#then it turned into making icecream and all we had to do was blend the flavouring and mix it in but then everyone started leaving cuz they

[tvonq]

i had a dream that i was in some hall and everyone was eating together and then there was this man giving out food and haechan was there and go really excited so he told me to get in line and get him some (it was just custard) but i got dragged somewhere else and never got it

[halothenthehorns]

The Leaky Cauldron

James didn't know where to begin, or what to say. What do you tell your best friend who just found out he would be sent to prison, a literal hell hole, for a crime no one would ever believe he committed. Of all the cruel, unjust things they'd seen in the future so far, this almost rivalled what happened to himself and Lily. He was almost afraid to keep going now, what other horrors would he learn?

Remus was the first to speak up after a very long, drawn out pause, as he said, "Ah, so, what's your deal with Fudge?"

Sirius shook his head from side to side as he sighed, "you're going to think I'm crazy."

"We already think that," Lily stated, giving him her best smile as she continued, "in the best way of course."

Sirius gave an unamused snort, but told them anyways. "Just thinking, I don't like that Fudge was the one to show up to make sure Harry was okay, not days after my supposed escape," here his face twisted off in that same fit of unease he now always felt at the mention of his fate. Quickly shaking that off he pressed on, "me, a supposed Voldemort supporter, according to the general populace. Now, who more than anyone would want to go after Harry?" He finished rhetorically, noting the light the rest of them gained at once.

"You think Fudge thinks you're after Harry?" James said, going a little cross eyed at his own question.

Sirius just shrugged, with his arms still crossed on his chest, glaring moodily down at the book. "Honestly, I'm with Harry, can't think of to many reasons the Minister himself would make an appearance, and be so relieved to find him alive, and be happy about him not going into Hogsmeade."

"I see your point," Remus nodded, "but why is it bothering you so much?" Sirius seemed to be taking this as offensive as if someone had just told him he was going to be a mass murderer.

"Excuse you?" Sirius spluttered. "How would you like it if I turned to you and said, hey, someday soon people are going to think you want Harry dead, let alone being the one to kill him."

Remus flinched back at all of the repressed venom Sirius was showing, but not angry one bit. He nodded in acceptance and apologized.

Sirius backed off at once, but he still looked a mixture of peeved, confused and hurt all the same. James exchanged a look with Lily, then said, "time to play musical chairs you two."

Harry, surprised, got to his feet and followed his mother over to the two seater couch Remus and Sirius had just vacated, placing Sirius in the middle of James and Remus. Harry thought he understood why once James leaned his weight imperceptibly into his best friends. Harry very dearly wanted to offer comfort as well, but recognized he could do no more than give false reassurances like his mother that everything was going to be okay. What Sirius needed now was both Remus keeping him in check, and James support.

It hardly fixed the main problem with him, but they really couldn't think of anything else to say on the matter. No one here could think of much else about how wronged Sirius had been, but there was no way to fix it until they found out exactly what happened. Sirius very dearly wanted the exact opposite of Harry finding these things out, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it. The very idea that Harry would be the one who found out what a horrible murderer he would apparently become made him want to burst into tears, it wasn't fair that he might finally have a chance in this future to get to know the baby he loved so much now, and it would be forever tainted with Harry possibly fearing and hating him.

Yet Harry insisted he must have met Sirius at some point, and he had no ill feelings towards him now, but was he trying to lie and sugar coat it? He didn't ask, unable to decide which answer would be worse.

Looking quite pleased with himself now that he could keep a better eye on Sirius, James took up the book and read.

Harry didn't know quite what to do with all of his free time now. He'd never been allowed before to go wherever whenever.

"That would make any kid your age all kinds of happy," Lily agreed.

He kept his promise to Fudge and kept to Diagon Alley, but it was such an interesting place that wasn't a hard chore. He spent every morning inside the Leaky Cauldron just watching all of the customers interact, witches and wizards comparing their buys of the day, fascinating creatures who blended in, and at one point Harry was quite sure a hag eating raw meat.

"I've sat around there a fair few times just to people watch," Remus agreed, wondering how on earth they could even keep going in such a normal tone after the bombshell that they'd received.

He then reflected it wasn't any odder than the whole situation of reading a book about the future.

Lily was just pleased the whole place wasn't storming Harry again. She supposed he'd blend in better without Hagrid, and said gamekeeper shouting his name.

After that he'd hit the streets, wandering up and down all of the shops and doing more people watching, where the customers were either talking prices, or

James grimaced almost as bad as if he'd had to say mudblood again. If someone had told him at the start of this book Sirius would turn out to be alive, he would have skipped around dancing with joy no matter what the reason, now that he did have his reason he wanted to vomit and scream all over again at the unfairness of it all. He declined against saying this aloud though, worried it would make Sirius feel all the worse, considering how much he flinched at his own name as well as he continued.

talking of Sirius Black, where one mother swore she wouldn't let her children out of the house until he was put away again.

Remus gave a weak, unamused chuckle, picturing some random person actually being afraid of a boy who had once cried all day because Remus had once accidentally turned his hair green, and it had taken a few seconds to correct the colour changing spell and put it right. Sirius had then given an exaggerated hurt expression all day about how Remus had 'shown how he really felt about sharing a house with him.' It was beyond ludicrous that a single person would really think so ill of one of his closest friends.

Harry was now free to do his homework where he chose as well, and favoured doing it in the local ice cream shop where the owner, Florean Fortescue, was very knowledgeable about his essay and was prone to giving Harry free icecream.

"Dang," James grinned, "now how come I never got that treatment."

"Because you would have eaten him out of house and home before the first hour was up," Lily replied at once.

It became a real chore for Harry once he did visit Gringotts not to go out and empty his whole vault.

"Well here's to self-control," Remus smirked.

He found himself wanting nearly everything he came across, including a lifelike model of the galaxy, which would have allowed him to quit his Astronomy class.

"Don't be silly Harry," Lily chided, "you'd still have to take the class, you'd just have an easier time on your homework. Honestly, I wouldn't even be bothered if you'd bought something like that for school."

Then Harry told her the price, and she did a double take before nodding seriously and saying, "okay, good thing you didn't buy it then."

The worst temptation came about in his favourite store, Quality Quidditch Supplies.

James' voice immediately spiked with glee, this could only mean something good. Remus leaned in eagerly as well, and Sirius finally looked almost normal again. What better way to distract him from something so horrible then his favourite sport.

He had to squeeze himself inside the shop to find a new model broom on display.

"Sweet," Sirius cried, almost bouncing in place as his eyes lit up like a child, "a new broom! I thought the new Nimbus sounded fantastic, this must be even better!"

"What are all the models anyways?" Harry asked. Yes he'd had an in depth discussion with Ron about this, but he was enjoying watching the three boys acting like their high-strung selves again, and actually wanted to delay the reading for a bit.

James looked ready to jump in and try to describe the brooms in high detail, when Lily butted in saying, "relevant information James," in a singsong voice.

James froze, and glanced over at her with a very hurt look on his face. "I find this very relevant!"

"Yes well I found the reason Astronomy is important to be very relevant," she snipped back.

James frowned, clearly struggling to remember when this had come up, then he offered, "okay, I get to tell Harry about this, then you can tell him about the importance of tracking stars."

Lily grinned and agreed, then James quickly launched into his explanation first. After a lively discussion of nearly every make and model, Lily almost regretted giving in to James, she found it so boring at one point she slipped out of the room to go in and check on baby Harry. James seemed to be winding down by the time she had reentered.

Once he was done, Sirius said in a suffering voice, "alright, so why are we forced to take Astronomy for five years?"

Lily replied with a bit of an impish smirk, "I would like to remind you all, in the very first chapter that 'odd' watch it mentioned Dumbledore owned. All of you knew how to read and understand that because you learned Astronomy."

"So we can read a fancy watch," James dismissed, "we do own analogue watches. We only use those more for traditional reasons now. Got anything else?"

"It's also very important in potion making," Lily continued as if James hadn't spoken. "It doesn't do a Potioner any good to have to sit around and take hours to figure out the position of the planets, which are important in many advanced potions. You need to be able to know and understand this in a very particular frame of time, so if you want a career in Potions you must keep up with Astronomy."

Harry nodded, very curious about this indeed, but it was clear the other three boys were getting rather bored with this conversation. Lily considered going on anyways, just for a bit of payback at James boring her stupid with his broom talk, but lamented that you really couldn't force knowledge, so she agreed to allow the reading to continue.

The shop owner was explaining to the crowd that this model was going to be the broom of choice for the Irish International team, and they were favoured to win the World Cup.

"Really?" Remus butted in eagerly. "They've gone up in the rankings."

"Just tell me what it is already," Sirius demanded, nearly bouncing in place in anticipation.

Harry finally found a break in the crowd enough to read the title on a little plaque, The Firebolt.

"It's a new model all together," James breathed, nearly drooling as he could only picture it, not having a previous model to go off of.

"Well read the sign already," Sirius all but begged, looking near to snatching the book away just to read it himself.

There was a sign underneath detailing every inch of the broom's top of the line standards.

The boys spent just as long interrogating Harry on every detail he remembered of this broom, and Lily simply sat back and watched indulgently for a few minutes before cutting in again and trying to convince them to move on. James huffed and grumbled for a bit, but finally accepted.

The price wasn't even listed though, and Harry reflected it would do him no good to empty his school vault for a new broom when he still had a perfectly good one on him.

Lily beamed with pride as she said, "I'm so proud of you. I can't imagine many boys your age, or older," she cut herself off to give an obvious look at the other three boys, "would take the time to consider that."

Harry blushed a bit at the praise, thanking his Mum. After a pause, the boys finally admitted they were happy Harry didn't buy the broom either, thinking in rational sense of course. It didn't stop them from wanting it any less either.

This didn't stop Harry from coming back every day just to look at it though.

Sirius nodded like this made absolutely perfect sense to him, making Harry laugh anew.

He did have some things he was required to buy though, like new school robes which were getting several inches too short.

"How come they don't have some kind of place in school to fix that," Harry asked, this having bothered him several times towards the end of the school year. "Honestly, how come they don't have any way to fix your clothes, I've ripped the hem of my trousers several times and just had to ignore it till summer." He was also thinking of a few other times, like the basilisk biting his arm and leaving a sizable gap in that sleeve as well for the last few weeks of school.

Sirius looked perfectly back to normal after the nice long Quidditch distraction and explained for Harry, "the house-elves have been known to take care of the worst of them, like for instance the time Peter got a hole ripped on his backside, long story," he added on when Harry looked about asking for details. "They also put some kind of charm, I think, on them when they go in the wash so that they don't need them every bloody time you have to deal with Herbology. Dirt repelling charms, and maybe they strengthen the material or something, I've never stopped to ask to be honest."*

Harry reflected that he'd never really thought about it, as the Gryffindor boys had a laundry chute that just seemed to magically clean their clothes and shoot them back out perfectly folded, but it did make sense.

There were also his new textbooks for both his old classes, and his new ones Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination.

"Well, at least you did get your stuff," James muttered, mostly to himself as he remembered worrying about this, and trying to push away the impending feeling that they would just have to rehash that same conversation at the beginning of next book since Harry would still have to go back there! He grit his teeth for a moment before forcing himself to go on in that same light tone as before, not willing to let his good mood be spoiled again so soon.

Harry did get a surprise though, when he went to the bookshop and saw a window display of the Monster Book of Monsters.

"Oh," they brightened in understanding at Hagrid sending Harry that book.

Remus stated, "guess that makes sense then, Hagrid would have sent you a textbook for one of your new classes."

"That's not what Kettleburn set us though," Sirius pointed out, "so why the change?"

"You don't think there's a new teacher?" Lily asked in concern, never having taken the class herself, but curious all the same.

"Wouldn't surprise me," James shrugged, "he would be how old now? With two limbs missing? In fact, you remember Hagrid's letter, he was going to tell Harry something, like a surprise? Guess this might have been it. Of course Hagrid would get chummy with a new Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Great, so we're going to have to deal with three new teachers this year," Sirius rolled his eyes, "I can only hope they're at least competent. Harry hasn't exactly had a good track record so far."

"You can say that again," Harry agreed, wondering why this year in particular made him feel like correcting Sirius on this. Had he finally gotten a decent teacher, at least for DADA?

They weren't happy about it though, as they were locked in a giant cage tearing each other's pages out.

Sirius released a surprised snort of laughter, picturing books fighting having never come to mind.

Harry looked at his book list for the first time and saw the book listed as the one he'd need for Care of Magical Creatures, and couldn't help almost sagging in relief. He'd been having horrible ideas about Hagrid perhaps wanting help with a new animal.

"Oh don't," Lily shuddered in true terror, "I don't want to have to deal with anymore of Hagrid's pets."

"Well I seemed to be wrong," Harry soothed.

Harry went inside, and the moment the store owner laid eyes on him, he demanded to know if Harry was from Hogwarts, and when he said he was, the man pushed Harry out of the way,

"Well that was rude," Remus frowned.

"What's his problem," Sirius agreed huffily.

going for a thick set of gloves and making his way towards the cage of biting books.

"What a jerk," James agreed with a frown. "Harry might not have needed that book even if he did already have it. Care of Magical creatures isn't mandatory for Hogwarts."

Harry stopped him though, telling that he already had that book. The man couldn't have looked any more relieved if he wanted to, saying he'd already had to deal with five paper cuts this morning.

Lily winced in sympathy, but didn't bother to say anything out loud this time. He really had been presumptuous in his actions.

From inside the cage came another tearing sound, coming from two of the books having pinned down a third and tearing its back off.

"Hope you'd at least get a discount on that book," Sirius laughed.

The owner shoved a cane inside and forced them all apart, complaining of what a nightmare they were to have around. It was worse than the time he'd bought a shipment of Invisibility books, and never found a single one of them.

"Ah," Lily said in confusion, "I don't get it, they didn't use the counterspell to make the books visible or...?"

"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "didn't ask for details."

Harry showed him the list of books he did need though, one of which was Unfogging the Future. He led Harry over to the Divination section of the store, and Harry read the back of the book which detailed what he would learn, including palmistry and bird entrails.

"Bird entrails?" James repeated in disgust.

"Well it sounds like an interesting class at least," Remus chuckled.

Harry's attention was off guard though, when he spotted another book labelled Death Omens. The owner looked where Harry was, and told Harry that wasn't a good book to be reading, he'd start being paranoid about death being everywhere.

"Should he really be telling someone not to buy a book from him?" Sirius laughed.

"Well I appreciate it," Lily shrugged, noting Harry seemed to have a pessimistic side enough as is, he didn't need that extra help.

Harry was still watching though, as the front cover was of a very large black dog,

"I'm not that big," Sirius scoffed, growing uneasy all over again at any kind of mention of him, even his animal.

Harry gave him a pitying look, declining to mention that his own imagination might have made that black dog in the alley way bigger than it might have really been.

remarkably close to the one he'd seen that night in the alley. The shop owner really did distract him by escorting Harry around to gather the rest of his books, but he was distracted as he left the shop and accidentally smacked into a few people on his way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Now all four of them were frowning, each taking a worried glance at Harry. He was still frowning at Sirius, a perturbed look on his face. Finally Sirius couldn't take it anymore and said, "you're starting to scare me there Harry, what's on your mind."

Harry jolted slightly, Sirius didn't usually refer to him by his actual name, but he gave him a benign smile as he admitted, "guess I just didn't realize your animagus form was a death omen, and you know, not knowing then..."

Remus released a surprised snort of laughter, admitting, "yeah, it honestly did surprise us a bit too when he first achieved his transformation, Peter's a bit superstitious and actually called him a Grim."

James gave a surprised laugh himself, nodding and saying, "we were actually going to use that as his nickname, we kicked around a few things before we settled on what we've got."

"I can see how it would freak you out a bit," Lily nodded in agreement.

He dumped all of his stuff to the side and sat down heavily on his bed, thinking about how he'd seen that dog not moments before his head had nearly been crushed under the wheels of a bus. Aloud, he told himself it hadn't been a death omen,

Sirius winced, and began ducking into himself, wanting to apologize for clearly frightening Harry so much, since by this point they really were convinced that must have been Sirius, the coincidence was just too high. Before he could let himself feel too much pity though, James absently gave him a nudge with his elbow, and Remus flicked his ear. Sirius was instantly distracted from his thoughts and instead was playfully grumbling about how his friends abused him.

saying he was just overthinking about that stray dog he'd seen.

"Now that I'll disagree with," James said lightly, still keeping a protective eye over Sirius to make sure he wasn't going to sink back into that self-pity again.

Harry nodded in understanding, trying to catch Sirius' eye to give him a confident smile, and succeeding after a moment; receiving one back almost instantly.

Looking into the mirror, he began to try and flatten his hair with nerves.

"Now there's a lost cause," Lily said absently.

The mirror spoke back that Harry was fighting a losing battle with that one.

They all laughed weakly then, but Sirius still wasn't in much of a mood to make the joke Lily had just mimicked a mirror of all things.

As the holiday continued to drag closer to the end, Harry began spotting some of his school friends, like the other Gryffindor boys Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas who stopped to have a chat with him. He also saw Neville Longbottom, but swerved to avoid him,

"Why?" Remus asked. "I thought you liked Neville?"

"Wait for it," Harry told him simply.

as he was currently being told off by his haughty looking grandmother.

"Yeah, no one wants their friend around when they're getting told off," Sirius agreed.

Harry dearly hoped she never found out he'd tried to use Neville's name while on the run.

James released a surprised burst of laughter, personally he would have been flattered, but he could see the other side to that coin.

He woke up on the last day before school started, thinking he had just missed Ron and Hermione in the crowd and he'd see them tomorrow on the train.

"That is a little weird," Lily agreed, coking her head to the side slightly, "they said they were going to be there."

"Haven't you been sending them mail with Hedwig?" Remus asked. "Didn't they know they could find you at the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry shook his head no and said, "I didn't send Hedwig anymore that summer, it was to close to the end of the holidays, and I didn't know if she'd be back in time with an answer before I had to go back to school."

The others disagreed, wanting to point out that Hedwig would have known to go to Hogwarts even if that were the case, but didn't argue the point.

He got up to go and have one last look at the Firebolt,

James read that with nothing but fondness colouring his tone, knowing full well that was something he would have done too.

and was traveling that way when he heard his name being called from behind. He turned and found his two best friends waving over at him.

"Finally," Remus grinned.

"I have missed hearing about them," James agreed affectionately.

Ron was saying how happy he was to find Harry, that they must have just missed him at the Leaky Cauldron,

"Then how did they know you were staying there?" Lily asked.

Harry shrugged and said, "I'm sure I ask him, since I was just wondering the same thing."

and they'd already gone around and got their own shopping done. Harry said he'd already done his as well, then asked how they knew where he was staying. Ron simply put that his Dad knew.

"Makes sense," Sirius shrugged, "he knew about you last summer too, you seem pretty popular in his department."

"I get the feeling everyone inside the Ministry always knows about me," Harry replied, not exactly happy about it.

This didn't surprise Harry, as Arthur Weasley worked for the Ministry and would have knowledge of his Aunt's mishap. Hermione brought up this very subject, asking if Harry had really blown up his aunt in a serious voice.

"Oh yeah, she's never heard me speak, how'd she do an impression of me?" Sirius demanded.

James sniffed, choosing to ignore Sirius on that one, as he told Harry, "Go on, tell her the reason you did, and that stern voice will turn to outrage in a second."

Harry just shrugged without a response, having a good idea he didn't actually do that.

Ron burst into laughter at once at the reminder while Harry lamely explained away he'd just lost control.

The four of them frowned at Harry sharply, not at all pleased this seemed to be the only explanation he was going to give his friends, but Harry was resolutely ignoring all eyes, and they admitted there was no sense badgering him about it now.

Hermione told him off, saying it wasn't supposed to be funny as Harry could have gotten into real trouble for that. Harry agreed he was surprised he didn't, and asked Ron if his Dad had any idea why Fudge hadn't?

Now because of Sirius, they wondered if maybe they had taken too light of the situation before, but none of them said it out loud. Sirius was still looking all kinds of moody any time this subject came up, so James refused to linger on it too long.

Ron just shrugged it off, saying it was because it was the Harry Potter. If he'd pulled something like that, the Ministry would've have his head, but then again they'd have to dig him back up as his Mum would've murdered him.

"I like to think Ron wouldn't be put in that situation any more then Harry, or at least his Mum would have understood," Lily said, mostly to herself it seemed as the boys seemed to find that comment more amusing than anything.

Then Ron told Harry that the lot of the Weasleys, and Hermione, were going to be staying at the Leaky Cauldron that night with Harry, so he could go to the train with them tomorrow.

"Excellent," Harry beamed, more than pleased to hear about this, he'd missed his friends terribly over that summer.

Harry said this was excellent.

Then they all laughed a bit more as Harry blushed slightly at mimicking himself.

Ron changed the subject then by pulling out a long thin box,

"His new wand," Remus grinned.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," James snorted as he read.

showcasing his new wand. He also laughed back about when they'd told that shop owner they'd wanted two of the Monster Book of Monsters, and how the man had nearly cried.

"Poor guy," Lily said in sympathy, wondering why the store hadn't simply found a better method of shutting those books closed with a belt like Harry, and simply selling them that way.

Harry then asked Hermione what all she'd gotten, as she had three bags ripping at the seams with all of her books. Hermione proceeded to list every extra subject Hogwarts had to offer, including Muggle Studies.

"How many classes is she taking?" Sirius asked faintly.

"Why's she taking Muggle Studies?" Remus demanded. "She's a muggle-born?"

"How can she even take all of those classes?" James frowned. "Some of them run at the same time."

Harry didn't have an answer for any of this, but he asked something he'd been wondering for a while, "which classes did you guys take?"

"Arithmancy," James and Lily said at once. 

"I also took Muggle Studies," James added on with a sheepish expression, "I ah, just never paid much attention when, well, Lily didn't seem to think it very impressive when I started talking about electricity, I lost interest by the end of the year and stopped paying it much mind. Dropped it after fifth."

Lily snorted at remembering all that, he was playing up even remembering that much she was sure, it wouldn't surprise her if he'd paid Sirius to do his homework for him when he realized she hadn't been impressed one bit by this. "I took Study of Ancient Runes instead," she told her son aloud. 

"We both took Care of Magical Creatures," Remus said, gesturing towards himself and Sirius, "but I took Arithmancy too."

"Muggle Studies as my second option," Sirius responded, stretching out slightly as he forced himself to relax again at this rather normal conversation, might as well enjoy it while it lasted. "Oh and Peter took Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with James," he added on thoughtfully, thinking Harry would like to know more about their other friend even if he hadn't met him yet.

Harry nodded happily, enjoying the fact he didn't seem to be getting that settling feeling that normally came with relearning things. This meant he'd never learned this about his family before, and he always enjoyed that. These glowing feelings managed to shove out some nasty little pang he suddenly felt at hearing Peter's name. That hadn't come up before this book, why this year in particular would he get a surgence for that name?

Ron demanded to know why his friend was taking Muggle Studies,

Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus quickly said, "yes Sirius, I mimicked Ron, let it go."

Sirius just smirked at him, enjoying the moment anyways.

as she was a Muggle-born. Hermione said that she wanted to see wizards point of view on them, it would be all sorts of interesting.

"Props for that," Lily agreed, never having thought of that point of view before.

"Still wouldn't take the extra class," Remus said in disbelief, thinking this poor girl was going to overwork herself in the first week.

Harry asked her if she'd planned on any time for eating or sleeping, but Hermione ignored them both.

"That's a legitimate question," James said, his own amusement still lingering. He was picturing her come midterms and going to at least two professors to drop one of her extra classes just for a breath of fresh air, no one could keep up with that much!

Instead saying that she had some leftover money and wanted to buy herself a birthday present, and Ron suggested a book. Hermione politely declined,

Sirius snapped his fingers and said, "darn, guess she already realizes she's not going to have much time for free reading this term."

and said that what she did want was an owl.

"Did she talk to her parents about that before though?" Lily asked in concern. "I asked my parents for an owl for years, but they never gave in to that one."

"I think a girl like Hermione, she most likely did," Remus pacified.

Saying that as Harry had Hedwig and Ron had Errol, but Ron corrected that was a family owl, not his.

"And it's kind of recommended they get a new owl to," Sirius agreed, wincing in sympathy for the old bird.

What he did have was Scabbers, his old rat, who was looking quite sickly himself.

"How old is he?" James asked in concern.

"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "Ron's never said specifically."

"Most only live for about five years I think," Lily said, frowning as she thought about it. "Ron said Scabbers used to be Percy's, and that was almost three years ago at this point. Assuming Percy got him very young, he'd still be getting on."

'Poor Ron' they all thought this time, not wanting the poor kid to have to go through the trauma of losing a pet.

Harry led the way to the local Magical Animal shop where both of his friends could attend to their needs, and they walked inside to find a large assortment of every fascinating animal.

"That sounds like all kinds of fun," Lily said in amusement.

"It's one of my favourite shops," Remus agreed.

"Surprised you didn't interrupt me every animal to say what it actually was," James told him.

"I'm not that bad," Remus scoffed, unwilling to admit he'd been mentally doing that anyways, though his friends knew better and exchanged superior smirks like they had when he'd given them an hour long chat about those color changing snails known as streelers.

Ron went up to the counter first while Hermione began browsing the owls, which came in every colour and breed. Ron explained that Scabbers had been acting rather lethargic of late, while Harry was thinking about how Scabbers had once belonged to Ron's older brother Percy, and next to the cage of younger rats, Scabbers looked particularly old.

"Bet he's still better than those," Sirius sniffed, feeling a particular affection for Scabbers, like he would for any rat that reminded him of Peter, and the description was a pretty good fit, not to mention the time he'd bit Goyle. That could never be sullied.

The woman at the counter picked up the rat by his tail, asking how old exactly he was, and Ron didn't know the actual age, just that he'd been around for a while. Scabbers was inspected from his torn ear to one of his missing toes, and noted that most of this species wouldn't live longer than three years.

"Well she's just a lovely conversation," Lily frowned severely, that was hardly something you told a child asking for help with his pet.

"And some can live longer," Remus agreed a little hotly, still feeling bad for Ron and wanting to defend his pet, even if he wasn't there right now.

She offered Ron to buy a replacement, pointing at the cage where the black furred rats were playing an odd game jumping over each other's tails. Ron just muttered that they were showing off.

James chuckled, he'd actually been fixing to say something similar before he read Ron's response.

The woman switched tactics and instead offered Ron some medicine for Scabbers, calling it Rat Tonic. Ron agreed he'd buy that, beginning to ask for the price, when he screamed in pain.

Lily jumped, James had yelled that pretty loud, then scowled at him when she realized he was still reading, "what was that for?"

"Ron said it," he shrugged, giving her a cheeky grin before reading curiously.

Harry was startled to see something very large and dark orange landing on Ron's head, then leaping onto the counter after Scabbers.

"A cat I presume," Remus said mildly, arching a brow in surprise, "though props to it for getting out of its cage."

Sirius popped him lightly, saying, "you really want that thing to eat Scabbers in front of Ron?"

Remus just rolled his eyes as James continued.

The woman screamed for Crookshanks to stop, but Scabbers wasn't waiting around, wriggling out of her hand and bolting from the shop. Harry and Ron tore after him, catching up to him curled up underneath a trashcan. Ron demanded to know what had attacked him, and Harry explained it was either a very large cat, or a very small tiger.

Which made everyone in the room laugh at Harry's attempt at humour.

They made their way back to the shop for Hermione who should have gotten her owl by now, only to find her walking out of the shop with the same cat in her arms.

"Really?" Lily demanded. "She bought the cat that attacked Ron's pet?"

"I'm trying to decide if that's her subtle way of saying Ron annoys her," Sirius smirked.

"Hermione's hardly subtle about anything," Remus snorted.

"I'm kind of with Lily," James frowned in disapproval, "it was almost rude of her to buy something that went out of its way to eat Scabbers like that."

Harry wasn't paying much attention to any of them, but was instead fighting the impulse to rub at his temple again. He'd never thought too much about Scabbers other than as Ron's pet, and he had no real feelings towards Hermione buying whatever cat she wanted, but there was something here he wasn't really seeing. Something important he really should remember about these two pets, James hadn't seemed to notice his son's silence as he continued.

Ron was outraged she'd bought the cat that had tried to eat his rat, and Hermione ignored him by stating that he was a beautiful creature. Harry didn't really agree, its fur was very thick and poofy, its legs a too short for its long body, and it had a squashed face like he'd run face first into a wall.

Both Sirius and Remus released surprised snorts of laughter at that lovely description.

Hermione was cooing to her cat that she hadn't really meant to hurt Ron, but Ron was still arguing that Scabbers didn't need the hassle of a cat around, he needed his peace. Hermione was frowning at him now as she handed over Ron's Rat Tonic, telling how Crookshanks had been in that store for ages as no one had wanted to buy him.

"That's a real mystery," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Lily huffed and gave him the stank eye. Despite her misgivings about Hermione buying that particular cat at that time, she had nothing against the actual animal. It was in its nature after all, and Sirius mocking it just annoyed her.

They went back to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Hermione arguing the whole way, Harry phasing it out. When they got inside, he greeted Mr. Weasley at the bar, looking at the front paper where Sirius Black was still on display.

James frowned and grit his teeth for a moment, annoyed at once all the good mood seeping right out of the room at this near constant reminder. He wanted more than anything right now to find out what had really happened to his best friend, but the repeating commentary on him was grinding his gears.

Harry asked if there was any new news on him, but Mr. Weasley said that even though they'd pulled some people off their normal jobs to find him, they'd got nothing yet.

Instead of allowing his mood to sink back down, Sirius said in a forced happy voice, "I think I should get some credit for that at least."

Remus gave him a pointed look that said quite clearly he still didn't find him making light of this situation any kind of funny, but no one told him off for it this time. It was better than him being depressed anyways.

Ron asked if whoever caught him would get a reward,

Sirius opened, then quickly closed his mouth. He had been fixing to ask how much his head was worth, but decided he really didn't want to know the answer to that.

but Mr. Weasley snapped at his son not to go getting any ideas, and Harry noticed he looked a lot more tense than usual.

James voice spiked a bit in confusion upon reading that. What did this have to do with the Weasley's really? Why would it put extra strain on Arthur, or was it something else altogether? Most likely it was the second.

Reminding them that it would most likely be the Azkaban guards who would catch up with him,

Sirius shuddered so hard at those words, he nearly shook the whole couch with him. Those guards were one of the reasons he felt like fainting at the mere thought of where he was fixing to spend the next twelve years of his life in a very short amount of time. He'd been around a Dementor once in his life, and the thought of forcibly being stuck in their presence for any prolonged time made him want to run for the hills without looking back.

James really couldn't take it this time, and wrapped an arm around his friends shoulder for a brief moment until Sirius did stop his shaking again. He waited until Sirius offered a weak, unreal smile, but at least he attempted it, giving James enough confidence to keep reading and pray for a change of subject.

Remus was trying to swallow back bile at seeing his usually energized friend reduced to this state, while Harry dearly wanted to ask who on earth these guards were if they elicited such strong reactions from people he could hardly imagine being afraid of anything. First Hagrid, now Sirius, what on earth happened in this Azkaban? He still didn't ask though, not wanting to be the one to linger on this.

The rest of the Weasley's arrived then, Ginny coming in last and going red in the face upon seeing Harry. She'd always had a bit of a crush on him, and his saving her life last year most likely hadn't changed that.

"Just what I wanted to be reminded of right now," Sirius whispered, thinking about that horrid Chamber the least helpful thing to get his mind off of death and regrets.

Percy spotted Harry as well and marched forward, offering his hand to Harry and welcoming him in the most formal way possible.

James forced as much amusement as he could into this small interaction, perhaps speaking a little louder than was necessary to make sure Sirius got his fill of what he was sure was about to be an amusing moment. Anything with the twins and Percy in the same room almost always meant a laugh.

Fred couldn't let that slide, shoving Percy out of the way and mimicking his brother's actions as pompously as possible,

Then James grinned, looking all too smug at being right, and just as pleased to see a genuine smile come back to his friends face at these twin's antics.

George quickly copying him as well. Percy scowled at both of them.

The boys were outright laughing by this point, and Lily couldn't help but smirk along.

Molly Weasley told them to knock it off, but Fred wasn't done yet, pouncing on his mother's hand and going on about seeing her as well.

Lily shook her head affectionately while this only doubled the boy's amusement.

She really did get them to stop this time, before turning on Harry and giving him a warm welcome before boasting that Percy had made Head Boy, the second of her sons to have done so. Fred muttered he was going to be the last as well.

"Now that's not really fair to Ron," Lily frowned at him.

"I agree," James nodded. He enjoyed being Head Boy in his time, but Percy was being the wrong kind as far as he was concerned. In fact he'd rather enjoy it if Ron got that opportunity, he'd very much noticed the boy's lack of confidence in himself and some responsibility like this might just help him.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't pleased at the slight, pointing out neither of the twins had been made prefects.

"That might be a little awkward," Remus noted, "only one of the twins getting that."

Sirius nodded, agreeing, "yeah, I'd almost feel bad for them."

George scoffed he'd be mad to want such a thing, it would take all the fun out of their life.

"I resemble that comment," Remus smirked.

"I think you meant resent," Lily corrected him, even knowing he had used the wrong word on purpose.

"That to," he laughed.

Ginny laughed at her brothers, and Mrs. Weasley noticed that to, so she snapped at the twins to set a better example for their sister.

While no one else in the room took much notice of this, Harry suddenly looked puzzled. He had a rather distinct feeling Ginny wasn't nearly the sweetheart her mother wanted her to be.

Percy said she had much better brothers to look to for an example, before exiting up the stairs. George confided in Harry they'd tried to lock that brother away in a sarcophagus in Egypt, but their Mum had caught them.

"Rats," Sirius huffed, snapping his fingers in agitation.

Lily gave him the stank eye, even though she knew he didn't mean it anymore then George had.

They all had dinner together that night, and Fred was asking his Dad about how all of them were getting to the train tomorrow?

"I'm getting hungry," Sirius said at once, his mouth watering at the thought of dessert.

"You're always hungry," James reminded him.

Lily ignored the pair, it was still a bit too early for lunch, so instead said, "that's a good question though, since they don't have the Anglia anymore."

Mr. Weasley explained that his job was loaning him a couple of cars,

"Well that was nice," Remus said, rather puzzled.

"Do the Ministry normally do this?" Harry asked at once, noting how confused the others seemed.

"They're not known to," James shrugged, "it's not their business to make sure every one of their workers gets around, but I suppose Arthur might have been able to make an exception for you," he finished, giving Harry an obvious wink. He didn't really find it funny, the reminder of his son's fame was only a thought away from how he'd gained it, but it made sense.

Harry nodded in understanding all the same.

Percy asked why, and George quickly cut in by saying it was all thanks to Percy. They were even going to put flags on the car for him, saying HB, while Fred finished up the joke by stating that it stood for Humongous Bighead.

Which gained a laugh from all present readers.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"I like the fact that means Arthur laughed as well," Remus grinned.

"Those twins had to get their sense of humour from somewhere," Sirius smirked.

Percy ignored them and repeated his question.

"That boy needs to lighten up," Lily rolled her eyes.

Mr. Weasley did explain that he'd managed to convince the Ministry to do him a favour, but he was going red just like Ron did when he was being pressured.

"Good to note an obvious Weasley tell," James grinned, feeling rather smug he must have guessed right from this.

Mrs. Weasley changed subject to asking if they were all packed, and Percy told his mother how Ron wasn't, he'd put all of his books all over his bed.

"That boy is annoying," Sirius rolled his eyes, "what brother points that out to his parents about his sibling?"

Mrs. Weasley told Ron off for this at once, while Ron gave Percy a dirty look.

"That was a nice reaction," Remus rolled his eyes, thinking of a couple of worse things Ron could have done in retaliation.

When dinner was done, Harry heard a ruckus coming from Percy and Ron's shared room, and he went over to find them both arguing. Percy's Head Boy badge was missing, along with Ron's Rat Tonic, and they were both convinced the other had taken it. Harry said he'd last seen Ron's Tonic at the bar downstairs, but Percy wouldn't let Ron leave until his badge had been found.

"What's Percy's right to tell him that?" Lily demanded hotly. "It's his badge, not Ron's. Ron's not the type to take it for fun."

Harry offered to get Ron's stuff, going back onto the stairs, but coming quickly to a stop when he heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing.

"Ouch," James winced in sympathy, wondering if this is why Arthur had looked so upset earlier. Were he and Molly having a fight?

Harry would have normally kept walking, not wanting to be caught listening in on this, when he froze at hearing his own name,

That sparked an interest in all of them, wondering how the couple could be arguing about Harry of all people.

so he inched closer to the door.

No one could blame Harry for that one bit, it was the normal reaction after all.

Arthur was saying that he wanted to tell Harry something, that he had every right to know.

"Know what?" Remus asked with unease, not liking the look of this already.

James didn't bother with a response, hoping the book would explain more properly

He'd been arguing with Fudge about this, who'd been insisting on keeping Harry in the dark. Molly shot back that it would horrify him if he knew.

This short little bit already had Lily worrying at her lip all over again, and the boys weren't looking any better. What worse thing could be going on right now?!

Arthur pointed out though it would be for his own good, he and Ron had already been known to end up in the Forbidden Forest twice,

"Technically," Harry butted in, shifting his weight in agitation due to the mood circling around, "I've been in twice, Ron's only been in once."

"So Arthur was generalizing," Sirius huffed, his eyes narrowing, "that doesn't explain what they're so bothered about."

Harry winced at the sharp tone he used, though it clearly wasn't directed at him specifically.

but Harry couldn't do that kind of stuff this year. It was a miracle he'd lived the night he'd run away from home. If the Knight Bus hadn't come and got him, he probably wouldn't have been found at all.

James groaned and looked ready to toss the book away in anger. Why did he keep getting all the chapters that felt like mentioning how his son could die?

Sirius looked the opposite, ready to faint all over again as he vividly remembered how upset Fudge had seemed that night as well. He hardly wanted confirmation that his theory was right, but it seemed he was about to get it anyways.

Molly was insisting that hadn't happened though, so there was no point in telling him, but Arthur argued back that they say Sirius Black is out of his mind!

James' voice spiked all over again, having several testy retorts on his lips for that, but quickly bit them off. It's not like he could blame the Weasleys for thinking this, they didn't know any more about Sirius then Stan had. It just boiled his blood to know anyone thought that way of someone he considered a brother.

Sirius winced and pressed himself back into his seat cushions, wondering just how accurate that accusation was? Azkaban was known to drive people to death if they were there long enough, and his sentence more than met that time.

Remus was getting paler the longer this went on, clenching and unclenching himself up as he, like James, wanted very much to snap at someone for implying this about his friend.

He hadn't met the man to argue the point, but it didn't change the fact that he'd been out for weeks and no one had any leads on him. They only knew one thing, what he wanted.

"Is that right," Lily hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "he's told you this, or is it more guess work and slandering?"

Molly was still insisting it wouldn't matter, Harry would be in no safer place once he was at school, but Arthur argued back that if Black could break out of Azkaban, it would be no problem for him to break into Hogwarts.

Sirius opened, then closed his mouth again. How he had broken out of Azkaban, he had not the slightest clue. The thought had never even occurred to him to figure out how, and he wasn't keen on sitting around pondering it now. However, he did have the fullest confidence that if any student wanted to sneak in and out of that school, he was more than qualified. Everyone here knew this though, and he just couldn't muster up the energy in that moment to say it with as much bragging rights as he normally would have.

Molly tried to pacify that they weren't positive Black was after Harry,

Sirius winced at that nightmare of a sentence all over again, never mind that he himself had suggested it earlier. It hardly made him feel better he was obviously right this time.

James was resolutely ignoring him, wanting to laugh at how stupid that sentence was, and hoping for a clue what his friend really would be doing.

but there was a thunk inside, and Harry had the suspicion Mr. Weasley had smacked his hand onto the table in frustration before explaining that Fudge had told him a secret. He'd been to see Black the night before he'd escaped, and the guards had spoken of Black's nonstop muttering in his sleep, 'he's at Hogwarts.'

Remus wrinkled up his nose in disgust, having to force himself to cut off a mocking laugh at this. Personally, if Sirius really was 'after' Harry, then to him it wasn't even that surprising. Sirius' first thought would be to go to his Godson, make absolutely sure he was okay. It wouldn't even surprise him to learn if Sirius did end up spending the rest of his time hiding around and dogging Harry, waiting for a chance to talk to him and try to explain himself.

Black was crazy,

"Not used to hearing you refer to me by my last name," Sirius said quickly, desperately casting his mind around to distract himself from this depressing topic, even for the shortest amount of time. "It's really weird. I keep thinking you're talking about my Dad or something."

"Half wish I was," James grumbled, turning the page so viciously he almost ripped it out.

and he wanted Harry dead.

James gagged slightly again, but refused to let himself be cut off this time.

Arthur was convinced in fact that Black was under the delusion if he killed Harry, You- Know-Who would return.

Lily's brows shot into her hairline at that, what an odd thing for anyone to think.

Black had lost everything the night You-Know-Who had vanished, and he's spent these past years thinking of nothing but that.

"Well he's got that part right at least," Sirius whispered to himself, casting an almost longing look around this once peaceful scene, and one more towards the ceiling where the baby was. Certainly not in the way Arthur had meant it, but he was more than sure a piece of him died that night this family was torn away from him.

Molly finally gave in, saying that if Arthur felt he had to tell Harry this, then do it. Then she added on that she was still positive Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to Harry, adding on he did know of this secret, yes? Arthur agreed that he had been informed, as they'd had to ask him if he'd allow the Azkaban guards to be on the school grounds that year.

Sirius felt another terrible spasm rock him. If he was going to be hanging around Harry this year to try and talk to him, he'd probably be deterred by that!

"You're joking," Remus groaned, going a little green there for a moment.

"Sadly not," James almost growled, finding this to be a horrible idea the longer he thought about it.

"Surely he said no," Lily gasped, "letting those, things, around children!"

Harry couldn't help it anymore, this was such a vivid reaction from them he finally burst out, "who are these guards?"

The four of them exchanged uneasy looks, no one wanting to be the one to answer him.

Finally Remus swallowed back the bile in this throat to answer him. The whole time he talked, Harry was nodding and seemed to be settling down at the information like he always did, but there was something new going on this time. He seemed to be watching Remus with a steady kind of look.

Harry was trying his hardest to simply listen to the awful explanation, but he was having trouble fighting down a sense a Deja vu, like Remus had told him this before. That was ridiculous though, right?

Once he was done, James was quick to read on, wanting more than anything to stop talking about all of this.

Dumbledore had agreed to the idea, though he wasn't happy.

Lily huffed and grumbled something under her breath, that they all heard and agreed anyways.

Molly was shocked, asking why wouldn't he be happy if they caught Black?

James paled to the colour Sirius currently was, knowing he'd rather die than let his best friend be dragged back into living with those things.

Arthur pointed out how much Dumbledore hated dealing with the guards, and while Arthur would normally agree with him, when dealing with people like Black, it was a necessary evil.

Both James and Remus' voice spiked as they started to protest that sentence, but Sirius was the one to cut them off, only being able to speak just loud enough to catch their attention. He was still having some problems breathing properly to speak to loudly as he said, "thanks guys, really I mean it. Come on though, you can't start yelling about this every time it comes up."

"You bet your arse I can," James snapped right back.

Sirius rolled his eyes indulgently, then took a moment to smile over at Harry. He looked just as frustrated as anyone else, but Sirius now knew how the other boy was feeling about people yelling at something he'd rather just skip. It wasn't the same thing, not by a long shot, since Sirius found it more than relevant that they should know what happened at the Dursleys Harry wasn't talking about, but at least he could sympathize the feeling now.

The conversation ended there, and Harry scrambled farther down the stairs as the parents went to go and check on their kids. Further down the stairs, Harry found Fred and George snickering in the shadows, as they'd been the one to steal Percy's badge and had been making improvements on it, as it now read Bighead Boy.

Sirius forced a laugh, but he was the only one who attempted.

Harry forced himself to laugh, went and found Ron's Rat Tonic and gave it back to him, before going back to his own room, his mind stuck on one thing. Sirius Black was after him.

James scoffed deep in his throat, while Sirius sunk all the lower, unable to find anger this time. He'd thought it was bad before, but now he not only found out his horrible little theory was right, but Harry was still learning about him like this! It made him want to burst into tears and break someone's ribcage all at the same time.

This time Remus slung his arm across his friend's shoulder, and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. It didn't make him laugh like normal, but it brought up a weak smile none the less, erasing that look however temporarily.

It did explain things, like why Fudge had been so relieved to find Harry alive he'd let him slide out of punishment, and why the Ministry was sending cars for the Weasley's, all the better way to keep an eye on Harry until he was safely on the Hogwarts Express.

James had to cut himself off every few minutes to mutter what nonsense this was, but he got through most of it intelligibly.

As he reflected on all of that though, he realized he wasn't actually scared.

That finally released a bark like laugh from Sirius. It was far more subdued than normal, but he turned gleaming eyes on Harry anyways.

Harry was quick to return it with a smile and say, "probably because I knew deep down you couldn't hurt a butterfly if you wanted to."

"I almost resent that," he said in an attempt at a snooty tone of voice, "I can be plenty vicious when I want to."

"Couldn't hurt me then," Harry amended.

Which made them all beam with unrestrained pleasure. They could have sat around trying to convince Sirius all day about this, but in his mind it would have been more like false hope. He just couldn't shake the horrible image swirling around his brain that he'd gone crazy in that place, and could actually harm his little pup. Coming from Harry though, even his instincts rather than actual memory, made him want to get up and hug his godson all over again that he was still so confident of this feeling no matter what he heard.

He did of course remember how Sirius Black had ended up in prison, and clearly all of Harry's elders thought he'd be terrified to find he was next on the list, but Harry agreed with something Mrs. Weasley had said, there was no better place for him then Hogwarts. Surely since his headmaster had been the one man Voldemort himself had feared, it stood to reason his second

All five of them snorted in disgust again, never not finding that one of the most laughable and insulting things yet.

would feel the same.

"I'm respectably afraid of the Headmaster," Sirius opinionated, though no one had asked him he felt obligated to answer anyways. "There's a difference!"

"Sure Padfoot," James said in a soothing voice, giving him a condescending pat on the head, making Sirius swat it away and call James something that made Lily snap, "Sirius!"

Harry and Remus were reduced to laughter again. It didn't fully erase the unease that this topic kept bringing up, but it did remind them all that they were still in the present time. This was not a bloody prophecy to come, they would fix this mess!

Harry also decided that these guards must be something to recon with, and if they were blocking all entrances to the school, surely there was no way Black could get in.

Sirius scoffed, this time his cocky nature made a full appearance. No damn dementors were going to stop him from seeing his pup.

No, what in fact was really keeping Harry bummed out, was the fact that all of this meant he most definitely was not going to be visiting Hogsmeade this year.

Which made the four of them dissolve into renewed yet sad laughter all over again. To them, their world was still tipped upside down because of this constant reminder of such news, and yet Harry was still stuck on this one small thing in the grand scheme. It wasn't really funny, it still made them want to cry that Harry would never properly know Sirius as the Uncle he should have been, but in that moment it was better to laugh then cry.

Sadly Harry now reflected that everyone else would consider this a good thing he'd be locked away in the castle for the year. Then his annoyance began to spike as he realized they all thought he couldn't handle himself. He had come face to face with Voldemort three times now,

"Not something I wanted to be reminded of," James pointed out, "no matter how impressive it is."

he wasn't completely useless.

"Useless," Remus rolled his eyes, "is the wrong word for sure."

"Besides, I've no doubt you could take me down just by batting your eyes a certain way," Sirius grinned, smiling indulgently at the boy, "so maybe they should send you after me."

This time James popped him lightly on the back of his head, ignoring that stupid comment.

Then his mind once again flashed back to that stray dog, that omen, before he snapped out loud to himself that he wasn't going to be murdered!

"Of that I'll make sure," Sirius whispered, mostly for James benefit who looked all the more annoyed now Harry himself was saying that type of stuff. At Sirius comment though, James relaxed like he never had before during this story. Hagrid, Dumbledore, and the Weasleys were a great source of protection for his son, but he did recognize in that moment the light in this dark subject. Sirius was free, and he would sooner give his own life then let anything happen to Harry. He prayed to Merlin it would never come to that sort of thing, that there would be a miracle sometime soon and the real cause for Sirius' imprisonment would be found and Sirius would be free to look after Harry as he always properly should have, and that was the most reassuring thing of all.

His mirror told him to keep his spirits up.

"That's the end of the chapter," James declared trying to pass the book along to Sirius, who didn't exactly look keen on reading.

HPHPHP

* question submitted by RoyalRose161, if anybody has any other plot holes or just random questions you'd like to see me try and explain away, feel free to ask.

[finallyaniguana]

Watch The Eyes: Paris. 12:15pm CET [4]

[3]     masterpost    ao3     [5]

"Just go along with it."

It was almost like a whisper in his mind. He blinked a few times in the sunlight that hadn't been there before. This... wasn't the Batcave. Yes, he was certain of that.

Damien didnt have a soulmate bond as far as he knew. And it suited him. His mother and grandfather always taught him that soulmates were a distraction. A waste of time. He was glad he had no marks. No colors missing. He was free to move about his life unhindered by another person. His brothers, however, were unsatisfied with his lack of desire to have a soulmate.

Tim had done so much research, looking for examples of all the soulmate bonds he could possibly have. Damian resisted all pushes in "her" direction. He chose to believe there was no one out there. It was easier that way. Easier for her.

When Tim presented his research Damain wanted so bad to throw it back in his face.

"I don't want this, Drake."

Tim squinted down at his younger brother.

"Why?"

"Soul mates are a distraction," he stated, trying to turn and walk out.

"Damian."

He turned again to glare at Tim.

"At least look at my research. I spent alot of time on it," more than annoyance at a waste of time implied in his tone.

He was imploring him to be open to connection. They fight alot but Tim really wanted his brother to be happy.

Damian snatched the offered papers out of his hand, fully intending to leave them to sit on his bedroom desk. Before he could fully make it up the stairs, he felt a twinge of curiosity, followed by a profound emptiness.

That night he glanced over at the papers. The boy sighed and forced himself up begrudgingly.

He spent the whole night reading through them. Thousands of different kinds of soul bonds. Tim had barely even touched on the early outwardly presenting ones, knowing they were irrelevant to the situation. But the possibilities left over were still overwhelming to say the least.

One in particular Tim spent a good amount of time on. The mind switching bond.

In the year that the two would meet, on the younger persons birthday, they would switch minds for 15 minutes. No warning. The only way for others to notice was the eyes. The eyes follow the mind, as common windows to the soul. Connected souls channel each other. One person may start to act like the other as the souls grow closer.

'This one would prove dangerous,' he thought. 'Most likely why Drake researched this one extensively.'

It was one of the more interesting and rare bonds. Only one or two couples in a generation ended up with these ones.

That's why Damian had an advantage over his soulmate in this situation. He knew exactly what was going on.

A quick moment of mental deliberation and he followed the beckoning girl out the door. He didn't say anything. If he could blend in, he could learn.

She walked out of the classroom and down the stairs to two waiting boys, one with glasses and dark hair, one blond.

The blond one smiled at Damian. "Bon anniversaire!" He said.

Damian's eyes widened as he realized he must be talking to him. Good thing he knew French.

"Oh! Thank you?" Damian resisted the urge to react to the voice spilling from his vocal chords.

High and sweet.

The other boy, who's arm was now linked with the girl he had been following also offered birthday greetings, extending a fist.

"Happy birthday, dudette."

When Damian didn't return the fist bump, he tried to reemphasize it like he hadnt seen it. Realizing he should be playing along, he bumped his fist back.

"Alright! Since it's your birthday, you will NOT be paying for your icecream, okay? Don't fight me on this, girl."

"Um, okay." Damian let out a nervous laugh. Why was he acting like this?

"I'm so glad my father let me come celebrate with you guys," the one boy said, adjusting his white outer shirt.

"Me too, dude."

'So it's her birthday,' Damian affirmed in his mind. 'Most definitely the mind switching bond, then.'

"Alright, Alya, lead the way," her apparent boyfriend said.

'Alya. Noted.'

She tugged on his arm, giving a smiling glance back at her friend.

"No time to lose! Let's go!"

She grabbed onto the blond boy who reflexively grabbed onto Damian. It took everything in him not to throw off his soulmates friend. They were moving fast. Barreling out of the school, Damian tried to glance back to see what its was called.

They were moving too fast for him to find the name on the outside of the building. 

He screwed up his face in annoyance. That was going to make it harder to find her. His mind came to a screeching halt. When had he decided he wanted to find her?

Before he could fully figure out his sudden change of heart, they had arrived at the park, ice cream truck in the distance.

Damian reached to the purse by his soulmates hip. He had to check the time. He wasn't positive of the time he had switched but it felt close to fifteen minutes ago. So focused on finding the phone, he missed the little red creature lying doll-like in the purse.

12:28

He mentally cursed. Less than two minutes left and he barely had any intel.

"Nino and I will get the ice creams. You two find us a place to sit. We'll meet you there!" Alya wiggled her eyebrows before pulling Nino in the direction of the cart.

A few beats of silence passed, watching the two run off to get the treats.

"Okay, Bug, where do you want to sit?" the blond said, turning to Damian.

"Bug?" He said aloud.

The world went dark for the second time that day.

Gotham 6:30 am EST

When he came to he was suddenly stricken with a horrible realization. He was still in the Batcave.

His soulmate has been in the Batcave.

His soulmate knows.

Damian, now securely back in his own body, whipped around to where he remembered Grayson to have been standing. He was still there, watching him with an odd expression.

"Baby Bird?" He called out. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Blinking at his older brother he could feel his heartrate increase. Grayson is still wearing the mask. Theres no way she wouldn't recognize that.

Why was he reacting this way? He had been telling himself for literal years that he didn't want or need a soulmate. This was just another reason not to find her. The only way he would ever be able to find her would be to reveal his father's close kept secret. He couldn't do that for a girl. His soulmate. Wouldn't do that. Would he?

Grayson was still waiting for an answer. He chose his next words carefully.

"I-i need to go get ready for... school," he forced out and turned back to the exit, wondering for a millisecond how his soulmate made it this far without Grayson figuring out something was wrong.

He dashed out of sight and back into the manor.

Where can he go? One look at him and anyone in his family would be able to tell something was very wrong. He needed time to figure something else. Reconvince himself to not think about soulmates. 'Soulmates are a distraction, soulmates are a distraction, soulmates are-'

He almost made it to his room without running into anyone. Damn Tim and his bad timing. (Lol)

The elder of the two had a large cup of coffee in hand and dark bags under his eyes. In his other hand he had a tie, clearly getting ready to go to work at WE. One look at Damian's face and his neutral expression crumpled into concern.

"Are you-" he didn't get to finish.

Damian pushed past him and finished his the walk to his room at a sprint. Tim managed not to spill his coffee. He slammed the door behind him. Leaning against the door he tried to catch his breath. Unbeknownst to him, Tim was currently walking down the stairs to find anyone and everyone better equipped to deal with whatever Damian was freaking out about.

'Focus on something else,' he told himself.

He shook himself out and meticulously packed away all his school belongings into his backpack. He changed out of his pajamas he had (and his soulmate???) had sparred in in exchange for his school's uniform.

'She wasn't wearing a uniform. No! Think about something else!'

He gathered his belongings and prepared to face his concerned brothers. They probably would have spoken to Alfred by this point. Another person to assuage concerns for.

Before he could even open the door there was a knock. Taking a deep breath, he called upon all his skills to mask his internal turmoil. Having created a blank face he intended to wear the rest of the day, he opened the door to find Alfred on the other side.

"Alfred."

"Master Damian."

[sonderrow-moved]

Olu' often wondered where Archer's income came from but instead of asking about it, he ends up standing in the front door of the place. Staring around the club, his nostrils inhaling the smell of city nightlife and it's hidden nasties, whilst his eyes turned and rose to take in the blends of shadow and light. Not that impressed in terms of an animal, but to witness it with fresh eyes was something else. Though he just wondered how long it'll take Archer to be in front him, with how many whispers

-were rattling off from the sheer wall of a man holding a motorcycle helmet and bag of icecream. Popping in after a late-night shop run? Normal for Oluwayemisi.

@nvrcmplt

“Then hire a better bouncer then. We can’t afford someone who let everyone they personally like enter. We got standards to hold. Find some part of the budget to put two at the door if you must.”

Archer was wrapping his winter scarf around his neck, eyes looking down as he spoke to the staff member which was accompanying him on the way out. The cold air nearly made him sleepy, still somewhat used to living during the day despite his new nature. There was something so… particular about the crisp, cold air and time to go to bed. However, he wasn’t supposed to come back home before the little morning hours, and spend a few hours in bed with his lion before the latter would wake.

That was his plan, and Archer’s face immediately perked up in surprise at the sight of Olu on his bike. A surprise so powerful it rose up to the raven’s expression instead of being entirely internalized. He never… or more like he wasn’t ready to see him in this kind of setting. Especially in a late Friday night where the streets were busting with single people and couples alike.

“…”

At the very least, the employee was smart enough to read the room, give a polite nod and bid Archer goodbye before swiftly getting back inside. The jazz fusion music blasting the few seconds the doors opened while the bat was still standing there, silent, immobile.

The thing was, for once he didn’t really know what to do.… and then he figured he’d do what he did best.

“Excuse me sir. I’m here in name of the owner of this district. Is this your first time here?” There’s his business voice going on. Thinking about it, it had been so long since he had used it around Oluwayemisi. “I’m sure there is something that can cater to whichever pleasure you wish to have fulfilled tonight.” His hands reached his King’s jacket, fiddling with it as if straightening the piece of cloth, all the while acting a bit too cocky. “You may need to watch out, though. With bold, rugged and strong looks like this in those parts, you may just attract a lot of attention… it could make your missus all jealous.”

At those words, Archer moved up on the tip of his toes, the sideway helping him reach the height where he could kiss the feline on the lips. A sweet, bit of a lingering one, taking his time before letting them part as slowly as possible.

Whatever his thoughts about public display of affection he always held with anyone else… he was just too happy to see him. That growing, giddy and obnoxious thump in his chest that was taking over every ounce of fear and anxiety this moment held.

Archer’s ears grew darker while he then spoke on a more serious tone; the proof of how he was attempting to not think about what he just did or else he was going to lose it, this horrible lack of decorum was without precedent…

“As… glad as I am to see you… what are you doing here?” He frowned, more confused than anything. “You’re… not the type to enjoy chaotic crowds made out of all sort of privileged individuals.” Materialistic ignorants… including himself.

“This is…” He motioned to the club behind him. “… not exactly my kind of scene either, but… I do and don’t exactly choose the “job”.” More like remunerated slaving duty, but they never talked about that; Archer didn’t want to either.

“If you’re here for someone else that’s fine, I’m going to see you at home later then…”

[plantmomstories]

Not much but...

Here's my first but short story:

I'm starting a small business selling bath salts, and I make my own recipes and blends. When I first started out, the main bath salt I was selling was Orange Creamsicle.

Now because my Mom and I both have health problems we're living together. The basement is being turned into an apartment (so we can have our own space) and I have a work table and all my supplies down there.

Here's the thing.

There's a LOT of moisture down there right now, and I've been forced to bring my salts upstairs to dry.

The very first time I made my Orange Creamsicle, I had to stick it in the livingroom. I'm by myself, got my bath salts drying, I've gotten used to how AMAZING it smells...and Mom comes home.

She walks through the door, stops and sniffs while looking around.

"Are those the salts???"

"Yeah Mom, sorry, I gotta dry 'em up here."

"...That smells like icecream. Now I want icecream."

She starts going about her business, stopping occasionally to stare at the salts and shake her head while saying things like "DAMN. That SMELLS like ICECREAM. I REALLY WANT ICECREAM."

The next day I'm sitting at the table, working with my salts when I hear the door open...slam...and then really fast footsteps.

Mom walks in and she's holding a tub of Orange Vanilla Swirl icecream.

"LOOK. LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO."

I'm pretty sure we ate that whole tub in two days.

[thedefinitionofbts]

A Story that we paint (Ch. 2)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Epilogue

Pairings: Jeon Jungkook x Reader | Kim Taehyung x Reader 

Genre: College Au, Future, Scifi, Slight Fluff and Angst

Words: 6K

Description: Butterfly Dream: In which the lines between virtual and reality are blurred.

The flutter of the breeze is warm, hitting your skin like a cozy blanket being draped over your body. You squint your eyes, looking around to see if you could recognize any of the landmarks that you had just designed.

Tall skyscrapers. Check. Tree lined streets. Check. Video Game Arcade. Check. Wait. Video Game Arcade?

“Jeon Jungkook” You mutter to yourself while shaking your head.

“Y/N!” You hear a familiar baritone voice shout from behind you. He’s wearing a fuzzy sweater with sleeves that were evidently too long for his arms, and it makes you wonder whether he was aware of the current oversized clothing trend or if he just didn’t know sleeves were meant to only cover your arms. 

“Hey” You greet him with a smile. Something about knowing that he’s a real human being made you act more self conscious, more self aware, and more concerned about the way he saw you.

“I’ve been scouring the city for you!” He pants, breathing heavily as as he runs up to you. “I totally forgot to ask you for your number last time. I was afraid... I’d never see you again!”

“Calm down, Taehyung, this isn’t-“ You stop yourself before you can finish your sentence, reminded that he doesn’t know he’s in a simulation and his intelligence is still evolving according to Jungkook.

“I want to take you out on a date.” He announces, after finally catching his breath.

You study the resolute smile that his lips form, and the determination emanating from his dark eyes. There was still something off with the way he interacted with you, of course this was somewhat of an improvement from the first meeting, but it still felt far from natural.

You attempt to hold back a giggle at his directness. “Taehyung, people don’t normally assert these kind of requests. You have to ask nicely.” You explain. 

“Oh, sorry” Taehyung says, as his head droops a little and his smile fades.

You sigh and smile endearingly. “It’s ok, you’re lucky I’m agreeing to going on a date with you.” You reply, thinking he’s got a lot to learn, but at the same time, fully aware that AI systems can soak up information like a sponge. Someone like Taehyung would probably be an expert at dating the next time you see him, wooing girls and guys alike. A true international playboy.

“Really?” He shouts, eyes perking up and looking at you eagerly.

You nod.

The two of you walk down streets filled with Coffee shops and Cafés, wandering around the endless blocks of buildings both new and old. Jungkook had specifically said a city which combined the past, present, and future would feel more real, as nothing in the real world is completely detached from its past or far from the future in which it is headed towards. And now that you were navigating such a city with Taehyung, you realize he was absolutely right. The juxtaposition of traditional and modern architecture did indeed make this metropolis intriguing and captivating. Something told you Jungkook had probably modeled this city after Seoul in South Korea back in the real world. If the traditional East Asian architecture was not evidence enough, the Korean looking letters on many of the shops sure were.

“Taehyung” You say after a few minutes of silent walking with nothing but the sounds of cars on the street and people brushing by. “Tell me about yourself.” You request, wondering how he’ll respond, and at the same time, secretly hoping he’ll reveal things about Jungkook’s mind that you didn’t have the guts to find out for yourself in the real world. You know this probably isn’t the best way to quell your curiosity, after all, this felt like invading Jungkook’s privacy in the strangest of ways. But in your defense, Jungkook was the one who decided to download part of his brain into a computer system, so he’s obviously not opposed to any of this…right?

“My name is Kim Taehyung, I’m 21 years old…ugh…”

You nod silently, waiting for him to continue.

“Oh! I love traveling and playing video games, and I’m good at sports. I also watch a lot of movies, and I’m a big fan of music. I sing in my spare time, and I’ve been told I’m really good at dancing too. My favorite food is icecream, but I also love meat. I cry when I see others get hurt, so I always strive to make people laugh.” His boxy smile makes another appearance as he finishes the last sentence.

“Traveling, video games, sports, movies….” You repeat out loud, while silently organizing all this new information in your mind in terms of things that most likely came from Jungkook and things that Taehyung probably picked up in his couple weeks of being exposed to virtual stimuli.

Ok, so the traveling part can go either way, since you weren’t sure if Jungkook was a fan of traveling. Video games had to be Jungkook’s thing, right? He’s mentioned it before so it has to be. Icecream is definitely Tae’s obsession, if that day at the amusement park was verification to go off of. Music and dancing though…could that really be hobbies of Jungkook or did Taehyung just make that up from the random hobby generating function in his system?

You get lost in your own thoughts for so long that Taehyung has to wave his hands in front of you to get your attention.

“Y/N?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just… spacing out.” You quickly explain. “So, ugh, since we’re on a…date, what do you feel like doing?”

Taehyung’s eyes light up. “Can we go find a place to eat? I’m starving.” He makes a motion of lightly rubbing his belly while waiting for your response.

You study the eagerness in his expression and the anticipation in his eyes as he stares into yours. “Uh, sure I guess” You answer, not even knowing how you could reject anyone so adorable. He was pure like a newborn, untainted by anything, besides the part of him that was from Jungkook of course.

Wandering down a street that looked like it would have a selection of restaurants, the two of you finally settle on going to the one decorated as if it were a shop owned by an old coupled that had served traditional cuisine for countless years. You had to take your shoes off before entering and there were no chairs so all the customers had to sit on the ground. The floorboard even squeaked a little every time you shifted your weight, and all of this detailing led to the final thought that: wow, Jungkook really went out of his way to make this as similar to the real world as possible.

Taehyung orders three different sets of meat, and twenty side dishes. You stare incredulously at the food placed in front of you when the old lady who owned the restaurant had brought them out one by one, and you can’t help but feel your stomach grumble at the delicious smells wafting in the air. It probably wasn’t even mealtime, but who can resist tasty food when it’s placed right under your nose?

Admittedly, watching Taehyung eat was almost as satisfying as eating yourself. He’s able to make everything look delectable, and you can’t help but give props to Jungkook for making him such a pleasant person to eat out with, despite his insatiable appetite.

“Are you going to eat that?” Taehyung says as he eyes the piece of grilled pork on your plate.

“No, you can have it” You say, lips curving into a smile as you watch him reach over and expertly pick it up with his chopsticks.

“Thanks!” He says, as he chews on it happily.

After finishing the meal and thanking the kind restaurant owners, you and Taehyung decide to explore more of the city. The more you looked around and basked in the lovely warm rays of sun shinning over the city, the more you get the feeling that this world could surely be real, or at least some part of you wished it was. Walking down the smooth cement sidewalks, window shopping and chatting with Taehyung felt like re-living an old memory that you’re pretty sure doesn’t exist, or perhaps did in some faded dream from years ago.

“Taehyung” You stop in front of a jewelry shop displaying a bracelet that catches your eye. That familiar feeling hits you once again, and you furrow your brows trying to bring the thought forward. Hoping that if you stared at the dazzling piece that was tugging at those recollections, you could maybe, just maybe…

“I bought one of these a few years ago” Taehyung says as he takes a step next to you and looks at the iridescent crystals chained perfectly next to one another.

You tear your eyes away from the shop window and gaze at him wondering if he’s making this up because you know for a fact he was created like a month ago, but another part of you gets the idea that this is likely part of Jungkook’s own memory.

“Was it a gift?” You ask, after a minute of stillness passes between the two of you.

Taehyung doesn’t respond, but shifts to meet your eyes. There’s that spark again, the same one you saw on day one. Where have you seen this before? Somewhere in the depths of your mind, you think you might know, but it’s such an absurd conclusion that you don’t even hesitate to wave it off.

You spend the rest of the afternoon scrolling past bookstores, eating more icecream (to Taehyung’s utter delight) while sitting on wooden benches watching people play with their pets in the park, and passing over bridges that connected two sides of the man-made stream that ran through the city. Children were hopping on the stepping-stones that crossed the shallow stream, laughing and splashing each other with water. The colorful lanterns that hung on the tree branches across the city gave it not only the mixed modern and traditional feel you had previously identified when you first entered, but also added a harmonious blend of natural and synthetic. 

Time was soaring by and twilight was gradually approaching as you neared the end of your 6 hours.

You turn to Taehyung, whose voice had drifted over to you ear as the two of you stood on the arched bridge, gazing at the sunset through an opening of the city’s skyline. His sun-kissed complexion glowed under the warmly lit sky at dusk as he began to softly sing a gentle melody.  

The song sounded familiar, like one that you’ve heard in the real world, but you couldn’t think of the name. It was bittersweet, lovingly so, and you can’t help but feel as if this was perhaps something someone else wanted to convey to you.

“Hey, Tae, what song is that?” You ask, after he had finished and his voice faded only to be replaced by the chirping of cicadas invisibly scattered amongst the willow trees that lined the stream, their branches hanging over the water, sweeping the dark green moss floating on the surface.

“Butterfly” He hums. “It’s my favorite.” And you think you can almost see the fond smile on his face under the dim glow of the streetlight, although it could just be your imagination.

Butterfly. That’s it. That was the song you had heard before, somewhere, although you can’t quite remember where.

 ………....

 That night you actually have a dream about Jungkook, one that makes you feel absolutely ridiculous upon waking up. Normally you don’t remember your dreams, and on the rare occasions that you did, they would materialize as blurry snippets of faceless people and nameless flower petals. They were often emotional, eliciting a sense of sadness, loss even, but those feeling would disperse within minutes of waking and fade completely in due time.

In this recent dream however, you distinctly remember the face of the guy who was currently sitting in the classroom next to you, listening to Professor Kim Namjoon give a lecture on how to use higher level functions in VR2000.

You turn to look at Jungkook, wondering if this is what happens when you start developing feelings for someone. He doesn’t notice you staring at him because he’s too focused on the demonstration Professor Kim Namjoon is performing on the big screen at the front of the lecture hall. You visually soak in the shape of his side profile and the tranquil concentration in his soft eyes. It’s a scene that is comforting and evokes the familiar serenity of being at home.

Maybe Taehyung’s Butterfly song had gotten to you, or maybe you were actually developing a crush on Jungkook, which you were undeniably trying to ignore but are evidently failing at, but in said dream, you were more than just acquainted with him; in fact you are able to remember quite clearly that he seemed to be someone very important to you, though you are unable to determine the exact reason.

But it was just a dream, right?

 …

 In the days that follow, you were busy making a mountain of design plans. Especially since Jungkook decided that it’d be great for you to test out how traveling with Taehyung would be, reasoning that thoroughly exploring the virtually designed world would allow you to finalize the construction phase before getting into the real stuff. This next step required a heavy amount of structural design, and luckily, Jungkook was more into that stuff than you were.

“So this next phase is a bit risky,” Jungkook says as walks over to your workbench. You lift your head and look at him, assuming he means the traveling phase of the simulation. “We can either break them into multiple simulations or we can use the time warping function where the system provides you past memories of traveling, so that you’ll feel like you’ve been in the simulation longer than you actually have.”

“Would I be able to differentiate which memories are real and which are not?” You ask, raising an eyebrow. You also simultaneously start wondering if this is how Taehyung’s mind evolves, and whether your conclusions about his memories being Jungkook’s memories were invalid. What a bummer if that were the case.

“I don’t think so,” Jungkook answers after a brief moment of thought. “What I initially assumed was that you would be able to tell the provided memories weren’t real because they are often inconsistent with your actual memories. You know, like you’d be able to tell stuff that didn’t happen, actually didn’t happen because it wouldn’t make sense if they did.” He pauses, realizing that what he was saying probably wasn’t actually making any sense. “But then, Professor Min Yoongi told me that our brains are able to fill in missing information and seamlessly connect the incongruent pieces, so that real and fake feels the same.”

You take a brief moment to casually consider what Jungkook has just said. Frankly, you were still too caught up in the whole “maybe Tae’s past isn’t a window to Jungkook’s past” to take what Jungkook has said seriously. Which was obviously a mistake, but you didn’t really care at the time. 

“We should probably just go with the time warp, I don’t think we have enough time to split this phase into a million short simulations.” You finally reply. Midterms were coming up in two weeks and you guys were only a little over a fourth of the way done with the project. Jungkook was probably thinking the same thing anyways, and just wanted to check with you before making the decision.

You can tell he’s hesitating a little though. The way he was pursing his lips and looking off to the side was hard to miss. A look of uncertainty is painted across his face, and he doesn’t respond right away.

“Alright, then...” He finally takes a deep breathe. “I’ll start getting that system set up.” He turns and walks back to his workbench, not dwelling on the subject any longer because there was still a lot of work to do. You observe as he plops down back in his seat and adjusting the black beanie covering his hair.  

“Hey, Jungkook” You call as you watch him concentrate on the screen of code in front of him.

“Yeah?” He answers, eyes still glued to his laptop and fingers taping on the keyboard at light speed.  

“Do you like to sing?” You ask, suddenly remember what Taehyung had told you the last time you were in the simulation. It comes out kind of awkward, and you nearly can’t believe those words had actually slipped past your lips.

“H-how did you know?” He asks, this time stopping what he was doing and turning his head to look at you.

“Wild guess?” You lie, but you figure it’s best he doesn’t know you had came to the conclusion that Taehyung knows almost everything about him since they’re virtually half the same person. You were kind of just fishing, because Jungkook didn’t seem like the kind of person who liked to sing (or dance for that matter), but as evident in his surprised tone, he took the bait.

“I used to do it a lot more, but I’ve been busy lately” Jungkook says before turning back to the computer screen.

“With the project?” You ask, not knowing what else he could possibly be doing outside the twelve hours a day the two of you spend in the HCI lab.

“You could put it that way” Jungkook replies, being his mysterious self again.

That was the moment it really hit you that you barely knew anything about this partner of yours. You and Jungkook have spent every day of the last month together, except for the weekends, and you had yet to find out basic information about the guy, all you could go off of were the things that Taehyung said, he was the only window to the Jungkook’s past (or at least that’s what you’ve made yourself believe).  

“Are you busy this weekend?” You somehow summon the courage to ask. “I was thinking we could do something…” Your last words trail off at a barely audible volume. You bite your lip, yet again unable to accept the audacity you were unaware you even had.  

Jungkook stops typing again, and turns to you. “Umm…” He pauses, and you’re certain he’s digging around for an excuse to reject your offer while at the same time looking for a way to make it sound legitimate enough to not hurt your feelings.

“Sure” He finally says.

“That’s ok, I mean, I was-“ You stop, realizing what Jungkook had actually said wasn’t a rejection at all. “W-wait what?” You shake your head, convinced that you were probably hearing things.

“I’m free this weekend.” He says, looking at you with those large doe eyes of his.

Unbelievable. He had actually agreed to do something with you non-school related.

If you think about it, it’s not that out of character. After all, he did agree to work on the project in Jimin’s dorm that one time, and he’s spent a lot of time around you. You two were semester long partners, of course he wouldn’t purposefully reject you just because he’d be afraid you’d get the wrong idea. He probably wasn’t even thinking that much about it. You were just overanalyzing.

 …

 And so when the weekend came around, that’s when you finally fully comprehend the weight of your request and what it entailed. It was Saturday, you were meeting Jungkook in two hours, and you had no idea what you even wanted to do with the guy. You had asked the question without having planned the next steps. So what exactly did you mean by “do something”? You were so sure he would say he was busy, that you didn’t have a plan for the alternate scenario. The “yeah sure we can doing something together”, and then you needing to decide on what exactly.

“Y/N” Jimin says. “Calm down” He was watching you frantically walking back and forth, muttering some indecipherable comments under your breath.

“What am I going to do Chim!?” You wail. “He’s going to be so bored that he’ll probably never agree to do anything with me ever again.”

“Just take him out to eat, chat a little, and see where that goes,” Jimin answers. “You guys have a lot to talk about. I mean, you’re the one who complained about not knowing anything about him.”

“And that is exactly why I don’t know what to do!” You shout into the void. “I don’t know shit about him. What he likes, his pet peeves, what he does in his spare time….” You trail off, biting your lips until they felt raw.

“Isn’t that what Taehyung is for?” Jimin says with a smug smile. “You’ve forgotten your secret weapon already.” The cheshire smile remains plastered on his face.

“I mean, that would work, except for the central issue here” You remind him. “I don’t know what part of what Tae says is him and what part is Jungkook.”

“Does it really make a different though?” Jimin questions back. “Taehyung is the tree that grew from Jungkook’s seed” Jimin pauses, this time around, not completely oblivious of the alternate interpretation of his previous sentence. “Ok, not like that. But you know what I mean!”

You sigh, shaking your head but unable to suppress a giggle. “Yes, Chim. You’re implying that they’re more similar than they are different because whatever Tae likes has to be compatible with what Jungkook likes.” You think about what you had just said, reasoning that Jimin makes a very good point.

Therefore, you decide that you would take Jungkook to eat at the popular burger place close to campus, and then going for a stroll around Swan Lake (the weather was nice, so why not?). Dressed in a casual black outfit, you figure that it’s best not to look like you spent too long getting ready (which you did) and you also want Jungkook to think you didn’t spend the entire morning planning the entire day out with Jimin (which you also did).

“Hey” You hear the pleasantly familiar voice catch your attention. You look up from your phone to see the person you were waiting for in front of the courtyard of the campus library. He was wearing a hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans, a look that makes your heart feel warm in more ways than one.

“Hey” You reply, smiling like an idiot, and wondering if he notices the way you treated him has changed so drastically. You aren’t quite sure of how that happened yourself. He had just been your project partner, and now it seemed like your heart had placed him under a different category, or maybe it always had, and your mind was just now catching up.

You soon learn that Jungkook really likes burgers, but you also knew that he probably loves to eat a lot of things, if Taehyung’s inner foodie soul was any indication of how much Jungkook enjoyed food.

You take secretive glances at Jungkook as he bites aggressively into his burger. The way he eats so deliciously has you thinking of how similar he is to another certain someone you had eaten out with. Taehyung. And it hadn’t occurred to you before, but it begins to make you question whether you were falling for him or had you already fallen for your virtual male lead unknowingly. The thought passes, indifferent from all the other passing thoughts that you’ve recently been dealing with because the two of you finish eating in less than half an hour, and you are soon on your way to the second stop of this “do something together” weekend of yours.

The weather was nice as planned, agreeably warm, but with an occasional chilly breeze blowing by, scattering the last of the dead leaves in the grass. The sky was clear, pouring light onto the surface of the pond filled with ducks, geese, and of course, elegant white swans. They would soon be migrating south for the winter, and you briefly ponder over where you might be when the semester ends and winter is finally here.

“So about you liking to sing” You decide the best way to begin another un-project related conversation was to keep riding the wave of the last un-project related topic.

Jungkook laughs. “Are you finding that hard to believe or something?”

“I mean, it’s just, you don’t…” You clumsily attempt to phrase it in the right way.

“I’m just your average music loving college student.” Jungkook states. “It’s not some unproven physics theory that the science community is still fussing over.”

You chuckle at his nerdy analogy. “Do you have a favorite song?” You finally ask.

Jungkook pauses at your question. Noticeably, taking the time to decide whether or not he wanted to share a certain part of him with you. You grip your hands tightly, hoping that he won’t close himself off to you for once.

“Yeah” He finally replies, breathing out slowly.

“Oh?” You feel your chest swell up at his response, sensing that he was comfortable sharing this with you. You wait for him to continue, but he stays silent

“It’s called Butterfly,” He voices in a soft whisper.

“Oh yeah! Tae-“ You shut your mouth before the words escape. What the hell were you thinking? You had gotten way too excited, and you mentally scold yourself for almost giving away your best-kept secret. “I- I mean, is there a reason you like that song?”

“You’ll think I’m crazy, but it’s because of this girl.” He looks down and huffs a small laugh, feeling ridiculous that he was telling you this.

“Oh…” Your voice trails off, as the swelling in your chest deflates.

“She was someone really special,” He says, lifting his eyes to look at you endearingly. “Still is.”

“Are you waiting for her to come back to you?” You swallow, not noticing Jungkook was facing you because you had nervously diverted your eyes, trying to steady your voice and your shaking hands.

Jungkook doesn’t answer, but the shadow that is cast across his pupils was a clear sign that he was.

 …

 Simulation Series “Traveling”

The long arduous hike feels as real as one in the real world, making you question whether your body back inside a pod in the HCI lab was being affected by any of these strenuous physical activities in the virtual world. Something tells you that it’s unlikely because everything in the virtual world was mental, a product of electro-chemical signals in your brain that were being controlled by the artificial neural network, but it’d be nice to have all this work pay off back in the physical world too.

“Tae” You huff, trying to catch your breath. “Are we almost there?” You hunch over, the soreness in your thighs preventing you from climbing another step without taking a long needed break.

“I can already hear the rushing water!” You hear Taehyung shout from several feet in front of you. You lift your head to see that he’s waving for you to hurry up.

This was the nth time you had come into the simulation, traveling with Taehyung in the world that you thankfully still remember creating with a boy named Jeon Jungkook. You were unaware, but each iteration of the simulation had you inching towards the first stages of the butterfly dream.

The colorful landscapes of East Asia served as the main inspiration of your trip this time around. Mountains shrouded in misty clouds with temples hidden deep within the forest, the signature view of a majestic waterfall off the edge of a sharp cliff was what the two of you sought after today.

This wasn’t the first waterfall you had the privilege of witnessing, an expedition to a taller one, less cloaked by foggy clouds and overgrown foliage had proceeded this one. You vaguely recall it looking a lot like Angel Falls in South America, a place that you seem to have visited some point in the distant past, though you can’t fully remember the details. On that trip, the person traveling with you was wearing a plaid button up similar to the one Taehyung was sporting today, only he had paired that one with a straw hat and khaki shorts, whereas Taehyung was wearing some kind of wide-leg pajama-like pants that looked like they were more for the sake of comfort than fashion.

After taking a moment to catch your breathe, you run to catch up to him as he stood waiting for you a few feet ahead of the trail. The dirt underneath your feet was starting to feel squishier, a sign that you were nearing the revered source of water. You turn your attention to the grass-lined path and dark green shrubbery twinkling with tiny drops of morning dew. The contrasting shades of green really made the scene come a live. Have colors always been this vivid?

Taehyung was right though, the sounds of flowing water paired with the addition of more liquid trickling and hitting the surface of rocks, were indeed getting louder.

“Here, take my hand” You raise your head to see Taehyung reaching towards you to offer his hand. A brief second of hesitation passes before your palm is pressed against his. Have his hands always been this warm and soft?

As the two of you continued to walk uphill, Taehyung doesn’t speak and neither do you. It feels like this isn’t the first time he’s held your hand, but that had to be your imagination, right? There’s something familiar yet unsettling about it all but you can’t seem to put your finger on it.

Soon the vegetation began to thin out, making space for the majestic landmark as it came into view. Just like you had imagined, the water was a dark shade of grey, unlike the aquamarine blue of hidden ponds on tropical islands. The scent that the surrounding environment carried was fresh and earthy, and the early morning air was cool and refreshing.

“Let’s sit and enjoy this” Taehyung says, leading you over to a large rock located in a position that looked like it had purposefully been placed there for people to sit and marvel at the picturesque scene.

You hum in agreement, forgetting about that feeling that was gripping you earlier, knowing that it wasn’t a big deal and would eventually pass as long at your mind didn’t linger around it.

“Man, coming up here was so worth it!” He sighs. “Although it’s not that tall, it’s so much wider than the one we saw before!” He turns to you with that boxy grin of his, waiting for a response.

“We’ve seen one before?” You look at him with confusion drawn over your face. 

“Yeah! I can’t believe you’ve forgotten already.” Taehyung laughs as he shakes his head. “You’re so forgetful nowadays.”

You continue to stare at him dumbfounded. Was he referring to what you thought he was? But that didn’t happen in this world, did it?

A thought suddenly pops into you mind as you listen to constant flow of water, powerful, consuming, and relentless so.

“Tae…” You voice trails off, but your brain goes on autopilot as the question slips past your lips. “When I leave, do you realize I’m gone?” You don’t know why it feels ridiculous to ask, but you feel awkward hearing the words out loud. Does he know this is a simulation? The thought in your mind is faint, almost verging on detatched, but fortunately still there.

Taehyung raises his eyebrow. “You mean, when you go home and sleep…then I see you the next day?” Taehyung blinks a couple of times, wondering why you had asked such a strange question.

“That’s all?” You whisper as confusion begins to settle in the conscious part of your mental state. You shake your head a few times. No, this isn’t real, this is a project I’m working on in Virtual Universe 101 with a boy named Jeon Jungkook. You’re almost tempted to recite the statement out loud, but Taehyung’s furrowed eyebrows prevent you from doing so.

Jeon Jungkook…

The boy with the captivating doe eyes. The one who never has very much to say, but sings in his spare time. He had agreed to spend last Saturday with you, even though he probably didn’t want to.

The boy who already has a girl that he’s waiting on….

That boy…what was his name again…?

“There’s a girl I use to like a long time ago” Taehyung whispers. His voice is so light, you have a hard time registering whether he actually spoke or if you were just hearing things in your head, but it’s forceful enough to snap you out of your thoughts.

He breathes a long drawn out sigh and continues to stare at the water falling in the form of sheets off the edge of the cliff. It drowns out almost all other noises but provides a clean palette for Taehyung’s next words.

“She mentioned having dreams about living another life, and being… confused.” He had hesitated before voicing the last word, unmistakably trying to organize his thoughts. “She started saying a lot of strange things, about waking up and not knowing if she was still in her dream. ”  

You wait for him to continue, but he’s just staring at the water.

“What happened to her?” You finally murmur, unable to handle another second of suspense.

“She chose to stay in her dream.”

 ………..............

  What was it that he had said to you again? You furrow your eyebrows and start massaging your nose bridging, ignorantly believing that if you thought long and hard enough, the memory would comeback clear as day.

It was another one of those darn dreams that you don’t posess the ability to recollect as lucidly as you desperately wanted to. The protective figure that you are vaguely able to recall is undeniably of utter importance, this time you were unquestionably sure of it. He had held your hand, rubbing the backside with his thumb and whispered something to you.

What was it?

Something along the lines of “I promise I’ll find you”?

But why? Why was he looking for you? And who is he?

You squint your eyes a few times before turning to look at Jungkook who had also fallen asleep at his work bench, but unlike you, he hadn’t waken up yet. You feel a sense of comfort wash over your body as you watch the way his chest rises and falls in rhythm with his breathing, the way his lips are parted slightly and seem so, so soft. The boy looked at peace for once. But then your heart clenches as you remind yourself of the conversation you had with him last Saturday.

“She was someone really special”

Whoever she was, you sincerely hope she goes back to him one day.

...

[yoramkelmer]

Hogwarts Overexposed Chapter 1: The Streets of Fort Lauderdale

Welcome back! 

So now we have finally arrived to the day that I have been longing for, ever since I started sporking the Saga back in September 2016, 3 years ago...we have now arrived at the third fic, which happens to be my favourite of the Saga, as there is so much meat that needs to be adressed, so much fail...

This fic, among other things, features more stupid plotlines that go absolutely nowhere, giant spiders that explode by Sue powers, more pointless crying, designated love interests, and to crown it all, a very shitty Jurassic Park rip off. 

The subtitle of the fic is “Salazars return”, a thing foreshadowed way back in the first fic (in which Jamie sees Salazar during DADA, facing her worst fear - this is never adressed again afterwards), and outrightly announced in the last fic with the terrible written prophecy that Emily comes out with. 

As mentioned in the last sporking, the whole “resurrecting Salazar Slytherin” is - despite being stolen from the Draco Trilogy - an actually somewhat interesting plot, but of course we won´t see that much of it, instead we again are faced with terrible soap opera situations. 

Well, let´s dive right in:

Friday, August 5, 2005 “They look like they’re having a great time,” Jamie said, watching enviously from the window in the staff tower as the Giant Squid tossed the girls ten to fifteen feet in the air and then ate them as they fell down permitted them to splash back down into the lake before scooping them up and repeating the process. “Why don’t you go join them, Jamie?” Hermione suggested. “It’s not like we have that much packing to do.” “I’d love to except I haven’t written to Alex today, and we pledged to owl each other every day, because we otherwise would cease to exist if we don´t constantly remind us with the fact that we are a couple” Jamie answered. 

Jamie and Alex would be starting their seventh and final year at Hogwarts in the autumn and had been best friends since their first year. Last year they had finally acknowledged that the feelings they shared for each other went far beyond friendship. Both Alex and Jamie planned to train as Aurors after they completed Hogwarts and then, in due course marry. 

Again, what is it that is so special about their relationship? Nothing has ever been shown to us why they are so perfect for each other, not to mention that Alex has absolutely no personality outside of being Jamie Sues love interest. In fact, Dick Bancroft has more chemistry with Jamie, and that is saying a lot!  When Jamie’s parents died during her fifth year, she had thought that life, as she knew it, would come to a crashing halt. Jamie envisioned saying good-bye to Hogwarts and having to seek some sort of menial employment in order to support herself and her then ten-year-old sister, Emily. 

I actually don´t know why we all of a sudden are faced with a recap of things we already know.  Professor Granger, who had been a mentor to Jamie, refused to think about this alternative. Since the girls had no living relatives, she and her fiancé, Harry Potter, insisted on caring for Jamie as a sister and becoming guardians to Emily. Harry and Hermione did this without hesitation despite Hermione having previously adopted Caitlin, a then eleven-year-old girl 12, actually, also because her age is going to be important the next fic who had been orphaned and abused. And so Harry Potter, now at the ripe old age of twenty-five and married for only slightly over a year, finds himself the father of three children: Caitlin, who would soon turn thirteen fourteen, as she turns 15 in the next fic and start her third year at Hogwarts; Emily, now twelve and entering her second year; and Suespawn Benjamin, Hermione and Harry’s newborn son, just over two months old. “Harry, will we be able to Portkey all the way to Fort Lauderdale or will we have to do it in phases because of the distance involved?” Jamie inquired as Harry entered the room, ready to kiss her arse. “That is the one advantage a Portkey has over Apparating,” he answered. “There is no limit to the distance you can travel. Our group is rather large, however, and so I’ve arranged for three Portkeys.” 

What could possibly go wrong?  “Three? Why so many? And what about Timmy and Ben?” Jamie inquired. “Timmy is rather young to understand he must hold onto the Portkey and Ben, well he just can’t.” Timmy is the four-year-old son of Samantha Bowman, an American Sue witch. Sam had originally come to England searching for Timmy’s birth father but, after a year of no leads, had given up and settled in Hogsmeade where she met and fell in love with Ron Weasley, who suffers from lycanthropy. He had just been released from Azkaban and, at the time, was working in a joke shop owned by his twin brothers, Fred and George. It was at Harry and Hermione’s wedding that Samantha and her son were initially observed by Timmy’s birth father, none other than Draco Malfoy. Draco made a legal attempt to gain custody of his son, but upon failing, begrudgingly accepted the state of affairs and his current role in his son’s life. 

Maybe it is a good thing that we never actually see any of the moments between Timmy and Draco.  “I secured three Portkeys mainly because of Ben and Timmy,” Harry explained. “Traveling by Portkey can be rather rough treatment, especially with a large number of people thrashing their limbs about. I propose that you girls use one Portkey. That will allow Hermione and me to secure Ben between us and the Weasley’s to do the same with Timmy.” “But will all three Porkeys have the same coordinates?” “Yes,” Harry said assuredly. “The only drawbacks are that we have to allow ten minutes between departures, and that we will be arriving in an area that none of us are familiar with. But I’m sure everything will go well.” 

Again, what could possibly go wrong? Also, fooooreeeeshadowing. 

* * * * * *

“I’m tired,” Kim whimpered, “Can we get out of the water for a bit and take a break?” “I’m rather exhausted myself,” Caitlin agreed. “You two are worse than two old ladies,” Emily complained, but she conceded and headed for the shore. “I wish we could shrink Elmo and take him on holiday with us,” she said glancing back at the Giant Squid. 

Yeah, and I´m now totally imagining the Giant Squid with the head of Elmo.  “I’m sure that would go over spectacularly with the other ship passengers,” Caitlin said sarcastically. “Somehow I don’t think they would take kindheartedly to a giant squid in one of the ship’s swimming pools.” “Nah! I guess not,” Emily said sadly. “I’m going to miss him though while we’re away.” “I’ve never been on a cruise ship before,” Kim said excitedly. “I’m so glad your parents invited me to go along.” 

And believe me, we are going to spend a lot of time on the cruise ship, even more time than the nudist resort last fic. 

Anyway, Caitlin and Emily get Kim to walk to Hogsmeade for icecream semi naked, while they themselves are under that charm again. 

The main reason why Emily wants to go to Hogsmeade is because she has the hots for Roger Fortescue, the guy running the shop - HE IS TWENTY WHILE SHE IS TWELVE, AND THEIR FEELINGS ARE MUTUAL WHILE NEIL PORTRAYS THEIR RELATIONSHIP AS A GOOD THING. 

Also, suddenly more recap of things we already know in the middle of everything:

Both Emily and Caitlin are naturalists and preferred to be unclothed whenever possible. Jamie and Emily’s parents were nudists and they raised their daughters in the naturists’ ways. Both girls feel extremely uncomfortable when clothed and would much prefer to always be naked even if others about them are clothed. They don’t see being unclothed as wicked or sexy, but rather as natural and comfortable. Jamie befriended Caitlin when she first started Hogwarts, and was the first real friend and positive role model Caitlin had ever had. It was by accident that the young girl discovered Jamie was a naturist. Caitlin was so impressed by Jamie and her explanation of her lifestyle that she was tempted to try it. She became an immediate convert. 

This makes no sense. 

Kim is a most unenthusiastic nudist. This is an understatement - she is completely forced to it by the other Sues! In order to avoid lingering embarrassment from a cruel prank on the Hogwarts Express in her first year, she had all her cartoon-imprinted underclothes destroyed ´destroyed´ - this sounds like Emily did a Crucio or Avada Kedavra on them. This caused her dorm mates to mistakenly assume that she, like Emily, was a nudist. She now uncomfortably lives that lie. Why though? She has actually become at ease being naked with Caitlin, Emily and their family. The cruise, on the other hand, will be her first experience at public nudity, and she is exceedingly apprehensive. 

And all of a sudden, this:

They had only gone a few hundred feet past the gate, when Caitlin came to a sudden stop. “Did you feel that,” she cried nervously. Kim looked at her questioningly. “Feel what?” she asked, a bewildered look on her face. “I didn’t feel anything.” “I did,” Emily piped up. “It felt as though something hot was trickling down my back. Kim, remember when Professor Flitwick demonstrated the Disillusionment Charm on us last Christmas, the charm that made us blend in with the decorations. It felt exactly the same as when he lifted it.” 

Of course this is an indication of that the modesty charm won´t work later - but what makes this pointless is the fact that it is never brought up again or explained who was behind this. 

They then gush over the fact how fast the ice cream shop was built:

“Wizard contractors take some short cuts not available to Muggle builders,” Emily added. “Yeah!” Kim said. “One might call it magic!” They all chuckled.

This is actually funny, as the Sues on several occasions throughout the fic COMPLETELY FORGET MAGIC, especially a crucial scene in the second half of the fic comes to mind. 

And for the sake of it, this is how I´m envisioning Roger Fortescue:

And the next section...well, I´ll leave that unsporked:

“Well, what have we here?” the clerk behind the counter asked. It was undoubtedly a rare sight to have three towel-clad girls enter his establishment. Although he had addressed all three girls, his eyes only inspected Emily. “Did you girls just get out of the shower?” “No silly,” said Emily dreamily. “We were swimming and had the urge for some ice cream. This is my good friend Kim. She is going on holiday with Caitlin and I.” Roger gave Kim a smile of recognition, but quickly turned his attention back to Emily. “I’d say Kim was extremely fortunate. I would really enjoy being on vacation with you for a week.” At this comment, Emily blushed, but Kim and Caitlin exchanged uneasy glances. This smooth talking git might entrance Emily, but, although she didn’t know why, Kim had taken an immediate dislike to Roger. “I was hoping perhaps you had come to visit me,” Roger said suggestively. “But since you prefer ice cream, what can I get you?” Emily seemed content to stare at Roger; therefore, Kim decided to place her order. “Could I have a small cone of chocolate, please?” “I’ll have a small cone also,” said Caitlin, “but make mine vanilla, please.” “And what about you, beautiful,” Roger said. “Could I have one of those swirl mixes of both kinds?” Emily asked sweetly. Roger purposely served Caitlin and Kim first. The girls sat down at one of the many empty tables as Emily waited to be served and pay. As Roger handed Emily her cone he got a mischievous grin on his face. “Do you know what they say about people who get mixed ice cream?” Emily shook her head, no. “They say they go both ways.” Emily blushed a deep shade of red, but made no comment. Instead she asked, “How much is the total bill?” ”That depends,” Roger said devilishly. “Perhaps we could work out an agreement that would be both easy on your pocket and easy on my eyes.” “What do you mean?” Emily asked innocently, not understanding. “I envisage you looking quite nice in your swim costume,” he said, licking his lips. “If you drop the towel and model it for me; all three cones are on the house.” Emily licked her ice cream, both to prevent it running down the cone and to give her time to think. Her bathing costume was rather skimpy and dropping her towel and modeling seemed like a rather sexual thing to do. On the other hand, she was a naturist. If the world were fair, she’d be happily standing here completely nude at the present time. Besides, she’d sort of like Roger to see her in her bathing costume and free ice cream in the bargain sounded like a great deal. Emily looked around the room. There were only six other patrons in the shop; four pre-teen boys at a table near the rear and a young couple near the window. This felt so weird. She had absolutely no qualms with the entire world seeing her naked. She had even walked naked to the grocery when she was ten, yet modeling a bathing costume in an ice cream store somehow seemed wrong. “I’d really love to see how nice you look,” Roger said entreatingly. Her decision was made. “Would you hold my ice cream?” she asked passing the cone back to Roger. “Now don’t snicker. I’m only twelve and with a bit of luck my figure will develop considerably more.” “I’d never laugh at you, besides I think you have an excellent figure,” Roger said. “Okay, here goes,” Emily said, stepping back from the counter. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was as she undid the towel and in order to avoid seeing Roger’s expression stared anxiously up at the ceiling. As she felt the towel brush her body on its way to the floor, she began turning slowing, allowing Roger plenty of time to scrutinize her before finally looking him in the eyes and saying, “Well, what do you think?” Roger had dropped Emily’s ice cream on the floor. The young girl that was sitting near the window had grabbed her spellbound boyfriend and dragged him from the shop as the four young boys at the rear went wild. Caitlin and Kim, who had been absorbed in conversation and paying little attention to Emily, jumped to their feet. “What happen to your swim costume!?” Kim asked in a panic as Caitlin ran to pick up Emily’s towel and toss it to her. It was only when Kim asked what had become of her costume that Emily realized that she was indeed standing there starkers. “Roger, I’m sorry,” Emily said. “I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry if I made you ill at ease you. Somehow the concealment charm that covered me was canceled.” She started to wrap the towel around herself. “I’m not embarrassed,” Roger said, not taking his eyes off Emily, “and you shouldn’t be either. You’re splendid.” “I’m not embarrassed,” Emily said, letting the towel slip off and into her hand. “Do you really think I look nice?” Roger corrected her. “I’d say fabulous. Nothing would please me more than to have you spend the balance of the day in my shop just as you are.” “Maybe that could be arranged,” Emily said boldly. “I don’t think so!” Caitlin said, giving Emily an appalled look. “We have to go! Emily, please cover up!” When Emily made no effort to do so, Caitlin grabbed her arm. “Suit yourself,” she said with frustration. “Kim, please help me.” Before Emily realized what was happening, Caitlin and Kim had dragged her out the door and on to the thankfully deserted street. “Now will you put that towel on?” Caitlin asked. “Why?” Emily answered defiantly. “There is no one about, and I’m quite comfortable like this.” Emily tossed the towel to Kim and started boldly walking away from the shop and in the direction of the path that would return them to Hogwarts. 

Well, as you can see, Roger is a perv and Emily loves to be starkers in front of other people. And Rogers relationship to Emily is as mentioned earlier, treated as noble. Barf. 

And the charm was lifted, of course. 

On their way back to the castle they meet up with Trilogy!Draco and “Virginia” Weasley who wishes she could be as nude as the girls. 

The sections ends up with this:

“I don’t think Elmo cares if or how we dress,” Emily answered casually, and then added. “Mum likes us to use the concealment charm, but it’s really not necessary anymore on the school grounds. Most of the staff has seen at least one of us nude. It’s really no big deal any longer.” ‘Maybe not to you’, Kim thought and then turned toward the castle and said, “let’s go.” 

This is never picked up on. 

Sunday, August 7, 2005 “Ron, will you please cheer up,” Sam said with annoyance, as she and Ron finished packing. “We’re starting our vacation tomorrow, not going to a funeral.” “That’s easy for you to say,” Ron groaned. “If I had your body, I wouldn’t be concerned with being seen nude either.” “If you had my body, I doubt we’d be married,” Sam said with a laugh. 

Yeah, the Ron-bashing gets worse with each chapter.  “It’s not funny,” Ron moaned. “You know what I mean. I feel like I’m the king of the string bean geeks going on vacation with the Perfect Body Club.” “We don’t all have perfect bodies,” Samantha insisted. “Well, maybe Jamie and Hermione do, because they are Sues, like me!. Hermione is going to have men losing concentration and falling overboard.” “Perhaps you haven’t looked at yourself in a mirror lately,” Ron commented, “but you should put yourself in the same category.” “You’re sweet,” Sam said brushing against him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And that’s another problem,” he said, looking down at a specific part of himself. “It’s totally out of control. It’s ready for action and you barely touched me. If it were the day before a full moon, that’s to be expected, but the next full moon is a ways off. I think I’m turning into some sort of sex manic. Emily and Caitlin caused a reaction the other night and they’re little girls.” 

This is the author handwaving “I´m not a pedo!” “They aren’t that little anymore,” Sam declared. “Their bodies are becoming more womanly every day. Besides, I don’t think that even calm, cool Harry could have handled what happened to you.” 

Why does this sound so creepy? “I wasn’t doing too badly watching them play Twister , although I had to turn away a few times,” Ron said. “Don’t they realize the view they afford when they get into some of those positions?” 

This sounds very misogynistic to me.  “I’m sure they do, but they don’t care. I have to admit that it bothers me a little knowing that my now smooth front will afford people a better view of me. I’m not nearly as comfortable with my body as the girls.”

Anyway, Sam promises Ron lots and lots of sex on the cruise while the girls will watch Timmy. 

Monday, August 8, 2005 8:00 AM “The Weasleys will be here any minute now,” Harry said anxiously. “Are one and all sure they have everything they need packed?” “Why are you insisting we take so much clothing?” Emily questioned. “We are permitted to be unclothed at all times aren’t we?” “When on the ship and at nude beaches, yes,” Hermione answered as she did a cleansing charm on Ben’s bottom and readied him for the trip. “But when we travel about the islands or go souvenir shopping, you will need to be dressed and not just by the concealment charm. I have qualms about any of us even using that anymore now that you girls have discovered yet another imperfection with it.” 

FFFFOOOOORESHADOOOOOWIIIIIING Crookshanks and Alfred both paced the room as if sensing that the family was shortly going to be deserting them. 

This is the first time we hear of them ever since the first fic, as the Suethor simply forgot about them since they´re not nudists - and that is really the reason he wrote!  “Can’t we take them with us?” Caitlin begged. “They’re going to be lonely.” “No we can’t,” Harry said emphatically. “Beside, they will be much more content here, where they have free rein to roam about our quarters and the castle grounds, than they would shut up in a ship’s cabin all day.” “You are sure that Professor Bell won’t forget to look in on them and see that they are properly fed?” Emily asked concernedly. 

Why does she suddenly care about them? “Katie loves animals,” Harry responded. “She’ll see to it that our pets are well taken care of.” As the others finalized their packing, Kim had been reading the cruise brochure and checking their itinerary with animated anticipation.

DAY    PORT                                                                           ARRIVAL                  DEPARTURE

1          Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States                                                               5:00 PM 2          Princess Cays                                                               9:00 AM                      4:00 PM 3          At Sea 4          St. Thomas                                                                   7:00 AM                      6:00 PM 5          St. Kitts                                                                        7:00 AM                      3:00 PM 6          Barbados                                                                      8:00 AM                      5:00 PM 7          Antigua                                                                         9:00 AM                      6:00 PM 8          St. Maarten                                                                   7:00 AM                      6:00 PM 9          At Sea 10        At Sea 11        Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States                           7:00 AM

I actually think he stole that from an actual brochure. 

“We’ll actually be anchoring at six different islands,” Kim stated with enthusiasm. “I’ve never been further away from home than Hogwarts.” 

And the description for some of them are copy pasted as well. Some, well, might as well be nowhere.  “I’m looking forward to having a wonderful time,” Hermione said as she began breast-feeding Ben.

Such an important detail. 

“Professor Potter, there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why are we leaving so early?” Kim inquired. “Isn’t the United States’ east coast five hours behind us in time? If we leave at nine, it will only be four in the morning there, not even light yet.” “You’re correct,” Harry said rather perturbed. “The American Magical Authority, which is the counter part of our Ministry, insisted that we arrive before sun rise; less chance of us being seen.” 

What could possibly go wrong, again?  “What the hell are we going to do from four o’clock in the morning until five in the afternoon,” Emily blurted out. 

Well, you´ll soon see.  “Maybe we should spend the time teaching you to talk like a proper young lady,” Hermione suggested. “I’m sorry Mum, but that’s thirteen hours,” Emily said apologetically. Hermione looked concernedly at Harry. “Exactly what are your plans for all that time? she asked. “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Harry responded. “I rented a hotel room nearby, where we can all crash or watch the tele until checkout at eleven. Then we can head to the dock and board the ship. Even though we don’t sail until five o’clock, there will be food and drink available for us from noon, and we can take a tour of the ship.” “That sounds like a good plan,” Jamie said, tearing herself away from her latest epistle from Alex. 

-___-

At least we don´t hear any of the things in the letters. 

Cut for more copied brochure exposition. 

Then this:

Caitlin rushed to the door and ushered the Weasleys in. “Why are you dressed?” Timmy asked disappointedly. “I thought we were going on a nudie coose?” 

Timmy is one of the worst things in this fic. 

Also, note the inconsistencies in the way he talks.  “We are Timmy, it’s just that we can’t get comfortable until we’re actually on the ship,” Caitlin responded. Without warning, Timmy grabbed the hem of Caitlin’s tiny skirt in his hand and pulled it up to her waist. “Caitlin has no knickers. I can see her gina!” he shouted. 

NO.  Caitlin leaned over and lifted Timmy into her arms. “You, young man, are getting to be more and more like your Aunt Emily,” she said giving him a big hug. “Your mother better break you of that habit before you enter primary school in the village or all the little witches will be practicing hexes on you.” Ron looked at Caitlin and then around the room. He could not understand her and the others’ lack of reaction to what Timmy just did. Then he finally comprehended that this girl was normally naked, and that it didn’t bother anyone. Why was he so different? Why did it bother him? 

Because Ron is the only person with a sense of reason and is therefore demonised. 

Anyway, they all take the portkey. 

“Damn,” Harry murmured looking nervously around the room. Hermione could never get Benjamin into his harness quickly enough. Harry didn’t like sending the girls first, but he had no choice. Fortunately, Jamie was a powerful Mary Sue witch, so he figured that they’d be okay. 

If only he knew..... “Girls! Hurry! Over Here!” He shouted. “Each of you, hold onto the umbrella. Don’t worry! You’ll be fine. The Weasleys will be along in ten minutes and your mother and me shortly thereafter. Move at least twenty-five feet from your landing point, but don’t leave the area.” Jamie, Kim, Caitlin and Emily had barely clutched the old umbrella when Emily felt as though a hook just behind her navel had suddenly yanked her irresistibly frontward. Her feet left the floor; she could feel Caitlin, Jamie and Kim as their bodies bashed into hers; their legs becoming entwined as they sped forward in a howl of wind and whirling color; their hands stuck to the umbrella as though it was pulling them magnetically onward. Emily had only expected the trip to last a few seconds, but instead it was minutes before they finally slammed to the ground in a bruised entangled mess. “Emily, will you please get your privates out of my face,” Kim asked as if gasping for air. 

Remember that this is Hogwarts Exposed? “Caitlin never complains,” Emily retorted without thought and then looked nervously from Jamie to Kim and then Caitlin, hoping that in the confusion no one had heard her comment. Yeah, remember the incest scene from the last fic? I wish I forgot it. Neither Jamie nor Caitlin seemed to be paying her any attention as they disentangled themselves, but Kim had definitely heard her and was staring at her piercingly. 

Cut for a scene with Hermione, Harry and Ron talking about how the girls will be okay - with Ron having the last word:

“Hermione, they’ll be okay,” Ron said in his most reassuring voice. “What could possibly happen in ten minutes?” 

Tempting fate Ron, tempting fate....

“I wonder where exactly we are?” Caitlin said as she staggered to her feet. “That trip threw my equilibrium out of whack.” “Me too,” Jamie said leaning against a nearby wall. “Well, one thing is certain,” Emily commented. “Whoever programmed that Portkey has never actually been here.” “You’ve got that right,” Kim added nervously. “I understand transporting to a discrete location, but this is a dirty, filthy back alley.” “Yeah, I’m glad we won’t be alone here long,” Jamie said. “Lets move closer to the main street and more light. It’s eerie in here.” “Now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings,” a voice echoed from the shadows ahead of them. “This alley is our headquarters. Perhaps we should clean up, but most ain’t stupid enough to come here uninvited.” 

Yeah.  “And there are four of them,” a voice from behind commented. “One for each of us.” “I get the older one with the big titties,” shouted a third voice from the dark. 

Yeah, we suddenly get a gang of rapists for no other reason that sensationalism.  “Hey, they’re just kids,” said a fourth disembodied voice. “From the sound of them, from England and probably lost.” 

That is one of the most unrealistic things I have ever heard from a “gang member”.  “Lance, are you a faggot? ‘Cause if you are, how ‘bout suckin’ my dick,” the first of the boys to speak responded. “Pete, what is the name of our club?” “The ’Chasers’, Art. And you’re our president,” answered the boy who had commented about Jamie. 

Wow, the dialogue...it´s terrible.  “And what do the “Chasers” do, Phil?” Art asked his voice sounding as if he were extremely intoxicated. “We’re tit-and-pussy chasers.” Phil answered, laughing raucously as he stepped from the shadows and was soon joined by his compatriots. As the gang closed their circle on the girls, the one referred to as Art, snapped open a long switch knife and waved it menacingly. Jamie whispered softly to the girls, “Wands on three. One… Two… Three… 

Why doesnt Jamie just use magic immediately? Yeah, this is completely pointless, and will be an extended scene in the next chapter and it will never be brought up again afterwards.  End of Chapter One

Thankfully.

And I think it´s time for me to start the spitefic which I will use as a framing device for some of the chapters from now on:

Ebony Dark´ness Dementia Raven Way woke up. She was on a silver ground, surrounded by darkness, just like her middle name. She wore a white dress, too white, for her taste. 

She looked at herself in her reflection on the ground - she gasped. “I...I have no goffic make up on! What is happening!”

The last thing Enoby remembered was that everyone was in the Great Hall, surrounding her together for the final showdown against Vlodemint and da death deelerz. She had swung her wand and yelled “Avada Kedavra”, and now she was in this dark space, surrounded by darkness. 

Suddenly, a light came up - a familiar face came out of it. It was.......Gerard Way! 

“Gerard! I can´t believe its you, what is happening!” Ebondy cried out. 

Gerard spoke up with his goffic, ethnic voice: “We need you, Ebony, the times are dark. MCR has split up, and Hogwarts is in danger of Sues who may be more powerful than you. Especially one certain is the most dangerous one, and Draco is dating Ginny!” 

“That bitch!” Evony exclaimed. 

Gerard held his hand out, while a flame came out. It then showed a picture of a pale smiling girl with dark hair and green eyes, who obviously wasnt gothic. 

“This is Jamie Zacherley, she is the most powerful of them all. But in order to defeat her, you must go to other universes and destroy the other Sues there. The first Universe I´m sending you to might seem familiar - it is Hogwarts, but a much more preppy and sappy one in a eternal tube of HappyLand! It is reigned by Ariana Black, a Sue so powerful and annoying that everyone kisses her arse while everyone who doesnt is evil!” 

Suddenly, a portal opened, and Gerard guided her into it. “Take this”, Gerard said, giving her a black goffic wand. “This will help you against all the Sues you will have to fight. In the end, there can be only one!” 

Then he disappeared. 

Ebony whent through the portal. She was in the Great Hall, but everything was pink, sappy, and preppy. Ebony shuttered, but was now prepared for the worst. Then all the students came in to the hall. 

She gasped. 

[dear-fellow-travelers]

Escaped Experiment

@braveggg-hq  Please use drillboy))

The forest holds many treasures. But horrid things happen behind closed doors. The city hasn’t been seen in decades. The vastness of this mountain and rolling hill homestead shows how small you are compared to everything else in the world.

But, in the distance beyond that all lies an old water mill with a terrifying secret. They were doing experiments with technology and organic subjects being blended into it. many had failed to come out as accordingly. and so..

We traverse back to the farmhouse. The girl that lives there is rather lonely.. she can’t remember anything before her original life.- But, she knows one thing for certain.. she can’t ever be seen like the person she is.. Even if she went into the city she knows she’d be taken apart and seen how she’s put together, as they had told her, she knows this place is free from her tormentors, but the world beyond is much more evil than this very farm.

/// Meanwhile \\\ The news of how Drill Boy had apparently, Allegedly, had been taking apart the team from the inside out was plastered all over the news in Japan. even in amarica and the UK, everywhere in the world has this scoop.

Like how your icecream order wasn’t yours and it’s the flavor you hate. Topped with the very items you can’t stand or even bother to eat.

But no matter where he turns it’s plastered right on his face.

His team seem conserned for this false story. but, only some are going out of their way to make it prolonged. even tampering with their structure and fastens.

The Commisioner watched as he stormed out to the main doorway outside. he paused for a moment, Hestant.

“We have a case you’ll need to uncover. Shadowmaru is unavailable right now..and.. i think the person in questions’ experiment is going to like you.”

He waits for his response..

[chesterfitness1]

Healthy Diet and Fitness Q&A — Inspiralized

When considering the subject for my #livinginspiralized series, there were so many questions I had been receiving and I felt awful not replying more by replying a single question/topic.

Therefore, the current article is more of a “Q&A” in which I am answering a lot of your submitted questions!

You will see your question here and for those who do not, leave your question at the comments and I will be answering them as best I could. Or, you may always your queries so I have them will save them for potential Q&A collection, if that proves hot!

What I Ate Today, April 11, 2017

Breakfast

Made a smoothie jar at a cup! I woke up craving a smoothie bowl but wanted to drink a smoothie, so I simply set my granola in addition to my smoothie together with some chia seeds. This was the perfect consistency! The smoothie has peanut butter, kale, blueberries, banana, almond milk, icecream, and hydration powder.

Snack

Always eating a bag of nuts, haha! Same raw mix (pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews) using carbohydrates.

Lunch

It had been such a beautiful day out, I wanted to get outside, so I went to this little “Fresh Cafe” that is within my building (I understand a grocery store, a cafe, a restaurant and a coffeeshop, I am spoiled!) And got their Vegetarian Wrap that was AMAZING. Kale, hummus, roasted red peppers, avocado, onion, tomato, etc.. Fresh and yummy!

Snack

I ate lunch, so I simply had more nut blend to hold me till my 5pm Spanish lesson — along with an apple!

Dinner

I created the Chicken Cacciatore in the Inspiralize Everything cookbook but used spiralized potatoes rather than rutabaga and additional brussels sprouts. Finest dinner!

Dessert

Green grapes and some citrus pieces! I like these from .

Healthy Diet & Fitness Q&A

Just how did your workouts differ when you were more so on the weight loss travel versus now where you’re not trying to drop weight? — Meghan, via email

I certainly did workouts. I worked out for one full hour since I did more cardio and wanted to fit it all in — toning and cardio. Now, it is rare I perform a 1-hour workout, unless I am in a workout class such as yoga. 45 minutes is all I want to maintain toning and keep my weight loss (and I definitely do 30 minute workouts too now!) . But, it is not necessary to perform 1-hour workouts to drop weight, I am simply comparing then to now. Back then I wanted to reevaluate the weight loss, so I had been focused on extra calorie burn. Now, my objectives aren’t calorie burn.

When I had been trying to drop weight, I did cardio 6 days per week. It was either spinning or running. I would attempt to perform at least 30 minutes of cardio on these days. A few days, I would do 45 minute spin rides. It’s wonderful for cardio burn (some of my spin courses burned off 600+ calories!) , but it is essential to do toning. Once I had been toning, I would focus on “apps” that laid it all out to me, so I could plan my workouts. For example, I would do Tone up it workouts 3 days per week (along with this cardio). A few weeks, I would do BBG workouts 3 days a week. These applications take all the guess work out to you and when you have goals of weight loss, the concentrated toning is truly beneficial.

NOW, my priority is toning 100%. I am at a weight at which I am happy, and now I only want to turn any additional pudge to muscle. With an hourglass shape, I am not the body kind that builds muscle readily (say, as an example, in comparison to an ‘athletic build’ or someone having a more straight down and up frame.) My workouts now are lighter around the cardio (though I always return back to cardio if my weight fluctuates a few pounds after a very long weekend), say 2o to 30 minutes of running or turning and I finish   using 15-20 minutes of toning workouts. There are also specific days that I do full toning exercises, no cardio. I do not always do cardio now. I will perform a 30 or 45 min Nike Training Club app workout or a BBG workout for 28 minutes. That will be my entire workout daily.

I am equally as consistent with my workouts still today, exercising 5-6 days per week. Consistency is key, especially when trimming!

I always wonder if I am making or seeing your recipes if you see calorie/fat intake in any way? I understand that you workout like crazy so you probably burn quickly. I guess my questions is how do you have any recommendations for overall balance of your day? Thank you Ali! — via Instagram

Nope! I do not count calories. For a single summer (really, two weeks of the summer) I started counting calories a bit and it gave me a very unhealthy outlook on eating, so I quit it immediately after and I’ve never counted calories because. I focus more on eating real foods and percentage controlling. But, I do understand that my body needs 1,200-1,400 calories per day to keep my active lifestyle, so I make sure to eat at LEAST which (and on a day when I am running around or have an extra intense exercise), I may have an additional snack or 2. I do not really count the calories, so I simply understand what these portions look like, in comparison with the foods I am eating. You may view my “What I Ate Today” to get an illustration of this. If I needed to run the numbers to today, I would say I ate approximately  1,600-1,800 calories (but I am also pregnant and adding 300+ calories each day over my regular ingestion per my doctor’s instruction.)

If you focus on very nourishing your system with actual whole foods (along with a 100 calorie Yoplait does not count), then you definitely won’t have to go caught up at your  calories. Your own body will tell you what it needs to operate correctly. If you’re ever light headed or feeling especially hungry, you probably have to eat more — and probably more protein. Maybe have a week in which you simply eat 3 meals a day and if you’re hungry in between, have a snack that can nourish you, maybe not something such as a bag of fries. In this exercise, you’ll realize exactly what your body ought to have on a daily basis to operate correctly. And you won’t actually understand the calories! You shouldn’t feel sick-to-your-stomach full.

When you have any suggestions on locating motivation I would be quite interested. — via blog

Amazing question! My response: YOURSELF. Promise yourself that for 5 days/week for one full month, you’ll have a post-workout selfie yourself at form-fitting workout clothing. After one to two weeks, then you’ll start to notice a shift in your body (slimmer(maybe a couple pounds less), and that is going to function as your inspiration. There’s no surprise that Kayla Itsines of BBG constructed such an empire — viewing with our own advancement is all we want for motivation! I’ve done this using @Getinspiralized and I started looking forward to looking at my photos, to see the incremental changes during the week and comparing myself to old photos.

Tips on how to craft a workout program for the week and the way to determine which weight training moves or HIIT motions to perform daily will be greatly appreciated!! — Joanna, via blog

If you don’t have any idea how to begin constructing a workout program, I highly recommend Tone It Up or Kayla Itsines’ Beach Body Guide (aka BBG.) They bought have easy to follow along and know exercise guides (with images). When I was starting out, these are the workouts I did. I loved Tone It Up especially, since they had a great deal of movies (I bought their collection, it was good to own — and I did the workouts, they’re really rough!) The majority of them require little to no gear (ie free weights ( nothing), so it is ideal for those who only want to workout in your living room.

After performing these workouts for weeks (I used them to get the first 6 weeks of my match journey) I was able to custom build my own workouts, based on my one of a kind needs/goals. However, at first, these are so beneficial and both of them (TIU and BBG) possess printables! And both have an awesome community of women working towards their healthiest selves!

Sometimes now, when I am too lazy to produce my routine, I print out a workout and bring it to the gym with me!

You said the late night snacking, and now I am totally with you on this. Any advice for how to deal with these late night munchies? — Jamie, via blog

First off, it is okay to have a snack before dinner and a bit of dessert afterwards. Provided that your snack isn’t a bag of fries and your dessert isn’t a row of Oreos. It’s okay to have a cup of popcorn as you’re waiting for dinner to finish in the oven, and it is perfectly fine to have a few squares of dark chocolate after dinner.

What’s not okay is eating a tub of almond butter while watching The Bachelor (or is that only me?!) Or eating an entire chocolate bar after dinner.

This may always be a struggle for me personally, but what I’ve found helps is what I call “carrying a psychological step back.” When I am likely to have something that is outside the fair amount of food (ie a reasonable snack) I let me “have a mental break” and I move fill a glass of water or create tea using steamed almond milk and inform myself “If I am still craving that in 10 minutes, I will have it.” What ends up happening is that I wait the 10 minutes and I either forget about the snack, the craving goes away, or so the tea/water satisfies this craving.

If you just really need to eat something, just try your best to allow it to be healthy — I adore frozen grapes, berries together with Greek yogurt, or even any dried mango pieces. Possessing an arsenal of healthy “munchies” makes it more difficult to overdo it — it is much easier/more interesting to plow through a bag of Pepperidge Farms’ Milanos than it really is to have cherry pieces, you understand? So keep the temptation from the house!

And if everything else fails, try this “psychological break” The majority of the time, we’re not being careful. The mind is really a very, very strong punch, so use it well! After all, a healthy lifestyle is a mindset.

If you’ve got a question to ask, I would love to hear from you! For a future Q&A collection!

from chester fitness http://www.chesterfitness.co.uk/healthy-diet-and-fitness-qa-inspiralized/