#to troll the HELL out of this boy. she will make sure they become friends.

[kirisaki-daichi-scenarios]

How'd you think kiridai, haizaki, imayoshi, nash and jason would use insta? (I know it isn't popular in Japan but still)

Hanamiya Makoto

his account used to be public but he made it private after getting fed up of having to delete comments like “you scumbag you broke my friend’s ribs rot in hell” from his posts which were just cute pictures of the kiridai cat (yes i’m bringing this ancient headcanon back) 

so now he only allows follows from people he knows and trusts which means literally just the kiridai team, imayoshi, maybe a couple classmates, and his mum 

and then within that circle, he has the other kiridai boys on his close friends list and they’re the ones who see the stories that ‘reveal his true nature’ 

like hanamiya sees that someone who played against him has made a post about their journey going through shoulder rehab (no guessing who gave them their shoulder issues), so he reposts that post to his close friends story with the caption “time for a round two?”

meanwhile the posts his mum sees are just pictures of the kiridai cat or pages from some books he’s been reading recently

(n.b. hanamiya’s mum very rarely uses instagram. she only uses the account to keep up with family members, and only made it in the first place because hanamiya had just made his and she wanted to make sure he didn’t get cyberbullied. 

meanwhile her son is the one who has been repeatedly suspended from instagram for bullying.)

Hara Kazuya

has a lot of accounts and if not for the fact that he has basketball and other hobbies he would be chronically online

so there’s one main account which has just a couple photos that make him look cool (a photo of him dunking, or him drumming with good lighting) and occasionally he’ll post a picture on his stories of the city under a dawn sky and a note of the time so everyone knows he’s out grinding streetball at stupid o’clock. 

the main account is his only public account and he only really has it so that, if anyone (family friends, basketball players from other schools) search him up, those curated posts are all they’ll see. he only posts that occasional story in order to see if anyone’s been stalking him.

then there’s the finsta which is what he’s most active on. he posts several times a week on this account and the posts are all either 1) shitposts and memes that make little to no sense, 2) pictures of fellow kiridai members at very bad angles, or 3) photos from matches that he wants to mock, like a picture of kiyoshi’s face in agony as his knee got broken with the caption “tfw tanaka-sensei sets a pop quiz.”

and finally hara has his assortment of troll accounts, most of which he uses to pretend to be a high school girl living in the general Tokyo area so that he can catfish classmates when he’s bored. 

hara has so many of these accounts that he’s created a cinematic universe of his own with elaborate storylines about the tumultuous friendships between these non-existent girls. they’ve become kiridai’s answer to d&d whenever the boys are bored.

plus these catfish accounts have now become strategic. several of the ‘girls’ are in talking stages, and even online relationships with, basketball players from other schools. this means that a) hara can get intel from the players and b) as soon as any important match comes around, he breaks up with/ghosts the guy, in the hope that it’ll make them place worse.

it goes without saying that it was hanamiya who invented this innovative technique of psychological warfare but hara’s the one who puts the hours in - to the point where it would be a little suspicious how well he can pretend to be a teen girl in love if not for the shit-eating grin on his face whenever he goes through his collection of screenshots of messages begging “her” to take them back 

(sidenote - can you imagine how well okamura would fall for this?) 

(i’m thinking of a yandere!okamura x catfish!hara fic…)

Furuhashi Kojiro 

has two Instagram accounts

account number one is the one his teammates/family/friends follow. it’s a private account that he doesn’t use very much apart from liking friends’ posts. he has a few photos on there, but mostly photos of scenery from holidays

account number two is public, with around 10k followers. it’s completely anonymous and no one irl knows he has it. this account posts quite regularly and every post is an aesthetic picture either of his plants or what he’s baked recently. and when i say aesthetic, i mean aesthetic: the perfect warm lighting and usually some berries or something framing the centrepiece of the photo. 

the captions are usually quite short and wholesome: “making melonpan can be difficult but i find the challenge refreshing” “when the days become stressful, i turn to these larch bonsai to remind myself to stand tall” “i am trying a new macaroon recipe. may it bring great riches.”

he’s also started posting some reels on this account, mostly timelapses of bread rising or plants growing etc

furu uses very few hashtags but somehow still gets super high engagement. his followers adore him and have collectively assumed he’s a fem lesbian living in the countryside somewhere with her beloved girlfriend. (furuhashi naturally never corrects anyone because he wants to keep it anonymous.) the comments are all “cottagecore queen” “i owe all my mental health to you” “the only unproblematic account on Instagram” 

so yeah, on instagram, furu is considered an angel

Jason Silver

this man has not posted a single photo where he is not shirtless

and his stories are like 30% videos from streetball practice and 70% thirst traps which he pretends he’s posting to show his gains... but everyone knows he’s just posting them to try attract the three women who followed him back

his following is around 50% ‘baddies’, 45% nba players, and 5% friends and a few streetballers that he’s played against before

(he follows very few streetballers because he thinks it’s beneath him to follow losers and see how they’re improving. he’s so good at basketball he has no need for that, duh.)

(in reality he has no need to stalk prospective opponents because nash does it for him.)

also actually headcanon that most of jason’s posts are videos of him breaking the hoop while dunking or just generally basketball action shots, because jason can’t pose in front of a camera to save his life

you can’t blame him really - that’s a lot of man to fit in one small lens

Haizaki Shougo

no profile photo, no posts: 100% anonymous account. man just uses his Instagram account to get material to jerk off too - pretty much every single account he follows is of an onlyfans model. (he would still be following some female classmates and kise’s ex girlfriend if not for the fact that they’ve all blocked him.)

in the end, haizaki has no friends to interact with and no aesthetic life he can post about, so why would be bother having a more social instagram

added bonus of the anonymous account is that he can use it to stalk others - and he does like his stalking. 

sometimes he stalks the gom’s accounts, and he tells himself it’s just to make fun of them being desperate for likes or looking pretentious, but really he gets a “what could have been” feeling from scrolling through all the photos (and it hurts -- especially seeing videos of them playing together like back in middle school.)

and sometimes haizaki stalks his fukuda sogo teammates. again, he tells himself it’s just to mock them, and he’ll see photos of them hanging out together and be like “what fucking losers who would want to be seen with them.” but there’s a little pang of loneliness in his heart all the same.

Yamazaki Hiroshi

has had the same instagram account since he was 10 and he never deletes or archives any posts so if you scroll far down enough, you’ll find videos of pre-pubescent him and hara doing ‘parkour’ (literally just jumping over benches and off swings) or those chain posts like “share this with five friends or you’ll be haunted forever.)

zaki’s is a private account with a couple hundred followers - his teammates obviously but also family, cousins, some classmates, some of hara’s catfish accounts, and even a couple fellow high school basketballers from distant enough teams that they somehow haven’t realised that zaki is a member of the infamous kiridai. 

he posts semi-regularly and mostly just very normal, mundane posts - photos from family holidays, a tasty udon noodle bowl he had the other day and maybe the occasional streetball photo (typically with one of the kiridai boys in the frame instead of zaki – zaki’s not a huge fan of photos of himself)

zaki’s feed is mostly hara’s shitposts and also streaming clips from his various video games, and if you do ever see his account in the ‘wild’, it will be him backing up hara’s finsta after hara made a particularly outrageous comment somewhere

because a real friendship takes two people: Person 1 who just stirs shit up, and Person 2 who defends Person 2’s shit-stirring by cursing out every commenter who criticises them

[bellewintersroe]

Charles Leclerc x SchumacherDaughter!

Lila is the youngest of the 3 Schumacher siblings, at 22 shes catching the attention of the public eye. With the new found popularity through Drive to Survive, social media has dubbed her the next ‘it’ girl despite her constant desire for privacy. When her love interest becomes more or less the most sought after man in F1, how will she cope with being the internets fascination? Both Charles and Lila have dealt with immense amounts of loss and trauma, so their mutual understanding for one another fuels their so called ‘friendship’.

Part 2 - no warnings! Filler chapter, slow burn/ start but will start to pick up soon.

From the first time I’d met Charles I knew I’d developed feelings almost instantly. I had always been the the type of girl who caught feelings quickly. Maybe that was a recipe for disaster, wearing my heart on my sleeve, but there wasn’t a single fibre of my body that could prevent it. Not being around the boy was helpful, but the one thing that fuelled the crush even further? Social media, of course.

I had always been private online. All my accounts were locked and I’d never planned on making them public out of the pure fear of gaining too much unwanted attention. That didn’t mean I couldn’t do a stalk however…

I’d find myself laying in bed until stupid hours in the morning for the following week after the Monaco GP, scrolling mindlessly through my searches. The majority of them were amusing- I didn’t seem to worry too much about gaining a hate train online, of course the trolls were there, but keeping as far out of the public eye as possible meant I was semi protected. User: Lila Schumacher sparks relationship rumours with Mercedes driver George Russell, despite him already being in a long term relationship with Carmen Montero Mundt.

I laughed at that one and all the responses telling the reporter to shut the hell up.

User: Charles today with Mick and Lila Schumacher. User: Lila Schumacher makes a rare appearance at the Monaco GP, 28.5.23. User: Lila Schumacher is so beautiful, like her mum, why don’t we see more of her? User: can anybody else see Lila Schumacher being with one of the drivers? Shes so gorgeous I wouldn’t be surprised. ——— > User: she looked to be talking with Charles, he looked v into her so maybe? ——— > User: no not Charles surely? I was thinking she’d be more with somebody like George or Lando.

——— > User: Lila and Charles Leclerc were talking at the Monaco GP, doesn’t mean they’re together but I’d DIE if he looked at me the way he looked at Lila- that’s all I’m saying…

I exited the app after that, deciding I’d read enough, I knew it was stupid to do, but part of me couldn’t help myself. I’d always been a nosy person. So when Mick invited me to come to the Spanish GP, I accepted his offer (much to his surprise). “You’re from Spain? Which part?” I asked Carlos Sainz, whom I’d engaged in a conversation with whilst attempting to find the Ferrari garages before the qualifying. He asked if I wanted leading back to Mercedes but I was trying to find Jean Todt, my God father and dads longtime close friend, so I got a tour from Mr Sainz instead. “Madrid, have you been?”

“Oh yeah, it’s beautiful there, I’ve been a few times…” my eyes glanced up from the floor, gaze landing heavily on the other Ferrari driver now stood in front of me. My breath hitched seeing the surprised looking boy.

“Lila! Hello!” Charles exclaimed, the exact same heart flutter I felt the other week in Monaco had returned. “Hi!” For some reason I was surprised he’d remembered my name, hearing him say it made me feel certain ways. He moved forwards, giving me a quick hug as I clamped my teeth down on my bottom lip so I wouldn’t grin so harshly. “How are you?” I asked. “I am good, I’m good. And you?” Charles was pink in the cheeks, brown eyes practically sparkling in the Spanish sun. He looked like Prince Charming or something out of a fairy tail, I found him intoxicating.

“Good, thank you.” I breathlessly spoke, “you have met Carlotto?” He then grinned as I snapped my attention back up to Carlos with a slight furrow of my brows. “Carlotto?”

“Lord Perceval.” I giggled out at the name now, turning back to Charles who was staring right back to Carlos with a wide eyed expression. “Lord Perceval? Is that a nickname, or?”

“No, no, no!” Charles laughed. “That’s my.. um that’s my middle name. Perceval.” Charles explained as I felt my cheeks beating up, hearing Carlos too giggling along. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “How posh.” I shrugged as he laughed slightly back to me with an uneasy, “yeah.”

“I better go find Jean anyway, has anybody seen him?”

“Oh, Jean? He’s in that way.” Charles pointed towards three different doors. I frowned in confusion. “Charles, show her, your directions are bad.” Carlos pointed out as I giggled nervously.

“It’s okay, I’ll try find him.”

“No, no, I’ll show you.” Charles insisted as I bit back a smile. “Thanks for getting me here anyway.” I thanked Carlos. “It’s ok.” The Spanish man politely smiled. “Chiedile un appuntamento.” Carlos then spoke to Charles as I glanced away, no clue what the hell they were speaking. Italian maybe? It wasn’t French and definitely wasn’t Spanish. When I did look up, Charles was staring back at Carlos wide eyes in a manner as though to say, shut the hell up. I pretended not to notice as Carlos giggled, patting me on the upper back before I began following Charles.

“I think he should be this way. I could be wrong.” Charles stumbled forwards, turning over his shoulder as I caught up besides him. “It’s okay, I don’t need him urgently, I just wanted to say hi.” And say hello to you.

“He is your god father, right?” Charles questioned as I nodded. “Yeah, he’s my dads friend.”

“Ah.” Charles nodded, and for a brief few seconds, I felt a little awkward. I was lost for words, dwelling in my nerves that had appeared now I was semi alone with Charles.

“I think I saw you earlier.” Charles then pointed out. “Oh yeah? Where?”

“Playing tennis at the hotel, I think it was you there? You looked good- at playing tennis I mean, but you did look good as well, merde, it might not have been you.” Charles stammered as I felt myself becoming somewhat breathless again, when he was nervous I felt this warm rush of excitement run through me, but it somehow made me feel nervous too. His compliment made me laugh, realising exactly what he was talking about.

“Yeah that was me, I was playing with another girl?” I tilted my head to look at the smiling boy. I hadn’t seen his smile falter once since seeing him again, I enjoyed the way it would lift up his eyes, the dimples forming in his cheeks and the way his teeth would poke through every now and then.

“Ah, yes it was you.” Charles shyly spoke. “Yeah, I’m not very good. I just like playing.” I grabbed at my blonde hair nervously. “I play too, I am bad.” Charles laughed out. “I’m sure you’re not that bad!” He responded with an uneasy noise.

“I just think you would beat me.” The fact he had noticed me earlier this morning had made me go all red in the face, I felt all giggly and weak in the knees.

“No way, I’m really bad. Trust me, I just play for fun.” I bashfully spoke, thanking him quickly as he opened the door for me. Jean wasn’t in sight ahead of me, so it gave me a little more time with Charles which I was thankful for.

“Me too.” He grinned as I offered him a smile in response, turning to my left to see Jean not too far ahead, sitting down and mid conversation. “Oh, there he is! Thank you for showing me around, I’d be lost without you and Carlos.” I joked, pausing to stand directly across from him now. “It’s ok, it gets confusing in here.” He shrugged as I nodded, going to turn around. “It was nice to see to see you again.” He quickly spoke, causing me to halt my movements and turn up once again. There was a slight height difference between us, I only stood at 5”3, and he was nearing 6 foot, I guessed?

“Yeah you too, if you see me playing tennis again feel free to say hi.” I giggled, shrugging nervously. “I will.” Charles laughed as I timidly broke eye contact, turning to go find Jean. “Oh!” Charles exclaimed again. I turned around.

“I was- we could play tennis maybe? If you would like to?” His words made my heart literally jump and I swear he could see the way my smile tugged up. I was nodding before I even replied, borderline too stunned and shy to speak.

“As long as you let me win you.” I managed to blurt out as he laughed once again, pulling out his phone. “I can probably do that… well you could do that.” He corrected, unlocking his phone and clicking on his phone book.

“Oh.” I perked, pulling out my phone, ensuring to clear any embarrassing messages from my notifications before allowing him to type his number in. It felt like a fever dream, no man had asked for my number before, it was always Snapchat or Instagram first- it felt slightly more… personal? I liked it.

“I will text you.” Charles nodded. “Okay, see you soon, Charles.”

“Bye, Lila…”

[orcelito]

OK I'm genuinely tempted to do another reread of discacc. And as part of the reread I want to do a little Discacc Stats thing. Like how last time I reread it completely (back in april) I counted how many total times they've each cried (as of 39: Goro at 21 times, Akira at 16). I want to pick a few Things that are consistent themes and count how many times they actually happen.

Current ideas: how many times Goro throws up, how many times Goro falls asleep in weird places in his apartment, how many times either of them skip meals (either purposefully or not), how many times Akira gets Angry & their reasons (probably almost all Goro Related)

Just trends I've noticed. Akira being too tired to eat, so he just Falls Asleep without eating (smth I had Sojiro call him at one point lol). Goro having a Sensitive Stomach and being INCREDIBLY irresponsible with it, so he's thrown up... a decent number of times. Also oh God Goro's apartment breakdowns and all the places he's fallen asleep. Sorry kiddo. And lmfao the thing I noticed where Akira is typically chill but gets keyed up QUICK when smth involves goro.

Im just curious about Just how common they are. And me rereading is the perfect time to take notes of them.

[mistaeq]

the stardust crusaders' hogwarts adventure: HCs

tw // none

dora's note: is this dora posting? what the hell? yes it is, i'm finally working. hopefully. i promise i'm doing by best yes ^^ i felt like doing this today, so... finally got to finish a draft that has been there for quite a while.

DISCLAIMER !! y/n is NOT a student in joseph's HCs, they're a GROWN ADULT with a JOB. !!

taglist: @fragolaaaaaaa @outofthiszawarudo @sky1mercy @cheemerthebebopfreak @berryvalentine @yandere-lovebites @catboy-kira @komaeda-kinnie [if you wanna be removed or added, all it requires is a dm or an ask !!]

kujo jotaro

♥︎ when he first sat down under the sorting hat, he didn't know what to expect and did not care in which house he would have ended up. everyone in his family, though, always had been one of two precise houses: slytherin or hufflepuff. so, very deep down, he hoped in one of them. but a different one would have been cool with him too, he would have been the first in his family with a different house sorting. he waited for a time that seemed neverending, but earlier than expected, the sorting hat said: "slytherin."

♥︎ the two of you met for the first time during a quidditch tournament. jotaro was a seeker, one of the most precise ones hogwarts had ever had. you caused him an accident, running over him with your broom, causing the two of you to fall to the ground. needless to say, he held a grudge on you for several days, until you had to get along to train for quidditch again.

♥︎ you wouldn't expect it from a wizard like him, but his favourite subjects are care of magical creatures, to study them, protect them, and get on an empathetic level with them, and muggle studies, to get to know more about muggles, in honor of his father, kujo sadao, who's not a wizard.

♥︎ it didn't take long for jotaro to manage to manifest his patronus. he had tried to practice that spell, since before the arrival of the dementors at the school. the two of you used to practice together after quidditch trainings, making you the first person - apart from him, of course - to witness the awaking of his patronus: a beautiful dolphin, a symbol of intelligence and protection.

♥︎ you will probably have to be the one to ask him first out on a date. he's not the best one when it comes to grades, and he spends quite a lot of time with his friends, trying not to think about it. no, he doesn't really care about having the best marks. you should ask one of his best friends, kakyoin noriaki, about what to do to convince him to go out on a date with you. most likely, he'll say yes because he trusts you enough to feel safe.

♥︎ jotaro does not underestimate your powers and doesn't feel the need to constantly protect you, but he must admit that as soon as the teachers of defense against the dark arts start disappearing every year or try to attack the students themselves, he's a little bit worried about you. he starts showing up outside your classroom at the end of every lesson, to check on you and keep you company until you get to you next lesson's classroom.

kakyoin noriaki

♥︎ when he sat down under the sorting hat, he was really nervous. what if it said that he wasn't even a wizard? what if he ended up in a house that would have disappointed his family? the redhead was shaking like a leaf, even at the point that the sorting hat itself asked him to calm down to allow it to examinate him better. noriaki's terror soon disappeared, as soon as the hat spoke. "okay, okay, my guy. you can calm down. ravenclaw!"

♥︎ the two of you met for the first time in the library of the school. you were looking for a specific book, the one about the fantastic beasts of the wizarding world and where to find them, when a guy who wasn't looking where he was going, hit the ladder you were standing on, making you fall, right... in his arms. ugh, that sounded like a pathetic love story beginning. until you heard a giggle from the corner of the room. the guy that was making fun of that scene was kakyoin.

♥︎ noriaki's favourite subjects are transfiguration, since he always says he has a talent in transforming objects in what he wants, and defence against the dark arts, since he wishes to become a professor one day. why is it related to that? well, since the professors of defence against the dark arts seem to change every year for some reason, his turn will come sooner or later, or not?

♥︎ for kakyoin, it was a little bit more complicated to manifest his patronus. he kept on focusing on the technique and the way he had to move his wand, instead of focusing on his inner power and mind. but after many efforts, it finally showed up: a beautiful fox, symbol of wisdom and guidance. he told you first thing.

♥︎ noriaki will probably be the one to ask you out for a date first. but he would do it through a letter. he's smart enough to write one that will convince you that he's worth it and that he's perfect for you. the redhead can't imagine you already think of him as such. either way, the letter will be very sweer and heartfelt, even if a little bit awkward sometimes. but you'll say yes regardless, he put a lot of effort in it, and has always been respectful towards you.

♥︎ he wouldn't be much worried about you at first, hogwarts is a safe place for the students, after all, right? right? oh, what? in a bathroom the little hermione granger almost got killed by a troll? you know what, nevermind? the guy is gonna be glued to you the whole time, he'll even skip lessons for it, despite how much they mean for him. you're not gonna get attacked by anything, with him by your side.

muhammad avdol

♥︎ everyone envied him when he sat down under the sorting hat, because despite the young age at the time, he looked absolutely calm and collected. he had no anxiety, and his eyes were closed, in complete relaxation, as if him and the sorting hat had some sort of mental communication going on. his smile was endearing, his fingers intertwined in front of his chest. but the hat seemed to take a lot of time sorting him. "your heart said gryffindor, my dear boy. but your soul spoke hufflepuff to me." the hat declared. but then... "hufflepuff!"

♥︎ the two of you met for the first time on the stairs. yes, the ones that like to change. your books had fallen from your arms on the stairs, and since he was passing by, he decided to lend a helping hand. what you didn't notice, was that you were standing right between the stairs and the floor. when the stairs changed, hadn't it been for muhammad's quick reflex of pulling you on his side, you would have probably fallen down several floors.

♥︎ avdol is naturally gifted, when it comes to subjects like astronomy, or his favourite one, divination. he seems to be the only student who doesn't stare at mrs. trelawney as if she were completely crazy. the majority of the ravenclaws, his friend noriaki included, sometimes don't even listen to her. but avdol does, and he's completely in love with the subject.

♥︎ it hadn't been difficult at all for avdol, to manifest his patronus. almost natural, for him. you weren't there to witness it, but you studied and practiced with him for it several times. the last time he tried, a beautiful and graceful phoenix escaped muhammad's wand, symbol of resurrection and life after death, a patronus that the student took as a symbol of hope.

♥�� none of you two will ask the other out for a date. the love between you and avdol would bloom spontaneously, without the need of dating. you would find yourselves behaving like a couple just naturally. he likes to give you tarot readings and to stargaze with you. the stargazing sessions are the ones that get the two of you closer to each other.

♥︎ avdol would be protective over you since the very beginning. he can sense something's off in the school, and his tarot readings about hogwarts's future keep getting darker and more mysterious everytime. but every single reading hints at an upcoming source of danger, that most likely would be voldemort, he supposes. he has to keep an eye on you. he's scared.

jean pierre polnareff

♥︎ oh boy, this guy was mad nervous when he sat down under the sorting hat. everything but slytherin, everything but slytherin. surely, he knew he wouldn't have ended up in ravenclaw. he wasn't that much of a smart guy, but he did his best. either way, everything would have been cool to him, apart from slytherin. it just didn't sit right to him. but luckily, before jean could ask the sorting hat why was it taking so long, it spoke. "okay, okay, i get it. gryffindor, no doubts!" it said, making the young wizard feel relieved.

♥︎ the two of you met for the first time while he was trying so hard to find his way to the next classroom he had to be in. the school was huge, and polnareff couldn't help but to get confused in the corridors. you offered him your help, but he tried to play it cool, running away and dropping a book. well, you would have brought it to him.

♥︎ polnareff's favourite subjects are charms and flying. they're pretty basic, but he finds them the coolest things about being a wizard. he's a huge fan of quidditch too, but he wouldn't see himself playing. flying lessons give him the same feeling of freedom though, and he loves it so much.

♥︎ it took pretty long for jean pierre to manifest his patronus. he just couldn't focus enough. you've been practising with him, and you manifested it first, so it would have been good to try to help him. until he managed to do it. from his wand, a beautiful horse was freed, a symbol of power, independence, freedom, and nobleness. you could tell jean was satisfied, and grateful to you for helping him in manifesting it.

♥︎ he'll definitely be the one to ask you out first, probably not much time after you helped him to manifest his patronus. that event made him so happy and made him grow so fond of you, that he genuinely wants to improve your relationship, and hopefully, get something more from it. hopefully your heart, hopefully a kiss. but he means it genuinely. he's not trying to exploit you to get your help with assignments. for real.

♥︎ as the years go by, polnareff would start noticing hogwarts isn't the same place that it's always been, or that dumbledore claimed it was. he grows more and more protective of you, every year a worse mess happens, and it's always connected to voldemort. he's not liking it at all. not to mention you're worried, since the gryffindors seem to be pretty involved in it. more than you and jean pierre like to admit. he knows something he's not telling.

joseph joestar

♥︎ in his youth, when he sat down under the sorting hat, he didn't give a shit of what house he would have been sorted in, all he wanted was just start learning magic stuff. joseph was laughing with some handsome boys and pretty girls at the table, and was hoping it wouldn't take long to sort him, his adventure had just started. but the hat actually took really little time to figure out where he was gonna go. "slytherin." it announced, almost immediately.

♥︎ going through the corridors of hogwarts reminds him of many years ago, when you first met. he would never forget the way you told him to go fuck himself, while he was just standing on a chair, reminding everyone that him and his best friend of the time, a young lucius malfoy, were the best kind of wizards because they were purebloods. that was a bunch of bullshit he truly used to believe. luckily, he grew up to understand it wasn't true.

♥︎ now, joseph is a teacher. the last student you would have expected to become one, but he did. a teacher of defense against the dark arts, and he's not planning on leaving anytime soon. he'll keep his eyes open, he heard teachers have been disappearing every year. not to mention a lot of scary stuff is happening at hogwarts. he didn't choose a good time to work.

♥︎ he's always been a quick learner, and he managed to manifest his patronus quicker than many of his classmates. a really cool eagle, a symbol of truth, majesty, strength. despite his attitude, it was clear that joseph was a good wizard, it had to be given to him. and you grew to be into it. to admire it. he secretly liked you, too.

♥︎ joseph took the first step towards you, but he didn't quite ask you out, let's say that to keep his cool, he TOLD you that you and him were gonna date. as if to announce you. you were okay with it, and didn't accept just because you were feeling forced. you accepted because you liked him, and recognized it as a great opportunity to get closer to him. you would have worked on improving the romantic field throughout your relationship.

♥︎ now that he's a teacher, he has to recognize that there's so much going on, that the students do not see. joseph is acknowledged about how dangerous the situation is getting, and more than ever, he reaches out to you, or phones you, no matter the fact that you're working. everyone is talking about voldemort, and he doesn't like the smallest bit of it. he just wants to make sure you're safe.

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

hey, i was wondering if you could do a lupin x daughter!reader headcanon when he’s a pressosor in the readers 3rd year. maybe she’s friends with the golden trio and dating draco and lupin tries to attack her on the full moon when they find out ab sirius and peter pettigrew and it just progresses throughout lupin being protective if reader joins the order and maybe lupin dies saving reader in the battle of hogwarts? also please some sirius x reader moments where sirius is like a protective uncle !!

(also would you mind adding me to your taglist??)

Remus with a daughter

Best dad ever

Literally

Kindest man to you.

Absolutely adores you and makes sure you're safe

It's just the two of you though, your mother passed during childbirth

Remus blames himself but the truth was your mom just was so sick and having a child was too much

It breaks Remus' soul when he had to separate from you for the full moon so he wouldn't hurt you

It didn't help that the two parents who usually watched you while Remus was going through this were killed when you and Harry were a year old.

Sirius wanted to confront Peter but he didn't because his godchildren needed him then and there.

Sirius raised Harry alongside you and the two of you were honestly like siblings.

You called Remus "Papa" and he called you "Pup" or "Puppy"

Sirius was "Uncle Padfoot"

You two grew up in the wizarding world and stuck together

When you were finally able to go to Hogwarts it was exciting for you.

Harry met Ron and you met someone yourself

A blonde boy with silver eyes.

You barely noticed him but he certainly took notice of you.

He started teasing you in the halls when he saw you, you taking any insult he threw at you with a grain of salt

Especially once you were sorted into Gryffindor

Then came one insult about your dad

Harry had to separate you from potentially killing him.

You gradually began to dislike him more and more.

Harry began to really hate him once quidditch started too

Like strangulation was almost used

Then weird things started happening throughout Hogwarts.

Absolute bonkers shit happening around you and then

TROLL IN THE MOTHERFUCKIN DUNGEON

One thing led to another and Slytherin's house ended up having to stay with Gryffindor

You made tea to hold you over

Earl gray

And because you don't like being mad with people you made some for Draco

You sat at a table and put the mug next to him.

"What the hell is this?" Draco asked.

"Earl grey. To calm the nerves. Asshole." You said sharply.

He took it and was surprised that it didn't taste terrible

"... You know how to make tea?" He asked

"It's not hard... Plus my dad's an absolute addict to the stuff." You said.

Draco looked at you.

"Why did you bring me this?" He asked.

"I don't like being mad with people and I think we need to deal with whatever hatred you have formed against me." You said.

"I don't hate you." Draco muttered.

You rose a brow.

"You don't?" You asked.

"No. I don't." He said.

"... So why the hostility then?" You asked.

"You're a Gryffindor. And aren't you a half blood?" He asked.

"No my mum was a wizard too, you're striking out here" you said.

"was?" Draco asked.

You shifted. "Mum died after I was born... She was sick." You muttered.

Now Draco felt like an asshole.

He eased up on his constant insults but if any one else teased you he'd hex them later

Your relationship with him now was very strange

Like he was a jerk but not as big of a jerk.

Then came the end of the year.

You walked up to him and gave him your address, telling him to write to him if he felt like it

He didn't.

At first.

Then one day he found himself pacing his room debating an opening line.

Then one day when you were getting the mail from your owl you found a fancy letter.

It looked so official and it was addressed to you.

Then you saw the "M" on the side of the envelope and blinked.

Draco actually wrote to you.

You walked back into the house, this perplexed look on your face.

"Something wrong Pup?" Remus asked.

"Hmm? No... No just... Something weird is all." You muttered.

"Who's that from?" Harry asked.

"Draco." You said earning a look from him.

So you read it when you were alone and you were shocked

Like he could write

Even though this was a simple "hi how are you?" It was still so well written you felt strangely connected

You began to understand the whole romanticized idea behind letters

You and him started writing back and forth and you actually found yourself liking him.

Like. Like liking him.

Remus could tell.

You had this smile on your face every time you got a letter

Then came a very strange letter

You opened it at the breakfast table and it was a warning

"Something strange is going to happen at Hogwarts, warn Harry."

You looked up and frowned.

"Harry." You said.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Draco sent something weird... He said something's going on at Hogwarts and to warn you." You said.

"He cares what happens to me?" Harry asked.

"apparently. And he seems pretty serious about this." You said making Remus and Sirius exchange a look.

The two of you went back to school with caution

Draco was always with you, acting strangely paranoid.

Then the chamber of secrets opened

And Draco wrote to Remus himself, practically begging him "TAKE. HER. HOME."

Remus almost did but he couldn't just disrupt your life because he was anxious.

Draco never left your side, he kept close to you and the trio was noticing it

When they asked him "why are you suddenly being nice to us" he gave an answer that made you fall harder.

"Honestly, Y/n has become my best friend and I don't want to lose her by pissing her off"

So the group just kind of accepted him

Oh he'd still make comments

And Harry still bickered with him

But it was like Draco was like a brother to the group

Yeah he'd talk shit

But he obviously cared.

Things were happening around campus making Draco very paranoid that something was going to happen to you

You kept assuring him that you were being careful but he still NEVER left you or Hermione’s side

Well until the night something actually happened

You and Hermione were adamant about researching whatever was causing all of this

You spent a late night in the library with her when you arrived at an answer. 

“Basilisk!” You both gasped in unison before you heard something fall behind you. 

You had a gut feeling that it was the basilisk

“Run, I’ll stall as long as I can.” You told her

“What-- Y/n I’m not--” “Hermione, someone has to tell a teacher, that someone is you now GO!” You yelled before she nodded. 

She handed you a mirror and bolted as you got up, walking and being sure to make a lot of noise to deter the snake. 

And then you saw those eyes and everything went black

You were found a few minutes later, Hermione getting the news to Mcgonagall 

Draco was pissed.

Because he knew exactly who was behind this.

And they had a deal actually. 

A deal that was “as long as none of my friends get involved, do what you please” with Lucius

Well Lucius did not account for Draco actually liking the golden trio and you.

He couldn’t voice the problem but when Lucius came with the ministry to handle the Basilisk, the trio noticed a strange tension

Students were temporarily sent home while the problem was being handled. 

Well the ones that weren’t petrified. 

Sirius picked up Harry but Remus stayed with you in the wing

When students finally were able to return you were finally okay. 

Draco walked into the Great Hall and saw you, practically tackling you to the floor. 

The summer was odd, Draco actually spending it with (wait for it) the Weasley’s 

Harry and you both spent the first three weeks of summer with them, befriending the two legendary pranksters in the process

whilst also getting closer to Draco

Things definitely changed between the two of you

in a good way but something changed

It was the night before you were going back home and you couldn’t sleep.

You walked downstairs and sat in the doorway, looking at the stars

Draco had the same idea, sitting next to you with a blanket. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” you asked. 

“Nope.” He muttered. 

You seemed fixated on the moon.

Very fixated on it.

It was full and it seemed to almost... Make you sad?

“I wonder what dad is doing.” You muttered. 

“Well it’s like two in the morning so my guess is sleep.” Draco joked.

You tensed up and he noticed. 

“What?” Draco asked.

But then it’s like he got it on his own, figuring out what you weren’t saying.

“...Remus is a werewolf?” He asked.

You looked over shocked 

“How did--” “I just figured it out.” He said. 

You sighed turning back to the sky. 

“No one can know.” You said.

“No one will know Y/n, you have my word.” Draco said softly.

You looked at him and he moved his arm as if to say “Join me under this blanket” and you scooched closer

When your dad came to pick you up that morning he found you asleep against Draco in the doorway

He kneeled and tapped your cheek.

You yawned, realizing that it was Remus and hugged him 

Harry was staying, it was just you leaving 

Draco wrote to you as much as possible

Something changed though, the morning Remus dropped you off at the station

Remus got on the train with you

You blinked.

“Dad... I know we’re close but this is the first day of kindergarten all over again.” You said

“...Pup I’m a professor this year.” He snorted. 

Harry, who just got on the train with the Weasleys paused. 

“WHAT?”

“You’re totally riding with us.” You said excitedly

So there you were in cart with your dad, Harry, Draco, waiting for Hermione and Ron who were chasing Hermione’s cat

Draco kept giving you this cute little smile. 

You two never said anything to each other but you still exchanged this smile. 

Remus of course noticed this but said nothing 

Ron and Hermione finally showed up 

“Crookshanks did not--” “YES IT DID!” 

You all looked over 

“What’s going on?” You asked

“Ron’s rat ran off!” Hermione said

“More like your cat ate him!” Ron fired back.

“What does your pet look like so we can find him?” Remus asked

“He’s a brown rat.” “He took off the second we got close to the cart.” Hermione explained.

That raised an alarm in Remus’s brain. 

“...Ron how old is your rat?” Remus asked.

“Oh he’s old. Like twelve years old.” Ron said. 

Remus stood up and drew his wand

“Dad?” You asked. 

“Lock this door the second I leave. If you find the rat one of you come and find me.” 

You guys didn’t find the rat, however there was this strange new tension on campus.

There were a few aurors walking around, one of which was walking you and Harry to classes

That auror was (wait for this one) Sirius 

People of course were speculating that 

A: your father was a professor 

and B: The Sirius Black was escorting you out of all people around the school

See, the weird thing was that four different people were walking Harry to class.

Neither you or Harry were fully alone. 

But that wasn’t the only weird thing going on.

You and Mcgonagall seemed to be discussing something at every free moment

Two weeks into school you seemed to be taking some sort of advanced skill

Don’t get me started on the group noticing you chewing something for a solid month 

Ministry members were also talking to you

not even Harry knew what was going on

Then came the trip to Hogsmeade

You all went and for the most part it was fun

 until Harry got the bright idea to eavesdrop on a conversation

He found out everything.

Peter, the betrayal, why staff was acting odd. 

all of it. 

He didn’t say anything either, he walked out of the three broomsticks, walked over to the shrieking shack and threw up

You listened to him sob and that night was hard

Draco sat at the foot of your bed while you sighed. 

“He’s going to be okay Y/n, he has us.” He reminded. 

“I know... But still... Jesus... I can’t imagine what must be going through his head” You breathed. 

Draco put a soothing hand on your leg and you smiled 

“I’m always here Y/n... Always.” he said softly 

You both exchanged this look.

Something in you just leaned forward and he kissed you.

then you heard a small pattering noise... like rat feet

You both split apart and you grabbed your wands

“MCGONAGALL!” you yelled.

She ran in and noticed the alarm on both Draco’s face and then heard the noise.

She found the rat but it was the wrong rat.

“Maybe it is best that you sleep out in the common room like mister potter. Draco you should go back to your--” “While that killer is roaming campus, I am not leaving my best friend alone.” He said. 

Mcgonagall sighed, but understood his worry before it registered that he knew.

“You know about Pettigrew?” she asked. 

“My father doesn’t keep me completely out of the loop professor.” Draco answered

She sighed. 

but she agreed to let him stay as long as he wasn’t completely alone with you.

You two didn’t bring up the kiss at all. 

But things certainly got weirder between you two.

Both of you would get extremely flustered if you even looked in the same direction

then came the night you snuck out.

it was a full moon and you were staying in Hermione’s room due to the fact that the guys snored so fucking loud.

You snuck out, tip toeing past the sleeping boys and meeting Sirius outside of the common room.

“Are you sure you want to help?” Sirius asked quietly.

“I’m sure.” You nodded before both of you took off. 

What you didn’t realize was that Hermione followed you.

Along with the guys.

You slid down the whomping willow, walking into a room with Sirius where he gave you a talk of “be careful, avoid being in direct line of his vision and stay safe.” 

The group was hearing all of this, along with the pained groans of someone. 

“He’s turning.” Sirius noticed. 

“Did he drink his potion?” you asked. 

Sirius noticed the potion’s contents on the floor. 

“Shit.” You both said in unison before hearing the snarling

“Y/n, change, now!” Sirius said before taking on his dog form.

You took on an Animagus form.  

It was a hawk, a loud screech emerging from you as you took flight

The group watched you and Sirius basically herd Remus into a room from a door crack.

“She’s an animagus?” Ron whispered. 

“From the looks of it, yeah.” Harry muttered. 

“Remus is a werewolf?” Ron asked

“No shit sherlock.” Draco muttered. 

Then Remus had an outburst, a rat scurrying by his feet.

Sirius immediately took his human form and sprinted after it, leaving you alone with your father. 

The rat stopped at Hermione’s feet that was blocking the way out.

The group was caught. 

“What in the blazes are you doing here!?” he asked. 

Remus lunged at you, you dodging the attack

He snarled and you tried to stand your ground

“I--” Harry picked up the rat and frowned.

Remus slammed you against the wall before you took your human form

“dad, it’s me--”

Sirius used the reversal spell and sure enough it was Peter.

“You son of a--” 

Then everyone heard a scream.

Your scream.

Sirius dropped everything, sprinted back in the room before seeing you with a bite mark on your shoulder

“HARRY GET Y/N TO THE INFIRMARY NOW!”

So the group now was not only holding a wand to a fugitive, they also had a potentially dying girl with them

Draco was sprinting as fast as humanly possible with you in his arms

The rest of the group was trying to get Pettigrew to the ministry 

Sirius was trying to keep your dad from going ballistic

Two hours later you were in a bed passed out with Draco pacing

Pettigrew fucking escaped and the ministry was high tailing it after him

You, thank god, weren’t a werewolf but you were unconscious

no one could pry Draco away from you.

You unconscious for about five days

Remus was a wreck

When you woke up Draco and Remus were both asleep at the foot of the bed

You shifted and Draco’s head shot up.

“Professor she’s awake” Draco said 

Remus looked at you with tears almost bombarding his face.

“Y/n, I’m so sorr--” “Dad it’s okay. I knew what I was getting into, I almost expected it.” you stated.

Remus was still very hesitant to even look at you

Summer was spent at the Weasleys, Draco again being present for it.

neither of you still talked about the kiss and it was driving both of you crazy

You both were 10x more jumpier around each other

Draco was so scared he was losing you as a friend 

So Fred gave him some advice because he knew you liked him.

“dude. Just hit on her. Let her know you’re still interested-- fucking show that you care!” Fred said. 

“But what if it fails--” “It won’t!” 

So Draco started being smooth as hell

You were reaching for a glass and he stood so close to you and grabbed it for you

You almost dropped the glass the second it was in your grasp

You’d be so focused on something, look over and see Draco staring and literally fuck it up within seconds. 

He lends you his jacket, all the time

You love it but are too chicken to admit that you do though

And then came the tournament

Draco left about three days before the tournament

He left you his jacket though

but you all ended up going 

As you were walking to the portkey Cedric seemed to have his sights set on you

Fred and George had to literally stand between you because they did NOT want Cedric making moves 

Course, all the boy was interested in was friendship though and you knew that because you knew he liked Cho

You thought that Draco wasn’t going to be there but you were pleasantly surprised.

Well, until you saw his father

and you realized what jacket you were wearing in front of him

You were a fumbling mess, stuttering over your words

However Lucius is a civil man and assured you it was fine (while also giving a look to Draco)

Let’s just say Lucius wasn’t exactly thrilled with his son’s choice

You were practically shaking when you were in your seat and eventually just sat near concessions.

Cedric found you and calmed you down, you thanking him

For the most part you enjoyed the game after you calmed down

You had to listen to Ron’s big speech on Krum afterwards though and you were rolling your eyes

Draco met you guys back in the tent

“Y/n, are you alright? I noticed you looked really pale when you left.” He asked

“Your father is terrifying.” You said before hearing what you thought was a scream of celebration

You took a long sip of water before Arthur ran in. 

“Everyone, grab your things, we need to leave.” He said

“What’s going on?” You asked 

The sense of alarm on Arthur’s face made everyone worried. 

Draco immediately pulled you close to him, neither of you letting go when you got to safety.

“Are you alright?” Cedric asked.

Draco immediately seemed jealous

“I’m okay Ced, don’t worry. I’m more worried for Harry.” You muttered looking over at the boy.

“Wait... Draco, where’s your dad?” Hermione asked.

He frowned, looking around the camp grounds to see no trace of his father. 

“....Don’t tell me he’s--” “I don’t know. He stopped keeping me in the loop after our second year.” He muttered.

“....Why?” You asked. 

Draco seemed so tense because of that one little question.

“I think he had something to do with the chamber of secrets.” Draco said

“What?” The group asked in unison.

“he carried around this black journal, I don’t know if you remember that girl from Slytherin, Pansy? We’re friends with her family and I think he snuck it into her luggage or something. Either way when the ministry found her she was unconscious and the journal was on the ground next to her.” Draco explained

Everyone was shocked. 

“Your father almost killed a student!?” Ron whisper shouted

“I didn’t know, it wasn’t until last year that I started piecing shit together man!” Draco whispered

“Are you insane-- you have to be” “Ron calm down” Hermione whispered

“He almost got someone killed!” Ron said

“Draco is not his father!” You snapped. 

Everyone was surprised by your reaction, especially Draco

You sighed and looked away, looking at the scene in front of you 

That’s when a flash of green light practically blinded you and there it was

the dark mark

Draco grabbed your hand, staring at it with a frown. 

“Do you think he’s--” “I don’t know.” Draco whispered

You all went back to the Burrow, Molly mortified that her adoptive sons  (and daughter) went through that

Remus was also there, for the first time in months he hugged you. 

“I thought the worst.” He muttered.

“I’m okay papa.” You whispered.

You all were cautious when you went back to school

Cedric was happy you were okay, Cho was too

Cedric was also talking to you more, mainly because you had crossed paths multiple times at campus.

Believe or not, you were actually really good friends.

Draco still was having no luck in asking you out

Fred and George witnessed him nearly lose his mind during the first few hours of school because you touched his hand

He went from smooth to a nervous wreck.

Then the introduction dinner started

And everything was odd.

You watched the Beauxbatons dance with ease

You watched Durmstrang march forward

You listened to Ron’s squeal when he saw Viktor Krum

And then a Durmstrang boy seemed to immediately take a liking to you

Which made Draco want to stab him

You seemed completely oblivious to the guy’s flirting though

You all found out about the goblet of fire

Draco actually was considering joining the competition but you seemed to have a negative reaction to it.

Then they announced the age restriction on it and everyone but you seemed to hate the idea of that.

Then Harry ended up getting roped into it and you were arguing 24/7 with the ministry workers on why he was involved 

Then mad eye moody assured you that he’d be fine. 

Mad eye moody freaked you out.

Seriously, he seemed awfully fixated on you and Harry

Draco hated seeing you with that Durmstrang boy.

Seriously.

He was always there, smiling at you, laughing at something you said.

Draco was over all in a sour mood when he was around

You didn’t mind Nikolai but you needed a break so you found yourself sitting at the lake

A blonde French girl sat next to you

It was Fleur

she didn’t always like being in the center of attention and needed a break

So the two of you became close friends

She taught you French, you taught her English

You and her became very close, Draco taking notice of your friend

not in a romantic way. Actually, she noticed his interest was not with her

No, she knew he was in love with you just by the way he looked at you

“So how long have you and Draco been... seeing each other?” Fleur asked.

“Oh we aren’t... Dating.” You muttered, throwing a pebble into the water

“Really? He looks at you as if he was in love, I just figured--” “He doesn’t--... Does he?” You asked.

“Oh my goodness does he, he seems completely head over heels.” She said.

So then you started thinking about this more and more. 

something was clearly bugging you and Draco could tell

It was that damn dance class

Draco and you were paired up and you seemed so distracted.

“Y/n?” Draco asked.

“Hmm? Oh sorry.” You muttered.

“Are you alright?” He asked, the glint of concern in his eyes

“Yeah, I’m fine...” you said

You two were dancing great actually, smiling and laughing before you noticed it

the loving look that Fleur was talking about

“Draco I need you to be 100% honest with me.” you began

he nodded

“Do you love me?” you asked. 

Draco froze as did Fred and George who were listening. 

Draco swallowed hard. 

“I-I” He stuttered. 

“Draco?” You asked.

“...Yes.” he answered

You didn’t hesitate in kissing him

You simply yanked his tie, pulling him to you and you just...

kissed him

He kind of locked in place for a minute and Fred groaned. 

“KISS HER YOU GIT!” George said.

finally his shock subsided and he put his arms around your waist. 

he kissed you back and boom

you two were dating

You both were so in love and it was nice for the friend group to see you so happy. 

You two were inseparable and of course Fred and George took full credit

The second challenge came along

You were all sitting on the docks when you noticed missing people that didn’t make sense

Cho wasn’t present for her own boyfriend

Ron wasn’t there either

and neither was Gabrielle.

You frowned, walking over to her 

“Fleur, where’s Gabi?” You asked. 

“She’s not with the girls?” She asked. 

You shook your head and she frowned.

“Fleur, what was this challenge?” You asked. 

“...retrieving... something...” she said before both of you realized what was going on.

“Y/n?” Draco asked. 

Fleur’s pale face combined with your shocked expression concerned him

“Love what’s wrong?” He asked. 

“They’re down there.” you whispered. 

Draco frowned. 

“....Are you sure?” he asked.

“Hermione would never miss this.” you muttered.

The contestants had to line up and you frowned, watching them all jump in

You noticed Neville give Harry Gillyweed 

You sat and waited, seeing Krum come up first with Hermione.

You ran over, seeing her cough .

“Are you alright?” you asked. 

“I’m fine, have you seen Ronald?” she asked. 

“He wasn’t down there?” you asked. 

“I...Don’t know, I couldn’t see.” She said.

Cedric came up with Cho and you looked over. 

Finally, Harry came up with Ron

You were relieved when they showed up

But anxiety filled you back up when Fleur came back empty handed.

“The mermaids, I-I couldn’t get her back--” 

You looked over 

“Neville, hand me the rest of the Gillyweed.” you said 

He handed it to you and you took off your shirt. 

“Y/n, what the hell are you doing!?” Draco asked. 

“Saving my friend..” you said before jumping into the water

Draco nearly went in after you but Moody stopped him.

“If she’s in danger, we’ll know.” He said

Soon, you popped out of the water with Gabrielle and Fleur sprinted over.

You were cold, naturally

Draco was just happy to have you back, wrapping you in a towel.

the ministry was pissed with your involvement now, but because you were a Hogwarts student points were given to Cedric and Harry.

Durmstrang insisted that that was bullshit and that points should've been docked but uh...

Dumbledore rlly said "No fucks given"

So that good old Yule ball.

You didn't really plan on going but Ginny AND Hermione insisted.

As far as Draco knew, he was aware it wasn't your scene but didn't get the memo that his friends were dragging his girlfriend to the dance.

His plan was to show up for looks, raid the cookies, leave, sneak to you and just spend time with you.

So imagine that boy's shock watching you walk Hermione down the stairs looking beautiful.

He just was there really to make his parents happy by keeping up appearances, but now that you were there it was a reason to stay.

You and him couldn't take your eyes off each other.

You did dip out pretty quick once things got loud but you also raided the snacks, sitting on the steps.

You laughed at some silly little joke he told you.

He smiled, brushing the hair out of your eyes

"Draco..." You said.

"Hmm?" He hummed.

"do you ever consider a future... With me?" you asked.

He smiled, kissing your knuckles.

"All the time my love." He replied.

"Like what?" you asked.

"Well I know that I want us to live in a nice house... And I'd like a dog." he said.

You laughed, making him raise a brow

"My uncle is a dog, my father is pretty damn close to one, aren't you aggravated with all the canines?" you asked, making him smile.

"I've always found basset hounds to be adorable, sue me." He said.

You laughed harder.

"What is with you?" he asked.

"It's hard to imagine you with a dog like-like a basset hound! A great Dane, maybe but a small little basset hound is amusing!" You said.

He shook his head with a smile.

"One day I hope that we grow old together... Maybe have children if it doesn't make you uncomfortable... Our son's name would be Charles... Our daughter would be named Violet." He finally said.

You blinked, feeling this beautifully intense emotion of love.

"Draco I love you." You said.

He smiled, kissing you. "I love you too."

And you almost kissed again until you heard shouting from Ron and then Hermione.

"I have to handle these morons, I'm sorry." You told him.

"Go. I'll see if I can talk sense into Ron." He nodded.

So the night ended with you comforting Hermione and Draco bitching at Ron for not seeing what was SO CLEARLY IN FRONT OF HIM.

The final trial began, Ron of course having tension with Hermione

You had this bad feeling.

Draco could tell too.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"I just... It feels off. Something about this. It feels off." You said.

And then it began.

As players returned back to the start you started asking questions.

And then Fleur said something.

"When I turned a corner, I swear I could hear a rat!"

Your heart dropped and you BOLTED to the ministry workers, BEGGING them to pull the rest of the students out.

Their exact words were "We can't just do that based on a 'paranoid whim'."

And then it happened.

Harry and Cedric came back.

Only one of them wasn't alive.

You sprinted down to them, pulling Cedric's chest to your ear, praying you heard something.

The silence in his chest was so loud.

You let out this pained cry that alerted the crowd something was wrong.

You and Harry were both dragged back to Moody's office

You had this feeling again.

Uneasy, like something was wrong.

As Moody talked, you kept noticing the weird tongue thing he was doing.

As he revealed more and more... It made sense.

"You put Harry's name in the Goblet of fire!" You realized, Harry looking over shocked at your accusation.

He was searching frantically for something.

You didn't even dare to reach for your wand.

You knew he'd kill you in a instant

"For a girl so caught up in a ridiculous romance, you catch on quick, Lupin." He said.

"Harry won because I made it so. He ended up in that graveyard because it was meant to be so and now the deed is done." He told you, leaning close to your face.

He walked to the cabinet looking at you and Harry.

"Imagine the reward I'd get for finally silencing the great Potter. The girl... Well the girl would just be a plus." He chuckled, whipping out his wand.

"EXPELLIAMUS!" was shouted.

You and Harry backed to the wall, hearts pounding.

"Are you alright?" you asked him.

He nodded "You?" He asked.

"Yeah." You breathed.

Dumbledore, Mcgonagall and Snape all joined you, Snape pouring something in Moody's mouth.

The truth was revealed.

Moody was actually not Moody, in fact, he was Barty Crouch Jr.

And the real Moody was what was in the mysterious chest he kept in the office.

Once you and Harry were released, you both went to the common room where the group was waiting.

You hugged Draco.

You explained everything, deeply unsettling the group.

"do you know what this means?" Ron asked.

You watched the fire in the fireplace with a blank stare

"War."

The banners of Cedric went up.

Harry felt too much guilt keeping the prize money.

So he gave it to Fred and George for their business.

You seemed very depressed over the summer

You hardly left your room.

Then something happened.

Draco showed up at your house in the middle of the night.

"What in Merlin's beard are you doing here, it's four in the morning?" Remus asked.

"I need a place to stay sir." He said.

a family meeting was called.

Naturally everyone was half awake until Draco explained what was going on.

Not only did Draco confirm your suspicions of his father being a death eater. He was allowing Voldemort to stay with them.

Draco saw him enter, apparently said he was going for a walk and then just... Took off.

Remus, while reluctant to let his daughter's boyfriend to stay in the same house as them, allowed it.

You all told the Weasleys of course

Once the school year began, Sirius made a attempt to alert the ministry of "hi, guess what, the guy we all feared would come back is in fact back... And staying at the Malfoy manor"

This was waved off.

Remus tried.

waved off.

ARTHUR TRIED

waved off.

Once you got to school, something odd was going on.

there was a ministry worker there

As a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher

and everyone was claiming that Cedric's death was a accident.

This. Made. You. Livid.

You and Harry were both pissed that actual magic was no longer being practiced

"Don't you think we should actually PRACTICE the magic, especially now that 'You know who' is back?" you asked.

"He. Is. not. back."

You glared.

"You're fucking joking right?" You asked.

By this point you were UNBELIEVABLY fed up with everything.

Weeks of refusing to acknowledge the death of Cedric or the many warnings of a war brewing made you no longer care.

"You are saying this in a class room with two children who has been attacked multiple times by his followers-" "Miss Lupin, be quiet please." "one of which SHOULD'VE died, his parents, DID die." Miss Lupin, sit. Down." "Another student's parents were tortured to a point where they can't even speak and he's aware of what's really going on!" "Miss Lupin I will not be spoken to like this-" "You might be terrified of even acknowledging what is happening, but it won't stop the fact that it is." " Miss Lupin-" "How in the hell do you think Cedric ended up dead!?" "WHAT HAPPENED TO CEDRIC WAS AN ACCIDENT!" "BULLSHIT!"

You of course got detention.

And that's when you discovered how truly crazy this woman was.

When you came back, you immediately told Mcgonagall what she did.

She did what protocol suggested.

She asked the ministry to remove her.

and basically got a "no❤️"

Dumbledore was AWOL and it was clear that this was going to be a LONG year.

Rules kept being added, lessons were being ignored

So you and Harry started the next "Dumbledore's army."

You used this 'room of requirement' a student showed you.

She was sweet actually

kind of on the hippy side but you liked her.

Draco and you both felt so tired of this woman.

Draco knew that if he just asked his parents they might do something.

But probably at a high cost.

You told him not to do anything.

"Why? Y/n, you've been injured by this woman. Harry's been injured. We've contacted everyone we know in the ministry, nothing's been DONE!" he asked.

"I have full confidence in Dumbledore." You said simply.

He didn't get that one at all but when along with it anyway.

FINALLY it reached a new point.

You were pissed, Cho revealed where the Room of Requirement was.

So you finally wrote to your dad.

"Dad. I might not finish school. Sincerely, your loving daughter."

Fred and George noticed your anger and decided to help you direct it somewhere.

They showed you a plan.

You agreed and explained it to Draco.

He was sad you wouldn't be graduating with him.

But he handed you a matchbox, kissed your head and told you to go to town.

and so you did

You set off fireworks with them and Draco smiled.

Once the three of you finished the handiwork you watched it all explode together.

"Regret any of this?" Fred asked.

You smiled at the boy.

"Never Freddie."

And so you left Hogwarts, the three of you opening up the shop.

Remus wasn't too happy with your... Unethical way of handling Umbridge.

But he was proud.

Then came a day when Bill came into the shop saying he met someone.

He would mention little things about this charming blonde girl he met

apparently English wasn't her first language so she spoke with an accent.

When you asked the name you nearly died

it was Fleur!

Your dad came in the shop one day asking all of you to close early and that it was an emergency.

you all went with him, you going to a house you had only stayed in once in your life, shortly after James and Lily died.

It was Sirius' parents' house.

The real moody was there, as were all of the Weasleys and Draco.

then there was this girl with pink hair.

You'd notice the look your dad would give her, making you realize he liked her.

You all joined the Order that night and would report back to them pretty regularly.

Then came a meeting where Draco came back.

He and Remus had been discussing something.

And Draco agreed to something

You were working in the shop one day

Draco came in and he said he had to speak with you

You sat there and listened to him

"The Order thinks we need a spy." He said

"What is Moody cooking up over there?" you asked.

"The only one with an opening is me Y/n." He said

You froze.

"No. No, tell me you didn't-"

"as far as my family knows, me and you have broken up-"

"Draco that is too dangerous, why the fuck would you ever agree to do something like this?" You asked.

"Because I want a future with you Y/n... And this is a war we have to fight." He said.

You accepted the situation but hated all of this.

And then Harry had a vision.

Something was wrong, Arthur was in danger

So you all went to the Ministry

Turns out he was right.

You ended up saving Arthur's life.

Then there was another vision

Sirius was in danger.

So you all went.

This was one of the worst decisions to make

You all went, finding out why Death eaters were there

A prophecy

you guys beat them to the punch however...

Which led to death eaters running after all of you

You all ended up in a battle, your dad, Tonks and Sirius coming to you all.

You fought as strong as you could, actually packing a real punch

and then it happened.

You all thought you were in the clear

"AVADA KADAVRA!"

Sirius stumbled back.

Your eyes widened as you bolted away from Ginny and Remus held Harry as he screamed

Then Voldemort came

you felt true terror

Then....

Dumbledore resurfaced

The Death Eaters took off

You all grieved the loss of Sirius.

You were right there... You should've done... Something.

Draco finally managed to sneak off and tell you that something WORSE was brewing

An attack on Dumbledore

So you all warned him

He didn't have much of a reaction to finding this out, which didn't completely shock you, the man was one of the most powerful wizards , he had a lot of enemies

To Voldemort, that was what was standing in his way.

You all started training more, though you still felt this depression due to the inability to see Draco or the inability to be at Hogwarts. \

However your father's new girlfriend always seemed to check on you.

You loved her, she had this sense of humor you just seemed to vibe with

Your dad referred to you two as his girls

finally one day Remus came by the shop.

He was rambling a lot about something changing and fiddling with something in his pocket

"Dad." you sighed

"And if you have any problems with Nymphadora-"

"Dad."

"I really want to hear them because your opinion matters-"

"You're proposing to her, aren't you?" You asked.

He paused but nodded.

"I'm so happy for you two dad." You said, sincerely.

He smiled and hugged you "Thank you pup"

So the two got married, you and Harry being the witnesses to it

Not long after the wedding though, Tonks kept getting sick

Remus was TERRIFIED he did something

You however noticed a series of patterns

Foods that Tonks used to love she now hated, she craved some off putting things and then it hit you

You pulled her into another room

"You're pregnant." You told her

"No, no I can't be- Oh my god I'm pregnant."

"you're WHAT!?" Remus asked, walking in at precisely the wrong time

"Uh.." "Sur...prise?" you said confused.

Your dad handled it real weird.

He was panicked at first

BABY PROOFED EVERYTHING around the Order

then he sat down with a calculator and was pricing things just saying "Oh god."

then he finally said he was happy

You started getting this feeling though

this feeling of being watched

Draco was visiting less and less and you figured maybe that's why you felt weird.

Then something happened.

Harry and Draco came back to the Order one day, both looking sick to their stomachs

"Love... Are you alright?" You asked Draco

He was shaking, Harry just looked shocked

Remus came in, looking at the boys.

"So it is true." He muttered.

"What's going on?" You asked.

"....Dumbledore he's.... He's dead."

This felt like such a shock.

One of the most powerful people... Gone

Just like that.

"Who killed him?" You asked

"S...Snape."

Your heart dropped.

the whole wizarding world now grieved

You all felt so.. Weird.

Then... You got a letter

Fleur asked an odd question

"Will you be my bridesmaid"

You happened to be drinking coffee and reading this next to the boys

"BILL PROPOSED!?" you asked

Fred and George both looked up

"HE DID WHAT!?"

So that's how you all found out.

Then your lil bro was born!

Teddy!

Then there was a slight... Problem

Harry was going to be attacked

So seven people devised a plan, drinking polyjuice potion to avoid having harry killed

Fred, George, Fleur, Bill, Ron and Hermione all drank the potion

You stayed with Molly and Ginny

When your father came back he was pissed.

Someone in the Order betrayed them.

And then came George

Who was now missing an ear

Oh no

You all helped nurse him back to health

then when he was lucid he said the iconic lines of

"I'm holey"

You and Fred rolled your eyes but were glad he was safe

Then... The next days came

The prime minister of the wizarding world showed up

He had things of Dumbledore to give to all of you

and he gave you all a quest

to destroy some horcruxes

You all went to a wedding

Fleur and Bill! WOOHOO!

Draco of course went

He loved seeing you again

"I've missed you." You whispered to him at a table.

"I've missed you too." He said.

He smiled, watching the happy couple dance.

"...Do you think we'll have something like that?" You asked

"Well for one we're not getting married in a tent." he said making you laugh

then all hell just seemed to break lose

The wedding turned into Harry, you and Hermione all going on the run

Hermione of course came prepared

You all went to some random shop and devised a plan

You all got attacked (they failed)

You all went back to Grimmauld Place, figuring clues had to be there

you ended up sleeping there, finding Sirius's room.

You found his old things... His leather jacket being right on a chair

"Take it." Harry told you.

"But Harry you-" "You always loved that thing growing up... I'll take his lighter." He told you

Then you had a thought

"Wait, what were the initials in the book?" You asked

"RAB"

then it clicked with both of you

Sirius didn't mention his home life to you guys, but he did talk about his little brother

Regulus Arcturus Black

You found this little locket in his room

And then you met that creepy ass house elf

Then you had to go to the ministry

Oh god.

You all snuck in

and there was Umbridge.

You stood there in a court room

and you learned that that feeling of being watched was more than valid.

You, your families... They were all being watched by the bitch in pink.

before they started to figure out what was going on and saving a woman in the process

Then others started chasing you and next thing your ass knew, you were in the woods

You all made a attempt to destroy the locket

it failed.

you all had to walk

for days

then Ron got jealous

Then he took off on his own

You all had to keep going

Hermione was noticeably more sad

"how do you do it Y/n?" she asked

"Do what?" you asked

"fight so hard without him next to you." She asked

You sighed

"I have to keep going Hermione. If we want any shot at a future... We need to keep going." You said

"...Right." She nodded

"Plus, I found that binge drinking helps." You added making her snort

After days of traveling you found clues that led you all to a grave yard in a place that felt vaguely familiar.

You found a grave with a symbol on it

But that's not what made this familiar

"Harry-"

You looked up and saw him at a grave

you and Hermione walked over to see James and Lily's headstone.

You conjured a lily to place while Hermione put a wreathe on it

You all ended up in a house with an old woman.

Well an old woman that ended up being a snake

A literal snake

So you bolted.

Then you ended up on the road

AGAIN.

While you were asleep, Harry managed to find the sword of Gryffindor

...And RON!

So you broke the horcrux

you all made up but now you needed to figure out what to do next

After more traveling you ended up with Luna's dad

Mans was cryptic

and then you were all attacked

you all took off in the woods, magic was in fact used to hurt harry but only enough to conceal his identity

you ended up in the malfoy manor.

Draco's face dropped once you were put in front of him

"Y'know.. I bet the girl will have answers." Bellatrix suggested.

"Which one? There's two." Lucius said, staring at you

"...Lover girl here, who's been makin' eyes at your boy." she said.

His heart pounded in his ears as you were handed over to Bellatrix.

Harry shot a look to Draco and he had to bite his tongue

"So... pretty pretty girl" She began

you swallowed hard, looking at Draco.

"What did you take. Hmm? From the vault?" She asked

You shook your head.

"I wasn't with them-" "LIAR!" She yelled making you jump.

"Last chance. What did you take-" "I don't know--" she pinned you to the floor, winding you.

"WHAT DID YOU TAKE!?" "NOTHING!"

and then she started the torture.

You let out bloocurdling screams, begging for her to stop Draco having to look away, he was on the verge of tears

Then the group managed to escape.

As the group prepared to fight and you were shaking from...everthing, you all heard this metal squeak

You looked up to see

Dobby?

Draco looked at him, then you, then as the chandelier fell, he grabbed you, ran to Harry and you all apparated out of there

You all were safe

...Until Dobby stumbled forward.

And then Draco caught him

"D-Dobby is sorry Master Draco.." He muttered

Draco let tears fall

"You will die, a free elf Dobby." He told him.

"Dobby... Is..Free" were the last words of Dobby

You and Harry buried him, you feeling this intense guilt

"This isn't going to be the last person we bury, will it?" you asked.

"...No." Harry muttered.

Hermione went through her bag, pulling out your jacket.

You put it on, holding your wrist in pain

"What did she write?" Ron asked.

"...Blood Traitor." you muttered.

Draco pulled you to him, kissing your head

"I should've reacted-" "You could have died." you said.

he hugged you tightly, you sobbing into his chest

You were so tired.

and this wasn't even halfway done.

Well after a few days of rest they all asked what Bellatrix wanted to know

You told them it was something about a vault

The group decided to investigate said vault.

You told them you weren't joining them

Neither was Draco.

Instead you stayed with Bill and Fleur, away from everything

Fleur noticed you being so... Out of it

She sat next to you in a chair

"What's on your mind?" She asked

"Was that how they felt?" You muttered.

"What?" Bill asked, looking up from a book as Draco washed dished

"Neville's parents. Was... What I went through... That terror... Was that how they felt?" You asked.

Draco stopped what he was doing and hugged you.

Draco never stopped feeling that guilt

You and Draco took a break after the events at the manor from the Order.

Your time however came when the battle started.

Everyone showed up, first years were evacuated,

Shit was going to hit the fan.

So you all buckled up

You wore Sirius's jacket, standing next to your dad and Draco

you held Draco's hand, watching McGonagall's force field slowly break.

"THEY'RE COMING!" Ginny shouted, sprinting down the bridge with her group.

You all fought, screams around you as you sprinted down halls to find Fred and George

"Fred!" You called.

"BEHIND YOU!" He yelled, Draco blasting a rock away from you.

"Fucking trolls!" Draco coughed.

Fred and George never left your side after that.

You looked around the battlefield and frowned.

"Where's dad?" You asked

Draco looked to the twins.

You all took off again, before seeing your dad and Tonks

relief washed over you seeing him

and then

A spell was fired behind him, the entire area collapsing

Draco took your hand, sprinting away as you watched the area collapse where your father was.

When you were safe, you fell to the ground.

"We- we have to go back" You whimpered

"We can't Y/n..." Fred said.

"We-we have to--" You sobbed into George's chest, him holding you

they were gone...

Your dad

Tonks...

Gone.

Draco looked around, hearing students yell

"We're not safe here darling, we have to go" He said

you nodded, but were still crying

Fred and George met back up with you in the infirmary, before seeing something gut wrenching

Percy was dead.

The whole family grieved, Ron sobbing into Hermione's shoulder, Ginny hugging you

Fred and George felt like the worst people on earth especially after Arthur mentioned something

Percy, stuck up, hard ass Percy's last words

was a joke.

You and Draco stayed near the infirmary, guarding the son of a bitch with your lives

you saw Hermione and Ron, both with Harry.

You ran over, looking at them

"How many more are there?" You asked.

"One. I don't even know what it is." Ron huffed.

Harry said nothing, hugging you tightly.

"You and I may not be related by blood. But we are family." He mumbled in your ear

You originally assumed his sincerity came from the fact you were surrounded by war

And then it hit you

Harry could read Voldemort's mind

Harry could read Nagini's mind

Harry could speak Parseltongue

He ran off before you could speak

"No... no no no--"

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"Harry's the last horcrux." You said, your voice breaking.

Everyone froze as they realized what had to happen

It didn't help either when the battle just seemed to stop

and they saw Hagrid holding someone.

Ginny let out a cry that nearly broke you

Fred and George out their hands on your shoulders as you sobbed

You lost...

You all... You were doomed from the start, you all lost

And then... they asked you all to pick sides

Draco's family motioned for him to come but he didn't move an inch from your side

But then something unexpected happened....

You walked forward.

"...This is quite unexpected miss Lupin. But I'm sure there's a place for you--"

"I’d like to say something." you said, looking at him.

"I don't care that Harry's gone. People die everyday, my dad. My stepmom. My friends. My family. My brother now has to live in a world where he doesn't have his parents. So I don't care that Harry is gone. Because he’s still with us…in here. So is my dad, Tonks, Cedric…all of them. They didn’t die in vain! I won't fucking let them. I refuse to let them. But you will, because you’re wrong. Harry’s heart did beat for us. For all of us! It’s not over!” you told the dark Lord.

Draco gripped his wand ready to counter whatever spell was about to be fired

And then something very very surprising happened

Harry was alive.

Intense relief washed over him before you snatched his wand back from Lucius and threw it to him

Lucius had the last straw with you

so he started to attack you

what he didn't account for was you having serious strength before you socked him in the jaw

Draco and you took off before you saw flashes of red and green

You watched as Harry overpowered Voldemort, destroying him once and for all.

You did it.

You hugged him, along with Draco, Hermione and the Weasleys

Harry broke the elder wand, doing away with it so no one would have a chance to use it for evil ever again

You went to sleep, finally feeling safe.

You felt empty though, having to come home to your house now without your dad or Tonks

Andromeda was staying with Teddy, sure not to wake you

When you woke up that morning you could smell something specific.

Your dad's pancakes.

you bolted up, sprinting to the kitchen to see

Draco

Disappointment coursed through you and he turned around, hugging you

"I'm so sorry." Draco whispered.

You whimpered and let the tears fall before

"Tell me you didn't burn the one thing I left you in charge of."

You turned around, Remus standing there.

"DAD!" you screamed, hugging him

He winced but hugged back.

"Oh! Hello, this is a strange start to a morning." Tonks said before you yanked her into a hug

Turns out a few of the Slytherins were around the campus on their brooms as Sentry's for Mcgonagall.

When the collapse took place, they saved them from any lethal damage

A few cracked ribs and a collapsed lung? Yes, but at least they were alive.

You all had a proper funeral for Sirius.

You, Fred and George all completed your time in Hogwarts.

Once you did, you became healer, but something WILD happened on graduation day

You smiled, looking at your family.

Draco cleared his throat, standing next to you.

"hi there stranger." you said, earning a chuckle.

"can we talk, I do have a question to ask." he said.

You nodded, turning to him.

"You remember the future we wanted together?" He asked.

"Kids, a small house and the dog? Yes, I remember." You said.

"what if I had a plan to make it happen?" He asked.

"...what?"

"Y/n, what if... we got married?" he asked.

Your mind imploded

"YES YOU FUCKING MORON!" you said, hugging him.

So you two ended up getting married.

You ended up having a son and the basset hound your husband just had to have.

Buddy was the dog's name

Scorpius was your son's name.

One day you were doing the dishes when Scorpius came up to you

"mummy, I have a question." he said.

"What is it dear?" You asked.

"My teachers mentioned you left hogwarts in your fifth year. What happened?" He asked.

You smiled.

"Well my little lad... That's quite a story."

Taglist: @amhyeah @newtaholic-staygold @bbeauttyybbx @fleurho @yodeadxss @mariah-can-dream

[batsandbugs]

The Great IKEA Game

Chapter 1 - Meet the Players

Marinette originally came to the IKEA an hour outside of Gotham to buy twinkle lights for her new living room. She eventually extended her trip into obtaining new dishes since all she had right now was empty takeout containers she kept rewashing. She would have been very content getting what she needed and being on her way, (no, she wasn't lonely Plagg, she had two dozen mini-gods to keep her company, shut up) but halfway between the bedding and lights sections, Marinette’s life changed forever. 

For the better, if she was being honest. 

She never would have realized it if she hadn’t ducked into a showroom to test out a couch. She settled against the fluffy folds, knowing it would be destroyed within minutes if she ever brought it home when she noticed him. A boy, no man, about her age, hiding behind a desk looking for all the world as if he were plotting world domination or someone’s demise. 

They looked at each other in shock for a moment. 

“Are… are you ok-”

“Shhh!” his green eyes narrowed, and boy, Marinette had been on the receiving end of death glares before, but this one had to take the cake. 

“Sorry,” she whispered. 

He rolled his eyes. “Do you see a group of dark-haired obnoxious idiots out there?” he asked. 

The request was an odd one, but Marinette rose from the couch and glanced around outside of the showroom. She didn’t see anyone fitting his description. She shook her head. 

He smirked. “My idiot older brothers dragged me along for a “family bonding experience”." He made the little quotation marks, and Marinette never thought anyone could look cool doing that, but somehow this person nailed it. "Tt. I’ve successfully avoided them for an hour. Didn’t know when the coast would be clear though.” He rose gracefully from the ground, looking all the more like a prince, rather than a crazy person hiding from his family. 

It was absurd. 

Marinette found herself instantly amused. 

“I have friends exactly like that, I totally get it,” she said, thinking how Adrian would be beside himself when she told him the story later. The pang of loneliness that had been present since she’d left her friends in Paris, for college in America re-emerged. She shook her head of the maudlin thoughts. 

The Kwamis would have had a field day with this idea too, thankfully she had left them in her severely under-furnished apartment for the day in order to avoid the squabbling that came with only taking a few of them out of the house.  

Marinette looked back out at the hallway again, wondering if the man's brothers would soon appear, finding herself invested in what would happen. “What are you going to do now?” 

“Well, Drake has the keys, and those idiots will be at their shenanigans till the store closes, so…” he shrugged. 

“Are they like… furnishing a whole house?” Marinette didn’t know how you could spend an entire day here. Sure, it was big, but… 

“No. We’re engaged in a no holds barred game of hide-and-seek.” Marinette’s mouth dropped open. “If one of them catches me I become the seeker.” 

“Why?” 

He smirked, “Because I’ve held out the longest.” 

"No, I mean, why are you playing hide-and-seek?" It seemed an odd choice for a bunch of adults. Well, Marinette and her friends would do it. But they also willing became superheroes at the age of fourteen so their judgment was already in question.   

He shrugged. "My oldest brother thought it would be fun, and our father is... out of town at the moment," he said with a bit of hesitation. 

“So, you’re just going to hide in this showroom till the store closes?” 

A devious smile spread across the man’s handsome features. “No. I intend to troll them. If Grayson wants my participation, I'm going to make him regret it.” 

It was at that moment she crossed the point of no return, not that Marinette knew it yet.

Throwing away any idea of finishing her shopping today she returned his smirk. “Any chance I could join you in your crusade?” 

The guy looked her over suspiciously. “Why should I allow a stranger to join me and potentially ruin my chances at victory?” 

Marinette thought for a moment. “Well, your brothers know you well?” He nodded. “Then they likely know what you’ll do to avoid and troll them. You need a fresh perspective. Plus, I can operate out in the open, I’m not officially a part of the game.” 

“Hmm...” his face was impassive; Marinette couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “You make some good points, but I’m not fully convinced.” 

Marinette huffed, “I also grew up in Paris without being akumatized.” 

He looked at her oddly. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Paris had a terrorist for five years that turned people into monsterized versions of themselves if they felt negative feelings. They were called Akuamas. Everyone in my class had it happen to them at least once. More for some particularly loose cannons.” 

The guy looked bewildered. “Why didn’t anyone hear about this?” 

Marinette shrugged, trying to play off her knowledge as what a normal civilian would know. “Combination of corrupt politicians, social media blackouts, and magic. People died during these attacks, but everything was put to rights at the end of every fight due to the superheroes powers.” 

His mouth dropped, but he recovered quickly looking contemplative. “I want to know more about this at a later time, but if what you say is true you can control yourself better than the average peon. But my brothers and I are a combination of street orphans, circus brats, gymnastics freaks, and geniuses - are you sure you can keep up?” 

Marinette nearly laughed at his description but managed to keep a straight face. “Positive.” 

“Alright, I'll do whatever it takes to win.” He offered her his hand. “I’m Damian.” 

She took it, feeling a slight shock as her fingers touched his. “I’m Marinette, nice to meet you, Damian.” 

“You won’t be saying that soon enough,” he said with a slight smirk. He looked over her shoulder. “Shit.” He dove beneath the desk he’d been hiding behind earlier. “Tall guy with the white streak in his hair.” Marinette turned to look. “Don’t make it too obvious,” he hissed. 

Marinette grabbed her phone and leaned against the desk. With small side glances, she saw a man probably mid to late twenties with two-toned hair. He wore a leather jacket and seemed to be searching for something, or someone. 

“Who’s that?” she asked quietly. 

“Second oldest brother, Jason Todd - arguably the most and least dangerous.” 

“Why both?” 

“He did not want to participate initially, so he’s reluctant, but at the same time, he hates losing.  He’ll hang on to the bitter end. More resourceful than the other two, and more violent, although less sophisticated.” 

Jason moved closer to their showroom. 

“Hush, he’s headed this way,” she whispered. Damian remained quiet and Marinette tried to make herself look busy. 

“Quick question miss?” Marinette glanced up from her phone. Jason stood at the entrance to the showroom. 

“Oh, uh, oui? Non, non, I mean yes?” Marinette said in an exaggerated accent, playing into the oblivious tourist stereotype always came in handy. 

“Oh French, shit, haven’t spoken that in a while,” he muttered. “Um...” 

“Non, it iz okay, I speak English well. Can I help you?” She batted her eyes just a bit. Marinette had long since grown from the days of not using all her advantages - courtesy of forced confidence from Chole. A friendship no one had seen coming but had grown quick and strong once they reached an understanding. 

“Oh, I’m looking for my little brother, about yay high, black hair, green eyes, permanent scowl. Have you seen him?” 

Marinette pretended to think for a second. “Non... I do not theenk so, perhaps help desk at zee front?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jason said, Marinette could see he had already written her off as useless. “Thanks, anyway.” He walked away quickly. 

There was a minute of silence. “Coast is clear,” said Marinette once Jason was out of sight. 

Damian popped up, a gleam in his eyes. “Your lying skills are adequate; we may just win this yet.” 

“I’m glad to meet such high approval, monsieur. Let’s get going.” 

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

Chapter 4

[dreamescapeswriting]

Pumpkin Juice ~ JJK [Request]

WORD COUNT: 5K

PAIRING: slytherin!Jungkook x Hufflepuff!Reader

GENRE: HogwartsAU, Harry Potter Universe, friends to strangers, strangers to enemies, enemies to lovers who have secret crushes on one another, touch her and I’ll kill you vibes, there is no wizard war in this so shhh, everyone is happy...Fred is Fred .

A/N: I used the “Wheel Of Names” to generate who would be used for this imagine and I got Jungkook, I thought since I didn’t give anyone a chance to request him I would do this as a one off for now :) 

Ever since you could remember it had always been you and Jungkook together, since you were kids you were always hanging out together and having fun. You'd met when you were younger, both your wizarding families had been friends for hundreds of years so it was fate that you and Jungkook would get along with one another. The two of you could never be separated, spending time with one another so much that people considered you siblings or some would even assume that you were dating. Your parents hoped you would date Jungkook since he was one of the best wizards in the country along with you by his side, the two of you were exceptionally smart and everyone had high expectations of you but once you began attending Hogwarts however, all of it changed. Instead of being your rock as he had been for all those years, Jungkook became a total stranger to you, being placed in Slytherin changed his personality for the worst. He began hanging around with all of the wrong people, Draco and Pansy influencing him to become one of the worst people you'd ever had the displeasure of knowing. 

Even in your final year, he was still pretending as though he'd never even known you, escaping to talk to you whenever he could though and in the summer he would attend parties at your home as if nothing had changed. As if he hadn't spent the entire school term torturing you and your friends with mean nickname and chants that they had been coming up with. The worst one being a song they had curated around Cedric's death in The Triwizard Tournament when he knew that you and Cedric had been dating for some time. 

"Look who it is, the book worm." You heard a familiar coo as you sat in the library one day during a free period, this voice didn't fill you with dread as many others did within the school grounds. 

"Fred," You greeted coldly, pretending to be mean to him as you tried to focus your mind on the potions book in front of you trying to get everything to set in your mind, Snape was always on at you for being behind in his class but it wasn't your fault. Potions weren't something you wanted to take but it was forced upon you by your family, almost every member was a master at potions except for you. Quidditch was where your skills laid and you could have been a professional if you could keep your grades up but you kept getting "D"'s in your potions class, 

"Another Dreadful?" George chimed in as he sat down beside you on one of the wooden chairs, glancing over at the latest potions report card you had gotten back, you slid it under your book not wanting anyone else that was inside of the library to see or overhear what was being spoken about.

"Snape hates me, that's all there is to it." You grumbled as your eyes continued to scan over the same sentence again and again but it was as if your head wasn't taking anything in that you were reading. 

"You just need a good tutor, someone who is exceptionally brilliant at potions," George said as he began straightening out his robes, brushing them off as he was clearly speaking about himself, 

"Someone who is also exceptionally good looking, charming and funny." He added as he put his elbow onto the desk, staring at you as he waited for you to take the hint. You smiled at him pretending as though you were taken in by everything he was saying, 

"You're so right Georgey...But where would I find someone like that, Hogwarts is filled with Idiots." You winked at him pushing his elbow out from underneath him and laughing in sync with Fred as George hit his head onto the wooden desk below him. 

"You're so mean to me," George began pouting out his bottom lip you were about to give him a sarcastic comment back when a shiver ran up and down your spine and the nearby candles blew out. 

"Well, well, well, it's the Weasleys and their little Weasley Whore." You shuddered at the sound of Pansy's voice, it was like nails on a chalkboard to you as she made her way over to the desk. Glancing you up and down as she spotted the report card sticking out from under your book.

"How was your Potions exam?" She asked as she pulled out a chair across from you, you knew she didn't care about your exam so you began to slowly pack your things up in silence, wanting nothing more than to get away from her and study in peace.

"Not so fast!" She called out, slamming her hand down onto the book in front of you and dragging it towards her with a giant smirk across her lips. 

Sliding out the report card the smirk only began to grow as she saw the large blood-red D written on the top of your card, 

"I would have given you a T so it would match you," She tilted her head to the side faking sympathy as she said something mean to you,

"T for troll...Get it? I thought I would explain seeing as you're so stupid," Fred went to step forward to say something but you clutched his wrist, it wasn't worth the fight or the detention you would no doubt get from Snape if he heard you were standing up to one of his favourite students. 

"Oh, this is a recent development," She snickered, staring down at your hand that was wrapped around Fred's pale wrist, the boy began to shake with anger but you tightened your grip. 

"I'm sure Jungkook would love to hear about this, maybe we could add a verse to the Weasley Is Our King song with Y/n in it as well!" She jumped up from the chair with excitement and began giggling as she walked out of the hall, humming the tune to the song she had referenced. 

"Not worth it, if Snape hears someone stood up to her there'll be hell to pay," You reminded Fred who was beginning to rant on about how Pansy had the face of a dog and the breath of one trying to get you to laugh. 

"It's nothing, I need to go and study some more in the common room, maybe I can convince one of the house-elves to sneak me some food," You nudged George as you got up from the table walking out of the library and down to the moving staircases. 

While on your way to the Hufflepuff common rooms you passed Jungkook who was standing outside the kitchen as if he was waiting for you to come by which would have completely outlandish to everyone else but to you it was normal. His leg was kicked up against the wall, nose down in a book as his eyes scanned over the text that was inside, 

"Struggling with something?" You questioned making him jump a little as he looked up from the Astronomy textbook, his leg dropped to the floor as he nodded at you. 

"I'll meet you at the Astronomy tower tonight but keep Pansy away from me, that was my deal with helping you with your studies," You reminded him of the deal you had made that summer between the two of you. 

Trapped inside your bedroom you waited for Jungkook to say something first, all-year-long he'd been torturing you relentlessly with Pansy and Draco. The name-calling and the persistent annoying pranks he would do were starting to get to you but in the summer he was the old Jungkook you knew and loved pretending as though nothing had happened. It was the same every year and you hated it. You couldn't see any reason why he acted the way he did in school,

"It would be nice if we could still be friends at school instead of pretending that you hate my guts," You mumbled as you watched him, he was sitting on the floor in front of your dresser, knees pulled into his chest as he listened to the party that was going on downstairs for your mother. The two of you were supposed to be doing the summer reading but your head was starting to pound with all of the new information and Jungkook was struggling with his Astronomy textbook.

"I can't...If I did that-"

"They would all hate you and you would feel like an outsider in your own wizarding house," You repeated what he had to you over a thousand times back to him in a mocking tone and he sighed looking at you, he never meant to hurt you when you were in school. It was all just supposed to be a joke but this time it had gone too far, joking about Cedric was one of the worst things he could have possibly done. Jungkook had known how much you and Cedric liked one another which was one of the reasons he was rooting for Cedric to lose in the tournament he'd never been good at placing his feelings but he knew jealously when he felt it.

"I am sorry about Cedric, he was a good guy." He mumbled not believing what he was saying but he knew he had to be there for you, deep down he had no idea why he was so jealous of you and Cedric all he knew was that he was and it made him feel like he had to be mean to you about the boy you liked. 

The room fell into silence as you both listened to the faded music playing downstairs, you never knew what to say when someone bought up the reminder that your ex-boyfriend was dead.

"Will you help me study this year?" He asked out of the blue, making you glance up at him and nod without thinking about it first. The two of you would normally study together in the summer, what difference would it make in the School year. 

"I'll make you a deal, we help each other study and I'll keep Pansy and Draco out of your way." He offered, reaching out his hand for you to shake if you accepted the deal he was making.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," You shook on it before sliding off the bed and sitting beside him, where Jungkook struggled in Astronomy you were great and where you struggled in Potions Jungkook was great it was the perfect combination. 

"I do keep her away from you but I can't watch her all of the time," He laughed softly as he looked at you but you weren't laughing, you were too angry from the fact that she had been mocking you again when Jungkook had promised to make all of it stop and for the most part it had. He wouldn't torture you as much as he had done for the last few years and he had done his best to keep Pansy out of your face, 

"Keep her on a short leash or Dogface will get a punch," You poked his chest as you began walking towards the entrance to your common room, it was no secret to where it was hidden since everyone and their great aunt seemed to know where it was located. Not to mention most Hufflepuffs allowed all of their friends to come and go whenever they wanted, 

"I've never been inside the common room," Jungkook hinted as you reached the barrels, 

"And you never will," You smirked evilly at him waiting for him to leave but he continued to stand there waiting for you to go inside so he could follow you in but you weren't going to move. 

"Jungkook, what are you doing down here?" Taehyung's voice rang out from the top of the hall, he had a tray of what looked like baked goods in his arms as a house-elf pushed him and Jimin out of the kitchen. 

"Torturing the house-elves again?" You questioned the two of them, folding your arms over your chest as a blush crept onto the two Hufflepuff's cheeks as they made their way over to you,

"We needed sustenance for our all-night-long study session," Jimin whined as you hummed at him, taking a cake from the top of the tray Taehyung was holding and began eating it waiting for Jungkook to leave once again. 

"I'll see you in Divination class," Jungkook whispered as he walked back down the hall backwards, his eyes never leaving yours despite being stared down by Taehyung and Jimin who turned to you as soon as the dark-haired boy was out of their sight.

"Flirting with a Slytherin, how scandalous," Jimin wiggled his eyebrows but you pushed him to the side, knocking on the barrel in the correct order before heading into the common room.

Instantly greeted by the warmth of the fireplace that was burning and the small chatter from everyone in the room, sitting beside Scarlet - one of the girls in your year - was Jin from Ravenclaw as they studied together...Well, it looked like they were staring down into the root of a plant but since they both loved Herbology so much you assumed they were studying.

"That's what it looked like to me," Jimin mumbled as he followed you over to one of the giant armchairs where you sat yourself down and took out your book to prove you were ignoring him. 

"You need classes then, there is and never will be something going on between me and Jungkook." You snapped as you looked up at him with piercing eyes as if you were daring him to say something else but he stopped speaking and you went back to reading. 

Divination class was normally one of the most laid back subjects you had taken in the school, it was all mostly a bunch of guessing work as well as skillfully avoiding getting asked to demonstrate by keeping your head in the book and avoiding Professor Trelawney's gaze as much as possible but today you could sense something was going to happen. 

As soon as you first walked in and saw Pansy on your table you knew there had to be something going on that involved pairs and bonding with other students for different Houses. 

"Pansy dear, you go first." You held back a snort at the idea of someone calling Pansy dear, Professor Trelawney was attempting to get everyone to read one another's future. A crystal ball was the only thing standing between the two of you on the table and it was taking everything inside of you not to pick it up and launch it at her face, maybe it would have made an improvement if you had.

"I see that Y/n is..." Pansy began staring into the ball intensely as she squinted a little everyone began to watch her as she dragged on the anticipation of everything,

"Y/n is going to get a "T" in the next potions exam," You scoffed out as everyone else in the room began to erupt in laughter, everyone that was except for you and Jungkook who was staring at you with "I'm sorry" eyes. 

"Do you know what I see?" You asked sarcastically as you looked at the ball in front of you and then back up to Pansy who had one eyebrow raised at you, 

"That the stupid dogface will fall off her broom in the next quidditch match this weekend," Pansy stood up ready to fight when Professor Trelawney clapped her hands together loudly and asked for the next pair to try and do it properly this time. Meanwhile you and Pansy exchanged looks as she threatened you with her eyes, you knew she was plotting something inside of her mind and you couldn't wait to see what it was. Not. 

Later that night when everyone was asleep you'd managed to sneak out of your common room and make your way up to the Astronomy Tower, you would have apparated yourself there but you still didn't have your license thanks to George and Fred distracting you one time and getting you caught between a wall.

"Took you long enough," You hissed playfully to Jungkook as he made his way into the tower and sat beside you, you had a blanket laid out on the floor beside the telescope that was already pointing where it needed to be for him to study Jupiter's moons. 

"I set everything up so you don't have to worry about it," You brushed off your legs as you raised up to greet him, he smiled at you. Even in the low light, the smile he was giving you sent your stomach into a whirlwind of butterflies, ever since Jimin had mentioned you flirting with him you'd began to see Jungkook in a different way and the romantic setting of the moon wasn't helping you fight back those feelings.

"You didn't have to, I just need help remembering which is which." He sighed as he walked over to the telescope with you, peaking through it to see that you'd already put it into the perfect position for him to see each moon.

"Which is why I did this, you can focus on remembering...Now, start with the red one."

The studying had gone brilliantly Jungkook was well under his way to remembering the moons and some of the named stars that surrounded it.

"Thank you again...and I'm sorry about Pansy earlier, she's just being a bitch because Draco has started to ignore her," You laughed at the thought of Draco ignoring Pansy, everyone knew how much of a crush she'd had on him for years. 

"It's fine, I'm used to her, but you're all going down in that match at the weekend," You teased as you placed a grape into your mouth, laying down on the blanket as you looked out at the night sky, Jungkook laying beside you so close to you that you could feel his chest rising and falling with every breath that he took. 

"You're on," He chuckled, turning to look at you as he watched you. He adored the way your eyes would light up whenever you looked up into the sky, the way your eyes seemed to shine no matter what light they were in, it made his head spin and his stomach do flips whenever he caught you.

"Thanks again...For helping me study," He whispered as he watched you waiting for you to look at him, 

"Well it's no problem-" You stopped when you realised how close you were to one another, your faces inches away as you stared into his eyes. Both of you so lost at how close you were that you hadn't heard the door to the tower open and Pansy making her way up the staircase, 

"I-I want to do something," He whispered to you as he moved a little closer, you stayed perfectly still as if you moved it might scare him away and you licked your lips. 

"Go for it," He leant closer to you, his breath touching your lips and making you shiver from how cold it was on your now wet lips. The two of you stayed like that, lips hovering above one another until you finally smashed your lips together, having enough of playing the waiting game. He smiled against your lisp, pressing his body against yours as he wrapped his arms around your body your heartbeat danced as he held you close to him. This was your first real kiss with someone and it had been someone you'd loved all these years without knowing it until right now until his lips were brushing against yours and your heart was trying to leap out of your chest. 

Pansy froze as she saw the two of you making out on the floor, she knew Jungkook had been meaning to study and was going to "accidentally" bump into him tonight so she could help him only to find this. While everyone thought she had a crush on Draco it was the opposite, she'd been crushing on Jungkook since the beginning of time but what wasn't there to love about him. Once she saw you weren't going to pull away she stormed off in an attempt to find Snape and lead him to the tower.

The weekend quidditch match had come faster than you expected it to, the week seemed to pass in a blur and Pansy, for the most part, had left you alone. You figured she was training for the match and focussing on that instead of focussing her attention on you so much which had been nice since you were trying hard not to focus on the kiss that had happened with Jungkook. It wasn't that you didn't want to think about it you did but he was insisting on telling everyone you were dating which meant everyone would know you were together. The pro to that would be that the teasing would finally stop and you could be with the man you loved but the con would be that everyone would know, the teasing could increase and you knew your parents would instantly start planning a wedding. Not to mention the two of you were up against one another in a quidditch match and you were both highly competitive against each other. 

"Here," George said as he handed you a small weaved basket filled with cupcakes inside, 

"What is it?" You laughed thinking it was one of their inventions but George shrugged his shoulders before pointing out the gift tag that was on the side of it, your name was written in cursive writing. 

Dear Y/N,

Good luck today, if I kick your ass please don't be too mad, I'll take you out on a date for it...Astronomy tower? ~ JJK 

A warm feeling spread through your body as you saw the note from him, quickly throwing it away before any of your teammates could sneak a look. 

"Cupcakes for us?" Fred called out loudly gaining the attention of the whole Hufflepuff tent who swarmed around you for the cupcakes, leaving one for you to take as you shook your head. 

"In the lead, we have Hufflepuff by 3 points, all we need is for someone to catch the golden snitch," Lee Jordan yelled out as you flew under Jungkook winking at him before doing a turn on your broom and heading over to Fred and George who high fived you. 

"Rub it in their faces," George laughed as he watched you steadying yourself, the match had been going on for almost an hour now and you were starting to get a little light-headed but you weren't going to let up, your team needed this win.

"Y/n?" Someone called out but their voice was faint as you felt swear pooling around the top of your head as you tried to focus on what was happening. The match was going on around you but it felt as though you were even there, you felt sick, faint and as if the whole world was upside down on you.

"She's going to fall!" Someone screamed out from the crowds right as your grip loosened on the handle of your broom, suddenly there was a rush of air coming at you as you fell towards the quidditch ground, the cold air cooling you down as you fell freely. 

"Catch her!" You knew that was Jungkook which only made you smile as you fell, it was nice that he was showing his caring side for you despite wanting to hide it all those times before whenever you would get hurt in a match. You could still remember the first injury you had, 

"You should have been watching where you were flying," Cedric barked at you as he sat beside you in the hospital wing, you were getting your arm stitched up since you'd accidentally flown into one of the stands in the match, cutting your arms and legs open but nothing too bad.

"You okay?!" Jungkook's panicked voice called out as he burst into the hospital wing thinking that you were alone, as soon as he saw Cedric bis blood boiled. If he'd been training you properly you never would have flown into the stands so this was his fault, 

"Showing a caring side for a puff?" Cedric laughed sarcastically as he watched Jungkook storm over to you, if there was anyone else in the wing he wouldn't have bothered coming near you but Cedric was Cedric. 

"You could have hurt yourself a lot worse than this," He mumbled as he looked at your arm and then into your eyes as his eyes filled with tears at the thought of you being injured even a little.

"Jungkook? Came to torture pipsqueak?" Draco taunted as he opened the door, your arm was dropped and you looked away from Jungkook who instantly began to pretend he didn't care that you were hurt when it was obvious that he did. 

"You should have heard the scream she made," Draco laughed loudly as he began to imitate you in front of everyone. 

Waking up to a bunch of hushed voices you groaned, your head felt as though you'd been hit over it by a cauldron around fifty times and you were praying Madame Pomfrey wasn't going to give you any more of the disgusting-tasting medicine she had been. You'd been in and out of sleep most of the night and you couldn't remember anything that had happened, it was all a blur from the tent to the pitch. 

"She'll be a little groggy but she's okay," Pomfrey announced to whoever was standing beside the bed, your eyes blinked open as you adjusted to the light coming through the windows. Taehyung and Jimin were standing by the bed holding a basket of cakes and fruit and on the other side was a worried looking Jungkook who was still in his quidditch gear despite the match ending yesterday.

"He hasn't left since he brought you in," Jimin smirked as he placed the basket down on the nightstand beside your bed, 

"I told you, you liked him." You would have picked up one of the cakes to throw at him as he left with Taehyung if you didn't feel so weak but you rolled over to face Jungkook. 

"That stench is you then." You laughed weakly as you sat up in the bed, leaning against the metal frame as you tried to remember what had happened in the match. You hadn't hit your head and there were no curses that you knew of that would do this to you. 

"I'll get you some water," Jungkook whispered as he got up and placed a small kiss on your forehead, he headed behind one of the curtains and began pouring a drink in silence when the doors flew open. 

"Well if it isn't Little Miss Y/n," Pansy squawked as she sat down beside you on the bed, almost crushing your leg which was still healing from the fall.

"Did you enjoy your cupcakes?" She smirked and that was when it hit you, the cupcakes that had been from Jungkook, It had been the only thing that could have done something so harsh to you but why hadn't it done anything to anyone else who had eaten them? It didn't make sense,

"Don't go looking too confused, if you paid attention in potions you would know why it only worked on you," She quipped, placing a cupcake from Jimin's basket into her pocket. Jungkook's grip on the jug of water tightened from behind the curtain, Pansy had no idea that he was even there and it made his blood boil. 

"Stay away from Jungkook and it'll never happen again," She told you as she got back up ready to leave when she was suddenly thrown against the wall by a blast of blue coming from Jungkook's wand. 

"Kookie!" You gasped out as he walked over to her, pinning her to the wall by her robes as he stared deep into her eyes, 

"Don't come near her, don't even breathe in her direction! If I even find out that you so much as glanced at her I will kill you." He pushed her a little before stepping away, 

"She's an ugly, good for nothing loser and I will kill her-" You flinched at the thought of her trying to kill you and it didn't go unnoticed by Jungkook. Before Pansy could continue on her mouth was suddenly zipped shut and you froze looking at Jungkook who shook his head, 

"You insulted her, threatened her and made her flinch...I won't forget that and neither will my parents." He whispered as she shuddered, walking away from him. He knew how much his parents meant to her since they were some of the most well-known wizards in the community and she so desperately sought their approval.

"You're intimidating when you want to be," You laughed softly as he walked back over to you, running his hand over your cheek and smiling to himself. 

"I have to protect those I care about," He whispered before leaning down and kissing you once again. Your heart skipping a beat as soon as your lips connected but just as soon as it started it was over, he pulled back and made a disgusted face, 

"Pumpkin juice," You laughed as you realised he could probably taste the medicine you had been having since the night before.

Tagline: @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @rjsmochii​ @taestannie​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ @innersooya​ @jin-from-the-block​ @acciocriativity​ @mwitsmejk​

[burningthemidnightcityoil]

ON CLASSES

Classpects run on Irony, Puns, Wordplay, and each class has a secondary verb, in addition to the one they share with their pair.

Witch - Which. “Choose / Choice”. A Witch chooses power. Witches are the Powerhouse of the Session(cell). They are akin to Thieves, for a Witch takes power. But the difference here is that a Witch doesn’t need to take it from other people, a Witch takes back their own power from whatever Guardian (or “familiar”) has it. Its not like an Heir, where the Heir can just wait for it to come; a Witch has to grab it or be forced into its service.

Heir - Air/Err. “Inherit”. An Heir inherits power. While Heirs are akin to the Page, where they both inspire others to help them; the difference here is that Heirs will inspire others to Guide them (Literally inspire others to act as Seers), while Pages inspire others to Serve them (Inspire others to act as Knights). Heirs don’t like being Served (In fact, Heirs Homestuck-Historically have conflicts with Guardians because of their Service), and Pages don’t like being Guided. (Most Pages tend to talk smack about those trying to Guide them)

Mage - Magician. “Perform”. Mage’s are showy, in addition to being knowitalls. How you are Seen is Important. There are three Mages, two known and one HC’d, that give this. Sollux, inspite of his problems, is a Show Off and tries to play it off Smoothly. His performance is more important than his powers (Or Spells, if we’re dedicated). Meulin also tends to be Showy. Both by showing off her favorite couples, and by her Disciple self showing off her rommance on literal cave walls. HC’d Mage, Diamonds Droog / Draconian Dignitary, is all about the Show and the Class, and not about Flash Powers or Transformations.

Seer - To See. “Envision”. Seers See Seas. What you see is important. Unlike their counterpart, the Mage, A Seer’s visions are more important than their Spells. (This is inspite of the fact that both Mages and Seers are equally capable of both Visions and Spells, as well as Performance. It seems what what indicates if you’re a Mage or a Seer is if what’s important is How you are Seen, or What you See; A Mage wants to be Seen, a Seer wants to See).

Thief - To Steal / To Steel / Steel yourselves. “Enforce”. If Knights are the Law, Thieves are the Enforcers; because they literally reinforce themselves by taking what they want. Let’s take this a step further, and include all definitions of Enforce Thieves Strengthen, Intensify, Force, Drive and Urge whatever they set their sights on, to be what they want it. (After all, they Steal, or Take By Force / Violence)

Rogue - To Go Rogue / Haywire. “To Cross”. Rogues are pretty good about making connections, and making connections work; be it between people, or their Aspect. (Roxy between her Friends and her Windows; Nepeta with her Romances)

Knight - Night. “To Bare / Bear”. Bear hands? This may seem outlandish, but the origin of the word Night is “Bare” or “To be Bare of Sunlight”. And Knights tend to put on a kind of Mask, or Shield, or rather, Helm / Helmet as they feel their weaknesses (or what they think are their weaknesses) feel bare to the world (Dave and his Sunglasses; Karkat and his Temper; Latula and her Gamer Attitude).

Page - Chapter. “To Assemble” YOU BOY, EQUIP ARMS. This one took a bit, but what’s a Page without a Chapter? Be it a Chapter in a Book of Pages, or a Council to of all those they have called on to serve them. A Page is a Knightly figure that has a Round Table, akin to a Rogue’s Merrymen. A Page inspires others to play Knight to them, or to serve them. To call to Arms, or call to Action. So basically, if Robin Hood is a Rogue’s Mythic figure, King Arthur is a Page’s mythic figure. So literally, all those a Page calls on personally, makes them apart of their Round Table of Knights. (Wait, does this mean that HS^2 Jane is Morgan Le F--)

Maid - Made. “To Make” Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. Maids are the Makers. They don’t so much as Maintain, though they do that too, as they create. Consider. Aradia is a prime example. She dies, so she makes Time for herself as a very powerful Poltergeist. She becomes a Robot, and makes Time for Herself by her many many Robot Time Copies, or as Time is Numeral, making Numbers. She becomes a Godtier, and suddenly, Time in the Dream Bubbles align perfectly with the Present. Notice how when we are first introduced to the Dream Bubbles, Time was a real nonlinear pain. But when Aradia took the Reins on this Time Management Stuff, and suddenly the Dream Bubbles were Linear and aligned with our Story. She did want to see the end, after all (And the more living Time Gods entered the Bubbles, the more Linear things became) For Porrim, its about Making Space for others in both her various views and her uh... Various Views. For the Dolorosa, this included making Space for herself, and for her son. She possibly even helped direct him closer to the idea of Freedom (And he did see visions of another space in time...)

Sylph - Sylvan / Wood Threshold. “To Matter” Okay, this one is like the Knight’s, if not more complicated (and likely gonna require more development in the future, cos this took waaay too much digging for my liking). Thing is, Sylph is a difficult thing to name from name alone unless you look into the word itself. Because its derived from Sylvan “Of the woods”. But we break that down into two things. Silva, the Woods, and Hyle, Matter. Hyle / Hule is already the Greek word for Matter or Wood in any case. And our word for Matter is already derived from Mater, the Latin word for Mother. (The original English word was displaced by Latin; Andwork was once our word for Matter). Unfortunately, I can’t quite make the connections here yet, so I’m not sure if “To Matter” is the proper verb. I can, however, describe some loose connections that at least tell me I’m on the right track: ... Sylphs are defined by their Environment; Such as Kanaya’s relations regarding Trolls (A motherly figure), Aranea defined herself by Information and giving Information (which ain’t healthy), Mindfang defined herself a Thief because the Troll Empire was lead by a Thief And HC’d Sylph of Mind, Snowman was, quite literally, the Universe (And its Multiverse, which is a Mind thing). So a Sylph defines herself by her “Woods”, or like a Nymph / Dryad, by her “Tree / Wood / Matter”. And when you kill the Tree / Wood, you kill the Sylph, and vice versa (Destroy the Matriorb, and Kanaya dies; Kill Snowman and you kill the Unvierse; Mindfang was murdered, and her Enlightenment about the Doc died with her).

Prince - Principle / Foremost. “To Postulate” Its the Principle of the matter. For Princes, Principle and Code are key, and they will follow these as a fundamental truth (and be damned to anything else). This is likely what it was meant when they were called a Destroyer Class, because they do tend to destroy all avenues when it doesn’t fit their Principle. A Group of Princes could be called an Argument. For Eridan, both the system he resided in, and his own internal narrative (his Hopes), were his fundamental truths. And in the end, it fucked everything up. For Kurloz, his Belief System and his chosen Lord were his Fundamental Truth (And Rage is about Truths; so this guy didn’t just have a fortified castle, he had an entire armored country) For Dirk, the Character someone presented was the Truth of the matter, and the Character he presented. He believed that all versions of him were Him, and that was his biggest flaw, because they weren’t. AR was no more Dirk Strider than Bro was. ... And unfortunately, one version of him took this very literally (HS^2).

Bard - Barred / Bar. “To Prevent” Bards are quite the Wild Card, because how the hell do you manage destroying stuff for other people’s benefit and it actually ensured that it is a benefit? But from our few examples, Bards do act as great barriers. They keep things on the path because if you didn’t have that barrier, you wouldn’t progress, or you’d go too far too quickly, or things could go out of hand. For Gamzee, he tends to invoke the idea of the Barrier Maiden (He does roleplay a fairy / maid). He can’t die cos he’s a Cosmic Keystone to things happening like they’re suppose to. Paradox Space, literally, cannot let him die because it needs him to complete the Alpha Loop [By extension, no Doomed Timeline ever has a Dead Gamzee, he’s just that important, the stupid fuck] / [consider the theory that he also absorbs his alternative selves to keep his keystone status; like how Rose absorbed her alternative dream self] (Though when you take him from his story / destiny / fate, he’s just another mortal shitty clown). Gamzee prevented Rage, for Homestuck to continue as its intended narrative. For Cronus, his little Hope Quest was a direct line to Lord English (being the evil wvizard in his little Harry Potter fantasy). But this blew up royally, because as it turns out, it isn’t up to the Beforus Trolls to do shit. So just as Gamzee’s crisis of Fate put things back on the Path to LE and prevented catastrophe, Cronus’s crisis caused catastrophe. He prevented Hope for the Beforus Trolls, because it wasn’t their Story. And now for my HC’d Bard of Doom, Clubs Deuce. He does exactly what it says, he Prevents Doom. Inspite of what it appears, he’s highly competent because that prevents things from going to hell. For CD, he prevented Doom, for his Crew, and the sessions he’s involved in. And any time CD tends to disappear from the picture, is when things go to hell fast (For the Crew, Cans showed up; for the Beta Session, he was a mere herald for the doom that was already coming and his death cinched it)

[copias-thrall]

Cause I'm Young and I'm Here and So Beautiful

A look into the rise and fall of Mary Goore's flash-in-the-pan modeling career.

~12.5K Mary Goore/Reader *drug/alcohol use; mentions of past child abuse; brief homelessness; plot no porn; POV shift*

This fic was inspired by and is very loosely based on Aurelio Voltaire's early days in NYC in the 90s, though I have set it in Boston in the early aughts. 😊

Many thanks to the artists who did commissions for this! 🥰

One Way Streets

Mary stepped off the regional rail and gripped his backpack. He had $72.57 in cash rolled into his socks and a give-em-hell attitude.

When he’d packed his bag the night before, he wasn’t even sure if he’d go through with it, but he couldn’t stand being home anymore. Some of his friends had told him he was crazy.

"Three more months, dude. You got this. Just finish high school, then bounce."

But they didn’t have to live with his dad and the step-monster. Every day was a new indignity. Having them bitch about his music and his style was one thing—that he could have dealt with—but everything else had just kind of…escalated.

Now that the kiddies were older, they’d turned into gremlins. They’d somehow sensed that Mary wasn’t their beloved older brother—he was some sort of half other. They’d stopped questioning why "mom was so mean" to him and had accepted that she was because there was something wrong with Mary. They realized they could be little shits and blame everything on him.

And dad just didn’t care. He’d throw up his hands and say, "I have to live with her"—as if Mary wasn’t in the same boat.

Dad hadn’t stopped her when—in a rage—she’d smashed every single vinyl album Mary had owned because the twins ruined her nice tablecloth. He’d shrugged when she cut all Mary's guitar strings so he couldn’t play "the devil’s music." He’d held Mary back when she took a match and burned all his secret stuff that Mary kept under his bed—action figures, books, guitar mags, journals—in the backyard because he got detention for smoking. He hadn’t said a word when the police showed up after she came at Mary with scissors because he’d dyed his hair black and he’d pushed her away before she could scalp him.

Mary thought for sure he was going to get carted off to jail as she screamed about him terrorizing the family and being afraid he was going to kill her sons in their sleep, but the officers had just looked at her bored and told her being a teenager wasn’t a crime.

So, no: Mary couldn’t wait 3 more months.

He’d scraped together what money he had left from his secret shifts working as a busboy under the table at a local dive downtown, packed his backpack with the essentials, and walked the 5 miles to the train station instead of going to school.

Eighteen was 10 weeks away. He could fudge it for a few months, especially since he could already get away without using his fake ID to get into shows most of the time.

So, to the big city it was.

He shifted his weight and tried to pretend that he belonged here in Boston, but actually facing the busy streets was a lot different from looking at a bird’s-eye view map. He had a printout in his pocket, but he didn’t want to look like a doe-eyed tourist. So he set off down the seemingly labyrinthine streets in the direction he could have sworn was the correct one.

It wasn't.

When he came out a side alley into Faneuil Hall, he almost wondered if he'd gone through a fairy portal, since he was clear on the other side of town. Begrudgingly, he checked his creased map, and set out once more.

And ended up spit out by the State building.

Finding the hostel turned into a fraught adventure, and he got turned around several times more. When he tried to ask for directions, most people pushed past him while one lady shoved $5 at him. He used the cash to buy a hotdog, and it was the vendor who ultimately gave him directions in his thick, Southie accent.

Of course, making it to the hostel ended up being just part one. The rates were almost double what it stated online ("Sorry, honey—that site hasn’t been upgraded since the 90s."), and two nights were practically all his savings. Mary had thought he’d at least have a couple of days to find a job, not 36hrs.

He left the hostel, wondering for the first time if maybe he shouldn’t go back home…but he decided it was a nice day out. Surely there was some place he could hunker down. Just for the night.

What he hadn’t anticipated was the cops at every fucking turn telling him to move along. And any place out of line-of-sight seemed to already be inhabited.

He finally found a place behind some rocks in the Seaport where he didn’t think he’d be murdered in his sleep, curled around his backpack, and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Mary woke up damp from the dew and the morning sun streaming into his eyes. The birds were creating an awful racket, but Mary guessed it was as good an alarm clock as any.

He ran his fingers through his bird's nest of hair, and he made his way back to the South Station. The men’s room may have smelled like a sewage treatment plant, but at least it was free. He had expected it to be mostly empty at the crack of dawn, but it was full of commuters making that last run to the head before they had to take the train 2hrs out of the city for work.

And it was a sight: a bunch of suits with their fancy lattes washing their hands, and Mary in the corner trying to surreptitiously wipe down with paper towels under his Misfits t-shirt and his shredded jeans. At school, he’d have probably gotten into several altercations by now—no one would have let him just turn into Mary Goore without a fight—but this was Boston, and no one gave him more than a cursory glance.

Just another college kid.

It emboldened Mary to go full-out in the kind of way he had only done when going out to the punk shows downtown at night: kohl all the way around his eyes, and some on his cheekbones; mascara because his lashes are long and thick, and he knows it (his dad had said it made him look hard, and Mary had sneered that maybe that was what he’d been going for. But maybe it had been because he’d liked the way it had made his green eyes pop.); a smear of the step-monster’s fanciest matte lipstick on his full lips; and airplane glue in his hair to give it that lift.

He made a kissy face at himself in the mirror, and headed back out.

It was a nice Spring day—almost boiling in the direct sun—and it tempted Mary to wear only his battle vest, but even he kind of figured applying to jobs half dressed was a mistake.

He walked all over the city, trying not to get lost, looking for any kind of work—dishwasher, busboy, barback—but all he had to show for it was blistered feet and a raging appetite. The only good part of the day was that he noted any restaurant or bakery that looked like it might toss perfectly good food at the end of the day.

He and his friends had become experts at dumpster diving in his podunk town, and he felt confident that he had a good feel for a jackpot. Mary staked out a bakery and was rewarded with a find of "old" bagels. He shoved as many as he could into the nooks and crannies of his backpack before slinking off to the Commons to inhale at least two of them.

Cold, stale dough never tasted so good.

He watched the tourists and the professionals walk by in ones and in groups while he ran his bare feet through the grass. Some laughed with each other as they sauntered down the path while others seemed singularly intent on their ultimate destination. A pack of dogs ran and played with each other as their owners looked on fondly, and nearby the baseball diamond hosted a casual game.

Mary counted his lucky stars that his first week in Boston was April at its kindest—always mild during the day, even when it turned cloudy, and a few times even downright warm. The nights turned chilly, though, and it had Mary in more layers than an onion. If the birds or damp didn't wake him, his butt cramps from being curled in a tight ball all night did.

He spent those days walking around the city proper looking for work. He wasn't adventurous enough to make the leap across the bridges to Cambridge just yet, but his travels gave him a good sense on how the different sections of Boston connected—and showed him potential places to crash at night. He didn't even mind living off day-old garbage food and drinking from bubblers (he'd bought a water for the express purpose of reusing the bottle), but the barren wasteland that seemed to be the job market was beginning to weigh on him.

At home, he could always find a shit job if he was willing to put up with shit hours and ridiculous requests. Here, though, Mary was just one of many desperate people willing to do desperate work.

And he didn’t look particularly trustworthy or reliable.

@dipendancesld

Hashtag WTF

I’m scrolling through Insta on the T, and I’m way down the rabbit hole of hashtags. New content was at a minimum this morning (how can I follow accounts in triple digits and only see the same 4 posts?!), so I’d started with some art tags and ended up where I usually end up—trolling social media for blurry pictures of my boy.

His band has been a local staple for years—or at least that’s what he told me on our first date. I had just moved from New York after a nasty breakup, ready to start fresh, and I’d seen him at a coffee shop hanging posters for his next show in his leather jacket, asymmetrical Metallica crop top, and stomping boots.

Fresh had never looked so good.

Then, a few months back, an online publication had featured his band in the year’s 50 best bands "you’ve never heard of," and now the band's starting to gain traction.

He’s starting to gain traction.

Finding the new online content of him first has become a game the two of us play. We had to stop counting images posted from the popular fan accounts because Mary's now acquaintances with most of them, and I said it was hardly fair to snipe me that way. Mary had pouted—but it was to cover up his grin. So now we troll for the pictures of his latest gig or at his favorite haunts from either his  casual fans or one of his new ones. I even have a whole range of hashtag typos saved if I really want to triumph, since Mary just doesn't have the attention span.

I usually win, though, by virtue of not keeping Rockstar Hours—and because Mary doesn’t have a smartphone. Mary delights in spending the wee hours while I'm sleeping finding new content, and I'll often wake to one he's pulled up on my laptop and a "suck it" sticky note stuck to my monitor.

(But I’m reigning supreme.)

There’s a thirst tag I sometimes comb through (for reasons), and today I’m desperate for that morning serotonin to keep me from dozing off, which is why I stumble across a particularly convincing cosplayer in some…risqué poses and outfits.

The dude is really good, and I have to admit he really does have Mary’s mannerisms down pat. He’s younger and a little skinnier than Mary is now, but his facial expressions are on point. I zoom in to see the contouring technique because he's using one of those filters to make it look old…and that’s when I sense something off. I can’t quite place my finger on it, but usually there’s an uncanny valley to his serious cosplayers, and this dude looks so real. He’s even 100% accurate with the mole placement, which is something I never see.

My heart does a flip-flop.

Is that…actually Mary?

Foundling

Mary's sixth night in the city, it rained. It was more of a brief Spring shower, but it was still enough to soak him and his backpack through. He shivered through the early morning hours until the sun came up, then he made his way to the Commons to lay his belongings—and himself—out into the sun to dry.

By midday, he had a slight sunburn across his nose, but most of his things were dryish—though the food was a soggy lost cause. He cut his losses and decided to buy a sausage from the hotdog vendor, even if that meant he was down to $52.37 in his sock bank.

It was the most amazing thing he'd ever eaten in his entire life (sometimes he still dreams of it), and he gobbled it down as he sat in the grass and watched the show of people pass by.

He could take today off from his job search.

Just another Groundhog Day of rejections.

A gaggle of kids about his age walked past, and he lit up when he saw them: studs and bright hair and cuffs and combat boots. They ran and shrieked and shoved at each other, and Mary had never felt such longing to be a part of something.

Not that nebulous feeling of "my world is out there somewhere," but "my world is right there if I can just get to it."

And he realized maybe he could.

These were his people.

Mary hopped off the bench and approached the boisterous group.

"Uh, hey…guys."

The pack stopped and looked him over, confused but not hostile.

"Oh hey, man" said a girl with green fins and a studded, leather jacket.

"Hey."

I have nowhere to go. Can I go with you?

"Sorry, I forgot your name."

"Oh, you don’t—"

A guy in a tight striped shirt, snake bites, and blue hair interrupted him.

"Shit, were you in my intro into film class last year?"

Mary was a high school dropout.

"Nah, dude. I’m new and shit."

…But he wasn’t stupid.

A curvy white goth with bleached blonde hair and a cream princess dress smiled at him.

"Aww, that’s rough, honey. If you think about it, they really ought to give transfers on-campus housing. It sucks to be so new and away from the action."

Mary nodded. "Yeah. Sucks."

"Well, we’re going to The Pit, wanna come?"

"If you guys don’t mind…"

"Fuck, the more the merrier!"

Mary smiled as they assimilated him into the group. He found out the goth’s name was Vanessa ("But call me Vanity."), green fins was Alexa ("Or Alex. I’m trying it out."), striped shirt was Billy, and the two other punks were Mandi (Manic Panic red) and Aaron (band tee, spiked collar).

No one laughed at him when he introduced himself as Mary or asked him why he had a girl’s name.

They took him onto the T at Charles MGH, and Mary marveled at the setting sun over the Charles River before the train ducked underground to barrel in Cambridge. At Harvard, they ushered him off the train and directly into The Pit, and Mary almost cried when he saw the pit rats there playing hacky sack, strumming guitars, and smoking cloves. Mary watched as his group high-fived, bumped chests, and hugged nearly everyone there before introducing him as if they’d known him for years.

He was shit at hacky sack, but he accepted a round on the guitar and shared a clove with a white girl who had a rat's nest of hair.

"Fuck their beauty stands," she said when she caught Mary staring.

Mary smiled and pointed to his own mess of hair. "Fuck ‘em," he repeated.

She cackled and handed him a brown bag with what he expected to be whiskey, but tasted like turpentine.

She laughed harder at his face as he coughed, and she pounded him on the back.

"Moonshine, dude. Lenny makes it in his bathtub."

"Which one is Lenny," Mary asked as he wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh, he’s not here. He goes to MIT. We have a strict trade agreement—booze for pot. I’m Katie."

Head fuzzy, Mary had made out with her until Aaron tugged on his arm.

"Shit dude, we gotta go before the T closes. You live close to here?"

"Uh…"

"Aww, I think he got into Lenny’s moonshine," said Vanity. "If he’s a transfer, I bet he’s at some shithole in Allston. You in Allston, honey?"

Mary just nodded.

"All right then," said Alex, taking charge. "We’ll put him up tonight. There’s no way he’s gonna make it back to Allston by himself, and I’ll be fucked if I’m trekking out there without a BU party to crash."

Mary wobbled slightly as Alex took his arm in his and led him to the T.

"Ok, we gotta go now or we’ll all be hoofing it."

They took Mary back to their dorm by the Hatch Shell and signed him in as a guest.

"Is this ok?" Mary asked warily—he didn't want to get kicked out in the middle of the night.

Mandi patted him on the back.

"We do it all time. No one really gives a shit. Vegan Mick dropped out 2 semesters ago and they don’t even check for his ID."

That night, Mary slept in the common room on a lumpy couch that was half as long as he was.

It was heaven.

The next morning seemed like the end, and Mary slumped as Vanity to sign him out. For one brief day he'd been a part of something, and now it was back to Mary, party of one. But Vanity took one look at his face and asked if he wanted to get breakfast at the dining hall.

Of course, he wanted to…but he thought of the dwindling cash in sock bank and hesitated. Vanity, bless her, misread his trepidation.

"It's on me, sweetie. I know most transfers don’t opt in. Too expensive when it’s not bundled. No worries, I got a ton of points I don’t use."

Alex and Aaron were already half done with their food when Vanity and he joined them, and they looked on in amusement as Mary ate half the breakfast buffet.

When the subject of classes came up, he shrugged off questions.

"None this morning."

Alex narrowed her eyes at him.

"What year did you say you were?"

"Sophomore."

"Not a freshman?"

Mary shook his head. "I’m not a freshman."

She seemed about to ask another question, so Mary quickly changed the subject.

"I thought I’d spend the day applying for jobs. You guys know of any place that’s hiring?"

"No work study?"

"No."

"What kind of work you looking for?"

"Shit, anything. I’ll sweep the fucking floors."

They bandied about ideas, places for Mary to try, but no one had any leads. Too soon, some unknown gong had them scurrying to get to class.

Mary suddenly panicked.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I spend the night again? I mean…"

"Yeah, sure," said Vanity. "Aaron?"

"Yeah, man. Meet me after class and I'll swipe you in."

It apparently was a time-honored tradition, passed down from upperclassmen to underclassmen, on gaming the guest system. Most kids used it to essentially move their significant others into their dorm rooms, but a handful every year used it to give haven to others who had questionable housing situations.

So, just like that, Mary had a place to rest his bones.

@dilfpassing

A Deeper Look

I’m so intent on scrolling through the comments on the grainy pics—which I'm sure now are actual scans—that I completely miss my stop, and I have to put my phone away so I can wheeze lightly jog my way to where I work as a receptionist at an alternative hair salon.

It’s really important that I start a good hour before we open so I can return any calls left on our voicemail first thing in case I can fit anyone in today. Which means I have to shelve my find for now, much to my irritation.

Mornings are super-busy because apparently there are some people in the world that like getting up with the sun and want everything done by noon. (June Cleaver’s salon lets me get away with a lot—like coming to work in denim short-shorts and ripped tights, free hair colors, and a snarky attitude—but late start times aren’t one of them.) I honestly don’t have room in my brain to obsess about the pictures because I’m too busy answering calls, making coffee, settling accounts, and giving the new customer spiel for the 57th time to a walk-in.

It’s just after midday, when Penny, the shampoo girl, collects my cash for the salon-wide sandwich run, and I finally have a moment to breathe. And obsess.

I take out my phone again, and I have to retrace my steps because of course the app has refreshed, which is why Sonia has the time to look over my shoulder.

"Missing dream boy’s dick so much you gotta spend your lunch hour ogling pics of him on the internet?"

I zoom in on the one of maybe!Mary in his underwear.

"Who does that look like to you?"

Sonia makes a guh sound in her throat and backs away.

"I don’t need to see your intimates!"

"That’s the thing! It’s not mine!"

"Your boy’s nudes get leaked??"

I wave my arms around.

"I don’t freakin’ know! They may not even be him. Fucking. C’mere and help me out!"

Sonia warily creeps back over, and so does Ryan, since all the yelling has attracted him.

The three of us peer over the phone as I scroll through the images again.

By the time Penny comes back with lunch, we’ve gone back and forth on who’s in the images—Mary or a fake—and I haven’t been able to do any actual research. The afternoon rush starts, and I have to table the whole thing again, having made no progress at all.

It isn’t until near-closing, when most of the other stylists have gone home—and it’s only June who does the post-work crowd—that I can really dig into the matter.

A deep dive and a couple of defunct, decade-old forums later, I find that what I took as an aspirational hashtag was actually the name of a zine called "Heroes."

There’s like, zero online trail about it—except for a few other grainy scans of other pages of articles, poetry, concert pictures, and art—but it seemed to be an early aughts missive for local underground culture and color.

It still doesn’t explain why Mary’s in there in various states of undress and poses.

Or why Mary has never said a word about it to me.

Stripped Bare

Mary settled into a sort of routine. He spent most days looking for a job—any job—with his backpack full of food from their dining hall. Most nights he rotated couches on different floors so the RAs didn’t notice that he basically lived there.

He made friends with Vegan Mick for about 5 seconds until Mary had eaten an entire Rotisserie chicken from 7-11 in front of him. Mick had launched into a whole spiel, and Mary had pointed out that Mick's jacket and Docs were made of leather. He’d only meant it as a joke—a callout in answer to a callout, like he'd do with his friends back home—but Vegan Mick had turned purple, then iced Mary out every time he saw him after that.

Oops.

The brief friendship had lasted long enough, however, for Mick to give Mary some tips and tricks of being homeless.

Homeless.

That had been a tough pill to swallow. Until Vegan Mick had put Mary’s situation like that, Mary had just thought of himself between places.

But it was true: he didn’t live anywhere. He skated by on the kindness of his new friends, and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the ruse of "transfer student who didn’t like his shithole apartment and was too busy job searching to concentrate on classes."

He still spent a few nights a week finding an out-of-the-way place outside to hunker down in or huddling in with Katie and a few of the other gutter punks under their boxes in the corners of the T stations. He knew they would have been more than happy to make room, anyway, but Mary always emptied his backpack of all the pilfered dining hall food for distribution amongst them.

It honestly wasn't so terrible now that he had friends and a warm place to go on cold or rainy nights, but.

He needed an actual place to live. To afford an actual place to live, he needed a job. To get a job, he needed a place to live.

It seemed like a catch-22, and he began to despair that he’d never get ahead…until Mandi offered him a leg up.

Mary was sitting on the grass in the Commons in the shade, thinking that with summer coming up, maybe he could fudge it until the gang came back in September. There was always Katie and The Pit, and Mary was sure he could chip in somehow.

Mandi sat down next to him.

"I thought that mess of hair was you, Mare."

"Hey, Mandi. What’s kicks?"

"You still looking for a job?"

Mary put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Don’t remind me."

"You over 18?"

Just last week. But Mary hadn’t said, since they thought he was a Sophomore.

"Yeah."

"Wanna be at least 21?"

Mary grinned at her.

"That’s what my fake ID says."

She laughed, a tinkling thing.

"You got anything against strip clubs?"

Mary furrowed his brows at her.

"Uh…what’s the right answer here?"

She shoved him playfully.

"Do you want a job?"

"Yeah?"

"Then say no."

"No. No problems with strip clubs." He squinted at her. "Are they looking for male strippers?"

She laughed again.

"Definitely not." She canted her head at Mary. "I mean, you're very pretty, Mare. I could probably put you on as one of the girls…even with these triple As," she flicked playfully at his nipple, which had him grunting and batting at her, "but I was thinking more behind the scenes."

Mary held up his arm and made a weak muscle.

"I don’t think I’d be much of a bouncer, Mands."

"You said you’d wash dishes, sweep floors and shit, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the club I work at—"

"The club at you what now?"

Mandi gave him a strange look.

"Yeah. The strip club I work at."

Mary’s eyes bugged out.

"As a…waitress?"

"As a stripper, Mary. Duh." At his dumbfounded look she shook her head. "It’s kind of extra credit, as a dance major. I’m going to turn it into my thesis. Plus, I make hella bank."

She swept her arm across the park that made up her college "campus."

"How else do you think I can afford this rock-and-roll lifestyle? Not all of us are here on scholarship or mom and dad’s dime."

She tilted her head at him.

"I thought you’d get it."

When Mary didn't respond, she touched his shoulder.

"Mare. I know you don't go here."

"W-what…? I…"

He looked at her, wide-eyed as the blood drained from his face.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not gonna tell anybody. Not if you don't want me to."

Mary looked down. "Thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You know that means I've got no address."

Mandi bumped his shoulder and waved his words away.

"A lot of the girls dance. Paddy is used to dorm rooms as addresses. You can use mine."

Mary looked at her, hoping he could convey every ounce of gratitude he was feeling.

She grinned and punched him in the shoulder.

"So, you up for it? Sweeping floors and bussing tables?" She leveled a look at him. "Cleaning up puke?"

Anything.

"Fuck, I’m desperate, Mands. I’ll hold their hair back if it means a paycheck."

"That’s the spirit!"

***

Mary was sure Patrick was part of the mob—or at least in cahoots. The guy had taken one look at Mary’s ID and had said, "But how old are you really?" and Mary had said, "Nineteen."

Patrick had thrown up his hands. "Well, you ain’t gonna be serving alcohol anyway, kid. Your job is to do whatever I tell you. Some asshole breaks a bottle, you clean up the glass so the girls don’t hurt themselves. Some idiot ralphs all over the toilet seat, you scrub the shit out of that fucker. A bachelor party leaves a table a hot mess, you better be out there clearing off the table for the next one, got it?"

Mary had nodded.

"You show up at 5 to help the girls set up the bar. You stay til whenever it takes to close down—but you only get paid 'til 2am—and you get an hour to eat, unpaid. You don’t bother the girls, and," Patrick had leaned in, "you don’t steal from me."

Mary had gulped and nodded emphatically.

Patrick had jabbed a finger at him. "That includes the booze. If I get fucked because some snot-nosed, underage kid is drinking with my good friends Jim and Johnnie, I’m gonna be very put out."

"Got it, sir."

"Don’t call me sir. I’m Paddy to my friends, so you can call me Patrick."

"Yes, Patrick."

Patrick had looked him over.

"You get paid as an independent contractor just like the girls, so you gotta deal with your own taxes, you got that? I’ll start you at $10 an hour."

Mary’s eyes had gone wide. Back home he was lucky to get 5.

"Ten…?"

Patrick had tilted his head again.

"No, you’re right, 12. Do a good job, and I’ll think about raising it to 15."

Mary had to physically stop his jaw from dropping.

"You do weeknights for now so if you fuck up it’s not that much of a problem. If you don’t fuck up and the girls don’t hate you, you can get weekends. Deal?"

Mary had sat up straighter. "Deal." He’d held his hand out, but Patrick had just looked at it until Mary pulled it back into his side.

"Ariel vouched for you, so I’m giving you a shot. Don’t make her regret it."

Mary had shaken his head as Patrick had handed him some forms to fill out.

"Come back at 4 tomorrow with these and we’ll get you started. Now, get out, I got shit to do."

Mary had taken the forms and skedaddled.

Mandi was outside waiting for him, all smiles.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah, but fuck—your boss is scary."

"Nah, he’s a teddy bear."

***

The job was awful.

The puke was an almost nightly occurrence, and by the end of the first week, little cuts covered Mary’s hands from the broken glass. The customers were loud, rowdy, and acted as if their mother was going to clean up after them.

Mary swore he would never get the beer smell out. It now lived in his soul.

One dude punched Mary and broke his nose for no reason Mary could tell before the bouncers dragged the guy away. The girls gave him some tampons to stop the bleeding, and Mary finished his shift.

Patrick paid Mary in cash at the end of every week with a "It’s your job to report that, not mine," and at the end of the month, Patrick bumped Mary up to $15/hr. He worked 5 days a week because, according to Patrick, "The Lord gave us a day of rest, and you get one day off per week."

Mary never reported a single cent to the IRS.

The girls loved him, and joked that Patrick had gotten them a pet. They showed him winged eyeliner and smokey eyes and how to contour. They guffawed when they watched him try out their shoes like a newborn deer. On slow nights, they tried to show him pole techniques.

He saw the gang less and less because by the time they were getting out of class, he was going into work, and when he was done work, they were crawling into bed. Fortunately, the desk sitters seemed to forget that he wasn’t an on-campus "student" and didn’t even bother signing him in anymore. There were a few sticklers, but Mary found that—while back home he was less than scum—here, he attracted all the right kinds of attention…and a smirk with the right compliment went a long way.

By the time their school year ended, Mary had saved up $1,000 (and he needed to transfer his money out of sock bank and into the ripped lining of his jacket).

Even though they didn't know just how much they'd saved him, Mary showed up on the last day as thanks to help them all move their stuff into family cars or rented trucks. They hugged him goodbye and said to ring them next semester.

Mandi bopped him on the nose and told him to keep his nose clean.

Mary took a sublet in Allston with 2 BU kids and a Berkley grad student. The "room" was a closed-in porch with a sleeping bag left by the last resident—but it was $400 a month until September, utilities included.

At first, Mary didn't know why the gang was so snobby about Allston, but the summer seemed to be one continual party. It didn't matter what day Mary got up, there were always broken beer bottles and stale beer on their front stoop, and the apartment had a designated watering can for washing away the vomit that dripped down from the top porches to their own.

But he took it in stride, and when he wasn’t at the strip club or sleeping, he was partying with the BU kids, or letting the Berkley grad show him better string fingering techniques.

Mary still tried to get out to The Pit with what groceries he could spare, but Katie had moved on with some of the others to do a protest tour with an activist street band that had come through town, and without her or the gang, it made Mary feel lonely.

By the end of the summer, Mary had saved up enough money for first, last, and security. He even had some left over to buy more than ramen and some new clothes. To Mary, it felt like a million dollars. He rented a garden-level apartment in the cheap part of Jamaica Plain for September 1st and spent that entire day with the BU dudes driving around in their rented truck for Allston Christmas’s best furniture finds.

Mary ended up with a mattress that he hoped on a wish and a prayer didn’t have bedbugs, a mismatched set of dishes, plastic drawers that were slightly warped, and a broken futon frame he swore he would fix. Throw in a few sets of slightly used string lights, and Mary’s cave felt downright homey.

When the gang got back, he simply told them he’d dropped out.

"Yeah, I just don’t think college is for me. Music’s my real passion, you know?"

Alex had groaned.

"I knew that Berkley kid was gonna be a bad influence on you."

Mary shrugged.

"My grades were shit anyway. But I’m still around, you know. The strip club’s only a block from campus."

"Because we saw you so much then," deadpanned Billy.

"Hey! Stop piling on Mary," said Vanity. "He’s following his path."

Mary shot her a wide smile.

"Thanks, Vanity."

Patrick finally gave him a little more leeway with his days off, and Mary started taking Saturday night to join the gang in Harvard Square for the shadow cast of Rocky Horror. One of Aaron’s classmates, Amber, was in it, and they all wanted to support her.

Mary felt that something again. That thing that told that this was his place and his people. This eclectic group who got up in front of strangers every week in their underwear for free enthralled Mary.

He and Amber bonded immediately, and Mary began going even without the gang. The cast welcomed him in as an honorary groupie, and Mary's friendship with the gang waned. There was still Mandi to cavort with at the strip club, but now when Mary wasn't there, he was at any one of the Rocky crew's apartments getting high and playing dress up.

"You’ve got such a Look, Mare," sighed Amber. "I’d kill for your cheekbones."

"I’d kill for your tits."

She slapped him playfully. "Don’t be gross."

"No, I’m serious. Someone once put it in my head that I'd be a hot chick."

The girls had giggled and proceeded to dress him up in bras and corsets with cutlets. They added a wig, and the glo-up surprised even Mary.

Still buzzed, they went out for girl’s night and hit up all the bars in Fenway and flirted their way to free shots from the dude bros before batting their falsies at bouncers to let them into the clubs ahead of the line and without the cover.

The cutlets eventually became a nuisance—and soon they were all flapping them about above their heads as they danced—but Mary had loved the feel of the lace and satin corsets against his skin.

When they’d all collapsed in a pile at the end of the night, Mary wondered if they’d tell him where to get some lingerie for himself.

***

By August, Mary was ready to quit the strip club.

He was tired of cut fingers (they were making it hard to play the guitar he’d bought), the drunks, and the sick everywhere. Now that he had a little cushion, he thought maybe he could at least find something with better hours.

Mandi had graduated and was well into a summer internship at Disney in hopes they’d bring her on as a dancer.

Alex had also graduated and moved out to LA to make it as a film editor.

Vanity and Aaron had started dating after finals, and they had moved in together in Cambridgeport for their last year.

Billy had stopped going to classes before dropping out altogether. No one seemed to know what happened, and when they called his home, his mother just said he was unavailable.

There didn’t seem to be much reason to stick around the Grid anymore, and it was a bitch of a commute back to his place if he wasn’t going to hang out with the Rocky crew. He landed a job at a record store that was walking distance to his apartment.

Patrick seemed surprisingly sad to see him go, saying, "Ah, the good ones smart up," and gave him a $500 bonus for not "fucking up."

Tim, one of the older Rocky people, turned out to not live too far from him, and when Mary started hanging out there, so did the party.

Now that Mary was no longer shackled by the strip club’s hours, his world opened a few more degrees. He spent his nights dressing up while he watched the cast rehearse. (When he showed them a move or two he learned from the women at the club, they tried to get him to do a guest star as Frank. But Mary had shaken his head and said that wasn’t the kind of performing he wanted to do.)

When they weren't rehearsing, they dragged Mary to TT The Bear’s, The Middle East, and The Milky Way Lounge for underground shows. They took him to fetish night at ManRay after a trip to Hubba Hubba for pleather and lingerie, and Mary made a lot of new friends.

Sometimes, Mary would show up to work straight off a night out in his club clothes, eyeliner smudged and lipstick smeared. It should have got him fired, but his boss just shrugged.

"I used to keep rockstar hours too."

Mary still wore all his old vestiges—his battle vest and his ripped jeans—it was just that now he sometimes added a corset and heels.

Wherever Katie was now, he hoped she knew he was still fucking their beauty standards.

ry.omen Insta

Answer Me This

I practically vibrate the entire way back to our place. I'm still trying to wring information out of the internet like it's too-wet clothes, but the only thing I accomplish is making myself motion sick on the bus, so I put my phone back in my pocket and breath through my nose.

When I get home, Mary is sprawled across the couch in his pjs with various limbs hanging over sides and edges as he watches some extreme sport show on my laptop.

I wonder if he just got up, but I see the start of dinner on the stove, so I decide not to snark at him.

"Hey," he says without looking up.

I am, however, gonna need some answers on "Heroes."

I gently close the laptop, and he meets my eyes.

"What?"

I climb onto the couch, and Mary’s limbs recede like vines to make room for me as I scroll through my phone to my photo app where I’ve saved screenshots.

"Lucy," I say in a terrible accent, "you have some ‘splaining to do!"

Mary squints at me and takes my phone, his expression morphing into one of surprise.

"Shit, babe. Where’d ya find these??"

"So they are you!"

He chuckles.

"Christ…I haven't thought about these in fucking years."

"Mind telling me what the fuck?" I ask, my hands on my hips.

I'm only half joking.

Mary grimaces at me.

"Ah."

"I'm gonna need more than that, mister."

He rubs the back of his neck.

"Fuck, you know those were hard times for me."

I know about his family, the homelessness. I know he tried out a lot until he found a life that fit. He'd given me the overviews with occasional anecdotes filled with names I never remembered.

But none of them included naughty pictures.

I worm my way under his arm.

"Yeah, I know, Mare."

His hand strokes down my arm.

"I mean, shit. I was kinda an asshole, you know?"

I wrap an arm around his chest.

"You're still kind of an asshole, Goore."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

When he doesn't say more, I poke him hard in the side.

"I’m literally dying here."

He laughs a little.

"Fine. But you gotta remember you asked."

Model Behavior

One day, Mary was walking down the street on his way to drinks with the new friends he'd made the weekend before. It was a good day. He wasn’t hungover as fuck, his makeup was only smudged artfully, and he was pretty sure he was going to get laid.

A guy in a leather jacket and tight jeans maybe a few years older than Mary stopped him on the street.

"Hey, man! I love your style."

Mary batted his eyelashes at him. "Thanks, dude."

"You ever think of dark modeling?"

Mary squinted his eyes at him.

"Dark what now?"

"You know—modeling but like," he gestured up and down Mary’s form, "for dark beauties. Show the world beauty isn’t cookie cutter."

"For like what? A website or some shit?"

The guy dug into his pocket, pulled out a card case, and handed one to Mary.

Heroes Greg Karson, Photographer/Web Design Butera School of Art

Actually, Mary had heard of this. It was a zine about the local happenings around town—concerts, art shows, parties, etc. There was a stack of them next to "Rrriot!" in the record shop. He’d flipped through one occasionally, mostly interested in the band reviews.

"We’re really on the lookout for anyone with the right look. You know, wear stuff you already own."

"So like a street fashion spread?"

"Well, we might do a little more with it, but—you know how it is. Most of the budget goes toward printing costs."

Mary perked up.

"Would I be paid?"

Greg laughed.

"Peanuts, my dude. But yeah. Even if it’s a T token. You interested, then?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Mind if I take a few test shots."

Mary smirked at Greg.

"How do you want me?"

"Just natural."

Putting his hands in his pockets, Mary arched his back and gave Greg his best snotty hipster face.

Greg dug out a digital camera from his carrying case and took a dozen or so pictures of Mary from different angles while telling him to turn this way or that.

Afterwards, the two of them huddled over the camera and scrolled through the shots.

"Aw yeah, this one. I love the attitude. The guys are gonna love it. You have a number where we can reach you?"

Mary gave him the number of the record shop. (His apartment had a phone, but he’d never gotten around to wanting to pay for service.)

Later, he and Amber looked up the Angelfire website on the back of the card. It was one page that contained the mission statement, bios of the creators, and locations to pick up the zine.

"Omigod—you’re gonna become a famous model, Mare!"

"Yeah, right. You know most of it ends up in the trash, right?"

But when Ben called, Mary said he was game. He directed Mary to a co-op in a converted warehouse in Dorchester, and Mary brought his favorite clothes in a borrowed duffle.

A girl in cat pajamas opened the door and pointed at a set of metal stairs with her cereal spoon.

On the second floor, Mary found Greg setting up a makeshift studio. A girl with multiple piercings and yarn dreads leaned against the wall in her black babydoll dress.

Mary sidled up to her.

"You here to model, too?"

She gave him an unimpressed once-over.

"I’m the art director, asshole."

Mary flushed hard as she turned to Greg.

"Couldn’t find one with brains?"

She turned back to Mary.

"I don’t know if you thought this would be a good way to meet chicks or what, dude. But I’m letting you know right now that I’m here on my day off to make sure this adheres to our aesthetic, so if you're not serious, fuck off."

Mary rubbed the back of his neck.

"Shit, sorry. I was expecting a dude named Ben."

She waved her hand in the air as if dispelling Ben.

"The Bens are morons. Good idea, terrible execution. I’m here to make sure we remain true to the idea of 'Heroes,' so don’t fuck up my shoot." She gave him a once over. "Christ. You have any experience?"

Greg turned from where he was testing the white balance.

"Angelique, stop harassing the talent. We get it, you have a degree from RISD."

Angelique snorted.

"As if I don't hear you going on and on about being a professional photographer. 'Hey, lemme shoot your portfolio, baby.' Whatever. As if we're not your only professional credit."

"Hey—you wanted a photographer for peanuts? You got me. You wanted models for peanuts? You got him."

Mary gave her his full snaggle-toothed grin.

"I take T tokens."

Angelique sighed, then pasted on a smile.

"Hi! So happy you’re here!" Her smile drooped. "You got your wardrobe in there?"

"Yeah."

Mary handed her the duffle, and she handed him release forms.

"Here: sign these"

She pawed through his offerings.

"Not bad, not bad." She pulled out a corset and his heeled boots. "We'll keep you in your jeans and have you wear your jacket over your corset. Cool?"

Cool.

The shoot was as professional as a shoot in a warehouse in what Mary was taking to usually be a living room could be. Angelique directed Greg with what she wanted. Greg called out positions and expressions for Mary to pose in.

It was surprisingly hard work, and by the end of a solid hour, his smirking lip was getting tired. Angelique and Greg scrolled through the shots, murmuring to themselves and nodding.

Mary waited—greeting at the other inhabitants as they squeezed by on their way either up or down—until Angelique approached him.

"That’ll do. You mind if we post on our website?"

Mary preened.

"Yeah, that’s kosher."

She handed him a pen and pocket notebook.

"Write down a quick bio."

He scribbled down a quick elevator pitch

Into general skulking and metal \m/

and handed the notebook back to her.

"Great, thanks."

She handed him a $20 bill, her eyes skimming him up and down.

"Next time we should show off those hip bones. Just jeans, I think."

Mary perked up. "Next time?"

"We’ll call you."

***

"Omigod, omigod!"

Amber perched on the record store counter, flipping through "Heroes," as Jon peered over her shoulder.

"Mary…look at you!"

Mary tried to swallow his smug smile.

Failed.

"Yeah. I’m hot shit, ain’t I?"

She bopped him on the nose with the newsprint.

"Don’t be vain."

He showed her his toothy smile.

"I like to think of it as confidence."

"So did Icarus."

Mary snorted and went back to putting prices on the new CDs.

"The camera loves you," said Jon, who was always quiet and reserved as you please…until he put on Frank’s corset and heels.

Mary had tried flirting with him, but Jon always ducked his head and played it off.

"Thanks, man," said Mary, giving him a softer smile.

"So??"

"So what, Amber?"

"Are you gonna do it again?"

Mary shrugged.

"I mean, if they call me, sure."

But he was kind of hoping they would.

When the next issue came out weeks later, Mary stared at the cybergoth on the pages and felt himself deflate. Listlessly, he thumbed through the delicate print, barely skimming the section devoted to the World/Inferno Friendship Society’s set he’d been at the week before.

He set it down with a sigh before he picked up his guitar and plucked out a tune he was trying to coax into a riff.

By the time a Ben called again, Mary had given up the modeling thing as a one-off.

"Hey, dude—thought maybe you guys forgot about me," Mary said in a teasing tone.

The Ben on the other end chuckled.

"It’s like herding cats to get shit out. Nah, dude—we definitely want you to be one of our regulars. You in for next Saturday?"

He was.

***

Over the course of a year, "Heroes" had Mary come out multiple times for shoots. Mainly, Mary wore his own clothes and did his own makeup, but occasionally, Angelique wanted something specific.

"How comfortable are you with boudoir shots?"

"With what?"

"Like a pinup, but more…saucy than sexy."

I'd pose nude if you paid me enough.

(Sure, he was a noodle boy, but he knew he had the goods.)

"Yeah, I’m cool with that."

Angelique brightened at him.

"Great!"

She picked up a set of complicated leather garters and thrust them at him.

"Put these on."

Mary had only ever worn lace garters—mostly out to clubs, but occasionally under his ripped jeans for an extra pop—but he found he liked these even more, liked the way they emphasized his thighs.

"Hey—where’d you get these…?"

(He was already thinking of what he could pair them with for goth night.)

"Local leatherworker. He mostly does pieces for Renn Fairs, but he'll also do custom. I can give you his info."

She led Mary into what was clearly someone's bedroom.

"Don't fuck anything up, or Joye will never let us use this again."

Mary shot her his best shark smile.

"Hey, I only mess up the sheets if someone asks."

Angelique gave him a flat look and called for Greg.

(But when he draped himself over the bed and told Greg to "Paint me like one of your French girls," Mary could have sworn she almost smiled.)

On one memorable occasion, she brought in a guy whose rope bondage demo she watched at a sex convention.

"Put on some of that lingerie and we'll truss you up. You ok with that, Goore?"

Mary ran his fingers over the coils and gave her a wolfish smile.

"You know I'm game for anything."

She gave him a vulpine smile of her own then, and she looked down at him from the height of her platformed boots.

"Good. I thought you should be submissive for once."

Mary had no witty rejoinder for that.

He listened with interest as the guy carefully explained what he was going to do, complete with pictures, and he relaxed easily into the process. (They put bunny ears on him, and it would be much, much later that he got that particular joke. Well played, Angelique.)

The ropes hadn’t let him do much posing, but Mary had kind of liked the constriction, and his thoughts were already on asking Amber to help him create a more versatile version for fetish night.

He’d left that day with a new kink…and the guy’s number.

"Why not just do one big shoot?" he asked another time. "Get it all done in one big bang!"

Angelique held up his garments to eyeball over him.

"Honey, we never even know if there's gonna be a next issue. The Bens spend most of the time arguing. My god you should hear them—Ben bankrolls the whole thing, so he says he should get final say on shit, and Benji wants total artistic control because it was his idea, because 'he's the graphic designer', and because it's his Kinko's employee discount they use."

She gave Mary a curled-lip smile as she tossed a few items at him.

"In the end it's this bitch you're looking at who gets shit done."

Mary began to change (they were long past modesty).

"How'd you get involved?"

"Went to school with Benji."

"Ben too?"

"Neg. The Bens are childhood friends. Ben works some cushy start-up job, so Benji lets him bankroll them both. Rent, utilities—everything. I love Benji to death, but he's a giant mooch."

"Shit, that must be nice."

Angelique shrugged. She stood back to appraise Mary's look.

"It's fucking lame. But it least it gets us fucking paid."

Mary didn't say I'd do this for free. Instead, he struck a pose and said, "I'm just happy for the exposure."

Angelique rolled her eyes and went to fetch Greg.

***

That year and a half would become a nonstop party with Mary as one of the VIPs; he wouldn't say no to anything—be it casual sex, club appearances, or whatever drug the current pretty thing was offering him in the bathroom.

But recognition started slow.

At first, it was customers who would leaf through the zine and recognize Mary.

Then, it was the occasional scenester who’d stop him on the street in JP as he walked about, and Mary would pose for grainy cell phone pics.

Soon, he was being approached at shows and clubs. The first time it happened, Mary was high off his new infamy and ready to please. A woman in a black bandage bra and pleated skirt with bondage straps approached him, and Mary was already thinking of what he could do with those.

"You look like that guy in ‘Heroes’!" she'd shouted to him over the music.

Mary had flashed her a crooked smile and leaned in.

"Maybe I am the guy in ‘Heroes’."

She'd given him an exaggerated once over before sidling closer with hooded eyes.

"I dunno…you're wearing way more clothes."

Mary had pulled his mesh top down by the collar in a tease as he'd curled over her.

"Take me somewhere more private and I’ll let you do a comparison."

She'd compared him all night.

And that was before he and the other "Heroes" models formed their own posse.

The Bens had thrown a BBQ and had invited everyone they'd ever met. There were people packed into their little 2 bedroom in Brighton, spilling down the back stairs, and equally packed into the little square of shared backyard. Ben had taken the 12-pack of 'Gansett beers Mary had brought, then introduced him to the other dark models.

"Now you're all here!" said Ben. He slung his arm around Mary. "Guys, this is Mary. Mary this is Mayhem, Lesley, Lola, and Bryan."

Mayhem was a rivethead, and Mary took to him instantly, but he was wary of the others. Lesley was the cybergoth who'd been in the first issue after him, and Mary still felt a bit salty at them, even though Mary knew by now the Bens rotated the models. Lola, the romantic goth, reminded him enough of Vanity that he felt guilty for losing touch with her and had him projecting a little. Bryan was a metalhead, so: competition.

Mary had thought they'd get along like cats and water, but weed, booze, and "Never Have I Ever" went a long way to creating a shared bond.

And there it was again. That pull. The magnetic force telling him that he'd found the place he was supposed to be. They quickly coalesced into their own pack, calling themselves the "Deathbutantes" (because they always killed it when they debuted for the night).

It had been rare for Mary to miss Friday and Saturday night shenanigans with the Rocky crew, but now, every night was Friday night. There was always a show or a concert or club that one of them knew about—and if they couldn't get lucky with the local color, they'd just go home with each other.

Mayhem taught Mary what Lola jokingly called the "grab a bat" dance, and the two of them cut quite the picture on the dance floors.

Lesley took to Lola, and the two of them could always be counted on for scintillating conversation in dark corners when Mary's limbst needed a break from flailing about.

The clubs weren't really Bryan's scene—take him to a sticky hole in the wall with concrete floors and a stage close enough to feel the sweat from the bands, and he was in heaven—but he liked to come along to hang. He'd drink PBRs, rub Lola's feet when she invariably abandoned her heels for the evening, and argue with Mary about the purity of death metal.

Mayhem and Lola weren't really into live music of the screaming kind, so—while Lesley, Bryan, and Mary bounced off each other in the mosh pits—they'd save a "home" base at one the bartops.

Amber noticed Mary's diminishing presence and stopped by the record shop to call him out.

"So you're not dead! Could've fooled me."

Mary was organizing the albums into order, and he grunted at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a cad. I'll make it up to you."

"You missed game night."

"Sorry. Jethro Tull played some tiny venue in nowhere Mass, and Bryan was salivating. I mean, Jethro Tull. Can you blame me?"

He looked at her, arms out wide in supplication. But she just blinked at him.

"You have no idea who Jethro Tull is, do you?"

"Sorry, dude. But christ, Mare. You should have invited me. I'd've gone. Maybe I would have even liked them. Now you'll never know."

"I could just lend you an album."

"Nope! The moment passed. Too late!"

Mary riffled through the stock and shoved a Jethro Tull CD into her hands.

She tapped it against her thigh.

"So, when do I get to hang?"

"I can get us into 80s night free."

"No, I mean, with your cooler friends. Your 'murder models', or whatever."

"You wanna hang out with the Deathbutantes?"

Amber scrunched her nose.

"That's so fucking pretentious."

Mary kind of liked it.

"Dunno if they're really your scene."

"Oh? And what's my scene?"

"Musical theater on crack."

She mock gasped at him, "Called out!" before smacking him with the CD. "Whatever. You love musical theater on crack."

Mary draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, I do. But I don't live it, you know? You guys have your niche—and fuck…I love to visit—but it's not mine."

Amber looked up at him, her expression serious.

"So the Dumbutantes are your niche?"

Mary shrugged and went back to shelving.

The Rocky crew had been good to him. They'd taken him under their wing, no questions asked, and helped him realize things about himself. Tim had taken him to the ER when Mary had come down with a serious case of the flu. Matty had taught him the basics of sewing. Gretchen had held him after a bad trip. Omar and he had had many drunken heart-to-hearts about their shitty home lives.

And Amber was his best friend. She'd been his #1 cheerleader for years and had never been afraid to call him out on his shit.

So yeah, he loved the Rocky crew…but they laughed at anyone who took anything too seriously. Mary would show up to game nights in his latest creation—with everyone else in pjs or jeans & hoodies—and they'd tease him about trying to impress the wrong people. He'd try to talk about the newest guitar god he'd been mainlining, and they'd make snoring noises at him.

How could he explain the kinship he felt with the Deathbutantes? That they were as serious about music as he was, that they just…got why he felt the need to dress the way he did to express the way he felt inside on his outside.

Instead, he said, "I'm just trying shit out, Ambs." He quirked his eyebrow at her. "I gotta do something while you guys do your real-person jobs."

(Amber had recently started as a junior marketing assistant at the American Repertory Theater. "Purely mercenary," she'd said. "Maybe it'll give me a leg up during auditions.")

She made a disgruntled scoffing noise in the back of her throat.

"Fuck, don't remind me. I actually gotta go to bed a reasonable hour now."

"Don't worry." Mary winked at her. "I'll keep ya honest."

"That sounds a lot like my head in a toilet, Mare."

"I'll hold your hair back."

She gave him a good-natured shove, and he pretended to cower.

If she wanted to cross pollinate, who was Mary to stand in her way? So, he invited her out the next time the Deathbutantes went to a show, and it went exactly like he thought it would.

They disliked her, and she was equally unimpressed. They thought she was too loud and frenetic, and she thought they had no sense of humor.

"I fucking told you," Mary had snorted as they sat on the curb sharing a clove.

"Shut the fuck up, Mare."

But she'd put her head on his shoulder.

"They make you happy, though. So I guess I approve. Just as long as I don't have to play nice."

Mary still hung out with the Rocky crew—there were still game nights and drug-fueled sex parties and theater games—but the Deathbutantes introduced him to the underground scene. They always seemed to have insider knowledge about the best up-in-coming bands and the secret shows. Theme nights at the goth clubs were always a must, and they rarely missed one. Sometimes, Angelique would crash, and they'd take the commuter rail to Providence to party at Club Hell before collapsing in a sweaty, smeary pile at a friend of a friend's hole in the wall.

As a bit player in the Rocky crew, Mary had been another made-up face in the crowd. As a certified member of the Deathbutantes, Mary became the face.

They all did.

The owners loved them because they bought round after round at the bar, and if word got out that the Deathbutantes were there, their admirers came to spend money as well. The employees loved them because they were fun and talked to them as equals. The clientele loved them because they were pretty young things.

Sometimes, though, Mary wasn't in the mood to party or get laid, so he talked to the DJs instead. He'd buy them rounds and stay past closing to help them pack up while they talked about the history of punk and 80s new wave and nu metal. There was one in particular, Dave, that Mary even considered a friend.

The two of them would sit in the club past closing, sharing a whiskey and talking about life while the bartenders closed down and cashed out. Occasionally, Dave's other friends would be around, and they'd all walk back to his place; he'd fool around spinning in his home studio, and they'd drink box wine as they danced and laughed before Mary would have to sit on the ground in an intoxicated exhaustion, good for only thumbing through Dave's vinyl collection.

Mary was just happy to talk shop with another music aficionado, but Angelique had pointed out that he should leverage his minor clout.

They'd been waiting for Greg to finish setting up, and Mary had been struggle city after a particularly hard night out. It was all he could manage to sit there quietly and hope some god would put him out of his misery.

"You need to get your shit together," Angelique had said out of nowhere.

Mary had cracked a puffy eye and had slowly (as to not bring the nothing in his stomach back up) turned his head to her.

"As if I haven't seen your melted ass on the floor wanting to die."

"Fuck, Mary. You've turned it into an art form."

He'd closed his eyes and given her the finger, but that hadn't stopped her.

"You wanna be a rockstar, boy? You can't just sit on your ass and hope the right person on the right night hears you. You're effervescent and charismatic—heads turn when you walk into a room and not just because of your skinny jeans—but you need more than air, Mary, which is all you are right now."

"Fuck you, Angela."

She'd clapped in front of his face, and she was lucky he didn't Exorcist bile all over her.

"You're a fucking pain in my ass, Goore. I'm doling out the good stuff, try not to bite my hand off, k?"

"All right, all right!"

"You wanna start that band? You wanna get play and amass fans? Well, make that demo you're always droning on about and give it to those DJs you're alway fanboying over. Fucking network, Goore."

At the time, Mary had been too hungover to care, but her advice would sink in…

Eventually.

For the time being, Mary was content. He loved the attention, and it made him feel invincible, made him feel like it was finally His Time. And he was going to make up for every slight, every unfair situation, and every beat down with sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.

With his newfound nightlife, Mary's day job had become an afterthought. He started sleeping through opening shifts, but with the extra foot traffic Mary brought to the store, his boss seemed resigned to let Mary slide (after a stern talking to and a pay docking).

The shadow cast had started using him as a mascot of sorts, and he was happy to show up on Saturday nights and hype up the waiting line with a pseudo striptease. (Even if it was sometimes to kick off his evening with the Deathbutantes and not hang with the cast after.)

Mary started a band ("auditioning" any and all of the many admirers who said they’d be more than happy to join it), and after a few false starts and a couple of lineup changes, they began working on an EP. (At least, when Mary showed up to rehearsal, they did.)

A Boston Phoenix reporter got wind of the Deathbutantes and called around about doing a story on them. The Bens were excited about the exposure that meant for their zine, and Angelique and Greg were excited about what it could mean for their careers. Mary did a brief interview over the phone where he answered questions about his style and talked about his dream of making his band a household name.

Mary saw his name up in lights, and he was reaching for it, full speed ahead.

But then things turned.

The story fell through at the last minute with no further explanation or contact by the reporter.

His boss finally fired him after Mary showed up too high to function too many times—or not at all.

The shadow cast had a turnover, and suddenly he was old news—a cringey hanger-on.

A trip to the clinic and a round of antibiotics for an STI had him way more wary of who he hooked up with.

"Heroes" lost momentum when imitators popped up and Ben cut off the gravy train.

Angelique moved to NYC for "better opportunities," and the Bens took their brand of counterculture to Portland, OR.

Greg took down the website when he got offered a legit job as an apprentice at a food magazine, and that was that.

The physical zines were cheap things, most ending up papering the sidewalk after trash day or lining the bottom of cages. Without the online presence, did Mary's "modeling career" even exist?

Mary was a little sad to see the era go, but when he woke up in Maine on the hood of some girl's car and only a hazy recollection of how they'd gotten there, he was beginning to see Angelique's point. He needed to get his shit together if he was ever going to become a rockstar. And frankly, he kind of felt like he needed to spend an entire month eating carrots and hydrating.

The 24/7 party had always been an ephemeral thing; it had been sand passing through his hands in a finite amount as he'd tried to hold onto it

He put himself on detox, and waking up sober for the first time in months felt like a revelation. And as it turned out, playing the guitar without badly shaking hands was way, way easier.

He found another job in another music store, and his starter!band was bringing butts into the smaller venues, like Toad.

He still had his old Rocky friends and the Deathbutantes. The club and venue owners still let him in for free, and Dave was always happy to give his demos a spin. By anyone's else's measure, he was steal one of the scene's darlings.

But Mary was beginning to realize that he needed to stop seeing himself as that scared kid who’d arrived in Boston 4 years ago with only a backpack, $72.57 to his name, and void where his family should be.

He needed to stop finding people to please into loving him.

Instead, he needed to live for himself and let them love him for who he was—fuck ups and all.

@slimylayne

Epilogue

"Honestly, that’s probably the reason I even got a band together," he says. "I was still kind of shit at guitar, but people came to see ‘Model Mary’ perform in his underwear."

He shoots me a smirk.

"I’m sure there’re pictures out there of me looking more glam than metal. I kind of played up the whole pinup thing for a while."

"Fuck, I would kill, literally kill to see that."

He pulls me into his lap until I’m straddling him.

"I could open up my underwear drawer and show you right now."

"Goore, you temptress."

I lean down to kiss him, and his hands sneak under my shirt, but I pull away again.

"I kinda thought I knew all your torrid secrets by now. Shit, how come Dave's never needled you about it?"

After 2 years with him, I’m surprised I hadn't even heard a peep from his oldest friend.

Mary snorts.

"Dave would miss shit hanging off his nose. Great dude, amiable as fuck, but he's always had fucking tunnel vision for his music."

I smirk at him.

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Mary pulls a face at me, and I apply kisses to every line until he laughs and bats me away.

"But really, Mare—how come you never told me about your brief career in blue steel?"

He blows out a breath, his hands smoothing up my thighs.

"Fuck. Cuz maybe I was a little embarrassed at how off the rails I was then, ok? Didn't want you to know what I fuck up I was." He takes my hand and kisses my palm. "And even I know it's a shit move to pitch woo at someone by telling them about banging half of Boston."

I make a face at him, and he laughs.

"Yeah, that’s what I thought."

His hands rest on my waist.

"Christ, everything about that year's a bit fuzzy, and it was like 10 years ago. Sometimes it feels like it happened to someone else, honestly. And shit—most of those people aren’t even around anymore. College kids who moved on and 20-somethings that grew up and moved who knows where. I used to watch Amber have—what is it when it’s four people?—and now she lives in bumblefuck Pennsylvania with 3 kids. After she left, I just kinda drifted away from all that."

He shrugs, his eyes downcast.

"I’m sorry, Mare," I say as I smooth his eyebrows.

He shrugs again.

"I mean, we all kinda keep in touch. It's like the only reason I have Facebook."

"When was the last time you even signed into that?"

Mary grins at me.

"Lola's birthday."

"One of the models? What happened with them?"

Mary bites his lip and thinks.

"Mayhem found religion after an OD and kinda ghosted everyone. Lesley followed a girl to New Hampshire. Uh…Lola pursued a PhD for something sciencey involving renewable energy with sugar beets in Idaho, and Bryan moved back to Florida to care for his grandma, who raised him."

Mary leans his head back on the couch and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"I mean, shit. We were fucking babies back then. Head empty except for a good time and unlimited potential."

I run my fingers through his hair.

"You miss it?"

His eyes pop open to look at me.

"Fuck no. Not for a million dollars. Too many question marks." His eyes glint as he runs his hands down me. "I like what I got going on right here."

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and kiss his forehead. The fucking sap.

Mary picks up my phone and scrolls through the pictures again.

"Fuck. I used to be goddamn adorable, though. Half this shit wouldn’t even fit me anymore."

I squish his little potbelly, and he grunts at me indignantly.

"Do you still have any originals?" I ask.

He shakes his head, his eyes wistful and his smile sad.

"Nah. Got destroyed when my roof collapsed and leaked everywhere. Fuck, landlords are useless. Glad we fucking own now, babe."

He scrolls up, scrolls back down.

"Just these four?"

I nod.

"Yeah. They were the only ones I found—and I did a lot of searching."

"Christ, I think there were at least 10."

I smile ruefully at him. "It’s not gonna be long anyway before they make their way into the popular tags and shit starts coming out of the woodwork."

He tosses my phone onto the table.

"Whatever. Just shows that I’ve always been cool."

And then he’s kissing me again, his hand tangling in my hair.

"You know, I’m your family now, Mare. Just for you."

He brings my hand up and kisses it.

"Fuck, I know that. Why’dja think I put a ring on it?"

[ask-them-bois]

The Scorpion’s Web, part 2/3

SW.pt1

TW: Mild blood, mind manipulation

TLDR: A new troll arrives!

.

Oliver reclined on his throne, chin on his knuckles as he observed the cavern below. Down on the floor, his followers were gathered.

They chattered with one another, swapping coins and medicine and food- anything the other needed, if it meant they’d make it another night. Oliver heard someone drop a handful of caigers in the offering bowl, only for it to be taken a moment later. The music was soft tonight, a piano melody that wafted through the air as they waited.

The smell of incense and food swirled, heady and warm, around the cavern. Oliver could hear pots and pans clatter in the secondary cave, as a handful of followers worked to provide a free meal. It wasn’t anything special- ground meat and rice, with steamed vegetables- but there was enough to go around, and for some it’d be the easiest meal they’d get for a while. The incense curled out from the braziers hung from the ceilings above.

The soft shht shht of a towel over marble was an indication that someone had taken it upon themself to clean the altar and shrine. Oliver waited for the sound to stop before he called the troll over, gracing them with a touch and a thanks and a kiss to their forehead. When the troll stumbled away, Oliver heard the shift in the crowd as that troll was swarmed, the others eager to touch one their leader had blessed.

At her feet, Bohwie sat on his knees, his head tipped back into her lap as she ran her claws through his fluffy hair. He laughed as he watched the commotion, before he looked up at the oliveblood.

“How much longer, Olly?” He asked, laying his chin on their knee.

“Soon, darling. He promised deliverance. They’ll-” He stopped speaking as he heard, far above their heads, someone entering the cavernous tunnels. “-be here any moment.” He finished, chuckling.

Sitting up straight, Oliver rose to their feet, making Bohwie shuffle out of the way. “Darlings!” They called, the crowd instantly hushing and turning to them, “Tonight, we have two very special guests joining us. They have just entered our hallowed chamber, and will soon be upon us. Welcome them with the reverence you bestow upon Bohwie and I, for just as you all do, they serve a purpose greater than ourselves.”

The crowd murmured to one another quietly, shuffling about eagerly as Bohwie got to his feet.

Oliver listened past them, to the footsteps that were nearing the cavern’s entrance. “Darlings, it is my honor to introduce his most exalted, the child of the Empire, Fayroe Fallen, and the Father’s lover’s son, Zeruki Ursida.”

A hush fell as the two trolls stepped into the cavernous room, which held for several seconds.

“Uh… Wassup, fellow freaky-deaks?” Zeruki finally broke the silence, the jingling of the bells on his tail echoing and shrill when he moved. Oliver could smell fear emanating off the tealblood; he didn’t want to be here, clearly.

“Welcome, darlings. I’m quite pleased you made it here safely.” Oliver said graciously, descending the ramp and walking up to the other two.

“I brought him, just like you asked.” Fayroe said, leather shuffling as they crossed their arms; they sounded absolutely disgusted that they’d done a favor for the oliveblood. “So you’d better-”

“Yes, darling, I’ll help you, as I promised. But first, we have work to do, still.” Oliver assured him smoothly, before she turned to Zeruki. “Welcome, my fellow genetic deviant. I’m sure you have quite a few questions.”

“I sure as flip-fucking-fuck do. Where the hell am I, why am I here, and why did Faybee-baby-bitch show up at my hive? That’s illegal.” Zeruki huffed.

“Well, darling, you are among friends here. I am Oliver Maddel. This is Bohwie Akshai,” Oliver indicated the blueblood as he walked up behind her, “And all these trolls behind us are part of the Black Hand. We are servants of the Infinite Abomination, the most ancient and powerful-”

“Whoopidy-fuckity-doo, you worship a bitch-brat with eyes and tentacles that would be a superstar in Eastern Alternian bucket animation.” Zeruki interjected, sounding bored as he lashed his tail again and made the bells ring, “What the fffffuck does that have to do with me? I was having a nice tippy-time trying to get my lusus to stop eating the lounge-plank when pinky-pie and flufflekins showed up at my door.”

“Don’t you dare disrespect Persephone! I’ll-” Fayroe began.

“You’ll what?” Zeruki taunted, “Kill me? Go ahead and try, bitch-stitch-boy! Jokes on you, I wanna die! Your daddy-pops wants me alive, though! You wanna make daddy mmmmmad? Huh?”

“I could have you-”

“Have me what? Imprisoned? Tortured? Once again the jokey-pokey is on you, pinky-fuck! I’m into that shit! You’re powerless, chuckle-bucket-fffffuck!” Zeruki cackled.

Oliver realized he was quickly losing control of the situation. “Zeruki,” He interjected sharply, before he took a deep breath and continued calmly, “I apologize that we ruined your evening, but I asked Fayroe to bring you.” He gave the teal his most flattering and charming smile, “You see, darling, we have need of you. At this moment, you are the most important troll in the world.”

Zeruki was silent for several seconds. “Dope.” He said at last, “Why?”

“We need your assistance for something that could, potentially, change the world. I promise you, you’ll be royally compensated for your cooperation.”

“Compensated like… money, or like you’re gonna put me on that freaky-fucky table and cut my head off?” Zeruki checked.

“Whichever you’re into.” Oliver chuckled. They turned away, motioning for Zeruki to follow as they headed for the altar.

“Soooo…. What do I gotta do?” The teal asked.

“We just need some of your blood, my dear.”

“McChicken-fuckin-scuse me?” Zeruki asked, incredulous.

“Not all of it, of course! Just a few drops!” Oliver assured him.

“Why?!”

Oliver held out her hand, and Bohwie placed an old, tarnished, gold lapel pin- it was shaped like a scorpion, with two gleaming rubellite eyes- in her palm.

Fayroe sucked in a sharp breath. “Hold on a moment- you’re not going to- to bring em back, are you?” They asked nervously.

Oliver only smiled. “We need em, darling.”

“But- but ey-”

“Trust me, my dear, I know what I’m doing.” Oliver said soothingly. She gently placed the pin on the black marble, before she raised her head, turning it from side to side like she was observing the room. “Long ago,” She began, “I came across an ancient scripture, left behind by the original Black Hand. It detailed their rituals, festivities, and the god they worshipped.

This scripture… came with a prophecy.” Oliver said dramatically, hiding a grin when he heard the Black Hand collectively suck in a breath, “It was vague, as they often are, but I managed to piece it together- the Black Hand is due, nay, had been promised, a chosen one. This chosen child would usher in an age of glory, victory, and wonder- the age of nonsuffering- swept in on a wave of blood.

I thought, long ago, that I had found that child.” She let her voice fall into nostalgic sadness, “The one called Drayco Afasia. They were devout, beautiful, and were in line to succeed after Bohwie and I were gone. But before they could truly take their place as our chosen child, they were ripped away from us!” Her voice rolled from regret to wrath as she spat out the word.

The Black Hand reacted, growls and hisses emanating from the watching trolls. Oliver shook their head, clenching their fists against the cold stone altar, “The one called Musrio Almawt tore our child away from us, like a feral lusus takes away a grub. He stole our child, ending their life before it was begun! Then, unable to face the sin he committed, he took his own life in repentance! Only to meet our god, to confront the fact that he had taken everything away from us!” Their voice rose in pitch, as their followers jeered and snarled. They knew this story; Oliver had drilled it into them that Musrio was the enemy, conditioned them to react with malice at his name.

“Instead of smiting his soul from existence, however,” Oliver relaxed with a weary sigh, “our lord is merciful. It blessed Almawt with powers like mine, and sent him back to us, rebirthed and purified. It is my belief that our god intended for him to take up the mantle, to atone for his sins, and assist us with our goal. And so far, he has done just that! He has brought back many of those we require for the wave of blood! For that, we thank him.” She smiled warmly, and the scent changed to confusion and uncertainty, until she dropped the expression.

“But we cannot forgive him.” He continued darkly, “Not when he insists on impeding our work in any way he can. He returned our chosen child to life, but-” He let his voice crack, “I was too late.” He stage whispered, his voice thick with grief, “He had corrupted our child, convinced them that we are the villains, and has refused to continue his work for us.” He rubbed his knuckles over his mask, like he was wiping away tears, cleared his throat, and continued, “So I have been forced to play my hand, perhaps too early. I have brought back the Deadscar Wanderer, and the Hierophant- our beloved founder- and now…”

They held up the pin for all to see. “I shall bring back yet another that will join our cause. Once ey have joined us, there will only be two left! And once those two are within my grasp, we shall harvest their blood, all at once, so that the wave will begin, and our chosen child will come to us!” They announced proudly. The Black Hand were become frenzied, cheers and applause ringing through the cavern. “And once the child has come home, they will lead us into the age of nonsuffering!” Oliver cried over the crowd, “We are nearly there, my darlings!”

More chattering and clapping; Oliver allowed them the jubilation for a moment, before he motioned for silence. Instantly, his followers settled into breathless anticipation.

Laughing, Oliver turned to Zeruki. “So, my darling, do you see now why we need you? You are the descendant of one of the bloods. The connection through your bloodlines will allow em to grace us with eir presence. Will you do us the honor, and give us some of the azure ichor in your veins?” He purred silkily.

Zeruki was silent for a long moment; Oliver gave him that, letting him think it over. Finally, Zeruki took a deep breath, clapping his hands together.

“How do I put this politely?” He asked with mock cheeriness, “You’re flip-shit-fuck-trucking nuts, my guy. Absolutels-tootles buggy-bonkers, out the thinkpan fritz-frazzled. You feel me, Olive oil? I’m gonna go home, mmmmkay, and let my lusus gnaw on my skull so I forget all the lug-nut-lunacy your vocal box just spewed like my bulge during happy-fun-me-and-bucket-time. Okie-dokie?”

There was a collective gasp of horror from the Black Hand.

Icy fury stole through Oliver, freezing her already stony blood-pumper. However, her face did not change. Instead, she cupped her own chin thoughtfully, humming. “I see…”

“No you don’t.” Zeruki muttered, his tail chiming as he snorted.

“No, I don’t.” Oliver agreed and with a convincing giggle, dropping her hand, “But if that’s how you feel, then- well, I certainly won’t stop you from leaving. I won’t force you.” She carefully set the pin down, clasping her hands in front of her.

“Uh… sooo…. I can go?” Zeruki asked, startled.

“I won’t stop you.” Oliver repeated, their smile as cold as their veins.

“Uh… ‘Kay. Dope. … Bye?” Zeruki began to back away, his scent full of uncertainty.

“Oh, wait- just one thing, darling.” Oliver called. He turned towards where Bohwie was standing, waiting patiently. “BB, will you do the honors?”

Oliver didn’t need to see to feel the air suddenly become electrified- crackling, almost, and thick with an intangible power.

“I’ve got him.” Bohwie said calmly, although his voice was trembling with excitement.

“Thank you, my love.” Oliver purred, before they turned to the crowd. “The blessed abilities our lord has given us have come into great use this night, my lovelies. Does anyone have a blade we might use?”

There was a quick, and enthusiastic reaction. However, it was Fayroe who pressed a knife into Oliver’s hand. “Use mine. Just don’t get any of your own filth on it.”

Oliver gripped the blade’s hilt, laughing. “Of course not, dear.” He assured them. Turning towards the sound of Zeruki’s boots approaching, he held out the knife.

“Take it.” Bohwie rumbled.

The knife left Oliver’s hand.

“Slice your palm over the altar.”

Shuffling, and a rough scrape. There was no hiss of pain, no whimper, as the smell of blood filled Oliver’s nose.

“Turn your hand. Cover the pin.”

A brief pause, and a faint splatter of several drops hitting metal and stone.

“Give Fayroe his knife.”

“Ew.” The fuchsia muttered as he took the blade, wiping it down with a handkerchief.

“You’re going to stay here, and watch your ancestor rejoin us. You were willing to help, and gave your blood to us.” Bohwie intoned, before the energy in the air snapped and vanished.

Oliver heard several of the Black Hand take deep breaths, as if they’d just surfaced from underwater; they hadn’t been controlled, but the raw power

Bohwie possessed was still dizzying to be near. Zeruki spluttered, stumbling, as his body was given back to him.

“Wh-” He began, before Bohwie’s final order took over. He fell silent, and did not move.

“Thank you for your help, Zeruki.” Oliver purred as he stepped up to the altar again. “The pin is in place?” He checked.

“It is.” Bohwie assured him.

Satisfied, Oliver carefully peeled her gloves off and passed them to Bohwie. She rubbed her hands together, before she reached up and untied the silk band over her eyes. She let it fall to the floor as she pressed her hands together.

Energy surged through their body, up from their chest, down their arms, and into their head. Their eyes began to glow, as a dark, misty haze formed over their hands. The magic was not all consuming, no matter how hard Oliver tried to make it take over their body, as they were told it was supposed to.

But it would be enough. A bitingly cold wind cut through the warm cavern, racing around the room like a frenzied scale-mate. The lights and torches alike flickered, the scents from incense and food suddenly blown away. From Oliver’s perspective, he was alone; alone in a cold void, with only the sound of the wind and a deep thrumming, despite the hundred or so trolls in the room with him.

As the magic that gathered in her reached its peak, Oliver flung her arms out dramatically, throwing back her head. Her mouth opened in a wordless roar as she threw herself forward, slamming her palms down on the altar, on either side of the pin. Blood splattered on her fingers, the smell sharp and poignant in the void. It burned against her skin as the magic burst.

The wind built to a screaming whirlwind around him, the Black Hand crying out in alarm, only for their voices to be drowned out. Zeruki and Fayroe backed away in fear, as Bohwie stood resolutely beside his morail.

Darkness consumed Oliver inside and out as something tugged on his consciousness. Without thought, he seized it and heaved.

Green flames erupted in the torches that had been blown out, only to turn cyan. The darkness suddenly peeled off of Oliver and enveloped the altar they leaned on, gathering around the pin until it couldn’t be seen.

All at once, the darkness expanded, thrashing and solidifying into a shape.

A body.

Head, arms, and legs bloomed out of the torso, along with an excess limb. Fingers separated out of the dark, horns sprouted from the silhouette.

As the darkness locked itself into a physical form, the wind and roar and magic abruptly vanished, momentarily sucking the air out of the cavern along with it.

The black mist around the form fell away like fog, rolling off the altar and disappearing.

Oliver’s knees buckled, and Bohwie was immediately at his side to catch her. She gasped in air, her lungs frozen in her ribs as the energy was drained away. She had the strength to stay standing, though, unlike when she’d called Hierophant.

Bohwie stood him up, brushing back his hair and tying the mask back on his eyes. “Are you alright?” He whispered.

“I’m alright, BB.” Oliver assured him softly, smiling towards the cerulean’s face. “Did it work?”

“My, my, my… One moment, I am cutting open a subject. The next, the mother of the abomination has speared me through. Now I appear to find myself upon an examination table that isn’t mine. Most peculiar…"

A new voice, scratchy and sneering, spoke behind them.

Oliver turned as they heard shuffling, as someone sat up and rose from the altar top. They beamed, stepping forward and bowing low.

“Welcome back to Alternia, Dr. Dolion Ursida, the Bladepen.”

[show-choir-gal]

“Amortentia” Marcus Flint Imagine

Guide: Y/N = Your Name Y/F/F = Your Favourite Flower

Word count: 6,933

Wow, this was so much longer than what I normally write but I am in love with Marcus Flint soooooo... I hope you all can enjoy this because I put in a lot of time and effort to make this great! Don't forget to send in ideas or requests! I want to be able to write more and just more of what y'all would like to see!

*************

I was one year behind Flint, but one year ahead of Adrien Pucey who was my next door neighbour. My older brother Duncan was best friends with Adrien's second eldest brother and so naturally him and I became friends. My brother was such a huge Quidditch nerd and that passed down to me, so I always heard about their practices and games. The family even went to a few of the Hogwarts games. My eldest brother was already off playing Quidditch with the Falmouth Falcons and well on his way into earning a spot on the Irish National Quidditch Team. Despite my big-ish family, there was just three kids in total; my eldest brother Cillian, followed by Duncan, and then me... the only girl. I was definitely the favourite, being not just the youngest but the only girl. I was beloved, and it wasn't any different when I got my acceptance letter from Hogwarts.

It was September 1st, my first day going to the school everyone in my family had attended before I. We said our goodbye, despite the gross stares from the more "traditional" and "good" wizarding families. Mum was crying as she hugged my 11 year old body, not wanting to let go so I didn't grow up. Dad eventually pulled her up and Duncan promised to always make sure I was okay. He WANTED me to be his shadow, something not many would believe. He had a moral obligation to protect me, an obligation I didn't quite understand until later in my life. Both of us made our way to what Duncan called the "Slytherin Car". He held the door open for me, and all I saw were many clad in green robes, scarves, and hats. I was in awe when my thoughts were swiftly interrupted. "Oi, Blackwell. No first years in the car." A black haired boy hollered from our left side of the car. "Piss off Flint, we all know you would've came in your pants to be here last year," Duncan stated, "C'mon, I sit in the back." I followed suit as my brother shoved people out of the way to get to his usual seat, but not before both of us shot that boy a glance that made him turn paler than he already was. All I could hear behind me were taunts and laughs being hurled at this boy. My brother and I sat and his friends quickly took me under their wings. I was quickly becoming their favourite as well. The Sorting Ceremony was well off, and my name was suddenly called. The entire dining hall fell silent, then whispers. I took my seat on the stool and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head. "Ah yes, a Blackwell. I could simply sort you Slytherin...but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" the hat started. My brother was intently staring in my direction. "The brilliant wit of a Ravenclaw, I suppose you'll be the brightest witch in your year... Or perhaps Gryffindor, you would make a brilliant Gryffindor..." My brothers eyes widened at the words the hat was saying, a Blackwell has never been anything except Slytherin. "My my dear, you are one big puzzle for a first year." The hat was pensive, contemplating everything placed before them. This ordeal of analysing intently went on for about six and a half minutes. Duncan was gripping the table and bouncing his leg. "My dear you stumped me, but no matter which house you'd be put in, they would be extremely lucky to have you to their name, but alas I have finally made a decision... SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, my brother and his friends were the first to shoot up from the table. McGonagall took the hat off of my head and I made my way to sit beside my brother as he hugged me and the table couldn't keep their glee under control. My first year went off without a hitch, but I always had to hear my brother and his friends complain about the boy named Flint. He made the Quidditch team and just annoys everyone. According to the boys, he really tries to get with every girl he can. We were all talking about Quidditch and school around the fireplace in the common room. Suddenly Flint walked in with a smug look on his face, the boys just laughed in a tone of unison, they knew what he just finished up doing. My brother smirked and looked at me, "I can't wait for you to be a second year so you can make the Quidditch team and put Flint in his place more than you do already." My brother said as he sent a wink to Flint whose smile faded from his face. "At least I'm not a shadow to my family, unlike *her*." Flint said gesturing to me Duncan was ready to say something but I shot back, "At least I don't look like I'm half troll. Do the girls only talk to you because they feel bad?" I replied with a look of "concern" on my face, my lips lowering into a sarcastic frown. The boys around me started to giggle. "Believe it or not, girls actually want ~this~" Flint replied, gesturing to himself. "With teeth like yours, I wouldn't want to even think about snogging you." I replied as I cocked my eyebrow. The boys around me bursted into laughter as Flint became flustered. "Flint you better leave before you get burned more. We wouldn't want to see you have to go to Madam Pomfrey to treat those burns." Duncan said before he laughed harder than before. Flint rushed to his dorm. Laughter grew and grew from all of us, filling the common room with loud hoots and hollers. This won't be the last Flint will try to rile me up.

Second year came around but this time I was happily accompanied by Adrien. I brought Adrien to the Slytherin car to meet with both your brothers. I opened the door and made my way to the two sixth years. I made eye contact with Flint, who opened his mouth to say something but I beat him to it. "Shut it Flint or this luggage will be the first thing to ever touch your troll arse." I spit in his direction as I dragged Adrien behind. Adrien was awestruck, clearly thinking his brothers vastly dimmed down how amazing this place is. At the Sorting Ceremony, Adrien was eventually called up and was immediately sorted into Slytherin. I thought it was odd how easy it was from him to be sorted, reminiscing on how I was sorted the previous year. Adrien took the seat next to me and eventually the feast began. Now all I wanted was for Quidditch tryouts to commence. Adrien's brother was named Captain for the Slytherin Quidditch Team last year, and he quickly took Duncan as his Co-Captain. I knew that had to work twice as hard to make the team with them.  Duncan told mum when the trials were, so naturally, she and dad bought us new brooms. A few days before trials, we were all at breakfast and all the owls started flying in with mail for their respective students. Suddenly, Duncan and I's owls come flying at us with two big boxes. Our owls brought them to us. Duncan wanted to open his first, so I waited patiently as he looked for a note. "We're so proud of you sweetheart! Keep doing well on the pitch!  P.S you're one of the first owners of this broom in the whole wizarding word" the note stated. He tore into the package and pulled out a Firebolt. All eyes were on my brother, who was absolutely in love with this gift. "There's only about four produced right now... and I have one of them!" Duncan said with glee. Adrien shifted his attention to me, "Open yours! We all want to see yours!" A smile grew on my face as I also looked for a note, which I eventually found, "We know you'll be a great Quidditch player just like your brothers! We bought you this exotic broom, which only the best Quidditch players have at the moment. Daddy and I love you so incredibly much sweetheart! Don't forget to let us know how trials go!" I delicately opened the package, and inside laid a Cleansweep Eleven. "A Cleansweep Eleven! Pat, your role model has this exact model!" Adrien stated with excitement. Pat was looking over at the beautiful broom I held, "Bloody hell, it's more beautiful in person." Patrick said as he practically drooled over my broom. Duncan smiled at me and motioned to the broom, "We all knew you were the favourite, you didn't need to rub it in the whole schools face." he let out a chuckle. "Oh please you two, the whole school knows you two are the favourites." Pat said with a slight chuckle. Flint got up and made his way to us, "Money can't buy skill Y/N. There's not chance that you'll make the team even with that beautiful broom." Duncan and Patrick almost said something, but I beat them to it, "But money CAN buy better teeth, I think you should invest," I said as I got up to look him in the eyes, "Oh and have fun getting your arse beat on the pitch by a girl with NATURAL talent." I finished as I made my way to my dorm to place my broom on my bed. It was the day of trials, Adrien came down to support me and I headed to the locker room with my broom to put on a uniform. Once we were all changed and ready, we headed onto the pitch. I looked around and saw I was the only girl. Everyone at trials started to size me up, trying to seem bigger than they were. "No wonder girls aren't at trials. These boys are trying to intimidate..." I thought to myself. The two captains were now in front of us, arms crossed as they waiting for everyone to stop chatting. "I'm the Captain here for the Slytherin Quidditch Team, Patrick Pucey." "I'm Co-Captain, Duncan Blackwell." "Right, so we're looking for a few new members of the team. We're highly competitive and we're not scared to put up a fight. Is there anyone with second thoughts?" Pat said as he looked around the crowd. "I think Y/N might, being the only girl might be too much for her girly heart." Flint said with a smirk, gaining laughs from a few of the boys at the tryouts. "I think you might have second thoughts when your arse ends up in Madam Pomfrey's because a GIRL played Quidditch better than you." I spit back as I cocked an eyebrow. "That's enough you two," Pat started but Duncan finished Pats sentence, "Save it for the pitch." Flint and I glared at each other, but I turned my attention back to the two captains. "Right," Started Duncan, "We have four spots open on the team and two substitute positions that need filling. We're looking for one beater, one chaser, one seeker, and one keeper...along with two substitutes for any position." "Raise your hand for which position you would like, you can tryout for more than one position." Patrick said as he paced around us. "Chaser...Flint put your hand down you're already on the team." Duncan said in a stern voice, Patrick counting out loud and jotting their numbers down. "Keeper." My brother said, more people raised their hands. My brother looked directly at me, "Beater." He said, I raised my hand. A few laughs broke out from some of the boys...including Flint. I shot him a look that could kill, he immediately stopped and faced my brother. "Seeker" I was lost in my own world, I finally somewhat understood what, and who, my brother was always complaining about. "I will make Flint eat his words." I thought, but was taken out of my thoughts by Patrick clearing his throat, "Alright, we have enough people to form two teams. We will play a game against each other, then we will figure out where to go from there. Duncan and I will play on different teams, so we can compare notes later." My brother chose Flint and another sixth year as chaser, and he chose the rest of his team. Patrick chose me and the rest of those here at trials. We each made our way to our respective places on the pitch, Pat took me aside and quietly said, "Don't kill the kid. We do need him on the team." I nodded and got into my spot, Pat put the balls in the air and we were off. Boys were trying to show off. Either to freak me out or "flirt" with me, I'm not sure which. The beater on the opposing team sent me a wink, my brother noticed and hit him upside the head. Patrick sent him a glare. The game was going well, I was hitting bludgers left and right. I performed a few Bludger Backbeats which stunned some of the boys, but this was not the time to take the compliment. We were so close to ending when Flint got all up in my business. "You got a lot of talent, but girls never make the team. Have fun just watching from the stands." He said in a mocking tone. "This is nothing compared to how I normally play." I spat back, trying to get out of the way but Flint kept moving with me. "Is that so? Do you normally play in a skirt and have a big bow in your ha-" He didn't get to finish before I performed a Transylvanian Tackle, which made him flinch and I made my escape just in time to get a bludger away from Patrick. My teams seeker caught the snitch, and we all landed and Flint made a big fuss. "She hit me!" "I did not! I performed a Transylvanian Tackle, a fake punch to the nose. As long as no contact was made it's not illegal. See, no marks on my knuckle." I shot my hand out for Patrick to inspect. He inspected my hand intensely before saying, "No contact was made. Flint, go to the locker room, we don't need you anymore." Flint wanted to say something but my brother shot him the same look I gave him earlier and he trudged into the locker room. Duncan and Patrick whispered back and forth before Pat faced us and said, "We saw a lot of potential here today, so this won't be an easy decision. Duncan and I will be comparing notes and will post the team line up by breakfast outside the dining hall. Good luck." We all headed back to the locker room to change. I put my broom with my brothers and headed back to find Adrien. We locked eyes and he ran and gave me a hug. "You did amazing! I know you'll make the team!" He said with a gigantic smile going across his face. "Aww thank you," I said as I ruffled his hair, "It wasn't the best I've played but I gave it my all." Just as Adrien was about to say something, we were sandwiched between two red headed boys. "Absolutely brilliant Y/N. I'm Fred by the way." "I'm George. You were brilliant, especially giving ol' Flint a Transylvanian Tackle." "We're Gryffindors beaters. Good luck!" They said in unison as they left us as fast as they appeared. Adrien and I just looked at each other and shrugged. We headed to dinner and then to study in the library. He was already stuck on a few concepts, so I was helping him out and I was doing my homework in the mean time. Once I finished my homework, he started his and I helped whenever needed. Once he finished we made it back to our common room and said our goodnights to each other and headed our separate ways. The morning sun woke me up bright and early, I got ready for the day and headed to breakfast when Adrien came sprinting down the corridor in my direction. He swiftly stopped, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me behind him. "What is going on?!" I questioned. "The list is out. I had to get you before I even peaked at the list." He replied. We eventually found our way to the crowd that was located around a piece of paper be the doors of the dining hall. Adrien pushed me into the crowd and I shoved myself the rest of the way and I looked at the list. Chasers: Marcus Flint, Duncan Blackwell, Mark O'Connor Keeper: Miles Bletchley Beaters: Patrick Pucey, Y/N Blackwell Seeker: Terence Higgs My eyes widened, "I made it!" I yelled and shoved and got to Adrien before yelling again, "I made it!" Adrien and I hugged as we both eyed Flint getting into the crowd, we made our way to our seats and started to eat breakfast. We were soon joined by Duncan and Patrick, Duncan gave me a big hug and sat down beside me and then Pat shook my hand. "You were truly brilliant on the pitch! I didn't know you had that in you kiddo!" My brother said as he took a big bite of his eggs. "I didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that. You might be a better beater than I am! Oh and thanks for not killing ol' Fl-" He made eye contact with someone behind me, "Flint." "Oh you only wish you could kill me. But a casanova like ~this~ can't be killed. Congratulations on making the team though, hopefully you won't chicken out once we actually start. See you on the pitch." He said arrogantly as he walked away towards a group of girls fawning over him. "I thought he hated Duncan, but you might be the new target." Pat said as him and Duncan were chuckling. "He'll regret it one of these days. Just wait and see." I replied as Adrien and I continued our conversation and finished breakfast and headed to our classes. I definitely felt like Flint's new target, but that didn't stop me from firing back at him. Flint found every excuse to shoot some sort of insult at me, but I just kept deflecting them or sending them back his way.

The year ended and my parents were off doing "business" so Duncan and I were being looked after by the Pucey's. We had a great half of the summer holiday with them, but we were definitely eager to see our parents again. They asked us about everything, and boy, did we tell them everything.

Third year came around and it wasn't much different, except Patrick was recruited early and was already playing for the National Irish Quidditch Team, which made Duncan the new team captain! I was so proud of them both, but even more proud that Adrien was now on the Quidditch team as a chaser alongside my brother. Flint didn't let up on the insults that flew my way.

Fourth year was quite the same as before, my brother was recruited for the Kenmare Kestrels, which have been my favourite team since I was a wee little girl. Miles was awarded Captain and I was co-captain. I was asked to be captain but I declined, I wanted to play the game. I'm still so young. But this year he seemed to get even more girls than he did before, how, I don't entirely know nor do I really want to. But by the end of the year, he had bragged about his body count being "through the roof" which didn't phase me one bit, until he dragged me into that conversation at dinner a few days before we were heading back home for the summer, "Oi, Y/N. You paying attention? How many people have you slept with?!" He practically screamed. "Unlike you Flint, I actually care about who I sleep with." "Who have you slept with?!" Adrien asked, puzzled. "No one." I spat back. "No wonder you're so stressed. No one wants to sleep with you." Flint said with a pouty face. "That's hilarious, because as soon as my brother left, all your boys kept asking me to sleep with them. A lot of people want me to sleep with them, emphasis on WANT. You probably beg until you get a yes. Now piss off Flint." I said and looked at all their faces that dropped, Flint looked around and found that it was all true just from looking at his friends expressions. The year ended, I had the highest marks in the school, it was the perfect end to a great year.

Fifth year was starting great, except I was co-captain to Flint. As much as we didn't like each other, we had to make this work for the sanctity of our team. One practice I saw a girl in the stands, making googly eyes in Flints direction, I flew to where he was. "Who is that in the stands?" I asked, trying to show some kindness. "Why do you care?" "I was trying to be nice, but that is now thrown out the window. I don't but I'm curious. Who is she?" "She's my girlfriend." "Oh wow, you snagged a permanent one? How much are you paying her?" "Nothing, she actually likes me. "*gasp* There's no way she actually likes you, did you slip her Amortentia? Oh, wait. That's right, you repeated potions last year and now you're in my class and we haven't gone over it yet. Maybe I'll hit a bludger at her and knock some sense into her." I said as I winked and flew away with a smile on my face. We were halfway towards the end of the year, and we were in potions. Flint and I were partnered up for our next potion. "Can someone tell me what Amortentia is?" Professor Snape asked while he looked around the room. I raised my hand, and Snape called on me, "Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them." I answered. "Very good, 15 points for Slytherin. Please come up and smell the potion and describe what you smell for us. Before class is dismissed." I went up and smelt the potion below me, it suddenly hit me. I knew who smelt like this. I panicked a tad before I responded, "The pitch, leather, and I can't quite put my finger on the last smell." I quickly ran to my seat and kept my head down. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Snape dismissed us and I hurried out of there and towards the common room as fast as I could. Before I could reach the common room, a hand connected with my shoulder and spun me around. "Are you okay?" "Of course I am, why do you care?" "We may not like each other, but you are my co-captain unfortunately so I have to show an ounce of care." "I'm fine, but we do have plays to discuss. We can meet at the library to discuss them after dinner. Oh, and make sure you don't being your girlfriend. She's awfully annoying when we're trying to discuss plays." I said as I broke free from his grasp and headed into the common room and then to my dorm. *In the library* Flint had a puzzled look on his face. "Did you pass gas again? Why is your face like that?" "What exactly did you smell for Amortentia?" "I-I smelt a Quidditch pitch, leather like the one they use for bludgers and quaffles, and I don't know the last one..." Flint opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it as I went back to discussing plays. The last day was bittersweet, I made so many amazing friends and had to say goodbye to them. I was heading to the Slytherin car when I heard a girl crying in a booth. The curiosity got the best of me and I went toward the booth she was in. I peeked inside and saw Flint's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend I suppose. I smiled a bit after the discovery, but once I realised I was smiling as I entered the car and my team stared at me, I lost the smile and quickly took my seat amongst them. I got off the platform once the train arrived and immediately asked to go to the car. I explained everything to them on the way home.

Fifth year started without any problem, until Flint decided to take a bribe from the Malfoys to let Draco play. I wasn't too thrilled because Draco was an annoying pest during practice. Our first game of the year was against Ravenclaw. A bunch of us were already on the pitch before the game started, just chatting away. I was mid conversation with Adrien and Miles when I felt a pair of hands hug me from behind and then the person moved to the side of me and he kept one hand on my waist, I looked over and saw Flint. "What the fuck is this?" I tried to move away but he gripped me tighter. "She won't leave me alone, I told her I have another girlfriend. I need her to leave me alone." He said. "And you thought of me?!" "We already spend a lot of time together, you were the only person I can think of." I sighed and just went along and got closer to him, "I still hate you." I said under my breath, seemingly trying to convince myself what I said was true. "Don't worry, I still hate you too." After the game we all got showered and posed for a team photo for the school. It was time for dinner and Flint and I held hands the whole way there, and low and behold she was following us. At dinner he sat on the opposite side of me and Adrien. "Y/N, were you bribed?" Adrien asked with concern. "I wish, but Flint needs little miss Scary Carrie over there to leave him alone." I replied, Adrien's shocked expression says it all. "Please call me Marcus, we are dating after all," He says with a smirk, "Speak like it." "Fine, Marcus." I spat those words out with a sarcastic smile. Time went on, so did this ~thing~ that Marcus and I were doing. This went on for months. It even went on over Christmas break. We sat together on the way to Kings Cross and hugged goodbye. Even after break, he found me at the station and we sat together on the way back to Hogwarts. This was still going on. We went to Hogsmeade together every now and again, but I mostly went with Adrien. This was just like Adrien and I's usual Hogsmeade trips after Christmas time, until we were in Honeydukes. I was off looking at the sugared butterfly wings when someone came up behind me. I turned around with a bit of shock and saw Roger Davies, Ravenclaws captain. "Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you. I wanted to tell you that sugared butterfly wings weren't as sweet as you are." He said, flashing an awards winning smile. I blushed, "Why thank you. *chuckle* What are doing in Hogsmeade all by yourself?" I asked. "Well I wanted to see if I could score a date with a beautiful woman like yourself." He said. My blushed deepend, but before I could say anything I was pulled into someone. I looked up and it was Marcus, messing up my chance at an actual relationship. "Sod off pretty boy, she's mine." Marcus said, holding me tighter than before. "There's word going around the school that you two aren't actually a couple. No snogging in sight, no 'I love yous'. Just thought I'd try my lucky with the most beautiful woman at Hogwarts." Davies said as he sent a wink in my direction. "Of course we're actually a couple. Why do our business in front of the school?" Marcus said in protest. Davies threw his hands up into a goalpost position, "I don't know man, just explaining it how we all see it." He said. I looked up at Marcus who pulled me in tighter and planted a kiss on my lips. After a few moments, Marcus pulled away and I noticed Davies was gone. I looked at Marcus and shoved him out of the way. Adrien told the shopkeeper to let me know he went back to Hogwarts. I thanked her and quickly made my way to Hogwarts on foot by myself. Marcus ran after me like I expected he would. He eventually caught up to me, much to my dismay. "Babe, what's wrong?" "All of this!" I spat back. "What do you mean?" "I haven't seen Carrie try to get with you for over a month! You just ruined my chance at a regular love life." "I had to make it seem real so no one would be suspicious. The first years have caught her spying on us. I need her to keep leaving me alone. I don't like this more than you do. But I don't want Scary Carrie stalking me." He seemed so genuine, and as much as I wanted to hate him I'm really not sure how I feel anymore. After what I smelt in the Amortentia... I don't know anymore. "I'm sorry..." I said as I hung my head. Marcus took me in for a hug, a real hug. I never felt one of theses from him before. I hugged back, and we embraced each other tighter. "You owe me big time." I said as I let go and we started walking back to Hogwarts. "I know I do," He started as he pulled something from his bag, "This is a start?" He pulled out a package of Peppermint Toads. "Peppermint Toads! My fav-" "Favourite." He finished my sentence and handed the package to me. "How did you know?" I asked, quite in shock. "I actually do listen when you tell me things about you. I'd be a bad boyfriend if I didn't" He said with a smile as he kissed my cheek. We had a surprisingly good walk back to the school, and a great Quidditch practice after dinner. We even had a good study session in the common room after practice. We made sure to kiss in front of other students from now on so we wouldn't be caught in this lie. But, it all just felt so right to me. Marcus is such a better actor than I had originally thought. After studying, the whole team stayed up pretty late since it was a Friday night. A few of us partook in drinking of fire whiskey, but Marcus and I stayed sober to make sure Draco didn't drink and no one handed him a drink. We were all having a grand time down there, just letting all the stress we had go. Marcus and I were cuddled right up onto each other and he was playing with the few strands of my hair that had fallen out of my braid. "I never thought I'd see you two get along, let alone date!" Miles blurted out before hiccuping. "I'd be stupid if I didn't shoot my shot with the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts. Especially since all you gits were trying to bang her. Especially you Malfoy. I saw you trying to flirt with her when your dad offered to buy her a new broom." Marcus spat back looking into Draco's soul, Draco started to blush. "Wait! When did that happen?" Miles asked, as he hiccuped again. "Oh, yeah. Mr.Malfoy was about to ask if I wanted a new broom but Mrs.Malfoy is good friends with my parents so he realised I was fine although the offer was open. He then sent Draco to flirt with me for weeks, I think. The joining of our families would be "legendary" but although Draco is adorable, I don't date younger boys." I said as I ruffled Draco's hair. Adrien was watching this all unfold, with a puzzled look on his face. Everyone started to call it a night eventually. I walked Marcus to his dorm, he leaned up against the frame and pulled me into a kiss. We both pulled away and he went into his room and I walked to mine. Adrien was still on the couch, so I sat right next to him. "Is everything alright?" He stared into the fire. "Adrien, are you okay?" "I don't think this is fake anymore." He said, still glancing into the fire. "What? What do you mean?" I asked with a puzzled look. He finally turned and faced me. "He's different. This isn't what it used to be. I think he actually loves you." "Don't be silly! It's just to get Carrie away. "It WAS to get Carrie away, but I don't know anymore. This is different for him. He actually cares about things, and people. And especially you." "He just wants her to go away." "Did you ever ask him what he smelt in your Amortentia that you two made in potions?" "No, because he said he didn't recognise the smell." "And that was before Christmas break, right? Before you two were as close as you were in the Slytherin car?" "Yeah? What is the point?" "Hold on. And when you two made it again in Potions for review, you two smelt it again, you smelt him again?" "Yes. "How did he react to the smell?" "He was a bit surprised." He stared at me and it just wasn't connecting for me. "For the brightest witch in all of Hogwarts, you're sure pretty dumb when it comes to love." He said as he laughed. "I wouldn't say I'm the brightest witch in Hogwarts." "Out of that whole conversation, that is all you got from it?" He said as he shook his head and laughed. "Yes. Once you called me dumb when it came to love, I stopped caring about anything else you had to say," I gave him a raspberry, "Did most of the team actually want to bang me?" "Oh my, yes. It was unbearable in the locker room when you and Flint left or were late. They'd be like 'how do you think she is in bed?' and 'do you think they ever bang' and they had the audacity to ask me if WE ever banged!" I threw my head back in complete and utter hilarious shock, "Us? We're like brother and sister!" "That's what I said!" We both laughed for some time. Once we both came down from that cloud, I got up and kissed Adrien on the top of his head, "Goodnight kiddo. Love you." "Love you too." He said as he headed in the opposite direction. The rest of the Quidditch season was cancelled due to the attacks on Muggleborns, which was disappointing to us. But I took up being  tutor and helping other students with their work, including my own teammates. I was the one any Slytherin came when they needed help. This went on for weeks, especially for those taking their O.W.L's. I was everyone's help, which I didn't mind. But I was neglecting my own work, so I took a few days off to catch up. I told Marcus to meet me in the Potions classroom to work on our potions for review. I was already down there, and I was startled when I heard a knock on the frame, but it was only Marcus. "I got these for you." He said as he handed me a bunch of Y/F/F. "Wow! These are beautiful! How did you know these are my favourite?" "I'm a better boyfriend than people think, remember? I actually do listen when you tell me things about you." I blushed and placed them on the workbench. We got straight to work. We got through every potion but we ended on Amortentia. I totally didn't plan that at all. We brewed it and it had that signature spiral steam and pearl sheen. The true test to see if we brewed it properly was to smell it. I went first, I stuck my head over the cauldron and inhaled. A big, deep inhale. It was the same smell that I smelt many months before. Marcus went next, and he did the same as I did moments before. He agreed that he smelt the same as before. We cleaned up, but as he was putting supplies away, I turned to him, "What did you smell?" I asked. "The same as I did months ago. I already said that." "I know that, but WHAT did you smell." "Fine," He said as he put the cauldron away, "I smelt the pitch, roast beef, and Y/F/F." I froze and he moved toward his belongings. He was about to leave, but I grabbed his wrist. "I smelt the pitch, leather, and sandalwood cologne. I smelt you." Marcus lifted his face and we made eye contact, "I smelt you, Marcus." "I-I smelt you too, Y/N." We were both in  a bit of shock, before I pulled him into a kiss. A passionate one, this one had the sparks I felt initially with the kiss he gave me in Honeydukes, but this one was certain. Certain that this was real, certain that this wasn't one sided. We both pulled away with huge smiles on each others faces. We placed our foreheads on each others. "I felt sparks." He said with a smile. "I felt them the very first time we kissed, when Davies practically made us." Marcus started laughing, "Pretty boy really wanted you. I couldn't lose you like that." "A relationship with him probably would've been great at first, BUT would get boring pretty quickly." We both chuckled and headed toward the common room, holding hands and I help my flowers in the other. We kissed each other before heading in our respective directions of our dorms. I sat down on my bed and poured water into a vase for my flowers, when I noticed a note. "I don't know how else to say this. I love you and I really hope you love me too." I kissed the note and placed it on the nightstand next to my bed. I got ready and headed off into a deeply sweet slumber. Today was now Saturday and not only was I euphoric from it being Saturday, but also from the day before. Marcus and I were now inseparable. We were madly in love, and it finally showed. We had breakfast and went down to the pitch and did a few laps around before just chilling in the air. "I forgot how beautiful this view was." I said, looking toward the castle in the distance. "Nothing is as beautiful as you." Marcus said as he pulled me closer to him. We both leaned in and our lips touched and instantly moved in sync with each other. We both eventually pulled away when there was no longer any air in our lungs. "I love you." He said as he looked deeply into my eyes. "I love you too." I replied as I kissed him again. We both headed toward the ground, put our brooms away and walked hand in hand up to the castle. Later that night, Marcus brought me down to the lake and there was a beautiful set of floating candles around a blanket. There was food and Y/F/F. "This is beautiful Marcus!" I said as I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Only the best for the love of my life." He said with a smile. We had a wonderful date, not a care in the world besides the other. I am truly in love with him. After we finished our date and cleaned up, we headed back to the Slytherin common room. Most of those boys were pulling an all nighter in the library in preparations on their O.W.L's on Monday, so we had the room to ourselves. Marcus handed me a shirt of his and some of him pajama pants. I told him to turn around while I changed and he begrudgingly complied. "I didn't bring you in here to bang you." He said. "I know." I replied. "I'm going to make your first time really special because you deserve it." I smiled, "I really appreciate that." "Although I would love to bang you now, I respect that you want to wait. I'm really tried and I just want to finally sleep with my love next to me." I threw my shirt at him and he turned around with a smirk on his face. He threw my shirt to the ground and picked me up and playfully threw me on the bed. He crawled right up next me and pulled the covers up on both of us. His arm wrapped around my waist as we whispered gentle'I love yous' to each other as we fell asleep. Fifth year wasn't so bad after all.

[acnelli]

The Speech

Hermione becomes the first female Minister Of Magic, so Ron has to hold a speech about it. 

Just in case you’re wondering...I was never very interested in Pottermore or anything that got published after DH, so there might have been a female MoM before Hermione but I think this little detail is not important to enjoy the story ;-) I also don’t really see Hermione as a MoM. For me Hermione works at the Ministry, creating and pushing for laws to protect and improve the life of those oppressed and fighting for equality. But I liked the idea of a very nervous Ron talking about his wife in front of a huge crowd.

You can also find this story on FFN and AO3.

I'm so screwed.

This sentence was stuck like a mantra in his head ever since Kingsley talked him into this nonsense.

Who in his right mind would want him, Ron Weasley, to hold a speech? Sure, it was his wife that becomes the next Minister of Magic and she also will be the first female one. Which makes him the first husband to hold a speech about the new Minister.

But why couldn't they just skip this stupid tradition?

Not that he wasn't able to talk a lifetime about Hermione. But he sure wasn't ready to talk about her in front of half the Ministry, his entire family, a bunch of friends and not to forget these annoying press people.

Ron was fairly confident that he would say something stupid. He was Ron bloody Weasley after all and if anyone would describe him to a stranger this would be in his character description: Saying and doing stupid and/or inappropriate things.

Kingsley was about to end his speech and Ron knew that it will be mere seconds before he was called up to the stage.

Oh Godric, please don't make me embarrass myself in front of my children.

He thought back to this morning when his fifteen-year-old daughter made him a cup of tea to calm his nerves.

"Don't worry, Dad. You will do just fine. And please eat something." Hugo said, as he shoved a slice of toast at him. He picked his breakfast up and even took a bite, mainly to appease his son.

 Hugo stared at him, determination and worry on his face. It never failed to amaze Ron, how much his son was like Hermione, both in looks and character.

 Ron sighed and took another bite before shoving the plate away from him. "I' m sorry, buddy. Might eat this backwards if I'm having one more bite."

 He sipped his sweet tea and wondered why the hell he was such a nervous wrack. It was the Quidditch games at Hogwarts all over again.

  Ron thought he was over his insecurities, but old habits die hard, right? Looking at his two children made him feel a tiny bit lighter though. They both got his ginger hair and freckled skin with the tendency to get burned easily when out in the sun. Hugo got the warm brown eyes of his mother, Rose Ron's blue orbs. Rose sat beside Ron on the kitchen table, sipping her own tea. She was already in her dress for the ceremony, her long wild locks pinned up at the nape of her neck. She rarely touched her breakfast. Ron knew she was feeling the same anxiety he felt. Two years ago, during summer break, Hugo told Ron that Rose never eats breakfast before a Quidditch match and would sometimes spend the better part of these mornings in the bathroom. Rose was in many ways like him. She was funny, loved Quidditch, normally eats on behalf of a whole Quidditch team and had a temper similar to Ron's. Thank Godric, she got the brains of her mother.

None the less, she could easily comprehend what Ron was going through.

"And now, ladies and gentleman, please welcome Ronald Weasley.", Kingsley announced and stepped back for Ron.

He took a deep breath before he finally entered the stage and went to the podium. His family clapped excitedly in the front row, even cheering for him. He looked over to Hermione, who smiled and winked at him. Of course, the whole Weasley family joined the festivities today to celebrate with Hermione. They were all sitting in the second and third row along with his parents-in-law, who looked both proud and just the tiniest bit nervous.

For a short second he feared, that his impulsive decision from this morning. to ditch his sorry attempts of the prepared speech, was probably the worst decision of his life, but when the applause died down, he hadn't much time to panic over it. So, with a final deep breath and a look into Hermione's eyes, he started to speak.

“Th- thank you”, he said after the applause died down and tried not to flinch about the noticeable tremble in his voice.

“Well, as tradition demands, I'm expected to hold a speech about our new Minister of Magic. Speeches are not exactly my strong point and, in all honesty, I dreaded this moment ever since Kingsley asked me to hold it.” Ron threw a pointed look at the former Minister who just gave him an innocent smile.

Over the soft laughter of the audience, Ron heard a snort and quickly located the source. Harry was smirking at him and Ron supressed the urge to flip the tosser off. He hated The Daily Prophet with a passion, but for this headline he might forget about his principles for a day and actually buy this piece of garbage. Nevertheless, he decided against it, mostly because he didn’t fancy to be on the receiving end of some rather nasty hexes performed by his wife and mother.

“Some of you might be surprised to learn that I haven’t prepared this speech during todays breakfast, but for the better part of the last weeks evenings. Though certainly not perfect, I thought the outcome was quite passable. But last night I went over my words and realized that I would tell you things about Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley that all of you already know. Actually, you could have found the better part of my words on a chocolate frog card. Instead, I would rather tell you about the first day Hermione and I met.”

As Ron let his gaze wander over to his family, he saw a smiling but slightly puzzled Hermione looking at him. “The day I met Hermione was, of course, the very first day at Hogwarts. On the train ride I already met Harry Potter. You’ve probably heard about him at some point, saved the world or something like that. Anyway, in that train compartment Harry and I immediately became best friends and while we stuffed ourselves with a ton of sweets, a girl opened the door to our compartment, asking us about the lost toad of a fellow student. I was showing Harry some useless spell my dear brothers told me about, that of course, did not work. This girl though, performed an actual spell just perfect and informed us that she read every first years school book over the summer as preparation for our upcoming classes. Sure enough, she outshined everyone in every class and there wasn’t a teachers question she had no answer to. Back then and especially on that first day, I could never imagine to be friends with Hermione Granger. I thought that she’s a bossy know-it-all and on Halloween, two months after our first day at Hogwarts, she heard me calling her just that. As an eleven-year-old boy, it never seemed possible to me that Hermione could be sincerely hurt by my words. But of course, it upset her. Very much.

That being said, I’ll never regret these nasty words, because this Halloween night was the beginning of a life-long friendship between me, Hermione and Harry. If I hadn’t said that in front of her, she would have never locked herself up in the bathroom to cry and Harry and I would have never ran to this said bathroom, because a mountain troll was wandering the halls of Hogwarts and Hermione was the only one who hasn’t been warned about it. Ever since the three of us beat that troll, I could not imagine a good day without Hermione as a friend by my side. She still nagged us about doing our homework and scolding me for swearing too much and said things like ‘Ron, it’s Hermione, Harry and I’, but when I look back, the unhappiest times were when we didn’t speak to each other or when I wasn’t able to talk to her.”

He paused for a brief moment as surely the darkest time of his life came to mind, when he abandoned Harry and Hermione on the Horcrux hunt, his heart full of pure fear and hopelessness when he thought he would never see them again. Or the weeks of Hermione being petrified, as he could still see this young red headed boy talking to her in the hospital wing, desperately wanting her to tell him off for staying out after curfew.

“Hermione did and achieved a lot of great things in her life. Most of these things you might already know, like her helping to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters or her success in freeing the House Elves. Although these are amazing and exceptionally brilliant achievements, Hermione is so much more than the brightest witch of our age and a war heroine. Did you know that the beginnings of her efforts to free House Elves lay in our Hogwarts years? Back then, she started a campaign to free them and it didn’t stop her, that for a very long time, it had been a one-woman-movement. Her courage and ambition to help the defenceless and her undying sense of justice are exceptional and even more admirable, if you consider, that as a Muggleborn, Hermione had been in great danger herself, being the main target of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Regardless what she went through herself, she never stopped to look out for others, especially her family and friends. And this is what she’ll continue to do as the leader of Wizarding Britain. Hermione will fight for a better life for everyone, for all of you and for those, whose suffering is still invisible to us.

I once read an article about Hermione inheriting the title of the brightest with of our age. It said, that she sure is intelligent, but mainly book smart. If you ask me, a person, who is simply book smart could never use the knowledge in real life, right? Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Hermione’s quick thinking and brilliance at everything she does, saved Harry’s and my life more times than I care to admit. Even in the most dangerous and horrible situations she was in, her highest priority had been to keep us safe.”

I was wrong. These were the darkest hours of my life., Ron thought and Hermione’s screams echoed through his mind.

“Hermione saved me in more than one way. She taught me self-worth and confidence, which, especially as a teenager, I hadn’t much of. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. She was there for me when I needed her the most. And the best thing of all: for some unbeknown reason, she loves me. And in the end, this makes me the luckiest bloke in the world.”

For the next words Ron looked only at Hermione, who gave up to hold back her tears for quite some time now. “Befriending you had been the best thing I had ever done. I heard a lot of people say that they married their best friend. Well, I certainly did. We went through so many adventures -good and bad- together and I`m happy to say, that the good ones outweigh the bad ones big time. I love you, Hermione and I`m ready for this next adventure to come our way.”

[starsandmoonys]

So the whole Harry Potter books end with James jolting up with cold sweat and waking up Lily to tell her about that disastrous, messed up dream he just had. 

James: Lils, wake up. You really need to listen to this...Lilly.

Lily: What? What is it? Is it harry?

James: No, he's alright, but I had the most dreadful dream about him, about all of us to be honest.

Lily: Go to sleep, James. It's 5 in the morning, shut up. It's not going to be you and Harry waking me up at unholy hours.

James: But I dreamt we died and Harry went to live with your sister.

Lily: Okay, continue.

James: So there is this big bad person, evil wizard, you know. And he kills you and me because we were obviously against him cause we're good people. But we were hiding from him, so how does he find us you say? Because Peter, we trusted him as a secret keeper and he betrayed us to the bad guy. Peettteeerrrr, can you imagine lily? It's Peter, that's my best friend.  I mean do you think my brain is telling me something because I smell bullshit and I probably drank more than I should before bed.

Lily: Yeah, get to when Harry goes to petunia.

James: Oh no, there is still shit here, I dreamt of Snivellus! Came here after we died because his school crush died, but he wasn't on the good side. So he's evil and didn't even bother that Harry was crying. 

Lily: First of all, he's called Severus, he's neither bad nor good..and how come your evil wizard left a baby alive, is it because our little darling is too pure and innocent for the wizard?

James: Yeah, I'd like to think we protected him in some way. Anyway, Pads comes here, tries to take harry. Because that's the logical thing to do, he's his godfather, right? But noooooo, Hagrid comes and snatches our kid and gives him to Dumbledore..like what on earth?! Then our good guy Albus puts Harry on your sister's doorstep so she raises him..

Lily: Wow, babe, we need to get your brain checked.

James: See? I told you. It's very strange. I wouldn't wake you if it wasn't important.

Lily: Yeah sure, then what?

James: Somehow it slips everyone's mind that Peter was the secret keeper and they blame Sirius for our death.. because they think it's him who betrayed us and also Peter fakes his own death. So, we're dead, Peter is as good as dead, Sirius is in Azkaban. Which leaves our moony, all alone. Can you even imagine this shit..how can they blame pads? That's my brother, Harry's Godfather, we would die for each other, not betray each other for Merlin's sake. Back to harry, petunia and her husband with their kid, treat him like shit, I'm talking actual abuse, he doesn't even have room to sleep in.

Lily: Yeah, your brain described her right.

James: So Harry is oblivious to magic, wizards, us, everything. He knows nothing. Till he gets his Hogwarts letter at eleven and after a fight with the Dursleys. He finally learns about magic and goes to school. Gets sorted into Gryffindor. And gets friends after being alone all his life.. one of the friends is a Weasley, we don't even know the Weasleys that much and here I am dreaming about how their youngest son is going to be best friends with our boy.

Lily: Wait, but what happened to the dark wizard?

James: Yeah, I was getting to that. So people assume he died when he tried to kill harry. That's cool right!  Our son, a hero before he can even know it. Buttt, he actually didn't die, he lives within Harry now, part of his soul..also other parts of his soul in other objects. He's an immortal and doesn't die and the reason he even wanted to kill Harry was because of a prophecy that Harry is going to be the one that kills him, and Snape snitched, told the dark wizard all about it. In conclusion, the dark wizard is to rise again and die by our kid's wand.

Lily: You have an imaginative mind.

James: Harry faces all kinds of shit in the school, since the first year and he's been beating trolls and burning evil wizards,  fighting large snakes and trying to fight that dark wizard over and over again. At some point, pads escapes prison, he finds moony, who was teaching at the school. And they try to kill Wormy who was hiding in his rat form at the Weasleys. But then, Peter runs away, snivelly rats out moony's condition to the whole wizarding world, getting him fired. Harry helps Sirius escape the school and knows about his godfather, and us a lot more. Fast forward to three years later, the dark wizard is resurrected,  Sirius had died by one of his cousins since his whole family believes in that pureblood shit. Did I also mention that regulus dies a couple of years before we die? Because he did. Well on the plus side, our son became a Triwizard champion but a student died too, not so great. Then dumbledore dies, by snape! And he becomes the headmaster. Harry leaves school to search for the objects he needed to defeat the dark wizard. And finally with the help of his many friends now, they destroy all the objects and Harry kills the dark wizard for good. That was the final war, moony died there too. Peter died when he refused to kill harry. 

Lily: That's miserable. 

James: I know everyone is dead, and I mean everyone. And you know who's the root of all the evil here? 

Lily: Who?

James: Severus fucking snape! He killed everyone and died too obviously, bad people don't get to live that long.

Lily: Yes, it's my fault.  I should have known.  This was going to end this way.

James: But it's true! He's awful. He teaches at the school and bullies all the kids except the Slytherins and gives our harry the hardest times, making his life hell. How can I forgive that!

Lily: It was a dream, James!! He didn't do anything to you now. Now go to bed or I swear I'll rip your face off!!!!

James: Fine! I'll check on Harry first.

[piesandswords]

Raising Werewolf Cubs Under His Bed

Posted on Archive of Our Own here.

Riddle laughed his high laugh again.

“It was my word against Hagrid’s, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student… on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls… but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked.”

Um… hey. Hey, Tom? Mr. Riddle? Dramatic ass “I am Lord Voldemort” person-sir? Do you mean human children???!!! Hey Joanne, do you mean human children cause werewolf cubs? Werewolf cubs have gotta be human children.

There are four explanations for this line that I can think of. One Doylist (explained out of text), three Watsonian (explained within canon).

The first explanation: JK Rowling did not come up with werewolf lore until after she had written the third book. That explains why she keeps writing about people being afraid of werewolves in the Forbidden Forest even when it wasn’t a full moon and shit like this. She just hadn’t come up with the facts yet.

This explanation, while probably correct, is boring as hell and we will be disregarding it.

Explanation number two barely warrants an entry. Riddle was trying to think of a magical creature and just said werewolves without considering what that would mean. This is somehow more boring than explanation one.

The third explanation is more fun. Wizards are, to put it kindly, mildly, and with some of the love in my heart, dumb as shit.

The Hogwarts education system is shaky at best. Thinking of how little math wizards know makes me want to cry. I would say something like “The class of History of Magic is so poorly taught that I doubt any of the students even know that ___” but like. The class of History of Magic is so poorly taught that I can’t come up with an obvious example of Wizarding history.

Due to the shaky Hogwarts education system, I can partially excuse Ron for being stupid in the area of “what are werewolves” when he talks about werewolves in the Forbidden Forest in book two, as of his two Defence teachers the more competent was Quirinus Quirrell.

(Lockhart’s teachings on lycanthropy involve him curing someone of it by sticking a wand down their throat and saying a spell, which… If it were that easy then Remus Lupin would have had a much better life. If he could fix his furry little problem by eating a wand, the man would have had unicorn hair and cypress soup every night for the rest of his life.)

(That being said, Ron should know more about werewolves. Molly or Arthur should have taught their kids things like that.)

Tom Riddle, in contrast to Ron, went to Hogwarts before the position was cursed. Given that he was the one who cursed it, this makes sense. Riddle had a stable education that, theoretically, involved a competent professor. He should know better.

But also, wizards are dumb as shit.

They seem to have no standardization to their education except for aiming for the OWLs and NEWTs. What educational standards has the Ministry released for teachers to follow? Probably none, that would be too competent. (Ignoring book five, ew.) Just because werewolves were covered in DADA during Harry’s time at Hogwarts doesn’t mean they were in Riddle’s. Maybe they were covered in Care of Magical Creatures, which Riddle would almost certainly not take. Or maybe they weren’t covered at all.

So maybe Tom Riddle hasn’t learned about werewolves in school. He knows about them when he’s older though, so what gives?

Here’s the thing. This Tom Riddle hasn’t had his dark magic field trip yet, the one he goes on after he graduates. What if he doesn’t know about werewolves, but he thinks he kinda gets the gist, and, being Voldemort, assumed he was correct.

Hagrid could have been raising puppies under his bed and Riddle could have been like. “Ah, yes. These are werewolf babies. I am correct on this and will not be corrected by anyone ever because I am the pinnacle of all things knowledge.”

Diary!Tom Riddle is #ForeverSixteen. He is a teenager who insists on being called “Flight of Death” (or, incidentally, Flight from Death, which, yeah). He wears eyeliner, he listens to fascist!MCR, he wants to commit genocide, you know, just regular teenage boy things. Yikes.

(Can you imagine 72-year-old Voldemort having to interact with his 16-year-old self? This insolent boy who doesn’t even know what werewolves are? Harry wouldn’t have had to destroy the Horcrux, Voldemort would do it himself to get the kid to stop talking.

Tom Riddle, age 16: “Lord Voldemort is my past, present, and future.”

Tom Riddle, age 70ish: “You’re about to be past due if you don’t shut up.”)

Anyway, that’s our third explanation. Tom Riddle is dumb as shit. This is backed up by the fact that 1) he is sixteen, 2) wizarding education is a hot garbage fire, 3) grown Voldemort is dumb as shit. He refuses to do research into things he thinks he understands in his seventies, why would he be any smarter at age sixteen?

This explanation is less boring. This is the one that I consider to be the closest to canon one. This makes sense, and it involves making fun of Voldemort’s dramatic bullshit and narcissism, which I approve of.

I like this explanation.

But explanation number three? It doesn’t hold a candle to explanation four.

See, here’s the thing. I believe that Voldemort is dumb as shit and that his education could have been pretty spotty.

But I also think that the boy that has rediscovered Horcruxes by doing too much research would not be completely ignorant of what werewolves are and how they work. They’re considered to be Dark Creatures™ so he would have come across them at some point when learning of the Dark™ Mysterious® Arts©.

So what if.

What if he wasn’t talking out of his ass?

What if Hagrid WAS raising werewolf cubs under his bed? Or, not cubs. Cubs implies non-people.

What if Hagrid was keeping werewolf children under his bed while he was attending Hogwarts?

Picture this: 11-year-old Rubeus Hagrid gets his letter for Hogwarts. He’s overjoyed. His father is a bit surprised that Hagrid, a half-giant, received his letter, but he is also overjoyed.

(The fact that Hagrid got into Hogwarts at all with wizarding prejudices as they are is honestly remarkable. We know that the Wizarding World is awful about treating those who aren’t pure-blooded wizards like people and Hagrid being a half-giant isn’t exactly subtle.)

So Hagrid goes to Hogwarts. He learns. He makes friends. He probably gets in quite a bit of trouble with teachers because he’s never been someone with a ton of common sense or tendency to follow rules. Being in trouble doesn’t bother him too much, he’s young and usually, he doesn’t think about consequences for his actions. Besides, often the reward is worth the risk.

So Hagrid finishes his first year having loved the experience. And he goes home for the summer.

Let’s say that Hagrid and his dad live on the outskirts of a relatively small Muggle town. They’re not quite in the wilderness, but they’re not quite in the town proper either.

A new family, the Canids, has moved next door since Hagrid has gone off to Hogwarts. They have two children roughly Hagrid’s age, a daughter named Freki, age 12, and a son named Geri, age 10. Given Hagrid’s friendly nature and the general boredom that comes with a long summer, the three of them quickly make friends and begin to spend quite a bit of time together.

(Forgive my mixing of Norse and Latin etymology here, I refuse to spend more than three minutes googling names that mean “wolf wolf” or “moon moon” that haven’t already been used in canon.)

Then, one day when they’re hanging out, something weird happens. What exactly it is, I’m not sure. Maybe a branch breaks while they are climbing a tree and no one gets hurt, despite how high up they are. Maybe Hagrid says something unthinkingly cruel on accident, and Geri’s feelings get hurt, and Hagrid’s hair gets turned pink. Maybe Freki finds a magical creature that Muggles aren’t supposed to be able to see. Maybe their father is off fighting in World War II (it is 1941, after all), and there is some unsetting news from the front, and one of the kids causes a sunny day to become a rainstorm.

However it happens, Hagrid figures out that he’s got two underage wizards on his hands. And he knows Freki (age 12) hasn’t received her Hogwarts letter.

Hagrid has never been one to keep his mouth shut. The man at the age of 62 let slip to a group of eleven-year-olds that 1) he had a three-headed dog, 2) the name of the dog was Fluffy, 3) Fluffy was guarding something that was owned or created by Nicholas Flamel, and 4) you can put Fluffy to sleep by playing any kind of music ever. He is not one for subtlety, or for secrets. Honestly, he might have told these kids about magic on accident even if they hadn’t shown signs of being wizards.

So he confronts the kids about the strange things that have been happening. Freki goes dead pale the second he opens his mouth. She begs him not to tell anyone in the village that there is something unnatural about them, Rubeus, please, you don’t know what people will do if they find out.

Hagrid’s confused. If they find out what exactly? Having magic is wonderful, you get to go to school and learn and make friends and discover all sorts of interesting facts and creatures and-

There are two ways this could go.

Either Freki and Geri don’t know about magic and they are delighted to hear about this wonderful place where they could be themselves, and also maybe they could get some help for this weird thing that has been happening to them since they were little kids and there was a wolf attack. Hagrid has to figure out very quickly how to deal with the fact that 1) he has to explain magic to his two friends, 2) his two friends are werewolves, 3) his two friends will not be accepted into wizard society, and 4) he also has to explain that.

Or Geri and Freki already know about magic. They didn’t know that Hagrid knew (they are in a Muggle town, after all), but they knew about magic. Maybe their mom was a witch and dad a Muggle. Maybe the other way around. Maybe both parents are wizards. Maybe they are the descendants of Squibs. Whatever their parental background, they have heard about Hogwarts. And they know the reason that neither of them had gotten Hogwarts letters, know the reason neither of them would ever get Hogwarts letters. And gently, sadly, they explain to Hagrid their situation.

And as Hagrid finds out that they’re werewolves and starts to process what that means for them and their future, Hagrid becomes indignant. And I mean Hermione-founding-misguided-but-well-meaning-organization-SPEW level indignant. I’m talking “thou shalt not insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me” level indignant. Indignant might not be the right word. He gets angry.

Remus Lupin will be the first werewolf to legally receive schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But if Hagrid has something to say about it? Freki and Geri will beat the record illegally by about thirty years.

(This is a man who has been alienated his whole life for his half-giant status. He knows the feeling of being discriminated against for something he can’t change about himself.)

(This is also a man who tried to raise a dragon egg in a wooden cabin. He doesn’t necessarily think things through.)

And so begins Operation Get-My-Friends-A-Wizard-Education.

Phase One: Preliminary Education.

Hagrid spends the rest of the summer teaching these two kids everything that he can remember from his first year of school. He’s got a month. He’s got his books. He’s got enough determination to intimidate God. He’s only got the one wand, but he’ll make do.

And as late August comes? He thinks they’re ready as they’re gonna get.

Phase Two: Smuggling Time.

Now, Hagrid is an oversized lad. And one of the things that comes with being an oversized lad is oversized clothes. And one of the things that comes with oversized clothes is an oversized trunk.

Hagrid also has an undersized father with an oversized heart and an undersized sense of what is a normal and sane thing to do. (The man had sex with a giantess for Pete’s sake!)

With a little convincing, said undersized father could make said oversided trunk be even more oversized on the inside.

Geri and Freki? Welcome to the Hogwarts Express, viewed from the luxury seats of “Inside Hagrid’s Trunk.” No complimentary beverages, I’m afraid, and the view’s not great, but all the oversized clothes end up being quite comfortable cushions.

So Hagrid smuggles two kid werewolves into Hogwarts.

Phase Three: Ah, Shit, Didn’t Think This Through… Er… Live Under My Bed I’ll Bring You Homework

So they live under his bed while he teaches them everything that he is learning in all of his classes, sometimes in the dorm room when no one else is there, sometimes in the Forbidden Forest when they can sneak out, sometimes in empty rooms around the castle. They spend each full moon as deep into the forest as they can go, hoping against hope that they won’t hurt anyone and they will be safe.

(In this universe, the rumors of werewolves in the forest came from somewhere. The stories of glimpses of wolves through the trees during this time were passed down through the generations. “My aunt’s cousin’s friend’s dad saw a werewolf in the forest” may not be the most credible of sources, but in this case, it holds a grain of truth.)

They are careful, and, for a while, they don’t get caught.

How long are they at Hogwarts? I don’t know. A while, certainly. A month? A semester? A full year? Maybe they make it through to when the Chamber of Secrets was opened and everyone became more suspicious and more alert before they were found out.

Once they are caught, the Canid children are promptly sent home. After all, you can’t have monsters in a school like Hogwarts, and what are werewolves if not monsters.

The staff lets Hagrid off with a warning, thinking maybe this was a one-off occurrence of idiocy. But they do view Hagrid with more suspicion after that. After all, he brought monsters into the school. Who’s to say what he’ll let in next?

That being said, Tom Riddle’s probably just dumb as shit.

Posted on Archive of Our Own here.

[trollhuntersshardborn]

Act 1 Summary

Okay, so since the fic will probably never be updated again, I wanna tell exactly how it was supposed to go down. I just don’t have the inspiration or energy from it, and I just need to put the story to rest.

Okay, act 1. Let’s briefly go over chapters 1-4.

The story takes place in medieval Europe. The year 1315 to be exact. The prologue covers the gumm-gumm trolls rampaging through a castle looking for a past occupant. A princess from three hundred years ago. Apparently, she was deemed a witch and burned at the stake, but that’s like, oh well, to the trolls. Why they are looking for her would be addressed later. 

Later that night, the gumm-gumms raid a nearby farm for food (humans). This is the Ward family farm, owned by Larkin Ward and his six children. The oldest daughter is named Nadia, and she’s just a peasant girl trying to live her life and in perpetual fear of being married off and taken away. In the raid, Nadia runs away in fear as her entire immediate family is killed and/or eaten. But before the same thing happens to her, the Trollhunter Nakrik shows up to fight off the bad trolls. And he’s joined by a woman with super strength! But this seems to be for naught as Nadia’s heart gives out due to fright. But it’s okay, she gets better. She comes back to life for some reason.

So the Trollhunter and his “human” friend take the survivors (Nadia, her granny, and a visiting boy named Edwin/Edmund (I kept forgetting his name)) to the Royal Trollmarket nearby. Now, Royal Trollmarket was the largest market in Europe, housing a massive cavern with every good and ware you can think of, and in the middle of it is not a Heartstone, but a massive fortress that serves as the palace! Nadia is introduced to the world of trolls, fae, and other things, as well as made aware that now she’s an immortal being called a Shard. This is explained to her by a fellow Shard, the “human” friend named Elisi.

The basic story of Shards is that they’re immortal beings created by Merlin himself. Magic pulled from a Life Stone (which did as the name suggests, creates life from two separate souls) so Gunmar couldn’t use it to raise an army overnight. Merlin separated this magic into eight segments and had them enter eight human maidens upon birth. The point was to keep this magic AWAY from Gunmar, so these girls could be anywhere in the world and their powers and immortality wouldn’t activate until their very first death. Merlin also gave each girl a unique “gift” to protect herself and her life magic, but basically Shards still use their Life Magic to create new life between other souls, so anyone who had a Shard on their side could theoretically create a bunch of living beings overtime. So in this time of war between Gunmar and whoever is Trollhunter, having a Shard would come in handy. That is, if she feels like creating an army.

So far, no Shard is willing to be a baby factory to make this army for either side. Elisi is married to a troll named Richta, a gentle potion maker who’s very protective of his family. Nadia has an underlying phobia of being reduced to a perpetual mother, and doesn’t take well that this is now what she is. Reduced to a blubbering mess, she retreats into the market and ends up in a small library. The librarian, Dictatious, begrudgingly lets the girl hide there, but realizes she’s a fast learner when she tries to read and interpret trollish.

Now, the Gumm-gumms realize there’s now not one, but TWO of the eight Shards in one place right now: in the Royal Trollmarket. Bular decides to go on the offensive, and with the help of a changeling underling named Corvis, he unleashes a pack of creatures called rust rats. Now, rust rats exist to kill and eat trolls, however whatever's left comes back to life as a rust zombie, and they infect anything they touch with their rust. So with zombie trolls in the market, everyone runs for the closest safe place: the palace. The only people not marching there are the Nakrik, Elisi, and another character named Grim or Black Knight Grim, for long. Grim is another human in Team Trollhunter, decked out in sweet black armor, a fearless horse, and basically any weapon you can think of to get the job done. He’s from a family of monster hunters who specialize in killing trolls, and he’s so skilled and well prepared that he’s taken on an entire squad of gumm-gumms alone. More on him later.

The fighters in our cast wipe out the zombie trolls and zombie causers, which is the signal for the gumm gumm army to storm the place en mass! Out numbered and outmatched, the remaining party makes a run for the castle. Nakrik, the noble trollhunter and good friend that he is, makes sure the others get in safely before squaring off against the entire army by himself. But he not only fights all these gumm gumms, but also Bular the Butcher, and a general named Alora Darren the Undying, mother to Bular, wife to Gunmar and (HOLY SHIT) a Shard herself! More on her later!

Fortunately for Nakrik, he’s saved by the king of Royal Trollmarket, King Gholgolm the Fourteenth, a thirty foot tall centaur troll who’s so big he can’t even get out of the front door of his palace. But just making it half way out the door to kick some ass is enough to scare the army away for a time. The palace fortress closes itself off so the invading forces can’t get in, and everyone just hunkers down tight for a plan. See, now all the survivors are trapped with no way out since the gumm-gumms have all the exits covered and are occupying the surrounding trollmarket. So while the heroes are trying to come up with a plan, news of Nadia, another Shard, reaches the king’s ears and he asks her to the throne room. He asks her to be the Shard that makes the army he needs to win, and she tearfully declines. Nadia just can’t bring herself to be reduced to a baby machine as she’s always feared, but has no other way to be of help. But Dictatious does see a use for Nadia, and to calm her brings her to the royal library. 

Here in the library are more characters to be introduced to (I hated how chapter 4 is a character dump episode, how do I get you guys to care about everyone?!), there’s Dic’s brother Blinky, also there’s the royal wizard Rundle and his family, Vendel (son and apprentice) and Kilfred (elder who’s barely understandable and laughs with a grandfatherly “ho ho ho ho.”) Everyone’s excited to meet Nadia, but Dictatious explains something about Shards that wasn’t addressed. Each Shard has a unique ability to protect herself with based on their title. Elisi is the Maid of Fortitude, and possesses “the strength of ten trolls.” Alora, still outside the palace and trying to get in and kill everyone, is the Eternal Arsenal, and can create any weapon she’s well versed in. Dic has deduced that Nadia is the Maid of Intelligence, who is a fast learner with a perfect memory. She can be a living archive, and recall knowledge used for tactics. Nadia... doesn’t take being this inferior well and nearly has another breakdown. But her grandmother lets her in on a little secret. Unrelated to being a Shard, Nadia has magic in her bloodline. Turns out granny is a witch, and the family gift of magic tends to skip a generation and is only present in the girls. So Nadia, with her newfound magic talent, and her ability to remember all knowledge she’s learned could be a living magical archive and the potential to be a powerful witch is very likely. She’s hesitant, but once Rundle starts showing her how to cast spells and how to recite them, she quickly becomes fascinated. 

Meanwhile, the gumm gumm army is trying to invade the castle, but can’t seem to find a weak link in the walls or “moat” of indefinite voids that troll caves seem to have. But Edwin has managed to sneak out in his “trolls are going to eat me” panic, and when confronted by Alora and Bular, promises to show how he was able to sneak out/in if he’s left alive and can get “his girl” out. Turns out he has a huge crush and Nadia and wants to get her out of here with him. It’s agreed and Alora sends him back in along with her own wizard troll, Skeeziel, to sneak inside the fortress and open the front doors from inside. Edwin goes to get Nadia to get her the hell out of here while Skeeziel sneaks around and assasinates whoever gets in his way and manages to get the doors open. So now everyone needs to evacuate further into the castle, closing off the outside halls as the army starts to make their approach. Edwin somehow manages to escape the chaos, without Nadia, and makes it to the surface... only to run into Gunmar, who promptly eats him.

Everyone’s in a near panic! Gunmar himself is going to storm the now vulnerable palace and there’s no way to fight in these much more cramped corners. King Gholgolm decides he’s going to fight Gunmar and give everyone enough time to live/escape. Rundle figures he can open a portal to the surface with help from his father and son, along with Nadia. The four of them can keep a small portal open long enough to get everyone out. Nadia only has the confidence to try and help with the others nearby. The portal is a success, and Nadia desperately tries to hold up her side of the magical baggage as the castle is slowly evacuated. King Gholgolm faces off against Gunmar at the entrance of the castle, but its not even a fight. Even as such a large troll, he’s no match for Gunmar’s prowess and sheer determination (foolish horse-monster! while you sat stuck in your own castle, I practiced the blade!). Gunmar then wrestles what he really wants from the king: the location of the Heartstone rumored to be growing in the east. The King does say there’s one in China, before Gunmar kills him. The rest of the army storms the palace.

Seeing that the King has failed, Nakrik then rushes off to fight off the army and Gunmar himself as well. Elisi goes with him. The stress of her friends probably not going to make it gets to Nadia, but she’s kept on course. Nakrik is soon stuck fighting with Alora, and he yells at Elisi to fall back and protect the survivors. She reluctantly does, leaving Nakrik to his fate. Soon, the army is about to overtake the portal room. Only Nadia, Vendel, Rundle and Kilfred are left. They start to debate who should stay to keep the portal open long enough for the others to flee, but little old Kilfred makes the decision for them. He shoves Nadia, and his son and grandson into the portal just as Gunmar manages to break through. The portal closes, and Kilfred looks up to Gunmar with a large grin and one last “ho ho ho ho” before snapping his staff and causing an explosion of light bright enough to be sunlight. Kilfred is dead, the survivors are safe on the surface, and Gunmar is temporarily blinded and enraged. His victory in Royal Trollmarket is a hollow one.

Among the survivors on the surface is young Prince Thalfie, Gholgolm’s son, who now must lead his scared and frightened people to somewhere safe. As soon as Elisi insists that they need to wait for Nakrik, the amulet makes its way to the group. Nakrik didn’t survive. And the amulet chooses Elisi’s husband, Richta, to be the next trollhunter.

Act 1 ends with Nadia still frightened by this terrifying new world, but now has the hope to survive it with her new skills. Elisi is now horrified that her husband is going to suffer the fate of all Trollhunters, and Thalfie begins to lead his people to the Black Forest for shelter. Rundle promises to continue to train Nadia. End of Act 1? Not quite.

The last thing to see in Act 1 is Alora wandering the surface, heavily injured, fighting off tears, with the Sigil of Angor Rot on the right side of her face.

Okay, now Act 1 is over. 

Act 2 and 3 will be tomorrow, since part of the reason I had such trouble writing was I couldn’t fully plot out Act 2 much.

Oh, shit, that’s right. Then there’s Forged in Darkness. Remind me to tell you guys about that first before getting into Act 2.

And...... that’s it for Act 1.

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

What dating Draco is like as a Hufflepuff:

You were actually supposed to go to ilvermorny.

But do to your parents' jobs (both of them are Archeologists, though your mother was actually a wizard) you moved to England.

You were actually quite pissed off with this arrangement too.

You complained for a good portion of the summer that you didn't know anybody in England

At least in the US you knew a few wizards in Ilvermorny. Here you knew no one.

Your parents made a deal with you, if you didn't like your first year here at all they'd see if they could move back home.

So you agreed.

You were so stubborn the whole time (it's really a wonder you weren't Slytherin because of how hilariously stubborn you were)

You wanted to do this ALLLL on your own

Did it stop your parents from following you and correcting your direction when you went the wrong way?

No. No it didn't.

You hugged them goodbye before running through the wall.

You ended up alone in a cart, bored out your mind.

You caught this glimpse of a blonde boy though that caught your eye.

His hair was slacked back and the first thought that came to your mind was literally "How big of a douche is this kid going to be"

Well that answer came quickly.

When you ended up on a boat with Neville you were very sweet to him, hearing that he lost his toad Trevor.

When you all ended up in the castle and he found him you smiled.

And then you started hearing teasing from Draco about a Ron Weasley.

And then a insult directed towards a muggleborn.

To which you stood up for them

Because your parents were muggles too and quite frankly it pissed you off.

He sneered at you and you just rolled your eyes, as he made some comment about you being a "Bloody American."

This is going to be a common theme with you.

Cedric was there for the whole thing by the way.

Instantly he knew "Oh. Oh they're a Hufflepuff."

He was right.

You ended up sitting next to him and he was excited to have you

The house was very welcoming and they all were very sweet.

You were happy to be in that one to be honest.

Though when you found out that Hufflepuff's common room was near Slytherin's you wanted to pound your head on the table.

You and Cedric became close, he was like a kind older brother to you.

You weren't bad at your studies either

You really excelled at potions

However the dark arts teacher unsettled you

You couldn't figure out why

He was such an anxious man, but something told you that was a facade.

Then came halloween.

And there was a troll in the dungeon.

Cedric told you to remain calm.

And both of you did!

Until the realization hit you that the common room was in the dungeon.

Albus ended up sticking the Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's with Ravenclaw.

Why they didn't get put with Gryffindor, you didn't know but God you hated this arrangement.

You were fine with being with Ravenclaw though

It's how you met your friend Lindsey

She noticed you looked tense and offered you a book.

You took it and the rest was history

Eventually you were able to go back and my God you were relieved.

After Halloween everyone was ready for Christmas.

Your parents ended up being to busy to bring you home for the holidays

And they felt SO guilty about that, they kept mailing you books

You were fine with it though, by that point you actually liked hogwarts

You spent most of your time reading but ended up hanging out with Ron and Harry.

All it took was one letter to Molly and she already made you a sweater.

So Christmas morning came and you were basically the only student there in Hufflepuff.

Professor Sprout made you some hot cocoa and actually gifted you stationary because she heard you mention you needed more

She made the boys hot cocoa too and Ron and Harry were grateful.

That's when you got the sweater and you were smiling wide when you got it.

You wore it any time you got cold

Which of course got some fun remarks from Draco.

You didn't care though.

At the end of the year you decided you wanted to stay.

Though your parents were acting very odd when you came home, very secretive but arguing all the time about what you didn't know

Second year started and you were glad because it was becoming too hectic at home

But a new problem arose.

Now someone was targeting muggleborns and half bloods.

Cedric was very worried about you

After all, you were in that crowd to be potentially hurt

Draco kept making remarks though and eventually it led to you snapping at him rather loudly

He gritted his teeth as both of you ended up in detention

But then Harry messed up too.

By also including some... Fun remarks to Draco

And he was squished in that classroom with you.

Draco just complained the whole time but you just kept to your book, lending Harry one so he didn't have to listen to his constant whining.

Things kept getting tense though when someone in hufflepuff was petrified

Cedric's anxiety for you went through the roof

Especially when yet again, your parents were too busy to take you home.

You assured him you'd be fine.

He was still concerned though.

Christmas morning came and you spent it again with Ron, Harry and now Hermione.

You sat in the great hall when you noticed this time that Draco was here. He was alone too.

You may have wanted to punch the boy but no one deserved to be alone on Christmas.

So you picked up your book and asked if you could sit there.

He scowled at you and told you "There are literally three other empty tables."

And you responded with "Yes. And I want to sit here. Can I?"

He reluctantly said yes.

You read in silence for a while and then said "Merry Christmas Draco."

And then he was really caught off guard.

Not very many people called him by his name.

After a long silence he finally said "Merry Christmas to you too Y/n."

After that insults became more banter to the two of you.

You even caught him smiling a few times.

Summer rolled around and Ron's family offered to have you stay with them

To which you gratefully accepted. Because things were just getting worse at home

You finally had an answer to what your parents were keeping from you.

You were related to a very very bad wizard.

Grindlewald. To be exact.

When school finally started you decided to find Draco, who was alone in a cart reading.

When you saw him your heart almost beat out of your chest.

His hair changed and he was more... Attractive.

Course you changed to him too which led to a couple of glances.

He asked you about your summer and you mentioned staying with Ron's family.

He grimaced and you frowned.

"his family isn't bad Malfoy. In fact they were really nice." You sighed.

Draco could sense that you didn't like him talking about them like that so to your surprise...

He stopped.

Though he was confused why you didn't just stay with your family.

You told him about your situation and he was confused.

"you're related to someone 'very evil'? Why does that bother you?" He asked.

You chose not to answer that.

And that bothered him.

Truth be told you were terrified of yourself.

What if one day you hurt someone like that?

What if you did something equally evil or worse?

Then came the lesson on Boggarts.

And you were laughing for a good portion of it

Until it got to you.

And that boggart sure enough turned into Grindlewald

Which led to Remus helping you

But it was too late, you were already running out of the classroom.

He of course told Draco to go after you and he did.

You were a crying mess, sitting in the astronomy tower.

He hated seeing you cry, my God it tore his heart up.

He could put two and two together and knew now that you were related to Grindelwald.

News got out rather quickly what your boggart was

But for some reason Slytherin wasn't talking.

Apparently some student snapped at them if they tried.

Draco. It was Draco.

Cedric was worried about you though, you were still very much affected by it.

Professor Remus was helpful though, always allowing you to sit and read in his classroom if you didn't want to deal with the rumors.

Hogsmeade was a very fun trip, laughing and spending time with Cedric, Fred and George.

Fred and George found you refreshing.

You somehow could tell the difference between the two.

They all knew immediately though you had a crush on Draco when you shivered in front of him and he immediately gave you his scarf.

Mint... It smelled like mint.

You couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and Draco really enjoyed seeing you happy.

Cedric didn't necessarily like that your crush was Draco considering the speculation around his family. But if you were happy that's what mattered.

You discovered a talent for magical creatures that year after buckbeak almost attacked Draco

You warned him not to piss off buckbeak but he didn't listen.

You jumped between the two before Hagrid could intervene and you calmed it quickly.

It mesmerized people to be honest, seeing you block any view from Draco to buckbeak and then calmly put a hand on his beak.

Hagrid immediately knew you'd be a fantastic student.

You helped Draco back up, noticing the bruise on his arm from falling on a rock.

That's when all hell broke loose over buckbeak

When Lucius heard about an injury due to him he decided to kill the poor creature.

You tried to convince Draco to tell his father not to do it and believe me, he tried.

Lucius was not having that shit though.

That's also when you ended up apart of whatever the hell Harry, Hermione and Ron were doing.

Time turners and then discovering that Buckbeak was alive.

You were relieved

But then also quite frightened to learn the truth about your favorite professor not only being a werewolf but also that he was hiding Sirius.

You were shocked to learn the truth, as were all of them.

Especially when Ron's rat was actually Peter Pettigrew

You kept everything a secret and Remus grew quite fond of you as almost a daughter.

You were sad to hear he wouldn't be back at hogwarts next year.

Then came another summer

Draco sent a letter to his parents beforehand though asking for the possibility of you spending the summer with them

Lucius reluctantly agreed, telling him that you'd be staying there for only a portion of the summer though

Draco told you this and you basically said "Alright, fuck it. Why not?"

You found yourself reading the entire time there

It was so... Peaceful and quiet.

You actually did have a sense of decorum and would curtsey everytime time you saw Lucius

It shocked Draco to see you switch from a goofball to someone who was indeed elegant.

It made him fall.

Hard.

After seeing you a few times walking the halls with your face in a book Lucius was curious and asked what you were reading.

You told him "Pride and Prejudice." And he was curious to know what it was.

Considering it wasn't your first time reading this, you lended it to him

And to everyone's surprise the man actually read it.

And enjoyed it

There were a few times you lended him other books too and he actually enjoyed them too.

To be frank: I think he was a little disappointed you weren't in Slytherin.

But Narcissa loved you.

You'd sit in the living room with her, again reading but it'd look straight out of a painting.

Narcissa would be writing letters or in a journal sipping tea and you'd be across from her reading.

What was supposed to be "A few weeks and nothing more" ended up being the whole summer.

Draco loved seeing you get along with his parents

And you didn't mind them.

Though you weren't stupid you recognized something was off with them.

Then came that world quidditch game.

Harry was very much alarmed to see you with the Malfoy's.

You agreed to meet up with him after the game

Draco loved seeing your face when you watched the game though, your eyes bright and a wide smile.

After it was finished you told them you agreed to see a friend and they excused you.

You found the Weasley tent and Harry was very confused, along with Ron.

"What in the hell are you doing with him?" Harry asked.

"I've been with him over the summer." You explained.

You told them everything and they reluctantly agreed to remain as civil as possible with him.

That's when you heard screaming

And Arthur telling you to run.

You all bolted seeing death eaters everywhere.

You came face to face with one that was a little too close for comfort, especially when it seemed that they were ready to attack you.

That's when Draco found you and you both BOOKED IT.

You sat in your room that night freaking out.

"Draco what the fuck was that?" You asked.

He knew exactly what that was. But he couldn't tell you. Which killed him to lie.

Eventually you all went back to school, rumors that there was a big change this year.

There was a lot of talks about a "Yule ball"

That's when the goblet of fire was introduced.

Cedric was excited to enter and you were excited for him

Then there was the other VERY noticeable change

Mad eye Moody.

He was curious.

You were there when the names came out of the goblet

Victor Krum

Fleur delacour

And Cedric!

You were happy for him!

And then another name came out and everyone was both silent and confused.

Harry Potter.

Something told you that something was wrong with this competition.

Very wrong.

Draco was trying to enjoy the competition. Really he was

But a certain hufflepuff was so distracting

And being put in constant danger

For some reason you were in this scholarship like situation with Hagrid, taking care of Magical creatures

Which included those damn dragons.

So when you had to go out onto the field yourself and soothe one, Draco nearly had a heart attack.

Again, watching you with this creature was memorizing.

It calmed down almost immediately and you returned to your place in the stands making everyone shocked.

Course Draco was going insane from the amount of safety precautions that weren't taken.

It didn't help that you were needed for some challenge for Cedric.

You ended up chained and underwater

Which Draco didn't know yet.

All he knew is that when he asked Lindsey where you were she said you were needed for this and you disappeared.

Instantly dread hit the poor boy.

When Cedric came up out of the water with you, you basically told the staff to bite your ass if they needed you for another challenge.

Lucky for you, they knew you. And they also knew that you had some colorful ways of... Expressing your feelings.

You were freezing but the second you recognized that a child was down there and Fleur was empty handed you actually went back into the water yourself.

To everyone's surprise, you came back up with Harry, Ron and Gabrielle.

According to Harry you just went for it and grabbed her.

Draco was now head over heels because of your selfless act.

It didn't help when the Yule ball was approaching you two ended up being dance partners.

Both of you were very good at it to be honest.

Mcgonagall could see the love in that boy's eyes though.

Then you and him had a meeting spot now in the astronomy tower.

Both of you had free periods and would meet up and just enjoy the other's company.

You said some joke making him laugh.

He saw you smile and he just asked you "Would you like to go to the yule with me?"

And you of course said yes

And my god you were beautiful that night.

People kept teasing Draco about being there alone

But everyone fell dead silent when Cedric helped you down the stairs

You were anxious about walking down the stairs in heels so Cedric of course said he'd help.

Cho was smiling saying you looked gorgeous and you thanked her saying she looked great too.

This post is too long and has to be separated into two parts.