longfic. It's hard for me to sustain motivation for one idea. I have too many running through my brain at once, and I always get distracted by the shiny new headcanon.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've seen it. I've done it. I'm ambivalent, mostly. I think it can be a great way to show cultural differences between characters. But I also think 90% of the time it unnecessarily confuses the reader because if you don't know the language, you're just going to skip over the dialogue. And if you do know the language, then you'll notice if it doesn't sound natural. Yeah... not a fan when it's just google translated and copy-pasted.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Anything on my Author's Favorites list! From recently though, maybe my Perciver strip chess fic 😉

Tagging (no pressure): @crazybutgood, @anaxandria-writes, @sugareey-makes-stuff, @givereadersahug, @orange-peony

[amarillis39]

For the fanfiction ask: 4, 6, 20, 38, 43, 47

For question 47, here is the fic title I've picked for you: Like Salt Where It Hurts

Thank you so much for your ask!❤️

4. What is your favourite genre to write for?

I am partial to writing angst and smut, but some fluffy sweetness here and there tends to happen too.

6. If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I don't think I would delete any (I've already purged my ff.net where the very bad stuff was hiding). I may not love all my fics but I wouldn't get rid of any as I've learned something from writing every single one of them.

20. Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

I don't think so. Some of my stories went completely opposite direction than initially planned but I wouldn't change anything, in the end it all worked out. All Will Pay was not intended to end the way it did, but now when I look at it, I feel like it could not have ended any other way.

38. If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.

I've had the pleasure to collab with some incredible writers, and I'd definitely do it again if they'll have me!

43. Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?

I don't think I'm writing enough plot twists as it is haha. Definitely something to work on.

47. Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about?

Hmm, I would say this is perfect for a wartime story. Could be NottPott or Dramione, falling in love on the opposite sides of the conflict and trying to survive while the other suffers/watch them do despicable things while loving them hopelessly, and/or trying to justify their actions. Pretty cliche, I know.

Based on this post.