#sometimes you may still need to tell them stuff but they will snitch

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Yandere MK11 + MK1 Raidens with the same darling

I got this idea from this post...although this isn't nsfw sorry lol

A/N: Does it count as a harem if it's only two? Who cares, this is for my baby girls. I love the Raidens so much (mk11 just a bit more tho lol)

Warnings: mentions of kidnapping, abusive themes, obession...ect..

Masterlist

Requests: open 24/7

Dynamics

Raiden (mk11) is the one calling the shots in the relationship. He's brooding and demanding, he's so selfish over you. He doesn't particularly like to share his things. He's much rougher with you and likes for you to comply with whatever he has in store that particular day. You're his. And only his, he's only allowed for his younger counterpart to have access to you because,,, well...it's technically still him. Truthfully though I think he's a jealous diva. He doesn't like how youthful and relatable Raiden(mk1) is to you. He feels like he's in a competition and needs to assert his superiority over him. toxic power play over both of you.

Raiden(mk1) doesn't mind taking the backseat to the relationship. He's not really looking for a fight with the older man, he's just here for you. Honestly, he's just happy that he's not alone in his sinful desires for you, that even his other self is just as sick in the head as he. In comparison this Raiden is a lot kinder. he doesn’t speak down to you or is nearly as demanding. He almost appears to be genuine about his “love” for you..just a little screwed.

One thing that both Raiden's bond over is their jealousy. One or the other is always closely lurking around you. Even in their sky temple where you'd think you'd be free to roam, they are always supervising. Younger Raiden is a dirty little snitch and will promptly tell (Mk11) Raiden about you talking to a male servant a little too long. It's a sick pleasure for them really, they enjoy keeping you in line and showing others who you belong to. They sometimes will find themselves boasting about the things they did to their poor unsuspecting victims and collaborating on methods of torture. It's a bonding moment. truly.

As much as the older Raiden is a grump towards the younger, he's rather inventive when it comes to guiding him through the relationship. Unexpectedly reassuring at times and helps younger Raiden gain confidence with you. Younger Raiden will help out too where the older one lacks which is usually emotional intelligence. He helps (mk11) with gifts and compliments to give you. ahhh they so cute together.

Do they feel guilty?

(Mk11) Raiden feels absolutely no shame, guilt or remorse for his actions. He's a corrupt tyrant who loves his place in your life. Taking you captive and devoting his life to you is nothing he should regret, it's an honor to be your protector. Dark Raiden is far gone and is unwavering in his beliefs, no matter how deluded they may be. You will soon come to understand that this new life is the best one for you...he'll make sure of it.

"This is for your greater good, my dear. It's far too unsafe out there without you being under our protection and care."

(MK1) He feels a bit shameful, this isn't the morals he's grown up on. It's quite embarrassing at times how enthralled he is with you, how easily he melts at your will. You probably think he's pathetic in comparison to his older self. He's not nearly as confident or self-righteous. But even so these feelings aren't enough to ever stop him in his tracks. You do rightfully belong to them, and though he's not one to be quick to anger, he'd easily find himself bashing someone in for trying to take you away.

How do they show their affection?

(mk11) Raiden maybe isn't as outwardly sweet as his younger counter part. He shows his love by providing for and protecting you. He allows you to be near while he works on things and makes attempts to conversate. When he controls and corrects you, that's his way of showing he cares. All the deep lovely dovey stuff, he couldn't really care for. He doesn't fully understand all the emotional needs and wants that humans have. His actions can come off rather surface level or even like he's not as in love with you as he truly is. Everything he does is romantic and thoughtful in his own twisted mind. Its a struggle but he gives you everything and makes sure you're safe...what more can a devotee offer?

(mk1) Raiden is the one you go to get all your emotional needs. He's a sucker for you and very charming too. When you're crying, scared or upset, he will comfort you. Raiden understands your emotions on a deeper level since he's an earthrelmer. Raiden loves to compliment you often and worship every part of you. You don't have to ask to hold his hand or to cuddle, just do it. He is always more than happy to satisfy any needs. He's such a blusher and I like to think his heart still beats fast whenever you touch or look at him.

Both are feral for your affection. Older Raiden might not react much to your compliments but he holds on to every single one and it makes him spiral deeper into his insanity. Younger Raiden is always very verbally thankful for your love. Even gifts you with your favorite desserts or flowers as a gesture in return. Oh They love you. *will both kiss your feet if you asked*

Trying to escape?

Yeah no. It's stupid for you to even think for a second that you can get away. Two champions holding you hostage? One is like a million years old and extremely experienced and the other was literally created to be a diet version of him.(lmao don't come for me)

If you should escape (mk11) Raiden will be furious about this. He's the one that found your ass and is dragging you back to his temple. This isn't just some light situation, your actions are telling him that you're unhappy. How can you be unhappy when you're revered to wits end? Everything you could want or ask for is at your foot..you ungrateful girl-

(mk1) Raiden had to step in between you two because the ways things were looking, your punishment wasn't going to be pretty. Don't be fooled though, he's rather upset you wanted to leave him but he still loves you. He somehow convinces Raiden to let up on you and to give you a lighter sentence like isolation. He's super pouty and manipulative towards you for the next couple of days. I just know he's the best guilt-tripper and breaks you down into sobbing at their feet..you beg and whine for forgiveness and find yourself spewing declarations of love to them.

"Now I got you out of your stupid mess, y/n. Why don't you be good and tell Raiden how much you love him? I can't hold him off forever and I'm not sure how much electroshock therapy you can handle."

Do you think (mk1) Raden would be right over (mk11) Raiden's shoulder while he punishes you? Like he's feeling super bad about it and trying to give you "reassurance" he's actually just taunting you and egging on Raiden. Deep down he's kind of enjoying it. Like he knows this is deserved and is happy that after this you surely won't leave them again hehe..

Okay i have to stop because i don't wanna slip up and start writing nsfw LMAOOO

[talenlee]

Do You Want Invincible Ink Stuff For Decemberween?

Decemberween is coming! Decembeween is oh so near! Decemberween is for giving! Decemberween is almost here! Decemberween, Decemberween, it’s fifty-five days after Halloween!

If you are at all interested in Stuff I’ve Made as products for presents for people in the coming months, I’d like to make this my official opportunity to tell you to go check them out now. It’s November, it’s near the end, if you’re in the Mainland USA or Canada (which my metrics indicate you are), and if you want something to arrive for you over there in order to give it to someone as a gift, now is a good time to set aside some coins and check out the stores for our stuff!

Here, let me show you the kinds of things I make that you may want to spend some money on!

First of all, there’s a bunch of stuff on my most successful store, the Redbubble Store! This is a place where you can buy stickers of the different designs I’ve done, which includes these delightful ones:

And my shirts, which includes these designs that have been popular this year. Well, people have bought them this year. The point is, these are shirt designs I made, and these two designs represent designs people have bought as shirts, and not just as a stickers. I particularly want to shout out the buyer in Germany who bought a Thule Things Infant Onesie.

But hey, you might think ‘Talen? that guy makes games, why is he mentioning t-shirts as his most successful store?’ Well, you can get games too!

Almost all of my games are available at DriveThruCards as print-on-demand. This is a great way for you to grab them, they’re fast and they’re delivered in sometimes as little as a week. I like them a lot, I think they’ll meet your needs really easily again, if you’re in the mainland USA, you can buy them and they’ll arrive in a quick enough time!

If you’re looking for a game in my portfolio to check out, I want to recommend some games that I think hit a certain kind of interest:

Fabricators is a dense, replayable economy game like San Juan, but built out of a single deck of cards, and with a thematic space that doesn’t represent its economy structures as being about Just More Colonial Capitalism.

Good Cop, Bear Cop, is a hidden identity secret role game where players don’t have to talk to each other directly and deal with the ensuing anxiety. It’s meant to be faster and less pure than the games like it, so that players have more room to let the game choices communicate for them.

Dark Signs is a horror-themed strategy game which I’m still incredibly happy with! It’s a strategy game, it works across multiple rounds, and the theme and aesthetic hold together in a way I really like. It’s one of my oldest games now and it’s one I still think is one of the best.

Hook, Line & Sinker, is another small bluffing game about con artists improvising an optimal plan before the snitch in the party outs them all, it’s cheap, and it plays really quick. If your play group wants things to do while other players are rounding out larger, slower games, grab a copy and jam it in the collection!

Dog Bear is a single book, fast-start RPG that I promote as a way to get people into roleplaying games without any challenges making characters. It’s meant to give you the tools you need to tell a short story about Metal Gear Solid style characters completing a mission, told in flashback.

Our most successful and beloved game, LFG: Looking For Group is a simple drafter where you’re trying to build a team of adventurers to go on a quest, and they all beat each other up on the way out the door.

Sector 86 is a big deck, single deck game where you build your own space station, with a push-your-luck mechanism. It’s a game with a lot of dedicated work in building out the flavour and giving players things to do in the course of their day, with a really simple set of mechanisms for playing the game.

Finally, if you like the microgames like Hook, Like & Sinker, you should check out some of our other microgames, like Cat & The Mouse (a two player stealth game), Senpai Notice Me! (a multiplayer trading game about girls kissing girls), The Botch (a game about ruinously complex failed heists and bluffing your way through it), and You Can’t Win (a simple negotiator game about trying to win tricks in a way that mean you can win the last trick).

But if you’re not in the mainland USA, these shipping rates can get pretty hard and you might not be able to afford them. But if you still want some Invincible Ink games, and if you like craft projects, I’d like to recommend you check out our line of games, for the Print and Play options. These are all priced to be compared to numbers we find funny, like the value of a Tumblr Verified Stamp.

If you’re at all interested in making Print-And-Play versions of these games, you’re going to want access to some printable sticker paper and some cardboard. The cardboard can be anything, like a cereal box, if that’s your jam, and then you apply them together. It’s something that you can do a really nice job of if you take some time to do it.

I really recommend checking out print-and-play games as a sort of craft project. They take you away from the keyboard and screen, and when you’re done, you have something you can play with. There are ways to do fancy edging and corners on your cards with little hand tools like a cheap, ~$12 corner cutter kinda device. Consider that the bigger games can be around 120 cards, which can be a lot of time to make. Don’t feel you need to rush!

Anyway, this is hopefully useful advice for you if you’re interested in the kinds of things I make and think ‘Oh I should do that as a present for someone.’ This is a reminder that now is probably the best time to do that!

If you’re just thinking about giving me money for the media I make on the internet, and you don’t want any of these things specifically, then my Patreon exists and has been running on a consistent rule of not paywalling anything.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[crescentmoonrider]

If this unreliable self can become someone… - Part 3 (Annotated Edition)

It's been almost two years since Yuuta started travelling with Toji-san. Almost two years since Yuuta started hating himself a little less. It can't last, he knows it, but still he hopes it will. It's all he has. [Edo AU]

read on AO3

read on FFn

Today in “Yumi rambles about their own writing” : historical research about cops, a personal favorite folk tale, and, uh, Barney ?

... yeah this one’s going to be interesting

I need you, you need me (Won’t you say you need me too)

I love you~ You love me~ Let’s kill Barney~

… is that how it goes ? I don’t know, I never knew Barney the purple dinosaur as a child, since I live in a French-speaking region of the world and all. The generation before me had Casimir and “L’île aux Enfants”, and let me tell you Casimir is a darling ! He’s orange, and very sweet, and doesn’t look like he consumes the souls of the damned for breakfast. The theme song for “L’île aux Enfants” is also very good, although it is admittedly a bit of an earworm.

Okay, fine, it’s a lot of an earworm.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I settled on this for this one’s title. There’s a few reasons honestly – one of them being that I wanted to inflict psychic damage on the readers before they even opened the fic itself.

But also, like, I can’t even remember why I looked up the lyrics to Barney’s song in the first place, but the whole “I love you, you love me […] Won’t you say you love me too” part of the text just. Haunted me. Who thought this was acceptable lyrics for a kids’ show ?? It’s deliciously creepy and needy and fucked up. Now, obviously love isn’t really a factor in this story, not in the romantic sense at least, so I decided to instead emphasize the codependency aspect of the relationship.

As for the fact that these lyrics work so well for a story about people unhealthily relying on each other… well. Let’s not dwell on that.

(The last reason was simply that the working title for this one was “Fuck the police (no not like that)” and uh. I really didn’t want it to stick)

Dōshin (同心)

The machikata-doshin (or mawarikata-doshin, depends on their actual job) were basically the police patrolmen of the Edo era, at least in shogunal cities (more detail on those in the first research notes for this series). Their best documented job was mostly to look out for burglars and arsonists, using okkapiki (or meakashi, basically professional snitches, although they could also help during investigations) to assist them. Okkapiki were employed by the doshin himself, and paid for with his own money. As for the doshin themselves, their direct superior was called the yoriki.

In the city of Edo, they were also sometimes called hatchōbori, as this was the name of the place where they had their quarters. You may recognize the name from a train station in Chūō, Tokyo.

With the political stability brought by the Tokugawa shogunate, many lower-rank samurai chose to become doshin as, even though it wasn’t exactly a well-regarded job (still samurai work though), it was still a guaranteed source of income, and with time the position ended up becoming basically hereditary.

Anyway, ACAB

 “Being found guilty […] would mean lashings and a criminal’s markings.”

I tried looking up laws and like, crimes and punishments in the Edo-era. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find the specific laws I was looking for, specifically regarding the punishment for carrying sharp weapons as a non-samurai, so uh. I went with classic Edo stuff. Lashings, exile (marked by tattoos, so the exiled person can’t just disguise themself and sneak back into town), that kind of thing. There could be a prison sentence too, or it could be one of those many crimes sentenced by death, I genuinely don’t know. Then again, neither does Yuuta, probably, so it’s fine. Maybe.

By the way, did you know that the punishment for arson was death by fire ? Love the irony of that, 10/10

 The hour of the ox

Hours in pre-Meiji Japan were named after zodiac animals, with six hours during the day, and six at night (each hour was about as long as two of our current ones). The hour of the ox would then be between 1am and 3am… kind of.

See, since the number of hours dividing the time of day was the same as the ones dividing night-time, these hours couldn’t all last the same, outside of like. The equinoxes. Since this story is taking place in ~early summer, that means days are longer than nights, and as such night hours are much shorter. So when does the doshin finish his shift ? Fuck if I know, I haven’t done this kind of maths since applied maths in high school, and even back then I sucked at it !

 Ojizou-sama

Jizou (地藏) is originally a bodhisattva under the name of Ksitigarbha, but his role as a folk figure in Japan is pretty different from the rest of the Buddhist world’s traditions, so I’ll just focus on the Japanese stuff. In everyday life, you’ll often find statues of him on roadsides, wearing a red bib, and he is seen as a protector of travellers.

He is also a protector of children, especially dead ones, since he is said to come by the shore of the river Sai, where souls wait in purgatory and pile up stones in the hopes of one day making it to Buddha’s paradise. Normally, onis will come and destroy the stone piles and the dead will have no choice but to start again, but when Jizou comes by, he will protect the children, hiding them in his robes.

Maybe the most famous story about Jizou, however, is the tale of the six Jizou, also known as Kasa Jizou (笠地蔵, Jizou with a hat). Here’s one version. On New Year’s eve, a poor old man goes into town to sell five straw hats, but he encounters six statues of Jizou, covered in snow and looking quite cold. The man gives each of them one hat, and then uncovers his own head to give the sixth statue a hat as well. He comes home to his wife, who is kind of sad he didn’t make any money, but understands his gesture and agrees with him. During the night, the couple wakes up to the sound of heavy stones being moved, and as they light their lamp, they realize their house is filled with gifts. The six Jizou statues decided to thank them !

So yeah, that’s Jizou. He’s a really cool guy, I think

[arhvste]

MIYA ATSUMU - LITTLE MIYA

- summary - atsumu has to make sure that he’s the favourite parent to your unborn child and takes every chance he can get to convince them to pick him - fluff - x f reader

- an - this was for tsumu’s birthday but i was a little late posting due to unforeseen circumstances, but i’m glad i finally got it up, happy birthday tsum tsum i love u lots and thank u for being a character that i not only kin but have easily fallen in love with in a way too

-

Sighing, Atsumu dropped his bag down and quietly took his shoes off and left them neatly by the door. The quiet hums of cars passing by outside your house reached the setters ears as he peered down the hall and noticed your bedroom light was still on.

The light was dim but he knew you’d likely have been reading or busying yourself some other way and you’d probably drifted off into a light sleep by now.

He shook his head and smiled thinking about how you’d always try and stay up for when he’d come home but you’d almost always end up falling back asleep.

Creaking the door open wider from where you’d left it slightly ajar where the dim light had been teasing the darkness of the halls of your home, Atsumu quietly stepped into the bedroom and began to shed the clothes he’d worn after taking a shower at the training grounds and into his boxers and white t-shirt. He would often take showers at the MSBY training grounds much to Sakusa’s delight as the latter would insist Atsumu’s stench was “unbearable” after training sessions (Atsumu was adamant that Sakusa only said this to wind him up but showered anyway), he also didn’t want to wake you up with the noise of water hitting the hard marble flooring in the bathroom and the sounds of the shower rinsing him.

Some may consider Atsumu a selfish man but it was small things like this that proved that hypothesis wrong. It was the little things Atsumu did out of habit that made him lean more towards the selfless side rather than selfish but it wasn’t like the two of you particularly cared about others perceptions of himself and your relationship. You knew Atsumu and you loved him the way he was regardless of what anyone else had to say about him.

He pulled the soft white sheets back and the mattress dipped as his weight rested down as he turned on his side to face you.

‘An angel’ he thought to himself as he brushed a few stray hairs out of your relaxed face before he managed to tear his eyes away and look down towards your stomach.

A smile crept up on his face as he crawled further down the bed until he was face level with the centre of your stomach.

“Hey little man, or girl.”

His soft whispers grew excited as he began to chatter to your stomach.

“Ya must’ve worn ya mother out today, she’s completely knocked out ya gotta go a little easy on her sometimes.”

His hand now moved to the beginning of the curve where your stomach stretched out to form a bump where your child was currently conversing with their father.

“Anyways, since I know what trouble you were causing today let me tell ya what I did today- oh yeah sorry I forgot, don’t get too mad at me will ya?”

Atsumu quickly pressed a ‘hello’ kiss to your stomach. He would always kiss both you and your stomach hello whenever he was met with you again insisting that the child would feel neglected if he left them out.

“Omi was in a bad mood this morning but would ya believe he said I’m gonna be a great dad?! I’m pretty sure it was a backhanded compliment since he did say ‘You’ll be a great dad, your kid is gonna love having a stupid and childish father they can call a friend.’...Do ya think that was backhanded? I think it was but he still admitted I’ll be a great dad so I guess I’ll take it.”

Rubbing small circles on your stomach Atsumu’s eyes twinkled as he felt a small kick, the action ever so slightly hitting against the palm of his hand.

“I knew ya were gonna agree with me! It was totally backhanded! I guess that's Omi for ya! Speaking of, I think yer gonna like him. If ya gonna be anythin like me, you’ll enjoy annoying him so I think he’s hopeful that ya gonna turn out like yer mother if anything.”

He glanced up at your sleeping form and smiled warmly. The thought of having a small version of himself excited him, but he also liked the idea of having a small version of you. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle an overexcited and non-stop child if they were to take after himself. Besides, he loved everything about you and he was sure that raising a small version of you would be a dream.

“Ya know, I have a feelin ya gonna be more like yer mom. She’s great and I know yer gonna be too. Obviously yer gonna be talented I mean, I’m yer dad! Of course yer gonna inherit my good looks and athletic talent but if ya don’t wanna play sports that's okay too! I know yer gonna have the talent for it though so the choice is yours!”

Finding out that he was going to be a father was one of Atsumu’s greatest achievements he’d insist. It was always in his plan for the future to become a dad and he was over the moon when you’d revealed that his efforts hadn’t gone to waste and that later on in the year, he was going to have a little Miya to help raise. Of course he wanted his child to get into sports. He was introduced to the industry at a young age and it had bagged him a career he loved, friends and bonds for life and a generous salary. At first, he was sure that his child was going to play volleyball. How could they not? Their dad was the setter for V-league team MSBY and recently scouted for the Olympic team. He had his sights set on raising a future champion but then he thought back to his own brother.

Osamu had been successful athletically too but looking where that took him, Atsumu saw that even though his brother had the capability to go professional and maybe even play in the same teams as him, Osamu found passion elsewhere and these days he was the owner of an extremely successful company in the food industry.

They’d both started at the same point but ended in different places and that was okay. It was then Atsumu began to tone down the insistence that his child was going to be a pro player just like him and he was more focused on helping his child find something they loved whether that was sports or something else and help them grow and go further in doing something they loved just like he had done.

You were extremely proud of your husband when he told you about this. You knew he’d realise it eventually but you were surprised at just how quick he’d been able to rethink the future of his child and reflect on how he was going to raise and support his them. Atsumu knew he wanted his child to be successful somehow but he had finally come to realise that it didn’t have to be athletically but rather anything your child wanted to do. If they did end up taking an interest in sport, great, but neither you or Atsumu were going to push it onto them just because their father was a pro athlete.

“Who knows, maybe you’ll even end up like yer uncle Samu and take up cookin. I’m sure he ain’t gonna mind if we take ya to his restaurants or stores to teach ya a thing or two. Yer gonna be more like me than him though got it? I don’t need him teasin me sayin that yer more like him and that ya like him more than me yeah?”

Another soft kick met his warm palm and he let out a soft scoff and aimed a harmless glare at your unborn child.

“Oi! Uncalled for! I know I can be a little rude sometimes, but I ain’t gonna let yer end up like me in that sense! Yer mom would kill me if she found out that yer manners were like mine back when I was a kid. Ya better not be annoyin either. Nana Miya will probably tell ya a few stories about me and uncle Samu and how we used to get on her nerves with constant bickerin and fightin.”

A soft laugh drifted from him as yet another soft kick was sent Astumu’s way.

“Alright, alright I’ll stop layin inta ya, just promise me you’ll be good for yer mom while I’m training and stuff? She’s the best and yer gonna love her so much I promise. I hope yer gonna love me just as much too because not to cheat, but yer mother and I have a little bet over who the favourite parent is gonna be so I’m not saying ya have to pick me but I am tellin ya now that yer obviously gonna like me more cause I’m gonna be the best dad ever for ya.”

His warm, calloused hand rubbed over your stomach as he carried on chatting to your child as if this was casual conversation to him.

The warm temperature on your growing stomach caused your eyes to flutter open as you registered it was in fact your husband who was touching and talking to you while you were unconscious.

“Tsumu? What are you doing?” Your eyes and voice heavy with sleep as a lazy smile traced over your face.

Atsumu looked up and hummed before meeting your half lidded eyes as he gave you a toothy grin.

“Just tellin our kid how I’m gonna be the best dad.”

“You little shit! You’re cheating, you can’t tell the baby to pick you as their favourite while I’m asleep that’s not fair!”

“Yeah? Well I bet ya tell our kid to pick you as their favourite while I’m at training! Ya have all day to convince them! I gotta make up for my time lost.”

You fought the smile that was trying to break out onto your face as the petty argument with your husband continued with him sitting next to your stomach and you leaning facing him.

“That’s not true, I would never play dirty!”

“Baby, yer a Miya now, playin dirty comes with the name so I know yer lying!!

His hand still rested on your stomach as his eyes lit up as yours widened. Yet another small kick was felt as a smug smile wiped across your husband's face.

“Ha! Even little Miya admits yer a liar!”

You huffed and playfully gared at your own stomach and then your husband.

“Snitches get stitches.” You poked your stomach gently as if to retaliate to your growing baby.

“Hear that? Yer mom’s mean! That’s why I’m gonna be the favourite!” Atsumu declared with a triumphant smile as you laid back down to rest your head on the pillow.

“Yeah yeah we’ll see… I’m gonna go back to sleep. Tsumu, I love you.”

Atsumu crawled back over to you and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek and whispered a ‘good night’ and ‘I love you’ before padding back over on all fours to your stomach before meeting it eye-level once more.

“So back to what we were talking about before we were interrupted…”

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[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s stepkid

Tony Stark x Potts!child!reader

warnings: alcohol mention

a/n: i rushed these so bad i just wanted to post dhhshsnsna

prompt: y/n is pepper’s kiddo!

it was just you and your mom for a long time

pepper and y/n potts

she couldn’t keep up with you sometimes, too busy dealing with the manchild that was mister anthony edward stark

speaking of—

“uh, who’s this?” -tony, pointing at you

“mr. stark, i am so sorry, the school closed because some kid set fire to the science lab and i didn’t have time to find a sitter—”

“no, it’s fine, no need to apologize. hey, kid, you wanna sit in the boss’s chair? i’ll let you run the company for the day!” *cue you nodding* “sweet, would you mind that, ms. potts?”

“oh? no, not at all” *mouthing* “thank you”

“so, uh, what’s your name? no, don’t tell me: ketchup.”

*giggling* “y/n”

“no way! that was my second guess!”

tony wasn’t used to being around kids

he had no idea that he was actually kind of good around them

despite a few minor hiccups

“you sit in my chair and im gonna spin you around, sound like fun?”

he spun you around WAY too fast and you were diiiiizzy, also you fell off the chair

“don’t tell your mom that we did that. she may be my assistant, but she scares the shit out of me. also, don’t say ‘shit’”

dude he just thought you were a cool kid!!!

“hey, you know, ms. potts, you dont really need to hire a babysitter anymore. y/n’s doing just fine hanging out here”

“how am i not surprised you befriended an actual child?”

she still took him up on his offer, you seemed pretty happy

when your mom worked late, you passed out in tonys office

tony and you had your own little secrets (like falling off the spinning chair), tony showed you around stark tower, and you practically lived there

“i got you a happy meal from mcdonalds!” -tony every day after your school

in all honesty, you weren’t the “popular” kid at school...not even close

but tony made up for it

“y/n! i found this old racecar toy in a box of old stuff, you wanna hold onto it for me?”

you kind of grew up in stark tower tbh? it was pretty cool

and as you grew up, you started to notice more

“mr. tony, do you have a crush on my mom?”

“do i what? no, no, i do—who the hell am i kidding? you caught me”

“called it!”

after that you did everything to try and get them together

when your mom was talking to tony, you would stand behind her and wiggle your eyebrows and just taunt tony endlessly

no! tony cannot remember your mom’s birthday for the life of him! you are his calendar now

“dude, why dont you just ask JARVIS to remind you?”

“i may be a genius, but that doesn’t mean i have common sense”

“wise words, sir” -JARVIS

when tony disappeared for 3 months you were so sad???? like you were not okay at all

no

and when he came back, he literally exited the plane saying “WHERE’S ‘T-POTT??’”

(your wonderful nickname. ‘t’ for ‘tony jr.’ and ‘pott’ for ‘potts’)

“my mom missed you”

“oh, i bet she did”

“you turned my child into you, tony. i will never forgive you for this”

“well, at least y/n was here to fill in for me, huh?”

tony wanted to show you the arc reactor but he was actually afraid of scarring you lmfaoooo

but he did let you in on the iron man secret (he knew you wouldn’t snitch)

and just to make sure:

“if you dont tell anyone, i’ll buy you a car when you turn 16”

“man, that’s like, forever away”

“good, maybe you’ll forget by then”

ur mom kinda maybe sorta found out abt iron man :/ she told you that tony was a bad influence

“mom! no, tony’s cool! he’s like a superhero”

“no, sweetie, he’s a rich guy with issues. we’re leaving”

that didn’t last long

not long at all

and soon they FINALLY got together

“jeez, i thought you two would never stop pining after each other”

“couldnt have done it without my wingman” -tony *fistbump*

“as thanks can i have my own iron man suit?”

“yes.” *pepper glaring at him* “no.”

sooner or later your mom and you moved into tony’s house and you got a really big room!!!!

it was completely decked out

king sized bed, flatscreen tv, mini-fridge, microwave, computer, your own bathroom with a smaller tv, a poster of tony??? (you vandalized it and put it in his workshop), and more!!!

okay you were spoiled

“do you like it here? are you sure i made the right choice?” -pepper

“are you kidding, mom? this is awesome! plus, you’re happy, i’m happy, tony’s happy, i think JARVIS is even happy!”

“i am, mx. potts. simply ecstatic” -JARVIS

pepper was really happy!! it was a pretty cool family

you started giving your school tony’s number if you ever got in trouble, you knew he’d cover for you

“mr. potts, is it?”

“sure”

“your child, y/n, punched another student in the face today. we’re very disappointed in their behavior”

“why’d they punch the kid?”

“well, the other student punched y/n first”

“HAH! thank you for wasting my time. send y/n back to class and call me back if something important comes up”

he literally gave you a high five when you got home

“i gave him a black eye!”

“i couldn’t be more proud. i mean, i dont condone violence, but self defense is a whole other story”

a little help in the workshop, tony asks you to hold the flashlight

“why don’t you get one of your robots to hold this for you?”

“are you kidding me, you’re complaining? we’re having stepdad/stepkid bonding time! and dum-e can’t do anything right, i dont trust him”

youve had a few theme park trips as a family ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also tony has 100% told you to wait in the car and then left you alone for 2+ hours

“i’m not like a regular dad, im a step-dad. want some beer? you can have a little sip. i’d rather you do it in the house”

your mother actually does love how he actually cares about you!

“y/n is 12% my responsibility” -tony

“tony, you are impossible” -pepper

no avengering for you! pepper said no!!!!!!

disappointed but not surprised

iron man 3: y/n potts is put through the wringer

Text Message to Mr. Tony: bro you better come get your girl, me and happy are watching this other guy flirting with her. he’s showing her pics of his ‘big brain’

Mr. Tony: HE WHAT

Text Message to Mr. Tony: Tony he looks creepy i don’t want him to be my new stepdad do something!!!

anyways ur house kinda blew up and ur mom and you kinda got kidnapped and u were right abt that guy being creepy and thankfully no experiments were done on you but like your mom kinda almost died and her and tony were fine!!! all good in the end

you met mr. col. james rhodes that day

“aw, you’re the kid ive heard so much about” -rhodey

“you mean the coolest kid in the world?check.”

“you cant tell me you aren’t tony’s biological child, good god”

you got to meet the avengers later on too! (you’d already met natasha tho, only briefly)

“i know it can be a little overwhelming, right? meeting all these heros, legends even—” -rhodey

“oh, my god, is that thor? thor!!” -you, leaving rhodey in the dust

literally why does pepper trust you around tony something always goes wrong there were literally robots attacking, you were only at avengers tower bc your mom was busy with the company and she thought you’d be safe with the avengers. the AVENGERS.

“please dont tell your mom that i created a bad robot that tried to kill us. the robot will be the least of our problems” -tony

he made happy pick you up and you had to miss out on FUN and it sucked a lot

“it’s okay, y/n! i’m fun, too!” -happy

then your mom and tony took a break and your life got mega-boring for a while, but they weren’t separated for that long. you try not to think about it. it was brutal

Mr. Tony: Does she miss me?

New Message to Mr. Tony: I think so. Either that or she’s crying and drinking wine in the dark for no reason.

Mr. Tony: Damn it, now I feel bad. I miss her a lot. Oh, also, the Avengers say ‘hi,’ I’m in Germany with some bad news, I’ll explain later if you don’t see it on TV first, and I found you the perfect friend! His name is Peter and I think you’d like the school he goes to, it’s in Midtown. Smart kid school.

New Message to Mr. Tony: I’ll look into it, thanks. Also, I don’t like how those all connect. Please update me asap

watching the news to see several avengers arrested, cap on the run, and more!

“maybe it was good i didn’t fall in with the avengers”

tony and pepper finally got back together and you actually transferred to midtown high! peter and his friend group accepted you quickly, it was great. you and flash unfortunately had the most in common

you’d literally text happy right next to peter and he’d immediately reply to you. it hurt peter’s feelings

Momma: Sweetie! I’m working in the office late, leftovers are in the fridge, hope you have a wonderful day at school! 💕

👉👈the vulture tried to kill you for being tony’s stepkid, tony made peter promise to protect you

“y/n, you gotta stay out of harm’s way. mr. stark gave me an actual mission and it’s terrifying, i have to make sure you stay safe”

legit why the fuck was this old man tryna kill you bro grow up

anyyyywayssss your mom and tony got engaged!!

“wow, i thought the day would never come!!” -you

ppl told you tony isnt your stepdad bc ur mom and him werent married but who tf asked

why is the earth always in fucking danger

you and peter were just vibing on the field trip bus and all the sudden: space donut

“go! i’ll cover for you...FRIDAY, call tony”

“...hi there, little one”

“what the fuck”

“oh, so you see the aliens, too? well, at least im not crazy”

tony stark has left the atmosphere

you and your mom were kinda......not chillin tho

she and you didn’t sleep for a few nights, then ppl just straight up disappeared

plot twist: you survived the snap and your family was lucky to be alive, you even got a little sister who became a big handful!

only bad thing was all your friends dusted and you were pretty lonely

but watching morgan grow up kept you busy

“ahhh, shes so big!”

happy times in bad times

bad times!!!!! bc after five years thanos came back as thanos from like ten years ago. outdated thanos. obsolete thanos.

but you made your first and only appearance in the suit tony actually designed for you many years ago

you should have just stayed home tho bc that fight didnt pass the vibe check

“please dont tell me he...no, no, no, no, no”

you and your mom latched onto each other in tears, tony was one of the best people in your life, he made you and your mom two of the happiest people on earth

best stepdad a kid could ever ask for

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedgiantfavs // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm // @ofthedewthesunlight //

[nova-is-a-writer-now]

Fools

[[zuko x reader]]

->next

Summary: Zuko and Y/N had liked eachother for a while even though neither of them knew it. Y/N tries to get over her crush for him, failing miserably. So just when she decides to let go and embrace her feelings, the new Fire lord finds himself feeling jealous and decides to take matters into his own hands

A/N: this is the first Zuko/ATLA fic i’ve ever written, so go easy on me plssss, i just finishes the show a couple days ago (a little late ik) and ever since then i’ve been OBSESSED with this man (if he’s too ooc pls let me know) . This is set a while after the coronation and it’s an AU where zuko and mai were never a thing. Hope y’all like this <3

ps: this may get a little long, i’m writting this before i finish it but i get a feeling it’s gonna be a long one so be prepared lol also it will most definitely have a pt.2 if y’all like it.

Warnings: Angst but it’ll end well i promise, swearing

-IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS DONT HESITATE TO ASK-

Things after the war ended had been chaotically peaceful. Turns out that leading an entire nation, specially when it was the one that caused the war, and reuniting the lands that had for so long been against eachother was harder than all of you thought. The fact that a group of teenagers were the head of the operation wasn’t a big advantage either.

Sure, Aang and Zuko, who were the ones who had the most important positions when it came to politics and diplomacy, had advisors and people around to help guide them, but it was still a hard job. Nevertheless, without a war or fighting, you were sure it was good for the entire group to keep busy. They’d kept a lifestyle of always moving around and being on guard for so long it would’ve been a big shock to be forced to stay still after that.

Katara and Sokka travelled back and forth from the Southern Water Tribe to the Fire nation a few times, not too often though because of how far apart the two were. That was a shame because of how close you’d grown to Katara and her motherly self, her advice and her unconditional friendship, and even to Sokka and his bad jokes, his way of teasing everyone and how he could make you smile even when you weren’t in the mood, you even missed how mad he made you sometimes. Suki went with them to spend some time away from everything, she loved her life as a Kioshi warrior but she decided she needed a break after everything she had gone through.

Aang, on the other hand, was traveling all over but mostly between the Earth kingdom, were he would very often meet with Katara, and the Fire nation. You got to see him way more often than you got to see Katara, Suki and Sokka, although he tended to be busy with avatar business. He was doing a great job, you had to admit. The people loved him, he found a way to spread his teachings and the teachings of the Air nomads to the world and uniting others helping them put aside their differences seemed to be his thing now more than ever. But most importantly he seemed truly happy, one time he even told you he finally felt like he was making all the air nomads proud, wherever they were.

Toph still wanted to be away from her parents, so she refused to go back to the Earth Kingdom. She hated the cold, not being able to use her seismic senses in the snow and being bossed around by katara, so she refused to go with them too. So when you offered her to stay with you, she accepted. She made it seem as though it was her last choice because she had to keep her tough girl reputation, but actually she liked you a lot, she saw you kind of as a big sister. You took care of her in a way no one had before, not seeing her as helpless and weak but still being there for her when she needed you. Though she’d never tell this to anyone aloud.

And Zuko was still Zuko, just that now he was a Firelord. He took his job very seriously, determined to prove wrong everyone who had said he was too young or too weak for it. He knew the big responsibility he had in his hands and he seemed to be doing really well. He had his moments, of course, where he would have outbursts of emotion and anger, but he always found his way back to being who he needed to be for his Nation, and you always helped with that. He was the one who suggested you stayed in the Fire nation as a representative of the Northern Water tribe. You were hesitant at first, but after thinking the idea over you realized you had no business up in the tribe, you’d been away for a long time and you weren’t ready to go back just yet.

The two of you had never been incredibly close in the time since he joined the gaang, but you couldn’t denied there was a connection between the two. You got his humor and he got yours, you could tease eachother all day without getting butthurt, you could open up and talk about deep stuff under the stars on a sleepless night, and spending time with him seemed easier to do than with most people. You’d brushed this off as the two of you being good friends for a good while, even after you moved into the palace and started to hang out with him more, but for the past few weeks it’s been getting harder to do.

Every time Toph, him and you ate lunch together and he sat in front of you, you couldn’t help but end up staring at him, not in a weird, creepy way but in a ‘I’m mesmerized by you why am i mesmerized by you and since when are your eyes such a beautiful shade of gold’ way. You were in denial about it but deep down you knew you were starting to have a crush on him, and eventually Toph caught up to it too.

One night after diner she pulled you into her room, closed the door and said “Listen, Snow queen, I’m kinda tired of your heart going crazy every time mister flaming pants is around so you either get over your little crush, tell him how you feel or I will personally snitch on you directly to him, understood?” You didn’t even have the guts to deny it to her, specially since she’d know if you were lying, so you just heavily sighed and looked at the floor. She must’ve felt bad for you cause she took your hand and dragged you to sit on her bed to interrogate you about the situation.

“Out of anyone you could’ve ended up liking I never saw this one coming” she told you taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed

“Don’t get me started” you threw yourself back to the bed and stared at the ceiling for a second before speaking again “Like how dumb do I have to be to crush on someone who isn’t only probably the busiest man on all kingdoms right now, but also royalty and... well Zuko. He would never like a girl like me and even if he did, he probably has to end up with a princess or something.”

“I’m not letting you drown in a pity party here, ok?” Toph pulled your wrist and forced you to sit back up and look at her. “He’s lucky a girl as decent as you is willing to put up with that temper of his and how annoying he can get. Now what are you gonna do about it?”

“Nothing?” You replied in a low voice not taking a second to think about it. Toph punched you in the arm in response “Hey, what was that for?”

“What I said before still stands, I can’t deal with you being all flustered every time he’s around, so get over it or tell him how you feel.” She spat and all you could do was grunt and throw yourself back into the bed

So you were gonna get over it then. Easy task. Never done anything easier before.

It wasn’t.

Turns out that by trying to avoid Zuko at all costs you ended up stumbling into him even more. Around the corners, in the hallways, everywhere. The plan was to just avoid him as much as possible until eventually your feelings faded away, you couldn’t have a crush on someone you didn’t even see right? Wrong. Even when you weren’t around Zuko he was still on your mind. You tried to go to the palace library and distract yourself with literature, but reading romance books only made you feel more miserable and the only other option there was were war strategy books which you weren’t very interested in. The next distraction you chose was gardening, you loved nature and you were a water bender, it was the perfect task you thought, but once again you were wrong. You turned out to be such a bad gardener, Kya who was the one in charge of the royal gardens (and who was the sweetest lady) ended up banning you from messing with her flowers ever again. The last thing you could think of to stay away from Zuko was feeding the turtle ducks. It seemed like a good idea and on the few occasions you’d been in the pond before, the little animals seemed to be very fond of you. You couldn’t mess this one up, anyone could feed the ducks, but there was a little problem as it seemed to be the theme of that day, the Fire lord had forgotten to tell you that the pond was his place of choice when he needed to clear his head.

You didn’t even notice he was there until you heard his voice behind you. “Keep feeding them like this and they’ll get obese”

You jumped a bit out of surprise and turned around to face him with your palm pressed to your chest. “Spirits, Zuko, don’t do that to me, you’re gonna kill me one of these days” It was a bright and sunny day, the heat of the Fire nation weather made his face glimmer a little, his hair was up held by the royal Fire lord hair piece and he was wearing a version of his formal attire made for a hotter weather, leaving his muscly arms on display. As soon as you realized you were staring once again, you turned your attention back to the pond in an attempt to hide the blush that was slowly conquering your cheeks.

He took a sit next to you and waited a couple seconds before breaking the silence. “Hey... um... I don’t know if this is just me but you’ve been acting weird lately, is everything ok?” He asked looking at you.

“Everything is fine, definitely just you.” you replied not taking your eyes away from the shining water of the pond. The ducks had grown tired of waiting for you to keep feeding them and swam away.

“I... don’t think so. You didn’t come to breakfast today, everytime we’re together you seem to wanna leave as soon as possible and right now you can’t even look at me.” He paused before taking in a deep breath. “Did... did I do something to upset you?”

You finally turned around to look at him and the look you saw in his eyes was heartbreaking. Ever since he joined Team Avatar, Zuko had been making a huge effort to be good. You could see how sometimes he struggled to pick being kind and gentle over being erratic and explosive, and you also knew that had a lot to do with his childhood. But he had been doing such a good job at it, specially since he became Fire lord, he was so much more friendly, better at socializing and overall improving. And right now it was clear to you that you had made him feel like he was failing at being a good person and he’d somehow messed up with you.

You turned your body around slightly and put a reassuring hand on his knee before saying “Oh, Zuko, no. You haven’t done anything and I’m not upset at you, I mean that. It’s just...” coming up with lies and excuses had always been your strong point but having Zuko there making you ridiculously nervous wasn’t a factor that helped. “I.. uh...I’m getting a little homesick, you know? With Toph gone most of the day and you busy, I’ve been feeling a little melancholic about my home, but it’s nothing I promise. I’m just trying to find something to do with my time.” You we’re impressed with yourself with this one, it actually sounded pretty convincing.

You thought you had the situation handled until Zuko spoke again a few seconds later. “Y/N, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized until now with all the chaos of being Fire lord but I asked you to stay here and represent the Northern Water tribe and I haven’t even given you time out of my day. I haven’t been the best host, have I?” Before you could even reply he widened his eyes and said “I have an idea, tomorrow I’ll take the day off and we can go on a small field trip to this cabin my family has on the ourskirts of town, there are some nice fields and it’s very peaceful, we’ll have a picnic lunch there and just relax. You can even ask Toph to come with. How does that sound?”

He looked at you expectantly and you started to look for reasons to turn him down, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. It was true that you hadn’t had much time to spend with him ever since he took his position, and in all honesty, crush or not you really did miss him. Your weakness for him won the battle and you ended up accepting the plan saying it was a great idea. The regent stood up from his place and assuring you he’d have everything ready for the next day he left.

You really had messed up this time.

—————

The next morning you put on a flowy, flower-print dress. It was classy but at the same time comfortable and light enough to handle the summer weather. You had nervously been looking at yourself in the mirror for way too long now. Before dinner the past night you at least had hopes that Toph would come with to the field trip and she would help you contain yourself when it came to Zuko, but of course that wasn’t the case. When he had brought the topic up at the table Toph limited herself to look at you knowingly and say “You know what? I happen to be very busy tomorrow, you know, I’m trying to get a name for myself in the Fire nation’s fighting scene and I have a fight tomorrow, sorry.” You knew she was lying because she had told you about her fight but instead of the next day it was three days from then. All you could do was look at the little devil and make sure you wrote a mental note of getting back at her as soon as you could.

So here you were, minutes ago from embarking in a field trip with the person you were supposed to avoid, and you had no idea how you were gonna get out of this one.

A knock on your door startled you and took you out of your worrying thoughts. A few seconds later a maid’s head popped in as she said “Lady Y/N, Firelord Zuko and the carriage are ready for you.” You took a deep breath and walked towards the door while replying with a soft “Thank you, Yun”

The carriage waited for you in front of the palace and so did Zuko. He was already inside, sheltering himself from the unforgiving sun, so you startled him when you hopped inside. “Y/N, you look...nice” he complimented you, a faint blush running through his cheeks making him gain a more childish and youthful look.

“Thank you, Zuko. Likewise.” You responded attempting to stay as calm as you could. You hated that he had so much power over you.

He ordered for you to be in your way before the carriage started moving swiftly. Your eyes flowed to the window, looking out at the capital city of the Fire nation. “You’ve done a great job leading this people. They look... so happy.” You drew your eyes back at Zuko as he stared at you. It was you who was starting to blush now.

“I hope so. I’ve done everything I’m capable of to change the old ways of this nation. I hope I’m making the right choices.” A worrisome look took over his eyes as he let his own attention drift towards the streets.

“Hey” you called to him as you stretched your hand to cover his. “You’re doing just fine Zuko. You’ve done so much for these people and all the other nations as well, I’m sure you’ll do even more good.”

He faintly smiled at you as a response and you could tell that although he did worry about the future, your reassurance helped.

The rest of the ride was spent pointing out the animals you saw on the road, sharing childhood stories about when Zuko and his mom used to come here when they both needed to get away from everything, and a bit of teasing about how Zuko had no idea what to pack for a picnic and had to ask the head chef of the kitchen for help. Luckily you had become friends with chef Karou in the time you’d been living in the palace and he knew your taste rather well.

When you finally arrived there was no sight of the usual movement and noise proper of a big city, the air was filled with the peculiar scent of flowers you couldn’t recognize just yet and grass. In the distance at your left you could see a small cattle of Hippo cows and Komodo chickens. And at your right a long field of grass and flowers that seemed to go up in a small and almost unnoticeable hill.

You and Zuko stepped down the carriage just as a guard handed him the picnic basket. The tall regent turned to you and ordered “Follow me, I wanna show you something”. You did as you were told, being led by him all the way up the hill until you were at the very top. When the two of you got there your breath was taken away by the beautiful view you had in front of you. A huge field of flowers layed gracefully at the end of the hill and extended far enough that it connected to the horizon.

“This is...” you started but were so taken aback by the view you didn’t finish your sentence.

Zuko seemed to understand regardless and replied “I know.” Behind you he started to set up a cloth for the two of you to sit on. You forced yourself to remove your attention from the field and place it on what was going on behind you. Taking a seat on the opposite end of the cloth you helped him take out all the items chef Karou had packed for you. When you were done you looked at Zuko and said “Thanks for this. It��s really nice.”

“No need to thank me, I’ve been leaving you alone so much time lately. I know aside from Toph I’m pretty much all you have here so take this as a ‘Sorry I’ve been a terrible friend’ offering.” He smiled wide expecting you to do the same but that smile faded away as soon as he saw the expression on your face.

‘Friend’

The word echoed in your head as your eyes dropped to the food you had in front of you. Of course he saw you as a friend. You had almost convinced yourself you should confess your feelings to him and he goes on to call himself your friend. A knot in your throat started to form and you did your best to show it as little as you could. But you obviously failed.

“Everything ok?” Zuko asked tilting his head to catch your eyes.

You looked up and faked a smile. “Yeah... just thinking how far we’ve come.” You lied through your teeth before continuing. “Anyways, enough of all the cheesiness, I’m starving.”

“Agreed” He replies picking up something for himself. You chose a small salty biscuit with a mix of meats on top and decided to distract yourself with it. “Chef Karou said you’d like that one. He also said you hated onions and peas. What type of weirdo hates peas?”

You chuckled a little, the feeling that oppressed your chest fading away quickly. “I do. They’re disgusting and if you like them I don’t trust you.”

Zuko laughed loudly before remarking “Its not like I like them, Y/N. It’s just a weird thing to be picky over. They’re peas, they don’t really taste like anything.”

You widened your eyes and quickly swallowed the bite of biscuit you had taken. “What do you mean they don’t taste like anything? They taste disgusting and they are mushy and just... gross”

Zuko replies with another laugh. His laugh made you feel warm inside, it could make you forget about everything, Toph’s threats, your previous plans and even the now faint voice poking the back of your mind telling you to be careful or you’d get your heart broken.

The two of you kept eating and chattering at the same time. You’d finished the salty food and it came time for the desert. Chef Karou had made a type of cake and stored it inside a small glass jar. You tried opening the lid but it was too hard. You heard Zuko in front of you offering you help but you refused it telling him you could do it on your own. After a couple minutes of struggling , Zuko took your deep sigh as a sign of defeat and scooted closer to you. “Here, let me.” He took the jar from your hands and quickly opened the lid, handing it back to you. You looked up expecting to find a smug smirk that felt way to familiar to you at this point but instead you found his serious face dangerously close to yours.

You took the jar back and set in down. “Thanks” you muttered softly and quietly. His only response was to slowly but firmly raise a hand up to your face to put away a strand of hair that had fallen. His touch sent shivers down your spine. All thoughts of caution escaped your mind as you felt his face so close you could feel his warm breath mixing with yours. The tension between you seemed to almost be to much to handle when you thought you saw Zuko lean in a little. Before anything else could happen, one of the guards that had come with and stayed back where the carriage was spoke. “Firelord Zuko”

The golden eyed boy dropped his hand from your face and turned around to face the guard. “Have they not taught you to not interrupt people when they’re talking privately?”

“I am very sorry, Firelord.” The guard bowed in sign of respect. “But we have just received a messenger hawk with a letter from the palace. The Avatar and you other friends are here.”

[aesopsbaby]

Headcanons for being siblings with Tord?

Siblings

To put it in simple terms...its chaos. Yeah,just pure chaos.

He would be the type to walk into your room,flip you off and probably push something off your table before walking out without closing the door.

Howeverrrrr,he dotes on you! Alot! Its insufferable sometimes.

"Aww aren't you just the cutest~" He would tease you whenever you get upset or mad at him or anything that happened,just to get you even more upset-

Whenever you two get into an argument,he would grow distant from you. Dont expect an apology from Tord,it'll never come but what you can expect is a small paper slipping from under your door,a small "Sorry." is scribbled across the white sheet. And possibly a small cake in the fridge with a note plastered on the container; "Y/N's Cake. Do not touch." Ignore him long enough and you can just get him to buy you even more snacks ahahhh

Tord adores you but he would never admit it-

He snitches on you :/ BUT,sometimes he has your back,maybe even throwing in some lies to your parents.

Someone is bullying you? Just tell Tord. Or don't. He figures it out at the speed of lighting. (How does he do it...) Lets say you DID tell him about the bullying;Tord would first tsk at you and make snide remarks like "Come on Y/n,are you really that weak?" But all while getting ready to leave the home.

Tord:"You comin'?"

Y/n:"Where?"

Tord:"To that dumbass that had the nerves to pick on you,idiot."

Now let's say you DIDN'T tell him about the bullying; Tord would have found out fairly early on,maybe even the first day you got bullied. He catches on quickly but he wouldn't act on it just yet. He's confident that you can handle it. But he drops hints that you can come to him if you need any help,without making you feel pathetic or looked down upon.

If Tord sees that you managed to resolved the bullying issue,he would be so very proud! Playfully punching your shoulder and ruffling your hair as a smug smirk pulls lazily on his lips.

But,,,if you were still struggling with the issue and have not told him,Tord would take matters into his own hands. Now,he wouldn't tell you that he knew. First,he would go to the address of the person that bullied you,to "chat" with them. Then he'll leave to go home,with a bloodied fist and a bruised cheek,but a satisfactory smirk plastered on his features.

You can trust me when I say that bully or any other people that wanted to pick on you,would have backed off and probably have even stuttered out an apology. Its safe to say,no one will be picking on you any time soon!

After this incident,Tord would sigh as you ruffles your hair. "I know you could've handled it yourself but it pains my poor heart to see my little sibling suffer." He would playfully pout,teasing you once again. "But honestly,come to me whenever you need help. I've got you."

Tord would definitely buy you something just because it "reminded him of you" and you would just have random stuff around your room.

"You want that??" He raises an eyebrow to you as you excitedly nod your head. But then seeing him eye the object with distaste,you would then laugh awkwardly,opting to say its "just a joke". Tord would catch on quick to this as well,looking between you and the object before speaking softly; "Which did you want again?"

Spoiler alert: he got it for you! :D

Will he smoke in front of you? No. Definitely not. And don't even think he'll allow you to smoke.

I wonder where you got your anger issues from...oh wait.

All in all,Tord doesn't want to see his sibling upset. HE gets to tease his sibling,no one else. And lastly,its unconditional love from him!

You may catch his smiling softly at you as you get excited over the smallest things but don't point him out on that- Or do point him on that,you can manipulate him into buying you even more stuff to keep your mouth shut-

He often smiles softly at you because he just adores you so much and seeing you happy is all he needs!

[kalimagik]

Ronald?

Ron Weasley x Reader

Word Count: <2K

Warnings: None I think...

A/N: So I have a very large soft spot for Ron Weasley in my heart. I love him oh so much, so here’s a little take of mine on when Lavender Brown kisses Ron after that one faithful quidditch match 6th year. (I know she had some good qualities, but she’s always bothered me) Anyways....if you enjoy reading, you know the drill, like, reblog, comment, or even follow! Happy Reading <3<3

-

Reposting because the tags weren’t working 

*Not my GIF - Credit to the owner

Y/N pushed around the food on her plate as she waited for her friends in the Great Hall. She’d been at Hogwarts for 5 years and was completing her 6th year with hopes that it would be a lot more calm. Every year had been something and after the year everyone endured with Umbridge as Headmaster, she could really use a break. Of course, not everything about the chaos had been bad. She’d gained friends like Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Harry and had even started dating the youngest Weasley brother. Yes, Ron could be daft sometimes, but he really did show that he cared for her and never failed to make her laugh. They kept their relationship pretty lowkey, but those who knew them best knew how happy they were together.

“What? Is the food bad today?” Ginny asked as she sat down next to Y/N, Neville close behind.

“No, I’m just super nervous for the Quidditch match today. Ron was tossing and turning all night. I just want him to do well,” Y/N spurted without any breaths.

“I’m sure he will! He’s been doing great in practice!” Ginny encouraged.

“I know. But after Hermione told me that she had used that charm to help him, I’m just worried about his confidence....oh shh. Here he comes! Good morning, babe!” Y/N smiled as the redhead sat next to her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Good morning, love! The nerves are getting to me, but hopefully they’ll go away!” He responded.

“I know you’ll do great! Don’t you worry,” she charmed.

Hermione and Harry made their way into the Great Hall and joined the rest of the group. Ron seemed to be doing well until Seamus and Dean came over.

“Ron! We’re expecting a lot from you today! Gryffindor needs this win!”

“You’ve got it mate!”

“Is there really that much pressure on me?” Ron asked Harry.

That’s when Y/N noticed that he stopped stuffing his face, something that was very bizarre for Ron.

“Ron. You’re looking kind of pale...” Hermione pointed out.

And that’s when Y/N saw Harry pull something out of his pocket. It looked familiar, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

“Harry?” Luna asked, sliding in with her large lion head, “what did you put in Ron’s drink?”

Ron looked up with wide eyes. Had Harry just put the luck potion in Ron’s drink?

“Harry! That’s got to be against the rules!” Hermione gasped.

“What? I just thought he could use a bit of luck to calm the nerves. That’s all,” Harry stayed simply.

“Ron, you can’t drink that!” Y/N insisted.

“Common, it won’t make that big of a difference!” Ron replied as he took a large gulp from his goblet.

Y/N couldn’t help but shake her head. Didn’t she say that he could be daft.

Down at the pitch, Y/N snuck into the changing rooms before the match started to wish Ron luck, even though he probably had enough.

“Y/N, what are you doing in here?” Ginny whispered.

“I just wanted to wish Ron luck. Is he around?”

Ginny rolled her eyes before pointing to where Ron was. She didn’t know how Ron got a girlfriend, but she sure was happy it was Y/N. She was just great for him.

“Y/N/N! What are you doing in here? Not that it’s a bad thing, I’m happy to see you!”

Y/N grinned as Ron stumbled over his words.

“I just wanted to wish you luck before your first match! I’ll be cheering for you up in the stands!”

Y/N stood on tiptoe in order to give him a kiss. She was going for a simple one, but Ron placed a hand on the back of her head, holding her in for an even longer one.

“I definitely needed that for luck,” he winked as she ran off to get a good spot in the stands.

The match was CRAZY! Ron was doing such a fantastic job! He was blocking every shot on the posts, got the quaffle to the chasers without any problem, and even spun around his broom to block a shot! He was on fire! Y/N was so proud of him, even if Harry had slipped him some good luck potion. (She really hoped he hadn’t)

“GRYFFINDOR WINS! Potter has caught the golden snitch! What a fantastic match here at Hogwarts!” The announcer called over the loudspeakers.

Y/N couldn’t believe it, well she could, but her boyfriend played so WELL!!! She couldn’t wait to get back to the Common Room to celebrate with him and the rest of the team.

“Y/N, you coming?” Hermione asked as Y/N stopped in the entrance of the Common Room, “Y/N?”

Why had she stopped? Just a minute ago, the entire Gryffindor house was chanting Ron’s name and Y/N had been excited to go in. What changed was all Hermione could think. That’s when she turned and saw it. Lavender Brown had gotten up on the table and kissed Ron. Hermione turned back to Y/N and she was gone.

As Y/N had stood there in shock, all she could whisper was “Ronald?” and run away before the tears began to fall.

“Harry? Did you see which way Y/N went?” Hermione asked hurriedly.

“No, why?” Harry asked cluelessly.

“Look,” Hermione pointed up to where Lavender was hanging onto Ron.

“That bloody fool,” Harry said, “ummm, she may have gone this way. Let’s go.”

Hermione and Harry rushed from the Common Room to try and find Y/N.

“Do you have the Maunderer’s map with you?” Hermione asked after they couldn’t find Y/N anywhere.

“Oh, good idea!”

Harry searched his robes to pull out the old piece of parchment.

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good,” he said with his wand in the center.

Black ink began to spread across the parchment and the pair opened it quickly to find Y/N’s footsteps in the castle.

“Harry, look. There she is!” Hermione pointed to the two stationary footprints in the East Tower on the Astronomy Tower steps.

“Common,” Harry replied quickly as he folded the parchment and grabbed Hermione’s arm.

“Y/N? Are you still here?” She asked as they got closer.

There was no reply except for the sniffles in the dark.

“Lumos,” Harry said, emitting a bright light from his wand.

“Oh, Y/N. Are you okay?” Hermione asked worriedly.

“Oh, hi guys,” Y/N whispered as she wiped her eyes, “if you wouldn’t mind, I would kind of like to be left alone...”

Hermione completely ignored that request and ran over to hug her. Harry was quick to sit on the other side.

“I’m sorry. He’s just so daft. There is no way he meant it,” Harry tried to explain.

Y/N was just silent. It had still happened though. Not to mention, Harry and Hermione had come to find her and she didn’t even know if he had left the oh so grand celebration yet.

“Harry, that’s not helping! Y/N, has anyone else been through here?”

“Just Peeves and Nearly Headless Nick. Peeves threw stuff at me and told me to stop crying. Nick went away when I asked him to. But those are just ghosts...”

“I’m sure he’s wondering where you are,” Harry tried again.  

“Well then where is he?”

“Y/N?” a voice came from the bottom of the astronomy steps.

“That’s him,” Hermione whispered, “so you want us to leave?”

“I don’t know...” Y/N drew out.

“Love, please. I know you’re up there...” he called out again.

“We’re up here, Ron,” Harry finally gave in and called, “I’m sorry. He is my best friend. He deserves a chance to explain.”

“Oh thank goodness. Y/N/N, love, I’ve been looking for you everywhere...how long have you been gone?” He asked as he came up the steps.

Y/N didn’t even want to look up at him. She couldn’t if she didn’t want to start crying again.

“Guys, could you give us a moment please?” Ron pleaded to his two friends.

Hermione looked at Y/N for permission, wanting to make sure her best friend would be okay with him. She nodded her head. Knowing she’d have to hear him out at some point.

Ron waited until the two had left before he started talking.

“Y/N, please, please, please talk to me. It didn’t mean anything. She came out of nowhere and everyone was celebrating and pushing in, not giving me any room. I promise, love, I didn’t kiss back. She finally let go and I looked around for you and you were gone. Love, I would never want to hurt you!”

“Ron, as much as I want to believe you, it still hurts. So, so much. It felt like my heart was being stabbed. I know we’ve been staying low key, but I thought enough people knew. Lavender knew what she was doing. And it lasted so long. You are so much bigger. You could’ve pulled away. It could’ve not happened...” Y/N could feel the heat behind her eyes, the puffiness Of her cheeks, and the tears that began to roll down.

Ron’s heart began to shatter. How could he have let this happen. He should have been thinking and not caught up in the celebration. He didn’t do it on purpose. He couldn’t lose her.

“Y/N. Please, I’m begging you, try to understand. I can’t lose you!”

He grabbed her one shoulder and used his other hand to lift her head so she would look at him. He looked into her E/C eyes and wanted to pull her in close when he saw the tears.

“Why can’t you lose me? I wouldn’t be very hard to replace...” Y/N tried to look down again.

“Don’t you dare say that. Y/N, you are everything to me. You’re smart, supportive, you see me for me, and you somehow know how to protect me even when I go on those ridiculous adventures following Harry... Y/N,” he paused for a moment, “Y/N. I love you.”

That got her to look up. He had never said that to her before. They’d been together for nearly a year and neither could figure out how or when to tell the other how they felt.

“You what, Ron?” She stuttered.

“I love you Y/N!” He said a lot louder.

That put a small smile on her face. He really was a goof....

“Will you please, please, please forgive me?” He asked again, taking both of her hands in his.

“I love you too, Ron. I love you so much...”

Ron couldn’t stop himself from beaming. That made him take her face in his hands and pull her lips to his. He hated the circumstances that he had to tell her, but he had felt this was for so long. His heart was content and he knew that he couldn’t mess it up. Y/N had him wrapped around her finger and could completely break him if she went away.

Y/N broke the kiss off and looked Ron dead in the eyes.

“I will have you know that if Lavender ever comes near you again, I will sock her in the face!”

Ron let out a loud laugh, appreciating his girlfriend’s feistiness.

“Oh you could take her any day! Want to go back and celebrate now?”

“Are you okay if we stay here for a little while, just the two of us?” She asked him with wide eyes.

He just smiled as he brought her in close again, “I hoped you’d say that.”

[yandere-mha-blog]

Chapter 6:Arrest 

Words:2012

The next day heading into class and feeling everyone's eyes on you wasn't exactly how you wanted to spend your morning in class. At least it wasn’t boring, it isn’t every day you are arrested for murder, found innocent, and then let go the next day. Some of the rumors are funny like how your dad paid them to let you go, no your dad was a humble man who enjoyed relaxing on the weekends with a cup of tea, and feeding the birds in the backyard.

“(name), what do you got there, oh dear!” you remember your dad's face as you were peering over a bird who was dead on the ground

“Dad why isn't it moving?” you asked, poking its stomach, him cringing and pulling your hand back.

“Well, sometimes when things get hurt, they stop moving.” He said

“For how long?” you asked

“Forever, sadly.” He said, “They don't feel or hear anything either.”

“How can we be so sure?” you asked, your father didn't really know how to respond to that, not sure if a four-year-old could understand nerves and the brain function and the pain receptors.

“That's a story for when you are early, come on let's go clean your hands.” He said, as you looked back at the bird, once your dad got your hands cleaned up he told you to avoid touching “dead” animals, what made dead animals dirtier than livings ones, you headed back to the bird and put out one of your talons and poked it, how weird.

You were smiling to yourself having that memory, your dad was a bit concerned when he came back to see the dead bird was punctured and put you in time out and had to explain the many diseases dead animals could carry. Maybe that is why he got you so many books on animals after that to satisfy your curiosity, still, if it was already dead and couldn't feel pain what was the issue, maybe he was worried you would try to do it on something living, but luckily the therapist marked it off as quirk use curiosity, and kid curiosity.

So when you remember that one time you cut a kid's cheek for cutting earthworms that were still alive

“What Are You doing?” you asked a group of kids who were leaning over a worm on the ground, it was wiggling around the pavement and must have been hot. “you know being on hot pavement hurts the slime coat on them right?”

“Why don't you worry about it, look if we cut in half we can get two worms.” He said

“Stop that will hurt it,” you said, trying to

“Back off, it's just a puny worm.” He said as he cut the worm down the middle with a plastic knife he snuck from lunch, you almost vomited, then you got angry, so you flexed your wingers and swiped your smaller talons across his face.

“AGHHH TEACHER!!” he yelled

“Oh stop you puny worm.” you said as the teachers ran over

and when your dad found out he just gave you a pat on the back.

or that one time you swiped at that kid's leg for using a magnifying glass on a trail of ants.

“” What are you doing?” you asked looking at a kid who was crouched down near a lien of ants

“Looking at the ants.” He said

“OH neat, did you know that ants belong to the same family as bees and wasps?” you said

“What a dummy, they don’t have wings.” He said as he adjusted the magnifying glass and started frying them one by one, you pulled his hand back

“Hey stop that, you are killing them,” you said

“So they are just ants, not like they feel anything.” He said

“You are still killing them,” you said, and he just shoved you down

“You are boring.” he said as you furrowed your brows before swiping his leg, and he cried out for the teacher again as the ants were climbing up his shoes

The teacher called your dad in again, and he was trying not to laugh in the teacher's face, still, he took you out of school that day.

“Still, (name) why did you swipe at the kid's leg.” your dad said

“He was killing the ants.” you said “He was hurting something so I stopped him.”

“Well you have a good heart, but sometimes you put it to use in the wrong ways.” he said “Come on let's go get you some ice cream it's hot out today.”

“Okay,” you said

Your dad may not have understood your tendency to use your quirk, but he tried his best to help you curve your curiosity and moral compass of the world. Maybe that's why he was so concerned that you wanted to be a surgeon, that you were just giving in to your urge to use your quirk again, but he must have come around thinking if it could be used for good why stop you.

“Why is she smiling, she never smiles.”

“It's kind of creepy.”

The girl's conversation snapped you out of your thoughts and you looked over in their direction, when they noticed you they shut their mouths and looked down like they aren't just bad-mouthing you earlier. So you were more than happy to finally get back to your dorm away from people. Maybe you would call your dad again, yeah that would be a good idea.

“Hello (name) how are you doing, are you eating enough up there?” was the first thing he asked

“I'm doing fine, don't worry about eating my fruit.” You said, “It's getting really boring.”

“But I thought you loved learning about human anatomy?” he asked

“I do but we haven't been learning everything new, I already know all this stuff.” you explained, “And well I'm not really calling because of school, something happened.” “Really what?” he asked

“I got arrested by the police the other day,” you said

“YOU GOT WHAT!” he yelled

“Dad I can explain, look I saw a guy taking a drunk girl home to take advantage of, and well I followed him and went in and stopped it, he was found killed in his dorm the next day.”

“I see, that's...well I see,” he said

“Dad you don't think i”

“Of course not.” he said “I’m just worried you are always getting yourself in trouble defending people, makes me wonder why you didn't go towards hero work.”

“Haha I’m going to help people in my own way,” you said

“Well, I'm just glad you weren't there when the murders came.” Your dad said and you started to feel guilty. “Well, I need to get going, take care of yourself, love you.”

“Love you too,” you said, and he hung up

“See I told you my daughter wouldn't do anything.” Your dad was talking to the hero public safety commission

“Sir, please understand we think your daughter might be working with the Nighthawk.”

“My daughter wouldn't hang around horrible people,” he said leaning back in his chair

“Sir a lot can change when kids leave college.”

“Well, you don't know my daughter then, besides it sounded like the man had it coming, he decided it would be okay to lay his hands on my daughter after all, do you have kids what would you think if that happened to them, and if the nighthawk did save her, i would give him a firm handshake and a big thank you.” your dad said, taking a long sip of tea “Would you like a cup?”

“N thank you.”

“Well that is your loss, now I answered your questions, can you leave my house now, and stop insulting my daughter.” your dad said, glaring the two guys down indicating it was time for them to go.

You decided to go for another late night walk, it appeared that Hawks decided to book it, he was probably under the impression that you snitched on him, you hadn’t seen one feather from him, you were starting to get man, is this what ghosting someone was?

You kept walking down the campus before seeing a piece of paper on the ground who decided to litter here, you picked it up only to notice a scribble of red ink that looked like a feather, you rolled your eyes and put it in your pocket, if hawks were sending notes then it must've been something he couldn't tell in person. So you headed back to your dorm and closed the blinds and opened the note.

.

“Hey, chickadee. thanks for not snitching on me earlier really appreciate that, and they are watching you, they went to your dads this morning and were questioning him, so look if you want me to leave you alone I can understand that, just give me one light means leave, two means stay”

-

You put two lights on that night, you hoped hawks got the message.

Hawks was standing on top of the next building over, he gave a sigh of relief to see those two lights in your window, he knew you would find the note, he knew you were smart, still, The HPSC was now interviewing your family, well your dad. He seemed like a nice fellow, guess the HPSC couldn't see that, not like they saw anything outside their narrow view of what “Justice '' was, aka if they controlled it was good, at anything else was bad. So them hunting down a child to try and force him to become a pawn in their game all made sense in their head, not like they would ever be able to catch him.

Still seeing the many cars surrounding the palace, and all the news campus security that we're looking at you the whole day secretly following you around everywhere made him crush his can of coffee in his hands, maybe at himself for talking to you and getting you into the mess that was the HPSC. But it was more at the HPSC in the first place, maybe it was time to knock them down a peg or two.

“So what are you planning to do after this?” One of the spies said

“I’m not sure?” He said

“How about you go to a hot spring? It's good for the stiff muscles.” Hawks suggested before the two of them looked at him and he quickly knocked them out using both his wings to smash their heads together, now to slash the cars. There were a lot of spies roaming this place, he had a long night ahead of him.

Many employees of the Hero public safety commission have been found knocked out on the campus this morning, the administer is talking to one of the higher-ups this morning, reports show and support that a dangerous villain by the Name of Nighthawk is roaming the campus we are advising all student to have a curfew before 7 and to walk in groups.

“Can you tell us why you had these people on our campus without us knowing?” The reporter asked over the telecom.

“We believe the Nighthawk is roaming the campus, he already killed one of your students, we were taking protective measures.” The president said

“Then why were they all knocked out, why did you only send in low-level employees.”

“We were trying to gather information.”

“This is boring.” you thought and switched to a different video, they had really sent that many people to watch over you what was to happen next, not like you had much time to think about it before your door crashed down and you had about six funs pointed at you.

“(full name) you are under arrest for helping and harboring a high stakes villain,” they said as you had your hands up and one walked over picking the note up, crap why didn't you destroy that earlier, so your hands were put behind your back and you were taken away, two times in one week, what a life.

[writesowhatnext]

aren’t you full of surprises // charlie weasley

Summary: Charlie Weasley cannot possibly be your soulmate: he’s got nothing to do with dragons

Request: Hiya love, can I request a soulmate au with Charlie weasley?? Something about a little symbol on their body which represents their soulmate and Charlie’s soulmates is a little dragon which he sees after a quidditch match or something?! Thank you!!

A/N: I really love Charlie oml – this is mostly based on the books and stuff &&&& I included tonks bc I love her and she’s in the same year so made it easy +++ s/o to anon who told me Sam Heughan was a good fan cast bc you were right and he’s perfect :))))

Reader: unspecified

Warnings: swearing I suppose, making out ;)

You had decided that you were completely over having a soulmate. They were supposed to be perfect for you, sure, but they were ever so messy. What if you liked someone that wasn’t your soulmate? What if you never met your soulmate and you spiralled into a deep, dark, endless depression and ended up alone? What if your soulmate was cruel to animals? Or smelt bad? What if they supported the Falmouth Falcons? There were just too many things out of your control and so, after another recurring debate with your friend, Tonks, you had sworn off the idea completely.

“Y/N! Soulmates complete you!” Crumbs from the toast in her mouth tumbled back onto her plate as you rolled your eyes. “I know that I’m counting down the days ‘til I find whoever this is.”

As she pointed at the little wolf symbol on her wrist, her hair turned the softest, lightest shade of pink. It always did when she thought about her soulmate. You shot her a deadpan look.

“I just don’t think it’s very fair. Some people never find their soulmates – the whole thing is very unpredictable.”

“You’re missing the point,” Tonks insisted, her hair turning a light brown. “Soulmates are the only thing in this world that are actually reliable! They’re sweet and you’re supposed to share them with people!”

“Not this again-“

“I don’t understand why you won’t show me yours.”

“Sorry, Tonks, I think I hear McGonagall calling me.” You lied very obviously, standing up from the Hufflepuff table, and walking towards the door - the opposite way to where McGonagall was sat at the Teacher’s table.

“I’ll find out one day!” Tonks shouted after you, mouth once again full of toast.

It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Tonks; she was actually the only person you did trust, sometimes. It was just that whenever you looked at the dragon curled up on your shoulder, all you felt was annoyed at the universe. Besides, you had your eyes set on someone anyway.

Charlie Weasley had surprised you every time you learnt something new about him. He was handsome and well built, with ridiculously unruly hair and skin entirely covered with freckles. The first time you’d really heard of him was at the end of second year when he was made Seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team. Not long after, he was made Quidditch Captain and so, you’d written him, perhaps prematurely, as a classic Quidditch jock: he’d probably join a regional team straight out of Hogwarts and that would be that. You had to admit though, after seeing him play once against Hufflepuff (a match Tonks had dragged you to), he was probably good enough to play for the nationals.

It surprised you more than anything to know that he’d been made a prefect, too. Granted, you didn’t know a lot about him, but you were pleasantly intrigued to hear that he was not only athletic but also quite smart. If anyone asked, he was definitely not the reason you tried out for the team that year. No one was as shocked as you when you were made chaser. Not even Charlie.

After a particularly intense match involving six fouls, a runaway snitch and a near-death experience, you were quite grateful to be back on two feet. The ground had never felt so good. What made it better, actually, was who stood to greet you by the entrance to the pitch. Even in his robes with a red and gold Gryffindor scarf draped around his neck, he’d never looked so good.

“Y/N, right?” he asked, a tentative smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah,” you couldn’t help but match his grin. “And you’re Charlie Weasley.”

“I didn’t realise I had such a reputation.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t.” you said, teasing him, walking past before turning around. “Your brothers are making a name for themselves. Their pranks are already pretty notorious.”

“Ah.”

“I may have heard of their older brother, world-class quidditch legend and prefect before, though.”

“Well,” he started almost bashfully. “I’m not much of a prefect.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, biting the inside of your cheek.

“You played really well out there today,”

“Coming from you, that’s quite the compliment.”

“You’re quite the player.”

You didn’t say anything, enjoying the moment far too much.

“I’ll see you around, Y/N.”

You nodded, kissing your teeth and turning to get out of your sweaty Quidditch uniform. “See you around, Weasley.”

As you walked back to the changing rooms, you officially made your mind up. Sod your soulmate, you wanted Charlie Weasley.

He made it quite easy for you to achieve your goal. That next day, you sat at the Hufflepuff table, as you often did. Tonks was already launching into a story about a Ravenclaw she had seen Charlie’s brothers prank yesterday when she stopped abruptly midsentence. You frowned at her before following her eyes to look behind you. With a plate of pancakes in his hand and an optimistic smile on his face, there stood Charlie Weasley.

“Can I join you?”

Slightly speechless, you looked to Tonks, mildly irritated to see her staring at you with a smug eyebrow raise.

“Sure.”

Quickly getting to grips with the fact that Charlie wanted to eat with you, you began to lighten up to the idea, glad that he enjoyed your company even a little bit as much as you enjoyed his.

“Tonks, this is Charlie-“

“We’ve met.” She said, an amused smile on her lips as she stabbed some bacon with her fork. You turned to Charlie to see that he’d gone slightly red, a lovely expression on his freckled face.

“You called her Nymphadora, didn’t you?”

He nodded, letting out a nervous laugh. “For the first and last time, that’s for certain.”

“Rightly so.” Tonks nodded, seemingly very pleased with herself.

“You’re a menace.” You pointed at her with your fork.

“Little old me?” Her face was the picture of innocence as she flung her hand backwards, the bacon on her fork flying into the back of a Ravenclaw at the next table. Her hair, along with her face, turned a deep pink shade.

“A menace.” You repeated, crossing your arms before turning to Charlie, who had been staring at you rather intently with an unreadable expression.

“Tonks was just telling me about a prank your brothers pulled yesterday. Given she can’t behave herself at all, she’s quite impressed with them.”

“At least someone is.” He said with a grin. “My mum might actually kill them when we get home.”

“That would be a shame,” Tonks frowned, chewing. “Someone needs to cause a little mayhem when I leave.”

“You think they could replace your legacy just like that?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course not, but they have to try.”

“Don’t think they could ever beat the time you put that Venomous Tentacula plant in Snape’s classroom,” Charlie’s smile was infectious as he remembered one of Tonks most infamous pranks.

Tonks’ face soured slightly. “I’m still doing detention for that one.”

You, Charlie and Tonks fell into easy conversation and more often than not, you found yourself staring at his attractive face and enjoying the sound of his deep voice.

“So, what d’you have today, Charles?” Tonks asked, a teasing smile on her lips.

“You’re playing with fire.” You warned her, knowing how much she hated her full name. She made a face. Ever the gentleman, Charlie just smirked at her teasing.

“Care of Magical Creatures, first-“

“You took that?” you asked, unable to hide the incredulous tone of your voice. He laughed.

“Yes? What’s wrong with that?”

“Well,” you frowned. “Nothing’s wrong with it, per se. I just didn’t expect you to take it.”

“And, why’s that?”

He turned to face you expectantly, his elbow resting on the table.

“Because you’re a total jock.”

“Oh, really?”

“Quidditch legend, remember?”

He shook his head, smiling. “So, jocks can’t like taking care of magical creatures?”

“They can.” You bit your lip. “They just usually don’t.”

“Are you saying I’m not like other boys?”

Lost for a witty response, you just stared at him. You felt, though cliché, that this was the first time you were actually seeing Charlie Weasley. The amused twinkle in his eye and the soft curve of his lips and the fact that there was a much softer side to him than you’d ever imagined caught you off guard. It seemed like all he ever did was surprise.

“Oh,” Tonks said, drawing both you and Charlie’s attention away from each other. “Bugger,” Her tone was stretched and full of imitated emotion. “I have to get to-“ Her pause was ridiculously long as she stood up from the table, nearly wearing the soupy sauce left from her baked beans as she did. “A class?”

Before you could say anything, she sent you a very conspicuous wink and legged it out of the hall. You would’ve been embarrassed at her obvious attempt to leave you two alone had Charlie not turned to you, amusement written all over his face.

“Blimey, she shot off quick – I bet that class is important.”

The next few weeks, you and Charlie were practically joined at the hip. Every single meal was spent with Tonks at the Hufflepuff table and weekends you spent walking through the grounds talking about everything and nothing all at the same time. He told you everything he could about his family and you told him about how you ended up on the Quidditch team and how strange it was to not be around your own family at Hogwarts. You never talked about the future – it was an unspoken rule. You knew Charlie must’ve had a soulmate and you knew he probably didn’t feel the same as you about the whole deal and so you kept quiet about it. It felt obvious that regardless of what you two were now, as soon as his soulmate came along, he would probably ditch you for them and the idea, as much as you tried to avoid it, pained you a little bit. You’d never felt as happy as you were when you were with him.

You’d been excited for your last Quidditch game of the year, especially as you knew that Charlie would be cheering you on the whole time. You wanted to impress him, as well, despite yourself and so you tried your hardest to play your best. It was going well, all and all, until you were hit by a rogue bludger. You should’ve been paying more attention and so you cursed yourself when you’d been knocked from your broom. To say you were quite relieved that you caught the broom before you fell would be an understatement. And with the cheers of the crowd around you to spur you on, you managed to climb back on and continue playing. You’d completely forgotten about it with the excitement of the rest of the match – and winning, to your surprise. Charlie hadn’t though.

Alone in the changing rooms whilst everyone else was celebrating, you moved your shoulder back and forth, wincing as you realised that the bludger would definitely leave a bruise. You’d only been there a moment before Charlie barged in with a worried look in his dark eyes.

“Are you okay?”

You blinked at him as he came closer, mouth opening and closing slowly.

“Yeah, Charlie, I’m fine. It was-“

“Thank god.” He said, pulling you into a tight hug. You went rigid for a moment in his bulky arms before you relaxed into the unexpected embrace. “Are you hurt?”

He pulled back, hands resting on your upper arms. The concern in his voice and the warmth of his hands left you slightly breathless. Your heartbeat was loud in your ears.

“I’m fine.” You said softly, smiling. “Might have a nasty bruise, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Show me.”

You rolled your eyes at his insistence, though you were touched at his concern. So much so, you absentmindedly pulled down your Quidditch uniform to reveal your shoulder, something you’d never done before. You shivered as his fingers skimmed your skin before a breathless whisper left his lips.

“No way.”

“What?” you asked, blinking away the feeling of Charlie that had so consumed you. Almost instantly, you realised your mistake. “Oh!”

Trying to undo what had already been done, you yanked your robes back over your shoulder, hiding the symbol from view.

“It’s a dragon,” He said ever so softly, seemingly stunned.

“Charlie, I-“

“Y/N, I love dragons.”

Still attempting to preserve whatever was left of you and Charlie’s relationship, your mind raced at a mile a minute thinking about how he would react to your soulmate, a topic you’d never spoken about together. You were so distracted you almost missed what he said.

“What?”

“I’m surprised I didn’t mention it,” he looked from your covered shoulder to your equally shocked expression. “My family says I never bloody shut up about them. That’s what I want to do after Hogwarts, actually, working with dragons in Romania.”

Unable to form a coherent thought, your lips reacted before your brain had the chance.

“Are you taking the piss?”

Charlie barked a laugh, stepping closer to you.

“I knew I always felt something different around you.” He said with a decidedly gleeful look on his face as he shrugged. “Makes sense, really.”

“Soulmates.” You brushed your hair out of your face with both hands. “Tonks is gonna have an absolute field day with this.” His lips twitched. “I’ve spent years telling her that I was gonna choose who I wanted to love and soulmates were a bunch of rubbish-“

“Should I be offended?” he asked, stepping closer again. Your chest tightened slightly at the proximity.

“Well, no. I decided about a month ago that my soulmate could piss off and you were all I wanted.”

He didn’t say anything; an amused smile lifting his cheeks at your rambling.

“It was a bit of an up yours to the universe, actually.”

You inhaled sharply as his hands gently held your waist.

“Turns out the joke is on me-“ His fond expression cut you off.

“Soulmates, eh?” you asked, looking into his eyes. Before you could utter another nervous syllable, he moved forward and captured your lips in a kiss. You leant backwards; his hands pulling your waist into him as your hands disappeared into his unruly red curls. Pulling at them slightly, he moaned into your mouth and you couldn’t help but smile in response. You pulled away, deciding that breathing would be a fun activity for your both to enjoy. You panted, your breaths mingling together as an ear-splitting grin grew on his face.

“I think, love,” he said, pressed a chaste peck to your lips. “That it’s time I told you a bit more about dragons.”

[moons-and-stars-and-shit]

Hi ao idk if your matchups are still open but I would just like to send mine just in case and if you they are closed, could you do mine when you open them?🥺 ANYWAYS. Imma introduce myself :)

My name is Cecilia, and my pronouns are she/they! I am a Aries, im Bi and im a ENFP. When it comes to the physical aspects, I am 5'8, I have brown hair, brown eyes and I have freckles on my face. Also I'm kinda blind lol I use glasses bc I can't see shit without them 😃. I'm chubby and I have the fear of accidentally squishing people if I sit on their laps or if they carry me 😀. When someone meets me for the first time you will either get the first impression that im a rude and sarcastic person that doesn't care about anyone and I will kill you OR I am one of the nicest human beings that you will ever meet on the planet earth. There isn't really a in-between. BUT, usually when I warm up to people I can be really chaotic and fun, tho I am really sarcastic so people really won't be able to save themselves from my snarky remarks :) . I really like to listen to music, read, ride my bike,, write poetry, play video games and watch movies (preferably romantic movies or horror movies). I also enjoy learning new languages and for now I speak 3 (Spanish (which is my native one), English and Russian. I'm trying to learn Japanese). I hate strawberries and thunderstorms. UwU idk if you take preferences for what characters people want for matchups, but my preferences are yaku, suna, yamaguchi, or akaashi.

Ok thanks ily and take care! 🥺💓

@scftfairyking

Romantic Matchup

Suna Rintarou

A/N Ok so he was actually a candidate for your matchups so when you said he was one of your preferences I was like why not 👀

How Y’all Met

So you we’re actually Atsumus gaming buddy

You guys were a very chaotic duo 😊

but you guys would often just play video games together

So when Suna ACTUALLY agreed to come play video games at his house with him

He thought he would invite you too

Yk for shits and giggles

Things started off pretty smoothly

Y’all just played Mario kart together

Then the smack talk started...

You started throwing little jabs about Sunas playing

Which started to rile him up

Causing the game to get a little...intense

Honestly Atsumu didn’t even know what was happening anymore

One minute y’all were laughing together

But now you could cut the tension with a knife

Eventually it was just you and suna going head to head in the game

Unfortunately a text from your parents distracted you for a split second and he won 😔

You had to go home anyways so you started to pack your stuff

But before leaving the house you pointed at suna and said

“Nice playing, but you just got lucky. I’ll beat you next time”

And left

If you had stayed a little longer you would’ve seen the pink that dusted Sunas cheeks 👀

Before he took his leave he asked suna for your number

Which earned him a couple of teases from the blonde twin

But in the end he got it

And the first thing he sent you was a challenge to 8 ball

And the text

“You said you’d beat me next time, so let’s see about that”

Which began the start of your glorious friendship

Eventuality poor Atsumu got replaced as your gamer buddy

And suna took his place 👀

Suna had feelings for you since he first met you

But never said anything

But a certain blabber mouth twin did...

Atsumu had noticed how much you two we’re hanging out

So being the little snitch he is ratted his friend out

He literally just flat out told you that suna liked you

This info was obviously a little shocking

But you wouldn’t deny that you were a little pleased 👀

You’ve also developed feelings for suna

So YOU confessed to HIM

And of course he agreed 🙄

What They Love About You

He loves how sassy you are

This mans can be a sassy little shit too

So it’s cool that he found someone who can match his energy

And take a couple of teases every now and then

Awww

He loves your freckles

He legit thinks their the cutest thing ever

Oh and he LOVES your height

It’s just perfect in comparison to his

Hugs are never awkward yk

Favorite Things To Do Together

Omg

He loves to watch horror movies with you

Like full on horror movie marathons

Oof and god forbid you actually get scared

Because first of all he’ll tease the shit out of you

But then he’ll go on about how he’ll “protect you”

He still likes to play video games with you!

But be warned...

These moments get VERY competitive

He also just likes to chill with you and listen to music

Every time you do that you get to pick a song then he gets to pick a song

Fun timessss

Random Hc

His favorite horror movie is The Shining

For ONE reason only

Because you always get a little jittery after watching it

So he loves to just pop out from behind a corner and yell

HERES JOHNNY

He honestly thinks it’s the funniest shit ever

He was this 🤏 close to beating the s h i t out of Atsumu for telling you how he felt

But he didn’t

Cause he ended up with you ❤️

He will literally pick you up outta NOWHERE

just to get a reaction out of you 🥲

Astrology

When Aries and Aquarius come together in a love match, the combination of Aquarius vision and Aries action makes them a highly creative pair.

Their relationship is anything but static; they can be competitive, but life with these two is never dull!

Zodiac Signs that are two apart tend to have a special connection, and these are no exception.

They are great friends as they communicate really well.

They have a special understanding of one another’s idealistic, enthusiastic outlook on life.

They both crave excitement and new experiences — the wilder and stranger, the better.

They’re both into thrills and showing off.

Many Aries-Aquarius relationships are based on mutual admiration.

Aries loves how unique Aquarius is, their inventive vision of the world; Aquarius loves Aries for their energy and initiative — Aquarius gets new ideas all the time but sometimes finds it hard to carry them out.

Since both Signs prize independence, Aries’s tendency toward possessiveness can push Aquarius to become aloof or detached as a self-preservation tactic.

Though they have that special connection, they do see the world in very different lights, which they both need to understand.

Aries can be too involved for Aquarius’s taste, and Aquarius in turn may be too unpredictable for Aries.

As it turns out, Aquarius is the one Sign that has Aries beat when it comes to spontaneity!

As long as both partners reassure each other that the relationship is important and secure, things will be just fine.

Overall Aesthetic

Grunge

My Ordinary Life - The Living Tombstone

Verbatim - Mother Mother

DVD - Robbie Jet

IFHY - Tyler The Creater

[vivithefolle]

Not sure if you already talked about this. (I’m pretty sure you have) but someone seemed to notice that when the trio get into fights, Hermione’s always in the right. Even when she’s supposed to be wrong she always seems to be half right. That kind of bothers me. Especially since it’s evident in the whole Scabbers situation.

I have indeed, on Quora, so let’s move yet another answer of mine to Tumblr!

Hermione is seldom wrong in the Harry Potter books. Sometimes she makes mistakes but those mistakes are either completely swept under the rug or downright ignored.

It’s partly due to lazy writing and partly due to Rowling’s own growing bias in favour of her Author Avatar that was fuelled by Steve Kloves, the primary advocate of the Hermione Granger Is The Perfect Girl Ever line of thinking (an utterly ridiculous line of thinking mind you).

Lizo: Steve, Hermione is a character that you have said is one of your favorites. Has that made her easier to write?

Steve: Yeah, I mean, I like writing all three, but I've always loved writing Hermione. Because, I just, one, she's a tremendous character for a lot of reasons for a writer, which also is she can carry exposition in a wonderful way because you just assume she read it in a book. If I need to tell the audience something...

JKR: Absolutely right, I find that all the time in the book, if you need to tell your readers something just put it in her. There are only two characters that you can put it convincingly into their dialogue. One is Hermione, the other is Dumbledore. In both cases you accept, it's plausible that they have, well Dumbledore knows pretty much everything anyway, but that Hermione has read it somewhere. So, she's handy.

Now this, right here, is the exact core of the problem.

Rowling herself admits it: if she wants the readers to have information, she puts Hermione in the scene. Hermione is our primary means of exposition because, like *grits teeth* Sssssteve puts it, it’s easy to assume that she’s read about it somewhere and it makes sense.

That’s all well and good but at first, if you notice, Ron also gave us exposition about the wizarding world, mostly about its culture. He was able to recall the exact year of the Wizarding Confederation that outlawed dragon breeding in Philosopher’s Stone! He explained what were respectively a “Mudblood”, a “Squib”, and Parseltongue, Hermione doing a little exposition about the history of that last one! He was also able to identify Sirius, after being dragged into the Whomping Willow, as an Animagi!

But then Goblet of Fire happens and you can notice the first change that will exponentially grow through the books: instead of Ron, pureblood Ron, born-before-the-end-of-the-war Ron, lived-through-the-aftermath-of-the-war Ron, identifying the Dark Mark, it’s instead Hermione, muggleborn Hermione, lived-as-a-Muggle-for-most-of-her-life Hermione, has-no-idea-about-the-emotional-impact-of-the-Mark Hermione who looks terrified as the Dark Mark shoots into the sky!

And it only will get worse, by the end of the series, Hermione pretty much knows about everything the plot needs her to know, instead of having to work with things she knows but can’t always apply to the situation:

Suddenly has a deep knowledge of Magical Law (in the will of Dumbledore’s chapter, while we had Rufus Scrimgeour who could have provided it to us, or to a lesser extent, Ron could have explained how a wizarding will basically worked)

Is suddenly an expert at finding edible plants and mushrooms. Apparently books are always the goddamn answer in JKR’s world, you can literally learn anything from them

She can decipher all the Tales of Beedle the Bard (may I remind you that they were written in Runes, okay Hermione may have a few years of Ancient Runes education BUT I once tried to translate a 3k+ story I had written for fun, from French to English, which means I knew what the subtleties and intentions were, I knew which turns of phrase I had to preserve so it would make sense in the end, and it still took me two gruelling weeks to get a satisfying result!)

Has suddenly grown a sense of quick-thinking (escaping Xenophilius’ house, using the jinx to make Harry’s face weird-looking) despite it being the only remaining flaw she had at the time (remember when she turned her back on her enemy while he was still conscious just to compliment Harry, and almost died as a result, even though she had been training in the DA to learn how to fight Death Eaters?) Quick-thinking under pressure can be learned, but it takes time and a lot of work to force your brain to override its instinct - and it’s fine because we’re all human and different. But no suddenly Hermione is the Greatest Strategist Evah™ and those silly boys (who actually were the original quick-thinking ones, and one of them was established as the strategist early on) better be grateful for this literal goddess because she protects them from all harm with her superhuman brain.

Somehow knows about Quidditch stuff - she knows about a Snitch’s “memory-touch”. Why should she give all the answers? Why can’t Ron give us this particular tidbit of information?

And then when we come to something Ron actually knows, the damn narration itself goes “woah a book that Ron has read but Hermione hasn’t??? shocking!! incredible!! Ron is not dumb, somebody call the news channel”. But… is that really so surprising? We’ve never seen Hermione read wizarding fiction or even Muggle fiction. We’ve never seen Hermione with anything other than schoolbooks in her hands. Of course Ron has read books she hasn’t read since she doesn’t seem to read fiction at all!

Sorry, bit of a tangent over here.

There are only two characters that you can put it convincingly into their dialogue.

So, that’s one part of the problem: the fact that Rowling, after making Ron our insight into magical culture and Hermione our provider of knowledge, ended up saying “eh whatever I guess Hermione can tell us everything we gotta know because it’s more convenient for me”. Which is a decision that was not based on Hermione’s character, but simply lazy writing. Long story short, it probably went: “Could Ron explain this bit of trivia? Meh, better make Hermione say it cause she’ll have read it in a book. It’s convenient and I won’t need to bother myself with exploring Ron’s characterisation.”

(And thus completely forgetting that Ron could maybe ask his big brothers via owl and provide us with a good heap of extra advanced knowledge - Bill is supposed to have aced his NEWTs after all.)

The other part of the problem is quite simply that Hermione is more often than not, either painted as a victim by the narrative (which makes more people take her side, classic manipulation tactic), or made to be right anytime it’s about a plot point.

Hermione’s mistakes are never explicitly stated, corrected, or even pointed out as being unethical.

Hermione only gets one mistake expressedly pointed out as being a mistake: her misadventure in Polyjuice Potion. The rest of them? Even her crush on Lockhart can’t be counted as a mistake - people get crushes all the time, based solely on physical appearance, it’s not something awful or terrible (Except when it’s Ron who crushes on someone. Ron crushing on someone is absolutely forbidden, and he must be punished with much ridicule and humiliation if he thinks he can get away with not worshipping Hermione like the goddess she is. The nerve of him, really.).

Throughout the books Hermione eventually morphs into Rowling’s Powerful Angel of Vengeance, that punishes the people who dared to do something she disliked - Rita is silenced but at a very ethically dubious price; Marietta gets scarred for life because she was more loyal to her mother than to a bunch of people her friend insisted she hang out with; Umbridge is led to a very, very alarming fate that is never made clear but some people have ideas and they’re not all very kid-friendly; Ron first is “helped” without knowing it because Hermione can’t be bothered to have faith in his capabilities, then when he fails to dutifully reward her for “helping” him, she causes him bodily harm before actively bullying him for not mind-reading her interest in him; causes even more bodily harm to Ron because that’s how feminism works; etc.

Hermione’s mistakes are always justified through the plot itself (which is lazy writing).

Turning into a cat? Only affects her.

The Firebolt? Scabbers? Well, in the end, it was really sent by Sirius Black and Crookshanks really wasn’t the culprit. Therefore all the feelings that were hurt and all the trust lost are irrelevant because Hermione was right all along.

Trying to free the house-elves? Well, it’s the intent that counts, right? And we’re never told enough about house-elf lore to know whether they’re poor brainwashed victims or powerful Penate-like symbiotes who need to serve a wizard to survive?

Kidnapping Rita Skeeter, trapping her and blackmailing her? Rita may be one foul little beetle, but that’s going a bit far, isn’t it? Harry approves? Oh, well, I guess it’s okay then…? A main character can’t have a dubious morality, right?

Manipulating Harry into forming Dumbledore’s Army and forcing him to relive a traumatic event with the same woman she’s kidnapped and blackmail and that she knows he hates? In the end, it all works out for the best and Harry’s hurt feelings don’t matter since it’s all about the greater good.

Using the centaurs to get rid of Umbridge (which poses the highly distressing question of what did the centaurs do to her?), realizing that the centaurs aren’t nice little horsies that are going to gently obey her every orders like good Disney princess’ companions, my goodness could this be an opportunity for character growth - nevermind, here comes Grawp the Giant Ex Machina, saving her arse and protecting Hermione from all that scary possibility of introspection. Thanks, Grawp Ex Machina.

Trying to dissuade a highly stressed-out and irrational Harry from rescuing Sirius by telling him exactly what he needed not to hear, a.k.a. “you have a saving people-thing” which causes Harry to completely go bonkers and go save his godfather without thinking twice? Well she was right after all, it was a trap! Nevermind how mind-boggingly insenstive and inadept at dealing with someone else’s feelings she was being, she was right! That means it wasn’t Hermione’s mistake!… probably. (Geez, I’m sensing a pattern here…)

Endangering Cormac’s life (Confunding him WHILE HE’S ON HIS BROOM) to promote Ron’s success? Oh but that’s so romantic! (Yeaaaah, how romantic to display exactly how much faith you lack in your crush. Top it off with a broken neck and that’s a picture perfect first date!)

Assaulting Ron with magic and causing him even more scars than he already had? But he was being cold with her first, right? And he totally should have known she was asking him out! It’s not like her invitation was even worse than his attempt to ask her out two years earlier! Plus she’s just a teenage girl expressing her emotions, anyone who tries to find fault in this is a disgusting abusive misogynist pig! Ha!

Getting all jealous that Harry is better than her at Potions, then pretending she’s not jealous by claiming that TEH BOOK IS EVIL, HARRY, and giving him the cold shoulder too? But no, she’s right, look, Harry used Sectumsempra and he almost killed Draco, nevermind that he’s very horrified about it! Hermione was right, like she always is!

Hermione Obliviating her parents, which pulls her from the “ethically dubious” zone into the “wow okay I’m pretty sure that this counts as a violation of basic human rights” zone, makes her one of those quirky wizardfolk who have the privilege to control those simple-minded Muggles because it’s for the greater good? But nooo she’s crying about it so it’s obviously very sad and angsty and it shows her devotion to the cause!

Splinching Ron while fleeing from the Ministry? Eeeh, but he’s fine, they’ve got Dittany, he’s good as new!… blood loss? Anaemia? What’s that?

Hermione was wrong about the Deathly Hallows not existing? Um, um, that doesn’t matter, LOOK DOBBY IS DEAD AND HARRY IS BACK TO LOOKING FOR THE HORCRUXES!! Therefore Hermione was right, the Hallows weren’t important for their quest, therefore the Hallows might as well not exist, HERMIONE WAS RIGHT NO REALLY I’VE GOT RECEIPTS -

The books never forget to remind Harry and Ron of their own shortcomings and moments of weakness.

Harry’s wrath and recklessness cost Sirius his life. This is the lesson he has to learn from his entitled behaviour in OotP: actions have consequences, and the greater your responsibility, the greater the cost will be.

Ron’s envy and insecurity lead him astray; they’re used to humiliate, ridicule and torture him throughout the books. They’re supposed to teach him that he’s worth something - but how is he supposed to believe that, when nobody ever tells him he’s worth anything? When nobody ever apologizes to him? When his feelings are taken for granted over and over? When his two friends seem to discard him whenever he does one thing wrong?

Hermione is never punished. Hermione is never said to be wrong, never shown to be wrong, never called out on her behaviour. From Prisoner of Azkaban to mid-Deathly Hallows, she stays exactly the same character. She doesn’t grow up. She doesn’t learn. She doesn’t change. She has virtually no character arc.

The only time, THE ONLY TIME IN SEVEN BOOKS, the only time we have something remotely resembling a call-out of Hermione’s horrible behaviour is with this sole quote in HBP:

Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge.

Note how it’s about “girls” and not Hermione in particular, which implies that any girl would do what Hermione does to Ron. Thanks for the generalization, JKR, but I like to believe I’m actually a decent sort of person that doesn’t resort to petty cruelty and exploits my friends’ insecurities whenever I’m angry with them.

Hermione NEVER has to apologize. Hermione NEVER has to learn from her mistakes because she’s always presented as a victim when she really isn’t. Hermione NEVER develops into something more - she’s emotionally stuck at fourteen years old. Even less than that when you consider that her reaction to Ron’s return in Deathly Hallows is to trash him with her fists - and she was going to get her wand!! The utter psychopathic b- wanted TO THROW BIRDS AT HIM AGAIN!!! - and this reaction is an appropriate one for a four-years old girl, but certainly not for a supposedly “mature” seventeen-years old.

(Yes, because what separates a child from an adult is the ability to reign in your emotions and not succumb to your impulses. Exactly what Ron did when he left the tent (notice that he had drawn his wand, then he left before he could start hexing Harry), he left to calm himself down. Exactly what Hermione fails to do when Ron returns (she has the impulse to strike him and immediately succumbs to it, which proves to us that The Brightest Witch Of Her Age has all the maturity of a very small child).)

All of that, on top of the awful portrayal in the movies which removes all of Ron’s characteristics to stuff them into Hermione and turns her into some impossible epitome of perfection, eventually contributed to the portrayal of Hermione as the one who is always right and knows everything.

Add to it JKR’s own ridiculous bias (“Ron was quite emotionally immature compared to the other two”, yeah right I don’t see him trying to force freedom onto unwilling creatures or making Harry fly into an irrational rage with mere words but you do you, Jo) and the sexist misconception that “girls are innately more mature than boys”, and you get yourself this apparent behemoth of righteousness that was literally the sole reason why those two silly boys survived everything, and don’t you dare criticize this angel of perfection OR ELSE.

[sanders-sides-fic]

There is no nice deathworlders! (Right?) [Chapter 7]

AU-masterpost: here

Virgil wasn’t sure why, but Remus would wake up every night after that. Every time Roman slept, Remus would come out and talk away the night with… or, rather to Virgil. And it was calming, really. Having someone treat you like a person after all this time again. Just talking about random stuff, as gruesome and disturbing as some of it may be, and having a conversation. 

Patton didn’t leave. Much to Roman’s dismay the sylemn didn’t want to leave his friends. Though Virgil did assume that they had noticed him reacting to them talking some time or another, as they had begun to talk a lot more quietly. But Roman still insisted on Virgil not being able to understand common, which was kind of confusing. About as confusing as Roman slowly becoming less and less aggressive towards Virgil in behavior, yet showing no signs of warming up to the human in the way he talked.

The storm didn’t stop, but it got better. Before you could barely see a foot through the pouring rain and the wind was cold and biting even inside the cover of the cave. Now you could at least see far enough not to be concerned about falling down a cliff you didn’t see. Of cause everything would still be slippery, but if you stepped outside, you didn’t need to worry about being flooded away. 

So Virgil started to leave again. He didn’t search for Janus, of cause. No, that would have been suicidal in that weather. But he went outside to go and find some food. He was really worried about both Roman and Patton, and he himself started to have trouble standing up fast. Even now he was out of breath way too fast and saw black spots dancing around in his vision.

And Virgil also visited his ship. He didn’t want to do so before because whenever he went inside the ship even though he didn’t want to leave yet he… remembered things. Now was hard, too. But he didn’t have much of a choice, Roman, Remus and Patton would die of hypothermia at this rate and he needed a few other supplies and tools because of the weather right now. Fire wasn’t really a possibility with the soaking wood around here, and he refused to die of an allergic reaction to some weird berry or fruit or something. No, he’d rather use up the supplies on the ship for now and worry about reloading later. Still, he would have to skimp out on meals if he didn’t want to starve on the his way to the next market.

Where would that be? HJ-9? Or maybe better YK-21? No, there was a lot of security there. He’d had a few run-ins with them when he and Janus were together and they’d barely made it out of there in one peace working as a team. Though there was a lot of stuff he had yet to find anywhere else, he guessed he shouldn’t risk it.

With a sigh, Virgil left the shiny, black, bubble-shaped space ship again and went back into the rain. On the way back he found a few more of those blackish berries Roman seemed to like, or like enough to eat them at least. Finding the right cave was a lot harder than without the rain, though. He had to try five before he finally found the one the two aliens were whispering in.

“-feel him again, you said! I mean, that’s something, right?”, Patton asked when he entered. He stood there, dripping onto the floor, for a few moments as he watched Roman’s scales flutter softly. “Yes. But I can’t reach him. I’m just worried. What if it stays like that? What if I never get to talk to Remus ever again? I just… I miss him, you know?”, he whispered, just loud enough for the echo of the cave to carry it to Virgil’s ears over the raining noise behind him. Patton, in answer, let out a soft, sad chirp and rubbed against his friend. Roman cuddled him back, his tale wrapping around the smaller alien protectively.

He wondered if Remus would hug him back if he were to try?

What was he thinking?! Remus may be nice to him, but the creath wasn’t his friend. His other half made that more than clear enough for both of them. No, Remus was intrigued by him, maybe they were on neutral terms, but there was no way any alien would ever want to be friends with him, a human, a deathworlder.

With a sour taste in his mouth, Virgil walked over to his side of the cave and let the supplies drop. He could hear the other two stiffen when he did, but ignored the sharp pain in his chest. Virgil made a point of it to set out the things he’d brought back from the ship as carefully as possible, simply because that meant it would take more time. He both wanted to give the two friends a little time to collect themselves and wanted to stall for time before he had to face what he inevitably knew: That they still hated and feared him and always would, because he had no means to communicate his good intentions to them.

When he couldn’t put it off any longer, Virgil took a deep breath and clutched the fabric of the blankets in his hands. It wasn’t like fabric at home. Weirdly thin and sleek almost like liquid, but still as warm as a duvet. The color was weird, too. Something in between maroon and black, but shining in every color of the rainbow when the sun hit the right way. A little bit like oil. Virgil wasn’t too sure what it was made off, only that he didn’t want his thoughts to wander in that direction. But they worked, and they were cheap, so Janus and he had bought a few with the stolen money.

“It’s not really stolen, you know? Think of it more as a… compensation. For the things they did. Besides, they don’t need it anymore. At least we still have a use for this.” Janus’ words echoed inside Virgil’s mind, making him smile fondly. They’d snitched the money and their first disguises from the ship they’d been held on and bought the ship outside with it, together with more elaborate disguises, a few supplies and necessities. They’d used it all up quite fast and since it was kind of hard to get a job without risking to be found out, Janus had quickly become quite the skilled pick-pocket. Sometimes they would just go on missions with little to no risk of being seen. There were only few of those, but somehow Janus and Virgil had been able to make due.

Until he’d lost Janus.

If he was being honest, Virgil had given up on finding him here. Or at all, really. Space was just too big and planets were too big and Virgil was too small. And with storms like these here? Even Janus wouldn’t have been able to survive this for all too long. He would have kicked the bucket by now if this had been where he’d decided to go into hiding after they’d got seperated. And even if he was still out there, if he hadn’t died or been captured by now… There was no way Virgil would find him anymore.

And he really only wanted to go home right now. Go back to the house with too large windows and too clean floors and uncomfortably quiet dinners and suffocatingly tense air. Back to the yelling and fighting with his father and the frustration and the useless therapies and the scandals in the news. He wanted to go back to being the problem child, wanted to go back to earth where he knew what he was supposed to do and what he couldn’t do and where he was just an outsider, not a monster.

Shaking his head to disperse the thoughts and biting his lip to push back the tears, Virgil’s hands clutched the blankets even tighter. Not right now. He’d wait out the storm, find those aliens’ missing crew mate, figure out a way to talk to them, bring them to safety and then he could go back to drowning in self pity until the oxygen in the ship would be used up and he’d suffocate. And now? Right now he had to make sure the two aliens in this cave with him didn’t die of the cold they’d been shivering in for the last few days.

So he took another deep breath, this one shivering more than the last one, went over to where the two watched him, one with caution and one with horror barely concealed by a mask of anger, and threw the blankets at them. Patton caught one in his hands, while the other got stuck on Roman’s horns. Patton, of cause, carefully took the second blanket as well, as Roman was still tied up and couldn’t reach for it himself. Both of them looked at Virgil silently and Virgil only looked at them.

“There you go”, he couldn’t say, “If you need something else tell me. I want you to stay healthy.”

So instead he turned around, ignoring the way one of them breathed a sigh of relief, and put the berries as well as one of those weird fruits that reminded him of a pineapple in taste and a persimmon in texture on what had essentially become Roman’s plate. He walked back over to them and put it down on the floor, a little away from them so that they wouldn’t tense up as much. He knew Patton would reach it once he was gone, even though Roman couldn’t.

“I hope you like it. I know it’s not much, but we’ll have to make due.”, was stuck in his throat underneath glued lips and a limp tongue. But maybe his eyes conveyed the message just a little bit. At least Patton looked into his eyes, looked back down at the food and hummed happily: “Thank you!”

Virgil blushed, hoping that they wouldn’t see it in the dark. He quickly retreated into his corner of the cave and curled up in his own blanket. He chewed on a piece of alien bread, ignoring the sour taste, and watched as Patton put one blanket around Roman and curled up in his own, sharing the fruit and the berries with his friend.

The delighted chirp Patton let out when he ate the fruit, now, that Virgil did not ignore for once. At least he’d done something right, he thought, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. At least something at all…

___

Logan looked outside suspiciously. Could he get outside now? It was still pouring rain outside, but at least it had let up a little bit. Just a little bit, though. But was it safe? And did it really matter whether it was safe or not? After all, Roman and Remus or Patton could still be out there in that rain. If so, he knew that he had to find them quickly. Patton may be immune to lightning as sylemn didn’t conduct electricity, but Roman and Remus were surely endangered by the lightning he’d seen before. And even if electricity couldn’t harm Patton, a sylemn was very much flammable.

It was day still, but with the clouds and the rain the sun was a lot less bright, which very much worked in Logan’s favor. The rays of sunshine were barely more potent than on his home planet, and due to his cross-species breading it would not harm him as much as it would other photynêsc.

Just as he was about to go out, he saw the deathworlder return to the cave on the opposite side, his arms full of supplies. And he hesitated when he entered the cave, his eyes obviously focused on something inside. Or was it someone?

Logan’s heart sunk further when he realized that his fear from back then might very well be true. It was possible that he had found one of Logan’s friends and taken them prisoner. Probably Patton, because neither Roman nor Remus would have gone down without a huge fight. No matter who had been in charge, that deathworlder may have won but wouldn’t have gotten away as unharmed as he appeared.

Logan closed his eyes to recollect himself. It was alright. If his assumptions were correct, that would mean that the deathworlder had let Patton live. For now. So that meant that Logan still had a chance to help him. Get in while the deathworlder was away or asleep and get him out of there.

But it was likely a trap. There was a high chance that the deathworlder had figured Patton wasn’t the only one stranded here and that others would come looking for him. Deathworlders were smart, after all, cunning and dangerously skilled in drawing conclusions. That was one of the few things known after Virgil Feline and Janus Serpent had escaped back then.

Logan involuntarily shuddered at the thought of those two. He could only hope that this deathworlder would be at least a little less volatile and/or violent.

Careful not to let himself be spotted, Logan left the cave. He shuddered again at the cold water raining down on him. He wasn’t necessarily against being wet. Back home everything was covered by a thick layer of fog at all times, after all. But this cold water, heavy and raining down in almost painful drops, was something he hated about the planets far from his own. Not that he would ever say that out loud. If asked he would only say that it was uncomfortable to him.

Soon he saw the warmth emitting from the cave. The entire cave appeared to be slightly warmer than the outside, but he could see the deathworlder on the right side to the cave even warmer, though a lot less warm than he himself, Patton or Roman and Remus should be. Was that normal for a deathworlder? That cool body temperature? Logan wasn’t sure.

Taking another breath, Logan hid behind a tree. He hoped that that was enough to hide the soft glow of his skin. He couldn’t be sure about the sensitivity of the deathworlder’s eyes, though, so he wasn’t entirely sure. And it wasn’t exactly an ideal position either. He couldn’t see much colors in the darker cave, only temperatures. At least from this far away. And the temperatures were hard to pick up on at this distance as well.

But he did see something, and what he saw made breathing harder than it should be. Not only Patton, but Roman as well were huddled up together opposite from the deathworlder.

So did that…

Was that…

That meant…

If this really was a trap, Logan concluded with bile raising up his throat, it could only be for him. And if he didn’t fall for it, he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to his friends, his family.

This truly was a disaster.

Taglist 🖤

@the-ultimate-a @bunny222 @elvis-has-been-dug @what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me @gattonero17 @selenechris

[cheemers-writing-archive]

Nothing Else Like It: Chapter 8

It did not go away.

Everyone praised Yorokobi for keeping up the sad facade to fool Polnareff, and she decided to play along with it to keep the real problem hidden. She was feeling more and more uncomfortable in her body. Every night, the melatonin she took gave her vivid dreams of being a boy once more, and every morning, she had to keep herself from crying.

It was another one of those moments when Yorokobi was overwhelmed with discomfort that Kakyoin put an arm on her shoulder and pulled her close.

“I know you miss Avdol,” he said. “I miss him, too. We all do. But I know you can get through it.” However, he pulled Yorokobi closer, and whispered, “If you need to tell me anything, I’ll listen.”

Yorokobi put on a smile and nodded, but her thoughts were anything but happy. How does one go about telling their boyfriend they don’t want to be a girl anymore without losing him?

Although the rest of the group thought that it was just good acting, Jotaro had noticed this shift in Yorokobi, and he was paying close attention. She never went this far for something she knew wasn’t true. And he noticed that she would sulk even when the two of them were alone.

Right now, the gang was on a bus, heading to Varanasi. Once everyone had gotten off, Yorokobi and Kakyoin started planning how they would spend their little one-day vacation. That is, if no Stand users showed up to ruin it.

“I mean, this place is so amazing, where do we even start?” Yorokobi asked.

“Well, how about we go around and find out?” Kakyoin smiled.

“Nope, I’m her brother, I call dibs on her first,” Jotaro said. The two turned to the boy, and Yorokobi groaned.

“You don’t just get to ‘call dibs’ on me, you know.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at Jotaro. “I can make my own choices, after all.”

“Yeah, but I need to talk about something.”

“Last time you needed to talk about something, you just wanted to walk with me.”

“Okay, but this time, it’s important.”

Yorokobi looked at Jotaro’s face. He was serious. She sighed. “This better be quick. Don’t go off without me, Noriaki!”

Once Jotaro finally pulled Yorokobi aside, he took a deep breath in and out. “It’s about the body swap, isn’t it?”

Yorokobi tilted her head. “What?”

“You may be able to hide your emotions from everyone else, but you’re my sister,” Jotaro continued. “I’ve known you long enough to tell when you’re definitely hiding something.”

Yorokobi sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I can work through it myself.”

Jotaro shrugged. “Okay,” he said as he walked away. “Whatever.”

Just before he turned the corner, he heard Yorokobi blurt out, “I want to swap bodies again!”

Jotaro paused, then walked back to Yorokobi. He stood still once he got there, not saying a word.

“I just… I don’t think it’s about being in your body specifically,” Yorokobi continued, calmer now. “I want to be in a guy’s body, just in general. Ever since we swapped, I’ve been looking at my own self and hating anything feminine about it. My hips, my hair, even my voice! I… I don’t even want to be called your sister anymore. I want to be a brother. Jojo, I think… I think I want to be a boy.”

Yorokobi was shaking as she awaited Jotaro’s response.

“So that’s what you’re hiding from everyone?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, from now on, I’ll see you as a brother. And I’m no snitch, so I’ll keep your secret for as long as you need me to.”

Yorokobi’s shaking didn’t stop, but the tension inside of her… well, I guess it’s him now, isn’t it? The tension inside of him was finally released. A wide smile formed across his face, and he let some tears run down.

“Now, I’m not an expert, but I feel like Kakyoin should know about something like this,” Jotaro continued.

“I know,” Yorokobi said with a shaky voice. “I’ll tell him soon.”

As the two brothers left, Yorokobi walked back to Kakyoin, with a genuine smile across his face for the first time in days.

“So, what did Jotaro have to say to you?” Kakyoin asked.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” Yorokobi said. “You know, just bro- um, sibling stuff.” As he said those words, his smile went back down.

“You know, when I said you could tell me anything, that wasn’t just a lie,” Kakyoin replied. “I can tell you’re not yourself right now. What’s going on? I won’t push it any further, but please let me help you with whatever you’re going through.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really, it’s just…” Yorokobi paused for a moment, eyes shut tight, before letting himself finally speak. “I think I was born in the wrong body.”

“Is this about what happened with Jotaro?”

Yorokobi nodded and gulped. “I don’t want to be a girl anymore.”

Kakyoin looked down at Yorokobi and put his arm over his shoulder. “So what you’re saying is that you’re my boyfriend now?”

“I… guess so.” Yorokobi still looked away from Kakyoin, but this time with a small smile across his face.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, Mr. Joestar gave me some money and told me to split half of it with you before going to a doctor. Our ‘allowance’ for the day, to spend as we like.”

Thinking about his grandfather suddenly made Yorokobi sick to the stomach again. If he was really going to go through with this, then he would have to tell everyone. Based on how Joseph acted when Yorokobi’s mom wanted to be called Seiko instead of Holly, he wasn’t going to take an entire gender change very well.

“Telling others is going to be hard, isn’t it?” Kakyoin asked. “It’s okay. I won’t let your secret slip.”

Yorokobi wiped the worry off of his face, then looked back at Kakyoin and smiled. “Thank you, Noriaki. In the meantime, why don’t we go explore? I’m getting kind of hungry.” He grabbed Kakyoin’s hand and led him down the bustling sidewalks.

It only took a few minutes to find a cafe that looked promising. The two walked inside and ordered a large smoothie from the menu.

“Do tinake?” the cashier asked. Yorokobi and Kakyoin furrowed their eyebrows. The cashier held up a straw in one hand and two fingers up in the other. The two nodded, then sat down at a table.

“Maybe we should learn some Hindi so it’s easier to communicate,” Yorokobi said.

It only took a few minutes for their smoothie to come out, with two straws inside of it. They sipped some of it, and the flavor burst in their mouths.

“We made the right choice,” Kakyoin said after gulping down his sip. “This is amazing.”

“You said it,” Yorokobi laughed. He took another sip, but a little bit of the smoothie went down his throat. He suddenly started violently coughing, spewing the rest on the table.

“Are you okay?” Kakyoin asked. Yorokobi nodded his head while he was still hacking up his lungs. Eventually, the coughing died down, and he started laughing.

“Went down the wrong pipe,” he smiled. “I’ll go get some paper towels.”

“You can also have the rest of this smoothie,” Kakyoin laughed. “I think you coughed in it.”

After that fiasco, both of them left the cafe and started walking down the aisles. After a few minutes, Yorokobi started coughing again.

“I must still have some smoothie in my lungs,” he laughed. Kakyoin laughed with him.

Throughout the day, the two of them browsed through the shops on the streets, and they even picked some souvenirs to take home. Yorokobi grabbed a necklace with a circular pendant. The pendant was made of jewels that were made to look like a river right next to green hills.

“It reminds me of Mom,” he told Kakyoin. “I think she’d like it.” Right after he was done, he had another coughing fit.

Although the day was mostly uneventful, the two had a good time. Once night fell and they met up with the rest of the group again, they learned about how the others’ days went.

“So now I’m a wanted criminal in Varanasi, and we need to get on the road so I’m not found.”

“And Nena seemed so into me, too! Why do women have to be so deceiving sometimes?”

“Yeah, the food at that restaurant tasted awful, so I left without paying the bill. Here’s your money back, old man.”

Once everyone was done telling their stories, Yorokobi pulled Kakyoin and Jotaro aside.

“You two are the only ones who know,” he whispered. “I’ll tell the others when I’m ready.” He coughed once again.

“Hey! You three!” Joseph shouted. “We need to leave soon, before the police search here.”

“We’re ready,” Jotaro answered back. He stayed behind Yorokobi and Kakyoin, eyeing the former closely. Yorokobi’s voice was just the least bit raspy, and that cough sounded painful. Probably just a one day thing, he told himself. No need to get so worried.

As the car started up, and the crew was rolling down the road, Yorokobi fell asleep relatively early.

It’s just a small cold, Jotaro reassured himself. It’s normal to fall asleep faster when fighting something off, even if it’s small. Yorokobi is fine.

And with that, Jotaro put his hat over his face and dozed off.

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, bloodspeckledraphael!

For @bloodspeckledraphael, who asked for, among others, Hogwarts!AU. I hope you like it! 

Summary: Gryffindors are thoughtless and dumb but have the best parties. Ravenclaws know their shit but they are boring. Slytherins are either ruthless snobs or overly protective. And Hufflepuffs? Hufflepuffs are all just dull.

You don't need to know the Harry Potter series to read this but there are some references for fans. 

Vaguely inspired by 'Draco Malfoy, It's Your Lucky Day' by faithwood: https://archiveofourown.org/works/359705

There is this challenge for authors to summarize their stories but in a bad way. Here, it would be this: What would a group of teenagers do if trapped in the middle of a dangerous, magical forest? Discuss ethics.

Warnings for: AU, as this Hogwarts isn't exactly like the one from the Harry Potter series. There is swearing, light angst, a bit of violence, and one blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to suicide. Not betaed. 

*****

How to Add Ethics to the School Curriculum 

“Who?” repeats Lydia. 

Stiles knew it would be difficult but this is getting ridiculous. “Derek Hale.”

“And where is he now?”

Stiles grimaces and flicks his hand in his direction without looking.

“That's a Hufflepuff table,” says Lydia haltingly.

“Because he's a Hufflepuff,” explains Stiles. “Captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team?” he tries, looking at Jackson. 

Jackson stares back, his face grave. “I hoped it was just a matching name,” he says to Lydia. 

“Stiles... Are you sure you like him?”

Stiles frowns at them. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

“No,” says Jackson. “No, you don't. Just — look.” He pauses, searching for arguments. “What about Scott?”

“What about Scott,” echoes Stiles. 

“I thought you two were dating?”

Stiles makes a face. “I keep telling you we're friends.”

“Slytherin and Gryffindor, friends,” mutters Jackson. “Just saying, dating makes more sense. Hatred turned to passion and all that.”

Stiles stares at him. “Scott is dating Allison.”

Jackson shrugs. “You'd hardly be the first one in a polyamorous relationship.”

Stiles tries to wrap his mind around the cultural differences. Gay relationships, sure. Polyamorous relationships, go ahead. Slytherin and Hufflepuff, no fucking way. 

“Well,” he starts, “it's not. And Derek likes me back, okay.”

“Saving grace,” mutters Lydia. “He'd have to be blind as well as stupid not to.”

Stiles narrows his eyes. “You won't detour me with a backhanded compliment. Derek's not stupid.”

“Stiles,” Lydia sighs. “He's a Hufflepuff.”

Stiles turns to Jackson.

“They are all stupid,” says Jackson. “Gryffindors are thoughtless and dumb but have the best parties. Ravenclaws know their stuff though by Merlin's beard, they're boring. But Hufflepuffs are all just dull.”

Stiles tries to process this. “What about Slytherins?”

“Clearly, we're the only ones worth anything here.”

“Fine. We'll just spy on this Derek,” decides Lydia. “We need more data.”

“You’re making it sound like I asked you to spy on Derek even though I'm against that.” Stiles frowns. “I won't pay you for that.” He considers. “Well, that depends on the information but... I mean, ethically...”

Lydia raises her eyebrows. “We care about you, Stiles,” she says, “not about ethics.”

* * *

“Playing quidditch instead of preparing for tomorrow's Potions, Captain Hale?” asks Stiles, smirking.

Derek smiles at him. “Stiles. I hoped you'd come.”

Derek's honesty is incredibly effective. Stiles feels his cheeks grow hot and clears his throat. “Hoped? You want me to beat you at quidditch again?”

“You didn't beat me at quidditch, Stiles,” replies Derek. “You've abused all the rules.”

“I won, though. And I've never said I was going to obey the rules.”

“You agreed to play quidditch but whatever you did... That wasn't quidditch.”

“Yeah, well, all rules are negotiable.”

“Including potion rules?” asks Derek, looking at Stiles from under his lashes. 

“Obviously not,” says Stiles, half offended at the mere idea, half distracted. 

“Speaking about Potions — I saw Leaping Toadstool growing nearby Whomping Willow.”

“We should get it for Baruffio's Brain Elixir,” says Stiles, excited.

Derek beams. “Right? I don't think the team understood my excitement, though.”

“Clearly, they don't deserve you.”

Derek drops his eyes, smiling.

“And imagine Slughorn's face when he hears that we found Leaping Toadstool just laying around. He always complains about the lack of funds for the ingredients.”

“I thought we could tell him about it, yeah...”

“To cherish the glee? You’re evil, Captain Hale.” Not the most suitable place for the title in the context but Stiles can't help it. He loves seeing Derek blush at the words and always looks for a way to add them in.

“No, he may want to know the place to search for that himself. I mean, Leaping Toadstool often grows in groups, right?”

“Well, we can have different motives,” says Stiles and imagines Slughorn's shock and misery. “The result will be the same.”

Derek looks up at him as if about to ask something, but then there's a whizz and Stiles barely moves in time to avoid it. “Jesus, what was that?”

Derek keeps his eyes on him longer than normally. Stiles knows it's his choice of words, always a bit strange for those born in wizards' world but he won't change it. It's one of his quirks that Derek seems to like.

“Boyd has found a spell to make the Snitch more erratic. We use it sometimes during practice.”

Stiles shakes his head. “How does he find those spells?”

“He reads odd books at the library.”

Stiles laughs. “You mean those from the Restricted Section?”

Derek doesn't reply.

Stiles' eyes widen. “Seriously? I have to go sometime with him.”

“First, you can't prove anything. Second, it's not that exciting. He just reads.”

“Are you speaking from experience?”

“Of course not,” Derek lies.

Stiles licks his lips, fully aware of Derek's attention. “Friday at midnight next to the library?” 

Derek regards him for a second. “It's a date.”

Stiles grins.

They hear some voices and turn.

“Why is Jackson flying to the Forbidden Forest?”

“I think he's chasing the Snitch,” says Derek. “Erica and Boyd are with him, I need to-”

“I'm going with you,” decides Stiles at once. He takes the broom and searches for Lydia. “Lyds!” he shouts. “Need you!”

After a while, Lydia catches up to them, taking a broom someone left behind after the practice. 

“What's going on?”

“Jackson is going to the Forbidden Forest,” explains Stiles. “I don't think I could get him to turn back by myself.”

Lydia nods. “Good call.”

“Does this happen often?” asks Stiles, turning to Derek.

“We usually stop the Snitch before it goes too far,” replies Derek. “Arresto Momentum is powerful enough for that.”

“Right,” says Stiles. He's still getting used to the way everything is solved with magic, and if that doesn't work, more magic. 

“Jackson!” cries Lydia suddenly and speeds up, flying past them.

They both turn to see Jackson falling from his broom to the ground, Boyd and Erica flying down after him.

They lean forward, focused only on getting to the rest of the group as soon as possible, and duck to the ground. Stiles feels something odd for a second, his skin turning cold, but he dismisses the sensation, resolved to manage the crisis at hand. 

“What happened?” asks Derek, landing next to him. 

Erica is kneeling next to Jackson and mutters a spell, putting her wand to his head. 

Jackson looks up with a frown. “Bloody hell,” he mutters. “I could've sworn there was a wall or something — I just couldn't go through,” he says. 

“Are you okay?” asks Lydia. 

“I'm fine.”

“He will be fine,” confirms Erica. “He just needs to rest a little. I saw a lot of guys falling like that during quidditch.”

“Is that what you Hufflepuffs do?” smirks Jackson. “Practice falling down?”

“It comes in handy,” replies Erica, ignoring his sarcasm. 

Stiles hears a swish right next to him and moves away from the ball. “Oh, for the love of-” he starts, incredulous, “what's this thing still doing here?”

Derek takes out his wand to stop the Snitch but it changes the course suddenly and the spell falls flat. He tries again and it drops to the ground, now still.

Boyd puts it in his pocket and raises his hand, suddenly freezing it in the air. He takes out his other hand and they move as if against a wall.

“What the-”

Erica frowns and takes a broom to fly off to the side just to suddenly stop. She moves in a different direction to be stopped again, and again. They seem to be surrounded by invisible walls.

Stiles sees a movement from the corner of his eye and looks up. 

“Hey, guys!” says Scott, suddenly flying in and landing next to Stiles. Allison appears next to him, not quite as excited as beaming Scott. “So what are we doing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest?”

“We're trapped,” replies Lydia.

* * *

“Can't we just cast these red flares, Periculum?” suggests Scott. 

“We can't be sure someone at Hogwarts will notice us,” says Erica. 

“But we can be sure we'll be noticed by everything in here,” says Allison. “It's not a good idea, Scott.”

“Maybe simply — Evanesco,” tries Boyd. The barrier doesn't vanish. 

“Actually,” says Lydia slowly, “I've been preparing a spell just for times like this.” She closes her eyes, focusing, and after a beat, a small smile appears on her face. She raises her wand and says, “Expecto Patronum!”

Something similar to a cat — a kneazle, remember Stiles — appears, sitting tall and dignified, waiting for Lydia's orders.

“So that's what you've been doing,” realizes Stiles. “I thought you were preparing a horrible attack on me.”

Lydia smiles proudly and says to the kneazle, “Go find the closest professor and tell him we're trapped here and need help. Be quick!”

The kneazle goes off to the side just to stop suddenly. It tries to go through again but visibly can't.

“It works on the spells, too,” says Derek quietly. “So we're in what seems to be a cube as there's a sort of ceiling. It's rectangular in shape, ten steps on the short side, about twenty steps on the long side. None of us seems to leave, even though we all entered without a problem. There are no holes or breaks.”

Silence settles between them.

“Exactly,” says Jackson suddenly. “A hole. A break. There must be something,” he adds, walking to the far side and starts checking it inch by inch. 

“I wonder how big is the range of the Accio spell,” wonders Boyd. “We'll need something to drink and some food.”

“I tried summoning my cookies from my hometown back in California but they never reached Hogwarts,” supplies Stiles.

“That may have something to do with Hogwarts' wards,” replies Lydia.

Stiles stares at her. “You mean, they did fly all this way just to be stopped before reaching me?” He looks to the ground, crestfallen.

“Boyd left his stuff on the quidditch grounds,” says Erica. “I'll try getting it. I mean... if this barrier doesn't actually stop all the spells.”

She casts a spell and they all look up, waiting.

Nothing happens. 

“Well. We have an answer, this barrier does stop all the spells.” Erica sighs and reaches for her bag. “Do you still remember this spell stealing the drink from the closest person you don't like?”

Boyd nods and casts it, touching the bottle Erica supplies, with his wand. More water appears inside.

“What a dumb spell,” comments Lydia, shaking her head. “We can just use Aguamenti, you know.”

“Now we can survive at least 3 days,” says Allison. “That's how long people survive solely on the water with no major damage,” she adds when everyone looks at her.

“What about — Finite Incantatem,” says Erica, touching the barrier with her wand. “Nothing. Figures this shit would be advanced.”

Derek frowns. “Wait. We all entered here together with the brooms. Boyd's ball came in, too. But none of us or the things that entered can leave.”

Lydia looks at him sharply. “Anything can come in, but nothing can leave.” She pauses. “And we're in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.”

A horrible realization dawns on them. 

“I need something to note,” says Stiles. “I know some spells to protect us but we need to keep check of them.”

Boyd mutters something and says, “Tell me the spells. I'll take note of them.”

“I'll help you,” says Allison. “I know some spells against magical creatures.”

“Well,” starts Scott. “That's not what I expected coming here.”

“How did you know where we are?” asks Derek.

“I saw you flying through when I was going to the quidditch field to train with Allison.”

“I heard that,” says Stiles. “Train with Allison, huh? How ambitious.”

“Have you cast Impervius already?” asks Lydia. “Then do it now. Also, you weren't much better.”

“Well, you weren't either!” calls Stiles. “You only came because you like to ogle sweating Jackson!”

Jackson smirks but keeps checking the invisible walls. “At least there's something to ogle.”

“Lydia totally implied I was good looking!”

Jackson rolls his eyes. “Oh, she implied it?”

“You were there when it happened!” 

“Protego,” says Lydia. “Remember to cast this one, too.”

Stiles huffs out but starts working with Boyd and Allison while Jackson goes on checking the invisible wards, keeping them inside. 

“You know, for a Hufflepuff you're surprisingly good at hiding your feelings,” says Lydia, turning to Derek. 

Derek grimaces. “So you noticed I'm jealous of your relationship with Stiles,” he says quietly. “What do you want?”

“To assess whether you're good enough for him.”

“Go ahead, then, assess,” shrugs Derek. “By the way... You said that Boyd's spell was stupid,” he says. “Well, look at this one. It's stupidly fancy.”

Boyd is taking notes of the spells cast by writing them in the air in different colours and moving at his will.

“I like this one,” says Lydia. “The notes will be visible even in the darkness but the sun is setting now and we'll want more light. But we shouldn't advertise our presence here... Does anyone know any invisibility spells?”

No one replies.

“I tried learning some but they're all too difficult,” says Derek. “There's one — it's not invisibility but rather escaping attention. Not hiding your presence but diminishing it.”

Lydia narrows her eyes at him. “Why would you learn a spell like that?”

“To escape talking to people,” says Derek bluntly. “But I don't know if it will work on magical creatures and animals.”

“Won't hurt to try,” shrugs Lydia. 

“But won't that hide us from the people searching for us?” asks Erica. 

“I doubt anyone has noticed yet,” replies Lydia. “It's too early and we all know each other here — the others will think we've sneaked out together on purpose.”

Derek casts the spell, closing his eyes. This is the first time he uses the spell on anything other than himself and it takes more focus than he expected — the space is big to wrap his mind around. 

“So — light spell or vision in the darkness?” asks Lydia. “What's more efficient? What's more effective? Oh, this is difficult. I'll write my next essay for Charms about that.”

“So what do we do now?” asks Scott. 

Erica shrugs. “Think, I guess.”

* * *

“I'm bored,” complains Scott, laying on the ground.

“You’re in the middle of the Forbidden Forest,” reminds him Derek.

“And I'm bored.”

“Think of all the creatures out there,” suggests Erica. “Does that help?”

“...yes.”

“We're running out of ideas,” says Stiles. “Any other protective or defensive spells?”

“Did you cast Stealth Sensoring Spell?” asks Derek.

“No,” replies Boyd, checking his floating notes.

“What's that?” asks Stiles.

“It detects those under magical disguise.”

“Are we gonna need that?”

“Are you sure we won't?”

“That's fair,” nods Stiles.

Derek casts the spell.

Erica looks to the side, frowning. “Did you guys hear that?”

“No,” mutters Jackson, still inspecting their confines. “Busy.”

“You know what would be more productive?” says Stiles. “You should learn casting Expecto Patronus from Lydia. I bet your Patronus would be so slimy it would slip through somehow.”

Jackson flips him off but doesn't pause in his work.

“No, seriously. I heard that again. Like, barking? Or uh, howling,” says Erica.

Derek tenses. “About that — did we cast an auditory spell?”

“No,” says Boyd.

Lydia casts Silencio quickly. Just as she is about to tuck off her wand, they see a wolf.

“Fuck,” says Stiles, cutting the silence.

“Okay,” says Derek quietly. “Take out your wands, slowly.” He does so himself and without looking away, asks, “What can you tell us about wolves, Allison?”

Allison takes an audible breath. “They are deadly,” she replies. “They won't hesitate to attack and kill. Also,” Allison pauses, as if pulling herself together, “this may be a person. A werewolf.”

“So. Silver?” suggests Stiles after a beat of silence. 

“You and your Muggle ideas,” says Jackson with contempt. “Silver doesn't kill werewolves.”

“Well,” starts Lydia, “it can hurt-”

The wolf jumps but is stopped by the shield spell. It growls, its teeth shining. 

“The barrier won't withhold it for long,” says Allison. “We have to think of something.”

“Fire,” says Derek. “Fire can kill almost anything.”

“It may not be enough,” warns Lydia. 

“Bully spells,” says Stiles. “We all know those shitty spells. Ears to kumquats, pimples, suspension by the ankle, legs dancing against your will.”

The wolf walks to the side and jumps just to be stopped again. 

“If we cast all those at once, it may work,” says Allison. 

“That's cruel,” says Scott. 

“It's our chance to survive.”

“Choose the spell,” says Derek. “I can cast Incendio.”

“Immobulus,” says Allison. 

“Rictusempra.”

Lydia shoots Stiles an incredulous glance. “You want to tickle it?”

“It's effective, okay?”

Lydia sighs. “Stupefy.”

The wolf jumps again, startling Erica. “I can only cast Furnunculus Curse!”

“So that he'd lose his beauty and retreat in shame?” asks Jackson. “Bat-Bogey Hex.”

“You’re disgusting,” mutters Erica. 

“Reductio,” chooses Boyd. 

“Scott?” prompts Derek. 

“Langlock.”

Lydia turns to him. “How is tongue sticking to the roof of mouth going to help in-”

The wolf jumps and Allison shouts, “Now!”

The effect is a bizarre mix of colours, whirling together — there are flames, appearing and disappearing into bats, soon disintegrating. The wolf lets out an odd sound, something between a growl and a whine. 

They all take a step back but now, the wolf is barely an arm's length away from Derek. 

“Tarrantallegra!” cries Stiles but the wolf escapes the spell only limping. 

“Stupefy!” tries Lydia again. 

“Take the brooms,” orders Derek. “Fly up. I'll take care of it.”

“Fuck, Derek, this is no time to-”

“Now!” shouts Derek, cutting Stiles off. 

Erica and Boyd are already flying up. “Reductio!” casts Boyd again. The spell hits the wolf but has barely any effect — it's still big, even compared to a large dog. 

Allison finds a stone and with a spell, turns it to the one with sharp edges. “I can transfigure it to silver but I need time,” she says. “If we manage to drive it through its heart-”

“I can buy you time,” says Derek. 

Allison and Scott go up, Scott choosing to hover low, ready to jump in at any moment. 

“Stupefy!” casts Lydia again but the wolf is already jumping at her. 

“Protego!” cries Jackson. 

The shield is enough to slow down the wolf, enough so that he doesn't reach Lydia's hand. They fly up, out of the wolf's reach. 

“Go,” says Derek to Stiles, who has two brooms in hand now. “Please!”

Stiles looks at him a while longer, not understanding, but then goes up. “Immobilus!” he shouts. 

The spell hits the wolf and it is momentarily still. 

“Incendio!” casts Derek again.

The flames go up; he can barely watch. The wolf jumps, then retreats. Derek can't tell what's happening anymore. He's not quite there when Allison shouts, “Ready!”

Derek doesn't know if it's a coincidence or knowing each other well enough to communicate with just looks, but Stiles and Scott cast Immobilus again together. 

It's enough for Allison to fly in and thrust the silver right into the wolf's heart. 

Erica flies down to her immediately and casts Vulnera Sanentur, healing her hand. 

Lydia tries to stop the flames but only a few sparks come out instead. Her wand is broken from the wolf's attack. 

She allows herself a curse with a sigh. 

Boyd stops the flames and they are all on the ground again. 

“I thought that Ravenclaws were boring,” admits Jackson suddenly. “I take that back.”

Allison huffs out a weak laugh. 

“So, you think we could eat this?” wonders Jackson. 

“I'm gonna puke,” says Erica. 

Jackson rolls his eyes. “We may as well use all this meat.”

“That could be cannibalism,” says Allison. “We don't know if it was a wolf or a werewolf.”

There is silence as they process this information. 

“It's still dead, though,” rationalizes Jackson. 

Scott inspects the wolf. “Wow. My mum will never believe this.”

“Why wouldn't she?” asks Boyd. 

“She's a Muggle,” explains Scott. 

Jackson looks at him. “So you're a Mudblood?”

“Isn't that a slur?” asks Stiles. 

“I think it was reclaimed,” says Erica but she doesn't sound sure. 

“I'm fine with it,” shrugs Scott. “Although I'm not sure if it applies to me because my father was... is a pure-blood wizard. So I'm half-blood or something.”

“Huh. You don't have much experience in quidditch, though,”  Jackson points out. 

“He wasn't there much when I was growing up. Although he gave me a broom for my birthday once… But I guess the Ministry of Magic have figured it out because it wasn't working.”

“But your mom knows about magic?” asks Stiles. 

Scott shrugs again. “Kind of.”

Jackson isn't listening anymore. “Your — your hand,” he says in a changed voice. 

Derek finally looks away from the charred body of the wolf to turn to him. Jackson is pale, staring at the sleeve of Derek's robe. 

“Derek,” says Lydia, “you're bleeding.”

Derek drops his eyes. “I'm fine.”

Erica heals his hand and bandages it with Ferula, not looking at anyone. 

“You were bitten by what could have been a werewolf,” says Lydia, staring at him. “You could be-” she draws in a breath, “you could be turned.”

“I'm fine,” repeats Derek. 

“What's going on?” asks Scott. 

“Is that a problem?” Stiles looks around, puzzled. “It's not a full moon tonight, Derek's still human, and he says he's fine.”

“Werewolves kill whatever is around them once in their wolf form,” says Jackson. “They are not human anymore. They are just beasts.”

“He's right,” says Derek, looking at Stiles. “And I'm fine because I can't be turned. I'm a werewolf.”

* * *

“You knew,” says Lydia, looking at Erica and Boyd, who nod. 

“I know the situation of lycanthropes is better now than it was,” starts Allison. “But how come we have a student at Hogwarts who turns into a bloodthirsty, killing beast once a month?”

“I get the Wolfsbane Potions,” replies Derek. “Professor McGonagall knows about me.”

“Oh, so at least you're wealthy,” Lydia points out. 

Derek flinches as if struck.

“I don't see the problem,” says Stiles coldly. “Derek clearly has it under control. There haven't been any incidents — at least that we know of — and he's been here for a few years already. Really, the only thing it changes...”

Derek knows what's coming. He can't look at Stiles.

“Is that I need to become an Animagus quicker than anticipated.”

Lydia ignores him. “Did you want to become a werewolf?” 

Derek tries to understand Stiles' response and is a bit late in answering. “No. I... it was an accident.”

It was Peter's curse, already changing their lives, but they didn't know it back then. 

“Did you kill anyone?” asks Allison. 

“No.”

“Then, again, I don't see a problem,” says Stiles. “Look, we have more pressing matters at hand.”

“Agreed,” says Erica. 

Lydia looks at Derek a beat longer, then nods. “Fine.”

Jackson isn't convinced. He looks at Stiles. “You do realize lycanthropes still aren't treated the same as humans. There are still some who think they are more beasts than anything.”

“Oh, so there's prejudice.” Stiles rolls his eyes. “How novel.”

“Stiles,” starts Allison, “he could kill anyone here once turned. Just — think about this.”

Stiles looks right back. “There are some people who kill even without being turned.”

Allison looks away. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but should we bury the body?” wonders Boyd. 

“First, can anyone cast the Homorphus Charm?” asks Lydia. 

There's no reply. 

“Just to be sure, we should wait for someone to confirm it was a wolf and not...” Allison trails off. 

“I agree,” says Erica. “I don't want to move it just yet.”

Derek casts a fairly strong Protego spell on the body, trying to keep his eyes on it without seeing anything. 

Allison takes a step back from the group and feels the barrier behind her back. She slides down to the ground, suddenly feeling exhausted. 

“What do you need?” asks Scott, sitting down next to her. 

“It's not fine,” bursts out Allison. She winces and lowers her voice. “When you're human, you have a choice. But once you're turned, you can't control anything. You may slip one time and it's enough.”

“I know,” says Scott quietly, although he doesn't. 

“My mom knew there was no choice. She knew it was all useless. She had the right to end her...”

Scott moves closer to her, bringing his arm around her. 

“So, what, she was wrong?” asks Allison. “She just gave up?”

Scott doesn't answer. He knows that Allison, as well as many others around him, is more reflective, prone to consider different ideas. He wonders if there's a downside to it, if there's overthinking. He wouldn't know. 

Allison sighs and draws her knees closer, hiding his face. “Thanks,” she mumbles. 

If there was a crisis, it seems to have passed. Scott finds her hand and tightens his grip on it. 

For a few minutes Allison just sits there with closed eyes. She doesn't listen to the hushed conversations around, especially the one between Stiles and Derek.

Finally, she feels ready to open her eyes again. She turns her head and sees a small spider on the other side. “Oh, hello,” she murmurs, managing a smile. “I wouldn't go ahead if I were you. Come on, turn around.” She watches as the spider comes closer. “No, really, you still have a chance... Oh, you poor thing,” she sighs. “You’re trapped here with us now.”

“I once tried a spell to communicate with spiders,” says Boyd. 

Allison looks up, finding him also leaning against the barrier. 

“It was weird.”

Allison stares at him for a beat longer. She didn't expect anyone would talk to her after the thing with Derek but then again, Hufflepuffs can be odd like that. “That sounds interesting.”

Boyd shakes his head. “It was just weird.” 

Allison is waiting for details so he says, “You know Polyjuice, that changes your body to that of someone else? It works similarly, except what changes is your mind. For a few seconds I wasn’t really human anymore, my mind was that of a spider.” 

They sit in silence for a beat when Allison chuckles suddenly. “It'd be nice to have you in Ravenclaw.”

“Uh, no,” starts Boyd, “I didn't want to join you guys. When the Sorting Hat gave me a choice I said Hufflepuff and here I am.”

Allison can't quite conceal her surprise. “Why didn't you want to join?”

Boyd shrugs. “My family wanted me in Ravenclaw.”

Allison blinks but doesn't press for more. The sorting to the houses is believed to be one of the most important events, a turning point in life. It leads to the arguments dividing the family, accusations of betrayal even though the decision is hardly the student's. She got lucky with the Ravenclaw; they are basically accepted everywhere. Yet even during her first dinner at the common table there were some students unhappy with the choice. 

“Yes!” cries out Jackson suddenly. “I got it! It's right here,” he says, turning to them. “I knew there had to be a place where the barrier wouldn't work as well!”

Derek stares at him in amazement. “I admire your determination,” he says honestly.

Jackson scoffs. “How did you think I became the quidditch captain?”

Derek doesn't reply, startled. For him, it came easily: he's always been athletic and Laura loved playing quidditch. It was enough. 

“Wow, awesome,” says Stiles flatly. “My palm barely fits through.”

Allison shrugs. “At least it's enough for the spider...” she trails off, looking at Boyd.

“We can't be sure it'll work,” cautions Boyd. “And even if it will, it may take too much time.”

“It's better than nothing,” replies Allison.

Boyd grimaces. “Right.” He turns to the rest and says. “I know a spell to communicate with spiders. Anyone wants to try?” he asks without a trace of hope.

Two hands fly up immediately. “Me!”

“Me! Totally!” joins Stiles.

Boyd frowns. “I didn't expect volunteers,” he says. “You do realize there's a chance that something will go wrong enough to change your mind irreparably?”

Stiles' hand goes down. He glances at Scott. “Uh, dude.”

“Talking to spiders! Like Spiderman, Stiles!”

“I know,” says Stiles, putting his hand on his arm, “and I'm right there with you.”

“And you wonder why I thought you two were dating,” says Jackson. 

That catches Derek's attention. He looks at Stiles, rolling his eyes, and Scott, frowning, and then, of course, feels Lydia's stare. 

Allison comes closer to the group. “Scott...”

“Well, someone has to do that anyway, right?” reasons Scott.

“It's too risky,” says Derek. “What else can we do?”

“Turn this spider to a giant one, attach a note to it with our whereabouts and make it attack Hogwarts,” suggests Stiles. 

“That's mixing spells. We don't know how they would interfere with each other,” replies Lydia. “Also, it's so inelegant.”

“Not to mention there's animal suffering,” says Allison. 

“This is potential human suffering versus potential animal suffering,” replies Derek. 

“I don't see the problem,” says Scott. “Boyd did this spell once already and he's fine, right?”

“Yes, but what if something goes really wrong?”

“Actually, I can use Incarcerous to subdue Scott,” says Erica. “I, um. I forgot about this spell.”

“I don't like this,” says Stiles. “Lyds?”

Lydia doesn't reply. 

“We don't have much choice,” starts Derek. “But that doesn't mean any one of us has to risk this much.”

“Risk landing at St Mungo's, for example,” clarifies Boyd. 

“It's not that easy to be admitted to St Mungo's, though,” says Derek. “It's a big hospital but they don't have many in-patients, those are rare cases. Usually, people can figure something out, learn to live with their curse and so on.” He realizes the others are staring at him and shrugs. “Just a... fun fact.”

Even Boyd has a hard time not cringing. 

Derek turns to Lydia, tired. “You understand escaping other people now?”

“Yes,” replies Lydia, ruthless. 

“Look, I already did the spell once myself,” says Boyd. “I don't want to repeat it but...”

“Then don't,” says Scott. “I really want to try it. Also... I don't know how else I could help you guys.”

“You don't have to help us,” replies Allison. 

“That's true,” inserts Erica. “You have no obligation here.”

“I want to,” says Scott, simple and earnest. 

“If anything happens — I'll figure something out,” says Stiles. “I promise.”

Scott nods. “I know. I trust you guys.” 

“Just — don't hold it against me if you do end up at St Mungo's,” says Boyd. 

Scott beams at him. “No promises.” 

“One more thing,” says Allison. “What are the possible adverse effects?”

“Sensitivity to touch, liking for meat, aloofness,” lists Boyd. “The spell should last about 5 minutes.”

Scott considers the words. “That doesn't sound that bad.”

“It really does,” says Stiles. 

Allison hugs Scott. “I'm counting on you if anything's off,” she says to Erica, who nods. 

Boyd raises his hand. 

“Lower your wand,” says Derek. “You never direct a spell at someone's head unless the spell tells you to. Point at his stomach or chest. You lower the risk of degrading his mind this way.”

“How come you know that stuff?” asks Jackson. “You want to work at St Mungo's or what?”

Derek can't hold back a grimace. “I'd have to work with people all the time, no way.”

“Then why?”

“He doesn't have to answer,” says Stiles. 

“It's weird. And suspicious.”

“Or personal,” says Stiles. 

“My last name is Hale,” says Derek, looking at Jackson. “That's why.”

Jackson stares at him, frowning, before remembering the name. “So not everyone in your-”

“No,” Derek cuts him off. “And I'd rather not talk about it.”

“So it was personal, huh,” says Stiles. 

“You don't know? There was the Hale fire-”

“Why are you telling me?” asks Stiles, incredulous. “What part of not talking about it don't you understand?”

Jackson rolls his eyes. “I know, so you may know as well.”

“No thanks. It's really not your decision to take.”

Derek looks away. He knows he'll need to tell Stiles about his family — it changed him too much to be ignored. The fire was just a start, leaving only him, Laura, and uncle Peter, the slow spread of the curse, fighting with it, admittance to St Mungo's... but he still needs more time. 

Boyd raises his wand again and opens his mouth. 

“Wait!” calls Scott. “I need to-”

“What, you got scared?” drawls Jackson. “You, a Gryffindor?”

“Are you seriously trying to manipulate him?” asks Stiles. “That's low. Do you want to take his place?”

“I would never risk my mind for you,” scoffs Jackson. 

“You wouldn't even risk that much,” replies Stiles. 

“No, guys,” Scott cuts in, “what am I supposed to say?”

“What?”

“What should I say to the spider?”

The group stares at him. Stiles groans, Erica laughs, and Allison sighs. 

“Maybe something like, this is a trap, there are humans who can't leave, they need help. Say that to other spiders and try to get help?” suggests Derek, grimacing. 

“How can we be sure spiders even want to help humans?” asks Stiles. “Maybe they'd be happy if we all died.”

“Not that it matters right now,” starts Erica, “but I can't believe we don't have ethics classes at Hogwarts. Like, seriously.”

“That's too much information,” says Allison, biting her lip. “Spiders aren't really social, they can communicate but it's not as developed as it could be. Also, they can process information but they do it... slowly. It's too complicated.”

“Just say that there is a danger here and we need help,” says Lydia. “Maybe even simply 'danger here' will suffice.”

“Yeah, that sounds better,” agrees Derek. 

Scott nods and Allison hugs him before he goes to stand before Boyd again. 

Boyd takes a deep breath and casts the spell.

* * *

Boyd observes Scott. At first, he appears completely still, just looking at the spider. But if he looks closer, Scott is doing all kinds of bizarre, small movements, twitching his fingers, twisting his lips, minutely shifting his body. He seems focused, but also blank, nor entirely there — it's disturbing. The spider suddenly moves, producing a line of silk. Scott moves to touch it and brings the finger to his lips, appearing to taste it. 

Boyd risks a glance at Allison but she doesn't seem shocked, although she is pale and the grip on her wand is too tight. 

It's strange to think he must have looked like Scott when under the spell. He was alone, chose an isolated spot. Now that he thinks about it, the whole thing was incredibly risky — he was stupid. But that was right after Christmas at his family with all the arguments around his sorting to Hufflepuff, again. He barely talked to other Hufflepuffs for a while, having mixed feelings. He chose this spell because he knew that's what a Ravenclaw would like to know. He needed to show himself that he was good enough for Ravenclaw. It was his decision to be in Hufflepuff and he doesn't regret it. But he could have gone to Ravenclaw.

Scott puts his hand down and the muscles on his face move slightly. The spider turns and gets through the barrier. 

“The spider left,” says Boyd.

Scott stares ahead, unseeing.

“Scott?” says Allison softly. “Are you okay?”

Scott takes a breath and hums, sighing. “Fine.”

“What's your name,” demands Stiles.

“Scott McCall.”

“How much is two plus two?”

“I... four?”

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“Four. Answer,” says Scott slowly. “I think.”

“Who is the president of the US?”

Scott frowns, turning to him. “I don't know.”

“Who's the best quidditch player of all time?” asks Allison.

“Ginny Weasley,” says Scott.

“Something's wrong with him,” says Jackson. “The best quidditch player was obviously Draco Malfoy.”

Scott seems to regain fully his attention to the present. “No way! It was Weasley — she was both a great Chaser and a pretty good Seeker.”

Jackson is ready to continue arguing so Derek steps in. “Okay, I'm sure they were both great in their own right,” he starts, conciliatory. He's heard this kind of discussion too many times. 

“Are you sure you're alright, Scott?” asks Erica.

“Yeah. Just... tired, I guess.”

“Come on,” says Allison, tugging him to the side and guiding him down to the grass. She lays his head on her lap.

Erica searches through her bag. “Here,” she says, walking to Scott. “You should eat some chocolate.”

“Oh,” starts Jackson. “I didn't get any after I fell...  Casual house discrimination, huh.”

“It had nothing to do with you being a Slytherin but all to do with you being an asshole.”

“You do realize it's your fault we're trapped here.”

“For God's sake, I was joking!” says Erica, rounding up at him. All at once, the atmosphere deteriorates. 

“It's never a joke,” replies Jackson. “It's always a test.”

“It was a joke! I'm not a Slytherin, I'm a fucking Hufflepuff! I thought it was obvious that you should leave the ball alone. But you kept chasing it and we were too far away to stop it.”

“You challenged me.”

“I was joking,” repeats Erica. “Jesus. You need to learn to let things go.”

“Is that your team's device, let it go?” drawls Jackson. 

“You’re such a dick,” mutters Erica and walks away. 

“And what were you even doing there in the first place?” asks Jackson suddenly. 

“We stayed after the practice,” says Erica. 

“Boyd isn't on the team,” says Jackson and turns to glare at Derek. “What kind of captain are you? He'd be a perfect Beater.”

Derek shrugs. “He doesn't like rivalry.”

Jackson looks at Boyd, incredulous. 

“Quidditch is fun as a hobby and hobby only,” explains Boyd. “I have no intention of spending more time on it.”

Jackson stares at him, visibly trying to understand and failing. He turns away, deflating. “You make no sense.”

Erica shrugs. “You make no sense either.”

Stiles is the first to break the silence. “We should think of a better reason for coming to the Forbidden Forest than chasing a ball.” 

Jackson glares at him. 

“Just saying.”

Boyd sits down next to Erica, who leans against him. 

“Oh, are you two a thing?” asks Stiles, curious.

“Do you want me to ask the same about you and Derek?” asks Boyd. 

“...no,” admits Stiles. His fingers beat an off-rhythm on his robe. “So... I'm going to assume you aren't dating but you see a chance to redefine your relationship.”

“Is that how it is between you and Derek?”

Stiles won't blush. “I'm talking about you and Erica.”

“If you keep this up, you won't be able to talk about anything.”

Stiles knows how to choose his battles. He tactfully retreats and turns to Erica. “You were born in a Muggle family, right? I could tell from the way you speak.”

Erica sighs but gives him a smile. “Yup.” She answers his high-five and adds, “And I'm never coming back there.”

Stiles' smile tenses on his face. He turns away, feeling awkward. Erica seemed at ease sharing that information but Stiles has no idea how to react. He's lucky enough to have his dad, who may not understand much about Hogwarts, but still let Stiles go, recognizing how excited Stiles was about the opportunity. 

He's relieved from replying by Lydia.

“So what are we doing now? We have discovered the hole in the barrier. That gives us more possibilities.”

“It's not a hole,” Jackson reminds her. “The barrier still works there, it's just weaker. You can still feel resistance when moving through. Actually, we can start unweaving the spell.”

“That could take hours,” says Stiles. 

“All the better to start now,” replies Jackson, taking out his wand. 

“I'd help you but I don't want to risk using my wand now,” says Lydia. 

“We can help,” says Erica, glancing at Boyd, who nods. “Anyway, there's this spell to make you smaller, right?”

“It's too risky. We can keep it in mind but we're not desperate enough for it just yet,” says Derek.

“Yeah, potions are usually considered to be safer,” muses Stiles. “What?”

“There's a potion to make you smaller, too,” says Derek.

“Yeah, Shrinking Potion. But it takes a few hours and we don't have ingredients.”

“The greenhouse isn't that far from here,” says Erica. “We can try to Accio some of them and prepare them here.”

“Isn't the greenhouse closed?” asks Stiles.

“Yeah, theoretically,” says Erica. “Like the library's Restricted Section is restricted.” At Stiles' look, she says, “There are many spells to keep something out of reach. If the professors chose to use weaker magic, that itself tells you something.”

“I agree,” says Boyd. “Yeah, there is some weird stuff in the library but it also offers great knowledge. If anyone's interested, they won't really have a problem getting there. This rule is more of a warning than a real prohibition.”

“I like that justification,” says Stiles. “May use it sometime.”

“Don't mention me, though,” says Boyd. 

“You'll be my anonymous source,” decides Stiles. “Anyway, you think the greenhouse works in the same way? No, it doesn't matter. We're trapped. We have the right to look for unorthodox ways to get free.” Stiles goes through the list of ingredients in his mind. “There must be some caterpillars here, but what about leech juice and rat spleen?”

“Stiles,” starts Erica, “we're in the Forbidden Forest. We just need to catch those and prepare them.”

“Yes, it will be only disgusting,” says Boyd casually. 

“I'll help you with the potion,” says Lydia. 

Stiles blinks at her. “I thought I'll be working with Derek.”

Lydia raises her eyebrows. 

“I mean, we have more experience.”

“Oh,” says Boyd lightly, “you have more experience?”

“I'm just saying — we have Potions together. We work well together.”

“Tell us more about the things you do well together, Stiles,” says Erica. She would look politely interested if it wasn't for the glint in her eyes.

“Oh, God. Just get me daisy roots for the potion, if you will,” utters Stiles.

“They will,” assures Lydia. “In the meantime, you two should, ah, prepare.”

“Really, Lyds?” says Stiles, betrayed. “I hate you.”

“It's too much fun,” she explains, unapologetic.

“And you!” Stiles rounds up to Derek. “Say something!”

Derek shrugs. “Erica and Boyd had the right to needle you with the questions after you've done the same.”

“That's not what a good boyfriend would say.”

Derek stares at him. “I wasn't aware I was a boyfriend.”

“Merlin,” groans Jackson. “I thought we were trapped in the middle of the Forbidden Forest like in some second rate horror, not watching a bad rom-com.”

“It's slow-burn, too, so I'd say it's more of a soap opera,” says Erica.

“Daisy roots,” repeats Stiles, his face burning. “Now.”

* * *

“We should all go to the Diagon Alley,” says Lydia suddenly, waking Jackson next to her. They are all tired by now, sleepy. “I need to repair my wand... or find a new one.”

“All right,” agrees Derek immediately. It's a good excuse to meet Stiles but Lydia just gives him a somewhat pitying glance. 

“Yeah, sure,” says Stiles. 

Lydia sighs. 

Jackson makes a face. “I don't particularly want to meet up with... Fine,” he relents under Lydia's gaze. 

Erica turns to Boyd who shrugs. “Why not?” she says. 

“You look different,” says Lydia, regarding Erica. “I mean, there's something different about your face. I can't describe what exactly but...”

“Ah, shit.” Erica sighs. “I forgot to refresh my charms.”

“You've been wearing charms all this time?”

“I always do.”

Lydia narrows her eyes. “I've never noticed.”

“Yeah, well, that's the point.”

“Show me.”

Erica shrugs. “It's not like I have anything better to do.” She takes out her wand and gets comfortable, as possible as it is, leaning against a tree. “So the first thing is to figure out your goal. Now, if we were to be found, we'd want to lower the punishment, and it may help to look more vulnerable and innocent.”

Lydia looks at her, surprised. “That's deception, isn't it? I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to value the truth.”

“I don't do that for pleasure. I don't like influencing people like that. But everyone already treats me like another weak, poor Hufflepuff girl so I may as well use it.”

Lydia is about to say something when Stiles sighs heavily. “Welp, it's done.” He looks at the acid green Shrinking Potion, then turns to Derek. “It was a pleasure working with you, Captain Hale.”

Derek huffs out a laugh and looks at Stiles from under his lashes. “The pleasure is all mine.”

They shake hands; the touch lingers. 

“They aren't doing anything, not really, and yet it makes me so uncomfortable,” says Jackson, staring at them. “Like, they have this atmosphere.”

Stiles raises the potion threateningly. “You want to try this shit?”

“I do,” says Scott.

Stiles drops his hand. “Oh my god.”

“Scott, you've already helped once,” says Lydia. “It's enough.”

“Well, someone will have to do this sooner or later,” reasons Scott. “And I think it'll be fun. It makes you small, right? It's exciting!”

“Was talking to spiders fun and exciting, then?” asks Boyd flatly.

Scott loses some enthusiasm. “No. But this doesn't work on the mind, just on the body.”

“Theoretically,” says Stiles. “We can't be sure how it's going to work.”

“I trust you,” states Scott.

“But I don't trust myself!”

“You guys said that elixirs are safer than spells, so I'll be fine.”

“It doesn't work like that, Scott,” says Allison.

“Well, the chances of something going wrong are lower,” says Lydia.

“But if something goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong,” says Derek.

“So it's fine,” repeats Scott. 

“No, it's not!”

“This really makes you think about the Gryffindor complex,” muses Erica. “Hero complex.”

Jackson shrugs. “Why are we stopping him, anyway? Let him sacrifice himself, I mean, that's only convenient for us.”

“See?” cries Stiles, turning to Scott. “That's reason enough not to do it!”

“Scott,” starts Allison, “you know that I won't stop you. Whatever you decide, it's your decision. Just — think about it. You don't have to do this. Please.”

Scott regards her for a while. “Thank you. But I still want to do this. I know this looks stupid to you, or thoughtless — but we have to do something, don't we? And out of everyone here, I'm the best person to try this way. No offense.”

“Only some taken,” says Jackson.

“Okay, but... Providing you, or someone else, drinks this elixir,” starts Erica, “what then? You leave, and what? You're not trapped anymore, just lost in the Forbidden Forest and stuck in a too-small body.”

“We could Diminuendo one of the brooms so that Scott can fly on it,” suggests Lydia.

“I hate to admit it, but it doesn't seem like we have any better idea,” says Derek. “That still doesn't mean you have to do this, Scott.”

“I'm good,” replies Scott, straightening. “I'm ready.”

“Any fun facts?” asks Jackson, turning to Derek.

“He's not your encyclopaedia,” shoots Stiles, defensive.

Derek sighs but turns to Scott. “Drink slowly,” he advises. “Give it a bit of time, the change will be confusing at first. Maybe Allison could give you the broom and take you through the barrier.”

“All right,” says Scott, bringing the potion to his lips. “Here it goes.”

* * *

“Again!” cheer the Gryffindors.

Stiles is getting tired of how noisy and full of energy they are, but they were the ones to provide the beer and all the food. Gryffindors get oddly creative when bending the rules for food and parties is involved.

“So I totally got small,” says Scott, grinning, “like, as big as a palm. 

Erica turned the broom smaller for me but it was still a bit too big, awkward to fly. I flew up to try and find Hogwarts... But couldn't see anything.” Scott pauses, dramatic — it makes Derek, sitting next to Stiles, smile. “The height really changes your perspective, you know? I couldn't figure out where I was, where to go. So I flew back down to try to find the rest of the guys so they'd help me or something but I couldn't find even them! I was just circling over the Forest, looking for the signs of humans. And suddenly, I saw something. But it wasn't human.”

Someone gasps and Stiles rolls his eyes. He notices Jackson doing the same and is so offended at the idea of any similarity between them that a chocolate frog manages to jump out of his hand. Derek catches it in the air and gives back to Stiles, and Stiles is just... gone. Utterly done. Something must show on his face because Derek looks at him, their hands touching, the time seems to stop-

“It was a centaur,” says Scott and the Gryffindors make all kinds of noises, breaking the moment. “And he saw me. Pretty cool guy,” says Scott, considering. “Although a bit odd. He knew something was going on because of the spiders — and who knew the spider spell? Boyd!”

Everyone turns to Boyd, cheering on him and giving a round of applause. Someone gives him more beer that Boyd obediently drinks. 

“So here I am, flying on a broom next to Firenze's ear and asking him to take me to Hagrid. We went to the castle to find Professor McGonagall but met Slughorn on our way so all four of us went to the Forest. Still, finding the exact spot wasn't easy... I guess Derek's escaping attention spell worked!”

Now Derek's in the centre of attention, the Gryffindors whooping around him.

“By the time we found the rest of the guys, I was normal height again. The timing was perfect, Stiles!”

“That wasn't my doing, that's just how long the Shrinking Potion works,” says Stiles but is drowned out by cheering Gryffindors. Someone pushes more chocolate frogs at him. “Oh, that's nice, I can make more potions.”

“Earlier, we were wondering what to say once found. And it was awesome,” says Scott, grinning. “I mean, some suggested just telling the truth...”

There is booing and Erica shakes her head, incredulous. She, Boyd and Allison wanted to tell the truth if found by the right people. Who was 'right' was also discussed. 

“But Lydia decided that we should pretend that we've heard the howling and finally decided to find out if it's true that there are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest. Which made us sound like stupid teenagers on a dare-”

“Which was the truth,” says Erica. 

“But Lydia said that the moral responsibility will have to be borne by people who allowed the spread of the rumour — the professors.”

Stiles can almost feel the wave of respect directed at Lydia. She gets applauded for the idea.

“And then Erica gave her best performance. She really convinced us that's exactly what happened.”

“Yeah,” drawls Erica, grinning, taking in all the attention, “I was good.”

“She was so good that something weird happened. Slughorn just — broke down. He had a complete meltdown, started apologizing. It turned out the spell trapping us was his doing, except he's never meant for any students to get caught up. He just wanted to get more ingredients for his potions.”

“Yeah, I actually felt bad for him,” says Erica, “so I told Professor McGonagall the truth.”

In the silence that follows Erica is once again the centre of attention.

“What?” says Scott dumbly.

“Well, she obviously didn't believe us so she invited me to her office earlier. I told her the truth. It's not like she would have accepted anything else,” she explains. “Also, I really felt bad for Slughorn. Oh right,” Erica grins suddenly, self-satisfied. “We may have a new class next year. Ethics. No need to thank me.”

“No one was going to,” says Jackson.

“I think it will be interesting,” argues Allison.

“I actually agree with Jackson,” says Scott. “By the way, if it wasn't for Jackson, we'd still be trapped. He was the one who found the place where the barrier was weaker and started unfolding the spell.”

The Gryffindors drink to his name. Someone gives Jackson Bertie Bett's Every Flavour Beans which he puts away immediately.

“It was also his idea to have a party at Gryffindor,” says Stiles pointedly.

“Well, why did you listen to me?” complains Jackson.

“I suppose we can leave now,” says Lydia. “Stiles, you have our permission to date Derek.”

“Wha- I don't need your permission!”

“Obviously,” agrees Lydia, “but you wanted it. Derek, I'm keeping an eye on you.”

“Yeah, well...” Derek looks around and frowns. “If Erica and Boyd hadn't sneaked out already, they'd say the same to you. Probably.”

“But still!” says Scott. “The one who was the best was Allison! She totally saved us all from the wolf.”

Stiles can't hear his thoughts over the noise at this point. Allison was impressive, it's true — it turned out they haven't killed a wolf... but it wasn't exactly a werewolf, either. It had no human form, only a wolf one, but was much stronger compared to a normal wolf. Stiles heard some muttering about a guy called Lupus, who was supposedly involved. 

He turns to Derek and they silently agree to get out.

Derek mutters something, moving his wand surreptitiously and suddenly confetti appears around them, further exciting the Gryffindors and turning their attention away. 

Stiles and Derek shrink away, soon climbing out of the Fat Lady's portrait. 

“I think I've heard something about fireworks,” says Stiles. 

Derek looks at him, startled. “Now I'm worried about them,” he admits. “Should we go back, just to make sure they're okay?”

“Allison's with them, they'll be fine,” dismisses Stiles, walking with purpose. 

Derek goes after him. “You have somewhere you want to be?”

Stiles turns to him with a smirk. “I have a date.”

Derek huffs out a laugh, remembering it's Friday night. There's an odd feeling in his stomach as he follows Stiles. They seem to be alone, it's quiet and dark around.

Stiles spins to the corridor leading to the library and Derek comes with, turning the corner. He almost walks into Stiles, who is now standing still, waiting for him — all at once they end up oddly close to each other. 

Stiles opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He licks his lips nervously and tries again. “Tell me — tell me it's okay,” he says quietly and moves even closer, enough for his lips to almost touch Derek's. At first, both are still, uncertain, wavering, but then Derek presses this inch more.

The kiss is short and sweet but Stiles still feels as if he ran a marathon. 

Derek stares at him, his eyes too green. “I promise I'll try to be a good boyfriend,” he says suddenly.

Stiles grins. “Finally caught up, huh,” he teases, as if confident. 

Derek rolls his eyes and takes a breath, ready to argue, but Stiles pulls him closer for another kiss. 

There's no hesitation this time. Derek goes with him willingly. 

[livelongdolan]

Lemons (G.D.)

Summary: The boy down the street seems as sweet as sugar, helping his little brother with practicing sports, making a lemonade stand, etc. when it turns out he’s really as sour as lemonade.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: angst, fluff, smut (in next part)

A/N: I was literally just drawing stuff for a storybook I have to make for econ when I thought of this and got right on it lmao.

Tags: @rockstardolan  @dolanstwintuesday @aquadolan @dolandolll <3

     The sun was out at full force, beating heat down on to the bodies of those outside of their houses and forcing the ones inside to blast the A/C, but the three boys down the street weren’t afraid of any heat. Your family had been friends with the Dolan Family since you were born, so you were very familiar with them always being outside which almost always included dragging you along with them. 

     Today, the boys were selling lemonade. Every year, Grayson, Ethan, and their little brother Charlie made fresh lemonade and sold it for 25 cents to make some money. And every year, you were dragged into helping. That’s why you were making your way down to their house now, they had run out of sugar and you were bringing them a fresh bag. You walked up to them and placed the sugar down on the small table, noticing Ethan wasn’t there with them but just figuring he was out getting something or hanging out with his girlfriend.

     “Y/N! You’re a lifesaver! Thank you so much!” Grayson exclaimed, running around the table to hug you. 

     “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.” you laugh. “Are you guys gonna need any more help?” 

     “If you wouldn’t mind, I think we need a pretty girl to help sell our product. Maybe you could dance around in that bikini of yours or something to attract all the guys over here.” Grayson winks and pokes your sides. 

   The two of you had always been flirty, teasing each other here and there but it was never anything serious at least from his side. Of course, as every story with a girl and a neighbor boy goes, you had liked him when you both turned 13 (puberty had hit him early) but you were sure he didn’t feel the same way. Why, you may ask? Well he was always talking about other girls, explaining all the things he did with them (although to be honest he was quite vanilla which wasn’t your favorite but it wasn’t a turn off), and was always pointing out how hot a girl was when you were out together. You always just laughed, listening to him like the best friend you were but inside there was a small seed of jealousy that grew and grew as he talked. Sometimes you would even have to step away for a minute, going to the bathroom or something just so you wouldn’t confess your feelings right then and there.  

“Hahaha.” You dryly laughed. “I’m not gonna be your eye candy.” 

 “Y/N, we’re never going to sell any of this lemonade! We need something” Charlie sighs. 

“Fine. I’ll help. But I’m keeping my clothes on.” You glare at Grayson and he holds up his hand in fake innocence before backing away and going inside the house, saying he’ll be right back. 

“Ya know Charlie, your brother can be really annoying sometimes. I don’t know how you live with him.” You laugh, half joking.

“Oh shush, I know you like him. And not just as a friend, you like like him. I may be ten years old but even I can tell.” He says blatantly.  

   Your face goes red as you look at the boy. How did he know? Is it really that obvious? You had tried to keep it as much of a secret as you could, only telling your best friend. 

“I do not.” You say sternly. “He’s my best friend I can’t like him.” 

“Doesn’t mean you don’t.” He says in a sing-song way. 

“Oh shut up Charlie. Don’t say anything to Grayson, okay?” Your entire face has blushed red at this point. 

“Don’t worry I’m not a snitch. Plus, like you said, he’s annoying so I don’t wanna tell him.” Charlie laughs. 

 Just then, Grayson walks back out from the house with paper and markers. 

“What are you two laughing about? Making secret plans without me?” He laughs and ruffles Charlie’s hair.

“Yeah totally Gray, we’re gonna build a bigger better lemonade stand without you.” You smile. 

“I knew it.” He says jokingly. You smile back at him before he starts talking again. “So, I brought markers and paper so we can make posters and hang them around the neighborhood.”

“Sounds good.” You look at Charlie. “Good?” He nods in reply. 

The three of you work on posters until it’s almost dark, then ride around in Grayson’s Bronco and tape them up on random lamp posts and any other place they’ll stick. After, you ride back to his house. 

“Okay, it’s actually dark now. I gotta head home before my parents kill me for leaving them all day.” You laugh. 

“Wait, I’ll walk you. They won’t mind where you were if they know you were with me.” He smiles. 

  He tells Charlie that he’ll be back and begins his walk to your house, which is only down the street by about four houses. On the way there, the two of you talk about random things like how Charlie is so hopeful for enough money to buy this new remote control car that he’s been wanting. The two of you finally reach your door, where he knocks. Your mom answers the door, immediately smiling upon seeing Grayson with you. 

“Aw, hi Grayson sweetie. How’s your mom doing?” Your mom smiles. 

  “She’s great Mrs. Y/L/N. Thank you for asking. I just came by to let you know that Y/N has been helping Charlie and me with the lemonade stand all day.” He gives a sweet smile that displayed the most innocence anyone could have ever seen. 

“Oh, of course honey you don’t need to tell me anything. As long as she was with you I don’t care what you do.” She laughs. 

Grayson elbows you in the side and winks. You walk in through the door that your mom has held open and say goodbye to Grayson. 

  “Well, Y/N, don’t just leave him like that. Why don’t you come in for something to drink Grayson. You look thirsty.” Your mom says more of a statement than a question. 

  “Oh no, it’s okay. I’m gonna head home, I promised Charlie I’d play with him tonight.” Grayson politely declines. “Bye Mrs. Y/L/N and bye Y/N see you tomorrow.” 

Your mom closes the door as Grayson walks away. 

“Well, isn’t he a nice boy. Why can’t you be as nice as he always is?” She asks. 

“What do you mean?” Confusion laces your voice. 

“Oh sweetie I’m just kidding. You and Grayson are both very nice young adults.” She presses a kiss against your forehead. “Now go to bed, it’s late.” 

  You obey her orders and go to your bedroom upstairs, closing the door and gently locking it behind you so that no one would hear the click of the lock. Your bed is perfectly made from this morning before you left to help Grayson and you grab your phone from your pocket, placing it on your nightstand before taking off your clothes to put on pajamas. 

  Suddenly, a tap was at the window and you grabbed your big shirt to press against your bare chest before opening the curtains. It was Grayson, so you opened the window.

“Grayson!? What are you doing here?” Your words exited your mouth in a sort of whisper scream as to not alert your parents. 

  “I was bored. Remember when I’d always do this? What were we? Like ten?” He laughs, crawling into the window that you had just opened. You turned around, the shirt still pressed against your chest. 

“Ewww Y/N. Are you naked?” He jokes around like a child. You turn around and punch him in the arm. He pretends to die, dramatically falling to his knees before laying on the floor.  

“Oh no, I killed him.” You say in a monotone voice. 

“Maybe a kiss will bring him back to life.” Grayson fake coughs. 

“Haha Grayson, very funny. Get up and turn around so I can put my clothes on.” You blush slightly at the idea of a kiss but know that he’s joking. 

  “Okay fine, you’re no fun.” He stands up and turns back towards the window as you put your shirt on. You walk to your bed and sit down, tapping Grayson to let him know you’re done. He sits down next to you and turns his head towards your ear. 

“Hey, guess what?” He whispers. 

“Hm?” The blush returns to your face. 

“I’m pretty sure I saw your boob in the reflection of the window Mrs. No Bra.” He laughs as you punch him in the arm. 

“Grayso-on” You drag out the ‘o’ in his name to show your disdain, hitting his arm over and over again. “You’re such a weirdo.” 

He simply laughs and grabs your hand to stop you before pushing you down, pinning your hands above your head. 

“Can’t hit me now, can ya?” He teases. You try to wriggle free but his grip holds tight. 

“Gray.” You whine, dragging it out. After that he quickly moves off of you, a red hue on his face. 

You sit back up and rub your wrists slightly, clenching your thighs together because the action had, embarrassingly enough, got you slightly turned on. 

“Did I hurt you Y/N? I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to.” He frantically apologizes, taking your wrists into his hands and rubbing them for you. 

“No Grayson it’s fine. Just, go please.” Your eyes stay focused on the ground as you talk, not wanting to make eye contact in fear of seeing the disappointed look in his eyes. 

“Yeah. Okay, sorry again.” He quietly slips out of the window and into the night, returning back to his own home. 

You laid down in your bed, not bothering to put on any blankets since it was so hot, and thought about the night. He had to be joking about everything right? He didn’t understand what he was doing. Right? 

You sighed.

Life with Grayson Dolan was tough and it wasn’t going to get any easier. 

Unless you told him how you really feel.