#too many spiders and toads out at night

[beaversatemygrandma]

...hm. starting to think that the dog twisted my knee somehow. Probably while attempting to pull me down the stairs bc somebody (bf) walks down them at top fuckin speeds behind her and she's getting used to it.

anyways. my knee hurts and it's like a specific muscle so I gotta live with this now and hope that this doesn't impact me with getting a job soon. Bc i have so much lined up... so much.

[disproportionatelysculpting]

An Evening It Was

I am lying on my bed, I don't know how long it has been maybe an hour maybe just 10 mins. The ceiling is white, plain, dull, it has no border designs, unlike back at my parents house, the one I left. Its just plane, square with a fan a little left from the center, probably those who lived before me had their bed right below it. There is a hook in center, where the fan was actually supposed to be, maybe it was for light bulb, who knows. Things fit in as one wishes, not the other way around. I have watched this countless time and thought same things. The fan is old and has dust settled on it, it hasn't been clean for last few months, nor been used much for last few weeks. There are also some spider webs, but no spider at sight, they left their home too. I hope they reached a good place, maybe they died on the way, or maybe they are alive at some better place than this hobbit's habitat. There is a big crack on the right wall, I have followed its path so many times, it looks like lighting, parting the sky but the walls are yellow not blue or grey, the crack is dark, not shining at all. The crack makes it's way to the window, opening up this box to the world, acting as a portal with white translucent curtains. Every morning the sun seeps in through them waking me up, somedays burning my soul, somedays healing my bones. The window is the only source of light in the room right now, it looks like sun will set sooner or later, the sky is in a fresh coat of purple hue with clouds orange, white and blue, in contrast to which the room is a muddy brownish blue. The clouds are slowly floating away to some far lands, they will lose their existence in form of rain soon, making some land feel alive again. Time is floating away too with the clouds, I wonder who was the first person who started calculating it. Why did they do so? What must have been so important for them to start quantization of time out of all things, trying to conquer something so unknown. It flows different for different things, how did they manage to make it acceptable to everyone? Within each breath I take, thousands or millions or more microbes must have been born and die let alone on my body, and then all on other humans body or that lake or the forests and literally every place, their flow of time is different than me. The clouds have passed the sky has been abandoned too, its now getting darker, a familiar shade of blue. The room is getting darker, the yellow walls looks muted into an unknown shade. The sun has set, left this side of earth to become still, calm, cold. There are yellow lights switching on, in houses outside of my room, windows lit, showing signs of existence one by one, forming a constellation on surface, while the sky turns darker, there are people alive and warm, people I don't know. There are no stars in the sky today, but the grey clouds hoarding around, it will rain, at least. There are crickets and insects who started chirping outside, toads and frogs are making a tune. Birds of night are playing in the sky, or maybe finding a shelter from the upcoming rain. Its dark outside, and so my room is now purely blue, with silhouettes of furniture, its growing colder. There is a distant noise of car honks and music, maybe someone is celebrating their joy. Its raining, the voices are dying, all I can hear is the rain getting louder and louder. The world is silent, the sky is crying. My hands are blue, my heart is quite, my breath is contained. The world has grown colder and I am cold with it too. So much time has passed. All i know is I am still lying on my bed.

[ambiguouspuzuma]

The Weldmire

Her name was Dolomedes Silt, and there wasn't a soul alive who knew it. Nor did there need to be. To a young woman who scraped survival from the greenery of her new home - a simple creature of simple tastes - such a luxury was unwanted, unneeded, and entirely unused. She got along just fine without.

"How much farther?" The voice was weak; not through lack of use, as hers was, but through the exhaustion of everything else. It was a man. She recognised the tone in the way she would the caterwaul of a common redshank, or the warble of a marsh toad. A man, and one now close to death.

"Just keep moving." His companion sounded little better. A sailor, she thought: not used to the hard yards on almost solid ground. "We have to reach a town eventually."

The creature once known as Dolomedes lived far from the slums of her birth, on a spur that jutted from the coast, many miles from the nearest settlement; as alone as anyone had ever been, at least between visitors such as these. She had been named, delivered and raised by women long since dead, and had only sought out the company of more death in their absence.

Having set her nest along a freshwater stream, her new home was not entirely devoid of life, at least until she caught it - she had wading birds, amphibians and crayfish for sustenance, easy game for the only hunter here. But much of this land was peat-soaked fen, and she spent most of her days wandering around its murky pools, enjoying the sense of total solitude. It was shown on maps as the Weldmire, but that name had largely been forgotten too.

"What now?"

The visitors had reached the farthest shore. They had likely moored their boat within the shelter of that spur, that unfortunate spit into which the tide had spat, no doubt praising their good fortune to find protection from the larger waves that lashed its outer edge. They would have expected a short journey inland, seeking an inn in which to dine and spend the night. Instead, they'd found the Weldmire lying here in wait.

"Are we sure they went this way?"

The voices seemed to know their roles. The first, unsure, belonged to a slender man in a shirt that must have once been white, rolled back to reveal tanned forearms. He had a red jacket tied around his waist. The second, impatient, a larger man in a traveller's cloak.

"We're not sure of anything. A snatch of fabric on the gorse. Footprints sunk into the mud. It might have been them. It might have been here."

Each visitor trod a similar path. On the trek in from the coast, they soon found themselves marooned upon the shifting islands of its fields, an archipelago of pools and unsafe ground, desperately in need of a guide. The Weldmire was both badlands and oasis, the synthesis of life and death, but no less repugnant for that poetic provenance - like an artist had combined her full palette of colours to arrive at a sludge of yellow-brown. For Dolomedes, it was home. For everybody else, it was quite the opposite.

Waders feared what might lurk within the opaque shallows, imagining scuttling claws and jagged teeth, but the truth was far more terrifying still: the Weldmire's pools held no life at all. Whilst nature's infinite variety found a way in other extreme climes, from polar ice to hydrothermal vents, it found these waters truly inhospitable. Dolomedes lurked like a raft spider, squatting by the surface, but no reflection ever met her gaze.

The depths held no mouths than that of the mire itself, a sucking hunger for any boot that lingered in one spot for long. They held no teeth than those of its victims. This was a realm of death, and it was populated by the dead. She'd snared many birds that had become entangled in the viscous waters, curlews and snipes whose alarmed cried had summoned her to dinner, but far more than sunk beyond her reach, their bones now preserved beneath layers of suffocating mud.

"Left or right?" the first voice asked. "It looks a substantial detour either way."

There had been people, too, like the visitors today. Many had been felled by exhaustion. It was slow, arduous progress, wading against a thigh-high lake that felt less water than mud, a glutinous tide that almost seemed to push back. There were obstacles, too - branches preserved within the lifeless depths, fallen birds in suspended animation, the grasping hands of those who had drowned in years before. Waders were prone to stumble - and those who did fall rarely rose again.

Today's pair arrived already sodden, having waded to shore from their boat, only to find another body of water inland. The morning wore that uncomfortable temperature of overcast days, an oppressive humidity that drew the sweat from working men's backs like blood from the lash of a silent whip, and their journey had been hard-going even before they reached the Weldmire's edge, the glistening lip before its open mouth.

"There's a rope."

It lay taut across the water, emerging from the shallows like a cottonmouth come to bask upon the slopes. A thick, tar-soaked line, fasted around a tree on either end. Secure. It held the promise of a stable path: the chance to follow in the footsteps of those who had survived, entering the mire and emerging from the other side. Unfortunately, it was also the path of many who had fallen underneath, hands grasping for their lifeline as the mire sucked them in.

"We're supposed to go through it?" Dolomedes could really see the sailors now - watching from her den, poised like a heron waiting for the chance to strike. The forearms not quite tanned, but tattooed. The red jacket laced with golden thread. That first man had crouched above the rope, and gave it an investigative tug; testing its strength, and willing his to return.

"It seems like it," his companion replied. Neither looked overly enamoured with the prospect.

"I can help you." This was her cue. Dolomedes lacked for volume, her voice ragged and rusty from disuse, but her intervention carried in the empty space. The sailors started, reeling back at the surprise of her company: eyes scanning for her across the water, as if she was there to be found.

Now was her time to step forward. Dolomedes parted from the undergrowth as if she had been born from it, her skin stained in mouldy greens and browns, slathered in the filth and the grime of her surroundings. She wore the rags that she'd arrived in, or what remained of them, and plenty more besides: broad clumps of damp and rotting leaves, blood-stained feathers in her wild and uncut hair, the detritus she'd accumulated through her new life in the wild.

"Help?"

"You?" Both men seemed unfamiliar with her words. Dolomedes briefly wondered if she had misspoken, out of practice since the previous visit, but then they returned to the familiar script. "How? Is this your rope?"

"No," she called, stepping closer, as a spider to the corner of her web. It had been another group of sailors who had hauled it from their ship, trawling it across the mire to be fastened on the other side. They had needed to make a number of trips inland, and invested their time to secure a safer path, as they might bridge a gap or clear a route between the trees. But they had not returned for many a year, and Dolomedes had claimed the Weldmire in their absence. "This is."

She held in her hands a second coil of rope, more slender than the blackened line that lay astride the pool, wound tight about her narrow frame: with the peat packed in between each ring, she might almost have been mummified. The end disappeared into the pool, and was wrapped around the thicker rope towards its start. This had come from the sailors too, but Dolomedes had made some adjustments. Unfastening it at her end, for a start.

"You mean to pull us across?" They noticed the second line, now that she moved across the mire: there were knots along its length, and they writhed just beneath the surface of the mud, shifting slightly as she crept closer.

"For a price," she said. Dolomedes didn't need for much, but that didn't mean she didn't want. Her nest needed to be feathered, for the colder months - and a girl needed to eat. "I will need your gold, your clothes, and your weapons."

"What?"

"Your gold, your clothes, and your weapons," she repeated, assuming that they hadn't heard. Hers was a toll road. Perhaps sailors were unfamiliar with the concept.

"Not a chance." She couldn't make out the second man's face, but he wore the sneer in his voice. "A scrawny thing like you? What help are you going to add, compared to just pulling ourselves?"

"A solid footing," she said, in well-practised patter. "What does an anchor add to a mighty ship? What help a mooring, when it has three masts of sails? You are welcome to attempt the crossing on your own, of course. Many have. It's always entertaining to watch them sink into the mire, without the fulcrum to haul themselves out. It's a matter of leverage, not strength."

The men conferred on that in private, in whispers too weak to carry across the water. There was always a reluctance, parting with money for old rope.

"You say you've helped others with this crossing?"

"Yes."

"Two men in jackets like this?" The first voice untied his velvet belt, like the cord that pulls a curtain back, and held it up for her to see. Some sort of insignia embroidered on the cloth. Something familiar.

"Yes."

"One called Ellis, the other Tristan?"

"Perhaps." Dolomedes didn't deal in names. They had no use, living alone, and she got on fine without. But jackets kept her warm. "Many pass through here."

"Fine, then." That seemed to decide it. "We pay after we cross?"

"Naturally."

She fastened the rope's loops around her waist, and gestured for them to do the same, before looping back around the tree for anchorage. From there she pulled, and they proceeded: tightrope walkers, clinging to their lifeline, hauled forth by her horizontal noose. She was a spider spinning silk, feeling the twitch of their movements, watching them wade cautiously across her home.

"Stop there," she called, when they were close enough. They did. She had them on a leash, and they were hers to command. "Throw the payment now."

"You said on completion," the first man complained.

"You said you didn't want to pay," said the scorpion to the frog. "This is a matter of leverage, remember. I still have it, now, but won't when you're ashore. I don't trust you not to flee."

"And if we refuse? You'll really leave us to drown?"

"If that's the only way to secure my price." Dolomedes shrugged. This close, they could see the flatness in her eyes: as wan and lifeless as the Weldmire itself. Nothing swam in those inhospitable depths. "I can retrieve it at my leisure. You'll take some dragging out, of course, but I've done it before."

The weapons and gold were easier to prize from cold dead hands, once the bodies had stopped wriggling. The clothes, too. The mire had a way of preserving things, even if it took her a few days to dredge it fully. As for the corpses, the mire was always hungry - and frankly, so was she. There was no sense letting fresh meat go to waste.

"You're too late to pull this particular move." The second man was less convinced. He took another step forward, surveying the path ahead. "We're close enough to make it on our own."

"With just one rope?"

"That's right." He held on tight to that mooring. "We don't need yours. I'm not convinced we ever did."

"Ah, but they're both mine," Dolomedes said, drawing a previous trophy for their inspection. The sword's blade was rusty, but still sharp: they were hard to maintain in this climate, and she'd never learnt how. No wonder she always needed new ones. "How easy it would be to cut you loose, if you did wish to short-change me. Tell me, would you bet on your survival then?"

"You'd cut us adrift?"

"It's an empty threat," the second man said. "This rope's as thick as my arm, and a darned sight thicker than hers. I'll say again: she's not strong enough. We'll make it across before she's made it through the tar."

They pressed onward, and she stepped back. It was the work of a moment to untie the rope from the tree, not needing to cut it at all. She let the other line go slack from her waist, and the second man stumbled, his doubts forgotten in an instant. Idiots, Dolomedes thought. She would have to sack their ship for a replacement rope, if this one was lost to the mire. But she was going to have to unmoor it anyway, lest it serve as a warning to future visitors. There was no harm in a jaunt down to the coast.

"Pick it up!" the believer was pleading, failing to get hold of his companion; wet hands on wet clothing, a grasp that never seemed to grip. He was at risk of losing balance himself. "We'll pay, I promise. Please, just pick up the rope. He'll die if you don't."

"Many die on the crossing," Dolomedes told him, her voice no louder or more urgent than when telling him her price. "Do you think he's the first? I have watched many men drown, a dozen souls sucked into the dark. What cost one more? What profit one less?"

"Look." As words had failed to move her, the first man resorted to action, stripping off his jacket and waving it above his head. "You can have all of it; just give me something to lean on. Just give him something to hold."

If Dolomedes herself had ever been in possession of a soul, she suspected it had long since atrophied, malnourished and unused; as had almost been the case for her other organs, before she really learnt how to kill. She'd once heard, from a traveller in those early days, that when a body starves it begins to consume itself, absent any other form of sustenance. In her case, the conscience had clearly been the first to go. She'd consumed him as well, and it hadn't troubled her in the slightest.

But the red flag in the air brought her back. If this man was willing to work for her, that would be easier for all concerned. She tied the guiding rope back up around her waist, and walked it back around the tree to make it taut again; he clutched the lifeline gratefully, and leant down to dredge his friend out of the murk. There was no apology for doubting her; only a throatful of bilgewater to return to its home.

"Payment," she said.

True to his word, the first man tossed his jacket, and the second followed with his cloak. Whilst they fiddled with the buttons of their shirts, Dolomedes slunk down to the water to claim her loot before the lapping water could; the men were exhausted, unsteady, and hadn't tossed them far. The gold thread was even richer up close; the red more potent and alive. One of her own browns had looked like that, once, before it had been keelhauled through the mire.

She peeled it off, undressing as they did. The second man was still hesitant, and paused to watch her make the exchange; not in the way men sometimes looked, but with his usual glare. "This is what must have happened to the last shift. Ellis. Tristan. They came this way, and were never seen again."

"I told you," she said. "Many pass through here. Some make it across, some don't. Who am I to tell them apart?"

"You must remember!" The first man now stared at her with the same fury in his eyes. "You're wearing their jacket!"

"I'm wearing your jacket," she corrected, speaking slowly.

"No- you were wearing it. There, on the ground!"

She looked at the sullied jacket as if seeing it for the first time. "Two men?"

"One jacket," the second man said. "Did both not pay?"

"Oh, they paid." The memories were as murky as mire-water, but she was starting to recognise the shapes. "One was too deep to salvage. This one fell closer to the bank. I was able to pull him out."

"You saw them die?"

"I told you," Dolomedes said again. "Many die. This is a perilous route."

"Only because you make it so! You let them die, for what? Gold?"

"I own the crossing," she corrected. "Some refuse to pay, and then they drown, the victim of their own choices. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Apologise!"

"Fine." Dolomedes sighed. She had nothing to do for the rest of the day, but even she felt this was taking too long. "My apologies. Such a shame, but we move on. The rest, please."

The rest of the payment came soaring out of the mire: two fistfuls of coins, a golden ring, an ornate dagger, a pair of swords, one slim and one broad. Her passengers clearly knew to take her seriously now, not wanting to repeat their colleagues' fatal mistake. Dolomedes tossed her old rusty blade back into the soup, now spoilt for choice of replacement, and stooped to pick up the coins, which she tucked away beneath her many other layers.

They fell back at just the right moment. Both men collapsed at once, and she followed, not knowing what had hit her. She wondered if she'd stuck them with the sword, or somehow cut the rope, but that was what now held her tight: they were sinking back into the mire, keeping it taut as they pulled back the way they'd come, and drawing her along the ground more quickly than her legs could find a purchase in the mud. She gave up clutching for the tree, and worked to untie the rope around her waist, but her hands were wet from sorting through her prizes.

"Not to us," the first man said, as her frail and overburdened body, layered with clothing and laden with gold, succumbed swiftly to the ooze. He was sinking with her, but he continued to pull, determined that he would see her drown first. Willing to join his friends, on the condition she did too. "Apologise to them."

[karltface]

Time for another mail-exchange interlude, ladies and germs.

The box portends great things. What sort of fellow orders toys by the case?

The sort who takes requests, actually: we both wanted this guy. The Snizzard (it gets a "The" all through the Wiki, so you know it's serious) apparently menaced the Power Rangers on several occasions (and was initially voiced by Bryan Cranston of all people). But I never watched that show for some reason, so I'm going by what Bogleech tells me: apparently this thing was originally Dora Ladon, based on the serpent that guards the golden apples of the Hesperides. Jealous of the many youthful women on Earth, Bandora (Rita) summoned this horror to suck the youth out of them. It does so with the magical apple crown on its head, which generates parasitic apples on its victims that rapidly age them. You can see why that part was cut.

Anyway, this thing will blend right in on my burgeoning Demons and Things that Look Like Them table. It's like a hundred snakes swarmed together into a humanoid form, and then put on a possessed tsuchinoku costume.

Speaking of, a surprise. I was after a minotaur, any minotaur, and this one didn't disappoint. A quick dark wash will make this pop; this is good, because he's not much of a character. Just a Worf Barrage magnet that served as an early reason to get the Power Weapons into play. He has double-arm swinging action, a sweet shield, and a classic design. I was not expecting Rhinoblaster, who I initially took to be a bat. He's full of sports puns and lives to disrupt football teams. Gotta say, he's lucky he looks so cool.

Another specific pick, the Barracuda! It's not much of a vehicle, with a troop capacity of one, but compensated with a good strong missile launcher and an honest-to-gods baking powder dive mechanism. This one needs a cleaning, and perhaps some sealant on the stickers, but it really does spice up an ocean display.

Critters! Leading the charge is Major Legger Mutton of the Barnyard Commandos BK promotion. Like the rest of this shot, he's actually spare parts, missing the pontoons that folded into a bracelet. Honestly looks better without. There's a few Battle Beasts, all disarmed. I like the chunky rubber spider, and the Boreal Toad is kind of adorable.

Most intriguing are the Toad Air Marshall from Bucky O'Hare, another line I slept on and now feel I need to explore, and that Kronosaur. Looks familiar...

Could've been classic Schleich again; got a species name (in German where applicable), slight marbling in the plastic. But it's ABS, and has no makers' mark or country of origin. Some prominent mold lines, too. Gotta be a knockoff. Nice that they included an average size on the tail, there.

Bits and bobs are a Sectaurs harness (Pinsor, I believe; I've written about him before, but that may have been on Figurerealm....), two Galaxy Warriors shields, Soundwave's rifle, and the Double Duty Mace, an improbable weapon hailing from Tonka's Rock Lords. Well, the weapons are stupid rare, so I guess this is my cue to pick up another childhood favorite.

Yeah.

Rounding out the haul are an early Stephen King movie I actually haven't seen - Time to break out the bingo cards! Or the booze- and an IFC horror that looks like it might not be half bad. That's a couple nights' entertainment already. Also a red drawstring pouch, which will live in the Red Pouches Drawer. Yes, I have two, for light and dark red. Shut up, I can quit when I want to.

Anyhoo, that's another exchange with one of my out-of-state contacts. I guess I mostly do haul breakdowns now. I guess I'll roll with that.

[bersergner-blog]

Escape from Tombstone - Beat ‘em up Culture (pt.2)

...continued:

POW Stages are long and dull. Could really use bosses, as constantly groups of enemies getting dumped in feels like a slog. Enemies have too much health. A grab and down attacks would help. It takes too long to throw knives leading to you just getting punched. Some of the more cinematic elements such as the breakout and helicopter are fun and the combat has a bit of a meaty feel to it but it all feels pretty flat, repetitive and ugly. Enemies stumbling back or doubling over from punches can be cool. But enemies are way too beefy and it all just adds to the feeling of slog. Enemies seem designed for ultimate annoyance. They move faster, hit faster, run away from you, leap in with giant hit boxes, sometimes dodge your fire sometimes don't, run away when on low health, etc. A dull repetitive slog that feels overly long even at only 4 stages and is a shining example of all the worst qualities people accuse beat em ups of. The setting and idea are cool and having 3 different walk cycles shows a lot of visual care went in as well as crawling which happens a total of once. It all just feels all over the place.

Robo Army Finishers are kinda cool and you can turn into a car. The different types of special moves and building them up is a kind of neat idea but doesn't really add too much. The battle toads style rope descent is a nice change of pace but largely this is pretty dull and straight forward. At least levels don't outstay their welcome. Base enemy designs are kinda cool but some enemies look super dumb. Guys on bikes is a weird but very typical beat em up addition and fun in a tongue in cheek way. Some unfun enemy designs such as little spiders and dogs that can only be hit when they jump to attack. Some enemies run away from you to just outside of your reach which is never fun. Hazards that only affect you, not enemies. Quite a few attacks that just look like normal movement (final boss and some enemies).

Final Fight Feels good. Good music. Stages are nice and short leading to great momentum. Always seeing something new. Interesting enemies with only one or two attacks. But they are very interesting such as sneaky jab outside fighter and knife man who has throw and lunge, axel who blocks a lot and encourages grappling. Makes for interesting enemy Compositions. Surprising amount of story telling with it's little cutscenes such as getting abducted at the door by the great andore. And confusedly spinning around or car man when you trash his car. The special stage sections are a cool change of pace. Works surprisingly well as a solo experience. Which not many of these games do. Could really use some movement options such as a dash or tech roll on knockdown. Hagar having the shortest range directional throw sucks since he's so slow it makes some bosses a nightmare such as copman. Always cool little setpieces like the barrels being rolled in twice and then more people appearing when you're facing an andore. Fairly fun boss fights. Little unbalanced kit. Jump kick seems extremely good from Guy and Cody. A back-attack would really work in this game. The transition from day to night could be a lot more impactful and cool. You spend a lot of. Time indoors and the lighting never feels different. Obviously hard to do and we're not criticising these games for the lack of these elements but we're working on what we could improve. Punching a molotov out of the air!!! Gauntlet at the end is actually fun and highlights the variety of enemies and unique archetypes. Hagar jumping grab fun. Amazing enemy names. Molotov kicking madness with Guy during Gauntlet. Corner fighting to offscreen is a little too strong a tactic. But the alternative of enemies using abilities from offscreen would be worse. Sometimes the enemies' attack patterns do seem to create some unavoidable damage situations. Final boss is a great idea, being able to smash his chair and grab him out of it after how much he was avoiding you feels great. Might be one of the better versions of these type of characters. Taking to it's logical conclusion with Urban Reign.

Battle Circuit Tokusatsu inspired nonsensical but with a fair bit of plot and some fun lines. Great enemy and character designs. Very cinematic. Combos are fun if a bit limited. Ground follow up and defensive options would be appreciated. Fun enemy designs and some fun srt pieces. Feels a bit like it doesn't really build to anything really. May be trying to emulate that Saturday morning cartoon episode feel though. Plays great. Lots of options and the coins and upgrade system keep you invested.

Warriors of Fate Good variety of moves (jumping attack, neutral grab, directional grab, grab jump, clearout move, special input move, down and jump move). Getting on the horse is awkward but interesting. Introducing new enemy types alongside bosses is weird. Chopping enemies in half. Game is long but has decent variety. Some uniquely built levels for a beat em up lots of spectacle and cutscenes and different weapons actually feel somewhat different. The later three characters feel less complex because of less grapple depth but having a Ranged character is interesting and with a full "party" it might be something special. The final boss not fighting back and having the time limit for two different endings is interesting if a little cheap.

King of Dragons Large cast of characters and lots of diverse enemies. Blocking is cool (especially how it pushes you back), getting new equipment is cool. Lots of levels. Ambushes from. Ranged enemies. Levels are short and digestible with a boss at the end. Keeps the momentum up. The orbs of special moves you have to hit to activate are an interesting idea. The transition to the gold of the dragon in the final level is visually very cool. Diverse biomes. Parrying attacks feels cool. Enemies could be more interesting in how they attack. Some neat surprise enemies such as mimics.

Armored Warriors Diverse attacks (dash attack, downward stomp, long range attack, combo, weapon attack) and how they change with different parts, the whole picking up parts system is cool. Variety in gameplay. Great art (pretty much goes without saying for Capcom) But the whole thing feels very chaotic and all the lumbering machines get in the way of Readability. Nonetheless levels are short and punchy and the story gives enough context to keep you pushing and wanting to see what's next. The levels are cool if a bit basic.

The Punisher This is one of my favourite arcade beat ‘em ups and was part of Capcom’s licensed arcade series. It brought a lot of variety to the combat and really felt like a step in a new direction. It featured multiple special moves, interesting enemy types, more options from a grapple and occasional shooting segments where the screen would be rushed by enemies and the player would draw a gun locking onto the closest enemies and attempt to clear as many as they could. The second player played as Nick Fury and featured their own continue screen and music.

Alien vs. Predator Another personal favourite, another licensed Capcom arcade. They were absolutely on fire at this point. Featuring multiple playable characters (including humans and predators) all with unique abilities, combos and special moves as well as a lot of pick-ups and weapons and even some “vehicle” sections. Stages were nice and short and the game never takes it’s foot of the gas pedal.

Dungeons and Dragons - Tower of Doom/Shadow over Mystara Yes, Capcom made a licensed Dungeons & Dragons game. Two of them in fact and they’re great. Featuring absolutely top notch visuals, a lot of move variety, different stats that affected the gameplay, level ups, equippable items and a host of spells to cast and monsters to slay, these two games are a riot with a group of friends.

[parksaversnews]

The Hidden Secrets of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Pet Cemetery

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park is one of the most iconic and beloved dark rides ever created. Since opening in 1969, it has entertained and spooked millions of guests with its ghostly inhabitants and imaginative scenes. But hidden away outside this popular attraction is a lesser-known feature - the Haunted Mansion pet cemetery. History of the Pet Cemetery The pet cemetery first appeared in the early 1980s on the west side of the Haunted Mansion building. It was only visible to guests using the wheelchair-accessible side entrance and remained a hidden gem seen by few. According to legend, the cemetery was conceived by Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine, daughter of Madame Leota actress Leota Toombs. In 1993, an additional pet cemetery was installed along the main ride queue where more guests could enjoy it. Over time, the original cemetery became even more secluded as the newer one gained popularity. Today, the status of this secret graveyard accessible only to Disney cast members remains a mystery - some say it's been removed, while others claim it can still be found with a helpful cast member's guidance.

Memorials to Ghostly Pets The Haunted Mansion pet cemetery features whimsical headstones remembering deceased animal companions of the mansion's residents. Each statue and inscription adds humor and personality to furry residents, like: Stripey the Skunk: "You may be departed, but your presence will always linger on" Bully the Frog: "You didn't drink, you didn't smoke, I just can't figure what made you croak" Big Jake the Dog: "Chased a toad down a well, was his one mistake" Miss Kitty the Cat: "After losing eight lives you still had no fear"There's also a memorial for all pets without marked graves, and statues of a squirrel, rabbit, fish, rat, spider, and snake on the queue's brick facade. Design Details & Hidden Magic Subtle details throughout the pet cemetery reinforce its imaginative storytelling. Lily pads surround the tombstone of a frog named Old Flybait "who croaked," while a skunk's marker is edged with flowers known for their own skunky scent. And in true Disney fashion, there's hidden magic here too. Cast members report the planter in the cemetery's center mysteriously topples over at night - could playful spirits be to blame? The memorial to Miss Kitty the cat even suggests one of her nine lives remains...perhaps her ghost still lurks about! Continuing a Legacy While the ultimate fate of the original hidden pet cemetery by the Haunted Mansion is unknown, its legacy continues to delight Disney guests. The tributes to beloved animal companions in the ride's queue keep their stories alive and remain a highlight for many park visitors. It's a testament to the imaginative storytelling and attention to detail that make Disney Parks so special. Just like the mansion itself, the pet cemetery stands the test of time by blending humor, heart, and a little haunting fun. So next time you're waiting in line to hitch a ride with the Haunted Mansion's happy haunts, keep an eye out for these tributes to long-gone pets. You never know what magical surprises or ghostly activity you might encounter!

Frequently Asked Questions What is the history behind the pet cemetery? The original pet cemetery first appeared in the early 1980s on the west side of the Haunted Mansion, conceived by Imagineer Kim Irvine. In 1993, a second pet cemetery was added along the ride's main queue. The status of the original hidden cemetery today remains a mystery. What kinds of pets are featured in the cemetery? Whimsical headstones remember deceased pets like Stripey the skunk, Bully the frog, Big Jake the dog, Miss Kitty the cat, and more. Statues on the queue's facade also depict a fish, rat, spider, snake and other animals. Are there any secrets or hidden details in the cemetery? Yes! Cast members report the planter frequently topples over mysteriously at night, which could be the work of ghostly pets. Miss Kitty's epitaph also suggests she has one life remaining, and may still lurk around the Haunted Mansion! Why does the pet cemetery matter? It continues the storytelling and rich detail of the Haunted Mansion through humor and heart. The pet cemetery adds magic and personality that delights guests and keeps this classic Disney ride engaging over 50 years since its debut. Could the original pet cemetery still exist somewhere? Potentially! Some claim it remains hidden from guests and accessible only by Disney cast members. Its ultimate fate is unknown, but the cemetery's legacy lives on through the tributes added outside the ride.

The hidden secrets of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion extend beyond the ride itself to features like the whimsical pet cemetery. Though its original west side location remains elusive, the newer memorials delight riders with humor and heart. The cemetery tributes let imaginations run wild with stories of bully frogs, departed skunks, and ghosts of pets past. Its little details and legends feel quintessentially Disney - fun, playful, and forever fascinating. For over 30 years, this graveyard has kept delightful pet tales alive for Mansion fans. Even as rides evolve, it stands the test of time as a highlight for those in the know. The pets may be departed, but their magical spirit endures. Read the full article

[not24opposumsinatrenchcoat]

REALLY FAST if you get freaked out by body horror or general gore, I would advise you skip. I don’t want to give too many warnings because that’ll ruin the whole surprise, however there is lots of body horror and animal gore, lots of blood, weird creepy shit. You have been warned ‼️

So I have been writing as a hobby for like my whole life and I literally have no where to put my work other than here, so uhhhhhhhh take this

So like a year ago or so I made an attempt at a short horror story, I’ve always been super into horror and stuff and I was experimenting. At the time I rlly rlly liked this and I’ve gone back and edited it a bit, I’m not sure how I feel about it now but anyways I hope someone finds this and enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Okay here we go

1: The farmer. The sheep. And the fog.

The wind bellowed coldly through the grass, the moon shone down onto a lone pasture. A few toads let out low croaks here and there. A herd of sheep slept peacefully in a large field of grass, encased in a rickety wooden fence. The moon's light illuminated their wool, and against the viridescent grass, they looked like spider silk, lumpy but soft.

The sky was cloudless, but in the cold concealment of the darkness, a gentle fog crept up onto the grass. The moon's yellow gleam made the fog look soft and crisp. It was low, only covering a few inches above the ground, and even then a sharp eye could pierce through the fog’s cover and see the sleek blades of grass underneath, which were gradually forming small drops of dew.

Beyond the pasture, an old house lay bare against the tress. It had chipped paint on the door, and the bricks that made up its walls had been smoothed down over time. The roof was uneven and different color tiles dotted it from when it would collapse occasionally. The chimney jutted from the roof awkwardly, and at an odd angle, looming to the side like a wilted flower built from stone. A few bricks were missing here and there, though it still stood, puffing a thin stream of smoke into the night sky. The floor of the house was filthy, and if you weren’t careful the hard wooden planks would assault your feet with brutish splinters. If you were to step with too much weight, the house might feel as if it were going to plunge down on you. Though with a fire burning and a soft bed, anyone would call it home.

Inside this house, however, lived an old farmer. He was quiet and rather irritable. He lived alone, only visiting the nearest town, (which was very far off) for the occasional selling of his sheep's wool, and to purchase any drop of alcohol he could find. No one bothered him except a few wolves who liked to scare his sheep in the night, causing panic and waking the old farmer for hours on end. Once the farmer had sent the beasts a warning shot into the air with a musket, and they had left him alone since.

In the sky, a thick cloud drifted over the moon. Severing the light from the pasture below. The wind suddenly stopped as well, and the toads and their croaks vanished.

All was silent.

After an impassible couple of moments, one of the sheep abruptly stood up and walked silently through the fog, and to the edge of the pasture that faced the woods. Precipitously, the sheep started yowling mindlessly at the tranquil trees. Just as oddly, none of the other sheep woke, nor joined in the disturbance. The single sheep stood alone and without movement, aside from its mouth. If one were to look closely at it for a long while, it would be as if the sheep was simply fake, if it was not for the movement of its mouth and the sounds it made, one would assume it was in fact fake. Possibly a statue, or a wooden toy.

The sheep continued its mindless screaming, and soon the farmer woke, he groaned and grabbed his musket. Assuming it was more wolves come to further pest the old man. He swung open the door quickly, musket ready. But no one was there. The farmer saw it was one of his sheep, he recognized her as Morrigan and grumbled to himself as he put his gun down against the door frame.

As he walked away from the doorway, he felt the warmth of the small fire that lay in the chimney, be torn from his skin, leaving him in the crisp nighttime air.

The scarcity of noise and wind made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, goosebumps began to swiftly latch onto his skin. He ignored it and continued to the pasture.

He clambered over the low wooden fence and made his way over to the bothered sheep. He did notice, however, how odd it was that all the others were still mutely asleep. As the farmer came up to the screaming animal, he had to cover his ears, her screams seemed to pierce the air and strike his brain into an immediate headache. He pressed on and came up next to her. He looked into the dark wood to see what she may be upset at, but nothing other than trees and other greenery stared back.

He attempted to soothe Morrigan by petting her, but it did nothing. And he quickly had to cover his ears again hastily. He stood up and tried to nudge the sheep away with his foot, but it did nothing yet again, it was almost as if the sheep was fused with the ground, unable to move or be moved. After a moment, he tried to nudge her harder, but still nothing. Finally, the ill-tempered farmer had had enough, he kicked the sheep in her side.

A sickening noise cut through the air substituting the screaming, a concoction of a sharp series of cracks, and the dank sound of decaying flesh filled the silent air. Morrigan did not falter, though her mouth hung open, frozen mid-yowl. The farmer, aghast, fell back into the wet grass, his boot covered in blood and perished flesh. The fog hardly wavered and abled over him quickly. He gaped at the rotting sheep, which was still staring blankly at the woods. She looked as if she had been petrified in place, or stopped in time. The smell of thick blood and iron wafted through the air, as well as the pungent smell of decaying meat.

The farmer, terror-stricken and furthermore panicked, looked over at the other sheep in the pasture but was only met with something equally horrifying, all the sheep were standing up as well. They all stared at him. Now, normally sheep's eyes looked at their sides, the vertical pupils eyeing for dangers on either side of them,, as most prey eyes do. However, these sheep were looking, directly at him, looking straight forward at this impoverished man. All of them were unmoving and silent. The farmer stared back, aghast at the horror before him.

Without the light of the moon (which was still hidden by the fixed cloud), the sheep looked plain and heartless. Their eyes glossed over.

All was silent.

A single, sharp crack of bone broke through the air, and the farmer looked back at Morrigan. Her body remained still, and unmoved, but her head had roughly turned to look at him. One notable thing, this sheep’s eyes still remained at its side, as a normal sheep's eyes would. However, after a few everlasting heartbeats, Morrigan’s eyes suddenly looked straight ahead, at the farmer. And as it did so, her jaw opened, revealing a pungently rotting mouth and throat. The farmer felt ailed.

Abruptly, another crack broke through the air, as the sheep’s bottom jaw fell to the ground, leaving her putrid tongue dangling out, and her throat exposed. A few chunks of flesh fell after it, the sheep was still again.

All was silent.

The farmer, who was still flabbergasted, shuddered and held back vomit. He risked a vacillatory glance back at the other sheep, and he realized with a lurch, that they had all gotten closer, the closest one being merely a few yards away, whereas before, it had been at least 20 feet away. What was even more frightening, was the fact that they all had managed to move silently.

He looked back at Morrigan, his throat dry, sweat glistened on his forehead. She stared back at him, and without warning, Morrigan’s tongue began to steadily, but swiftly, slide from its mouth and towards the farmer. Bits of putrid flesh fell from the slithering tongue and onto the ground. The tongue slithered towards the farmer, like a snake stalking its next bite of food. It advanced to the farmer and rested on his shoulder, it was muggy, and pulposus. The man shuddered violently.

“What… are you…” Was all he could muster to say, his heart screamed into his ears. His hands dug into the damp grass and trembled against the earth.

The sheep looked blankly at him for a moment. Until a slit appeared on the sheep's forehead, it cracked open as if it were a rotten egg, and scarlet clotted blood gushed from it as a third eye gradually opened. This eye was completely red, with a black verticle sheeps pupil. It pierced through the farmer's soul and the farmer felt a sharp coldness reverberate through his body as it did so.

Forthwith, All the other sheep started screaming, but were cut off suddenly as the 3 eyed sheep rapidly wrapped its tongue around the farmer's neck

Crack

All was silent.

[…]

AAAA THATS IT if you read all of that i hope you liked it, again idk how i feel abt it now but i am pretty proud of the scene descriptions in this I think I did well with that. I don’t love the ending but besides that i think it’s okay

(I’m rambling sorry)

But if you like this I’m currently working on the rough draft of a full length novel, centring around space and isolation and has a similar vibe to Alien. If you wanna see some stuff from that idk lmk I enjoy the attention 🤭

(Also I have no clue how to use tumblr nor do I understand the culture but I’m trying my best 😭)

[hotdogjones44]

6-13-23

One of my spirits kept trying to get my attention, she was practically slapping me in the face and I listened to her. I kept her with me and I had so many good things happen last night. Someone I've had a small crush on has been hanging out with me a lot more lately and its kind of exciting. My boss let me leave work early too without it counting against me, so I took it! She's such a nice person to work with, I'm so glad I took this job. I helped out one of my friends at work yesterday too, he was having a bad day and I could see the change in his eyes when he saw I took some of his work. Everyone there is so nice for the most part, and if they get cranky all you have to do is smile and nod and they get over it. Like my friend told me "water off a duck's back" I find myself saying that a lot lately.

Lots of people from my past have been popping up out of nowhere and I've been reconnecting with them and it feels amazing to have some of these people back in my life. Some of them I honestly have no memory of from a few years ago but they've been very understanding of it and tried to jog my memory. We're keeping in touch though! It's nice to be surrounded by so many nice people.

My watermelon stem collection had grown ridiculously, and everyone at work has started bringing me weird things and bugs they find on the floor. This job is seriously the change I needed in my life, if I knew it was gonna be this easy and relaxing then I would have left my other job a long time ago. Road blocks keeps popping up for me, but I keep knocking them down just as fast and it feels amazing. I have so many people in my corner that I am so grateful for.

My custom charm from Annika will be shipping out soon, I can't wait to use it at work! I've been working with my bug friends a LOT. They even seem to be reacting the same way to me at home too. I caught a tiny spider in the meat freezer and released him in a warmer area with lots of food for him to get, he stuck around long enough to show me he was thankful with a tiny dance and then went on his way. The beetle I saved from the back room is thriving in his new habitat also. I've been giving him berries every day and he's been chowing down, the burrows he made are beautiful and interconnected. It's awesome to see how complex something so tiny can be.

I got a charm bracelet to hang my spirits and enchanted items from that I get from Annika. I think it will be a cute little bracelet once I get a few added to it.

Tonight I'm going toad and bug hunting in the park, if I find anything cool or weird I will post it!

[lindsaystravelblogs2]

Days 31 to 36 – Monday to Saturday, 3-8 April

I will treat our Amazon cruise en bloc, rather than day by day, because most days were fairly similar, although widely varied in terms of where we were and what we saw. Despite this being a relatively short post, it was a real highlight of our trip and every minute was a full-on exciting experience for all of us.

Most days we had two trips out into the jungle on the fast and very manoeuvrable skiffs.  We were exploring the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve on the two main rivers (the Maranon and the Ucayali) that join to become the mighty Amazon and we traveled a long way on both, as well as many kilometres on numerous smaller tributaries every day. Mostly, the weather was dry but very humid and the mosquitos were an issue when there was no wind and we were near any vegetation. We had two strenuous walks in the jungle, but mostly just cruised along the many flooded waterways, spotting wildlife and marvelling at the trees, plants and flowers.

I think it was our very first excursion, when we were a few kilometres from the ship, when the rain came down.  I have never seen a downpour like it – veritable sheets of water in a tropical deluge!  They gave us heavy duty ponchos and we had our own raincoats on underneath but we were soaked to the skin within minutes and they aborted our exploration and headed back to the ship. Everyone was completely soaked – we all looked like drowned rats.

Our skiff excursions were fabulous.  We had three guides and Heather and I always tried to get on the skiff with one particular guy, Eric, whenever we could.  He was a local guy and had an incredible knowledge of the wildlife we were seeing.  He was a mine of information about both the flora and fauna, as well as all the local customs, history and geography and all aspects of everyday life.  He had a story to go with everything, but his skills at observation and identification were quite mindboggling.  We would be roaring along a small tributary and he would constantly be calling out the names of the birds he saw and heard – but when we stopped to look (as we did hundreds of times), it took us several minutes to even find the bird or animal, much less identify it.  I eventually identified about 110 birds during the week, but he had seen at least twice that many, simply calling out their names as we raced down the rivers.  He was also brilliant at mimicking the birds and animals, encouraging them to approach us to see who was calling them.

On a single morning, we saw eleven two-toed sloths, a record for the area, with Eric spying them through the thick jungle or high in the branches of a dense thicket as we sped along – he really was amazing.  On our first time out, we saw both the famous pink river dolphins and the smaller grey dolphins cavorting around our skiffs.  We saw at least ten species of monkeys, from tiny capuchins to much larger howlers, both two-toed and one three-toed sloths, several big caiman lizards or other dragons sunning themselves in the trees, anteaters attacking nests high in the branches, several tortoises, a few species of bats as well as many thousands of birds.  On our land excursions, we saw very few birds, but we saw several species of poison frogs, some toads, a dinner plate-sized taratula spider, numerous skinks and small lizards and a small three-metre long anaconda.  We went out after dark one night and saw some baby caimans on two-metre plus diameter giant lily-pads.  We also saw a tame peccari and a pacci among other species in one of the villages we visited. One day, we went to where our people could swim in the river and the pink dolphins were close by that day too, although not close enough for anyone to touch.  (Heather went for a swim, but I chose not to.)

On board, we had quite a few lectures, mainly focused on photography, with two professional photographers showcasing their work as well as telling us how to take better photos. (I found some of that useful, but mainly unhelpful.  I simply can’t convince birds to sit still while I change lenses and dial in half a dozen settings six layers deep in the menus.)  The theory was great, and most of their photos were too, but the practicalities of wildlife photography are still very challenging for me.

The food was always excellent, better than we have had on any of our other expeditions, and almost exclusively sourced locally - so we tried lots of traditional Amazonian dishes, after tasting llama, alpaca and more in Bolivia.

We also visited a couple of villages, the last one being quite immersive.  We were treated to more local delicacies in the village kitchen, before a walk around other parts of the village, finishing with perhaps an hour in an open pavilion listening to the head woman (previously the shaman) talking about village life and the things that they have done and want to do to make things better for the village-dwellers.  All very fascinating and I wish our politicians could have heard her speak about need and fulfilment (or not) in such a remote village.

The whole experience was fantastic, and if we got bored, we could always sit up on our bed and watch the world go by on the six-by-three metre TV screen that was our cabin window.  The river was always scattered with masses of debris floating down towards the sea a thousand kilometres or more away.  Whole trees had obviously been washed into the river upstream, and there was constant flow of smaller branches, twigs and detritus of all descriptions drifting (or rushing) past our window.  The sights and sounds were brilliant, but the aromas were also fascinating.  The smoke from dozens of campfires was common, but there were so many different entrancing smells from the trees and flowers, as well as the frequent smell of petroleum or diesel fuel that exudes from one particular tree – like some of our trees in Australia.  One way or another the Amazon was a very sensual experience.

[sublimedevastation]

The Lost Son

1. The Flight

At Woodlawn I Heard the dead cry: I was lulled by the slamming of iron, A slow drip over stones, Toads brooding wells. All the leaves stuck out their tongues; I shook the softening chalk of my bones, Saying, Snail, snail, glister me forward, Bird, soft-sigh me home, Worm, be with me. This is my hard time.

Fished in an old wound, The soft pond of repose; Nothing nibbled my line, Not even the minnows came.

Sat in an empty house Watching shadows crawl, Scratching. There was one fly.

Voice, come out of the silence. Say something. Appear in the form of a spider Or a moth beating the curtain.

Tell me: Which is the way I take; Out of what door do I go, Where and to whom?

Dark hollows said, lee to the wind, The moon said, back of an eel, The salt said, look by the sea, Your tears are not enough praise, You will find no comfort here, In the kingdom of bang and blab.

Running lightly over spongy ground, Past the pasture of flat stones, The three elms, The sheep strewn on a field, Over a rickety bridge Toward the quick-water, wrinkling and rippling.

Hunting along the river, Down among the rubbish, the bug-riddled foliage, By the muddy pond-edge, by the bog-holes, By the shrunken lake, hunting, in the heat of summer.

The shape of a rat? It's bigger than that. It's less than a leg And more than a nose, Just under the water It usually goes.

Is it soft like a mouse? Can it wrinkle his nose? Could it come in the house On the tips of its toes?

Take the skin of a cat And the back of an eel, Then roll them in grease,- That's the way it would feel.

It's sleek as an otter With wide webby toes Just under the water It usually goes.

2. The Pit

Where do the roots go? Look down under the leaves. Who put the moss there? These stones have been here too long. Who stunned the dirt into noise? Ask the mole, he knows. I feel the slime of a wet nest. Beware Mother Mildew. Nibble again, fish nerves.

3. The Gibber

At the wood's mouth, By the cave's door, I listened to something I had heard before.

Dogs of the groin Barked and howled, The sun was against me, The moon would not have me.

The weeds whined, The snakes cried The cows and briars Said to me: Die.

What a small song. What slow clouds. What dark water. Hath the rain a father? All the caves are ice. Only the snow's here. I'm cold. I'm cold all over. Rub me in father and mother. Fear was my father, Father Fear. His look drained the stones.

What gliding shape Beckoning through halls, Stood poised on the stair, Fell dreamily down?

From the mouths of jugs Perched on many shelves, I saw substance flowing That cold morning.

Like a slither of eels That watery cheek As my own tongue kissed My lips awake.

Is that the storm's heart? The ground is unstilling itself. My veins are running nowhere. Do the bones cast out their fire? Is the seed leaving the old bed? These buds are live as birds. Where, where are the tears of the world? Let the kisses resound, flat like a butcher's palm; Let the gestures freeze; our doom is already decided. All the windows are burning! What's left of my life? I want the old rage, the lash of primordial milk! Goodbye, goodbye, old stones, the time-order is going, I have married my hands to perpetual agitation, I run, I run to the whistle of money.

Money money money Water water water

How cool the grass is. Has the bird left? The stalk still sways. Has the worm a shadow? What do the clouds say?

These sweeps of light undo me. Look, look, the ditch is running white! I've more veins than a tree! Kiss me, ashes, I'm falling through a dark swirl.

4. The Return

The way to the boiler was dark, Dark all the way, Over slippery cinders Through the long greenhouse.

The roses kept breathing in the dark. They had many mouths to breathe with. My knees made little winds underneath Where the weeds slept.

There was always a single light Swinging by the fire-pit, Where the fireman pulled out roses, Those big roses, the big bloody clinkers.

Once I stayed all night. The light in the morning came slowly over the white snow. There were many kinds of cool Air. Then came the steam.

Pipe-knock.

Scurry of warm over small plants. Ordnung! ordnung! Papa is coming!

A fine haze moved off the leaves; Frost melted on far panes; The rose, the chrysanthemum turned toward the light. Even the hushed forms, the bent yellowy weeds Moved in a slow up-sway.

5. "It was beginning winter"

It was beginning winter, An in-between time, The landscape still partly brown: The bones of weeds kept swinging in the wind, Above the blue snow.

It was beginning winter, The light moved slowly over the frozen field, Over the dry seed-crowns, The beautiful surviving bones Swinging in the wind.

Light traveled over the wide field; Stayed. The weeds stopped swinging. The mind moved, not alone, Through the clear air, in the silence.

Was it light? Was it light within? Was it light within light? Stillness becoming alive, Yet still?

A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait.

by Theodore Roethke

[rosyl-stuff]

Monster Hunter!Eric

Paring: Eric (The Boyz) x reader

Genre: science fiction? You live in an apocalyptic world and there are monsters; enemies to friends with slight potential to be lovers, angst?

Warnings: a tiny bit of violence, monsters?

Word Count: 4k (~16 minutes reading time)

A/N: Still not over the Monster performance on Kingdom

The world drastically changed in the last few years. Someone from the last century might describe the world you live in now as the apocalypse. But it wasn't that bad. Sure, things are different now. The world population of humans decreased immensely due to diseases and the rising of new species, which most people refer to as monsters. Most of them are similar to extinct species, but every one of them had a little twist to it. Unfortunately, no one really knows much about these creatures, since the science community collapsed with the government together.

Now people lived as nomads or, they lived in small communities. You grew up in such a community and, you still lived in that said community. You had a little hut near the fence that surrounded your community. Your parents are no longer with you and, you were only tolerated by the others due to your skills as a medic.

There were rumours about you being a little too friendly with the monsters and, you had to admit that they were true. Most of the monsters were harmless creatures and only ventured into human settlements because they were curious or accidentally. True, human flesh was the favourite meal of some monsters, but it was 1 out of 30 who hunted humans. That was the reason most humans despised the monsters.

In the last few years, more and more people who called themselves hunters emerged. They moved from community to community and claimed to protect these by killing off any monsters nearby. In exchange, the community gave them free food and a bed to stay in the night.

Most hunters travel and work in groups. But once in a while, a lone hunter comes by. That was also the case this night when a young man, calling himself Eric, walked into the pub. It was business as usual: he ordered a beer and, while he waited for it, Eric would find someone to whom he could talk about his “heroic” deeds. People were always keen on such stories, so it wasn't too difficult to find listeners. When he had entertained the people enough, he would ask for information. Someone always had a monster sighting to report.

Unfortunately for Eric, a few weeks before, a group of hunters came by and killed a whole nest of monster spiders. Even though these spiders were as big as your little hut, they were harmless as long as you stay away from their nest and eggs. But hunters don't care about these kinds of details, unlike you. You were very interested in the different monster species and spent your free time studying them. Some of the creatures even lived in your little hut. But no one knows that and, you intended to keep it that way.

However, since the last visit of hunters, there were no reports of any monsters sightings, which meant no work for Eric. You suppressed a smile as the others in the pub told him there were currently no monsters here for him to kill. You emptied your drink and left the pub. On your way home, you had the feeling that someone was following you. At your doorstep, you turned around, but you saw no one. You quickly moved inside and locked the door. The curtains were already drawn, so you didn't have to worry about anyone accidentally spotting your unusual housemates.

The next morning you only managed to make yourself a tea before someone knocked on the door. You went to open the door and, there stood the man from the pub last night. He looked quite handsome as he smiled at you.

“Hi, I’m Eric!”

“Hi…" you muttered, not really in the mood for a conversation with him. You tried to avoid hunters as good as you could.

Eric moved his weight from one leg to his others as he tried to spare a look inside of your hut.

“What do you want? You don’t look hurt”, you said as you stepped outside, closing the door behind you.

“I- ehm. I just want to talk to you. The others said you have a lot of knowledge about monsters.”

You just shrugged, “And?”

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

You laughed dryly, "First of all, because I don't want to. Second, you are a stranger. You could rob me. If you have any questions about any monsters, you can ask me tonight at the pub.”

He raised an eyebrow. Were you suspicious?

But then he said, “Okay. Then, I see you at the pub tonight.”

Without another word, you went inside and locked the door again. Eric probably thought he was being a smart-ass by hiding near your hut. But you saw him as you ate your breakfast and decided to be extra careful today. Someone must have told him about the rumours and, you wanted to make sure he would have the most boring day in his life while stalking your house.

When you arrived at the pub later that day, Eric didn’t give you a chance to order a drink. He already came to your table with two drinks and sat in front of you. He moved one of the drinks to you and gave you a charming smile. You eyed the drink suspiciously before moving it to his side of the table again.

“I’m not drinking that.”

"Oh, you want something else?" he asked as he already moved to stand up to run to the bar to get you another drink.

You couldn’t help but smirk at his eagerness. He must be really desperate.

“No, I just won’t accept any drinks from you.”

He looked at you, clearly confused. Then, it dawned on him.

“I’m not planning on drugging you. Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. You seemed a little desperate to get into my house this morning.”

He took a sip from both drinks and moved both to you, “Choose one!”

“You could be sick. I’m not drinking that.”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was clearly frustrated with your behaviour.

"I get you a new one. You will keep an eye on me and will see I have no intentions of drugging you."

"Well, what are your intentions then?"

“I want information.”

“About?”

“Monsters.”

“I didn’t see any. Sorry, I can’t help you with that.”

“Then, just let’s drink together”, he suggested.

You shrugged and, he moved to the bar to you a new drink. Throughout the evening, he tried to fulfil your every wish, so you would give him a little bit of information. When that didn't work, he wanted to get you wasted, but you wouldn't let him. His ears were slowly getting red from anger and, he cracked his knuckles every so often. You couldn't help yourself, but you laughed out loud. That seemed to be the last draw. He abruptly stood up, which made his chair fall. He leaned over to you. Suddenly, he was so close to you that you smell his musky scent and feel his breath fanning over your lips.

"You think you're really smart and funny playing with me, don't you? But let me tell you something. I know that you're hiding something and, I guarantee you I will find out what you're hiding", he whispered as you his lips almost touched yours while speaking.

“I don’t have anything to hide”, you told him calmly, but your heart was beating out of your chest.

“Then why can’t I come to your house?”

“I already told you that I simply don’t want to.”

“Okay then, come on a hunt with me tomorrow.”

“I don’t know how to hunt.”

“Don’t worry, I teach you”, he said with a satisfied smirk.

Hunting was the last thing you want to do, but at the same time, you didn't want to be more suspicious than you already were. So you agreed. What could go wrong when you two were just walking through the forest? A lot, as you would soon find out.

At first, it was almost boring. You two were strolling aimlessly through the forest. There wasn’t any trace of monsters.

“This is pointless”, you grumbled as your feet started to hurt.

Eric sighed. He hated it, but he had to agree.

“Let’s take a break. Do you know a good spot?”

You looked around and then pointed in a direction behind Eric, “A few meters in that direction should be a pond.”

Eric nodded as he turned around to walk through the dark forest. You followed him and, as you reached the pond, it was much brighter. But it was surprisingly quieter than usual. Usually, many other animals, especially birds, can be found at the pound, but no one was there.

“Eric”, you whispered.

“What?” he replied, a little too loud for your taste.

You moved your finger to your lips to show him he should be quiet.

"Stop playing with me. Here is nothing", Eric responded as he moved further towards the pond.

You looked around. “Something is wrong here. I’m not playing”, you whispered angrily.

Eric just scoffed and squatted down by the pond to get some water. You turned your back to him to inspect your surroundings. Then, you heard a scream, so high and loud, that you thought your ears would fall off. You turned back around to Eric to tell him off, but then you saw the monster that made him scream. An enormous toad had emerged out of the water, right in front of you. It was double your height and, you knew that they were always hungry and not picky about their food. You had only ever heard of these toads but never seen one in real life. So you stood there a bit star-struck. Eric, on the other hand, was already moving for his first attack. He climbed up a tree that hovered over the pond. Eric was fast and, it seemed like he planned on jumping on the toad's back. You knew that the skin of the toad is probably poisonous, but before you could warn him, he jumped. You had to admit that his fearlessness impressed you. As his hands touched the toad's skin, he grunted.

“I think the skin is poisonous”, you yelled.

“No shit, Sherlock”, he yelled back and moved his dagger from his belt.

The toad seemed unimpressed by Eric's presence on its back. Instead, it moved towards you. Lucky for you, it wasn't fast, so you could easily run away. You moved into the forest and, the toad followed you. The movement of the toad made Eric struggle to stay on its back and, after a few meters, Eric fell off the toad onto the hard ground. He grunted in pain and, you were sure you heard something break. You hoped it was just a branch he fell onto and not his bones.

The toad ignored Eric and kept on following you. You had to find a way to stop the toad. You looked around hastily. You heard a buzzing sound and, you knew what to do. You ran towards the sound and soon spotted a wasp nest in a tree. You climbed up that tree as fast as you could. The toad also reached the tree and opened his mouth wide to let out his tongue to catch you. You had a hard time dodging it, but you still started to kick against the nest. The wasps began to swarm out and, some of them stung you in various places. But you managed to kick the wasp nest off the tree, directly into the toad's open mouth. It swallowed it immediately and, then the neck of the toad started to swill. It made choking noises for a little while, but ultimately it collapsed and stopped moving. It was dead.

You carefully climbed down the tree. It took you a lot longer to get down because your knees felt weak and, the wasp stings started to hurt. Slowly, you walked back to the pond to look after Eric. He laid there where he had fallen off the toad. He was unconscious and had a massive gash on his temple. His arm was in a position no limb should be in. You contemplated what you should do. You couldn't leave him there, but you couldn't carry him without hurting him anymore.

He will have to stay here for a while, you thought to yourself and hurried home. At home, you collected everything you needed for a makeshift stretcher to transport Eric. It took you a little while to convince Cora to come with you. But in the end, she was easily bribed with sweets. Cora was one of the monsters living with you. She was a diva and obviously knew how pretty she was. She had dark red fur, but along her spine, the fur turned golden and her tail was completely golden. Her head was decorated with horns that looked like a crown. Cora liked to use them if something doesn't go her way. She was significantly smaller than the toad since she walked on all fours and her shoulders were the height of your hips. But Cora had the muscles and stamina you would need to get Eric back to your hut.

You walked back to where Eric still laid. You’re exhausted when you found him again and let yourself drop next to him on the ground. Eric was conscious again but didn’t dare to move due to his injuries.

“I thought you would leave me here dying. Where is the toad?" Eric asked.

"Dead", you panted, still exhausted.

Eric's eyes moved over your body.

“Stop staring, you pervert!”

“I was checking for injuries”, he defended himself, “You’re covered in stings.”

“I made the toad swallow a wasp nest”, you explained.

He didn’t have the chance to be impressed or anything because Cora came to you. Eric let out a horrified scream.

“Shut up, you idiot. I’m gonna lose my hearing, thanks to you.”

Cora's muzzle nudged you gently, which was her way of asking for another sugar cube. You sighed and gave her one while Eric stared at you with an open mouth.

Eric mumbled something incomprehensible and searched for his knife. But he couldn’t move that much without having to endure a lot of pain.

"Relax. That's Cora. She, or any other individual of her kind for that matter, won't eat us. They eat fruits and are obsessed with sugar. They do anything for a little bit of sugar. She will help me to get you back to my house.”

“You’re insane”, Eric sneered.

You laughed it off and got up to build your stretcher. You bind ropes to Cora’s back which to Eric surprised she willingly let you do it and connected Cora to the stretcher. For someone who was severely hurt, Eric could talk someone’s ear off. The whole time he didn’t shut up about how you were doing a terrible mistake by letting monsters like Cora live. As if monster hunting was religion and you were committing blasphemy. Even when you moved onto the stretcher, he was whining and groaning but still complaining about you working together with a monster. You ignored him, gave Cora another sugar cube and, you moved through the forest to your hut.

When you reached your hut, Eric was passed out again. Maxwell, a giant dog with three heads, tried to help you to move Eric onto your bed. He wasn't exactly helpful, but he tried. Dodo was the only one who moved on two legs and had two arms. Even though they enjoyed living with you, they were never keen on helping you.

“Dodo! Your help would be appreciated here”, you scolded them.

Dodo sighed, "Isn't he the monster hunter that was pestering you?" Another speciality about them was that after living with you for a while, Dodo learned how to speak. With a little more practice, they will be able to read and write as well. Dodo was very much human-like. Their skin was grey and had a woody texture to it and, their head was deformed into a semicircle.

"Please", you begged and, Dodo stood up from the couch and helped you lift Eric onto the bed.

"We should tie him up", Dodo suggested and, you agreed.

Within an hour, Eric was stripped of all weapons, which you made Dodo hide. Eric's injuries were treated and, he was tied to your bed. Eric woke up another hour later. He called for you and, you came into the bedroom.

“I didn’t expect you would be that kinky”, he remarked as he inspected the ties.

“Don’t enjoy it too much. If you get a boner, I will cut it off.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Yes, I would.”

He sighed, “I’m hungry.”

“Dinner is ready in an hour.”

“Where is your monster?”

“Do you mean Cora?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“She is in the living room with the others.”

“Others? Wait, more monsters?”

You opened the bedroom door, so Eric could look into your living room filled with monsters. Eric screamed again, which Dodo commented with a sassy, “Rude!”

“What the hell? They could kill you any moment. Why do you live with them?" Eric asked.

"Well, humans can kill each other as well and, we still live with them. I and the monsters came to an agreement which is called friendship. Something you never heard of."

He scoffed, "You must be really lonely if you decided to live with monsters."

You felt a sting at your heart. Eric's words had hurt you. You wordlessly left him alone again.

“H-Hey, wait…” Eric tried to get your attention back, but you ignored him.

The next few days, you took care of Eric and tended to his wounds. For the majority of the time, he was tied to the bed and, when he had to use the bathroom, Dodo would accompany him. Eric got used to the monsters around him faster than you had anticipated. Just last night, Dodo told you that when you were away, Eric would play with Maxwell.

“Dinner is ready in ten. If you want and if you promised to not hurt anyone, you can eat with us at the table.”

“You let me eat by myself without ties?" he asked.

You gave him a short nod and, he enthusiastically nodded. You untied him and, he followed you into the living room, where he got greeted by an excited Maxwell. Eric petted him and tried to give each head the same attention.

“Seems like not every monster is that bad?" you teased him.

“Shut up. He’s kinda cute, okay?"

You couldn’t help but smile.

“How come that you are so interested in monsters?" Eric asked.

“Ehmm, I’m currently trying to write a book about them…" you admitted and acted like you were busy in the kitchen.

Dodo laughed, “How cute. You’re getting shy.”

Eric smiled, “An educational book?”

You nodded.

“Why?" he asked again.

"My parents started it and, I want to finish it."

“Are your parents…”

You just nodded.

“Mine too”, Eric confessed, “They were killed by monsters.”

“I’m sorry. “

He gave you a weak smile, “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

For the night, you tied Eric up again. He protested and insisted that he wouldn’t harm anyone, but you stayed persistent. However, you agreed on untying him in the morning again.

And you kept your promise and untied him again the next day.

"I have to run some errands. Dodo is in charge", you told Eric.

He nodded confidently and followed you into the living room. He screamed when he saw Dodo aiming at him with a shotgun.

“I don’t trust him”, Dodo explained.

You rolled your eyes and left them alone.

As you passed the pub, you saw a group of hunters arrive there as well. Promptly, one of them stopped you. To your astonishment, she didn't ask about monster sightings but about another hunter. She described Eric's appearance to you and finally confirmed your suspicions when they told you that he called himself Eric. It was no use lying and saying you had never seen him, so you confirmed that he had come here a few days ago, but you didn't know where he was now. When you asked them if they were friends, they all laughed. "He is lucky if we don't kill him when we see him," one of them said.

You run as quickly as you can home. You ripped open the door. Eric and Maxwell were playing catch in the living room while Dodo took a nap cuddling the shotgun. Cora came to greet you.

“What happened to you?" Eric asked, amused at your panicked state.

"Eric, there is a group of hunters looking for you. They don't exactly have friendly intentions either. What do they want from you?”

Eric blushed, “Ehm, there was an incident a few months ago."

“That explains literally nothing.”

"Okay, fine. I might have stolen some weapons from a group of hunters", he mumbled so fast that you could barely understand him.

You sighed, “You’re really in trouble.”

“Did you tell them I’m here?”

You shook your head.

"Perfect. Then, I can hide here until the hunters moved on to the next community."

You sighed but nodded.

“You’re the best”, he stood up and excitedly hugged you.

The hug took you by surprise, so it took you a few seconds to reciprocate it. Eric's hug was more comforting than you expected and, you found yourself cuddling into his chest. His hand gently caressed your hair as he mumbled a soft "Thank you" into your ear.

It was a sweet moment, but Dodo woke up and was visibly disturbed by your moment of affection. "That looks absolutely and utterly disgusting", they commented. You separated from each other with a slight blush on your cheeks.

At night, you tied Eric back to the bed. To your surprise, he didn't even protest. The whole time he was staring at you with a soft look in your eyes.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because you’re the best thing that happened to me.”

“I’m literally tying you to the bed right now. How can you say that?”

"When I said that you must be lonely because you're living with monsters, I was wrong. I'm sorry. Actually, I was the lonely one."

After you finished, you gently pushed his hair out of his face, “It’s fine. Maybe I was a little bit lonely too."

“But we have each other now. I swear I will do anything to earn you trust.”

You smiled at that, “We’ll see about that. Goodnight!”

You went to the living room and went to sleep too. You couldn't sleep for long, however, because you were woken up by Maxwell's howling. It was hot and unusually bright. When you woke up completely, you were shocked to find that your hut was on fire and you and your housemates were in it. The way to the front door was still clear and, Dodo peered out the window next to it. You went to them, "Why don't you go out?" Dodo told you to look out the window, which you did. There stood the group of hunters you had met the day before in front of the pub, waiting. Eric started calling your name. You ran into the bedroom and untied him. Your heart ached at what you were about to do, but it was the only way to protect your creatures. "The way out the front door is clear. Quick, run out." And Eric ran.

You and your creatures fought the way to the back door to escape into the forest, hoping the hunters won’t notice you because they would be busy with Eric.

As you ran into the forest, you heard Eric scream and, at the same time, you felt how your heart shattered into thousand pieces, "I'm sorry, Eric, I'm so sorry!"

[ballofray]

Maybe #7 with lee tommy and ler wilbur or techno your choice and maybe they are doing a family game night(i tried)

Of course! And I decided to do Ler!Wilbur because I need more experience writing for him honestly.

Anyway, enjoy~!

7: “Tickling is totally cheating!”

Tommy tends to get a little over-competitive when it comes to Mario Kart. Despite him constantly denying it, it's true. But, as he would put it, it isn't his fault he’s a ‘naturally born racer’.

“HA! Take that you mushroom-hair lookin’ ass bitch! Using cho bullets to get in first and shit, fuck off.”

...okay, maybe a ‘little’ competitive was an understatement.

“What do you have against Toad?” Wilbur chuckled, keeping his eyes focused on his screen. Despite being good at many things, the brunet was severely lacking in Mario Kart skills, and that was proven by the big fat ‘12’ plastered in the corner of his screen. “He didn't do anything to you.”

“Yeah, he fuckin’ did! Stole my first place spot, then he- holy shit he just hit me with a green shell!” Tommy shrieked, watching as his character swerved off the side of a bridge into the water below. He groaned as he respawned back at the beginning of the bridge now in 3rd place, mumbling something about Toad being a little bitch under his breath.

“Maybe you're just bad,” Wilbur proposed teasingly, taking his eyes off the screen for a split second as he skidded off the side of the track again. Tommy scoffed.

“Not as bad as you, you're doing terribly.” Tommy bit down on his tongue as he neared the finish line, managing to use a red shell to get into 2nd place. He was a little too focused on beating that damn Toad, to the point where he didn't even notice Wilbur reaching out to quickly scribble at his ribs before it was too late.

“AHA-” Tommy squealed, slamming his arm down to block the area he was attacked in and nearly swerving off the course, the slow-down not only costing him 1st place but 2nd as well. “What the hell? Wilbur!”

“What?” The musician tilted his head to the side, facing Tommy with a look of mock innocence spread across his face. The blonde flicked his nose in response, causing Wilbur to start laughing. “I didn't do anything against the rules!”

“Tickling is totally cheating!” Tommy whined, turning his attention back to the game as he saw the countdown for the race begin. He kept note of Wilbur’s movements in the corner of his eye, seeing a grin spread across the taller’s face he shifted away. Unfortunately, he didn't react quick enough to block Wilbur’s fingers as they reached out and began to gently scribble up and down Tommy’s side.

He let out a small squeak before biting down on his lip, attempting to choke back his giggles as a wobbly grin spread over his face. Wriggling in place he did his best to not give Wilbur any significant reactions, which only served to egg him on more.

“C’mon, Tommy,” Wilbur sighed almost disappointedly as the younger failed to keep control of his player in the game, swerving off course and running into walls multiple times. “I thought you were good at this.”

Tommy turned his attention to Wilbur for a moment, face flushing as he saw the brunet’s smug expression. “F-fuhuck off, Will!” He spat, giving him the best glare he could muster considering he was biting back fits of giggles. Wilbur simply increased the intensity of the scribbles, now moving his hand around to scratch at Tommy’s belly.

“I’m not doing anything, silly!” Wilbur’s voice had an especially playful tone behind it, implying he had a plan behind what he was doing. “Why’re you smiling? Did I do something funny?” The older then began to lightly poke and prod at Tommy’s ribs. He watched with amusement in his eyes as Tommy began to let out small giggles at the change in spots, his defences slowly crumbling.

“Stohop- shihihihit!” Tommy burst out into high-pitched, bubbly giggles as he failed to hold back any more of his reactions. He squirmed, nearly dropping his controller as he quickly fell into 10th place with how badly he was playing. “Wihihihihill! Stohohopit!”

“Stop what? I'm not doing anything, focus on the game if you wanna win!” Wilbur teased and began gently vibrating in between each of Tommy’s ribs, making him squeal and finally drop the controller. The blonde curled in on himself and pushed at Wilbur’s hands, trying to squirm away.

“Whahaa- nohohohoh! Shihihihit!” Tommy frantically giggled, face tinted a dark shade of red as he grasped onto Wilbur's wrists in an attempt to push them away. “Yohohou’re suhuhuhuch a prihihick!” He backed himself up against the corner of the couch and kicked his feet, shaking his head rapidly. “Fuhuhuck yohou! Bihihihihitch!”

“That’s a bit rude of you, Tommy,” Wilbur tutted, shaking his head and changing positions to be sitting on Tommy’s thighs. “Uh, ooooh~ looks like you've backed yourself into a little corner, haven't you?” He cooed, watching as Tommy’s face turned bright red at the teasing. He’d never been able to handle teases. Wilbur began to use both of his hands to massage tiny circles into Tommy’s hips, which made the boy’s squirming increase as he let out barks of loud laughter.

“NohOHOHOH! NOHOHohohot theHEHEHERE!” Tommy pleaded, throwing his head back and arching his back, gripping onto the sleeves of Wilbur’s jumper in an attempt to focus on something other than the ticklish sensations. “WIHIHIHILL! Plehehease!”

“Oh, you like it here?” Wilbur drilled his thumbs into Tommy’s hips, receiving a loud shriek of laughter from the boy as he flailed his arms, trying to wriggle away. “Oh, this is a good spot, isn't it?”

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE! WIHIHIHILL I CAHAHAHAHAN’T!” Tommy screeched, a wide grin spread across his blushing face as he kicked his legs. When he asked Wilbur to play Mario Kart with him this was not the outcome he expected, but he couldn’t deny that it was a welcome surprise. “S-SOHOHOMEWHERE EHEHEHEHELSE!”

Wilbur instantly complied, spidering his fingers up to gently scratch at the sides of Tommy’s neck. He knew it was a less ticklish area, so he hoped attacking there would give the younger a break of sorts. Tommy began to softly giggle, his squirming lessening as he scrunched up his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“‘M fihihine...” Tommy responded through his small squeaks, shaking his head and rubbing his neck against his shoulders as Wilbur finally pulled away, getting off of Tommy and letting him sit up. “Ihi fucking hate you.”

“Not my fault you’re bad at Mario Kart.”

“Shut the fuck up! Let’s play again, and no tickling this time!”

[opaljm]

blood runs pure (m) – pjm

➻ written in collaboration with @fitaelity

➻ female reader x jimin

➻ harry potter!au + death eater/pureblood/slytherin!jimin + half-blood/gryffindor!reader + enemies to lovers

➻ genres: minor fluff, tons of angst, minor smut, romance

➻ length & status: 28k words ; complete

➻ rating & warnings: 18+; brief mentions of death, violence (there’s dueling/fighting/killing scenes), torture (Cruciatus Curse; in one scene: chains/starvation/captivity/etc.), smut (steamy kisses, cunnilingus/light nipple play/fingering/multiple orgasms/penetrative sex)

➻ summary: The 2nd Wizarding War was underfoot, with you and Jimin falling on opposite sides. This however, was not enough to stop the two of you from falling in love with each other over the course of your final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. AKA this is a story of Jimin’s transition from the Death Eater’s perfect Pureblood poster child to the more redeemable man that you fell in love with.

➻ disclaimer: Also, I’m pretty sure we never made Jimin use the word “mudblood” but I’m sorry in advance for any of you who might get offended by the toxic and discriminatory behavior that Jimin sometimes exudes, but please keep in mind that this is a redemption story that is meant to follow and explore the growth of Jimin’s character and that he ultimately does realize the wrongs of that kind of behavior. um this was too long to edit rip, so we didn’t yolo.

⋆ my masterlist ⋆ interview ⋆

It was only to be expected that Park Jimin would have been the unlucky person to get that unfortunate letter, which essentially cursed him, delivered to him on that stormy August day by a completely drenched and sad looking gray owl. He had shown his worth, he supposed, shown that he could be trusted and put in that position of power. Perhaps the Lees, a pair of brother and sister Death Eaters who had been given positions on the Hogwarts’ staff by the Dark Lord, had whispered in Headmaster Snape’s ear that Jimin had spent the entire summer finishing an internship at the Ministry of Magic, a job which had been painstaking acquired by his father through transferring huge sums of money and exchanging many favors, under the tutelage of Jimin’s Fifth year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Choi Jonghoon.

Perhaps the Lees, knowing how Jimin had reacted emotionlessly to the Muggleborns stripped of their Wizarding status in the courtrooms while he transcribed the trials during his wretched summer internship, had thought that Jimin would be an excellent choice to keep the students in line during the school year.

Or perhaps, the decision had been made by the Dark Lord himself, after he had met with Jimin and declared him worthy of championing the Cause. That meeting had ended with Jimin facing the long and painful ordeal that had ended with him getting branded with the gruesome serpent, that was the infamous mark of the Death Eaters, on his left arm. It appeared that that event and his new title had awarded him yet another one, the position of Head Boy at Hogwarts under the Snape administration.

In any matter the deed was long done; Jimin was now tugging his trunks across a train station which was much emptier than it had been the past few years that he had been studying at Hogwarts, fully aware that he had to play an important role in how the school year unfolded. His trunks were half filled with things Jimin was sure would have been contraband had this been any other year: books on the Dark Arts (and on torture), vials filled with disgusting potions with torturous and sometimes painful effects, and the Hand of Glory which allowed Jimin to spy and get around without being detected.

After Jimin heaved his trunks onto the Hogwarts’ Express and pulled himself up as well, he was pushed unceremoniously by a girl who was not looking where she was going. She was pressed against his chest, in the narrow hallway of the train, and looked up to gaze into Jimin’s dark brown eyes with her sparkling ones. He recognized her to be you; your name was Y/N and you were a Gryffindor in his year. He had never bothered interacting with you or acknowledging your presence before, but he knew that you had a Muggle father and a witch for a mother. His lips curled into a snarl, “Get off me you disgusting Half-Blood, before I transform you into the vermin that you share your blood with.”

“I am— I am sorry, Park. It was an accident,” you whispered, removing yourself from Jimin as quickly as bodily possible. You turned around to head back in the direction you had come from, deciding that it was better to hold your bladder until you finally arrived at Hogwarts than to risk running into more terrifying Purebloods who could scare you into wetting yourself, and no doubt thought they had free reign to do as they pleased now that the Dark side had taken over.

Once back into your train compartment, which was empty since the people who used to be your only true friends at Hogwarts were Muggleborns who had both had gone into hiding, you sank down into your seat to and dropped your face into your hands as you sobbed. The only reason you were attending school was because you and all of Hogwarts’ students were being forced. Under a new law, a Hogwarts education was now mandatory for all witches and wizards between the ages of eleven and seventeen in Great Britain. This was a poorly constructed scheme, by the Dark side, that would allow them to grab the Muggleborn students as soon as they arrived at the station to strip them of their wands and throw them into prison. For this reason, many of your Muggleborn classmates had chosen to ignore the law outright and elected to go into hiding. Your own father, whom you had not seen since you were five and whom had remarried another Muggle, had been forced by your mother to go into hiding with his new family. You hated being here since you doubted that you would learn anything at all to help you pass your NEWTs, which you thought were going to be rigged and ripe with cheating now that you were living in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s playground, or anything that would help you become a better witch who was more adapt at performing magic and living in the Wizarding world as an adult. You wondered if the two new professors at school, the Lees, who were in charge of teaching the new Dark Arts class, that was replacing Defense Against the Dark Arts, and, the now forced graduation requisite: Muggle Studies, would be throwing you into detention at every possible opportunity, not only because of your so called ‘tainted’ blood but because you were a Gryffindor like most of the insurgents who supported the Chosen One’s cause.

At that very moment you made a promise to yourself. It was not a promise to succeed nor was it a promise to enjoy your last year of Hogwarts; it was a promise to survive and get the hell out of there as soon as possible and to escape to America where the Dark Lord’s reign had not yet quite reached.

…

The next time you interact with Park Jimin, it was because of what had happened in a Dark Arts lesson. You had honestly promised yourself to slip under the radar as much as possible, but there were just some things that you were not willing to compromise on: your morals, for one. The professor, Lee Seunghyun, had brought into the classroom a group of ten First Years on whom, he declared, you all would be practicing the Cruciatus Curse. You, knowing the ill effects that mispronounced and improperly casted spells could have, refused to utter the curse at all and stared at your First Year sullenly for the entire duration of the lesson, with your wand hanging from your right hand, as the child burst into uncontrollable and unstoppable tears in front of you. Professor Lee, being outraged by your act of defiance, said, with a dark scowl, that you would have a month of detention where the Unforgivable Curses would be practiced on you instead. He gave you the options of a month of detentions where he would use the Imperius Curse on you or a month with the Head Boy who would practice the Cruciatus Curse on you, which you had so valiantly refused to cast in class. Given the lecherous stares that Lee was sending your way, you knew you did not want to be placed under the Imperius Curse by him as that would allow him to control you like a puppet so you decided to take your chances instead with Jimin and the promise of torture.

On the unblessed Saturday that you had detention with Jimin, he stalked into the, otherwise, empty classroom at seven in the morning instantly throwing a venomous glare at you for ruining what would have otherwise been the first morning he could have slept in instead of having to run around the castle punishing students and being forced to keep them in line. “Y/L/N,” he barked, “I see that you have refused to use the Cruciatus Curse in class. What exactly did you think we would be learning in that class?”

“I didn’t know that we would be practicing on people,” you muttered. Jimin gave you a look that suggested that he thought you were an idiot of the highest order. You were inclined to agree, after all it was the Lees who were teaching, was it not. “I thought it might have all just been us studying the theory and not practicing anything.”

“Did you think, perhaps, that we were still getting taught by Choi Jonghoon?” Jimin laughed hollowly, “At best you could have hoped that you would be practicing on rodents or spiders and not humans. But as you can see, that is not the case.”

You stared at Jimin in surprise, “I thought you were a fan of Choi. You were in the Inquisitorial Squad and I know what you did this summer.” You wondered how Jimin could sleep at night after enduring trial after trial where Muggleborns were treated like vermin and stripped of their wands and Magical status as he stood by emotionlessly and was, all the while, transcribing the details of the cases in meticulous detail.

Jimin scoffed, “No one is a fan of that ugly toad. He pretends to be a Pureblood, related to the Kangs, and makes up lies about his father being a former member of the Wizengamot, as though my family has not worked at the Ministry for centuries. We know he has a Muggle mother and a Squib brother; her father used to scrub the floors at my grandfather’s office. I got that internship because she cannot afford to make enemies of the Parks. There is no lost love between us.”

“Are— are you going to be practicing the curse on me now?” you asked, kicking yourself in your head for sounding terrified.

Jimin stared at you; his dark brown eyes felt like they were piercing through your soul, “You are terrified of me.”

“N— No, I am not,” you protested half-heartedly.

He ignored you, “You are afraid of me and yet you chose to have detention with me. Why is that Y/L/N?” His eyes bore into yours as a thought about Lee Seunghyun being a disgusting piece of scum flitted across your mind. Jimin’s face contorted with disgust as he said, “Never mind. I’ll practice the Cruciatus Curse on you now.”

You moved to the center of the room, standing there uncertainly as you shifted your weight from one foot to the next. Meanwhile, Jimin enchanted the desks and chairs to be pressed against the walls. Though you did not expect him to, he spelled a dozen cushions to appear out of thin air and pad the floor. “Y/L/N do you remember our fourth year Defense Against the Dark Arts class?” he mused.

You had forgotten that you had shared classes with the Slytherins that year, which had also been the year when the Triwizard Tournament had taken place. “What about it?”

“You will see,” Jimin muttered before he pulled his wand out of his pocket and raised it in front of him, “Crucio!”

Immediately, the most excruciating pain you had ever experienced filled your body. You felt as though every single one of your bones was being splintered into a million shards. Your blood felt like it was on fire and like it was going to burn through your body and drip down to the floor before engulfing your seemingly melting body. You vaguely wondered if this must be what being in hell would feel like, if you were a Muggle who believed in a single superior deity, as you just wanted to die so that you no longer could feel the pain.

When you came back to your senses, you saw that Jimin was staring at you from where he was sitting cross-legged on top of a desk, his hand was on his cheek and he muttered, “You have a very low pain tolerance, Y/L/N, that will have to change.”

You croaked; your vocal cords were abused from you screaming your lungs out when you had been under the spell, “Why will that have to change?”

He gave you another look to suggest that you were an idiot, “How will you survive Y/L/N if you cannot withstand the pain? You need to build your tolerance up. And then perhaps one day, you can make your mind strong enough to resist and convince yourself to throw off the spell.”

“Why are you helping me?” you whispered.

He stared at you, “Am I helping you or am I telling you what you should have realized already? It is common sense, Y/L/N. There are a lot of times that you will be forced to endure things you do not wish to, but it is up to you to use those experiences to shape who you are. In any case, I highly doubt you will succeed since you were only under the spell for ten seconds, yet you screamed like the world was lit on fire. I find no harm in telling you anything; I highly doubt that you will be able to use the instruction I give you to your benefit.”

…

A few days after your first detention lesson with Jimin, you were reminded of the lesson you had in your fourth year with Professor Jung Jihoon. Well, he turned out to be a Death Eater named Baek Yoonchun according to The Boy Who Lived, but you digressed. There had been a lesson where he had covered the Unforgivable Curses. In the first lesson, Jung/Baek. had brought out three spiders on which he had used an enlarging spell so that you would all be able to see the effects of the Unforgivable Curses on the doomed creatures as he performed them. In the following classes, he would use the Imperius Curse on classmates until they could throw it off. Only two people had been successful, and it had only been for a few seconds; one of them had been the Chosen One, and the other, although it had been for a split second in contrast to the long interminable minutes the Chosen One had held it off,— the other had been none other than Park Jimin. Something told you though, that if anyone tried to place the Imperius Curse on Jimin now, they would not be very successful unless they were a very powerful individual or one who had used the Dark Arts to increase their magical prowess.

For the second detention, you showed up early with extra padding on your body because last time, even with Jimin’s precautions, you had ended up with bruises. This time, Jimin was even later than before, skidding into the room with an incorrectly buttoned shirt and hair that was drenched from his shower. “I am surprised you came back for more pain,” Jimin gasped, out of breath from his sprint, smirking sardonically to reassert his dominance. “Are you a masochist Y/L/N?” he asked as he magicked the blinds to open so that the morning’s light could be let in.

“No,” you answered. “But I hardly have the choice of not showing up, Park. This is detention. And there will be far worse penalties than this if I were to not show up.”

“I suppose,” muttered Jimin as he took a step into your personal space, “Have you prepared?”

“How am I supposed to prepare for the pain?” you asked, tilting your head upward to look Jimin in his dark stormy eyes.

“Strengthen your mind Y/L/N,” Jimin replied, “Your control over yourself has to be stronger than the person’s ability to perform the curse. You see, they have to really mean it when they utter it. Perhaps you will get lucky and they will utter it carelessly, in which case it will be easier for you to throw off the curse. But perhaps, they are a formidable witch or wizard who is extremely good at performing the Unforgivables; your mind and control over yourself has to be stronger than their ability to execute magic.”

“I don’t understand,” you murmured.

Jimin stepped even closer which caused you to take a step back; his eyes scanned your face, stopping on your lips for a brief moment before returning to your eyes. He finally responded; “Are you able to cast a corporeal Patronus?”

“I did. Once,” you answered.

Jimin looked momentarily stunned before he was able to collect himself, “In theory, if you have a memory that is so inexplicably happy and bound to your mind that you would never forget it, you could even scare off an army of Dementors with your Patronus.”

You felt like you were beginning to understand Jimin; you needed to be so attuned to yourself, have such strength and control over your mind that you could shake off even the strongest mental spells on yourself. “I see.” You said, “I am ready to be Cruciatized.”

Jimin scoffed, “One is not ‘ready’ to get Cruciatized but, fine, I will perform the curse on you now.”

…

On your last detention with Jimin, he was distracted; it had to be rescheduled to a Sunday, and he had arrived past ten. Jimin looked worse for wear with the bags under his eyes looking more prominent than ever, his cheeks appearing to have been hollowed out to the point of no return, and his collarbone sticking out sharply from underneath his sweater. And perhaps it was because Jimin’s mind was not entirely on making you endure the Cruciatus Curse, that you were finally able to throw off the spell for twenty seconds, screaming out, “Jimin! Jimin! I did it!”

Jimin’s control on the spell was snapped as his wand hand jerked at your unexpected outburst. He glanced down to where you were sprawled inelegantly on top of the cushions, your legs were still twitching slighting from the onslaught of torture, “And so you did,” he said monotonously, before his eyes shifted to the windows where he appeared to be looking for some type of disturbance in the skies.

You sat up. Your sides were screaming at the movement. You, then, braced your hand on the ground as you moved to go on your knees before you were slowly able to contort your body until it was able to stand upright. Your entire form was aching in response to the constant shifting. “For some reason,” you gasped breathlessly, “I presumed that you would be more excited about my success.”

Jimin’s eyes cut back to your shape, “Well you presumed incorrectly,” he answered coldly, “We are not friends; nothing you do excites me. However, it does not surprise me that you thought our relationship was changing to anything more than executioner and victim, given your background,” the last part was said scathingly, “but at least something was able to get into your thick skull before you went back to living your meaningless existence.”

There was a sudden rush of hot unwanted tears flooding your eyes; they were probably a delayed effect from the Cruciatus Curse you had been forced to endure, you tried to convince yourself. “I see,” you mumbled thickly, trying to hide the fact that you were now in tears from your voice, “Well, I will be going now. Goodbye, Park. If we are fortunate, we will not be crossing paths anymore now that the detentions are over.”

As you left the classroom, the door shutting after you with a loud click, Jimin finally looked behind himself and let out a heavy sign before unceremoniously grabbing his left arm and pushing up the sleeve roughly to look at the snake emblem that was throbbing and pulsating across the stretch of skin that covered his forearm, the sight of it making him want to upend his breakfast. The Dark Lord was angry and Jimin feared that a summoning was near in his future.

…

You did not see Jimin again for a very long time. When it happened, however, you were grateful for it. You had turned to spending all of your weekends at Hogwarts wandering around the place. Visits to Hogsmeade village had been banned while all clubs and sports teams had been coerced into disbanding after Headmaster Snape had reinstated Educational Decree no. Twenty-Four: “No student organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs may exist without the knowledge and approval of the Headmaster.” He even went so far as to forbidding students from residing in each other’s companies in groups of three or more. It was like Choi had taken over Hogwarts, once again. And after dealing with the mess that Choi had left behind on your OWL examination year, you were less than enthused to deal with it while studying for your NEWT examinations

With so much being forbidden to the students, you took to spending your time looking for hiding places in the castle; the less you were seen by the new Professors, and the new wave of students running around with badges from the reinstated Inquisitorial Squad pinned to their chest, hell-bent on punishing students and making their lives miserable, the better.

It was on one such weekend that you were wandering around the sixth floor of the castle when you came across a space that looked like it used to be a medieval torture room. However, it looked as though it been recently been put to service again since, when you scanned your eyes around the room for a second time, you noticed that there were three students tied to stakes with cursed chains that were covered in black ichor that was turning their skins greenish and diseased. Bile started to rise up in your mouth as you watched the unconscious forms writhing and twitching intermittently. An overwhelming sense of horror and disgust overtook you as you immediately began to wrack your brain trying to figure out how to release the poor students from their bindings.

You decided against pulling at the knots that held them captive; you knew better than to let your bare hands come into contact with the chains since you had grown up around magic your entire life and had been taught better. You decided to, instead, test out all the spells you knew that would normally work in situations like this: concentrated unlocking spells, targeted explosive spells, and advanced transfiguration spells that would hopefully transform the harsh metal cuffs into something softer and more harmless, like putty, that you could easily break them out of.

The students did not notice your growing despair as you began to wonder if they were dying, after all, you had no idea how long they had been in that state or how many days they had gone without food or water, or even access to the facilities. After close to half an hour of struggling, wracking your brain for everything you could possibly think of, you sank down onto the dirty and dusty floor of the formerly unused room. You wondered if perhaps, you could come back here with food to simply keep them company until they woke up, if they woke up, and then you could offer them the food to see if they could keep anything down.

As you hastily got up to hurry along to the Kitchens and then return to the Sixth floor with a cornucopia of food, you belatedly realized that you never thought to ask the other Professors for help: not the head of your house, Professor Kim Taeyeon, or even the Headmaster, Snape. It was probably for the best, you decided; you did not know how much authority or sway they had over the Lees, even the Headmaster, and you did not want to get them into hot water with the Dark regime. A visit from the Dark Lord, or any of his followers, was the last thing that the students at Hogwarts needed.

The school’s kitchens were located on the basement floor of the castle, near the Hufflepuff common area although you did not know where the exact location of the Hufflepuff’s dormitories was. However, you did know where the Kitchens were; in your Fourth year, you had had to sneak down to the Kitchens with your best friend Im Nayeon to get food for the party the Gryffindors were having after the Chosen One had saved his best friend from potential drowning during the second Triwizard tournament. You had used it in your Sixth year, too, when you were always too busy completing the assigned coursework from your NEWT classes to go to the Great Hall during the assigned mealtimes.

You had not visited them once, however, since the current school year had started, and you did not know if there were now watchdogs watching the entrance to the Kitchen to stop students from sneaking extra meals. Thus, you decided to play it on the safe side and be a little more cautious as you used the castle’s most deserted hallways and secreted shortcuts to get down to the basement level. The password to enter the Kitchens had not changed as you quickly found yourself watching the painting of the bowl of fruits swing forward to reveal the portrait hole for you to climb through after you had tickled the plethora of fruits in a specific order to gain access inside.

Inside, however, the house elves were more subdued than you had ever seen them. They worked quickly, and efficiently, without conversation and did not pay any heed to your intrusion. In fact, they ignored you so blatantly outright that you began to wonder if they had been forbidden from communicating with the students. You still needed food, despite the setback, so you approached one of the elves and asked for a basket of food: fruits, bread, cheese, slices of meat loaf, chicken strips, roasted potatoes, and flasks of orange and pumpkin juice. The elves went to work hastily preparing your basket, piling up food in the hamper so high that you did not see how it would be possible for you to drag it up seven floors. You asked one of the elves, the one who looked slightly nicer than the others, and had been the first to spring into action, fixing up the food for you, if he could transfigure the basket for you so that it would be small enough for you to slip into the pocket of your black school robes. You figured that a simple enlargement charm later would be enough to return the food to its normal size later.

As you passed the head of the hallway that had led you to the Kitchens, you did not notice that there had indeed been a watchdog that was guarding the entrance. Fortunately for you, that person had been Jimin. And as he watched you traipse up the stairs, with a suspecting scowl gracing his face, he decided he had nothing better to do than to follow you to your destination.

Jimin burst into the room where you were watching over the three unfortunate students just after you had transformed the basket of food back to its normal size. “What are you doing, Y/L/N,” he panted breathlessly at your back; he had not known that following you would mean he would have to trek across half the castle. You jumped in surprise at the intrusion.

“Oh, hello Park,” you said glumly. “I don’t know how to free them,” you sighed as you gestured towards the captive students whose names you did not know. All you could see were the badges pinned to their school robes and their ties that dangled limply from their throats. They were two Gryffindors and a Hufflepuff, so you did not expect Jimin to care like you did. “I don’t understand what they could have possibly done to merit this punishment.”

Jimin strode towards you, his gaze flitting between the students who were chained to the crosses like some sort of pagan sacrifice to the gods. “You should not be here, Y/L/N, you will only get into trouble if you are caught. You cannot afford to be on the Lees’ radar.”

“I know that,” you muttered bitterly, “But I can’t just leave them here. I don’t expect you to understand. You probably don’t even have a fully functioning conscience. But I can’t, in good faith, leave them here like this. I have to try to help.”

“Leave the food here,” Jimin said abruptly. “Leave it here. I will ensure that they receive it. But you simply cannot be here Y/L/N. You are making it worse for everyone. If you get caught trying to free them, which I doubt you know how to do successfully, it will have disastrous consequences, not only for you but for them. And what of me? The castle is alive, Y/L/N. There is not a thing that happens within these walls that can be kept a secret. Once it is revealed that I found you here and did absolutely nothing about it, I will be in a heap of trouble as well. So, I am begging you, Y/L/N, use your brain for once. Don’t think with your goddamn heart, which is all you thickheaded Gryffindors know to do, and leave the situation to me. I will deal with it. And I know how to cover up my own tracks.”

“Why can’t I stay and help you?” you asked, feeling suspicious of Jimin and not trusting him to actually deal with the situation adequately.

“You cannot be my accessory, Y/L/N,” Jimin sighed exasperatedly, “Especially since you cannot cover your own tracks. How else do you think it is that I was able to follow you up here without your knowledge?”

“Fine,” you relented, “Get the job done Park, I am– trusting you,” you muttered, uttering four words you never thought you would use in relation to Park Jimin.

Jimin waited five minutes after you left to summon his house elf, Chimmy, into the room. “Master Park,” the house elf, in the pale-yellow pinstriped pillowcase, greeted, bowing deeply, “How may I assist you?”

“Go to my dormitory and bring the spell book with the purple leather cover and the silver gilded pages. Bring two of the potions in my potions case too. The pale blue one with the aluminum stopper and the lavender one with the rose quartz screw,” Jimin said, furrowing his brows deep in thought.

Once Chimmy was back with the potions and the spell book, Jimin grabbed them from the house elf swiftly. He slipped the potion vials into his pocket and flipped through the spell book rapidly; he was looking for the section on magical entrapments and bindings. He soon found the spell he had been looking for, four pages into the section, and marched towards the first unconscious student. The spell was a nonverbal one, so Jimin pointed his wand at the cuffs that were entrapping her, stiffly and recited the spell in his mind. The spell miraculously worked and freed her left hand from the chains. He then went to perform the spell at the bindings at her feet and other hand, moving to catch her when she fell forward after being freed completely. He sat her down, propped against the wall, before he went to do the same thing to the two boys.

It was then that he brought out the lavender potion from the folds of his robe. It was a healing potion, one that he had brewed in Professor Kim Heechul’s class last month. Most days Professor Heechul did not give them any real instruction anymore and instead told them to feel free to make whatever they desired; Jimin used the opportunity to brew potions that would be useful in a variety of situations, especially since Professor Heechul had made the all of the supplies in the Potions’ cupboards available to them. With a few drops of his potion on the surfaces of skin that had been affected by the black ichor, they began to rapidly heal before his eyes.

The pale blue potion was a rejuvenating one that would hopefully wake the three from their stupor. But before that, Jimin had to figure out what to do with the students; he could not just free them to send them back to the masses that roamed the castle when they were wanted personnel. They would only be brought back here or transferred to even worse holding quarters. Not only that, but with the Headmaster’s potion-making prowess, they could be force-fed Veritaserum and reveal that it had been he, Jimin, who had freed them.

He was thinking about how to get the three of them out of the school grounds without being undetected when he remembered the story that Kim Hanbin had told him of being trapped in the Vanishing Cabinets in the Room of Requirement in their Fifth year. He was pretty certain that that had been the way that Min Yoongi had gotten the Death Eaters to storm the castle the previous June, although he had not exactly been privy to his plans. He wondered if there were other methods of escape that could be sought in the Room of Requirement.

With his mind made, he took out the final potion from his pocket and dropped it underneath each of the three’s tongues. When they all awoke to see their Head Boy glaring at them for being put in this situation, they were all understandably a little scared. Jimin shoved the basket of food in one of their arms and told them to follow him through one of Hogwarts’ abandoned passages to the Room of Requirement that was located one floor above them.

In front of the Room of Requirement, Jimin strutted across it three times thinking, “I need a way to get out of the castle,” resolutely. The door that appeared, was one that Jimin was unfamiliar with, a small one made completely of brass with engravings of fairies and other woodland creatures covering it that seemed to be moving across the planes of the door as though it were enchanted. He unceremoniously pulled the door open and shoved the three of them into the Room of Requirement before sealing it and falling to the floor in exhaustion, his back pressed against the now empty stretch of beige wall behind him.

…

It would be too much to hope that no one had noticed what Jimin had done. Two days after he had led the insurgents to freedom, he was called into a meeting with the Lees and the Headmaster.

They asked him what he had been doing on that Sunday, more specifically, why had he left his post in front of the entrance to the Kitchens. They did not believe him when he said that he, feeling that he was going to collapse from exhaustion had felt that the best course of action for him would be return to his rooms to get some, what he felt was very deserved, rest.

They asked him if he had been anywhere near the sixth floor on Sunday. Jimin determined that the Lees were bad at interrogations as he skillfully waded through their questions. Even worse, they were far too impulsive, making rash decisions as they got exceedingly angry from their poor control of their tempers and their inability to get Jimin to revealed what they desired. They wanted to perform the Cruciatus curse on him to torture him into giving up what they thought was the ‘truth.’ When they were told that they could not perform such a spell on Jimin by the Headmaster, who reminded the Lees who Jimin’s family was and their power, they wanted, instead, to shove Veritaserum down his throat. This was also ruled against by the Headmaster who refused to supply the Lees the potion to use on any of his students.

The Headmaster instead suggested that he should apply Legilimency on Jimin and navigate through his mind. With a smirk at the Lees, Jimin readily agreed to have the Headmaster search through his mind. He insisted that he had nothing to hide and that he felt more than comfortable with the Headmaster probing his mind for the truth.

As he stared into Headmaster Snape’s eyes steadfastly, Jimin attempted to clear his mind and paint the scene of him walking from the kitchen straight to the opposite side where the dungeons were and where the Slytherin rooms were located under the Great Lake. He began to add in details: the temperature getting lower, the air feeling increasingly muggy, the gray of the stone walls as he passed through them, his black leather shoes with wooden soles making an echoing sound every time they hit the cobbled floor. He painted the picture of him stepping in front of the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, of him uttering “Ophiuchus,” under his breath so that the stone wall in front of him was split in half, revealing a gigantic room.

The Common Room had seaweed colored walls; it was decked out with heavy leather furniture with iron arms, large side tables and ornate chairs. There was a truly massive silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling that looked as though it was made of nothing, but ropes of silver wrought snakes tangled with each other. Jimin stopped to stare at a tapestry in the vision that he was painting. He gazed at the woven masterpiece that has Salazar Slytherin, himself, directing a monstrous Basilisk into battle, before swiftly cutting across the room to climb up the stairs on the boys’ side to go to the uppermost landing, letting himself into the special dormitory reserved only for the school’s Head Boy. Jimin smirked as he imagined himself undressing and slipping in between his bed sheets while he was completely nude. For a moment his brow was furrowed, in the present; his gaze stopped on his bedside dresser, in his mind, where there was a piece of paper. It was a schedule of his Head Boy duties; Saturdays are clearly marked to oversee Y/N’s detentions in the morning.

He felt the Headmaster’s foreign presence retreating from his mind, and then heard Snape say snidely, “Mr. Park is telling the truth. Now if you two are done wasting my time, please excuse yourselves from my office.”

The Lees, chastised, rushed towards the doors, no doubt in a hurry to complain to the Chos or the Mins, someone higher up than they were, to report on their behalf to the Dark Lord a complaint about Severus Snape. Jimin moved towards the exit himself, his legs woodenly shifting towards the Lees when the Headmaster’s voice interrupted his thoughts silkily, “Mr. Park I would like to talk to you about your Head Boy duties.”

Jimin stopped in his tracks, and turned back to Snape, “Of course, Headmaster.”

“Take a seat Mr. Park,” Snape drawled, as he swept through the room, his hands tinkering with small magical artifacts. Jimin sat sullenly in front of the large desk Snape had left. His eyes traveled the space in front of him which was decorated with portraits of Hogwart’s previous Headmasters and Headmistresses. Majority of the paintings were empty, with only a murky backdrop remaining in the portraits that their owners had vacated. He saw that the previous Headmasters, including Lee Sooman and Park Jinyoung as well as Albus Dumbledore, were still in their portraits. The last wizard in question was smiling kindly at Jimin while he waited for the current Headmaster to lecture Jimin about how he had known Jimin was lying.

When Snape opened his mouth however, Jimin was surprised: “You need to become more proficient at Occlumency, Mr. Park. A Squib could have waded through your mind and discovered the truth with ease,” he snarled.

“I am sorry Headmaster,” muttered Jimin inclining his head in shame.

“You are entirely unprepared to ever go against the Dark Lord, should he ever seek to look in your mind Park. It is fortunate that you are not against the regime I suppose. But you still do have secrets you want to keep in under the wraps,” Snape drawled, tapping a long forefinger against his jaw.

“Severus, stop being so harsh,” Dumbledore’s voice rang out from the portrait, “I am certain that Jimin has an aptitude for Occlumency.”

“If he does, I have yet to see it,” sniffed Snape. “Park, you are now required to come to my office every Friday at 8pm, unless otherwise specified, for Occlumency lessons. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Headmaster,” Jimin replied quickly, as he inclined his body into a fast, respectful 90 degrees bow.

“You may now leave,” Snape said, waving his hand in a careless gesture of dismissal, prompting Jimin to stand up and swiftly exit the room without a backwards glance.

…

It was November when you and Jimin crossed paths again. You had been, once again, on the hunt for the perfect location on the school grounds where you could seek solace and hide from the horrid conditions that had befallen on the inhabitants of the castle. You knew that Quidditch had been banned and thought that this would mean that the Quidditch pitch would be deserted and unkempt since it was no longer being maintained regularly.

The weather on that November day was a little chilly and you decided to seek refuge in the commentator box from the harsh and biting winds. When you had finally reached the top of the steps and swung open the worn-down wooden door to the little office, you found that it was already occupied. The Slytherin Head Boy that you were becoming too well acquainted with, despite your best efforts, was crouched on the messily nailed wooden beams that made up the floor to the office. His nose, red from the cold, was almost pressed against the glass wall he was looking into, out at the Quidditch pitch. His silvery gray hair was a windswept mess on top of his head, and he was bundled into a thick winter coat in Slytherin green, his Head Boy badge was pinned to his chest, and a well-used and well-loved Firebolt laid next to his booted feet.

“Sorry,” you muttered when he looked up at your intrusion, a sharp blast of wind entering the room notifying him of your entry. “I did not think that anyone would be here right now.”

Jimin straightened up and brushed off the dirt and dust from his charcoal gray pant legs. “Were you, too, looking for some place to seek solace?” he asked, not unkindly.

“These days I don’t feel welcome anywhere in the castle,” you admitted, “I had hoped to find some place that I could be alone for a bit and seek respite.”

“It has been hard,” Jimin agreed, “And you feel so entirely alone in the world. You don’t see a point of continuing to move forward.”

At that you turned your head sharply to face Jimin and gaze into his eyes, searching for you don’t know what, in his expression. You had not thought that Jimin could have also been having a hard time. He was a Pureblooded Slytherin was he not? His parents were even rumored to have Pureblood fanatical inclinations although they had never been tried for being Death Eaters themselves. The people who shared the same beliefs and principles with him were the ones that were in power.

But then you thought of the Jimin who had taught you, though unwillingly, how to throw off the Cruciatus Curse and to make the most of your punishment instead of treating you like you were less than human and just torturing you mercilessly for the hell of it. You thought of the Jimin who had helped you free those students. Perhaps there was more to Park Jimin after all: more to the Head Boy than the mask that he had chosen to don for all of the castle to see.

“It would be a shame if we had to give this place up,” you replied looking around the tiny mostly wooden and glass room, “I am content with sharing this place with you Park, for us to escape to when we have nowhere else to go.”

…

The winter holiday meant that on the first week of December, Jimin found himself packing up his school trunk with a large stack of textbooks in order to stay on top of his winter coursework over the holidays. He also put in his trunk a bundle of clothing and an odd amalgamation of things he was no longer regularly making use of to drop off at home in exchange for the new crap his parents had likely bought him to replace them.

Dragging his trunk with him to the front of the school, he boarded a Thestral drawn carriage. After the events of the spring and summer, he could unfortunately see the ghostly skeletal winged horses that pulled the school carriages.

The carriages could fit four but when Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook, and Choi Yeonjun tried to enter the one Jimin was cozied in, he kicked the door shut in their faces and rapped his knuckles against the roof of the carriage to urge the Thestrals to a trot in the direction of Hogsmeade Village.

Jimin was not looking forward to patrolling the halls of the Hogwarts Express or conducting a meeting in the Prefects’ compartment with his co-Head Jennie Kim. He was exhausted and in no mood to talk to anyone. All he wanted to do was to get a little shut eye on the train ride before his parents picked him up to take him to the Mins’, where they had been invited for dinner, no doubt with countless other Death Eaters, and left his luggage to be dealt with by their house elves.

Dinner had been nothing special. The Dark Lord had not been there but his devoted servants Cho Sanghee and her husband, Cho Haseul, had been. Jimin knew them to be related to the Mins through Yoongi’s mother but as he watched the Chos strut around the Min Manor with satisfied expressions, that hinted at their cruel manner, on their decidedly ugly and inbred faces, that were a result of marriages amongst the 28 Pureblood families of England for the past 1500 years, Jimin thought he caught glimmers of contempt on the facades of Yoongi’s parents. Their son Yoongi sat blank faced throughout the dinner, much like Jimin, not joining any of the Death Eaters in conversation, and spent the entirety of the meal mindlessly prodding his dinner with his silverware.

Fortunately for Jimin, this was the most contact that he had to make with the Dark Lord’s most fanatical supporters for the duration of his winter holiday. His parents had apparently convinced the Dark Lord that Jimin was too busy with his NEWT studies, Head Boy duties, and post-graduation preparations to be of any use to him in the hunting down and capturing the outlawed protestors and vigilantes. But the Dark Lord took that to mean that Jimin was ready for even more grooming for a position in the Ministry of Magic after his culmination from Hogwarts. He wanted Jimin to follow Yang Hyunsuk, the Imperiused former Head of Magical Law Enforcement that had replaced Seo Taiji as the current Minister of Magic, around and keep watch to make sure he was not acting out of order.

It was two days after Christmas Day, that Jimin, who had flopped down in his bed at two o’clock in the morning after a long day of observing the Minister at the Ministry, had received your Christmas present. The owl that came to his window and rapped not five minutes after Jimin had finally been able to rest his eyes, reminded him of the owl that had intruded into his life that rainy summer night a few months ago and had changed his live irrevocably. This owl like that one had plumage that was a mixture of dark gray and black feathers, and unlike its long-lost cousin who had been drenched from the rain, had only the barest coating of snow covering its coat. Tied under its talon-ed feet, was a beautifully wrapped gift in black paper with silver stars that was tied together with a thick ribbon of Slytherin emerald green. The ribbon had a card attached to it. There was no name of the sender, but on one side the return address in Ilkley was visible. On the other side of the card, all that was written was, “I hope this gift finds you well. Happy Christmas, Jimin.”

Somehow, Jimin had instantly known that the gift had been from you. He supposed that you had omitted your name and entire address because you had been wary of the gift falling into his parents’ hands. Carefully pulling apart the wrapping paper, Jimin found a thin golden box within, the kind of box that typically used to hold jewelry inside. His guess had been correct: within the box had been a thin silver chain with a tiny circular disc that was maybe a tenth of the size of a Knut and had a J engraved in the middle and one emerald stone next to it.

He immediately took the necklace out of the box and unclasped it to adorn his neck. It fell to the top of his sternum and was low enough that it could be hidden by the collars of most of Jimin’s shirts. He wanted to Apparate to you immediately and ask you why you had given him a Christmas gift when he had given you nothing but the pain from more placements of Cruciatus Curses than either of you could be bothered to count.

His gaze dropped to the golden watch adorning his left wrist. It had stars instead of clock hands and had been given to him by his parents on his seventeenth birthday. Time had gone by swiftly as Jimin had examined your gift and it was now three in the morning. There was no way that you would be awake at this time if he had gone to bother you. Jimin could not find it in himself to rouse you out of bed to answer his questions though they were pressing him. He simply gave your pet owl some treats before ushering it out the window and going to bed himself. He would go visit you after he had arranged someone to take his place to trail the Minister and had secured a few days off for himself. Hopefully, if Jimin was successful, he would be able to have a real vacation until school started up again after the New Year began.

…

Apparating to the Ilkley parish in West Yorkshire, Jimin appeared out of thin air to stand on a meadow in the Northern English countryside. A thin coating of snow covered the field that Jimin was standing on and across from him, he could see a wooden fence caging in sheep to keep them from wandering over his way. It was likely that your mother was the Secret Keeper of your home so Jimin would be out of luck in trying to find you unless you went outside your home. He was confident in his belief that you would; after all, instead of staying cooped up in the Gryffindor dormitory, where you were undoubtedly the safest in the castle, you always chose to wander around.

After walking around the village for a bit, where it appeared that both wizards and Muggles lived together, Jimin noticed that everyone was rather subdued and stuck to themselves. The wizards were wary of interacting with the Muggles they shared their community with, fearful of being looked upon as Muggle sympathizers. And the Muggles stuck to themselves, suspicious about strangers after the increase in missing persons and inexplicable rise in deaths and murders all over Britain. Walking into a small but tidy ice cream shop, Jimin was reminded of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour’s in Diagon Alley. The ice cream parlor had been boarded up and remained closed since the Dark Lord had gotten his followers to drag off the owner, but in Jimin’s youth it had always been his favorite place to grab a cold treat with its extensive collection of eccentric and tasty ice cream flavors before he rushed over to Quality Quidditch Supplies to stare at the window displays of the newest professional broomsticks.

This shop did not have the multitude of flavors that Fortescue's did, so Jimin asked for a two-scoop cup of basic vanilla and plain chocolate. With his purchase made, he walked out of place to go find a seat at the park he had passed by earlier. Sitting on the slightly damp black iron bench, Jimin realized that getting ice cream on such a cold day was probably counterintuitive. However, as the creamy vanilla dessert dissolved on his tongue, and he tasted its rich and sweet flavor, he realized that sometimes good things have to hurt for you to understand and appreciate their value.

The park was not entirely deserted and as Jimin sat there watching families of Muggles build snowmen with their children and create snow figures on the ground with their bodies,  he saw a lone female figure wearing a fluffy white Sherpa coat with a scarlet and gold scarf wrapped around her neck.

For someone who had Muggle blood, you certainly did not know how to blend in with them. You stuck out to him so obviously, with the crimson and gold of your Gryffindor scarf acting like a beacon amidst the white of all the fallen snow that was surrounding the village. He doubted that you knew he was here now, in West Yorkshire, looking for you. He stopped twenty paces away from you, indistinguishable from the other patrons of the park with his dark long overcoat and his black hair that was tucked under a dark gray newsboy’s cap. You looked so peaceful, sitting on the icy metal bench as you took in the view of the frozen lake before the two of you. Unfortunately, Jimin could not let you remain in your serene state of tranquility. He had pressing matters to tend to that concerned you.

Hearing the loud crunch of snow beneath boots coming towards you, you looked up curiously and let out a quiet gasp when you saw Park Jimin standing before you. He stood wordlessly before you, glaring at you intensely as he took you in from head to toe. Clearing your throat nervously, you stammered, “What are you doing in West Yorkshire Park? Somehow, I imagined you living somewhere more refined and stylish like Surrey or Buckinghamshire.”

“Oh,” murmured Jimin letting out a low throaty chuckle, that made your face pinch with anxiety, “I’m visiting.”

“I wasn’t aware you really had living family outside your parents,” you muttered almost inaudibly.

Jimin raised an eyebrow at that, “Oh I am not visiting family, Y/L/N.” The same low snarky chuckle came again, “I am visiting the girl who thought it would be appropriate to give me the Christmas gift of an engraved locket.”

Your face burned so hot that not even the biting cold of the winter day could soothe your flushed cheeks. “My apologies Park. I did not mean to make a big deal out of it. I just wished to thank you. That is all.”

Jimin’s face hardened, his facial muscles tightening until there was a severe and harsh look on his face that had nothing to do with the weather, “You wished to thank me Y/N? For performing the Cruciatus Curse on you more than a hundred times? How unusual.”

Looking down, focusing your gaze on Jimin’s waterproof expensive Chelsea boots, which were undoubtedly steel-toed given Jimin’s personality, you forced yourself to reply to his needlessly cruel words, “N-Not for that Jimin. For what happened after.”

Jimin frowned, “Everything I do, is to save my own hide, Y/N. You can’t.”

“I can’t what?” you asked, your eyes watering from the sting of the cold weather, and something more, “I know what I can’t do Jimin.”

“Then why did you send me the gift?” he asked rudely.

“So, what if I did, Jimin?” you bit out, “Why did you come for me afterwards?”

“You know why,” he grated out, “I had to find out why.”

“Are you sure?” you asked looking defiantly at him, you gaze locked to the hollow of his neck, “Is that why you are wearing it?”

“You are a masochist,” Jimin whispered coming towards you, answering the question he had asked you at the beginning of that first detention. As you moved to stand up, he grabbed you behind the neck pulling your face close to his. As you moved towards him, your eyelids flickering shut and your lips moving towards his expectantly, you felt the most unpleasant sensation of everything pressing at you from all directions all at once. The pair of you were enveloped in darkness as your body felt like it was being compressed into a narrow tube with your limbs contorting to fit inside. Within seconds it was over, and you found yourself with Jimin standing outside of some place that was definitely not West Yorkshire, as you were standing on the cobblestones in a rather untidy alley.

“You,” your voice was filled with rage, “Where did you Apparate us to?” You could not believe his audacity. Immediately, you were reminded of how he was a Slytherin and in the back pockets of the Death Eaters that ruled over Hogwarts presently. Giving him the gift had been a mistake. Had he Apparated you to your doom? Was he going to turn you over to the Ministry and claim that you were an Undesirable? You had tried your hardest to slip under the radar and hide your sympathy for the Chosen One and his cause.

Jimin appeared unaffected by the caustic bite in your tone, “Paris. You wanted to be romanced by a man who is clearly not right for you. You’re obviously a glutton for punishment,” his voice rang out as he started walking.

You could not control your feet to keep from following him. You could have just as easily Apparated home, but for some reason you did not. “I’m not a MASOCHIST!” you protested as you chased after Jimin.

When you caught up to Jimin, the Slytherin looked more at ease and more carefree than you had ever seen him. He had tucked his dark gray cap into his coat’s pocket and had let his usually severe hair, that was normally stiffened by gel, get ruffled by the wind. His hair looked so soft, and there was a rosy flush on his cheeks that made you notice for the first time, the light scattering of pale freckles across the plump planes of his face. His thick plaid scarf dangled loosely around his neck instead of being meticulously wrapped around his neck and tucked into his coat. He raised an eyebrow at you roguishly when he noticed you staring at him with your mouth open in amazement. “What?” he asked lightly, “Close your mouth Y/N. You don’t want a Doxy to fly in it.”

“You look–” you paused, stopping before you had almost blurted out beautiful. “Different. When did you dye your hair back to black?” you said instead.

You tried to convince yourself that you were imagining that slight look of disappointment that appeared on his face before he opened his mouth to reply to you, “Apparently silver is an unprofessional hair color.”

“Is it?” you murmured, sneaking your hand around his right one and grabbing a hold of it.

Jimin stopped so abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk that the other passersby had to step around the two of you. He looked down at the joined hands, seeming to wrestle with something within the confines of his mind. After a moment, he seemed to have come to a decision. His hand tightened around yours and he picked up his pace, pulling you gently along with him. You thought he had forgotten that you had asked him a question until he answered five minutes later, “My parents want me to work as a Junior Assistant for Minister Yang when I graduate from Hogwarts.”

You frowned, realizing the harsh reality of the world the two of you were currently living in. Jimin was expected to go to work in the Ministry of the Magic after Seventh year was over. You did not think that he was a Death Eater, but as a Pureblood he would have to undoubtedly keep up certain appearances. Would Jimin be helping the Ministry pass even more laws that ensured the disenfranchisement of Muggleborns and other magical beings? As for you and what you would be doing in the spring after graduation? Your father had gone into hiding in North America, although your mother would not tell you where exactly, fearing that you would break down under one of the Lees’ extreme punishments and reveal it. You thought your mother would want the two of you to join him and his family; to create a new life for all of you there, where the effect of Europe’s warfare was still minimal.

“Do you want to go to the Louvre?” Jimin asked.

“I didn’t know that you were interested in Muggle art, Park,” you replied.

Jimin rolled his eyes, “I’m hardly going to take you to the Museum of the History of European Wizardry, Y/N. The point of this trip was to feel free to be ourselves without having to constantly look over our shoulders. Unfortunately, that means that we have to surround ourselves with Muggles. But I didn’t think that you’d mind.”

Your face tightened, a fraction, in displeasure. Park Jimin was such an asshole. He probably was not even aware of it half the time. You tried to convince yourself that this part of his character could be worked on and fixed. He had been raised to be an annoying bigoted asshole. You knew there was more to him, or else he would have never ‘debased’ himself to spend time with you and to see you as a romantic interest.

As you two walked closer to the Musée du Louvre, its glass pyramid structures came into view. You sighed wistfully, when would you have another chance to be in Paris again? If Voldemort’s plans moved on to France after he was done razing England to the ground, there was no saying that the impressive and centuries old structures of France would remain standing afterwards. You were just wishing that you could take a picture of yourself in front of the museum as a permanent record of this day when Jimin pulled his hand off of yours to reach into his front coat pocket to take out a small black pouch. You looked at him curiously. What was Park up to now?

He pulled his entire arm into the tiny pouch which made you gasp in mild horror before you realized that he most likely had bespelled it with an Undetectable Extension Charm. One would think that by now you would be used to sights of magic in front of you, but it still managed to surprise you every single day. From within the cavernous confines of his bag, Jimin pulled out a clunky Polaroid camera that made you stifle a small giggle when you thought of your father and his impressive Canon cameras. “Do you want a polaroid of you in front of the Louvre?” he asked.

Reaching for his hand and dragging him to a place where you were sure you would be able to capture both the massive building and the impressive pyramids behind you, you replied, “Only if we are both in the picture.”

Hours later when you were lying in bed at your mother’s cottage, able to hear her tea kettle making a loud whistling noise that carried its way into your room, you recounted the events of the day. You thought of the wine Jimin had stolen, since the two of you were still not adults in the Muggle world (you had left a 20 euro note at the register without him noticing) and the warm cheesy corniottes wrapped in newspaper you two had shared as you stared at the self-facing Polaroid he had managed to get the two of you in front of the Lourve. The tiny Y/N in the image was smiling brighter than you had in the past two years and the tiny Jimin’s smirk in the image could almost be mistaken for a smile if you squinted. Jimin had written in his spiky tiny handwriting on the white border of the Polaroid, “12/28/97 – I long to feel this calm for the rest of my life.”

Sighing, you sat up in bed and turned to tuck the photograph inside your pillowcase. You did not see how you and Jimin could ever have more than that one magical day in Paris, without magic, between the two of you. When the term started up again and the two of you returned to classes, you would have to pretend that the other did not exist for either of you, once again.

…

 You were a fool in love. That was the only thing that could explain why you had helped Jeon Jungkook graffiti the castle walls with red paint. The rebellious Gryffindors and you had taken to seeking out in the middle of the night to inscribe Dumbledore’s Army, Still Recruiting and other incendiary remarks that had irritated Headmaster Snape to no end. Sometimes you felt a little guilty. The others were putting their lives on the line because they truly believed in the cause and were fighting for all magical beings, no matter their background. And while you did believe the same, you were not as passionate or outspoken as your House mates. You were doing it to get the attention of the antisocial Head Boy who had gone back to pretending that you did not exist the moment the two of you had stepped back on to the Hogwarts’ grounds after the New Year’s holiday.

It was like Jimin no longer cared about you; that one miraculous day in Paris was so buried in the deepest fissures of his subconscious that he could not call it up to the surface. You had half the mind to Stupefy him and drag him to the Headmaster’s office where you had heard that Snape kept a Pensieve. Perhaps when he was forced to watch your memories with you, he would finally be forced to admit that what the two of you had shared on one of the last days of 1997 had been something special.

When it was finally time for the Easter holiday, you were forced to admit that perhaps you had to give up on Park Jimin. The war still waged on and the Light side was losing badly. You tried to keep up to date with the current events by listening to Goldenwatch radio broadcasts but the punishments for conspiring against Voldemort kept escalating. Kim Yerim had never come back after the Christmas holiday, taken because her mother, Irene, was a journalist who had become too outspoken on her publication, Red Velvet. With radio frequencies being controlled, the magazine Red Velvet being out of print, and every way of communication being watched, it was hard for anyone to keep up with the war in real-time. News of the Light side was hard to come by; the Dark Lord and his followers were doing everything they could to have their opponents scared, ignorant, and divided.

Every time you took a stand against the Headmaster or his minions, you were afraid for your mother’s life. What if the army of Snatchers, the wizards and witches that were not given the distinction of being worthy enough to be Death Eaters, which included the likes of the werewolf Kang Jihwan, came for your mother? You would never forgive yourself if your mother was attacked by werewolves, giants, or other dark creatures because of you. Furthermore, when the Lees started to chain students again, like the ones you and Jimin had saved, a Ravenclaw had gotten caught trying to release them. The torture they had put the male through had terrified you, even more so because his fate had been so close to being yours.

You had lost weight due to all the duress you had been under. All the students at Hogwarts were looking worse for wear. Easter could not come soon enough. And when it did, you were careful to leave the things that you could live without behind in your dormitory so that the Lees did not get suspicious of you leaving Hogwarts forever. The moment a student left, they were hunted down like a criminal. The crime? Not complying with the compulsory school attendance that the Ministry had decreed. When the time came for you to lug your trunk onto the Hogwarts Express, you found yourself reminded of the first day of the school year, when you had run into Jimin and almost pissed your robes. How things had changed so drastically in only a few months, you thought wistfully. Now you would do almost anything to run into him, to grab his attention.

Jimin was right, you thought bitterly, you were a glutton for punishment and absolutely a masochist. He was a pureblood enthusiast though he appeared to be mellowing and not so steadfast with retaining the Death Eater’s fascist ideas anymore. But it was embarrassing the way that you had fallen for a male who had literally compared you to vermin not so recently. To be fair, it was not like you used to have a good impression of Park or had held him to a high standard either. But sometimes you hated yourself for falling for someone who was literally associated with people who murdered people like your father for fun. It was a game for them. They got off on Muggle-baiting.

With your thoughts spinning around your mind like a turbulent tornado, and upsetting your stomach, you thought that maybe it was for the best that you had not caught a last glimpse of Park before you left him forever.

…

While you sat in a train compartment towards the end of the scarlet Hogwarts’ Express trying your best not to remain calm and nonchalant, so as not to raise suspicions about your intentions to drop out of school, fearful of getting hunted by the armed wizards that would be guarding Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Jimin sat alone in the Prefect compartment behind the teachers’ cabins. He had long kicked out the other Prefects and the Head Girl, removing them at the beginning of the trip, with them knowing better than to argue with Jimin and against his actions. Although it was rare for the Head Boy to lose his temper, it had been known to happen a few rare times in the past, and everyone at school was aware of how dangerous and volatile an enraged Park could be.

Jimin had spent the last two months going over to the Headmaster’s office late at night to practice Occlumency. Although he had thought he was improving, every lesson had ended with the headmaster snarling at him and calling him incompetent while throwing jabs at Jimin’s family tree. And if Professor Snape truly was right and Jimin was no better off than he was when he had started, then it had all been for nothing. Even more so for naught, because Jimin had been having a growing sense of unease and unsettlement, as the Lees whiffed around him every single day with increasingly harsh attitudes that were revealing of their suspicion surrounding Jimin.

He had no idea what was making them watch over him so carefully. He had no way of knowing if he had done anything to cause them to be wary over his motives, but it was exhausting trying to keep up the façade. The Dark Arts and Muggle Studies bored him, and although he could have gotten away with skipping half of the lessons earlier in the school year, citing boredom as his excuse, that was no longer the case as the Lees expected him to show up promptly to each lesson and put a hundred percent of his concentration into their teachings. The siblings also did not believe that he had prior knowledge of necromancy or curses like Fiendfyre, and thus felt that they were teaching him things that were truly worth knowing. That part was debatable; no one needed such an extensive overview of the Dark Arts. Every lesson left him feeling worse for wear mentally, physically, and emotionally. He would often find himself ducking into the girl’s bathroom on the second floor, where only the Moaning Myrtle could be found, to throw up the contents of his breakfast or lunch hunched over one of the many porcelain bowls. The Dark Arts were disturbing and criminal. No wonder they were outlawed, thought Jimin bitterly as he remembered the ordeal that was the winter term. Even more so than that, he remembered the portrait of Albus Dumbledore telling him, after one of his many Occlumency lessons, that every time Dark magic was used, it left an irremovable stain on a person’s soul. The previous Headmaster had cautioned Jimin’s usage of Dark Magic, telling him to only use it in the situations where he saw no other options. Jimin had scoffed at his providence at the time, but with every lesson with the Lees, he grew further apprehensive about the state of his soul and its uncontrollable deterioration. It was a little reminiscent of Dorian Gray who Y/N had told him about during their momentary bit of solitude away from the War a few days before the New Year.

Speaking of the two irritating nuisances in his life, before he had boarded the Express, Lee Seunghyun, the Dark Arts professor, had slipped a sealed, presumably cursed, envelope into Jimin’s hand. The note apparently contained directives from the Dark Lord on how Jimin was to spend his Easter holiday. If anyone other than Jimin broke the seal, they would be inflicted with whatever curse or hex the Dark Lord had bespelled it with. And with the Dark Lord being such a formidable and powerful wizard, even the Lees had not risked it and tried to see what was within the confines of the envelope. Now, Jimin bitterly took it out of the folds of his black school robes, slipping one of his fingers underneath the triangular flap to break open the dark green seal with the Dark mark imprinted on it. Within it, Jimin found a curt missive detailing his duties for the spring vacation which included rushing off to the Min Manor the second that he set foot on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Apparently, the Dark Lord would not be there, but Mins would give Jimin further instruction.

Because Jimin was loathsome to ever fall asleep in a public space and leave himself vulnerable to threats, he decided instead to rest his forehead against the cool glass of the train and watch as the trees and hills went by in a heavenly green blur and slowly turned into the gray and polluted landscape of London. Once at the platform, after he had transfigured his luggage to be a size that he could easily slip within the deep pockets of his coat, he Apparated a tenth of a mile away from the Min Manor. The narrow lane that lead to the entrance of the Min Manor had on one side of it, the formerly neatly manicured hedges that made up the perimeter of the Min property and on the other, wild low hanging brambles. As he approached the wide driveway at the end of the lane, thick high iron wrought gates suddenly became visible. With hardly a sidestep, Jimin confidently rose his left arm, the one disfigured with the emblem of the Death Eaters and went straight through the metal as though it were as thin and vaporous as smoke. The spell that the Dark Lord had casted over the entrance was similar to the magic which made up the protective barrier at the King’s Cross station.

The air within the manor was stiff with an almost grim and hostile silence surrounding it. When it was broken by the shrill cry of what Jimin thought was a screaming infant, he almost jumped in the air at the unpleasant intrusion. As he walked towards the magnificent dining room that the Mins had used to hold extravagant gatherings in the past, where Purebloods used to dance and rejoice in their wealth and magical abilities, he was once again struck by the change to the formerly grand home. The centuries old stunning furniture that furnished the room were pushed against the walls, harshly stabbing into the soft gilded silk wallpaper. The giant fireplace was unlit, and the room was filled with an uncomfortable chill. At the head of the table sat Min Yeonsoo, cradling a baby bundled in a clean swath of fabric with a spiteful look on her face. Jimin’s classmate Yoongi was nowhere to be seen. He had had a higher position with the Dark Lord than Jimin had and had stopped attending classes after Christmas. Jimin had to wonder however, if the reason Yoongi was not at Hogwarts was because the Mins had let the Golden Trio escape, and the Dark Lord had wanted to exact his wrath and displeasure on them.

Before Jimin could clear his throat to reveal his presence, Cho Sanghee entered the room in a furious flurry of billowing dark robes. She looked gaunter and more maniacal than ever, causing Jimin to take a step back. He quickly uttered a prayer begging the heavens that Sanghee was not the one who would be telling him why he was at the manor, but luck was not on his side.

With a crazed screeching laugh that raised the hairs on Jimin’s neck and instantly put him on guard, Sanghee crooked a long filthy fingernail at Jimin, gesturing at him to come closer. Stifling a shudder, he obliged her, stopping well over five feet away. “The Dark Lord wants you to take of a delivery for him little Park.”

Jimin clenched his teeth in response to the address but did not retaliate, knowing better than to antagonize the Dark Lord’s most devoted servant when he himself held such a low position in the Dark Lord’s eyes. “Of course, Mrs. Cho,” he murmured, “And where is this package I am to deliver?”

“I’m so glad you asked little Park,” cackled Sanghee flicking her unruly black curls away with an indolent sweep of her wand, presumably this was a wand that Sanghee had repurposed, or rather stolen, away from one of the Snatchers after the Golden Trio had absconded with hers. “The Dark Lord wishes for you to look over this package and deliver it to Snape at Hogwarts at the end of the week. It is right behind you, little boy.”

With sinking feelings of apprehension and doom, Jimin turned around and swallowed the scream that was struggling to escape from the confines of his throat. Nagini, the Dark Lord’s massive serpent, was slinking towards him through the air, trapped in a giant magical orb of her owner’s creation, no doubt. Jimin was not terrified of snakes. How could he be, as a Slytherin? That being said, there was something unnatural about Nagini that held Jimin back from ever relaxing in her company. The snake had an unignorable intelligence that seemed to be far greater than all the other snakes that Jimin had ever seen. And with the Dark Lord’s ability to converse with his pet in Parseltongue, Jimin had no doubt that Nagini often acted as a spy for him.

He felt trapped within his own skin; this was no ordinary task that was being asked of him. The Dark Lord wished to spy on Jimin and then to spy on the Headmaster. “How is it that the Dark Lord wishes for me to transport Nagini to Headmaster Snape,” Jimin murmured, “I can already imagine the panic on the train platform if I tried to board the Hogwarts’ Express with her in tow.”

A sharp voice cut across the room, “You will not have to deliver Nagini to Severus at Hogwarts,” Yeonsoo bit out acidly, “you merely have to deliver Nagini to his home.” She looked down at the child in her arm with contempt before maneuvering the babe around so that she could use her right hand to write down the Headmaster’s address on a scrap of loose parchment. The question clung to the back of Jimin’s throat, but he bit it down. Whose child was that? Did Yoongi get into even more trouble than Jimin had previously thought?

Jimin walked towards Yeonsoo so that she could easily slip the note into his open palm. After he retrieved it, both sisters walked away from him, leaving him alone in the formal dining room with Nagini. Furrowing his eyebrows as he thought of how to transport her to his home, he decided to just walk out of the manor for now. Nagini had been able to glide through the air of her own volition before, so he hoped that the snake would choose to follow him as he left the room. In times like this, it would have been convenient to have been a Parseltongue, he supposed, but as that was a mark of the noble house of Slytherins, and the Dark Lord was all that remained of the ancient house, he highly doubted that there would ever be more Parseltongues. The thought of someone procreating with the 72-year-old dark wizard made bile rise up in Jimin’s mouth.

Once he had made his way back to the outskirts of the Min property, he finally had the chance to look at the address that was on the now tightly crumpled ball of parchment due to his clenched fist. The Headmaster lived in Spinner’s End, which was unusual as Jimin had never come across the name once in his studies of the magical geography of Great Britain. Deciding to worry about that later, Jimin stood in place with his right arm wrapped tightly around his wand as Nagini slowly glided to a stop right beside him.

“I hope this works,” Jimin muttered to himself, before raising one arm to place his hand flush against the wall of Nagini’s cage before attempting to Apparate the two of them to the edges of his family property in Surrey. Fortunately he was successful in his endeavors, and as he slowly walked up to the front of the mansion, he was trapped within his swirling thoughts as he worried over not only Nagini watching over him, but owling the Headmaster to arrange for a time that he could drop by with Nagini, and most importantly, how to warn you to stay away from Jimin and maybe to escape from England and not come back. He could convince you that he would follow you after graduation, but you had to get away. Now, more than ever, Jimin knew with a sense of deepening doom, that the Dark Lord’s takeover of Britain was almost complete. It would not be long before he attempted to off The Boy Who Lived to end their wretched tango and moved on to extend his control and reach over the entire European continent.

He delegated Nagini to the empty bedroom at the end of the hall from his. The two rooms were both on the west wing of the house but far enough apart that he had a little privacy. But even that was not enough to shake away Jimin’s fears. Sometimes at night while he laid in bed, he thought that he heard the serpent’s heavy slinking body moving down the hall past his bedroom. His fear grew that one day he would happen upon his owl’s carcass or that of Chimmy’s.

…

The one weeklong break from school felt both unendurably long and ephemerally fleeting both at once. He had penned two short missives to both you and the professor but thus far had received no reply from either of you. The unbearable monotony of his days, as Jimin was fearful of Nagini reporting to the Dark Lord about his whereabouts if he ever left the Park mansion, were only punctuated by the meals that Chimmy served to his room (his parents were both off gallivanting across the countryside torturing Muggles or something of that sort so he rarely met them in the formal dining room for meals together), him taking out Nagini to the manor’s extensive gardens to hunt for her meals, and the unending revisions and studying for the NEWTs Jimin was currently preparing for. It seemed catastrophically ridiculous that the NEWT and OWL examinations were still taking place while the entire country as a literal warzone.

Unfortunately for Jimin, you responded to his letter before Jimin could drop off Nagini at the Headmaster’s. With your letter, where you had told him you would meet him near where he had eaten ice cream last time, you had included three chocolate eggs that, were closer to the size of dragon eggs than chicken’s eggs and, had on them messily scribbled icing depicting Firebolts, Bludgers, and Beater’s bats. You were always surprising Jimin with your gifts and generosity. For someone who had never received anything without stipulations, it was a welcome change for Jimin to receive your presents which did not have any strings or conditions attached to them.

Thus, midway through the holiday, Jimin found himself taking his neglected Firebolt out of its case and electing to fly out of the windows framing his bedroom’s walls rather than to come across Nagini or his parents (who would occasionally show up as mysteriously and unexpectedly as ghosts) in the hallways, if he had chosen to leave through the front door.

The brisk breeze was a welcome presence to Jimin, after being stuck indoors for a majority of the week. He swept through the air on his Firebolt, taking sharp dives and turns, whooping spiritedly as he flew by miles above the buildings in the uncongested sky that was wide open and free, aside from a couple of birds that flew by doing their own thing.

He once again stopped at the long open meadow he had Apparated to last time. As this was a Muggle neighborhood, he decided to transfigure his broomstick to the size of a matchstick he could slip into the breast pocket of his light linen shirt before he took off on his walk. He found the ice cream shop much more easily this time around and decided to get a cup with a single spoon of vanilla ice cream for himself. For you, he got a two-scoop cup of peanut butter and berries n creme ice cream. Once he reached the park, he sat again on the same iron wrought bench from last time, placing your cup besides his thigh as he splayed his legs out and took a bite of the rich vanilla ice cream. He was not going to focus on how he was recreating the last time the two of you had spent time together and how he was making slight changes so that this time would be better.

Like clockwork, you once again appeared in front of him. Stifling a wince, he noticed how you looked at least a stone lighter than you had been last time. Your face was sharp with harsh angles and your cheekbones were jutting out making your face lose the soft round planes that it had had previously. The chocolate eggs you had included with your letter had made Jimin hopeful, but now, looking at you and the hard glare you cut across his figure, he realized that he had to make up for more of his mistakes than he had realized.

“Why are you here Jimin?” you bit out caustically, “What was so important for you to say that you could not say it with a letter.” You were surprised with how easily his owl had found you in Austria. Returning to an empty cottage and a letter from your mother that she was running off to Asia to hide, you had been country hopping to places your mother had not been to confuse the Snatchers that were no doubt tracking your every move and attempting them to prevent them from figuring out your final destination, or capturing both you and your mother. You were mad at yourself for being swayed by Jimin’s letter and coming back to England. But in the end, you had decided to meet up with him if only to convince Jimin that you were still living in West Yorkshire and to throw off the Death Eaters from your trail. Casting a casual look around the park, you attempted to quiet the furious beating of your heart, although no one had realized it yet and raised any alarms, you were technically on the run and you felt very unsafe being back within the borders of England.

Jimin stood and placed the now slightly melted ice cream in your hand, the creamy brown, purple, and white colors were already running into each other and muddling the appearance of the dessert. With a bemused furrow of your eyebrows, you curled your hand around the cup and stabbed the plastic spoon through one of the scoops, dipping a spoonful of sweet, warm, ice cream into your mouth. “Perhaps we should have this conversation somewhere that is not as crowded,” Jimin murmured, walking away without pausing to see if you would follow.

He led the two of you to one of the communal fields that the sheep were grazing on before he turned sharply to gaze deeply into your eyes and say without so much as a preamble, “You need to leave England now.”

You stopped dead, choking as the melted ice cream went down the wrong pipe. That was certainly not what you thought he was going to say. You had thought, after the chocolates and notes were long gone and all you had was your regret to accompany you, that Jimin was going to lay into it today and detail all the reasons the two of you could not be together. After all, he had ignored you pretty thoroughly for all of 1998 thus far. You had thought that had meant he had changed his mind. “I beg your pardon Park?”

Jimin frowned when he noticed you using his last name, distancing yourself even further from him. “I am worried about the future Y/N,” he mumbled.

“You want me to leave? Right now?” you asked, seeking for more clarity.

“As soon as possible Y/N. I don’t want you to get hurt. You have to stay safe,” Jimin bit out vehemently.

“And why is that?” you asked, not giving into him so easily. You wanted Jimin to grovel. You were tired of always being the one who felt out of sorts when the two of you were together.

Jimin sighed. His dark brown eyes fluttered shut as he whispered, “I think I am falling in love with you. I don’t even know that I know what love is, and yet, I am convinced that it is the emotion I feel for you. I know we cannot be together, but all the while, I still long for a possibility that would allow for us to be together.”

Your cheeks felt like they were burning as your blood surged into them, making them a mottled red. You had thought you were infatuated with Jimin. Or perhaps, suffering from some type of Stockholm’s syndrome because like it or not, all of you were forced to attend Hogwarts and Jimin, outside of the few Gryffindors you talked to, was the only person who had noticed you and was kind to you, at times. But never had you considered that it might be love, anytime you got close to feeling anything of the sort, you had thought you were getting brainwashed. Not by Jimin per se, but you had thought that Jimin had had an unreasonable power over you when you contrasted him with all the other Purebloods and Slytherins that inhabited Hogwarts. But now that you knew how he felt about you, you were inclined to believe that you had also fallen in love with him. After all, it was being reciprocated, was it not.

Perhaps the reason why you took that step towards Jimin and tiptoed to meet his lips had a lot to do with you being a Gryffindor. After all, a move like that required a lot of courage, it was perhaps misplaced, but all the same it was courage. The male inclined his neck to make the kiss easier for you to lose yourself in, and you felt yourself getting swept away in his full pink lips. Jimin was a marvelous kisser, he met every swipe of your lips with his own thoroughly, even if he was moving at a patient pace. Slowly though, you felt him get bolder, wrapping his muscle corded arms, bulky from playing the Beater position, around your waist and pulling you deeper into his hold. When he bit your bottom lip to trick you into opening it so that he could slip his tongue into the kiss, you got daring as well. You tiptoed even further, pressing into the warm glorious heat emitting from his body, and reached up into his hair to do what you had always longed to do: to slip your hands into the long straight strands of his dark hair and luxuriate in its softness. You fisted his hair in your grip, your nails raking against his scalp, causing a pleased sound of contentment to escape from Jimin, as you tried to kiss him more soundly. When the two of you finally broke apart minutes later, Jimin was running his tongue over his swollen reddened lips as he looked down at you with want and you were leaning against his solid, reassuring frame, pressing your forehead against his chest as you attempted to catch your breath.

“Do you want to go for a ride on my Firebolt?” he asked abruptly.

You raised an eyebrow as you bit back a laugh, “Very forward Mr. Park.”

Jimin flushed crimson, “I actually flew my broom here instead of Apparating. I wanted to experience the freeing feeling of being in the air rather than getting suctioned into nothingness as I reappeared in a different location.” He patted along the front of his pale linen shirt, feeling around for something before he took out a tiny matchstick from the breast pocket triumphantly. Laying it flat on his left hand, he poked at it with his wand, uttering an enlargement spell as the stick grew to be the full-sized Firebolt you had seen only once before.

Quirking an eyebrow at you daringly, Jimin smirked as if to say, “So? What are you waiting for?” Unfortunately, Gryffindors had never been ones to ignore the ribbing of Slytherins and so you found yourself easily sliding behind Jimin as he sat on his broomstick, waiting for you to get comfortable before he kicked off into the afternoon sky.

You sat on the Firebolt with your arms wrapped tightly along Jimin’s waist and your chin resting on his shoulder as he expertly flew the two of you across the long expanse of cloudless British skies. Striving to impress you, Jimin would often take swift turns and break into complicated moves, maneuvering the two of you into various types of dives and even asking you if you thought you could hold onto him tightly enough for him to attempt a Wronski Feint. You had thumped him soundly on his back and told him you would immediately Apparate off the broomstick if he attempted any more dangerous Quidditch formations.

Subdued into submission, Jimin took you two on a relatively peaceful ride as you were left to wonder why he played the position of the Beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team when he was obviously qualified to play one of the positions that required more dexterity like Chaser or Seeker. When you asked Jimin why he had not played as Seeker he laughed and said that the Mins had paid for Yoongi to be given that position and it would never have been so easily relinquished to him. He also had bitterly added, that by the time Sixth year had rolled around, and Yoongi had left the team to work on his plan to have Death Eaters invade Hogwarts, the team had become accustomed to having Jimin be their star Beater who would always give the Gryffindors hell and did not wish for him to change positions.

You clung to him even more tightly after his admission, feeling sorry for Jimin as he was always surrounded by people who would not allow him to truly be himself. You also were a bit surprised at how readily Jimin had admitted Yoongi’s hand in the events that had led to Headmaster Dumbledore’s death. As Jimin felt your tightening grip around his middle, a soft smile graced his face and he slowly declined the Firebolt as he prepared for the descent to your destination. He stopped in an alley besides a row of townhouses that went down the entire length of the street.

Raising an eyebrow as you attempted to fix your windswept hair, you asked, “Jimin where are we?”

With a smile Jimin responded, “Give me a second,” as he searched his pockets for a scrap of parchment and a self-refilling quill. After biting at the nib of the quill to free the ink, Jimin quickly scrawled down an address in his thin spiky handwriting. “Memorize it,” he muttered, “I’m the Secret Keeper.”

You quickly memorized the lines: Park Jimin’s residence is 0613 Amaranthine Street, London. As soon as Jimin had seen you wordlessly mouth the sentence twice over, he set it on fire with a small incendiary spell. As the two of you made your way out of the alley, Jimin took your hand in his and gently pulled you along to the front of the houses. In front of the two of you, you could see 0612 Amaranthine with its beige exterior and 0614 Amaranthine with its gray walls, however, as you visualized the words on the paper that Jimin had written, 0613 began to materialize between the two homes, pushing them out of the way until it stood before you in its shining white and navy glory.

“So, this is where you live,” you muttered, following Jimin up the walk to the front door. As soon as Jimin’s hand touched the door handle, he was able to push it open with ease since the door was opening as though Jimin himself was the key.

“Not yet,” he uttered, looking back at you as he toed off his shoes at the entrance. Apparently Jimin liked to have a no shoes allowed household, which surprised you. You had always thought of him as the severe type of person who was meticulous about everything right down to the clothes that he worn. “It’s the bachelor lodgings my parents got for me for after graduation. But since I’m still splitting my time between my parents and Hogwarts, it’s been empty for months. Apologies in advance if it’s a little dusty.”

“No this is fine,” you answered him, stepping out of your own shoes and walking deeper into the foyer. You liked the welcoming airy style the house was made up in. The pale colors and expansive windows everywhere provided the home with tons of light that made it appear spacious and inviting.

Jimin let you go through the rooms of the house without interruption. He knew you were touring it trying to gain further insight about him but unfortunately, the home did not have a lot to offer. When his mother had asked him for his opinion on the furniture and décor, Jimin had delegated Chimmy to furnishing the place. You seemed to come to the same realization as Jimin after you finally paused your tour in the master bedroom, turning to face him with a wry expression.

“Are you hungry?” Jimin asked, not knowing how to make things move smoothly for the two of you.

While that day in Paris had been amazing, Jimin could not recreate it by being in public with you now. He was certain he was getting watched by the Dark Lord, although he did not know to which extent besides that of Nagini, but he knew he would be safe here at Amaranthine Street. The home had the same level of protection and security that the Park mansion did; it had been historically used as the first-born Park’s bachelor pad until they got married and moved back to the family mansion. Perhaps the two of you could play Wizarding board games or something, Jimin did not fucking know. He had never really dated anyone, choosing to spend most of his time with the opposite sex cozied in broom cupboards or deserted classrooms for heated make out sessions.

With a mocking laugh, you pulled Jimin into you, “I hardly think you brought me to your home when there’s no adults to sit around and eat together Jimin,” you murmured, threading your fingers through his thick black hair and pulling him down for a kiss.

With slight groan, Jimin deepened the kiss, his teeth nipping at your warm plush lower lip as he strove for the dominance that you, as a Gryffindor would not give him so easily. You fought against Jimin’s warring strokes of tongue and lips against your mouth, not wanting to relinquish your control, as he roughly held you up to elongate the length of the kisses. You were sure that without Jimin gripping you, you would have sunk to the floor as you felt strangely boneless.

Deciding to give you a respite and a chance to catch your breath, Jimin moved his lips to trail heated open mouthed kisses along your jaw and throat with firm pressure from his plush lips as he maneuvered the two of you so that you were pressed up against a wall. Your eyes closed at the pleasurable nips and pecks, the warmth from Jimin’s form taking over you as your senses his scent washed over you. The slightly bitter and sharp scent of orange blossoms that was so quintessentially evocative of Jimin filled your lungs as you ran your hands over his muscle corded back. Playing as the Beater had bulked Jimin up; he had enticingly broad shoulders and thick veiny arms that were holding you up while he did not even break a sweat. As your fingers slipped under his linen shirt and fluttered against his back, Jimin stilled. Shaking his head slightly, he accidentally scrunched his nose at you when he attempted to wink, rather, both of his eyes shut close for a second. Fixing his grip on your thighs, he pushed you even higher and tighter against his body as he maneuvered the two of you towards his bed, which fortunately had clean sheets due to Chimmy coming back and maintaining the house weekly.

As you toppled onto the bed with Jimin falling over you, you gasped, your breath getting knocked out of you although Jimin tried his best to keep from crushing your frame with his body. You had been wearing a pair of white jeans shorts and a pale blue baby-doll T-shirt to battle the early heat of the English spring, and Jimin was now taking advantage of your easy to slip off clothes to unbutton your shorts and slip them down your thighs as he caged you underneath him. The shorts hit the hardwood floors with a resounding thud when Jimin tossed them behind the two of you.

You started to blush when you realized that you only had your daisy printed cotton panties and T-shirt, that had already been sliding up your stomach, to shield you from Jimin’s gaze. With a light laugh, Jimin murmured, “Come on Y/L/N, don’t get shy with me now. You wouldn’t want me to tie your hands up so that you wouldn’t cover yourself now, would you?”

You glared at him, his palm was lying comfortably on top of your clothed mound, hardly realizing the overpowering effect he had on you. If Jimin crooked his finger into the juncture between your thighs, he would find the crotch of your panties soaked from your want. “Aren’t you going to take off your clothes Park?” you bit back.

Jimin scoffed, “That’s a little too easy isn’t it?”

Instead, he hooked his forefinger to the ribboned edge of your panties, pulling it almost entirely off your body. At the last moment, he had gotten distracted by your glistening rose petaled folds and had left it dangling from your left foot. He took out his wand to summon a large selection of cushions and pillows for you to prop your ass on. It was weird having your head resting against the bed’s mattress while your ass was elevated to be level with Park Jimin’s mouth. In fact, just now, he was propping your thighs on his shoulders as he moved closer to your heated core, wanting the sopping wetness of your femininity to be flush against his eager mouth.

As his tongue stabbed through your highly responsive cunt, brushing against the nerves that lined the walls of your hypersensitive core, your nipples stiffened against the cups of the built-in bra of your shirt. In frustration, you found yourself pulling off the material entirely to let the cool air in the bedroom wash over your hardened nipples. Jimin paused in his overzealous adoration of your cunt as he stared at you writhing against his cream-colored bedsheets. “Touch yourself, Y/L/N,” he murmured silkily, “Do it Gryffindor, or I won’t let you come.”

Hesitantly, you moved both of your hands up to cup your breasts. They were heavy and swollen from desire, spilling out of your palms. But staring Jimin down, you rolled your nipples in between your thumbs and forefingers, letting out a loud moan when you pinched them both simultaneously. Deciding to reward you, Jimin added a finger into the mix as he continued to eat out your pussy enthusiastically. You had never had anyone pay such fervent attention to your own pleasure before. The Gryffindor boys that you had usually hooked up with were all focused on the main course. And not only that, but they were all the “one and done” type, never checking to make sure that you had come, much less bothering to give you multiple bouts of pleasure.

After Jimin had brought you to your first screaming orgasm, he knocked the pillows out of the way so that you were in a more comfortable position. He made his way up your body with deep punishing kisses that were full of teasing love bites that you knew would leave your body dotted with bruised purplish hickeys and marks afterwards. Having finally reached your face, he threaded his fingers through your messy unbound hair, pulling your mouth tight against his for a kiss with a deep growl. His body pressed against yours, his heavy cock finding your hidden softness easily, pleasurably unyielding against the juncture of your thighs. He rocked his hips as he deepened the kiss, your lips meeting his feverishly as the two of you battled for domination, your tongues intertwining frantically as moans and pants slipped out both of your lips. His hard, persistent erection had your pussy aching for it, and you found yourself rolling your hips and grinding your enlarged and overly sensitive clit against the hard metal zipper of his pants, eager to have the thick throbbing length trapped against the zipper within you.

Deciding to ignore Jimin’s snarky comment about it being too easy from earlier, you found yourself unbuckling and unlooping his leather belt from his pants so that you could free his cock. You could feel Jimin frowning into your kiss, so you distracted him by sucking his tongue in between his lips as you clenched your fingers around his pants and underwear to push it down past his hard ass cheeks so that you could finally free his monstrous cock. You immediately put your hand on it, wrapping your fingers around it, eager to finally feel the warm heat of his long smooth length. His balls felt huge in your palm as you gently tugged on them causing Jimin to let out a loud moan that had him instantly grabbing your hands and quickly pulling them over your head as he held them tightly in the grip of his left hand. With his dominant hand, he pushed off his pants completely, kicking them off the bed. “Don’t test me Y/N. Or I’ll take my pleasure and not even think about giving you yours.”

You protested loudly at that, causing him to let out a husky laugh, “Okay, okay, vixen, I’ll let you have your pleasure and take it too.”

Still holding your arms above your head, he sank to his knees in between your widespread thighs. His dark brown eyes sought yours as he fought to hold your gaze, staring into your eyes resolutely while he gripped his reddened cock in his hand and maneuvered it to the entrance to your pussy. The head of his cock was glistening with precum as it sought the slit that led to your empty womanhood. After a moment, he succeeded, his thick unyielding cock forcing you to surrender as he easily slipped in between your folds. He started slow, with shallow pumps, testing your limit before he increased the force, jackhammering you with hard, vehement thrusts.

Your lovemaking had been a zealous and passionate affair that had left the two of you breathless in rapture besides each other after the tingling aftershocks of your orgasms had subsided. You played absentminded with the cuff of the left arm of Jimin’s long sleeved shirt as he rested beside you with his other arm thrown over his eyes. Unlike him, you were not exhausted after the sex. If anything, you felt even more energized. Your mind was running a mile a minute as thoughts flitted across your head with incredible swiftness. For one, you kept coming across a number of questions that you wanted to ask Jimin now that you two had irrevocably changed the nature of your relationship. Your eyebrows furrowed as you grew stuck on what Jimin’s middle name was. Your eyes flitted across his form, getting caught on the bit of his forearm that had become exposed after you had been fiddling with his shirt’s cuffs. The pale skin was marred by a dark inky tattoo that you could not fully see since the majority of it was still covered by his sleeve.

Growing curious, with a sinking feeling of premonition that you did not understand fully, you reached once more for his left arm. You paused with your hand wrapped around his wrist before you decided to bite the bullet and shove up the arm of his shirt all the way up to his elbow. The tattoo that was revealed had you gasping in horror and backing away from Jimin in a rush. Jimin’s eyes snapped open at the sound and he stared at you in confusion when he saw you backing up against a wall with your shirt clutched to your chest as you attempted to find the rest of your clothes and wand so that you could get out of there.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” he asked getting up and trying to approach you. Your eyes inadvertently flickered to his left forearm, where his sleeve was still pushed back, as you moved away even more, your eyes sweeping across the room desperately seeking your wand.

“What are you looking at?” Jimin asked, his gaze following yours until he caught sight of his revealed Dark Mark. “Y/N,” he whispered, pleadingly.

“No!” You shouted, when he once again tried to get closer to you. “Stay away from me, you Death Eater! I can’t believe I trusted you,” you cried hysterically, as you finally found your shorts and quickly stuck your legs through them, slipping them on over you, sans underwear.

“Y/N, I can explain,” Jimin begged, holding up his palms in surrender.

“No, you fucking cannot!” You grated, slipping your hand into your shorts’ pocket, finding your wand in the back right pocket. Before Jimin could blink, you let out a roaring scream, belting out “Stupefy!” to stop and Stun him in his tracks. As Jimin quickly went down with a thud, you could not find it within you to be remorseful.

You hurriedly slipped your T-shirt over your head as you ran down the hallway and down the stairs to jam your feet into your shoes. You opened the front door with a resounding bang and thought that Jimin should have just been thankful that you did not have an evil or vindictive bone in your body. It was a good thing that you were not a pyromaniac like Choi Soobin, because in all honesty you had been two seconds away from setting the entire house on fire with the FiendFyre spell, the Lees had taught, with him still in it.

You ran down the street until you made it back to the alley that Jimin had landed his Firebolt in earlier and quickly uttered the Apparition spell once you were fully enmeshed in the shadows of the buildings making up the alley. This time you would be running away to somewhere that no one could find you, not the Snatchers, nor the Death Eaters, and especially not one Park Jimin, whom you now considered to be dead to you.

…

It took Jimin four hours to wake up from the powerful Stunning spell you had hit him with. He had found himself lying on his back on the hardwood floors of the master bedroom to 0613 Amaranthine Street with a pounding headache and a large bump on the back of his head. Although he was disoriented, the memories from before slowly came back to him and his heart sunk with devastation when he recalled your reaction to the Dark Mark that was marring the length of his left forearm.

He stayed on the floor, with his knees up and tucked under his chin, resentfully suffering through his splitting headache until Chimmy came to him long after night had fallen with a bowl of kimchi fried rice and eggs for dinner. Sullenly, he asked Chimmy to Apparate them back home, not in the mood to fly the massive distance when he still felt so queasy. Once at home, he bitterly walked past the room that housed Nagini behind its door, and rushed towards his own bedroom, in no mood to make conversation. For a second, he was tempted to take his wand to his arm and use it to cut through the mark and destroy it, but something told him that the Dark Mark was more than just a tattoo, that the Dark Lord had somehow bound all his servants to himself, and that his control over them would linger even after the Dark Mark was cleaved. The only thing that brightened Jimin’s mood was the folded letter waiting on the top of his bedsheets. Written in the Headmaster’s spidery script was a missive that told Jimin to bring the giant serpent, that was currently slithering around the Park Mansion, to Spinner’s End tomorrow at noon.

As Jimin got ready for bed later that night, his chest ached with a resigned sense of emptiness. Although he had not exactly come to terms with losing you, he did get the feeling that the end was near. There were no seers or oracles in Jimin’s family; the gift of foresight was not one that was passed down in Jimin’s family, yet he could feel with clarity and conviction that the culmination of the war was coming rapidly. He knew that Kim Namjoon would not be content to remain in hiding for much longer, and that when he was ready (and Jimin sensed that that might be soon if the events that had taken place at the Min Manor were anything to go by), he would come for the Dark— no for Voldemort, and end the wretched limbo that the entire country was stuck in, waiting for the two to finally kill each other.

After breakfast the next day, Jimin found himself Apparating to the address that Yoongi’s mother had written down. As Jimin found himself walking through the riverside town, that was slightly modernized from the time that the city had attempted to gentrify it and then left abandoned, when no one new moved in, and was now broken down and depilated, he found himself wracking his head around the oddities of Apparation. Nagini floated besides him covered by a Disillusionment Charm cutting through the air easily while Jimin had to watch his step on the loosened and upturned pieces of gravel and stone on the cobblestoned street. It had been plaguing his mind all night as he drifted in and out of a fitful sleep, it was strange that wizards could Apparate to locations they had never been in as long as they could imagine the destination with excessively detailed clarity, and Jimin was wondering if the laws of Apparation would still hold true if he attempted to Apparate with a person in mind as his ultimate destination and not a physical location. His musings eventually brought him to the row of houses where the Headmaster lived. The bricks were old and worn down, the iron fences rusty and bent, the board of governors that set the salary for Hogwarts’ instructors were obviously not paying Snape a livable wage.

As Jimin walked up the steps that led him to the front doors of the Headmaster’s home, the disgusting stench from the filthy river went under his nose as a gust of wind carried the smell with it. At his knock, the door opened up a crack, so that Jimin could see a sliver of Professor Snape’s face and soulless black eyes looking back at him. Hidden behind the door, Jimin knew the man was armed with his wand in his hand. With furrowed brows, Snape threw open his front door wide enough so that Jimin and Nagini could pass through.

Expecting this to be a simple drop off, Jimin did not step too deep into the house, lingering at the entry way. As Nagini freely floated through the air in her bulbous entrapment moving deeper into the home, now visible as the professor had removed Jimin’s Disillusionment Charm with a simple sweep of his wand, Snape turned back to Jimin.

“Thank you for the delivery, Park, but your job is now complete,” he murmured. “You should focus on your studies. The NEWTs are coming up. Stop running after the Death Eaters’ coattails, hungry for approval and admiration. Leave the tough jobs for the adults, boy. Enjoy your youth while you can.”

Jimin glared at him, “Focus on my studies? I don’t think good grades will serve us well now Professor, not while the Ministry is under his control. He already had me keeping watch over Yang Hyunsuk. I think my future has already been decided and is far from under my control.”

Snape’s eyes sought Jimin’s, hard inky black ones seeking his warm chocolate brown eyes. Jimin could feel the Headmaster prodding through his mind, invading it. He tried to put up a wall to keep Snape from learning too much, but he was still weak from being Stunned the previous day. Snape’s presence in his mind felt overpowering and unwelcoming but the Headmaster did not linger in it for long, only sharing a thought that could be heard with a booming resonance within the walls of Jimin’s consciousness. You are a fool if you think that the Dark Lord will win, Park. Stop now before you ruin your future irreversibly. He left Jimin’s mind as quickly as he had entered, cutting their shared gaze and walking deeper into his home, following in the path Nagini’s aimless drifting. “Do you wish to stay for lunch?” his voice rang out to Jimin as he walked into another room.

“No thanks, I’m good,” Jimin grunted, still clutching his abused head. Suddenly, why Voldemort had chosen to watch over Snape with Nagini made sense to Jimin. There were larger things that were afoot than Jimin had the privilege of being privy to. It was better, like Snape had said, for him to back off while he still could. He would just ask his parents to plead his case so that he was no longer deeply enmeshed with the goings, comings, and doings of the Death Eaters. “I’ll just be going now,” he called out, exiting the home speedily.

Perhaps he could move to South Korea and find work in the Department of Mysteries in their Ministry of Magic. If he became an Unspeakable, he would never be allowed to leave the country as well and he would be guarded at all times both by the spells that bound Unspeakables from ever revealing confidential information and by the country’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement from ever leaving the country. Although Jimin would never be getting his happy ending with you, he would be damned if he was going to let Voldemort or the Death Eaters rule his life anymore. He would study the Asian magical archives until he found the way to get rid of Voldemort for good, if Namjoon failed to be up to the task.

…

For all its glitz and glamour, America was boring. You came to that realization by your second week in Brownville, Nebraska, a small town that was home to about 500 muggles. Your mother and you had settled in the same large farmhouse that your father had rented out for his new wife and your half-siblings. But even the tension between the two great loves of your father’s life, past and present, did not provide enough diversion from the boring mundaneness that encompassed life at Brownville.

There had been several rules that your parents had both implemented once you had joined them. Amongst them were absolutely no speaking of magic or life in England, no performing of magic, and no use of magical objects. Your pet owl had been moved to live in the barn that took up the back of the property your father had rented, and you were only allowed to visit her with treats in the dark of the night. As it was, you thought your pet was already diverting back to her more undomesticated side as she was preferring the small rodents, she could hunt on the property, to the owl treats you placed out for her.

You were grateful that the adults had given you the large open structure of the attic to be your room, where you would often stay up for most of the day, only coming down for meals, avoiding everyone else in the house. Your half-siblings, who were much younger than you were confused and resentful of the move to Nebraska and blamed you for it although they did not know the details as to why. Your father had never felt the need to tell his Muggle family that once upon a time he had fallen in love with a witch and, with her, had had a daughter who was also a witch. After all, being a Muggle himself, the chances of one of his newer children being able to perform magic were minimal to zero.

As April came to an end and May began, you had resigned yourself to fully living a life as a Muggle and had even considered the benefits of such a lifestyle. For one, the Muggles had increasingly advanced as a society and had come up with inventions that were, in your opinion, just as magical as the things that witches, and wizards could come up with. In fact, you were highly impressed by televisions and telephones. One evening, in between looking through catalogs for different tutoring services you could pay for to acquire a GED, you were trying to set up the black box television set your parents had surprised you with in your attic bedroom. You were struggling with the antenna when you felt a burning sensation the size of a Galleon against your chest. The DA coin you had attached to a chain, to dangle from your neck, was warm to the touch, lightly heating your skin with its summons. Jeon Jungkook, the de facto leader of the group since Kim Namjoon, Jung Hoseok, and Kim Seokjin, the three members of the Golden Trio, had gone on the run, was using it to summon members of Dumbledore’s Army to fight.

Immediately jumping up, you grabbed your wand where it was hidden, tucked inside one of your many pillowcases. Before you could get too excited, you noticed that you were still in your pajamas with a robe hanging off your frame haphazardly and mismatched socks covering your feet. As you hurriedly threw off your clothes to pull a pair of jeans over your legs and a sweater over your pajama shirt, you searched the top of your messy desk to find a scrap of paper you could write on, to let your mother where you had gone. Knowing that there was a chance that your note would fall into the hands of your half-siblings, you were careful to be vague. You wrote quickly with your pen running across the page, blotching the sheet with spots of ink. You wrote: Mother, I had to do it. I had to leave to show the strength and perseverance of Godric’s friends. I’ve gone to meet Hogwarts to do what has to be done. It is my time now to do what you had done 20 years ago. I love you Mother, never forget that.

Blinking back tears, you prepared yourself to Apparate straight into the Hog’s Head pub, as you tried to resign yourself to the idea that there was a chance that you would not be coming out on the other side, alive. But you had lived the entire year as a shade. In all honestly you were a little embarrassed of yourself. Proud, brave Gryffindors did not act like this. It was time for you to stand up for what was right. It was time for you to defend all the Muggleborns and everyone who had been persecuted and treated like vermin as He-Who-Must, no, Voldemort forced his will upon everyone throughout all of Britain.

If you died, you hoped that your mother would be able to sleep at night knowing that she had raised a strong and fearless daughter who defended and protected those who could not fight for themselves. As you hurried through your room, looking for what else you might have needed, your eyes got caught on your Gryffindor House badge tittering on the edge of the nightstand. Grabbing it swiftly, you stabbed it through the fabric of your sweater before raising your wand in front of you and Apparating to Hogsmeade Village.

Once you found yourself in the bar, you were immediately pushed to the side as the large group of people that had congregated tried to squeeze everyone in the small space. As your gaze flickered over the wizards and witches who had all come together to help Namjoon fight Voldemort, you thought you even saw members of the Order of the Phoenix and students who had already graduated in the mix. As you stood there awkwardly and alone, watching Kim Kibum get tackled by Lee Taemin as the two of them started to talk over each other, you thought you heard Kibum yell when Taemin announced that he did not have a wand. Further away, you saw Bang Sihyuk quietly talking with Kang Hyowon and Kwon Dohyeong, who had gone by PDogg and Slow Rabbit on the Goldenwatch broadcasts, about how to get the younger students safely away before the main fighting began. Adora was talking to Shin Donghyuk about how to defend the castle and block off the exits and entrances to the school, waving her wand around to cast a three-dimensional diagram that floated above their heads and changed to depict her plans.

You were so overwhelmed, taking in everything that was happening all around you at once, that you did not notice your best friends Nayeon and Jeongyeon until they both barreled into you, hugging you tightly. The tears threatened to overtake your features once more, but you held it in, knowing that you had to stay strong so that you could fight with a clear head. “I’ve missed you two so much,” you mumbled into their hair.

“We’ve missed you too,” Jeongyeon said, grabbing your hand and squeezing it tightly in hers.

“But it’s okay,” Nayeon declared, “We’re together now. And we’ll fight together too.”

You nodded energetically at that moving towards Mr. Bang who was gesturing you all over to get into orderly groups to go upstairs and exit into the castle, one group at a time. Once you were rushed up the stairs to a room, the likes of which you had never seen before at Hogwarts, since it had been designed by the Room of Requirement, you all were furtively pushed out into the corridors to make your ways down to the Great Hall where everyone was gathering so that Hog’s Head would have enough room for all the wizards and witches that were traveling to Hogwarts to fight.

The Great Hall was looking more haphazard and disorganized than it had looked the night that Azkaban’s prisoner had escaped onto the school’s grounds and the Dementors had been dispatched. All the tables were filled, there were First, Second, and Third Years who had been pulled out of bed in their pajamas sitting only feet away from battle ready, hardened witches and wizards who were all still holding up their wands up in a fighting move. Even the castles ghosts had all congregated at the Hall, looking at Professor Taeyeon who was speaking at the front of the room, on a raised platform where the Professors’ table usually was. Behind her, the other Professors could be seen, Kim Heechul, Eric Nam, Lee Sumni, and Tiffany Young, with the members of the Order standing behind them.

Professor Taeyeon was explaining that the evacuation of the students would be taking place immediately, “If you are of age, you are allowed to stay behind and remain to fight if you desire,” she continued as Nayeon pulled you down to sit next to her at the Gryffindor table.

As you stared at the Deputy Headmistress who was speaking about how the Headmaster had taken a permanent leave of absence, her voice was drowned out by a terrible inhumane voice that rang out through the space, chilling and clear: “I know that you all are preparing to fight. But you must know, your efforts are in vain. It is futile to go against me. You cannot fight me and expect to win. I do not wish to kill you. I respect the institute of Hogwarts greatly, the instructors and what they teach and represent. I do not want to spill any magical blood. I have a great love for our kind.”

Screams had erupted across the Great Hall, as panic-stricken students clung to each other in fear, their fearful gazes darting across the room trying to make sense of where the voice was coming from. Voldemort continued, “Give me Kim Namjoon and no one will get hurt. Give me Kim Namjoon and the school will be left standing and whole. Give me Kim Namjoon and I will reward you for your labor. You have until midnight to give him up, after that I will offer no mercy to a single soul.”

Silence overtook the entire Hall, broken minutes later when Jennie Kim stood up on the Slytherin table and shouted, “He’s right there,” pointing to the entrance to the Great Hall where Namjoon stood next to Yeri. “Get him! Someone quick! Before we all have to die for his actions!”

All at once, there was a rush of sound as people began to push up against the House tables. You stood up with the Gryffindors, reaching for your wand as you all stood to face Jennie face on to defend Namjoon from her. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had stood up with you all, also reaching for their wands, targeting the table that was at the far left of the room who all had students that were stiffly sitting down. You tried to see if Jimin was with his mulish Housemates, but you could not see him anywhere. Now that he had gone back to his natural black hair, it was no longer easy to spot the Head Boy in a crowd.

With an acerbic, tight bite to her words, Professor Taeyeon grated, “Miss Kim cease your foolishness. You will be the first to leave the Hall, if the rest of your House could follow. Ravenclaws, once the Slytherins leave, follow them.”

The tables were slowly vacated, with only the adults who wished to fight remaining behind. To the absolute surprise of no one, the Slytherin table was completely deserted. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables however had about half of their Seventh Years still staying seated. However, when it came to the Gryffindor table, everyone was reluctant to leave their place, with even the First and Second Years putting on a brave face as they nervously clutched at their almost brand-new wands. Professor Taeyeon had to abandon her post at the platform to come and deal with her house, shouting, “Huening Kai, Kang Taehyun! Get going! You two absolutely cannot stay!” when the two were reluctant to part with the Chasers of the Gryffindor quidditch team: the Choi’s, Soobin, Yeonjun and Beomgyu.

As Professor Taeyeon took care of the Gryffindors who were leaving, arranging evacuation protocols with the Prefects, Mr. Bang took the stage to order you all to take up post all over the castle. You listened to him with your mind drifting wondering about Jimin. Would he be allowed to leave with the students or would Voldemort force him to return to the castle to fight after midnight when the school inevitably did not give up Namjoon.

…

As you were getting ready to fight, Jimin was getting ready too. He had slipped away in all the ruckus, casting a Disillusionment Charm over his form. He had to find the Headmaster. He did not believe what Professor Taeyeon had said. He needed to find the Professor to know if there was a way for him to get rid of his Dark Mark. He had no idea the magnitude of its power but he knew that if he wanted to make a break from the Death Eaters, it would have to be a clean one. He could not risk being in the fray, getting attacked by both the Light side and Voldemort’s followers who would both be seeing him as the enemy.

He stalked through the halls, walking through the halls determinedly, seeking the Headmaster’s studies where he knew that Professor Snape would be, licking his wounds after his brawl against Professor Taeyeon. Soon, he was in front of the gargoyles that would split to reveal the way to the Headmaster’s rooms. But what would the password be? Surely Snape had changed it after Taeyeon had attacked him to keep her from accessing it. Wracking his brain, Jimin’s memories paused on the portraits of Headmasters, past, cheering him on as he struggled to fight against Snapes attacks on his mind, striving to improve his Occlumency. His focus kept lingering on the portrait of the Albus Dumbledore with the sparkly vivid blue backdrop. “Dumbledore!” Jimin shouted, hardly pausing to feel the full extent of his astonishment before rushing up the stairs, into the circular chamber, where Professor Snape was slumped over his chair like a comic book villain, rubbing the pads of his fingers into his temple.

“Professor!” Jimin blurted, “You have to help me. Please. You’re the only one who can.”

Snape’s gaze flickered to Jimin distractedly, his eyes were glazed and unfocused, “I am a little busy Park. You could not have come at a more inopportune time,” he grated, standing up and clutching at his left arm, which must have been burning as hotly as Jimin’s if not more so.

“Is there a way to get rid of the Mark? Please Professor,” Jimin begged.

For a second, there was the cunning clarity, that Jimin knew Snape to have, taking over his person as his beady dark eyes focused on Jimin. “Come here Park and roll your sleeve up.”

Jimin rushed forward, swiftly shoving up the left sleeve of his school robes to expose the Dark Mark that stood out against Jimin’s pale skin with its black ink to Snape. Wrapping his clammy pale hand around Jimin’s wrist, he pulled Jimin’s arm forward, and with a whispered, “Sectumsempra,” cut a controlled gash over Jimin’s arm, going over the path he was tracing with his wand. The pain was blinding. It lacerated through Jimin’s flesh, cutting right to the bone, creating hemorrhages and causing Jimin’s vision to go white at the blood loss. As it cut through the ink of the Dark Mark, however, with the pain Jimin felt a sense of release as though his link to Voldemort was finally being broken. As quickly as he inflicted the curse on Jimin, Snape muttered a songlike chant, incanting the counter-curse. His wand was tracing the same path it had made earlier, only this time it was in reverse. The blood flow seemed to stutter and stop and then Snape was repeating the counter curse a second time and a third to stitch the flesh back up.

A disgusting mottled patch of flesh took up the entire length of Jimin’s arm, it looked like someone had dipped a sword into acid and ran deep horizontal lines through his skin, with the healed lines standing up in ridges against his arm, but the mark was entirely gone. The pain however lingered. If he was to fight in the war after this, he would have to be careful not to reveal that he was already nursing a wound.

“I can give you Dittany to ease the pain, however it is unlikely that the scar will fade. I had to use a dark spell on a mark that was already created by dark magic. We are just lucky it worked,” muttered Snape, getting up to go to the potions cabinet at the opposite side of the room where he kept his stash of powerful and intricate potions.

As Jimin stood still staring at the long white scars that had the heterogenic patterns of chemical burns, waiting for the Dittany to kick in, Snape rushed to the window on the far side of the chamber. Instantly he flung the two panels of glass open and stood at the sill, peering down eight floors to where the green of the Hogwarts’ lawn was still visible in the dark of the night. Without so much as a pause, he instantly stepped off of it, causing Jimin to yelp, thinking that he had just watched his Headmaster plunge to his death after a suicidal jump. Rushing to the window, Jimin could see in the distance a huge bat-like figure flying through the air, rushing towards the darkness that laid beyond the outer perimeter walls of the school grounds.

However, Jimin could not stay here forever. He had to get out to where the fighting was taking place. He had a job as the Head Boy of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to serve them to the best of his abilities. And that meant, that whether the Lees or Voldemort had intended when they had given him the title, that Jimin had the duties of being a good leader for the students, along with protecting the castle and its inhabitants, and doing anything else that was asked of him. As he made his way back into the fray, he saw Death Eaters fighting with students half their ages, some of their hoods and masks having come off in the heat of the moment.

The corridors were filled with a rainbow of brightly colored bolts as each side hurled defensive spells at each other. The Death Eaters fought with no compunction, having the Unforgivable Curses spill from their lips, with each wave of their wand. Jimin went through the crowd, running swiftly, sending targeted Stunning spells through them, aiming at what could have even been his own parents under those disguises. But suddenly, the air exploded with a deafening blast. The corridor cleaved itself, the walls shattered into a million fragmented pieces and the roof began to cave in. Jimin coughed at the sudden explosion of kicked up dust and plaster. He did his best to get out of the rubble, pitching his arm under the shoulder of a struggling student with a cut on his forehead and a tear in his black school robes. The boy’s red tie looped around his neck, tightening like a noose.

Once they had made it to the edge of the corridor that had not been impacted by the explosive spell, he was finally able to look at the person whose life he had saved. Kim Taehyung stared back at Jimin in confusion, wiping the back of his left hand across his mouth to wipe away some of the blood from a cut lip. As his brows furrowed and his mouth opened with the beginnings of a question painting his lips, a terrible scream from a female could be heard as a gigantic spider, the size of a Volkswagen beetle crawling in through the monstrous new hole in the wall that made the outside of the castle visible.

Sprinting away from each other, the two shot spells over their shoulders at the spider. None of the spells seemed to have an effect, as the spider crawled its way in, however when it was struck by both of their spells at the same time, it flipped in its back, struggling to make itself upright again. Jimin dared to look back into the direction of the hole. He yelled, “It brought its family,” as he sprinted away.

Soon, both students, members of the Order, and Death Eaters were all running, all attacking the spiders with jets of red and green lit spells, as they ran to save themselves. As Jimin reached the end of the hall where the staircases were, he took flight, leaping over the railing of the walkway to the moving stairs that were shifting ten feet below it. As his heart jumped to his throat, as he made himself a vulnerable target flying through the air for both Death Eaters and Hogwartians, he wondered if you were here too, or if you were long gone, hidden wherever it had been that you had fled to, making a new life for yourself away from war and political uprisings. He thought maybe it would be safer for him to fight out in the open on the Hogwarts’ grounds where there were not as much landmarks that could be weaponized to explode or collapse, crushing and hurting everyone in its path with its debris.

As Jimin made his way towards the ground level of the castle, running and leaping from staircase to staircase, He crossed paths with several Death Eaters who would give him a nod of acknowledgment before turning their backs and targeting Jimin’s classmates. Was it unchivalrous of Jimin to attack them when they had their backs turned? Perhaps. But Rome was not built in a day and Jimin could not unteach everything he had been taught. After all, he was not a self-righteous Gryffindor, he was a cunning Slytherin who took the chance when he saw it.

Jimin had finally neared the bottom floor, he took the stairs four at a time as he hurried to get out of such a vulnerable position. The staircase that connected all of the stories of the castles were death traps for not only the people using them, but the ones underneath or nearby them. After direct hits from powerful spells, they were liable to collapse into giant pieces of stone and marble that could crush the crowd below it or plunge the ones on it to a painful death. His mind’s musings came true a moment later when someone screeched “Glisseo!” causing the stairs under his feet to flatten to a smooth ramp, making Jimin who had been rushing down the steps to hurtle down it so quickly, unable to control the momentum his body had gained, that shots of red and green light went over his head, narrowly missing his body by a hairsbreadth.

As Jimin lay at the foot of the staircase, resting his weight on his hands as he struggled to get the feeling back in his legs, the shattering sound of glass being blasted erupted to his left. With a quick glance, Jimin was able to see that the Slytherin hourglass that kept track of their house points had exploded with only part of its bottom half remaining. The tennis ball size emeralds were spilled, the gems rolling around haphazardly, causing everyone to trip and slip over them. Jimin could not help but think of the previous June when the previous Headmaster had died, and the Gryffindor hourglass had gotten shattered in the carnage that the invading Death Eaters had left behind. The magic of Hogwarts worked in mysterious ways, often revealing omens that had grim outcasts. Had Headmaster Snape fallen and died?

With his heart pounding so furiously that he could not hear anything but the rush of blood moving behind his ears, Jimin ran towards the front doors of the castle. Everywhere he looked, there was chaos and destruction. There were enormous spiders climbing the walls freely, their pincers snapping erratically as they looked for victims to envenom and eat. The giants that Voldemort had created alliances with had come now, to play. They were attacking the castle with their monstrous clubs, sending the stone bricks that shaped the castle flying.

As soon as Jimin stepped onto the grounds, an unearthly chill entered his body. The air was frozen around him. His heartbeats slowed and quietened until he could no longer hear them, feeling leaden and immobile. Dementors. Those malevolent wraiths glided through the open sky of the castle, their multitude covering the brightness of the full moon that shown over all of the grounds. Already, the dark morose thoughts began to permeate Jimin’s minds. He was never going to be able to gain penance for his sins. He would never be able to make up for what he had done, and for what he had not done as he stood by and let terrible things happen. Headmaster Snape was most likely dead. There was no way that Kim Namjoon could beat Voldemort. It was futile, it was all futile and perhaps Nagini was the key. But as long as she remained in her enchanted protective cage, there would be no saving for the rest of them. They were all damned and doomed to die in this pointless futile fight. Voldemort would soon discover that Jimin had forsook him and would torture him until he could break into Jimin’s mind with ease and destroy everything that Jimin loved or cared about. And what about you, Y/N, Jimin would never be able to ask for your forgiveness or be given the opportunity to make up for his mistakes. His breath came out in smoky white vaporous streams, he tried to raise his right arm to create his Patronus, but it would not move.

He had resigned himself for the Kiss from the Dementor that was closest to him, and seemed to be targeting him specifically, when a massive silver tiger, soared over his head, joined by its mercurial companions, a silver squirrel and hare. The Dementors scattered, backing away from Jimin, but they still caged him in.

“Come on Park!” came the shout of Jung Hoseok from his right. “I know you can do this. You are easily the most brilliant wizard in our Year, excluding Namjoon.”

“Just think of a happy thought,” murmured Jeon Jungkook, coming over to Jimin’s left. “Come on, I know you’re not as bad as everyone paints you out to be. I saw you targeting those Death Eaters back there. You can do it Jimin. We will fight and we will win.”

A happy thought? A memory, uninvited, came rushing forward.

“Are you able to cast a corporeal Patronus?”

“I did. Once,” you answered.

Jimin looked momentarily stunned before he was able to collect himself, “In theory, if you have a memory that is so inexplicably happy and bound to your mind that you would never forget it, you could even scare off an army of Dementors with your Patronus.”

The memory of you had a bitter sting to it. Jimin knew that he would never have his happy ending with you; he was undeserving of it. And yet, it was you and the memory of that one magical day in Paris that had the silver stream of magic shooting out of the end of Jimin’s wand, casting a fully corporeal swan to join the others. As the four Patronuses glided through the air, protecting their owners. The dementors finally dispersed, fracturing away from each other.

Jimin turned back to his classmates, people he had barely spoken to over the past seven years. “Thank you for saving my life,” he muttered gruffly.

“Yeah well,” said Kim Taehyung casting an unimpressed glance at Jimin, “An eye for an eye and all that. But I’m not convinced, Park. So, don’t expect me to save your life again.”

…

The fighting had continued for hours. Voldemort’s voice had come once again, bodiless and macabre, thundering across the space. An unwelcome and unnerving sound that licked the ears of everyone, making them shudder, as it spread the news that he would be giving them an hour to dispose of their dead and to heal their injured before he would be entering the fray and fighting himself, killing everyone in his path until he got Kim Namjoon.

You had been patching up Kim Seokjin’s arm with bandages. There was only so much your healing spell could do and the school Healer, Madame Shin Suran, was being stretched thin, having already enlisted a group of students to help her take care of the wounded. The healing and rejuvenating potions had long run low, even after Professor Heechul had added to the infirmary’s supply. That had been when it had happened.  

The Death Eaters were lining the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Accompanying them at their backs were the Dementors and giants. They walked with Voldemort in the middle, it was the first time that you had ever seen the terrible evil that he was. The sight that met your eyes was far worse than you could have ever dreamt of him to look like. He made a tall figure in his voluminous dark robes that revealed a rail thin figure as he cut through the lawn, sweeping forward. He could have been seven feet tall and was entirely deserving of his boogeyman status with his bone pale skin and demon red eyes, the glint of which you could still make out 20 yards away. As he neared, you were able to see that he was completely hairless, with not a strand on his scalp or even his brows. The hairlessness and slits of his nostrils made him look terribly similar to a frightening serpent.

When Voldemort had crossed to be what he deemed was sufficient amount away, he stepped to the side, revealing the school’s groundskeeper Hagrid to be holding a bundled figure in his arms. Your heart stopped as your eyes cut on the tear tracks that had been left on Hagrid’s cheeks. You had the terrible feeling that it was Namjoon in his arms.

“NO!” bellowed Taeyeon letting out an unearthly cry of anguish, “NAMJOON.”

“Namjoon!” you heard the shouts of Mr. Bang and Mr. Kang, who you knew were like fathers to Namjoon join in. Hoseok was being restrained by Seokjin and Taehyung, yelling desperately for the male he considered to be as good as a blood brother to him. You could even feel tears streaming down your own face. With Namjoon dead, all hope seemed to be lost.

“SILENCE!” bellowed Voldemort. “The Boy Who Lived is finally dead. And at my hands. Hagrid, why don’t you put the boy where he belongs, at my feet.”

Hagrid placed Namjoon’s crumpled form on the ground. He looked so broken and small that bile was rising up in your throat. You had to swallow it down as you bitterly sniffed at the injustice.

“Do you see this?” Voldemort asked, circling Namjoon’s body, prodding it with the toe of his shoe and a maniacal smile painting his face. “Do you finally understand, you deluded fools? He was never anything more than a boy who counted on others to sacrifice themselves for him! But he, himself, never had any skills or strength. No, that is why I was so easily able to kill him with a simple snap of my wand.”

“You’re lying! He beat you!” Seokjin yelled, grabbing his bandaged shoulder with a wince as he talked back to perhaps one of the most vile and deadly wizards in existence. However, Seokjin’s retort was able to do the job. The Silencing Charm Voldemort had casted over the castle’s inhabitants broke and they were able to shout and protest once more.

Voldemort once again hit them with a Silencing Charm, this one more powerful than the last. His voice got even louder, “Kim Namjoon was killed while he tried to escape the grounds like the coward that he is, leaving the rest of you to die for him. He was killed while his self-preserving ass tried to flee for safety…”

Voldemort’s voice trailed off as a figure burst out from the line of Hogwartians, charging towards him. It was poor Jeon Jungkook who had idolized Kim Namjoon and seen him as his best friend. None of the other Gryffindors had thought to restrain him as well. With a laugh and a sweep of his wand, Voldemort easily disarmed Jungkook. “Ah, young Jeon Jungkook. How poorly misguided you are. Why do you defend that dirty Half-Blood whose blood is tinged with the filth that comes from his Mudblood mother? You are a Pureblood yourself, young man. We could do with your kind, Jeon. Brave, spirited purebloods.”

“I would never join the Death Eaters,” Jungkook bit out caustically, “Dumbledore’s Army forever!” His call was meet by shouts from the crowd, including yours, who Voldemort seemed unable to control with his Silencing Charms.

Angered, Voldemort turned to Jungkook, “If that is how you want to play things, young man. We will do it your way.” With a powerful wave of his wand, Voldemort incanted a nonverbal summoning spell. A deformed brown bundle swept through the air, falling onto his outstretched arm. It was the Sorting Hat, “There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts. You all will be united under one House: the noblest one of them all, the House of my ancestor Salazar Slytherin.”

He then pointed his wand at Jungkook, instantly immobilizing him in a rigid, upright position, “Jungkook here will show you all what happens when you attempt to go against Lord Voldemort.” The hat was shoved onto Jungkook’s head forcibly with another snap of his wand, and then with a third flick, Voldemort had caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames while still atop Jungkook’s head.

Just then, there was a disruption from the Forbidden Forest when two giants seemed to be attacking each other. All at once, commotion reigned and pandemonium struck. The giants laid into each other, hitting each other with powerful punches and kicks that shook the ground with so much force it felt like unnatural earthquakes were occurring. The castle’s protectors were no longer held by the power of Voldemort’s spells and both sides rushed towards each other. Voldemort had lost his grip on the situation and now everyone was attacking each other.

From the sidelines, Jimin had been watching impartially, but when Voldemort’s focus was no longer on Jungkook, he rushed forward. It felt like he was the only who saw Jungkook break free from the Body-Bind Curse that had been placed on him. The enflamed Sorting Hat fell off his head as he shifted, falling with its pointed tip facing downwards, and Jimin was able to watch as Jungkook thrusted his arm into the hat pulling from within its depths the glinting ruby encrusted handle of the Sword of Gryffindor. Jimin rushed forward towards Jungkook, staring at him with panic-stricken widened eyes. Jeon, look at me dammit, he thought as he ran forward. There was still ten yards between them when Jungkook’s eyes met Jimin’s and Jimin hit him with the powerful burst of his own thoughts, Behind you. The snake. Use the sword.

Jungkook swung the sword around purposefully, he caught sight of the snake that was now slithering around freely since Voldemort had thought that Namjoon was dead. With a single powerful stroke, Jungkook brought the sword down, beheading Nagini with one fell swoop. Voldemort let out a shrill unhuman cry at his pet’s death. Charging forward towards Jungkook and Jimin purposefully.

All at once, the two of them were fighting the evilest and most powerful wizard that was alive, struggling to hold their own even in a two on one match. When a killing spell narrowly missed Jungkook, singeing the top of his already static and burnt hair from earlier, a voice bellowed behind them.

“Stop, Voldemort!” shouted Namjoon, who apparently was not dead after all. Jimin did not take the opportunity to check where the voice had come from since Voldemort had not ebbed his assault on the two boys. “It’s me that you want so why don’t you come and finish the job!”

…

At the end of the duel between Kim Namjoon and Lord Voldemort, only one of them remained standing. Fortunately for everyone, that had been Kim Namjoon. As the people of Hogwarts dealt with the aftermath of the battle, rushing to put the remaining Death Eaters who had been alive into custody, Bang Sihuyk had been temporarily instated as the Minister of Magic; apparently Minister Yang had fallen during the battle which Jimin could not feel himself feeling at all torn about.

Jimin’s parents had been amongst the ones who were being rounded up. They had attempted to implicate him along with themselves when Jimin had scoffed and said, “Me, a Death Eater? Hardly, Mother. Why on earth would I have dueled against Voldemort himself then?”

His mother had been shocked into silence while his father had sputtered at his disrespectful tone and how Jimin had had the audacity to call Voldemort by his name. But now, Jimin was wondering throughout the castle looking for someone. He needed to see you, to make sure that you were alright. His new friend Jungkook had assured him that you had returned to Hogwarts to participate in the battle. And according to Jungkook and his friends, the last they had seen of you you had been alive. However, they had all seen you before the second bout of fighting had started. However, Jimin had made his way through all of the fallen bodies, from both sides, that were laid out on the courtyard, both as a type of penance and to make sure that you were not among them. Jimin would remember the faces of all of the dead for the rest of his life, taking care to never be prejudiced or intolerant ever again.

He was finally making his way into the Great Hall, where the separation of the Houses no longer persisted, and everyone was sitting at whatever space was available next to their family members, strangers, or even other magical creatures who did not have a drop of wizarding blood. It was a strange but welcome sight of equality and tolerance. After his rounds about the tables had taken him past Yoongi and his parents who were sitting in a corner all to their own feeling awkward and distant, he finally found you. You were sitting in between two girls and talking to them animatedly.

Clearing his throat nervously, Jimin asked, “Y/N can I talk to you?”

You turned around, your eyebrows almost disappearing into your hairline at your surprise. After debating about it, for what seemed to Jimin had been long interminable moments, you nodded and stood up. The stroll the two of you were on led you eventually to through the castle out towards the Quidditch pitch.

Jimin finally spoke up after the lengthy silent walk. He stopped in his tracks and turned to you, “Y/N, if I could. I would redo everything, from our first meeting. I’m so truly sorry for everything I put you through this entire year. I hope you can feel the depths of my sincerity.”

You stared at him wordlessly. After a moment you parted your lips and said, “I wouldn’t.”

Jimin stared at you in shock.

“Jimin I wouldn’t change a single thing about our history, as painful as some of those moments have been. The moments we shared cannot be undone, the things we said cannot be unsaid. But I understand what you are hinting at. You want us to have a fresh start,” you carefully gauged Jimin’s reaction to your words.

He had been initially panicked when you had started to talk. But now, he bit his lip before saying softly, “Yes please, let us start anew once more, Y/N.”

With a soft smile gracing your lips, you reached out your hand towards him, “Hi, I’m Y/N.”

Jimin met you halfway, his arm stretching forward, and his fingers wrapping your hand in his grip. “Hello, Y/N,” he murmured, “I’m Jimin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial - No Derivatives 4.0 International License

©OPALJM 2020 ©FITAELITY 2018-2020

[writingandmore]

Hi!!! May I get a HP, Star Wars, Voltron, and Disney matchup?

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦 + 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

19, Libra, Neutral Good, enneagram is 4w5, muggleborn Ravenclaw (with Gryffindor tendencies), and my patronus spirit is Hummingbird. Biromantic Pansexual Genderfluid woman using pronouns of She/Her or He/Him. Cherubic-like face, with short height (5'1") plus sized Southeast Asian woman with Spanish descent that has chic messy/wavy brunette medium hair that reaches to my shoulder, oriental skin, slightly upturned eyes, small lashes, chocolate brown irises, cute flat nose, heart shaped face, full cheeks, cupid's bow lips, a small beauty mark on the forehead, and naturally straight teeth with tiny gap in front (just imagine that it's a mixture of Marinette from 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆𝗯𝘂𝗴, Musa from 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘅 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯, and Alexandra Trese from 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲---cause' my friend told me that I kinda look like them). My sense of fashion is in between emo and boyish plus korean glam, I sometimes let my hair down or styled like Lara Croft reboot.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬

Distant, quiet, and timid at first making people thought I'm a demure, modest, and self-effacing that looks "immaculate" or "one of a kind" (due to my protective mom, a reason why I've never been in a relationship) but the truth is, dunno how to initiate a conversation, but a total opposite if I open up---friendly, ambivert, witty, laughing loudly on a daily basis---like my happiness is too shallow, super talkative, eats a lot (yeah I can finish a huge slice of cake or a meal in one sitting), awkward, daydreamer (I got embarrassed from knocking at the door even I'm inside the classroom 😂), EXTREMELY CLUMSY (mostly gets bruises from hitting, bumping my head somewhere, walking into something on my way, and being careless to my belongings), secretly likes affection, easily overwhelmed, prone to melt over wholesomeness, flusters on compliments, lightly blushes on cheesy banters, eager to share what I know (especially about Catholic Church---my past teacher joked that I'll become a saint because of it 🤣), oftenly speaks full of sarcasm with a lowkey crackhead energy citing meme references, and talented girl who can be your no.1 supporter and unashamed to be true to myself but can be awkward to strangers. In terms of leadership, I only educate and guide than being a prefect (I might take the role seriously), will lift my group when there's lacking/incompleteness. About doing projects in school, I become too extra and prepared for efforts, but I'll forget the process in the end.

The extent, I'm expressive, warm-hearted, willig to help, kind, intelligent, supportive, nice, creative, enthusiastic, laid-back, determined, tough, competitive, and feisty outside, but a real softie that can be childish and dramatic that cries so easily (but will enlightened real quick by smallest things that makes me smile) filled with doubts, frustrations, and insecurities with fear of failure that pushes off the limits to to please everyone because they might get dissappointed from expectations---I simply can't stop proving myself too much because I'm a survivor of bullying. But I still managed to be stronger than ever after I stumbled, even it's a slow burn process. I can be blunt, intimidating, harsh, and a douchebag if I receive ends or I got interrupted while doing something. Immature, headstrong, perfectionist, demanding, hesitant, jumpy, forgetful, overthinker, quick-tempered, sensitive, and anxious (no joke, my nervousness makes me think worse scenario will arrive). Though can be procrastinator and arrogant, I raised as a religious 𝖺𝗇𝖽 diplomatic youth, willing to fight what I believe (including my dreams and what's important to me) and what is right. In addition, I have a habit of staying up late and doing sign of the cross to ease nervousness.

Rowdy and feeling-brokenhearted and bitter friend in the group who fangirl a lot, swears like sailor, will call out on people that we loathe, will make fun of your stupidity (in a good way) before helping, and bring gossips, but a hopeless romantic and cheeky (makes banter with sarcasms or pick up lines as an endearment, but gets annoyed if I received sappy or offensive one), Still generous and concerned person in a subtle and different way.

𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗜𝗘𝗦

My hobbies are singing, drawing, roleplaying, listening to music, chatting/browsing on social media, conceptualizing, writing, and reading some stuffs. I'll include making corniest jokes/puns, sleeping, and dancing when nobody's around or walking like a model if I feel so bold (even I'm terrible at both xD). I also used to learn Italian language a bit.

𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Loves kittens, milk tea, singing at the karaoke, cartoons, iced coffee, memes, cute things, watching YouTube videos (mostly pageants, ASMR, edit audios, and mukbangs), also enjoys playing games on my sister's PSP. Sucker for arts, choir, poetry, night sky, makeup, fun/deep/dumb conversations, Christianity, documentaries (about saints, real crime stories, and inspirational people), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and creative writing, chilling both indoors and outdoors. Beside that, my music taste are like late 90s-2000s songs (mostly rock, pop, and country) sometimes Catholic songs, kpop and ppop, chocoholic, and a sweetooth as well.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Things that I hate are stereotyping, HUGE creepy crawlies (spiders, toads, snakes, and cockroaches), firecracker sounds, thunder and lightning, being left out, loneliness, heart break, blackout, and judgemental people. If I found out that someone hates or backstabbing or being rude to me, I won't hesitate to throw offensive criticisms, leaving them with a "I don't give a f" attitude. One random fact about me is, I 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 vent out EVERYTHING I despise in my entire existence---from bad soap operas to toxicity, worse scenarios in real life, and how terrible is my love life from unrequited feelings that I got, because it's a big deal for me, and I consider forcing me to do what I'm not into and manipulating me as my major pet peeves.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

In terms of triggers...I only have two which are ta𝖨king about divorce/annullment/separation because I came from a generational broken family (it sucks that some people I knew assumed that the reason why I'm overly unaware that someone is interested in me in secret, is I have "high standards" looking for a partner, but the truth is I'm strict and I have a personal preferences...I know my worth and I don't want settle for less!) and religion/beliefs discrimination, cause' there are reasonings that doesn't makes sense because some, sounds too hypocritical, like as if you're a morally good person.

𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 + 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗦

My love languages are quality time and gift giving, but I actually swoon over physical touch (especially cuddles and cute kisses) and words of affirmation when it comes to having a partner, though I get attracted so easily, matured but can be a goofy person who's nice, friendly, kind-hearted, loving, faithful, and excels in academics is my cup of tea. Whenever I have a real life crush (which is rare), I act the same but deep inside, my heart is about to explode and will eventually share to my trustful friends how I highly admire that person, however if they spilled the beans out, I'll obviously deny it and will cry if they like someone else, it will take some time for me to move on, now I don't care for them anymore.

Best Friends to Lovers is my ideal trope because I find it very cute since you already knew each other before dating (which happened to my 2nd cousin, she married her best friend!)---perfect balance for romance, laughters, comfort, and tears when it comes to sharing your vibes, being there through thick and thin, safe with embraces, and helping each other to grow.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗔𝗦

My best assets are smile, eyes, personality, singing voice, artistic skills, writings, intelligence, oratorical skills and I have potential in hosting...so I can consider myself as a singer, artist, orator, speaker, and a top student who's a former active campus ministry member with three roles (choir leader, psalm singer, and reader).

May sounds different but I'm passionate for helping people through my talents and sharing my story to inspire everyone. I may look selfish, but I have a different way on how I show that I actually care also I have a biased sentimental value

Currently a college freshman, learning how to cook. I have so many interests, to the point I don't know what I'm into because of my dreams to become a popular Filipino YouTuber, a novelist, and being part of a successful chorale competing internationally...I also consider joining pageants at school too once the pandemic ends, but maybe.

HP: Remus!

- Remus is also quiet and a bit reserved when he's not in a familiar situation, so your own first impression on him would be a good one, as you'd seem similar to his own personality. He's sweet and is able to start up a conversation if he notices the other person is having a hard time doing so, so hopefully he'd be able to bring out your more extroverted and friendly self after a while so he can be around the more open you. He wouldn't mind you being a bit awkward-he's very much the same way-honestly, the comradery that would come from that would be more positive than anything else. He loves sharing knowledge and learning about new things, so your eagerness to talk about what you know would work really well also! He does a lot better when he knows someone has his back too, so your extra supportive nature would endear him to you as well.

SW: Han!

- Your nicer and more helpful personality would balance out Han's more standoffish vibes when first meeting. You might get on his nerves a bit first, but you'd quickly grown on him and, in turn, make him a bit of a better person. Your ability to be blunt and a bit harsh would serve you well if you ever needed to stand your ground on an issue that two of you have, as he can be quite stubborn.

VLD: Lance!

- Lance can be a bit immature from time to time as well, especially when it comes to trying to be funny or cheering up those around him-he's also headstrong and typically firm in what he wants to do, so your own determined personality would attract him to you a lot as well. He often puts off things he needs to do if they make him anxious too, but if you both recognize that you share that problem, helping each other might be a good solution!

Disney: Flynn!

- Flynn is quite a sarcastic and teasing person, so your own humor would match well with his. He's also quite a hopeless romantic as well, even though he's certainly not one to admit that right off the bat. He enjoys singing, and as he gets closer to someone he feels more comfortable doing so in front of them, so a partner he's been with for a long time would get to see him be more and more open with it. That also applies to activities like dancing.

[romqnticstylez]

💘 Greetings and congratulations! May I request a Harry Potter ship? Preferably male? Thanks in advance! 💞

I'm a plus sized Southeast asian girl with spanish descent standing in short stature (5'1.2"), medium wavy brunette hair with splitted side swept bangs that I sometimes tied in ponytail, oriental skin tone, and chocolate brown eyes, my fashion sense is in between boyish and emo plus korean glam look. People thought I'm a demure self-effacing immaculate woman that look so idealistic from my shy and distant nature (due to my protective parents, a reason why I've never been in a relationship) but the truth is, it's completely opposite, and my personality combines the common traits of a Libra woman, my MBTI, and the phrase "𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂" also tough and competitive on the outside but a softie filled with insecurities, doubts, frustrations, with fear of failure that pushes off the limits to prove or to please everyone and will fight what I stand and what I really want. My best assets are smile, eyes, personality, singing voice, artistic skills, writings, intelligence, and oratorical skills.

I kin Aerith from FFVII, Padmé from Star Wars, Oikawa from Haikyuu!!, and Umaru Doma from Umaru-Chan. In addition, I'm prone to melt over wholesomeness, fluster on compliments, and a great hopeless romantic. Blunt but the loudest idiotic feeling-brokenhearted friend in the group who fangirl a lot, makes corniest jokes/puns, cracks up on a daily basis, swears like sailor, will act like a jerk and a douchebag on people that we loathe, will laugh over your stupid antics before helping, extremely clumsy, daydreamer, and bring gossips, and tends to banter with sarcasms or pick up lines as an endearment (but gets grumpy if I receive it), still the supportive generous ball of sunshine after all.

I came from a broken family, that's why talking about divorce/separation/annullment is my trigger also religion discrimination because I'm religious too. Loves kittens, cartoons, watching YouTube videos (mostly pageants, ASMR, edit audios, and mukbangs), great foodie, chocoholic, also enjoys playing games on my sister's PSP. Sucker for arts, choir, night sky, makeup, fun/deep/dumb conversations, Christianity, documentaries (about saints, real crime stories, and inspirational people), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and writings, chilling both indoors and outdoors. 𝖨'𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇𝖼𝗅𝗎𝖽𝖾 making corniest jokes/puns, 𝗌𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀, and dancing when nobody's around or walking like a model if I feel so bold (even I'm terrible at both xD). Things that I hate are stereotyping, HUGE creepy crawlies (spiders, toads, snakes, and cockroaches), firecracker sounds, being left out, loneliness, heart break, blackout, and judgemental people. One random fact about me is, I 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 vent out EVERYTHING I despise in my entire existence---from bad soap operas to toxicity and worse scenarios in real life, because it's a big deal for me, and I consider forcing me to do what I'm not into and manipulating me as my major pet peeves. Currently learning how to cook and has so many interests, to the point I don't know what I'm into because my dreams to become a popular Filipino YouTuber, a novelist, and being part of a successful chorale...I also consider joining pageants too, but maybe.

thank you <3

ok ok i ship you with...

Ron Weasley or/and Remus Lupin or/and James Potter!

i think all of them would be very supportive of you and you would just click with all three of them!

In addition, I'm prone to melt over wholesomeness, fluster on compliments, and a great hopeless romantic.

when i read this part i immediately went 'ron or james. definitely.' lol

i feel guilty??? for giving you such a short answer i but i LOVE the long intro <33 but yeah i ship you with one of those three!!

[oneboxofmatches]

Hi!!! May I request a HP romantic and friendship matchup on both eras? (Preferably male), thanks in advance! 💞

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦 + 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

19, Libra, Neutral Good, enneagram is 4w5, Ravenclaw, and my patronus spirit is swan. Bi Pan Genderfluid girl using pronouns of She/Her or He/Him. A friend of mine told me that I (kinda) look like Marinette from 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆𝗯𝘂𝗴, Musa from 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘅 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯, and Alexandra Trese from 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲 (a Netflix animated series), but the exception is I'm short (5'1.2") plus sized Southeast Asian woman with Spanish descent that has messy/wavy brunette medium hair, chocolate brown eyes, oriental skin and a small beauty mark on the forehead. My sense of fashion is in between emo and boyish plus korean glam.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬

Distant and shy at first cause' I dunno how to initiate a conversation, but a total opposite if I open up---friendly, ambivert, witty, laughing loudly on a daily basis, talkative, awkward, daydreamer (I got embarrassed from knocking at the door even I'm inside the classroom 😂), EXTREMELY clumsy, secretly likes affection, easily overwhelmed, prone to melt over any wholesomeness, flusters on compliments, lightly blushes on cheesy banters, sarcastic person with a lowkey crackhead energy citing meme references, and talented girl who can be your no. 1 supporter and unashamed to be true to myself. In terms of leadership, I only educate and guide than being a prefect (I might take the role seriously), and will lift my group when there's lacking/incompleteness. About doing projects in school, I become too extra and prepared for efforts, but I'll forget the process in the end.

People thought I'm a demure self-effacing woman that looks "idealistic" or "one of a kind," (due to my protective parents, a reason why I've never been in a relationship) but the truth is, I'm eloquent, warm-hearted, willig to help, kind, intelligent, supportive, nice, creative, enthusiastic, determined, tough, competitive, and feisty outside, but a real softie that can be childish and dramatic crybaby filled with doubts, frustrations, and insecurities with fear of failure that pushes off the limits to to please everyone, yet I still managed to be stronger than ever, even it's a slow burn process. I can be intimidating, sassy, and a douchebag if I receive ends. Immature, headstrong, perfectionist, demanding, hesitant, jumpy, very indecisive, overthinker, quick-tempered, sensitive, and anxious (no joke, my nervousness makes me think worse scenario will arrive or I might break a belonging due to my carelessness). Though can be procrastinator and arrogant, I raised as a religious 𝖺𝗇𝖽 diplomatic person, willing to fight what I believe (including my dreams) 𝖺𝗇𝖽 what is right. In addition, I have a habit of staying up late and doing sign of the cross to ease nervousness.

Blunt but the loudest idiotic feeling-brokenhearted and bitter friend in the group who fangirl a lot, swears like sailor, will act like a silent backstabber on people that we loathe, will crack up over your stupid antics before helping, and bring gossips, but a hopeless romantic who tends to banter with sarcasms or pick up lines as an endearment (but gets grumpy if I received sappy or offensive one), still generous and concerned in a subtle way.

𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗜𝗘𝗦

My hobbies are singing, drawing, roleplaying, listening to music, chatting/browsing on social media, conceptualizing, writing, and reading some stuffs. 𝖨'𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇𝖼𝗅𝗎𝖽𝖾 making corniest jokes/puns, 𝗌𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀, and dancing when nobody's around or walking like a model if I feel so bold (even I'm terrible at both xD).

𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Loves kittens, eating a lot, cartoons, watching YouTube videos (mostly pageants, ASMR, edit audios, and mukbangs), also enjoys playing games on my sister's PSP. Sucker for arts, choir, night sky, makeup, fun/deep/dumb conversations, Christianity, documentaries (about saints, real crime stories, and inspirational people), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and writings, chilling both indoors and outdoors. Beside that, my music taste are like late 90s-2000s songs (mostly rock, pop, and country) sometimes kpop and ppop, chocoholic, and a sweetooth as well.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Things that I hate are stereotyping, HUGE creepy crawlies (spiders, toads, snakes, and cockroaches), firecracker sounds, being left out, loneliness, heart break, blackout, and judgemental people. One random fact about me is, I 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 vent out EVERYTHING I despise in my entire existence---from bad soap operas to toxicity and worse scenarios in real life, because it's a big deal for me, and I consider forcing me to do what I'm not into and manipulating me as my major pet peeves.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

In terms of triggers...I only have two which are ta𝖨king about divorce/annullment/separation because I came from a generational broken family and religion/beliefs discrimination, cause' there are reasonings that doesn't makes sense because some are too hypocritical.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗔

My best assets are smile, eyes, personality, singing voice, artistic skills, writings, intelligence, and oratorical skills...so I can consider myself as a singer, artist, orator, and a top student who's a former active campus ministry member with three roles (choir leader, psalm singer, and reader). Currently an incoming college freshman, learning how to cook and have so many interests, to the point I don't know what I'm into because of my dreams to become a popular Filipino YouTuber, a novelist, and being part of a successful chorale competing internationally...I also consider joining pageants at school too once the pandemic ends, but maybe.

Thank you so, so much for requesting! I had a lot of fun with this one (as you can tell by some of the really long answers lol) and I hope you enjoy!!

In the Golden Trio era, I romantically pair you with…

CEDRIC DIGGORY

One of the most beautiful things about Cedric is that although he may show some introverted tendencies, he still manages to have a natural gift for connecting to others and allowing them to feel comfortable enough to open up. Really, your initial distance and shyness don't last nearly as long towards Cedric as they would with most other people.

Hearing your laughter brings the widest, cheesiest grin to Cedric’s face. Not only does he adore seeing you happy, but he also recognizes that your anxiety, insecurities, and strong emotions can sometimes cloud up your demeanor. Therefore, it brings him comfort knowing that (for the moment) you’re finding joy. He thrives when you thrive!

However, as much as he loves seeing your more energetic and happier self, it goes without saying that he’s the best comfort for when you’re not having the best day.

Cedric is an excellent listener, so he’ll most likely let you talk without interruption for as long as you need before even saying a word. He wants to make sure he truly understands your current state before acting. He may take a few seconds to process everything after you finish speaking, but then he’ll help you tackle whatever problems you’re facing. He’s especially talented at giving words of affirmation.

Cedric’s listening also comes in handy whenever you talk about your interests! He genuinely loves hearing about the things you’re interested in solely for the fact that you’re interested in them. Side note: you can count on him to be at any music performances, pageants, etc. you may have -- this guy is truly your #1 supporter.

Cedric’s a very good student (though I suspect he’s somewhat of a procrastinator himself), so I can also see you two supporting each other through schoolwork and celebrating each other’s successes.

Like you, Cedric has a strong urge to do the right thing. Talking to him about social issues stirs up a need to help, and I could see you two doing volunteer work together in your spare time.

I like to believe one of Cedric’s biggest love languages is quality time. Don’t get me wrong, this guy loves staying involved and busy. But taking a couple hours to be with you in small ways (even if that means just being in the same room while you scroll through social media) gives him a nice balance.

Overall, this kind boy will be there unwaveringly through the bad times and will laugh just as loud as you through the good!

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

LUNA LOVEGOOD

You wanna talk about the best conversations, relentless support, and overall the most wholesome friendship you could ask for? Luna’s your girl.

Being unashamed to be true to yourself is one of the biggest reasons why Luna is so drawn to you. While she’s very friendly and insightful towards everyone she meets, it can get a bit repetitive for her to constantly interact with people who try to shelter their unique characteristics from the world. In her mind, these unique characteristics are what make people so fascinating! Why should anyone hide who they are?

Luna’s creativity is endless, and I can see it blending well with yours. Collaborating on a personal project outside of school (ex: novel, blog, etc.) together is definitely something I could see you two doing.

Speaking of creativity, finding creative solutions to everyday problems (both in school and in life) is your specialty as friends.

Admittedly, Luna isn’t usually drawn to louder individuals. However, the complexity behind your personality makes it easier for her to know you are much more than what meets the eye.

Speaking of, Luna has a difficult time standing up for herself -- whether it’s because she doesn’t feel a need to or she just doesn’t recognize the meaning behind certain phrases. She NEEDS a friend like you to stand up for her sometimes, and I know you wouldn’t hesitate!

Ranting to Luna is therapeutic to say the least. While her aloofness at times may make it seem as if she isn’t fully paying attention, that couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s actually catching every word, and once you’re done she’ll leave you with a philosophical solution that may seem borderline insane/irrelevant when you first hear it, but it strangely makes sense.

Overall, the lack of judgment from either of you is what draws you together. As a result, you build a unique bond that couldn’t be broken even if either of you wanted it to.

In the Marauders era, I romantically pair you with…

REMUS LUPIN

Let’s be honest, it would take you two so long to ask each other out. You were probably already really close friends, but the insecurities and “what if?” questions from both of you delayed an actual relationship.

When you finally started dating, you were both so relieved. You still share a laugh at how almost nothing changed in the way you interacted with each other.

While with mutual friends, Remus sometimes likes to sit back and just watch you, especially when you get really talkative because this is when you become the most expressive. He has the softest smile when you’re actively cracking jokes, discussing something you’re passionate about, or even calling someone out. Sometimes you may be too distracted to notice, but other times you’ll catch him.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.” (While that same soft smile never leaves his face.)

You both hold really high standards for yourself in terms of school, so expect late-night study/work sessions to be your best bet for quality time.

Though the occasional instance of walking through/lying on the grounds becomes a favorite for both of you.

Remus listens when you’re particularly struggling through anxiety or strong emotions, but he has to consciously stop himself from interrupting because he can’t stand how he feels knowing you’re going through a tough time.

All he wants to do is soothe you during these moments. If you’re comfortable, he’ll hold you while speaking to you in a soft voice. Remus, the intellectual that he is, is also your best chance at finding a reasonable solution. So if you're not in the mood for calming words, he's also a great person to turn to for answers.

As for your ambitions, no matter what you choose to pursue, you already know Remus is going to be your biggest source of support every step of the way. He’s more than happy to help in any way he can!

Overall, Remus appreciates you, and he’s always going to make sure you know it.

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

LILY EVANS

Lily especially connects to you because you manage to be determined, competitive, and intelligent without sacrificing your kindness, which is something she can relate to.

You and Lily are the C.E.O.s of doing the right thing. Neither of you hesitates to back the other up when it comes to confronting someone because you know it’s justified.

As perceptive as Lily is, you never need to tell her when something is bothering you. All it takes is a quick glance before she puts whatever she’s doing on hold to check in with you.

The reverse works as well. Typically, Lily really doesn’t internally struggle too much, and when she does she tries to hide it. You’re one of the only people who can see right through whatever she tries to pull.

The constant banter between you two is unmatched, but you both know it's because you really care about each other.

Overall, you and Lily have each other’s backs through anything, even when the other isn’t actively asking for help.