maudsquad

[leafiion]

sometimes I still think abt aya and hardy. not because I care but because I don’t care :( I thought hardy was a cute character and I was hoping aya would have her cool hero moment in the actual story. they could’ve been more, and I’m always a little sad that they basically don’t develop for the whole game.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 42: Talon's and Tea Leaves

"I thought you could only see Dementors if you saw someone die?"

"They're not thesterals you dumbass!"

James groaned as he struggled to open his eyes this time. For a moment he thought he hadn't accomplished it at all, before he realized they were in a very dimly lit room, but at least it was quite warm. Sitting up slowly with still shaking hands, he found himself in a very pleasant cushion, a roaring fireplace behind a teacher's desk only a few feet away.

Sirius and Regulus were already up and aware, bickering with each other, and the others were getting more unsteadily to their feet and glancing all about them to make sure there was truly nothing more about to pop out at them. Where they were exactly though was a bit of a mystery.

One quick glance out the nearest window showed him to be looking north, and as high up as they were and in a circular room no less, he was positive they must be in a tower. It was odd though, as the North Tower wasn't used in his time, so he really hadn't a clue what the tea set up all around was for, nor the plentiful cushions instead of seats like a class would normally have. In front of him was a steaming blue teacup just waiting to be drunk.

There were two books in front of him, one he vaguely recognized as Harry collecting while he was in Diagon Alley, and the dark purple book leading them around this madness. He'd never cared about Divination a single moment in his life before now, but he continued putting the obvious together rather than dwelling on anything else. "I think we're in Harry's new Divination class."

"Figure that out all on your own did you?" Frank rolled his eyes as he looked through the teachers desk curiously. James was beginning to think he'd actually like this guy if he weren't such a prick, he had a natural curiosity about him that clearly, without anyone around to enforce them, he was all to willing to indulge. As of now, he wasn't taking the accusations thrown at Sirius any more lightly from some Ravenclaw who didn't know a damned thing about his best-friend.

"Well get to reading, would you Prongs," Remus prompted, sitting on a poof so forceful beside him, he felt compelled to see if anything had come out.

"Eager to get to your classes?" Wormtail chuckled as he came over and helped himself to some tea.

"Urgh, I still can't imagine it. Moony, at the front of the class!" Sirius snickered as he sat down on his other side and began nudging James' foot. James kicked him in the shins before he began.

James still didn't continue right away. He really wanted a chance to talk to his friends, really have a conversation about this future and all that seemed to have happened to them. This was extremely private though, and not just because of Moony or even Padfoot. He just wanted some time with his friends again, back in their dorm. He'd always loved being the center of attention; nicking students textbooks to juggle them, telling raucous jokes, chasing the Snitch about, but always at the end he'd crept off to his dorms and have a late night conversation just the four of them before bed.

Judging by their expressions, the others felt the same, but there was nothing to be done for it except power on. "Talons and Tea Leaves."

"Well, we got the second part," Peter smacked his lips in appreciation as he'd finished his glass in record time.

"I swear you've scalded all your taste-buds off," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's good," he defended, reaching for a clean cup to pour more. "Much better than bags."

"Must be bitter, I've not seen any sugar," Remus looked genuinely hurt for this misfortune, it was likely all that was stopping him from making his own cup.

"The one time I don't have any honey on me," Sirius smirked.

"Bloody hell, they won't shut up about the damned chapter title." Evans grouched from the opposite side of the room. "We're never getting out of this blistering hot room."

James watched her for an even longer time than usual, but for once couldn't think of anything to say to her. He'd always been endeared by her, the ferocity in her every step, how intense she was over every subject, especially him. He fancied himself the hero who was going to rescue her from Snivellus the useless idiot. She'd spurned him, but never enough the thought had ever crossed his mind she wouldn't see what he was doing eventually. Now though, if she really thought so little of Sirius? Surely she didn't mean it, thinking him a murderer? The flare wasn't truly gone, but he looked away lest something he would actually regret passed his lips towards her.

Malfoy was a pleasant distraction, the git.

"Somehow I doubt that boy's as funny as he thinks he is," Lily scowled in Potter's direction, then her brow furrowed when he glanced up at her and looked away remarkably quickly. "Not that this is a new development for boys." She finished pointedly. He made no reaction, and her feelings quickly rose to true bafflement. She twisted a strand of her hair around her fingers in curiosity for a moment, before she decided she didn't care and turned away.

None of them were paying Hermione's little conundrum any real interest. So the girl was taking some extra classes and worked them into her schedule, however she and McGonagall had pulled it off likely wasn't interesting in the least.

Regulus muttered to himself when Hagrid announced boasting about his coming class. He'd tried striking up a conversation with Sirius, to try and talk to him and see if he couldn't find out what had spooked him around that Dementor. He'd never imagined a look like that could appear on his face, and he truly just wanted to help. Instead he'd been insulted and the prat had walked away to be with his friends once again after his ignorant comment, now he was left by a trapdoor in the floor as the kids in the book struggled to find the tower they'd been dumped into.

"Well she's going to be a character!" Alice burst out laughing for the description of this Trelawney professor.

"She already sounds like a fraud to me," Frank muttered without interest as he finished shuffling through her papers with nothing interesting to note. He plopped down in her high-backed chair and surveyed his surroundings, admittedly enjoying the atmosphere provided.

"Why's that?" Lily asked in surprise, as she continued looking through Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky. None of it was really any more fantastical to her than turning a rabbit into a pair of slippers.

"Well it's all a load of tripe, obviously," Frank looked surprised at her. "None of this stuff is real," he waved vaguely around the room, where a crystal case of glass-balls could be seen, there were some medallions of unrecognizable symbols on a few patches of carpet, and the ceiling above had smoke imprints that may have more significance than Lily had guessed.

"Why's that?" She repeated even more curiously.

"Yes, do enlighten us Longbottom," Sirius sneered from his poof. It was hardly an intimidating posture, crossing his arms while sunk into a giant purple cushion, but he still somehow thought he managed it. "Continue telling us what is and isn't true from your wild experience."

Frank scowled a bit without looking over, continuing to address her as if there had been no interruption, almost. "Me mum's always been very clear about this load of tosh. You can't predict the future, even magic has limitations and that's one of them. Certainly no such thing as Seer's, prophecies, and signs from the beyond."

"We use unicorn horns as potion ingredients," Lily still sounded more polity argumentative for Frank's position on this than anything. "How is that more outlandish than applying astrology in practice?"

"What's that?" Frank blinked in confusion.

"Oh, I know this one!" Potter's hand suddenly shot up as if he really were in some class again, the eager look back upon his face speaking around her now present again. "Muggle's use it to define things about their birth based on the stars! Evan's is an Aquarius, that symbol that looks like a mouth."* He looked quite proud of himself until she turned incredulous eyes on him. He looked unabashed for several more moments before he actually realized she was just staring at him with that expression again, the one she'd had on her face since the train. He quickly turned back away, unwilling to diagnosis what this new feeling she was directing towards him was so long as she was still holding to not acknowledging Sirius' innocence.

"I see you've actually been paying attention in your Muggle Studies class," Pettigrew finally broke the silence when Potter hadn't continued right away, just kept staring at the book again like he was waiting for something. "Professor Burbage would probably give you ten points if she were here for that."

"I thought we were supposed to be doing that assignment over our own astrological symbol?" Sirius accused.

"She suggested it," he shrugged without remorse, before finally continuing on.

The class continued in mostly uninterested silence. Frank and Lily did not pick up on their conversation again, and James kept reading absentmindedly through Trelawney's chatter as he tried, for once, not to think of her. He finally got a reprieve when all four of them burst out laughing at Harry receiving a Grim in his cup.

"Oh that's brilliant," Sirius chortled hardest of all, now eagerly grabbing for his own cup and pouring himself a glass. "Think I'll get a stag?"

"I doubt the point of the exercise was to get your favorite animal," Alice rolled her eyes at them, but was ignored as they continued with this game.

"Nope!" Peter popped the p for emphasis as he looked gleefully into his cup. "I got a bloody rose! Maybe I'll find true love," he snorted, setting his cup down with an eye roll.

"According to this," Remus was flipping curiously through pages while still sipping his own, "it means deep emotion, friendship, infidelity, and betrayal."

His friends continued another round of snickering, while Remus repeated the process on his own cup he'd just finished. "Ooh, I got a lightning bolt. Wonder if I'll be the next Boy Who Lived."

"Merlin I hope not, it would be awkward as hell to be related to you," Sirius smirked.

Remus ignored him and pointed at what he'd found, "apparently it means 'you will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.' Merlin, are all of these just depressing?"

"I got something that looks like a set of wings, or maybe a bird?" Sirius was squinting and tipping his head from side to side to try and get some kind of visual.

"That could either mean peaceful, or an enemy." Moony snorted.

"I'm genuinely disappointed it wasn't a Grim," James snickered, refusing to admit the plummeting feeling in his gut as he eyed his own cup and swore he saw the same. He hung around with a 'grim,' once a month and wasn't going to let a cup spook him now. Before his friends could ask about his, he kept going on with Harry's time.

The situation was made even funnier when they reached McGonagall's class and his own son ignored the lesson on animagus'. It took everything in him not to laugh at that.

"McGonagall's a breath of fresh air to those kids," Frank snorted, hoping to instigate Lily into talking again, but she was swirling the dregs of her own tea around and just looked forlorn now. He stood up from the desk and circled around so she couldn't miss his apologetic smile in the shadows. "Sorry, if err, I offended you. Over the whole-"

"Oh, no," she quickly said, placing the chipped blue cup back down and giving him her whole attention. "Just, distracted," she casually flipped the book shut as if it had suddenly bored her.

"Right, yeah," he awkwardly rubbed at his neck and left her to it, more disappointed than he thought he'd be Potter had quickly burnt through the next lesson over something in Transfiguration. The change of topic would have been nice.

Lily smiled distractedly again until he turned away, trying to convince herself surely it was a coincidence she'd seen a snake...

Regulus was growing a little jealous of the meal the trio of kids were enjoying, even if they were still bickering over it, so was happy enough when the subject was changed. He was still avoiding his own teacup, he didn't want to tempt fate like Aunt Misapinoa was always going on about. If anyone was a real Seer, it was that woman, and he couldn't understand why Sirius was laughing all this off. Still, he knew his brother had a liking for magical creatures, and this one should be easy enough to engage him in. "I've a friend who's taking Care of Magical Creatures, and he hasn't mentioned anything about Hippogriffs."

"Not all teachers follow the same plan," it was Lupin who looked up and explained polity enough, his tone surprisingly gentle and calm for never having directly spoken to him before. "This is a bit advance, we didn't do these until our fourth year, but Hagrid may be showing off a bit."

"You didn't take Care of Magical Creatures?" Sirius didn't look up, but instead snorted crudely into his cup. "Let me guess then, Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Ruins."

"The two you didn't look twice at, too difficult for you," he snapped, quickly growing tired of his resistant brothers constantly fluctuating ability to look at him. The idiot truly seemed incapable of making up his mind if he wanted to talk to him or not! It seemed impossible he could come to any decision ever, let alone one so monumental as murdering people!

His mental tirade came up short in surprise at the thought, and he sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment trying to analyze further if he had anything else to back this thought up as Potter continued.

Hagrid was doing quite well. The lesson was truly enjoyable, until Malfoy got involved. The git.

"I wish that hippogriff had ripped his whole bloody arm off, the insolent brat!" Sirius snarled in frustration.

"You know, it may be Padfoot, that comments like that make them think you're capable of such violence," Peter offered helpfully, even pointing his thumb to the three unimpressed faces.

Sirius grumbled for a moment before turning purposefully his seat. "I'm not going to defend myself from a bunch of idiots who don't know how to take a joke!" Then he turned back and looked quite pleased with himself for it.

James let out a little huff of breath that none of them could decide if it was suppressed laughter or annoyance at his best mate egging them on. They certainly all grasped what the following expression was as he read out Harry's reminder of Sirius Black supposedly being out there stopping his son from going to see a friend! He muttered tersely under his breath until his heart melted in sympathy for Hagrid. Then he wanted to dump his head in the water-trough again for suggesting any child of his shouldn't be wandering around school. He instead warned the chapter was near completion, and they all did whatever they could to brace themselves for the next skip.

*The symbol is actually supposed to be water, or waves or something, but that's what I thought it was at first until I read it.

[rax-writes]

Title: A Pair of Fools Fandom: Harry Potter Characters: Sirius Black x Reader, James Potter; mentions of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew Reader Gender: Not specified Word Count: 1,615 Warnings: Hints of assumed bullying, a bit of self-deprecatory thoughts Notes: Request from anon for “hi um can u do a young Sirius x shy wheelchair reader imagine the reader is insecure and thinks no one will love her because of her disability but gets proven wrong lots of fluff and a kiss and the reader gets embarrassed when the marauders walk in and its really cute also at first the reader thinks its some crewel joke and doesn't see why a guy like him would like her I hope u can do this it would mean a lot xxx”

Since the day you found out that you were a witch, you never quite felt like you fit the bill. It wasn’t as if famous wizards, such as Merlin or Godric Gryffindor, were in wheelchairs – unlike yourself. The fear that everyone at your new school would see you as the most subpar witch to ever exist, grew with you each passing day.

Yet, when you actually arrived at Hogwarts, you were welcomed with open arms and kind smiles. There were still the occasional assholes, who would whisper and gossip about you, but those assholes can be found in any large group of people. And, in the event that they were assholes directly to you, there were always those who were quick to defend you. Most often, it was none other than Sirius Black.

The first time that it had happened was also the first time that you had noticed Sirius. A boy at the Slytherin table had been outright pointing and laughing at you. Then, very suddenly – although greatly appreciated – the bowl of steaming hot soup that had been sitting before the boy fell straight into his lap.

The howling laugher that infected everyone present spared none, not even the boy’s friends, as he ran from the Great Hall shrieking, one hand held to his scorched crotch.

You looked around, attempting to figure out who had been the culprit, and met the twinkling eyes of Sirius Black. The handsome Gryffindor shot you a wink, before returning his attention to his comrades.

He began occasionally chatting with you not long after that. Whether it was something as simple as the weather, or a question about the homework, Sirius managed to strike up a conversation with you at least once a day. Eventually, taking notice of the fact that he was not opposed to conversating with you, and that you were proficient in his worst subject, the professor suggested that you tutor him.

“They’ve got better things to do than tutoring me,” Sirius said immediately. You were unsure if it was because he genuinely believed that you didn’t want to do it, or because he just didn’t want to be tutored.

“I don’t mind – if you’re alright with it,” you said hesitantly.

Before Sirius could say another word, the professor interjected with a gleeful “Perfect! Now, Mr. Black, you now have my best student as your tutor, so I better not see one more failed assignment.”

Sirius muttered a “Yes, sir,” as the remainder of the class shuffled out. Sirius began to follow suit, but you stopped him.

“If you don’t want me to tutor you, then that’s perfectly alright. I won’t be upset or anything. I’ll just tell the professor that I’m unable to.”

“Oh, no, no,” Sirius said quickly, frowning. “It’s not that I don’t want you to tutor me. I just assumed that you wouldn’t want to waste your time tutoring the world’s worst Ancient Runes student.”

“I don’t mind,” you stated, smiling. In truth, you were actually very excited to tutor him. He was ridiculously attractive, and although you knew that you had absolutely no chance with him, he was still fun to look at.

“Alright, then,” Sirius responded. He stood there, smiling at you brightly, for a few moments, before picking up the remainder of his things and leaving.

That Friday evening, you accompanied Sirius to the Gryffindor Common Room, so that you could tutor him. You positioned yourself at the edge of a nearby table, and Sirius sat in the chair next to you. It was difficult to get him to focus on the coursework, rather than asking you about your day or your hobbies. You absolutely adored that he seemed genuinely interested in you, but presently, it was your job to help him with his studying – not to chit-chat.

“This is the final question, and if you tell me that this one is wrong too, I’m going to go stick my head in the fireplace,” Sirius said, bitterness tinting his tone, as he slid his parchment across the table to you. You eyed the page for a moment, then a pleased smile formed on your lips.

“Actually, this one is right. Well, technically, you did the translation wrong, but you still somehow managed to come up with the right answer. That doesn’t matter, though, because the professor doesn’t check your work, just the answer.”

“I’ll fucking take it!” Sirius said cheerily, snatching the paper back, scribbling his name at the top, and shoving it into his folder with a contented sigh. You couldn’t help but laugh at his evident joy. He returned his attention to you, grinning warmly at you as your laughter faded into a small smile. And for some reason, he didn’t look away: Sirius maintained eye contact with you, as the two of you just sat there, smiling at one another like a pair of fools.

With anyone else, you would have felt uncomfortable – filled with the urge to break eye contact, likely looking back to the desk, or at your shoes. But with Sirius, you were surprised to find that you did not feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable. You merely stared into his captivating grey eyes, and he unfalteringly stared right back into yours. Additionally, you occasionally glanced at the way the sunlight caught his dark hair, making it shine; the small, faded scar just next to his right eyebrow; the way his lips curved upwards slightly in his usual, tiny smirk.

However, what surprised you more than the comfortable eye contact, was when Sirius leaned forward, closing the already-small gap between you, and pressed his lips against yours.

The kiss was sweet, filled with innocence and promise. His hand slowly raised to cup your cheek – although you did not move. Admittedly, you were so thoroughly shocked that you couldn’t manage to do anything more than return his kiss. Thankfully, Sirius didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the only thing that caused him to break the kiss was a loud wolf-whistle, and an excited yell that resembled one from a Quidditch game attendee.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” James Potter inquired, his tone jovial and slightly teasing. He wore a smirk as he sauntered over to the two of you, followed closely by Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, both of whom had similar demeanors.

“Shove off, Prongs,” Sirius said seriously, despite the fact he wore a grin. His friends elected to ignore him.

“I told you that he’d be going after this one,” James stated with a prideful smirk, then elbowed Remus. “You owe me three Sickles.”

They continued to chat, but you could not hear them. The only thing in your ears was the nonstop repetition of This is a cruel joke. They made a bet to see if he’d ask you out. They think you’re some loser they can dare one another to ask out.

You began to leave, but before you could make it very far, a hand fell upon your forearm. You looked up to see that it belonged to Sirius, and he was looking at you with a face full of curiosity and concern.

“Hey, where’re you going? These wankers didn’t scare you off, did they? They’re harmless, I promise,” Sirius stated, smiling kindly at you.

“You don’t have to keep being nice. You’ve completed their stupid little dare. Carry on, then,” you muttered, and attempted to leave once more, but this time, Sirius grabbed your arm, preventing you from leaving. He wore a pained expression, his brows furrowed together in dismay.

“You think I… I kissed you because of a dare?” Sirius said slowly, a frown etched into his features.

“Why else would you kiss someone like me? Plus, I heard James – you were all betting to see if you’d kiss the poor little disabled kid. Well, you’ve had your fun. Just let me leave, and be grateful that I’m not going to curse any of you.”

“Bloody hell, that’s not why I kissed you!” he retorted, his tone adamant. He shot you a grin, “Besides, sweetheart, nobody can get Sirius to kiss anyone – besides Sirius.”

“We were just betting to see whether or not he’d actually do it, because he hasn’t shut the hell up about you for weeks,” James explained, frowning as well. “Remus didn’t believe that he’d have the guts to go through with it. Well, not without vomiting on your shoes or something, at least.”

“I told you, I’m too damn charismatic for that,” Sirius boasted, elbowing Remus, who rolled his eyes in response. He returned his attention to you, extremely thankful to find that you were now smiling. “We’re sorry that we accidentally made it seem malicious.”

“So… you really kissed me just because you like me?”

“I really just kissed you because I like you,” Sirius confirmed, grinning at you.

“Well, this has become a disgustingly adorable situation, so I’m out,” James declared, although he shot a grin and a wink to Sirius before he left, followed closely by Peter and Remus.

“So…” Sirius began, mimicking your tone from just moments before. “Can I kiss you again?”

“I would like that very much,” you said, unable to prevent a slight blush from tinting your cheeks.

The remainder of your evening was spent with Sirius, sharing occasional kisses as you attempted to get him to focus on the homework. Despite your efforts, he mostly just stared at you with an enamored look in his eyes, and a small smile on his lips – although you couldn’t complain, as you did the same to him.

Sirius Black was ultimately far sweeter than meets the eye, and you couldn’t have been more thankful for it.